The Burmese military must restore democracy and stop committing violence against citizens, Indonesian President Joko Widodo said after crisis talks with Burmese junta leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing and Southeast Asian leaders yesterday.
The strongly worded statement followed a meeting of ASEAN in Jakarta, which marked the Burmese general’s first foreign trip since security forces on Feb. 1 staged a coup that ousted Burmese State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi.
Min Aung Hlaing has become the focus of international outrage over the coup and a subsequent crackdown on dissent that has left more than 700 dead.
Photo: AFP
“The first requested commitment is for the Myanmar military to stop the use of violence and that all parties there at the same time must refrain so that tensions can be reduced,” Widodo said yesterday. “The violence must be stopped and democracy, stability and peace in Myanmar must be restored.”
He also called for the release of political prisoners and for a special envoy to be allowed into the country to “push for dialogue.”
Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong (李顯龍) called on the military to release Myanmar’s ousted president, as well as democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, who is under house arrest.
The meeting followed mass protests, which have been met by a brutal crackdown that has left blood on the streets.
An estimated 250,000 people have been displaced, a UN envoy has said, with Myanmar’s top democratically elected leaders in hiding or under house arrest.
Also at the meeting was the Sultan of Brunei, the chair of ASEAN, and leaders and foreign ministers from most of the 10-country group, including Malaysia, Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines and Laos.
Small protests outside the bloc’s Jakarta headquarters were dispersed by security personnel.
In Myanmar, protesters continued to take to the streets, including in northern Kachin State, where demonstrators wore blue shirts to symbolize detainees.
In commercial hub Yangon, some residents staged a mock funeral for the senior general by smashing saffron-colored clay pots on the ground, symbolic of cutting ties with the dead.
The general’s involvement in the Jakarta talks has angered advocates, human rights groups and a shadow government of ousted Burmese lawmakers, which was not invited to the gathering.
“Meetings that contribute to a solution to the deepening crisis in Myanmar are welcome,” the latter said in a statement. However, “meetings that exclude the people of Myanmar, but include murderer-in-chief Min Aung Hlaing ... are unlikely to be helpful.”
Separately, the Burmese military fired warning shots above a civilian boat carrying Thai border patrol officers amid heightened tensions in border areas since the junta seized power, but Thailand yesterday said the incident was a misunderstanding.
Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Tanee Sangrat said the warning shots on Thursday were used to signal boats for inspection due to the lack of official coordination method on the section of the Salween River, where Thailand and Myanmar share a border.
Additional reporting by Reuters
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