Burma is not yet ready to follow in South Africa’s footsteps by embarking on a path toward transitional justice, said several Burmese dissidents in the northern Thai city of Chiang Mai on Thursday.
The comments came at a roundtable discussion involving representatives of the Karen National Union (KNU), Burmese exile groups and international NGOs, and coincided with remarks made by Aung San Suu Kyi at an ILO conference in Geneva the same day.
Various speakers and observers at the seminar in Chiang Mai agreed with the fundamental issue that it is too early to talk about transitional justice in Burma or the formation of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission as in South Africa. Several voiced the opinion that such a move could even hinder the ongoing process of political reform in Burma.