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The Nation - June 19, 2000 Suu Kyi calls on women to join forces
PRO-DEMOCRACY leader Aung San Suu Kyi has called on Burmese women to work together to improve the country., "Women should not underestimate their strength and power." "The struggle for democracy is not slowing down - it is continuing strongly because of women," Suu Kyi said in a bilingual video message to mark Women of Burma Day yesterday - also her birthday. "The relatives of those [in our party] arrested [by the Burmese junta] support us in many ways. We understand that this is the strength and power of our women. Women should not underestimate this. "Not long ago, I met a lady whose son was arrested and another whose daughter had also been detained. Both have a very similar attitude. They believe what their children believe in is right and will support them with whatever it takes. One mother told her daughter 'Do not resign from the NLD because of me.' "I have noticed that among our colleagues, it is those with the staunchest wives who are able to do the best work. It's the wife who decides how effectively and how freely the husband can work in the political field. It is the wife who is prepared to sacrifice her own comfort or her beliefs who is best able to help her husband do his work. Women are very important in our movement. "We find that it is the woman who sometimes has a better understanding of why we are struggling for democracy because she strips away all the political jargon and gets down to basic facts. What women want is a safer, better life for their children and their families. On the surface, this seems narrow and selfish but it's not like that. If you probe deeper, you will find there are wells of understanding and empathy. Women can empathise with the fate of mothers whose children are in prison, of wives who have lost their husbands, of women who are struggling to feed families." of the housewife who goes to the bazaar daily with her heart pounding in case prices have gone up again. The Nobel Laureate also emphasised the role of women in working to improve ethnic relations in Burma. "To have peace and unity in our country, women must lead the way," she said. "Women can work a lot more for understanding, unity and loving kindness among ethnic people. Women have more understanding towards each other. Whether it is a Mon mother, Karen mother, Burmese mother or Chin mother, they all worry for their children and so they understand each other. From this basic understanding, we have to build up unity as a whole in our country. "Therefore, I want our women to be more active and strong. If we all do what we can to get democracy, we will be able to quickly attain our goal. Our goal is to have security and peace for the people of Burma. Therefore, I would like to request all women of Burma to work together for this goal. "I would like to use this occasion especially to thank our women friends from all over the world who have helped us. It is amazing how many women from different countries have taken up the cause of democracy in Burma." Groups around the world have organised events to commemorate Women of Burma Day in countries such as Thailand, the Philippines, India, Japan, Australia, the USA, the UK and South Africa. In Thailand, a group of Burmese women writers will present copies of their new book, "Burma - More Women's Voices", to senators in Bangkok. Yesterday, asylum-seekers held a small ceremony at the Safe Area transit camp in Ratchaburi, while a seminar on education for women was held in Chiang Mai. The Nation Monday June 19 8:05 AM ETUnited States, China to Cooperate on Anti-Drug FightBy Bill Savadove BEIJING (Reuters) - The United States and China have signed an agreement to increase cooperation on fighting drug-related crime, the U.S. government anti-drug czar Barry McCaffrey said Monday. The mutual legal assistance agreement will enable the two countries to share evidence relating to crime and drugs, McCaffrey told reporters. ``What we're looking for is practical cooperation,'' he said. ``What this agreement allows us is to exchange better information between law enforcement agencies.'' McCaffrey is the first director of U.S. drug policy to visit China. He is on a three-country Asian tour aimed at boosting anti-trafficking cooperation. China is a major conduit for heroin from neighboring Myanmar -- previously known as Burma -- as well as a producer of ephedrine, which is used for making methamphetamine. ``There's no questions that there are tonnages of Burmese-produced heroin that transit China, come out through Chinese ports, move on to Canada or New York, move through Seattle, San Francisco,'' McCaffrey said. ``They're moved by Chinese criminal organizations and end up being used on the streets of America,'' he said. McCaffrey said it was difficult to gauge the extent of the problem, but the bulk of heroin used in the United States comes from Mexico and Colombia. The U.S. drug czar arrived in Beijing Saturday for meetings with China's Ministry of Public Security, or police. He also met officials from the State Administration of Physical Culture and Sports to discuss anti-doping efforts. Further Cooperation Pledged As a result of the discussions, the United States and China vowed more cooperation in several areas including sharing intelligence, fighting international criminal organizations and coordinating drug analysis, McCaffrey said. The U.S. had also proposed greater links with the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), which could put a representative in Beijing, and was awaiting a Chinese response, he said. Plagued by opium addiction before 1949, China nearly wiped out drug abuse after the Communist revolution, but narcotics have staged