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BURMA RELATED NEWS - June 03,
2003.
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HEADLINES
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White House -
Bush Statement
AP - Myanmar Says
Detained Suu Kyi Unhurt
AP - U.N. envoy
expects to meet Suu Kyi, pushes ahead with trip to
Reuters - Bush
imposes sanctions on Colombia, Myanmar rebels
Reuters - World
Leaders Urge Myanmar to Release Suu Kyi
AFP - Myanmar junta
ignores mounting calls for Aung San Suu Kyi's release
AFP - ASEAN in dark
over arrest of Myanmar's Suu Kyi: official
AFP - UN envoy
wants clarifications ahead of Myanmar trip
AFP - Amnesty joins
global chorus condemning Aung San Suu Kyi's detention
AFP - Bush calls on
Myanmar junta to free Aung San Suu Kyi
AFP - Canada
presses for immediate release of Aung San Suu Kyi
The Nation -
EDITORIAL: Burmese hopes dashed again
Channel NewsAsia -
Singapore helps Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam with SARS
OneWorld - New Push
for Sanctions Against Burma Regime Likely
Asia Times -
Myanmar problem needs Asian solution
Asian Tribune -
Prison Zombies & Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi - Letter to
Editor
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The White
House
For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
June
2, 2003
Statement by the President
I am
deeply concerned by reports from Burma of the detention of Aung San Suu Kyi and
members of her political party, as well as reports that military authorities
have closed her party headquarters in Rangoon. The military authorities should
release Aung San Suu Kyi and her supporters immediately, and permit her party
headquarters to re-open.
The situation in Burma has long been of concern
to the United States. We have urged Burmese officials to release all political
prisoners and to offer their people a better way of life, a life offering
freedom and economic progress. We welcomed the release of Aung San Suu Kyi from
house arrest more than a year ago. This step gave the military regime an
opportunity to enter into a substantive dialogue with Aung San Suu Kyi and all
political groups to promote national reconciliation and democracy. This is still
the only path to peace and prosperity for all of Burma's people.
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Myanmar Says Detained Suu Kyi Unhurt
Tuesday
June 3, 10:39 AM
By AYE AYE WIN,
Associated Press Writer
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) - Myanmar's generals said Tuesday that
pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi is safe and unhurt after a bloody clash
with her followers, while President Bush and other world leaders demanded they
release her from detention.
The Nobel Peace Prize laureate has not been
seen in public since Friday when she was taken into what the government said was
"protective custody."
Deputy Foreign Minister Khin Maung Win told
diplomats at a closed-door briefing in Yangon on Tuesday that Suu Kyi was being
kept at a secure place, but wouldn't reveal where or for how long she would be
held.
Myanmar officials have said that four people were killed and 50
injured in the clash between Suu Kyi's supporters and opponents in northern
Myanmar that preceded her detention. Dissident groups, however, say they fear
the death toll could be as high as 70 and that Suu Kyi may have suffered a head
injury.
"Khin Maung Win reiterated that foreign media reports about Suu
Kyi being injured during the violence were not true. He said she was not hurt at
all," a diplomat said on condition of anonymity after the briefing.
A
government official, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, earlier said Suu
Kyi had been brought to Yangon.
Universities and colleges have been
closed since Suu Kyi's arrest. But Khin Maung Win denied this was linked to
Friday's unrest or her detention.
The crackdown on the opposition has
imperiled U.N. attempts to broker lasting reconciliation between the military
and Suu Kyi, who was released from house arrest last year. Khin Maung Win said
U.N. special envoy Razali Ismail will be "free to come" on a scheduled visit to
Myanmar starting Friday, but would not say if he would be allowed to meet with
Suu Kyi.
Calls for Suu Kyi's release flooded in from around the world.
President Bush said in a statement issued by the White House Monday that
he was "deeply concerned" about the situation in Myanmar.
"The military
authorities should release Aung San Suu Kyi and her supporters immediately, and
permit her party headquarters to reopen," Bush said. "We have urged Burmese
officials to release all political prisoners and to offer their people a better
way of life, a life offering freedom and economic progress." Myanmar is also
known as Burma.
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan demanded that Suu Kyi
be immediately released and "allowed to play a role" in the country's
reconciliation process.
Thai
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has said "the whole world" is concerned about
Suu Kyi's detention, and called on the junta to bring the situation "back to
normal."
"A democratic solution, a solution through dialogue, is needed.
I don't think the current situation is good," Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary
Yasuo Fukuda said.
Japan is Myanmar's main
source of foreign aid.
The junta's crackdown has turned back the clock
on that effort to reconcile the opposition and the generals, who in 1990 barred
Suu Kyi's party from taking power after it won elections.
It is also
likely that international aid ? shut off since the junta took power in 1988 by
violently suppressing pro-democracy protests ? won't flow any time soon to the
impoverished nation.
Even those in Asia who have advocated
encouraging the junta to allow reform rather than forcing it appeared worried.
