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Burmese MP who survived massacre at Dipeyin to visit Canada

News release

Conference on Thursday March 18, 2004.

MONTREAL - MARCH 12, 2004 – At an age when most North Americans are enjoying the easy-going of their golden years, Daw San San, a member of Burma's government-in-exile, is now on the run, wanted by the ruling military regime for openly condemning its renewed assault on supporters of the country's democratic movement.

Daw San San, 73, will be in Canada next week to provide her first-hand account of the recent crackdown by Burma's military on its main political opponents, the long-suffering National League for Democracy led by Nobel Laureate, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.

Daw San San is the current General-Secretary of the National League for Democracy's Liberated Area at the Thailand-Burma border, where she fled last summer after surviving the May 30th massacre at Depayin that left an undetermined number of NLD supporters dead and injured and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi under military arrest.

Since her election in 1990 in the NLD's landslide victory over Burma's military junta, Daw San San has spent much of the last decade either in prison or under the threat of arrest for her peaceful yet determined protests against the military's refusal to acknowledge the election result.

Daw San San was first sentenced to 25-years in prison in April, 1991, for her alleged participation in talks to form a parallel government to counter the military regime. She was released the following year under a decree providing for the release of political prisoners not deemed a threat to "national security."

In April, 1998, the military regime announced it was renewing Daw San San's prior 25-year sentence after she allegedly criticized the junta in an interview with the British Broadcasting Corporation. Daw San San spent more than three years in prison and was released once again under a general amnesty in August, 2001.

While in Canada, Daw San San will be accompanied by Khin Omar, the Women's Affairs Coordinator of the National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma (NCGUB). A student activist prior to the military coup, Khin Omar fled Burma and began extensive travels around North America in an effort to raise the profile of Burma's democratic struggle. One product of her efforts is the grassroots Free Burma Coalition, which she helped found.