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THERE is
no use for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean)
to adopt its newly drafted charter during the regional
bloc’s summit in November this year if member Burma—a
dictatorship for over two decades—does not commit to the
explicit provisions on respect for human rights and the
rule of law.
This is
the call of Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel
Jr., one of the leaders of the Asean Interparliamentary
Caucus on Myanmar (Burma as it is called by the ruling
military junta), as Asean ministers meet this month for
the adoption of the terms of reference (TOR) for the
human-rights council of the charter.
The TOR
will be set out by selected experts on human rights and
international humanitarian laws to be selected by the
Asean leaders.
“Asean
leaders should verify if Burma/Myanmar binds itself to
respect and implement the provisions of the Asean
charter,” said Pimentel. “[But], if there is no single
[indication] that it would abide by the provisions of
the human-rights council, then there is no use [in
ratifying] the charter.”
Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim had denounced
the “watered-down” Asean charter during his visit to the
Philippines last month. He noted that the human-rights
council in the proposed charter will not help resolve
serious cases of human-rights atrocities in Burma.
Pimentel
agrees with Anwar’s position that the charter as finally
drafted will not help save the very low credibility of
the regional bloc. Asean is widely criticized, mostly by
Western countries, for its policy of noninterference and
constructive engagement that has allowed continued
rights atrocities in Burma, especially after the brutal
and murderous putdown of the “monks’ protest” recently.
This was followed by the junta’s refusal to let in to
the country foreign relief workers, and rescue missions
even though more than a million people were badly
affected by Cyclone Nargis; and its decision to extend
by another year the detention of democracy leader Aung
San Suu Kyi.
Heads of
the Asean task force on the charter have included a
provision on “sanctions” against members that commit
serious forms of rights violations but the Asean leaders
have struck down the controversial provision following
serious opposition of the Burmese junta. The regional
bloc adopts policies based on unanimous decisions.
Pimentel, a human-rights activist who was jailed five
times by the Marcos dictatorship, said he would initiate
a move to block the ratification in the Philippine
Senate of the Asean charter if there is no such
commitment from the leaders of Burma.
Asean
groups the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Burma,
Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Singapore, Brunei and Vietnam.
Besides
the Asean charter, the Philippine Senate is also not
keen on ratifying the economic partnership agreement
between the Philippines and Japan known as the
Japan-Philippine Economic Partnership Agreement, or
Jpepa.
He led
opposition against ratification due to concerns on the
treatment of Filipino nurses, export of Japanese toxic
pollutants to the Philippines, and provisions allowing
Tokyo to exploit Philippine natural resources.
He said
the Philippine government should not agree to the
binding economic pact if these issues have not been
cleared by Japan. For one, Filipino nurses who will work
in Japan are not allowed equal benefits enjoyed by their
Japanese counterparts. |
