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NYT: Burmese Junta Says Democracy L
- Subject: NYT: Burmese Junta Says Democracy L
- From: Winston_Lee@xxxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 03 Sep 1996 08:52:00
Subject: NYT: Burmese Junta Says Democracy Leader Aids Subversion
By: Seth Mydans
Yangon, Myanmar, Sept. 2 -- The military Government today accused the leader
of the democratic opposition, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi of collaborating with
subversive, including American citizens. Steps will be taken against her "if
and when required," officials of the junta said.
Addressing foreign reporters for the first time since they released Mrs. Aung
San Suu Kyi from house arrest 13 months ago, a panel of high-ranking officials
accused her of having secret contacts with illegal groups abroad that were
trying to overthrow the Government, coordinating activities with them and
accepting subversive materials from them.
The officials dismissed as unimportant a threat by the United States to impose
economic sanctions against Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, if strong measures
were taken against Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi or her followers.
"That's not the concern of our country, but of the United States citizens,"
said the Foreign Minister, U Ohn Gyaw.
Today's news conference was a departure for the secretive military leadership,
which has until now let the public relations field open to the articulate and
charismatic opposition leader, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in the 1991 for
her defiance of them.
A newly formed five-member information committee of military officers and
ministers gave little ground as they faced sometimes harsh questions about
their Government's record on human rights and the limitations it places on
personal freedoms.
Col. Kyaw Thein, a high-ranking military intelligence official, identified
three Americans who he said had conducted workshops in "political defiance" for
insurgents and expatriate groups in Thailand and India.
He said they had been teaching "techniques of civil disobedience, civil unrest
and political education and sedition." He said he did not know whether these
involved violent or nonviolent activities, but he said underground Burmese
groups were actively working to topple the Government.
"Suu Kyi and her party, knowing full well that what these people are doing is
unlawful, have held negotiations, discussions and consultations and have
cooperated with them in their activities," the colonel said, "sometimes openly
and sometimes through secret contacts, and have been a party to the
transgressions of these people."
Asked if the Government was planning to take action against Mrs. Aung San Suu
Kyi, he said, "Necessary or appropriate measures will be taken if and when
required."
Colonel Kyaw Thein said the subversive materials she had received included an
outline for creating a parallel government as well as a videotape of the movie
"Beyond Rangoon," which depicts the terror and bloodshed of the military
crackdown in 1988 against a widespread pro-democracy uprising.
He asserted that continuing arrests of her supporters - which Mrs. Aung San Suu
Kyi described at her own news conference on Saturday - were connected to these
foreign-based subversive activities. He said 20 to 30 people were still being
held from a roundup of more than 250 of her supporters in May; Mrs. Aung San
Suu Kyi said 61 more people had been arrested since that time.
Democratic freedoms including political opposition can cause instability,
Colonel Kyaw Thein said, and must be put on hold while Myanmar focuses on
economic progress.
"What happened in 1988 started with just a simple demonstration and reached to
nearly utter devastation of our country," he said. "We have learned that
lesson, and we don't want these things to come up again. Sometimes, with the
pretense of human rights and democracy, things can go bad for our country. We
cannot allow this happen."
Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi's political party, the National League for Democracy, won
85 percent of the seats in Parliament in a free election in 1990. Caught off
guard by the results, the military leadership refused to convene the newly
elected Parliament and instead created a convention to draw up a new
constitution. The convention has been in an expended recess since April.
Colonel Kyaw Thein said the convention had completed the bulk of its work, but
he would not say when it might reconvene and said no date had been set for the
completion of the constitution or for the new elections that the junta has
promised.
Last November, Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi's party withdrew from the constitution
convention, saying it was clear that the document would not represent the
interests of the people. In May she announced that her party would draw up its
own draft constitution, an act the Government declared would be illegal.
Reports about the work of the constitutional convention suggest that it will
enshrine a continued dominant role for the military and may ban people who are
married to foreigners from holding Government office. Mrs. Aung Sun Suu Kyi is
married to a British professor, Michael Aris.
Colonel Kyaw Thein said the "subversive activities" of the Americans -
including one former member of the unites States Embassy here - constituted "an
outright infringement of our sovereignty." But Mr. Ohn Gyaw said no protest
had been lodged with the American Government because no Burmese citizen had
made a formal complaint with the police.
Colonel Kyaw Thein said, "These aliens and mercenaries are trying to create
chaos and confusion in Myanmar in order to destabilize the situation in the
country on the one hand, while lining their pockets and getting rich from
donations they obtain on the pretext of working for a good cause."
Coffee and cake were served after the new conference, which was billed as a
monthly briefing, and the atmosphere was cordial despite the Government's
frequent attacks on the Western press in the past and the sometimes sharp
questioning today.
At one point, a reporter asked whether the military leaders were prepared to
face trial under a future democratic government, recalling the recent death
sentence handed down in South Korea to former President Chun Doo Whan for his
role in a massacre of demonstrators in Kwangju.
"I think your question is not relevant either at this grouping or as a matter
of your personal speculation, " Mr. Ohn Gyaw said. "I don't need to answer it."