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BURMA RELATED NEWS - MAY
08, 2002.
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HEADLINES
----------------------------------------------------------------- VNS - VN, Myanmar vow to boost co-operative
ties
AFP - Myanmar's Aung San Suu Kyi keeping low-profile
after release
AFP - Myanmar opposition faces task of rebuilding after
leader's release
Reuters - Suu Kyi gets down to work at Myanmar
opposition HQ
Reuters - Investors wary of Myanmar despite Suu Kyi's
release
Reuters - Thailand sees ASEAN-China free trade area in
2004
Newsweek - More Releases?
AP - Suu Kyi favors minority say in Myanmar's
national reconciliation, ethnic leader says
AP - Suu Kyi says ethnic minorities should be part of
national reconciliation
Oneworld - Rights Groups Skeptical of Democracy Rebirth
in Myanmar
BBC - Aung San Suu Kyi 'strengthened'
----------------------------------------------------------------- Viet Nam News - May 8,
2002
VN, Myanmar vow to boost co-operative ties YANGON ? Viet Nam and Myanmar on Monday pledged to pull out all the stopAs
to build co-operative ties in trade, investment, agriculture, forestry, energy
and telecommunications.
The resolve was expressed at a meeting between the Chairman of Myanmar?s
Peace and Development Council, Senior General Than Shwe, and visiting President
Tran Duc Luong.
Shwe and Luong also agreed to set up working groups to encourage and
provide favourable conditions for investors from the two nations.
The Myanmar leader welcomed President Luong?s first-ever visit to Myanmar,
hailing it as a significant event and saying it would add new verve to the
traditional friendship and co-operation between the two countries.
Luong thanked Shwe for his warm reception and expressed his delight at
visiting Myanmar and witnessing the great efforts made by the Government and the
people to maintain political stability and bolster socio-economic
development.
He predicted the nation?s rich natural resources and the people?s
hard-working spirit would bring Challenges ahead
Deputy Trade Minister Luong Van Tu warned participants that Viet Nam faced
several major challenges to its international economic integration goals.
Co-ordination between ministries, agencies and the business community had
never been close, as each had a different concept of the best way forward for
the economy, he said.
"This has led to a lack of preparation from relevant agencies and
localities in realising international commitments such as those outlined in the
ASEAN Free Trade Area and the Viet Nam-US Bilateral Trade Agreement."
Tu, who is also secretary general of the International Economic Integration
Committee, said poor competitiveness and obsolete technology hampered the
nation?s ambitions.
"Vigorous development in production and technology around the world has
forced Viet Nam to conduct an all-embracing restructure of its production to
raise the nation?s competitive ability," he said.
Greater investment in production technology would help Viet Nam build
strong sectors capable of competing on the world stage.
"The country must come up with a long-term strategy for increasing
investment in production renovation, on a macro- and micro-economic scale," Tu
said.
All businesses should also build their own strategies for production and
business operations, to ensure effective global integration in the fast-changing
world.
Tu called for a comprehensive blueprint to help Viet Nam meet its
international commitments in tariff and non-tariff barriers as it strives to
become a member of the World Trade Organisation.
Vietnamese firms are too used to Government subsidies and protection, but
must prepare to face stiff competition in both local and international
markets.
"Although there are scores of professional associations, few actually
operate effectively to help their members find a niche in the world market," he
said.
He also urged local firms to move quickly to safeguard their brands and
trademarks in the international market.
Trung Nguyen coffee and Viet Tien garments are already well-established and
protected brands, but too few firms bothered with this vital component of
industrial property protection, he said.
Last but not least, revising and building the country?s legal framework was
vital to its ambitions for international integration.
Work to eradicate these problems must go hand in hand with personnel
training and human resource development, to build a qualified, competent
workforce able to meet the challenges of the new economic order.
