Asean delivers rare Burma rebuke

Asean is normally reluctant to criticise member states South East Asian nations have issued their strongest rebuke ever to Burma’s military rulers, as their annual meeting opens in Singapore. The Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean) expressed “deep disappointment” at the detention of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi. And the organisation called for Burma’s generals to hold “meaningful dialogue” with opposition figures. Burma’s rulers have shown few signs of opening up since joining Asean in 1997. But the bloc is generally reluctant to speak out about the internal affairs of its member states – instead favouring quiet diplomacy. The BBC’s Jonathan Head, at the Singapore meeting, says this policy of constructive engagement appears to have run its course with the Burmese generals. ‘Emboldened’ group Meanwhile, Burma’s Foreign Minister Nyan Win hinted on the fringes of the meeting that Ms Suu Kyi could be freed in six months. But the generals have released the Nobel Peace Prize winner several times in the past – only to re-arrest her soon after. She has now spent more than 12 of the last 18 years under house arrest. Asean pressured Burma to allow in aid after the cyclone hit Asean’s recent mediation in the aftermath of the impact of Cyclone Nargis will also be on the agenda. The organisation was praised for its role in convincing Burma to allow international aid and aid workers into the country, overturning an initial ban on foreign help in the days after the cyclone struck. Our correspondent says the bloc’s success in matters relating to the cyclone may have influenced its bolder-than-usual approach to Burma in Singapore. Preventing conflict Another issue the ministers are tackling is the escalating tension between two other member states – Thailand and Cambodia. Troops from both countries have been sent to a disputed border area containing the ancient temples of Preah Vihear. On Monday, Asean called for “utmost caution and restraint” from both sides. The foreign ministers will also discuss the bloc’s new charter, which supposedly enshrines respect for human rights and is expected to be signed by all members – even Burma – by the end of the year. But our correspondent says the rationale for this association has always been less about what it does than what it aims to prevent – conflict among its 10 member states and domination by powers like the United States, China and India. And bigger regional issues on the sidelines of this summit – notably a meeting of foreign ministers from the six parties to the North Korean nuclear talks – are still likely to overshadow anything that Asean itself announces, he adds. Asean is composed of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Burma, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Boycott buying blood-Jade from Burma: Campaigners / UN needs to take stronger stance on Burma: AI

