Mizzima News

September 28, 2006- Southeast Asian parliamentarians today urged the United Nations Security Council to adopt a binding resolution on Burma as the junta continues to violate human rights and defy efforts by the international community for reforms in the country.

ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus or AIPMC today in a statement, released ahead of the first Security Council consultation on Burma, urged the Council to adopt a resolution that will guarantee the restoration of democracy in Burma.

“UNSC must perform its duty – in its entirety – by now adopting a peaceful and binding resolution requiring the restoration of democracy in Burma/Myanmar,” said the release.

With a briefing by the UN undersecretary for political affairs Ibrahim Gambari on the latest situation on Burma, the United Nations Security Council, which successfully voted Burma to its agenda on September 15, is to hold the first consultation on Burma on Friday.

While the AIPMC welcomed the UNSC’s move to include Burma on its agenda, it urged the adoption of a substantial resolution as the ruling junta continues to violate the rights of its citizens.

The re-arrest of three prominent student leaders on Wednesday by the authorities is purely a sign of defying the international community including the UN’s efforts to bring changes in Burma, said the AIPMC.

“We strongly urge UNSC members to expediently adopt a comprehensive resolution that will ensure such blatantly unjustifiable acts by the junta no longer occur,” said the AIPMC in light of the arrest of the three student leaders.

Spokesperson of the AIPMC, Roshan Jason said, “the council is openly aware that the atrocities in Burma has been way too long… the spread of refugees, HIV/AIDS, and drugs are all posing threat to regional and international security.”

The Burmese military junta, however, rejected all accusations and claimed that Burma’s problems are internal and slammed the Security Council member countries of ganging up against Burma by putting it on the council’s agenda.

“It was quiet clear in the report commissioned by former Czech Republic President Haval and Bishop Desmond Tu Tu, that Burma falls on the criteria that pose a threat to other countries… despite the generals denying it,” said Jason.

Meanwhile, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, Paulo Sergio Pinheiro today condemned the Burmese junta for arresting the three student leaders –Min Ko Naing, Ko Ko Gyi, and Htay Kywe – who were earlier released after serving long prison terms.

“The arrests lead to serious questions regarding the will of the government of Myanmar to resume an effective dialogue with the various stakeholders who should be associated to the National Convention,” Pinheiro said in the statement released today.

September 27, 2006

U Aung Shwe

Chairman

National League for Democracy (NLD)

Rangoon, Burma

Congratulatory Message from the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus (AIPMC) on the 18th Anniversary of Founding of the National League for Democracy

September 27, 2006

U Aung Shwe

Chairman

National League for Democracy (NLD)

Rangoon, Burma

Congratulatory Message from the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus (AIPMC) on the 18th Anniversary of Founding of the National League for Democracy

Dear Mr. Chairman,

We would like to convey our heartfelt congratulation to you and your colleagues, leaders and rank and file members of the National League for Democracy on your 18th anniversary of founding.

AIPMC recognizes NLD as the legitimate leader of Burma, mandated by the people of Burma through the 1990 general elections to lead the country towards freedom and democracy. We admire your courage, leadership and determination to liberate Burma from military dictatorship, and your tireless commitment to bring democracy and democratic reforms in the land, despite severe oppression and attack by the Burmese military junta in these difficult years. We are confident that you will prevail.

We urge the Burmese military regime to unconditionally release all political prisoners including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, U Tin Oo, and U Hkun Htun Oo, to begin meaningful political dialogue with NLD and ethnic representatives for national reconciliation and democratization, to allow all political parties and people of Burma to freely participate in every process of shaping the country’s future, to stop military offensives against ethnic nationalities, and to give unrestrictive access to international humanitarian organizations and UN agencies to reach out to the people who are in need. We also insist that the regime urgently convene the legitimately elected Parliament of Burma based on the results of the 1990 election as per NLD power –

sharing transition offer (February 12, 2006 offer of NLD).

On this special occasion, we would like to express our solidarity and unity with NLD and the people of Burma. We; parliamentarians from Malaysia, Indonesia, Cambodia, Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines; along with freedom loving people around world, pledge to continue our support to your just cause and ask the United Nations Security Council to address the situation in Burma immediately.

