The current escalation of the situation in Burma is horrible, but not really a surprise. The governments of the west of remained largely silent on the subject of the oppression of the Burmese people, sometimes making personal statements about the military occupation, or expressing support for Aung San Suu Kyi, but not using the weight of the international community to do much about it.
So the military have started shooting at protestors (just how fucked up do you to be to start shooting pacifists? Taking on a Buddhist Monk with a gun??) and the rest of us look on in powerless horror. But there are governmental options, and the tiny bit we can do right now is to pressure our governments to do something.
So there’s a petition on the Downing Street website, where those of you in the UK can give your voice to the call on Gordon Brown (texture like sun) to do something about it on our behalf. You cal also sign the petition at Avaaz.org, as they have a track record of delivering such petitions in a way that gets thing done. They’re part of the human rights activist community, and worth supporting.
However it’s utterly depressing to read on the BBC article linked above “China and Russia have argued the situation in Burma is a purely internal matter. Both vetoed a UN resolution critical of Burma’s rulers in January.” WTF??? How can politicians be so utterly callous? Human nature contains within in such levels of bleak self-delusion, if they feel they can on any level justify such a statement in their heads. Is it because they rely on trade with the Burmese? Or just old school cold war petty rivalry with the rest of the security council? Either way they are condemning the Burmese people to further military brutality by vetoing involvement.
I pray for the shooting to stop, and that this will be a last ditch attempt of the regime to hold onto power, in the face of overwhelming support for Aung San Suu Kyi to be made leader.
From what I hear, it looked like the UN General Assembly was going to adopt a major resolution on Burma a few years ago but (then US ambassador to the UN) John Bolton forced it to move to the Security Council, where it didn’t belong, and where China and Russia were able to veto it. In the General Assembly there are no vetoes, and it would have passed.
Knowing that doesn’t make anything any better, but it does show that attempts to lay the blame solely at the feet of China and Russia don’t have quite the whole story. And it’s an interesting backdrop to Bush’s recent attempts to “force the UN to act”.