Boycott buying blood-Jade from Burma: Campaigners

Mungpi

Monday, 04 August 2008 20:13

New Delhi – In order to avoid contributing to the human suffering of Burmese mine workers, a new report urges global consumers, visitors to China, as well as Olympic spectators and athletes, to boycott buying what is called ‘blood Jade’ from Burma. Two activist groups – the All Kachin Students and Youths Union (AKSYU) and 8-8-08 for Burma – in a new report describe Burma’s Jade as being bathed in the blood of mine workers, whose rights are abused, land is confiscated and who are subject to forced labor. The new report, entitled ‘Blood Jade,’ states that Burmese Jadeites are increasing in demand as the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympic draws nearer, with the Chinese government reportedly promoting the sale of souvenirs made of Jadeite. “[M]any if not most of the Jade products on the general market [in China] are from the abuse-ridden Jadeite industry in Burma and profit Burma’s brutal military regime,” the report expounds. Burmese Jadeite is a global business predicated on human suffering and the absence of the rule of law, and is controlled with an iron grip by Burma’s military regime, says the report, adding that Jadeite exports annually earn the Burmese junta millions of dollars. The 8-8-08 for Burma group cautions that while Jadeite is beautiful to look at, it costs the lives of many Burmese people, particularly in northern Kachin state, where major Jade mines are located. “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. But how can Burma’s blood Jade retain its beauty in our eyes when we know what has gone into it and that Jade profits are propping up, probably even arming, the junta?,” Cristina Moon, executive director of 8-8-08 for Burma asks. AKSYU, the group that conducted the research for the report, urges people not to buy Jade from Kachin state as it provides millions of dollars in profit to the Burmese military government, while violating the rights of the local population. Discovery of Jadeite in Kachin state dates from as early as 1788. Originally mined by the local Kachin population, they were later joined by other ethnic groups including the Burman, as well as ethnic Chinese-owned companies in cooperation with the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO), an armed resistance organization that actively fought the government until 1994. But following a ceasefire agreement with the KIO in 1994, Burma’s military regime passed what is known as the ‘Myanmar Gemstone Law,’ which purportedly intended to curb the illegal smuggling of gemstones – rubies, sapphires, emeralds, Jadeite, diamonds, pearls, and other precious gems. Though there has been a significant impact on smuggling, the real result of the law is that it pushed private mining companies out of the industry as the government made it mandatory to obtain costly permits for mining. “[S]mall, independently owned companies without ties to the regime and their close associates are effectively barred from obtaining mining permits,” the report contends. According to the report, approximately 30 joint venture companies are currently involved in mining Jadeite, while several local people who had earlier owned private mining companies have become mere laborers. As the Burmese government’s figures on any export related industry are unreliable, it is difficult to obtain accurate figures as to the profit that the ruling generals derive from exporting Jadeite. However, Cristina Moon from the 8-8-08 for Burma group told Mizzima the Jade-trade is one of the regime’s largest sources of foreign income. “We’re talking about millions of dollars in hard cash to the junta per year, even up to hundreds of millions,” Moon elaborated. China insists the Jade that it plans to include in its Olympic medals is from Qinghai province in China. However, with Burma’s ‘Imperial Green’ Jade the only source of gem-quality Jade in the world, campaigners believe that a variety of Burmese Jade is being sold as souvenirs in the open market in China. “We believe there are a variety of souvenirs on the market, such as carvings and statues. Expensive jewelry made of Burmese Jade is also ubiquitous in China,” Moon continued. She added that souvenirs made of Burmese Jade are inseparable from human misery. It is not only a cause of atrocities in and around the mines in Kachin state, but the gem industry also gives the junta a great deal of foreign currency, of which Jade makes up a large part. “People should boycott Burma’s blood Jade just like they have conscientiously chosen not to buy conflict diamonds from places like Sierra Leone, Angola, and the DRC,” Moon added.   UN needs to take stronger stance on Burma: AI Solomon    Monday, 04 August 2008 13:58   New Delhi — Burma’s military rulers have detained at least 900 activists and dissidents in the past 10 months, in addition to the over 1,000 prisoners of conscience that it arrested since it brutally cracked down on a popular uprising in August 8, 1988, Amnesty International said.   The AI, in a press release on Sunday, said, “Around 900 people have been imprisoned in the past 10 months.”   The AI said Burma’s military rulers after violently suppressing a nation-wide protest led by students in August 8, 1988, has continuously arrested and detained dissidents but it has accelerated its rampant arrest since September 2007 protests, adding to the list of some 2,050 political prisoners currently languishing in prisons across Burma.   The Burmese military junta, despite being engaged  by the United Nations, through the General Assembly and Human Rights Council resolutions and by sending some 35 official missions by the Special Advisor, Special Rapporteur and their predecessors, continues to arrest dissidents who seemingly  threaten their rule, the AI said.   Benjamin Zawacki, AI’s Myanmar Researcher said, the number of political prisoners in Burma has significantly increased following the September protests last year, the ruling junta’s May 2008 referendum and the fall out of Cyclone Nargis on Burma’s coastal divisions in May.   “Nothing speaks louder of the government’s poor faith than the fact that there are more long-standing political prisoners in Myanmar [Burma] now than at any other time since those protests,” Zawacki said in the statement.   The AI, in its statement, urged the United Nations to create pressure for the release of 20 prominent political prisoners including veteran journalist U Win Tin, student leader Min Ko Naing and the highly revered Rev. U Gambira, who led the monks on the streets in September 2007.   The United Nations, meanwhile, is set to send two of its envoys – Undersecretary General for political affairs, and Human Rights Special Rapporteur – in August.   The AI said the UN should take stronger measures to obtain the release of prisoners of conscience including Win Tin, who were detained since the military’s brutal crackdown on the August 8, 1988 protests.   On 8 August 1988 – popularly known among Burmese as the four eights or 8.8.88 – demonstrations were led by Rangoon University students calling for democracy. It quickly spread to other cities, snowballing and gaining popular support over the next six weeks.   However, the Burmese military, that assumed power in a coup in 1962, violently suppressed the protests killing at least 3,000 people. The junta then began a campaign to strengthen its rule by arresting thousands while many disappeared.   Despite promises to the international community including the UN, Burma’ s military rulers have failed to keep their assurance – to implement genuine change and respect human rights.   “The UN should no longer accept the government’s hollow assurances but hold Myanmar [Burma] firmly to its word,” Zawacki said.   The Thailand based Assistant Association for Political Prisoners – Burma (AAPP-Burma), said both the UN envoys that are scheduled to visit the country in August must make sure that they are not used by the regime.   “Both of them [Gambari and Quintana] should meet political prisoners and student leaders openly and freely,” said Tate Naing secretary of the AAPP-B, adding that the two envoys must control their meetings rather then follow the regime’s plans.   “They [the two envoys] should not allow themselves to be used,” Tate Naing added.    While the newly appointed UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of Human Rights in Burma Thomas Ojea Quintana is scheduled to visit the country from August 3 to 7, Ibrahim Gambari will visit in mid-August.   Gambari, who visited Burma thrice following the regime’s brutal suppression of protesters in September 2007, was able to facilitate  talks between detained opposition leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and junta’s Liaison Minister.   But the talks were short-lived and as critics had apprehended, the talks yielded no tangible results in terms of political change.

