------------------------ BurmaNet ------------------------ "Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies" ---------------------------------------------------------- The BurmaNet News: June 16, 1997 Issue #749 HEADLINES: ========== BCN: EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT RESOLUTION-WTO AND ASEAN BKK POST: RANGOON ORDERS CHECKPOINT REOPENED BKK POST: PANEL TO LOOK INTO BURMA'S ALLEGATIONS TT: DKBA TROOPS LAUNCH COVERT OPERATIONS SCMP: EXODUS OF KAREN TO NORTHERN THAILAND BBC: STARVING BURMESE ENTER BANGLADESH THAILAND TIMES: JAPAN ENVOY WRAPS UP BURMA VISIT THE NATION: A LIFETIME SPENT FIGHTING INJUSTICE KYODO: SLORC SAYS MYANMAR IN ASEAN WILL HELP BKK POST: FOREIGN CASH ATMS THE NATION: ALARM SOUNDS OVER INFECTIONS DISEASES THE NATION: DON'T PUSH RANGOON INTO BEIJING'S ORBIT BKK POST: COPING WITH A LARGER FAMILY BRC-J: RALPH LAUREN AND WARNACO WORKING IN BURMA ----------------------------------------------------------------- BCN: EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT RESOLUTION-POSITIONS ON WTO AND ASEAN June 13, 1997 From: Burma Centrum Nederland This resolution was adopted by the European Parliament in its Stratsbourg session on Thursday 12 June 1997. Unanimously. 14 (c) B4-085, 0547 and 0551/97 Resolution on the continuing human rights abuses in Burma The European Parliament, - having regard to its previous resolutions on human rights in Burma and Burma's possible accession to ASEAN, - having regard to the statement of the Presidency on behalf of the European Union on 30 May 1997 on the deterioration of the political situation in Burma, A. whereas the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) has been recognised by the international community as being guilty of conducting a policy of complete disregard for human rights, B. noting that the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in its fifty-third session expressed its deep concern at the continuing violations of human rights in Burma including extrajudicial summary or arbitrary executions, death in custody, torture, arbitrary and politically motivated arrest and detention, forced relocation, forced labour by children as well as adults, and the abuse of woman and children by government agents and oppression of ethnic and religious minorities, C. noting the report by the UN Commission for the rights of children according to which thousands of children die from the effects of beating, exhaustion or illness during forced labour, D. deploring the fact that SLORC detained on 21 may more than 300 National League for Democracy (NLD) members, including 50 elected members of Parliament, to prevent them from attending a party gathering to mark the anniversary of its landslide victory in the 1990 elections, E. saddened by the recent death in custody of the political prisoner Tim Shwe, a prominent member of the NLD, which again highlights the appalling prison conditions in Rangoon; F. whereas Mrs Aung San Suu Kyi, a winner of Parliament's Sakharov Prize, has on several occasions called on the International community to impose political and economical sanctions on SLORC, G. regretting the continued surveillance, restriction of movement, and other forms of intimidation of Aung San Suu Kyi and senior leaders, and since September 1996 the almost permanent blockade of the house of Aung San Suu Kyi which has prevented her from giving public speeches, H. noting that on 20 May 1997 President Clinton imposed economic sanctions on Burma by prohibiting United States citizens from making new investments in Burma; I. whereas, at the last ASEAN ministerial summit, the governments of the member countries decided to admit Burma as a member, thus ignoring the appeals from various other countries and international organisations for the decision to be postponed on account of the serious political situation in Rangoon, 1. Condemns the military dictatorship IN Burma and all human rights violations committed by SLORC; 2. Calls on the Rangoon government to guarantee the fundamental rights of the Burmese people and to put a stop to politically motivated persecution and to fulfil its obligations as a State party to the Forced Labour Convention, 1903 (No 29), and to the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention 1948 (No 87) , of the International Labour Organisation; 3. Calls on the Council to respond to Aung San Suu Kyi's request that the EU implements economic sanctions against SLROC by ending all links between the European and Burma based on trade, tourism and investment in Burma by European companies; 4. Urges the Commission not to take action against the act regulating state contracts with companies doing business with or in Burma passed on 25 June 1996 by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, under the dispute settlement procedure of the World Trade Organisation; 5. Vigorously condemns the accession of Burma to Asean, giving it further international recognition despite its violation of human rights; 6. Calls on the ASEAN countries to review their 'policy of constructive engagement' with Rangoon, which appears to confer legitimacy on the policies of Burma's repressive and anti-democratic government; 7. Expresses its support for all the forces of democracy in Burma, in particular the NLD and Aung San Suu Kyi, who are campaigning for the establishment of constitutional government and respect for human rights; 8. