BURMA: A REVOLUTION PAUSES - ANGER SEETHES

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 RANGOON 000948 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR EAP/MLS, DRL, AND IO PACOM FOR FPA E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/30/2017 TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM BM SUBJECT: BURMA: A REVOLUTION PAUSES - ANGER SEETHES REF: RANGOON 941 AND PREVIOUS Classified By: P/E Chief Leslie Hayden for Reasons 1.4 (b) & (d) ¶1. (SBU) Summary: The appearance of normalcy returned to Rangoon today. Many barricades have been removed from downtown intersections, monasteries, and the Shwe Dagon Pagoda. Military and police are stationed throughout the city, although in fewer numbers. UN Special Envoy Gambari was whisked to Nay Pyi Taw last night after meeting with Aung San Suu Kyi and is scheduled to meet with Senior General Than Shwe on Tuesday morning. Nightly raids on monasteries continue and several hundred monks and civilians are reportedly being detained in horrific conditions at an abandoned University campus in Rangoon. The public mood is a mixture of fear, depression, hopelessness, and seething anger. The regime's heavy-handed tactics against the revered clergy and peaceful demonstrators has turned many of the politically neutral in favor of the recent demonstrators while others remain convinced that the government's crackdown shows the futility of trying to resist the regime. End summary. The Situation on the Ground: -------------- ¶2. (SBU) The appearance of normalcy returned to Rangoon today. Many shops have reopened and barricades have been removed from many streets downtown and from the Shwe Dagon Pagoda. Many monasteries had their gates opened today, although Rangoon's ubiquitous monks were glaringly absent and the buildings were eerily empty. We have received reports that young monks are fleeing Rangoon after being ordered to leave monasteries. Several sources have told us the army continues to raid monasteries on a nightly basis, usually around 2:00 a.m. Before the raids start, army troops occupy residences surrounding the monasteries to ensure residents do not look out the windows or go outside to witness the raid. Troops then move into the monasteries to brutalize, terrorize, and arrest the monks. Several hundred monks and civilians are reportedly being detained at Rangoon's former Government Technical Institute (GTI) in horrific conditions. According to a woman whose son was randomly detained during a demonstration, and who gained access to GTI from a sympathetic policeman, hundreds of monks and civilians are crammed into each room, with no toilet or sanitary facilities and no room to lie down and sleep. We have also heard that many of the monks and nuns from GTI are refusing any food from the military officers detaining them. ¶3. (SBU) We also received reports that random raids and roundups by the military throughout the city took place over the weekend. Groups of more than five people, including patrons of prominent teashops and businesses appear to have been fair game, and many customers were reportedly beaten and detained without cause. Embassy officers and their contacts witnessed police and military conducting random searches of public transportation and detaining people with cameras or anyone who aroused suspicion. At night, during the curfew, police and military trucks continue to circulate throughout neighborhoods announcing that anyone found with pictures of the demonstrations and the military crackdown will be arrested. Over the weekend, the army conducted several raids on the homes and offices of NLD members throughout the country. In Mandalay, eighty-five NLD members have reportedly been arrested including prominent NLD leader Win Win Mya. ¶4. (SBU) Although we continue to hear rumors of a split between Senior General Than Shwe and his deputy Maung Aye, we are unable to confirm them. However, rumors of differences between the two have circulated for more than a decade. Rumors that pious Buddhist military commanders are outraged by the brutality against the clergy and contemplating disobeying their orders have begun to circulate. In Rangoon, troops appear organized and disciplined and are carrying out their orders. So nothing on the surface indicates any divisions among the military. RANGOON 00000948 002 OF 002 Little Confidence in Gambari -------------- ¶5. (C) After his meeting with Aung San Suu Kyi yesterday, Gambari was whisked back to Nay Pyi Taw by his SPDC minders. He supposedly has no meetings planned for today, but should meet with Senior General Than Shwe on Tuesday morning after which he will reportedly depart Burma via Rangoon. We do not know yet whether he will meet with diplomats prior to his departure as he did previously. Meetings with detained 88 Generation Students leaders Min Ko Naing and Ko Ko Gyi have not materialized, to the disappointment of many hopefully tracking Gambari's visit. Many of the Burmese we spoke to expressed their lack of confidence in Gambari and the UN's ability to negotiate a resolution with the Generals. They feel Gambari's visits are filled with meaningless talk and no concrete results. Others view him not only as useless, but as counterproductive, giving cover to the regime's defenders who point to Gambari's visits as evidence the regime is trying to cooperate with the UN to resolve the current crisis. If Gambari is unwilling to stand up to the Generals even on the matter of his schedule, and successfully demand meetings with key opposition leaders, Burmese doubt he will deliver the hard messages the Generals need to hear. Our Burmese contacts also have commented that Gambari's continued focus on increasing humanitarian space, rather than on solving underlying political problems causing the humanitarian crisis, gives them no confidence in Gambari Status of the Opposition -------------- ¶6. (SBU) The mood on the ground in Rangoon is a mix of seething anger, shock, depression, fear, and hopelessness. The heavy-handedness of the military's attack on the revered Buddhist clergy has moved the sympathies of the politically neutral over to support for the recent protesters. Others have cited the harsh crackdown as proving the futility of resisting the military. The sheer overkill of the crackdown appears to have hardened the resolve of the political activists who have avoided arrest. They told us they may stop their demonstrations temporarily to regroup and strategize, but they remain determined to carry on with peaceful protests. It remains to be seen how effective the remnants of the pro-democracy opposition can be. The military has systematically and efficiently decimated the movement, jailing almost all key leaders and organizers. Those lucky enough to escape have gone into hiding. The NLD's elderly and ineffective leaders remain tellingly free and deafeningly silent - these men are no threat to the generals' rule. The "Roadmap to Democracy" -------------- ¶7. (C) Comment: The regime's farcical quest for legitimacy through their "roadmap to democracy" is over. Their brutal crackdown conducted over the last few days has made clear to the entire world they derive their power only from the barrel of a gun. Their brutal tactics against the revered clergy and peaceful demonstrators has resulted in a palpable change of public opinion. Those previously neutral towards the "roadmap to democracy" and politics in general are now beginning to align against the regime. For now, fear has enabled the military to restore some semblance of the tenuous status quo. It remains to be seen how long this can last. End comment. VILLAROSA