To engage or disengage!
A Report from the Civil Society Dialogue with ASEAN Heads of Government/ State
28 February 2009, Hua Hin/Cha-am

The civil society representatives decided to continue the engagement with the ASEAN and attended the interface with the ASEAN leaders today although they had initially contemplated staging a walkout when colleagues from Burma and Cambodia were barred from attending the interface by their respective governments. The underlying need to maintain open, continued and constructive dialogue in order to ensure the voices and concerns of ASEAN peoples are heard propelled the civil society representatives to unite and stand in solidarity and engage with the ASEAN leaders. The civil society representatives decided to be introduced to the ASEAN leaders as the voices of ASEAN and not by country or organisational affiliation.

The dialogue facilitated by the Thai government as the Chair of ASEAN created the platform for critical and constructive dialogue between the ASEAN civil society and state leaders. Civil society representatives shared concerns and welcomed the responses from the ASEAN Chair, Thai Prime Minister Mr. Abhisit Vejjajiva. In a promising move, the ASEAN Chair and the Thai Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Kasit Piromya had decided to meet the Burmese and Cambodian representatives at the end of the interface.  Ms. Wathshlah Naidu (Malaysia) took the opportunity to “Invite all the other ‘people-oriented’ ASEAN leaders to join in the dialogue which was to take place immediately after the interface to ensure a united and inclusive dialogue”. However, none of the other ASEAN leaders turned up.

“We need the guarantee that our voices will be truly represented in all the decision making processes of ASEAN so as not to undermine the spirit and principles enshrined in the ASEAN Charter”, urged Ms. Suntree Sae-Geuing (Thailand). She called upon the ASEAN member states to put into place mechanisms to ensure inclusive and representative participation of civil society in all structures and processes within ASEAN.
The other issues raised were on the lack of protection mandate in the proposed ASEAN Human Rights Body; mechanisms to address the concerns and violations experienced by migrant workers; and on mechanisms and updates on the establishment of the Commission on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Women and Children (ACWC).

Ms. Yuyun Wahyuningrum’s quote of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s, “Use your liberty to promote ours”, drew the attention of all ASEAN leaders to Burma, the “democracy” in crisis. The ASEAN Chair had assured the civil society that ASEAN takes note of the issues and concerns of Burma and the ASEAN leaders will have an open dialogue on Burma at this Summit. It was also stressed by the Chair that the ASEAN leaders shared a common agenda in ensuring prosperity, stability and human security in all ASEAN member states.
The ASEAN Chair also extrapolated that women’s human rights and gender related issues required a separate forum in ASEAN to open up channels to ensure their issues and concerns are addressed.

The Prime Minister of Vietnam, Mr. Nguyen Tan Dung, stressed the importance of adhering to the objectives and principles of non-interference and state sovereignty in the community building process.  The role of civil society was unfortunately relegated to that of educating and creating awareness amongst the public. Mr. Nguyen in ensuring continued co-operation with civil society proposed developing an ASEAN guidelines for engagement with civil society.

Civil society in meeting the ASEAN leaders today have raised the bar and set into motion the commitment for continued engagement. The ASEAN leaders are now urged to ensure this process becomes part of the working framework of ASEAN in line with Article 1.13 of the ASEAN Charter which calls for the promotion of “people oriented ASEAN in which all sectors of society are encouraged to participate in”. Civil society calls on ASEAN member states to adhere to the spirit and principles of the ASEAN Charter in accordance to international norms and standards in line with the mission to promote democracy, fundamental freedom, rule of law and good governance.

Prepared by Wathshlah G. Naidu
Programme Officer
International Women's Rights Action Watch Asia Pacific (IWRAW Asia Pacific)