BurmaNet News, February 16, 2005

[Editor]

February 16, 2005 Issue # 2657

"Burma joins Cuba, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Saudi Arabia, Syria and
Turkmenistan as among the world's worst in terms of press freedom."
-February 14, 2005 article in the Nation on Freedom House's press ratings

INSIDE BURMA
Irrawaddy: Media invited; National Convention slammed

ON THE BORDER
SHAN: More Wa arrive on the border
Xinhua: Two highways linking China with Myanmar to open to traffic

REGIONAL
Reuters: Badawi: show “visible movement”
AFP: Malaysia told migrant crackdown could lead to torture, executions
Nation via BBC: US-based media group rates Thai press as 'partly free'

INTERNATIONAL
AFP: EU appeals for proper talks in Myanmar ahead of convention
AFP: US criticizes resumption of Myanmar's national convention
National Post (Canada): Tops in brutality: Informed sources

OPINION / OTHER
Nation: Letters to the Editor: Advocates of Burmese tourism seem unaware
of the actual situation

STATEMENTS
State Department: Press Statement: Burma - Reconvening of the National
Convention
Congressman Joseph R. Pitts: Statement for the Record in Support of
Burma’s Democracy Movement

______________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

February 16, Irrawaddy
Media invited; National Convention slammed - Yeni

Burma’s military government has invited international and local
journalists to attend Thursday’s reopening of the National Convention, or
NC, to draw up a new constitution, according to media sources. Several
dozen foreign correspondents based in Bangkok have flown to Rangoon to
cover the conference, being held 40km outside the capital.

Some foreign journalists have had their visa applications rejected. The
junta did not allow any foreign correspondents to attend the NC’s previous
meetings.

The NC was started in 1993, but stalled in 1996 soon after the main
opposition party,  the National League for Democracy, or NLD, walked out,
claiming the session was  undemocratic. In May 2004 the convention was
resumed only to adjourn again in July.

“Although journalists are allowed to attend the convention, they are under
the control of the authorities,” said an editor of a well-known business
magazine in Rangoon. “I don’t think they can report from there.”

The latest round of the NC will be attended by more than 1,000 delegates,
handpicked by the junta, including representatives from the various ethnic
ceasefire groups. The NLD, landslide winner of the 1990 general election,
ignored by the military regime, as well as several ethnic political groups
have decided not to take part in the convention.

Meanwhile, the United States yesterday slammed the NC as lacking
legitimacy. “Without the full participation of the democratic opposition
and ethnic minority groups, the National Convention lacks the legitimacy
necessary to draft a constitution that is truly democratic,” the US State
Department Spokesman Richard Boucher said in a statement. The meeting
“cannot possibly reflect the true political aspirations of the Burmese
people.”

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in January named Burma one of six
“outposts of tyranny.”

In a press release issued today, the British embassy in Rangoon echoed the
United States’ sentiments, saying that the European Union regrets that
“the SPDC [State Peace and Development Council] has so far failed to
create the conditions for the NLD and other legitimate representative
bodies to participate in the National Convention.”

Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said on Tuesday that
Burma's rulers needed to demonstrate “visible movement” towards democracy
to reassure fellow Southeast Asian governments.

______________________________________
ON THE BORDER

February 16, Shan Herald Agency for News
More Wa arrive on the border - King Cobra

Thousands of Wa have continued to travel to the Thai border apparently to
head off the consequences of Panghsang's 26 June 2005 deadline to make the
Wa region along the Chinese border a drug free zone.

Sources in Mongton, opposite Chiangmai, say at least 3,000 have reached
the township since the relocations resumed in December. (Related report:
Wa relocations resume, 5 January 2005)

Most resettlers were transported by ten-wheel trucks, but some came in
six-wheelers and even 4 -wheelers. Between 9-13 February alone, at least
14 trucks carrying some 500 or more villagers and Wa fighters were
unloaded in the township's Mongjawd, Namhu Jawnghtam and Nawng Yahsai
villagers.

