Burma Related News - Sep 16, 2000.

Channel NewsAsia
Saturday, September 16 2:20 AM SGT
Police arrest Myanmar national over murder case three years ago

Police have arrested a Myanmar national for the alleged murder of his 20-year-old countryman, committed three years ago at Ripley Cresent, in Serangoon Gardens.

Maung Soe, 19, is alleged to have caused the death of the 20-year-old male Myanmar national at a house under construction at Ripley Crescent in Serangoon Gardens.

The deceased was found dead in a house under construction, with head injuries and an incised wound on the neck.

A bloodstained axe was also found at the scene then, and no other clues to solve the case.

But the breakthrough came recently when Police received information identifying the suspect involved in the murder.

And on Friday morning, police officers raided a flat at Block 10 Gloucester Road where the suspect was arrested.

A man will be charged in court for murder on Saturday.

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Saturday, September 16 6:16 PM SGT
Myanmar Military Blocks Road To Opposition Headquarters

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) - Military authorities on Saturday blocked the road to the headquarters of Myanmar's democratic opposition, witnesses said, two days after announcing the easing of tough restrictions against the party led by Aung San Suu Kyi.

Traffic police and plainclothes intelligence officers manned road blocks marked by `no entry' signs on the approaches to the two-story National League for Democracy office in downtown Yangon, where the party planned to hold a meeting Saturday afternoon.

Officials said the meeting would be allowed to go ahead, but only party members could attend. It commemorates the second anniversary of the party's formation of a proxy parliament as a direct challenge to the military government. The proxy parliament was formed after the government refused to honor the party's 1990 general election victory.

Diplomats, reporters and veteran politicians of Myanmar's struggle for independence, who were all invited to the meeting, will not be allowed in.

A National League for Democracy statement issued late Friday said 11 party members had been arrested this week, despite the government's announcement it was easing restrictions on party activity.

Five members from Yangon, including elected member of parliament Naing Naing, and six others from the town of Kungyangon, were arrested on Wednesday and Thursday, the statement said.

The government did not immediately comment on the arrest allegations.

On Thursday, the government announced it was lifting restrictions against Suu Kyi and eight other party leaders who were confined to their homes for two weeks after Suu Kyi tried to travel outside Yangon for party work.

On Friday, party leaders emerged from their homes and reopened the party headquarters, which were raided by authorities on Sept. 2. The government justified its actions by saying it was investigating the movement's alleged links to terrorists.

In her first public comments since her confinement, Suu Kyi on Friday appeared determined to maintain political pressure on the military regime.

She announced her intention to try and travel beyond the capital within 10 days.

Suu Kyi won the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize for her struggle for democracy in Myanmar, also known as Burma. She was kept under house arrest from 1989 to 1995.

Last week's crackdown drew vehement international criticism, mainly from the United States and Britain, which accused the regime of blatantly violating the Myanmar opposition leaders' political rights. Myanmar accused both countries of meddling in its internal affairs.

Relations between the regime and the National League for Democracy, which have been poor since the party was formed 12 years ago, reached a new low two years ago when the party formed its proxy parliament.

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New Straits Times Press
Saturday, September 16 6:30 PM SGT
National: Malaysian NGOs protest against Myanmar

KUALA LUMPUR, Fri. - Representatives of 14 non-Governmental Organisations today submitted a memorandum to the Myanmar Embassy, protesting the detention of Nobel Peace Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and 16 other members of the National League for Democracy.
The group said the Myanmar government had done an injustice when it padlocked Suu Kyi's home and her colleagues were not allowed to leave their residences for more than 12 days.

Meanwhile, a spokesman for the embassy, when contacted later today, said the some of the tight controls on Suu Kyi was lifted on Thursday.

Suu Kyi was allowed visitors and the restrictions on her colleagues have been lifted.

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Saturday September 16 8:54 AM ET
Suu Kyi Party To Draft Constitution

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) - Myanmar's democratic opposition led by Aung San Suu Kyi declared Saturday it would draft a national constitution, in a sign that a recent official crackdown against the party has not dented its ambitions to end military rule.

Two hundred members of the National League for Democracy held a meeting at the party's Yangon headquarters two days after authorities eased restrictions against NLD leaders. The leaders had been confined to their homes for two weeks after Suu Kyi tried to travel outside Yangon on party work.

