from Peter, Re: Ottawa may resume B

[ccentre@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Some more work to do???


At 14:44 22/04/98, you wrote:
>==============================
>Ottawa may resume Burma aid
>==============================
>
>----------------------------------------------
>Marleau's comment appears at odds with
>Canada's policy on human-rights violations
>----------------------------------------------
>
>The Globe and Mail(April 22, 1998)
>By Rod Mickleburgh(China Bureau)
>
>Beijing - Canada is considering resuming foreign aid to
>Burma, one of the world's most authoritarian regimes, after
>a 10-year hiatus.
>
>The surprise disclosure was made during an interview here
>with International Co-operation Minister Diane Marleau, at
>the end of a two-week swing inspecting Canada-funded
>development projects in Bangladesh, Thailand and China.
>
>Asked why the Canadian International Development Agency
>underwrites development in China but not in Burma, when both
>countries are guilty of well-documented human-rights abuses,
>Ms. Marleau replied:
>
>"To be honest, I think as time goes by you may see us
>considering some incursions into some areas [of Burma]. It
>may happen sooner, rather than later.
>
>"We're not quite ready yet, but we're monitoring it very
>closely. We realize that there's much there that needs to be
>done as well [as in China]," the minster said.
>
>Ms. Marleau's remarks appear to fly in the face of trade
>restrictions imposed on Burma last year by Foreign Affairs
>Minister Lloyd Axworthy, following a fruitless attempt to
>launch a human-rights dialogue with Burmese leaders.
>
>They also come just as the United Nations Human Rights
>Commission unanimously adopted a resolution yesterday
>expressing "deep concern" over continued human-rights
>violations in Burma, including arbitrary execution, torture
>and repression of ethnic and religious minorities.
>
>At the same time, it was learned that Burmese authorities
>have failed San San, a prominent woman opposition leader in
>her later 60s, for 25 years.
>
>Canada suspended its bilateral aid program in Burma in 1988
>after thousands of pro-democracy demonstrators were
>massacred as the country's brutal military regime -- then
>called the State Law and Order Restoration Council but now
>known as the State Peace and Development Council -- took
>control.
>
>Human-rights activists in Canada were quick to denounce Ms.
>Marleau's suggestion that CIDA might return to Burma, which
>is officially known as Myanmar.
>
>"It is not possible to do any kind of sustainable
>development inside Burma without having some connection with
>the Burmese military regime," said Christine Harmston, co-
>ordinator for the non-governmental organization Canadian
>Friends of Burma.
>
>"we are opposed to any Canadian-government money going into
>Burma at this time, without significant democratic reforms."
>
>Ms. Harmston pointed out that the country's most prominent
>pro-democracy activist, Nobel Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi,
>has urged that economic sanctions be maintained against
>Burma as long as repression continues.
>
>Aung San Suu Kyi remains under house arrest in Rangoon,
>after state council leaders refused to recognize the
>sweeping election victory won by her party, the National
>League for Democracy, in 1990.
>
>Ms. Harmston said the absence of credible NGOs within Burma
>makes it impossible to do credible aid work there, despite
>the country's impoverishment.
>
>"It's just not feasible. It's not going to happen," she
>said. "The existence of the military government is causing
>the destitution of its own people. There's hardly any civil
>society left in that country."
>
>Ms. Harmston said aid projects in Burma by the United
>Nations Development Program are floundering because of
>corruption and lack of accountability.
>
>Last August, Mr. Axworthy announced that Canada would join
>the United States and the European Union in imposing
>selective economic sanctions against Burma. Preferential
>tariffs on Burmese goods were withdrawn and Canadian
>businesses now require special permits to export their
>products to Burma.
>
>"Burma's military leaders have made no effort to improve the
>current situation and have repeatedly failed to respond to
>the international community's attempts to open channels of
>communication," Mr. Axworthy said at the time.
>
>Although bilateral aid to Burma ended in 1988, Canada has
>spent $8.4 million during the past three years to assist
>Burmese refugees in Bangladesh, plus $660,000 since 1992 to
>help refugees from Burma stranded along the Thailand border.
>
>A report presented to the UN Human Rights Commission in
>Geneva before yesterday's vote said the people of Burma live
>in fear, while the ruling council has failed to take any
>steps toward democracy and refused to co-operate with UN's
>special rapporteur, Rajsoomer Lalah of Mauritius.
>
>As for the newly imprisoned opposition leader San San, a
>spokesman for the ruling council said she was thrown back
>into jail to serve a previously imposed 25-year sentence for
>treason after violating parole.
>
>However, activists said she was punished for refusing to end
>her political activities and doing an interview with the BBC
>critical of the military rulers.
>
>San San, who had been elected to parliament in 1990, was
>arrested last October, along with seven other leading
>members of Aung San Suu Kyi's party, the NLD.
>
>Ms. Marleau, meanwhile, defended CIDA's participation in
>countries with poor human-rights records, such as China.
>
>Over the years, she said Canada has won the trust of the
>Chinese government "and we may be able to accomplish more in
>a quiet sort of way because of this trust factor"
>
>This trust extends well beyond China, Ms. Marleau added.
>
>"If there's something that Canada has been able to
>accomplish that is absolutely extraordinary for our
>population, it's there respect and trust with which many of
>these governments deal with us.
>
>"It's not for nothing that we managed to get 123 countries
>to sign the land-mines treaty."
>
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