BurmaNet News, March 8, 2005

[Editor]

March 8, 2005 Issue # 2670


INSIDE BURMA
AFP: Myanmar student activist freed after 14 years in prison

ON THE BORDER
Prothom Alo via BBC: Bangladesh, Burma to exchange prisoners

BUSINESS / MONEY
Thai Press Reports: Thai northern border trade reported at bt13.3 bn

REGIONAL
Nation: Human rights award: Shan woman wins honour
Nation: Women in Buddhism: Suu Kyi, Poonsuk recognised
Manila Standard: Under siege
Thai Press Reports: Thai government not to crack down on tsunami-hit
immigrant workers
New Straits Times (Malaysia): 23 Rohingya refugees detained
South China Morning Post: Dams 'won't harm' Mekong River nations

OPINION / OTHER
Irrawaddy: Not a day for women in Burma


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INSIDE BURMA

March 8, Agence France Presse
Myanmar student activist freed after 14 years in prison

Yangon: A leading Myanmar student activist, Ko Saw Min, has been released
after 14 years in prison, fellow former student leaders told AFP on
Tuesday, but 14 other activists have been arrested.

Ko Saw Min, considered the second most prominent leader of the student
movement that spearheaded pro-democracy protests in 1988, was released
within the past few days, former student leaders said.

Myanmar's current junta took power after brutally suppressing the student
protests, leaving hundreds and possibly thousands dead.

Fellow activists said Ko Saw Min, now 41, was unsure of his political future.

"He said he still believes democracy will prevail, but that he is too old
to be an activist," one activist told AFP.

"He said he was so surprised that his baby daughter had grown up to be a
15-year-old girl," he added.

The top student leader, Min Ko Naing was freed in November among some
9,000 detainees released by the junta.

But 14 other pro-democracy activists have been arrested at the weekend, as
two were released after authorities restricted their movements for nearly
one month, one of the activists said Tuesday.

Cho Cho Kyaw Nyien said she and U Thuway were taken back to Yangon, after
authorities had restricted their movement around a hotel in Taunggyi in
Southern Shan state since February 9.

"U Thuway and I were not arrested, but our movements were restricted for
one whole month before being released and brought back here to our homes"
in Yangon, Cho Cho Kyaw Nyien told AFP.

But 14 others who had also been confined around the hotel have been
arrested and taken to Insein prison outside Yangon, where they are
believed to be standing trial along with Hkun Htun Oo, the chairman of the
Shan Nationalities League for Democracy, political party sources said.

"We are quite uncertain about the reason for our being eventually freed
and not jailed like the others," Cho Cho Kyaw Nyien said.

U Thuway, who headed the now-defunct Democracy Party, has already spent
seven years in Insein prison.

Cho Cho Kyaw Nyien said she believed that Myanmar's military rulers
planned to use her and U Thuway as witnesses in the secret prosecution of
Hkun Htun Oo and other ethnic Shan leaders.

She and the rest of the group held around the hotel had travelled to
Taunggyi to mark Shan State Day on February 9.

Around the same time, Hkun Htun Oo was arrested in Yangon, drawing
expressions of concern from Washington.

Hkun Htun Oo is believed to have been charged under an act against
"destructive elements," political party sources said.

Relatives and lawyers for the imprisoned Shan leaders have not been
allowed to see them.

Hkun Htun Oo's Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD) has joined
Nobel peace prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy
(NLD) in boycotting the junta's national convention, which resumed
February 17 to draft principles for a new constitution.

The constitutional talks are the first step on the junta's seven-step
"road map" to democracy, but the NLD refuses to participate until Aung San
Suu Kyi and her deputy are freed and party offices are allowed to reopen
around the country.

Aung San Suu Kyi remains under house arrest, along with her deputy. Her
party won 1990 elections in a landslide, but the military rulers never
allowed them to take office.

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ON THE BORDER

March 8, Prothom Alo (Bangladesh) via BBC
Bangladesh, Burma to exchange prisoners

Dhaka: Border guards of Bangladesh (Bangladesh Rifles, BDR) and Myanmar
(Burma) held a flag meeting yesterday (7 March) in Cox's Bazars' Teknaf.
Apart from discussing smuggling and border trade, the meeting also decided
to exchange prisoners of the two countries.

A seven-member team led by Myanmese Immigration Commander Yu Tung Tung
Aung crossed Naf river and arrived at Teknaf. The chief of 23 Rifles
Battalion Lt-Col Mohammad Ibrahim led the Bangladesh team.

