BurmaNet News: June 14-16 2003

[editor at burmanet.org]

June 14-16 2003 Issue #2261

INSIDE BURMA

Malaysiakini: UN envoy lashes out at ASEAN in action over Burma
Weekly Standard: The Rangoon Squad
Irrawaddy: Suu Kyi’s disposition in question
AFP: Myanmar says 46 detained in May 30 violence have been released
AP: International Red Cross expects access to detained Myanmar opposition
leader soon
Guardian: Burma refuses to set release date for Suu Kyi
Washington Post: Envoy sees chance of Burma talks
Reuters: Myanmar students return to universities

INTERNATIONAL

AFP: EU boosts sanctions against Myanmar
AFP: French oil firm Total rejects economic sanctions of Myanmar
NYT: Showdown for a tool in human rights lawsuit
AP: Police detain dozens of illegal immigrants from Myanmar

REGIONAL

AFP: Japan to warn of ‘review’ on economic aid unless Suu Kyi is released:
report
Financial Times: ASEAN leaders under growing pressure over Burma’s
intransigence
Channel News Asia: Foreign ministers agree Suu Kyi’s arrest a setback for
ASEAN

EDITORIALS/STATEMENTS

WSJ: Razali Ismail, renaissance man
Washington Post: I went to Burma. Bad move.
Irrawaddy: Sanctions alone won’t work
Newsday: Keep pressure on Burma to release political prisoner
EarthRights International: “Entrenched” details systematic use of forced
labor

INSIDE BURMA

Malaysiakini June 16 2003

UN envoy lashes out at Asean inaction over Burma
By Yap Mun Ching

Frustrated with Asean’s silence on recent developments in Burma, UN
special envoy Razali Ismail has strongly criticised the regional body for
its lack of political will to change the status quo.

Razali, the first outsider to visit detained pro-democracy activist Aung
San Suu Kyi in Rangoon last week, said his efforts at pushing for
political reconciliation in Burma cannot work without support by
governments in the region.

"Constructive engagement is just an excuse for perpetuating the status
quo. Asean should be very embarrassed at what is happening," said the
envoy in an interview in Kuala Lumpur last Friday.

"Myanmar (* formerly known as Burma) is going to be the chair of Asean in
2006. How can you have a military dictator chair Asean? There are certain
ethos in the region - such as consultation with the people - which are not
observed in Myanmar."

Razali noted that Asean has continually insisted on a hands-off policy 
vis-à-vis its neighbours.

However, he said it should be made clear that long-term security in the
region could only be achieved with proper consultation and articipation of
the people in decision-making processes.

"You can see what happened with the Arab countries. They were ompletely
helpless to do anything about (ousted Iraqi President) Saddam Hussein.
They offered nothing of their own so much so that America had to do it in
the end (for them)," he said.

"I am not saying that Asean is like that but you can see the analogy (in
this)."

Immediate task

Razali, a seasoned diplomat, was appointed by the UN three years ago to
facilitate political dialogue between the Burmese government and
opposition groups led by Suu Kyi.

However, far from achieving progress, the envoy found instead that his
visits to Burma had more often been focused on securing her release from
various periods of detention.

Suu Kyi is still being detained by Burma’s military junta, despite
Razali’s expectations that she should be released from "protective
custody".

His latest mission was criticised by DAP chairperson Lim Kit Siang as an
"unmitigated failure".

Asked to respond, Razali said, "It’s true. Obviously, things have gone
backwards but I have to be focused on my next task which is to get her
out."

For this and the resumption of his diverted task of reigniting the
political reconciliation process, he urged member countries attending the
three-day Asean Regional Forum (ARF) in Phnom Penh from Wednesday to
decide on three key resolutions.

Asean, he said, must insist very strongly on Suu Kyi’s immediate release.

"There must be no compromise. It must not be when the situation is
‘normal’ but right now".

Another point would be to press for a commitment by the Burmese government
on her safety and that "nothing must happen to her".

Thirdly, he said Asean must insist that political dialogue begin straight
away with the release of Suu Kyi.

Not invited

It is expected that the political quagmire in Burma will be a hot topic
during the ARF - an annual regional security dialogue between Asean
leaders and their counterparts from Australia, Canada, China, the European
Union, India, Japan, the two Koreas, Mongolia, New Zealand, Russia and the
US.

In a column published in the Wall Street Journal last Thursday, US
Secretary of State Colin Powell labelled the junta as "thugs" for the May
30 attack on Suu Kyi in a northern town. Her convoy was caught in a clash
between her supporters and their pro-government opponents.

Powell said he would "press the case" in Cambodia "despite (Asean’s)
traditional reticence to confront a member and neighbour of their
association".

Yesterday, The Star reported that Asean would be issuing a statement on
Burma at the end of the 36th Asean Ministerial Meeting which begins today,
also in Phnom Penh.

Despite the urgency of the situation, Razali said he may not be present at
the forum.

"I am open to going but I don’t know whether they are going to invite me.
If they do, I will go there and tell them all these things ...But I cannot
easily get invited because Myanmar has to agree to it," he said.

Questioned about claims by some quarters that Asean was already involved
by virtue of his citizenship as a Malaysian, Razali dismissed that as an
"inane" assumption.

Target the money

While Razali welcomed support by other countries to increase pressure on
the junta, he said more initiatives would have to be launched to persuade
countries with extensive business and trade ties with Burma to review
their policies.

He said, for instance, that recently approved US travel and import
sanctions on Burma would only be partially effective as these may not
affect top junta leaders.

"These 500 or so generals, they are not going to be bothered. They may not
be able to travel to the US but so what? It is not just a question of
money in New York but money that is placed elsewhere like Singapore," he
noted.

Razali said that, if the UN Security Council were to consider imposing
international sanctions, it would make the junta sit up and take notice.

"This is the one thing that the Myanmarese would really fear. It would
worry them a lot," he said.

The chances of UN sanctions being approved, he said, are "very, very, very
slim" by virtue of Burma being in China’s backyard.

"But it is enough for there to be informal consultations. The threat
(alone) could be enough," he added.
_____

The Weekly Standard June16 2003

The Rangoon Squad
From the June 16, 2003 issue: Burma's junta "disappears" the country's
leading democrat.
By Rena Pederson

IN THE TRADEMARK MANNER of thugocracies, Burma's military government,
seeking to silence its critics, sent a mob to attack the motorcade of
longtime democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi on the night of Friday, May
30, as she traveled to a speaking engagement in the north of the country.
The Nobel Peace Prize winner was assaulted and taken to an undisclosed
location.

The government would say only that she had been placed in "protective
custody" and that she had not been injured. But reports persisted that Suu
Kyi had suffered a severe blow to the head and possibly a broken arm.
Inside Burma, it was said that hundreds of her supporters had been
murdered; international news agencies reported at least 70 killed and 50
injured. At least 18 people were believed detained.

"The problem with getting an accurate story about what happened is that
everyone who could speak the truth in Burma is under arrest," said one
democracy advocate in Washington. The government controls the only two
newspapers and TV stations, and the leading journalist is in prison. One
in four citizens reportedly spies for the government, so everyone is
guarded about what is said in public.

Nevertheless, clandestine sources inside Burma that have proved reliable
in the past report that hundreds of armed men attacked the motorcade, some
disguised as Buddhist monks. Some were convicts released at the
government's behest. They beat Suu Kyi's supporters with bamboo clubs
three feet long and riddled her car with bullets. The window was
shattered, and either a rock or a brick was thrown at Suu Kyi's head while
she was seated in the car. Several students reportedly tried to shield her
with their bodies, but they were beaten severely, and she was dragged away
bleeding. According to this account, she was taken to a military hospital
for stitches and then transferred to Yemon military camp about 25 miles
from Rangoon.