At the meeting, the party commemorated the second anniversary of its Committee Representing People's Parliament (CRPP) - a proxy parliament formed as a direct challenge to the ruling military government, which has refused to honor the NLD's 1990 general election victory.

Military authorities had earlier blocked the road to the NLD office in downtown Yangon, but they allowed the meeting to take place, attended by 200 party members and diplomats. Reporters were barred from entering.

The NLD passed three resolutions at Saturday's meeting: to demand the government release all political prisoners; to maintain the proxy parliament until a proper parliament is convened; and to draft a national constitution.

According to a 1996 law, drafting a charter without the government's approval could result in a prison sentence of up to 20 years.

A state-organized national convention was set up seven years ago but was boycotted by the NLD on the grounds it was dominated by the regime. It has not met for four years and has not produced a constitution.

``With the support of the people and with support from countries who support democracy, a democratic government will certainly emerge,'' a declaration released Saturday by the CRPP said.

At the meeting, Suu Kyi announced she would take over as CRPP secretary and its representative for ethnic affairs, taking over from Aye Tha Aung, who was arrested and sentenced to 21 years in prison in June for violating a publication law and an emergency law.

On Friday, NLD leaders emerged from their homes and reopened the party headquarters, which were raided Sept. 2 by the authorities. The government justified its actions by saying it was investigating alleged NLD links with terrorists.

In her first public comments since her confinement, Suu Kyi appeared determined Friday to maintain political pressure on the military regime, daring authorities to stop her from traveling outside the capital.

Suu Kyi won the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize for her struggle for democracy in Myanmar, also known as Burma, which has been ruled by its military since 1962. She was kept under house arrest from 1989-1995. Her movements have remained heavily restricted.

An NLD statement issued late Friday demanded the immediate release of 11 party members it said were arrested earlier this week in Yangon and the town of Kungyangon despite the government's announcement that the party would be allowed to go about daily activities as normal.

In addition, 15 NLD members have been arrested outside the capital since Sept. 2, NLD Yangon Division chairman Soe Myint told reporters Friday.

The government has yet to comment on the NLD's allegations of arrests.

The restrictions on NLD leaders came after a nine-day standoff between Suu Kyi and the authorities that began late last month.

She and NLD vice chairman Tin Oo were blocked Aug. 24 by security forces as they traveled to a planned NLD meeting in the countryside. They refused to return to the capital and camped by their vehicles on the outskirts of the city until police forcibly transported them back to Yangon and confined them to their homes.

The crackdown drew vehement international criticism, mainly from the United States and Britain, which accused the regime of blatantly violating the Myanmar opposition leaders' political rights. Myanmar accused both countries of meddling in its internal affairs.
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Aung San Suu Kyi party meet amid tight police security

YANGON (AFP) - - Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi's pro-democracy party met in the capital amid tight security as the ruling military junta's security forces restricted access to the party headquarters.

The police initially only allowed card-carrying members of the Nobel laureate's National League for Democracy (NLD) to enter the party's headquarters during the meeting of the NLD leadership committee.

Foreign diplomats were eventually allowed into the meeting which was held to celebrate the second anniversary of the NLD's parliamentary representative committee.

NLD chairman U Aung Shwe called for the release of all political prisoners and Aung San Suu Kyi talked to the some 200 party members present about the importance of democratic government, a diplomatic source said on Saturday.

An NLD official Friday said 18 party officials, including elected MP Naing Naing, had been arrested over the past few days even as the junta prepared to lift some of the restrictions imposed on the party leaders.

Aung San Suu Kyi, the daughter of independence hero General Aung San, said she would make a trip outside Yangon within the next few days in renewed defiance of the ruling military junta's ban on travel outside the capital.

The junta lifted the house arrest placed on Aung San Suu Kyi following the roadside showdown but barred her from leaving the capital.

Aung San Suu Kyi and the other members of the party's central executive committee were placed under virtual house arrest on September 2, after she and other NLD leaders tried to attend a party meeting outside the capital.

This triggered a prolonged standoff with the junta in which the NLD leaders remained camped by their cars for nine days before being taken back to the capital by security officials.

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 its opponents.

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Bangkok Post - Sep 16, 2000.
Thailand lauds lift of NLD restriction
Post Reporters

The Thai Foreign Ministry yesterday welcomed Rangoon's decision to lift restrictions against Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other executive members of the National League for Democracy (NLD).