The conference, discussing Politburo Resolution No 7/NQ-TW on international
economic integration, gathered some 300 leaders and experts from the Party
central committees for Economy; Ideology and Culture; the ministries of Trade;
Industry; Agriculture and Rural Development; Science, Technology and the
Environment; Justice; Planning and Investment; Finance as well as officials from
the State Bank, the General Department of Customs and representatives of
enterprises. ? VNS
Wednesday May 8, 4:08 PM
Myanmar's Aung San Suu Kyi keeping low-profile after release (AFP) - Myanmar democracy
leader Aung San Suu Kyi is keeping a low profile after her release from house
arrest, focusing on putting her party back on track and meeting its members,
officials said.
"She has to address some of the immediate administrative aspects of the
party, and get things back on the road," a source from the National League for
Democracy (NLD) told AFP.
"For the next few days she won't be venturing anywhere," he said, adding
that she would be holding meetings with the eight other members of the party's
decision-making Central Executive Committee.
She also plans to meet the NLD's women's and youth groups and its Yangon
Division Organising Committee over the next few days, he added.
The democracy campaigners returned to work on Tuesday following her release
the day before from 19 months of house arrest at her famous lakeside villa, on
the orders of the ruling military regime.
Although Aung San Suu Kyi told reporters Monday that there were no
conditions attached to her release and she is free to travel where she wishes,
she indicated that she was likely to stay in Yangon for the time being.
"She has not scheduled meetings with any outsiders but will be settling
inner-party things before venturing out to townships," the party source said.
"This will not be for the next few days or even next week."
Observers have said that as she turns her hand to reviving the party, Aung
San Suu Kyi will maintain a discreet profile in order not to provoke the
military regime, in a new spirit of cooperation between the two sides.
"She will continue to test the waters to see where she can go and what she
can do," said one Yangon-based diplomat.
But in a telephone interview with a Norwegian television station she did
reveal that her first visit abroad would be to Norway, home of the Nobel Peace
Prize which she won in 1991.
"It has always been my intention that once I am able to travel abroad,
Norway should be the first foreign country that I visit," she said.
The NLD headquarters in downtown Yangon, scenes of jubilant scenes earlier
in the week, was relatively quiet Wednesday.
After the departure of the foreign media, who were all ordered to leave by
Tuesday, Myanmar journalists working for international outlets patiently hung
around, awaiting a statement from the party on Aung San Suu Kyi's release.
"The NLD may release a statement concerning her release, which they were
drafting yesterday but didn't issue," another NLD source said.
On her first day of freedom Tuesday, ambassadors from Britain, France,
Germany and Italy visited her home to be briefed on the progress of the secret
talks she has been holding with the junta since October 2000.
She then headed to work at the NLD headquarters where she was warmly
greeted by 100 supporters eagerly awaiting her arrival.
The effects of her release have already been felt on Myanmar's frail
finance system, with the currency rallying from all-time lows and the price of
gold -- still considered a safe haven in times of trouble -- dropping by a
quarter Tuesday.
The kyat currency stood at 820 to the dollar on the black market late
Tuesday, back to normal levels after plummeting to an all-time low of 1,200
earlier this month.
Gold prices also fell to levels seen before the regime announced in early
March that relatives of former dictator Ne Win had attempted to mount a military
coup.
"Obviously it's because of The Lady's release," a local businessman said,
referring to Aung San Suu Kyi by her popular nickname.
----------------------------------------------------------------- Wednesday May 8, 7:26 PM
Myanmar opposition faces task of rebuilding after leader's release (AFP) - Aung San Suu Kyi's
opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) erupted in celebration at her
release this week, but after years of repression the party is in tatters and
faces a tough task to rebuild itself.
The military regime's campaign of arrests and intimidation, which began in
the mid-1990s and brought about mass defections, left the party's ranks badly
eroded by the end of the decade.
By the time Aung San Suu Kyi began landmark talks with the ruling junta in
October 2001, the party appeared on the verge of collapse with only the fame of
its leader to sustain it.
Over the past year and a half the government has allowed dozens of branch
offices to reopen and halted vicious tirades in the official press that had
portrayed NLD members as traitors and Aung San Suu Kyi as a pawn of the
West.
