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BURMA RELATED NEWS - August 25,
2001.
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HEADLINES
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Kyodo News -
U.N. envoy to visit Myanmar next week to meet Suu Kyi
ABC
online - United Nations special envoy to travel to Burma
next week
TI - Myanmar's intelligence chief to visit Thailand
Xinhuanet -
Myanmar Leader Meets Chinese Vice Foreign Minister
SCMP - UN
envoy to visit
In These
Times - Keeping pressure on the junta and its corporate
partners
Irrawaddy
online - Activists Demand Suu Kyiâ??s Release
Irrawaddy online - Japanese Aid to Burma Only Adds to
Confusion
------------------------------------------------------------------ U.N. envoy to
visit Myanmar next week to meet Suu Kyi NEW YORK, Aug. 24, Kyodo - U.N.
Secretary General Kofi Annan's special envoy for Myanmar, Razali Ismail, will
visit the country for four days starting Monday to meet pro-democracy leader
Aung San Suu Kyi, U.N. officials said Friday.
It will be Razali's fifth trip to the Southeast Asian nation since assuming
the post in April last year.
During his stay, Razali is also expected to meet with State Peace and
Development Council Chairman Sr. Gen. Than Shwe, according to the
officials.
------------------------------------------------------------------ Australian Broadcasting Corporation
August 25, 2001.
United Nations special envoy to travel
to Burma next week
The United Nation's special envoy to Burma, Razali Ismail, is due to arrive
in Burma on Monday to help push forward talks between the military junta and the
political opposition.
A U-N spokesman, Fred Eckhard, says the envoy is expected to meet senior
general Than Shwe and members of the National League for Democracy, including
Aung San Suu Kyi.
The four-day visit will be Mr Razali's fifth since he was appointed as U-N
Secretary General Kofi Annan's special envoy to Burma in April, last year.
After Mr Razali's previous visit to Rangoon, in June, the junta released 17
imprisoned members of the N-L-D.
Ms Suu Kyi has been under effective house arrest since September.
------------------------------------------------------------------ AUGUST 25, 2001
THE TIMES OF INDIA Myanmar's intelligence chief to
visit Thailand
BANGKOK: Myanmar's powerful intelligence chief, Lieutenant-General Khin
Nyunt, is to visit Thailand from September 3-5 as a guest of defence minister
Chavalit Yongchaiyudh, officials said on Saturday.
Khin Nyunt will meet Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra during the
trip, which is seen as cementing a return to cordial relations after a bitter
six-month-long row between the two neighbours.
"It's likely that discussions will cover the development of military ties
between Thailand and Myanmar and border trade," said foreign ministry spokesman
Norachit Singhaseni.
The historically tense relationship with Myanmar erupted into open
hostility in February when the two national armies staged a half-day clash
sparked by skirmishes between rival ethnic militias on the border.
The fighting prompted Thailand to shut down the important Mae Sai-Tachilek
border crossing and halt supplies destined for use by the Myanmar military,
including medicine, rice and fuel.
Months of angry exchanges followed, prompting a flurry of official protests
as both sides traded accusations over who was to blame for the rampant border
drugs trade reputedly controlled by the ethnic armies.
Thaksin's inaugural visit to Myanmar in June largely resolved the row and
the Mae Sai-Tachilek border crossing was reopened soon after.
Chavalit, who has close ties with the junta, declared in July after a visit
to Yangon that relations had been normalised and that both sides had resolved to
patch up relations between their militaries.
On September 4 Khin Nyunt will be granted an audience with Thailand's King
Bhumibol Adulyadej at his seaside palace in Hua Hin, south of Bangkok.
The junta number-three will also meet Thai foreign minister Surakiart
Sathirathai during the three-day trip.
------------------------------------------------------------------ Myanmar Leader Meets Chinese Vice
Foreign Minister
Xinhuanet 2001.08.25 21:49:40 YANGON, August 25 (Xinhuanet)
-- First Secretary of the Myanmar State Peace and Development Council
Lieutenant-General Khin Nyunt met with visiting Chinese Vice Foreign
Minister Wang Yi here Saturday afternoon.
Khin Nyunt said Myanmar-China paukphaw (fraternal) friendship was
fostered personally by leaders of older generation of the two countries,
adding that under the new circumstances, the two sides should carry on the
friendly tradition and further strengthen the cooperation in respective
fields.
Khin Nyunt expressed that Myanmar supports China's stance held in
international and regional affairs and will continue to adopt the
one-China policy.
Wang elaborated on China's policy of the Sino-Myanmar long-term neighborly
friendship which China works for.
Wang arrived here on Thursday at the invitation of the Myanmar
Foreign Ministry to attend a diplomacy consultation between the two
countries. During the consultation, the two sides reached agreement on all
sectors in bilateral relations.
