Remembering Burma

"25 years ago, a pro-democracy uprising in Burma, known as 8-8-88, saw over 3,000 peaceful protestors massacred by the military regime."

Thousands gathered here at the Myanmar Convention Center in Yangon to pay tribute to the victims of mass killings during the 1988 student-led uprisings.

A few years ago, this couldn’t happen... but now it’s becoming the norm in Burma.

During the speech, this man says “We must not forget the past, we must learn from history.”

A semi-civilian government took power in 2001, claiming an end to military rule.

And since then, Burma has been moving towards democracy.

Some crimes of the past are being recognised publicly for the first time, but there has still no acknowledgement of responsibility.

Dave Mathieson is from Human Rights Watch.

“They have really been calling for it for 25 years, and even though the country is going through an important and complicated transition  I don’t think it is possible for the country to really move forward unless those responsible for 1988 are brought to account.”

25 years ago, nationwide pro democracy protests were brutally suppressed by the army.

Over the next few weeks, thousands of protesters were killed.

Khin Ohmar was a student protester at the time.

“I was just up the road, I had a chance to see the security forces firing.”

Many of the former generals from the military government are still in power today. 

But since transition, the country has come so far that some do not want to disrupt positive changes.  

Many believe that forgiveness is needed for the country to move on. But some say it is not their decision to make.

“We can forgive for what happened to us individually but we don't have the right or the mandate to speak for the others. 

They actually have to create a space for the victims or survivors of that injustice to be able to come forward and share what happened to them and also speak for themselves about what they want and how they want the justice done for them.”

Activists say they are not looking for revenge, but calling for a chance for people to at least speak about justice freely without fear.

The military in Myanmar still dominate the country.  And security forces are provided power and immunity under the current constitution. 

They have tens of thousands of troops throughout the country and in some border areas abuses continue.

Accountability can be a way a way of ending impunity, says Dave Mathieson from Human Rights Watch.

“I think people should be looking at justice and accountability in a potentially positive way in burma, that it can actually help the transition, put an end to continues violations on the part of the military.  Not as something negative that is going to destroy the process.”

But the legal system in Burma is still developing and the judiciary struggles to address the most basic of civil crimes.

Despite initial scepticism of the military’s influence in the new parliament, Burma has made many positive changes in the last few years.

If the government don’t take steps to show that the military can be held accountable for the past, then trusting them in the future will be difficult.

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