Jakarta (ANTARA) - Human rights organization members of the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) on Wednesday (May 3) urged the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to move beyond the Five-Point Consensus (5PC) to address the Myanmar crisis.
The forum sent an open letter to ASEAN leaders ahead of the upcoming 42nd ASEAN Summit on May 9–11, 2023. The letter was signed by 25 human rights organizations from Asia.
“We urge ASEAN leaders to immediately move away from the ASEAN Five-Point Consensus and create a more robust and tangible action to stop the military junta’s violence and atrocity crimes,” it said in a statement posted on the Progressive Voice Myanmar’s website.
It also urged ASEAN to immediately organize a constructive and inclusive dialogue with all relevant stakeholders and parties, including the National Unity Government of Myanmar (NUG) as the democratically-elected government, representatives of Ethnic Resistance Organizations (EROs), and Myanmar’s civil society groups.
It calls on ASEAN to work closely with the United Nations, particularly the Security Council and the Secretary-General, in the effort to resolve the crisis in Myanmar.
Those organizations have expressed grave concern over the lack of tangible action from ASEAN in ending the crisis in Myanmar.
In April 2021, ASEAN and Senior General Min Aung Hlaing agreed to the Five-Point Consensus as a peace plan for addressing Myanmar's crisis.
The consensus called for an immediate end to violence; holding of dialogue among all parties; the appointment of a special envoy; allowing humanitarian assistance from the ASEAN; and permitting an ASEAN special envoy to visit Myanmar to meet with all parties.
However, two years since its adoption, the Myanmar military junta has disregarded the peace plan.
The human rights organizations said that ASEAN has failed not only in holding the Myanmar junta to account for its commitment to the consensus, but also in uniting its efforts and leadership for promoting peace, stability, and prosperity in the region.
The junta has increasingly used air strikes as a strategy to cause significant damage and civilian casualties on the ground, the statement noted.
The military junta carried out 734 air strikes between February 2021 and January 2023, which resulted in 356 civilian deaths, it added.
The human rights organizations expressed the hope that ASEAN will immediately appoint a special envoy to Myanmar and set up a clear mandate.
The role of the special envoy must be full-time, lasting more than one year, and they must be accountable to ASEAN leaders and foreign ministers instead of the incumbent ASEAN chair, they said.
“We sincerely hope that these concrete actions, which are aligned with peoples’ voices from the ground, will be heard and implemented in the upcoming summit to show ASEAN’s accountability, credibility, and effectiveness,” the statement said.
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