BurmaNet News June 22, 2005

[Editor]

June 22, 2005 Issue # 2745

INSIDE BURMA
AP: Report: Myanmar junta promotes prime minister to rank of general
Kaladan: NLD members arrested in Arakan State
DVB: Leaflets in honour of Aung San Suu Kyi distributed in Rangoon
DVB: Monks told not to participate in Aung San Suu Kyi’s birthday in Burma
DVB: Mandalay Meikhtila District NLD celebrated leader’s birthday

ON THE BORDER
Christian Science Monitor: Child's view of Burma's civil war

ASEAN
AFP: Rice may skip key ASEAN talks amid Myanmar concerns
Reuters: Myanmar likely to forego ASEAN chair – Thailand

REGIONAL
AFP: Malaysia to ban abusive employers, consider letting refugees work:
reports
DVB: Congress Sonia Gandhi sent birthday greetings to Aung San Suu Kyi

INTERNATIONAL
AFP: US House of Representatives renews Myanmar sanctions
AFP: London tank stunt to highlight harm to developing world of G8 arms sales
Irrawaddy: Rights groups slam G-8

____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

June 22, Associated Press
Report: Myanmar junta promotes prime minister to rank of general

Yangon: Myanmar's military government has promoted its recently appointed
prime minister to the rank of general, a state-run newspaper reported
Wednesday.

Prime Minister Lt. Gen. Soe Win replaced Gen. Khin Nyunt after the former
prime minister was sacked for corruption and insubordination last October.

Soe Win's promotion to general was not publicly announced, but a report in
the Myanma Ahlin newspaper about a tree-planting ceremony Tuesday attended
by the prime minister's wife referred to him by his new rank.

Soe Win, the 57-year-old former commander of a northwestern region, became
chief of the air defenses in late 2001, when the military underwent its
most significant revamp in years, reassigning 10 powerful regional
commanders to the capital.

Critics have said Soe Win is not interested in reconciling with the
opposition, led by detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, and is
believed to espouse a hard line against her and Western countries that
have demanded her release.

Some opposition figures have alleged that Soe Win helped organize a bloody
attack on Suu Kyi and her entourage while she was on a political tour of
northern Myanmar in May 2003.

____________________________________

June 21, Kaladan News
NLD members arrested in Arakan State

Mrauk-U: U Kyaw Hla, a Village Peace and Development Council (VPDC)
chairman, and six other Rakhine members of the National League for
Democracy (NLD) in Mrauk-U Township in Arakan State, were arrested by the
Burma army May 26.

U Kyaw Hla, 30, son of U Maung Tun (Rakhine) and incumbent VPDC chairman
of Yan Thi (Zullah Para) in Mrauk-U Township, is an active NLD member, a
landlord, a wealthy man and also a social worker in Mrauk-U. SPDC
authorities were dissatisfied with him because of his popularity as an NLD
member, a relative said on condition of anonymity.

Police and Military Intelligence (MI) went to the village at midnight May
26 and arrested U Kyaw Hla and the six others by implicating them in the
bomb explosions in Rangoon May 7. The six were also from Mrauk-U Township,
said another relative of an arrestee.

After their arrest, the victims were brought to the army camp. Their
whereabouts are still unknown and family members are not allowed to see
them.

Those arrested were actively working for the NLD when Daw Aung San Suu Kyi
visited Arakan State in May 2003 on an NLD organizing tour.

Local people said the May 7 blasts in Rangoon have led to an escalation of
human rights abuses throughout the country.Human rights violations are
increasing day by day in Arakan State, and  the prices of essentials are
sky-rocketing, a trader from Mrauk-U said.

____________________________________

June 21, Democratic Voice of Burma
Leaflets in honour of Aung San Suu Kyi distributed in Rangoon

Some leaflets honouring and praising the 60th birthday of Burma’s
democracy icon and the only detained Nobel Laureate Daw Aung San Suu Kyi,
were distributed clandestinely near Sanpya Market in Rangoon Thinganggyun
Township by an unknown group of youth, on 19 June. The leaflets were said
to be scattered by a group of youth, claimed to be members of Dagon
University Student Union which doesn’t exist officially, from a bus
heading towards Sule Pagoda Road. Therefore, Special Police agents in
civilian clothing are now closely watching Dagon University students who
are interested in literature. Moreover, security agents have been
positioned at busy areas in Rangoon and they are particularly watching
youth and students, according to taxi drivers in Rangoon.

