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BurmaNet News: April 19, 2001
- Subject: BurmaNet News: April 19, 2001
- From: strider@xxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Fri, 20 Apr 2001 06:09:00
___________________________________________________
______________ THE BURMANET NEWS ______________
An on-line newspaper covering Burma
April 19, 2001 Issue # 1784
______________ www.burmanet.org _______________
NOTED IN PASSING: ``We are witnessing for the first time in decades some
rays of hope,'' Priscilla Clapp, head of the US Embassy in Rangoon.
See Reuters: U.S. official sees some hope for change in Myanmar
INSIDE BURMA _______
*Reuters: U.S. official sees some hope for change in Myanmar
*DVB : Burmese army placed on military alert for US-Thai joint military
exercise
*The New Light of Myanmar: Covering the carcass of an elephant with a
goat hide (Part III) [Thai military aid to insurgents]
*Xinhua: Myanmar to Establish ICT Park
REGIONAL/INTERNATIONAL _______
*Reuters: U.N. rights forum gives mixed report on Myanmar
*Shan Herald Agency for News: Latest seizure of drugs just a tip of the
iceberg, says Thai army source
ECONOMY/BUSINESS _______
*Reuters: Myanmar needs major reform to maintain growth -ADB
*Xinhua: Myanmar Generates More Electricity in 2000
*Burma Media Association: Student Pressures Grow for divestment in Burma
OPINION/EDITORIALS_______
*Burma Action Committee, Portland: Portland Backs Burma Divestment
OTHER______
*PD Burma: Calendar of events
*United Nations: Text of Burma Resolution at the UNCHR 2001
__________________ INSIDE BURMA ____________________
Reuters: U.S. official sees some hope for change in Myanmar
By Sonya Hepinstall
WASHINGTON, April 18 (Reuters) - For the first time in decades, there
are signs of the possibility of real political change in Myanmar, one of
the world's most isolated countries, a senior U.S. diplomat said on
Wednesday. ``We are witnessing for the first time in decades some rays
of hope,'' said Priscilla Clapp, the charge d'affaires at the U.S.
Embassy in Myanmar, which is also known as Burma. Clapp said she saw
no signs of an heir apparent to Myanmar's top official, Than Shwe,
chairman of the State Peace and Development Council, despite reports of
a power struggle between his No. 2 and 3 men, Maung Aye and Khin Nyunt.
`
`I don't see a new leadership coming up behind Than Shwe. This may be
the end of a military era,'' she said. ``There's no heir apparent.''
The most obvious sign of change in Yangon, the capital, is a secret
dialogue between the government and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi,
she said, but there are others, including eased pressure on Suu Kyi's
National League for Democracy. Between 120 and 150 NLD followers were
released from prison recently, and although most were detained only
months ago, longer-term political prisoners are also ``trickling out,''
Clapp said. Besides, ``the NLD headquarters is operating more freely
than it has in a long time,'' she said. The government has eased
surveillance of the headquarters and allowed greater freedom of movement
for NLD members, she said. LANGUAGE CHANGES SUBTLY
The language and public attitude of the military government has changed
as well, Clapp told a breakfast of academics, business people and
diplomats sponsored by the Asia Society.
``They talk about democracy being their goal, which is a subtle but
major change,'' she said. ``Democracy always had some sort of pejorative
meaning. ... It always was something that the neocolonial powers were
using as an ax against the regime.'' Clapp said the government was
also now using the term ``human rights'' less pejoratively and had
admitted there was such a thing in Myanmar as forced labor. The
International Labor Organization voted in November to urge governments
and international bodies to impose sanctions on Myanmar to compel it to
respond to concerns about a system under which rural people are forced
to work under inhuman conditions and without pay on government projects
such as road building. ``These are significant developments (but) they
are not irreversible. It's still in a very early stage,'' she said.
She credited the tenacity of Suu Kyi and the NLD, which in 1990 won
Myanmar's last general election but was not allowed to govern. But she
also lauded the international community, including the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations.
GOAL OF ``ENGAGEMENT''
ASEAN, which now counts Myanmar among its 10 members, has often been
criticized in the West for pursuing ``engagement'' with Yangon rather
than imposing sanctions. ``ASEAN exercises its pressure in very
friendly ways. You may not recognize it as the kind of pressure that the
United States would exercise. It's not straightforward. ... I think
that's been going on longer than we realize,'' Clapp said. She
especially praised Razali Ismail, a Malaysian diplomat appointed special
representative of U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, for working
methodically from last July to hear diverse views and establishing a
permanent foothold in Yangon.
Razali was the only diplomat given access to Suu Kyi for several months
after she was put under de facto house arrest in September. Clapp said
it helped that Razali was close to Mahathir Mohamad, prime minister of
key ASEAN member Malaysia. ``It makes it more difficult for the
Burmese government to deny him access,'' she said. The military has
been in charge of Burma since Gen. Ne Win staged a coup in 1962.
___________________________________________________
DVB : Burmese army placed on military alert for US-Thai joint military
exercise
Democratic Voice of Burma, Oslo, in Burmese 1430 gmt 16 Apr 01
DVB [Democratic Voice of Burma] has learned that the Army Commander-in-
Chief's Office of the SPDC [State Peace and Development Council] Defence
Ministry has issued a special order on 14 April to military battalions
and companies stationed at the Thai-Burma border.
