Business and human rights defenders in the ASEAN region

Aiming to be an ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) by 2015, the ASEAN region has accelerated its integration into the global market economy driven by business interests from within and outside ASEAN, with a strong backing by the region’s governments…Much political emphasis has been placed on the AEC to further liberalise the region’s economy and facilitate trade and investment. Far less emphasis has been placed on addressing the social and environmental consequences of economic growth and safeguarding human rights…Increasingly, human rights defenders in ASEAN working to expose human rights abuses in these connections are more vulnerable to threats from both State and non-State actors…