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Human rights questions arise at Asean meeting
Irrawaddy - July 19, 2009
Wai Moe, Phuket (Thailand) – Foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) are expected to approve the Asean Human Rights Body (AHRB)'s Terms of Reference (ToR) during their meeting, which began on Sunday and ends Tuesday, prior to a meeting of the full Asean grouping.
However, the process has already illustrated the difficulty the regional body will face while trying to foster human rights protection in Asia.
The terms of reference of the rights body have been drafted as part of Article 14 of the Asean Charter which came into effect in December 2008.
After approval by the foreign ministers, the rights body will be officially announced at the upcoming 15th Asean Summit in Thailand.
Key Asean members have said they would like to see the formation of the rights body before Vietnam takes the Asean chairmanship next year.
The difficulty of crafting the language in the human rights section was highlighted by the parsing of the wording in the body's fundamental purpose. The terms of reference state that its purpose is "to promote and protect human rights and fundamental freedom" of Asean citizens.
Sources said some Asean countries disagreed with an earlier phrasing of "protect and promote human rights and fundamental freedom" for Asean people, and the "promote and protect" phrase was substituted.
Some human rights groups said they are skeptical of the AHRB's accountability and argued that protecting human rights must come before promoting.
"The ToR [of AHRB] should include the very essence and bare minimum international standards of a regional human rights protection mechanism: the protection mandate and the independence of the body," said the Asean People's Forum of Civil Society in a press release on Friday.
"Unfortunately, these two elements have been missing in the ToR. Ignoring these flaws will leave the people of Asean more defenseless in the face of already existing and widespread human rights violations," the statement said.
Rights groups say some Asean-member countries such as military-ruled Burma are now committing human rights violations and engaged in armed conflicts that currently threaten the peace, dignity and prosperity of Asean people.
"Burmese ethnic women are often raped by Burmese troops during military offensives in eastern Burma," said Htoo Phaw, an activist with the Karen Women's Organization.
"If the Asean rights body could not deter human rights violations in Burma, how could it be a real human rights body?" she asked.
The formation of the Asean rights body faced a huge challenge from Burma in May when the Burmese junta arrested and put on trial pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi for violating the terms of her house arrest, causing a firestorm of international protests and calls for her release.
As the current chair of Asean, Thailand issued a statement on May 19 calling for the immediate release of Suu Kyi and saying Burma, as a member of Asean, had the responsibility to "protect and promote human rights."
The Burmese regime angrily responded that Thailand's statement was interference in its internal affairs.
"Some neighboring nations were unreasonably interested in the hearing of the case," said Maung Myint, the Burmese deputy foreign minister at the Asean-EU meeting in Phnom Penh in May.
The final argument of Suu Kyi's trial is expected on July 24, a day after the conclusion of the Asean Regional Forum. Analysts said the junta had selected the day as a way to ensure the final verdict would not be announced while the Asean meeting was underway.
The official Asean meeting will involve 27 countries including the United States and the European Union. The US and EU are expected to raise the Burma issue.
Some Burmese pro-democracy activists are worried that the US administration's policy on Burma could be too soft for the Burmese regime. The Obama administration is now engaged in a policy review on Burma.
Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, is now in India and will attend the full Asean meeting where she is expected to raise the Burma issue. It is not known if Clinton discussed Burma with Indian officials.
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