Plainly, Suu Kyi, who is 57 and weighs about 100 pounds, faces long
odds--though not for the first time. Since 1988, she has been standing up
to one of the most brutal regimes in the world. In the process, she has
become the photogenic symbol of democracy in Asia. In 1990, her party, the
National League for Democracy, won 80 percent of the vote in elections the
junta mistakenly had thought they could control. Instead of seating the
winners in parliament, the generals threw many NLD leaders in jail and
placed Suu Kyi under house arrest, where she remained for most of the
ensuing 13 years.

In this country, few people know her name, much less how to pronounce it
(awn sawn soo chee). But her story has the sweep and drama of "Gone With
The Wind." Her father, General Aung San, was a leader of the democracy
movement in Burma after World War II and was expected to become the first
president after Great Britain relinquished control. He was assassinated
when his daughter was only 2. His wife, a wartime nurse, went on to become
ambassador to India.

Suu Kyi was educated at Oxford and married a fellow student, who became a
professor of Tibetan studies. She lived quietly in England as a wife and
mother of two boys until her own mother suffered a stroke in 1988, and she
returned to Burma to care for her. In riots that year, soldiers shot and
killed more student demonstrators than would die in 1989 at Tiananmen
Square. Suu Kyi was entreated to stay and help lead the democracy effort,
which she did, at great personal sacrifice. She has seen her sons only
sporadically since. And four years ago, as her husband was dying of
cancer, the junta refused to grant him a visa to visit her.

The international response to her rearrest has been near unanimous
condemnation. In the midst of peace negotiations in the Middle East,
President Bush expressed his deep concern and called for the immediate
release of Suu Kyi and her supporters, as did United Nations Secretary
General Kofi Annan. The most tepid responses came from Burma's Southeast
Asian neighbors, who have their own concerns about stability. They asked
for an explanation of Suu Kyi's detention, but would not demand her
release. Japan, the leading investor in Burma, said the situation was not
"good" and dialogue was needed for a democratic solution.

It will be up to the United States to increase pressure on the Burmese
generals, who apparently thought they could decapitate their opposition
while the world was concentrating on the Middle East. The Bush
administration must back up its words with actions. On Capitol Hill, Sen.
Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, and Rep. Tom Lantos, a Democrat
from California, moved to toughen existing sanctions on Thursday. They
will need help. As the Boston Globe pointed out, President Bush could
issue an executive order that would accomplish the same thing.

The world hardly needs another crisis at this moment, but the situation in
Burma could be destabilizing. Burma has been seeking aid from China, its
neighbor to the north, which wouldn't mind having Burma as a vassal state
providing port access to the Indian Ocean. That prospect has alarmed
India, its neighbor to the west. At the same time, Thailand, to the east,
is overwhelmed by the thousands of refugees pouring across the border each
day to escape the rapacious Burmese military.

Further complicating the picture, Burma is one of the world's largest
producers of heroin and amphetamines. Drug dealers are often seen playing
golf with high-ranking generals and hold high positions in major banks.
And, oh yes, Burma has one of the fastest-growing AIDS rates in the
world--and one of the worst health systems.

When I spoke with Aung San Suu Kyi in February, she expressed frustration
that the junta had not opened a dialogue with her party after her release
from house arrest in May 2002. "The government promised that it would
begin discussions about the transition to democracy," she said. "They have
not. They promised they would release all political prisoners. They have
not." And they promised to allow the publication of independent
newspapers. She asked with a wry smile, "You haven't seen one, have you?"

This spring she began speaking out more forcefully. When she ventured into
the northern states two weeks ago, thousands of supporters risked their
lives to greet the woman they call "the Lady." Government harassment then
increased. On May 24, 10 NLD members were jailed. On May 29, the day
before the ambush, clashes broke out between government supporters armed
with machetes and NLD backers, leaving several dead.

Even if Aung San Suu Kyi eventually emerges unharmed, the movement for
free elections has been set back by the violent turn of events. The main
office of the National League for Democracy, in Rangoon, has been closed,
padlocked, and placed under guard, and other party offices have been
shuttered. Universities, too, have been shut to prevent student protests.

"The Lady" is in greater jeopardy than ever before. It remains to be seen
what the long-repressed Burmese people and the much-distracted
international community will do about it.

Rena Pederson is editor at large at the Dallas Morning News.
__________

Irrawaddy June 16 2003

Suu Kyi’s Disposition in Question
By Kyaw Zwa Moe

After meeting with Burma’s opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi on June 10,
UN special envoy Razali Ismail told reporters that she was "in good
spirits" while they spoke at a military guest house where the head of the
National League for Democracy (NLD) is being detained. A new statement
from the special envoy hints that Suu Kyi’s mood may have been worse than
he first recounted.
According to the Washington Post, Razali recently told an interviewer that
Suu Kyi was angered at being charged with disturbing the peace by the
military regime. He said that Suu Kyi told him, "What peace have I
disturbed? They [the regime] are the ones who blocked the car. They’re the
ones who came in and did all these things."
Suu Kyi has been detained since May 30, when her and supporters of the NLD
were violently ambushed by junta-backed groups in northern Burma. During
the incident, Suu Kyi was reportedly injured, but Razali told reporters
that she appeared unharmed during their June 10 conversation. Burma’s
military leaders blame the NLD for the May 30 violence and claim Suu Kyi
is in "protective custody" for her own safety.
Razali was the first person to meet Suu Kyi after the clash and he carried
the news of her mood and physical condition to the world. However, people
inside and outside Burma are skeptical about his comments. He has been
under fire since leaving Rangoon after what many have called a failed
visit, his tenth since taking the UN post.
US Senator Mitch McConnell recently criticized Razali and the regime,
saying: "He failed to secure Suu Kyi’s release, and I am surprised that he
did not say more to condemn the outrageous actions of the thugs in
Rangoon."
Razali has also been blasted for saying that Suu Kyi might need
"protective custody," as protection from threats to her physical safety.
Burmese Foreign Minister Win Aung cited a similar line when he defended
Suu Kyi’s detention in Cambodia on Sunday. "We have heard there were some
assassins coming in the country. I don’t know who their target will be,"
he said.
Suu Kyi’s detention was discussed at the annual meeting of the Association
of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) foreign ministers, which started Monday
in Phnom Penh. Asean leaders pressed for the release of the opposition
leader but stuck to the group’s long-held policy of non-interference in
the domestic affairs of its members. "All of us in Asean wish Aung San Suu
Kyi will be free, to be able to do what she would like to do," said Asean
secretary-general Ong Keng Yong. "In our own way, we have explained to the
Myanmar [Burmese] foreign minister that wish. But we don’t do it in a
confrontational manner."
UN special envoy Razali criticized the Asean leaders for a lack of
commitment to Burmese politics. He told the Kuala Lumpur-based online
newspaper Malaysiakini, "Constructive engagement is just an excuse for
perpetuating the status quo. Asean should be very embarrassed at what is
happening." He added that his attempts at political reconciliation in
Burma could not work without support from regional governments. Razali was
appointed by the UN three years ago to mediate between the junta and NLD.
Related report: In response to a fear that witnesses of the May 30 clash
are crossing the Thai-Burma at Tachilek, Burmese authorities are
conducting a house-by-house search for unregistered guests in the border
town. According to sources, a number of out of town guests who failed to
inform Tachilek authorities that they were staying in the town have been
arrested, along with those providing them shelter.
_________

Agence France Presse June 16 2003

Myanmar says 46 detained in May 30 violence have been released

Myanmar's junta said Monday it has released 46 people detained since
violent clashes last month and will allow the International Committee for
the Red Cross (ICRC) to meet others still being held.

Democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi was taken into "protective custody"
after the May 30 incident in northern Myanmar, which sparked off a wider
crackdown against her National League for Democracy (NLD).

Other NLD leaders have been put under house arrest in Yangon while
76-year-old vice-president Tin Oo, who had been accompanying the
opposition leader, is being held in prison in Sagaing division near the
India border.

"We have given the ICRC permission to see persons detained during the May
30 incident including NLD vice-chairman U Tin Oo and also released 46
persons taken in for questioning following the incident," an official
source told AFP.

The official did not reveal how many people were taken into custody during
the investigation, which appears to be ongoing.

But he indicated that Aung San Suu Kyi was not among those the ICRC would
be given access to, as she has already met United Nations envoy Razali
Ismail during his mission to Myanmar last week.

ICRC delegation head in Myanmar, Michel Ducraux, said he had not been
informed that the organisation had been given permission to see the
prisoners.

"I cannot confirm for the time being. Of course we still hope so, we are
still pushing for getting access, but for now the answer is not clear," he
told AFP.

The government said four people were killed and 50 were injured in the
violence, which pitted NLD supporters against hundreds of members of a
pro-junta organisation.

"Out of those who were hospitalized following the clashes, only 11 remain
in hospital," the source said.

However, dissident groups citing eyewitness reports say that dozens were
killed when the pro-junta mob attacked the NLD convoy during a political
tour of the north.

Myanmar's ruling generals are under intense international pressure to
release Aung San Suu Kyi and other NLD members under detention.

Southeast Asian foreign ministers meeting in the Cambodian capital Monday
also called on the junta to wind back its crackdown on the pro-democracy
opposition.

"All of us in ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) wish that
Aung San Suu Kyi will be free to be able to do what she would like to do,"
said ASEAN secretary-general Ong Keng Yong.

"I think that is at the bottom of our heart and in our own way we have
explained to the Myanmar foreign minister that wish. But we don't want to
do it in a confrontational manner," he said.
_____________

Associated Press June 16 2003

International Red Cross expects access to detained Myanmar opposition
leader soon

The International Committee of the Red Cross said Monday that it expects
to soon be granted access to detained Myanmar opposition leader Aung San
Suu Kyi.

Michel Ducreaux, regional representative of the ICRC in Myanmar's capital,
Yangon, said the organization hoped to get a reply Tuesday to its June 4
request to visit Suu Kyi.

"There is a good prospect that we will be allowed access," he said.

Suu Kyi has been held in what the military government describes as
protective custody since she was at the center of a violent incident
during a political tour in northern Myanmar on May 30.

The only independent observer to see her since then has been Malaysian
diplomat Razali Ismail, the U.N. secretary general's special envoy to
Myanmar, on June 10.

The junta, facing enormous international pressure, allowed him to meet her
inside the Defense Ministry compound, but it's not clear where she is
being held.

The government described the May 30 violence as a clash between members of
Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party and government supporters.
It said four people died and 50 were hospitalized.

Opposition accounts portrayed the incident as a brutal ambush of Suu Kyi's
entourage that took as many as 70 lives. Over 100 opposition supporters
and leaders were also reportedly detained.

Ducreaux said the ICRC had been told that a "first batch of 22 persons
called in for questioning had been released," but had no further
information.

The Norway-based Democratic Voice of Burma shortwave radio station said
about 50 people detained in connection with the May 30 incident were
released last Wednesday and Thursday.

The station said those released were students who served as a motorcycle
escort for Suu Kyi on another leg of her journey.
___________
Guardian June 16 2003

Burma refuses to set release date for Suu Kyi
By John Aglionby

Burma's pro-democracy opposition leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, was placed in
"protective custody" after her motorcade was attacked last month because
the ruling junta feared she might be killed by assassins sent from abroad,
the regime's foreign minister said yesterday.

Wing Aung said that the Nobel peace laureate was not being detained but
protected to ensure that she came to no harm. "We know that what ever
happened to her will be real trouble to us. Because everything will be
blamed (on) us. . .," he said. But he gave no date for her release.

Ms Suu Kyi has not been seen in public since May 30, when her motorcade
came under attack by government supporters . However, a UN envoy met her
last week.

Analysts said the junta, which seized power in 1988, is terrified of Ms
Suu Kyi's popularity and is unlikely to restore her freedom.
___________

Washington Post June 14
Envoy Sees Chance of Burma Talks
Permission to Meet Suu Kyi Viewed as a Promising Sign
By Ellen Nakashima and Alan Sipress

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia -- U.N. special envoy Razali Ismail said Friday
that he believed further mediation coupled with international pressure
could win release of detained Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi
and lead to a political settlement between the opponents and the
government.
Razali, the first foreigner to see Suu Kyi after a brutal crackdown on her
pro-democracy movement two weeks ago, said divisions within the government
offered hope that the two sides could resume talks.
"My job is to use this [division] to try to pry open the door as widely as
I can," he said in his first extensive interview since leaving Rangoon,
the Burmese capital, on Tuesday. "We have to begin to talk to the people
who are pragmatists to see what can be done quickly."
He said that the government's decision to let him meet with Suu Kyi for 30
minutes Tuesday after initially refusing his request reflected a possible
willingness by some in the military to compromise.
Razali said he was pleased to visit Suu Kyi and determine that she was not
harmed when a government-backed militia attacked her motorcade on May 30
as she was touring northern Burma. But he fell short of two other goals:
to win her release and start negotiations between the State Peace and
Development Council and her National League for Democracy (NLD) movement,
which won a parliamentary election in 1990 in a landslide and was then
denied power by the junta.
"I am quite troubled by my visit this time," he said.
Razali, a Malaysian diplomat, has been leading international efforts for
three years to find a solution to Burma's political standoff and end the
country's long international isolation. A deal he brokered in May 2002
freed Suu Kyi, a 57-year-old Nobel Peace laureate, from 19 months of house
arrest.
His meeting with Suu Kyi this week, which came in the final hours of a
five-day trip to Burma, was held in a modest house in a militarized area
in Rangoon. Razali said Suu Kyi, the daughter of Gen. Aung San, Burma's
founding father, wore a blue sarong and jacket and looked "bedraggled" but
showed her characteristic defiance. And although the meeting was held in
the presence of a general, the escort, far from inhibiting the
conversation, was "cowed" by Suu Kyi, Razali said. Describing her
detention on May 30, Suu Kyi told Razali her convoy of supporters was
stopped just outside the town of Dipeyin. She told him she heard a
"commotion" from behind. "They tried to smash the windows of her car," he
said. "She was protected by her people."
Assailants threw stones and her four-wheel drive vehicle sped off. She did
not know what happened to about 17 colleagues and dozens of supporters who
had come to see her. Razali said he told her only that four NLD members
had been killed and that there had been injuries.
She said she was angered that she was facing official charges of
disturbing the peace. "What peace have I disturbed? They're the ones who
blocked the car. They're the ones who came in and did all these things,"
she said, according to Razali.
In failing to secure Suu Kyi's release, Razali has drawn criticism from
senior officials in Washington and some human rights activists, who found
his upbeat comments after leaving Burma inappropriate.
"In the future, it might behoove Razali to temper his enthusiastic
comments to more accurately reflect the climate of fear in Burma," said
Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), whose legislation banning imports from Burma
passed in a 97-to-1 vote this week. "He failed to secure Suu Kyi's
release, and I am surprised that he did not say more to condemn the
outrageous actions of the thugs in Rangoon."
Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, due in the Cambodian capital, Phnom
Penh, next week for a regional conference, asserted that the "larger
process" Razali and Suu Kyi are pursuing is "failing" because the Burmese
leaders have rebuffed their efforts.
Razali cautioned against pursuing a policy of tighter sanctions without a
continuing diplomatic effort. "If you hit too hard, the moderates or the
pragmatists will be at a disadvantage because the people who do not want
to do this will say, 'Look, they just want to bang us on the head and
that's it,' " he said. The moderates "will be out-flanked."
While in Rangoon, Razali dealt mainly with the junta's second- and
third-ranking leaders, Gen. Maung Aye and Gen. Khin Nyunt. He also met
with Foreign Ministry officials and with several leaders of Burma's ethnic
minorities, who have long battled the military government and are involved
in the reconciliation process.
But Razali did not meet with the government's top official, Gen. Than
Shwe, considered by analysts and diplomats to be the primary opponent of
political negotiations. "There is a tussle in this organization. Some find
me very inconvenient, obviously," Razali said.
The junta's greatest fear is of instability and renewed conflict with
armed ethnic minorities, he said. "They fear that the NLD will really be
influenced by various extremist groups that would in turn create
problems," he said. "We have to tell them that security is not just about
law and order. It is the people's participation."
___________

