I welcome this opportunity, as several crises crowd in on us, to draw attention to the human rights issues in Burma. As reported recently by the UN rapporteur on human rights, the situation in Burma remains a serious one. Aung San Suu Kyi who won a landslide victory in a democratic election remains detained after five years without any charge or trial. We must demand her unconditional and immediate release. We also call for the release of other political prisoners who are being held by the military government, the SLORC, twenty-eight of whom are elected Members of Parliament.
Aung San Suu Kyi met the SLORC last week, we welcome that but we also express our view that any serious political dialogue can only take place when Aung San Suu Kyi has access to the media and the opportunity to meet and to consult with people of her choosing.
To achieve a lasting peace in Burma, we need political will from the international community and we also need a political solution. We need to recognise too, the rights of the ethnic people of Burma to be part of the negotiations and to determine their own future.
The SLORC in Burma are now busy window-dressing, persuading the international community to receive them, to accept them, to invest in Burma and to trade with them. Many people argue that this government is now consolidating its position. I would argue that we need to show great circumspection when we do these things, that no concessions should be made to the government without assurances that they will subscribe to democracy and human rights. We should reject anything that comes from them that does not include that proviso.
The people of Burma clearly want Aung San Suu Kyi to be part of the negotiations. She is the only one who has the legitimacy and the democratic accountability and the support and the love of the Burmese people. We in this House, Member States, the United States, the UN and others need to maintain a firm and unequivocal stand for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and for the respect of human rights in Burma.
