http://www.sunstar.com.ph/network/asean-human-rights-body-lacks-power-punish-336-pm
CHA-AM, Thailand -- Southeast Asian officials on Friday praised the creation of a regional human rights body as a historic first step toward confronting abuses, but the body will lack the power to investigate or punish violators like military-ruled Myanmar.
A confidential document obtained by The Associated Press says the rights body, which the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations hopes to form later this year, would "promote and protect human rights and fundamental freedoms" in the region but will abide by the bloc's bedrock policy of not interfering in members internal affairs.
The document, which outlines the proposed powers of the future rights body, falls short of key demands voiced by international human rights groups, which say the body will have limited effectiveness unless it can impose sanctions or expel countries that violate the rights of their own citizens.
The document was presented behind closed-doors to ASEAN foreign ministers gathered at a coastal resort in Thailand ahead of an annual leaders’ summit this weekend. It is a first draft for the body's proposed powers, with a final draft expected in July before the body is created.
Delegates say the summit will focus on how the region can best cope with the global economic crisis, and the bloc planned to sign a free trade pact with Australia and New Zealand over the weekend.
Although the issues of democratic reform in Myanmar and human rights abuses will be discussed on the sidelines of the conference, ASEAN traditionally shies away from criticism of its members.
"We'll discuss every issue that affects ASEAN but we will not interfere in their internal politics," Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva told reporters in Bangkok when asked if leaders will push Myanmar for change.
"Political reform in each country is their own business but we can pass on the message to them from the outside world."
Thailand, which currently holds ASEAN's rotating chairmanship and is hosting the summit, bills the meeting as a turning point for the bloc.
It is the first time leaders will meet since the group signed a landmark charter in December.
The document made ASEAN a legal entity and moves it a step closer to its goal of establishing a single market by 2015 and becoming a European Union-like community - despite being a disparate Cold War-era bloc with fledgling democracies, authoritarian states, a military dictatorship and a monarchy.
Rosario Manalo, a Philippine diplomat on the panel drafting the human rights body's outline, said the plans mark efforts of the region to move toward democracy.
"It is a historic first for Southeast Asia," he said.
Officials said the powers of the human rights body could evolve over time.
"Investigative powers should not be ruled out. We'll take it step by step," said Sihasak Phuangketkeow, Thailand's chairman of the drafting committee. "We have to go as far as we can but at the same time we have to be realistic."
ASEAN's 10 members - Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam – range from very poor to moderately rich.
The bloc has long been criticized as a talk shop that forges agreements by consensus and steers away from confrontation.
According to the confidential document, the human rights body would follow the principles of "noninterference in the internal affairs of ASEAN member states" and any of the group's decisions "shall be based on consultation and consensus," giving Myanmar and other violators veto power to block decisions.
International human rights groups have urged ASEAN leaders to press military-ruled Myanmar to end its rights abuses.
London-based Amnesty International said this week that ASEAN "must be empowered to effectively address human rights in Myanmar."
New York-based Human Rights Watch, in a letter to ASEAN, urged the summit to address "the dire human rights situation in Burma" and improve treatment of refugees, asylum seekers and migrants.
The United States, in a report Wednesday, blasted Myanmar's junta for having "brutally suppressed dissent" through extrajudicial killings, disappearances and torture, and cited the country's more than 2,100 political prisoners, including pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. (AP)
Asean human rights body lacks power to punish (3:36 p.m.)
Burma cyclone response was 'crime against humanity'
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/burmamyanmar/4839404/Burma-cyclone-response-was-crime-against-humanity.html
Burma's regime deliberately blocked international aid getting to victims of last year's cyclone, a report has claimed.
By Thomas Bell, South East Asia Correspondent
Last Updated: 11:33PM GMT 26 Feb 2009
Survivors of Cyclone Nargis in Burma did not receive donor money they were promised to rebuild their lives Photo: AFP/Getty
The first independent inquiry into the aftermath of the disaster has said the authorities should be referred to the International Criminal Court for stopping help getting through and persecuting survivors.
It found the Burmese leadership failed to provide adequate food, shelter and medical care in the wake of Cyclone Nargis which struck the Irrawaddy Delta on May 2 last year, killing at least 140 000 people.
Around 3.4 million people were effected by the disaster, which swept away homes, farms, granaries, livestock and wells.
Researchers from Johns Hopkins University in America and an organisation of Burmese volunteers called the Emergency Assistance Team – Burma (EAT) have documented what happened in the following weeks.
