ប្រវត្តិសាស្រ្តបិទមុខ

AKA 'Daw Suu', AKA 'The Lady', AKA 'Aunty'. Aung San Suu Kyi translates to 'A Bright Collection of Strange Victories'.



Country: Burma (now Myanmar).



Cause: Liberation of Burma from unelected military regime.



Background: The influence of Europe begins to be felt in the Irrawaddy delta in the 16th Century. British intrusion mounts at the start of the 19th Century, culminating in 1886 when Britain takes full control of the country, naming it Burma. The British are temporarily forced out by the Japanese during the Second World War and leave for good in 1948 when Burma is declared independent.



In 1962 the Burmese Government is overthrown in a military coup d'état led by General Ne Win. The coup leaders attempt to create a single-party socialist state but end up ruining the country's economy. Popular unrest against the military regime grows, coming to a head in 1987-88 when rioting breaks out. The regime responds with force. More background.



Mini biography: Born on 19 June 1945 in Rangoon (now Yangon), Burma (now Myanmar). Her father, Aung San, is Burma's most respected independence hero. Her mother, Ma Khin Kyi, is a senior nurse at Rangoon general hospital and will become a leading public figure and diplomat.



1947 - Suu Kyi's father is assassinated in Rangoon on 19 July.



1960 - She moves to New Delhi, the capital of India, when her mother is appointed Burma's ambassador to that country. While in India she becomes interested in Mahatma Gandhi's philosophy of nonviolent resistance. After studying politics at Delhi University, she enrols at the University of Oxford in England.



1964-67 - She studies for a BA in philosophy, politics and economics at St Hugh's College, Oxford. While at the university she meets her future husband, Michael Aris. The couple marry in 1972 and raise two sons.



1969-71 - She works as assistant secretary to a United Nations (UN) committee in New York. In 1972 she joins her husband in Bhutan, where he tutors the royal family and heads the Translation Department. Suu Kyi serves as a research officer in the Bhutan Ministry of Foreign Affairs.



1973 - Suu Kyi and her husband return to England for the birth of their first son, Alexander. The following year they move to Oxford, where Michael has obtained a post in Tibetan and Himalayan studies at the university.



1977 - The couple have their second son, Kim. While raising her sons, Suu Kyi begins researching and writing a biography of her father, published in 1984. Books on Burma, Nepal and Bhutan follow.



1985 - Suu Kyi travels to Japan with her son Kim to take up the post of visiting scholar at the Centre of Southeast Asian Studies at Kyoto University. Her husband journeys with their son Alexander to Simla in northern India, where he has a fellowship at the Indian Institute of Advanced Studies.



1987 - The family is reunited at Simla when Suu Kyi also receives a fellowship at the Indian Institute. When they return to Oxford, Suu Kyi enrols at the London School of Oriental and African Studies to work on an advanced degree.



1988 - On 31 March Suu Kyi receives a telephone call informing her that her mother has suffered a severe stroke. She flies to Rangoon the next day.



Meanwhile, student-led protests against Burma's military regime break out in Rangoon in March and June. The protests are triggered by a currency devaluation that wipes out the value of most people's savings without warning or compensation.



The regime responds to the protests with force but looses its grip on power when Ne Win steps down as BSPP chairman on 23 July.



Ominously, in his last public address before leaving office, Ne Win warns, "If in the future there are mob disturbances, if the army shoots, it hits."



Sein Lwin, the head of the riot police and a close associate of Ne Win, is put in control of the government. He quickly orders the imposition of martial law.



The movement for democracy gains momentum during the so-called 'Democracy Summer' or 'Rangoon Spring', culminating in a mass uprising on 8 August that spreads from Rangoon across the entire country. The uprising is squashed when the military fires on the demonstrators, killing thousands. (Sources estimate between 3,000 and 10,000 die). The bloodshed comes to an end on 12 August when it is announced that Sein Lwin, the so-called 'Butcher of Burma', has resigned.



As the daughter of Burma's foremost independence hero, Suu Kyi is drawn into the democracy movement. On 15 August she sends an open letter to the government asking for the formation of an independent People's Consultative Committee to prepare for multiparty elections.



On 26 August she addresses a rally of 500,000 gathered in front of the Shwedagon Pagoda in Rangoon. "I could not, as my father's daughter, remain indifferent to all that was going on," she says. "This national crisis could, in fact, be called the second struggle for independence."



She calls on the military government to cease using force and reiterates her proposal for the establishment of a consultative committee to help resolve the crisis. However, on 18 September, following a bloody power struggle within the government, it is announced that there has been a military coup.



The State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC), a junta composed of 21 senior military officers led by Saw Maung, the military commander-in-chief, now rules Burma under martial law. It is later reported that Maung had been instructed to stage the coup by Ne Win.



