Phnom Penh, Sep 28 (DPA) - More than 100 Cambodians braved monsoon rain Friday to stage a peaceful protest against the Myanmar military junta in what they called a show of solidarity with anti-government demonstrators there.
Rights workers and opposition political figures held banners as the police provided security outside the Myanmar embassy in Phnom Penh with opposition Sam Rainsy Party leader Sam Rainsy using the event to call on the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) to throw Myanmar out of the 10-member group if the violence did not stop immediately.
"We strongly condemn the Myanmar government's actions," he told the crowd. "Please stop the violence immediately. ASEAN should kick Myanmar out."
Ngy Chariya, a spokesman for the local rights group Adhoc, backed Rainsy's calls after government authorities in Yangon responded brutally to the peaceful protests Wednesday and Thursday, killing more than a dozen people.
"We are here to offer our condolences to the dead and our support to those who are being harassed in Myanmar," Chariya said.
The Cambodian government had previously taken the traditional ASEAN line that it would not meddle in the internal affairs of member countries and as a result maintained good diplomatic ties with that country.
However, privately, some senior government figures have expressed an increasing frustration with the repressive fiscal and social policies of Myanmar's military junta over the past months.
ASEAN consists of Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Brunei, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, Myanmar and Cambodia and is the region's most powerful diplomatic and trading bloc. Myanmar is a relatively new member, having joined in 1997.
Rights workers and opposition political figures held banners as the police provided security outside the Myanmar embassy in Phnom Penh with opposition Sam Rainsy Party leader Sam Rainsy using the event to call on the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) to throw Myanmar out of the 10-member group if the violence did not stop immediately.
"We strongly condemn the Myanmar government's actions," he told the crowd. "Please stop the violence immediately. ASEAN should kick Myanmar out."
Ngy Chariya, a spokesman for the local rights group Adhoc, backed Rainsy's calls after government authorities in Yangon responded brutally to the peaceful protests Wednesday and Thursday, killing more than a dozen people.
"We are here to offer our condolences to the dead and our support to those who are being harassed in Myanmar," Chariya said.
The Cambodian government had previously taken the traditional ASEAN line that it would not meddle in the internal affairs of member countries and as a result maintained good diplomatic ties with that country.
However, privately, some senior government figures have expressed an increasing frustration with the repressive fiscal and social policies of Myanmar's military junta over the past months.
ASEAN consists of Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Brunei, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, Myanmar and Cambodia and is the region's most powerful diplomatic and trading bloc. Myanmar is a relatively new member, having joined in 1997.
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