Human rights in the Asia-Pacific region : towards institution building / edited by Hitoshi Nasu and Ben Saul.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

The engagement of Asia-Pacific states with the UN Human Rights Committee : reporting and individual petitions / Ivan Shearer and Naomi Hart Human rights monitoring institutions and multiculturalism / Nisuke Ando Challenges to a human rights mechanism in the Asia-Pacific region : the experience of the universal periodic review of the UN human rights council / Shigeki Sakamoto Innovations in institution-building and fresh challenges : the optional protocol to the convention against torture and the convention on the rights of persons with disabilities / Sarah McCosker Chinese practice in UN treaty monitoring bodies : principled sovereignty and slow appreciation / Wim Muller Resistance to regional human rights cooperation in the Asia-Pacific : demythologizing regional exceptionalism by learning from the Americas, Europe, and Africa / Ben Saul, Jacqueline Mowbray and Irene Baghoomians Persistent engagement and insistent persuasion : the role of the working group for an ASEAN Human Rights Mechanism in institutionalizing human rights in the Region / Tan Hsien-Li ASEAN : setting the agenda for the rights of migrant workers? / Susan Kneebone Challenges for ASEAN Human Rights Mechanisms : the case of Lao PDR from a gender perspective / Irene Pietropaoli The role of networks in the implementation of human rights in the Asia Pacific region / Catherine Renshaw Human rights commissions in times of trouble and transition : the case of the National Human Rights Commission of Nepal / Andrea Durbach Corporate human rights abuses : what role for the national human rights institutions? / Surya Deva Rethinking human rights in China : towards a receptor framework / Mimi Zou and Tom Zwart

"The Asia-Pacific region is known for having one of the least developed institutional mechanisms for protecting human rights. This edited collection makes a timely and distinctive contribution to contemporary debates about strengthening the institutional protection of human rights in the Asia-Pacific region, in the wake of ASEAN's announcement in 2009 of an ASEAN regional human rights mechanism.Drawing together leading scholarly voices, the book focuses on the systemic issue of institutionalising human rights protection in the Asia-Pacific. It critically examines the prospects for deepening and widening the institutionalization of human rights monitoring in the region, challenging the orthodox scepticism about whether Asia is "ready" for stronger institutions. The volume analyses the impediments to institutions, whilst questioning the need for them. The collection provides a range of perspectives on the issues and many of the chapters bring a variety of interdisciplinary insights to bear. As such, the collection will be of interest to a scholarly and student audience in law, as well as to readers in international relations, political science, Asian studies, and human rights"-- Provided by publisher.