From: BurmaNet ------------------------ BurmaNet ------------------------ "Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies" ---------------------------------------------------------- The BurmaNet News: September 19, 1995 Issue#231 Noted in Passing: I have visited AIDS units in hospitals in Rangoon and seen people dying of HIV with chains on their legs like 17th-century prisoners, chains around their ankles tied to their beds because they are awaiting trial for drug offences. - John Dwyer, President of the AIDS Society for Asia and the Pacific. (quoted in BKK POST: BURMA NEEDS HELP TO FIGHT AIDS) Headlines: ======== JAPAN TIMES: EXPOSING THE 'DIRTY SECRET' OF ASIAN VALUES STRAITS TIMES: CONFRONTATION WITH SLORC WIDELY EXPECTED REUTER: BURMESE STUDENTS URGE SLORC TO RELEASE LEADER BKK POST: BURMA NEEDS HELP TO FIGHT AIDS BKK POST: TEAM TO HEAD FOR BURMA TALKS BKK POST: BURMA THWARTS RED CROSS MISSION BKK POST: GROUP BLASTS BURMA FOR EQUALITY OF REPRESSION BKK POST: PICTURES AND CAPTIONS US ACTIVISTS: SEND A LETTER ON THE MCCONNELL BILL ---------------------------------------------------------- Produced with the support of the Burma Information Group (B.I.G). The BurmaNet News is an electronic newspaper covering Burma. Articles from newspapers, magazines, newsletters, the wire services and the Internet as well as original material are published. 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Sutcliffe" World Wide Web: FreeBurma@POBox.com Volunteering: christin@ksc.net.th [Feel free to suggest more areas of coverage] ******************* JAPAN TIMES: EXPOSING THE 'DIRTY SECRET' OF ASIAN VALUES September 18, 1995 By JOHN J. TOBIN Guest Forum, Japan Times In a recent article (The Japan Times, Aug. 25) Professor Simon Tay muddles the debate over human rights in Asia. He makes obeisance to the universality of human rights, but calls for development of an Asian meaning of these rights. This is unobjectionable. What is troubling is how arguments for cultural diversity become apologies for authoritarianism. In urging an Asian meaning of human rights, Tay relies on five arguments. The first, the "we-are - all-somewhat-different" argument, is a type of cultural relativism holding that cultures are distinctive, though not incommensurable, and that Western human rights may undergo some change when implemented in Asian societies. Cultural relativism provides an important anti-imperial check on the manipulation of human rights, but its dirty secret is the ambiguity of "culture," its central concept. Determining whether a practice is "culture" (worthy of respect) or "politics" (open to critique) is difficult, since the two domains are intimately linked. Moreover, ethnography has exploded the view of cultures as static, showing them to be changing, riddled with conflict, and saturated with power. Since cultures are incessantly remade out of the symbols, power relations, and material conditions of the present, "culture" cannot provide a secure basis for justifying social practices. As Yash Ghai has noted, cultures are attributes of communities, not states, There is thus the large question whether one can sensibly speak of the "culture" of a nation -state. Practices seeking justification in a supposed "national culture" must be handled with caution. Finally, Asia's diversity argues against a single, culturally "Asian" meaning of human rights. A second argument is the "full belly" thesis: Observance of human rights depends on stages of economic and social development, with civil and political rights coming last. China set out one version in a 1991 white paper, arguing that survival rights - to food, shelter and health - take priority over freedom of expression and other civil and political rights, since the latter are meaningless if one is starving. Violation of those rights is justified as a trade-off by states with limited resources. While the full -belly thesis has the virtue of countering the big powers' scant attention to economic and social human rights, it wrongly assumes that "development " will result from this approach, and will be followed by full civil and political rights. Latin America and Africa are littered with the failures of states which have taken this path. The reasons for such failures are complex, but "postponement" of civil and political rights maintains imbalances of power and fosters grotesque development skewed in favor of the powerful. In this model, corrupt, unaccountable governments are complicit in denying the very rights they claim to prefer. The third, "authoritarian success story" argument, conjures national security. China and others have argued that the denial of civil and political rights is not just a matter of tough choices, but necessary to maintain tile political stability required for development and for an eventual transition of full human rights. The examples of Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan, usually trotted out as proof of this proposition, are not convincing. Singapore is anomalous, a city-state with a colonial history. as a regional entrepot. The others benefitted from being showcases of capitalism during the Cold War; it is far from established that