ASEAN NEEDS TO TAKE A STAND ON BURMA

By Zin Linn and - - Reprint | | Print |

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BANGKOK, Dec 4 2007 (IPS) - ASEAN\’s refusal to take a firm position on Burma has become its Achilles\’ heel, writes Zin Linn, a former political detainee who now lives in exile and is presently the information director of the National Coalition Government (in exile) of Union of Burma. In this analysis, the author writes that ASEAN recently cancelled UN special envoy Ibrahim Gambari\’s scheduled briefing on the political situation of Burma at the ASEAN Summit in Singapore. ASEAN member countries\’ lack of collective will to take a strong position against Burma is very disappointing and makes a mockery of the ASEAN Charter, which states that the region must be more responsive to human rights issues. According to Amnesty International, there have been fresh arrests by the junta-led Burmese government despite its promises. To date, up to 700 people arrested during and following the September protests remain behind bars, while 1150 political prisoners held prior to the protests have not been released. It is the responsibility of the international community, especially regional players like China and India, to press the ruling junta to make changes and recognise the Burmese people\’s fundamental rights, including the right to freedom of expression.

ASEAN recently cancelled United Nations special envoy Ibrahim Gambari’s scheduled briefing on the political situation of the country at the ASEAN Summit in Singapore. This unexpected deletion from the summit agenda stopped UN efforts in their tracks and dashed expectations for a solution to Burma’s political problems.

ASEAN’s capitulation to the whims of Burma’s prime minister Thein Sein, who staged a protest against the briefing, is unfortunate. It was lieutenant general Thein Sein who promised Gambari in early November that no more arrests would be carried out in Burma and who attended ASEAN’s 40th anniversary summit and signed its new charter, committing the body to the ”promotion and protection of human rights”.

But according to Amnesty International, there have been fresh arrests by the junta-led Burmese government despite its promises. To date, up to 700 people arrested during and following the September protests remain behind bars, while 1150 political prisoners held prior to the protests have not been released.

It is the responsibility of the international community, especially regional players like China and India, to press the ruling junta to make changes and recognise the Burmese people’s fundamental rights, including the right to freedom of expression.

Singaporean MP Charles Chong made a bold prediction last August at the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA) in Kuala Lumpur that all of ASEAN, including China and India, ”will suffer if Burma’s situation continues to deteriorate”. The assembly was held mainly to discuss the country’s problems and included more than 20 national legislators from Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Singapore.

At the same meeting, Chong said that the Burmese military’s choke-hold on power has hurt the region, especially with the flight of refugees to neighbouring countries and the spread of narcotics in the region. All of this has undermined ASEAN’s efforts to be seen as an influential regional body, said Chong.

On September 27, the day that Japanese journalist Kenji Nagai was shot dead in Rangoon at the height of the crackdown, ASEAN foreign ministers held an open discussion at UN headquarters in New York about the situation in Burma. Astounded by reports of the brutal crackdown and numerous fatalities, including of monks, they released a statement urging the junta to end the violence against the demonstrators.

The statement also included a forceful call for a political solution and a genuine national reconciliation among the parties concerned. It also called for the release of all political prisoners including National League for Democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

But as usual, the body’s statement was for naught. Member countries’ lack of collective will to take a strong position against Burma is very disappointing and makes a mockery of the ASEAN Charter, which states that the region must be more responsive to human rights issues.

The Charter was intended to transform ASEAN into an institution similar to the European Union and to entrust members with strengthening democracy, enhancing good governance and the rule of law, and promoting and protecting human rights and fundamental freedoms.

ASEAN deserves to be recognised internationally not only as a cohesive alliance of economically developed nations but also as a regional body that is ethically and politically responsible.

The organisation needs to begin a process of rigorous and coordinated commitment both for the benefit of the people suffering under tyranny and for peace and stability in the region. To do so, member countries must adopt a multilateral approach.

Apart from reassessing their historical commitment to the policy of non-interference, ASEAN members must agree to work towards a common goal of persistent reform, reconciliation, and democratisation in Burma.

Of course, change will eventually come to the country. But without the cooperation of the concerned regional players, that change will come at a great cost. The international community must take into consideration the long-suffering Burmese people, who have been under military rule for the last 45 years. Positive changes there will definitely increase stability in the region.

Although ASEAN leaders have adopted a landmark Charter that endorses democratic standards, it does not have the means to enforce them.

Singapore’s foreign minister, George Yeo, defended the final document, saying, ”I’m not sure if it will have teeth but it will certainly have a tongue. It will certainly have moral influence if nothing else.”

But for the people of Burma, the lies a tongue can create far outnumber one good promise. (END/COPYRIGHT IPS)