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Thursday, May 7, 2009
EU-Japan call for inclusiveness in 2010 election
http://www.mizzima.com/news/election-2010/2080-eu-japan-call-for-inclusiveness-in-2010-election.html
by Mizzima News
Tuesday, 05 May 2009 20:20
New Delhi (Mizzima) - The European Union and Japan on Monday said Burma’s 2010 elections could be welcomed if it is based on an inclusive dialogue among all stakeholders in the country.
Leaders of the EU and Japan, in a joint statement released on Monday, expressed hope that the Burmese regime would tackle the country’s severe political, structural and economic problems and foster a peaceful transition to a legitimate, democratic and civilian government without delay.
The leaders also pointed out that “elections proposed for 2010 could be welcomed by the international community if they were based on an inclusive dialogue among all the stakeholders in Myanmar [Burma].”
In the context of the election, the leaders also called on the Burmese junta to release political prisoners and detainees, including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, and to lift all restrictions imposed on political parties immediately.
The EU, which has imposed economic sanctions and travel restrictions on Burma’s military generals, extended its common position on Burma for another year in April. But it recorded its willingness to open a dialogue with the regime.
Japan, however, has not imposed any sanctions against the Burmese military regime, and continues to cooperate with Burma’s military.
The summit was chaired by Mr Václav Klaus, President of the Czech Republic, which currently chairs the European Union.
Summit leaders, in their statement, said they are willing to respond positively if the Burmese regime could provide proof of political progress and steps towards respect for human rights.
The EU and Japan also reiterated their support for the United Nations Secretary General’s special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Burma and called on the Burmese junta to cooperate fully with him.
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Free Burma's Political Prisoners Now! FOR ACTION PLEASE
Dear Friends in the Asia-Pacific region, We are now at 286,144 signatures and counting. Thank you to those of you who have been in touch to update us on your campaign activities and petition counts. We know that many groups are small, busy and have few resources, so we really appreciate it.
FOR ACTION - PETITION COUNTS
However, we are in URGENT need of your latest petition counts and updates. If we don't get feedback from endorsing groups, then we don't make progress towards our target, it's as simple as that!
And if we don't hear about your activities, then there is nothing to put in the newsletter Pease share your counts and news with us.
FOR ACTION - EMBEDDING THE CAMPAIGN FILM ON YOUR WEBSITES
I know some of you have already done this. For those of you who haven't and would like to, here's how:
Wordpress; Click on the Embed Video button and type in the url of the film. (http://www.fbppn.net/?page_id=333)
Blogspot; If you go to the video page - http://vimeo.com/3621854 - you will see in the right hand corner a button that says "embed". Click on it and it will give you a code which you just paste into your website or blog, in the html part of the website.
Own Website; if you host your own website, just embed the code that Vimeo gives you, into the website code (as above for Blogspot)
Different websites have different programs and therefore different ways to embed films. It is possible that none of the above works and therefore we recommend you consult your website help menu, on how to embed films.
FOR INFO
a) In the next day or so we will send all endorsing groups information about our plans for after 24 May, for delivery of the petition to Ban ki-Moon and follow-up work
b) on Monday 11 May AAPP will release a new report highlighting the current bad health situation of Burma's political prisoners, made worse by the regime's systematic transfers to remote prisons. Please consider how you can use this for campaign work in your country.
With grateful thanks for everything you are doing for the campaign,
Rachel
Rachel Fleming
Campaign Co-ordinator
Free Burma's Political Prisoners Now!
www.fbppn.net
Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma)
Two prominent Myanmar opposition leaders sent a joint appeal Tuesday to US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, urging her to keep sanctions
http://democracyforburma.wordpress.com/2009/05/06/the-opposition-figures-%E2%80%94-ashin-aww-bar-sa-of-the-all-burma-monks%E2%80%99-alliance-and-tun-myint-aung-of-the-88-generation-students-%E2%80%94-said-they-signed-the-letter-in-a-hiding-place-as-t/
The opposition figures — Ashin Aww Bar Sa of the All Burma Monks’ Alliance and Tun Myint Aung of the 88 Generation Students — said they signed the letter in a hiding place as they fear they will be arrested imminently.
