SINGAPORE, Nov 20: Southeast Asian leaders on Tuesday signed a long-awaited charter aimed at transforming their bloc and committing the region’s disparate nations to promoting human rights and democratic ideals.

The charter sets out principles and rules for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) for the first time and creates a regional human rights body – though without spelling out what authority the body will have.It transforms Asean, 40 years after its creation, into a legal entity, which will give the group greater clout in international negotiations.

“Asean will become more important internationally,” said Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong.

The signing ceremony, which came at the end of summit talks among the bloc’s 10 leaders, took place in the shadow of a diplomatic row sparked when Myanmar blocked a UN envoy from briefing the annual gathering.

“To make Asean strong and relevant, we must accelerate and deepen regional integration. The Asean charter is a crucial step in this process,” summit host Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said.

“All this will pave the way for closer integration in the years ahead,” Lee said.

But analysts said the charter did not go far enough and wondered whether military-run Myanmar, given its September crackdown on dissent, would comply. “It’s quite a disappointment,” Sinapan Samydorai, president of the Singapore civil rights group Think Centre, said. “The charter doesn’t even mention the Universal Declaration on Human Rights.” The charter is the result of a long, controversial drafting process that saw some of the strong recommendations from Asean elder statesmen either watered down or dropped, including provisions on member sanctions and expulsion.

However, the charter commits Asean members “to strengthen democracy, enhance good governance and the rule of law, and to promote and protect human rights and fundamental freedoms”. It also requires members to keep the region free of nuclear weapons, ease poverty, protect the environment and work toward an integrated market that allows for free flow of goods, services, investments and professionals.

Leaders would like the charter to be ratified by their respective parliaments within a year so that it can be ready to go into effect during next year’s Asean summit in Thailand, diplomats said.

Philippines President Gloria Arroyo on Monday warned her country might not ratify the charter unless Myanmar embraces democracy and frees democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

“Until the Philippines Congress sees that happen, it would have extreme difficulty in ratifying the Asean charter,” Arroyo told Asean leaders.

But Hor Namhong said: “If we sign the charter, if all the Asean members accept the terms of reference which will be drafted later on, Myanmar has to respect them.” Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda said Myanmar’s signing of the document should “reflect a strong commitment to follow” it.—AFP