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FOREIGN
Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo has asked the
Philippine Senate to ratify the charter of the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), noting
that the binding constitution would be crucial in
improving the human-rights situation in the region.
He said
the Philippines, along with Indonesia and Thailand, is
one of three Asean members that have yet to ratify the
landmark charter.
The
charter seeks to establish a human-rights commission
that would address cases of atrocities against nationals
of Asean members.
“The
important element of the charter is the establishment of
the human-rights body…. We leave it to the members of
the Senate whether to ratify the charter of the Asean or
not,” said Romulo in a luncheon briefing on Tuesday held
at the Harbourview restaurant in Manila.
The
foreign affairs chief said the Asean high-level task
force has convened to discuss the terms of reference for
the Asean human-rights commission.
“We are
spearheading the effort to make a human-rights body, a
real human-rights body that has value added from the
existing human-rights declarations under the United
Nations,” said Romulo.
He said
the Asean human-rights body is also aimed to push for
existing treaties on human rights in the
member-countries like the Universal Declaration on Civil
and Political Rights and the Convention on the
Elimination of Discrimination Against Women.
“On the
issue of [Burma], we have been consistent, firm and
steadfast in urging its leaders to release prodemocracy
leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and the members of the
National League of Democracy party,” said Romulo.
He
stressed: “We continue to urge [Burma] to lead the road
map to democracy, and the first step to implementing the
road map is to release Aung San Suu Kyi,” he said. Suu
Kyi has been in prison and house arrest for almost 13
years.
Besides
the human-rights body, the Asean charter also seeks to
establish a dispute-settlement mechanism to address
trade issues among the member-countries of the regional
bloc.
Western
governments have long been criticizing Asean for
maintaining a policy of constructive engagement and
noninterference that has prevented the regional bloc
from addressing human-rights atrocities in Burma. |
