BurmaNet News, April 16 - 19, 2004

[Editor]

April 16-18, 2004 Issue # 2458

INSIDE BURMA
AFP: Myanmar backing out of April international talks on reform plans
AFP: Riot police bar Myanmar democracy activists from Suu Kyi's house
Irrawaddy: NLD’s National Convention Stance to be Maintained For Now
AP: Myanmar's military junta reopens headquarters of Suu Kyi's opposition
AP: Myanmar's military junta reconnects telephone to Suu Kyi's opposition
party HQ

REGIONAL
Nation: UN slams harassment of NGOs

INTERNATIONAL
The Age: Freedom Nears For Suu Kyi As Junta Seeks Compromise
AFP: EU presents Myanmar demands to Asian
EU Business: EU delays call for UN criticism of Myanmar

OPINION/ OTHER
Bangkok Post: Sanctions miss the mark
Independent: Suu Kyi is set to be freed 'within weeks'
Mizzima: When Women Speak: Shame, Evidence, and an Opportunity

STATEMENT
Foreign and Commonwealth Office, United Kingdom Government
USCB: Unofficial translation of the NLD statement, April 16, 2004

Time 100: A list of the 100 most influential people today
Aung Saan Suu Kyi listed in "Heroes and Icons" in the prestigious Time 100


INSIDE BURMA
_____________________________________

April 19, Agence France Presse
Myanmar backing out of April international talks on reform plans

International talks due in Thailand this month on prospects for democracy
in Myanmar have been thrown into doubt after the ruling junta signalled it
wanted a postponement, sources said Monday.

A Thai foreign ministry official confirmed that the second "Bangkok
Process" meeting to be held on April 29 and 30, after inaugural talks in
the Thai capital last December, may not go ahead as scheduled.

"The meeting is still on at the moment but it is subject to confirmation
within the next few days," the official told AFP, declining to comment on
reports Myanmar that had asked for a postponement.

A diplomat from one of the 17 countries slated to attend the meeting said
the military government was opposed to the forum going ahead so close to a
planned constitutional convention beginning in Yangon on May 17.

"It seems they have asked for a postponement and there are negotiations
between Thailand and Myanmar on finding a new date," he said, adding that
it appeared they were seeking a date after the convention begins.

"The Burmese have said they would go to a second meeting but right now
they don't want any more pressure, recommendations or advice. They want to
settle their own problems by themselves without external interference," he
said.

The diplomat said a postponement of the talks, at which Myanmar Foreign
Minister Win Aung was expected to enlarge on the regime's stated plans for
democratic reforms, would be "regrettable".

"This postponement raises doubts yet again about their sincerity. It's
annoying, and the Thais, who have been preparing for this meeting very
seriously, would of course like to go ahead with it or set a new date not
too far from the original one."

Another diplomat in Yangon said the change of plans signalled doubts
within the regime over what steps to take next, particularly as it was
expected to release opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest
shortly.

"It's an indication of how Burma was committed but things got a bit wobbly
at the last minute," he said, using the country's former name.

The Thai official also declined to confirm whether a low-profile visit to
Myanmar by Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai last week was aimed at
persuading the junta to attend the talks at the end of April.

The constitutional convention is the first step in the regime's
seven-point "roadmap to democracy" announced last year and billed as
culminating in free elections to end four decades of military rule.

There are high hopes that Aung San Suu Kyi will be freed within days, or
at least before the forum begins.

_____________________________________

April 17, Agence France Presse
Riot police bar Myanmar democracy activists from Suu Kyi's house
Yangon - Riot police barred Myanmar democracy activists from reaching Aung
San Suu Kyi's home after up to 400 members of her opposition party staged
a rare procession calling for her release.

The National League for Democracy (NLD) members, dressed in the party's
signature colours, had marched through the capital to a point on Inya lake
facing the Nobel peace laureate's home where she is being detained.
They released fish from earthenware bowls, in a Buddhist ritual marking
traditional new year's day which falls Saturday, but which took on
political significance as pressure mounts for the ruling junta to free
Aung San Suu Kyi.

"We Buddhists think it is better to release things and not harm things,"
said U Bala, an NLD member elected in disallowed 1990 national polls which
the party won in a landslide.

"We did this because we are praying for the release of not only our
leadership but also all of our co-workers who are presently in jail. This
ritual was on their behalf," he told AFP.

Military intelligence officers kept a close watch but did not attempt to
interfere with the procession, which was joined by several monks, and was
considered inviolate because of its religious nature.

However, when the group began to disperse about a dozen activists made
their way in small groups to Aung San Suu Kyi's University Drive home, but
were stopped by some 15 uniformed riot police.

The road is normally blocked off with barricades and a boom gate. Once
ordered back, the NLD members dispersed peacefully, witnesses said.
Myanmar's junta earlier Saturday re-opened the NLD headquarters which was
closed a year ago during a political crackdown that also saw Aung San Suu
Kyi and the rest of the NLD leadership taken into detention.

The move, and the release on Tuesday for two top NLD members, has
intensified speculation that Aung San Suu Kyi will be freed within days,
or at least before a national constitutional convention to be held on May
17.
The timing of the NLD procession Saturday, and its public nature, make it
an unmistakably political act that is almost unheard of in this repressive
state.

Mostly women, old people and members of the party's youth wing, the
marchers were dressed in the NLD's signature saffron shirts and green
longyis, or sarongs, and party badges were prominently displayed.

Their procession, which went for several kilometres (miles) and lasted
about an hour, began after a new year ceremony was held at the home of a
senior party member.

The gesture also indicated that the NLD remains unbowed despite a year of
repression and the closure of its branch offices nationwide which
effectively shut the party down.

After blocking the path of the marchers, the riot police redeployed
outside the NLD headquarters in downtown Yangon but remained in their
vehicle, witnesses said.
_____________________________________

April 19, Associated Press

April 19, Irrawaddy
NLD’s National Convention Stance to be Maintained For Now - Kyaw Zwa Moe

Burma’s opposition National League for Democracy, or NLD, will maintain
its current policy toward the National Convention if the military regime
doesn’t change things substantially, said NLD secretary U Lwin on Monday.

The NLD has not committed to attending the convention tasked with drawing
up a new national constitution, which is due to restart on May 17. It was
dissolved in 1996 after the NLD walked out claiming the proceedings
undemocratic.

"Now, the current situation is far behind ‘back to square one’," U Lwin
told The Irrawaddy this afternoon by telephone from NLD headquarters in
Rangoon. He said he hasn’t seen any substantial improvements yet, nor any
evidence that the junta will make improvements quickly.

