Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09RANGOON500
2009-08-07 09:53:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Rangoon
Cable title:
BURMA: QUIET ON EVE OF 8/8/88 UPRISING
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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 RANGOON 000500
SIPDIS
STATE FOR EAP AND IO; PACOM FOR FPA
E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/07/2019
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM BM
SUBJECT: BURMA: QUIET ON EVE OF 8/8/88 UPRISING
ANNIVERSARY
REF: A. RANGOON 390
B. RANGOON 442
Classified By: P/E Chief Jennifer Harhigh for Reasons 1.4 (b) & (d)
Security Tight; No Major Events Planned
---------------------------------------
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 RANGOON 000500
SIPDIS
STATE FOR EAP AND IO; PACOM FOR FPA
E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/07/2019
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM BM
SUBJECT: BURMA: QUIET ON EVE OF 8/8/88 UPRISING
ANNIVERSARY
REF: A. RANGOON 390
B. RANGOON 442
Classified By: P/E Chief Jennifer Harhigh for Reasons 1.4 (b) & (d)
Security Tight; No Major Events Planned
--------------
1. (C) According to exile and Burma-based activists, noQ
major events are planned to mark the 21st anniversary of the
8/8/88 popular uprising, due to feab of arrest. Regime
authmrities have increased security since mid-July in
anticipation of a verdict in the ongoing Aung San Suu Kyi
trial and police are deployinc nes security barricadeq around
town in advance of the anniversary. During a briefing for
`iplomats and journalists on August 7, BurMa's Chief of
Police and Deputy Minister of Home Affairs, MajGen. Khin Yi,
confirmed that security is heightened. He said the reason
relates to bomb threats connected to National League for
Democracy (NLD) members. He proposed that the general public
should not be concerned about the security but should be
thankful for it.
"Risky, Dangerous Environment"
-------------- ) --------------
2. (C) 88 Generatimn Students (88GS) deader Toe Kyaw Hlaing
told us August 1 that the current environment is too "risky
and dangerous" for activists to commemorate the anniversary
publicly. He had expected a small group of activists to
present robes and food offerings to monks at Rangoon's Chauk
Hta Gyi monastery, where the abbot permitted a similar
commemoration of the anniversary in 2007. However, Toe Kyaw
Hlaing informed us August 7 the group has decided to cancel
its planned offering for unspecified reasons.
Leaflets Appear in Bago, New Party in the Works?
-------------- --
3. (C) Several youth activists told us they are changing
their tactics from large-scale protests to "hit-and-run"
style campaigns. For example, dissidents are distributing
leaflets and putting up posters in discreet locations in
order to speak out against the regime while minimizing risk
of arrest. Exile press reported and an activist contact
confirmed that leaflets commemorating 8/8/88 were strewn all
over Bago, a city north of Rangoon.
4. (C) Another activist told an Embassy contact that
disgruntled youth from the NLD, including a former student of
the Embassy's American Center, plan to announce publicly the
formation of a new political party, the National Democratic
Alliance, on August 8. No details are available yet as to
the membership; however the reported platform focuses on
developing genuine democracy, federalism, and equal rights.
Warden Message
--------------
5. (U) The Embassy issued a warden message July 29 alerting
Americans to the expected verdict in the Aung San Suu Kyi
trial and the upcoming 8/8/88 anniversary and cautioning them
to remain vigilant.
Comment
--------------
6. (C) With the most prominent 88 Generation leaders
serving long prison sentences, others wary of arrest, and a
verdict scheduled for August 11 in the ASSK trial, we expect
8/8/2009 will likely pass quietly, as it did last year. We
have heard some rumors about a possible prisoner amnesty to
be announced concurrently with the ASSK verdict, possibly to
dampen international criticism of her expected conviction;
but we have as yet no concrete information to confirm the
RANGOON 00000500 002 OF 002
Burma UN PermRep's pledge to the UNSC on July 13 that the
regime will release prisoners.
DINGER
SIPDIS
STATE FOR EAP AND IO; PACOM FOR FPA
E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/07/2019
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM BM
SUBJECT: BURMA: QUIET ON EVE OF 8/8/88 UPRISING
ANNIVERSARY
REF: A. RANGOON 390
B. RANGOON 442
Classified By: P/E Chief Jennifer Harhigh for Reasons 1.4 (b) & (d)
Security Tight; No Major Events Planned
--------------
1. (C) According to exile and Burma-based activists, noQ
major events are planned to mark the 21st anniversary of the
8/8/88 popular uprising, due to feab of arrest. Regime
authmrities have increased security since mid-July in
anticipation of a verdict in the ongoing Aung San Suu Kyi
trial and police are deployinc nes security barricadeq around
town in advance of the anniversary. During a briefing for
`iplomats and journalists on August 7, BurMa's Chief of
Police and Deputy Minister of Home Affairs, MajGen. Khin Yi,
confirmed that security is heightened. He said the reason
relates to bomb threats connected to National League for
Democracy (NLD) members. He proposed that the general public
should not be concerned about the security but should be
thankful for it.
"Risky, Dangerous Environment"
-------------- ) --------------
2. (C) 88 Generatimn Students (88GS) deader Toe Kyaw Hlaing
told us August 1 that the current environment is too "risky
and dangerous" for activists to commemorate the anniversary
publicly. He had expected a small group of activists to
present robes and food offerings to monks at Rangoon's Chauk
Hta Gyi monastery, where the abbot permitted a similar
commemoration of the anniversary in 2007. However, Toe Kyaw
Hlaing informed us August 7 the group has decided to cancel
its planned offering for unspecified reasons.
Leaflets Appear in Bago, New Party in the Works?
-------------- --
3. (C) Several youth activists told us they are changing
their tactics from large-scale protests to "hit-and-run"
style campaigns. For example, dissidents are distributing
leaflets and putting up posters in discreet locations in
order to speak out against the regime while minimizing risk
of arrest. Exile press reported and an activist contact
confirmed that leaflets commemorating 8/8/88 were strewn all
over Bago, a city north of Rangoon.
4. (C) Another activist told an Embassy contact that
disgruntled youth from the NLD, including a former student of
the Embassy's American Center, plan to announce publicly the
formation of a new political party, the National Democratic
Alliance, on August 8. No details are available yet as to
the membership; however the reported platform focuses on
developing genuine democracy, federalism, and equal rights.
Warden Message
--------------
5. (U) The Embassy issued a warden message July 29 alerting
Americans to the expected verdict in the Aung San Suu Kyi
trial and the upcoming 8/8/88 anniversary and cautioning them
to remain vigilant.
Comment
--------------
6. (C) With the most prominent 88 Generation leaders
serving long prison sentences, others wary of arrest, and a
verdict scheduled for August 11 in the ASSK trial, we expect
8/8/2009 will likely pass quietly, as it did last year. We
have heard some rumors about a possible prisoner amnesty to
be announced concurrently with the ASSK verdict, possibly to
dampen international criticism of her expected conviction;
but we have as yet no concrete information to confirm the
RANGOON 00000500 002 OF 002
Burma UN PermRep's pledge to the UNSC on July 13 that the
regime will release prisoners.
DINGER