The generals claim Suu Kyi's supporters instigated Friday's clash in the
north during a political tour of the region, which has drawn thousands of
well-wishers.
However, exile opposition groups maintain Suu Kyi's
motorcade was ambushed by government-backed thugs and the military. Tight
controls on the media and the remote location of the incident make it difficult
to verify any information.
A Washington-based exile group linked to the
National League for Democracy said Monday that more than 70 people were killed
in the initial fight Friday night and a protest the next day.
The
National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma also said that according to
its information Suu Kyi had suffered a serious head injury in the confrontation.
A spokesman for the group ? which calls itself a government in exile ? told The
Associated Press in Bangkok the information came from multiple sources inside
Myanmar that have been reliable in the past.
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Tuesday June 3, 12:28 PM
U.N. envoy expects to meet Suu Kyi, pushes ahead with trip
to
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) _ The U.N. special envoy to Myanmar indicated
Tuesday that he expects to meet detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi
during his scheduled visit to the country this week.
``I am still making
preparations to go,'' Razali Ismail, a veteran Malaysian diplomat, told The
Associated Press. The visit has long been set for June 6-10.
Asked if
he would meet Suu Kyi, who was detained by the military government over the
weekend, Razali said that the mandate of his post ``clearly says that the
special envoy must deal with all parties.''
The government detained Suu
Kyi and cracked down on her party following weekend clashes between her
supporters and pro-government forces in northern Myanmar.
Razali refused
to comment on the extent of the damage to the reconciliation process he had
fostered between the two camps over the past three years.
U.N.
Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who picked Razali in 2000 to try to break the long
deadlock between Suu Kyi and the ruling junta, has demanded that the generals
release her.
Razali achieved a breakthrough soon after his appointment,
brokering talks that led to the release of Suu Kyi from 19 months of home
detention and the freeing of hundreds of political prisoners.
But
progress has stalled. Authorities took her into custody over the weekend,
claiming it was for her own protection, and closed the offices of her party and
universities, long a hotbed of opposition support.
Razali said Monday
that he would continue to push hard for national reconciliation in Myanmar, but
said that it was a frustrating job and he would consider quitting at the end of
the year.
Myanmar, also known as Burma, has been ruled by the military
since 1962. The current junta came to power in 1988 and has faced widespread
international criticism for ignoring democracy and human rights.
The
government held elections in 1990, but refused to hand over power when Suu Kyi's
National League for Democracy won. Suu Kyi was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in
1991 while she was under house arrest.
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Bush imposes sanctions on Colombia, Myanmar
rebels
SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt, June 3 (Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush barred
U.S. banks on Monday from doing business with rebel armies in Colombia and
Myanmar as part of an expanded crackdown on what the White House called
narco-terrorism.
The new sanctions were imposed under the 1999 ``Kingpin
Act,'' which targets ``significant foreign narcotics traffickers, their
organizations and operatives.''
For the first time, foreign groups were
targeted for sanctions under the act, including the Colombian rebel army known
by the Spanish initials FARC (the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia), and
the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia.
Bush also imposed sanctions
on Burma's United Wa State Army, an ethnic minority militia in northern Myanmar
allied to the country's military rulers.
``This action also underscores
the president's determination to do everything possible to fight drug
traffickers, undermine their operations, and end the suffering that trade in
illicit drugs inflicts on Americans and people around the world,'' White House
spokesman Ari Fleischer said in a statement issued at this Red Sea resort.
Bush is to take part in meetings with Middle East leaders at Sharm
el-Sheikh.
Bush also targeted four individuals for sanctions: Juan Jose
Esparragoza Moreno, Jose Albino Quintero Meraz and Hector Luis Palma Salazar
from Mexico; and Leonardo Dias Mendonca of Brazil.
The action bars U.S.
banks and financial institutions from doing business with the suspected drug
traffickers and dealers, or with any business they control. Any American who
does business with them could face up to 30 years' imprisonment and $5 million
in fines.
The White House sent the list to Congress to meet a June
deadline set in the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation
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World Leaders Urge Myanmar to Release Suu
Kyi
Mon Jun 2, 5:42 PM ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - World leaders Monday urged the
government of Myanmar to release pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and
condemned the Southeast Asian country's crackdown on dissent.
President
Bush called on the Myanmar military to release Suu Kyi and her supporters
"immediately and permit her party headquarters to re-open," according to a
statement issued by the White House in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.
Suu Kyi and other opposition leaders touring the north of Myanmar were
detained Friday. The military says the Nobel peace laureate was taken into
"protective custody" after four people were killed in clashes between her
supporters and pro-government groups.
Her whereabouts were not known but
a junta official said she was in a government guest house in the capital Yangon.
In Australia, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer told parliament, "There
can be no justification for the continued detention of Aung San Suu Kyi and her
supporters and I urge that they be released immediately."
