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Subject: [theburmanetnews] BurmaNet News: June 5, 2000
______________ THE BURMANET NEWS ______________
An on-line newspaper covering Burma
______________ www.burmanet.org _______________
June 5, 2000
Issue # 1546
The BurmaNet News is readable online at:
http://theburmanetnews.editthispage.com
*Inside Burma
AP: TWO MYANMAR NATIONALS GET 27 AND 12 YEARS FOR SMUGGLING FALSE
PAPERS
RSO NEWS SERVICE: SPDC SOLDIERS SEXUALLY ASSAULTED A ROHINGYA MINOR
BOY
SHRF: RAPE AS A MEANS TO GET A WIFE IN MURNG-YAWNG [SHAN STATE]
NLD: ILLEGAL ARRESTS, IMPRISONMENT, TORTURE AND INTERROGATION IN PEGU
MON UNITY LEAGUE: ON THE FORCED ANNEXATION OF LANDS IN MON STATE
KNU: HUNDREDS OF CIVILIANS FORCED TO CONSTRUCT BONGTI-TAVOY HIGHWAY
*International
AFP: MYANMAR WILLING TO COOPERATE WITH ILO ON LABOUR STANDARDS: JUNTA
NATION : FROM THE EDGE: DECISION TIME ON FORCED LABOUR IN BURMA
BPF: ANALYSIS OF THE REPORT OF THE ILO TECHNICAL MISSION
XINHUA: MYANMAR LEADER MEETS CHINESE STATE COUNCILOR
BANGKOK POST: WA TRIBESMEN AT BORDER UNDER CLOSE WATCH
*Economy/Business
XINHUA: MYANMAR, CHINESE COMPANY SIGN CEMENT PLANT ACCORD
*Opinion/Editorials
THE GLOBE AND MAIL (UK): ONCE UPON A TIME IN BURMA
THE ONION: GENOCIDE IS SUCH A HARSH WORD
__________________ INSIDE BURMA ____________________
AP: TWO MYANMAR NATIONALS GET 27 AND 12 YEARS FOR SMUGGLING FALSE
PAPERS
June 5, 2000
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) _ Two Myanmar nationals have been sentenced
lengthy prison terms for smuggling dozens of forged seaman's
passports into Myanmar, state newspapers reported Monday.
Tun Myat Thu, alias Naing Lin Hset, was arrested at his house in an
eastern suburb of Yangon with fake passports and government seals. He
was sentenced to 27 years by the Yangon East District Court on May
31.
He confessed he had bought the documents and seals from Kyaw Soe
Aung, a member of the antigovernment All Burma Students' Democratic
Front in Bangkok to sell in Myanmar, the New Light of Myanmar
newspaper reported.
Ma Win Yee, who was accused of smuggling the forged documents from
Thailand to Myanmar, was sentenced on the same day to 12 years in
prison.
She was caught at Myawaddy, on the Myanmar side of its eastern
border with Thailand, with 165 forged seaman's passports, 91 forged
first-grade overseas nautical officer certificates and 48 other fake
documents, the report said.
Seaman's passports, used by Myanmar nationals who work on foreign
vessels, are hard to acquire. They allow seamen from the impoverished
military state to earn hard currency.
The students' front is outlawed in Myanmar, also known as Burma. It
is the leading political group for student exiles who fled a bloody
crackdown against a prodemocracy uprising in 1988 when hundreds of
protesters were gunned down.
____________________________________________________
RSO NEWS SERVICE: SPDC SOLDIERS SEXUALLY ASSAULTED A ROHINGYA MINOR
BOY
Rohingya Solidarity Organization
RSO NEWS SERVICE
News Sheet No.2/May
May 24, 2000
Four Burmese security forces at Maungdaw township of Arakan state
grabbed a minor Rohingya boys and sexually assaulted them several
times. As a result one of the boys died of excessive bleeding,
according to a traveller passing through the area. On 5th May, 4
SPDC soldiers assigned at Badapara under Alaythangyaw sub-township
went to inspect a watch post at dead hours of night and found 4 minor
boys giving night watch there. The Na Sa Ka (Border Security
forces) took away one of the boy (12 years old) to an isolated place
and raped him several times. Later, the boy was believed to have
been killed by breaking neck and thrown into the nearby creek. The
next day some fisherman fishing in the creek found the dead body
stuck in the fishing net with broken neck and marks of sexual
violence. The relatives and the fishermen brought the dead body to
the commander of No.7 Na Sa Ka Area Command and reported that 4
soldiers took him away.
In spite of taking action against the 4 SPDC forces who were
suspected of sexual assault and murder, the commander advised the
relatives to bury the dead body immediately.
Although Burmese Na Sa Ka forces frequently violate the chastity
of Muslim woman folks, incident like the one involving minor children
is rarely reported.
____________________________________________________
SHRF: RAPE AS A MEANS TO GET A WIFE IN MURNG-YAWNG [SHAN STATE]
SHAN HUMAN RIGHTS FOUNDATION
SHRF MONTHLY REPORT -- MAY 2000
On 9.4.00, a villager of Wan Paw village, (Naang In Keo),
aged 19, was raped by a Private, Kyaw San, from Co. No.2 of LIB334 at
a place near her village in Murng Yu tract, Murng-Yawng
township.
