Aung San Suu Kyi: Hillary Clinton Gets On Her Boots and Follows Bono's Orders

[LyricalDrug]

U2 has been highlighting Aung San Suu Kyi's plight each night on the current tour, and the band is asking fans to wear masks to the shows in support. Today Hillary Clinton put unprecedented pressure on Burma to address human rights violations and spoke in strong defense of Aung San Suu Kyi:


-----
From today's New York Times:

"Mrs. Clinton also has no plans to meet with a representative from Myanmar, formerly Burma. On Tuesday, she spoke in unusually detailed terms in discussing the country’s human rights record and its treatment of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the pro-democracy leader. Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi is on trial, accused of violating her house arrest by sheltering an American man who swam across a lake to her home last May.

“We are deeply concerned by the reports of continuing human rights abuses within Burma,” she said, “and particularly by actions that are attributed to the Burmese military, concerning the mistreatment and abuse of young girls.”

The Obama administration has been reviewing American policy toward Myanmar since February, when Mrs. Clinton declared that the existing sanctions against its military-run government had been ineffective.

But the United States will not announce a new policy at this meeting, American officials said, largely because repeated delays in the trial of Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi have made it difficult for the administration to develop a response. Mrs. Clinton repeated her demand that Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi be treated fairly, and dismissed the charges against her as “baseless and totally unacceptable.”

“Our position is that we are willing to have a more productive partnership with Burma if they take steps that are self-evident,” she said.

She called on the government to release political prisoners and to “end the violence” against its own people, including ethnic minorities. In recent weeks, the military has carried out a fierce offensive against the Karen minority, driving refugees across the border into Thailand."

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/23/world/asia/23diplo.html?ref=global-home

 

[yolland]

"follows Bono's orders" ?

 

[LyricalDrug]

"follows Bono's orders" ?

Hehe... well, as in, marching orders / GOYB ... metaphorically (clumsily?) speaking.

The timing of U2's efforts to highlight Aung San Suu Kyi's work and plight on the current tour couldn't have matched up any better with the change in U.S. stance that was announced yesterday. Cause/effect?

 

[65980]

It's official. Preaching onstage to 20,000 liberal white people from middle-class backgrounds does lead to the liberation of 'third-world' nation-states under repressive regimes. Bono was right, after all!

 

[yolland]

The timing of U2's efforts to highlight Aung San Suu Kyi's work and plight on the current tour couldn't have matched up any better with the change in U.S. stance that was announced yesterday. Cause/effect?

What's the 'change,' though? For more than a decade we've had a blanket ban on new investments in Burma, and since 2003 there's been a total imports ban, assets freezes on Burmese banks and officials, visa restrictions on Burmese officials, and a financial exports ban. Condemnation of Burma's human rights violations by US officials isn't new, either. Don't get me wrong, it's great that Hillary called renewed attention to these issues at the ASEAN conference, but I don't see how it's unprecedented.

 

[Tiger Edge]

The masks work?? What other causes can we exploit with a concert gimmick?

 

[BVS]

There's power in the mask!!!

All bow down and worship The Claw!

 

[mikal]

now what we need are BOB masks in hopes that David Lynch will write and produce a 3rd season of Twin Peaks.

 

[djerdap]

now what we need are BOB masks in hopes that David Lynch will write and produce a 3rd season of Twin Peaks.

Ugh. They fucked up that show enough in its 2nd season. The finale was amazing though.

 

[LyricalDrug]

What's the 'change,' though? For more than a decade we've had a blanket ban on new investments in Burma, and since 2003 there's been a total imports ban, assets freezes on Burmese banks and officials, visa restrictions on Burmese officials, and a financial exports ban. Condemnation of Burma's human rights violations by US officials isn't new, either. Don't get me wrong, it's great that Hillary called renewed attention to these issues at the ASEAN conference, but I don't see how it's unprecedented.

It's not a seismic change, but the level of detail that was used in the public discussion was new. Until now, the U.S. hasn't publicly called out Burma this way before. Check out how the NYT reported it: "she spoke in unusually detailed terms in discussing the country’s human rights record and its treatment of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi...."

The Washington Post explains it better than the NYT:

----
Clinton Appeals for Release of Burmese Human Rights Activist Suu Kyi

By Glenn Kessler
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, July 22, 2009 1:45 PM

PHUKET, Thailand, July 22 -- Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Wednesday made an explicit appeal to Burma to release jailed Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, offering the prospect of direct U.S. investment in the repressive Southeast Asian nation.

The release of Suu Kyi is "critical" to easing the strained relations between Burma and the United States. "If she were released, that would open up opportunities at least for my country to expand our relationship with Burma, including investments in Burma," Clinton told reporters while attending a regional security forum.

President Obama renewed a yearlong investment ban on Burma on May 15, citing its "large-scale repression of the democratic opposition," and U.S. officials suggested he would reverse it if Burma took significant strides toward easing political repression.

