The foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) reiterated Saturday during their meeting in Indonesia their support for their original plan to negotiate peace in Burma two years after the military coup that has plunged the country into chaos.
Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi highlighted the consensus exhibited by his counterparts of the regional organization during the second day of meetings when insisting on their so-called «five-point plan» to promote new democratic elections in Burma, where ASEAN is acting as mediator.
However, the Burmese military junta has bet this week for the prolongation of its regime with the declaration, last Wednesday, of a new extension of the state of emergency, on an anniversary that the dissidents have wanted to commemorate with a silent strike in several cities of the country.
The regime has agreed that the current state of emergency will remain in force for at least six more months, which opens the door to maintain a repression that was particularly evident in the weeks following the uprising against the government of Aung San Suu Kyi.
The Association for Assistance to Political Prisoners (AAPP) estimates that more than 17,600 people have been detained since the coup, while the death toll due to repression by the security forces is close to 3,000.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
