August 8: Sir, Jeffrey D. Sachs’ article “Myanmar: sanctions won’t work” (July 28) was a tired old regurgitation of fallacies that Burma’s ruling military junta peddles to the international community.

As a citizen of Burma and a former political prisoner, who suffered years of physical and psychological tortures, I firmly disagree with Prof Sachs’ arguments.

First, real comprehensive economic sanctions were imposed by the US only last year, after Congress passed and President George W. Bush signed the Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act 2003. This law buttressed an investment
ban in effect with a series of new sanctions that included invoking an import ban, freezing bank accounts of the regime and placing visa bans on key political and military leaders of Burma’s regime.

The Burmese economy is vertically integrated and controlled by the military. Every dollar that is invested does not help people who are struggling to survive; it provides dollars the junta badly needs to fund the instruments of terror that oppress the Burmese people.

Moreover, it is too early to say that US sanctions will not work since a comprehensive ban has just been put into place. However, it is clear that the sanctions are hitting the intended targets which are regime-control factories and joint ventures run with the approval and support of the military.

Prof Sachs parrots the revisionist claims by Burma’s military rulers that the 1990 election (won by a landslide by Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy) was about writing a new constitution – it was most certainly not.

The late General Saw Maung, then prime minister of the
regime, repeatedly said in many press conferences prior to the election that he and the military would go back to barracks as soon as the regime handed over the power to election-winning party.

Prof Sachs’ biggest failing is any defence of the so-called “constructive engagement” policy that Burma’s neighbours advocate. In the past decade, countries have opened up to the regime, built trade links, ushered it into the Association of South East Asian Nations and coddled its rulers – with
absolutely no effect.

The political and human rights situation in the country remains in free-fall. Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, the US Department of State have all documented the continuing horrors that the regime perpetrates against the Burmese and ethnic nationalities.

Sanctions, though blunt, are a critical component of international pressure that can cut off the regime’s access to money and assist democracy activists inside the country in winning back the freedom brutally stolen from them by Rangoon’s ruling thugs.

Aung Din, Policy Director, US Campaign for Burma, Washington, DC 20006, US
Burma continues to thumb its nose at the international community