UN Special Envoy Mission Must Be Time Bound & Must Have Bench Marks(30/01/2009)

30 Jan 2009

UN Special Envoy Mission Must Be Time Bound & Must Have Bench Marks

Mr Gambari will visit Burma on Jan 31 which will be his seventh visit after previous unsuccessful trips since he began his assignment in mid-2006. Mr Gambari reconfirmed that the good offices were a process that required time, patience, persistence and a comprehensive approach when he reported to Security Council on 13 November 2007.

“I would like to ask Mr Gambari that if the good offices were a process that required time- how much time do you need and I dare not hope that it would take 14 years like Burmese junta took to draft sham constitution. Good offices must be the time bound and must have the bench mark otherwise it will be endless process”, said Myo Thein, Director at the Burma Democratic Concern (BDC) in United Kingdom.

“Talking about patience, looking back from 1988 when current military regime came to power, we have been under brutal military dictatorship for 21 years now. How much patience do we have to solve Burma crisis? Thousands of peaceful demonstrators were gunned down, thousands of political prisoners are languish in the prisons some are serving more than 100 years and Aung San Suu Kyi is still under house arrest. Elections were held in 1990 and National League for Democracy led by Aung San Suu Kyi won landslide victory-still regime ignore to honour it. We have been patience for more than two decades and we don’t effort to be patience anymore. Special advisors had changed one after another and Burma situation still unchanged”, added Myo Thein.

If the good offices were persistence, they must always press Burmese military regime to respect 1990 elections results. General Assembly of the United Nations has accepted the notion that the will of the people has been expressed in the 1990 General Elections. International community strongly condemned the junta for refusing to allow elected representatives to meet as a People's Assembly and for failing to honour the results of the elections and hand over power. UN General Assembly has since 1991 passed successive annual Resolutions calling on Burma "to restore democracy and implement the results of the 1990 elections”.

“When we look at the persistence, the quality of continuing steadily despite problems or difficulties, do we really see any quality of persisting in handling of the Burma crisis by UN Special Envoys? In order to be persistence, UN envoy must always press Burmese junta to implement the results of the 1990 elections in the first place”, said Khin Maung Win, Director at the Burma Democratic Concern (BDC) in United States. Mr Gambari’s visit to Burma should come out of tangible results, with reference to a presidential statement in October 2007 which had called for the creation of the necessary conditions for a dialogue with Aung San Suu Kyi and others to achieve, among other things, national reconciliation with direct support of the United Nations.

“When we look at the approach of the good offices mission as they said comprehensive, but in reality it is an incomprehensive one. Good offices mission must have clear vision, plan and evaluation in order to solve Burma crisis to be comprehensive. What are the anticipated plans? For the time being, good offices mission is applying carrot and carrot policy on Burmese military junta. Gambari has not been able to break the ice and even once said that “We don't force implementation. To be comprehensive, all the options should wide open including carrot and stick policy. Stick must be included as well if regime fails to respond positively to substantive political progress- by posing universal arms embargo and economic sanctions”, said Kyaw Lin Oo, Director at the Burma Democratic Concern (BDC) in Thailand.

The objectives of UN special envoy entire mission should be –

1. to press Burmese military junta to recognise 1990 elections results for first instance and allow the elected MPs of 1990 elections to convene people’s parliament

2. to reject junta’s 2008 sham constitutions which is adopted unilaterally in sham referendum

3. to reject 2010 elections game plan which will be legitimizing military rule in Burma

4. to press Burmese military junta to release all political prisoners unconditionally and immediately

5. to press Burmese military junta to do genuine time-bound dialogue-with bench marks, between democratic forces led by Aung San Suu Kyi and military regime led by Senior General Than Shwe

6. to assign the United Nations Secretary General liaison office in Burma in order to facilitate the dialogue process and progress

We don’t want any more political games. We don’t afford to live under military rule for another 20 years. Burmese Democratic Forces and Burmese People are of one voice; recognise 1990 elections results in first instance and release all political prisoners immediately.

For more information please contact on

Myo Thein
00 44 787 788 2386
[United Kingdom]

Khin Maung Win
00 194196126 22
[United States]

Kyaw Lin Oo
00 6684107 9352
[Thailand]

To listen the audio please click on here


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