resolution adopted at its 171st session (September 2002),
Recalling that not only have the election results of 27 May 1990, in which the National League for Democracy (NLD) won 392 of the 485 seats, not been implemented, but also many MPs-elect have been eliminated from the political process through arbitrary means, including their arbitrary arrest, detention and sentencing under laws infringing basic international human rights standards,
Considering that, according to the source, the health of seven of the imprisoned MPs-elect, Dr. Than Nyein, Mr. Ohn Maung and Mr. Sein Hla Oo, Dr. Min Kyi Win, Dr. Min Soe Lin, Dr. May Win Myint and Mr. Do Thaung is gradually deteriorating; noting that the latter MP-elect was released on 2 June 2003 owing to his deteriorating health;
Considering that on 30 May 2003, following an attack on the motorcade of Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi in the north of the country where she was travelling, scores of NLD supporters were arrested and several were killed; Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi and 17 senior NLD officials have since been placed under "protective custody", NLD offices have reportedly been closed and all telephone lines of NLD officials in the region where the incident occurred have been disconnected,
Considering that during and after the incident, according to the source, the following MPs-elect were arrested: Mr. Ba Ba, Mr. Bo Maung, Mr. Bo Zan, Mr. Paw Khin, Mr. Tin Aung Aung, Mr. Tin Htut Oo, Mr. Tun Myaing, Ms. Daw Mae Hnin Kyi, Mr. Saw Hlaing, Mr. Myint Kyi, Mr. Hla Maung, Mr. Hla Min, Mr. Myint Thein, Thein Oo, Dr. Hla Soe Nyunt and Mr. Soe Win; considering also that the latter five MP-elects have since reportedly been released and that one of them, Mr. Soe Win, at the time of his release had head and eye injuries and was unable to speak or walk and has nearly gone blind since, reportedly as a result of torture by Military Intelligence officials and of an attempted suicide to avoid further interrogation, allegations which are denied by the military; considering further that MPs-elect Mr. Aung Shwe, Mr. Lwin, Mr. Soe Myint, Mr. Than Tun, Mr. Nyunt Wai, Mr. Hla Pe, Mr. Lun Tin and Mr. Kyi Maung are said to be under house arrest since then, while five other MPs (Mr. Hla Maung, Mr. Maung Maung Latt, Mr. Myint Kyi, Mr. Saw Aung, Mr. Saw Hlaing) have reportedly disappeared and may be held at an unknown location,
Considering that, according to the source, military intelligence personnel arrested Mr. Win Myint Aung, NLD MP-elect, and, after a hearing in the prison, sentenced him on 21 May 2003 together with two other NLD officials to two years' imprisonment, reportedly on the grounds of his criticism of the military government; that MP-elect Aung Soe Myint was sentenced for a minor motorcycle accident to a seven-year prison term on 19 September 2003 even though he was reportedly not at fault and the victim of the accident had pleaded in his favour; the source affirms that the real reasons for the sentence are related to Aung Soe Myint's efforts to organise an event for the 15th anniversary of the historic "8.8.88" pro-democracy movement,
Noting that the IPU Secretary General met the Deputy Permanent Representative of the Union of Myanmar to the United Nations Office in Geneva on 23 March 2003, who undertook to relay the concerns in this case to the authorities,
Considering that the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Myanmar, Mr. Pinheiro, abruptly ended his last mission in March 2003 after discovering a listening device while interviewing political prisoners in Insein Prison, and on the occasion of his last visit, concluded that the situation in Myanmar would not improve until there was "substantive progress in the process of national reconciliation and political transition",
Recalling that talks started in October 2000 between the military regime and the NLD leader, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, which initially led to the release of several MPs-elect and to the easing of some of the constraints on the operation of legal political parties; noting that on 30 August 2003, Gen. Khin Nyunt announced a "road map" for Myanmar's future, which included as the first step the reconvening of the National Convention adjourned in 1996,
- Is shocked at the violent attack on Ms. Aung Suu Kyi and her entourage, which included many MPs-elect who were accompanying her in the north of the country, exercising their right to freedom of movement and assembly; stresses that the authorities have a duty to conduct an independent and impartial investigation into the incident;
- Is alarmed that since 30 May 2003, a total of 26 MP-elect were reportedly arrested, are under house arrest or are said to have disappeared; notes that five of them have since been released; expresses deep concern that one of them, Mr. Soe Win, was reportedly tortured at the hands of military officials;
- Urges the authorities, as is their duty, to establish the whereabouts of the MPs-elect who have disappeared and to investigate the allegations of torture in the case of Mr. Soe Win;
- Expresses serious concern at the arrest of Mr. Myint Aung and Mr. Aung Suu Myint;
- Fears, in the light of the information on file, that the above MPs-elect were arrested as a result of having exercised their human rights, in particular their freedom of speech, of assembly and of movement;
- Strongly urges the authorities to release forthwith all the imprisoned MPs-elect;
- Deeply regrets that, despite the Secretary General's meeting with the Deputy Permanent Representative of Myanmar in Geneva and repeated requests, the authorities have still not seen fit to provide the requested information in this case;
- Reiterates its belief that the only way for Myanmar to break out of its political and institutional stalemate will be through the immediate and unconditional release of all the detained MPs-elect, the removal of the ban on political activities, the establishment of institutions that are genuinely representative of the people's will and a sustained dialogue with the political opposition and with the international community;
- Fears that the attack of 30 May 2003 and the renewed arrest of the leader of the NLD will seriously undermine efforts under way to bring about the much needed political changes in Myanmar; urges the authorities therefore to resume without delay the dialogue started in October 2000 with the NLD and its leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi;
- Expresses serious doubts about the recently presented "road map", step one of which suggests that the National Convention to be reconvened; reaffirms its conviction that the National Convention is designed to prolong and legitimise military rule against the will of the people, as expressed in the 1990 elections, and thus stands in direct opposition to the principle enshrined the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that the "will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government";
- Is convinced that stronger and more concerted action is needed by members of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, at the national and the international levels, to press for the respect of democratic principles in Myanmar and to show their solidarity with their elected colleagues from the Pyithu Hluttaw, inter alia by supporting the Committee Representing the People's Parliament established in 1998 and by setting up parliamentary support groups and campaigns;
- Appreciates the fact that the parliaments of Germany, Sudan and Zambia have informed the IPU of action they have taken to this end; sincerely hopes that more responses will be forthcoming;
- Reiterates its wish to carry out an on-site mission with a view to making progress towards a satisfactory settlement of this case;
- Requests the Secretary General to bring this resolution to the attention of the authorities of Myanmar and the source;
- Requests the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians to continue examining this case and report to it at its next session to be held on the occasion of the 110th Assembly.
* MPs-elect having reportedly been released since then.
