Sep 6, 2023 | DFF, Statements
JAKARTA – The Review and Decision on the Implementation of the Five Point Consensus agreed to by ASEAN leaders at the 43rd ASEAN Summit in Jakarta falls short of the steps necessary to resolve the Myanmar crisis and restore democracy in the country, ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR) said today.
“When President Jokowi opened the ASEAN Summit retreat session, he said that ASEAN needed more ‘tactical and extraordinary’ efforts to implement the Five Point Consensus,” said APHR Chair and member of Indonesian House of Representatives Mercy Barends. “Unfortunately, the ‘review and decision’ document does not reflect that need for extraordinary and urgent measures.”
The document states that ASEAN will continue to use the Five Point Consensus as the ‘main reference point’ to address the crisis in Myanmar and once again urged the Myanmar junta to ‘de-escalate violence and stop targeted attacks against civilians.’ The document also notes that ASEAN leaders have agreed that Myanmar will not chair ASEAN in 2026.
“We appreciate that ASEAN leaders have condemned the violence perpetrated by the junta; however, words of condemnation are not enough to stop these acts from happening. And while ASEAN reaffirmed its commitment to assisting Myanmar in finding a peaceful solution – it does not indicate how or what steps will be taken,” said Barends. “ASEAN has also failed to acknowledge and recognize the efforts and leadership of the pro-democracy movement in their various capacities.”
Since the illegal coup in February 2021, at least 4,000 civilians have been killed, while nearly two million others have been forced to flee their homes. The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) estimates that the junta has arrested over 24,000 political prisoners since the coup, over 19,800 of which remain in detention.
“It has been almost three years since the coup, during which millions of people have had their lives irrevocably shattered by the junta’s atrocities. And yet ASEAN seems content to continue to act as if the Myanmar crisis was some bureaucratic mix-up that can be periodically ‘reviewed’ and not an ongoing armed conflict where lives are on the line every day,” said Barends.
The Myanmar junta’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has issued a statement rejecting the ‘review and decision’ claiming that it was ‘not objective’ and ‘one-sided.”
“If there was not already enough proof, the Myanmar junta’s response to ASEAN’s review and decision further shows that the junta is a bad-faith actor that has no interest in pursuing the peaceful, democratic, and inclusive resolution that the people of Myanmar deserve. ASEAN leaders must open their eyes to this reality and stop acting as if the junta can be counted on to uphold and protect human rights, ” said Barends. “ASEAN must take a much harder line and detail enforcement mechanisms that will genuinely hold the junta to account, otherwise it is merely prolonging the status quo.”
“We urge ASEAN to take strong and meaningful actions – including openly recognizing and supporting pro-democracy forces, and creating concrete accountability mechanisms for the junta – so that it is remembered as an organization that helped ease that suffering, rather than one that compounded it,” said Barends.
Nov 2, 2022 | DFF, Reports, Statements
International actors should help Myanmar to put an end to the violence and human rights violations perpetrated by the military junta since the coup in February 2021, put the country’s military under civilian control, and establish a federal democratic system, argued the International Parliamentary Inquiry into the global response response to the crisis in Myanmar (IPI) in its final report, published today.
The report, titled “Time is not on our side”: The Failed International Response to the Myanmar Coup, contains an analysis of the situation in Myanmar since the military takeover, as well as the reaction of international actors. Finding that the global response to the crisis has fallen woefully short of international obligations and standards, the IPI offers a set of recommendations to move forward and help the Myanmar people in their struggle against military dictatorship.
“It is imperative that the international community changes course on Myanmar as soon as possible, and those countries claiming to support democracy and human rights in the country live up to their stated commitments. They should begin with recognizing the National Unity Government of Myanmar (NUG) as what it is: the legitimate authority in the country; impose effective and coordinated sanctions on the junta, and address the terrible humanitarian crisis afflicting Myanmar,” said Heidi Hautala, Vice President of the European Parliament and IPI Chair.
The IPI is an initiative launched by ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR) in June 2022. Its Committee is formed by eight parliamentarians from seven different countries in Africa, the Americas, Asia, and Europe who are appalled by the situation in Myanmar since the military takeover.
Since the coup, the Myanmar military has committed acts which the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has said may amount to “crimes against humanity and war crimes” in order to consolidate its power against widespread popular resistance to its rule, throwing the country into chaos, and leading it to the brink of becoming a failed state.
The IPI Committee has held a total of six public oral hearings online, as well as several private hearings, with dozens of stakeholders and experts, and has received dozens of written submissions. Two of its members conducted a fact-finding mission to the Thai-Myanmar border in August 2022.
