The Burma Campaign UK today expressed its deep concern at the news that Aung San Suu Kyi is being held under article 10a of Burma’s 1975 State Protection Law. UN envoy Razali Ismail revealed Aung San Suu Kyi told him this was the law she was being held under when he met with her last week.
Article 10a allows Than Shwe, Burma’s dictator, to hold Aung San Suu Kyi in isolation for six months, and for her detention without trial for a further five years. It is the same law that the regime used to detain Aung San Suu Kyi in 1989, but is not thought to be the law under which she was put under house arrest in 2000.
“This is worrying news,” says John Jackson, Director of the Burma Campaign UK. “By reverting to this draconian law it seems Than Shwe is planning a long term imprisonment of Aung San Suu Kyi. It is vital the international community steps up pressure on the regime to avoid this happening. This needs to go to the UN Security Council.”
The Burma Campaign UK is also concerned about the conditions Aung San Suu Kyi is being held under. When Razali Ismail met her she was still in the clothes she had been arrested in 11 days earlier. Despite claiming Aung San Suu Kyi is in protective custody the Red Cross is still being denied access to her. “Are the generals suggesting Aung San Suu Kyi is at risk from the Red Cross?”, asks John Jackson.
“Burma is back where it was 14 years ago,” says Jackson. “Aung San Suu Kyi is under arrest, the generals are massacring their own people, National League for Democracy offices are closed and there are around 1,500 political prisoners. The world failed to act then. It must not fail to act now.”
For more information contact John Jackson, Director of Burma Campaign UK,or Mark Farmaner, Media Officer, on 020 7281 7377