____________________________________

June 21, Democratic Voice of Burma
Monks told not to participate in Aung San Suu Kyi’s birthday in Burma

Buddhist monks at Nyaung U, Mandalay Division in central Burma, were told
by the local authorities not to accept any invitation by the National
League for Democracy (NLD) members who were celebrating the 60th birthday
of their leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi on 19 June. The authorities banned a
religious association which has been providing 300 monks each day with
nourishments for 15 years from participating in the celebration, and
scolded its leaders. Nevertheless, the NLD members wearing their party
uniforms, managed to go to 15 monasteries and offered donations to the
monks and prayed at ancient pagodas, in accordance with the Burmese
tradition. When the local authority chairman Maj Tayza found out about the
actions of NLD members, he summoned and scolded religious laymen leaders.
NLD members from nearby Shwebo and Butalin townships celebrated the
birthday despite harassments and bans from the local authorities. At
Monywa, local residents, mostly women, wore yellow clothing and prayed for
their leader at a famous pagoda.

____________________________________

June 21, Democratic Voice of Burma
Mandalay Meikhtila District NLD celebrated leader’s birthday

The 60th birthday of Burma’s democracy leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi was
successfully celebrated by National League for Democracy (NLD) members of
Meikhtila District, Mandalay Division in central Burma on 19 June. The
celebration was held at the home of the district’s NLD secretary Daw Myint
Myint Aye and the day started with a religious ceremony conducted by five
Buddhist monks who were provided with morning nourishment in accordance
with the Burmese tradition. Members from the districts read out articles
and sang songs in honour of Aung San Suu Kyi and they accepted proposals
for 137 new members to the party during the ceremony. A party member sang
a traditional victory provoking song and four party leaders released 60
finches symbolising the age of their leader. The celebrants also signed
birthday cards and a wishing book, to be sent to the party HQs in Rangoon
later. The local authorities didn’t try to stop the celebration directly,
but gave indirect pressures on members and celebrants, Myint Myint Aye
told DVB.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

June 22, Christian Science Monitor
Child's view of Burma's civil war - Anna Sussman

Grenades. Parental loss. Conscription. Young brothers tell a harrowing
tale of conflict - and escape.

Mae Sot: In a jungle encampment, 9-year-old Saw and his 12-year-old
brother, Paw, were trained to kill. They learned to plant land mines,
reload rifles, and carefully fill homemade grenades. The brothers were
forced to fight alongside as many as 70,000 other children in Burma, the
Southeast Asian country also known as Myanmar, which is thought to have
one of the largest number of child soldiers in the world.

Last September, Saw and Paw managed to escape through the jungle to a
temporary orphanage on the Thai side of the border. They live with
hundreds of other children, orphans of the 50-plus years of civil war
between the Burmese military government and an ethnic tribe of 5 million
people called the Karen.

In the noisy orphanage, surrounded by rambling slums, children elbow
around low wooden tables for lunch. Saw and Paw scoop handfuls of rice and
cabbage into their mouths. Rarely smiling, they keep their heads low and
move carefully among the throngs of kids scrambling to wash plates under a
running tap.

The orphanage sits on the outskirts of the Thai border city Mae Sot. It is
meant to house 80 children, but almost 300 live here, and more arrive at
its rusted roadside gate each day.

Origins of the guerrilla war

The civil war in eastern Burma began in 1948 as a Karen war of
independence. In 1988, after a violent pro-democracy uprising, thousands
of students from across Burma joined the renowned Karen fighters in the
hopes of taking down the Burmese regime. Now the Karen say they are
fighting for "freedom and democracy," not just for their people, but for
the whole of Burma.

But the struggle has devolved into a war of self-preservation for the
Karen, fought guerrilla-style in the thick jungles. Every month reports
trickle out of Burmese troops descending on tribal Karen villages.
According to Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, Burmese
soldiers burn down schools and churches, publicly rape women, and force
men into wooden stocks or shoot them on sight. For years, children from
the region have been fleeing east toward the relative safety of Thailand.

'They caught us'

On the uneven wooden steps of the orphanage, Saw and Paw tell their story
in Karen, interpreted by Kwa Lwinn, a teacher who fled from the Burmese
army 10 years ago, when he was 14.

