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Please repost to Burma net



Sanctions on Myanmar won't work, says senior EU[Straits Times 9th Aug]
     official 



     Aug 8, 1996 

     BANGKOK -- The imposition of sanctions by the European Union would be
     ineffective as a means of bringing pressure to bear on Myanmar's
military government,
     a senior EU official has said. 

     EU Humanitarian Commissioner Emma Bonino, speaking to journalists on
Tuesday
     after a three-country swing through Myanmar, Cambodia and Thailand,
said that any
     threat of sanctions against Yangon by the European Union would be
toothless because
     of Europe's low level of investment in the country. 

     "I don't think that for the moment it's a credible way. Our investments
are very low
     compared to Asian investment ... economically speaking, it's not a
major impact," she
     said. 

     She added that there was also dissent on the question of sanctions
within the EU. 

     Calls for sanctions against Myanmar arose in Europe following the June
22 death in
     detention of Mr Leo Nichols, an honorary consul for several European
nations,
     including EU-member Denmark. 

     Mr Nichols, a close friend of Myanmar's opposition leader Aung San Suu
Kyi, died
     while serving a prison term for unauthorised use of telephones and fax
machines. 

     The Yangon government said he died of natural causes but some European
officals said
     he was mistreated before his death. 

     European requests for an independent autopsy have been refused by the
Myanmar
     government and Norway has accused the authorities of torturing Nichols
through sleep
     deprivation. 

     Ms Bonino, who heads the EC Humanitarian Office (Echo), said that any
action taken
     by the European Union should follow the findings of an EU commission
investigating
     forced labour and other social issues in Myanmar. 

     The investigation is expected to finish late next month. 

     If it finds that forced labour is practised there, EU member countries
will have to
     decide whether to withdraw trade benefits under the Generalised Scheme of
     Preference which would cost Myanmar US$30 million (S$42 million) a
year, she said. 

     "I do think that there is a great possibility that the European Union
will unanimously
     come out with this decision and that could be the start of a political
world-wide
     movement," she said, citing efforts by the United States to impose economic
     restrictions on Myanmar. 

     "World-wide there is concern about what's going on in the country. What
is not yet
     decided is what to do," she added. 

     The US Senate last month decided against imposing strict sanctions
against Myanmar,
     but said that the position would be reversed in the event of any
repression by the
     Yangon government against the political opposition. 

     Ms Bonino said she had met Ms Suu Kyi during her visit to Myanmar but
her requests
     to meet officials from the government had been refused. Activist's
death inhumane: US 

     In WASHINGTON, the US on Tuesday criticised the Myanmar government over the
     death in jail of pro-democracy activist Hla Than, saying that it was
inhumane to not
     allow him to die at home. 

     'The United States deeply regrets and is saddened by the death on Aug 2
of Hla Than,"
     State Department spokesman Nicholas Burns said. 

     "He was held, we believe, unjustly and he died in detention," he said. 

     The State Department reiterated its call for the release of all
political prisoners in the
     country. -- Reuter, AFP.