SECURITY COUNCIL VOICES ‘SERIOUS CONCERN’ AT AUNG SAN SUU KYI VERDICT

The Security Council today added its voice to those calling for the release of all political prisoners in Myanmar, while expressing concern over this week's verdict against pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

"The members of the Security Council express serious concern at the conviction and sentencing of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and its political impact," Ambassador John Sawers of the United Kingdom, which holds the rotating Council presidency this month, said in a statement read out to the press.

Ms. Suu Kyi, who leads the National League for Democracy (NLD), was convicted on 11 August of violating state security laws after an uninvited United States citizen gained access to her home.

The Nobel Peace Prize winner, who has already spent over 12 years under house arrest, was sentenced to a further 18 months of the same punishment.

The Council also reiterated the importance of the release of all political prisoners and urged the Government of Myanmar "to take further measures to create the necessary conditions for a genuine dialogue with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and all concerned parties and ethnic groups in order to achieve an inclusive national reconciliation."

Earlier this week, both Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and UN human rights chief Navi Pillay deplored the decision by the Myanmar court and urged that Ms. Suu Kyi be released immediately and unconditionally.

"Unless she and all other political prisoners in Myanmar are released and allowed to participate in free and fair elections, the credibility of the political process will remain in doubt," a spokesperson for Mr. Ban said in a statement.
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DEPLORING MYANMAR VERDICT, BAN URGES IMMEDIATE RELEASE OF AUNG SAN SUU KYI

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today deplored the decision by a Myanmar court to sentence pro-democracy leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi to an additional 18 months of house arrest, and urged that she be released immediately.

"The Secretary-General is deeply disappointed by the verdict in respect of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi," his spokesperson said in a statement. "The Secretary-General strongly deplores this decision."

Ms. Suu Kyi, who leads the National League for Democracy (NLD), was reportedly convicted of violating state security laws after an uninvited United States citizen gained access to her home. She has already spent over 12 years under house arrest.

Mr. Ban urged the Government to "immediately and unconditionally" release Ms. Suu Kyi and to engage with her without delay as an essential partner in the process of national dialogue and reconciliation

"Unless she and all other political prisoners in Myanmar are released and allowed to participate in free and fair elections, the credibility of the political process will remain in doubt," today's statement added.

The Government had refused Mr. Ban's request to meet with Ms. Suu Kyi when he visited the South-East Asian nation in July, losing what the UN chief called a "unique opportunity" to show its commitment to a new era of political openness.

He added that allowing the visit "would have been an important symbol of the Government's willingness to embark on the kind of meaningful engagement that will be essential if the elections in 2010 are to be seen as credible."

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BAN BRIEFS GROUP OF FRIENDS ON MYANMAR ON LATEST DEVELOPMENTS

The international community remains committed to ensuring that authorities in Myanmar release all political prisoners, including opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today after meeting with key nations to brief them on the latest developments in the Asian country.

The Group of Friends on Myanmar, comprising 14 countries and one regional bloc, continue to want to see the country "respond positively and in a timely fashion to our concerns, expectations and encouragements on issues that are of fundamental importance for the future of Myanmar," Mr. Ban told journalists after he met with them at United Nations Headquarters in New York.

He said those issues include the main messages the Secretary-General delivered to Myanmar's leadership during his visit to the country last month – where he was not allowed to meet Ms. Suu Kyi – and during discussions last week with its Permanent Representative to the UN, U Than Swe.

Mr. Ban stressed last week that both he and the wider international community expect that the Government of Myanmar "will give careful consideration to the implications of any verdict in the [current] trial of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and use this opportunity to exercise its responsibility to ensure her immediate release."

The verdict in the trial of Ms. Suu Kyi was expected to be delivered last Friday, but was delayed following the Secretary-General's encounter with the Permanent Representative of Myanmar.

Today Mr. Ban also emphasized that the "active and united support of the international community is as important and necessary as ever before" so that Myanmar's Government can tackle the major challenges facing the nation.

