|
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HEADLINE -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- AFP - Myanmar could face flak at UN as pressure
rises against junta
AFP - Myanmar's foreign minister leaves for UN
summit
AP - Myanmar Accuses West of Instigating
AP - Myanmar Defends Crackdown
AP - Myanmar: UK's Ambassador Overstepped
""Diplomatic Norms""
The Times - BRUTALITY IN BURMA
Xinhua - MYANMAR TO HOST ASEAN YOUTH AFFAIRS
MINISTERS' MEETING
AFP - Myanmar blasts Britain for
overstepping diplomatic norms
Reuters - Myanmar Slams West for Meddling in Suu Kyi Standoff
AP - Myanmar's Suu Kyi, others confined to
homes for fourth day
Asiaweek - Junta Dissidents
---------------------------------------------------------------- Burma Related News - 5, 09 , 2000. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Tuesday, September 5 3:02 PM SGT
Myanmar could face flak at UN as
pressure rises against junta
YANGON, Sept 5 (AFP) -
Myanmar's junta could face flak under the international spotlight at the UN
Millennium Summit as it steps up a crackdown on detained opposition leader Aung
San Suu Kyi.
Myanmar's foreign minister Win Aung left Yangon for the US to attend the
Summit, state media said, as international pressure increased on the junta to
release Aung San Suu Kyi.
Myanmar analysts in Bangkok Tuesday warned that Win Aung would face intense
criticism from UN members including the United States and Britain at the summit
for its handling of Aung San Suu Kyi and members of her National League for
Democracy (NLD).
Already, Amnesty International Tuesday called on the Yangon junta to
release Aung San Suu Kyi and her party lieutenants, who are under house arrest
in Yangon.
"We strongly urge the Myanmar government to allow them freedom of
movement," the rights group said in a statement, referring to Aung San Suu Kyi
and other NLD leaders.
"The Myanmar government should immediately reveal the whereabouts of Aung
San Suu Kyi and her colleagues, who have been held incommunicado ...increasing
fears for their welfare," it said.
"The government should also remove the security forces surrounding Daw Aung
San Suu Kyi's home compound and the NLD headquarters in Yangon."
In Yangon, the crackdown on the NLD leadership continued, as diplomats from
several Western embassies attempted to visit party chiefs but were rebuffed by
the junta's security forces.
A ring of armed guards remained encamped outside the party headquarters and
leaders' homes, preventing them from leaving and shutting down tea shops and
other businesses near the NLD headquarters.
Myanmar authorities raided the NLD headquarters and seized "incriminatory
material" and documents early Saturday, just before they officially announced
that a nine-day showdown between Aung San Suu Kyi and the junta was over.
The Nobel peace laureate and a dozen NLD members had been camped out in
their cars on the outskirts of Yangon since August 24 when they were blocked
from travelling to a party meeting outside the capital.
At the same time as the raid, the authorities effectively placed the NLD
leadership under house arrest, although the junta has denied anyone had been
officially arrested.
A spokesman for the Yangon junta Monday told AFP the detention was
necessary, as the military regime suspected the NLD of collaborating with armed
opposition "terrorist groups" to smuggle bombs into Myanmar.
Amnesty Tuesday said it "believes there is no evidence of support by the
NLD, which has always espoused non-violence, for armed opposition groups."
The NLD won a landslide general election victory in 1990, but the junta has
never recognised the result and is accused by foreign critics and human rights
groups of severe repression of opponents.
Aung San Suu Kyi, the daughter of Burmese nationalist leader General Aung
San, was under house arrest for six years and has subsequently had her movements
greatly restricted.
Tuesday, September 5 1:51 AM SGT
Myanmar's foreign minister leaves for UN summit BANGKOK, Sept 4 (AFP) -
Myanmar's foreign minister left Yangon Monday for the US to attend the UN
general assembly and Millennium summit, state media said, amid speculation he
will be criticised for his recent crackdown on the country's opposition
party.
Foreign Minister Win Aung was accompanied by a group of senior ministry
officials and lawyers from the attorney general office, TV Myanmar said.
Senior Myanmar diplomats and ambassadors, based in US and European
countries, will also join Win Aung to attend the 55th United Nationsgeneral
assembly and summit, according to the report.
