Report on Activities to Support Democracy Activists in Burma as Required by the Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act of 2003

Released by the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs
October 30, 2003

Introduction and Summary

The restoration of democracy in Burma is a priority U.S. policy objective in Southeast Asia. To achieve this objective, the United States has consistently supported democracy activists and their efforts both inside and outside Burma. However, programming aimed at organizing the democratic opposition in Burma has been difficult in the face of the military junta's tactics of terror, torture, intimidation, and censorship. As conditions have deteriorated inside Burma, especially since the events of May 30, 2003, it has become increasingly difficult to meet growing needs; many opposition leaders are detained and isolated. Addressing these needs requires flexibility and creativity.

Despite the challenges that have arisen, United States Embassies Rangoon and Bangkok as well as Consulate General Chiang Mai are fully engaged in pro-democracy efforts. The United States also supports organizations, such as the National Endowment for Democracy, the Open Society Institute, and Internews, working inside and outside the region on a broad range of democracy promotion activities. U.S.-based broadcasters supply news and information to the Burmese people, who lack a free press. U.S. programs also fund scholarships for Burmese who represent the future of Burma.

The United States is committed to working for a democratic Burma and will continue to employ a variety of tools to assist democracy activists.

Work inside Burma

Advocacy efforts
The attack on the convoy of Aung San Suu Kyi and her supporters on May 30 was a major setback to national reconciliation in Burma. Those working in favor of democracy, especially members of the National League for Democracy, no longer have even the limited freedoms to pursue political change available to them before the attack. These activists face an extremely difficult situation. After May 30, the Government effectively shut down any pro-democracy activities by the opposition in Burma.

Our Embassy in Rangoon continuously works to maintain open communications with members of the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), to condemn appalling actions and encourage responsible behavior toward democracy activists. U.S. diplomats press the SPDC and relevant Government ministries on a continual basis for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi, other National League for Democracy (NLD) leaders and activists, and all political prisoners. Our Embassy also urges a meaningful political dialogue between the SPDC and the NLD, and presses the junta to include democratic parties and ethnic minority groups in the political process. The Embassy reports on human rights abuses, particularly limits on political freedoms, and encourages the government to conduct investigations into these abuses.

Government suppression of the NLD and other democracy groups has forced most activists either underground or into exile. Those who remain face surveillance, intimidation and detention. U.S. Mission advocacy with and on behalf of the NLD and other groups, in conjunction with the work of other foreign missions, keeps the attention of the junta and the world focused on the continued lack of progress toward national reconciliation and the worsening human rights situation.

As a complement to efforts noted above, U.S. Embassy officers strive to maintain contact with leaders from the entire range of ethnic groups, seeking their views on ethnic aspirations, problems with the government, and pending government actions affecting ethnic groups, and providing moral support for their democratic aspirations. The input of leaders of both the Burma majority democratic groups and the ethnic groups is critical to democratic change.

The repressive socio-political environment for all entities operating in Burma hampers efforts at coordination and communication. Although the SPDC strictly monitors the activities of all citizens and residents, and prohibits most organizations and entities from independent operations, U.S. Embassy officers meet regularly with religious and NGO leaders to discuss views and concerns with regard to the political and human rights situation in Burma. The Embassy hosts roundtables with leading United Nations and NGO representatives to define further and improve the current human rights situation in Burma, with a focus on individuals abused for expressing their political beliefs.

The Embassy also works with carefully vetted members of the business community to promote the role of a vibrant, politically active middle class in a future democratic transition. These businesspeople see a better economy and a more market-oriented populace as keys to forging political change. Through informal discussions the Embassy helps guide them and supports such a change.

Public Diplomacy efforts
In Burma there is no free press, free speech, or right of assembly. The universities, historically a source of political activism, have been virtually dismantled by the regime. Graduating high school students must wait more than a year before space opens for them in a university "distance learning" program. Thus, at precisely the time they are making life decisions and are perhaps most open to influence, thousands of young adults are left without effective educational options. Many take advantage of programs managed by Embassy Rangoon's Public Diplomacy section.

