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BurmaNet News: October 21, 1995 #25
- Subject: BurmaNet News: October 21, 1995 #25
- From: strider@xxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sat, 21 Oct 1995 12:26:00
Received: (from strider) by igc4.igc.apc.org (8.6.12/Revision: 1.15 ) id MAA04830 for conf:reg.burma; Sat, 21 Oct 1995 12:26:41 -0700
Date: Sat, 21 Oct 1995 12:26:41 -0700
Subject: BurmaNet News: October 21, 1995 #257
------------------------ BurmaNet ------------------------
"Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies"
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The BurmaNet News: October 21, 1995
Issue #257
Noted in Passing:
We used to have htamajei (water that is drained while rice is being
cooked) after we finished dinner, but now people are drinking htamajei
because they cannot afford to buy dinner. - a Rangoon resident.
(quoted in: THE NATION: MARKET REALITIES BITE)
HEADLINES:
==========
INDEPENDENT LETTER: RE: SLORC-NLD: NEW BATTLE-LINE?
THE NATION: ANTI-SLORC MOVEMENT CONTINUES TO GROW IN US
PRESS RELEASE: BURMESE STUDENTS MEETING IN INDIA
ISBDA: ALARMED RANGOON
ISBDA: MEDIA REPORTS DIVERGENT STORIES ON YOKOTA'S VISIT
BRC-J: YOZO YOKOTA ON FORCED LABOR
S.H.A.N: Re: THE NOOSE TIGHTENS: KHUN SA FACES A DAY OF RECKONING
CFOB: PEPSICO IN BURMA: PROFITING FROM FORCED LABOUR?
THE NATION: MARKET REALITIES BITE
THE NATION: TOP ALERT FOR SEA GAMES
BKK POST: KASEM CALLS FOR COHESION IN BURMA CONTACTS
----------------------------------------------------------
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************************
INDEPENDENT LETTER: Re: SLORC-NLD: NEW BATTLE-LINE?
October 19, 1995 By Strider
Regarding the following:
/* Written 5:00 PM Oct 18, 1995 by darnott in igc:reg.burma */
/* ---------- "SLORC-NLD: NEW BATTLE-LINE?" ---------- */
Does anyone have any further information on the report that the
Slorc elections commission has rejected the NLD decision to
Reinstate Aung San Suu Kyi and colleagues? If true, this could be
An important new battle-line between NLD and SLORC.
******************************
It isn't so much that it is a new battle line--it's been there for
awhile but is so sensitive that both sides have avoided a direct
confrontation.
Almost the only name people are familiar with in the National League
for Democracy is Aung San Suu Kyi. To understand why this
"reinstatement" is so important and dangerous, you need to look beyond
her for a moment. Six years ago, the SLORC decapitated the NLD by
arresting her and several of the other most senior leaders. After her
arrest, the NLD was run by its highest governing body, the Executive
Committee. The Executive Committee used to have about 10 to 12
members, including Daw Suu. The titular head was U Tin Oo and the
number 2 position was held by U Kyi Maung.
After the arrest of those three and others, leadership of the NLD fell
to the remaining members of the Executive Committee, chaired by U Aung
Shwe. Aung Shwe is viewed by too many as weak and uninspiring--as are
some other EC members. This is almost certainly a mistake, although an
easy one to make if you aren't looking at this from Rangoon.
The Executive Committee has led the NLD under extraordinarily difficult
conditions. They face constant harrassment from the government and the
threat of prison. People associated with the party have lost jobs and
property and sometimes worse. The leaders may not meet foreigners,
including members of the press, the party cannot print anything without
permission nor hold meetings of more than a few people. Donations are
discouraged because to help the NLD is to invite endless trouble with
the government: tax audits, criminal investigations, refusal by any
government agency you come in contact with to issue licenses or permits
(and this in a country where EVERYTHING is controlled by the government).
You can see the results of this pressure in the party's national
headquarters. The only equipment is two manual typewriters and a ditto
machine (which the government has been kind enough to renew the license on).
Despite this, the Executive Committee and other leaders have kept the
party intact.
One thing that the SLORC is doing is a direct threat to the party's
existence. By the rules of the SLORC run multi-party Electoral
Commission, no party may replace members of the Executive Committee
without the government's permission. Permission is never given, even
when EC members die or become infirm. Another rule of the SLORC is
that if any party has fewer than five Executive Committee members, the
party is automatically defunct--banned.