Reuters June 16 2003

Myanmar students return to universities

YANGON: Myanmar students are flocking back to universities after the
ruling military allowed classes to restart, ending a two-week suspension
amid fears of unrest following the detention of pro-democracy leader Aung
San Suu Kyi.
The universities closed as part of a broad crackdown on dissent after May
30 clashes between pro-government groups and Suu Kyi's supporters.
"Students are peacefully attending classes," an education ministry
official told Reuters on Monday.
Universities have traditionally been centres of support for the
pro-democracy movement and regarded with suspicion by authorities since a
1988 student-led uprising which was brutally crushed by the military.
Suu Kyi has been detained at undisclosed locations for more than two
weeks, despite mounting calls from the international community for her
release.
Dozens of exiled Myanmar dissidents demonstrated outside the Myanmar
embassy in neighbouring Thailand on Monday, urging the international
community to pressure the junta to release her.
Around 100 people stamped on signs bearing the names of the regime's
leaders and carried placards with anti-junta slogans.
Myanmar Foreign Minister Win Aung, in Cambodia for a regional security
meeting, said on Sunday that Suu Kyi would be released as soon as the
situation in the country returned to normal, but gave no time limit.
A UN envoy allowed to visit her last week said the Nobel peace laureate –
whose National League for Democracy party won 1990 elections but was
denied power – had not been harmed in the May 30 clash north of the
capital near Mandalay.
The junta says four people were killed in the violence and some 50
injured. Exiled dissidents say they believe dozens of Suu Kyi's followers
were killed by club-wielding pro-government thugs and hundreds injured.

INTERNATIONAL

Agence France Presse June 16 2003
EU boosts sanctions against Myanmar

The European Union strengthened sanctions against Myanmar on Monday,
notably extending a list of figures subject to a visa ban, due to lack of
progress by Yangon on key EU demands.

Bringing forward a move originally threatened for October, EU foreign
ministers widened the visa ban to include extended families of ministers,
as well as deputy ministers and ex-ministers and senior army staff
officers.

"The idea is to penalize those who are benefitting from the regime, not
just the regime itself," said an EU official after the strengthening was
agreed at a meeting in Luxembourg.

The EU rolled over its sanctions regime -- comprising an arms embargo, a
freezing of assets and a visa ban on a list of Burmese officials -- in
April, and said it could be bolstered in October.

But the decision to bring forward the strengthening of the sanctions was
made after the arrest of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi at the end of
May, diplomats said.

The EU, which has been calling for her immediate release, expressed Monday
"its continued grave concern over the events of 30 May, 2003 and the
deteriorating overall situation."

In a statement they also called for those responsible for attacks on the
pro-democracy leader and her colleagues to be "held to account."

The EU "also decided to monitor closely the further evolution of the
situation in Burma/Myanmar, and reaffirmed its readiness to react
proportionately to future developments," they added.
 _____________

Agence France Presse June 16 2003

French oil firm Total rejects economic sanctions on Myanmar

French oil company Total, which has investments in Myanmar, on Monday
rejected the use of economic sanctions to pressure the military junta
there to restore democracy.

Chairman and chief executive Thierry Desmarest said the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) policy of constructive engagement would be
more effective in resolving the crisis over the detention of opposition
leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

"The general situation of the country is not going in line with what we
hope for in terms of national reconciliation and improvement in civil
rights," Desmarest told reporters on the sidelines of an oil and gas
conference.

"We don't think embargoes will solve the problems of the country but
rather the policy of constructive engagement. We hope the country will
have a more positive evolution in the future."

Washington has imposed sanctions including banning the import of goods
from Myanmar, freezing the junta's assets in the US and expanding its visa
blacklist since Suu Kyi's detention.

The junta says she is being held in "protective custody" after a bloody
May 30 clash between supporters of her National League for Democracy (NLD)
and backers of the military regime..

The European Union is also expected to toughen up sanctions against
Myanmar by extending a list of leaders barred from entering the EU and
strengthening an arms embargo.

Desmarest was speaking as ASEAN foreign ministers meeting in Phnom Penh
were reportedly preparing to issue a statement of concern over
developments in Myanmar.

Such a statement would represent a major departure from ASEAN's
much-criticised policy of non-interference in member countries' internal
affairs.

Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who was also
attending the oil and gas conference, urged Myanmar to respond positively
to ASEAN's efforts to defuse the crisis.

He said the 10-member grouping had no intention of interfering in
Myanmar's internal affairs but wanted to "engage Myanmar constructively to
help overcome problems we see now.

"We feel strongly regarding what is happening in Myanmar and I would like
to see Myanmar responding positively to ASEAN's call," he told reporters.

"I know for a fact and I believe that Myanmar will accept members of ASEAN
as friends and will place confidence and trust (in the grouping)."
____________

New York Times June 15 2003

Showdown for a Tool in Human Rights Lawsuits
By ALEX MARKELS

In a watershed case that could affect how multinationals do business in
developing countries, a federal appeals court will consider on Tuesday
whether the energy giant Unocal should stand trial in connection with
human rights abuses that the government of Myanmar is accused of
inflicting on villagers during construction of a natural-gas pipeline.

The crucial question before the unusually large panel of 11 judges is
whether to apply international legal standards that hold parties
responsible for aiding and abetting human rights abuses. The case is in
the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in San Francisco.


The plaintiffs are a group of villagers from Tenasserim, a region in
southeastern Myanmar, the country once known as Burma. They say Unocal
paid the military to provide security for the project and supported the
government, which forced villagers to help build the $1.2 billion pipeline
in the 1990's and threatened those who refused with rape and other
atrocities. Unocal denies the accusations.

If the court allows the civil suit to go to a jury trial, "this will raise
the stakes for multinationals that do business with repressive regimes,"
said William S. Dodge, an international law professor at the Hastings
College of the Law in San Francisco. "There are plenty of repressive
regimes around the world, and there are plenty of multinationals that do
business with them. The question is, how far can a corporation like Unocal
go in cooperating with such a regime before the company bears some legal
responsibility?"


THE case is among a growing number based on the once-obscure Alien Tort
Claims Act, a 1789 law originally intended to help prosecute international
pirates in American courts. Since the early 1980's, it has been used to
argue cases successfully against foreign military and police personnel
accused of human rights abuses. More recently, human rights and labor
groups have seized on it to do battle with oil, mining and other
multinational companies that work with governments that they say engage in
torture, genocide and similar violations of international law.

There have been more than a dozen alien tort cases filed against companies
since the mid-1990's, but none have so far gone to a jury trial. Some have
been dismissed on procedural grounds, while others are pending. The
possibility of trials has raised concerns among both corporations and the
Bush administration over potentially embarrassing testimony — and worry
that a verdict could set a precedent that encourages thousands of foreign
plaintiffs to seek damages for crimes committed by their own governments.

