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-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- BURMA RELATED NEWS - SEP 20, 2000. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HEADLINE
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Reuters - Clinton
Lauds Suu Kyi's 'Brave Example'
Reuters - Myanmar's Suu Kyi Vows New Road Trip Thursday
AFP - Aung San Suu Kyi to head
for Mandalay in defiance of junta
Dow Jones - Myanmar's Suu Kyi
Plans To Travel Outside Yangon
AP - Clinton Speaks Out Against
Milosevic
AP - Suu Kyi To Travel Outside Capital
Independent online - Myanmar calls
leader 'colonialist saboteur'
The Manila Times - Modern Art in
Myanmar
Tuesday September 19 11:50 PM
ET
Clinton Lauds Suu Kyi's 'Brave Example' WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Clinton (news - web sites)
praised Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi for her ``brave example'' in
fighting for democracy, and said the world was watching developments in her
country.
Myanmar's military rulers last week ended a de-facto house
arrest of the 55-year-old Nobel laureate, but Suu Kyi immediately vowed to test
the government's restrictions on her movements by attempting another trip
outside the capital of Yangon within 10 days.
``Those who rule Burma should know ... all of us are
watching carefully what happens,'' Clinton said at the debut of a play by
Chilean-born writer and former political prisoner Ariel Dorfman.
The play, being staged at the Kennedy Center in
Washington, is based on book by Kerry Kennedy Cuomo about human rights
activists.
The president used the occasion to throw his support
behind Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy (NLD), lauding the ``words
and the brave example of Aun Sung Suu Kyi''.
``These are powerful weapons,'' Clinton said.
Twice in the past two years Myanmar authorities have
prevented Suu Kyi from leaving the capital, leading to widespread condemnation
of the military government for its treatment of Suu Kyi and other opposition
figures.
Suu Kyi and other senior NLD officials were kept confined
to their homes in Yangon, cut off from the outside world, between September 2
and 14 after the military authorities ended by force a roadside standoff with
the group just outside the capital.
Secretary of State Madeleine Albright last week said she
was ``gratified'' Suu Kyi was no longer under house arrest and urged authorities
in the former Burma to permit her to move around the country, while opening a
dialogue with the NLD.
Wednesday September 20 9:07 AM ET
Myanmar's Suu Kyi Vows New Road Trip Thursday By Aung Hla Tun YANGON (Reuters) - Myanmar
pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi will make another attempt to travel
outside the capital Yangon Thursday, her National League for Democracy (NLD)
party said.
The move is almost certain to provoke another confrontation with the ruling
military, which stopped the 55-year-old Nobel laureate just outside the capital
when she tried to leave last month and forcibly returned her home nine days
later, sparking a barrage of international criticism.
In a statement, the opposition NLD said Suu Kyi and senior NLD leader U Tin
Oo would venture out of the city Thursday but gave no details of their intended
destination.
``U Tin Oo and Aung San Suu Kyi will travel to upper Myanmar on Sept. 21 in
order to inquire about the restrictions on the activities of the NLD, the
closing of NLD offices and the removal of NLD signboards,'' the statement said
Wednesday.
Suu Kyi has stepped up her efforts to challenge and embarrass Myanmar's
military rulers in recent weeks, prompting a backlash from the government.
Suu Kyi and senior NLD members were held in de facto house arrest for
almost two weeks earlier this month after the roadside protest was ended, with
their telephones cut and no diplomatic access allowed.
International Criticism
Myanmar's treatment of the NLD sparked heavy international criticism, and
has thrown a planned meeting of Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN)
and European Union foreign ministers in Laos in December into doubt.
Myanmar's military government imposes heavy restrictions on Suu Kyi and the
NLD, which won the country's last general election in 1990 but has never been
allowed to govern.
Suu Kyi was under house arrest for six years until 1995 and many of the
party's members of parliament have been arrested or detained.
Suu Kyi last attempted to leave Yangon on Aug. 24, accompanied by her
driver and about a dozen NLD members, but the group was stopped just outside
Yangon by police and then refused to return home, leading to a nine-day
stand-off.
Suu Kyi promised on Sept. 15 to make another journey outside the capital
``within the next 10 days.''
