Myanmar: Time to expel the generals

On 18 May 2004, Prime Minister General Khin Nyunt briefed the military junta’s delegation which will attend the session on consideration of the 2^nd periodic report of Myanmar by the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child on 26 May 2004. The requirement of a briefing from the military’s top honcho indicates obsession with power, authority and control – the root cause of the political impasse in Myanmar.

The fear of losing power even at the junta's own choreographed pace of national reconciliation is all pervading and therefore, the exclusion of National League for Democracy and many ethnic nationality groups in the ongoing national constitutional convention, the first step of the seven points roadmap declared by General Khin Nyunt, which started on 17 May 2004. The NLD was forced to opt out of the talks as its leaders, Aung San Suu Kyi and Vice Chairman Tin Oo, both of whom have been detained since May 2003 are still under house arrest. The military also turned down the NLD’s key demand to reopen all of its offices before the convention. Currently, only the party's headquarter in Rangoon is open.

Is the Burmese military junta serious about its seven point road map announced by Prime Minister General Khin Nyunt on 30 August 2003? The seven point roadmap was basically an attempt to scuttle the roadmap proposed by Thailand Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra in July 2003 rather than commitment for national reconciliation.

Nonetheless, the military junta rechristened as the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) has so far managed to take the members of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) for a ride through its “one step forward and two step backward policy” towards national reconciliation. In a significant departure from its policy of non-interference in the internal affairs of member-states, ASEAN Foreign Ministers demanded the release of Aung San Suu Kyi at the June 2003 summit at Phnom Penh. They later on tamely accepted Myanmar's claim that it is committed to democracy at the Bali summit in October 2003. In addition to "seven-point road map" to democracy, the ASEAN leaders also accepted the junta's explanation that by moving Suu Kyi from a secret prison to imprisonment in her home, it has made a major political concession to the jailed leader. Consequently, additional sanctions by the United States under the Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act and the European Union after the arrest of Aung San Suu Kyi proved inadequate to flinch the military generals.

A year has passed, yet Suu Kyi remains under house arrest. The UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, Sergio Phinhero visited the country in November 2003 followed by Amnesty International in December 2003. The Secretary General’s Special Envoy, Ismail Rizali visited in March 2004. The generals always gave the vague indication that Suu Kyi would be released before the start of national convention. It is clear that international community has been taken for a ride.

Human rights situation in Myanmar remains deplorable. The report of the Special Rapporteur (E/CN.4/2004/33) is a clear testimony. In addition to the events of 30 May 2003, the corresponding, subsequent and continuing violations of human rights, the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in its resolution on the situtaion of human rights in Myanmar of 21 April 2004 expressed concerns about extrajudicial killings, rape and other forms of sexual violence persistently carried out by members of the armed forces, continuing use of torture, renewed instances of political arrests and continuing detentions, including of prisoners whose sentences have expired, prisoners held incommunicado while awaiting trial, forced relocation, destruction of livelihoods and confiscations of land by the armed forces, forced labour, including child labour, trafficking in persons, denial of freedom of assembly, association, expression and movement, discrimination and persecution on the basis of religious or ethnic background, wide disrespect for the rule of law and lack of independence of the judiciary, unsatisfactory conditions of detention, systematic use of child soldiers and violations of the rights to an adequate standard of living, such as the rights to food, medical care and education. The majority of the victims belong to ethnic minorities, women and children, especially in non-ceasefire areas. Gross and widespread human rights violations have also caused large scale internal displacement and exodus of refugees in neighbouring countries.

The exclusion of the NLD and the ethnic nationality groups clearly indicates unwillingness of the military junta to engage in any substantive reconciliation process which may diminish its absolute power. Therefore, the conclusion of the Secretary General (E/CN.4/2004/30) that “It is high time for the Government, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, and ethnic nationality representatives to set aside their differences, unite for the larger cause of national reconciliation and commence substantive dialogue on ways to achieve democratic transition in Myanmar” – was unfortunate. It is not Daw Aung San Suu Kyi but the military generals who are opposed to national reconciliation. In this context, the latest statement of the Secretary General Kofi Annan of 17 May 2004 that “the release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, who has clearly indicated her willingness to work with the Government, and U Tin Oo, Deputy Chairman of the NLD, as well as the lifting of the remaining restrictions on the NLD, are essential if the international community is to recognize the national convention as a legitimate forum for democratization and national reconciliation in Myanmar” – is welcome.

As the SPDC initiated roadmap has failed at the outset, ASEAN members, China and India, which engage in constructive engagement with the military junta, need to change their policy. Burma’s Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Dr Kyaw Win, dismissing the sanctions on Burma stated in an interview to the BBC, "We (military junta) are not worried about US and European sanctions, as trade with India, China and Thailand is already good." Because of the economic and political patronage of the Burmese dictatorship by the neighbouring countries, the sanctions of the European Union and United States have so far proved ineffective.

Burmese Prime Minister Khin Nyunt is scheduled to start de-tour of ASEAN countries to garner support for its national convention which has been universally condemned; and is scheduled to meet Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra on 4 June 2004. Prime Minister Shinawatra must unequivocally convey the disapproval of international community and absolute lack of credibility for any national convention which fails to include NLD, Aung San Suu Kyi and the ethnic nationality groups.

At the same time, Prime Minister Shinawatra must also impress upon the General Khin Nyunt that as the seven point road map has failed at the outset, the process initiated under the “Forum on International Support for National Reconciliation in Myanmar” will have to move forward with inclusion of NLD and ethnic nationality groups. For any significant national reconciliation, the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and other political leaders and participation of the NLD and the ethnic nationality groups are fundamental. If the military generals refuse to engage in national reconciliation processes facilitated by the United Nations and the Forum on International Support for National Reconciliation in Myanmar, time is also ripe for considering expulsion of Burma from the ASEAN.