Myanmar's plight
The thuggish military men who rule Myanmar have rounded up more than 200 democracy activists who were planning to meet recently. Again the rulers show their regime, which goes by the appropriately unappetizing acronym SLORC (State Law and Order Restoration Council), to be worthy only of international contempt.
To the extent that Americans are at all familiar with Myanmar's plight, it is thanks to the courage of Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of the nation's democracy movement. Her National League for Democracy won an overwhelming victory in parliamentary elections in 1990, but SLORC refused to give up power, putting her under house arrest and jailing many of her colleagues.
Although Aung San Suu Kyi was nominally freed last July, after winning the Nobel Peace Prize, the regime has refused even to begin talks on a transition to democratic rule.
It was to celebrate, as it were, the sixth anniversary of those betrayed elections that Aung San Suu Kyi called a meeting. In fear of the democrats' popularity, SLORC rounded up many of her supporters, including should-be members of parliament.
This is far from SLORC's only abuse. Even before the latest events, hundreds of political prisoners remained in jail, according to Human Rights Watch/Asia.
The regime promotes forced labor, press-ganging citizens to act as porters in areas of armed conflict and to build roads, according to the U.S. State Department. It has built a massive army, equipped mostly by China. And Myanmar is the world's chief source of heroin.
The most active proponents of trade, investment and engagement with Myanmar have been its neighbors in Southeast Asia. A nation of 42 million with high literacy rates and abundant natural resources, Myanmar cannot be ignored. But after SLORC's latest abuses, the burden is on those advocates of "engagement" to show what they have achieved and explain why sanctions should not be tightened.
As much as South Africa under apartheid, Myanmar deserves to be a pariah until SLORC has given way.
-- The Washington Post