When Aung San Suu Kyi is freed and sees substantial improvements, such as
the mass release of political prisoners and the reopening of all closed
NLD offices, she will be happy and say that those are improvements, said U
Lwin.

But he claimed that she would not think current conditions represent
anything special—that is, the release of NLD central executive committee
members and the reopening of only the party headquarters.

The junta allowed the National League for Democracy’s headquarters in
Rangoon to open on Saturday, almost 11 months after it closed all the
party’s offices. On Monday the government allowed the NLD’s telephone line
to be reconnected.

U Lwin said he had no idea when Suu Kyi will be released. She and vice
chairman Tin Oo are now the only two of the party’s nine-member central
executive committee still under house arrest.

The secretary claimed that military authorities told U Lwin and other NLD
executives that the new National Convention will go ahead next month
without the National League for Democracy if it chooses not to take part.

The re-launch of the convention is the first of a seven-step roadmap
announced by Prime Minister Gen Khin Nyunt in August last year for
democratic reform.

U Lwin said he is happy as he can start working now. "I will be more happy
if we achieve triumph."
_____________________________________

April 17, Associated Press
Myanmar's military junta reopens headquarters of Suu Kyi's opposition
party - Aye Aye Win

Yangon: Myanmar's junta has reopened Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San
Suu Kyi's opposition party headquarters, a month before a convention will
start drafting a new constitution for the country.

Saturday's reopening of the National League for Democracy was the latest
in a series of steps the government claims will bring democracy to the
country, and government critics called the move encouraging.

But they cautioned that it would ultimately be pointless unless Suu Kyi is
released from house arrest, and questioned whether Myanmar's hardline
leaders are really heeding international criticism or are just trying to
deflect it.

"It's good that the office is reopened," Nyunt Wei, treasurer for the
National League for Democracy, told The Associated Press. "We are hoping
for more good things to happen like the release of political prisoners."

The party has spearheaded the democracy movement in this Southeast Asian
country for the last 16 years and has been under frequent, persistent
government pressure. The government's campaign against it has eased
somewhat since last year, when leaders announced a seven-point road map to
install democracy.

Maung Maung Yin, another National League official, told the AP that he
watched as three government officials broke the wax seal on a lock of the
dilapidated party headquarters door in the capital, Yangon.

"They said, 'It is open now,"' Maung Maung Yin said.

Later Saturday, party members gathered to clean up the headquarters and
sweep away fallen leaves from around the building.

As part of its plan, the government will convene a National Convention on
May 17 to draft a new constitution for Myanmar, also known as Burma.

The convention is the first step in the junta's seven-stage "road map" to
democracy, which was announced last year by Prime Minister Gen. Khin
Nyunt.

Last week, the junta freed two other top NLD leaders - party chairman Aung
Shwe and secretary U Lwin - from house arrest so that they can attend the
convention. But the party said in a statement later Saturday that it will
only decide whether to attend after Suu Kyi and party vice chairman Tin Oo
are released.

"We strongly demand the release of the NLD vice chairman and general
secretary and the reopening of all NLD offices in the country," the
statement said.

U Lwin told reporters he had not been informed about the reopening
beforehand and demanded that the ruling junta also reopen NLD branch
offices countrywide.

The reopening coincided with the first day of the Burmese New Year, when
people believe doing good deeds will earn them merit.

The junta shut the party headquarters and all other party offices on May
31 in a nationwide crackdown on the alliance following a bloody clash
between supporters of Suu Kyi and a pro-junta mob the previous night in
northern Myanmar.

Suu Kyi and Tin Oo were detained around the time of the clash. All other
top NLD leaders were also arrested in Yangon and placed under house
arrest, but all have been released in recent months.

The current junta took power in 1988 after crushing a pro-democracy
movement. It called elections in 1990, but refused to hand over power when
the NLD won easily. Instead, it jailed hundreds of party workers.

After years of intense international criticism of its suppression of
democracy and disregard for human rights, the junta began holding
reconciliation talks with Suu Kyi in October 2000 but made no progress in
restoring democracy. The process came to a standstill after the May 30
violence and Suu Kyi's arrest.

Suu Kyi was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991.

_____________________________________

April 19, Associated Press
Myanmar's military junta reconnects telephone to Suu Kyi's opposition
party HQ - Aye Aye Win

Myanmar's junta restored telephone lines to the recently reopened party
headquarters of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Monday amid signs
that her release from house arrest was imminent, party secretary U Lwin
said.

A technician reconnected telephone lines to the two-story building housing
the National League for Democracy in the capital, Yangon. Lines also were
restored to the homes of some party leaders who were released from house
arrest last week.

Suu Kyi and vice chairman Tin Oo are now the only two members of the
nine-member NLD central executive committee, or CEC, still under house
arrest. The others were freed in batches and the party headquarters was
reopened on Saturday, the latest in a series of steps the government
claims will bring democracy to the country that has been under military
rule since 1962.

Asked by a reporter if he expects Suu Kyi to be released "in a day or
two," party chairman Aung Shwe said: "Yes, I strongly hope and expect that
she (Suu Kyi) will be released very soon."

He was speaking at the party headquarters after a meeting with the other
six CEC members.

It was the first time in almost a year that the CEC gathered at the
office. All CEC members were taken into custody and the party office
closed down after a May 30 clash between a pro-junta mob and NLD activists
in northern Myanmar traveling in a convoy with Suu Kyi and Tin Oo.

The two were detained incommunicado for a few months before being
transferred to their homes.

On Sunday, the U.N. special envoy to Myanmar expressed cautious optimism
that Suu Kyi would be released soon, saying "all indications point in that
direction."

The NLD has spearheaded the democracy movement in this Southeast Asian
country for the last 16 years, constantly battling government pressure.
The government's campaign against it has eased somewhat since last year,
when leaders announced a seven-point road map to install democracy.

As the first step in that plan, the government will convene a National
Convention on May 17 to draft a new constitution for Myanmar, also known
as Burma.

Some NLD leaders have been invited to attend but not Suu Kyi and Tin Oo.

Aung Shwe told reporters Monday that he has refused to accept the
invitation "in principle," saying the junta should have invited the party
rather than individuals.

However, this does not reflect the party position, Aung Shwe said. A final
decision on whether the party can attend the convention or not can only be
made by a meeting of all nine members of the CEC, possible after Suu Kyi
and Tin Oo are freed, he said.

The current junta took power in 1988 after crushing a pro-democracy
movement. It called elections in 1990, but refused to hand over power when
the NLD won easily. Instead, it jailed hundreds of party workers. Suu Kyi
was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991.


