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BurmaNet News: December 10, 2000



______________ THE BURMANET NEWS ______________
        An on-line newspaper covering Burma 
________December 10, 2000   Issue # 1680_________

NOTED IN PASSING: ?The time may have come for Suu Kyi to start thinking 
what used to be the unthinkable: leaving Myanmar and going into exile. 
By doing so, she may be able more effectively to keep her cause under 
the international spotlight and to build support for it.?

AsiaWeek editorial.  See AsiaWeek: Myanmar Rethink--Suu Kyi may be able 
to serve her country better in exile

INSIDE BURMA _______
*The Nation: Burma agrees to allow EU fact-finding mission
*DVB: Government forces attack Wa troops on Thai border, three dead 

REGIONAL/INTERNATIONAL _______
*Kyodo: ILO takes first step in implementing Myanmar sanctions
*Toronto Star: Detained Burmese rights champion honoured by 
CAW--Acceptance speech smuggled in on tape 
*The Asian Age Newspaper:  Jaswant Singh to visit Burma next month
*Mizzima: Refugees Repatriation form Bangladesh 
*Inter Press Service: Environmentalists under Fire for Speaking out 
*Burma Courier: Allegations over Child Soldiers Rejected by ABSDF

OPINION/EDITORIALS_______
*AsiaWeek: Myanmar Rethink--Suu Kyi may be able to serve her country 
better in exile
*Mizzima: A Canadian Grave Digger in Burma
*The Nation: Letters to the Editor--Cummings wrong to challenge the ILO
*New Light of Myanmar: ILO takes one- sided and arbitrary measures based 
on   preposterous accusations and misinfomation given by runaway groups 
and insurgent groups 

OTHER
*Hillerphoto.com: "Grace under Pressure": Gem of a Web Site Depicts 
Burma

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__________________ INSIDE BURMA ____________________


The Nation: Burma agrees to allow EU fact-finding mission

Dec 10, 2000.

BY DON PATHAN 

VIENTIANE - Burma yesterday agreed to allow top officials from the 
European Union to visit the country on a fact-finding mission. The 
agreement is seen as a major compromise between the military regime and 
one of its most vocal critics.  

Nyunt Maung Shein, director-general of the Burmese Foreign Ministry's 
Political Department, said Rangoon would expect the EU delegation in 
January.  

"Last time it was a fact-finding mission. This time we expect some 
success," he said.  
Nyunt Maung Shein spoke to reporters on the sidelines of a meeting in 
preparation for the 13th Asean-EU Ministerial Meeting, which begins 
tomorrow.  

However, a senior EU official warned that expectations of the visit 
should not be too high. The EU sent a similar mission to Rangoon in July 
last year.  

"We have a serious problem with [Burma]. It's not that the group will be 
going there and then everything will be settled," said Dominique Girard, 
head of the French Foreign Ministry's East Asian Affairs Department.  

"We have a very bad situation there, and we want to help solve it. We 
want in particular everything done to help encourage dialogue between 
the government and the opposition. The [EU] group can contribute to 
that, but it is not a miracle solution."  

The decision by Rangoon to allow the visit is deemed a major 
breakthrough between the two regional groupings. Dialogue between Asean 
and the EU has been stalled for the past three years because of the EU's 
objection to Burma's participation.  

The EU, like many Western countries, has consistently condemned Burma's 
human-rights record and practice of forced labour. It has also accused 
it of not doing enough to curb the flow of drugs coming out of the 
country.  

Burma remains the only Asean country that has yet to sign the Asean-EU 
Cooperation Agreement, a framework that would allow the junta to 
participate in various cooperative schemes, which include funding and 
technical support.  

Laos and Cambodia became signatories to the agreement at the Asean 
Ministerial Meeting in Bangkok in July.  

When asked if Rangoon saw the upcoming EU fact-finding mission as paving 
the way for Burma to become a signatory to the agreement, Nyunt Maung 
Shein said: "We have to see. This is still early. This is only the 
second time [an EU delegation has visited]".  

Girard said the EU delegation would speak to as many people in Burma as 
possible during its mission.  

"The idea is to go there and talk to everybody, the government people, 
the opposition, Aung San Suu Kyi, the other parties, the NGOs working 
locally, the ethnic groups and everyone participating in the situation 
there."




