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One can't really describe the launch as a good one, but for optimists it is better than nothing. This is the story of Asean's effort to set up the region's first human rights watchdog - which has been criticised as being nothing but a "toothless tiger".

The watchdog will have a very weak mandate, limited at first to promoting the concept of human rights and engaging with civil society.

On the brighter side, it will be subject to amendments every five years, thus providing an opportunity to make the needed adjustments. But if this tiger is to have dental work carried out only once every five years, it risks becoming rotten and irrelevant in the eyes of the people it is supposed to protect.

Asean ministers were asking for understanding yesterday, calling the watchdog the beginning of something good and meaningful.

To be fair to Asean, the establishment of a human rights body is a step into uncharted territory. The journey is likely to be a long one and a rough one at that. Gross human rights violations have taken place, and continue to take place, inside the borders of the ten Asean member countries. None can claim to have an impressive record of rights protection. Thus, the announcement of the watchdog comes at least as a breath of fresh air.

But the watchdog will not be worth the paper of the document that brought it to life if it does not have the teeth to tackle rogue members such as the junta in Burma. According to a draft document, the rights body will lack powers to punish rights violators.

Thai Prime Minister and current Asean chairman Abhisit Vejjajiva said the rights body will develop "more teeth" after it is formally launched by the leaders of the regional bloc at a new summit meeting in October.

 "What we want to do is establish a body that begins with the issue of promotion. Then the next step, once that is put into place, is that there will be more teeth for the body in terms of protection," he said.

The emphasis on the "promotion" aspect of the Asean Inter-Governmental Commission on Human Rights comes across as a bit self-serving. It gives the impression that the ten-member organisation is on to something bold and promising. But the necessary mandate to activate a neutral, third party entity to look into any allegations of rights abuse is not there. The charter's frame of reference and mandate does not yet talk about protection.

Neither is there mention of a mechanism for complaints of human rights violations to be addressed or taken up.

Asean basically assumes its members will file accurate reports about the state of human rights in their countries. But can we expect the likes of Burma, an isolated regime with a long history of violent abuse, to come clean on its own actions? If Burma doesn't follow the provisions of the bill, then there isn't much hope for any other members to do so. Getting this watchdog into action is still a problem at this point in time.

Under the terms of reference, Asean's underlying principle of non-interference in the domestic affairs of individual members remains untouched. It's a mystery as to how any human rights investigations will be undertaken if such a policy is still in place.

Moreover, the role of the civil society organisations is still unclear. No doubt about it, human rights defenders have a role to play. In the absence of an adequate mechanism, these organisations cannot afford to be complacent. They must keep pushing the envelope and pressuring the regional body to commit itself to a better and stronger mandate that puts the interests of the Asean people at the centre of Asean policy.

It is clear now that the days of living in isolation are gone. Many issues once not talked about are now on the public radar screen. Topics such as the Rohingya boat people, as well as the trafficking of people, are some of the issues that require regional cooperation. Public health - currently dominated by the swine flu epidemic - and other non-traditional security threats are further issues that require the same level of cooperation.

On the economic front, Asean still has more work to do to bring to life to the Chiang Mai Initiative that aims to establish a regional reserve for countries in need of emergency cash.