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Burma Net News June 3, 1996. #431
- Subject: Burma Net News June 3, 1996. #431
- From: strider@xxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sun, 02 Jun 1996 20:46:00
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Date: Sun, 2 Jun 1996 20:45:36 -0700 (PDT)
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The BurmaNet News:June 3, 1996
Issue #431
Noted in Passing:
Well, we've achieved quite a lot. First of all, we have been able to
establish that the elected representatives of the NLD are not just
anybody, as the authorities have been claiming, otherwise they
would not have detained them just because we are going to have a
small meeting. This focuses on the fact that the result of the 1990
elections cannot be cast aside. And secondly, we've won a lot of
public sympathy and support in the country, as well as outside,
because of the harsh actions of the authorities. So on the whole,
we are very pleased.
-Aung San Suu Kyi
(See IS ASEAN TOO CLOSE TO THE GENERALS?)
HEADLINES:
==========
BANGKOK POST : JUNTA STILL HOLING 150 ACTIVISTS,
SUU KYI TELLS SUPPORTERS
THE NATION : SUU KYI CHEERED AS RULING JUNTA
RELEASES ACTIVISTS
THE NATION : ASEAN'S SEE NO EVIL AND SPEAK NO EVIL
BANGKOK POST : TIME TO RETHINK BURMA POLICY
BANGKOK POST : SERIOUS RIVER EROSION BLAMED ON BURMA
ASIA WEEK : IT IS THE RIGHT THING TO DO'
ASIA WEEK : IS ASEAN TOO CLOSE TO THE GENERALS?
ASIA WEEK : MYANMAR'S TOP INVESTORS
ASIA WEEK : DEMOCRACY DENIED
THE HINDU : RUMBLING IN MYANMAR
THE ASIAN AGE : JUNTA RELEASES 113 SUU KYI ACTIVISTS,
HOLDS MORE RALLIES
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
JUNTA STILL HOLING 150 ACTIVISTS, SUU KYI TELLS SUPPORTERS
2.6.96/Bangkok Post
THE Rangoon junta has released nearly half the activists it
arrested 10 days ago but others remain in jail, Burmese democracy
leader Aung San Suu Kyi said yesterday.
In a speech to 4,000 people outside the gates of her University
Avenue home, Suu Kyi said more than 10() members of her National
League for Democracy had been released by the military.
"More than 250 of them were arrested and over 100 have now been
released. There are still those who are under detention," Suu Kyi
told the crowd as she stood on a table to look over the gates and
out on to the packed street.
Suu Kyi has said at least nine of the activists have been charged
under sweeping emergency laws. "Some Of those who were arrested
are now in Insein jail, and it seems they are going to be tried
and sentenced. This is a sign there is no justice and no rule of
law in this country."
In a brief statement, the State Law and Order Restoration Council
said it allowed the NLD delegates to return home after
questioning. "Today, authorities have sent the delegates called
in for questioning home, right to their doors, from the guest
houses where they were being accommodated," it said. It did not
say how many had been detained nor how many had been released.
Suu Kyi also appealed to the international community, which over
the past two weeks has widely condemned the sweeping arrests by
the junta, to stand by Burma's fledgling democracy movement.
"We are only asking that justice be done. We look to the
international community to stand by us," she said as rain began
to pour down at the end of her hour-long speech.
The Slorc began arresting NLD members on May 21 ahead of a
conference of elected party members from May 26-29.
By the time the conference was held, at least 261 NLD members
were in detention, and most of them were representatives elected
in a 1990 poll.
The Slorc claimed it had only picked the NLD members up for
questioning and was holding them temporarily to avoid "anarchy"
that could result from the meeting.
Despite the arrests and intimidation by the Slorc, the NLD held
its congress as scheduled. But the nature of the meeting changed
since most of the 300 elected NLD representatives due to attend
had been arrested.
Suu Kyi said the Slorc had failed in Sits attempt to scuttle the
meeting and dampen the enthusiasm of the democracy movement.
ln her wide-ranging speech to supporters, Suu Kyi dismissed
recent attacks on her party in official media and mass rallies.
She asked the crowd to help her find something good to say about
the Slorc, which has has complained she is spreading only bad
news about the country to foreign media. "Will any of you please
try to find out the good things done by the Slorc and write it to
me next week I will read that letter to, you all," she said to
howls of laughter.