``We are nowhere in a satisfactory position at the moment. We are back to
abnormal,'' she told a news conference at the time.
``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 traveling outside Rangoon (Yangon)
within the next 10 days. It will be an organized trip and we will do it
openly,'' she added.
Myanmar's military government has denounced Suu Kyi as a saboteur and has
said the last roadside protest showed she was dangerous and could not get along
with Myanmar's armed forces.
``It is very clear that she is a saboteur sent by a Western colonialist
group,'' said a commentary Monday in the official Kyemon and Myanma Alin
newspapers, which are regarded as mouthpieces of the regime.
The NLD has further angered the authorities by vowing to draft a new state
constitution to try to hasten the transition to democracy in the impoverished
country.
Wednesday, September 20 9:52 PM SGT
Aung San Suu Kyi to head for Mandalay in defiance of junta YANGON, Sept 20 (AFP) - Myanmar
opposition leaders Aung San Suu Kyi and U Tin Oo will attempt to travel to
Mandalay Thursday in defiance of the ruling military junta's ban on travel
outside Yangon, a National League for Democracy (NLD) source said
Wednesday.
"If no restrictions are imposed on this trip they will try to travel to
Mandalay," the source said.
The ancient former capital of Mandalay, 720 kilometres (450 miles) north of
here, is their ultimate destination after visiting other places, the source
said.
A party statement Wednesday said Aung San Suu Kyi and deputy leader U Tin
Oo would travel north of Yangon Thursday but gave no details of their
destination, how they would travel or whether other party members would
accompany them.
Aung San Suu Kyi and the deputy chairman will travel north of Yangon to
investigate reports party members have been prevented from engaging in political
activities, NLD offices been shut and NLD signs taken down by the police, the
statement said.
Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi said last Friday she would make a trip
outside Yangon within 10 days in defiance of the junta's ban on travel outside
the capital.
An eyewitness told AFP Wednesday police had tightened security at exits
around Yangon since the pro-democracy leader declared her intention to defy the
travel ban.
The junta last Thursday lifted the house arrest placed on Aung San Suu Kyi
following a 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 military authorities in which the
NLD leaders remained camped by their cars for nine days before being taken back
to the capital by security officials.
Aung San Suu Kyi has said she was forced back to Yangon after the standoff,
despite statements by the junta saying she had happily returned to the
capital.
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.
Aung San Suu Kyi, the daughter of independence hero General Aung San, was
put under house arrest for six years and has subsequently had her movements
greatly restricted.
Wednesday, September 20 7:52 PM SGT
Myanmar's Suu Kyi Plans To Travel Outside Yangon YANGON (Dow Jones)--Myanmar
opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi said Wednesday she will travel outside Yangon
Thursday, raising the prospect of another confrontation between Suu Kyi and
Myanmar's military junta.
The junta last week lifted restrictions on party leaders after confining them to their homes under virtual house arrest for two weeks. The NLD says the military government was pressured by international
condemnation of its actions against a legitimate opposition party.
The crackdown started after Suu Kyi, Tin Oo and some youth party members
were prevented from traveling outside Yangon to a southern town on Aug. 24, and
asked to go back. They refused and camped out next to their vehicle for nine
days before being forcibly sent back to Yangon.
The NLD headquarters in Yangon was shut down subsequently.
"NLD vice chairman Tin Oo and general secretary Aung San Suu Kyi will
travel to upper Myanmar on Sept. 21 to inquire about the restrictions imposed by
authorities on NLD activities by closing down NLD branches and bringing down NLD
signboards," the NLD party statement said.
Wednesday, September 20 9:54 AM SGT
Clinton Speaks Out Against Milosevic WASHINGTON (AP)--If Yugoslav
President Slobodan Milosevic uses fraud to win Sunday's presidential election,
the world must strip him of whatever stature he retains so his opponents can
topple his regime, President Clinton said Tuesday night.
"Democratic opposition is stronger than ever heading into critical elections this weekend. Mr. Milosevic has stepped up his repression. Surely, he is capable of stealing the election," Clinton said at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts before the debut of a play about human rights activists. "But if he does, we must make sure -all of us, not just the Americans and
certainly not just the American government -that he loses what legitimacy he has
left in the world and the forces of change will grow even stronger."
