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NEWS - Free Burma Coalition Launche (r)



Subject: NEWS - Free Burma Coalition Launches Suzuki Boycott:

Tuesday May 4, 10:06 am Eastern Time

Company Press Release

SOURCE: Free Burma Coalition

Free Burma Coalition Launches Suzuki Boycott:
`Japanese Company Propping Up
Narco-Dictatorship In Burma'

WASHINGTON, May 4 /PRNewswire/ -- The Free Burma Coalition today issued
the following:

The Free Burma Coalition today announced an international boycott of
Suzuki Motor Corporation,
because of that company's support for the illegal military junta in
Burma. Suzuki automotive, motorcycle
and marine dealers around the world are all targeted for boycotts, as
are Suzuki-sponsored events such
as the San Diego Rock 'n Roll Marathon, on May 23rd.

Ignoring international opinion and the request of Burma's own
democratically elected leader, Suzuki
announced on Oct. 13, 1998, that it was investing $10 million into a
joint venture with the generals in
Burma to build cars and motorcycles there.

Aung San Suu Kyi, who is the legitimate representative of the Burmese
people, has asked foreign
companies not to come to Burma before democracy does. ``We are not
against investment,'' said Mrs.
Suu Kyi, in a March 30, 1998 interview in BusinessWeek. ``But we want
investment to be at the right time
 ... investing now is [not] going to be profitable either to investors or
to the people of Burma.''

A rapidly growing number of U.S. and European companies have withdrawn
from Burma. ``While company
after company is pulling out of Burma, Suzuki is marching in there to
help prop up the generals,'' says Dr.
Zar Ni, founder of the Free Burma Coalition. ``Without the financial
support of companies like Suzuki, the
generals would be bankrupt. People who buy Suzuki products should know
that they are giving dollars to
dictators.''

Burma is ruled by a narco-dictatorship that is widely regarded as one of
the worst human rights offenders
in the world. The generals running Burma are international pariahs,
banned from setting foot in the United
States or the European Union. They have been condemned for human rights
violations, including summary
executions, torture, forced relocations, systematic rape and the ethnic
cleansing of Christian, Moslem and
other minorities groups. The U.S. Department of Labor recently
documented the massive use of forced
labor in Burma.

In addition, the junta has turned Burma into the world's largest heroin
exporter. According to the U.S. State
Department, the country has become a global center for narcotics money
laundering. 

   January 1997:     Pepsi pulls out of Burma.
   February 1997:    Compaq pulls out of Burma.
   March 1997:       Kodak pulls out of Burma.
   April 1997:       Seagram pulls out of Burma.
   September 1997:   Texaco pulls out of Burma.
   August 1998:      Arco pulls out of Burma.
   September 1998:   Ericsson pulls out of Burma.
   October 1998:     Suzuki invests in Burma.


The Free Burma Coalition (www.freeburmacoalition.org) is an
international coalition of grassroots groups
and citizens working, through peaceful means, to support the struggle of
the Burmese people for
democracy. 

SOURCE: Free Burma Coalition