SLORC claims it will turn over power after free and fair elections but political gatherings of more than four persons are banned and force is again used to suppress demonstrators.



The opposition is formally organised into the National League for Democracy (NLD) on 24 September, with Suu Kyi as secretary-general. Defying the ban, she speaks at over 100 public meetings during extensive campaign tours across the country. She advocates nonviolent protest, urges the UN to intervene and accuses Ne Win of controlling SLORC behind the scenes.



Suu Kyi's mother dies on 27 December. At the funeral held on 2 January 1989, Suu Kyi vows to follow the example of her mother and father and selflessly serve the people of Burma without fear of the personal cost.



1989 - Suu Kyi continues her campaign despite intimidation by the regime, which prohibits her from standing for election. On 5 April, while touring the country, she is confronted by soldiers blocking a street down which she and her supporters are walking. When the soldiers threaten to shot, Suu Kyi asks her companions to step aside and then walks up to and past the rifles aimed at her. At the last moment the soldiers are ordered not to fire. "It seemed so much simpler to provide them with a single target than to bring everyone else in," she later says.



In June the country's name is officially changed to the Union of Myanmar, and the name of the capital from Rangoon to Yangon. The same month, troops shoot at Suu Kyi's car in Rangoon.



Suu Kyi is placed under house arrest in Rangoon on 20 July for "endangering the state". She is only allowed visits from members of her immediate family. Under the laws of the junta she can be held without charge or trial for three years. The period for detention without charge or trial is extended to five years in 1991.



On arrest Suu Kyi begins a hunger strike in support of her jailed colleagues. She ends her fast after 12 days when the regime assures her that the political prisoners will not be maltreated. The military offer to free her if she leaves Burma but she refuses to go until the country is returned to civilian government and political prisoners are freed.



1990 - When SLORC allows multiparty general elections on 27 May the NLD wins 82% of the seats contested. The military regime ignores the results, refuses to allow the parliament to convene, and jails the NLD's elected candidates. The regime says it cannot accept the establishment of a civilian government based on an interim constitution and that it will not hand over power until a new constitution is passed by a national convention.



In July the regime revokes Suu Kyi's right to visits from her immediate family. All outside contact is forbidden, including by post. Suu Kyi's plight comes to world attention. She is described as 'Burma's Gandhi'. The secretary-general of the UN repeatedly calls for her release, and governments around the world urge SLORC to respect the election results. On 14 October she is awarded the Thorolf Rafto Prize for Human Rights.



During the year she is also awarded the European Parliament's Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought. The prize seeks "in the spirit of Andrei Sakharov ... to honour individuals or organisations who have devoted themselves to the defence of human rights and fundamental freedoms and the struggle against oppression and injustice."



1991 - On 14 October Suu Kyi is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize "for her nonviolent struggle for democracy and human rights."



"She became the leader of a democratic opposition which employs nonviolent means to resist a regime characterised by brutality," the Nobel Committee says.



"She also emphasises the need for conciliation between the sharply divided regions and ethnic groups in her country.



"Suu Kyi's struggle is one of the most extraordinary examples of civil courage in Asia in recent decades. She has become an important symbol in the struggle against oppression."



"In the good fight for peace and reconciliation, we are dependent on persons who set examples, persons who can symbolise what we are seeking and mobilise the best in us. Aung San Suu Kyi is just such a person," the chairman of the Nobel Committee says at the award presentation ceremony held in Oslo on 10 December.



"She unites deep commitment and tenacity with a vision in which the end and the means form a single unit ... It is not least Aung San Suu Kyi's impressive courage which makes her such a potent symbol, like Gandhi and her father Aung San ... She has indeed taken up her inheritance, and is now in her own right the symbol of the revolt against violence and the struggle for a free society, not only in Burma, but also in the rest of Asia and in many other parts of the world.



"We ordinary people, I believe, feel that with her courage and her high ideals, Aung San Suu Kyi brings out something of the best in us. We feel we need precisely her sort of person in order to retain our faith in the future. That is what gives her such power as a symbol, and that is why any ill-treatment of her feels like a violation of what we have most at heart."



Full copy of the presentation speech.



Suu Kyi's sons accept the award in her absence. "(The military) regime has through almost 30 years of misrule reduced the once prosperous 'Golden Land' of Burma to one of the world's most economically destitute nations," her son Alexander says in the acceptance speech he delivers on behalf of his mother.



"In their heart of hearts even those in power now in Rangoon must know that their eventual fate will be that of all totalitarian regimes who seek to impose their authority through fear, repression and hatred."



Full copy of acceptance speech.



Suu Kyi announces that she will use the US$1.3 million prize money to establish a health and education trust for the Burmese people.



In December her book, 'Freedom from Fear', is published.



