21st Century Vision

Burma & Genocide ?

For four years, Guy Horton has travelled secretly in rural Burma, documenting the 50-year war being waged on the ethnic groups in the east. He has seen villagers forced to flee into the jungle, their homes destroyed, their animals slaughtered. He himself has experienced the brutality of the ruling regime, and he sums up its tactics in one word. Genocide.

He found that Burmese troops fighting the Karen, Shan and Karenni in eastern Burma have been systematically destroying the villages they capture, right down to the cooking pots, looms and rice pounders. All the domestic animals are slaughtered too, leaving nothing that the villagers might be able to use to keep themselves alive after the soldiers have gone, and then the paths are mined.

The Burmese regime defines the status of the villages in this region by colour coding. Black zones are areas in which the insurgents remain notionally in control and have villages that support them. Brown zones are the areas in dispute between the two sides; white zones are where the Tatamdaw exercise total control. Black zones constitute about 10 per cent of the region inhabited by these three groups, and the area is rapidly shrinking. "The image the regime uses is of a lake that is drying out," Horton explained. "When it is dry - when all the black zones have turned white - you catch all the fish."

The Burmese regime has on occasions let slip its intentions. In 1989, one year before the election won by Aung San Suu Kyi (but which the regime then ignored), the chairman of the junta acknowledged that the death toll in Burma's ethnic wars "would reach as high as millions". Three years later, in 1992, the Health Minister, Ket Sein, reportedly boasted to a large meeting in Rangoon: "In 10 years, all Karen will be dead. If you want to see a Karen, you will have to go to a museum in Rangoon."

Nuclear Double Standards

The Bush administration is planning the government's first production of plutonium 238 since the cold war, stirring debate over the risks and benefits of the deadly material. The substance, valued as a power source, is so radioactive that a speck can cause cancer - according to the New York Times.

The article goes on to say that this will be produced for "secret missions"...  "Even if no formal plans now exist to use the plutonium in space for military purposes, these experts said that the material could be used by the military to power compact spy satellites that would be hard for adversaries to track, evade or destroy."

This must be weighed up alongside the outcry of concern that has greeted the election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as the next Iranian president and the fears that Iran may proceed with its nuclear programme.

The proliferation of nuclear weapons is one of the greatest threats to the human race, let alone our present society.   The problem is that none of the major nuclear powers are prepared to take a lead on reducing the threat.  So with one hand the Bush administration will threaten Iran with violence to prevent the development of nuclear technology, yet with the other it will manufacture the most dangerous nuclear substance for itself.

This of course comes close on the heals of the failure of the Non Proliferation Treaty in May to make any progress; indeed whilst the NPT was underway the US administration sought increased funds from Congress for research into a new wave of nuclear weapons called bunker busters.

The solution to Iran's nuclear developments cannot be military.  It is a false premise to believe that nuclear technology can be kept in limited hands by military force.   A strike on the Iranian nuclear facility might kill thousands of people through the spread of nuclear fallout.  It would bring one step nearer the use of nuclear materials in a terrorist strike.  It would mean the next development would be more secret.

The ultimate solution is for the most powerful Nuclear Weapons States to show true leadership and develop an evenhanded approach to world affairs and to support the reforms of collective security being proposed in the United Nations.

Oil Prices Climbs As Chinese Economy Grows

Oil prices have continued to climb on Monday, surging to a record on concerns that demand will outstrip supply.

Developing economies such as China and India continue to stoke their booms with oil, while consumers are still filling up their cars with petrol and diesel. As these two economies grow, particularly that of China, then the pressure on scarce resources will also grow. China’s growth rates are huge by global standards and the economic activity of that country will begin to have a major impact on the world economy.

China's insatiable demand for energy is prompting fears of financial and diplomatic collisions around the globe as it seeks reliable supplies of oil from as far away as Brazil and Sudan. China has its own reserves of oil and natural gas and once was a net oil exporter. But as its economy has expanded by an average of nine per cent per year for the last two decades, so has its demand for energy. This year it overtook Japan as the world's second largest consumer of energy, behind the US.

