Surprising almost no one in the international community, the ruling Burmese military junta and its puppet court on Tuesday announced a guilty verdict in the trial of Burmese freedom fighter and Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. Convicted of violating her terms of house arrest by allowing an American, John Yettaw, to swim to her home and seek shelter, Suu Kyi was sentenced to three years hard labor.

Immediately after this announcement, the court adjourned for several minutes. Following this recess, Home Affairs Minister General Maung Oo announced an order of commutation from ruling Senior General Than Shwe, to a sentence of 18 months under house arrest.

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PD toolbar!The courtroom theatrics were a clear attempt by the junta to be seen as lenient and/or responsive to the international outcry that has surrounded Suu Kyi's trial, while keeping the democratic leader safely locked away during the regime's planned 2010 elections.

So far, the dramatics aren't working. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, on a diplomatic trip in Africa, decried the verdict, saying: "She should not have been tried, and she should not have been convicted. We continue to call for her release." British Prime Minister Gordon Brown added that he was "saddened and angry" at the "monstrous" sentencing. Even French President Nicolas Sarkozy got into the mix, announcing, "This political trial had just one aim: to prevent Madame Aung San Suu Kyi from leading her fight in favor of a free and democratic Burma." Sarkozy called for further sanctions against the regime -- specifically in the industries of timber and gems, but not, alas, in natural gas. (Total, the French energy behemoth, is a major investor in Burmese gas fields.)

I guess it's a positive sign that world leaders are outraged and calling for Suu Kyi's unconditional release. But these responses, too, are straight out of the same playbook that the international community has been using for years. It goes something like this: Burma commits flagrant violation of human rights, world leaders condemn the action, Burmese go on with business as usual.

The junta has shown itself to have deaf ears when it comes to Western outrage, and this time may prove no different. Suu Kyi's international counsel responded to the verdict by sending a petition to the U.N. Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, which will, no doubt, find her arrest in contravention of international law (as it has five times prior). Will this be enough for the U.N. Security Council to (finally) take some action?

There's momentum building to have the council establish a Commission of Inquiry into crimes against humanity and war crimes in Burma, with the aim of taking the case to the International Criminal Court. This a move that rests largely in the hands of council members Russia and China, who have long provided cover for the junta. There's also a call for the council adopt an embargo on the sale of arms to the regime, one that seems to be picking up steam in the wake of the verdict.

These steps don't guarantee anything, but they would have more teeth than yet another slew of strongly worded official press releases. Without some serious, concrete steps and a definitive policy in the region, the international community is simply starring in the same parlor play as the Burmese generals themselves.



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