Gordon Brown Hails Courage Of Burma's Aung San

PM hails courage of Burma's Aung San

The Prime Minister has marked the twelfth anniversary of the house arrest of the elected leader of Burma, Aung San Suu Kyi, by calling on the military regime to release its political prisoners and begin a process of national reconciliation.

Writing for Guardian Unlimited today, Gordon Brown spoke of the "extraordinary courage" of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the last elected leader of Burma, and her ongoing struggle to bring democratic freedom to Burma despite her husband's illness and death and her children's life in "a faraway land".

The PM also wrote how Burma's recent protestors have been met with "batons and bullets" and talked again of his belief that the casualties of the violent military crackdown on the protests led by monks were much higher than the regime would admit.

He went on to say:

"The steps that the regime must now take are clear: end the violence; release prisoners; grant effective access to the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Burma, Sergio Pinheiro and the International Committee of the Red Cross; and engagement in a UN-led process of national reconciliation that involves leaders of all Burma's political opposition and ethnic groups, including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi."

Last week, Mr Brown warned that lack of progress would result in a tightening of EU sanctions against the regime. He also promised measures to help boost the country's ailing economy if movement towards democratic reform was made. In his Guardian article, Mr Brown reiterated that position, adding: "the only thing that is standing in the way of a more stable and prosperous Burma is the regime itself."

Gordon Brown On Burma: Complete Article

Prime Minister:

'Even under the most crushing state machinery, courage rises up again and again, for fear is not the natural state of civilised man' - words of compelling power, written by a woman of extraordinary courage. Today Daw Aung San Suu Kyi marks the end of her twelfth year under house arrest. And that anniversary tells only part of the story: since she committed her life to a better future for Burma she has watched her children grow up in a faraway land, and she has survived an attack that left 80 of her supporters beaten to death. I had the privilege of meeting her husband shortly before his death, as he faced with courage both his illness and the cruel Burmese policy that prevented him from seeing his wife in his last days.

But there is another reason to remember Burma today. Over the past few weeks we have seen the Burmese people once again display the tenacious courage of which Daw Aung San Suu Kyi was writing. In the face of a brutal regime they took to their streets in their tens of thousands, marching for their freedom and their dignity. They were met with batons and bullets. We cannot know how many were killed, but we believe it is many times more than the regime has admitted. We believe that over 2000 monks and other demonstrators remain in detention, on top of the more than 1000 political detainees that the regime was already holding. The reports from eyewitnesses reaching us are horrific: monks stripped of their robes and beaten, prisoners left to die in their cells, hundreds crammed into rooms smeared with excrement and without basic sanitation, night-time interrogations, no medical care, novices as young as seven imprisoned. In the face of this horror, we must not and will not turn away.

The steps that the regime must now take are clear: end the violence; release prisoners; grant effective access to the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Burma, Sergio Pinheiro and the International Committee of the Red Cross; and engagement in a UN-led process of national reconciliation that involves leaders of all Burma's political opposition and ethnic groups, including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.

The regime now faces a sharper choice than it has ever faced. On the one hand there is growing international pressure. The UN Security Council has, for the first time ever, taken formal action on Burma by issuing a strong statement deploring the regime's actions, calling for an inclusive political process, and expressing strong support for the good offices mission of Ban Ki-Moon's Special Envoy, Ibrahim Gambari. The Council will meet again to review the results - and if progress is insufficient will have to consider adopting further measures. The European Union has strengthened its sanctions against the regime, imposing new commercial bans on sectors which provide revenue to the regime's leaders. Should there be no progress, we will make those sanctions even tougher, including through a ban on all new investment. On Friday, President Bush announced a similar increase in measures against the regime. And ASEAN have publicly expressed their revulsion at the regime's actions. Burma's neighbours clearly realise that, for the sake of the region as well as Burma's people, the regime must change course and allow genuine reconciliation and political reform.

We also need the people of Burma, inside and outside the regime, to understand clearly that if there is a genuine political transition in Burma, the international community stands ready to support the recovery of Burma with aid and other measures. Last week I wrote to G7 leaders, Prime Minister Socrates, UN Secretary General Ban, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Premier Wen Jiabao, the President of the World Bank and the Managing Director of the IMF, proposing discussion of a possible economic initiative to support recovery in Burma, to be implemented if and only if there is real, verifiable progress towards reconciliation and democracy. Over the weekend, Douglas Alexander hosted a meeting of interested countries at the World Bank Headquarters in Washington. The regime likes to portray itself as a victim of outside interference. But let's be absolutely clear: the only thing that is standing in the way of a more stable and prosperous Burma is the regime itself.

In an interview with Alan Clements, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi said: "It's no use standing there wringing your hands and saying my goodness, my goodness, this is terrible. You must try to do what you can". It is a message upon which on this day - whatever you choose to call it - the whole world should be acting.

ENDS

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