East Timor has a historic opportunity to break ASEAN deadlock on Myanmar

East Timor yet looks acceptable to articulation the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) this year. The country’s accession to the bloc has been a agelong clip coming. More than a decennary agone erstwhile I archetypal moved to Dili, the Timorese capital, authorities officials and mean radical regularly touted the opportunities ASEAN rank presents.

The economical information for East Timor’s bid to articulation ASEAN is arsenic wide present arsenic it was then, but successful the existent context, its rank volition besides bring a beardown motivation and antiauthoritarian dependable to the bloc.

As a state that rightly prides itself connected a grounds of respect for quality rights and ideology astatine location and enactment for movements aimed towards justness and self-determination abroad, East Timor volition onslaught a antithetic code than galore of ASEAN’s different members.

Rather than dimming its airy to conform to ASEAN’s bushed patterns of impunity regarding quality rights abuses, East Timor tin ain its individuality arsenic a vibrant wide ideology and usage its level wrong the bloc to power its positioning. Nowhere is this much indispensable than successful ASEAN’s Myanmar policy, which has been paralysed by a deadlock for years.

In 2021 successful the aftermath of the Myanmar army’s coup against the democratically elected government, ASEAN adopted the Five Point Consensus. This plan, which calls for the “immediate cessation of violence” and a committedness from warring parties to workout “utmost restraint,” has been rendered ineffective owed to accordant violations by the Myanmar junta and ASEAN’s indecisiveness successful the look of specified violations.

The consequent diplomatic deadlock has near Myanmar’s pro-democracy movement, which present numbers successful the millions, with scant planetary backing arsenic it fights for state from a brutal subject regime. This is wherever East Timor’s past of overcoming oppression could play an instructive role.

Like Myanmar today, East Timor spent decades nether convulsive subject rule, which subjected the Timorese radical to massacres, forced displacement and systemic violence. Only done the principled stance of the Timorese radical and sustained planetary solidarity could they yet unafraid their independency successful 2002.

This past of resilience and determination gives East Timor a heavy knowing of the value of planetary enactment successful the combat for justice. The radical of Myanmar are besides demanding their close to self-determination, and East Timor indispensable present basal and enactment successful solidarity with them. One country wherever the Timorese authorities tin amusement inaugural is the engagement of the International Criminal Court (ICC).

The National Unity Government (NUG) of Myanmar, which was formed by elected lawmakers removed successful the 2021 coup and represents the people, has conferred jurisdiction connected the ICC and has asked the tribunal to analyse and prosecute crimes successful Myanmar since 2002. However, the tribunal has not acted connected the NUG’s request, seemingly owed to consternation implicit the NUG’s quality to correspond Myanmar connected the satellite stage.

In a concern specified arsenic this, it is incumbent connected subordinate states of the ICC to notation the concern to the main authoritative by making usage of Article 14 of the Rome Statute, which allows them to petition an probe successful a peculiar matter. As 1 of lone 2 ASEAN members of the ICC, East Timor is successful a unsocial presumption to marque specified a referral.

This would beryllium a historically important determination and could besides predicate a oversea alteration successful ASEAN’s attack to the Myanmar crisis, ensuring that accountability remains firmly successful spot successful aboriginal bid negotiations. A referral to the ICC would besides broaden the scope of the court’s existing jurisdiction successful Myanmar and would absorption planetary attraction connected the junta’s postcoup atrocities arsenic good arsenic its genocide of the Rohingya.

Critics whitethorn question whether a tiny land federation specified arsenic East Timor could person an interaction connected a situation arsenic analyzable and seemingly intractable arsenic Myanmar’s. This overlooks, however, the powerfulness of tiny states to person an outsized power connected planetary affairs, particularly successful domains that necessitate motivation clarity alternatively than large powerfulness positioning.

We person seen this astatine the United Nations with Liechtenstein’s efforts to clasp the imperishable members of the UN Security Council to relationship implicit their veto powers, Ireland’s principled stance connected Gaza and, successful the Myanmar context, The Gambia’s starring relation successful seeking planetary justness for the Rohingya.

In a clip erstwhile the large powers look progressively inward-looking and isolationist, abstraction is opening up for smaller states to amusement the remainder of the satellite what it means to pb by example.

Furthermore, East Timor’s leaders successful referring Myanmar to the ICC would echo the planetary enactment it received during its ain conflict for independency – frankincense allowing the state to “pay it forward”. In the 1990s, planetary advocacy and UN involution played important roles successful ending Indonesia’s concern of East Timor. Now, East Timor tin connection the aforesaid benignant of solidarity and enactment to Myanmar, urging the planetary assemblage to instrumentality stronger enactment against its subject regime.

East Timor’s accession to ASEAN could beryllium much than conscionable a diplomatic formality. It could beryllium a infinitesimal of transformative enactment – 1 successful which a tiny federation with a past of profound conflict uses its newfound presumption to propulsion for meaningful change. By invoking the ineligible mechanisms of the ICC, East Timor could not lone assistance clasp Myanmar’s junta accountable but besides promote ASEAN to instrumentality a stronger basal successful enactment of ideology and quality rights crossed the region.

With East Timor taking the initiative, ASEAN could go a determination unit for justness – a unit that nary longer turns a unsighted oculus to the suffering wrong its boundaries.

The views expressed successful this nonfiction are the author’s ain and bash not needfully bespeak Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.