United Nations e& Burma's Generals

July 16, 2007
The Wall Street Journal
Original Source: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118453395311366957.html

The United Nations has a track record of coddling brutal regimes from Iraq to North Korea. Now add another to
 the list: Burma.
The Secretary General's special adviser on Burma, Ibrahim Gambari, swept through India, China and Japan last week to promote positive changes in the repressive dictatorship. These countries should encourage the authorities in Myanmar to build on the positive steps they are making, he told Reuters (using the name Burma's generals imposed on their country).
Mr. Gambari is likely referring to the country's new constitution, which is expected be finalized at a national convention this week. The generals have periodically made noises about democratic reform since they annulled the 1990 election results that would have brought Aung San Suu Kyi's party into power by a landslide majority. Back then they refused to transfer power to her on the grounds that Burma needed a new constitution first. Will they do so now?
The reality on the ground doesn't suggest much will change. Land confiscation, arbitrary arrests, torture, murder and military conflict with the country's ethnic minorities all continue unabated. The situation is so bad that the International Committee of the Red Cross broke its policy of silence this month and openly described how authorities torture civilians and detainees.
The U.N. itself knows what's going on. Last week, a confidential U.N. report leaked to the Financial Times found the government was seizing land and cracking down on non-government organizations, among other things.
Mr. Gambari should know better. In May 2006, he offered monetary rewards to the junta in exchange for Ms. Suu Kyi's release. The generals promptly extended her house arrest. Mr. Gambari's predecessor, Razali Ismail visited Ms. Suu Kyi in June 2003, only to find himself later barred from the country. Former special rapporteur for human rights, Paulo Pinheiro, curtailed a trip after finding a bug in a room where he was interviewing political prisoners.

Mr. Gambari says he will visit Burma again soon to encourage signs of openness and cooperation from the junta. Perhaps he expects Ms. Suu Kyi's party will be allowed to contest elections under the new constitution -- a promise the generals made to him last November. If history is any guide, he's likely to be disappointed. More important, so are the long-suffering Burmese people.