The UN General Assembly on Wednesday strongly condemned widespread human rights violations in Myanmar and called on the government to halt politically motivated arrests and free all detainees and political prisoners, including democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi.
The sharply worded resolution, sponsored by the US, Australia, South Korea, Israel and many European countries, was approved by a vote of 80 to 25 with 45 abstentions.
Myanmar accused the assembly of “blatant interference” in its internal political process and said it would not be bound by the resolution. General Assembly resolutions are not legally binding but carry weight because they reflect the views of the 192-member world body.
Myanmar’s representative, who was not identified, told the assembly the country had made significant political strides and was now on track for a smooth transition to democracy, with a seven-step political process including multiparty elections in 2010.
But the resolution expressed “grave concern” at the failure to include members of Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy and other political parties and some ethnic groups “in a genuine process of dialogue, national reconciliation and transition to democracy.”
It said Myanmar’s political processes “are not transparent, inclusive, free and fair, and that the procedures established for the drafting of the [country’s new] constitution resulted in the de facto exclusion of the opposition from the process.”
The General Assembly also expressed grave concern at the government’s decision to go ahead with a referendum on the Constitution “in an atmosphere of intimidation and without regard to international standards of free and fair elections at a time of dire humanitarian need” just after Cyclone Nargis devastated coastal areas in early May.
It took note of the government’s cooperation with the international community in delivering aid to cyclone victims “despite its initial denial of access, which resulted in widespread suffering and increased the risk of loss of life.”
The cyclone affected 2.4 million people and left an estimated 130,000 people dead or missing.
Myanmar’s military, which has ruled since 1962, when the country was known as Burma, tolerates no dissent and crushed pro-democracy protests led by Buddhist monks in September last year. It holds more than 2,100 political prisoners, up sharply from nearly 1,200 before the demonstrations, human rights groups say.
The General Assembly “strongly” called on Myanmar’s government “to desist from further politically motivated arrests and to release without delay and without conditions those who have been arbitrarily arrested and detained, as well as all political prisoners.”
The resolution said those freed should include Aung San Suu Kyi and other leaders of her party, leaders of the 88 Generation — a group at the forefront of a 1988 pro-democracy uprising — leaders of ethnic groups and all those detained as a result of last year’s protests.
Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, has spent more than 13 of the past 19 years under house arrest.
The General Assembly expressed deep concern that urgent calls to Myanmar’s government to improve human rights and institute democratic reforms “have not been met.”
It strongly condemned “the ongoing systematic violations of civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights of the people of Myanmar.”
The resolution expressed “grave concern” at Myanmar’s “continuing practice of enforced disappearances, use of violence against peaceful demonstrators, rape and other forms of sexual violence, torture and cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment” and arbitrary detentions.
It singled out Aung San Suu Kyi, last year’s protestors, “as well as the high and increasing number of political prisoners.”
END OF AN ERA: The vote brings the curtain down on 20 years of socialist rule, which began in 2005 when Evo Morales, an indigenous coca farmer, was elected president A center-right senator and a right-wing former president are to advance to a run-off for Bolivia’s presidency after the first round of elections on Sunday, marking the end of two decades of leftist rule, preliminary official results showed. Bolivian Senator Rodrigo Paz was the surprise front-runner, with 32.15 percent of the vote cast in an election dominated by a deep economic crisis, results published by the electoral commission showed. He was followed by former Bolivian president Jorge “Tuto” Quiroga in second with 26.87 percent, according to results based on 92 percent of votes cast. Millionaire businessman Samuel Doria Medina, who had been tipped
ELECTION DISTRACTION? When attention shifted away from the fight against the militants to politics, losses and setbacks in the battlefield increased, an analyst said Recent clashes in Somalia’s semi-autonomous Jubaland region are alarming experts, exposing cracks in the country’s federal system and creating an opening for militant group al-Shabaab to gain ground. Following years of conflict, Somalia is a loose federation of five semi-autonomous member states — Puntland, Jubaland, Galmudug, Hirshabelle and South West — that maintain often fractious relations with the central government in the capital, Mogadishu. However, ahead of elections next year, Somalia has sought to assert control over its member states, which security analysts said has created gaps for al-Shabaab infiltration. Last week, two Somalian soldiers were killed in clashes between pro-government forces and
Ten cheetah cubs held in captivity since birth and destined for international wildlife trade markets have been rescued in Somaliland, a breakaway region of Somalia. They were all in stable condition despite all of them having been undernourished and limping due to being tied in captivity for months, said Laurie Marker, founder of the Cheetah Conservation Fund, which is caring for the cubs. One eight-month-old cub was unable to walk after been tied up for six months, while a five-month-old was “very malnourished [a bag of bones], with sores all over her body and full of botfly maggots which are under the
BRUSHED OFF: An ambassador to Australia previously said that Beijing does not see a reason to apologize for its naval exercises and military maneuvers in international areas China set off alarm bells in New Zealand when it dispatched powerful warships on unprecedented missions in the South Pacific without explanation, military documents showed. Beijing has spent years expanding its reach in the southern Pacific Ocean, courting island nations with new hospitals, freshly paved roads and generous offers of climate aid. However, these diplomatic efforts have increasingly been accompanied by more overt displays of military power. Three Chinese warships sailed the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand in February, the first time such a task group had been sighted in those waters. “We have never seen vessels with this capability