Burma squeezes human rights as another envoy seeks change

Boycott buying blood-Jade from Burma: Campaigners

http://www.mizzima.com/news/world/6-world/860-boycott-buying-blood-jade-from-burma-campaigners

“Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. But how can Burma’s blood jade retain its beauty in our eyes when we know what has gone into it and that jade profits are propping up, probably even arming, the junta?”
Cristina C. Moon, 8-8-08 for Burma

Mungpi
Monday, 04 August 2008

New Delhi – In order to avoid contributing to the human suffering of Burmese mine workers, a new report urges global consumers, visitors to China, as well as Olympic spectators and athletes, to boycott buying what is called ‘blood Jade’ from Burma.

Two activist groups – the All Kachin Students and Youths Union (AKSYU) and 8-8-08 for Burma – in a new report describe Burma’s Jade as being bathed in the blood of mine workers, whose rights are abused, land is confiscated and who are subject to forced labor.

The new report, entitled ‘Blood Jade,’ states that Burmese Jadeites are increasing in demand as the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympic draws nearer, with the Chinese government reportedly promoting the sale of souvenirs made of Jadeite.

“[M]any if not most of the Jade products on the general market [in China] are from the abuse-ridden Jadeite industry in Burma and profit Burma’s brutal military regime,” the report expounds.

Burmese Jadeite is a global business predicated on human suffering and the absence of the rule of law, and is controlled with an iron grip by Burma’s military regime, says the report, adding that Jadeite exports annually earn the Burmese junta millions of dollars.

The 8-8-08 for Burma group cautions that while Jadeite is beautiful to look at, it costs the lives of many Burmese people, particularly in northern Kachin state, where major Jade mines are located.

“Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. But how can Burma’s blood Jade retain its beauty in our eyes when we know what has gone into it and that Jade profits are propping up, probably even arming, the junta?,” Cristina Moon, executive director of 8-8-08 for Burma asks.

AKSYU, the group that conducted the research for the report, urges people not to buy Jade from Kachin state as it provides millions of dollars in profit to the Burmese military government, while violating the rights of the local population.

