Myanmar military denies meeting between Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and ASEAN Special Envoy, violating ASEAN Consensus, APHR strongly condemns

Yangon, July 8 The ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR) on July 7 strongly condemned the Myanmar military's refusal to grant a meeting between State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and ASEAN Special Envoy and Philippine Foreign Minister Ma. Theresa Lazaro, stating it is a violation of ASEAN's Five-Point Consensus on Myanmar. APHR stated that the military junta has repeatedly denied meetings with ASEAN Special Envoys to Daw Aung San Suu Kyi since November 2021, and that the latest rejection of the request from the Philippine Foreign Minister and ASEAN Special Envoy undermines ASEAN's peace efforts and further damages the credibility of the Five-Point Consensus. The Philippine government officially requested a meeting on May 6, following reports that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi had been moved to house arrest. However, on June 30, a spokesperson for the military junta stated that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is still serving a sentence and therefore cannot meet with international representatives, thus rejecting ASEAN's request. Mercy Chriesty Barends, Chairperson of APHR and Indonesian Parliamentarian, said that although the military junta announced that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi had been moved to house arrest, it has not allowed independent verification, making the announcement merely an attempt to reduce diplomatic pressure and not a truly positive development. APHR also referenced the report submitted by UN Special Rapporteur on Myanmar, Julie Bishop, to the UN General Assembly on June 19, which called for the immediate release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and highlighted that her health and current condition have not been independently verified for many years. Furthermore, APHR urged ASEAN's rotating Chair, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., and ASEAN member states to demand the immediate and unconditional release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and all political prisoners, to arrange for her family members, lawyers, and independent medical teams to meet her and verify her condition, to base further engagement with the military junta solely on the implementation of the ASEAN Five-Point Consensus, and to increase pressure not only on the military junta but also on its external supporters. APHR urged ASEAN leaders to base their re-engagement with the military junta on verifying that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is alive and on ensuring accountability, including the release of all political prisoners, given that the Myanmar military is even refusing the most fundamental ASEAN demand of allowing a meeting with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.