(Naang In Keo) and 2 other women from the same village were gathering
wild vegetables along the banks of Nam Paw stream some distance from
their village when, at about 16:00 hrs in the evening, one SPDC
soldier suddenly appeared from nowhere and grabbed (Naang In Keo) and
dragged her into a nearby bush. The other 2 women were too frightened
to help their friend and ran away towards their village.
Although (Naang In Keo) struggled at the best of her strength to get
away, the soldier was just too strong for her, and because he also
threatened to shoot her dead if she kept struggling, she had to give
in and the soldier raped her to his satisfaction.
The SPDC soldier who raped (Naang In Keo) was a Private named Kyaw
San from Company No.2 of Murng-Yawng-based LIB334 and, because he had
visited the village several times before, most villagers of Nam Paw
had known him for some time, and he had even bought food at (Naang In
Keo's) food stall in front of her house many times.
When (Naang In KeoÆs) farther and the village headman tried to lodge
a complaint with the Commander of Company No.2 at the military camp,
no action whatsoever was taken to address their plight. Since the
culprit was undeniably guilty, the Commander said, "It happened
because my soldier loves your daughter. If you are afraid of losing
face, isn't it good after all to let your daughter become Kyaw San's
wife?" The villagers could say nothing and returned quietly to
the village with their heads down.
____________________________________________________
NLD: ILLEGAL ARRESTS ,IMPRISONMENT AND TORTUROUS INTERROGATION IN PEGU
National League for Democracy
No: (97/B), West Shwegonedine Road
Bahan Township, Rangoon
Statement 77(5/00) (translation)
Contents of letter dated 30 May sent by the Chairman, NLD to the
Chairman, SPDC are published for information to all.
" (Start) Subject - Illegal arrests ,imprisonment and torturous
interrogation.
The military dictators illegally arrested and imprisoned 15 members
of the NLD Pegu Division, Pegu Township organising committee of
which three are women. They are innocent and have not offended the
law but have been kept in solitary confinement since the 22 May 2000
at the No 1, Pegu jail. These individuals are nationals who of
their own free will are working towards the attainment of democracy
in the country.
We have received information that they are being interrogated by a
detachment of the military intelligence unit 3 and police personnel
under very cruel and torturous conditions with hoods over their
faces for entire days and nights. Those military dictators are
violating the articles of the Universal Declaration of the Human
Rights to which this country is a signatory.
We give notice that should anyone of the said fifteen members be in
any way physically or mentally injured because of the torture and
persecution meted out to them in this illegal arrest and
imprisonment, the entire military dictators in Pegu will be held
totally responsible.
We demand that these innocent victims be immediately and
unconditionally released. (End)"
Central Executive Committee
National League for Democracy
Rangoon
31 May 2000
____________________________________________________
MON UNITY LEAGUE: ON THE FORCED ANNEXATION OF LANDS IN MON STATE
June 1, 2000
STATEMENT OF THE MON UNITY LEAGUE
ON THE FORCED ANNEXATION OF LANDS IN MON STATE
BY THE SPDC GOVERNMENT
1. Even though a cease-fire has been in effect between the New Mon
State Party and the ruling military junta of the State Peace and
Development Council (SPDC/SLORC) since 1995, the Agreement has not
led to a political solution.
Instead, local battalions and troops of the junta continue to violate
and suppress the human rights of the Mon people on a daily basis.
Moreover, the regime has depleted the natural resources in the region
and increased ecological and human misery at an alarming rate.
Some of the most common human rights violations include the forced
sale of paddy by local farmers at heavily discounted rates, the
banning of the Mon language curriculum and the closing of Mon
national schools, the collection of porter fees and several
unofficial taxes, the expropriation of properties and lands, torture,
arrest, forced labour and forced relocation, all of which are
regularly committed by order of the ruling military government.
2. Since the fighting between the two parties stopped following the
cease-fire agreement, the military regime has taken advantage by
illicitly expanding its control into Mon areas covered by the
Agreement. In many places its troops have taken over land belonging
to the people for the construction of military camps.
In 1999 alone, under the order of the South East Military Command,
Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) No. 299 siezed farms and gardens
amounting to over 200 acres from Ko Maing Village in southern Ye
Township, while LIB No. 343 appropriated 900 acres from Aru Taung
Village in northern Ye Township in Mon State. These farms, owned by
local Mon farmers,had been planted with several kinds of tropical
fruits, vegetables and rubber trees worth at least 90 million kyat
(at current valuation of $US 260,000).
Following the annexation, the owners requested compensation from the
authorities concerned and relocation for the farming families on new
lands, but up to now their demands have been ignored.
3. The violation of human rights and the suppression of Mon civilians
by the military junta have increased their dissatisfaction with the
government. It has also ruined all attempts at building trust and
good relations with armed ethnic groups. Actions of this kind have
clearly shown that the military government SPDC is taking the
advantage of the cease-fire agreement.
