News & Articles on Burma, Friday, 03 July 2009
Jul 3rd, 2009
Junta stalls on Ban request to see Suu Kyi
UN chief asks to see Aung San Suu Kyi
Burma Rejects Initial U.N. Attempt to See Suu Kyi
UN chief meets Myanmar junta leader on Suu Kyi
UK Embassy display giant Suu Kyi image
Ban meets Myanmar junta chief
UN Chief Visits Burma: A Political Gamble
UN to urge Myanmar leader to free prisoners
Ban Ki Moon demands release of Aung San Suu Kyi
UN chief says Burma mission ‘very difficult’
UN chief due in Naypyidaw on mission impossible
Ban’s Myanmar visit to fail without Suu Kyi release: HRW
Myanmar court postpones Aung San Suu Kyi’s trial again
U.N. Chief In Myanmar to Lobby for Suu Kyi
Analysis: Why sanctions aren’t working in Myanmar
Should Ban Ki-moon visit Burma?
Burmese Exiles, Rights Groups Hold Hope for UN Chief’s Visit
Can Ban Ki-moon handle Burma?
BOOK REVIEW: Strength and dishonor
INTERVIEW: Missing the point on Myanmar
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Friday,3 July 2009 17:51 hrs IST
Junta stalls on Ban request to see Suu Kyi
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Naypyidaw, Myanmar, July 3: U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon had a rare meeting with Myanmar junta supremo Than Shwe on Friday but left with no clear answer to his request to see detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Suu Kyi, who has spearheaded the campaign for democracy for two decades in the former Burma, is currently on trial for breaching a security law, which critics say is an attempt by the generals to keep her out of multi-party elections to be held next year.
“He told me that she is on trial. I told him that I wanted to meet her in person,” Ban told reporters after a meeting with the junta leader lasting nearly two hours in the country’s remote new capital, Naypyidaw.
“I am awaiting … their consideration and reply,” Ban said.
Ban had made no secret of his intention to ask for permission to meet Suu Kyi during his two-day trip, which critics say has been orchestrated by the junta to try to legitimise the Nobel laureate’s trial.
Ban called for the release all political prisoners ahead of the election and meaningful dialogue between the junta and opposition parties.
“This election should be credible, fair and inclusive, and a legitimate one,” Ban said. “I was assured that Myanmar’s authorities will make sure that this election will be held in a fair and free and transparent manner.”
Earlier, Than Shwe, 76, dressed in khaki uniform adorned with medals, was commended by Ban for his contributions to peace, prosperity and democracy.
“I would like to help move your country forward and appreciate your commitment to moving your country forward,” Ban told the general, who has led the Myanmar regime for 17 of its 47 years in power.
Suu Kyi’s trial was adjourned earlier on Friday because of a clerical error by the court, according to her lawyer.
The stakes are high for Ban and the risk of failure great. Halfway through a five-year term at the helm of the United Nations, he has faced criticism from detractors who say his low-key approach to the job does not work.
He is eager to prove them wrong, U.N. diplomats say. Speaking to reporters before the visit, Ban made clear he was under no illusions about how difficult it would be to persuade the military junta to free prisoners and take concrete steps towards democracy ahead of the elections.
“I’ll do my best (but) I do not believe my visit should be a make-or-break event … This will be a very difficult mission,” he said.
Ban was due to meet representatives of “registered political parties” in Naypyidaw, including Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy.
Suu Kyi has spent 14 of the past 20 years in detention, mostly under house arrest at her lakeside home in Yangon. During her trial, she has been held in a guest house in the compound of the notorious Insein Prison in the former capital.
Her lawyer said her trial had been postponed until July 10, apparently because the Supreme Court did not send case files to the district court, where Suu Kyi appeared on Friday.
“Daw Aung San Suu Kyi expressed her surprise that this happened,” lawyer Nyan Win told reporters.
The Nobel laureate, 64, was charged with violating the terms of her house arrest by allowing an American intruder to stay at her home in May, which prosecutors say breached a security law designed to thwart “subversive elements”.
Critics say the charges are trumped up and that the trial is an attempt to keep Suu Kyi out of the way for the elections, expected to entrench nearly half a century of army rule.
Ban had expressed concern his visit would be used by the junta for propaganda purposes but he decided to go anyway, hoping his knack for quiet diplomacy would persuade the generals to compromise, as they did last year when Ban convinced them to lift humanitarian aid restrictions after Cyclone Nargis.
Analysts say Ban may have been given some indication by the generals, or by U.N. envoy Ibrahim Gambari after his trip last week, that his visit might bring some kind of positive result.
Human Rights Watch said Ban “should not accept the return of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi to house arrest or vague statements about political reform as signs of a successful visit”.
http://www.manoramaonline.com/
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UN chief asks to see Aung San Suu Kyi
AFP
NAYPYIDAW (AFP) – UN chief Ban Ki-moon said he asked the head of Myanmar’s ruling junta on Friday for permission to see democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi but is still waiting for a reply.
Ban said he had also reiterated to military ruler Than Shwe that the regime must free the opposition leader and all other political prisoners ahead of elections due next year.
“I told him that I wanted to meet her in person,” Ban told reporters in the capital Naypyidaw on the first day of a two-day visit to the country.
“He told me that she is on trial but I told him this is my proposal, this is important and I am waiting for their consideration and reply.”
Asked how soon he expected a response from the junta on his request to see her, Ban said with a smile: “I am leaving tomorrow, so logically speaking I am waiting for a reply before my departure.”
Ban said he had also sought the release of the more than 2,000 political prisoners that the UN says are held in Myanmar — including Aung San Suu Kyi — ahead of elections promised by the ruling generals in 2010.
Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi is currently being held in prison during her ongoing trial for breaching the terms of her house arrest. She has been in detention or under house arrest for most of the last 20 years.
“I proposed and I urged that all political prisoners should be released before this election begins, so that this election can be all inclusive,” Ban said.
Reclusive Than Shwe appeared before reporters with Ban at the start of the meeting, dressed in an olive green uniform, but did not speak.
“I have had a very frank and extensive exchange of views on all the matters of the spectrum of issues pertaining to Myanmar,” Ban said. http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/
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Burma Rejects Initial U.N. Attempt to See Suu Kyi
Friday, July 03, 2009
AFP
RANGOON, Burma — The U.N. secretary-general says Burma’s junta chief has rejected his initial request to see jailed opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Ban Ki-moon says he told Burma’s Senior Gen. Than Shwe during two-hour talks Friday that he wanted to meet directly with Suu Kyi.
Than Shwe’s initial response was that Suu Kyi is currently on trial, Ban told reporters after the talks.
Ban said, however, he stressed the importance of his request and is waiting for a reply.
The U.N. chief is on what he calls a “tough mission” to press the junta to release Suu Kyi and all political prisoners in the country.
