|
Letter to the Editor, Kilkenny Voice, 13th July 2007
Dear Sir,
The birthday of the democratically elected leader of Burma last month serves to remind us of the appalling plight of Aung San Suu Kyi and her people.
On the occasion of her 62nd birthday, we are only too aware of the continued strength of that country's despicable junta, and how far we seem from an end to the suffering and stagnation of what was once South East Asia's proudest and mightiest nation.
The military regime of Than Shwe, unelected leader of the ludicrously titled State Peace and Development Council, presides over a nation which holds over 1,600 political prisoners – including Ms Suu Kyi – and 37 other elected members of parliament.
He presides also over a state that, according to the International Labour Organisation, forces millions of Burmese into what it calls 'a modern form of slavery' to build roads, 5-star resorts for package tourists and the recently built new capital city of Pyinmana. He runs a State that is ranked by Parade Magazine as the fifth most repressive in the world and by Transparency International as the third most corrupt government.
The horror of that forgotten country cannot be overestimated. Ethnic cleansing of minorities, the use of child labour and rape as a weapon of war are all known to go on behind the closed borders of a country that the junta have renamed Myanmar.
We cannot stand by, watching and waiting. Speaking to the international community many years ago, when she was beginning her long odyssey of entrapment, Aung San Suu Kyi implored to us in the west: "Please use your liberty to promote ours."
Our government should take this opportunity to push the United Nations Security Council and the Association of South-East Asian Nations – of which Burma is a member – to force the SPDC to free Ms Suu Kyi and initiate fundamental democratic reform.
Yours etc,
John O'Shea,
GOAL,
PO Box 19,
Dun Laoghaire.
|
