CALD Resolution No. 5 S. 2007

Aware that that there have been recent protests in Burma over the rise in the price of petroleum products;

Saddened that in the past, the repressive State Peace and Development Council and its civil militia have resorted to violent dispersals and brutal suppression of dissent;

Appalled that Burmese monks, students, members of the National League of Democracy, and 88 Generation student leader Min Ko Naing were among the more 200 protesters arrested;

Concerned that only today, Burmese police have used batons to beat back protesters including monks at the Rangoon pagoda used as the rallying-point for marchers;

The Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats hereby:

Deplores the current spate of violence in Burma and the continued and unabated suppression of the Burmese people who have been deprived of their basic rights and freedoms for several decades now;

Recognizes that the economic problems besetting Burma as evidenced by the recent fuel price hike have merely exacerbated the people’s desperation and frustration;

Welcomes the peaceful assemblies and protests of the Burmese people and appeals to the SPDC not to use force and to respect the people’s basic rights and freedoms;

Notes the need for a swift resolution through a political dialogue with the NLD, a political party that has the mandate of the people considering its landslide electoral victory in 1990;  

Calls on the international community and in particular the United National Security Council to support the calls for political dialogue;

Urges the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, as well as Burma’s influential neighbors, China and India, to pressure the ruling SPDC generals to make the necessary political reforms to help alleviate the political and economic woes of the Burmese people and to promote regional stability and security;

Reiterates its calls for the unconditional release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, U Khun Htun Oo, Ko Min Ko Naing and all other political prisoners.

For the Council of Asian Liberals & Democrats:  

(sgd)
Senator Franklin M. Drilon
Senator, Philippine Senate
Chairman, Council of Asian Liberals & Democrats  

September 26, 2007
Makati City, Philippines