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The BurmaNet News: December 9-10, 1



Subject: The BurmaNet News: December 9-10, 1998

------------------------ BurmaNet ------------------------
 "Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies"
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The BurmaNet News: December 9-10, 1998
Issue #1155

HEADLINES:
==========
THE NATION: AN APPROACH TO BREAK THE DEADLOCK
XINHUA: MYANMAR TO INTRODUCE COMPULSORY REINSURANCE 
MIC: THANLWIN BRIDGE (TARSAN) PROJECT UNDERWAY
REUTERS: SUU KYI URGES RIGHTS DEFENDERS TO CARRY ON 
FEER: FREE TRADE AND IDEALISM 
ANNC: REPORT ON BURMA'S HUMAN RIGHTS RECORD 
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THE NATION: AN APPROACH TO BREAK THE BURMESE POLITICAL DEADLOCK
9 December, 1998 by Yindee Lertcharoenchok 

The United Nations is pursuing quiet diplomacy which it is hoped will lead
to national reconciliation in Burma. Yindee Lertcharoenchok looks at its
development.

East and West finally met. After a decade of finger-pointing and
cross-criticism, Western supporters of sanctions and isolation and Eastern
advocates of ''constructive engagement'' have decided to probe a compromise
approach that they hope will help break the political deadlock and end the
tragic human misery in Burma.

Both sides accepted during an informal meeting in October in England that
their unilateral efforts had been exhausted and there still had been no
positive sign of progress in democracy and human rights in the country.
Moreover, they realised the Burmese economy was fast deteriorating to a
point of total collapse and at stake were the 45 million Burmese people at
the mercy of the whole political turmoil.

They agreed that growing Western pressure on the Burmese junta had not only
strengthened its resistance to change and its ''further withdrawal into its
shell'' but also intensified the regime's increased suppression of the
popular National League for Democracy (NLD). On the other hand, East Asian
policy is neither constructive nor engaging and has equally failed to
convince the regime to initiate substantive dialogue with the NLD, which
won a legitimate landslide victory in the 1990 general election.

A major breakthrough of the Oct 12-13 meeting, which drew some 20 senior
government officials from Europe, Scandinavia, North America and Asia in
charge of their country's Burma policy, five Rangoon-based ambassadors and
UN and World Bank representatives to discuss and exchange views on Burma,
was the ''consensus'' agreement to support and strengthen the role of the
United Nations, which has for nine consecutive years held annual Burma
debates and passed yearly resolutions on it. They also agreed to consider
''humanitarian and technical assistance'' to Burma if there were
improvements in the political and human-rights fields.

In the past few years the Burmese military leaders have been too annoyed to
cooperate with any UN peace efforts. They have refused entry to several UN
special envoys, repeatedly accusing them of filing biased reports on the
country. The UN Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in Burma, former
Mauritian chief judge Rajsoomer Lallah, has been unable to visit the
country since his appointment in 1996. The ruling State Peace and
Development Council (SPDC) has also refused to receive Malaysia's Razali
Ismail, who was recently appointed Kofi Annan's special emissary on Burma.

Still, participants to the October meeting believed the UN, as an
international ''neutral'' body, might be more acceptable to the ruling
Burmese Council than any individual country's efforts with carrot or stick.
The officials, who agreed to meet in their ''personal capacity'', decided
to strongly support the UN quiet diplomacy to persuade both the SPDC and
the NLD to break the current deadlock and open dialogue which would
hopefully lead to national reconciliation and subsequently allow the flow
of humanitarian and technical assistance into the country.

Of late, the international community has been very worried about the
serious political stand-off in Burma. The SPDC reacted toughly to the NLD's
September decision to form a committee representing the Parliament of
elected representatives to challenge the regime's legitimacy, by ordering
the nationwide arrest in early October of nearly 1,000 elected MPs, party
members and supporters and forcing the closure of party offices and the
massive resignation of its members across the country. The NLD has
responded with more calls for tougher international pressure and sanctions
against the regime, particularly now that the UN is about to pass a new
resolution on Burma. The Western-initiated draft document has South Korea
as its first Asian co-sponsor.

''We agreed that the UN is to act as a facilitator and not arbiter. There
is no financial promise or attachment whatsoever related to its efforts,''
said one senior government official who attended the October meeting. He
said the participants were very surprised by the reported US$1-billion UN
and World Bank financial offer to Burma in exchange for talks between the
regime and the NLD and believed the ''distorted'' leak was intended ''to
sabotage'' UN peace attempts.

