Myanmar tarnishes ASEAN's image

Myanmar tarnishes ASEAN's image

MANILA: The Burmese (Myanmarese) military authorities have clamped severe restrictions on opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her party colleagues after 200 police hauled them back to Rangoon (Yangon) last weekend from Dala, a suburb where they had been stopped from proceeding to a meeting with party members set some 50 miles outside the capital.

The forceful action of the police ended a nine-day impasse in which Suu Kyi and 15 leaders of her National League for Democracy (NLD) remained in two cars on the roadside, refusing to budge.

The impasse was the latest episode in Suu Kyi's struggle for political liberalization in Burma (officially Myanmar) and reminded the rest of the world that her campaign for democracy is far from over despite the overwhelming odds.

Burmese authorities have said that she was now back home "safe and sound," and the world need not worry about her safety. But to say she's safe and sound in her home, where the military said she was comfortable, is to stretch the meaning of the words too far. After the impasse was broken, her house was bolted and padlocked from outside, telephone lines were cut and, according to reports, food now has to be passed over the wall. The military said this was not even a "house arrest."

The latest confrontation between Suu Kyi and the Burmese military junta took place as the United Nations Millennium Summit in New York was about to convene, drawing a chorus of condemnation from the Western democracies, and the European Union and an expression of "deep concern" from UN Secretary General Kofi Annan over the suppression of her right to free movement.

The junta, however, reacted to this condemnation by not only stonewalling but also tightening the house arrest and linking the NLD to alleged "terrorist" activities. Such allegations are the usual methods used by repressive governments to discredit the political opposition and stifle dissent.

The feeble response of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to this latest episode in Suu Kyi's struggle for freedom has again underscored the folly of the policy of "constructive engagement."

When ASEAN admitted Burma in 1997, it thought that it could nudge Burma into political reforms through diplomatic persuasion, but apparently the policy has failed to move the Burmese regime toward more democratic government.

Some countries in ASEAN, notably the Philippines and Thailand, are embarrassed by the crackdown and the futility of the constructive engagement policy, but as a group, ASEAN has been silent over it, fearing that publicly denouncing the crackdown would undermine its doctrine of noninterference in the internal affairs of member countries.

The fact, however, is that ASEAN has breached this doctrine and has not been consistent about observing it. ASEAN's disarray, for example, over the political crisis in Indonesia provoked by the grant of independence to East Timor effectively undermined the doctrine, and so it should stop invoking a policy that has been torn to shreds by the 1997 Asian financial crisis.

ASEAN's shameful silence on the crackdown is matched only by that of the Philippine government from which not a pip of protest has been heard. The only group that condemned the crackdown was Lakas, the opposition party that has managed to identify itself with a foreign policy issue with a democratic theme. If it were not for Lakas, the events in Burma would have been completely ignored locally.

Thailand has done better than the Philippines in expressing concern over the effects of the crackdown on ASEAN. Thai Foreign Minister Surin Pitsauwan has said that the confrontation between the junta and the opposition in Burma could tarnish ASEAN.

He said, "It is important not to create the impression of more tension, instability and insecurity that could erode confidence in the region. We ourselves don't want the problem to continue because it may affect the image of ASEAN as a whole."

The timidity of the Philippines is best illustrated by the fact that it is walking on tiptoes while seeking Rangoon's permission for the Philippine ambassador to interview Suu Kyi, who has been effectively quarantined.

Burmese authorities say the restrictions are only "temporary," but they have shut out Burma's ASEAN's partners from inquiring into the events of the past two weeks.

-- The Philippine Daily Inquirer / Asian News Network