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CIAO DATE: 04/05/07
Battle for Burma: The Process of National Reconciliation
by Min Zin
No crisis in the world today can be effectively resolved without the active intervention of a third party, unless the concerned parties have both the will and capacity to settle their differences. Burma is one case where such will is lacking. With the country on the brink of total collapse and international attention inconsistent and under-funded, Burma's national reconciliation process remains at a standstill.
The ruling military regime in Burma under Senior General Than Shwe's leadership has made clear its unwillingness to accept any form of social, political, or economic change. Than Shwe's junta continues to expend its energy-and the nation's resources-committing atrocities in the name of national security while neglecting the welfare of the Burmese people. While U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's inclusion of Burma on her list of six "outposts of tyranny" in her recent Senate hearing was encouraging, this statement appears to have been made with little intention of taking any real action. Despite the sincerity of American concern towards the plight of the Burmese people, Washington's rhetoric frequently comes with a high moral tone.
Compared with other countries labeled as "outposts of tyranny," there is still unexhausted political leverage that the United States can apply toward finding an acceptable settlement to the crisis in Burma that is both feasible and cost-effective. Although the country's crisis reached its pinnacle in 1988, when student protests were violently repressed by the military, the country continues to be run by an abusive regime that has yet to respond to international intervention efforts. Consequently, while Burma is not a strategic interest for the United States, leading a coordinated international political intervention for Burma would nonetheless help the White House restore its image as a legitimate defender of human rights and achieve a moral victory in its support for "the growth of democratic movements and institutions in every nation and culture, with the ultimate goal of ending tyranny in [the] world," as President Bush promised in his inauguration speech in January 2005.
Under the current military regime, Burma is usually described as the "Land of Fear," and rightly so, for fear plays a tremendous role in the everyday life of the oppressed people and the oppressive leaders alike. As Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of Burma's pro-democracy movement has stated, "It is not power that corrupts but fear. Fear of losing power corrupts those who wield it and fear of the scourge of power corrupts those who are subject to it."1 In my opinion, the fear of losing power is the worse of the two, as it has compelled the rulers of Burma to perform unspeakable atrocities. By contrast, my personal experiences as well as those of my colleagues in the democracy movement in Burma demonstrate that fear does not always corrupt the oppressed: rather, it can spur them to work together for change.
I was a fourteen-year old high school student when I joined the student-led democracy uprising against the militaryrun socialist regime in Burma in 1988. The army responded to these peaceful demonstrations with a spray of bullets, killing many people, including young students like myself. Independent research reported that more than ten thousand people were killed during the two months of the 1988 movement.2 Since then, arbitrary arrests, torture, rape, forced labor, extortions, and forced relocations committed by the military have become rampant, according to reports by human rights groups and the United Nations.
My experiences corroborate such reports. As a founder of a national high school student union, I was an active member of the nationally recognized All Burma Federation of Student Unions (ABFSU) that has cultivated to youth leaders including the post-colonial independence hero and father of Aung San Suu Kyi, General Aung San. Although the ABFSU was banned by the military when it took power in 1962, I have continued to engage in clandestine political activities and worked closely with Aung San Suu Kyi. In July 1989, military intelligence agents and troops came to my house to arrest me, but as I was not home, they arrested my father instead. Since that time, I have been living underground inside Burma. I was dismissed from my high school and kept away from my family so they would not be implicated in my activities. However, my efforts to protect my family failed, and almost all of my family members have been arrested at one time or another over the past fifteen years due to my political activities.
Such setbacks have only fuelled the democracy movement in Burma. During my time on the run, I published underground pro-democracy journals and handouts, organized demonstrations, and recruited new activists, including students and monks. I also initiated above-ground activities to involve people in participatory forms of civil society, such as public literary talks, new libraries, and campaigns to raise awareness about smoking and HIV/AIDS. I led such activities until late 1997, when the security risks became too dangerous and I was forced to flee the country. Others were less lucky. The arrest of Thet Win Aung, a colleague who accompanied me to Thailand and later returned secretly to Burma in order to continue his political activities, was sentenced to sixtythree years imprisonment by the junta. His offense consisted only of involvement in non-violent student union movements. Today, the junta continues to be intolerant of above-ground nonpolitical activism. All independent activities, including weight-lifting clubs, collecting foreign press clippings, and holding gatherings of over five people without permission, are viewed as threats to the state and are therefore banned.
Min Zin has been involved in the Burmese pro-democracy movement since 1988. He was a visiting scholar at the School of Journalism, University of California, Berkeley in 2001-02 and is currently working as a broadcaster for Radio Free Asia.