REGIONAL
_____________________________________

April 17, The Nation
UN slams harassment of NGOs - Rungrawee C Pinyorat

A United Nations Human Rights envoy has severely criticised the government
over what she labelled its harassment of non-governmental organisations
(NGOs).

Hina Jilani described Thailand's human rights record as worsening in her
report to the 60th session of the Commission on Human Rights in Geneva on
Thursday.

'Public statements by government officials denigrating defenders and NGOs,
attempts to control NGO funding, and surveillance and harassment of some
NGOs through state-security mechanisms are trends that have resulted in a
degree of tension between the government and the human-rights community,'
she said.

Jilani, special representative of the UN Secretary General at the session,
visited Thailand in May last year to assess the country's human rights
situation.

She said human rights workers had faced 'severe reactions" from
authorities when attempting to raise concerns about extra-judicial
killings committed during the government's war on drugs early last year.

More than 2,500 people were killed during the three-month anti-drug campaign.

Many of the deaths were thought to be extra-judicial killings.

Despite repeated calls from home and aboard, the government has yet to
give a substantive clarification of the deaths.

Jilani said Thailand's worsening human rights environment also negatively
affected the work of human rights workers in neighbouring countries,
including Burma.

The Thai government has made several attempts to regulate Burmese exiles
in the country and curtail their activities against Burma's military
government.

The United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees has been ordered by the
Thai government to stop issuing Burmese refugees with 'person of concern'
status.

Jilani urged the government to halt 'the negative trends'.

Chaiyong Satjipanon, Thailand's UN Ambassador and permanent
representative, responded to Jilani's report by saying: 'We obviously
cannot accept generalised comments and the inclusion of unsubstantiated
information."

He said the government should not solely bear the 'burden' of proving all
human rights violations.

Chaiyong defended the government's commitment to human rights, citing the
establishment of the Rights and Liberties Protection Department under the
Ministry of Justice to serve as a focal point in promoting human rights.

Charnchao Chaiyanukit, the department's director general, told The Nation
from Geneva that the government spent Bt40 million compensating people
wrongfully accused of crimes last year.

INTERNATIONAL
_____________________________________

April 19, The Age
Freedom Nears For Suu Kyi As Junta Seeks Compromise - Mark Baker, Asia Editor

Singapore -- Burmese opposition groups are preparing for the release of
democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi after fresh signs that the country's
military regime wants a political compromise to ease its international
isolation.

The freeing of Ms Suu Kyi - detained for almost a year after a violent
crackdown on her National League for Democracy - is seen as crucial to the
regime's plans to reconvene next month a national convention to draft a
new constitution to lead Burma out of four decades of military
dictatorship.

Hopes for the release of the 57-year-old Nobel Peace laureate were raised
on Saturday when authorities reopened the Rangoon headquarters of the NLD
- one of scores of party offices shut down in May last year.

"We expect she will be released in the near future. It's only a matter of
time now," Dr Sann Aung, a senior member of the opposition
government-in-exile, based in neighbouring Thailand, said yesterday.

UN special envoy Razali Ismail, who met Ms Suu Kyi during a visit to
Rangoon last month, said "all indications" pointed to her release, but he
was not certain it would happen.

In a statement released in Rangoon late on Saturday, the NLD warned that
it would not accept invitations to participate in the May 17 convention
unless Ms Suu Kyi and party vice-chairman Tin Oo were freed, and
amendments were made to the procedures and regulations of the meeting.

Several hundred opposition supporters who staged a rare protest march on
Saturday to demand Ms Suu Kyi's immediate release were turned back by
security forces before they reached the lakeside residence in Rangoon
where she is being held under house arrest.

Expectations of a political breakthrough in Burma were fuelled by the
release last week of NLD chairman Aung Shwe and another senior party
official.

Mr Aung Shwe revealed that he and Mr Tin Oo had been allowed a two-hour
meeting with Ms Suu Kyi several weeks ago at which they discussed the
regime's plan to restore democratic rule.

But he said no decisions on NLD participation in the convention would be
made until all nine members of the party's executive committee were free
and able to meet.

The NLD, which won a landslide election victory in 1990 only to be blocked
from taking power by the military, walked out of a first round of
constitutional talks a decade ago after accusing the regime of
stonewalling on promised reforms.

Under the plan announced last October by Prime Minister Khin Nyunt, the
regime has pledged a referendum once a new constitution is drafted and
possible national elections.

European foreign ministers decided at the weekend to continue to bar Burma
from their regular talks with the Association of South-East Asian Nations
until Ms Suu Kyi was freed "unconditionally and permanently".

Meeting in Ireland with their ASEAN counterparts, European Union ministers
voted to bar new ASEAN members Burma, Laos and Cambodia until the
repression in Burma eased.

"There will be no meeting if these conditions are not met," said Dutch
minister Ben Bot.
_____________________________________

April 17, Agence France Presse
EU presents Myanmar demands to Asian partners - Jitendra Joshi

Straffan, Ireland: The European Union and Asia held annual talks here
Saturday with the EU insisting on wholesale changes in Myanmar if the
military-ruled nation is to join the regional dialogue in the future.

Topping the demands is the release of democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi,
British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said ahead of the Asia-Europe Meeting
(ASEM), which is once again overshadowed by the Myanmar question.

The EU also wants Myanmar's junta to make good on promises to involve Suu
Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) and ethnic groups in a national
convention next month, the first step in a seven-point "road map to
democracy".

"And those are conditions, as far as we're concerned, for Burma's
(Myanmar's) acceptance into ASEM membership," Straw told reporters.

The two-day ASEM talks were being held at the exclusive Kildare golf club,
which will host the Europe-US Ryder Cup tournament in 2006 -- a venue
likely to please Asian ministers well-known for their fondness for golfing
diplomacy.

The talks chaired by the EU's Irish presidency involved 10 EU foreign
ministers, seven members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(ASEAN) plus China, Japan and South Korea.

The EU ministers headed to the golf club fresh from talks of their own in
the Irish town of Tullamore, ensuring a decent turnout on Europe's side
for this encounter -- unlike previous such meetings undermined by European
apathy.

"We're very delighted with the rather large turnout at this meeting. It
reflects the growing relationship that exists between the EU and Asia,"
Irish Foreign Minister Brian Cowen told reporters.

"The overriding theme of this meeting is effective multilateralism which
enables us to talk about the war on terrorism, the proliferation of
weapons of mass destruction, the Korean peninsula, the Middle East peace
process."

Cowen also raised the issue of the EU's enlargement in two weeks to take
in 10 more member states -- an issue that, to the EU's irritation, has now
become mixed up with the Myanmar row.

Myanmar, along with ASEAN's two other newest members Cambodia and Laos, is
not yet part of the ASEM dialogue.

