[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 19 (Monday, February 28, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[Congressional Record: February 28, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
BURMA'S AUNG SAN SUU KYI
Mr. RICHARDSON. Madam Speaker, today I wish to inform the House about
a recent trip I undertook on behalf of the House Intelligence Committee
to Rangoon, Burma. Burma in Southeast Asia pops up in the news and in
the public conscience infrequently, but in the days ahead my prediction
is that international attention will focus on this Nation, will focus
on the United States policy toward this nation and international policy
toward this nation and on one valiant woman, Aung San Suu Kyi.
The public has yet to learn about this remarkable woman, a woman I
had the privilege of visiting for 6 hours while in Rangoon. She has
been under house arrest for the past 5 years. Her party won conclusive
elections 4 years ago, 80 percent of the vote, and the military
government proceeded to put her under house arrest and jailed thousands
of members of her political party.
Today she is still under house arrest, able to see only her family
physician and a very narrow circle of personal individuals. I had the
privilege of visiting her; the first nonfamily member in the last 5
years to see her. The Burmese Government, responding to a request that
I had made last year, agreed to let me visit with her for a period of
approximately 6 hours over 2 days.
Madam Speaker, I can tell you that she is a woman of conscience, a
tower of intellectual strength, a woman of principles. She asks for
nothing, except democracy in her country. She asks for nothing in terms
of personal assistance from the government as they keep her in
detention. She is allowed to see only her family members on occasion.
Like Nelson Mandela, while in captivity she spends an enormous amount
of time meditating, speaking about human rights, and writing.
Madam Speaker, I also had an opportunity to spend 4 hours with
General Khin Nyunt, who is the head of military intelligence and
represents the Burmese Government.
I proposed a dialog--talks between Aung San Suu Kyi and the leader of
the Burmese Government, General Khin Nyunt. These talks, hopefully,
would lead to political reconciliation. In the days ahead I am hopeful
that a decision will be made and the Burmese Government, which has made
some modest steps toward democracy and respect for human rights will
conclude that: If they want to improve policy with the United States,
if they want to improve their standing in the international community,
they will engage in true political dialog with Aung San Suu Kyi. She
must be set free. She must be released unconditionally. The thousands
of political prisoners in Insein prison should also be allowed freedom,
and there should be an effort to legitimize the political convention
that is going on right now in Burma. It is a convention that does not
include true opposition such as Aung San Suu Kyi.
Madam Speaker, I undertook this mission as a Member of the U.S.
Congress and a member of the Committee on Intelligence. I was not a
Presidential envoy, although I did carry a letter of support from
President Clinton to Aung San Suu Kyi which was released by the White
House last week and very firmly states America's support for this
valiant woman in her quest for freedom and human rights.
In preparation for this trip, I spent 5 hours in London with Dr.
Michael Aris, the husband of Aung San Suu Kyi and an Oxford scholar, to
learn his thoughts on my critical meeting with his wife.
In addition to that meeting I held in Burma, which included sessions
with U.S. Embassy officials of the Burmese Foreign Ministry and prison
visits, I also spoke to numerous Burmese citizens in Rangoon. In
addition, I met with various groups in Washington, with officials from
the United Nations, and with many others that have studied Burma to a
far greater degree than me.
Madam Speaker, I am not a Burmese expert. I came to be involved as a
member of the Congressional Human Rights Caucus on the Burma issue
which, along with Representative Rohrabacher, in a truly bipartisan
effort we attempted to get some political prisoners out of Burma and
met with success. In addition, with several other Members we
participated in an amendment that gave financial assistance to some of
the Burmese refugees that are currently on the Thai border.
This is the second trip that I have undertaken to Burma. I first made
the request in August 1993 in Rangoon to see Aung San Suu Kyi. The
ruling government said perhaps if I returned I would be given that
opportunity to talk to her.
In my judgment, it was a productive 2 days in Rangoon. Let me say
that my visit was completely coordinated with the State Department,
with the White House and officials in the Clinton administration. We
spoke with one voice. I emphasized the strong support of the American
Government and the American people for Aung San Suu Kyi and her
democratic Burma. She made clear her determination to remain in Burma
and pursue efforts to establish a democratic representative government
responsive to the needs of the people.
