Burma Update: May 25, 2008

Burma Partnership: Statement: Daw Aung San Suu Kyi Must be Free Today!

May 25, 2008

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi must be released today. Should the military authorities continue to confine her, they will be violating their own law.

According to the law under which she is being held (Article 10b of the Burma State Protection Law), the authorities are permitted to detain a person deemed to be “a threat to the sovereignty and security of the State and peace of the people”. This law dictates that the sentence may be renewed annually for up to five years only. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi was placed under house arrest in May 2003. The last legally permissible extension order was passed on the 25th May 2007 and expired yesterday.

Burma has suffered a massive natural disaster unprecedented in her modern history. The tragedy of Cyclone Nargis has been compounded by the regime’s blocking urgently needed international aid and expertise. While we welcome the new agreement to allow international workers access to Burma, we urge the regime to realise that this critical time requires unity in cooperation. All stakeholders must work together with international aid agencies to ensure that help reaches those in desperate need. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has a unique and important role to play, not only in the current relief efforts but also in the reconciliation processes so crucial to the future of Burma.

Today, an international aid pledging conference in Rangoon will determine how to proceed with relief and reconstruction efforts. The Burmese authorities have the opportunity to improve their domestic and international credibility by freeing Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. The release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi will be a powerful demonstration of commitment by the regime that it is willing to work with all stakeholders for the sake of Burma.

-Ends-

Media Contact: Khin Ohmar +66 81 884 0772

Alternative ASEAN Network on Burma: SPDC Turns Disaster into Catastrophe

• Senior General Than Shwe’s surprise concession to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon that all aid workers would be allowed into Burma meets with skepticism, owing to the regime’s continuous obstruction of aid efforts that went on right up to the meeting between the two leaders on 23 May.
• To prove that this not another empty promise, aid supplies and workers already in Rangoon must be immediately allowed into cyclone-stricken areas.
• The ASEAN-led “Coalition of Mercy” must specify terms and conditions for aid to be delivered, and insist on the involvement of local civil societyorganizations.
• UN figures put the death toll of cyclone Nargis between 63,290 - 101,682, with 220,000 missing and 2.4 million affected. SPDC says that 77,738 persons have died, 55,917 are missing, 19,359 injured.
• The SPDC continues to thwart humanitarian efforts, refusing visas to foreign staff and blocking aid workers from entering worst-hit areas.
• The SPDC appropriates aid supplies, and forces survivors to work, vote “Yes”, and pay for donated items.
• The SPDC prevents overseas agencies from importing key items, including food and communications. It sells the items to aid agencies, including donated mobile phones for $1,500 each.
• After tough negotiations and multiple concessions to the junta, humanitarian aid is now reaching about one fifth of the estimated 2.4 million needy survivors.
• SPDC-controlled media only show the military’s relief operations and block out details of other local and international relief efforts, including those led by monks. Information on the extent of damage and suffering is suppressed. The regime bars foreign media from entering Burma and limit access of local media to affected areas. SPDC issues restrictive guidelines for media coverage of relief operations.
• Monks play a key role in recovery operations, including providing accommodation for 70% of homeless survivors.
• An estimated 1.6 million hectares of Burma’s most productive rice producing land has been destroyed.
• Survivors are suffering facing outbreaks of cholera and malaria while malnourished and exposed to monsoon weather.