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Organization: Forum for Democracy and Human Rights
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Date: Thu, 18 Apr 1996 15:59:35 +0000
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Transcript  of  Speech  by  Daw  Aung  San  Suu  Kyi
To the UN Human Rights Session
[Geneva, April 17, 1996]

It is a matter of much satisfaction to be able to participate in this press conference  at a time when the United Nations commission for Human Rights is in session. It is time the world knew what is going on in Burma today. It has time to the point when we have to worry, not simply about the violations of human rights in Burma, but about the lawless activities of the authorities. The Chairman of the NLD, U Aung Shwe, has been moved to write to the Chairman of the SLORC, General Than Shwe, to complain about the way in which the authorities are using lawless methods to repress and to harass the members and supporters of the National League for Democracy.

There are those who argue that the concept of human rights is not applicable to all cultures. We in the National League for Democracy believe that human rights are of universal relevance. But even those who do not believe in human rights must certainly agree that the rule of law is most important. Without the rule of law there can be no peace. Either in a nation, a region or in throughout the world.

In Burma, at the moment, there is no rule of law. Unless there is the rule of law there can be no peace or justice in this country.

We believe in self reliance and we depend on strength of the people of Burma to achieve their own goals. At the same time we also appreciate the moral support and practical help of the international community. In this day and age nobody can afford to ignore the opinions of the world around us. Because of that we would like to appeal to the international community to take a greater interest in what is going on in Burma.

In the letter which U Aung Shwe wrote to the chairman of SLORC, he cited five specific cases which proved that the authorities were behaving in a lawless faction towards the NLD and its supporters. Yet these cases are merely the tip of an iceberg of harassment and repression that is going on throughout the whole country.

The international community has two duties with regard to Burma at the moment. The first one is to focus on and to protest against the lawless activities of the authorities. The second one is to do everything possible to implement the teams of the General Assembly resolution with regard to the human rights situation in Burma.

The General assembly calls for the restoration of democracy in line with the will of the people as expressed through the elections of 1990. It is now almost six full years since these elections were held.  In the process of these elections the people of Burma made it quite clear what kind of government they wanted. It is time that the world respected the will of the people of Burma. It is no use saying that Asian people are not interested in democracy when the people of Burma, who are of course Asians, have expressed so very clearly that what they want is a democratic government that will guarantee their rights fully.

Any move to ignore to set aside the result of the elections is not only to insult the will of the people of Burma, but also to insult the will of the international community as expressed through the General Assembly resolution.

If there is to be political progress in Burma concrete steps must be taken to implement the will of the people as expressed through the elections of 1990. There are those who are prepared to pretend that the elections never existed, and that the will of people has not been made know to all concerned. We cannot condone such an attempt to set aside what the Burmese people see as a very clear expression of their aspirations for the future of their nation.

The international community should take firm steps to ensure that authorities in Burma start the process of Recognising the result of the elections of 1990, a process that long overdue.

At the moment there is a danger that those who believe economic reforms will bring political progress of to Burma is unaware of the difficulties in the way of democratisation. Economic and politics cannot be separated, and economic reforms alone cannot bring democratisation to Burma. Moreover it is not possible that any kind of economic reform can succeed in a country where there is no rule of law. For that reason we call upon the international community to insist that the authorities in Burma do their almost to institute the rule of law in Burma as soon as possible.

The National League for Democracy believes in solving political problems thought political means. For that reason we have call for dialogue. But so far the authorities have chosen to ignore our call. However, we believe that one day we will have to solve our problems through dialogue.

The General Assembly resolution also call for a substantive political dialogue between the authorities, the National League for Democracy and other political organisation and various ethnic groups in Burma.  The National League for Democracy is ready for dialogue at any time. But that does not mean that we are prepared to sit and let the authorities act as they wish against our members and supporters. We have to protest against injustice and lawlessness. It is our duty , not only as a party that represents the aspiration of the democratic force of Burma, but as a party that believes in justice and peace throughout the world.

Our request to the international community is, in fact, a quite simple one. We would supply like them to be aware of the fact that the situation in Burma is a threat not only to its own people, but to the region and to the world. Injustice and lack of peace  for the rest of the world because it threatens peace and justice everywhere else. We would like  to remind  those who are simply looking at the economic  benefits that they hope to reap from Burma today that they are working against their own long term interest  and the long term interests of the international community in general. To flout of the will of international community is to promote instability and dissension throughout the world.

We are confident that we shall achieve our goal of building a genuine democratic state in Burma . However, we also wish the international community to take part in our struggle, and to be supportive of our endeavours. We would like the whole world to join us in our call for justice in Burma and for the quick implementation of the terms of the General assembly resolution with regard to human rights in Burma.

I would like to end this statement  simply with a word of thanks to all those who have made it possible for me to participate in this press conference.

{ Thank you }