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Aung San Suu Kyi on Embassy Seizure, US Loans, Jail Sentence for Wearing Yellow
"TO USE GUNS TO OPPRESS YOUR FELLOW MEN IS SOMETHING WE CANNOT ACCEPT"
Transcript: Part Two of Aung San Suu Kyi interview, October 5, 1999
Q: The NLD has disassociated itself from the group responsible for the siege in the embassy in Bangkok. What is your message to activists who may be considering similar actions in the near future or in the future?
A: As we said in the official statement of the Committee Representing the People's Parliament we understand why these young students felt that they had to do something like this. It's because of some sense of frustration, it's because they have been subjected to great injustice, it's because they want democracy to come to Burma quickly.
But what we want to say to them, is that what we are fighting is the use of arms to bring about political change. So we cannot support such acts where people with arms force people without arms into a particular situation We have to face this kind of situation from day to day in Burma.
Our people are arrested, our people are harassed, they are oppressed, they are bullied, they are tortured. Why, why are they putting up with it- because the people who are doing it have guns in their hands. And they are fighting with their guns, and it is because of the guns that they are forced to submit to acts of injustice . So we don't want the system whereby the gun rules man. Whereas it's man who should rule the gun. After all the gun was invented by men. It's men who make guns so man should have power over guns. And to use guns to oppress your fellow men is something we cannot accept.
" WE WANT TO SHOW THAT THE HUMAN SPIRIT CAN PREVAIL OVER THE MIGHT OF ARMS … THROUGH THE STRENGTH OF OUR CONVICTIONS AND THROUGH OUR PERSEVERANCE"
This is why we are against acts of violence. This is why we have decided that we want to choose the non-violent way. Because we want to show that the human spirit can prevail over the might of arms and that we can bring about the change that we want through the strength of our convictions and through our perseverance. And we are convinced that we will able to do it.
We are absolutely confident that democracy will come to Burma. and it will come through non-violent means. And we are confident that we will be able to persuade those who are now using violence to oppress Burma, to see our point of view and to understand that they would be much happier, as well as, of course, the rest of the country if it were justice that ruled rather than weapons.
Q: Do you think that resentment is growing against the military regime? Are you concerned that the resentment may explode into violence. If so, why?
A: I think resentment is growing for a number of reasons. Of course the one that everybody feels is the economic reason. Prices have been rising, the people's living standards have been coming down. And then social reasons - the universities have been closed for about 3 years now, young people are not getting a proper education, and then of course, a combination of economic and social factors. They see that the elite live a very different life from the ordinary people.
The common people have difficulty making ends meet. Their children cannot complete their education. Whereas (among) the elite who are close to the regime or who in fact belong to the regime, their children can go to study abroad, their families are very well-off. They have become very wealthy, they are the ones who are raking in the economic benefits of whatever openings there have been in the past decade. So there are these social factors.
And then of course there are the political factors. There is no freedom, people cannot say what they want; people cannot do what they want, people cannot wear what they want. I think we'll be coming to that later. There is no free press, there is no freedom of information. I don't know whether you've had the chance to look at the newspapers here. But the newspapers are generally full of abuse of the National League for Democracy.
And you know, it's a nice trait of human beings that they get fed up of the abuse after sometime. If somebody keeps on abusing somebody else, especially from a position of power, people don't like it. This is the good thing about human beings. And of course other things about human beings perhaps are not so wonderful. But they have this instinct against bullying and against injustice.
" WE DON'T WANT CHANGE TO COME ABOUT THROUGH VIOLENCE"
So I think we can say that resentment is growing all the time. And will it explode into violence? That's a possibility. And of course we are concerned about this, we don't want change to come about through violence. We don't want that to become a precedent, that if you want to bring about change you have to resolve to violent tactics. That will be a very, very bad precedent. And we hope that the authorities will see that for the good of our country we should establish a precedent whereby change is brought about through peaceful dialogue and exchange of views.
Q: Would the junta view the NLD as a safer alternative to groups prepared to use violence to overthrow them as opposed to violent groups? Would the junta view the NLD as a safer option?
"THEY LOOK ON THE NLD AS THE MOST DANGEROUS THING IN THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD"
A: I don't know how they look at these things. From reading the newspapers you get the idea they look on the NLD as the most dangerous thing in the whole wide world! We are not at all violent. And they may well think that we are lot more dangerous than violent groups. But this of course all based on misperception of what we stand for and I think it's based on fear. I think this military regime is frightened of losing power.
