Burma- a Nation at the Crossroads Read online

  Contents

  Cover

  About the Author

  Also by Benedict Rogers

  Map of Burma

  Title Page

  Dedication

  Author’s Note

  Glossary

  Foreword by The Most Reverend Desmond M. Tutu

  Introduction

  1. From Rice Bowl to Basket Case

  2. Cry Freedom

  3. A Campaign of Brutality in the East

  4. A Silent Cry in the North

  5. A Cross to Bear in the West

  6. A Stateless People

  7. Defectors, Deserters and Child Soldiers

  8. The Torture Chambers

  9. Bloody Spots and Discarded Flip-Flops: The Saffron Revolution

  10. Cyclone Nargis

  11. Out of Uniform but Still in Power

  12. The Future?

  Notes

  Bibliography

  Further Information

  Index

  Acknowledgements

  Copyright

  About the Author

  Benedict Rogers is a writer and journalist working for the international human rights organisation CSW. Specialising in Asia, he is a regular contributor to international media including the Wall Street Journal, International Herald Tribune, New York Times, Australian, Asahi Shimbun, Huffington Post, Guardian and Daily Telegraph, as well as the BBC, CNN and Sky. Invited to give briefings and speeches round the world, he has addressed audiences at venues such as the White House, European Parliament, House of Commons, Japanese Parliament and Oxford University. Currently living in London, his focus has been on Burma for much of the past fifteen years, travelling almost forty times to the country and all of its borders.

  Also by Benedict Rogers

  Than Shwe: unmasking Burma’s tyrant

  A Land without Evil: stopping the genocide of Burma’s Karen people.

  Burma

  A Nation at the Crossroads

  Benedict Rogers

  For the people of Burma, that they may know true freedom, real peace and genuine democracy, and that they may celebrate the beauty of unity in diversity.

  Author’s Note

  ON 26 MAY 1989 the military regime in Burma changed the name of the country to ‘Myanmar’.1 The democracy movement and the leaders of the ethnic resistance organisations, however, continue to use ‘Burma’, and have urged the international community to do the same. They argue that the regime had no mandate to change the name of the country. In this book, therefore, I use ‘Burma’ and not ‘Myanmar’, except in direct quotations from other sources.

  The regime also changed the names of various cities and divisions. Rangoon became ‘Yangon’, the Irrawaddy Division became ‘Ayeyarwady’ and Maymyo became ‘Pyin Oo Lwin’. Karen State is called ‘Kayin’, while Karenni is ‘Kayah’. I have generally used the older names – Rangoon instead of Yangon, Irrawaddy instead of Ayeyarwady and Karen rather than Kayin, because they are more easily recognisable for international readers.

  The Burma Army is commonly known as the Tatmadaw, and so I use the terms ‘Burma Army’ and ‘Tatmadaw’ interchangeably. The regime was officially called the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) from 1988–1997, and then the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) until 2010, and so in some parts of the book I use these terms.

  All references from other works are sourced in the endnotes. Any unsourced material should usually be understood to have come from direct interviews conducted by the author with sources, whether named or unnamed.

