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The Washington Post " Crackdown in



Subject: The Washington Post " Crackdown in Burma "

Crackdown in Burma
Tuesday, May 27 1997; Page A14
The Washington Post 

BURMA'S military regime has launched a new, nationwide crackdown against the 
democratic activists -- and rightful rulers -- of that southeast Asian nation. 
About 200 should-be parliamentarians and their supporters are in jail. The 
junta has sentenced one democrat to 26 years in prison for possession of a 
copying machine. One of the world's worst governments is providing "another 
reason," as the State Department spokesman said, "why we don't think that 
Burma ought to be treated as a normal country."

Burma is a lush nation of 45 million people, rich in natural resources, which 
should be a leader in Asia. Decades of repressive rule have turned it into a 
laggard instead. In 1990 the ruling junta permitted parliamentary elections 
that were won -- overwhelmingly -- by a pro-democracy party led by Daw Aung 
San Suu Kyi, even though she was under house arrest at the time. Having lost 
the election, the military rulers -- who go under the appropriately 
unappetizing acronym of SLORC, for State Law and Order Restoration Council -- 
refused to cede power.Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace laureate and 
daughter of Burma's post-colonial independence leader, has been under house 
arrest or something close to it for most of the time since then.

The proximate cause of the latest arrests was Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's call for 
her National League for Democracy to convene today, the seventh anniversary of 
those elections. The SLORC, apparently determined to prevent even a one-day 
peaceful assembly, is rounding up those who won election to a legislature that 
never convened. The more basic reason for the arrests is the regime's refusal 
even to initiate a dialogue with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, which is her principal 
political demand.

The crackdown presents a dilemma to Burma's neighbors in Southeast Asia, 
relatively prosperous and increasingly democratic nations like the Philippines 
and Thailand, which are debating whether to admit Burma -- also known as 
Myanmar -- into their association, ASEAN. Given Burma's political and economic 
instability, and its wretched global reputation, ASEAN can do itself no good 
with such a new member.

Britain's new government said last week that it would work with its European 
Union partners to take new measures against the SLORC. President Clinton last 
week imposed congressionally mandated economic sanctions. In meetings in 
Europe next week, and with the G-7 leading industrialized nations next month, 
he should pursue further cooperative ways to pressure Burma to respect its own 
people's wishes.