Milosevic, who has been indicted for war crimes by the international
tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands, is being challenged by three candidates,
including Vojislav Kostunica, who is backed by an alliance of 18 opposition
parties and is leading Milosevic in public opinion polls.
Clinton also said defenders of human rights also need support in Myanmar,
also known as Burma, where the ruling military regime is being confronted by
Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy party. Her party won
national elections in 1990 but the regime in the Southeast Asian country never
recognized the victory.
"Their only weapons are words, reason and the brave example of Aung San Suu
Kyi, but these are fearful weapons to the ruling regime," Clinton said.
Wednesday September 20 8:59 AM ET
Suu Kyi To Travel Outside Capital YANGON, Myanmar (AP) - Aung San
Suu Kyi announced plans Wednesday to travel outside the capital, raising the
prospect of another confrontation between the democracy leader and Myanmar's
military regime.
Suu Kyi said she would leave Yangon on Thursday to investigate restrictions
placed on her National League for Democracy party by Myanmar's military junta,
which rules the country with an iron fist and gives little political freedom to
opposition groups.
The party said that Suu Kyi and her vice chairman, Tin Oo, planned to
travel to upper Myanmar to meet with party officials. It did not give the exact
location of where she intended to travel.
Suu Kyi, who won the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize for her pro-democracy work, has
often locked horns with the military junta in Myanmar, the country also known as
Burma.
There was no immediate reaction from the government on whether it will
allow Suu Kyi to travel Thursday.
``Making trips knowing that she will be stopped is being confrontational,''
the Myanma Alin, a government newspaper, said Wednesday.
The most recent standoff between Suu Kyi and the government occurred after
she, Tin Oo and some youth party members tried to travel to a southern town on
Aug. 24, but were stopped on Yangon's outskirts and asked to go back. They
refused and camped out next to their vehicles for nine days before being
forcibly sent back to Yangon on Sept. 1.
The same night, Suu Kyi, Tin Oo and seven other top NLD leaders were
confined to their homes and kept under virtual house arrest until Sept. 14. The
NLD headquarters in Yangon were reopened Sept. 15 after two weeks of being shut
by the government.
The NLD says the military government was pressured by international
condemnation of its actions against a legitimate opposition party.
And Suu Kyi sounded a defiant note on her release from confinement,
challenging authorities to stop her from traveling outside Yangon. ``Stop us if
you dare,'' she said.
Suu Kyi's latest move comes a week ahead of the 12th anniversary of the
party's founding on Sept. 27, 1988, after a nationwide uprising for democracy
was crushed by the military. Thousands of people were killed.
The military put Suu Kyi under house arrest from 1989 until 1995. Her party
won national elections in 1990 but the government has refused to hand over
power.
Myanmar's government calls Suu Kyi a lackey of Western powers, and
justified the latest crackdown on the NLD on the grounds that it was
investigating the group's alleged links with terrorist groups.
The Myanma Alin article Wednesday described Suu Kyi as the ``adopted child
of neocolonialists.''
``The general public understands that neocolonialists are interfering in
the country's internal affairs under the pretext of democracy and human
rights,'' it said.
The NLD said last week that 11 party members, including one who was elected
in the 1990 elections, were arrested by the government even as it eased
restrictions on top party leaders.
At a meeting Saturday, the party also resolved to draft an alternative
national constitution.
Independent Online
Myanmar calls leader 'colonialist saboteur' September 18 2000 at 01:01PM By Aung Hla Tun Yangon - Myanmar's military government denounced pro-democracy leader Aung
San Suu Kyi on Monday as a colonialist saboteur, as tensions rose following her
pledge to mount another protest against restrictions on her freedom.
"It is very clear that she is a saboteur sent by a Western colonialist
group," said a commentary in the official Kyemon and Myanma Alin newspapers,
regarded as mouthpieces of the regime.
The commentary said a nine-day roadside protest by Suu Kyi against travel
restrictions, which ended earlier this month when she was forcibly brought back
to Yangon and padlocked inside her residence for nearly two weeks, showed she
was dangerous and could not get on with the armed forces.
