US embassy cable - 05RANGOON1326

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 RANGOON 001326 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/MLS; PACOM FOR FPA 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/21/2015 
TAGS: PREL, PHUM, BM, UNSC 
SUBJECT: GOB RESPONDS TO HAVEL-TUTU UNSC EFFORT 
 
REF: SECSTATE 211115 AND PREVIOUS 
 
Classified By: P/E Chief W. Patrick Murphy for Reasons 1.4 (b,d) 
 
1. (C) Summary:  The Burmese Government has distributed to 
diplomatic missions "an analytical review," authored by 
unidentified Rangoon University academics, as a rebuttal to 
the so-called Havel-Tutu report that made a case for the UN 
Security Council to address the Burma crisis.  The "review" 
echoes a familiar regime claim that Burmese exiles and their 
supporters are making false allegations of human rights 
abuses and other regime misbehavior as a means to sow 
disunity and tarnish the GOB.  We can expect the GOB to 
pursue a similar tack with its sympathizers in its ongoing 
efforts to thwart a discussion of Burma at the Security 
Council.  End Summary. 
 
2. (U) On November 22, the GOB's Ministry of Foreign Affairs 
distributed, under cover of a diplomatic note to all 
diplomatic missions in Rangoon, a document entitled "An 
Analytical Review and Response to the Report 'Threat to the 
Peace: A Call for the UN Security Council to Act in Burma' by 
the Honorable Vaclav Havel and Bishop Desmond M Tutu." 
(Note:  Havel and Tutu commissioned the "Threat to the Peace" 
report, which was prepared by an international law firm.  End 
Note.) 
 
3. (U) The unidentified authors ("a group of academics" from 
Rangoon University), claim that their review is "not 
overloaded with data as it is not a retort or being 
defensive."  The authors, however, structured their review as 
a direct rebuttal, responding chapter by chapter to the 
Havel-Tutu report on Burma's political history, economic 
development, demographics, and threat to peace and security 
in the region. 
 
4. (SBU) The review--which ignored the Havel-Tutu report's 
commentary on lessons from past UN Security Council 
interventions and justification for applying UNSC criteria to 
the current crisis in Burma--includes GOB "data" that, among 
other claims, alleges the military regime has achieved a six 
percent annual economic growth rate, reduced poverty, and 
established literacy for 93.3 percent of the population. 
(Comment: These are fantasy figures that no one outside the 
regime regards as credible.  End Comment.) 
 
5. (U) The "Analytical Review" claims that Burma is "one of 
the handful of countries facing unproven allegations and is 
being unfairly branded as a major violator of human rights." 
The authors, claiming that "many well informed analysts have 
been perplexed as to why voices have been raised at the 
United Nations making an international issue out of the 
situation in Myanmar where it is enjoying peace and 
stability," acknowledge that the GOB could be accused of a 
lack of transparency, "but the Government may have its own 
reasons for the lack of transparency." 
 
COMMENT: REBUT, DEFEND, ATTACK 
 
6. (C) Since the GOB has no national data-gathering body, the 
most reliable statistical data on conditions in Burma come 
from UN agencies and INGOs operating in the country.  Their 
data, cited extensively in the Havel-Tutu report, show 
literacy and poverty rates and other indicators to be far 
grimmer than the GOB's rosy estimates. 
 
7. (C) Rangoon University, like all public educational 
institutions in Burma, is under the full control of the GOB. 
By distributing the report, the MFA is making clear that this 
"Analytical Review" is GOB-endorsed.  The "review" is 
considerably less vitriolic than other recent diatribes 
published in state-controlled media against the Havel-Tutu 
report, including personal attacks on the character of the 
former Czech President and the South African Nobel Laureate. 
 
8. (C) Nonetheless, the "review" echoes a familiar regime 
claim that Burmese exiles and their supporters are "trying to 
tarnish the image of the SPDC and to cause disunity among the 
nationalities residing peacefully in the country."    We can 
expect the GOB to pursue a similar tack with its sympathizers 
in its ongoing efforts to thwart a discussion of Burma at the 
Security Council.  End Comment. 
STOLTZ