____________________________________________________


DVB: Government forces attack Wa troops on Thai border, three dead 

Democratic Voice of Burma, Oslo, in Burmese 1245 gmt 7 Dec 00 

Text of report by Burmese opposition radio on 7th December 

The SPDC [State Peace and Development Council] military forces attacked 
a WNO, Wa National Organization, base opposite Mae Hong Son in Thailand 
yesterday morning. DVB [Democratic Voice of Burma] correspondent Maung 
Tu filed this report. 

[Maung Tu] It has been a long time since the SPDC forces and the WNO, Wa 
National Organization, clashed. In the early hours of 5th December 
morning the SPDC forces attacked a WNO outpost about 5 km from Lawa 
Lishi WNO headquarters in Mae Aw region opposite Mae Hong Son. After 
defending the position for an hour, the WNO forces finally withdrew due 
to inadequate weaponry. At the battle, three SPDC soldiers from LIB 
[Light Infantry Battalion] 422 based in Mobye, Shan State, were killed 
and five SPDC soldiers were wounded while Sgt Aik San and Maung Aik Nyo 
from the WNO were also wounded. 

Observers believe that the present fighting between the SPDC and the WNO 
after such a long lapse in the SPDC offensive indicated that it is a way 
of exerting pressure militarily by the SPDC for the WNO to surrender 
their weapons. 

Two years ago Lt-Col Sann Pwint, an official from the SPDC Military 
Intelligence, himself came to Mae Aw to pressure the WNO to surrender 
but since the WNO refused to give in the SPDC has been fighting the WNO 
ever since [all names as received]. 




___________________ REGIONAL/INTERNATIONAL___________________
				

Kyodo: ILO takes first step in implementing Myanmar sanctions

GENEVA Dec. 9 Kyodo - The International Labor Organization (ILO) on 
Friday took its first step in implementing sanctions against Myanmar 
over its forced labor practices, with ILO Director General Juan Somavia 
sending letters to member governments and various U.N. and international 
organizations, diplomatic sources said.  
The letter requests the ''cooperation'' of governments and international 
organizations in implementing the measures, the sources said, adding 
that a total of 236 letters were sent out.  

The step was expected to further frustrate Myanmar's military 
leadership, which has already announced its decision to cease all 
cooperation with the world labor body regarding forced labor.  

Such sanctions are the first to be taken by the ILO in its 81-year 
history.  

The letters asked governments and international organizations to ''take 
account of'' recommendations finalized at the meeting in November of the 
ILO's governing body, where the final go-ahead was given to start 
implementing economic sanctions, the sources said.  

The decision asks ILO members and international organizations to review 
their relationship with Myanmar, and, if necessary, sever ties with the 
junta if they are directly or indirectly supporting Myanmar's forced 
labor practices.
  
The sanctions, in theory, took effect Nov. 30, but no specific measures 
were taken until Friday.  

According to the sources, the letter also asks governments and 
international organizations to report to the ILO their ''relevant 
measures'' taken. Specific measures to be taken are to be decided by 
each organization that receives the letter.  
Some diplomats speculated that the effect of the sanctions will be 
''close to nothing.'' However, others voiced concern that the sanctions 
could ''get out of hand'' when more than 200 governments and 
international organizations start to make their own decisions based on 
the mandate given by the ILO.  

The letter also asks the ILO's 175 member governments to inform 
representatives of each country's employers and workers to take similar 
actions. This would open the way for private companies or labor unions 
to implement sanctions against the country.  
In 1998, the ILO adopted recommendations requesting Myanmar to abolish 
the Town Act and Village Act, which allowed local military commanders 
and local authorities to mobilize citizens in public works.  

Last June, the International Labor Conference, the ILO's highest 
decision-making body, adopted a resolution saying the organization would 
impose sanctions on Myanmar under Article 33 of the ILO charter if the 
country did not make tangible progress in annulling the two laws and 
ending all forms of forced labor.  

The final decision on whether to take concrete measures was left to the 
governing body, which concluded in mid-November after a heated debate 
that various steps taken by the junta were unsatisfactory and decided to 
go ahead with the sanctions. 
 
Prior to the debate, the Myanmar government issued an ordinance 
rendering void laws related to forced labor, and invited the ILO to 
monitor the implementation of the measures.  

While Asian countries including Japan and Malaysia asked for a delay in 
implementing the sanctions since the junta was making some progress in 
complying with the ILO demand, Western countries led by the United 
States and Britain pushed for sanctions.



