|
---------------------------------------------------------------
BURMA RELATED NEWS - March 19,
2001.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Headlines
-------------------------------------------------------------- AP - US Seeks To Condemn China on
Rights
AP - Cambodian Government Defends Record
On Media Freedom
AFP - Human Rights Commission set for
stormy session
Reuters - Thailand to ask China for help
in fighting drugs
Asia Pulse - Daewoo Motor Plans to Cut
6,500 Jobs in Overseas Units
The Straits Times - Thais shifting
drug blame: Yangon
TNA - Myanmar agrees to host RBC
meeting, says Chaovalit
AP - Thailand Calls A Cease-Fire In
Verbal War With Myanmar
AFP - Myanmar
castigates Thailand on drugs
The Nation - Burma to host
high-level border talks
Xinhua - Myanmar Earns Less From
Annual Gems Emporium
Monday March 19, 2:54 AM
US Seeks To Condemn China on
Rights
By NAOMI KOPPEL, Associated Press Writer GENEVA (AP) -
China's suppression of the Falun Gong spiritual movement and continued
crackdowns on Tibet make it a top target for U.S. officials when the United
Nations Human Rights Commission opens Monday.
Washington plans to take the lead on China by sponsoring a
resolution condemning the world's most populous country for what it says is a
deteriorating rights situation.
However, the resolution faces a formidable obstacle: a
counter-resolution by China. On nine other occasions, China has succeeded in
blocking full debate on its human rights record.
Rights groups said they suspect Washington hasn't got the
stomach for the slow process of bringing other members of the 53-nation
commission on board. Success, they said, hinges on how avidly U.S. leaders lobby
foreign governments for support.
``We fear that this announcement was made for domestic
consumption in the United States, to calm U.S. public opinion,'' said Reed
Brody, advocacy director of Washington-based Human Rights Watch. ``Up to now, no
great efforts have been made to have this resolution adopted.''
The six-week commission meeting opens in Geneva with a
statement from U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson.
Member nations are expected to spend up to a week discussing
the situation in Israel and the Palestinian territories. Last fall, an
extraordinary meeting of the commission mandated Robinson's office to appoint a
commission of inquiry to examine allegations of Israeli human rights abuses.
That report is expected to be made public March 26 or 27.
Another crisis to be taken up at the meeting is Chechnya.
Last year, Russia became the first permanent member of the
U.N. Security Council formally rebuked by the commission. Moscow was criticized
for ``disproportionate and indiscriminate use of Russian military force,
including attacks against civilians'' in the breakaway region.
Robinson, in a report prepared for this year's meeting, said
Russia failed to heed international calls to allow an independent inquiry into
human rights violations. Meanwhile, ``disappearances and killings, corruption,
abuses and harassment at checkpoints'' continue, she said.
The new president of Congo, Joseph Kabila, also is expected to
address the commission.
For the United States, China remains a top human rights
priority. The State Department's annual report said thousands of religious
institutions had either been closed or destroyed and hundreds of Falun Gong
members imprisoned in the past year.
Second on the Americans' priority list is Cuba. Last year's
censure resolution criticizing ``continued repression of members of the
political opposition and the detention of dissidents'' passed - but this time
Washington must first resolve disagreements with its allies.
The Czech Republic again is planning to take the lead against
Cuba by proposing the resolution. But U.S. officials are furious that the
proposed text also attacks the U.S. embargo of Cuba.
Last weekend, Secretary of State Colin Powell urged Czech
President Vaclav Havel to delete the embargo reference, saying it was a mistake
to mix economic and human rights issues.
Other countries on the commission's agenda have been the
subject of censure resolutions year after year, including Iraq, Iran, Rwanda,
Congo and Myanmar, also known as Burma.
Human Rights Watch said it feared the commission was becoming
less effective because the countries criticized for rights violations
increasingly are also members of the commission.
Among this year's new members: Algeria, Congo, Kenya, Libya,
Saudi Arabia, Syria and Vietnam - nations that themselves have been accused of
serious human rights violations. Three countries - Cuba, Libya and Syria - are
on the U.S. terrorism list. One-party states include China, Cuba and Vietnam.
``Having governments like this is like having foxes guarding
the chicken coop,'' said Brody. His group believes countries join the commission
in order to avoid criticism of their own records.
``It is hard to believe that Libya and Syria and Vietnam are
actively going to take part in finding solutions for another country's human
rights problems,'' he said.
Many of those countries have regularly refused U.N. human
rights' experts requests to visit the country. A standing invitation for such
visits should be a minimum standard for commission membership, Brody
said.
Monday March 19, 1:33 PM
Cambodian Government Defends Record On
Media Freedom
PHNOM PENH (AP)--The Cambodian government defended itself
Monday against allegations by an international journalists' rights group that
its television and radio are restricted by the state.