Thai Deputy Foreign Minister Sukhumbhand Paribatra hoped the decision would lead to negotiations among various political groups and "real national reconciliation" in the country. He hoped the NLD leaders would not again face restrictions.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Don Pramudwinai said the government regarded the decision as a move in the right direction that would benefit all sides, especially Burma.

"Although the Burmese government's decision to lift the restrictions might not be the last, as there have been others like it in the past 10 years, Thailand hopes it will be.. an important step towards a constructive political development in Burma."

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Bangkok Post - Sep 16, 2000.
BORDER - Military to restore ties with Burma
Mongkol's successor seeks to ease tensions
Wassana Nanuam

The military will work to restore ties with its Burmese counterpart after the new supreme commander takes office next month.

Gen Sampao Chusri, who moves up from deputy supreme commander, said yesterday he would try to restore relations to solve long-standing problems and ease tensions.

A source said Gen Sampao would depart from the stance towards Burma adopted by his predecessor, Gen Mongkol Ampornpisit, who never visited the country in his four-year term.

Since Gen Chettha Thanajaro retired as army chief in 1998, the Thai and Burmese armed forces had been far apart because Gen Mongkol stayed away, he said.

Gen Surayud Chulanont, the army chief, has placed all matters involving Burma with the Foreign Ministry even though he knew Gen Than Shwe, the Burmese premier, when he headed the Special Warfare Division.

In 1993, Gen Surayud welcomed Gen Than Shwe who paid a visit, the source said.

Gen Sampao also knew Gen Maung Aye, the Burmese army chief, and Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt, secretary 1 of the State Peace and Development Council.

Meanwhile Adm Prasert Boonsong, who will take the helm of the navy next month, yesterday vowed to tackle the problem of drugs smuggled into Thailand by sea.

Gen Sampao also pledged to steer clear of politics for the sake of military unity. "If the military keeps its distance [from politics], it will be able to maintain unity and live with dignity."Gen Sampao was confident of close co-operation among the three armed forces. He graduated from the same class at Chulachomklao Royal Military Academy as the army chief and the newly-appointed permanent secretary for defence, Gen Tawat Ketang-kul.

"The new navy chief was one year my senior and the new air force chief one year my junior," he added.

ACM Pong Maneelsilp was on Thursday named new air force chief, and Adm Prasert new navy chief.

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news.com.au
Downer praises Burmese decision
From AAP
16sep00

1.20pm (AEDT) FOREIGN Minister Alexander Downer has said today the Burmese government's decision to loosen its control over democracy leaders was a step in the right direction.

Burma's military government on Thursday lifted security restrictions on democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and eight other opposition leaders confined to their homes for the last two weeks.

Mr Downer said he welcomed Burma's move to restore access to Suu Kyi and lift restrictions on the movements of the Nobel Peace Prize winner and other democracy leaders.

He said police had also finished their occupation of the National League for Democracy (NLD) headquarters in Rangoon.

"We hope this is only the first in a series of much-needed steps by the Burmese government to address the underlying cause of the continuing confrontation between the Burmese government and the NLD," Mr Downer said in a statement.

"Australia strongly believes the way to resolve Burma's political problems is through substantive dialogue, in particular with with Suu Kyi."

Mr Downer said the Australian government deplored the treatment of Burma's democratic movement, and would continue to call on the Burmese government to address human rights.
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The Daily Telegraph
Saturday 16 September 2000
Free Suu Kyi defies Burma regime with travel threat
By Alex Spillius in Bangkok

THE Burmese opposition leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, left her home yesterday after 12 days of house arrest and vowed to defy Burma's military regime by travelling outside the capital, Rangoon.
She was driven to the headquarters of her National League for Democracy in Rangoon, where she was greeted with roses by about 300 supporters. Miss Suu Kyi, who won the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize for her resistance to the military, gave a clear message to the ruling generals.

She said: "Stop us if you dare. I shall be travelling outside Rangoon within the next 10 days for party organisational work. It will be an organised trip, and we will do it openly. It is high time that the SPDC [the ruling military council] stops putting restrictions on our rights."

Along with 14 party members, Miss Suu Kyi was blocked for nine days as they attempted to travel to an NLD office not far from Rangoon on Aug 24. They were then forcibly returned to their homes and kept incommunicado until Thursday. The party's main office was also raided.

