BurmaNet News, December 16-18, 2006

[Editor]

December 16-18, 2006 Issue # 3108


INSIDE BURMA
Irrawaddy: Burma defends record on forced labor
AFP: Myanmar: guidelines for UN imposed for their own safety
Mizzima: Activists celebrate detained leader Ko Ko Gyi's birthday

BUSINESS / TRADE
AFP: Myanmar's inflation quadruples, while GDP hits 13.2 percent growth
Xinhua General News Service: India to invest in Myanmar port

REGIONAL
Mizzima: Nepal's Parliament seeks Aung San Suu Kyi's release
AFP: Tsunami-affected Myanmar migrants invisible in life and death

INTERNATIONAL
Irrawaddy: UK’s development arm accused of failing Burma
AP: Hollywood, music stars call for UN action against Myanmar
Gloucester Citizen: Pineapple protest over 'joke' Burma sanctions

OPINION / OTHER
Washington Post: Resolution Needed

PRESS RELEASE
Friends of the Earth-Canada and Canadian Friends of Burma: CPP investment
in repressive dictatorship cause for concern


____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

December 18, Irrawaddy
Burma defends record on forced labor - Clive Parker

The Burmese government on Sunday held a press conference at which it
denied the use of forced labor in what appeared to be the latest attempt
to make its case against UN Security Council intervention in the country.

Three weeks after defending its record on HIV/AIDS, drug eradication and
political prisoners, the government said it had “never failed” to abide by
its obligations to the International Labour Organization as a signatory to
the 1930 Forced Labour Convention.

The ILO apparently disagrees—in February it plans to request a ruling from
the International Court of Justice in The Hague to determine whether Burma
is failing to tackle the problem

Deputy Minister of Labor Maj-Gen Aung Kyi, at Sunday’s press conference in
Naypyidaw, admitted that “labor contribution” had been used by the
Tatmadaw (Burmese Army) between 1955 and 1990 in counter-insurgency
operations. The practice had since stopped though, he said, following
peace deals with 17 armed groups. That claim is disputed by Karen groups,
in particular, who say that the military continues to force Burmese to act
as army porters, human mine sweepers and to construct army camps and roads
in eastern Burma.

Aung Kyi said the government was justified in requesting Burmese to work
in certain cases, including “tasks for regional development” and cases of
national emergency. He told journalists that Burma “will continue to
cooperate with the ILO as long as its attitudes are not harmful to the
interests of the nation and the people.”

Richard Horsey, the ILO’s representative in Rangoon, on Monday called on
the military to engage in open discussion in a bid to ease the current
standoff with the world labor body. “The ILO has always considered it
important to have a frank dialogue with the Myanmar [Burma] authorities on
issues of concern,” he said. “I would want to have that dialogue directly,
rather than through the media.”

Horsey was due to meet with Aung Kyi on Monday afternoon, he added, as
talks continue in the hope of reaching agreement on a mechanism to address
cases of alleged forced labor in Burma.

The military’s failure to meet the ILO’s requests on how such a mechanism
would work prompted the organization last month to begin preparations for
a referral of Burma’s case to the International Court of Justice. The
junta responded on Sunday by saying that such a move would be
“unnecessary.”

“It is not in accord with the ILO constitution,” Aung Kyi said.

The deputy labor minister said the authorities had investigated 62 cases
of alleged forced labor perpetrated by the civil administration and the
military. Ten officials are thought to have been convicted in 2004 and
2005 before the ILO stopped passing on information on suspected instances
of forced labor after a spate of convictions against “false complainants”
and their representatives, including lawyer Aye Myint and National League
for Democracy member Su Su Nway.

Government efforts to distance itself from alleged forced labor practices
come as the UN Security Council prepares to consider a non-punitive
resolution on Burma before Christmas. A draft resolution recently
circulated by the US among the 15 members of the UNSC calls on the junta
to cooperate with the ILO to eradicate forced labor in Burma.