Win Aung is expected to face criticism from UN members for the recent
crackdown on the country's main opposition party, the National League for
Democracy (NLD) and its leader Aung San Suu Kyi, an observer here noted.
Myanmar's authorities raided the headquarters of the NLD and seized
"incriminatory material" and documents early Saturday, just before they
officially announced that the nine-day showdown between Aung San Suu Kyi and the
junta was over.
The Nobel peace laureate and a dozen NLD members had been camped out in
their cars on the outskirts of Yangon since August 24 when they were blocked
from travelling to a party meeting.
A government statement said Aung San Suu Kyi and her supporters were
"escorted" to the capital and had arrived home safe and sound Saturday morning
after their stay in Dallah town."
Win Aung told reporters at a brief press conference in Yangon earlier that
the move was "obviously premeditated" and designed to embarrass the military
regime ahead of the UN meetings.
"She would like to show the world that the people are against the
government and if any action is taken against her by the government she thinks
that the people will come out to the streets," Win Aung said.
"She wants us to arrest her and put her in jail," he said adding that the
eruption of violence would then be blamed on the government, he said.
On Sunday, the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan expressed his "deep concern"
about the Myanmar military government's crackdown against Aung San Suu
Kyi.
"The reports concerning further infringement of the freedom of movement and
the freedom of political _expression_ are particularly disturbing," Annan's
spokesman said in a statement.
The United States also condemned the military government's treatment of
Myanmar's opposition leader and her party members and accused the junta of
forcibly ending her roadside stand-off.
The US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said Saturday she was
"outraged" at Myanmar's treatment of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Albright also called on the core of Myanmar generals to "immediately cease
all activities aimed at preventing the free exercise of internationally
recognised human rights."
The NLD won a landslide general election victory in 1990, but the junta has
never recognised the result and is accused by foreign critics and human rights
groups of severe repression of opponents.
Aung San Suu Kyi, the daughter of Burmese nationalist leader General Aung
San, was under house arrest for six years and has subsequently had her movements
greatly restricted.
Tuesday September 5 7:50 AM ET
Myanmar Accuses West of Instigating YANGON, Myanmar (AP) - Myanmar
went on the offensive Tuesday against its critics over the latest crackdown on
pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, saying foreigners are meddling in its
affairs and instigating unrest.
A statement from the iron-fisted military government accused Britain's
ambassador, John Jenkins, of overstepping ``universal diplomatic norms'' by
trying Monday to get to the house of Tin Oo, the deputy chairman of Suu Kyi's
National League for Democracy party.
Tin Oo, Suu Kyi and seven other NLD party leaders have been kept indoors
under virtual house arrest since Friday night. No visitors have been allowed and
the gates of their homes have been padlocked from the outside.
In separate comments published Tuesday, Lt. Gen. Khin Nyunt, Myanmar's
chief of military intelligence, accused ``two Western countries'' of instigating
unrest in the country. He was apparently referring to the United States and
Britain, which have blasted the treatment of Suu Kyi and others.
``They are creating unrest in the country by agitating a handful of
disruptive and subversionist groups who will follow their dictates,'' Khin
Nyunt, the No. 3 man in the ruling hierarchy, said in a speech Monday. It was
reported by all the state-run newspapers, including the Kyemon daily and the New
Light of Myanmar.
Tuesday's government statement said a plainclothes security officer blocked
Jenkins' path to ``prevent the diplomat from forcing his way'' into Tin Oo's
house.
``It is difficult to understand why a foreign ambassador was so adamant to
intrude into the internal affairs of an independent and sovereign nation,'' it
said.
The statements indicated a hardening of the government's stand in the face
of international condemnation of its political tug-of-war with Suu Kyi, the
winner of the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize. The government said the restrictions on
the NLD are an issue between it and a local political party, adding: ``The
people who are involved are purely Myanmar citizens and not British.''
The military rulers' latest confrontation with the NLD began on Aug. 24
when security forces blocked Suu Kyi, Tin Oo and 12 youth workers as they tried
to drive out to the countryside for political work.
