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AP_17.4.96: NLD APPEALS U.N. TO PUT



Subject: AP_17.4.96: NLD APPEALS U.N. TO PUT MORE PRESSURE ON BURMA.

	EUR: NOBEL PRIZE WINNER APPEALS FOR INTERNATIONAL ACTION
BURMA UN
   By Clare Nullis of The Associated Press
	   GENEVA, April 17 AP - In a message delivered to the UN Human 
Rights Commission, Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi today 
appealed for more pressure on the Burmese government to restore 
democracy.
	   She said hopes of lucrative business investments in the opening 
economy should not blind countries to the harsh political reality 
in her homeland.
	   "Our message to the international community is a simple one," Ms 
Suu Kyi said. "We would simply 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 in the country means injustice and 
lack of peace for the rest of the world," she said in a video 
message from her home in Burma.
	   "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," she said.
	   There was no immediate response from the Burmese government 
which last year released Ms Suu Kyi from house arrest and says she 
is free to leave the country _ as long as she doesn't return.
	   Her address coincided with the launch in Geneva of an 
"international network" to promote democracy in Burma. The group is 
headed by former Norwegian foreign minister Kjell Magne Bondevik 
and includes US Congressman Bill Richardson and lawmakers from 
Europe and Asia.
	   The network said it aimed to get increased aid for Burmese 
opposition groups and to persuade Japan and other nations to step 
up pressure on the Burmese military regime to introduce political 
reforms.
	   Ms Suu Kyi renewed demands that the Burmese government should 
recognize the results of the 1990 elections, which were won by her 
National League for Democracy.
	   The human rights commission is currently discussing the 
situation in countries considered to have the worst records _ 
including Burma.
	   Special UN investigator Yozo Yokota told the commission 
yesterday that executions, torture and slave labour were still 
common despite cautious political reforms.
	   Many of the violations were committed by the armed forces in 
areas of ethnic insurgency, he said. But he added that there had 
been a lessening of tensions in many cities.
	   The government rejects the charges of widespread abuses and 
denies that slave labour is used in construction projects.
	   Burma is trying to woo foreign investment and tourism and so is 
anxious to improve its tarnished image abroad.
	   "At the moment there is a danger that those who believe economic 
reforms will bring political progress to Burma are unaware of the 
difficulties in the way of democratisation," Ms Suu Kyi added.
	   "It is not possible that any kind of economic reform can succeed 
in a country where there is no rule of law," she added.
	    AP msk