____________________________________

December 17, Agence France Presse
Myanmar: guidelines for UN imposed for their own safety

Naypyidaw: Military-ruled Myanmar said Sunday that regulations on how
United Nations agencies and development organisations operate were imposed
to ensure no "unpleasant incidents" happen to them.

Several UN agencies and non-governmental organisations have complained
that their movements within the secretive state have been restricted, thus
hampering their ability to carry out their work independently.

Soe Tha, minister for National Planning and Economic Development, told
reporters Sunday that contrary to their complaints, the regulations were
in fact there to make life easier for them.

"Even we, ourselves, have to take security precautions for travelling, let
alone the foreigners, since there still remain a few insurgents in some
parts of the country," he said.

"We do not wish any unpleasant incidents to happen to them even if they
take their own risks to travel."

Myanmar's junta has signed peace deals with 17 armed ethnic groups, but a
handful of rebel groups continue to fight against the military government.

Soe Tha said UN agencies were required to inform the government two weeks
ahead of a trip to a project site, and chastised UN officials who did not
stick to their proposed itineraries.

"These people do not try to understand our situation; they thought we were
hindering them from what they wanted to do," he said. "In fact, it is not
(the case)."

He said that Myanmar was cooperating with the United Nations and other
development agencies on more that 120 projects, but warned that "we cannot
accept those who use UN to do activities that will infringe our
sovereignty".

The junta in February issued seven pages of guidelines, including rules on
employment and a requirement that government officials must accompany
staff when they travel in Myanmar.

Even before then, agencies had complained of limitations of their activities.

In August last year, the UN-created Global Fund against AIDS, Malaria and
Tuberculosis -- diseases that are prevalent in Myanmar -- announced it was
pulling out, citing the junta's restrictions.

Myanmar's generals have long accused some foreigners of seeking to
overthrow the government, labelling them "destructive elements" who
encourage dissident opposition groups.

____________________________________

December 18, Mizzima News
Activists celebrate detained leader Ko Ko Gyi's birthday

Detained 88 generation student leader Ko Ko Gyi's 45th birthday was
celebrated today by pro-democracy activists. The activists and relatives
of detained student leaders got together at a Buddhist monastery near
Chaukhtutgyi pagoda in Rangoon to celebrate his birthday.

More than 500 people including leaders of ethnic nationalities, veteran
politicians, members of National League for Democracy and family members
of detained student leaders were offered Swam for the monks.

Leaflets with Ko Ko Gyi's speech "We believe in non-violence to solve
political problems and to develop our country. This is our vow," along
with his photographs were distributed to the gathering.

"Celebrating birthdays of people who are not present among us is not
unusual for us. We don't have any special bad moments in such cases. We
are proud of our detained leaders. We respect them. They made the ultimate
sacrifice by spending many years in jail for loving their country and now
they are doing the same again. Though they are not free, their spirit has
reached out to younger students," said Mya Aye, among the current
leadership of 88 generation students to Mizzima.

Ko Ko Gyi, one of the popular leaders in the 1988 nation-wide uprising was
the vice-chairman of the banned All Burma Federation of Student Unions or
ABFSU. He was imprisoned in 1991 and released after nearly 14 years in
jail.

Ko Ko Gyi, along with the former chairman of ABFSU Min Ko Naing, Min Zeya,
Pyone Cho and Htay Kywe were picked up again in September from their homes
by the police.

"We don't want to continue to dig into history and play the blame game. We
want to leave the bad things in the past and don't want to take them
along. However, we don't like the system of dictatorship and we will not
accept any form of dictatorship. We want a system which allows everyone to
express their opinion and ideologies. So, basically we want democracy and
we prefer it," said Mya Aye.

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

December 18, Agence France Presse
Myanmar's inflation quadruples, while GDP hits 13.2 percent growth

Naypyidaw: Inflation in impoverished Myanmar has quadrupled in the past
year, but GDP growth exceeded expectations, reaching 13.2 percent last
fiscal year, an economic minister said.

Soe Tha, national planning and economic development minister, said on
Sunday that inflation had risen from 3.76 percent in March 2005 to 16.44
percent in September this year.

