10 March 2008

U.S. Envoy Urges Burma To Meet Region’s Human Rights Standards

New ASEAN charter promotes human rights body, democratic principles

 

A new charter signed by Southeast Asian leaders in 2007 calls on members to espouse free trade and democratic values. (© AP Images)

A new charter signed by Southeast Asian leaders in 2007 calls on members to espouse free trade and democratic values. (© AP Images)

By Stephen Kaufman
Staff Writer

Washington -- As the United States and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) celebrate 30 years of ties, the Bush administration welcomes the organization’s new charter that authorizes creation of a new ASEAN human rights body and espouses democratic principles.

The administration hopes the group will decide how best to apply those standards to member states such as Burma.

Speaking February 29 in Thailand, Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Christopher Hill said the charter, drafted at ASEAN’s November 2007 summit in Singapore, embraces not only free-market principles but also democratization throughout the region.  He called on member states to approve the charter, and said it would strengthen the organization.

“I think as ASEAN is stronger, that will really, I think, help Burma understand that in order to be stronger itself it needs to live up to those higher ASEAN standards,” Hill said.

The assistant secretary’s remarks came one week before nongovernmental organizations gathered in Jakarta, Indonesia, for a March 6-7 conference on the role that civil society in ASEAN member states can play to support human rights and democracy in Burma.

Burma, ruled for decades by a military junta, has faced increased international isolation and economic sanctions in the aftermath of the violent September 2007 suppression of peaceful pro-democracy protesters.

ASEAN HAS “SPECIAL RESPONSIBILITY” FOR BURMA, USTR SAYS

U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab, who attended the ASEAN summit in Singapore, said November 19, 2007, that ASEAN bears a “special responsibility” regarding Burma.

“I think it’s clear that my ASEAN colleagues realized [and] recognized that the credibility and reputation of ASEAN as an organization has been called into question because of the situation in Burma and that it just can’t be business as usual,” she said.  She described the organization’s new charter as “a very important and positive development” in its history, but that it also faces the challenge of how to apply those standards to all its member states.

U.S. officials are watching how ASEAN reconciles its need to make the organization more relevant and active while contending with countries like Burma.  ASEAN has operated through the consensus of all its members and traditionally has been reluctant to get involved in their individual affairs or express criticism.  However, a senior State Department official told America.gov that, given Burma’s pariah status as a human rights violator, if ASEAN “cannot figure out a way to deal with Burma then they are always going to be hamstrung by it.’

In its relations with the United States and others in the international community, ASEAN must find a way to balance the participation of its member state, Burma, with concerns over human rights in the country. “We aren’t dictating to them how to do it, but we remind them it is critical to work this out for the good of the organization,” the official said.

ASEAN now has an opportunity to call on Burmese authorities to conduct their proposed May constitutional referendum in a free and fair manner.

The official said “it is entirely appropriate” for the organization to be encouraging its member state to hold the referendum in accordance with internationally recognized standards, allowing transparency, free debate, universal suffrage and the participation of international monitors.