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AUNG SAN SUU KYI IN INSEIN PRISON
UN SECURITY COUNCIL MUST ACT

MEDIA RELEASE FROM BURMA CAMPAIGN UK - 19 June 2003

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, First Lady of Burma and the Free world, is 58 years old today.

See photographs taken on her recent ill-fated tour of the Arakan, Mandalay and Chin State.

The Burma Campaign UK today demanded that Britain push for immediate action at the UN Security Council following news that Aung San Suu Kyi has been put in Insein Prison. Insein Prison is notorious for its harsh conditions, use of torture and beatings. "Insein is more than a prison," said John Jackson, Director of the Burma Campaign UK. "It represents the full apparatus of state repression in Burma."

"That the regime would do this despite recent criticism shows that words alone are not enough to influence this regime," said Jackson. "It is time for the international community to get tough on this regime. This must go to the UN Security Council."

Aung San Suu Kyi is being held under article 10a of Burma's 1975 State Protection Law. UN envoy Razali Ismail revealed Aung San Suu Kyi told him this was the law she was being held under when he met with her last week. Article 10a allows Than Shwe, Burma's dictator, to hold Aung San Suu Kyi in isolation for six months, and for her detention without trial for a further five years. It is the same law that the regime used to detain Aung San Suu Kyi in 1989, but is not thought to be the law under which she was put under house arrest in 2000.

"By reverting to this draconian law it seems Than Shwe is planning the long term imprisonment of Aung San Suu Kyi," said Jackson

The Burma Campaign UK is also concerned about the conditions Aung San Suu Kyi is being held under. When Razali Ismail met her she was still in the clothes she had been arrested in 11 days earlier. Despite claiming Aung San Suu Kyi is in protective custody the Red Cross is still being denied access to her. "Are the generals suggesting Aung San Suu Kyi is at risk from the Red Cross?", asks John Jackson.

"Burma is back where it was 14 years ago," says Jackson. "Aung San Suu Kyi is under arrest, the generals are massacring their own people, National League for Democracy offices are closed and there are around 1,500 political prisoners. The world failed to act then. It must not fail to act now."

It's Time to Turn the Tables on Burma's Thugs
By Colin L. Powell, US Secretary of State - Wall Street Journal - 12 June 2003

Washington -- United Nations Special Envoy Razali Ismail has just visited Burma and was able to bring us news that Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize winner and the leader of a peaceful democratic party known as the National League for Democracy, is well and unharmed. The thoughts and prayers of free people everywhere have been with her these past two weeks. Our fears for her current state of health are now somewhat lessened.

On May 30, her motorcade was attacked by thugs, and then the thugs who run the Burmese government placed her under "protective custody." We can take comfort in the fact that she is well. Unfortunately, the larger process that Ambassador Razali and Aung San Suu Kyi have been pursuing -- to restore democracy in Burma -- is failing despite their goodwill and sincere efforts. It is time to reassess our policy toward a military dictatorship that has repeatedly attacked democracy and jailed its heroes.

There is little doubt on the facts. Aung San Suu Kyi's party won an election in 1990 and since then has been denied its place in Burmese politics. Her party has continued to pursue a peaceful path, despite personal hardships and lengthy periods of house arrest or imprisonment for her and her followers. Hundreds of her supporters remain in prison, despite some initial releases and promises by the junta to release more. The party's offices have been closed and their
supporters persecuted. Ambassador Razali has pursued every possible opening and worked earnestly to help Burma make a peaceful transition to democracy. Despite initial statements last year, the junta -- which shamelessly calls itself the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) -- has now refused his efforts and betrayed its own promises.

At the end of last month, this rejection manifested itself in violence. After the May 30 attack on Aung San Suu Kyi's convoy, we sent U.S. Embassy officers to the scene to gather information. They reported back that the attack was planned in advance. A series of trucks followed her convoy to a remote location, blocked it and then unloaded thugs to swarm with fury over the cars of democracy supporters. The attackers were brutal and organized; the victims were peaceful and defenseless. The explanation by the Burmese military junta of what happened doesn't hold water. The SPDC has not made a credible report of how many people were killed and injured. It was clear to our embassy officers that the members of the junta were responsible for directing and producing this staged riot.

We have called for a full accounting of what happened that day. We have called for Aung San Suu Kyi to be released from confinement of any kind. We have called for the release of the other leaders of the National League for Democracy who were jailed by the SPDC before and after the attack. We have called for the offices of the National League for Democracy to be allowed to reopen. We are in touch with other governments who are concerned about the fate of democracy's leader and the fate of democracy in Burma to encourage them, too, to pressure the SPDC.

The Bush administration agrees with members of Congress, including Sen. Mitch McConnell, who has been a leading advocate of democracy in Burma, that the time has come to turn up the pressure on the SPDC.

Here's what we've done so far. The State Department has already extended our visa restrictions to include all officials of an organization related to the junta -- the Union Solidarity and Development Association -- and the managers of state-run enterprises so that they and their families can be banned as well.

The United States already uses our voice and our vote against loans to Burma from the World Bank and other international financial institutions. The State Department reports honestly and frankly on the crimes of the SPDC in our reports on Human Rights, Trafficking in Persons, Drugs, and International Religious Freedom. In all these areas, the junta gets a failing grade. We also speak out frequently and strongly in favor of the National League for Democracy, and
against the SPDC. I will press the case in Cambodia next week when I meet with the leaders of Southeast Asia, despite their traditional reticence to confront a member and neighbor of their association, known as Asean.