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the commission, the Council, the military Government of Burma and ASEAN. ******************************************* BKK POST: RANGOON ORDERS CHECKPOINT REOPENED June 16, 1997 Supamart Kasem Mae Sot, Tak The Burmese checkpoint in Myawaddy opposite Mae Sot district which has been closed for the past four days has been ordered to reopen by the Rangoon authorities, a Thai customs official said yesterday. The reopening of the checkpoint will allow the import of goods into the country after a four-day closure, said the official. Since local Burmese authorities sealed the checkpoint last Thursday, more than 10 million baht worth of goods - fuel, construction materials, tyres and consumer goods - destined for Myawaddy has been stranded on the Thai side. The stranded goods were checked by customs officials of the two countries before permission was given for the merchandise to be sent to Myawaddy through the checkpoint at about 9 a.m. yesterday. A senior Burmese official, who refused to be identified, said the checkpoint was ordered closed by local authorities at Myawaddy without the knowledge of central authorities. Thai sources, however, said Myawaddy authorities decided to close the checkpoint because they were still upset about a recent dispute over the dredging of Moei river which demarcates the border. The Rangoon authorities recently learned the checkpoint was closed and have since ordered that it be reopened immediately, said the sources. Meanwhile, Democrat MP for Tak Chaiwut Bannawat has called on the Foreign Ministry to urgently settle the problem caused by the poorly demarcated border during the Joint Border Boundary Committee meeting with Burmese officials in Rangoon at the end of this month. He asked the Thai authorities to raise issues on cross-border trading and the abrupt closure of the checkpoint by local Burmese officials at the meeting. Burma must be asked to give an explanation for the closure if it wants to shut the checkpoint again, said Mr Chaiwut, claiming the recent closure had adversely affected cross-border trade. *********************************** BKK POST: PANEL TO LOOK INTO BURMA'S ALLEGATIONS June 13, 1997 The sub-committee on foreign affairs will look into Burmese allegations that the Thai army chief had given his consent to Burma's dredging of the Moei River opposite Mae Sot district of Tak. Its chairman, M.R. Sukhumbhand Paribatra, said yesterday his panel would ask Gen Chettha Thanajaro to explain Burmese claims that he had allowed Burmese authorities to dredge the Moei opposite- Ban Rim Moei to change its course back to what it was originally. "I think we (Thai authorities) were too submissive in letting Burma dredge the river near the Thai boundary. The committee needs details about this matter. We will invite Gen Chettha to give an explanation to us in person, or we will meet him at army headquarters," M.R. Sukhumbhand said. But he added the government made the right decision in trying to solve border problems through negotiation. ********************************************** THAILAND TIMES: DKBA TROOPS LAUNCH COVERT OPERATIONS June 14, 1997 By Assawin Pinitwong TAK: Around 60 fully armed Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) soldiers advanced into Myawaddy province although all border checkpoints are still closed, a border security source said yesterday. Although there is a bilateral border agreement banning traveling into the disputed Moei River area, the DKBA troops deployed three longtail boats two days ago concealing their movements from Thai officials. Their movements were traced from a military base at Baan Rai, only 10km from Myawaddy province. The mobilized troops advanced to the Tha Phut Sa port opposite Tha Sai Luad sub-district, which is only 500 meters from the Thai-Burmese Friendship Bridge. The action was believed to be sanctioned by the ruling junta who were behind the deployment of the DKBA soldiers. ******************************** SCMP: EXODUS OF KAREN TO NORTHERN THAILAND June 14, 1997 A further 3,000 ethnic Karen villagers have fled into northern Thailand from their homes in Burma over the past two months to escape abuses by the forces of Rangoon's military junta, sources said yesterday. Junta troops have forced whole villages from the Papun district in the north of Karen state to relocate as part of a drive to cut off support for rebel ethnic forces still battling Rangoon, the sources at the border said. A senior Burmese military official