Last week, MEPs have discussed Burma’s people situation in Parliament. The opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize Aung San Suu Kyi is held under house arrest since 1990.

The country will have the first elections after 20 years, marked by internal conflict, but this doesn’t mean that the state of affairs in relation to the respect of human rights and to democratic rule is getting any better. French MEP Marie-Christine Vergiat for the GUE/NGL group pointed that "the last democratically elected MPs were in 1990. They were all arrested or forced to resign. It is reported that there are more than 2,000 political prisoners".

The elections seem no more than a pretense for the military regime to legitimise its rule for the outside world. "If elections are held in accordance with a constitution drafted by the army, they would merely legitimise five decades of military rule and give the military 25% of the seats in Parliament", it was said during the discussion.

Following the debate MEPs voted on a resolution which was unanimously adopted. It called for the “immediate release of Aung San Suu Kyi and for the bar on her taking part in 2010 parliamentary elections to be lifted”. It also called for “the freeing of all political prisoners and the rights to free assembly and for the military Junta to guarantee the protection of civilians in internal fighting with the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army and other opposition groups”.

MEPs also want “the European Commission's Humanitarian Aid office (ECHO) to reconsider its decision to further cut support to refugees on the Thai-Burma border”. At present there are around 140,000 refugees in camps along the border.

Background: In 1990, the military junta called a general election, which the National League for Democracy won by an overwhelming 82% of the votes. Being the NLD's candidate, Aung San Suu Kyi under normal circumstances would have assumed the office of Prime Minister. Instead, the results were nullified, and the military refused to hand over power. This resulted in an international objection. Aung San Suu Kyi was placed under house arrest at her home in Rangoon. During her arrest, she was awarded the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought in 1990, and the Nobel Peace Prize the year after. Her sons Alexander and Kim accepted the Nobel Peace Prize on her behalf. Aung San Suu Kyi used the Nobel Peace Prize's 1.3 million USD prize money to establish a health and education trust for the Burmese people. One of her most famous speeches is the "Freedom From Fear" speech, which begins, "It is not power that corrupts but fear. Fear of losing power corrupts those who wield it and fear of the scourge of power corrupts those who are subject to it."