_ By Ethan Bourne

Editor, BurmaWatchUSA

On the 18^th of July 2007, the military junta in Burma stated that it would cooperate with the international community. Brigadier General Kyaw Hsan told reporters that his regime in Naypyidaw would work with the United States Administration and the international community. However, the unelected generals ruling Burma by force should know the following U.S. policy by heart before they think of playing a game on the United States and the international community.

“The United States condemns in the strongest terms efforts by the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), formerly known as the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC), to prevent the citizens of Burma from exercising their basic political rights. The United States wants an end to human rights abuses and the installation of a democratically elected government in Rangoon, and supports the aspirations of the National League for Democracy (NLD) and the people of Burma, who desire what so many others around the world now take for granted: the chance to freely express their views and to be represented by leaders of their choosing. Burma cannot fully rejoin the international community and gain the assistance it needs until fundamental changes are made. The United States maintains its position that a meaningful political dialogue between the Burmese authorities and the democratic opposition leaders and representatives of the ethnic groups is the only path to a solution of Burma’s crisis.”

What the U.S. officials asked for was and still is to see Aung San Suu Kyi of National League for Democracy and the generals have refused the request. The generals periodically asked for meetings with senior-level officials and periodically ask for them to come to Burma. Only if the generals allow access to Aung San Suu Kyi, will the senior-level officials from the U.S. Administration come to Burma. The presence of the senior-level officials from the U.S. Administration is solicited by the generals because they want to show the world that they are now holding talks with the United States Government with a view to making progress in democratic reforms in Burma. The U.S. Administration has made it clear about meeting Aung San Suu Kyi if the generals want to meet senior-level U.S. officials for any reasons.  Without allowing senior-level U.S. officials to meet Aung San Suu Kyi, there is nothing to discuss for the United States Government with the Burmese generals. Burma is not Iraq. Neither is it North Korea. It is obvious that the Burmese generals intend to prolong their grip of power in view of the fact that they have to meet the senior-level U.S. officials to discuss the political situation in Burma. Setting Aung San Suu Kyi free from house arrest will surely trigger American concessions after lifting American trade embargos and sanctions. Release Aung San Suu Kyi and start dialogues with her party and the ethnic national groups while there is an opportunity presenting itself. At the same time the regime should start rendering the Burmese people basic political rights. The basic political rights which the Burmese deserve like everybody else are:

• the right to legal recourse when their rights have been violated, even if the violator was acting in an official capacity
• the right to life
• the right to liberty and freedom of movement
• the right to equality before the law
• the right to presumption of innocence till proven guilty
• the right to appeal a conviction
• the right to be recognized as a person before the law
• the right to privacy and protection of that privacy by law
• freedom of thought, conscience, and religion
• freedom of opinion and expression
• freedom of assembly and association

Simultaneously the junta should stop violating human rights of the Burmese people including the Shans, the Karens, the Chins, the Arakanese, the Mons and the Rohinjas alike. Stop forced relocations. Stop terror campaigns against ethnic nationalities. Prosecute the captains and the troops who commit rapes against ethnic women. Stop genocide. Stop detaining people without charges. Stop torturing political prisoners. Stop extrajudicial killings. Finally, honor the 1990 elections results and transfer power to National League for Democracy and help install a democratically elected government as voted and desired by the Burmese. The Burmese forgive and forget faster than any other people in the world.  Unless the generals in Naypyidaw  respect the rights of the Burmese and transfer power to civilian rule in time, things can get ugly, uglier than the fate of Saddam Hussein of Iraq.