After the event, Myanmar Foreign Minister U Win Aung met with
Wang.
------------------------------------------------------------------ South China Morning Post
Saturday, August 25, 2001 MYANMAR - UN envoy to visit ASSOCIATED PRESS at the United Nations A UN special envoy will visit Myanmar next week to help smooth talks
between the government and pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, a UN spokesman
said.
Razali Ismail will be making his fifth trip to Yangon from August 27-30 as
part of his efforts to break the political deadlock in the country.
He is credited with achieving the first breakthrough by initiating
reconciliation talks between Ms Suu Kyi and the junta leaders in October.
During the upcoming trip, Mr Razali will hold separate talks with Ms Suu
Kyi and senior members of her National League for Democracy as well as Prime
Minister Than Shwe and other government leaders, UN spokesman Fred Eckhard said
overnight.
estern nations and the opposition hope the talks will pave the way for
democracy in the country, which has been ruled continuously by the military
since 1962. The current group of generals took power after crushing a
pro-democracy movement in 1988, killing thousands of people.
------------------------------------------------------------------ In These Times
BURMA INC. - Keeping pressure on the
junta and its corporate partners
by David Moberg
There may be no country with a worse record on labor rights than Burma,
where the military regime regularly forces workers to toil on government and
private projects for no pay. If the new global order can't act against such an
extreme case, then there is little hope of effective protection of labor rights
anywhere.
The campaign to support the democratic opposition in Burma nevertheless has
exerted significant pressure on the ruling junta, mainly by attacking corporate
investment in Burma and sales of Burmese products. The drive for strong economic
sanctions has the support of opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung
San Suu Kyi.
In the '90s, U.S. supporters of Burmese democracy attacked companies that
operated in Burma with demonstrations, newspaper ads, shareholder resolutions
and embarrassment of corporate officers and directors, forcing corporations such
as Amoco, Texaco, Pepsi, Disney, Ericsson and Levi Strauss to withdraw from the
country. But some U.S. companies remain, most notably Unocal in partnership with
France-based TotalElfFina.
The screws tightened a bit more in 1997 when President Clinton issued an
executive order prohibiting new investment in Burma--action stronger than the
sanctions imposed by the European Union, but weaker than measures sought by
pro-democracy campaigners. Although George W. Bush had said he opposed economic
sanctions, he recently renewed Clinton's ban--an indication of how much of a
pariah Burma has become.
After the sanctions, the regime needed new sources of income to supplement
the cash generated by its two major exports--energy (oil and natural gas) and
drugs, especially heroin. Many Southeast Asian governments, embracing Burma,
have ignored its human rights violations. Capital has flowed in from Malaysia,
Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Korea, especially into garment factories that
military officials control.
According to the Economist Intelligence Unit, wages in these factories are
as low as 4 cents an hour, the lowest-paid workforce in the world. Garment
exports to the United States--which could have unilaterally set quotas as low as
it wanted--rapidly expanded, hitting $412 million last year and probably close
to $500 million this year, making the United States Burma's largest garment
export market.
Last year, the National Labor Committee, which has led many sweatshop
fights, and the Free Burma Coalition exposed prominent brand names and
retailers, including Kenneth Cole, Jansport, Nautica, Adidas and Ikea, whose
products were made in Burma. With the glare of publicity, many of those
companies promised to cut off all Burmese sources. Even Wal-Mart, which
initially refused, made the pledge after revelations that one of its suppliers
was a major druglord. But anti-sweatshop groups report that others--like the big
May and Federated department store chains, Fila and Tommy Hilfiger--continue to
buy from Burmese factories. Meanwhile, as some big name brands pledge to avoid
Burma, Burmese products have flooded into bargain retailers like Ames and
Costco.
A bipartisan coalition in Congress, led by liberals like Iowa Sen. Tom
Harkin but also including right-wing Republicans like North Carolina Sen. Jesse
Helms, is backing legislation that would ban all imports from Burma until there
is significant progress on human rights, democracy and counter-narcotics action.
Although there is little overt opposition to the ban, mainly from the apparel
importers trade association, there is a lot of foot-dragging from even moderate
Democrats "who favor trade over human rights," according to Simon Billenness, a
leader in the Free Burma Coalition.
The legislation was prompted not only by the soaring imports, but also by
an unprecedented decision last year by the International Labor Organization to
ask its members--which include governments, unions and businesses from most
countries in the world--to review relationships with Burma and cease any
activity that could abet forced labor. Although this first-ever ILO call for
such concerted action was theoretically a step toward global enforcement of core
labor rights, there have been few concrete responses.