"Inflation rate started to rise again and efforts have been made to bring
down the level back to single digits," he told reporters during a rare
press conference at the new administrative capital Naypyidaw.

Myanmar's military government awarded 10-fold wage increases to civil
servants in April this year, which set off a chain reaction that saw
prices soar and the value of the kyat currency drop.

However, Soe Tha said that gross domestic product (GDP) in Myanmar, which
is under economic sanctions from the West, had risen beyond targets,
increasing 13.2 percent in the 2005-06 fiscal year, which runs April 1 and
to March 31.

This is down slightly on 13.6 in the previous fiscal year, but up on
targetted GDP growth of 11.3 percent per year from 2001-02 to 2005-06, he
said.

"It is well known that the growth or decline of an economy is presented in
terms of GDP," he said.
He said the government expected GDP growth of 12 percent in the 2006-07
fiscal year.

Myanmar has been ruled by the military government since 1962. The current
junta has taken steps to liberalise the economy since it took power after
crushing a pro-democracy uprising in 1988.

The previous military dictatorship had spent decades following the
"Burmese way to socialism", which ruined what had been one of the most
promising economies in Southeast Asia.

Myanmar is subject to US and European economic sanctions over human rights
abuses and the slow pace of democratic reform, but the impact has been
weakened by Asian neighbors, who are keen to tap Myanmar's vast natural
wealth.

Soe Tha said that of the 6.06 billion dollars of foreign investment in
2005-06, Asian countries were the largest investors.

Total foreign investment since 1988 to the end of September was 13.8
billion dollars, he added, with the energy sector becoming the largest
source of foreign currency earning.

Oil and gas are believed to be fuelling growth in the otherwise
impoverished country.

Myanmar's official statistics are notoriously unreliable, with large
amounts of cross-border trade taking place in frontier regions outside the
military government's control.

____________________________________

December 16, Xinhua General News Service
India to invest in Myanmar port

New Delhi: India will invest 4.5 billion  rupees (100 million U.S.
dollars) in developing Myanmar's Sittwe  port to connect northeast India
with East Asia, a senior Indian  official said Saturday.

The project will start next month and be completed within the  next three
years, said Minister of State for Commerce Jairam  Ramesh in Agartala,
capital of northeast Indian state Tripura,  according to Indo-Asian News
Service.

The Indian government wants to connect northeast India with he ASEAN
(Association of South East Asian Nations) countries going round
Bangladesh, he said.

India plans to connect northeast state Mizoram with the Sittwe port,
earlier known as Akyab port, through the Kaladyn River.

India will also spend 8.5 billion rupees (about 188.89 million U.S.
dollars) in developing 13 Land Customs Stations (LCSs) in border areas in
next three years and improve bordering infrastructure in a bid to increase
trade with neighboring countries, Ramesh said.

Of the 13 LCS, one is on the India-Pakistan border, four on the
India-Nepal border, one on the India-Myanmar border and seven on the
India-Bangladesh border.

____________________________________
REGIONAL

December 16, Mizzima News
Nepal's Parliament seeks Aung San Suu Kyi's release - Siddique Islam

The Parliament in Nepal has demanded the immediate release of detained
Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Subas Nembang tabled a
proposal at a meeting of the House on Friday, demanding the release of Suu
Kyi from house arrest. Suu Kyi was described as a 'symbol of Asian
democracy'. Dr. Tint Swe, a Burmese elected Member of Parliament in exile
attended the meeting.

Speaking at the Reporters' Club in Kathmandu, Tint Swe appreciated the
Parliament's proposal seeking Suu Kyi's release. Tint Swe also said the
Parliament in Nepal is the first Parliament in the world to table a
proposal seeking the release of Suu Kyi.

The opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been under house arrest for
more than 11 years.

"The Security Council should pass a binding resolution on the situation in
Myanmar. We have already had a number of resolutions in the past to
address our problem, but in vain," Tint Swe said while addressing a mass
assembly at Maitighar Mandala in the city.

