http://www.petitiononline.com/DforB_1/petition.html
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BURMA RELATED NEWS - June 25,
2003.
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HEADLINES
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Reuters - Kofi
Annan 'alarmed' about Suu Kyi
Reuters - Britain,
Japan Heap Pressure Over Suu Kyi
Reuters - Britain
piles on pressure over Suu Kyi
Reuters - Pressure
mounts over Suu Kyi
Reuters - Strays
put bite into Thai anti-drugs war
AP - Japan Punishes
Myanmar Over Suu Kyi
AFP - France
summons Myanmar ambassador to voice concern over Suu Kyi
Kyodo News - Razali
urges dialogue between Myanmar junta, Suu Kyi
Kyodo News - Japan
won't provide any new aid to Myanmar
The Age - Rangoon
rejects Tokyo plea on Suu Kyi
Sac Bee -
Editorial: More heat on Burma
TI - France issues
Bastille Day invite to Suu Kyi
Asian Tribune -
Burma on the boil
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Wednesday June 25, 8:13 PM
Kofi Annan 'alarmed' about
Suu Kyi
By Elaine Lies
TOKYO
(Reuters) - The U.N. Secretary
General is growing "increasingly alarmed" about Myanmar pro-democracy leader
Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been in custody since May 30, U.N. envoy Razali Ismail
says.
Razali, who met Suu Kyi on June 10, said that when he left
Myanmar, he had sought specific assurances about her release which he did not
get.
"The U.N., the Secretary-General and a lot of people there
are...increasingly alarmed about the situation," Razali told reporters in Tokyo
on Wednesday.
"I had said then that in one week or two weeks, one might
expect that she would be released," he said. "It is now past two weeks."
Britain says she is being held in the "notorious" Insein jail on the
northern outskirts of Yangon, but Razali declined to clarify where she was being
held.
He was earlier quoted by Kyodo news agency as telling Japanese
Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi that he met Suu Kyi in a "concrete house"
within the grounds of a Yangon prison.
"What I can say is that where I
met her was absolutely deplorable," he added. "It was not keeping with the
stature and the status of Aung San Suu Kyi as a political leader or as a
national leader."
He repeated earlier statements that he saw no signs
that Suu Kyi had been injured when he met her and was in strong spirits.
"She's uncowed and feisty, she was outraged that this had happened to
her," he said. "That's the Suu Kyi I've always known."
Suu Kyi, 58, has
been in detention since a clash between her supporters and supporters of the
government in the north of the country on May 30.
Her National League
for Democracy swept to election victory in 1990 but was never allowed to rule.
Razali said that it was now important for the world community to express
its concern for her safety, not only while she is still in custody but also
after her eventual release, but made no further recommendations.
Japan
added its weight to growing international pressure on Myanmar on Wednesday,
saying it would halt its hefty economic aid to the country unless the military
government releases Suu Kyi.
The move by one of Myanmar's biggest aid
donors and a country that has been relatively willing to engage with Rangoon is
likely to have even greater weight than recent strong criticism of Suu Kyi's
detention by the United States and Britain.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Britain, Japan Heap Pressure Over Suu
Kyi
LONDON/TOKYO (Reuters) - Britain and Japan heaped pressure on
Myanmar on Wednesday to free pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi while U.N.
Secretary General Kofi Annan was said to be growing "increasingly alarmed" about
the Nobel laureate.
A U.N. envoy, who saw Suu Kyi on June 10, said she
was being held in "deplorable" conditions but that she was well and as feisty as
ever.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair told parliament Britain had made
"the strongest possible representations" on behalf of Suu Kyi and urged British
companies to halt trade with Myanmar.
Foreign Secretary Jack Straw wrote
in the Financial Times newspaper that an existing asset freeze, embargoes on
arms and a suspension of high-level contact might be expanded.
"We've
made the strongest possible representations, not merely in respect of the
release of the leader of the opposition but also on the restoration of proper
human and democratic rights," Blair said.
"In relation to British trade,
we are making it clear to British companies that we do not believe that this is
appropriate in circumstances where this regime continues to suppress the basic
human rights of its people," he added.
Straw called Myanmar's military
rulers brutal, corrupt and incompetent and he reiterated Britain's assertion
that Suu Kyi, held since May 30, was being detained in the notorious Insein jail
near Yangon.
Suu Kyi, daughter of independence hero Aung San, has been
in detention since a clash between her followers and supporters of the
government in the north of the country.