Suu Kyi is on trial for violating her lengthy house arrest and could face five years in prison in a trial that has sparked global outrage. http://www.foxnews.com/story/
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UN chief meets Myanmar junta leader on Suu Kyi
AFP
UN chief meets Myanmar leaders to discuss Suu Kyi AFP/File – UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon gestures as he speaks at Tokyo University on July 1. Ban has met the …
by Herve Couturier Herve Couturier – 12 mins ago
NAYPYIDAW (AFP) – UN chief Ban Ki-moon met the reclusive head of Myanmar’s military junta on Friday for what he said would be “tough talks” aimed at securing the release of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Ban flew into Naypyidaw, the remote stronghold of Senior General Than Shwe and his regime, shortly after a prison court adjourned the widely condemned trial of the detained Nobel Peace laureate for another week.
“This is my second time in your country and I am very pleased to continue our discussions. I appreciate your commitment to move your country forward,” Ban said in his opening statement to Than Shwe.
“I would like to contribute, to work together, for peace and prosperity,” he added.
The UN secretary general earlier said he would urge Than Shwe for permission to visit the 64-year-old Aung San Suu Kyi, who was transferred from house arrest to Yangon’s notorious Insein prison in May.
She has spent most of the past two decades in detention and now faces five years imprisonment if convicted on charges of violating her house arrest, after an American man swam uninvited to her lakeside house.
“It is a very tough mission,” Ban told reporters shortly after arriving in Yangon earlier Friday.
“One of my objectives is to obtain the release of all political prisoners including Aung San Suu Kyi,” he said, adding that he would also “convey the concern of the international community” and press for reconciliation and democracy.
Rights groups warn that the trip will be a “huge failure” if he does not secure the release of Aung San Suu Kyi. Critics have accused the junta of using the trial to keep her locked up for elections promised in 2010.
She appeared in court Friday but the trial was adjourned for a week because the judges had not received an earlier judgement barring two defence witnesses, said Nyan Win, spokesman for her National League for Democracy (NLD).
“Daw Aung San Suu Kyi attended the trial this morning but the court said that as they haven’t got the case from the Supreme Court the trial is suspended to July 10,” Nyan Win said.
The case has sparked international outrage, with US President Barack Obama calling it a “show trial” and a host of world leaders and celebrities calling for her release.
Ban earlier made an apparent reference to concerns over the timing of his visit while her trial is under way, saying he was aware that he was coming to Myanmar “under certain uncertainties.”
“I will try to meet with representatives of all registered political parties including Aung San Suu Kyi, that’s my hope. But I have to raise this issue with the senior general directly, in person,” he said in Singapore on Thursday.
Ban will also meet with Prime Minister Thein Sein and representatives of all registered political parties and former armed groups while in Naypyidaw.
Ban has faced recent criticism for his softly-softly approach to the job of secretary general, but diplomats say he hopes his quiet brand of diplomacy will pay dividends with Myanmar’s generals.
The visit is Ban’s first to Myanmar since he persuaded the junta to accept international aid following Cyclone Nargis in May 2008, which killed around 138,000 people.
Aung San Suu Kyi has been in detention or under house arrest for 13 of the past 19 years since the junta refused to recognise the NLD’s victory in Myanmar’s last elections, in 1990.
Human Rights Watch said on Thursday that Ban should not accept the apparent concession from the junta of returning her to house arrest, instead of imprisoning her, as a sign of a successful visit.
“Time and again, the UN has politely requested Aung San Suu Kyi’s release, but her ‘release’ back to house arrest would be a huge failure,” said Kenneth Roth, New York-based HRW’s executive director.
Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, has been ruled by the military since 1962.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/
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Friday, July 3, 2009 4:16 PM
UK Embassy display giant Suu Kyi image
Fri, 07/03/2009 2:58 PM | World
INDONESIA: The British Embassy in Jakarta has displayed a giant image of jailed Myanmar democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi to call for her release and that of other political prisoners in the military-ruled country.
The image was projected onto a banner installed at the perimeter of the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle in Central Jakarta from Thursday until Saturday, the embassy said in a statement released Thursday. The projection will start at sunset.
The initiative is being launched as Suu Kyi’s trial resumes in Myanmar on Friday; United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is also scheduled to visit the country on Friday.
“The UK government believes it is essential that progress is made during the secretary-general’s visit in laying the groundwork for free and fair elections in Burma in 2010,” the statement said.
“The visit will offer an opportunity for the Burmese regime to respond to the many calls for the release of all political prisoners, including Aung San Suu Kyi; and to allow the start of a genuinely inclusive political dialogue involving the opposition and minority groups.”
British embassy deputy head of mission Matthew Rous said Myanmar’s neighbors had a duty to call loudly for Suu Kyi’s release.
“I am greatly encouraged by the fact that Indonesia’s voice is being heard so loudly and clearly. I hope the British Embassy’s initiative will help us all to keep Aung Sang Suu Kyi’s image in front of our eyes during this hugely important visit,” he said. – JP http://www.thejakartapost.com/
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The Straits Times: July 3, 2009
Ban meets Myanmar junta chief
NAYPYIDAW – UN SECRETARY General Ban Ki-moon held talks with the head of Myanmar’s military junta on Friday, an AFP correspondent said, after the UN chief said he would press for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.
‘This is my second time in your country and I am very pleased to continue our discussions,’ Mr Ban said in his opening statement to Senior General Than Shwe as they met in the remote capital Naypyidaw.
‘I appreciate your commitment to move your country forward…. I would like to contribute, to work together, for peace and prosperity,’ he added. — AFP
http://www.straitstimes.com/
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Evelyn Leopold
Veteran reporter at the United Nations
Posted: July 1, 2009 11:56 PM
UN Chief Visits Burma: A Political Gamble
UNITED NATIONS – U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon goes to Myanmar (Burma) for the July 3-4 weekend in what both friends and detractors view as a political gamble. With an agenda that asks the ruling military junta to open its doors to national “reconciliation” (which would end their solitary rule), Ban is convinced he can persuade the country’s recalcitrant leaders that reforms are for their own good.
The deck is stacked against him. He arrives on the day the show trial resumes against opposition leader and Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, 64. She was jailed after John Yettaw, an American Mormon, swam to her home, saying he had a vision that she would be assassinated by terrorists. She had never met him and is accused of violating the terms of her house arrest.
Suu Kyi was transferred from house arrest to prison after spending more than 13 of the past 19 years secluded in her home after her party, the National League for Democracy, won a huge victory in 1990 elections but the military refused to budge. Without any relief for Suu Kyi – and only the reclusive junta leader Senior General Than Shwe can grant that – Ban’s visit may disappoint.
