Australia urged to get tough on human rights when it hosts leaders at Asean summit in Sydney
Every Asean leader, with the exception of the Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte, will be in Sydney for the Australia-led summit
Australia must avoid a “dance with dictators” when it hosts Asean leaders at a special summit this week, and should make human rights a prominent issue, campaigners say.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull will welcome heads of government or state from nine of the 10 Association of Southeast Asian Nations heads to Sydney from Friday, including Cambodian strongman Hun Sen and Myanmar’s under-fire leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
But Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is a no-show, citing more pressing developments at home as he faces international censure over a brutal drug war that has left thousands dead.
Australia was among several countries to raise concern about his crackdown at a UN Human Rights Council meeting in Geneva last year.
This weekend’s meeting, initiated by Canberra, is focused on economics and counterterrorism, but Turnbull has been urged to use the opportunity to publicly raise human rights issues.
Elaine Pearson, Australian director of Human Rights Watch, said Australia had the chance this weekend to make human rights a central and public focus of the Asean gathering.