The two-hour meeting, held at the rest house of Roads and Highways
Department, discussed various issues including smuggling, Rohingya
infiltration, border trade and exchanging prisoners. It was decided that
Myanmar and Bangladesh would exchange 97 Bangladeshi prisoners held in
Myanmar and 172 Myanmese prisoners in Bangladesh.

Lt-Col Ibrahim told journalist after the meeting that focus of the meeting
was exchanging prisoners between the two countries. The Nasaka (Burmese
border guards) authority is to let Bangladesh know about their decision in
a couple of days, he added.

______________________________________
BUSINESS / MONEY

March 8, Thai Press Reports
Thai northern border trade reported at bt13.3 bn

Cross-border Thai exports rose 60% last year, BOT reports, The Nation
reports.

Trade across Thailand's northern borders achieved a surplus of US $ 346.2
million (Bt13.3 billion) last year, the Bank of Thailand reported
yesterday.

The central bank's senior director in the northern region, Somsak
Wongpanyathaworn, said cross-border exports had increased more than 60 per
cent year on year and had earned $ 431 million.

He said imports had increased by 48.5 per cent, and had cost $ 84.8 million.

Somsak said that exports across the northern border to Burma had soared by
96.2 per cent in 2004 to reach a total value of $ 355.3 million. This was
despite a slowing in trade in the third quarter of last year because of
the political situation in Burma.

Imports from Burma had also increased dramatically, by 89 per cent, in the
same period because of a higher demand for cattle, buffaloes and seafood.

Cross-border exports to Laos rose by 76.8 per cent and were valued at $
23.3 million. This was mainly due to demand in Laos for longan fruit grown
in the North.

Conversely, the Bank of Thailand said the northern border trade showed a
sharp decrease last year in agricultural products exported to southern
China. This was due to new conditions of export under the Thailand-China
free- trade agreement, which prompted the trade to opt for sea transport
out of the southern ports of Klong Toei and Laem Chabang, rather than the
traditional Mekong River port of Chiang Saen, in Chiang Rai province.

As a result, exports to southern China via the North fell by nearly 30 per
cent, to $ 52.3 million, while imports from southern China rose by 14.9
per cent to $ 30.5 million.

Somsak said it was too early to tell whether the decrease in cross-border
trade with China would be a long-term consequence of the free-trade
agreement.

However, the state of the Mekong River is presently the main obstacle to
continued trade on the traditional route.

Chiang Rai commerce office head Huan Trisat said the current drought had
dried up parts of the river and some exporters were transporting products
to China by road via Mae Sai and Burma.

_____________________________________
REGIONAL

March 9, The Nation
Human rights award: Shan woman wins honour - Subhatra Bhumiprabhas

Documenting sexual violence against Burmese refugees recognised as huge
contribution

A 23-year-old Shan activist has been named a winner of the 2005 Reebok
Human Rights Award for her struggle against the rape of women in Burma's
Shan state.

Charm Tong, a member of Shan Women's Action Network (Swan), was recognised
as a resolute defender of the rights of refugee women and children on the
Thai-Burmese border.

Charm Tong has been combating sexual violence against women in her
homeland and along the Thai-Burmese border for years. She was a researcher
in a team that produced the report "Licence to Rape", a document that
revealed the Burmese military regime's use of sexual violence against
ethnic women in Shan state.

"Licence to Rape" details 173 incidents of rape and other forms of sexual
violence by Burmese troops committed against 625 girls and women in Shan
state, mostly between 1996 and 2001.

Charm Tong is herself a refugee from Burma. At the age of six, her parents
sent her to the Thai border to escape the war between the Shan ethnic
minority and the Burmese government. She was forced to leave her hometown
in central Shan state. Living as a refugee on Thai soil, she received an
education at a local orphanage, learning about and witnessing the fate of
young refugees around her.

Many of her friends ended up in the sex trade or working as child labourers.

At 16, Charm Tong joined Swan and helped coordinate a campaign to draw
international attention to the plight of Shan women - both the victims of
rape in her homeland and those fleeing to Thailand. The young activist
took a risk working along the Thai-Burmese border to interview victims and
document their cases in "Licence to Rape", which was released in 2002.

