23 March 2010: The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), an exiled dissident organization assisting and advocating on behalf of prisoners of conscience in Burma today repeats its call on the junta to unconditionally release all political prisoners and immediately repeal unjust laws that criminalize legitimate political activity, including the new electoral laws that bar dissidents.
The AAPP today observes its 10th founding anniversary in exile in Thailand. The group is composed of formers political prisoners whose mission is to highlight the situation and profile of political prisoners in Burma, and to assist political prisoners and their families.
“We ask the international community to press the ruling military regime to unconditionally release all political prisoners, allow for a transparent review of the 2008 constitution and to create a condition for the emergence of a tripartite dialogue,” says the AAPP today.
Tripartite dialogue is a term first used by the United Nations General Assembly in its resolution of 1994, which refers to a political dialogue consisting of the ruling military regime, the democratic opposition led by the victor of the 1990 elections and the representatives of Burma’s ethnic nationalities with an aim for national reconciliation and genuine democratic in a one of the longest military-run countries in the world.
The group condemns the recently-promulgated election laws that unfairly restrict the ability of political parties and their leading candidates, including Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and Khun Htun Oo, as well as, other prisoners of conscience to freely participate in the junta-planned elections.
Since its founding, the AAPP has championed the rights of political prisoners in Burma. It has been instrumental in keeping the world informed about the situations of prisoners of conscience, as well as, assisting the families of former political prisoners in one of the most repressive and secretive nation.
“The international community should be ready to denounce the Burma’s 2010 elections if the junta fails to comply with world demands, including the release of all political prisoners, a review of the 2008 constitution, and the conduct of free elections that also allow members of the current and former political prisoners to contest,” the statement says.
Chinland Guardian
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