The Inquiry has analyzed the response to the crisis in Myanmar of a wide variety of international actors, but has paid particular attention to the role of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), in which Myanmar is a member. In April 2021, ASEAN member states and the Myanmar junta, led by Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, signed the Five-Point Consensus to put an end to the violence, seek a negotiated solution to the conflict and address the humanitarian crisis. Since then, many countries have expressed their support for the agreement and largely deferred to ASEAN to solve the crisis.
“It has become abundantly clear that the Five Point Consensus has been an utter failure. General Min Aung Hlaing has shown an absolute contempt for the agreement he signed and for ASEAN’s member states, and the regional group has been unable to adopt a stance to put pressure on the Junta. Meanwhile, most of the international community has hidden behind ASEAN in order to avoid doing anything meaningful. It is past time that ASEAN ditches the Five Point Consensus and urgently rethinks its approach to the crisis in Myanmar,” said Charles Santiago, former Member of Parliament (MP) in Malaysia, APHR Chairperson and IPI Committee Member.
In the latest meeting of ASEAN foreign ministers on Myanmar, held on 27 October, the regional group agreed to “reaffirmed the importance and relevance of the Five-Point Consensus” while underscoring “the need to further strengthen its implementation through concrete, practical and time-bound actions.”
“ASEAN is not acting with the urgency that the situation in Myanmar demands. The group should have started to put real pressure on the junta and engage the NUG long ago. It is unacceptable that ASEAN continue to shirk their responsibilities to the people of Myanmar, and continue adopting half-hearted measures that only serve to embolden Min Aung Hlaing and his junta,” added Santiago.
International passivity has encouraged a sense of impunity within the Myanmar military, which most recently launched an airstrike on a multitude attending a music festival in Kachin state, killing at least 60 civilians. By the most conservative estimates, the junta has killed at least 2,404 Myanmar citizens, and arrested over 16,000 people.
The violence has also displaced hundreds of thousands from their homes, and the number of internally displaced people in the country now has reached 1.3 million, a terrible record in Myanmar’s history. Many interviewees during the IPI oral hearings described in vivid detail the humanitarian catastrophe afflicting the Myanmar people, as well as how the military junta is hijacking and weaponizing the delivery of humanitarian assistance.
“Myanmar is suffering a tragedy words cannot describe. The global community should urgently step up the delivery of humanitarian assistance, and it should work with local civil society organizations that know the terrain well, have ample experience and are trusted by the population. Millions of Myanmar citizens suffering the most grievous hardships cannot wait for long. International actors should leave politics aside and help the Myanmar people immediately,” said Mercy Barends, APHR Board Member and IPI Committee Member.
Click here to read the IPI report, “Time is not on our side”: The Failed International Response to the Myanmar Coup.
Click here to read the report’s Executive Summary and Recommendations in Burmese.
Click here to read the report’s Executive Summary and Recommendations in Indonesian.
Click here to read the report’s Executive Summary and Recommendations in Malay.
Click here to read the report’s Executive Summary and Recommendations in Thai.
Apr 24, 2022 | DFF, Open Letters
To: ASEAN Leaders
H.E. Hun Sen, Prime Minister of Cambodia, ASEAN Chair
H.E. Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah, Prime Minister of Brunei
H.E. Joko Widodo, President of Indonesia
H.E. Thongloun Sisoulith, Prime Minister of Laos
H.E. Dato’ Sri Ismail Sabri bin Yaakob, Prime Minister of Malaysia
H.E. Rodrigo Roa Duterte, President of the Philippines
H.E. Lee Hsien Loong, Prime Minister of Singapore
H.E. Prayut Chan-o-cha, Prime Minister of Thailand
H.E. Nguyen Xuan Phuc, Prime Minister of Vietnam
24 April 2022
Re: A Year since ASEAN’s Consensus on Myanmar – Time for consequences
Your Excellencies,
It has been a year since a Five-Point Consensus on Myanmar was reached at the ASEAN Leaders’ Meeting between all ASEAN leaders and Senior General Min Aung Hlaing to address the deteriorating political and humanitarian crisis triggered by his illegal coup d’état.
In this year, Commander in Chief Min Aung Hlaing has totally failed to implement any of the Five Point Consensus. Given this failure, it is time for ASEAN to move on to sanctioning him for the continued suffering he is inflicting on the people of Myanmar and his blatant disregard for his regional partners.
Over this period, the Myanmar military has unleashed an all-out war over its people which according to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights consists of “systematic and widespread human rights violations and abuses” that may amount to “war crimes and crimes against humanity.” These crimes include the arbitrary arrests of thousands of anti-junta activists and their family members; the routine torture of detainees, often with lethal consequences; the shooting of unarmed protesters, air strikes against civilians in Myanmar’s ethnic areas, the burning of whole villages, and extrajudicial killings.
