Mrs. Bush speaking at the Council on Foreign Relations on Wednesday in New York City
By Carolyn Weaver
New York City
11 December 2008
U.S. first lady Laura Bush says she'll continue her advocacy for human rights after she and President Bush leave the White House in January. Mrs. Bush spoke at a private New York-based group, the Council on Foreign Relations, on the 60th anniversary Wednesday of the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The declaration guarantees the rights to freedom from torture, slavery, poverty and other forms of oppression.
In her speech, the first lady emphasized her commitment to women's rights, particularly in Burma and Afghanistan.
"I've met thousands of women from many nations, and I've seen that women everywhere have the same dreams. They want to be educated, they want to raise their children in peace, they want to enjoy good health, to be prosperous, and to be heard," Mrs. Bush said. "In Afghanistan, women are working to overcome years of oppression to secure these basic rights."
Mrs. Bush visited a female police cadet training center during a surprise trip to Afghanistan in June. Later, she spoke out against the militants who threw acid on girls walking to school. Ten Taliban members were arrested in the attack that severely burned several girls.
"Most people in Afghanistan want to live their lives free from the Taliban, and Afghans will need our support, and the support of the international community, probably for years, as they rebuild their country," she said.
As for Burma, Mrs. Bush said she focused on the country because its military regime has denied the people almost every promise in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
"For decades, Burma's military regime has crushed peaceful dissent and carried out violent campaigns against ethnic populations. Children are conscripted as soldiers and families are forced to perform life-threatening labor. Human trafficking is pervasive and rape is used as a weapon of war," Mrs. Bush told the audience.
The first lady announced an additional $5 million in relief for victims of Cyclone Nargis. In May, the storm devastated the Irrawaddy Delta region, where much of the Burma's food is grown. So far this year, the U.S. has contributed $75 million.
"That we flew in to Burma - the junta did allow us to fly the big cargo planes, about 100 flights of cargo planes into Burma. And the rest of this money goes to programs to help refugees in the camps," Mrs. Bush explained. "It's very difficult to help people within Burma without attracting the attention of the government."
Mrs. Bush has said she will continue her human rights advocacy when her husband leaves office in January. Some critics, who have accused the Bush administration of human rights violations in its conduct in the war on terrorism, question whether Mrs. Bush is the best one to speak out on human rights.
At the Council on Foreign Relations event, the first lady took a few friendly questions, and none raised that issue.
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Friday, December 12, 2008
Laura Bush Vows to Continue Human Rights Efforts
Looking beyond government rhetoric for Burma’s 2010 poll
http://www.chinapost.com.tw/commentary/the-china-post/special-to-the-china-post/2008/12/12/187308/p1/Looking-beyond.htm
It is saddening to see a government’s sentencing of prison terms ranging from 6 months to 65 years on its own citizens. The alleged convicts are none other than some of the most admired artists, revered monks and peaceful activists who dearly love their country. The international community’s political rhetoric, without any substantive action, has emboldened the military generals to advance their seven-step roadmap toward a “disciplined and flourishing democracy,” slowly but steadily.
It was unsurprising to see the lukewarm reaction of U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon toward a largely symbolic petition submitted to him by 112 former world leaders, asking him to visit Burma in the wake of rampant arrests in recent weeks and months. The Dec. 3 petitioners include Jimmy Carter and Tony Blair, among others.
Ban, out of frustration, and through his spokesperson Michele Montas, responded to the letter by saying: “....will not be able to do so without reasonable expectations of a meaningful outcome, which is what we have been saying all along....”
What could that paper tiger achieve, anyway? Had the same letter been sent by the same number of incumbent world leaders, it could have better leverage. The move was an encouraging sign, but will have a very minimal impact, if not none at all. It will be more efficacious if the 112 world leaders, rather, convince their own governments to take pragmatic actions in line with what the U.N. chief was asked to do.
It is the U.N. Security Council that can initiate effective action that the offices of the Secretary General would implement, not vice versa. Ban Ki-moon sees the limitations his good offices can play in the absence of any enforcement mechanism.
If Ban were to go to Burma without having to achieve any substantive results, he could demean the Secretary General’s office. His basic demands, such as the release of political prisoners and initiation of dialogue with the opposition groups, have not materialized.
Instead of listening to repeated calls for the release of political prisoners, the military authority in recent weeks has handed down long prison terms to anyone seen to be a disturbance to the upcoming 2010 election. On the other hand, the military was sending yet another clear message to the international community. Senior General Than Shwe was seen bragging about the 15-year existence of the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA) and its growing 24.6 million members.
On the fourth day of the association’s 15th anniversary on November 29, Senior General Than Shwe was heard saying: “....plans are well underway to see to the remaining steps including the 2010 transition work program. So, it is fair to say that the future of the State structure is certain to materialize.”
In the new constitution, 25 percent of seats in both houses of parliament (House of Representatives and House of Nationalities) are reserved for the military. Amendment of constitution will require the approval of more than 75 percent of votes. In other words, the constitution has been designed to perpetuate military rule. The military generals learnt a lesson from the 1990 general election — any free and fair election will be in favor of the National League for Democracy (NLD) and other democratic opposition groups. It is a question remains to be seen whether the NLD will be allowed to participate in the election. If the NLD is barred from election or says the party chooses not to participate, the political scenario beyond the 2010 election could even become murkier. While the new government will be busy with its own agendas, the NLD will continue to lobby the international community to recognize the 1990 election results.
The 2010 election will bring a transition in Burma, but the new government will still be directly or indirectly under the military. One other significant implication is that the result of 1990 general election will become a bygone history.
As usual, the international community will send mixed responses of the election outcome. While most Western nations will not or perhaps only reluctantly recognize the result, many Asian governments will welcome it as a positive step toward democracy.
It is these conflicting approaches that have given the military generals a political breathing space. Sanctions versus engagements and or appeasements by the international community are responsible for the survival of the military regime.
One must not, however, believe that successful implementation of the State Peace and Development Council’s seven-step roadmap will bring an end to the decades-old political problems of Burma.
We will continue to see the simmering political turmoil in the country. The military generals are indifferent to and even anathema to any concept of federalism, which has been the basic demand of the country’s ethnic nationalities, other than the Burmese.
A long-lasting solution to Burma’s problems needs the sincerity, honesty and the participation of all ethnic groups. Different ethnic groups should be brought into confidence, and their legitimate demands should be looked into. In sum, this process of democratization must have an inclusive approach.
Burma’s political landscape could still be dramatically changed before and after the 2010 general election, provided that the international community steps up to embark on a coordinated action using a “carrot and stick” approach.
Meanwhile, the capability of the military junta should not be undermined. The regime has taken pride in having one of the largest armies in the region, with over 400,000 personnel. The military is also well protected by the U.N. Security Council’s veto structure.
If the international community is sincere and serious about finding a solution to Burma’s political problems, it should take actions that would make a difference. There are ways to bring down or convince the military generals.
Military intervention, a model of six-party talks on North Korea’s nuclear stand-off, and the U.N. Security Council Resolution will be some of the swiftest, if not most effective, tools to bring democratic change in Burma. However, none of the above is likely to happen in the near future.
If no realistic action is on the agenda, the international community should look beyond the 2010 election and start planning for new policies and strategies to be pursued under a new military-controlled government.
Nehginpao Kipgen is the General Secretary of U.S.-based Kuki International Forum (www.kukiforum.com), and a researcher on the rise of political conflicts in modern Burma (1947-2004).
Nobel peace laureates speak out for Aung San Suu Kyi
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20081211/wl_asia_afp/healthfrancerussiagorbachev_081211165202
Thu Dec 11, 11:52 am ET AFP – Activists displays banners with portraits of Myanmar's detained democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi … PARIS (AFP) – Nobel peace laureates opened a summit in Paris Thursday to draw world attention to the plight of Myanmar's Aung San Suu Kyi, but former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev was forced to miss the gathering.
Gorbachev, whose foundation is co-hosting the three-day gathering with the city of Paris, was suffering from ill health and unable to travel.
