(Petaling Jaya, Saturday): ASEAN
governments and leaders should add
their voices to the international call for the immediate unconditional release
of Burmese Opposition leader and Nobel
Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and all political prisoners in Burma.
ASEAN
governments and leaders must express their concern and disappointment that the
highly anticipated release of Aung San Suu Kyi by the military junta has yet to
materialize and the Burmese
opposition leader remains under house arrest.
The
time has come for the military junta to take the correct and courageous decision
to end Burma’s isolation from the international community of nations and
embark on a genuine process of democratization and national reconciliation,
starting with the immediate unconditional release of Aung San Suu Kyi and the
estimated 1,500 political prisoners in Burma.
The
Chairperson of The Nobel Peace Laureate Campaign for Aung San Suu Kyi and the
People of Burma, Archbishop Desmond Tutu has rightly hailed Aung San Suu Kyi and
the people of Burma for being “engaged in an epic struggle for freedom”
which need the world’s support in the same way the South Africans did to throw
off the chains of apartheid.
The
restoration of Burma to democracy will be a giant step towards democratization
of South East Asia to free the people in ASEAN
from the yoke of oppression and to enjoy fundamental human rights and
democratic freedoms.
(4/5/2002)