Military checkpoints were set up across the delta as the regime treated the disaster not as a humanitarian emergency but as a security crisis.
The report claims some people who attempted to distribute private aid were arrested. It details allegations of aid being stolen and resold by the military authorities.
The researchers also claim the army used forced labour, including of children, in the aftermath of the disaster.
According to one survivor: "[The army] did not help us, they threatened us. Everyone in the village was required to work for five days, morning and evening, without compensation. Children were required to work too.
"A boy got injured in his leg and he got fever. After two or three days he was taken to Rangoon, but in a few [days] he died."
There were also anecdotal accounts of people dying in the aftermath of the cyclone due to the actions of the army.
But restrictions in the country mean no one has been able to estimate how many died in a supposed "second wave" of deaths in the period after the cyclone.
Under international law, creating conditions where the basic survival needs of civilians cannot be adequately met, "intentionally causing great suffering, or serious injury to body or to mental or physical health," is considered a crime against humanity.
The report concludes that the United Nations Security Council should refer the junta for investigation by the International Criminal Court.
51 million jobs could disappear worldwide
http://www.granma.cu/ingles/2009/febrero/mier25/desempleo.html
The International Labour Organization (ILO) said that approximately 51 million jobs around the world could disappear by the end of the year. This means that 230 million people globally could be unemployed by 2010.
Unemployment brings with it an infinite number of social problems, principally a deterioration of the quality of life and the subsequent consequences. For example, when income is lowered many families face losing their homes.
Facing the rise of this uncontrollable disaster, the ILO proposes the creation of rescue plans for low-income families, many of whom will be obliged to live on less than one dollar a day.
Unemployment and necessity in homes forces many children to leave school to work and support their families, deteriorating, in certain ways, their future prostpects.
The phenomena experienced today, which has caused millions to fall into deep despair, is not only affecting poor or “third world” countries. According to the World Bank (WB), more people are falling into poverty in developing countries. In other words, the employment crisis is global and those who are feeling the worst of it are those who have always felt like the “masters of the world.”
In this respect, IMF director Dominique Strauss-Kahn, pointed out that the principal economies are in a deep depression and maintained that the worst is still to come.
One fact to keep in mind is that as the crisis becomes worse, many countries will start to close their doors to immigrants who, as usually occurs, are seeking to escape from the poverty in their own countries to work in others. (Taken from Rebelión)
Translated by Granma International
2008 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices
US lashes 'brutal' Myanmar rights record
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/afp/090225/usa/us_rights_myanmar_1
Wed Feb 25, 4:39 PM
WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States lashed out at the Myanmar regime's human rights record Wednesday, saying the military was "brutally" suppressing its citizens and razing entire villages.
In an annual global report on human rights, the State Department said Myanmar's ruling junta carried out numerous extrajudicial killings along with rape and torture without punishing anyone responsible.
"The regime brutally suppressed dissent," it said, faulting the junta for "denying citizens the right to change their government and committing other severe human rights abuses."
Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, crushed a 2007 uprising led by Buddhist monks, killing at least 31 people, according to the UN. In May last year, a cyclone left 138,000 people dead or missing.
"The regime showed contempt for the welfare of its own citizens when it persisted in conducting a fraudulent referendum in the immediate aftermath" of the cyclone, the State Department said.
It said that Myanmar also "delayed international assistance that could have saved many lives."
The regime forcibly relocated people away from their homes, particularly in areas dominated by ethnic minorities, with troops then confiscating their property or looting their possessions, the report said.
"Thousands of civilians were displaced from their traditional villages -- which often were then burned to the ground -- and moved into settlements tightly controlled by government troops in strategic areas," the report said.
"In other cases villagers driven from their homes fled into the forest, frequently in heavily mined areas, without adequate food, security or basic medical care," it said.
The State Department also said that women and members of certain minority groups are completely absent in the government and the judiciary.
Myanmar's most famous woman, pro-democracy advocate and Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, has been under house arrest for most of the last 19 years.
Between Isolation and Internationalization: The State of Burma
U.S. to seek ASEAN cooperation on new Myanmar tack
http://uk.reuters.com/article/usPoliticsNews/idUKTRE51O3D920090225
Wed Feb 25, 2009 12:44pm GMT Email | Print | Share| Single Page[-] Text [+]
1 of 1Full SizeHANOI (Reuters) - The United States wants Southeast Asian states to press for reform, openness and political progress in Myanmar, while seeking views on a new approach toward the military-ruled country, a senior U.S. diplomat said on Wednesday.
