Democracy in Burma back on UN agenda

FT, April 8 2008

With the United Nations under fire from Burma’s opposition for failing to hasten the end of military rule more than six months after the violent suppression of anti-regime protests, western states will this week seek to push the issue back on to the international agenda.

The US, Britain and France intend to press fellow members of the UN Security Council to adopt a new statement calling for the early establishment of democracy.

But Burmese dissidents said they doubted words would be enough to dent the intransigence of the ruling junta as it prepares for a constitutional referendum whose purpose they claim is to entrench its authority.

The situation of the Burmese, whose plight dominated headlines as world leaders gathered for the UN General Assembly’s annual session last autumn, has since fallen victim to the current dynamics of the 15-member Security Council in which China and Russia baulk at action they construe as interference in member states’ internal affairs.

Last autumn’s crackdown, in which hundreds of Buddhist monks and other protesters were rounded up, prompted unanimous condemnation from the council in October to which even China, Burma’s closest ally, put its name.

But since then public pressure has subsided and three visits by Ibrahim Gambari, UN special envoy, have failed to win concessions from the military regime.

The Nigerian diplomat’s decision to take the regime’s word on its commitment to reform, in spite of the lack of concrete results, has angered opposition leaders and has even been questioned by diplomats in New York.

Mr Gambari told the council last month that the regime was proceeding with a “road map” to democracy it had itself established by setting dates for a constitutional referendum in May and elections in 2010.

He also appeared to rule out international sanctions on the regime which are in effect closed to the Security Council because of the near-certainty of a Chinese veto.

Opposition figures accused him and the UN of betraying the Burmese people. Aung Din, head of the US Campaign for Burma, and one of his chief accusers, said at the weekend: “He’s still acting as if he can do something. He persuaded the opposition he could deliver and he hasn’t.”

Although this week’s draft statement expresses appreciation for Mr Gambari’s work, a western envoy acknowledged privately: “We feel he needs to be clearer in areas where the regime is failing and not always put a positive gloss on the regime.”

The western drafters want the council to demand the early release of all political prisoners and detainees and to engage in an inclusive dialogue with all opposition figures, including Aung San Suu Kyi, who would be barred from seeking election under the terms of the regime’s new constitution. They also call for guarantees of freedom of expression and assembly ahead of next month’s referendum as well as international monitoring of the vote.

That is not enough to satisfy the Burmese opposition and may be too much for some members of the Security Council to accept.

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