According to the order, troops from one superpower nation [USA] and Thai
armed forces have planned to hold a joint military exercise [Cobra Gold]
near the Thai-Burma border and it is a cunning way to infiltrate into
Burmese territory. All the military commands adjacent to Thailand -
Triangle Region Military Command, Eastern Military Command, Southeast
Military Command, and Coastal Region Military Command, have been warned
to be on military alert and awareness.
The same order warned that the Thai military exercises are no longer
routine and have become more advanced and should be monitored
continuously while anti-aircraft batteries should also be well manned
and used effectively in order to repel any enemy force which could
infiltrate the country at anytime.
Furthermore, reserved military helicopters stationed at the respective
military commands should be systematically upgraded as a gunship to be
used as a backup force in an emergency situation [sentence as received].
___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
The New Light of Myanmar: Covering the carcass of an elephant with a
goat hide (Part III) [Thai military aid to insurgents]
Thursday, 19 April, 2001
(continued from 18-4-2001)
Ywet Sit, the leader of opium insurgent group, is living at estimate
LX-8689 at Lwetainglyan in Thailand, the group led by 727 Brigade
Commander Ting Khe, at Minena, and the group led by Brigade Commander
Sai Kham, at Maiphaw region in Thailand west of Tachilek.
I will now present the matter concerning the assistance being provided
by Thailand to SURA. The SURA insurgent group opened its headquarters
at Lwetainglyan and Nantpinlein in Thailand beginning November 1999.
Thailand sent workers and bulldozers to help SURA build the camp.
Similarly, Thailand gave every assistance to SURA in building an
outpost of Lwetainglyan base on Lwelon Mountain (Point-5151) near the
borderline.
In December 1999, Yebusan people's militia group led by U Yay She while
transporting narcotic drugs at Maemawkhwin at Thai-Myanmar border
encountered with SURA. SURA seized eight Yebusan people's militia group
members, five small arms and over 400,000 stimulant tablets. A thief
was robbed by a big thief. Ywet Sit handed over all the seized property
to the Thai army. So the Thai army presented him two 60-mm guns, 20
rounds of shells, a launcher and a large number of ammunition. The Thai
army also permitted his group to take a foothold at an old Thai army
base at Maemo region at Myanmar-Thai border.
In September 2000, about 10 Thai heavy weapon and small arm instructors
arrived at SURA Maemo base to give theoretical and practical training to
about 200 SURA members for a month. SURA members were allowed to wear
military uniforms and make movements in Thailand. They were permitted to
undergo treatment at Thai hospitals if they are wounded. SURA insurgent
group observed the liberation day ceremony at Lwetainglyan in Thailand
on 20 May 2000. KNU insurgents, representatives of Pa-O and Palaung
remnant groups, Capt Moni of Thai army, Maj Panra of Thai intelligence
and correspondents of Thai ITV and Channel-7 attended the ceremony.
A group under the command of Sai Ba Tun of SURA Brigade 727 attacked No
279 Infantry Regiment of the Myanmar Tatmadaw and the Special Region 2
on 23 September 2000. Nine SURAs including company commander Win Maung
fell and another 10 were wounded when the Myanmar Tatmadaw launched the
counter-attack. Five of the wounded were treated at the SURA dispensary
at Wannant village, Minena village-tract and the other seriously
wounded five SURAs were warded at Cheindaung hospital in Thailand on 24
September 2000. Beginning 1 October 2000, the Thai heavy machinery were
clearing the ground to build a new base which could accommodate 800
SURAs at estimate Y-735934 near Minena village in Thailand.
The conclusion ceremony of the recruit training course and No 2 officers
training course was held at Nantpinlein SURA headquarters on 13
November 2000. Correspondents of Thailand, members of American DEA,
members of Thai-based remnant insurgents groups, such as KNU and KNPP
and SURA leader Ywet Sit and brigade commanders attended the ceremony.
Nearly 400 attended the courses which began on 6 January 2000.
Twenty-five completed the officers training course.
Shan ethnic people who went to Thailand as they thought very highly of
the country felt frustrated in an incident which occurred in December
2000. The incident was that the Thai army pressed Shan ethnic people
who were in Thailand to work to join the SURA. The Thai army threatened
the Shans that they would be arrested under immigration law if they
refused to join SURA. The recruits were given military training by
about ten Thai military instructors.
Ting Khe, Lwun Hsun and Seikta of SURA under the leadership of Ywet Sit
held a meeting with correspondents of Thai news agencies and 25 village
heads of Thailand including those from Minena, Nongok, Monghpan,
Kyinnwe and Peinlon from 1 to 3 January 2001. At the meeting Ywet Sit
said the SURA had become weakened as there were more and more deserters
every day. He requested the village heads to render assistance in
recruiting the Shan and Lahu ethnic people between ages 16 and 40, who
came from Myanmar to work and trade in Thailand, for SURA and personnel
of the Thai army also would force these ethnic people to join SURA by
threatening them with the immigration law.
Leader of the drug bandit group Ywet Sit was in Chiangmai from the early
January 2001 to 10 January. About 50 SURA members under the command of
military affairs chief Kyauk Han Kham Lyan together with five American
citizens shot video from Nantpinlein to Minena in border area. Capt Aik
Kywe and his 100 men of SURA took positions in the Thai territory
opposite Lwehoma.