For Ban, a former South Korean foreign minister, Myanmar is a challenge. He points with pride at convincing Than Shwe to allow UN agencies to deliver relief after Cyclone Nargis devastated coastal areas last May after everyone else had failed. He says the international workers helped save half a million people from ruin. Sadly, they arrived only after some 140,000 people had died, countless others lost their homes and at least 21 Burmese aid workers who sought to help survivors were jailed.
This time Ban’s goals are politically more ambitious and he listed three in several news conferences:
First, the release of all political prisoners, including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi; the resumption of dialogue between the government and opposition as a necessary part of any reconciliation process; and third, the need to create conditions conducive to credible elections next year.
Asked about the timing, he said, he was very conscious that it coincided with Suu Kyi’s trial but said finding an appropriate time had been a challenge. The UN chief said he intended to make a public speech and invite all civil society leaders to attend.
Ban will probably meet Than Shwe in the newly-built remote administrative capital of Naypyidaw, reachable by air or by bumpy roads. (When annoyed at the world body, Ibrahim Gambari, a Nigerian diplomat who has traveled to Myanmar on behalf of the secretary-general several times, was forced to go by road, although last week he flew by air, diplomatic sources said).
The United States has been steadfast in opposing the military and its planned restricted election next year, meant to legitimize the junta by keeping Suu Kyi and her followers away from campaigns and polls. In the last two years, the number of political prisoners has doubled to 2,100 according to Human Rights Watch.
Rape as a Weapon of War
Laura Bush, the former first lady who made Burma a personal project, wrote recently in the Washington Post that it was crucial Ban press the regime to take immediate steps to end human rights abuses, particularly in ethnic minority areas where rape was common. She said the youngest victim was 8, the oldest 80.
Inside Burma, more than 3,000 villages have been forcibly displaced — a number exceeding the mass relocations in genocide-racked Darfur. The military junta has forced tens of thousands of child soldiers into its army and routinely uses civilians as mine-sweepers and slave laborers…Human trafficking, where women and children are snatched and sold, is pervasive. Summary executions pass for justice, while lawyers are arrested for the ‘crime’ of defending the persecuted.
Although sanctions have been imposed by the United States and many European nations, Burma’s neighbors, including India and China, trade liberally in timber and other natural resources. And the giant French-based oil company Total does a thriving business, arguing that if it left, another oil company would take its place and pay less attention to the plight of its employees.
Various U.N. bodies have adopted some 38 resolutions against Myanmar without results. The 15-nation U.N. Security Council, whose resolutions are binding, was thwarted by a double veto from China and Russia (and a negative vote by South Africa) in January 2007. But the Council in May did agree on a statement calling for the release of all political prisoners, including Suu Kyi.
However, Bertil Lintner, a Swedish journalist who has written several books on Burma, says Ban’s visit is bound to fail. Authoritarian regimes “never negotiate away their hold on power” and usually crumble when someone inside the establishment, mainly troops, refuse to carry out orders, he
told the Wall Street Asia.
Western diplomats are divided on Ban’s trip. They welcome the U.N. chief bringing Burma to the world’s attention again. (The junta renamed the country Myanmar, which the U.N. but not the United States and other nations recognize). On the other hand, they fear that if he does not come away with substantial progress, his visit would serve to give the generals legitimacy. And that progress centers on Suu Kyi.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/
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UN to urge Myanmar leader to free prisoners
Published: 7:29PM Friday July 03, 2009
Source: Reuters
UN to urge Myanmar leader to free prisoners (Source: Reuters)
ReutersMyanmarese protesters during a demonstration outside the Myanmar embassy in Kuala Lumpur against the detention of Aung San Suu Kyi
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says he has a “tough mission” when he meets Myanmar’s top general on Saturday to urge the junta supremo to free all political prisoners and ensure next year’s elections are credible.
Ban said on arrival in Yangon he would ask Senior General Than Shwe when they meet in the country’s new capital, Naypyidaw, to allow him to see opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, whose trial was adjourned earlier on Friday.
“I’m going to urge (the generals) to accelerate their political process … and release all political prisoners, including Aung San Suu Kyi,” Ban told reporters.
He said he would convey international concern about Suu Kyi’s trial and press the regime to ensure next year’s planned multi-party elections are credible and transparent.
“The genuine will of the Myanmar people should be reflected,” Ban said.
The stakes are high for Ban and the risk of failure great.
Halfway through a five-year term at the helm of the United Nations, Ban has faced a wave of criticism from detractors who say his low-key approach to the job does not work. He is eager to prove them wrong, UN diplomats say.
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Ban made clear he was under no illusions about how difficult it would be to persuade the military junta in the former Burma to free prisoners and take concrete steps towards democracy ahead of next year’s multi-party elections.
“We must try our best to bring changes, he told reporters in Singapore before departing for Myanmar.
“I’ll do my best (but) I do not believe my visit should be a make-or-break event… This will be a very difficult mission.”
Meaningful dialogue
He said he would also press Than Shwe and Prime Minister Thein Sein to engage in “meaningful and credible dialogue” with Suu Kyi and the opposition.
Ban said he would meet with representatives of “registered political parties” in Naypyidaw, including Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy.
However, Suu Kyi herself will not be at that meeting and it was not clear if Ban would be able to meet her at all.
She has spent 14 of the past 20 years in detention, mostly under house arrest at her lakeside home in Yangon. It will be up to Than Shwe whether Ban sees her.
Her lawyer said her trial had been postponed until July 10, apparently because the Supreme Court did not send the case files to the North Yangon District Court, where Suu Kyi appeared on Friday.
“Daw Aung San Suu Kyi expressed her surprise that this happened,” Nyan Win told reporters.
The Nobel laureate, 64, was charged with violating the terms of her house arrest by allowing an American intruder to stay at her home in May, which prosecutors say breached a security law designed to thwart “subversive elements”.
However, critics say the charges are trumped up and that the trial is an attempt to keep Suu Kyi out of the elections next year, which are expected to entrench nearly half a century of army rule.
Human rights groups are watching Ban’s moves closely. According to several UN diplomats, New York-based Human Rights Watch advised Ban not to accept the junta’s invitation, warning him it could be used for propaganda purposes.
But Ban, the diplomats said, decided to go anyway, hoping his presence and knack for quiet diplomacy would persuade the generals to compromise, as they did last year when Ban convinced them to lift restrictions on the delivery of humanitarian aid to victims of Cyclone Nargis.
Analysts say Ban may have been given some indication by the generals, or by UN envoy Ibrahim Gambari after his trip last week, that his visit might bring some kind of positive result.
Human Rights Watch said Ban “should not accept the return of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi to house arrest or vague statements about political reform as signs of a successful visit”.
“If no commitments for reform are made, Ban should clearly and publicly state that a process that mocks the very idea of fundamental freedoms and democracy will have no legitimacy,” it said in a statement. http://tvnz.co.nz/world-news/
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July 3, 2009
Ban Ki Moon demands release of Aung San Suu Kyi
Richard Lloyd Parry, Asia Editor
Ban Ki Moon, the UN secretary-general, flew to the remote stronghold of Burma’s ruling generals this afternoon to demand the release of the democracy leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, and the country’s two hundred political prisoners.