"You get a perfect storm of sympathetic plaintiffs, trial lawyers and
anti-globalization activists working together to bring these suits," said
William A. Reinsch, the president of the National Foreign Trade Council,
an industry group based in Washington. He cites cases like one recently
filed against dozens of companies that did business in South Africa under
apartheid. "It could be disastrous for global trade," he added.

Though there has not been a single verdict against them, companies are
feeling the impact of the litigation, which they must increasingly factor
into investment decisions.

"It's causing companies to run away from situations like Burma," said
Errol P. Mendes, a law professor at the University of Ottawa and recently
a co-author of "Global Governance, Economy and Law" (Taylor & Francis),
which details the impact of such lawsuits on multinational companies.

He and others point to a variety of recent corporate decisions to demur or
pull back from projects in countries where governments have been accused
of human-rights abuses, including Nigeria, Indonesia and Sudan, as well as
Myanmar.

Although Unocal, based in El Segundo, Calif., continues to do business in
Myanmar, "this has created a great deal of uncertainty about future
investing," said Charles O. Strathman, its vice president and chief legal
officer. "It's not just the legal fees involved; it's also very disruptive
and a big time commitment."

The negative publicity from such cases may be even more costly.
Social-justice and environmental groups see the Unocal case as an example
of globalization gone bad, inspiring protests on college campuses and
campaigns to pressure school administrators to sell Unocal stock.
__________-

Associated Press June 16 2003

Police detain dozens of illegal immigrants from Myanmar

Border police detained 51 illegal immigrants and two Greek smuggling
suspects after crossing from Turkey, authorities said Monday.

The immigrants were found inside a truck being driven by one of the Greeks
near the border. The other Greek man was driving a chase car.

Police said immigrants included 41 people from Myanmar - also known as
Burma - seven Chinese, two Afghans, and one Bangladeshi. Police gave no
other details of the immigrants or suspects.

The immigrants told police they reportedly paid US$30,600 in total to be
smuggled into Greece from Turkey and were to pay the two Greeks a further
US$127,500 after they dropped off in Athens.

European Union member Greece is a major transit point for immigrants from
Asia, eastern Europe and the Middle East.

REGIONAL

Agence France Presse June 16 2003

Japan to warn of 'review' on economic aid unless Suu Kyi is released: report

Japan's Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi plans to warn Myanmar that Tokyo
might "review" its economic aid unless the junta releases pro-democracy
leader Aung San Suu Kyi immediately, a report said Monday.

Kawaguchi plans to spell out the possibility to Myanmar Foreign Minister
Win Aung when the two meet in Cambodia on Tuesday, Jiji Press news agency
said without naming sources.

Kawaguchi is to repeat Japan's demand for the immediate release of Aung
San Suu Kyi at a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Regional Forum, a regional security
grouping.

The top Japanese diplomat already issued the demand in a telephone talk
with her Myanmar counterpart on Friday, demanding Aung San Suu Kyi and
other leaders of the National League for Democracy (NLD) be released
immediately.

But the Myanmar foreign minister did not mention any immediate plans for
her release, according to the Japanese foreign ministry.

Japan is the biggest aid donor to Myanmar. It suspended all but a small
amount of humanitarian aid in the aftermath of a 1988 military coup and
crack-down on pro-democracy demonstrators, but the flow of funds resumed
in 1994.

Japan extended about 2.14 billion yen (18 million dollars) in grants to
Myanmar in the year ended in March as well as millions of dollars in
technical assistance.

Tokyo has resisted US criticism for giving economic aid to the junta,
arguing the assistance was to help ordinary people and could promote
dialogue between the junta and Aung San Suu Kyi.

But the Japanese government takes the arrest of the democracy leader
seriously and is hesitant to commit itself to new aid, Jiji Press said.

"We cannot continue (aid) projects as if nothing had happened," it quoted
a foreign ministry official as saying.
__________

Financial Times June 16 2003

Asean leaders under growing pressure over Burma's intransigence: Hopes of
'constructive engagement' gently shepherding economic or political change
have come to nothing.
By AMY KAZMIN

The so-called "tiger economies" of south-east Asia were brimming with
confidence when they decided in 1997 to admit military-ruled Burma into
their cosy club, ignoring US and European warnings about letting the
reviled junta seek comfort in the Association of South East Asian Nations
(Asean).

It was the waning days of south-east Asia's years of uninterrupted
breakneck growth - just before the region's devasting financial crisis.
Asean leaders thought they would provide the counter-balance to Beijing's
growing influence over the Burmese generals, who had been internationally
isolated after refusing to honour the results of a 1990 election in which
the National League for Democracy won an overwhelming victory.

But six years after Burma's generals were brought into the Asean fold, the
regional grouping's hope of "constructive engagement" gently shepherding
economic or political change in the impoverished country's 50m people have
come to nothing.

Burma's economy is in tatters. Its banks are in crisis and depositors are
largely barred from withdrawing their own money.

Meanwhile desperate young Burmese people spill into Thailand every day,
seeking work that will allow them to survive.

The political situation is no brighter. The junta's detention of democracy
leader Aung San Suu Kyi on May 30 - after an attack on her convoy that may
have left up to 70 people dead - and the subsequent crackdown on the NLD
have crushed hopes that a UN-brokered "national reconciliation process"
might bring real political change.

As they meet in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, for their annual get-together and
regional security forum starting today, south-east Asia's foreign
ministers are eager to show that they carry international clout, which
they are willing to leverage to help ease tensions in the Korean
peninsula.

But Asean's apparent impotence in the face of Burma's intransigent
generals now threatens to badly undermine their global standing. Asean
leaders now face mounting US and European pressure to depart from their
traditional principle of "non-interference" in members' domestic affairs.

In Phnom Penh yesterday, Win Aung, Burma's foreign minister, sought to
head of potential criticism, denying that Ms Suu Kyi was in custody
because senior general Than Shwe felt threatened by her obvious popularity
among Burma's people.

Instead, the normally media-shy minister told reporters that the Nobel
Prize winner was being held to protect her from assassins and would be
freed as soon as possible.

"We have heard there were assassins coming into the country," he said,
adding if "anything happened to her it will be blamed on us."

Colin Powell, US secretary of state, who arrives in Phnom Penh later this
week to participate in the Asean security forum, has called for tougher
sanctions against Burma and has made it clear that he wants Asean to
overcome its "traditional reticence to confront a member" of the
organisation.

Indeed south-east Asian leaders seemed to have realised they are at a
watershed, as the international stand against Burma hardens.

Asean is also suffering a loss of credibility over North Korea. Its
secretary-general admitted yesterday that the hardline communist northern
Asian nation had dismissed 11th-hour appeals to send its foreign minister
to Cambodia, saying that the minister was too busy.

Asean's Ong Keng Yong said host Cambodia and ally China had both been
"flabbergasted" when reclusive North Korea late last week said Paek
Nam-sun, foreign minister, would not attend the annual Asean Regional
Forum - a rare opportunity for the North's officials to appear at an
international meeting attended by senior US officials.

Pyongyang may have feared being overwhelmed by international criticism of
its nuclear arms programme. But the move has done Asean's standing no good
in the eyes of the west.

In an effort to claw back credibility, M.C. Abad, an Asean spokesman, said
in a statement yesterday that Rangoon had agreed to allow Asean to discuss
Burma's recent political developments and that Asean would enunciate a
"common view" on the subject.

In Washington last week Thaksin Shinawatra, Thai prime minister, whose
family's telecommunications empire does business with the son of one of
Burma's top three generals - issued a joint statement with President
George W. Bush, pledging to do "whatever possible to facilitate Burmese
national reconciliation and a return to democracy".