4. On behalf of the civilian who have suffered severely from these
abuses, the Mon Unity League demands the military junta:
a) to cease forthwith from the appropriation of lands in the area
covered by the cease-fire agreement and to provide
compensation to those whose lands have already been
annexed;
b) to cease forthwith from its program of military expansion and the
construction of bases and battalions in order to
achieve trust with the armed ethnic nationalities;
We also strongly urge:
a) that discussions be initiated with the ethnic nationalities, based
upon their right of self-determination, and
b) that a tripartite dialogue aimed at solving the political crisis
in Burma be initiated.
5. Continuing human rights violations are the cause of the political
tensions in Burma and they are in clear contradiction to norms
established for international behaviour.
Therefore we condemn the SPDC government for its abuses of the Mon
people and other nationalities.
Central Executive Committee
Mon Unity League
1st June, 2000
____________________________________________________
KNU: HUNDREDS OF CIVILIANS FORCED TO CONSTRUCT BONGTI-TAVOY HIGHWAY
KNU Mergui-Tavoy District Information Department
June 3, 2000
13/00
Burma army forced more than 500 villagers in the east of Tavoy town,
Tenasserim division to work on the construction of Thai-Burma's
Bongti-Tavoy highway project from the beginning of May 2000 and until
now.
In the beginning of May, Burma army's Tactical Command No. 2 (under
command of Operation Commanding HQ No.9) Commander Colonel Khin Maung
Myint has ordered his controlled battalions to expand 50 feet to both
sides of constructed car road from Myitta village to Bongti, Thai-
Burma border. To expand the road, Burma army's troop forced the
villagers from Myitkanbaw village tract, Myitta village tract,
Paungdaw village tract, Heinda, Taung Thon Lon, Kyauk Me Taung,
Bawatpyin, Bawatgone, Myinkanti, Pagayi, Kanainda, and Zalome to
construct the road. Every village was forced to work 7 days terms.
Each village has to send 70 to 100 people. An estimated at least 500
villagers working on this car road in each term. The responsible
troop demanded 5 chainsaws and 100,000 kyat cash from Paungdaw
village tract, 5 chainsaw and 100,000 kyat from Myitkabaw village
tract, and 3 chainsaws and 100,00 kyat cash form Myitta village
tract. According to the information, the troops which responsible for
the car road construction and oversees the security are Light
Infantry Battalion 275, and 379.
The villagers have to fell the trees, clearing the stubs, level the
damage road, dig out the fallen earth, and dig drainage beside the
road. The villagers did not get any things and they have to bring
along their own foods and tools. Those who fail on their term have to
hire someone for 7,000 kyat for substitution.
Bongti-Tavoy highway project is the project which will connect Tavoy
in Burma and Kanchanaburi in Thailand. The plan is to develop a
transport route for eco tourism, and cargo transportation purposes
that have connection with the project of Tavoy deep-sea port. The
project recently dealt by Burma, Kyaw Lynn Naing Company and
Thailand, Kanchanaburi Tavoy Development Company. Because of the lack
of security, the project is on delay. The road was now using as
military transportation route to their front line troops by Burma
army.
Villagers who are living in the East of Tavoy were forced to worked
on this car road repeatedly especially after rainy season they have
to reconstruct the damage parts. More than this, they have to serve
as porter to the army's frontline camps regularly and paid many kinds
of extortion money demanded by Burma army's troops continuously.
In 1997, Burma army started their major offensive against Karen
National Union's Mergui-Tavoy District and occupied the area for this
road. During the offensive, all Karen villages in Tenasserim
Riverside were destroyed and some were relocated to Burma army
controlled area. Most of analysis said that the offensive purpose is
to secure the Yadana gas pipeline and Bongti-Tavoy highway project as
well.
__________________ INTERNATIONAL __________________
AFP: MYANMAR WILLING TO COOPERATE WITH ILO ON LABOUR STANDARDS: JUNTA
2000-06-04
YANGON, June 4 (AFP) - In the wake of a major
International Labour Office
(ILO) report, Myanmar's regime is willing to cooperate with the
organization to
ensure forced labour no longer exists in the country, a government
spokesman
said.
Myanmar has shown "its willingness and commitment to
cooperate with the ILO to further improve and develop its labour
standards," the government spokesman
said.
The ILO report, released in Geneva on Friday, said Myanmar
should adopt
measures to ensure that state authorities, especially the military,
do not
impose forced labour on its people.
Legislative, executive and administrative measures are
needed to stamp out
the use of compulsory and forced labour, the ILO report said, issued
following
a mission to the military-ruled country.
A letter sent to ILO Director-General Juan Somavia at the
mission's
conclusion said it was hoped that Myanmar had shown it was "sincere
in its
efforts to resolve the issue of the allegations of forced labour."
Bangkok-based Myanmar analysts told AFP that the often
vitriolic Yangon
junta's kind words about labour reflect a genuine desire by the
regime not to
offend the ILO any more, since it is worried about further ILO
condemnation.
Myanmar was marginalised in the ILO in an unprecedented
resolution last
June, as ILO delegates voted in an unprecedented move to de-facto
expel Myanmar
because of its alleged use of forced labour.
"This is as isolated as a country can get in an
organization which does not
have a mechanism for expulsion," ILO spokesman John Doohan said at
the time.