Some SURA insurgents from Lwelon Mountain were transported to Maheintet
by five Thai army trucks on 5 February 2001 and some SURA insurgents in
Minena were transported to Maheintet by five trucks of Thai army
special forces (red caps) on 6 February 2001.
About 75 SURAs in cooperation with Thai army troops were deployed at
T-9312 in Thai side opposite Pachi camp of the Myanmar Tatmadaw on 10
February 2001. Another 60 SURAs arrived at Lwemaehtaw hillock
(Point-6274) in Thai side facing Lwepaukkala hillock (Point-6189). Pits
were dug and bunkers and heavy weapon firing sites installed with the
help of Thai army. During the Lwetawkham camp battle which occurred on
21 February 2001, about 200 SURAs and 150 Thai troops besieged the
camp. During the time, three Thai army helicopters landed at the SURA
camp. American citizens were on board the helicopters.
Two 105-mm artillery pieces of the Thai army were stationed at estimate
U-4737 on 22 February 2001. The guns were aiming at Mongyun region.
After the E-7 hillock (Kuthinayon) battle, Ywet Sit went to Chiangmai
very often and held more discussions with Thai army officers.
At about noon on 7 March 2001, about ten members of Thai army special
forces (red caps) together with about 80 SURA insurgents went to Minena
on two ten-wheel trucks from Chiangdaung. After the E-7 hillock
(Tachilek) battle, the Thai army provided 300 new M-16 automatic rifles
to SURA. However the Thai army is denying that it has never provided
any assistance to SURA and has no relations with the group, I would
like to tell the Thai army not to make denial statements as these
evidences are so obvious.
The western media, the Thai media and some persons of Thailand are
accusing Wa peace group of engaging in narcotic drug business; the Wa
group after making peace with the government is striving with might and
main for regional and national development and eradication of narcotic
drugs. They are also criticizing the Mongyun town of Wa national races
which is developing due to the harmonious efforts of the State and the
Wa peace group. However, they are giving much favour to Maha Hsan Wa
group which never returns to the legal fold for fear of losing its
narcotics business. About 100 men of Maha Hsan Wa group are active in
Maeoming, Makhesot and Nantpapyet areas in Thailand. Maha Hsan himself
is living in Chiangmai in northern Thailand.
KNPP is a group in Kayah State which had made peace with the government.
After becoming a peace group, however, its members lived along the
border, collaborated with some Thai timber merchants and smuggled out
teak from Kayah State. At last, they could not resist their greed.
Thus, Aung Myat, Aung Than Lay and Htehtoo Pe and 200 men went
underground and lived in Thailand. Aung Myat and group opened its
headquarters at Naswe in Mae Hong Son in Thailand; Aung Than Lay and
group is living in Maesayin, Htehtoo Pe with the rank of the chief of
staff and group is living at Maengaung and Phone Naing with the rank of
the adjutant-general and group is living in Hwele. They are living in
four separate places in Thailand and are engaging in opium business.
Author :Sein Lun
___________________________________________________
Xinhua: Myanmar to Establish ICT Park
YANGON, April 19 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar is planning to establish an
information and communications technology (ICT) park, aimed at paving
way for the country's youths to enter the field of computer science,
widening the future information technology (IT) field and accelerating
its functions. According to sources at the Myanmar Computer Science
Development Council, arrangements are also being made to set up a
telecommunication data center in the ICT park. The ICT park to be set up
will render much assistance to the country to partake in the globally
developing software program with the available human resources, Chairman
of the council, Lieutenant General Khin Nyunt, said at a function here
Thursday.
Myanmar has been striving for the development of the ICT, working out
strategies and policies to meet the challenges arising in this knowledge
and participate in the global competition. Accordingly, the Myanmar
government is giving encouragement and incentive to investment in the
field by private sector, especially in education and human resources
development for the IT. In order to create a favorable environment to
facilitate cooperation with other countries, the government synchronized
its IT principles and codes, enacted necessary laws and standardized
criteria. In cooperation with fellow members of the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Myanmar joined in signing the
Electronic(e)-ASEAN Framework Agreement in November 2000, pledging to
implement the e-ASEAN initiative to strive for providing access to the
country's 50 million people having a tele-density of 0.53 per 100 people
___________________ REGIONAL/INTERNATIONAL___________________
Reuters: U.N. rights forum gives mixed report on Myanmar
GENEVA, April 18 (Reuters) - The United Nations Commission on Human
Rights praised Myanmar's ruling junta on Wednesday for its nascent
dialogue with the opposition and urged authorities to establish
democracy in line with elections held a decade ago. It adopted, by
consensus, a resolution presented by the European Union which also
alleged continuing major violations including executions, mass arrests
and forced labour. The 53-member state forum is holding its annual
six-week session in Geneva to examine abuses worldwide. It welcomed
the landmark visit to Myanmar earlier this month by the Commission's
special rapporteur (investigator) for the country, Brazilian law
professor Paulo Sergio Pinheiro. It renewed his mandate and hoped he
would return there soon.
