[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 67 (Thursday, May 13, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5465-S5466]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                                 BURMA

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I want to take a brief moment to update 
my colleagues on the situation in Burma.
  In short: there has been no progress: Burmese democracy leader Aung 
San Suu Kyi remains under house arrest; 1,300 prisoners of conscience 
remain in Burmese jails--with others threatened by arrest for speaking 
out against the convention; and the SPDC nightmare of rape and 
repression continues unabated in Burma.
  I expect that the junta may again release Suu Kyi in the houses 
leading up to the State Peace and Development Council, SPDC, 
orchestrated May 17 constitutional convention charade. The world must 
hold the applause.
  The generals in Rangoon need to do much more to prove they are 
serious about reconciliation than staging bad political theater in 
which they control every line and cue.
  What should the SPDC do? First, release all political prisoners 
including those rounded up in the anticipation of the convention. 
Second, permit the NLD to operate freely, including immediately 
reopening all party offices. Third, allow NLD members to meet with 
ethnic leaders without threats of harassment, imprisonment or worse. 
Finally, provide the international press with unfettered access to 
Burmese democrats, throughout the country.
  While the NLD will decide whether or not to attend the constitutional 
charade, the international community bears the responsibility to 
condemn a fundamentally flawed process that offers little in the way of 
transition to democracy. I remain deeply concerned that the regime has 
not rescinded their order which imposes lengthy prison sentences on 
anyone who speaks out against the national convention. What more 
evidence of a Potemkin village is needed?
  As we think about Burma, it is important to consider the comments of 
Tashika Elbegdorj, former Mongolian Prime Minister, who wrote in a 
recent op-ed on Burma:

       That the regime attempts to justify its behavior by talking 
     about ``managed democracy'' and the ``Asian way to 
     democracy'' is an outrage. The fact that Burma's regional 
     neighbors look the other way while making pretenses about 
     ``internal affairs'' is a stain on all Asians, and this must 
     change.

  Tashika Elbegdorj speaks the truth and I commend his interest in the 
struggle of freedom for Burma. I encourage other democrats in the 
region to find their voices in support of Suu Kyi and the NLD in the 
days, weeks, and months to come.
  I close by highlighting yesterday's Baltimore Sun editorial on Burma 
entitled ``Window Dressing'' that encouraged the U.S. Senate to ``. . . 
act quickly to renew import sanctions. . . . And this time sanctions 
must be followed by a U.S. diplomatic campaign--with the generals, 
their Southeast Asian apologists and the U.N. Security Council--that 
will be more strongly focused on forcing the junta to begin sharing 
power. Ms. Suu Kyi has deservedly gained world renown as a symbol of 
the Burmese quest for freedom, but she is also just one of 50 million 
people who remain under this regime's lock and key.''
  The Sun editors got it right: the Senate must act quickly to pass 
S.J. Res. 36, which renews import sanctions against Burma. By doing so, 
we send a clear message that America continues to stand with the people 
of Burma. It is my hope that we can get agreement to consider and pass 
this resolution before the May recess.
  I ask unanimous consent that the former Prime Minister's op-ed, which 
appeared in The Nation, an English-language newspaper in Thailand, and 
the Baltimore Sun editorial be printed in the Record following my 
remarks.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                 [From the Baltimore Sun, May 12, 2004]

                            Window Dressing

       On Monday, 14 years after a pack of generals stole control 
     of Myanmar from a legally elected democracy party, the still-
     ruling military junta will convene a national constitutional 
     convention to which it has invited its long-suppressed 
     opponents. In advance, the National League for Democracy, 
     which won those last parliamentary elections in 1990, has 
     been allowed to reopen an office. And there's mounting 
     anticipation that its leader, Nobel laureate Aung San Suu 
     Kyi, will be released from house arrest to participate in the 
     national political conference.
       If this sounds all too familiar, it should. Those concerned 
     with the brutal suppression of freedom in the national once 
     known as Burma have been down this road before--in 1996 and, 
     more recently, last year, when the indomitable Ms. Suu Kyi 
     and her supporters, briefly free to speak out, came under 
     violent ambush leading to her last rearrest. Her release 
     now--it would be her third since her first arrest in 1989--
     would be welcome, but it also would impart credibility to a 
     political process that Sen. Mitch McConnell has aptly 
     denounced as ``window dressing.''
       All but a few of the more than 1,000 convention delegates 
     are said to be hand-picked supporters of the generals. Even 
     as the illegal regime talks of a new road map to resolving 
     this long standoff with the NLD, 1,300 political prisoners 
     remain jailed, and in recent

[[Page S5466]]

     weeks more dissidents reportedly have been receiving long 
     sentences. Ms. Suu Kyi's party is in a tough spot: It can 
     boycott the convention as a sham and be accused by the regime 
     of being noncooperative, or it can legitimize a sham. Either 
     way, the Yangon generals again seem to be stringing along the 
     world.
       All this speaks to the need for the U.S. Senate to act 
     quickly to renew import sanctions placed on Myanmarese goods 
     after Ms. Suu Kyi was rearrested last year. And this time, 
     sanctions must be followed by a U.S. diplomatic campaign--
     with the generals, their Southeast Asian apologists and the 
     U.N. Security Council--that will be more strongly focused on 
     forcing the junta to begin sharing power.
       Ms. Suu Kyi has deservedly gained world renown as a symbol 
     of the Burmese quest for freedom, but she also is just one of 
     50 million people who remain under this regime's lock and 
     key.
                                  ____


