Saving Myanmar

RETIRED ANGLICAN ARCHBISHOP Desmond Tutu, Nobel Peace Prize winner and architect of South Africa’s post-apartheid reconciliation, put the matter clearly: The United Nations has an “open-and-shut case” to intervene in Myanmar to restore democracy, deliver aid and win freedom for political prisoners.

That doesn’t necessarily mean anything will happen. Regime change by outsiders is nothing to be taken lightly, but the U.N. must be reminded that the military rulers who have repressed Myanmar for decades are thugs willing to murder their fellow citizens.

Tutu and former Czech President Vaclav Havel preside over a global coalition of human-rights advocates trying to get the Security Council to act on Myanmar, formerly known as Burma. The U.S. is supportive, but China is reluctant. Beijing should take a closer look at a report commissioned by Tutu and Havel. Its list of the ruling junta’s atrocities include allegations of forced labor, the destruction of thousands of villages, the rape of ethnic minority women and the torture and killing of political prisoners.

The best known political prisoner is Aung San Suu Kyi, who this week marked her 10th year in detention over the last 16 years. A leader of pro-democracy forces, she won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991. Suu Kyi’s most recent glimpse of freedom occurred three years ago, when the generals relented and let her tour the country. As during previous suspensions of her house arrest, enthusiastic crowds mobbed her speeches. The government then organized an ambush of her motorcade, blamed her for the violence and put her under house arrest again.

The military’s atrocities extend far beyond one person. The report from Tutu and Havel says the government has forced as many as 70,000 children to become soldiers. Hundreds of thousands of refugees have fled to other countries. The repression threatens the stability of the region, says the report, a major reason for nearby countries to demand reform and for the U.N. to support them.

Myanmar’s rulers have gotten away with their reign of terror for too long; the Security Council needs to sanction and isolate the country if its leaders do not change.