Mr. McConnell has introduced the Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act in the Senate; Reps. Henry Hyde and Tom Lantos have introduced a similar bill in the House. We support the goals and intent of the bills and are working with the sponsors on an appropriate set of new steps. Those who follow this issue will know that our support for legislation is in fact a change in the position of this administration and previous ones as well. Simply put, the attack on Ms. Suu Kyi's convoy and the utter failure of the junta to accept efforts at peaceful change cannot be the last word on the matter. The junta that oppresses democracy inside Burma must find that its actions will not be allowed to stand.

There are a number of measures that should now be taken, many of them in the proposed legislation. It's time to freeze the financial assets of the SPDC. It's time to ban remittances to Burma so that the SPDC cannot benefit from the foreign exchange. With legislation, we can, and should, place restrictions on travel-related transactions that benefit the SPDC and its supporters. We also should further limit commerce with Burma that enriches the junta's generals. Of course, we would need to ensure consistency with our World Trade Organization and other international obligations. Any legislation will need to be carefully crafted to take into account our WTO obligations and the president's need for waiver authority, but we should act now.

By attacking Aung San Suu Kyi and her supporters, the Burmese junta has finally and definitively rejected the efforts of the outside world to bring Burma back into the international community. Indeed, their refusal of the work of Ambassador Razali and of the rights of Aung San Suu Kyi and her supporters could not be clearer. Our response must be equally clear if the thugs who now rule Burma are to understand that their failure to restore democracy will only bring more and more pressure against them and their supporters.

Attack on Burmese Activist Seen as Work of Military
By Alan Sipress and Ellen Nakashima - Washington Post June 9 2003

Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi's motorcade was rattling along a pocked one-lane road near Mandalay in northern Burma after sunset when a pair of men, disguised in the burnt orange robes of Buddhist monks, motioned for it to stop. They asked her to alight and make an impromptu speech to at least 100 people gathered at a narrow bridge over a creek and blocking her way, according to Burmese exiles who spoke with witnesses. But she was running late. It was already pitch dark amid the rice paddies.

When one of her bodyguards, a young unarmed man, got out of the four-wheel-drive vehicle to convey Suu Kyi's regrets, the crowd set upon her convoy, attacking the entourage with wooden clubs and bamboo spikes, according to the exiles and diplomats who also have spoken to witnesses. Several hundred more assailants ambushed the motorcade from the rear.

By the time the battle was over late in the evening of May 30, at least four of Suu Kyi's bodyguards were dead. Burmese exiles and diplomats said scores of her supporters were also probably killed. And Suu Kyi, the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize laureate, suffered head and shoulder injuries, they said, when her car windows were shattered and she was detained by Burmese soldiers along with at least 17 supporters.

U.S. and other diplomats have concluded that the attack was an ambush orchestrated by Burma's military rulers and carried out by a pro-government militia reinforced by specially trained prison inmates.

Suu Kyi, 57, has remained in custody, incommunicado and out of public sight ever since, prompting protests from the United Nations, the United States and other governments.

The attack was not only a stunning bid to intimidate Suu Kyi and deflate a pro-democracy movement that over recent months had been attracting larger and larger crowds despite mounting government harassment, according to exiles and diplomats in Rangoon and Bangkok. It was also an effort by Burma's top leader, Gen. Than Shwe, who had been consolidating control in recent months, to make clear he had lost patience with those in the military advocating dialogue with Suu Kyi.

"This was a brutal power play to show them who is in charge here," a European diplomat said. "This was a message from Than Shwe to the softies in the military that you [had] better watch out. You are not to tolerate Aung San Suu Kyi."

Although supporters of political reform have despaired of progress for months, the attack outside Mandalay -- the bloodiest confrontation since Burma crushed a pro-democracy uprising in 1988 -- could mark the end to the spring of hope that began almost exactly one year ago.

Under intense international pressure, the Burmese government had released Suu Kyi from house arrest in May 2002. Some high-ranking military officers had calculated that Suu Kyi's popularity had faded during her detention and that she no longer posed the same threat as she had in 1990 when her party, the National League for Democracy, won a landslide election victory, Burmese and other analysts said. Those results were voided by the military, plunging Burma into its current political crisis and a decade of international isolation.

The Burmese government, however, discovered that Suu Kyi still attracted jubilant crowds when she traveled the country reopening nearly 200 local offices for her party. Tens of thousands turned out to chant her name. Many supporters walked miles to see her. Increasingly, her rallies drew Buddhist monks, who command great respect in Burmese society, further alarming the military.

"They are worried that despite all the threats they can employ against the pro-democracy movement, people are continuing to go out and see Aung San Suu Kyi," said Win Min, a Burmese researcher who studies civilian-military relations.

Suu Kyi, who has always preached reconciliation, was also becoming openly
critical of the government's unwillingness to engage in meaningful dialogue for a political settlement. The optimism that accompanied her release from house arrest had long dissipated.

These developments were an affront to Than Shwe, the junta's leader, who so loathes Suu Kyi that, as one European diplomat said, he "hates even to hear her name mentioned."

Than Shwe, 70, chairman of the ruling State Peace and Development Council and armed forces commander, has moved since last year to strengthen his grip on power. He has beefed up the United Solidarity and Development Association, the pro-government militia that witnesses said attacked Suu Kyi's motorcade. He has manipulated the military, government and courts to weaken his leading rivals while placing his loyalists in influential posts, said diplomats and Burmese exiles.

"Than Shwe has been taking his time," said Zin Linn of the opposition National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma. "He has purged many of the senior military men who are soft-liners and are in some way impressed with Aung San Suu Kyi" and Tin Oo, the vice chairman of her party.

