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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