authoritarianism was required for their development. The often-cited Philippines as a cautionary tale of too much democracy conveniently ignores the pernicious legacy of Marcos-era crony capitalism and the limited nature of Philippine democracy. Tay seems to justify Singapore's draconian detention laws, the most sweeping of which are the Internal Security Act of 1968 and the Emergency (Public Order and Prevention of Crime) Ordinance of 1969. The latter grants the Home Affairs minister broad discretion to detain for up to two years on grounds, inter alia, of maintaining public order. Tay does not mention that this ordinance can be used because Singapore has maintained, for 26 years, the state of emergency declared during the 1969 intercommunal riots. Quite an emergency. Article 4 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) provides for national security threats; suspension of some rights is permitted in times of public emergency, if such measures are strictly required by the situation. In his zeal to defend Singapore's policies, Tay tilts at "those who make propositions not sustained by human rights law," such as that a person should never be detained without trial. He alludes obliquely to the Article 4 mechanism, then without breaking stride notes that "The laws on detention in Singapore are different, as no emergency need be declared," and that "human rights do not absolutely prohibit detention and critics are wrong to overstate their case." The issue which Tay ought to address is rather, why does Singapore reject Article 4-style limits on governmental power? Because of Singaporean "culture"? Its stage of. economic development? The struggle with neocolonial domination? Absent a convincing answer, one suspects the old masquerade: arbitrary power parading as national security. A fourth argument cites self-determination, according to which Asia needs its own concept of human rights for defense against criticism by "outsiders," and for the construction of its own future. Given the disproportionate power of Western governments and NGOS, the defensive tone is perhaps understandable, though it can be compellingly argued that there are no longer "outsiders" when it comes to publicizing and criticizing human rights violations. The danger is that a concept designed to deflect external critics usually aids in quashing internal dissenters and suppressing inconvenient facts. As Tay indicates, self-determination requires open societies, in which all can contribute to an informed debate. Tay's comment that "some American commentators reject censorship that protects racial or religious sensitivities" is a red herring. Article 20 of the ICCPR prohibits "advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence" so Singapore is quite free to ban such speech, taking into account its own history and circumstances. Moreover, Singapore has not been criticized for such censorship, but for the abusive application of the Official Secrets Act against journalists, criminal defamation actions against academics, and curbs on the circulation of newspapers and magazines. A final argument is the "Occi-genetic fallacy": Human rights are Western creations, therefore unsuited to Asia. It is true that human rights appeared first in the West, initially a defense of the bourgeoisie against arbitrary state power, later a defense of workers against the ravages of the market. To the extent that Asian societies manifest states and markets posing "Western" threats to individuals, "Western" human rights are essential, holding back the oppressive hand of the state from individuals and communities, fostering the flourishing of culture and giving some shelter from the profit seeking market, no respecter of local culture. In this very practical sense, "Western" human rights are Universal. (Iohn Tobin, founding administrative director of the Harvard Law School's Human Rights Program, teaches international human rights at Doshisha University.) ************** STRAITS TIMES: CONFRONTATION WITH SLORC WIDELY EXPECTED SUU KYI'S CHOICE: ACT QUICKLY OR FADE AWAY By the International Institute for Strategic Studies The Straits Times (Reprinted in The Japan Times, September 15, 1995) LONDON - Despite the considerable international attention that surrounded the release of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi there are few signs of substantial change in the political life of Myanmar. On the contrary, her release is not a sign of weakness on the part of the State Law and Order Restoration Council, which assumed power in 1988, but of the growing self-confidence of Myanmar's military leaders who still determine the political agenda and are preparing for life after SLORC. The first question concerning Suu Kyi's future has been answered quickly. Unlike fellow Nobel laureate Nelson Mandela, she has not been freed to take part in a national reconciliation. Despite growing international support, she has been released as an ordinary citizen, subject to the same draconian security laws as everyone else. SLORC officials depict her as an irrelevant voice in domestic politics, sway to Western allegiances (she has a British husband). In such a hostile