By IRNA,
Tehran : A United Nations independent human rights expert Wednesday urged Myanmar’s Government to “keep its promise” to ensure that upcoming national elections in the Asian country are transparent and inclusive enough to be considered credible.
“The Government of Myanmar has not yet responded to pleas from inside and outside the country for conditions that allow credible elections,” the UN Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights Situation in Myanmar, Tomás Ojea Quintana, said in a statement released yesterday, on the eve of a key deadline for political party registration.
“Now is the time that the government could show its sincerity in achieving peace and progress for the people of Myanmar by freeing all prisoners of conscience, including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, to take part in these momentous elections.
“Such a release of prisoners of conscience would allow political parties that have decided against participation to reconsider, and would facilitate the active participation of all citizens in this landmark process.”
Ms. Suu Kyi, leader of the party known as the National League for Democracy (NLD), was sentenced last August to an additional 18 months of house arrest, effectively barring her from taking part in the polls. The Nobel Peace Prize laureate was reportedly convicted of violating State security laws after an uninvited United States citizen gained access to her home.
A date for the national elections – the first in Myanmar in two decades – has yet to be announced, but the Government issued election laws in early March, a press release issued by the UN Information Center (UNIC) said here on Thursday.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has said that the laws do not seem to measure up to the international community’s expectations of what is needed for an inclusive process.
Quintana noted that they include some provisions for fair elections, such as the counting of votes in each polling station in the presence of the candidates or their nominated agents and members of the public.
However, he voiced concerns that the powers granted to the Electoral Commission could impede the activities of political parties unless the government made guarantees to allow full freedom of expression and assembly.
“These elections are important for the people of Myanmar and provide an opportunity for real improvement in the human rights situation. However, the government needs to ensure that these elections are credible – they must be open to full participation, they must be transparent, and they must be conducted in a manner that allows for free and fair choice by the people of Myanmar.”
Quintana reports to the UN Human Rights Council, which is based in Geneva, in an independent and unpaid capacity.