1.
Congress Bows to Big Oil in Burma: Chevron Can Continue to Drill Offshore
2. US removes oil giant from
Burma sanctions
3. Burma aid lost to regime By
Harvey Morris at the United Nations
4. UN Security Council to Discuss Burma
5. Mia Farrow Calls for Global Pressure at Olympics for Burma
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Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) (WDCpix)
Caving to big oil demands, the Senate on Tuesday
approved a plan that intensifies trade sanctions against Burma's military regime
but abandons an earlier push to penalize Chevron, the last major U.S. company
propping up the repressive junta.
The move marks a departure from an earlier House-passed proposal that would have
eliminated a large tax break for Chevron, potentially prodding the company to
divest its share in a controversial natural gas field off the coast of Burma.
Supporters of the House bill had said it would help destabilize Burma's corrupt
military leaders by slashing a vital source of their income.
"When the generals run out of cash," said Rep. Tom Lantos (D-Cal.), who
sponsored the House bill before he succumbed to cancer in February, "change will
come to Burma."
Yet despite wide bipartisan support, the bill hit
a stumbling block in the Senate, where several lawmakers objected to the Chevron
provision. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Cal.) was one such voice. She
told Politico last month that forcing Chevron out of Burma would be
"counterproductive," because "other countries are going to take it over and,
most particularly, the Burmese government will take it over. So what is gained
by doing this"
Many human-rights advocates say there is much to be gained, arguing that
Chevron's presence in Burma has a symbolic value that leaves Washington no moral
suasion in convincing foreign investors to quit supporting the junta. "Unless
Chevron is out of there, the United States doesn't have the moral authority to
tell other countries to get out," said Nyunt Than, president of the Burmese
American Democratic Alliance, a non-profit group.
Faced with election-year time restraints, however, House and Senate negotiators
removed the Lantos Chevron provision. In its place is language urging the oil
giant to get out of Burma voluntarily -- something the company has said it will
not do.
The House passed the compromise bill last week, and President George W. Bush, a
vocal critic of Burma's regime, is expected to sign it into law shortly.
The international outrage over the Burmese junta has intensified over the last
year following several high-profile episodes. Last fall, the junta orchestrated
a violent crackdown on thousands of monks and other pro-democracy protesters.
More recently, the junta barred most international aid in the wake of Cyclone
Nargis, which struck Burma's Irrawaddy Delta in May. Estimates place the number
of dead at more than 130,000. These actions pushed Congress to install stronger
sanctions.
With several proposals floating around Capitol Hill, the major sticking point
became how to approach Chevron, grandfathered to operate in Burma under current
sanctions. The debate set Feinstein and other Chevron supporters against some
House Democrats, who were fighting to preserve the Lantos bill as a memorial to
their deceased colleague. Lantos had been a fierce advocate for human rights and
was the only Holocaust survivor to serve in Congress. He died of esophageal
cancer in February, after nearly 28 years in the House.
The debate has also carried a hint of election year politics. Sen. John McCain
(Ariz.), the likely GOP presidential nominee, sponsored a bill last year that
would have required Chevron to sell its share in Burma's gas field, called the
Yadana project. That position turned political convention on its head, with the
Democratic Feinstein supporting the oil industry and the Republican McCain
siding with human-rights advocates. McCain's office did not respond to several
calls and emails requesting comment.
Feinstein, a member of the same state delegation as Lantos, had long been one of
Washington's most vocal critics of Burma's repressive regime. In February, for
example, she joined Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) in sponsoring
legislation to award the Congressional Gold Medal to Aung San Suu Kyi, the
Burmese Nobel Peace Prize laureate who's been under house arrest for much of the
last two decades. Yet, on the topic of Chevron, Feinstein has aligned herself
squarely behind the San Ramon, Cal.-based company.
Her support has not gone unnoticed. During her last reelection cycle in 2006,
Feinstein took in $11,200 from the company -- the third highest tally of all 535
members of Congress, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a campaign
watchdog group.
Feinstein spokesman Scott Gerber -- pointing out that the California senator was
not directly involved the House/Senate negotiations -- referred questions to
those who were.
Instead of targeting Burma's gas and oil industry, the compromise bill goes
after revenues derived from gem sales. A 2003 law banned direct gem imports from
Burma, where more than 90 percent of the world's rubies originate. But a
loophole allows those imports to continue if the stones were processed
elsewhere. The compromise bill would close the loophole.
The bill also requires the Treasury Dept. to submit a report detailing which
international banks are harboring the assets of the regime's leaders.
Additionally, the bill creates a special envoy charged with aligning Burmese
sanction policies between the United States and other countries. For some
human-rights groups, the absence of the Chevron provision is a minor defeat.
