81 81 The Need for ASEAN Reform: A Perspective on Myanmar’s Crimes against Humanity Dio Herdiawan Tobing * Abstract Violence and improper treatment of the Rohingya ethnic minority emerged decades ago and recently the international community has pointed out that the conflict in Myanmar can be regarded as crimes against humanity. Discussions between policymakers and statesmen have been conducted with regard to this acute violation of human rights. However, ASEAN as a regional organization that includes Myanmar does not seem to be pro- ductive in addressing this issue. ASEAN member countries are to remain silent in the discussion on the case of Rohingya’s humanitarian crisis. This showed from the fact that during the 2009 Key Asian Meeting in Bali the conference failed to produce any comprehensive resolution towards this issue and the 24th ASEAN Summit, which took place in Nay Pyi Daw, was not successful in opening discussion over the case of the Rohingya hu- manitarian crisis. This research provides an analysis of why ASEAN is not productive in countering the humanitarian crisis in Myanmar, and therefore there should be call for reform. The overall argument is that the non-interference principle allows ASEAN member countries to limit the space, crippling ASEAN’s moral re- sponsibility to adopt a significant measure in order to respond to Myanmar’s crimes against humanity. And thus, it is also believed that the non-interfer- ence principle is often raised as a justification for ASEAN member states to remain silent to the presence of this issue. Therefore, by the presence of this principle, ASEAN member-states tend to be more pragmatic without opening a gate for this issue to be intensively discussed during high-level meetings. The principle of non-interference also has made the ASEAN In- tergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) result in a highly normative ending. The AICHR shows stagnant progress towards the human rights abuses which occurred in Myanmar and there is no significant mea- sure adopted by this intergovernmental body to alleviate or achieve any * International Peace and Security Studies, Department of International Relations, Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Catur Tunggal, Depok Sub-District, Sleman Regency, Special Region of Yogyakarta 55281, Indonesia