After releasing the report, the Swan office was forced to close. Charm
Tong and her Swan co-workers then worked underground, moving from one
place to another in a bid to stay safe. Thai authorities, fearing the
report would harm bilateral ties with Burma, threatened them.

The report grabbed international attention and was high on the agenda at
the 59th annual meeting of the UN Commission on Human Rights.

Rangoon has consistently denied the allegations detailed in the report.

Burma's Prime Minister Lt-General Soe Win last week addressed the annual
meeting of the Myanmar [Burma] Women's Affairs Federation, and said
Burmese women enjoyed equal rights with men and had done so since birth.

"Unlike the women of other nations, Myanmar [Burmese] women do not need to
make demands nor struggle for women's rights as they have enjoyed these
rights since birth," Soe Win was quoted as saying in The New Light of
Myanmar.

Charm Tong said Soe Win was making a laughing stock of himself by saying
such things.

"Everyone knows that Burma is ruled by a military dictatorship, ruled by
men at every level, who are denying women their rights in every sphere of
society," she said, adding that the Myanmar Women's Affairs Federation was
just a token organisation, totally controlled by the military.

"It used to be headed by Khin Nyunt's wife, and now that Khin Nyunt has
been ousted, it is headed by Soe Win's wife. What kind of an independent
women's organisation is that?" she added.

The Reebok Human Rights Award began in 1988, to recognise young activists
who have made significant contributions to human rights.

______________________________________

March 7, The Nation
Women in Buddhism: Suu Kyi, Poonsuk recognised - Subhatra Bhumiprabhas,
Aree Chaisatien

Activists awarded for outstanding courage in face of injustice, suffering

Aung San Suu Kyi and Thanpuying Poonsuk Banomyong have received a UN
"Outstanding Women in Buddhism" award for their peaceful courage in the
face of grave personal hardship and political crises.

The two women were among 20 award-recipients named at a ceremony at the
United Nations Building, Bangkok, yesterday, to mark the 2005 United
Nations International Women's Day which takes place today.

Suu Kyi of Burma and Thanphuying Poonsuk of Thailand have similar
experiences of political crises in their respective countries: they have
campaigned for freedom and democracy and they have been imprisoned.
Poonsuk, 93, had to live in exile for decades, while Suu Kyi, 60, is now
under house arrest for a third time.

Suu Kyi is recognised for the example she has given in peaceful conflict
resolution and equanimity in the face of suffering and injustice. She has
been held since May 2003 following clashes between her supporters and
pro-government forces in Northern Burma. The first time the Burmese junta
placed her under house arrest, she was detained for six years, between
1989 and 1995. Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD Party) won a
landslide victory in the general election in 1990, but the junta refused
to recognise the result. The second period of Suu Kyi's house arrest was
for 20 months, between July 2000 and May 2002.

In her book "Letters from Burma", Suu Kyi refers to the first time she was
under house arrest as "Days of Rest" and pointed out that she started each
day with an hour of meditation. On the subject of gender, Suu Kyi says it
is not the prerogative of men alone to bring light to the world.

"Women with their capacity for compassion and self-sacrifice, their
courage and perseverance, have done much to dissipate the darkness of
intolerance and hate, suffering and despair," Suu Kyi was quoted as
saying.

Poonsuk, widow of Thailand's first senior statesman and former prime
minister Pridi Banomyong, is honoured for her work over the last sixty
years to bring peace and hope to the younger generations.

Poonsuk always supported her husband, who led the 1932 peaceful revolution
in Siam. During World War II, she joined the Free Thai Movement, resisting
the invading Japanese side-by-side with Pridi and other Thais to bring
peace to the Thai people and the rest of the world.

When a political storm was brewing around Pridi, Poonsuk calmly endured
injustice several times. She was accused of offences against the internal
and external security of the Kingdom and detained between November 1952
and February 1953. Poonsuk refused to give in, observing the teachings of
the Buddha that "Dhamma always protects those who practice Dhamma". Now
93, she is president of the Pridi Banomyong Foundation, established to
encourage young people to continue the goodwill and work of the older
generation in preserving independence, freedom and democracy.

Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga was honoured for her
encouragement and support for the peaceful resolution of the conflict in
her country. Nepalese activist Stella Tamang also received an award for
her role as an international facilitator for peace and conflict resolution
in the last seven years.

Well-respected Dhamma writer Upasika Ranchuan Intrakamhaeng is recognised
for her work in promoting peace. She has penned more than 20 Dhamma books
to promote a life of true peace and happiness. She has instilled Thailand
with a love of reading by helping to establish libraries, schools and
literacy promotion programmes.