1992 - In April Saw Maung is replaced as chairman of SLORC, prime minister and military commander-in-chief by General Than Shwe. On 24 April the junta announces that it will organise a national constitutional convention to draft a new constitution.



1993 - The first session of the national constitutional convention is held on 9 January. Over 80% of the 702 delegates are directly appointed by the regime. They represent political parties, workers, peasants and technocrats. The NLD is represented by 86 delegates.



1994 - The junta now says it can detain Suu Kyi for up to six years without charge or trial. During a meeting with representatives from the UN, the United States Congress and 'The New York Times', Suu Kyi calls for a dialogue with SLORC. She subsequently meets with Than Shwe and General Khin Nyunt on 20 September, their first meeting since her arrest. She meets with Khin Nyunt again on 28 October.



1995 - Suu Kyi is freed from house arrest on 10 July but is not allowed to travel outside Rangoon. She continues her calls for dialogue with SLORC and a peaceful transition to a democratic government, using weekend talks to crowds outside her house to convey her message to the Burmese people and the world.



In November the NLD walks out of the national constitutional convention, arguing that the convention is undemocratic and that the draft constitution would entrench military control of the government. On 29 November the junta formally expels all of the NLD delegates. The convention is completely suspended on 31 March the following year.



In December the UN General Assembly condemns the military regime for human rights violations.



Over Christmas, Suu Kyi's husband Michael travels to Burma to be with his wife. It is the last time the couple will meet.



1996 - In May over 256 members of the NLD are arrested or detained. In June the regime forbids the unauthorised writing of a state constitution. The penalty for violation is 20 years imprisonment. On 19 June 100 of Suu Kyi's friends are prevented from visiting her at home to celebrate her fifty-second birthday.



On 26 September 159 NLD delegates and 414 supporters around the country are arrested ahead of an NLD congress. Suu Kyi's Rangoon residence is blockaded by the regime and she is prevented from giving her weekend talks.



Large-scale student demonstrations against the regime break out in October, continuing until the end of the year. SLORC detains over 200 NLD activists and confines Suu Kyi to her residence.



On 9 November a 200-strong mob thought to be members of the government-sponsored Union Solidarity and Development Association attack an NLD motorcade carrying Suu Kyi as it travels in broad daylight through Rangoon. Neither the police nor army officers intervene and no one is ever charged.



Meanwhile, the European Union (EU) introduces limited sanctions against the regime, banning visas for senior military officers and their families and suspending high-level government visits to Burma.



1997 - In April the US agrees to place economic sanctions on Burma in protest against the regime's human rights abuses. The sanctions, which are implemented on 21 May, ban investment, actions to facilitate investment, and attempts to evade the prohibitions. The US Government also stops its foreign aid to Burma and blocks aid through international organisations. However, on 23 July Burma is admitted as a full member of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN).



The repression of the NLD continues, although it is allowed to hold a congress at Suu Kyi's Rangoon residence.



In September Ne Win travels to Indonesia for talks with President Suharto, who complains that the level of corruption in Burma is affecting his investments.



On his return to Burma, Ne Win summons his "private cabinet" (Than Shwe, Khin Nyunt, Maung Aye and Tin Oo) and orders change, including the arrest of some of the more corrupt members of SLORC. On 15 November SLORC dissolves itself, reforming as the 19-member State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), chaired by Than Shwe. Maung Aye is deputy-chairman, and Khin Nyunt is first secretary.



1998 - In July Suu Kyi attempts to leave Rangoon several times to meet with NLD officials but is consistently stopped by the military at the city's border and forced back to her home. During one standoff beginning on 23 July Suu Kyi remains by her car for six days.



She again attempts to leave Rangoon on 12 August and is again stopped. Once more she refuses to leave her car, camping by the stationary vehicle for 13 days.



1999 - Suu Kyi's husband Michael is diagnosed with terminal prostate cancer. The military regime refuses to grant him a visa to visit his wife before he dies but says it will allow Suu Kyi to leave the country to visit him. She declines; fearing she will not be allowed back into the country if she leaves. Her husband dies on 27 March.



In December the regime allows Suu Kyi's son to travel to Burma to visit her.



2000 - Suu Kyi is stopped by police when she attempts to travel to the countryside on 24 August. This standoff, during which she and her supporters again remain camped by the roadside, lasts until 2 September when she is forced to return to the capital and is placed under virtual house arrest.



On 21 September she attempts to travel to the northern city of Mandalay by train but is not permitted to board. Suu Kyi is placed under house arrest and 92 members of the NLD are detained.



On 7 December US President Bill Clinton awards Suu Kyi the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest honour the US Government can give to a civilian. Meanwhile, the NLD announces plans to draw up a new constitution in contravention of the law forbidding such action without approval from the junta.



