Aung San Suu Kyi: Political Setback

While Kuwait, India and Lithuania make strides forward, Burma continues to move backward at alarming speed. Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi is presently standing trial on trumped-up criminal charges, ones that are basically an excuse to keep the legendary freedom fighter locked away while the ruling military junta solidifies its grip on power via elections scheduled for next year. Suu Kyi has been held under house arrest for 14 of the last 19 years and her (illegal) term of incarceration is supposed to end on May 27. The West, especially the United States, has been notoriously tough on the regime for the last 19 years, with economic sanctions and harshly worded statements issued at every flagrant misstep: after the deadly Cyclone Nargis of 2008, after the 2007 monk uprising, and on. Ironically, this latest painful chapter in Burma's struggle for freedom is due to brazen American thoughtlessness.

If you haven't been following the exploits of Missouri's own John Yettaw, I'll recap: Yettaw is a 53-year-old Mormon, apparently working on a "faith-based book" about heroism, while clearly cultivating an obsession for Suu Kyi. Last week, Yettaw made it into Suu Kyi's compound by swimming two miles across Inya Lake and sneaking into the rear of her house. Yettaw begged to stay the night and did, despite Suu Kyi's reported reluctance. Burmese "law" specifically prohibits unannounced foreign guests; the regime is using this to claim that Suu Kyi has violated the terms of her house arrest and is putting her through a trial that nine Nobel Laureates have already called "a mockery."

The Burmese military regime is hell-bent on excising those elements it deems a danger to the stability of the state (read: anyone threatening their systematic pilfering and abuse of the country and its people). That's why there are over 2,000 political prisoners languishing in jails around the country, and why Suu Kyi -- 20 years into her career as a freedom fighter but still as potent a symbol as ever -- remains a thorn in their side. They will incarcerate her at any cost.
Unsurprisingly, the military junta also prides itself on being self-sufficient, usually under the auspices of "national pride," and on not bowing to outside (read: Western) pressure. This stance is made easier by the fact that Burma has increasingly become a client state of China and can depend on its northern neighbor for both economic and diplomatic cover in exchange for precious natural resources. One remaining hope is that ASEAN will be able to make waves with the regime: Burma is a member of the Southeast Asian economic bloc, which is still looking for legitimacy on the global stage. A wave of opposition from all corners of the globe has done much to draw attention to Suu Kyi's trial, so here's hoping that Burma's neighbors will do even more to show the world that Southeast Asia will no longer let its neighbors commit heinous human-rights abuses.

In the meantime, Suu Kyi continues to sit on the stand while some 22 witnesses are called to testify. It's still a wonder to me that the regime even bothers with the pretense of a judicial system -- but hey, at least that's one concession that the West has won.