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Envoy's visit to Myanmar stirs hope,
distrust
By Marwaan Macan-Markar
BANGKOK - Although a United Nations special
envoy ended his visit to Myanmar this week optimistic
that its military rulers are keen to resume talks on
democratic change, Myanmar watchers and exiles are more
circumspect, saying the government cannot be trusted.
To be convinced that the junta is serious about
discussing the country's political future, they will be
looking for signs that suggest a genuine shift away from
Yangon's oppressive policies. Among these signs are
Yangon's permitting the ethnic political parties in the
Southeast Asian country to open offices and function
freely, says Teddy Buri, president of a group
representing Myanmar's parliamentarians in exile.
"If the junta wants to be believed about its
commitment for change, it has to let the ethnic parties
pursue their political activity," he said on Wednesday,
a day after UN envoy Razali Ismail left Yangon after a
four-day visit.
There are more than 20 ethnic
political parties in Myanmar, all of which have been
suppressed by the State Peace and Development Council
(SPDC), as the military government is known. The only
opposition political party that, of late, has been given
space to function is the Burman-dominated National
League for Democracy (NLD), led by Nobel laureate Aung
San Suu Kyi. But critics find little comfort in the
little space the NLD has.
It is important that
the SPDC permit Myanmar's heavily censored media to
report that national reconciliation talks between Suu
Kyi and the SPDC have begun, asserts Debbie Stothard of
the Alternative ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian
Nations) Network on Myanmar (ALTSEAN), a Bangkok-based
human-rights lobby.
"This will bring the issues
into the open," she said. "It will mean the SPDC wants
to keep the public informed about its political shift -
talking to the NLD on reconciliation."
Equally
significant is for the SPDC to release all political
prisoners, says an exile from Myanmar's Chinese
minority, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "The only
prisoners the military is releasing belong to the NLD.
It is not so for students, monks, members of ethnic
communities and other political groups," he said.
Since December 2000, more than 300 political
prisoners have been released from Myanmar's jails, but
"an estimated 1,400 remain behind bars" notes
London-based Amnesty International in a report released
last month.
Among the hundreds still languishing
in jail are two leaders of the Democracy Party, U Thu
Wai and U Twe Myint, states the Network for Democracy
and Development, a Thailand-based group representing
Myanmese exiles.
Suu Kyi herself also drew
attention to this injustice in a video statement
released on Wednesday. "The release of political
prisoners is important because it means a return to
political normalcy," she said in the video footage that
is part of the Free Political Prisoners in Burma
Campaign.
"Unless political organizations are
free to go about their work unhindered and unintimidated
by the authorities, we can never say that we have
started the process towards changed democracy," she
explained, adding that "discussions" thus far with junta
leaders do not constitute a "dialogue".
On
Tuesday, Razali did not provide any clues as to when
prisoners of conscience would be released, but said the
concerns of Myanmar watchers and exiles will be part of
the substantive political discussions due to take place.
Former Malaysian diplomat Razali, who was on his eighth
visit to Myanmar, spoke in generalities, telling
reporters at the end of his stay that reconciliation
talks between the SPDC and the NLD should begin "very
soon".
"Mr Razali believes that the national
reconciliation process will continue to evolve
positively along a number of fronts, and in a way that
corresponds with the 'spirit' of the home-grown process
that has developed thus far," Fred Eckhard, a UN
spokesman, said on Tuesday.
Razali has been
visiting Myanmar since October 2000 in a bid to guide
the UN-brokered talks between the SPDC and Suu Kyi's
NLD. Many credit Razali's quiet and non-confrontational
approach with the junta as being a key factor in
securing freedom for Suu Kyi in May after 19 months
under house arrest. But since her release, the SPDC has
been far from keen to talk to her, feeding the belief
that it is not serious about political change.
Myanmar has been under military rule for 40
years, a period during which its rulers have acquired
notoriety for human-rights violations - killing hundreds
of pro-democracy activists, imprisoning political
opponents, forcing members of ethnic communities into
slave labor and suppressing free expression.
However, as the diplomatic events in Yangon this
week revealed, the junta is coming under pressure to
demonstrate a willingness to enter into real political
dialogue.
Significant in this regard was
Monday's meeting between Suu Kyi and Japanese Foreign
Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi, during which the
pro-democracy leader also revealed her willingness to
compromise. Suu Kyi told Japan's top diplomat that she
will not oppose economic aid to Myanmar, a clear shift
from her previous objections to all foreign assistance
to the country.
This move paints the junta in
poor light, says ALTSEAN's Stothard, because Suu Kyi's
"willingness to make compromises in the interest of
reconciliation" would put the ball in Yangon's court.
Suu Kyi's stance is expected to see the
resumption of Japanese aid to Myanmar. Japan was
Myanmar's biggest aid giver until the junta cracked down
on student protests in 1988. Kawaguchi also called on
Yangon to come clean on the political talks for
democracy and reconciliation efforts between Myanmar's
ethnic communities.
"Japan has no alternative
but to put pressure on the SPDC to demonstrate serious
signs of progress," said Buri. "The foreign minister's
meeting was also important, for it raised the profile of
Suu Kyi as a leader the junta cannot ignore."
Suu Kyi has also asked for a meeting with
Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad when he visits
Myanmar in mid-August.
While Myanmar watchers
welcome growing diplomatic and economic pressure, they
say there is a long way to go before the junta can be
adjudged to be sincere about political change. Stothard
says that the regime is "always reactive".
"The
positive developments in Burma have been due to
international pressure and sanctions," she said. "The
junta has not offered anything genuine to the
reconciliation process, not shown a willingness to be
flexible, or compromise."
The military rulers,
she added, "can only be trusted to behave consistently
in one way - finding excuses to slow down talks and
delay efforts towards democracy".
(Inter Press
Service)
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