[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index ][Thread Index ]

MP Hoon Report on HR/aid to Briitis



Subject: MP Hoon Report on HR/aid to Briitish pro-junta companies 

"We have suspended  government support for British companies doing trade
with Burma." 
Since when? Please can someone come up with specific the date, and
statement from the Foreign Office on this. thanks, ds
Rangoon Post Co-Editor wrote:> 
> Letter:Minister stands by human rights record
> The Guardian; Manchester; Jul 1, 1999; GEOFFREY HOON;
> 
> Start Page:
>           21
> 
> Abstract:
> Thanks to British action, the ILO has passed an emergency resolution
> penalising Burma for its record on forced labour - the first of its
> kind. We
> have persuaded the UN to pass a series of res olutions slamming Burma's
> human rights record. We have suspended government support for British
> companies doing trade with Burma. With Aung San Suu Kyi's support, we
> now
> discourage British tourists from going to Burma. The Burmese regime have
> singled us out for criticism. It is hardly a record of weakness.
> 
> Full Text:
> Copyright Guardian Newspapers, Limited Jul 1, 1999
> 
> John Pilger (Immoral earnings, June 29) presents yet another of his
> triumphs
> of
> professional outrage over truth and fairness.
> 
> He may not have noticed, but Nato acted to defend the very values he
> claims
> to hold
> dear. It had the overwhelming support of Kosovan Albanians and every
> other
> country in
> the region. To claim that Nato slaughtered 10,000 innocent people is
> make-believe. To
> claim it was responsible for the Serb atrocities is just plain sick.
> 
> His absurd attack on the government for not making submissions to the
> `international war
> crimes tribunal' on former president Suharto betrays either a remarkable
> ignorance or a
> wilful disregard for the truth. As John Pilger should know, there are
> presently only two
> international tribunals on war crimes - one for the former Yugoslavia,
> one
> for Rwanda. I
> wonder which one he feels should deal with President Suharto?
> 
> Thanks to British action, the ILO has passed an emergency resolution
> penalising Burma
> for its record on forced labour - the first of its kind. We have
> persuaded
> the UN to pass a
> series of res olutions slamming Burma's human rights record. We have
> suspended
> government support for British companies doing trade with Burma. With
> Aung
> San Suu
> Kyi's support, we now discourage British tourists from going to Burma.
> The
> Burmese
> regime have singled us out for criticism. It is hardly a record of
> weakness.
> 
> Following the conflict in Kosovo there is an important debate going on
> about
> foreign
> policy and Britain's role in the world. He does it no favours.
> 
> Geoffrey Hoon MP
> 
> Minister of state, Foreign office