Below is the estimated arrivals:
Mongjawd 1,100
Mongtaw-Monghta 350
Namyoom 450
Nawng Yahsai 1,000
Namhu Jawnghtam 100

At least one out of every four newcomers are ethnic Chinese, according to
sources. Each is given rice for a year and 1,000 baht on arrival.

The Wa leadership in Panghsang, their headquarters on the Sino-Burma
border, has targeted the resettlement of 100,000. So far between 50,000 -
60,000 have arrived, according to Wa figures. "We know plenty of them fled
back to their old homes in the north," a Thai security officer recently
told S.H.A.N..

The Wa leadership has been accused by the United States as leading drug
producers and 8 of them, including Bao Youxiang, its president, and Wei
Hsuehkang, de facto commander of the Wa forces on the Thai border, have
been indicted on 24 January.

"That's not fair", a Wa commander in Mongton was quoted as saying. "We're
not the only group that is involved in the trade."

______________________________________

February 16, Xinhua News Agency
Two highways linking China with Myanmar to open to traffic

Kunming: Two high-grade highways linking China and Myanmar will open in
the next two years, according to the local commerce department of
southwest China's Yunnan Province.

The highway linking Tengchong in Yunnan with Myitkyina, Myanmar, will be
finished by the end of this year, at a cost of 180 million yuan.

Another highway, linking Zhangfeng to Bhamo, Myanmar, will be open to
traffic by 2006, said an official with the department. It will cost 28
million yuan.

The construction of the both highways started in the second half of 2004.

The official said the reconstruction of the two highways will be
"conducive to regional economic cooperation and exchange" and help
economic development.

_____________________________________
REGIONAL

February 15, Reuters
Badawi: show “visible movement”

Islamabad: Myanmar's military rulers need to do more than talk about their
plans for a return to democracy and show "visible movement" to reassure
fellow South East Asian governments, Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah
Ahmad Badawi said on Tuesday.

Myanmar, named by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice as one of six
"outposts of tyranny", is due to host a summit of the 10-member
Association of South East Asian Nations in 2006.

Abdullah, speaking to Reuters at the start of a three-day visit to
Pakistan, stopped short of criticising a fellow ASEAN government, but
hinted at growing impatience within the group.

"We have to continue to impress on the government that at the end of the
day that, for all they have been talking, telling us what they want to do
... some visible movement toward the objective will have to be made," he
said, when asked whether it would be appropriate for Myanmar to host the
summit.

ASEAN has often been criticised for admitting to its ranks a government
shunned elsewhere, but it had hoped its policy of engagement would help
persuade the generals running Myanmar to heal the rifts in their own
country.

"I wish they had been able to show some good results," said Abdullah. "I
know that they have met, have consultations among themselves, they are
going to have consultative assembly to discuss about the constitution."

The constitution-drafting National Convention is due to meet on Thursday.

But opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who remains under house arrest,
and her National League of Democracy party are boycotting the talks, which
are meant to pave the way for a return of multi-party civilian rule in
former Burma.

The United States and most western governments dismiss the process -- part
of a seven point "road map to democracy" -- as a smokescreen by the
generals who refused to accept Suu Kyi's 1990 election victory.

_____________________________________

February 15, Agence France Presse
Malaysia told migrant crackdown could lead to torture, executions

Kuala Lumpur: The human rights group Amnesty International Tuesday urged
Malaysia to halt the planned deportation of hundreds of thousands of
illegal immigrants, saying some could face execution or torture in their
home countries.

Migrants from Myanmar, Nepal and the Indonesian province of Aceh could be
subjected to serious human rights violations if they were sent home in a
crackdown due to begin on March 1, the organisation said.

"We remain gravely concerned that refugees, asylum-seekers and migrants
caught up in any large-scale deportation operation are still at risk of
serious human rights violations," Amnesty said in an open letter to
Malaysia's Home Affairs Minister Azmi Khalid.