The rest of ASEAN wants them to come to the next ASEM summit in Hanoi in
October -- and insists their attendance is a pre-condition if the EU wants
to bring along its 10 new members.

That argument has been summarily dismissed by the EU.

"For the European Union, there is no international forum where we don't
participate as a collective body. That means all of us. That's
non-negotiable," one EU source said.

For its part, ASEAN has stuck fast to its policy of not criticising its
members over their internal affairs despite strident criticism by Europe
and the United States of the military junta ruling Myanmar.

The EU source said the bloc welcomed signs of change in Myanmar, 14 years
after the NLD won a landslide election but was kept out of power by the
military.

That included the release of several of Aung San Suu Kyi's lieutenants and
a rare march through Yangon Saturday to mark the reopening of the party's
headquarters a year after a political crackdown.

EU External Relations Commissioner Chris Patten, addressing the start of
the ASEM meeting, said Europe was keen to move on its dialogue with Asia.

But he added, according to a delegate: "Just as we talked openly and
honestly about Myanmar (when ASEM ministers last convened), I hope we can
do so again."

The EU source said: "It's clear that people don't want to hang the whole
ASEM process on this Myanmar spike."

The EU and Asian foreign ministers held talks over dinner late Saturday
and were due to resume the meeting on Sunday morning before holding a
joint press conference.
___________________________________

April 16, EU Business
EU delays call for UN criticism of Myanmar

The European Union has delayed an attempt to seek United Nations criticism
of systematic abuse in Myanmar which was due to be put to the UN's top
human rights body on Friday.

The vote on the EU's draft resolution, which also calls for the release of
Myanmar's pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, has been postponed until
next week at the Europeans' request, a UN spokeswoman said.

"It will be next week, I don't have an exact date," human rights
spokeswoman Annick Stevenson said.

The issue of Myanmar's military junta and its clampdown on opponents
threatens to sour the climate of meeting of Asian and EU foreign ministers
in Ireland this weekend .

Asian countries in the 53 member UN Commission -- notably China --
traditionally bristle at attempts by western countries to get the assembly
to formally condemn human rights violations by a particular government.

But EU diplomats in Brussels were adamant that they wanted to maintain
pressure for improvements in human rights in Myanmar, although it has
slowed progress on expanding EU-Asian ties.

UN officials including Secretary General Kofi Annan have stepped up
pressure on Myanmar's government to free all political prisoners in recent
weeks, amid speculation that Aung San Suu Kyi could be released mid-April.

The military junta has set out a seven-point roadmap for change to
civilian rule, starting with a National Convention briging togethere the
country's main communities on May 17.

But human rights experts have warned that the bid would fail unless all
political detainees -- estimated to number 1,300 -- were freed
immediately.

Five opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) leaders were released
earlier this week after nearly a year of detention.


OPINION/ OTHER
___________________________________

April 18, Bangkok Post
Sanctions miss the mark - Myint Shwe

Arguments that sanctions in Burma mostly hurt the poor are convincing, but
they are unlikely to outweigh the political calculations which keep them
in place

In December of last year, Daewoo International Corporation of South Korea,
jointly with three lesser partners, discovered a huge natural gas reserve
in the Bay of Bengal in Burmese territorial waters. In Seoul last month
Daewoo announced to its shareholders that the recoverable gas reserve is
estimated to be from 4 to 6 trillion cubic feet, which is
energy-equivalent of from 700 million to 1.1 billion barrels of oil. The
new discovery is larger than the combined deposits of the two existing
world-class gas fields in the Andaman Sea which are now piping to
Thailand. Owning 60 percent of the stake, and with a steady customer
(India) waiting, Daewoo now sees an annual net profit of $86.2 million for
twenty years, starting from 2009.

These fabulous returns could have fallen to the British or American oil
giants (Premier Oil and Unocal) if not for the moral straitjackets put on
them by their governments, economic sanctions. It was in the year 2000,
three years after the Clinton administration first officially imposed
sanctions which banned new investments by American companies in Burma,
that the South Korean electronics and auto-maker signed a gas exploration
deal with Burma. The EU followed the US stance simultaneously. Due to the
sanction-induced pressures at home, Premier Oil sold its existing shares
in the Andaman to Malaysia's Petronas and quit the Burma market.

Worldwide, economic sanctions cost US companies between $15 billion and
$20 billion annually, according to one study. Just in the last four years,
the United States has authorised 61 unilateral sanction measures covering
35 countries and 42 percent of the world's population.

On the other side of the story, the leaders in Burma are under no real
economic pressure because of the sanctions, because of Burma's naturally
resilient economy and the common interests of its neighbors. Burma's
ruling military leaders have adapted to the more than four decades of
self- or externally-imposed isolation.

PIERCING THE PEOPLE

At the "micro" level, however, sanctions are hitting the society's poor.
Maung Pu, a young sculptor from Thar Kay Ta, a satellite town near
Rangoon, makes wooden animal and human figures for sale to tourists. He
lamented the situation over the phone to his friend Yaung Gyee Bway, an
exiled Burmese student now living in Fort Wayne, Indiana:

"I never doubt the good intentions of you guys, but we cannot sell our
sculptures any more. Before, our goods were always in demand; the shops
paid us on delivery. Later they asked us to leave them and collect the
money when they were actually sold. Now they don't even accept new
deliveries because there is no space left at the shop. Things remain
unsold. There aren't many tourists coming these days." Yaung Gyee Bway,
like most exiled Burmese, has supported the sanctions.

In 1996, Burma launched the campaign "Visit Myanmar 1996", to boost the
country's brand new tourism industry, with its aim to receive half a
million tourists a year, a fraction of those who annually visit
neighboring Thailand. The target was finally reached in late 2002. But
last August's new wave of sanctions brought the number back down to half a
million, at a time when Rangoon was hoping to further expand the industry.

A few months after the latest round of economic sanctions, Kyaw Yin
Hlaing, a Burmese assistant professor of Economics at the National
University of Singapore, visited his native country. He went to bars in
Rangoon and interviewed prostitutes. One woman told him:

"People say some have to sacrifice for the country. Look at us; they have
sacrificed us women, who have to turn to prostitution. Our lives will
never return to normal.

"We will never gain respect from people. Men want virgins (to marry) and
we are obviously not. We could get all sorts of diseases.

"And we ask ourselves, if we are the sacrifices, is it worth it?"

In the month that followed, BBC's Burmese language programme reported
similar stories: Young women from Burma arriving at Kanchanaburi's Sankhla
Buri, a Thai border district which is separated from Burma by only a
small, shallow river, looking for jobs. Many of them end up in the town's
brothels, said BBC.

