Following is the full text of a letter sent by ARTICLE 19 to the current President of the United Nations (UN) Security Council, urging that the Security Council call an emergency session on Myanmar (Burma), even though China, a close ally of Myanmar’s ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC), currently holds the chair. […]
Following is the full text of a letter sent by ARTICLE 19 to the
current President of the United Nations (UN) Security Council,
urging that the Security Council call an emergency session on
Myanmar (Burma), even though China, a close ally of Myanmar’s
ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC), currently
holds the chair.
“ARTICLE 19, the International Centre Against Censorship, is
greatly concerned about the current wave of arrests of pro-
democracy activists in Burma and by the open threats being made in
the state-controlled media against Nobel Peace Prize Laureate,
Aung San Suu Kyi.
“Over 200 people, possibly more, have been detained during the
past few days by the State Law and Order Restoration Council
(SLORC), the military government which seized power in Burma in
1988. Almost all of them are members of the National League for
Democracy (NLD) who were elected to the country’s parliament as a
result of the last national elections in 1990, whose outcome was
arbitrarily cancelled by the SLORC.
“This latest crackdown on advocates of democratic reform in Burma
comes shortly before the sixth anniversary of the 1990 elections,
in which the NLD won an overwhelming majority of parliamentary
seats. It follows many years of widespread repression and gross
human rights violations by successive military governments in
Burma, targetted against the country’s ethnic minority
communities, advocates of democracy and governmental
accountability, human rights defenders and others.
“The latest arrests have been accompanied by ominous threats in
the state-controlled media, emanating from senior SLORC officials,
which are clearly aimed against Aung San Suu Kyi and other pro-
democracy leaders, raising serious fears for their safety. At the
same time, we understand that new curbs are being applied by the
SLORC to deny access to Burma by the international press. The
Burmese media, meanwhile, remains one of the most heavily censored
in the world.
“ARTICLE 19 believes that immediate international action is
required in response to this grave new deterioration in Burma and
that the UN Security Council has an important responsibility to
take the lead.
“We urge you, therefore, to call an emergency session of the
Security Council in order to develop a comprehensive programme of
international initiatives in response to this new crisis in Burma.
These, we believe, should be of such magnitude as to make clear to
the SLORC the international community’s solid resolve to ensure
the prompt and unconditional release of all those detained for the
peaceful exercise of their right to freedom of expression and the
removal of the threats against Aung San Suu Kyi and others.”
Recommended Action
Similar appeals can be sent to the President of the UN Security
Council:
H.E. Ambassador Qin Husun
Permanent Representative to the United Nations
Embassy of the People’s Republic of China
New York, NY United States
Fax: +1 212 870 0333
Please copy appeals to the originator if possible.
Appeals To