With best regards,

Yours sincerely,

MP Datuk Zaid Ibrahim

AIPMC Chairperson

MP Teresa Kok

AIPMC Secretary

Last-ditch efforts to make an official stand calling for reconciliation and democracy in Myanmar failed during the closing of the Asean Inter-Parliamentary Organization (AIPO) assembly yesterday in Cebu City.

But legislators assured it will be tackled in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) summit in December.

A member of the Indonesian Parliament brought up during the plenary session yesterday the earlier rejection of his proposal to tackle the situation in Myanmar.

But like what the AIPO committee on political matters agreed on last Tuesday, the proposal was only noted for possible inclusion in the agenda for the 28th AIPO assembly in Malaysia in August.

Rep. Matias Defensor Jr., chairman of the committee on political matters, delivered his committee report during the plenary session at the closing of the assembly, but he did not mention his com-mittee’s discussions on the Myanmar issue.

No voice

Indonesian lawmaker Marzuki Darusman then briefed the close to 200 delegates of his proposal to approve a resolution on Myanmar.

“Mr. Chairman, we are aware that Myanmar at present doesn’t like to discuss the matter. But who will speak for Burma?

Never in the recent history of this organization have such a great people going through such fateful plight been denied of a voice, as what has been happening in the last three days of this assembly,” Darusman said.

He then proposed to create an ad hoc committee composed of AIPO members to be sent on a mission to Myanmar to assess the situation there.

Rep. Antonio Cuenco (Cebu City, south), who presided over the plenary, noted Darusman’s proposal and said it will be submitted to the AIPO Executive Committee for consideration in the next assembly.

“We do not like the issue of Myanmar discussed here because the AIPO is not the proper venue to take up the issue.

Anyway, it will be taken up in the Asean summit, which is the proper venue because this is a matter that is better left to the executive department of Asean countries,” Cuenco said during the press conference after the plenary session.

Legitimate

But Darusman disagreed, saying AIPO should also tackle the matter and make an official stand on the issues “that have been affecting the peace, security and stability of the region.”

“There are at present 14 elected Burmese parliamentarians languishing in prisons. This is a legitimate issue that AIPO should take up,” he said in the same press conference.

The political matters committee decided not to touch the proposed resolution to seek the democratization of Myanmar, since it was not included in the agenda approved by the executive committee.

But while the delegates were deliberating on the resolutions approved by the AIPO committees during the plenary, some legislators were also busy soliciting the signatures of their fellow delegates on two documents that were being circulated.

The documents, which will be sent to the new AIPO president and the United Nations Security Council, call for the immediate release of Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and an end to the alleged human rights violations in Myanmar.

Polite

Representatives of Akbayan party-list, who authored the two statements, have so far gathered some 50 signatures from the delegates of Indonesia, Philippines, Cambodia and Malaysia, Rep. Loretta Rosales said.

In a phone interview last night, Rosales said they are optimistic that more AIPO members will sign the manifesto.

“The parliamentarians were very responsive, but they want to be polite and said they will just sign after the assembly. They didn’t want to embarrass anyone,” she said.

The document is a statement of support of the individual members of congresses and parliaments that joined the assembly. It will not be considered an official AIPO document.

Among other things, the signatories asked for the release of all political prisoners and for Myanmar’s military rulers to give way to national reconciliation and democracy in the country.

(article taken from sun.star – cebu sept 15, 2006)

Jon Ungphakorn

When I was a child, Burma was considered to be the rice basket of Asia, richly endowed with natural resources. With advanced health and education systems, Burma seemed headed for a bright and prosperous future.

The opposite has instead unfolded – a spiralling transition into a society of extreme repression, poverty and serious health problems. Today, Burma is known more for its brutal military dictators and the severe human rights violations they have committed. Under their misrule, Burma has deteriorated into a UN Least Developed Nation, with a health system ranked second worst in the world, and is notorious for its corruption, money laundering, drug and human trafficking, forced labour, child soldiers and mass rape of women by the military.