Meeting a day after former Finnish president Martii Ahtisaari received this year's prestigious prize, the dozen Nobel laureates were also to present an award to Irish rocker-turned-activist Bono for his crusade against poverty.
Gorbachev, 77, was to join former leaders F.W. de Klerk of South Africa, Lech Walesa of Poland and Northern Ireland politician John Hume for the annual gathering, held in Paris.
"I regret to inform you that doctors have forbidden me to travel," Gorbachev said in a message read to delegates. "I hope that everything will be all right."
Italian opposition leader Walter Veltroni described his health problem as "minor".
Gorbachev won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1990, a year after the Berlin Wall fell, marking a turning point in East-West relations that paved the way for the reunification of Germany.
The Paris summit focuses on the theme "human rights and a world without violence" amid celebrations marking 60 years since the UN declaration of human rights was adopted in Paris.
Nobel laureates are launching an international appeal to free Myanmar pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who won the prize in 1991, and has been detained for most of the past two decades.
Myanmar's military junta has kept her mostly isolated from the outside world, only receiving visits from her doctor and lawyer.
Last week, more than 100 former leaders wrote to UN chief Ban Ki-moon urging him to travel to Myanmar to secure the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and other political prisoners.
But the UN secretary general has ruled out a visit and expressed frustration at the military regime's failure to take steps toward dialogue with the opposition.
Ban visited Myanmar in May after its military rulers came under international fire for not allowing foreign aid in after a cyclone left 138,000 people dead or missing.
On Friday, the Nobel laureates are to pay tribute to Bono for his campaign to win debt relief for African countries and eradicating poverty.
Last year's recipients of the Peace Summit Award were US actors George Clooney and Don Cheadle, who have spoken out against the violence in Sudan's war-torn Darfur region.
【ご報告】世界人権宣言60周年記念 自由と人権の尊重を訴え、350名がパレード！
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
ビルマ市民フォーラム メールマガジン 2008/12/12
People's Forum on Burma
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
一昨日行いました、『世界人権宣言60周年記念 世界人権デー マーチング＠渋谷
世界中のすべての人々に“人権”と“自由”を！』では、３５０名以上の方が
ご参加くださいました。
以下、ご報告いたします。
▼PFBのホームページに当日の写真も掲載しましたので、ぜひご覧ください！
http://pfbkatsudo.blogspot.com/2008/12/60-350.html
ＰＦＢ事務局
http://www1.jca.apc.org/pfb/
*********************************************
【ご報告】
世界人権宣言60周年記念 自由と人権の尊重を訴え、350名がパレード！
*********************************************
12月10日、世界人権宣言の採択から60年を記念し、
パレードを行いました。
19団体2個人にご賛同いただき、NGO関係者、日本人の支援者、
そしてビルマやアフリカからの難民など約350名が人権と自由を訴え
国連大学前や表参道を歩きました。
パレードのスタートに先立ち、主催者の他、ビルマ、フィリピン、
韓国、イラク、パレスチナ、イラン、コンゴ、そして日本など、
賛同団体や参加者の方々から各国における人権侵害の状況について
アピールがあり、皆で「人権」や「自由」の尊重を訴える必要性を
改めて強く感じ、パレードをスタートしました。
参加した多くのビルマ人は、アウンサンスーチーさんの写真を掲げ
「ビルマに自由を！」と軍政による人権侵害の停止と民主化の実現を
求めて声を上げていました。
ご参加くださった皆さま、どうもありがとうございました。
以下、主催者の共同声明と関連報道をご紹介いたします。
2008年12月12日
呼びかけ団体
在日ビルマ人共同行動実行委員会
ビルマ市民フォーラム
ヒューマンライツ・ナウ
（社）アムネスティ・インターナショナル日本
*********************************************
【メディア報道】
▼asahi.com （2008年12月11日）
世界人権宣言60年記念でデモ行進
http://www.asahi.com/national/update/1211/TKY200812100340.html
▼読売新聞（2008年12月11日）
軍政抗議パレード 渋谷で在日ミャンマー人ら
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/e-japan/tokyo23/news/20081211-OYT8T00132.htm?from=navr
*********************************************
【呼びかけ団体・共同声明】
12月10日 世界人権宣言60周年記念 世界人権デー マーチング＠渋谷
世界中のすべての人々に“人権”と“自由”を！
--Human Rights and Freedom for All ?
１９４８年１２月１０日、「すべての人間は、生れながらにして
自由であり、かつ、尊厳と権利とについて平等である。」と謳った
「世界人権宣言」が生まれました。それから６０年、悲しいことに
毎年12月１０日の「世界人権デー」は、人権や自由が保障された
世界を祝う日ではなく、地球上に頻発する人権や自由の侵害に抗議し、
その根絶を願う日となっています。
たとえばビルマ（ミャンマー）では、軍事政権の支配によって、
表現の自由、政治活動の自由が抑圧され、軍による強制労働や
女性に対する暴力などが頻発しています。フィリピンなどのアセ
アン諸国においても、人権活動家が殺され、不当に拘束されています。
またイラク、アフガニスタン、パレスティナなど世界の各地に
おいて、「テロに対する戦い」の名の下、子どもを含む罪もない
人々が「国家による暴力」の犠牲となり、人権を無視した逮捕・
拘留・拷問・監視が多くの国々で行われています。スーダンなど
アフリカ諸国では、内戦等により、多くの民間人が虐殺される事態が
続いています。
言うまでもなく、私たちの周りでも人権は守られていません。
先進国、とりわけ私たちの住む日本においては、仕事を失い、
まともな労働条件を享受できず、貧困のなかに暮らす人々が増え
続けています。世界人権宣言が保障する最低限の衣食住の権利さえ
奪われている状況、これは紛れもない人権問題です。
こうした状況を、嘆き悲しむだけでは何の解決にもなりません。
まず、思いをはせてください。
今、この瞬間も人権を奪われている人々の実情を。
そして、想像してみてください。
世界中の人々が本当の自由と人権を享受し、心安らかに暮ら
せる世の中を。
より強い者の暴力や弾圧におびえることなく、自分の意見や主張、
信仰を自由に語りあえる世の中を。
人種、民族、出自、信仰など自分とは異質のすべての人々と
なんの隔てもなく接する事のできる世の中を。
そして、過度の競争社会ではなく、誰でも穏やかに生活し、
働き続けることのできる世の中を。
私たち一人一人がこうした世の中の到来を心から願い、そのために
少しでも行動を起こすならば、いつか必ず、それは実現するでしょう。
私たちはそう信じて、今日ここに集いました。
私たちは、世界各国の政府に、世界人権宣言が保障する権利を
速やかに実現することを求めます。自由を抑圧し、人々を虐殺する
すべての人権侵害行為の停止を求めます。
各国政府に、こうした人権侵害者を黙認せずに声をあげること、
人権侵害者に対する資金提供を断ち切ること、そして自由を
奪われ迫害された人々を広く難民として受け入れることを
求めます。対テロ戦争の名を借りた 人権侵害をただちにやめ、
被害者に補償することを求めます。
日本と世界のすべての人に衣食住、医療、労働、社会保障、
十分な生活水準を保持する権利、「健康で文化的な最低限度の
生活を営む権利」を実現するよう求めます。
2008年12月10日
在日ビルマ人共同行動実行委員会
ビルマ市民フォーラム
ヒューマンライツ・ナウ
（社）アムネスティ・インターナショナル日本
*********************************************
以上、
***********************************************
12月10日 世界人権宣言60周年記念 世界人権デー マーチング＠渋谷
世界中のすべての人々に“人権”と“自由”を！
--Human Rights and Freedom for All ?