*****************************************
SUU KYI CHEERED AS RULING JUNTA RELEASES ACTIVISTS
2.6.96/The Nation
Agence France-Presse
RANGOON - Thousands of people rallied outside the home of Burmese
opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi yesterday, as the ruling junta
released 100 party activists from detention.
Some 4,000 people gathered outside Suu Kyi's lakeside home to
hear her outline the political and economic aims of her National
League for Democracy (NLD) following a key pro-democracy meeting
last week.
The Nobel Peace Prize winner also told the cheering crowd that
the party had confirmed that more than 100 of the 262 NLD
activists detained last week ahead of the meeting had been
released.
NLD vice chairman Tin Oo said that all but a handful of the
detained activists had reportedly been freed, but that the party
was awaiting confirmation from more remote districts across the
country. But, he said, "we are concerned that some of the people
will be detained for quite a time," particularly Win Htein, a
senior aide to Suu Kyi, and her press secretary Aye Win.
Tin Oo said that Win Htein was due to be charged on Wednesday
under Burma's draconian public security laws
Suu Kyi and diplomats have voiced concern that the authorities
could take advantage of the detentions to impose long prison
terms on senior NLD members picked up in the sweep.
Yesterday's address was the first time that Suu Kyi had announced
to the public her party's plans, which include a new constitution
and an economic package decided upon at the party congress last
week.
"We are going to increase the party's momentum, as is our right,"
she told the crowds of cheering supporters.
Yesterday's meeting, while well attended, was slightly smaller
than the 5,000 who came on May 25 and the 10,000 who showed up on
May 26.
*****************************************************************
ASEAN'S SEE NO EVIL AND SPEAK NO EVIL
2.6.96/The Nation
There is clearly a David and Goliath There is clearly a David and
Goliath struggle for the freedom of Burma. Over the past 10 days,
Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) has been
battling the odds, and its fight against tyranny and military
dictatorship is still not finished.
At the end of the three-day NLD conference, which the military
junta tried to pre-empt by arresting most of its elected members,
Suu Kyi announced plans to draft a constitution separate from the
one drafted by the so-called National Convention backed by the
generals. The junta, calling itself the State Law and Order
Restoration Council (Slorc), of course hit the ceiling and is
hopping mad with the woman who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991
and whose NLD won an overwhelming majority of seats in the 1990
elections. Hence the only way of expressing anger is by a sheer
display of brute force - which the junta has done by using guns
and goons to harass Suu Kyi's party.
An opposition drafted constitution even if the NLD has no means
of enforcing it - would provide the Burmese people with an
alternative system emphasising democracy and human rights against
one heavily weighted towards absolute military rule.
And the stage has been set for further confrontation with Suu Kyi
announcing at the end of the NLD conference: "There's nothing in
the law that says you have no right to draft a constitution."
These are brave words for a person who's armed with nothing but
only support from the courageous people of Burma.
Asean's total silence over what is going on in Burma really
raises some disturbing questions. Is the regional grouping's
so-called "constructive engagement" policy only being used to
land lucrative business deals for member countries? Can't it also
be a stick to keep the junta in line - like issuing an ultimatum
to Slorc that unless and until all political prisoners are
released, Burma can never set its sights on being a member of the
Asean Regional Forum? And why is Asean so allergic to Suu Kyi?
Rather unfortunately, the decision making process in Asean is
confined to a few privileged groups in the government elite.
Foreign policy discussions in Asean are usually made behind
closed doors, without any public debates or discussions, such as
in Parliament.
Over the past few days, we have seen Asean's principle of
"non-interference" being reiterated. On Tuesday, the day the NLD
conference ended, Asean Secretary-General Ajit Singh said it was
the grouping's practice not to interfere in each other's affairs.
Speaking at a luncheon meeting in Jakarta, the regional
grouping's top diplomat refused to comment on the confrontation
between the NLD and the military junta, other than saying: "As
far as Asean is concerned, we do not interfere in each other's
internal affairs ... that is the basic tenet of Asean."
"The government of Myanmar IBurma] has invited me to pay an
official visit to Yangon [Rangoon]. We are currently working out
the details," he added.
The next day, Indonesian Foreign Minister Ali Alatas parroted the
same line. "We are not making any comment on the internal
situation in any country. This is a principle we stick to
religiously, even as we would not want any foreign country to
intervene in our internal affairs," said Alatas. Indonesia
currently holds the presidency of Asean.
So how has this principle of see no evil
and speak no evil of Asean's neighbouring countries come about?
