EU hypocrisy

The dialog between ASEAN and the European Union (EU) began in Singapore Thursday. On many issues, particularly those relating to economy and trade, the discussions proceeded smoothly. On the political plane, however, two obstacles stood out in this year's routine meeting: Myanmar and East Timor.

Regarding Myanmar, the difference between ASEAN and the European Union concerned the question of what attitude to take towards Yangon. ASEAN believes it is best to persuade Myanmar to continue to increase its contacts with the outside world, particularly through ASEAN. The European Union wants the international community to isolate Myanmar and its 50 million inhabitants to exert pressure on the government and force it to adopt a more democratic posture.

We believe the ASEAN stance is the right one since this Southeast Asian regional organization was founded on the principle of non-interference in each other's internal affairs. This principle has proven to be a solid foundation on which the association has been able to grow into a successful regional organization.

On the other hand, there is proof that isolation as a means to pressure a totalitarian government into adopting a more democratic demeanor has never been successful. One example is the attempted isolation of Cuba by the United States, a process which has been going on for several decades. If the world's only superpower has not been able to pressure a small country of just over ten million people such as Cuba into becoming more democratic, what could ASEAN -- or even the European Union for that matter -- do against a country such as Myanmar, whose population is five times that of Cuba?

We consider the EU's framework of thinking to be hypocritical. It seems the EU is more inclined to do things that make it feel good, rather than to do good. Clearly, we in ASEAN aspire for democracy to grow in this region with the passage of time. However, we also realize that democracy must grow from the grassroots and cannot be forced on anyone. Similarly, the EU's pressure on ASEAN to raise the East Timor issue is insincerely motivated. In other words, it is intended to make the EU feel good rather to do what is good for the people of East Timor.

We are not closing our eyes to the fact that human rights violations do still occur in East Timor, or elsewhere in this country, for that matter. However, if the EU is sincere in its intention to minimize human rights violations in the world, there are many other more effective things that could be done, such as assisting the National Commission on Human Rights, or opening opportunities for Indonesian civilian and military authorities to undertake comparative studies regarding the practice of human rights in some of the more advanced countries.

-- Media Indonesia, Jakarta