• ABOUT THE CENTER
  • Background
  • Partners
  • Contact Us
• EXPERTS
  • Staff
  • Advisory Board
• RESOURCES
  • News Updates
  • Fact Sheets
  • Publications
• OUR WORK
  • Events
  • Projects

Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)

Website: http://www.aseansec.org

Formation and Structure

ASEAN was established in 1967 and is based on the following principles which are enshrined in the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia: mutual respect for the independence, sovereignty, equality, territorial integrity, and national identity of all nations; the right of every State to lead its national existence free from external interference, subversion or coercion; non-interference in the internal affairs of one another; settlement of differences or disputes by peaceful manner; renunciation of the threat or use of force; and effective cooperation among themselves. Although it currently operates on the basis of informal dialogue and voluntary national action rather than institutional mandates, in November 2007, ASEAN leaders signed the ASEAN Charter, essentially paving the way for ASEAN to be a rules based organization committed to fulfilling its various obligations and collective decisions.

Member States

Brunei Darussalam; Cambodia; Indonesia; Lao Peoples Democratic Republic; Malaysia; Myanmar; Philippines; Singapore; Thailand; and Vietnam

Counterterrorism Mandate

• Set forth at the 2001 ASEAN summit where leaders adopted the ASEAN “Declaration on Joint Action to Counter Terrorism” . The declaration identified terrorism as a threat to the attainment of peace and stability in the region, and called for the ratification of all relevant anti-terrorism conventions, broader cooperation among ASEAN law enforcement agencies, enhanced information/intelligence sharing, and the development of capacity building programs across ASEAN member states.

• Incorporated into the 2002 “Work Programme to Implement the 'ASEAN Plan of Action to Combat Transnational Crime,' " which identified the primary strategic courses of action: information sharing, legal and law enforcement cooperation, institutional capacity-building, training, and extra-regional cooperation.

Intergovernmental Counterterrorism Committee or Working Group

The 2003 “Declaration of ASEAN Concord II” tasked the yet to be established ASEAN Security Community with maintaining political and security cooperation between member states to “ensure that countries in the region live at peace with one another and with the world at large.” In trying to implement ASEAN Counterterrorism Mandates, the Security Council must proceed while upholding ASEAN’s “principles of non-interference, consensus-based decision-making, and respect for national sovereignty.” The two primary counterterrorism mechanisms in ASEAN are the ASEAN Ministers Meeting on Transnational Crime (AMMTC) and the Senior Officials Meeting on Transnational Crime (SOMTC). These meetings serve as fora where an exchange of ideas and information among national officials on best practices in combating terrorism-related crimes takes place. The AMMTC is comprised of ministers of the interior and meets once annually while the SOMTC meets a few times per year. In January 2007, member countries adopted the ASEAN Convention on Counter Terrorism, which, among other things, called upon each member state to designate a central authority or coordinating structure to enhance cooperation and monitor the implementation of the convention.

Secretariat Resources

The ASEAN Secretariat currently has only one official whose portfolio includes counterterrorism among other issues.

Counterterrorism responsibilities primarily fall on the individual interior ministers and Senior Officials who convene yearly at the AMMTC and SOMTC to assess progress and efforts to combat transnational crime and terrorism.

Achievements

ASEAN’s counterterrorism initiatives have long been hampered by its loose organizational structures, the non-binding nature of its agreements, and its tradition of non-intervention in the internal affairs of states. However, the 2007 Convention on Counter Terrorism may pave the way for a more legally binding approach to counterterrorism cooperation. The Convention provided a framework for regional cooperation to counter, prevent, and suppress terrorism, in addition to reinforcing the 2004 Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty – ASEAN’s only legally binding agreement related to counterterrorism.

The signing of the ASEAN Charter in November 2007, which seeks to establish ASEAN as a legal entity and formally move the region towards an EU-style economic community by 2015, will, once ratified, greatly increase ASEAN’s institutional capacity and ability for autonomous action, including in the field of counterterrorism.

Since the 2001 Declaration on Counter-Terrorism, ASEAN has supported the creation of several centers committed to combating terrorism in the region, including the Jakarta Center for Law Enforcement Cooperation, the International Law Enforcement Academy in Thailand, and the Southeast Asia Regional Center for Counter Terrorism in Malaysia.

Recent/Planned Activity

At the 13th Annual ASEAN Summit in 2007, member states endorsed several new initiatives for implementation in 2008 including a plan of action to implement the “Nuremberg Declaration on EU-ASEAN enhanced partnership.” The plan encouraged the implementation of the UN Global Counter Terrorism Strategy and called for increased linkages between law enforcement agencies in ASEAN and the EU in order to share best practices in combating transnational crime and terrorism.