confirmed columns of government troops were "flushing out the small mobile forces of the KNU [Karen National Union]" from the area. "Some of the family members of the KNU who have set up clandestine camps in the jungles have fled across the border due to troop activities," the official said. Border sources said about 3,000 refugees had poured into northern Thailand's Mae Hong Son province since early April. Some had walked for more than two weeks. Thousands more refugees are believed to be hiding in the forest around their homes in Burma, hoping to return to their villages in time for the approaching rice-growing season. Thousands of Karen have fled to Thailand, joining 80,000 already there, since Rangoon began a massive sweep through KNU territories in February. The KNU is maintaining a small-scale guerilla resistance campaign in its former border enclaves. Sources said the newly arrived refugees had been reluctant to move to designated resettlement areas in Burma, fearing the army may have recruited them as porters. Meanwhile, in Bangkok, international aid workers met Thai Interior Ministry officials to discuss living conditions for Burmese refugees in Thailand. ********************************************** BBC: STARVING BURMESE ENTER BANGLADESH June 14, 1997 From: David Arnott THOUSANDS OF STARVING BURMESE REFUGEES ENTER BANGLADESH According to BBC World Service news bulletins on 14 June 1997 "UN officials from Southeast Bangladesh say that at least 3000 refugees from Burma have fled across the border in the last two months. The refugees say they are escaping forced labour, discriminatory taxation and compulsory relocation. But the Bangladeshi Government says they are economic migrants. Bangladesh is still trying to repatriate a quarter of a million Burmese Muslims who arrived in 1992. Frances Harrison reports from Cox's Bazaar in Bangladesh." Frances Harrison: "Even the Bangladeshi border guards, whose job it is to prevent the Burmese refugees entering the country say they feel pity for them. One Commander said the newcomers were so hungry they hardly had an ounce of flesh on their bones. Thousands of refugees have entered Bangladesh, walking for up to a week to reach the border, and then crossing by boat at night. Local people who trade with Burma say the authorities there have prevented large groups of people from crossing the border, but many more are managing to escape, some of them from areas deeper inside western Burma than before. Once inside Bangladesh, new refugees cannot seek asylum, or they risk being arrested as illegal immigrants. And the government does not allow the United Nations to give anything but emergency medical assistance to the newcomers. In one incident this week, fourteen new refugees, among them children and a sick man, were arrested and held prisoner without food for a day. In tears they begged to be shot on the spot rather than returned to Burma. "At least we'll get a decent burial here", they said. But while whole families are fleeing Burma, the Bangladeshi Government is trying to press ahead with repatriation of the remaining refugees from the influx in 1992. Many of those who were repatriated earlier this year have already returned. It is clear that from now on, repatriation will not be voluntary if it does take place." Burma Peace Foundation Monitoring Service 14 June 1997 ************************************************* THAILAND TIMES: JAPAN ENVOY WRAPS UP BURMA VISIT WITH ECONOMIC PLANNING MINISTER June 14, 19997 AFP BANGKOK: Special Japanese envoy Hiashi Hirabyashi wrapped up an official visit to Burma yesterday by meeting the junta's National Planning and Economic Development Minister David Abel, Japan's embassy in Rangoon said. The embassy refused to reveal details of the discussions, which took place prior to Hirabyashi' s scheduled departure late yesterday. An informed source said Japanese investors were putting a lot of pressure on the government to renew Over seas Development Assistance (ODA), as it would ease their entry into the military-controlled economy. "Japanese - companies would like to see a renewal of aid because Japanese foreign investment generally follows ODA patterns ," the source said. Hirabyashi met Thursday with the Burmese junta's first secretary, Lieutenant General Khin Nyunt, handing him a letter from Japanese Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto to the junta's chairman, Senior General Than Shwe, the embassy source said. ********************************************** THE NATION: A LIFETIME SPENT FIGHTING INJUSTICE OBITUARY/U TIN SHWE June 14, 1997 Aung Zaw **U Tin Shwe was a man who fought for those that the government wished to silence, but now his voice will no longer be heard, writes Aung Zaw. In the late 1980s Burma's military intelligence was searching for "internal destructive elements": U Tin Shwe, his colleagues and opposition members. Despite the urging of his friends, Tin Shwe refused to flee to the