BurmaNet News: 11 July, 1995 [#199]

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------------------------- BurmaNet ---------------------------
"Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies"
--------------------------------------------------------------
The BurmaNet News: 11th JULY 1995
Issue #231

Contents:

BKK  POST & THE NATION; JUNTA RELEASED SUU KYI
BKK POST: SUU KYI, FREE AT LAST, HER PEOPLE'S SYMBOL OF HOPE AND
DEFIANCE
BKK POST:  SLORC VIOLATED AGREEMENT WITH KAREN
BKK POST: RELEASE OF SUU KYI IS VERY WELCOME NEWS
BKK POST: MON-SLORC PACT ENDING 46-YEAR WAR RAISES HOPES AND DOUBTS
BKK POST: TALE OF A NATION AND LEADING CITIZEN
THE NATION:THE INSPIRATIONAL WORDS OF AUNG SAN SUU KYI
THE NATION: BURMA STRUGGLE STILL NOT OVER
THE NATION: MANY REMAIN SCEPTICAL OF 'UNCONDITIONAL' FREEDOM
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JUNTA RELEASED SUU KYI

11 JULY 1995

SIX-YEAR HOUSE ARRESTS ENDS
WORLD 'WELCOMES' DECISION

Burmese dissent leader Aung San Suu Kyi was released from house
arrest yesterday after nearly six years in detention, a military
spokesman told foreign correspondents here.

Another official confirmed the news by telephone and said she was
released at 4pm local time.

?Suu  Kyi is free today at 4pm?, he told a Bangkok reuters
correspondent by telephone.

Suu Kyi immediately began talks with fellow democracy campaigners,
according to witness standing outside her home. They said she was
meeting with recently released Tin Oo and Kyi Maung, two senior
members of the National League for Democracy party she helped found
in 1988.

Small groups of people gathered in the rain outside her Rangoon
house after the news of her released spread, witness said. The gates
to her compound were closed, but many cars were parked outside the
house.

The Japanese Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the Nobel
Peace Prize winner was released unconditionally. The ministry said
the Burmese government had told the Japanese Embassy in Rangoon that
Suu Kyi had requested to be kept under for the time being. It did
not give a reason why.

The global community welcomed the news although the political future
of Suu Kyi was not immediately clear.

Her released eliminated the thorniest issue standing in the way of
Rangoon's normalization of relations with the US-led Western world
critical of Burma's human rights record.

The Burmese junta's deputy intelligence director, Col Kyaw Win, went
to Suu Kyi's residence at 4.30 pm and informed her of its decision
to lift the restriction order, sources said.

With the lifting of the detention order, Suu Kyi is free to meet
anyone and visit anywhere like other citizens of the country, as
long as she does not violate any existing law, they said. Suu Kyi
will meet the press in Rangoon at 1 pm today.

Suu Kyi, who celebrated her 50th birthday on June 19, was placed
under house arrested July 20, 1989, under the 1975 law ?to safeguard
the state from the dangers of subversionist?.

Under the law, detention can be extended every 180 days up to a
total of five years. Today would mark six full years of house
detention, counting the extensions of 180 days.

Official sources earlier said the first year of her detention was an
?arrest period? and her ?restriction? or detention began the
following year, that is July 20, 1990.

In Oslo, the Committee that a awarded the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize to
Suu Kyi for her peaceful political struggle welcomed her
unconditional but ?long overdue? released.

?I am very happy. This is one of the awards which we have followed
very closely,? Francis Sejersed, chairman of Norway's secretive
five-member Nobel Committee, said.?

?We have wait some years for this to happen. The regime has already
been under pressure recently.?

Sejersed said Suu Kyi would probably be invited to Oslo to finally
give her Nobel Lecture.

Signs of thaw came in July 1992, three years into her detention,
when new Slorc Chairman Gen Than Shwe released several political
prisoners and announced Suu Kyi could received a visit by her family
members, including her British husband Michael Aris.

Helped by mediation by a Buddhist monk living in Britain, the Rev
Revada Dhamma, Suu Kyi and junta leaders began a dialogue last
September, holding a second meeting in October and paving the way
for her eventual release.

Burma, a largely isolated socialist country, is try to rejoin the
international economic community and acquiring the status of a guest
during annual meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian National
(Asean).

Rangoon based diplomats, who had expected the military government to
extend Suu Kyi's detention, were surprised by her released.

?It a surprise, but they like surprising us, ? one diplomat said.
?Friday speech suggested that they were building for a further
extension of her detention.?