They are frightened of the emergence of a democratic government because they don't understand what a democratic government really is. They don't understand that we're not out for revenge, we're not out to crush them or the army. We only want to establish a system whereby there can be a balance between justice and security and freedom for all our people
Q: Would you feel that the military regime could work hand in hand with the NLD if ever it come into power
A: We said that we don't see why we can't work with anybody for the good of the country, in the right way
Q: What do you think governments should do to stem the potential for violence in Burma
A: As I said earlier, I think they should resort to peaceful methods. They should think of exchange of views and dialogue as an honorable and dignified way of bringing about change. Sometimes I think that this regime thinks that if they accept idea of dialogue with the opposition of negotiations they will be losing face, that this would be a disgraceful road to take. In fact, (it is) not.
What they don't understand is that they would greatly enhance their standing with the whole world, not just with Burma. And they would be doing something so honorable that they would win a lot of approval and they have a lot more to gain than to lose. I think they've got to understand this.
Q: The United States government has announced that they may forgive debts of poor countries. Do you think that Burma should have its loans forgiven or written off?
A: I think once there's a democratic government in power, we should have all our loans written off.
But on the other hand I would like to say that we want our country to be a responsible one. We have always said that we don't want our country to be one which lives on handouts. And if possible, I think we would prefer to repay our loans than to have them written off because there must be a sense of responsibility. We would like to teach our people a sense of responsibility.
But of course on the other hand we have to be practical as well. (Especially) if the conditions of the country are such that the writing off of certain debts would greatly help the situation and help us to help ourselves in the future. This is something that should be considered seriously. We want our people to be proud in the right way. We want them to be proud of working for themselves or working for progress; not just sitting back and enjoy the goods of life because of the charity of others.
Q: In order to rebuild the country of Burma do you feel that you would need to take further loans?
A: I think, practically speaking, we will have to take certain loans, we will have to accept certain aid but the NLD has produced our views on how we would handle the economy. And one of our basic principles is that we want to take out loans and accept aid in a responsible way. We don't want to take more aid than we can handle efficiently.
"THE GOVERNMENT AND THE PEOPLE MUST UNDERSTAND THAT IF WE WANT RIGHTS, THEN WE HAVE TO DISCHARGE OUR RESPONSIBILITIES"
I think you probably know that in some countries the money that is given in aid just goes into waste because they are given so much, and it's not properly coordinated, they get paid from different sources. We keep repeating, what we want is a transparent, responsible government, an accountable government. And we also want a responsible people. We've got to work together. The government and the people must understand that if we want rights, then we have to discharge our responsibilities. So that goes hand in hand.
Q: Concerning the court case taken up by the chairman of the NLD and three MPs against the authorities what are your views on it and what is the current situation?
A: Well the current situation is that there has been one hearing. …I'm sure you know I can't talk about the details of the case. But I can just say that the second hearing is going to be on the 29th of October. Our chairman has filed a suit against the National Investigation Bureau because of injustices to which our MPs and members of our party have been subjected. The 3 MPs have filed suits to do with slander. There were public meetings orchestrated by the authorities in which our MPs were slandered. So there are two separate cases.
Q: You may not be able to comment on this next question also because it's a court ruling. The ruling on recently a case passed a decision that 7 people …
A: 4 people
Q: ...four Burmese citizens who were caught wearing yellow were sentenced to time in jail, imprisonment..
" PRISON SENTENCES OF SEVEN YEARS BECAUSE THEY WERE WEARING YELLOW ON THE 9TH NIGHT OF SEPTEMBER"
A: Well that case is finished so I can talk about it … that was totally unjust. It was an arbitrary decision, the defendants were not allowed any counsel of any kind They were each given prison sentences of seven years because they were wearing yellow on the 9th night of September and I think this was taken to be incitement to unrest or something like that. This is ridiculous. I'm wearing yellow and I'm not inciting anybody to unrest. And I don't see why people should not be able to wear what color they please And there is no law which says you cannot wear yellow. So I hope people will come out wearing yellow one of these days.
Q: Final words from you.
A: I always say that you cannot hope without endeavor, you've got to work. You have no right to hope unless you are prepared to struggle for what you want. But I do believe that justice will prevail in the end. But don't forget that justice has always have to be tempered by mercy. So when your side prevails don't be unmerciful to your opponents because there's none of us who could do without mercy.