Daily News- February 19- 2002- Tuesday

  • U.N. envoy meets Suu Kyi as Myanmar frees prisoners
  • Six More People Released in Myanmar
  • UN human rights envoy holds long interviews with political prisoners
  • Critics unenthused by Burmese prisoner releases
  • Sweatshop Items Sold in U.S. Military Stores
  • U.N. envoy wraps up "successful" Myanmar trip
  • ILO team arrives in Myanmar as human rights envoy concludes mission
  • Myanmar leader says foreign interference hindering democracy

    • U.N. envoy meets Suu Kyi as Myanmar frees prisoners

    YANGON (Reuters) - A top United Nations human rights envoy met with Myanmar pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Monday, as the ruling military released six more members of her opposition party from jail.

    A Reuters reporter saw U.N. envoy Paulo Sergio Pinheiro drive into Nobel peace laureate Suu Kyi's Yangon compound, where she has been under house arrest for more than a year, at around 1530 local time (0830 GMT). Also at the National League for Democracy (NLD) leader's Yangon home for the meeting were NLD Chairman Aung Shwe, Vice-Chairman Tin Oo and Secretary U Lwin.

    Pinheiro has been in the country since February 10 to write a report on the human rights situation there and try to persuade the military, engaged in bogged-down reconciliation talks with the NLD, to release more political prisoners.

    The ruling military announced on Monday it had released six more members of Suu Kyi's party detained at jails around the country.The releases are the second round since Pinheiro, who is due to end his mission on Tuesday, arrived in the country.

    A positive human rights report by the U.N. envoy could lead to a softening of the West's stance towards Yangon's military rulers, who prevented the NLD taking power after its sweeping win in 1990 elections.The United States and the European Union maintain aid and trade sanctions on Myanmar, but have said they could change their policies if there is progress towards democracy and an improvement in the country's human rights record. About 1,500 political prisoners, many of them arrested soon after the 1990 election, languish in Myanmar's jails, according to Amnesty International.

    Since U.N.-brokered talks between the NLD and the government began in late 2000 more than 200 political prisoners have been released and the NLD has been allowed to re-open some of its offices.

    In a separate development, the United Nations said a four member team from the International Labour Organisation (ILO), which accuses the military of failing to end forced labour, would arrive in Yangon on Tuesday. The team from Geneva included Francis Maupain, a special adviser to the ILO chief, a source at the U.N.'s office in Yangon told Reuters on Monday. A high-level ILO team visited Myanmar in October 2001 for three weeks to assess the government's measures to end forced labour. Myanmar subsequently turned down a request from the body to set up a permanent office in the country, but said it would cooperate with visits.

    To The Top

    Six More People Released in Myanmar

    YANGON, February 18 (Xinhuanet) -- Six more people, including fivemembers of the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) and one NLD-related individual, were released by the Myanmar government Monday, said an official Information Sheet.

    The six, released from "various correctional institutions," areidentified as Daw Cho, U Hla Kyaw, U Maung Hla, U Maung Than, U Mya Aye and Daw Khin Aye Aye Mar, the statement said.

    It was the fourth batch of prisoners released since January 9 this year amid confidence-building dialogue between the governmentand the NLD initiated in October 2000. The release has brought to 222 the total number of the NLD detainees and NLD-related individuals freed in the country since January 2001.

    The government's move is coinciding with the current third mission to Myanmar of United Nations Human Rights Envoy to the country Paulo Sergio Pinheiro since he was appointed as the envoy in February 2001. He arrived here on February 10 on a 10-day trip to Myanmar to further inspect the human rights situation in the country.

    Meanwhile, the NLD, which was the winner in the 1990 general election, demands the government release Aung San Suu Kyi, the party's general secretary, and guarantee the rights of free activities for all legal political parties.

    To The Top

    UN human rights envoy holds long interviews with political prisoners

    YANGON, Myanmar (AP) _ A United Nations human rights investigator has spent nine hours at Yangon's main prison in an attempt to impress on the military regime the importance of releasing political prisoners for national reconciliation.

    Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, the U.N. rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, said late Sunday that he spent the day interviewing four political detainees. "I am trying to demonstrate to the authorities that the release of political prisoners is a very important gesturg for the progress of national reconciliation in Myanmar," Pinheiro told The Associated Press by telephone in Yangon.

    Pinheiro, who arrived a week ago in Myanmar, to assess civil and political rights, was due to meet opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi Monday. Suu Kyi leads the National League for Democracy Party that swept the 1990 general elections but was barred by the ruling military from taking power. Hundreds of NLD members have since been jailed. Suu Kyi herself has been under house arrest since September 2000 for trying to travel outside Yangon for a political meeting.

