Myanmar, North Korea feature at Asian summit

DENIS D. GRAY, Associated Press Writer

CHA-AM, Thailand – Southeast Asian leaders, having launched the region's first human rights watchdog, called Saturday on military-ruled Myanmar to conduct free and fair elections next year but refrained from criticizing one of the world's worst human rights offenders.

A final statement from the annual summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations also urged North Korea to return to six-party talks aimed at halting Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program, and stressed the need to continue domestic stimulus packages to ensure sustained recovery from the global economic crisis.

The three-day meeting at a Thai beach resort also includes leaders of China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand.

When the summit opened Friday, the bloc unveiled the region's first human rights commission, but it was immediately derided as toothless by activists who pointed out that its mandate did not extend to prosecution of violators like Myanmar, an ASEAN member. The activists were also angered by the exclusion of several members of civil society from the summit.

Members of ASEAN have recently escalated their criticism of Myanmar, particularly over the detention of democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who Saturday will have spent 14 years in detention, most of it under house arrest.

But as a bloc, ASEAN acts by consensus, avoids confrontations and maintains that the group's approach to engaging Myanmar works better than the West's sanctions and threats.

The junta has ignored calls to free Suu Kyi and an estimated 2,100 political prisoners ahead of elections, which will be the first in two decades. The leaders' statement Friday was typically meek, obliquely referring to Suu Kyi to avoid publicly scolding Myanmar.

"We underscored the importance of achieving national reconciliation and that the general elections to be held in Myanmar in 2010 must be conducted in a fair, free, inclusive and transparent manner in order to be credible to the international community," the statement said.

Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva described the rights commission as "a significant milestone" in the 42-year history of ASEAN.

The group has traditionally steered clear of rights issues because of its reluctance to meddle in the internal affairs of member nations.

"It is a big shame to our dreams for genuine democracy in the region. It's like all of the human rights of the people in this region have been violated," said Sister Crescenia L. Lucero, a leading rights advocate and Roman Catholic nun.

ASEAN's 10 member countries include military-run Myanmar, communist-run Laos and Vietnam plus several countries whose governments routinely persecute opposition parties or political activists.

Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, however, delivered a strong condemnation of North Korea, delegation spokesman Kazuo Kodama said.

"Japan cannot tolerate nuclear and ballistic missile development by North Korea," Kodama quoted the prime minister as saying. "In order to insure peace and stability in the region, we must have comprehensive agreement. I urge you to close ranks with me."

The ASEAN bloc is also following up on China's $25 billion initiative to promote infrastructure development in Southeast Asia, Japan's program on the use of efficient energy, and a $100 million South Korean project to help the region respond to climate change, conference documents said.

The statement also welcomed what it called a "historic point in ASEAN-U.S. relations," a summit of the bloc and the United States is scheduled for Nov. 15 in Singapore.