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MESSAGE TO AUSTRALIAN PARLIAMENT
22 September, 1999
Message to the Australian Parliament by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi Leader of the National League for Democracy and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Produced by Australia Burma Council, Altsean and Images-Asia
Australia has a unique position in the world. It is a Western democracy that is situated geographically in Asia. For this reason we think that it has a special role to play.
I would first like to thank all Australian Parliamentarians who have supported the movement for democracy in Burma. Many of them have sent me personal messages of support and I was truly touched by their concern for me and for the rest of my co-workers for democracy in Burma.
We are confident that the people of Australia and Members of the Australian Parliament understand the importance of democracy and we understand very well that they want to do everything to support us. Sometimes we are a little concerned that the policies of the Australian Government may not be such that would hasten the process of democratisation in Burma. We understand that it is important for the Government of Australia to remain on good terms with neighboring Asian countries. However, we would not like such considerations to, in any way, dilute the commitment to democracy that we know is very much part of the Australian Psyche.
The National League for Democracy and other democratic forces in Burma have been concerned by the recent visit of the Australian Commissioner for Human Rights, Mr Chris Sidoti, to Burma. We are worried that this visit might give off the wrong signals. The National League for Democracy has issued a statement spelling out in detail our observations on Mr Chris Sidoti's visit. We know that the Government of Australia, Mr Chris Sidoti himself and the Australian people only mean well towards us and we do not doubt that it was thought that this visit would, in some way, help the situation of human rights in Burma. But as our Deputy Chairman, U Tin Oo, explained to Mr Sidoti himself, we think that the timing of this visit is wrong and that it was ill advised. At this time when the military authorities are at their most oppressive, the visit could be misconstrued. It could be seen as an endorsement of their policies, it could in fact, be seen as a tacit approval of what they are doing to the democratic forces in Burma. Such a misinterpretation could hurt us very badly. I am sure that the Members of the Australian Parliament and the people of Australia do not wish that anything should be done to hurt the movement for democracy in Burma.
For this reason we would like to appeal to you to consider carefully all contacts made with the military authorities in this country. Contacts which could be construed as approval or support of the present policies of the military regime could be very harmful to the movement for democracy. Contacts which are clearly made and made in such a way that there can be no ambiguities with the intention of promoting the cause for democracy, these we do not object to.
As the world is proceeding toward the 21st century we would like to think that the democratisation process of Burma also, is speeding up. To that end we have been working very hard over the last 18 months. We called for the parliament elected in 1990 to be convened because it was high time that the people's voice was heard in Burma and in the world. Instead of responding to our call for convening a parliament in a civilised, humane way the authorities chose to increase their oppression, to arrest and detain members of parliament elected in 1990 and also to try to destroy the National League for Democracy. They will not succeed in destroying the National League for Democracy because ours is not just a political party. Ours is a representative of the desire of the people of Burma for democracy. As long as the people of Burma want democracy the National League for Democracy will remain alive and we have no doubt what so ever that the desire of the people of Burma for democracy will not wane what so ever.
We would like to call upon the Members of the Australian Parliament to support strongly, the Committee Representing Parliament, which was set up last year when the authorities refused to convene parliament. This Committee is acting on behalf of the democratically elected parliament of Burma until such a time as it can convene officially. We are simply carrying out our duties in accordance with the mandate given to us by more than 54% of the elected members of parliament. We will carry on with our duties until such time as the official parliament can convene and then it will be time for the Committee Representing Parliament to be dissolved.
We are confident that the time is not long before democracy comes to Burma. We are confident that we shall achieve democracy primarily because of the strong desire of the people of Burma for democracy. However, we do not in any way, underestimate the importance of the help of our allies all over the world. For this reason we call upon the Parliament of Australia, the people of Australia and the Government of Australia to support us in our movement for democracy.
We have always believed that peace in the world is only possible if there is peace in the individual countries of the world. By bringing democracy to Burma we shall be bringing peace to our country, and thus, we shall be contributing to the peace in our region and to the world.
In the name of peace, in the name of human rights and in the name of common decency we would like to call upon all our allies to give us the strongest support at this time when we are in need of support to speed up the process of democratisation.
Once again let me thank all of you for the consistent support that you have shown toward us and to voice the hope that the time will not be long when we can join hands together as democratic countries to promote the cause of human rights all over the world. Thank you.