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Press Release (ICFTU-APRO) (r)

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<font size=3D3>ICFTU-APRO<br>
International Confederation of Trade Unions<br>
Asian and Pacific Regional Organisation<br>
--------------------------------------------------<br>
Trade Union House 3rd Floor Sbenton Way Singapore 068810<br>
Tel: (65) 222 6294=A0=A0=A0 Fax: (65) 221 7380<br>
Email:gs@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx<br>
<br>
President: Ken G. Douglas     General Secretary: T. Izumi<br>
<br>
Press Release<br>
<br>
A conference organised by the International Trade Union movement
titled<br>
&quot;democracy for Burma&quot; which was to have been held in Bangkok,
Thailand from<br>
24 to 26 May 1999 has been made postponed due to the refusal, at=20
the<br>
eleventh hour, by Thai authorities for permission for it to proceed.
The<br>
conference was to have been attended by some 130 participants from
wide<br>
range of countries both inside and outside Asia. Further, it has to
be<br>
noted that the Thai Government has refused to grant entry visa to Mr.
Sein<br>
Win (typist corrected the name), Prime Minister in exile of the union
of<br>
Burma, to attend this conference.<br>
<br>
It is a sad reflection on the so called sovereignty of Thailand that
they<br>
have bowed to the military junta in Burma in this instance and to
the<br>
widely publicised deplorable human rights record of that country.<br>
International trade union movement has to take serious note of Thai
Deputy<br>
Prime Minister Mr. Supachai Panitchpakdi's candidacy for Secretary
general<br>
post of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). <br>
<br>
The ICFTU takes strong exception that it is banned from holding=20
this<br>
conference. At the ASEAN countries and the European Union will be
meeting<br>
has been approved, yet at the same time, the ICFTU, which has
consultative<br>
status A with United Nations, is unable to discuss the matter of
democracy<br>
in one of the UN member states.<br>
<br>
The military junta in Burma continues to use countries such as
Thailand,<br>
who have neither the courage nor the principle to stand-up and
recognise<br>
right from wrong, to advance their standing in the international
community.<br>
It is time that Thailand, and the other ASEAN countries for that
matter,<br>
stopped pretending that the human rights abuses in Burma do not exist
and<br>
stood up as country, and as a region, that was not prepared to turn a
blind<br>
eye to abuse and wrongs, but were prepared to genuinely advance and
promote<br>
issues of democracy and human rights.<br>
<br>
<br>
xxxxxx<br>
Takashi Izumi<br>
General Secretary<br>
21 May '99<br>
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