Former U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has asked Military leaders in Myanmar to navigate a way out of the country’s violent political crisis, including releasing political detainees.
Ban met Monday in the Myanmar capital Naypyitaw with the leader of the military government, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, and other top officials.
His mission was made on behalf of a group of elder statesmen which Ban chairs and which engages in peacemaking and human rights initiatives around the world.
The 77-year-old Suu Kyi was imprisoned for 33 years after the takeover on charges widely seen as being trumped up by the military to keep her from playing an active role in politics.
Her trials were held behind closed doors, and the military has turned down requests from U.N. officials, foreign diplomats and other interested parties to see her.
Myanmar has been wracked by violence since the army’s takeover, which prevented Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party from beginning a second term in office. The takeover was met with massive public opposition, which security forces quashed with deadly force, in turn triggering widespread armed resistance.
Myanmar’s military government has spurned previous outside initiatives calling for negotiations as an infringement on Myanmar’s sovereignty, and generally describes the pro-democracy opposition as terrorists.
The Elders’ statement said Ban warned that elections promised by the military must be held only under free and fair conditions.
Holding elections under current conditions risks further violence and division, and the results not being recognized by the people of Myanmar, ASEAN and the wider international community.
Discover more from LN247
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