insurgent-held area on the Thai-Burmese border. Tin Shwe was later apprehended and flown to Rangoon where he was tried in a military court inside the notorious Insein prison. As a lawyer, Tin Shwe had defended and assisted accused political activists and underground students who were charged under section 5j. However, in a closed military court, he was never given the chance to defend himself. Tin Shwe was sentenced to 14 years.. Until recently Tin Shwe's family members who visited him in prison did not realise that the confinement was, in fact a death sentence. According to a statement issued by Burma's intelligence service, Tin Shwe died from heart disease on June 8 at Rangoon General Hospital. "Before he passed away on June 8, his family visited him on June 6," the statement said. In spite of those visits, his friends inside and outside Burma believed that the 67 year-old Tin Shwe did not receive proper medical attention. His friends in exile expressed their sorrow and regret. "We asked him to come with us [to the Thai-Burmese border] but he refused to go. Now he has been killed in prison," U Tin Aung said. It is well-known that prison conditions in Burma are appalling. Opposition members and well-known politicians have died while in prison as a result of mistreatment and denial of proper medical treatment. "For elderly and sick people, there is no way they are going to survive in Burmese prisons," said former political prisoner Win Naing Oo. Tin Shwe was a renaissance man, not only was he an attorney, he was also a political activist and writer. Tin Shwe's political activism took root back in the 1950s when he was a student leader at Mandalay and Rangoon universities. In 1957 he became general secretary of the Mandalay University Students Union, and despite all of his extra activities, in 1965 Tin Shwe received his BA. In the early 1960s Tin Shwe was one of the active members of the Internal Peace Committee (IPC) established by Thakin Kodaw Hmaing, Burma's architect of peace. During pre- and post independence, Thakin Kodaw Hmaing was Burma's most well-respected peace architect who travelled extensively throughout the country addressing the issues of independence and peace in Burma. Tin Shwe considered himself to be Hmaing's last disciple. He admired the man who had met the world leaders of the day and had tried to clear a path for Burma to follow. Thus, one of Tin Shwe's outstanding works was Hmaing's biography: Thakin Kodaw Hmaing's literature - Thakin Kodaw Hmaing's life". Among Burmese writers he was better known by his pen names: Maung Tin Shwe and Monywa Tin Shwe. Tin Shwe was a prominent lawyer at Burma's Bar Council in the 1980s and was respected by his peers as his books and articles on the subject of law have been invaluable to young attorneys. It was also during this time that he assisted with many political cases. In the 1980s, Tin Shwe was a energetic lawyer who was passionate in seeking justice. Aung Saw Oo, a member of the National League for Democracy (NLD) now in exile, recalled his memory of Tin Shwe. "In the early 1980s, he helped in various political cases including mine." By that time, underground political activists, including approximately 200 Karen rebels, who sneaked into Pegu Range were charged under section 5j: 17/1 and 17/2; The one-time student leader volunteered and argued for political cases in the courts. "I still remember him [Tin Shwe] arguing in his powerful voice in the court. The three judges sitting in there couldn't listen anymore because they were so embarrassed, and eventually two left the courtroom]. -People cheered U Tin Shwe," Aung Saw Oo recalled. During the 1988 prodemocracy uprising, as a senior member of Burma's Bar Council, Tin Shwe urged his lawyers to join the movement. When the military junta, officially known as the State Law and Order Restoration Council (Slorc), promised to hold a free and fair election in 1990 Tin Shwe joined Aung San Suu Kyi's NLD. Soon after, he became a central committee member and policy maker and was later assigned to be a leading organiser of the NLD's Mandalay Division. Myo Win, a fellow lawyer recalled Tin Shwe is tenacity: "He [Tin Shwe] was admirable - from dawn to dusk he worked very hard to organise the people in Mandalay to vote for the NLD." "When we worked together, I learnt a lot about him and that he was devoted to peace and a democratic Burma," recalled Maung Maung Aye, an elected NLD representative from Mandalay's northeast division. As the junta refused to acknowledge the outcome of the 1990 elections, Tin Shwe and his NLD fellows asked the military leaders to hand over power-to the victor, the NLD. But instead of a political mandate, Tin Shwe was arrested as he was planning to commemorate the second anniversary of the 1988 uprising in Mandalay. The only thing he and other NLD members had done was offer food and donations to monks. Tin Shwe's detention and death is a reminder of the situation in Burma. So