88 Generation Students (Exile): Aung San Suu Kyi writes to junta on sanctions

Monday, September 28, 2009

Aung San Suu Kyi writes to junta on sanctions

Detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi has written to the chief of the ruling junta with suggestions about how to get Western sanctions lifted, her lawyer said on Saturday.

The move represents a change of heart for the Nobel Peace Laureate, who has previously espoused punitive measures against the military regime as a way of pushing for democratic reform in the Southeast Asian nation.

"Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has written a letter to Senior General Than Shwe regarding her thinking on the lifting of sanctions that have been imposed on the country," her lawyer Nyan Win told AFP.

"In the letter, she submits her thinking about what must be implemented for sanctions to be lifted," said Nyan Win, who is also the spokesman for her National League for Democracy (NLD).

Nyan Win said she wrote the letter "expecting to start a dialogue".

Nyan Win would not give further details about what the suggestions were, saying that they were waiting for the letter to be formally received by the government.

According to party sources, Suu Kyi has asked in her letter for meetings with top Western diplomats in Burma to discuss the sanctions imposed by their countries.

The move comes just days after US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced plans for a major policy shift that would see Washington engaging with Burma's ruling generals.

Clinton raised the possibility of an eventual easing or lifting of sanctions if US engagement produces political changes in Burma, a statement that was welcomed by Suu Kyi earlier this week.

The United States and European Union have imposed sanctions on Burma due to its continued detention of Suu Kyi and its refusal to recognise the NLD's victory in the country's last elections in 1990.

The junta sentenced the 64-year-old Suu Kyi to an extra 18 months in detention at her lakeside home in August after an incident in which an American man swam uninvited to her house.

The move effectively ruled the 64-year-old out of elections due in 2010 that the ruling generals have promised in Burma. Burma has been under military rule since 1962, with brutal crackdowns on anti-junta protests in 1988 and 2007.

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QUOTE OF THE DAY

"I am disappointed by the unwillingness of the government of Burma to deliver on its promises for democratic dialogue and the release of political prisoners."

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"I would like to make an appeal to President Bush: Please take pride as a President who has worked hard for Burma to achieve something before his term expires.”

-U Gambira, a leader of the All-Burma Monks’ Alliance that spearheaded nationwide protests in Burma in September---

—

U WIN TIN

Because we refuse to bow to these unjust election 'laws,' our party will be abolished by the regime soon. Still, the NLD will not disappear. We will be among the people, with the people. We will continue to fight for democracy, human rights and equality among all ethnic nationalities, by peaceful means. —

Win Tin, a member of NLD Central Executive Committee

From Stalin to Burma, a history lesson

They may wear different cloaks, but under the surface all dictators are similar. As the memory of dictators like Joseph Stalin fades, mistakes of the past repeat themselves with a vengeance in forgotten places like Burma.One writer said of Stalin: “He had found Russia working with wooden ploughs and left it equipped with atomic [stock]piles.” But perhaps the true question doesn’t regard Stalin’s undisputable impact on humanity, but whether the legacy justified all the human sacrifice. To Stalin, the millions killed as a consequence of his ambitious drive were simply stepping stones along the road to national prosperity. However, such a Machiavellian frame of mind can neither be justifiable nor ethical.Stalin utilized numerous harsh methods in attempting to meet his ‘utopian’ goals. Collective farms were prevalent, while each Five Year Plan sought to leapfrog Russia ahead of competing nations and systems. Toward this end, virtually every industry fell under the direct control of the government and its de facto and shackled workforce. And the sad truth, more often than not, was results never met by an increasingly impoverished population.Stalin’s principle instrument for maintaining control over his country was his secret police. Through this institution, fear was instilled in the hearts of the people. The final death toll from Stalin’s regime is indeed staggering, with estimates ranging from 10 to 20 million people having perished.Stalin was under the belief that all his actions, extreme or otherwise, were necessary in order to pull Russia into the industrial age. Yet, ultimately, the major flaw in Stalin’s reasoning was that he claimed all sacrifices were necessary and for the future of Russia. “Life has improved, comrades. Life has become more joyous,” he once remarked. And while he was thinking about the future of the country and the generations to come, the standard of living within Russia had plummeted.Today, forgetting that dictatorship is a self inflicted wound, some intellectuals and humanitarians reason that simply sending more aid and increasing engagement are starting points to improving the political situation in Burma. But when they begin to regard the active opposition, as symbolized by Aung San Suu Kyi, as increasingly irrelevant, the time has come to refresh their memory about Joseph Stalin and the enormous price of dictatorship. It is one thing to want to bring Burma into the international community, but it is another to coddle and nurture tyrants without speaking out against their inhumane acts.So far, newly elected U.S. President Barack Obama and Foreign Secretary Hillary Clinton have taken a cautious and slow approach toward Burma. But in a world of competing interests and ideology, it will be a great tragedy if they fail to take a firm stand against the dictators in Burma.After all, the United States and its allies helped reform the militaries in Indonesia and Turkey within democratic transitions and transformations. Now, the U.S., United Nations, ASEAN and the European Union need decisive and effective leadership to help Burma. Obama and Clinton have a great chance to seize this mantle…if they are willing to seriously take on the leadership role.Today, even as Burma’s generals tragically act more and more like Stalin, could it not be that the army as an institution in Burma was originally inspired by similar beliefs to those of countries such as Indonesia and Turkey? This should offer an important clue as to where to begin with Burma.

88 Generation Students (Exile)

Monday, September 28, 2009

Aung San Suu Kyi writes to junta on sanctions

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