DECLARATION
Of Members of Parliaments Throughout the
World in Solidarity with the Democratically Elected
Members of the Parliament of Burma

Whereas, the people of Burma elected their representatives in free and fair elections on 27 May 1990; and

Whereas, these democratically elected representa-tives were denied their legitimate right to serve as members of parliament and continue to be the only democratically elected parliamentarians in the world who are barred from taking their oath of office; and

Whereas, the Inter-Parliamentary Union has cited the arresting, detaining and sentencing of duly elected members of parliament under laws considered by United Nations Human Rights bodies to be in breach of international civil and political rights standards; (Resolution adopted by the Council of the Inter-Parliamentary Union at its 165th Session, Berlin, 16 October 1999) and

Whereas, according to the National League for Democracy (NLD), which won 392 of the 485 seats in the 27 May 1990 elections, as many as 55 of the elected representatives of the people of Burma were in detention as of March of 2000; that conditions of detention are reported to include torture, the lack of proper medical care and insufficient food; and five elected members of parliament have died while in detention; and

Whereas, the United Nations Commission on Human Rights has cited "increasingly severe and systematic violations of human rights in Myanmar" (United Nations Commission on Human Rights, fifty fifth session, 1999); and

Whereas, the International Labor Conference of the International Labor Organization has cited the continued imposition of forced labor on the people of Myanmar by the ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) (Resolution on the Widespread Use of Forced Labor in Myanmar, International Labor Conference, 87th Session, Geneva, June 1999);

Therefore, we, democratically elected members of parliaments from throughout the world, declare our support for and solidarity with the elected members of parliament of Burma and call upon the military government of Burma to:

1. Release immediately and unconditionally all MPs-elect and end all violations of human rights imposed on the people of Burma;

2. Recognize the right of the duly elected representatives of Burma to convene the parliament and immediately cease all restrictions against them; and

3. Agree to join the National League for Democracy and the representatives of ethnic nationalities in a dialogue to achieve a peaceful transition to democracy.

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