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"DEMOCRACY
FOR BURMA"
JOSÉ
RAMOS-HORTA
International
Herald Tribune, Friday, June 27, 2003
Lean
on the generals
DILI, East Timor
Burma's
military regime should not only release Aung San Suu Kyi and her supporters,
and reopen the offices of her party, the National League for Democracy.
The regime must accept a clear timetable for restoring democracy in
Burma.
The recent attacks on Aung San Suu Kyi, the country's opposition leader,
and her supporters were orchestrated by hard-liners in Burma's military
regime who fear her enduring popularity and the national reconciliation
process supported by other, more tolerant, members of the ruling junta.
Aung San Suu Kyi, who was awarded the Nobel Peace for her campaign
to restore democracy and civil liberties in Burma by peaceful means,
has been incarcerated and held incommunicado for several weeks. The
United Nations special envoy, Razali Ismail, who met her not long
ago, says that she is unharmed.
But the British government says Aung San Suu Kyi is being held, under
the most draconian law that the military authorities have at their
disposal, in a two-room hut at the notorious Insein jail just outside
Rangoon. I and many others are worried not just about her fate but
of hundreds of her supporters whose whereabouts and well-being are
unknown.
The foreign ministers of ASEAN, the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations - of which Burma is a member - recently broke a taboo against
interfering in what have traditionally been regarded as the internal
affairs of a member state. Embarrassed that the international reputation
of ASEAN is suffering because of the gross and systematic human rights
violations in Burma, the ministers demanded at their annual meeting
in Phnom Penh that Aung San Suu Kyi be freed immediately.
China and Japan, as regional powers, working closely with Indonesia
in its current position as chair of ASEAN, should prod Burma's military
leaders to move toward restoring democracy. The United Nations, in
close consultation with ASEAN leaders, must be involved in facilitating
and supervising the steps for free elections within three years. In
working towards a peaceful and stable political transition, the democracy
movement in Burma as well as the international community must also
consider safeguards and incentives for those in power to allow the
evolution to proceed.
Meanwhile, the United States and the European Union should consider
responding to each meaningful step taken by the military government
with measures such as gradual easing of travel restrictions for regime
members and providing humanitarian aid through nongovernment organizations.
As the regime shows evidence of irreversible movement toward free
elections, foreign investment, trade and tourism should be encouraged.
A federated Burma would be one way to keep the country united and
spare it a new wave of conflicts along ethnic lines.
With political reform under way, the World Bank and other institutions
such as the United Nations Development Program should step in to help
reform Burma's institutions and economy.
Because of repression in Burma, ASEAN is facing a serious credibility
challenge. It must resolve the impasse in its own backyard with the
help of other concerned countries. Failure to do so will weaken ASEAN
and undermine its international influence.
José Ramos-Horta was awarded the Nobel
Peace Prize in 1996 and is East Timor's minister for foreign affairs.
Copyright © 2002 The International Herald Tribune
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