Aung San Suu Kyi also expressed her desire for a genuine high level
dialog with the Burmese Government. She believes a substantive dialog
between the Burmese Government and the country's democratic forces is
the only way out of Burma's current political impasse. She also
provided me with her responses to messages from President Clinton, U.N.
Secretary General Boutros Ghali, and U.N. High Commissioner for
Refugees and Human Rights, Jose Ayala Lasso of Equador. I understand in
the days ahead these messages will be released.
During my meeting with the Chairman of the Burmese Government, Lt.
Gen. Khin Nyunt, I expressed my appreciation for the humanitarian
gesture of permitting me to meet with Aung San Suu Kyi and to visit
four political prisoners in Insein prison. I made clear United States
concerns about human rights and democratization in Burma, including the
need for an immediate and unconditional release of Aung San Suu Kyi and
all other prisoners of conscience, and the announcement for a
timetable, a realistic timetable for transition to democracy. General
Khin Nyunt informed me that his government is moving ahead with his
plans to establish a constitutional government. He also strongly
expressed his desire for positive, better relations with the United
States.
{time} 1230
I relayed to General Khin Nyunt the desires of Aung San Suu Kyi as
well as my desire to see a high-level dialog with his government. He
stated in his reply that this is not alone for him to decide, but that
his ruling government will consider authorizing him to engage in talks
with Aung San Suu Kyi and that consideration will also be given to
another proposal that I made, and that is that the International
Committee for the Red Cross be permitted to visit political prisoners
in Burma as well as to allow NGO's nongovernment organization
activities in the country.
All of these matters are being considered by this Government. The
release of Aung San Suu Kyi, whether the government enters into a
political dialog with her, whether the International Red Cross is
permitted to visit Insein prison, whether NGO's are allowed to move
ahead and to participate in the activities of the country, I believe
that if these efforts are granted, if these initiatives are taken by
the Burmese Government, that these are very positive steps.
Let me stress it is my view that the situation in Burma is at a
critical crossroads, and that the Burmese basically should settle their
problems on their own terms and in their own way. This is why I
proposed that Aung San Suu Kyi meet with Gen. Khin Nyunt.
My 2 days in Burma will, hopefully, further getting Aung San Suu Kyi
and Gen. Khin Kyunt together for talks.
I should say, when I mention talks and dialog, that this is something
that the Burmese must settle for themselves. However, the international
community can assure that these talks are meaningful.
What we need to do, and it is my hope that the United States
Government, like Japan, Sweden, and the United Nations, be catalysts in
this effort, but recognize that the responsibility and the main thrust
of political dialog should be undertaken between the democratic forces
represented by Aung San Suu Kyi and the ruling government. In other
words, let us allow the Burmese to settle this for themselves, but let
us stand on behalf of human rights, let us stand on behalf of
democracy, and as I made clear, let us stand behind what Aung San Suu
Kyi represents.
I think it is particularly important also that other players engaged
in these efforts, in particular, Ambassador Yozo Yokoda, the head of
the U.N. Human Rights Commission. Ambassador Yokoda should be allowed
to visit Aung San Suu Kyi. Others Members of Congress, other Members of
the Senate in the past have asked to see her, they too should be
allowed. Now that I was allowed to see her, others from the
international community and human rights groups, should be allowed to
engage in discussions with her. But most hopefully, many of these
issues can be settled if a dialog takes place between Aung San Suu Kyi
and Gen. Khin Nyunt.
Let me again stress that I am simply an individual who is pleased
with the gesture of the Burmese Government to allow me to be an
individual to see her for the first time. As I have described her
before. She is a woman of towering intellectual ability and strength of
conscience. She is a woman of passion and commitment. She is a woman
that stands for the best ideals of democracy. She is a woman that is
practical and pragmatic and is ready to engage in talks on political
reconciliation without any preconditions.
I recognize that this is an issue which the United States is going to
play an active and positive role in. I believe it is President
Clinton's strong emphasis on human rights and democracy that made much
of this possible.
Through President Clinton's efforts and his administration,
international pressure and for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi is
having an effect in Burma. We have seen the release of some political
prisoners in Burma. We have seen the presence of the International
Human Rights Commission in the area. We have seen some dialog with
ethnic groups. All of these are encouraging signs, but the Burmese
Government must be remanded that more is necessary.