The organisation urged Malaysia not to return any Acehnese to Indonesia,
"where they remain at risk of extrajudicial executions, torture and
arbitrary detention."

Most illegal immigrants in Malaysia are from Indonesia, many of them from
Aceh province, the area worst hit by the December 26 tsunami and also the
scene of a long-running separatist rebellion.

"In view of the continuing humanitarian crisis in Aceh, the well-being of
all Acehnese returned to Aceh remains of compelling concern," Amnesty
said.

"The unstable political situation in Nepal, where a nationwide state of
emergency was declared on February 1, may place deported Nepalese migrants
at greater risk of serious human rights violations, including
extrajudicial executions, torture and arbitrary arrest."

Amnesty also urged the Malaysian government not to "forcibly return any
asylum-seekers or refugees to Myanmar, where they remain at risk of
serious human rights violations."

Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi announced Monday after
talks with the visiting Indonesian president that the government would
crack down hard on illegal immigrants from March 1.

The new deadline marks the end of an amnesty which has twice been extended
at Indonesia's request.

The planned crackdown will involve more than half-a-million officials and
civilian members of the People's Volunteer Corps security organisation in
a nationwide sweep.

Amnesty said "the risk of abuses due to poor training and lack of
accountability have increased in light of recent reports that the
authorities intend to equip members of the People's Volunteer Corps with
firearms."

Before the amnesty began on October 29 last year, Malaysia estimated there
were more than a million illegal workers in the country, mostly from
Indonesia but also from the Philippines, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Nepal, India
and Sri Lanka.

Nearly 400,000, mostly Indonesians, left without facing any penalty during
the first three months of the amnesty. But others have remained, clinging
to jobs in the construction, plantation and service industries in the face
of unemployment at home.

"While we recognize the Malaysian government's sovereign right to control
its borders, we appeal to you to halt any deportations until it can be
guaranteed that the fundamental human rights of all refugees,
asylum-seekers and migrants, including undocumented migrants, will be
respected in this process," Amnesty said.

_____________________________________

February 14, The Nation via BBC
US-based media group rates Thai press as 'partly free'

New York-based Freedom House has rated Thailand's press as "partly free"
for the third year in a row.

Each year the media watcher examines the state of press freedom in 193
countries around the world. This year's survey ranked Thailand 88th,
putting it in the same category as the Dominican Republic and the west
African nation of Burkina Faso.

Thailand ranked behind the Philippines, which was labelled partly free
because of the high number of journalists killed there in the last year.

Before Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra came to power in 2001, the Thai
press was considered to be one of the freest in the region. In recent
years, however, media advocacy groups such as Freedom House, Reporters
Without Frontiers and Human Rights Watch have been critical of the
government's efforts to muzzle the press.

According to the Freedom House survey, there are 17 "free press"
countries, eight partly free and 14 that are not free in the Asia-Pacific
region.

The survey found improved press freedom in Malaysia as a result of the
change of government and openly contested national elections. But for the
second year in a row, it concluded that Asean does not have a single "free
press". Only the Philippines, Thailand and Indonesia were considered
partly free, the rest were rated "not free".

Burma joins Cuba, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Saudi Arabia, Syria and
Turkmenistan as among the world's worst in terms of press freedom.

In its survey, Freedom House said that conflicts of interest remain a
concern in Thailand, as corporations controlled by the premier's family
and Thai Rak Thai politicians have gained ownership over a growing number
of private media outlets and exert influence over editorial policy.

_____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

February 16, Agence France Presse
EU appeals for proper talks in Myanmar ahead of convention

Brussels: The European Union called Wednesday on Myanmar's junta to use a
new round of constitutional talks to achieve a true dialogue with the
opposition forces of Aung San Suu Kyi.

The EU said it regretted that Thursday's planned resumption of a
constitutional convention in the military-ruled country was not crafted to
enable the National League for Democracy (NLD) to take part.

