Human rights issues in Southeast Asia are sometimes overshadowed by development of economic policies as a result of globalization, said the Secretary General for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations last night at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
The association, headed by Rodolfo Severino, started in 1967 aiming to provide collective security and globalization in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. Since 1990, ASEAN has expanded to include ten Asian nations.
Burma, one of the newest and more controversial members of ASEAN, was admitted in 1998 and is known to have committed several human rights violations. According to Gregor Chapelle, a graduate student at Harvard University, Burma has participated in the execution of numerous HIV-positive citizens. Because of this, many activists believe that Burma should not be a part of ASEAN.
In addressing this issue, Severino said the lack of uniformity on human rights issues in Southeast Asian countries makes it impossible for universal regulations to be put in effect.
“There is such wide diversity in ASEAN on this issue that it’s not possible at this stage to have any norms adopted and enforced,” Severino said.
Chapelle said he was not surprised about Severino’s non-binding stance on the issue.
“This is a touchy issue for ASEAN” he said. “But at least he accepted that it was a problem, even if ASEAN hasn’t done anything to treat it.”
Severino said confronting human rights issues is not a primary goal of ASEAN leaders. According to Severino, these nations first have to pull their economies together and become a bigger part of the global market. After a huge financial crisis in 1997, the leading nations of ASEAN are still trying to pass reforms that would lead to economic growth.
“To compete in the global economy today, each region of ASEAN would require stronger regional institutions with greater authority than allowed now,” he said.
Severino mentioned the possibility of more free trade between China, Australia, India, the United States and Southeast Asian countries.
However, despite continued attempts to participate in the global economy, ASEAN has a long way to go compared to other multinational organizations such as the European Union, Severino said.
Currently, the primary goal of ASEAN is to stabilize individual regions in order to encourage participate fully in the global economy, according to Severino, adding the issues of globalization and the world market need to be dealt with prior to focusing on other issues.
Chapelle, a native of Belgium, still had his doubts.
“As a regulatory organization, the EU has broader goals that are not just economic and which include the prevention of human rights violations,” he said. “Western countries should encourage ASEAN and let them know that to have a bright future they should include human rights issues from the start, and not as an afterthought.”
Severino added although human rights issues in Burma are not ASEAN’s immediate concern, these issues are still discussed in certain forums.
“We are concerned about the widespread violation of human rights,” Severino said. “The young nature of ASEAN is such that this kind of sensitive issue is not yet recognized as a topic for open discussion. But I assure you it is discussed behind closed doors.”
Severino said ASEAN’s plans for now are simply to keep driving toward a global economy and open up southeastern nations to more and more free trade in hopes that at some point they will be able to deal with their regional problems efficiently.
“For ASEAN, the question today is whether its members have the vision and political fortitude to take the steps necessary to move to the next stage in its history,” he said.