Most notably, Than Shwe's ascent has come at the expense of Gen. Khin Nyunt, 64, the head of military intelligence and a leading advocate of dialogue with Suu Kyi. His patron, former dictator Gen. Ne Win, died in December. While Khin Nyunt remains the third-highest-ranking official in the junta, his authority in running military intelligence has been limited and he has told diplomats that he no longer has a mandate to pursue the reconciliation talks, which had been mediated by U.N. special envoy Razali Ismail.

The dispute pits so-called pragmatists, such as Khin Nyunt, who believe Burma can string out the talks with Suu Kyi while placating foreign governments, against officers urging that the pro-democracy movement be crushed. But diplomats and analysts stress that the military is united in its determination to retain power.

Suu Kyi's recent month-long swing through northern Burma offered an opportunity for Than Shwe to deliver a resounding message to the pragmatists that their moment had passed, diplomats and exiles said.

An expedition to the northernmost state of Kachin, which began May 6, was her seventh road trip since her release. It was meant in part to bolster the morale of loyalists in her party, who were disappointed that the reconciliation talks had ground to a halt, said Debbie Stothard, coordinator of ALTSEAN-Burma, a human rights group in Southeast Asia.

The trips, especially this last, had provoked growing harassment by the government, which has staged protests by machete-wielding activists, blasted music to drown out Suu Kyi's speeches and blocked her way with logs and barbed wire. At least once, a firetruck turned its hoses on her supporters.

If the military wanted to escalate the confrontation, Sagaing Division northwest of Mandalay was a good place, Burmese exiles and diplomats said. This impoverished region is the stronghold of Lt. Gen. Soe Win, a Sagaing native and former military commander in the area. He was promoted by Than Shwe in February to the junta's fourth-highest position. Soe Win is also a leading activist in the militia and had toured several towns earlier this year demanding that dialogue with Suu Kyi be halted.

Diplomats and exiles said they have received reports that Soe Win was at a military headquarters in nearby Monywa either during or shortly before the ambush against Suu Kyi's motorcade. Exiles said they believe he ran the operation. Military officials knew Suu Kyi was coming. She had been required to give them her itinerary. "Clearly, orders were given for a violent attack," a U.S. Embassy official in Rangoon said.

The following account of the May 30 attack was provided by that official based on the findings of a two-person U.S. Embassy team dispatched to Sagaing Division late last week to investigate the incident. Much of the story has been corroborated by information from witnesses provided to other diplomats and exiles.

As Suu Kyi's motorcade traveled north toward the town of Dipeyin about two miles from Monywa, it was met by 100 to 200 people at the bridge. Most of them were disguised as monks but shed the costumes when the fighting erupted. About 400 other convicts and militia recruits disguised as monks with shaved heads, and wearing white armbands, blocked the motorcade from behind.

Though Suu Kyi's supporters tried to assuage the mob, the assailants began beating them and smashing the vehicles' windows. Trying to stave off the attack and shelter Suu Kyi, members of her party stood on the road and locked arms.

At the site, the investigating team found bloodied clothes, clubs and spears, broken glass and debris from damaged vehicles. "It was pretty clear that a big fight had taken place," the embassy official said.

The team's findings contradict the brief version provided by the government - that the confrontation lasted two hours and was provoked by Suu Kyi's party. The government said four people were killed and 50 others injured.

The U.S. team reported that gunfire was heard in the middle of the night when the army arrived to clean up the site. According to other accounts, gunshots rang out during or shortly after the clash.

Reports reaching other diplomats and exile groups said Suu Kyi's driver, trying to remove the democracy activist from the melee, gunned the engine as the crowd pounded the car with rocks and other objects. She was detained by security forces farther down the road in Dipeyin.

Tin Oo, 75, the vice chairman of Suu Kyi's party, was assaulted when he left his car, according to Burmese exiles, who have expressed concern about his condition and whereabouts.

Following the attack, the military closed most of the party's offices across Burma, arrested other democracy activists and criticized Suu Kyi's movement in the press. Some suggest that these steps were part of a planned, concerted crack-down, not just a hurried attempt to prevent Suu Kyi's supporters from protesting the attack and arrests. They noted that in the weeks before the incident, 10 activists from the opposition party were arrested and sentenced to prison terms of two to 28 years.

Since the attack, more than 100 party activists have been arrested and at least a dozen imprisoned, said Stothard, coordinator of the human rights group.

Those killed trying to protect Suu Kyi, or "The Lady," as she is popularly known, reportedly included Toe Lwin, 32, a rising star in the party's youth division who held a philosophy degree and was studying English in Rangoon, a Western diplomat said. He was in Suu Kyi's vehicle, wearing his orange opposition party jacket with its red badge emblazoned with a gold fighting peacock. Suu Kyi treated these supporters as "surrogate sons," and saw in them a future generation of political leaders, Stothard said.

Suu Kyi is being held at Yemon military camp, about 25 miles outside Rangoon, without access to her doctor, party members or Western envoys, concerned diplomats said.

"If they lift her incommunicado status, she will speak," a European diplomat said. "She will speak the truth and this will be damaging for them."

Do not nip fruits of democracy in the bud

By Tekkatho Myatthu - New Light of Myanmar June 3 2003

Over 50 million people throughout the Union of Myanmar wish to live in peaceful society with the promise of economic development and high living standard. Myanmar was under servitude of the colonialists for 123 years and during this period, she lost her wealth and natural resources. She had been exploited and had to suffer much. Therefore, Myanmar national patriots, sacrificing their lives and limbs, fought for regaining independence. Territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence, land and water resources must be always kept in the hands of Myanmars. This is called the fruits of independence, in other words, it is the fruits of democracy. With the aim of enjoying the fruits of independence and land and water resources that are in abundance in the country, Myanmars, at the risk of their life, fought against the colonialists to regain independence.

