Burma: anti-government protests - full text
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The State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), the military government of Burma (officially named Myanmar), on Sept. 26 sent troops to Rangoon (the former capital) to suppress mass anti-government protests, led by Buddhist monks. On Sept. 27 it was widely reported that at least nine people had been killed: eight protesters and a Japanese journalist.
The SPDC on Sept. 27 effectively cut out the heart of the uprising by raiding and sealing off several monasteries in Rangoon, arresting hundreds of monks, many of whom were beaten and humiliated, according to eyewitness accounts. It was also reported that monasteries were vandalised and looted. According to a report on Sept. 30 on the New Delhi-based Mizzima news agency website, such sacrilege had never happened before, even under UK colonial rule and the Japanese wartime occupation.
According to The Telegraph of Oct. 1, the Thailand-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) believed that some 1,500 people had been detained by the authorities. Although Rangoon was apparently calm on Sept. 29 and 30, thousands of troops and police were stationed throughout the city.
The state media admitted that 10 people had died in the violence, with the security forces using “minimum force”, but diplomats and other witnesses said that the death toll was much higher, with some estimates as high as 200 killed.
Immediate Context
The first protest in which monks took part was held on Aug. 28 in the western port city of Sittwe, where over 200 monks and up to 100 lay people marched to demand a reduction in commodity prices. That demonstration ended peacefully, but another in the central town of Pakokku on Sept. 5, led by about 300 monks, was confronted by the police and armed troops who fired shots in the air, arrested 10 monks and allegedly beat them; it was rumoured that one monk had died. On Sept. 6 monks locked up 13 government officials in a monastery in Pakokku for several hours until three monks detained the previous day were released. The officials had reportedly visited the monastery to apologise for the earlier beatings. A crowd of about 2,000 people gathered outside the monastery, applauding as the monks burnt four government cars.
From this point the anti-government protests by the monks spread to many other centres, including Rangoon, Mandalay (the second city), Pegu, Kyaukpadaung, and Aunglan, and increased in size. In Rangoon the Shwedagon pagoda, one of the country’s holiest Buddhist temples, became a focus for the escalating protests, which took place daily from Sept. 17. During the uprising in 1988 against the military government, leader of the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD), Aung San Suu Kyi, had addressed a crowd of some half a million people in front of the pagoda, which was also the site of a speech in 1946 by her father, independence leader Aung San.
On Sept. 21, when some 1,500 monks marched in Rangoon, the monks vowed to continue the protests until the government collapsed. On the same day, reportedly 10,000 monks marched in Mandalay. Unexpectedly on Sept. 22, guards allowed the leading monks in the procession to approach the gates of the house on University Avenue where Suu Kyi had been confined since 2003. Suu Kyi herself made her first brief public appearance since May 30, 2003, emerging from the house to greet the monks. On Sept. 23 the number of marchers had grown to 20,000, with 100 Buddhist nuns for the first time joining the monks and civilians, and by Sept. 24 there were an estimated 100,000 on the streets. The SPDC on Sept. 25 imposed a 60-day curfew in Rangoon and other cities, banned gatherings of more than five people, deployed thousands of troops and riot police in the city, and announced that demonstrators and their supporters faced prosecution, warning that further “illegal” protests” would be dispersed by force.
Burma’s military government was considered one of the most repressive in the world, a reputation that it earned after repeated crackdowns on opposition political parties, imprisonment of politicians as well as reports of murder, rape and forced labour being used for political repression. The leader of the opposition NLD, 61-year-old Aung San Suu Kyi, had spent 11 of the last 17 years under house arrest. Her latest detention started in May 2003 after a caravan of her supporters was attacked by a government-led mob. Aung San Suu Kyi's NLD had won democratic elections in 1990 but these were ignored by the military regime. The record of human rights abuses led to the imposition of trade sanctions by the USA and EU in the early 1990s. Over the last two years, the USA, the EU and the UN increased efforts to persuade the SPDC to release Suu Kyi. In addition, the Human Rights Education Institute of Burma (HREIB), in September 2006 released a report condemning the SPDC for continuing to recruit child soldiers.Reaction and Outlook
UN special envoy to Burma, Ibrahim Gambari, arrived in Naypyidaw (the new capital) on Sept. 29 but was denied an audience with Senior Gen. Than Shwe, chairman of the SPDC. Gambari issued a statement of condemnation of the killing of the protesters to other SPDC officials, who claimed that a meeting with Than Shwe had been arranged for Oct. 2.
The BBC online news service reported on Sept. 30 Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao as stating that "China hopes all parties concerned in [Burma] show restraint, resume stability through peaceful means as soon as possible, promote domestic reconciliation and achieve democracy and development." China was Burma's closest ally and EU high representative for foreign and security affairs, Javier Solana Madariaga, had reportedly urged the Chinese authorities to call on the SPDC to exercise restraint.
In an address to the UN General Assembly on Sept. 25, US President George W. Bush had announced further US sanctions against the regime, including a freeze on bank accounts held by the SPDC and a visa ban on human rights violators and their families. UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown on the same day called for the EU to tighten its sanctions against Burma.
The UN Security Council on Sept. 26 held an emergency meeting to discuss the crisis in Burma, but permanent members China and Russia effectively vetoed a US-proposed resolution to “consider further steps including sanctions” against the SPDC.
Historical Context
Burma achieved independence from the UK in October 1947, after more than 100 years of colonial rule, under the leadership of Suu Kyi’s father, Gen. Aung San. Only months before independence, on July 19, 1947, Aung San and six of his newly formed cabinet members were assassinated during a cabinet meeting.
After independence, non-Burmese nationalities, including Nagas, Karenni, Shan and Mon groups, opposed the military government, as did communist groups. Gen. Ne Win formed a government in 1958 after promising the Mon and Rakhine peoples semi-autonomy. Elections in 1960 gave power to U Nu. His refusal to grant the same status to the Shan and the Kayins prompted rebellion, and in a 1962 military coup , Gen. Ne Win assumed control.
The draconian political and economic measures taken by Ne Win and the Revolutionary Council government that he headed were called the "Burmese Way to Socialism". The military government’s suppression of discussions--on such topics as the representation of the several nationalities that comprised Burma; the balance of power between central and regional governments; and the lack of democratic elections--led to instability and violence. Throughout the 1970s, there were repeated student uprisings in key Burmese cities. These in turn resulted in crackdowns and university closures.
In 1988, a huge demonstration led by students resulted in a violent crackdown by the military, who agreed to hold democratic elections in 1989. When the NLD won 60 per cent of the votes in the May 1990 election, however, the military declared the elections invalid. Since that time the military government made repeated gestures towards introducing democratic government, although it has made no real moves in that direction. NLD leader Suu Kyi was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991) while under house arrest. Suu Kyi has remained the leader of the NLD.
