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SINGAPORE - A panel drafting the terms of reference for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) human rights body is to submit its first report to the grouping's foreign ministers at the bloc's 2008 summit in Bangkok, a statement said.
A final draft could be in place in 2009, paving the way for the human rights organisation to begin its work.
"We aim to achieve a result that is realistic, balanced and credible, and which would be in the best collective interest of ASEAN," the panel's chairman, Bilahari Kausikan, said in Singapore on Monday.
Kausikan said the panel would convene monthly before meeting ASEAN ministers again in December. An interim report is to be completed in September.
ASEAN leaders, during a summit in Singapore last year, signed a charter which committed member states to notions of democracy and human rights and for the first time set out principles and rules for the group.
Under the charter, a human rights body would be established in a region that includes countries with poor human rights records, such as military-run Myanmar, which is subject to international sanctions.
- CNA/ir
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