environment, her future rearrest cannot be precluded. In response, she has attempted to maintain a conciliatory pose. She has concentrated on reviving her near moribund party, the National League for Democracy, which won a landslide victory in the 1980 election. Significantly, she has spent much time with retired military supporters, and has adopted an appeasing stance toward the army, which her late father founded. Her strategy is clearly to pave the way for talks with the two key SLORC figures, Chairman Gen. Than Shwe, and military intelligence chief Lt. Gen. Khin Nyunt, who both met her last year. The council, however, has shown little interest in responding. Eventual talks cannot be ruled out as national reconciliation will one day be essential. But unless such talks occur soon, a confrontation is widely predicted. Many supporters believe Suu Kyi must make her mark quickly to prevent further erosion of the democracy movement. In the coming months, there will be two main points of contention. * The first concerns international investment in Myanmar. Suu Kyi's assertion that any international investment is premature without democratic reform has been met with stinging criticism in the state-controlled press. SLORC is staking its long-term survival on economic progress, and should it feel that her words are being heeded, hardliners will undoubtedly respond. Its open-door policy is slowly attracting international investment to the country, especially in tourism and natural gas. However, Myanmar is still considered a financial risk and, after years of conflict and misrule, most sectors of the economy are in a parlous state. * The second point concerns SLORC's reform process which, after much delay, is now reaching a critical state. During Suu Kyi's detention, SLORC overruled the 1990 election result and inaugurated its own National Convention to draw up the new constitution. Most elected parties have been barred, but several NLD members, on Suu Kyi's instructions, have continued to attend. Despite continuing arrests, this has allowed SLORC to present the convention as a forum for democratic debate. It has also accelerated an increasingly successful cease-fire policy in ethnic-minority regions. By this June, it had agreed to military cease fires with the 16 key ethnic insurgent groups, bringing the first peace in four decades to several borderland war zones. A number of these groups have been attending the convention. Thus, the next scheduled meeting in October will bring numerous issues to a head. With the constitution reportedly near completion, SLORC will force both Suu Kyi and the ethnic opposition to deal with them or risk being marginalized. Suu Kyi's long-term potential as a unifying symbol for democratic change can never be discounted. However, as evidenced by her release, SLORC leaders are now confident in their ability to control the situation. Internally, SLORC is aiming for the Indonesian model. The armed forces must have the "leading role" in politics, Myanmar's future president must have military experience , and 25 percent of seats in Parliament must be reserved for military candidates. Equally striking after the poor showing of its National Unity Party in 1990, SLORC has formed the mass movement Union Solidarity and Defense Association in likely imitation of Indonesia's ruling Golkar party. Meanwhile, in Myanmar's restive ethnic-minority states, SLORC is planning to reform local government while retaining central military rule. New administrative regions will be created in which leaders who have signed cease-fires have been promised important positions. Clearly, SLORC hopes to dissipate ethnic opposition through cease-fires, but how long these groups will be allowed to retain their arms is unclear. Nevertheless, its calculation that many insurgent commanders in the field put local interests before broader national concerns has been proved correct. The main armed opposition fronts, the National Democratic Front and Democratic Alliance of Burma, have virtually disintegrated. This does not mean that Myanmar's long-running ethnic problems are by any means solved. Fighting still continues against the Mong Tai Army of the opium king, Khun Sa. Nevertheless, after so many years of conflict, veteran ethnic leaders want to be on the inside of the process in such a pivotal era. For this reason, cease-fires are expected to en- dure. Also delighted by the cease-fire movement and Suu Kyi's release are Myanmar's Southeast Asian neighbors, who share many concerns over refugees, narcotics and AIDS. In the xenophobic world of Myanmar politics, internal security is always paramount. Many regional governments claim Suu Kyi's release as the result of their "constructive engagement" with SLORC, in sharp contrast to the West's isolation tactics. The greatest public support for SLORC has come from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which invited the regime to attend (as observer) its last two annual meetings in Bangkok and Brunei. There have been several diplomatic visits, and with the signing of ASEAN's Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in July, Myanmar's future membership is virtually assured. If