Nothing, however, is more important than this high-level dialog with
Aung San Suu Kyi and Gen. Khin Nyunt. Let me stress that I also believe
the other side, Gen. Khin Nyunt, is a pragmatic individual who is
sincere about wanting to heal the divisions in Burma.
I think that some of the negotiations with the various dissident
groups in his country should continue. But the key to political
reconciliation is to talk to a woman of 49 years of age, a thin, slight
woman who, nonetheless, represents at least 80 percent of the Burmese
people and a large contingent of support in the international
community.
What is wrong with two individuals sitting down and trying to mesh
their differences? That is all we are asking for, a dialog between two
people to start the political reconciliation in this country that is
rich in historical tradition, that is rich in the strength of its
people, that is rich in its religious roots, that before 1988 had a
very solid and positive relationship with the United States.
Madam Speaker, it is my hope in the days ahead to speak again about
the Aung San Suu Kyi issue in Burma. The United States is right now
engaging in a policy review towards this country. It is important, as
we pursue this policy review, that we stand behind Aung San Suu Kyi and
democracy and human rights, that we, nonetheless, recognize that if
talks take place between Aung San Suu Kyi and the Burmese Government,
that that is an important gesture. It does not mean that we are going
to have a normalization of relations, but at the same time, if there is
a political dialog, if there is a release of political prisoners, if
there is an assortment of measures that indicate that Burma is moving
toward democracy, then you will see a normalization of relations.
It is critically important, too, that the United Nations take a more
active role. The U.S. Government, along with others, has called for a
special envoy to get involved with the Aung San Suu Kyi and Burmese
issues. It is important that the international community remain active
on this issue and not allow the momentum of the last week shall.
Because Burma is small and perhaps is not as strategically important
to us as others, does not mean that the United States should not take a
principled position on human rights. As we pursue an activist policy,
that hopefully will speed democratization in Burma, the American people
will see that policies on behalf of human rights and democracy are
being carried out by the Clinton administration in many other areas
including China, Southeast Asia, Central America, and Latin America.
That and the administration's support for a United Nations component on
human rights, is a clarion call that, once again, the Clinton
administration human rights policy has notched another very positive
development.
I am here on behalf of many Democrats, Republicans, individuals
around the country and around the globe who would like to see democracy
in Burma. I urge my colleagues and those listening to watch and stand
in support of this woman who is in solitary confinement, under house
arrest. She deserves the attention of the world.
Nelson Mandela has achieved much of his goal, now the world's
attention moves to Burma. It moves with Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel
Prize winner of several years ago who stands alone but stands on behalf
of the light of democracy and human rights.
Mr. Speaker, I submit for the Record the following material:
The White House,
Washington, DC, February 10, 1994.
Dear Daw Aung San Suu Kyi: Let me take the opportunity to
express again my deep concern about your welfare and to
applaud your remarkable courage in pursuing human rights and
democracy for the people of Burma. Despite your four and one-
half years of detention, your determination and courage
continue to inspire friends of freedom around the world.
Recent resolutions adopted in the United Nations General
Assembly and the United Nations Human Rights Commission make
clear the international community's outrage over your
continued detention as well as that of all other prisoners of
conscience in Burma.
I also want to assure you of the United States' continuing
support for the struggle to promote freedom in Burma. The
1990 elections handed your party an overwhelming mandate from
Burma's people and firmly rejected military rule. Obviously,
the path to democratic change must be worked out by the
Burmese themselves who have assigned you a key role in
bringing about such a democratic transition. We strongly
condemn the effort to deny you the right to participate
freely in the political life of Burma.
You have my utmost admiration for your stand. Like your
courageous father, you symbolize the authentic aspirations of
the Burmese people. History is on the side of freedom
throughout the world and I remain confident that your cause
will prevail.
Please accept my warmest personal regards.
Sincerely,
Bill Clinton.
From the Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town, The Most
Reverend Desmond M. Tutu, D.D. F.K.C.,
Cape Town, South Africa, February 21, 1994.
Hon. Bill Richardson,
Rayburn House Office Building,
Washington, DC.
Dear Congressman Richardson: Archbishop Desmond Tutu wishes
to commend you for your recent visit to Burma and meeting
with Aung San Suu Kyi. His Grace is in regular contact with
Ms. Michelle Bohana of the Institute for Asian Democracy, who
keeps him informed of the situation in Burma.