The official quoted a senior World Bank representative as explaining that
the global financial institution was ''technically'' unable to extend any
new loans to Burma until it had paid off its arrears and unless the board
of the World Bank, which includes some of the regime's strongest critics,
approved resumption of new loans and credits to the country. According to
recent World Bank press releases, during 1998 Burma went into arrears on
its repayments to the International Development Association, the Bank's
concessional lending arm, and the portfolio was given non-accrual status on
Sept 2. Burma's accumulated arrears as of end-August were about $14
million. There has been no new commitment to Burma since 1987, and no
projects are currently being prepared.

Human-rights campaigners and opponents of the regime are opposed to the
unconditional release of financial assistance and loans to Burma and fear
the UN efforts might already have been jeopardised by the media exposure.
They are also concerned that any ''carrots without sticks'' will only
strengthen the Burmese regime and tilt its bargaining power against the NLD.

But proponents of the UN role remain optimistic that both the SPDC and the
NLD will seriously consider the UN initiative and give it a try to open
talks without preconditions. They cite as a positive sign the Burmese
rulers' eventual agreement, after several refusals, to receive Alvaro de
Soto, the special representative of the UN secretary-general, who then
tried to explain the UN role and persuade the SPDC to open dialogue with
the NLD and its leader Aung San Suu Kyi. De Soto also met Suu Kyi twice, on
the second occasion with other senior NLD members.

For her part, Suu Kyi explained her party's fundamental position that the
SPDC had to release all political prisoners, allow the NLD to pursue its
party activities and her to act as its secretary-general, while SPDC leader
Gen Khin Nyunt, though ''not keen on the [UN] idea at all'' agreed to lay
it before other senior leaders.

''Although neither side made any commitment, the positive outcome is that
nobody rejected [the UN initiative] outright. We hope that at least some
low-level officials from both sides will be able to begin the process of
confidence-building that will in the end lead to high-level talks,'' the
official said.

It remains to be seen if there is any positive response to the UN peace
initiative. There is continuing debate and underlying pressure for the
world body to consider the inevitable option of suspending Burma's
membership in various UN agencies, particularly the International Labour
Organisation, in view of the regime's bad record of forced labour and
human-rights abuse. 

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XINHUA: MYANMAR TO INTRODUCE COMPULSORY REINSURANCE SYSTEM
8 December,1998 

YANGON (Dec. 8) XINHUA - Myanmar is planning to introduce a compulsory
reinsurance system in the country in an effort to develop its insurance
market.

A seminar on the introduction of the system, jointly sponsored by the
state-run Myanma Insurance and the Yasuda Fire and Marine Insurance Co Ltd
of Japan, was held here Monday.

At the seminar, Myanmar Deputy Minister of Finance and Revenue Brig. Gen.
Than Tun said the issuance of licenses to private companies to take part in
insurance business is an initial step in introducing compulsory reinsurance
systems in developing countries like Myanmar.

Earlier in September, the Myanma Insurance also held a seminar with the
Manufacturers Mutual Insurance Group of Australia to discuss liability
insurance, social insurance and health and workers' compensation insurance.

After the enactment of the country's Insurance Business Law in June 1996,
Myanmar opened up its insurance sector to local private and foreign
businessmen as part of its efforts to develop the national economy.  Up to
now, three Japanese marine and fire insurance companies -- Mitsui, Yasuda
and Tokio -- have signed memorandums of understanding with the Myanma
Insurance to set up insurance joint ventures. 

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MYANMAR INFORMATION COMMITTEE: THANLWIN BRIDGE (TARSAN) PROJECT UNDERWAY
FOR COMPLETION
9 December, 1998 from <okkar66129@xxxxxxx> 

[Information Sheets issued under the email addresses MYANPERSP@xxxxxxx and
OKKAR66129@xxxxxxx match those issued by the Directorate of Defence
Services Intelligence (DDSI) in Rangoon, and can be assumed to reflect
official SPDC opinion.]

Information Sheet No. A. 0722(I

(1) Thanlwin Bridge (Tarsan) Project  Underway for Completion

Thanlwin Bridge (Tarsan) Project, linking Mong-pan and Mong-ton of Eastern
Shan State,  will be a steel truss suspension bailey bridge with concrete
structure. It will be 900 feet long and 16 feet five inches wide. The
clearance is 16 feet. It will be able to bear 60-ton loads. The project
began on 1 April 1997 and work is under way for completion according to
schedule.

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REUTERS: MYANMAR'S SUU KYI URGES RIGHTS DEFENDERS TO CARRY ON
8 December, 1998 by Irwin Arieff 

PARIS, Dec 8 (Reuters) - Aung San Suu Kyi, the head of Myanmar's struggling
democracy movement, urged human rights defenders in a dramatic videotaped
statement made public on Tuesday to carry on their efforts and not give up
hope.

