Junta 'Worse' than Nargis

By ARKAR MOE, Mizzima News, Jan 22, 2010.

The president of the human rights committee of the Inter Parliamentary Union (IPU) said on Thursday that human rights violations by the Burmese junta have caused more damaged than Cyclone Nargis and called for pro-democracy leader Aug San Suu Kyi and 13 opposition elected parliamentarians to be released from prison.

Aquilino Pimentel, a Philippines senator and president of the IPU human rights committee, made his remarks during a meeting in Geneva, Switzerland.

The IPU, founded in 1889, is an international organization of parliaments that works for peace and for the establishment of representative democracy.

"In the year 2008, Burma was hit by a terrible catastrophe, by typhoon Nargis, and because there was so much devastation people thought that was the worst thing that could happen to Burma," said Pimentel. "But actually [it was] not. It was rather the deprivation of the rights of the people by the ruling junta."

Cyclone Nargis, which devastated the southwest of the country on May 2-3, 2008, left about 140,000 people dead in its wake. The cost of repairing the damage was estimated at more than US $4 billion.

"Nothing much seems to be happening in terms of advancing the cause of democracy in Burma," he told journalists.

Aye Thar Aung, the secretary the Committee Representing People’s Parliament (CRPP) in Burma, told The Irrawaddy on Friday, “Burmese parliamentarians are very important and vital for Burmese politics because they were elected by the people in the 1990 general election. They are legitimate, and they have the mandate to lead the country towards democracy.”

The National League for Democracy (NLD) formed the CRPP on Sept. 16, 1998, after the Burmese military junta failed to respond to calls to recognize the results of the 1990 elections. The committee was supported by 251 elected parliament members, including members of parliament from other parties. The CRPP moved to annul all laws promulgated since Sept 18, 1998, and called for the release of all political prisoners.

Aye Thar Aung said, “The Burmese military regime does not negotiate or talk with members of the CRPP. The authorities should talk with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and the CRPP about the 2010 election. Actually, they must recognize the results of 1990 general election.”

The IPU Human Rights Committee, which has just ended a review of 273 cases of parliamentarians in 29 countries, is appealing to governments for clarification of their situation.

The committee resolution urged India, China and the Association of South East Asian Nations (Aseam) to call for the release of the 13 elected Burmese parliamentarians held in prison.