____________________________________________________


Toronto Star: Detained Burmese rights champion honoured by 
CAW--Acceptance speech smuggled in on tape 

Martin Patriquin


Dec. 10, 2000

STAFF REPORTER 

She accepts the award via videotaped message, recorded while she was 
locked in her house under military scrutiny thousands of miles away.

Though she speaks perfect English, her voice is dubbed over, because the 
speech was hastily recorded and the tape smuggled into Canada.

She is happy and upbeat, looking much younger than her 55 years.

Aung San Suu Kyi, democratically elected as prime minister of Burma in 
1990 but never allowed to take office, recorded the acceptance speech 
some two months ago, when she found out she would be the first recipient 
of the Canadian Auto Workers union's Nelson Mandela Human Rights Award. 

Her attendance at yesterday's presentation was out of the question. She 
has been under house arrest or military surveillance for more than 10 
years.

On hand to accept the award at the union's national convention was Dr. 
Sein Win, who was elected prime minister of the government-in-exile 
after he fled Burma (renamed Myanmar by the military, though it is still 
widely referred to by its former name) in 1990. 

In his acceptance speech, Win said the Burmese military government has 
survived largely because of a lack of concrete action by other nations.


``If the international community . . ., almost every democratic nation, 
were to work together, the military could not stand in this age. . . . 
We call on all parliamentarians to support our cause.''

Though Suu Kyi won the 1990 election with more than 80 per cent of the 
vote, she can't leave her house, much less call herself prime minister.

The military dictatorship nullified the election and promptly arrested 
Suu Kyi and many members of the National League for Democracy party.

Nevertheless, she has continued to campaign for democracy in a country 
known for forced labour and human rights abuses, where ownership of a 
fax machine or modem is a crime punishable by 15 years in prison. In 
1991, she received the Nobel Peace Prize.

The International Labour Organization, a United Nations body made up of 
governments, employers and unions, passed a resolution Nov. 27 calling 
on Burma to end its ``widespread and systemic'' use of forced labour. 
The resolution compels member countries - Canada included - to ``cease 
as soon as possible any activity that could have an effect of directly 
or indirectly abetting the practise of forced labour.''

It is the kind of action crucial for eventual democracy in Burma, Win 
said 

____________________________________________________


The Asian Age Newspaper:  Jaswant Singh to visit Burma next month 

By P.Jayaram 


New Delhi, Dec. 9: The growing cooperation between India and Burma will 
be carried forward when external affairs minister Jaswant Singh visits 
Rangoon in the New Year, despite criticism of New Delhi's moves by that 
country's fledgling pro-democracy movement.  
"The external affairs minister will visit Burma early next year, though 
the dates are still to be finalized," ministry spokesman Raminder Singh 
Jassal told IANS. Official sources said the visit was likely in January. 
 

He said Jaswant Singh would take part in the inauguration of the 160-km 
road linking the border township of Tamu in Burma with Manipur with the 
railhead at Kalemyo. The road, built by Border Roads Organization and 
said to be almost complete, will serve as a vital communication link 
with Mandalay in Burma and in course of time become part of the proposed 
Trans-Asian Highway.  

Mr. Singh's visit takes place close on the heels of a high-profile visit 
by General Maung Aye, vice chairman of the ruling State Peace and 
Development Council, the number two man in the military junta, to India 
at the invitation of vice-president Krishan Kant. The Burmese leader was 
accompanied by a high-level delegation that included the second 
secretary of the SPDC, Lt. Gen. Tin Oo, deputy prime minister and 
minister for military affairs Lt. Gen. Tin Hla and five senior 
ministers.  

The growing warmth in ties between India and Burma, despite New Delhi's 
known sympathy for that country's pro-democracy movement led by the 
charismatic Aung San Suu Kyi, is seen by Indian observers as a 
reflection of New Delhi's conscious decision to give paramount 
importance to its national security interests and regional engagement as 
part of its "Look East" policy.  
"We are not unmindful of the political developments in Burma," Mr. 
Jassal said but added that New Delhi was against delivering 
"prescriptive lectures" to other countries. 
 
Cooperation with the Burmese regime has already paid dividends as that 
country's Army had helped in destroying a number of camps of anti-Indian 
insurgents operating from across the border. Before New Delhi chose 
pragmatism in the pursuit of national security interests, insurgency and 
narcotics smuggling had assumed alarming proportions in the border 
states of Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh.  

New Delhi was also concerned by the growing influence of China, which, 
taking advantage of Rangoon's international isolation, had moved in with 
substantial economic and military assistance.  