The comments come after Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced during a visit to Asia last week that the United States was taking a fresh look at its policy on Myanmar to seek ways to sway the country's ruling junta.
"What we're asking of other ASEAN members really is, first and foremost, welcome their thoughts and ideas on how we can best work together," Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Scot Marciel told reporters in Vietnam.
"And second, that they use whatever contacts and access that they have in the country to encourage new thinking and reform, increased openness and political progress," he said.
Marciel said the U.S. goal "remains to encourage release of political prisoners, dialogue between the government and the people and the opposition, and overall progress."
He said Washington wants Myanmar to stop "going in a negative direction."
Washington has gradually tightened sanctions on the generals who have ruled the former Burma for more than four decades to try to force them into political rapprochement with Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi's opposition National League for Democracy.
Myanmar's opposition won a 1990 election landslide only to be denied power. Suu Kyi has been in prison or under house arrest for more than half of the past two decades.
Clinton, however, said that neither the sanctions nor ASEAN's non-interference approach has worked, and there was a need for new thinking in Myanmar policy.
Marciel also serves as U.S. Ambassador to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, which groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. He will attend the annual ASEAN summit in Hua Hin, Thailand this weekend.
(Reporting by John Ruwitch; Editing by Paul Tait)
Regional: AIPMC prepared Burma issue just before ASEAN Conference
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
BDD
The ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus (AIPMC) will be hosting a seminar titled ‘Renewed ASEAN Leadership towards Social Justice in Myanmar’ in Bangkok on February 26. Burma's Human Rights issues is highlight during the seminar, said one of the key organizers. Currently, Asian countries' representatives are concerned over lengthily jail term against the student leaders, social and political activists and recovery process of Nargis Cyclone.
"Seminar would focus on social justice and human rights, but mainly discuss over Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and other political prisoners issues, and how to deal with 2010 election," said an organizer. The outcomes of the seminar would be delivered to the ASEAN conference which would be started on Friday in Thailand also.
Burmese political groups in Thai-Burma border pushed to form the AIPMC along with MPU few years back. AIPMC was formed by and for Parliamentarians from ASEAN countries. Mainly focus on human rights and democratic reform in Burma. Its members represent both the ruling and opposition parties of Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Philippines and Cambodia. Burmese elected MPs from 1990 are also special attendees in every AIPMC meetings and seminars.
＜When you become sick＞ By Dr. Yamamura Junpei
＜When you become sick＞
Q: Why are medical expenses high?
A: In Japan, there is a medical insurance system, and supposing you do not have health insurance, medical expenses will become high.
Q: How is the structure of the health insurance and medical care system.
A: All Japanese nationals have health insurance. It roughly divides into health insurance and there are two kinds of it.
ⅰ） National Health Insurance – anyone with a residence permit can enter this scheme. This includes those with regular work permits, those who have been granted refugee status, and spouses of Japanese citizens etc.
ⅱ）Social Health Insurance – all companies are required to participate in this scheme; and foreign employees can hold this insurance regardless of their immigration status. However the fact is that many small-scale companies fail to join the scheme.
Under the medical insurance system, 1 point is calculated as 10 yen. For example, for:
a medical examination (first examination): 270 points = 2,700 yen
a chest x-ray: 167 points = 1,670 yen
an ECG: 150 points = 1,500 yen.
To take as an example, if the cost of treatment – examination, tests, medicine etc, reaches a total of 1000 points (10,000 yen)
① If the patient holds medical insurance, the patient bears 20-30% – 2000-3000 yen, of the total cost.
However,
② If the patient does not hold medical insurance, it is an unregulated medical examination and the fee per point will depend on the medical institution.
If 1 point = 10 yen, the fee will be 10,000 yen. A generous medical center.
If 1 point = 15 yen, the fee will be 15,000 yen. A comparatively generous medical center.
If 1 point = 20 yen, the fee will be 20,000 yen. A regular medical center.
If 1 point = 30 yen, the fee will be 30,000 yen. A deplorable medical center – possibly this rate is designed to discourage foreign patients.
Accordingly it is important to take the following precautions:
Ask beforehand at the medical center reception, what the cost per point is at that institution. If one point is more that 15 yen, negotiate for a reduction to 10 yen. If this is agreed, promise that you will certainly pay your bill.
If the medical costs are likely to be expensive, consult with a social worker or the medical director about paying in installments.
Q: Which medical facilities accept a foreigner well?