Myanmar is ineluctably moving into the Southeast Asia orbit, China remains the most powerful presence on Myan- mar's borders. The country's entry into ASEAN, however, will not worry China, whose policy toward Myanmar has undergone a major shift. Following its 1989 cutoff in support to the now-defunct Communist Party of Burma, Chinese trade has come to pre- dominate across the northeast. China is today Myanmar's largest arms supplier and trading partner, and although large-scale Chinese immigration is fueling resentment, diplomatic relations were cemented publicly by Chinese Prime Minister Li Peng's 1994 visit to Rangoon. Significantly, however, the greatest international influence on Suu Kyi's release was probably neither ASEAN nor China but Japan, which has made her freedom the main precondition for resuming aid. SLORC first announced the news to the Japanese Embassy and, in response, ministers in Tokyo have already intimated that full development assistance will be restored shortly. By contrast, the release of Suu Kyi has left Western governments increasingly wrong-footed. Western oil companies are the largest sectoral investors in Myanmar, but concern over continuing human-rights abuses is still pervasive. While international attention has focused on Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar's military strongmen have once again ensured that they have the dominant say and Western governments will have to adjust their policies to this reality. (The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) is a London-based think-tank. This article is one of a series of commentaries on strategic global issues examined every month by the institute.) ************** REUTER: BURMESE STUDENTS URGE SLORC TO RELEASE LEADER September 17, 1995 BANGKOK, Sept 17 (Reuter) - Burmese dissident students in exile on Sunday demanded that Burma's ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) hold talks with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and release a student leader detained six years ago. ``We would like to urge the international community to join us to demand for the unconditionally release of Min Ko Naing and all political prisoners in Burma,'' the All Burma Students' Democratic Front said in a statement given to Reuters on Sunday. It also demanded that the country's military rulers hold talks with Aung San Suu Kyi. The student group said more than 3,000 political prisoners were still in Burmese jails. Ming Ko Naign, 33, was the student leader from Rangoon University who led the mass protests against the military. He was arrested in March, 1989, and sentenced to 20 years in jail. ************* BKK POST: BURMA NEEDS HELP TO FIGHT AIDS September 19, 1995 BURMA is at the centre of a fastest-growing AIDS epidemic and countries must help its military government fight it or the entire effort in the region will fail, according to experts at a symposium on AIDS in Asia. Fuelled partly by increased cross-border travel and trade, the epidemic is exploding or is ready to do so in all the countries bordering Burma-in India, Bangladesh, Thailand, Laos and southern China, which has the country's worst infection rate. Drug use is rife in Burma because it forms part of the "Golden Triangle," where its border meets with that of Laos and Thailand to form the world's largest source of opium, and its derivative, heroin. Drug warlords control much of Burma's border areas. Western countries and international agencies have curbed assistance to Burma since the military leaders seized power in 1988 by killing hundreds of pro-democracy demonstrators. The United States says it will not resume aid until the human rights situation improves and the government starts ceding power to elected civilians . Of the estimated 3 to 4 million AIDS virus carriers in Asia, 1 million are in India, followed by Thailand, and then Burma, with 200,000 to 450,000, said John Dwyer, an Australian immunologist who is president of the AIDS Society for Asia and the Pacific. Burma has an AIDS crisis because "it's got so many borders and so few friends" Dwyer said. "There simply have been far too few international cooperative programmes to help Burma with its problems. It's a major international scandal that we're trying to contain an epidemic and here the crucible is burning brightly." Meanwhile, he said, the Burmese Government "is making every mistake in the book in terms of the problem of HIV." "I have visited AIDS units in hospitals in Rangoon and seen people dying of HIV with chains on their legs like 17th-century prisoners, chains around their ankles tied to their beds because they are awaiting trial for drug offences," he said. "Of course they will never go to trial: They are going to die of AIDS," he said. These Southeast Asian countries must cooperate in battling the epidemic because of the huge cross-border activity, yet cooperation programmes " have been strikingly missing from this region." The rate of increase of infections will continue through the year 2005 in Asia, he said even though the projected curb will start to fall elsewhere. For decades shielded by seclusion, the Burmese have undertaken economic reforms that have increased border trade, foreign tourists and businessmen. Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos are beginning to show similar problems. ***************************************************************** BKK POST: BURMA WELCOMES NGOS TO BATTLE RISING AIDS RATE September 19, 1995 BURMA welcomes non-governmental organisations from overseas to run educational programmes and activities on AIDS in the country as the deadly disease is rapidly spreading there. "They are always welcomed and it will be a big help," said Dr Rai Mra, a consultant haematologist at the Yangon General Hospital who visited Chiang Mai for the third conference on AIDS in ASIA and Pacific, held at the Pang Suan Kaew Hotel since Sunday. He said though the World Health Organisation (WHO) and UNDP are working on such programmes in Burma, there are many difficulties to overcome, especially the diversity of tribal dialects. There are more than 100 minority groups among Burma's population of 40 million and safe-sex campaign publications and others have to be translated into five major languages, including Burmese and Chinese. Hospital records show Burma has some 400-500 AIDS patients nationwide 80 per cent of whom are males aged between 20-40. He said though the number is still small, the real situation is frightening as the exact figure of HIV/positive cases remains unknown. The Burmese doctor added that there will be a big increase in the number of HIV/positive cases that will develop into AIDS in the near future. Burma has little money to spend on health care and the standard of medical facilities available is still undeveloped, he said. Burma's economy seemed to get better in recent years, but AIDS would have bad impacts on its economic development as the high-risk group is its workforce. "We have found some women infected from HIV/AIDS and in the future we will eventually find AIDS/infected children born to these women," he said. The first Burmese AIDS case was discovered in l988 after a surveillance research started in 1985. The patient was believed to have contracted the disease from abroad. The doctor did not identify the country. The doctor said factors of transmission in each part of the nation are not the same. Cultures and religions play major roles. People do not talk about sex in public. The government needs to do more in publicising facts to help people overcome their shyness. "The knowledge is there, but it is not practised. I think it is the same problem as in Thailand," he said. The two main factors contributing to the spread of AIDS are the use of narcotic drugs and sexual contacts with prostitutes. "For sex workers, in general approach, we give them education on AIDS and introduce condoms. We will put emphasis on family values to urge people to have only one partner," he said. He said it is necessary to develop more resources, such as condom supplies, educational materials and funds from overseas. Burma imports condoms and gives them to over 200 clinics specialising in sexually transmitted diseases and drug treatment centres nationwide for free distribution to visiting prostitutes and patients. "There should be more condoms available to people everywhere, not just in the clinics. It seems difficult to find condoms at shops. The quality one can cost about 15-30 kyatts,"he said. Kawthaung and Tachilek provinces opposite Mae-Sai District of Chiang Rai in Thailand are facing a big increase in the number of HIV/positive people and there are many AIDS-infected women as they are working in a cross-border sex trade. Burmese prostitutes sent back home from Thailand will return to their places of origin in the countryside. They can have medical check-ups, if they wish, at any of the sexually transmitted disease clinics throughout the country. "We do not force them to get their blood checked. But they must return home," the doctor said. He said it is difficult to suppress prostitution as people are free to cross the border into Thailand. ***************************************************************** BKK POST: TEAM TO HEAD FOR BURMA TALKS September 19, 1995 A DELEGATION will be sent to Rangoon this month to tackle problems in relations with Burma, the Defence Minister said yesterday. Gen Chavalit Yongchaiyudh, who went to Burma this month for the same reason, said the delegation would give the State Law and Order Restoration Council a progress report. Burma, he said, wanted Thailand to show sincerity by resolving the case of murdered Burmese fishermen, ensuring security along its border (controlled by Khun Sa) and stopping Thai encroachment in the Moei River. Encroachment led to the suspension of construction of a friendship bridge between Mae Sot, Tak, and Myawaddy town. The conditions were conveyed to Gen Chavalit in Rangoon when he invited Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt, the regime's first secretary, to Thailand. Meanwhile, the Foreign Minister indicated that flooding might put a dampener on Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt's visit. M.R. Kasem S. Kasemsri was speaking after talks with a Burmese Foreign Ministry delegation led by Tun Ngwe, deputy director-general of the International Affairs