M.R Thep Devakul, Thailand's newly's newly-appointed permanent
secretary, told the Bangkok Post Foreign Ministry received
confirmation of the released at 4.30 pm yesterday from the Thai
embassy in Rangoon.

?We must applaud the Slorc for freeing Suu Kyi, MR Thep said.

He said it was a good gesture to the international community and the
Slorc ?has indeed begun pursing democratic processes?.

MR Thep claimed the release proved the Association of Southeast
Asian Nations policy of cooperatives engagement with Burma was
effective.

?But we must continue to monitor the extent of freedom in Burma and
what she can do to bring about democracy. I don't think the Slorc
will allow her to act freely,? MR Thep said.

Chaiyachoke Chullasiriwongse, an expert on Burma at Chulalongkhorn
University's political science faculty, said the released showed the
Slorc was confident it could handle the situation in Burma after her
released.

Japan expressed hope Aung San Suu Kyi's released was the beginning
of a genuine move toward democracy in Burma.

?We welcome her released as important progress toward the
democratization of Burma and the improvement of its human rights
situation,? Foreign Minister Yohei Kono said in a statement.

?We expect the Burmese government to take still more positive steps
toward improving human rights and releasing democracy,? Kono said.

Philippine Foreign Under secretary Rodolfo Severino said: ?To the
extent that Myanmar (Burma) is politically stable, it is good for
the region?.

The Indonesian foreign ministry hailed the initial reports of Aung
San Suu Kyi's released.

?While we are waiting for the full report from our embassy in
Rangoon, the Department of Foreign Affair welcomes the good news,?
ministry spokesperson Irawan Abidin said.

Richard Bunting of Human rights organization AI said in London: we
are extremely delighted, over the moon that after this very long
time she is finally free.?

Second Army Region Commander Lt-Gen Surayuth Chulanond said that if
the Slorc genuinely intended to give Suu Kyi her freedom, Burma
would benefit by gaining greater acceptance from the world
community.

Since she was put under house arrest, Suu Kyi has remained the most
powerful, defiant symbol of the Burmese people's attempts to end
decades-long military rule.

Aung San Suu Kyi was born in Rangoon in June, 1945, and educated in
Burma and in India.

She won a scholarship to Oxford University and obtained a degree in
politics, philosophy and economics before getting a job with the
United Nations Secretariat in New York.

In 1972 she married British academic Michael Aris and brought up two
sons in the source of moves between Bhutan, India and Japan.

Suu Kyi was working on a postgraduate thesis at London University
when she returned in Rangoon in April, 1988.

She soon found herself caught up in the student-led revolt.

In her political speech at the height of the uprising she drew a
crowd of several hundred thousand, perhaps the largest public
gathering then known in the capital.

TALE OF A NATION AND LEADING CITIZEN

11 July 1995

THE following, prepared by Reuters, is a chronology of key events in
Burma and the life of Aung San Suu Kyi.

* June 19, 1947 - General Aung San, her father and the architect of
Burma's independence from Britain, is assassinated in Rangoon along
with six members of his pre-independence cabinet.

*January 4, 1948 - Burma becomes independent.

*March 2, 1962 - Army commander General Ne Win seizes power from
Prime Minister U Nu, who is jailed.

* April 3, 1962 - Military rulers publish their ideology, the
Burmese Way to Socialism, an idiosyncratic cocktail of Buddhist
metaphysis, socialist ideology and xenophobia.

* September 5, 1987 - Government announces 25, 35 and 75 Kyat bank
notes a longer legal tender, rendering perhaps 70 per cent of money
worthless. Students demonstrate for first time since 1976.

* March 12, 1988 - A fight between students and local people in a
Rangoon tea shop snowball into demonstrations in which dozens of
students are killed by riot police and troops in subsequent days.

* July 23, 1988 - General Ne Win resigns as chairman of Burma's sole
party, the military's Burma Socialist Programme Party, as
anti-government protests continue.

* August 8, 1988 - Millions of people all over Burma join
demonstrations. Many die when die troops open fire on the crowds.

* August 26, 1988 - Aung San Suu Kyi makes her first public
appearance. Speaking to a huge crowd outside the Shewdagon Pagoda in
Rangoon, she compares the unrest to a ?second struggle for
independence?.

* September 18, 1988 - The military steps into end the protests,
setting up the Slorc. Hundred killed as troops fire at crowds.
Thousands of students and others flee to border regions to join
autonomy-seeking guerrillas who have been fighting Rangoon since
Burma's independence.