Members of the Ex-MPs' Club and the South Asian Forum for Peoples'
Initiatives (SAFPI) took out a rally in the capital on Friday. They
submitted a memorandum to the United Nations Security Council through the
UN House in Kathmandu, requesting the world body to pass a resolution on
the human rights situation in Burma.

Accepting the memorandum, Mathew Kahane, the UN resident representative in
Nepal, said he would pass it on to the UN Security Council. "The issue of
Myanmar is a long-standing one. I hope the council takes up the issue
seriously."

____________________________________

December 18, Agence France Presse
Tsunami-affected Myanmar migrants invisible in life and death - Charlotte
McDonald-Gibson

Ban Nam Khem: On the eve of the second anniversary of the tsunami,
Thailand buried the last of its unidentified victims in a quiet ceremony
attended by a handful of officials.

There were no relatives to watch the bodies go into the ground, as the
majority of the unknown dead buried that day were migrant workers from
Myanmar, who were as invisible in death as they had been in life.

Up to 2,000 migrant workers from Myanmar, formally known as Burma, are
thought to have been killed when the deadly waves came on December 26,
2004, and most of their bodies remain missing.

While money flowed to the Thai victims and moving tributes were paid to
the foreign tourists who perished, the migrants went unnoticed.

"They were very busy with foreigners and the bodies of dead foreigners and
Thais, but for the Burmese they did not care at all," says one Myanmar
migrant worker who lost her son and daughter in the tsunami.

But some migrant workers are finally finding acceptance from Thais and
recognition from the donor community, after years of being shunned and
ignored.

"Many died, but some people benefited from the tsunami. Before the tsunami
there were no (charities) working for the Burmese migrants," says Htoo
Chit, director of Grassroots Human Rights Education and Development
Committee.

At least one million migrants from military-run Myanmar, one of the
poorest countries in the world, are believed to be working in Thailand,
and the majority are here illegally.

A recent report by the International Labour Organisation found that the
migrants are treated as virtual slaves, suffering abuse at the hands of
their employers and paid well below the minimum wage.

Life got worse for tens of thousands of migrants living in six provinces
along Thailand's Andaman coast in December 2004 when the waves came and
swept away their homes, workplaces and families.

"Most of the migrants work in construction, and they were very close to
the beach," says Htoo Chit. Of those who survived, "most of them lost
their ID, their work permits," he says.

Thailand's official tsunami death toll is 5,400, with some 3,000 missing.
Because relatives of missing migrants did not come forward, fearing arrest
or deportation, no one knows exactly how many migrants died, with
estimates ranging from 1,000 to 2,000.

As the television crews descended on the devastated beaches and turned
their cameras on Thai children and grieving foreign tourists, the workers
simply slipped back to Myanmar or into hiding.

"All recovery efforts overlooked the needs of the Burmese migrant
population," says Sunai Phasuk, Thailand-Burma consultant for New
York-based watchdog Human Rights Watch.

"The survivors chose to live in hiding because they were afraid they would
be arrested because all their papers were washed away," he adds.

One of the most heartbreaking problems migrants faced was claiming their
dead. Although thousands lost family members, fear of arrest or lack of
papers prevented them from claiming the bodies.

Abefa Saejang, who works with the International Organization for
Migration's victim identification unit, tries to negotiate the return of
bodies with the Thai police, but it is a slow task hampered by lack of
official papers.

"Every time we talk to them, they cry, they say 'why can't you find
them'," he says.

But some migrant workers have found that two years on, there have been
small improvements to their otherwise difficult lives.

Pho Zeu, 32, a mechanic from Myanmar, has found that a shared tragic
history has improved relations with his Thai neighbours. "Before, we
always argue, now we have a better relationship," he tells AFP.

The migrants also received mosquito nets and stoves -- small comforts, but
more than they got from the donor community before the tsunami.
Organisations have also set up education and healthcare centres for them.

When asked what the government has done to help Myanmar migrant workers,
Pho Zeu, who has papers to work in Thailand legally, grins and says: "They
haven't arrested them."

