- BRIEFING
NOTE ON BURMA
- PREPARED
FOR THE NCUB DELEGATION TO MANILA, PHILIPPINES
- (26-30
SEPTEMBER 2004)
-
- REQUEST:
-
- The National
Council of the Union of Burma (NCUB), an umbrella
group of 30 pro-democracy organisations, including
ethnic nationality groups, seeks the support and
solidarity of the people and the elected
representatives of the Philippines in the struggle
for human rights and democracy in Burma.
-
- Your
assistance is respectfully requested in the
following concrete actions:
-
- 1.
Establishment of a Parliamentary Caucus on Burma
-
- 2.
Representations to the State Peace and Development
Council (SPDC), calling for
- - a revival
of political dialogue with the National League for
Democracy (NLD) leadership
- - the
immediate release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and U
Tin Oo
- - the
commencement of a genuine process of National
Reconciliation leading to democracy
- 3. Bringing
Burma to the agenda of the United Nations Security
Council
-
- 4.
Mobilization of the Philippine’s diplomatic networks
-
- 5. Support for
capacity-building and networking efforts
-
- For more
details, please refer to the last section of this
briefing.
-
-
- CURRENT
SITUATION
-
- THE NATIONAL
CONVENTION: “A MEANINGLESS EXERCISE”
-
- The National
Convention (NC) is inherently illegitimate. It was
devised as an excuse to avoid convening the
Parliament when the regime lost the multi-party
elections in 1990. The actual convention first met
in 1993 but was suspended in 1996, following the
National League for Democracy (NLD) walkout. It was
reconvened on May 17, 2004 and adjourned on July 9,
2004. The convention's top official, Lieutenant
General Thein Sein said the break is designed to
give committees time to study ideas proposed at the
convention. No firm date has been set for
reconvening the meetings.
-
- Why is it a
meaningless exercise?
-
- Nine political
parties that won a total of 91% of parliamentary
seats are boycotting the NC because of regime’s
failure to conform to democratic standards. Only
1.1% (12 out of 1076 people) attending the NC are
elected representatives.
-
- Paolo Sergio
Pinheiro, the Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in
Burma, has described the current conditions for the
national convention as “mass detention” and has
singled out a regulation Law 5/96 which can jail any
person for up to 20 years for saying or writing
anything that criticises the NC.
-
- The regime is
conducting the NC under tight control – delegates
are confined to the NC venue (dormitories and hall)
and have even imposed rules on the delegates’ diet,
personal hygiene and behaviour.
-
- Mr. Pinheiro
says the government's road map for political
transition has failed in its earliest stages. The
failure of the NC to observe even the most basic
democratic principles has made the regime’s “roadmap
to democracy” a failure.
-
- The United
Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan urged Southeast
Asian nations to put pressure on the junta to honour
a pledge to the United Nations to let Aung San Suu
Kyi take part in the talks. Annan said that he and
his special envoy Razali Ismail are dismayed that
despite receiving assurances from the government, it
did not release her from detention and lift the
remaining restrictions on her party, the National
League for Democracy. The Secretary-General
reiterates that for the National Convention to be
credible, it must be all-inclusive and that all the
delegates must be able to express their views
without sanction.
-
- On 17th
August, 2004, Mr Anan said in a statement: "Unless
and until the views of the National League for
Democracy and other political parties are sought and
considered, the national convention and the roadmap
process will be incomplete, lacking in credibility,
and therefore unable to gain the full support of the
international community, including the countries of
the region."
-
- DEPAYIN
MASSACRE
- On 30 May
2003, during a NLD political tour, Daw Aung San Suu
Kyi and colleagues were attacked near the Burmese
village of Depayin by a mob involving supporters of
the Union Solidarity and Development Association, a
Burmese “NGO” whose patron is Senior General Than
Shwe, head of the Burmese military junta. As many as
100 people may have been killed or disappeared, Daw
Aung San Suu Kyi and the Vice Chair of the NLD U Tin
Oo were detained and are still under house arrest.
-
-
- A ROADMAP
TO DICTATORSHIP
-
- The roadmap
steps are:
- 1. Reconvening
of the National Convention
- 2.
Step-by-step implementation of process needed to
allow the emergence of a “genuine
-
and disciplined democratic
system”.
- 3. Drafting of
a new constitution
- 4. Adoption of
a new constitution through a national referendum
- 5. Holding
free and fair elections
- 6. Convening
elected bodies
- 7. Creation of
“modern, developed, and democratic nation” by
elected leaders and
-
government organs instituted by
the legislative body.
-
- The NC
constitutes the first of seven steps of the junta’s
roadmap to democracy announced by Prime Minister
Gen. Khin Nyunt on 30 August 2003, following
international pressure due to the Depayin Massacre.
-
- THE
MILITARY DRAFT CONSTITUTION
-
- The
constitution presented to the delegates for
ratification was drafted by the military prior to
the convening of the National Convention. The
delegates had no significant input.
-
- There are no
guarantees of democratic procedures for the election
of people’s representatives.
- There are no
general protections for the people in the
constitution.
- There are no
human rights protections.
- Freedom of
association is not protected by the constitution.
- There are no
guarantees of free speech or political activity.
- There is no
freedom for the media.
-
-
- SITUATION
OF THE MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT AS OF 10 JUNE 2004
-
- 29
Parliamentarians are in exile
-
- 82
Parliamentarians passed away under the inhumane
military dictatorship in Burma.