Next month, on the sidelines of the annual opening of the General Assembly at UN Headquarters, another meeting of the Group of Friends will be held.

The Group of Friends, founded in December 2007, represents a balanced range of views on Myanmar and was established to hold informal discussions and develop shared approaches to support UN efforts. Its members are Australia, China, the European Union, France, India, Indonesia, Japan, Norway, Russia, Singapore, the Republic of Korea, Thailand, the United Kingdom, the United States and Viet Nam.
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SECRETARY-GENERAL MEETS WITH TOP OFFICIALS IN MYANMAR

Secretary-General has held talks with top officials in Myanmar on key issues, including the release of political prisoners such as Nobel laureate and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

In the capital Nay Pyi Taw, Mr. Ban met with Senior General Than Shwe yesterday and this morning, and he has also held talks with Prime Minister Thein Sein.

Ahead of his two-day visit, the Secretary-General told reporters in Japan that he understood there were concerns about the timing of his visit given that the trial of Ms. Suu Kyi is pending.

"It may be the case that the trial may happen during my visit in Myanmar. I am very much conscious of that. At the same time, to find the most appropriate timing has been a challenge for me, too," he said, adding that he would use the visit to try to "raise in the strongest possible terms" the concerns of the international community about the situation inside Myanmar.

Mr. Ban said stressed in Japan that Myanmar's authorities should release all political prisoners, including Ms. Suu Kyi, immediately resume dialogue between the Government and opposition leaders, and create both a political atmosphere and a legal framework conducive to the holding of credible elections next year.

"This is the commitment and concerns and aspiration of the international community. I am going to convey this strongly to Senior General Than Shwe and other leaders," he said, adding that he also hopes to have dialogue with grassroots groups during his visit.

The Secretary-General last visited Myanmar in May 2008 in the wake of the catastrophic impact of Cyclone Nargis, which killed almost 150,000 people, and he has said that he considers building on the joint humanitarian efforts that emerged following that disaster to be essential.

From Myanmar, the UN chief is scheduled to travel to Switzerland, Ireland and Italy.
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UN RIGHTS EXPERTS PRESS MYANMAR TO GIVE AUNG SAN SUU KYI FAIR TRIAL

A group of independent United Nations human rights experts today called on the authorities of Myanmar to ensure an "open and fair" trial for opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and her two aides.

"So far, the trial of Aung San Suu Kyi and her aides has been marred by flagrant violations of substantive and procedural rights," said Leandro Despouy, the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers.

The trial has mostly been conducted behind closed doors and the media have been denied access to defence lawyers. "Transparency in the administration of justice is a pre-requisite of any State governed by the rule of law," stressed Mr. Despouy.

In addition, the defence team has only been allowed to present one witness and one more was granted permission to testify, compared with the prosecution which has called 14 witnesses.

"The court must ensure that all witnesses who may have relevant evidence are able to testify," said Mr. Despouy.

Security forces arrested Ms. Suu Kyi, who leads the National League for Democracy (NLD), and two aides on 14 May and took them to Insein Prison, where they were charged by a special court. They are said to have been charged with violating the terms of her house arrest, after an uninvited United States citizen gained access to their home.

She has been under house arrest for more than 13 of the past 19 years, according to a news release issued by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in Geneva.

After being rearrested in 2003, her period of detention was extended until it reached the maximum term permitted under Myanmar's own laws in May 2008. It was then illegally extended for another year by the authorities, the human rights experts said.

"The five experts called upon the authorities of Myanmar to allow the justice system to function in an independent and impartial manner, so as to guarantee an open and fair trial for the defendants, and to grant unfettered media access," stated the news release.

The group of experts also include Chairperson-Rapporteur of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, Manuela Carmena Castrilo; the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, Tomas Ojea Quintana; the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, Margaret Sekaggya; and the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, Frank La Rue.