Most of the
offices of Suu Kyi's National League of Democracy party around the country and
all universities and colleges -- traditional hotbeds of unrest -- were closed on
Monday.
The Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights,
calling the detentions "most regrettable," urged the government to "renew its
commitment to political reform and human rights, starting with the immediate and
unconditional release" of Suu Kyi.
Secretary-General Kofi Annan was also
worried by Suu Kyi's detention and wanted her immediate release, a spokesman
said.
"This repressive behavior confirms the regime's lack of interest
in the return to democracy," the European Union's foreign policy chief Javier
Solana said in a statement. "It will most certainly reinforce the European
Union's resolve to stick to the current policy of sanctions against the military
regime."
In Ottawa, Canadian junior foreign minister David Kilgour
called for the immediate release of Suu Kyi and all political prisoners in
Myanmar. "Burma's ruling generals have now taken that country's painfully slow
democratization process a step way backwards," Kilgour told the parliament.
Japan and Thailand also expressed concern about the situation in
Myanmar.
London-based human rights group Amnesty International described
the arrests as "a massive step backwards for human rights."
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Tuesday June 3, 9:06 PM
Myanmar junta ignores mounting calls for Aung San Suu
Kyi's release
YANGON, June 3 (AFP) - Democracy campaigner Aung San Suu Kyi
remained under detention here Tuesday as the military regime denied reports she
had been injured and ignored mounting international calls for her immediate
release.
Condemnation of the junta's weekend crackdown on the opposition
National League for Democracy (NLD), which has left its leadership under house
arrest and its offices closed nationwide, was led by US President George W.
Bush.
"I am deeply concerned by reports from Burma (Myanmar) of the
detention of Aung San Suu Kyi and members of her political party, as well as
reports that military authorities have closed her party headquarters," Bush
said.
"The military authorities should release Aung San Suu Kyi and her
supporters immediately, and permit her party headquarters to reopen," he said.
Sources close to the regime have said the Nobel peace laureate is being
held at a military intelligence "guest house" in Yangon and that the eight
members of the party's leadership committee are also in detention.
Aung
San Suu Kyi was taken into custody in northern Myanmar after rising tensions
between her supporters and members of a pro-junta group erupted into clashes
that left four dead and dozens injured, according to the government.
Deputy Foreign Minister Khin Maung Win told ambassadors at a briefing
Tuesday that the moves against the opposition, including the closure of some 100
NLD branch offices, were temporary and for its own safety,
"They
emphasised these measures are temporary in nature but when asked what temporary
means we got no response," a diplomat who attended the briefing told AFP.
The minister rejected a report from Myanmar's government-in-exile based
in Thailand, which said it had learned that Aung San Suu Kyi suffered a serious
head injury in the melee and that up to 70 people were killed.
"They
said she's perfectly fine and that all the reports about her being injured are
false," the diplomat said. "But there's no way we could just accept that she's
perfectly fine because we just don't know."
Another diplomat said it was
"bizarre" that she had been taken to a guesthouse instead of her own home where
she has spent years under house arrest in the past.
"They have chosen the
option of the most complete confinement and this could make us think that she
has been hurt," he said.
United Nations special envoy Razali Ismail was
due to begin his tenth mission to Myanmar on Friday to revive a reconciliation
process between the junta and the opposition, which was foundering even before
the latest events.
But he said in Kuala Lumpur Tuesday that he was
seeking clarification over the democracy leader's detention before going ahead
with the trip.
However, Khin Maung Win indicated the envoy would
probably not be able to see Aung San Suu Kyi.
"The way they're putting
it is that: 'You can certainly come, we're not going to stop you, but we can't
guarantee that you will be able to meet her,' said the diplomat who attended the
briefing.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), of which
Myanmar is a member, also indicated it was in the dark about what was going on
inside the secretive nation.
"Internally, we have to talk to our Myanmar
colleague and find out what is going on," secretary-general Ong Keng Yong told
Malaysia's Bernama news agency.
Britain, France, Australia, the European
Union, Germany and Japan have joined international rights groups in expressing
extreme concern at the crackdown, which analysts fear marks the end of the
fledgling peace process in Myanmar.
Britain and Australia summoned the
Myanmar ambassadors to their capitals to make official protests and demand Aung
San Suu Kyi's immediate release.
"Reports from Burma that Aung San Suu
Kyi may have been injured during the attacks cause us particular anxiety, and I
have sought assurances from the Burmese government that they will protect (her)
welfare and safety," Junior Foreign Office Minister Bill Rammell said in a
statement.
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Tuesday June 3, 1:42 PM
ASEAN in dark over arrest of Myanmar's Suu Kyi: official
KUALA LUMPUR, June 3 (AFP) - ASEAN will seek detailed information from
Myanmar, a member of the Southeast Asian grouping, on the reported arrest of
Aung San Suu Kyi and other democracy activists, a top official said Tuesday.
Ong Keng Yong, secretary-general of the 10-member Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) said they remained in the dark about what had
happened in Myanmar.
