feature A Burmese pro-democracy group in Malaysia celebrated the 10th anniversary of the awarding of the Aung San Suu Kyi's Nobel Peace Prize in a sombre mood on Saturday in view of the slow progress in talks to secure the release of the democracy activist from house arrest by the ruling military regime.

The Burma Solidarity Group of Malaysia organised the gathering in Kuala Lumpur in conjunction with the Nobel Committee's ceremony in Oslo, Norway where Nobel Peace Prize laureates such as the Dalai Lama and the Archbishop Desmond M Tutu congregated to call for her immediate release.

Suu Kyi, the only Peace Prize laureate still under detention for her commitment to human rights and democracy, was recently a participant to conciliatory talks with the ruling military government under the aegis of the United Nations special envoy to Burma, Razali Ismail.

Labour violations

The peace talks, which started a year ago, followed an unprecedented ruling by the International Labour Organisation to condemn Burma's record of forced labour violations against the citizens of Burma.

The ILO, whose team spent four months in various parts of Burma, produced a report categorising the use of forced labour and slavery in the construction of government facilities.

Other non-governmental organisations documented cases of forced relocations and ill-treatment of ethnic minorities in the country, particularly the Muslim Rohingyas who have been denied full citizenship rights.

In order not to jeopardise the talks, the National League of Democracy, the party led by Suu Kyi, has agreed not to reveal any specifics but a NLD spokesman has since said that little is visible of the "positive outcome" mentioned by Razali.

"At the moment, the talks are still centred on the issue of political prisoners in Burma and not on any form of power-sharing among all parties concerned," said Debbie Stothard, a guest speaker at the gathering representing the Alternative Asean Network on Burma (Altsean), a Bangkok-based human rights lobby.

Altsean contends that there can be no tripartite dialogue when at least one party is held as a prisoner.

"Little has been done to bring about a peace settlement among the conflicting groups in Burma," said Stothard. "The ceasefire agreement in place now is only a temporary measure and leaves many issues dealing with minority rights unresolved."

Moral responsibility

When asked why the Malaysian government, which has often been seen as an ally of the regime, has allowed for the establishment of the Burma Solidarity Group of Malaysia, Ghiyathudeen, a Burmese activist, said, "In many ways, we feel that the Malaysian government is sympathetic to our cause. However, we have to tread carefully as policy favouring us may change any day depending on the political situation."

Stothard, a Malaysian activist, feels that the Malaysian government has a moral responsibility to work for peace in Burma as it played a key role in bringing Burma prematurely into the Asean fold.

"Malaysia and several other Asean members ignored warnings from NGOs and foreign governments that an invitation for Burma would result in more cases of human rights violations and jeopardise the institution of Asean.

The situation has indeed deteriorated - there has been an increase in crackdowns on political activities, an increase in instances of religious prosecution, and a manifold increase in drugs production," she said.

Human rights lobbyists also stand firm against critics, that investments that have filtered into Burma, mainly from Asean members, have not benefitted the people of Burma but instead, have worsened the conditions for many.

"Investments in Burma are by nature extractive of its natural resources and therefore, generate few long term jobs, if any," said Stothard, referring to the joint venture by Petronas, Unocal and Premier in developing an oilfield in the country.

"The result of this is that people have been used as slaves in building infrastructure in order to enable these investments to take place."

Arrests

Asean's non-intervention policy is also blamed for the lack of progress in the peace talks.

"Asean should be very concerned about Burma as it is now the source of over half a billion dollars' worth of amphethemines smuggled annually into Southeast Asian markets. This alone should be sufficient reason for Asean governments to take an interest in the future of Burma," Stothard said.

When asked about the fate of Peter Hee Man, following his arrest earlier this year for gate-crashing a Burmese embassy party, Stothard told malaysiakini that he has since been resettled in the Netherlands by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR).

Hee Man, together with three Malaysian activists, were arrested on March 27 for staging a protest at a Burmese Embassy reception held at a Kuala Lumpur hotel. While Hee was deported to a third country for resettlement, all other three detainees have since been released.

The Burma Solidarity Group of Malaysia is part of a wider Free Burma Coalition group set up to champion for the release of the pro-democracy leader and human rights activist Suu Kyi. She was first held under house arrest between 1990 and 1996 after the military government overturned the 1990 election results in which the NLD won a landslide victory.

In 1991, she was honoured with a Nobel Peace Prize for "...striving to attain democracy, human rights and ethnic conciliation by peaceful means." She was rearrested in September last year after attempting to drive out of Rangoon without the approval of the military officials.