The US told an Asian security forum yesterday it was “deeply concerned” about oppression in Myanmar, calling for the release of political prisoners and an end to attacks against ethnic minorities.
Speaking at the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) in Hanoi, US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Myanmar’s “restrictive electoral laws” further stifled civilians’ lives and made polls due this year “unlikely” to be free and fair.
Her comments came after the US Congress on Thursday renewed a ban on imports from Myanmar for another year, seeking to pressure the regime over human rights and democracy, as well as alleged ties to North Korea.
“The United States ... remains deeply concerned about the oppression taking place in [Myanmar],” Clinton told the 27-member ARF in prepared remarks.
She urged the junta to “put in place the necessary conditions” for its first polls in two decades to be credible, including releasing political prisoners, ceasing attacks on ethnic minorities and respecting human rights.
The opposition National League for Democracy, led by detained Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, is boycotting the vote because of laws which would have forced it to expel her and other members in prison before it could participate.
The party won Myanmar’s last polls in 1990 by a landslide, but the military never allowed it to take power, and Suu Kyi has spent much of the past 20 years in jail or under house arrest.
Clinton also called on Myanmar’s Asian neighbors to remind the regime of its international obligations in terms of nuclear nonproliferation, saying “recent events have called that commitment into question.”
On Thursday Clinton expressed concern over exports of military equipment from North Korea to Myanmar and reports that the Southeast Asian regime may be seeking Pyongyang’s assistance over a nuclear program.
“What’s happening in [Myanmar] is not only dangerous for the people who endure life under the regime, though they are first and foremost on our minds,” she told the forum yesterday.
“There is a direct link between whether a society is open and free, whether it respects human rights and the will of the people, and whether it is stable, secure, healthy, and economically dynamic,” Clinton said.
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