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MYNMAR REJECTS CHR BURMA RESOLUTION (r)




COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS


INTERVENTION BY AMBASSADOR U AYE,
LEADER OF THE MYANMAR OBSERVER DELEGATION

Response to draft resolution No. E/CN.4/1999/L. 32 of 19 April 1999
(23 April 1999)


Madame Chair,

        I take the floor to record the position of my delegation on the
so-called "draft resolution" on Myanmar as contained in E/CN.4/1999/L. 32

        I would like to begin by expressing the appreciation of my
delegation to
those delegations that had offered their good offices and had endeavoured
together with us to inject measures of balance and truth in the text. It was
hoped that their goodwill and sense of fair play could possibly produce a
draft
that would receive a degree of positive response by my delegation.

        But despite the strenuous efforts of well-meaning delegations and
delegates, including those from the West, I very much regret to conclude that
once again a small handful of delegates harbouring extreme and vindictive
views
have forced through a draft filled with a litany of unproven and false
allegations so glaringly obvious for all to see.

They do so with complete disregard to the actual state of affairs in my
country
by attempting to essentially politicize what should have been a human rights
related issue, thereby effectively renouncing any possibility for my
delegation
to treat this draft with seriousness. The irony of this exercise being that
once more, the opportunity to encourage the promotion of human rights in my
country and elsewhere, has been lost by such counter-productive and futile
endeavours.

        Perusal of the draft will readily establish that it is not a human
rights related document, but rather a patchwork of imagined political
grievances and unsubstantiated allegations salvaged from outdated and
irrelevant texts of bygone years. All these allegations have been adequately
refuted in our Memorandum No. E/CN.4/1999/129 dated 22 March 1999 and similar
documents circulated earlier by the Myanmar Permanent Mission. Specific cases
and clarifications have also been included in my earlier intervention with
regard to agenda item 9, and, and hence I shall not dwell on them at any
length.

        But I feel compelled to cite some examples in this text and to
bring to
the attention of this meeting that this draft attempts to sabotage and undo
the
multitude of human rights and development activities that had been
successfully
undertaken in Myanmar.

        For instance, Mme Chair, this draft attempts to draw undue
attention to
one political party and one individual at the expense of all other legally
existing political parties of various political shades and opinions. Perhaps
the intention here is to encourage members of that political party to break
existing laws and thereby destabilize the peace and stability prevailing in
the
country. If that is the intention, I would like to clarify here and now that,
although the Government has treated the handful of law-breakers in a most
lenient manner, no person, including politicians can be permitted to break the
law with impunity without having legal action taken against them.

        Another glaring example in this draft is to find fault in the many
accomplishments attained by the Government in uplifting the livelihoods of the
inhabitants of remote border areas. These long disadvantaged ethnic races have
now begun to enjoy the benefits of roads, bridges, schools, hospitals and
reservoirs, as the result of billions being spent on border areas development
by the present Government. Diplomats, foreign correspondents, members of
foreign governments, senators, congressmen, parliamentarians and even the
previous special rapporteur himself have often traveled to these remote areas
and have reported favourably on what they had eye-witnessed.

        Despite all this evidence, this draft attempts to turn a blind eye,
and
seeks to dismiss such successes by attributing these community development
activities to so-called "forced labour" which we deem to be insulting, and
totally reject.

        Furthermore, ceasefire agreements that had been painstakingly
negotiated
with a multitude of former insurgent groups are falsely inferred in this draft
to be the result of persecution of our ethnic minorities. Nothing can be
further from the truth. We thus look upon such inferences with disdain, and
accordingly treat these accusations with the contempt which they deserve. 
Where our ethnic minorities had once suffered for generations as the result of
the well-recorded divide-and-rule policies of the former colonial
administration, they now enjoy the fruits of peace, development, better
education and health care, and higher standards of living.

        The draft even ventures to preposterous lengths and to fault our
recent
accessions to core human rights conventions such as the Convention on the
Rights of the Child, and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination Against Women. After mentioning a superficial welcome for our
accession to these core human rights conventions, the draft goes on to imply
that our national legislation and practice are not in conformity with these
Conventions, In actual fact, we had made all necessary amendments to our
nation
al laws and practice well before we acceded to these Conventions as well as
all
other international agreements that we had entered into, during the time of
this present Government.

        In conclusion, I would like to reiterate that the draft is factually
incorrect and highly politicized, with outlandish accusations which have been
proven to be completely untrue by impartial observers on the ground. For these
reasons, we are naturally compelled to disassociate ourselves from this draft
and to reject its contents in its entirety.