The Bangkok Post has reported that sanctions imposed against Burma have
added impetus to the migration spree to Thailand. Illegal Burmese migrants
happily work in Thailand at rates even lower than Thailand's minimum wage.
Several Thai-owned garment factories located in Burma have closed down and
laid off a large number of workers as a result of sanctions, according to
an official at the Federation of Thai Industries' office in Mae Sot in Tak
province (Perspective, April 11, 2004).

Before the latest round of sanctions, the US imported $356 million
annually worth of Burmese textiles and garments, about one third of the
country's exports. In total, since the sanctions were imposed, more than
400 textile and garment factories have been closed. The number of women
who have lost jobs and a decent form of income by the closure of garment
factories is estimated at over 300,000.

Kyaw also found in Mandalay men and women who had been making their living
selling their traditional handicrafts during the brief, nascent tourism
industry who have now turned to fishing in rivers and lakes around Burma's
old capital. Their income is enough for survival only, far less than what
they earned from their artistic talents. Finding it impossible to make
ends meet, their children drop out of school due to a lack of money for
tuition or even stationery.

There are factors that have made sanctions blunt on the regime, but
piercing on the people. Political economy has a profound influence on the
explanation. Burma's old socialist era left a highly centralised state
structure. The state was the sole employer of the urban population. After
1988, the junta confiscated this state structure. The junta, the state and
the national economy became one entity, controlling all employment. The
urban population is cowed not only by employment opportunities but also by
subsidised prices on basic needs such as rice, cooking oil, gasoline and
diesel.

For their part, sanctions hinder foreign direct investments (FDI),
interrupting the post-socialist era privatisation drive that actually
enabled the old structure to remain intact. Sanctions that target the
junta invariably hit the population, since all employment and concessions
originate with the state (i.e., the junta). Private savings and
independent capital accumulation which would give rise to an
entrepreneurial middle class is hardly possible as the population is mired
in survival issues under the double yoke of the military junta and the
external economic blockades. There is no economic foundation to support
the civil society independent of the state. In this sense sanctions have
been part of the problem, not part of the solution as they were meant to
be.

The sanctions impacted the use of the US dollar in Burma's external
transactions, causing a liquidity chaos which hurt the retail trade for
months before Rangoon arranged to switch to the Euro for its foreign
transactions. Burma's border trade with Thailand sharply dropped. The
impact of this too was felt mostly by people with marginal incomes.

POLITICS OF SANCTIONS

Economic sanctions have been but roads to hell paved, probably, with good
intentions. American political scientist Richard Haas enumerates these
intentions. Sanctions, he says, are used to discourage weapons
proliferation, promote human rights, end support for terrorism, thwart
narcotics trafficking, discourage armed aggression, protect the
environment, and oust rogue governments.

To accomplish these ends sanctions may take the form of arms embargoes,
assistance reductions or cutoffs, export / import limitations, assets
freezes, tariff increases, import quota decreases, vote /veto in
international forums, a cut in diplomatic ties, visa denials,
cancellations of air links, credit, financing, and investment bans.

Burma has been under virtual economic and diplomatic blockade since late
1988. A renewed international outcry after Aung San Suu Kyi was put under
house arrest for the third time prompted the Bush Administration to
reinforce Clinton's 1997 sanctions, hence the "Burmese Freedom and
Democracy Act" of August 2003.

Two weeks prior to the signing into law of comprehensive sanctions by
President Bush, Burma's junta condemned the United States vote to tighten
economic sanctions. A spokesman for the regime said, in a statement titled
"Sanctions Used as Weapons of Mass Destruction", that the measures would
deprive people of job opportunities and hurt health care and education in
the impoverished nation.

"Sanctions are imposed on target countries by the rich and powerful
nations mainly with the intention to create havoc and bring hardship on
the mass population," he said.

Rangoon also sent Bush a petition signed by 350,000 textile workers
appealing the ban (AFP / July 16, 2003).

Aung San Suu Kyi first officially asked Western governments to imposed
economic sanctions on Burma in 1997. She reiterated her call in 2002, six
months after her second release from house arrest. Then waiting for the
junta's invitation for a political dialogue, she said it is not the right
time for foreign investors to invest in Burma or for tourists to visit
Burma. Even humanitarian assistance should be carefully considered, she
said. Washington and the EU have listened to her, causing Georgetown
University's Burma scholar David Steinberg to openly accuse the US State
Department of personifying US foreign policy on Burma in Aung San Suu Kyi.

Why is the Burmese opposition so persistent in pushing the politics of
sanctions? Failure of other tactics is the main reason.

Sanctions are also affordable policy tools for the liberal West. Haas
writes, "Sanctions are a huge slice of the US foreign policy pie; even
cities employ them. Officials like them because they are cheaper and
cleaner than war. They are popular because they appear to be a response to
challenges in which the interests at stake are less than vital. They are
also forms of expression, signals of official displeasure. They satisfy a
domestic political need to do something about norms such as human rights."

But the politics of sanctions runs counter to Asean's constructive
engagement policy on Burma, which now appears promising. Thailand, the
United States's long-standing policy ally on security, economic and human
rights matters, differs sharply with its bigger partner on Burma. Prompted
by Aung San Suu Kyi's last house arrest and the following comprehensive
sanctions measures by Washington, Bangkok hosted a conference at which
Rangoon proposed a "seven-step strategy' toward democracy in Burma,
nicknamed the "Bangkok Process". Though it is still in its very early
stages, the policy-legitimacy of the "Process" is bolstered by the
exhaustion of other approaches, particularly sanctions.

OUT OF AMMUNITION

In a break with the US, Thai Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai has
said the sanctions will hurt ordinary people. "We do not agree on
sanctions. And we have said that so many times because sanctions don't
lead to democracy. Sanctions create hardships for the poor, so we have a
different approach. We do not adopt sanctions," Mr. Surakiart said. "There
are already more than one million Burmese refugees in Thailand and more
will be driven across the border in search of work as the sanctions
tighten."

China also opposed the August 2003 economic sanctions against the Burmese
government in Rangoon. Thailand and China are not alone in having
reservations on the politics of sanctions. Last month, the Seattle-based
National Bureau of Asian Research published a collection of policy papers
on Burma by renowned American, British and Australian scholars. Its
executive summary highlights three main points:

"Sanctions have not achieved their aim of regime change; the United States
has no ammunition left if it continues to pursue sanctions; the
application of sanctions makes the United States looks strategically
irrelevant in the eyes of Myanmar's neighbors."