●呼びかけ団体
ビルマ民主化共同行動実行委員会(JAC)
ビルマ市民フォーラム
ヒューマンライツ・ナウ
（社）アムネスティ・インターナショナル日本
●賛同団体・個人（19団体・個人2名）
日本ビルマ救援センター
牛久入管収容所問題を考える会、
インドネシア民主化支援ネットワーク
アーユス仏教国際協力ネットワーク、
ピースボート
日本イラク医療支援ネットワーク
ビルマ情報ネットワーク、
パレスチナ子どものキャンペーン
ミグランテ・ジャパン
反差別国際運動（IMADR）
（特活）メコン・ウォッチ
（特活）アフリカ・日本協議会、
（特活）フリー・ザ・チルドレン・ジャパン
監獄人権センター
ASPnetwork（アスプネットワーク）
（宗教法人）見樹院
（宗教法人）寿光院、
韓国徴兵制と人権侵害を考えるPANDA
渋谷・野宿者の生活と居住権をかちとる自由連盟（のじれん）
湯浅 誠（反貧困ネットワーク事務局長／ＮＰＯ法人自立生活サポートセンター・
もやい事務局長）
谷山 博史（日本国際ボランティアセンター（JVC）代表理事）
********************************************
Fw: [burmainfo] 今週のビルマのニュース（0839号） アジアの国会議員241人が国連事務総長に書簡
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
ビルマ市民フォーラム メールマガジン 2008/12/12
People's Forum on Burma
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
ビルマ情報ネットワーク（BurmaInfo）からのメールを転送させていただき
ます。
（重複の際は何卒ご容赦ください。）
ＰＦＢ事務局
http://www1.jca.apc.org/pfb/
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
ビルマ情報ネットワークの「今週のビルマのニュース」をお送りします。
「今週のビルマのニュース」バックナンバー
http://www.burmainfo.org/weekly.html
きょうのビルマのニュース（平日毎日更新）もご利用ください。
http://d.hatena.ne.jp/burmainfo
ビルマ情報ネットワーク （www.burmainfo.org）
秋元由紀
========================================
今週のビルマのニュース Eメール版
2008年12月12日号【0839号】
========================================
【今週の主なニュース】
241人のアジアの国会議員が国連事務総長に書簡
・12月3日に発表された元国家首脳112人からの書簡に
続き、5日付でアジア諸国8か国の国会議員241人から、
国連事務総長に宛てた書簡が出された。日本からも国会
議員30人が賛同。ビルマを再訪し、年内に全政治囚を
解放するよう軍政に働きかけることを事務総長に求める
内容だった。
・国連事務総長は3日、ビルマを再び訪問したいが、政治
改革が進む見込みがない限りはできないと述べた。事務
総長はまた、元国家元首の書簡を受け、5日にビルマに
関する関係国の会合を招集した。その後の記者会見で、
事務総長はビルマで政治改革が進んでいないことに
失望感を覚えているとし、ビルマと関係を持つ政府や
企業に軍政に対して影響力を行使してほしいと述べた。
【その他】
地雷による死者が倍増、ほか
・民主化指導者アウンサンスーチー氏の弁護士が3日、
自宅軟禁措置への異議申し立てについて氏と話し
合うため、当局に面会許可を申請した。軍政は9日、
異議申し立て手続きが現在進行中であるため、
面会を許さないと回答した（11日付DVB）。
・10日、世界人権宣言の採択から60周年を記念し、
日本に住む難民や市民団体など約350人が渋谷で
パレードを行い、人権と自由の尊重を唱えた。多く
の在日ビルマ人も参加し、アウンサンスーチー氏の
写真を掲げ「ビルマに自由を！」と声を上げた。
・ビルマ外務省筋によれば、外務省の佐々江賢一郎
外務審議官が18日から3日間、同国を訪問する（8日付日経）。
・地雷廃絶国際キャンペーン（ICBL）の年次報告書
「ランドマイン・モニター」によれば、2007年にビルマ
で地雷により死亡した人の数が前年に比べ倍増し、
400人を超えた。ICBLはまた、ビルマで一般市民が
地雷の除去作業を強制されている問題も指摘している。
【ビルマへの政府開発援助（ODA）約束状況など】
新たな発表はなし
【イベントなど】
・上智大学アジア文化研究所「旅するアジア08」
第4回講演会「エネルギーの本当の値段～
ビルマ（ミャンマー）の天然ガス開発と人権」
講師：秋元由紀
（四谷・上智大学、12月12日18時～）
・在日ビルマ人共同行動実行委員会アクション
－国連事務総長に対し、一刻も早くビルマを訪問し、
スーチーさんを含むすべての政治囚の釈放と対話の
促進を軍政に働きかけるよう要請するアピール行動
（国連大学前、8～19日（土日を除く）15～16時）
・ビルマの会 講演会
「ビルマの民主化を求めて～草の根難民支援活動から」
講師：中尾恵子（日本ビルマ救援センター代表）
参加費1000円（全額ビルマ難民支援に寄付）
（京都・法然院、14日15時～）
・テーラワーダ仏教講演会―ミャンマーサイクロン被
災者救援活動の現場から その祈りと行動
講師：ティータグー長老（ニャーニッサラ師）
＊ミャンマーの民芸品や料理の出店、写真展、舞踊、
油絵もあり
（名古屋市熱田区の本遠寺、12月15日、昼の部13時～・夜の部18時～）
・2008年度ワン・ワールド・フェスティバル～感じる・
ふれあう・助け合う 世界につながる国際協力のお祭り
日本ビルマ救援センターによる活動紹介・
ビルマ難民支援バザーあり。
映画「ビルマ、パゴダの影で」21日10時より上映。
フォトジャーナリスト宇田有三が解説
（大阪国際交流センター、20日・21日、10時～）
★ジェーン・バーキン最新アルバム『冬の子供たち』が
発売中。アウンサンスーチー氏に捧げる楽曲「アウンサンスーチー」を収録。
☆インターネット放送局「アワープラネットTV」がビルマ
でのダム開発問題を取り上げた。
ビルマ情報ネットワークの秋元由紀が解説（映像、16分）。
http://www.ourplanet-tv.org/video/contact/2008/20081008_10.html
★特定非営利活動法人メコン・ウォッチの
季刊誌「フォーラムMekong」、最新号はビルマ特集。
－ビルマ～サイクロン後の人々、軍政－
http://www.mekongwatch.org/resource/forum/FM_vol9_2_01.html
【もっと詳しい情報は】
きょうのビルマのニュース（平日毎日更新）
http://d.hatena.ne.jp/burmainfo/
ビルマ情報ネットワーク
http://www.burmainfo.org/
【お問い合わせ】
ビルマ情報ネットワーク 秋元由紀
====================================
今週のビルマのニュース Eメール版
2008年12月12日号【0839号】
作成： ビルマ情報ネットワーク
協力： ビルマ市民フォーラム
====================================
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JANE BIRKIN WANTS AUNG SAN SUU KYI FREED
http://bigozine2.com/roio/?p=104
December 12, 2008 – 3:36 am
It’s hard to imagine that a singer whose song was banned in da $ingapura in 1969 has come back with a song for Aung San Suu Kyi.
A track about Burmese political prisoner Aung San Suu Kyi appears on singer Jane Birkin’s new album Enfants d’hiver. Birkin wrote it herself and she says Serge Gainsbourg, her ex-husband, would have approved.
“I met Aung San Suu Kyi in Rangoon,” Birkin says. “She is an extraordinarily funny and brilliant lady, and when I got back I went to see President Sarkozy to try to get him to pull [French oil giant] Total out of Burma. It didn’t work. So I thought: perhaps the only force left is people. It comes down to the individual, what they can do.”
Birkin has been performing Aung San Suu Kyi live to create awareness for “The Lady”. She’s involved in a campaign for Aung San Suu Kyi’s release and a plea for governments to pull out investments from Burma. Jane Birkin is 62 and still working for causes.
In 1969, Birkin and Serge Gainsbourg released the song “Je t’aime… moi non plus” (”I love you… me neither”), which had salacious lyrics (sung in French) against a background of female moaning and groaning, culminating in an orgasm at the song’s conclusion. The song was not only banned from radio in $ingapore but also from sale.
Hear Jane Birkin sing Aung San Suu Kyi live at Le Pont des Artistes Studio Charles Trenet, Maison de Radio France, Paris on Nov 12, 2008.
