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Thailand Times' article



Burmese dissidents dismayed by US Senate's decision Thailand Times July
27, 1996 
AFP Bangkok:  The decision by the US Senate to water down a
measure to impose heavy sanctions on Burma and its military government was
met with dismay yesterday by Burmese dissident groups based in Thailand.
	"I think the Slorc will be jumping with glee," said Teddy Buri, the
spokesman for the National Coalition of the Union of Burma (NCUB),
referring to Burma's ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council.
	"Ourselves, we are very disappointed because we expected something
much stronger," Buri said. He added that the NCUB, a Thai-based coalition
of Burmese dissident groups, would continue to press the United States for
sanctions.
	The US Senate on Thursday rejected tough economic measures on
Burma, adopting instead a compromise backed by the White House which would
permit sanctions only if the ruling junta launched a harsh crackdown on
its critics.
	The senate amendment would allow the president to ban new
investment in Burma if the military authorities "harmed, rearrested for
political acts, or exiled"  opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
	However, dissident groups said it was a mistake to use Aung San
Suu Kyi's status as the standard for improvement in Burma.
	"It's not right to focus only on Aung San Suu Kyi, human rights
abuses against the Burmese people are taking place all across the
country," said one human rights workers here.
	"Aung San Suu Kyi's situation should not be a benchmark standard
for human rights in Burma," said Aung Myo Min, a foreign affairs official
for the All Burma Students Democratic Front (ABSDF), a leading dissident
group.
	"For the Burmese people the country is like a prison, the United
States should not only act if Aung San Suu Kyi is arrested," he said. "We
are very disappointed they decided to water down the Burmese bill."
	Adoption of the US Senate amendment, part of a 12.2 million dollar
foreign aid bill, came after several hours of debate and days of
high-level negotiation between the White House and Senate staff.
	The White House had opposed the tough measures, arguing that
squeezing concessions out of the junta through economic restrictions was
impossible unless it was possible to form a common front internationally.
	Burmese dissident groups had been counting on the United States to
lead an international charge to pressure the junta into bringing about
democratic reform and improving the human rights situation in Burma.
	Those hope heightened in recent weeks as the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) laid out a welcome mat for Burma,
embracing it as an official observer at ASEAN's ministerial meeting in
Jakarta last weekend.
	The United States has been pushing the ASEAN countries, who are
among the largest investors in Burma, to use their influence to bring the
Burmese junta to the negotiating table with Aung San Suu Kyi.
	However, ASEAN has resoluted stuck to its "Constructive
engagement" policy towards the junta, maintaining that close contact with
the junta was the best way of bringing change to the military-ruled
country.
	ASEAN groups Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines,
Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
	The European Union has also been threatening to shut off economic
contacts with Burma following the death in prison of Leo Nichols, the de
facto honorary consul for four European countries in Rangoon on June 22.
	US companies, led by clothing giant Levi Strauss and soft drink
conglomerate Pepsi, have reluctantly begun pulling out of Burma as
consumer boycott movement back home gain steam.