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NATIONAL LEAGUE FOR DEMOCRACY ( LIBERATED AREA ) THE NETHERLANDS

A Statement on the 8th anniversary of the Depeyin Massacre in Burma

Letter No: 002/05/11/CEC1
Date: May 30 - 2011

Today marks the 8th anniversary of the Depeyin Massacre in Burma. The Depayin Massacre occurred on May30,
2003, when 282 innocent unarmed people associated with the National League for Democracy were killed by
government-sponsored mob in Burma. It was also known as “Black Friday” when the National League for Democracy
party leader, 1991 Nobel Peace Laureate, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, along with her senior party leaders and supporters
were deadly ambushed during an organizing trip to Depeyin village, located in the north of Burma. According to the
statement of the Asian Legal Resource Centre concurred with the preliminary findings of the Ad Hoc Commission on
the Depeyin Massacre, the attack was clearly premeditated and well organized, we quote, as indicated by the
following:

a) Up to 5000 persons were brought to a remote rural location for the purpose of attacking the
convoy.
b) The attackers were all well-armed and located strategically at two killing sites.
c) Before the motorcade arrived, local authorities threatened people living in nearby villages to stay
indoors.
d) The authorities systematically searched for and arrested survivors of the attack.

And, the statement concluded that the massacre at Depayin clearly amounts to a "widespread or systematic attack
directed against [a] civilian population, with a knowledge of the attack" (article 7.1 of the Rome Statute of the
International Criminal Court) and is therefore a crime against humanity. To date, however, there has been no serious
action taken on the massacre by the authority.

Again, Daw Suu has recently spoken out about the massacre and the regime’s promises such as bringing the criminals
into justice, the compensations to the victims and their families, the releases of the arrested victims and others, and to
find a way to avoid the clashes in the future, which have never been implemented on part of the regime. The
oxymoronic bizarre twist of the tragedy was in place when the victims and their family members including Daw Aung
San Suu Kyi and U Tin Oo were arrested instead by the regime immediately after. The criminals led by the USDA, now
USDP the ruling party, however are still on the loose, and some of them have become the members of the parliament
nowadays.

The important lessons we have learnt from the tragedy are; we should never trust the regime’s promises including its
“new government”; we must fight for the justice not just for the victims of the Depeyin Massacre but also for the ethnic
minorities, who have been the victims of the regime’s aggressions for decades”, until the justice is prevailed; and we
must fight for the genuine democracy that guarantees to prevent such atrocities in the future Burma.

While marking the anniversary of such tragic day, we would like to urge the activists overseas to take active part in the
campaigns lobbying the international governments to vote for the formation of the Commission of Inquiry against the
regime for its committed war crimes and crime against humanity. Due to the dynamic shifts of the global politics, our
efforts for freedom, justice and democracy in Burma will be prevailed sooner rather than later absolutely.

Central Executive Committee

National League for Democracy – Liberated Area (The Netherlands)