"Internally, we have to talk to our Myanmar
colleague and find out what is going on," he was quoted as saying by Malaysia's
Bernama news agency.
Ong said that one should not jump to conclusions
just by reading media reports about the situation in Myanmar.
Aung San
Suu Kyi, Myanmar's democracy campaigner remained under the detention of military
authorities as the junta stayed tight-lipped over its plans to deal with her and
her party.
The Nobel peace laureate was arrested in northern Myanmar at
the weekend and brought back to a military intelligence guesthouse in the
capital Sunday. Her exact whereabouts and condition were unknown.
Ong
said since Myanmar was a member of the grouping, it had no right to tell Yangon
what to do.
"We should let the Myanmar authorities come and use ASEAN
channels to tell us what is happening. Bear in mind Myanmar is one of our
members.
"You cannot go in and tell your family member you cannot do
this, you cannot do that," he added.
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has
pressed for the immediate release of Aung San Suu Kyi and other senior members
of her National League for Democracy.
Asked if the ASEAN secretariat
would establish a special body to look into the developments in Myanmar, he
said: "We don't talk about these things at the moment."
"ASEAN has a
member called Myamar, and we don't have to be doing all these things like what
other countries are calling (for) because they are not members of ASEAN."
Ong said ASEAN preferred to adopt a quiet approach to bring about
national reconciliation in Myanmar.
The secretariat had been helping UN
special envoy Razali Ismail "in a quiet way," he said but did not elaborate.
Razali said Tuesday he was seeking clarification over the detention of
Aung San Suu Kyi before going ahead with a planned trip to the country.
The former Malaysian diplomat was due to talk to Aung San Suu Kyi and
other national leaders during his June 6-10 visit.
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UN envoy wants clarifications ahead of Myanmar trip
KUALA LUMPUR, June 3 (AFP) - United Nations special envoy to Myanmar,
Razali Ismail, said Tuesday he was seeking clarification over the detention of
opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi before going ahead with a planned trip to the
country.
"There are certain things I want to clarify with the government
in Myanmar first," the former Malaysian diplomat told AFP when asked whether he
would go ahead with his trip.
"I am scheduled to go on Friday but I want
to be clear about a few things first. I want to know what the situation is, it's
not clear."
Razali refused to be drawn further on the situation, saying
the UN had made its position "very clear" in a statement Monday.
UN
Secretary General Kofi Annan has called for the immediate release of Aung San
Suu Kyi and other senior members of her National League for Democracy (NLD).
Annan had instructed Razali to talk to the Myanmar government "in his
capacity as facilitator," said Annan's spokesman Fred Eckhard.
Razali
was due to talk to Aung San Suu Kyi and other national leaders during his June
6-10 visit, Eckhard said, "with a view to starting the process of national
reconciliation."
The Myanmar junta placed Aung San Suu Kyi "in
protective custody" at the weekend after clashes occurred between NLD supporters
and a pro-junta mob while she was on a political tour in the north of country.
The junta said four people had been killed and 50 injured during the
violence.
Some 18 members of Aung San Suu Kyi's entourage were also
detained, while the entire leadership of her opposition NLD was put under house
arrest in Yangon.
Aung San Suu Kyi is currently being held in a military
intelligence guest house in the capital at an undisclosed location.
Razali, whose last trip to Yangon was in November last year, is credited
with brokering secret talks between the military and Aung San Suu Kyi, which
began in October 2000 and were aimed at promoting national reconciliation and
political reforms.
The talks led to the release of Aung San Suu Kyi from
house arrest and freedom for some political prisoners, but otherwise had ground
to a halt.
Razali himself has expressed frustration with the pace of
change in Myanmar, admitting after his ninth mission in November that he was
disappointed at the lack of progress in reviving the dialogue.
The
United States, European Union, Britain, France and Australia, among other
countries, have joined an international outcry over Aung San Suu Kyi's
detention.
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Amnesty joins global chorus condemning Aung San Suu Kyi's
detention
BANGKOK, June 3 (AFP) - Amnesty International Tuesday joined the
growing global chorus condemning the arrest by the Myanmar military junta of
opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her party members.
The human
rights organisation said it was "deeply concerned" over the detention of the
National League for Democracy (NLD) leader and party members and students either
detained or missing since Friday, when clashes occurred between NLD supporters
and a pro-junta mob in the north of country.
The junta placed Aung San
Suu Kyi "in protective custody" after the incident and reported that four had
been killed and 50 injured during the violence, which occurred while the leader
was on a political tour.
Some 18 members of her entourage were also
detained, while the entire leadership of her opposition NLD was put house arrest
in Yangon.
"There is concern for the safety of more than 100 NLD members
and students, including Aung San Suu Kyi, who have reportedly been held
incommunicado since Friday's incident, during which between four and 70 people
are believed to have been killed," the London-based Amnesty said in a statement.
