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The Washington Post " Crackdown in
- Subject: The Washington Post " Crackdown in
- From: ausgeo@xxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 28 May 1997 06:31:00
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.