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Editorial & Opinion : EDITORIAL: Au
- Subject: Editorial & Opinion : EDITORIAL: Au
- From: suriya@xxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 25 Nov 1998 07:43:00
Subject: Editorial & Opinion : EDITORIAL: Aung San Suu Kyi must fight on
Editorial & Opinion
EDITORIAL: Aung San
Suu Kyi must fight on
It was good to hear straight from the horse's
mouth. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has not
given up. In fact, she has given an upbeat
assessment of her party, the National
League for Democracy, despite the military
junta's efforts to subjugate her party and
coerce its members to resign en masse.
The junta's tactics in the end will not work. In
due course, former NLD members will
return to NLD - no matter how hard the junta
tries. In a direct challenge to the State
Peace and Development Council (SPDC),
the junta's official name, the Nobel peace
laureate set up a committee recently to act
in the absence of parliament. Her party won
by a landslide the 1990 elections but the
junta did not respect the election results.
In the past 10 years, Rangoon's military
rulers have used a variety of measures to
discredit NLD. Continued harassment of
851 NLD members through detention and
intimidation has not weakened the party.
The junta leaders have propagated that
NLD is near its end because of mass
resignations and closing down of local
offices.
The international community, including
Asean, has urged both sides to hold a
dialogue of national reconciliation. So far, it
has not happened. Meanwhile, Asean is in
disarray because of the ongoing economic
crisis. Differences in perceptions have
surfaced and could further mar their
cooperation.
The junta has refused to hold talks directly
with Suu Kyi. It chose instead to talk to her
subordinates, but her party insisted that
there would be no talks without her
participation.
The junta leaders are now playing for time.
They hope that NLD and its followers would
die if they continue to tighten the screw.
They hope that the resumption of the
meeting between Asean and the European
Union over the joint commission would
further end their isolation. (Burma would be
allowed to attend the meeting passively.)
Burma's bad reputation continues to be
widespread. Both the reports by the United
Nations and the Geneva-based
International Labour Organisation were
harsh. ILO, as in the previous year, has
strongly criticised Burma for the use of
forced labour, which is considered by the
international community to be human rights
violation.
ILO has urged the junta to comply with the
international labour and human right
standards. But as usual, the pariah refuses
to listen. ILO's 500-page investigative
report, one of the most authoritative reports
on atrocities in Burma, stated that there
was systematic and massive abuse of
workers. The forced labourers were not
given food and sometimes were prevented
from drinking water.
During the past few weeks, there have
been efforts to broker a dialogue between
Suu Kyi and the junta through the so-called
''treasure hunting'' road map. Some EU
countries want to encourage the leaders in
Rangoon to take initiatives that would break
the impasse. But that would not work, if it
means more measures to weaken Suu Kyi
The international community must not lose
faith and give up on Suu Kyi and NLD.
What she stands for will triumph as it
responds to the people's aspirations. The
junta leaders will continue to use their
power to destroy her. The West must resist
the temptation of investment opportunities
in Burma.
The Nation