  Glossary

  AAPP

  Assistance Association for Political Prisoners

  ABMA

  All Burma Monks’ Alliance

  ABMRC

  All Burma Monks’ Representative Committee

  ABSDF

  All Burma Students’ Democratic Front

  ABSDMO

  All Burma Students’ Democratic Movement Organisation

  AFPFL

  Anti-Fascist People’s Freedom League

  ARNO

  Arakan Rohingya National Organisation

  ASEAN

  Association of Southeast Asian Nations

  BSPP

  Burma Socialist Programme Party

  CHRO

  Chin Human Rights Organisation

  CNF

  Chin National Front

  CNLD

  Chin National League for Democracy

  CPB

  Communist Party of Burma

  CPCS

  Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies

  CSW

  Christian Solidarity Worldwide

  DAB

  Democratic Alliance of Burma

  DDSI

  Directorate of Defense Services Intelligence

  DFID

  Department for International Development

  DKBA

  Democratic Karen Buddhist Army

  DKBO

  Democratic Karen Buddhist Organisation

  DPNS

  Democratic Party for a New Society

  DSA

  Defense Services Academy

  DVB

  Democratic Voice of Burma

  EAT

  Emergency Assistance Team

  ENC

  Ethnic Nationalities Council

  ICRC

  International Committee of the Red Cross

  IPAD

  Institute for Political Analysis and Documentation

  IRC

  International Rescue Committee

  KDNG

  Kachin Development Networking Group

  KIA

  Kachin Independence Army

  KIO

  Kachin Independence Organisation

  KNO

  Kachin National Organisation

  KNDO

  Karen National Defence Organisation

  KNO

  Karenni National Organisation

  KNU

  Karen National Union

  KNLA

  Karen National Liberation Army

  KNPP

  Karenni National Progressive Party

  MNDAA

  Myanmar National Democracy Alliance Army

  MPF

  Mon People’s Front

  NCGUB

  National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma

  NCUB

  National Council of the Union of Burma

  NDF

  National Democratic Front

  NLD

  National League for Democracy

  NMSP

  New Mon State Party

  NUP

  National Unity Party

  NUPA

  National United Party of Arakan

  RANIR

  Relief Action Network for IDP and Refugee

  RPF

  Rohingya Patriotic Front

  RSO

  Rohingya Solidarity Organisation

  SHRF

  Shan Human Rights Foundation

  SHAN

  Shan Herald Agency for News

  SLORC

  State Law and Order Restoration Council

  SNLD

  Shan Nationalities League for Democracy

  SPDC

  State Peace and Development Council

  SSA

  Shan State Army

  SWAN

  Shan Women’s Action Network

  UNDP

  United Nations Development Programme

  UNHCR

  United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

  USDA

  Union Solidarity Development Association

  USDP

  Union Solidarity and Development Party

  UWSA
<
br />   United Wa State Army

  WFP

  World Food Programme

  WPN

  Wanpawng Ninghtoi

  Foreword by The Most Reverend Desmond M. Tutu

  THE PEOPLE OF Burma have been struggling for almost fifty years against two twin challenges: a brutal military dictatorship among the very worst in the world, and the apathy and inaction of too many people in the rest of the world.

  Drawing on his own many travels to Burma, Benedict Rogers has provided a comprehensive, vivid and powerful account of the suffering of its people, weaving together the story of the democracy movement and the plight of the ethnic nationalities along all Burma’s borders. An important introduction to Burma and a vital call to action.

  Introduction

  ON 11 FEBRUARY 2008 I spent half a day with Padoh Mahn Sha Lah Phan, then the General Secretary of the Karen National Union (KNU), the major resistance organisation struggling on behalf of Burma’s Karen people, one of the largest of the country’s ethnic groups. I knew him well, and always visited him whenever I was in Mae Sot, a town on the Thailand–Burma border where many exiled Burmese democracy groups are based. His daughters are friends of mine.

  That particular day, Padoh Mahn Sha had arranged for me to meet some former child soldiers from the Burma Army who had escaped and sought refuge among the Karen. He was giving them shelter. From 8 a.m. until 1 p.m., I was in his home. After interviewing the former child soldiers, I had a meeting with Padoh Mahn Sha and other senior KNU leaders. Then he invited me to stay for lunch. He was at his best – relaxed, speaking softly but firmly about the political and humanitarian situation for his people, joking about the improvement in his English language ability, and reflecting with pride on how his children living abroad have become involved in the struggle.

  Three days later on Valentine’s Day, gunmen came to his home and shot Padoh Mahn Sha dead. They entered the gates and walked up to the veranda where he was sitting – the veranda where I had sat with him three days previously. They greeted him in Karen, and offered him fruit. And then they shot him.

  Although Burma may now be beginning to change, for over half a century its people have lived as captives in their own nation, and even when they fled to the borders with neighbouring countries, they were not safe. In spite of recent reforms, fear and suspicion prevail, particularly among the ethnic nationalities. Padoh Mahn Sha was assassinated by Burma’s military regime, in broad daylight, across the border in Thailand. The gunmen were believed to be Karen, and he may even have known them personally, but there is little doubt that they were acting as proxies for the junta. Padoh Mahn Sha was killed because he was one of the strongest opponents of the regime which has terrorised its people for almost half a century. He was one of the few ethnic leaders who bridged the divides of ethnicity, religion and politics, and was able to unite people in pursuit of a common cause: federal democracy and equal rights for all Burma’s people.

  In contrast to some other Karen leaders, who sometimes focus narrowly on their own specific Karen struggle, Padoh Mahn Sha saw the bigger picture for Burma, and worked closely with the broader Burman-dominated democracy movement and with the other ethnic nationalities, without ever compromising on his devotion to his Karen people. He skilfully mediated between different factions within the KNU and the wider democracy movement, trying to achieve agreement between the so-called ‘hardliners’ wedded to armed struggle, international sanctions and no compromise, and the ‘engagement’ faction which believed that the struggle could never be won militarily and that a negotiated, political settlement with the regime should be sought. He was an Animist, among a predominantly Christian leadership and a primarily Buddhist people, and was able to bridge the religious divides. He had good access to international media, politicians and human rights non-governmental organisations (NGOs), and was a prominent and articulate voice for his people. In the run-up to the regime’s planned referendum on a new constitution, Padoh Mahn Sha was seen as a threat to the junta. His assassination is an example of the lengths to which Burma’s military regime would go to silence its critics.

