ASEAN envoy begins second visit to Myanmar without meeting Suu Kyi
Bangkok, Jun 29 (EFE).- ASEAN special envoy for Myanmar began his second visit to the country Wednesday, without permission to meet jailed deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Cambodian Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn, who took office at the beginning of the year, seeks to promote the implementation of the five points of consensus reached in April 2021 between the Southeast Asia leaders and Myanmar’s coupmaker. He said he aims to seek a peaceful solution to the crisis unleashed by the February 2021 coup.
Another of the key points of the visit, which ends Sunday, is to advance in the delivery of humanitarian aid and “contribute to building an environment conducive to inclusive political dialogue through meetings with all the parties involved,” read the statement issued by Cambodia’s foreign office.
The Cambodian foreign minister’s schedule has not been disclosed, although Myanmar military junta Spokesman Zaw Min Tun told EFE that Sokhonn “could meet with National League for Democracy members,” the ousted party headed by Suu Kyi.
The Myanmar politician, who won a Nobel Peace Prize in 1991, was transferred last week to a prison in Naypyitaw, where she is isolated from the rest of the inmates, after remaining under house arrest in an unknown location since the uprising.
The foreign minister called Sunday for an end to the imprisonment of Suu Kyi, 77, “in consideration of her fragile health and well-being.” It praised the “fundamental role” of the Myanmar leader “in the return of the country to normality and reconciliation through a peaceful political solution.”
Sokhonn called on the military regime to “start” dialogue with all parties involved in the conflict, including Suu Kyi and her supporters.
“Reconciliation cannot be expected when one of the parties to the conflict is left out of the equation,” he said before the trip.
Suu Kyi has been sentenced to 11 years in prison for various charges filed after the riot and she still faces a dozen accusations that, if found guilty in all of them, could lead to a combined sentence of more than 150 years in prison.
The military coup plunged Myanmar into a deep political, social and economic crisis, while opening a spiral of violence with new civilian militias that have exacerbated the guerrilla warfare the country has been experiencing for decades.
At least 2,037 people have died as a result of the brutal repression carried out by police and soldiers, who have shot to kill peaceful and unarmed protesters, according to data compiled by the Association for the Assistance of Political Prisoners. EFE
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