"We lived with our family - mother, father, and baby sister - in our
village," Saw says. He is less guarded then his older brother and does
most of the talking. "The soldiers came and started to attack. They burned
our school, our rice barn, our church, and our house. Our baby sister died
when they threw a mortar into our house." The homemade grenades of the
Burmese army can destroy a bamboo hut like a sledge hammer on a teacup,
leaving bits of bamboo embedded in the arms and legs of many orphans here.
"The army shot at girls and women; we tried to run away, but they caught
us."

As the boys talk, other children begin to crowd around, nodding and
fidgeting.

Saw, Paw, and four other captured boys were led in chains to a Burmese
army base camp. As they filed through the jungle in silence, they say two
boys had to walk in front - as if they were human minesweepers. "At night
we would sleep on the rocks... There was always a soldier with a gun
pointed at us," Saw says.

Burmese soldiers made them sing propaganda songs, taught them to use
rifles, and forced them to assist on daily raids of Karen villages.

Cease-fires and sanctions

The civil war in eastern Burma is one of the longest running in the world.
In colonial times, British rulers favored the Karen minority. Some British
officers are said to have promised the Karen an independent state in
exchange for their help in fighting the Japanese in World War II,
historians say.

But in 1948, the British handed over power to the Burmans - longtime
enemies of the Karen. Now, local humanitarian relief organizations say
that every year between 3,000 and 10,000 Karen are killed in the fighting.
The Karen do fight back, but their ragtag army of 7,000 is grossly
underequipped compared with Burma's army, 350,000 strong.

Last year, the Karen National Union made a verbal cease-fire agreement
with Burma's army. But human rights groups based in Mae Sot report that
there have been more than 200 attacks on Karen villages in the past year.

Burma's army has battled other rebel groups as well, eventually reaching
official cease-fire agreements with many of them. The government insists
that the country must be united to prosper.

But the United States and many European nations have imposed strict
sanctions on the Burmese regime and downgraded diplomatic relations. In
December the British House of Lords confirmed that two humanitarian teams
found evidence of genocide against the Karen.

Sen. Mitch McConnell (R) of Kentucky describes the war as the "gratuitous
use of military force against ethnic minorities." In a speech on the
Senate floor, Senator McConnell said "the evidence is overwhelming that
the junta exploits children as young as 11 years old in pursuit of greater
coercive military power."

The jungle's underground railroad

"We wanted to run away, but other children who were caught running were
killed," Saw continues. Early one morning, with no explanation, the
soldiers released Saw and Paw on the roadside. They didn't know how to
find their family, who had gone into hiding in the jungle - as have about
700,000 other Karen. But via an improvised network of Karen women, akin to
an underground railroad, the boys were escorted to the Thai border and
given directions to the orphanage.

"We get children all the time. Morning, afternoon, evening - they come by
foot, by boat. Word of this orphanage is beginning to travel in the Karen
area," says headmistress Paw-Ray. The orphanage is called Ksaw Thoo Lei
(pronounced Shaw-Too-Lay), the Karen name for the land they believe is
rightfully theirs inside Burma. It means "land without evil."

Fifteen-year-old Mae's story is typical: "My mother stepped on a land
mine. She died," she says. "The Burmese army burned down our fields. Our
father was too poor to care for the children."

Mae trekked for four days to Thailand last spring, the dry season when
most of the children arrive here. Along the way, she met other children -
some orphaned, some injured by land mines. At the border, they hid for two
days and built a boat to cross the river. "We want to be someone whose
life has meaning," Mae says.

In the kindergarten room, 3- and 4-year-olds recite Karen poetry. Later,
the toddlers wash their clothes at a spigot behind their bamboo dorm.

After lunch, an adolescent girl missing an eye sweeps out the kitchen.
Younger children pile sacks of rice against a wall. Teenagers on crutches
play soccer on a rutted, dusty field. These children say they fled their
villages with only the clothes they wore and a day's worth of rice, often
carrying siblings on their backs.

Child soldiers

Karen troops trek through the eastern mountains equipped with grenades and
rusted rifles, tracking down Burmese soldiers. The odds are long, but the
Karen fighters are more familiar with harsh jungle landscape, more adept
at primitive living, and fiercely protective of their homeland. Karen
patriotism is celebrated in song and lore, studied in Karen schools, and
reiterated each time a mother or teacher is killed by the Burmese army.