The resolution welcomed ``the initiation of contacts'' with Aung San Suu
Kyi, secretary-general of the National League for Democracy, which won
Myanmar's last general election in 1990 by a landslide but has never
been allowed to govern. It hoped that ``such talks will be extended at
an appropriate time to include, among others, representatives of ethnic
minorities and thereby will facilitate broad-based and inclusive
national reconciliation and the restoration of democracy.'' But the
text expressed grave concern at what it called ``the systematic policy
of the Government of Myanmar of persecuting the democratic opposition,
National League for Democracy members and their families, as well as
ethnic opposition parties.''
It called on the ruling junta to ensure the safety and freedom of
movement of all political leaders including Nobel Peace Prize laureate
Suu Kyi, held under de facto arrest since September with access to her
strictly controlled. The resolution alleged that the government used
intimidatory methods such as arbitrary arrest and detention, and harsh
long-term prison sentences which ``has forced many to refrain from
exercising their legitimate political rights.'' It deplored ``the
deterioration of the human rights situation and the continuing pattern
of gross and systematic violations of human rights in Myanmar, including
extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, enforced disappearances,
rape, torture, inhuman treatment, mass arrests, forced labour, forced
relocation and denial of freedom of assembly, association, expression
and movement.'' David Arnott, of the Geneva-based Burma Peace
Foundation, said that the resolution was more strongly worded than in
previous years, despite the text welcoming the nascent dialogue.
Pinheiro, the first U.N. rights investigator to visit the military-ruled
country in five years, addressed the Commission a day after his return
from the April 3-5 trip. Pinheiro, who held talks with Suu Kyi as well
as the powerful Secretary One of the ruling State Peace and Development
Council, Lieutenant-General Khin Nyunt, said that he had sensed
``cautious optimism'' by all parties regarding the dialogue.
__________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
Shan Herald Agency for News: Latest seizure of drugs just a tip of the
iceberg, says Thai army source
April 19, 2001
The seizure of 7.6 million pills of methamphetamine near Thailand's
western border on Monday was just a tenth of the total due to enter
Thailand during the annual water festival, said an army source this
morning.
"According to our sources, a total of 70 million pills had been planned
be 'exported' to Thailand", said the source who requested his name not
be mentioned.
"Traffickers use to take advantage of the chaos and police attention
elsewhere during big events like the Songkran and general elections to
haul their goods."
The army's Naresuan Force made its largest seizure at Phobphra District
in Tak Province. It is the second biggest catch since 7 January when
the Thai navy caught 7.8 million of methamphatamines together with 106
kilogram of heroin in the Andamans.
"The Army's slip might be due to the fact that it had been wholly
engrossed in the expected Burmese attack against the Shan rebels that
failed to materialize," he said.
The Burma Army has since February been building up along its eastern
border with Thailand alluding to the presence of Karen, Karenni and
Shan armed movements.
_______________ ECONOMY AND BUSINESS _______________
Reuters: Myanmar needs major reform to maintain growth -ADB
BANGKOK, April 19 (Reuters) - Military-ruled Myanmar has made inroads
into poverty but major structural reforms of its tightly controlled
economy are needed if it is to progress further, the Asian Development
Bank said on Thursday. ``The most urgent challenge facing the
government is to achieve rapid economic growth to reduce poverty,'' the
Bank said in its Asian Development Outlook for 2001, released on
Thursday.
``If it can initiate a programme of policy reform measures and external
aid agencies can provide assistance, the economy has the potential to
maintain broad-based growth.'' The ADB said official estimates show
Myanmar's economy grew 11 percent in 1999 and maintained double-digit
growth in the first three quarters of 2000. It said inflation was 11.4
percent in 1999 and fell in 2000. Several outside observers, however,
say the economy's performance fell well short of official estimates.
They say inflation has been rampant in luxury goods and imports,
although government measures have helped cap price rises for essential
basic commodities.
``After quite a successful period of growth following the initial
liberalisation of 1988, progress has slowed because of ongoing
structural and policy distortions as well as resource and technology
constraints,'' the ADB said. ``Unless more comprehensive and
consistent structural reforms are undertaken and additional domestic and
external resources are mobilised, economic growth will remain sluggish
and vulnerable to exogenous factors such as the weather, the regional
economic environment and fluctuations in global commodity prices.''
STRUCTURAL REFORM CRUCIAL
The ADB said the main structural reforms needed were:
-- raising the investment and saving ratios, which are languishing
around 12 to 13 percent of GDP; -- a reduction in the budget deficit,
but by increasing tax revenue rather than cutting already low public
expenditure; -- promoting exports and abolishing the public sector
monopoly on rice exports; -- ending the policy of ``multiple and
widely divergent exchange rates'' -- and strengthening the banking
sector and the supervisory and regulatory capabilities of the central
bank.
Myanmar's kyat currency has tumbled to record lows near 600 to the
dollar on the black market this year. But the official rate remains
around six kyat to the dollar and has been unchanged for more than three
decades. The ADB said ending the policy of multiple exchange rates
would ``remove both an existing distortion in resource allocation and a
strong disincentive to investment.'' It warned that at end-March 2000,
gross foreign exchange reserves were only about $240 million -- less
than two months of exports -- ``reflecting the fragile state of the
external balances.''
Foreign donors remain reluctant to help Myanmar, saying the country's
human rights record is not good enough. The pro-democracy opposition,
led by Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, has campaigned to
discourage foreign investment in the country until the military allows
political reform. The ADB noted Myanmar was ranked 125 out of the 174
countries in the United Nations Human Development Index in 2000. ``The
country's social indicators have improved over the last few decades and
frequently reveal better social conditions than expected given the per
capita income,'' the ADB said. But it noted that official human
development statistics were more favourable than the estimates of major
international organisations.