far, at least four senior NLD leaders and MPs have died in prison. Most recently, U Hla Than, an elected NLD MP suffered from Aids and died last year. Former student leader Moe Thee Zun accused Slorc of negligence which led to Tin Shwe's death. "They [political prisoners] are given no medical assistance - is it a way of killing them slowly?" the former student leader said. There are several other prominent writers and intellectuals who remain in prison. One of them is U Win Tin, also known as Hanthawaddy Win Tin. Win Tin is well-respected as he has written many articles on painting, world literature, polities and journalism. In the 1970s he was chief editor of the Mandalay-based Hanthawaddy newspaper, which was eventually shut down by the government. In 1989, Win Tin became a leading member of the NLD and was arrested before the elections; Slorc accused him of being pro-communist and considered him and Tin Shwe to be the architects of NLD policy. Initially, U Win Tin received a three-year prison term, but it -was later extended to 11 years. In 1995, he and 27 other political prisoners were accused of breaking prison rules, and it is believed that his prison term was again extended. In 1994 and 1995, US Congressman Bill Richardson and Dr Yozo Yokota, former UN special rapporteur to Burma, visited Win Tin in Insein prison. According to NLD sources, Win Tin has been suffering from heart disease and requires constant medication, and is also in need of dental treatment. But it has also come to light that his health has further deteriorated. Aung Zaw is a freelance writer and contributor to The Nation. ************************************************ KYODO: SLORC SAYS MYANMAR IN ASEAN WILL HELP REGION'S PROGRESS June 14, 1997 Lt. Gen. Khin Nyunt, secretary general of Myanmar's ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC), said Friday in Yangon that Myanmar's joining the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will greatly contribute to the region's stability and progress, media reports said Saturday. Speaking at the first meeting of the ASEAN Leading Committee of Myanmar, of which he is chairman, Khin Nyunt said some foreign countries and local ''traitors'' have strongly protested against Myanmar's full ASEAN membership. ************************************* BKK POST: FOREIGN CASH ATMS June 13, 1997 AP The first automatic teller machine dispensing foreign exchange coupons was opened in Burma this week by the privately-owned May Flower Bank, the State-run New Light of Myanmar reported. The bank operates the only ATMs in Burma and only has four or five of them, all of them in Rangoon. *********************************************** THE NATION: ALARM SOUNDS OVER INFECTIONS DISEASES June 15, 1997 Yindee Lertcharoenchok FACED with a threatening explosion of infectious diseases, Thai authorities have proposed the formation of a joint health committee with Burma to formulate common policies to curb the re-emergence and spread of illnesses that had previously been eradicated from the Kingdom. The meeting, scheduled in late July, will for the first time bring together senior Thai and Burmese health officials to consider cross-border health problems that are seriously affecting both countries, an informed source said. The organisers hope the meeting will come up with a concrete joint plan for the prevention and elimination of these illnesses. This is likely to include the establishment of joint networks, or committees, at the provincial level to do the ground work, the source said. Thai health authorities will soon be called to preparatory meetings to discuss the problems in each of the border provinces and the measures needed to deal with them, the source said. The source expressed the hope that the proposed joint health committee will be able to draw up effective contingency plans to deal with the various communicable, often deadly, diseases rampant in different provinces. The Thai proposal for the joint meeting is in response to strong public concern over the gradual re-emergence of several infectious diseases previously eradicated in Thailand which are being spread by an estimated one million illegal immigrants in the country, the majority of them from Burma. In recent years, provincial and central health officials have reported the gradual spread of several diseases such as malaria, tuberculosis, meningococcus meningitis, filariasis and HIV (Aids) from the Burmese border area to other parts of the country. Some of these illnesses had been considered eradicated in Thailand. Meningococcus meningitis, which is deadly and can lead to cerebrospinal meningitis, is of particular concern. It is spreading in the border province of Tak, while malaria is becoming more prevalent in Kanchanaburi and Tak. Tuberculosis, which was once under control, is once again common, and so is filariasis, or "elephant feet". The source said officials are also concerned about a possible explosion in the incidence