As widespread condemnation of Burma's crackdown on popular protests in Rangoon intensifies, the UN secretary-general, Ban Ki-moon, on Thursday urged the Burmese junta to exercise restraint and called for a “constructive dialogue” with pro-democracy supporters.
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The UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon |
In a statement, Ban Ki-moon said he is following events in Burma closely following the arrests of demonstration leaders.
“The secretary-general calls on the authorities to exercise maximum restraint in responding to any demonstrations and encourages all parties to avoid any provocative action,” a spokesperson said.
The US also reiterated its call to initiate talks with pro-democracy supporters and release all political prisoners.
“It is important for the government there to begin to speak to other groups, to draw on the ethnic minorities to deal with the other political parties, to proceed down a path of democracy and respect for individual human rights,” a State Department spokesperson said.
Influential US lawmaker Rep. Tom Lantos put the blame on two Burmese neighbors—India and China—for the continued suppression of human rights in Burma.
The chairman of the powerful House Foreign Affairs Committee, which plays an influential role in shaping US foreign policy, said: "India and China could play leading roles in improving the dreadful human rights environment in Burma, but instead they callously ignore the abuses. They do nothing to stop the situation in Burma as it continues to deteriorate and become more unstable."
He called on China to support Ban Ki-moon's effort to secure the release of all political prisoners and to back plans for a tripartite national reconciliation dialogue between the regime, Nobel Prize recipient Aung San Suu Kyi and Burma's ethnic nationalities.
Calling for the release of Burmese human rights activist Min Ko Naing and more than a dozen people who were arrested after the peaceful protest, Lantos said: “Justice demands taking a stand against Burma's rulers, who prove time and again they are little more than venal, vicious crooks. The pioneering protesters took to the streets fully aware that they would likely face arrest, torture and potentially death. They must be released immediately."
Lantos said a massive increase in diesel and gasoline prices sent the general population of Burma farther into poverty and contrasts dramatically with the upsurge of wealth the regime receives from its natural gas exports.
"Burma's military thugs are fattening their own pockets by using gangster tactics to grind the Burmese people into deeper despair," he said.
Meanwhile, a large number of pro-democracy supporters gathered outside the Burmese Embassy in Washington. The US Campaign for Burma urged the US, Britain and France to call for a discussion of the situation in Burma at the UN Security Council.
"United Nations leaders and mechanisms must not be complacent or silent during this critical time," said Aung Din, the policy director of the US Campaign for Burma. "It is time for Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to personally intervene and the Security Council to formulate a collective response."
In a related statement, Václav Havel, the former Czech president, said the attention of the international community, in particular the UN Security Council and world media, should be focused on Burma.
“I urge the military government of Burma to listen to the demands of its fellow citizens, to release Aung San Suu Kyi, Min Ko Naing and other political prisoners and to not attempt to remain in power through force. I call for peaceful dialogue between the government and the citizens of Burma, so as to avoid repeating the unfortunate events of 1988,” he said.
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