The Government will continue to help the Burmese people in their struggle for democracy, writes MICHEÁL MARTIN
TWENTY YEARS ago, in a remarkable display of "people power", hundreds of thousands of Burmese citizens took to the streets of their country in peaceful demonstrations to demand democracy, justice and economic security in their troubled land, a struggle that they have been engaged in ever since.
It was in these post-8-8-88 (August 8th, 1988) weeks that a small, quiet, middle-aged woman emerged on to the national stage. The daughter of the hero of Burma's struggle for independence, Gen Aung San, who had been assassinated when she was two, and of a mother who was a distinguished Burmese ambassador, Aung San Suu Kyi had spent much of her life outside her native land but she had returned to Burma in March 1988 to nurse her terminally-ill mother.
Known little beyond being the daughter of her hero father and with no track record as a practising politician, Aung San Suu Kyi became involved almost immediately on her return in the pro-democracy wave sweeping the country. Exactly one week after the Burmese people took to the streets on August 8th, Aung San Suu Kyi issued an open letter to the regime, proposing the appointment of an independent People's Consultative Committee to lead the country into multi-party elections, and also stressing to the people of Burma the vital importance of discipline and non-violence in their search for justice and change.
On August 26th, Aung San Suu Kyi made the first major public appearance of her career at a political rally in Rangoon, addressing a rapturous crowd of around half a million, and presenting a political programme based on human rights, democracy and non-violence.
But on September 18th, the 8-8-88 popular and peaceful uprising and the weeks of hope and elation that followed were brought to a rapid end when the army chief-of-staff staged a military coup to regain control of the government. Martial law was immediately imposed and control of the country was transferred to a State Law and Order Restoration Council. Along with this, the army launched a merciless counteroffensive against the demonstrators, unleashing the full might of the military on unarmed civilians - men, women and children. At a minimum, 3,000 died or disappeared without trace, but some would claim that the number could have been as high as 10,000.
Undeterred by the crackdown, Aung San Suu Kyi and other members of the opposition founded a political party on September 24th - the National League for Democracy, or NLD, and she became its general secretary. By then, Aung San Suu Kyi, in defiance of bans on public meetings and in the face of serious threats to her personal safety, had already begun to organise a series of more than a hundred political rallies around the country, attended by growing crowds of supporters.
In April 1989 while campaigning in the Irrawaddy Delta, Aung San Suu Kyi - in one of the most iconic scenes of her career - marched calmly through an army unit with rifles trained on her. However, in July, increasingly alarmed by her growing influence and popularity, the regime placed Aung San Suu Kyi under house arrest in Rangoon where she has remained for most of the years since then.
But despite her house arrest and heavy restrictions on her, Aung San Suu Kyi and the NLD scored a resounding victory in elections in May 1990, with her party securing 82 per cent of the seats. The military junta refuses to recognise the results of the election and have continued to rule the country ever since, changing its name to Myanmar. It is a ruthless military regime that has distinguished itself primarily for its brutal repression of the people of Burma, military campaigns against ethnic minorities and the generation of vast numbers of refugees and internally-displaced people. It is the same regime that last September brutally crushed the peaceful protests of unarmed monks and civilians demonstrating peacefully.
It is a regime which, in the wake of the tragedy engendered by Cyclone Nargis in May, proceeded with an already flawed and discredited referendum and did virtually nothing to help the survivors, until forced into action by the international community.
Unfortunately the international response to the situation in Burma has been inadequate, though to their credit the European Union, the United States and some other countries have imposed political and economic sanctions on the regime in the wake of their rejection of the results of the 1990 election; these were tightened further following the events of last September. Although sanctions have not resulted in any change of heart on the part of the regime, they serve as an important symbol of our rejection of that brutal regime and all that it stands for.
The Burmese generals have also resisted any effective role by the UN and international human rights bodies, though the personal intervention of the UN secretary general in the post-cyclone situation and visits by other key UN representatives provide some grounds for optimism for a more proactive UN role. I would, of course, very much welcome this.
Ireland, along with our EU partners, has long worked hard to maintain the issue of Burma high on the international agenda. The Government works closely with like-minded international partners seeking ways to generate more effective global action in support of the Burmese people. We hope that their role in the post-Nargis relief and reconstruction effort can be developed into more proactive political engagement.
Over the years, the Government and the Irish people have provided assistance to the Burmese people and their acknowledged representatives, including responding quickly and generously to the recent humanitarian crisis. Likewise, we work closely with the Burmese community and friends of Burma in Ireland, including supporting the excellent work of Burma Action Ireland. We also maintain close working relations with the National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma - Burma's government in exile.
Today, we remember the heroic actions of the people of Burma in 1988. We recognise in particular that, despite all that they have suffered, the spirit of 8-8-88 lives on in the hearts and minds of the people of Burma, at home and in exile. In paying tribute today to those brave men and women, and especially to their leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, the Government will continue to do all that is possible in support of their unwavering desire for freedom, justice and democracy.
• Micheál Martin is Minister for Foreign Affairs