The Myanmar junta has released 91 members of Aung San Suu Kyi’s pro-democracy party, in an apparent bid to deflect international pressure over her continued detention.
The announcement this week came as European and Asian foreign ministers arrived in Bali for their annual Asia-Europe Meeting (Asem) gathering on Thursday. Discussion of possible action against Myanmar was expected to overshadow other issues.
Foreign diplomats in the Myanmar capital, Rangoon, said they received a letter from the junta on Tuesday listing the releases of the members of the National League for Democracy and saying they took place over three weeks from June 26.
The 91 were among an undisclosed number of league members picked up with Suu Kyi after her convoy was allegedly ambushed by government-paid thugs and soldiers on May 30.
”It is now learned that altogether 91 have been released so far and sent home,” a foreign diplomat said, quoting from the Foreign Ministry letter.
There was no mention of Suu Kyi or of how many others remain in detention.
Witnesses to the ambush believe hundreds were rounded up and as many as 80 killed. Neither the Foreign Ministry nor the league, which has since been virtually shut down, was available for comment. Chris Patten, the European Union commissioner for external relations, who addressed Asem on Thursday, said it was ”very difficult to take seriously what [the junta] is saying”.
International pressure has steadily mounted since the ambush. The United States has voted to increase its unilateral sanctions on the regime, but the EU and Asian nations remain divided on what to do.
Asem is generally a forum for dialogue rather than action, but European ministers are strongly lobbying for decisive intervention, buoyed by indications that some South-East Asian states are willing to act. Malaysia said at the weekend that Myanmar might be expelled from the Association of South-East Asian Nations if it did not release Suu Kyi. Thailand and Indonesia continue to favour ”constructive engagement”. Myanmar is not a member of Asem, and will not be represented at the meeting.
Germany frustrated attempts to find a common EU approach last week when it blocked any increase in the sanctions. More than 230 British MPs have signed an early-day motion demanding unilateral action if the EU fails to act. The British government has not responded formally, but is known to favour a coordinated approach with its EU partners. — Â