* September 24, 1988 - Pro-democracy leaders form the National
League for Democracy (NLD) with Aung San Suu Kyi as general
secretary.

*July 20, 1989 - Aung San Suu Kyi placed under house arrest for
?endangering the state?. Many other NLD leaders arrested.

*January 16, 1990 - The Slorc's's Election Commission rules Aung San
Suu Kyi ineligible for elections due in May.

* May 27, 1990 - The NLD wins 392 out of 485 parliamentary seats in
the first multi-party general election since 1960.

*June 19, 1990 -  1990 - Slorc chief Saw Maung rules out a quick
transfer of power, saying a new constitution is needed first.

* December 18, 1990 - Eight NLD members elected in the May polls set
up a ?paralled government? led by Aung San Suu Kyi cousin, Sein Win,
at Manerplaw, Karen guerrillas headquarters.

* October 14, 1991 - Aung San Suu Kyi wins the nobel Peace Prize. 

* December 15, 1991 - NLD in Rangoon expels Aung San Suu Kyi from
party.

*April 25, 1992 - Former prime minister U Nu is released from house
arrest and several other political prisoners are freed from jail
under a decree providing for the released of political prisoners
deemed no longer a threat to the state.

*January 9, 1993 -  The Slorc's National Convention meets to begin
drawing up the guideline of a new constitution.

*February 14, 1994 - In her first meeting with non-family members
since she was detained, Aung San Suu Kyi tells US Congressman Bill
Richardson she will never pressed into leaving Burma but is ready to
discuss anything else with the Slorc.

* September 20, 1994 - Aung San Suu Kyi has her first talks with
Slorc leader Than Shwe and the second most senior Slorc member,
military intelligence chief Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt.

* October 28, 1994 - Aung San Suu Kyi has another meeting with Khin
Nyunt and two military officials. State media says talks were ?frank
and cordial? and covered political and economic situation.

*January 23, 1995 - In statement released in Bangkok, Aung San Suu
Kyi tells exiled colleagues ?there will be no secret deals with
regard either to my released or any other issue?.

*March 15, 1995 -  The Slorc releases from prisoner two senior NLD
members, Tin Oo, former Defence Minister and co-founder of the
party, and Kyi Maung, who led the party in the 1990 polls.

*July 10, 1995 - Military officials in Rangoon say Aung San Suu Kyi
is released from house arrest. (BP)


THE INSPIRATIONAL WORDS OF AUNG SAN SUU KYI

The symbol of the Burmese pro-democracy movement and the woman
described by many as the female Gandhi, Aung San Suu Kyi, tasted
freedom for the first time in six years yesterday. Rangoon's
ruling junta, the State Law and Order Restoration Council [SLORC],
stunned the world with its decision to free the Nobel Laureate
just when it appeared set to defy international pressure and
continue her detention beyond the six -year legal maximum. In her
determination to face down the Slorc peacefully, Suu Kyi produced
a series of articles in 1991. Below are excerpts.

MY FATHER 

Aung San was subject to moods and emotional outbursts, but his
personal feelings and inclinations were never allowed to interfere
with the collective decisions taken in the interests of
independence politics.

At each stage of struggle, he worked in consultation with close
political associates, accepting justified criticism and delegating
responsibility when it seemed best. He would not tolerate self-
seekers, irresponsible actions or dereliction of duty which
threatened the independence cause.

He believed in the principles of justice and democracy, and there
were times he deferred to colleagues when he might better have
trusted his own judgement. As head of the Executive Council, he
did not impose his views on others; decisions were reached after
free and full discussions. He was not infallible, as he freely
acknowledged, but he had the kind of mind that did not cease
expanding, a capacity for continuous development.

Aung San;s appeal was not so much to extremists as to the great
majority of ordinary citizens who wished to pursue their own lives
in peace and prosperity under a leader they could trust and
respect. In him they saw a leader, a man who put the interest of
the country before his own needs, who remained poor and unassuming
at the height of his power, who accepted the responsibilities of
leadership without hankering after the privileges, and who, for
all his political acumen and powers of statecraft, retained at the
core of his being a deep simplicity.

For the people of Burma, Aung San was the man who had come in
their hour of need to restore their national pride and honour. As
his life is a source of inspiration for them, his memory remains
the guardian of their political conscience.

SECOND STRUGGLE FOR INDEPENDENCE

Some might ask..... why should I be involved in this movement. The
answer is that the present crisis is the concern of the entire
nation. I could not, as my father's daughter, remain indifferent
to all that was going on. This national crisis could in fact be
called the second struggle for national independence.