US sweet light crude was trading 51 cents higher at $60.35, after earlier hitting $60.64. Brent, the other main contract, rose 60 cents to $58.96. Analysts said that prices are likely to sit close to the $60 mark for some time as demand shows little sign of abating.

Also driving gains on Monday were concerns of a clash between Iran's newly elected President and the US.

Central bankers from around the world were in Basel, Switzerland, for a meeting of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) and discussed the trend of oil prices in the future. The organisation's top economic adviser Bill White warned that "there could be repercussions associated with oil prices that might be greater than the consensus expects".

"There was a general consensus that we will have high oil prices for at least the next two or three years," said Martin Redrado, governor of Argentina's central bank. Already during the past 12 months, the price of crude has jumped by almost two-thirds, though the extra costs have done little to diminish demand.

60 Years Old & In Need Of Reform

The United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan has praised the organisation in a statement to mark 60 years since the signing of the UN Charter. The UN keeps the peace in many places, organises elections and brings relief to disaster victims, Mr Annan said. In a statement to mark the occasion, the secretary general said the UN faced new threats and challenges and new opportunities.

He urged world leaders attending September's world summit on international development, security, human rights and UN reform at UN headquarters in New York to make bold decisions, saying they had never been more necessary or more possible. One of those is the actual reform of the UN itself.

The four countries urging UN Security Council reform say they are confident they have enough support to carry their proposal in a vote in the coming weeks.

India, Germany, Brazil and Japan want to enlarge the council from 15 members to 25, with six new permanent seats. Ambassadors for the "group of four" said they had the required backing of two-thirds of General Assembly members.

The Security Council - the UN's main decision-making body - reflects the balance of power at the end of World War II.  Ten of its members rotate for two-year terms and the other five - the US, Britain, France, Russia and China - have permanent seats with veto power. Moves to reform the council have been discussed since the early 1990s.

How Successful Is Reconstruction?

After a war and occupation and continual violence, the figures below tell us how far reconstruction has gone. If success can be measured in the quality of life for the people of Iraq, has there really been success?

• 78 per cent of households in the country have an unreliable electricity supply; in Baghdad, the figure rises to 92 per cent.
• 37 per cent of urban households and only 4 per cent of rural ones have a sewage connection.
• 61 per cent of Iraqi households have access to a safe and stable drinking water supply, but 28 per cent of these experience daily problems with that supply.
• 5 per cent of households have been damaged by military activity; the figure rises to 8 per cent in the north of the country.
• Only 52 per cent of urban households are accessible by paved road; the figure drops to one in 10 in rural areas.
• 31 per cent of males over 15 are unemployed.
• Almost a quarter of children between the ages of six months and five years suffer from malnutrition.
• More young people today are illiterate in Iraq than in previous generations.
• Just 83 per cent of boys and 79 per cent of girls of school age are enrolled in primary school.

G8 & The Arms Trade

Countries from the G8 group of wealthy nations have been accused of continuing to sell arms to regimes using them to abuse human rights.

The claim comes in a report published by the Control Arms Campaign - a group made up of organisations including Oxfam and Amnesty International.

It has been timed to coincide with a London meeting of G8 foreign ministers.

This week's meeting is due to discuss the adoption of a UK proposal for an International Arms Trade Treaty. G8 weapons have been exported to countries including Sudan, the Republic of Congo, Colombia and the Philippines, according to the report.

Oxfam's Simon Grey said the campaign was calling for a "responsible arms trade".

We're not calling for a ban and, in actual fact, in the UK we have the support of the Defence Manufacturer's Association, the arms industry's representatives," he told BBC News.

We're calling for tough controls on the arms trade so that the number of 500,000 people killed each year from armed violence can be reduced.

UK Breaking The Law On Asylum Seekers

Amnesty International says the UK government is breaking the law by locking up too many asylum seekers before their claims are dealt with. A report by the human rights group estimates 25,000 asylum applicants were held in detention centres during 2004.

It says many of these were vulnerable, such as pregnant women, families with children and torture victims.