These are very strong statements that should not be ignored by
Washington's foreign policy community in the post 9/11 world order. They
pointed out the likelihood of increasingly pushing Burma from the West's
orbit. Most observers would assume that this had been accomplished long
ago. But verbal retorts aside, the summary says that, "The current
military elite is 'instinctively' pro-Western. Burma's elopement with
China is caused by the West's unwise push."

They pointed out the need to include Burma in the West's grand calculus
against global terrorism. A recent firebombing and murder attempt at the
Burmese embassy in Kuala Lampur demonstrated that Burma is not exempt from
the common threat. The rise of the Taliban in Afghanistan showed that
attention to the peripheries is critically important for security at the
core. Is there any likelihood of a US policy turnaround on Burma in the
light of new developments or perceptions?

A couple of weeks ago, Secretary of State Colin Powell told the Senate he
supports the renewal of economic sanctions on Burma in July. This is
understandable given the state of US domestic politics. Mired in Iraq, the
Bush Administration faces uncertainty of its re-election. To keep
supporters on board from all quarters, the White House has to leave the
pet issues of various constituencies unchallenged. A string of
heavy-weight politicians _ including former Secretary of State Madeleine
Albright, senators Diane Feinstein, John McCain and Richard Lugar and
Mitch McConnell _ have weighed in on the importance of keeping the
sanctions in place. Most recently, signs that the World Bank and Asian
Development Banks are willing to re-engage Burma irritated the Republican
Senator McConnell, who launched a scathing attack on the Bangkok Process.
He vowed that no funding for Burma through these banks would be
forthcoming from his subcommittee.

UN covenants regard the right to proper food, health, education, and
employment to be human rights equally important to political freedoms.
They cannot be put on hold for the sake of political ambitions. This is
more so for Third World postcolonial states with long multiethnic civil
wars. Burma needs development, particularly development for remote areas
where ethnic minorities live. Lack of this development has been the real
reason for national disunity and civil war, and the sanctions deal such
development a mortal blow.

If Washington and the West have invested considerably in the Burmese
political opposition and democratisation, these interests can still be
addressed through approaches other than sanctions. Along with Asean,
Australia has already taken alternative approaches of their choice.

Sanctions are ineffective, says the massive anti-sanction literature. This
general statement is correct but incomplete. Ironically, economic
sanctions more often than not help undemocratic regimes linger on in
power. After sixteen years of western blockades, the world now sees in
Burma the existing military regime entrenched and even rejuvenated.

Twenty years ago the Princeton scholar Robert O. Keohane - in his book
"After Hegemony: Cooperation and Discord in the World Political Economy
(1984)"- wrote that, "The United States has contracted a disease of the
strong; it is slow to recognize mistakes, even slower to correct them." In
regard to the case of sanctions in Burma, at least, his words still ring
true.

- Myint Shwe is an interning journalist at the Bangkok Post. He has a M.A
in Political Science from York University in Canada.
___________________________________

18 April, The Independent
Suu Kyi is set to be freed 'within weeks' - Jan McGirk

Generals encourage hopes for democracy - but observers warn of empty
gestures aimed at easing international sanctions

As Burmese Buddhists let caged songbirds fly free as part of the Thervada
New Year rites yesterday, supporters of Aung San Suu Kyi, the opposition
leader, hoped the ruling junta would follow suit and release the 1991
Nobel Peace Prize-winner after nearly a year of house arrest.

Riot police faced down hundreds of democracy activists who marched through
Rangoon yesterday to demand freedom for Ms Suu Kyi. On the far side of
Inya lake, opposite the villa where the National League for Democracy
leader is held, an orderly crowd released fish from clay bowls and put a
political spin on ancient Buddhist rituals. The generals released five
other NLD leaders last week, and political analysts are optimistic that
Burma's stoical "Titanium Orchid" will be next.

The release could come in time for her participation in a multi-party
constitutional convention on 17 May which, the generals insist will be a
step towards "free and fair elections", the first on a seven-step
"roadmap" to democracy in Burma - or Myanmar, as the government prefers.

Results of the last election, held 14 years ago, were cancelled by the
military after the NLD won a landslide victory. Ms Suu Kyi, the triumphal
presidential candidate, has been locked up intermittently as a prisoner of
conscience for almost nine years. Some 14 Nobel laureates, including
Seamus Heaney, VS Naipaul and Günter Grass, formally petitioned Rangoon
for her release late last week.

"I'm encouraged it's going to happen," said Razali Ismail, the UN special
envoy. But more pessimistic Burma-watchers warn that the junta may be
making easily reversible democratic gestures aimed at ending the country's
status as an international pariah and easing economic sanctions.

A Western diplomat noted that without the main political opposition at the
table, a new constitution would have no international legitimacy. But
approving one would effectively scrap the 1990 results, a huge sacrifice
for the NLD.

The military regime claims that it offered Ms Suu Kyi her freedom months
ago, but that she refuses to leave her lakeside home in Rangoon until all
1,300 of her imprisoned party members are let go. Three jailed NLD leaders
were escorted to visit her in secret last month, and they reportedly spoke
for two hours about future political strategies. The party's 76-year old
vice president, Tin Oo, is still detained, but senior politicians Aung
Shwe and U Lwin, both comrades of Ms Suu Kyi's murdered father, were
released last Tuesday.

Aung Shwe, 85, told reporters: "We did talk about their [the generals']
roadmap with her, but we have not made any decision yet. We will do it
only after discussions among all nine central executive committee
members."

NLD party headquarters in the city centre were unceremoniously reopened
yesterday. Soldiers removed a padlock and chain fixed to the door with an
official wax seal, which had been in place for nearly a year. Another sign
that repression may be easing is the junta's failure to censor last
month's Reader's Digest, which features Ms Suu Kyi's face on the cover and
a six-page profile extolling her as "The Soul of a Nation". The magazine
sold out in a day, and clandestine photocopies of the article continue to
flood black markets from Rangoon to Mandalay. Allowing a graphic
description of last May's "Black Friday" massacre to be openly sold was
almost certainly intentional.

As many as 70 people are thought to have died on the night of 30 May 2003,
when thousands of men armed with sticks and rocks attacked a convoy led by
Ms Suu Kyi and NLD supporters. She was then locked in "protective
custody".

Ms Suu Kyi's steely obstinacy attracts admirers worldwide: Bono, the
activist rocker, penned a paean to the charismatic 58-year-old in this
week's Time magazine. But her decade-long impasse with General Than Shwe
has frustrated some young democrats. "Many observers, including former NLD
members, find Aung San Suu Kyi's leadership rigid and uncompromising in
negotiations with the military," David Steinberg, a Georgetown University
professor, told The Washington Post earlier this month.