2009 May 6
tags: 88 students, Burma, Junta, monks, world focus on Burmaby peacerunningMyanmar opposition appeals to Clinton
May 6, 2009
Agence France Presse: Two prominent Myanmar opposition leaders sent a joint appeal Tuesday to US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, urging her to keep sanctions on the military regime and engage regional powers.
The opposition figures — Ashin Aww Bar Sa of the All Burma Monks’ Alliance and Tun Myint Aung of the 88 Generation Students — said they signed the letter in a hiding place as they fear they will be arrested imminently.
In the letter, the two asked the United States to maintain sanctions until the junta releases political prisoners and enters “meaningful” dialogue with the opposition.
The junta has “been complaining that the US and Western nations that have imposed sanctions are making the people poor, our country underdeveloped and our economy destroyed,” they wrote in the letter.
“Let us be clear — it is the military junta and its disastrous economic policies, terror, corruption, illegal rule and mismanagement that have turned one of the richest countries in Asia into one of the least developed in the world,” they wrote.
US President Barack Obama’s administration is conducting a review of policy on Myanmar, also known as Burma, whose junta has kept democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi under house arrest for nearly two decades.
A senior State Department official recently told Congress that the administration was not considering lifting sanctions. A prominent US senator, Jim Webb, has supported an eventual end to sanctions, saying the current approach was not working.
In the letter, the Myanmar opposition leaders supported US efforts to hold direct dialogue with the junta but said Washington needed to reach the country’s top leader, Senior General Than Shwe.
They also called on the United States to engage other nations in a solution on Myanmar including China — the junta’s main backer — and nations in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
The All Burma Monks’ Alliance and 88 Generation Students were both involved in protests in 2007 that started as rallies over the rising cost of living but escalated into the regime’s biggest threat in nearly 20 years.
At least 31 people were killed when security forces cracked down on the protesters, according to the United Nations.
Lessons for Burma from Thailand Crisis
http://burmanewscasts.blogspot.com/2009/05/lessons-for-burma-from-thailand-crisis.html
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
By PAVIN CHACHAVALPONGPUN
The Irrawaddy News
What does Thailand’s protracted political crisis tell its neighboring countries? What are the lessons to be learned from the Thai experiences? And what is the most vital message for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), of which Thailand is a member, as the organisation moves toward a greater regional integration?
The current political stalemate in Thailand is the work of two competing networks; one that supports former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and the other the old establishment.
Thaksin is represented by the red-shirt movement which comprises the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD), the poor in far-flung regions and underprivileged Thais. The old establishment is supported by Bangkok elite, part of the military and big business. Its notable agent is the People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD), whose members choose to wear yellow shirts that symbolise the king’s color.
The battle between the two political networks has been ferocious. The Pattaya incident and the Bangkok inferno signalled that at least one side of the network was willing to engage in a warlike fight to undermine its opponent. In the process, leaders of both networks claimed to act for democracy. But their brands of democracy have so far failed to untie the political deadlock.
The deep turmoil in Thailand reveals certain realities which have long existed in the region. Yet, leaders in the region have pretended not to see them. This time, as Thailand found itself on the brink of becoming a failed state, a few lessons could be learned by its neighboring countries.
First, continued crisis and escalating violence imply that democracy has remained a fragile commodity. A decade ago, Thailand was praised for its rapid economic development and progressive democratisation. Today, its political domain is transformed into a battlefield between two powerful forces possessing two different ideologies.
The Thai case shows that an elected government with excessive power, living on corruption and lack of respect for human rights, can be vulnerable; that traditional power-holders must face up to modern-day reality whereby the voice of the majority is the true voice of democracy; that the military has to be depoliticised for the sake of democracy; and that violent means employed to serve political purposes only further alienate democracy.
The rise of the red-shirt movement has the potential to lead a new opinion in certain Southeast Asian states where democratic rights have been taken away from the people. Not every member of the red shirts supports Thaksin. Some have participated in the rallies genuinely for the return of real democracy to the majority of Thais.
Second, although the power struggle is a part of Thailand’s democratic evolution and this proves that the country has come a long way since the political transition in 1932, its political drama does not necessarily encourage positive changes in certain parts of the region. It could send out the wrong message.