In the face of these atrocities, ASEAN must now accept the fact, repeatedly demonstrated over the last months, that Commander in Chief Min Aung Hlaing, has no intention whatsoever of abiding by the Consensus unless he feels a strong pressure to do so.
In APHR’s original joint response we offered suggestions and support to ensure that the implementation of the Five Point Consensus makes a positive contribution to improve the situation on the ground. It is in the same spirit that we now urge you to take the following steps, in order to stop the Myanmar military’s atrocities, hold the perpetrators accountable, and initiate a real process towards peace and democratization.
First, ASEAN must thoroughly re-consider the role and appointment mechanism of the Special Envoy to Myanmar, in view of the poor record of the previous and current holder of this admittedly difficult position.
As it stands now, the Special Envoy does not represent ASEAN as such, but the group’s Chair, and thus changes every year, making it extremely difficult to maintain a coherent policy over time. Also, both of the Special Envoys appointed so far have been high officials in their respective ministries of foreign affairs, for whom their missions as special envoys was not their only, or even top, priority.
In order to make the position more effective, the Special Envoy should be exclusively dedicated to this mission, appointed on a long-term basis, and respond to ASEAN as a whole, rather than the rotating Chair position. ASEAN members should establish clear and comprehensive terms of reference that make explicit the tasks, mandate and authority entailed by the role of Special Envoy; as well as allocate the necessary resources to carry out the mission.
Second, when the Five-Point Consensus was agreed last year, APHR pointed out that the lack of a timeframe and enforcement mechanisms rendered it virtually toothless. Given that atrocities continued to be committed, unabated by the State Administration Council over the past year, it is high time for the junta to face real consequences for their criminal actions. Such consequences should include the suspension of Myanmar’s membership in ASEAN; travel bans for Min Aung Hlaing and the members of his State Administration Council (SAC) in the region; targeted sanctions against the leaders of the coup, those responsible for committing crimes against humanity and their economic interests.
Third, the Consensus calls for “a constructive dialogue among all parties” in order “to seek a peaceful solution” to the conflict unleashed by the military, and gives the ASEAN Special Envoy the mission to facilitate such a dialogue. One year later, neither of the Special Envoys have made any progress on this, having only met representatives of the military, and not a single representative of the National Unity Government of Myanmar (NUG), which represents the democratically elected government and receives support from the majority of the Myanmar people.
Therefore, we urge ASEAN to immediately and publicly meet with the NUG. Representatives of Ethnic Armed Organisations (EAOs) must also be included in further dialogue to ensure that all voices are heard.
Finally, the coup has triggered an economic catastrophe on the 54 million inhabitants of Myanmar. More than half are now in poverty, while the country’s economy has shrunk by a staggering 18%, according to the World Bank. Provision and distribution of aid is now a matter of the utmost urgency and necessity.
ASEAN’s plan to deliver aid through the ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on disaster management (AHA Centre) has not only been insufficient but has also manifestly not reached out to the people in need. Instead, ASEAN should immediately begin to work with Myanmar’s local community-based and civil society organisations, as well as relevant international agencies, to effectively provide aid directly to the people in need. Given the scale of the aid required and the military’s history of blocking the delivery of humanitarian aid, collaboration with agencies experienced in running humanitarian operations in Myanmar will help ensure that ASEAN’s intervention abides by the “do no harm” principle.
We also urge neighboring countries, particularly ASEAN member, Thailand, to allow those fleeing persecution and violence to cross its borders, to seek asylum and receive humanitarian aid.
Lastly, we urge ASEAN’s Dialogue Partners and the wider international community to support ASEAN in ensuring it can take up the regional leadership role required to respond to a situation of this gravity, including by supporting the implementation of the above recommendations.
The question to ASEAN leaders now is: will you allow the military to continue committing war crimes and crimes against humanity, and threaten the human security and economic development of the region for another year?
ASEAN’s credibility depends on its ability to act in accordance with the reality of the situation in Myanmar. The group cannot expect the military to abide by the terms of the Five-Point Consensus or to any international or humanitarian norm for that matter. It is imperative that the member states escalate measures to put real pressure on the military to stop it from brutalizing its own population and turning the country into a failed state, and do all they can to work towards the fulfillment of the Myanmar people’s aspirations for peace and democracy.
Sincerely,
ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR)
CC: ASEAN Dialogue Partners
H.E. Will Nankervis, Ambassador of Australia to ASEAN
H.E. Diedrah Kelly, Ambassador of Canada to ASEAN
H.E. Deng Xijun, Ambassador of China to ASEAN
H.E. Igor Driesmans, Ambassador of the European Union to ASEAN
H.E. Shri Jayant N. Khobragade, Ambassador of India to ASEAN
H.E. Chiba Akira, Ambassador of Japan to ASEAN
H.E. Lim Sung-nam, Ambassador of Korea to ASEAN
H.E. Stuart Calman, Ambassador of New Zealand to ASEAN
H.E. Alexander Ivanov, Ambassador of Russia to ASEAN
H.E. Jon Lambe, Ambassador of the United Kingdom to ASEAN
H.E. Melissa A. Brown, Chargé d’Affaires, a.i., U.S. Mission to ASEAN
Click here to read this open letter in Burmese.