Asean leaders may indeed make a similar pledge. But western governments
and Burmese campaigners will be looking for concrete actions, not merely
words.
_________

Channel News Asia June 16 2003

Foreign ministers agree Suu Kyi's arrest a setback for ASEAN
By S. Ramesh

Security and economic development were high on the agenda of this year's
ASEAN foreign ministers' meeting in Cambodia.

But it was Myanmar's recent arrest of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu
Kyi which grabbed the attention.

In his opening address, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen emphasised the
need for the 10-member grouping to accelerate regional economic
cooperation, especially in tourism, which is an important engine of
growth.

But clearly the man in the hot seat at the Phnom Penh meeting was
Myanmar's Foreign Minister Win Aung.

And the issue in the spotlight was the Myanmar government's arrest of
Nobel Laurette Aung San Suu Kyi.

ASEAN has had a long standing policy of not discussing a domestic matter
concerning a member country.

This time, it is understood that Myanmar had agreed to brief the foreign
ministers on the recent political developments in its country.

Foreign ministers spent nearly two hours during their no-holds barred
retreat discussing Ms Suu Kyi's arrest.

According to Singapore's Foreign Minister S. Jayakumar, the Myanmar
minister was told this incident was a setback for the whole of ASEAN,
which had preferred constructive dialogue with Ms Syu Ki's party.

But that's not the end of the Myanmar issue.

ASEAN's dialogue partners are expected to raise the issue again on
Wednesday during the regional forum.

Professor Jayakumar said: "The United States has its position and its ways
of addressing issues, the EU have their own approaches in dealing with
Myanmar and ASEAN has its own ways.

"The important point is this. We have discussed this, we have registered
our concerns to the Myanmar foreign minister. In other words, it is not an
issue that has been sidestepped."

ASEAN ministers continue their retreat on Tuesday, with weapons of mass
destruction (WMD) and tensions on the Koren Peninsula topping the agenda.

Mr Surakiat Sathirathai, Thailand's Foreign Minister, said: "To us, WMD is
an issue which has to be dealt with effectively and seriously. We do not
support nuclear proliferation at all...We would like to see a mechanism
devised to ensure that peace will prevail in North Korea."

A wide-ranging joint communique is expected at the close of the foreign
ministers' meeting on Tuesday.

And ASEAN's stand on what's happening on the Korean peninsula is expected
to feature prominently.


EDITORIALS/OPINIONS

Wall Street Journal June 16 2003

Razali Ismail, Renaissance Man
By Michael Judge

If you thought Hans Blix was inept as the United Nations' chief weapons
inspector for Iraq, wait until you hear about the U.N.'s special envoy to
Burma.
Razali Ismail got his 15 minutes of fame last week after meeting with Aung
San
Suu Kyi, the Nobel Peace laureate and leader of the National League for
Democracy in Burma. Her convoy was ambushed on May 30 by thugs deployed by
the
military junta, which hijacked the country after Ms. Suu Kyi's party won
democratic elections in 1990. By all credible accounts, the ambush was a
bloodbath: More than 70 unarmed democracy supporters were murdered, and
scores
more injured. According to the Far Eastern Economic Review, our sister
publication, the attackers wielded clubs and spears; the victims' bodies were
burned after the attack, and other evidence dumped in a nearby river. Ms. Suu
Kyi and 19 of her supporters were taken into "protective custody." Throughout
Burma, the day is now being called "Black Friday."
Enter Mr. Razali, the Malaysian businessman and U.N. envoy who has been
working
toward "national reconciliation" in Burma since April 2000. After meeting
with
Ms. Suu Kyi, who many feared had been injured (perhaps even killed) in the
attack, Mr. Razali assured the world that she was "well and in good
spirits." He
went on to say that he saw "No injury on the face, arm. No injury. No
scratch.
Nothing." He then announced that Ms. Suu Kyi would be released "soon,"
possibly
within the next several weeks.
But, according to a report by BBC correspondent David Bottomley, who
interviewed
Mr. Razali in Singapore after his meeting with Ms. Suu Kyi, the U.N. envoy
never
asked her direct questions about injuries or what happened during the attack.
Moreover, in the same interview, Mr. Razali said he actually believes the
junta's claims that Ms. Suu Kyi is being held for her "own protection,"
and that
the generals -- whom Colin Powell, on this page last week, said were
behind the
attack -- will release her once her safety can be guaranteed.
Why would a man sent by the U.N. -- ostensibly to negotiate the release of a
Nobel Peace Prize winner -- corroborate the story of the villains who are
holding her? What's more, why would he go out of his way to state that Ms.
Suu
Kyi is not a reliable witness to a direct attack on herself and her
supporters?
Shortly after he met with her, Mr. Razali told reporters that she conveyed
her
account of the attack, but that "She did not see it all. She was in the front
car."
---
In May 2002, just after Mr. Razali helped negotiate Ms. Suu Kyi's release
from
20 months of house arrest, the International Herald Tribune broke a story
revealing the special envoy to be a major player in a Malaysian company
called
Iris Technologies, a manufacturer of smart chips for electronic passports
that
had just signed a substantial contract with the military junta in Rangoon.
Mr. Razali, in fact, owns a 30% stake in Iris Technologies, and carries the
title of chairman. Iris has signed Burma and Malaysia to sizeable deals;
Nigeria
recently signed a letter of intent, and Cambodia has signed up for a
demonstration of an e-passport auto-gate system that will likely lead to a
deal.
Of the deal with Nigeria, Mr. Razali recently told Malaysia's New Straits
Times
that it's "a significant breakthrough for us. We think the prospects are
excellent for the company."
Now, Mr. Razali is certainly entitled to make a ringgit or two, and
e-passports
are as good a way as any (never mind the fact that Iris deals largely with
authoritarian regimes and specializes in technology that allows them to track
their citizens' movements). And it's true that Mr. Razali joined Iris
after --
as he has pointed out on numerous occasions -- the company began
negotiating a
deal with the generals in Rangoon.
But it doesn't take a conspiracy theorist to see a conflict of interest here.
What does it matter that Mr. Razali says that he has "never spoken to the
leaders [in Burma] about this"?
The conflict is apparent to the naked eye. Yet the office of the U.N.
secretary-general says it can see no disharmony in Mr. Razali's post at
Iris and
his job as special envoy. "He's not U.N. staff," Hua Jiang, deputy
spokeswoman
for the secretary-general's office, told me. "He's employed on a contract
which
only categorizes him as U.N. personnel when he is doing business for the U.N.
What he does in his spare time is his own business."
But since the IHT story broke last May, Mr. Razali's credibility has come
under
fire from both within the U.N. and without. According to sources close to the
special envoy's office, during a previous trip to Burma, Mr. Razali was
granted
less than 10 minutes with the head of the military government, Gen. Than
Shwe.
On his last visit, the general refused to see him at all. "As far I'm
concerned,
Mr. Razali has got to go," a prominent Burmese dissident told me. Pointing to
Mr. Razali's ineffectiveness, the dissident said, "Than Shwe is calling the
shots and showing total contempt for the secretary-general and his special
envoy."
According to news reports readily available on U.N. Wire (unwire.org), an
independent online publication sponsored by the United Nations Foundation,
Mr.
Razali says he has told Ms. Suu Kyi of his business dealings with Iris and
the
junta and she has voiced "no objections." The special envoy goes on to
explain
that he is "a renaissance man who is able to do different things at the same
time."
He may well be so. But that's little comfort to the families of those who
died
on Black Friday, or to those who stand up to the generals who run Burma.
________

Washington Post June 15 2003

I Went To Burma. Bad Move: A Place Where Tourism Carries Political Baggage
By Steve Hendrix

You know, I really thought I was too smart a traveler to be duped like this.