The 25-nation bloc called on Myanmar's generals "to renounce past
hostilities and enter into a constructive dialogue with the NLD, other
legitimate representative bodies and the ethnic groups".

"Only such a dialogue can lead to the drawing up of a constitution that
can win the true support of the people and bring peace and development to
the country," it said in a statement.

The NLD refused to join the "National Convention" when it convened in May,
demanding Aung San Suu Kyi's release from house arrest and citing the many
restrictions placed on the talks, including a ban on public discussion.

Without the NLD, which won a landslide election victory in 1990 but was
never allowed to take power, western governments and the United Nations
have derided the convention as a sham.

The EU said the convention "could provide an opportunity for genuine and
transparent dialogue" but only if the NLD leader was freed, all party
offices were reopened and all political prisoners were released.

It said it was "very concerned" about the arrest on February 9 of Hkun
Htun Oo, chairman of the Shan National League for Democracy, together with
other leaders of the Shan community and about "increased harassment" of
other ethnic groups.

But the bloc reaffirmed that it "could respond positively to concrete
signs of progress" in Myanmar if its conditions were met.

The EU in September bolstered sanctions against the military regime after
Yangon failed to meet its demands including the release of Aung San Suu
Kyi.

_____________________________________

February 16, Agence France Presse
US criticizes resumption of Myanmar's national convention

Washington: The United States hit out at Myanmar's military junta Tuesday
for continuing with a national forum designed to frame a constitution
without allowing pro-democracy and ethnic minority groups to participate.

Among those left out are pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi's National
League for Democracy. She is under house arrest and her party's offices
have been shut down.

"Without the full participation of the democratic opposition and ethnic
minority groups, the National Convention lacks the legitimacy necessary to
draft a constitution that is truly democratic and representative of the
will of the Burmese people," US State Department spokesman Richard Boucher
said.

The convention "cannot possibly reflect the true political aspirations of
the Burmese people, nor can it conduct the meaningful dialogue that is
needed to achieve genuine national reconciliation," he said.

Burma was the previous name of Myanmar.

The meeting, the first of seven steps in Myanmar's self-proclaimed road
map to democracy, was launched last May but was criticized by Western
governments, and the United Nations has derided the convention as a sham.

It was attended by more than 1,000 delegates handpicked by the junta which
has been accused of gross human rights violations.

The US Campaign for Burma, a group of activists around the world seeking
an end to the military dictatorship in the impoverished nation, said the
reconvening of the convention "proves yet again why Burma is an
embarrassing stain on the Association of Southeast Asian Nations."

"The sham national convention is a slap in the face to ASEAN, the European
Union, the United States, the United Nations, and even Kofi Annan himself,
all of whom have called for an inclusive process of national
reconciliation in Burma," said the group's founder Jeremy Woodrum.

Under these circumstances, he said, there was no way ASEAN should permit
Myanmar to serve as its chair in 2006.

The United States has branded Myanmar an "outpost of tyranny" and is very
likely to boycott the annual ASEAN meeting next year to be chaired by
Yangon.

Boucher noted that the Committee Representing the People's Parliament, a
group representing the democratic opposition in Myanmar, publicly
repudiated the convention for the same reasons last week.

The CRPP was formed by the Aung San Suu Kyi's NLD and other political
parties after the junta refused to allow the parliament elected in 1990 to
convene. The NLD won the elections by a landslide but the junta refused to
accept the result and it was never allowed to take power.

Boucher urged the junta to release Aung San Suu Kyi, NLD chairman U Tin Oo
and the head of the Shan National League for Democracy, Hkun Htun Oo, and
all political prisoners "immediately and unconditionally."

The Myanmar military had cracked down on pro-democracy groups ahead of the
convention, arresting several of their leaders and prohibiting them from
commemorating a key pre-independence event -- Union Day -- last Saturday.

