The U.S. government on Wednesday denounced the extension of the state of emergency imposed by the military junta that has ruled Burma since the coup d’état two years ago.
«The United States strongly opposes the Burmese military regime’s decision to extend the state of emergency, prolonging the military’s illegitimate rule and the suffering it inflicts on the country,» said State Department spokesman Ned Price.
In addition, the U.S. spokesman reaffirmed, «in the third year since the unjust and destabilizing coup,» the U.S. commitment to support the Burmese people in achieving «their aspirations for an inclusive and democratic Burma,» according to a statement from the Department.
Price assured that Washington will continue to «work with allies and partners to support the efforts of the pro-democracy movement» in the country, as well as «deny international credibility to the regime», two years after the coup d’état.
It has also pledged to press the military junta to fulfill its commitments to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to implement without delay the peace plan designed by the body as the main international mediator.
The regime had agreed hours earlier that the current state of emergency would remain in force for at least six more months, opening the door to maintaining a crackdown that was particularly evident in the weeks following the uprising against the government of Aung San Suu Kyi.
In these two years, some 2,940 people have lost their lives as a result of this repression, according to the Association for Assistance to Political Prisoners (AAPP), an NGO that updates daily data on abuses by the authorities. The organization estimates that more than 13,700 people remain in detention for opposing the junta.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