The aim of the May 22-27 mission was to explain to the
Myanmar authorities
what needed to be done to give "credible effect" to recommendations
by a 1998
ILO Commission of Inquiry, which uncovered the widespread use of
forced and
compulsory labour in Myanmar.
During the mission, ILO delegates also met Aung San Suu
Kyi, the leader of
the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD), who stressed the
"continuing gravity of forced labour," particularly as used by the
military.
She mentioned the enlistment of child soldiers as one of
the extreme forms
of forced labour, and said the NLD was the only organisation within
the country
trying to do something about the phenomenon of forced labour.
____________________________________________________
NATION : FROM THE EDGE: DECISION TIME ON FORCED LABOUR IN BURMA
June 2, 2000.
AN historic event is in the making in Geneva. This week, the 174
member International Labour Organisation begins debating whether to
punish Burma for the use of forced or compulsory labour and what
penalties it would impose against the junta if it decides to punish
it.
It was the first time in the ILO's 80year history when its governing
body decided in March to introduce a Burma motion this month to
discuss punitive actions against the regime, which has refused to
comply with ILO recommendations on improving labour standards.
Burmese and international human rights and labour activists have been
lobbying for the passage of a tough ILO resolution that incorporates
measures such as international economic sanctions and the downgrading
of trade and diplomatic relations with Rangoon. But the junta, its
Asian supporters and other developing economies, have tried to
oppose, or at least delay, the imposition of penalties for fear of "a
dangerous precedent."
The ILO debates on Burma are the result of joint action and
complaints filed by worker and employer organisations within the ILO
as well as the ILO Commission of Inquiry in August 1998. The inquiry
concluded that the junta continued "to inflict the practice of forced
labour, nothing but a contemporary form of slavery, on the people of
Burma."
Despite the junta's denial that forced labour occurs in Burma, the
ILO Commission of Inquiry produced a report of more than 6,000 pages,
describing ôwidespread and systematic" use of forced labour "with
total disregard for the human dignity, safety and health and the
basic needs of the people." Subsequently, the International Labour
Conference last June passed an unprecedented resolution that
constituted a de facto expulsion of Burma and a refusal of all
technical assistance until it helped end forced labour. The
resolution received 333 votes in support, 27 against and 47
abstentions. Each of the 174 ILO member states has four votes û two
for the government, one each for employers and workers.
In the past weeks, Asian governments have praised Burma's ruling
State Peace and Development Council for its decision to allow an ILO
technical team to visit the country. To them, the visit was "a
positive sign" that the regime was willing to cooperate to gradually
end the use of forced labour.
But Western labour unionists and Burma activists do not support that
view. They see Rangoon's last minute decision to welcome the
threemember ILO delegation as a mere attempt to avoid a strong ILO
penalty or to delay it, and not a genuine effort toward stopping the
use of forced or compulsory labour.
It is not yet certain whether punishment will be immediately imposed
and what form it will take. The decision rests on the findings of the
ILO technical team whose report was made public yesterday. The ILO
Selection Committee will meet on Thursday to discuss the report and
work out recommendations and a resolution before passing it to the
plenary International Labour Conference for final voting.
One interesting element in yesterday's report was that during the
meeting with ILO delegates, top Burmese leader Lt Gen Khin Nyunt
reiterated the juntaÆs denial that forced labour occurred in Burma.
However, the ILO team was sent to Burma not to investigate if forced
labour existed, but to help bring the practice to an end.
"The sole purpose of the visit of the team is to establish with the
Government a credible plan of action to ensure the full
implementation of the Commission [of Inquiry] recommendationsö, ILO
directorgeneral Juan Somavia said before the departure of the ILO
mission.
Before the showdown this coming Thursday, several Asean members,
along with China and Japan, are said to have been lobbying hard for
ILO members to be lenient with the Burmese junta. Japan's Foreign
Minister Yohei Kono was quoted by The Japan Times as saying that the
ILO ôshould not move to take drastic measures at a time when it lacks
informationö and that "Asia's position is slightly different from
that of the United States and Europe."
Supporting the Japanese stance, several Asian government officials
told The Nation in separate interviews that they believed a "softer"
resolution would be passed giving Rangoon more time to comply with
the ILO plan of action to stop forced labour.
One ambassador to Geneva noted that invoking punishment is "a double
edged sword" as many developing countries including China, Laos and
Vietnam are concerned that it would set a dangerous precedent for
their labour practices.
Although the junta has tried to urge Asean members to vote against
the resolution, several Thai government officials said the grouping
would not take a bloc vote. Thailand's vote depends on the finding of
the ILO report and recommendations from the Selection Committee.
One senior official said Thailand wanted to see a "balanced and
constructive" resolution, which does not aim at only condemning and
punishing but incorporates positive elements to encourage the regime
to introduce labour reforms. "Now that ILO and Burma have dialogue,
the process should continue," he added. "A good resolution should
continue to urge both sides to have a cooperative approach in
resolving the problem."
But Western labour activists and Burmese opposition groups have
argued that exacting forced or compulsory labour remains an integral
part of the junta's policy and that there has been no sign that the
practice has stopped. Speaking from Geneva, U Maung Maung, general
secretary of the Federation of Trade Unions in Burma, said the
federation had compiled and submitted to the ILO extensive
documentation on forced labour in border areas between last September
and March.
