Burma

Situation in Burma

Noordwijk 1996

The Liberal International Congress, meeting on 5th – 8th June in Noordwijk, The Netherlands:

• appalled at the continued detention of hundreds of political prisoners in Burma, including the recent detention of over 200 members of the National League for Democracy (NLD);
• recognising that elected representatives of the NLD have been denied their right to assume their duties in the People’s Assembly, after winning a majority in the 1990 elections;
• worried about the safety of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel and Sakharov Laureate and winner of the Liberal International Prize for Freedom, and other NLD members and democracy activists;

calls on Burma’s State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) to release all recently detained NLD members and other previously jailed political prisoners;

supports the NLD and the National Council of the Union of Burma’s continued nonviolent efforts to engage the SLORC in dialogue;

urges the SLORC to begin political dialogue with the ethnic nationality forces and the pro-democracy forces, led by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, with an aim to establish genuine national reconciliation;

reminds the SLORC that continued disregard for human rights and democracy will naturally hinder the flow of investment to Burma and retard the development of its foreign relations;

calls on all states to review their policies towards Burma to ensure that they will bring positive results for the people and democratic forces in Burma.