Human rights violations in Myanmar criticized by UN body
Human Rights Council in Geneva
26 March 2010 – Speaking out against violations of fundamental freedoms of the people of Myanmar, the United Nations Human Rights Council today called on the Asian nation’s Government to ensure that polls slated for later this year – the first in two decades – are free and transparent.
On the last day of its 13th regular session, the 47-member body passed a resolution voicing concern that electoral laws unveiled earlier this month do not meet the international community’s expectations.
According to media reports, these laws relate to the registration of political parties and prohibit anyone with a criminal conviction from being a member of an official party.Ms. Suu Kyi, a pro-democracy leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, was sentenced last August to an additional 18 months of house arrest
The Council today urged authorities in Myanmar to desist from carrying out any further politically-motivated arrests and to release all prisoners of conscience, believed to number above 2,000, including Aung San Suu Kyi.
Ms. Suu Kyi, a pro-democracy leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, was sentenced last August to an additional 18 months of house arrest, effectively barring her from taking part in the polls. The leader of the party known as the National League for Democracy (NLD), she was reportedly convicted of violating State security laws after an uninvited United States citizen gained access to her home.
The Council also took action today to extend the mandate for one year of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, Tomás Ojea Quintana.
Earlier this month, Mr. Ojea Quintana, who visited the country in February, said that there is no indication that the Government is willing to release political prisoners ahead of the national elections.
“Without full participation, including by the some 2,100 prisoners of conscience, and an environment that allows people and parties to engage in the range of electoral activities, the elections cannot be credible,” he said.
Following his meeting yesterday with the so-called Group of Friends of Myanmar, which brings together more than one dozen nations and one regional bloc in support of greater dialogue in the country, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appealed for “inclusive, participatory and transparent” elections to “advance the prospects of stability, democracy and development for all the people” of the country.
Responding to a question on whether or not Ms. Suu Kyi’s call for her NLD party to not take part in the polls will hurt the electoral process, Mr. Ban, who last visited Myanmar in July, said that her decision must be respected.
He has told the leaders of Myanmar, he said, that “without full participation of all the people, including political prisoners, and particularly Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, it may not be regarded as credible and inclusive.”
The Human Rights Council’s latest session, which kicked off on 1 March, ended with 29 resolutions passed on torture, the rights of the child and other issues. Twenty of the resolutions were adopted by consensus.
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=34218&Cr=myanmar&Cr1=
Saturday, 27 March 2010
Tin Oo Calls on Army to Stay Out of Politics
Irrawady
27 Mar 2010
Tin Oo, the vice-chairman of the National League for Democracy (NLD) and Burma's former army chief, told The Irrawaddy that the army should stay out of politics and that past military coups in Burma have only harmed the country.
“The armed forces or Tatmadaw should serve the country by protecting the people and defending the nation,” said Tin Oo.
He said the image of the armed forces today has dramatically changed due to its role in oppression and involvement in politics. He also said that soldiers are not trained to govern or run the country or the government.
“We only learn about military matters and warfare and have little knowledge or informed opinion about issues such as education, health and the economy.”
He also said that soldiers in the army should not obey unjust orders coming from superior officers, although he acknowledged the heavy-handed military structure in the Burmese armed forces.
Meanwhile, Snr-Gen Than Shwe said at the annual Armed Forces Day parade held in the remote capital Naypyidaw: “We, the patriotic Tatmadaw, not only defend and protect the nation and the people with our lives but take part and serve in national politics whenever the need arises.”
His seven-minute speech focused on the coming election and the role of the armed forces in politics.
“This year's elections represent only the beginning of the process of fostering democracy,” he said.
No date has been announced for the upcoming polls, which critics have called a sham designed to keep the military in power with the facade of an elected government.
Tin Oo became Commander in Chief of the Tatmadaw in 1974 and was a respected army leader. He joined the NLD in 1988 after the military brutally crushed a nationwide pro-democracy uprising. He was placed under house arrest in 2003 and was released in February of this year.
In the 1970s, Than Shwe, who was then a staff officer in the War Office in Rangoon, sometimes accompanied Tin Oo when he traveled to the north to inspect military offensives against Communist and ethnic insurgents.
Tin Oo said that then Col Than Shwe never struck him as ambitious, but was a rather “slow and quiet person.”
However, Tin Oo now expressed doubts about whether Than Shwe would relinquish power after the election. He said the junta leader might decide to stay in power if he doesn't trust the people who take over the new government, many of whom he is expected to handpick.
Tin Oo lamented that some people seem determined to cling to power and said that Than Shwe could remain as a president in the future government.
“He then will feel he has legitimacy to rule the country.”
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=18136
27 Mar 2010
Tin Oo, the vice-chairman of the National League for Democracy (NLD) and Burma's former army chief, told The Irrawaddy that the army should stay out of politics and that past military coups in Burma have only harmed the country.
“The armed forces or Tatmadaw should serve the country by protecting the people and defending the nation,” said Tin Oo.
He said the image of the armed forces today has dramatically changed due to its role in oppression and involvement in politics. He also said that soldiers are not trained to govern or run the country or the government.
“We only learn about military matters and warfare and have little knowledge or informed opinion about issues such as education, health and the economy.”
He also said that soldiers in the army should not obey unjust orders coming from superior officers, although he acknowledged the heavy-handed military structure in the Burmese armed forces.
Meanwhile, Snr-Gen Than Shwe said at the annual Armed Forces Day parade held in the remote capital Naypyidaw: “We, the patriotic Tatmadaw, not only defend and protect the nation and the people with our lives but take part and serve in national politics whenever the need arises.”
His seven-minute speech focused on the coming election and the role of the armed forces in politics.
“This year's elections represent only the beginning of the process of fostering democracy,” he said.
No date has been announced for the upcoming polls, which critics have called a sham designed to keep the military in power with the facade of an elected government.
Tin Oo became Commander in Chief of the Tatmadaw in 1974 and was a respected army leader. He joined the NLD in 1988 after the military brutally crushed a nationwide pro-democracy uprising. He was placed under house arrest in 2003 and was released in February of this year.
In the 1970s, Than Shwe, who was then a staff officer in the War Office in Rangoon, sometimes accompanied Tin Oo when he traveled to the north to inspect military offensives against Communist and ethnic insurgents.
Tin Oo said that then Col Than Shwe never struck him as ambitious, but was a rather “slow and quiet person.”
However, Tin Oo now expressed doubts about whether Than Shwe would relinquish power after the election. He said the junta leader might decide to stay in power if he doesn't trust the people who take over the new government, many of whom he is expected to handpick.
Tin Oo lamented that some people seem determined to cling to power and said that Than Shwe could remain as a president in the future government.
“He then will feel he has legitimacy to rule the country.”
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=18136
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