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South Nexus - Sep 16, 2000.
Stop us if you dare, Suu Kyi challenges SPDC

YANGON, Sep 16: Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar's pro-democracy leader, left her residence on Friday, after two weeks of virtual house arrest and dared the military Government to stop her plans to travel outside the capital.

The military regime on Thursday, announced that it was lifting restrictions against Suu Kyi and eight other central executive committee members of her National League for Democracy who had been confined to their homes since September 1.

Accompanied by other leaders of her National League for Democracy, Suu Kyi on Friday entered her newly reopened party headquarters in Yangon. "We are a legal political party and they have no right to raid our party," she told reporters.

"I shall be traveling outside Rangoon for next 10 days for party organisational work. It will be an organised trip, and we will do it openly. It is high time that the SPDC stops putting restrictions on our rights," she said. The State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) is the ruling military council in Myanmar.

Suu Kyi, who won the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize for her peaceful struggle for democracy in Myanmar, did not say where she planned to travel to, but she challenged the military authorities by saying, "Stop us if you dare."

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HarakahDaily
23 NGOs urges Petronas to withdraw investment in Burma

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 15 (Hrkh) - 23 Malaysian non-governmental organisations today jointly condemned the continued harrassment by the Burmese military junta on Aung San Suu Kyi and her supporters, and called on national oil company Petronas to wiithdraw all its investment in Burma to put pressure on the regime to restore democracy.

Prime minister Mahathir Mohamad, a close friend of the ruling Burmese junta, has recently stepped up economic corporation with Burma and has been instrumental in ensuring a place in ASEAN despite the regime's violation of human rights.

In a letter address to Lieutenant General Khin Nyunt, the first secretary of Burma's so-called State Peace and Development Council, foreign minister Syed Hamid Albar, Petronas chairman Hasan Marican and ASEAN, the organisations urged the regime to immediately release Suu Kyi, U Tin U and 16 others unconditionally so they could move in the country freely.

They also urged the SPDC regime to stop "all forms of harassment and intimidation" on Suu Kyi's party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), its leaders and members.

"What has happened in Burma is a gross violation of fundamental human rights and is totally unacceptable in a civilised world. The world will hold the Burmese junta responsible if anything were to happen to Aung San Suu Kyi and her colleagues," they warned.

The statement is endorsed, among others, by Suara Rakyat Malaysia (Suaram), Community Development Center (CDC), Democratic Youth and Student Movement of Malaysia (DEMA), DAP, Persatuan Pengguna Pahang (PAC), Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall Youth (SCAHY), Era Consumer, Malaysian Islamic Youth Movement (ABIM), All Women's Action Society (AWAM) and ALIRAN.

The NGOs also called on Burma to heed the calls for peaceful dialogue with the NLD to find a political solution to the country.

It also urged ASEAN to send a delegation to ensure Suu Kyi and her colleagues are not harmed in any way.
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Bangkok Post - Sep 16, 2000.
Mandalay invite for Banharn
Ex-premier to attend airport ceremony
Achara Ashayagachat

The Burmese junta has invited former prime minister Banharn Silpa-archa to join tomorrow's opening of Mandalay airport in northern Burma, sources said yesterday.

Gen Maung Aye, the No 2 man in the ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), will preside over the opening of the airport, built by Italian-Thai Development with a US$150-million loan from the Export-Import Bank of Thailand.

Mr Banharn, who will be the highest-level Thai guest at the ceremony, was prime minister when Burma's Civil Aviation Department received the loan in 1996. The department also signed a $149-million turnkey contract with Italian-Thai Development to build the airport in order to boost tourism.

The invitation came from Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt, the SPDC secretary 1, who was originally scheduled to preside over the opening ceremony.

Premchai Karnasuta, president of Italian-Thai Development, Exim Bank chairman Somchai Ruchupan, and Exim Bank president M.L. Pridiyathorn Devakula will also attend the ceremony.

No members of the Chuan Leekpai government have been invited. The prime minister has not yet visited Burma, and relations between the two governments have been strained since Burmese dissidents stormed the Burmese embassy in Bangkok last October, and a hospital in Ratchaburi in January. Mr Banharn flies to Mandalay today on board a charter plane. He is to be accompanied by nine other people including members of his Chart Thai Party and businessmen.

Management and investment problems had delayed the opening of the 34,000-square-metre airport earlier expected to take place last year.

