ASEAN TALKS - Suu Kyi must be freed : Clinton

North Korea urged to drop nuclear plans and return to six-party talks
Phuket - US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton yesterday called on Burma to release pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi as a precondition for the normalisation of ties with the United States. "It is important" for the world community, particularly Asean member countries, to "encourage the Burmese leadership to open up", she said.
The US hopes for a positive change in Burma but in the end it would be up to Asean to bring that about, she said.
Suu Kyi is now standing trial for allegedly sheltering a foreigner. She had been on house arrest for many years.
Clinton praised Asean collectively for its progress on human rights, saying the development of human rights within the regional grouping was "very welcomed" by the US government.
"Asean is moving in a very positive direction," she said.
But more attempts should be made to pressure Burma to "change their direction", she said.
The secretary of state also announced a return of the superpower to the region, which has a population of almost 600 million.
"The United States is back in Southeast Asia. President Obama and I believe that this region is vital to the global progress, peace and prosperity," she told the media at the Sheraton Grande Laguna hotel.
Clinton spent much of the press conference attempting to persuade North Korea to return to the discussion table on the Korean Peninsula's nuclear crisis.
She said only "irreversible denuclearisation" by North Korea would pave the way for a normalisation of ties with the US and prevent the country from facing global sanctions.
The goal was the betterment of North Korean citizens, she said.
All the five other countries in the six-party talks - the US, Russia, China, South Korea and Japan - were adamant that North Korea would have to halt its nuclear programme.
"We are willing to discuss the future of North Korea only if they agree to talk about denuclearisation," she said.
Clinton came to this resort island to attend the security-related Asean Regional Forum today. She also represented the US at the signing of the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation with Asean.
Security was tight before and during the press briefing, with all journalists and cameramen covering the event required to pass through a metal detector.

Source: The Nation

Mekong region ministers to meet Clinton Thursday

Phuket - Foreign Ministers from Lower Mekong region Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam will meet US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Thursday and will mostly discuss economic development with her, Lao minister said Tuesday.It was an initiative from Clinton to have the meeting on the sideline of the Asean annual meeting in the resort island of Phuket to boost US role in the region.It would be an open-agenda meeting allowing ministers to raise various issues of interest to the meeting, said Laos Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Thongloun Sisoulith.The discussion would mostly cover the economic, infrastructure development, education, public health cooperation, he said.

The Nation

ASEAN RIGHTS BODY - Fears it might be a 'toothless tiger'

Phuket - Advocates voice concerns that the commission will not be able to control abuse in member countries like Burma.

Phuket - Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said yesterday that in the initial stages, the Asean human-rights commission will focus on promotion rather than protection of rights."Progress will first be made on the front of promotion, but the protection side will not be ignored. It is better to make a start than to leave it hanging with no progress at all," Abhisit explained. Protection would be achieved through a roadmap and an evolutionary process among the member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, he said.In response to concerns about it "lacking teeth" to protect Asean citizens against human-rights violations in their countries, Abhisit said: "We want to establish a body that promotes the issue. Once that is put into place, there will be more teeth for the body in terms of protection." Human-rights advocates have expressed concerns that the new body will fall short of international standards and lack the power to deal with problematic Asean countries like military-ruled Burma. In addition, civil society groups campaigning in Phuket during the regional meetings say they don't want an Asean human-rights body that is a "toothless paper tiger"."The body has two purposes - promotion and protection - and three principles: credibility, realistic and evolutionary," Abhisit said, referring to possible obstacles posed by undemocratic governments of certain member countries, particularly Burma.The prime minister was speaking at the Sheraton Grande Laguna hotel in the resort island of Phuket following the opening ceremony of the 42nd Asean Foreign Ministers Meeting yesterday morning.Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya, as chair of the Asean meetings, said on Sunday night that more effort would be made to promote and protect human rights in the region. Asean foreign ministers met with the High-Level Panel, which presented them with draft terms of reference on the body's establishment. The body, expected to be officially called the Asean Inter-Governmental Commission on Human Rights, as suggested by the panel, is required under the Asean Charter, which came into effect last December.When the terms of reference are finalised by the foreign ministers in Phuket, the rights body will be set up at the summit of Asean leaders in October, again in Phuket. Thailand is actively pushing for the body to be created during its rotating chairmanship, which expires at the end of this year.

Source: The Nation

Rights panel set to take off

Asean foreign ministers will today endorse the terms of reference for the Asean Inter-governmental Commission on Human Rights, a body widely criticised for lacking teeth. The High-Level Panel on the Asean Human-Rights Body yesterday presented its final draft on setting up the commission to the ministers for consideration.
The ministers will adopt the terms of reference and report to the 15th Asean Summit in October. The leader of the summit would issue "the political declaration on human rights" to officially establish the commission, Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya said.
'The political declaration would reflect some of the major elements of human rights questions," the ministers told a press conference.
The terms of reference could be reviewed five years after the commission starts operation to strengthen the mandate and function of the body in promoting and protecting human rights, he said.
"It is important to make this human-rights commission credible but at the same time take into account the real situation in Asean member countries," Kasit said. "So the terms of reference to set up the commission is the beginning of an evolving process."
Each of the 10 Asean member nations would appoint one representative to sit on the commission for a three-year term, he said.
The 10 representatives will be impartial and not need to come from the public sector, he added.
For Thailand, the government would set up a committee to pick candidates in a process that would be open for all to apply, he said.
The human-rights commission was criticised for overemphasising rights promotion rather than protection.
Human-rights advocacy groups submitted an open letter to Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva as the chair of Asean, urging him to put more elements into the commission.
The letter, signed by Yap Swee Seng, executive director of the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development, and Rafendi Djamin, convenor of the Sapa Task Force on Asean and Human Rights, wanted the commission to conduct country visits, look into complaints and perform periodic reviews on the human- rights situation.
Sihasak Phuangketkeow, chairman of the High-Level Panel, said his board has included some of the civic groups' inputs in the terms of reference.
The terms of reference might not directly mention the reporting of the situation, but it says the commission has the mandate and function to obtain information from member states on the promotion and protection of human rights, he said.
Public awareness of human rights among the people of Asean, as promoted by the commission, in some sense would help them protect their rights, he said.
Kasit said that besides human rights, the Asean ministerial meeting and the Asean Regional Forum would discuss and condemn terrorism following the bombing of two luxury hotels in Jakarta.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, before departing India for Thailand, asked for global cooperation to fight terrorism.
Clinton will meet Abhisit tomorrow before heading to Phuket for the Asean meeting.
Security in Phuket will be very tight during the summit. There was no report of terrorist movements on the resort island, but the security measures were mostly aimed at preventing protests by groups sympathetic to former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
More than 10,000 troops were present in the city. The military set up many checkpoints around summit venues and screened all vehicles travelling on the island.

Source: The Nation

Asean to discuss terrorist issue after Jakarta bombs

Phuket - The Asean ministerial meeting and the Asean Regional Forum would discuss and condemn terrorism act after bombs in two luxury hotels in Jakarta, Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya said Sunday."We would issue a condemnation to the violence which killed innocent people. We try to make people in different faith, cultures and civilizations to live together in peace," Kasit told reporters upon arrival in Phuket where the foreign ministers and dialogue partner would meet this week.The Asean foreign ministers are considering drafted statement on the matter, he said.The Nation