In a high risk visit, which will be denounced by human rights groups if it fails to achieve results, Mr Ban travelled to Naypyidaw, the new capital built in the jungle three years ago, to meet directly with Burma’s Senior General Than Shwe.
“It is a very tough mission,” he said as he arrived. ““I’m going to urge (the generals) to accelerate their political process … and release all political prisoners, including Aung San Suu Kyi … The genuine will of the Myanmar people should be reflected.”
But it was not clear whether he would even be allowed to meet Ms Suu Kyi, who has been on trial since May because of a bizarre clandestine visit from an eccentric American.
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“I will try to meet with representatives of all registered political parties including Aung San Suu Kyi, that’s my hope,” he said before boarding a flight to Burma’s main city, Rangoon. “But I have to raise this issue with the Senior General directly, in person.”
The uncertainty about his schedule underlines the potential for embarrassment for Mr Ban. If he comes away without a significant compromise by the regime, he will further undermine the UN’s authority in a country where neither punitive sanctions nor diplomatic engagement have brought any obvious improvements.
“This is going to be, I know, a very difficult mission,” Mr Ban said. “But at the same time I know that to bring changes to Myanmar, political conciliation and democratization, we need to do our best.”
Ms Suu Kyi’s trail had been scheduled to resume today after a month-long adjournment, but after Mr Ban’s arrival it was announced that it had been delayed for another week.
She and two of her female companions are accused of violating the terms of her house arrest by giving food and shelter to John Yettaw, the eccentric American well wisher who swam uninvited to her lake side home in Rangoon after he had visions of her assassination in a dream.
She has spent more than 13 years under house arrest, since 1990 when her political party, the National League for Democracy, won an overwhelming victory in an election which has never been acknowledged by the government.
Since her arrest in May she and her companions have been held in a guest house in the grounds of Rangoon’s notorious Insein Prison, where their trial has also been conducted.
Apart from two days when journalist and diplomats were allowed to attend, the trial has been held in closed court. On Monday Burma’s Supreme Court rejected a request by her lawyers to allow two opposition politicians to appear in court to speak in her defence.
If convicted she would face a prison sentence of up to five years in jail, rather than under house arrest – conveniently for the junta, this would take her out of circulation until well after the election which it promises to hold next year.
The constitution under which the election will be held has been denounced as unfair by foreign governments and Ms Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy because it guarantees a place in Burmese politics to the military. It also excludes anyone with foreign relatives – a clause apparently aimed at Ms Suu Kyi, whose has two sons by her late British husband.
Mr Ban will also press for free and fair elections, and call for dialogue between the NLD and the State Peace and Development Council, as the junta styles itself. On his last visit to Burma, in the aftermath of the devastating Cyclone Nargis in May 2008, he achieved a personal triumph when General Than Shwe agreed to allow foreign aid workers into the disaster area after weeks of resistance.
But he played down expectations of success on this week’s visit. “I’m visiting Myanmar with certain uncertainties,” he said. “We must try our best to bring changes. I’ll do my best. I do not believe my visit should be a make-or-break event.” http://www.timesonline.co.uk/
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UN chief says Burma mission ‘very difficult’
By: AFP
Published: 3/07/2009 at 02:58 AM
UN chief Ban Ki-moon said Thursday he was embarking on a “very difficult” mission to Burma aimed at obtaining political results from the ruling military, but pledged to do his best.
United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon signs a guest book at the Istana presidential palace before meeting with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in Singapore. Ban Ki-moon said Thursday he was embarking on a “very difficult” mission to Myanmar aimed at obtaining political results from the ruling military, but pledged to do his best.
Speaking to reporters in Singapore on the eve of his trip, Ban said he had not received any confirmation that he would be allowed to meet with Aung San Suu Kyi, Burma’s jailed pro-democracy icon and opposition leader.
He said he will raise the issue of meeting with the Nobel laureate when he meets with Burma junta leader Senior General Than Shwe in the remote administrative capital of Naypyidaw on Friday.
“I will try to meet with representatives of all registered political parties including Aung San Suu Kyi, that’s my hope,” he told journalists here after a dinner hosted in his honour by former prime minister Goh Chok Tong.
“But I have to raise this issue with the Senior General directly, in person. I have not received any firm confirmation, but through (UN special envoy Ibrahim) Gambari I have clearly conveyed my wish to meet with Aung San Suu Kyi.”
Ban underscored the challenges during his visit, which the New York-based Human Rights Watch warned would be a “huge failure” if he fails to secure the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.
“It is a very difficult mission,” Ban said.
“But in order to bring changes to Burma in the political reconciliation and democratisation (process), we need to do our best.”
Ban said he was aware that he was visiting Burma “under certain uncertainties”, apparently referring to the resumption on Friday of Aung San Suu Kyi’s trial for allegedly breaching the terms of her house arrest.
She faces up to five years in prison if convicted.
“But I am going to convey the concerns of the international community about the slow pace of the political reconciliation and democratisation process,” he added.
As well as Senior General Than Shwe, Ban said he will also meet with Prime Minister Thein Sein and representatives of all registered political parties and former armed groups.
“Through my meetings… I will convey exactly what the international community expects and wishes (regarding) the way they want to see changes in Burma.”
He will also visit the region devastated by Cyclone Nargis last year to see recovery efforts.
Ban arrived in Singapore on Thursday from Japan and has already met Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, according to the city-state’s foreign ministry. http://www.bangkokpost.com/
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UN chief due in Naypyidaw on mission impossible
By: LARRY JAGAN
Published: 3/07/2009 at 12:00 AM
Newspaper section: News
The United Nations secretary-general Ban Ki-moon arrives in Burma later today, just over a year since his last trip there.
He will be raising both political and humanitarian issues with the junta’s top leader. But many critics and opposition politicians fear that it is a futile trip as the UN chief cannot expect to coax any significant concrete concessions from the generals during his visit.
Mr Ban says he will be forcibly conveying the international community’s concerns during his mission to Burma.
“The three most important issues [for Burma] at this juncture are the release of all political prisoners including Aung San Suu Kyi, the immediate resumption of dialogue between the government and opposition leaders, and creating an atmosphere conducive to holding credible elections,” the UN chief told journalists in Tokyo before he headed off for Burma.
He also wants to “consolidate and build on” the humanitarian aid efforts that were established in the aftermath of last year’s devastating Cyclone Nargis – the reason for his last visit to Burma in May 2008.
“We greatly hope that the Myanmar [Burmese] leaders will respond positively to the concerns of the international community during the UN secretary-general’s visit,” the secretary-general’s special envoy to Burma, Ibrahim Gambari, said. The UN diplomat will be accompanying his boss on this trip.
