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rebuttal to Ohn Gyaw's speech
- Subject: rebuttal to Ohn Gyaw's speech
- From: ncgub@xxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 05 Oct 1995 12:37:00
INFORMATION OFFICE
815 Fifteenth Street, NW, Suite 910, Washington, DC 20005
Tel: (202) 393-7342 (202) 393-4312, (202) 393-7343
SPEECH BY THE SLORC DELEGATE AND WHAT IT MEANS
50th Session of the United Nations General Assembly
October 3, 1995
As the United Nations celebrates its 50th anniversary,
many delegates to the UN General Assembly came forth to
offer suggestions on how to expand the role of the
United Nations in achieving peace, security and
development. Yet, when the time came for the SLORC
delegate, Ohn Gyaw, it was obvious that he was there
mainly to defend the injustices being committed by the
military regime in Burma.
Nothing in his speech indicates that SLORC intends to
improve the human rights situation or to advance the
process of democratization and national reconciliation
in Burma. He even refused to use the words "human
rights," "reconciliation" and "democracy" in connection
with Burma.
Ohn Gyaw says SLORC was aiming for national
"reconsolidation" which meant that SLORC was forcing
the whole country, including the ethnic people, to
conform to its political agenda. He also indicated
that SLORC was pushing ahead with the process to
legitimize military rule in Burma via the national
convention.
Some observations regarding Ohn Gyaw's speech are:
NATIONAL CONVENTION
More important, U Ohn Gyaw said "a national convention
has been convened to draft a new constitution which
would be in harmony with present-day realities and
reflect the aspirations of the entire nation." Since
the very intention of that convention is to ensure that
the military plays a leading role in the future
political life of Burma, it can never reflect the
aspirations of the nation. The people of Burma have
made it quite clear, once in 1988 and again in 1990,
that they want nothing to do with military rule.
The constitutional principles laid down by the
convention are all geared to serve the military. They
require that the future president be someone with
military experience, that 25 percent of the seats in
parliament be reserved for military candidates, and
that the Commander in Chief of the Defense Services be
given the right to take over the reins of the country
whenever he deems the country is in a state of
emergency.
These principles can never be in harmony with the
realities of Burma or the world today. Delegates
attending the convention have expressed their
opposition to these rulings. Discussions by delegates
were, however, restricted by Rules and Regulations of
the National Convention. Those who dared to express
disagreement to the National Convention procedures were
arrested and imprisoned. Some delegates fled to
neighboring countries after disagreeing to the way the
convention was being conducted.
Finally, the crux of the matter regarding the National
Convention is mandate. SLORC does not have any
legitimacy and thus no mandate to convene a National
Convention or to draw up a new constitution.
POLITICAL PRISONERS
SLORC is still refusing to acknowledge the presence of
political prisoners in Burma. Even though Ohn Gyaw
has tried to avoid using that term, credible
international human rights organizations, such as the
Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have well
documented cases of thousands of political prisoners
living under harsh conditions in Burmese prisons.
Death resulting from systematic torture in prisons and
because of harsh working conditions in labor camps is
also very common.
These are the reasons why SLORC has repeatedly refused
the International Committee of Red Cross from visiting
political prisoners. The ICRC finally has to close
down its offices and withdraw from Burma because of
SLORC's attitude.
CEASEFIRE AGREEMENTS
SLORC promises to carry out development programs in
areas where ceasefire agreements have been reached.
In reality, massive deployment of troops in these areas
only increased the military control over the local
populace who are subjected to grave human rights
violations.
A good example is the case of the Karenni Nationalities
Progressive Party (KNPP) which protested these
violations following the ceasefire agreement. SLORC
responded by breaching the agreement and attacking
Karenni areas.
Many of the ethnic resistance groups that have entered
into ceasefire agreements are unhappy with the SLORC
because the promised development assistance did not
come about, the agreements did not transpire into any
political dialogue that addresses the rights of ethnic
groups, and tough restrictions continued to be imposed
on the ethnic organizations.
One of the conditions imposed on ethnic organizations
by the SLORC is to refrain from communicating with any
foreign organization. This restriction has prevented
the ethnic groups from contacting the UN Secretariat
and thereby hindering the effort of the UN Secretary
General to assist in the process of national
reconciliation and democratization.