___________________________________________________
Xinhua: Myanmar Generates More Electricity in 2000
YANGON, April 19 (Xinhua) -- Electric power generated by the state-run
Myanma Electric Power Enterprise (MEPE), the main electricity supplier
of the country, totaled 5.028 billion kilowatt-hours (kwh) in 2000, 17
percent more than in 1999, said the latest issue of the government
Economic Indicators. Meanwhile, the installed generating capacity of the
MEPE reached 1,172 megawatts (mw) at the end of 2000.
According to the MEPE, since 1988, Myanmar's electric power installed
generating capacity has increased by 509 mw, of which that of natural
gas power plants rose by 255 mw, while that of steam power ones by 143
mw and that of hydropower ones by 111 mw. Myanmar is implementing five
more hydropower plants -- Paunglaung, Zaungtu, Mone, Thaphanseik and
Maipan. Three of them are being built by China. Upon their completion,
the five power plants will add 407 mw to Myanmar's installed generating
capacity and is expected to greatly ease the serious electricity
shortage problem of the country.
___________________________________________________
Burma Media Association: Student Pressures Grow for divestment in Burma
By Tin Maung Htoo
Burma Media Association (Canada Branch)
18/4/2001
Universities opposing investment in Burma has steadily increased in
number and resolutions passing through their relevant student councils
become a hindrance for companies doing business in Burma.
In the past two months, five universities, three from United States and
two from United Kingdom, passed resolutions on Burma, adding a total
number into near three dozens. Some well-known universities such as
Harvard, Stanford, Georgetown and American University are included on
the list.
London School of Economic at the London University passed a resolution
on Feb 8 and University of St. Andrews in Scotland followed suit on Mar
1. Likewise, the Peace College and University of Virginia in the United
States also passed their resolution on Feb 20 and Mar 27, respectively.
Recently, the Michigan University constituted the latest university to
pass the resolution on April 16. It was a few hours before a day long
fast for imprisoned Burmese student leader Min Ko Naing on April 17,
2001 at 95 universities around the world,
In the resolution, the Michigan State University recommended the
university administration to terminate relationship with corporations
doing business in Burma because, students claimed, that their university
has over $20 million of investments in companies that are conducting
business in Burma.
Michigan students were more disturbed when they found of their Business
Administration Prof. Marina Whitman is sitting on the board of directors
of Unocal, which invested a billion dollar in Burma's natural gas
pipeline project and that is repeatedly accused of perpetuating human
rights abuses in Burma. Students held several demonstrations against
Unocal's involvement in Burma.
Three weeks prior to that, University of Virginia also adopted similar
measure on March 27 and called on the administration to withdraw its
investments in Unocal. Students claimed that the University has $2.5
million invested in companies that do business in Burma, of which $2.1
million invested in Unocal.
California-based Stanford University students have the same dissent view
on the matter and expressed that Unocal's involvement in Burma not only
eliminates the chance for a return to democratic rule in Burma, but also
results in more suffering for Burmese citizens.
Stanford Students obtained the University approval on investment policy
on Burma and they have now a very effective way to pressure Unocal
company to withdraw from Burma since chief executive officer of Unocal,
Charles Williamson, is a member of the Stanford University Earth
Sciences Advisory Board. Students held several actions for that purpose
in the past months.
This is indeed a challenge for businesses. Especially for Unocal, it
becomes the primary target of student movements in terms of its business
connections with the university campuses. If students still hold on the
pressure, Unocal could encounter the same fate that Pepsis Cola faced in
the past, so do other businesses.
_______________OPINION/EDITORIALS_________________
Burma Action Committee, Portland: Portland Backs Burma Divestment
April 19, 2001
City of Portland, Oregon Calls for Divestment from Companies Linked to
Burmese Narco-dictatorship
A Resolution urging Portland's retirement and pension funds to
divest from companies investing in Burma was unanimously passed by the
City Council on Wednesday, April 18.
April 18, 2001 For Immediate Release: Portland's City Council today
unanimously passed a resolution sponsored by Commissioner Eric Sten, a
longtime Free Burma supporter, directing the city╒s pension and
retirement funds to divest from companies which do business with the
notorious regime of Burma (Myanmar). In endorsing the Burma divestment
resolution, Mayor Vera Katz commented that she had participated in
similar strategies in the South Africa anti-apartheid campaign, and was
pleased to be able to take this step for Burma's democracy movement.
Portland╒s new Burma resolution places it in league with Los
Angeles, San Francisco and Minneapolis, which have recently passed Burma
divestment ordinances, as have several major universities. The Council
heard heartfelt testimony from Geoffrey Hiller, designer of the Burma
website "Grace Under Fire," Jennifer Shiprack, who spoke of her
experiences with Mon refugees from Burma, and exiled dissident Aung Win
Kyi, who said of the City retirement funds, "I don╒t want their
noble money to support the bloody hand."
Today's resolution replaces a Burma Selective Purchasing resolution
adopted by the City Council on July 8, 1998. A corporate lobbying effort
headed by Vice President Dick Cheney (former CEO of Halliburton, doing
business in Burma) led to state and city Burma Selective Purchasing laws
being struck down by the Supreme Court on June 19, 2000. Commissioner
Sten's new resolution is a modification which suspends Portland╒s
Selective Purchasing law but acknowledges that Selective Purchasing is
"a valid and useful way to help change situations such as the
oppression, human rights violations, and narcotics trafficking of
Burma."