Because of this, members of the EC never resign even if they become
completely unfit to serve. They jokingly greet each other with something
that translates to: "my friend, you are not allowed to die."
Unfortunately, they do die. Most recently, one of them died on July 15th,
which brought the number of NLD EC members to seven. Those seven old
men are hard and smart, but time is not on their side. Six of them are
over seventy and the youngest is sixty nine.
What the NLD is doing now is putting up a new list of Executive
Committee members. The new list reinstates Daw Suu, U Kyi Maung and U
Tin Oo and will bring EC membership to ten. The SLORC is refusing to
recognize what the NLD is doing; the NLD is refusing to allow the SLORC
to dictate their internal affairs--to strangle the party slowly. This
is where the confrontation is. What happens is anybody's guess. The
SLORC could simply ignore it, which would be a de facto victory for the
NLD. Or they could use it as a pretext for arresting people or banning
the party. Whatever happens, this it is now evident that the NLD has
made up its mind to begin confronting the SLORC, at least on certain
issues where they really cannot avoid it. Given the vicious nature of
the SLORC however, any confrontation--however unavoidable--is never safe.
Strider
**********************
NATION: ANTI-SLORC MOVEMENT CONTINUES TO GROW IN US
October 20, 1995
Pro-sanction campaigners are regrouping after withdrawal of
Senate bill. The Nation's Don Pathan reports.
Despite the recent withdrawal of a US Senate amendment that sought
to impose tough sanctions on Burma, anti-Rangoon sentiment
remains high throughout the United States.
Senators are preparing to redraft punitive legislation and
political action group on university campuses and in cities all
over the country have designated Oct-21 as "National Student
Action Day for U Free Burma" as part of a campaign to end US
investment in the military-controlled nation.
BurmaNet, an international organization that disseminates
information on Burma said the significance of this campaign lies
in its size and the fact that each action group would target
different US companies - be it Pepsi Inc. in Illinois or the
Unocal Corporation in California.
Unocal, the largest US investor in Burma, signed an agreement in
April 1993 with the French company Total and the state-owned
Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise for a US$ 1.8 billion natural gas
drilling project in the Irrawaddy Division Unocal has a 47.5 per
cent share in the project and it is certain that the company will
be targetted by the campaign.
In its 1994 report to the shareholders Unocal denied all
allegations of human rights abuses associated with the project.
"We will never allow our activities anywhere to be the cause of
human suffering," the report said.
However, reports from international organizations have
consistently pointed out the widespread use of of forced labor as
well as forced porterage in the country.
Another US-based opposition group, the Free Burma Coalition, has
called on all universities to adopt a policy of not buying goods
or services from companies doing business in Burma and asked that
these institutions vote endowment shares in favour of shareholder
resolutions that ask companies to report on their operations in
Burma or to withdraw from the country entirely.
Moreover, the coalition has asked all cities and states in the US
to pass; "selective purchasing law" barring purchasing managers
from buying goods or services from companies doing business in
Burma, and requested the federal government to impose tough
economic sanctions on Rangoon.
Indeed, the campaign is an indication that the international
concerns for human rights abuses in Burma remain strong, and
that the release of Aung San Suu Ky has not in any way diminished
such concerns, as some supporters of the Asean constructive
engagement have suggested.
Sen Mitch McConnell, the author of the anti-Rangoon amendment,
said he would push for similar and perhaps even stronger
legislation in the future. His 1996 US Foreign Operations
Appropriation Bill called for economic sanctions and an end to
trade benefits for countries that do business with the ruling
military government, In the early '80s, the influential senator
was a key player in the push for sanctions against South Africa's
racist government.
McConnell's amendment would have obliged Washington to withhold
support for World Bank loans to China if Beijing continued to
sell arms to Burma.
McConnell's decision to drop his amendment does not mean that the
idea lacks support in the US Congress. In fact the new
legislation against Burma may be even stronger than the previous
amendment because, as one Washington inside pointed out, it will
not be overshadowed by the 1996 foreign aid bill. At the moment,
however, it is not known if the new sanctions drive will be
attached to another piece of legislation or written to stand by itself.
"Slorc is not a responsible government interested in development,
it is a corrupt dictatorship driven to protect its power and
wealth," McConnell has said.
Since the release of Suu Kyi, the US and other Western governments
have repeatedly called on the Slorc to engage her and other members
of the democracy movement in a process of national reconciliation.