    According to a report Pinheiro made to the U.N. General Assembly in November, there are an estimated 1,500-1,600 political prisoners in Myanmar, also known as Burma. However, the regime has released more than 200 NLD detainees during the past year since the start of closed-door reconciliation talks with Suu Kyi.

    On Sunday, Pinheiro said he interviewed three detained NLD members and a retired unitersity professor in his seventies, Salai Tun Than, who was arrested on Nov. 29 for staging a solo protest in front of Yangon's City Hall. Salai Tun Than was reportedly demanding political reform. The interviews were conducted in Yangon's Insein Prison. Pinheiro said all four prisoners were in good health. He said he would report on the interviews in a speech to the U.N. Commission for Human Rights on April 4. Pinheiro, who is on his third trip to Myanmar since his appointment last April, said he received full cooperation from the prison authorities.

    To The Top

    Critics unenthused by Burmese prisoner releases

    source : FT
    By William Barnes in Bangkok

    The release of five political prisoners in Burma as an apparent goodwill gesture has failed to enthuse the regime's critics, who say it is no substitute for perceptible progress in the 17-month-long talks with Aung San Suu Kyi, opposition leader.

    So far, 217 supporters of the opposition National League for Democracy have been freed since the talks started by the military's own count. The initial international delight in late 2000 over the first apparently serious talks since the opposition's stillborn election victory a decade ago has cooled as they have dragged on.

    The US last week used its regular report to Congress to urge the regime "to move from confidence building to genuine political dialogue".

    The United Nations special envoy - widely considered an important broker in the talks - Razali Ismail, a former Malaysian diplomat, conceded recently the negotiations "not going as fast as they should".

    The release of five political prisoners last week coincided with the visit of Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, the UN human rights envoy The five included the magazine editor Myo Mying Nyein, son of a famous boxer.

    Debbie Stothard, co-ordinator of the Alternative Asean network on Burma, said the opposition position was that only when all political prisoners were released, when Aung San Suu Kyi was free to move and when news of the "reconciliation" talks was published in the state media could there be talk of real progress.

    If the talks do break down, say activists, then the US could easily ban imports of garments from a country with precious few other sources of foreign exchange. They say there is "very rapidly growing" momentum for such a ban in Congress. "We are in great shape," said Jeremy Woodrum of the Washington-based Free Burma Coalition.

    To The Top

    Sweatshop Items Sold in U.S. Military Stores

    Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

    Feb. 15--U.S. military exchange stores do a worse job of sweatshop monitoring than private retailers, according to a new report from the U.S. General Accounting Office. The GAO started an investigation a year ago of the Army and Air Force Exchange Service, an agency that operates department stores on military bases to serve armed services personnel and their families.

    The probe was prompted by demonstrations by the National Labor Committee, a New York-based anti-sweatshop group that highlighted a labor dispute at the Chinese-owned Chentex Garment plant in Managua, Nicaragua.

    The NLC aimed most of its efforts at Menomonee Falls-based Kohl's Corp., which contracted with Chentex to produce private-label jeans for Kohl's Department Stores. In the midst of the Kohl's demonstrations, it was revealed that the U.S. military stores also did business with Chentex, which produces jeans for most major U.S. discount retailers.

    The GAO study found that the U.S. military stores were less proactive in ensuring that their clothing was not made under sweatshop conditions. None of the exchanges knew the nature of the working conditions in the overseas factories, according to the report. "Instead, they assumed that their suppliers and other government agencies ensured good working conditions," the report says. The U.S. exchanges had not taken steps to verify that overseas factories had complied with labor laws, the GAO report said.

    The exchanges were selling merchandise made in Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, the report said. Most major private retailers have stopped selling goods made there because of widely publicized abusive labor practices.

    "I think there's a little wake-up call there," NLC Executive Director Charles Kernaghan said of the GAO report. "They were spending big bucks on merchandise made in sweatshops." The U.S. military exchanges began contracting with overseas factories starting in the 1980s, as a way to compete with major chain stores that were selling private-label apparel produced offshore at lower prices.

    To The Top

    U.N. envoy wraps up "successful" Myanmar trip

    By Aung Hla Tun

    YANGON (Reuters) - A top United Nations human rights envoy wrapped up a 10-day trip to Myanmar on Tuesday, saying he was satisfied with cooperation from the military government, which released 11 political prisoners during his stay.

    Paulo Sergio Pinheiro was on his third visit to the impoverished Southeast Asian country, which is desperate for greater international legitimacy and aid, trade and investment. His aim was to complete a report on the human rights situation and persuade the ruling generals to release more political prisoners.

    "It's been very successful and positive and I'm really satisfied with the government's co-operation," Pinheiro, who will leave Yangon later on Tuesday for Bangkok, told Reuters.

    As well as meeting top military brass, Pinheiro saw Nobel laureate and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi under house arrest, and members of her National League for Democracy (NLD). Pinheiro also travelled to Kachin State and entered Yangon's notorious Insein Prison to meet jailed NLD members.