The Archbishop and Mrs. Betty Williams are among those
Nobel Laureates, and others, who have been campaigning for
the release of Suu from house arrest and thus he applauds
your efforts in this regard, as well as encouraging the
return of Burma to democracy. His Grace and Mrs. Williams
also met with President Clinton to advise him and Vice
President Gore on the situation and hopes that the President
too may use his influence to persuade the SLORC to lift all
restrictions on Suu and the democratic movement in Burma.
With sincere good wishes and praying God's blessing upon
you.
Yours sincerely,
Rev. Canon Rowan O. Smith.
[From the (Bangkok, Thailand) Nation, Feb. 18, 1994]
Suu Kyi's Inner Strength Will Free Burma From Slorc
Burma scholar Josef Silverstein has every reason to be
convinced that Aung San Suu Kyi is Burma's woman of destiny.
There is no other person who has achieved her status, love
and respect from the people of Burma and the support from
foreign governments who have appealed on her behalf. She is
her father's daughter--intelligent, honest, tough and
fearless, ``he writer in a chapter in Freedom from Fear--a
collection of Suu Kyi's writings edited by her husband
Michael Aris.
The ruling Rangoon military junta's apparent refusal to
give her freedom after the completion of her five-year
detention in July, or expel her from the country, or take any
action other than the continuation of her house arrest; just
shows the extent to which they will go to cling to
illegitimate power.
In the face of the Nobel Peace Prize awarded to her in 1991
for her fight for democracy and human rights in Burma and the
growing call from world leaders to free her, the State Law
and Order Restoration Council (Slonc) responded by
reiterating its position that she was free to go into
voluntary exile provided she renounced politics.
calm and resolute
In her interview with the New York Times's Philip Shenon on
Monday, Sun Kyi proved Silverstein's words true. She is still
her father's daughter--and four and a half years under house
arrest have not dampened her spirit in the least.
``The concept of driving somebody out of their own country
is totally unacceptable to me. They have tried to presence me
to leave the country in ways that no selfrespecting
government should try,'' she told The New York Times.
``Whatever they do to me, that's between them and me; I can
take it,'' she added. * * *
Shenon had this to say of Suu Kyi; ``She spoke in a calm;
resolute voice that betrayed none of the suffering of her
isolation.''
Admirably, the National League for Democracy leader remains
as straightforward and dynamic as she was before her arrest
in 1989; Despite almost five years of being under heavy armed
guard at her own home and previous nutritional problems due
to lack of funds. Suu Kyi remains in reasonably good health.
Also on Monday, US Congressman Bill Richardson, who is a
close associate of President Bill Clinton, held two rounds of
talks with Suu Kyi and met with Slore leader Lt. Gen. Khin
Nyunt in a shuttle diplomacy bid to try to get a dialogue
started.
Clearly, Richardson's meeting was timed by the military
junta to coincide next week with the meeting of the UN Human
Rights Commission in Geneva, where Burma's appalling human
rights record will come under scrutiny.
Slore recently removed guard posts around Suu Kyi's house
and the Nobel laureate's first meeting with non-family
foreigners since 1989 is intended by the military junta to be
seen by the world as a significant advance.
But leopards never change their spots. Slore is still very
conscious of Suu Kyi's continuing power to influence events,
and because of this they have extended her five year
detention period by another year.
Despite some small economic improvements for those
connected to the regime, popular opposition to the junta
remains just below the surface. The cowards that they are,
Slorc feels that if Suu Kyi was released before the junta
assures firm control over the new constitution and a
military-dominated government she would automatically become
a focus for that opposition.
US Congressman Richardson delivered a personal letter from
Clinton to Suu Kyi in which the US president praised her for
her deep courage in pursuing human rights and democracy for
the Burmese people. Clinton also pledged continued US support
for the struggle to promote freedom in Burma.
A QUESTION OF TIME
These brave words in support of Suu Kyi must be matched by
deeds. The United States is in an excellent position to push
for an arms and trade embargo against the military junta. * *
*
That Burma's people are ``prospering'' because of Slorc's
external trade, made possible in large part by Asean's
``constructive engagement'' policy, is just a big myth.
International pressure can change the situation in Burma
and free Aung San Suu Kyi and other political detainees. For
Asean to continue to associate itself with a corrupt and
brutal military regime is indeed disgraceful.