"Thus far, unfortunately, the Slorc has sought to marginalize
Aung San Suu Kyi's including keeping her from participating in
the national constitutional convention set to reconvene in
October," said Ken Wiedemann, the US Deputy Assistant Secretary
of State for the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs in his
last month testimony to the US House Committee on International Relations.
"In addition, hundreds of political prisoners remain jailed, and the Slorc
continues to arrest and sentence Burmese for the slightest political infraction."
Moreover, the Clinton Administration has also made it clear that
the recent trip to Burma by US Ambassador to the United Nations
Madeleine Albright did not in any way mean that the US is softening its stance.
************************
PRESS RELEASE: BURMESE STUDENTS MEETING IN INDIA
October 17, 1995
Dear friends,
We glad to see the ABSL on the net right now.
Their e-mail address is shar@xxxxxxxxxxxx
The following is their message. Thank you for your reading.
Press Release
A two-day Emergency Conference of the All Burma Students
League's Central Committee (India) was held at New Delhi from
October 13 to 14. The Central Committee members of the League
from all regions of India including Ko Ye Thu Naing, President
of ABSL(Thailand) attended to the Conference. During the two-day
Conference, the members discussed and reviewed the matters
relating to the activities of respective departments and regional
offices, the current political, social and economic situation in
Burma, the activities of the SLORC military junta and of the
domestic democratic forces led by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and the
possibility of strengthening the ongoing revolution and of
bringing all the 88 new generation into a firm and united force.
At the Conference, new members were elected and inducted to the
Central Committee, the constitution of the League amended and the
future course of actions laid down. Besides, the League also accepted
the release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi as a great reinforcement to the
democratic struggle and reaffirmed its determination that the League
will extend its all-out support and co-operation to her activities till
Burma is rebuilt as a new democratic nation.
The following demands were strongly made by the Emergency
Conference of the Central Committee of the League:
1. Set all the political prisoners including student leader
Minn Ko Naing free unconditionally and immediately;
2. Cease the Civil War nation-wide;
3. Abolish all unjust and repressive laws that hamper the
democratization process;
4. Stop all kinds of human rights violation;
5. Begin the dialogue immediately with the democratic forces
led by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi for solving the political
problems of country and
6. Abolish the sham National Convention being convened under
the auspices of SLORC.
The League also demands the World Community:
1. Not to allow the representatives of illegitimate SLORC
junta to attend the forthcoming United Nations General Assembly;
2. To impose international Economic Sanction against SLORC,
suspend the arms-supply to Burma, withdraw foreign
investment and humanitarian assistance being done in Burma and
3. To condemn the so-called "Constructive Engagement Policy"
advocated by the Asean countries and deplore and take
action against the Chinese government for offering military
and economic support to the Slorc military junta;
4. To boycott the Slorc's "Visit Myanmar Year" and
5. To effectively support the democratic forces of Burma.
Sd/- Sd/-
(Ye Thu Naing) (Nyi Nyi Lwin)
President President
All Burma Students League All Burma Students League
(Thailand) (India)
Date : 17th October, 1995
Place : Headquarters (India)
********************
ISBDA: ALARMED RANGOON
October 20, 1995
The situation in Rangoon is quite tense as the military intellgence is
conducting round-ups of homes of several people suspected working for
democracy to search for anti-military government documents. Meanwhile, the
government media is accelerating attack to the democratic forces for
calling talks to solve the political problems.
*****************************
ISBDA: MEDIA REPORTS DIVERGENT STORIES ON YOKOTA'S BURMA VISIT
Released by Information Service on Burmese Democracy Affairs (ISBDA)
October 18, 1995
===============
ISBDA has received conflicting stories from the media in the reports of the
visit to Burma by Professor Yozo Yokota, the UN appointed Human Rights
Rapporteur on Burma issues.
In the Reuter report carried by BurmaNet, Professor Yokota said that he was
hopeful Rangoon's military government would begin talks with the
pro-democracy opposition led by Aung San Suu Kyi. Yokota said, "Dialogue is
not terminated. It's still waiting for an opportunity. I'm hopeful that
something will appear in the near future.'' He added, "I'm very much
encouraged by the fact that both the SLORC and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi are
still showing their willingness to restart, or continue their dialogue."
The Japanese-language media, however, carried quite different stories.