The Southeast Asian nation of Burma is ruled by a junta whose human
rights violations and repression of democracy have been condemned by the
United Nations, US State Dept. and Amnesty International. Its Nobel
Peace Prize laureate, Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi calls for foreign investors
to stay out as they only help the entrenched dictatorship. Burma is the
world╒s largest producer of heroin, a plague on Portland's own
streets, and the regime has been implicated in the narcotics trade.
contact:
Burma Action Committee Office of Commissioner Erik Sten Edith T.
Mirante 503-226-2189 Bob Durston 503-823-3599
______________________OTHER______________________
PD Burma: Calendar of events
April 19, 2001
╖ April 28-29th : Thai Foreign Minister Surakiart
Sathirathai will visit Burma to discuss bilateral issues
including the drugs crisis
╖ May 13-20th : UN LDC III, UN conference on the
LDC-countries, Brussels
╖ May 22nd : Shareholder meeting for Total, Paris
╖ May 27th : 11th Anniversary of the 1990 elected
╖ May : ARF Senior Official Meeting, Hanoi
╖ June : Meeting in the Governing Body of the ILO
╖ June : Meeting of the Socialist International
Council, Lisbon
╖ June 8-10th : Burma Desk during the Italian Forum for
Responsible Tourism, Venice û Italy
More info., contact r.brusadin@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
╖ June 19th : Aung San Suu Kyi birthday party and Burmese
Women's Day
╖ July : Belgium takes over EU Presidency
╖ July : 8th RFA Ministerial Meeting, Hanoi
╖ July : 34th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting and
Post-Ministerial Conference
╖ July : ASEAN Summit
╖ Aug. 31st- Sep.7th : World Conference against Racism and
Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and related
intolerance, South Africa
╖ December 1st : Worlds Aids Day
╖ December 10th : 10th Year Anniversary of the Nobel Peace
Prize for Aung San Suu Kyi
╖ February 2002 : The fourth Bangladesh, India, Burma, Sri
Lanka and Thailand-Economic Cooperation (BIMST- EC) meeting, Colombo
___________________________________________________
United Nations: Text of Burma Resolution at the UNCHR 2001
Economic and Social Council
Distr.GENERAL
E/CN.4//2001/L.20
12 April 2001
Original: ENGLISH
COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS
Fifty-seventh session
Agenda item 9
Situation of human rights in Myanmar
QUESTION OF THE VIOLATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS AND
FUNDAMENTAL FREEDOMS IN ANY PART OF THE WORLD
Albania, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Cuyprus, Czech
Republice, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary,
Iceland, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, New
Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Slovak
Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Northern Ireland, United States of America: draft
resolution
2001/.... Situation of human rights in Myanmar
The Commission on Human Rights,
Reaffirming that all Member States have an obligation to promote and
protect human rights and fundamental freedoms as stated in the Charter
of the United Nations and as elaborated in the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights, the International Covenants on Human Rights and other
applicable human rights instruments,
Recognizing that the systematic violations of civil, political,
economic, social and cultural rights by the Government of Myanmar have
had a significant adverse effect on the health and welfare of the
people of Myanmar,
Welcoming the co-operation extended to the Special Envoy of the
Secretary-General as well as to the newly-appointed Special Rapporteur
during their respective recent visits to Myanmar, while regretting the
failure of the Government of Myanmar to cooperate fully with some of the
relevant United nations mechanisms, in particular the former Special
Rapporteur,
Aware that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that the
will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government
and therefore gravely concerned that the Government of Myanmar still
has not implemented its commitment to take all necessary steps towards
democracy in the light of the results of the elections held in 1990,
Recalling the observation made by the former Special Rapporteur that the
absence of respect for the rights pertaining to democratic governance
is at the root of all the major violations of human rights in Myanmar,
Mindful that Myanmar is a party to the Convention on the Rights of the
Child, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
against Women, the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949 on the
protection of war victims and the Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No.
