Why Do We Support Human Rights Violations?

Profits from companies based in the United States, France, Thailand, Australia, England, Canada, China and Switzerland, among others, help support the brutal and repressive military leadership in Myanmar.

The world condones and supports this behavior and consequently we all shame ourselves by allowing it to continue.

Any government would realize that a natural disaster is not something they can control. Yet when the May 3 cyclone devastated their country, killing up to an estimated 100,000 people, the ruling party in Myanmar viewed it as a personal affront to their ability to protect their citizens. The extent of the damages are unknown due to the suppression of journalists and internet access. Then when the world comes to their aid, their paranoia, or is it an intense (and petty) desire to not uncover what is really going on in the country, won’t allow these ‘uninvited intruders’ into their country. They would rather allow their citizenry to starve to death, or die of their injuries and the resulting diseases from rotting corpses to take its toll than to allow outside help.

They use this disaster as a propaganda tool to ‘show’ their people that the ruling party alone is providing aid. I don’t think humanitarians care about who gets credit for providing aid, but the fact that the junta is propping themselves up as humanitarian only cheapens themselves and they aren’t fooling anyone. Myanmar’s citizens know first hand of the brutality of this military regime.

The military junta came into power in September 1988, by killing thousands of unarmed demonstrators. Then, in 1990, they staged a ‘show of democracy’ by allowing multi-party participation and then blocked the results when they did not win. The leaders of the winning opposition party were placed under house arrest or were exiled.

In December 1996, students demonstrations were forcibly suppressed and universities were closed.

When Buddhist monks marched in Yangon, the countries capital, to protest the repressive military regime’s treatment of monks during a September 5, 2008 protest in Pakokku, thousands of supporters joined them. The military used tear gas, guns and clubs to disperse the crowd. Reports of 10 to 30 protesters had been killed, monasteries were raided and many monks were beaten and arrested.

The rest of the world knows of their brutality as well despite repeated attempts to prevent outsiders from being privy to internal conditions. Their refusal to allow aid workers into their country to help their own suffering citizens should remind the world that this highly repressive and petty regime should not be allowed to remain in power.

Journalist within Myanmar’s borders have to work in secret because they are under threat of imprisonment for stories that would offend the ruling party. And it doesn’t take much to offend them.

We condemn human rights violations on paper, we actively protest human rights violations during public events, yet we purchase products from the very corporations who are supporting (or are) the violators.

Myanmar has been pretending to be democracy advocates for 20 years and it is time the world take a stand and punish them as well as their supporters for their human rights violations.

Corporations should face stiff penalties for financially supporting such a hateful and repressive regime.

Unocal is the single largest American investor in Myanmar through a 28% interest in a pipeline that will pump gas from offshore fields through Myanmar to Thailand. The French company Total will build the pipeline, and the Thai and Myanmar Government energy companies also have stakes. Texaco and Arco also recently signed deals to drill nearby.

“Companies doing business in Burma argue their presence is constructive and will benefit the Burmese people, but they have yet to condemn the government’s abuses against its own citizens,” said Arvind Ganesan, director of the Business and Human Rights Program at Human Rights Watch. “Keeping quiet while monks and other peaceful protesters are murdered and jailed is not evidence of constructive engagement.”

While foreign companies doing business with Myanmar are guilty of supporting this country, people who purchase products from these corporations should be ashamed of themselves. Profits ease the corporate conscience but what about the conscience of those individuals who buy these corporations’ products thereby providing the support funds?