In today's issue of the Japanese daily "Chunichi Shimbun," Yokota
reportedly said that restarting the dialogue is "regarded by both sides as
important for the (Burmese) people." However, " since there are no big
changes in the ways of thinking on either side, we have no alternative but
to just hope a restart of dialogue."
In the 9 AM news yesterday, NHK radio reported an even more different
version of Yokota's views. The report said that during the meeting between
Yokota and General Khin Nyunt in Rangoon, the general repeatedly
emphasized how much more important economic development was than human
rights. According to that report, there is no possibility in the
foreseeable future of a dialogue being called by Aung San Suu Kyi.
The discrepancy between the reports from Japanese and other media is quite
large. ISBDA reasons that this has happened not by chance but because of
the unclear statement of the original source of the news. It is rather
difficult to assume that Professor Yokota cannot state in Japanese what he
actually means to say. It may be too early to assume that he is merely
using his diplomatic skills to hide SLORC's ugly human rights record prior
to completing his regular report to the UN.
ISBDA hopes that the UN Rapporteur will offer his vision for improvement of
human rights in Burma where he has been working for a reasonably long time.
This vision should obviously be based on international standards of human
rights, no on the Japanese standards with which he is familiar, nor on
Burmese standards set by the military regime.
Finally, we hope that he will do more than simply continue to enjoy his
regular visits to that country, meeting both sides again and again.
*******************************
BRC-J: YOZO YOKOTA ON FORCED LABOR
October 21, 1995
BRC -- J has just received the following information from a
very reliable source:
During the UN University sponsored conference in Kobe, Japan
September 26-28, guest speaker Prof. Yozo Yokota, the United
Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Burma, was
asked about forced labor. He answered that some people
opposed foreign investment in Burma, in part because of the
issue of forced labor. He continued that he could understand
the objections many people had about doing business there at
this time, but he pointed out that the country is terribly poor and
the government does not have much money. He suggested that
if there were more investment so that the government had more
money at its disposal, they might be able to pay laborers,
perhaps not a lot, but at least something. This might eliminate
the need to use forced, unpaid labor for government projects.
**********************
S.H.A.N: Re: THE NOOSE TIGHTENS: KHUN SA FACES A DAY OF RECKONING
Octobr 19, 1995
Bertil Lintner's article, " The Noose tightens Khun Sa faces a day of
reckoning " , in The Far Eastern Economic Review (Oct 19 issue) needs to
be emphasized on three facets, namely: the take over of the Shan State
Restoration Council ( SSRC ) by the Central Executive Committee ( CEC )
, the CEC drugs eradication proposal to the United Nation and the real
motive behind the State Law and Order Restoration Council's ( SLORC )
military build-up to attack the Mong Tai Army ( MTA ) .
On 12 August, eleven members of the CEC took over the SSRC from Khun Sa
and effectively control the political and military affairs. The new
political line spelled out by the CEC includes full autonomy for the
Shan State and a new union under a united central government based on
equal status and rights of all constituent states. Other elements in the
political line is a democratic system of government, full enjoyment of
human rights by the people, rule of law, political settement of all
existing political issues, and unity and peace of and for the people of all races.
In a letter to UN Secretary General Boutros Boutros Ghali, dated
September 12, Zao Gunjade, the new Chairman of the CEC said : " We hope
the change in the Shan leadership and the policies receives the approval
of the international community and yourself. "
" We humbly appeal to you for your assistance in restoring peace ,
unification, democracy and human rights in Burma and in the timely
elimination of the drug problem. "
" We are ready to place all our men and resources at your disposal and
supervision, even if it should mean we will have to cooperate with the present
government of " Myanmar" or any other government."
" The Central Executive Committee would also place itself under the
direction of any international agency or task force appointed by you."
The real motive of the SLORC's military build-up to attack the MTA is
primarily to break the backbone of the Shan Resistance Movement rather
than to get rid of the drugs. Furthermore, SLORC believe that by
attacking the MTA it will, perhaps, win the sympathy and legitimacy of
international community and thereby, shoring up its illegitimate rule.
By subduing the Shan Resistance, which is one of the strongest still
combating the SLORC, it will be in a position to tame all the other
non-Burman ethnic armies and eventually bring them to their knees. If
this is complete, the installation of the military-dominated,
centralised, unitary state will be place.