Refusing to return to Yangon, Suu Kyi and her followers camped out in the
open near their vehicles for nine days before being forcibly returned to Yangon
on Friday night. Since then, the NLD leaders have been forced to stay inside
their homes. The government says the leaders are not under house arrest, but
have merely been ``requested'' to stay indoors during a police investigation
into the party's alleged terrorism links.
On Monday, Deputy Foreign Minister Khin Maung Win met with a group of
foreign diplomats to justify the restrictions. Britain and the United States
were not invited.
Khin Maung Win claimed that NLD youths had conspired with rebel groups to
try to smuggle five remote-controlled bombs into the capital for terrorist
activities in August and September. U.S. charge d'affaires Priscilla Clapp,
contacted from Bangkok, Thailand, dismissed the claim as a ``malicious
fabrication.''
Suu Kyi has led Myanmar's pro-democracy movement since 1988, keeping up her
struggle despite six years of house arrest that ended in 1995. The NLD won
national elections in 1990 but the military government has refused to hand it
power.
Tuesday, September 5 3:53 AM SGT
Myanmar Defends Crackdown YANGON, Myanmar (AP) -
Myanmar's military government cracked down on the opposition National League for
Democracy and raided its headquarters because of concerns it might be linked to
anti-government ``terrorists,'' a top official told foreign diplomats Monday.
Response from the party was not available because all its leaders were
being held incommunicado at their homes. But the top U.S. diplomat in Myanmar -
also known as Burma - characterized an earlier government suggestion of the
opposition party's ties to terrorists as a fabrication.
Deputy Foreign Minister Khin Maung Win made the terrorism suggestion at a
series of meetings at the foreign ministry to give the government's version of
its latest confrontation with the National League for Democracy. The standoff
began Aug. 24, when government security forces stopped opposition leader Aung
San Suu Kyi and 14 of her colleagues from traveling to the countryside to do
political organizing.
Diplomats provided accounts of the meetings to The Associated Press on
condition of anonymity.
At one of Monday's foreign ministry briefings, the government accused an
ethnic rebel group, the Karen National Union, and an exile opposition group, the
All Burma Students' Democratic Front, of conspiring with National League for
Democracy youths. It said the groups were trying to smuggle five
remote-controlled bombs into the capital to carry out terrorist activities in
August and September.
The statement indicated that a dozen ``terrorists'' who came from the area
of the Thai border were still at large. It said that to prevent possible acts of
terrorism, the National League for Democracy office had to be temporarily closed
to carry out necessary investigations.
U.S. Charge d'Affaires Priscilla Clapp, contacted from Bangkok, Thailand,
said the charge that the NLD is linked to alleged terrorist groups is ``a
malicious fabrication.'' She pointed out that the party has been carrying out
nonviolent political activities for more than a decade, and that Suu Kyi won the
1991 Nobel peace prize for such work.
The NLD's most recent confrontation with Myanmar's iron-fisted government
began when the security forces barred Suu Kyi from proceeding past a suburb of
the capital, Yangon. Suu Kyi and her group refused to return to Yangon and
camped out for nine days in their two vehicles in a muddy, mosquito-infested
field.
One of those involved in the roadside confrontation, party Deputy Chairman
Tin Oo, said Saturday that authorities had forcibly returned the group to the
capital the night before. Police chased away reporters and sealed off his house
before he could provide details.
As soon as they were returned to the capital, all members of the party's
central executive committee were locked in their homes and the party's
headquarters was raided. The headquarters remained closed and occupied Monday by
security personnel who have been removing documents.
Although sealed off from visitors, Suu Kyi is in good health inside her
Yangon compound, a party member said Monday.
Suu Kyi has led the opposition movement in Myanmar since 1988, when the
military quashed pro-democracy demonstrations and asserted its authoritarian
rule. She has invited foreign pressure on the military regime and has been
rebuffed repeatedly in attempts to hold a dialogue with Myanmar's rulers.
The military held an election in 1990, but refused to allow parliament to
convene after the NLD won a landslide victory. Since then, the party's members
have been arrested and harassed.
Clapp said police have barred diplomats from even approaching the homes of
the NLD party leaders, whose telephone lines have been cut.
``The government says it's not house arrest, but to us it looks like house
arrest,'' she said.