During his two full days in the country, Mr Ban will meet Senior General Than Shwe, government ministers, including the prime minister, representatives of Aung San Suu Kyi’s party the National League for Democracy (NLD) and leaders of the country’s ethnic groups that have ceasefire arrangements with Burma’s military regime, according to UN sources in New York.
The UN chief has also requested a meeting with the detained opposition leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, who is currently in Insein prison on trial for allegedly breaking the conditions of her house arrest. While they have not received any confirmation, UN officials believe it will be arranged after the UN chief meets Than Shwe in the Burmese capital, Naypyidaw.
Mr Ban will have two meetings with the junta leader, according to UN officials. The first will be a wide-ranging discussion on political and humanitarian issues. The second will be to follow up on some of the specific matters that were agreed on during the first session.
Mr Gambari cautions against raising expectations. “Nothing is guaranteed, but nothing will happen without a meeting with the senior general,” the UN diplomat said.
While the UN chief will certainly be meeting Than Shwe, there is no certainty that he will come away with any concrete results, although UN officials involved in the planning of the visit remain hopeful.
While the opposition is certain Mrs Suu Kyi’s release from prison is not one of them, the release of political prisoners may be something Than Shwe is prepared to offer.
“The SG [secretary-general] will be looking for a significant release of political prisoners during or after his visit,” said a UN official who is involved in preparing for Mr Ban’s trip but declined to be identified. “It will have to be several hundred for it to mean anything.”
More than 20 political prisoners on the list Mr Gambari submitted to the regime on his visit last year were released. But, of course, since then scores more have been sentenced to long jail sentences. There are at least 2,150 political prisoners currently in Burmese jails, according to the Britain-based human rights group, Amnesty International.
On the planned elections in 2010, the next step in the government’s road map to multi-party democracy, the UN chief will be trying to convince the regime to make it inclusive and credible.
“These elections must be transparent and democratic,” Mr Ban told journalists in Tokyo on Wednesday.
This means allowing the NLD to participate without harassment and intimidation. Mr Ban will be reminding the junta leader that he promised Mr Gambari that the NLD would be allowed to contest the elections when the two met in Naypyidaw in November 2007.
“The key point Mr Ban will also be making, is that the regime has already invested a lot in the road map, and that they should take the next step to ensure the results they want – a credible election both nationally and internationally,” an adviser to the UN on Burma told the Bangkok Post on condition of anonymity. The UN secretary-general knows that many of Burma’s allies and neighbours are particularly concerned that the elections are not a sham as the referendum was, and as most opposition politicians fear. China, in particular, behind the scenes is encouraging Burma’s military rulers to compromise and accept the support of the UN to make sure the elections are not simply dismissed by the opposition and most of the international community.
That will be easier said than done. For the NLD has made it clear the elections are not the issue – the constitution is the issue. This was drawn up without the involvement of the NLD and overwhelmingly passed in a referendum that was universally seen as a fraud. The NLD is demanding a constructional review, in which they are involved.
This is something the top general will not contemplate. He has made it clear the constitution – which in effect legitimises military rule in the form of a civilian administration – is non-negotiable. So the only real card Mr Ban has left is dialogue between the military regime and the pro-democracy parties, particularly the NLD. This has been the UN’s main aim since the first resolution at the UN General Assembly 20 years ago and numerous special envoys. The hope is the secretary-general might be able to achieve something his envoys have not.
“This is not a make-or-break trip,” Mr Gambari told the Bangkok Post. “The important thing is to keep the process of UN engagement in the country going, and, if possible strengthen and deepen it.”
Perhaps a crucial concession has already been made by the regime. The authorities have already promised to allow him to “have an opportunity of giving a public speech to civil leaders, NGOs and diplomats”, Mr Ban said.
This will be one of his last engagements before he boards the plane in Rangoon, according to a UN insider.
“If the trip goes well he can praise the government for their efforts; if it goes badly he can tell everyone what went wrong,” the source said.
This is something that neither Bangladesh nor Sri Lanka allowed when the UN chief recently visited – for fear the government would not like what he said.
The pressure will be on the junta to make sure the trip is a relative success, for the last thing the regime wants at this stage is another public relations disaster. http://www.bangkokpost.com/
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Ban’s Myanmar visit to fail without Suu Kyi release: HRW
Web posted at: 7/3/2009 7:25:32
Source ::: AFP
YANGON: UN chief Ban Ki-moon’s visit to military-ruled Myanmar this week will be a “huge failure” if detained democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi is not freed, a leading rights group said yesterday.
Human Rights Watch said Ban must take a firm stance with the junta during his two-day trip and press it to publicly commit to the release of all political prisoners and to engage in dialogue with the opposition.
The Nobel Laureate was transferred from house arrest to prison in May to face trial on charges of breaching the terms of her detention after an American man swam to her house. She faces up to five years in jail if convicted.
The New York-based rights group said Ban should not accept the return of Aung San Suu Kyi to house arrest, instead of imprisonment, as a sign of a successful visit. She has been detained for 13 of the last 19 years.
“Time and again, the UN has politely requested Aung San Suu Kyi’s release, but her ‘release’ back to house arrest would be a huge failure,” Kenneth Roth, HRW’s executive director, said.
“Ban Ki-moon has offered Burma’s generals a roadmap to ending their international isolation. He should make it clear that the time for stalling and playing games is over and that real change is needed now,” he added.
The UN secretary general is set to arrive in Myanmar on Friday—the same day as the trial resumes—and will meet junta leader Senior General Than Shwe in the remote administrative capital of Naypyidaw, officials say.
He is also due to meet members of political parties including Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy, although there are no plans yet for him to meet the 64-year-old opposition icon herself. HRW said Ban should not accept “vague statements” from the regime.
http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.
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Myanmar court postpones Aung San Suu Kyi’s trial again
Asia-Pacific News
Jul 3, 2009, 5:00 GMT
Yangon – A Myanmar court postponed the controversial trial of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Friday, minutes after the arrival of United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to the military-run country.
‘The trial has been postponed until July 10,’ Nyan Win, one of Suu Kyi’s lawyers, said.
On Friday defence witness Khin Moe Moe was scheduled to testify at a court set up at Insein Prison to try Suu Kyi for breaking the terms of her detention by allegedly permitting US national John William Yettaw to swim to her lakeside home-cum-prison on May 3 and stay until May 5.
‘Insein Prison court judges said they were still awaiting case documents from the Supreme Court so they decided to postpone Khin Moe Moe’s testimony,’ Nyan Win said.
The postponement was announced minutes after UN chief Ban arrived in Yangon on a two-day official trip designed to press Myanmar’s ruling junta to release Suu Kyi, the leader of the National League for Democracy opposition party, and some 2,100 other political prisoners in the military-ruled nation.
