The military last week opened what it says will be the final session of its constitutional talks, which have dragged on since 1993.

The junta bills the talks as the first step on its "road map" to democracy, but Human Rights Watch warned that the constitution under discussion would not end widespread rights violations in the country, formerly known as Burma.

"The new constitution, if it is completed in its present form, will not necessarily make things any better," Brad Adams, head of the group's Asia division, wrote in the Nation newspaper in Bangkok.

The charter would cement the military's role in politics, reserve one quarter of seats in parliament for soldiers, and bar democracy leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi from running in elections, he said.

Adams said the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), which includes Myanmar, should not be intimidated by the growing influence of China and India on the regime.

"Thailand and the other members of Asean must press the Burmese government to end its widespread human rights violations and create a credible process of handing power to a credible civilian government through free and fair elections," he wrote.

"While some in Asean have spoken out against the slow pace of reform, Asean as a whole must also speak clearly and publicly about the situation in Burma," he added.

The military has ruled Myanmar since 1962, even though Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy won elections in 1990 in a landslide victory.

The 61-year-old has been detained for most of the past 17 years under house arrest in Yangon.