Mr. Maung and his delegation succeeded in allaying some of New Delhi's 
fears when they assured the Indian leadership during his visit that 
Burma would not allow its territory for anti-Indian activities.  

But New Delhi has gained potential economic dividends too for its Burma 
policy.  
Apart from the road project, the two sides are also discussing 
cross-border projects in hydroelectric, river navigation and gas 
pipeline sectors and Indian assistance to develop a deep water port in 
Burma.  

(India Abroad News Service) 


____________________________________________________


Mizzima: Refugees Repatriation form Bangladesh 


Dhaka, December 9, 2000
Mizzima News Group (www.mizzima.com)

According to officials from Refugee Repatriation Section in Cox's Bazar, 
total 20,866 Rohingya refugees are still camping in Norya Para and Kutu 
Plong camps in Bangladesh. The refugees are being repatriated on every 
Wednesday to Burma. Minimum 20 to maximum 100 refugees are being 
repatriated weekly.

Out of 8,000 refugees that Burmese government agreed to accept, nearly 
4,500 refugees were already repatriated to Burma between the period of 
July 1999 and first week of December 2000.

____________________________________________________

Inter Press Service: Environmentalists under Fire for Speaking out 

By Marwaan Macan-Markar



MEXICO CITY, Dec. 4 (IPS) -- Consider the case of Ka Hsaw Wa, who was  
arrested and tortured by the ruling military junta in Myanmar (formerly  
Burma) for documenting problems with a natural gas pipeline project 
being  built in his country.

Of particular concern to this activist from the Karen community, one of 
the  ethnic minorities in that Southeast Asian nation, are the human 
rights  violations and environmental abuses associated with a project 
that has the  backing of foreign investors, including multinational  
companies from the  United States and France.

Evidence he unearthed included how the army in Myanmar --which has been  
"contracted to provide security for the project" -- has indulged in a 
spree  of rights abuses among the indigenous villagers living near the 
project. 

According to the Sierra Club, a U.S.-based environmental organization, 
such  abuse included arbitrary detention, intimidation, torture, rape 
and summary  executions.

In addition, states the Sierra Club, Ka Hsaw Wa and his team have also  
documented the environmental costs of the project, which include 
increased  logging, hunting of elephants and tigers, and illegal 
wildlife trade. 

"Anyone caught investigating the pipeline or even in the pipeline region 
 without authorization faces torture, violent retaliation and death," 
says  Katie Redford, director of Earthrights International, a U.S.-based 
 environmental group.

Such abuse of environmental activists, however, has not been limited to  
Myanmar. As the U.S. branch of the human rights watchdog Amnesty  
International (AI) reveals, it is a disturbing pattern that has become  
evident in varying forms in a number of other  countries.

"In many parts of the world, corporations and governments are colluding 
to  violate the rights of environmental activists in the name of profit 
and  economic development," asserts Folabi Olagbaju, director of the 
human  rights and environmental program at AI in the United States. 
What is more, such violations have persisted even after the widespread  
international outrage that followed the death of Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight 
 other environmental activists in Nigeria in 1995.

Saro-Wiwa, who was the leader of the Movement for the Survival of the 
Ogoni  People (MOSOP), and the eight Ogoni leaders were hanged by the 
Sani Abacha  government of Nigeria for staging peaceful protests against 
the destruction  of their environment stemming from the work of 
Nigeria's largest oil  exporter, Royal-Dutch Shell.

Adds Olagbaju, "Shell failed to use its substantial influence with the  
Nigerian government to stop the execution."

And before Saro-Wiwa, there was Chico Mendes, the Brazilian land 
activist  who was murdered in 1988 by "timber and logging" interests, 
according to AI. 

For AI, it has come down to this: environmental activists from Asia, 
Africa  and Latin America have become a species in need of protection. 

And in an effort to raise the profile of such victims, two of whom have  
been declared "prisoners of conscience" by AI, a campaign is underway to 
 highlight 10 cases in Ecuador, Mexico, Nigeria, Kenya, Chad, Cameroon,  
Russia, India, Burma and China.

Launched on Nov. 10, this campaign, which also includes the Sierra Club 
and  the Earth Day Network, intends to "shine a light in the places 
where human  rights abuses are being  committed against environmental 
activists, and to  immediately take action to stop the abuses."