of HIV-Aids in Burma as a result of deportations and regular crossings of immigrants. ******************************** THE NATION: DON'T PUSH RANGOON INTO BEIJING'S ORBIT June 13, 1997 Editorial & Opinion By admitting Burma into its fold, Asean is countering China's influence on the buffer country. Defying US objections, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations has voted to admit Burma. When asked why they took this controversial step, Asean leaders referred repeatedly to ''strategic considerations". ''Strategic" is a code word for China. The Southeast Asians fear that Burma is becoming a Chinese satellite; it is a fear that Washington should share. The Clinton administration has imposed tougher economic sanctions against Burma, citing continued human rights abuses by the junta in Rangoon. It is a morally satisfying and politically popular initiative. It is also bad policy. It is not often that the theatre of world affairs produces a drama of good versus evil as pure and gripping as the one being played out in Burma. This is a government that has massacred pro-democracy demonstrators in 1988, suppressed political dissent, engaged in large-scale forced labour, probably collaborated in heroin trafficking and annulled the results of a democratic election while imprisoning the leader of the democratic movement, Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. Not surprisingly, US policy toward Burma has reflected moral outrage. Washington has regularly condemned the actions of the ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council, has halted all bilateral economic and military aid, has suspended trade privileges, has opposed lending by international financial institutions and has tried to rally support for such policies among other countries, including a proposed international embargo on arms shipments to Rangoon. Members of Congress have vied with editorial writers in urging still harsher, more punitive sanctions. Since the earliest days, US foreign policy has exhibited two often conflicting tendencies. The first is a normative, ''idealist" impulse to use policy to further American political values, notably democracy and human rights. The second is a geopolitical ''realist" approach that stresses the pursuit of national interest defined largely in terms of power and economic advantage. In the case of Burma, the normative approach has governed policy for most of the last decade in a uniquely pure form. This has been possible because the United States has viewed Burma as geopolitically irrelevant. There have been no significant national-interest costs to a policy of principle. But this is changing and the agents of change are China and Asean. Following the upheaval in 1988, the beleaguered and ostracised regime in Rangoon turned to the one country more than ready to overlook its transgressions: China. Beijing has become a near monopoly supplier of military equipment to Burma while the country's north has been flooded with Chinese consumer goods and immigrants. Chinese engineers are building roadways and bridges in Burma and press reports suggest the presence of Chinese intelligence installations on the coast. In short, Burma is becoming something very close to a Chinese satellite. This has occurred at a time when the strategic landscape in Asia has begun to shift with the growth in Chinese economic and military power. Chinese leaders have increasingly portrayed Southeast Asia as China's natural sphere of influence. All this has been watched with growing concern in Southeast Asia. Uneasiness concerning China's strategic aims is the principal motive behind Asean's decision to admit Burma. Asean is trying to offer Burma a strategic alternative to its dependency on China before the dragon's embrace becomes unbreakable. But this effort at ''constructive engagement" conflicts with Washington's policy of pressure and ostracism. In this there is no small irony because the American strategic interest vis-a-vis China in Southeast Asia is identical to Asean's. Someone is not thinking clearly, and it is not Asean. Any policy, if it is to be maintained, must meet a basic test. Is it working? Does it have a reasonable prospect of doing so? The current policy of isolation and sanctions fails that test. The essential repressive character of the Burma regime has remained unchanged over three decades despite heavy foreign pressure. Deeply unpopular and oppressive, it nevertheless holds apparently firm control over the army and ethnic Burman population. Quarantining Burma has simply reinforced the regime's xenophobia. Ironically, successful sanctions would weaken an already vulnerable economy, leaving the junta with little choice but to rely more heavily on Chinese support and on revenue generated from increased opium and heroin production. Isolation is further obviated by a host of US friends and allies in Asean that increasingly oppose that policy. Burma is not an Asian reincarnation of