BANGKOK, THAILAND- Feeling the crunch of the global recession that intensifies poverty and conflict in Southeast Asia, regional peace advocates called on ASEAN members to start dispute prevention and settlements processes in the region.
Members of the Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict- Southeast Asia (GPPAC-SEA) made this call in time for the 14th ASEAN Summit this week at Hua Hin Province, saying that the human rights situation in Burma continue to worsen and violent conflicts have escalated in South Thailand, West Papua and Mindanao, Philippines.
BANGKOK, THAILAND- Feeling the crunch of the global recession that intensifies poverty and conflict in Southeast Asia, regional peace advocates called on ASEAN members to start dispute prevention and settlements processes in the region.
Members of the Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict- Southeast Asia (GPPAC-SEA) made this call in time for the 14th ASEAN Summit this week at Hua Hin Province, saying that the human rights situation in Burma continue to worsen and violent conflicts have escalated in South Thailand, West Papua and Mindanao, Philippines.
Wanting to believe that the ASEAN Summit is not another talkshop, GPPAC peace advocates urged member-states to uphold the power of the words found in the ASEAN Charter which significantly include the role of the state in dispute settlements.
The Charter clearly mentioned in its Chapter 8 Article 22 the General Principles on Settlement of Disputes: “member states shall endeavor peacefully all disputes in a timely manner through dialogue, consultation and negotiation. ASEAN shall maintain and establish dispute settlement mechanisms in all fields of ASEAN cooperation.”
GPPAC however noted that the Charter falls short of establishing a mechanism of addressing intra-state conflicts which beset the region more than inter-state conflicts. Thus the call for conflict prevention processes.
ASEAN Secretary-general Surin Pitsuwan assured civil society groups in a dialogue at the 4th ASEAN Peoples’ Forum (APF) in Chulalongkorn University that the Charter “is an evolving and working document”.
APF is an event for direct people-to-people engagement prior to the ASEAN Summit. This activity strives to provide civil society organizations and social movements from across the region an opportunity to gather and discuss key issues confronting the region, articulate common positions, and develop joint action among civil society actors in Southeast Asia.
GPPAC-SEA said that the sustainability of peace in Aceh, Indonesia need support otherwise, revolutionary forces will only go back to wart because issues that resulted to the conflict still exist. Conflict-affected areas in Indonesia such as West Papua and Maluku are also beset with human rights violations that call for attention. West Papua’s rich natural resources according to GPPAC-SEA, is being exploited by big foreign and national companies for logging and mining activities with tacit support from the government.
“Transitional justice in this country after Suharto’s regime remains a question. Despite having the so-called democratic space, the strong presence of Indonesian militias in West Papua provides a chilling effect on the people,” said Gus Miclat, GPPAC-SEA regional initiator.
“The post-Khmer Rough regime in Cambodia likewise needs a lot of hard work for the reconstruction phase. Cambodian peace workers said that they have difficulty in organizing peace actions or rallies due to the presence and increased number of military group making people feel unsafe to organize such mobilizations,” Miclat said.
Even at the onset of the trial of Khmer Rouge leaders, freedom of expression in Cambodia is still challenged due to fear among people to express their views on political issues especially if it is critical of the current government. At the same time, massive demolitions are aggressively imposed on urban poor settlers and land grabbing has become extensive forcing people to surrender their land to companies.
“While the outside world may look at Vietnam as a peaceful country because of a strong government, development issues such as mining and hydro power plant repercussions can potentially lead to conflict due to a growing public discontent,” Miclat said.
The Vietnam government prohibits demonstrations making it difficult for people to talk about conflict and armed conflict resolution.
Confronted with recent armed hostilities between government and revolutionary forces, one of the greatest challenges for Timor Leste and the Philippines is the return of thousands of internally displaced people to their communities where they can be guaranteed of their security and sustainability.
While Timor is relatively better-off in terms of conflict management after a ceasefire was upheld and the conflict parties engaged in dialogue, peace in Southern Philippines remains bleak after the Supreme Court junked the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain negotiated by government and Moro revolutionary forces.
Refugees in Mindanao, Philippines have reached more than half a million when the war broke out. GPPAC-SEA found out recently that the government tried to bring back refugees to their homes but with no guarantee of security. At one time, those who returned were even bombed as soon as they reached their community. The resumption of the peace talks is urgent at this point, according to GPPAC-SEA.
The conflict between the Thai government and the insurgents in South Thailand makes the lives of local people more difficult. Significant number of business groups withdrew their businesses in the area of fear of being caught between the hostilities. As a result, people lost their jobs. Trust between Buddhists and Muslims have also waned.
The democratization of Burma remains the single most issue wanting of a resolute action from ASEAN. Military junta’s human rights violations committed against the peoples of Burma are something that ASEAN leaders must respond to urgently. ASEAN’s stand on non-interference, non-intervention is an obsolete principle in this situation, GPPAC-SEA explained.
The case of the Rohingya boat people who arrived in the Thai border to evade abuse and hunger under the Burma military government only to be driven away by Thai authorities also need fto be addressed.
“ASEAN, in the name of social justice, has the responsibility to intervene on this ongoing hostilities that has already affected thousands if not millions of people that have rocked the international community which has loudly called for the restoration of democracy in Burma,” Miclat said.
Recent Comments