ENGLISH DEYEA NEWS

by Mizzima | Amnesty International is calling on the French government, as current President of the European Union, to make the human rights situation in Burma a focal point of the upcoming Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM).

Addressed on Friday of last week to French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, the EU and French delegations of Amnesty International are urging the French mission to raise three seminal issues regarding the situation in Burma: the 2010 elections, political persecution and crimes against humanity in eastern Burma.

Regarding the proposed 2010 general election, the petitioners write, "[R]ather than attempting to introduce the rule of law and respect for human rights to Myanmar, this constitutional process seeks to perpetuate and legitimise the government's continuing human rights abuses and ensure impunity for past, present and future violations."

Additional concern is expressed for what Amnesty decries as positive remarks from members of the international community on the junta's 7-step roadmap to democracy, of which the 2010 election is to be step number five.

If elections are to take place in two years' time, the constitution, judged to be approved by authorities in May, must be "radically reformed or replaced," according to the letter.

Sighting an alarming doubling in the political prisoner population in the country since last year's Saffron Revolution, Amnesty further believes that the "ASEM summit can provide an opportunity for the French Presidency to implement the EU guidelines on HRDs (human rights defenders) and to raise concerns about the general situation for prisoners of conscience in Myanmar."

Lastly, in reference to the human rights situation in the eastern part of the country, Amnesty refers to an in-house report which detailed a two-and-a-half year offensive in that part of the country, commencing in November 2005, which it claims was the largest of the past decade and for the first time identified civilians as the primary military target of the Burmese army.

The 7th ASEM summit is to be held on the 24th and 25th of this month in Beijing, China. The grouping currently brings together 45 states, but it is expected that membership will increase by a half dozen this year, including the admission of India.