Myanmar's Thailand-based government in exile, the National Coalition
Government of the Union of Burma, said it had learned that up to 70 people may
have been killed during the weekend clashes.
"The whereabouts and fate
of members of the political opposition who are reportedly missing must be made
publicly immediately," Amnesty said.
"This is a completely unwarranted
and harsh crackdown on political party members and others carrying out their
legitimate activities."
Aung San Suu Kyi is currently being held in a
military intelligence guest house in the capital at an undisclosed location.
The United Nations, United States, European Union, Britain, France and
Australia, among other countries, have joined the international outcry over Aung
San Suu Kyi's detention.
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Bush calls on Myanmar junta to free Aung San Suu Kyi
Mon Jun 2,11:25 PM ET
SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt,
June 3 (AFP) - President George W.
Bush has called on Myanmar's military rulers to release democracy leader Aung
San Suu Kyi, joining a chorus of international outrage over the arrest of the
Nobel laureate.
Bush took time out from preparing for two crucial Middle
East summits to issue a statement late Monday in support of the beleagured
democracy leader whom military intelligence is holding under house arrest in
Yangon.
"I am deeply concerned by reports from Burma (Myanmar) of the
detention of Aung San Suu Kyi and members of her political party, as well as
reports that military authorities have closed her party headquarters in Rangoon
(Yangon)," Bush said.
"The military authorities should release Aung San
Suu Kyi and her supporters immediately, and permit her party headquarters to
reopen," he said.
Bush also warned that despite the arrest, Myanmar
should still pursue the political dialogue with Aung San Suu Kyi, bolstered by
her release from a previous period of house arrest last year.
"This is
still the only path to peace and prosperity for all of Burma's people," Bush
said, using the country's former name outlawed by the junta.
US
Secretary of State Colin Powell earlier said en route to Egypt that Myanmar
authorities claimed the arrest was carried out to protect Aung San Suu Kyi from
a disturbance.
"If that is the case, therefore we expect she will be
immediately or promptly released," he said.
Another 18 members of her
entourage were detained and the entire leadership of the opposition National
League of Democracy was under house arrest in the capital Yangon.
The
United Nations and European Union all joined condemnation of the military
junta's detention of the pro-democracy leader.
Myanmar's ambassador in
London, Kyaw Win, was ordered to the Foreign Office to hear a protest from
Junior Foreign Office Minister Bill Rammell. Australia also summoned Myanmar's
envoy to Canberra.
"Reports from Burma that Aung San Suu Kyi may have
been injured during the attacks cause us particular anxiety, and I have sought
assurances from the Burmese government that they will protect (her) welfare and
safety," Rammell said in a statement.
Myanmar moved against Aung San Suu
Kyi after closing down her party's offices across the country and closing the
country's universities.
A spokesman for the UN secretary general said:
"At this crucial juncture, (UN chief Kofi Annan) maintains that Daw Aung San Suu
Kyi, as both a national leader and the leader of the NLD, must be allowed to
play a role, in co-operation with the government and others, in taking steps to
bring about national reconciliation in Myanmar."
Annan instructed his
Special Envoy to Myanmar, Razali Ismail, to talk to the Myanmar government, the
spokesman said. Ismail is also to talk to Aung San Suu Kyi, and other national
leaders during a visit from June 6-10.
France expressed concern over
"the fate" of Aung San Suu Kyi after her arrest.
Germany's foreign
ministry called on the Myanmar government to release the opposition leaders
"swiftly".
Canadian Foreign Minister Bill Graham urged the Myanmar junta
"to begin substantive discussions on national reconciliation and democracy with
Aung San Suu Kyi."
In Thailand, which borders Myanmar, Prime Minister
Thaksin Shinawatra said the government was monitoring the incident closely. "I
think the whole world is concerned and the Myanmar government understands that,"
he said.
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Canada presses for immediate release of Aung San Suu Kyi
OTTAWA, June 2 (AFP) - Canadian Foreign Minister Bill Graham on
Monday pressed for the immediate release of Aung San Suu Kyi and other democracy
activists arrested in Myanmar.
Referring to the country by its old name
of Burma, Graham issued a statement saying: "Canada deplores these latest
detentions, and calls on the Burmese authorities to immediately release Aung San
Suu Kyi and her colleagues.
"I urge the authorities to begin substantive
discussions on national reconciliation and democracy with Aung San Suu Kyi," he
added.
Myanmar's junta was holding Aung San Suu Kyi in detention after
closing down her party's offices across the country and closing the country's
universities.
The Nobel peace laureate, arrested over the weekend, was
brought back to the capital Sunday and taken to a military intelligence guest
house.
Graham reaffirmed Canada's support for the efforts of United
Nations special envoy Tan Sri Razali Ismail to facilitate talks between the
junta and the opposition.
In the House of Commons, Secretary of States
for Asia and the Pacific David Kilgour said: "Canadians are appalled. Aung San
Suu Kyi is a world hero.
