12th ASEAN Summit

MANILA, Philippines -- Southeast Asian nations were still at odds Saturday over a proposed human rights commission and how to punish countries that fail to obey their regional bloc's rules, diplomats said.

With negotiators racing to hammer out a draft of ASEAN's first-ever charter before foreign ministers from the 10-nation group meet Sunday, a long-sought agreement on some of the thorniest issues had not yet been reached.

Diplomats said there had been "lively discussions" on the contentious issues -- a euphemism for the deep disagreements that have characterized nearly two years of talks between the member states.

One sticking point is how to handle fellow member Myanmar, where the ruling junta has shrugged off complaints about its rights record and resisted international pressure to restore democracy.

The bloc has agreed on most of the charter, which will help to turn the 40-year-old group into a rules-based organization -- somewhat along the lines of the European Union -- that could set standards for member behavior.

But there are disputes over the rights commission and what force could be brought against Myanmar or any other member that did not follow the charter's new rules.

"There is a universal declaration of human rights in the charter of the United Nations," said Alberto Romulo, foreign minister of the Philippines, one of ASEAN's 10 member countries and the host of this week's meetings.

"It's a universal desire that there must be a human rights commission, and I believe that ASEAN can do no less," he said. "I am optimistic that at the end, we would all agree."

Myanmar has repeatedly embarrassed the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), who in turn has hesitated to violate the group's cardinal rule of non-interference in the internal affairs of member states.

In particular, the country's long detainment of Nobel peace price winner and democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi has drawn sanctions on the military regime as well as international criticism of ASEAN for not pressing the country harder.

"The old (policy) of 'non-interference in internal affairs' may have been the factor that has kept socially responsible ASEAN members silent over human rights violations in the past," said Tint Swe, a member of Aung San Suu Kyi's party who lives in exile in India.

"But the time has come to change that attitude," he told AFP on Saturday.