Nay Pyi Taw signs Asean human rights pact

Leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) yesterday adopted the first human rights declaration in the region. 

“This declaration will be capable of upholding political and security measures. It is of utmost importance to the region,” Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa told reporters at the Peace Palace Building during the 21st Asean Summit in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on November 18. 

The Asean human rights declaration was officially issued in July. Asean member countries, however, condemned the declaration, saying it did not meet international standards and demanded for its review. Proposals for amendments to the draft were sent to the Asean Secretariat’s Office and Asean governments and was finalised during the summit. 

“People’s concerns on and recommendations for the Human Rights Declaration were heard. Our declaration is said to fall short of international standards. This has been planned for a long time. We have started since 1992 to achieve this declaration,” Asean secretary-general Surin Pitsuwan said last Saturday. 

Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Nam Hong yesterday said the Asean Human Rights Declaration is a result of several meetings between the Asean Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) and various associations. 

“It’s an Asean declaration toward effective protection and further respect for human rights. It is not a declaration of NGOs or civil society...In fact, it doesn’t completely satisfy some NGOs. The adoption of the declaration is the first step. The commission will talk with civil society organisations to amend the document if necessary,” he added. 

Meanwhile, Agence France-Presse reports that the number of reported landmine casualties in Myanmar rose sharply last year, despite signs that the army has reduced its use of the deadly weapons, a study said on Tuesday.

Myanmar, one of the most heavily mined countries in the world, is beset by festering insurgencies that have left remote border areas littered with mines and other unexploded ordinance.

But there have been no reports of new mines laid this year in what would be a major breakthrough as the nation emerges from decades of military rule, the Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor said.

At least 84 people were killed and 293 wounded by landmines and other unexploded ordinance in 2011, compared with 36 deaths and 238 injuries the previous year, the study found.

More than half of all casualties last year were civilians, while 130 were military personnel with the identity of a further 41 unknown, according to the study, which is based on information from the government, NGOs and the media.

The real number is believed to be higher, the group said, with access restricted to many of the areas peppered by landmines, such as northern Kachin State where ethnic rebels are fighting Myanmar’s army.

Since mid-2012, however, there have been signs of a decrease in new mine use, the report said, adding it was unclear whether democratic reforms or truces with some ethnic rebel groups were responsible for the change.

“There have been major changes in the attitude of the authorities toward mine issues,” report researcher Yeshua Moser-Puangsuwan said.

He said the lack of any recent allegations of landmine use by the government was “a very good sign”, but added that it was too soon to say if the military had stopped using the weapons altogether.

Moser-Puangsuwan said peace talks with rebel groups should pave the way for an extensive de-mining programme.

Nearly 3,250 people have been killed or wounded by landmines in Myanmar between 1999 and 2011, the report said.

In 2010 the International Campaign to Ban Landmines said Myanmar was the only government still laying landmines, although it has since been joined by Israel, Syria and Libya.

There have since been signs of a change of tack, with Myanmar participating in a global anti-landmine summit in November last year.