"Burma's ruling generals have now taken that
country's painfully slow democratization process ten steps backwards."
--------------------------------------------------------------
The Nation
EDITORIAL: Burmese hopes
dashed again
Published on Jun 3, 2003
The junta?s
latest effort to destroy any chance of dialogue means a policy rethink for the
international community
Developments over the weekend in Burma have
sounded the death knell for the peace process between the military junta and the
opposition. Obviously, the Burmese regime's leaders have lied to the
international community that by releasing Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest two
years ago, they could engage in serious political dialogue with her that would
lead to reconciliation. Now Suu Kyi has been detained yet again along with party
associates in the notorious Insein prison after her supporters clashed with
pro-junta crowds in north Burma. Four people were reportedly killed and 50
injured during the melee and several vehicles and motorcycles burned.
A
Rangoon spokesman was reluctant to reveal the whereabouts of Suu Kyi or the
charges that had been laid to detain her. But it seems clear that without her as
the opposition's figurehead the government can further disarm and split its
opponents. It is apparent that nothing is going to stop the generals from
clinging to power.
Coincidentally, Ismail Razali, the UN envoy for Burma,
was scheduled to visit Burma on Friday. But it would be sensible if he were to
delay his visit until the junta gives a valid explanation for what happened on
the weekend. As long as it keeps Suu Kyi in custody, the UN must make it
accountable for its actions.
For months Suu Kyi has been travelling the
Burmese countryside to shore up support for the opposition and to open NLD
branch offices. Wherever she went, thousands of people showed up to listen to
her speeches. But obviously her rising popularity worried the junta, and they
plotted against her by organising thugs to disrupt her appearances and wreck the
opposition movement.
For its part, Thailand must share some of the blame
for the latest events because of its strong support for the junta. The Thaksin
government has repeatedly taken a soft line on assistance for reconciliation and
democratisation for Burma. But after more than two years of this approach things
have become worse rather than better, making a joke of Bangkok's policy towards
Rangoon. As the weekend's events show, reconciliation is back to square
one.
In 1997 Burma was admitted to Asean, giving legitimacy to the junta.
The hope was that peer pressure, however subtle, by member countries might work
some changes, especially in respect of listening to the people. Nothing of the
sort has happened, as might have been expected.
Meanwhile recent global
events have dimmed whatever small spotlight was focussed on Burma. Not
surprisingly, the junta has taken advantage of international attention being
diverted to the Middle East. Whether the weekend's events will create even so
much as a ripple on international waters remains to be seen, but if there ever
was a case for sanctions, now is it. The junta has no intention whatsoever of
engaging the opposition party, a thing Suu Kyi has been waiting patiently for
since her release two years ago.
As events continue to unfold, many
observers see something more sinister in Suu Kyi's rearrest, and that is a
conflict among the ruling military leaders.
The number-one strongman,
General Than Shwe, seems poised to muster all power under his leadership to
ensure that nobody can open a dialogue with Suu Kyi without his permission.
For 15 years the Burmese people have suffered under the regime. The time
has come for the international community to rethink its ineffectual policies
toward the junta.
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Channel NewsAsia
Tuesday June 3, 8:17 PM
Singapore helps Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam with
SARS
Singapore has pledged technical help for Cambodia,
Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam to combat SARS.
The package includes the
donation of thermal scanners and a study visit to share Singapore's experiences
in dealing with SARS.
Singapore, in partnership with Japan and the World
Bank, has invited 20 health oficials from the four countries to attend a 3-day
visit starting from 4 June.
They will study measures implemented by
Singapore including health screening procedures, contact tracing, quarantine
measures, public education and hospital containment strategies.
The
officials will also observe ground operations at various SARS management
centres.
For a start, Singapore and Asia Pacific Breweries will send two
thermal scanners to Cambodia's Phnom Penh International Airport and Siem Reap
Angkor International Airport.
They will be presented to Cambodia's
Foreign Minister Hor Namhong on 9 June.
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New Push for Sanctions Against Burma Regime
Likely
Mon Jun 2, 8:39 AM ET
Jim Lobe,OneWorld U.S.
WASHINGTON,
D.C. June 2 (OneWorld) - The
military regime in Burma can expect new efforts to isolate it economically and
diplomatically unless it releases 1991 Nobel Peace Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and
other leaders of her National League for Democracy (NLD) party immediately,
pro-democracy activists warned Sunday.
A number of U.S. lawmakers had
already been talking about ratcheting up pressure against Burma-- the Southeast
Asian nation renamed Myanmar by the military in 1989--following a series of
clashes Friday between supporters of the junta and NLD activists gathered to
meet with Suu Kyi in the town of Ye-U, about 400 miles north of the capital,
Rangoon.
At least one report said that her car had been hit by gunfire
in what the Washington-based Free Burma Coalition (FBC) called an assassination
attempt. The government denied that account but reported four people killed in
the clashes and at least 50 more injured.
