- By ALTSEAN-BURMA

In the year following ASEAN’s member states signing its Charter on 20 November 2007, the SPDC has openly trampled on the values and rights enumerated in the document. Designed to establish ASEAN as a legal entity to command greater legitimacy and facilitate its integration in the global economy, the Charter also institutes core principles and obligations of member states.

Under the Charter, each member state is to “respect fundamental freedoms, the promotion and protection of human rights, and the promotion of social justice”. These provisions will allow ASEAN to be recognized as a cohesive group that promotes democracy and respects the rule of law. Article 20 of the Charter provides for enforcement of the Charter by referral of non-compliance to the ASEAN summit.

Yet, ASEAN has turned a blind eye to the SPDC’s continued and blatant violations of fundamental human rights and democratic principles. This situation does not bode well for any meaningful enforcement of the Charter provisions. When the junta recently sentenced peaceful pro-democracy activists for jail terms of 65 years in kangaroo court proceedings, ASEAN members were conspicuous in their silence. ASEAN members proved themselves incapable of standing up to Burma’s military regime in a resolution before the UN’s General Assembly’s Third Committee. On 21 November, the Committee approved a draft resolution critical of the human rights situation inside Burma. The resolution also condemned the SPDC for its unwillingness to combat rights violations. Brunei, Laos, Malaysia, and Vietnam voted against the resolution while Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand abstained.

The SPDC has used the “grace” period for the formal enactment of the Charter as a politically expedient way of engaging in further rights violations and oppression. By remaining silent, ASEAN has denigrated the very principles and obligations it wants to showcase to the international community. By failing to advocate and enforce the principles and rights contained in the Charter, ASEAN has done a disservice to Burma’s people and itself.

ASEAN must be serious in safeguarding the Charter’s credibility through its defense of human rights and democratic principles. ASEAN can illustrate this to the international community by bloc voting against the junta in the UN General Assembly. Not only will such an action redeem ASEAN in the eyes of freedom loving nations, it will also put the regime on notice that ASEAN intends for the Charter to be a substantive declaration that will be monitored and enforced.

ASEAN says, SPDC does

DURING THE LAST MONTHS OF 2007 ASEAN MEMBERS:

• Condemned the SPDC over the brutal crackdown on the Saffron Revolution.
• Asserted that the adoption of the ASEAN Charter hinged on the SPDC halting human rights abuses; holding a credible constitutional referendum; engaging in genuine dialogue for national reconciliation and democratic reform; and releasing Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and other political prisoners.

BUT IN 2008, ASEAN:

• Turned condemnation to support after the SPDC announced its farcical constitutional referendum.
• Support became cooperation after cyclone Nargis.
• Defended the SPDC and suggested to the UN that it could accomplish more if Daw Aung San Suu Kyi was left off the agenda.
• Remained silent after the SPDC sentenced nearly 200 pro-democracy activists to jail terms as long as 68 years in the same month.
• Failed to support a UNGA Third Committee resolution over Burma’s human rights abuses.

MEANWHILE:

• About five million people, or around 10% of the population, were malnourished despite a rice production surplus in 2008.
• The regime’s response to cyclone Nargis turned a natural disaster into a man-made tragedy. In the days and months following the cyclone, the SPDC blocked humanitarian assistance from reaching the areas where it was most needed. In the aftermath of the cyclone, the SPDC detained 17 activists for delivering aid to affected communities in the Irrawaddy delta.
• Between 100,000 to 150,000 children under-five died in the year, mostly from preventable diseases. Burma has the second worst child mortality rate in Asia, after Afghanistan.
• The SPDC adopted a new constitution aimed at institutionalizing military rule in Burma through a sham referendum that featured widespread irregularities, electoral fraud, harassment, and criminal intimidation. The regime detained 127 activists and ordinary citizens for questioning the constitution, while in a miraculous coincidence, exactly 92.4% “Yes” votes were lodged in two separate rounds of polling.
• The SPDC continued to use its draconian “security laws” and sham legal proceedings to charge, prosecute, and imprison its opponents.
• The regime arrested 423 dissidents and sentenced at least 294 dissidents to prison terms over the past year. The SPDC also extended the house arrest of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and her deputy Tin Oo by another year. There are now over 2,150 political prisoners in Burma, up from 1,150 in July 2007.
• The SPDC Army continued its pervasive use of forced labor and its harassment, intimidation, and imprisonment of people who complained to the ILO.
• The SPDC Army stepped up its military offensive against civilians and armed opposition groups in Eastern Burma. The attacks resulted in the forced relocation or destruction of 142 villages and the displacement of 66,000 people.
• The regime continued to purchase arms and other military supplies from China, Russia, and India. At the same time it signed new deals selling off Burma’s oil, gas, and hydro-electric resources while the majority of the people has no electricity.
• Tens of thousands more people, including army deserters, fled Burma.
• Illicit drug production and opium poppy cultivation in Burma increased. Burma remains the largest producer of amphetamine type stimulants in Southeast Asia and the world’s second largest producer of opium.