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The Nation - Sep 16, 2000.
Surin seeking to polish up Asean's image
BY SAGUAN KHUMRUNGROJ

FOREIGN Minister Surin Pitsuwan yesterday urged Asean to quickly address its image problem, created by escalating political conflicts and violence in member states, to restore the confidence of foreign investors and boost the grouping's bargaining power.

Surin said he would discuss a "serious matter" with his Asean counterparts next week on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) meeting in New York.

He did not elaborate, but political tension in Burma, violence in West Timor and Wednesday's bombing of the Jakarta Stock Exchange, in addition to the oil crisis, have raised fears of another economic crisis.

Surin said Asean must demonstrate its leading role in economic development to restore investor confidence in the region and sustain the economic recovery.

Asked whether the Asean needed to activate its troika, a mechanism established to address conflicts and problems in countries within the group, Surin said such a move would be up to Vietnam because it is serving as chairman.

"The chairman must candidly assess the situation and be fairly flexible to judge whether the present situation warrants the troika's operation," he said.

Vietnamese Foreign Minister Nguyen Dy Nien has said Asean should not interfere in the problem in Burma.

Surin said he welcomed the Burmese junta's lifting of restrictions on movements by opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her supporters. He described the move as a positive step, but ruled out the possibility that it was done to ease increasing international pressure on the regime.

The decision came as the UN prepares to consider a resolution later this month condemning the junta's repression of Suu Kyi.

Meanwhile, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) is expected to rule in November on whether Burma will face sanctions for implementing forced-labour policies.

Deputy Foreign Minister Sukhumbhand Paribatra also expressed hope that the lifting of restrictions on Suu Kyi would lead to a dialogue between the junta and the opposition and eventually a national reconciliation.

At a meeting of Asean foreign ministers scheduled for Monday, Surin will discuss preparations for the International Drug Conference to be held in Bangkok next month, and the topic of human security.

The ministers also are expected to discuss Asean cooperation with the United Nations, and Asean candidacies for several UN positions.

Thailand has nominated its permanent UN representative, Asada Jayanama, for a position on the International Civil Service Commission.

The UNGA session is a follow-up to the UN Millennium Summit held earlier this month.

Thailand paid close attention to the issue of reforming peacekeeping operations during the summit meeting, because more than 800 Thai troops are involved in UN operations in East Timor.

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The Nation - Sep 16, 2000.
Letters - Burma: a case for global intervention
BK Sen - ADVOCATE, SUPREME COURT,BURMA.

Two separate news items in The Nation appeared almost side by side [September 8]. One was under the caption "Junta critics raise fears for Suu Kyi party" and the other "Push for global intervention."

I wondered whether the two had any connection. The backdrop was the first news item. The opposition leader Suu Kyi and leaders of National League for Democracy (NLD) had been forcibly put under solitary confinement in their respective homes and barred from all contact with the outside world since September 2, while the Rangoon Headquarters of the NLD remained closed under police guard. Secretary-Two Tin Oo of the SPDC raised the alarm and declared that NLD must be crushed. The official newspaper announced that the end of NLD was not far.

The second news item is the Canadian initiative about the establishment of an international commission for global humanitarian intervention. When asked if the situation in Burma warranted a case study for humanitarian intervention, the Canadian foreign minister replied in the affirmative.

The military junta has been ridiculing the international community ad nauseam. The challenge has to be taken up and the international community must come up with a solution for humanitarian intervention to prevent flagrant violations of human rights and the imminent danger to life and limb of the NLD leaders.

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South China morning Post
Saturday, September 16, 2000

BURMA - Opposition vows to test junta's limits
REUTERS in Rangoon

Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi vowed yesterday to test the ruling junta's restrictions on her movements by attempting another trip outside the capital, Rangoon, within 10 days.
A day after the junta ended a de facto house arrest of the 55-year-old Nobel laureate and other senior members of her National League for Democracy (NLD), a defiant Ms Aung San Suu Kyi said she could not accept limitations on her or her party. She is still not allowed to leave Rangoon.

Twice in the past two years authorities have prevented Ms Aung San Suu Kyi from leaving the capital, leading to widespread condemnation of the military Government for its treatment of her and other opposition figures.

"We are nowhere in a satisfactory position at the moment. We are back to abnormal," she told a news conference at NLD headquarters attended by about 200 NLD members and journalists as well as diplomats.

