Press Release
October 9, 2007

LOREN BATS FOR ASEAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION
AT IPU GENERAL ASSEMBLY IN GENEVA, SWITZERLAND

GENEVA, Oct. 9 - Philippine Senator Loren Legarda yesterday urged the establishment of the ASEAN Human Rights Commission for the purpose of protecting human rights, especially in Myanmar where a struggle for democracy is being suppressed by a military junta.

Speaking during the opening of the 117th Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) assembly here, Loren also lauded the adoption as an "emergency item" by the assembly of a proposal "for the exercise of concerted efforts for the speedy attainment of democratization in Myanmar." The proposal was made by Indonesia, with active involvement of the Philippine delegation.

In the debates for the adoption of the emergency item, Senator Legarda, speaking for the Philippine delegation, said that if the ASEAN human rights commission been established from the time it was proposed in 2000, atrocities committed against the monks and civilians in Myanmar (Burma) or in any ASEAN country that commits human rights violations could have been addressed, if not prevented.

Senator Legarda was referring to the Draft Agreement for the Establishment of the ASEAN Human rights Commission submitted by senior officials in 2000. This accord seeks to create a regional human rights body with monitory, promotional and recommendatory powers. ASEAN refers to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations composed of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

After a roll call of each IPU member state, the delegates agreed that the Myanmar issue indeed is a major international concern upon which it has to express and opinion and take immediate action. The Myanmar issue as an emergency item won over the two other emergency items proposed by the United Kingdom and Iran. The UK had proposed climate change, while Iran projected the independence and territorial integrity of Iraq, as the emergency items for discussion.

In her speech, Loren mentioned that the Philippine Senate has adopted a resolution introduced by Sen. Aquilino Pimentel Jr. urging the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), the European Union (EU) and the ASEAN to end the "violent repression" by the ruling military junta upon the people of Myanmar.

Pimentel's resolution, adopted as Senate Resolution No. 19, urged the UNSC to call on Myanmar to end its repression of the fundamental rights of the people of Burma and cease in using force against the peaceful and unarmed demonstrators. It also called on the EU to use its influence to help bring about democratic governance in Burma and a peaceful democratic solution to the problems the country is facing.

The Philippine Senate resolution also urged the ASEAN to demand that the military junta immediately end its violent and brutal dispersals of peaceful and unarmed demonstrators and to suspend Burma from the ASEAN. The resolution also asked the ASEAN to expel Myanmar from the organization if the ruling junta persists in abusing its own people.

The IPU is the international organization of Parliaments of sovereign States established in 1889 as the focal point for world-wide parliamentary dialogue. The Union works for peace and cooperation among peoples and for the firm establishment of representative democracy.

News Latest News Feed