http://news.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=69442007 Asean ignores Burmese elephant in room CARMEL CRIMMINS IN CEBU SOUTH-EAST Asian countries yesterday laid the foundation for an economic and political bloc, signed a convention on counter-terrorism but failed to find common ground on Burma's woeful human rights record.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) speeded up its goal for regional economic integration by five years to 2015 and agreed to transform itself into a rules-based organisation with teeth at an annual summit in the central Philippines. But, as ever at Asean meetings, leaders disagreed over how to pressure Burma to democratise. Embarrassed by a United States resolution against its most notorious member at the United Nations Security Council - which was vetoed by China and Russia on Friday - Asean members such as Indonesia rebuked the junta at a welcome banquet on the eve of yesterday's summit. "How are we going to help you if you are not making progress?" asked president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. But other countries, particularly newer Asean members, maintained the organisation should stick to its traditional policy of non-interference in domestic affairs. This golden rule of 'hear no evil, see no evil' is up for review under bold proposals, endorsed by the leaders this weekend, for drafting a mini-constitution for Asean this year. Anxious to compete against the growing financial might of China and India, Asean wants to establish itself as a rules-based organisation, more akin to the European Union, with faster decision-making processes, particularly for economic decisions. The charter would include systems to monitor and enforce agreements and panels that could issue binding decisions in disputes. But the most ground-breaking proposal gives Asean, whose combined population of 558 million is greater than that of the EU, the power to suspend or, in extreme cases, expel members for serious breaches of the charter. This could potentially put Burma's membership in jeopardy if the junta continued to put up roadblocks to democracy. But the 10 leaders, whose states include an absolute monarchy, military juntas, parliamentary democracies and one-party communist states, failed to agree on the inclusion of a human rights mechanism in the charter's blueprint. The human rights suggestion from Philippines president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, the current chairman of Asean, was rejected by members from Indochina at a private leaders' retreat, according to an official. Security was tight in the resort city of Cebu, where the summit finally got under way after being postponed from December amid typhoon and terrorist warnings. Western governments continued to warn of terrorist bomb plots and more than 13,000 troops guarded the streets as rain hammered down. But leaders signed a counter-terrorism agreement that will clamp down on the movement of arms and fighters between their remote islands through better information exchange and stricter border controls. The security declaration also calls on countries to address the root causes of terrorism in a region with a kaleidoscope of religions and cultures and long-running territorial disputes. This article: http://news.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=69442007