Washington has imposed diplomatic, trade and investment sanctions on
Myanmar for several years to pressure it to embrace democracy and respect
human rights but to no avail.

_____________________________________

February 16, National Post (Canada)
Tops in brutality: Informed sources

For the third year running, Parade magazine has compiled a top-ten list of
the world's most contemptible living dictators. This year's picks,
described below, are profiled in the magazine's Feb. 13 issue. For more
information, see www.parade.com.

1. Omar El Bashir (Sudan). A somewhat obscure figure, Bashir was number
seven in the 2004 installment of Parade's dictator list. He's jumped to
the top of the autocratic heap thanks to the ongoing campaign of murder
and ethnic cleansing perpetrated by government-allied militias in Sudan's
Darfur region.

2. Kim Jong Il (North Korea). The top-rated dictator in 2004 and 2003, Kim
has slipped to Parade's number-two spot despite presiding over prison
camps, a rogue nuclear program and human rights abuses too numerous to
list.

3. Than Shwe (Burma). A man rarely seen in public, the head of Burma's
ruling junta runs Southeast Asia's most repressive state.

4. Hu Jintao (China). Hu earns a plum position on the Parade list thanks
to his oppressive control of Chinese media, as well as Beijing's practice
of subjecting political dissidents to labour camps and executions.

5. Crown Prince Abdullah (Saudi Arabia). Abdullah runs a country where
public floggings are still common, women are forbidden from driving,
schools teach anti-semitism and the government engages in torture.

6. Muammar Gaddafi (Libya). Although Gaddafi has renounced his nuclear
program and tried to reinvent himself as a kinder, gentler dictator of
late, those living under his rule are still strangers to freedom of speech
and religion.

7. Pervez Musharraf (Pakistan). An on-again, off-again democracy, Pakistan
has become off-again under Musharraf.

8. Saparmurat Niyazov (Turkmenistan). As well as being brutal, Niyasov
takes the prize for weirdest dictator, having banned gold teeth and
beards, and ordered the construction of an ice palace, despite
Turkmenistan's desert climate.

9. Robert Mugabe (Zimbabwe). Once a democratically legitimate leader,
Mugabe is now a corrupt dictator who has destroyed his nation's economy by
seizing white-owned farms and giving them over to loyalist thugs.

10. Teodoro Obiang Nguema (Equitorial Guinea). However obscure, Obiang's
country is one of the most autocratic on Earth. In 2003, state-run radio
pronounced Obiang a God. The condition of his impoverished, backward
nation suggests otherwise.

_____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

February 15, The Nation
Letters to the Editor: Advocates of Burmese tourism seem unaware of the
actual situation

Re: Proposed tourist boycott of Burma would be a formula for creating
another Tibet, Letters, February 12.

Not knowing Phra Mettanando Bhikkhu, I can only surmise that he advocates
tourism in Burma because he doesnt know the real situation in the country.
Perhaps he has visited, but of course as a tourist, he could not see the
suffering of the people, including the many Burmese monks who are
oppressed by the junta. I recommend to him the excellent report that came
out last November, Burma: A Land Where Buddhist Monks Are Disrobed and
Detained in Dungeons by the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners
(Burma) www.aappb.net.

This grim report gives details, including photographs, of many of the more
than 300 monks and novices currently jailed in Burmas notorious gulag for
their beliefs and also a partial list of those who have been tortured and
died in prisons or labour camps. Although necessarily incomplete, the
facts it presents are irrefutable and must be deeply troubling to all
Buddhists, especially since the Burmese military regime pretends to be
pious.

Casual tourists are hardly the eyes and ears through which the world is
able to monitor . . .abuse. That job is being ably done by the Shan
Foundation for Human Rights, the Karen Human Rights Group, the Human
Rights Forum for Mon, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and many
other groups whose members document the horrific abuses that are occurring
everywhere inside Burma, especially in the ethnic areas where tourists
cannot travel.

