PHNOM PENH: The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will be forced to reconsider a peace plan agreed with Myanmar if the country鈥檚 military rulers conduct more executions of prisoners, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said on Wednesday.
The 10-nation bloc had been pushing for Myanmar to adhere to a five-point peace 鈥渃onsensus鈥� it agreed to last year and has condemned the recent execution of four democracy activists by the junta.
鈥淚f more prisoners are executed, we will be forced to rethink...our role vis a vis ASEAN鈥檚 five-point consensus,鈥� said Hun Sen, who is the current chair of ASEAN and was speaking at the start of a meeting of the group鈥檚 foreign ministers.
Hun Sen said that ASEAN鈥檚 unity had been challenged by the political and security implications of the crisis in Myanmar, which has spiralled into an economic and humanitarian crisis.
The prime minister said that while the five-point consensus had 鈥渘ot advanced to everyone鈥檚 wishes鈥� there had been some progress including in providing humanitarian aid.
But he went on to say the current situation had 鈥渃hanged dramatically鈥� and could be seen as even worse than before the peace agreement because of the junta鈥檚 execution of the activists.
Cambodia along with other ASEAN member states 鈥渁re deeply disappointed and disturbed by the execution of those opposition activists, despite the appeals from me and others for the death sentences to be reconsidered,鈥� said Hun Sen.
Myanmar鈥檚 military last week defended the execution of the activists as 鈥渏ustice for the people,鈥� brushing off a deluge of international condemnation including by its closest neighbors.
The military said it had executed the activists for aiding 鈥渢error acts鈥� by a civilian resistance movement, Myanmar鈥檚 first executions in decades.
Myanmar will not be represented at this week鈥檚 meeting, a spokesperson for the ASEAN chair said on Monday, after its military rulers declined a proposal to send a non-junta representative instead.
ASEAN has since late last year barred the Myanmar junta from joining its meetings due to its lack of progress in implementing the peace plan.
Some other members of ASEAN, which has a tradition of non-interference in each other鈥檚 internal affairs, have been increasingly strident in their criticism of the generals.
Malaysian Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah has described the executions as a crime against humanity and appearing to make 鈥渁 mockery鈥� of the ASEAN peace plan. The head of Myanmar鈥檚 junta Min Aung Hlaing on Monday blamed instability related to the pandemic and internal violence for stalling efforts to implement the peace plan.
The junta also extended a state of emergency put in place after seizing power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February last year.
Myanmar has been in chaos since then, with conflict spreading after the army crushed mostly peaceful protests in towns and cities.