CSW urges UN to impose arms embargo on Burma

Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) is today condemning the decision by Burma’s military regime to sentence democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi to an additional 18 months under house arrest, commuted from three years in prison with hard labour. We are calling on the United Nations Security Council to act immediately to impose a universal arms embargo on the regime and establish a commission of inquiry into crimes against humanity.

Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, has already spent more than 13 years under house arrest. In May, just days before her period of house arrest was due to expire, she was moved from her home to the notorious Insein Prison, and put on trial for breaking the terms of her house arrest. She was charged after an American, John Yettaw, reportedly swam across Inya Lake to her house, and refused to leave. He has now been sentenced to seven years, four with hard labour.

Mervyn Thomas, Chief Executive of CSW, said: “Today’s decision by the regime to find Aung San Suu Kyi guilty and to sentence her to 18 further months in detention is outrageous. The charges were fabricated, the trial was a sham and the outcome was almost certainly pre-determined. No one can expect justice in Burma today under this brutal and illegitimate regime. It is time now for the UN Security Council to respond promptly to this latest example of the regime’s criminal behaviour by passing a resolution as a matter of urgency. Such a resolution must spell out clearly the benchmarks the regime must meet if there is to be progress in Burma, accompanied by deadlines, and the sanctions that will be imposed until there is meaningful and irreversible change. Such measures must include a universal arms embargo, and the establishment of a commission of inquiry into crimes against humanity in Burma. Burma’s Senior General Than Shwe must not be allowed to continue to perpetrate his crimes with impunity.”