HANOI – ASEAN's credibility is at stake unless it defends freedom of expression and other rights ahead of elections planned in its military-ruled member Myanmar, Amnesty International said Sunday.
Myanmar has said it will hold its first election in two decades this year, but has not yet announced a date.
"Southeast Asian nations should press the Myanmar government to protect the rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly, and association throughout the elections period and beyond," the London-based watchdog said in a statement.
Amnesty made the comment ahead of annual talks by foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), beginning in Vietnam on Monday.
Critics say the poll is a sham designed to legitimize the junta's half-century grip on power.
In a draft communiqu?btained by AFP, ASEAN's foreign ministers reiterate the bloc's call for free, fair and inclusive elections in Myanmar.
But such calls do not go far enough to highlight rights at risk during the election period, Amnesty said
.
It said the ministers must unequivocally call for the immediate and unconditional release of all "prisoners of conscience".
The National League for Democracy led by detained Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi is boycotting the vote because of Myanmar's electoral laws.
Under the rules, it would have effectively been forced to expel her and other members in prison before it could participate.
Political parties are banned from marching, waving flags and chanting to garner support, under rules announced last month.
Amnesty said the electoral laws blatantly violate freedom of expression, and the election commission has issued a vague ban on campaigning which harms "security".
New censorship rules "serve to undermine any remaining scope for independent journalism around the elections process," the watchdog added.
"Failure to address these urgent challenges will damage ASEAN’s international credibility," Amnesty said.
The United States has said it expects the elections will not be free and fair.
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