Indeed, many are weary of challenging the free trade regime. World Trade
Organization Director Michael Moore admitted two years ago that his organization
would do nothing about labor practices in Burma, a WTO member. And under the
WTO, the European Union and Japan had earlier challenged a 1996 Massachusetts
law, modeled on the anti-apartheid measures aimed at South Africa in the '80s,
that prohibited state government purchases from companies doing business in
Burma. The WTO never ruled on the challenge because the Massachusetts
legislation, which had inspired several cities to pass similar laws, was
overturned in the courts first.
But legal advisers to the democracy campaigners suggest that states and
local governments could pass other legislation, including calls for divestment
by public bodies, such as pension funds, of stock in companies that do business
with Burma. Los Angeles, Minneapolis and other cities, as well as the state of
Massachusetts, have either passed such laws or are considering them. Meanwhile,
students on many campuses are pushing for divestment or university bans on
purchasing from businesses operating in Burma.
Beyond the continuing publicity campaigns against various brands or stores
like Suzuki (which has an assembly plant in Burma), Marriott (which has a
partnership with a resort hotel in Burma) or Pottery Barn (which introduced a
special line of Burmese baskets), groups promoting democracy in Burma, including
the international labor movement, are pursuing both shareholder actions and
lawsuits against companies.
In 1996 two lawsuits, now partly consolidated, claimed that Unocal was
liable for harm to Burmese citizens who were forced to work on its pipeline by
the Burmese military, which was a partner with Unocal and provided security for
the project. It was the first time that a corporation had been sued for human
rights violations under the old Alien Torts Claim Act, which had been
successfully revived to sue foreign governmental human rights abusers in U.S.
courts.
A California district court agreed to hear the case, and concluded that the
evidence showed that Unocal knew about the use of forced labor and benefited
from it. But the judge issued a summary judgment that Unocal was not liable,
because the evidence did not show that it had control over the government.
International Labor Rights Fund (ILRF) lawyer Terry Collingsworth, who
argued one of the cases, believes that he will win an appeal now underway that
argues it was only necessary to show that Unocal aided and abetted the military
action and that, in any case, it should have been an issue for a jury to decide,
not the judge. Meanwhile, the two cooperating legal teams--from ILRF and
EarthRights International--also are suing Unocal for battery, unlawful
detention, slavery and other abuses in California state court. The cases could
cost Unocal well over $1 billion if it loses.
Earlier this year, the AFL-CIO, the labor-linked LongView Investment Fund
and the Maryknoll religious order sponsored shareholder resolutions at different
companies, including Unocal, Citigroup, McDermott International and Halliburton.
These resolutions typically asked the companies to guarantee that they are not
involved in forced labor or violation of sanctions in Burma. Although none
passed, they did win strong support in comparison to previous Burma-related
resolutions.
Such actions send a clear message that the high legal and political risks
of doing business with the junta could depress stock value and corporate
performance. But while supporters of Burmese democracy put pressure on
governments and corporations in the United States and Europe, the military
regime can still count on investment from Asian neighbors, new foreign aid from
Japan and aggressive marketing of cheap Burmese goods by Chinese businesses.
Despite government talks with the opposition, there are no signs of progress
toward democracy or an end to forced labor.
------------------------------------------------------------------
Irrawaddy on-line
Activists Demand Suu Kyiâ??s Release By Ko Thet August 23, 2001â??Burmese activists based in Thailand and Japan have called
on Burmaâ??s ruling junta to release senior leaders of the National League for
Democracy (NLD), as the first anniversary of their arrest for attempting to
travel outside of the capital approaches.
The demand came amid growing impatience over the pace of progress in secret
talks between NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi and the ruling State Peace and
Development Council (SPDC). The talks began shortly after Suu Kyiâ??s arrest last
September.
In the Thai-Burma border town of Mae Sot, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) released a statement yesterday denouncing the continued detention of the NLD leaders. "We ask the international community to put more pressure on the Burmese junta for the sake of freedom for the Burmese political prisoners, including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi," said the statement. This afternoon in Tokyo, a group of activists demonstrated in front of the
Burmese embassy, and vowed to do so on the 22nd of every month until Suu Kyi,
NLD Vice Chairman Tin Oo, and other leaders are freed.
In the past two months, the SPDC has released more than twenty NLD members, including a number of elected Members of Parliament. Since the talks began late last year, about 170 prisoners have been freed. The SPDC has used the releases as evidence that the talks are still on track, but most exiled dissidents say that the slow pace shows that the regime is merely stalling, and intends to remain in power indefinitely. "Over 2,000 prisoners remain in several prisons around the country, and
conditions remain every bit as bad now as they were before Aung San Suu Kyi and
the SPDC started their secret talks," remarked AAPP spokesperson Bo
Kyi.
