Summary
8 August 2008 is the 20th anniversary of the
“Burma 8888 Uprising”. Despite repeated
efforts of the local people in August 1988 and the
Saffron Revolution in September 2007, the suffering faced
by the people of Burma/Myanmar had hardly improved but
further worsened. The recent Cyclone Nargis
intensefied the suffering and made more evident the
ruling military junta’s dictatorship.
People in Myanmar experienced entrenched
poverty since the dictatorship in
1960s. Economic hardship has led to both 8888
Uprising and the Saffron Revolution last year: In
1987, the country was designated a Least Developed
Country by the United Nations. Most recently, the
junta, which has a monopoly on fuel sales, raised price
of the fuel from about US$1.40 to US$2.80 a gallon, and
boosted the price of natural gas by about 5 fold last
September.
The hardship is coupled with continuous
rise in political oppression on ordinary people in
Myanmar. In 8888 uprising, Saffron Revolution and
many other incidents, people have been struggling for
democracy, but were suppressed by iron fist. One
thousand and nine hundred political prisoners were
detained. After Cyclone Nargis struck in May 2008,
some local citizens came together to deliver aid to the
victims. According to the Assistance Association
for Political Prisoners (Burma), many of them were
harassed and approximately 20 were arrested.
Since
the bloodshed in 1988, international community has kept
on the fight against the military dictatorship in
Myanmar. Concerned groups around the world will
conduct various activities on 8.8.08 Global Burma Day.
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Background
Myanmar was once the “rice bowl” of
Asia, but since the coup in 1962, democratically elected
government was replaced by the military regime, and the
military junta adopted the so-called “Burmese way to
socialism”. Under the economic mismanagement
of the regime, Myanmar became a Least Developed Country
in 1987 and national debt mounted. In response to
the economic crisis, the regime forced farmers to sell
rice below market price and the ruling General Ne Win
demonetized banknotes of 25, 35, 75 kyat and kept only
the 45 and 90 banknotes which were the lucky numbers of
the General. It has rendered 75% of the country's
currency worthless and wiped out many peoples' savings.
Economic hardship and the “Red Bridge
Incident”, where students were killed by security
forces on 16 March 1988, have sparked off the democratic
movement in Myanmar in 1988. Citizens of Yangon,
the capital city, were outraged by the killings of
students and joined the demonstrations. Schools and
universities were closed down and students were forced to
return home, where they spread the news about Yangon.
When universities reopened in May, students became
better organized. By mid-June demonstrations were
held in every university in Yangon. On 23 July,
General Ne Win who once said “when the army shoot,
it shoots to hit” resigned and gave hope to the
democratic movement. However, he was replaced by
Police Commander Sein Lwin who was responsible for the
suppression of the student movement.
At 8:08am, 8 August, student spearheaded a
democratic movement with the support of monks and the
working class. Hundreds of thousands people went to
the streets to demand multi-party democracy.
Protests also blossomed in other parts of the country and
became a national movement, but the military brutally
suppressed the demonstrators. Two thousand people
were killed in Yangon between 8 and 12 August. Sein
Lwin resigned on 12 August and was succeeded by Dr. Maung
Maung as a civilian president.
In the midst of the movement, Aung San Suu Kyi,
daughter of independence hero General Aung San, gave a
speech in the public, and subsequently became the leader
of the movement since then.
After 6 weeks, on 18 September 1988, General Saw
Maung staged a coup and formed the State Law and Order
Restoration Council (SLORC). Martial Law was
declared. The SLORC suppressed the unarmed
protestors: it was believed that 3,000 people were
massacred. In the following year, SLORC changed the
name of Burma into “Myanmar”.
Political Prisoners
The number of political prisoners increased 65.2%
in 2007 alone. On 6 June 2008, the UN Special
Rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar Tomás Ojea
Quintana said that the number of political prisoners
stood at 1,900. This represents a 65.2% increase
from July 2007, when there were 1,150 political prisoners
in Mynamar. According to the Assistance Association
for Political Prisoners (Burma), 700 people are still
under detention after the Saffron Revolution in September
2007, including 196 Buddhist monks.
Apart from the renowned Aung San Suu Kyi, who was
put under house arrest since 20 July 1989, dissidents
from other walks of life were captured on various
grounds. Comedian and dissident, Zarganar, was
arrested on 3 June 2008 after publicly criticising the
ruling generals for their sluggish response to Cyclone
Nargis. He was charged with public order offences
and secret police seized his computer and several banned
films, including the leaked video of the lavish
"champagne and diamonds" wedding of
commander-in-chief Than Shwe's daughter in 2006.
Since 1988, more than 137 political prisoners died
in prison. 16 of them took place between July 2007 and
June 2008.
Socio-Economic Hardship
Despite being a resource-rich country,
Myanmar’s socio-economic conditions have
deteriorated due to the regime’s
maladministraion. It is the largest exporter of
teak and a principal source of jade, pearls, rubies and
sapphires. It has important offshore oil and gas
deposits. However, there is no monetary or fiscal
stability which led to serious macroeconomic imbalances,
including rising inflation, fiscal deficits, multiple
official exchange rates that overvalue the Burmese kyat,
distorted interest rate and unreliable statistics which
made it difficult to reconcile national accounts to
determine a realistic GDP figure.
The result is enormous suffering for the
people. The military regime known as State Peace
and Development Council (SPDC) spent more than 40% of
national budget in military expenditure while less than
3% to health and education. Ninety percentage of
the population live on less than US$1 a day. The
average household is forced to spend almost three
quarters of its budget on food. One in 3 children
under 5 are suffering from malnutrition and less than 50%
of children are able to complete primary education. The
September 2007 crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators
and monks further strained the economy as the tourism
industry suffered dramatic decline.
Most overseas development assistance ceased after
the junta began to suppress the democracy movement in
1988, and when they refused to honor legislative election
results in 1990. In November 2007, the European
Union announced new sanctions banning investment and
trade in Burmese gems, timber and precious stones, while
USA expanded its sanction list to include more military
government and members of SPDC.
To view activities of 8.8.08 Global Burma Day
around the world, please visit:
http://www.burma-network.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=52&Itemid=144#hk
Source:
US Campaign for Burma
ALTSEAN Burma - Burma
Bulletins
Reuters
BBC
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by Vince Boudreau
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