30 September – 3 October: Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s Release is Not an Olive Branch

October 4, 2010

Rumours circulated this week about the possible release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, days after the elections. Her latest term of house arrest is set to expire on 13 November.

Agence France-Presse reported that an SPDC official declared, “November will be an important and busy month for us because of the election and because of Aung San Suu Kyi’s release.” Another official said, “She will be released on that day according to the law.”

However, as we have seen repeatedly in the past, particularly with the regime’s disregard for the election laws, the SPDC only acts according to the law when it suits their needs. While we want to see Daw Suu free from house arrest immediately, her release notably raises three key issues.

Firstly, the regime does not always live up to their words. As Mark Farmaner, Director of Burma Campaign UK, said, “We hope this report is correct, but regime officials have said similar things in the past and Aung San Suu Kyi has remained in detention. We’ll believe it when we see it.” Time and time again, the regime has proved that the rule of law does not apply to the SPDC and its cronies, and rather exists to exploit, oppress and restrict political opposition.

Secondly, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s release date has been known since her sentencing in August 2009. The fact that the regime plans to release the democracy leader following the conclusion of her sentence does not, and should not be represented as a concession. Rather, the fact that the regime extended her sentence by 18 months following the John Yettaw incident further demonstrates their desire to sideline Daw Suu and the NLD from the elections.

Thirdly, and most importantly, Daw Suu’s release date is set to be six days after Burma’s elections. When the regime announced the date of the elections, many noted that the selection of that date was a deliberate attempt to exclude the leader from participating in the elections.

Indeed, the regime is well aware that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi continues to present a genuine threat to the regime’s hold on power. U Win Tin, a leader of the National League for Democracy, said that once Daw Suu is released, she plans to travel around the country to educate the public about democracy. “The political awakening will be high again in the public once “Daw” Suu is released,” said U Win Tin.

Activists around the world have called for the international community to not regard Daw Suu’s release as an olive branch, or a positive gesture that warrants relaxing international pressure on the regime. Releasing Daw Suu will not make up for the fact that she, the National League for Democracy, other democratic parties and over 2, 100 political prisoners have been excluded from the election process.

If or when Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is released, the international community must maintain pressure on the regime to engage with her, democracy groups and ethnic representatives in inclusive dialogue. Daw Suu, ethnic leaders such as Khun Htun Oo, and all political prisoners must be released unconditionally for genuine democratic transition to begin in Burma.