Tuesday, September 5 6:23 PM SGT
Myanmar: UK's Ambassador Overstepped
""Diplomatic Norms""
YANGON (AP)--The Myanmar
government Tuesday accused Britain's ambassador, John Jenkins, of overstepping
"universal diplomatic norms" for trying Monday to get to the house of Tin Oo,
the deputy chairman of Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party.
The government had earlier Tuesday said foreigners were meddling in its affairs and instigating unrest. Tin Oo, Suu Kyi and seven other party leaders have been kept indoors under virtual house arrest since Friday night. No visitors have been allowed and the gates of their homes have been padlocked from outside. A government statement Tuesday said that a plainclothes security officer blocked Jenkins' path to "prevent the diplomat from forcing his way" into Tin Oo's house. "It is difficult to understand why a foreign ambassador was so adamant to intrude into the internal affairs of an independent and sovereign nation," it said. The statement indicated a hardening of the government's stand in the face of international condemnation of its political tug-of-war with Suu Kyi, the 1991 Nobel peace laureate. The government said the restrictions on the NLD is an issue between it and a local political party. "The people who are involved are purely Myanmar citizens and not British." The military rulers' latest confrontation with the NLD began Aug. 24 when security forces blocked Suu Kyi, Tin Oo and 12 youth workers as they tried to drive out to the countryside for political work. Refusing to return to Yangon, they camped out in the open near their vehicles for nine days before being forcibly returned to Yangon Friday night. The Times : Opinion
BRUTALITY IN BURMA The West should give more support to Burma's democrats The cynical attempt by Burma's military Government to link Aung San Suu Kyi
to "terrorist activity", following the 13-day roadside confrontation with the
Nobel Peace Prize winner, is an ominous sign that the junta may now be preparing
a more brutal crackdown on Daw Suu Kyi and her opposition National League for
Democracy (NLD). Nothing has been seen or heard of her since she was forced to
return home after police prevented her meeting her party's youth wing outside
Rangoon. Members of the executive committee have been placed under house arrest
and riot police have manhandled supporters and a few brave Western diplomats
attempting to contact her or senior party members. Although the junta routinely
denies entry to all Western correspondents, the Times correspondent, Stephen
Farrell, has managed to bring out compelling evidence of the fear which now
rules in Burma.
Embarrassed by Daw Suu Kyi's astutely timed challenge to the continuing suppression of democracy on the eve of the United Nations millennium assembly, the junta now looks set to take revenge on the woman whose courage and charisma have persistently exposed its brutalities and denied it legitimacy. The military knows that it is hated; were a free election to be held tomorrow Daw Suu Kyi would win the same landslide support that in 1990 gave the NLD 80 per of the vote before being cheated of power. Sneering at the "white man's wife," the junta looks set to reimpose on her the house arrest that she endured for six years. It has also linked the NLD with "God's Army", the ragtag guerrilla band grouping ethnic Karen rebels and student activists, and the party may be banned outright. Burma thinks it can act with impunity. It has been accepted into the
Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean) despite its trampling on human
rights; its neighbours have done nothing to put pressure on Burma to return the
country to democracy; and China supplies Rangoon with all the arms it needs.
Western leaders have condemned the junta, discouraged investment and supported a
tourist boycott. But in the absence of formal sanctions, private Western
investment has grown - despite evidence that forced labour is widespread and
workers' rights are flouted. Some diplomats - from Britain, America and
Australia especially - have given Daw Suu Kyi visible support within the
country; but there is a general perception that Western pressure on the junta is
being quietly relaxed. Washington has come to see the junta as unpleasant but
necessary for regional stability.
Daw Suu Kyi's action, however, is an awkward reminder of continuing abuse.
It makes it harder for the European Union to hold a routine meeting in December
with an Asean that includes Burma in its midst; it undermines the junta's
fiction that it guarantees normality and stability in a troubled region. Robin
Cook and Mad- eleine Albright have condemned the treat- ment of Daw Suu Kyi; but
their outrage needs to be more tangibly expressed.
