June 23, 2003	Monday	Rabi-us-Sani 22,1424

BANGKOK: International outrage continues to mount over the continued detention of Myanmar’s pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, with Yangon’s neighbours in Southeast Asia fidgeting at the political — and perhaps economic — price of the country’s intrasigence.

So far, Europe has stepped up sanctions on Myanmar and the United States is introducing tougher economic measures.

Even the countries of Southeast Asia are getting annoyed with Myanmar’s military rulers. At their annual meetings in Phnom Penh this week, the foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) urged the Myanmar government to release Aung San Suu Kyi as soon as possible.

Most foreign ministers understood that Myanmar’s political problems were tarnishing the image of the organization as a whole.

“Unfortunately, now that you are part of ASEAN, all the fraternal countries share your accountability before the world community,” Philippine Foreign Minister Blas Ople told his Myanmar counterpart Win Aung. “It is not fair that the image of ASEAN is being defined by the events transpiring in your country.”

Although the communiques at the end of the ASEAN sessions and the regional strategic meeting ASEAN Regional Forum were mild in their language, Win Aung was left in no doubt that most of his Asian colleagues were running out of patience with Yangon.

“Most ASEAN countries understand that the latest events in Myanmar are a huge step backwards, which puts the national reconciliation process in danger of collapse,” said a senior diplomat at the Phnom Penh meeting. “They also know that this would undoubtedly have implications for the future peace and prosperity of the region — not just Myanmar,” he said.

News that Aung San Suu Kyi is actually being held in Myanmar’s notorious Insein prison on the outskirts of Yangon will only increase calls for her immediate release.

According to diplomatic and opposition sources, she is being kept in a two-room hut within the prison complex. She is being denied access to reading and writing materials and her lawyer. “It is for all intents and purposes solitary confinement,” said a diplomat in Yangon.

Before returning to Yangon, Myanmara’s Win Aung told reporters at the ASEAN meetings: “We don’t have any animosity against Aung San Suu Kyi. She will be released — when the situation in the country returns to normal.”

The UN envoy to Myanmar, Razali Ismail, has renewed his appeal to Yangon to clarify the conditions of Suu Kyi’s detention. “When I met with (her) on 10 June, she told me that she was being held under Section 10-A,” Razali told IPS.

Under this law, the government can hold incommunicado a person suspected of subversive activities for at least 60 days, and up to a total of 180 days without charge. This can be extended to five years in all.

“Since my return from Myanmar, I have been studying closely the implications of detaining Daw Aung San Suu Kyi under Section 10-A,” said Razali. “Her detention under 10-A would seem to be at variance with the government’s claim that Aung San Suu Kyi is being held in ‘protective custody’.”

“The government should clarify the situation immediately by releasing Aung San Suu Kyi — who, in the view of the UN, does not pose a threat to Myanmar’s stability and security, but rather can contribute significantly to it,” he added.

Legal experts in Myanmar say there is no such thing as protective custody under the law. The military regime instead has placed her in the equivalent of preventive detention under the State Protection Law, reserved for people deemed to be threats to peace and security. But even under these regulations, prisoners have the right to legal counsel.

International experts also say this law is in breach of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which Myanmar has signed. At the same however, several countries in the region have similar regulations known as internal security acts. Aung San Suu Kyi was detained under this act when she was placed under house arrest for the first time in 1989 for nearly six years.

The Red Cross has been given permission to see the political prisoners detained after the events of the May 30 attack against Suu Kyi and her supporters, which led her being put under ‘protective custody’. But it continues to be denied access to Aung San Suu Kyi.

“It seems likely that the pro-democracy leader is likely to remain in solitary co confinement for the minimum period of two months,” said a senior diplomat. “The fear is that she may even be kept there for the full five years without a trial.”

For ASEAN, the confrontation with the west — the United States in particular — may be over. Secretary of State Colin Powell has left and is embroiled in other matters in the Middle East. But Southeast Asia will still have to cope with the problems that Myanmar’s military leaders’ intransigence is bringing down on the region.

Both the United States and the EU are threatening even stronger measures against Myanmar’s military rulers if they do not release Suu Kyi soon and start substantive talks with her and her party — the National League for Democracy.

Southeast Asian governments fear that Europe may start considering a tourist ban as well, something they do not need in the aftermath of the Iraq war, SARS and the suspicion of potential terrorist attacks in the region

“ASEAN — Thailand in particular — is worried about the possibility of a tourist ban on Myanmar, either bilaterally or collectively, as this is likely to severely affect their own industries as well,” said a senior Asian diplomat who did not want to be identified. So although Asia’s leaders can breathe more easily now that the ASEAN meetings are over, they know that there will be increased pressure on them to take concrete action on Myanmar. —Dawn/The InterPress News Service.