Democratic Burmese Youths

Parliament of Australia

08 August 2007

BURMA

Speech by Senator STOTT DESPOJA (South Australia) (3.39 p.m.) -

That the Senate

(a)

notes that:

(i)

8 August 2007 is the 19th anniversary of the pro-democracy uprising in Burma, an uprising brutally suppressed by the Burmese military regime,

(ii)

the Burmese military junta refused to recognise the results of democratic elections in 1990 that saw the National League for Democracy (NLD) emerge with a clear majority,

(iii)

the National Convention in Burma, whose role is to recommend changes to Burma's constitution aimed at legitimising military rule, includes delegates hand-picked by the military regime and excludes representatives of the NLD and ethnic minority groups, and

(iv)

the convention is expected to report in the near future;

(b)

condemns the ongoing persecution of pro-democracy groups in Burma and the detention of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and other political prisoners; and

(c)

urges the Government to maintain international pressure on the Burmese military regime to:

(i)

end state-sponsored human rights abuses in Burma,

(ii)

release political prisoners,

(iii)

hold a dialogue with the NLD and ethnic minority groups to pursue national reconciliation and democratisation, and

(iv)

include pro-democracy and ethnic minority groups in the National Convention process.