International Herald Tribune, 22 maggio 1997

Burma Is Said to Arrest Dissidents as U.S. Sanctions Take Hold

By Seth Mydans New York Times Service

BANGKOK - As an American ban on new investments in Burma

took effect Wednesday, reports emerged of a new wave of arrests

of members of the pro-democracy movement of Daw Aung San

Suu Kyi.

The U.S. sanctions, intended to punish the military government for

human rights abuses, were announced a month ago and signed into

law Tuesday. In announcing the action, President Bill Clinton said it

came in response to increased political repression and Burma's

continued production of opium and heroin.

The imposition of sanctions drew a stubborn response both from

Burma's military leaders and from officials of neighboring nations,

which are to decide at the end of the month whether to admit Burma

into the Association of South East Asian Nations.

"Since Myanmar is walking on a straight line toward her noble goal,

there is no reason to deviate from its original path to serve the

interest of a foreign government," the government said in a statement

last month.

The London-based human rights group Amnesty International said

Wednesday that at least 50 members of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's

party, the National League for Democracy, had been detained.

Foreign diplomats in the capital, Rangoon, confirmed by telephone

that arrests were taking place in several cities. An opposition party

official told The Associated Press that the arrests had begun

Monday and that a number of party members were taking refuge in

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's compound.

The arrests appeared to be an attempt to block a congress of the

National League for Democracy planned for next week to mark the

seventh anniversary of parliamentary elections in which the party

won more than 80 percent of the seats. The ruling junta refused to

honor the result.

A similar round of arrests took place a year ago in advance of

similar plans for a party congress. At that time, government officials

said 262 party delegates were detained. Most were released shortly

afterward, but more than 20 were tried and sentenced to prison

terms.