Amnesty calls Asean to task over Burma abuses

Thursday, 08 April 2010 14:58 Mizzima News

(Mizzima) - Amnesty International urged regional leaders to address immediately Burma’s violation of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) human rights charter, joining the chorus of regional lawmakers critical of the Burmese regime on the eve of the bloc’s summit in the Vietnamese capital, Hanoi.
Donna Guest, Amnesty’s deputy Asia programme director, on Wednesday said: “It is clear that Myanmar [Burma] has been seriously and systematically breaching the Asean charter’s human rights provisions. It is now up to the summit, under its new chair Vietnam, to address this breach as a matter of urgency.”

The rights group’s call came as leaders of Asean member countries, including Burma, were gathering in Hanoi, Vietnam, for the bloc’s 16th summit on Thursday and Friday.

With continued but increasing repression of activists, ethnic minorities and political dissidents, Burma’s human rights record was worsening, Amnesty said.

Burma’s military government has laid the ground work to continue such repression with its enactment of electoral laws that bar thousands of people, including detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, from participating in the upcoming election.

“Asean’s reputation as a meaningful regional forum will suffer if it does not call for Myanmar to respect freedom of expression, assembly and association in the lead-up to the election,” Guest said.

With the Asean charter’s article 20 (4) stating, “In the case of a serious breach of the Charter or non-compliance, the matter shall be referred to the Asean Summit for decision,” the 10-member bloc must press Burma to halt the increasing repression of activists, particularly from the country’s large ethnic minority community, Amnesty said.

Asean must also call on Burma to free Aung San Suu Kyi and all other political prisoners, estimated at 2,200, and deliver free, fair and inclusive elections this year, Amnesty said.

“This summit is an opportunity for Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia to continue their demands for Myanmar [Burma] to improve its human rights record,” Guest said, adding that: “The Asean summit’s final statement should include a clear condemnation of Myanmar’s [Burma’s] human rights record.”

Burma is a member state to the bloc along with Indonesia, Cambodia, Brunei, Laos, Malaysia, Vietnam, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. Often, the group faces international criticism for the appalling rights violations in its member country, Burma.

Aside from the section of the Asean charter highlighted by Amnesty, the preamble to the document sets out the bloc’s founding ideals, one of which says it values: “Adhering to the principles of democracy, the rule of law and good governance, respect for and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms.”

Amnesty’s statement echoes that of 105 parliamentarians from Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Cambodia and Singapore, who have called on the summit “to urgently discuss the dire need for actionable and meaningful solutions to the political and human rights problems currently plaguing Myanmar [Burma]”. On Wednesday the lawmakers issued a press statement calling on the forum to seriously consider the situation in Burma and to take significant action, such as suspending the country from the grouping.


Fact box

Other Asean Charter sections on rights and democracy

* Article 1, Section 4, states that one of Asean’s purposes is “to ensure that the peoples and member states of Asean live in peace with the rest of the world at large in a just, democratic and harmonious environment.”

* Article 1, Section 6: “to alleviate poverty and narrow the development gap within Asean through mutual assistance and co-operation.”

* Section 7: “to strengthen democracy, enhance good governance and the rule of law, and to promote and protect human rights and fundamental freedoms.”

* Article 2 on “Principles”, section two: “Asean and its member states shall act in accordance with the following principles: sub-section (i): “respect for fundamental freedoms, the promotion and protection of human rights, and the promotion of social justice.”