Suara Rakyat Malaysia (SUARAM) condemns the Burmese’s military regime for the violent dispersal and subsequent brutality, resulting in the deaths of monks, civilians and a journalist.
Moreover, rumours that Nobel Peace Laureate Daw Aung San Suu Kyi may be transferred from her home to another detention facility, and news of monks and activists arrested arbitrarily are cause for grave concern.
We need not remind ASEAN, and in particular, the Malaysian government, of the massacre of 1988 in Rangoon, where thousands died when troops opened fire at unarmed protestors.
We urge ASEAN to exercise its duty as an intergovernmental organization to immediately respond decisive and firmly to this situation.
ASEAN, especially the Malaysian government had done grave harm to the democratic movement when they admitted Burma into ASEAN back in 1997, during the Asean Ministerial Meeting held in Kuala Lumpur.
It is time for Malaysia to take responsibility and stop the bloodbath. It must rally other ASEAN members to send a firm message to the Burmese generals, that ASEAN will indeed intervene to resolve the crisis in Burma.
Furthermore, we call on Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi and his government to support the call for a Special Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council on Burma, which needs one-third of the total members of the Council. Thus far, only Japan and South Korea have endorsed this.
Today Burma is at crossroads. Malaysia must not hesitate to stand on the side of right, to speak up for the long-suffering people of Burma, to defend their lives and to right a terrible wrong ten years ago in Kuala Lumpur.
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