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Jokowi ‘disappointed’ by Myanmar executions
UNSC condemns junta in rare consensus.
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resident Joko “Jokowi” Widodo expressed his “disappointment” at the recent executions of four pro-democracy activists in Myanmar, calling it a sign of “a lack of significant progress in the implementation of the Five-Point Consensus”, Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi said in a briefing in Japan on Wednesday.
On Monday, the Myanmar military junta’s decision to execute four pro-democracy political prisoners despite appeals and warnings from several international actors sparked widespread condemnation from around the globe.
The military rulers defended its actions on Tuesday as “justice for the people”, brushing off a deluge of condemnation including from its closest neighbors. Junta spokesperson Zaw Min Tun said the men had been given due process and insisted those executed were not democracy activists, but killers deserving of their punishment.
“This was justice for the people. These criminals were given the chance to defend themselves,” he told a regular televised news briefing, as quoted by Reuters. “I knew it would raise criticism but it was done for justice. It was not personal.”
The executions are a direct violation of the Five-Point Consensus, a 2021 ASEAN peace initiative agreed to by nine of the region’s leaders as well as Myanmar’s military chief, Gen. Min Aung Hlaing.
The five points call for an immediate cessation of violence; dialogue among all parties; the appointment of a special envoy; engagement with the envoy; and regional humanitarian assistance. But one and a half years after the agreement, the junta has not ceased committing violence and has frequently refused to partake in multiparty dialogue.
The executions come barely a month after ASEAN’s special envoy for Myanmar, Cambodian Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn, returned from a visit to the country in efforts to fulfill the mandates of the Five-Point Consensus.
During the envoy’s meeting with the military leaders, he reiterated a plea to reconsider the death sentences for detained anti-junta activists, to which they responded by saying they had not carried out such punishments since 1987, according to a report of the special envoy to ASEAN foreign ministers obtained by The Jakarta Post.
Read also: Executed Myanmar prisoners deserved ‘many death sentences’: junta
Since the executions – which immediately set off a flurry of consultations among ASEAN member states, according to regional sources – the bloc is expected to change tack and seek more tenable ways of dealing with the junta.
“Every development taking place in Myanmar, including the death sentences given to the political prisoners, indicate a regression – not progress – on the implementation of the Five-Point Consensus,” Retno said, quoting the President in a statement.
“All these developments have proven the junta’s lack of a commitment to implementing the [consensus].”
While Indonesia did not issue any statement on the day the executions were confirmed, Retno said Indonesia was among the first to “push the ASEAN chair to issue a statement, [...] actively making suggestions for the draft”.
Cambodia, which holds the chairmanship for the regional bloc, issued the final negotiated response a day after news broke of the executions, saying that it “denounces and is strongly disappointed” with Myanmar, and that its decision to carry out executions a week before the 55th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting (AMM) was “highly reprehensible”.
“[The death sentences] present a gross lack of will to support the efforts, particularly by the ASEAN chair, in expediting progress on the implementation of the [consensus], namely in building trust and confidence to engender dialogue among all parties concerned, in order to end violence,” Cambodia stated.
Retno said she had made a personal suggestion to her counterparts to discuss the latest developments in Myanmar at the meetings in Phnom Penh this weekend.
“More than one and a half years have lapsed since the Five-Point Consensus. It is time for ASEAN to discuss the matter again seriously. There has been no significant progress on [...] implementation,” the minister said.
Read also: Myanmar military executions prompt global outcry
The Habibie Center director Dewi Fortuna Anwar told the Post that Indonesia’s decision to prioritize ASEAN’s statement prior to its own may have been a manifestation of the country’s habitual reluctance to comment on the domestic affairs of its neighbors.
However, in spite of its minimalistic approach, Dewi noted that Indonesia had been more vocal than usual following the coup in Myanmar, as evidenced by its initiative to summon the junta leader, Min Aung Hlaing, to crisis talks last year. But ASEAN – and Indonesia, as incoming chair of the bloc next year – has to put a firmer foot down to hold Myanmar accountable, Dewi emphasized.
“The executions were a blatant sign of Myanmar’s indifference toward ASEAN,” said Dewi. “There are many political considerations that contribute to ASEAN’s reluctance to be more frontal. It is trying to go through the persuasive route, but it is apparently ineffective. It is evident that Myanmar does not care.”
Since the ASEAN summit last year, the bloc has only sought to invite a non-political representative from Myanmar to join its regional meetings, and the junta has always elected not to send anyone.
Myanmar’s nonchalance toward the bloc has already undermined ASEAN’s credibility, the researcher said. And while the ASEAN Charter specifies a strict code of unanimity and “non-interference in the internal affairs of member states”, Dewi said that recent developments indicated a strong need for the adoption of “newer values”, such as the boldness to take the necessary steps in the face of blatant disregard for human life.
“It needs to be able to take non-unanimous decisions on matters outside economics,” Dewi said. “We need to strongly review Myanmar’s ASEAN membership.”
ASEAN’s insistence on achieving consensus for every action may be used by the junta to their advantage, she said. For instance, Myanmar could choose to reject Timor Leste’s membership appeal until the coup regime is legitimized by its neighbors.
“Is ASEAN willing to be held hostage by Myanmar? In my opinion, Indonesia needs to have the courage to be bold, lest its leadership – and the ASEAN leadership – be allowed to crumble.”
