Activists in New York demand strong condemnation

by Salai Pi Pi
Thursday, 15 October 2009 21:11

New Delhi (Mizzima) - Burmese pro-democracy activists on Wednesday urged the United Nations to use strong language to condemn the Burmese military regime in its forthcoming General Assembly resolution.

Speaking at a roundtable discussion in New York hosted by Martin Palouš, Permanent Representative of the Czech Republic to the UN, Burmese activists called on country representatives to employ their utmost influence in pressuring the junta.

“The purpose of the discussion is to lobby representatives at the UN to put the continuous human rights violations committed by the Burmese regime in the UN General Assembly’s resolution that is soon to pass,” Thin Thin Aung, a Presidium Board member of the Women’s League of Burma (WLB), and also a participant at the roundtable discussion, told Mizzima on Thursday.

The panel discussion was further jointly led by Soe Aung, Deputy Secretary for Foreign Affairs for the Forum for Democracy in Burma, a coalition of activists, and Dr. Thaung Htun, Executive Director of The Burma Fund.

The activists further briefed the panel of the junta’s continued suppression and military campaign against ethnic minorities in remote areas of Burma.

The UN General Assembly has over the past two decades passed more than thirty resolutions on Burma. However, the non-binding nature of the resolutions has had little to no impact on the Burmese junta, as rampant rights violations continue to be documented in the Southeast Asian nation.

“This time, the UN’s General Assembly should condemn the regime with strong language in its resolution,” Thin Thin Aung reiterated.

She added that the junta’s rights abuses are above what could be considered ‘normal’ and should be labeled crimes against humanity and war crimes, prompting the campaigners to urge the UN Security Council to establish a Commission of Inquiry to investigate the alleged attrocities.

The activists, part of a lobbying campaign operating under the umbrella group Seven Alliance, are in New York, where the United Nations is continuing to hold its 64th General Assembly.

Seven Alliance is a coalition of Burmese opposition groups in exile, including ethnic representatives, women and youth organizations.