Among other women to receive awards were: Sister Jotika Hermes, the abbess
of Amsterdam's Buddhavihara Temple; Bhikkuni Dr Gotami, who established a
Buddhist temple in Massachusetts and counsels Southeast Asian immigrants
from Cambodia, Laos, Burma, Thailand and Vietnam in need of help; Bhikkuni
Sang Won Sunim who founded her own temple Bo Myung Sa in Seon Hwak Won in
Korea and established an international sisterhood for world peace in
Japan; Suchinta Bhikkuni who serves the Sri Lankan community in the USA
and is committed to internationally supporting women's higher ordination;
Dr Thynn Thynn, a Dhamma Burmese teacher who established the Sae Taw Winn
II Dhamma Centre in California and wrote a book entitled "Living
Meditation: Living Insight", which was translated into Dutch, German and
Vietnamese; Bhikkuni Hong-Xiang Shih, the abbess of Jing-Ci Temple in
Taipei, who established exchange visits by nuns from her temple and those
in Korea; Maechee Arun Pet-Urai, has dedicated her life to promoting the
status of maechees in Thailand and served as the Secretary of the Thai
Maechee Institute from 1981-1993; Nurse Vilas Porphraphai who has devoted
her life to service at Maharaj Hospital in Nakhon Si Thammarat, setting up
a medical equipment centre to reduce equipment shortages, and developing
new equipment to meet the specific demands of patients.

_____________________________________

March 8, Manila Standard
Under siege - Luis Teodoro

‘Government pressure on media came in a variety of ways, including threats
against the profitability of media enterprises. In addition, journalists
can't defend themselves, much less defend the people.'

Bangkok: What's press freedom for, and why fight for it at all? Several
Burmese journalists attending a basic journalism course in Bangkok asked
officials of the Southeast Asian Press Alliance (Seapa) this question
during an interview last week. There were no easy answers.

The reason for the journalists' concern: the killing of journalists in the
Philippines, the increasing number of threats against journalists in
Indonesia, and the steady erosion of press freedom in Thailand.

Media organizations from these three countries founded Seapa in 1999 to
defend press freedom and help other countries achieve it. The Indonesians
had just overthrown the dictator Suharto; Thai democracy had been restored
after decades of military rule; and the Philippines was into its third
freely elected president after Edsa 1986. Their examples were a beacon to
the rest of the region, especially Burma.

Burma (Myanmar) has been under military dictatorship for over two decades.
One of the dictatorship's main targets is the media. The media situation
in Burma was described by Seapa executive director Roby Alampay as "the
worst in Southeast Asia, and arguably in the world," among other reasons
because there are more journalists in prison in Burma than anywhere else
in the region. So severely are journalists targeted by the dictatorship
that many of those attending the workshop who had to return to Burma were
there under assumed names, and studiously avoided TV and still cameras.

Although the killing of journalists in the Philippines and the spate of
libel suits against Indonesia journalists are distressing enough, press
freedom has also been under threat in Thailand. The critical year in this
process was 2001.

Media mogul Thaksin Shinawatra organized the Thai Rak Thai (TRT-literally,
"Thais Love Thais") party that year out of several smaller political
parties and factions. The TRT coalition won the 2001 elections with an
unprecedented 342 seats, making it the largest parliamentary bloc in Thai
history.

This made Thaksin Shinawatra prime minister -- and, because of his control
of parliament, the most powerful man in Thailand. TRT has since combined
populist policies and support for the United States foreign policy to
boost Thaksin's popularity further.

Thaksin won a second mandate last Feb. 5 through TRT's capturing even more
seats -- 377 out of 500 -- in parliament, thus putting Thailand under
one-party rule. TRT's victory occurred despite growing concern within
Thailand and among human rights groups over what the US group Human Rights
Watch describes as "steadily eroding respect for human rights."

"Thailand has gone from being a beacon of freedom and respect for human
rights in the region to being a country of high concern," HRW's Asia
director declared last February. "Much of the steady progress Thailand had
made in the last decade has been rolled back under Thaksin's tenure."

HRW cited "severe human rights violations" against Thais in the southern
provinces where a Muslim insurgency is raging. The most recent was the
death last October 2004, of 86 protesters already in the hands of security
forces. HRW also mentioned the extrajudicial killing ("salvaging") of
2,500 suspected drug dealers during a much publicized government campaign
to wipe out the drug trade.