"For us, the meat of the bill is still there," said Jennifer Quigley, the
advocacy coordinator for the U.S. Campaign for Burma.
Chevron, which owns 28 percent of the Yadana project, currently receives a large
tax break for money it pays to the Burmese government. Marco Simons, the legal
director of EarthRights International, estimated that the company takes in $100
million annually from the project, with roughly $30 million of that going to the
Burmese junta. Simons said that eliminating Chevron's tax break might be an
appropriate penalty for a company propping up one of the world's most abusive
governments. But because another international company would likely swoop in to
fill the void, he said, such a move would have little immediate effect on
Burma's political situation.
"It wouldn't have affected the regime's bottom line whatsoever," Simons said.
But a number of human-rights advocates rejected that claim. Betsy Apple,
director of the Crimes Against Humanity Program at Human Rights First, pointed
to the sanctions targeting South Africa during the apartheid era, wondering what
might have happened had the United States hinged its policies on those of other
countries.
"It's a cop out," Apple said. "I think it's a pretext for taking no action at
all."
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US removes
oil giant from Burma sanctions
The US oil giant Chevron will continue to do
business in Burma after a provision to stop it operating there was
removed from the latest round of US sanctions on the country.
The new sanctions plan, approved yesterday
by Congress and expected to receive quick approval from the White House,
prevents the sale of Burmese gems and timber in the US via third parties
– bringing the US into line with EU and Canadian policy. Profits from
those products have enriched Burma's oppressive military regime.
But Congress chose not to sanction
Chevron, the largest US business still operating in Burma. An early
version of the plan would have forced the company to give up its 28%
stake in the Yadana natural gas field, which the regime considers a
crucial political priority.
Human rights advocates have linked the
Yadana project to ongoing abuses by the regime, including forced labour,
rapes and land confiscation to make room for the natural gas pipeline
which is slated to run from Burma to Thailand.
The requirement that Chevron leaves Burma
was softened to a non-binding recommendation for divestment after the
company protested. The US stake in Yadana would be handed over to
Chinese or Indian companies if Chevron was forced to sell, the company
argued.
The Burma sanctions plan was proposed in
Congress last year in response to the regime's bloody quashing of
peaceful protests by Buddhist monks and other pro-democracy activists.
Not until Cyclone Nargis caused widespread devastation in Burma in May,
however, did the legislation move forward.
Howard Berman, the Democratic chairman of
the foreign affairs committee in the House of Representatives, lamented
that the regime is morally bankrupt "but unfortunately is far from
financially bankrupt".
"While the Burmese people live in abject
poverty, Burma's military leaders continue to take Burma's vast natural
resources as their own," Berman added
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
International aid money sent to Burma’s cyclone
victims is being lost as a result of the junta’s foreign exchange
regulations, according to United Nations officials.
They quoted John Holmes, the UN’s humanitarian
affairs chief, as describing the loss as “a serious problem” that he had
raised with Burmese leaders during a visit this week, who had promised to
address the issue.
The UN’s first acknowledgement of the gravity
of the problem followed claims by Burmese political exiles that the regime
was using exchange controls to pocket a proportion of donor funds destined
for the more than 2m survivors of Cyclone Nargis that killed 140,000 in May.
While UN officials could put no figure on the
losses, the exiles claimed they might amount to 20 per cent of the tens of
millions of dollars so far spent.
The losses stem from Burma’s requirement that
foreign exchange brought into the country must be changed into
government-issued foreign exchange certificates. The FECs are officially at
parity with the dollar but in practice trade in the local market at a
discount when converted into Burmese kyat to buy local goods and services.
“FECs trade currently at about 80 cents for
every $1 they supposedly represent,” said Sean Turnell, an Australian
economist who monitors the Burmese economy from Sydney’s Macquarie
University.
“This means that for every $1 supplied by the
international agencies, 20 per cent is automatically unavailable for
redemption into goods and services. Shorn of technicalities, a cut of 20 per
cent to the regime is built in.”
Mr Turnell said it was difficult to quantify
the actual losses as much of the aid to Burma was supplied in kind rather
than in cash. Claims of an overall loss of 20 percent were probably
overstated, he said.
A spokeswoman for Mr Holmes office said the
“vast majority” of aid to Burma was purchased outside the country and was
not subject to the exchange control anomaly. Any losses would principally be
related to salaries and expenses of local aid personnel.
Mr Holmes this month more than doubled the
target of an international disaster appeal for Burma to $482m (£242m,
€307m). Some $190m has so far been pledged to support the work of UN
agencies and international charities working in Burma.
Michele Montas, spokeswoman for Ban-Ki-Moon,
UN secretary-general, said this week: “There are losses which are implicit
in the gap between the street rate and the official foreign exchange
certificate rate. Aid agencies and donors alike are concerned about this
issue because fewer services then can be purchased.”
