Re: Allegations On Exercising Forced Labour in Myanmar

In article <dJKdnYw06q1OULneRVn-vw@xxxxxxxxxxx>, zomi@xxxxxxxx (zomi) wrote:

>
>
> Mass Forced Labor Exacted to Construct New Military Camp
>
>
>
> August 2, 2005, Aizawl:
>
>
>
> Major Tin Moe, patrol column commander from Burma Army Infantry Battalion
> 304 (under Chin State's Tactical Command No. 2 based in Matupi) temporarily
> stationed at Dar Ling village of southern Chin State's Matupi Township
> requisitioned compulsory labor to build a new military post at Dar Ling
> village. More than one thousands civilians from 20 villages in the area have
> been working at the site since the first week of July, 2005.
>
>
>
> The forced labor incident was reported to Chin Human Rights Organization by
> Mr. XXX, Chairman of the Village Peace and Development Council, XXX village
> of Thantlang Township.
>
>
>
> Starting form 11 to16 July 2005, the village headman and 50 of his villagers
> were forced to dig a 150-feet long drainage measuring 3 feet in width and 4
> feet in depth.
>
>
>
> Another 50 civilians and members of the Village PDC from Khuapi village were
> forced to supply 4,000 round bamboos. Each stick of the 4000 bamboos has to
> be 10 feet in length. The work to collect the bamboos lasted from 9 to 16
> July, 2005.
>
>
>
> From 16 to 21 July 2005, for a total of 5 days, 50 civilians and members of
> the Village PDC from Hlung Mang village (Matupi Township) were forced to dig
> trenches and bunkers for the army camp.
>
>
>
> Civilians from Fartlang village (Thantlang Township) were compelled to
> supply 50 sticks of wood measuring 10 feet in length. Civilians from other
> villages engaged in other works such as fencing and building barracks,
> digging trenches and bunkers, and collecting woods and bamboos.
>
>
>
> The work occurs on a daily basis and all workers are required to supply
> themselves with food and tools for the job. The work starts at 5:00 am in
> the morning and lasts until 6:30 in the evening. Workers are given breakfast
> break at 11:00 am and dinner at 7:00 p.m. The work was projected for
> completion in the month of July and workers are not exempt from working on
> Sundays, said xxx, Chairman of the Village PDC from XXX village, Thantlang
> Township.
>
>
>
> "The expansion of military establishment in our areas only brought hardship
> to the local people who rely on farming for our survival. Now that the new
> army camp is only 5 miles away from our village, it is predictable the kinds
> of hardship we will have to keep up with," complained the Chairman of PDC
> from XXX village.
>
>
>
> "The patrol column commander has already ordered us to raise chickens, pigs
> and other livestock. He might even call us for another round of forced
> labor. He said that we cannot ignore his order because it is our civic duty
> to comply with army orders. Many people from our village are already fed up
> with the perpetual forced labor and are contemplating to escape to Mizoram
> across the border," he added.
>
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Rhododendron Online
> To: zomi@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Sent: Friday, September 09, 2005 2:03 PM
> Subject: [ZONET] Rhododendron News Volume VIII. No. IV. July-August 2005
>
>
> Rhododendron News
> Volume VIII. No. IV. July-August 2005
> Chin Human Rights Organization
> www.chro.org
>
> ******************************
>
> CONTENTS
>
>
> I. Editorial:
>
> The Forced Labor Pandemic
>
>
> II. Human Rights Situations:
>
> A. Abuse of Religious Freedom
>
> a.. Local Christians Forced to Attend Opening Ceremony of Buddhist Pagoda
>
>
> B. Extortion
>
> a.. Burmese Troops Extort Money from Villagers
> b.. Army Officer Sells off 1000 Round Bamboos Forcibly Collected from
> Civilians for Personal Profit
>
>
> C. Forced Labor
>
> a.. Mass Forced Labor Exacted to Construct New Military Camp
> b.. Villagers Forced to Renovate Army Camp
> c.. Military Authorities Compel Civilians to Supply Wood Planks for
> Construction of Hospital
> d.. SPDC Forced Primary School Children to Porter
> e.. Army Officer Sells off 1000 Round Bamboos Forcibly Collected from
> Civilians for Personal Profit
> f.. 30 Villages Forced to Contribute Sand to Renovate Army Camp
> g.. SPDC Forced School Children and Civilians to Labor at Government's Tea
> Plantation
>
>
> III. Opinion: Indo-Burma Relations
>
> A Cause Betrayed: Has the World's Largest Democracy Turned Its Back on the
> Cause of Democracy in Burma? (Chinland Guardian)
>
>
> IV. Environmental Issue:
>
> a.. MITHUNS SACRIFICED TO GREED: The Forest Ox of Burma's Chins
>
> =====

Obviously they need to hear the words of Che Quevara:

Colonialism is Doomed

Speech delivered before the General Assembly of the United Nations on December
11, 1964
Havana, Ministry of External Relations, Information Department.

The Cuban delegation to this assembly has pleasure, first of all, in fulfilling
the pleasant duty of welcoming three new nations to the large number of nations
whose representatives are discussing the problems of the world. We therefore
greet through their Presidents and Prime Ministers the people of Zambia, Malawi,
and Malta, and express the hope that from the outset these countries will be
added to the group of non-aligned countries which struggle against imperialism,
colonialism, and neocolonialism.

We also wish to convey our congratulations to the President of this assembly
whose elevation to so high a post is of special significance since it reflects
this new historic stage of resounding triumphs for the peoples of Africa, until
recently subject to the colonial system of imperialism, and who, today, for the
great part in the legitimate exercise of self-determination, have become
citizens of sovereign states. The last hour of colonialism has struck, and
millions of inhabitants of Africa, Asia, and Latin American rise to meet a new
life, and assert their unrestricted right to self-determination and to the
independent development of their nations.

We wish you, Mr President, the greatest success in the tasks entrusted to you by
member states.

Cuba comes here to state its position on the most important controversial issues
and will do so with the full sense of responsibility which the use of this
rostrum implies, while at the same time responding to the unavoidable duty of
speaking out, clearly and frankly.