But, due to driving a wedge among national brethren by the colonialists and differences in imported ideology, there broke out multi-coloured insurgencies. Nowadays, national unity has been rebuilt in the Union of Myanmar. As 17 armed groups have returned to the legal fold, peace now prevailing across the country. It is only more than a dozen years that peace and security (internal peace as the politicians say) the people have desired for many years, has been restored. It can be said the reconciliation has been brought about between armed groups and national races and between the groups and the Government dispelling suspicions of the past.

People cannot bear losing the fruitful results of all-round development and peace in the country which they are now enjoying. The four-point People's Desire featured in the media reflects the wish of the people and their vow to crush all internal and external destructive elements as the common enemy. Massed rallies held in 1998 throughout the country passed resolutions to keep existing peace, prosperity and economic development intact. Therefore, every person residing in Myanmar has to pay attention to the four-point People's Desire and the six resolutions of Bagan Mass Meeting. It is sure that those who oppose the People's Desire will become the common enemy of the people. Everybody who has sympathy for the people who had to experience hardships for 123 years under the servitude of the colonialists and 40 years of multi-coloured insurgents should not commit destructive acts. They should not even think of committing such acts. Let alone committing destructive acts physically, by words and mentally, one should not think of doing so.

The voices that want to disturb peace and development of Myanmar can be heard from the western media. Recently, such voices can be heard from home and abroad. It was news about the confrontation between NLD members led by
Daw Suu Kyi and U Tin Oo and local people as they committed undesirable act during their tour. All may have read the news in the dailies published on 31 May and 1 June 2003.

The news was also broadcast on TV. I am not the kind of person to prevent others to do politics just because I keep away from politics. Everybody has the right to walk his or her own way. No objection. It is all right if they cannot take part in the endeavours for perpetuation of independence and the Union and nation-building tasks, but they should not disturb. I do not want to criticise the existing political parties. But I feel dissatisfied with the conflict that occurred near Dapayin on 30 May 2003 for it was harmful to the peaceful life of the people. As said in the news, NLD members led by Daw Suu Kyi and U Tin Oo made a tour of townships in some states and divisions to put up party signboards.

Starting from May 2002, the Government has allowed them to make tours enabling them to put up signboards and meet party members. They toured 95 townships-16 townships in Mon State (Thamanya) and Magway Division, 14 town- ships in Mon and Kayin States, 14 townships in Bago Division, 17 townships in Shan State, 15 townships in Rakhine State and Magway and Ayeyawady Divisions and 21 townships in Magway Division and Chin State. Starting from 6 May, they made a tour of Mandalay and Sagaing Divisions and Kachin and Shan States. The Government made arrangements to enable them to visit the State projects during their tour and they were treated as VIPs.

The tour that started from 6 May, included Mogok, Mandalay, Sagaing and Monywa. The trouble broke out at that time. Nowadays, there are altogether ten parties existing with the permission of Multi-Party Democracy Election Commission within the frame of law. We can see the other parties are conducting their work in accord with the rules and regulations and democratic practices. I feel sorry there broke out the conflicts although leaders of NLD were present.

To the best of my knowledge, appropriate measures had to be taken for security of Daw Suu Kyi, stability of the State, practising of democracy correctly, and carrying out of organizational work properly. If they went straight to party branch offices, met township party members at different levels and put up party sign-boards there would be no problem. If someone disturbed them although they conducted their work properly, action would be taken against the offender. In putting up the party signboards,

it is required to consult the Township Multi-Party Election Commission. The commission would make arrangements to ensure that the building at which the signboard would be put up was not a religious building nor a government-owned one nor the one under litigation.

The problem started on 8 May when they left Mandalay for Sagaing. On arriving at the Sagaing Bridge, the NLD members flanked their convoy with about 20 motor-cycles each flying NLD flags, switching on the headlights although it was day-time, and blowing horns all along the way. They violated traffic rules by wearing no helmets as they were riding motorcycles all along the way. The NLD started violating traffic rules during the journey although they reached the agreement-not to cause traffic congestion, not to disturb the people, not to take the course of confrontation and not to make scenes by making political speeches outside the NLD offices-with the government. But they violated all terms of the agreement.

When they left Momeik for Mogok, about 40 motorcyclists were riding in pairs in front of the convoy causing traffic jams all along the way. During the journey from Mogok to Mandalay, the NLDs also rode their motorcycles recklessly. Because of violating traffic rules, a motorcycle hit and ran over Ma Myat Thin Thu aged 21 of Patheinlay Village, Patheingyi Township, causing injuries to her. The VOA always made announcements on the trip of Daw Suu Kyi. The broadcasting station announced the number of supporters who were welcoming NLD with pleasure.

If the respective regional authorities warned the NLDs for ensuring systematic trip, the VOA accused the government of disturbing the trip of NLDs. Naturally, there were those who supported the NLDs and there were those who opposed them among the people.

If Daw Suu Kyi had gone to the township NLD's office directly, composedly, there would not have been any problem. Now the NLDs behaved like those who were enjoying Thingyan (Water Festival) and those who were at Taungpyon Festival.

The VOA, BBC and the spokemen of NLD Headquarters always accused those who opposed the NLDs of being the government supporters and members of the Union Solidarity and Development Association. Under the practice of
democracy, those who accept the NLDs have the right to do so and those who can't accept the NLD have the right not to do so. During the trip, the NLD youths hurled abusive words and threw stones at the local people who staged peaceful demonstration at the roadside. The demonstrators were injured.

