Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar’s charismatic opposition leader, suffered a serious head injury and up to 70 of the party travelling with her in a motorcade may have been killed in what her allies believe was a crude assassination attempt by the ruling military junta on May 30.
A convoy of military trucks tried to block the so-called Asian Nelson Mandela’s motorcade after it passed the Northwest Military Command Headquarters in Zidawgon village last Friday.
According to the National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma (NCGUB) information office in Washington, about 20 of the cars, including Suu Kyi’s, and about 25 of her escort motorcycles managed to slip past the blockade. Further up the road at Phaya Twet Gon village large logs blocked the road.
The motorcade took another route, but shortly afterwards the 250 people were attacked by soldiers, members of the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA) and convicts.
The NCGUB said that the authorities had released the long-term prisoners from the Mon Ywar prison, provided them with uniforms and weapons, promised them each 300 000 kyats (about R2 400) and amnesty, and instructed them to participate in the ambush. Police were also seen among the attackers.
Suu Kyi was taken into “protective custody” after the attack.
General U Tin U, vice-chairperson of Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD), also came under fire but fell into a ditch and was not seriously hurt. U Tin left the army and joined the NLD after the junta killed thousands of citizens in the Rangoon Massacre in 1988.
The party won more than 80% of the parliamentary seats in the 1990 national elections, but the military junta prevented it from forming a government and arrested many of its MPs and thousands of its supporters. Myanmar still holds about 1 300 political prisoners.
The NLD has recently been rallying supporters and the latest assassination attempt is part of the military’s clampdown, say party members. Local authorities have arrested NLD members in Yaway Oo, Dee Pe Yin, Chaung U and MonYwar near Ye-U township, they said.
In the capital Rangoon, the NLD’s headquarters have been padlocked and the party’s flags outside have been torn down. More than 50 of the party’s offices around the country have also been closed, and universities and colleges have been ordered shut indefinitely.
Suu Kyi has maintained a non-violent campaign for democracy despite repeated assassination attempts and the junta’s brutality. She has been held under house arrest for more than 10 of the past 15 years, but has continued to press the military regime to open a dialogue about installing a civilian government.
The junta has destroyed one of the most developed and promising economies in South-East Asia. The banking sector almost collapsed earlier this year and the currency has lost nearly all its value. Production of the dietary staple rice has dropped alarmingly.
Razali Ismail, the United Nations special envoy to Myanmar, was due to arrive in Rangoon on June 6 for his 10th attempt to restart stalled talks between the generals and Suu Kyi’s NLD. The generals have often promised talks about moving towards democracy, but have always reneged.
The NCGUB says few believe the junta’s claim that Suu Kyi’s avowedly non-violent supporters began last Friday’s fight.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, the Free Burma Campaign South Africa (FBCSA) called on the South African government to “deal with this outrage in the only fitting manner. Close [the Myanmar] embassy down.
“Why do we have the representatives of such a government in our democracy, anyway? It is an embarrassment and a disgrace,” the statement read.
The FBCSA also urged South Africans to demand that the government take immediate action with regard to the current crisis in Myanmar and that it provide moral and political support to the pro-democracy forces in that country.
On Wednesday the South African government expressed concern over Suu Kyi’s detention. “This action is a blow to efforts to bring about national reconciliation in Myanmar, ultimately leading to the establishment of democracy,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Aziz Pahad said in a statement.
He called for Suu Kyi’s immediate release and the resumption of peace talks.
Calls for the NLD leader’s release also flooded in from the European Union, Britain, Australia, the United States and Japan.
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan demanded that Suu Kyi be immediately released and “allowed to play a role” in the country’s reconciliation process.
Additional reporting Sapa, AP
Graham Bailey is vice-chairperson of the Free Burma Campaign (SA)