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22/7/97 AI: ETHNIC MINORITY RIGHTS



/* Posted 12 Sep 6:00am 1997 by drunoo@xxxxxxxxxxxx in igc:reg.burma */
/* -------------" AI: Ethnic minority rights under attack "------------ */

ADDED NOTES TO OUR FRIENDS:

Following is summary of  report from Amnesty International on July-1997.
The Amnesty Reports, such as this one, are usually available in Australia
at regional offices of AI at your capital city. This kind of reports which
intended for the external distribution are made available to the public.
[Amnesty International is a worldwide people's voluntary movement; AI do
not seek funding from corporations and governments, its finance solely
come from its membership and grassroots supporters. Hence, generous support
by public/or volunteering in AI fundraising activities, such as Candle Day
etc. are usually appreciated. ]

To our encouragements, the Amnesty International in Australia is running a
refugee campaign - one of the area focus is the situation at the
Thai/Burmese border. It is a good opportunity to sign an electronic
petition at the site "http://www.amnesty.org/"; in the support of Amnesty
International's worldwide refugee campaign. -- U Ne Oo.
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AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
MYANMAR: ETHNIC MINORITY RIGHTS UNDER ATTACK
22 JULY 1997
AI INDEX:ASA 16/20/97 (SUMMARY OF THE REPORT)

As Myanmar is formally admitted to the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations (ASEAN), its shows no sign of improving its human rights
performance, despite hopes placed on the policy of constructive engagement
by its regional partners. At the end of May 1997 ASEAN announced that
Myanmar, Laos, and Cambodia would be admitted as full members at their late
July ministerial meeting in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The inclusion of
Myanmar evoked widespread protests from non-governmental organizations
(NGO's) in ASEAN nations, including Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines,
and Malaysia. NGO's objected to admitting a new member with such a poor
human rights record and expressed their belief that the move would not
reflect well on ASEAN. Some were also concerned at alleged communal
violence by Buddhist against Muslims in Myanmar during February and March
1997.

This report focuses on one of those areas in which the country has shown no
improvement - human rights violations against members of ethnic minority
groups; These abuses, including extrajudicial executions; ill-treatment in
the context of forced portering and labour; and intimidation during
forcible relocations occur both in the context of counter-insurgency
operations, and in areas where cease-fires hold. The material in this
report is largely based on dozens of interviews which Amnesty International
conducted during April and May 1997 with refugees who are members of the
Karen, Karenni, Mon or Shan ethnic minorities in Thailand.

The high level of human rights violations and the attendant political
instability in Myanmar pose a major regional security issue for the
country's new ASEAN partners. One dimension of this is the unprecedented
numbers of refugees from Myanmar now in Thailand: a conservative estimate
of some 200,000 refugees live in Thai cities and in camps along the
Thai-Myanmar border. All of the refugees whom Amnesty International
recently interviewed, and whose testimonies from the basis of this report,
said that they had fled because they could no longer survive under the
harsh forced labour and relocation practices of the SLORC.

The ongoing abuse of ethnic minorities by the SLORC has been matched in the
last 14 months by a massive crackdown on the political opposition
throughout Myanmar. The SLORC has arrested and sentenced to long terms of
imprisonment scores of members of the National League for Democracy (NLD,
led by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi). She and other NLD senior leaders are
subjected to a high degree of surveillance and restriction of movement by
Military Intelligence personnel. In the attempt to silence any peaceful
political opposition, the SLORC has radically restricted Burmese citizens'
rights to freedom of expression and assembly.

All of the human rights violations reported below occurred in the context
of counter-insurgency operations against armed ethnic minority opposition
groups in the Kayin (Karen), Kayah (Karenni) and Shan States in eastern
Myanmar. Civilians living in these areas are subject to deliberate and
arbitrary killings,  forced portering and labour, and destruction of their
homes and property as the tatmadaw (the Myanmar army) moves through their
villages on patrols. Human rights violations in other ethnic minority
states where there is little or no armed conflict are also of concern to
Amnesty International. Ethnic minorities in areas where cease-fires have
been agreed or where there is a low level of hostilities are also subject
to extensive forced labour, relocation, and portering.

Amnesty International calls on members of the international community,
including governments and intergovernmental organizations, to urge the
SLORC on every possible occasion to improve the desperate situation of
human rights in Myanmar. Particular responsibility now falls on ASEAN
governments to insist on substantial improvements in human rights there.
ASEAN should put the human rights situation in Myanmar on the agenda at all
regional meetings; ask for regular reports from the SLORc; pressure the
governments to allow the UN Special Rapporteur access to Myanmar; and
ensure that any ASEAN investment in the country does not lead to further
human rights violations - in particular that investments are not made in
any project using forced labour.

[This report summarizes a 22-page document(9582 words,): Myanmar:Ethnic
minority rights under attack(AI Index: ASA 16/20/97) issued by Amnesty
International on 22 July 1997. Anyone wishing further details or to take
action on this issue should consult the full document.]

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