Correction of BWU's statment in Eng

[bwunion@xxxxxxxxxxxx]

Subject: Correction of BWU's statment in English on Women of Burma Day

Dear netters,

We are sorry that there were some typos in our previous statment on Women
of Burma Day posted on the net. This is the re-edited version of statment.
Sorry for inconvenience.

Sincerely yours,

BWU
--------
A Joint Statement by the Women's Organizations of Burma for the third Annual
Women of Burma Day.

Today, 19 June 1999, is the third annual celebration of the Women of Burma
Day. It is also the birthday of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. The celebration of the
Women of Burma Day is a symbol of the undeviating hope, truth-loving spirit,
sacrifice and strong determination of women from Burma (which we invest in
the development of a strong, healthy and creative society).

We, as women of Burma and members of our organizations, strongly believe
that women of Burma have the right to share equal responsibility with their
male counterparts in the welfare and development of our society. This is a
fundamental belief we share with women throughout the world.

Today, women from all ethnic groups in Burma are survivors of decades of
civil war, army related systematic rape, forced labor and forced relocation
inside Burma. As direct result, hundreds of thousands of women have been
forced to take refuge and work illegally in neighboring countries, again
surviving other various forms of mistreatment.

Besides being the courageous survivors of human rights abuses perpetrated by
the Burmese military dictatorship, women of Burma are active and forceful
participators in the pro-democracy struggle. Some women are prominent
politicians and activists, including those who are leading the pro-democracy
movement with a great courage and sacrifice, such as our democratic leader,
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. And there are many, many more women who are not so
publicly visible but who give great support behind the scenes continuing the
struggle for democracy, human rights and national solidarity with strong
determination. Today, women remain imprisoned for their political activities
such as Daw Kyi Kyi, Daw San San and Daw San San Nwe (Tharawaddy).

The State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), the military regime in
Burma, is claiming that they are working for the welfare and development of
the status
of women in Burma by forming 'so-called' women organizations. We would like
to expose these 'women's' organizations for what they are; merely a

superficial show to the international community that they are promoting the
status of women in Burma. In reality, this newly-formed women's
organizations are entirely controlled by the military leaders and their
wives and are being used only in the events denouncing Daw Aung San Suu Kyi
and other pro-democratic elected  MPs.

Furthermore, these SPDC supported women's organizations play an instrumental
role in the so-called "People's Referendum", which is a part of a procedure
to maintain the military dictatorship in Burma. Thus, these women's
organizations are an integral part of the SPDC's oppressive policies and are
not free to work independently of the SPDC to promote the rights of women.
Without the power to play an independent role, the " Myanmar National
Committee for Women's Affairs" is not able to stand up for the women
survivors of human rights violations. It cannot provide for the refugee
women without the right to life, be the voice for the pregnant women and
mothers who died in armed conflicts, prevent the systematic rape by the
armed forces or compensate the survivors of rape and cannot insist on the
rights for migrant workers in neighboring countries.

Another working committee, "Working Committee for Preveting Violence
against Women" is also claiming that it will take full responsibility to
protect women from both physical and psychological violence against women.
However, in practice, it fails to protect Daw Aung San Suu Kyi who is
constantly threatened in the SPDC-controlled media and propaganda warfare
and who has also been and physically attacked. It also fails to assist the
women political prisoners with deteriorating health situation inside the
Burmese prisons.

All these sufferings are the result of political problems in Burma. Women
are victims and survivors of these political problems. These current
plights of women in Burma highlight the deep suffering of women resulting
from political instability and civil war in Burma. For this reason, we, the
women gathering together from different organization, would like to state
that we also take full responsibility participating working in the
pro-democracy
movement to end military dictatorship, restore democracy and human rights
in Burma and to establish the Federal Union. We also commit to join in
hands with other democratic forces to meet all of these goals. With this
statement, we strongly demand the SPDC to immediately accomplish the
following actions.

(1) Stop the one-sided personal attacks on Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the
people's leader
and Nobel Peace laureate.
(2) Release all political prisoners, including aging women political prisoners
such as Daw Kyi Kyi, Daw San San and Daw San San Nwe (Tharawaddy).
(3) Allow the formation of independent women's organizations that genuinely
represent and work for the betterment of all women's lives throughout Burma.
(4) Hold constructive dialogue with democratic forces led by Daw Aung San
Suu Kyi and other ethnic leaders.

Towards peace in Burma.

Karen Women's Organization (Thai-Burma border)
Chin Women's Organization (New Delhi)
Women's Rights and Welfare Association of Burma (New Delhi)

Karenni National Women's Organization (Thai-Burma Border)
Lahu Women's Organization (Thai-Burma Border)
Tavoyan Women's Union (Thai-Burma border)
Arakan Women's Union (Bangladesh-Arakan border)
Burmese Women's Union (Thai-Burma border)

June 19, 1999