They all report to the Geneva-based Human Rights Council in an independent and unpaid capacity.
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MYANMAR: SECURITY COUNCIL VOICES CONCERN OVER DETENTION OF PRO-DEMOCRACY LEADER

MYANMAR: SECURITY COUNCIL VOICES CONCERN OVER DETENTION OF PRO-DEMOCRACY LEADER
New York, May 22 2009 7:00PM
The Security Council today expressed its concern over the political impact in Myanmar of the detention of opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.

In a <"http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs//2009/sc9662.doc.htm">press statement, the 15-member body reiterated "the importance of the release of all political prisoners," repeating the need for Myanmar's Government to "create the necessary conditions for a genuine dialogue with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and all concerned parties and ethnic groups in order to achieve an inclusive national reconciliation with the support of the United Nations."

Security forces arrested Aung San Suu Kyi, who leads the National League for Democracy (NLD), and two aides on 14 May and took them to Insein Prison, where they were charged by a special court. They are said to have been charged with violating the terms of her house arrest, after an uninvited United States citizen gained access to their home, and her trial is currently under way.

Last week, High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said that "her continued detention, and now this latest trial, breach international standards of due process and fair trial."

It had been hoped that she would be released when her current detention order, which has already continued for one year longer than the maximum of five years permitted under Myanmar's laws, expires at the end of this month.

"The Myanmar authorities might claim Aung San Suu Kyi has breached the conditions of her detention, but they have broken both their own laws and their international human rights obligations," Ms. Pillay said. "She should not be detained in the first place."

She has spent over 12 years under house arrest. On 30 May 2003, she was re-arrested under a law which states that a person "suspected of having committed or believed to be about to commit, any act which endangers the sovereignty and security of the state" can be detained.

In May 2007, the Government extended her arrest for another year, bringing her detention to the five-year limit, and her detention was prolonged for sixth year last May.
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MYANMAR: UNESCO CHIEF DEPLORES ARREST OF PRO-DEMOCRACY LEADER

MYANMAR: UNESCO CHIEF DEPLORES ARREST OF PRO-DEMOCRACY LEADER
New York, May 20 2009 10:00AM
The head of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (<"http://portal.unesco.org/en/ev.php-URL_ID=29008&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html">UNESCO) has expressed his grave concern over the arrest and trial of opposition leader and Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, coinciding with when her house arrest was due to end, to the leader ofruling military junta.

In a letter sent today to General Than Shwe, UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura did not pass judgment on the validity of the charges against her, but underscored that Aung San Suu Kyi – who received the 2002 UNESCO-Madanjeet Singh Prize for the Promotion of Tolerance and Non-Violence – plays a very important role in the country's national reconciliation process.

Aung San Suu Kyi, who leads the National League for Democracy (NLD) and two aides were taken by security forces on 14 May to Insein Prison, where they were charged by a special court. They are said to have been charged with violating the terms of her house arrest, after an uninvited United States citizen gained access to their home, and her trial is currently under way.

Mr. Matsuura added his voice to the chorus of UN officials, including Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, in calling for her immediate and unconditional release.

Last week, High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay emphasized that "her continued detention, and now this latest trial, breach international standards of due process and fair trial."

It had been hoped that Aung San Suu Kyi would be released when her current detention order, which has already continued for one year longer than the maximum of five years permitted under Myanmar's laws, expires at the end of this month.

"The Myanmar authorities might claim Aung San Suu Kyi has breached the conditions of her detention, but they have broken both their own laws and their international human rights obligations," Ms. Pillay stressed. "She should not be detained in the first place."

Ms. Suu Kyi has spent over 12 years under house arrest. On 30 May 2003, she was re-arrested under a law which states that a person "suspected of having committed or believed to be about to commit, any act which endangers the sovereignty and security of the state" can be detained.