Discovery of Jadeite in Kachin state dates from as early as 1788. Originally mined by the local Kachin population, they were later joined by other ethnic groups including the Burman, as well as ethnic Chinese-owned companies in cooperation with the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO), an armed resistance organization that actively fought the government until 1994.

But following a ceasefire agreement with the KIO in 1994, Burma’s military regime passed what is known as the ‘Myanmar Gemstone Law,’ which purportedly intended to curb the illegal smuggling of gemstones – rubies, sapphires, emeralds, Jadeite, diamonds, pearls, and other precious gems.

Though there has been a significant impact on smuggling, the real result of the law is that it pushed private mining companies out of the industry as the government made it mandatory to obtain costly permits for mining.

“[S]mall, independently owned companies without ties to the regime and their close associates are effectively barred from obtaining mining permits,” the report contends.

According to the report, approximately 30 joint venture companies are currently involved in mining Jadeite, while several local people who had earlier owned private mining companies have become mere laborers.

As the Burmese government’s figures on any export related industry are unreliable, it is difficult to obtain accurate figures as to the profit that the ruling generals derive from exporting Jadeite. However, Cristina Moon from the 8-8-08 for Burma group told Mizzima the Jade-trade is one of the regime’s largest sources of foreign income.

“We’re talking about millions of dollars in hard cash to the junta per year, even up to hundreds of millions,” Moon elaborated.

China insists the Jade that it plans to include in its Olympic medals is from Qinghai province in China. However, with Burma’s ‘Imperial Green’ Jade the only source of gem-quality Jade in the world, campaigners believe that a variety of Burmese Jade is being sold as souvenirs in the open market in China.

“We believe there are a variety of souvenirs on the market, such as carvings and statues. Expensive jewelry made of Burmese Jade is also ubiquitous in China,” Moon continued.

She added that souvenirs made of Burmese Jade are inseparable from human misery. It is not only a cause of atrocities in and around the mines in Kachin state, but the gem industry also gives the junta a great deal of foreign currency, of which Jade makes up a large part.

“People should boycott Burma’s blood Jade just like they have conscientiously chosen not to buy conflict diamonds from places like Sierra Leone, Angola, and the DRC,” Moon added.

Burma Day in San Francisco on 8888 Anniversary

Aug 4th, 2008

By BO KYI
Published on August 5, 2008

THIS week, the United Nations Human Rights Council will send a special rapporteur, Tomas Ojea Quintana, to seek improvements on the human rights situation in Burma. One might expect that Than Shwe’s military junta will make concessions on human rights in the lead-up to Quintana’s trip – instead, the exact opposite has happened, as human rights abuses have increased. The mission, the latest in dozens of failed trips to Burma by UN envoys and rapporteurs, is off to a bad start even before it has begun.

Instead of making substantive moves on human rights, over the past two months Than Shwe’s junta has ramped up its repression of the Burmese people. Just days ago, Burmese troops re-energised their scorched-earth campaign against ethnic minorities in eastern Burma, forcing hundreds of innocent villagers to flee their homes as refugees and internally displaced persons.

On July 31, the junta announced its intention to sentence to jail Burma’s most famous comedian and social activist, Zarganar, along with the country’s leading sports reporter. Less than two months ago, the junta locked up many members of the National League for Democracy, the political party of Nobel Peace Prize recipient Aung San Suu Kyi.

On July 21, student political activist Khin Maung Tint died behind bars in Burma’s notorious prison gulag, in the midst of serving a 20-year prison sentence.

Meanwhile, on July 25 the junta sentenced 10 Muslim student activists to prison with hard labour for participating in the September 2007 Buddhist-monk led pro-democracy uprising.

No doubt, the junta will try to obscure these moves during Quintana’s visit. If previous behaviour is any guide, the generals will make a series of promises to change that will subsequently be broken when Quintana leaves the country.