``Please go on with your work. Please don't give up. Please never despair.
Please believe you're doing a lot of good,'' she beseeched several hundred
rights defenders meeting in Paris.

Suu Kyi, winner of the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize, was taped in her home in
Yangon, where the Myanmar military government has forced her to live in
semi-isolation.

A journalist and a representative of the international human rights group
Amnesty International travelled to the country formerly known as Burma to
conduct the interview. Tropical birds could be heard squawking outside as
she spoke.

The human rights defenders met in the French capital for a four-day
teach-in on tactics, staged as part of ceremonies marking the 50th
anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights signed in Paris on
December 10, 1948.

Organisers said the ``Human Rights Defenders Summit'' would enable groups
that have enjoyed success in their campaigns to set out their winning
strategies for others to imitate.

But several of the accounts offered at the summit stood out for their grim
reality rather than their utility.

Dr Beko Ransome-Kuti of Nigeria, co-founder of Nigeria's Committee for the
Defence of Human Rights, spoke of his numerous arrests and repeated dashed
hopes in a battle for democracy in the African state that began for him in
1985.

``The most brutal dictatorship has not been able to crush the will of the
people. Certainly we will have democracy in Nigeria,'' he concluded.

Nigeria's current, reformist military regime is preparing to reinstate
civilian democracy next year, following the death last June of dictator
Sani Abacha.

At the human rights meeting, tears welled up in the eyes of Algerian
journalist and women's rights activist Salima Ghezali as she spoke of week
after week of mass slayings in the North African state that has been
gripped by civil violence for years.

``Why is there no commission investigating the massacres in Algeria? ...
The people have had enough,'' she told the activists, who gave her a
lengthy standing ovation.

Following a series of such presentations, the activists unanimously
approved a resolution urging British Home Secretary Jack Straw to allow
former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet to be extradited to Spain.

Pinochet was arrested in London in October on a warrant from Spain charging
him with responsibility in the disappearance or death of more than 3,000
people during his rule in Chile.

``As long as people continue to think they can get away with murder, these
atrocities will continue,'' Amnesty International Secretary General Pierre
Sane told reporters ahead of the vote.

Later on Tuesday, rights group leaders were to present United Nations
Secretary-General Kofi Annan with a petition signed by 10 million people
pledging to support human rights.

As part of the ceremonies, French President Jacques Chirac invited 10
winners of the Nobel Peace Prize including Tibet's Dalai Lama to a luncheon
at his Elysee presidential palace.

Human rights groups had last week accused Paris of trying to freeze out the
Dalai Lama for fear of upsetting Beijing. Asked about the charges, Chirac
had said the Dalai Lama was welcome and it was up to him to decide whether
to come.

In Beijing, the foreign ministry expressed its ``serious concern and
dissatisfaction'' with the French invitation and said the Dalai Lama had no
right to attend.

As he left the luncheon, the Dalai Lama told Reuters he was ``very happy''
to have attended. ``I always have the feeling I am making contacts with
another human being,'' he said.

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FAR EASTERN ECONOMIC REVIEW: FREE TRADE AND IDEALISM
10 December, 1998 by Fred Smith 

In October, the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 passed through
the US Congress with little opposition. The new law enables unilateral
export embargoes to be imposed on all countries guilty (in American eyes)
of religious persecution. The passage of the act is yet another example of
the US's increasing promiscuity with trade restrictions. An American
National Association of Manufacturers study found that between 1993 and
1996, the US imposed 50 sanctions on 31 countries. In the past year, Asia
has become all too familiar with the effects of politicized capital flows;
now the rising tide of trade restrictions stipulated on moral grounds
threatens to further imperial the region's already rattled economy.

Trade sanctions were once the tool of economic interests that sought
special-privilege protection for their operations foreign competitors. Such
special-interest pressure received little intellectual or moral support.
Today, however, economic protectionist measures have been replaced by trade
restrictions argued on moral grounds. Although each "moral" trade sanction
has its own logic, the rationale for all such policies is grounded in a
native desire to help the people in the targeted nation. Burma's brutal
repression of its citizenry encouraged the state of Massachusetts and then
the US to impose trade restrictions on Rangoon. The desire to terminate the
world's last communist dictatorship led America's conservative wing to push
for tightening the Cuban trade ban with the Helms-Burton Act. The Cuban and
Burmese examples are only two of the many trade sanctions that threaten to
sink an open world economy. Other American interest groups argue for
restricting trade with Nigeria (for its kleptocratic government), with
Indonesia (for its treatment of minorities), and with China (for just about
everything).