Htoo Chit says the Thai government also helped by lowering the fee for
work visas from 50,000 baht (1,420 dollars) to 4,000 baht, but Sunai says
that price is still out of reach of most migrant workers.

"The migrants are still living on the horizon," he says, adding the
migrants' contribution to Thailand's post-tsunami reconstruction should be
recognised and rewarded with better rights and legal protection.

"Without the Burmese migrant workers the coastlines would not be fully
recovered," he says.

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

December 18, Irrawaddy
UK’s development arm accused of failing Burma - Clive Parker

The UK’s Department of International Development was accused on Monday of
failing to help some of the most vulnerable people in Burma and of
neglecting to support democracy in the country.

A report by Burma Campaign UK entitled Failing the People of Burma? said
that a “woefully under-funded” aid program in Burma and lack of cross
border humanitarian assistance meant that the DFID “needs to undertake a
fundamental rethink of its strategy for Burma.”

The DFID spends just eight million pounds (US $16.6 million) per year on
aid in Burma, the report said, compared to the 50 million pounds ($97
million) offered annually to Vietnam. The UK government’s development arm
gives ten times more money to the average African person compared to a
Burmese, it added.

BCUK Director Yvette Mahon said that it was not only the lack of money
going into Burma that was the problem, but also the way the money was
being spent.

“It is astonishing that in Burma of all countries DFID does not fund any
projects focused on the promotion of democracy,” Mahon said.

The DFID is involved in democracy promotion in other countries, including
help on drafting constitutions, but has no formal democracy activities in
Burma.

“Of course, we need more aid to tackle disease and poverty in Burma, but
it makes no sense to focus solely on the symptoms and ignore the cause of
poverty in Burma, which is the regime,” Mahon added.

The DFID is due to finalize a review of its policy on Internally Displaced
People after coming under pressure to aid cross-border programs. The
review was due for publication in October, but is yet to come out, BCUK
said.

“While DFID dithers, thousands of people are hiding in Burma’s jungles
with no food, shelter or medical support,” a BCUK statement said on
Monday.

The head of the DFID office in Rangoon, Rurik Marsden, who is also the
first secretary at the British Embassy, was unavailable for comment on
Monday.

British Ambassador Mark Canning told The Irrawaddy in a recent interview
that the UK “is one of the largest contributors” to the $100 million Three
Diseases Fund—an initiative formulated this year to tackle HIV/AIDS,
malaria and tuberculosis in Burma—“and has shown real leadership in that
field.”

Burma “is of course not a UK issue specifically, but one of broad
international concern,” he said. “Britain is playing an active and
important role both in terms of trying to bring about positive political
change and in providing support for efforts to address some of the
humanitarian challenges which the country faces.”

Criticism of the UK government’s involvement in Burma comes a week after
the main opposition Conservative Party in London recommended that British
embassies in repressive countries become “Freedom Houses,” calling for
embassy staff to join democracy protests and further support for groups
opposing tyrannical regimes.

____________________________________

December 16, Associated Press
Hollywood, music stars call for UN action against Myanmar - Denis D. Gray

Bangkok: Hollywood and music stars, including Tim Robbins and Kate Pierson
of The B-52s, have called on the United Nations to pass its first-ever
resolution on Myanmar where a brutal offensive against ethnic minority
people is continuing, a press release received Saturday said.

The appeal was delivered in a letter sent to the office of the U.N.
secretary general Friday after a gathering in New York City earlier in the
week by nearly 500 activists to highlight the humanitarian crisis in
Myanmar, also known as Burma, the private human rights group WITNESS said.

"It is past time for the issue of Burma to be addressed by the UN's most
powerful body, the Security Council. In eastern Burma, over 3,000 villages
have been destroyed, forcibly abandoned or forcibly relocated in the past
10 years," the letter said, urging the resolution be passed before the end
of the year.

