SHAME ON ASEAN :EDITORIAL OF JERUSA

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Subject: SHAME ON ASEAN :EDITORIAL OF JERUSALEM POST



                    Shame on Southeast Asia 

                    Editorial 

                    (June 1) - The right of the Association of Southeast
Asian Nations
                    (ASEAN) to admit whoever it likes into the club deserves
respect, but its
                    decision yesterday to admit Burma was extremely
unfortunate. ASEAN
                    made the principle of non-interference in its members'
internal affairs a
                    golden rule. With the admission of Burma, they have
turned it into a golden
                    calf (or better, perhaps, a golden ostrich) - all that
is needed is uncritical
                    worship of the mantra.

                    Burma is not just another of those states with dubious
internal practices or
                    a shaky democracy. It is a vicious military dictatorship
whose leaders are
                    sworn enemies of democracy. It should stand alongside
North Korea as a
                    pariah among Asian nations. It will be the only state in
the ASEAN group
                    that actually held a democratic election and refused to
allow the winners to
                    take power. Not only that, it has since persecuted and
imprisoned the
                    democrats, and defied world outrage to keep caged the
Nobel peace
                    laureate, Aung San Suu Kyi.

                    Despite the impending debate over its ASEAN membership,
Burma in
                    1996 managed to turn in the worst ever record for human
rights abuses,
                    according to Amnesty International. That is a sure sign
that ASEAN's
                    pursuit of the much discredited foreign policy of
non-interference and
                    "constructive engagement" (which used to be called
appeasement) will
                    influence the despicable Burmese military junta not one
whit.

                    The generals will bleat and complain in the manner of
all such regimes
                    about Western plots and American interference. This is
complete nonsense
                    - the abuses of Burma against its own people are a
special case. The world
                    has as much right to complain about Burma in ASEAN as
ASEAN (and
                    Washington) would have a right to complain about Serbia
in the European
                    Union. Laos and Cambodia were also admitted to ASEAN
yesterday. No
                    one would claim these two states live up to stable
democratic or economic
                    standards yet - but no one criticized ASEAN's decision.
Indeed,
                    Cambodia and Laos are to be applauded and welcomed into
partnership
                    with their neighbors - Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore,
Thailand, Brunei,
                    the Philippines, and Vietnam - in the 30-year-old forum.
It shows how far
                    they have come, and their enthusiasm for a bright new
future.

                    In Burma's case it would appear that economic expediency
and a desire to
                    bring all 10 Southeast Asian states into the forum on
its 30th anniversary
                    have prevailed over good judgment. ASEAN was grossly
wrong to
                    disregard a fervent appeal from Suu Kyi to exclude
Burma. After all, she is
                    the leader of the party that won the 1990 elections
which the Burmese
                    tyrants have since refused to honor.

                    Even as she made a smuggled video this week to appeal to
the ASEAN
                    leaders, the military usurpers were incarcerating 300 of
her supporters.

                    "What the people of Burma risk is the possibility that
admission into
                    ASEAN will make the regime even more obdurate and
oppressive than
                    ever," said Suu Kyi. She should know. In ignoring her
appeal, the ASEAN
                    leaders have rejected democrats in favor of despots. In
making this
                    shameful capitulation to the strong-arm brigands of
Rangoon, they have
                    tainted their admirable anniversary celebrations.

                    The imprisoned democrats in the jails of ASEAN's newest
member will
                    have little to celebrate. In this decision, neither does
ASEAN.