Her National League for
Democracy won the country's last elections in 1990 by a landslide but has never
been allowed to govern, treated instead to imprisonment, harassment and
intimidation.
Speaking after U.N. special envoy Razali Ismail met
officials in the Japanese capital, a senior government official told reporters
that Tokyo had informed Myanmar that aid would be halted if it refused to
release Suu Kyi, who turned 58 this month.
"First of all, we want the
early release of Suu Kyi. Under the current circumstances we will not extend
economic assistance," the official, who declined to be identified, told
reporters.
"This is Japan's policy and we have said this to the Myanmar
government," the official said.
The move by one of Myanmar's biggest aid
donors and a country that has been relatively willing to engage with Yangon is
likely to have even greater weight than strong criticism by the United States
and Britain.
Razali said that when he left Myanmar, he had sought
specific assurances about Suu Kyi's release which he did not get.
"The
U.N., the Secretary-General and a lot of people there are...increasingly alarmed
about the situation," Razali told reporters in Tokyo.
"I had said then
that in one week or two weeks, one might expect that she would be released," he
said. "It is now past two weeks."
Razali declined to clarify where she
was being held.
He was earlier quoted by Kyodo news agency as
telling Japanese Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi that he met Suu Kyi in a
"concrete house" within the grounds of a Yangon prison.
"What I can say
is that where I met her was absolutely deplorable," he added. "It was not
keeping with the stature and the status of Aung San Suu Kyi as a political
leader or as a national leader."
He repeated earlier statements that he
saw no signs that Suu Kyi had been injured when he met her and was in strong
spirits.
"She's uncowed and feisty, she was outraged that this had
happened to her," he said. "That's the Suu Kyi I've always known."
--------------------------------------------------------------
25
Jun 2003 13:39 BST
Britain piles on pressure over Suu
Kyi
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain has warned Myanmar it may
tighten sanctions unless the military government releases pro-democracy leader
Aung San Suu Kyi, who was detained on May 30.
Prime Minister Tony Blair
told parliament on Wednesday Britain had made "the strongest possible
representations" on behalf of Suu Kyi and urged British companies to halt trade
with the country.
Earlier, Foreign Secretary Jack Straw wrote in the
Financial Times newspaper that an existing asset freeze, embargoes on arms and a
suspension of high-level contact might be expanded.
"We've made the
strongest possible representations, not merely in respect of the release of the
leader of the opposition but also on the restoration of proper human and
democratic rights," Blair said.
"In relation to British trade, we are
making it clear to British companies that we do not believe that this is
appropriate in circumstances where this regime continues to suppress the basic
human rights of its people," he added.
Straw called Myanmar's military
rulers brutal, corrupt and incompetent and he reiterated Britain's assertion
that Suu Kyi is being held in Insein jail near Rangoon.
The junta has
held Nobel peace laureate Suu Kyi virtually incommunicado since a May 30 clash
between her supporters and a pro-junta group, saying it is for her own safety.
"The military government...is not only brutal, but corrupt and
incompetent," Straw wrote.
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan added his
voice on Wednesday to the worldwide outcry over Suu Kyi's detention. A U.N.
envoy said Annan was "increasingly alarmed" about the situation in Myanmar.
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Wednesday June 25, 9:30 PM
Pressure mounts over Suu
Kyi
By Teruaki Ueno and Elaine
Lies
TOKYO (Reuters) - The U.N. Secretary General is growing
"increasingly alarmed" about Myanmar pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, a
U.N. envoy says, as Japan adds to growing international pressure by saying it
will halt its hefty economic aid unless Suu Kyi is freed.
"The U.N., the
Secretary-General, and a lot of people there are...increasingly alarmed about
the situation," special U.N. envoy Ismail Razali told reporters in Tokyo on
Wednesday.
Razali, who met with Suu Kyi on June 10, said when he left
Myanmar, he had sought specific assurances about her release which he did not
get.
"I had said then that in one week or two weeks, one might expect
that she would be released," he said. "It is now past two weeks."
Earlier, a senior Japanese government official told reporters that Tokyo
had informed the Myanmar government that aid would be halted if it refused to
release Suu Kyi.
"First of all, we want the early release of Suu Kyi.
Under the current circumstances we will not extend economic assistance," the
official, who declined to be identified, told reporters.
"This is
Japan's policy and we have said this to the Myanmar government," the official
said.
The move by one of Myanmar's biggest aid donors and a country that
has been relatively willing to engage with Yangon is likely to have even greater
weight than strong criticism of Suu Kyi's detention by the United States and
Britain.