Human rights groups say that Burma's army has been the worst offender in
terms of forcing children to become soldiers. But they have faulted some
opposition groups for this as well. Some estimates put the number of child
soldiers in opposition groups at about 7,000, compared with an estimate of
70,000 in the national army, according to a report by the Coalition to
Stop the Use of Child Soldiers.

The armed wing of the Karen National Union has set 18 as the minimum age
for recruitment, but it has been known to accept younger volunteers. In
2002, Human Rights Watch estimated that this group had up to 500 child
soldiers.

For now, the children at the orphanage are safe, but their future is
uncertain. They are not allowed to take jobs in Thailand. "They will live
their life as non- citizens, essentially nonpersons," says Elizabeth
Kirton, head of the United Nations office in Mae Sot.

Many children who cross the border are trafficked into prostitution or are
forced to turn wages over to "agents" who place them in shadowy jobs.

"I crossed into Thailand at 16," says 21-year-old Lylia. "An agent
promised to get me a job but sold me to a restaurant in southern
Thailand." Lylia says she has been deported to Burma six times and has
endured rape and torture by Burmese soldiers across the border. Her
children are hiding in Thailand, and she's avoided going to see them
because she's afraid they'll be caught.

Dreaming of victory

In the evening at Ksaw Thoo Lei, the children gather their clothes from
the clothesline and fold them under their blankets. Mr. Kwa plays a guitar
and young boys scramble to their places on the floor. As brothers Saw and
Paw bed down, Kwa asks them what they will dream about. "I dream of being
a soldier for the Karen army," Paw says. "I want to be a general for the
Karen," echoes Saw.

____________________________________
ASEAN

June 22, Agence France Presse
Rice may skip key ASEAN talks amid Myanmar concerns - P. Parameswaran

Washington: US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice may skip a key ASEAN
meeting next month amid concerns in Washington the region is not pushing
enough for democratic reforms in military-ruled Myanmar, diplomatic
sources said Tuesday.

If she fails to make it for the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting in the Laotian
capital Vientiane in late July, it would be the first time ever that a US
Secretary of State does not participate in the annual talks.

The meeting includes a post-ministerial dialogue between the Association
of Southeast Asian Nations and its key trading partners, notably the
United States, European Union, China, Japan and Russia, as well as an
ASEAN Regional Forum, the only official security meeting in the
Asia-Pacific region.

A source said, without citing specific reasons, that Rice -- currently in
Brussels after a Middle East tour -- was expected to send her deputy
Robert Zoellick, the former US Trade Representative and an old ASEAN hand,
to the ASEAN meetings.

Asked to comment, a State Department official said: "We have no
announcement on the Secretary's travel and no confirmation on travel by
the Deputy Secretary."

Even if Zoellick attends, it could be seen as a slight by ASEAN leaders
who may perceive it as downgrading of US participation in the region's
most important diplomatic event.

"If in fact he is tapped to attend, we shouldn't be so quick to interpret
such a decision as the lack of support for Southeast Asia, given
Ambassador Zoellick's former cabinet status and broad and deep knowledge
of Southeast Asia," said Karen Brooks, a leading architect of US policy
toward Asia during both the Bush and Clinton administrations.

"However, I suspect our friends in the region won't share that
perspective," she said, indicating that there could be unintended
consequences of such a decision, including a belief that the United States
was ignoring the region, where it has vast investment, trade and security
interests.

"Such a decision would not be intended as a signal that 'We don't care.'
But, be that as it may, that's the way it is going to be interpreted,"
Brooks said.

Earlier, both the United States and the European Union indicated that they
might boycott ASEAN meetings if Myanmar is allowed to chair the grouping,
which includes Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the
Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Some ASEAN members, as well as the grouping's western partners are opposed
to the outcast regime taking on such a role, with Myanmar scheduled to
take over the ASEAN helm from Malaysia at the end of 2006.

If Myanmar does take the chairmanship, it would hold the ASEAN ministerial
meeting in summer 2007.

But Myanmar may give up its chairmanship to avoid any embarrassment to its
neighbours. For the United States, however, that would not impact the
political landscape in Yangon.

