Myanmar says ASEAN leaders have confirmed its 2014 chairmanship

Nov 17, 2011, 9:53 GMT

Nusa Dua, Indonesia - Leaders of the Association of the South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) on Thursday endorsed Myanmar's proposal to chair the group in 2014, senior Myanmar officials said.

'As far as I'm concerned it is confirmed,' Sit Aye, a legal advisor to Myanmar's president, said on the sidelines of an ASEAN summit on the Indonesian resort island of Bali.

Myanmar Information Minister Kyaw Hsen also said that the ASEAN leaders had 'endorsed' the country's chairmanship bid.

The chairmanship of ASEAN is rotated every year in an alphabetical order, but Myanmar was skipped in 2006 because of pressure over its poor human rights record.

Myanmar's military junta in 2010 held its first election in 20 years and released opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi after years of house arrest.

The country's new government released more than 316 political prisoners in May and October, but New York-based Human Rights Watch said an estimated 1,669 of them remained behind bars.

'ASEAN should tell the Burmese government to stop using political prisoners as bargaining chips to deflect international pressure,' said Human Rights Watch deputy Asia director Elaine Pearson, using Myanmar's former name.

'ASEAN members need to ensure that all of Burma's prisoners are fully accounted for, and those held for political reasons are immediately released.'

Sit Aye said Myanmar's democratization was irreversible.

'It is a continued process,' he said. 'We have made a lot of progress and you can see in the future there will be follow-up action.'

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