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If UN can admit Myanmar, so can Ase



Subject: If UN can admit Myanmar, so can Asean

If UN can admit Myanmar, so can Asean
27/5/97


     KUALA LUMPUR -- Myanmar's imminent membership of Asean could be the
     starting point for improving the human-rights situation in that
country, an international
     expert on human rights said here yesterday. 

     Professor Yozo Yokota, who served as the United Nations special
rapporteur on the
     situation of human rights in Myanmar for four years until May last
year, said it was up
     to the Asean members and the government in Yangon to decide on Myanmar's
     membership into the grouping. 

     "If the United Nations accepts Myanmar as member, Asean has the right
to accept
     Myanmar," he said during a lecture at the Institute of Strategic and
International
     Studies (Isis) here. 

     "My sincere hope is that the membership of Myanmar into Asean, which is
likely to
     take place soon, will be the starting point for improving the
human-rights situation in
     Myanmar and restoration of democracy," said Prof Yokota, who is
attached to the
     Law Faculty at the University of Tokyo. 

     He said he was aware that some Western governments did not want to see
Myanmar
     accepted by Asean and that Myanmar's opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and
     her National League for Democracy party wanted the ruling State Law and
Order
     Restoration Council to restore democracy and respect human rights first
before it is
     accepted by Asean. 

     Asean foreign ministers are expected to decide on the timing of
Myanmar's entry
     along with Cambodia and Laos at a meeting here on Saturday. 

     Prof Yokota said just as in the case of the UN, which had clear
objectives to achieve
     co-operation among member states for respect of human rights, Myanmar's
entry
     into Asean could further boost the efforts. 

     He said the situation of human rights in Myanmar when he was the
special rapporteur
     until last year was "very bad" and he believed the situation had not
improved much. 

     "The government of Myanmar has to respect the human rights of their own
people,"
     he added. -- Bernama.