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asiaweek: BOYCOTT DRUGS, NOT MEETIN



Subject: asiaweek: BOYCOTT DRUGS, NOT MEETINGS


  
BOYCOTT DRUGS, NOT MEETINGS
Why an anti-narcotics conference in Yangon is worth attending


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HOLDING AN INTERNATIONAL ANTI-NARCOTICS conference in Myanmar is like
holding a
convention on weapons of mass destruction in Iraq or one on women's rights in
Afghanistan. Well, yes. But does that make such a meeting wrong?
Interpol, the global police organization, is sponsoring a conference on
illegal
drugs in Yangon from February 23 to 26. The decision has sparked outrage in
the
Myanmar exile community and many world capitals. Myanmar, after all, is one of
the world's leading producers of opium and heroin. Moreover, its ill-named
military government, the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), is
believed to at least turn a blind eye to the activity of drug barons in its
territory, and quite probably to protect and abet them in exchange for a
cut of
their profits. And Yangon has one of the worst human rights records of any
regime anywhere.

Anti-SPDC activists cited the parallels between the Yangon conference and
hypothetical meetings in Baghdad and Kabul to help persuade Belgium, Britain,
Denmark, France, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway and the U.S. to
boycott the meeting. Washington explained that "the Burmese regime could use
the conference to create the false impression that it demonstrates
international approval . . . for its counter-narcotics and anti-crime
efforts."
It also criticized the meeting's agenda for largely overlooking U.S.
counter-narcotics concerns in the region (American drug-enforcement agents
based in Yangon have been working with local counterparts on drug-eradication
and crop-substitution programs) and objected to Yangon's political and
human-rights abuses.

Fair enough. Myanmar's brutal junta certainly should not be allowed to score
any easy propaganda points. Only 22 of the 43 invited nations are expected to
attend, certainly undermining the credibility of the meeting. But is
boycotting
an Interpol conference the best way to combat the global scourge of drugs? The
meeting is meant for the world's anti-drug agencies to share information and
strengthen cooperation. Surely, that is a worthy goal no matter what the

venue.
If the agenda is weak, surely Washington and its allies could have pushed
Interpol into addressing their specific concerns. And if the Yangon regime is
more a part of the problem of illegal narcotics than the solution, then surely
holding a conference in its hometown is a way to make sure they cannot duck
out
when criticized.

As for the meeting's propaganda value for the SPDC, that depends on what the
participants do. The junta will say what it wants, boycott or no boycott, to
the local media. It is already spinning Washington's and London's absence into
a refusal to deal with the demand-side of the problem - the huge appetite for
illegal drugs in their markets. But to the international media, the
participants can say what they want, about how Yangon's counter-narcotics
efforts fall short, how allegedly retired drug lords like Khun Sa and Lo
Hsing-han go unpunished, and how drug money courses through the economy. Would
not stating those accusations in public in Yangon counteract the regime's
propaganda?

There are many good reasons to shun the military men who rule Myanmar. But
refusing to attend a conference aimed at eradicating opium and heroin will
neither help the victims of illegal drugs nor curb the drug barons and their
protectors.


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