We should like to see this assembly shake itself out of complacency and move
forward. We should like to see the committees begin their work and not stop at
the first confrontation. Imperialism wishes to convert this meeting into an
aimless oratorical tournament, instead of using it to solve the grave problems
of the world. We must prevent their doing so. This assembly should not be
remembered in the future only by the number nineteen which identifies it. We
feel that we have the right and the obligation to try to make this meeting
effective because our country is a constant point of friction; one of the places
where the principles supporting the rights of small nations to sovereignty are
tested day by day, minute by minute; and at the same time our country is one of
the barricades of freedom in the world, situated a few steps away from United
States imperialism, to show with its actions, its daily example, that peoples
can liberate themselves, can keep themselves free, in the existing conditions of
the world.

Of course, there is now a socialist camp which becomes stronger day by day and
has more powerful weapons of struggle. But additional conditions are required
for survival: the maintenance of internal cohesion, faith in one's destiny, and
the irreversible decision to fight to the death for the defense of one's country
and revolution. These conditions exist in Cuba.

Of all the burning problems to be dealt with by this assembly, one which has
special significance for us and whose solution we feel must be sought first, so
as to leave no doubt in the minds of anyone, is that of peaceful coexistence
among states with different economic and social Systems. Much progress has been
made in the world in this field. But imperialism, particularly United States
imperialism, has tried to make the world believe that peaceful coexistence is
the exclusive right of the great powers on earth. We repeat what our President
said in Cairo, and which later took shape in the Declaration of the Second
Conference of Heads of State or Government of Non-Aligned Countries: that there
cannot be peaceful coexistence only among the powerful if we are to ensure world
peace. Peaceful coexistence must be practiced by all states, independent of
size, of the previous historic relations that linked them, and of the problems
that may arise among some of them at a given moment."

At present the type of peaceful coexistence to which we aspire does not exist in
many cases. The kingdom of Cambodia, merely because it maintained a neutral
attitude and did not submit to the machinations of United States imperialism,
has been subjected to all kinds of treacherous and brutal attacks from the
Yankee bases in South Vietnam.

Laos, a divided country, has also been the object of imperialist aggression of
every kind. The conventions concluded at Geneva have been violated, its peoples
have been massacred from the air, and part of its territory is in constant
danger from cowardly attacks by imperialist forces.

The Democratic Republic of Vietnam, which knows of the histories of aggressions
as few people on earth, once again bas seen its frontier violated, its
installations attacked by enemy bomber and fighter planes, its naval posts
attacked by the United States warships violating territorial waters.

At this moment, there hangs over the Democratic Republic of Vietnam the threat
that the United States warmongers may openly extend to its territory the war
that, for many years, they have been waging against the people of South Vietnam.

The Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China have given serious warning
to the United States. Not only the peace of the world is in danger in this
situation, but also the lives of millions of human beings in this part of Asia
are being constantly threatened and subjected to the whim of the United States
invader.

Peaceful coexistence has also been put to the test in a brutal manner in Cyprus,
due to pressures from the Turkish Government and NATO, compelling the people and
the government of Cyprus to make a firm and heroic stand in defense of their
sovereignty.

In all these parts of the world imperialism attempts to impose its version of
what coexistence should be. It is the oppressed peoples in alliance with the
socialist camp which must show them the meaning of true coexistence, and it is
the obligation of the United Nations to support them.

We must also say that it is not only in relations between sovereign states that
the concept of peaceful coexistence must be clearly defined. As Marxists we have
maintained that peaceful coexistence among nations does not encompass
coexistence between the exploiters and the exploited, the oppressor and the
oppressed.

Furthermore, a principle proclaimed by this Organization is that of the right to
full independence of all forms of colonial oppression. That is why we express
our solidarity with the colonial peoples of so-called Portuguese Guinea, Angola,
and Mozambique, who have been massacred for the crime of demanding their
freedom, and we are prepared to help them to the extent of our ability in
accordance with the Cairo Declaration.

We express our solidarity with the people of Puerto Rico and its great leader,
Pedro Albizu Campos, who has been set free in another act of hypocrisy, at the
age of seventy-two, after spending a lifetime in jail, now paralytic and almost
without the ability to speak. Albizu Campos is a symbol of the still unredeemed
but indomitable America. Years and years of prison, almost unbearable pressures
in jail, mental torture, solitude, total isolation from his people and his
family, the insolence of the conqueror and lackeys in the land of his birth ?
nothing at all broke his will. The delegation of Cuba, on behalf of its people,
pays a tribute of admiration and gratitude to a patriot who bestows honor upon
America.

The North Americans, for many years, have tried to convert Puerto Rico into a
reflection of hybrid culture ? the Spanish language with an English inflection,
the Spanish language with hinges on its backbone, the better to bend before the
United States soldier. Puerto Rican soldiers have been used as cannon-fodder in
imperialist wars, as in Korea, and even been made to fire at their own brothers,
as in the massacre perpetrated by the United States Army a few months ago
against the helpless people of Panamane of the most recent diabolical acts
carried out by Yankee imperialism. Yet despite that terrible attack against its
will and its historic destiny, the people of Puerto Rico have preserved their
culture, their Latin character, their national feelings, which in themselves
give proof of the implacable will for independence that exists among the masses
on the Latin American island.

We must also point out that the principle of peaceful coexistence does not imply
a mockery of the will of the peoples, as is happening in the case of so-called
British Guiana, where the government of Prime Minister Cheddi Jagan has been the
victim of every kind of pressure and maneuver, while the achievement of
independence has been delayed by the search for methods that would allow for the
flouting of the will of the people while ensuring the docility of a Government
different from the present one, put in by underhanded tactics, and then to grant
an important "freedom" to this piece of American soil. Whatever roads Guiana may
be compelled to follow to obtain independence, the moral and militant support of
Cuba goes to its people.

Furthermore, we must point out that the islands of Guadaloupe and Martinique
have been fighting for a long time for their autonomy without obtaining it. This
state of affairs must not continue.

