Burma's Inconvenient Truth

Aung San Suu Kyi recently said to a group of Berlin students during a phone-in with German broadcaster DW-TV that no “meaningful change” has taken place in Burma since the general election in November.

A few days later, the UN secretary-general's acting special envoy to Burma, Vijay Nambiar, flew into Burma to meet with government officials and opposition leaders, including Suu Kyi.

Nambiar said, "The government has made some very interesting statements ... which are very encouraging."

He said he hoped that there would be a breakthrough, though he did not elaborate. He went on to urge Naypyidaw to release the more than 2,200 political prisoners in Burma.

Aung Zaw is founder and editor of the Irrawaddy magazine. He can be reached at [email protected].

Then there was a classic play of the military-backed government showing its true colors.

It announced a limited amnesty by reducing all current prisoners' sentences by one year. But only 47 political prisoners were released among several thousands of criminals who enjoyed the president’s “clemency.”

Joseph Yun, the deputy US assistant secretary for East Asia and Pacific affairs, then flew into Burma to address “fairly serious challenges”—in the words of a US State Department spokesman. Yun also met with Suu Kyi.

Washington will continue to pursue a dual-track policy that involves pressure but also principled engagement, it says. The US recently extended its sanctions over Burma.

This week, Suu Kyi said that she will start campaigning outside Rangoon on behalf of her party, the now disbanded National League for Democracy. Does that mean that she and her party are going to contest the next election in 2015? Will there be a repeat of the thuggish attacks in 2003?

During Joseph Yun’s visit, a bomb exploded near Naypyidaw killing two people and injured nine.

Farther north, ethnic armies are restless as tension increases between Kachins and the Burmese army. Recently, the government troops launched a number of mortar shells at an outpost of the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) in Mohnyin Township, some 150 km southwest of the Kachin State capital, Myitkyina.

According to a KIO official, the shells were fired from 81mm mortars. No casualties were reported, although the KIA has since raised its level of alert. In Shan State, fighting between Shan State Army (North) and Burmese has escalated, forcing villagers to flee.

Kyaw San, a former army officer and staunch supporter of Suu Kyi, told The Irrawaddy shortly after he was released from the prison: “I don't want to argue that I was released one year early because of the great mercy of the president. The political prisoners who were released because of the amnesty were going to be free anyway within a few months. The families of the rest of the political prisoners waiting in front of the prison are continually in tears. How can I say that I'm happy?” ( See: http://www2.irrawaddy.com/article.php?art_id=21326)

Zayar Thaw, a prominent hip-hop artist and member of the outlawed Generation Wave youth activist group, was also released. He was defiant and told the Oslo-based Democratic Voice of Burma: “Our country is still in a state of regression. Every sector—education, health—is going backwards. The economic system only favors one’s close aides and our human living standards are dropping.” (See: http://www.dvb.no/news/freed-hip-hop-star-says-burma-%E2%80%98regressing%E2%80%99/15722)

Kyaw San, Zayar Thaw and Suu Kyi are telling the truth. But today the truth is quite inconvenient to listen to in some quarters. The regime’s proxies, apologists and governments who wanted to engage Burma may prefer not to hear these voices.

These proxies and apologists keep expanding beyond the borders of Burma. They are like zombies. They travel further to dilute the water and distort the picture of Burma and Suu Kyi.

The zombie-ism has spread to international organizations that claim to observe and report on the crisis. The Burmese government’s apologists and proxies are able to spread half-backed truths about Burma; it is much more convenient to listen to them—for this is the language that they want to relay.