Censorship is draconian and reliable statistics remain elusive, part of an effort to hide the facts behind a facade of normalcy. In particular, there is an absence of information about populations living in the conflict areas or “black zones” of Burma, who have faced decades of civil conflict. A newly released report entitled “Chronic Emergency – Health and Human Rights in Eastern Burma”, provides us with an appalling glimpse into this heart of darkness. In this report by the Backpack Health Worker Team (BPHWT), the extent of the public health catastrophe in these areas, after five decades of civil war, money being taken out of social services, and widespread human rights abuses, is revealed for the first time. Infant, child and maternal mortality rates are much higher than Burma’s official statistics, already amongst the worst in Asean. Death and disability from malaria, landmine injuries, and malnutrition are widespread. Forced relocation doubles the chance of childhood death and increases the risk of a landmine injury by almost five times. An inadequate supply of food not only increases the risk of malnutrition but also increases the chances of landmine injuries and malaria, as people are forced to forage in the jungles.

The Burmese military junta is the source of the problem, not only through its abuses and neglect for the welfare of the people, but also through increasing restrictions on humanitarian aid efforts, particularly to ethnic minorities. The Burmese regime has set increasingly restrictive conditions, leading several international organisations to withdraw from Burma or severely curtail programmes, including the Global Fund for HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) – France. Dr Herve Isambert of MSF-France, one of the few groups that had been working in Karen and Mon States, said in March: “The [Burmese] authorities don’t want anyone to witness how they organise the forced displacement of the population, the burning of villages and forced recruitment.”

Many of the burdens arising from tyrannical rule in Burma are no longer borne by the people of Burma alone. Almost a million Burmese refugees have officially fled to neighbouring countries, perhaps another million live internally displaced in Burma, and probably over a million exist as undocumented migrants in Thailand alone. Malaria, much of it drug-resistant, is rife on Thailand’s borders with Burma. Tuberculosis remains the most common disease diagnosed in Burmese migrants living in Thailand, and some diseases already eradicated or controlled in Thailand such as lymphatic filariasis (elephantiasis) are returning. Narcotics continue to flow from Burma, bringing with them the spread of HIV and a rash of social, economic and other health woes. Increasingly, hospitals in Thailand, their budgets already strained by the government’s under-funded universal health programme, also have to devote increasing resources to provide care for migrant workers.

Polite diplomacy and unconditional engagement with the SPDC have not worked. In fact, trade and investment have provided them with the means to perpetuate their repressive rule. This year, in some of the areas covered in this survey, the regime actually intensified attacks on ethnic Karen civilians, displacing perhaps 18,000 more, creating a new humanitarian catastrophe. Thousands have already crossed into Thailand or are camped just on the border.

Groups such as the BPHWT, working in dangerous areas inaccessible to international humanitarian relief, should be fully supported by Burma’s neighbours and international agencies in their impressive efforts to develop appropriate health services in such dangerous conditions. I admire this team of brave men and women for their dedication to the welfare of the communities whom they serve. They live and work under the same threat of violence as the people they serve – since the inception of the Backpack Medic Programme, seven medics and one midwife have been killed by landmines or SPDC soldiers.

Pressure must be brought to bear on the junta, whose policies continue to exacerbate these public health problems. This is why activists, legislators and many governments already support a binding UN Security Council resolution to ensure that the Burmese regime fulfils its own promises of economic and political reforms.

As Thais, we are well qualified to work with the international community on a common agenda that puts the interests of the Burmese peoples and of long-term social stability in the region above narrow commercial interests. We must also support those groups such as the BPHWT who are working along the border, as their vital work also serves our long-term national interests. Indeed, we can ill afford not to.

Jon Ungphakorn, whose term as a senator ends with the next sitting of the Senate, is a Member of the Asean Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus (AIPMC) and a respected advocate on issues related to health and human rights.

Jon Ungphakorn

Special to The Nation

Jakarta, 6 Sept. (AKI/The Jakarta Post) – Civil society groups, political activists and legislators from Southeast Asian countries agreed Tuesday to continue to put pressure on the military junta in Burma (Myanmar) to pursue democratization and release Aung San Suu Kyi.

During a seminar in the Indonesian capital, they also called on governments of the Association of the Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) – as well as China, India and Japan – to urge Rangoon to fulfill its promise of democratic reforms. They also sought the completion of the drafting of country’s constitution as well as the acceptance of the 1990 national election results.

Most of them also agreed that ASEAN should scrap its problematic non-interference principle to enable the grouping to act decisively when widespread human rights violations were occurring in a member country.