Click here to read this open letter in Bahasa Indonesian.
Click here to read this open letter in Khmer.
Click here to read this open letter in Thai.
Jan 25, 2022 | DFF, Statements
JAKARTA – In response to the statement issued by the National Assembly of Cambodia regarding ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights’ (APHR) criticism of Prime Minister Hun Sen’s visit to Myanmar earlier this month, the group of lawmakers urges the Cambodian government, as this year’s Chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), to instead prioritize its efforts on finding the solutions needed to address the tragic crisis engulfing Myanmar.
Rather than focusing its response on the National Assembly’s personal attacks on Charles Santiago, APHR’s Chair, the organization asks that the Cambodian government redirect its attention on the more urgent humanitarian and human rights needs in Myanmar.
Far from being a success, the Prime Minister’s Myanmar visit shows that Hun Sen’s consensus-breaking decision not only threatened the legitimacy and solidarity of ASEAN, but may have also emboldened the junta to escalate their abuses on the Myanmar people, APHR said.
On the very day that Hun Sen left Myanmar on 8 January with the junta’s agreement to a ceasefire until the end of 2022 in hand, there were reports that junta forces began airstrikes in Loikaw, the capital of Karenni State, displacing around 40,000 civilians. More than half of the state’s 300,000 residents were reportedly displaced even before the air strikes began.
“ASEAN’s response to the attempted coup in Myanmar has been far from perfect, but the Five-Point Consensus was a step in the right direction, as was the decision to ban Min Aung Hlaing from last year’s summits for failing to adhere to the Consensus. Hun Sen’s visit to Myanmar – and the ensuing joint statement he signed with junta leader Min Aung Hlaing – risked completely undermining that progress,” Santiago said.
APHR’s view that the Consensus should hold has been echoed by the Malaysian and Singaporean Prime Ministers. According to a statement issued by Malaysia’s Foreign Ministry on 25 January, Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob told Hun Sen that his country’s position to only invite a non-political representative from Myanmar to high-level ASEAN meetings “remained unchanged unless there was real progress and full implementation of the Five-Point Consensus”. Earlier this month, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong also said the bloc should exclude junta leaders from meetings until progress has been made on the Consensus.
Prime Minister Hun Sen himself has now concurred, after initially suggesting that the junta be included in meetings. A post on his Facebook page on 25 January announced that he would invite Min Aung Hlaing to attend the ASEAN summit “if there was progress on the implementation of the five points agreed unanimously … if not, he must send a non-political representative to ASEAN meetings”.
“We’re pleased to see Prime Minister Hun Sen reverting back to the approach originally agreed to by the ASEAN Member States,” Santiago said. “Now what is needed is for the ASEAN Chair to work closely with the rest of its members to hold the junta leader accountable towards the Five-Point Consensus that he himself also agreed to. Amidst all of this, let’s not forget the people of Myanmar, who continue to be subjected to the terror and violence of this junta, and yet bravely continue to voice their rejection of the military.”
During the first 11 months of the junta’s attempted coup, there were 7,686 armed clashes and attacks on civilians across Myanmar, a 715% increase from the same period in 2020 (943). The intensity of the violence was comparable to Syria (7,742), and greater than in Afghanistan (6,481), Yemen (6,270), and Iraq (3,732). In the last four months of 2021, the conflict in Myanmar has escalated to outpace all of the other four countries.
Immediate international action is needed to address the junta’s widespread, systematic, and increasingly frequent and severe attacks on civilians in Myanmar, APHR said.
APHR calls on the Cambodian and other ASEAN member governments to prioritize finding the urgent solutions necessary to address the humanitarian demands in Myanmar, use all means at their disposal to end the atrocities being committed by the junta, recognize all legitimate stakeholders involved, including the National Unity Government (NUG), which includes elected representatives of the Myanmar people, urge the junta to release Aung San Suu Kyi and all opposition MPs and individuals wrongfully imprisoned on baseless politically motivated allegations, and press for Myanmar to be tabled at the United Nations Security Council.
APHR is an independent, non-partisan group of current and former lawmakers, and is committed to the protection and advancement of human rights and democracy across Southeast Asia.
“We remain available for constructive dialogue and engagement with all relevant stakeholders, such as representatives of the Cambodian government, including Prime Minister Hun Sen, with the aim of contributing to finding solutions to the urgent crisis affecting the people of Myanmar,” Santiago said.