The United States, which persistently condemns Myanmar for its human
rights abuses, is circulating a draft resolution that it plans to
introduce before the council to press the country's military government to
change policies that constitute a threat to international peace and
security.

Celebrities signing the letters included Oscar winner Robbins, British
rock musician Peter Gabriel, Mexican actor Gael Garcia Bernal, Nile
Rodgers of Chic, Angelique Kidjo and Suzanne Vega.

Human rights groups say government troops have torched villages, killed
innocent civilians, raped women and herded villagers into
military-controlled zones in an ongoing offensive against the Karen ethnic
minority in eastern Myanmar.

The government, which denies committing any atrocities, is waging a nearly
year-long offensive to suppress a Karen insurgency that first erupted in
the late 1940s.

The Thailand Burma Border Consortium, the main aid agency caring for tens
of thousands of refugees along the Thai-Myanmar frontier, estimates that
this year alone violence forced 82,000 people to leave their homes.

Since 1996, more than 3,000 villages have been destroyed or abandoned in
eastern Myanmar and more than 1 million people displaced, according to its
most recent report. Major uprooting and abuses have also occurred in other
ethnic minority areas such as Shan State.

The United States and other countries have also urged the junta to free
all political prisoners including pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi,
who remains under house arrest in Yangon.

But Washington faces an uphill struggle in getting the council to take
tough action against Myanmar. China strongly opposed putting the country
on the agenda as did Russia, and both are veto-wielding members of the
Security Council.

The junta took power in 1988 after crushing the democracy movement led by
Nobel prize-winning Suu Kyi. In 1990, it refused to hand over power when
Suu Kyi's party won a landslide election victory.

____________________________________

December 16, The Gloucester Citizen
Pineapple protest over 'joke' Burma sanctions

Green campaigners in Stroud are urging residents to support an unusual
campaign.

The district Green Party is sending pineapples to Foreign Secretary
Margaret Beckett to protest against sanctions imposed in Burma.

The country's democracy movement has called for targeted economic
sanctions against the current regime, which spends up to half its budget
on the military.

But Coun Philip Booth, a spokesperson for Stroud Greens, said sanctions
were ineffective.
"Instead of stopping companies investing in the oil, gas and timber
sectors, where the regime earns most of its money, British and European
companies are banned from investing in a pineapple juice factory and a few
other minor companies. It's a joke," he said.

"To highlight just how ridiculous the UK and EU sanctions are, we have
joined campaigners in posting pineapples - fresh, dried or tinned - to
Margaret Beckett and calling on her to unilaterally ban new investment in
Burma."

____________________________________
OPINION / OTHER

December 17, Washington Post
Resolution Needed

Burma's junta needs to hear from the U.N. Security Council.

The United Nations has a new secretary general, but one of his first
challenges is a very old problem: the recalcitrant and brutal dictatorship
of Burma. The U.N. Security Council voted several months ago to put Burma
on its official agenda. Now it must decide whether to give that vote any
meaning. The United States is circulating a draft resolution calling for
the release of political prisoners, an end to the Burmese military's use
of rape as a weapon of war and a few other measures that should hardly be
controversial. Are there any council members -- Argentina? Japan? China?
-- who oppose such measures?

Burma, also known as Myanmar, matters on three counts: in its own right,
as a symbol, and for its effect on its neighbors and the world. It's a
nation of some 50 million people in Southeast Asia, rich in resources but
stripped and impoverished by its corrupt dictators. The regime's ethnic
cleansing campaign against certain internal nationalities has killed
thousands, pushed well over a million out of their homes and forced many
more into slave labor. The Burmese people deserve better.

Burma matters as a symbol because it's a rare dictatorship where we know,
beyond dispute, that the people object to their misrule -- and we know
what they would prefer. We know this because the junta allowed, in 1990,
an election, and the National League for Democracy triumphed in a
landslide. The junta nullified the results, jailed many of the winners and
has kept the democrats' leader, Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi,
under house arrest for most of the years since. There could not be a
clearer test of whether the people's will means anything to the United
Nations.

