According to the new charter of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, member states are required to act in accordance with certain principles: the rule of law, good governance, democracy, constitutional government, respect for fundamental freedoms, protection of human rights and the promotion of social justice.
By anyone's measure, the military government of Burma, which has been a member of Asean since 1997, has failed in these responsibilities. The farcical trial of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi is only the latest incident in a long history of violence, corruption, ineptitude and complete disregard for the lives and rights of Burma's citizens.
Asean member states, especially Indonesia, must assume a leadership role in putting pressure on the Burma regime with strict and targeted sanctions. Asean members are in a prime position to cut the junta's financial lifeline. Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam are among the junta's top trading partners. Thailand alone purchases more than 44% of Burma's exports each year. Sanctions by Asean member states would deprive Burma's generals of a large portion of the more than $11 billion they earn from foreign trade annually.
Ms. Suu Kyi and members of Burma's democracy movement have repeatedly called for international sanctions on the junta. If the people of Burma, who suffer daily under the junta, are asking us to do so to help them, why are we not listening? The United States and the European Union have extensive sanctions in place, but their effectiveness is limited because neither the U.S. nor the EU ranks among Burma's top trading partners.
Some Asean members argue that sanctions would only hurt the Burmese people, who are already among the poorest in Southeast Asia. But that is not the case: Export revenues, particularly from natural gas, have created enormous budget surpluses over the last five years. But much of this goes toward the personal enrichment of the generals and their cronies, or toward ill-conceived large-scale projects. The construction in 2005 of a brand new administrative capital in Naypyidaw is but one example of the junta's incompetent and erratic use of state funds.
While the generals relish life in their new capital, the rest of Burma's citizens languish in poverty. The junta spends just 1.4% of GDP on health and education. The public education system in the country has decayed so badly that many parents rely on free, local monastic schools for their children's education. Infectious diseases, including AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis are rampant. How much longer is Asean willing to be dictated to by Burma's human-rights violators?
Strong leadership is necessary to bring about a change, especially because Asean insists on working with its "consensus and collectiveness" approach to resolving regional issues. Trade with Burma's regime is a clear sign of a lack of seriousness in wanting to resolve the country's human-rights problems and it contradicts commitments of enforcing principles found in the Asean Charter.
Asean states will forever have to assume blame for Burma's crisis if they continue to contribute to the regime's political and economic strength. There is no time like the present for Asean to take action and spur the junta into starting the process of national reconciliation.
Ms. Sundari is a member of the Indonesian parliament and a committee member of the Asean Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus, an independent organization of Asean parliamentarians.