Burma: A Tale of Make-Believe by Prime Minister General Khin Nyunt

Among ‘birds of a feather’ neighbouring countries Burma will continue to be the region’s ugly duckling Zin Linn Mizzima News (www.mizzima.com) January 24, 2004 Much to the surprise of the nation, the Prime Minister of the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) has called on officials to take measures for the betterment of Burma’s judicial sector. General Khin Nyunt has stated that he wants the people to understand and appreciate the value and protection of law and thus voluntarily abide by the existing laws. He also pronounced that the SPDC has established all necessary laws, rules and regulations and is consistently and fairly putting them into practice. The Prime Minister has emphatically claimed that the rule of law in Burma will pass judgement by any legal expert and that the interests of the people are always safeguarded in accord with the existing laws. Contrary to General Khin Nyunt’s words, the UN Commission on Human Rights in Geneva condemn the Burmese military regime each year for committing systematic human rights abuses on a massive scale. The most recent UN yearly resolution has accused the military regime in Rangoon of perpetuating a myriad of human rights violations. The list includes crimes against humanity; summary, arbitrary or extrajudicial killings; rape, torture, inhumane treatment, and forced labour, including the use of child labour and child soldiers; forced relocation and the denial of freedom of assembly, association, _expression, religion, and movement; and delaying the process of national reconciliation and democratisation. The most damning indictment of the regime is that the country has been lacking an independent judiciary system for more than forty years. Burmese judges and judicial officials are not compelled to respect basic processes of law in ordinary criminal cases nor in political cases. But they must respect and obey the men in military uniforms, especially the military intelligence chief and his agents. Most court-decisions are orders that have been passed on to judicial officials from senior intelligence officers. Judges then only have to read out a ready-made sentence. Bribery, corruption, the misuse of power above laws, and the manipulation of the courts for political ends continue to deprive citizens of their legal rights. Prisons and hard-labour camps are overcrowded, and inmates lack adequate food, water and health care. According to a reliable source, at least 84 political prisoners have died in custody since 1988. The death toll in one particularly notorious hard-labour camp is known to be at least 30 each month. There are over 300 hard-labour camps under the prison department throughout the country. The Burmese generals continue to pronounce loudly that the military ruled country is progressing on every sector and has reached a state of peace and prosperity. However, Burmese people are not fooled by the junta's hollow words while the regime continues with their evil deeds. In a country where thousands of prisoners are languishing in various jails and forced-labour camps, no one will believe statements without real action. General Khin Nyunt made his legal propaganda speech while meeting with judges of the Supreme Court and legal representatives from the Attorney General's Office and from state, division and district courts. This meeting took place on 17 January 2003 at the Institute of Nursing Hall on Bogyoke Aung San Road in Rangoon. The military junta’s Prime Minister said to the gathering that he acknowledged the important role played by officials of the law enforcement sector. He then reiterated the primary instruction that is given to judicial officials and judges and that is to judge all cases in accord with the following seven principles of the judicial system: 1) That the judicial pillar is free from bribery. 2) To strive to expose the truth in order to win the trust of the people and ensure that those who break the law cannot disrespect the court. 3) Judges, law officers and staff in the judicial sectors are to perform their duties with uprightness to realise the goals of the State. 4) Uphold truth, fairness and sympathy in enforcing the law. 5) Although the lawyers are not service personnel, they are to cooperate with the courts to expose the truth as they are to assist the court. 6) All are to strictly abide by the law, rules and regulations and directives in their judgements in order not to go against the law. 7) Officials are to be aware of the fact that acts of some immoral service personnel who take bribes and their misbehaviour are detrimental to the nation-building endeavours of the military regime. General Khin Nyunt went on to state that there are still weaknesses in the legal process and he called for the cooperation of local authorities. He warned local authorities not to interfere in the administration of justice. Personal interference in cases by some local authorities goes against the seven principles of fair administration of justice. In conclusion, he urged judicial officials and law officers to take part in the effort to maintaining law and order, the emergence of a discipline-flourishing democratic nation and the success of the seven-point future policy program. The unelected Prime Minister totally failed to recognise a major point: that the SPDC is merely a de-facto regime and not a de-jure government or a parliamentary government supported by voters. Without the true support of the people, no one can establish a nation of justice. Subsequently, people in Rangoon have already made a mockery of the Prime Minister's speech as a tale of make-believe. A move from bribery and corruption to a just and fair judicial system will never materialise without the twin democratic forces of a people's parliament and a free press. Although General Khin Nyunt urged others to strive to expose the truth and ensure that the ones who break the law are brought to justice in a court of law, he himself and the ruling military elite are always above the law. The most remarkable example in recent times is the Dapeyin premeditated massacre of National Party for Democracy officials and supporters that took place on May 30 2003. This audacious crime that shocked the world was clearly committed by pro-junta thugs. However, no official investigation has even been hinted at up to this point in time, and no arrests have been made. Along with the entire military elite, the junta's Prime Minister has turned a blind eye to the violence that took place at Dapeyin. It is because of travesties of justice such as this and the lack of any action to bring those responsible to justice that the people conclude that the Prime Minister's speech is utterly ridiculous. Following a 17-day mission to Burma in December 2003, an Amnesty International delegation called on the military junta to release all prisoners of conscience and to stop arresting people for peacefully expressing a dissenting opinion. Amnesty's deputy director for Asia, Catherine Baber, called on the international community to keep up the pressure for concrete action to match the rhetoric coming from the military regime in Rangoon. One of Amnesty International’s most serious concerns is the use of repressive legislation to criminalise freedom of _expression and peaceful association. These out-of-date laws hark all the way back to the nineteenth century. Examples of their use in recent months includes the sentencing of people for staging solitary protests and for discussing social and economic issues in personal letters. Authorities have continued arbitrary detention and intimidation and have created an atmosphere of fear and repression that will take more than rhetoric to dispel. Some of the worst state-sanctioned crimes and human rights abuses take place in Burma's ethnic dominated states. According to reports by the United Nations and other Human Rights Watch Groups, the Burmese armed forces in these states are responsible for killings, beatings, rape, and arbitrarily detaining civilians with impunity. A report issued by the Shan Human Rights Foundation and the Shan Women's Action Network accuses the Burmese army of systematic rape and documents 625 sex attacks on Shan women and girls by Burmese soldiers between 1996 and 2001. Soldiers routinely seize livestock, cash, property, food, and other goods from villagers, as well as destroying property. Burmese soldiers know that they are above the law as it stands, and so breaking the law is as common as a habit of daily routine. According to the junta's Prime Minister, all citizens must strictly abide by the laws, rules and regulations and directives of the regime. In this way, law enforcement can be truthful, fair and sympathetic. It is clear that in reality he means all citizens must abide by the law except for the military elite and their relations. While neighbouring countries are supporting the Burmese military regime in order to exploit economic benefits, Burmese people are living a life of total misery in the ASEAN region. Eventually the people of Burma will reach breaking point. This can only mean that if the ruling elite is left to their own devices, Burma will be trouble for the region in the years to come.