Weak International Response Responsible For Suu Kyi Appeal Rejection

The Burma Campaign UK today blamed the weak international response to Aung San Suu Kyi’s conviction for the dictatorship’s rejection of her appeal today.

At the start of Aung San Suu Kyi’s trial in May 2009 the European Union and other countries threatened tough action if she was convicted, but when the conviction was announced no tough new sanctions were introduced, no significant diplomatic pressure was applied, and the Security Council, after much wrangling, only issued a weak press statement, less than the Presidential statement it had issued in the past, and a long way from the binding resolution Burma’s democracy movement has been calling for.

“The lack of strong action by the international community has given Burma’s generals a green light to continue detaining Aung San Suu Kyi,” said Mark Farmaner, Director of Burma Campaign UK. “By now, Burma’s generals are well used to the fact that strong words rarely translate into practical action, so they continue to defy the international community and break internal law with impunity.”

The Burma Campaign UK is calling on the international community to abandon its current wait and see approach to Burma, whereby it appears to be content to sit back and wait and see if elections in 2010 bring about change, and instead renew efforts to enforce resolutions and statements by the United Nations General Assembly and United Nations Security Council which call on the dictatorship to free all political prisoners, end attacks on ethnic minorities, and enter into genuine tri-partite dialogue.

“Soft dialogue doesn’t work with these generals,” said Mark Farmaner. “We need real pressure applied, such as a global arms embargo and a United Nations Commission of Inquiry into war crimes and crimes against humanity being committed by the dictatorship.”

For more information contact Mark Farmaner on 020 7324 4710

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