Aung San Suu Kyi
will be gone
and she’ll be on a t-shirt
the marketing’s good
monks are dying
so the children are crying
we’ll be playing buckles
before you’re old girls
torture, drug dealers
finance our dreams
why should we care
the stock market’s good
petrol’s booming, generals wooing
trucks are looming
in Rangoon
we know your faces
come out and die
welcome the tourists
under the Burmese sky
…but tomorrow
the world will see
we did nothing
for Aung San Suu Kyi
Click here to download the track. (6.2MB)
$ingapore is Burma’s biggest supporter in Asean.
Burma in 2008
http://eastasiaforum.org/2008/12/12/burma-in-2008/
Author: Trevor Wilson
Taking stock about Burma (Myanmar) at the end of 2008, it is hard to see improvement in the political and economic situation there and equally hard to see international policy proving any more effective than before. Consensus is growing that all policies have largely failed to influence the country’s State Peace and Development Council, and even some former supporters of sanctions now admit that sanctions too have failed.
Yet governments (including Australia’s) continue to add new sanctions to those that are already manifestly not working. Unsurprisingly, most governments never evaluate their sanctions, whose indiscriminate impact on nascent Burmese private enterprise has been documented. Imposing sanctions make the imposer feel good, and anti-regime activists rejoice, but the recipient regime feels they are discriminatory policies if the sanctions are not the universal, mandatory kind. So-called smart sanctions, like the financial sanctions imposed against individuals and organizations connected to the regime, are so cumbersome that main banks prefer not to transfer any funds at all to Burma, even legitimate funds to be used by reputable organisations for genuine humanitarian purposes. Meanwhile, those in the know use well-established but completely unregulated informal networks to transfer funds without the knowledge of governments, thereby circumventing these sanctions.
If anything, the military regime looks even more secure than ever, having conducted a dubious referendum in May 2008 to bring its new constitution into effect, having managed its cyclone recovery reasonably well despite a poor start, considerable international criticism and receiving much less international assistance than hoped for, and having successfully defended itself from further attack in the 2008 UN General Assembly. This is not to say it enjoys any more support than it had before; indeed, the opposite is probably the case, as ordinary people remain angry at the regime’s treatment of Buddhist monks in last year’s protests and of the poor who were the main victims in this year’s cyclone. Indeed, Burma’s citizenry are more cynical than ever about their government.
Right now, the military regime is conducting a delayed crack-down against its political opponents, whose actions are mostly confined to peaceful protests. As a result, the United Nations estimates the number of political prisoners has reached more than 2,100, the highest figure ever, despite occasional amnesties by the regime. Such repression of political activity hardly implies that the elections scheduled for 2010 will be open, free or fair, but simply dismissing them as a sham is to miss an opportunity and may make matters worse.
The military regime remains committed to its “road map” towards political reconciliation, even though this means the army imposing its views to retain de facto power. The process involves no negotiations, no meaningful consultations, and no substantive participation by other groups, despite the United Nations, ASEAN and even China calling for this. More divided than ever, the United Nations is now being undermined by democracy movement supporters and seems unsure which way to turn. A mooted second visit to Burma (Myanmar) by the UN Secretary-General, which would normally offer some movement towards a political settlement, it now being described as unwise. Indeed, given that the military regime now is increasingly ignoring UN agencies that try to effect change there, Ban Ki Moon’s caution about visiting again is understandable.
It is no surprise also that greater efforts have not been made to engage the regime on what it needs to hand over power. The regime itself refuses to see any need for mediation, including by the UN, so traditional conflict resolutions processes tried by UN Special Envoys in the past, have not worked. But perhaps the time has come to sit down with the generals and find some compromise solutions.
This entry was posted on 12 December 2008 at 10:00 pm and is filed under Aid, Governance. Tagged: ASEAN, Ban Ki-moon, Burma, Burma governance, Situation in Burma, UN and Burma. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
How Burma's opposition lost its fear
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/how-burmas-opposition-lost-its-fear-1059464.html
Supporters of Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party attend a rally in Rangoon
Despite the junta's crackdown, Phoebe Kennedy finds a new mood of defiance on the streets of Rangoon
By Phoebe Kennedy in Rangoon
Wednesday, 10 December 2008
I was bumping along Rangoon's streets in a battered taxi when I saw the crowd, men and women wearing red armbands, most with heads bowed, looking uncomfortable, even frightened.
Any crowd in Burma's old colonial capital is a rarity and I asked the driver who they were. "NLD," he muttered. I asked him to stop and walked back up the street. I had not noticed it before but tucked between two shops selling cheap wooden furniture is the office of the National League for Democracy (NLD), the party of Aung San Suu Kyi, the icon of Burmese democracy and political prisoner who remains confined to her decaying lakeside home on University Avenue, a mile or so away.
The NLD was the landslide winner of elections in 1990, immediately annulled by the ruling military to keep themselves in power. In the 18 intervening years, depressingly little has changed in Burma's political landscape.
U Hla Tin introduced himself as a member of parliament (who has never taken up his seat) and steered me through the overspill of NLD members on the pavement. The crowd of about 80 people was braving not just the glare of Burma's midday sun but the scrutiny of watching plain-clothed military intelligence officers across the street.
A recent flurry of lengthy jail sentences meted out to Burmese dissidents made their simple decision to come out to support their party a stunningly brave one. In recent months, hundreds of activists, along with journalists, bloggers, a comedian and a hip hop star have been handed decades-long sentences and dispatched to remote jails across the Burmese gulag.
"Aren't you scared?" I asked the MP. "No," he said with a smile. "We don't care." He and his colleagues had faced up to the worst that could happen to them, it seemed, and were no longer afraid.
Inside, in a gloomy shop-cum-house, with yellowing walls and ceiling fans whirring, it was hard to believe we were in the offices of the party which should be running a country of more than 50 million. I was ushered to a plastic chair near the front.
U Hla Pe, a member of the NLD central executive committee, read dryly from a written speech calling for political prisoners to be released and for the junta to implement an urgent review of a new constitution which enshrines their role in any future elected government.
A woman in the audience, her greying hair pinned back, wiped away silent tears as she listened to demands that are unlikely ever to be met. U Hla Pe finished, took a sip from his water glass, his hand shaking, and was helped down from the wooden podium. He rejoined the NLD top brass seated behind him; two rows of noble, elderly men, their political dreams reduced to empty protocol.
The NLD has been criticised for its lack of direction and new ideas. Not surprising, given that most of its best political minds are behind bars. And communication with Ms Suu Kyi, under house arrest, is impossible, said U Hla Tin. "We don't speak to her, we don't hear from her, no no no," he shook his head. "How can we know what she's thinking?"
Rudderless and reduced by imprisonments, the remnants of Suu Kyi's party are trying to decide whether to contest elections set for 2010. There is almost no prospect of a fair vote, Burma's generals will no doubt ensure that their puppet civilian organisation, the Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA) will form the winning party. But the NLD's refusal to engage with the military's stage-managed "road-map to democracy" means the party risks becoming isolated and irrelevant as the years tick by.
Some of Ms Suu Kyi's supporters want a change of tactic. According to the online bulletins of Burma's exiled opposition, calls for greater engagement in the military's skewed political process are led by the veteran journalist and NLD executive U Win Tin, released in September after 19 years in jail. Reports say pressure has been added by Western diplomats who have met privately with NLD leaders to urge them to participate.
But the party rank and file are circumspect. "In the West you always talk of a level playing field," said another disenfranchised MP. "Here our game is played on the side of a mountain."
They streamed out of the meeting, walking in pairs or small groups to catch an ancient bus or taxi home. They kept their heads down, with wary sideways glances at the men across the street.
Human Rights and Wrongs
http://hrforall.wordpress.com/2008/12/10/human-rights-and-wrongs/
Posted by: hrforall on: December 10, 2008
In: HR Education Comment!
Dean Johns
As a human who happens to write, I most of all love to write in support of human rights. It’s the worthiest possible cause. It puts me in the best possible company. And it gives me at least a grain of hope that I can help right some human wrongs.
It also reminds me how fortunate I am, as a citizen of a relatively free country, to enjoy the right to write in comparative safety - unlike fellow writers in so many countries around the world who constantly put their liberty and even their lives on the line.