2001 - Suu Kyi remains under virtual house arrest, although it is revealed in January that UN-brokered talks between her and the regime recommenced in October 2000. The talks are reported to have been initiated by Khin Nyunt, with the backing of the now 90-year-old Ne Win.



The military is said to be prepared to allow a return to democracy provided there is a transitional power-sharing arrangement between themselves and the NLD. They also want guaranteed immunity from prosecution for past human rights abuses, and a commitment from Suu Kyi that she will give up any personal political ambition.



2002 - Following a secret meeting between Suu Kyi and Than Shwe in January the regime steps up the release of political prisoners and the NLD is allowed to reopen 35 of its branches in Rangoon.



On 6 May Suu Kyi is released from her 19-month detention. The restrictions on her political activity are lifted. She is free to travel around the country and to lead the NLD, although her activities will be closely monitored by the junta.



In her first press conference after her release she reaffirms her support for a continuation of economic sanctions against the junta. She expresses disappointment with the continued slow release of the country's estimated 1,500 political prisoners but says she is ready to start talks with the junta on a transition to civilian rule.



"I am sorry to have kept you waiting," she begins. "My release is not a major triumph for democracy; my freedom is not the object of our struggle.



"I have never wavered in my commitment to achieving democracy. Unless we can attain democracy by peaceful means we will simply be storing up more trouble for our people in the future.



"I will do everything I can to see that democracy comes to Burma very quickly and comes in the right way. We have always been flexible; we want to be flexible. And we want to negotiate an agreement for the betterment of the people of Burma."



At the end of July more political prisoners are released. Further releases follow in August. However, the junta refuses to be drawn on when talks with Suu Kyi will commence, despite the continuing efforts of the UN to bring the parties together and the adoption by Suu Kyi of a more conciliatory stance towards the lifting of sanctions against the regime.



By 19 August the prospect of talks appears remote, with Khin Nyunt stating that a transition to democracy cannot be "done in haste and in a haphazard manner."



In the closing months of the year Suu Kyi makes extensive tours of the country's regional areas. She is enthusiastically received by the people but regularly subjected to harassment from the authorities and the government-backed Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA), which is chaired by Than Shwe.



2003 - In January the junta allows two representatives from the international human rights organisation Amnesty International to travel to Burma for "dialogue with the authorities." They also have a two-hour meeting with Suu Kyi.



While praising the regime for showing "genuine cooperation", Amnesty identifies "fundamental problems" with Burma's justice system, including the use of draconian arrest and detention laws dating back to colonial rule.



The US Government also remains sceptical about the junta's commitment to any political transition and warns that it may impose further sanctions.



Meanwhile, Suu Kyi is awarded the 2002 Al Neuharth Free Spirit of the Year Award "for her free-spirited, non-violent struggle for human rights and democracy." The award includes a US$1 million prize to be paid directly to Suu Kyi.



On 27 May, to mark the 13th anniversary of the NLD's landslide victory in the still unrecognised general election, Suu Kyi makes her strongest statement against the regime since her release from house arrest in May 2002.



"The NLD must stand up firmly to achieve the results of the elections of 1990," she says. "To ignore the result of the 1990 elections is to have total disrespect for the people and is also an insult to the people."



The regime is said to be furious with the statement and worried by Suu Kyi's growing popularity.



Harassment of Suu Kyi by members of the USDA and intimidation of her supporters begins to rise, culminating in a deadly confrontation on the evening of 30 May, as Suu Kyi draws to the end of a month-long tour of the north.



At least four and possibly more than 80 people are killed when a pro-junta crowd stops Suu Kyi's motorcade near the village of Depayin, about 100 km northwest of Mandalay.



Suu Kyi is taken into "protective custody" by security forces and returned to Rangoon, where she is held incommunicado, reportedly in a two-room hut at the Insein Prison on the outskirts of the capital.



Nineteen other leaders of the NLD are also held in "protective custody". NLD offices throughout Burma are closed, and university campuses and secondary schools are shut for two weeks.



The conditions of Suu Kyi's detention remain unclear until 10 June when UN special envoy Razali Ismail is allowed to see her. Razali reports that "she is well and in good spirits." However, she is still wearing the clothes she was arrested in.



US President George W. Bush responds to Suu Kyi's detention on 28 July, approving a bill that bans all Burmese imports to the US, freezes Burmese assets in US banks, bans remittances to Burma, strengthens a visa ban on leaders of the regime and encourages US Government representatives to oppose international loans to Burma.



The EU implements an extension of its sanctions, including a bar on visas to the leaders of the regime, a freeze on their EU assets and a suspension of military assistance. Britain also freezes Burmese assets and calls on British companies to cease trade with Burma. Canada places a ban on issuing visas to senior members of the regime and those suspected of committing human rights violations.



