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BURMA STILL REPRESSIVE ,FUTURE SEEN



Subject: BURMA STILL REPRESSIVE ,FUTURE SEEN BLEAK

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 Burma still repressive, future seen bleak 
 05:26 a.m. Jul 10, 1997 Eastern 

 By Deborah Charles 

 BANGKOK, July 10 (Reuter) - Burma's political landscape is little
 changed and repression has actually increased despite constant
 efforts by Aung San Suu Kyi since she was released from house
 arrest, the democracy leader and diplomats said. 

 Instead, the country appears deadlocked as efforts to bring about
 change through dialogue with Burma's military leaders over the past
 two years appear to have failed, they said on Thursday. 

 On July 10, 1995, Nobel Peace laureate Suu Kyi emerged jubilant
 and optimistic after the ruling generals made a surprise decision to
 free her from six years of house arrest. 

 In her first news conference she called for dialogue with the
 government and for a brief time it appeared the State Law and Order
 Restoration Council (SLORC) might agree. 

 Two years on, there has been no negotiation, crackdowns on her
 National League for Democracy (NLD) party have increased, and
 Suu Kyi herself is far from free. 

 ``I'd have to say that repression has increased in the past two years,''
 Suu Kyi told Reuters on Thursday in a telephone interview on the
 second anniversary of her release. 

 The 1991 Nobel Peace laureate has been living virtually
 incommunicado for the past few months. The government has barred
 access to her residence and her telephone is almost always
 disconnected. 

 ``The economic situation has certainly not improved, and neither has
 political freedom in any way improved,'' she said in the brief
 interview that ended when the phone went dead. 

 Rangoon-based diplomats agreed with Suu Kyi. 

 ``When she was released, everybody expected something to happen.
 But up until now nothing has changed,'' one said. 

 ``It's a stalemate,'' said an Asian diplomat. ``No one can find a way
 to improve relations between the two sides.'' 

 Even the government agreed that things have gotten worse. 

 ``Since her day of release, the NLD party has got itself into a lot of
 mess and now is even in a more serious situation,'' a senior Burmese
 official told Reuters earlier this week. 

 The NLD won a landslide victory in 1990, while Suu Kyi was under
 house arrest. But the SLORC never recognised the result. 

 The government allowed Suu Kyi and the NLD to hold gatherings
 and weekend speeches at her house for a while after her release, but
 the SLORC later toughened its stance. 

 Over the past year, Suu Kyi and her party have faced several
 crackdowns by the government, which has on various occasions
 rounded up thousands of NLD supporters and party members and
 detained them for varying lengths of time. 

 Top SLORC officials also recently accused Suu Kyi and the NLD of
 terrorist activities. They said she received more than $85,000 from
 two Americans to aid in subversive activities. Suu Kyi on Thursday
 flatly denied the accusations. 

 The NLD has been unable to function as a normal political party as
 the government has also banned most large gatherings of the party
 and blocked off access to Suu Kyi's house which serves as her party
 headquarters. 

 In an effort to marginalise Suu Kyi, they cut off her telephone line and
 closely monitor her visitors and movements. Suu Kyi's husband,
 British academic Michael Aris, and their two sons have been
 permitted to visit Burma only a few times since 1995. She does not
 go visit them for fear she will not be able to return. 

 Some analysts fear Burma's upcoming admission to the Association
 of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) may make matters worse. 

 ``By becoming an ASEAN member the SLORC might gain more
 confidence. Maybe by getting more confident the SLORC will take
 harder action against (Suu Kyi),'' the Asian diplomat said. 

 The seven-nation ASEAN -- Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the
 Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam -- is due to admit
 Burma as a full member later this month. 

 Its membership has been fiercely opposed by Suu Kyi and several
 western nations because they say it is tantamount to legitimising the
 SLORC's widespread human rights abuses. 

 ASEAN, which follows a policy of non-interference and
 ``constructive engagement'' towards Burma, says admission to the
 group could help Burma improve. 

 Despite its vow not to interfere, ASEAN officials have urged
 SLORC leaders to talk with Suu Kyi, ASEAN officials have said. 

 The request was refused. ^REUTER@