Its origins can be traced to the first Asean Summit in Bali in
1976, where Asean governments signed the Treaty of Amity and
Cooperation - the first treaty since the formation of the
regional_grouping in 1967. The fundamental principles of the
treaty included mutual respect for the independence, sovereignty,
equality, territorial integrity and national identity of all
nations. Also emphasised was the doctrine of non-interference in
the "internal affairs" of one another.
The principle of non-interference in each other's internal
affairs thus effectively froze existing national boundaries as of
1976, such as in the case of East Timor (which Indonesia invaded
in 1975), Irian Jaya (where Indonesian practices in the 1969 Act
of Free Choice were it clearly questionable) and Sabah (in the
dispute between Malaysia and the Philippines), as far as Asean
states were concerned.
This also meant that nationals of any Asean country could not
become involved in the political affairs of its Asean neighbours.
Burma acceded to the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation at the last
Asean Ministers' Meeting in Brunei, in its bid to become an Asean
member, and because of this the same obligations have been
imposed upon the citizens of Asean - criticising the military
regime there is taboo and a definite no.
Because the people element in Asean has been left out with regard
to foreign policy decision-making, it can be concluded that the
official positions of the regional grouping do not necessarily
reflect the opinion and the stand taken by its citizens.
The response by people's groups in Indonesia to the arrests of
NLD members and supporters by Slorc, is a case in point.
Last Thursday, newsrooms in the region received on-line pictures
of Indonesian students and pro-democracy groups protesting
outside the Burmese Embassy in Jakarta. Large banners and posters
were displayed by these Indonesians with the words: "Myanmar:
Democracy is right now "Tatmadaw [Burmese military] back to
barracks"; "Release all political prisoners" and "The NLD is the
people."
Parallels can be drawn between the Indonesian armed forces (Abri)
and Slorc - both having the same notorious reputation for
ruthlessness. Abri's gross human rights abuses in East Timor,
Aceh and Irian Jaya have been well-documented.
Indonesia has served as the ideological inspiration behind the
Burmese military's demand for political power in the 1950s. A
document entitled "The National Ideology and the Role of the
Defence Services" adopted by the Burmese military in 1958
strongly resembled Abri's dwifungsi - where the military is
supposed to play both a social and political role.
Now Slorc appears to be looking to Indonesia once again and
seeking advice from Abri on how to institutionalise its role
through the constitution drafted by the regime-controlled
National Convention.
Exchanges have already begun. At the end of November last year,
Indonesian Defence Minister Edi Sudjarat met top Burmese military
leaders during a four day visit to Rangoon.
For Burma, Indonesia is important in liaising between Rangoon and
the rest of the world. In turn Rangoon, with at least 11
accredited diplomats to the Indonesian capital, has used its
Jakarta embassy to channel its views to the region.
As the saying goes, birds of a feather will always flock together
and leopards seldom change their spots. The over whelming danger
now is that Asean seems to be coddling military dictatorships in
the region.
*****************************************************************
TIME TO RETHINK BURMA POLICY
2.6.96/Bangkok Post
IT is almost a year since the Burmese military opened doors to
freedom for the country's leading advocate of democracy. Asian
neighbours, three of which are among the top six investors in
Burma, welcomed Aung San Suu Kyi's release from six years'
detention as vindicating their "constructive engagement" policy:
sceptics doubted that the dictatorship's meeting her release date
signaled real relaxation.
Ten months of following a ... conciliatory approach to her former
jailers has left Suu Kyi with little to show. The generals ...
have not been willing partners. Since Suu Kyi's release, they
have reinforced their position and signaled an expectation for a
dominant place in any future government. While keeping the
business community sheet, they have indulged in forced community
relocation and forced labour to meet public works requirements.
Now a bid by the leader of the democracy movement to hold a
meeting, illegal under restrictive laws, suggests that the
protagonists have stopped talking past each other. The meeting
would have been a direct challenge to the authorities. The
preventive arrests reaffirm the nature of the beast. Burma's
neighbours might like to repudiate self-interest and reassess the
constructive engagement policy.
New Zealand Herald, Auckland
*****************************************************************
SERIOUS RIVER EROSION BLAMED ON BURMA
2.6.96/Bangkok Post
Tak
REINFORCING work on the Burmese side of the Moei River has
caused serious erosion on the Thai bank, sources said yesterday.
Governor Kasem Narkrat has ordered a survey of the damage caused
by a change of currents resulting from the piling and embankment
construction.
