Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus (AIPMC) has demanded the Myanmar military junta release pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest during the junta's annual review of her detention on May 27.
""We are deeply concerned that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi will not be released when her term under house arrest comes up for review on May 27,"" the group said in a statement sent to The Jakarta Post on Thursday.
The military government, AIPMC said, has consistently extended Suu Kyi's house arrest since she was detained in May 2003.
The lawmakers urged Myanmar's military junta to act in accordance with international standards on human rights as followed by ASEAN countries and the international community.
""AIPMC calls on all governments in ASEAN and around the world to strongly and willfully be vocal in ensuring Daw Suu Kyi's detention is not extended,"" the lawmakers said.
Nobel Prize Laureate Suu Kyi has spent the past four years under house arrest. She has been detained without trial for a total of almost 11 out of the past 17 years.
The caucus also expressed firm support for Norway's former prime minister Kjell Magne Bondevik who has secured the endorsement of 50 former presidents and prime ministers around the world in a petition campaign calling for Suu Kyi's immediate and unconditional release.
The junta crushed pro-democracy demonstrations in 1988 and two years later rejected the results of national elections won by Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD).
The military, which has ruled the country since 1962, has spelled out a ""road map"" for democracy, including talks on a new constitution, but the NLD has boycotted the process.
ASEAN countries and the international community have been frustrated by the slow progress of democratization made by the junta.
The UN Security Council failed late last year to issue a resolution to hand down sanctions on Myanmar after a U.S.-backed draft was vetoed by China and Russia.
""We further repeat our calls to the United Nations and its Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to encourage and support a UN Security Council resolution on Burma (the former name of Myanmar) that would enable humanitarian and political intervention in the country's crisis,"" the caucus said.
""The people of Burma have repeatedly called on the free world to help them. We can't turn a deaf ear to their pleas,"" it added.
AIPMC member Djoko Susilo urged Indonesia, which will become UN Security Council president in September, to devise a new initiative to help solve the problem.
""We hope that as the UN Security Council president, Indonesia will discuss a solution for this issue. It's up to the Indonesian government as to whether or not the solution is in the form of a UN resolution or another initiative,"" he told the Post on Thursday.
Meanwhile, AFP reported Thursday that Myanmar's military government said the detention of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi was ""nothing unusual"" after a crackdown on supporters ahead of the review to decide whether she will be freed.
Some 55 supporters of Suu Kyi were arrested over the past two days as they went to temples to pray for the democracy leader's freedom ahead of the junta review of her detention.
""Those including Daw (Aung San) Suu Kyi who were under restrictions were detained for attempting to disrupt peace and tranquility and cause unrest in the country,"" pro-government newspaper the New Light of Myanmar reported.
""Arrest and detention like this are nothing unusual,"" the paper added.
