One Year on from Suu Kyi Sentencing – A Year of Inaction by UN

By Burma Campaign UK • August 10, 2010

On the eve of the first anniversary of Aung San Suu Kyi being sentenced to 18 months under house arrest, the Burma Campaign UK called on the United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to stop dithering and start acting to bring change to Burma.

On 11th August 2009 Aung San Suu Kyi was given a further 18 months sentence under house arrest, following a sham trial designed solely to keep her in detention. Today Aung San Suu Kyi has spent a total of 14 years and 290 days in detention.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is mandated by the UN General Assembly to try to secure negotiations between the dictatorship, the democracy movement, and ethnic representatives. However, despite the sentencing of Aung San Suu Kyi sending the clearest possible signal that ‘elections’ due in Burma this year will not bring any significant change, Ban Ki-moon has ignored the request of the General Assembly, and seems content to wait and see what will happen at the elections.

While the Secretary General has sat idle, the human rights situation in Burma has continued to deteriorate. In March 2010 the UN Special Rapporteur on Myanmar published the most damning UN report yet on the situation in Burma, even going so far as to call for a UN investigation into possible war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The fake elections are part of a so-called roadmap to democracy announced by the dictatorship in 2003 in an attempt to head off economic sanctions and other pressure following the Depayin Massacre in May 2003. Regime thugs from the Union Solidarity Development Association (USDA) had ambushed Aung San Suu Kyi’s convoy in a failed assassination attempt. Aung San Suu Kyi escaped and was placed back under house arrest, but dozens of her supporters were beaten to death. The USDA is now rebranded as the Union Solidarity Development Party, the main pro-regime party taking part in the elections.

Since 2003 the UN has followed a failed strategy of trying to reform the various stages of the dictatorship’s roadmap, rather than following the mandate from the General Assembly to secure dialogue leading to genuine change.

“It is not enough for Ban Ki-moon to make the occasional statement that he is frustrated that the dictatorship has not responded to his polite requests for change,” said Zoya Phan, International Coordinator at Burma Campaign UK. “We all know the elections won’t bring anything close to the change we need to see in Burma. It is time to focus on the real issue. Ban Ki-moon should be working to unite the international community behind a UN-led effort to secure genuine dialogue for the first time. The regime is refusing to enter into dialogue with Aung San Suu Kyi and ethnic representatives. Only when they are under real pressure will they agree to this. Ban Ki-moon doesn’t seem to understand he is dealing with one of the most brutal dictatorships in the world. They see soft diplomacy as weakness. They’ll only respond to strong pressure.”

For more information contact Zoya Phan on 020 7324 4710