According to AI, this drive will run for five months ending on April 22, 
 2001 -- Earth Day. During its run, the campaign's focus will shift  
periodically to highlight the plight of environmentalists under fire in 
the  10 countries.

Among those identified include Ka Hsaw Wa, Rodolfo Montiel and Teodoro  
Cabrera of  Mexico, Aleksandr Niktin of Russia and the Organization of 
the  Indigenous Peoples of the Pastaza (known by its Spanish acronym, 
OPIP) of  Ecuador.

Furthermore, the activism of women such as Medha Patkar of India will 
also  be taken up. Patkar has endured arrests and physical attacks at 
the hands  of the police for 15 years in her effort to lead a people's 
movement  against the construction of a dam across the Narmada River. 
Also to be recognized is Prof. Wangari Maathai of Kenya, who has been  
repeatedly beaten and imprisoned for her fight to save Kenya's forests 
from  being parcelled out for  "development."

For Maathai, in fact, the distinction between environmental issues and  
human rights has ceased to exist during the struggle she has been 
waging.  "When you start working with the environment seriously, the 
whole spectrum  comes -- human rights, women's rights, environmental 
rights, children's  rights, you know, everybody's rights," she is quoted 
as having told the  Sierra Club.

"Once you start making these linkages, you can no longer do just  
tree-planting," she adds.

According to Alejandro Queral, director of the human rights and 
environment  program at the Sierra Club, there is sufficient evidence to 
implicate the  security forces in countries where such abuse occurs as 
the leading  perpetrators.

"The police and the army have been directly responsible for human rights 
 violations. Such is the case in Burma, Nigeria, Mexico, India and most 
of  the other cases we are working on," he says.

There is also proof of corporate complicity in such abuse. "Sometimes,  
these security forces are paid by corporations working in the area to  
protect their facilities, leading to human rights abuse. The most 
obvious  example of this was the case of Shell in Nigeria," he adds. 
For Queral, such corporate complicity stems from the prevailing global  
economic climate. In this era of economic globalization, he argues, free 
 trade agreements have granted corporations "sweeping rights while 
making it  more difficult to hold them accountable."

The activities of the earth's defenders, he adds, "can have much greater 
 impact on the  profit-making plans of corporations, and consequently 
(they)  are often seen as threats."

And for Redford, the situation in Myanmar illustrates the direction that 
 multinational  companies have chosen to take with the help of 
government  backing. This path, she says, has resulted "environmental 
degradation" and  "brutal human rights abuses" of people like Ka Hsaw Wa 
who challenge such  enterprises being conducted under the guise of 
"development." 




____________________________________________________


Burma Courier: Allegations over Child Soldiers Rejected by ABSDF

Issue of Dec. 3-9, 2000

BANGKOK - The All Burma Students's Democratic Front has categorically 
rejected allegations by journalist and author Joe Cummings that the 
exile student group uses "child soldiers" in its armed brigades that 
fight in the jungles along Burma's eastern border.

Cummings, who is best known for guidebooks on southeast Asia, including 
a controversial one he co-authored on Burma (Myanmar), wrote in a letter 
published in the November 29th edition of Bangkok's The Nation that the 
ABSDF was recruiting "child soldiers as young as 13".

In a reply published in The Nation on Dec 6 the ABSDF stated that it 
"has a strict policy that no children under the age of 17 can fight in 
the front line".  Children under the age of 17 who want to join up "are 
most commonly sent to an ABSDF-run high school rather than being 
exploited in war", the letter said.

The letter also cited an independent report on the use of child soldiers 
in Burma produced by Chiang Mai based Image Asia which found that "the 
ABSDF does not recruit, depending entirely on volunteer recruits". 



______________OPINION/EDITORIALS_________________


AsiaWeek: Myanmar Rethink--Suu Kyi may be able to serve her country 
better in exile

DECEMBER 15, 2000 VOL. 26 NO. 49 | 


Suppose the Dalai Lama had not fled Tibet in 1959, going into long-term 
exile in India. Instead, imagine that he had stayed behind, holed up in 
Lhasa's Potala Palace or some obscure monastery, under close watch by 
his Chinese minders. Would anybody today, besides a few China watchers 
and Tibet scholars, even be aware of his existence? Would anyone still 
care much about Tibet? True, the Dalai Lama is now unable to set foot in 
his own land. But more important is the fact that he is free to travel 
to most other places. Because of this freedom and because of his access 
to international media and leaders, the Dalai Lama has been able almost 
singlehandedly to keep the Tibetan cause alive. 