And even more gutsy are those who don’t just write, but riot, rage and revolt against their oppressors.
So it’s a particular pleasure to pay tribute to the courage of these heroes and heroines who fight the good fight, and also to express sympathy for all those millions of souls still helpless in the face of overwhelming political, economic and military might, by writing in celebration of the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).
Humanity has made a great deal of progress since Dec 10, 1948. Most subjects of former colonies have won liberty from their imperial overlords. Millions of Eastern Europeans have been freed from the death-grip of the USSR. South Africans have rid themselves of the curse of apartheid.
Indigenous peoples have achieved long-overdue recognition and rights in Canada, Australia and even some countries in South America. African-Americans have progressed from being begrudged the vote to seeing one of their own elected to the presidency.
But many others haven’t been so fortunate. Billions of our fellow humans are largely or totally deprived of their rights by rotten regimes in a depressingly long roll-call of countries including China, Burma, Vietnam, North Korea, Cuba, Haiti, the Congo, Eritrea, Sudan, Niger, Chad, Saudi Arabia, Libya, Morocco, Syria, Somalia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Zimbabwe.
Then there are all those nations that like to present themselves as worthy global citizens, but actually grant their people only those human rights that suit the purposes of whichever parties or personalities happen to be in power. Turkey, Egypt, Pakistan, the Philippines, Indonesia and Singapore, for example - plus, of course, Malaysia.
How Malaysia compares
Let’s focus on Malaysia for now and see how the situation here after 50+ years of Barisan Nasional (BN) rule stacks-up against the 60-year-old UDHR.
Concepts involving entrenched inequality, like ketuanan Melayu (Malay supremacy), the New Economic Policy and special privileges including legal immunity for ‘royalty’ seem to me fundamentally at odds with the first two Articles of the UDHR.
Article 1: All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights…
Article 2: Everyone is entitled to all rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.
Next let’s examine what the UDHR has to say about selective prosecution, as in the case of opposition supporters for sedition, while seditious comments by keris-waving BN politicians are tolerated and even encouraged.
Article 7: All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law.
And while we’re on this subject, what about the incarceration of bloggers and political activists under the ISA, without charge or trial?
Article 9: No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.
Article 10: Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, in determination of his rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against him.
Then there are those perennially sensitive if not incendiary issues, especially as relating to Malays, of religious freedom and ‘apostasy’. But the UDHR doesn’t leave room for much doubt or debate
Article 18: Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief…
As for the matter of media censorship and control in favour of BN and the suppression of dissenting views:
Article 19: Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media…
It’s the same story for Malaysia’s laws against public vigils and rallies.
Article 20: Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association…
Malaysia is in flagrant and consistent breach of several other Articles of the UDRH too, most notably to me in its shameful exploitation of foreign workers for pathetic rates of pay and poor housing.
Article 23: Everyone has the right to work…to just and favourable conditions of work…(and) everyone, without any discrimination, has the right to equal pay for equal work.
The BN government habitually tries to justify its systematic denial of so many human rights by claiming that Malaysia is an exception to the rule by virtue of “special circumstances”, “sensitive issues” or “Asian values”.
But almost 10 years before Malaysia even existed as an independent nation, the framers of the UDHR foresaw the need to warn against such nonsense.
Article 30: Nothing in this declaration may be interpreted as implying for any state, group or person any right to engage in any activity or to perform any act aimed at the destruction of any of the rights and freedoms set forth herein.
The UDHR isn’t, as BN and many other ruling regimes seem to imagine, just a piece of paper they can cynically sign and blithely ignore. It’s a legally-binding document that they have a duty to uphold.
And if they fail in this duty, we the people have the right - indeed the responsibility, according to UDHR Article 29 - to write or otherwise voice our protests as loudly as humanly possible.
Some of these Articles are abbreviated for reasons of length. Read the full version of the UDHR here.
Asylum claims nearly double,Swamped, the Foreign Ministry is running out of support funds
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/nn20081211a1.html
By SETSUKO KAMIYA
Staff writer
The number of people seeking asylum in Japan is surging toward a new record, and the government is grappling to deal with the flood, a nonprofit support organization has warned.
Due to the rapid increase, to almost double the number of last year's applicants, the government's budget for supporting the refugees, many of whom have no means of support, is close to drying up, the Foreign Ministry admitted Wednesday.
According to the Japan Association for Refugees, 1,450 people had applied for refugee status as of the beginning of this month, after exceeding 1,000 in September.
The previous record for applications is 954, set in 2006.
The applicants include people from Myanmar, one of the largest groups applying for refugee status since the democratization movement started there in the 1980s. The number has continued to increase since the junta's crackdown last year.
Other significant increases in asylum seekers include people from Sri Lanka, where a ceasefire between the government and Tamil Tiger rebels expired earlier this year, Bangladeshis and Kurds, JAR said.
There has also been a notable increase from unstable areas of Africa, including Ethiopia, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Cameroon, the NPO said.
The Justice Ministry's Immigration Bureau said it won't provide official figures for applicants or approvals until next year but confirmed the trend identified by JAR.
The increase in applicants from Africa has been attributed to the Tokyo International Conference on African Development in Yokohama in May and the Group of Eight summit in Hokkaido in July, said Eri Ishikawa, secretary general of JAR.
"Through those two events, Japan's commitment to Africa was reported by the media in those countries, and people may have gained a good impression of Japan as a country that gives humanitarian aid, leading many to consider Japan as a place they can escape to," Ishikawa said.
The Foreign Ministry in principle provides financial support to asylum seekers in dire need, including those having no job, money or place to live.
According to an official at the Foreign Ministry's Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs Division who handles such support, an adult is provided ¥1,500 and a child ¥750 a day for living expenses. If housing is needed, a family receives a maximum of ¥60,000 a month for rent.
A single person can get ¥40,000.
In principle, the financial support is given for four months.
Through its affiliated Refugee Assistance Headquarters, the ministry provided support to 235 asylum seekers just in November.
Last year, 95 people a month received support, said the government official, who declined to be named.
"The number of people we support has been rising constantly this year," she said.
This year, based on past needs, the budget was set at ¥78 million, but this has almost been exhausted because of the rapid rise, she admitted.
The ministry is now mulling measures to secure sufficient funding until the March 31 end of the fiscal year.
The official said the ministry will push to increase the budget for next year under the assumption the trend will continue.
Ishikawa of JAR, who shares the view that more people will continue to seek asylum in Japan, said it takes an average of two years to resolve an application.
Since many asylum seekers can't work and don't have access to medical insurance during this time, four months of support is clearly insufficient, she said.
Ishikawa said the amount of money a refugee is entitled to is even lower than what a Japanese citizen would get from welfare.
"The support should be designed to cover two years, or the government should allow people waiting for their status to work," she said.
"Without a job or any financial support, these people cannot live."
Has international diplomacy on Burma touched its zenith?
http://www.aseanmp.org/news/?p=1784
10 December 2008
Irrawaddy (by Dr. Sein Myint)
The 241 members of Asean Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus (AIPMC) called on the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to visit Burma and press for the release of political prisoners and kick start political reforms, after his refusal to a similar petition made by 112 former Presidents and Prime Ministers to him.
Instead, the UN Chief said “his direct involvement was “not enough” to resolve the current political stalemate in Burma” and redirected the onus to the Group of Friends on Burma ‘to use their influence, available leverage and tools” to mount pressure on the Burmese military leaders. Most particularly, of her immediate neighbours China, India and Thailand.
Has international diplomacy on Burma reached its zenith? Or to put it more bluntly, has the UN’s shuttle diplomacy arrived at a dead-end? Depending on one’s perspectives on UN effectiveness and role, some might say ‘aye’ and some might say ‘nay’.
The ‘nayers’ would say that the ultimate authority of the UN lies with its Security Council that could still adopt a binding resolution on Burma if there are ‘No’ veto from five permanent member ‘PM’ states. However, the ‘ayers’ would argue that this is unlikely to happen, especially the two PMs, i.e. the Chinese and the Russians, allies of the Burmese junta, will not allow passage of any resolution on Burma initiated and proposed by the US and her Western allies under the current geo-political circumstances.
