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European MPs Reject Sham Elections and Pledge Support for Daw Aung San Suu Kyi
By European Parliamentary Caucus on Burma • June 18, 2010The European Parliamentary Caucus on Burma has written an open letter to Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, detained leader of Burma’s democracy movement, on the occasion of her 65th birthday. The European Parliamentary Caucus on Burma represents MPs from sixteen countries.
The MPs pledged to continue to work for genuine democracy and human rights in Burma, rejecting sham elections due later this year. The MPs are calling on the European governments and European Union to reject the elections and instead focus on pressuring the dictatorship to enter into dialogue with Aung San Suu Kyi and genuine ethnic representatives.
“The elections planned for Burma will not be free, and the Parliament will not be free. The whole process is designed to keep the political and business elite in control so that they can continue to steal the countries resources,” said Raul Romeva MEP.
The MPs also pledged to continue to work for the release of all political prisoners including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, and for a global arms embargo against Burma.
“The fact that twelve of our fellow MPs remain jailed in Burma, along with almost 2,200 other political prisoners, shows that Burma’s generals are not interested in change. European MPs are not fooled by the lies of the dictatorship. Their actions show the truth of their intentions,” said Silver Meiker MP from Estonia.
Full text of the letter can be found here: http://www.epcb.eu/download/pdf/statements_16.pdf
About EPCB: The European Parliamentary Caucus on Burma was founded in June 2008 to raise awareness on Burma in Europe and promote human rights and democracy in Burma. It represents 16 European countries with more than 160 MPs. Administrative support for the European Parliamentary caucus on Burma is being provided by Burma Campaign UK and People in Need in the Czech Republic.
For more information contact:
UK: Zoya Phan at +44 (0) 773 863 0139, [email protected]
CR: Kristina Prunerova at +420 226 200 455, [email protected]
This post is in: Press Release
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