Concerns come when the international
community is resuming political pressure on the Burma regime.
Copyright The
Financial Times Limited 2008
UN Security Council to Discuss Burma
| By LALIT K JHA / UNITED
NATIONS |
Wednesday,
July 23, 2008 |
NEW YORK — As the United Nations plans to send
special envoy Ibrahim Gambari to Burma in September and the Security Council
prepares to discuss Burma on Thursday, the US says it will push for a
“focused” political approach on Burma.
"The political track needs to be focused on now, front and center, with
regard to Burma," said US Ambassador to the UN, Zalmay Khalilzad.
Khalilzad stressed the "process" adopted by the military junta to get a new
constitution approved was "very much flawed." A group of five Burmese
parliamentarians on Monday sent a letter to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
and the five Permanent Representatives on the Security Council urging the UN
to declare Burma’s new constitution illegitimate.
A UN spokesperson said that Gambari intends to discuss such concerns during
his visit to Burma next month.
Khalilzad said the referendum on the draft constitution did not meet the
standards of the Security Council and its presidential statement which the
council outlined before the referendum.
The council’s UN presidential statement asked for the release of all
political prisoners including Aung San Suu Kyi, and for a free, fair and
transparent process surrounding the referendum. The Burmese junta went ahead
with a referendum in the immediate aftermath of Cyclone Nargis that killed
more than 130,000 people. Led by the US, the international community called
it a sham referendum.
"That's why we have been of the view that the international system and the
UN needs to focus on the political track once again in Burma," Khalilzad
said.
"Because of the terrible humanitarian situation in the aftermath of the
cyclone, there was less attention paid to the political process," Khalilzad
said. "We think that's vital, and that's why we have been urging the
secretary-general to send his special envoy back and to achieve specific
progress."
Under Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief
Coordinator John Holmes arrived in Burma on Tuesday for a three-day visit to
assess progress in the aid relief and recovery operations.
Holmes visited several affected communities in the Irrawaddy delta on
Tuesday during a helicopter tour.
"He noted that significant progress has been made since his last visit (in
May),” said a UN spokesperson. “The focus now needs to be on reaching the
most vulnerable communities in remote areas."
Holmes planned to meet the humanitarian community and donors in Rangoon on
Wednesday. He also planned to travel to Naypyidaw, the capital, on Friday
for consultations with Burmese officials.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mia Farrow Calls for Global Pressure at Olympics for
Burma
| By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
|
Friday,
July 25, 2008 |
BANGKOK — American actress Mia Farrow said Friday the world should use the
upcoming Beijing Olympics as a platform for demanding that China end its support
for Burma's military junta.
Farrow also said US President George W Bush missed an opportunity to take a
strong stand against China's ties with Burma by agreeing to attend the opening
ceremonies of the August 8-24 games.
 |
|
American activist and
actress Mia Farrow, right, looks on as Noble Peace Laureate Jody
Williams speaks as during a news conference at Foreign Correspondents'
Club in Bangkok, on Friday. (Photo: AP) |
"If there is enough
international pressure and if voices are raised loud enough, we can push China
to change its position on Burma," Farrow told The Associated Press in
Bangkok. "Using the Olympics Games as tool to effect change is important."
Bush, who plans to stay in Beijing for the first few days of the Olympics,
said earlier this week he was "fired up" to watch some of the competition.
"I wish that (Bush) had not agreed to attend the Olympics, because that
represents a missed opportunity for the United States to stand strong by its own
principles," Farrow said. "A statement could have been made by skipping the
opening ceremonies."
China is Burma's most important ally, providing economic, military and other
assistance while Western nations shun the military-ruled country because of its
poor human rights record and failure to restore democracy. China objects to
Western criticisms of Burma's junta, saying conditions in the Southeast Asian
country have improved since its violent crackdown on peaceful protests last
September.
"China must use its unique position with Burma—its business alliance, its
seat on the (UN) Security Council—not to protect Burma and its own interests,
but to effect change and to improve human rights in Burma," Farrow said.
Farrow has campaigned around the world to urge China to help stop killings in
Sudan's western Darfur region. China has been one of Sudan's biggest trading
partners, buying oil from the African nation and selling it weapons.
Farrow held a news conference in Bangkok after visiting the Burma-Thailand
border with a delegation from the Nobel Women's Initiative, a group founded by
female recipients of the Nobel Peace Prize.
The actress urged the United Nations and the international community to take
action to protect women in Burma from sexual exploitation and abuse in areas hit
by a devastating cyclone in May, which killed more than 84,500 people and left
54,000 missing, according to the junta.
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