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Hostages, scapegoats for how long?
This appeared in The National newspaper in 1998.
"We didn't arrest any members of parliament and members of
the NLD. We just invited them to discuss the situation of Burma.
We are taking good care of them, they are just in our guesthouse,"
the spokesman of the ruling military said. "Whether they are
sent back to their homes or not depends on the activities of the
NLD."
It really looks like a dirty political kidnap and a big lie to
the international community. Many NLD members and members of parliament
are now in custody and military interrogation centers. Members of
the NLD from Botahtaung, Pazundaung, Tamwe, Seikkan and Dawbon Townships
have been kept in military interrogation center (14) since the first
week of September. Those from Bahan, Kemmendine, Sanchaung, Latha,
Lanmadaw and Kamaryut townships have been kept in military interrogation
center (7). Many NLD youth wing members who are considered hard-core
are being kept in Insein prison.
Some members of parliament have now been put in Insein special
jail and some are in military interrogation center (6). Just a handful
of members of parliament who have already resigned from their posts
are in the junta's under section 5(j) of the Emergency Provision
Act. Some have already been sentenced to seven years imprisonment.
Some are in the custody of their respective township police. All
MPs have had to choose one of two ways; either to go to prison or
to sign testimonies and documents which state that they do not support
the NLD's activities and the Committee Representing people's parliament.
It may be that those under detention will at the very least be pressured
by unlawful methods and be forced to resign from their representative
positions and from the NLD.
At the same time many student activists are in police custody at
"Aung-tha-pyay," the special police branch's headquarters,
as well as in military intelligence interrogation center (12). There
may be no more places in the custody and interrogation centers at
the moment of put those who have committed murders, drug-deals,
rapes and all types of crime.
It is now clear that custody and interrogation centers in Burma
are not for criminals but for political activists. Meanwhile there
are many political prisoners who have already completed their unfair
punishment, but have not yet been released.
A woman, whose husband is a Member of Parliament and still in Prison
despite having completed his years of sentence, said, "I don't
think that my husband will be released from prison under this situation.
When I asked the authorities why my husband was not released, they
told me that it depends on the activities of NLD. I understand that
my husband and others who have finished their unfair punishments
are being used as 'political hostages' by the junta. All people
who hunger for democracy are being used as scapegoats."
In reality, there are many political prisoners who had already
completed what should have been their prison terms before Daw Aung
San Suu Kyi's trip to outside Rangoon, the NLD's demand to convene
the people's parliament and the student's hit and run demonstration.
All the people of Burma under the junta have to live with the term
'force'. Forced labor, forced relocations, forced examinations,
forced rallies, and arbitrary sentences are now familiar not only
to the people of Burma but to the international community.
When asked by a reporter which prison he had had to live in, Ye
Tay Za, a prominent student activist and former political prisoner
replied, "Which prison do you mean? There are only two prisons
in Burma- the prison with walls and the prison without wall."
His answer clearly states the situation of Burma. All activists
have to go to the prison with walls and the rest have to live in
the prison without walls.
During the junta's forced rallies, the junta's hired men accuse
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and the NLD of destroying the country's future,
but they never acknowledge that the NLD was the winning party in
the May 1990 election. Although the NLD constantly demands a genuine
dialogue, not power transfer, the junta refuses not only dialogue
but also every reasonable demand.
The problem is that the junta has no intention of accepting the
NLD as a winning party in the May 1990 election. The junta ignores
the fact that as long as they don't recognize the result of the
May 1990 election, the country's situation will get worse and worse.
However, they still claim that they are the only ones who really
love the country.
When the daughter of SPDC secretary (2) General Tin Oo died in
a bomb explosion at her house on April 6, 1997, the state-run newspaper
accused Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, as a Peace Nobel Laureate, of not
being compassionate because she had bnot sent a condolence letter
to General Tin Oo. They forgot to explain why U Tin Maung Win, U
Hla Than, U Saw Win, (all are members of parliament from the NLD),
U Maung Ko) a member of Central Committee of the NLD) and Mr. Leo
Nichols, honorary consul for Norway, Denmark, Finland, and Switzerland,
died in custody. The junta never sent condolence letters to their
families. Worse, their families did not have the right to see their
loved ones' funerals.
There are many political prisoners who have died in prison because
of poor medical treatment and harassment. The junta never thinks
to sympathize with those whose relatives died in prison and interrogation
centers and to send condolence letters to them. Although there were
many innocent students shot dead during the 1988 popular uprising,
far from sympathizing, the junta never allows anybody to hold the
memory of them. Anyone who tried to hold the memory was accused
of trying to destroy the country's stability and was sent to prison,
charged under section 5(j) of the Emergency Provision Act.
The junta accuses the Lady of trying to persuade western countries
to impose economic sanctions on Burma. However, it still neglects
to explain to its own people why the Golden Land has turned into
the lowest developing country and the World Bank has declared that
it will not grant loans to or have financial dealings with Burma
any more. Although the junta has a huge budget for the extension
of the military, the secret police, interrogation centers and prisons,
there is a small budget for social welfare, medical care and education.
But they still cry that they are paving a path to democracy. A tourist
who recently came from Burma said that he met with many ordinary
people and asked many questions about what he wanted to know. When
he asked one civil servant about the junta, he was told, "We
don't like the junta completely. At the same time, we don't want
to see an uprising like 1988. The junta and the people have different
reasons for not wanting another uprising. The junta fear to face
an uprising because of losing their power. We fear because of losing
innocent people. The junta is now taking advantage of our fear.
But I believe there is a limit to how the people can go on without
taking action. Much of our people's patience has now nearly run
out."
When he asked another civil servant why he attended a mass rally
to denounce Daw Aung San Suu kyi and the NLD, he was told, "Before
the mass rally, we all had to sign an agreement that we would attend
whatever it was. We also had to sign that if we were absent, we
would be fired from our jobs. We felt so sad hearing the denouncing
of our lady and the NLD. We voted for the NLD because we believe
in the lady. During that pretend mass rally, we felt ourselves to
be scapegoats and robots. However, when the high0ranking officers
at the rally called out slogans denouncing the NLD, we did not shout
these slogans as we were expected to do. I do hope we all will be
united in not attending such a forced mass rally."
According to sources, all businessmen have to donate to the junta.
They are threatened that if they refuse to donate, their work permits
and licenses will be withdrawn. The term 'forced donation' has also
become familiar to all Burmese businessmen.
The source said, "Many ordinary people are watching what the
10 member committee [the Committee Representing the People's Parliament]
will do and are waiting for their guidance. At the same time, they
wonder why the committee delays doing what it should do." It's
clear that the junta is now taking all kinds of advantage of the
situation to the people of Burma.
For the civil servants and workers, the junta is using job dismissal
as a weapon. For the students, bans from continuing their studies
and closure of the schools at any time have become the conventional
armaments of the junta. For the political prisoners, their prison
terms no longer depend on their original sentences, but on the activities
of the NLD. For the NLD members and members of parliament who are
in the so-called guest house, the way back to their homes seems
to depend on the 10 member committee representing the elected members
of parliament, according to the junta.
Strongly holding onto power, constantly telling lies, and being
unwilling to accept the results of the May 1990 election, the junta
has been oppressing its own people as hostages, scapegoats and robots
for over ten years. However, whether they end up in a life of being
scapegoats and robots depends not only on the NLD, but also on the
people of Burma who voted for the NLD in the May 1990 election.
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