In May 2007, the Government extended her arrest for another year, bringing her detention to the five-year limit, and her detention was prolonged for sixth year last May.
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The lady's not for turning

By David Scott Mathieson

May 19, 2009

Published in the New Statesman

Aung San Suu Kyi rarely receives visitors. Apart from the regular visits by her doctor and Special Branch police officers, there is only the occasional United Nations envoy, and on a rainy day in September 2007, hundreds of Buddhist monks who walked to her house chanting prayers in her honour before leading the biggest uprising in Burma since 1988.

Suu Kyi's latest visitor came uninvited and, unwittingly, cast her from seclusion back into the center of Burma's long drawn out political drama. An American called John William Yettaw swam across Inya Lake in Rangoon, spending two days as an unwelcome house guest with Suu Kyi. Authorities arrested Yettaw on his return journey on May 6. This bizarre incident became the pretext for the ruling military government to file charges against Suu Kyi for breaching conditions of her house arrest order, in force since 2003.

On May 14 Burmese authorities arrested the pro-democracy leader and 1991 Nobel Peace prize winner, along with her two maids. They are currently detaining the three in Rangoon's squalid Insein prison. On May 18, she went on trial and faces a potential prison term of three to five years, even though many Burmese expected her house arrest to be extended for another year anyway. International condemnation was immediate and widespread, including from some of Burma's southeast Asian neighbors and usual protectors.

Burmese authorities last detained Suu Kyi in Insein Prison in May 2003, after a pro-government mob attacked her motorcade in Depayin in upper Burma. Scores of Suu Kyi's supporters were killed in what was clearly a ham-fisted attempt to murder her. After several weeks in Insein prison, authorities sent Su Kyi to her Rangoon home where she has remained in isolation for the last six years.

Suu Kyi's party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), has been eviscerated by government repression --offices closed, members forced to resign, many thrown in prison or forced into exile, only the old leaders, the 'uncles' allowed to speak to the outside world. Burma's prisons hold more than 2,100 political activists, a cross section of society incarcerated as an example to deter broader dissent.

The military government continues to deny the NLD freedom to function as a normal opposition. Widespread scepticism is the attitude towards elections that are scheduled for 2010 as part of a tightly scripted sham political process - the generals' 'Road Map to Disciplined Democracy.' But what role does 'The Lady', as she is popularly referred to, have in this sham process of reform designed to ensure future military rule with a civilian veil?

The question of Aung San Suu Kyi's relevance to Burma's political future has been clearly answered by the military government's latest move. If the generals did not think she still embodied a challenge to their rule, they would have released her long ago. Suu Kyi's remains the symbol of defiance to a rotten system of military rule.

The generals aren't the only ones impatient with her principles. Lately, some diplomats, aid workers and journalists have criticized Su Kyi's 'hard-line' approach and lack of compromise in dealing with the generals, and bemoan her support of Western sanctions. But sanctions are hardly to blame for the paranoia and xenophobia of Burma's generals and socio-economic atrophy. Burma's dire poverty is a direct result of four decades of military rule, political instability, and economic mismanagement. It cannot be blamed on a woman held in isolation for 14 of the past 20 years.

Su Kyi's unflinching commitment to peaceful change and rights for all in Burma explains her popularity inside and outside the country and fuels the military's enmity against her. The generals have proved once again Suu Kyi's pivotal personification of freedom in Burma. The military government can go through the motions of legal proceedings, but it only shows their mendacity, and boosts her popularity. Burma's rulers should set her free, and start learning from her example.

Burma: Free Aung San Suu Kyi

Pressure From ASEAN, China, and India Needed

May 14, 2009

(New York) - All of Burma's international trade and aid partners should strongly condemn the renewed imprisonment of the democracy leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, in the notorious Insein Prison, Human Rights Watch said today. Human Rights Watch called on the UN secretary-general, members of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), China, and India in particular to press the authorities for her immediate, unconditional release.

