Aung San Suu Kyi’s house arrest “cruel and unjustified” says Human Rights Subcommittee Chair

The decision by Burma/Myanmar’s authorities to extend Aung San Suu Kyi’s house arrest has been condemned in a statement issued by the Chairwoman of the European Parliament’s Subcommittee on Human Rights, Ms Heidi HAUTALA.[:]

Ms Hautala (Greens/EFA, Finland) made the following statement: “The cruel and unjustified decision of the authorities in Burma to extend the house arrest of Aung San Suu Kyi is a confirmation that in spite of the unacceptable and harsh treatment she has been facing over the past 19 years hers remains a voice that the military regime insists on silencing. As the winner of the 1990 Sakharov Prize she knows that she can count on our complete support.

The decision announced today by the Council of Ministers to “respond with additional targeted measures” is very much in line with the resolution the European Parliament adopted in October of last year.

I will be proposing that the Subcommittee on Human Rights return to this issue at its meeting on 10 September with a view to appropriate follow up during the next plenary session of the European Parliament.

The situation in Burma/Myanmar represents a major challenge to the credibility of both the United Nations and the European Union in their efforts to uphold basic human rights, as well to ASEAN, of which Burma is a member, and which only a few weeks ago established an Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights.” Statement ends.

The European Parliament has repeatedly called on Burma/Myanmar’s authorities to release Aung San Suu Kyi. In 1990 she was awarded the European Parliament’s Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought.