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Hostages and scapegoats for how lon
- Subject: Hostages and scapegoats for how lon
- From: suriya@xxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 04 Nov 1998 00:28:00
Subject: Hostages and scapegoats for how long?
Editorial & Opinion
Hostages and scapegoats
for how long?
In Burma if you ask someone which prison
would you prefer, the answer is: there are
only two prisons; the one with walls and the
one without. Moe Aye writes on the frequent
arrests and the plight of the relatives.
The spokesman of the ruling Burmese junta
said: ''We didn't arrest any members of
Parliament and members of the NLD
[National League for Democracy]. We just
invited them to discuss the situation of
Burma. We are taking good care of them,
they are just in our guesthouse.'' He
continued, ''Whether they are sent back to
their homes depends on the activities of the
NLD.''
It really looks like a dirty political kidnap and
a big lie to the international community.
Many NLD members and members of
parliament are now in custody and military
interrogation centres. Members of the NLD
from Botahtaung, Pazundaung, Tamwe,
Seikkan and Dawbon townships have been
kept in military interrogation centre 14 since
the first week of September. Those from
Bahan, Kemmendine, Sanchaung, Latha,
Lanmadaw and Kamaryut townships have
been kept in military interrogation centre 7.
Many NLD youth wing members who are
considered hard-core are being kept in
Insein prison.
Some members of parliament have now
been put in Insein special jail and some are
in military interrogation centre 6. Just a
handful of members of parliament who have
already resigned from their posts are in the
junta's guesthouse and a few were sent
back home. Some are now facing charges
under section 5 (j) of the Emergency
Provision Act. Some have already been
sentenced to seven years imprisonment.
Some are in the custody of their respective
township police. All MPs have had to
choose one of two ways; either to go to
prison or to sign testimonies and
documents which state that they do not
support the NLD's activities and the
Committee Representing People's
Parliament. It may be that those under
detention will at the very least be pressured
by unlawful methods and be forced to
resign from their representative positions
and from the NLD.
At the same time many student activists are
in police custody at ''Aung-tha-pyay'', the
special police branch's headquarters, as
well as in military intelligence interrogation
centre 12. There may be no more places in
the custody and interrogation centres at the
moment to put those who have committed
murders, drug-deals, rapes and all types of
crime.
It is now clear that all custody and
interrogation centres in Burma are not for
criminals but for political activists.
Meanwhile, there are many political
prisoners who have already completed their
unfair punishment, but have not yet been
released.
A woman, whose husband is a member of
parliament and still in prison despite having
completed his years of sentence, said, ''I
don't think that my husband will be released
from prison under this situation. When I
asked the authorities why my husband was
not released, they told me that it depends
on the activities of NLD. I understand that
my husband and others who have finished
their unfair punishments are being used as
'political hostages' by the junta. All people
who hunger for democracy are being used
as scapegoats''.
In reality, there are many political prisoners
who had already completed what should
have been their prison terms before Daw
Aung San Suu Kyi's trip out of Rangoon, the
NLD's demand to convene the people's
parliament and the students' hit-and-run
demonstration.
All the people of Burma under the junta
have to live with the term ''by force''. Forced
labour, forced relocations, forced
examinations, forced rallies, and arbitrary
sentences are now familiar not only to the
people of Burma but to the international
community.
When asked by a reporter which prison he
had had to live in, Ye Tay Za, a prominent
student activist and former political prisoner
replied, ''Which prison do you mean? There
are only two prisons in Burma -- the prison
with walls and the prison without walls''.
His answer clearly states the situation of
Burma. All activists have to go to the prison
with walls and the rest have to live in the
prison without walls.
During the junta's forced rallies, the junta's
hired men accuse Daw Aung San Suu Kyi
and the NLD of destroying the country's
future, but they never acknowledge that the
NLD was the winning party in the May 1990
election. Although the NLD constantly
demands a genuine dialogue, not power
transfer, the junta refuses not only dialogue
but also every reasonable demand.
The problem is that the junta has no
intention of accepting the NLD as a winning
party in the May 1990 election. The junta
ignores the fact that as long as they don't
recognise the result of the May 190
election, the country's situation will be
getting worse and worse. However, they still
claim that they are the only ones who really
love the country.