The Public Diplomacy section maintains, among other training programs, a comprehensive English-language training program that includes both basic language and advanced topic courses. Current enrollment stands at approximately 400 students per term. These students are young people who are exposed not just to a new language, but a new approach to the world. In order to extend English language teaching beyond the Rangoon area, the Public Diplomacy section also sends teachers to the States and Divisions of Burma for teacher training workshops. In a further effort to expand the opportunities available, the Embassy is exploring the possibility of providing additional educational programs.

Efforts from outside Burma

Embassy Bangkok/Consulate General Chiang Mai efforts
Both Embassy Bangkok and Consulate General Chiang Mai engage in a broad range of activities in support of Burmese democracy activists based in Thailand. Officers visit border areas on a regular basis to meet with activists, check on conditions on a first-hand basis, and show support for organizations working on Burma-related issues. The U.S. Mission in Thailand hosts regular roundtables and discussion groups bringing together various groups of Burmese exile democracy activists and NGOs actively supporting the Burmese democracy movement. Embassy and Consulate staff members participate in activities, workshops, and seminars sponsored by Burmese pro-democracy groups. They also provide active support and assistance for Burmese democracy activists seeking training and exchange opportunities in the United States, and assistance in setting up contacts and meetings for these activists when they travel to the United States. The Mission in Thailand works to foster the Royal Thai Government's tolerance of the peaceful political activities of the Burmese democracy movement.

Funding for democracy work
The National Endowment for Democracy (NED) has been at the forefront of our program efforts to promote democracy and improved human rights in Burma since 1996. We are providing $2,500,000 in FY 2003 funding from the Burma earmark in the Foreign Operations legislation. The NED will use these funds to support Burmese and ethnic minority democracy-promoting organizations through a sub-grant program. The projects funded are designed to disseminate information inside Burma supportive of Burma’s democratic development, to create democratic infrastructures and institutions, to improve the collection of information on human rights abuses by the Burmese military and to build capacity to support the restoration of democracy when the appropriate political openings occur and the exiles/refugees return.

Through sub-grants to approximately 30 Burmese pro-democracy groups, in 2003-2005, NED plans to concentrate in two core areas: media/information and institution building. Institution and capacity building will include transition planning initiatives, support for ethnic organizations, women’s projects, the development of democratic media content for dissemination and a humanitarian assistance project that targets political prisoners and their families. NED support will target those organizations that have a demonstrated ability to reach audiences inside Burma as well as those that have an ability to grow and adapt as the situation evolves.

Past programs have strengthened significantly the Burmese democracy movement as it struggles for change in Burma. NED support to Burmese and ethnic human rights organizations has allowed them to increase dramatically the amount and the quality of information on the human rights abuses of the SPDC including forced labor, detention and treatment of political prisoners, and rape and forced dislocation of ethnic people. The reports generated by these groups have succeeded in raising international attention to these problems and rallying the support of the international community to bring an end to the abuses. In 2001-2002, when the space for political activities was increasing, NED sub-grantee groups were instrumental in resurrecting the organization and infrastructure of the democracy movement in Burma and provided information and material support for activists promoting democracy inside the country. The NED sub-grant program also has fostered the development of three well-known Burmese media organizations. The New Era Journal, the Irrawaddy, and the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) radio have become critical sources of independent news and information on the struggle for democracy in Burma. These organizations also serve as training ground for the development of professional Burmese journalists. Demand for all these publications and radio broadcasts has been steadily growing over the years and reaching a larger audience both inside and outside of the country.