Department, visiting Thailand until September 27. ***************************************************************** BKK POST: BURMA THWARTS RED CROSS MISSION Septbember 19, 1995 RED CROSS officials have had to leave Burma because they are unable to do their job. The [International Committee of the Red Cross recently closed its office in Rangoon only three years after Burma acceded to the four Geneva Conventions in August 1992. The State Law and Order Restoration Council has followed one of the peacetime obligations stipulated by the conventions- spreading the principles of humanitarian rules in the conduct of hostilities -and has done little or nothing else. It denied the committee access to its prisons and private visits to political prisoners. It refused to allow the committee to take care of the wounded when the SLORC army attacked the Karen head-quarters at Manerplaw and Kawmoora. "Political opportunism" motivated the SLORC to accede to the conventions, according to Friedrun Medert, who has been with committee in Rangoon for four years. The accession was timed a few weeks before the annual meeting of the United Nations General Assembly where the SLORC had expected to be under fire for its human rights record. Since the house arrest of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi in 1988 and the refusal by the SLORC to recognise the results of the 1990 general election, the General Assembly has passed several resolutions against the SLORC. The SLORC in April 1992 concluded an agreement with the neighbouring Bangladeshi government to repatriate more than 200,000 ethnic Rohinyas who had fled political and military suppression. But by August, the SLORC continued to deny the United Nations' High Commissioner for Refugees the right to oversee the repatriation and not one Rohinya had returned home. Medert stressed that the SLORC had been fully briefed about the obligations under the conventions and the committee had made it very clear to the junta that it was not in Burma "for Suu Kyi" or to question its right to imprison people it believed should be behind bars. Rather, the committee stressed to the SLORC that persons put in prison should be treated well and not be tortured. The committee made its first request for access to prisons in 1988 and the mention of prison visits turned out to be the best way to end a conversation with senior SLORC officials, according to Medert. Negotiations took a hopeful turn in 1993, a few months after Burma acceded to the conventions, when the SLORC hinted at possible approval, saying it was ready to discuss the subject. But it was not until last year that the SLORC asked the committee to submit a list stating all procedures involved. Nine months were to pass before the committee received an answer in March this year. The answer was a counter-proposal from the SLORC's Ministry of Home Affairs: The committee was to have access to "some" prisons but was to be accompanied by SLORC officials. It made no mention whether the committee could repeat the visits, only that the political prisoners it visited could be registered. The committee's practices are the same in all countries. It seeks access to all prisons, private visits to political prisoners, their registration and the right to repeat the visits. "It's a package deal, all or nothing," said Medert. She explained that one main aim of the committee's prison visits was to persuade prison authorities to improve the living conditions of inmates. It was be impossible to find out about problems when inmates could not speak freely for fear of reprisals. "The fact the government admits the committee to its prisons does not mean there is a problem (with their prisons). It means only that the government is ready to talk to the committee." But these reassurances fell on deaf ears. Medert thinks that it may be because the committee's mandate went beyond being a charitable organisation, in that it also provides assistance and protection. "Protection from whom" the SLORC must have thought, Medert said. The one positive side of the committee's efforts in Burma was its ability to hold three training courses for senior military officers on the principles of the conventions. According to Medert, who saw some of the classes, it was clear these senior military officers had never before heard of humanitarian principles in the conduct of hostilities. "They couldn't even conceal that they were astonished," she said, when the committee trainer spoke about treating wounded enemy like their own soldiers. SLORC leaders always said they had their sets of principles, a "Buddhist Code of Conduct" which they never explained but insisted was better than the Geneva Conventions. Each training course in 1993-94 was attended by 20-30 officers from lieutenant-colonel up. Although the committee has closed its Rangoon office, its regional base in New Delhi will keep open communications by sending its officials to Rangoon every three or four months. ***************************************************************** BKK POST: GROUP BLASTS BURMA FOR EQUALITY OF REPRESSION September 19, 1995 BURMA'S RULERS and its opponents agree on one thing; Rangoon gives women full