The United States is also on No.1 L (r)

[dohrs@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Subject: RE: The United States is also on No.1 List of Human rights Violations




On Tue, 12 Jan 1999, Tony Albrecht wrote:

>       You make a good point - human rights violations should be
> condemned no matter where they occur- Amnesty does a pretty good job of
> doing this and is not afraid to criticize the US record. The fact that
> the US still has the death penalty is also being criticized by those
> interested in promoting human rights- support for abortion also does not
> put tthe US in a good light on human rights.

You are correct Tony.  HR violations should be condemned wherever they
occur.  So we are standing by to hear the condemnation by the US-ASEAN
Business Council of the repeated and massive human rights violations in
Burma that have been documented by the UN Special Rapporteur on Human
Rights, by the International Labour Organization, by the US Department of
Labor, by the US State Department, by Amnesty International, by Human
Rights Watch, by the Karen Human Rights Group, by EarthRights
International.

We never hear condemnation from the US-ASEAN Business Council.  To the
contrary, we hear conciliatory suggestions that we need to get cozy with
Burma's military perpetrators, in the name of constructive engagement.
Why?  Especially given your statement above.

>      I strongly disagree that human rights activists are thugs- some may
> have their own agendas which only remotely relate to the welfare of the
> people in Burma - but I dont think it is fair to say that they are thugs
> of foreign governments- in fact government diplomats may find  that
> their activities disrupt efforts to reach peaceful solutions which will
> improve the situation for the people of Burma. 

Truly, those diplomats have their biggest troubles from corporate
lobbying groups with large budgets and an agenda to serve the bottom line,
rather than the cause of national security or democratic development or
defense of human rights.  

In the case of Burma, the US-ASEAN Business Council has been one of the
most "disruptive" elements in the efforts to bring about a peaceful
transition to the kind of government overwhelmingly supported by the

Burmese people, don't you think?

L. Dohrs

>      
> 
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From:	Max Zane [SMTP:maxzane@xxxxxxxxx]
> > Sent:	Monday, January 11, 1999 5:05 PM
> > To:	burmanet-l@xxxxxxxxxxx
> > Subject:	The United States is also on No.1 List of Human rights
> > Violations
> > 
> > 
> > Amnesty International has confirmed that police brutality and rights
> > violations have been violated by the law enforcement officials like
> > the police and prison officials in the United States.
> > 
> > Two weeks ago USA today reported peace activists in Maryland have been
> > sentenced to 15 months imprisonment JUST for demonstrating against
> > B-52 bomber constructions.
> > 
> > Why are you human rights activists not condemning such HR
> > violations?Because you are thugs of the foreign governments who think
> > negatively about Myanmar.
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > _________________________________________________________
> > DO YOU YAHOO!?
> > Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com
> 
> 
>