Despite repeated protests reaised during meetings of the Joint
Border Committee, Rangoon officials claim they cannot stop
civilians reinforcing the bank at 19 spots.
Mr Kasem has scheduled a meeting tomorrow to discuss the problem
and the money that will be needed to correct the damage.
The issue will also be raised at the Border Committee meeting Mae
Sot on Wednesday.
Flooding late last year caused extensive soil erosion on the Thai
bank because of shifting currents.
Mae Sot district officer Somchai Hatayatanti has proposed using
rock to prevent further erosion in the short term and sealing the
bank with concrete as a long-term solution.
********************************************
INTERVIEW
'IT IS THE RIGHT THING TO DO'
Aung San Suu Kyi vows to carry on her campaign
AsiaWeek: Interview With Suu Kyi
MIDWAY THROUGH AUNG SAN Suu Kyi's three-day Congress, there were hints in the
state-controlled press that the junta was bending a bit. The generals might open talks if
Suu Kyi and her party "would build national reconciliation with a sacrificing spirit," said
an article in the Burmese-language New Light Of Myanmar on May 27. But in a telephone
conversation with Asiaweek Contributing Reporter Dominic Faulder that evening, Suu Kyi
said the government had not invited her to negotiations. She also intimated that ASEAN
might play a constructive role in mediating the confrontation. Excerpts from their talk:
What do you feel has been achieved in the past two days?
Well, we've achieved quite a lot. First of all, we have been able to establish that the
elected representatives of the NLD are not just anybody, as the authorities have been
claiming, otherwise they would not have detained them just because we are going to have a
small meeting. This focuses on the fact that the result of the 1990 elections cannot be
cast aside. And secondly, we've won a lot of public sympathy and support in the country, as
well as outside, because of the harsh actions of the authorities. So on the whole, we are
very pleased.
In recent statements you appear to be placing more emphasis on honoring the 1990
election result. Is that correct?
Yes. We have asked the authorities to open dialogue so we can discuss all these issues, but
they have not been prepared to meet us at the negotiation table. So I think we have got to
go about our own work in our own way.
If you had negotiations, what issues besides the 1990 election would you wish to discuss?
We have not set any preconditions. We have said that everything is negotiable. We think
that the best kind of dialogue is one where both sides are able to put forward their hopes,
their fears, their aspirations, what they would like, what they would not like, then find a
solution acceptable to both sides -- which must be a solution that is best for the country
as a whole.
Has SLORC attempted to initiate any other kind of contact with you?
Not that I am aware of. If they have done so, it must be so subtle that I have not been
aware of it.
What if anything has ASEAN's policy of constructive engagement with the government
achieved so far?
First of all, we've got to recall why the constructive engagement policy was adopted. We
were told then that constructive engagement was supposed to be the best way to bring
about necessary changes. So it was an admission that change was necessary in Burma. Now
I do not think that necessary change has been brought about in any way at all, so we must
admit that constructive engagement has not worked.
What would you consider to be genuine constructive engagement from ASEAN?
It should mean constructive engagement with both sides. Whereas now there is engagement
only with SLORC, there should be engagement with us as well if they want to make the
situation better.
You have been criticized both for doing too little and doing too much. What do you say to
people who accuse you of being provocative?
Well if some accuse us of doing too little and others accuse us of doing too much, then we
must have got it just right, mustn't we? [Laughs]
But on the question of provocation, of raising tensions, would you say that is in any way a
fair assessment of what you are doing?
Not at all. I would have thought it was SLORC that is doing all the provocation, seeing that
they are the ones who have detained all our people. We haven't touched a single one of
theirs.
Will there be other conferences of this kind?
Yes, we've got to continue with our party work. I think we've got every right as a legal
political party to carry on with our organizational work.
What is your assessment of the mood in the capital right now?
>From what I can gather, the people are pleased with what we have done. They think that it
is the right thing to do, and we feel that we have the very, very strong support of the
public. And I think the people are very calm, confident, hopeful. Everything is under
control
as far as we are concerned. It's only SLORC that is so nervous.
Do you have any other concerns?
We are a little bit concerned about our people who have been arrested or detained or
whatever it is they call it. Although the authorities have said they will be releasing them
before too long, I am not sure that we can really depend on their word. They have broken
their promises many, many times and we rather get the impression that they will
certainly
keep some of them on for much longer than a few days.
Do you expect to be rearrested?
Anything is possible -- I keep saying this -- under an authoritarian regime. This sort of
thing can happen very, very easily. It would be counterproductive, but I don't know if they
realize that.