The NLDs started the journey from Yangon with only three vehicles and 18 persons. When they arrived Monywa, their manpower had risen to over 300 riding 16 cars and 150 motorbikes. When they entered Monywa, peace and tranquillity in the town was destroyed, causing disorder and public apprehension. The NLD youths attacked Photographer Maung Myo Myint who was documenting the incident. He suffered head injuries and was admitted to the hospital. His video camera was also seized and destroyed.

At 7.30 pm on 30 May, the NLDs left Monywa for Budalin. A large group of people numbering about 5,000 were waiting for Daw Suu Kyi to stage a protest against her at a place two miles away from the entrance to Budalin. As the convoy of NLDs drove out of the mob, clashes broke out between the two opposing groups. Disorder and brawl occurred from about 8 pm to 11 pm. Four people died in the car crash and the clashes left 50 people wounded.

The injured were admitted to the hospitals. The security personnel and responsible officials of Sagaing Division rushed to the scene and tried to keep the situation under control. The situation was put under total control at about midnight.

A political party needs to understand those who opposed it according to the practice of democracy. It is a law of nature that there were those who opposed it. There were many events in the world that people dare to express their desires although there was the danger of the use of force. They need to review and amend their weak points that there were people who opposed them. If they did not do so, they will be very far away from the people. They need to review that they cannot control party members numbering only 300.

The place where the incident occurred was outside the town. The time was mid-night and there was no electricity. There were a number of people who opposed Daw Suu Kyi. In this situation, it was a great mistake to create the problem by driving the cars out of the mob. Thus, the security personnel had to give proper care and protection to Daw Suu Kyi and U Tin Oo and NLD members from Yangon.

I wrote an article titled "Democracy also has rules and regulations" the other day. There are rules, regulations, ethics, practices and laws in the community of different countries. A democratic country does not accept the lawless acts. As far as I know, the Western powers protect their own countries from disintegration with the use of nuclear weapons but they are eager to break up the other countries. They are sensitive to breaching their laws but they instigate law breakers to breach the laws of other countries.

I am not an adherent to a particular party and I have no dogmatism. I pay serious attention to development of my own nation and own races. I review the present conflict with this concept. Whether it is in the interest of the democracy or the independence, everybody who does an act that creates the ill effects on the State and the people practically will be the common enemy. I have read the news that some NLD members destroyed the signboards bearing People's Desire in Monywa. The People's Desire is something to do with peace and tranquillity that was a stranger to the people for over 160 years. It was about a dozen years that peace and development could be rebuilt in accord with the desire.

The destroying of the signboards in Monywa was a declaration of war on the mass of people. This is the breach of rules as well as ethics. Here, I would like to put a question "Is it right or wrong to have the desire to live in peace, and to enable the nation to possess land and water resources in abundance?. There's no need to think about it twice. They should realize that if they have pessimistic view on the people's desire, they will suffer the adverse effects.

I would like to reiterate that democracy also has discipline. There can be no democracy without discipline. There will be only anarchy. Democracy is not a licence for disturbances. Everyone who really loves democracy realizes that democracy is independence, peace and development. Therefore, I would like to urge the NLD not to destroy sprouts of democracy being nurtured in Myanmar.

LET THE PEOPLE OF BURMA DECIDE

Roland Watson,- DICTATOR WATCH - 5 June 2003

On 30 May, SPDC thugs ambushed Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and her entourage. Our thoughts are with the families of the individuals who were killed - murdered - on SPDC orders, and with Daw Suu Kyi and all the others who have been imprisoned.

The initial reaction to this and associated events, including the closure of NLD offices, is that it constitutes a major setback for the democracy movement. However, such a view is only partly true, or, more precisely, it is true only if we allow it. There is also a real opportunity now, which we must grasp. The SPDC acted out of fear. The generals saw that they had let the genie out of the bottle, and now they want to put it - Daw Suu Kyi and her popular support - back in. We must prevent this from happening.

To accomplish this it is essential to recognize that the SPDC never intended to have a viable dialogue to facilitate the transition to democracy. The generals' goal has been - and always will be - that there be no such transition, and that
they remain in power forever. Everything they have done has been designed to manipulate public opinion and avoid international diplomatic pressure. And all the while they have been working to increase their military capability so they
are strong enough to put down in perpetuity all internal dissent. The SPDC - SLORC - has no intentions, none whatsoever, to allow democracy in Burma.

Dictator Watch believes that there is a flaw in the democracy movement's strategy. This strategy has as its goal the successful conclusion of a sincere dialogue between the leaders of the NLD and the leaders of the SPDC. But while the NLD is sincere, the SPDC is not. We have based our strategy on an incorrect assumption.

Than Shwe, Maung Aye and Khin Nyunt are scared, but it is not of the NLD, not even of Daw Suu Kyi; instead, it is of popular revolt. The NLD is a means to such revolt, but it is not the only one. The generals are also afraid of outside intervention, hence the "dialogue" which has been designed and drawn out to forestall it.

In a functioning society differences can be resolved through negotiation. And the democracy movement could have no better negotiation leader than Daw Suu Kyi. But Burma is non-functioning. There is no civil order or rule of law.
Hence, negotiation alone will be insufficient to bring about democracy. The recent acts of the SPDC demand the strongest of responses- All of the regime's regional collaborators and co-conspirators must be protested and forced to change their policies. There must be no trade or constructive engagement, starting with arms transfers, from India, Thailand, Bangladesh, Singapore, Malaysia and China.

- The engagement from Russia must be stopped.

- The US must impose a ban on all imports from Burma and require an operational shutdown by Unocal.

- The EU must impose real sanctions, not only visa and banking restrictions, including an investment ban, an import ban, and the requirement that Total suspend its operations.