The NLD walked out of the first constitutional convention in 1996, after
denouncing the draft document as undemocratic. Ms Suu Kyi had been banned
from the meetings, and she was outraged by clauses that required military
quotas in the government and that forbade office-holders to risk divided
loyalty by marrying foreign spouses. That would have disqualified Ms Suu
Kyi since her husband, the Tibetologist Michael Aris, was British. The
Oxford don died of prostate cancer in 1999 without even a deathbed visit
from his wife because she feared the generals would bar her return. Her
sons Alexander and Kim live in the UK.

Held captive in her family home, she shows her resolve with a strict daily
routine. She rises at 4:30am, pins blossoms in her hair, listens to the
BBC World Service, then meditates, and works out on a treadmill. She
passes time with embroidery, letter writing and re-reading literary
classics. She plays the piano and retires by 9pm.

Last time she was freed from house arrest was in May 2002. Perhaps wary of
derailing a possible reconciliation, the European Union postponed a draft
resolution against systematic rights abuse in Burma, which was due to be
put before the UN's top human rights body on Friday. It also had called
for the immediate release of Ms Suu Kyi.

With trade sanctions against Burma coming up for a renewal vote in
Congress, the US State Department recently lambasted the junta for its
"egregious abuses" and "economic mismanagement" that have provoked a
humanitarian crisis in a resource-rich nation.
___________________________________

April 18, Mizzima
When Women Speak: Shame, Evidence, and an Opportunity - Naw May Oo, Naw
Dorcus Moo, Saw Aw Baw Mu, and Saw Kaw Htoo

"Shattering Silences," the Karen Women Organization (KWO) report on the
rape of women by Burma Army troops, is a compilation of first-person
voices and testimonies of the Karen women in areas of armed conflict in
Eastern Burma.

It is reminiscent of last year's highly publicized report "License to
Rape" published by the Shan Women's Action Network (SWAN) and Shan Human
Rights Foundation (SHRF).

As evidenced by the painful stories recounted in the KWO report, these
rape victims have been deeply traumatized and haunted by these cruel
experiences and painful memories. The report is also a powerful reminder
that the "gentleman's cease-fire agreement" between the Karen National
Union (KNU) and the ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) has
yet to become a reality on the ground, especially for the Karen
communities in the armed conflict zones of Karen state.

Unfortunately, while the prevailing culture in Burma condemns rape as the
most despicable crime, even worse than murder, it still shuns rape
victims.

The thunderous silence that results is being shattered as these Karen
women feel compelled to tell the world their shame-filled, traumatic
experiences. These courageous women believe that to remain silent and live
with this injustice and personal violation of the worst imaginable kind
would destroy their souls, not just their bodies. Indeed it is essential
for them to tell their accounts of rape and those of their fellow victims
who were murdered by the rapists. For not only must the world be made
aware of the harsh consequences of the prolonged armed conflict in Karen
State, it also should compel the SPDC to prevent further victimization of
women who have no other option than to live in Burma's conflict or
cease-fire areas.

The report does not bode well for the establishment of a formal cease-fire
- and hopefully - lasting peace in Karen state. Many supporters of the
on-going cease-fire efforts between Burmese generals and the KNU
leadership shake their heads in disbelief at the denials categorically
made by the SPDC regime regarding Burma Army Troops and the rape and
murder of a significant number of Karen women throughout Karen state.

The degree of truth in the KWO rape report may be questioned by the SPDC,
but to outwardly dismiss the Report in which 125 women attest to being
victims of rape does not help in advancing the talks between the two
groups.

Institutions and authorities worldwide do not like to admit to problems of
sexual violence and sex abuse within their own organizations as such news
heightens a fear that their image and reputation will be irreparably
damaged. In the face of clearly irrefutable truth, that Burmese troops
rape and murder women in civil war zones, the SPDC will only damage their
image further by continually denying reports of rape.

Authorities in Rangoon need to make sure that the Burmese troops in the
war zones of Burma understand unequivocally that they will be held
accountable for these crimes of rape and murder. The Burma Army is
controlled tightly through the central chain of command, and if the troops
are delivered a stern warning that the Central Command in Rangoon means
business this time, a significant drop in the rape or rape-and-murder
cases can be expected.

In addition to sending a strong message to the rank and file, there are a
few practical steps that the authorities can take in order to address this
systemic problem of sexual violence by troops toward ethnic minority women
in the armed conflict zones.

In light of the on-going ceasefire efforts between Rangoon and the KNU, it
is crucial that both sides find ways to work together to address this
serious issue in a constructive and timely manner so that the ceasefire
efforts may not get derailed by an emotionally explosive issue such as
rape and murder of Karen women. While the report "Shattering Silence"
clearly creates a headache for the authorities in Rangoon, it also
presents them with an opportunity to prove that the troops are not raping
ethnic minority women as a matter of state policy.

The authorities may assign the responsibility of looking into the matter
seriously to the national women organization, namely the Myanmar Maternal
and Child Welfare Association (MMCWA). MMCWA should begin fact-finding
regarding the allegations or reports of rape and other sexual violence,
establish a mechanism to monitor the situation on the ground and recommend
a line of actions aimed to curb and eventually end the use of rape as a
weapon of war by the Burma Army troops.

The well-known patrons of this association represent the most powerful
segment of Burma - the wives of the ruling generals - and they are in a
position to undertake the enquiry about the rape reports.

The KNU should officially ask the SPDC to arrange for a meeting between
the representatives of the MMCWA and KWO in order that the woman readers
from the two organizations may explore ways to work together toward the
reduction and eventual elimination of rape as an institutional weapon of
war. Individual acts of violence toward Karen women in war zones and
ethnic minority women in general must be stopped. The two organizations
are concerned about women's issues and therefore could set up a joint
fact-finding commission concerning the rape report and work together to
promote the well-fare of women and children in the Karen state.

Armed forces around the world have serious problems dealing with the
allegations of rape, gang rapes, and other sexual violence, especially in
war and armed conflict zones. The Burmese military is no exception.

Given the fact that the Burmese troops have been well documented to have
raped ethnic minority women ("License to Rape" by SWAN/SHRF), it is highly
probable that the women in "Shattering Silences" are telling the truth.
The onus is entirely on the SPDC to prove otherwise.

Not only is rape a shame for the victims, it is also a shame for the
perpetrators as well. The recurring raping and pillaging of minorities,
especially in armed conflict areas, is a profound disgrace for the country
of Burma, especially when the authorities reject the truth and people
remain silent about the crimes of rape. With power comes responsibility
and the SPDC authorities must now demonstrate that they are serious about
righting the wrongs of the army, the institution which served them well
over the past four decades.

