Myanmar must not only free detained Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi -- she also needs to be able to carry on with pro-democracy campaigning, the US, Canada and Australia warned yesterday.
US Secretary of State Colin Powell told foreign ministers at a regional security meeting in Phnom Penh that Myanmar, was "attempting to use its sovereignty as a shield behind which it can violate the fundamental rights of its citizens with impunity," according to a State Department official.
"Together we must tell the ... leaders [of Myanmar] to free Aung San Suu Kyi, to free her supporters and to free the people of [Myanmar] by returning democracy to that nation," Powell said, according to the official, who attended the closed meeting where he spoke. "Reopening dialogue with the opposition would be a good way to start."
Myanmar's military government has come under intense international pressure since arresting Suu Kyi on May 30. The US and the EU increased sanctions and Japan said Tuesday it was considering halting economic aid to the poor nation.
Canada's foreign minister said his country also might take tougher measures, after withdrawing preferential tariffs.
"We believe that the generals need to understand that Suu Kyi has to be released and released as immediately as possible and given an opportunity to carry on her political role in the country," Foreign Minister Bill Graham told reporters.
"We found that constructive engagement has not worked," Graham said yesterday.
ASEAN on Tuesday took the unprecedented step of telling Myanmar, one of the group's 10 members, that Suu Kyi should be freed. Myanmar has said she will be released when tensions ease, but its many international critics say that's not good enough.
Powell said earlier that Washington's policy will be shaped by whether the junta frees Suu Kyi and allows her political freedom.
"Let's see whether the [people of Myanmar] react or not, and we'll determine after their reaction not just for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi but also what will they allow her to do or what will they allow her party to do, and that will determine what our policy will be," Powell said en route to the ministerial meeting in Phnom Penh.
Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said he used a meeting with Myanmar Foreign Minister Win Aung to push for Suu Kyi's release, open dialogue with her National League for Democracy Party and implement constitutional reforms.
"I made it clear to him, as I've done before with the [people of Myanmar], that there are opportunities to build a relationship here as long as [Myanmar] moves towards liberalization and treats with respect the NLD and in particular Aung San Suu Kyi."
Downer said he did not think, however, that sanctions were the answer.
"They haven't changed the situation in [Myanmar]," he said, and wouldn't "unless you were able to get China and the ASEAN countries on board, and I think you're whistling in the wind if you think that's going to happen."
Myanmar placed Suu Kyi under "protective custody" following what the junta said were clashes between her supporters and opponents in northern Myanmar that left four people dead. Opposition groups say her motorcade was ambushed in an attack orchestrated by the military, and that 70 people were killed.
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