Press Statement: 13 January
2001
Investment in Burma: Profiting from the Burmese Suffering!
The visit of the Prime Minister, Dr. Mahathir to Burma and the subsequent talk
about investment in Burma is a disgrace to the nation in the eyes of
international community. It was also clear that the resume of dialogue between
the SPDC and the NLD, which has been put off since 1998, is no where in the
agenda of Dr. Mahathir's visit.
The NLD has repeatedly expressed their willingness and readiness to dialogue
with the SPDC but was turned down by the SPDC.
By visiting Burma officially and turning a blind eye on the serious human rights
violation in Burma, Dr. Mahathir is actually recognising the illegal and
inhumane rules of the Myanmar authoritarian military regime, the State Peace and
Development Council (SPDC) as a legitimate government. In reality, the SPDC only
came into power through a military coup' e tat after they refused to recognise
the landslide victory of the National League of Democracy, led by the Nobel
Peace Prize winner, Aung San Suu Kyi in the 1990 general election.
To talk solely about investment opportunities and avoiding the pertinent issues
of democracy and human rights in Burma, Dr. Mahathir's visit is in actual
effect, supporting the SPDC who have had no legitimate ground and mandate at all
from the people to rule Burma. To make things even humiliating, Dr. Mahathir is
promoting a regime that has refused to hold any election since they came into
power.
Since the ruling of the SPDC, the human rights situation in Burma has been
deteriorating and the economy is in deep crisis. According to the report of
Amnesty International for year 2000, at least 1,200 political prisoners, most of
them possible prisoners of conscience arrested in previous years, remained
behind bars. The SPDC also continued to severely restrict the activities of the
NLD and other opposition groups and practices press censorship. Under a 1996
martial law decree. computer ownership and access to the Internet without
government permission was punishable by a prison term of 7 to 15 years. No
international human rights organizations and foreign journalists were allowed to
access the country and no non-governmental organizations were also allowed to
exist in Burma.
The SPDC also continued to seize minority civilians for forced labour on
infrastucture projects, even children from 8 to 15 years are nor spared. The
military junta also killed members of ethnic minorities for not taking an active
part in hostilities during counter-insurgency of the ethnic minorities rebellion
groups, especially in the Kayin state.
In May 2000, the Director General of the International Labour Organization (ILO)
issued a report which concluded that the Burma government had not amended its
laws or practice with regard to the military's widespread use of civilian forced
labour. At the International Labour Conference in June, the ILO ruled that Burma
could no longer attend ILO meetings or receive any technical assistance until it
complied with ILO Convention No.29 on forced labour, to which the state became a
party in 1955.
It is in this dismal human rights track record of the SPDC that Dr. Mahathir
visited Burma and talked about investment in the country. We believe any
investment in Burma presently is a form of support to the SPDC to continue
violating the basic rights of Burmese people and further endangering the life of
millions of Burmese people. The investment in Burma will only benefit the
military junta as corruption and abuse of power is rampant in the government.
The statement made by Dr. Mahathir is no more than taking advantage of the
sufferings of the Burmese people for profits. We call on all peace loving
Malaysian to support the struggle of Aung San Suu Kyi and put an end to the
illegal ruling of the SPDC.
Yap Swee Seng
International Coordinator
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