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.
|