The final question to be asked here is that why has the SLORC rejected a
ceasefire overture from the MTA,when it had successfully made deals with
the Was and Kokangnese, who on their own accounts are still in drug
business. Wouldn't it be even better to work out a drugs eradication
programme together with all parties concerned in a peaceful manner
rather than shedding each other blood, if SLORC is really sincere in
rooting out the poppy cultivation once and for all ?.
Sai Myo Win
Representative of The Shan State National Congress
European Union
********************
CFOB: PEPSICO IN BURMA: PROFITING FROM FORCED LABOUR?
October, 1995
OCT '95: PepsiCo has misled the public about its presence in Burma
(Myanmar) ever since entering the country in 1990, and setting up Pepsi
and 7up bottling operations.
For instance, PepsiCo's public relations letter admits to the practice of
"countertrade" in farm products, bought from "small local farmers" in
Burma. However, it is likely that such countertrade involves companies
which are fronts for the illegal regime, the State Law and Order
Restoration Council (SLORC).
Canadian human rights monitor Kevin Heppner has compiled volumes of
refugee testimonials for the Karen Human Rights Group. He reported in Oct
'94:
"As SLORC expands its army... many battalions then confiscate much of
the best farmland in their area, evict the farmers, then force these
same farmers to come back several days a week to do slave labour
growing cash crops such as corn, butter beans, cashews or fruit trees.
After the harvest, the produce is sold with all proceeds going to the
local military command except for a percentage which must be sent to a
SLORC front company in Rangoon."
PepsiCo needs countertrade for hard currency to supply its operations.
According to the Far Eastern Economic Review (FEER, 16 Feb 95), Burma's
own money is virtually worthless: "For companies like PepsiCo, which earn
revenue in kyat, it's become a major headache. Pepsi's solution: it uses
its kyat profits to buy agricultural commodities like mung beans and then
sell them abroad for hard currency."
Such exports are skyrocketing in Burma: "Partly as a result of this trade,
Burma's exports of beans and pulses rose by 63% to $125 million in the
year to March 1994." (FEER) This raises concerns about a corresponding
increase in forced farm labour.
PEPSICO DODGES QUESTIONS
PepsiCo was alerted to such concerns by the Interfaith Center on Corporate
Responsibility in New York City. In Dec '94, OPIRG-Carleton in Ottawa
asked PepsiCo's board of directors some specific questions:
- Can PepsiCo name the parties with whom it does business, and assure us
that they -- as well as the businesses from which they purchase -- have
no connection with the military?
- Can PepsiCo demonstrate that no forced labour, land confiscation or
other forms of extortion were used in the production of products
purchased by PepsiCo?
PepsiCo has maintained an ominous silence on this subject. Why? Do they
have something to hide? When confronted directly on this matter at the
shareholder meeting in May '95, CEO Wayne Calloway responded by demanding
direct evidence.
He must know such proof is hard to come by. So far, no refugee
testimonials directly implicate PepsiCo. But would forced farm labourers
ever know to whom the crops were sold? Would even the battalion commander
running the forced labour farm? Would clerks know who handle such
products, whether at the Ministry of Agriculture, or perhaps SLORC
strategic command headquarters? Does even PepsiCo know for sure? If it
buys on the open market, do PepsiCo's sellers know the source of their
products?
A STATE OF FORCED LABOUR
We may never know the whole truth. PepsiCo and SLORC are unlikely to allow
an incriminating independent inquiry. But as Heppner reported recently,
SLORC's incessant labour demands continue:
"Virtually everything which is built in rural Burma is now built and
maintained with the forced labour of villagers, as well as their money
and building materials... [Income from] forced labour farming land
confiscated by the military... fills the pockets of SLORC military
officers and SLORC money-laundering front companies such as Union of
Myanmar Economic Holdings Ltd. Even farming one's own land is more and
more becoming a form of forced labour as SLORC continues to increase
rice quotas which farmers must hand over for pitiful prices... If not,
the farmer is arrested and the army takes his land, only to resell it or set up yet
another forced labour farm." (Karen Human Rights Group, 4 Aug 95)
David Arnott with Burma Peace Foundation adds:
"According to human rights organisations, the traditional village
structure of Burma is breaking down as more and more land is
confiscated for military farms and plantations run by slave labour.
Combined with the export of rice while domestic consumers go without,
the result is increasing malnutrition and high rates of child and
maternal mortality (see recent UNICEF figures)."
