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"economic sanctions are good and necessary for the fast democratization of Burma" Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, September, 1999
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Released courtesy of World Voices Campaign & Burma Campaign UK
"FOR US, EVERY DAY IS A SPECIAL DAY FOR DEMOCRACY" Statement by NLD Secretary General Aung San Suu Kyi September 1999 I'd like to thank all of you for gathering here today to support our movement for democracy in Burma. As I am sure most of you are aware, the situation here has been deteriorating by the day. Since the National League for Democracy called for the convening of the People's Parliament last year, the military authorities have increased their oppression and tried their best to break up the movement for democracy. At this very moment, people are being arrested all over the country, supposedly for the part that they are taking in trying to make the 9th of September 1999 a day for democracy. I myself am not aware why the 9th of September should be a special day for democracy. For us, every day is a special day for democracy. But if the whole world were to rally around and help us to achieve our goal, which is basic human rights and democratic rights for the people of Burma, we shall get there much faster than we would on our own. We rely on our allies all over the world to help us, because we are involved in an issue that is a human one. It is not particularly a national issue. It is a national issue because it has to do with democracy in Burma. But it is (also) a human issue because democracy is linked to human rights, and human rights concerns everybody all over the world. We of the National League for Democracy hesitated before endorsing the movement for economic sanctions several years ago. We felt that we wanted to give the military authorities a chance to prove that they were sincere in their claim that they too were working for democracy. However, as it became obvious that the military authorities were not interested in bringing democracy to Burma, but simply in strengthening their own position, and using economic means to strengthen their position, we decided that economic sanctions were necessary. We would like the world to know that economic sanctions do not hurt the common people of Burma. When Burma was opened up to what they called the market economy a decade ago, it did not open a door for the common people of Burma. What it did was to give the military authorities and those connected with them a chance to consolidate their economic position in the same way in which they had consolidated their power base. This is why we think that economic sanctions are good and necessary for the fast democratization of Burma. We would like the European Community, the United States, and the rest of the world to be aware that sanctions do help the movement for democracy in Burma. And we would like them to be aware of the fact that unilateral sanctions are better than no sanctions at all. The best, of course, are multilateral sanctions, and we would like the whole international community to join in a movement aimed at bringing democracy soon to Burma.We need to get democracy soon because our people are suffering by the day. Prisoners of conscience in the prisons of Burma are just not serving out a particular sentence. With many of them, it is as though they were serving a death sentence. Conditions in Burmese prisons are so bad that without sufficient medical aid, our prisoners are liable to die before the time is right (served). Because of that, the need for democracy in Burma is very urgent for some of us. And it is urgent for the rest of us too, not just for those of us who are dying in jail, because Burma itself is like a huge prison with a military dictatorship holding the keys and locking us away from freedom. That is why we would like to call upon all of you to help us open the door of our prisons and to join the democratic world in spreading human rights around the world. In Burma, we believe that we have to work for our own liberty, and we are determined to do so. We are not depending on the international community to bring democracy to Burma. We are simply asking for the assistance in bringing democracy to Burma quickly. It is only natural that the more help we have, the sooner we shall reach our goal. For this reason, we welcome all international help, and we urge all of you to keep in mind that this is a time of great suffering for the people of Burma. This is a time when the military authorities are more oppressive than they have ever been. This is a time when all those who believe in human rights and democracy should rally together to help the oppressed. I would like to thank you once again for gathering here to show your support and solidarity. And I hope very much that this support will be increased as the days go by, and that before too long, we shall all be able to celebrate the victory of democracy in Burma.Thank you. For further information, pls contact The Burma Campaign UK <bagp@gn.apc.org>
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