Cha-am, Thailand - The 14th Summit of the Association of
South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) was kicked off Saturday with a call
by host Thailand to make the grouping more people-centred, a goal
enshrined by the newly-adopted ASEAN Charter.
'We need to make ASEAN more people-centred,' Thai Prime Minister
Abhisit Vejjajiva said in his opening address to the South-East Asian
leaders summit held this weekend in Cha-am, 130 kilometres south-west
of Bangkok.
'It is not for the rich and the powerful, but for the people of
our community,' Abhisit said.
This is the first summit of the 42-year-old grouping to be held
under the ASEAN Charter, a document that seeks to turn ASEAN into a
real community with a common anthem, various legal entities and
common goals.
'Protection and promotion of human rights and fundamental
freedoms is a key feature of our community,' Abhisit said. 'The
establishment of an ASEAN human rights body by this year, the first
ever of its kind in the region, will be a big step in this direction.'
ASEAN, launched in Thailand on August 8, 1967, now includes
Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the
Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, countries at very
different levels of economic and political development.
Aspirations for a more 'people-centred' ASEAN received a reality
check Saturday morning when at the first meeting between ASEAN
leaders and representatives of ASEAN civil society groups, Myanmar's
and Cambodia's leaders vetoed the presence of representatives from
their countries.
Despite being barred from the 30-minute meeting, Abhisit and Thai
Foreign Minsiter Kasit Piromya met with the two ousted
representatives, Khin Ohmar from Myanmar and Pen Somony from
Cambodia, as a gesture.
'This was the first dialogue interface between ASEAN and civil
society representatives and ASEAN leaders,' meeting chairman Thitinan
Pongsudhirak said. 'It went as well as can be expected. It can only
go up.'
One of the main tasks of this weekend's summit was to draft the
terms of reference for setting up an ASEAN human rights body, which
will be finalized in July and start its work in October.
A draft was approved by the foreign ministers Friday, but it
remains open to change.
The terms exclude the proposed body from investigating human
rights abuses in ASEAN members if they are not welcomed by the host
country, raising questions about it's effectiveness as a protective
mechanism.
'There needs to be a balance between our two pillars of promotion
and protection,' said Sihasak Phuangketkeow, chairman of the ASEAN
high level panel on the human rights body. 'It has to be
evolutionary.'
Sihasak brushed off criticism that the body will just serve as a
showboat for ASEAN, a region rife with human rights abuses.
'I don't think it is a PR exercise,' Sihasak said. 'We want to do
things that can be done. The best way to prevent human rights abuses
is to promote human rights awareness in the region.'
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