Janelle Saffin (Page, Australian Labor Party) Hansard source
This motion is to draw attention to the plight of the approximately 54 million people of Burma, Myanmar, who not only live in poverty but also live in fear. I would like to give my thanks and appreciation to the honourable member for Pearce, who is joining me in supporting this motion tonight. I know that the issue has bipartisan support.
The motion draws attention to the plight of Aung San Suu Kyi, who is known to all of us in this place and beyond. It talks about her birthday, which was on 19 June, so it is a belated happy birthday to her. Aung San Suu Kyi's plight is shared by many others, by all of her people. She does not seek attention for herself. She seeks to draw attention to the plight of the people of Burma and also her fellow political prisoners, of whom there is a large number. The number is always debated, but it could be as many as 2,000 people. U Tin Oo is a prisoner and he is one of Aung San Suu Kyi's deputies. The UN committee on arbitrary detention has declared that he is being arbitrarily detained. I am familiar with that matter because I lodged the application with the committee and got that declaration. U Win Htein was recently released from prison for between 15 and 17 hours in Katha and then taken back into custody following a radio interview. No-one knows where he is. I express my sentiments to his family, who are obviously very distressed about those events. Khun Htun Oo and Sao Hso Hten were given prison sentences of 90 years and 75 years respectively, which seems excessive when their 'crime' was political action. And then there is Su Su Nway and many others.
Burma is a state that has silenced political voices, political leaders, by incarceration. But it can change—and everyone wants change in Burma. I welcomed the release of U Win Tin, Burma's longest-serving prisoner, who appears to be as intellectually robust as ever. He said through the media that he was not released but evicted, and he stayed in his prison blues to make a point about how bizarre it is. He was one of just seven political prisoners among the 9,002 prisoners released. It looked great—9,002 prisoners released—yet only seven of them were political prisoners.
Burma's situation, as we know, is dire. The challenges are many, including reconciliation. Reconciliation requires discussion, it requires dialogue, it requires conversation—and that is one of the missing elements there. There was a constitution which went through a process in May. It was declared to be the constitution that the regime is going to the election with. The process was neither free nor fair. In 1973 they went through the same process, which was neither free nor fair, and that heralded a constitution that did not bring any political settlement, any constitutional settlement, any reconciliation to the state. It feels like history is being revisited.
Change does not come easily, but the people desire it. Even those who rule the country can change. If asked to define a characteristic that has marked or seared the psyche of the nation of Burma, I would have to say fear. There is fear at all levels—fear of authorities, fear of speaking, fear of doing, fear of acting, fear of thinking—because people end up being trapped in straightjackets. Despite their record of brutality and inept government at all levels, the top generals are also afflicted by fear—fear of foreign incursions and fear of their own people, particularly the ethnic nationalities. The reality is that, for reconciliation to occur and for peace and prosperity to prevail, the generals—led by the SPDC Chairman, General Than Shwe, and the SPDC Prime Minister, General Thein Sein—need to be bold enough to step up to the plate of leadership. That is what the other leaders, like Aung San Suu Kyi, have challenged them to do. As they only rule with command and control, they do not lead. They must lead efforts to broker peace, because it is peace that is missing in Burma. Such a transition would ideally include a range of initiatives, and it would have to include speaking to each other.
[from OpenDemocracy.org,20 October 2008]