Ban was scheduled to travel to Naypyitaw, 350 kilometres north of Yangon, to meet with military supremo Senior General Than Shwe, and representatives of the NLD, other political parties and ethnic minority groups.
Ban is expected to urge Than Shwe to release Suu Kyi, but Myanmar watchers doubt he will succeed in persuading the general. It is still unclear whether he will be allowed to meet with Suu Kyi, who is now a resident of Insein Prison.
Suu Kyi’s trial began May 11. While the prosecution was allowed to present 14 witnesses in the first week, the defence was initially allowed only one. Later a second witness, NLD member and attorney Khin Moe Moe, was permitted.
Suu Kyi, who has spent 13 of the past 19 years in detention, stands accused of breaking the terms of her latest house detention by permitting Yettaw, a 53-year-old Vietnam War veteran and member of the Mormon sect, to swim to her house on Yangon’s Inya Lake May 3 and spend two nights there before swimming away.
Critics have accused the military junta of using the case as a pretext to keep the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize laureate in jail during a politically sensitive period leading up to a general election planned for next year.
Suu Kyi’s NLD won the 1990 general election by a landslide but has been blocked from power by Myanmar’s junta for the past 19 years.
The new trial of Suu Kyi, whose most recent six-year house detention sentence expired May 27, has sparked a chorus of protests from world leaders and even statements of concern from its regional allies in the Association of South-East Asian Nations.
http://www.monstersandcritics.
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YANGON, Myanmar, July 2, 2009
U.N. Chief In Myanmar to Lobby for Suu Kyi
Two-Day Mission Aimed at Winning Release of Opposition Leader
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Photo
- U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, left, arrives with Special Advisor to the U.N. Secretary-General on Myanmar Ibrahim Gambari, right, at the Istana, or Presidential Palace, Thursday July 2, 2009 in Singapore. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-e)
(AP) Officials say the U.N. secretary-general has arrived in Myanmar for a two-day mission aimed at winning the release of jailed opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Ban Ki-moon’s arrival in Myanmar on Friday comes the same day that Suu Kyi’s widely criticized trial resumes.
Officials speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to media said the U.N. chief had landed in Yangon.
Ban was due to meet later in the day with the head of Myanmar’s military junta, Senior Gen. Than Shwe.
Ban told reporters before his arrival that he would lobby the junta chief directly for Suu Kyi’s release.
http://www.cbsnews.com/
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Analysis: Why sanctions aren’t working in Myanmar
HONG KONG, China (CNN) — Be it Iran or North Korea, economic sanctions are a well-used weapon in the diplomatic arsenal for dealing with international disputes. But do they work?
Workers at TOTAL’s project in Burma unload pipe for the 1996 construction of the Yadana pipeline.
Consider the Southeast Asian nation of Myanmar. Ruled by the military since 1962, the state (formerly known as Burma) has been under sanctions from Western nations for more than a decade. Despite years of tightening economic pressure, military rule in Myanmar continues.
“I think sanctions have very little effect on the economy (of Myanmar) because they have very little in the way of international trade,” said Sean Turnell, author of Fiery Dragons: Banks Moneylenders and Microfinance in Burma and an economics professor at Macquarie University in Australia.
While the U.S., European Union and Australia have banned new investment, non-sanctioning countries are taking advantage of business opportunities in Myanmar, which is rich with natural resources like natural gas, timber, jade and rubies.
China, Thailand, India and Singapore already have lucrative deals in place with Myanmar’s military government.
Neighboring Thailand depends heavily on Myanmar’s offshore natural gas and hydroelectric dams to provide power to the Thai population. China has signed a deal to build a natural gas pipeline from the west coast of Myanmar into western China. Thailand buys about 30 percent of its gas from Myanmar and uses gas to generate about two-thirds of its electricity.
Despite the American and European sanctions currently in place, U.S.-based Chevron and French-based TOTAL are doing business in Myanmar today because their contracts were signed with Myanmar’s military government before international pressure was tightened.
The Yadana natural gas project, off the coast of Myanmar, involves three foreign firms: TOTAL, Chevron and the Petroleum Authority of Thailand (PTT). TOTAL has the biggest investment with a 31% stake in the project. TOTAL told CNN it paid $250 million in taxes to the Myanmar government in 2008.
Chevron did not respond to repeated phone and email requests for comment on this story, but Chevron’s Web site said the company’s local community projects benefit the people of Myanmar.
Western corporations have faced criticism for doing business in a country run by a government accused of human rights abuses. But these companies go to where the oil and gas lie — often in unstable regions of the world.
“What we provide is a different example of work, of business and what good governance should be about,” said Jean-Francois Lassalle, vice president of public affairs for Total. “Our employees have benefits from social pensions, employee representation, holidays and good contracts. We function in Burma the same way we do in Europe. In that sense, we’re trying to be an example.”
The company employs 250 permanent and more than 600 subcontracted workers in Myanmar, Lassalle said. TOTAL provides free medicine and education to the local population, along with funding for hospitals and orphanages. The company estimates its community projects affect 50,000 people in Myanmar.
French-based TOTAL says it paid $250 million in taxes to Myanmar’s government in 2008.
Taxes are based on the percentage of participation in the joint venture. U.S.-based Chevron did not respond to any of CNN’s questions about the venture.
85% of the gas produced from the Yadana project is sold to Thailand. This gas makes up about 20% of Thailand’s energy consumption.
SOURCE: CNN research
Yet Myanmar remains one of the poorest countries in Asia. According to some estimates, more than 30 percent of the population live under the poverty line.
The military regime has suppressed democracy movements for the past several decades. Myanmar’s most famous citizen, Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi — whose party won the majority of seats in the 1990 election — has been kept under house arrest and is currently on trial for alleged violations of her detention.
It is another indication of the military’s tight grip on power, despite sanctions. Some experts say more should be done to hit the military regime where it hurts: their personal bank accounts.
The Myanmar military elite have millions in overseas bank accounts, experts say.
Southeast Asia expert Jamie Metzl of the non-profit Asia Society, said freezing personal assets of the military generals was a good idea but cautions it would be an uphill battle. Metzl believes that any such move would need the support of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) which includes Thailand — a major trade partner — and Singapore.
“If sanctions [of freezing personal assets] were put in place and if ASEAN states including Singapore were on board, then conceivably, there could be a way to reach some of those assets, although the generals could move them elsewhere.”
Metzl noted that ASEAN tends to favor a policy of engagement with Myanmar: In other words, soft diplomacy rather than the harsh bite of economic sanctions. Unless all countries play ball, it is clear that economic sanctions can only do so much.
http://edition.cnn.com/2009/
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Should Ban Ki-moon visit Burma?