His case makes us wonder about the present predicament of his fellow 
Nobel Peace laureate, Aung San Suu Kyi. In many ways, she too embodies 
the aspirations of her compatriots for greater freedoms in Myanmar. The 
time may have come for Suu Kyi to start thinking what used to be the 
unthinkable: leaving Myanmar and going into exile. By doing so, she may 
be able more effectively to keep her cause under the international 
spotlight and to build support for it.  

Exile would be a tough choice for Suu Kyi as it would, at first glance, 
seem like a victory for the generals who run the country. They are 
unlikely to allow her to return. Yet she should reflect on how much good 
she is doing the cause of democracy by remaining in Myanmar under house 
arrest. It is undeniable that she has become more marginalized than 
ever. There is no realistic hope of a breakthrough in the prolonged 
stand-off between the junta and the political opposition she heads. 
Indeed, Suu Kyi seems to have fallen out of the world's consciousness. 
She has been back under house arrest for three months and is threatened 
with the loss of her home and party headquarters. Yet the world yawns, 
and the news is relegated to the back pages of newspapers. 

That would change if Suu Kyi were to take up residence in, say, London 
or New York. Like the Dalai Lama, she would then be able to work the 
relevant political and media constituencies. But this doesn't mean we 
agree that her favored approach to pressuring the junta ù through 
international economic sanctions and diplomatic isolation ù is 
necessarily the best one. Sanctions have accomplished little except to 
salve the Western conscience to "do something." And so long as Myanmar's 
neighbors remain largely friendly, sanctions won't achieve anything. The 
Chinese, in particular, can provide Yangon with almost anything 
important that it can't get elsewhere, including weapons. If Suu Kyi 
departs, perhaps the generals can also reach some kind of accommodation 
with other opposition leaders ù a scenario forestalled by the regime's 
obstinate refusal to negotiate with her. That could allow a degree of 
cooperation, which would be progress. 

In fact, the (largely Western) countries that have given Myanmar the 
cold shoulder should consider engaging the nation economically. Asia's 
recent history has shown that increased trade and investment almost 
invariably boost not just economic openness, but also, in time, social 
and political liberalization. That has happened in places as diverse as 
Korea and Thailand, Taiwan and China. There is every reason to think 
that business, given a chance to work its magic, will prove the engine 
for positive change in Myanmar as well. 

____________________________________________________


Mizzima: A Canadian Grave Digger in Burma

By: Kanbawza Win 
Mizzima News Group (www.mizzima.com) 

December 9, 2000 

"Thu Ba Yar Zar" in Burmese means an outcast gravedigger whose 
profession compels him to live in a cemetery far away from town. He will 
earn the money only when somebody dies. Such a person in the modern 
sense is Robert Friedland of Ivanhoe Mines, Inc, a Vancouver- based 
company.  

How Robert Friedland, an American, end up as a gravedigger is of 
interest. In 1981 Friedland launched his first mining venture, the 
ill-fated Gaslactic Resources. The company name is Summitvillle Mines, a 
cyanide heap-leach gold project in the state of Colorado. To save 
expenses, instead of taking necessary precautions, it leached 35 million 
pounds of cyanide and other toxic tailings into a nearby watershed. When 
it became known, the Colorado State government stopped the operation in 
1991 and the US Government launched a $150 million lawsuit against 
Friedland. He declared his company bankrupts and fled to Vancouver where 
he already had connections.  

He got his chance with Golden Star Resource at Omai on the Essequibo 
river in Guyana. Using the same strategy, he leached 3 billion liters of 
cyanide-laced mine tailings into the river, not only poisoning all life 
including fish stocks but also ruining GuyanaÆs farmlands.  

Knowing this disastrous act would soon be uproar, his company fled after 
garnering a huge profit. Although labeled as the worst environmental 
disaster in Latin America, he escaped legal action by cunning.  

Just a year after the Omai debacle he turned his attention to Canada, 
his adopted country. In Labrador, his company, Diamond Field Resources, 
struck a huge base nickel deposit in the native territory of Innu and 
Inuit (the outside world known them as Eskimos). As a shrewd and evil 
business genius he formed a consortium to exploit the deposit to solicit 
the support of a major Canadian company. The nickel miner Falconbridge 
fell to his bait and a deal worth $4.3 billion was inked with Friedland 
personally gaining $5 million. With a stroke of a pen, Friedland has 
become the biggest shareholder in the worldÆs largest deposit of nickel. 
 