Khieu Kanharith, a government spokesman, admitted that
Cambodia's airwaves did not carry many "critical news stories" but he maintained
journalists were allowed to criticize the government of Prime Minister Hun Sen.
The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists said
Monday in an annual global report that journalists in Cambodia often face the
wrath of officials in a government that has "authoritarian tendencies."
The Cambodian government refuses to grant broadcast licenses
to opposition figures and maintains tight control over most broadcast news. But
the committee concluded print media is relatively free and that the government
is growing more tolerant.
Khieu Kanharith, who is also Information Ministry secretary of
state, said criticism of government policy is broadcast on Cambodian airwaves
more than in neighboring countries such as Vietnam, Myanmar and Laos - all of
which are effectively one-party states.
"We have many political debates on the radio and television,
some organized by non-governmental organizations," he told The Associated Press.
"Compared to the region, you can say Cambodia has among the freest media."
More than 60% of adult Cambodians are illiterate, so most
people get their news from television and radio, if at all.
Lao Mong Hay of the Khmer Institute for Democracy said that a
lack of media freedom was hindering the development of the poverty-stricken
nation and preventing genuine democracy from taking root.
Democracy remains fragile in Cambodia, which has emerged only
recently from more than two decades of civil war. During the past eight years it
has had elected governments, but has also suffered political turmoil and
violence.
Sunday March 18, 12:09 PM
Human Rights Commission set for
stormy session
GENEVA, March 18 (AFP) - The annual session of the United Nations
Human Rights Commission, which opens Monday, looks to be particularly
controversial this year due to the worsening situation in the Palestinian
territories and ongoing human rights abuses in China and Chechnya.
The Palestinian issue looks to be particularly thorny for the
Commission, which will meet in Geneva until April 27.
Since its creation in 1946, the Commission has accumulated
many resolutions asking Israel to respect the rights of Palestinians and this
year should be no different.
The return to power of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, whose
September visit to a disputed Jerusalem holy spot has sparked months of
Palestinian-Israeli fighting, and a controversial report by a special commission
have created tension surrounding the issue.
A special session of the Commission met last October and
decided to send an international inquiry team into Israeli-occupied territories.
Israel boycotted the decision.
Several diplomats also said the stubbornness of some
representatives, such as Palestinian Nabil Ramlawi, could make compromise
difficult.
"Everything is in place for a particularly agitated session,"
said one diplomat, who requested anonymity.
The Commission will hear a report by Mary Robinson, the UN
human rights commissioner, about interviews she held with members of the Israeli
government.
It will also endorse a report by the UN special rapporteur
Giorgio Giacometti of Italy on human rights violations in the occupied
territories.
Another challenge will be integrating the new members into the
53-country Commission. This year, new members include Saudi Arabia, Libya, Syria
and Algeria. Countries are elected to the Commission for three-year
terms.
The Commission will again examine human rights violations in
China, where authorities have typically managed to avoid condemnation by the
Commission through clever manipulation.
Although the United States has said that it will continue to
pursue a condemnation of China's policies, several diplomats noted that
Washington has not seriously lobbied the Commission this year.
No high-ranking Washington officials have been sent to Geneva,
in contrast to last year when then secretary of state Madeleine Albright
strongly criticized China's policies.
The situation in Chechnya will also be discussed due to the
absence of any improvement in the area and Russia's refusal to set up an
international investigation commission.
Some 20 other countries will also be examined, including
Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Myanmar, Colombia, Cuba, the Democratic Republic of
Congo, Burundi, Equatorial Guinea, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Serbia and
Cyprus.
The Czech Republic is expected to present a resolution
condemning both violations of human rights in Cuba and the continued US embargo
against the island.
The Commission will also look at a series of thematic
resolutions dealing with issues such as torture, racial discrimination, women's
rights, children's rights, food, education and the death penalty.
Some 200 non-governmental organizations will also testify
before the Commission, including Amnesty International, which will focus its
efforts this year on Sierra Leone, Colombia, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia and
Chechnya.
Monday March 19, 2:42 PM
Thailand to ask China for help in
fighting drugs
BANGKOK (Reuters)
- Thailand, struggling to contain the flow of illegal drugs into the country,
said on Monday it would ask China for help in fighting the problem.
Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai said that during an
official visit to China this week he would ask Chinese Foreign Minister Tang
Jiaxuan to help Bangkok fight the spread of methamphetamines. "We have signed a
cooperation treaty with China on this issue and we should make it a reality,"
Surakiart told reporters.
Surakiart is due to pay a four-day courtesy visit to Chinese
leaders starting Wednesday.
Thailand, where the street value of a tablet of "speed" is
around 50 baht ($1.14), estimates that around 700 million pills will flood in
from Myanmar this year.