Suu Ky was detained at the
town and taken to a government house back in the capital where she remains under
house arrest, according to reports from Rangoon--renamed Yangon by the military.
Security forces have reportedly also surrounded the homes of other senior NLD
leaders around the country, effectively placing them under house arrest. The
junta said the detentions were for their own protection.
The junta also
announced that all university campuses and colleges, strongholds of
anti-military sentiment since the mid-1980s, have been closed indefinitely,
while NLD offices around the country have been padlocked and some its provincial
leaders arrested.
"This is the regime's most serious crackdown on
democracy in years," said Aung Din, FBC's director for policy. "This latest
outrage proves yet again that Burma's regime has lied to the international
community and lied to the Burmese people."
The United Nations (news -
web sites), which has been mediating between Suu Kyi and the junta since before
she was released from 19 months of house arrest last year, released a statement
Saturday night saying that Secretary General Kofi Annan was following
developments "closely and with concern," while Britain condemned the violence
and detentions.
Activists said the events marked the latest in a series
of escalating attacks against both Suu Kyi and the NLD, which in 1990 swept
national elections that were ignored by the military. It was hoped that her
release last year would intensify a dialogue that began when she was still under
house arrest, but in recent months the opposition leader indicated that those
efforts had not borne fruit.
She has been touring the country to meet
with her supporters. While tens of thousands of people have turned out to greet
her, the junta's political arm, the Union Solidarity and Development Association
(USDA), has also mobilized protesters against her.
Earlier this month,
two U.S. congressmen, Peter King (R-NY) and Michael Capuano (D-MA) harshly
criticized what they described as increasingly violent USDA attacks on Suu Kyi
and her supporters and suggested that they would seek stronger sanctions if such
harassment persisted.
The administration of former President Bill
Clinton imposed a ban on new investment by U.S. companies doing business in
Burma in 1997, and activists have urged a comprehensive ban on trade with the
country.
"Many leading members of Congress will be looking to pass a new
set of comprehensive sanctions against the regime," predicted Aung Din. "These
killings and arrests demonstrate that increased international pressure through
sanctions and isolating the regime politically and economically is the only
policy option we have to press for the removal of the regime and recognition of
the 1990 democratically elected parliament."
Suu Kyi has a number of
powerful defenders in Congress, including Senate Majority Whip Mitch McConnell
(R-KY) and Rep. Tom Lantos (D-CA), the ranking Democrat on the House
International Relations Committee.
Activists here have already had
significant success in persuading many U.S. companies doing business in Burma to
withdraw from the country until it takes credible steps toward democratic
government. The junta's human rights record, particularly in regard to forced
labor and persecution of minorities, has added to pressure on companies to cut
business and trade ties.
Last month the Free Burma Coalition and other
groups scored a major victory when the American Apparel & Footwear
Association, a trade group that represents U.S. footwear and clothing
wholesalers, announced it would lobby for a ban on footwear and apparel exports
from Burma.
Burmese textile and shoe exports to the U.S. rose sharply in
the late 1990s, but have fallen off since 2001 as more companies, under activist
pressure, pledged to halt all imports from Burma.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Asia Times - Jun 3, 2003
Myanmar
problem needs Asian solution
By David
Simmons
HUA HIN, Thailand - Desperate regimes, desperate
measures. The coals of fire being heaped on the heads of Myanmar's ruling
generals for mounting the latest barrier against that country's tiny steps
toward democracy may be overwhelming the bigger picture.
Myanmar's
ruling junta late last week raided and closed down several offices of the
opposition National League for Democracy and put the party's leader, Nobel
laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, 57, in "protective custody" in one of its
"guesthouses". Predictably, howls of outrage poured forth from Japan, Thailand,
Australia, Britain, France, Sweden and other democracies, as well as the United
Nations.
But Myanmar, of course, is not a democratic nation and its
rulers have made it abundantly clear that they have no interest in democracy.
And as the United States spreads its tentacles around the globe in the name of
promoting "freedom" and democracy US-style, determinedly anti-reformist
governments such as those in Yangon and Pyongyang are under enormous pressure.
When you're under pressure, you either yield or you push back, which is
what North Korea famously has been doing for several months as it belligerently
antagonizes the US. Now Myanmar, already languishing under crippling if unevenly
applied international economic sanctions, is drawing its own line in the sand.
Sanctions are always a double-edged sword, and in Myanmar's case they
have pushed the generals farther away from the West and into the arms of Asian
neighbors, notably China, India, Bangladesh and Thailand. While some of
Myanmar's emerging allies are at least nominally democratic, they tend to be far
less evangelical about spreading their preferred form of government to other
countries, especially if there's a buck to be made, than is the case with many
North American and European democracies.
Thailand, for instance, which
has had a thorny relationship with Burma/Myanmar for centuries, has under the
leadership of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra cozied up to the generals in
Yangon. Border clashes still occur, but progress has been claimed by both sides
in the war against the production and smuggling of narcotics, and a major
natural-gas deal is important to both countries despite high-pitched complaints
from human-rights activists.
