III. POLITICS: THE POLITICAL CONTEXT TO THE DECLARATION
¶33 ASEAN’s composition as a disparate group of countries creates distinct political challenges in the development of the ASEAN human rights system—differences that are evident in the subsidiary Declaration of 2012. These political challenges arose particularly from the expansion in membership in the late 1990s, with the accession of poorer and more authoritarian states. As Table 1, below, reveals, ASEAN member-states vary enormously in terms of population size, levels of economic or social well-being and in their political systems, including their commitment to democracy. According to Freedom House, for instance, Indonesia is the only country in ASEAN which can be labeled as “free”; four (Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand) are “partly free,” with weak provision of civil liberties or protection of political rights; while five countries or 50% of ASEAN’s membership (Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam), are “not free.”20