-
- 16
Parliamentarians still remain in prison
-
- For more
details, see attachment.
-
-
- HUMAN
RIGHTS: CONTINUED REPRESSION DESPITE CONVENTION
-
- Despite the
junta’s dedication to the NC objectives, the 5th of
which is “development of eternal principles of
justice, liberty and equality in the State”, human
rights abuses continue unabated.
- - Violations
of human rights, including arbitrary killings,
rape, looting, force relocation, and destruction
of villages continue particularly in Shan, Karen
and Karenni areas where large-scale military
offensives are launched against ethnic
nationalities. SPDC continue their military
offensive in Karen State notably against the Karen
National Union with whom a provisional ceasefire
agreement was reached earlier this year. This
situation lead the flow of new refugees into
Thailand and the refugee population at the border
camps increased up to (151,808).
- - In
November, a Myanmar court sentenced nine persons
to death for high treason for connections with the
International Labour Organisation (ILO). The court
was presented with alleged evidence of contacts,
communications or information on ILO matters
entertained by some of the convicted persons. In
May 2004, after the condemnation of the ILO, the
court reviewed the cases and their sentences were
reduced to between three years and life
imprisonment.
- - As of
January 2004, Amnesty International estimates that
there are about 1,350 political prisoners in
Burma, many of whom are prisoners of conscience.
Amnesty International also reports that there has
also been an upsurge in the detention of those
peacefully exercising their right to freedom of
expression and association. That is why the
estimates of numbers of political prisoners have
risen from 1,200 in the previous year to 1,350
this year.
- - Assistant
Association for Political Prisoners – Burma (AAPP)
recently reported that political activists
continued fleeing to Thailand-Burma border because
of increased surveillance and restriction by the
junta.
- - NLD
headquarters, reopened in April after a year of
closure following the Depayin massacre, had their
phone lines cut as the NC began, and more punitive
measures were expected by executive members.
-
- CONSISTENT
DEMANDS MADE TO THE SPDC
-
- - Immediate
and unconditional release of all political
prisoners, including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and U Tin
Oo.
- - Stop the
sham National Convention which was reconvened on May
17, 2004 and take steps for initiating tripartite
dialogue process for genuine political dialogue with
the inclusion of the ethnic forces.
- - Freedom of
movement for all political parties, freedom of
association, freedom of assembly, freedom of media
which are the basic democratic freedoms.
- - Declare a
Nation-wide cease-fire to create an atmosphere
conducive to national reconciliation
- - Independent
investigation on May 30th Depayin Massacre by a
credible international organisation
-
-
- ACTION:
-
- 1. Establish
a Parliamentary Caucus on Burma
-
- We would like
to make a humble request to the Philippines’ Members
of Parliament to establish a ‘Parliamentary Caucus
on Burma’ to raise awareness on Burma in their
Parliament and to discuss Burma’s situation. We
would also like to make a request to the Philippines
MPs to send a clear message to the SPDC that it
cannot recognize the current national convention as
a legitimate forum leading to democratization and
national reconciliation in Burma due to the lack of
democratic practice and transparency in the process.
-
- 2. Reviving
the Political Dialogue in Burma
-
- The Philippies
government’ assistance is urgently needed to urge
the SPDC to immediately revive the political
dialogue with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and other leaders
of the NLD under the facilitation of UN Special
Envoy and call on the SPDC to immediately release
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and U Tin Oo, and ensure to
begin a credible and inclusive course of national
reconciliation leading to democracy.
-
- 3. Bringing
Burma to the agenda of the UN Security Council
-
- The help of
the Philippines government is sought to urge the
Asean and European Union member States in the UN
Security Council to pool their diplomatic efforts,
as the first step, to have an Informal UN Security
Council meeting on Burma. Full backing of the UN
Security Council to the efforts of UN Special Envoy
is essential. Endorsement of the UN Security Council
to a UN sponsored peaceful settlement plan that will
ensure the reconciliation process irreversible.
-
- 4. Mobilizing
Diplomatic Network
-
- We earnestly
seek assistance of the Philippines government to
mobilize its diplomatic network in neighbouring
countries of Burma, ASEAN, India, and China. We
would also like to request Philippines government to
mobilise its own diplomatic networks in Europe, and
other parts of the world support our efforts to
achieve democratization and national reconciliation
in Burma.
-
- 5.
Empowerment of the Burmese Democracy movement
-
- We would like
to seek assistance of Philippines government to
support Burmese participation in Capacity Building
Programmes such as education on human rights,
democratic governance, sustainable development,
federalism and conflict resolution. Assistance with
non-violent activities of the Burmese democracy
movement, such as strategic consultations,
communications, human rights monitoring and policy
advocacy, development of an alternative media,
empowerment of women, MPs and activists within the
democracy movement, and welfare and rehabilitation
of political prisoners will also be greatly
appreciated.
-
-
- CONTACT
DETAILS OF THE DELEGATION
-
- U Maung
Maung Aye
- Elected MP,
National League for Democracy
-
- U Kyaw
Thwin
- Elected MP,
National League for Democracy
-
- U Nyo Ohn
Myint
- Coordinator,
Foreign Affairs Department, NLD-LA
- Member,
Foreign Affairs Committee, National Council of the
Union of Burma
-
- National
Council of the Union of Burma – Foreign Affairs
Committee
- P.O. Box 61,
Huamark Post Office,
- Bangkapi,
Bangkok, 10243
- Thailand
- Tel: +662 732
3360
- Fax: +662 732
3360