QUEST FOR DEMOCRACY

>From the beginning Burma's struggle for democracy has been fraught
with danger. A movement which seeks the just and equitable
distribution of powers and prerogatives that have long been held
by a small elite determined to preserve its privileges at all
costs is likely to be prolonged and difficult.

Hope and optimism are irrepressible but there is a deep underlying
premonition that the opposition to change is likely to be vicious.
Often the anxious question is asked: will such an oppressive
regime really give us democracy? And the answer has to be:
democracy, likely liberty, justice and other social and political
rights, s not given it is earned through courage, resolution and
sacrifice.

THE ARMED FORCES

Let me speak frankly. I feel strong attachment for the armed
forces. Not only were they built up my father, as a child I was
cared for by his soldiers. At the same time I am also aware of the
great love and affection which the people have for my father. I am
grateful for this love and affection.

I would therefore not wish to see any splits and struggles between
the army which my father built up and the people;e who love my
father so much. May I also from this platform ask the personnel
this kind of understanding and sympathy? May I appeal to the armed
forces to become a force in which the people can place their trust
and reliance? May the armed forces become one which will uphold
the honour and dignity of our country.

FREEDOM FROM FEAR

Fearlessness may be a gift but perhaps more precious is the courage
acquired through endeavor, courage that comes from cultivating the
habit of refusing to let fate decade one's actions, courage that
could be described as "grace under pressure" - grace which is
renewed repeatedly in the face of harsh, unremitting pressure.

Within a system which denies the existence of basic human rights
fear tends to be the order of the day. Fear of imprisonment, fear of
torture, fear of fear of death, fear of losing friends, family,
property or means of livelihood, fear of poverty, fear of isolation,
fear of failure. A most insidious form of fear is that which
masquerades as common sense or even wisdom, condemning as foolish,
reckless, insignificant or futile the small daily acts of courage
which help preserve man's self-respect and inherent human dignity.

It is not easy for a people conditioned by fear under the iron rule
of the principle that might is right to free themselves from the
evervating miasma of fear. Yet even under the most crushing state
machinery courage rises up again and again, for fear is not the
natural state of civilized man.

It is man's vision of a world fit for rational, civilized humanity
which leads him to dear and to suffer to build societies free from
want and fear. Concepts such as truth, justice and compassion cannot
be dismissed as trite when these are often the only bulwarks which
stand against ruthless power.


EMPOWERMENT
A nation may choose a system that leave the protection of the
freedom and security of the many dependent on the inclinations of
the empowered few: or it may choose institutions and practices that
will sufficiently empower individuals and organizations to protect
their own freedom and security. The choice will decide how far a
nation will progress along the road to peace and human development.

THE FULL LIFE
It's not by living to the age of ninety or one hundred that one
lives the full life. Some people live well until they are ninety or
one hundred without having done anything for anyone. They come into
the world, live, then die without doing something for the world.

I don't think that this is living a full life. To live a full life
one must have the courage to bear the responsibility of the needs of
others - one must want to bear this responsibility. Each and every
one of us must have this attitude and we must instill it in our
youth. We must bring up our children to understand that only doing
what is meritorious is right.

RECONCILIATION

Just releasing me tomorrow is not going to do any good if the
attitude of Slorc does not change. Whatever they do to me, that's
between them and me. I can take it. What is more important is what
they are doing to the country, and national reconciliation doesn't
just mean reconciliation between the two people - I don't accept
that at all. It's reconciliation between different ideas. What we
need is a spiritual and intellectual reconciliation.

A  BRIGHT WORLD

The dream of a society ruled by loving kindness, reason and justice
is a dream as old as civilized man. It is true that even the
smallest light cannot be extinguished by all the darkness in the
world because darkness is wholly negative. It is merely an absence
of light. But a small light cannot dispel acres of encircling gloom.
It needs to grow stronger, to shed its brightness further and
further. We are so much in need of a brighter world which will offer
adequate refuge to all its inhabitants. (TN)

RELEASE OF SUU KYI IS VERY WELCOME NEWS
11 JULY 1995

Reports that Burma's opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been
freed after almost six years under house arrest can only be welcome
news for all who care about her well-being, and the future of
popular participation in that country's future.

The  reports initially were cautiously received by Burma watchers,
as well as pro-democracy people, not least because of the timing of
the disclosure.

The news emerged on the eve of the end, under Burmese law, of her
period of detention which falls on July 11. The military junta
apparently wanted to show that it abides by its own law, even if it
might refuse to bend to the demands of others.

