hankyoreh

There is no end to the savagery of the military government that rules Myanmar, formerly Burma, with an iron fist. Following an incident on May 3 where a U.S. citizen was arrested after swimming over to the house of Aung San Suu Kyi, the living symbol of the nation’s democratization movement, Myanmar’s military arrested and imprisoned Suu Kyi and some of her associates on May 14. Suu Kyi is scheduled to be brought in for trial today on charges of violating the conditions of her house arrest by having contact with an outsider without permission. The military government also went a step further and disbarred lawyer Aung Thein, who had applied to represent Suu Kyi.

These measures from Myanmar’s government are not only inhumane, they are also unjust. Suu Kyi has been under house arrest for a total of 13 of the last 19 years, and her sentence was set to expire on May 27, marking six straight years of confinement. She is reported to be in ill health as a result of her long imprisonment. Even so, the military government has turned the invasion of her home against her and is prosecuting her for it. Who believes that a foreigner could simply sneak into the home of the most closely monitored person in a society thoroughly controlled like Myanmar’s unless it was with the tacit approval of authorities? Moreover, this incident has occurred just two weeks prior to the date when her house arrest sentence is set to expire. It stands to reason that people are suspecting the Myanmar government of constructing the incident in order to satisfy its need for an excuse to prolong her sentence.

Behind the ruling government’s desire to keep Suu Kyi imprisoned is the general election that is scheduled to take place next year. In 1990, the National League for Democracy, led by Suu Kyi, won an overwhelming victory in the parliamentary elections. The military government overturned the results and seized power, and ever since has mobilized every means within its power, including the imprisonment of Suu Kyi, to nip any nascent democratization in the bud. However, in the face of increasing pressure coming from within and outside of the country, including protests led by Buddhist monks two years ago, the government was obliged to make a promise to hold elections in 2010. The government needs to ensure their legitimacy through an election, and Suu Kyi, who is to be freed soon, could be their biggest obstacle. There is no guarantee, however, that next year’s election will not be a repeat of the nightmare from 20 years ago.

Nonetheless, they cannot keep power forever by pointing guns at the Burmese people. If Myanmar’s military government wants real legitimacy, it needs to hand over power to the people and accept their democratically made decision. The first step toward that would of course be to call a halt to this farce of a trial against Suu Kyi and to release her from house arrest. They should also follow this up by releasing the more than 2,000 individuals imprisoned in Myanmar for political crimes. The international community, too, shares in the responsibility for leaving this woman politician who is 64 years old in such a dire situation. The United Nations, and the international community in general, needs to apply pressure on Myanmar’s government to free Suu Kyi and the other political prisoners.

Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]