The message, for example, that anti-government activities must not be tolerated. The message that stability is more precious than changes, or even more than democratic rights, and that challenge in all forms to the ruling regime must not be allowed. And that Western democracy is not really compatible with Asian societies, as defended by Asian leaders for generations.
In other words, the Thai conflict could have compelled illegitimate regimes elsewhere, including Burma, to tighten their grip of power for fear of public disobedience and uncontrollable situations.
Third, Asean has been led to believe that the sole major obstacle to regional integration stems from the widening gap between the more and the less economically developed members. Unless Asean closes this economic gap, regional integration will remain largely elusive.
Yet, Asean leaders have overlooked the fact that a widening political gap, in terms of different levels of democratic development, has also affected the process of regionalism. The Thai political unrest has already delayed Asean gatherings. The political storm has held back the Thai leadership in Asean. The organisation has been operating on autopilot since last year. The slow response to the global financial crisis proved this point.
However, this is not Thailand’s problem alone. The gap in the levels of democratisation in the region has so far tarnished the good works Asean has achieved in other areas.
This existing political gap has produced different mentalities and attitudes among Asean leaders as they look ahead into the future. Some are enthusiastic about Asean’s newborn regionalism. Some are using Asean as merely a symbol of their pretentious embrace of international norms and practices.
Both Thailand and Asean have a long way to go until they meet their needed objectives. Crisis in Thailand can be used to remind its neighbours that true democratisation is an extremely arduous process. But its postponement would only make this exercise even more excruciating and troublesome.
The author is a visiting research fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore. This commentary is his personal view.
at 5/06/2009 07:57:00 PM
Myanmar opposition weighs options
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/KE07Ae01.html
By Marwaan Macan-Markar
BANGKOK - With the hint of a general election in the air, the largest opposition party in military ruled Myanmar faces a dilemma. Should it or should it not contest the planned poll in 2010?
The uncertainty that grips the National League for Democracy (NLD) was evident in the statements that flowed from a rare meeting of its leadership during the last week of April. The NLD has opted for a wait-and-see approach about fielding candidates for next year's poll.
The party has tactfully used this pre-election summit at its headquarters to test the political waters - now that the junta has made a commitment towards parliamentary elections after 19 years as part of its "roadmap to democracy".
It was a gamble with high risks, even possible jail terms for the 150 delegates from across the country who attended. After all, the junta's oppressive sweep has forced the party to close down all its offices across the country bar one, and denied the party the right to meet as a collective for over a decade.
The regime in Myanmar has also arrested and imprisoned scores of NLD members, including those elected to parliament during the 1990 poll. No one symbolizes this more than Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel Peace Prize winner, who heads the NLD. The pro-democracy leader continues to remain under house arrest, now in its 13th year.
In a direct challenge to the junta's push towards the polls, the NLD's chairman, Aung Shwe, called for the "unconditional release" of all political prisoners - now over 2,100 - and freedom for Suu Kyi to pave the way for an inclusive political environment ahead of next year's country-wide elections.
Some Western diplomats, such as United States ambassador of Southeast Asian affairs Scot Marciel, believe the elections will only prove productive if all parties are allowed to participate.
"At this point it's hard to have faith," Marciel told Asia Times Online in a March interview. "Pretty much all the opposition is in prison. If the government wants to make progress politically it has to include the people - all the people. If no one else is involved, the problems will continue. What's needed is a genuine political process that's inclusive. We [the US] love elections, but not false elections. Those don't get you anywhere." (See US finger on the pulse
March 3, 2009.)
The party's two-day gathering in Yangon, the former capital, also called for a "review of the 2008 constitution" and "politically substantive initial dialogue" between Suu Kyi and Myanmar's head of state, Senior General Than Shwe, according to a NLD document.
Regarding the 2010 poll, the NLD held back from giving it any legitimacy by stating, "We need to wait and see the political party registration law and electoral law to decide whether we could participate in the election under this constitution."
"The NLD is not going to give in to the junta very easily. The party wants to hear the views of all leaders and to be able to speak in one voice when the decision is made about the 2010 elections," said Zinn Lin, an NLD member currently living in exile in Thailand. "The last time the party tried to meet was in 1998, but the authorities didn't permit that gathering. And they have been denied this right until now."