Aung San Suu Kyi's strength and fortitude in the face of
Slorc's repressive rule gives the Burmese people a model to
emulate. It's only a matter of time now before freedom comes
their way.
[From the Bangkok (Thailand) Post, Feb. 17, 1994]
True Grit in the Face of Oppression
How would you hold up after five years of solitary
confinement? What if you had either to serve an unjust,
indefinite prison term or surrender your deepest principles?
If your own government called you a ``dangerous subversive'',
would you take it personally?
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's interview on Monday with New York
Times reporter Philip Shenon, carried yesterday in the
Bangkok Post, shows that she has held up commendably well,
`to say' to say the least. Her own protestations to the
contrary, Suu Kyi more obviously than ever, belongs in the
very first rank of moral and political leaders who have
unblinkingly faced down oppression. No comparison to Mahatma
Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Vaclav Havel or any other figure
can possibly leave her wanting. Her abiding freedom from fear
bodes well indeed for the future of the country she cherishes
so dearly, and for the cause of democracy worldwide.
``Whatever (the SLORC do to me . . . I can take it,'' she
said. ``What's more important is what they are doing to the
country.''
Suu Kyl's remarks underscore several traits we know;
already she shared with the very greatest of human beings.
She is genuinely humble. She learned she had won the 1991
Nobel Peace Prize from the BBC, we now know. ``I felt
tremendous humility and tremendous gratitude,'' she said on
Monday. ``I was very grateful. The prize meant that the whole
movement for democracy will receive a lot more recognition.''
She remembers the suffering of others and the purpose of her
own suffering. ``Isolation is not difficult,'' she said. ``I
know that other people have suffered a lot more. People have
died.''
She is unbending in her bedrock principles. ``The concept
of driving somebody out of their own country is totally
unacceptable to me,'' she said. On whether she would accept
the junta's offer of freedom if she agreed to leave Burma,
she said, ``That is never going to happen.'' She calls the
SLORC's planned constitutional convention, ``an absolute
farce. . . . ``If people are not allowed to speak and if they
are just there to nod their heads, there's nothing. It's not
a convention. I can't accept it as something that seriously
represents the will of the people at all.''
She eschews any dictatorial ambitions a lesser person might
have nursed. ``I'm not interested in any sort of personality
cult or personality politics. This is what you've got to
avoid from the beginning. We want to see a democracy based on
social principles, not on personality.''
Perhaps unfortunately, Suu Kyi has become the symbol of
democracy and unity in Burma. Democratic politics in Burma to
an extent is personality politics. Ironically, if anyone can
change that, surely it is Suu Kyi. Through the interview, she
sent a message to her allies, ``They must stop squabbling
among themselves,'' she pleaded. ``If there's something on
which they cannot agree, put it on ice. . . . You must go and
give them a message that I said, `Don't be afraid.' ''
Don't be afraid. Powerful words, from the author of the
book Freedom of Fear. ``Where people are daring to be
politically active, they enjoy more rights,'' she once wrote.
``Where people are fearful, however, they suffer more
oppression. . . . If we want democracy, we need to show
courage. . . . By courage I mean the courage to do what one
knows is right, even if one is afraid.'' Powerful words not
only in Burma but elsewhere--here in Thailand, for example.
Illegitimate governments rule by ``terror'', we tend to
say. But who feels the terror more? Surely the oppressors
feel it more keenly than the oppressed. ``The evildoers run
and hide, they hide in the shadows,'' writes exiled Haitian
president Jean-Bertrand Aristide, ``hoping darkness will
protect them and allow them to continue to commit their
crimes.''
The world has learned that just inside the front door of
her house, Suu Kyi has posted political slogans in large
letters. ``You cannot use martial law as an excuse for
injustice,'' reads one. Asserts Aristide: ``Beware the person
who feels angry upon hearing the words of truth.''
The parallel of Haiti is timely to note, since U.S.
President Bill Clinton gave Suu Kyl a letter through
congressman Bill Richardson. Clinton's recent abandonment of
Aristide's and Haiti's cause is shameful. Let us hope Mr.
Clinton's bold, courageous friend, Mr. Richardson and others
can prevail on him and others, such as our own government, to
do better by Aung San Suu Kyi.
____________________