But the news also closely followed reports, which came to light at
the end of last week, that US senators are planning to push for
legislation calling for economic sanctions against Burma.

Not least importantly, the reports came less than two weeks before
the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) begins preparing
for an annual meeting of its foreign ministers, a forum that last
July gave a representative of Rangoon's military leaders an
unprecedented chance to appear with the region's most respectable
ministers albeit as "guest of host country".

After Burmese Foreign Minister Ohn Gyaw's participation in the
ceremonial opening of the 27th annual meeting of Asean foreign
ministers in Bangkok, the European Union, as well as Australia
indicated that they were loosening up in their previously rigid
opposition against the military junta.

That was certainly how Asean decision-makers, who had been widely
criticised for their "constructive engagement" with Rangoon's
leadership, saw the European Union's move for "critical dialogue,"
and Australia's so-called benchmark policy.

But the State Law and Order Restoration Council (Slorc) in Rangoon
subsequently showed a degree of confidence in its position that some
Asean and European states found hard to accept.

The confidence was seen as founded on Slorc's better economic
position, and its deepening relationship with China, a development
which had drawn a previously-critical India to readjust its policy
and begin moves for trade with Burma.

India, where Aung San Suu Kyi received part of her formal education,
earlier this year gave its own prestigious award to this Nobel Peace
laureate of 1991.

Thailand, which has argued strongest for engaging rather than
isolating Slorc from the international community, has not been
spared the military junta's self-confidence.

Burma's official media was critical of Thailand when the former
foreign minister paid an official visit to Rangoon in April. About
two months earlier, a German deputy minister cut short a visit there
after key persons turned out to be unavailable even though the junta
apparently had been aware of the request for some time.

Slorc has also shown an about-turn in relations with US Congressman.
Bill Richardson, who was allowed to meet with Aung San Suu Kyi in
February 1994, an event that won worldwide publicity, was denied a
second meeting when he went to Rangoon again in May.

The 50-year-old daughter of Aung San, Burma's independence hero, was
placed under house arrest on July 20, 1989 for "endangering the
safety of the state".

The National League for Democracy which she spearheaded won a
landslide victory in elections in 1990, but the military junta in
Rangoon did not recognise the results and many of its strongest
leaders were subsequently arrested or fled the country.

Her release shows that the military men in Rangoon are not
impervious to realities, and is encouraging for those who support
her and her cause.

The lady has shown courage, and determination. She has also made
clear, in a public statement released in January, that she is for
"meaningful dialogue between diverse political forces."

Her release is likely to have been propelled by a combination of
reasons. For those wanting the best for Burma, freedom, democracy
and human rights, the decision can only be good, if long overdue.
(BP)

MON-SLORC PACT ENDING 46-YEAR WAR RAISES HOPES AND DOUBTS
11 JULY 1995

Chamlong Boonsong and Nussara Sawatsawang Moulmein, Burma and
Bangkok 

Hope and scepticism surround the ceasefire agreement between the
Burmese military government and the Mon group, which ends the ethnic
minority's 46-year fight for seek greater autonomy in the country.

The New Mon State Party (NMSP) was the 15th guerrilla group to reach
an undocumented ceasefire deal with the ruling State Law and Order
Restoration Council (Slorc).

The agreement on June 29 in Moulmein town followed three previous
rounds of negotiations since December 29, 1993.

It was the first time no "foreign mediators" were allowed, except
Kachin representatives and Mon from other factions.

NMSP vice-president Nai Htin led his party in the talks with
Rangoon's team headed by Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt. 

Observers said the agreement was made owing to increasing pressure
from the Mons who were weary of a civil war which led nowhere.
Developing their state was now more important.

Analysts welcomed the ceasefire as another step toward national
reconciliation. But they were sceptical about the sincerity of the
junta in making the deal.

Rangoon might want to sign the deal in order to concentrate attacks
on drugs warlord Khun Sa in Shan state. The failure of a similar
deal with the Karenni National Progressive Party also raised doubts
about the agreement with the NMSP, the analysts said.

Chayachoke Chullasiriwongse of Chulalongkorn University's political
science faculty, who monitors Burmese affairs, said the ceasefire
signed in March between the KNPP and the Slorc broke down owing to
conflict over logging, leading to the Slorc attack on the KNPP base
in Kayah state early this month.

The Slorc imposed the ban on cross-border logging last year but the
KNPP is still giving concessions to Thai companies to carry out
timber trade in its territory opposite Mae Hong Son province.