The new administration has made an intense effort to reach out to repressive governments with a long history of human rights abuses in an effort to shift what officials consider stalemated policies. State Department officials are also firmly convinced that the Burmese government is undergoing a wrenching internal debate over what to do about Suu Kyi, whose party, the National League for Democracy, won a landslide electoral victory in 1990 that the military leadership refused to accept. Since then, she has been under house arrest for most of the time, as have hundreds of her supporters.

In May, just days before Suu Kyi's six-year term under house arrest was due to expire, the government put her on trial for an incident involving a U.S. citizen who swam across Rangoon's Lake Inya to reach Suu Kyi's lakefront bungalow. Clinton's statement appeared intended to sharpen the choice for the Burmese government, but Suu Kyi's lawyers reported Wednesday that they had been denied a request to meet with her one more time before Friday's final court hearing. Clinton, in an interview with National Public Radio on Wednesday, attributed the many delays in the trial to internal angst among the junta. But other U.S. officials believe the trial was delayed to avoid a confrontation at the security conference hosted by the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN).

After Clinton's remarks, a senior State Department official said that the Obama administration has privately presented Burma with "ideas about how to begin a process of dialogue and engagement that begins with Aung San Suu Kyi," including allowing her to "participate in the politics" of a planned 2010 election. The United States is also seeking the release of other political prisoners, he said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

"We have been very clear in stating that the United States would like to see changes in the behavior of the regime in Burma," Clinton said. In two separate public appearances Wednesday, Clinton also sharpened her concern, first expressed Tuesday, about "the transfer of nuclear technology" from North Korea to Burma.

Despite the U.S. investment ban, countries such as India, Thailand, Korea, Singapore and China have poured money into investments to exploit Burma's abundant natural resources. At least 69 Chinese multinational corporations are involved in 90 hydropower, oil and natural gas and mining projects, according to a 2008 report by the human rights group EarthRights International.

Before flying to this resort island for the ASEAN forum, Clinton told Thai television in Bangkok that ASEAN should consider expelling Burma from the 10-nation group if the military junta does not release Suu Kyi. But later in the day she backpedaled, saying such a decision was up to ASEAN.

To solidify relationships with the ASEAN countries, Clinton signed a nonbinding nonaggression pact that China--a major economic competitor with the United States in the region -- signed six years ago. But Clinton also announced the United States would become the first non-ASEAN country to open an ambassador-level diplomatic post with the group.

After the signing ceremony, Clinton shook hands with her counterparts, including Burmese Foreign Minister Nyan Win. During a private meeting with ASEAN officials, Clinton looked directly at the Burmese delegation and made a "powerful plea" for Suu Kyi's release, as well as criticized the junta's abuse of human rights and treatment of its people, according to the U.S. official. Several other ASEAN members, especially the Philippines and Malaysia, backed up Clinton, he said.

The Burmese delegation appeared uncomfortable, the official said, but thanked the United States for providing assistance after Typhoon Nargis destroyed the Irrawaddy Delta and for signing the friendship pact.

 

[gump]

Maybe Bono should add a segment asking Senators to pass health care reform?

It's a shame Miracle Drug is no longer on the set...

 

[redhotswami]

Clinton doesn't put on boots nor a mask. How sad.

 

[pepokiss]

is Bono ok?

 

[Rosebud]

LD, you'd get more serious and genuine responses over in PLEBA, sadly.

This is a great step forward, so thanks for posting the article. Even just the fact that this issue is on the table as a visible and significant focus, and that we are prehaps moving deeper than simply blanket condemnations, is fantastic. Hope this keeps up.

Thanks again!

 

[last unicorn]

"Gets on her boots and follows Bono's orders"?

Sounds like some kinky sex game

 

[Tiger Edge]

LD, you'd get more serious and genuine responses over in PLEBA, sadly.

Correction: You'd get more responses about kinky sex in PLEBA.

 

[corianderstem]

All bow down and worship The Claw!

Hey, I'm right there with you. Dig my sig!

 

[65980]

All this time, I thought it was called 'Get on your Boobs' -- although that title works just as well!

 

[Rosebud]

Correction: You'd get more responses about kinky sex in PLEBA.

Wrong. PLEBAns are actually very genuine and supportive of the social justice causes.

Well, you might get a few kinky sex jokes...a few.

 

[Mrs. Garrison]

did Hillary wear that silly mask? It would be an improvement afterall...

 

[LyricalDrug]

LD, you'd get more serious and genuine responses over in PLEBA, sadly.

This is a great step forward, so thanks for posting the article. Even just the fact that this issue is on the table as a visible and significant focus, and that we are prehaps moving deeper than simply blanket condemnations, is fantastic. Hope this keeps up.

Thanks again!

Heheh thx. Yeah I wasn't necessarily looking to spark a big discussion (what can really be said, other than, "well, good for Hillary and I hope her comments pay off"?) but given the timing of the U2 push and her unprecedented comments, it's fair to ask, is this cause/effect? For all the singing Bono does about a chance to change the world, it's cool to see it when it actually happens.