On 12 June the 'Wall Street Journal' publishes an opinion piece by US Secretary of State Colin Powell titled 'It's Time to Turn the Tables on Burma's Thugs'.



"It is time to reassess our policy toward a military dictatorship that has repeatedly attacked democracy and jailed its heroes," the article states.



"The junta that oppresses democracy in Burma must find that its actions will not be allowed to stand. ... Their refusal of the ... rights of Aung San Suu Kyi and her supporters could not be clearer. Our response must be equally clear if the thugs who now rule Burma are to understand that their failure to restore democracy will only bring more and more pressure against them and their supporters."



China, however, advises nonintervention and in September loans the Burmese Government US$200 million to buy Chinese goods, including military equipment.



Japan, Burma's leading foreign aid donor, threatens to review its aid program if the regime does not release Suu Kyi "immediately" and allow democratic reforms. On 25 June financial aid for new development projects is suspended.



ASEAN issues an unprecedented joint statement saying it looks forward to the early lifting of restrictions placed on Suu Kyi and the NLD but remains opposed to the use of economic and political sanctions against the regime.



At the start of July it is reported that Suu Kyi has been removed from the Insein Prison to a military guesthouse outside Rangoon.



First hand news on Suu Kyi's well-being emerges on 29 July, after the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is allowed to visit her at an undisclosed location. According to ICRC's representative in Burma, Michel Ducreaux, "It was a very decent place and the conditions were also very decent. ... She was in very good health and she wasn't hurt at all. She was in high spirits."



The same day, Amnesty International issues a report, Myanmar: Justice on Trial, based on the findings of its visit to the country at the start of the year.



The report calls for the immediate and unconditional release of Suu Kyi and other NLD members.



At the end of August the leadership of the SPDC is reorganised, with hardliners being brought into top positions while the relatively pragmatic Khin Nyunt is shifted into the largely ceremonial post of prime minister. Several days later, on 30 August, Khin Nyunt unveils the regime's "road map to democracy", a plan to restart the constitutional convention suspended in 1996 as a first step towards "free and fair" elections.



However, the plan lacks a specific timetable and makes no reference to the role of Suu Kyi and the NLD.



Meanwhile, Suu Kyi is transferred to the Asia Royal Hospital in Rangoon for a hysterectomy 19 September. She is discharged on 26 September and allowed to return to her home to recuperate. She remains under house arrest and incommunicado, although UN special envoy Razali Ismail is allowed to visit her on 1 October.



The UN Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights to Burma, Professor Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, meets with Suu Kyi on 6 November. He reports that she will not accept "any privilege or any access to freedom of movement" until all political prisoners detained since her rearrest are released.



Representatives from Amnesty International return to Burma for a second visit on 2 December. At the end of the three-week mission Amnesty reports that there has been a "a slide in the human rights situation" within the country since Suu Kyi's rearrest, with an increase in the number of political activists being arbitrarily detained. Amnesty was not permitted to see Suu Kyi during the visit.



2004 - UN special envoy Razali Ismail returns to Burma on 1 March, emerging up-beat about the prospects for democracy following meetings with Suu Kyi and Khin Nyunt.



"I think (Khin Nyunt) is truly committed to take this process to a transition to democracy," Razali says. "I believe he thinks there can be a working relationship established between Suu Kyi, the NLD and with him."



Referring to Suu Kyi, Razali says, "She told me she is prepared to turn a new page. ... There's no sense of recriminations. She's not asking for a pound of flesh."



On 30 March the junta announces that the constitutional convention will be reconvened on 17 May. All the delegates to the previous convention, including those from the NLD, are later invited to attend the meeting, which is to be held at Nyaung Hnapin, Hmawbi township, 32 km north of Rangoon. However, Suu Kyi is left off the list, on the grounds that she did not attend the first convention (she was in detention at the time).



The NLD refuses to consider the invitation until Suu Kyi and other members of the NLD Central Committee are free to meet and discuss the matter. The Karen National Union, which represents Burma's largest ethnic minority, also refuses to attend until Suu Kyi is released and the junta implements basic political reforms.



On 27 April the entire nine-member Central Committee of the NLD, including the still detained Suu Kyi and party Deputy Chairman Tin Oo, are allowed to meet at Suu Kyi's residence. It is the first time Suu Kyi has been permitted to meet with members of the NLD since her rearrest.



Two days later, following a second meeting of the Central Committee, the party announces that it is prepared to participate in the constitutional convention if Suu Kyi and Tin Oo are freed, and provided all NLD offices across the country are allowed to reopen.



However, the junta refuses to accept the NLD's demands, saying Suu Kyi and Tin Oo will remain detained "for the time being to ensure the peaceful development of the national convention." On 14 May the NLD announces that it will not attend the convention, throwing the meeting's legitimacy into question.