Now he has turned his attention to Asia and the Pacific and targeted the 
authoritarian regimes in Indonesia (under Suharto), Vietnam, China and 
Burma. This time his financial vehicles were Indochina Goldfields and 
Ivanhoe Capital Corp (ICC).  

In 1996 he decided to devote his full time to Ivanhoe and moved on to 
Singapore. He was helped by an expatriate Burmese businessman, U Tun 
Maung (Reggie), who now has the position of a Senior Vice President of 
Ivanhoe Myanmar Holdings, a wholly owned by ICC. Thus Friedland got a 
connection with the Burmese Junta for U Tun MaungÆs son has married to 
the daughter of the Deputy Prime Minister of the Burmese regime. U Tun 
Maung also skillfully used religion to shore up the business when he 
made himself Chairperson of the Vancouver Buddhist Society, to which 
Friedland graciously donated $75,000. Ivanhoe Myanmar Holding sealed a 
compact with the JuntaÆs MiningÆs Enterprise No1 to export copper 
deposit on a fifty-fifty joint venture. It is in the process of 
extracting 15 billion pounds of copper over a 30 year- period and 
Friedland boasts in as the cheapest run mines in the world.  

In Burma where a dictatorial regime has banned all trade unions and the 
average worker earns just 8 cents an hour, there are practically no 
regulations to ensure both labor and environmental standards. It is an 
ideal place for Friedland to make a profit on the blood and sweat of the 
Burmese people. Furthermore, slave labour (International Labor 
Organization has decided to take actions against the regime for 
widespread use of forced labor in the country) was routinely used in 
building of infrastructure in areas around the mines. Open pit, heap 
leach mining is prone at the best of times to be a dirty business, 
especially when regulations are weak.  

Open-pit mining involves clearing standing vegetation and forests, 
diverting drainage systems, disrupting drainage patterns and 
destabilizing topography, causing mountains to collapse. The heap leach 
design creates serious problems since waste rock and toxins have to be 
contained for a long period of time to avoid leaching. There is a 
serious risk of acid rock drainage, where exposed waste rock will leach 
sulfur trioxide when it rains. This is especially dangerous when heavy 
rainstorms and occasional flooding occur during the monsoon period. Mine 
tailings can contaminate local drinking water supplies, and poison water 
bodies and aquamarine life.  

The Burmese people are sure that to maximize his profits Friedland will 
use the same old method that he used in Colorado and Omai. Even in 
democratic countries where information is openly accessible and where 
high standards of monitoring and control exists how much more dangerous 
will be a place like Burma where it is a crime to bring the peopleÆs 
grievances to the authorities?  

Independent investigation is next to impossible and local enterprises 
and foreign companies that do not answer publicly to shareholders and do 
not follow international accepted standards run these mines.  

In past years an increasing number of people have expressed their faith 
in the "codes of conduct" emanating from the Asia-Pacific Mining 
Conference in Canada (1996), but there are growing skepticism about 
whether such codes are relevant or enforceable in states like Burma. 
These states essentially respond not to better environmental, human 
rights and labour standards, but to the need for foreign investment, 
which led them to meet, the structural adjustment criteria set by 
multilateral institutions. Where infrastructure and power supply are 
poor there is bound to be slave labour, as the ruling authority would 
prefer to protect its own internal interest rather than the welfare of 
local communities. That is exactly what the mining companies are doing 
in Burma. It is natural that a mining company will often try for as long 
as possible to fence off their critics by coming up with their own 
limited criteria and system of auditing rather than submit to being seen 
by an international body. Thus there is little or no way to stop the 
activity of this Canadian gravedigger in Burma.  

It has been known that more than 50% of the global finances for mining 
are raised in Canada, particularly the Toronto Stock Exchange. Moreover, 
Canadian companies with more than $ 3 million in their annual 
exploration budgets are estimated to control 35% of the exploration 
expenditures worldwide. Even though the Canadian Mining Task Force made 
numerous recommendations to improve operating standards, it is doubtful 
whether they are ever implemented in Burma.    

____________________________________________________


The Nation: Letters to the Editor--Cummings wrong to challenge the ILO

Dec 10, 2000.

Tom Harrison - LONDON 

I was surprised to see Joe Cummings questioning the validity of the 
International Labour Organisation's findings in his recent letter. He is 
right to point out that it is hard for the ILO and other UN bodies to 
discover the truth in Burma, but the reason for this is because the 
junta tries to prevent them from finding out the truth.  