"As I am not legally restricted in any way, we have decided that it is time for us to make this clear. I shall be travelling outside Rangoon within the next 10 days. It will be an organised trip and we will do it openly."

Asked where she would go, Ms Aung San Suu Kyi replied: "I will let you know later," adding, that the party never reveals its future strategies.

Ms Aung San Suu Kyi and other senior NLD officials were confined to their Rangoon homes from September 2 to 14 after the military authorities forcefully ended a roadside stand-off with the group outside the capital.

Ms Aung San Suu Kyi, her driver and about a dozen of her colleagues were stopped by security forces on August 24 while attempting to travel to a party meeting outside Rangoon. Denied permission to travel further and refusing to return to Rangoon, the group set up camp by the side of the road and confronted the police in a graphic illustration of the restrictions placed on the NLD.

It was the second time in two years that an attempt by Ms Aung San Suu Kyi to leave the capital had been thwarted by the authorities and it led to a chorus of international criticism of the Burmese military and its treatment of the pro-democracy opposition.

The NLD won Burma's last democratic elections in 1990 by a landslide but has never been allowed to govern. Ms Aung San Suu Kyi spent six years under house arrest by the military until 1995.

At the United Nations, Secretary-General Kofi Annan welcomed the lifting of restrictions on Ms Aung San Suu Kyi and US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said she was "gratified".

Ms Albright said Burmese authorities should follow up the action by permitting Ms Aung San Suu Kyi to move around the country, while opening a dialogue with the NLD.

"The Secretary-General reiterates his call for the Government of Burma to engage in a substantive political dialogue with opposition leaders, including Aung San Suu Kyi, to initiate the process of national reconciliation as soon as possible," a UN spokesman said.

Ms Albright said a campaign on behalf of Ms Aung San Suu Kyi at the UN this week seemed to have had an impact. Ms Albright and other female foreign ministers said on Tuesday they were "appalled" at her house arrest.

"I would only hope that we can continue to voice very loudly our opposition to the Burmese authorities not allowing the democratically elected NLD and Aung San Suu Kyi to take their rightful place and be able to have a dialogue, which is what they want," Ms Albright said.

Ms Aung San Suu Kyi said she did not know exactly why the military had eased some of the restrictions on her and her associates. "It could be because of international pressure or it could be simply because of a change of their minds," she said.

She said the NLD would challenge the legality of a police raid on NLD offices on September 2.

"We can't accept that they raided our party's office because we are a legally organised party. We cannot accept this. So we will try to sue the Government [for this]," she said.
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South China Morning Post
Saturday, September 16, 2000

BURMA - Junta blocks road to opposition HQ
ASSOCIATED PRESS in Rangoon

Military authorities on Saturday blocked the road to the headquarters of the democratic opposition led by Aung San Suu Kyi, two days after announcing the easing of tough restrictions against the party, witnesses said.
Traffic police and plainclothes intelligence officers were manning road blocks marked by no entry signs on the approaches to the two-story National League for Democracy office in downtown Rangoon, where the party planned to hold a meeting on Saturday afternoon.

It was not immediately clear if the meeting, to commemorate the second anniversary of the NLD's Committee Representing People's Parliament, would be allowed to go ahead.

The CRPP is a proxy parliament formed as a direct challenge to the military government, which has refused to honour the NLD's 1990 general election victory.

On Thursday, the government announced it was lifting restrictions against Ms Suu Kyi and eight other National League for Democracy leaders who were confined to their homes for two weeks after Ms Suu Kyi tried to travel outside Rangoon for party work.

On Friday, NLD leaders emerged from their homes and reopened the party headquarters, which were raided September 2 by the authorities. The government justified its actions by saying it was investigating alleged NLD links with terrorists.

At the first anniversary commemoration of the CRPP, the road was cordoned off and diplomats and reporters were blocked from attending, but NLD leaders and some members were allowed in and it went ahead.

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The Japan Times: Sept. 17, 2000
POLICYMAKERS RELIEVED BY RELEASE
Current 'soft' Myanmar policy was threatened by Suu Kyi's detention

By HISANE MASAKI
Staff writer

Foreign-policy makers are relieved -- at least for now -- that their long-standing policy of "constructive engagement" toward Myanmar survived its biggest potential challenge with Thursday's release of prodemocracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi from 12 days of effective house arrest.
Had the incarceration of the Nobel Peace Prize laureate dragged on for much longer, Japan would have been forced to review its approach toward the impoverished Southeast Asian country, which has hitherto been much softer than that of the United States or Europe.