"It is uncertain what will happen to the delegates who came for the meeting, because the party's headquarters was watched by hundreds of intelligence officers and people from the special branch, taking pictures and filming it on video," Zinn Lin told Inter Press Service. "Such intimidation is proof that NLD members are not free to operate ahead of the election that the military regime wants to have next year."
The climate of intimidation NLD members face is a far cry from what it was during the months leading up to the 1990 general elections. "The 1990 elections were conducted under a free and fair situation. Political parties openly campaigned," said Win Hlaing, minister in the prime minister's office of the National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma (NCGUB), the democratically elected government in exile.
"There has been no positive change since then, after General Than Shwe's era began," he said. "There is so much hardship and intimidation. The NLD and all opposition voices are targets."
Mark Canning, the British ambassador in Myanmar, echoes such sentiments. "It remains the case that the situation in Burma [Myanmar] is characterized by the denial of freedom. It is a very, very repressive place," he said in Bangkok last week.
The junta's oppression is rooted in the outcome of the 1990 poll that shocked the military regime of the day, which had been in power since a 1962 coup. The NLD, which had been formed ahead of that poll, won a convincing 82% of the seats in the 485-seat legislature.
It was a victory fueled by local anger following 28 years of military oppression and a brutal crackdown of a pro-democracy uprising in August 1988, which saw over 3,000 unarmed protesters gunned down by troops on the streets of Yangon.
The military regime refused to recognize the results of the 1990 election, denying the opposition the opportunity to replace the powerful military government.
To avoid a repeat of such an election debacle in 2010, the junta has pushed through a new constitution with conditions that favor undiluted power of the military, including a required 25% of the seats in the upper and lower houses of the new legislature reserved for army officers.
The May 2008 referendum to approve the new constitution was mired in charges of vote-rigging and other election malpractices. The junta, however, praised the outcome, which it claimed had been endorsed by 94.4% of the voters and had a 98.1% turnout.
"The 2008 constitution makes it impossible for political parties to contest in 2010 based on their own vision," said Aung Htoo, general secretary of the Burma Lawyers' Council, based in Mae Sot, on the Thai-Myanmar border. "Chapter 10 denies parties like the NLD to set their own objectives. Under this constitution, you cannot even form a Green Party to campaign for the environment.
"I don't think that the party registration law and the electoral law that the NLD is waiting to see will improve anything," he said. "The constitution's restrictions are what matters."
(Inter Press Service)
