ASEAN grapples with democracy, human rights issues

ASEAN grapples with democracy, human rights issues

By Stephen Powell

MANILA (Reuters): When the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations (ASEAN) admitted military-led Myanmar into its ranks last
year, the group hardly seemed to be moving towards more open
debate on democracy.

Yet today ASEAN is publicly grappling with the issues of human
rights and democracy to an extent it never has done before --
partly because of the admission of Myanmar.

At a two-day meeting of ASEAN foreign ministers which ended
last Saturday, Thailand and the Philippines pushed for a fuller
discussion of controversial issues, from democracy to the
environment.

"Like it or not, the issues of democracy and human rights are
those that we have to increasingly deal with in our engagement
with the outside world," Thai Foreign Minister Surin Pitsuwan
told the conference.

"How are we going to put ourselves on the offensive rather
than always be on the receiving end?" he asked.

One reason why ASEAN is on the receiving end over human rights
is the presence in the organization of Myanmar, whose military
rulers crushed a pro-democracy movement with heavy loss of life a
decade ago and have held on to power ever since.

The lack of progress towards national reconciliation in
Myanmar was a constraint on ASEAN, Australian Foreign Minister
Alexander Downer told a news conference in Manila.

He said many in ASEAN were trying to push for reconciliation
between the military government, the State Peace and Development
Council (SPDC), and the pro-democracy movement led by Nobel Peace
Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi.

"I know that many in ASEAN are anxious to see a focus on
Myanmar because they know that the problems in Myanmar are
causing difficulties for ASEAN as a whole, for example in the
context of ASEAN's dialogue with the European Union," Downer
said.

"That is constrained, inhibited by the problems in Myanmar
because of the European Union's stand against Myanmar.

"So there is a problem for ASEAN and they know it's a problem
and they're worried about it. I think it is fair to say that many
of the ASEAN countries are doing their best to try to encourage
the SPDC to take things forward, as are we."

Thailand's Surin delighted human rights campaigners in Asia
with his stance on democracy.

"ASEAN is in danger of turning into a club of fossilized golf
players if it ignores Dr Surin's comments," said a pressure group
called the Alternative ASEAN Network on Myanmar.

ASEAN leaders have a much-satirized fondness for golf --
Cambodian Second Prime Minister Hun Sen has joked about his need
to improve his golf if Cambodia is admitted into ASEAN.

Cambodia also highlights ASEAN's increased concern with human
rights. The group is keenly watching Sunday's elections in
Cambodia and will admit the country into its ranks if the
elections are deemed to be fair.

This policy is a departure from tradition, since ASEAN has not
normally linked membership with free elections.

Cambodia was originally due to enter ASEAN last year, but
ASEAN put the admission on hold after strongman Hun Sen ousted
first prime minister Prince Norodom Ranariddh in a bloody coup.

In Manila, Thailand won agreement in ASEAN that henceforth
there would be "enhanced interaction" on big issues with trans-
boundary implications, though the association's hallowed
principle of non-interference in members' internal affairs would
still operate.

Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore spoke out strongly against
the Thai proposals for so-called "flexible engagement" and
analysts said that what emerged was a compromise.

"I would say it is a sort of a compromise," political science
professor Lee Lai To of the National University of Singapore told
Reuters by telephone.

"Some countries will have great reservations in accepting this
approach," he said of the new guidelines. "Some of the issues are
very sensitive."

He cited Myanmar, Vietnam and Indonesia as countries which
would find the new approach difficult.

But he said "enhanced interaction" was a vague phrase allowing
differences of interpretation. "You can play with the phrase
actually," he said.

The debate in Manila touched some raw nerves. Malaysian
Foreign Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said in a speech to the
conference: "The fundamental ASEAN principle of non-interference
in the internal affairs of member states is now under
scrutiny... To abandon this time-honored principle would set us
on the path towards eventual disintegration."

ASEAN groups Brunei, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the
Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

A year of crisis in Asia, with currencies crashing and
unemployment soaring, has supplied the broad backdrop to the
debate on openness in ASEAN. Many seem to feel that avoiding
touchy issues is a luxury ASEAN countries can no longer afford.

"The times are too critical to waste time and spare feelings,"
columnist Beth Day Romulo wrote in a commentary on the debate in
the Manila Bulletin daily.