- Other interested national parties, including Australia and Japan, must halt their engagement with the SPDC.

- The representatives of the SPDC must be expelled from the United Nations.

Still, even this may not be enough. Outside military intervention may be called for.

Some people have argued that there should be no military intervention in Burma, and such commentators base their judgment on a variety of reasons, including that unwanted cultural influences will soon follow. But, while this may be legitimate concern, this is not a decision - to put limits on the types of external assistance that are acceptable - that can be imposed. Only the people of Burma have the right to decide their fate.

Dictator Watch believes that the people of Burma should be asked what assistance they require from the international community, up to and including military intervention. This question should be posed through the broadcast services into the country from Radio Free Asia, the Democratic Voice of Burma, the BBC and the Voice of America, and through the free print media, including the New Era Journal and many others. There is a significant underground communications network in the country, and the question will be disseminated.

Of course, the issue remains: how will the response be heard? It is not as if pollsters can go door to door and compile the results. The people of Burma have already made their voices heard though their coming out in massive groups to hear Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. They can continue to make their desires known, by protesting the SPDC's new repression. They have many means available at their disposal.

Dictator Watch has no right to ask anyone to put his or her life at risk. When people choose to be active, to fight against their suffering, or the suffering of others, they must make this decision solely on their own. We feel compelled to comment, though, that for the change to democracy to be accomplished, sacrifices will have to be made. The people of Burma have already made many, many sacrifices. Countless individuals have been murdered, imprisoned, tortured and raped. Unfortunately, it seems that this has not been enough.

The generals are playing a game of high stakes poker, and they can lose. The People of Burma are acting courageously and they refuse to be silenced. The reason the great number of sacrifices that have already been made has not been enough is that the world refuses to act. The governments of the world must now respond and come to Burma's aid. Otherwise they too are responsible for the crimes of the SPDC.

Contact: Roland Watson, roland@dictatorwatch.org

Scores Killed in Junta Attack on NLD Motorcade
NCGUB Information Unit June 1 2003

NewsDesk has been informed by its sources from Burma that up to 70 people may have been killed in the attack by junta Army and supporters on Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and members of the National League for Democracy (NLD) in Upper Burma.

On Friday, 30 May, after leaving Monywa, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and on arrival at Zidawgon village just passed the Northwest Military Command headquarters, a convoy of military trucks suddenly appeared and tried to block the road. About 20 cars including the one which Daw Aung San Suu Kyi was riding in together with about 25 motorcycles succeeded in avoiding the blockade and continued the journey.

About midnight, after the motorcade had passed through Tabayin, it came to a halt at Kyi Ywa or Phaya Htwet Gon village just before it entered Ye-u because the road was blocked by huge logs. The NLD members decided to use an alternate route and drove through the forested area just beside the road.

As the motorcade of about 250 people drove through, about 500 armed soldiers, members of the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Association, and unknown number of convicts recruited from Mandalay Prison with a promise of reward and freedom, rushed and attacked it. In the ensuing melee which lasted for about an hour, the attackers beat up NLD members, shot them with catapults, and soldiers also opened fire killing and wounding a large number of NLD members.

NLD Vice Chairman U Tin U who also came under fire fell into a ditch but he did not suffer any serious injury. But Daw Aung San Suu Kyi was hit on the head and suffered a serious head injury. The number of NLD members killed cannot yet be confirmed but more than 200 of them were arrested and taken to the Monywa-based Northwest Military Command headquarters.

Hearing the news, people of Monywa marched on the USDA Office the following day (31 May) where they were brutally beaten by the Army, USDA, police, and members of other services. Gunfire was also reported during the attack.

Reverend U Pañña Thiri, abbot of Okkan Tawya Monastery, who was trying to mediate the two sides to stop the violence, and a student were killed on the spot. Another student was who was seriously injured later succumbed to his injuries. The residents of Monywa who had gotten hold of the reverend's corpse are now planning to hold a grand funeral. The bodies of the students, however, were taken away by the SPDC (ruling State Peace and Development Council) and USDA officials.

There were three deaths in Monywa alone. In addition, sources in the Northwest Military Command said more than 65 bodies were secretly cremated inside compound on 31 May. The over 200 NLD members are also still being detained in that compound. Up to the time of this NewsDesk release, all telephone lines to Monywa have been cut.

Maj Gen Soe Win, SPDC Secretary-2, is reported to have been commanding the whole operation against the NLD. He was using the Northwest Military Command as his command center.

The closure of NLD offices and the arrest of NLD senior executives and township level officials by the SPDC are all aimed at covering up the massacre and brutal crackdown which got out of hand.

Time for Action on Burma after 13 years
EDITORIAL - The Washington Post - May 27, 2003

ON THIS DAY 13 years ago, the people of Burma voted in a landslide to replace their military rulers with a pro-democracy party headed by Aung San Suu Kyi, the indomitable daughter of the hero of the nation's independence movement. The generals refused to cede power, and the struggle to implement the election results continues to this day. Just recently, as Aung San Suu Kyi tried to bring her message of nonviolence and self-determination to a Burmese province, thugs from the ruling party attacked her motorcade and menaced her with machetes. The message in those machetes to the United States and other friends of democracy should be clear: It's time for stronger measures of support for Burma's beleaguered citizens

Those 50 million or so people and their plight don't generally draw much attention from world power brokers. Burma, also known as Myanmar, is strategically tucked at the crossroads of India, China and Southeast Asia, and it's rich in natural resources. But its regime has no weapons of mass destruction (at least thus far), and its population is mostly Buddhist, not Muslim; in the war on terrorism, it's peripheral. But for the Bush administration's efforts to promote democracy, Burma offers a unique opportunity. Most dictators claim to represent the will of their people, and most claim that no alternative to their rule exists; both claims usually are lies, but not easy to disprove. In Burma the truth is provable: The National League for Democracy won 392 seats out of 485; in the 13 years since the party should have taken over, the nation has grown steadily poorer; and both the party and its leader remain popular and ready to lead.