It was in January that I finally went to Burma, one of tourism's most
controversial destinations. It's a country usually bypassed by travelers
concerned about its pitiless military regime. I spent almost two weeks
behind the Bamboo Curtain, visiting the handful of cities and sites where
foreigners are allowed to wander in that most secluded corner of Southeast
Asia.
I loved it. It's less frantic than Vietnam, friendlier than Cambodia and
not as mercantile as Thailand. The tourist infrastructure is basic, but
pleasant and improving. The people are frank, poised and welcoming. I left
thinking that Burma -- so full of promise -- was creeping toward a better
future and that tourism could nudge it along.
Sucker.
Less than a week after my May 25 article on Burma appeared in The Post's
Travel section, the country's leadership showed the world an uglier face.
A gang, apparently under orders from the military government, ambushed the
caravan of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, the country's dogged
opposition leader. The facts are still vague, but at least four of her
supporters were killed and the 57-year-old leader of the National League
for Democracy was whisked away to a military base "for her own
protection."

Opposition offices were shut down, Suu Kyi is a prisoner once again and
the brief thaw in the country's decades-long repressive history appears to
be over. And I am rethinking one of my articles of faith as a
conscientious traveler: that responsible tourism is always a force for
good. Sometimes, I now realize, it's better to stay away.
Burma has been high on my must-see list for decades. It's one of those
cloaked-in-mystery countries, still wearing the veils of jungle secrecy so
celebrated by Kipling and Orwell. Few Westerners go to Burma, which alone
makes it irresistible. Add Burma's reputation for unspoiled natural beauty
and deep cultural traditions, and its siren call reaches clear around the
world.

It was only recently that it seemed appropriate to be a tourist in Burma.
This is a government credibly accused of trafficking in narcotics,
imprisoning dissidents and forcing citizens onto road gangs and children
into the army. In 1990, Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy won
national elections in a landslide. The military regime ignored the vote,
crushed the party and sent Suu Kyi into the purgatory of house arrest for
most of the decade.

A year ago, the generals seemed to budge. In May 2002, they released Suu
Kyi. They promised meaningful political negotiations. They let her travel
the country, crisscrossing Burma to rebuild her political party. In short,
they showed some meager moves toward a freer state.

A lot of tour operators and travelers were quick to construe those halting
steps as a rain dance for tourism. The number of foreign visitors shot up,
particularly after last fall's bombing in Bali sent beach lovers looking
for safer palm trees to lie under (no one can guarantee a crime-free
vacation like a junta). Burma's hotels and resorts have reported record
bookings, although government claims that tourism has doubled since 1996
-- with almost half a million arrivals last year -- are probably exaggerated.

But did these tourists know they were playing into a government plan? In
the mid-1990s, the regime launched a major effort to attract foreigners as
a way to make hard currency. They built new roads (reportedly with forced
labor) and new hotels (reportedly with financing from the opium lords),
and they declared 1996 "Visit Myanmar Year." (In 1988, the regime renamed
the country Myanmar, a more ancient name. It hasn't caught on
everywhere.)For her part, Suu Kyi asked tourists to stay away. Her outside
allies
launched a voluntary boycott, saying that tourism props up an evil
government with cash and legitimacy. But boycott opponents argue that
visitors mean jobs for poor people and that tourism is just the sort of
"engagement" that can loosen tyranny's grip. I usually find myself in the
second camp.

Ordinarily, what I think about a particular government has nothing to do
with where I go or how I describe the experience for readers. But after
many years of writing about travel for a living, I now see tourism, more
than almost any other form of trade, as a way of knitting the world
together. I don't feel closer to the Malaysians because they manufactured
my SpongeBob SquarePants bobblehead, but give me a week in Kuala Lumpur
and I'll come back with a real attachment. Tourists don't just bring their
money when they travel -- they bring eyes to witness hidden wrongs, hearts
to be won over.
In the case of Burma, it's impossible to avoid the political. When I was
assigned to report on the tourism boomlet, I knew that my it's-good-to-go
philosophy would be tested.
I liked the country at once. There are 44 million people there, in an area
slightly smaller than Texas. Rangoon, known locally as Yangon, is not the
handsomest city in Asia. The capital lacks Hanoi's crowded colonial charm
or Hong Kong's waterfront vibrancy. But it is full of massive trees, a
city in an old-growth urban forest. Buddhist monks are everywhere -- bald
and berobed, filing along decrepit sidewalks, shuffling among the many
shrines, clinging to the backs of pickups. With all those monks, how
menacing could it be?

Not that the shadows aren't visible. The airport road runs past one
military base after another, the personal garrisons of the ruling
generals, my taxi driver said. But Rangoon isn't particularly martial. It
isn't draped in barbed wire. Troops don't man every corner. Citizens are
out and about, most in traditional dress. Market stalls are heaped with
fruits and grains. "It certainly doesn't feel like a police state," said
Kathy Henry, a vacationing retired principal from Los Angeles. But she had
been jarred to see a child working on a road crew. There's an expat
community -- the usual mix of Brit teachers, Aussie salesmen, diplomats
from everywhere, a smattering of Americans. They were
full of politics and gossip about Suu Kyi and the regime. But they all
seemed to consider Rangoon a pretty plum posting. I could see why.It
wasn't just that I liked the place. I felt like I was on the right side of
the fight by being there. I met a Burmese travel agent. This person, who
asked not to be identified, was full of tips about which regime-linked
hotels to avoid, which of the two local airlines to fly. Without asking, I
received instruction on ways to steer my dollars away from the junta. "We
absolutely don't support the government," the agent said. It struck me as
a clever kind of resistance in a country where resistance has seemed
futile.
When I headed upcountry, I found more reasons to like Burma. Bagan is the
country's star tourist attraction, a collection of more than 2,000
11th-century temples dotted around a bend of the Irrawaddy River.
Thousands of locals survive directly on tourism there. They come every
dawn to work in the hotels or peddle lacquerware. "If no tourists come, I
cannot feed my family," said the man who drove group tours from Europe and
China around in his donkey cart.Each night, I knew, my hotel was required
to send a list of the day's guests to a military intelligence office. But
there were few overt signs
of control. In the tourist areas, a local told me, the regime keeps a
lower profile.
At Inle Lake, I stayed at an enchanting floating hotel run by a local hill
tribe, the Pa O people. They had been at war with the regime until they
got permission to build this hotel as part of a truce. Except for a 10
percent government tax, the Pa O manager told me, all my money went to
village schools, roads and clinics.

 On the hotel patio, I met a Burmese-born woman who has lived in
California for 38 years. Her last trip back to see her family had been a
decade earlier. "It's a little looser now," she said. "Ten years ago, I
had to register everywhere I was staying, but today we don't have to
worry about it." I was glad to hear it.

Don't get me wrong. In no way did I find Burma a model of emerging
democracy. It was clear that the Burmese live in fear. No one is allowed
to keep a passport. Even the monasteries are under government control. A
guide told me of the security stooges in her building who count shoes
outside the doors to detect unauthorized visitors. A tailor who sewed some
shirts for me was a former physics professor. She lost her job when the
junta broke apart the university to dampen student organizing. Her
department landed in the countryside, 30 kilometers outside Rangoon.
Nonetheless, my overall impression was that Burma was -- very, very slowly
-- getting better, and that tourism was pushing it in the right direction.
At least, that's what I thought before May 30.