Once again we raise our voice to put the world on guard against what is
happening in South Africa. The brutal policy of apartheid is being carried out
before the eyes of the whole world. The peoples of Africa are being compelled to
tolerate in that continent the concept, still official, of the superiority of
one race over another and in the name of that racial superiority the murder of
people with impunity. Can the United Nations do nothing to prevent this? I
should like specifically to refer to the painful case of the Congo, unique in
the history of the modern world, which shows how, with absolute impunity, with
the most insolent cynicism, the rights of peoples can be flouted. The prodigious
wealth of the Congo, which the imperialist nations wish to maintain under their
control, is the direct reason for this. In his speech on his first visit to the
United Nations, our comrade Fidel Castro said that the whole problem of
coexistence among peoples was reduced to the undue appropriation of another's
wealth. He said, "When this philosophy of despoilment disappears, the philosophy
of war will have disappeared."

The philosophy of despoilment not only has not ceased, but rather it is stronger
than ever, and that is why those who used the name of the United Nations to
commit the murder of Lumumba, today, in the name of the defense of the white
race, are assassinating thousands of Congolese. How can one forget how the hope
that Patrice Lumumba placed in the United Nations was betrayed? How can one
forget the machinations and maneuvers which followed in the wake of the
occupation of that country by United Nations troops under whose auspices the
assassins of this great African patriot acted with impunity? How can we forget
that he who flouted the authority of the United Nations in the Congo, and not
exactly for patriotic reasons, but rather by virtue of conflicts between
imperialists, was Moise Tshombe, who initiated the secession in Katanga with
Belgian support? And how can one justify, how can one explain, that at the end
of all the United Nations activities there, Tshombe, dislodged from Katanga,
returned as lord and master of the Congo? Who can deny the abject role that the
imperialists compelled the United Nations to play?

To sum up, dramatic mobilizations were made to avoid the secession of Katanga,
but today that same Katanga is in power! The wealth of the Congo is in
imperialist hands and the expenses must be paid by honest nations. The merchants
of war certainly do good business. That is why the government of Cuba supports
the just attitude of the Soviet Union in refusing to pay the expenses of this
crime.

And as if this were not enough, we now have flung in our faces recent events
which have filled the world with horror and indignation. Who are the
perpetrators? Belgian paratroopers transported by United States planes, who took
off from British bases. We remember as if it were yesterday that we saw a small
country in Europe, a civilized and industrious country, the kingdom of Belgium,
invaded by the hordes of Hitler. We learned with bitterness that these people
were being massacred by the German imperialists, and our sympathy and affection
went out to them. But the other side of the imperialist coin many did not then
perceive. Perhaps the sons of Belgian patriots who died defending their country
are now assassinating thousands of Congolese in the name of the white race, just
as they suffered under the German heel because their blood was not purely Aryan.
But the scales have fallen from our eyes and they now open upon new horizons,
and we can see what yesterday, in our conditions of colonial servitude, we could
not observe - that "Western civilization" disguises under its showy front a
scene of hyenas and jackals. That is the only name that can be applied to those
who have gone to fulfill "humanitarian" tasks in the Congo. Bloodthirsty
butchers who feed on helpless people! That is what imperialism does to men; that
is what marks the "white" imperialists.

The free men of the world must be prepared to avenge the crime committed in the
Congo. It is possible that many of those soldiers who were converted into
"supermen" by imperialist machinery, believe in good faith that they are
defending the rights of a superior race, but in this assembly those peoples
whose skins are darkened by a different sun, colored by different pigments,
constitute the majority, and they fully and clearly understand that the
difference between men does not lie in the color of their skins, but in the
ownership of the means of production and in the relationship of production.

The Cuban delegation extends greetings to the peoples of Southern Rhodesia and
Southwest Africa, oppressed by white colonialist minorities, to the peoples of
Basutoland, Bechuanaland, Swaziland, French Somaliland, the Arabs of Palestine,
Aden, and the Protectorates, Oman, and to all peoples in conflict with
imperialism and colonialism; and we reaffirm our support.

I express also the hope that there will be a just solution to the conflict
facing our sister republic of Indonesia in its relations with Malaysia.

One of the essential items before this conference is general and complete
disarmament. We express our support of general and complete disarmament.
Furthermore, we advocate the complete destruction of thermonuclear devices and
the holding of a conference of all the nations of the world toward the
fulfillment of this aspiration of all people. In his statement before this
assembly, our Prime Minister said that arms races have always led to war. There
are new atomic powers in the world, and the possibilities of a confrontation are
grave.

We feel that a conference is necessary to obtain the total destruction of
thermonuclear weapons and as a first step, the total prohibition of tests. At
the same time there must be clearly established the obligation of all states to
respect the present frontiers of other states and to refrain from indulging in
any aggression even with conventional weapons.

In adding our voice to that of all peoples of the world who plead for general
and complete disarmament, the destruction of all atomic arsenals, the complete
cessation of thermonuclear devices and atomic tests of any kinds, we feel it
necessary to stress, furthermore, that the territorial integrity of nations must
be respected and the armed hand of imperialism, no less dangerous with
conventional weapons, must be held back. Those who murdered thousands of
defenseless citizens in the Congo did not use the atomic weapons. They used
conventional weapons, and it was these conventional weapons, used by
imperialists, which caused so many deaths.

Even if the measures advocated here were to become effective, thus making it
unnecessary to say the following, we must still point out that we cannot adhere
to any regional pact for denuclearization so long as the United States maintains
aggressive bases on our territory, in Puerto Rico and in Panama, and in other
American states where it feels it has the right to station them without any
restrictions on conventional or nuclear weapons.

However, we feel we must be able to provide for our own defense in the light of
the recent resolution of the Organization of American States against Cuba, which
on the basis of the Treaty of Rio might permit aggression.

