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BURMA RELATED NEWS
- February 01, 2003.
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HEADLINES
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Reuters - Amnesty Meets Suu Kyi
in First Myanmar Visit
AFP - "Just say No" -- Bush
dashes Myanmar's hopes of anti-drugs recognition
AFP - Thailand's three-month
war against drugs begins
AFP - Myanmar junta prepared for
royal visit: Thai army commander
VOA News - US Singles Out Burma,
Haiti, Guatemala for Failure to Cooperate in Drug War
Washington File - Burma, Guatemala,
Haiti Failed in Drug War Cooperation, U.S. Says
Asian Tribune - Burmese
Democratic Activists want an end of HR trainings for junta by
Australia.
Bkk Post - Rangoon
welcomes Amnesty
-------------------------------------------------------------------- Amnesty Meets Suu Kyi in First Myanmar Visit Fri Jan 31,12:10 PM ET YANGON (Reuters) - Representatives from human rights watchdog Amnesty International, allowed entry for the first time to military-ruled Myanmar, met Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi on Friday, her opposition party said. "The meeting lasted about two hours and took place at Suu Kyi's residence," National League for Democracy spokesman U Lwin told Reuters. He gave no further details. Military ruled Myanmar, keen to break its economic and political isolation, has softened its stance to human rights investigators in the last two years. The government has given the go-ahead to probes by the International Labour Organization into allegations of forced labor and has also allowed the Red Cross to visit political prisoners. Donna Guest, one of the two Amnesty International representatives visiting Myanmar told Reuters she and her colleague had no plans to leave Yangon during their 10-day stay. She said they would try to meet as many diplomats and non-government organizations as possible and would try to visit prisons in the Myanmar capital. The United Nations says Myanmar has around 1,200 political prisoners, many of whom were detained when the army refused to accept a 1990 landslide election victory by Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy. Human rights groups and Western governments also accuse the Myanmar military of the systematic rape of women and girls in a war against ethnic minority separatists, using forced labor and forced conscription of child soldiers. The ruling generals, under intense international political pressure, released Suu Kyi from house arrest in May last year but have so far been reluctant to talk with the NLD about political transition in the impoverished country. --------------------------------------------------------------------
Saturday February 1, 2:20 PM
"Just say No" -- Bush dashes Myanmar's hopes of
anti-drugs recognition
WASHINGTON, Feb 1 (AFP) - President George W. Bush Friday accused Myanmar of failing to adequately battle drugs production, in a body blow to Yangon's calculated bid to shed its reputation as "narco-state." The decision featured in the president's annual report to Congress listing countries which fail to meet US standards for combating the drugs trade, and which are therefore face US sanctions. But even as the decision, which had been expected, was officially confirmed, the State Department noted some progress in Myanmar's anti-drug campaign, apparently keen to encourage future anti-narcotics efforts. Myanmar made a strenuous effort to convince the United States that its oft-trumpeted anti-drugs operation is genuine, and reacted with characteristic bile when it realised late last year its campaign would founder. Bush certified that Myanmar had "failed demonstrably" to fight drugs production. It will be angered that Bush made a similar determination on two other nations but shielded them from the implications of the decision. The president determined that sustained US aid to Guatemala and Haiti "is vital to the national interest" of the United States but "did not make this determination" for Myanmar, the White House said in a statment. Recognition for anti-narcotics policies was seen as number one on Yangon's wishlist in a charm offensive designed to ease relations with the United States, which included the hiring of a Washington DC-based lobbying firm. The Yangon junta, pilloried by Washington over its human rights record and suppression of democracy, said in December it had been told by US officials it would fail to gain a favorable drugs rating. "The denial comes after a massive effort by Myanmar to achieve a series of drug-eradication accomplishments including significant decreases in opium production and cooperation with US law enforcement authorities," Myanmar said in a statement. Yangon government spokesman Colonel Hla Min, said "our struggle to become a drug free society will continue on track, with or without American recognition for our efforts." State Department officials said at that time that no determination had yet been made -- but a swirl of rumors that some sectors of the administration had wanted to offer Myanmar a narcotics olive branch underscored the highly politicised nature of the issue. Yangon earlier last year even garnered rare but highly qualified praise from Washington for its anti-narcotics efforts. It sent anti-drugs czar Colonel Kyaw Thein to Washington and conducted a string of public events in which large quantities of seized narcotics were torched. US officials have nevertheless admitted that certain members of the military regime in Yangon are sincere about the anti-drugs drive, despite their fierce criticism