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Army-ruled Myanmar faced more pressure to stop the outrageous trial of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, as legal experts called for a UN probe into the regime's human rights abuses.
Diplomats were allowed to meet the Nobel Peace laureate and
observe her trial, but the rare concession failed to ease pressure
even from Myanmar's usually acquiescent neighbours.
"We are happy that the Myanmar authorities let our people see Daw
Suu Kyi, but it's not the end," Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya
said after diplomats from Thailand, Singapore and Russia met her at
a prison house.
"Our main objective is the release of all political prisoners that
will lead to national reconciliation," said Kasit, whose country
holds the rotating chair of the Association of South East Asian
Nations (ASEAN), which includes Myanmar.
Suu Kyi, 63, is charged with breaking the terms of her house arrest
after an uninvited American intruder swam to her Yangon home this
month.
Her two female assistants and the American, John Yettaw, are
also on trial.
Suu Kyi faces up to five years in jail if found guilty on what
critics say are trumped-up charges to silence her until after a
multi-party election in the former Burma in 2010.
Her current detention order expires on May 27 after a spell of
six years.
The special court held inside Yangon's notorious Insein Central
Prison was again closed to the media and public on Thursday, a day
after 30 diplomats and 10 Burmese journalists were allowed to
attend a 45-minute hearing.
Suu Kyi, who was treated recently for low blood pressure and
dehydration, appeared healthy and confident and told the visitors
she hoped to see them in better days.
State-run MRTV broadcast footage of her meeting the three
diplomats. It also showed what appeared to be prison staff quarters
where Suu Kyi is being held.
Outrageous trial
In Washington, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the upcoming
election would be illegitimate because of the treatment of the
charismatic leader of the National League for Democracy.
"It is outrageous that they are trying her and that they continue
to hold her because of her political popularity," Clinton told a
congressional hearing.
"It's our hope that this baseless trial will end with a quick
release of her and ... a return to some political involvement,
eventually, by her and her party," she added.
In 1990, the generals refused to hand power to Suu Kyi's National
League for Democracy (NLD) after it won a landslide election
victory, and launched a crackdown on the party.
Suu Kyi has been detained for more than 13 of the past 19 years,
most of them at her home in Yangon, guarded by police, her mail
intercepted and visitors restricted.
The United States renewed sanctions against the regime after Suu
Kyi was charged under a draconian security law a week ago.
European governments were weighing tougher sanctions and planned to
lobby their Asian counterparts at meetings in the region next week
to use their influence on the regime.
Analysts say the meetings in Hanoi and Phnom Penh were likely to
produce more words than action.
Although ASEAN warned the honour and credibility of its troublesome
member was at stake, it has consistently opposed sanctions in
favour of engaging with the generals.
In Cambodia, a group of MPs said Suu Kyi's trial was a test of
whether the ASEAN charter "has teeth and can be used effectively to
promote peace and stability in the region".
Critics fear the charter's proposed human rights body will be too
weak to sway a regime that has survived sanctions and ignored
countless ASEAN and UN envoys seeking to broker a dialogue between
the junta and opposition.
The UN Security Council faced new calls for an inquiry into rights
abuses in Myanmar, similar to those conducted for atrocities in
Darfur, Rwanda and Yugoslavia.
Systematic abuses strongly suggest Burma's military regime may be
committing crimes against humanity and war crimes prosecutable
under international law, said a report by five prominent
international jurists.
They wrote the forced displacement of over 3,000 villages in
eastern Burma, and widespread and systematic sexual violence,
torture, and summary execution of innocent civilians justified a UN
inquiry into crimes against humanity and war crimes.
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