UN and international community need to prioritize issues in Burma

May 29, 2008

Lawi Weng, HURFOM:

The extension of the detention period for pro-democracy leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi for a further 12 months marks yet another sad day for the people of Burma.

The junta’s aspirations are clear. Releasing Suu Kyi may help promote democracy in Burma, and they don’t want that. They cannot allow her or her prominent followers, some of whom they continue to pursue and arrest, to re-enter the political arena.

Extending her detention also signals the junta’s singular lack of respect for the international community, as pleas for ushering in democracy and release of political prisoners are repeatedly ignored.

Many people inside Burma had hoped that pressure from the international community would see to Suu Kyi’s release this year, 18 years after her National League for Democracy won the general elections.

With the United Nations (UN) secretary general’s visit, many hoped the democracy icon’s release would be discussed, but the focus remained firmly off politics and steadfastly on the emergency response to Cyclone Nargis. Although understandable, it was nonetheless disappointing to see the future of Burma’s political prisoners off the UN General Secretary’s agenda.

At times it seems as though these groups holds the junta’s hands, ignoring the people’s thirst for democracy and thus perpetuating the junta’s stranglehold on power.

Recently, the problems with Mr. Ban ki-moon’s approach have become clear to the people of Burma. His one-sided approach was designed to break down the barriers between the UN and Burma, in an effort to reach the cyclone-affected areas. However, he was speaking with a dictator desperate to accept aid only if able to retain absolute power.

Although the approach of prioritizing cyclone aid over political prisoners is fair, this is an all-too familiar pattern when UN-Junta discussions take place. There is always something more pressing than Aung San Suu Kyi.

The special envoy’s trip headed by Mr. Ibrahim Gambari focused on economic reforms rather than policy and democracy. Although still valuable, it fails to address the full scope of the problem inside Burma. This is very similar to the policy of feeding the junta first and beating them later.

The UN and ASEAN need to analyse the junta’s psychology. Every time these international organizations hold discussions with the military government it allows it to feel like a legitimate, legal government. They become increasingly proud of themselves ‘working for the people’, while they continue to arrest opposition members.

The international community should be aware of the country’s overall crisis and not only Cyclone Nargis. Aung San Suu Kyi’s detention and all that it signifies has been a crisis for many years.

The junta may try to use the constitutional referendum to fend off criticism about its undemocratic governance. They may continue detaining Daw Aung San Suu Kyi for the rest of her life.

The international community at this time has a duty to the people of Burma. Their eyes are focused on the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis – now they must look further and see that the destruction and devastation of Nargis was nothing compared with what the people of Burma live with every day under a military dictatorship.

The time for the UN and ASEAN to act on these everyday atrocities is now. There is an emergency situation in Burma that has been going on for many decades, that begins with the detention of innocent people like Aung San Suu Kyi, and continues with widespread oppression and violence towards everyone. This situation needs an emergency response now.

Written by HURFOM · Filed Under Commentary