of the government's record on human rights, economic management and political repression. State Department spokeswoman Anne Marks said late Friday that Myanmar had made "continued progress" in stopping narcotics production. And significantly, the department appeared acknowledged that the drugs problem was bound up in Yangon's delicate relations with ethnic minority groups which have made uneasy peace deals with the central government. But Marks noted that while opium production had declined in Myanmar, the former Burma, metamphetamine production was growing. Any change of drugs status for Myanmar has been fiercely resisted by supporters of the embattled opposition of Aung San Suu Kyi in the US Congress and the non-governmental organisation community. Campaigners fear that the junta would showcase its new status and portray it as international acceptance of its rule. --------------------------------------------------------------------
Saturday February 1, 2:34 PM
Thailand's three-month war against drugs begins
BANGKOK, Feb 1 (AFP) - Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra on Saturday declared the start of a three-month drive to rid Thailand of drugs and announced a huge increase in rewards for helping to stamp them out. "Today is the first day that we declare war on drugs. I ask all government officials to fully cooperate," Thaksin said during his weekly radio address. "I have warned government officials to work hard during these three months, and asked them to shoulder 100 percent responsibility." The campaign is in particular targeting methamphetamines. Addiction to "yaa baa" or "crazy pills", as they are commonly known, has reached alarming levels among Thais. Thaksin offered government officials, including police and military officers, a boosted incentive in the fight by announcing an increase in the ceiling for rewards from 200,000 baht (4,683 dollars) to three million baht. The new drive is intended to see closer cooperation between provincial administrations and police, with provincial governors being called on to produce clear strategies against drugs. The public is also being encouraged to pass on information on drug dealers and tough action is promised against officials involved in trafficking. Thaksin branded those officials involved in the trade "betrayers" of the nation. In a ceremony marking the beginning of the fight on Friday, Thaksin gave a rallying speech and named himself commanding general of the war. "We must join forces to fight this enemy of the nation. You must trust me for I will not allow the task to be halted by any influences. We must fight hard. We must win," he was cited as saying in the Bangkok Post. The campaign was instigated following revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej's call in his birthday speech in December for a national war on drugs. The flood of methamphetamines into Thailand is blamed on drug factories in Myanmar operating along the border with the kingdom. The drugs trade is a perennial irritant in bilateral relations, with each side accusing the other of supporting ethnic armies engaged in the trade. Thailand's army said recently it was braced for a record influx of up to one billion methamphetamine pills to be trafficked across the Myanmar border this year, up from an estimated 700 million pills in 2002. Thaksin is scheduled to pay his second official visit to Myanmar on February 9 and 10, with the drugs issue topping his agenda. --------------------------------------------------------------------
Saturday February 1, 2:07 PM
Myanmar junta prepared for royal visit: Thai
army commander
BANGKOK, Feb 1 (AFP) - Thailand's army commander General Somdhat Attanand said Saturday after a two-day visit to Myanmar that the country's military junta had told him it was prepared for a royal visit in March. Somdhat met with junta number one Senior General Than Shwe and his Myanmar counterpart General Maung Aye, who said they were ready for a royal visit by Thailand's Princess Sirindhorn in March, spokesman Colonel Somkuan Sangpattaranetr said. "Than Shwe told our army chief that Myanmar's authorities are fully prepared to welcome Princess Sirindhorn for an official visit in March," the spokesman quoted Somdhat as saying. No date has yet been set for the visit by the princess, who would represent her father King Bhumibol Adulyadej, although the proposed visit has been discussed on both sides since February last year. Myanmar's junta also told Somdhat that they would cooperate with the Thais to provide security when Thailand's Queen Sirikit visits the border area, Somkuan told AFP. Several royal-initiated projects are located in the area, including crop substitution projects aimed at eliminating opium cultivation. A visit by the queen to a village in the area last year was cancelled due to fighting on the border between Myanmar's military forces and rebels, which spilled into Thailand. "Myanmar has pledged to fully cooperate in security preparations for the Queen's trips to the border," he added. Myanmar and Thailand have a rocky relationship, due both to a flourishing drugs trade on the Myanmar side of their border and regular dry-season border clashes between armed ethnic minority groups, and Myanmar's ruling military forces and allied ethnic groups. Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra is scheduled to make his second visit to Myanmar as premier on February 9 and 10. He has said the drugs issue would be at the top of his agenda, and also that he would push the junta into negotiating peace with the rebel groups. --------------------------------------------------------------------