The attack on Suu Kyi's traveling party makes me look back at my visit as
a sort of Potemkin postcard. Behind the pretty scenery, democracy wasn't
just stalled. It was being destroyed. It's not that those signs of
progress weren't real -- it's that they were meaningless under a regime
that could so blithely lift its hand to brush them aside. And I didn't see
it.  I still believe in tourism as a powerful agent of human exchange.
There aren't many countries I would avoid on a purely political basis. But
to go now to Burma, before Suu Kyi is freed and back at her mission, would
be an act of blithe disregard in its own right.
Suu Kyi has implied that she will drop her call for a tourism boycott as
soon as the time is right. Clearly -- tragically -- the clock has stopped.
She says don't come. This time, I'm listening.
__________

Irrawaddy June 16 2003

Sanctions Alone Won’t Work
By Aung Zaw

The US Congress is poised to punish the generals in Burma with new
sanctions after their recent heavy-handed crackdown on Nobel Peace
laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy party.
The bill on Capitol Hill, if passed, will impose on Burma the toughest
economic sanctions to date. The measure includes a ban on Burmese imports
to the US and a freeze on the regime’s US assets, as well as a ban on
visas to all top government officials and their families, members of the
government-sponsored Union Solidarity Development Association and the
managers of state-run enterprises. It sends a strong political message to
the despots and is welcomed by many Burmese at home and abroad.
But the majority of Burmese, who have suffered under the military regime
for decades, want more than just sanctions. They want to see the end of
the regime that makes them feel like hostages in their own home. To that
end, they want help from the outside.
Since the US is not a major trading partner with Burma, critics are
questioning the impact of the new import ban. Previous sanctions have
failed to cut the lifeline of the generals and their cronies. A ban on new
investment in Burma was imposed during the Clinton administration in 1997,
but this six-year-old ban has done nothing to change the nature of the
regime.
Whether further sanctions will bring desirable results is debatable.
Sanctions won’t end poverty and the struggles of everyday life in Burma.
Sanctions may even provoke more vicious attacks on Aung San Suu Kyi and
her supporters. The recent thuggish attack on democracy leaders clearly
demonstrated the unyielding power and arrogance of the rulers in Burma.
Kyaw Win, Burma’s ambassador to London, told BBC World Service last week:
"There is no evidence we are worried about sanctions. Not that we want
them, but we are not afraid of them either because we have lived for 26
years on our own before, and we have very good neighbors around us and we
can simply trade and exchange relations with our close, good neighbors."
He also emphasized that Burma’s trade with China and India would more than
cover any loss felt by the American sanctions. Kyaw Win is right. Until
sanctions and censure come from Burma’s strongest trading partners, the
military regime will continue to hold onto power.
So far, unilateral sanctions imposed by the US have failed to influence
Rangoon. But multilateral sanctions against Burma will send a more
powerful message to the generals in Burma. To implement them, there must
be cooperation from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) as
well as India and China, Burma’s two giant neighbors.
The US and the West should persuade Asean to review its unpopular
"constructive engagement" policy with Burma, which allows member countries
to make money off the regime while ignoring the plight of Burmese
citizens. Member countries should instead play the role of concerned
neighbors and motivate Burma’s leaders to return to meaningful dialogue
with the opposition.
Those who want to punish the regime need to understand the will of the
generals and never underestimate the pride and unity of the armed forces.
The military regime has clung to power for more than four decades, and
hopes to rule for many years to come.
The international community needs to ponder many options for bringing
about change in Burma, not just economic sanctions. After the recent
crackdown on Aung San Suu Kyi’s opposition movement, the Burmese people
are again asking, "how much longer are we going to suffer under this
oppressive regime?"
With a combination of international pressure, multilateral sanctions and
active diplomacy, the Burmese may get an answer to that question sooner
rather than later.
____________

Newsday June 16 2003

Keep Pressure on Burma to Release Political Prisoner

The brutal military junta ruling Myanmar, also known as Burma, is once
again resorting to force to suppress the pro-democracy movement led by
1991 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. After the junta
instigated thugs to ambush her motorcade, Suu Kyi was put under house
arrest once again.

The United States is now putting the military regime on notice that,
unless it releases Suu Kyi immediately, it faces the likelihood of
punishing economic and diplomatic sanctions.

Secretary of State Colin Powell is seeking the help of other Southeast
Asian nations to pressure Myanmar to comply. And legislation pending in
Congress would impose stringent sanctions on imports from Myanmar and
freeze assets in this country of Burmese military leaders.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations has been reluctant in the past
to take action against the internal affairs of its neighbors. And
sanctions have drawbacks: They may violate world-trade rules; they often
are ineffective if imposed by only one nation, and - when they do bite -
the pain is felt by the innocent workers who make the sanctioned goods.

Still, the various moral and economic threats should get the junta's
attention, combined with previous actions - such as a ban on travel in the
United States by Myanmar leaders and the United Nations' demands for Suu
Kyi's release.

Suu Kyi has struggled for 15 years to bring democracy to Burma. After her
party's landslide victory in the 1990 elections, she was prevented from
taking office by the military. She has been under house arrest for much of
the time since, until being freed a year ago. Now, threatened by the
political gains her organization has made since, the junta has cracked
down on the democracy movement again.

A Myanmar foreign ministry official hinted to the Japanese press Friday
that Suu Kyi could be released this month. Whether that statement should
be considered reliable is uncertain, but it suggests international
pressure is having effect. It's time to tighten the screws.
___________-

Earthrights International June 13 2003

Entrenched Details Systematic Use of Forced Labor in Burma

In a recent investigation inside Burma, EarthRights International has
detailed just how the systematic practice of forced labor operates and
continues in the country.  Using rare interviews with local village heads,
the report, entitled Entrenched, provides an in-depth look into one small
rural area, including the involvement of high-ranking military officers in
the practice of forced labor.  The rare testimonies illustrate how forced
labor—a modern form of slavery—remains prevalent in an area of active
military conflict in eastern Burma.

Entrenched: an Investigative Report on the Systematic Use of Forced Labor
in a Rural Area is based on extensive interviews with ten village heads
from one small area that took place during the winter of 2002-2003. 
Recent interviews from the same area confirm the practice continues into
May 2003. (See the Supplemental Report that also includes updates on the
Yadana and Yetagun pipeline region, prisoner porter interviews, and other
forms of forced labor).  By providing an in-depth examination, the report
documents the highly systematic and violent nature of labor abuse by the
Burmese military.

For example, every village head in the district is required to attend a
weekend meeting at a military camp to receive the latest demands.  As one
village head says:

Each Saturday, every headman has to go to the military camp for a meeting.
 If we don’t go, they send a letter to us ordering us to go.  They
threaten us and say that we must respect the military.

The systematic use of forced labor is put into practice through threats,
harassment, and violence leading to human rights abuses besides force
labor.  Those who fail to follow their orders receive cruel punishment:

They buried the headman until only his head was above ground.  The
soldiers made villagers step on the ground to make it tighter around his
body, so he couldn’t breathe well.  The villagers didn’t want to do it,
but the soldiers beat them again and again and told them, ‘Do it, do it!’ 
Then they made the villagers step on the headman’s head, and even the
commander stepped and kicked his head.

Orders for forced labor come directly or indirectly from mid- to
high-ranking military officers.  In this particular area, they often come
from a strategic commander who is responsible for overseeing many
battalions and is accountable to the State Peace and Development Council
(SPDC) that rules Burma.  The orders come frequently and are coordinated,
demanding labor, materials, and money.  This combination of evidence
confirms the existence of a “systematic” practice and a “preconceived plan
or policy” which are key components for demonstrating crimes against
humanity.

In the light of the recent attack on Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and
pro-democracy activists by the ruling junta, EarthRights International
stresses that the issue of labor abuses is inseparable from other human
rights issues.  The practice of forced labor cannot be eradicated if the
civil and political rights of the country’s activists are ruthlessly
violated by the military regime.  EarthRights International calls for the
international community to apply the strongest possible pressure on the
military regime to immediately release Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and her
colleagues and to take effective measures to improve the country’s
deplorable rights record.