equal, rights with men. When Maj-Gen Soe Myint, head of the Burmese delegation told the United Nations' Conference on Women in Beijing that his country's women needed no special arrangement, the Burmese Women's Union quickly agreed. The union said in a statement that Burmese women were equally treated with man when they were subjected to summary executions, torture, forced labour, arbitrary arrest, forced portering, denial of their rights to participate in the political process, religious persecution and forced relocation. The girls and women of Burma, especially whose who are ethnic minorities, were raped during military offensives, raped while serving as porters and sold into prostitution. Violence against girls and women is pervasive under the rule of the State Law and Order Restoration Council, according to the union. Women in Burma bear the brunt of SLORC's policies of forced relocation under which families are expelled from their homes to new satellite town which lack electricity, clean water and access to transport. Further, in the preparation for "Visit Myanmar Year" in 1996, many women, including those who are pregnant, are among hundreds of thousands of people forced to work as slave labourers in "beautification" projects and construction of railways, roads, bridges and airports, according to the women's group. The union and the Norwegian Burma Council called on SLORC to begin talks with democratic forces led by Aung San Suu Kyi and, representatives of ethnic minorities. They called for the release of all political prisoners and for prosecution of the government agents responsible for abuses, in particular rape and trafficking of girls and women into sexual slavery. SLORC should take immediate steps to comply with the UN Economic and Social Council resolution of March 8,1995 and the UN General Assembly resolution of last December 2 " to end violations of the right to life and the integrity of human beings, to end torture, abuse of women and forced labour, enforced displacement of the population and enforced disappearance and summary executions and allow all citizens to participate freely in the political process". The statement urged the international community to refrain from improving relations with SLORC until the regime showed a genuine commitment to a democratic and civil, open society. Their demand was echoed at the Non-Governmental Forum on Women, which ended a week earlier than the UN conference. "Slorc must show its sincerity to change," said Hnin Hnin Pyne, an exiled Burmese member of the union. "It must hold dialogue with Aung San Suu Kyi," she told a workshop. Pyne said pressure from world community would greatly help a change toward democracy in Burma. Economic sanctions were needed. Each women participant could help by boycotting trans-national companies that invested in Burma and their governments if they supported such investment. "We will continue to lobby for companies to stop investing in the country," she said. International aid agencies were asked to take precautions before granting aid to Burma. "The Slorc does not allow access to problem areas, where help is most needed," Pyne said, warning that otherwise aid might end up it the pockets of the SLORC. The problem in Burma is not limited to democracy but also equal rights among minority groups. Pyne said the SLORC should hold talks not only with Suu Kyi, but also with ethnic groups. Research by Images Asia showed that Burmese women were forced to cross the border into Thailand because of suppression and economical problems in Burma. Most of these women were of ethnic minorities the Burmese government chose to ignore. Without proper documents, some women ended up locked in detention centres where corrupt Thai officials demanded kick- backs. However, when these women were asked whether they wanted to return to Burma, most refused to do so unless the situation in Burma improved. Groups in Europe, North America and Thailand have set up networks to help women and keep the SLORC under pressure. One representative from the Norwegian Burma Council told conference participants that past efforts proved that even small organisations could contribute to the cause. She urged advocates in each country to lobby their government to pressure SLORC to restore democracy in Burma. *************************************************************** PICTURES AND CAPTIONS Illegal Immigrants rounded up: Bkk Post/ 18.9.95 Some of the 71 illegal immigrants, mostly Burmese caught in raids between Friday and yesterday in Ratchaburi and Bangkok. They were shown to the press at the Immigration Office yesterday. ++++++++++++++ "A picture of Burmese students demonstrators who were setting a fire on the up-side-down Burma flag(BSPP & SLORC Flag) in front of the Burma's embassy in Bangkok, appeared on the Page 6 of BANGKOK POST newspaper(19.9.95) with the following caption." About 50 people rally at Burma's embassy on Sathorn road yesterday to mark the 7th Anniversary of the crushing of pro- democracy demonstrators on September 18, 1988. They called for the unconditional release of political prisoners in Burma, including student leader Min Ko