Burma Demands Attention: General Assembly President

By LALIT K JHA / UNITED NATIONS Monday, October 6, 2008
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UN General Assembly President Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann said Burma “is certainly one of the areas of our world that demands our attention and our solidarity."

Brockmann made his remarks during a briefing at the conclusion of the general debate of the UN General Assembly. He said his "solidarity with the people of Myanmar" remains, in response to a question on Burma.

The 63rd session of the United Nations General Assembly at UN headquarters. (Photo: AP)
Since he assumed the presidency of the General Assembly this session, Brockmann so far has maintained a silence on Burma, making no comments regarding violation of human rights, restoration of democracy or continued arrests of political activists in Burma.

When asked specifically what his plans were for Burma as the General Assembly president, he said: "We do not come here with a pre-conceived plan, or with the idea that the president of the General Assembly is going to solve all conflicts and they are going to have to accept my preconceived recipes for peace."

However, Brockmann, who is never shy of reflecting his anti-US agenda at the UN, said he is working on the Burma issue by getting the best and most reliable information from various sources.

"My job as president is to work with the General Assembly members, to gather [them] and come at some viable way of helping our brothers and sisters in Myanmar in whatever the difficulties are," he said.

"It is premature to tell you what exactly what those steps would be," he said. Discussions are currently in an initial, consultative phase that allows member states to gather objective information on the situation, he said.

Meanwhile, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, called for the release of Burma's political prisoners including detained democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

"We believe that there are still 2,000 political prisoners in Myanmar," said Pilly on Thursday during her first press conference since taking office. "We are asking the authorities in Rangoon to free them."

The high commissioner also called the detention of Suu Kyi "completely illegal, even in respect of the country's law."