ASEAN FAVORS ENGAGEMENT WITH BURMA, MAY DELAY BURMA'S

UNCLAS JAKARTA 002817 SIPDIS SIPDIS SENSITIVE DEPT PASS USTR FOR KATZ AND BROOKS DEPT FOR EAP, EAP/RSP, EAP/MTS, EAP/MLS DEPT FOR EB/IFD/OMA DEPT ALSO FOR OES/IET AND OES/ETC/TED TREASURY FOR IA-SETH SEARLS COMMERCE FOR 4430/[GOLIKE] E.O. 12598: N/A TAGS: ECON PHUM PREL PGOV KDEM ID BM SUBJECT: ASEAN FAVORS ENGAGEMENT WITH BURMA, MAY DELAY BURMA'S CHARTER SIGNATURE ¶1. (SBU) Summary. ASEAN Secretariat staff express hope that momentum for stronger ASEAN condemnation of Burmese repression will continue to build, but also maintain that an increase in economic engagement is the best way to affect political change in Burma. ASEAN may delay Burma's signing of the ASEAN Charter. However, Secretariat staff do not believe this delay will impact ASEAN decision making or operations going forward. End Summary. Secretariat Asserts Engagement with Burma SIPDIS Best Way Forward -------------- ¶2. (SBU) In recent discussions with Post, ASEAN Secretariat staff expressed hope that momentum for stronger ASEAN condemnation of Burmese repression would continue to build, but also maintained that an increase in economic engagement is the best way to affect political change in Burma. Secretariat officials also indicated that ASEAN is currently debating the appropriateness of Burma signing the ASEAN Charter in Singapore next month. Some member countries have argued that having Burma sign the Charter will provide ASEAN with a stronger mechanism to force change in the current Burmese regime. However, given that the Charter will not contain a significant enforcement mechanism or requirement for expulsion in the face of human rights abuses, the Secretariat believes member countries will merely delay Burma's signing of the document until an unspecified date. ¶3. (SBU) The Secretariat asserted that a delay in Burma's signing will not have a significant impact on ASEAN decision making going forward. ASEAN does not have legally binding agreements that will be impacted Burma's exclusion from the ASEAN Charter. Secretariat officials also noted that the current Charter draft is unlikely to contain a strong dispute settlement mechanism or general compliance rules for all ASEAN agreements because of difficulty in reaching political consensus on these items. Instead, ASEAN plans to negotiate compliance and enforcement issues on an agreement-by-agreement basis. Secretariat officials also noted that ASEAN plans to introduce legally binding agreements in the economic realm over the next few years to facilitate integration. However, they conceded that ASEAN would likely avoid pushing for binding political agreements until all member countries understand and accepted the agreement enforcement mechanism. HEFFERN