The convention proceeds nevertheless. Held under strict security and with limited press coverage, it is attended by 1,076 delegates, including representatives from 17 former ethnic insurgent groups. It is subsequently described by Professor Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, the UN Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights to Burma, as a "meaningless and undemocratic exercise."



"In all the transitions that I know ... I don't know a single transition that has operated under these constraints," Pinheiro says. "I don't understand the purpose of this surrealistic exercise. ... It will not work. It will not work because it has not worked in Brazil, in Uruguay, in Argentina, in Portugal, in Spain, in the Philippines, in Indonesia. This way of political transition will not work; will not work on the moon, will not work on Mars."



The convention goes into recess on 9 July. It will reconvene periodically over the coming years. The NLD will continue its boycott.



At the start of October Suu Kyi is voted as 'Time Asia' magazine's Online Hero for 2004. Suu Kyi has received 37,617 votes in an online reader poll, or 40.4% of the 93,022 total votes cast.



The prospects for political reform in Burma and the release of Suu Kyi are further dimmed on 18 October when Khin Nyunt is charged with corruption by the junta, removed from office, and put under house arrest. He is replaced as prime minister by Lieutenant-general Soe Win, a hard-line protégé of Than Shwe.



Soe Win is believed to have been involved in the planning of the attack on Suu Kyi on 30 May 2003. The international humanitarian organisation Human Rights Watch reports that he has stated publicly that "the SPDC not only will not talk to the NLD but also would never hand over power to the NLD."



On 27 November the junta informs Suu Kyi that she will remain under house arrest for at least another year.



2005 - The Human Rights Watch World Report 2005 describes Burma as "one of the most repressive countries in Asia."



"Burma has more child soldiers than any other country in the world, and its forces have used extrajudicial execution, rape, torture, forced relocation of villages, and forced labour in campaigns against rebel groups," the report says.



During her Senate confirmation hearing on 18 January the incoming US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice names Burma as an "outpost of tyranny", along with Belarus, Cuba, Iran, North Korea and Zimbabwe.



On 21 April the human rights group Christian Solidarity Worldwide releases a report that claims there is "strong circumstantial evidence" that the junta has used chemical weapons against Karen rebels in the country's northwest.



According to the report, on 15 February 2005 a shell fired by the Burmese Army into a Karen camp emitted "a very distinctive yellow smoke" with a "highly irritating odour."



"Within minutes those (Karen) soldiers near enough to inhale vapours from this device became extremely distressed with irritation to the eyes, throat, lungs and skin," the report says.



The following month, British researcher Guy Horton publishes his report 'Dying Alive: A Legal Assessment of Human Rights Violations in Burma'. Based on intensive research, including a secret four-month excursion from Thailand into Burma, the 600-page report alleges that the junta is committing genocide in the Shan, Karen and Karenni provinces.



In the US, 'Forbes' magazine names Suu Kyi as the 15th most influential woman in the world. Topping the magazine's annual list is US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.



On 5 August the executive director of the World Food Program, James Morris, reports that humanitarian issues in Burma are "serious and getting worse."



According to Morris, one third of Burmese children are chronically malnourished or physically stunted, with malnutrition rates rising to 60% in some border areas.



Other health problems ravaging the population include HIV, tuberculosis and malaria. It is estimated that more than 600,000 people in Burma are infected with HIV. Almost 100,000 new cases of tuberculosis are detected in the country each year. Malaria is the leading cause of death, with about 600,000 cases and 3,000 deaths reported annually.



In September former Czech President Vaclav Havel and South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu release a report detailing reasons why the UN Security Council should pressure the junta to implement political reforms.



"Based on our review of this report and its recommendations, we strongly urge the UN Security Council to take up the situation of Burma immediately," the two leaders jointly state in the foreword to the 70-page report, titled 'Threat to the Peace - A Call for the UN Security Council to Act in Burma'.



Meanwhile, Suu Kyi passes a milestone on 24 October. The date marks the tenth full year she has been held in custody. NLD deputy chairman Tin Oo also remains in custody.



On 27 November the junta extends Suu Kyi's current period of house arrest for another six months.



Towards the end of the year the UN begins to increase pressure on the junta. On 18 November the UN General Assembly's Social and Humanitarian Committee calls on Burma to end its "systematic violations of human rights" and to release all political prisoners.



On 16 December the UN Security Council receives a briefing on Burma from the UN Undersecretary-general for Political Affairs, Ibrahim Gambari. The council hears that 240 villages have been destroyed since 2002, that there is forced labour in the country and that there are 1,147 political prisoners.



According to Gambari, the situation in Burma had deteriorated since Khin Nyunt was ousted in October 2004.