As a result, morale in the party has soared and the buzz has returned to
its ramshackle headquarters in downtown Yangon where the Nobel peace laureate
was greeted by 500 ecstatic supporters after her release Monday.
"Over the last 18 months the changes that have taken place have benefitted
the NLD primarily, but this is not really the purpose of our struggle," Aung San
Suu Kyi told reporters after she was freed.
"The National League for Democracy is merely an instrument to gain
democracy for the people of Burma. So while we are pleased that our party is
able to operate, this is not our goal. Whatever opportunities we have now we
must use simply for the progress of democracy."
One of her main priorities will now be to secure the release of an
estimated 1,500 activists who remain in prison, including 17 NLD MPs and some
800 party members.
Debbie Stothard from Bangkok-based pressure group Altsean-Burma said the
party would not be able to function properly until key members were freed from
jail and the junta allowed party branches to operate normally.
"I think regaining the offices that were closed down over the past few
years is a challenge but also an equal challenge is securing the release of all
the key party organisers who are in jail," she said.
While Aung San Suu Kyi is seen as exerting iron discipline over the party,
there are occasionally reports of dissent within the ranks, although sometimes
these are apparently invented by the junta.
A senior NLD source told AFP that its internal conflicts were not serious,
and that serious dissent was weeded out long ago by "The Lady", as Aung San Suu
Kyi is known here.
One of Kyi's main problem is how to assess and increase NLD membership.
Under heavy fire from the junta in the late 1990s, the NLD stopped issuing
membership cards for fear it would endanger the holders.
As a result, even party leaders do not know how many members there are,
although estimates run to several hundred thousands. It has also made it hard to
track how many are in jail.
Some believe Aung San Suu Kyi alone holds the party together.
"One of the members of the CEC had said to us that without Aung San Suu Kyi
the National League for Democracy would be nothing," said one Yangon diplomat.
"Without her the League would not exist any more."
----------------------------------------------------------------- Wednesday May 8, 2:50 PM
Suu Kyi gets down to work at Myanmar opposition HQ By Aung Hla Tun YANGON (Reuters) - Myanmar
opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, newly released from 19 months of house
arrest, met United Nations officials on Wednesday as she began efforts to
revitalise her party and press for democracy.
U Lwin, secretary of Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD), said
the 56-year-old Nobel peace laureate would spend mornings at her lakeside
residence receiving guests, and would come to the party headquarters each
weekday afternoon.
Party workers have prepared an office for her in the dilapidated party
building, complete with an air-conditioning unit to combat the stifling heat.
Suu Kyi, who has vowed to support the international economic embargo on
Myanmar, was freed on Monday by the military junta and says there are no
restrictions on her movement. This will be tested soon when she makes her first
attempt to travel outside Yangon.
U Lwin said Suu Kyi planned a trip outside the capital soon to help
organise party activists in other areas.
Her most recent spell under house arrest came after she made a number of
high-profile attempts to travel outside Yangon in 2000 in defiance of travel
restrictions.
A bid to travel south of the capital by road in August 2000 led to a
nine-day roadside stand-off when police blocked her car. She was eventually
forcibly returned home, sparking an outcry from the international community.
A month later Suu Kyi was stopped from travelling by rail to the city of
Mandalay, and placed under house arrest, where she remained until her release
this week.
Suu Kyi's first attempt to leave Yangon will be a test of how much leeway
the military regime will offer her.
CONCILIATORY APPROACH
Analysts say she seems to be taking a more conciliatory approach this time,
trying to avoid actively embarrassing the ruling generals. She has agreed that
the road to her house, once a focal point for protest, should remain closed for
the moment.
U Lwin said Suu Kyi's planned trips outside Yangon would also be low-key.
"I have talked with the responsible officials twice about her
organisational trips but we do not intend to let the media know in advance
before she sets out," he said.
