[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index ][Thread Index ]

BBC : East Asia Today -US Condemns



East Asia Today 
July 31st 1998 
US Condemns Detention of Aung San Suu Kyi and Harrassment of Non-violent
Opposition

The US State department spokesman, James Rubin, has condemned the forcible
end by Burma's generals to a protest by democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Her car was blocked on a bridge for six days, as she attempted to leave
Rangoon:

James Rubin: The manhandling of Aung San Suu Kyi in Burma on July 30th -
and the six days of detention and deprivation to which she was subjected -
shows a callous disregard for her safety, the rule of law and fundamental
freedoms of movement and association. These were unacceptable violations of
her human rights. The United States calls on the government of Burma to
stop this harassment of the non-violent opposition. We also call on them to
release the members of parliament who have recently been detained and to
enter into substantive dialogue with the National League of Democracy and
ethnic minority leaders in the country - in order to solve the decade-long
political conflict in Burma.

These comments come in advance of important ten-year anniversaries in
August and September - of Burma's democracy uprising, and another crucial
date - August 21st, by when Suu Kyi has demanded the assembly elected in
1990 should be convened. The latest diplomatic outburst follows tough
statements from the American Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright. 

In view of this can robust action now be expected, especially from the US?
East Asia Today presenter Christopher Gunness asked state department
consultant on Burma Joseph Silverstein what the diplomatic options were:

Joseph Silverstein: I think first and foremost the United States could try
to mount a very serious campaign of mobilising other nations of the world -
particularly Japan. Japan is a key in all of this. It is the donor country
of record now. It has given twenty million for the airport and they're
talking about restoring other aid. I think that the US must now look to a
joint action with the Japanese.

Christopher Gunness: Do you think there's a real window of opportunity for
that sort of joint action given that there are now open disagreements
between ASEAN member counties about how to engage the Burmese?

Joseph Silverstein: I think this is the ideal time - for several reasons.
Firstly, the junta has no money and it cannot raise any from international
organisations. There is also virtually no tourism. There is a also a
likelihood that there will be a poor rice crop which may necessitate
rationing or a rise in prices which can only destabilise the country even
more.

Christopher Gunness: What will Aung San Suu Kyi's strategy be for these
sensitive anniversaries coming up. Surely if she brings people onto the
streets like she did in 1988, she'll risk playing into the hands of the
junta who accuse her of trying to destabilise the country?

Joseph Silverstein: She picked out a date which does not have a real
significance. She could have chosen August 8th. That would have been
doubling up the horror that date - 8/8/88. But she didn't choose that date
or September 18th which would remind people that that was the day the junta
seized power from it's own government that it had established. She chose a
neutral date in between. I think this is a very strategic move on her part.
Secondly, I think the junta has to be prepared for any kind of
demonstration on August 8th - and when that date passes, then the 21st
comes onto the screen. Then the junta will have to take a different
strategy - because what she's calling for nothing less than the
establishment of democracy. Here they have no answers. Therefore, I think
this is the opportune moment before August 21st for the US and hopefully
Japan and the European Union to come out with a clear line that is
non-confrontational - but can begin to change the internal environment. I
believe that there should be a demand that there be a national cease-fire
and a lifting of martial law. The world community needs to get behind Aung
San Suu Kyi and call for a change in the rules of the game - they need to
let the people talk to one another, to let them formulate their own ideas
and to begin to transfer power to the people.


------------------------------------------------------------------------


Meanwhile, Britain's Foreign Office has summoned Burma's ambassador to
protest against the military junta's use of force to end opposition leader
Aung San Suu Kyi's six-day protest. A statement issued by Foreign Secretary
Robin Cook is urging the regime to open dialogue with the opposition.
Foreign Office Minister Derek Fatchett has just flown to South Korea
following the end of the Association of South East Asian Nations' meeting
in Manila - he told the BBC's Andrew Wood how some ASEAN nations had
reached a consensus with Western nations on the Burmese junta's behaviour:

Derek Fatchett: There is a merging of the ASEAN agenda along with that of
the European Union and of the United States. There is a very strong
representation to the Burmese government to say that enough is enough -
that they have to change and that there has to be respect for human rights.
They have to learn to talk to Aung San Suu Kyi, and to recognise that the
only way forward for Burma is through internal reconciliation, and through
recognising the forces for democracy. If they don't make those changes,
Burma above all else will be damaged economically - it's image is already
being damaged.

Andrew Wood: But are they listening? Burma is a very isolated country - the
regime has managed to stay in power for many years. It can surely just
continue to ignore the message from the Europeans and Americans?

Derek Fatchett: The message is right and we shall continue to deliver that
message. We were told in the context of other countries, "Stop worrying
about the message because no one in authority is listening." Just look at
what is now happening in Indonesia. In Indonesia you have a real thirst for
democracy, a real wish to see the protection of human rights. We want to
encourage those reforms that are in their embryonic stages in Indonesia -
and the fact that we continued to deliver messages to Indonesia may well
have given those who wished to see change a greater confidence that those
changes would come about. So our task with Burma is simply to make sure
that the leadership there understand the world's rejection of their
policies and we impose the pressure in whatever form we can upon that
leadership to change. 

Andrew Wood: You've just come back from ASEAN. It must have been an
interesting time given the events of the past year financially. What
actually do you think you achieved in that?

Derek Fatchett: The atmosphere has changed positively in that there has
been a recognition that Europe and the US in particular have played an
important role - bilaterally and multilaterally - to assist the economies
of South East Asia and East Asia. I think it's brought us together much
more. There is now a common understanding and partnership and those are
strengths for the broader ASEAN process and its dialogue with other
countries. ASEAN was also fascinating in that it?s a block that is moving
through quite a distinctive political period. Many of those pressures are
coming from the economic changes themselves. But there is a real debate
about the future of ASEAN - how to raise the profile of issues such as
human rights and the promotion of democracy. These are very interesting new
agendas and, of course that raises questions about the relationship between
individual countries. How far, for instance, was it possible for one ASEAN
member to criticise another ASEAN member? This year in Manila there was
fairly open criticism by other ASEAN members of the Burmese regime. That
would not have happened before, and I think it's quite an interesting
change and one that we encourage in terms of the open debate and greater
transparency. So a closer relationship between ASEAN, Europe and the US
will lead to a developing, emerging ASEAN which I think in the future could
be a much stronger force.