VOA News
US Singles Out Burma, Haiti, Guatemala for Failure to Cooperate in Drug War David Gollust State Department 01 Feb 2003, 05:04 UTC The State Department Friday said Burma, Guatemala and Haiti had "failed demonstrably" to cooperate with the United States in battling drug trafficking. Of the three countries, only Burma will be subject to U.S. sanctions because of its poor marks in the drug fight. The report on cooperation in anti-narcotics efforts is an annual requirement by Congress, and the most prominent change in this year's report is the demotion of Guatemala from the ranks of U.S. anti-drug allies into the small category of states whose efforts were deemed unsatisfactory. At a news briefing, acting Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs Paul Simons said Guatemala's counter-narcotics performance "deteriorated substantially" in the past year. He said narcotics seizures and arrests by Guatemalan authorities declined and that the country's anti-drug police units were mired in corruption. "Narcotics seizures and narcotic-related prosecutions were sharply down," he said. "Police stole twice the quantity of drugs that they officially seized. And they were identified with drug related extra-judicial executions of both narco-traffickers and civilians. However, the Guatemalan government did reopen negotiations with the United States on a maritime counter-narcotics agreement, and has begun regularly destroying newly confiscated drugs not need for evidence." Countries like Guatemala, rated as having demonstrably failed in anti-drug efforts, would be subject to a cut-off of U.S. aid and face U.S. opposition to international loans. However President Bush invoked a clause of the 1986 law from Congress allowing him to waive the penalties if it served vital U.S. national interests. Mr. Simons said an aid cut-off would have resulted in a "further deterioration" of Guatemalan institutions trying to combat corruption and organized crime. A similar waiver was given in the case of Haiti, even though Mr. Simons said that country's counter-drug commitment remained "very weak." Haiti is described in the report as a major transshipment point for illegal drugs, mainly cocaine, heading for the United States from South America. But it said an aid cut-off would only worsen conditions in the impoverished Caribbean country. Burma had openly campaigned for certification of its anti-drug efforts and Mr. Simons credited it with some useful steps, including cooperation with U.S. and regional law-enforcement agencies and action to curb money-laundering. But he said production in Burma of large quantities of opium-based and synthetic drugs continued last year. "Large scale poppy cultivation and opium production continued, and large quantities of methamphetamines were produced in, and trafficked from Burma, which had serious adverse consequences on neighboring countries and throughout the region," he said. "In addition seizures of methamphetamines were significantly lower in 2002 compared with 2001. Burma also failed to take significant steps to curb involvement in illicit narcotics trafficking by the largest, most powerful and most important trafficking organization within its borders, the United Wa State Army." The report included criticism of two close U.S. allies, Canada and the Netherlands in connection with the burgeoning trade in synthetic drugs. It said there had been an "alarming" increase in traffic across the Canadian border of one major synthetic, pseudo-ephedrine, as well as highly potent marijuana. It said a significant amount of the synthetic drug "ecstacy" or MDMA originates in the Netherlands and said the United States expects Dutch authorities to move effectively in the coming year against "ecstacy" labs and traffickers. Despite the critical comments, neither Canada nor the Netherlands were listed among the 23 countries, mostly in Latin America and Asia, identified in the report as major narcotics producers or transit-points. --------------------------------------------------------------------
Washington File
31 January 2003 Burma, Guatemala, Haiti Failed in Drug War Cooperation, U.S. Says (Aid will continue to flow to Guatemala, Haiti; not to Burma) (710) By Charlene Porter Washington File Staff Writer Washington ? The Bush Administration has determined that Burma, Guatemala, and Haiti have "failed demonstrably" over the last year to do what is necessary to counter international narcotics trafficking. President Bush sent that report to Congress January 31, based on a recommendation from the Secretary of State. He does so in compliance with a law that requires the administration to ascertain annually how well countries are doing in complying with international counternarcotics agreements. The narcotics certification process, as it is known, requires that the administration evaluate countries that have designated as major illicit drug-producing or drug-transit countries. The 2003 certification process puts the same 23 countries on the so-called Majors list that were on it in 2002: Afghanistan, The Bahamas, Bolivia, Brazil, Burma, China, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Haiti, India, Jamaica, Laos, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Thailand, Venezuela, and Vietnam. Acting Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs Paul Simons explained the 2003 findings in a January 31 press briefing at the Department of State. He said Burma's performance "remained inadequate," even though the country has