In a report released only last Feb. 28 -- and which has already created
friction between the Thai and the US governments -- the US State
Department also alleged that human rights violations were escalating due
to extrajudicial killings and arrests in southern Thailand, and criticized
government interference with the media.

Thaksin is regarded as extremely sensitive to criticism, especially media
criticism.

Concern has risen in recent years among Thai journalists and media watch
groups over the future of press freedom in Thailand primarily because of
Thaksin's aggressive efforts to silence media through a variety of ways.

A former Thaksin finance minister, for example, is buying into The Nation
Group, which publishes The Nation, one of two English language dailies in
Bangkok. The Nation is critical of Thaksin, thus his cronies' effort to
take control of it. Thaksin's family already owns the only "nongovernment"
TV station in Thailand (two others are owned by the Thai Army).

In another forum on "Press Freedom and One-Party Rule" held to celebrate
Thai Press Freedom Day at the Press Association of Thailand offices in
Bangkok last March 5, Nation senior editor Sopon Onkgara warned that the
Thai media situation could eventually "be as bad as in Burma and Nepal,"
and pointed out that the international free expression watchdog Freedom
House has downgraded Thailand's media rating from "free" to "partly free."
(Sopon has been barred from appearing on television and from speaking over
radio.)

Sopon said government pressure on media came in a variety of ways,
including threats against the profitability of media enterprises. In
addition, he said "journalists can't defend themselves, much less defend
the people."

A well-known freelance TV and radio reporter, Pichien Amnart-voraprasert,
said that anyone speaking "more than 30 percent of the truth" in the media
could get into trouble with the Thaksin government.

A professor at Chulalongkorn University's Faculty of Communication Arts,
Pirongrong Ramasutr Rananand alleged that the media under Thaksin had
fallen into three categories: government partisans, government
mouthpieces, and those engaged in self-censorship. She urged media to
counter excessive government power through proactive efforts to educate
the public.

As the Burmese journalists asked, what's press freedom for? And
considering the threats to it in the Big Three of Press Freedom in
Southeast Asia including Thailand, why fight for it at all?

Alampay had an answer: Press freedom, he said, empowers people by arming
them with the information they need to make decisions on public issues.
What's more, it builds communities and links them with others.

As for the threats to it in those countries that had won it, what they
teach, Alampay told the journalists present, is that press freedom has to
be constantly defended if it is to fulfill its promise to the peoples of
Southeast Asia. Winning press freedom isn't the end of the process. It is
only the beginning.
_____________________________________

March 8, Thai Press Reports
Thai government not to crack down on tsunami-hit immigrant workers

The Thai government has no policy of cracking down on illegal foreign
workers affected by the 26 December's tsunamis, the Ministry of Labour has
announced.

The Permanent Secreatary for Labour, Charupong Ruangsuwan, on Friday
dismissed recent press reports that the ministry had ordered arrests of
illegal immigrants who volunteered to assist in relief efforts in the
country's six southern tsunami-affected provinces, including Phuket,
Phang-nga, Krabi, Trang, Ranong and Satun.

"Since the disaster occurred over two months ago, the Ministry of Labour
has had no policy or any instruction regarding arrests of the foreign
workers", Mr. Charupong said.

He also described as unfounded media reports that a large-scale crackdown
on foreign immigrants, especially Myanmar workers, was going on in those
provinces.

The reports said the crackdown was driving away as many as 2,000 foreign
immigrants into forests.

Mr. Charupong said the ministry had, instead, distributed leaflets in the
Myanmar language, calling for the immigrant workers from the western
neighbouring country affected by the tsunamis to come forward for
assistance.

The move attracted about 300 of the immigrant workers, he noted.

Mr. Charupong said that the ministry had provided assistance to all
tsunami-affected workers fairly, regardless of their nationalities.

_____________________________________

March 8, New Straits Times (Malaysia)
23 Rohingya refugees detained

Kuala Lumpur: Immigration officers detained 23 Rohingya refugees who were
staging a hunger strike at the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
headquarters here today.

The refugees were protesting the UNHCR's delay in sending them to a third
country.

"We have nowhere to go," said Yunnus Nazir, 25. "We can't get a job, as
our UNHCR official refugee identification cards are not recognised by
Malaysian employers.

