*EPF208 06/03/2003
Text: McConnell Decries Repression of Democracy Activists in Burma
(Senate Majority Whip calls for "concrete actions" against junta) (560)

The second most powerful Republican in the Senate decried the repression of democracy activists in Burma over the weekend in a June 2 speech in the Senate.

Senator Mitch McConnell (Republican of Kentucky), the Republican Majority Whip in the Senate, also spoke out against the detention of Nobel Peace Prize recipient Aung San Suu Kyi.

The State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), the Burmese junta, "has launched a blitzkrieg on freedom in Burma," said McConnell.

"In response to Suu Kyi's arrest and the murder of Burmese democracy activists," McConnell said, the administration should immediately "expand the visa ban against the SPDC to include past and present leadership of both the Council and the USDA [Union Solidarity Development Association, the political arm of the regime]."

He added that both SPDC and USDA assets "should be identified in the United States and frozen right now."

McConnell is a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee and chairman of its Subcommittee on Foreign Operations.

His wife, Elaine Chao, is the U.S. Secretary of Labor.

Following is the text of McConnell's remarks from the Congressional Record:

(begin text)

BLITZKRIEG ON FREEDOM IN BURMA

Senate
June 02, 2003

Mr. MCCONNELL. Mr. President, this weekend's violent repression of democracy activists in Burma underscores the illegitimacy and brutality of the State Peace and Development Council, SPDC, and its political arm, the Union Solidarity Development Association, USDA.

Although reports are still coming in from the field, Burmese democracy activist Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and supporters of the National League for Democracy, NLD, were attacked on Saturday by armed agents of the junta in Yaway Oo, some 400 miles north of Rangoon. Four people were reported killed, and scores injured and arrested--including Suu Kyi and other members of the NLD.

Given the SPDC's total disregard for the human rights and dignity of the people of Burma, I expect the death toll and number of arrests relating to this incident to rise over the next few days and weeks.

Between the attack and the closure of NLD offices and universities, the SPDC has launched a blitzkrieg on freedom in Burma.

My immediate concern is for the welfare of all NLD members and their supporters, and for the safety and security of Suu Kyi. The world must know for certain that Suu Kyi is alive and well. It is absolutely essential that U.N. Special Envoy Tan Sri Razali Ismail meet with Suu Kyi and other imprisoned activists should he travel to Burma later this week.

The international community must meet this brutal assault not with diplomatic niceties, but with forceful condemnation and concrete sanctions against the thugs in Rangoon.

In response to Suu Kyi's arrest and the murder of Burmese democracy activists, the administration should immediately--right now--expand the visa ban against the SPDC to include past and present leadership of both the Council and the USDA. SPDC and USDA assets should be identified in the United States and frozen right now.

To paraphrase Winston Churchill, it is time to draw the sword for freedom and cast away the scabbard.

Mr. President, I am going to continue to closely follow developments in Burma. I will have more to say on this matter tomorrow and later in the week.

(end text)

(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

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