The report supplements an earlier one submitted to the ILO by the
opposition National League for Democracy last June, outlining forced
and compulsory labour in urban areas across Burma.
As employers and workers joined Western countries to vote last June
in support of the resolution on Forced Labour in Burma, the next two
weeks will be a crucial time as supporters and opponents of the
Burmese junta work hard to win support for their arguments. Let's not
blink.
BY YINDEE LERTCHAROENCHOK
____________________________________________________
BPF: ANALYSIS OF THE REPORT OF THE ILO TECHNICAL MISSION
Burma Peace Foundation
June 3, 2000
An ILO technical cooperation mission visited Burma between 22 and 27
May 2000 "to establish with the government a credible plan of action
to ensure the full implementation of the commission's
recommendations" (ILO Director-General Juan Somavia, in ILO Press
Release, 23 May 2000, enclosed below as Appendix 1), and to report
back to the International Labour Conference meeting in Geneva. The
Conference has on its agenda an item entitled "Action recommended
by the Governing Body under article 33 of the Constitution -
Implementation of the recommendations contained in the report of the
Commission of Inquiry entitled Forced Labour in Myanmar (Burma)". In
its Selection Committee and in the Plenary, the Conference will
debate imposing on Burma the punitive measures recommended by the
ILO's Governing Body (see Appendix 2 for text of the GB's
recommendations).
The sending of the technical cooperation mission, strongly urged by
Malaysia, Japan and other Asian countries, was a last-ditch effort to
get Burma to cooperate with the ILO in implementing the
recommendations of the ILO Commission of Inquiry (see Appendix 3 for
text) and therebye possibly escape the sanctions which these
countries consider a bad precedent as well as disrupting their
commercial and other relations with Burma.
NO CREDIBLE PLAN OR CONCRETE AND SPECIFIC MEASURES
The report of the mission, a masterpiece of diplomatic
understatement, makes it quite clear that the regime failed to come
up with any concrete commitments or plan of action, credible or
otherwise, to tackle forced labour in the country.
The mission repeatedly stressed to its "government" interlocutors the
need for CONCRETE, SPECIFIC, TANGIBLE, PRECISE and CREDIBLE measures
to implement the recommendations of the Commission of Inquiry (In
the 12-pages of the report - not counting the Appendices - I counted
7 instances of "specific", 8 of "concrete", 3 of "tangible", 12
of "credible/credibility and 4 of "precise".) What it got in reply
was denial that forced labour exists in Burma, along with vague
generalities about "willingness" and undefined "commitment" to deal
with the "allegations" of forced labour, but no concrete measures
whatsoever. This in spite of the mission's emphasis that, "in order
to convince the Conference, the results would have to be concrete
and precise and involve a commitment by the authorities at the
highest level".
On page 11 of the report, "The mission's conclusions", para 1, we
read that: "The letter from the Minister of Labour to the Director-
General constitutes, in a way, the results of the mission". When we
turn to the letter (reproduced below as Appendix 4) we find the same
old tired list of vague assurances and generalities the ILO has been
hearing for the last decade or more.
The Minister's letter contrasts starkly with the mission's concrete
suggestions regarding amendment of the Village and Towns Acts; the
issuing of instructions to the Army not to requisition forced
labour; a possible ILO presence in the country etc (see Appendix 5,
the mission's Conclusions)
DENIAL AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL
Regarding the commitment of those "at the highest level", we find a
uniform denial of the very existence of forced labour in the
country. The mission met three senior officials: Colonel Tin Hlaing,
Home Minister, "denied that there were any such practices [forced
labour] at present"; Mr Win Aung, Minister of Foreign
Affairs "rejected the accusations of forced labour". And in the
report of the meeting with Secretary-1, regarded by many as the
Strongman of the regime, we read that "... Although he acknowledged
that there might have been recourse to so-called forced labour when
work was being carried out on the infrastructure, these practices
had ceased before the ILO report had been concluded".
This statement denies the findings of the ILO follow-up reports of
1999 and 2000 that forced labour had not ceased following the
publication of the report of the Commission of Inquiry:
http://www.ilo.org/public/english/standards/relm/gb/docs/gb276/gb-
6.htm
http://www.ilo.org/public/english/standards/relm/gb/docs/gb277/myan200
0.htm
It also makes nonsense of the condition under which the mission was
sent, namely that "the sole object of such a mission would be to
provide direct assistance to implement immediately the
recommendations of the Commission of Inquiry..." (page 1, para 1).
If forced labour no longer exists, there is clearly no point in
requesting assistance to implement the recommendations.
It is unlikely that such denials and vague promises will convince
the Conference that Burma is willing to cooperate with the ILO to
tackle the problem of forced labour.
