A top United Nations official has called for the release of Burma’s political prisoners at the conclusion of a three-day visit to the country where he met with officials from the newly installed government and members of the opposition.
Vijay Nambiar, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s special adviser for Burma, told reporters at a press briefing in Rangoon on Friday that the Burmese government had assured him it would soon take “concrete steps” in reforming governance, human rights, and sustainable development in the nation.
“In all my meetings I stressed that this must include the release of all political prisoners and inclusive dialogue with all segments of society, as well as greater outreach to the international community to ensure that the proposed reforms enjoyed broad buy-in,” he said.
“Only then can there be greater confidence that the efforts undertaken will indeed serve to meet the long-standing needs and aspirations of the people of [Burma]. There is no time to waste if [Burma] is to move forward.”
During his first visit to the country since members of the newly elected government took power in late March, Nambiar also met with National League for Democracy (NLD) leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other members of the political opposition.
Nambiar had also visited Burma shortly after elections were held last November.
According to NLD spokesman Nyan Win, Nambiar indicated that progress was being made in efforts to secure the release of Burma’s nearly 2,200 political prisoners.
“There is a plan for the release of the political prisoners, although it is difficult to say exactly when it will happen,” Nyan Win told RFA.
He added that Nambiar had requested that the U.N. station a permanent special envoy in Burma to monitor further political developments in the country.
“Nambiar’s last visit was purely a fact-finding mission, but during this visit he was hard at work,” Nyan Win said.
“We don’t know the details of what he discussed with the government officials, but we are convinced that the U.N. is working hard to help solve Burma’s problems.”
Opposition coalition
On Friday, Nambiar also met with the Democratic Party Friends (DPF), a group of 11 political parties which took part in the November 2010 elections, at the United Nations Development Program office in Rangoon.
Than Nyein, chairman of NLD splinter group the National Democratic Front (NDF), took part in the meeting and said that DPF members had welcomed the newly elected Burmese government’s commitment to political, economic, and social reforms.
But he said that much work remained for the government to demonstrate real progress in their implementation.
“In the meeting, we suggested to Nambiar that the government should announce a general amnesty law releasing all political prisoners,” he said.
“We also believe that the government should hold a union conference to bring all concerned parties together to end 60 years of infighting.”
Than Nyein said the DPF recommended that the government allot more resources to Burma’s economy, education, and health care and urged the U.N. to provide more aid for these sectors to match what it donates to other countries in the region.
“The U.N. faces restrictions on what it can do because it represents many different countries. It has tried many times in the past to solve Burma’s problems but has been largely unsuccessful,” he said.
“Now, the situation in Burma has changed and if they make an effort, there is a good chance they will get better results.”
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Following her meeting with Nambiar on Thursday, Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi had been more cautious on whether the new government would take meaningful steps forward in areas such as human rights, including the release of Burma’s political prisoners.
"We will have to wait and see... but we do not want to be negative," she said.
Nambiar’s visit is his second to Burma since taking over the position of special envoy from Ibrahim Gambari, who last visited in June 2009.
Nambiar met with Suu Kyi during his first visit in November, shortly after her release from house arrest.
He has said that Suu Kyi, whose NLD party won general elections in 1990 but was prevented from taking power by the military junta, should have a place in Burma’s new political environment.
Critics say Burma’s election lacked a legitimate opposition and was staged to ensure that members of the military junta would continue to hold the country’s top political positions in a nominally civilian government.
In the 2011 edition of its annual report, released Friday, Amnesty International condemned the Burmese government’s continued detention of political prisoners, saying it shows that little progress has been made since elections were held last year.
“The [Burmese] government may have tried to assuage some of the intense international and regional criticism by releasing Aung San Suu Kyi only a week after holding parliamentary elections,” the report said.
“But the ongoing detention of thousands of prisoners, many of them held in horrific conditions, countered any pretence of real concessions.”
Reported by Nyan Winn Aung and Win Naing for RFA’s Burmese service. Translated by Soe Win. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.
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