Burma has become a state built on forced labour and extortion, buttressed
by short-sighted foreign investment. SLORC boasts repeatedly about
extracting "voluntary" labour and "donations" for so-called development
projects. This involves millions of people, by SLORC's own figures in its
media mouthpiece, the "New Light of Myanmar." Amnesty International and
Human Rights Watch/Asia document other widespread abuses, including rape,
torture, murder, forcible relocation and expropriation.
FINANCING REPRESSION
PepsiCo supports Burma's militarized economy. SLORC handpicks candidates
for coveted jobs at foreign firms such as PepsiCo. Also, whenever PepsiCo
pays the inflated official rate, it supports forced labour and all the
consequences of SLORC's criminal activities. (The official rate is 6.2
Kyats/US$. The black market pays 110-120 Kyats -- a 20-fold difference!)
For instance, SLORC controls the production of most heroin that reaches
North America, and profits from forced prostitution. And since SLORC
refuses to devote hard currency to health education or any other social
programs (UNICEF, Mar '92), these rackets help promote "explosive growth"
of AIDS. In Thailand, India and China, the AIDS pandemic is at its worst
on their borders with Burma.
ENDORSING ARMY RULE?
PepsiCo attempts to downplay its moral support for SLORC. PepsiCo claims
not to endorse any political or military system, yet it co-sponsored
SLORC's first trade show in Apr '94. It describes its partner U Thein Tun,
head of Pepsi-Cola Products Myanmar Ltd., as a "private entrepreneur," but
he is closely tied to companies controlled by SLORC. PepsiCo says that
SLORC allows it to compete with its own struggling bottling business.
SLORC has thus handed PepsiCo a virtual monopoly in soft drink production.
What does SLORC gain in return? PepsiCo's highly-visible, red-white-and-
blue advertising presence is much more appealing than SLORC's grim
propaganda pronouncements. PepsiCo purveys images of youth, fun and
freedom, but the hidden message is that an American company endorses
military rule. The American dream of democracy was a beacon for students
during nation-wide demonstrations in 1988. The dream turned into a
nightmare when SLORC massacred students peacefully protesting outside the
U.S. Embassy.
PepsiCo is proud to be sole sponsor for sports events in Burma, providing
free uniforms and subsidized pop. In so doing, PepsiCo tacitly endorses
repression on campuses walled-off to discourage student organizing. SLORC
has ordered teachers to "guard against infiltration of undesirable
elements in the student body" (Human Rights Watch/Asia). Heroin is freely
available on the heavily policed campuses. Narcotics, pop and team sports
help soften the blow of poverty and oppression, and distract students who
are disaffected with military rule.
WE MUST CONFRONT PEPSICO
PepsiCo's heavy-handed tactics in Burma demand a response by North
American students, who are its major consumers. They have protested
PepsiCo's push for long-term monopoly deals with public school boards
(such as Toronto) and student associations (McGill in Montreal) to gain
exclusive market access for its products. There is a huge "evict Pepsi"
movement in India, where KFC has cut local farmers out of its chicken
market, and Pepsi dumps imported "recyclable" plastic bottles by the ton.
The firm is called one of the ten worst corporations by Multinational
Monitor magazine.
PepsiCo has twice obstructed shareholder votes calling for withdrawal from
Burma. CEO Calloway attacks any challenge to PepsiCo's ethics, and
condemns boycotts as "strong-arm tactics" (letter dated 25 Jul 94). This
charge is absurd, coming from such a formidable entity: the world's
largest fast food firm, PepsiCo controls Pepsi-Cola, Frito-Lay, KFC, Pizza
Hut, Taco Bell and dozens of regional acquisitions, partnerships and
franchises.
In 1995 a second shareholder resolution was added, calling on PepsiCo to
adopt a code of conduct on human rights. It remains on the ballot for the
May 1996 shareholders meeting. This resolution has better prospects if
PepsiCo faces the threat of losing its biggest customers.
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This is why we urge student associations, school boards and universities
to confront PepsiCo with the question: "do you profit from forced farm
labour in Burma?"
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THE NATION: MARKET REALITIES BITE
October 20 , 1995
Among the last to opt for free enterprise, Burma is suffering
from a widening rich-poor gap.This story is a compilation of
two articles, one written by Denis Gray of the Associated Press,
and the other contributed by Aung Zaw, a freelance writer.
Khin Shwe earned $50 a month as an engineer when Burma embraced socialism
and treated foreign investors like pariahs. Now, he's making millions from hotels,
construction deals and overseas trading.
