Myanmar's military junta is under growing international pressure to end its bloody crackdown on pro-democracy protesters, and eventually restore democracy. It should abide by a five-point agreement reached by the leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) during their meeting in Jakarta, Indonesia, Saturday.
The agreement called for an immediate end to violence in Myanmar and the establishment of dialogue between the contending parties. The leaders also committed to providing humanitarian aid to the country and appointing a special ASEAN envoy for the Myanmar crisis. We hope that these measures will be implemented without any glitch to pave the way for a return to civilian rule there.
It is meaningful that the 10-nation regional group has begun to make efforts to find a peaceful solution to the Myanmar issue triggered by the junta's Feb. 1 military coup. ASEAN has adopted a long-standing policy forbidding member states from interfering in each other's domestic affairs.
But this time the ASEAN leaders flouted the non-interference principle in a bid to restore peace, stability and democracy in Myanmar, also a member of the regional bloc. This could enable it to play a mediating role in Myanmar. Yet it is still doubtful if the association can take any effective action against the junta which shows no signs of backing down.
Thus it is difficult to have high hopes that ASEAN will make real progress in ending the bloodshed. More importantly, Myanmar's military junta seems to have no intention of complying with ASEAN's call for the cessation of violence and engaging in dialogue with the country's National Unity Government (NUG).
It is also true that ASEAN is being criticized for allowing the coup leader, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, to attend the Jakarta summit, although he was not treated as Myanmar's head of state. The junta should not use his attendance to legitimize its overthrow of the democratic government led by Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD). It must also release Suu Kyi and other party leaders, who have been detained since the coup in February, if it really wants to solve the problem through dialogue.
The first thing Hlaing should do is to issue an order to ban the use of violence by police and the armed forces. Then the junta must release political prisoners and start a dialogue with the NLD and other parties. Most of all, the military leaders should give up their political ambitions and go back to their barracks immediately.
Regrettably, however, the junta has yet to put down its guns, continuing to kill people protesting the coup and calling for democracy. More than 750 people have so far been killed with over 3,400 arrested. The international community should take stern action, including economic sanctions, unless Myanmar's military stops its killing and trampling on democracy.