ASEAN called on to drop existing policy on Myanmar

ASEAN called on to drop existing policy on Myanmar

MANILA (Reuter): A human rights group urged southeast Asian
nations yesterday to abandon their policy of non-interference in
Myanmar and to ban aid and investment to force its military
rulers to yield power.

In a report after a 16-day mission to Myanmar, the group also
called on the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to
back an arms embargo against Yangon and freeze its application
for membership in the seven-member organization.

The Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development released its
report in Manila at the launching of a campaign to bring the
ruling Myanmarese State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC)
to heel, members said.

"At the end of the year, we hope ASEAN will reconsider its
policy of 'constructive engagement' and SLORC will be
weakened ...to pave the way for (a shift) from military to
democratic rule," Filipino mission member Evelyn Serrano told a
news conference.

The Thai-based forum visited Myanmar from May 1 to 17 and its
report was based on interviews with opposition leader Aung San
Suu Kyi, other dissidents and unnamed officials, the report said.

Failure of SLORC to enter into a meaningful dialog with Suu
Kyi and leaders of Myanmar's ethnic groups "is an indication of
the failure of the ASEAN's 'constructive engagement' policy", the
mission said in its report.

ASEAN members have refused to take part in sanctions against
Myanmar, preferring to bring about change through a peaceful
process of what they call "constructive engagement".

ASEAN is composed of Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, the
Philippines, Singapore, Brunei and Vietnam.

The report urged them to stop investing in Myanmar until there
was improvement in the human rights situation and freeze action
on its application for ASEAN membership. It also called for a
moratorium on any new bilateral aid or multilateral funding.

It denounced "summary killings, arbitrary arrest and
detention, torture, disappearances, massacres, rape, forced
labor, forced porterage and massive forced relocation...alleged
to be committed in many parts of the country".

"Serious cases of torture were reported to the mission," it
said. "These allegedly include beatings...shackling, suffocation,
stabbing, rubbing salt and chemicals to open wounds, food and
sleep deprivation, applying electric shocks to genitals,
cigarette burns, solitary confinement, threats to life and other
psychological forms of torture."

The report said the mission failed to meet any torture victims
to verify the allegations.

Besides Serrano, the mission included Filipino college
professor Cynthia Nolasco, Thai professor Gothom Arya and the
forum's secretary-general, Somchai Homlaor, a Thai lawyer.

It said the mission received reports of tens of thousands of
people being forced to work on infrastructure projects.

"Often deprived of food and medical care, many die due to
illnesses...many try to escape the beatings and other forms of
cruel treatment and are killed in the process," the report said.