(IPS) feature Exiled Burmese human rights activists are losing patience with the woefully slow progress made in the more than a year's dialogue between the military government and the political opposition, as well as a UN special envoy's quest to nudge Rangoon toward more democracy.

Despite these talks, the release of nearly 200 political prisoners, and yet another visit to Burma by UN envoy Razali Ismail that ended this week, there is little sign that the country's strongmen are in the mood for political change.

"There are no clues to gauge the direction the talks are taking," says Ye Hutt, a ranking member of the Bangkok-based Burma Lawyers' Council, one of many groups formed by Burmese exiles living in neighbouring Thailand. "Everything is behind closed doors, and the rulers are tight-lipped," he adds.

The talks have been shrouded in secrecy since they began 14 months ago between the government and oppositionists led by the detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

"There is a need for openness, like a statement from the government revealing its stand on this effort," Ye Hutt says.

On-going dialogue

Soe Aung of the Bangkok-based National Council of the Union of Burma (NCUB) feels likewise about the on-going dialogue initiated by Razali Ismail, a former Malaysian diplomat. "The SPDC must show political will to speed up the talks," he says, referring to the State Peace and Development Council as the government calls itself.

Right after his visit to Rangoon, Razali was, always, reticent about the substance of the talks he had with members of the junta in the Burmese capital and Suu Kyi, leader of the National League for Democracy (NLD).

However, he was quoted as having told the media that he was hopeful about "the eventual outcome" of his mission, which is to push for human rights and democracy in a country that has been oppressed by the dictates of a military regime that came to power in 1988.

But Aung Zaw, editor of Irrawaddy, an independent magazine that covers Burma from the Thai city of Chiang Mai, does not share this optimism. "It is very unlikely that an agreement will be reached. I don't share his views,nor do a lot of people inside Burma."

"Razali's understanding of Burma is also limited," adds Aung Zaw, speaking on Wednesday at an event marking the 10th anniversary of Suu Kyi receiving the Nobel Peace Prize.

Some activists say his harsh assessment, including the critique that the Rangoon government is gaining political mileage from the talks, is not misplaced in the face of evidence filtering out of Burma.

Limits on freedom

While Rangoon claims that it has permitted the NLD to reopen its offices in the towns, the reality reveals the limits on the freedom of association - members of the government's intelligence wing have become a permanent fixture nearby, monitoring NLD activities, activists say.

There are also discrepancies in Rangoon's assertion that it has freed close to 200 political prisoners, largely NLD activists, since January, the month Razali's initiative became known.

"Most of them were freed because their sentences had expired," asserts Htut, the Burmese lawyer. "But they have not been so keen to free the other political prisoners, about 1,500 or more, some of the strongest NLD voices."

Then, there is the long-time criticism of Rangoon for its use of forced labour, including that by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) in November. A team from this UN agency found that forced labour still exists in Burma, a charge that exposed the SPDC's failure to end such abusive form of work.

The ILO team, which spent four weeks in September and October criss-crossing Burma, said that forced labour is being used by the military and by the authorities for government infrastructure. Burma's border areas with a large military presence are particularly vulnerable, it added.

For Burmese human rights activists, the ILO's critique underscored Rangoon's failure to implement the law it had introduced a year ago against forced labour.

"Clearly there is a gap between what the government says and does," observes Soe Aung of the NCUB. "The ILO team's report reveals the real situation regards the SPDC's attitude toward rights."

Forced labour

According to both regional and international human rights monitors, forced labour in Burma ranges from clearing forests, repairing roads and carrying goods for the military, to more dangerous work such as minesweeping.

In addition, there have been continued reports of "widespread human rights abuses, including extra-judicial killings and rape", states the Alternative Asean Network on Burma (Altsean), a Bangkok-based rights lobby. "There is no redress for such violations as there is widespread disrespect for the rule of law and no independent judiciary to punish such," it said in a statement.

Human rights abuses are also the order of the day in the conflict-affected areas such as the states of Shan, Karen and Mon, according to the New York-based Human Rights Watch. "In the west, the SPDC continue to deprive the ethnic minority Muslim Rohingya of full citizenship rights."

"The SPDC has to negotiate with all the ethnic minorities for democracy to prevail," says Myint Myint San, a Burmese activist at Altsean. "The government has to recognise women and children, too, unlike now, where they are a low priority," she adds.

Still, some consider it an achievement that the dialogue in Burma has continued this long. The longer it keeps going, the harder it may be to end. Meantime, Burmese like Soe Aung are clinging on to hope that the talks will prompt change: "We need to make this process irreversible."