RI vows to buck ASEAN rights slide

Lilian Budianto,  The Jakarta Post ,   Jakarta   |  Thu, 03/05/2009 2:06 PM   

Critics warn the disparity in political stances among the 10 member states of ASEAN will continue to embroil the 41-year-old bloc, but Jakarta says it is ready to exert more influence to help reverse the situation. 

The bloc's leaders concluded their 14th summit last Sunday in Cha-am, Thailand, with a declaration pledging commitment for an integrated community by 2015. 

Although all members managed to nail down a common interest, the grouping suffered a setback after it agreed to tone down differences over the human rights benchmark to accommodate members with meager rights credentials. The bloc was also dealt with a blow after Myanmar and Cambodia banned their own activists from attending an official meeting with ASEAN leaders during the summit. 

Myanmar is ruled by a military junta, Brunei Darussalam is under the rule of an absolute monarch, Laos and Vietnam have single-party systems, Singapore and Cambodia observe elections with predictable results, Malaysia restricts political rights under its draconian Internal Security Act, leaving Indonesia and the Philippines as the main democracies in this region of more than 570 million people. 

Critics say ASEAN has mistakenly continued to protect military-ruled Myanmar by watering down the mandate of the future ASEAN human rights body, while the West has slapped economic sanctions for the junta's notorious chokehold on democracy. 

"If you keep silent about Burma *also known as Myanmar*, that means you legitimize the corrupt regime. Other countries and groupings around the world have been clearly outspoken about Burma, but what can ASEAN do about it?" said Phil Thornton, a journalist-cum-activist for Myanmarese rights, based in Mae Sot on the Thai border with Myanmar. 

Malaysia has stated the enforcement of human rights in Myanmar will be a difficult process, although it agrees the country is not at the same level of democracy as most other members in the bloc. 

"Let's accept the fact that there will be differences and whatever we can accept to go together, we move forward," Malaysian PM Abdullah Badawi told the Bangkok Post. 

Capitalist Singapore has its own view of human rights, emphasizing that the enforcement of human rights constituted the fact that "people are fed, people are clothed, they have good schools, they have access to government service..." 

"We go for the substance of human rights, rather than the form," Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said as quoted by the Bangkok Post. 

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said Jakarta had made it clear to all ASEAN leaders that the bloc should ensure Myanmar underwent an internal reconciliation process with all conflicting parties, a position also shared by Thailand. 

On human rights, President Yudhoyono said Jakarta would "set an example for the ASEAN human rights body." 

Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Malaysia each boast their own national human rights commission, but only the first two countries' commissions have mandates to investigate cases. 

"A rights body is not only a campaign on behalf of ASEAN. We are very serious about its establishment, and Indonesia will make sure it sets an example for it. ASEAN is not only about pursuing prosperity, but also democracy, and that includes the rule of law, protection of human rights, and freedom of press. Indonesia will play an active role to make sure the rights body has proper functions," Yudhoyono said. 

Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda said members had been reluctant to discuss rights protections, on the principle of non-interference in the bloc, but added Jakarta was ready to press ahead with views that the body had to assume a more protective role. 

Jakarta has five months' time to influence other leaders before the final draft of a guideline for the rights body is submitted in July. 

"There should be a new definition of the principle of non-interference. Gross violations of human rights are not a domestic problem," said Hassan. "The human rights body must not start with a low level *of mandate*, or it will lose credibility on the international stage."