Britain should persuade its EU partners that Burma cannot be allowed to
slink into the political dialogue between the EU and Asean. The Government
should reiterate its disapproval of all investment, even publishing the names of
those companies still actively co-operating with the junta. And Washington,
drawing the appropriate lesson from Indonesia, should understand that it is not
the blind tolerance of intol- erable regimes that guarantees stability, but the
encouragement of captive nations to assert their thwarted democratic
rights. WORLD NEWS
September 05 , 2000 12:38PM MYANMAR TO HOST ASEAN YOUTH AFFAIRS
MINISTERS' MEETING
YANGON, Sept 5 (Bernama-Oana-Xinhua) -- Myanmar is making
preparations to host the Third Ministers' Meeting on Youth Affairs of the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
It will be the first event of its kind to be hosted by Myanmar concerning
ASEAN youth affairs.
At the upcoming meeting, the date of which is yet to be fixed, Myanmar will
raise a topic on preparing ASEAN youths for a global community, Tuesday's
official newspaper The New Light of Myanmar said, quoting Myanmar leader
Lieutenant-General Khin Nyunt.
Speaking at a coordination meeting here yesterday for hosting the ASEAN
meeting, Khin Nyunt, first secretary of the Myanmar State Peace and Development
Council, said Myanmar is a nation with significant characteristics and is free
from sex, adult and youth, racial, religious and social discrimination.
The government is making efforts to further promote rights and
opportunities enjoyed by the country's youths, he noted, adding that it is also
nurturing the youths with the aim of using their strength in building a
developed nation, enhancing the ability of youths in all sectors such as
economic, social and education sectors, and promoting their skills in enabling
them to get abreast of the international development.
He noted that Myanmar has formed youth organisations such as the Union
Solidarity and Development Association, Red Cross and Auxiliary Fire Brigade.
Myanmar has been actively participating in ASEAN youth activities and
signed the 1997 Kuala Lumpur Agenda on ASEAN Youth Development.
Last August, Myanmar hosted the 9th ASEAN Youth Day meeting, which
discussed dissemination of ASEAN information, promotion of policies, social and
cultural values among ASEAN youths.
The first ASEAN ministers' meeting on youth affairs was held in Indonesia
in 1992 and the second in Malaysia in 1997.
Myanmar joined in July 1997 the ASEAN which groups Brunei, Cambodia,
Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and
Vietnam.
-- Bernama-Oana-Xinhua
Myanmar blasts Britain for overstepping
diplomatic norms
BANGKOK (AFP) - - Myanmar
blasted Britain for overstepping diplomatic norms by having its ambassador try
to visit detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
In their attempt to visit Aung San Suu Kyi, British diplomats "have
overstepped the universal diplomatic norms," a Yangon government spokesman said
on Tuesday.
"It is difficult to understand why a foreign ambassador was so adamant to
intrude into the internal affairs of an independent and sovereign nation," he
said.
"It is interesting to know how the UK will handle such an incident if the
role is reversed and a foreign diplomat attempts to interfere in Britain's
internal affairs."
The spokesman also denied that the junta's military police had manhandled
the British ambassador on Sunday after he attempted to see the NLD
leadership.
Myanmar authorities raided the NLD headquarters and seized "incriminatory
material" and documents early Saturday, just before they officially announced
that a nine-day showdown between Aung San Suu Kyi and the junta was over.
The Nobel peace laureate and a dozen NLD members had been camped out in
their cars on the outskirts of Yangon since August 24 when they were blocked
from travelling to a party meeting outside the capital.
At the same time as the raid, the authorities effectively placed the NLD
leadership under house arrest, although the junta has denied anyone had been
officially arrested.
The NLD won a landslide general election victory in 1990, but the junta has
never recognised the result and is accused by foreign critics and human rights
groups of severe repression of opponents.
Aung San Suu Kyi, the daughter of Burmese nationalist leader General Aung
San, was under house arrest for six years and has subsequently had her movements
greatly restricted.
Tuesday September 5 5:08 AM ET
Myanmar Slams West for Meddling in Suu Kyi Standoff By Aung Hla Tun YANGON (Reuters) - Myanmar's
ruling military hit out at its Western critics on Tuesday, accusing them of
interfering in its internal affairs as it kept pro-democracy opposition leader
Aung San Suu Kyi locked up inside her home.
