EBO Burma News, 5 June 2003

News Summary:

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1. UN envoy Myanmar visit to proceed despite doubts over Suu Kyi meeting

2. Support grows in US Congress for sanctions against Myanmar

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

UN envoy Myanmar visit to proceed despite doubts over Suu Kyi meeting

YANGON, June 5 (AFP) - UN envoy Razali Ismail said he would go ahead with a

planned visit to Myanmar Friday even though the junta has warned he may be

barred from seeing Aung San Suu Kyi who has spent a week in detention.

"There was a meeting in New York yesterday where the UN sought the views of

countries involved in looking at the issue of Myanmar and they decided I

should go," he told AFP in Kuala Lumpur Thursday.

Razali said the United Nations was "still seeking clarification on whether

I will be allowed to see Aung San Suu Kyi or not. I have been told (by the

regime) that it may not be possible but we have been appealing to them to get

me to see her."

Razali, a former Malaysian diplomat, said only that he had "various

options" once he arrived in Yangon on his tenth and most important mission

here.

"We have to talk to them in a reasonable fashion. Obviously the right to

see Aung San Suu Kyi is there because I have seen her before when she was

under house arrest -- what's the difference?"

The International Committee of the Red Cross said it had asked Myanmar's

Home Affairs Minister Tin Hlaing for permission to see all those detained

since the clashes, including Aung San Suu Kyi.

----------------------------------

Support grows in US Congress for sanctions against Myanmar

Stephanie Griffith

WASHINGTON, June 4 (AFP) - A groundswell of support grew in the US Congress

Wednesday for sanctions against Myanmar's military regime, following last

weekend's goverment crackdown on pro-democracy activists and the detention of

the country's most visible democracy advocate.

US lawmakers said they are weighing a number of actions to express their

displeasure with the Yangon goverment, from freezing assets belonging to the

country's leaders to prohibiting exports from Myanmar from entering the United

States.

On Wednesday, US Senator Mitch McConnell introduced the "Burmese Freedom

and Democracy Act of 2003," which would impose an import ban on goods

manufactured in Burma (Myanmar).

"Democracy is under attack in Burma today by one of the most repressive

regimes in the world," McConnell said.

He called on Myanmar's military rulers to release pro-democracy campaigner

Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel laureate who leads opposition to the ruling junta

in Myanmar and who was detained during the crackdown.

Her arrest last week came after clashes between her supporters and a

military-backed group. The military reported four deaths in the melee, but

sources in the country told AFP that several dozen people may have died.

"The world must not fail Suu Kyi and other activists during this dark hour

of need," said Mitchell, a Republican from Kentucky who is co-sponsoring the

sanction legislation with a bipartisan slate of senators, including

Massachussetts Democrat Ted Kennedy and Arizona Republican John McCain.

Suu Kyi, who was arrested over the weekend during a political tour of the

region, reportedly was being held at a military camp 40 kilometers (25 miles)

outside Myanmar's capital Yangon.

Senator Dick Lugar on Wednesday also decried Suu Kyi's detention, as well

as "the denial of requests by United States and other officials to meet with

her assuring her good health and well-being are unconscionable," he said.

"She should be released immediately and unconditionally," Lugar said,

adding that detained members of her National League for Democracy should also

be freed.

"The arrest of Aung San Suu Kyi is a major setback toward meaningful

reform, and raises serious questions about whether the current ruling junta

can be trusted to live up to any of its promises," said the Indiana

Republican, who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

On Tuesday, Senator John McCain added his voice to those who called on the

George W. Bush administration to stiffen sanctions on the regime.

"The violent crackdown against Burmese democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi

and her supporters over the weekend underscores the brutal and unreconstructed

character of Burmas dictatorship," he said.

"The United States should immediately expand the visa ban against Burmese

officials to include all members of the Union Solidarity Development

Association, which organized the attack against Aung San Suu Kyis delegation

last weekend," McCain said.

"The administration should also immediately issue an executive order

freezing the US assets of Burmese leaders," he continued.

"UN special envoy Razali Ismail should not travel to Burma as planned this

week unless he has assurances from the regime that he will be able to meet

with Aung San Suu Kyi," said the Arizona Republican, who said a trade ban

would be a particularly effective way of expressing US displeasure.

"The United States alone absorbs between 20 and 25 percent of Burma’s

exports. Consideration of a US import ban should help focus attention in

Rangoon (Yangon) on the consequences of flagrantly violating the human rights

of the Burmese people and their chosen leaders," he said.

In the House of Representatives, Tom Lantos, senior Democrat on the

International Relations Committee, also strongly condemned the ruling regime

and said he too, is sponsoring trade ban legislation.

"With this brutal action, Burma's thug regime has abandoned its

international charm offensive and showed its true nature," he said.

###

If you do not wish to receive this daily newsletters, please reply

with your e-mail address and the "cancel" in the text section.

With many thanks,

Burma News

Euro-Burma Office

Square Gutenberg 11/2

1000 Brussels

Belgium

tel: 32 2 280 0691/280 2452

fax: 32 2 280 0310

e-mail: [email protected]