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Myanmar’s Junta
By KTM Metro Reporter
On October 05, 2007, addressing the Security Council, UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon condemned the use of force against peaceful demonstrators in Myanmar saying, "I must reiterate that the use of force against peaceful demonstrators is abhorrent and unacceptable." "Of great concern to the United Nations and the international community are the continuing and disturbing reports of abuses being committed by security and non-uniformed elements, particularly at night during curfew, including raids on private homes, beatings, arbitrary arrests, and disappearances," he told the Security Council.
The chief UN envoy to Myanmar Ibrahim Gambari urged the military junta to work for democracy and initiate talks with the detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi. "This is an hour of historic opportunity for Myanmar," Ibrahim Gambari told the UN Security Council following his four-day trip to the country after the government's crackdown on peaceful demonstrators and Buddhist monks. "To delay the prospect of a peaceful, prosperous and democratic Myanmar is to deny it to those who deserve it most, the people of Myanmar." "From my own conversations (with Ms. Suu Kyi), she appears to be very anxious to have a proper dialogue," Mr. Gambari told reporters afterward.
Myanmar's junta took over in 1988 after crushing the democracy movement led by Ms. Suu Kyi. In 1990, it refused to turn over power to Ms. Suu Kyi's party, when her National League for Democracy won a landslide victory in the election. Ms. Suu Kyi has been kept under the house arrest by the junta for nearly 18 years.
UN Secretary General Mr. Ban Ki-moon sent Mr. Gambari to Myanmar after the junta quelled the protestors with gunfire last week. The junta operated media said the death toll was only 10, but the opposition groups put the death toll as high as 200. The junta also evacuated thousands of monks from the monasteries. Their whereabouts were unknown yet.