Even with these difficulties, the ILO has found that forced labour is 
widespread and has accused the junta of committing "a crime against 
humanity".  

The ILO has also found that much of the forced labour takes place to 
develop tourism infrastructure, so perhaps this is why Joe Cummings and 
Lonely Planet want to challenge the ILO. Admitting the truth would 
damage sales of their new guide to Burma.  

Most people would consider the evidence of the United Nations to be more 
reliable than that of the Burmese junta. Lonely Planet seems to have 
decided to put across the views of the junta, regardless of the facts. 

____________________________________________________


The New Light of Myanmar: ILO takes one- sided and arbitrary measures 
based on   preposterous accusations and misinfomation given by runaway 
groups and insurgent groups 

[Abridged]

Yangon, 8 Dec-The Special Refresher Course No 42 for Basic Education 
Teachers concluded at Nawarat Hall of the Central Institute of Civil 
Service in Hlegu Township this morning, with an address by Chairman of 
Myanmar Education Committee Secretary-1 of the State Peace and 
Development Council Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt.
 
 ...Some big western nations, for example, which are applying pressure on 
and attempting to dominate Myanmar, have used ILO to accomplish their 
political ends which are not concerned with Labour affairs. A study of 
past events shows that shortly after regaining independence, Myanmar 
became an ILO member, and ratified 1930 Convention 29 of ILO concerning 
forced Labour in 1955. 

It has been for over 30 years after the Convention was ratified that any 
problems did not crop up. Only in 1991, were there accusations 
concerning so-called forced Labour, and it is found that attempts have 
been made to take one-sided action against Myanmar. Evidently, it is a 
politically-motivated mea-sure. The measures taken by ILO have been 
based on preposterous accusations and misinformation given by runaway 
groups opposing the State, insurgent groups and internal and external 
groups opposing the government. These measures, therefore, have been 
taken one-sidedly and arbitrarily. Keeping with the fine traditions of 
cooperating with ILO and out of goodwill, Myanmar informed ILO officials 
of objective conditions and information. In addition, orders and 
directives prohibiting the use of forced Labour have been issued right 
down to the grassroots level. Based on results achieved from holding 
discussions with Technical Cooperation Mission, additional orders and 
directives were i! ssued. It is found that neglecting such constructive 
cooperation, the West bloc acted according to their plan. It is evident 
that due to pressure applied by some big western nations, the Governing 
Body of ILO took measures with every intention of getting Myanmar and 
the people to suffer, disrupting the rate of economic growth, impeding 
the improvement of living standard of the people and per capita income 
and destroying nation-building endeavours of the government. As such 
one-sided measures taken against Myanmar have been unprecedented in the 
history of ILO, it is an undesirable matter for developing nations and 
small nations. It is highly likely that some big nations, using such 
international organizations as ILO to accomplish their political ends, 
will interfere in the internal affairs of small developing nations in 
future...


____________________ OTHER _____________________


Hillerphoto.com: "Grace under Pressure": Gem of a Web Site Depicts Burma


Thursday, December 8, 2000

<http://www.hillerphoto.com/burma>

(PORTLAND, ORE) Experience the beauty and heart-wrenching drama of 
modern Burma - Myanmar - in a new multimedia photo essay "Grace under 
Pressure" featuring the faces, music, and voices of this isolated 
Southeast Asian country.

One of the most important political stories of the 1990's, the struggle 
for democracy in Burma, led by 1991 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Aung San 
Suu Kyi, is still smoldering, despite little media coverage or 
international concern. The journey awaiting visitors to this 
Flash-driven Web site is informative, magical, and hard-hitting. Created 
by award-winning documentary photographer and Web designer Geoffrey 
Hiller, it contains the best of 3,000 photographs shot in February 2000. 
 Accompanied by authentic music, voices, and background text by 
celebrated writers and Burma experts, it should inspire the world to 
take interest in a country whose unique Buddhist culture and strategic 
interest may surpass that of Tibet.

Hiller says," Burma is still shrouded in mystery. Because of the 
isolation imposed by the military dictatorship, few foreigners go there, 
except for the gem or drug trades. What I found is a nation of gentle 
people who smile despite incredible hardships, and who desperately 
desire contact with the outside world. Even though Suu Kyi was put under 
house arrest again in September, they will not give up."

________________


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