If such a conference to which we have just referred should achieve all these
objectives ? which unfortunately, would be rather difficult to do ? it would be
one of the most important developments in the history of mankind. To ensure
this, the People's Republic of China must be represented, and that is why such a
conference must be held. But it would be much simpler for the peoples of the
world to recognize the undeniable truth that the People's Republic of China
exists, that its rulers are the only representatives of the Chinese people, and
to give it the place it deserves, which is, at present, usurped by a clique who
control the province of Taiwan with United States aid.

The problem of the representation of China in the United Nations cannot, in any
way, be considered as a case of a new admission to the organization, but rather
as the restitution of their legitimate rights to the people of the People's
Republic of China.

We repudiate strongly the concept of "two Chinas." The Chiang Kai-shek clique of
Taiwan cannot remain in the United Nations. It must be expelled and the
legitimate representative of the Chinese people put in.

We warn, also, against the insistence of the United States Government on
presenting the problem of the legitimate representation of China in the United
Nations as an "important question" so as to require a two-thirds majority of
members present and voting.

The admission of the People's Republic of China to the United Nations is, in
fact, an important question for the entire world, but not for the mechanics of
the United Nations where it must constitute a mere question of procedure.

Thus will justice be done, but almost as important as attaining justice would be
the fact that it would be demonstrated, once and for all, that this august
Assembly uses its eyes to see with, its ears to hear with, and its tongue to
speak with; and has definite standards in making its decisions.

The proliferation of atomic weapons among the member States of NATO, and
especially the possession of these devices of mass destruction by the Federal
Republic of Germany, would make the possibility of an agreement on disarmament
even more remote, and linked to such an agreement is the problem of the peaceful
reunification of Germany. So long as there is no clear understanding, the
existence of two Germanies must be recognized: that of the Democratic Republic
of Germany and the Federal Republic. The German problem can only be solved with
the direct participation of the Democratic Republic of Germany with full rights
in negotiations.

We shall touch lightly on the questions of economic development and
international trade which take up a good part of the agenda. In this year, 1964,
the Conference of Geneva was held, where a multitude of matters related to these
aspects of international relations was dealt with. The warnings and forecasts of
our delegation were clearly confirmed to the misfortune of the economically
dependent countries.

We wish only to point out that insofar as Cuba is concerned, the United States
of America has not implemented the explicit recommendations of that conference,
and recently the United States Government also prohibited the sale of medicine
to Cuba, thus divesting itself once and for all, of the mask of humanitarianism
with which it attempted to disguise the aggressive nature of its blockade
against the people of Cuba.

Furthermore, we once more state that these colonial machinations, which impede
the development of the peoples, are not only expressed in political relations.
The so-called deterioration of the terms of trade is nothing less than the
result of the unequal exchange between countries producing raw materials and
industrial countries which dominate markets and impose a false justice on an
inequitable exchange of values.

So long as the economically dependent peoples do not free themselves from the
capitalist markets, and as a bloc with the socialist countries, impose new terms
of trade between the exploited and the exploiters, there will be no sound
economic development, and in certain cases there will be retrogression, in which
the weak countries will fall under the political domination of imperialists and
colonialists.

Finally, it must be made clear that in the area of the Caribbean, maneuvers and
preparations for aggression against Cuba are taking place; off the coast of
Nicaragua above all, in Costa Rica, in the Panama Canal Zone, in the Vieques
Islands of Puerto Rico, in Florida, and possibly in other parts of the territory
of the United States, and also, perhaps, in Honduras, Cuban mercenaries are
training, as well as mercenaries of other nationalities, with a purpose that
cannot be peaceful.

After an open scandal, the government of Costa Rica, it is said, has ordered the
elimination of all training fields for Cuban exiles in that country. No one
knows whether this attitude is sincere, or whether it it simply a maneuver,
because the mercenaries training there were about to commit some offense. We
hope that full cognizance will be taken of the actual existence of those bases
for aggression, which we denounced long ago, and that the world will think about
the international responsibility of the government of a country which authorizes
and facilitates the training of mercenaries to attack Cuba.

We must point out that news of the training of mercenaries at different places
in the Caribbean and the participation of the United States Government in such
acts is news that appears openly in United States newspapers. We know of no
Latin American voice that has been lifted officially in protest against this.
This shows the cynicism with which the United States moves its pawns.

The shrewd foreign ministers of the OAS had eyes to "see" Cuban emblems and find
"irrefutable proof" in the Yankee weapons in Venezuela, but do not see the
preparations for aggression in the United States, just as they did not hear the
voice of President Kennedy, who explicitly declared himself to be the aggressor
against Cuba at Playa Giron. In some cases it is a blindness provoked by the
hatred of the ruling classes of the Latin American people against our
revolution; in others, and these are even more deplorable, it is the result of
the blinding light of Mammon.

As everyone knows, after the terrible upheaval called the "Caribbean crisis,"
the United States undertook certain given commitments with the Soviet Union
which culminated in the withdrawal of certain types of weapons that the
continued aggressions of that country ? such as the mercenary attack against
Playa Giron and threats of invasion against our country ? had compelled us to
install in Cuba as a legitimate act of defense.

The Americans claimed, furthermore, that the United Nations should inspect our
territory, which we refused and refuse emphatically since Cuba does not
recognize the right of the United States, or of anyone else in the world, to
determine what type of weapons Cuba may maintain within its borders.

In this connection, we would only abide by multilateral agreements, with equal
obligations for all the parties concerned. Fidel Castro declared that "so long
as the concept of sovereignty exists as the prerogative of nations and of
independent peoples, and as a right of all peoples, we shall not accept the
exclusion of our people from that right; so long as the world is governed by
these principles, so long as the world is governed by those concepts which have
universal validity because they are universally accepted by peoples, we shall
not accept the attempt to deprive us of any of those rights and we shall
renounce none of those rights."

The Secretary-General of the United Nations, U Thant, understood our reasons.
Nevertheless, the United States presumed to establish a new prerogative, an
arbitrary and illegal one; that of violating the air space of any small country.
Thus, we see flying over our country U-2 aircraft and other types of espionage
apparatus which fly over our airspace with impunity. We have issued all the
necessary warnings for the cessation of the violation of our airspace as well as
the provocations of the American navy against our sentry posts in the zone of
Guantanamo, the "buzzing" by aircraft over our ships or ships of other
nationalities in international waters, the piratical attacks against ships
sailing under different flags, and the infiltration of spies, saboteurs and
weapons in our island.

