Kanbawza Win
Mizzima News (www.mizzima.com)

October 16, 2003

The media depicted that, “The 9th ASEAN Summit that recently concluded in Bali, Indonesia, had voiced concern over free flow of drugs in their respective territories despite strict vigilance”. Obviously the mainland peninsular countries of Southeast Asia are losing some of their younger generation to the free flow of heroine, opium and other psychotropic substance. The 10 million Yaba pills seized very lately in the Thailand-Burma border areas was just a tip of the iceberg, as truckloads of illicit drugs roll across the border and every intelligence agency be it a Thai, CIA, Chineseor ethnic groups indicated that the Burmese Military Intelligence Service headed by Khin Nyunt (to be specific, MI 25 the
Military Intelligence Unit in Karen State's capital, Hpa-an) was very much involved in it. And yet the current Thai administration like their predecessors still continues to support the Burmese Junta and persecute the opposition-seeking haven in Thailand. Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra who had called for Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's release while he was on a visit to Washington after May 30, has subsequently ordered a serious offensive on her supporters in Thailand including the blacklisting of 700 people barred from entering Thailand for supporting the Burmese democracy movement.

Retiring Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad who at one time loudly scolded the Burmese Junta for not releasing Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has eaten
his words silently when he recollects the fate of former Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, now still lingering in jail. So, also Singapore's Goh Chok Tong who has strongly acted in favour of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi seems to remember his government's repressive measures, such as internal security act and legal lawsuits especially against former Professor Dr Chee of the Singapore Democratic Party, is forced to stay mum.

Indonesia posing as the champion of democracy has to eat a piece of humble pie as most of the senior officials and ministers, had to brief counterparts on clashes between Christians and Muslims in Maluku and other issues of endless domestic turbulence. Grudgingly they have given up East Timor. Perhaps the most shocking experience for Indonesia and ASEAN was during the post-referendum mayhem in East Timor in 1999. At that time ASEAN could not do much to support the Indonesian government, because for decades they had
pretended not to hear and not to know anything about East Timor. After all,
by ASEAN standards, it was strictly Indonesia's domestic affair. The same
standard applies to Burma in Bali Concord II and nobody seems to notice the
fate of the Burmese Nobel laureate and the pro democracy leader.

The region’s values reached its hypocritical zenith when the Philippines representative managed to insert the word, “Democracy” as one of the cherished goals of ASEAN when to everybody’s knowledge five members such as
Burma, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia and Brunei are anathema to democracy and
human rights. Sometimes we wonder whether the Southeast Asians leaders have lost their sense of shame.

The world will soon witness how President George W Bush reacts to this regional leaders who fall short of the international norms of human rights and democracy and Burma will just be one of the test cases. Will President Bush adhere to the principle of the universality and indivisibility of the Geneva Human rights accord or will the business over rules the conscience in the post nine eleven era in his zest for terrorism when Osama Bin Ladens is smiling somewhere in the mountains?