------------------------ BurmaNet ------------------------ "Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies" ---------------------------------------------------------- The BurmaNet News: August 8, 1997 Issue #792 (Ninth Anniversary of the August 8, 1988 Uprising) Noted in Passing: We humbly appeal to the SLORC and representatives of the NLD which include Daw Aung San Suu Kyi to meet and discuss how to get over the crisis of the country for the benefit of the entire nation. - Bo Hmu Aung and other veteran politicians (see REUTER: VETERAN BURMESE POLITICIANS) HEADLINES: ========== BURMANET: REFLECTIONS ON THE 9th ANNIVERSARY OF 8888 REUTER: VETERAN BURMESE POLITICIANS CALL FOR DIALOGUE BURMESE STUDENTS/ACTIVISTS: JOINT STATEMENT FOR 9TH FTUB: STATEMENT ON THE ANNIVERSARY OF 8.8.88 SYCB: STATEMENT ON THE 9TH ANNIVERSARY OF 8888 NLD-LA(YOUTH): STATEMENT ON THE 9th ANNIVERSARY OF 8888 REUTER: CANADA PRESSES BURMA WITH NEW ECONOMIC SANCTIONS INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE: REBELS CRITICIZE BURMA REGIME DVB: KARENS REJECT SLORC CHARGE OF INVOLVEMENT IN TERRORISM MADELEINE ALBRIGHT: ON BURMA AT THE NATIONAL PRESS CLUB RADIO MYANMAR: TIN OO URGES PEOPLE TO CRUSH 'PUPPETS NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR: "THE LASS AND 80,000 DOLLARS" ANNOUNCEMENT: SAN FRANCISCO VIGIL AND DEMONSTRATION ANNOUNCEMENT: HUNGER STRIKE TO PROTEST SLORC MEMBERSHIP ANNOUNCEMENT: NEW AT BURMASONG ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------- BURMANET: REFLECTIONS ON THE 9th ANNIVERSARY OF 8888 August 8, 1997 Until 1988, few people outside Burma were aware of the real situation in Burma. The fact that the Burmese government chose to keep the country isolated was often interpreted as reflecting the governments' desire to preserve Burmese culture and traditions. Actually, the military government sought to keep the country closed so that it could more easily consolidate its control over the people. In August 1988, the international community was stunned by the massive demonstrations calling for democracy. These demonstrations represented the long pent-up feelings of the majority of the people, who had until then kept fearfully silent. Nine years later, the military is still in charge, and the level of oppression has only increased. While the military regime before 1988 did not tolerate criticism, the SLORC has made peoples' lives harder by using forced labor to build everything from roads and railroads to military installations. While privatisation has benefited some people, at the same time, the military has confiscated huge tracts of peoples' land, for sale to foreign investors or for the army's own use. Moreover, in ethnic minority areas, the SLORC has forcibly relocated hundreds of villages and resorted to widespread killing and looting in order wipe out organized opposition to its rule. Due to the efforts of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and other activists inside the country, as well as Burmese activists and supporters outside the country, people around the world are now well-aware of the degree of suffering inside the country and the coercive nature of the SLORC's rule. At this juncture, it is critical that all concerned individuals and groups work together to set an agenda for the future. How can a transition to democracy be effected? What should the future Burma look like in terms of political, economic, and educational policies? What principles must be incorporated into the Constitution? The process of drawing up draft policies and guidelines can in itself have positive ramifications. As these discussions develop, BurmaNet looks forward to posting the ideas and recommendations that emerge. ************************************************************* REUTER: VETERAN BURMESE POLITICIANS CALL FOR DIALOGUE August 7, 1997 RANGOON, Aug 7 (Reuter) - A group of veteran Burmese politicians has written to the military government urging it to hold a dialogue with Aung San Suu Kyi's democracy party. The letter, dated August 5 and received by Reuters on Thursday, said a dialogue between leaders of the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) and Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) party was the only hope for the nation which it said was mired in an economic and political crisis. The letter was signed by 23 politicians, including former colleagues of Suu Kyi's father, national hero General Aung San. ``We humbly appeal to the SLORC and representatives of the NLD which include Daw Aung San Suu Kyi to meet and discuss how to get over the crisis of the country for the benefit of the entire nation,'' the three-page letter said. Suu Kyi has made repeated unanswered requests for dialogue with the SLORC since she was released from six years of house arrest in July, 1995. Last month an unprecedented meeting took place between military intelligence leader Lieutenant General Khin Nyunt and NLD chairman Aung Shwe. Although the NLD said it was not dialogue without Suu Kyi's involvement, a government official said it was an important step for both sides. The letter, a copy of which was sent to the NLD, urged the government to unite with the opposition to solve the nation's problems. ``We honestly think the problems Myanmar (Burma) is currently facing are not of a single person nor a single organisation. It has become a national crisis concerning all people,'' it said. ``It is high time for all people to together solve the national crisis,'' said the letter which detailed the political, social and economic situation in Burma. The letter was signed by Bohmu Aung on behalf of the veteran politicians -- most of whom took part in the nation's struggle for independence. Bohmu Aung was a member of the Thirty Comrades, a group of young nationalists smuggled out of then British-ruled Burma in the 1940s and trained in Japanese-occupied China to fight for Burma's independence. The Thirty Comrades, who included Suu Kyi's father who negotiated independence from Britain in the aftermath of World War Two, are modern Burma's national heroes. The group wrote a similar letter in November 1995, but it was never heeded by the government. ^REUTER@ ******************************************************* BURMESE STUDENTS/ACTIVISTS: JOINT STATEMENT FOR 9TH ANNIVERSARY OF 8888 DEMOCRACY UPRISING August 7, 1997 From: Nyi Nyi Soe