Gambari leaves without seeing Suu Kyi

Posted on August 24, 2008
Filed Under Burma news, Commentary |

Ibrahim Gambari left Burma on Saturday

And… he’s… gone! The UN’s Special envoy, Ibrahim Gambari left Burma Saturday with his tail between his legs and serious questions being asked about his future role.

According to the UN, Gambari spent Saturday meeting the diplomatic corps and senior members of the junta, including an “open and extensive meeting” with Prime Minister Thein Sein.

But, there was no meeting with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, which was reportedly the intention behind his decision to stay an extra day (see: Gambari extends visit after failing to meet with Aung San Suu Kyi).

Suu Kyi resisted attempts by the former Nigerian Foreign Minister to meet her. She did not show up for a scheduled meeting on Wednesday. And it appears having the mountain go to Mohammed didn’t work either. According to press reports, two of Gambari’s aides were seen outside Suu Kyi’s house on Friday morning, but nobody came out to meet them!

According to press reports, Suu Kyi is unhappy with the way Gambari’s visit was carried out. And, she is not the only one upset with Gambari’s visit.

According to the US Campaign for Burma, the UN “seriously misrepresented” details of Gambari’s visit.

They question a statement by the UN on August 20, saying Gambari held ten separate meetings with political parties and civil society groups. They say he met with nine Burmese groups, all of which are supporters and proxies of the junta. “This statement is not only misleading but patently false,” says a press release by the pressure group.

Quoting informed sources within Burma, they say Gambari met with: The Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (UMFCCI), the major funder of the regime’s brutal militia “Swan-Arr-Shin”, which led the regime’s efforts in attacking and killing peaceful monks and democracy activists during and after last September’s Saffron Revolution.

Gambari also met with the notorious Union Solidarity and Development Association, the group that carried out an assassination attempt on Suu Kyi in May 2003. During that attack dozens of her party members were killed. Gambari also met with the National Unity Party, a military-backed political party that lost severely to the NLD in 1990 elections — gaining only 10 out of 485 seats in parliament. He also met with the 88 Generation Students and Youth, another pro-junta group, which had campaigned to support the regime’s constitution. This group is not related to the major dissident group, the “88 Generation Students”; instead, it is a front group formed by the regime to counter the activities of real student activists.

However, not everyone in the regime was willing to meet with the UN’s special envoy, and he once again failed to see supreme leader Than Shwe. A failing that is said to have further upset Suu Kyi.

On Thursday, The Burma Campaign UK called on the UN to abandon its softly, softly approach to Burma’s generals. They say the human rights situation in Burma has significantly deteriorated since Gambari first visited in May 2006.

They say, in that time, the number of political prisoners almost doubled from 1,100 to 2,056; more than 130,000 people in Eastern Burma have been forced from their homes as part of the regime’s ethnic cleansing campaign, September 2007’s peaceful pro-democracy protests were brutally suppressed, with protestors fired on and thousands of monks arrested; humanitarian aid was blocked following Cyclone Nargis; and political prisoners, including Aung San Suu Kyi, have been routinely denied access to doctors and medical treatment.

This latest visit has succeeded only in causing Gambari and the UN commitment to meaningful dialogue to be further questioned and for his reputation and ability to act as an effective mediator to be seriously questioned.

The UN Security Council was reportedly already upset by the lack of progress in Gambari’s mission (see: US spells out goals for Gambari’s visit, threatens increased UN pressure), will now have to start asking some hard questions about Gambari’s future role.

Mark Farmaner of the Burma Campaign UK said, “By any measure the record of Gambari and the UN is one of failure. There is a human rights crisis in Burma and it is getting worse.”

“The current UN approach is failing, and the people of Burma are paying the price. It is time the UN set benchmarks, such as the release of all political prisoners, and a timeline for those benchmarks to be implemented. If the regime continues to defy the UN, stronger action should be taken,” he said.

The UN says this week Gambari held numerous meetings with Government officials, discussing issues including national reconciliation and how to help Burma tackle its socio-economic challenges.

But, with both the opposition and Than Shwe unwilling to deal with Gambari can we really expect him to have any meaningful impact.

Or, can we expect more of these pointless visits, which serve as little more than a PR exercise. And, alarmingly, it’s the junta that is benefiting the most, by being perceived as cooperating with the UN.