ASEAN warns Myanmar of more executions

Current ASEAN leader Cambodia on Wednesday warned Myanmar not to execute more prisoners after the hanging of four people – two of them prominent pro-democracy figures – sparked international outrage.

Foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) discuss how to deal with the growing crisis in Myanmar during talks in Phnom Penh.

The 10-nation regional bloc has so far spearheaded unsuccessful efforts to restore peace to the country after a military coup last year, and anger is growing at the junta’s blocking tactics.

Myanmar executed four prisoners last month, a move strongly condemned by ASEAN members, who express growing frustration at the lack of progress on the regional bloc’s “five-point consensus” plan on the Myanmar conflict.

The plan, agreed in April last year, calls for an immediate end to the violence and dialogue between the army and those opposed to the coup.

“If more prisoners are to be executed, we will be forced to reconsider our role vis-à-vis the ASEAN five-point consensus,” Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said as he opened the gathering of foreign ministers.

Hun Sen said the bloc was “disappointed and alarmed by the execution of these opposition activists, despite calls by myself and others to reconsider the death sentences in the interests of political dialogue, peace and reconciliation.”

But with no Myanmar representatives present at the summit – highlighted by the country’s prominently placed empty chair – Cambodia’s ASEAN spokesman admitted on Tuesday that progress towards resolving the conflict could be difficult.

February’s coup has thrown Myanmar into disarray, with the death toll surpassing 2,100 in a military crackdown on dissenters, according to a local watchdog.