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Free Burma Coalition Supports Burma



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For Immediate Release						September 22

F R E E   B U R M A   C O A L I T I O N
P.O. Box 19405 Washington, DC 20036  Tel: (202)-777-6009
http://www.freeburmacoalition.org; http://www.freeburma.org

Free Burma Coalition Supports Burma's Committee for Parliament

Washington, D.C. -- The Free Burma Coalition (FBC), an umbrella
organization of more than 100 university and community groups worldwide,
today issued a statement of support for the 10-member Representative
Committee for Parliament convened in Burma on September 16, 1998. 

The Committee is charged with the responsibility to function on behalf of
Parliament, until Parliament is convened pursuant to Burmese Election Law. 
The Committee Chairman, Saw Mya Aung, who was elected to parliament in
May, 1990, is one of dozens of members of parliament currently being
detained by the Burmese military.  The 1990 elections, won overwhelmingly
by the National League for Democracy party (NLD), under the leadership of
Aung San Suu Kyi, were ignored by the Burmese military junta, which
continues its illegitimate rule to this day. 

The statement reads as follows:

"The Burmese people are the original possessors of sovereignty of the
Burmese state.  In accordance with the democratic principle that
'Sovereign power shall be derived from the people', the citizens of the
Union of Burma, in the May 1990 general elections, have entrusted the NLD
with the mandate to establish a multi-party democratic system and
parliament.  The delegation of this mandate to the 10-member Committee by
members of Parliament is legitimate, valid and in accordance with
democratic practices. We congratulate the NLD leadership and elected
representatives for risking their well-being and personal safety in
carrying out the mandate of the people. 

We applaud the military officers and the rank and file of the armed forces
or Tatmadaw,the students, monks, and citizens who support the NLD mandate.

We urge the members of the Burmese Armed Forces, who continue to hold
power against the expressed will of the Burmese people, to look to the
future, and to begin dialogue with the Representative Committee of
Parliament, as well as with leaders of non-Burman ethnic groups.

We concur with the position of US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright
that military-ruled Burma is inherently unstable, and that this
instability is a legitimate concern of the regional and global community.

We support the efforts of the United Nations, through UN General Assembly
resolutions, to encourage political progress in Burma, and we urge all UN
members to support the full implementation of UNGA resolutions on Burma.

We urge the international community, and all Parliamentarians within it,
to provide clear recognition and support for the Representative Committee
of Parliament at every opportunity.

We call on the United Nations to declare Burma's seat vacant, as long as
the current junta refuses to either allow the UN mediation to end the
escalating political crisis in Burma, or to move towards democracy by
releasing all the hundreds of NLD elected members and supporters and
allowing them to form a democratic government. 

We demand that Unocal, Total, Premier Oil, Mitsubishi, Mitsui, Marubeni
and Indochina Goldfields immediately halt their direct support for the
Burmese junta through lucrative business partnerships.  These partnerships
with internationally recognized violators of fundamental human rights
are the equivalent of organized crime, where foreign corporations and
illegitimate generals conspire to rob the Burmese people of the benefits
of the rich natural resources that their country possesses.

We specifically urge the government of Japan to stop providing the Burmese
junta with debt relief, and to stand together with the Burmese people in
rejecting the predations of the Burmese junta.  Japan has a Parliamentary
system, and as such, it would behoove the Parliament of Japan to support
their fellow Parliamentarians in Burma.

May the efforts of the Burmese people be rewarded by a peaceful transition
from dictatorship to democracy."

END

Contact:Zarni, Free Burma Coalition, 202-777-0009
	Dan Orzech, Free Burma Coalition, 610-650-7755		

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