Aug. 11 (CRIPDO) -- Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s house arrest was extended by 18 months after she was found guilty of breaching a detention order, triggering international condemnation of the military regime.A court in the former capital, Yangon, gave her three years in jail and hard labor, a sentence the junta immediately commuted, Jared Genser, her U.S.-based attorney said after today’s verdict. A U.S. citizen who swam to her lakeside home, sparking the case, was given seven years’ hard labor, he added.
The U.S., the European Union, Australia, France and the U.K. condemned the verdict and called for the Nobel Peace Prize winner’s release. “She should not have been tried and she should not have been convicted,” Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said today.
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon “strongly deplores” the court’s decision. “The secretary-general is deeply disappointed” and urges Suu Kyi’s immediate release, according to a statement released at the UN in New York.
France is requesting an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council today to react to the verdict, and will circulate a draft statement for the council to adopt, the French mission to the UN said.
House Arrest
Suu Kyi was accused of breaking her house arrest order by allowing American John Yettaw to stay for two days in May after he swam to her home in Yangon, where she was under guard. Today’s ruling may prevent her participation in elections scheduled for 2010.
Clinton said Yettaw is among more than 2,000 political prisoners in Myanmar who should be freed. He has been hospitalized after having epileptic seizures, the Associated Press reported, citing police.
“We are concerned about the harsh sentence imposed upon him, especially in light of his medical condition,” Clinton told reporters in Goma, during a visit to the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The regime in the country formerly known as Burma was acting with “total disregard for accepted standards of the rule of law,” British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said in a statement.
‘Political Sentence’
“This is a purely political sentence,” Brown said. “The UN Security Council, whose will has been flouted, must also now respond resolutely and impose a worldwide ban on the sale of arms to the regime.”
Condemning the verdict as “brutal and unjust,” French President Nicolas Sarkozy said in an e-mailed statement that any new sanctions against Myanmar should target wood and rubies because profits from their sale go directly to the government.
Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said the government would summon Myanmar’s ambassador to express dismay.
“The regime still has the opportunity to set aside the conviction and sentence, release Aung San Suu Kyi and move down the path of national reconciliation,” Smith said in a statement.
The EU will tighten sanctions against the junta, the bloc’s Swedish presidency said.
“The EU will respond with additional targeted measures against those responsible for the verdict,” Sweden said in an e-mailed statement in Brussels. “In addition, the EU will further reinforce its restrictive measures targeting the regime of Burma/Myanmar, including its economic interests.”
EU Urges Release
Calling Aung San Suu Kyi’s trial “unjustified,” the EU urged Myanmar “to immediately and unconditionally release her.”
Suu Kyi, 64, denied the charges and blamed the security breach on the regime. She has spent more than 13 years in detention since her National League for Democracy won Myanmar’s last elections in 1990, a result rejected by the military. She has been under house arrest since 2003. The junta said the law allowed it to detain her for six years, meaning she would have been due for release in May this year until the new charges were brought.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations has joined calls for the release of Suu Kyi and the other political prisoners in Myanmar.
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva of Thailand, which chairs Asean, declined to comment today when asked about Suu Kyi’s sentence. Myanmar is a member of the 10-nation bloc.
‘Clearly Arbitrary’
Genser, who is president of the U.S.-based Freedom Now group, said by telephone from Washington the verdict “is clearly arbitrary and in breach of international law.”
Acting on behalf of Suu Kyi’s family, the lawyer said he filed a petition to the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention. “This reaffirms the need for the international community to take the situation in Burma seriously and act in the UN Security Council to press for national reconciliation,” he said.
President Barack Obama, who extended sanctions against Myanmar’s military regime last month, has denounced the proceedings as a “show trial.”
When Suu Kyi’s trial started in May, Myanmar “strongly rejected” a statement from Asean calling for her release. Suu Kyi’s detention and trial are “in accordance with the normal practice in every state” and “merely the internal affairs of Myanmar,” the state-run New Light of Myanmar reported at the time.
Trevor Wilson, Australia’s ambassador to Myanmar from 2000 to 2003, said the verdict could trigger peaceful street protests in Myanmar.
“There is a feeling among the people that Suu Kyi is their only hope,” Wilson, a visiting fellow at the Australian National University in Canberra, said in a telephone interview. “Both inside and outside the country it will not be accepted as reasonable, fair and proper,” he said. “The attempt at magnanimity just is not going to wash.”