A: The next medical facilities accept.
Minatomachi Medical Center (Yokohama city) – the center operates a system where for a monthly fee of 2000 yen, you can become a member of the mutual aid society. Members pay 30% of the costs for treatment incurred at the center. Tel: 045 453 3673.
The Center has also established the Minatomachi Dental Clinic – for telephone reservations phone 045 453 3858.
Nakai-Eki-Mae Clinic (Shinjuku ward): attended by many Burmese residents. Tel: 03 3365 1627.
Machiyahara Hospital (Machida city): Hernia and hemorrhoids operation costs are approximately 18-200,000 yen. Tel: 0427 95 1668.
Himawari Medical Center (Koto Ku). Tel: 03 5609 1823
Horikiri Chuo Hospital (Katsushita Ku). Tel: 03 3602 3135
Q: What kind of illness is there generally?
A: By most, slight illness, such as cold / bronchitis, gastritis, and lumbago, is not different from Japanese people. However it must be careful of the following diseases.
* Tuberculosis, Hepatitis and HIV ― Foreigners from Asian and African countries are suffering from them.
* Apoplexy, myocardial infarction, and cancer ― It is influenced by aging (length of stay) and the meal factor.
* Psychiatric disorder ― There is uneasiness of worries and forced repatriation in the thought and family to transcultural stress and a mother country.
* Pregnancy ― Delivery expense requires about 400,000 to 500,000 yen.
* Child disease ― There are much cold, asthma, etc. Although the vaccination is to carry out at each health center, an opportunity to receive in fact should be rare. Probably, it will be better to ask a health center directly.
Q：If you contract tuberculosis (TB), What should you do?
A: Please ask medical facilities. Under the Tuberculosis Prevention Law, hospitalization and treatment while hospitalised is free. The cost of outpatient treatment is also minimal.
Q：Where is HIV antibody test carried out?
A: Free and anonymous aids tests are provided at each health center.
Q: When it becomes a serious illness
A: The kouryobyou act and a medical-expenses supplementation system by local government are utilized, and hospitalization expense for a patient with a serious illness can be paid.
In the event of transporting a patient to home country, this depends on negotiations between the hospital, the Minatomachi Medical Center, the relevant embassy, the airline, medical centers in the home country, and NGOs etc. However, in the case of Burmese people, it is difficult to rely on the embassy and medical institutions in the hoｍe country.
Q: When you are injured during work, what should you do? Workers’ Accident Insurance
A: In the event that a person becomes sick or is injured at work, the company is required to pay compensation. Many Burmese work in restaurants, and thus are likely to be prone to the following workplace injuries: being cut by a knife; back injury from lifting heavy equipment and goods; slipping and suffering bruising or head injuries etc.
The following organizations correspond about consultation of a workplace accident.
Tokyo ○ FWUBC Tel:
○ JAM Tel:03－－
○ Labour Safety Centre Tel: 03 3683 9765
○ Zentouitsu Tel: 03 3836 9061
Kanagawa Prefecture
○ Kanagawa Occupational Accident and Illness Center Tel: 04 5573 4289
Q: Where is the free medical checkup for a foreigner carried out?
A: Free medical examinations for all foreigners
a) Held every year by the Minatomachi Medical Center and local councils
In approximately: February – Yokohama (Tsurumi Health Center)
May – Kawasaki (Kaizuka Church)
October – Yamato city
November – Yokohama China town
b) Held by APFS and SHARE twice annually – in Summer
c) Health consultation for Asylum seekers – held twice monthly, at CTIC
Please take a medical checkup once every year, in order to prevent illness.
Trade Unionists Continued Imprisonment by Burmese Dictatorship
The World Movement for Democracy has received the following alert from contacts at the Solidarity Center in Thailand in support of two members of the Federation of Trade Unions -- Burma (FTUB), who have been imprisoned for two years by the Burmese dictatorship.
Myo Aung Thant and Khin Kyaw are trade unionists dedicated to the cause of the restoration of the rights of workers to associate and organize in Burma. The information below provided by FTUB details the events that took place leading to their arrest, as well as their present condition.
As always, we welcome your comments and any additional information you might have. Please send your comments to world@ned.org.
Myo Aung Thant was a member of the All Burma Petro-Chemical Corporation Union when he was arrested on June 13, 1997 at Mingaladon Airport in Rangoon after returning from a FTUB meeting in Thailand. He has been a Central Executive Committee member of the Federation of Trade Unions -- Burma (FTUB) since 1995.
