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BBC : Tensions Rise as NLD Deadline



BBC : East Asia Today 
Tensions Rise as NLD Deadline of 21st August Approaches
July 17th 1998 

The Burmese junta has arrested seventy-nine members of the National League
for Democracy, led by Aung San Suu Kyi, according to opposition sources.
They were all elected in the 1990 general election, in which the NLD won an
overwhelming victory. The military says it's concerned that the NLD might
disrupt the planned reopening of universities and colleges, closed since
1996, because of student unrest. Yet commentators say the arrests are in
response to plans by the opposition, to re-convene the assembly elected in
1990, which the army banned. Aung San Suu Kyi has said this should take
place by August the 21st. As East Asia Today presenter Christopher Gunness
heard from Donna Guest, of Amnesty International, the latest arrests are
all part of a longer-term campaign against the democratic opposition:

Donna Guest: I'd say that in the last two and a half years there's been
quite a crackdown on the NLD - with possibly hundreds of people now in
jail. We don't know if these people that were recently arrested have been
tried, or where they're being held. That's why we're asking the military
government to make these names public. I think we're looking at a crackdown
and forms of harassment and intimidation in the lead-up to the 21st of
August deadline that the NLD has set for the government to convene
Parliament. 

Christopher Gunness: Was this actually provoked by the NLD? Aung San Suu
Kyi threw down the gauntlet and named the date of 21st August by which time
this parliament had to be convened.

Donna Guest: I think what she did was peaceful - she wasn't calling for
violence or for people to go to the streets. Her request was obviously seen
as a threat and that's an interesting thing in itself. The military is
frightened of the NLD and that's why they're reacting so severely. They
could just ignore her and ignore the whole thing, but they're not.

Christopher Gunness: How do you think the authorities are going to handle
these sensitive anniversaries? There's also the 8th of August when the
democracy uprising began in earnest.

Donna Guest: It's difficult to say if they're going to handle this with
restraint. Right now there really isn't much to react to. There haven't
been any mass meetings and there haven't been any demonstrations. Amnesty
International certainly calls on the military to exercise restraint. If
they made a few concessions - for example, releasing a few prisoners of
conscience who were ill - I think this would go some way to establishing
some trust in the country and outside of the country with it's ASEAN
members.

Christopher Gunness: Recently, the Thai government announced a new policy
towards Burma - what they called "flexible engagement". From a human rights
point of view do you have any trust in that whatsoever?

Donna Guest: I certainly welcome it, and I'm very pleased to see the
authorities do that. I think it took a lot of courage to do that, and now
the Filipinos have joined in. I certainly hope other ASEAN members will
take this up.