DAP to move motion of urgent, definite public importance in Parliament on the deteriorating human rights situation in Burma and in particular the security of Burmese Opposition Leader Aung San Suu Kyi in the five-day car sit-in protest

(Petaling Jaya, Wednesday): I have given notice to the Speaker of Dewan Rakyat, Tun Mohamad Zahir Ismail  that I would be raising the issue of the five-day car sit-in of Burmese Opposition Leader, Aung San Suu Kyi in Parliament tomorrow on a motion of urgent definite public importance under Standing Order 18.

In my motion in Parliament tomorrow, I will seek to adjourn the House to debate the deteriorating human rights situation in Myanmar and in particular the security of Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Among the reasons which I would be advancing in Parliament tomorrow in support of my motion are the following:

The human rights situation in Myanmar is deteriorating rapidly with  as many as 40 MPs currently under arrest and Aung San Suu Kyi and National League for Democracy (NLD) members and supporters are suffering increased harassment and restriction of movement, as the five-day car sit-in by Aung San Suu Kyi at the police roadblock in her car at the southwestern village of Anyarsu about 64 km (20 miles) from Yangon to protest against the ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) moves to stop her from meeting her party members.

The Burmese situation became critical in the last month, with as many as 900 people detained since the NLD issued an ultimatum to the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) to allow the convening of Parliament on the 21st of August.  MPs from the NLD are being forced to register with authorities night and day, those refusing, by order, are being detained.

At the ASEAN Summit in Manila yesterday (Tuesday July 28), seven Foreign Ministers  from New Zealand, Australia, Canada, Japan, South Korea, the European Union and the US, met with their counterpart from Myanmar to press concerns about human rights and asked for opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi to be released from the  five-day police roadblock.

Malaysia and last week�s  Asean Ministerial Meeting  in Manila  should have  take a major initiative to promote democratisation and national reconciliation and  protest against the Myanmese  military junta�s latest clampdown on the freedom of movement of Aung San Suu Kyi.

The National Economic Recovery Plan (NERP)  of the National Economic Action Council (NEAC) released by Special Functions Minister, Tun Daim Zainuddin last Thursday rightly pointed out that the regional  currency crisis �has demonstrated how closely the currency and stock markets in the region are interlinked and how the political and economic circumstances of neighbouring countries affect one another�, and for this reason, the Malaysian Parliament should hold an urgent Parliamentary debate to express the human rights concerns of MPs and Malaysians about developments in Myanmar as well as to express support for the following:
 

• DEMAND the  release of Aung San Suu Kyi from the police roadblock since last Friday to restore her freedom of movement in her own country especially as there is  cause for concern over her  health.

• SUPPORT   the  consecutive United Nations General Assembly Resolution on Burma and endorse  the call by the NLD for the convening of Parliament to be allowed on or before the 21st of August.

• CALL for the establishment of  a Special ASEAN Task Force on Burma to:
1. monitor the progress of democratisation and national reconciliation in Burma;
2. encourage ASEAN members to actively engage with the democratic movement inside Burma;
3. monitor and report on the drug flows from Burma and international money laundering by drug lords in Burma; and
 
• URGE  ASEAN to adopt a new policy of �flexible engagement�  to allow members to examine, discuss and criticise the domestic policies of member States as the year-long economic crisis has shown that the policies of member countries have a regional impact and affect the economies of other nations and human rights  are issues which concern everyone and can  no longer be regarded as purely internal affairs of any country.

(29/7/98)