Suu Kyi's release was widely seen by diplomats as an attempt by the
generals to get sanctions lifted rather than the start of genuine momentum for
political change.
The military has ruled Myanmar for four decades, and says the multi-ethnic
country could disintegrate if it moves towards democracy too quickly, but the
desperate state of the economy may have forced their hands.
Suu Kyi has said she remains opposed to foreign investment, aid and tourism
while the military held power, but was looking forward to political progress.
Her NLD won elections in 1990 by a landslide, but the military refused to
hand over power.
The world hailed Suu Kyi's release on Monday but leaders cautioned it was
only the first step towards restoring democracy.
The junta has been holding secretive talks with Suu Kyi since October 2000
in a bid to break the political stalemate that has gripped the country for more
than a decade.
But many question the military's motives.
They say the junta may be hoping that releasing Suu Kyi, plus pledging to
crack down on rampant production of opium and methamphetamines, is enough to
persuade the international community to ease its stance.
----------------------------------------------------------------- Wednesday May 8, 11:01 AM
ANALYSIS-Investors wary of Myanmar despite Suu Kyi's release By Chris Johnson BANGKOK, May 8 (Reuters) -
Don't expect a flood of investment into Myanmar now that Nobel peace prize
winner Aung San Suu Kyi has been released from house arrest. The immediate
outlook for the economy remains grim.
While the replacement of the military dictatorship with democracy would
eventually bring a lifting of trade and aid sanctions by the West, that could be
many years away and still might not be enough to attract significant investment.
Corruption, hyper-inflation, a collapsing currency and power blackouts make
doing business in Myanmar a nightmare.
Add to that Suu Kyi's own call for isolation of the junta -- one of her
first messages to the world when she emerged from 19 months of house arrest on
Monday -- and almost all companies will stay away until they see a more stable
political environment.
Many doubt Suu Kyi's release will lead to real change.
"Investors are not going to make any decisions on the basis of what has
happened this week," said Fong Cheng Heng, head of economic research at
Singapore's DBS Bank.
"We definitely would not see a lot of investors going into Myanmar
tomorrow, or even the day after. People are too sceptical and will take a while
to observe -- six to 12 months."
When Myanmar, then called Burma, gained independence from Britain in the
late 1940s, it was asset-rich, famous for its precious stones and teak that had
helped make British India rich.
Wealthier than many of its neighbours, it had of deposits of hydrocarbons,
tin, zinc and copper as well as a valuable colonial legacy of literacy and legal
and administrative infrastructure.
Much has been lost during 40 years of military rule.
ECONOMY IN TATTERS
Today Myanmar's economy is in tatters, its forests stripped bare and mines
plundered. Many of the foreign companies who entered the country in the 1960s
and 1970s have pulled out.
Many Western companies have avoided the country due to active
discouragement by the United States and European governments, which have been
angered by the military's treatment of Suu Kyi and reports of forced labour and
other human rights abuses.
Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) was the runaway winner in
1990 of the only recent elections held in Myanmar.
Instead of taking power, NLD members have been imprisoned.
As isolation has deepened, so have Myanmar's economic woes.
The currency, the kyat, fell last week to an all-time low of 1,000 to the
dollar -- about a third of its value four years ago and compared with an
official rate of 6.9.
Average per capita annual income was just 1,794 kyat in 2000, according to
Myanmar's own Statistical Yearbook, making it one of the poorest countries in
Asia, and its wealth is uneven with many of its 49 million inhabitants living in
absolute poverty.
One of the few booming industries is narcotics, a business that, if not
directly run by the military, at least lines their pockets, diplomats and
international drugs agencies say.
U.S. officials believe Myanmar's biggest earner is probably heroin and
methamphetamines. They say Myanmar was the world's top producer of opium in
2001, thanks to a decline in Afghanistan when the Taliban banned cultivation of
opium poppies.
Corruption threads through all levels of business in Myanmar.
"Thai companies have been hurt badly by corruption," said Chayachoke
Chulasiriwongs, professor of politics at Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University.
