Burma’s Democracy Protestors Did Not Die in 1988 for the 2010 ‘Elections’

By Hong Kong Coalition for a Free Burma • August 6, 2010

On Aug. 8, 1988, student-led demonstrations began in Rangoon and quickly spread throughout Burma involving people from many sectors of society. The military government responded with brutality against this challenge to its authority, and thousands of unarmed protesters were killed in the weeks that followed. Since this national tragedy 22 years ago, life for the people of Burma has not improved as the military continues to rule the country undemocratically, respect for human rights is just a dream and people remain poor.

Today the Hong Kong Coalition for a Free Burma (HKCFB) condemns Burma’s military government for killing its own people in order to preserve its power, for placing political power above human life. This violent decision and the military government’s subsequent ruthless rule for more than two decades has, in essence, made the people of Burma prisoners in their own country. People are not free to express themselves; people are not free to assemble peacefully; people are not free to form associations of their own choice. One only has to remember the government’s bloody reaction to the Saffron Revolution led by Buddhist monks in September 2007 and the inaction of the government to the victims of Cyclone Nargis in May 2008 to highlight the suffering of Burma’s people.

The Burmese government has announced that it will hold an election later this year. Based on the 2008 Constitution that entrenches the military further within the governing structure and election laws that were designed to prohibit the country’s main opposition party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), and its leader Aung San Suu Kyi from participating, the military hopes to exchange its army uniforms for civilian clothes and in the process erect a façade of legitimacy for its illegitimate rule of the country.

HKCFB once again wants to emphasize that there is no freedom of expression, no freedom of assembly, no freedom of association, no freedom of the press in Burma. Therefore, how can there be free and fair elections in the country?

Consequently, HKCFB wants to state categorically that this “election” under the present election laws and under the current Constitution of 2008 cannot result in a free and fair election that reflects the political aspirations of the people of Burma.

Thus, HKCFB calls upon the international community not to recognize the results of this election, for it will only result in Burma’s generals as the winners and Burma’s people as the losers. Similarly, HKCFB calls upon the United Nations not to recognize these election results by declaring Burma’s seat in the General Assembly vacant until a truly democratic government is elected in Burma.

HKCFB today honors the memory of those who died and stood up for democracy in Burma in 1988. We honor their memory with our condemnation of the undemocratic elections that those that took their lives plan to hold this year.