Myanmar's military government took Suu Kyi into what it called
"protective custody" on May 30 after a clash between her supporters and a
pro-government group. It says it is holding her for her own personal safety and
will free her at some point.
Her National League for Democracy swept to
election victory in 1990 but was never allowed to rule.
WHEREABOUTS UNKNOWN
Britain says she is being
held in Insein, one of the nation's most notorious jails on the outskirts of
Yangon, and the United States has said it is considering tough new sanctions
against the country's military rulers.
Razali declined to clarify where
she was being held, but Kyodo news agency quoted him telling Japanese Foreign
Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi that he met with Suu Kyi in a "concrete house" within
the grounds of a Yangon prison.
"What I can say is that where I met her
was absolutely deplorable, " he added. "It was not keeping with the stature and
the status of Aung San Suu Kyi as a political leader or as a national leader.
"She's uncowed and feisty, she was outraged that this had happened to
her," he said. "That's the Suu Kyi I've always known."
Halting Japanese
aid would be a significant blow for one of Asia's poorest countries, and Razali
said Japan must consider Suu Kyi's situation as it makes policy decisions on
Myanmar.
"Whatever policy Japan has towards Myanmar or whatever future
policy it has would have to take into account what has taken place," he said.
Japan stopped large-scale loans and economic assistance to Myanmar after the
current military government took power in 1988 but it is still one of its
biggest donors through small-scale humanitarian and other economic assistance.
Tokyo extended a total of 8.37 billion yen in aid grants in the five
years ending March 2003 as well as technological assistance worth 6.75 billion
yen for the four-year period to March 2002, according to the Japanese Foreign
Ministry.
Japan has also provided Myanmar with debt relief worth 11.3
billion yen in the past five years.
Razali made no concrete
recommendations of action the world should take besides telling the news
conference that it was now important for the international community to express
its concern for her safety, not only while she is still in custody but also
after her eventual release.
"No such incident should ever happen again
of the type that happened on May 30."
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Wednesday June 25, 7:15 AM
Strays put bite into Thai
anti-drugs war
By Martin Petty
BANGKOK (Reuters) - Bua Dang
spends his days digging through piles of rubbish outside one of Bangkok's slums,
hunting for scraps of food.
One night, he is set upon by a group of
uniformed men, bundled into a van and taken to a military base on the outskirts
of the city.
Weeks later, the scruffy, ginger-haired mongrel finds
himself on the frontline of Thailand's anti-drugs crusade, one of 50 stray dogs
trained by the Thai military in counter terrorism and fighting crime.
Among his jobs is to sniff out narcotics along the volatile border with
Myanmar.
The strays were each assigned an instructor and given names
before being sent for three months of intensive training.
Bua Dang was
one of the prized pupils at his military training school and was top dog of his
class.
His handler said three years as a ravenous pup sniffing dustbins
for scraps meant he had no problems hunting out illicit methamphetamine pills or
explosives.
"Bua Dang was very quiet and lonely when he first arrived
here. He's beginning to become playful and he really enjoyed his training,"
Banchong Phubaibang told Reuters.
The Royal Thai Army took the lead in
training the homeless hounds after Thailand's King Bhumibol Adulyadej suggested
homeless dogs be given jobs.
HAIL CAESAR!
He
has so far sent two of his own pets, Julius and Caesar, for training and has
offered two other dogs, Throng That and Throng At, to be trained in retrieving
lost items.
The army said it had deployed 42 of the successful dog
graduates at the Thai-Myanmar and Thai-Cambodia borders to detect explosives and
drugs.
Twenty-nine of the dogs have joined Bua Dang to work alongside
the Pha Muang Task Force at the Thailand-Myanmar frontier where there have been
a series of clashes between Myanmar troops and ethnic rebels. The clashes
sometimes stray into Thai territory.
The International Narcotics Control
Board said an estimated five percent of Thailand's population were regularly
abusing methamphetamines prior to a recent crackdown by the government, and most
of the drugs entering the country are thought to be from Myanmar, formerly
Burma.
The new sniffers could be instrumental in helping Thai Prime
Minister Thaksin Shinawatra fulfil his public pledge to rid "every inch of Thai
soil" of illicit drugs by the end of the year.
The kingdom has millions
of homeless dogs. No one knows how many, but unlike most countries, Thailand
does not kill off its strays because Buddhists revere all forms of life.
