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BurmaNet News: December 10, 2000
- Subject: BurmaNet News: December 10, 2000
- From: strider@xxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sun, 10 Dec 2000 06:22:00
______________ 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
The BurmaNet News is viewable online at:
http://theburmanetnews.editthispage.com
__________________ 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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