As a little boy, Serge Pun fled Burma with his family as private businesses
were being nationalized. He's back, having already pioneered credit cards,
upmarket shopping centres and laundries. Golf courses and Hawaii Ice parlours
are next on his list.
"Six years ago, I never dreamed all this could happen. Now I have a house, a car,
money, everything," says Khin Shwe, 45, at one of his luxurious hotels
overlooking the fast-modernizing Burmese capital.
He and Pun are among the first wealthy entrepreneurs in one of the last Asian
countries to turn to free enterprise. But their small moneyed elite towers above
an impoverished land where the gap between rich and poor is rapidly rising.
For much of the last three decades, an ideology mixing socialism, isolationism
and military control insured equal poverty for virtually everyone. After crushing
a "people's power" revolt in 1988, the military liberalized the economy, sought
foreign investment and allowed Burmese enterprises, many of them rich ethnic
Chinese, to return.
Capitalism is now the name of the game, and Shwe and Pun see themselves as part
of the vanguard of growth and general prosperity. For the foreseeable future, general
prosperity will have to wait.
"My salary can hardly buy milk powder for my baby," said a well-educated hotel
employee who works 12 hours a day to earn 3,000 kyat a month. At the unofficial
rate to which most prices are pegged, that's about $30.
Still, it's enough money to attract some of Burma's best and brightest. "I'm going to
apply to wait tables at the Summit Park View hotel," said a Rangoon teacher with
seven years experience. "The salary at the hotel is higher than my present job, and
because I can speak English the salary will increase," she said.
Labourers too can demand up to a 100 kyat per day, despite an official minimum daily
wage of only 20 kyat, or 20 cents, because of the demand due to a building boom. Much
of their increased earning power, however, has been eaten up by inflation running at
20 to 30 per cent by official estimates.
"People don't talk about politics anymore. Only about inflation and prices," said
a trader at the Thai border town of Mae Sot. Of prime concern is the price of rice.
Since the beginning of the year, one pyi (about 1.5 kg) of rice has risen from 25
kyats to 86 kyats putting it out of range for even most middle class Burmese. In
1988 and 1989, when the current government came to power in a coup, one pyi
was 12 kyats.
Inflation has become a favourite topic of conversation and the focus of stories in
tea shops and even lifestyle magazines. "We miss chicken and pigs," one cartoonist
wrote in an officially sanctioned magazine, explaining that he and his family had
became vegetarians. "Even so, all they could afford was convolvulus".
Convolvulus are considered to be the cheapest edible substance in Burma. He
continued that some of his fellows think he is rich because he can eat convolvulus.
Other residents in Rangoon complained they could no longer afford anything more
than htamajei, water that is drained while rice is being cooked. A bottle of htamajei
is about 8 kyats.
"We used to have htamajei after we finished dinner," said one Rangoon resident. "
But now people are drinking htamajei because they cannot afford to buy dinner."
Among the worse affected are civil servants and members of the intelligentsia
who make up a small perhaps 5 per cent but important segment of the population.
Government employees earn fixed salaries between 650 and 2,500 kyat ($6.50 and
$25) a month leaving them exposed not only to diets of htamajei but taxes and
high prices.
"They cannot cope with skyrocketing prices," said a Burmese writer who produces
a monthly business magazine in Rangoon. "Nothing is cheap. Everything is expensive."
One side effect of the galloping inflation has been an explosion in corruption. "What
is happening is that nearly all civil servants including teachers are becoming corrupt
officials," the Burmese writer said.
"The reason is that their income is not enough for them to survive on and so they
must find another job or extra income". Burmese say that students seeking to
matriculate must now make payments to teachers or education officials.
"If you can pay 50,000 kyats your sons or daughter will get higher marks so that
they get into engineering or medical school," a source in Rangoon said. teachers
are also insisting that their students take extra classes so that they can make
extra money.
Some analysts and critics of the military junta say such hardship and corruption,
combined with political repression, could lead to another upheaval like that of
1988. The regime disagrees.
"In an economy of transition, there will always be disparity between the rich
and poor," said Set Maung, a senior economic adviser to the junta. "There is
going to be jealousy, but as long as people can get by, have food, shelter and
clothes, they will be satisfied," he said. "Burmese people are easily contented
unless there is great injustice."
Farmers, who make up 65 pere cent of the population, have been enriched by
the end to a law forcing them to sell the bulk of their rice to the government at
low fixed prices.
