|
|
|
Your portal
to Asia
|
|
RESOURCES |
|
|
Burma: Country in Crisis
| FREQUENTLY
ASKED QUESTIONS
1. “Burma” or “Myanmar”? At independence in 1948 under an elected government, the country’s name became the Union of Burma. In 1989, the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC), which had seized power a year before, issued a decree changing the country’s official name to “Myanmar,” which is an English transliteration of “Burma” from Burmese. The names of several cities, rivers, and regions were similarly revised, for example, the capital Rangoon, to “Yangon.” The Burmese democracy movement rejects these symbolic but significant changes for two reasons. First, using the Burmese language name ignores the fact that Burma is a multi-ethnic and multi-lingual state, with a large minority for whom Burmese is a second or even third language. Further, such a serious action as changing a country’s name should only be taken with the consent of its peoples, which the unelected military regime clearly does not possess. 2. What is the “State Peace and Development Council”? The State Peace and Development Council is the current name of Burma’s military junta. The army has controlled the country’s government since a 1962 coup. The junta seized direct power on 18 September 1988, calling itself the State Law and Order Restoration Council or SLORC. Its declared aim is to “ensure peace and tranquillity.” One of its first acts in 1988 was to massacre thousands of peaceful pro-democracy demonstrators on the streets of Rangoon, and in other towns and cities around Burma. Junta-backed candidates were resoundingly rejected in free elections on 27 May 1990, but the generals simply ignored the results. In November 1997, the SLORC renamed itself the State Peace and Development Council, changing little more than its name. The junta rules by decree. In reality, the only law in Burma is what the generals from day to day decide it to be. 3. Human rights: How bad is Burma? Burma’s military junta is one of the world’s worst human rights violators. Even the United Nations, usually hesitant to criticize its members, has repeatedly condemned the regime’s abuses. The March 1997 resolution adopted unanimously by the UN Human Rights Commission in Geneva described a litany of abuses including murder, torture, rape, political imprisonment, and forced labor. Many other reports by the International Labor Organization, Amnesty International, Article 19, Human Rights Watch, and other independent groups offer deeply disturbing details of the regime’s ill-treatment of Burma’s peoples. Physical abuse is compounded by a total lack of free expression and free association enforced by the military’s secret police. The junta is accountable to no one. Burma’s laws, economic plans, environmental decisions, and other policies are made without the consultation or approval of Burma’s peoples. 4. Narcotics: Is Burma a special problem? Burma has long been a major grower of opium poppies and a producer of heroin processed from opium harvested from the poppies. Since the SLORC seized power in 1988, opium growth and heroin production have increased dramatically. Now, nearly four times as much heroin is produced. Most is smuggled from Burma and is largely responsible for an explosion of heroin addiction around the world. The supply boom has made street heroin far cheaper and much purer than ever before, and new generations of addicts are appearing in many countries. The junta has made no serious effort to control this trade. To the contrary, it has concluded cease-fires with armed ethnic opposition groups that permit opium growing and unfettered trade within Burma. Heroin profits are reportedly being laundered in hotel construction and other businesses inside Burma. And Burma’s peoples are suffering as well. Heroin addiction is soaring inside the country and with it an AIDS epidemic, as addicts share contaminated needles that spread the disease. 5. Can trade and investment promote democracy in Burma? Contact with the outside world can be an important stimulus to awareness and respect for human rights. Yet without a willingness of the ruling powers to truly open their society, trade and investment will have little effect. Investments in extractive industries such as petroleum and mining often have the least positive results, because they employ few local people and profits go directly to the government. Mining and oil and gas operations often have severe environmental impact as well, about which the public is not informed and is not permitted to question. Lack of respect for human rights can also raise investment returns in labor intensive industries, since workers unable to organize are more easily exploited. 6. Who do sanctions hurt? Few ordinary Burmese benefit from the international investment reaching Burma today. Most foreign companies enter joint ventures directly with the regime, with front companies owned by the army, other state organs, or reputed or officially “rehabilitated” druglords. Most profits go directly to the regime or the small clique of soldiers and businessmen close to the junta. Much foreign exchange is being used to expand and better equip an army that has no external enemies. While new hotels and consumer goods are seen in Burma’s main cities, these luxuries do not reach the average Burmese, who suffer from severe inflation that makes even daily necessities prohibitively expensive. Severe sanctions would no doubt temporarily cut Burma’s economic growth rate. Yet if sanctions help bring a democratic and accountable government, rational economic planning, large-scale international aid, trade, and investment could quickly follow — and spur genuine and more equitable growth. 7. Can the United Nations help Burma? The United Nations has condemned Burma’s military junta repeatedly for its gross and egregious human rights abuses. The General Assembly has passed several resolutions demanding the junta respect the results of the May 1990 elections, in which the National League for Democracy, led by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, won over 80% of the seats. Despite these clear and serious statements of principle, the UN has taken no concrete steps against the dictatorship. A logical first move would be the imposition of an international arms embargo against the junta. But meaningful UN action must come from the Security Council, where it faces veto by China, the junta’s main arms supplier and political ally. 8. What can individual governments do? There is no absolute right to international trade and investment. Any citizen, company, local or national government can choose not to do business with another. The US, Canada, and the European Union will not sell weapons to Burma. The US has also led efforts to block the junta’s access to international loans and aid from the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, and the Asian Development Bank. Far more painful for the generals would be a total ban on foreign trade and investment. The regime needs an influx of foreign currency from natural gas and other exports and tourism not only to finance arms purchases, but to convince Burma’s peoples and the international community that the army can bring economic progress even as it practices brutal repression. Governments can also press the United Nations to adopt an effective arms embargo and other sanctions against the junta. Further, international investigations into the generals’ links to the heroin trade could be pursued vigorously. Governments and regional groupings can employ their moral right and legal statutes to pressure the military regime to respect the Burmese peoples’ basic rights. 9. How can I get more information about Burma? This booklet provides a general background on the struggle for democracy and respect for human rights in Burma. Contacts for more information are given at the end of each section. Resource lists at the end of each Burma Backgrounder provide contact information for groups working on Burma issues and bibliographic references. The Burma Project website, http://www.soros.org/burma.html, offers extensive on-line resources. Your comments and suggestions are welcomed. Limited copies of this booklet are available by writing to: Burma: Country in Crisis
|
Burma: Country in Crisis was prepared by Open Society Institute's Burma project
Content: Republished with permission from Open Society Institute
|