But Myanmar has repeatedly denied the allegations and has
asked for support from its neighbours to fight drugs.
Thailand and China signed a treaty last July when Chinese Vice
President Hu Jintao was visiting Bangkok.
Hu said China had encouraged Myanmar's ethnic groups to grow
sugarcane instead of narcotics.
Drug experts say Myanmar is the world's second largest
producer of opium and its derivative heroin, as well as a major source of
methamphetamines.
Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has vowed to spend
billions of baht fighting drug production and trafficking.
Surakiart said Monday he would also hold talks with Myanmar
Foreign Minister Win Aung on the sidelines of a meeting of East Asian and Latin
American ministers in Chile at the end of this month to help restore soured
relations.
Monday March 19, 3:10 PM
Daewoo Motor Plans to Cut 6,500 Jobs in
Overseas Units
SEOUL, March 19 Asia
Pulse - Daewoo Motor Co. plans to reduce 6,500 of the 46,000
jobs at its overseas subsidiaries as part of restructuring, the company said
Monday.
The reduction follows the troubled car maker's recent measure
to sell off or liquidate units in Japan, Hong Kong, Thailand and Myanmar from
its 12 production units and 31 sales units, an official at the company
said.
He also said three overseas units, including its Polish
passenger car unit, FSO and its Indian unit, DMIL, are successfully implementing
restructuring and pushing ahead with a plan to conduct a debt-to-equity swap if
their creditors and unions agree on the method.
The FSO has agreed with the Polish government and its union on
a plan to slash 1,294 employees, or 26.2 percent of its entire 4,943-person
workforce, while the Indian units has cut 865 out of its 2,880
positions.
The Straits Times - March
19, 2001
Thais shifting drug blame: Yangon
YANGON - Myanmar yesterday condemned Thailand as a bad
neighbour for covering up its failure to address the nation's drugs crisis by
shifting the blame onto Myanmar.
'The Thai government officials have never made efforts to
effectively control the problem,' the military regime said in an official
information sheet.
'It is comprehensible to all that Thai government officials,
instead of finding ways and means to solve their own problem by themselves,
issued news reports deliberately putting the blame on Myanmar.'
The official statement ticked off Thailand for discussing the
drugs issue via the media rather than through proper channels set up to solve
bilateral problems.
'Thus their act should be regarded as an act which is
violating the principles of good neighbourliness.'
The comments were the latest salvo in a brewing row between
the two countries over the production of methamphetamines on Myanmar soil by
Yangon-allied ethnic armies.
In what the Thai military has described as the nation's top
security threat, some 700 million methamphetamines pills are estimated to make
their way into Thailand each year.
Thailand's new Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra fired the
opening shot in the war of words earlier this month by declaring a 'war on
drugs' and ordering officials to find ways to close down the trade.
The Premier said he would demand explanations from Myanmar's
generals over the deadly flow of methamphetamines from jungle refineries.
Myanmar lashed out at the tough new approach, saying Thailand
should put its own house in order before trying to use its neighbour as a
'scapegoat' for its drugs problems. --AFP
Thai News Agency
Myanmar agrees to host RBC
meeting, says Chaovalit
BANGKOK, Mar 19 (TNA) – Myanmar has already agreed to host the
regional border committee (RBC)-level meeting to discuss the border problem with
Thailand, according to Defense Minister Gen Chaovalit Yongchaiyudh.
The meeting, to be held on April 1-3, would be a venue where
officials of the two neighboring countries could settle the border conflict and
seek ways to improve bilateral relations.
Gen Chaovalit, who is also deputy prime minister, refused to
comment on Rangoon’s recent statement that Thailand had blamed others for
causing the narcotics problem when it failed to tackle it.
He said it was the Foreign Ministry’s duty to clarify the
country’s stance on the matter.
Any action should be taken with extreme caution because
Thailand has a policy to maintain good relations with neighboring countries all
along, he added.
The former premier denied rumors he planned to transfer the
third region army chief into an inactive post, saying the news had spread before
he assumed the defense portfolio.
The power to propose and approve the transfer is in the army
commander-in-chief and the supreme commander’s hands, said Gen Chaovalit.
(TNA)
Monday, March 19 3:04 PM SGT
Thailand Calls A Cease-Fire In Verbal
War With Myanmar
BANKGOK (AP)--Thailand Monday called a cease-fire with
Myanmar in their war of words over drugs trafficking, and said the two
governments would hold talks to resolve their differences.
Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai said he would meet with
his Myanmar counterpart, Win Aung, on the sidelines of an East Asia-Latin
America forum in Chile March 29 and discuss the issue.
"Thailand will seek to explain to the public and international
community rather than retaliate," Surakiart told reporters, "Trading accusations
with each other will not resolve the problem."