But by most standards, Burma's countryside is still woefully poor. According to
the United Nations, three out of our children in Burma don't complete primary
school; 40 per cent of children under 3 suffer from malnutrition; two out of three
people drink unsafe water; 95 per cent of women can't get contraceptives; and only
2 percent have access to electricity.
A Japanese journalist who recently visited satellite towns outside of Rangoon said
the situation there was particularly acute. "We see people who do not have enough
food, begging for food. "Whereever, Burmese were talking about prices," he said.
Such problems, rooted in decades of misrule, cannot all be blamed on Burma's current
regime. But critics point out that since seizing power six years ago, the junta has more
than doubled the size of the armed forces to some 300,000 personnel, and spends 30
to 40 per cent of the national budget on the military. (TN)
******************
THE NATION: TOP ALERT FOR SEA GAMES
October 19, 1995
EXTENSIVE preparations of security measures for the upcoming SEA
games to be held in Chiang Mai are underway, a senior official of
the Secretariat of the National Security Council said yesterday.
Lt Gen Somphong Maiwichit, the SNSC's anti-international
terrorism expert, said the stepping-up was not intended to fuel
rumours that Burma's minority resistance groups threatened to
carry out terrorist activities in the province during the event,
fixed for Dec 9-17.
"Thailand is an open country which will freely allow a variety of
visitors to enter, particularly athletes and team officials, who
require effective protection as they are vulnerable targets for
many types of [terrorist] bargains," he said.
Chiang Mai's 700th Anniversary Sports Complex and Athletes'
Village has been closely inspected by SNSC officials who must
orchestrate the "top secret" master plan for all security methods, in
which several police special units will be cooperating, Somphong said.
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BKK POST: KASEM CALLS FOR COHESION IN BURMA CONTACTS
October 20, 1995
THE Foreign Minister has called for greater policy cohesion among
agencies of the government concerned with Burma.
M.R. Kasem S. Kasemsri said good policy intentions were
meaningless if the Defence, Interior and Foreign Affairs ministries
and the Prime Minister's Office failed to follow a similar line.
"If all agencies follow the same line and see problems in the
same way, I can address these problems effectively," he said, a
reference to disputes with Burma along the common I border.
M.R. Kasem plans to visit Burma in mid-November, ahead of
Burmese Prime Minister Than Shwe's visit to Thailand to attend
the fifth summit of leaders of the Association of Southeast Asean
Nations.
M.R. Kasem said that while Thailand could effectively handle
drug warlord Khun Sa by denying shelter to his aides and cutting
off logistical supply routes, it had a weak point for the Karens.
"It's a difficult situation when we have to take into account
humanitarian considerations," he said.
He cited the project to lay a gas pipeline from Burma's Martaban
Gulf through an area which belongs to the Karens.
"There are two options: suppress them, or persuade them to take
part in development," he said.
According to the deal signed by both sides, the natural gas from
Yadana field will be delivered to Thailand by mid 1998.
The pipeline will be laid from the field via Kanchanaburi to a
power plant in Ratchaburi.
M.R. Kasem has claimed diplomatic successes for the three-month
old Banharn Government.
At the ASEAN foreign ministers' annual meeting in Brunei in
mid-July, he reaffirmed Thailand's stance on the Burma issue.
"I asked whether we wanted democracy for Australia, the United
States or Burma itself Constructive engagement policy should
benefit all Burmese," he said.
He added that he had never set conditions for democratisation in
that country, but development, and particularly education, would
benefit its people.
Former Deputy Foreign Minister Surin Pitsuwan yesterday expressed
concern about what he said was the Banharn administration's
overlooking of certain Foreign Ministry mechanisms to strengthen
relations with neighbours.
He said the Government was too fond of personal contacts, and
this caused confusion among neighbours as to who was in charge of
foreign policy: the Foreign Ministry, the Defence Ministry or the
Prime Minister's Office.
It was clear that the role of the ministry had been affected.
"Consistency in policy is very important, for this builds
confidence among neighbours," he said.
He said the Foreign Ministry's limitations might be due to the
fact that the minister lacked an assistant and there was no
cooperation with other agencies.
This was a reference to to Defence Minister Gen Chavalit
Yongchaiyudh's heavy-handed involvement in settling disputes with
Burma, and his emphasis on military-to-military as well as
personal contact.