ASEAN asked to be braver about rights

JAKARTA (JP): A senior political scientist is calling on the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) not to turn a blind eye to human rights issues, even when they occur in neighboring countries like Myanmar.

Political scientist J. Soedjati Djiwandono said ASEAN "should be braver" in tackling human rights issues.

"Why don't we ask them to talk openly about this, rather than talking behind their backs instead," he told The Jakarta Post.

He stressed that in issues of democracy and human rights, ASEAN must become more open.

Only the Philippines and Thailand have recently made any statement of concern over Yangon's recent crackdown of rights activists while the other five members of ASEAN -- Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Vietnam -- have kept silent over the incident.

As a basic guideline, ASEAN members have almost staunchly maintained an absolute policy of "non-interference" in a fellow member's domestic affairs.

Soedjati said that since Myanmar is a prospective member of ASEAN, countries like Indonesia should be able to approach Yangon and discuss the matter in such a way that it would not be seen as an intrusion into domestic affairs.

Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas said last week he would not comment on the matter "because we would not want any foreign country to intervene in our internal affairs."

Soedjati expressed skepticism at arguments of "non- interference" saying that it is probably just a self-defense mechanism so others would not criticize Indonesia's own human rights record.

"There's this impression that countries who won't talk about human rights use the argument of having a separate concept, Asian values and the like, as a mere excuse," he said.

Soedjati then quipped that it would also be rather odd for Indonesia to scrutinize another country over its human rights record while there still many similar diversions happening here.

"Who are we to criticize them, domestically when we're also in a mess," he said.

In general he said it is difficult for ASEAN to talk about democracy since there are many dilemmas and contradictions which make people quite dubious over the organization's efforts in that field.

"Sometimes I'm cynical at seeing ASEAN pushing for elections in Cambodia, for instance, while on the other hand knowing that there's never been one in Brunei," he said, adding that "it's difficult to talk about democracy in ASEAN." (mds)