Naw May Oo, based in Washington, D.C., is Director of Communications at
Free Burma Coalition (FBC). Naw Dorcus Moo, a founding member of the Karen
Students' Network Group (KSNG), a Thai-Burma border-based organization
striving for education and political freedom for Karen people, is
currently studying International Relations at Hartwick College, N.Y. Saw
Aw Baw Mu is studying law at Victoria University of Wellington in New
Zealand. Saw Kaw Htoo, based in Canada, is Research Associate at the
Institute of Education and Development Studies (IEDS).

STATEMENT
___________________________________

April 18, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, United Kingdom Government
Asem "More Relevant and Necessary Than Ever" Says British Minister

The Asem process, the latest meeting of which has just concluded in
Kildare, Ireland, is "invaluable" to the success of Asia and Europe,
British Foreign Office Minister Mike O'Brien said today.

Before leaving Ireland, Mr O'Brien said "we have had a warm and productive
meeting in Kildare.

The British Government remains absolutely committed to the success of the
Asem process. Indeed, Asem has never been more relevant or more necessary.
We live in an increasingly shrinking world. Whether from international
terrorism, trade, poverty or the environment, the world is facing more and
more common problems, which can only be solved through united and
effective international co-operation. Strengthening the close relationship
between Asia and Europe is vital to the security and prosperity, not only
of our own peoples but of the wider international community as well.

The dialogue we have established through Asem reflects our commitment to
multilateralism. Asia and Europe share a common agenda on many issues and
by uniting together we can be more effective in securing our shared
objectives. Where we do not agree, Asem allows us to discuss our
differences, as friends, and helps us to build on mutual understanding of,
and respect for each other's views.

We also discussed Burma. Though I cannot pretend that Europe and Asia
agree on every aspect of the Burma issue, we are both united in our view
that we need to see positive change in Burma. If the military regime can
deliver what it purports to promise - to release the democratic
opposition, including Aung San Suu Kyi, and to allow all parties to
participate in a fully functioning and representative National Convention
- these will be important steps towards national reconciliation. We, our
European partners and our Asian friends stand ready to encourage that
process."

Press Office, Downing Street (West), London SW1A 2AH

___________________________________

April 16, US Campaign for Burma
Unofficial translation of the NLD statement, April 16, 2004
National League for Democracy, Rangoon

Announcement

1. National League for Democracy (NLD)’s Chairman U Aung Shwe and
Secretary U Lwin were released from over 10 months house arrest on April
13, 2004.

2. However, two top leaders of the NLD, Vice Chairman U Tin Oo and General
Secretary Daw Aung San Suu Kyi are not free yet. All NLD offices
nationwide including party head quarters are still forced to shut down and
NLD is still not allowed to perform its political functions. These are the
facts that NLD couldn’t accept.

3. We demand seriously to the authority to release NLD’s Vice Chairman and
General Secretary and to allow the reopening of all party offices. We, NLD
CEC members will not make the decision on national convention without Vice
Chairman and General Secretary.

4. At this stage, national convention convening commission announced on
March 30, 2004 that it would reconvene the temporarily suspended national
convention on May 17, 2004 at Rangoon and that the invitations would be
sent to the delegates in time. Actually, national convention was suspended
for nearly 8 years from 1996 to May 17, 2004.

5. We learnt that invitations to attend the national convention are being
sent to the delegates individually. On April 7, 2004, the authority came
to NLD Chairman and delivered the invitation as an individual. NLD, as a
legal political party, believe that we should receive the invitation for a
whole party. Therefore, Chairman refused to accept the invitation letter.

6. We would like to highlight that NLD has already informed constructively
and frankly its attitudes toward national convention, which was started in
1993, to national convention working committee’s Chairman on November 27,
1995 with the letter 066/C/95 and 067/C/95. In these letters, we
highlighted that the intention of convening national convention is to
adopt the fundamental principals that will include in the new constitution
to build up the genuine multi-parties democracy country as expected by the
people. In other words, function of national convention is laying the
foundation of democracy. In this regard, we seriously highlighted that we
found some procedures and methods of monitoring of the national convention
should be necessary to modify. In our letter 066/C/95, we explained detail
descriptions of improper methods of convening that against with democratic
principles. The authority chose to neglect our letters.

7. Therefore, we sent another letter 070/C/95 to Chairman of national
convention convening commission on November 28, 1995, that explained the
party’s position. In this letter, we informed the authority clearly that
NLD’s delegates would stop attending the convention and wait until
national convention become successful venue with good intentions of
achieving national reconciliation, emergence of multi-parties democracy
country and emergence of state constitution, acceptable to the majority of
people of Burma.

We assumed that current national convention convening commission should
have knowledge of the letters and facts as we mentioned above.

 8. However, 1993 national convention convening commission made a decision
against the convening procedures to expel NLD delegates, within 48 hours
of receiving the NLD letter.

9. According to the NLD’s policies toward national convention as mentioned
above, if upcoming convention is a continuity of the previous convention
with previous procedures, we have no reasons to attend the convention.
Convening procedures and practices should be in line with democratic
principles.

 10. As the authority is trying to reconvene the previously suspended
national convention, we found the followings:

(1)   1993 national convention convening procedures should be reviewed and
modified according to democratic principles as we intend to build Burma as
a democratic country.

(2)   There are no meetings and discussions yet to review and modify these
convening procedures.

(3)   We assume that the authority will continue to hold the 104 basic
principles adopted by the previous convention.

(4)   NLD head quarter, as a legal political party, is responsible to
select and organize the NLD delegates to attend the convention and so that
NLD (HQ) should be invited as it happened in 1993.

(5)   There are not sufficient times to discuss this issue among the party
leadership as party leaders are being detained and date of invitations and
date of commencement of the national convention are too close.

(6)   The authority have not repealed yet the decree (5/96) that imposed
20 years imprisonment to those who criticized the national convention and
that make obstacles to have free discussion and debate during the
convention.

(7)   If there were no prior discussions between the authority and the NLD
to make convening procedures democratic, we might have to withdraw again
from the convention even we attend and that make international community
and people of Burma discredit the authority.

11. Therefore, we announce that national convention convening commission
should consider our constructive suggestions above.

Central Executive Committee
National League for Democracy
Rangoon, April 16, 2004
---------------------------------
Rough translation by Aung Din, USCB
___________________________________

Time 100: A list of the 100 most influential people today

[Aung Saan Suu Kyi listed in "Heroes and Icons" in the prestigious Time
100 - Ed}

http://www.time.com/time/2004/time100/index.html

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/story.jsp?story=512515