September 11, 2008
As the United Nations Security Council meets today to review the situation in Burma and hear the report of Mr. Gambari, the democratically elected representatives of the people of Burma ask that the members of the Security Council note the following points:
The democratically elected representatives of the people of Burma support the continuation of Mr. Gambari's mission, working in coordination with the H.E. Ban Ki-moon. We believe that any solution to the situation in Burma will require multilateral action coordinated through the United Nations, and therefore the continuation of Mr. Gambari's mission is imperative to any long-term resolution to the current political deadlock.
The military junta has ignored all requests and demands of the United Nations, and its members have sought to actively undermine the work of the United Nations and its organs in Burma.
This spring, the military regime conducted a fraudulent referendum to adopt its undemocratic constitution, affirmatively disregarding the May 2008 Statement of the President of the Security Council. It now plans to hold illegitimate elections in 2010. These elections cannot lead to a just and genuine transition to democracy, and the Security Council must not support the military regime in its efforts to defraud the international community and the people of Burma with its sham elections.
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has worked tirelessly for peace, respect for human rights, and national reconciliation in Burma. Not only must she be a central figure in any process to negotiate with the junta, but the Security Council and United Nations Member States must not be manipulated by the regime into believing that she is to blame for the current political deadlock.
The military regime in Burma is not only a threat to the people of Burma, but it has become a threat to regional peace and security. The regime is engaged in the manufacturing and distribution of narcotics that flood surrounding states and the trafficking in weapons with criminal elements. Furthermore, the regime's ethnic cleansing campaigns against Burma's ethnic populations have forced hundreds of thousands of refugees into neighboring states.
We ask that the Security Council take Chapter VII action to impose an arms embargo and comprehensive sanctions against the regime until such time as the regime hands over power to the rightful, democratically elected leaders of the Burmese people, as decided in the 1990 elections.
U Thein Oo
Permanent Representative
United Nations
+66-892-032-972 – Thailand
+1-415-203-0541 – New York
Source: MPU