Internet ProLink PC User

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<font face="Arial, Helvetica"><div align="center">
COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS<br>
<br>
<br>
INTERVENTION BY AMBASSADOR U AYE,<br>
LEADER OF THE MYANMAR OBSERVER DELEGATION<br>
<br>
Response to draft resolution No. E/CN.4/1999/L. 32 of 19 April 1999<br>
(23 April 1999)<br>
<br>
<br>
</div>
Madame Chair,<br>
<br>
<x-tab>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</x-tab>I take the
floor to record the position of my delegation on the so-called
&quot;draft resolution&quot; on Myanmar as contained in E/CN.4/1999/L.
32<br>
<br>
<x-tab>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</x-tab>I would
like to begin by expressing the appreciation of my delegation to those
delegations that had offered their good offices and had endeavoured
together with us to inject measures of balance and truth in the text. It
was hoped that their goodwill and sense of fair play could possibly
produce a draft that would receive a degree of positive response by my
delegation.<br>
<br>
<x-tab>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</x-tab>But
despite the strenuous efforts of well-meaning delegations and delegates,
including those from the West, I very much regret to conclude that once
again a small handful of delegates harbouring extreme and vindictive
views have forced through a draft filled with a litany of unproven and
false allegations so glaringly obvious for all to see.<br>
<br>
They do so with complete disregard to the actual state of affairs in my
country by attempting to essentially politicize what should have been a
human rights related issue, thereby effectively renouncing any
possibility for my delegation to treat this draft with seriousness. The
irony of this exercise being that once more, the opportunity to encourage
the promotion of human rights in my country and elsewhere, has been lost
by such counter-productive and futile endeavours.<br>
<br>
<x-tab>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</x-tab>Perusal of
the draft will readily establish that it is not a human rights related
document, but rather a patchwork of imagined political grievances and
unsubstantiated allegations salvaged from outdated and irrelevant texts
of bygone years. All these allegations have been adequately refuted in
our Memorandum No. E/CN.4/1999/129 dated 22 March 1999 and similar
documents circulated earlier by the Myanmar Permanent Mission. Specific
cases and clarifications have also been included in my earlier
intervention with regard to agenda item 9, and, and hence I shall not
dwell on them at any length.<br>
<br>
<x-tab>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</x-tab>But I feel
compelled to cite some examples in this text and to bring to the
attention of this meeting that this draft attempts to sabotage and undo
the multitude of human rights and development activities that had been
successfully undertaken in Myanmar.<br>
<br>
<x-tab>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</x-tab>For
instance, Mme Chair, this draft attempts to draw undue attention to one
political party and one individual at the expense of all other legally
existing political parties of various political shades and opinions.
Perhaps the intention here is to encourage members of that political
party to break existing laws and thereby destabilize the peace and
stability prevailing in the country. If that is the intention, I would
like to clarify here and now that, although the Government has treated
the handful of law-breakers in a most lenient manner, no person,
including politicians can be permitted to break the law with impunity
without having legal action taken against them.<br>
<br>
<x-tab>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</x-tab>Another
glaring example in this draft is to find fault in the many
accomplishments attained by the Government in uplifting the livelihoods
of the inhabitants of remote border areas. These long disadvantaged
ethnic races have now begun to enjoy the benefits of roads, bridges,
schools, hospitals and reservoirs, as the result of billions being spent
on border areas development by the present Government. Diplomats, foreign
correspondents, members of foreign governments, senators, congressmen,
parliamentarians and even the previous special rapporteur himself have
often traveled to these remote areas and have reported favourably on what
they had eye-witnessed.<br>
<br>
<x-tab>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</x-tab>Despite
all this evidence, this draft attempts to turn a blind eye, and seeks to
dismiss such successes by attributing these community development
activities to so-called &quot;forced labour&quot; which we deem to be
insulting, and totally reject.<br>
<br>
<x-tab>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</x-tab>Furthermore,
ceasefire agreements that had been painstakingly negotiated with a
multitude of former insurgent groups are falsely inferred in this draft
to be the result of persecution of our ethnic minorities. Nothing can be
further from the truth. We thus look upon such inferences with disdain,
and accordingly treat these accusations with the contempt which they
deserve.&nbsp; Where our ethnic minorities had once suffered for
generations as the result of the well-recorded divide-and-rule policies
of the former colonial administration, they now enjoy the fruits of
peace, development, better education and health care, and higher
standards of living.<br>
<br>
<x-tab>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</x-tab>The draft
even ventures to preposterous lengths and to fault our recent accessions
to core human rights conventions such as the Convention on the Rights of
the Child, and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination Against Women. After mentioning a superficial welcome for
our accession to these core human rights conventions, the draft goes on
to imply that our national legislation and practice are not in conformity
with these Conventions, In actual fact, we had made all necessary
amendments to our nation al laws and practice well before we acceded to
these Conventions as well as all other international agreements that we
had entered into, during the time of this present Government.<br>
<br>
<x-tab>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</x-tab>In
conclusion, I would like to reiterate that the draft is factually
incorrect and highly politicized, with outlandish accusations which have
been proven to be completely untrue by impartial observers on the ground.
For these reasons, we are naturally compelled to disassociate ourselves
from this draft and to reject its contents in its entirety.<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
</font><br>
<div>Internet ProLink PC User</div>
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