Clinton Demands North Korea Transparency on Cargoes
July 23 (Bloomberg) -- North Korea must obey a United Nations measure on illicit international shipments or its vessels will “find no port” for commerce, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton plans to tell her Southeast Asian counterparts today.
Clinton said the U.S. is asking countries in the region “to join in demanding transparency” from North Korea about the contents of its cargoes, according to excerpts of a speech. The U.S. held “intensive” discussions with Asian governments on the matter after tracking a North Korean vessel, the Kong Nam, she said. The ship was suspected of carrying military goods banned by a UN Security Council resolution.
The U.S. is ready to resume talks with North Korea with a “more ambitious agenda” as long as the North understands that it won’t be given new rewards for fulfilling existing obligations on dismantling its nuclear-arms program, Clinton said in remarks for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Regional Forum in Phuket, Thailand.
U.S. officials have been focusing attention on the danger of North Korea selling nuclear technology to other countries, possibly including Myanmar’s military government.
Admiral Timothy Keating, who commands U.S. forces in the Asia-Pacific region, said in an interview yesterday that the U.S. Navy is prepared to track and inspect any North Korean vessel suspected of carrying such cargo, using new authority from the Security Council.
‘United Front’
Clinton said yesterday in Bangkok that the U.S. is concerned by reports of Myanmar and North Korea cooperating on nuclear technology, and called on Asian countries to present a “united front against that ever happening.”
The U.S. and its Asian allies are on alert for suspected proliferation of conventional or nuclear materials by North Korea, which set off a nuclear device in 2006 and again in May. The U.S. Navy recently followed the Kang Nam, a North Korean freighter that was headed in the direction of Myanmar with unknown cargo. The ship turned around and returned home earlier this month.
Japan expects Myanmar to “comply fully” with UN sanctions against North Korea, Foreign Ministry spokesman Kazuo Kodama said yesterday in Thailand.
The Security Council voted unanimously in June to adopt a U.S.-backed resolution to punish North Korea for its May 25 nuclear test. The measure seeks to curb loans and money transfers to North Korea and step up inspection of cargoes containing material that might contribute to the development of nuclear weapons or ballistic missiles.
Surprise ‘Unlikely’
Keating said he saw no evidence that North Korea is planning another long-range missile launch, after it fired a Taepodong-2 ballistic missile over Japan in April. North Korea could surprise the U.S., “but I think it’s unlikely,” he said.
The admiral told reporters later at the Pentagon that the U.S. has contingency plans with its allies in the region for dealing with any potential change in North Korea’s leadership.
Leader Kim Jong Il’s gaunt appearance during public events has reinforced speculation that he is suffering from a terminal illness. Kim hardly used his left hand in a documentary aired yesterday on North Korean state television, according to South Korea’s Yonhap news agency.
Asean foreign ministers have condemned North Korea’s nuclear test and urged the country to return to the suspended talks involving South Korea, China, Japan, Russia and the U.S.
Clinton, in excerpts of today’s speech, said “irreversible steps” by North Korea to scrap its nuclear-weapons program may lead to “full normalization of relations, a permanent peace regime and significant energy and economic assistance.”
Senate Vote
The U.S. Senate called on President Barack Obama to consider returning North Korea to the State Department’s list of state sponsors of terrorism and imposing additional sanctions on the country.
The chamber voted 66-31 yesterday to approve a nonbinding resolution urging the administration to produce a report within 30 days examining whether North Korea is supporting terrorism, abetting the spread of weapons of mass destruction, and whether adding the country to the terrorism list would advance U.S. foreign policy goals.
Suu Kyi’s Freedom
Turning to Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, Asean ministers said the regime there should release Nobel Prize- winning opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other political prisoners, a call Clinton echoed.
Clinton said the U.S. expects “fair treatment” for Suu Kyi, who is on trial and could face as many as five years in prison for violating terms of her house arrest. The opposition leader has already spent 13 years in detention since her party won 1990 elections that were never recognized by the army.
Clinton suggested that incentives could be made available to Myanmar if the regime were to release Suu Kyi.
“There are a lot of opportunities that could be made available to the Burmese government and people if they did release her,” she said. “It would open up doors for investment and exchanges that would help the people of Burma.”
Any ability to influence the junta economically is likely to be limited given Myanmar’s trade in natural gas with Thailand and China, a U.S. administration official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
