ASEAN call for rights review generates concern

ASEAN call for rights review generates concern

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP): A surprise southeast Asian proposal to
review the Universal Declaration on Human Rights has generated
concern among activist groups and reignited an East-West debate
on the issue.

The proposal, floated by Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir
Mohamad as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) was
meeting here, was quickly slammed by the group's western partners
and human rights campaigners.

Fan Yew Teng, a prominent Malaysian human rights activist,
expressed concern yesterday that some governments in the
developing world could use a review of the declaration "as an
excuse to suppress the people."

He cited the case of Myanmar, which has just joined ASEAN and
is under relentless pressure from the United States and the
European Union to improve its notorious human rights record.

"The biggest test for Myanmar was the 1993 democratic
(election of a) civilian government which was not honored and
ASEAN has shamefully condoned that, so how can they even talk
about human rights?" Fan lashed out at the grouping.

Malaysia's opposition Democratic Action Party (DAP) said the
timing of the proposal was "most disturbing" since it came right
after the controversial admission of Myanmar into ASEAN last
week.

DAP secretary-general and MP Lim Kit Siang said the "nagging
question" was whether ASEAN's call for a review "would reinforce
the stubborn refusal of the Myanmar military junta" to "heed
international calls to embark on democratic reforms."

Prime Minister Mahathir, regarded as a leading spokesman of
the developing world, had said the document was formulated by
"superpowers which did not understand the needs of poor
countries."

Even the Philippines, a former U.S. colony normally identified
with the liberal camp, backed a review.

The U.S. and European delegations which took part in the ASEAN
meetings were taken aback by the Malaysian proposal.

U.S. officials called up the specter of World War II, the
Holocaust and the "killing fields" of Cambodia -- a strife-torn
country seeking membership in ASEAN -- to warn against any move
to "dilute or undermine" human rights.

John Funston, an analyst at the Institute of Southeast Asian
Studies in Singapore, said the clash clearly reflected the
different priorities placed by Asian and Western countries on
human rights.

"In the West, basic rights of food, housing and clean water
are taken for granted, whereas in parts of the Asian region,
these things are still problematic," he said.

"The American reaction seems to be a very quick one," noted
Funston, who said the West had assumed there was a particular
Asian agenda of reducing the commitments to individual freedoms
under the existing document.

"This debate will continue for a long time. All that people
can do is to agree to differ without being disagreeable to it,"
he added.

The assertion that there are distinct "Asian values" such as
respect for authority and the supremacy of society over the
individual has been countered by Western countries which maintain
human rights enshrined in the declaration are "universal values."

K.S. Balakrishnan, a security and international policy analyst
at Malaysia's government-linked Institute of Strategic and
International Studies, said the western protest was a form of
"neo-colonialism" to deny Asian countries their rights by
pressuring them on trade and labor issues.

But he added Asian countries for their part should improve
conditions in the region by working for the reform of
authoritarian and communist regimes.

Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said Tuesday the
country accepted the fundamental principles of the rights
declaration and was merely calling for a review of some
provisions.