Mizzima
312 Myanmar and Thai civil society organisations (CSOs) have written an open letter to the Thai government rejecting its description of Aung San Suu Kyi as the ‘former’ State Counsellor and Win Myint as the ‘former’ President.
Below is the text of the open letter that was sent to the Thai Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Parnpree Bahiddha-Nukara, on 21 April 2024
We are writing as members of Thai and Myanmar civil society to express concerns and to seek clarifications over your 17 April statement on Myanmar. In the statement, it is stated that “The Thai Government welcomes reports that former State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, and former President Win Myint have been moved from prison to their homes as a positive step in responding to the concerns of the international community.”
We wish to express our concerns at the statement’s description of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s position as “former State Counsellor” and U Win Myint’s position as “former President”. By designating their positions as “former”, the statement suggests that the Government of Thailand endorses the Myanmar military’s illegal coup attempt in which it has tried to remove State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and President U Win Myint from their positions.
We note that this diverges from the position of ASEAN and from UN Security Council Resolution 2669 on Myanmar. Within ASEAN, State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi continues to be listed as a member of the ASEAN Coordinating Council and ASEAN nowhere refers to her as “former State Counsellor”. UN Security Council resolution 2669, which expresses “deep concern at the ongoing arbitrary detention of State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint, among others”, also does not designate their positions as “former”. We further note that previous Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs statements did not refer to the position of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi as “former”.
We reject the use of “former” to describe the positions of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and U Win Myint. It is against the democratic principles and will of the Myanmar people, who have categorically rejected the military’s illegal coup attempt over the past three years. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi continues to hold the position of State Counsellor and U Win Myint continues to hold the position of President in the interim National Unity Government, which is the legitimate government of Myanmar.
Designating their positions as “former” feeds into the junta’s false narrative that they are the government and only emboldens them to continue committing their international crimes, which has also impacted
regional stability and human security. We therefore request you to retract the description that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and U Win Myint’s positions are “former” and urge the Royal Thai Government to cease any actions that legitimise the junta as if it were the government in Myanmar.
We also request clarification regarding Thailand’s claim that the State Counsellor and President have been moved to their homes. This information is contrary to comments made by the junta’s spokesperson in the media, “Not only Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and U Win Myint but also some [other] older prisoners were given necessary care since the weather is extremely hot.” The junta has not stated that State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and President U Win Myint were moved to their homes. On April 18, independent news media the Irrawaddy reported that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi remained in prison in Naypyidaw.
The Myanmar military has long utilised tactics of making window-dressing attempts and façade concessions that aim to deceive the international community when in fact the junta is committing war crimes and crimes against humanity daily and are all the more desperate as they are rapidly losing territory. We reiterate that we strongly reject the Myanmar military’s attempted coup and any steps to legitimise them. The Myanmar military has long acted with blanket impunity and must be held accountable for their atrocity crimes under international law.
As Thai and Myanmar civil society, we urge the Royal Thai Government to respect the will of the people of Myanmar, reject the military’s illegal coup attempt and support the Myanmar people’s struggle for federal democracy.