"They have to pay tea money (bribes) but the officials don't always deliver.
This happens so often."
OIL AND GAS PROSPECTS
Some companies have ventured into Myanmar and stayed.
Malaysian oil and gas firm Petronas [PETR.UL], Britain's Premier Oil and
France's TotalFinaElf have all invested in gas fields in Myanmar and have
ignored pressure from pro-democracy campaigners to follow Texaco Inc out.
Leisure groups such as Hong Kong's Shangri-La Asia <0069.HK> and
Sedona, part of Singapore's Keppel Land , both run successful hotels in Yangon
despite low occupancy levels.
But the firms that have survived have tended to be those that can operate
mostly in dollars and avoid dealing in the kyat.
"No one wants to deal with kyat if they don't have to," said a trader in
Yangon who runs a small language business. "It's one thing if you get your
income in dollars, quite another if you earn kyat and have to repatriate profits
at official rates."
Southeast Asian tour operators hope news of Suu Kyi's release could help
stimulate tourism this year despite the opposition leader's own call for
visitors to stay away.
But most investment will have to wait for real change.
Neil Semple, energy analyst at Cambridge Energy Research Associates in
Bangkok, says oil and gas companies would be keen to do more in Myanmar if it
became easier to operate there.
"Oil and gas companies are quite excited about the prospects in Myanmar,"
he said. "But in general if is difficult for new investment as long as the
political pressure remains."
According to Razali Ismail, the U.N. special envoy who is credited with
helping engineer the release of Suu Kyi, elections are still likely to be two or
three years away.
"If the political situation changed radically, more and more investors will
begin to look at Myanmar," said Fong. "But over the years we have seen so many
political hiccups that I think everyone will wait to make sure these changes are
permanent."
----------------------------------------------------------------- Wednesday May 8, 5:41 PM
Thailand sees ASEAN-China free trade area in 2004 BANGKOK, May 8 (Reuters) - A
senior Thai commerce ministry official predicted on Wednesday that the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and China could launch a planned
free trade area in 2004.
Srirat Rastapana, deputy chief of the ministry's business economics
department, said a scheduled two-day meeting of ASEAN and Chinese officials in
Beijing next week would strive to set a broad timeframe for implementing a free
trade accord agreed by their leaders in late 2001.
"Formal negotiations on details under the agreement could take
one-and-a-half to two years. I believe the proposed free trade area could be
launched by around 2004," Srirat told Reuters.
Thai officials say ASEAN and China may start honouring their free trade
commitments through tariff cuts for consumer and agricultural products that are
not politically sensitive.
They said products to benefit from initial tariff reductions may include
tropical fruits, textiles, garments and forestry and fishery products.
ASEAN groups Thailand with Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore,
Vietnam, Brunei, Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia.
----------------------------------------------------------------- More Releases?
The release of dissident Daw Aung San Suu Kyi raises questions about the fate of Burma?s other political prisoners By Gregory Beals NEWSWEEK WEB EXCLUSIVE May 7? When Burmese pro-democracy leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi was
freed from the lakeside villa in Rangoon that served as both her home and her
cage, she promptly visited the headquarters of her National League for Democracy
party. ?My release should not be looked at as a major breakthrough for
democracy,? she told reporters as thousands of exuberant supporters cheered her
arrival. ?For all people in Burma to enjoy basic freedom?that would be the major
breakthrough.?
A MONTH AFTER being put under house arrest in September of 2000, the
dissident participated in United Nations-brokered talks with Burma?s ruling
military junta, hoping to transform the government from a military state to
something approaching a democratic society.
It was only after nearly two years of house arrest that she was released as
a confidence building gesture by the junta. Now that the 56-year-old Aung San
Suu Kyi has been freed from house arrest, however, questions remain as to how
serious the military is about reform and where the democratic process goes from
here.