PRINCESS OF POOCHES
The country has a
long-standing love affair with its dogs, shown last year when Tongdaeng, a
former stray from the streets of Bangkok, was elevated to superstar status
overnight.
Some 100,000 people queued up outside shops to buy a book
about her, written by her owner, the king. The book topped Thailand's bestseller
lists and over a million of the country's 62 million people are expected to buy
a copy.
The king's book hails Tongdaeng as one of the most respectful,
grateful and well mannered dogs in the world, and an example to Thais --
particularly politicians -- on how to behave.
The stray sniffer scheme
is saving the country money, too. Thai police previously delegated the task of
drugs and explosives detection to foreign breeds like German shepherds,
labradors, retrievers, and Dobermans, but foreign purebreds are expensive.
Police say street dogs can be rounded up and trained at a much lower price.
For some dogs, though, years of untamed living in Bangkok's notorious
slums meant military discipline proved difficult.
Somak Posoonnern, a
sergeant in the Thai Army, said the street dogs were not as good as foreign
counterparts, although they could reach the same standard if they were trained
when puppies.
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Japan Punishes Myanmar Over Suu Kyi
By AYE AYE WIN, Associated Press Writer
YANGON, Myanmar (AP)
- Japan, Myanmar's largest donor, froze all financial aid to the country on
Wednesday to punish its military government for detaining pro-democracy leader
Aung San Suu Kyi.
Japan appears to be rethinking its policy of engaging
the junta in a dialogue with promises of aid ? unlike the United States, the
European Union (news - web sites) and Britain, which have already imposed
sanctions to press for Suu Kyi's freedom.
Also Wednesday, U.N. special
envoy Razali Ismail, the only outsider to see Suu Kyi since her arrest more than
three weeks ago, said U.N. officials are "increasingly alarmed" about the
government's refusal to release her.
Suu Kyi and members of her National
League for Democracy party were taken into "protective custody" after a clash
between her supporters and government backers during a political tour in
northern Myanmar on May 30.
She has been held incommunicado since then,
and the government has refused to disclose her whereabouts or say when she will
be released despite an international outcry.
Britain's Foreign Office
Minister Mike O'Brien set off a fresh round of outrage last week when he said
the Nobel Peace Prize laureate was being held in a "two-room hut" at the
infamous Insein prison in northern Yangon. He did not say how he had learned of
her purported location.
But Myanmar Home Minister Col. Tin Hlaing, in a
meeting with British Ambassador Vicky Bowman on Wednesday, denied that Suu Kyi
was in Insein, said Martin Garret, a British diplomat who also attended the
meeting. The minister did not say where she was, only that it was not Insein,
Garret said.
Tokyo's decision to freeze the aid comes two days after
Senior Vice Foreign Minister Tetsuro Yano returned empty-handed from a mission
to Myanmar to secure Suu Kyi's release. Japan, one of the few developed
countries in direct talks with the military government, gave $78 million in
fiscal 2001, the latest year for which figures are available.
Myanmar
has been ruled by the military since 1962. The current junta came to power in
1988 after a crackdown on a pro-democracy movement that left thousands dead.
Japan halted new loans following the military takeover but says it has
been providing development aid on a case-by-case basis as it monitors the
junta's progress on human rights and democratization.
Before 1988,
Japan's grants to Myanmar, also known as Burma, made up 60 percent of all
foreign aid and grants to the country.
Suu Kyi's detention has brought
to a halt the slow-moving national reconciliation process initiated by Razali in
October 2000 to end the country's political deadlock. The government has been at
loggerheads with Suu Kyi since 1990, when it called elections but refused to
hand over power when her party won.
Suu Kyi, 58, was awarded the Nobel
Peace Prize in 1991 for her nonviolent democracy campaign and has spent most of
the time since then under house arrest or strict surveillance.
--------------------------------------------------------------
France summons Myanmar ambassador to voice concern over
Suu Kyi
PARIS, June 25 (AFP) - The French foreign ministry said Wednesday
it had summoned Myanmar's ambassador in Paris for the second time this month,
calling for detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi to be freed "without
delay".
"Contesting the notion of 'protective custody' that the
authorities have applied to Aung San Suu Kyi, the ministry emphasized that this
situation amounted to imprisonment, and that it should be ended without delay,"
said ministry spokesman Herve Ladsous.
The Nobel peace laureate and
other supporters of her National League for Democracy (NLD) were detained in
northern Myanmar following deadly clashes there last month sparked when her
convoy was attacked by a junta-backed mob.
