Call on All Members of the Burma Armed Forces

June 12, 2003

Dear All Members of the Burma Armed Forces,

We, Patriotic War Veterans of Burma (PWVB) based in
the liberated area, believe that the entire Burma
Armed Forces is being manipulated by a handful of some
selfish cowardly top military leaders to maintain the
state power.

A confrontation between the people of Burma and the
SPDC administration is imminent. The democracy
movement fueled by the people’s lust for freedom
will not be stopped. We call all members of the Armed
Forces not to follow the illegitimate and unmanly
orders of your some corrupted superiors, in the
imminent uprising.

The people of Burma including your fathers and
mothers, brothers and sisters, sons and daughters have
suffered enough. When the time comes, please throw
down your arms, abandon your units and join the
people. The same way you did when you took part in the
popular uprising of 1988 and when you overwhelmingly
voted for a democratic civilian government in the
general election of 1990.

The recent May 30, 2003 event, government-sponsored
terrorism act and the massacre in DiPeYing township;
the arrest of Burma’s democracy leader as well as
the General Secretary of the National League for
Democracy (NLD), Nobel Peace Laureate Daw Aung San Suu
Kyi and NLD Vice President, General Tin Oo (Retired.);
and the nationwide crackdown on the NLD provides ample
evidence that a handful of illegitimate ruling some
military leaders are not serious about political
reform.

The military regime, so-called State Peace and
Development Council (SPDC), is trying to give the
false impression that many people in Burma do not like
the National League for Democracy (NLD) and Daw Aung
San Suu Kyi, and are willing to resort to violence to
oppose the NLD and its leaders. At the same time, the
SPDC is also threatening the public not to support the
NLD and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi by carrying out this
brutal massacre.
It is clear that the attack on Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, U
Tin Oo and party was planned and coordinated by the
SPDC and carried out by its some armed troops and
members of Union Solidarity Development Association
(USDA) its political arm and recently released
convicts.

The SPDC is calculating that it is less risky to
arrest the NLD leaders, including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi
and General Tin Oo (Retired.), and close down NLD
offices across the country than to allow Daw Aung San
Suu Kyi led democratic movement to gain momentum while
the international community is busy with big issues at
Iraq, North Korea, etc. The SPDC has been surprised
and worried by the immense public support for the NLD
and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, and the fact that in spite
of open intimidation by various kinds of their agents,
the number of supporters has been growing.

These latest events indicate very clearly that the
SPDC has had no intention of following through with
pledged democratic reform. Their systematic plan all
along has been to drag out the talks that were being
facilitated by the United Nations, isolate and
marginalize the NLD and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, and use
the time gained to solidify support from some pro-SPDC
countries.

SPDC is one of the most brutal dictatorships in the
world. It is responsible criminal for frequent
massacres, torture, forced-labor, forced-recruited
children as its soldiers, forced-relocation, use of
rape as a weapon of war, and ethnic cleansing in
Burma.

You, the members of the Armed Forces, are being used
as a tool for a handful of some corrupted top military
leaders to maintain power and increase their personal
wealth at the expense of people and country.

With your help and cooperation, SPDC will be ousted as
soon as possible and the transfer of power to the
elected representatives of 1990 general election can
be completed. Your lives, being the tools of the SPDC,
would also be escaped and the Armed Forces of Burma
(Tatmataw) would also stand as dignified Peoples’
Armed Forces that would defend the democracy and the
people.

With best regards,

The Executive Committee
Contact E-mail pwvbjacat@yahoo.com