As the United Nations Secretary-General Ban ki-Moon wrapped up his visit to Burma pursuing for the prompt delivery of aids to the victims of the Cyclone Nargis, an American advocacy group has demanded the release of Daw Aung San Suu by today (May 25, Sunday).
Freedom Now, an advocacy group, which initiates to set free the prisoners of conscience through legal, political, and public relations advocacy efforts, has raised voice for the release of the detained Burmese icon, arguing that her 'ongoing detention under house arrest was a clear violation of international law'.
"Not to speak of international laws", stated in a press statement issued on May 23 in Washington DC, adding, "the Burmese law itself doesn't allow to elongate the detention of a person for more than five years."
Under Article 10(b) of Burma's State Protection Law 1975, a person in Burma who is deemed a 'threat to the sovereignty and security of the State and the peace of the people' may be detained for up to a maximum of five years through a restrictive order, renewable one year at a time, the statement asserted.
The Nobel Laureate Ms Suu Kyi, who has spent more than 12 of the past 18 years in detention, was last arrested on May 23, 2003 after the Depayin massacre. Her house arrest was last extended on May 25, 2007. Therefore, her fifth and final year of house arrest allowable under Burmese law (though found to be in violation of international law) will expire at the end of the day on May 24, 2008, it asserted.
The ruling military junta led by the Senior General Than Shwe had kept the lady under detention since then at Rangoon, the former capital of Burma, the military ruled country neighboured to India, Bangladesh, Thailand and China.
"The timing couldn't be better," remarked Jared Genser, the president of Freedom Now. He also disclosed that 'if the Burmese junta abides by its own law, Aung San Suu Kyi will be able to attend the international aid conference scheduled for May 25th in person'.
The UN Secretary General is supposed to attend a joint U.N. and Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) representatives conference in Rangoon on Sunday.
"More than 45 countries and regional organizations have signed up to attend a donors conference in Myanmar (Burma) on Sunday to mobilize funds for immediate humanitarian assistance for the survivors of Cyclone Nargis," quoting the United Nations source AP reported.
The conference is sponsored by the U.N. and the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which is taking the lead in organizing the delivery of aid to an estimated 2.5 million people who remain in severe need following the devastating storm on May 2-3, it added.
Mentionable that following the personal initiatives of the UN Secretary General, the military rulers of Burma had lately agreed to allow the foreign aid workers, irrespective of their nationalities, to go to the Irrawaddy Delta areas, where the Cyclone Nargis prevailed over on May 2/3 to kill thousands of people and make another thousands families homeless.
The Freedom Now president Genser was straightforward while commenting that, 'if General Than Shwe refuses to release her, it will be a slap in the face to UN Secretary-General and the ASEAN diplomats who will be on hand to hear the junta's request for $11 billion of international assistance'.
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