IUF: BOYCOTT FAO BURMA CONFERENCE

[darnott@xxxxxxxxxxx]

IUF CALLS FOR INTERNATIONAL BOYCOTT OF FAO BURMA CONFERENCE
 
The International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel,
Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers' Associations
(IUF) is asking the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) to
change the venue of its 24th Regional Conference for Asia and
the Pacific (20-24 April) from Rangoon. The IUF will initiate
a boycott campaign of the conference if the venue is not
changed.
 
Below are the IUF's letters to the FAO, IUF affiliates and the
text from the IUF website.
 
******************
 
International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant,
Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers' Associations
 
Rampe du Pont-Rouge, 8   
CH-1213 Petit-Lancy (Switzerland)  
TEL: + 41 22 793 22 33
FAX + 41 22 793 22 38
 
Date: 6 March, 1998
Ref: ro/pr/91.820
 
 
To:  Conference Secretary, FAO Regional Office for Asia and
the Pacific
Fax:  + 662 280 04 45
 
Concerns: 24th FAO Regional Conference for Asia and the
Pacific in Burma
 
Dear Conference Secretary,
 
We are in receipt of your letter of 20 January inviting
participation in the 24th FAO Regional Conference for Asia and
the Pacific planned for April 20-24. Normally, we would be
happy to attend. However, the designation of Burma as the
conference venue obliges us to abstain from participation, and
indeed to publicly campaign for an international boycott of
the conference should Burma remain the venue. We therefore
strongly urge the FAO to find an alternative venue for the
reasons which follow.
 
The military dictatorship in Burma - and it is Burma, not
"Myanmar", which the representatives democratically elected by
the overwhelming majority of the Burmese people in 1990 use to
designate their country - has earned widespread condemnation
for massive and ongoing violations of the basic rights of its
citizens.
 
The issue of human rights violations in Burma has been
addressed repeatedly by the various organizations of the
United Nations, of which the FAO forms part. A short list of
resolutions adopted and measures undertaken by organizations
of the United Nations in response to the human rights
situation would include: Resolution 1992/58 of 3 March, 1992
adopted by the Commission on Human Rights and the appointment
of a Special Rapporteur to report on this issue; subsequent
Resolutions of the Commission on Human Rights which extend the
mandate of the Special Rapporteur; annual Resolutions of the
General Assembly condemning the human rights situation in
Burma, for example the Resolution adopted on 12 December 1996
which refers, inter alia, to "extrajudicial, summary or
arbitrary executions, killings of civilians, torture,
arbitrary arrest and detention, death in custody, absence of
due process of law, severe restrictions on freedoms of
opinion, expression, assembly and association, violations of
freedom of movement, forced relocation, forced labour and
portering and the imposition of oppressive measures directed
in particular at ethnic and religious minorities", and recalls
that "the absence of respect for the rights pertaining to
democratic governance is at the root of all the major
violations of human rights" in Burma; and the appointment of a
Commission of Enquiry into forced labour in Burma by the ILO,
the single strongest measure that the ILO can undertake and
one which has been invoked only in extraordinary
circumstances.
 
A recent publication of the FAO describes cooperation between
the FAO and international trade unions as based on "respect of
human rights in economic and social development in such a way
as to ensure that the conditions are created for the full
respect of all other rights." The FAO is surely aware that
there are no legal trade unions in Burma, and that workers
seeking to organize democratically to improve their lives are
subject to arrest, torture and imprisonment. The FAO must also
be aware of the fact that the massive use of forced labour
which the ILO and other UN bodies have documented and
repeatedly condemned is above all forced labour in the
countryside.
 
The FAO's web site inform us that the organization since its
inception has "worked to alleviate poverty and hunger by
promoting agricultural development, improved nutrition and the
pursuit of food security". It should be self-evident that
their can be no food security in a situation of generalized
insecurity brought about by a regime which is in a state of
permanent warfare against its own citizens.
We therefore urge you, as a matter of priority, to move the
venue of this conference to a country in which exist the
minimal preconditions for fulfilling the mandate of the FAO
and furthering the desired cooperation between the FAO and
international trade unions such as the IUF. Should the FAO
persist in its desire to hold this conference in Burma, a
decision which can only legitimize the military dictatorship
and seriously undermine all the previous work of the United
Nations in defense of human and democratic rights in Burma, we
will have no alternative but to publicly campaign for a
boycott.
 