    REPORT FOR APRIL

    "The meeting (with Suu Kyi) lasted for about three hours and I explained the report I'll present to the 58th session of the U.N. Human Rights Commission meeting in April," Pinheiro said. He met Suu Kyi at her Yangon lakeside residence on Monday. Suu Kyi's opposition won 1990 elections in Myanmar, but have never been allowed to govern.

    Pinheiro gave no details of the content of his report, which if positive could help soften Western attitudes towards Myanmar.

    The United States and the European Union maintain aid and trade sanctions on Myanmar, but have said they could change their policies if there is progress towards democracy and an improvement in the country's human rights record. The government, engaged in bogged-down reconciliation talks with the NLD, released 11 political prisoners during Pinheiro's stay.

    One man, released two years early, was arrested in 1990 for writing a poem criticising the army before seeing his sentence doubled for writing a letter to the U.N. about maltreatment and harsh prison conditions. About 1,500 political prisoners languish in Myanmar's jails, according to Amnesty International.

    Since beginning U.N. brokered talks between the NLD in late 2000, the ruling generals have released around 200 political prisoners and allowed most NLD offices in Yangon to reopen. But some NLD members have expressed frustration at the slow pace of the talks and demand a large-scale release of prisoners, more freedom for Suu Kyi and the party, and progress towards political change.

    To The Top

    ILO team arrives in Myanmar as human rights envoy concludes mission

    By AYE AYE WIN

    YANGON, Myanmar (AP) _ An International Labor Organization team arrived in Myanmar Tuesday to assess the military regime's efforts in ending forced labor, officials said.

    The four-member delegation arrived in Yangon as a U.N. human rights investigator completed a 10-day mission to assess civil and political rights in the country. It's not clear how long the ILO team will stay in Myanmar.

    The flurry of visits from the world body comes as Myanmar, also known as Burma, opens up to outside scrutiny to ease international criticism of its military rulers.

    In an unprecedented move in November 2000, the ILO urged its 175 member governments to impose sanctions and review their dealings with Myanmar to ensure they are not abetting forced labor.

    The military has long been accused of using unpaid manual labor on public works and making civilians serve as"crmy porters.

    The ILO team, led by Francis Maupain, a special adviser to the ILO director-general, is following up a high-level ILO mission to Myanmar in October, a Myanmar government official said on customary condition of anonymity.

    Maupain was expected to discuss with the government sending permanent ILO monitors to Myanmar. The ILO governing body had called for the monitors after the previous mission found that legislation passed in October 2000 had failed to wipe out forced labor.

    On Monday, Sergio Pinheiro, the U.N. human rights rapporteur on Myanmar, held talks with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi on human rights and the release of political prisoners, a Yangon-based diplomat who was briefed by Pinheiro said.

    Suu Kyi leads the National League for Democracy Party that swept the 1990 general elections but was barred by the ruling military from taking power. Hundreds of NLD members have since been jailed. Pinheiro was scheduled to depart Myanmar late Tuesday, officicls said.

    Myanmar authorities have released 11 political prisoners, including nine NLD members, during Pinheiro's 10-day visit, bringing to 223 the number of releases since the regime began closed-door talks with Suu Kyi on political reconciliation in October 2000.

    To The Top

    Myanmar leader says foreign interference hindering democracy

    YANGON, Myanmar (AP) _ Myanmar's military leader Tuesday complained that foreign interference and Western sanctions were hindering democratic development.

    Gen. Than Shwe, chief of the ruling junta, made the comments in a speech as two visiting U.N. teams assessed human rights issues in the Southeast Asian country. "Without such interference, development of the nation would be faster and the establishment of a democratic country will be quicker," Than Shwe said.

    "The more interference and sanctions there are, the slower the developments," he said at a meeting of the Union Solidarity Development Association, a state organization of about 17 million members. The meeting was held at Hmawbi, 48 kilometers (30 miles) north of Yangon. Copies of his speech were distributed to journalists in the capital.

    His comments came as Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, a U.N. human rights investigator, completed a 10-day visit, and a four-member delegation from the U.N.'s International Labor Organization arrived.

    In an unprecedented move in November 2000, the ILO urged its 175 member governments to impose sanctions against Myanmar over its use of forced labor for public works and by the army in its fight against insurgents. Myanmar, one of Asia's poorest countries, receives little foreign aid and is starved of investment.

    In his speech, Than Shwe did not mention his regime's closed-door talks with main opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi that began in Oct. 2000 to resolve the country's political deadlock. The talks have shown no sign of a breakthrough. Suu Kyi, a Nobel peace laureate, leads the National League for Democracy Party that swept the 1990 general elections, but was barred by the military from taking power. She has been under house arrest since September 2000.

    To The Top