The Burmese military junta on Friday rejected the request made the day before by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to implement without delay the peace plan designed by the organization as the main international mediator in the Burmese conflict.
At their meeting on Thursday, the ASEAN countries declared their weariness after the lack of progress following the military’s coup d’état in February last year, one that saw the country’s democratically elected leaders imprisoned and unleashed a wave of military repression against dissidents, followed by an armed uprising by both armed rebel groups and self-proclaimed popular resistance volunteers.
The ASEAN countries told the Burmese authorities that «the time had come to act», promoting «concrete measures, practices and timelines» to end a «critical» and «fragile» situation due to the «complexity» of the «protracted» conflicts in the country.
In response, the military junta has indicated that any international pressure maneuver «will end up generating more negative than positive implications», according to a statement from the Burmese Foreign Ministry reported by the opposition-linked daily ‘The Irrawaddy’.
In its note, published on its Facebook page, the Ministry assures that «the State Administrative Council», official name of the junta, «has been trying to restore democracy in Burma since a coup which it describes as «the assumption of state responsibility».
The Ministry also recalls that Burma was not present at Thursday’s meeting in Jakarta, Indonesia, so any statements made there «are not in line with the principles enshrined in the ASEAN Charter» and the junta is therefore «not bound by the terms» resulting from the meeting.
The Ministry once again describes the National Unity Government, formed by former members of the Burmese government now in exile, as a «terrorist organization» which it accuses of engaging in «violent activities to disrupt its efforts» for peace.
«Despite challenges and undue pressure from within and outside the country,» the Government of Burma maintains that it continues to cooperate to «materialize» the ASEAN peace plan, the so-called five-point consensus that calls among other things for the opening of a dialogue process, an end to armed violence and repression, as well as the resumption of the process for the entry of humanitarian aid from the country.
The Burmese opposition accuses the junta of the death of almost 2,400 people in its repressive operations since the coup d’état and estimates that more than 12,000 are illegally detained awaiting trial, according to the NGO Association for Political Prisoners of Burma (AAPP).
Earlier this week, the military junta was forced to make another public statement to deny its involvement in a bombing of a music festival in Kachin State, in the north of the country, which reportedly left at least 75 civilians dead, according to the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) armed rebel group.