******************************************
MYANMAR
TAKING ON THE GENERALS
Democracy's champion comes out fighting
AsiaWeek Cover Story June 7, 1996
By Susan Berfield and Dominic Faulder / Bangkok
TO THE GENERALS WHO run Myanmar, Aung San Suu Kyi is a fearsome opponent. They
had hoped that six years under house arrest would sap her courage, dull her political
instincts and blunt her popular appeal. After her release last July -- charisma and
determination intact -- she did at first appear uncertain about how to carry on her
struggle for democracy. Her party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), had
been weakened; the junta had succeeded in getting the economy moving; several
Southeast Asian leaders had visited Yangon. Last week, though, Suu Kyi let the generals
know that she had found her way, and they were clearly unnerved by the prospect.
Her timing was impeccable. She chose to make her stand on the sixth anniversary of
the polls that should have swept the NLD into power -- a particularly worrisome time
for the junta, known as the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC). Suu Kyi
had invited some 300 NLD representatives to a three-day meeting to commemorate the
May 27 anniversary. The generals, on cue, ordered the delegates detained. Members of
Suu Kyi's Yangon office staff were among the 262 held for questioning. On the day the
meeting opened, only 21 NLD members were free to attend.
Suu Kyi pushed ahead. Some 10,000 supporters gathered at her lakeside home that
Sunday, chanting her name in unison. The crowd was about four times larger than the
usual gathering for her weekend talks, and the biggest pro-democracy assembly since
the rallies of 1989. Military intelligence officers were out in force too, but did not
intervene. The people were extremely orderly, good natured, even restrained. No one
unfurled a banner or made a move to march from Suu Kyi's home on University
Avenue. Student members of the NLD helped keep everyone calm. "Our people are
always disciplined," Suu Kyi told Asiaweek. "I don't think SLORC can ever accuse us of
having created any kind of disturbance."
Well, not a physical one, anyway. But she certainly succeeded in disturbing the
generals. On the last day of the congress she staked the NLD's claim as the legitimate
representative of the people. The military, she declared, was a "necessary institution"
that should become an "honorable" one by helping bring democracy to Myanmar and
then retreating from politics. She announced that her party would draft its own
constitution, formulate an economic policy, and meet regularly. She had for months
been promising that the NLD would reassert itself. Now the waiting was over, and an
exhausted Suu Kyi was elated.
For its part, SLORC announced a cabinet reshuffle on May 29 that beefed up its
Security and Management Committee. Some saw it as a prelude to a crackdown. Among
the government's softer blows was a condemnation of Suu Kyi as a "democracy
sorceress."
In a way, that sums up the military's view of her, and the source of its fear. The
50-year-old Nobel laureate's refusal to back down under any threat, and her
singleminded insistence that SLORC enter into a dialogue with the NLD, has frightened
the generals. They have been able to buy out or coopt dozens of leaders of ethnic
insurgencies in recent years. While Suu Kyi was under house arrest, they intimidated
many NLD members. But Suu Kyi they could never break.
She is a force of her own. No one in Myanmar commands the respect that she does.
When she speaks about democracy and human rights each weekend, soldiers sent to
watch the crowd often seem to be listening to her instead. Even some junior Military
Intelligence officers have confided their admiration after seeing her in person. During
her house arrest, the guards had to be rotated: she had started teaching some of them
English and beguiling them with her arguments. In a country bludgeoned by harsh
government propaganda, her straight talk can be entrancing. Even in rough translation
she sounds poetic.
Some generals seem to be genuinely concerned that Suu Kyi's persuasive powers might
force a wedge through SLORC. Since her release, no member of the junta has made
direct contact with her. There are moderate members of SLORC, but the junta has
managed to remain remarkably unified so far. The last significant signs of tension
were detected in late 1989, when monks in Mandalay became restive and the regional
commander at the time, Lt.-Gen. Tun Kyi, was considered too slow in cracking down.
Tun Kyi was also a businessman, and under his watch Mandalay had escaped much of
the violence experienced elsewhere in the country in late 1988. The rebellious monks
were finally crushed by former Senior General Saw Maung and Intelligence Chief
Lt.-Gen. Khin Nyunt.
Tun Kyi is now Minister of Foreign Trade. Like Lt.-Gen. Kyaw Ba, the tough former
northern commander in Kachin State who is now Minister of Tourism, Tun Kyi has
been reined in by the head of SLORC, Than Shwe. Both are now too enmeshed in Yangon
politics to go their own ways. Than Shwe and his deputy, General Maung Aye, a
respected military professional, are cautious and conservative. It was they who
allowed the pro-democracy leaders to resurface, presumably because they believed
the NLD no longer posed a significant threat.
