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Where is Burma's transition to peac



                                        October 11, 1998 


                                  


                     Editorial


 Where is Burma's
 transition to peace?

 If Burma's ruling despots do allow Rajsoomer Lallah into the country
 to take an honest reading of the country's social and political
 circumstances, he will have his work cut out for him.

 The United Nations' special rapporteur has been to Rangoon before,
 of course. Burma is his assigned beat. But times have changed -
 unfortunately for the worse.

 The government-by-force of the day would as soon give Mr Lallah
 free range to gauge the real situation they control with bullets, jails and
 harassment as Baghdad would let an American weapons inspector
 stroll about unattended searching at will for chemical and biological
 armaments.

 In the latest episode of what has been termed the worst political
 repression since the mass slaughter of democracy activists in October
 1988, Burma's military junta this week arrested 54 people, including
 23 members of the National League for Democracy (NLD), the party
 that handily won the country's last elections and was then summarily
 denied the right to rule its constituents.

 The charge: Sedition and inciting unrest, aided and abetted by a throng
 of international organisations.

 The equally absurd assumption: A global plot to topple the regime and
 thus stymy its dedicated effort to bring about a peaceful transition to
 democracy.

 Among the accused: The Open Society Institute of George Soros, the
 wealthy American financier so vilified by Indonesia and Malaysia and
 blamed personally for Asia's economic collapse; the National
 Endowment for Democracy, also based in the US; Canada's
 International Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Development;
 the Jesuit Refugee Service; and the Thai-based Alternative Asean
 Network of Burma.

 Their plea: Not guilty.

 For those arrested, the punishment: An "invitation" to stay at a
 government guest house and enjoy comfortable lodgings, good food
 and respectful treatment.

 But "there are no political prisoners in Burma", the junta reminded us
 this week in a statement, and "no one has died in custody".

 A cloud of paranoia and a thin veil of lies.

 By their actions and their words this week, Rangoon's generals have
 crossed the final boundaries of good sense, neighbourliness and
 wisdom. If they have any friends left, they are cowering, corrupt or
 blind to the fundamental necessities of decent governance.

 Among those cowering are the tens of thousands of Burmese, Shans
 and Karens attending, ostensibly in spontaneous shows of patriotism,
 rallies denouncing the NLD and calling for the deportation of its
 leader, Aung San Suu Kyi. She is, after all, a foreigner, the junta
 reminds us, having married a Briton. She is, of course, also the
 daughter of the late Aung San, Burma's annually commemorated hero
 of independence.

 Condemnation for Rangoon's bullying - critics say 2,000 dissidents
 have been incarcerated since May - has come from North America,
 Europe and much of Asia, yet Burma always has the Asean ace up its
 sleeve.

 The decision to admit Burma into the Association of Southeast Asian
 Nations last year has given the generals carte blanche to abuse power
 and usurp privilege, and still belly up to the bar when regional and
 international trade deals are being negotiated.

 The actions of its rulers are a blot on the region. International plot or
 not, there can be no peaceful transition to democracy while they are
 still in charge. 

                                                       
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 © Copyright The Post Publishing Public Co., Ltd. 1998
 Last Modified: Sun, Oct 11, 1998
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