Human rights ativists barred from Asean meeting

http://www.themalaysianinsider.com.my/index.php/world/19394-human-rights-activists-barred-from-asean-meeting

Human rights activists barred from Asean meeting
CHA-AM (Thailand), Feb 28 — Prominent activists from military-ruled Myanmar and Cambodia were barred today from a meeting with Southeast Asian leaders, upstaging the opening of a summit billed as a historic step towards greater human rights in the region.

The two human rights activists were barred from a meeting on political reform and human rights in Myanmar, after the leaders of Myanmar and Cambodia threatened to walk out if they attended. The activists had been selected by a regional human rights forum to act as delegates for their respective countries, along with activists from the other eight delegate nations.


Two hours later, Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva officially opened the annual Asean summit with an address stressing that "Asean will put people first — in its vision, in its policies, and in its action plans."

US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Scot Marciel called the incident "unfortunate," and human rights advocates said it again proved Myanmar would continue to hamstring the Association of Southeast Asian Nations if it remained a member of the bloc.

The meeting went ahead without the two delegates — Khin Ohnmar, a prominent Myanmar activist awarded Sweden's Anna Lindh human rights prize last year, and Pen Somony from the Cambodia Volunteers for Civil Society.

Summit officials made no immediate comment on the incident, although it clearly displeased host Thailand. As reporters swarmed around the ejected activists, organisers pumped loud music through the speakers to force the group outside, then beefed up security, telling the activists they needed permission to hold a news conference.

Yesterday, delegates from the 10-member bloc lauded a forthcoming Asean human rights body to promote fundamental freedoms as a landmark event in the group's 42-year history. However, critics noted that the body, expected to begin functioning later this year, would lack power to punish violators such as Myanmar with expulsion or sanctions.

"The military regime of Burma (Myanmar) is the one who has been sabotaging Asean ever since they joined Asean in 1997," said Debbie Stothard with the human rights group ALTSEAN-Burma.

While human rights became the hottest issue during two days of preliminary discussions, the two-day summit was intended to focus on how to overcome the global financial crisis and move forward on economic, political and security integration.

Asean was set to endorse an early warning system to defuse regional conflicts that could derail its goal of becoming a European Union-like community by 2015, according to a confidential document obtained by AP. The blueprint for peace in the highly diverse region where conflicts still erupt was to be adopted tomorrow.

"More efforts are needed in strengthening the existing modes of pacific settlement of disputes to avoid or settle future disputes," says the final draft of the Asean Political-Security Community Blueprint. It outlines a long wish list, ranging from fighting piracy, terrorism and cyber crime to promoting democracy and good governance.

But officials stressed that numerous stumbling blocks remain to true economic, political and security integration.

"The European Union has been and remains our inspiration, not our model. Not yet anyway," Asean Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan said.

He said that for the foreseeable future economic integration was largely about dropping trade barriers and that a common currency was probably "a long, long way off."

Asean, which encompasses a region of more than 500 million people, includes among its members two communist regimes, two constitutional monarchies, a military dictatorship and fledgling democracies.

While Southeast Asia has not seen major conflicts since the Vietnam War era, tensions and confrontations persist. Thailand and Cambodia narrowly avoided a shootout last year in an ongoing dispute over an ancient temple along their common border, and territorial claims remain unresolved in the resource-rich South China Sea. Bloody Muslim insurgencies also plague southern Thailand and the southern Philippines.

Not spelling out details, the blueprint calls for an early warning system "based on existing mechanisms to prevent occurrence/escalation of conflicts." It also outlines intensified cooperation among the bloc's military forces.

The summit is the first since the group signed a landmark charter in December making Asean a legal entity and moving it a step closer to its goal of integration.

Asean's 10 members include Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. — AP