Ulick Burke (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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Question 798: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the position regarding the efforts at Irish and EU level to have a person (details supplied) released; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31719/09]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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As Deputies will be aware, and as stated previously in this House on many occasions, the Government is deeply concerned about the situation in Burma and plays an active role in international efforts to bring about positive change there. As indicated in the statement I issued on 11 August, the arrest, trial and conviction of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, on the most spurious of charges, further compounds the already bleak situation in that country, where repression against members of the opposition, the ethnic groups and the population at large continues unabated and human rights and fundamental freedoms are systematically denied.

The sentence provides clear evidence of the regime's intent to silence Aung San Suu Kyi in the lead-up to the elections they plan to hold next year on the basis of a discredited new Constitution, which excludes her from running in them. It also serves to confirm the Burmese junta's determination to continue its illegal rule without regard for the will of the Burmese people, in blatant disregard of the demands of the international community, including the UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon and in breach of international law and its own laws.

More than 2,100 political prisoners are serving sentences in deplorable conditions, many on questionable charges. The elections which the Burmese authorities are planning to hold next year will have no credibility or legitimacy if they are not opened up fully to the opposition and to all ethnic groups. Efforts by the international community, including those by the UN Secretary-General himself during his visit to Burma in July, and by his Good Offices Mission, to secure the release of political prisoners, including Aung San Suu Kyi, and the launching of a process of national dialogue and reconciliation have, unfortunately, been rejected by the regime to date.

In the circumstances, Ireland has long been in favour of strong international action against the Burmese regime, including sanctions and an arms embargo. Together with EU partners, Ireland had been proposing a strengthening of EU sanctions in response to the action taken by the regime against Aung San Suu Kyi and I am pleased that, following the conviction, the EU has taken immediate action to extend its sanctions against the regime and the judges involved in her trial and sentencing. These additional restrictive measures came into force on 13 August.

I will continue to work in the EU and UN frameworks and with the countries of the region to do all possible to advance our objectives in relation to Burma and to press for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and all political prisoners there. The up-coming twelfth session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva from 14 September to 2 October next will offer another such opportunity.