If the secretary general’s visit has little impact on the junta, it risks further damaging the UN’s credibility around the world
The UN chief Ban Ki-moon is tiptoeing across a sheet of thin ice as he makes his way to Naypyidaw this week, with the UN in a precarious position as it attempts to tackle the Burma problem. He will arrive on Friday for a two-day visit, during which the military generals may well lower their shields and allow him to meet Aung San Suu Kyi. If it goes ahead, the meeting will get a quick thumbs-up from the international community and a nudge further along the “progress” chart. Much of the world concerned with the fate of Suu Kyi, indeed the future of Burma, is pinning its hopes on this most senior of diplomatic visits – it is perhaps a last-gasp effort at rescuing Suu Kyi from another five years in detention.
Behind the scenes, however, Ban will be nervous. The fears he voiced when the invitation first arrived from Burma – that his moment with the generals will be manipulated into a show of legitimacy for one of the world’s most despised regimes – are a realistic prospect. The military government is notoriously fearful of accepting foreign dignitaries who are not from its small band of brothers, and thus keeps these trips to a minimum.
The result is that any such invitation can be used by the government to give itself a quick cosmetic lift. It briefly loosens the lid on the pressure cooker that Burma now is, midway through a trial that has brought international condemnation. It’s a diplomatic charade, an illusion of a concession, and human rights groups across the world have urged Ban not to go ahead with the visit. Suu Kyi herself told UN envoy Ibrahim Gambari in February that, while she was willing to meet anyone, she “could not accept having meetings without achieving any outcome”, and thus told Ban to stay away.
And that is the crux of the situation. Since January 2007, when Ban used one of his first speeches as UN chief to urge for the release of Burma’s political prisoners, their numbers have doubled. Since he visited in the wake of cyclone Nargis last May, more than 450 have been added. It is therefore difficult to keep promoting the idea of dialogue between the regime and the UN when all the evidence points to its inefficacy. “The UN has sent many representatives to Burma in the past but none of them has managed to negotiate a dialogue or bring a solution to the country’s problems,” said the head of the Committee Representing the People’s Parliament, Aye Thar Aung, adding that “I don’t expect any significant change to Burma’s politics out of Ban Ki-moon’s visit.”
There has also been the added problem of China. Whenever Burma provokes international uproar, as it seems to have managed every year for the past three, it will hide behind its bigger brother, which has the power of veto in the UN security council. With the Burma issue pitched between the US, the strongest critic of the Burmese regime, and China, the council is rendered a mere debating chamber.
This issue became obvious in January 2007 when both China and Russia, another close ally, vetoed a resolution calling for an end to state-sanctioned human rights abuses in Burma. The reason, they both argued, was that Burma didn’t threaten international security and therefore fell outside the council’s remit. Nine months later, the UN was condemned to sit and watch while the Burmese army opened fire on hundreds of monks demonstrating against a hike in fuel prices, with China’s only suggestion that troops show “restraint”.
The UN has, in the words of veteran Burmese journalist Ludu Sein Win, become “like a toothless tiger” taking on a regime that “doesn’t care about anything apart from holding onto power”. Whatever fangs Ban could have sunk into Burma’s generals have been blunted by the China veto and the fact that there are essentially no consequences for violating a security council resolution, were one now to be passed on Burma.
Survivors of the Darfur genocide and the Srebrenica massacre, where the UN was damaged by its inaction, are only too aware of this, which makes Ban Ki-moon’s visit to Burma all the more risky in the face of a population desperate for a positive outcome. Furthermore, the politically and emotionally sensitive timing of the trip, midway through the Suu Kyi trial, brings added risk and added pressure for results. If he comes away without any, he is likely to further undermine the UN’s credibility in Burma and in the rest of the world.
Poignantly, during a speech earlier this month to mark the 100-year anniversary of the birth of U Thant, a Burmese national and Asia’s first UN secretary general, who took office in the decade following the start of military rule, Ban spoke of the “sad irony that U Thant’s vision of democracy has not been realised in his own country”.
While the current UN chief may not have the same emotional bonds to Burma as his predecessor, the expectation from inside Burma now weighing down upon his visit will be equally heavy. Of course no-one expects to see results by Sunday, but they will want them soon, and they will want them to be substantial. Any minor concessions are a point to the regime, and a loss for an institution clawing for credibility not just in Burma, but in Africa, the Middle East and other parts of the world. Otherwise the international community, and even Ban himself, must admit that such a visit can do more harm than good.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/
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Burmese Exiles, Rights Groups Hold Hope for UN Chief’s Visit
By Daniel Schearf
Bangkok
02 July 2009
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon visits Burma Friday to push for the release of political prisoners and national reconciliation. His visit comes as Burma’s military rulers seek to jail democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Rights groups and Burma’s government in exile hope the U.N. chief’s intervention will make a difference.
The U.N. Secretary-General says his trip to Burma this week is first of all aimed at securing the release of political prisoners, including democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
The widely criticized trial of the Nobel Prize winner is set to resume Friday as Mr. Ban arrives for talks with Burma’s military rulers.
He acknowledged the sensitivity in the timing of his trip.
“While being conscious of this concern of international community, I’ll try to use this visit as an opportunity to raise strongest possible terms and convey the concerns of the international community of the United Nations to the highest authorities of Myanmar government,” said Ban.
Aung San Suu Kyi was arrested for allowing an unauthorized visitor to stay at her home. If convicted, she could face five years in prison.
It was not clear if Mr. Ban will meet with Aung San Suu Kyi.
U.N. envoys have long pushed the Burmese government to release all political prisoners and allow democratic reforms.
But in the past two years, the number of dissidents locked up has nearly doubled to more than 2,000.
Benjamin Zawacki, a Burma researcher for Amnesty International in Bangkok, says the arrests are part of the military’s plan to stamp out opposition ahead of next year’s controversial elections.
“This is clearly what’s driving them to keep Daw Aung San Suu Kyi behind bars or at least out of the way,” said Zawacki. “They’ve effectively locked up the opposition and thrown away the key. And, I say thrown away the key because they’ve sentenced them to extraordinarily long prison terms and sent them to the furthest borders of the country.”
Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy won Burma’s last elections in 1990 but the military never allowed them to take power.
The government has since kept her under house arrest for more than 13 years.
The military has also cracked down on ethnic rebels, sending thousands of civilians fleeing into refugee camps in Thailand.
Zin Linn, a spokesman for the Burmese government in exile in Thailand, says Mr. Ban should push Burma’s leaders, known as the State Peace and Development Council, to negotiate with the NLD leader. He says Aung San Suu Kyi is the only one who can bring together Burma’s various ethnic groups.
“The most important thing is he should suggest SPDC’s chief to sit down with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and have a consultation for the betterment of the country,” said Zin Linn. “Without this, the consequences may not be a good one.”
Burma’s government has planned elections for 2010 as part of what it calls a road map to democracy. But the army also forced through a constitution that guarantees its grip on power regardless of election results.
