Asean to Listen to Suu Kyi as Burma Seeks Chair

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations will weigh the opinion of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi as it considers whether to invite Burma to chair the regional grouping in 2014, Indonesia’s foreign minister told The Associated Press.

Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa also said Indonesia’s own transformation from its authoritarian regime to democracy in a decade could offer lessons to Burma, one of the world’s most sanctioned nations because of its poor human rights record […]

Civil Society Groups Call on Asian Governments to Support the Establishment of a Commission of Inquiry for Burma

In letters to their respective governments, civil society groups from Cambodia, Japan, Korea, Singapore and Thailand stressed that: “A Commission of Inquiry would be an impartial investigation to establish the truth about serious international crimes in the country.” […]

Investigation on Crimes Against Humanity is Critical to Building Peace and Fostering National Reconciliation in Myanmar

The ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus (AIPMC) welcomes the efforts of the UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Myanmar, Tomás Ojea Quintana, to ensure that justice and accountability measures […]

Human Rights Commissioner of Thailand Expresses Support for a Commission of Inquiry in Burma

The Commissioner of the National Human Rights Commission of Thailand has expressed his personal support for a Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into crimes against humanity and war crimes in Burma, as an important mechanism to “check and balance the power and accountability of the military regime” […]

The Spirit of the 1988 Uprising Lives On – Activists Call for UN Commission of Inquiry

Twenty-three years after the 8 August 1988 nationwide people’ s uprising, groups inside Burma and around the world hosted events that demonstrated that the desire for freedom remains as strong today as it was in 1988. On that fateful day in 1988, hundreds of thousands of people, young and old, men and women, from all walks of life and a range of ethnic groups, took to the streets as part of a student led movement for democracy. Burma’s military regime, headed by General Ne Win, sensed a profound threat to its grip on power and cracked down hard on the protesters, killing at least 3,000 and imprisoning and torturing many thousands more […]

Demonstration in front of ASEAN Secretariat Office, Indonesia on 23rd Anniversary of 8888

Indonesian Solidarity for Southeast Asian People (SIAP) organized a demonstration in front of ASEAN Secretariat Office in Jakarta, Indonesia on the 23rd Anniversary of 8.8.88, 8 August 2011 […]

End Oppression Now! Support a Commission of Inquiry on Crimes Against Humanity in Burma!

More than 50 people representing the Free Burma Coalition – Philippines held a demonstration in front of the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) at Roxas Blvd in Manila calling on the Philippine government to support the international call for the creation of a UN Commission of Inquiry to investigate crimes against humanity in Burma. The demonstrators held a program to commemorate the 23rd year anniversary of the violent crackdown on Burma’s national people’s uprising outside of the DFA building while a short ceremony was happening inside to celebrate the 44th year since the founding of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) […]

23 Years after 8-8-88 — It Is Finally Time For Asean to Get It Right on Burma

Twenty-three years after the democracy uprising of 1988 in Burma was brutally crushed, the world has gone through remarkable changes. In particular, Asean’s role in economic cooperation, peace and security as well as human rights and humanitarian issues has grown dramatically.

But the people of Burma, which was renamed Myanmar by the military junta after the uprising, have faced continued suppression by their own government even after last year’s so-called general elections and promised reforms. The dedication and sacrifice of the people who bravely stood up against the military regime 23 years ago remains commendable. In keeping with their people’s desire for a free and democratic homeland, Burma’s government needs to come to terms with its brutal past and stop its ongoing crackdowns against the political opposition and ethnic groups […]

Joint Rally of Indonesian People To Commemorate The 23rd Anniversary of 8888 People Uprising, mass killings and detention: it is time for ASEAN to act

Twenty years ago in 8 August 1988 people uprising in Burma has toppled the military dictator, General Ne Win. Military in response has brutally suppressed the uprising leading to the killings of around 10.000 people, disappearances and another thousand detained until today. Some them has yet found dead mysteriously in the most severe prisons in the country. Another thousand has fled the country living stateless until today […]

Burma due for ASEAN assembly recognition

Naypyidaw will send a delegation to Cambodia this month where the annual summit of the ASEAN Inter Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA) is expected to officially recognise Burma as a member.

Around 14 parliamentarians will travel to Phnom Penh for the event, scheduled for 18 August. Dr Aye Maung, chairman of the parliamentary Guarantees, Pledges and Undertakings Vetting Committee, told DVB that the event will include a ceremony to hand over Burma’s national flag […]