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March 13 Action in Japan



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PRESS RELEASE
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Flower Power on Burma Human Rights Day

	March 13 is Burma Human Rights Day, and Burmese democracy activists in
Tokyo will mark the occasion with a peaceful protest in front of Mitsubishi
headquarters in Otemachi.  Protestors will hand paper padauk flowers to
Mitsubishi employees on their way to work on Wednesday morning, along with a
letter which explains the conglomerate's involvement with the Burmese
military dictatorship and encourages Mitsubishi employees to raise the issue
with their company's leadership.
	Organizers chose the Burmese padauk flower because, like the Japanese
cherry blossom, it is prized for its short-lived beauty and is symbolic of
the thousands of young people who have sacrificed their lives in the
struggle against the Burmese military junta, known as the State Law and
Order Restoration Council or SLORC.
	The protest comes exactly eight years after riot police murdered Phone Maw,
a 23-year-old university student protester who is considered the first
martyr of the 1988 nationwide prodemocracy uprising in Burma. It also comes
exactly one month after a visit to Burma by Mitsubishi President Minoru
Makihara, during which he met with top leaders of the SLORC to discuss
investment prospects in Burma.  Activists believe Makihara's visit shows
Mitsubishi's contempt not only for official Japanese foreign policy but also
for appeals by Burma's democratic opposition, led by Nobel laureate Aung San
Suu Kyi, for foreign investors to wait until progress has been made towards
democratic reform.
	The protest is also part of a worldwide day of action organized by
U.S.-based Free Burma Coalition.  Moreover, it will serve as a prelude to
another demonstration later this month which will also target Mitsubishi.
In Osaka on March 20, Burmese Relief Center--Japan, a Nara-based NGO, in
cooperation with U.S.-based Rainforest Action Network, will stage a "Haiku
d'Etat" -- an outdoor exhibition of haiku and other artwork spotlighting
Mitsubishi's responsibility for environmental destruction and human rights
violations in developing countries.
	For more information on the Tokyo protest, contact Burma Youth Volunteer
Association at (03) 3916-4996; on the International Day of Action, contact
Free Burma Coalition at 1-608-256-6572; and on the Osaka protest, contact
Burmese Relief Center--Japan at (07442) 2-8236.

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LETTER TO MITSUBISHI EMPLOYEES
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(English translation)

To Mitsubishi:  Padauk for Burma Human Rights Day

Dear Mitsubishi Employee:

	Please accept this gift of padauk in honor of Burma Human Rights Day and in
memory of Maung Phone Maw, a 23-year-old university student killed on this
day eight years ago -- the first martyr of the 1988 democracy uprising.
	Padauk are as precious to Burmese as sakura are to Japanese: both flowers
are prized for their beauty and short lives.  The padauk is therefore a
fitting symbol of Maung Phone Maw and the thousands of young lives sacrified
since March 13, 1988, for the sake of democracy and human rights in Burma.
	Who has cut short these young lives?  The dictatorship known as the State
Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC), which spends nearly half the
national budget on the military in order to terrorize and at the same time
impoverish its enemies, the Burmese people.
	Who supports these criminals?  Mitsubishi, for one.  Just a month ago, Mr.
Minoru Makihara, President of Mitsubishi, traveled to Burma to meet with
SLORC and pledged agricultural machinery and technology to the junta as a
prelude to increased investment.  Moreover, Mr. Makihara's high-profile
visit lends legitimacy to a regime condemned this week by U.N. human rights
investigator Professor Yozo Yokota of continuing "violations ... against
innocent villagers, in the form of summary executions and arbitrary
killings, which often occur in the course of forced labor, rape, forced
relocation and confiscation of property."
	Mr. Makihara will tell you that Mitsubishi's investment is welcomed by and
will help the Burmese people.  He is wrong.  Foreign investment is tightly
controlled by SLORC so that it benefits only SLORC.  Aung San Suu Kyi, the
Nobel Peace Prize laureate and leader of the winning party in the 1990
elections, has said: "Aid, investment, such things should be dependent and
linked to the situation of all the people rather than that of one person.
So if you are asking should investment now come pouring in because I've been
released, I shall simply say, 'No.'"
	As an employee of Mitsubishi, you have more influence on the future of
Burma than most Burmese.  We therefore implore you to use this power to do
the right thing -- to ask the Mitsubishi leadership: "Why are we investing
in a government that tortures, rapes and kills its own people?"  We invite
the brave among you to ask this question out loud; we encourage the more
timid to send this note anonymously to Mr. Makihara.
	Aung San Suu Kyi, reflecting on her years in Japan, said, "I felt that many
Japanese people cared about more than just business.  But I think the
consciousness of some Japanese people perhaps needs to be aroused a bit, and
(there is a) need to give voice to the many many people in Japan who do care
about peace and justice.  Perhaps those who care about peace and justice are
not speaking loudly enough." 

Here is your chance to speak out.