To be sure, Burma?s ruling junta has plenty of reason to change. Having
witnessed authoritarian regimes fall to democracy in a number of countries
around the world, the junta has a vested interest in fostering political change
before it is inevitably forced upon them. They know Burma is suffering under
their stewardship. More than a decade of international isolation has led to the
breakdown of virtually every aspect of society. Basic social and medical
services have dwindled to nothing while the country?s HIV rate has
skyrocketed.
Economic sanctions have crippled an already dilapidated economy.
Hyper-inflation has set in and the kyat, Burma?s national currency, has dropped
nearly 500 percent over the past year, 15 percent over the past few weeks. Basic
staples like rice, eggs and oil are quickly becoming too expensive for local
residents to buy. At the same time, the U.S. Congress had been contemplating
further sanctions against Burma?s textile industry that would have cost the
country some $500 million a year in revenues. ?If the army can?t resolve Burma?s
economic issues, there is a belief that it may collapse,? says NLD activist Hung
Htoo.
So far, the military has promised Aung San Suu Kyi that more democracy
advocates will soon be freed. Human Rights Watch estimates that 1,500 political
prisoners, including 17 democratically-elected members of parliament, remain
holed up in Burmese prisons. Aung San Suu Kyi has said that the release of the
remaining political prisoners is a pre-requisite for the dialogue for democracy
to move forward. ?It is now the single most important challenge to the military
as to what they will do with the political prisoners,? Mike Jendrzejczyk , Human
Rights Watch?s Burma expert told NEWSWEEK. ?Suu Kyi would like to see them
released all at once. But if the military decides to release them in phases as
they have done in the past, that will be seen as moving far too slowly.?
The NLD is anxious to move to the next step in the process, establishing a
new constitution and holding elections, but Aung San Suu Kyi is painfully aware
that trying to move too far too fast may lead to yet another crackdown. While
she has been promised by the military that she can leave the city of Rangoon,
she has yet to announce that she will force the issue. The last time she tried
to leave the capital, she was imprisoned for almost two years. But Aung San Suu
Kyi knows that re-establishing the hundreds of NLD offices around the country
will require that she travel. ?This is basically a highly delicate start of a
long process,? says David Steinberg, a professor at Georgetown University and a
leading expert on Burma. ?It is too early to be euphoric.?
----------------------------------------------------------------- Suu Kyi favors minority say in
Myanmar's national reconciliation, ethnic leader says
ASSOCIATED PRESS YANGON, Myanmar, May 8 ? Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi says ethnic minority groups seeking more autonomy must be included in the national reconciliation process with Myanmar's military junta, an ethnic leader said Wednesday. Myanmar's ethnic groups fear democracy talks between the recently freed
dissident and the government may sideline their demands, which in the past have
led to armed rebellions.
Khun Tun Oo, a leader of the Shan ethnic minority said Suu Kyi made her
position clear during talks with leaders of Shan, Mon, Chin, Rakhine and Kokang
ethnic parties hours after her release Monday from 19 months of house arrest.
''I'm happy with the assurance by Daw Suu to let the ethnic groups
participate in the talks at an appropriate time,'' he said, using the honorific
''Daw'' to refer to the Nobel peace laureate.
Suu Kyi's comments could not immediately be confirmed by her party, and her
spokesman could not be reached for comment.
The issue of ethnic autonomy is an added complication to the problem of
restoring democracy in Myanmar, also known as Burma.
The democracy movement in Myanmar is dominated by Suu Kyi's National League
for Democracy, made up mainly of majority Burmese. The generals who have ruled
the country for the last 40 years are also Burmese.
The Burmese comprise 68 percent of the country's 42 million people, while
eight major ethnic groups and 135 subgroups form much of the rest.
The ethnic minorities, who live mostly in Myanmar's eastern, northern and
western border states, maintain unique cultural identities.
Their insurgencies for political autonomy began after Myanmar's
independence from Britain in 1948. Most of the groups have since reached
autonomy deals with the government and ended their armed struggles. The Karen
are the only major group still fighting.