"If the Mon later want to do the same, can the Slorc induce them not
to trade with those (Thai timber trader)?" asked Chayachoke.

But Thaton Governor Nai Sumitr, a Mon delegate at the ceasefire
ceremony, said this was only the first stage of negotiations. Some
issues needed to be settled including repatriation and taxation.

Thaton is the capital of the Mon State. Nai Sumitr said the
highlight of the meeting was negotiation of wording for the
ceasefire. He quoted the Slorc as proposing inclusion of the words
relating to the end of an "armed struggle programme", but the Mon
disagreed since it might cause confusion among the Mon armed forces.

An end to the "armed struggle programme" meant disarming and handing
all weapons to the Slorc, "but we have not reached that stage yet,"
he said.

"In fact, the agreement involves only ceasefire, meaning both sides
will not go on fighting but can keep their weapons," Nai Sumitr
said.

They finally agreed to the Slorc's wording, according to Nai Sumitr.
The Mons are also allowed to retain their weapons in certain areas.

Both sides also discussed setting three "licence points" at
Moulmein, Thanbyuzayat and Ye, and a "contact point" at the Three
Pagodas Pass.

The licence and contact points are liaison offices set up to
facilitate travel by local people. "It will be more convenient for
people to travel. They have only to inform the authorities in
advance if they want to go into any areas controlled by the Mon or
the Slorc," Nai Sumitr said.

He said both sides agreed on repatriation of Mon refugees living in
camps along the Thai border from kanchanaburi to Prachuab Khiri Khan
provinces.

But they have not settled on taxation as Rangoon disagreed with the
Mon proposal. The Mon proposed to collect tax for timber and fishing
rights, while each side could collect other import-export tax in its
area.

Other main issues to be decided relate to the political and military
future. Nai Sumitr said Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt promised to develop the
Mon state within three years.

The Slorc pledged to develop public health, education and
infrastructure, including the 65 mile road from Thanbyuzayat, the
major trade town in the north of the state, to Ye and Three Pagodas
Pass; some roads along the Thai-Burmese border; and two small dams
for irrigation.

The governor also said the Mon representatives agreed to cooperate
in providing labour to rebuild villages destroyed during the
fighting and to support the ongoing railway project with financial
help from Rangoon.

The Slorc assisted the talks by sending two helicopters to Three
Pagodas Pass in Sangalaburi district in Kanchanaburi on June 26, tow
days before the ceasefire, to pick up the 15-member Mon delegation
and 12 others in the working group and take them to Moulmein. (BP)

BURMA STRUGGLE STILL NOT OVER
11 JULY 1995

If there is a beacon of hope for Burma's democracy, it is Aung San
Suu Kyi. The female Gandi who firmly believes in the principles of
nonviolence to oppose military dictatorship, was placed under house
arrest by the Rangoon junta on July 20,1989.

Even under the most difficult conditions during her house arrest,
the Nobel Peace laureate had words of inspiration for her fellow
democracy fighters. She once said: "Under the most crushing state
machinery courage rises up again and again, for fear is not the
natural state of civilized man."

Yesterday, almost six years later, she was released by her captors.
It has to be borne in mind that the struggle for democracy and human
rights in Burma is not over with Suu Kyi's release, for political
prisoners are still languishing in Burma's jails.

There is still widesperade torture in the country and ethnic
minorities are used as forced labour by the military junta in its
infrastructure projects, or as porters carrying live ammunition,
plainly to act as human-shields in the war against the Karens or the
Shans.

Academics, artists, potes, medical doctors and students are still
behind bars for having defied the State Law and Order Restoration
Council (SLorc), by openly clamouring for the rights of the Burmese
people to be respected.

While we welcome Suu Kyi's release, a note of caution has to be
injected. So far there have been no details of whether or not
conditions have been set for her release. We hope not.

Also, there has been no indication that all political detainees will
be released together with the Nobel laureate. The writing on the
wall is still hard to read. For instance, will the Slorc now
recognize the results of the 1990 election in which Suu Kyi's
National League for Democracy won the majority of seats?

This and other important questions need to be answered before the
international community pasts the Slorc on the back. Unless all
political prisoners are released, and the Slorc returns full
democracy to the people, the military junta should still be shunned
by the civilized world. (TN)

MANY REMAIN SCEPTICAL OF 'UNCONDITIONAL' FREEDOM
11 JULY 1995

While Japan joined Thailand and human rights watchers in welcoming
the release of Aung San Suu Kyi, several foreign diplomats in
Rangoon, Burma observers and Burmese ethnic and opposition groups
remain sceptical of her "unconditional" freedom.