"ASEAN is only prolonging the problem instead of tackling it head on," one
Western diplomat said, noting that Myanmar's opposition icon Aung San Suu
Kyi remains under house arrest.

____________________________________

June 22, Reuters
Myanmar likely to forego ASEAN chair – Thailand - Fayen Wong

Singapore: Myanmar, faced with international pressure over its human
rights record, will probably forego its turn at the helm of the ASEAN
regional grouping next year, Thailand's foreign minister said on
Wednesday.

Foreign Minister Kanthathi Suphamongkhon said the Association of South
East Asian Nations had received "very positive signs" that military-ruled
Myanmar would give up its chairmanship of the group due in 2006 and he was
hopeful the issue would be concluded soon.

"That is what Myanmar has to decide but I am optimistic that the situation
will be resolved rather soon in a very positive way," Kanthathi told
Reuters on the sidelines of an Asia-Middle East conference in Singapore.

Myanmar said in April it would not bow to international pressure and
relinquish its ASEAN leadership, but has since softened its stance after
members of the grouping, frustrated with Myanmar's languid pace of
democratic reforms, called for Myanmar to forego its turn to chair the
group in 2006.

Although Yangon's reclusive generals have signalled that they would be
sensitive to ASEAN's concerns about damage to the group's international
reputation should Myanmar assume the chair, Yangon has not given any clear
indication of its plans.

Thailand, which has put itself as a mediator between the military rulers
of Myanmar and the outside world, said Yangon must quicken the pace of
democratic reform.

"We have been interacting in a comprehensive way and we would like to see
the process of national reconciliation move forward faster and as quickly
as possible," Kanthathi said.

The United States and the European Union have threatened to boycott
high-level meetings with ASEAN if Myanmar takes the rotating chairmanship
without making progress on human rights, including freeing opposition
leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

ASEAN is made up of Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Malaysia, Singapore,
Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia and the Philippines.

____________________________________
REGIONAL

June 22, Agence France Presse
Malaysia to ban abusive employers, consider letting refugees work: reports

Kuala Lumpur: Malaysia is responding to an acute labour shortage by
considering allowing refugees to join the workforce, and blacklisting
employers who abuse foreign workers, reports said Wednesday.

Home Affairs Minister Azmi Khalid told the Star daily that employers who
were found to be cruel would be banned from hiring new foreign workers, in
a bid to curb abuses and even deaths among labourers.

"Employers have responsibilities towards their workers, including foreign
workers. Being cruel and abusive is unacceptable," he said.

Last year, 23 cases of mistreatment of foreign workers were recorded by
the immigration department while another 14 cases have been reported so
far this year.

Azmi was reacting to the case of an Indian national who reportedly died of
yellow fever after being locked up along with some 400 other Indian
workers in a hostel for two weeks by an employer in southern Johor state.

Separately, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Mohamed Nazri said
some 90,000 refugees in the country may be absorbed into the workforce to
ease the labour crunch caused by a mass expulsion earlier this year.

"Since we have refugees in the country and most of them are unemployed,
why not use them to resolve the labour shortage?" he was quoted as saying
by the New Straits Times.

"All we need to do is provide them with some kind of identification and
get them to fill the jobs," he said adding that such employment would be
temporary.

His announcement came after the United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees (UNHCR) last week urged the government to allow refugees living
in Malaysia to work legally.

Malaysia is one of Asia's largest importers of labour. Foreign workers,
legal and illegal, number around 2.6 million of its workforce of 10.5
million.

The repatriation of about 400,000 illegal immigrants, mainly low-wage
Indonesian workers, during a four-month amnesty that ended in March left a
huge gap in the agricultural, construction, manufacturing and services
sectors.

The labour crunch has prompted the government to seek mass recruitment of
workers from Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Myanmar and Vietnam.

_____________________________________

June 21, Democratic Voice of Burma
Congress Sonia Gandhi sent birthday greetings to Aung San Suu Kyi

India’s ruling party Congress chairwoman Sonia Gandhi sent a message of
felicitation and greetings to Burma’s democracy leader Daw Aung San Suu
Kyi on her 60th birthday, 19 June. The message states that the people of
India are familiar with Mahatma Gandhi’s principles of equality, democracy
and non-violence. Mrs Gandhi said she understands that Daw Aung San Suu
Kyi has been struggling for democracy in Burma on the same principles. She
expressed her and Indian people’s admiration for the detained Nobel
Laureate’s courage, selflessness and determination, with great hope. Mrs
Gandhi also wished Daw Aung San Suu Kyi every success in her noble
struggle for the people of Burma, many years to come.