We want to build socialism; we have declared ourselves partisans of those who
strive for peace; we have declared ourselves as falling within the group of
non-aligned countries, although we are Marxist-Leninists, because the
non-aligned countries, like ourselves, fight imperialism. We want peace; we want
to build a better life for our people, and that is why we avoid answering, so
far as possible, the planned provocations of the Yankee. But we know the
mentality of United States rulers; they want to make us pay a very high price
for that peace. We reply that price cannot go beyond the bounds of dignity.

And Cuba reaffirms once again the right to maintain on its territory the weapons
it wishes and its refusal to recognize the right of any power on earth ? no
matter how powerful ? to violate our soil, our territorial waters, or our
airspace.

If, in any assembly, Cuba assumes obligations of a collecfive nature, it will
fulfill them to the letter. So long as this does not happen, Cuba maintains all
its rights, just as any other nation.

In the face of the demands of imperialism our Prime Minister posed the five
necessary points for the existence of a sound peace in the Caribbean. They are
as follows:

Cessation of the economic blockade and all economic and trade pressure by the
United States in all parts of the world against our country.

Cessation of all subversive activities, launching and landing of weapons, and
explosives by air and sea, organization of mercenary invasions, infiltration of
spies and saboteurs, all of which acts are carried out from the territory of the
United States and some accomplice countries.

Cessation of piratical attacks carried out from existing bases in the United
States and Puerto Rico.

Cessation of all the violations of our airspace and our territorial waters by
aircraft and warships of the United States.

Withdrawal from the Guantanamo naval base and restitution of the Cuban territory
occupied by the United States.

None of these fundamental demands has been met, and our forces are still being
provoked from the naval base at Guantanamo. That base has become a nest of
thieves and the point from which they are introduced into our territory.

We would bore this assembly were we to give a detailed account of the large
number of provocations of all kinds. Suffice it to say that including the first
day of December, the number amounts to 1,323 in 1964 alone. The list covers
minor provocations such as violation of the dividing line, launching of objects
from the territory controlled by the North Americans, tbe commission of acts of
sexual exhibitionism by North Americans of both sexes, verbal insults, others
which are graver such as shooting off small-caliber weapons, the manipulation of
weapons directed against our territory and offenses against our national emblem.
The more serious provocations are those of crossing the dividing line and
starting fires in installations on the Cuban side, seventy-eight rifle shots
this year and the death of Ramon Lopez Pena, a soldier, from two shots fired
from the United States post three and a half kilometers from the coast on the
northern boundary.

This grave provocation took place at 19:07 hours on July 19, 1964, and our Prime
Minister publicly stated on July 26 that if the event were to recur, he would
give orders for our troops to repel the aggression. At the same time orders were
given for the withdrawal of the advance line of Cuban forces to positions
farther away from the dividing line and construction of the necessary housing.

One thousand three hundred and twenty-three provocations in 340 days amount to
approximately four per day. Only a perfectly disciplined army with a morale such
as ours could resist so many hostile acts without losing its self-control.

Forty-seven countries which met at the Second Conference of Heads of State or
Government of the nonaligned countries at Cairo unanimously agreed that:

"Noting with concern that foreign military bases are, in practice, a means of
bringing pressure on nations and retarding their emancipation and development,
based on their own ideological, political, economic and cultural
ideas...declares its full support to the countries which are seeking to secure
the evacuation of foreign bases on their territory and calls upon all States
maintaining troops and bases in other countries to remove them forthwith.

The Conference considers that the maintenance at Guantanamo (Cuba) of a military
base of the United States of America, in defiance of the will of the Government
and people of Cuba and in defiance of the provisions embodied in the Declaration
of the Belgrade Conference, constitutes a violation of Cuba's sovereignty and
territorial integrity.

Noting that the Cuban Government expresses its readiness to settle its dispute
over the base at Guantanamo with the United States on an equal footing, the
Conference urges the United States Government to negotiate the evacuation of
their base with the Cuban Government".

The government of the United States has not responded to the above request of
the Cairo Conference and presumes to maintain indefinitely its occupation by
force of a piece of our territory from which it carries out acts of aggression
such as those we mentioned earlier.

The Organization of American States ? also called by some people the United
States Ministry of Colonies - condemned us vigorously, although it had excluded
us from its midst, and ordered its members to break off diplomatic and trade
relations with Cuba. The OAS authorized aggression against our country at any
time and under any pretext and violated the most fundamental international laws,
completely disregarding the United Nations. Uruguay, Bolivia, Chile, and Mexico
opposed that measure, and the government of the United States of Mexico refused
to comply with the sanctions that had been approved. Since then we have no
relations with any Latin American countries other than Mexico; thus the
imperialists have carried out one of the stages preliminary to a plan of direct
aggression.

We want to point out once again that our concern over Latin America is based on
the ties that link us; the language we speak, our culture, and the common master
we shared. But we have no other reason for desiring the liberation of Latin
America from the colonial yoke of the United States. If any of the Latin
American countries here decides to [resume relations it must be on the] basis of
equality and not with the assumption that it is a gift to our government that we
be recognized as a free country in the world, because we won the recognition of
our freedom with our blood in the days of our struggles for liberation. We
acquired it with our blood in the defense of our shores against Yankee invasion.

Although we reject any attempt to attribute to us interference in the internal
affairs of other countries, we cannot deny that we sympathize with those people
who strive for their freedom, and we must fulfill the obligation of our
government and people to state clearly and categorically to the world that we
morally support and feel as one with people everywhere who struggle to make a
reality of the rights of full sovereignty proclaimed in the United Nations
Charter.