The Home Office said detention powers were "essential" to ensure effective immigration controls. It did not confirm the numbers stated in the report, but said it was committed to ensuring that everyone detained was treated with "humanity and dignity".

But the Amnesty says the government's use of detention for asylum seekers is a "lottery", dependent on the availability of beds rather than whether it is necessary or appropriate.

It says some people had been held without a final decision on their application for up to two years, a move it says is illegal because the detentions did not appear to be leading to removal from the UK.

See full story …

Congress Threat To UN

Senior diplomats urged congressional leaders to reject legislation, which would effectively bankrupt the United Nations. Many members of Congress seem to want to wage war on the UN since the Iraq war because the UN refused to be an instrument of American foreign policy Francis Harris reports in the Telegraph,

A Republican-sponsored Bill which would cut the American contribution to the UN by half reached the House floor yesterday. As America contributes 22 per cent of the budget, such a reduction would cripple UN activities.

"Withholding US dues to the UN may sound like smart policy but would be counterproductive," the eight former ambassadors wrote. "It would create resentment, build animosity and actually strengthen opponents of (UN) reform."

The group included prominent former American representatives at the UN, including Madeleine Albright.

Their statement mirrored opposition to the Bill from the Bush administration. Nicholas Burns, the State Department's under-secretary of state said: "We cannot agree to the withholding provisions." He argued that they would "deal a great blow to our credibility in the UN system, and it would have ramifications for the reliability of the United States as a friend and partner."

Henry Hyde, the Bill's sponsor and chairman of the House international relations committee, said that he would not back down. "The constitution gives to Congress the power of the purse," he said. "We intend to exercise it in pursuit of meaningful UN reform."

The draft legislation is expected to pass although it is unclear whether it will be backed in the Senate.

There is growing anger in Washington over events at the UN. The mood in Congress has been soured by revelations about the UN's mismanagement of the oil-for-food programme for Iraq, the misconduct of its troops with women in the Congo and allegations of sexual impropriety inside UN agencies. 

Coming Events

Refugee Week. Amnesty International will have a stall at Palmers Green Triangle on Saturday 25th June from 1-5pm. This will be in support of Refugee week. They need volunteers (3 or 4 per hour) to hand out leaflets and ethnic food, answer questions, help with a drawing/colouring children’s project and attend to the CD player. Please email Karen ([email protected] or Joy on 020 8888 6260) with offers of help.

Kofu Annan In London. On Wednesday 6th July (the first day of the G8 summit) the Secretary General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan will be giving a lecture at St Paul's Cathedral on poverty reduction. There will be other members of a panel who will respond to him (the Bishop of London and provisionally Gordon Brown are among them). This has been organised by the St Paul's Institute and Canon Lucy Winkett will be chairing the lecture

Debt & Democracy

The historic deal to write off the debts of the world’s poorest 30 countries totalling a potential $55 billion (£30 billion) has now become the subject of sharp debate. On one hand the inspirer of Live8 – Bob Geldof, welcomes it. On the other, some voluntary groups are wondering whether this will involve new money or existing money redirected from aid. George Monbiot is even more sceptical in the Guardian today where he states,

To qualify for debt relief, developing countries must "tackle corruption, boost private-sector development" and eliminate "impediments to private investment, both domestic and foreign".

These are called conditionalities. Conditionalities are the policies governments must follow before they receive aid and loans and debt relief

They do not stop at pretending to prevent corruption, but intrude into every aspect of sovereign government. When the finance ministers say "good governance" and "eliminating impediments to private investment", what they mean is commercialisation, privatisation and the liberalisation of trade and capital flows. And what this means is new opportunities for western money.

The G8 governments claim they want to help poor countries develop and compete successfully. But they have a powerful commercial incentive to ensure that they compete unsuccessfully, and that our companies can grab their public services and obtain their commodities at rock-bottom prices. The conditionalities we impose on the poor nations keep them on a short leash.

It is this debate that makes it important that we should question our government and elected members of parliament to ensure that debt relief is not used to spread the ideology of American liberalisation across the globe when so many peoples around the world are opposed to it because of the impact it has on their life and the loss it delivers to democracy and local self sufficiency.