The sceptics said Suu Kyi's release came "as a very big surprise,"
and that they would not believe it until and unless the 1991 Nobel
Peace Prize laureate made a public appearance and statement of her
freedom by herself.

"It's very unusual. Only a few days ago [junta leader Lt-Gen Khin
Nyunt] still said she would not be released and that the country
could not make sacrifices for only one person," said a Burma
observer in Bangkok.

"I called Rangoon twice and was told by two reliable sources that
she was released today. It's a very big surprise for me. I am still
doubtful about her "unconditional" release," said one ethnic
guerrilla official last night.

Several observers believed that the ruling State Law and Order
Restoration Council (Slorc)'s move was to avert "the prospect of
increasing international pressure" against the regime, if Suu Kyi
was not released by today, the dateline for her six years of
unlawful house arrest.

A US senator had scheduled to introduce today a draft legislation to
the Senate for comprehensive economic sanctions against the Slorc,
which would ban all US trade and investment in Burma.

The observers said the US Administration was also contemplating some
drastic measures including downgrading its embassy in Rangoon to
permanent charge d'affaires or even the expulsoin of the Burmese
envoy to Washington.

The Slorc would probably face more international backlash when it
attends the upcoming annual Asean ministerial meeting later this
month in Brunei for the second executive year as guest of the host
country.

Several embassies and Burmese individuals in Rangoon said in
separate long distance interviews that nobody could confirm seeing
Suu Kyi in public after the announcement.

In Tokyo, Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama's chief spokesman, Kozo
Igarashi, sais Suu Kyi's release is "very good news" and that
Murayama government has worked strenuously over the past year to
help her win her freedom.

Igarashi, chief of Cabinet secretary, said Japan provided 1 billion
yen in food production aid to Burma in March in the hope that
Rangoon would free her. "We believe people all over the world are
released. We wholeheartedly welcome it," he said.

The top government spokesman also signalled Japan's willingness to
resume economic  aid after reviewing Burma's human rights record and
the state of democracy there. He did not elaborate.

Japanese Foreign Minister Yohei Kono released a comment welcoming
Suu Kyi's release as an "important step" in the move toward
democratization and improvement in human rights.

According to a report conveyed to the ministry from the Japanese
Embassy in Rangoon, the Slorc notified Suu Kyi of the lifting of her
six-year house arrest at 5.30 pm, ministry officials said. The Slorc
immediately reported her release to the embassy, they said.

The Japanese government has suspended official financial assistance
to Burma, except some humanitarian aid, since the 1988 military
coup, and has requested the release of Suu Kyi.

In Bangkok, a senior Thai Foreign Ministry official said the
release, if true, would be a welcome sign, especially at this time
when Burma has been invited for the second year to attend the annual
Asean ministerial meeting in Brunei.

"This is an indication that Burma is adjusting its political system
towards more democratization," said Saroj Chavanaviraj, a ministry's
deputy permanent secretary.

he said the release would help ease the pressure from the
international community and would lend "more legitimacy" to Burma's
attendance at the Asean Ministerial meetings later this month.

In Manila, former President Corazon Aquino said she was elated at
Suu Kyi's release and expressed the hope of meeting her soon.

"This is a moment that so many of us who have admired Aung San Suu
Kyi for a long time have been waiting for," she said in a statement.

"I am truly happy for her and her people and I am glad that her
years of suffering have finally come to an end," added Aquino, who
led a 1986 popular revolt that drove former strongman Ferdinand
Marcos into exile.

In London, Amnesty International said it was delighted by the
release of Suu Kyi and hoped the move heralded greater respect for
human rights in Burma.

"We are extremely delighted, over the moon that after this very long
time she is finally free," Reuter quoted Amnesty spokesman Richard
Bunting as telling the BBC radio.

The London-based human rights group has campaigned on behalf of Suu
Kyi ever since she was detained in 1989, under an anti-subversion
law. Bounting said Amnesty was also wary of the release decision.

"We are injecting a note of caution because we hope that no
conditions are placed on her freedom and that she is allowed to
participate fully in her country's political process." (TN)   
 

SUU KYI, FREE AT LAST, HER PEOPLE'S SYMBOL OF HOPE AND DEFIANCE

SINCE she was placed under house arrest almost six years ago for
her criticism of the army, Aung San Suu Kyi has remained the most
powerful, defiant symbol of the Burmese people's attempts to end
decades-long military rule.