The ruling military junta has
repeatedly refused to reveal where Aung San Suu Kyi and the other pro-democracy
activists are being held.
French authorities have "forcefully asked"
that Aung San Suu Kyi and her supporters be freed, that the NLD's offices be
reopened and that the junta launch a meaningful dialogue with the pro-democracy
opposition, Ladsous said.
Paris also requested that foreign diplomats in
Yangon be granted unfettered access to Aung San Suu Kyi, the spokesman added.
The French foreign ministry had previously summoned Myanmar's ambassador
on June 4 to protest Aung San Suu Kyi's arrest.
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Razali urges dialogue between Myanmar junta, Suu
Kyi
By Sarah Suk
TOKYO,
June 25, Kyodo - U.N. special envoy
Razali Ismail proposed Wednesday that the Myanmar government and pro-democracy
leader Aung San Suu Kyi, currently detained by the ruling junta, promptly hold
talks over the future of the country.
Razali urged the junta to allow
Suu Kyi to conduct political activities freely and in safety, but also said Suu
Kyi should refrain from holding rallies so as not to provoke the junta.
''There should very quickly be efforts by all parties -- government, NLD
(National League for Democracy) and others -- to start talking,'' he told a
press conference in Tokyo after holding talks with Japanese Foreign Minister
Yoriko Kawaguchi.
''It's only (by) sitting around the table that you
could work out what would be the basis of the future political framework for
Myanmar,'' he said.
There are about nine political groups in addition to
the NLD which have the right to be heard, he said.
He noted that Suu
Kyi's trips around the country, where she is regularly greeted by thousands of
local supporters, are a cause of serious concern to the junta.
''It may
not be politic on her part in the future to do those things because you are just
demonstrating...your powerfulness. It is not exactly a very good idea to do
this'' when there needs to be an atmosphere in which no party feels threatened,
he said.
''So maybe it's time they really sit down together,'' Razali
remarked. ''Only in this context can we begin to meet the aspirations of the
people of Myanmar, who are overwhelmingly for change in the government.''
The envoy also emphasized how important it was for the international
community to call not only for Suu Kyi's release but also for her safety
thereafter in conducting ''normal political activities.''
Razali said
officials at the United Nations are becoming more and more concerned that the
Myanmar government has kept Suu Kyi detained since late May although more than
two weeks have passed since he completed his five-day visit to Myanmar to talk
to junta generals.
''The U.N. secretary general (Kofi Annan) and a lot
of people there are getting increasingly alarmed about the situation,'' he said.
Razali said that when he visited Yangon on June 10, he told Myanmar
authorities that Suu Kyi should be released ''within one or two weeks'' to try
to give them an indication of a deadline for them to let her go.
''When
I made the point that she should be released within one or two weeks, this is an
evaluation on my part. I'm trying to pin down the Myanmar authorities toward a
specific date. Well, two weeks have passed,'' the envoy said.
Razali is
the first outsider to have met Suu Kyi since she and some members of the
National League for Democracy (NLD) were detained following what the junta
claims were violent clashes May 30 between NLD supporters and pro-junta
demonstrators in the northern part of the country.
Razali complained
that Myanmar keeps saying it would release her but does not mention any specific
dates.
''They have assured me that she would be released soon. Some of
them used the phrase 'as soon as things are normalized.' This does not assure me
at all,'' the U.N. envoy said.
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Japan won't provide any new aid to
Myanmar
TOKYO, June 25, Kyodo - Japan will not provide any new official
development assistance (ODA) to Myanmar as the junta has continued to detain
pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi for more than three weeks, Foreign
Ministry sources said Wednesday.
The Japanese government will notify the
Myanmar junta of the decision if it does not release Suu Kyi by around June 30,
the sources said.
''Under the current situation, we cannot extend
economic cooperation,'' a senior ministry official said.
Japan provided
Myanmar with about 2 billion yen in grants in fiscal 2002, which ended March 31,
but has not provided any assistance to the country so far this fiscal year.
Since 1995 the Japanese government has been providing small grants to
Myanmar in such areas as health and welfare, education and technical assistance
to encourage the country to promote democracy.
The decision was conveyed
to U.N. special envoy Razali Ismail, who met with Suu Kyi earlier this month, at
his meetings with senior ministry officials including Foreign Minister Yoriko
Kawaguchi.
In the meeting with Kawaguchi, Razali said Suu Kyi was
detained in a house in a compound of an unidentified prison in Yangon when the
U.N. envoy met her June 10, Japanese officials said.