“The noninterference principle can’t be used to justify gross human rights’ violations inside a member country,” Sann Aung, an elected member of the Burmese parliament living in exile in Thailand, told participants at the seminar, organized by the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and several NGOs.

In 2005 alone, at least 144 politicians, including five members of parliament, were jailed, part of the 1,100 politicians presently detained by the military junta. Due to harsh treatment in prisons, 127 political prisoners have died since 1988, human rights groups say.

Debbie Stothard of the Alternative ASEAN Network on Burma described the severe malnutrition, HIV-AIDS and many other diseases, such as tuberculosis, afflicting Myanmar citizens. She attributed it to the junta devoting most its budget to military spending instead of the basic needs of the people.

According to latest budgetary figures, Burmese generals only intend to spend US$1.10 per citizen on education and 40 U.S. cents for healthcare, compared to $400 for each soldier.

To make matters worse, she added, the military regime heavily restricted international aid to the people; the aid they let enter carried heavy taxes.

According to the UN, 75 percent of the people in Burma live below the poverty level.

Aung said that ASEAN must apply more pressure on the military regime because the current situation endangered neighboring countries from a flood of Myanmarese refugees.

Malaysian MP Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, who is also a member of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Caucus on Myanmar (AIPMC), urged the public and media to make the issue a priority.

“We must always put Myanmar issue on the map. Sometimes we forget the issue because many other international issues come up.”

She added that Indonesia, as the biggest member of ASEAN, was in a position to make a significant difference because ASEAN and the rest of Asia took notice of its positions.

05 September 2006 Jakarta

Speech: “ASEAN, Burma and Aung San Suu Kyi”

Dr. Wan Azizah Wan Ismail

President, People’s Justice Party (KeADILan)

Member of Parliament, Malaysia

Vice-Chair, Malaysian Parliamentary Caucus for Democracy in Myanmar

Member, ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus (AIPMC)

Honorable Members of Parliament of Indonesia,

Dr. Hadi Soesastro, Executive Director, Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS),

Dr. Sann Aung, Honourable Member of Parliamentary Union of Burma and National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma,

Mr Hla Henry,Committee for Internally Displaced Karen People,

Ms Lway Cherry, Women’s League of Burma and Palaung Women’s Organisation,

Representatives of CSIS, the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Caucus on Myanmar (AIPMC), the Asia Pacific’s Peoples’ Partnership on Burma and Koalisi Masyarakat Sipil untuk Burma.

Distinguished guests,

And my dear friends from Burma,

I am very pleased, and deeply honoured, to have this opportunity to speak at the Indonesia Parliament on ASEAN, Burma and Aung San Suu Kyi – all of which are topics that are of grave concern and long overdue to all of us.

It was only a month and a half ago when an international conference on Burma was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where members of Parliament from key countries in ASEAN gathered together with their counterparts from India, New Zealand, Australia and Burmese MPs-in-exile, to discuss the future of democratic transition in Burma and the role of ASEAN.

At this conference, it was clear that the transition to democracy in Burma is inevitable.

Each of us here today has a crucial role to play, as citizens of this region who uphold the principles of human rights and democracy, to see this achieved.

We, the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Caucus on Myanmar (AIPMC), have in fact been meeting regularly in the past two years to resolve this matter amongst legislators in the region who tire of the excuses of our governments over their inaction when it comes to Burma. We have lobbied our respective governments and parliaments to take more decisive actions when it comes to Burma.

Last year, through the efforts of parliamentarians and civil society, we were able to pressure ASEAN to raise the thorny issue of a military junta representing the region, thus resulting in the Myanmar government forgoing its turn at becoming the Chair of ASEAN for 2006.

And last week, twenty-six (26) Members of Parliament from Cambodia’s three main political parties – the Cambodian People’s Party, Funcinpec and Sam Rainsy Party, launched their national caucus, making it the sixth national caucus in the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Caucus on Myanmar.

It is only a matter of time before the rest of ASEAN joins us.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Please allow me now to speak earnestly to my fellow Members of Parliament.

As elected parliamentarians, we have an obligation to defend and promote the principles of democracy, even more so in our very own neighbourhood.

