United Nations human rights chief today called for the unconditional release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and all political prisoners.
"As we approach the end of the current term of detention of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, I urge the Government of Myanmar to release her and all political prisoners in the country unconditionally," High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour said in a statement released in Geneva. "Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has been under house arrest for four years, and she has spent 11 of the last 17 years in detention. The Nobel Peace Prize laureate is one of more than 1,000 known political prisoners held in prisons and labor camps throughout the country."
The current detention term of Ms. Suu Kyi, the General-Secretary of the National League for Democracy, ends on 27 May. She has been held for 11 years without charge or trial since her party and its allies won the 1990 election with over 80 percent of the Parliamentary seats. She has been under house arrest for four years, and has spent 11 of the past 17 years in detention.
"The release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and other political prisoners would demonstrate a willingness to abide by universally accepted human rights standards," Arbour added. "It would also, I believe, facilitate national dialogue and free the Government and the people to focus on the need to unite the country and to allow the emergence of democratic structures to decide on the way forward."
Earlier this month, over one dozen UN human rights experts joined their voices to urge Myanmar’s authorities to free Ms. Suu Kyi and all other political prisoners.
“As of one of the world’s most acclaimed human rights defenders, the Nobel Peace Prize Laureate is a major political and spiritual leader of Myanmar,” the experts said. “Her tireless commitment to non-violence, truth and human rights has made her a worthy symbol through whom the plight of all people in Myanmar may be recognized.”
The stability of Myanmar, they said, “is not well served by the arrest and detention of several political leaders or by the severe and sustained restrictions on the exercise of civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights.”
Post new comment