The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) is extremely concerned at the attack perpetrated against a parliamentarian-elect of the National League for Democracy (NLD) by an unidentified man. Mr. U Than Lwin was attacked on his way home from a free Daw Aung San Suu Kyi prayer meeting at the Alo Daw Pyait pagoda in Maddaya township in Myanmar.

Recalling the position adopted by the IPU Governing Council at its last meeting held during the 116th Assembly of the IPU in Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia, in May 2007, the IPU condemns the continuing violence and the deliberate policy of the authorities of Myanmar to deprive its people of their right to be represented by persons of their own choosing, as guaranteed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The IPU wishes to reiterate that any transition towards democracy will fail so long as it is not genuinely free, transparent and reflective of the people’s will, and preceded by the unconditional release of all political prisoners and the lifting of all restrictions on human rights and political activity;

It also deplores the lack of will on the part of the authorities to address these long-standing concerns and urges them once again to release forthwith the 12 parliamentarians-elect still imprisoned, and to engage in a genuine dialogue with those elected in the 1990 elections and with the ethnic leaders.

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Established in 1889 and with its Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, the IPU, the oldest multilateral political organisation, currently brings together 147 affiliated parliaments and seven regional assemblies as associate members. The world organisation of parliaments has an Office in New York, which acts as its Permanent Observer at the United Nations. In 1976, it created the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians. The Committee meets in camera four times a year to ensure that the human rights of the world's parliamentary community - composed of more than 40'000 members - are respected. It has contributed to the settlement of a large number of over the 500 cases in more than 100 countries that it has examined since its creation.
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Contact for additional information or interviews:

Mrs. Luisa Ballin, IPU Information Officer 5, ch. du Pommier, CH - 1218 Le Grand-Saconnex / Geneva Phone: +41 22 919 41 16 Fax: +41 22 919 41 60 E-mail: lb@mail.ipu.org or cbl@mail.ipu.org Mrs. Ingeborg Schwarz, Programme Manager of the IPU Human Rights Programme 5, ch. du Pommier, CH - 1218 Le Grand-Saconnex / Geneva Phone: +41 22 919 41 42 E-mail: is@mail.ipu.org and Mr. Rogier Huizenga, Programme Officer Tel.: +41 22 919 41 24 E-mail: rh@mail.ipu.org