"Burma's military authorities have taken advantage of an intruder's bizarre stunt to throw Aung San Suu Kyi into one of Burma's most notorious and squalid jails on trumped-up charges," said Elaine Pearson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "China and India, as Burma's main supporters, and ASEAN should condemn this injustice and use their leverage to push hard for her freedom."

New, spurious charges that she violated her house arrest relate to the unwanted intrusion into Aung San Suu Kyi's home on May 3-5, 2009, by John William Yettaw, an American who allegedly swam across Inya Lake in Rangoon to visit her.

On May 14, Special Branch police arrested Aung San Suu Kyi and her two live-in party supporters and domestic workers, Daw Khin Khin Win, and her daughter, Win Ma Ma, at Aung San Suu Kyi's home in Rangoon, and transferred the three to Insein Prison. Authorities charged them under Section 22 of the State Protection Act, which states, "any person against whom action is taken, who opposes, resists, or disobeys any order passed under this Law shall be liable to imprisonment for a period of from three years up to five years, or to a fine of up to 5,000 Kyats, or to both." The trial is set for May 18.

Burmese authorities have held Yettaw since his arrest on May 6. A US embassy official visited him on May 13. He was charged today under the same provision as Aung San Suu Kyi.

Human Rights Watch called on ASEAN member states, China, and India to put pressure on Burma's rulers to free Aung San Suu Kyi immediately and unconditionally, as well as more than 2,100 other political prisoners.

Burma's military government has announced elections for 2010, as the next step in their "road map to democracy," a sham political process that has dragged on for more than 15 years. Most of Burma's main trading partners and diplomatic supporters - China, India, Thailand, Singapore, and Russia - have repeatedly expressed support for the process. But in the past two years, arrests and intimidation of political activists have intensified. The number of political prisoners has doubled, offices of the Aung San Suu Kyi's opposition National League for Democracy party (NLD) have been forcibly closed, and freedom of expression, assembly, and association have been sharply curtailed.

"China, India, Singapore, Thailand and other Southeast Asian countries should be calling for a genuine and participatory political process in Burma, which means serious public pressure for the release of political opponents," said Pearson. "Aung San Suu Kyi's latest arrest shows how their silence simply encourages more contempt for basic freedoms."

The United Nations has attempted mediation between Burma's military government and Aung San Suu Kyi's party, the NLD, calling for "national reconciliation" without success. Ibrahim Gambari, the current special adviser on Burma for the UN secretary-general, has visited Burma several times and met with Aung San Suu Kyi without obtaining any tangible results. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon issued a statement today expressing "grave concern" and calling "on the government not to take any further action that could undermine" the process of national reconciliation.

"There is no process of national reconciliation whatsoever as long as political opponents like Aung San Suu Kyi are behind bars," said Pearson. "The UN has tried talking nicely to Burma's generals for years, but now the secretary-general should simply insist on Aung San Suu Kyi's unconditional release, from prison and from house arrest."

Aung San Suu Kyi, general secretary of the NLD and winner of the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize, has spent more than 14 of the past 20 years under house arrest. She has been detained in Insein Prison only once before, following the Depayin incident, when a pro-government mob attacked her motorcade in upper Burma on May 30, 2003.

Her five-year house arrest detention order was set to expire at the end of May 2009, after authorities imposed a one year extension in 2008. Aung San Suu Kyi's health has deteriorated in the past two years. Last week, members of her party said she suffered acute dehydration and low blood pressure.

UN RIGHTS CHIEF CALLS FOR AUNG SAN SUU KYI’S IMMEDIATE RELEASE

UN RIGHTS CHIEF CALLS FOR AUNG SAN SUU KYI'S IMMEDIATE RELEASE
New York, May 15 2009 2:00PM
Calling on Myanmar's Government to drop all charges against pro-democracy leader and Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, the top United Nations human rights official today <"http://www.unhchr.ch/huricane/huricane.nsf/view01/E75E3FB7591BA2FBC12575B7004CA9A7?opendocument">appealed to authorities for her immediate and unconditional release.

