Doctor WHO?

By THE IRRAWADDY

Burmese comedian Par Par Lay regularly opens his show with a favorite gag:

“Last week I went to India, because I had a toothache.”

“‘Why didn’t you just go to a dentist in your own country,’ the dentist in India asked me.”

“I told him: ‘Because in Burma, we’re not allowed to open our mouths.’”

It’s good to know that irony isn’t dead in Burma—as was the case recently when Burmese Minister for Health Dr Kyaw Myint attended a health ministers' meeting in New Delhi.

Without a trace of a smile, Kyaw Myint told delegates that the Burmese junta was initiating an anti-tobacco law to tackle the country’s health problems.

Whether his fellow ministers thought he was cracking a joke or not, we don’t know.

What we do know is that the director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO), Margaret Chan, met with Kyaw Myint after the Asean round and expressed her appreciation for Burma’s efforts in coping with the cyclone relief mission and the rehabilitation of the devastated regions so quickly after the storm.

Chan concluded by saying that the WHO would continue providing assistance to the Burmese regime.

Which just goes to show—no matter how transparent the irony, there’s still some poor fool who just doesn’t get the joke.

This is not the first time the WHO has praised Burma’s military rulers for their humanitarian efforts in the wake of Cyclone Nargis—the same military rulers who refused to answer their phones or allow medics and aid workers into the Irrawaddy delta while thousands of people lay dead or dying.

On September 4, WHO emergency relief coordinator Rudi Coninx told the AFP news agency that Burma’s military rulers had provided a rapid response to victims of Cyclone Nargis last May, in spite of the criticism directed at them for shunning foreign aid.

Then the WHO deputy regional director for Southeast Asia, Poonam Singh, stepped up and said that despite media reports, the junta was “actually doing quite a lot to meet the health needs of the people.”

The WHO’s outspoken praise of the Than Shwe regime has raised many eyebrows, both in Burma and abroad.

But the fact is we all know that the Burmese generals have no shortage of friends, even at the United Nations.

Many Burmese are realizing that after so many failed UN missions led by numerous envoys over the last 20 years, the world body is not part of the solution to Burma’s ongoing crisis.

So be it.

However, the health of our citizens is a concern. The well-being of political prisoners, including Nilar Thein and Aung San Suu Kyi, is of vital importance to the country.

Last week, Nilar Thein, 36, a prominent anti-regime activist, was arrested in Rangoon. It is believed that the authorities may be torturing her.

Nilar Thein had been on the run for more than a year after the military government cracked down on activists from the 88 Generation Students group.

“She is under interrogation in Aung Tha Pyay Detention Center in Yangon (Rangoon) ... and is at risk of torture and other ill-treatment,'' London-based human rights group Amnesty International reported.

Nilar Thein's husband, Kyaw Min Yu, was arrested on Aug 22 last year as a member of the “88 Generation Students” group.

Disturbingly, they have a 16-month-old daughter who has not seen her mother and father for more than a year. Her aunt and uncle now look after her.

In connection with Nilar Thein, the regime also detained and interrogated the mother of activist Arnt Bwe Kyaw, who Nilar Thein was visiting at the time of her arrest. The woman, Tin Tin Win, is in her 70s and in poor health.

The recent arrest on Nilar Thein is part of the regime’s ongoing crackdown on activists and monks who were also involved in helping cyclone victims and survivors in affected areas.

Zarganar, a comedian and activist who was actively involved in the relief mission was arrested in July. The comedian, who was also critical of the role of UN mission in the delta region, is now under detention. He is reportedly suffering from hypertension while incarcerated.

Medical care in Burmese jails is scarce. More than 100 political prisoners have died in prison since 1988.

However, the UN has totally ignored these arrests and continues to work with the regime and its apologists.

Recently, relatives of prominent monk U Gambira were arrested in Mandalay and Rangoon by security forces. U Gambira, leader of the All Burmese Monks Alliance, has, like many others, been detained for almost a year for his role in instigating public protests in September 2007.

Then we heard the news of Aung San Suu Kyi’s deteriorating health, her refusal to meet UN envoy Ibrahim Gambari, and her legal battle against the regime.

On Sunday, Suu Kyi was allowed a visit by her family doctor, Tin Myo Win, who examined her for more than four hours. Initial reports on Monday said that the detained pro-democracy leader is malnourished after having refused food supplies for four weeks.

In protest against her unlawful detention and its draconian restrictions, Suu Kyi had refused to accept food deliveries since August 15.

She met with her lawyer over the weekend to discuss an appeal against her extended detention.

But the fresh promise by the junta to deliver personal mail, food supplies and international magazines to Suu Kyi had not been fulfilled by Monday, according to Rangoon opposition sources.

Though the earlier rumours of Suu Kyi staging a hunger strike were untrue, the health of the 63-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner is of great concern to Burmese people and her supporters around the world.

Suu Kyi remains a beacon of hope for peace, democracy and reconciliation in Burma. So do the political prisoners, including Nilar Thein, her husband and U Gambira. They are indeed the heroes of Burma—they must all be set free immediately and without preconditions. And we demand to see them in good health.