Myanmar's HR violations slated'
GENEVA, Mar 15: Two international reports on Myanmar condemned Tuesday widespread human rights violations and the large scale displacement and mistreatment of some ethnic groups, reports AFP. "The adoption by the government of Myanmar of military solutions to political problems ... continues to generate a pattern of gross and systematic human rights violations," a UN report released in Geneva said. "Myanmar's ethnic and religious minorities such as the Karen, Karenni, Shan and Rohingyas continue to suffer severe abuses including arbitrary arrest, killings, forced labour in the army and trafficking of women," said the report compiled by special rapporteur Rajsoomer Lallah in January. "The policy of large scale displacement of certain ethnic groups, the continued practice of forced labour for military camp work and portering and related human rights violations remain the main cause of refugee movements.''Meanwhile, an Amnesty International report compiled by four Danish doctors and a representative of the DanChurchAid group who in 1997 and 1999 examined Myanmar refugees in Thailand, also found evidence of human rights violations.The 1997 refugees had been "subjected to forced labour and porter service, forced relocation from their villages, arbitrary arrest, and physical assault, including torture and killing,'' said Dr Hans Draminsky Petersen.Refugees from 1999 "reported just a massive and systematic violations of human rights, and there was nothing to suggest that the situation had improved during the two intervening years.''
Reuters, 16 March 2000BANGKOK, March 16 (Reuters) - Military-ruled Myanmar is giving "confused and conflicting signals" about its AIDS crisis and not diverting enough resources to essential health programmes, UNICEF's regional director has said.
"There are times when one part of the Burmese (Myanmar) government seems to acknowledge HIV/AIDS is a big and growing problem," Kul Gautam told Reuters in an interview.
"And then you hear another part of the government at another time saying 'it's not a big problem, it's all being exaggerated'.
"From Burma we are getting confused and conflicting signals on the HIV/AIDS situation," he said on Wednesday.
Gautam, whose becomes the U.N. Children's Fund's new deputy executive director next month, said the Myanmar government's estimate of HIV infections was only around 25,000 while the World Health Organisation projected at least 440,000.
"Our own estimation is that the situation is quite critical -- that the number of cases of HIV/AIDS is certainly far in excess of the government figures that we hear.
"I would say this -- let us not quibble about which figure is right. The fact is that HIV/AIDS incidents are on the rise and no effective measures seem to be taken in Myanmar that are commensurate with the crisis."
He said he believed the international community was "eager and willing" to provide more help to Myanmar for HIV/AIDS programmes, but added: "We would like to see greater action, greater acknowledgement, greater openness."
GENERAL SAYS AIDS PROBLEM EXAGGERATED
In January, Lieutenant-General Khin Nyunt, the intelligence chief considered the most powerful figure in Myanmar's government, accused critics of exaggerating the country's AIDS problem and said it was not the catastrophe they maintained.
He said data on AIDS sent by "destructive elements" to the international community had been totally false and disparaged Myanmar's dignity.
He also said the military had made progress in the health sector since coming to power in 1988, spending 3.09 billion kyats on it in the year to March 31, 1999.
At the free market exchange rate of about 350 kyats to the dollar, this meant government health expenditure in a country of 47 million totalled just $880,000. At the official rate of six to the dollar it was about $51 million.
According to a recent World Bank report, health spending that year was just two percent of government spending, against 32 percent for defence.
Gautam said Myanmar needed to treat AIDS as a serious public health problem, adding: "Far too much of a political connotation seems to be given by the Myanmar authorities themselves to this issue."
"I think that any underestimation or belittling of the problem just delays more effective action."
He said UNICEF programmes in Myanmar, including its polio immunisation programme, had been very successful, but Myanmar had not done enough to support them.
"Much of the progress is being achieved through external support... the government itself is not allocating enough funds."
Gautam said other poor countries had taken greater financial responsibility for such programmes.
"Let me give the example of Bangladesh -- it is poorer than Burma in terms of national income and Bangladesh now procures a sizeable number of vaccines with its own money."
Bangkok Post , 16 March 2000
Flood of speed pills from Burma expected this year
Anucha
Charoenpo An estimated 600 million methamphetamine pills,
produced in Burma, will find their way into all parts of Thailand this year, a
deputy commissioner of the Narcotics Suppression Bureau said yesterday. "Burma has a policy of concentrating its ethnic minority groups along the
border to speed up the production of methamphetamines, especially this year,"
Pol Maj-Gen Inthadej Pornpiraphan said. Intelligence information revealed the drug was being produced by as many as
55 factories along the border. Each refinery had the capacity to produce about one million pills a month.
Thailand could be flooded by about 600 million methamphetamine tablets this
year, he warned. Pol Maj-Gen Inthadej called on anti-drug agencies to concentrate on solving
the problem, since methamphetamine pills were being widely used by Thai youths
and schoolchildren. Earlier this year, the Burmese junta announced the relocation of Wa and Ko
Kang ethnic groups from their homes in the northern Shan State to areas adjacent
to the northern Thai border. Pol Maj-Gen Inthadej said the area would soon become a major drug-producing
centre since these groups knew nothing but growing opium. BBC, 16 March 2000, 10:08 GMT
James Mawdsley, a former Bristol University student, was jailed last
year for handing out anti-government literature and entering the country
illegally.
His family say they are worried about his decision not to eat
for 20 days.
Mr Mawdsley's father David, who lives in London, said:
"James would like a fair trial and a lawyer who could stand up for him and be
able to speak the truth without the lawyer fearing for his life or his family's
life."
Mr Mawdsley went on: "James was not given a trial and he wants
the script of the so-called trial. He was put in a room with people in uniform
and threatened with torture.
"We are terribly worried for his health but
the family support him 100%. This is James's purpose.
"He is well at the
moment because he has just been visited by staff from the Rangoon embassy."
No early release
Mr Mawdsley said he was looking for an
international lawyer.
His son, from Ormskirk, Lancs, a citizen of both
Britain and Australia, had been protesting at the military regime which has
ruled Burma since 1962.
He had been arrested in Burma on two previous
occasions.
Earlier this year, his family was told the 17-year jail term
was unlikely to be reduced.
Burma's government said Mr Mawdsley was "not
an actual threat to national security" but could not be trusted not to repeat
similar activities in the country again.