“Myanmar is going through a unique moment in its political history,” he says, noting that the country’s new Constitution was finalized in February and adopted through a referendum in May. “The next step in the road map for national reconciliation and democratic transition is the election in 2010.”
He stresses that if those general elections are prepared and conducted in an atmosphere in which human rights are fully respected, “the process will be credible, resulting in progressive achievement of democratic values.”
Mr. Quintana proposes four core human rights elements to be completed by the Government before the 2010 elections. The first is to review and amend those domestic laws which limit fundamental rights – such as freedom of expression, opinion, peaceful assembly and association – and contravene the new Constitution and international human rights standards.
“The right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association, as well as the right to freedom of opinion and expression, are fundamental rights to be respected in the process towards the establishment of a solid and reliable democracy,” stated the Special Rapporteur.
“However, full enjoyment of those rights remains outstanding in Myanmar, according to reliable reports on the extension of detentions and/or new arrests of political activists.”
Mr. Quintana proposes the progressive release of prisoners of conscience, of which there are more than 2,000 detained in different facilities around the country. “Without the free participation of prisoners of conscience, the very credibility of the general elections of 2010 would be at stake,” he stressed, adding that prisoner release would also reduce tension and inspire political participation.
Last month the Myanmar authorities freed several detainees as part of an amnesty procedure, including the country’s longest-serving political prisoner, U Win Tin, and six other senior members of the National League for Democracy (NLD), whose leader Aung San Suu Kyi remains under house arrest.
Mr. Quintana had welcomed the move, saying he hoped it “would be the first in a series of releases of other prisoners of conscience.”
The transition to multi-party democratic and civil government, as planned by the new Constitution, will require “an intensive process of incorporating democratic values,” the Special Rapporteur notes.
Among the measures the Government should adopt are repealing discriminatory legislation, continuing efforts to respond to the aftermath of the deadly cyclone that struck the country in early May, and avoiding the recruitment of child soldiers.
He also suggests a number of changes for the country’s judiciary, which currently “is not independent and is under the direct control of the Government and the military.” Proposed measures include guaranteeing due process, exercising full independence and impartiality and setting up mechanisms to investigate human rights abuses.
Mr. Quintana, who took up his post in May 2007, serves in an independent and unpaid capacity and reports to the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council, as do all Special Rapporteurs.
He stresses that if those general elections are prepared and conducted in an atmosphere in which human rights are fully respected, “the process will be credible, resulting in progressive achievement of democratic values.”
Mr. Quintana proposes four core human rights elements to be completed by the Government before the 2010 elections. The first is to review and amend those domestic laws which limit fundamental rights – such as freedom of expression, opinion, peaceful assembly and association – and contravene the new Constitution and international human rights standards.
“The right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association, as well as the right to freedom of opinion and expression, are fundamental rights to be respected in the process towards the establishment of a solid and reliable democracy,” stated the Special Rapporteur.
“However, full enjoyment of those rights remains outstanding in Myanmar, according to reliable reports on the extension of detentions and/or new arrests of political activists.”
Mr. Quintana proposes the progressive release of prisoners of conscience, of which there are more than 2,000 detained in different facilities around the country. “Without the free participation of prisoners of conscience, the very credibility of the general elections of 2010 would be at stake,” he stressed, adding that prisoner release would also reduce tension and inspire political participation.
Last month the Myanmar authorities freed several detainees as part of an amnesty procedure, including the country’s longest-serving political prisoner, U Win Tin, and six other senior members of the National League for Democracy (NLD), whose leader Aung San Suu Kyi remains under house arrest.
Mr. Quintana had welcomed the move, saying he hoped it “would be the first in a series of releases of other prisoners of conscience.”
The transition to multi-party democratic and civil government, as planned by the new Constitution, will require “an intensive process of incorporating democratic values,” the Special Rapporteur notes.
Among the measures the Government should adopt are repealing discriminatory legislation, continuing efforts to respond to the aftermath of the deadly cyclone that struck the country in early May, and avoiding the recruitment of child soldiers.
He also suggests a number of changes for the country’s judiciary, which currently “is not independent and is under the direct control of the Government and the military.” Proposed measures include guaranteeing due process, exercising full independence and impartiality and setting up mechanisms to investigate human rights abuses.
Mr. Quintana, who took up his post in May 2007, serves in an independent and unpaid capacity and reports to the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council, as do all Special Rapporteurs.
Appeal against Suu Kyi’s Detention Handed in at Naypyidaw
Suu Kyi’s lawyer, Kyi Win, told The Irrawaddy on Thursday that the appeal had been handed in personally by his assistant, Hla Myo Myint.
The government had given no indication when the appeal would be heard in court, Kyi Win said. “But we are hoping for a positive outcome.”
Suu Kyi’s latest five-year term of house arrest was extended in May for a further year—illegally, according to Kyi Win, because article 10 (b) of the Burmese State Protection Law 1975 stipulates that a person judged to be a “threat to the sovereignty and security of the State and the peace of the people” can only be detained for up to five years.
Suu Kyi has spent more than 13 years of the past 19 years confined to her Rangoon home.
Kyi Win said he planned to meet Suu Kyi soon to discuss the appeal.
Suu Kyi has reportedly been in poor health recently. She refused for about one month to accept deliveries of food and other household supplies at her home in what was seen as a protest against her continuing house arrest. Last week, she was visited by an eye specialist, Dr Kan Nyunt, and her personal physician, Dr Tin Myo Win.
At a Geneva press conference earlier this month, a UN High Commissioner for Human Rights official, Navanethem Pillay, expressed concern about Suu Kyi’s continuing detention and urged the regime to free her and all other political prisoners.
Suu Kyi had “in fact served a sentence that far exceeds that served by many hardened criminals,” Pillay said.
Pillay welcomed the recent release of seven political prisoners, but said it was a very small step when more than 2,000 political activists were still detained. “I urge the government to release them all as soon as possible,” she said.
The government had given no indication when the appeal would be heard in court, Kyi Win said. “But we are hoping for a positive outcome.”
Suu Kyi’s latest five-year term of house arrest was extended in May for a further year—illegally, according to Kyi Win, because article 10 (b) of the Burmese State Protection Law 1975 stipulates that a person judged to be a “threat to the sovereignty and security of the State and the peace of the people” can only be detained for up to five years.
Suu Kyi has spent more than 13 years of the past 19 years confined to her Rangoon home.
Kyi Win said he planned to meet Suu Kyi soon to discuss the appeal.
Suu Kyi has reportedly been in poor health recently. She refused for about one month to accept deliveries of food and other household supplies at her home in what was seen as a protest against her continuing house arrest. Last week, she was visited by an eye specialist, Dr Kan Nyunt, and her personal physician, Dr Tin Myo Win.
At a Geneva press conference earlier this month, a UN High Commissioner for Human Rights official, Navanethem Pillay, expressed concern about Suu Kyi’s continuing detention and urged the regime to free her and all other political prisoners.
Suu Kyi had “in fact served a sentence that far exceeds that served by many hardened criminals,” Pillay said.
Pillay welcomed the recent release of seven political prisoners, but said it was a very small step when more than 2,000 political activists were still detained. “I urge the government to release them all as soon as possible,” she said.
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