Phra Mettanando is also mistaken when he writes that . . .tourists are
also the eyes and ears through which those locked inside learn of the
world beyond its borders. For a foreigner to blithely talk about politics
with Burmese is to put them in jeopardy. It is also offensive to imply
that the Burmese do not know about human rights and democracy. They know
far more than most of the rest of us, who take our rights for granted.

A comparison with South Africa is certainly apt. Nelson Mandela spent 27
years a prisoner of apartheid, while Aung San Suu Kyi, the 1991 Nobel
Peace Prize recipient and leader of Burmas non-violent democracy movement,
has been detained for most of the past 16 years. Her third house arrest by
the military junta began on May 30, 2003, and continues today. Suu Kyi has
repeatedly asked that tourists wait until democracy is restored before
visiting Burma. Shouldnt we respect her understanding of the situation of
Burma by not spending our tourist dollars to travel roads built with slave
labour and photograph monuments exploited by the generals'

Suu Kyi has said, In a country like ours, which is totally crushed by a
military regime, justice is a dream. But it is a dream that we are
determined to realise. The people of Burma deserve our support, which
means stronger sanctions, not trade and travel.

Visakha Kawasaki

Burmese Relief Centre USA

Flint, Michigan

_____________________________________
STATEMENTS

February 15, State Department
Press Statement: Burma - Reconvening of the National Convention - Richard
Boucher, Spokesman

Washington, DC: On February 17, the Burmese junta will reconvene its
National Convention. The National League for Democracy and other
pro-democracy parties have been denied a voice in this process.

Absent their participation, the National Convention cannot possibly
reflect the true political aspirations of the Burmese people, nor can it
conduct the meaningful dialogue that is needed to achieve genuine national
reconciliation. Without the full participation of the democratic
opposition and ethnic minority groups, the National Convention lacks the
legitimacy necessary to draft a constitution that is truly democratic and
representative of the will of the Burmese people. We note the Committee
Representing the People's Parliament, a group representing the democratic
opposition, publicly repudiated the National Convention for the same
reasons on February 12.

We call again on the junta to release Aung San Suu Kyi, U Tin Oo, Hkun
Htun Oo and all political prisoners immediately and unconditionally, to
engage the democratic opposition and ethnic minority groups in a
meaningful dialogue leading to genuine national reconciliation and the
establishment of democracy, to allow the national league for democracy to
reopen its offices nationwide, and to respect and ensure the free exercise
of the fundamental human rights of the people of Burma.

_____________________________________

Statement for the Record in
Support of Burma’s Democracy Movement
Congressman Joseph R. Pitts (R-PA)
February 15, 2005

Staff Contact: Karin Finkler
Phone:	 202-225-2411


Mr. Speaker, on February 17, 2005, Burma’s ruling military junta, a regime
that Secretary of State Rice has rightly called an “outpost of tyranny,”
will reconvene a national convention to draft a new constitution.  Sadly,
this convention, which excludes anyone interested in democracy and freedom
of expression, appears to be yet another attempt to place a veneer of
legitimacy on the dictatorship’s rule.  General Than Shwe, the recognized
leader of Burma’s military and the dictatorship, must understand that the
international community and the people of Burma are not fooled by this
latest attempt to establish legitimacy.

On February 12th, Burma’s Committee Representing the People’s Parliament
(CRPP), an umbrella organization including over 200 Members of Parliament
elected in 1990, called for all of Burma’s ethnic groups to boycott the
military’s convention.  The CRPP includes Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Aung
San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD).  The statement by CRPP
demonstrates once again the incredible bravery of the Burmese people in
their battle against the ruling generals.

Mr. Speaker, it is time for the international community to face the facts:
 Than Shwe and other leading participants of this rogue regime have shown
that they have no desire to seek political accommodation or peaceful
dialogue with the Burmese people.  Their actions show that they have
chosen the path of tyranny and terror -- the impact of this decision will
increasingly be felt throughout the region.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) must realize that
Burma’s military junta is an iron anchor wrapped around the neck of this
important organization.  The actions of the military junta are draining
economic growth from regional states, promoting the spread of HIV/AIDS
throughout Asia, protecting indicted drug smugglers and flooding Thailand
with methamphetamines and heroin, that eventually makes its way to the
shores of the U.S..  The regime fundamentally promotes regional
instability and obstructs regional growth.