Suu Kyi and some
members of the National League for Democracy (NLD) have been detained since what
the junta says were violent clashes between NLD supporters and pro-junta
demonstrators in northern Myanmar on May 30.
Kawaguchi told Razali that
she regrets the junta has not been disclosing sufficient information on Suu
Kyi's detention, saying that when Japanese Senior Vice Foreign Minister Tetsuro
Yano met with senior Myanmar representatives earlier this month, they denied she
was in prison, the officials said.
Following his meeting with the
foreign minister, Razali told a press conference that Suu Kyi's detention must
be a factor for Tokyo to consider in formulating its policies toward the
country.
''Whatever policy Japan has toward Myanmar or whatever future
policy it has would have to take into account what has taken place,'' the envoy
said.
On Tuesday, Kawaguchi indicated Japan would not immediately review
Japan's ODA policy toward Myanmar as she said the junta must be given some time
to decide on the release.
However, Japan decided to reverse its
constructive engagement policy as it has been under pressure from the United
States and Europe to take tougher measures.
The European Union recently
decided to step up sanctions on Myanmar, including economic ones, in protest
against the junta's arrest of Suu Kyi. The U.S. has also said it is studying
stricter economic sanctions on Myanmar for similar reasons.
Last week,
Kawaguchi told Myanmar Foreign Minister Win Aung in Phnom Penh that Japan may
review its aid policy unless progress is made on the release of Suu Kyi.
--------------------------------------------------------------
The Age
Rangoon rejects Tokyo plea on Suu
Kyi
June 25 2003
By Mark Baker, Asia Editor,
Singapore
International concern is mounting over the fate of
Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi after the military regime ignored
fresh pleas by a senior Japanese envoy for her immediate release.
United
Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan described as "deplorable" the conditions in
which Ms Suu Kyi was being held and called on the regime to end her detention
and recognise the overwhelming desire of the Burmese people for political
change.
British Foreign Office Minister Mike O'Brien last week reported
that the Nobel laureate was being held in a two-room hut in Rangoon's notorious
Insein Prison, wearing the same clothes in which she was arrested almost a month
ago, a claim denied by the regime.
Mr O'Brien said Ms Suu Kyi was being
held under the 1975 State Protection Law, which allows for detention without
access to lawyers or family members for 180 days at a time and for a total of
five years.
Japan, Burma's largest aid donor, is considering joining the
United States and the European Union in imposing sanctions on the regime after
the failure of Monday's plea by Deputy Foreign Minister Tetsuro
Yano.
"Our efforts to break the ice did not work out as I expected, which
is due to the insufficient efforts of the SPDC (the ruling State Peace and
Development Committee)," Mr Yano said after meeting the third-ranking member of
the regime, Lieutenant-General Khin Nyunt.
Japanese Foreign Minister
Yoriko Kawaguchi, who warned last week that Japan would review its aid programs
unless Ms Suu Kyi was freed immediately, yesterday said Tokyo would allow the
regime "some time". "But it has to release her as quickly as possible," she
said.
UN special envoy Razali Ismail yesterday was due in Tokyo for talks
expected to focus on ways of stepping up pressure on the regime to support his
stalled efforts to broker talks on political reconciliation.
Ms Suu Kyi
was arrested on May 30 after a pro-Government mob attacked her convoy in
northern Burma. Opposition groups claim scores of villagers and members of the
opposition National League for Democracy were killed.
Mr Razali, who met
Ms Suu Kyi at the military headquarters in Rangoon on June 10, remains the only
foreigner allowed access to her.
A UN spokesman said Mr Annan considered
"the conditions under which she is being held - incommunicado and without charge
- to be truly deplorable" and urged the Burmese Government to heed the repeated
calls of the UN and the international community.
--------------------------------------------------------------
The Sacramento Bee
Editorial: More heat on
Burma
Asian countries join global condemnation
Bee Editorial
Staff
Published 2:15 a.m. PDT Tuesday, June 24, 2003
Breaking
with a long-standing aversion to criticizing fellow Asian rulers, ASEAN -- the
10-member Association of South East Asian Nations -- has called on the military
junta in Burma to release Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi from detention.
The Burmese government says it takes the criticism seriously but has refused to
say when it will release her.
That's about as credible as its promise
last year, when it released Suu Kyi from 19 months of house arrest, to move
toward democracy. No democratization has occurred.
