ASEAN -- SECGEN SURIN ON HUMAN RIGHTS MECHANISM,

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 JAKARTA 001417

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR EAP, EAP/MTS, EAP/MLS, EAP/RSP
NSC FOR D.WALTON

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/27/2019
TAGS: PREL PGOV ECON ASEAN ID
SUBJECT: ASEAN -- SECGEN SURIN ON HUMAN RIGHTS MECHANISM,
BURMA

Classified By: Pol/C Joseph L. Novak, reasons 1.4(b+d).


1. (C) SUMMARY: In an August 25 diplomatic briefing at
ASEAN headquarters in Jakarta, Secretary General Surin
outlined developments in the areas of establishing an ASEAN
human rights mechanism and addressing regional stability
issues, such as North Korea. Surin reiterated ASEAN's call
for the immediate release of Aung San Suu Kyi and other
political prisoners in Burma. Surin hailed U.S. accession to
the ASEAN Treaty of Amity and Cooperation. He also voiced
support for an ASEAN-U.S. Summit that would be held later
this year, perhaps on the margins of the APEC meeting in
November in Singapore. END SUMMARY.

ASEAN BRIEFING


2. (SBU) ASEAN Secretary General Surin Pitsuwan briefed
ASEAN member permanent representatives and diplomats from
ASEAN dialogue partners during an August 25 meeting at the
Secretariat in Jakarta. He described key outcomes from the
recent ASEAN Ministerial Meeting (AMM),ASEAN Regional Forum,
and ASEAN Economic Ministers' Meeting (AEM). He also briefly
discussed progress in establishing the Jakarta-based
Committee of Permanent Representatives (CPR) during the first
of what he said would be a regular series of Secretariat
briefings. Surin explained that the CPR had begun regular
meetings in Jakarta and would gradually take on a greater
role directing ASEAN's activities.

HUMAN RIGHTS BODY


3. (C) Human rights was the first issue on the agenda.
SecGen Surin reiterated the organization's commitment to
establishing a viable ASEAN Inter-governmental Commission on
Human Rights (AICHR). He conceded that the AMM's decision on
Terms of Reference for the AICHR was a difficult one given
differences among member states over how robust the mechanism
should be. While most ASEAN members supported general
language on the "promotion" of human rights, several balked
at stronger language calling for the "protection" of human
rights. The resulting compromise dropped the stronger
language. However, Surin said he hoped that a strong
political declaration on the matter would be issued at the
ASEAN Summit in October 2009 in Thailand. He acknowledged
that ASEAN's credibility depended on a viable human rights
mechanism.

BURMA


4. (C) Burma remains a key priority for ASEAN. Surin
reiterated the AMM's call for the Burmese government to
release Aung San Suu Kyi and other political prisoners
immediately and to hold free and fair elections. ASEAN would
continue to support the efforts of Special Envoy Ibrahim
Gambari and other UN efforts. The SecGen also explained that
ASEAN was continuing to make progress coordinating
humanitarian assistance to parts of Burma devastated by
Cyclone Nargis in April 2008. He called on international
donors to provide additional assistance for cyclone
reconstruction and noted that ASEAN and the UN planned to
organize a follow-on international donor's conference to
address the situation. (Note: Septel reviews ASEAN's
efforts encouraging Indonesia to play a more assertive role
on Burma.)

ASIAN REGIONAL STABILITY


5. (C) Turning to security issues, SecGen Surin said the ARF
remained the leading forum for discussing potential threats
to stability in Asia. Chief among these threats is North
Korea's nuclear program. Surin suggested that the ARF could
support efforts to end North Korea's nuclear program because
it is the only regional mechanism that includes all
participants in the Six Party Talks. ASEAN would welcome
holding sessions of the Six Party Talks on the margins of ARF
meetings and was open to other suggestions of how the
organization could support denuclearization efforts.


6. (U) SecGen Surin also outlined a broad range of ASEAN
initiatives in energy and climate change. ASEAN will
organize a meeting of the East Asia Summit environment
ministers in Singapore in October to explore establishing a

JAKARTA 00001417 002 OF 002


common position in advance of the Copenhagen Conference.
(Note: The East Asia Summit includes the ten ASEAN members
plus Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand and South
Korea.) ASEAN had also launched a range of discussions with
China, Japan and South Korea to explore energy security,
renewable energy, conservation and related matters.


7. (U) Recent economic-related ASEAN meetings had yielded
significant progress, according to Surin. He related that
the ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement would enter force during
the October Summit and would lower tariff barriers across the
region. However, Surin cautioned that ASEAN members must
guard against a corresponding rise in non-tariff barriers and
that the organization must explore ways to prevent these from
emerging. He also said that addressing inter-ASEAN trade in
services would be the organization's next economic priority.

PRAISE FOR U.S. ENGAGEMENT


8. (SBU) Surin hailed the United States' recent accession to
the ASEAN Treaty of Amity and Cooperation (TAC) as an
historic milestone in U.S.-ASEAN relations. Noting the
Secretary's comments on the matter, Surin said that ASEAN
hoped the United States would have a resident ASEAN
representative in Jakarta as soon as possible. He also said
that ASEAN members hoped to hold a U.S.-ASEAN summit in the
near future and suggested doing so on the margins of the
November APEC meeting in Singapore.

HUME