The Nobel Peace laureate and other leaders of the National League for
Democracy (NLD) were confined to their residences for a fourth day after the
military forcibly ended a nine-day roadside stand-off between the two
sides.
In a clear reference to the United States and Britain, state-run newspapers
on Tuesday quoted Myanmar's powerful head of military intelligence,
Lieutenant-General Khin Nyunt, as saying ``two big western countries'' were
meddling in Myanmar's affairs.
``Two big western countries are applying various means to interfere in and
dominate the internal affairs of Myanmar and destroy her relations with the
international community,'' the papers quoted Khin Nyunt as telling a
meeting.
``They are trying to drag the Myanmar people into poverty and hardships and
to cause unrest in the nation,'' he said.
The United States and Britain have both strongly condemned Myanmar's ruling
generals for their treatment of Suu Kyi and other opposition leaders, and have
demanded the lifting of restrictions placed on their movements.
Both countries have praised the NLD, which won Myanmar's last democratic
election in 1990 by a landslide but which has not been allowed to govern.
Diplomatic Protest
British Foreign Office Minister John Battle on Monday summoned the Myanmar
ambassador to London for a diplomatic protest.
Battle said he would tell Ambassador Kyaw Win that the forcible return of
Suu Kyi, the de facto house arrest of NLD leaders, and a recent search of the
party's headquarters were serious infringements of their human and political
rights.
``I deplore this treatment of the leader of a democratically elected party
and other members of the NLD,'' he said in a statement issued in London.
Battle added he would complain about the manhandling of the British
ambassador to Yangon as he tried to establish contact with members of the NLD
and also demand the restoration of diplomatic access to Suu Kyi and her
colleagues.
Suu Kyi, her driver, and 14 NLD members spent nine days in their cars on
the side of a road just outside Yangon after they were halted by security forces
on their way to a party meeting outside the capital on August 24.
A large contingent of armed police took the NLD members back to Yangon on
Saturday and they have been kept locked up in their homes since then, cut off
from the outside world with no telephones and refused access to diplomats.
The Myanmar government has denied Suu Kyi and senior colleagues are under
house arrest, but has said they have been asked to stay at home while it
investigates reports that some NLD members had been involved in ``terrorist
activity.''
The Yangon authorities have not yet confirmed the exact whereabouts of Suu
Kyi and her colleagues.
Human rights watchdog Amnesty International has expressed ''grave concern''
for the safety of Suu Kyi and other NLD leaders, saying the military government
should reveal where they are.
``If they are being confined to their homes, we strongly urge the Myanmar
government to allow them freedom of movement,'' it said in a statement sent to
Reuters on Tuesday.
Khin Nyunt said the two unnamed countries were ``using a handful of the
destructive elements who will dance to their tune in creating various problems
in Myanmar.''
Myanmar's Suu Kyi, others confined to
homes for fourth day
YANGON, Myanmar, Sep 05, 2000 (AP) -- Myanmar's military rulers kept Aung San Suu
Kyi and other top leaders of her pro-democracy party under virtual house arrest
for the fourth day Tuesday after accusing them of having links with
terrorists.
The restrictions on Suu Kyi provoked widespread criticism from human rights activists, pro-democracy groups and foreign governments including the United States. In a statement late Monday, the London-based Amnesty International
expressed "grave concern" about the safety of Suu Kyi and the others.
Suu Kyi's latest troubles began on Aug. 24 when security forces blocked her
and 14 of her colleagues outside Yangon as they tried to drive out to the
countryside for political work.
Refusing to return to Yangon, they camped out in the open near their two
vehicles for nine days before being forcibly returned to Yangon on Friday
night.
Since then, Suu Kyi and all members of her National League for Democracy
party's central executive committee have been locked in their homes. No visitors
have been allowed in. The party's headquarters were raided, searched and
shut.
The government says the leaders are not under house arrest, but have merely
been "requested" to stay indoors during a police investigation into a visit by
14 foreigners to an NLD office recently.
"The government, together with the cooperation of the senior NLD ...
members, is working hard toward maintaining the existing peace, stability and
tranquility the nation and its people are enjoying," a government statement said
Monday.
But also Monday, Deputy Foreign Minister Khin Maung Win claimed during a
meeting with foreign diplomats that NLD youths had conspired with rebel groups
to smuggle five remote-controlled bombs into the capital for terrorist
activities in August and September.