A powerful lobby against the junta is the
Free Burma Coalition (FBC), which over the weekend fired off memos and news
releases after the latest actions against Suu Kyi and her movement.
"This is the regime's most serious crackdown on democracy in years,"
said Aung Din, FBC's director of policy. "This latest outrage proves yet again
that Burma's regime has lied to the international community and lied to the
Burmese people." (The FBC, like many opposed to the Yangon regime, prefers to
call the country by its old name, which was changed to "Myanmar" by the junta in
1989.)
Suu Kyi's latest stint as a "guest" of the regime occurred after
a melee between her supporters and those of the government in which four people
were reportedly killed and about 50 injured. The incident occurred in the
northern town of Ye-U, which Suu Kyi had included in her itinerary for a seventh
tour of the country since her release from house arrest a year ago last month.
According to the FBC and other sources, authorities simultaneously
raided NLD offices across the country, tearing down party flags and padlocking
doors. Military intelligence agents were posted outside the offices in Yangon
and Mandalay. The regime put numerous NLD leaders under house arrest,
surrounding their homes and severing telephone lines. Later universities were
closed as the generals tightened their grip on the country.
The FBC said
in a news release: "The arrests and reported killings took place after
supporters of the Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA), the
political arm of Than Shwe's ruling military regime, apparently attacked Aung
San Suu Kyi and supporters of her political party in the northern town of Ye-U.
CNN reported that Suu Kyi's car was hit by gunfire. An unconfirmed number of
people were killed and dozens reported injured as NLD members and villagers
attempted to defend against the attackers."
Aung Din predicted that the
incidents will prompt the US Congress to push for more pressure on Yangon.
"These killings and arrests demonstrate that increased international pressure
through sanctions and isolating [the] regime politically and economically is the
only policy option we have to press for the removal of the regime and
recognition of the 1990 democratically elected parliament," he said.
But
like the regime of Kim Jong-il in Pyongyang, the generals in Yangon are clearly
more concerned about political reform throwing them out of work than they are
about the wrath of the West. Indeed, the junta has lately been obstinate about
allowing UN envoy Razali Ismail access to the country and has dragged its feet
on reconciliatory talks with the NLD.
However, short of an Iraq-style
regime change, there is little the West can do to rid Myanmar of the junta.
While unlike North Korea, Myanmar would not likely be able to mount a credible
defense against invasion by Western-backed forces, there is no incentive for the
United States and its allies - their high-sounding rhetoric about "freeing"
Iraqis and others languishing under brutal dictatorships notwithstanding - to do
so. Myanmar, unlike Iraq, has nothing the West needs, and military intervention
there or anywhere in China's sphere would go down extremely badly in Beijing.
The ball, then, is in the court of Myanmar's Asian allies, and therefore
it is a matter of pragmatism, not ideology, philosophy or even short-term
economics. North Korea's misbehavior annoys its ally China not, of course,
because it annoys the Western democracies or because North Koreans don't have
enough to eat, but because the Pyongyang regime's primary export is instability,
which is against China's regional interests. In the same way, it can be credibly
argued that Asia, including China, India, Thailand et al, would be a better
place if the Yangon generals went into retirement and let their people progress
socially and economically.
Once Myanmar's Asian allies decide - for
Asian, not Western, reasons - that Myanmar must reform, the "exit" sign will at
long last shine brightly for the generals in Yangon, and the future of Myanmar's
people will finally be theirs to choose.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Asian Tribune
Date : 2003-06-03
Prison Zombies & Ms.
Aung San Suu Kyi - Letter to Editor
Dear Sir, After reading your article about the 30 May crackdown on
Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi, I fear a fate worse than death for her while in prison.
SPDC (State Peace and Development Council) thugs hit her in the head
without killing her, whereas 70 others wounded and there were numerous dead so
far reported. They could have killed her, but instead, chose to strike her head
and this is significant. Now in jail along with 19 others of her party and this
is a galling case of insult upon injury. What is the significance of
this heinous deed? There have been many cases of prisoners becoming mentally
unbalanced from torture, a notable example being the student leader, Min Ko
Naing. I, myself, having lived in Burma for 30 years, personally know former
prisoners in similar conditions. They will not kill the Lady for fear of
international condemnation, but they CAN torture her, now that all previous
restraints have been loosened, and render her mentally incapacitated, using
subtle methods that won't leave any evidence. This will nullify her
effectiveness as a leader. SPDC can then blame it on her head injury, which, in
their twisted logic, was due to the riot instigated by her. I pray that I
am wrong, but you will surely agree there is ample cause for worry. I hope that
there will be more than just verbal condemnation from the world community this
time. Thank you for your time spent in reading this letter. I do not think my
letter might do any good, but you have excellent journalists, and I hope some
may be touched to writing a stirring article. David Law E-mail
address: drlawd@xxxxxxxxx
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