And many past and present world conflicts that UN has failed to prevent and act on, perhaps for many reasons, attest and add strong support to the pessimistic ‘ayers’ on UN ineffectiveness. However, the optimist ‘nayers’ would cast a long short based on the ‘dynamic’ nature of politics, that eventual possibility of international consensus is still likely to obtain if the global polarization can be reduced dramatically resultant of the incoming US new administration.
But, as one former diplomat pointed out that the ‘good offices’ of the UN Secretary General provided services as mandated by the General Assembly but is under no instruction from the Security Council. Without any resolution from the Security Council, the UN SG has no power to act and enforce upon any member state.
It is evident that the ruling military government in Burma was determined and carefully planning to control political power in the country for a long time. Starting from the secretive construction of the new capital in the jungle years before to the recent long prison sentencing of political opposition activists and potential dissidents, clearly demonstrated their preparedness to face any internal or external pressure exerted on them.
The recent discovery of natural energy resources help the Generals to cultivate closer economic relationships with willing and eager energy starved neighbours, effectively breaking those selective economic sanctions imposed by the US and the West. Furthermore, deepening polarization between the West and Russians helps provide the shrewd military generals opportunity to exploit the geopolitics to their advantage, able to block any proposed and intended resolution initiated by the US and her allies at the UNSC.
Such ineffectiveness and powerlessness of the UN has frustrated many Burmese exiled students and activists who are compelled to ask questions on the impotence of this international diplomacy. And thus start calling upon their fellow countrymen and women to rise up on the basis of self reliance and to shed the ‘dependant mentality’ dominating the exiled political leadership for the last two decades.
As Newton’s second law of nature implied that on each and every action there are equal and opposite reaction, thus, it is naturally only a matter of time when equal reactionary forces would emerge to counter the injustice inside Burma. As shown in many political histories, once political problems could not be solved peacefully, desperation would force discontented individual(s) seeking alternative options to counter the injustice.
Therefore, it is imperative that key democratic countries should help unite the exiled Burmese democratic movement to form a broad grass-root based democratic umbrella global organization that has the mandate if exiled communities across the globe. Under the prevailing political circumstances, the united but not fragmented exiled community is the only viable force left to lead the restoration of democracy in Burma peacefully while countering current military rulers’ seven step road map in the long run.
[Dr. Sein Myint is the director of Policy Development of Justice for Human Rights in Burma, located in Maryland, USA . He is an Honorary Member of Amnesty International Chapter 22 in Washington D.C.]
Burma: Struggling for human rights
http://preciousmetal.wordpress.com/2008/12/10/burma-struggling-for-human-rights/
From Mizzima News
December 10th marks the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the United Nations, to which military-ruled Burma is party.
While the world marks the occasion, Burmese continue to live without their basic rights, denied by their military rulers, says David Scott Mathieson, Burma consultant for the New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW), who has closely monitored human rights developments in Burma for years.
Mathieson, during a brief interview with Mizzima’s Salai Pi Pi, said the United Nations as well as the world community faces a huge task in assisting Burmese in achieving their basic rights.
Q: What is the picture of human rights in Burma today?
Mathieson: Unfortunately, there is little to celebrate in Burma with the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, because of the human rights condition that has come to depict Burma. In almost every aspect of Universal Human Rights, the situation in Burma is quite grave.
Q: Has there been any progress in the human rights situation in Burma?
Mathieson: There has been very little progress in the past 60 years on human rights in Burma. We can say, especially in the past 20 years, that there has actually been more deterioration [in the human rights situation in Burma]. There is still a long way to go.
Q: From a human rights aspect, how do you view the recent sentencing of several political prisoners in Burma?
Mathieson: The recent sentencing of political activists, artists like Zarganar, journalists, Buddhist monks, Internet activists and poets, demonstrates very clearly to the United Nations and the world that the military government is not serious about respecting human rights. All these people, around 200, are people who should be involved in the country’s politic on a daily basis and especially on the day to mark the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Q: What do you think should be done to promote human rights in Burma?
Mathieson: Basic freedoms need to be respected. The first thing that the international community has to do is not to simply criticize the SPDC [Burma's military government]. They must also put pressure on human rights bodies within the international community. And they need to put more pressure on China, India, Russia and the countries of Southeast Asia to be more proactive on human rights in Burma.
Secondly, I think Burmese society has to be supported by the international community. We must support civil society in the country in helping to end military rule and in achieving the basic freedoms they have long been denied.
Q: Anything else that you would like to add on the human rights situation in Burma?
Mathieson: As the situation is getting worse, international attention must increase. It is not enough for the international community to express their frustration with the SPDC. They must find a way to make the situation better. And I think the international community owes the people in Burma that much. We witnessed in the past year the crackdown [of the September 2007 monk-led protests] and the response to the cyclone [Nargis] – the people inside Burma are suffering. These are but two more reminders on the eve of the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration that more needs to be done.
Russian business presence becoming stronger in Burma
http://kaytu.burmabloggers.net/?p=1228
12.11.2008 | Author: admin | Posted in Daily New
Rangoon (Mizzima) - With several Russian firms directly investing or having businesses interests in Burma and with the closer cooperation between the two countries, a Rangoon based observer said, Russia is likely to emerge as a major investor in the near future in the Southeast Asian country.
The observer, who closely follows Russian-Burmese relationship, said since about eight years ago Russia’s private and public enterprises slowly emerged in Burma and began investing and operating businesses in sectors including gold and copper mining, onshore-offshore oil and gas explorations, steel manufacturing and even had a finger in garment and the fisheries industries.
Of the many businesses ventures in cooperation with Russian enterprises are the prominent Russian Oil and Natural Gas Company Silver Wave Sputnik Petroleum Pte Ltd., Victorious Glory International Pte Ltd., and Technoprom Exports of Russia.
Russia’s Oil and Natural Gas companies had conducted two onshore and two offshore projects, with each project estimated to be valued at between US$ 30 million to US$50 million, the observer, who declined to reveal his identity for fear of reprisal told Mizzima.
“As a principle, the military government [of Burma] does not allow any foreign company to be involved in onshore exploration and production. But the Russian case is an exception,” the observer said.
Another important project the US$160 million development of a steel manufacturing facility by ‘Technoprom Exports’ of Russia is also nearly complete in southern Shan State.
According to the observer, the project, which has a capacity of producing 200,000 tonnes of cast iron per annum, is expected to be commissioned in early 2009 and that the iron produced would be fed to a steel mill run by the Myanmar Economic Corporation (MEC), a major business undertaking of the army based in Myingyan of Mandalay Division.
The facility located in the town of Pingpet in southern Shan State, will have a commercial-scale coal-powered generator that produces 65 megawatt of electricity. The coal will be transported to the plant from Tigyit coal mine, Burma’s biggest coal mine located in Tigyit village of Pinlong Township, about 22 miles south of Kalaw town in Southern Shan State.
The observer said Russia is likely to emerge as a major investor in Burma, because it is one of the foremost world powers. Burma’s military rulers are seeking stronger support by giving them secret business deals in the country.
While Burma has publicly declared that it maintains a policy of non-alignment, it is apparent that Burma needs an alliance with some major power like Russia, in order to survive in the long run in the international arena, he added.
Meanwhile, another informed industrial source claims that a Russian firm is now seeking business deals in Burma’s garment and fisheries industries. “A Russian firm, yet be identified, plans to set up and run a garment factory in Rangoon, that will manufacture bullet-proof jackets,” the source said. However, the information could be independently verified.
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Unhappy Human Rights Day in Burma
http://www.upiasia.com/Human_Rights/2008/12/11/unhappy_human_rights_day_in_burma/9180/
By Awzar Thi
Column: Rule of LordsPublished: December 11, 2008
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Hong Kong, China — While governments and groups around the world made effusive statements and gave awards to mark the 60th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on Dec. 10, the Asian Human Rights Commission struck a more somber note.