Trade-sanction proponents see all of this as a good things. Sanctions, they
believe, are a powerful tool for eradicating the world's ills -- promoting
democracy, ending sexism, improving labour conditions and eliminating
racial and religious bigotry. But what are their effects? Most research
indicates than sanctions are an ineffective way of influencing the
behaviour of other nations.

A study by the Institute for International Economics found that 87% of US
unilateral sanctions failed to achieve their humanitarian aims.
Multilateral sanctions have "worked" occasionally, but only by imposing
costs on people, not governments. Nations likely to attract sanctions are
unlikely to share the resulting economic pain equally: The ruling elite
will maintain their lifestyles irrespective of the borne by their people.
Indeed, more than a year after the Burmese sanctions were imposed, the
junta endures but the jobs that would have been created by new US
investments remain a dream.

Opposition to sanctions does not of course justify indifference to the
world's social and political problems. The debate over sanctions has
short-circuited serious discussion over nonpolitical means of advancing
these varied moral concerns.

One can oppose-sanctions while not sanctioning evil. Trade-sanction
advocates forget that political measures are readily captured by powerful
special-interest group, who are more concerned with their own economic gain
than with a better world. Some defenders of trade sanctions concede the
greater burden on the citizen, but see this as an unavoidable cost of
reform. Continued trade with despots, they argue, merely ensures them the
additional economic means to maintain their position. Imposing pain --
crudely -- eliminates that possibility.

But do trade barriers undermine the Castros and the SPDC's (formerly Slorc)
of the world? How frequently do political interventions actually reduce
political oppression? During his visit to Cuba earlier this year, the Pope
was equally critical of Castro's political regime and the US trade ban. The
Dalai Lama has spoken out against proposed trade sanctions against China.

President Kim Dae Jung of South Korea is now calling for an end to the
sanctions placed or North Korea. At a press conference in June, Mr Kim
said: "I think [the US easing economic sanctions] would be more effective
in efforts to get North Korea to open up and liberalize." He's right. Trade
weakens totalitarian regimes. Free exchange spurs economic growth and the
development of a middle class -- and with wealth comes a demand for
political openness. As Judy Garland wisely noted: "How are you going to
keep them down on the farm once they've seen Paris?" Trade may not ensure a
free society, but it does encourage one.

The Greek word for trade, katalattein, means marking a friend out of a
stranger. When the US limits economic exchanges to those nations that it
perceives as sharing its values, it challenges they very ethos of free
trade. Trade is only the first step in building understanding between the
people of the world. Moral protectionism may please US domestic interest
groups, but it inevitably exacerbates global tensions, hinders economic
progress and harms those people it seeks to help.

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ANNOUNCEMENT: REPORT ON BURMA'S HUMAN RIGHTS RECORD AVAILABLE
7 December, 1998 from <bagp@xxxxxxxxxx> 

THE BURMA CAMPAIGN UK

Report on 50th year of Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) shows
Burma breaking every rule

Burma, an original signatory to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
(UDHR) instituted fifty years ago this month, now stands as one of the most
consistent abusers of the declaration's articles.  A new report by The
Burma Campaign UK illustrates the appalling record of Burma's dictatorship
judged against each UDHR article.

The report lists the first 21 articles of the UDHR which concentrate on
civil and political rights.  Evidence is provided from a range of
international organisations including UN agencies, the International Labour
Organisation, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch as to how the
regime perpetrates violations of the UDHR articles.  The report paints a
picture of systematic and widespread abuse with large sections of the
population in forced labour, the denial of rights on racial grounds,
arbitrary arrest, torture, killing and the mass forced relocation of at
least one million people.

Forced labour, suffered by an estimated two million people, is pursued
ruthlessly.  Men, women and children are used to work on construction
projects such as roads and railways.  Those who are slow, unwilling or
simply unlucky suffer a range of abuses including demands for money,
physical abuse, beatings, torture, rape and murder.

Nobel Laureate and pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi in a recent
interview smuggled out of Burma said: "This present regime is breaking
every article of the Universal Declaration and the International Community
should take action in accordance with this knowledge."

Yvette Mahon, a Director of The Burma Campaign UK says: "On the fiftieth
anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Burma's
dictatorship provides a glaring example of how far we've got to go rather
than how far we've come. For the declaration to be more than just a piece
of paper the international community needs to show this regime that it is
prepared to take action worthy of the declaration's values and vision."

Notes to editors: The Burma Campaign UK's report on Burma's record in
observing the articles of the UDHR can be obtained by fax, mail and e-mail
(6 sides in length).

For further information contact: <bagp@xxxxxxxxxx>
Yvette Mahon             0171 281 7377   (mobile) 07957 301 346
Caroline Comfort        0171 281 7377

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