H.E. Dr. Sein Win
Prime Minister
National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma
First of all, I would like to express my appreciation to all the human rights activists who have been dedicating their lives to expose the truth about the situation of human rights in a closed society like Burma where all information is suppressed by the military regime. In this context, we also cannot afford to forget the courage of the survivors of human rights abuses who had recounted their sufferings despite personal risks so that the international public will know of the plight of the people of Burma.
Regrettably, the Human Rights Yearbook for 2004, like in previous issues, cannot provide a complete picture of all the abuses in the country because of strict control over the media and lack of due process of law in Burma. However, one thing that the Yearbook does is to show that human rights violations are continuing unabated every year under military rule.
The worst forms of violations are taking place in the remote areas of Burma which are not accessible by the diplomatic community, the media, and human rights activists and where ethnic nationalities are residing.
The attack on the entourage of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in May 2003 dealt a serious blow to the national reconciliation process in Burma. This Human Rights Yearbook shows that persistent human rights violations are being carried out systematically and widespread all over the country. It becomes obvious that the violations are not random disciplinary problems of individual soldiers or state security agents but the result of a standing policy at the highest level. In other words, the regime leaders are fully responsible for the heinous acts taking place.
The Burmese generals are becoming entrenched and even more hostile to the democratic and ethnic forces. Against this backdrop it becomes predictable that the violations will only increase this year.
The regime also refused to accommodate constitutional proposals by the ethnic delegates at the National Convention and the action, which subsequently led to a tense relationship with the ethnic cease-fire groups, resulted in even greater restrictions on the ethnic nationalities. More military units are now stationed in ethnic nationality areas and an increase in the number of soldiers has led to more human rights violations.
This Yearbook for 2004 once again shows that in this age of information, it is no longer possible for the regime to hide its human rights crimes. Information flow from Burma has been improving with each passing year and documentation of all sorts on human rights violations in Burma is but a click away on the Internet. Lest it is forgotten, these are not cases that simply need to be filed away because each case documented is a tragic account of human misery and suffering and shattered lives. They can be remedied not by sympathy but only by concrete international action to end the suffering in Burma.
Without such action, the Burmese generals will continue to ignore the recommendations of the United Nations to conduct an investigation into the "Depayin" massacre, or to cooperate with the United Nations for an independent inquiry into the reported rape cases by soldiers as suggested by the Special Rapporteur on Human Rights, Prof. Pinheiro, who had been denied a visit to Burma to perform his mandate since November 2003.
Burma has become one of the glaring examples of UN failure to protect and promote human rights in world nations. Let's hope the summit on UN reforms in September 2005 will remedy the situation.
H.E. Dr. Sein Win
Prime Minister
National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma
P.O Box 14536 , Ben Franklin Station
Washington, D.C. 20044, USA
Tel: (202) 639 0639, Fax: (202) 639 0638
Email: ncgub@ncgub.net
Website: www.ncgub.net
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