It is the United States of America which intervenes. It has done so throughout
the history of America. Since the end of the last century Cuba has known very
well the truth of the matter; but it is known, too, by Venezuela, Nicaragua,
Central America in general, Mexico, Haiti, and Santo Domingo. In recent years,
besides our peoples, Panama has also known direct aggression, when the marines
of the Canal opened fire against the defenseless people; Santo Domingo, whose
coast was violated by the Yankee fleet to avoid an outbreak of the righteous
fury of the people after the death of Trujillo; and Colombia, whose capital was
taken by assault as a result of a rebellion provoked by the assassination of
Gaitan.

There are masked interventions through military missions which participate in
internal repression, organizing forces designed for that purpose in many
countries, and also in coups d'etat which have been so frequently repeated on
the American continent during the past few years. Specifically, United States
forces took part in the repression of the peoples of Venezuela, Colombia, and
Guatemala, who carry on an arined struggle for their freedom. In Venezuela not
only do the Americans advise the army and the police, but they also direct acts
of genocide from the air against the peasant population in vast rebel-held
areas, and the United States companies established there exert pressures of
every kind to increase direct interference.

The imperialists are preparing to repress the peoples of America and are setting
up an "international" [network] of crime. The United States interfered in
America while invoking the "defense of free institutions". The time will come
when this assembly will acquire greater maturity and demand guarantees from the
United States Government for the lives of the Negro and Latin American
population who reside in that country, most of whom are native-born or
naturalized United States citizens.

How can they presume to be the "guardians of liberty" when they kill their own
children and discriminate daily against people because of the color of their
skin; when they not only free the murderers of colored people, but even protect
them, while punishing the colored population because they demand their
legitimate rights as free men? We understand that today the assembly is not in a
position to ask for explanations of these acts, but it must be clearly
established that the government of the United States is not the champion of
freedom, but rather the perpetrator of exploitation and oppression of the
peoples of the world, and of a large part of its own population.

To the equivocating language with which some delegates have painted the case of
Cuba and the Organization of American States, we reply with blunt words, that
the governments pay for their treason.

Cuba, a free and sovereign state, with no chains binding it to anyone, with no
foreign investments on its territory, with no proconsuls orienting its policy,
can speak proudly in this assembly, proving the justice of the phrase by which
we will always be known, "Free Territory of America".

Our example will bear fruit in our continent, as it is already doing to a
certain extent already in Guatemala, Colombia, and Venezuela. The imperialists
no longer have to deal with a small enemy, a contemptible force, since the
people are no longer isolated.

As laid down in the Second Declaration of Havana:

"No people of Latin America is weak, because it is part of a family of 200
million brothers beset by the same miseries, who harbor the same feelings, have
the same enemy, while they all dream of the same better destiny and have the
support of all honest men and women in the world.

Future history will be written by the hungry masses of Indians, of landless
peasants, of exploited workers; it will be written by the progressive masses, by
the honest and brilliant intellectuals who abound in our unfortunate lands of
Latin America, by the struggle of the masses and of ideas; an epic that will be
carried forward by our peoples who have been ill-treated and despised by
imperialism, our peoples who have until now gone unrecognized but who are
awakening. We were considered an impotent and submissive flock; but now they are
afraid of that flock, a gigantic flock of 200 million Latin Americans, which is
sounding a warning note to the Yankee monopolist capitalists.

The hour of vindication, the hour it chose for itself, is now striking from one
end to the other of the continent. That anonymous mass, that colored America,
sombre, adamant, which sings throughout the continent the same sad, mournful
song; now that mass is beginning definitely to enter into its own history, it is
beginning to write it with its blood, to suffer and to die for it. Because now,
in the fields, and in the mountains of America, in its plains and in its
forests, in the solitude, and in the bustle of cities, on the shores of the
great oceans and rivers, it is beginning to shape a world full of quickening
hearts, who are ready to die for what is theirs, to conquer their rights which
have been flouted for almost 500 years. History will have to tell the story of
the poor of America, of the exploited of Latin America, who have decided to
begin to write for themselves, forever, their own odyssey. We see them already
walking along those roads, on foot, day after day, in long and endless marches,
hundreds of kilometers, until they reach the ruling "Olympus" and wrest back
their rights. We see them armed with stones, with sticks, with machetes, here,
there, everywhere, daily occupying their lands, and taking root in the land that
is theirs and defending it with their lives; we see them carrying banners, their
banners running in the wind in the mountains and on the plains. And that wave of
heightening fury, of just demands, of rights that have been flouted, is rising
throughout Latin America, and no one can stem that tide; it will grow day by day
because it is made up of the great multitude in every respect, those who with
their work create the riches of the earth, and turn the wheel of history, those
who are now awakening from their long, stupefying sleep.

For this great humanity has said "enough" and has started to move forward. And
their march, the march of giants, cannot stop, will not stop until they have
conquered their true independence, for which many have already died, and not
uselessly. In any event, those who die will die like those in Cuba, at Playa
Giron; they will die for their never-to-be-renounced, their only true
independence."

This new will of a whole continent, America, shows itself in the cry proclaimed
daily by our masses as the irrefutable expression of their decision to fight, to
grasp and deter the armed hand of the invader. It is a cry that has the
understanding and support of all the peoples of the world and especially of the
socialist camp, headed by the Soviet Union.

That cry is: "Our country or death."