David Arnott, Geneva, 3 June 2000
AN ANALYSIS OF THE
REPORT OF THE ILO TECHNICAL COOPERATION MISSION TO MYANMAR
The report is in PDF format on the ILO website at:
http://www.ilo.org/public/english/standards/relm/ilc/ilc88/pdf/pr-
8.pdf
Most of the other relevant ILO documents can be found on
http://www.ilo.org/public/english/standards/relm/gb/docs/gb277/index.h
tm#GB
The Report of the Commission of Inquiry is on
http://www.ilo.org/public/english/standards/relm/gb/docs/gb273/myanmar
.htm
____________________________________________________
SPDC: LETTER TO THE ILO `THERE ARE NO INSTANCES OF FORCED LABOUR IN
MYANMAR'
Communication dated 27 May 2000 from the Government of Myanmar to the
Director-General
Excellency,
I wish to express my appreciation to you for responding positively to
our request to send a technical cooperation mission to Yangon."
I am pleased to inform you that the members of the technical
cooperation mission and the senior officials from the Ministries of
Labour, Home, and Foreign Affairs and Attorney-General's Office were
able to hold extensive
discussions on Convention No. 29. I also had useful discussions with
the members of the technical cooperation mission. Despite their brief
stay, they also had the opportunity to call on the Minister for
Foreign Affairs
and the Minister for Home Affairs.
Moreover, His Excellency Lt. General Khin Nyunt, Secretary-1 of the
State Peace and Development Council, took time out of his very busy
schedule to receive the members of the technical cooperation mission
and acquainted them in a frank and open manner with the actual
situation in the nation. These discussions had been very useful and
clarified issues where there have been differences of perception.
The Government also provided every assistance to facilitate their
work and allowed them freedom of action. Our only regret is that due
to constraints of time, they were not able to visit outside Yangon so
that they would have a better understanding of the situation in the
country.
It is our hope that through the discussions and the cooperation the
mission enjoyed during the sojourn in Myanmar, we have been able to
show that Myanmar is sincere in its efforts to resolve the issue of
the allegations of forced labour.
I would also like to take this opportunity to inform you that we have
taken and are taking the necessary measures to ensure that there are
no instances of forced labour in Myanmar. Allow me to say that
Myanmar would take into consideration appropriate measures, including
administrative, executive and legislative measures, to ensure the
prevention of such occurrences in the future.
In this regard, the talks held between Myanmar and the ILO technical
cooperation mission have been most useful in providing a better
understanding of the issues involved and it is our ardent hope that
this process of consultation and technical cooperation within the
framework of the ILO recommendation will continue in working toward
the resolution of the matter. On my part, I look forward to meeting
you during the coming ILC.
Accept, Excellency, the assurances of my highest consideration.
(Signed) Major General Tin Ngwe,
Minister for Labour,
Union of Myanmar.
____________________________________________________
XINHUA: MYANMAR LEADER MEETS CHINESE STATE COUNCILOR
June 02, 2000 10:20 AM EST
YANGON (June 2) XINHUA - Chairman of the Myanmar State Peace and
Development Council (SPDC) and Prime Minister Senior-General Than
Shwe met with visiting Chinese State Councilor Ismail Amat here
Friday afternoon.
Present at the meeting were Chinese Ambassador Liang Dong, Head of
the State Administration of Religious Affairs of China Ye Xiaowen,
Myanmar SPDC Vice-Chairman General Maung Aye, SPDC First Secretary
Lieutenant-General Khin Nyunt and SPDC Third Secretary
Lieutenant-General Win Myint.
Amat said at the meeting that the Chinese government and people
treasure much the friendship fostered by leaders of elder generations
of the two countries.
He expressed China's will to make joint efforts with the Myanmar side
in deepening the cooperation in every sector to enable that the
bilateral relations will attain sustainable and steady development in
the new century.
He noted that China, as Myanmar's friendly neighbor, has witnessed
the important achievement made by Myanmar in its economic development
and foreign relations.
He also appraised that Myanmar took a positive part in regional and
international affairs, launched good-neighbor diplomacy and has
established friendly ties with the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations and those nations surrounding Myanmar.
On the difficulties and problems which Myanmar is now facing, Amat
expressed China's comprehension and sympathy, saying that China
wishes to continue providing assistance and support to Myanmar to a
permissible extent.
At the meeting, Than Shwe said Myanmar and China, linked by mountains
and rivers, enjoy the traditional friendship, adding that leaders of
elder generations of the two countries have forged good foundation
for Myanmar-China friendly relations.
He expressed Myanmar' wishes to maintain such friendship generation
by generation.
He also expressed Myanmar's strong will to enhance the cooperation
between the two countries in the sectors of economy and technology.
Myanmar appreciates the cooperation with China as China's achievement
made in its economic construction attracted worldwide attention, he
said, hoping that Myanmar could obtain China's support and assistance
and thanking the Chinese government for these rendered.
He stressed that Myanmar always sticks to the "One China" policy,
supporting China's entry into the World Trade Organization.
Than Shwe requested Amat to convey his personal greeting to President
of China Jiang Zemin, Chairman of the National People's Congress
Standing Committee Li Peng, Premier of the State Council Zhu Rongji,
and Chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative
Conference National Committee Li Ruihuan.
Before the meeting, Myanmar SPDC First Secretary Lieutenant- General
Khin Nyunt had met with Amat on May 31.
At the invitation of Khin Nyunt, Amat arrived here on May 31 on a
five-day goodwill visit to Myanmar. Before coming here, he
successively visited Nepal and Singapore.