When the daughter of State Peace and
Development Council secretary (2) General
Tin Oo died in a bomb explosion at their
house on April 6, 1997, the state-run
newspaper accused Daw Aung San Suu
Kyi, as a Peace Nobel Laureate, of not
being compassionate because she had not
sent a condolence letter to General Tin Oo.
They forgot to explain why U Tin Maung
Win, U Hla Than, U Saw Win, (all are
members of parliament from the NLD), U
Maung Ko (a member of Central
Committee of the NLD) and Mr Leo
Nichols, honorary consul for Norway,
Denmark, Finland, and Switzerland, died in
custody. The junta never sent condolence
letters to their families. Worse, their
families did not have not the right to see
their loved ones' funerals.
There are many political prisoners who
died in prison because of poor medical
treatment and harassment. The junta never
thinks to sympathise with those whose
relatives died in prison and interrogation
centres and to send condolence letters to
them. Although there were many innocent
students shot dead during the 1988 popular
uprising, far from sympathising, the junta
never allows anybody to hold the memory of
them. Anyone who tried to hold the memory
was accused of trying to destroy the
country's stability and was sent to prison,
charged under section 5 (j) of the
Emergency Provision Act.
The junta accuses 'the lady' (what the
Burmese military calls Suu Kyi) of trying to
persuade western countries to impose
economic sanctions on Burma. However, it
still neglects to explain to its own people
why the Golden Land turned into the least
developed country and the International
Monetary Fund declared that it would not
grant loans or have financial dealings with
Burma any more. Although the junta has a
huge budget for the extension of the
military, the secret police, interrogation
centres and prisons, there is a small budget
for social welfare, medical care and
education. But they are still crying that they
are paving a path to democracy.
A tourist who recently visited Burma said
that he met with many ordinary people and
asked many questions about what he
wanted to know. When he asked one civil
servant about the junta, he was told, ''We
don't like the junta completely. At the same
time, we don't want to see an uprising like
1988. The junta and the people have
different reasons for not wanting another
uprising. The junta fear to face an uprising
because of losing their power. We fear
because of losing innocent people. The
junta is now taking advantage of our fear.
But I believe there is a limit to how long the
people can go on without taking action.
Much of our people's patience has now
nearly run out''.
When he asked another civil servant why he
attended a mass rally to denounce Daw
Aung San Suu Kyi and the NLD, he was
told,'' Before the mass rally, we all had to
sign an agreement that we would attend
whatever it was. We also had to sign that if
we were absent, we would be fired from our
jobs. We felt so sad hearing the
denouncing of our lady and the NLD. We
voted for the NLD because we believe in
the lady. During that pretend mass rally, we
felt ourselves to be scapegoats and robots.
However, when the high-ranking officers at
the rally called out slogans denouncing the
NLD, we did not shout these slogans as we
were expected to do. I do hope we all will
be united in not attending such a forced
mass rally''.
According to sources, all businessmen
have to donate to the junta. They are
threatened that if they refuse to donate,
their work permits and licences will be
withdrawn. The term ''forced donation'' has
also become familiar to all Burmese
businessmen.
The source said, ''Many ordinary people
are watching what the 10 member
committee [the Committee Representing
People's Parliament] will do and are
waiting for their guidance. At the same
time, they wonder why the committee
delays doing what they should do''. It's also
clear that the junta is now taking all kinds of
advantage of the situation of the people of
Burma.
For the civil servants and workers, the junta
is using job dismissal as a weapon. For the
students, bans from continuing their studies
and closure of the schools at any time have
become the conventional armaments of the
junta. For the political prisoners, their prison
terms no longer depend on their original
sentences, but depend on the activities of
the NLD. For the NLD members and
members of parliament who are in the
so-called guest house, the way back to their
homes seems to depend on the 10
member committee representing the
elected members of parliament, according
to the junta.
Strongly holding onto power, constantly
telling lies, and being unwilling to accept the
results of the May 1990 election, the junta
has been oppressing its own people as
hostages, scapegoats and robots for over
ten years. However, whether they end up in
a life of being scapegoats and robots
depends not only on the NLD, but also on
the people of Burma who voted for the NLD
in the May 1990 election.
----------------
Moe Aye is a pseudonym. He contributed
this article to The Nation
.