"Shouldn’t they try something new?"
Representatives of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) met with Myanmar’s military dictator on Friday, six weeks after a regional summit produced a flaccid response to an unelected regime that had usurped power and waged a bloody war on its own people.
A day after that meeting, military forces in the country killed 20 more people in clashes with villagers armed with catapults and crossbows as the daily protests against the military have evolved in parts of the country into armed insurrections.
A group that monitors the violence estimates that some 845 people have been killed by security forces since the army overthrew the country’s democratically elected government on Feb. 1.
Opponents of the junta have voiced frustration at the lack of tough action by ASEAN and say the meeting with the junta leader gave him greater legitimacy but brought no benefit.
Indeed, the military rulers have shown little sign of heeding the “five-point consensus” agreed among the members of ASEAN in April, which calls for an end to violence, political talks and the naming of a regional special envoy.
The latest meeting in Myanmar presumably was to seek the approval by the military rulers of an ASEAN special envoy for the crisis—a process that has taken an inordinate amount of time.
In the meantime, civilians who oppose military rule continue to die and Myanmar’s economy remains in a state of paralysis.
Previous to this, ASEAN officials actually sought to water down a resolution drafted for the UN General Assembly to condemn the detention of elected government officials in Myanmar. They also sought to remove a provision calling for “an immediate suspension of the direct and indirect supply, sale or transfer of all weapons and munitions” to Myanmar.
And what benefits has the ASEAN reaped from acting as a lawyer for Myanmar’s dictators?
None of its “five-point consensus” has been realized, while ASEAN dances with a dictator. The violence has not stopped, and instead of initiating any dialogue with those opposed to military rule, the junta has branded them as “terrorists.” Six weeks since the emergency summit, no ASEAN special envoy has been named.
Amid the ASEAN dawdling, members of the European Union (EU) have shown more resolve in signaling their displeasure with sanctions, to protest the power grab, the political suppression and the continuing violence in Myanmar.
David Scott Mathieson, an independent analyst who has been working on conflict, peace and human rights issues in Myanmar for over 20 years, summed it up well when he declared: “ASEAN diplomacy is dead on arrival.”
Isn’t it time to try something new?