ASEAN lawmakers press for Myanmar's removal
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ASEAN lawmakers press for Myanmar's removal
Sat Dec 3, 2005 1:45 PM ET
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Southeast Asian lawmakers want Myanmar expelled from the ASEAN regional grouping unless it frees democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi and other political prisoners within a year, Malaysia's state media said on Saturday.
ASEAN was making a great error by not forcing Myanmar's government to fulfill its promises of democratic reforms, news agency Bernama quoted Zaid Ibrahim, a Malaysian MP and head of the ASEAN lawmakers' group, as saying.
Myanmar said on Saturday it had extended the house arrest of Nobel peace laureate Suu Kyi by another six months. She has already spent about 10 of the last 15 years either in prison or under house arrest.
Zaid, speaking for ASEAN lawmakers, said Yangon's military junta had done nothing to introduce reforms in Myanmar, despite promising them several times.
By expelling Myanmar, ASEAN would at least erase the stigma attached to the grouping because of Yangon's membership, said Zaid, a member of Malaysia's ruling coalition.
The ASEAN lawmakers' group includes legislators from Malaysia, Myanmar, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines.
read more below
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2005-12-03T184456Z_01_MOL363802_RTRUKOC_0_US-MYANMAR-ASEAN.xml&archived=False -
hmm, i am not sure, sounds hypocritical to me
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http://www.bangkokpost.com/breaking_news/breakingnews.php?id=65501
UN Security Council about face, demand report on Burma
New York (dpa) - After rebuffing the United States earlier this week on its request for new information on Burma, the UN Security Council on Friday agreed that Secretary-General Kofi Annan should provide new information on the situation in the Southeast Asian nation.
US Ambassador John Bolton earlier this week accused Burma's military government of seeking nuclear power, violating human rights and persecuting ethnic minorities. He demanded a briefing by Annan.
But China on Wednesday objected to the US demand. The council president, Russian Ambassador Andrey Denisov, said it has not been established that Burma was a threat to peace. Denisov referred the case to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean).
But on Thursday, the presidency of the 15-nation council for December rotated to British Ambassador Emyr Jones Parry. Council members took up again the US request and China agreed with other council members that they should be told about what's going on in Burma.
Earlier Friday, Malaysian lawmakers in Kuala Lumpur urged leaders from Southeast Asian nations to get tough on Burma at the upcoming Asean summit December 12-14 and put an end to a regional policy of non-interference in member countries' internal affairs.
Last week, Burma's government extended the house arrest of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who has spent most of the last 16 years under house arrest or in detention after winning the presidential elections in 1990. She won the Nobel Peace Prize for demanding democracy in her country.
Bolton told reporters Friday that Annan himself should give the council a briefing on Burma. Annan had been sending envoys to Yangon to discuss democratic change in past years.
"There are press reports that Burmese authorities are seeking nuclear power capabilities, diverting scarce resources better used to address the needs of the Burmese people," Bolton said, using the former name of Burma, in a letter to the council earlier this week.
"It has destroyed villages, targeted ethnic minorities and forced relocations, leading to a large number of both internally displaced persons and refugees across international borders," he said.
Bolton said the flow of narcotics through Burma has been a "catalyst" in the spread of diseases such as HIV/AIDS and potentially destabilizing international crime.
"The human rights situation is disconcerting due to the international security consequences of the regime's actions," he said.
He accused the military government in Yangon of failing to initiate democratic reforms while repressing political opponents. He said the regime is holding more than 1,100 political prisoners.
In Kuala Lumpur, Zaid Ibrahim, a Malaysian government legislator and chairman of the Asean Inter-Parliamentary Caucus on Democracy in Burma, said Burma's "misbehaviour" was "interfering with our own internal and regional stability".
He was speaking to some 30 delegates from Malaysia, Cambodia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand at a two-day conference on how to improve the situation in Burma.
"We must not allow 'non-interference' to shield our hearts and minds from the suffering of 50 million of our own neighbours," Zaid was quoted as saying by the official Bernama agency.
Zaid urged Asean leaders to press harder for reform in Burma. -
Better something done to the junta now than never.There is no excuse in this issue.It will be put to the Security Council in a short while.Originally posted by laurence82:hmm, i am not sure, sounds hypocritical to me
Culture changes, and Burma has been a stain on ASEAN and frankly speaking, a blot on its progress and a impediment to ASEAN growing into a grouping with international clout and respect.
No one should even think of tolerating the Burmese regime and whatever they have been doing to their political opponents for the past decade.
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ang san su kyi..hahaha..malaysia had their own anwar in prison and now they wanna biatch about burma's holding of ang san su kyi..its like having osama telling kim jong ill not to kill people.
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The Reuter report is misleading and gives the impression that Zaid speaks for all ASEAN law makers. None of the ASEAN national leaders have made any comment and there is not even a mention of this in the Singapore Parliament. The reference pertains to a small group of parliamentarians with an interest in this issue.
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That's right.Well, at least they are elected Parliamentarians.That hold some clout, and of course, throwing in the fact that Bolton's reference of the Burma issue to ASEAN is already present, there are some things that are going on right now for sure.Originally posted by oxford mushroom:The Reuter report is misleading and gives the impression that Zaid speaks for all ASEAN law makers. None of the ASEAN national leaders have made any comment and there is not even a mention of this in the Singapore Parliament. The reference pertains to a small group of parliamentarians with an interest in this issue. -
Not only the junta is a problem. The opium warlords like Lo Hsin Han are also a pain in the butt.
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But we can't take a hard stance against them, the more harder it is, the more it would progress to nowhere
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Maybe the junta needs to be booted out from power in the same manner as Saddam Hussein was.
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With the US tied down in Iraq and Afghanistan, they're not going to do it to Burma. I don't think anyone else has the power or will to do it too.Originally posted by iveco:Maybe the junta needs to be booted out from power in the same manner as Saddam Hussein was.
Operation Burma Freedom won't be happening anytime soon.