On Sept. 2, the military forcibly returned Suu Kyi to her Yangon home, ending a nine-day roadside protest that had begun when security forces stopped her car just outside the capital.

Her subsequent confinement in her residence further stoked a barrage of international criticism of the Myanmar military junta -- which now refers to itself as the State Peace and Development Council, or SPDC -- especially from the U.S. and other industrialized European countries.

Despite Suu Kyi's earlier-than-anticipated release, it is too early for Japanese foreign-policy makers to be jubilant and optimistic about the smooth continuation of their constructive engagement policy toward Myanmar.

At a Friday press conference, Suu Kyi challenged the military junta to prevent her from traveling outside the capital. "I shall be traveling outside Rangoon (Yangon) within the next 10 days for party organizational work," she said.

Prior to her most recent attempt to leave the capital, Suu Kyi had made similar efforts in the past five years that were also unsuccessful.

The military took power in a 1988 coup in Myanmar. It nullified the results of a 1990 election, in which Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy, or NLD, won a landslide victory. Suu Kyi was released from nearly six years of house arrest in 1995.

The SPDC claimed that Suu Kyi was not under house arrest in the most recent incident as her family members and doctors were allowed to visit her.

But Japan, the U.S. and Europe believed that the action taken against her was effectively the same as what occurred during the 1989-1995 period. They said that during Suu Kyi's 12 days of effective house arrest, their diplomats stationed in the capital had not been permitted to meet her.

Immediately after Suu Kyi was placed under effective house arrest, the U.S. and the 15-nation European Union issued special statements harshly condemning the SPDC. In a marked contrast, however, Japan refrained from issuing any such special statement concerning Myanmar.

While calling for improvements in the protection of human rights and democratic principles in the country, Japan has taken a different course from the U.S. and Europe when dealing with Myanmar. Instead of ostracizing it internationally, Japan has pursued a policy of "constructive engagement" to bring about favorable changes.

Japan has, however, restricted fresh economic aid for Myanmar to "humanitarian" projects since the 1988 military coup.

"Japan refrained from issuing a special statement condemning the current situation in Myanmar. That's because we firmly believe that driving its military junta further into a corner will only be counterproductive," a senior Foreign Ministry official said, requesting anonymity.

"Sanctions will not succeed in bringing about favorable changes to Myanmar partly because it has a long history of closing itself to the outside world and partly because it has basically taken a policy of ensuring self-sufficiency in food," the official said.

The official added, however, that Japan asked the SPDC through diplomatic channels to release Suu Kyi from effective house arrest immediately and let the NLD engage in free activities as a legal political party.

In response to the Japanese request, the SPDC gave an assurance that Suu Kyi's effective house arrest would only be a temporary measure.

The SPDC's recent actions have given the impression that the political situation in Myanmar has not improved -- or has even deteriorated -- since Suu Kyi was released from house arrest five years ago.

At her meeting with Foreign Minister Yohei Kono in New York on Monday, U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright asked for Japan's cooperation to stop the Myanmar military junta from harassing and restricting Suu Kyi's activities.

Albright told Kono that Japan has a particularly important role to play in Asia. These remarks by Albright, an ardent personal admirer of Suu Kyi, were interpreted as a thinly veiled request for Japan to abandon its constructive engagement policy toward Myanmar and follow the U.S. and European example.

"We believed -- or wanted to believe -- that Ms. Suu Kyi would be released from effective house arrest before long. Therefore, we had no plan to review our Myanmar policy," one government source said.

The source acknowledged, however, that had Suu Kyi's effective house arrest dragged on for a significantly longer period, a change in Japan's Myanmar policy would have proved unavoidable.

The source said that Japan will continue preparing for the second meeting of a joint Japan-Myanmar panel on reform of Myanmar's economic structure, scheduled for the end of the year in Tokyo, and will also continue to explore the possibility of extending fresh official economic aid for humanitarian projects under its current Myanmar policy.

The joint panel, which consists of both government officials and private-sector experts from the two countries, was set up to help Myanmar promote economic reform. The panel held its inaugural meeting in Yangon in June.