Myanmar's military regime has responded angrily to accusations
from Thailand that it is turning a blind eye to production of methamphetamines
by ethnic armies inside Myanmar who smuggle their wares to Thailand.
At the weekend, Myanmar state media reported Col. Tin Hlaing,
the interior minister, as saying that Thailand had failed to deal with its drug
problem that had run out of control, and was blaming Myanmar instead.
Surakiart said the Thai Foreign Ministry would check the
details of Myanmar's latest remarks but wouldn't step up the verbal war.
He made the comments after a meeting Monday with Defense
Minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudh on security and relations with neighboring
countries.
Chavalit, who is also deputy prime minister, said an upcoming
meeting of a Thai-Myanmar regional border committee would help ease tensions and
foster understanding.
Myanmar had confirmed it would host the meeting in Keng Tung
in northeastern Myanmar between April 1-3, he said.
Thailand and Myanmar have been exchanging hot words during the
last month after their troops clashed at the border when fighting between Shan
rebels and Myanmar forces spilled into Thailand. Border checkpoints in that part
of the frontier have been closed.
Earlier this month, new Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra held
a high profile meeting on combatting drugs, where officials displayed pictures
of what they said was proof of drug production activity in Myanmar.
Myanmar castigates Thailand on
drugs
2001/3/19
YANGON, AFP -
Myanmar Sunday condemned Thailand as a bad neighbor for covering up its failure
to address the nation's drugs crisis by shifting the blame onto Myanmar.
"The Thai government officials have never made efforts to
effectively control the problem," the military regime said in an official
information sheet.
"It is comprehensible to all that Thai government officials,
instead of finding ways and means to solve their own problem by themselves,
issued news reports deliberately putting the blame on Myanmar."
The official statement ticked off Thailand for discussing the
drugs issue via the media rather than through proper channels set up to solve
bilateral problems.
"Thus their act should be regarded as an act which is
violating the principles of good neighborliness".
The comments were the latest salvo in a brewing row between
the two countries over the production of methamphetamines on Myanmar soil by
Yangon-allied ethnic armies.
In what the Thai military has described as the nation's top
security threat, some 700 million methamphetamines pills are estimated to make
their way into Thailand each year, feeding a massive addiction problem.
Thailand's new Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra fired the
opening shot in the war of words earlier this month by declaring a "war on
drugs" and ordering officials to find ways to close down the narcotics trade.
The premier said he would demand explanations from Myanmar's
generals over the deadly flow of methamphetamines from jungle refineries which
also churn out vast quantities of heroin.
Myanmar lashed out at the tough new approach, saying Thailand
should put its own house in order before trying to use its neighbor as a
"scapegoat" for its drugs problems.
As the sparring continued, the Thai foreign ministry issued a
strongly worded statement that criticized the junta for its tetchy response to
the Thai initiative and invited Myanmar to show the international community it
was serious about fighting drugs.
The Nation
Burma to host high-level border talks Filed at 01 : 28 pm (THLD time) BANGKOK, March 19 (The
Nation) -- Burma has agreed to host the joint Regional Border
Committee, chaired by regional army commanders from both countries, on April 1-3
in Burma's Keng Tung province, according to Defence Minister Chavalit
Yongchaiyudh.
Chavalit said he believed the long-delayed meeting would
contribute to better relations between Thailand and Burma.
"Thailand has always attached great importance to maintain
good relations with its neighbours," said Chavalit, also deputy prime minister.
The relations between Thailand and Burma have soured in recent
months following a border clashes between Thai troops and Burmese intruders in
February, which led to month-long closure of border at Mae Sai-Thachilek.
Both countries have also engaged in war of words, accusing
each other of lack of political will in the fight against drugs.
Myanmar Earns Less From Annual
Gems Emporium
2001.03.19 10:26:41 YANGON, March 19 (Xinhuanet) -- Myanmar fetched a total of
10.12 million U.S. dollars through sale of locally-produced gems,
jade, pearl and jewelry at the country's 38th annual gems emporium which
ended here Sunday evening, 58.1 percent less than that earned from the year-ago
annual event.
The eight-day state-sponsored gems emporium, which began
on March 11, attracted a total of 674 merchants from 15 countries and
regions, and local companies.
The foreign gems traders were mostly from China's Hong
Kong Special Administrative Region, Thailand and China's
mainland.
At the 37th annual Myanma gems emporium, a total of
24.17 million dollars were earned, breaking the highest record of 1990's
27th emporium which fetched 14.839 million.
Myanmar, a well-known producer of jade, ruby and sapphire
in the world, has been holding gems emporiums annually since 1964
with additional mid-year ones being introduced in 1992.
The country has earned over 330 million dollars from its
38 annual and nine mid-year gems emporiums, according to official
statistics.
|