Pressure growing for Canadian actio

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Across Canada

PRESSURE GROWING FOR ACTION BY CANADIAN GOVERNMENT
BurmaNews - BC:  August 22, 1998

New calls for investment sanctions in light of Indonesian violence 

TORONTO  -- The Burmese Students' Democratic Organization of Canada (DBSO)
has written to Canadian Foreign Minister Lloyd Axworthy drawing his
attention to the deteriorating political situation in Burma and asking for
Canada to recognize the results of the 1990 election in Burma and support
the convening of the elected parliament.

The letter signed by the national president of the organization, Htun Shwe,
said that "tangible action" including "international economic sanctions"
was needed to prevent a worsening of the situation and the possible
outbreak of violence.

In Vancouver the current situation in Burma will come up for discussion at
the annual meeting of the BC chapter of the DBSO tomorrow.  Members at the
all-day meeting in the Mount Pleasant community centre will also elect a
new executive and make plans for the second annual cross-Canada meeting of
the DBSO to take place in Vancouver later this year.

Daily newspapers across Canada, including the Vancouver Sun, the Edmonton
Journal, the Montreal Gazette and the Globe and Mail, have recently
published extensive articles on Burma as well as strong editorials
condemning the military regime for its failure to implement democratic
reforms and halt horrendous rights violations in the country.

An article by columnist Naomi Klein in the mass circulation Toronto Star on
Thursday this week urged the Canadian government "to move beyond calls for
dialogue and expressions of deep regret" over human rights abuses and
"declare unequivocal support for Aung San Suu Kyi's demand that parliament
convene".

The Klein article also called on Canada's Foreign Minister Lloyd Axworthy
to have another look at imposing foreign investment sanctions on Burma.  It
pointed out that Canada lags behind the U.S. in this respect.

According to Canada's Special Economics Measures Act, sanctions can only be
imposed where continued investment is likely to cause "a serious
international crisis". Klein pointed to a report submitted by the Canadian
Friends of Burma to the federal government last month which suggested that
such a crisis already exists.

Craig Forcese, who authored the report for a human rights lawyers' group,
said that the heroin trade which has led to a rash of deaths in Vancouver,
is a direct result of narcotics trade which represents a principal source
of foreign dollar income used to prop up the Burmese junta and its bloated
defence expenditures. 

It was time, Klein said, for the Canada's Foreign Affairs Department to
stop "hiding" behind excuses provided by the Special Measures Act.  The
heroin crisis, but above all "the lessons of Indonesia" and the example it
provided earlier this year of a desperate population driven to violence,
cried out for attention by those responsible for shaping Canada's0 policy
on Burma.

A spokesperson for the Foreign Affairs ministry in Ottawa indicated to
Klein that "these are things which are being considered".

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