____________________________________________________
BANGKOK POST: WA TRIBESMEN AT BORDER UNDER CLOSE WATCH
June 5, 2000
Apprehension over move to Mong Yawn
Yuwadee Tunyasiri
Thailand is keeping a close watch on the relocation of Wa
tribespeople to the southern part of Shan state to see if Burma is
serious about its promise to make them grow substitute crops rather
than opium, the head of the National Security Council said. Burma
recently announced it would relocate more than 100,000 ethnic Wa from
areas of northern Shan State controlled by the United Wa State Army
to a special administrative area in the south and promote
substitute cropping.
"More then 30,000 Wa people have been moved to Mong Yawn opposite
Chiang Mai's Mae Ai district," NSC secretary-general Kachadpai
Burusphat said yesterday. "We are keeping a close watch on the Wa
community there to see what they produce and whether there will be
any problem about markets.
_______________ ECONOMY AND BUSINESS _______________
XINHUA: MYANMAR, CHINESE COMPANY SIGN CEMENT PLANT ACCORD
Saturday, June 02, 2000
YANGON (June 3) XINHUA - The Myanmar Ceramics Industry authorities
and a Chinese company signed an agreement here Friday on building a
cement plant project in Kyaukse, central Mandalay Division of the
country.
The signing ceremony of the agreement between the state-run Myanmar
Ceramics Industry (MCI) of the Ministry of Industry-1 and the China
National Constructional and Agricultural Import and Export
Corporation (CAMC) was attended by Myanmar Minister of Industry-1 U
Aung Thaung and Economical and Commercial Counselor of the Chinese
Embassy Jin Honggen.
Representing their respective parties, Managing Director of MCI U
Than Shwe and Chairman of the CAMC Ren Honbin signed the agreement.
The plant, whose capacity is to be 500 tons a day, will have
machinery and technology worth 16.5 million U.S. dollars. And it will
be built within 22 months.
Myanmar produced a total of 338,007 tons of cement in 1999, a drop of
7.38 percent compared with 1998.
In recent years, Myanmar has sped up the pace of infrastructural
construction of roads, bridges and dams, resulting in a shortage of
cement day by day.
To meet the rising demand for cement, the Myanmar government has been
trying to build more cement plants.
_________________OPINION/EDITORIALS________________
THE GLOBE AND MAIL (UK): ONCE UPON A TIME IN BURMA
Wednesday, May 31, 2000
By Marcus Gee
Going to Burma is like stepping into the wardrobe in a C. S. Lewis
story. Arriving in that land of temples and monks and ancient cars is
like entering another time. One moment you are in the modern world,
with its familiar sights and sounds and its everyday struggles and
cares. The next you are in a strange and enchanted land where epic
battles are being fought between the forces of good and evil.
Nothing reveals Burma's fairy-tale quality like the story of Aung San
Suu Kyi. The basics of that story are well known. Aung San Suu Kyi is
the daughter of Burma's martyred independence hero, General Aung San.
For 20 years, she lived quietly in Oxford as the wife of a British
scholar. But when she returned to Burma a dozen years ago to nurse
her ailing mother, she was caught up in the popular struggle against
the country's despotic military regime.
Under her leadership, the opposition won an overwhelming victory in
an election held a decade ago, on May 27, 1990. Shocked, the regime
refused to recognize the vote and put Aung San Suu Kyi under house
arrest in Rangoon. There, she has remained for these 10 years.
Though her house arrest has technically been lifted, her movements
are sharply restricted and the group she leads, the National League
for Democracy, has seen its brightest lights thrown into jail or
driven into exile.
If history sometimes reveals itself as a fable, then this one has all
the elements of a classic. Like every fairy-tale heroine, Aung San
Suu Kyi is beautiful. At 54, she still wears a flower in her raven-
black hair, and bears herself like a queen.
Like every fairy-tale heroine, she faces a fearsome foe, the regime
once known as the State Law and Order Restoration Council and still
known in Burma by its sinister-sounding acronym, SLORC.
Like every heroine, she has endured pain and loss. She has seldom
seen her two sons since returning to Burma, and her husband, Michael
Aris, died of cancer last year after being denied permission to come
and see her for a final time.
How will her story end? To all evidence, the prospects for a happy
ending are remote. SLORC has doubled the size of its armed forces to
400,000 since 1988. Thanks to the kind help of neighbouring China,
those forces are heavily armed against any possible rebellion. Ethnic
rebel groups that might have threatened the regime have been largely
neutralized by a combination of military force and corrupt favours.
The door to peaceful reform has been slammed shut. The government
refuses to talk to Aung San Suu Kyi, whom it calls a traitor for
favouring Western economic sanctions against the country. She remains
cloistered in a decaying lakeside villa, and visitors say the street
outside is guarded by military police around the clock. The NLD is a
shell of its former self. Sixty-nine of its 110 recognized
legislators -- members of a rubber-stamp parliament set up in 1993 --
are being held in custody at government "guesthouses." More were
arrested as the anniversary of the 1990 election approached.
Universities, another source of opposition, have been shut for nine
of the past 12 years.