  For more than fifty years, Burma has been ruled by a succession of brutal military regimes that rank among the worst dictatorships in the world. Accused of crimes against humanity, successive regimes have used torture, rape as a weapon of war, forced labour, people as minesweepers and have forcibly conscripted child soldiers on a widespread and systematic basis. The current regime is a nominally civilian government led by former generals, who took off their uniforms in 2010 and held elections for the first time in two decades. Yet behind the scenes, the military is still in power.

  After a decade of democracy following independence in 1948, the civilian government was replaced by military rule led by General Ne Win in 1958, with the purpose of restoring order to a nation torn apart by armed uprisings by the communists and several ethnic groups. In 1960, fresh elections were held and the previous government led by Prime Minister U Nu was returned to power. Two years later, however, Ne Win launched a coup d’état and the military have ruled the country ever since, making it the world’s longest-ruling military regime. Yet with the demise of other military dictatorships, notably the regimes across the Arab world, Burma’s junta appears at last to be embarking on a new path. In 2009, Bertil Lintner noted that of the military regimes which had taken power around the world since 1962, only two remained in existence: Burma and Libya.1 Two years later, Libya’s regime fell, and Burma’s regime appeared to be changing. The reforms, however, are largely atmospheric rather than substantial. Without institutional, legislative and constitutional reform Burma will not be truly free and, crucially, without a political process that results in a political settlement for the country’s ethnic groups, Burma will never be at peace.

  A nation of approximately 55 million people, Burma is one of the most ethnically diverse in South East Asia. Besides the Burman, Burmese-speaking majority, there are seven major ethnic groups. These are the Karen, Karenni, Shan and Mon, who inhabit eastern and southern Burma along the border with Thailand (although the majority of Karens are in the Irrawaddy Delta, Tenasserim Division and Rangoon); the Kachin in northern Burma along the border with China; the Chin, in western Burma straddling the Indian and Bangladesh borders; and the Arakan or Rakhine, along the border with Bangladesh. There are numerous other sub-groups, such as the Pa-O, Lahu, Lisu, Naga, as well as smaller groups such as the Wa, the Chinese-speaking Kokang, and the Muslim Rohingyas, who are among the most persecuted people in the country. For much of the time since Burma’s independence from British colonial rule in 1948, many of these ethnic groups have fought an armed struggle against the Burman-dominated central government – fighting in some cases initially for secession and independence, but in almost all cases today for autonomy, equal rights and federal democracy within the Union of Burma. Many signed ceasefires with the regime in the 1990s, but some, such as the Karen, Karenni, Shan and Chin continued, to varying degrees, to fight until preliminary ceasefire agreements were reached towards the end of 2011 and the beginning of 2012. In contrast, the Kachin had seventeen years of ceasefire from 1994 until the regime launched a fresh and brutal offensive against them in 2011.

  The Burman majority population has also been engaged in a struggle for democracy, manifested in protests in 1962, 1967, 1970, 1974, 1988, 1996 and 2007. The movement in 1988 sparked the most organised opposition to the regime, led by Aung San Suu Kyi, daughter of the leader of Burma’s independence movement, Aung San. In 1990, the regime held elections, which were overwhelmingly won by Aung San Suu Kyi’s party, the National League for Democracy (NLD) – but instead of transferring power to the legitimate representatives of the people, the junta reneged on its promise to respect the results, imprisoned the victors and intensified its grip on power. Aung San Suu Kyi, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991, was put under house arrest in 1989, prior to the elections, and was held in detention for almost fifteen of the following twenty-one years. Her most rec
ent period of detention was from 2003 until 2010, when she was released immediately after the country’s first elections in twenty years. An estimated 2,000 political prisoners were jailed for much of the past two decades as well, but towards the end of 2011, and in early 2012, hundreds were released, as the regime tried to convince the world it was changing. The releases, however, were not unconditional; many were freed on parole rather than under an amnesty, and many have been left with unjust criminal records, unable to find work and with no rehabilitation offered. Furthermore, at the time of writing, hundreds of political prisoners remain in jail.

  For years, Burma’s plight was one of the most under-reported tragedies of the second half of the twentieth century. Aung San Suu Kyi helped to change that a little, and since 1990 she has become the face of Burma’s democracy movement. Yet even her face and name, adorning T-shirts and posters and championed by world figures such as Archbishop Desmond Tutu and former Czech President Václav Havel, celebrities such as Bono and his band U2, the former US First Lady Laura Bush and Indian economist Amartya Sen, and politicians such as former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, former Norwegian Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, still go unrecognised by many. A movie, The Lady, in which Michelle Yeoh plays Aung San Suu Kyi, a play, The Lady of Burma, a piece of music called Letters from Burma, and several biographies have all been produced, but still many people are unfamiliar with her story.