05/26/2002
EDITORIAL NUMBER=0-09906

TIME FOR CHANGE IN BURMA

The Burmese military junta took a step in the right direction when it released democratic opposition leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi this month. She had been held under house arrest by the military regime since September 2000. Aung San Suu Kyi’s release offers hope that the Burmese regime is finally serious about moving forward with political reform and national reconciliation. However, this release is only a first step. Much more remains to be done.

A logical next step would be for the military regime to unconditionally release all remaining political prisoners. There may be over one-thousand political prisoners remaining behind bars in Burma.

As recently as November 2001, Dr. Salai [sah-LAI] Tun [tuhn] Than [tahn], an ethnic Chin professor in his early seventies, was arrested in Rangoon, the capital, for peacefully calling for democratic change. In March, he was sentenced to seven years in prison.

Some Burmese have been jailed for more than a decade for their political activity. They include Paw U [ooh] Tun [tuhn], also known as Min Ko Naing [nah-ING], who was arrested in March 1989. He was a student leader during the mass pro-democracy movement in 1988. He is currently in Sittwe prison in very poor health.

The rest of Burma’s population is also suffering. Corruption and the failed statist policies of the military junta have crippled the economy. The currency has lost more than half its value in the last year. And the World Health Organization ranks Burma’s medical care second to last in the world.

The Burmese regime now has an opportunity to engage Aung San Suu Kyi in a substantive political dialogue aimed at political reform and national reconciliation. It is in the interest of the Burmese regime to bring about such reforms. As U.S. State Department spokeswoman Lynn Cassel said, "Significant concrete steps toward national reconciliation and political reform will spur a positive response [from the U.S.]. We urge the Burmese regime to release all prisoners unconditionally to take advantage of the historic opportunity it now has to move forward together with the democratic opposition to create a better life for all of Burma’s people."