Rights activists barred from talks with ASEAN leaders [-Cambodia blocked activists from attending rare face-to-face talks]

Slum homes are destroyed as families are evicted in the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh

Saturday, February 28, 2009

HUA HIN, Thailand (AFP) — Southeast Asian leaders were embroiled in a fresh row over human rights on Saturday after Myanmar's junta and Cambodia blocked activists from attending rare face-to-face talks.

The spat erupted at the annual Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in the Thai beach resort of Hua Hin a day after ministers from the 10-member bloc discussed setting up a controversial rights body.

Human rights have been a perennial challenge for the grouping over its 42-year history. The bloc has repeatedly failed to press military-ruled Myanmar to introduce reforms and free political prisoners.

ASEAN leaders were due to hold talks with 10 civil society representatives on Saturday, but Myanmar premier Thein Sein and his Cambodian counterpart Hun Sen refused to take part if activists from their own countries were present.

"We heard that they were not happy with the possible attendance of these two activists and they threatened to not be present in today's meeting if the two attended," Yap Swee Seng, head of the Asia Forum for Human Rights and Development, told AFP.

"We are really disappointed and regret such a decision taken by the two countries, because we are of the view that dialogue will help understanding between the two sides and forge cooperation to resolve issues together."

The barred activists were Khin Omar, a democracy campaigner and women's rights activist from Myanmar, and Pen Somony, a volunteer coordinator from Cambodia.

"This shows that the Burmese junta has no commitment to the charter that it has ratified," Khin Omar said, referring to Myanmar by its former name.

A landmark charter setting ASEAN on the road to becoming an EU-style community by 2015 and calling for the establishment of the human rights body came into force in December.

"It is also very worrying for ASEAN as it moves towards forming a human rights body. So now it is up to ASEAN leaders to find a way to hold the Burmese regime accountable," Khin Omar told AFP.

She said that there would now be a 20-minute session of talks from which she and Pen Somony would be excluded and then a 10-minute session in which Thailand's premier and foreign minister would meet them outside.

ASEAN, a 10-member bloc which includes Myanmar and two communist states, has repeatedly been pressed to use its influence to improve the rights situation in Myanmar but to little avail.

A key problem has been the group's underlying policy of non-interference in domestic affairs, which has previously been used by nations like Myanmar to fend off criticism.

The policy has most recently been enshrined in a draft document seen by AFP on the proposed rights body, which will apparently lack investigative and prosecution powers.

The draft is also packed with provisions rejecting external interference and stressing the region's cultural diversity.

"I understand it is indeed toothless," said Debbie Stothard, coordinator of the Alternative ASEAN Network on Burma, a non-governmental organisation. Several activists from her organisation held a brief demonstration in central Hua Hin earlier Saturday.

The rights issue has dominated previous ASEAN summits but despite Saturday's row it is unlikely to shift the main focus of this year's meeting from efforts to shield the group from the global financial crisis.

ASEAN's export-driven economies have begun to feel the effects of the crunch, with Singapore facing its worst recession since independence and Thailand also facing difficulties.

The group with a combined population of nearly 600 million people signed a massive free trade deal with Australia and New Zealand on Friday.

ASEAN heads of state and government were due to open their formal summit later Saturday.