"Deep-rooted chronic and accelerating poverty, growing insecurity and increasing political tension appear to be moving Myanmar towards a humanitarian crisis," he says.



2006 - On 28 February Suu Kyi is awarded the 2005 Olof Palme Prize for "her unyielding fight for a democratic Burma." The prize, which is named after assassinated Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme, is presented annually for an outstanding achievement chosen by the board of the Olof Palme Memorial Fund.



On 18 May Ibrahim Gambari is allowed entry to Burma for a three day visit. He meets with Than Shwe and with Suu Kyi. It is the first time Suu Kyi has been allowed a visit from a foreigner in over two years.



Eight days later, on 26 May, Suu Kyi's detention under house arrest is extended for another year.



Gambari briefs the UN Security Council on his trip on 31 May. On 15 September the Security Council formally adds Burma to its agenda, listing it as a country that represents a threat to regional and international peace and security. Gambari again briefs the Council on 30 September, saying "the overall picture remains serious."



Gambari returns to Burma on 9 November and again meets with Suu Kyi, reporting she remains in relatively good health despite being denied visits by her doctor since 24 August.



A week later Suu Kyi receives a medical checkup, including an ultrasound.



On 22 December the UN General Assembly adopts a resolution calling on the junta to "end the systematic violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms" and "to take urgent measures to put an end to the military operations targeting civilians in the ethnic areas."



Meanwhile, the 'Sydney Morning Herald' reports that, despite the junta's ongoing human rights abuses, foreign investment into Burma has "shot up to US$6 billion in the 12 months to March this year (2006), from only US$158 million a year before. Trade grew 27% to $5.5 billion, yielding the generals a $1.6 billion surplus."



2007 - An attempt by the US to get the UN Security Council to adopt a resolution calling for an end to political repression in Burma fails when the move is vetoed by China and Russia on 12 January. The resolution is also rejected by South Africa.



In March the US Department of State concludes that the junta's human rights record worsened during 2006. According to the department's annual report on human rights, the regime's "cruel and destructive misrule" made it one of the top violators of human rights during the year.



On 25 May Suu Kyi's detention is extended for yet another year.



In August protesters begin to take to Burma's streets after the junta raises the price of cooking gas by 500% and doubles the cost of transport fuels. The protest movement gains momentum when Buddhist monks join in then take the lead.



Demonstrations continue for six weeks, growing in size and spreading throughout the country. They are the largest protests seen in Burma since the 'Democracy Summer' of 1988.



On 22 September the monks symbolically link Suu Kyi to the movement when hundreds of them are allowed to march past her house in Rangoon. A weeping Suu Kyi appears briefly to greet them as they pass. It is her first public appearance in four years. Two days later as many as 100,000 protestors led by thousands of monks march in Rangoon.



The junta cracks down on 26 September. At least 15 people are killed, including a Japanese journalist, when the military resorts to violence to disperse the crowds, using tear gas and truncheons then opening fire with rubber bullets and live rounds. It is reported that Than Shwe has ordered the soldiers to shoot to kill. Opposition groups claim that hundreds are killed. Close to 3,000 people are arrested, including hundreds of monks. The protests come to an end.



Ibrahim Gambari arrives in Burma on 29 September to meet with the junta leaders and Suu Kyi. He returns on 3 November. A week later the UN Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights to Burma, Professor Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, is also allowed to visit the country for the first time in four years. He estimates that at least 31 were killed in the crackdown. His report lists a further 74 persons who have disappeared and 653 who remain in custody.



Meanwhile, the constitutional convention concludes on 3 September with the release of a set of guidelines that entrench the power of the military and bar Suu Kyi from holding political office. A junta-appointed panel begins to draft the constitution in December.



On 11 October the UN Security Council issues a statement strongly deploring the crackdown on the protestors and calling for the release of all political prisoners and the opening of "genuine dialogue" with Suu Kyi and other concerned parties. An earlier, stronger version of the statement had been watered-down at the instance of China and Russia.



The EU widens its limited sanctions on Burma on 15 October. The next day Japan cancels a proposed US$4.8 million grant for a business education centre at Rangoon's university. The US extends its sanctions on 19 October, freezing the assets of 11 senior Burmese officials and tightening export restrictions. In September the US had frozen the assets of 14 top Burmese officials. In December the importation of gemstones from Burma is banned.



On 8 November Suu Kyi announces that she is ready to "cooperate with the government in order to make (the) process of dialogue a success."



She is allowed to meet with leaders of the NLD on 9 November. It is the first such meeting in more than three years. Suu Kyi is reported to look "fit, well and energetic" and to be "very optimistic" about the prospects of dialogue with the junta.



Suu Kyi also has periodic meetings with a government liaison officer, though she later reports to the NLD that she is unsatisfied with the progress of these talks.