 

[Rosebud]

Right on LD!

 

[digitize]

Maybe Bono should add a segment asking Senators to pass health care reform?

It's a shame Miracle Drug is no longer on the set...

"Mr. Obama... we need to get people... drugs... people who can't afford... drugs... need... heroin... SEXY BOOTS..."

YouTube - U2 - Miracle Drug (live, rare soundboard recording!)

 

[LyricalDrug]

^

--------------------
Defense Begins Final Arguments in Trial of Suu Kyi

By Tim Johnston
Washington Post Foreign Service
Saturday, July 25, 2009

BANGKOK, July 24 -- Final arguments began Friday in a Burmese court in the trial of Aung San Suu Kyi, the opposition leader and Nobel laureate who faces five more years in detention if she is convicted of breaking the terms of her house arrest.

Suu Kyi was charged in May after a U.S. citizen from Falcon, Mo., eluded the tight security surrounding the villa where she was detained in Rangoon by swimming across a lake to the house to see her.

Attorneys for Suu Kyi have argued that because she did not invite the American, John Yettaw, the security forces who were supposed to be guarding her home should be held responsible for allowing him in. Suu Kyi has said that she allowed Yettaw, 53, to stay at her home because he was exhausted and that she did not want to get him into trouble.

Diplomats allowed to attend the session where the defense presented its closing argument said lawyers also attacked the legal basis of the case, saying that Suu Kyi's house arrest is illegal and that the laws applying to the case are contradictory.

The prosecution is expected to present its arguments when the hearing resumes Monday.

Suu Kyi, 64, is in uncertain health, and her supporters say she would be harmed if she is sentenced to significant time inside Rangoon's notorious Insein Prison, where the trial is being held. The court is expected to reach its verdict in the next few weeks.

The case has been greeted with indignation around the world. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton denounced it after a U.S. delegation met with Burmese officials at a Southeast Asian security summit in Thailand this week and called for Suu Kyi's release.

Few observers expect that to happen. They say that despite 13 years of house arrest -- imposed by the military junta that rules Burma after Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy won an overwhelming electoral victory in 1990 -- she remains the government's most formidable opponent. The junta's generals plan to hold elections next year, and analysts say the government will probably want to prevent her from taking any part.

Even if Burmese authorities release Suu Kyi and hold fair elections, opposition leaders say, the generals have rigged the constitution to ensure that they will remain in power. The constitution, which was drafted by the military, guarantees soldiers 25 percent of the seats in parliament, allows the army to write its own budget and gives it the right to impose military rule almost at will.

Opposition activists have told Western diplomats that they are unlikely to contest the elections unless Suu Kyi is released and the constitution is amended.

Late Thursday, the U.S. Senate passed legislation maintaining sanctions on Burma, which followed House approval earlier in the week. The measure now goes to President Obama, who has already decided to extend a ban on U.S. investment in Burma.

 

[LyricalDrug]

I'm sure this is nothing but a kangaroo court...

Burmese Court Hears Final Arguments in Suu Kyi Trial

By Tim Johnston
Washington Post Foreign Service
Tuesday, July 28, 2009 12:57 PM

HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam -- A court in Burma on Tuesday heard the final arguments in the case of Aung San Suu Kyi, the opposition leader, who could face five years in prison if she is convicted of breaking the terms of her house arrest.

Suu Kyi, 64, is accused of allowing a U.S. citizen to stay in her house in May. John Yettaw, of Falcon, Mo., who said he was acting on a vision he had in which Suu Kyi was in danger, swam across the lake behind her house and arrived exhausted, prompting the Nobel Laureate to offer him shelter.

Police arrested him a day later as he used homemade flippers to try to swim away from her house.

Suu Kyi's lawyers have not contested the fact that Yettaw, who is also on trial, came to her house. Instead, they have challenged the legal basis for her detention and blamed the tight military security surrounding her house for letting the unwanted visitor get past them.

Suu Kyi began her latest cycle of detention in 2003 after a drunken government-sponsored mob attacked her convoy, killing some 70 people, according to opposition leaders. The government said at the time that Suu Kyi had been taken into custody for her own protection.

In court on Tuesday her legal team argued that if she was still in custody for her own protection, then it was the security forces who are to be faulted.

They have also argued that the 1975 Burmese law that provides the legal framework for her detention has been superseded by later constitutions, making the house arrest she is accused of violating itself illegal.

Her attorney expects Judges Thaung Nyunt and Nyi Nyi Soe to deliver a verdict and possibly a sentence later this week.

"The verdict will be given this coming Friday. We are hoping for the best but preparing for the worst," Suu Kyi's attorney, Nyan Win, told reporters. "We have a good chance according to the law, but we cannot know what the court will decide because this is a political case."

Few observers expect Suu Kyi to escape some kind of detention. Analysts said the generals who rule Burma want to keep their most potent opponent out of circulation until after elections that are scheduled to be held next year.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has offered greater engagement with the United States if Suu Kyi is freed.