The regime will hope for positive comments by Quintana after his trip – statements they will use to show they are making “progress” when in reality there are no lasting changes whatsoever.

If the junta is feeling generous, they may even release a few political prisoners whom they deem to be unthreatening to their grip on power.

Instead of looking toward genuine change, the junta sees visits by UN envoys as an exercise in public relations, hoping the envoys will publicly thank the regime for allowing them to visit and thereby diminishing hopes for actual change. That a trip happened at all is cited as “progress” by some countries in the UN who seek to preserve the status quo.

This pattern of obfuscation has been carried on successfully by the military junta for many years. Sadly, it has enabled Than Shwe to commit massive, widespread, systematic atrocities that could someday land him in the International Criminal Court.

Among other abuses Than Shwe has destroyed twice as many villages as in Darfur, Sudan – forcing millions of innocent villagers to flee as refugees and internally displaced persons.

He has recruited more child soldiers than any other country in the world, also a crime against humanity.

Further, his troops have carried out a policy of using rape as a weapon of war against ethnic minority women, and he has locked up nearly 2,000 political prisoners.

Before many more people are senselessly imprisoned or killed in Burma, we hope that Quintana delivers a strong message to Than Shwe, demanding the immediate release of all political prisoners in the country.

While in Burma, we hope Quintana meets with key leaders including Min Ko Naing, Ko Ko Gyi, Su Su Nway, and Zarganar.

Second, Quintana should call on the military regime to immediately end all attacks on ethnic minorities in the country. That Than Shwe has got away with these attacks for so many years is not only devastating to my country’s ethnic peoples, it sets a terrible precedent for the rest of the world.

Lastly, Quintana should make it clear to Than Shwe that change must come immediately. If this junta attempts to draw the envoy into a protracted game of cat and mouse on human rights implementation, he must seek much stronger action from the Human Rights Council and UN Security Council. The time for stalling on human rights is over.

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2008/08/05/opinion/opinion_30079742.php

08.08.08 Opens the Tarnished Beijing Olympics &

Olympic Games or Burma

Aug 4th, 2008

By Prof. Kanbawza Win

It is not realistic to think that Beijing will listen to any voice from Burma, much less from the rank of the opposition, as it even view the Burmese Junta as rude, crude, rustic pipsqueak of little consequence, when every body knows that the dragon men are very pragmatic and happy with the status quo in Burma and elsewhere. The Chinese elites in Beijing do not nowadays want to change the world, but only their silk socks and satin jocks daily wrote the late Chao Tzang Yawnghwe.

The entire people of Burma have joined Olympic boycott over complaints ranging from Beijing’s human rights record to its failure to more actively press Sudan in the Darfur region that has killed at least 200,000 people. Currently Burma’s military regime has burned down or otherwise destroyed 3,200 ethnic minority villages, forcing 1.5 million refugees to flee their homes, while the Chinese slyly encouraged it by letting its arms and ammunition to continue to flow in. Beijing has closed its eyes as Burma recruited more child soldiers than any other country in the world.  Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the world’s only imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize recipient, is locked up in prison along with 2,000 other political dissidents.  Despite its huge influence on the Burmese Junta, China refuses to call for her release. But the most important aspect is that the United Nations has been completely paralyzed, unable to take any action to prevent genocide in Burma, only because China has used its veto at the UN Security Council to block any meaningful actions on Burma, as a result, the UN is making the same mistakes it made on Darfur and Rwanda. In short China is partly responsibility for what is happening in Burma.

