US embassy cable - 03RANGOON837

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 RANGOON 000837 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/09/2013 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, BM, NLD 
SUBJECT: BURMESE MPS-ELECT APPEAL TO SYG ANNAN, PLAN TO 
ANNOUNCE PARALLEL GOVERNMENT 
 
Classified By: COM CARMEN MARTINEZ FOR REASONS 1.5 (B and D). 
 
1.  (C) Seventy Burmese MPs-elect (elected in the 
junta-annulled 1990 election) have written to UN Secretary 
General Kofi Annan informing him that they have asked Senior 
General Than Shwe to release the political prisoners and 
implement the UN resolutions regarding restoring democracy in 
Burma.  They also ask the SYG to bring the plight of Burma to 
the notice of the Security Council "for necessary action." 
Post has forwarded the signed letter, text of which is 
included in para 3 below. 
 
2.  (S) Many of the MPs-elect signed the letter after meeting 
at the funeral last month of an influential senior monk who 
"died suddenly."  The monk provided assistance, food, and 
lodging to MPs-elect when they were in Rangoon, and 
occasionally sheltered pro-democracy activists from the 
authorities.  Over 100 MPs-elect were reportedly willing to 
sign the letter, but they decided 35 should not.  The 
MPs-elect, we are told by a normally reliable source, intend 
to declare a parallel government in the next month or two, 
and wanted at least some members to be free if the seventy 
who signed get arrested. 
 
3.  (SBU) Text of the letter follows.  Signed original 
pouched to EAP/BLCTV July 10th. 
 
Begin Text: 
 
Dear Mr. Secretary-General 
 
Subject:  The Disgraceful Situation in Burma after the Crisis 
at Da-Ba-Yin Township 
 
In the evening of May 30, 2003 some members of the National 
League for Democracy (NLD) including U Tin Oo, Vice Chairman 
and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, General Secretary while traveling 
on an organizational tour were savagely attacked by a group 
of thugs between Kyi village and Da Ba Yin town in Sagaing 
Division resulting in several deaths and injuring hundreds of 
NLD members.  The government has not clarified nor provided 
details of the above event. 
 
Moreover, it is learnt that U Tin Oo, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi 
and the youths who accompanied them on the journey were 
seriously harmed and are also held under detention without 
any legal ground. 
 
Hence the undersigned, the representatives who were duly 
elected at the Multiparty Election held in 1990, on behalf of 
the people of Burma, have sent a letter of protest to Senior 
General Than Shwe, Chairman of the State Peace and 
Development Council, calling for:- 
 
(1) Immediate release of U Tin Oo, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and 
all others who were arrested at the site of the crisis. 
(2) Unconditional release of U Aung Shwe, Chairman and other 
Central Executive members of NLD who are kept under house 
arrest since May 31, 2003. 
(3) Reopening of all NLD offices sealed by the government and 
resuming of legal political party functions. 
(4) Official independent investigation and statement of facts 
regarding the events including the number of deaths, wounded, 
missing and detained persons. 
(5) Compliance and implementation of the Resolutions and 
Recommendations of the General Assembly, the Security Council 
and other Agencies of the United Nations. 
 
The above demands are made for the people of Burma as well as 
for the whole community of the world.  We firmly believe that 
the current impasse in this country is not only a disgrace to 
the Nation but is also becoming a threat to the peace and 
security of the whole region. 
 
Attached herewith a copy of the abovementioned letter in 
Burmese version with a humble request that the case should be 
brought to the notice of the Security Council for necessary 
action. 
 
Yours sincerely, 
 
Elected Representatives 
 
The List of Undersigned Parliamentary Members of 1990 General 
Election (70 names follow) 
 
End Text. 
Martinez