_____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

June 22, Agence France Presse
US House of Representatives renews Myanmar sanctions

Washington: The US House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a
resolution Tuesday renewing a one-year ban on all imports from
military-ruled Myanmar, as part of sanctions for repression of democratic
opposition and human rights concerns.

The House adopted it by a 423-2 vote, officials said.

An identical resolution has been introduced in the Senate with 40
co-sponsors and should be dealt with soon, they added.

It would renew a complete ban on all imports from Myanmar until President
George W. Bush determines and certifies to Congress that the Southeast
Asian state has made substantial and measurable progress on a number of
democracy and human rights issues.

The United States halted new investments to Myanmar in 1997 and imposed
bans on financial transactions and imports in 2003. Visa restrictions on
officials from the military junta and affiliated groups have also been
implemented.

But the US law requires annual renewal only for the import ban.

Myanmar's military junta has not taken any meaningful steps toward
restoring democracy and releasing Nobel Peace Prize winner and opposition
National League for Democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, lawmakers said.

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
US sanctions were taking a heavy toll on the military junta.

"They have led to a financial squeeze, with military generals having very
little money to buy off those opposing them and even to pay the salaries
of soldiers in outlying areas," said the group's founder Jeremy Woodrum.

____________________________________

June 22, Agence France Presse
London tank stunt to highlight harm to developing world of G8 arms sales

London: A tank is due to be driven to the London embassies of the G8
countries Wednesday to highlight a report that their arms sales undermine
efforts to poverty in the developing world, campaigners said.

The stunt by human rights organisation Amnesty International and charity
Oxfam is timed to precede a meeting in the British capital Thursday of
foreign ministers from the Group of Eight (G8) world powers.

It also comes ahead of an annual summit of G8 leaders on July 6-8 at
Gleneagles, Scotland.

Starting at the Russian embassy, the 17-tonne vehicle will deliver the
report to the embassies of France, Germany, Japan, Canada, Italy and the
United States, before pulling up at the London Eye landmark opposite the
British parliament.

The Control Arms Campaign, which include Amnesty and Oxfam, accused the G8
countries of "irresponsible arms exports to some of the world's poorest
and most conflict-ridden countries" in its report.

It said weapons manufactured in G8 nations had been exported to Sudan,
Myanmar, the Republic of Congo, Colombia and the Philippines, among other
developing nations.

_____________________________________

June 22, Irrawaddy
Rights groups slam G-8 - Aung Lwin Oo

Global rights watchdogs charged members of G-8—the group of most powerful
industrialized nations—with supplying arms to some of the world’s most
repressive regimes, in a report released on Wednesday.

Amnesty International and Oxfam say that by exporting arms to impoverished
and conflict-ridden countries such as Sudan, Burma and the Republic of
Congo, the world’s richest countries are undermining their own pledge to
reduce poverty, stability and human rights abuses.

“Each year hundreds of thousands of people are killed, tortured, raped and
displaced through the misuse of arms,” said Amnesty International’s
secretary general Irene Khan, in a statement.

The rights groups published their report, “The G-8: Global Arms
Exporters,” ahead of the two-day G-8 foreign ministers’ meeting scheduled
to open on Thursday in London. The new report exposes “a series of
loopholes and weaknesses in arms export controls common across many G-8
countries,” and highlights French exports of arms to Burma as well as the
use of German components in military vehicles acquired by the Rangoon
government.

German-made Heckler & Koch (HK) G3 rifles are still used by the Burmese
army, while Russia reportedly cut a deal with Rangoon in late 2002 to
supply eight MiG-29B-12 and two dual-seat MiG-29UB combat aircraft.

“This research shows that, as well as the G-8 being responsible for more
than 80% of the world’s arms exports, they persist in selling weapons that
oppress the world’s poorest and most vulnerable people,” said Oxfam
director Barbara Stocking, while Rebecca Peters, director of the
International Action Network on Small Arms, called on the G-8 to “turn
rhetoric into reality and push for an arms trade treaty by 2006.”

The G8 comprises Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the UK and
the US.