Foreign Office demands Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s liberation
The British government has demanded Burma’s opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s immediate release from prison.
The move comes amid calls for sanctions to be taken against Burma’s government.
The Burma Sanctions Coalition, a grouping which includes Burma Campaign UK, Friends of the Earth, the Co-operative Bank, Unison, and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, has demanded investment sanctions to bring the ‘brutal’ regime back into line.
John Jackson of Burma Campaign UK said: ‘The arrest of Aung San Suu Kyi and the nationwide crackdown on the democracy movement provides ample evidence that this dictatorship is not serious about reform.
‘This is one of the most brutal dictatorships in the world, responsible for massacres, torture, use of rape as a weapon of war and ethnic cleansing.’
In northern Burma Friday, the Nobel Peace Prize winner was arrested following the outbreak of violence between her allies and supporters of the military junta.
She and 19 members of the National League for Democracy (NDL) party were being held in ‘protective custody,’ according to reports.
Mike O’Brien, minister at the Foreign Office said there had been ‘persistent, credible reports’ that supporters of Burma’s military had incited people to attack the NDL.
‘It is not the first time such pseudo-protesters have threatened violence against Daw Suu Kyi’s party.
‘I call on the Burmese authorities to release immediately Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and other party members, and to take rapid action against the Union Solidarity Development Association and others responsible for the provocation that led to this incident.’
Mr. O’Brien noted the imminent visit of the United Nations secretary general’s special representative Razali Ismail to Burma carried ‘great importance.’
‘We attach great importance to his efforts and urge all sides to take this opportunity to move rapidly to a genuine process of dialogue and political reform that could overcome this present tension.’
In 1991, Suu Kyi was awarded the Nobel Prize for efforts to bring democracy to Burma.
Burma’s ambassador, Kyaw Win, has been summoned to the Foreign Office by Foreign minister Bill Rammell in a bid to secure her liberation.
Campaigners will protest at the Burmese Embassy in London tomorrow.