Recently, the U.S. Federal Court in New York City indicted eight drug
traffickers from Burma in absentia.  According to court documents, they
are leaders of the United Wa State Army, one of the largest drug producers
and traffickers in the world.  This group is responsible for importing $1
billion worth of heroin into the U.S. between 1985 and 2004.  These
criminals could not operate without the active collusion of the ruling
generals.  Moreover, the legendary drug kingpin known as Khun Sa, also
under indictment in the U.S. on heroin trafficking charges, is living
under the protection of the dictatorship of Rangoon.  On November 18,
2003, the Department of the Treasury announced the designation of Burma
and two Burmese banks to be of “primary money laundering concern” under
Section 311 of the USA PATRIOT Act.  In addition, The Department of
Treasury, acting through the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network
(FinCEN), has instituted sanctions against two Burmese financial
institutions, Myanmar Mayflower Bank and Asia Wealth Bank, due to money
laundering concerns.

ASEAN is serving in a critical role in the recovery and rebuilding efforts
after the horrible tsunami that devastated parts of Asia.  As a leader in
the international community, ASEAN must come to understand that the
organization must actively challenge Burma’s military regime to work with
Aung San Suu Kyi and the NLD.   It must not be forgotten that the NLD won
over 80% of the seats in the 1990 parliamentary election.  A stable and
democratic Burma is good for the entire region and the world.   I would
like to strongly commend and welcome the work of the Burma Caucus members
in the Indonesian and Malaysian parliaments who are pressing for greater
involvement by their countries in pressing the Burmese junta to bring
positive change.

ASEAN cannot afford to have its leadership role sidetracked as it is
forced to account for the acts of terror and oppression a member nations,
Burma’s junta, inflicts on the Burmese people.  Last year’s Asia-Europe
meeting (ASEM) was delayed for months due to negotiations surrounding the
participation of Burma.  ASEAN is heading for another diplomatic fiasco as
Burma is set to assume the chairmanship of ASEAN in 2006.   ASEAN must
understand that when the group spends more time addressing the latest
crisis created by the junta, instead of focusing on plans to promote
economic growth, fight the war on terror, and develop collective solutions
to the region’s social problems, that is not good for ASEAN or any of its
individual members.  ASEAN immediately needs to put significant,
meaningful pressure on the regime.  Ejecting Burma’s junta or at the very
least suspending their membership from ASEAN would be a powerful statement
of ASEAN’s determination to deal with the problems Burma’s dictatorship
creates.

The United States government and citizens have long stood side-by-side
with Burma’s democracy movement.   I look forward to legislation that will
continue the U.S. economic sanctions imposed on the country in 2003.  In
addition to action that we take as a nation, we must also press the United
Nations to do more.  Secretary General Kofi Annan should use his office to
bring the issue of Burma before the Security Council for immediate action.
 Further, the Secretary General should request a formal investigation to
examine evidence of crimes against humanity by Burmese military officials
and senior regime leaders in order to hold responsible parties accountable
for the widespread use of rape and ethnic dislocation as weapons of war.

Mr. Speaker, I look forward to working with my colleagues in the House,
the Senate and the Administration to see that Burma’s military regime soon
joins the Soviet Union, Ceausescu’s Romania, Milosevic’s Yugoslavia and
other regimes and dictatorships that now reside in the ashbin of world
history.

And, Mr. Speaker, I say to the people of Burma: You are not forgotten.  We
stand with you and will continue to work with you for as long as it takes
to ensure that the people of your nation are able to live in peace and
freedom.

Congressman Joseph R. Pitts