29) and the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to
Organize Convention, 1948 (No. 87) of the International Labour
Organization,
Noting the resolution adopted by the International Labour Conference at
its 87th Session on the widespread use of forced labour in Myanmar, and
also the resolution adopted by the International Labour conference at
its 88th Session forseeing a broad range of measures aimed at ensuring
the observance by Myanmar of the recommendations of the Commission of
Inquiry established to examine the application of the forced Labour
Convention, which came into effect of 30 November 2000,
Recalling previous resolutions of the General Assembly and the
Commission on Human Rights on the subject, most recently Assembly
resolution 55/112 of 4 December 2000 and Commission resolution 2000/23
of 18 April 2000,
Welcomes
(a) The interim report of the former Special Rapporteur on the
situation of human rights in Myanmar (A/55/359), the observations on the
situation and the recommendations contained therein;
(b) The initial observations presented to the Commission by the
newly appointed Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in
Myanmar;
(c) The assistance of the Government of Myanmar in facilitating the
recent exploratory visit by the newly appointed Special Rapporteur to
Myanmar, and hopes that the Special Rapporteur will soon be able to
return to Myanmar in order to discharge his mandate fully;
(d) The report of the Secretary-General on the visit of his Special
Envoy to Myanmar(A/55/509), and endorses the appeal of the Special Envoy
for the initiation of a process of dialogue that would lead to national
reconciliation and supports his efforts to achieve such a dialogue;
(e) The initiation of contacts between the Government and Aung San Suu
Kyi, Secretary-General of the National League for Democracy, and hopes
that such talks will be extended at an appropriate time to include,
among others, representatives of ethnic minorities and thereby will
facilitate broad-based and inclusive national reconciliation and the
restoration of democracy;
(f) The release from detention of a number of democratic political
activists;
(g) The continued cooperation with the International Committee of the
Red Cross, allowing the Committee to communicate with and visit
detainees in accordance with its modalities of work, and hopes that the
program will be pursued further;
(h) The reopening of some university courses, but remains concerned that
the right to education continues to be a right that is only exercised
by those willing to refrain from exercising their civil and political
rights and concerned at the reduction in the length of the academic
year, the division and separation of the student population to distant
campuses, and inadequate allocation of resources;
Notes the establishment by the Government of Myanmar of a preparatory
process for a human rights committee and encourages it to continue this
process in conformity with the principles relating to the status of
national institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights
annexed to General Assembly resolution 48/134 of 28 December 1993;
Expresses its grave concern:
(a) At the systematic policy of the Government of Myanmar of
persecuting the democratic opposition, National League for Democracy
members and their families, as well as ethnic opposition parties, and at
the use by the Government of intimidatory methods such as arbitrary
arrest and detention, abuse of the legal system, including harsh
long-term prison sentences, which has forced many to refrain from
exercising their legitimate political rights;
(b) That the composition and working procedures of the National
Convention do not permit either members of Parliament-elect or
representatives of the ethnic minorities to express their views freely,
and urges the Government of Myanmar to seek constructive means to
promote national reconciliation and to restore democracy, including
through the establishment of a time frame for action;
(c) That the Government of Myanmar has failed to cease its widespread
and systematic use of forced labour of its own people, and to meet all
the three recommendations of the International Labour Organization on
that issue; this failure has compelled the International Labour
Organization strictly to limit further cooperation with the Government,
and has prompted the International Labour Conference to reconsider any
cooperation with Myanmar and that governments, employers and workers
take appropriate measures to ensure that the Government of Myanmar
cannot take advantage of such relations to perpetuate of extend the
system of forced or compulsory labour referred to by the Commission of
Inquiry established to examine the observance of the Forced Labour
Convention, 1930 (No.29);
Deplores:
(a) The deterioration of the human rights situation and the continuing
pattern of gross and systematic violations of human rights in Myanmar,
including extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, enforced
disappearances, rape, torture, inhuman treatment, mass arrests, forced
labour, forced relocation and denial of freedom of assembly,
association, expression and movement;
(b) The lack of independence of the judiciary from the executive and
the wide disrespect of the rule of law, including of the basic
guarantees of due process, especially in cases involving exercise of
political and civil rights and freedoms, resulting in arbitrary arrests
and detentions, non-existence of judicial control over detentions,
sentences passed without trial, keeping the accused in ignorance of the
legal basis of the charge brought against them, trials held in secrecy
and without proper legal representation, want of knowledge by the
family and counsel of the accused about the sentence and detentions
beyond the end of prison sentences;
(c) The continued violations of human rights of and widespread
discriminatory practices against, persons belonging to minorities,
including extrajudicial executions, rape, torture, ill-treatment and the
systematic programmes of forced relocation directed against ethnic
minorities, notably in Karen, Karenni, Rakhine Chin and Shan States and
in Tennasserim division, use of anti-personnel land mines, destruction
of crops and fields, and dispossession of land and property, which
deprives these persons of all means of subsistence and result in
large-scale displacement of persons and flows of refugees to
neighbouring countries, thus causing negative effects for these
countries, and an increasing number of internally displaced persons;
(d) The continuing violations of the human rights of women, in
particular forced labour, trafficking, sexual violence and
exploitation, often committed by military personnel, and especially
directed towards women who are returning refugees, internally displaced
or belong to ethnic minorities or the political opposition;
(e) The continuing violations of the rights of children, in particular
through the lack of conformity of the existing legal framework with the
Convention on the Rights of the Child, through conscription of children
into forced labour programmes, through their sexual exploitation and
through recruitment and other exploitation by the military, through
discrimination against children belonging to ethnic and religious
minority groups and elevated rates of infant and maternal mortality and
malnutrition;
(f) The severe restrictions on the freedoms of opinion, expression,
assembly and association, the restrictions on citizens' access to
information, including censorship controls on all forms of domestic
media and many international publications, and the restrictions imposed
on citizens wishing to travel within the country and abroad, including
the denial of passports on political grounds, and gross interference in
private life, family, home or correspondence;
Calls upon the Government of Myanmar