Suu Kyi's late husband was from Britain
"In view of such incidents, one can clearly realise the attitude and
activities of Mrs Michael Aris," the newspapers said, referring to Suu Kyi by
the name of her British husband, who died last year.
It said Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD), which won Myanmar's
last elections in 1990 by a landslide but has never been allowed to govern,
could destroy the nation.
"If they cannot get on well with the Tatmadaw (armed forces), who will they
hold hands with to work for the good of the country? If they hold hands with the
destructive elements, their activities will be for the destruction of the
nation."
Suu Kyi has stepped up her efforts to challenge and embarrass the
government in recent weeks.
The 55-year-old Nobel laureate's roadside protest, and subsequent de-facto
house arrest, drew a barrage of criticism of Myanmar's government during the
UN's Millennium Summit.
Myanmar said on Thursday it had relaxed restrictions on Suu Kyi and senior
NLD leaders, who had been kept confined to their houses and barred from contact
with the outside world since September 2.
Suu Kyi said she would attempt another trip out of the capital in coming
days to test restrictions on her movement.
The NLD has further angered the authorities by vowing to draft a new state
constitution to try to hasten the transition to democracy in the impoverished
country.
Myanmar has often attacked Suu Kyi and the NLD as agents of the West,
pointing out that Suu Kyi's late husband was from Britain, Myanmar's former
colonial ruler.- Reuters
The Manila Times - Sep 19,
2000.
Modern Art in Myanmar It’s incredible how political our perspective can become about a country if
we don’t get “normal” kind of information about it in the media. Take
Myanmar (formally Burma). The only thing we hear about it is the bad
treatment the ruling military men of SLORC are giving the democratic
opposition. Burmese democrats had actually won the last elections but the
SLORC rulers prevented them from holding office and keeping them in jail or
under house arrest.
I had been to Burma as a travel writer. And I found that country
lovable. But that was before SLORC times. For many years now, I
haven’t been giving much thought to Burmese matters other than what you see in
the media about the political situation there. When I see the word
“Myanmar” I think of how awful the SLORC have been to Aung San Suu Kyi and
nothing else.
Then recently I had to do some research on modern art in the region.
I tried getting some stuff from various websites. A young Burmese in
Malaysia had just built a site. He didn’t have anything about art and
artists, though. Other sites could give you some material about shopping
and tourist spots. You can get that from Myanmar embassies.
Imagine how happy it made me to get hold of a long piece—not on the
Internet—by a Burmese, writing from inside Burma, discussing who in his opinion
the top ten “contemporary artists” in his country are. I can’t tell you
his name because I’m not sure he wants to be identified. He has very
sardonic comments about the rulers that will pass an inattentive censor’s
reading.
“Modern art in Myanmar,” the author says, “is mainly found in Rangoon
(Yangon) and Mandalay, the country’s two largest cities.
“Most modern paintings sold are in oil or watercolor. For the most
part, contemporary paintings depict scenes of rural villages and Buddhist
temples and pagodas. These are the most popular among tourists.”
It seems that without getting any publicity, some Burmese artists are
painting modern and even abstract works. But only a few of them dare to
experiment.
Some of the famous artists are: “U Lun Gywe, MPP Ye Myint, Myint Swe, Sann
Myint, Maung Di, Aung Myint, Khin One, U Hla Han, Kyee Myint Saw, Pe Nyunt Way,
Than Hla Han, U Min Kyi, U Khin Shwe, Maung Hlaing, Paw Oo Thet, Khin Maung Yin,
Bo Kyi, Ma Theingi, San Minn, Tin Maung Oo, Mote Thone, Win Pe, Paw Thame, San
Naing, Linn Wunna, Nyein Chan Su, and Soe Naing.”
The writer did not arrange the names according to greatness of their art,
fame or seniority. It is a mosaic of the older and the younger generations
of contemporary artists.
The experimenters, among whom are people earlier mentioned, are not
profiting from their labors. “But that is a fundamental characteristic of
contemporary art in Burma. The artists know it is not profitable and
entails a lot of sacrifice and risks.”
That is true of oppressive regimes everywhere, isn’t it? The artist
will go on doing his—or her— lonely craft. Until the knock on the door
comes.
How blessed the artists of the Philippines are. Many of them can sell
their works for great sums, some for millions. |