The State Law & Order Restoration Council (SLORC) detained Mr. Thant for operating a non-registered satellite phone which he used to relay information to the FTUB and other democracy movement organizations in exile that are considered illegal organizations by Burma's military junta. At a press conference shortly after his detention General Khin Nyunt, the head of SLORC Military Intelligence, accused Mr. Thant of "terrorist activities." General Khin Nyunt also accused him of maintaining contacts with the National League for Democracy (NLD), the party that won the 1990 elections and is led by 1991 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. Despite the fact that Burma has ratified ILO Convention 87, guaranteeing the right to Freedom of Association, Myo Aung Thant was also accused of recruiting new members for unions. Among the other "harmful" actions he was accused of were assisting international trade unionists during visits to Rangoon, writing reports on the plight of "low-income earners" and "grievances and complaints on the high cost of living", as well as arranging for a video to be made of Aung San Suu Kyi.
On August 15, 1997, after a show trial during which he was denied his own lawyer, he was jailed for life on a charge of treason, plus 7 years. The SLORC provided him with a government lawyer, but the lawyer was unwilling to provide a defense at the trial because it was clear that the verdict was a foregone conclusion.
SLORC's special military court, which handed down the sentence, used a confession from Myo Aung Thant extracted with physical torture and psychological abuse. His face, in a photo taken while in detention (that appeared in the government-controlled newspaper), showed signs of swelling consistent with physical beatings. His trial lasted just three days and merely confirmed SLORC's predetermined conclusion of Mr. Thant's guilt.
Myo Aung Thant was held in Insein prison, on the outskirts of Rangoon, until late 1998, when he was moved to the remote jail in Myitkyina, Kachin state, in the far north of Burma. While he was in Insein, his brothers were usually able to visit him once a month, but since the time he was moved to remote Kachin state, they have not been able to visit more than once every three months because of the cost of traveling there.
Aye Ma Gyi, the wife of Myo Aung Thant, was also detained by the military at the time of his arrest. She was tried and convicted by the same military court as an accomplice to her husband and sentenced to 10 years in jail. She is currently imprisoned in Insein jail. In the June 27 press conference, she was accused of assisting her husband in his activities, and also providing lists of fax numbers of Burmese government ministries to exiled groups. The couple has two young daughters who are now living with relatives in Burma.
Khin Kyaw was a radio officer for the state-owned Myanmar Five Star Shipping Enterprise Co. In 1988, during the popular uprising for democracy in Rangoon, Kyaw was elected President of the newly organized All Burma Workers Union at the trade union conference held at Htan Ta Bin High School. As a result of his participation in the Burmese labor movement, he was forced to resign from his job with the Myanmar Five Star Shipping Enterprise in1989. Confirming what is a clear violation of Burma's international commitments under ILO Convention 87, General Khin Nyunt stated in the June 27th press conference that this firing was connected to Khin Kyaw's union activities.
He was arrested during the first week of June 1997, but the SLORC released no news about him other than what was revealed at the June 27th press conference. For almost a year after his detention, the SLORC did not announce his whereabouts. To this time, the SLORC has never stated what specific charges Khin Kyaw is being held under. In fact, his real offense was collaborating with Myo Aung Thant in the storage and operation of the non-registered satellite phone.
Khin Kyaw is still a member of the Seafarers Union of Burma (SUB), which is internationally recognized and an affiliate of the International Transport Workers Federation (ITF). He is a long-time trade union leader who played a key role in organizing former trade union members during 1988 and afterwards.
Despite the fact that the criminal charges against Khin Kyaw were never made public and there was no announcement of a trial being held, he is now serving a 17-year prison sentence. Judging from past SLORC practice, the FTUB and other observers believe that he has probably been charged with treason Section 5 of the 1950 Emergency Provisions Act. Khin Kyaw has been imprisoned in Thayarwaddy prison, a city in Pegu division located between the cities of Rangoon and Mandalay. In August 1999, it was learned that he may have been moved to the Mingladon Military Intelligence Headquarters Camp for interrogation. There is speculation that this action may have been taken as a reaction to the ILO's actions on Burma and the higher profile of Burma labor issues in the international community.
As a result of physical beatings suffered in the early 1990s in connection with a misdemeanor charge (for which he was later acquitted), U Khin Kyaw has lost almost all of his teeth. He is reportedly in poor health and may suffer from partial paralysis. His wife still lives in Rangoon, but she has been intimidated by Military Intelligence Services (MIS) not to speak out about her husband's case. The couple has three grown children still residing in Burma.
