Update: Still No Reconciliation in Burma
By Jane Clark
December 3, 2007 | Printer Friendly

Despite international efforts to encourage dialogue between pro-democracy activists and the government in Burma, the junta is still arresting local citizens and monks (see US Special Envoy Visits Burma).  The Associated Press reported on November 30 that the government has closed down a monastery that provided help for AIDS patients.  The reasons for the closure have not yet been explained, but the monastery is the largest in the city of Yangon and was one that was raided during the crackdowns in September.  The government has moved the AIDS patients to an unknown location.   Reuters reports that since the government has given no reason for the closure, political groups cannot give them any legal assistance.

The Associated Press writes that although the government claims that the crackdowns have stopped, a dozen monks and activists have been arrested this month.  The government says that it has released all but 90 prisoners, but according to Amnesty International, there are still as many as 700 activists being detained.

The United Nations and other members of the international community are still calling for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi, and UN envoy Ibrahim Gambiri has stated that she must be released if the government is serious about reforms.  Gambiri will return to Burma in December to continue to facilitate discourse between the junta and the opposition.

The Department of State released the following statement on November 29, 2007 after news of the monastery’s closure:

The United States condemns the Burmese regime’s continued arrest of democracy activists and harassment of Buddhist monks. Recent reports of monastery closings by Burma’s ruling generals also are deeply troubling. This repression belies the regime’s claims to cooperate fully with the United Nations, which has repeatedly sought an end to the detention of political activists. These continuing arrests bring into serious question Senior General Than Shwe’s commitment to a genuine dialogue on a transition to democracy in Burma.

The United States reiterates its call for Than Shwe to release Aung San Suu Kyi and countless other detainees and political prisoners as a necessary condition for a genuine dialogue with democratic and ethnic minority groups on a transition to a civilian, democratic government in Burma.

Links:

New York Times (Associated Press): AIDS Monastery Ordered Shut in Myanmar

Department of State: Ongoing Arrests of Political Activists in Burma 

Reuters: Myanmar Junta Shuts AIDS Monastery, Expels Monks