Open letter to ASEAN Leaders at the 13th ASEAN SUMMIT 18th – 22nd November, Singapore

November 9^th 2007

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has been held under house arrest for twelve of the past eighteen years. Today, as the people of Burma and the international community, wait expectantly for democratic reforms in Burma, she is still kept prisoner in her house.

Following UN Special Envoy Ibrahim Gambari’s mission to Burma, the military junta has appointed an officer, Mr Aung Kyi, to start dialogue with the opposition. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi said in a statement read out by Gambari in Singapore that “In the interest of the nation, I stand ready to cooperate with the government in order to make this process of dialogue a success” She said that for meaningful dialogue she needed to consult not only her political party but also the ethnic peoples of Burma.

On Friday, the junta allowed her to meet with three senior members of her party, the National League for Democracy. This is the first time she has been allowed to meet with members of her party in the last three years. Afterwards she met again with the mediator, Mr Aung Kyi and she said that it is time for the “healing process” to start.

We call on ASEAN leaders to urge the Burmese regime to start the healing process by freeing Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and all political prisoners. Genuine dialogue is not possible while Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and many of the leaders of the opposition are held behind prison walls, including the moral opposition, the monks and nuns.

The UN has called on the military junta to “create the necessary conditions, for a genuine dialogue” with Aung San Suu Kyi. This month, Indonesia holds the rotating presidency of the UN Security Council. According to a recent news report Indonesia’s president, Mr Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, has written a personal letter to Senior General Than Shwe urging the military government to immediately open dialogue with the opposition and to speed up the process of democratisation and to hold talks with Aung San Suu Kyi. We trust that Indonesia will continue this position both at the ASEAN Summit and within the UN Security Council.

ASEAN is 40 this year, the people of ASEAN want to celebrate its 40^th year, not turn away in shame.

We call on the leaders at the 13^th ASEAN Summit to demand that the SPDC immediately releases Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and all political prisoners.

Signed: