WILPF Statement on Situation in Burma
The Women's International League for Peace and Freedom
sends greetings, solidarity and support to citizens of Burma, who
courageously and non-violently stand up for peace and freedom in
their country.
A reign of terror has prevailed in Burma since 1962, the population
being brutally repressed by a military dictatorship; women have suffered
in terrible and specific ways.
The international community has tolerated this military junta far too
long. Its silence has protected a culpable economic exploitation by
actors who must be made to cease their profiteering and deal-making
with the regime, currently headed by General Than Shwe. The current
culture of impunity must come to an end, and those who have committed
grave violations of international humanitarian law must be justly prosecuted.
WILPF calls on all Member States of the United Nations to:
Refuse the credentials of the Myanmar delegation to the 62nd UN General
Assembly, recalling the precedent of the GA's refusal to recognise
the apartheid regime as representative of South Africa's population
on 13 November 1970 in Resolution 2636;
Utilize the current meeting of the Human Rights Council to re-establish
the Special Procedure on Myanmar and call for implementation of
the recommendations of Special Rappoteur Mr. Paulo Sergio Pinheiro
(Brazil);
Consider the reports of the Special Rappoteurs on Myanmar and call
on the Burmese Regime to allow them access to the country for the first
time since 2003;
Demand that UN humanitarian actors be given access to provide needed
assistance to the estimated 500,000 internally displaced persons;
Demand that Aung Sung Sui Kyi be released from house arrest and permitted
to exercise her political and human rights and freely enter the UN
house;
Exert pressure on the Than Shwe military regime that it respect
the peaceful demonstrations for democracy currently taking place
in Burma; and
Call on the military regime to engage in immediate talks with the democracy
leaders, who maintain a long-held position of non-violence and support
for dialogue and negotiation.
The terror and profiteering in Burma must end - the time for decisive
action is now.
24 September 2007
Susi Snyder, Secretary General
Women's International League for Peace and Freedom
1, rue de Varembe, Case Postale 28, 1211 Geneva 20, Switzerland
Telephone: +41 22 919 7080 Fax: +41 22 919 7081 www.wilpf.ch
WILPF Australian
Section Annual Report 2006 pdf
WILPF Quarterly Magazine "Peace and Freedom" currrent
issue (1.3MB)
Dear Minister,
Re: Federal Government’s Intervention
in Indigenous Communities in the Northern Territory
We write on behalf of the Australian Section of the Women’s
International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF). Since our founding
in 1915, WILPF has worked for social and racial justice, human
rights, the environment and an end to war as a means of dealing
with human conflicts.
We are in complete agreement with the Federal Government on the
need for urgent action against child sexual abuse in indigenous
communities in the Northern Territory (NT). It is indeed as the
Anderson/Wild report concluded a “national emergency”.
WILPF therefore welcomes the Federal Government’s willingness
to grapple with these difficult issues.
We must also note however that a similar degree of child sexual
abuse exists in other parts of the Australian community and, while
addressing the problems in the NT, it is important to guard against
further stereotyping of indigenous Australians as if to say that
their communities are in some way unique in regard to child sex
abuse or domestic violence. They are not. Anything that appears
to suggest this is dangerous as it adds fuel to the fire of racism
that is prevalent in our society and makes real progress in addressing
indigenous disadvantage so difficult. ..........
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