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ASEAN/MEDIA



hilippine media blasts ASEAN's silence on E. Timor

 .c Kyodo News Service  

  
MANILA, Sept. 16 (Kyodo) - By: Dario Agnote A leading Philippine newspaper
accused the Association of Southeast Asian Nations on Thursday of ''coddling
Indonesia'' and taking a ''wishy-washy position'' in the face of killings
and atrocities in East Timor. 

''In their desire to shield Indonesia from international condemnation for
the atrocities abetted by its own security forces, ASEAN members are again
taking a wishy-washy position as it did in Burma (Myanmar),'' the Philippine
Daily Inquirer said in an editorial. 

The Inquirer added, ''ASEAN hypocrisy is showing in its support of the
face-saving proposal of Jakarta to put the peacekeeping force under
Indonesian command.'' 

Inquirer's criticism came on the heels of ASEAN support for an Indonesian
government proposal to ''ASEAN-ize'' or have a majority of the peacekeeping
force members in East Timor come from ASEAN. 

By backing Indonesia's proposal, the Inquirer said ASEAN ''saves face for
Indonesia and allows it to have a big say in the operations of the force. 

''At the same time, it gives ASEAN a chance to present a facade of unity in
the face of the crisis and to maintain the fiction that their participation
in such a force is with Indonesia's consent, thus breathing a new life into
their tattered doctrine of non-interference in the internal affairs of ASEAN
members.'' 

ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the
Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. 

The Inquirer said, ''The Indonesian army's hands are stained with the blood
of thousands of massacred East Timorese. Putting it in command is like
authorizing the Khmer Rouge to lead a U.N. peacekeeping force in Cambodia.
This latest ASEAN version of an ASEAN solution to ASEAN problems is a
cop-out.'' 

A noted columnist of another newspaper, the Manila Standard, also criticized
ASEAN for keeping mum on the crisis rocking the territory, saying the
grouping has maintained an ''immoral silence in the face of the carnage,
fearful of courting Jakarta's wrath.'' 

ASEAN has been criticized for its reluctance to exert more pressure to bring
about democratic change in Myanmar, especially the dismal human rights
situation in that military junta-led country. 

Criticisms mounted when ASEAN admitted Myanmar into the grouping in July
1997, creating a wedge between ASEAN and its rich western dialogue partners. 

ASEAN employs what it calls a ''constructive engagement'' policy of not
interfering in the internal affairs of other ASEAN members. 

In 1998, Thai Foreign Minister Surin Pitsuwan pushed for a ''flexible
engagement'' policy that would allow ASEAN members to criticize each other
on matters such as human rights. The proposal, also backed by the
Philippines, was shot down by other ASEAN members. 

Among those who openly rejected it was Indonesian Foreign Minister Ali
Alatas. ''If you start telling another country that 'this is how you should
run your country,' that's intervention,'' he said during the ASEAN foreign
ministers meeting in Manila in July last year. 

But Thursday in Bangkok, Surin said East Timor will be a ''test case'' for
ASEAN to cooperate beyond the customary non-intervention process. 

''Although some member countries might not be ready to join (the
peacekeeping forces), we all share the common objectives of ASEAN, which are
peace, prosperity and security for the region,'' he said. 

Surin admitted the group now faces high expectations from the public in
handling the crisis, but said the ASEAN members are all aware of the high
expectations. 

AP-NY-09-16-99 0510EDT