http://www.marxists.org/archive/guevara/1964/12/11.htm

Memories of Che, A Revolutionary son of Ireland

http://irelandsown.net/Che3.html

http://irelandsown.net/guerrilla.html

Lord Cerne Abbas

http://lordcerneabbastoo.blogspot.com/

>
> <u_myat_thu@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
> news:1126180153.892142.49930@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> > Allegations On Exercising Forced Labour in Myanmar
> >
> > This allegation has been widely and conveniently used against the
> > Government of Myanmar by certain quarters to disseminate disinformation
> > in the attempt to portray her as a cruel and wicked regime. Myanmar
> > since ancient times enjoys the tradition and practice of voluntary
> > contribution of labour in the religious and social sectors. It has
> > continued its traditional practice up to this day but surprisingly this
> > allegation of the use of forced labour suddenly appeared only after the
> > State Law and Order Restoration Council Government came into existence.
> > Since then this allegation has been intensifying apparently as part of
> > the smear campaign against the Myanmar Government. This traditional
> > practice of Voluntary Contribution of Labour is not a new system
> > created by this government but ironically, a law Britain enacted under
> > the British Towns and Villages Act of 1907 when they were governing
> > Myanmar. The British exercised this law under the terminology "A
> > General or Individual Requisition to Assist in Execution of Public
> > Duties" and this same law Myanmar inherited from Britain after
> > regaining independence has been recently relabelled by some western
> > countries into a new terminology 'Execution of Forced Labour'.
> >
> > Still this unbecoming forced labour allegation, similar to those other
> > allegations (such as the government's involvement in trafficking
> > narcotic drugs, religious intolerance, ethnic cleansing and being a
> > threat to the U.S. national security, etc.) has been fabricated and
> > blown out of proportion while falsely depicting the practice as a form
> > of slave labour where people are whipped, kicked and chained to work on
> > government projects.
> >
> > To go deeper into the subject of forced labour the initial allegation
> > levelled against the Myanmar Government was FORCED PORTERAGE. This is
> > also a practice employed in countries where motorable road access is
> > poor or nonexistent and when the armies are not mechanized. Especially
> > in a country like Myanmar where most of the battles are being fought in
> > jungles and mountainous regions, strong and healthy men from the nearby
> > villages are employed when necessary to carry the sick and the wounded,
> > reserve medical and food supplies as well as ammunition just like the
> > British Expeditionary Force headed by Gen. Wingate operated in the
> > Burma Campaign together with the Chindits during the Second World War.
> >
> > Unfortunately, after the Second World War and after regaining her
> > independence from Britain, the newly independent Myanmar up until
> > recently had to encounter all the hardship and suffering of having to
> > face external incursion and internal insurgency for more than five
> > decades. This resulted in the Myanmar Defence Forces becoming one of
> > the toughest armies in the region and a sufferer of the highest
> > casualty rate in the world. It was at the same time not only one of the
> > ill-equipped forces in the world but the pay itself was unattractive as
> > well. But in spite of all these handicaps the Myanmar Armed Forces have
> > always been a voluntary army where no forced recruiting has ever been
> > practised. To draw comparison, in the early 70's during the Vietnam War
> > Era, draft dodging was quite common among U.S. citizens when Uncle Sam
> > was busy drafting America's youths whereas in Myanmar, in spite of
> > all the difficult conditions a soldier has to encounter, Myanmar Armed
> > Forces had no difficulty in finding volunteers. To cite one example, in
> > the recruitment of officers, the Defence Services Academy selects only
> > around 100 candidates out of over 10,000 applicants each year for the
> > annual intake.
> >
> >
> > It is not surprising when the strength of all the insurgent armies
> > combined outnumbered the regular government forces, giving the
> > government troops not much breathing space. It had to face constant
> > fighting. At the same time, in order for the government troops to be
> > able to protect and secure those areas effectively it became necessary
> > for the local villagers in the area to help provide the troops with
> > much needed logistic support. Without the logistic support in the
> > jungles the government troops cannot fight effectively to win the
> > battles for the local population. It is, from the nation's point of
> > view, a national obligation of the citizens of the country to help
> > those who volunteer to sacrifice their lives in defending and
> > safeguarding the country's national security. Ironically, the troops
> > do not wish to employ civilian porters in military operations because
> > villagers are not trained and are likely to jeopardize the whole
> > operation, but again because of lack of other means and measures, the
> > employment of civilian porters cannot be avoided. Also the insurgents
> > operating in the remote border areas do employ villagers as porters but
> > as the operations are waged in their respective areas they do not have
> > much logistic problems.
> >
> > But the government troops take at least about a week in marching and
> > trekking through the mountainous and thick jungles just to reach those
> > remote areas. Naturally, the soldiers having to carry their own
> > weapons, ammunition, food supply, clothing and etc., are exhausted by
> > the time they are in their assigned area. With lack of proper food and
> > rest their physical weakness becomes a target for malarial attacks.
> > There are many strains of malaria and this disease is still one of the
> > deadliest killers. According to the Japanese historical archives, at
> > the near end of the Second World War, over 200,000 soldiers of the
> > Japanese Imperial Army died while serving and retreating in the Myanmar
> > jungles due mostly to hunger and physical weakness which in turn became
> > targets for malarial attacks. Today, the Myanmar Army is still
> > vulnerable to a deadlier strain of malaria in the same jungles in spite
> > of modern medical preventive care and treatment.
> >
> > In the employment of porters the government troops have to request the
> > village chiefs in the area to provide a certain number of able bodied
> > men. These men when reaching the next village will be replaced by a new
> > group of fresh men. But complication does arise when there are not
> > enough men in the next village or if there are no other villages in the
> > area.
> >
> > Unfortunately, porters become a necessity in this kind of war and this
> > issue can only be resolved when peace prevails in the country. With
> > this in mind the military government since assuming state power in 1988
> > concentrated in establishing national reconciliation to bring peace and
> > stability to the nation. In other words, the government instead of
> > trying to win the battles tried to win the hearts of the ethnic
> > minorities and managed to break the vicious cycle of war. Fortunately,
> > this goal has been achieved and the use of porters in combat area has
> > been resolved, having become something of the past.
> >
> > Now, to touch upon the controversial subject of exercising SLAVE LABOUR
> > as has been alleged against the Myanmar Government by some western
> > nations, Myanmar has been a member of the International Labour
> > Organization (ILO) since regaining independence from Britain in 1948
> > and has ratified 19 ILO Conventions. Myanmar being a responsible member
> > of the organization has a long record of cooperation and no major
> > issues related to labour standards had ever existed before. But since
> > early 1990 some western nations, interest groups and anti-government
> > sectors have begun attempting to exploit the organization in a
