Here is a quick update following the elections held in Burma.
Election results
As expected, Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy has won a landslide election victory. A welcome development was that the pro-military Union Solidarity Development Party lost several seats, even in areas with many military bases.
Human rights activists in the country are not optimistic that human rights will improve during Aung San Suu Kyi’s second term in power. During the first term, human rights declined under Aung San Suu Kyi’s government. Human rights activists and minorities in the country will still need our support.
Political prisoners
At the time of Burma’s election on November 8th, Aung San Suu Kyi was keeping 229 political prisoners in jail.
The number of activists either in jail or awaiting trial was almost exactly the same as before the 2015 election when the military still ruled the country.
A total of 584 political activists are currently either in jail or awaiting trial. When Burma went to the polls in 2015, the military-backed government of President Thein Sein had a total of 598 political activists in jail or awaiting trial. Aung San Suu Kyi has just 14 fewer political activists in jail or awaiting trial.
These figures are based on information from the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners-Burma. They do not include more than 100,000 Rohingya which Aung San Suu Kyi keeps imprisoned in internment camps in Rakhine State.
We’ll be in touch soon with more news on our new campaign 'Aung San Suu Kyi’s Political Prisoners Must Be Freed!'
British support for Burma’s Apartheid election – a campaign success?
Burma’s Apartheid election was held with the support of the international community. British aid money was spent helping the Union Election Commission, the government body which blocked Rohingya candidates from standing and censored election statements by opposition parties. We have been lobbying the British government not to provide support for the holding of elections while the Burmese government bans people from voting because of their ethnicity and religion.
Now at last the British government has said it will “watch and assess” support to the Union Election Commission on the basis of principles of inclusion and impartiality. There is no way the British government can keep providing support if it applies these principles, and we will be watching to make sure they keep their word.
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