Joint Statement of Friends of Burma and Burmese Democratic Force in Canada

Joint Statement of Friends of Burma and Burmese democratic forces in Canada

May 18, 2009

We, Burma supporters and Burmese Canadians, are dismayed to see new charges against Burmese democracy leader and 1991 Nobel Peace Prize winner Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and the transfer of her and her two caregivers to the notorious Insein Prison in Rangoon.Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, is Burma’s most celebrated and beloved person in the struggle for democratic governance in Burma. She has been under house arrest continuously since May 2003 and for a total of more than 13 of the past 19 years. The release from her house arrest was due on the 27th of May. However, on May 13, Daw Suu and her two female caretakers were detained after an incident when an American national allegedly swam across Inya Lake and stayed at her house for two days. Aung San Suu Kyi has been charged under the regime’s Law Safeguarding the State from the Dangers of Subversive Elements and is being held in Insein Prison. Her trial is scheduled for May 18.Her health has deteriorated recently, and due to the tight restrictions of her detention, she has often been denied access to her doctor, who was arrested last Thursday for coming to see her for a monthly visit.We believe that the intrusion of the American citizen into her residence by swimming across Inya Lake is either a set-up by the Burmese military junta, or the foolish behavior of the American in question. Nevertheless, this incident has been used as a pretext by the military junta to continue the detention of Burma's democracy leader.We appreciate the actions of the Government of Canada and international community in speaking out against this injustice. Since Aung San Suu Kyi is an ‘Honorary Citizen of Canada' we call on the Canadian government to take further strong action if the junta continues to detain her.We are demanding that the members of the U.N. Security Council, particularly China, and the countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), urgently intervene to secure Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s release from the notorious Insein prison and the release of all political prisoners in Burma.We will show our deepest concern for her well-being and our strong solidarity with her in a ‘Global Day of Action’ scheduled on May 18, 2008, by holding protests in Ottawa, Toronto and Vancouver.We urge all freedom loving Canadians to join us in our action in support of Aung San Suu Kyi and freedom and democracy in Burma.

Signed by –

New Democratic Party, Canada (NDP Canada)

International Burmese Monks Organization (Canada Branch)

Canadian Friends of Burma

Canadian Campaign for Free Burma

National League for Democracy (Canada Branch)

Burmese Students’ Democratic Organization (Canada)

Burma Forum CanadaBurmese Muslim Association (Canada)

United Democratic Youth League (Canada Branch)

Students for a Free Tibet

Contacts:We should have contacts for each cities i.e. Toronto, Ottawa and Vancouver.