Marwaan Macan-Markar著 バンコク、軍の支配されたミャンマーの最も大きい野党は-空気の総選挙のヒントに…ジレンマに直面する。 それはべきまたはそれ2010年に計画された投票を争うべきではないか。 民主主義(NLD)のための国民リーグを握る不確実性は4月の先週の間にリーダーシップのまれな会合から流れた声明で明白だった。 NLDは来年'の守備につく候補者についての静観的静観的アプローチを選択した; sの投票。 党は本部で如才なく-会議が"の一部として19年後に議会選挙の方の責任を作ったので政治水をテストするのにこの選挙前の頂上を使用した; democracy"への道路地図;。 それは高いリスク、出席した国からの150人の代表者のための可能な懲役の賭けだった。 結局、junta' sの圧制的な広がりはオフィスをすべて閉めるために党を全国各地から禁止し1つを、否定した党に十年の共同体として会う権利を強制した。 ミャンマーの政体はまた1990年の投票の間に議会に選ばれるそれらを含むたくさんのNLDのメンバーを、阻止し、投獄した。 誰もAung San Suu KyiのNLDの先頭に立つノーベル平和賞勝者よりこの多くを象徴しない。 民主化のリーダーは第13年に自宅軟禁の下に、今残り続ける。 junta'への直接挑戦; 投票、NLD'の方のs押し; 、sの議長"を求められるAung Shwe; 無条件release" すべての政治犯の-今2,100に-および来年'に先んじる含んだ政治環境のための道を開くSuu Kyiのための自由; sの全国的な選挙。 東南アジアの出来事Scot Marcielの米国の大使のような何人かの西部の外交官は、すべての党が加わるその時だけ選挙が生産的証明することを信じる。 " この時点でit' 信頼、"を持つ懸命のs; Marcielは3月のインタビューのアジアの時間をオンラインで告げた。 " ほとんどすべての反対は刑務所にある。 政府が進歩を行政上したいと思えば人々-すべての人々--を含まなければならない。 誰も複雑なら、問題は続く。 What' 必要とされるsは本物の政治的措置that'である; 含んだs。 私達は[米国]選挙、偽の選挙を愛する。 それらのdon' tはanywhere."を得る; (脈拍の米国指を見なさい 2009年3月3日。) party' ヤンゴンのまた"を求められる前の首都のsの2日間の収集、; 2008年のconstitution"の検討; そして" 行政上本質的な最初のdialogue" Suu KyiおよびMyanmar'間; 、NLD文書に従うShweより年長の一般的sの国家首脳。 2010投票に関して、NLDはそれに合法性を与えることからの"によって示すこと躊躇した; 私達は政党登録法律および私達がこのconstitution."の下で選挙に加わることができるかどうか決定するために選挙の法律を様子を見必要がある; " NLDは会議に非常に容易に屈服することを行っていない。 党は決定が2010の選挙についてなされるとき1つの声、"で話せるすべてのリーダーの意見を聞き、たいと思う; 言われたZinn林の現在タイの流浪に住んでいるNLDのメンバー。 " 最後会うために試みられた党は1998年、しかし権限didn'にあった; 集まるtの割り当て。 そしてそれらはこの権利の。"を今まで否定された; " それは起こる何が会合のために来た代表者に不確かである、のでparty' sの本部は映像を撮っていたりおよびビデオのそれを撮影している何百もの特別な枝からの情報部員そして人々"見られた; Zinn林は内側のプレスサービスを告げた。 " そのような強迫は軍の政体に。"が来年ありたいと思うことNLDのメンバーが選挙に先んじて作動して自由ではないこと証拠である; 強迫NLDのメンバーの表面の気候はそれが1990年の総選挙まで導く月の間にだったものからの大きな違いである。 " 1990年の選挙は自由で、公平な状態の下で行なわれた。 政党は率直に、"運動をした; 言われた勝利Hlaing、主なminister'の大臣; ビルマ(NCGUB)の連合、流浪の民主的に選ばれた政府の国民の連合の政府のsのオフィス。 " 肯定的な変更はShwe'より一般的の後にそれ以来、ずっとない; s時代は、"始まった; 彼は言った。 " そんなに困難および強迫がある。 NLDおよびすべての反対の声はtargets."である; 、ミャンマー缶詰になるの印エコーのイギリスの大使そのような感情。 " それはビルマ[ミャンマー]の状態が自由の否定によって特徴付けられること事実に残る。 それは、非常に抑圧的な場所、"非常にである; 彼はバンコクで先週言った。 junta' sの圧迫は1962年の不意の一撃以来の力にあった、日の軍の政体に衝撃を与えた1990年の投票の結果で定着する。 その投票に先んじて形作られたNLDは485座席立法府の座席の確信の82%に勝った。 それは28年間の軍の圧迫に続くローカル怒りによって燃料を供給された勝利であり、の民主化の反乱の残酷な取締りは3,000人の非武装の抗議者にヤンゴンの通りの軍隊によって見た8月1988年の撃った。 軍の政体は反対に強力な軍事政権を取り替える機会を否定する1990年の選挙の結果を確認することを断った。 2010年にそのような選挙の大失敗の繰り返しを避けるためには、会議は陸軍将校のために確保される新しい立法府の上部および下院の座席の必須の25%を含む軍隊の純粋な力を、支持する条件の新しい憲法によって押した。 新しい憲法を承認する2008年5月の国民投票は投票索具および他の選挙の不良処置の充満で陥っていた。 しかし会議は投票者の94.4%によって裏書きされ、あった98.1%生産高が要求した結果を賞賛した。 " 2008年の憲法は政党が2010基づいた自分自身で争うことを視野、"で不可能にする; 、言われたAung HtooビルマLawyers'の書記長; タイミャンマーのボーダーにMaeのSotで、基づく議会。 " 第10章は自身の目的を置くためにNLDのような党を否定する。 この憲法の下で、環境のために運動をするために緑の党を形作ることができない。 " I don' tは党登録法律および見るためにNLDが待っている選挙の法律が何でも改善すると、"考える; 彼は言った。 " constitution' sの制限はmatters."何である;
Right Group Focuses on Burmese Children
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=15594
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Wednesday, May 6, 2009
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A US-based human rights advocacy group, the Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict, called on Wednesday for the UN Security Council to protect the tens of thousands of children "who are raped, abducted and recruited as soldiers" in Burma.