Since 2000, with funding from the U.S. Internews has trained Burmese journalists in Thailand along the Thai-Burma border in four areas: 1) basic journalism (what is newsworthy, how to gather news, who is the audience, and how to write with accuracy, clarity, and credibility); 2) management (organizational systems, revenue generation, marketing, fundraising); 3) editorial processes (developing a news agenda, managing a newsroom); and 4) layout and design. In FY 2002 Internews established a school in Chiang Mai, Thailand, to train a new generation of Burmese journalists in investigative journalism, critical thinking, and basic journalism techniques. The first class of 15 students draws on a younger generation of Burmese who want to be professional journalists. The curriculum focuses on teaching basic journalistic skills, understanding the responsibilities of the media in a democratic society, and exposing the students to current international affairs.

RFA/VOA
In addition to programs supported by Burma earmark funding, the United States also continues to fund multimedia broadcasting services for the Burmese people independent of the influence of the military junta in Rangoon. Both Voice of America (VOA) and Radio Free Asia (RFA) have Burmese services. VOA broadcasts a 30-minute mix of international news and information three times a day. RFA broadcasts news and information about Burma two hours a day. VOA and RFA websites also contain audio and text material in Burmese and English. For example, VOA's October 10, 2003 editorial, "Release Aung San Suu Kyi" is prominently featured in the Burmese section of VOAnews.com. RFA's website makes available audio versions of Aung San Suu Kyi's speeches from May 27 and 29, 2003. U.S. international broadcasting provides crucial information to a population denied the benefits of freedom of information by its government. Broadcasts reach a broad spectrum of society and a broad swathe of the country, influencing Burmese decision-makers and offering support to future democratic leaders. Anecdotal evidence indicates that government officials listen to these broadcasts frequently.

Scholarships
The Congressionally-mandated Burma Refugee Scholarship Program (BRSP) awards grants to Burmese refugees living outside of Burma. The program currently recruits from India and awards four scholarships per year that fund language training and approximately 18 months of undergraduate or graduate training at institutions of higher education in the United States. Grantees are selected for their leadership potential, participation in pro-democracy activities, and their ability to excel in fields of study relevant to the building of a democratic Burma. The grantees are generally granted asylum in the United States but are encouraged to remain active in the pro-democracy movement and to return to Burma to help build a democratic society when it is safe for them to do so. A number of grantees try to work with the refugee community in Thailand.

The State Department provided $150,000 in FY 2001/02 funds to provide scholarships to young Burmese through Prospect Burma, a partner organization with close ties to Aung San Suu Kyi. With FY 2003/04 funds, we plan to support Prospect Burma’s work given the organization’s proven competence in managing scholarships for individuals denied educational opportunities by the continued repression of the military junta, but committed to a return to democracy in Burma. The demand for scholarships from Prospect Burma has risen dramatically from 330 in 2001 to 856 in 2003, a 42 percent increase. In 2002, Prospect Burma awarded 162 individual scholarships, 50 of which were to female students. They also continued their core support to an English language school in Delhi that trains mainly ethnic Chin Burmese.

Our assistance to the Open Society Institute (OSI) provides partial support for a program to grant scholarships to Burmese refugee students who have fled Burma and wish to continue their studies at the undergraduate, or post-graduate level. Students typically pursue degrees in social sciences, public health, medicine, anthropology, and political science. Priority is given to students who express a willingness to return to Burma or work in their refugee communities for the democratic and economic reform of the country. Since 1994, the program has helped over 1000 undergraduate, graduate and Ph.D. Burmese students continue their schooling. In 2001, U.S. government funds supported 95 Burmese students in Asia and Australia and 50 Burmese students in Europe and North America. OSI also provides continuing high school education for the many promising Burmese students who are not yet qualified for college level studies.

Many former scholarship recipients have returned to work within the Burmese democracy movement. In an effort to track scholarship alumni and how they are using their studies to support democracy in Burma, we are supporting OSI with a small grant to develop a database and tracking system for former scholarship recipients from both the OSI and Prospect Burma programs. This program not only helps us stay in contact with former scholarship recipients but assists them in networking with one another. These kinds of networks will be critical to the rebuilding of Burma after a democratic transition occurs.