China not only graciously funds the dictator but also is the diplomatic protector for Burma’s military regime.  Adding insult to injury, the Olympics are scheduled to begin on August 8, 2008 — the anniversary of a major massacre in Burma.  On the same date in 1988, thousands of peaceful protesters were massacred by the regime during Burma’s largest democracy uprising.  Each year, thousands of people around the world commemorate this slaughter and honor those who spoke out for human rights and justice. What a mockery for the world to witness that the most populated country of the world to celebrate the Olympics on that day. Like the Berlin Olympics in 1936 that wrongly brought world acclaim to Adolf Hitler, the Beijing Olympics in 2008 are becoming a monument of suffering. We recollect how the English soccer team, in Berlin’s Olympic Stadium, giving a Nazi salute of Hail Hitler the picture of impressionable footballers obeying orders from mutton-headed apparatchiks went round the world and became a lasting source of shame as even now Britain kow tow to the Chinese demand forbidding any of it athlete from making any political comment about countries staging the Olympic Games. The US President George W. Bush said he would go to China for the Olympics but would not talk publicly there about Beijing’s policies. Because the two arsenals of democracy has bowed down to the men in the Dragon throne Beijing seems to construe that we Burmese activist should also do likewise?

Although China is not the only country engaged in Burma and did not carry sole responsibility for the emerging crisis, it is a member of the UN Security Council and thereby indirectly accountable for any actions that are, or are not, taken. In view of a regime that unscrupulously mistreats its citizens and spurns with impunity all standards of civility, Beijing clearly lacks a sense of urgency. Faced with the current crisis, however, China has reverted to its traditional stance of non-interference in another country’s internal affairs. In doing so, Beijing is not only arguably damaging its international image, but also squandering a unique opportunity to take an active and moral role in influencing Burma’s leadership. Globally, it could enhance its image considerably by acting as a responsible stakeholder. It could also distinguish itself from regional rival India, which so far has similarly preferred to deal with Burma’s crisis by looking the other way.

China’s policymakers understand that the effectiveness of US-led sanctions has been undermined by Beijing’s willingness to economically engage the regime. In the current situation, change can only come from within the military and China could use its channels, contacts and influence to convince the regime that now is the time to change.

However, China has in reality been interfering in Burma’s internal affairs for at least half a century. During much of the Cold War, Beijing overtly supported the Communist Party of Burma, which fought against government-led forces. China has invested heavily in Burma’s infrastructure, business and natural resources and has tacitly supported the waves of migration of Chinese citizens into that country. This kind of interference is no different from Western approaches to maintaining influence in their former colonies, and without a change in policy, China will continue to be subjected to accusations of neo-colonialism.

The latest round of protests in Rangoon in 2007 highlighted the futility of previous international democracy campaigns and non violent struggle. Some human-rights advocates have turned their eyes to China — to see if it would force reform in Burma, but China just made a feeble attempt to call on the Burmese regime to “show restraint.” Obviously it was more concerned about stability than democracy. Thus, human-rights activists and pundits are now urging Washington to threaten a boycott August Olympic Games. Washington Post columnist Fred Hiatt recently said: “Tell China that, it can have its Olympic Games or Burma (which also stands for Darfur and Rawanda)  It can’t have both. If a threat to those Games … could help tip the balance, then let the Games not begin. Some things matter more,” The message is loud and clear, either stops using your veto on the UN Security Council or do something to make this regime understand this can’t go on any longer or we will boycott the Olympics.

As a country that is determined to achieve its “peaceful evolution” or “peaceful development, it is crucial to take the non-military option at all point, in order to consolidate its soft power. Therefore, earning the world’s positive affection and attention are crucial to China’s resurrection as a responsible power in the eyes of global public opinion. US actress Mia Farrow has apparently understood this point very well, and threatened to have the Beijing Olympics in 2008 potentially classified as a “genocide game,” if China does not try to use its seeming influence on Sudan to put an end to the humanitarian tragedy in Burma and Darfur.

Isn’t the Olympic a non military weapon to force China to see to reason?

