Myanmar ratifies the ASEAN charter; US urges ASEAN to push Myanmar on reforms
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    • Myanmar ratified the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) charter on July 20, becoming the seventh member of the 10-member grouping to do so. The proposed international charter, which included controversial human rights provisions, was expected to come into force by next year. The charter seeks to establish enforceable financial, trade and environmental rules among the ASEAN member-countries. The most controversial part of the charter was a proposed human rights body1.

    US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on her part on July 22 urged the ASEAN to put more pressure on Myanmar to improve its human rights record and adopt democratic reforms. Rice also called on ASEAN leaders to push Myanmar to release political prisoners.

    A week after the US House of Representatives passed the Block Burmese Jade Act, the Senate on July 22 unanimously approved the bill. The Act blocks American companies from importing gemstones from Myanmar and expands financial sanctions against the country’s military junta. President Bush was expected to sign the Act into law soon2.

    Meanwhile, a new UN report released in Singapore on July 21 put the damage from Cyclone Nargis at US $4 billion, including $1.7 billion in damaged assets and $2.3 billion from loss of income of the victims. The report was the first comprehensive assessment of the damage caused by the cyclone3. In other developments, a joint ASEAN-UN press release issued on July 21 stated that relief and reconstruction effort in Myanmar would take at least US $1 billion over the next three years4. The UN also acknowledged there had been a substantial loss of aid money due to junta-dictated exchange rate mechanism5.

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