>From mid-1988, when she emerged to head the democracy movement,
until her house arrest in July the following year, the slight but
steely woman articulated a popular urge for an end to the military
repression that has gripped the country since 1962 and beggared
one the Asia's richest lands.

Military officials in Rangoon said the 50 year-old  Nobel Peace
Prize winner was released at 4 p.m Rangoon time yesterday.

Millions took to the streets in 1988 demanding change. The army
crushed the demonstrations with brute force, killing thousands
according to estimates by Western diplomats there at the time.

Despite her detention, Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for
Democracy won a landslide victory in a May 1990 general election,
taking 392 of 485 contested seats.

The ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council [Slorc] refused
to honour the result and silenced the NLD through arrests and
intimidation.

Burmese and foreign observers attribute the scale of the 1990
election victory to Aung San Suu Kyi.

Undoubtedly her appeal stemmed from the legacy of her father,
Burma's foremost national hero, General Aung San, who led the
country to the brink of independence from British rule before his
assassination in 1947 at the age of 32.

Aung San Suu Kyi was born in Rangoon in June 1945 and educated in
Burma and India, where her mother was ambassador.

She won a scholarship to Oxford University and obtained a degree
in politics, philosphy and economics before getting a job with the
UN Secretariat in New York.

In 1972 she married British academic Michale  Aris and brought up
two sons in the course of moves between Bhutan, India and Japan.

Aung San Suu Kyi was working on a postgraduate thesis at London
University when she returned in Rangoon in April 1988 to nurse her
dying mother.

She soon found herself caught up in the student-led revolt.

In her first political speech at the height of the uprising she
drew a crowd of several hundred thousand, perhaps the largest
public gathering then known in the capital.

I could not as my father's daughter, remain indifferent to what
was going on. The national crisis could in fact be called the
second the struggle for independence, she declared.

That August 26, 1988 speech set the tone for a nationwide
political blitzkrieg that won rapturous support even in the
traditionally apathetic countryside.

We were not surprised, said one observer commenting on her rise.
Not only did she look like her father, she spoke like him also:
short, concise and to the point.

In early 1989, she broke a virtual taboo by publicly attacking
officially retired military strongman Ne Win as the source of all
Burma's ills, virtually sealing her popular appeal.

Everyone knew who was responsible for all the bad things in Burma,
but she was the first to blame Ne Win. No one had the guts to do
that before, a Burmese exile has remarked. 

She called the struggle of the Burmese people one for freedom from
fear.

Within a system which denies the existence of basic human rights,
fear tends to be the order of the day, she wrote in a paper
published in 1991. Fear of imprisonment, fear of death, fear of
losing friends, family property or means of livelyhood.

She was awarded the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize for her non-violent
campaign for democracy.

The SL0RC said repeatedly it would release her if she agreed to
lease the country. She refused the offers.[BP]

 SLORC VIOLATED AGREEMENT WITH KAREN

11 JULY 1995

THE ALL Burma Student's Democratic Front [ABSDF] issued a
statement yesterday denouncing the Burmese military regime for
violating a ceasefire agreement resulting in massive deaths and
injuries among the minority Karen people.

The statement, distributed at the Thai-Burmese border, accused the
State Law and Order Restoration Council [SLORC] of attacking the
Karennis in Kaya State opposite the Thai border province of Mae
Hong Son about 10 days ago, despite the fact that it had signed a
peace agreement with the Karenni National Progressive Party [KNPP]
on March 21.

A lot of Karen people were killed or wounded and many were forced
to escape from the area, according to the statement.

The ABSDF said the SLORC had claimed it wanted to maneuver its
forces through KNPP territory to fight Khun Sa's Mong Tai Army in
Shan State.

But the Burmese troops turned instead to attack Karen villages and
KNPP security forces.

They also started to fire on the KNPP's Stronghold 99 five or six
days ago.

The ABSDF said it didn't believe the SLORC's claims that the
Burmese troops had attacked the Karennis out of misunderstanding.

It said the international community should learn that the SLORC
breached its agreement with the KNPP.

The organisation called on other countries to provide assistance
to KNPP, Karen National Union and Burmese student forces fighting
for democracy in Burma.

The ABSDF said it is already taking care of KNPP and Karen
refugees who suffered from the Burmese attacks.

The statement confirmed that the ABSDF will continue to fight the
SLORC by any means until democracy is established in Burma.

The latest reports said the SLORC and the KNPP were seeking a
reconciliation.[BP]