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NEWS- Burmese Exiles Ask Military G
- Subject: NEWS- Burmese Exiles Ask Military G
- From: BurmaJapan@xxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 10 Dec 1997 15:47:00
Burmese Exiles Ask Military Govt to Uphold Rights
Reuters
10-DEC-97
BANGKOK, Dec 10 (Reuters) - A group of
Burmese student exiles and Buddhist monks
held a peaceful protest in front of the
Burmese embassy in Bangkok on
Wednesday and demanded the country's
ruling military junta respect human rights.
The protest by nearly 60 students and
monks was held to mark the 49th
anniversary of International Human Rights
Day adopted by the U.N. general assembly
in Paris on December 10, 1948.
``Today is International Human Rights day.
We demand that the so called State Peace
and Development Council (SPDC) respect
human rights for the sake of real peace and
development in Burma,'' student leader Zaw
Wint told reporters.
Burma's ruling SPDC, which adopted its new
name last month, was previously known as
the State Law and Order Restoration Council
(SLORC) which rose to power in a bloody
coup in September 1988.
The SPDC's top military leadership is the
same as the SLORC's, which has ruled with
an iron fist and been accused by opposition
leader Aung San Suu Kyi and the West of
curbing human rights and democracy in
Burma.
The junta has in the past placed Suu Kyi
under house arrest, and jailed and later
released thousands of opposition activists.
Zaw Wint urged the SPDC to release all
political prisoners and hold a dialogue with
Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy
(NLD) party to achieve peace and democracy
in Burma.
Suu Kyi's NLD won a landslide victory in
1990 election but the then ruling SLORC
ignored the election result and refused to
hand power to her.
``The SPDC arrest, torture and kill peaceful
demonstrators, students and elected
people's representatives and use the people
as a labour force,'' a statement from the
protesters said.
Thousands of Burmese students fled from
military supression after the military crushed
uprisings in Rangoon's streets in September
1988.
Several hundred joined ethnic rebels in the
jungles along the Thai-Burma border to fight
the military rulers.