Hoping to hear from you soon on this matter, I am
Yours sincerely,
 
Ron Oswald
General Secretary
 
**********************************8
 
 
URGENT ACTION CIRCULAR
Geneva, March 6, 1998
To: Affiliated Organizations
(To the Executive Committee for information)
Concerns: FAO Conference in Burma
 
Dear Sisters and Brothers,
The IUF has been invited to attend the Twenty-fourth FAO
Regional Conference for Asia and the Pacific, scheduled to
take place in Rangoon, Burma from April 20-24. In view of the
military dictatorship's atrocious human rights record, we view
the selection of Burma (which the FAO, adopting the generals'
terminology, refers to as Myanmar) as the conference venue as
a dangerous move towards legitimizing a murderous regime. 
Holding a UN conference in Burma at this time can only serve
to undercut the work which other UN organizations have done in
documenting and criticizing the crimes of the military regime.
It is an affront to the people of Burma and the work which
democratic forces around the world, including the IUF, its
affiliates, and the international labour movement as a whole,
have carried out in campaigning for the restoration of
democracy and civilian rule in Burma.
 
We have therefore written the FAO's Regional Office for Asia
and the Pacific, the organizers of the conference, to demand
that the venue be moved, informing them that the IUF will
campaign for an international boycott of the conference if the
FAO goes ahead with Burma as the conference venue. A copy of
our fax message to the Conference Secretary is enclosed with
this circular.
 
Stopping this conference from going forward in Burma would be
an important victory for the democratic forces in Burma and
their international supporters. We therefore urge you, as a
matter of urgency, to put pressure on your own governments,
where appropriate through national trade union centers, to
urge the FAO to find an alternative conference venue, and
failing that, to urge your governments to boycott the
conference. In view of the April dates of the conference, it
is imperative to take action now.
 
The FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific can be
contacted at:
Maliwan Mansion
39 Phra Atit Road
Bangkok 10200
Thailand
Fax: + 662 280 0445
E-mail: FAO-RAP@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
telex: 82815 FOODAG TH
 
Kindly inform us of any action you might take and send copies
of protest letters etc. to the secretariat.
With very best wishes, 
 
I am,
     Yours in solidarity,
     Ron Oswald
     General Secretary
ro/pr/25 - 1998
 
***********************************
 
Text for Web Page
 
Title on front page:
Why is the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the
United Nations Holding a Conference in Burma? IUF Calls for
International Boycott 
 
 
IUF Calls for International Boycott of FAO Burma Conference
 
The IUF has, from the moment the SLORC government seized power
in Burma in 1990 and instituted a bloody reign of terror,
given full support to the democratic movement in that country.
We have campaigned for an end to human rights abuses and the
restoration of democratic government and civilian rule. The
IUF and its affiliates have campaigned -and won some notable
successes - in pressing transnational corporations in the IUF
sectors to pull out of Burma. PepsiCo, Carlsberg, and Heineken
have yielded to public pressure and cut their ties with the
military dictatorship.
 
So why has the FAO chosen to hold its 24th Regional Conference
for Asia and the Pacific in Rangoon from April 20-24?
Resolutions of the UN General Assembly have repeatedly
condemned the Burmese generals for gross human rights abuses;
the UN Human Rights Commission has appointed a Special
Rapporteur to report on the human rights situation in Burma;
and the ILO has established a Commission of Enquiry into
forced labour in Burma -the strongest single measure that the
ILO can undertake.
 
Holding an international conference in Burma at this time
would only serve to legitimize a pariah regime which is
desperately seeking international recognition. It is an
affront to the people of Burma and the work which democratic
forces around the world, including the IUF, its affiliates,
and the international labour movement as a whole, have carried
out in support of democracy in Burma.
 
The IUF has written the FAO's Regional Office for Asia and the
Pacific declining their invitation to participate in this
conference. (for a copy click here). We have urged the
conference secretary  to move the venue, and, failing that,
informing that we will actively work for an international
boycott. 
 
Stopping this conference from going forward as planned would
be an important victory for the democratic forces in Burma and
their international supporters. We urge all supporters of
democracy in Burma to put pressure on their governments, as a
matter of extreme urgency, to urge the FAO to pull the
conference out of Burma or face a government boycott. 
 
Kindly inform us of any action you might take.
 
IUF WEBSITE ADDRESS: www.iuf.org