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

FROM BANGKOK:8/8/88 ANNIVERSARY



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@