> > politically motivated move to further apply political pressure on
> > Myanmar under the pretext of protecting workers' rights in Myanmar.
> > While lip service is paid to the Myanmar workers' rights, the real
> > motive is to have Myanmar pushed into isolation by having it expelled
> > from every international organization including the U.N.
> >
> > The present Myanmar Government in recent years has established peace
> > and accord with almost all of the ethnic groups which resisted all the
> > successive governments since regaining her independence. These ethnic
> > groups are now peacefully involved in the current drafting process of
> > the new constitution. Before this new constitution comes into
> > existence, these former insurgent armies in order to maintain their own
> > security in the remote border areas are being allowed to hold on to
> > their weapons within their designated areas. These armies will lay down
> > their arms only when a new constitution comes into existence and in the
> > meantime, confidencebuilding measures are taking place between the
> > government and the ethnic groups. In the confidence-building process
> > the areas which were once under the ethnic armies and those areas which
> > are regarded as no man's land are being worked together by both sides
> > for area development. In doing so, joint cooperation in building the
> > much needed basic infrastructure, elimination of narcotic drug (poppy),
> > health, education, telecommunications and all-round development
> > projects are being systematically implemented.
> >
> > In infrastructure building such as motor roads, railroads, reservoirs
> > and dams, intensive human labour has to be employed to have the
> > projects implemented on account of the lack of proper construction
> > equipment and machinery. In the employment of labour for these projects
> > the ministry concerned will bring in construction workers (white and
> > blue collar) while the government troops together with the troops of
> > the former ethnic insurgent armies work together hand in hand with
> > whatever available meagre equipment and machinery in their possession.
> > In some areas when and where more workforce is needed, the villages in
> > these areas are requested through the local administration to provide
> > extra workers. This civilian workforce consisting of local villagers
> > will then join forces with other groups and work together for
> > completion of the project. Once the project in the area is completed
> > the local villagers and the former ethnic army troops will stay behind
> > to enjoy the fruits of development while the government troops will
> > have to move on to other areas to continue to be involved in other
> > development projects. The daily wages for labour are usually paid
> > individually or sometimes upon request a contribution is made in the
> > form of building a public library, religious edifices, small scale
> > water reservoir etc. for the village community and usually the cost
> > exceeds their combined wages. There are many times where the ministry
> > concerned will have to contribute the amount of cash which falls short
> > of, in order to actually complete the construction of the building
> > requested by the local community. This is done as a good-will gesture
> > being appreciated by the local community.
> >
> > But there also are times when payment is not required or accepted when
> > the work is done for the social or religious sector where labour is
> > regarded as a meritorious contribution to the community. But in big
> > scale projects such as railroads and road construction, many of these
> > projects are constructed using only the troops in the respective areas.
> > There are times when the offers of villagers in the vicinity to
> > participate in the construction projects whether individually or
> > collectively are refused in order to avoid the intensifying of forced
> > labour allegations. Myanmar, a developing small nation, has very
> > limited resources to build the essential basic infrastructural needs.
> > As the much needed assistance and cooperation for her nation rebuilding
> > process are being denied and prevented by the same countries accusing
> > her of forced labour, Myanmar has no choice but to employ whatever
> > means available to bring development so that the people of Myanmar will
> > be able to enjoy a better and a fuller life.
> >
> > It is regretful that the development of the people of Myanmar is being
> > hampered by the same nations expressing their desire to bestow Myanmar
> > people with human rights but who are in reality depriving the Myanmar
> > people of their rights to development and prosperity. Myanmar is still
> > at a very young stage of her development where assistance, cooperation
> > and encouragement from the international community are required to
> > expedite her transformation peacefully, successfully and stably to a
> > sustainable democracy. Myanmar is at present rebuilding a new nation
> > out of a war torn country, where in 1988 the military took over state
> > power and inherited a country with a single digit in federal reserves
> > and where over 65% of the industrial base in the capital city had been
> > destroyed, with chaos, anarchy and armed insurrection prevailing in the
> > country. Although Myanmar regained her independence from Britain in
> > 1948, it was only around 1992 that dramatic changes in allround
> > development, especially in the sector of national reconciliation,
> > started to take place.
> >
> > Most of the ethnic groups who had waged war against successive central
> > governments since Independence, have said in no uncertain terms, that
> > they have been able to enjoy the benefits of independence only after
> > reaching peace agreement with this military government. For it has
> > brought peace, stability, and development to their respective regions.
> > It would not be wrong to say that the fruits of independence were only
> > being enjoyed by various ethnic groups living in border areas from the
> > time they made peace with the present government.
> >
> > It is most essential for Myanmar to be able to maintain her peace and
> > stability and to be able to go into the developmental phases. For a
> > third world country like Myanmar to be able to become a developed
> > nation much effort on her part and assistance from the world community
> > are necessary. But when the much needed assistance is sanctioned and
> > embargoed by the big and powerful nations, Myanmar in its desire to
> > rejoin the mainstream and to develop and create a better and a fuller
> > life for its population has no choice but to use whatever means
> > available in its possession.
> >
> > The United States regained her independence in 1776 - some 172 years
> > before Myanmar's independence in 1948 and it was only in the mid
> > 60's after nearly 200 years that the Blacks had the right to vote
> > ending the racial segregation in the human rights sector. It is also
> > quite interesting to learn how the U.S. developed its railroad
> > infrastructure in the early stages of her development by using the
> > Chinese coolies and the Blacks as slaves to promote its cotton
> > industry. This indicates the fact that nothing could be gained
> > overnight and the U.S. took nearly 200 years in the improvement of her
> > human rights situation and sector.
> >
> > Today, Myanmar is also going through the relatively similar stages the
> > United States went through centuries ago in the rebuilding of a nation.
> > Unfortunately, those countries which reached the stage of early
> > development, instead of helping the less fortunate countries to reach
> > the same objective in a shorter period of time by sharing their wealth
> > and experience, are hampering the peaceful evolution Myanmar is going
> > through at this stage of her development. Their constant negative
> > attitude, irresponsible actions and unrealistic expectations are
> > pushing Myanmar into becoming an unstable country practising a
> > non-sustainable democracy if not actually pushing her into isolation
> > again.
> >
>
>
>
>
>

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