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IN THIS ISSUE
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POLITICS ARE HELL Daw Aung San Suu Kyi Remains Under Arrest
We wanted to inaugurate this column with a background briefing on the Korean crisis, but of more immediate urgency is the fate of Nobel Laureate Daw Aung San Suu Kyi (pronounced ÒSue CheeÓ), Burma's pro-democracy leader. Throughout this article the word ÒBurmaÓ and not ÒMyanmarÓ is being used because the latter is a name coined by the ruling quasi-fascist military junta SLORC. As of May 30 of this year more than 100 members and supporters of the National League for Democracy (NLD) are missing and/or injured after a violent incident on that date. These included party head Aung San Suu Kyi; deputy chairman U Tin U, who was reportedly injured during the attack; NLD members and MPs elect, Buddhist monks and students. Police and soldiers reportedly attacked and killed members of the political party who were traveling in the north of Burma as part of an educational campaign and fact-finding tour. Opposition sources report that an estimated 70 persons were killed and 200 injured in the incident. SLORC spokesmen have confirmed that four persons died and 50 were injured. SLORC has stated that they have taken Aung San Suu Kyi and 18 NLD officials into "protective custody," but have not disclosed on what legal basis those have been detained are being held. There are serious concerns for their safety. Many of those in detention have reportedly been injured and require medical attention, although Suu Kyi was visited a UN envoy on June 10 who said that she was uninjured and "in good spirits." According to British sources she is being held in one of the worst prisons in the country. Senior members of the National League for Democracy's Central Executive Committee in Rangoon (Yangon) the capital, who were not present during the incident have been placed under house arrest and NLD offices across the country have been shut. Other NLD MPs and members across the country were reportedly detained in early June 2003, and are also believed to be being held incommunicado. For readers unfamiliar with the pro-democracy movement in Burma and Daw Aung San Suu KyiÕs role in it, some background information is in order. LetÕs start with the retirement of General Ne Win who stepped down as Chairman of the Burma Socialist Programme Party (BSPP) after 26 years in power in July 1988. This event was the proximate cause of the pro-democracy movement. On August of the same year a mass uprising started in Rangoon and spread to the entire country, drawing millions of people to protest against the BSPP government. The military crackdown that ensued killed thousands. On August 26, Aung San Suu Kyi addressed a half-million mass rally in front of the famous Shwedagon Pagoda in Rangoon and called for a democratic government. In September 1988 the military reestablished its power and the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) was formed. The military again crushed the pro-democracy movement with force killing hundreds more. Later that same month the National League for Democracy (NLD) was formed, with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi as general secretary. On December 27, 1988 Daw Khin Kyi, mother of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi died. The funeral procession drew a huge crowd of supporters, which turned into a peaceful protest against military rule. From July 1988 to October 1989 as leader of the NLD, Suu Kyi delivered over a hundred public addresses during extensive campaign tours in Rangoon, Pegu, Magwe, Sagaing, Mandalay, Moulmein, Tavoy, Mergui, Pakkoku, Taunggyi, Kyaukpadaung, Monywa, Myinmu, Myitkyina, and other towns and villages. On April 5, 1989 Suu Kyi confronted an army unit ordered to aim their rifles at her while campaigning in the Irrawaddy Delta. An army major finally intervened and countermanded the order thus preventing her assassination. The following June Daw Aung San Suu Kyi attended a memorial service for the dissidents killed earlier in 1988 uprisings. The military detained several students. To avoid confrontations with several thousand additional troops deployed by SLORC, the NLD leadership called off the mass rally planned at the annual Martyr's Day ceremonies in July. On July 20 the military regime placed her under house arrest in Rangoon under a martial law provision that allows for detention without charge or trial for three years. Suu Kyi went on a hunger strike to protect the students taken from her house to the Military Intelligence Interrogation Center; and was recognized as a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International on May 27, 1990. Despite Suu KyiÕs contined detention, the National League for Democracy won a landslide victory in the general elections by securing 82 percent of the seats. The military junta refused to recognize the results of the election. In response to a call by UN Secretary General Perez de Cuellar for her release, SLORC issued a statement that "should she wish to stay together with her husband and children, she would be allowed to leave Burma on humanitarian grounds." This was clearly a ploy by the junta to remove the symbolic center of resistance to its rule. SLORCÕs persecution of Suu Kyi and her party and their non-violent response enhanced her prestige in the world community. On July 10, 1991 she was awarded, in absentia the 1990 Sakharov Prize (the human rights prize of the European Parliament), while in August the military regime retroactively amended the law under which Daw Aung San Suu Kyi was being held to allow for detention for up to five years without charge or trial. Then in October 1991 she was awarded the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize. The award was accepted by her son at the ceremony in Stockholm. After years of house arrest, including the cruel refusal to let her go to the bedside of her dying husband, SLORC released Suu Kyi in May of 2002. Since then she has not been allowed to travel freely throughout the country, but even with this limited mobility the pro-democracy movement picked up steam and the UN mandated a reconciliation dialogue between SLORC and the NLD. It may be that the junta, alarmed by Suu Kyi's popular speaking tours reminiscent of her victorious campaign in the stolen 1990 election, unleashed the recent wave of repression as a means of sabotaging the dialogue, calculating that the international community will do little by way of punishment. But that does not mean international pressure for Suu Kyi's release after her violent ambush and arrest last May by pro-junta thugs should slacken. Those detained with her and an estimated 1,300 other political prisoners belonging to the National League for Democracy should also have their freedom. Given this latest relapse into brutality by Burma's generals, this is a minimum precondition for a meaningful resumption of the UN-backed national reconciliation dialogue. That is why the energetic, behind-the-scenes lobbying of the Bush administration is so important. US diplomats have reportedly delivered tough "requests" to 11 regional countries to exert pressure on the junta. George W. Bush, urged on by Congress, discussed additional measures with the visiting Thai prime minister last June. Thailand has significant business and trade links with Burma and, like Japan, is reluctant to apply sanctions. While Britain, France and the European Union (EU) have all condemned recent events, this roundabout US approach stems from the sensible hope that Asian states will resolve an Asian problem without deeper western intervention that might become highly objectionable to them. That is not to say that the EU should merely look on helplessly. Unless there is a rapid improvement, Britain and the other EU nations must push for the immediate levying of targeted EU investment sanctions, like those of the US but with fewer loopholes, as campaigners and MEPs urge. Companies still defiantly operating in Burma must be told to wind down and pull out. Meantime, the fate of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and her comrades is critical. We urge readers of this column to write to Senior General Than Shwe and Khin Nyunt, First Secretary, and ask that they immediately and unconditionally release those who have been detained. Make public the names, whereabouts and charges against those in detention, and allow them access to medical care, lawyers and relatives. Launch a full and independent investigation into events on May 30 and 31, 2003 and bring suspected perpetrators to justice, and finally not to penalize the peaceful exercise of the right to freedom of expression, assembly and association. Senior General Than Shwe Khin Nyunt, Secretary 1
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