Finally, Burma is a menace to the world -- a source of drugs and AIDS and
refugees, as was amply documented in a report commissioned last year by
retired archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa and former president
Vaclav Havel of the Czech Republic. There should be no doubt about U.N.
authority to weigh in. That's especially true since other diplomatic
measures, including dispatching envoys from the secretary general, have
been tried and have failed. The draft resolution proposes no coercive
measures but simply insists that the secretary general pursue vigorously
the liberalization that everyone knows is needed. That needs to start with
the freeing of Aung San Suu Kyi and her imprisoned associates and their
inclusion in a political dialogue.

____________________________________
PRESS RELEASE

December 18, Friends of the Earth-Canada and Canadian Friends of Burma
CPP investment in repressive dictatorship cause for concern

London tonight: Friends of the Earth and Canadian Friends of Burma to
press concerns at CPP Investment Board public meeting

(London, Ontario):  Friends of the Earth-Canada and Canadian Friends of
Burma will challenge the Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board’s (CPPIB)
use of pension fund monies to finance the government of Burma (also known
as Myanmar), reputed to be the most vicious and repressive dictatorship in
the world.  The public meeting will take place tonight from 5 pm to 6:30
pm at the Four Points Hotel, 1150 Wellington Road South in London,
Ontario.

CPPIB is a major stockholder in Ivanhoe Mines, registered as a Canadian
company holding 50% of the Myanmar Ivanhoe Copper Company―the other
50% is held by the Burma government’s Ministry of Mines.

In a new Friends of the Earth-Canada report, released just prior to the
meeting (available at www.foecanada.org), they call on the CPPIB to both
divest from Ivanhoe Mines and ensure no other CPPIB investment is made in
Burma.

“Canadians, by virtue of their pension funds, are in business with vicious
villains,” says Beatrice Olivastri, CEO, Friends of the Earth-Canada.
“CPPIB’s investment in Ivanhoe Mines poses a serious risk to the future
pensions belonging to Canadians.”

“We were shocked and dismayed to learn that every week, with the CPP
deductions from our pay cheques, we are financing Burma’s repressive
regime,” says Mr. Tin Maung Htoo, Executive Director, Canadian Friends of
Burma.

CPPIB’s Policy on Responsible Investing states that, “Only companies
domiciled in countries with which Canada maintains normal financial, trade
and investment relations are eligible for investment”
(www.cppib.ca/files/PDF/policies/policies/Responsible_Investing_Policy.pdf).
 Canada does not maintain normal trade relations with Burma – Burma is on
Canada’s Area Control List.

“By not formalizing its stance on Burma, the federal government is
negligent.  It’s hard to see why the Prime Minister has not seized this
opportunity to demonstrate progressive Canadian foreign policy,” says
Olivastri.  “In its opposition days, Mr. Harper’s party voted in favour of
progressive action against Burma’s military regime and in support of the
pro-democracy movement.  Sadly, this negligence leaves the door open for
institutions like the CPPIB to skate around their ethical duty.”

“Ivanhoe Mines’ investment in Burma not only legitimizes the military rule
in Burma, but badly tarnishes Canada’s reputation.  It is providing the
cash-strapped regime with more than $60 million each year,” states Tin
Maung Htoo.

Tonight’s CPPIB public meeting is the last in a Canada-wide series.

“Falling Through the Cracks: CPPIB Investment in Burma” is available at
www.foecanada.org.

For more information, contact:


Beatrice Olivastri, Friends of the Earth,
613 724-8690 (cell)
Tin Maung Htoo, Canadian Friends of Burma, 613 297-6835 (cell)


Friends of the Earth-Canada is a voice for the environment, nationally and
internationally, working with others to inspire the renewal of our
communities and the earth through research, education and advocacy. It is
the Canadian member of Friends of the Earth-International, now uniting 70
country FOE groups.

Canadian Friends of Burma is a federally incorporated, national
non-governmental organization founded in 1991 which  supports the Burma
pro-democracy movement in the struggle for peace, democracy, human rights
and equality in Burma.