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NEWS - Rights Group Demands ASEAN A



NOTE: The military dictatorships in Indonesia, Burma, et.al. are cowards
and have no integrity. The grown-up children with guns and bombs refuse
to let anyone say that they are wrong!  In some cases, surrender will
never be an issue. They will hold on until they are dead or the country
dies. Japan at the end of WWII was like that. (Many military factions
were like that.)


Rights Group Demands ASEAN Act on Members' Records

            Reuters
            24-JUL-98

            BANGKOK, July 24 (Reuters)- U.S.-based Human Rights Watch
urged
            ASEAN on Friday to take quick action to improve the poor
human rights and
            political records of Cambodia, Myanmar and Indonesia. 

            The meeting of Association of Southeast Asian Nations
foreign ministers in
            Manila this weekend should act by dropping the group's
long-standing
            practice of adopting decisions through consensus, the group
said in a
            statement obtained by Reuters. 

            ``ASEAN can no longer afford to hide behind consensus as a
way of
            avoiding political questions with wider regional
implications,'' said Mike
            Jendrzejezyk, Washington-based director of Human Rights
Watch's Asia
            division. 

            ASEAN groups Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, the
Philippines,
            Brunei, Laos, Vietnam and Myanmar. Cambodia's application to
join ASEAN
            was delayed after second prime minister Hun Sen deposed his
co-premier
            Prince Norodom Ranariddh in a coup last July. 

            Human Rights Watch said some ASEAN members like Indonesia,
Myanmar,
            Laos and Vietnam, had expressed alarm at attempts to move
away from
            consultation and consensus within the grouping. 

            These countries were clearly worried that a shift in
approach would increase
            pressure for internal change, the statement said. 

            Touching on Sunday's Cambodian elections, Human Rights Watch
called on
            ASEAN to refrain from making a decision on the country's bid
for
            membership until it was clear the polls were free and fair,
leading to a
            peaceful transition without violence and intimidation. 

            ``ASEAN, China and others should make it clear in any
statement issued in
            Manila that they will withhold government-to-government aid
and a decision
            on Cambodia's seat at the UN General Assembly until a
legitimate elected
            government is installed,'' it said. 

            On Myanmar, the group proposed that ASEAN assign an envoy to
mediate
            conflicts between the ruling military junta in Yangon, the
opposition led by
            Aung San Suu Kyi, and the diverse ethnic minority forces. 

            It said the ASEAN envoy should seek ``to explore how the
recommendations
            of the UN Commission for Human Rights could be implemented,
including
            release of political prisoners, an end to forced labour, and
opening of
            political dialogue.'' 

            Human Rights Watch also said ASEAN should persuade the new
government
            of Indonesian President Habibie to take concrete moves to
allay the fears of
            ethnic Chinese, by repealing discriminatory laws and
regulations and
            ensuring that acts of violence against ethnic Chinese were
investigated and
            punished. 

            ``ASEAN's credibility is at stake. Can it effectively
address the crises in
            Myanmar, Cambodia and Indonesia? Now that an open debate has
begun
            within ASEAN on constructive engagement, how ASEAN handles
these
            issues will be a test of its commitment to human rights,''
Jendrzejezyk said. 

            Thailand's proposal for ``flexible engagement,'' which would
encourage
            ASEAN members to openly discuss each other's problems, was
shot down
            overnight by ASEAN foreign ministers at a meeting in Manila. 

            The ministers, instead, reaffirmed ASEAN's policy of
non-interference in
            each other's internal affairs following opposition to the
Thai proposal from
            Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.