Our colleagues from Burma are facing jail and persecution simply because they won an election. We should not be willing to tolerate this. If ASEAN is willing to tolerate this clear violation of Parliamentary democracy, then all of our regional democracies may be at risk eventually.

We also would have to recognise that we have an obligation, on humanitarian grounds, not to be silent. If we are willing to merely stand by and watch millions of people suffer, we are allowing ourselves and our societies to be desensitized to human suffering.

This brings me to on-goings in my very own country, in regards to the suffering of the Muslim Burmese and other Burmese asylum seekers. They are facing major obstacles in obtaining basic humanitarian aid, including the non-existence of health and education opportunities.

Burmese children born and growing up in Malaysia are not even allowed to have basic education. We are creating a generation of stateless and illiterate people without weighing the consequences. We should be instead, contributing to the creation of a democratic society that is equipped with the values and skills needed for a sustainable democratic transition.

The reality is that these refugees are in Malaysia because ASEAN’s constructive engagement policy has failed miserably. Even now, as the military regime increases its persecution on minority groups, including the Rohingya Muslim community, more of them will flee not to Malaysia but to Indonesia because of its large Muslim population and Muslim practice.

Indonesia, being the largest member of ASEAN, is in a position to make a significant difference. When Indonesia speaks, ASEAN and the rest of Asia are obliged to take notice. Already, statements made by Indonesian leaders, including most recently, by the Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda, have made an impact in international and regional opinion.

While the old Indonesia is still the model for the Burmese military regime, today’s Indonesia represents the hope of the Burmese people that transition is possible. I know our Burmese pro-democracy colleagues are eagerly watching Indonesia’s transition and how it deals with the challenges of a legacy of authoritarian rule. I know they are keen to increase their engagement with all levels of society, including Indonesian Parliamentarians.

Indonesia is also the largest Muslim country in the world. It is in the ideal position to demonstrate the compassionate and problem-solving aspects of Islam in its work to bring peace and human dignity to the region, particularly in the context of Burma. Indonesia has the opportunity to provide the world with an example of how to implement principled engagement that does not sacrifice human rights at the altar of profit.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is in fact very close to my heart. When the world remembered and celebrated her 61st birthday this year in June, it was with great sadness.

At that time, we heard she had fallen ill and with the renewal of her house arrest order, it sent alarm bells to us all.

I had asked myself, what else could I do, as a Member of Parliament and a citizen of ASEAN?

When my husband, Former Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia Anwar Ibrahim, was arrested in 1998 and imprisoned in solitary confinement for six years due to trumped up charges, she was someone I looked up to, someone whom I could relate to.

Suu Kyi, with her quiet grace, intellect and strength, inspired me in some of my darkest moments.

Unfortunately, she endures a much greater pain and sacrifice. I would never imagine anyone, especially myself, withstanding such sufferings, and yet she hasn’t given up her struggle and her principles.

It has been my fervent wish to meet her in person. She is not only an icon for our times but she is an embodiment of what humanity should be.

The freedom of Suu Kyi is a key test for ASEAN. Whether it is able to succeed in securing her freedom in the coming months, will determine the progress of the region and the capabilities of ASEAN’s leaders. I believe the time for change in Burma is now.

Even-though there may be many moments when we believe we cannot do much more to successfully help bring change in Burma, we must not give up.

The point is that, all our actions and words, while pressuring various agencies and actors, should give strength to the Burmese who live under the yoke of the military junta.

Our activities, speeches and seminars are constant reminders to the Burmese, who are living under oppression, that we have not forgotten them. We must lend them the strength to continue to resist, because the key to change are those living inside Burma today.

This is the essence of solidarity. The people inside Burma who voted for democracy and change in the 1990 elections have told the world what they wanted, and what we are doing here today is to support their vision and dreams.

It is our moral obligation to always remember them, remember those who are still in prison and remember Suu Kyi. We must use our liberty to help free them.

I am very encouraged by recent news reports that the United States government has tabled a motion for the UNSC to adopt a resolution on Burma. I would like to encourage my fellow Parliamentarians, not only from Malaysia, Indonesia but also from all countries in the region, to urge your respective governments to support this move.

I trust that all of us here today, will continue to act in our various capacities to ensure that we will one day see a beautiful, free and democratic Burma.

Thank you.