US embassy cable - 05RANGOON178

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 RANGOON 000178 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/BCLTV; PACOM FOR FPA 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/08/2015 
TAGS: ELAB, PHUM, PGOV, PREL, BM, Human Rights 
SUBJECT: HAS BURMA TURNED THE CORNER ON FORCED LABOR? 
 
REF: A. 04 RANGOON 1426 
     B. RANGOON 10 
 
Classified By: COM Carmen Martinez for Reasons 1.4 (b,d) 
 
1.  (U) Summary: A Burma court has set a landmark precedent 
by sentencing four local government officials to jail terms 
for using forced labor.  This action could scare local 
authorities and encourage other citizens to file similar 
charges.  Also, two persons who were initially sentenced to 
death for informing ILO of forced labor violations were 
released in January as part of a broader GOB amnesty.  The 
verdicts, and the releases, may signal a policy change, but 
are more likely just "window dressing" in advance of a 
high-level ILO visit to Burma scheduled for late February. 
End Summary. 
 
GOOD NEWS ON FORCED LABOR 
 
2.  (U) On January 31 a judge at Kawhmu Township Court 
announced eight-month jail sentences for four local 
government officials in Kawhmu Township, Rangoon Division for 
having used forced labor on public development projects.  One 
of the defendants was named in two cases and received two, 
consecutive sentences for a total of 16 months.  Local 
victims of the forced labor, who filed the original charges 
in mid-2004, had experienced harassment and detention for 
drawing attention to the issue until the ILO office in 
Rangoon successfully intervened on their behalf with the GOB. 
 
 
3.  (U) According to Richard Horsey, ILO liaison officer, the 
court decision will cause local authorities "to think twice 
before forcing local citizens to work for free."  He told 
Poloff that other victims may now be emboldened to lodge 
cases in courts because they now have greater confidence of 
obtaining justice.  According to Horsey, there have been a 
total of only seven forced labor cases lodged in Burmese 
courts, and the January decision is the first known time that 
anybody in Burma has been found guilty and punished for 
imposing forced labor on citizens. 
 
4.  (U) In a separate labor development, we recently learned 
that among prisoners released during an amnesty in early 
January (ref B) were two persons who had earlier been 
sentenced to death, in part for informing the ILO of forced 
labor problems.  The two released persons are Naing Min Kyi 
and Aye Myint.  Their colleague, Shwe Mann, remains in jail 
where he is serving his sentence, which was reduced in 
October 2004 from death to 5 years.  The ILO believes that 
Shwe Mann may also get an early release. 
 
ULTERIOR MOTIVE? 
 
5.  (SBU) Horsey admits that the motive behind these forced 
labor developments could well be an upcoming high-level ILO 
visit to Burma, which is scheduled for February 21-25.  The 
delegation, making the visit as a result of an ILO Governing 
Board decision in late 2004, includes former Australian 
Governor-General Sir Ninian Stephen, former Swiss President 
Ruth Dreyfus, and Ambassador Chung Eui-yong, Republic of 
Korea National Assembly member and chairman of the Foreign 
Relations Committee of the Uri Party.  The GOB, said Horsey, 
obviously wants to demonstrate to this panel that they are 
making progress on forced labor issues. 
 
6.  (C) Although the GOB has approved the ILO visit, 
authorities have complained about "inconvenient timing" due 
to the National Convention, which is slated to start on 
February 17.  However, while the modalities are still being 
worked out, Horsey is confident that the visit will take 
place as scheduled.  Emboffs spoke on February 9 with Leon de 
Riedmatten, the proposed facilitator for an ILO Plan of 
Action shelved after the May 2003 attack on Aung San Suu Kyi. 
 De Riedmatten, just back from Geneva, said that the ILO 
delegation would insist, "as a pre-condition," that they get 
a top-level SPDC commitment on forced labor (including a 
meeting with Senior General Than Shwe or another top tier 
SPDC member).  An encounter with just the Minister of Labor, 
he said, would not constitute adequate GOB support for the 
visit. 
7.  (C) Comment: It is too early to say whether the 
conviction of local government authorities for forced labor 
violations represents a clear policy change, or if this 
highly unusual action is merely an attempt by the SPDC to 
make a show of cooperation with the ILO without fully 
cooperating.  It is likely that the judge delivered sentences 
only after she received authority from the highest levels.  A 
precedent has now been set and increases the possibility that 
future cases could also result in convictions.  End Comment. 
Martinez