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Way In, Way Out (r)





On Mon, 10 May 1999, Tony Albrecht wrote:

>      you are right -the political stalemate is hurting the people- now
> is the time for humanitarian aid which I assume all sides would accept.

Tony, we've come to this point before.  Now let's be specific.

Before this discussion can become useful, we need to agree on our subject.
When the US-ASEAN Business Council speaks of "the deplorable human rights
situation," does it feel able to identify the causes of this situation?
Or does it feel unable to pinpoint the causes of the "deplorable human
rights situation?"

For example, the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Burma wrote that
his office "is deeply concerned about the serious human rights violations
that continue to be committed by the armed forces in the ethnic minority
areas. The violations include extrajudicial and arbitrary executions (not
sparing women and children), rape, torture, inhuman treatment, forced
labour and denial of freedom of movement. These violations have been so
numerous and consistent over the past years as to suggest that they are
not simply isolated or the acts of individual misbehaviour by middle- and
lower-rank officers but are rather the result of policy at the highest
level, entailing political and legal responsibility."

Does the US-ASEAN Business Council agree that the "highest level" of the
junta holds "political and legal responsibility" for "numerous" and
"consistent" crimes such as the arbitrary executions of children?

When you at the US-ASEAN Business Council have direct financial interests,
including partnerships, with the junta itself, and when your organization
steadfastly refuses to be specific about its perception of the
humanitarian crisis it purports to wish to alleviate, do you wonder why
others find your "offer" of "humanitarian aid" to be an opportunistic
attempt to shift the debate away from criticism of the Council's junta
allies?


> > -----Original Message-----
> > From:	moe@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [SMTP:moe@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]
> > Sent:	Monday, May 10, 1999 11:55 AM
> > To:	burmanet-l@xxxxxxxxxxx
> > Subject:	Way In, Way Out
> > 
> > Way In, Way Out
> > ********************
> > May 10, 1999
> > 
> > Today Burma is facing international sanctions that are  affecting th
> > Burmese
> > people. It is as easy as counting peas to say who the bad guys are.
> > But
> > doesn't the world know it already? The blaming game ,or I'd rather
> > call it
> > the crying game should have been over and both sides could have
> > started to
> > have a dialogue  for national reconciliation. 
> > 
> > It is unequivocally clear that SPDC doesn't want to give up power.
> > Blaming
> > and confronting such a regime could bear no fruit but tension will
> > rise. The
> > regime facing such international embargo should also commence a
> > dialogue or
> > start to be lenient towards its people, sidelining being
> > controlfreaks. It
> > is quite  understandable that the regime got tested on several levels
> > and
> > failed the exams. The regime's image has been far worse than ever
> > within
> > this year, 1999. Yet blaming such a regime shouldn't be anything
> > quaint
> > because that won't solve the situation facing Burma today. Be control
> > of
> > yourself and you're the winner.If you lose self-control,you lose
> > because
> > you're out of control. For both sides, there are ways in and ways out.
> > It is
> > no longer time to be megalomaniac for both sides. Enough damage has
> > been
> > done to both sides and the people too.If not now,when?
> > 
> > By Julien Moe 
> > 
> 
> 
>