The UN Has Failed Burma Again

By THE IRRAWADDY

Last week, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was briefed by his special envoy to Burma, Ibrahim Gambari, on the outcome of his latest visit to the country, which ended ten days ago. Ban said nothing of substance about what the trip accomplished, but through a spokesperson, reiterated a familiar diplomatic refrain: “I would again call on the government and opposition to resume substantive dialogue without preconditions and without further delay.”

Sadly, Ban’s statement demonstrates that his understanding of the situation in Burma has not improved at all. The conditions for a resumption of dialogue are completely absent in Burma, despite countless trips to the country by successive UN special envoys over the past two decades.

The reason that real political dialogue remains as remote as ever is that Burma’s jackbooted rulers have no interest in listening to anyone who doesn’t unconditionally accept their absolute right to hold on to power indefinitely. And yet, Ban’s statement seems to suggest that both the Burmese junta and the democratic opposition both need to do something to break the stalemate, as if they were on a level playing field. But with thousands of dissidents, including many of Burma’s leading pro-democracy activists, imprisoned or under house arrest, it is meaningless to suggest that the opposition is not doing enough to move the country forward.

If the UN’s Burma policy is premised on the fallacy that both sides are somehow equally guilty of stonewalling, it’s no wonder that its efforts to broker reconciliation talks have repeatedly ended in failure. What is the point of telling shackled opposition leaders that they must be prepared to come to the negotiating table when their jailers are calling all the shots?

Diplomatic observers suggest that Gambari’s latest visit was a non-event because it was merely intended to test the waters for his boss. The UN chief has shown an interest in returning to Burma as a follow-up to his visit last May, when he helped to persuade the junta to allow international aid workers into the country to assist in the Cyclone Nargis relief effort.

But Ban is reluctant to make another trip unless he feels it is likely to achieve something. And the Burmese regime, for its part, also seems less than enthusiastic about the prospect of meeting him again. When Snr-Gen Than Shwe, the junta’s paramount leader, met Ban in Naypyidaw last May, political issues were completely off the table—at the time, the urgent need to get aid into the cyclone-hit Irrawaddy delta trumped everything else. Now, however, there can be no excuse for not tackling Burma’s political problems head on.

Than Shwe doesn’t suffer international interference in Burma’s internal affairs lightly, so even if Ban made up his mind to return to the country, there is no guarantee that the top general would even deign to meet him. The most sensitive issue, of course, is the UN’s demands for the release of all political prisoners, including Aung San Suu Kyi. Ironically, however, it is widely believed that Than Shwe will release the iconic leaders of Burma’s democracy movement sometime before elections slated to take place next year. But he is not about to make such a move—intended to lend the far-from-free elections an air of legitimacy—before it makes good tactical sense, and certainly not at the behest of a foreign leader.

The simple fact is that Than Shwe doesn’t want to be seen as giving in to the demands of the international community. He has been especially disdainful of Gambari’s feeble attempts to voice the concerns of countries appalled by the situation in Burma. He has repeatedly refused to meet the UN envoy, whose four-day visit last week—his seventh since taking on the role of special envoy in 2006—was eclipsed on the senior general’s busy schedule of ceremonial duties by his courteous reception of three new ambassadors from the friendly neighboring nations of China, Vietnam and Laos.

Meanwhile, back at the UN headquarters in New York, Ban continued to mouth the same empty words that have gotten Burma precisely nowhere, saying he “looks forward to building on the talks to re-establish democracy and the protection of human rights in Burma.”

Referring to the briefing he received from Gambari in New Delhi shortly after the latter’s visit to Burma, Ban added euphemistically: “He had good discussions there, even though one may not be totally satisfied.”

It may not be very diplomatic to say so, but these words, if stripped of their niceties and seen in the light of what was actually accomplished, can mean only one thing: Gambari has failed once again to justify his pointless mission, which has served only as an excuse to avoid real action by the UN Security Council.