achieved a significant decrease in the cultivation and production of opium. The new report also cites better Burmese cooperation with U.S. and regional law enforcement agencies, and steps toward passage of anti-money laundering legislation. That did not serve to counterbalance the significant opium cultivation and methamphetamine production and trafficking, Simons said. "In addition, seizures of methamphetamines were significantly lower in 2002 compared with 2001," he said. "The Guatemalan government's counternarcotics performance deteriorated substantially in 2002," Simon said. He cited fewer narcotics seizures, prosecutions and an increase in police theft of illegal drugs taken into custody. Despite those problems, the findings also note progress in Guatemala, specifically the reopening of negotiations with the United States on a maritime counternarcotics agreement, increased destruction of narcotics seized from traffickers but not needed for evidence, and the reconstitution of a new police narcotics unit after revelations of corruption within the agency. The law authorizing the narcotics certification process does carry sanctions for inadequate performance -- the withholding of all but humanitarian aid. The president has the option to waive those penalties, and he has done so this year for both Guatemala and Haiti. "Suspension of assistance to Guatemala would result in further deterioration of precisely those Guatemalan institutions that are essential to combating the influence of organized crime," Simons said. The president's findings also tell a good news-bad news story in the case of the third and final country cited with a failed performance in counternarcotics activity -- Haiti. Simons described the Haitian government's commitment to counterdrug efforts as "very weak," saying the island nation remains a major transshipment point for drugs moving from South American producers to markets in North America. Simons did give the government credit for two anti-drug actions, however. "They did put into force a bilateral, maritime, counternarcotics interdiction agreement, and they established an as yet untested financial intelligence unit." Despite the inaction of the Haitian government as described in the findings, U.S. assistance will not be withheld. "This assistance is important in order to alleviate hunger, increase access to education, combat environmental degradation, fight the spread of HIV/AIDS, and foster the development of civil society," Simons said. In the past the certification process has focused primarily on agriculturally based drugs such as cocaine, marijuana and opium. In recent years the report has widened its focus as the trafficking of synthetic drugs has become a growing problem in many parts of the world. The 2003 report notes "the alarming increase" in the quantity of ecstasy (MDMA) entering the United States, much of which is produced in the Netherlands. In addition, the report expresses concern about Canada as a source country for pseudoephedrine which is brought into the United States and used in the illegal manufacture of methamphetamine. "The President expressed his desire to continue to work closely in a continuing partnership with the governments of the Netherlands and Canada to address these issues," according to the report. (The Washington File is a product of the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov) --------------------------------------------------------------------
Asian Tribune
Date : 2003-02-01 Burmese Democratic Activists want an end of HR trainings for junta by Australia. 26 civil society organizations and groupings from Burma have today urged Australia to end its support for human rights trainings in Burma that had begun more than two years ago. In their open letter to Alexander Downer, Minister of Foreign Affairs, the groups, among which are Students and Youth Congress of Burma, United Nationalities Youth League, Women's League of Burma and the National Council of the Union of Burma, have emphasized the lack of improvement in the human rights situation in Burma, despite the ten courses that have been conducted by the Castan Centre for Human Rights Law, Monash University since July 2000. ?(T)he main reason why we are so strongly opposed to the Australian-funded human rights trainings is that they are clearly being used by the regime to deflect criticism of their human rights record, and thereby gain international legitimacy without having to implement proper democratic reform," says the petition. "Such legitimacy equates to increased foreign investment, which will directly support the dictatorship and halt the path to democracy.? Apart from the lack of improvement in the human rights area, it also charges that the military has continued to build up its army a large proportion of which being forcibly conscripted child soldiers, quoting reports by Human Rights Watch Asia and UNICEF. ?The continuing flow of refugees into Burma's neighboring countries is a testimony to the ongoing oppression and human rights violations inside Burma,? it adds. Aung San Suu Kyi, the Burmese Opposition leader, had also denounced the trainings as ?pointless and a waste of money.? Copies of the petition had also been sent to Kevin Rudd, Shadow Minister of Foreign Affairs; John Faulker, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate; Stephen Conroy, Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate; Jennifer Macklin, Shadow Minister for Status of Women and Simon Crean, Leader of the Opposition Labor Party, according to Nang Lao Liang Won, the petition?s spokesperson. --------------------------------------------------------------------