“The celebration,” the regional body said, “is a grim reminder that even after 60 years of the adoption of this great declaration, the gap between what is declared and what is actually achieved ... is enormous. Both in the field of civil and political rights as well as economic, social and cultural rights, people in Asia ... have so little to celebrate.”
The downbeat mood was certainly shared in Burma. There, a handful of people belonging to local group Human Rights Defenders and Promoters gathered in Rangoon to mark the date.
Their International Human Rights Day event was muted by comparison to most around the world, and even compared to the one that they had held the year before. But that they got together at all demonstrated their commitment to what the day represents.
Government-backed thugs and officials harassed and questioned the participants as they arrived for the program on Tuesday. The following morning, police and other authorities visited and threatened the organizers.
“They seemed quite angry,” one told Radio Free Asia. “‘Every year you lot upset the public like this,’ they said.”
For upsetting the public with talk about human rights, dozens of the group’s members are already languishing in jail. They include its leader, who has been accused of plotting bomb attacks after he spoke out on the need for more emergency relief in the wake of Cyclone Nargis, which hit the country in May. Others have been imprisoned on offences ranging from sedition to illegal tutoring. Many were arbitrarily detained and charged after last year’s protests.
Police have lodged the name of an associate living abroad with Interpol, which has obligingly posted a wanted notice for him on its Web site. His alleged offences include people smuggling and terrorism.
The gap between what has been declared and what has been achieved could hardly be wider than in Burma today, a fact that Human Rights Defenders and Promoters also plainly acknowledge.
“In stark contrast to the aims and pledges contained in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, our country, Burma,” its statement read, “is utterly violating human rights in the gravest manner.”
One person who had come from cyclone-ravaged areas to attend the gathering put it more bluntly: “Across the whole country, you’ll see human rights abuses whenever you step outside your house.”
After a tumultuous year in which global interest in Burma was not matched with efforts to support domestic efforts for real change, the group’s statement also contained a sense of despair at the ineffectual work of international agencies.
“Contrary to their aims and objectives, the U.N. and the Human Rights Council as well have failed to successfully prevent human rights abuses,” it said pointedly.
Nothing in this year’s speeches of either the U.N. secretary-general or the high commissioner for human rights will give the rights defenders in Burma, or elsewhere in Asia, cause for optimism.
In her address, High Commissioner Navanethem Pillay blandly iterated, “Tens of millions of people around the world are still unaware that they have rights that they can demand.” She said that she warmly welcomed the designation of 2009 as the International Year of Human Rights Learning, to make up for this presumed deficit in knowledge.
For millions in Burma and Asia, the declared year will consist of nothing more than lost time and wasted opportunities. As Human Rights Defenders and Promoters make clear, their problem is not a lack of knowledge. They understand the issues better than the high commissioner. Their problem is a lack of means to implement and enforce their rights.
Nobody needs to be told about rights that they can’t obtain. What people need are practical ways to protect those rights, and to obtain redress where they are wronged. Learning about human rights is only useful if accompanied with well-informed steps toward those ends.
The United Nations should instead do some learning itself. It should spend time learning about how rights are systemically denied in countries across Asia, including Burma, and about what can be done to intervene actively to make it otherwise. This is a much harder task than the one it has set itself for 2009, but it’s the only one really worth doing.
“Unfortunately, in the countries of the region the ordinary folk react to human rights discourse without much enthusiasm,” the Asian Human Rights Commission said in its closing remarks on Wednesday, “due to their realization that the systems of oppression that exist, which are defective administration of justice systems, will not allow them to enjoy these rights.”
That’s the nub of Burma’s problems. The Human Rights Defenders and Promoters know it. Anyone who steps outside their door there knows it. The U.N. technocrats probably know it too, even if they won’t admit it. Enough of learning; without implementing, there will only be many more unhappy Human Rights Days to observe in Rangoon.
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(Awzar Thi is the pen name of a member of the Asian Human Rights Commission with over 15 years of experience as an advocate of human rights and the rule of law in Thailand and Burma. His Rule of Lords blog can be read at http://ratchasima.net)
Sacrificing the Mekong River Basin in the Name of Electricity
http://ki-media.blogspot.com/2008/12/sacrificing-mekong-river-basin-in-name.html
Wednesday, 10 December 2008
Written by John Schertow
Toward Freedom
The Mekong river is considered the lifeblood of southeast Asia. It starts out on the Qingzang plateau in Tibet, a place known as 'roof of the world', and makes its way through Burma, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam before pouring itself into the China Sea.
Along this path, carved out over millennia, the Mekong has ensured the health and security of countless people, providing them with food, water for crops, and a means of trade and transportation. Today the Mekong supports as many as 100 million people. However, the onset of Hydro development, which began in the early 1990s, threatens to drastically change that.
In effect, the Mekong River Commission (MRC), an inter-governmental body of Mekong countries, wants to turn the Mekong river basin into an international sacrifice zone, where abundance and food security will be replaced with increasing poverty, food shortages and the heavy loss of diversity.
It's strange, but the MRC says this is all necessary and that they have no choice but to exploit the natural resource power of the Mekong river, because of the never-ending need for more electricity in Southeast Asia's urban centers. And so, they are attempting to build dozens, possibly hundreds of dams along the river and its tributaries.
At the same time the MRC insists that it supports sustainable development, that it cares deeply about the Mekong basin and, as stated in their mandate, that they will make every effort “To promote and coordinate sustainable management of water and related resources for the countries’ mutual benefit and the people’s well-being” in a manner that is “consistent with the needs to protect, preserve, enhance and manage the environmental and aquatic conditions and maintenance of the ecological balance exceptional to this river basin.”
It certainly sounds like something local, riparian communities and environmental groups can support. However, the reality of the MRC is a far cry from this glowing image of social and environmental heroism.
In fact, it's often suggested that the MRC must be replaced because out of either fear or inability or just plain old greed, it has created “a vacuum of accountability” that allows developers move forward with their hydro projects “unchallenged,” with little regard to their effect on the Mekong basin or its inhabitants, without even so much as an environmental assessment.
Results and Consequences
Next to the Amazon, the Mekong River is the world's most bio-diverse inland waterways. It is home to as many as 1,250 species of fish, including the giant catfish and the world's few remaining freshwater dolphins.
Each year, between June and December, the Mekong grows to about thirty times its low season size, replenishing the water table and triggering a mass migration of fish to their breeding and feeding grounds in Cambodia's Tonlé Sap Lake.
"As the floodwaters recede, the fishermen of the region work together constructing what are, in effect, long bamboo fences around the lake to trap the migrating fish. The fences stretch for some 1,500 km, using 3 million stakes or more. Huge quantities of fish are caught - around 30 tons an hour in one single fishery. Although this is not industrial fishing in the accepted sense, it is artesian fishing on a massive scale and a truly impressive sight," describes the New Agriculturist.
Historically, the communities would get about 80% of their nutritional needs from this annual effort.
Today, such a prospect is impossible. "It is now estimated that the total fish catch from the Lower Mekong Basin is two million tons per year," the New Agriculturist adds.
More than that, communities say the dominant species have begun to mature at a much younger age, which means, on top of the steep decline in population, the fish are now smaller and less valuable. Some communities say they now have to fish 'night and day' - even for weeks on end, to meet the same yield that they would historically gather with ease. Others have been simply forced to abandon their livelihood altogether.
Communities rely on farming to meet the rest of their subsistence needs. However, this too is being threatened by the dams. "The dams’ reservoirs retain a lot of nutrient-rich sediment that would otherwise be spread by [the] annual floods to the lower Mekong," says Nguyen Tan, an agriculture expert at Can Tho’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development in Vietnam.
This is causing soil throughout the basin to become less fertile, which, on top of affecting the health of the ecosystem, is leaving farmers with no choice but to rely on poisonous chemical fertilizers.
Displacement is another major concern. To date, hydro development has primarily taken place on the upper end of the Mekong, where there are at least three dams in operation, and as many as 280 more in various stages of planning and development.
It is unclear how many people have been displaced by the upper Mekong dams, however, there is an increasing push to get started on the lower Mekong, particularly where it runs through Laos, which threatens to displace more than 75,000 people, and "condemn millions [more] to serious food shortages and increased poverty," says Chris Lang, an environment researcher based in Frankfurt.
