UN Special Rapporteur calls for the immediate release of Aung San Suu Kyi

By Tomas Ojea Quintana • June 17, 2010

Statement by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, Tomás Ojea Quintana:

“I urge the Government of Myanmar to heed the call of an independent United Nations human rights body to immediately release Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention recently adopted its sixth ‘Opinion’ on Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, which has been made public.

As in its previous five ‘Opinions’, the Working Group has found that the continuous deprivation of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s liberty is arbitrary, and has requested the Government of Myanmar to implement its previous recommendations and to remedy the situation in order for Myanmar to be in conformity with the norms and principles set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

I also call upon the Government of Myanmar to release all prisoners of conscience in order to create the conditions for an inclusive election process and to demonstrate that it intends to take a more serious and sincere approach to its international obligations to uphold human rights.”

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Mr. Tomás Ojea Quintana (Argentina) was appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council in May 2008. As Special Rapporteur, he is independent from any government or organization and serves in his individual capacity.

Learn more on the mandate and work of the Special Rapporteur, please visit: http://www2.ohchr.org/english/countries/mm/mandate/index.htm

For more information on the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, log on to: http://www2.ohchr.org/english/issues/detention/index.htm

OHCHR Country Page – Myanmar: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/countries/AsiaRegion/Pages/MMIndex.aspx

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