Much of the pressure for opening up the country to foreign investment seems to have
come from Khin Nyunt. His liberalism does not, however, extend to politics. He has
always used his considerable talents for micro management to thwart what he sees as
dangerous democratic tendencies. Khin Nyunt was much impressed by Singapore, one
of the few countries he has visited. He liked the idea of a strong government on a fast
track to economic growth.
Indeed, the tacit support of Singapore and its neighbors has helped SLORC withstand
pressure to democratize from the U.S., the European Union, Australia and Japan.
ASEAN leaders have repeatedly said that they do not interfere in the internal affairs of
neighboring states. The generals were counting on that. And for the most part, they
calculated correctly. All that emanated from most capitals in the region last week was
silence. "Many Southeast Asian nations don't want to make waves, since they
themselves are sailing on paper boats," says Pat James, an American business
consultant and longtime Myanmar resident.
The generals are also betting that their provocations will not make foreign
businessmen jittery. They must have been cheered last week when a closed-door
conference for prospective Asian investors carried on with business as usual at
Yangon's pricey Strand Hotel. "Executives are concerned about the overvalued kyat,
banking regulations, but not about politics," says James, who attended the meeting.
K.S. Nathan, a professor of international relations at the University of Malaya in Kuala
Lumpur, was even more blunt: "Foreign investors are not counting on Suu Kyi to
overthrow SLORC."
All Suu Kyi has ever demanded is that the generals talk with her. Asked last week how
ordinary Burmese, armed only with courage, could prevail against the military, Suu
Kyi replied: "That's exactly why there will be change, because all the military has is
guns." Suu Kyi has words -- and ideas. That is enough to haunt the generals.
******************************************
DIPLOMACY
IS ASEAN TOO CLOSE TO THE GENERALS?
AsiaWeek:
WHEN IT COMES TO criticizing each other, Southeast Asian governments pride
themselves on their discretion. Only Bangkok and Manila expressed dismay when Yangon's
generals detained 262 members of Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD).
The generals may have put themselves in a bind, however: if they step up the pressure on
Suu Kyi and her party, they may lose more support within ASEAN.
Southeast Asia's policy of constructive engagement -- building economic and political
bridges to Myanmar-- is supposed to lead to peace, stability and development in the
country. Democracy is not necessarily part of the package. But even most supporters of the
policy expect any Myanmar government to abide by international norms. Thailand's Foreign
Ministry spokesman Surapong Jayanama was unusually frank about the detention of almost
90% of the NLD's top leaders: "Do we agree with SLORC's actions? I will not hesitate to say
we don't."
Suu Kyi has repeatedly referred to ASEAN's policy of constructive engagement with
Myanmar as a failure, and has called for an international boycott. Last week, she criticized
regional governments for encouraging private investment in the country, saying that only
the privileged have reaped the benefits of economic development. In an interview with
Asiaweek, she chided regional leaders for talking with SLORC but not her party (see facing
page).
Suu Kyi will have a tough time checking the investment momentum. "ASEAN will continue
to encourage economic relations with Myanmar," says a Singapore director of a business
consultancy in Myanmar. "I don't see how it can distance itself from SLORC." Other
governments are beginning to. Japan's Foreign Minister Ikeda Yukihiko last week scolded
his visiting counterpart from Myanmar, Ohn Gyaw, about the detentions. Tokyo has said it
will withhold full economic cooperation until the democratic process moves forward.
Most presume Myanmar would like to join ASEAN. Democracy is not a requirement; longtime
member Brunei is an absolute monarchy, and communist Vietnam was admitted last year.
"It is highly unlikely that ASEAN will allow the internal developments of Myanmar to
hinder its march toward regional cooperation," says K.S. Nathan, professor of international
relations at the University of Malaya in Kuala Lumpur.
But the generals may have slowed things down. Worldwide scrutiny of SLORC, possible U.S.
sanctions, a growing boycott movement, as well as continued public pressure may force
some governments to back away from Myanmar. "The difficulty of achieving a consensus
within ASEAN about admitting Myanmar just got more difficult," says John Bray, a London
analyst who has written about constructive engagement. If the generals go too far, ASEAN
may have to abandon its discretion.
