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FROM BANGKOK:8/8/88 ANNIVERSARY
- Subject: FROM BANGKOK:8/8/88 ANNIVERSARY
- From: moe@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Fri, 08 Aug 1997 23:33:00
Burmese dissidents remember bloody 1988 protest
05:19 a.m. Aug 08, 1997 Eastern
By Deborah Charles
BANGKOK, Aug 8 (Reuter) - Dozens of exiled Burmese chanted
and hung posters outside the Burmese embassy on Friday to mark
the ninth anniversary of one of the bloodiest days in pro-democracy
uprisings in the country's history.
A group of Burmese dissidents wearing red headbands carried a
funeral wreath as they chanted and waved the fighting peacock flag
of the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) in their
protest outside the embassy in downtown Bangkok.
Groups of foreigners and Thai students also arrived at the embassy
separately and presented letters of protest to embassy officials who
snuck peeks at the demonstration through the mail slot of the
embassy gate.
Zaw Wint, spokesman for the Burmese Students in Exile, said
people who participated in the struggle for democracy in Burma
were forced to flee to Thailand due to adverse conditions imposed
by the country's military rulers.
``With high aspiration to accomplish the Burmese people's yearning
for democracy and human rights, we as anti tyrant-spirited students
took stand against the government,'' he said in remembering the
August 8, 1988 protest.
Hundreds of people were killed by government troops in Rangoon as
they demonstrated for democracy on that day when troops opened
fire in part of the military crackdown on the pro-democracy
demonstrations.
The events nine years ago were considered the beginning of a
nationwide pro-democracy uprising that was eventually quashed by
the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC). The
SLORC seized power in September 1988 after quelling the protests.
Dissidents in Japan marked the day by staging hunger strikes and
calling for an end to the rule of the SLORC.
The SLORC regularly refers to ``8-8-88'' in speeches and official
media to remind people of the results of the unrest that swept the
country before the SLORC was formed and took power.
The exiles and other activists called on the international community to
condemn the SLORC because of its human rights abuses and failure
to recognise a 1990 landslide general election victory of the NLD.
``It's already been nine years since the people of Burma have
expressed their will for economic stability, human dignity and the
democratic civilian government, how long more can the rest of the
world fail to support the 48 million people in Burma in their
democratic aspirations?'' said activist Debbie Stothard.
The United States and Canada have imposed economic sanctions on
Burma because of its human rights abuses and repression of
democracy.
The Association of South East Asian Nations last month accepted
Burma as a full member of the regional group despite protests from
the West and human rights organisations. ^REUTER@