What you can do:
The following actions are recommended to you and your colleagues:
1. Write letters to Senior General Than Shwe, Chairman of the SPDC, in Rangoon. The address is:
Senior General Than Shwe, Chairman
State Peace and Development Council
192 Kaba Aye Pagoda Road
Rangoon, Union of Burma
2. Seek interventions on those cases by foreign embassies based in Rangoon, such as the embassies of the United States, the European Union and the Asian countries (for example Japan). The demand is immediate release and an end to human rights abuses.
For More Information Please Contact:
The Federation of Trade Unions -- Burma
815 15th Street, NW
Suite 910
Washington, DC 20005 USA
fax (202) 393-7343
fax 61-2-9264-7693
For further reading the following web sites are recommended:
Free Burma Coalition, www.freeburmacoalition.org
Amnesty International's 1998 Report: Myanmar, www.amnesty.org/ailib/aireport/ar98/asa16.htm
Human Rights Watch World Report 1998, www.hrw.org/hrw/worldreport/Asia-01.htm
U.S. Department of State, Burma Country Report on Human Rights Practices for 1997, www.state.gov/www/global/human_rights/1997_hrp_report/burma.html
Myanmar democrats urge Japan to change policy toward junta
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0WDQ/is_2001_May_28/ai_75259018/printreconciliation.
Asian Political News , May 28, 2001
Email Print
TOKYO, May 21 Kyodo
A labor union leader working for democracy in Myanmar urged Japan on Monday to use its influence with the country's ruling military junta to promote the cause of democracy.
Japan is in a position to use its ''economic and political influence on the Burmese military regime'' to ensure that dialogue will progress and be fruitful, Thaung Htun, representative of the U.N. Affairs of the National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma (NCGUB), told the Foreign Correspondents Club of Japan.
Thaung Htun said, ''There are lots of ways and means that the Japanese government can be helpful'' in aiding progress in dialogue between the military junta and Myanmar's pro-democracy movement led by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.
He said no ''unilateral initiative'' should be taken by any country in its relations with Myanmar, but instead they should coordinate ''with other international key players'' and ''in concert with the democracy movement'' to avoid undermining dialogue.
With Myanmar's dismal human rights records failing to improve, as evidenced by forced relocation and labor and the detention of more than 1,000 political prisoners, he said he is suspicious of the military junta's ''commitment'' to the dialogue process.
He said that no one seems to know the substance or direction of the talks, which began last October, and noted that dialogue has been stalled since March.
He specifically cited the Japanese government's plan to consider offering Myanmar a grant worth about 3 billion yen to repair an aging hydroelectric power station.
''We believe the Japanese government decision is very premature and...sends the wrong signal to the military...that they can continue to pretend...(and) deceive the world'' over having serious talks, he said.
He also downplayed Japan's stated reason of providing ''humanitarian assistance'' to poor people in Myanmar, saying this is hardly the case as the country's ''power distribution system'' shows the military elite and a select number of people amassing benefits for themselves at the expense of ordinary people.
Tin Win, of the outlawed Federation of Trade Unions-Burma (FTUB) Japan Branch, echoed these sentiments, saying the military leaders have ''definitely changed their tactics'' because of growing economic problems, ''but not their attitude.''
He also expressed his hopes for a ''comprehensive engagement'' involving the junta and the pro-democracy movement, thus going beyond the ''constructive engagement'' advocated by neighboring Southeast Asian countries to build economic and political ties with Yangon.
FTUB Secretary General Maung Maung, meanwhile, appealed to Japan ''to listen to us for once'' and not ''advocate the military regime'' especially at next month's annual meeting of the International Labor Organization (ILO).
He reminded Japan that even with the imposition of sanctions against Myanmar by the ILO last November, the junta still imposes forced labor.
The conference, hosted by the FTUB, was also attended by four other Myanmar unionists -- all unanimous in urging Japan to review its foreign policy toward Myanmar, particularly the resumption of large-scale official development assistance (ODA), until a full dialogue process emerges toward ''genuine national reconciliation.''
Japan is considering resuming grant aid to Myanmar, following the launch last October of dialogue between the junta and Suu Kyi after a hiatus of seven years. Japan suspended its ODA to Myanmar in 1988 when the country's junta seized power after Suu Kyi's party won the general election.
COPYRIGHT 2001 Kyodo News International, Inc.
COPYRIGHT 2001 Gale Group
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