[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 119 (Thursday, September 19, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1610]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       SUPPORT DEMOCRACY IN BURMA

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JOSEPH R. PITTS

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                     Wednesday, September 18, 2002

  Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, today news reports reveal that over 300 Karen 
villagers fled their homes because State Peace and Development Council 
soldiers, known to the rest of the world as the government military 
dictatorship, burned their villages to the ground. Once again, 
villagers in Burma are living homeless in the jungle.
  On September 18, 1988, the military forced its rule on the people of 
Burma, a rule that has been dominated by severe violence and oppression 
including rape, the enslavement of children, attacks on ethnic 
minorities, imprisonment and torture of democratic political opposition 
groups, and the destruction of homes and villages. The people of Burma 
have struggled to survive under this brutal regime. On this day of 
tragic remembrance, the United States and the entire international 
community must come together to support and assist the Karen, Karenni, 
Chin, Shan and other people of Burma.
  The Burmese regime does not limit its attacks to ethnic minorities, 
but also brutally oppresses religious minorities. The military invades 
villages, divides families through forced relocation, and uses rape and 
murder to subjugate the people. The Karen community in southern Burma 
has been under severe attack by the Burmese military, particularly this 
year. Earlier this summer, I shared in a floor speech that I had 
photographic evidence of a massacre in the Karen State in Burma. The 
regime's troops brutally killed innocent civilians as they attempted to 
flee to refugee camps in neighboring Thailand. Despite promises to the 
international community that it will cease such blatant human rights 
violations, the regime refuses to take action against those responsible 
for the massacre. As usual, no investigation into the incident has 
occurred.
  The SPDC regime deceives the international community again and again 
by saying one thing and then doing another. Recently, the SPDC freed 
democracy leader and 1991 Nobel Peace Prize recipient Daw Aung San Suu 
Kyi and promised to permit free political expression in Burma. Since 
that promise, however, the regime refuses to open a political dialogue 
with the National League for Democracy and Burma's ethnic communities.
  The international community, on behalf of the people of Burma, should 
make it clear that the oppressive dictators of Burma will no longer be 
tolerated--we do not want to remember another anniversary of the human 
rights violations against Burma's people. Instead, next year on this 
day, we should be celebrating the return of democracy and freedom to 
the people of Burma.
  I urge our Administration and my colleagues in Congress to act to 
support democracy in Burma and help provide aid to the suffering ethnic 
minorities. In addition, I urge the international community to press 
Burma's regime to cease the violence and murder perpetrated against the 
people and allow the legitimately elected leaders of the country to 
govern.

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