Other critics of the junta have noted that few of those released so far occupy top positions in the NLD. They say that until Suu Kyi is released, there will be little reason to believe that the talks are any more than a public relations stunt. ------------------------------------------------------------------
Irrawaddy online
Japanese Aid to Burma Only Adds to Confusion By U Sein August 23, 2001â??The news of the Japanese Governmentâ??s aid of à¸?3.5 billion
(US $28 million) for the Lawpita hydropower plant renovation in Kayah (Karenni)
State in Burma was very surprising news for Burmese democracy groups and the
international community. The current situation of Burmaâ??s political crisis is
really critical and confusing. On one side is the powerful military junta, which
never cares about violations of rights. On the other are the democracy groups
and their international circle of sympathizers. Where the Japanese Government
stands is not so clear. Those who canâ??t refuse to help others are noble; but is
giving a gun to a bloodthirsty killer really helping?
We understand and follow the saying "be generous to your enemy", which is a
principle advocated by Daw Aung San Su Kyi, the leader of the National League
for Democracy (NLD). Though we know we should follow this rule, it is very
difficult to forgive the violations and perpetrations of the junta. During the
1988 democracy uprising in Burma, unarmed students, monks and other protesters
were killed in the thousands by the Burmese army. Some of these prominent events
are coming back in sight as some of the records and documents have become
published, but not all. In these documents, it is shown that some of the
students fell down bloody on the roads of central Rangoon wounded in the head,
chest, back and other organs. Knives labeled "Made in Burma" did not make these
wounds. The Burmese army used G-3 and G-4 guns, which were made from technology
imported from Germany. Similarly, the Burmese army was transported from the
countryside to the human killing fields of central Rangoon by Hino trucks. These
Hino TE-11.6 ton and Ranger-3 ton trucks were assembled using "Made in Japan"
technology and machinery. The Hino trucks can very clearly be seen in the
background of some of the photographs that record the 1988 massacre.
Discriminating between sweet and foul smells, the German Government avoided
the foul smell of Burmaâ??s junta after 1988. Why canâ??t the Japanese Government
take a similarly decisive stance? The Japanese Government continues to reward
the junta, instead of using a pattern of rewards and punishments, as is usually
done with an internationally condemned military junta. Without any good results
in the dialogue process, why do they want to offer rewards to the junta? Such
rewards can have a negative effect on the dialogue process. There is nothing to
say about China, which is supporting the junta, because it isnâ??t a democratic
country. But why does Japan, which is a powerful Asian democratic country, not
act any differently than China?
The Japanese people, government and labour unions should know the following
events happening inside Burma:
First: For security reasons, the Burmese junta laid ten to fifteen thousand
landmines in the area of the Lawpita power plant. The villagers near the plant
are suffering as a result of the juntaâ??s army and their arms. But does the
well-wishing Japanese Government have any plans to supply electric power to the
villagers in these areas?
Second: For security reasons, the military headquarters, military bases,
military units and detachments all over the country have privileged access to
electric power. They are using electric power not only as household power but
also as industrial power in the above mentioned army compounds. Though it is
very difficult for private businesses to get electric power, it is very easy for
army authorities in every township.
Third: In every kind of business, you normally get a bigger discount if you
buy or use more of a service or product. Contrary to this principle, under the
current regime in Burma, if you use more electric power, the unit price goes up.
Is the Japanese Government ready to work together with the military junta under
such a disordered system?
Fourth: Under the current "VIP" system in Burma, the homes of generals,
ministers, division and township officials, and all senior administrative
military officers receive electricity free of charge. Will the Japanese
Government help to eliminate such a system in Burma? When can we look at the
electric power bills of houses belonging to VIPs in their Electric Power
Corporation (EPC) Township account offices?
Electric Power could bring prosperity to the people of Burma. However, not
only electricity, but also all other resources are useless to the people unless
we dismiss the ruling juntaâ??s system.
In this case, it is necessary to consider the speech of Daw Aung San Su
Kyi, who is selfless in her fight to implement democracy in Burma. In answering
a question concerning the current state of education in Burma, she said that the
destitution of the education of youth is not caused by the lack of school
buildings; it is because of the deterioration of the education system under the
ruling junta. The same can be said about the power industries.
Today the supply of electric power in Burma is really inadequate. But we
can deduce that the basic reason for this unnecessary situation is not a lack of
technical assistance from Japan. A question for the well-wishing Japanese
Government is: To whom is your benevolence directedâ??to the Burmese people, or to
the illegitimately ruling junta?
The Japanese people should know where their ¥ 3.5 billion is going.
U Sein is a member of the National League for Democracy (Liberated Area).
He contributed this commentary to the Irrawaddy on-line edition.
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