The Nation (28-7-99) (r)

[mandalay@xxxxxxxxxx]

Surin confident on rights progress

SINGAPORE - Foreign Minister Surin Pitsuwan, who will chair Asean for the
next 12 months, said yesterday there was a positive trend in observing
human rights in the region. 

"I think there is a trend within the Asean community, that each government
is establishing its own human rights mechanisms," Surin told reporters at
the end of the Asean annual meeting, with their 20 dialogue countries from
the Asia-Pacific, North America and Europe. 

He said human rights standards would differ within the region, where
countries range from developed democracies like Thailand to military-run
Burma. 

'This is an ongoing process, of course ... Levels, standards,
comprehensiveness of each of these mechanisms is not the same," Surin said.
'But definitely these are issues that are taken into consideration."

The issue of human rights in the region and elsewhere in the world has
divided top diplomats in the Singapore meeting that ended yesterday. The
United States, the European Union and Australia have reiterated their
criticism of Burma, which has been ruled by the military since 1962 and has
prevented the elected opposition from taking power. 

Still, no consensus was reached on Burma's poor human rights record during
the Asean Regional Forum. A communique issued on Monday does not include
language critical of any member state. 

The impasse over Burma has caused tensions in otherwise smooth relations
between Asean and the EU, which imposes economic and diplomatic sanctions
against Burma. 

But in a move seen as an attempt to appease its Western critics, Burmese
Foreign Minister U Win Aung said yesterday his country had agreed to study
the setting up of an independent human rights commission. 

Win Aung told Kyodo News he had discussed the idea with Australian Foreign
Minister Alexander Downer in a meeting earlier in the day. "I told him that
we will consider and we will study" establishing th6 body, he said. 

Downer told reporters after the meeting that Australia's Commissioner for
Human Rights, Chris Sidoti, would visit Burma next week for further
discussions with officials there about the role and possible guidelines for
a human rights commission. 

'They have a real interest in this particular proposal and 1 have no
illusions,' said Sidoti. 'It's a first step and it would be an incremental
process, but we want to do what we can to see an improvement in human

rights in Burma." 

Downer said the proposal was for Burma to create a human rights com-
mission along the lines of one established in Indonesia during the time of
the Suharto regime, which he said was allowed to operate independently. 

"It's one thing of course to criticise the government there, and we've done
a great deal of that. But we are also looking at other initiatives we can
take to help alleviate the plight of people in Burma, and we think that
this proposal is a constructive initiative in the cause of human rights,'
he said. 

He said it was a 'useful step forward' that the Burmese junta "can see the
point in having such a body, though they have yet to make up their minds
about how it would work." 

Win Aung said Rangoon would need time to study the idea. "We will set up [a
commission] when the time is ripe. But it doesn't mean that Australia will
come in to set up the body for us. It would be an independent body like any
other country has." 

He said Rangoon had sent a team to Australia last week to attend a meeting
on human rights.

According to Surin, Asean might give more heed to human rights issues in
the future. " These are issues that will increasingly come up, that are
relevant, and within the Asean group we are aware of this, " he said.