Constraints

There remain serious constraints on U.S. efforts to support democracy activists in Burma. The primary obstacle is the repressive socio-political environment in Burma. The Government of Burma continues to commit numerous and serious human rights abuses. Citizens do not enjoy freedoms of speech, press, assembly, association or movement, nor do they have the right to change their government. Security forces commit extrajudicial killings, practice forced labor, and seek forced financial and political contributions. Citizens perceived to undermine the government are subject to arbitrary arrest without appeal and those who seek to express dissenting political views are subject to prolonged detention.

Surveillance and eavesdropping on foreign diplomats further hamper our efforts. The movements and conversations of U.S. and other diplomats in Burma are assumed to be heavily monitored at all times by Burmese Military Intelligence. Telephones and unclassified e-mail lines are tapped, Burmese mail is read, diplomats are physically followed on a frequent basis, and there is no expectation of privacy except in secure areas inside the chancery. Burmese Military Intelligence is known to have filmed U.S. persons in hotel rooms. Burmese government officials must get approval from senior (often cabinet or sub-cabinet level) officers prior to meeting U.S. officials socially or semi-officially. Private Burmese citizens who meet with U.S. diplomats are normally interrogated by Military Intelligence after the meeting. Household staff and foreign national employees of the Mission are pressured by Military Intelligence to report on the activities of U.S. diplomats.

The continued detention, monitoring, and harassment of activists in Burma contribute to the difficult environment. In the May 30 attack on Aung San Suu Kyi's convoy, many prodemocracy activists were killed and hundreds of others arrested or detained. The Government has held many of those arrested in secret locations without notification to family or access to due legal process. The offices of the National League for Democracy, Burma's largest prodemocracy party, have been closed across the country.

NGOs working within Burma also face serious obstacles. All international NGOs (INGOs) face difficulty in establishing a presence in Burma and internal barriers to free operation. The government keeps tight control on INGOs by requiring individual Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs), which both authorize and carefully restrict each INGO's operations. The Government consistently denies MOUs to INGOs seeking to work explicitly on democracy and governance programs in Burma.

Some organizations operating in Thailand have been affected by Thai policies toward Burmese resident in Thailand, including new visa regulations Thailand has placed on many countries, including Burma. Some staff and program participants now choose to stay in Thailand illegally, due to the increased difficulty in renewing their visas. NGOs along the Thai-Burma border have also closed operations when asked to do so by Thai authorities. So far, no group that has observed Thai law has been shut down permanently. These periodic closings can hinder program activities, especially opportunities for trainees from different ethnic groups to travel within Thailand to participate in meetings to gain a mutual understanding of each other’s views and aspirations, and the ability of the programs to reach a larger number of Burmese.

Last year the U.S. government began funding a new program of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to provide basic health services to Burmese migrants outside the official refugee camps in cooperation with the Thai Ministry of Public Health. This project has been supported by the Thai government and has received favorable coverage in the local press. Efforts such as this that endeavor to find positive ways to work with the Thai government in areas of common interest help build support for U.S.-funded programs that support Burmese pro-democracy groups.

The building of civil society in support of a future democratic Burma requires flexibility in developing and funding projects. Funding as provided in the Burma earmark in the Foreign Operations Appropriations legislation is limited. The Administration has requested $6.5 million in FY-2004 to continue our efforts to support democracy inside and outside Burma. We also support maintaining flexible language in the granting of the earmark that will allow greater creativity in identifying projects that we can fund.

Conclusion

International pressure and support for the beleaguered Burmese democracy movement is essential for promoting change in Burma. It is now more important than ever that we continue to provide sustained, targeted support for those individuals and organizations, from both Burman and ethnic minority regions, that are actively promoting democracy in Burma.

The Administration continues its efforts in support of democracy in Burma on a number of fronts. While working to the greatest extent possible behind the scenes in Burma, in a very constrained environment, we also support a wide variety of projects that have an impact on the work of democracy activists outside the country. The United States is committed to working for a democratic Burma, one in which the government truly represents its people.