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ICRC slams systematic mass abuse by Myanmar's militarya
by Peter Capella
Fri Jun 29, 4:23 AM ET

GENEVA (AFP) - The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)
vigorously denounced Friday what it called widespread and systematic
human rights abuses by Myanmar's military regime.

In an exceptionally strongly worded statement, ICRC president Jakob
Kellenberger accused Myanmar's armed forces of forcing thousands of
detainees to work as porters to the point of exhaustion and
malnutrition, sometimes using them as "human minesweepers."

"The persistent use of detainees as porters for the armed forces is a
matter of grave humanitarian concern," Kellenberger said.

"The actions of the authorities have also resulted in immense
suffering for thousands of people in conflict-affected areas."

The ICRC insisted that it had repeatedly drawn attention to the
abuses, but the authorities had failed to stop them.

Some of the porters were murdered, according to the ICRC written
statement, which was based on observations and interviews by its own
staff in Myanmar mainly between 2000 and 2005.

At a briefing with journalists, Kellenberger called the forced
portering "particularly repulsive"

"In minefields they have to go ahead, so they are types of human
minsweepers," he said.

The humanitarian agency also highlighted repeated abuse against men,
women and children in communities along the Thai border, including
murder, violence, arbitrary arrests and "large scale" destruction of
food supplies.

"The violations are very serious and the abuse is of a systematic
nature," Kellenberger said.

Myanmar has been ruled by the military since 1962. The government has
faced international criticism for keeping Nobel Peace prize winning
activist Aung San Suu Kyi locked in her lakeside home for extended
periods of time since 1990.

The military regime is fighting ethnic rebels in the border region,
where ICRC aid staff no longer have independent access.

Portering and other abuse against civilians were major violations of
international humanitarian law, the Geneva-based agency underlined.

Myanmar army's behaviour helped create "constant fear" among the
population and forced thousands to flee their homes, it added.

Kellenberger said Myanmar's decision-makers consistently refused to
enter into a "meaningful" discussion on the abuses with a view to
stopping them.

"The continuing deadlock with the authorities has led the ICRC to take
the exceptional step of making its concerns public."

The ICRC is normally discreet about its talks with authorities around
the world over humanitarian issues, believing that a confidential
approach is a better way to achieve improvements.

Public statements specifically naming culprits of abuse are, in
contrast, very rare and are kept as a last resort.

Kellenberger said he hoped the military leaders would now enter into
meaningful dialogue, but he acknowledged that Myanmar might decide to
exclude his Red Cross agency from the country.

"There is a possibility," he said.

"I don't think we could be taken as a figleaf especially after today
-- that was one of my concerns," the ICRC chief explained.

Since late 2005, Myanmar has stopped the agency from carrying out
independent visits to detention centres and prisons to check on
conditions.

Kellenberger revealed that mortality rates in prisons were halved
during the period visits were underway.

The ICRC says its staff have also faced growing restrictions on their
independent movement around Myanmar, hampering the delivery of
humanitarian aid to civilians.

"We will not be ready to make concessions," Kellenberger insisted.
More ICRC offices in Myanmar being closed, leaving aid workers largely
based around Yangon and Mandalay.

Although the junta says it has banned forced labour, human rights
groups have long said that little action has been taken, especially in
areas where foreigners are barred.

Myanmar's military rulers have agreed to appoint an official to work
with the United Nations to help children caught up in the nation's
conflicts, a UN envoy said Friday in Yangon.

The social welfare ministry official will work with the UN Children's
Fund (UNICEF) to monitor for serious abuses, especially the
recruitment of child soldiers, envoy Radhika Coomaraswamy said.
*******************************************************
US, Myanmar hold rare talks in China over Aung San Suu Kyi
by P. Parameswaran
Thu Jun 28, 6:22 PM ET

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States held rare talks with the Myanmar
military junta in Beijing to press for the release of the Southeast
Asian state's democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, the State Department
said Thursday.

At the China-brokered talks this week, US officials were "clear and
direct" in demanding the release of the opposition leader and
thousands of other political prisoners in Myanmar, spokesman Tom Casey
said. The junta leaders however did not seem to relent, he said.

It was the highest level direct talks between the rival nations in
recent years, with the US officials led by deputy US assistant
secretary of state Eric John.

One US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the
discussions were "very pointed and very direct."

"I don't think we saw anything coming out of them that will indicate,
unfortunately, that they have changed their basic opinions," Casey
said of the junta leaders who attended the talks -- information
minister Kyaw Hsan, foreign minister Nyan Win and culture minister
Khin Aung Nyint.

"We certainly did not hear that they were planning on releasing Aung
San Suu Kyi or other political prisoners," he said.

Myanmar requested the meeting and Beijing, instead of Yangon, was
chosen as the venue because the junta refused to meet a key condition
by Washington -- allow US officials to first meet with Aung San Suu
Kyi, who has spent 11 of the past 18 years under house arrest, Casey
said.

"The government of Burma often prefers that we would meet with them in
Burma. Our longstanding policy is we will not meet them in Burma --
outside of our embassy offices -- if they will not allow us to meet
with Aung San Suu Kyi," he said.

Myanmar has been ruled by the military since 1962.

Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) won elections
in 1990, but the military did not recognize the result and has kept
her locked in her lakeside home, despite fierce international
criticism.

Casey said Washington decided to have the talks with the junta to
"reinforce the messages they were receiving" from the UN special
envoy, Ibrahim Gambari, who had been visited Yangon several times to
press the military rulers to release Aung San Suu Kyi and bring about
national reconciliation.

The junta reportedly is anxious for Gambari to pay another visit to
Myanmar in July when it finalizes a national convention to draw up
guidelines for a new constitution.

By hosting the US talks with Myanmar, China is playing a role similar
to that of the six-party talks which it convened in 2003 aimed at
ending North Korea's nuclear weapons drive.

"It's especially significant that these talks took place in Beijing
and were arranged by the Chinese, although China will not be a
publicly active participant," said former US envoy to the United
Nations Richard Holbrooke.

"While these talks are unlikely to be productive, after years of
nothing on Burma, perhaps they will be the beginning of a process in
which China can play a role similar to that in North Korea," he said
in an opinion piece in the Washington Post Thursday.

China and Russia, which have both invested in Myanmar's energy sector,
vetoed a US-led UN draft resolution in January urging Myanmar to
swiftly return to democracy and free all political detainees.

Jeremy Woodrum, director of the Washington-based US Campaign for
Burma, said China should respect the call by the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), of which Myanmar is a member, for the
release of Aung San Suu Kyi.

"Aung San Suu Kyi is much a China prisoner as she is a prisoner of the
Burmese regime," he said.

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