Monks,Activists Say Climate Of Fear In Myanmar Before Vote

AFP
WASHINGTON (AFP)--Military-ruled Myanmar is gripped by a climate of fear ahead of a May 10 constitutional referendum, according to activists and three Buddhist monks who led a failed revolt against the junta.

"People are threatened, (some) brutally beaten by unknown assailants," said U Kovida, who was in the forefront of last September's "saffron revolution" that was brutally suppressed by the military.

"The closer the May referendum is, the more scared and concerned the people are about their safety and security," said Kovida, who fled to neighboring Thailand and was recently accepted as refugee in the U.S., together with his two compatriots.

He testified at a Congressional hearing Thursday that he was informed by his colleagues in Myanmar that security had been tightened, with police and security forces deployed in the main streets of the former capital Yangon.

Kovida, a leader of the "Monks Representative Group," which organized some of the first demonstrations, suggested that the junta might not accept any unfavorable referendum result.

He cited the military's refusal to accept 1990 election result in which democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi led the National League for Democracy (NLD) to a landslide victory. She has spent more than 12 years under house arrest.

"We cannot accept the constitutional referendum and planned general election in 2010 organized by the military government, which totally ignored the results of the 1990 general elections," Kovida said. "We should reject any effort by the military government to legitimize itself."

Aung Din, the executive director of the U.S. Campaign for Burma, said he had received information that the military had hired "thugs" to attack rebel monks and other activists during a popular water festival next week. Burma is the previous name of Myanmar.

The NLD's recent call to reject the constitution has raised prospects that the charter would be defeated, he said.

"The situation is much stronger now, even though the military regime is using maximum efforts to block the people's choice," he said.

"Rejection of the constitution will be a big blow to the military because they have portrayed it as a key component of their so called road map for democracy," said Aung Din, a former political prisoner.

U Gawsita, former leader of the All-Burma Monks Alliance, which also led the September protests, said the group was now campaigning aggressively against the charter.

"The alliance is very much alive, although the lives of the monks are under threat," said Gawsita, who had worked in a monastery which also functioned as a sanctuary for HIV/AIDS victims.

Another student monk leader, U Pannyar Thi Ri, asked the U.S. to push the UN Security Council to take action against the military generals for their bloody crackdown of peaceful protests, which according to the UN left at least 31 people killed and 74 missing.

The U.S. House of Representatives is considering adopting a bipartisan resolution condemning the "undemocratic constitution and the scheduled sham referendum to legitimize the constitution," a congressional aide said.