a comeback since free market reforms in 1978. Much of the heroin found in China comes from border regions near the so-called Golden Triangle poppy-growing region where Myanmar, Laos and Thailand meet. McCaffrey will visit a drug treatment center in Kunming, a city near the drug-infested border with Myanmar, Tuesday. He will also visit Hong Kong -- a Special Administrative Region of China -- Vietnam and Thailand with a delegation that includes U.S. drug research experts and Coast Guard officials. Monday June 19 4:52 AM ET Myanmar Says Wants Democracy But Not Under WestYANGON (Reuters) - Myanmar's military government said on Monday it was trying to build democracy, but it would never be a ``democracy under foreign influence.'' Official newspapers carried a speech by Myanmar's powerful intelligence chief, Lieutenant-General Khin Nyunt, pledging movement to democracy but rejecting the meddling of Western nations who wanted to impose their own democratic models on the country. ``Being a member of (the) world community, Myanmar is also making every endeavor to follow the correct path of democratic system which is being practiced by most countries in the world,'' the newspapers quoted the Secretary One of the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) as saying. ``But the nation will not become a democratic one under the influence of others forcibly shaped by some Western nations,'' he told a meeting of service personnel in Myingyan Township, about 400 miles (640 km) north of Yangon, on Sunday. He said Myanmar's democracy should be in conformity with the history of the nation and the people, its customs and character, national norms based on religion and the solidarity of races living in the country. He said some unnamed big Western nations were interfering in the internal affairs of Myanmar through various means while ''internal destructive elements had been ``undermining'' the development process of the country for more than 10 years. He did not elaborate on the kind of democracy he wanted. Myanmar's ruling generals held a democratic election in 1990, which was won by the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) of Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi. But the military authorities have never allowed the NLD to govern and have arrested many of those elected at the polls. The military says Myanmar is not ready for democracy and spent some years organizing discussions on a new constitution, under which it would have held 25 percent of the seats in parliament. That plan was rejected by the NLD and other opposition groups and a normal session of a National Convention to prepare a constitution has not been held since March 1996. Monday June 19 10:18 AM ET Supreme Court Strikes Down Myanmar Trade LawWASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court struck down on Monday a state law that restricts purchases from companies that do business with Myanmar, ruling in an important foreign affairs case about trade sanctions to protest human rights abuses abroad. The unanimous high court declared unconstitutional the Massachusetts law adopted in 1996 after the military regime in the Southeast Asian nation formerly called Burma was accused of drug trafficking, torture and using slave labor. The decision has far-reaching implications as a number of other states and cities across the United States adopted similar laws in the 1980s and 1990s involving Myanmar and other foreign nations. The ruling represented a major victory for the Clinton administration, which said the state law interfered with the federal government's exclusive power to set foreign policy and regulate foreign commerce. Justice David Souter agreed in the 25-page opinion: ``The issue is whether the Burma law of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts ... is invalid under the Supremacy Clause of the National Constitution owing to its threat of frustrating federal statutory objectives,'' Souter wrote. ``We hold that it is.'' Monday, June 19 11:03 AM SGT Russia, but not China, invited to Warsaw democracy gatheringWARSAW, June 19 (AFP) - Poland, backed by a decade of post-communist freedom, will host an unprecedented conference of 100 countries here next week on the theme of democracy and how to make it work. Those attending will include Russia, Ukraine and Indonesia. But the world's remaining major communist state China has not been invited. Poland's acting foreign minister Bronislaw Geremek said the gathering would adopt a Warsaw Declaration outlining basic principles of democracy and calling for their universal recognition. Co-organisers are India, the United States, the Czech Republic, South Korea, Chile and Mali. US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan will attend. The idea of the conference, already in preparation for some months, was first thought up by Geremek and Albright, informed sources said. Old-established democracies and countries "struggling for democracy" had been invited, Geremek told journalists. They include Bosnia, Algeria, Bulgaria and Nepal. But neither the Chinese People's Republic nor Taiwan was on the invitation list given to the press for the gathering on June 26 and 27. Likewise missing were Iraq, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Cuba, Vietnam, Malaysia and the former Soviet republic of Belarus. The conference is entitled "Towards a community of democracies." A major aim was to strengthen links between countries which have chosen the path of democracy. "We should build a relationship of confidence," Geremek said. "Our community should be considered as an open community," he stressed. "A fee, even modest, should be paid to enter it," the minister said: "There is no free lunch for those who refuse democracy." But Geremek said he hoped countries not invited "will see it as a positive challenge." "We do not want to condemn anyone," he added. An interview on video with Aung San Suu Kyi, head of the democratic opposition in Myanmar whose movements have been restricted by the military junta in power, will be shown to participants. Russia has accepted the invitation but will be represented as second-tier delegation. Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov has already said he will not attend. The gathering gives Poland a high profile 20 years after the creation of Solidarity, the union which launched the political opposition to Polish communist rule, and a decade after Poland's prominent role in changes leading to the communist collaps in eastern Europe. The choice of Warsaw for the conference sent "a very important message about the achievements made by Poland in social, political and economic spheres on the path to democracy," Geremek stressed. More than 60 foreign ministers have confirmed their attendance. Others wil send deputies or other officials. Czech President Vaclav Havel, prominent in the Czechoslovak civil rights movement under communism, was originally to give the opening speech, but has cancelled his visit because of health problems. This will be Geremek's last major engagement as Polish foreign minister. He will leave the Polish government immediately afterwards after his party, the Freedom Union, decided earlier this month to quit the coalition. Monday June 19 10:41 AM ET States Lose Trade Discretion CaseBy LAURIE ASSEO, Associated Press WriterWASHINGTON (AP) - The Supreme Court on Monday made it harder for states to refuse to buy from companies that do business in nations known for human-rights abuses. The unanimous decision essentially said that states have no business engaging in foreign policy. The court threw out a Massachusetts law that limits state purchases from companies doing business with Myanmar, also known as Burma. The law is pre-empted by the federal government's own sanctions against Myanmar, the justices said. ``The state act is at odds with the president's intended authority to speak for the United States among the world's nations in developing a comprehensive, multilateral strategy to bring democracy to and improve human rights practices and the quality of life in Burma,'' Justice David H. Souter wrote for the court. The Massachusetts law is similar to the boycotts of South Africa by many states and cities during the apartheid era. However, Souter wrote, ``Since we never ruled on whether state and local sanctions against South Africa in the 1980s were pre-empted or otherwise invalid, arguable parallels between the two sets of federal and state acts do not tell us much about the validity of the latter.'' The decision upholds a federal appeals court decision that invalidated the Massachusetts law. A number of state and local governments, including New York City and Los Angeles, restrict their purchases from companies doing business in countries such as Myanmar, Northern Ireland and China. During the 1980s, many states and cities protested racial apartheid in South Africa by boycotting companies that sold goods to that nation. Massachusetts - home of the 1773 Boston Tea Party in which colonists dumped tea in Boston Harbor rather than pay taxes to England - argued that it had a right to apply a ``moral standard'' to its spending decisions. But the law was challenged by a group that represents companies involved in foreign trade. Foreign policy must be exclusively controlled by the federal government, the National Foreign Trade Council said, because allowing states and cities to have a variety of foreign-trade policies would harm trade overall. The Clinton administration supported the group, citing the federal government's ``preeminent role in acting for the United States in the international arena.'' The military has ruled Myanmar, one of the world's poorest countries, since 1962. In 1988, the military gunned down thousands of protesters during a crackdown on a pro-democracy uprising. Massachusetts' 1996 law says most companies doing business with Myanmar can sell goods and services to the state only if their bid is 10 percent lower than all other bids. The law makes exceptions for purchases of some medical devices, for newsgathering companies, and for international telecommunications companies. Several months after the Massachusetts law was enacted, Congress imposed its own sanctions on Myanmar. Under the law, President Clinton in 1997 barred new U.S. investments in that country. The National Foreign Trade Council challenged the Massachusetts law in 1998. A federal judge ruled for the council, saying the law unconstitutionally interfered with the federal government's authority to conduct foreign policy. The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld that ruling and also said the law was pre-empted by the federal sanctions against Myanmar. The Supreme Court upheld that ruling. ``Congress clearly intended the federal act to provide the president with flexible and effective authority over economic sanctions against Burma,'' Souter wrote. ``It is simply implausible that Congress would have gone to such lengths to empower the president if it had been willing to compromise his effectiveness by deference to every provision of state statute or local ordinance'' that might conflict with federal action, Souter added. The case is Crosby vs. National Foreign Trade Council, 99-474. South China Morning Post
Monday, June 19, 2000 BURMA Exile keeps faith despite long waiting
game
WILLIAM BARNES Sann Aung will tomorrow marry a fellow native of Bassein, the centre of the
watery delta region west of the Burmese capital, Rangoon. He only wishes his
octogenarian parents where there to see it.
