Stephen Harper condemns sentencing of Burma's Aung San Suu Kyi

Prime Minister Stephen Harper issued today (August 11) this statement on the decision of Myanmar's rulers to sentence 1991 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi to 18 months of house arrest:

Canada strongly condemns the Burmese regime’s decision to sentence Aung San Suu Kyi to a further 18 months house arrest.

This decision is clearly not in accordance with the rule of law: the charges laid against her were baseless and her trial did not come close to meeting international standards of due process. Her continued detention is unwarranted, unjustified, and vindictive.

Canada believes the Burmese regime has manufactured an excuse to keep Aung San Suu Kyi in detention to ensure she will not be able to participate in the proposed 2010 elections. This is just the latest evidence that this regime is not serious about pursuing legitimate democratic elections in Burma. Canada calls for the regime to unconditionally free all political prisoners and allow all citizens, including opposition groups, to freely participate in the electoral process.

Canada is appalled by the ongoing repressive actions of the Burmese regime and its continued disregard for the fundamental freedoms and basic human rights of the people of Burma. We have imposed the toughest sanctions in the entire world against the regime to protest its treatment of its people. We are proud to have conferred honorary Canadian citizenship on Aung San Suu Kyi in recognition of her ongoing struggle to promote freedom and democracy in Burma.

We will continue to stand with the people of Burma and insist that their human rights be respected and their voices heard.

Comments

1 Comments

Smartiepants

Aug 12, 2009 at 6:11am

very interesting that canada is appaled by what is going on in burma.
why don't we look at home first and see who's human rights several canadian governments have not respected. i can come up with several names of people who have been kicked out of the country even though the courts said they couldn't be and so on and on and on. people who have been incarcerated even though the laws under which they were incarcerated were declared unconstitutional by the courts. governments are the same everywhere. none have any respect for the fundamental freedoms, liberties and rights of the people. they are only interested in controlling the people.