BORDER DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS
U Ohn Gyaw is taking credit for undertaking development
programs at the border areas. It is a known fact that
many of these border development programs never fulfill
the needs of the people and are only propaganda
exercises. For instance, the Bangkok Post running an
article entitled: "Broken Promises," cited Wa leaders
as saying schools and clinics are constructed and
opened with much fanfare and propaganda. The local
people however were never provided with teachers for
the schools or medical staff workers for the clinics.
There obviously is something wrong with SLORC's border
area development programs. The number of refugees
fleeing the border areas for neighboring countries is
growing with time. This is because forced porterage
for the military, forced labor for development of
construction projects, extortion, forced relocation,
abuses of women and other human rights violations are
going on at the border.
ECONOMY
Ohn Gyaw claims a "dramatic increase" in production and
in the fulfillment of basic needs of the people. He
cites, among other things, an increase in rice
production.
The problem that faces the people today is high
commodity prices, including that of rice which has
jumped almost 500% as compared to 1988. SLORC's drive
to earn foreign exchange through rice exports by
ignoring the growing demand at home due to population
growth is one of the reasons for the spiralling prices.
The Burmese economy until today is a form of extracted
economy where natural resources are exploited on an
unlimited scale. This has led to deforestation and
depletion of natural resources. Most investments that
Ohn Gyaw claim to be increasing are in the form of
joint ventures between the military and foreign
entrepreneurs in the field of oil and gas, mining,
timber extraction and tourisim. The present form of
military command economy only benefits the military
elite and their relatives.
The majority of the people are getting poor and what
Ohn Gyaw meant by narrowing the gap in living standards
is that the urban poor are getting as impoverished as
those in the rural areas.
Economic benefits never trickle down to the people. Per
capita income of people is not more than US$250 while
the inflation rate, even according to official data, is
about 30 percent.
SOCIAL SECTOR
Contrary to what Ohn Gyaw has said no discernible
effort has ever been made to improve the social sector.
The SLORC has only concentrated on building up the
military and modernizing its weaponry. Military
expenditures take up about 40 percent of the budget
while health and education sectors receive about 10
percent.
The situation has caused many social problems.
Malnutrition rate is soaring in the country with many
cases detected even in the capital, Rangoon. Yet, no
effort has been made until today to correct the
problem.
Hospitals only have medical staff and nothing else
much. Due to shortage of medical supplies,
hospitalized patients are asked to bring in bandages,
medicines and whatever they might need during their
stay in hospitals.
Children with preventable diseases are dying because of
the lack of effective primary health care programs.
Child and maternal mortality rates are increasing.
In the education sector, drop out rate at schools from
primary level up is on the rise. Young children and
students cannot finish their education because they are
needed to go out and work to supplement the family
income.
Educational standard continues to decline as
experienced teachers leave the academic world because
their salaries cannot cover the increasing expenses.
Other alarming problems that remain neglected by the
SLORC are drug addiction, AIDS, refugees, war victims
and environmental destruction.
DRUGS
U Ohn Gyaw claims that the "Armed Forces have been
mounting major offensives against drug traffickers."
He however forgot to mention that opium production in
Burma tripled after SLORC came to power. This comes
as no surprise because the only "major offensives" that
SLORC has been launching are against traffickers who do
not toe SLORC line. In areas controlled by SLORC allies
where the bulk of the opium is produced, opium
cultivation goes on undisturbed and with blessing by
the SLORC.
Meanwhile, western Burma areas bordering India have
become a new opium cultivation and refining area. Even
though there is no significant ethnic resistance
movement or known major drug traffickers, opium
production and cross-border drug trafficking have
become a major concern.
For the SLORC, offensives against drug traffickers in
the northeast are merely well calculated moves to gain
international recognition and sympathy.
CONCLUSION
In sum, Ohn Gyaw speech shows that SLORC is hardening
its stance and intends to ignore successive UN General
Assembly resolutions that call for improvement of human
rights situation and political settlement through
substansive dialogue.
His speech is a signal to the international community
that it needs to continue being critical of SLORC with
regard to the ongoing human rights violations and to
strengthen the mandate of the UN Secretary General so
that he may facilitate a political dialogue between
SLORC, the democratic forces led by Daw Aung San Suu
Kyi, and the leaders of ethnic groups. Any resolution
passed on Burma at the 50th UN General Assembly should
also be accompanied by a time frame for the
implementation of that resolution. Member countries
should use all their resources and firmly cooperate
with the secretary general for the full implementation
of the resolution on Burma.