********************************************
MYANMAR'S TOP INVESTORS
AsiaWeek:
Total spent on approved projects, 1990-1995
1. United States $245.7m.
2. South Korea $88.8m.
3. France $76.8m.
4. Japan $70.5m.
5. Britain $67.7m.
6. Thailand $44.6m.
7. Singapore 42.8m.
8. Australia $31.8m.
9. Hong Kong $12.6m.
10. Malaysia $3.7m.
********************************************
DEMOCRACY DENIED
AsiaWeek: Democracy Denied
DESPITE EIGHT YEARS OF struggle and thousands of lives lost, the democracy
movement has failed to dislodge Myanmar's military rulers. The generals, however, have
themselves failed to silence Suu Kyi.
1962 General Ne Win overthrows the government of U Nu, ending parliamentary
democracy 14 years after independence. He promises to institute the
"Burmese way to Socialism," but instead sends the country into a debilitating economic decline.
1988 Amid growing civil unrest and a deteriorating economy, Ne Win steps down.
Student-led pro-democracy demonstrations spark a military crackdown in which
thousands are killed. Aung San Suu Kyi, who returned from Britain to
look after her ailing mother, helps form the National League for Democracy (NLD).
1989 The ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) promises political
reforms and multi-party elections at an unspecified date, and places Suu Kyi under house
arrest for "endangering the state."
1990 In May polls, the NLD wins 392 out of 485 parliamentary seats. SLORC refuses to
honor the election results and jails NLD leaders and many of its elected representatives.
1991 Suu Kyi is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. The Nobel Committee describes her
democracy campaign as "one of the most extraordinary examples of civil courage in Asia."
1995 The government releases Suu Kyi from house arrest on July 10. The NLD
reappoints her as party secretary general. She announces that the party will pull out of the
SLORC-dominated constitutional convention.
1996 SLORC detains 262 NLD delegates to prevent them from attending a party congress.
The meeting proceeds anyway.
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RUMBLING IN MYANMAR
2 June 1996., The Hindu (New Delhi)
Six years after the historic 1990 elections in Myanmar, the victors in
that poll decided to reassert their rights and claim to speak on behalf
of the people. But can the National League for Democracy (NLD) hope
to achieve its dream of convening a parliament that was elected so
long ago? The mandate of the people was swept under the carpet by
the ruling military junta.
Whether that dream is real or achievable the NLD, led by the Nobel
laureate Ms Aung San Suu Kyi, has decided to resume the battle
royale for the restoration of democracy in Myanmar, formerly known
as Burma, it appears to be an equal battle at the moment, but it is
widely conceded that the people are with her and sooner or later,
would come out on the streets to win back their democratic rights.
A three-day conference that Ms. Suu Kyi called last week to
commemorate the 1990 verdict was a signal and a symbol in many
ways. She was testing the water, preparing to take on the State Law
and Order Restoration Council (SLORC), a name that the junta has
given itself.
Despite the fact that 262 party functionaries, of whom 238 were
elected to Parliament in the 1990 elections, were detained by the
military authorities in a week-long crackdown before the congress,
over 500 party representatives from around the country gathered at the
lakeside residence on their leader on University Avenue in Yangon.
But more important than their congregation was the unusually large
turnout for the weekend gate meetings that the Nobel laureate
addressed. Ever since her release from six years of incarceration last
July, Ms. Suu Kyi has made it a routine to speak to a small gathering
of people around 3 p.m. on Saturday/Sunday. The crowd normally
ranges from 200 to 500, depending on the mood and events of the
week. On May 25 and 26, the crowds in front of her house swelled to a
few thousands, expecting a message from an "oracle" as it were.
Left to themselves, the SLORC and the military rulers perhaps would
have disrupted the meeting and detained more people. But since the
arrests began even a week ahead, many foreign countries woke up to
the threat to peace and democracy -- dormant anyway -- in Myanmar.
One by one, they voiced "concern" at the arrest of pro-democracy
activists and urged the junta to halt the detentions.
Washington and threatened to launch consultations with allies in
Europe and Asia to work out a consensus approach to deal with the
Myanmar junta. But SLORC was not unduly worried about the U.S.
and the intelligence chief, Lt. Gen. Khin Nyunt, chided America for
trying to resume its imperialistic approach and called Ms. Suu Kyi and
her NLD the "puppets of foreign powers."