Naing. ***************************************************************** Typed by the Research Department of the ABSDF [MTZ] 19/9/95 ***************************************************************** US ACTIVISTS: CITIZENS AND GREEN CARD HOLDERS CAN SEND LETTER MCCONNELL BILL Dear Burma Activists, The McConnell bill (the Free Burma Act of 1995) needs support now! If you haven't written your two U.S. Senators yet, please do so! We are seeking two things: (1) each U.S. Senator should co-sponsor the legislation, which is bill # S. 1092 and (2) each U.S. senator should support McConnell when he seeks to add the Free Burma Act language as an amendment to the Foreign Operations bill, a larger piece of legislation that will definetly pass the Senate in some form. I've written my Senators and wanted to share the draft of my letters. Please feel free to adapt/use as you see fit -- but let them hear from you now, in the next week! If you are uncertain who you're Senator is, you can call your local town hall or send me an e-mail which tells me what state you live in. As an additional thought to my urging you to send letter to U.S. Senators, of course green card holders and other non-citizens can write letters to their Senators too. The only way they can calculate interest in an issue is by the number of letters and phone calls they get, which is why it's important that everyone write. The address for all Senators is: Senator _________ U.S. Senate Washington, D.C. 20510 Thanks for your commitment and help on this! Cheers, Phil =============== September --, 1995 Senator ________. U.S. Senate Washington, D.C. 20510 Dear Senator ________, I am writing to request your immediate support for the Free Burma Act of 1995 (S. 1092), a bill to impose economic sanctions on the Burmese military junta which Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch/Asia and other major human rights organization continue to classify as one of the most egregious human rights abusers in the world today. Specifically, I would urge you to co- sponsor this important free-standing bill, which was introduced by Senator McConnell, and also support Senator McConnell when he offers this bill as an amendment to the Foreign Operations Appropriations bill in the third week of September. This is a very important matter to me. My personal interest in the fight for democracy and human rights is ... I have noted the calls of 1991 Nobel Peace Laureate and Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi (recently released from six years of illegal detainment at the hands of the military) for continued international economic pressure to force the military to negotiate in good faith with her. So far there has been no indication that the military junta (known as the State Law and Order Restoration Council, better known as SLORC) is willing to do so, a fact to which U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia, Kent Weidemann, testified in the House yesterday, September 7th. In fact, virtually all observers of the Burmese scene, both here in the U.S. and in Asia, believe that Aung San Suu Kyi's release in July only occurred because the SLORC thought it would further open possibilities of foreign aid and investment in the country. The argument that investment will raise the quality of life is, in Burma, a farce because foreign investment primarily goes to either SLORC-controlled firms or companies controlled by retired military men. In fact, SLORC relies heavily on forced labor for infrastructure projects (a fact which has been repeatedly condemned by the International Labor Organization), has been dispossessing its citizens of land to make way for hotel construction in major cities, and presides over an economy which has the highest inflation rate (over 40%) of any country in Southeast Asia. The SLORC and its cronies are getting richer and consolidating their hold on power because of foreign investment at the expense of the majority of Burmese, who continue to get poorer. The simple fact remains that the Burmese people continue to overwhelming support Aung San Suu Kyi as the legitimate leader of Burma (her party, the National League for Democracy, won 392 of 485 seats in the 1990 elections which the military arbitrarily disallowed) and she has called for greater economic pressure against Burma. There are very clear parallels between her call and that of Nelson Mandela to maintain economic sanctions against South Africa when he was seeking to push the National Party to allow elections is entirely appropriate. In fact, fellow Nobel Peace Prize winner Desmond Tutu has also spoken in favor of economic sanctions against Burma, in support of his fellow Laureate's call. Please take a strong stand and support S. 1092 and the McConnell amendment to the Foreign Operations bill. Only with significant international pressure with the military junta in Burma realize that the world is not going to look the other way, that they need to negotiate seriously with the Burmese democracy movement, and that their refusal to reinstate the results of the free and fair 1990 elections will not be allowed to stand. I look forward to hearing from you on this important issue to me. Sincerely yours, (name) (address)