BURMA:  CRYING OUT FOR JUSTICE

DELIVERANCES
Urge church members to pray for the people of Burma and, wherever appropriate, to campaign and agitate for justice in Burma.

Acknowledge the determination, courage and commitment to democracy of Aung San Sui Kyi. Strongly urge Church members not to holiday in Burma while the junta remains in power.

Urge HMG to continue to use all diplomatic means and resources at its disposal to bring a return of democratic government to Burma. 

Condemn the wide-spread human rights abuses, forced labour and cultural genocide of ethnic minorities in Burma, and urge HMG further to discourage Western companies from investing and operating Burma.

BURMA:  CRYING OUT FOR JUSTICE
1.    Introduction
Burma is a country of immense potential in people, agriculture, natural resources and manufacture, but because of repressive government and endemic corruption the country languishes in misery.

2.    Burma or Myanmar?
Both Burma and Myanmar are ancient names for this country of mixed races and origins, just as Rangoon and Yangon are both names for the capital.  “Burma” was in common use until it was changed by the present un-elected military regime.  “Myanmar” is recognised by eg the United Nations.  However, since the democracy movement, winners of the 1990 election, prefer to retain the name “Burma”, that title is used officially in the UK and the United States of America, and will be used here.

3.     Background
3.1   Burma lies in South East Asia, bordered by Thailand, Laos, China, Bangladesh and the Bay of Bengal.  It has a population of approximately 45 million people, with Buddhism the official religion.  Approximately 4% are Christian, 4% Moslem, 1% animist.  Burma is a country of great potential wealth.  Among its resources are timber, zinc, tin, copper and precious stones.  The basin of the Irrawaddy is a superb rice-growing area.  Yet the country has never made development gains from its abundant natural resources.

3.2   Many of the country's problematic features derive from its ethnic mix.  Most of the country is Bamar (though actual statistics vary) making Burmese the official language.  But the remaining population (approximately 30%) is mostly composed of seven distinct tribes each with a variety of languages and dialects.  For administrative purposes it is divided into seven Burman divisions, relatively well provided for, and seven ethnic states which the military government believes it must subdue before development can take place.  The violence with which it pursues this aim is one of the chief causes of criticism from the international community.

3.3   Burma remains one of the largest producers of opium, heroin and amphetamine-type stimulants.  The government blames the introduction of opium on the British Colonial Administration.  Production amounts of both opium and heroin have decreased in recent years, but that of methamphetamines has soared, funding both the government and some ethnic minority resistance.  Recent indications have shown that North Korea may be supplying or planning to supply Burma with new weapons possibly in exchange for shipments of heroin (“Far Eastern Economic Review", Nov. 20, 2003)

4.     History
4.1   The early history of Burma is one of various tribes' arrival, conquest and defeat.  The French, Dutch and British all established colonies there until the Bamar king Alaungpya expelled them in the mid seventeenth century and extended his kingdom.  Fearing the power of this ruler, so near British India, the British invaded and by1886 had annexed the country as a Crown Colony.  They were to retain their power, although displaced for four years by the Japanese in World War II, until 1947, when independence was granted.

4.2   The new leader was to have been General Aung San, but he and his appointees were assassinated by a nationalist rival before taking power.  After some years of civilian rule the first ethnic unrest erupted since some states were promised semi-autonomy while others were not.  The government voluntarily surrendered power to General Ne Win, who promptly declared tatmadaw, or military government, and from that time isolated the country from the outside world.

4.3  Huge demonstrations by students in 1988 resulted first in a violent crackdown by the tatmadaw.  Rangoon had had its own “Tiannamen Square” massacre in 1988 when the bodies of thousands of students were dumped in a lake.  Now universities have been closed for they are seen by the government as places where dissent is fostered; yet in an agreement the tatmadaw promised to hold democratic elections.  The National League for Democracy (NLD) won 60% of the votes in 1990, but the tatmadaw declared the elections invalid.  Since then gestures towards democratic government have been made, primarily in the occasional release of political prisoners, but no real steps in that direction have been taken.