2008 - In a surprise move, the junta announces on 9 February that a referendum on the new constitution will be held in May, to be followed by a multiparty, democratic election in 2010.



The constitution, which is finalised on 19 February, gives ultimate power to the army commander-in-chief, allocates 25% of the seats in parliament to military appointees and excludes Suu Kyi and others with marital links to foreign countries from standing for office.



Public servants and military personnel are ordered to vote in favour of the constitution. Opponents are threatened and arrested. The poll is to be administered by the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Association. The junta forbids foreign observers.



The NLD and other opposition groups urge the Burmese people to reject the document when they vote.



On the evening of 2 May, eight days before the constitution referendum is scheduled to take place, a powerful cyclone blasts in from the Andaman Sea, crosses the Irrawaddy delta and heads for Rangoon. Burma's southwest, the country's most populous and productive region, is devastated by winds that reach 190 kilometres per hour and by the 3.5 metre tidal surge and torrential rain that follows. Much of Rangoon is battered. It is reported that part of the roof of Suu Kyi's house is blown off.



By 24 June the official death toll is 84,537. Another 53,836 are listed as missing. The Red Cross estimates that the final death toll could be as high as 128,000. Over two million are estimated to be homeless.



The junta is slow to respond to the situation and reluctant to accept foreign assistance or allow foreign aid workers to travel to affected areas.



According to reports in 'The New York Times' and 'The Independent', part of the aid that does trickle in is either seized by the army or replaced with inferior, locally produced substitutes. The country also continues to export rice. However, aid agencies, including the Red Cross, say they have seen no evidence of pilfering or hording of goods.



Four weeks after the cyclone the UN estimates that more than one million Burmese remain in need of food, clean water, adequate shelter and medical care. US Secretary of Defence Robert Gates says that the junta's reluctance to accept foreign aid has cost "tens of thousands of lives" and is akin to "criminal neglect."



Amnesty International reports that the junta is forcing cyclone victims out of emergency shelters and back to their villages. The organisation also confirms reports that local government officials are confiscating, diverting or otherwise misusing aid.



On 13 June 'The Washington Post' reports that just days after the cyclone the junta began handing contracts for the "reconstruction and relief" of affected areas to favoured business people and companies.



Despite the crisis, the junta insists that the constitution referendum go ahead on 10 May as scheduled in all but the hardest-hit areas (where the vote is held two weeks later). The result is a foregone conclusion. According to the junta, 92% of eligible voters approve the document.



The NLD rejects the vote, saying the junta has used "coercion, intimidation, deception, misinformation and undue influence, abuse of power to get the affirmative vote."



According to the Public International Law and Policy Group, "the referendum was not free or fair, as it was not conducted in accordance with international law or basic democratic standards."

Meanwhile, the US Senate passes a vote confering the Congressional Gold Medal on Suu Kyi. The medal is the United States' highest civilian honour.



On 27 May, Suu Kyi's detention is extended for another year. It will be her sixth consecutive year under house arrest, despite a Burmese law requiring those held for five years to be either tried or set free.



To protest her continued house arrest and the lack of progress in talks with the junta, Suu Kyi refuses to accept food delivered to her home. She also refuses to meet with UN Special Envoy Ibrahim Gambari when he visits Burma at the end of August. In September she refuses to meet her doctor and the government's liaison officer.



Later in September the junta grants Suu Kyi some small concessions. She is allowed to receive regular mail, including letters from her sons, and deliveries of selected foreign news journals. Her two housekeepers are also allowed greater freedom of movement.



Also in September, Burma is listed as the second most corrupt nation in the world by the independent anti-corruption organisation Transparency International. Burma was ranked as the most corrupt country in 2007, the second most corrupt in 2006, the third most corrupt in 2005, the fourth most corrupt in 2004 and the fifth most corrupt in 2003.



In October a formal appeal contesting the legality of the extension to Suu Kyi's detention is presented to the junta. However, Suu Kyi's lawyer is prevented from meeting with her to discuss the case.



Comment: The military dictators of Burma have turned a country that was once known as the "rice bowl of Asia", and which is endowed with many natural riches, into a basket case. They have cynically manipulated and brutalised the country's ethnic minorities, and suppressed those fighting for democracy.



Suu Kyi is the symbol of the Burmese people's struggle for freedom. Her poise, humility and integrity stand in stark counterpoint to secrecy and self-interest of the regime. The SPDC's treatment of Suu Kyi is the yardstick of its commitment to democracy and human rights. So far it is not measuring up. Under its current leadership it is unlikely it ever will.



The only hope for Burma appears to be the development of a fracture within the junta that leads to its collapse. This is unlikely while Burma's neighbours - China, India and ASEAN - continue to either support Than Shwe and his cronies or condone them by their silence.