AHRC open letter to the UN on Burmese situation
Dear Mr Ban Ki-moon,
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is writing to you with regard to your statement of August 23 concerning the consequences of the August 15 increase of fuel prices in Burma and repeated protests in the former capital that are now reported to be spreading to other parts of the country.
First, you express concern that arrests have been carried out by "the authorities" . In fact, most of the protests are being blocked and persons taken away by gangs of thugs mobilised as proxies for the police and military. These are not "pro-government" groups as reported in many news items over the last few days, nor do they have any legal basis. They are an unofficial arm of the state that has been systematically organised through township and ward councils and the government's mass body, the Union Solidarity and Development Association, for some years now, including for the purposes of the lethal attack on a convoy carrying the opposition party leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and her supporters at Depayin in 2003.
Secondly, you encourage "all parties to avoid any provocative action". In fact, this is an offensive and completely inappropriate remark. Was the unannounced doubling of charges for diesel fuel and quintupling of those for compressed natural gas not an enormous provocation of millions in Burma who for years have been struggling to survive day by day?
If not protest, then what should the people of Burma do? In short, do you deny them the right to take to the streets and assert that they won't be parties to their own impoverishment and degradation any longer?
Thirdly, the notion of "constructive dialogue" is anyhow spurious. Surprisingly, the United Nations continues to pretend that such a thing exists in dealing with the Burma, perhaps for want of anything else.
Why is it that after a remarkable week in which people in Burma have taken to the streets in the sincere hope of support and interest from abroad they have obtained only three sentences from the UN secretary-general, through a spokesperson?
Please immediately convene a special meeting with your special envoy on Burma, the UN under-secretary- general for political affairs and concerned persons to assess the current situation and propose specific responses and strategies. Please also consider how the question of Burma can again be brought before the Security Council. Without your firm resolve, the people of Burma will again find themselves forced to struggle alone, as they have on so many occasions in the past.
Basil Fernando
Executive Director
Asian Human Rights Commission,
Hong Kong
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