"I have not seen them for 10 years. It is painful," said Mr Sann Aung. Nor does the labour minister in the National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma, an opposition exile group, expect to be reunited with his family soon. "I fear we will have to struggle for a while yet," Mr Sann Aung said. That
meant the continuation of many miseries in his homeland, he said, not least the
practice of forcing people, who are already fighting to make ends meet in a
shattered economy, to undertake unpaid and often unpleasant work for the
military Government.
"I meet many, many people who have fled from the country. This is the thing
that often breaks them, makes them flee. It's just too much."
The International Labour Organisation (ILO), a UN-affiliated body, last
week voted 257 to 41 to impose, for the first time, sanctions against a member
country to punish Burma's junta for its use of forced labour.
The military regime hardly helped its cause by resolutely denying that
forced labour still existed, while acknowledging it might have been practised
sometimes in the past, said Mr Sann Aung. This contradicts the ILO's own damning
1998 investigation and two subsequent updates.
The International Confederation of Free Trades Unions, which initiated the
unprecedented ILO vote, estimates that 800,000 Burmese are daily victims of
forced labour.
"Just a few days ago I met a mother and daughter in a very bad emotional
state. They had fled from the Shan State because demands for forced labour made
it impossible for them to make enough to eat," Mr Sann Aung said. "They were
very worried about the father, who had had to leave earlier because the army
suspected that he might be a rebel. He wasn't, but the army has a suspicious and
vengeful mind."
Mr Sann Aung was a dentist working quietly in Bassein until 1988, when his
interest in politics was ignited by nationwide protests against military rule.
Although he is now a firm supporter of Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for
Democracy, he stood as an independent in the 1990 election, which the league won
by a landslide, a result the military has never accepted.
His fear that nothing much will change soon stems from the knowledge that
the generals are running a country where the national coffers are nearly
exhausted and where they fear for their own personal futures under any
non-military regime.
"So, no change soon. But when things do start to happen I think it could
come in a rush. We could surprise the world."
Bangkok Post
- June 19, 2000.
FORCED
LABOUR FM defends decision not to support the
ILO Over resolution on
Burma
Foreign Minister Surin Pitsuwan has defended
Thailand's decision to withhold support for an International Labour Organisation
resolution on forced labour in Burma. Thailand abstained because the resolution would have put too much pressure on
Burma, and more information was needed to clarify the issue, he said. "The resolution placed pressure on members to act upon it. "Thailand considers all parties should do some fact-finding," the minister
said. The ILO resolution called for governments, workers and employers to "review
their links with Burma and take appropriate measures to ensure Burma cannot take
advantage of such relations to perpetuate or extend the system of forced or
compulsory labour."Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and
Vietnam voted against the proposal. Thailand would await the outcome of a thorough examination of the accusations
against Burma, expected in four months, Mr Surin said. A total of 31 ILO members abstained from the vote on Wednesday, while 257
were for and 41 against the motion. The ILO governing body compromised by postponing deliberation of the
resolution until they meet again in November to review whether Burma is making
serious efforts to stamp out forced labour. Foreign Ministry officials viewed the resolution as being drafted in favour
of the United States and other western nations. They said it was too harsh on Burma. One official acknowledged that the Asean version did not truly reflect the
serious situation in Burma. A similar resolution by the ILO on Burma last year was largely ignored by
Rangoon. The Burmese junta has argued that the labour situation was improving. In a speech to military personnel on Sunday one of Burma's top military
leaders, Lieutenant-General Khin Nyunt, said Burma was striving to "follow the
correct path of democratic system which is being practised by most countries".