According to reports, Ms. Suu Kyi, who has been under house arrest for several years, and two aides were escorted yesterday morning by security forces to Insein Prison, where they were charged by a special court. They are said to have been charged with violating the terms of her house arrest, after an uninvited United States citizen gained access to their home.

Ms. Suu Kyi, who leads the National League for Democracy (NLD), and her two aides are currently detained in the Insein compound and her trial has been scheduled for 18 May.

"Her continued detention, and now this latest trial, breach international standards of due process and fair trial," High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said.

It had been hoped that the Nobel Peace Prize winner would be released when her current detention order, which has already continued for one year longer than the maximum of five years permitted under Myanmar's laws, expires at the end of this month.

"The Myanmar authorities might claim Aung San Suu Kyi has breached the conditions of her detention, but they have broken both their own laws and their international human rights obligations," Ms. Pillay stressed. "She should not be detained in the first place."

Ms. Suu Kyi has spent over 12 years under house arrest. On 30 May 2003, she was re-arrested under a law which states that a person "suspected of having committed or believed to be about to commit, any act which endangers the sovereignty and security of the state" can be detained.

In May 2007, the Government extended her arrest for another year, bringing her detention to the five-year limit, and her detention was prolonged for sixth year last May.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights prohibits arbitrary arrest and detention and guarantees the right to fair trial and to freedom of opinion and expression, which, according to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Ms. Suu Kyi has exercised peacefully and courageously over many years.

Yesterday, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said that he is "gravely concerned" about the news of her detention.

"The Secretary-General believes that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is an essential partner for dialogue in Myanmar's national reconciliation and calls on the Government not to take any further action that could undermine this important process," according to a <"http://www.un.org/apps/sg/sgstats.asp?nid=3848">statement issued by his spokesperson.

Ms. Suu Kyi and all those who have a contribution to make to the future of their country "must be free to be able to do so to ensure that the political process is credible," the statement added.

Also yesterday, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar Tomás Ojea Quintana, who reports to the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council, called for her unconditional release.

"Since her house is well guarded by security forces, the responsibility for preventing such intrusions, and alerting the authorities, lies with the security forces and not with Aung San Suu Kyi and her aides," he said.
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INDEPENDENT UN HUMAN RIGHTS EXPERT CALLS FOR RELEASE OF AUNG SAN SUU KYI

INDEPENDENT UN HUMAN RIGHTS EXPERT CALLS FOR RELEASE OF AUNG SAN SUU KYI
New York, May 14 2009 1:00PM
The independent United Nations human rights expert on Myanmar today called for the unconditional release of detained pro-democracy leader and Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, who was reportedly taken to a special court this morning and now faces new charges.

UN Special Rapporteur Tomás Ojea Quintana voiced serious concern regarding the unlawful detention of Ms. Suu Kyi, leader of the National League for Democracy (NLD), who has been under house arrest for the past six years.

The new charges, according to a news release issued in Geneva, are said to be in connection with the recent intrusion of an American citizen into the home of Ms. Suu Kyi.

"Since her house is well guarded by security forces, the responsibility for preventing such intrusions, and alerting the authorities, lies with the security forces and not with Aung San Suu Kyi and her aides," Mr. Ojea Quintana said.

According to information received by the Special Rapporteur, Ms. Suu Kyi and two aides were escorted this morning by security forces to Insein prison, where they were charged by a special court. They are currently detained in the Insein compound and their trial has been scheduled for 18 May.

"I call on the Government of Myanmar to release Aung San Suu Kyi and her aides unconditionally," Mr. Ojea Quintana said.

He added that in order to ensure national reconciliation and democratic transition, to which the Myanmar leadership has committed itself, all 2,156 prisoners of conscience currently detained by the authorities should be released before the 2010 elections.

Mr. Ojea Quintana, who reports to the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council in an independent and unpaid capacity, has visited Myanmar twice since he was appointed to his post in May 2008, most recently this past February.
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