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response to Gen. Maung Aye's speech



NATIONAL COALITION GOVERNMENT OF THE UNION OF BURMA
Office of the UN Mission
New York, October 23, 1995.


RESPONSE TO GENERAL MAUNG AYE'S SPEECH

In his address to the 50th Anniversary Special Commemorative Session of the United Nations General Assembly, General Maung Aye, Vice-Chairman of the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC), supported the institution of the United Nations. He said
, "There is no better alternative to the United Nations. In an increasingly interdependent world, the United Nations is the only forum for multilateral cooperation...I would like to reaffirm Myanmar's abiding faith in the United Nations as a center for h
armonizing the actions of nations in the attainment of universal peace and cooperation." General Maung Aye also renewed SLORC's commitment to the principles and purposes of the Charter of the United Nations and pledged SLORC's continued cooperation with 
the United Nations.

The National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma (NCGUB), representing the will of the people of Burma as expressed in the 1990 general elections, welcome SLORC's commitment to the UN and its pledge to cooperate with the world body which represent
s the international community.

Since 1991, the UN Commission on Human Rights and the UN General Assembly have consistently passed consensus resolutions calling on SLORC to honor the results of the 1990 elections, to accelerate the pace of democratization in Burma and to improve the hu
man rights situation in Burma.  The resolutions are consistent with the Charter of the United Nations which clearly states that all Member States have an obligation to promote and protect human rights and fundamental freedoms for all without distention a
s to race, sex, language or religion.  They are also consistent with the universal declaration of human rights which state that " the will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government".

SLORC cannot pledge the UN and at the same time claim that it has the right to ignore the will of the people of Burma as well as the will of the international community because the situation in Burma is an internal affair.  Neither can General Maung Aye 
claim that to maintain international peace and security the UN should not interfere in Burma's internal affairs.  The UN Secretary-General has stated that in his "Agenda for Peace" that security does not really mean the lack of military threat.  Human ri
ghts violations, poverty, humanitarian crisis and natural disasters also threaten international peace and security.  The current  situation in Burma and SLORC's continual refusal to address them is beginning to threaten regional security.   Given SLORC's
 professed commitment to the UN, the NCGUB calls on the international community to require SLORC to live up to it's obligations.

The preamble of the UN Charter quoted by General Maung Aye in his speech obliges Member States, "to practice tolerance and live together in peace with one another as good neighbors".  It also calls for Member States not to use armed force and to establis
h conditions justice can be maintained.  Given SLORC's systematic gross violations of basic human rights in Burma, it's persecution of religious and ethnic minorities and it's indiscriminate use of armed force to suppress dissent, and it's blatant disreg
ard for the territorial integrity of it's neighbors, it is right that the UNGA should continue to express it's concern  about the situation in Burma.

The NCGUB would also like to remind General Maung Aye and SLORC that Article six of the UN Charter states that a Member State which persistently violates the principles contained in the Charter may be expelled from the UN by the General Assembly.  The NC
GUB, therefore, calls on SLORC to make good, without further delay, it's commitment to the UN and it's pledge to cooperate with it by fully implementing the UN Resolutions.  Since October 1994 the UN Secretary General has been trying to engage in a dialo
gue with SLORC about the human rights situation in Burma in order to facilitate a dialogue between the Burmese military led by SLORC, the democracy movement led by Nobel Peace laureate Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, and ethnic leaders, as a means to national reco
nciliation. At the very least, SLORC should coopearte with the UN Secretary-General and initiate a dialogue with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.