5.     Human Rights Abuse
5.1  Burma has one of the worst human right records in the world, and the abuses are worst in ethnic minority areas.  In brief, these abuses include: censorship, persecution, beatings, disappearances, extrajudicial executions, the curtailing of religious freedom, forced relocations, rapes, and forced labour, including the conscription of child soldiers.

5.2  Although statistics are hard to come by, stories abound of children being picked up at bus stops, for example, and turned into soldiers with frequent, severe punishment.  Then there is the policy of “Burmanisation” which is cultural genocide for ethnic minorities.  Women are raped or forcibly married to Burmese soldiers to mix the races.  Christians, most of whom belong to ethnic minorities like the Karen, are particularly targeted with churches destroyed or turned into Buddhist temples.  Moslems are denied citizenship and prohibited from leaving their villages for markets or medical care.  Many flee to refugee camps across the border, most to Thailand where it is estimated that over 132,000 ethnic minority displaced persons are in camps, while another two million Burmese are illegally in the country – both economic and political refugees.  The situation naturally strains relationships between Burma and Thailand.  A smaller number of Moslems flee to Bangladesh, a country which has plenty of its own problems.  The internally displaced minorities, who hide in the jungle with little or no food or medicines, are shot on sight by Burmese soldiers.

5.3  In 1998 the International Labour Organisation (ILO) investigated allegations of forced labour in Burma, and little is believed to have changed since that time.  Then the ILO found forced labour “pervasive” with unfettered powers for military and government officers to exact forced labour from the civilian population including women, children and the elderly.  The unwilling and the slow are punished.  Forced labourers are not provided with food or shelter, and may be used as human mine-sweepers or bullet shields.  (Western companies are among the business concerns that are provided with forced labour).

5.4  Statistics have been collected in the ethnic minority Karen State where the government controls most of the towns and the cities and has established relocation camps.  The Karen National Union reports that in 2002 the troops tortured 375 civilians, shot 92 on sight, conscripted 6, 307 villagers into forced labour, burnt down 631 houses and 2 villages, destroyed 51 farms and raped at least 6 women.  Further, the equivalent of £11,290 was extorted from poor farmers.

5.5  The tatmadaw represents its actions as making peace in the country as a preliminary to development.  That is an ancient excuse.  In fact, as Lord Alton said in a House of Lords debate on Burma stated: “The truth is that the Burma junta has turned its country into one vast concentration camp”.

6.     HIV/AIDS
6.1  It is not surprising that in all this turmoil HIV/AIDS has reached crisis proportions.  Nominal control structures exist, but little action has been taken to slow the spread of the virus.  A national AIDS programme is "staffed by professionals of international-level competence and real dedication.  The problem is that there are far too few of them, and they have virtually no funds" (International Crisis Group: Myanmar: the HIV/AIDS Crisis, April 2002, p5).  As a result Burma is near the point at which the critical mass of infection becomes so great that the epidemic is self-sustaining and in the general population, not simply among high-risk groups.  Indeed it is reported that in some of the mines conditions are so miserable that all miners are taking drugs intravenously and this has been a major cause of the spread of the epidemic.

7.     External Relations: 
7.1  Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN)
7.1.1 Burma joined the ASEAN group of nations in 1997.  Thereafter most of its energies in, eg trading, have been focussed on relations with its fellow members.  For some time ASEAN adopted a stance of non-interference with member states, but in 2003 a meeting of their foreign ministers called for the release of Aung San Sui Kyi and her colleagues and urged a peaceful transition to democracy.  Burma is, therefore, now isolated even within ASEAN.  The change of attitude was particularly noteworthy in the case of Japan, which had earlier proposed, but never implemented, aid to fund a hydro-electric scheme.  As one of ASEAN's least developed members Burma has been granted until 2008 to comply with the Free Trade Area's liberalisation requirements, which may include human rights.