Nor has the regime,
which seized power in 1988 and annulled elections in 1990 that Suu Kyi's
National League for Democracy won handily, done anything to open up a closed and
repressed society. Indeed, lately it has shut down NLD offices, kept more than
1,200 political prisoners locked up and was almost surely behind an ambush on
May 30 by armed thugs against Suu Kyi's motorcade that left dozens of her
supporters dead and her in custody.
Whether ASEAN's criticism will have
much impact is questionable. But that it took such a step only days after
Malaysia, a member, and China, which maintains close ties, opposed such
criticism as unwarranted interference in the affairs of Burma suggests regional
leaders are feeling the heat of denunciation from abroad. The United Nations,
European Union and United States have not only spoken out -- Secretary of State
Colin Powell, who attended the ASEAN meeting, has been especially forceful --
but have threatened to expand sanctions.
Sanctions, such as freezing
assets or closing borders to Burmese officials, may have little direct impact on
a country with a large informal economic sector and a lucrative drug-smuggling
industry. But the signal it sends to potential foreign investors cannot be
safely ignored by the junta, nor can the increasing isolation it is likely to
feel if it continues to defy civilized humanity.
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WEDNESDAY, JUNE 25, 2003
THE TIMES OF
INDIA
France issues Bastille Day invite to Suu
Kyi
PARIS: France called Wednesday on Myanmar's military
government to let detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi attend Bastille
Day celebrations at the French Embassy in Yangon, stepping up pressure for her
release.
The Nobel Peace Prize laureate and 15 members of her National
League for Democracy party are invited to a July 14 reception at the embassy,
Foreign Ministry spokesman Herve Ladsous said.
France is counting on
Myanmar authorities "not to put up obstacles to them attending," he
said.
Myanmar's ambassador to France, Wunna Maung Lwin, was summoned to
the Foreign Ministry on Tuesday and told about the invitation, Ladsous said. The
spokesman called for Suu Kyi's immediate release.
She and members of her
party were taken into "protective custody" after a clash between government
backers and her supporters during a political tour in northern Myanmar on May
30.
The government said four people were killed in the violence.
Unconfirmed reports from dissidents put the number at 70.
Myanmar, also
known as Burma, has been ruled by the military since 1962. The current junta
came to power in 1988 after a bloody crackdown on pro-democracy campaigners,
leaving thousands dead.
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Asian Tribune
Date :
2003-06-25
Burma on the boil
By Damien
Kingsbury
Despite widespread cynicism over the claim that its
invasion of Iraq was motivated by a desire to remove an "evil" regime, the
United States now wants, it seems, to substantiate that position by refocussing
its attention on Burma. Burma has long been regarded as having the world's worst
human rights record and, along with Afghanistan, being in the top two of the
world's heroine producers.
When the US shifted its focus away from the
Iraq invasion rationale of Weapons of Mass Destruction to one of removing an
odious regime, many around the world immediately cited Burma as at least as
worthy a cause for such attention. The re-arrest of Burma's pro-democracy leader
Aung San Suu Kyi, during a government-provoked riot in northern Burma on 30 May,
and the deaths of her numerous supporters, has now given the US the peg upon
which to hang its new focus.
The riot broke out when Suu Kyi travelled to
the northern Burmese town of Dipeyin to visit supporters of the National League
for Democracy (NLD). Following an established pattern, the visit was disrupted
by hundreds of pro- government provocateurs who attacked Suu Kyi's motorcade and
NLD supporters.
The government, the State Peace and Development Council
(SPDC), said that four people were killed in the riot and a further 50 injured.
However, NLD sources say that more than 100 were killed or remain missing, and
hundreds were injured. The NLD's ageing deputy leader, Tin Oo, is among the
missing and is presumed to be under arrest.
Responding to the arrest of
Suu Kyi and the attack on the NLD supporters, US Deputy Secretary of Defence
Paul Wolfowitz told Radio Free Asia that US President George Bush is "pursuing
every possible avenue" for the release of Suu Kyi and the promotion of democracy
in Burma.
Wolfowitz said that he was personally "very concerned" about
Suu Kyi's arrest, and more importantly "I know the whole administration -- the
US administration, including the president of the United States -- have
discussed her case and are trying to pursue every avenue possible to assure her
safety, to get her released, and ultimately the goal is to have the [1990]
election in that country honoured."
Burma has been ruled by a military
government since a coup in 1962, with a further internal coup occurring in 1988.
