brethren priestess online

Various interesting articles popped up from my beloved agency Burma Issues, in this week’s news update. First, the junta is attempting to eradicate Christianity from the country. Second, the UN Security Council failed to pass a resolution calling for an improvement in the human rights situation in Burma, with no votes (/ vetoes) not only from the expected spoilers China and Russia, but also from temporary member SOUTH AFRICA. And Desmond Tutu is pissed.

Entitled “Programme to destroy the Christian religion in Burma”
‘The military is intent on wiping out Christianity in Burma, according to claims in a secret document believed to have been leaked from a government ministry. Entitled “Programme to destroy the Christian religion in Burma,” the memo contains point by point instructions on how to drive Christians out of the state. The text opens with the line “There shall be no home where the Christian religion is practiced”. Human rights groups said that the treatment meted out to Christians, who make up six percent of the population, is part of a wider campaign by the regime, also targeted at ethnic minority tribes, to create a uniform society in which the race and language is Burmese and the only accepted religion is Buddhism. The document, shown to The Sunday Telegraph by human rights groups, may have been produced by a state-sponsored Buddhist group, but with the tacit approval of the military junta.’
- “Burma orders Christians to be wiped out”, Sunday Telegraph , January 21, 2007

Jose Ramos-Horta’s view of failed vote
‘East Timorese Prime Minister and Nobel peace laureate Jose Ramos-Horta was disappointed that the United Nations Security Council failed to pass a resolution on criticizing Burma ’s military government. Mr. Ramos-Horta said that some Security Council members may be right when they say Burma is not a threat to regional security because it does not possess biological or nuclear weapons capability. But Burma’s human rights situation, rampant drug trafficking problem, unchecked HIV rates, and high internally displaced populations do pose a threat to regional, if not, international security. Mr. Ramos-Horta also argued that the inability of the U.N. Human Rights Commission to address the problem should also be a wake up call to the Security Council.’
- “E. Timor PM regrets failed Security Council resolution on Burma “, VOA News , January 18, 2007

Deeply disappointed with South Africa ’s vote against UNSC
‘Nobel laureate Desmond Tutu has expressed his deep disappointment at South Africa ’s vote to block a U.N. Security Council resolution demanding an end to human rights abuses in Burma. Tutu said in an e-mail to The Associated Press that he was deeply disappointed by their vote. It was a betrayal of theirs own noble past. Many in the international community could hardly believe it. In its first vote since it secured a non-permanent seat on the Security Council last year, South Africa joined China and Russia in opposing the resolution proposed by the United States and backed by Britain and France.’
- “Desmond Tutu deeply disappointed with South Africa ’s vote against U.N Security Council resolution on Myanmar”, AP Via International Herald Tribune , January 21, 2007

Some of my observations:
1. Even under W, the US is doing something good for human rights internationally.
2. Those UNSC members better watch out – if they continue to make the UN ineffective in preventing human rights abuses, it will be a lot harder for peace-lovin’ folks to point fingers at the US’s unilateral actions against dictatorships, claiming that they should have worked with the UN first. We do not want to prove those USAmerican UN-haters, with their signs stuck by the highways in the middle of Missouri, right.
3. As Ramos-Horta observes, human rights disasters (with their resulting refugee populations and environmental impact) and public health crises and trafficking (of drugs, weapons, contraband ecological resources, and human beings) ARE international concerns, because the world is much more interconnected than we might like to think.
4. Here is further proof that any world religion can be exploited to justify violent oppression, even compassionate Buddhism. Judaism, Christianity, Hinduism, and Islam are apparently not alone.

Want more on Burma? Go to www.burmaissues.org.