ASEAN / Burma : the human rights issue

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), founded in 1967 on the principle of economic cooperation in the region, marked its 40th anniversary at a ministerial level meeting in Manila at the end of July. This year (2007) is also the 10th anniversary of Burma’s membership in ASEAN. Burma is considered one of the most brutal military dictatorships in Asia. The western liberal democratic world argues that the Burmese military junta does not respect human rights. This is the main reason why the USA and EU decided to impose economic sanctions on Burma, and why the former Clinton administration objected strongly the decision of the Asian Association to accept Burma as a member. This choice affects also the political and economic relationships between USA/EU and ASEAN. The decision to accept the Burmese request was an ASEAN’s choice of not isolating the military junta and handling it to the “Big Mother China”. The strongest advocate for Burma’s membership was Malaysia’s Prime Minister Mahathir, who, in his welcoming keynote address to the 1997 Kuala Lumpur AMM (ASEAN Ministerial Meeting) which admitted Burma, said: ‘ASEAN must resist and reject such attempts at coercion’. The ASEAN policy on Burma, known as “Constructive Engagement”, ‘was designed to convince the world that bringing the junta to table was better than further marginalizing it’. However, as many Asian scholar state, the last ten years have proved that this approach was almost a disastrous and totally wrong. The reluctance of the Burmese military junta to push for democratic reform and the continued imprisonment of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi have severely damaged the credibility of ASEAN as a block in the eyes of the world. On the other hand, the decision of the Association to set up a regional human rights commission seems to be an important step before the next ASEAN Summit on November, where the ten members are going to write a common ASEAN Charter. This document will analyse how ASEAN want to face the human rights issue in Burma and to understand if “Constructive Engagement” policy is still a valid option. Edited by Roberto Tofani

Sommario

ANALYSIS
The human rights issue
Conclusion
INTERNATIONAL PRESS REVIEW
Unhappy anniversary for ASEAN, Myanmar
Irrawaddy
Asean Charter Promotes Human Rights
Skepticism Expressed over Creation of Asean Human Rights Commission.
Deutsche Presse-Agentur
Human rights, voting issues hobble ASEAN charter draft
ASEAN sees tough times in setting up human rights body
Associated Press
Asean agrees on human rights commission
Myanmar says it does not want a combative regional human rights body
Bernama
Regional Human Rights Commission can influence Myanmar’s military junta
ASEAN MACROECONOMIC INDICATORS
Selected key ASEAN macroeconomic indicators
Selected basic ASEAN Indicators
Intra- and extra-ASEAN trade