Suu Kyi's release has sparked hopes that the current junta, which has been
in power since 1988, will loosen its hold following years of international
pressure, including sanctions and mediation by a U.N. special envoy.
The junta refuses to honor the results of general elections it called
in 1990 ? elections that were won by the National League for Democracy. The
junta says bringing democracy too quickly will lead to the disintegration of the
ethnically diverse country.
----------------------------------------------------------------- Suu Kyi says ethnic minorities
should be part of national reconciliation
Wed May 8, 9:22 AM ET By AYE AYE WIN, Associated Press Writer YANGON, Myanmar - Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi says ethnic minority
groups seeking more autonomy must be included in the national reconciliation
process with Myanmar's military junta, an ethnic leader said Wednesday.
Myanmar includes several ethnic groups who fear democracy talks between Suu
Kyi and the government will sideline their demands, which in the past have led
to armed rebellions.
Khun Tun Oo, a leader of the Shan ethnic minority, said Suu Kyi made her
position clear during talks with leaders of Shan, Mon, Chin, Rakhine and Kokang
ethnic parties hours after her release Monday from 19 months of house
arrest.
"I'm happy with the assurance by Daw Suu to let the ethnic groups
participate in the talks at an appropriate time," he told The Associated Press,
using the honorific "Daw" to refer to the Nobel peace laureate.
Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy confirmed that she had said all
ethnic parties should be involved in working toward democracy.
"What Daw Suu said was that all ethnic parties should unitedly work for the
achievement of democracy. Ethnic minority leaders are responsible for carrying
out organizational works in their respective regions," party spokesman U Lewin
told the AP.
The issue of ethnic autonomy is an added complication to the problem of
restoring democracy in Myanmar, also known as Burma.
The democracy movement in Myanmar is dominated by Suu Kyi's National League
for Democracy, most of whose members are majority Burmese as are the generals
who have ruled the country for the last 40 years.
The Burmese comprise 68 percent of the 42 million population while eight
major ethnic groups and 135 subgroups form much of the rest.
The ethnic minorities, who live mostly in Myanmar's eastern, northern and
western border states maintain unique cultural identities.
Their insurgencies for political autonomy began after Myanmar's
independence from Britain in 1948, but most of the groups have since reached
autonomy deals with the government and ended their armed struggles. The Karen
are the only major ethnic group still fighting.
Suu Kyi's release has sparked hopes that the current junta, which has been
in power since 1988, will loosen its hold over power in the face of years of
international pressure including sanctions and mediation by a U.N. special envoy
since 2000.
The junta refuses to honor the results of general elections it called in
1990, which the NLD won. It says bringing democracy too quickly will lead to the
disintegration of the ethnically diverse country.
----------------------------------------------------------------- Rights Groups Skeptical of
Democracy Rebirth in Myanmar
Tue May 7,12:26 PM ET Carol Nahra,OneWorld UK Human rights organizations are warning that the release of opposition
leader Aung San Suu Kyi does not mean that the reintroduction of democracy to
military-ruled Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, is imminent.
While rights groups welcomed Monday's unconditional release of the National
League for Democracy leader from house arrest, they cautioned that it should not
be taken as a sign that Myanmar's governing junta was moving towards democracy.
"This should not be mistaken for any early outbreak of democracy in Burma
just yet," said Yvette Mahon of Burma Campaign UK.
"There are 1500 political prisoners yet to be released, millions in forced
labor, and refugees in all the country's borders. And as yet there is no clear
agenda for political reform," she said.
Micheline Levesque, Asia Regional Officer at Canada-based Rights and
Democracy, pointed to Suu Kyi's last release in 1995 after six years of house
arrest, which raised hopes among the international community that political
change was on the horizon.
"But all political prisoners stayed in jail and human rights violations
continued," said Levesque, who added that her organization remains "very
cautious about making conclusions about her release. It's only the beginning of
a very, very, very, long process."
Myanmar, which has been under military rule since 1962, is considered one
of the world's worst violators of human rights. The present governing junta, the
State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), came to power in 1988 and was
responsible for annulling the 1990 elections won by the National League for
Democracy, led by Suu Kyi.
