The Fool and The Lady of the lake By Brian McCartan
CHIANG MAI - Last week, Myanmar pro-democracy leader and Nobel Peace Prize
laureate Aung San Suu Kyi received an unusual visit from an American man who
swam across a lake to visit her tightly guarded residence. The bizarre incident
could be viewed as a well-intentioned, but misguided, do-gooder trying to make
contact with one of the world's top icons for non-violent struggle.
Instead, it has played into the hands of Myanmar's military rulers, who were
arguably already looking for a reason to keep Suu Kyi under house arrest, where
she has been held since 2003. The hardline regime, rather than simply arrest
the trespasser and charge him with violating a secure area, has used the
incident to arrest Suu Kyi on charges of receiving guests overnight without
informing local authorities, a criminal offense in military-run Myanmar.
Khin Khin Win and Win Ma Ma, Suu Kyi's two female assistants, were also
arrested by authorities under the same charges. All three are being detained in
Yangon's notorious Insein prison, where they were charged on Wednesday under
Article 22 of the State Protection Law and scheduled to appear in court on May
18. Suu Kyi could face three to five years in prison if found guilty.
The State Protection Law, which the regime has used to detain Suu Kyi since
2003, stipulates that a person can only be held under house arrest for a
maximum of five years, although the regime manipulated the exact date of her
detention to add another year to her sentence. Under the law, her term was due
to expire on May 27.
According to Aung Din, executive director of the US Campaign and a former
political prisoner, "This is the regime's cunning scheme to extend her
detention beyond six years." Meanwhile, the National League for Democracy
(NLD), the political party Suu Kyi heads and which won resoundingly elections
in 1990 but which the military later annulled, issued a statement to the
government protesting her arrest.
Suu Kyi's and her two companions' arrests have sparked a new international
uproar against the military regime, one that threatens new diplomatic
repercussions. On May 14, United Nations secretary general Ban Ki-moon said in
a statement that he was "gravely concerned" and called on the government to
refrain from taking further action that could undermine Myanmar's national
reconciliation process.
Tomas Ojea Quintana, the UN's special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar,
also expressed his serious concern over the arrests. The European Union,
meanwhile, issued a statement on Thursday strongly urging her release, while
various prominent members of the US Congress and White House called for her
unconditional release.
United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Thursday that she was
"deeply troubled by the [Myanmar] government's decision to charge Aung San Suu
Kyi for a baseless crime''.
"We call on the Burmese authorities to release her immediately and
unconditionally along with her doctor and the more than 2,100 political
prisoners currently being held," said Clinton, adding that she would raise the
issue with China, the Myanmar government's most important international ally.
Senator John McCain of Arizona said on Thursday from the senate floor that the
junta's actions were an outrage and called to renew economic sanctions against
the regime which were due to expire later this year. He also called for a
"vigorous enforcement" of financial sanctions that target particular junta
members and their associates implemented in 2007 by the US Treasury Department.
Under new President Barack Obama, the US is currently reviewing its Myanmar
policy, although a State Department spokesman recently said that sanctions
would not be removed as part of any review. Many analysts has speculated that
Obama may take a more pragmatic stance on negotiations with the regime, in line
with his more pro-engagement policy towards adversarial and often
rights-abusing regimes.
The mounting international protests over Suu Kyi's arrests will make it very
difficult for Obama to justify taking a softer stance on Myanmar. For Myanmar's
military rulers, a favorable outcome to next year's scheduled general
elections, the first since the annulled polls in 1990, is still its top
priority.
The junta needs elections to put its final stamp on power and ensure their
continued rule in the name of democratic reform. With a new constitution in
place and military connected candidates gearing for the polls, many analysts
argue it will be exceedingly difficult to remove the military from power
through the ballot box.
Exiled Burmese politicians and Myanmar analysts have widely dismissed the
elections as a sham and many foreign governments, including the US and EU have
cynically challenged the generals to hold genuinely free and fair elections,
including allowances for Suu Kyi's NLD to contest the polls without harassment.
There have been bumps in the road. The regime's recent efforts to coerce ethnic
armies to participate in the elections are by all counts failing. Meanwhile,
the regime is acutely aware of its lack of popularity among much of the
population, most recently expressed in the anti-government protests held across
the country which the military finally suppressed in 2007.
The junta has made strong efforts to create front parties in advance of the
election, but it is doubtless aware how similar efforts in 1990 failed when the
majority of the population voted overwhelmingly for the NLD. The NLD remains a
viable political force, albeit weakened due to years of government oppression
of its activists and forced closure of its offices outside of the old capital
of Yangon. Nonetheless, the NLD and other parties, such as the Shan National
League for Democracy, could make a strong showing and pose a threat to the
junta's plans if they decide to contest the polls.
The government's excessive reaction to the intrusion on Suu Kyi's residence is
directly linked to next year's general elections, some analysts believe. Some
have even speculated that John Yettaw, the 53-year-old American who apparently
broke into Suu Kyi's home, may have even been put up to the act. A previous
unauthorized visit by Yettaw to Suu Kyi's residence last year was reported by
the pro-democracy leader to the authorities.
Yettaw is a Vietnam War veteran and practicing Mormon who lives with his four
children in southern Missouri, according to reports. He has reportedly told
people he was writing a "faith based book on heroism" and was traveling to
Southeast Asia for research. Yettaw, who survives on veterans disability
payments and some work as a contractor, crossed the lake with makeshift wooden
flippers and a five-liter flotation jug. His ex-wife told the Associated Press,
"He's not crazy, he's eccentric," and conceded "I have harsh feelings for that
man."
According to her lawyer's remarks to international media, Suu Kyi demanded that
Yettaw leave and threatened to report him to police stationed outside. In the
end, reports claim she took pity on his exhaustion and let him recuperate.
Not all of Suu Kyi's supporters have been so forgiving. "Everyone is very angry
with this wretched American," said Kyi Win, Suu Kyi's attorney. "He is the
cause of all these problems. We have to blame him. He is a fool."
Yettaw has been in jail since his arrest last week. He was charged on Thursday
with illegally entering a restricted zone, a crime that carries a maximum
penalty of five years in prison, and breaking immigration laws, punishable by
up to one year in jail.
The junta is aware Suu Kyi is the one figure who could unite the fragmented
opposition, including possibly the boycotting ethnic groups, despite the fact
that she is not allowed under the new constitution to participate in the
elections. Her popularity was in evidence during her previous release from
house arrest in 2002, when her tour of the country resulted in massive and some
say spontaneous shows of support.
The generals cut that tour short on May 30, 2003, with an assault by
government-organized thugs on Suu Kyi's motorcade in the country's northwest
Sagaing division that resulted in the deaths and arrests of dozens of her
supporters.
It seems clear now that the generals are not willing to allow a repeat of that
experience by allowing her to campaign for the NLD. The NLD is currently
debating whether it will participate in the elections, though many believe that
Suu Kyi's arrest will prompt them to boycott the polls.
Whatever his motives, Yettaw's trespassing could not have come at a worse time
for the opposition or a better time for the generals. The opposition has
seemingly lost the possibility of leveraging Suu Kyi's moral authority and
popularity to its electoral advantage.
The military government, on the other hand, will have bolstered its election
chances through claims it is following the letter of the law - despite the
international outcry to the contrary.
Brian McCartan is a freelance journalist based in Chiang Mai, Thailand.
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