2min Cheat Sheet: Aung San Suu Kyi

So on the weekend, I knew I was happy that Aung San Suu Kyi had finally been released in Burma after being held under house arrest for 7 years. I just didn’t know exactly WHY I was happy, the details of the situation having escaped me (not technically true because you have to have something before it can escape and I never had the details of this story in my head).

When I read a tweet yesterday from MM contributor Kate Hunter suggesting a cheat sheet so she too could know what she was talking about, I decided to ask MM’s political editor Julie Cowdroy to prepare us all a quick guide to the important bits of this story.

Julie writes….
Who is Aung San Suu Kyi?

Aung San Suu Kyi is the leader of the National League for Democracy (NLD), a political party in Burma. Suu Kyi is one of over 2,000 political prisoners who are currently confined to house arrest or hard labour in Burma. She has spent 15 of the past 21 years under house arrest because of her pursuit of democracy against Burma’s hardline military regime, or junta, officially known
as the Security Peace and Development Council (SPDC).

The SPDC have placed Suu Kyi under house arrest for ridiculous reasons over the past two decades. The latest arrest was because she allegedly ‘violated the terms of her house arrest’ because an American man swam across a river to reach her home and visit her, despite the fact that Suu Kyi had not invited him. She was due for release in May 2009. According to Human Rights Watch, the SPDC and it’s judiciary (which is not independent from the government) found her guilty of violating the terms of her house arrest and sentenced her to three years hard labour, but they lightened the verdict to 18 months house arrest, which expired 13 November, 2010.

Suu Kyi is from a family that has a long history in resisting Burma’s regimes. Her father Aung San was a revolutionary who spent his life in a struggle for true Burmese independence. Suu Kyi was just two years old when he was assassinated during the transition from British rule to Burmese independence. He has been accused of persecuting other ethnic minorities in Burma.

Suu Kyi has been the recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize and is thought to be the most popular political prisoner since Nelson Mandela.

For a more comprehensive description of Aung San Suu Kyi’s life,  I recommend reading Jon Swain’s piece entitled The Woman who wouldn’t crack in today’s Australian.

Where is Burma anyway and why is it significant?

Burma is a country that borders China, Laos, Bangladesh and India. Burma embodies one of the most complicated political situations in the world. A combination of British imperialism, many diverse ethnic and religious minority groups, coups, as well as disastrous economic and social policy decisions based on whacky ideologies have resulted in the dire humanitarian crisis we see today.

The current government is a military dictatorship lead by the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC).

The SPDC have been accused by Human Rights Watch and Amnesty of human rights abuses of 2,200 political prisoners, murdering civilians as well as recruiting child soldiers.

The SPDC have been blamed for murdering protesters in two recent events, one of which was in 1988 when hundreds of thousands took to the streets in an attempt to overthrow the military regime. They demonstrated their dissatisfaction and frustration with the disastrous policies that had led to widespread poverty, and closed off Burma from the rest of the world.

They demonstrated against the policies of Burma’s military regime since it’s independence, which centred on strengthening the Burmese military, forming a socialist economy and the attempt to construct a single Burmese national identity despite the fact there are many diverse ethnic groups in Burma.

Furthermore, they demonstrated against being shut off from the rest of the world due to the junta’s tough stance on international intervention via international NGOs and foreign media.

The campaign against the regime in 1988 lasted six weeks. 3,000 people died and thousands were jailed, but the protest failed to undermine the strength of the government.

The NLD party led by Aung San Suu Syi formed in the wake of the 1988 protest. Despite winning a majority of the votes in the 1990 elections, the ruling junta did not let the party form a government, hence her consistent imprisonment.

In 2007, Buddhist monks took to the streets to demonstrate against the regime again. Most of those who took part were young and had not been a part of the 1988 protests and did not think the government could hurt them. They wanted the world to see and hear of their suffering under the regime and for sanctions to be lifted. Incidentally, they were disappointed that a UN special envoy had made a trip to see Aung San Suu Syi and not attempted to seem them. It is also to important to note that the demonstrations were organised by a religious group who desperately wanted the international community to hear of their plight, and did not originate as an uprising to overthrow the regime.

It is hard to decipher the number of people who died. Some say over 100. One source, a man who broke from the national army’s ranks, said there were thousands of bodies. The official toll is just 13. Many were beaten and many more were arrested and are still detained.

Elections were held this year, but the NLD boycotted them because they thought they would be rigged. This was a controversial decision that divided pro-democracy groups. The government has now banned the NLD as an official political party because of the boycott.

The military regime registered a new political party called the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) to participate in the 2010 elections. In what is seen by some as an attempt by the regime to appear more democratic in the eyes of the international community. This is why the government is described by some as a ‘military turned civilian government,’ however most would argue it is a proxy for real democracy.

The 3 reasons why Aung San Suu Kyi’s release is important

1. It is a step towards freeing other political prisoners

People have been detained throughout history because they have resisted governments – from Nelson Mandela, to Germany’s political prisoners jailed and tortured for speaking out against Hitler’s regime during WWII, to Pakistan’s recently assassinated Benazir Bhutto. The release of Aung San Suu Kyi is a good time to think about the thousands of people held around the world because they have spoken or acted against the wishes of a government. Of particular relevance, is a current campaign run directed by Human Rights Watch that seeks to draw the world’s attention towards all of Burma’s political prisoners.

2. Burma’s fight for democracy

It is wonderful that Suu Kyi has been released from house arrest. No one should ever have to be detained because they are for protesting a government, especially because Suu Kyi has always done so without resorting to violence. However, it would be naïve to view this situation as cut and dry as the ‘Government versus Suu Kyi who speaks on behalf of all Burmese’. The fact is there are dozens of minority groups, including such groups as Burmese-Indian, Burmese-Chinese and a group called the Karen, who are in Burma and face oppression. The goal for all pro-democracy individuals and groups is to ensure that systems are established where all of these voices have an equal opportunity to be heard. As you can probably tell, the road to true democracy is long, hard and slow for the people of Burma.

3. The world is watching

Lastly, it will be interesting to watch how the world responds. Will sanctions against Burma’s oppressive regime be lifted? Even Suu Kyi has changed her position on that – she once encouraged the sanctions, but now wants them lifted. Further, how will Australia, in particular, demonstrate more support for democracy everywhere?

Another way the international community can act is by ensuring much needed humanitarian aid reaches the people of Burma. One way of ensuring this is sending it via the NGOs that are presently in Burma, as opposed to via the government, although this is challenging as well. One only has to remember a couple of years back to when Cyclone Nargis killed tens of thousands of Burmese people and how hard it was for the international community to effectively send humanitarian assistance with a strong proud junta standing between.

Was this important to you, what else don’t you understand, but are too embarrassed to ask?