"We have no rights whatsoever. We have no money for food and our children
cannot get their education."

Currently, some 10,000 Rohingyas from Myanmar are living in Malaysia.

Many have been waiting to be sent to a third country for 10 to 15 years,
since fleeing to escape persecution in Myanmar's northern Rakhine State.

UNHCR head in Malaysia, Dr Volker Turk, said in a Press statement that
UNHCR recognised the plight of the refugees and empathised with them.

"We were heartened by the Malaysian Government's decision to grant
temporary stay permits to the Rohingya refugee community late last year,
but since then we have not heard any further news on this matter."

_____________________________________

March 8, South China Morning Post
Dams 'won't harm' Mekong River nations - Ray Cheung

Beijing: Plans to develop the Mekong River will not harm nations
downstream, a senior official has said.

Suo Lisheng, deputy minister of water resources, said China had
established a framework for consulting southwestern neighbours to protect
the river's ecology.

The 4,800km river originates in the Tibetan Plateau and flows through
Yunnan province , Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam.

"Through this framework, all parties can discuss their interests regarding
the Mekong River," Mr Suo said on the sidelines of yesterday's CPPCC
session. "We are committed to not damaging the interests of the other
countries."

Beijing plans to build eight dams on the river, known in Chinese as the
Lancang, with two already built. International environmental groups and
some nations further down the river have labelled the scheme destructive,
saying the river's ecology had been damaged.

Mr Suo said China must develop the massive river because of water and
energy shortages, but he pledged it would be done responsibly.

"We will pay close attention to all the implications of the development
plans," he said, noting that China would provide affected nations with
timely information on changes to the river's flow.

Mr Suo said the mainland's water shortage was grave and that it must step
up its conservation efforts.

He said China's GDP output per cubic metre of water was only one fifth of
the world's average.

In the agricultural sector, only 50 per cent of the flow released from
reservoirs actually reached its end use, with losses incurred due to
seepage, leakage of water pipes and pollution.

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OPINION / OTHER

March 8, The Irrawaddy
Not a day for women in Burma

Today, while people around the world honor the role in their lives played
by women,  as they mark the 30th annual International Women’s Day, spare a
thought for one woman who remains alone and still under house arrest after
many years: Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.

Suu Kyi has been detained in her home for a total of nearly 10 years since
she first got involved in politics in 1988, hoping to bring democracy to
the military-ruled country. Although the best known, she is far from being
the only woman to have fallen victim to Burma’s military rule. Since the
democratic upheaval in1988, which ushered in the current military junta,
dozens of women as well as men have been arrested and abused by the
authorities for their involvement in anti-government political activities.

By contrast, the region as a whole is considered to be doing rather well
in terms of gender equality, with four female presidents and prime
ministers currently running countries in the Asia Pacific region – the
Philippines, Sri Lanka, New Zealand and Bangladesh. But take a look at
Burma. Women do not occupy any leading roles in politics or indeed at any
other level of Burmese society.

Throughout Burma’s previous history, women have traditionally taken
leading roles in everything from religion to social activities and
politics. And looking back to the pre-independence era up to 1948, the
role of female students was impressive.

Ludu Daw Amar, for example. She not only took part in the 1938 national
independence movement against the British but went on to become the
country’s most respected female political dissident and left-leaning
journalist.

Women, however, have been barred from playing leading roles in society
since military rule began in Burma in 1962.

Last Thursday, incredibly, the junta’s Prime Minister Lt-Gen Soe Win said:
“Myanmar [Burmese] women can be proud to be citizens of Myanmar, as
throughout the nation’s history they have enjoyed rights equally with
men.” To a certain extent that is right—but not during the last four
decades of military rule.

The Prime Minister also said that women in Burma have plenty of
opportunity to play important roles in society. But such talk is cheap:
Just consider Suu Kyi, her colleagues and other ordinary women. Since
1988, there have been around 200 women political activists incarcerated in
the junta’s prisons. Today, 58 female political prisoners are being
detained in jails, according to the Thai-based Assistance Association of
Political Prisoners – Burma. At the same time, thousands of Burmese women
are forced to live in exile, along with male dissidents, because of their
beliefs.

It’s clear that women’s rights are not respected in a country where there
are not even basic human rights. If, however, the military would restrict
itself to its proper role defending the country—an unlikely event in the
foreseeable future— then rights, not only for women but for all, will once
again blossom in Burma.