Following massive demonstrations and the murder by the government of thousands
of protesters, in 1990 the SPDC held democratic elections that were
overwhelmingly won by the NLD. However, the SPDC refused to honour the election
results and immediately placed Suu Kyi under house arrest. Suu Kyi was
subsequently awarded a Nobel Peace prize for her efforts to restore democracy to
Burma.
Wolfowitz said that President Bush "made it clear that he
understands what's at stake here, the fundamental issues of human rights and
democracy".
"Aung San Suu Kyi has been a real heroine in this fight. She
is greatly admired in the United States, and we are deeply concerned about her
situation."
The use of the term "heroine" within the Burmese context is
in one sense ironic. The US has also been long concerned about Burma's leading
role in the international heroine market. There are currently around 30 heroine
refineries in Burma near the Thai border, 10 of which are said to be large.
Senior members of the SPDC are believed to directly benefit from their support
for the refineries, while the illegal income is openly laundered through Burmese
banks and helps prop up the ailing local economy.
Putting substance into
US expressions of concern, the US government has announced its support for
sanctions against Burma, with the US Secretary of State Colin Powell describing
the SPDC as "thugs". The US is also pressing for a resumption of talks between
the SPDC and Suu Kyi aimed at moving Burma towards democracy.
In the
clearest signal yet confirming the shift in the US position on Burma, in a
commentary in a recent edition of the Wall Street Journal, Mr Powell said that,
"It is time for the United States to reassess its policy towards a military
dictatorship that has repeatedly attacked democracy and jailed its heroes."
This followed a fact-finding mission by US embassy staff that found
sharpened bamboo stakes, wooden clubs and blood-stained clothing at the scene of
the riot, concluding that it had been started by government-affiliated gangs.
The SPDC has maintained that the riot was started by NLD supporters who pushed
their way through pro-government supporters.
The US Senate has now passed
a bill by a vote of 97 to one to impose economic sanctions on Burma, and the US
House of Representatives International Relations Committee has approved a
similar bill. This means that Burmese goods will be banned from import into the
US, while American companies will also be banned from exporting to or investing
in Burma.
The US imports about $356 million in goods, mostly textiles,
clothing and footwear, from Burma each year, which comprises about 20 per cent
of that country's exports. However, the chaotic, depressed Burmese economy is
mostly run on an informal or black market basis, so formal bans are unlikely to
have little practical effect.
However, as with other countries that have
had US trade bans imposed on them, the knock-on effect to third countries
considering trading with or investing in Burma could be significant, as would
the symbolic impact of further isolating the SPDC in the international
community.
Powell said he intended to use the latest 10-member
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) meeting in Cambodia to focus the
attention of the member countries on the issue of Burma.
Powell has also
suggested a ban on remittances to Burma so that the SPDC could not benefit from
an assets and foreign exchange freeze placed on the country. Malaysia's Prime
Minister Dr Mahatir Mohamed, has already said that he rejected the idea of
imposing bans on Burma, while Singapore remains Burma's largest single investor
and, after China, its chief supplier of weapons. Burma has been battling
separatist rebellions since its formation in 1948, which were also used by the
army to legitimise its 1962 coup. Burma now has the largest standing army in
Southeast Asia, and is believed to spend up to 40 per cent of government revenue
on the military.
China has also opposed pressuring Burma on human rights
issues, in part because of its close relationship with the SPDC and also because
it, too, feels vulnerable on the human rights front.
However, Burma's
neighbour, Thailand, is also lining up with the US on the Burma issue.
Thailand's Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said he wanted the SPDC to resume
"an immediate substantive dialogue" with Suu Kyi and the NLD. Thailand has a
lengthy history of difficult relations with Burma, and has long been used as a
conduit both for Burma's illegal heroine shipments as well as a staging post, in
border areas, for anti-government groups.
Over the past two years the
Thai government has formally abandoned its "buffer zone policy" of supporting
anti- SPDC groups on Thai soil. However, relations between the two countries
have remained tense, with regular reports of Burmese army incursions into Thai
territory in pursuit of anti-SPDC guerrillas.
Thailand is likely to
further support US efforts against Burma, but it may be a lone voice in a region
that has in the past chosen not to gaze at others' problems for fear of
attracting too much attention to their own.
- Al-Ahram Weekly: 19 - 25
June -
Damien Kingsbury - The writer is head of Philosophical, Political
and International Studies at Deakin University, Australia, and is author of
South-East Asia: A Political Profile, Oxford University Press, 2001.
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