Phuket, Thailand - The 42nd annual meeting of the foreign
ministers of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN)
wound up Monday with a strongly worded joint statement on regional
security issues but little action.
The ASEAN foreign ministers' final joint statement condemned last
week's Jakarta bombings and North Korea's recent underground nuclear
test while calling for the freedom of Myanmar opposition leader Aung
San Suu Kyi.
The ministers also endorsed the terms of reference for an ASEAN
Inter-Governmental Commission on Human Rights that will be launched
at the upcoming 15th ASEAN Summit in October, also to be held in
Phuket.
ASEAN, which includes the pariah state Myanmar, has had a poor
record in enforcing human rights protection in its region and the
planned commission has already been labelled a 'toothless tiger.'
The commission will have a very weak mandate, limited at first to
promoting the concept of human rights and engaging with civil
society, but will be subject to amendments every five years.
'It is better to make a start than to leave this hanging with no
progress at all,' Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva told a press
conference after addressing the meeting.
The human rights commission will be subject to significant
amendments every five years, giving some hope that it will grow teeth
with age.
'We want to establish a body that begins with the issue of
promotion (of human rights), and once that is put in place then there
will be more teeth in the body for protection,' Abhisit said.
Indonesia, the largest and arguably most democratic country in
ASEAN, on Sunday pushed hard for the human rights commission to take
on a more active role in protection mechanisms, but failed.
Instead, Indonesia persuaded the grouping to issue a Political
Declaration at the upcoming 15th ASEAN Summit that would allow for
amendments to the commission in the future.
'Indonesia proposed that the Political Declaration should make a
clear balance between promotion and protection (of human rights) to
give the body a more protective role,' ASEAN General Secretary Surin
Pitsuwan said.
The foreign ministers also discussed a host of regional challenges
including the economic crisis, global warming and the new threat of
the H1N1 swine-flu virus, the North Korean peninsula and terrorism.
'We strongly condemned the bombing in Jakarta on July 17, 2009,'
the final statement said, reiterating the group's commitment to
'strengthen all efforts to combat terrorism/extremism in the region.'
It condemned North Korea's recent nuclear test and urged Pyongyang
to return to the Six-Party talks.
On Tuesday, the ministers are to meet with their Asian dialogue
partners from China, Japan and South Korea, with energy and food
security likely to be the main topics of discussion.
On Wednesday, there will be more bilateral talks with the members
of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), Asia's main security event.
US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is scheduled to sign
the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in South-East Asia (TAC), making
the US one of the last ASEAN allies to do so.
Under the presidency of George W Bush Washington refused to sign
the TAC, a loose treaty defining the terms of conduct on diplomacy
and security issues in Asia.
President Barack Obama has indicated a change in the US approach
in Asia, attaching more importance to multilateral groupings such as
ASEAN rather than pursuing Bush's bilateral diplomacy.
'We are pleased with the US foreign policy which clearly attaches
more importance to this region as a whole,' Abhisit said. 'I think
this accession to the TAC is a reflection of that.'
The European Union is expected to join TAC at the October summit.
The ARF is to meet Thursday to discuss regional security threats
such as North Korea's nuclear weapons programme and Myanmar's ongoing
political stalemate.
The ARF includes the 10 ASEAN members as well as Australia,
Bangladesh, Canada, China, India, Japan, North Korea, South Korea,
Mongolia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Russia, Sri Lanka, the US and the
EU, with Papua New Guinea and East Timor as observers.
The North Korean foreign minister is not expected to attend the
meeting. Phuket has been chosen for this week's meetings and the
summit because the island is deemed easier to provide security for
than Bangkok or other cities.
Anti-government protestors invaded the venue of a summit between
ASEAN and China, Japan and South Korea in the beach resort town
Pattaya on April 11-12, scuttling the event much to Thailand's
embarrassment.
USA
Your Talkback on this Story