With the continuing arrest of the NLD members, other countries
joined the protest. But there were two significant voices from nearer
home -- Japan and Thailand. Japan was considered instrumental in
securing the release of Ms. Suu Kyi last year and to mark that triumph
for diplomacy. Tokyo resume aid and grants to the military regime,
besides nudging its private sector to take up key projects in Myanmar.
So, when the Japanese Foreign Minister expressed concern to his
counterpart in Myanmar -- then on a visit to Tokyo -- there was a clear
message. Japan would not hesitate to withhold aid or show down
investments, if SLORC continued its repressive measure. Even is it
was not ready to hold a general elections in the near future, Tokyo
wants the junta to start a dialogue at least and demonstrate its
professed commitment to a gradual restoration of democracy.
Morally and politically, it was triumph for the democracy movement
and the NLD. They were able to hold the first serious and well-
attended congress since the junta seized power. There may not have
been too much of decision making at the Congress. That was not the
expectation either. But Ms. Suu Kyi, who has been working quietly for
10 months on a rough agenda for the restoration of democracy, was
now able to get a broad grouping of party functionaries to provide a
democratic and politic platform to political re-launch the struggle,
instead of letting it appear to be a one-woman show or personally
politics.
Some clear-cut decisions did emerge Ms. Suu Kyi and her colleagues
have been authorised to draft an alternative constitution for Myanmar,
based on strong democratic principles. She has also promised and
economic policy formulation. These are considered symbolic steps to
tell the people and the world that the NLD is ready to work out a
parallel platform even as the military leadership is trying to "foist"
its version of a constitution.
In her address to the congress and at a press conferences later, Ms.
Suu Kyi set out here course of action and agenda: first, she wants all
the detained persons to be released immediately; second, she calls for
direct talks between SLORC and the NLD as that was the only
resolution to the impasse and for genuine national reconciliation;
third, she made it clear that there would be a series of meetings and
conference to follow as a sequel to this congress. In other words, she
challenged the junta to stop her on the tracks and told an attentive and
peaceful audience: "We will not rest. The will go on till we reach the
democracy."
Besides her appeals for talks with the junta, there was another
conciliatory gesture on her part. She went out of the way to emphasise
at the press conference, the crucial and "honourable" role of the armed
forces. She also made it clear that their role was to defend the country
and protect democracy. The running of the government must be left to
a "civilian parliament" and by implication, not a House packed
nominees from the armed forces.
Now that she has set for herself an agenda has decided to challenge
SLORC and to revive the struggle for democracy, things could begin
to move one way or the other in Myanmar. But it is considered crucial
that neighbours, trade partners and democratic countries around the
world should stand by pro-democracy forces at this crucial juncture.
Even without "interfering" in the internal affairs of Myanmar it is still
possible to nudge the military rulers to listen to the voice of the
people
and take positive steps to restore democracy though dialogue and
compromise. Ms. Suu Kyi thinks Japan and Southeast Asia have a
major role in this endavour -- in influencing and cajoling the junta in
the months to come.
V. Jayajath
singapore
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JUNTA RELEASES 113 SUU KYI ACTIVISTS, HOLDS MORE RALLIES
2 June 1996, The Asian Age (New Delhi)
By Philip McClellan
Rangoon, June 1: Burmas military junta said on Saturday that
Opposition activists detained last week in a sweep ahead of a pro-
democracy meeting had been allowed to go home.
The junta is announcement came in unusual article in the official New
Light of Myanmar, which said activists from the National League for
Democracy who had been "called for questioning" had been released.
NLD official said that 113 activists from the main opposition party of
the Aung San Suu Kyi had been so far been released.
The officials added that they expected the number of release to be
much higher, citing the difficulty of getting news from outside
Rangoon.
A total of 262 activists were detained last week as authorities tried to
scuttle an NLD congress being held in Aung San Suu Kyi s lakeside
compound.
Aung San Suu Kyi and diplomats here have voiced concern that the
authorities could take advantage of the detention to impose long prison
terms on senior NLD members picked up in the sweep. NLD officials
said they had received reports that at least nine NLD activists had been
charged under the countrys tough public security laws, but had yet to
received confirmation.
Analysts here say that with the release the junta is hoping to return to
the situation that existed before the detentions brought massive
coverage and focused international attention on Burma.
"Unless something big happens, things will return to normal, which
mean going back to their systematic harassment of NLD members
across the country," one analyst said.
Another series of huge pro-government rallies, bringing together more
than 100,000 people across the country, was also widely reported in
Saturdays newspaper in an effort to show broad popular support for
the junta.(AFP)
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