ASEAN leaders meet Myanmar coup chief amid killings – KIRO 7 Information Seattle

JAKARTA, Indonesia – (AP) – Southeast Asian leaders met with Myanmar’s top general and coup leader at an emergency summit in Myanmar on Saturday in Indonesia. They are expected to call for an end to the violence by security forces that killed hundreds of protesters and the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and other political prisoners.

There is little hope of an immediate breakthrough at the two-hour meeting in Jakarta between Major General Min Aung Hlaing and the six heads of state and three foreign ministers representing the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. But his decision to face them offers the 10-nation bloc a rare chance to deal directly with the general who ousted one of its leaders in a February 1 coup.

“The looming tragedy has serious consequences for Myanmar, ASEAN and the region,” said Singapore’s Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan on the eve of the summit.

A proposal discussed in preliminary meetings calls for the current ASEAN Chairman, Prime Minister of Brunei, Hassanal Bolkiah, to travel to Myanmar to meet the Suu Kyi military leadership and camp to promote dialogue. He would be accompanied by ASEAN General Secretary Lim Jock Hoi – also from Brunei – if the junta agreed, a Southeast Asian diplomat told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to speak to the media.

Another diplomat said humanitarian aid could be offered to Myanmar if conditions improved. The diplomat also spoke to AP on condition of anonymity because he was not empowered to publicly discuss such plans.

Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi expressed the hope that “we can reach an agreement on the next steps that can help the people of Myanmar to get out of this delicate situation”.

After the coup, ASEAN issued a statement on Brunei in which it did not condemn the takeover as expected, but instead called for “the pursuit of dialogue, reconciliation and a return to normalcy in accordance with the will and interests of the people of Myanmar”. However, under pressure from the West, the regional group sought to take a stronger position on issues, but maintained its non-confrontational approach.

All ASEAN countries agreed to meet Min Aung Hlaing but would not address him as head of state of Myanmar at the summit, the Southeast Asian diplomat said. Critics said ASEAN’s decision to meet him was unacceptable and was to legitimize the fall and the fatality that followed. Daily shootings by police officers and soldiers have killed more than 700 demonstrators and bystanders, according to several independent people.

Amnesty International called on Indonesia and other ASEAN countries to investigate Min Aung Hlaing on “credible allegations of responsibility for crimes against humanity in Myanmar”. As a signatory to a UN Convention against Torture, Indonesia is legally obliged to prosecute or extradite an alleged perpetrator on its territory.

“The military-triggered Myanmar crisis is the biggest test of ASEAN in its history,” said Emerlynne Gil of the London-based rights group. “This is not an internal issue for Myanmar, but a major human rights and humanitarian crisis that affects the entire region and beyond.”

Police dispersed dozens of protesters speaking out against the coup and the visit of the junta leader.

More than 4,300 police officers have banded together in the Indonesian capital to secure the meetings, which were held under strict protective measures amid the pandemic. Indonesia has reported the highest number of COVID-19 infections and deaths in Southeast Asia.

The leaders of Thailand and the Philippines skipped the summit to tackle coronavirus outbreaks in the homeland. Laos, which has the lowest number of infections in the region but has imposed a lockdown this week, was also canceled at the last minute. The personal summit is the first of ASEAN leaders in more than a year.

ASEAN’s diversity, including many of its members’ diverse relationships with China or the United States, as well as a policy of non-interference in each other’s domestic affairs and consensual decision-making, have adversely affected the bloc’s ability to deal swiftly with crises.

Aside from Myanmar, the regional block groups are Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.

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Associate press journalists Kiko Rosario and Grant Peck in Bangkok, Jim Gomez in Manila, Philippines, and Eileen Ng in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia contributed to this report.