                           [From the Nation]

                  Now Is the Time for Action on Burma

                         (By Tashika Elbegdorj)

       Nobody should be clinking champagne glasses over the recent 
     announcement that Burma's National League for Democracy 
     (NLD), lead by Aung San Suu Kyi, has tentatively accepted an 
     invitation to attend the national convention being organized 
     by the ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC). If 
     this is to be a credible process, the regime must first meet 
     a number of reasonable demands by the NLD--something the 
     ruling junta has never done in the past. Now is the time to 
     step up pressure on Rangoon to ensure the NLD's demands are 
     met and to prevent another attempt by the SPDC to place a 
     veneer of democracy over their brutal rule.
       Beginning a so-called process of national reconciliation 
     and charting a way out of Burma's political impasse without 
     the full participation of Suu Kyi and the NLD (as a party and 
     not as individuals) is destined to failure. The legitimacy of 
     the NLD cannot be denied. The Burmese people overwhelmingly 
     elected NLD candidates in 1990 to represent them in 
     parliamentary elections the SPDC refuses to recognize.
       Few regimes in the world are as repugnant as the SPDC led 
     by Senior General Than Shwe. Human rights reports and 
     documentation by international organizations such as the 
     United Nations have catalogued a long series of horrors the 
     ruling regime inflicts on its people. For example, the SPDC 
     demands forced labor from its citizens, uses rape as a weapon 
     of fear and intimidation against ethnic groups, fills its 
     jails with political prisoners and torture and summary 
     executions are common. In one of the greatest crimes against 
     our youth, Human Rights Watch reports that nearly 70,000 
     child soldiers, some as young as 11, have been dragooned into 
     the Burma army.
       That the regime attempts to justify its behavior by talking 
     about ``managed democracy'' and the ``Asian way to 
     democracy'' is an outrage. The fact that Burma's regional 
     neighbors look the other way while making pretenses about 
     ``internal affairs'' is a stain on all Asians--and this must 
     change.
       The SPDC's national convention continues a process begun in 
     1995 to guarantee a future constitution that cements the 
     military's role in power. Statements by senior SPDC officials 
     that this convention will pick up where the last one left off 
     demonstrates a striking lack of sincerely and strongly 
     indicates that this exercise has nothing to do with democracy 
     and everything to do with dictatorship.
       The Burmese people are not the only victims of the regime. 
     Burma's neighbors also suffer. In Thailand, the junta's 
     actions have forced tens of thousands of refugees across the 
     Thai-Burma border. Methamphetimines, or ya ba as it is known 
     locally, wash into Thailand from Burma, saddling Thai social 
     services with skyrocketing addiction rates and increased 
     crime. China is battling an HIV-AIDS epidemic that has its 
     roots in Burma's opium smuggling. Regionally, Association of 
     Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), who have long provided 
     Burma's generals with political cover, are forced to pick up 
     the tab for the regime's behavior. Meetings with the U.S. and 
     EU officials that should be focused on enhancing economic, 
     security and social ties are instead devoted to explaining 
     the outrageous actions of a brutal regime. This tension is a 
     drag on the region.
       It is time for Asian governments to realize that it is time 
     to get tough with Burma's thugs. After expending considerable 
     political capital and prestige, Prime Minister Thaksin 
     Shinawatra received a slap in the face when the junta refused 
     to participate in a second meeting of the Bangkok Process, a 
     mechanism he put in place to allow the regime to brief the 
     international community on its road map to democracy and 
     national convention.
       Thaksin has bent over backwards to curry favor with Burma's 
     generals by cracking down on Burmese refugees and democracy 
     activists promoting non-violence in their opposition to the 
     SPDC. Thaksin should communicate strongly to the regime that 
     they will not find solace or cover with his government. 
     Allowing Burmese democracy activists to meet and organize in 
     Thailand would serve to demonstrate his commitment to freedom 
     in Thailand as well as sending a strong signal to the regime 
     that their actions are unacceptable and their support waning. 
     Asean could take the step of suspending Burma's membership in 
     the regional grouping putting the SPDC on notice they are 
     unwilling to foot the rising political and financial bill for 
     the regime's acts of violence and abuse.
       A peaceful Burma holds the promise of returning refugees, 
     addressing narcotics smuggling, and investing in a social 
     infrastructure that can unleash the talents and potential of 
     the people. This will create a huge new economic market for 
     Asean and be a catalyst for further development in an 
     environment of peace and stability. None of this will exist 
     under the SPDC.
       It is testimony to the bravery of the Burmese people that 
     despite the regime's oppression and terror they are unable to 
     subdue the country's democracy movement. The strength of the 
     movement lies in its legitimacy and the demand by the country 
     for governance derived from the will of the people. It is 
     long past time for Asian governments to hear their call and 
     take the actions necessary for a peaceful transition of power 
     that can begin to heal this torn land.

                          ____________________