Southeast Asian Rights Groups Call For Better Dialogue With Asean Leaders

Civil society groups in Southeast Asia are calling on the Associationof Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) for full implementation of humanrights and other reforms. The call was beingmade ahead of an ASEAN summit to be held in Thailand later this month.
 
Civilsociety groups made the call Friday for consultations with regionalgovernments so more social and economic issues can be addressed whenASEAN leaders meet in Thailand later this month.

Debbie StothardtDebbieStothardt, spokeswoman for the Alternative ASEAN Network, says there isa need to have "substantive dialogue and engagement" with ASEAN leaderson regional issues.    

"Not just in terms of meeting the headsof government every year for a few minutes but in terms of talking'nuts and bolts' with senior officials," she said. "The people want toengage not just in a ritual or ceremonial way but actually in asubstantive way where we get to talk about the various policies thataffect our daily lives."

The role of civil society groups took a major step forward following ASEAN meetings earlier this year.

Under the reforms, civil society groups now have the opportunity to hold talks with selected countries.

Inthe July meetings several groups held talks with leaders, includingThailand, to raise issues of rights abuses in Burma. A rights charterhas also been adopted by all 10 members promoting a so-called"people-centered ASEAN".

But groups say they are pessimisticabout the effectiveness of reforms, that include adoption of a humanrights charter and the setting up of a rights commission to overseeissues of abuses in Southeast Asia.

Yap Swee Seng, arepresentative with rights group Forum Asia, raised doubts the commission will be fully independent because it could be funded andcontrolled within the ASEAN Secretariat.

"If you do not haveindependent experts sitting in the commission and instead you havegovernment officials sitting in the commission how is the commissiongoing to hold ASEAN member states accountable to human rights? So itreally runs to the core question of how independent it can be unlessyou have independent experts that can speak without fear and favor," hesaid.

Other issues rights groups want to raise with leadersinclude the impact of climate change on communities and the effectinvestment projects would have in Burma and other countries.

Khin OhmarKhinOhmar, a member of the Forum for Democracy in Burma, says ASEAN needsto press Burma to talk with the democratic opposition and ethnicnationalities about the release of political prisoners and a halt tohuman rights abuses against ethnic minorities.

"The key messagethat we want to get across this time is for ASEAN to really address, toreally engage dialogue with the regime of how they have already beenbreaching the charter so that as a regional bloc that we really want iton the table as official agenda," she said.

ASEAN is expected topush Burma on reforms amid recent moves by several countries, includingthe United States, to re-engage with Burma's military government, whileat the same time maintaining economic sanctions to influence the regimeto end rights abuses.

Thailand is hosting this second summit ofASEAN leaders starting October 23. An earlier leaders meeting had to becanceled after anti-government protesters stormed a key venue where thesummit was due to be held. The Thai government said it will step upsecurity at the summit later this month.