Can U.S. talk tame Burma's military leaders?

Can U.S. talk tame Burma's military leaders?
UPI ASIA.COM
By Zin Linn
Column: Burma Question
Published: October 02, 2009

Bangkok, Thailand — The United States has announced it will hold direct talks with Burma’s military junta, hoping that talks will succeed where years of sanctions have failed in achieving democratic reforms. Speaking to the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee in Washington on Wednesday, Kurt Campbell, the assistant secretary of state for East Asia, said, “Through a direct dialogue, we will be able to test the intentions of the Burmese leadership.”

Burma’s military regime announced two weeks ago that – as a peaceful, modern and disciplined democratic nation – it had terminated the prison terms of 7,114 prisoners due to their good conduct and discipline and in consideration of their families. The prisoners were released from their respective jails on Sept. 17 to enable them to serve the interests of the state after realizing the government’s compassion and goodwill.

And yet, on Friday a Burmese court denied the appeal of democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi to overturn her recent sentencing to another 18 months of house arrest.

The prisoner release is another of the regime’s twist-and-turn policies ahead of next year’s elections. It seemed timed to reduce international pressure on the junta ahead of the start of the U.N. General Assembly in New York.

“Every one of those prisoners is a human being, and it is unacceptable that the junta uses them as bargaining chips to deceive the international community,” said David Scott Mathieson, a Thailand-based researcher for Human Rights Watch.

Bo Kyi, an executive of the Thailand-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners Burma, also believes the releases were intended to relieve international pressure. “If the military authorities were honest enough and really want national reconciliation, they ought to release all political prisoners including key figures, such as Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, Khun Tun Oo and all student leaders,” he said.



It was no coincidence that the announcement of the prisoner releases came on the eve of the blood-spattered anniversary of the junta’s military coup on Sept. 18, 1988. It was also the second anniversary of the Saffron Revolution in which scores of Buddhist monks were killed and hundreds jailed.

The regime hoped the release of prisoners would decrease anti-junta demonstrations on the anniversary.

Two years ago the leadership of Burma's brave monks encouraged a nationwide revolution against the military command. Hundreds of thousands of monks and citizens launched more than 150 demonstrations throughout the nation. On Sept. 26 the military began its ruthless crackdown on monks and protesters, arresting thousands and killing dozens.

The junta’s announcement said the prisoners were being released on humanitarian grounds so they could participate in multiparty elections next year. But out of the 7,114 released inmates, only 128 are political prisoners.

According to the AAPPB, more than 2,000 political prisoners remain in jail, including at least 124 activists who are in poor health. The association said the majority of the released inmates were criminals.

So far more than 40 members of the National League for Democracy have been released, according to a spokesman for the group. Three of them were elected members of Parliament in 1990 – the country’s last election, the results of which were ignored by the junta.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon welcomed the release of a batch of political prisoners in Myanmar, but urged the junta to free those still being held, including democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi. The U.N. chief has repeatedly pressed for the release of the opposition leaders and other political prisoners.

The prisoner releases came just days before the junta’s Prime Minister Gen Thein Sein attended the U.N. General Assembly for the first time in 14 years. Many political observers believe the release was intended to ward off criticism at the General Assembly and show the international community that the military regime is cooperating with the United Nations.

On Sept. 23 the secretary-general' s statement to the media on the High-Level Meeting of the Group of Friends on Myanmar came out.

In the statement, Ban Ki-moon emphasized: “As I said today in my address to the General Assembly, we will work hard for democracy, national reconciliation and human rights in Myanmar. The release of some political prisoners last week is a step in the right direction, but it falls short of our expectations. All political prisoners must be released – including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.”

Yet the amnesty for political prisoners is not enough and unbelievably late. Less than 2 percent of those released were political prisoners, while 98 percent were criminals and former military intelligence personnel. No prominent political prisoner has been freed.

According to diplomats in Rangoon, there are signs that more political prisoners may be released, but it will be done in a way to support the junta’s fraudulent 2010 elections.

During the second meeting of the Group of Friends on Myanmar at the level of Foreign Ministers, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also called on the Burmese government to begin talks with the opposition and ethnic minorities about real democratic change in the nation.

“We believe that sanctions remain important as part of our policy but by themselves they have not produced the results that had been hoped for,” Clinton told reporters at the United Nations in New York. “Engagement versus sanctions is a false choice in our opinion, going forward we will be employing both of those tools.”

According to the NCGUB, the sanctions reinforce the legitimacy and possibility of meaningful dialogue in Burma. The goal of sanctions is not severe economic destabilization aimed at toppling the regime. They serve as a pressure mechanism to persuade the regime to recognize the crisis in the country and the need for a peaceful resolution of the crisis. They serve as part of the overall international strategy to facilitate a tripartite dialogue in Burma.

Senior General Than Shwe, who has been using so many immoral plans to clear out the NLD and its charismatic leader from Burma’s political arena, has stubbornly turned a deaf ear to calls to free Aung San Suu Kyi. He has turned down a tripartite dialogue for genuine reconciliation. If he does not release all political prisoners, including Suu Kyi, the majority of the population will not regard the coming poll as free and fair.

Clinton indicated there would be no softening of U.S. demands toward Burma and repeated calls for the military leaders to release opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi.

"We want credible democratic reform, a government that responds to the needs of the Burmese people, immediate, unconditional release of political prisoners, including Aung San Suu Kyi," she said.

Clinton added, “The junta must also engage in a serious dialogue with the opposition and minority ethnic groups.”

The military regime in Burma has declared plans to hold the country's first election in two decades next year as part of its seven-step roadmap, which is actually designed as a sham to entrench the military's hold on power. People around the world who are interested in Burma are keenly watching the United States’ diplomatic shift toward the military-ruled country.

According to Clinton, the United States will engage directly with the Burmese authorities in order to help achieve democratic reform. But the junta will not easily yield to demands to release its political opponents.

Can Clinton tame the uncivilized military tyrant of Burma? The top U.S. diplomat should have a well-planned strategy to deal effectively with the self-serving generals if she hopes to attain political reform in exchange for reduced sanctions.
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