Burma on the Road to Democracy – Repression, Resistance and Reform –

a seminar on the current political situation and the road to change

Tuesday, November 18, 2003, 15.00 – 18.00

Gamla Torget, Room B 319, Uppsala University

The political crisis in Burma, previously rather unnoticed by the Swedish public, has lately been given great attention in the media. The continuing repression of the Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and her party, the National League for Democracy, is massively condemned by the international community. The conditions of the ethnic minorities, for decades suffering under both military pressure from the Burmese army and political pressure from a process of 'Burmanisation', is increasingly identified as one of the main issues in resolving the conflict. The United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan has urged the international community to help Burma become a democracy by 2006.

During the seminar, leading representatives of the democratic opposition movement will provide an overview of the current political situation. Which steps are taken by the opposition to bring about political change in Burma? What support can outside voices give to the transition? Which role can Swedish academic institutions and civil society organisations play?

Programme

15.00 Welcome

15.10 Aung San Suu Kyi and the men in green – the current political situation in Burma,
Harn Yawnghwe, Euro-Burma Office, Brussels

15.50 Sanctions as a tool for transition to democracy,
Penny Davies, the Swedish Burma Committee

16.30 Coffee break

16.50 Strategies for change – the role of outside pressure on the military,
Zaw Oo, The Burma Fund, Washington D C

17.30 General question and answer session

Registration

Register no later than November 7, 2003 to Runpen.Sakhong.2712@student.uu.se or mia.melin@kus.uu.se or phone 018- 471 68 51 for further information.

WELCOME!