Unsurprisingly for a political leadership that cherishes secrecy and subterfuge, little is known of Soe Win's upbringing and background. He was born in 1948, the same year as the country achieved independence from the UK, after a long and bitter struggle. This history was to leave deep scars, some of which remain unhealed to this day and lurk behind the country's current troubles. After a brief period as a democratic republic from 1948 to 1962, Burma was transferred to military rule after the putsch led by General Ne Win. It has remained under military control since, despite elections in 1990 which overwhelmingly returned the National League for Democracy Party of Aung San Suu Kyi, daughter of General Aung San, who had been instrumental in negotiating independence from the British until his assassination by rivals in 1947; those elections were ignored.
Soe Win was an archetypal creature of the highly militarised culture which he was born into and grew up in, an environment in which the army alone had true institutional strength and authority. He graduated from the Defence Services Academy in Rangoon, and first came to attention in 1988, when he was commander in charge of troops that gunned down students at Rangoon University and Rangoon hospital during the repression that occurred as a result of economic problems that year. More than 3000 protesters are thought to have died. He was appointed commander of the north-west regional area in 1990, and regional commander and member of the central junta in 1997. In 2001, he was made air defence general, and secretary two in the State Peace and Development Council, the highest-level decision-making body.
It was in this position that he was involved in what has become known as the Dipeyin massacre, on May 30 2003. Dipeyin is a small town in central Burma just outside Rangoon. Aung San Suu Kyi was enjoying one of the very brief periods when she was allowed free movement, after being under house arrest for much of the previous decade. Her journey outside the capital was seen as deliberately provocative by some in the leadership. Their response was brutal. Her car cavalcade was attacked by a group of government-supported heavies, holding iron bars and wooden sticks. Dozens died, and the event brought international condemnation to the regime. Soe Win was claimed to be the commander with direct control over the region in which the incident happened, earning himself the label "the butcher of Dipeyin".
There was a brief period of speculation during 2004 that the regime, under the then prime minister, and former head of intelligence, Khin Nyunt, was starting to move towards compromise with opposition groups. Khin announced a Seven Point Roadmap to Democracy, and recalled the National Congress. He was perceived as being more moderate and willing to engage with the outside world. He was, however, running against the powerful hardliners in the party, particularly General Than and his deputy General Myong, who removed him from power in October of that year. He has since been sentenced to 41 years in prison on unspecified corruption charges.
Soe Win was immediately appointed secretary one and prime minister. His period in office over the last three years has seen the worsening of Burma's economic situation and further isolation by the regime, culminating in the events of September and October this year in which thousands of monks and students took to the streets to demonstrate. Soe Win travelled abroad sporadically, visiting China in 2005, where he was received by the premier there, Wen Jiabao. He also visited Thailand. In March 2007, he was admitted to hospital in Singapore, suffering from leukaemia. He returned to Burma in October, and, after a previous misreporting of his death, the Burmese government officially announced his demise on October 12.
It is unlikely that Soe's death will have any impact on the regime's current strategy, which seems to be to continue to resist reform and making any concessions to the opposition. Burma remains economically impoverished and politically volatile, recently attracting the criticism and frustration of even its long-term allies China and Russia.
Soe Win was a Buddhist, who, opposition groups claimed, had been involved in the persecution of Christians. He is survived by his wife, daughter and son. The death of his twin brother preceded his own by a matter of weeks.
· Soe Win, soldier and politician, born 1948; died October 12 2007
