[asia-apec 208] NGOs urge sanctions against Burma

[by way of daga <daga at hk.super.net>]

      By Deborah Charles 


    BANGKOK, Oct 29 (Reuter) - Asian human rights activists urged southeast
Asian nations on Tuesday to follow the United States and Europe and put more
pressure on Burma's military rulers over human rights abuses. 


    ``We think the situation in Burma is getting worse,'' Somchai Homlaor,
secretary general of the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development, told
Reuters. 


    The seven-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) ``should
work harder to put pressure on SLORC,'' he said, referring to Burma's ruling
State Law and Order Restoration Council. 


    The European Union imposed strict limits on Monday on contacts with
SLORC officials. 


    The action, similar to recent moves by Washington, bars visas to SLORC
members and their families and to some senior military members as part of a
build-up of pressure on Burma's ruling junta. The 15-member EU also
suspended all high-level EU visits to Burma. 


    Somchai was speaking before the start of a two-day ``Alternative ASEAN''
meeting involving more than 80 activists, academics and exiled Burmese from
50 organisations around Asia. 


    The aim of the meeting was to discuss how ASEAN -- which groups
Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, Singapore, Brunei and
Vietnam -- could better influence Burma. 


    ASEAN has a policy of ``constructive engagement'' aimed at keeping Burma
from becoming isolated in order to try and reform it from within. Rangoon
has observer status to ASEAN and has applied to join the group at its next
formal meeting in July. 


    Western nations oppose Burma's entry into ASEAN because of the military
regime's human rights record and its failure to enter into dialogue with the
opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) led by Nobel Peace laureate
Aung San Suu Kyi. 


    Organisers of the Alternative ASEAN meeting welcomed the pressure on
Burma's military government by the EU and United States but said further
steps needed to be taken by Asian countries. 


    ``It is the first step, but it is not enough. The international
community should put harder pressure on SLORC, like economic sanctions,''
said Gothom Arya, a political scientist at Chulalongkorn University and host
of the meeting. 


    ``ASEAN should do the same,'' he said. ``We are in a much more important
position, at least geographically. We are from the same culture ... As
neighbours to Burma we should do more.'' 


    A Burmese official said on Monday that the EU move would have little
impact because Burmese officials did not travel much to the West. 


    The junta's latest crackdown on the democracy movement -- when it
detained 573 activists to prevent an NLD meeting from taking place in late
September -- and detention last week of Kyi Maung, deputy chairman of the
NLD, sparked world condemnation. 


    The SLORC has said all the activists have since been freed. 


    Kyi Maung, 75, was released on Monday after being held in a government
guesthouse for a week for questioning over his alleged role in a rare
student protest. 


    The NLD won a landslide victory in a 1990 election but never assumed
power after the SLORC, which organised the poll, refused to recognise the
results. 


    ASEAN's constructive engagement strategy came into question earlier this
month when Philippine President Fidel Ramos said leaders of the group might
review the policy. His comments followed the fresh crackdown on the NLD. 


    REUTER 


03:22 10-29-96