Poverty has further weakened the will to resist, reducing life for
most people to a daily struggle for survival. Diseases of poverty
such as malaria and typhoid are rampant, while the number of people
estimated to have the AIDS virus has soared to half a million. This
in a country that spends 16 times as much on the army as it does on
health care. Desperate, Burmese farmers are turning to the opium
poppy for income, and Burma produces as much as 60 per cent of the
world's heroin.
Every attempt by the outside world to make Burma's generals change
their ways has fallen flat. The sanctions tried by powers such as
Britain and the United States have had little impact on a xenophobic
government that has little interest in entering the international
economy. Attempts by Asian countries to engage Burma's leaders and
coax them gently toward reform have been equally fruitless.
But, as hopeless as things look, it would be a mistake to give up on
Burma. Many regimes look rock solid until they crumble. Consider the
Soviet Union or, more recently, Indonesia. The people themselves are
an added reason for hope. The Burmese are a sophisticated people with
a strong sense of what they have been and what they could become.
The symbol of both those feelings is Aung San Suu Kyi. In her willowy
frame are embodied all the hopes of 40 million Burmese.
As hard as life may be, as bleak as the future appears, they know she
stands with them, and they believe that, one day, she will lead them
to freedom.
I think they are right. Every fairy tale has a happy ending. I
believe in fairy tales. I believe in Aung San Suu Kyi.
E-mail: mgee@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
____________________________________________________
THE ONION: GENOCIDE IS SUCH A HARSH WORD
May, 2000
[BurmaNet Editor's Note: The Onion is a website and nationally
syndicated "news" service specializing biting social and political
satires with a forte in parodies. "Genocide is Such a Harsh Word" is
a political satire and should not be read literally.
It is a parody op/ed by a fictional junta leader from Myanmar
denying human rights abuses (compare it with SPDC: LETTER TO THE
ILO `THERE ARE NO INSTANCES OF FORCED LABOUR IN MYANMAR' above).]
****
Genocide is Such a Harsh Word
We're all adults here. Can we please conduct this U.N. tribunal
without stooping to using that loaded, pejorative term? Yes, as
leader of the Kunhing military junta in Myanmar, I did call for the
death of four million people, all of whom just happened to be of
Shan ethnicity. And, yes, a few of these Shan-- let's say 921,452--
died at the hands of my mercenary army. But are we really prepared
to call it a genocide? Come on, now. That's not the sort of word you
just throw around.
Granted, I did call for the Salween River to run red with the blood
of the Shan. But did I ever use the word genocide when I called for
Burmese, Chinese, and Karens to rise up against their Shan neighbors
and rid the Earth of this mongrel race? Of course not.
If something that appears to resemble a genocide did occur at my
hands in Myanmar, that certainly was not my intention. Everything I
did was in the name of working toward the noble goal of
redistributing all land and resources to their rightful, non-Shan
owners--a land-distribution system dating back to the 11th century
Burmese kingdom of Bagan.
Even "ethnic cleansing" has become a dirty word nowadays. It's
getting so that you can't work toward purification without someone
calling you the new Hitler.
Sure, we've all heard the recording of my radio addresses and read
my statements in The Shan-Annihilation Press, in which I urged
Burmese farmers to sharpen their scythes, descend upon Taunggyi, and
leave not a man, woman, or child standing. What does that prove? So
what if Taunggyi is the capital of the Shan state? Is everyone in
Belgium a Belgian?
True, it was the Shan miners at Bawdwin who were seized and burned
to death inside the shafts. And, yes, it was Shan workers who were
split throat- to-stomach and stacked up like cordwood in the smeltery
at Namtu. But to call these massacres? That's so extreme.
Now, maybe if we'd descended upon a Buddhist temple full of refugees
in Keng Tung armed with machine guns and missiles, the tribunal
could call it a massacre. We all know that a single rocket launcher
costs nearly 125,000 kyat around here. We used mere rifles and
bulldozers to kill the 13,000 in Keng Tung.
As with most things, your opinion of my regime depends entirely upon
your perspective. Yes, there is proof of the live burial at Thayetwa
and the fire raids on the grade school in Syway, but you really had
to be there to understand what went on. We have a saying in
Kunhing: "One man's torture center is another man's retreat where
one is released from the shame of being born into this world a
Shan."
Perhaps the lowest blow of all was when the U.N. tribunal brought up
my silly little nickname, "Ma-ubbin Toukka." Yes, technically, it
does mean "one who grinds human skulls into a fine powder with his
boot." But the true spirit of it gets lost in the translation.
So how am I supposed to get a fair trial now? A person hears a phrase
like "genocide," and they close their minds to everything else. They
completely ignore the fact that, even to this day, these agrarian
curs are marrying non- Shan. But all it takes is just one U.N.
tribunal to scream "genocide," and you're forever labeled a
bloodthirsty mass-murderer. "Bloodthirsty"? Who does this sort of
name-calling benefit?
Let's take one more look at this nebulous word "genocide," which is
defined as "the deliberate and systematic extermination of a
national or racial group." Last time I checked, there were still
2,623,947 Shan left in Myanmar. That doesn't sound like much of a
genocide to me.
Now, if you'd be so kind as to leave me be--perhaps until about, oh,
September 2001--I have some important business to attend to.
http://www.theonion.com/onion3620/genocide.html
________________
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