news.morningstar.com
Feb-20-2008
SINGAPORE (AFP)--Brunei, Laos and Malaysia have joined Singapore in ratifying the Association of Southeast Asian Nations charter that provides for the creation of a human rights body, diplomats said Wednesday.
All 10 Asean members were expected to ratify the landmark charter by the time the grouping holds its annual summit in Thailand in December, Singapore Foreign Minister George Yeo said.
Diplomatic sources said however there are doubts the charter would be approved by all members this year due to persistent questions over reports of human rights violations in military-ruled Myanmar.
Asean's charter, signed in Singapore last year, aims to commit the region's disparate nations to promote human rights and democratic ideals, and sets out the principles and rules for members.
It also transforms Asean, formed in 1967, into a legal entity, a move that will give the group greater clout in international negotiations.
Asean Secretary General Surin Pitsuwan "received the instruments of ratification" from Laos and Malaysia on the sidelines of a foreign ministers' retreat that ended here Wednesday, a Singapore foreign ministry statement said.
Surin also acknowledged receipt of Brunei's ratification, which was sent by correspondence on February 15. Singapore, the current Asean chair, was the first country to ratify the charter.
"We expect this (charter) to be fully ratified at the next summit in Bangkok in December this year," Yeo told reporters at the end of their retreat.
The ministers agreed to draft the terms of reference for a committee that will study the establishment of the human rights body and a dispute settlement mechanism, he said.
The terms will be tabled at the ministers' annual gathering in July.
Yeo said that once the charter is ratified, all Asean member states will appoint ambassadors to the group's headquarters in Jakarta, similar to the arrangement with the United Nations in New York.
But a Southeast Asian diplomat said the charter is likely to face tough times in the parliament of democracies like the Philippines and Indonesia.
Philippine President Gloria Arroyo last year warned her country would be hard- pressed to ratify the Asean charter if Myanmar refused to embrace democracy and free opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Amnesty International this week urged the ministers to establish an "effective and independent human rights body within a reasonable time frame".
Rights activists are concerned the human rights body would lack powers and be packed with government appointees.
Feb-20-2008
SINGAPORE (AFP)--Brunei, Laos and Malaysia have joined Singapore in ratifying the Association of Southeast Asian Nations charter that provides for the creation of a human rights body, diplomats said Wednesday.
All 10 Asean members were expected to ratify the landmark charter by the time the grouping holds its annual summit in Thailand in December, Singapore Foreign Minister George Yeo said.
Diplomatic sources said however there are doubts the charter would be approved by all members this year due to persistent questions over reports of human rights violations in military-ruled Myanmar.
Asean's charter, signed in Singapore last year, aims to commit the region's disparate nations to promote human rights and democratic ideals, and sets out the principles and rules for members.
It also transforms Asean, formed in 1967, into a legal entity, a move that will give the group greater clout in international negotiations.
Asean Secretary General Surin Pitsuwan "received the instruments of ratification" from Laos and Malaysia on the sidelines of a foreign ministers' retreat that ended here Wednesday, a Singapore foreign ministry statement said.
Surin also acknowledged receipt of Brunei's ratification, which was sent by correspondence on February 15. Singapore, the current Asean chair, was the first country to ratify the charter.
"We expect this (charter) to be fully ratified at the next summit in Bangkok in December this year," Yeo told reporters at the end of their retreat.
The ministers agreed to draft the terms of reference for a committee that will study the establishment of the human rights body and a dispute settlement mechanism, he said.
The terms will be tabled at the ministers' annual gathering in July.
Yeo said that once the charter is ratified, all Asean member states will appoint ambassadors to the group's headquarters in Jakarta, similar to the arrangement with the United Nations in New York.
But a Southeast Asian diplomat said the charter is likely to face tough times in the parliament of democracies like the Philippines and Indonesia.
Philippine President Gloria Arroyo last year warned her country would be hard- pressed to ratify the Asean charter if Myanmar refused to embrace democracy and free opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Amnesty International this week urged the ministers to establish an "effective and independent human rights body within a reasonable time frame".
Rights activists are concerned the human rights body would lack powers and be packed with government appointees.
No comments:
Post a Comment