NEWSLETTER-ICP-18: Burma's Road to

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/* Written  6:23 pm  May  4, 1994 by DEBRA@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx in igc:hrnet.asia-pac */
/* ---------- "NEWSLETTER-ICP-18: Burma's Road to" ---------- */
## author     : ASTA.UNIH@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
## date       : 02.05.94

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  NEWSLETTER - THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNICATION PROJECT _ PRESENTS:
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                    Burma's Road to peace Dashed?
   contributed by the All Burma Students Democratic Front (ABSDF)

Allowing the American Congressman Bill Richardson  to visit  detained
Burmese opposition leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi created the hope among
Burma's watchers, that there would be a possible negotiation  between
her and her captors.

In a speech  on the  House floor  of the  Congress on  Feb. 20,  Bill
Richardson praised Daw Aung San Suu Kyi as "a woman of conscience,  a
tower of intellectual strength," and  said he  believed the  military
could hold a "full political dialogue" with her in  the near  future.
Congressman Bill Richardson, the first non-family member to meet  Daw
Aung San Suu Kyi since she was put under house arrest  in July  1989,
held  separate  discussions  with  the   powerful  Burmese   military
intelligence chief Maj.-Gen. Khin Nyunt for four hours  and with  Daw
Aung San Suu Kyi for six hours during his visit in mid-Feb.

However, in the minds of the Burmese military generals,  they see  no
reason to talk with her, "We don't see any reason why we should  have
to talk with her  about the  country's political  future or  economic
status," military intelligence chief Khin Nyunt said in an  interview
with  the  New York  Times on  6th March.  Is Burma's  road to  peace
dashed?

Bertil Linter, an expert on Burma, explained in the Thailand Time  on
Feb 20 why the Burmese general allowed an outsider to visit Daw  Aung
San Suu Kyi after all. "Last year, the UN  Human Rights  Commission's
Special Rapporteur submitted a report which was extremely critical of
the regime in power in Rangoon. As  long as  they're being  condemned
like this, billions of dollars worth of aid, money and loans from the
IMF  and  other  international  monetary  institutions  will   remain
blocked. The Burmese government has  realised that  its costing  them
quite a lot to keep Daw Aung San Suu Kyi under house arrest."

By refusing to talk with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, Burma could become the
next country  after China  to come  under pressure  from the  Clinton
Administration.

"We are disappointed by the decision  not to  enter into  discussions
with  the  detained  opposition leader,"  State Department  spokesman
David  Johnson  said  on  March 7  after Burmese  generals ruled  out
possible talks with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.

In a meeting during the second week of March, US officials agreed  to
pursue several measures aimed at the military regime opening dialogue
with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. These measures  include a  US campaign  in
the  United  Nations  for an  arms embargo  against Burma  and for  a
special UN envoy to intercede on Daw  Suu Kyi's  behalf with  Burmese
authorities.  Other  possible  measures  include  economic  sanctions
against Burma, whether or not to fill the vacant ambassador's post in
Rangoon, an increase  in humanitarian  aid to  some 71,000  displaced
Burmese   along   the   Thai-Burma   border   and   an  increase   of
Burmese-language broadcasts on the Voice of America and include Burma
in the Radio Free Asia's programming.

On March 4 in Geneva, the UN Human Rights Commission  called for  the
immediate release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and voted to condemn  Burma
for human rights violations. The Commission also extended the mandate
of the Special Rapporteur for one more year in order  to observe  the
human rights situation in Burma and  requested the  Secretary-General
to provide his full assistance to the Special Rapporteur.

In the meantime, however, nearly US$ 1 billion in foreign  investment
has been pumped into the junta's pocket from the US, Thailand, Japan,
South  Korea,  and  the  Netherlands,  as  well  as  from  Hong  Kong
investors. Singapore Prime Minister Goh  Chak Tong  visited Burma  on
March  28. Relations  between the  Burmese junta  and the  Indonesian
Government are closer . The Association of South  East Asian  Nations
(ASEAN)  has  agreed  to  invite  Burma  in  its  annual  ministerial
conference in July, aimed at breaking Burma's isolation.

Squeezing the junta's  pocket is  the only  road to  peace in  Burma.
Without outside pressures, both economic and political, Daw Aung  San
Suu  Kyi  would not  have been  allowed to  meet with  anyone -  even
including her immediate family members.

Without continued and increased pressure from the rest of the  world,
it is true that  there would  be no  reason for  Burmese generals  to
constructively  talk  with Daw  Aung San  Suu Kyi  about solving  the
country's appalling  situation. (Sources:  New York  Times, March  8;
Christian Science Monitor, March 15; The Nation, March 17)

For further information please contact the European office of the All
Burma Students Democratic Front:

ABSDF
PO Box 7620
St. Olavs Plass
N-0130 Oslo
Norway
tel.: +47 22 608597
fax: +47 22 608598