7.2  United Kingdom and the European Union
7.2.1 Although it has its own historical connection with Burma, most of the UK's action is channelled through the EU and the UN, particularly in the matter of sanctions.  The UK has no power to impose unilateral sanctions unless the regime takes action to the detriment of the UK.  It does, however, channel some humanitarian aid through international Non-Government Organisations (NGOs).  Further the UK government is legally able only to discourage, not to forbid, companies investing in Burma.  One company until recently still operating there was British American Tobacco (BAT).  BAT pulled out of Burma early in November 2003, at which the Foreign Office Minister, Mike O'Brien expressed his "delight".  Mr O'Brien stated further:  "It was inappropriate for a British company which cares about its reputation for corporate social responsibility to be participating in a joint venture with the business arm of Burma's military dictatorship".  BAT's decision reinforces the message that trade and investment with Burma is not appropriate "so long as the regime continues to suppress the basic rights of its people" (M. O'Brien, Press Release, 6 November 2003).  BAT is just the latest in a long line of companies that have pulled out of Burma following campaigns by the Burma Campaign UK.  The Campaign has also succeeded in getting Premier Oil, Triumph International and almost every major high street retailer out of Burma.

7.2.2 A company unmoved by human rights atrocities in Burma is Orient Express, the luxury train and ship operator, which is owned by Sea Containers Passenger Transport, which also owns GNER.  Its Burma brochure describes the country as, "untouched in natural beauty and charm ... .  The country has retained an enviable way of life from which we may all learn"!  Bagan, a major tourist destination, was forcibly cleared of its residents.  The NLD has requested that tourism to Burma be ended until democracy is established.  In the report of his visit to Burma Dr Macdonald firmly stated: "Tourism to Burma is strongly to be discouraged".  

7.2.3 The UK's most direct way of bringing pressure to bear on the tatmadaw is through the EU which has adopted and strengthened a “Common Position”.  That contains: an arms embargo, a ban on defence links, on high-level bilateral government visits, on non-humanitarian aid, on the supply of equipment which might be used for internal repression or terrorism; and asset freeze and visa ban on regime members, the military and security forces, the regime's economic interests, and all that frustrates the process of national reconciliation.

7.3   The US and the UN
7.3.1 In co-operation with the EU the US has stopped imports and imposed sanctions on Burma.  It also funds international NGO's so that at least some action may be taken on HIV/AIDS for example.  At the UN and the UN Commission on Human Rights Britain and the US co-sponsored a resolution expressing grave concern at the systematic violation of rights within the country.  In 2002 there appeared to be some response from Burma, and the UN sent both a Special Representative and a Special Rapporteur to observe and encourage the changes.  These were withdrawn, however, when it was found that the Rapporteur's confidential discussions with political prisoners in Insein Prison were being recorded by government sources.  At present, therefore, the stick of sanctions and the carrot of possible aid and trade seem the best proposals for changed relations with Burma. 

8.     Aung San Sui Kyi
8.1  Aung San Sui Kyi, the daughter of the assassinated leader Aung San, is leader of the NLD and has spoken out bravely against the repression of the tatmadaw.  The government seeks to lessen her local importance by recalling that her late husband was English and that she spent twenty-eight years in his country.  But her leadership of the NLD is unquestioned, as is her unswerving attachment to democracy, unbroken by years of house arrest and imprisonment.  There is and has been immense international support for Aung San Sui Kyi and in 1991 she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her commitment to peaceful change.  She expressed the fear that other countries will be satisfied by her release from custody, rather than continuing their opposition to the tatmadaw until it gives way to democracy.  Nevertheless, it is Aung San Sui Kyi's perseverance and nobility which focuses the world's concern on Burma.  At present there is an appeal to the cities of Glasgow and Edinburgh each to grant this courageous woman the Freedom of the City.

8.2   From 29 October to 4 November 2002 the then Moderator of the General Assembly, the Rt. Revd Finlay A.J. Macdonald, visited Burma to signal solidarity with the churches there.  At the invitation of the British Ambassador, Dr Macdonald held a meeting with Aung San Sui Kyi.  He spoke to her of her many friends and supporters in Scotland and assured her of the Church's prayers.  On a personal level Aung San Sui Kyi spoke affectionately of Scotland, mentioning Grantown on Spey in particular, where her late husband had family connections.  Dr Macdonald concluded that the Church of Scotland would do good in taking: "... the plight of the Burmese people to its heart ... and agitate on their behalf".  We would wish strongly to support this call to the whole Church to agitate, protest and pray for the people of Burma.  


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