On 26 May 2009 the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus (AIPMC)
called on ASEAN to suspend Burma's membership in the association until
Aung San Suu Kyi is released. Below is their statement, saying that
"ASEAN must assume its responsibility".
On 26 May 2009 the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus (AIPMC)
called on ASEAN to suspend Burma's membership in the association until
Aung San Suu Kyi is released. Below is their statement, saying that
"ASEAN must assume its responsibility".

The ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus (AIPMC) calls on ASEAN
to suspend Myanmar's membership in the regional bloc if the country's
military regime continues to detain its democracy leader, and Nobel
Peace Prize laureate, Aung San Suu Kyi.

Aung San Suu Kyi's unjust current six-year house arrest is due to
expire on 27 May 2009, but the regime has brought on further trumped-up
charges against her and is likely to detain her for a further three to
five years.

Several ASEAN member states have expressed deepening concern about
the regime's detention of Aung San Suu Kyi and other political
prisoners. However, ASEAN leaders have failed to take the measures
necessary to compel the regime to end violations of human rights.

AIPMC parliamentarians strongly call on ASEAN to stop protecting
Myanmar's regime and instead remove them from the grouping until and
unless Aung San Suu Kyi is free and genuine efforts to begin national
reconciliation are underway.

The AIPMC further urges ASEAN member states to consider imposing
targeted sanctions on the military regime generals, and its
administration, should they still fail to respect the ASEAN Charter and
continue to oppress its people.

Efforts by the international community to hold the regime
accountable for its criminal acts, via targeted economic sanctions and
UN Security Council actions, have been cushioned by ASEAN's and China's
economic and political buffering of the regime.

The regime's ruthlessness causes increasing numbers of internally
displaced persons in Myanmar. It continues to use rape, torture and
extrajudicial killings as state policies to suppress citizens. The
military's state projects, such as dams, further subject people to
unabated suffering.

Change cannot be achieved in Myanmar if ASEAN's current positions
and policies remain. ASEAN must assume its responsibility by
supporting, if not calling for, decisive measures such as an
international commission of inquiry into the widely documented crimes
against humanity allegedly committed by the regime. ASEAN cannot afford
patience any longer.