Suu Kyi sends video message to US
Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi spoke to members of the US congress by video today, calling for a commission of inquiry into rights abuses and urging support for steps to open up “the real road to democracy” in Burma.
Suu Kyi, freed from house arrest seven months ago, questioned whether Burma has made any real progress towards democracy since flawed elections in November that were meant to end five decades of military rule.
“If (the government) is sincere in its claims that it wishes to bring democracy into Burma, there is no need for any prisoners of conscience to exist in this country,” said Suu Kyi.
Her National League for Democracy party that swept to victory in 1990 elections but was barred from taking power has faced years of persecution.
Rights groups say Burma holds more than 2,000 political prisoners. Freeing them is a key demand of the US and other countries that maintain tough sanctions against Burma and its military leaders.
Suu Kyi called for access to Burma for UN human rights envoy Tomas Ojea Quintana, who is barred from visiting.
She supported his call for a commission of inquiry into rights abuses that have taken place in Burma, but stressed it would be intended not as a tribunal to punish violators but to ensure rights violations do not recur.
Suu Kyi’s comments were made in video statement recorded in Burma and aired at a hearing in Washington of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific.
It is the first time the 66-year-old democracy activist, who has spent about 15 of the past 22 years under some form of detention, has submitted such a statement to a US congressional committee.
Authorities de-registered her party for boycotting the latest polls, which installed a nominally civilian government, but one still dominated by members of the former ruling junta. The party continues to meet, and Suu Kyi remains outspoken. She is planning to travel elsewhere in Burma, which could be a key test of the government’s tolerance of her activities.
She urged US lawmakers to do whatever they can to get Burma to implement the demands of a resolution adopted by the UN Human Rights Council in March. The resolution – the latest of many adopted by the world body over the years against Burma, but with little impact – calls for prisoner releases, freedom of information and association, an independent judiciary and political reconciliation.
“With the help and support of true friends, I’m sure we will be able to tread the path of democracy, not easily and perhaps not as quickly as we would like, but surely and steadily,” Suu Kyi said.
Ending a former US policy of diplomatic isolation of the military regime, the Obama administration has attempted to engage Burma in the past 18 months but has made little progress.
