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We call on
the international community to Condemn Japan for Its Burma
Policy this August 8 and to hold protests in front of Japanese
embassies throughout the world for the following reasons: Defying
international objections, the Japanese government is overtly trying to resume
help to Burma’s ruling military junta.
Time and again in her speeches, Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi has
pleaded with the Japanese government to help restore democracy in Burma. She has repeatedly asked Japan to
pressure the military to sit down at the negotiation table with the National
League for Democracy, the party that overwhelmingly won the 1990 general
elections. Japan has turned a deaf
ear to Burma’s champion of democracy and instead has helped prolong the rule of
the State Peace and Development Council, the illegal military
government. Though it
promptly cut off official development aid (ODA) to Burma following the brutal
military crackdown on democracy protesters on August 8, 1988 (known as 8888) and
in the weeks following, Japan now plans to provide so-called humanitarian aid
worth US$10 million to Burma each year, according to a June 10 Asahi Shinbun report. This is clear
evidence that Japan is supporting the junta. The
military government of Burma is among the world's worst drug offenders. It gives safe haven to drug kingpins
like Khun Sa and is one of the main sources opium, the raw material for deadly
drugs such as heroin. Yet while
other countries are taking drastic action against the junta, Japan is helping
the narco-dictators through the back door by giving money ostensibly to
cultivate buckwheat. Japan cannot verify that this money will go to crop
substitution, Japan’s action may merely pour fuel on the fire.
For the
upcoming G-8 summit in Okinawa July 21-23, Japan is publicly advocating the
preservation of rainforests, yet at the same time it is helping the Electric
Power Corporation of Japan to dam the Salween River in Burma, a project that
will submerge vast tracts of rainforest and displace ethnic minority
communities. Thus Japan shows one face for its fellow industrialized nations and
a very different one to developing nations like Burma. The International Labor Organizaton recently condemned the junta for using forced labor and warned it to stop its human rights abuses or face worldwide punishment by year-end. Japan’s reaction was to shamelessly criticise the ILO for its decision and admonition. While we understand Japan's fear of pointing a finger at a nation which uses forced labor in light of its widespread use of the practice during the World War II (including in Burma), Japan’s request that a compromise should be found between the ILO and Burma amounts to aiding the unlawful activities of Burma’s junta. Japan, which is trying very hard to become a member of the UN Security Council, is arresting democracy activists seeking refugee in Japan and sending them back to Burma, where they face persecution. Japan refuses to accept as refugees even those so recognised by the UNHCR. How can a Japan, which cannot even give refuge to a few "persons of concern" within its own borders, be trusted to provide security to the rest of the world? During a junta-sponsored concert on May 24,
1999, in Tokyo, two Burmese democracy activists were beaten by two of the military junta’s
people. There is evidence enough of
photographs, videotapes, and eyewitness.
It has recently come to light, however, that the prosecutor conceded that
the case cannot be tried due to insufficient evidence. We think the real reason is pressure
from the Japanese government. The
outcome in this case, where a court is not allowed to punish the wrongdoers, is
an insult not only to the actual victims but also to human rights and last but
not least to all Burmese democracy activists. It shows that administration of justice
in Japan has a long way to go. Keeping its
own economic gains in mind, Japan invited junta Brigadier General Kyaw Win to
Japan at January 1999. More
recently, Japan invited hated junta leader Khin Nyunt, who is responsible for
the killings of democracy activists during 8888, to attend Prime Minister
Obuchi’s funeral last month. It has
used such occasions to help legalise the ruling junta which has not transferred
governmental powers to the elected parliamentarians of the 1990
elections. For all of the above reasons, and because Japan historically has been more responsive to outside pressure, we call on our friends around the world to take a stand against Japan's policy toward Burma. (Send your protest letter to Japanese Government and Japanese Bussiness Companies before August 8. Stage demonstration in front of Japanese Embassies around the world.) |