South Africa. The South African white elite was vulnerable to Western sanctions for a number of reasons, including the fact that the surrounding black African states supported their imposition. No such regional support exists in Southeast Asia. Washington can and should remain outspokenly critical of abuses in Burma. But there are security and other national interests to be served. Let's recognise that present US policy is not working and has no serious prospect of working. It is time to think seriously about alternatives. Marvin Ott is a professor of national security policy at the US National War College. The views expressed are his own. The article first ran in the Los Angeles Times. (TN) ********************************************************** BKK POST: COPING WITH A LARGER FAMILY June 13, 1997 Editorial Discussions concerning Burma's entry to Asean took place as pro-democracy supporters were being arrested by Slorc and as Thai and Burmese troops were involved in a stand-off over a border dispute. But Asean decided to let Burma in anyway. Asean should now persuade Slorc to talk with Burma's National League for Democracy. Now that the Association of Southeast Asian Nations has given a new slant to the meaning of non-interference by admitting Burma among its three new members, the next steps are eagerly awaited. Having engaged constructively the State Law and Order Restoration Council, Asean may do well to begin to induce the illegitimate rulers of Burma to establish formal and open contacts with the National League for Democracy, the legitimate and democratically elected government of Burma. The onus is now on Asean and Asean alone. But it might be unwise to hold one's breath because the strategy of being nice to Slorc only pays off if the desired reward is access to impoverished Burma's vast pool of cheap labour and natural resources, including hydrocarbons and hardwood. If the most enthusiastic of Slorc's friends in Asean even entertained the notion they could talk the generals into showing an ounce of decency towards the general population, they were optimists. Even as Asean foreign ministers were meeting to put the finishing touches to the grand plan to bring to 10 the number of member states in time for the regional grouping's 300th birthday, it was business as usual in Burma, with Slorc detaining members of the league. The junta's fondness for jailing it own people in this instance demonstrates clearly how the policy of non-interference leads to heavy-handed and mindless interference in the lives of people who happen to favour democracy. On the eve of its admission to the regional grouping, Slorc was showing just how backward it is and the extent to which it believed its admission to be a fait accompli. Further evidence of this could be seen in the tense stand-off between Thai and Slorc forces at the site of a border demarcation dispute in the Moei River. It is truly odd that a candidate for entry to a new club should risk an armed confrontation with a founding member and get away with it. The admission of Slorc, as opposed to Burma, represents a victory for the Asean states which consider the junta's behaviour palatable over the more advanced democracies, such as Thailand and the Philippines, which wanted tangible evidence of better behaviour. Asean's chummy style, in which consensus is everything, is all very well because it ensures that no one makes waves in the grouping. But in Burma's case, Indonesia and Malaysia, the chief enthusiasts, have the luxury of distance. They have no common border with Burma, so they are not bothered by an endless flow of refugees and drugs. They take little interest in cross-border raids in which Slorc-backed renegades kill, rob or abduct people. More importantly, they care little for the Burmese people who continue to suffer at the hands of the generals they rejected and humiliated in the 1990 election. The ceremony next month to admit formally Burma, Cambodia and Laos will be a jolly occasion that will celebrate the realisation of one big, happy family. There will be Champagne, slaps on the back and photo-calls with national leaders holding hands and wearing exotic shirts in the manner of chorus girls. There is also the distinct possibility that the happy 10 will become something of a dysfunctional family unless the more progressive members grasp the formidable challenges that the three newcomers, and Slorc in particular, present. It is imperative that the progressive members further their cause and refuse to be led by member states of a backward political nature. (BP) ********************************************************** BRC-J: RALPH LAUREN AND WARNACO WORKING HAND IN HAND WITH BRUTAL DICTATORS IN BURMA June 15, 1997 From: Ken and Visakha Kawasaki National Labor Committee Education Fund in Support of Worker and Human Rights in Central America 275 7th Ave. New York, NY 10001 Phone: 212-242-3002 Fax: 212-242-3821 June 13, 1997 Urgent Action Alert/Burma