Myanmar facing another sanction

Myanmar facing another sanction

SYDNEY (Reuter): Australia said yesterday that Myanmar's military government faced possible exclusion from next July's meeting of ASEAN nations over its alleged continued human-rights abuses.

Citing attacks on ethnic-minority rebels and issues of forced labor and political prisoners, Australia's foreign minister said a case could be made for barring Myanmar from the next Association of Southeast Asian Nations meeting.

Gareth Evans also described as a "charade" moves by Myanmar's ruling State Law and Restoration Council (SLORC) to draft a new constitution.

"If the present situation continues ... then there may well be a strong case for Myanmar having even less status than it was granted last year," Evans told reporters. SLORC changed the country's name to Myanmar after the army suppressed a nationwide democracy uprising in 1988.

A lowering of status at the Brunei meeting would imply that Myanmar did not attend at all, Evans said.

Myanmar attended an ASEAN meeting for the first time as a special guest in Bangkok last July. Its attendance at the talks, which included Australia as an ASEAN dialogue partner, was part of a regional policy of constructive engagement with Myanmar.

Evans made his comments after returning from a visit to ASEAN countries Brunei, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia to discuss regional security issues ahead of the Brunei meeting. The other ASEAN countries are the Philippines and Singapore.

His remarks coincided with what an exiled Myanmarese dissident called a shameful show of support for SLORC on Friday by former Australian prime minister Bob Hawke, whose recent visit to Myanmar was condemned by some groups.

SLORC was genuinely committed to improving the economic well being of the people and was responsible for many "good things", Hawke told a national parliamentary inquiry.