(a) To develop further a constructive dialogue with the United Nations
system, including the human rights mechanisms, for the effective
promotion and protection of human rights in the country;
b) To continue to cooperate with the Secretary-General or his
representative and to implement their recommendations;
(c) To cooperate fully with all United Nations representatives, in
particular to develop further the contacts established with the
newly-appointed Special Rapporteur, to allow him, without preconditions,
to return to Myanmar in the near future and to conduct a field mission
furthering his contacts with the government and all other relevant
sectors of society, and thus enable him fully to discharge his mandate;
(d) To consider becoming a party to the International Covenant on Civil
and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social
and Cultural Rights, the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel,
Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, the International
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination and
the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its Protocol;
Strongly urges the Government of Myanmar:(a) To implement fully the
recommendations made by the Special Rapporteur;(b) To ensure full
respect for all human rights and fundamental freedoms, including
economic, social and cultural rights;
(c) In particular to ensure full respect for the freedoms of expression,
association, movement and assembly, the right to a fair trial by an
independent and impartial judiciary and the protection of the rights of
persons belonging to ethnic and religious minorities, and to put an end
to violations of the right to life and integrity of the human being and
to the practices of torture, abuse of women, forced labour and forced
relocations and to enforced disappearances and summary executions;
(d) To take urgent and concrete measures to ensure the establishment of
democracy in accordance with the will of the people as expressed in the
democratic elections held in 1990 and, to this end, to extend the
initiated talks with Aung San Suu Kyi, Secretary-General of the
National League for Democracy, to a genuine and substantive dialogue
with all the leaders of political parties and of ethnic minorities,
with the aim of achieving national reconciliation and the restoration
of democracy, and to ensure that political parties and non-governmental
organizations can function freely;
(e) To take all appropriate measures to allow all citizens to
participate freely in the political process, in accordance with the
principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and to
accelerate the process of transition to democracy, in particular
through the transfer of power to democratically elected
representatives, the prevention of intimidation and repression of
political opponents and enabling the building up of a pluralistic civil
society with the active participation of its members;
(f) To release immediately and unconditionally those detained or
imprisoned for political reasons, including those in "government guest
houses", as well as journalists, and to ensure their physical integrity
and to permit them to participate in a meaningful process of national
reconciliation;
(g) To improve conditions of detention, in particular in the field of
health protection, and to illimminate unnessesary restrictions imposed
on the detainees;
(h) To ensure the safety and well-being and freedom of movement of all
political leaders, including Aung San Suu Kyi, and to permit
unrestricted communication with and physical access to Aung San Suu Kyi
and other political leaders;
(i) To fulfil its obligations under the Convention on the Rights of the
Child and under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination against Women by bringing national legislation and
practice into conformity with these conventions, and to consider
signing and ratifying the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women as well as the
Optional Protocol on the convention on the Rights of the Child on the
involvement of children in armed conflicts;
(j) To implement fully the recommendations made by the Committee on the
Elimination of Discrimination against Women, in particular the request
to prosecute and punish those who violate the human rights of women and
to carry out human rights education and gender-sensitization training,
in particular for military personnel;
(k) And all other parties to the hostilities in Myanmar to respect fully
their obligations under international humanitarian law, including
article 3 common to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, to halt
the use of weapons against the civilian population, to protect all
civilians, including children, women and persons belonging to ethnic or
religious minorities, from violations of humanitarian law, to end the
use of children as soldiers and to avail themselves of services offered
by impartial humanitarian bodies;
(l) To fully implement concrete legislative, executive and
administrative measures to eradicate the practice of forced labour, in
conformity with the relevant recommendations of the Commission of
Inquiry and to re-enter into a dialogue with the International Labour
Organization and invite the organization to establish a presence in
Myanmar in order to enable it to verify that such measures are taken;
(m) To cease the laying of landmines, in particular as a means of
ensuring forced relocation, and to desist from the forced conscription
of civilians to serve as human minesweepers, as indicated in the report
of the Commission of Inquiry;
(n) To end the enforced displacement of persons and other causes of
internal displacement and refugee flows to neighbouring countries and to
create conditions conducive to their voluntary return and full
reintegration in safety and dignity, including returnees who have not
been granted rights of full citizenship, in close cooperation with the
international community, through the United Nations system and its
specialized agencies, governmental and intergovernmental organizations,
as well as non-governmental organizations;
(o) To fulfil its obligations to restore the independence of the
judiciary and due process and to end impunity of and bring to justice
any perpetrators of human rights violations, including members of the
military, and to investigate and prosecute alleged violations of
international humanitarian and human rights law committed by government
agents in all circumstances;
Decides
(a) To extend the mandate of the Special Rapporteur, as contained in
Commission resolution 1992/58 of 3 March 1992, for a further year, and
requests the Special Rapporteur to submit an interim report to the
General Assembly at its fifty-sixth session and to report to the
Commission at its fifty-eighth session, and to keep a gender
perspective in mind when seeking and analysing information;
(f) To request the Secretary-General to continue to give all
necessary assistance to the Special Rapporteur to enable him to
discharge his mandate fully;
(c) To request the Secretary-General to continue his discussions with
the Government on the situation of human rights and the restoration of
democracy and with anyone he may consider appropriate in order to assist
in the implementation of General Assembly resolution 55/112 and of the
present resolution;
(d) To request the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to
cooperate with the Director-General of the International Labour Office
with a view to identifying ways in which their offices might usefully
collaborate for the improvement of the human rights situation in
Myanmar;
(e) To request the Secretary-General to bring the present resolution to
the attention of all relevant parts of the United Nations system;
(g) To continue its consideration of this question at its fifty-eighth
session.
[ADOPTED BY CONSENSUS, 18 APRIL 2001]
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