Bangkok Post - Saturday 01 February
2003
Rangoon welcomes Amnesty Burma's military rulers are preparing to defend the country's human rights record. LARRY JAGAN The United Nations will discuss Burma's appalling human rights record at its annual meeting in Geneva in mid-March, including allegations that Burmese soldiers routinely rape ethic women along the border with Thailand. In the meantime, in an effort to deflect criticism, Burma has welcomed the human rights group Amnesty International, which arrived in Rangoon to investigate the human rights situation there. This is the first time the UK-based human rights organisation has been allowed into the country. The Amnesty delegation will meet government ministers, leaders of the pro-democracy opposition, UN officials and NGOs while there. ``It's an initial visit and no major report is expected to emerge from the trip,'' according to sources in Amnesty. ``Amnesty International has been invited to Burma to see current developments in the area of human rights in the country,'' said a senior Burmese government official. The two Amnesty investigators will spend 10 days in Burma meeting government officials and representatives of other relevant organisations. But they are also expected to meet the leader of the opposition, Aung San Suu Kyi, and representatives of many of the countries ethnic groups. Amnesty is wary of making any of the details of its trip public, for fear it might jeopardise the success of the mission. ``Amnesty International's delegates were granted visas to Burma and will hold a press conference in Bangkok after their visit. Until then, AI has no comments to make on its mission to Burma,'' the organisation's press officer said. According to sources in Amnesty, it is a preliminary visit and its main priority is to inform Burma's military rulers of the organisation's purpose and work. Apart from that, the delegation will spend much of its time looking at Burma's laws and legal system. Diplomats in Rangoon described it as a confidence-building trip. The UN special rapporteur on human rights in Burma, Professor Paulo Pinheiro, said he welcomed the Amnesty visit and saw it as concrete evidence that the regime was serious about engaging the international community in a dialogue on the issue of human rights. ``This dialogue will be able to help the promotion of human rights in Burma, and bring hope to the victims of abuses in the near future _ and that is what really counts _ as well as benefit the work of international NGOs in Burma.'' For the Burmese military government, it is certainly a major publicity coup. Amnesty International has been one of the most strident critics of the military regime's abuse of human rights, ever since the army seized power more than 14 years ago. ``The generals are hoping that by inviting Amnesty and engaging them in a dialogue on human rights, they can convince the international community that they are serious about improving their human rights record and introducing democratic reform,'' said a senior Western diplomat. Nevertheless, Rangoon's invitation to Amnesty is a significant gesture on the part of Burma's military rulers. ``I would like to praise both Burma and Amnesty for this bold decision _ it is consistent with the coherent and principled policy of engagement that I have been proposing,'' said Mr Pinheiro, the UN rapporteur. Over the past few years, international bodies like the International Red Cross, the International Labour Organisation and the UN Human Rights Commission have all engaged the regime on issues related to human rights. As a result, some progress has indeed been made. This interaction between the Burmese military and the international agencies has brought some positive results according to Mike Jendrzejczyk, the spokesman for US-based Human Rights Watch Asia. ``There have been some limited but important improvements, including the release of political prisoners, improved humanitarian treatment of some prisoners, and commitments and decrees to end forced labour, though implementation remains a major problem,'' he said. But it will take more than this single mission to do that. There is very little the Amnesty team can expect to do in the short space of time they will have in Burma, other than familiarise themselves with the situation first-hand and introduce themselves to key members of the government. Many democracy activists outside the country fear that Amnesty is being used to help deflect criticism of the junta's lack of progress on human rights at the annual UN hearings which begin in Geneva in mid-March. The UN rapporteur on human rights will visit Burma again on a follow-up mission prior to reporting to the Geneva meeting. Diplomats in Rangoon say that it would be unfair to expect too much to come from Amnesty's initial visit to Rangoon. But they believe any serious exposure the country's senior military commanders get to human rights issues can only help. ``I expect AI will make a major push for the release of many more political prisoners, an end to serious abuses in ethnic minority areas, and adoption of other recommendations by Amnesty and the UN,'' said Human Rights Watch Asia spokesman. ``Any progress along those lines would be very welcome.'' - Larry Jagan is a freelance writer based in Bangkok, who specialises on Burma. Until recently, he was the news and current affairs editor for Asia and the Pacific for the BBC World Service. -------------------------------------------------------------------- |