Myanmar’s Human Rights Record Is ‘Grave,’ U.N. Committee Says

A U.N. committee on Friday issued a resolution expressing great concern over Myanmar’s “grave human rights situation.”

The resolution was adopted by consensus in the Third Committee, which considers human rights and social issues, despite objections by diplomats in Myanmar that it constitutes interference in internal affairs.

The resolution also welcomes the award of the 1991 Nobel Peace Price to human rights champion Aung San Suu Kyi.

Suu Kyi, the leader of Myanmar’s pro-democratic opposition, which won national elections in May, 1990, has been under house arrest for more than two years. Myanmar’s military junta has refused to turn over power to the winners of the election.

The U.N. committee’s resolution, which supports appeals for Suu Kyi’s release, will be passed on to the General Assembly, which is expected to approve it. Assembly resolutions are not legally binding, but they carry weight as the expression of the will of the international community. It will be the first time that the human rights situation in Myanmar, formerly called Burma, has been considered by the General Assembly.

Also Friday, an official in Bangkok, Thailand, announced that Suu Kyi will be allowed to receive letters from her family.

Suu Kyi’s British husband, Michael Aris, made the request for correspondence privileges through Thai Prime Minister Anand Panyarachun. Thai diplomats relayed the message to Myanmar’s military leaders, who approved the request on the condition that the letters be sent unsealed, a source at the Thai Foreign Ministry said.

Aris, who is a visiting professor at Harvard University, has had no contact with his wife since he received a letter from her on July 17, 1990. He last saw her at Christmas, 1989.

Aris and the couple’s two sons plan to accept Suu Kyi’s Peace Prize for her in Oslo on Dec. 10.