SUU KYI DECIRES MYANMAR REGIME

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Suu Kyi decries Myanmar regime 
Philadelphia Enquirer 12/11/98

ASSOCIATED PRESS


BANGKOK, Thailand -- In a videotape smuggled out of Myanmar, Nobel laureate
Aung San Suu Kyi marked yesterday's 50th anniversary of the United Nations'
human-rights charter by denouncing the military regime that has kept her
under house arrest for much of the last nine years.
In the tape, released yesterday, Suu Kyi said her country "suffers from
systematic violations of human rights by those in power," and said she had
come to "deeply appreciate the wisdom and vision" of those who drafted the
Universal Declaration on Human Rights.

Myanmar's military leaders insist there are no human-rights violations in
their country.

Suu Kyi's characterization of Myanmar has been supported by Rajsoomer
Lallah, a U.N. envoy who visited the country this year.

Lallah said that the government tortured and jailed opponents without trial,
and that its soldiers committed extrajudicial killings and gang rapes and
rounded up people for forced labor and to serve as human mine sweepers.

Statements by Suu Kyi, the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize winner, are rare because
the government refuses to let her speak in public and discourages
journalists from meeting her. The military has ruled Myanmar, also known as
Burma, since 1962.

In the last several months, the military has attempted to dismantle her
political party, the National League for Democracy, by arresting nearly a
thousand of its members and refusing to release them until they sign
statements quitting the party. "Eight years ago, democratic elections were
held in my country," Suu Kyi said. "But the results have not been honored by
the military regime, and the victorious party, the NLD, is subjected to the
most grueling persecution.

"So for us, as for many others, the struggle for democracy has become
synonymous with the struggle for human rights," she said.