It named the other group as the Karen National Union, an ethnic rebel
group, and the All Burma Students' Democratic Front, an exile opposition
group.
The top U.S. diplomat in Myanmar, Charge d'Affaires Priscilla Clapp,
dismissed the government claim as "malicious fabrication."
Contacted from Bangkok, Thailand, Clapp said the NLD has been carrying out
nonviolent political activities for more than a decade, and noted that Suu Kyi
won the 1991 Nobel peace prize for such work.
Suu Kyi has led the opposition movement in Myanmar since 1988, when the
military quashed pro-democracy demonstrations and imposed authoritarian rule.
She has invited foreign pressure on the military regime and has been rebuffed
repeatedly in attempts to establish a dialogue with Myanmar's rulers.
The military held an election in 1990, but refused to allow parliament to
convene after the NLD won a landslide victory. Since then, the party's members
have been arrested and harassed.
Clapp said police have barred diplomats from even approaching the homes of
the NLD party leaders, whose telephone lines have been cut.
"The government says it's not house arrest, but to us it looks like house
arrest," she said.
Amnesty International in its statement urged the Myanmar government to
prove that Suu Kyi and the other leaders were actually in their homes and not
being held in other locations.
Also Monday, the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development, a
Bangkok-based group, said in a statement that the military government of
Myanmar, also known as Burma, is "committed to taking repressive
measures."
It urged the international community to persuade Myanmar to "abandon the
use of brute force."
A similar statement was issued by the Bangkok-based Burma Lawyers' Council,
which said the restrictions on Suu Kyi and the NLD are "indisputable evidence of
the junta's unlawful strategy."
Asiaweek -
SEPTEMBER 8 , 2000 VOL. 26 NO. 35 Junta Dissidents Suu Kyi got the headlines, but the regime fears an internal challenge By ROGER MITTON Two portentous events in Myanmar elicited very different reactions
recently. One grabbed international headlines, but generated little attention at
home. The other was the talk of Yangon, yet barely drew a ripple of interest
overseas. As is often the case, their true significance is in inverse proportion
to their media coverage. The first incident, a challenge by pro-democracy leader
Aung San Suu Kyi, the regime took in its stride. But the junta was much more
concerned about the second — a slap in the face from a rising star in the army.
On Aug. 24, Suu Kyi and a dozen National League for Democracy colleagues
tried to travel south of Yangon to confer with other NLD members. They knew from
experience that they would not be allowed to do so. After driving a short
distance, Suu Kyi's group was shunted onto a side lane near Dala town. A week
later, they were still there. Officials have provided facilities and allowed
them to buy supplies in Dala. Cooped up in her small white Toyota, Suu Kyi, 55,
is unlikely to be feeling comfortable. But it is not the first time she has
endured this. Two years ago, she did it four times — giving up her final attempt
due to ill health only after a 13-day car sit-in. Says a diplomat in Yangon:
"People expect this standoff to be lengthy, more than ten days. Her health will
play a role."
Yet Suu Kyi's options are so limited that many wonder why she undertook the
venture. "She has not been in the news for some time," notes Sunait
Chutinaranond of Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University. "So she is sending out a
message that she cannot be forgotten, that the democratic struggle continues and
that she needs the world's attention." Suu Kyi herself denies this. Asked by
Asiaweek last year about the motive for her 1998 car sit-ins, she said: "We
don't do things to attract attention. We do what we think would help us in our
political aims."
But her political choices remain constrained. "She has done this driving
before, and she has written statements and made videos," says a Yangon
professional. "I'm not sure what else she can do." In an Aug. 21 video, she
criticized the "sham" reopening of Myanmar's universities two months ago. Shut
down in late 1996 after student protests, the campuses have been rebuilt far
outside city centers and are being run with meager resources, substandard staff
and a curtailed academic year. "After Suu Kyi released the video, she announced
she would organize her party's youth wing in suburban towns," says an Asian
diplomat in Yangon. "She wants to encourage frustrated youths to show support.
Three days later she goes on the road. I don't think it's a coincidence."
That is another reason the regime could not let her proceed. Spokesman Col.