But he said "the nation will not become a democratic one under the influence
of others forcibly shaped by some Western nations."
But the military have never allowed the winners - the National League for
Democracy (NLD) - to take power.
On Monday the NLD's leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, marked her birthday by urging
Burmese women to step up the struggle for democracy. "I want our women to be more active and strong. If we all do what we can to
get democracy, we will be able to quickly attain our goal. Our goal is to have
security and peace for people of Burma," Aung San Suu Kyi said in her message.
"To have peace and unity in our country, women
need to lead the way. Women can work a lot more for understanding, unity and
loving kindness amongst the ethnic people." Last month the pro-democracy leader, who is also a Nobel laureate, marked the
10th anniversary of the nullified elections by demanding that the military hand
over power.
Respect for tradition
In his speech Lieutenant-General Khin Nyunt did not go into detail about the
kind of democracy he wanted.
The general, whose speech was carried by official newspapers, said Burmese
democracy should conform with the history of the nation and the people, its
customs and character.
He said some unnamed big Western nations were interfering in Burma's internal
affairs through various means, while "internal destructive elements" had been
"undermining" the country's development for more than 10 years.
ILO move condemned
On Friday the Burmese Government said the country's return to democracy could
be delayed by an International Labour Organisation (ILO) resolution aimed at
halting forced labour, which is reportedly widespread in Burma.
The ILO, a UN agency with 174 member states, urged governments and
international institutions to ensure they did not help Burma perpetuate the
practice.
"Such arbitrary action could only impede the process of democratisation and
would prolong rather than hasten the emergence of a democratic society," the
Burmese Government said.
The NLD has rejected any proposal for a fresh ballot, saying the government
must respect the results of the last multi-party elections.
In the run-up to the last month's election anniversary, the military
authorities intensified their crackdown on dissent, warning the media and
Buddhist clergy not to mark the anniversary. President Abdurrahman Wahid has already promised to pardon Mr Suharto, if he
returns cash he allegedly embezzled from the state during his 32-year iron rule.
Although the courts will decide how much the
disgraced president should return, Mr Wahid told the Jakarta Post he expected it
would be at least $25bn. Meanwhile, Mr Suharto has complained to the United Nations human rights body
about his house arrest.
The 79-year-old former president, who suffered a stroke last year, is
expected to be brought to court by August.
Fortune
Last year, the US news magazine, Time, estimated Mr Suharto and his family
stashed away about $15bn, including $9bn in an Austrian bank.
Mr Suharto denied the report, saying he did not have a "single cent" stashed
abroad. But he lost a defamation suit against the magazine. President Wahid, who is in Egypt to attend a G-15 summit, did not say how he
arrived at the $25bn figure.
Mines and Energy Minister Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, appointed by Mr Wahid to
negotiate the return of the wealth, said the family had hinted at a possible
"donation".
Negotiations with Suharto's family have been going on for a month, he added.
"I have sensed a kind of will from the family to donate half of what they
have to the people of Indonesia, but then again this is merely a will so it
needs to be discussed further," Mr Yudhoyono said.
Human rights
Lawyers for Mr Suharto said on Monday they had complained to the UN Human
Rights Commission about his house arrest last week.
Mr Suharto, whose military backed regime was repeatedly condemned for human
rights violations, has been detained at his Jakarta home since 27 May.
The house arrest was ordered after state prosecutors accused him of not
co-operating with their corruption investigation.
But one of Mr Suharto's lawyers, Muhamad Assegaf, said the attorney general's
office had violated Mr Suharto's rights by continuing the investigation despite
his poor health.
Last weekend the former president underwent a brain scan following recent
memory lapses. The results are due within
days. |