PHUKET, Thailand — Southeast Asian nations Monday defended the region's first human rights watchdog against criticisms that it would be powerless to tackle rogue members such as military-ruled Myanmar.
Officials meeting in the Thai resort island of Phuket ahead of the continent's main security forum later this week are also expected to discuss the hotel bombings in Jakarta and North Korea's nuclear programme.
But the main focus was on the new rights body which Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) foreign ministers were set to endorse later Monday, amid apparent divisions over its final form.
Rights groups condemned the proposed watchdog for lacking powers to punish violators and for only being able to insist that member nations provide an internal report on their rights situations.
Human rights have been a perennial challenge for ASEAN since it was founded as a bulwark against communism 42 years ago. Its members now include Myanmar and communist Vietnam and Laos, which have all been accused of rights abuses.
Thai Prime Minister and current ASEAN chairman Abhisit Vejjajiva said the rights body would develop "more teeth" after it was formally launched by leaders of the 10-member bloc at a summit in October.
"It's better to make a start than to leave this hanging with no progress at all," Abihsit told reporters, adding that the body would focus for now on "promotion and protection" of human rights.
"What we want to do is establish a body that begins with the issue of promotion, and then the next step obviously once that is put into place, is that there will be more teeth for the body in terms of protection," he said.
However Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda led a strong last-minute push to give the body further powers at a meeting on Sunday, nearly scuttling its endorsement, officials said.
Wirajuda insisted that the bloc issue a political declaration in October noting Jakarta's concerns over the current terms of reference, Indonesian diplomat Imron Cotan said.
A senior regional diplomat said on condition of anonymity that some of Indonesia's proposals were "not acceptable" to countries such as Myanmar.
Myanmar caused fresh headaches for ASEAN after the ruling junta put democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi on trial over an incident in which an American man swam to her lakeside house in May. She faces up to five years in jail.
The country has been the group's so-called problem child since it joined in 1997 because of its detention of thousands of political dissidents.
Rights groups said the new body's remit fell short of international standards and sent a letter to Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya asking for a meeting.
"The human rights body is born, but it needs a lot of careful care so that it can become a mechanism with teeth and not become toothless," Rafendi Djamin, of the regional group Solidarity for Asian People's Advocacy, told AFP.
Kasit on Sunday admitted that there had been compromises to ensure that Myanmar signed on for the rights body, but insisted it was still an important step for the region.
ASEAN Secretary General Surin Pitsuwan said endorsing the body would be a "good beginning."
A draft of the rights panel's terms of reference affirms ASEAN's underlying principle of non-interference in domestic affairs, which has been used by some members to fend off criticism about rights abuses.
The annual ASEAN foreign ministers' meeting on Monday comes ahead of the 27-member ASEAN regional forum later this week, which groups the bloc's members along with the United States, the EU, China, Japan and other countries.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is due in Phuket on Wednesday for talks that are likely to include the standoff over North Korea's nuclear programme.
The twin suicide bombings at hotels in the Indonesian capital on Friday are also set for discussion, officials said.
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