United States To Seek U.N. Security Council Resolution on Burma
01 June 2006
Extended detention of Aung San Suu Kyi unjustified, State Department says
By Cassie Duong
Washington File Staff Writer
Washington -- The United States intends to pursue a U.N. Security Council resolution that will underscore the international community's concerns about the situation in Burma, including the “unjustifiable detention of a great champion of democracy, Aung San Suu Kyi,” according to a statement released by the State Department May 31.
Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize winner and the leader of the National League for Democracy (NLD), has been under house arrest for the past three years on orders of Burma's military regime, the State Peace and Development Council.
The junta's extension of Suu Kyi’s detention May 27 is a demonstration of its unwillingness to participate in a “credible and inclusive political process," the statement says. (See related article.)
NLD, Burma's leading democratic opposition party, won a landslide victory in national elections in 1990 -- capturing more than 81 percent of the vote and 392 out of 485 parliamentary seats -- but the military regime prevented it from taking leadership of the country.
The statement warns that the regime's "repression of political rights now poses a threat to the stability, peace and security of the region" due to the deterioration of the economic, political and public health situation in Burma.
The full text of the statement is available on the State Department Web site.
For more information on U.S. policies, see U.S. Support for Democracy in Burma.
(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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