That enduring popularity comes in the face of grinding repression. Some 1,400 political prisoners are subject to torture and appalling conditions. Burma leads the world in slave labor, forced child conscription into the military, rape as an instrument of terror. Aung San Suu Kyi spent the better part of the past 13 years under house arrest, routinely vilified in the official (and only) press, in part for marrying a British man and producing "mongrel" children. Now widowed, Aung San Suu Kyi was freed from house arrest one year ago when international pressure forced the regime to promise a political dialogue. But no dialogue has ensued; a United Nations-brokered process has gone nowhere.

The U.N. facilitator is scheduled to return to Burma next month, and reports indicate the regime will once again promise dialogue. Some observers, particularly Japanese officials eager to ramp up investment in Burma, will pretend this is progress. But this time around no one should be satisfied with anything but deeds: true freedom for the National League for Democracy to operate, including to publish a newspaper; and true dialogue leading to power-sharing and transition. Short of such progress, the U.S. government should conclude that its current investment ban is insufficient.

"There are moments in history when great people emerge to shine a bright light on a dark path. Aung San Suu Kyi is such a person," President Bush said last month. Also last month, the American Apparel & Footwear Association called for an immediate ban on textile, clothing and footwear imports from Burma, citing the government's continued "abuse of its citizens through force and intimidation." Stiffer sanctions might harm some ordinary Burmese, but far less than almost all Burmese are being harmed by military rule.

Burma must stop its human rights violations immediately
Mr Michael E. Capuano - Congress of the United States House of Representatives - May 21 2003

Mr. Speaker,
I rise today to inform my colleagues of the despicable attack on a key democratic figure in Burma, Aung San Su Kyi, by Than Shwe and his brutal military regime.

A few days ago, the political arm of Than Shwe’s regime, the Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA), launched an attack against Aung San Suu Kyi’s motorcade as she was traveling to give a speech about freedom in Burma. After stopping the motorcade and wielding machetes and sticks, USDA members beat on the doors of the motorcade and attempted to steal cameras and other items.

This is only one of the many recent occasions in which the USDA has harassed and intimidated Aung San Suu Kyi, her political opposition group called the National League for Democracy (NLD) and their supporters. In order to interfere with her efforts to speak about democratization in Burma, the regime has threatened her supporters with water hoses on fire trucks and blared loud music so that others cannot hear her speeches. Authorities have repeatedly deterred and prevented her supporters from attending her speeches by threatening them with arrest, and have turned back several busloads full of people.

I find it appalling that Than Shwe’s soldier would threaten one of the world’s great freedom fighters with blunt weapons. Aung San Suu Kyi and the NLD are the legitimately elected leaders of their country—they won 82% of the seats in parliament in an internationally recognized election, even though the regime refuses to recognize the results. As an elected Representative of the citizens of Massachusetts, I simply cannot stand by while men like Than Shwe so grossly violate the very principles upon which this House was built.

Than Shwe continues to terrorize the population of Burma. He and his regime have forced much of the population into modern-day slave labor, locked up about 1,400 political prisoners including students, monks, nuns, and 18 members of parliament, and recruited an astounding 70,000 child soldiers—far more than any other country in the world. Perhaps the most disturbing, our own State Department’s Bureau of Democracy, Rights, and Labor conducted an impressive investigation into rapes in Burma that confirmed the regime is using rape as a weapon of war. As we learned from Bosnia, using rape as a weapon is a war crime, and Than Shwe and his cronies should be brought to justice.

Most importantly, Burma’s regime has proven that its words cannot be taken seriously. It has denied the use of rape as a weapon, stated that it has no child soldiers, and refuses to acknowledge the detention and torture of political prisoners. For this reason, it should not be surprising that Than Shwe has ignored the promise he made over a year ago to enter
into a dialogue with Aung San Suu Kyi, facilitated by the United Nations, aimed at a transition to freedom and democracy. Instead, he has [flouted] the good-faith efforts of the United Nations’ Special Envoy to Burma, Razali Ismail, and by extension, the entire United Nations General Assembly.

I urge my colleagues to join me in condemning these recent attacks and urge the State Department’s Bureau of Democracy, Rights, and Labor to register our condemnation of the regime at the highest levels.

Thank you,
Mr. Speaker.

United Nations envoy, Sri Tun Razali Ismail, has made known that he wanted to return to Burma for another try at brokering talks between the military government and the legally elected NLD leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. Frustrated with the lack of progress on dialogue on political reform, he was on the point of considering of giving up his post, when the Junta seeing the fate of Saddam Hussein began to tone down and give the impetus to Razali Ismail.

But looking back at the long history of the UN, we feel that it will not help at all. What more proof is wanted at the treatment of Paulo Sergio Pinherio and the number of trips that Razali Ismail had gone to Burma. The Burmese Generals now clearly see the impotency of the UN and that it can hoodwink the world body in playing the delaying tactics with the UN.

However, it is a fact that whenever the UN goes, it tends to stay forever and often to perpetuate problems. It's been in Bosnia for eight years now, in Kosovo and East Timor four. In the Palestinian territories since 1948 while no solution for Cyprus after almost 30 years. Nevertheless the UN has become a magic phrase, the last redoubt for pacifist. We could not see any reason of why the poor Burmese people should be brokered and possibly governed by these lazy and incompetent bureaucrats. It is no secret that the UN is more tolerant and often than not have a soft sport for the dictators. What a joke when Gadaffi's Libya holds the presidency of the UN Human Rights Commission. Even though we dared not label the UN as a Gogolian monster with 65,000 employers and a budget of $2.6 billion dollars annually, we like to witness more of their achievements.

