Burma vows to continue pro-democracy crackdown

Burma’s military junta said today that it had detained nearly 3,000 protesters who took part in the pro-democracy uprising and vowed to continue the ruthless crackdown.

The official statement from the junta was published on the front page of The New Light of Burma, a government mouthpiece, as a United Nations envoy pressed Asian nations to take the lead in resolving the crisis.

“Those who led, got involved in and supported the unrest which broke out in September were called in and are being interrogated,” the junta said in its statement. “Some are still being called in for questioning and those who should be released will be.”

The statement said that 2,927 people had been arrested since the crackdown started and nearly 500 were still in custody.

In their last tally of arrests, released on October 8, the junta said that nearly 2,100 had been arrested.

Everyone released from custody was required to sign “pledges” the statement said, without elaborating.

Protesters freed from custody have said in interviews that they had to sign statements saying they would not take part in protests or support the pro-democracy movement.

The junta has said 10 people were killed when troops fired into crowds of peaceful protesters during the September 26-27 crackdown.

But diplomats and dissidents say they believe the death toll is higher and that up to 6,000 people were seized, including thousands of monks who led the rallies.

Burma was under increasing international pressure to call off its crackdown, as Japan cancelled a multi-million grant and China threw its weight behind a UN envoy’s efforts to ease the crisis.

But Asean, the Association of South-east Asian Nations, of which Burma is a member, said it would not support any sanctions against the military regime.

China – a long-time ally of Burma – said it backed UN special envoy Ibrahim Gambari’s mission to the region.

Gambari is seeking to rally Asian countries to take the lead in pressing Burma to reconcile with pro-democracy groups, which have seen hundreds of their members detained and beaten following last month’s protests.

He left Malaysia for Indonesia today and will also make stops in Japan, India and China before travelling on to Burma. He started his six-nation tour in Thailand.

Japan, Burma’s biggest aid donor, had already said it would suspend some assistance in response to the death of Japanese video journalist Kenji Nagai, who was among those killed during the crackdown.

In addition, the government is to cancel a grant worth £2.35 million for a business education centre at the Rangoon University campus.

In Beijing, foreign minister Yang Jiechi Yang said Burma’s recent calm after last month’s violence was “the result of hard work and co-operation from all sides”.

China is considered a key country in the effort to persuade the junta to open talks with the pro-democracy movement, because of its close relationship with the military regime.

It also is a permanent member of the UN Security Council, giving it veto power over any UN action. It has been unco-operative in past efforts to pressure the junta.

The security council issued its first statement on Burma last week, condemning the clampdown and calling for the release of all political prisoners.

The opposition National League for Democracy party of detained Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi said yesterday that more than 300 party members had been detained since August, including 60 within the past week.

Burma’s military leaders have rebuffed calls for reforms, saying the only way to bring change is to follow the junta’s seven-step “road map” to democracy, which is supposed to culminate with elections at an unspecified date.

So far, only the plan’s first stage – drawing up guidelines for a new constitution – has been completed and that took more than a decade. Critics say the road map is a ruse to allow the military to stay in power.