The group has released a 60-page study, “No More Denial: Children Affected by Armed Conflict in Myanmar (Burma),” to mark the first anniversary of Cyclone Nargis that hit Burma in May 2008 and "to draw urgent attention to the plight of children who have been subject to heinous violations of their rights every day since the cyclone and for decades prior."
The report documents killing and maiming of children, child soldiers, rape, abduction, forced displacement, attacks on schools, denial of humanitarian access and other violations. It also charged the UN Security Council with remaining largely silent despite evidence from UN and local sources of these violations.
According to the report, children as young as nine constantly face the threat of forced recruitment by security forces, non-state armed groups and civilians, even in public places such as bus or train stations and markets.
"Approximately one in five children in the eastern conflict areas dies before reaching the age of five, often due to denial of humanitarian assistance and medical treatment by the Myanmar authorities. This rate is comparable to some the world's deadliest conflict zones, including Democratic Republic of Congo and Afghanistan," the report said.
The Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict was formed in 2001 by a group of leading human rights and humanitarian organizations in response to the need for improved monitoring and reporting on violations against children. Today, these organizations form Watchlist's international Steering Committee.
—CARE International
—Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers
—International Save the Children Alliance
—Norwegian Refugee Council
—Women's Refugee Commission
—World Vision International
Last month, the Annual Report of the UN Secretary-General to the Security Council on Children and Armed Conflict was released. It reported that the Burmese military regime’s army and nine armed ethnic groups are still recruiting child soldiers.
The report accused both the Burmese junta and an array of armed ethnic groups, including ceasefire groups and active anti-government forces, of continuing to engage in the practice of recruiting child soldiers.
Copyright © 2008 Irrawaddy Publishing Group | www.irrawaddy.org
Regime Ignores Own Laws to Hold Suu Kyi: Rights Groups
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=15595
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By SAW YAN NAING Wednesday, May 6, 2009
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Burma’s ruling regime is breaking its own laws and ignoring world opinion by continuing to detain opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, say members of her party and human rights groups.
On Friday, Hla Myo Myint, one of the lawyers representing Suu Kyi, traveled to the junta’s capital of Naypyidaw to receive a letter rejecting an appeal for her release, according to sources from her party, the National League for Democracy (NLD).
Kyi Win, the main lawyer working on the case, said he was unhappy with the response from the Burmese regime, which he said was against the law and lacking in fairness.
Kyi Win submitted two appeals against Suu Kyi’s detention twice last year, arguing that under Burmese law, she could not be held without charges for more than five years.
Suu Kyi has spent about 13 of the past 19 years under house arrest. Her latest period of detention began in May 2003, after she and her supporters came under attack by junta-backed thugs while traveling upcountry.
Speaking with The Irrawaddy on Wednesday, Debbie Stothard, coordinator of Altsean, a regional human rights group monitoring abuse in Burma, said the regime’s refusal to release Suu Kyi sent the message that it is completely indifferent to the rule of law.
“It’s pretty clear that the [regime] doesn’t even respect its own laws, let alone international law,” said Stothard.
She also said that the Burmese military regime would not move forward with democratic reforms unless it comes under concerted pressure from the international community, including China.
Stothard said the international community needs to be much more united and give the regime some reason to fear the consequences of failing to respond to demands for the release of all political prisoners, including Suu Kyi.
The United Nations should also put full diplomatic pressure on the rest of the international community to form a united front against the Burmese government, she added.
Bo Kyi, the joint secretary of the Thailand-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners—Burma (AAPP), responded to the regime’s rejection of Suu Kyi’s appeal by saying that in Burma, the law serves only to further the interests of those in power.
“The law of the Burmese government is like rubber. They can bend it as they please, but we can’t use it against them because there is no rule of law in Burma. Suu Kyi’s detention and release are entirely in their hands,” he said.
The AAPP recently launched a petition for the release of all political prisoners in Burma and has so far collected more than 300,000 signatures, according to Bo Kyi.
Copyright © 2008 Irrawaddy Publishing Group | www.irrawaddy.org
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