Jeremy Bird, the executive director of the MRC, claims there will be "...tremendous efforts... targeted towards first of all avoiding those impacts."
It's almost comical, given that Bird says any such effort should not involve those who would be affected the most, the riparian communities.
Bird's opinion was brought to life in September 2008, when “the MRC organized a meeting in Vientiane to discuss the proposals to dam the lower Mekong,” Lang points out. “None of the millions of people who will be affected... were invited to the meeting." Bird explained to a journalist from Inter Press Service that he did not see that as a problem on the grounds that the meeting was held in English and "in an environment that the communities are not familiar with."
Drowning the Future
In an industry that drowns in hypocrisy, much like the forest regions and livelihoods it destroys, Mr. Bird's statements should come as no surprise. The MRC, while presenting itself as a champion of sustainable development, has and will continue to facilitate the destruction of the Mekong river basin, threatening along with it the livelihoods and cultures of millions of people.
After all the name of the game here is power, not the kind we need for light bulbs and cell phone chargers, but that all-corrupting power where, be it through the clench of a fist, the muzzle of a gun, or through scratches on some eco-friendly paper, one can decide the future of countless others.
This desperate situation begs the need for the riparian communities to come together and confront the MRC, the state governments, and the corporations that will force them to bear the full burden of hydro development while benefiting from it the least.
***
You can find more articles by John Schertow at his blog, www.intercontinentalcry.org
Junta Has Crushed Peaceful Dissent: Laura Bush
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=14775
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By LALIT K JHA Thursday, December 11, 2008
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NEW YORK — Praising the courage of the people of Burma for standing up to the barbaric rule of the country’s junta, US first lady Laura Bush said on Wednesday that the Burmese military regime has crushed peaceful dissent for decades.
“Children are conscripted as soldiers, and families are forced to perform life-threatening labor,” Bush told a select audience at the Council on Foreign Relations, a New York-based think tank, speaking on the occasion of Human Rights Day.
Bush, who has taken a personal interest in the plight of Burma, has been instrumental in shaping US policy on the country during her eight years in the White House. She has spent a significant amount of time talking about the country, its people and the brutality of its military rulers.
“The women of Burma have responded to this brutality with inspiring courage,” she said, adding that she herself has been inspired by the leadership and courage of Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Referring to her frequent interaction with Burmese, Bush recalled her visit to the Thai-Burmese border in August, where she met Dr Cynthia Maung, who operates the Mae Tao clinic.
Hundreds of patients pass through the clinic’s doors every day. Most are migrant workers or refugees from Burma, while many others make the dangerous cross-border journey to Thailand because they have no access to health care in Burma.
“At Dr Cynthia’s clinic, I saw an American doctor performing eye surgery removing cataracts, which let people who had had these very severe cataracts see again for the first time, and it was a really—it was a thrill to get to see that. And also I saw victims of land mines waiting for treatment in the clinic,” she said.
Dr Cynthia left Burma in 1988, joining thousands of others who fled to Thailand following the military’s crackdown on a nationwide pro-democracy uprising. She crossed the border and opened the clinic expecting to be there for a few months, but 20 years later, she’s still there.
“The ruling junta has labeled Dr Cynthia an insurgent and an opium-smuggling terrorist. But she continues her work to give the people of Burma the care their government denies them,” Bush said.
Observing that a single voice can be a great weapon against a regime that denies basic human rights, Bush said in April she presented the Vital Voices Human Rights Global Leadership Award to Charm Tong.
At the age of 17, Charm Tong stood before the United Nations Commission on Human Rights to describe the military campaign being carried out against women in Burma’s Shan State.
“She spoke unflinchingly of rape and abuse, though her audience included representatives of the regime she condemned. Charm Tong continues to speak out about the regime’s abuses, and she ministers to the needs of those who have fled Burma,” the first lady said.
Bush also recounted the heroism of another Burmese woman, Su Su Nway, who defied junta representatives who tried to force her and her fellow villagers to repair a road.
“She brought the local officials to court under a law prohibiting forced labor—and she won. But the government filed a complaint against Su Su Nway for ‘insulting and disrupting a government official on duty.’ This labor activist was sentenced to 18 months in jail. She was released in June 2006 and then returned immediately to advocate for human rights. Then she was arrested in … November 2007 after posting fliers near a UN official’s hotel. She has since been sentenced to 12 years.”
Bush said all these female dissidents were following in the footsteps of Aung San Suu Kyi, the world’s only detained Nobel Peace Prize winner.
As leader of the democratically elected National League for Democracy (NLD), Aung San Suu Kyi has spent most of the past two decades under house arrest. The NLD won the last countrywide election in 1990, but has never been permitted to take power.
“Her example of strength has earned support from around the world, including from here in the United States,” Bush said, recalling bipartisan expressions of solidarity for the detained democracy icon in the US Senate.
Bush also took aim at Snr-Gen Than Shwe, who heads the Burmese junta, for his ongoing campaign to silence opponents of the regime ahead of planned elections in 2010, despite promises of working toward a democratic transition for his country.
“Since the Saffron Revolution of 2007, the number of political prisoners in Burma has increased from around 1,100 to more than 2,100 now. Female activist Nilar Thein was forced to leave her newborn child and flee into hiding. After a year on the run, she was captured and jailed this September. Her husband is also imprisoned,” Bush said.
The first lady said the Burmese military junta has repeatedly ignored calls from the international community to end its repression, and is instead going ahead with its own agenda.
Bush also announced another $5 million in disaster assistance funds to communities devastated by Cyclone Nargis.
“This assistance will support the efforts of non-governmental organizations like the World Food Program and Save the Children to ensure access to clean water, adequate shelter, basic health services, and other essential needs in the most affected areas,” she said.
Copyright © 2008 Irrawaddy Publishing Group | www.irrawaddy.org
Myanmar at centre of elephant smuggling trade: report
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iFeSkJXcMIdcyuDmR6f96bvF-p5g
BANGKOK (AFP) — Myanmar is at the centre of an illegal trade in elephants and ivory, with more than 250 live animals smuggled out of the country in the past decade, a report said Wednesday.
Most of the elephants were destined for use in the tourist trekking industry in neighbouring Thailand, said the report by the wildlife trade monitoring network TRAFFIC.
Smuggling of live elephants and ivory is in "blatant contravention" of national laws and of the CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora), the group said.
"Our research found evidence of corruption allowing the illicit smuggling of ivory and elephants to take place," Chris Shepherd, senior programme officer with TRAFFIC, was quoted as saying in a statement.
"Females and juvenile elephants are particularly targeted to supply the demand from the tourism industry in Thailand, where they are put to work in elephant trekking centres," said Shepherd.
Smugglers took elephants over the frontier by bribing border officials, the report said, citing one guard as saying he had charged up to 200 dollars per animal because he was saving up to fly to Germany for the 2006 World Cup.
Yet no cross-border trade of live elephants had been reported to CITES by either Myanmar or Thailand, and some traders said elephants had disappeared from parts of Myanmar owing to numbers captured for the live trade, it said.
A survey by the group of 14 markets and three border markets in Thailand and China, which both adjoin Myanmar, also found 9,000 pieces of ivory and 16 whole tusks for sale, it said.
Reports of elephant disappearances and the amount of ivory on sale "suggests that trade poses a significant threat to the survival of Asian elephants in Myanmar," said Vincent Nijman, a co-author of the report.
Myanmar has the largest elephant population in Southeast Asia, with an estimated 4,000 to 5,000 animals, the report said.
TRAFFIC and conservation group WWF called on authorities in Myanmar to work closely with enforcement officers in Thailand and China to address the illegal trade.
"Both Thailand and China must do much more to increase enforcement and crack down on this insidious trade," Susan Lieberman, director of the WWF international species programme, was quoted as saying in the TRAFFIC statement.
It called for greater monitoring of domestic elephant populations in Myanmar, including the use of microchip and tattoo-based identification systems to prevent illegal cross-border movement.
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