The UNODOC (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, the longer the name the more wasteful the body) is discussing of how the war against drugs is going on should have easily smash the greatest heroin producing country, Burma. Under the supervision of the Junta, this year it has expected a bumper crop and the production of opium to be boost up. How can the UN work can be compared to what Prime Minister Taksin Shinawatra has done in three months, when it not only knock out the petty drug traffickers but forced the Burmese Generals to concede that they would not encourage the trafficking. Being dependent on narcotic trade and production the Junta's Burma is now on the verge of financial collapse. Yet the UN wants to get involved in Burma for what? Is it for prolonging the life of the Junta?

We will not accuse that the world body to be corrupt but has the UN ever took pity on the Burmese people and let the UNHCR forced its way to the peripherals of Burma where there are millions of refugees and displaced persons? UNHCR which has an annual budget of $740 millions has even closed its good offices for the Burmese refugees and is now grudgingly reopening it again under intense pressure. Paris based UNESCO an expert on job creation uses more than 80 percent of the budget for overhead costs, while the officials of the UN Human Rights Commission in Bosnia were involved in trafficking women and has to be sent home. So it is no wonder when sympathetic and compassionate persons who want to donate to alleviate the suffering of the people of Burma gives directly to the NGOs and not to the grandiose UN agencies. Has the UN done anything for Burma when the UN officers were well paid six digits, tax free salaries in dollars plus innumerable allowance. Perhaps the only thing they can do is stay in the luxurious hotels of Rangoon that belong to the cronies if not owned by the Generals. The last thing the Burmese need is the UN. What Burma need is the US.

The United States has a long history of freedom since the landing of the Mayflower and is being doing the dirty job of cleansing the dictators of the world. It is a fact that the whole of Europe and the world had been saved by the USA three times in the past, from German militarism in 1917, from Nazi occupation in 1944, and Soviet Communism in the Cold War. American led Allied Forces not only freed Germany from Hitler but also saved Japan and the rest of Asia including Burma from fascism in 1945. Our perspective should rather be in the long term of the policy of the country for Presidents may come and President may go but America will go on forever on the side of democracy and human rights. Being the self imposed policeman of the world or just by looking at its president one's perspective should not be blurred.

It is worth remembering that the American policy of toppling the Saddam regime had begun as a strictly ideological project, only very lately in post–September 11 pragmatism. The US fought its first ideological pre-emptive war and overwhelmingly won it. The Burmese Junta's weapon of mass destruction is narcotics. In other words, Saddam and the Burmese military regimes are in the same boat. The softly spoken promoter of the US foreign policy Paul Wolfowitz, the Deputy Defence Secretary, recently said that as the cradle of modern liberty, the US should be unashamed about exploiting its military superiority to protect its interest and exports its values. Corporal Edward Chin, a Burma born Chinese American, who unfolded the Stars and Stripes over Saddam's statue in Baghdad, became its most vivid proponent. If so why the Burmese nationals in Diaspora cannot unfold our beloved old national flag of the genuine Pyidaungsu of five stars over Rangoon?

There are no security threats in the advanced and developed world. Threats to international stability and peace could only come from the under-developed world. So in dealing with these two worlds the US would abide by the rules in dealing with advanced civilized society while simultaneously employing military force against those who refuse to abide by such rules. The US is already operating according to this double standard. (Paradise and Power, by Robert Kegan, 2003, p.74) Henry Kissinger once asked the ageing Harry Truman what he wanted to be remembered for. Truman answered: "We completely defeated our enemies and made them surrender. And then we helped them to recover, to become democratic, and to rejoin the community of nations. Only America could have done that". ( Kissinger's Diplomacy, p.427.) This rule can also be certainly applied to Burma.

Very lately US Secretary of State Colin Powell admitted that the Burmese regime is "despotic" Powell told a Senate committee he would work with US allies in ASEAN counterparts at regional security meetings in the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh Cambodia in June. While Philippines' foreign Affairs Secretary Blas F. Ople, says that the "US remains the most important market for Southeast Asia and is one of the biggest investors and a provider of key technology. Without them, there would be no stability in Asia." (Time, 24 March 2003)

The anti–war and anti–American people of the world realized the true American policy when the entire people of Iraq unanimously proclaimed that they have been liberated and it was this kind of thing that the entire Burmese people need. The people of Europe including the French are not ashamed when they were liberated by the Americans. So also the Cambodians are happy when they were liberated by the Vietnamese and now the Iraqis has proved it to the Americans. So, why on earth should be the Burmese people be ashamed of being liberated from these cruel tyrants? In terms of military force the Burmese opposition both inside and outside the country are too weak. The Burmese people need a liberator to deal force with force and to speak in the language which the Burmese Junta understands.

The people of Burma had put up their patience with the "Mudane Tatmadaw" (rapist Burmese army) since 1962 and their patience has run thin. Now they are making a clarion call on the Americans, knowing full well that it takes a long time for the American wheel of justice to grind but once it starting grinding there is not stopping. Once the Burmese dictators are disposed by the American might, it will once and for all stop the wild accusations that it had fought two Iraqis was for the sake of oil. The war of liberation for the Burmese people in their impoverish county will prove beyond doubt that America stands on the right and justice and have make this world a far better place to live in. It will still prove that it is still the arsenal of democracy.