A senior British official in Rangoon, who did not wish to be named because of political sensitivities, told VOA the issue is not what Mr. Ban can achieve on this visit, but rather to what extent the military is willing to embrace change.
“I think the regime at the top are genuinely in some state of indecision on this,” said Ban. “Because, if they really just wanted to go ahead with the road map without any changes they could have done so a long time ago, and declared the election law and set out the precise terms under which these would be held. And, the fact that these are not out in the open means that there’s still room for them to reconsider what they need to do to make it far more inclusive and credible in the eyes of the world.”
The U.N. Secretary-General’s previous visit to Burma followed a devastating cyclone last year, when he helped convince the government to open up to foreign aid.
Burma was heavily criticized for not allowing foreign aid for several weeks while millions suffered in the wake of the deadly storm.
This time, democracy supporters hope Mr. Ban will help convince Burma’s leaders to open up their prisons. http://www.voanews.com/
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Can Ban Ki-moon handle Burma?
By Zin Linn
Column: Burma Question
Published: July 02, 2009
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Bangkok, Thailand — U.N. Special Envoy Ibrahim Gambari visited Burma for two days last week to prepare for a trip by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, the ruling junta’s state media reported. State television reported on June 27 that Gambari met with Foreign Minister Nyan Win in the capital of Naypyitaw and discussed preparations for the visit.
“The secretary-general looks forward to returning to Burma to address directly with the senior leadership a broad range of issues, including longstanding concerns to the United Nations and to the international community,” a spokesperson told reporters at the daily press briefing held at U.N. headquarters in New York on Monday.
Ban arrived in Japan on Tuesday for a three-day visit, during which he planned to meet Japanese Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone to discuss the trial of Burmese democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, as well as North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats, according to the Japanese Foreign Ministry.
Ban told reporters at U.N. headquarters in early June that he was prepared to visit Myanmar (Burma). “Promoting democratization, including the release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and other political prisoners, has been one of my top priorities and it will continue to be my top priority,” Ban said.
Suu Kyi’s trial has outraged her local and international supporters, who say the military regime is using the story of John Yettaw – the uninvited American who swam across a lake to her home, allegedly breaking the rules of her house arrest – as a pretext to keep her in custody through elections scheduled for 2010.
This will be Burma’s first election since the one Suu Kyi’s party won in 1990. It is widely believed that the junta wishes her off the political stage during the run-up to the polls.
Suu Kyi’s trial, conducted at a special court set up in Insein Prison, is scheduled to resume on July 3, the same day Ban arrives, according to a National League for Democracy source.
After his talks with Nakasone, Ban told reporters in Tokyo on Tuesday that he was aware of concerns about his July 3-4 visit coinciding with the trial of Aung San Suu Kyi, the main opposition leader, who has been under house arrest for several years.
“It may be the case that the trial happens during my visit to Myanmar (Burma). I am very much conscious of that,” Ban told reporters. “I consider that three of the most important issues for Myanmar cannot be left unaddressed at this juncture,” he said.
According to Ban, the first issue on his agenda will be the release of all political prisoners, including Suu Kyi. The other two points are the resumption of dialogue between the military rulers and the opposition and the creation of conditions favorable to a trustworthy election.
For Burma, there can be no proper democratic system while the Lady and some 2,100 fellow political leaders languish in the junta’s prisons. It is ironic that Suu Kyi, the freedom icon of our generation, is put through such inhumane treatment while the autocratic military talks of democracy to the world and to its citizens.
Burma’s pro-democracy movement has urged the international community to have responsible plans in place if the situation boils over in the approaching days. The area around the prison compound is heavily guarded and roads have been blocked off, as the military regime fortifies itself for a possible protest at the treatment of the democracy icon and Nobel Peace Prize laureate.
Around 70 Burmese were killed and hundreds were imprisoned following the last major public demonstrations, known as the Saffron Revolution, in September 2007. Currently there are over 2,100 political prisoners – including student leaders, ethnic leaders, members of Parliament, influential monks and many intellectuals – in various prisons in the military-ruled country.
The people of Burma have been asking for a concerted effort from major powers like India, China, the United States and the European Union, as well as regional bodies like ASEAN, to work together to find a solution to this unsustainable situation.
First, the United Nations should provide the most effective means of solving this crisis. It must work to defuse current tensions and secure the release of all political prisoners, including Suu Kyi.
Secondly, an emergency session of the Security Council should be convened without delay to discuss the situation in Burma and to decide upon what collective action can be taken in an effective manner.
This is precisely the time that the United Nations must lead, rally all powers, and show the world it is not organized to sit absentmindedly by while extensive injustice is perpetrated on the people of Burma.
The United Nations, the European Union and ASEAN ought to collaborate to convince China to cooperate in finding a solution for the crisis in Burma. Regional players should urge the military regime to abandon its recalcitrant policies in the interests of dialogue and reconciliation.
Burma’s generals must take into account the immediate release of the Lady and all political prisoners if it seeks peaceful settlement and reconciliation. It is a rare confluence of views that have seen the international community from the U.N. Security Council, the United States, the European Union and ASEAN taking the same view on the question of Aung San Suu Kyi.
To create a win-win equation, the military must recognize Suu Kyi as the ideal – indeed, the only relevant – dialogue partner for national reconciliation in Burma. If the generals continue their anti-dialogue stance, the poverty-stricken people of Burma will face further socioeconomic problems. This could cause a strong reaction against the 2010 elections, seen as a charade.
Besides, as long as Suu Kyi is in confinement, her popularity – which gave her a sweeping victory in the 1990 election – will not fade, it will only grow stronger. The fact is that people already know the process of the junta’s general election next year has almost nothing to do with democracy.
Nyan Win, the spokesman for Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy and a member of her legal team, told the media that his party welcomes Ban’s visit.
“His visit will focus on three main things: to release all political prisoners, to start dialogue and also to ensure free and fair elections in 2010. Regarding these three things, he needs to meet with Aung San Suu Kyi,” Nyan Win said.
Therefore Ban must cautiously handle the sensitive question of Burma during his July 3-4 trip, not only to keep his own promise, but also to produce a fruitful solution to a half-century-long political conflict.
– http://www.upiasia.com/
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Asia Times Online: Jul 4, 2009
BOOK REVIEW
Strength and dishonor
Building the Tatmadaw by Maung Aung Myoe
Reviewed by David Scott Mathieson
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/
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Asia Times Online: Jul 4, 2009
INTERVIEW
Missing the point on Myanmar
By Charles McDermid
HUA HIN, Thailand – Burmese writer and historian Thant Myint-U’s first trip to Myanmar (in this interview referred to as Burma) was in 1974, for the funeral of his much-revered grandfather U Thant, former two-term United Nations secretary general from 1961 to 1971.
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/
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