Hla Min told Asiaweek: "A lot of parents are concerned because she encouraged
the students to be more active in politics. No one wants that. Everyone wants
the kids to be able to study peacefully." Yangon does not seem unduly worried by
Suu Kyi's action. Even so, says Hla Min, "we would be happier if she would
return to Yangon and continue her political activities there. But it is up to
her."
While Western nations have been predictably critical, the reaction in Asia
has been muted. In Myanmar itself, while many ordinary citizens admire Suu Kyi's
courage, there is less favorable reaction from the business community. "Her
stunt has already negatively impacted hotel bookings," says one irate
expatriate. Even civilians are less swept up by the event than two years ago.
Notes a diplomat in Yangon: "After a week, many ordinary people still don't seem
to know about it."
More significant is a growing divergence within the junta. A group of "new
dissidents" has arisen in the military and one of its key members recently spoke
out — and lost his job. This was the other event that rocked Yangon recently,
though almost no place else. Even now, the regime has not announced it, in
contrast to its flurry of statements on Suu Kyi. It concerns one of the
military's brightest and most articulate officers, Brig.-Gen. Zaw Tun, the
deputy minister for national planning and development.
On July 7, he spoke at a seminar on the Myanmar economy. He did not clear
his words with superiors. A favorite of junta leader Senior General Than Shwe,
Zaw Tun, 52, felt he did not need to do so. He knew that the Myanmar Investment
Commission was a mess; its chairman, deputy chairman and secretary were all
dumped late last year for ineptitude, corruption and philandering. And
investment in the country was plummeting. Like other young officers, Zaw Tun saw
the chronic incompetence at the economic ministries. His own progress had also
been stymied. Zaw Tun had a reputation for candor. When asked by Asiaweek in
March about the lack of economic progress, he said: "Maybe it's because we are a
little shut down to the world. We still have a lot of restrictions compared with
other countries. But gradually we are going to get it right."
His patience apparently exhausted, Zaw Tun threw caution to the wind in his
speech. He lambasted the investment climate in Myanmar. He pointed out that
contrary to official figures, GDP growth last year was about 6%, not 10.9%.
"There is no consistency in the trade policy," he complained. Forcing tourists
to buy $300 in Foreign Exchange Certificates was also wrong, he said (a month
later, the amount was cut to $200). Zaw Tun even took his mentor, Than Shwe, to
task. "Some who hold responsibilities in the country lack proper awareness," he
said.
It was too much for the leadership and Zaw Tun was dismissed. "He's had to
vacate his house and he lost his perks like his car and driver," says a Yangon
diplomat. "He was also stripped of his rank, but he is still in the army."
Questions remain about why Zaw Tun said what he did and how much support he had
from fellow officers. Says the diplomat: "He accepts that he went too far and
has apologized. But many government officials and young officers, as well as
most businessmen, agree with what he said."
That is what worries the leadership. "Some say Zaw Tun has become a hero
overnight," notes an Asian diplomat. Few soldiers, if any, will say that in
public. But observers point out that other officers have been treading a similar
line. Most are in the coterie of regime strategist Lt.-Gen. Khin Nyunt. There is
Col. Thein Swe, who championed this year's publication of The Myanmar Times,
openly admitting it could not be worse than the government-backed New Light of
Myanmar. There is Home Affairs Minister Col. Tin Hlaing, who took a risk by
approving provisions for Red Cross access to political detainees. There is Win
Aung, arguably ASEAN's most accessible foreign minister. There is Col. Kyaw
Thein, who led the controversial policy of rapprochement with former drug
barons. And there are Agriculture Minister Maj.-Gen. Nyunt Tin and his successor
as southwest area commander, Brig.-Gen. Shwe Mann. Both are considered potential
leaders.
One or more among this second-echelon group could pick up Zaw Tun's mantle,
especially when the senior leadership is shuffled — as expected in November,
when Than Shwe will likely retire. As Thein Swe told Asiaweek earlier this year:
"Things won't stay as they are. They will change in Myanmar. More efficient
people will come in and more efficient policies will be introduced. You have to
wait for the perfect timing." Zaw Tun got his timing wrong, but perhaps the next
wave of rising officers will get it
right. |