Suu Kyi was held under house arrest from 1989 to 1995, and forced into
house detention again in September 2000 after twice attempting to leave Yangon
in defiance of government restrictions. On Monday, she was granted unconditional
release, and immediately vowed to work with military leaders to restore
democracy.
Despite this, rights groups are calling for the United States sanctions on
new investments in the country--which were introduced in 1997 in response to
human rights violations and concerns about the junta's alleged involvement in
the heroin trade--to continue until real progress is made.
"It's international pressure that has gotten us that far," said Mahon. "It
must be maintained if there is to be any kind of next stage. Any premature
relieving of measures currently in place could derail the whole process."
According to Mike Jendrzejczyk, Washington director for Asia at Human
Rights Watch, the international community should increase pressure on Myanmar to
comply with agreed standards on human rights, while at the same time leaving
room for dialogue.
"Before any existing sanctions are lifted, Burma should implement key
recommendations adopted unanimously by the United Nations Commission on Human
Rights in Geneva last week," he added.
The Commission's resolution called on Myanmar, among other things, to
release all political prisoners; end practices of torture and forced labor;
allow freedom and _expression_, movement and assembly; the right to a fair trial;
and to protect the rights of ethnic and religious minorities.
In October 2000, the SPDC began secret talks with Suu Kyi, which have
recently been facilitated by the U.N. Secretary General's Special Envoy, former
Malaysian ambassador Razali Ismail.
Levesque says it remains to be seen whether Suu Kyi's release might have
been motivated by the international community losing patience with the slow pace
of the "confidence building" talks.
"Is this a trick from SPDC to show they're doing something or are they
really committed to finding a political solution to establishing democracy in
Burma? That's what we want to know," said Levesque.
----------------------------------------------------------------- BBC - Wednesday, 8 May, 2002, 11:34
GMT 12:34 UK
Aung San Suu Kyi 'strengthened' Burma's freed pro-democracy leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, has told the BBC that
her 20 months under house arrest have given her a "very good rest" and she has
been strengthened by her supporters' response.
She told the East Asia Today programme that although she was not able to discuss the specific measures that her National League for Democracy was planning, they were ready to act. Earlier, Burma's ambassador to Britain, Kway Win, ruled out an early return
to multi-party democracy but said that was the ruling military government's
ultimate goal.
In a separate interview with the BBC, the diplomat said that following the
democracy leader's release, Burma had "probably arrived at a milestone in the
political transition process".
Aung San Suu Kyi said that during her detention she had been "very much
strengthened... by the staunch way in which the members of my party have stood
up to all manners of opposition and persuasion".
Minority fears
Earlier Khun Tun Oo, a leader of Burma's Shan ethnic minority, said the
Nobel laureate had reassured him and other ethnic leaders that would be included
in democracy talks with the ruling military government.
Burma's eight major ethnic groups and 135 subgroups have been waging
insurgencies for political autonomy since the country's independence from
Britain in 1948, although all but the Shan have since struck deals with the
government.
Their leaders feared being sidelined from the democracy movement, which is
dominated by Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD).
"I'm happy with the assurance by Daw Suu to let the ethnic groups
participate in the talks at an appropriate time," said Khun Tun Oo, a leader of
the Shan group.
But Mr Win stressed to the BBC that democracy would be a gradual process.
"We do not see anything dramatic happening immediately concerning... a
fully established Western democratic-style political movements taking place, but
there is almost no doubt that the ultimate objective is the establishment of a
multi-party democratic system," he told the World Today programme.
Although Aung San Suu Kyi has been released without restrictions on her
movement, a source from the NLD told AFP news agency that she would not leave
the capital Rangoon for the next few days.
But Aung San Suu Kyi, who was released on Monday after months of talks with
the ruling military government, did reveal in an interview with a Norwegian
television station that her first trip abroad would be to Norway, AFP
reported.
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