A Roadmap for Democracy in Burma

July 25, 2008
by Jared Genser

In an appearance at the annual Asean summit, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice described the Burmese junta’s plan for the gradual restoration of democracy to Burma as a “mockery which is going nowhere.” While this condemnation may have grated on some of the participants as not sufficiently diplomatic, it is the cold, hard, indisputable truth. Lest anyone forget, it has been 18 long years since Burma’s 1990 elections when the National League for Democracy and its allies won 82% of the parliamentary seats, and were never allowed to take office.

The most powerful symbol of the Burmese people’s resilience has been the revolving-door house arrest of the world’s only imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize laureate, NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Flouting its own law, the Burmese junta recently extended her most recent stint in her dilapidated home to a sixth straight year. Over the course of some 12 years of detention over the last 18, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has ruled four times that her detention is illegal, and is in clear violation of international law. A fifth petition before this body is pending. And yet the junta continues to detain her, and ignore the popular will of its own people.

While the U.N. Secretary-General, the Burmese regime, and allies of the junta have urged that the question of humanitarian aid in the wake of Cyclone Nargis not be “politicized,” the regime itself has taken every advantage of the cyclone to make permanent its grip on power to the exclusion of helping its own people. As is often the case, distraction and delay in discussing the fundamental issues in Burma only serve the interests of the regime.

The junta itself insists that it is on a seven-step roadmap to democracy. In the days following the cyclone -- which left more than 140,000 dead or missing and millions without the most basic levels of subsistence -- the regime focused on conducting its sham constitutional referendum, designed to cement its hold on power and then claimed victory by implausible margins.

The junta has also brazenly used the cyclone to its further advantage. The United Nations recently reported that aid groups have lost some 20% of the money they have brought in to Burma because of arbitrary foreign exchange rules imposed by the junta. Not only does the junta retain these funds as its own “tax” on relief operations, but this also reduces the aid provided to those most in need.

So what can really be done with such a seemingly intractable conflict?

During last fall’s Saffron Revolution, the U.N. Security Council unanimously agreed on a statement outlining a practical roadmap for a restoration of democracy to Burma. While that roadmap had been shelved after the cyclone, it is time for it to be dusted off and put into practice. In particular, the statement made clear that the solution to the problems of Burma required the following key features: (1) personal engagement by the UN Secretary-General; (2) early release of all political prisoners; (3) the Burmese junta entering into an inclusive process of national reconciliation with Aung San Suu Kyi and ethnic groups; (4) the need for commitments to be followed by action; and (5) ongoing engagement by the international community.

Currently, U.N. Special Envoy Ibrahim Gambari is scheduled to return to Burma in August to pave the way for a return visit of Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon later this year. The time has come for the United Nations to measure success by outcomes alone, not merely by the engagement in process. Were success to be measured by engagement alone, it would have already been achieved. Special envoys and rapporteurs have made literally dozens of trip to Burma over the years, with minimal effect.

Unless tangible and specific outcomes are actually achieved from this visit -- including the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and other political prisoners, which is a prerequisite for any meaningful dialogue -- then it is time for the Security Council to take further action. Specifically, it should escalate the pressure on the junta by adopting a binding resolution to transform its recommendations from its presidential statement into demands. Pressure has been increasing from numerous Asean countries, which now view Burma as holding back the development of the bloc. And pressure has been sustained by the United States, United Kingdom and France. But all members of the Security Council -- including China, Russia, and South Africa, which had opposed prior action on Burma -- must be reminded of their subsequent agreement with this roadmap.

There have never been any easy answers to the problems in Burma. And that continues to be the case. In the meantime, the Burmese people draw strength from the grace, dignity, and spirit of Aung San Suu Kyi and the perseverance of their fellow citizens. And they hope and pray that we will use, as she has said, our freedom to promote theirs.

Mr. Genser is President of Freedom Now, represents Aung San Suu Kyi, and is a Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum.


Source: Far Eastern Economic Review