Committee Mandate

It is anticipated that the LAWASIA Human Rights Committee will focus activity on the following:

• 1.1    Research into human rights in particular in the Asian Pacific region.
• 1.2    Providing LAWASIA members with information on human rights.
• 1.3    Organising or assisting meetings, sessions and conferences of LAWASIA on human rights issues.
• 1.4    Proposing and/or implementing human rights intervention activities including intervention letters, organizing and researching trial and other observation missions.
• 1.5    Participation in meetings, among others, of bar associations/ law societies, international lawyers’ organizations and international organisations.
• 1.6    Establishing and administrating a LAWASIA Human Rights Award, awarded to lawyers or advocates who have made prominent achievements in human rights in the Asian Pacific region.
• 1.7    Drafting principles for consideration by Council (e.g. principles on separation of command between civil police force and military).
• 1.8    Giving consideration to further development of the draft LAWASIA Pacific Human Rights Charter.

 Join the LAWASIA Human Rights Lawyers' Network !⚖️

Be part of a vibrant community of human rights lawyers across the Asia-Pacific, dedicated to advancing justice and protecting fundamental rights. As a member, you'll gain exclusive access to LAWASIA Human Rights Lawyers' Network meetings, where you can engage in meaningful discussions and collaborations.

✅ Stay informed on key human rights developments
✅ Connect with legal experts & advocates
✅ Attend exclusive LAWASIA Human Rights Lawyers' Network Meetings
✅ Contribute to impactful discussions & initiatives

Don't miss this opportunity to connect, learn, and make a difference!

Committee Leaders

Co-Chairs, Human Rights Committee | LAWASIA

Shanmuga Kanesalingam
Kanesalingam & Co. Malaysian Centre for Constitutionalism and Human Rights
MALAYSIA

Shanmuga Kanesalingam is primarily a litigator in the fields of corporate and general litigation, media law, and constitutional and administrative law. 
 
He has acted pro bono for numerous persons who say they were wrongly considered as Muslims when in fact professed and practiced Hinduism. He has also acted for mothers who say their children were unlawfully converted to Islam by their ex-husbands and was lead counsel in the landmark decision of Malaysia’s apex court in Indira Gandhi v Religious Department of Perak (2018) which overturned the conversion certificates of 3 children. 
 
Shan also represented an online news portal in a case establishing a constitutional right to a free press in Malaysia and was involved in several cases challenging bans on books, including successfully overturning a book published by Sisters in Islam; the Malay translation of Irshad Manji’s “Allah, Liberty and Love”; and a collection of cartoons by political satirist Zunar.
 
Together with 5 other lawyers, he co-founded the LoyarBurok blawg (www.loyarburok.com), which featured articles on public interest matters, which now has a physical presence with the establishment of the Malaysian Centre for Constitutionalism and Human Rights (www.mcchr.org) in 2011. In 2015, Shan obtained an LL.M from Columbia Law School with the assistance of a Fulbright scholarship.
 

William Wylie Clarke
President, Fiji Law Society
FIJI

Wylie is a graduate in law of the Australian National University. He also has an honours degree in Government from the University of Sydney. He was admitted to the High Court of the Australian Capital Territory in 1995 and subsequently to the Fiji bar in 1996. He was a Prosecutor with the Director of Public Prosecutions Office from 1996 until 1998.

Wylie is a commercial lawyer in Fiji and has been Westpac Bank’s main legal advisor in Fiji for over 17 years. He is a former president of the Fiji-Australia Business Council and is a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors’ Fiji advisory board.

Wylie is a former President of the Fiji Red Cross National Society and is a current member of the Governing Board of the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, based in Geneva. He is also a founding and former member of the Compliance and Mediation Committee, a part of the International Federation established to assist it with governance matters and in taking any steps necessary to resolve potential breaches of integrity by National Societies and to resolve disputes; he served on that committee for 8 years.

An important and enduring focus of Wylie’s work has been in the area of governance and compliance. A key role he has fulfilled for more than 10 years has been to advise the International Federation of the Red Cross on matters pertaining to actual and potential breaches of integrity. He has also worked with domestic national societies to assist them with building and ensuring the continuity of governance structures and he has also help assist in ensuring their elections are conducted in accordance with their rules.

Wylie was elected President of the Fiji Law Society in September 2020, and was appointed to the LAWASIA ExCo in 2021.

Co-Vice Chairs, Human Rights Committee | LAWASIA

Dr Pillkyu Hwang, Esq.
GongGam Human Rights Law Foundation
KOREA

Rebecca Preston
Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights, Canberra
AUSTRALIA

Expert Counsellor (HR & Environment) Human Rights Committee | LAWASIA

Satoko Kitamura
Expert Counsellor Refugees and Migrant Workers
JAPAN

Clarence Chou
Expert Counsellor Environment, Business, Death Penalty Abolition
TAIWAN

Govind Manoharan
Expert Co-Counsellor Environment, Business, Death Penalty Abolition
INDIA

Secretary and Expert Counsellor  HR Advocacy & Training, Human Rights Committee | LAWASIA

Firdaus Husni
Malaysian Centre for Constitutionalism and Human Rights
MALAYSIA

Past Human Rights Committee Co-Chairs 

Mr Shyam Divan, Senior Advocate | Supreme Court of India (INDIA) 

Professor Yasushi Higashizawa, Expert Counsellor Independence of the Judiciary | JAPAN

Arthur Moses SC, New Chambers | AUSTRALIA