For months and years, pressure groups have been trying to use China’s fixation on the success of the Olympics as leverage to force Beijing to act on pressing human rights issues inside China and on Darfur, but the results have been negligible. China’s highly effective Internet firewall prevents the people of China to know these Olympics-linked efforts are underway. That makes it easier for Beijing to keep ignoring its critics. Nobody apart from the International Olympic Committee seems to believe the Chinese government will make significant human rights concession before the Games start. Every time a journalist or blogger is released, another goes into prison, China’s dissidents will probably be having a hard time this summer.”Yes, the Olympics are going to be a huge success and will demonstrate to the world that China is a modern, developed nation.” Deviations from that line are not always received well and sometimes elicit outright hostility. PRC ideology and the minds of the Chinese people “the West” seek to undermine China’s development to satisfy their own selfish strategic goals, and finally, barely smoldering resentment born out of a history of foreign imperialism in China.

Educated Chinese who speak out against their own government in the foreign media are pilloried on electronic bulletin boards as hanjian, traitors to their race, an epithet to which Chinese nationals working for foreign media organizations are also frequently subjected. The Chinese media is also fond of parroting government officials who label the US and West as human rights hypocrites, citing the usual suspects (slavery, imperialism, policy toward indigenous peoples) as well as tossing out a few new ones (weatherboarding, the invasion of Iraq). Whether one feels this is a valid defense or not, the salient point is that many in China accept the government line as unequivocal proof that foreign critics cannot be trusted.

In this case with Olympics sponsors, there is no such contradiction — these multinational corporations have no corporate credo about not doing evil, promoting free speech, or any other idealistic principle about furthering the human community. Instead, their own credo is maximum profits and maximum returns for their shareholders. Therefore, we are not surprised at all to hear that apparently, the vast majority of them consider activist protests against their participation in the Chinese Olympics as a mere public relations nuisance. Corporate sponsors, governments and National Olympic Committees should urge Beijing to improve human rights is very dear to our hearts. If so why did we award China, the Olympics with this record of human rights abuses, when the Chinese administration is evil and dangerous? Perhaps we are taking risk hoping against hope that China would see to reason in Burma and elsewhere, in the world without knowing that the sleeping dragon sleeps with its eyes wide open.

On the other hand, with the power of the Internet and its ability to facilitate communication and coordination of activism, these corporations may be in for a rude awakening if calls for boycotts and other actions against them reach a critical mass, due to their implicit support of Chinese repression. Public revolts against oppression — and those implicitly supporting oppression — are real and in many cases, are effective. The Burmese people inside and outside he country should make every available effort to highlight the situation as this is one of the best way to compel China to see to reason.

[Prof. Kanbawza Win (a) Dr. Ba Than Win, former Secretary of Foreign Affairs of the Prime Minister of Burma, has served as a Distinguished Visiting Professor at the Menno Simons College of University of Winnipeg and later as a Senior Research Fellow at the European Institute of Asian Studies, Brussels; and is now the incumbent Dean of the Students of the AEIOU Programme, Chiangmai University Thailand and an Adjunct Professor of the School of International Studies, Simon Fraser University, of British Columbia, Canada.]

The RED CAMPAIGN in Burma for 8888 Anniversary

Aug 4th, 2008

Pro-democracy activists in Burma are launching a RED CAMPAIGN (throwing of red paint on the walls in public places) to mark the 20th Anniversary of the bloody crack down by military regime on the largest pro-democracy uprising in Burma’s history 20 years ago.

 

International Obligations include:

Upholding the rights of every person as stated in the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights that is international customary law and therefore is binding on Malaysia. The rights encompass the right to life, liberty and security of person, the right to freedom.

Malaysia has both committed to uphold human rights protections defined in the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). They must ensure that domestic law and its enforcement comply with their international obligations to protect the rights of women and children and to guarantee equality under the law. 

Malaysia has also ratified several ILO conventions, including the ILO Forced Labour Convention (No. 29), the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention (No. 182), and the ILO Right to Organize and Collective Bargaining Convention (No. 98). As such, Malaysia has an obligation to protect the rights of workers as set forth in those treaties. 

 

Photo: 8888 commemoration committee meeting in Fort Wayne

Jul 29th, 2008

_ reported by Aung Myint Htun

 

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