Ralph Lauren and Warnaco Working Hand in Hand with Brutal Dictators in Burma U.S. Apparel Imports from Burma Increase as Repression Escalates Ralph Lauren's Chaps men's shirts and casual shorts (which the National Labor Committee purchased in Sterns) are being made under martial law in Burma. Garment workers are paid just 6 cents an hour in a booming export assembly industry which is controlled by, and directly funds, the vicious Burmese military regime. In fact, Ralph Lauren, Warnaco, J. Crew, Lee, Arrow Shirts, Leslie Fay and other U.S. apparel companies and retailers, including Sterns', J.C. Penny and Sears, were increasing their production in Burma throughout 1996--just as President Clinton announced that as a result of "a constant and continuing pattern of severe repression by the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) in Burma," he was compelled to impose a ban on all new investments there. In February 1997, the U.S. State Department reported that under the military dictatorship in Burma, "severe repression of human rights increased during 1996... including extrajudicial killings...rape...disappearances...arbitrary arrests...and physical abuse." President Clinton also linked the military regime in Burma to narco-trafficking. The Democratic forces in Burma are requesting international economic sanctions until the military is forced to relinquish its dictatorial grip over the lives of Burma's 47 million people. Increases in U.S. apparel imports from Burma directly follow this rise in repression. In 1996, U.S. apparel imports from Burma surged 38 percent, totaling $89.7 million — a $24.6 million increase over the $65.1 million reported in 1995. Between 1992 and 1996, Burma's apparel exports to the U.S. increased 330 percent. In 1996, U.S. apparel companies imported 18 million garments made in Burma. These imports continue to soar. The first two months of 1997 saw a 50.3 percent increase over the year before. These garments were being sewn in December 1996 at the very moment when "the military regime suppressed protesters in a bloody crackdown. Tanks remain on the streets..." (Economist Intelligence Unit, April 29, 1997) It is appropriate to ask: Why is it that the U.S. apparel industry is always on the wrong side? Why should the U.S. people allow these companies to turn the U.S. into a dumping ground for these sweatshop-s controlled by the Burmese military and drug lords? In fact, U.S. companies take in a full 65 percent of Burma's worldwide apparel exports. According to the Economic Intelligence Unit, "Myanmar has sought to position itself as a destination for foreign garment manufacturers..." The U.S. companies like what they see. "According to foreign investors... among the top attractions of the country (is the) low cost labour force." (IRU, May 1, 1997. Apparently, the fact that the workers are totally stripped of their rights under martial law is also attractive to the U.S. companies contracting there. Ralph Lauren Stands to Pocket More than $489 Million At this time, as Ralph Lauren company stocks are being offered for sale — which could earn Ralph Lauren himself over $489 million— it would be especially appropriate for Ralph Lauren to stand up and side with democracy and human rights, and break with the dictators of Burma. Human rights activists have already successfully pressured a number of apparel companies, including Levi Strauss, Liz Claiborne, Disney, Eddie Bauer, Macy's, Columbia Sportswear, Oshkosh B'Gosh and Reebok to pull out of Burma. Warnaco is a Special Case. Warnaco Owns the Ralph Lauren "Chaps" Label Warnaco recently pulled out of the White House Task Force to Eliminate Sweatshop Abuses, explaining that they feared independent monitoring of their factories (and those of their contractors) might lead to public disclosure of trade secrets, which could be damaging in such a highly competitive industry. At the time, the National Labor Committee was surprised by Warnaco's logic, since they make underwear and shirts, and not spy satellites. But now it is quite clear. What Warnaco really fears from independent monitoring is that the U.S. people would find out where and under what conditions Warnaco clothing is being made. Combating Sweatshops: The National Labor Committee announces a National Day of Conscience to End Sweatshops on October 4, 1997. The Day of Conscience is being co-sponsored by the United Methodist Church Women's Division, UNITE, People of Faith Network, Congressman Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and many other organizations. Unless there is movement, Ralph Lauren, Warnaco and other U.S. companies continuing to produce in Burma will be among the companies focused on. The National Labor Committee will also organize a Holiday Season of Conscience, and will release a list of the worse 30 companies which continue to violate human rights. http://www2.gol.com/users/brelief/Index.htm **********************************************