-------------------------------------------------------------------- for UC Davis Law School newspaper "Advocate", October 1996 possible title: NLG (National Lawyers Guild) subgroup working on "Burma selective contracting law" for Davis by TANAKA Tomoyuki contents 1. background 2. activism within the USA for democracy in Burma 3. Burma selective contracting laws 4. what we (NLG subgroup) are doing -------------------------------------------------------------------- === 1. background === Burma has been ruled by a military dictatorship called SLORC (State Law and Order Restoration Council) since its brutal takeover in 1988. reliable reports by Amnesty International and other sources reveal that the human violations (torture, etc) in Burma are among the worst in the world today. two on-going projects are especially problematic, as they involve forced labor (people forced to work in chains as armed guards overlook) and other human rights abuses: (1) SLORC has designated this year as "Visit Myanmar Year 1996" and embarked on a huge tourism campaign. (2) the pipeline project involves the French company Total and US companies Unocal and Texaco. the 1995 feature-length movie "Beyond Rangoon" (starring Patricia Arquette) is an entertaining action-adventure film that gives a good overview of the 1988 military takeover. This movie is often found in rental video stores. -------------------------------------------------------------------- === 2. activism within the USA for democracy in Burma === one Internet (WWW) document proclaims: "The world is learning about the trouble in Burma. Businesses are refusing to pay torturers. Burma is becoming the South Africa of the 90's." (http://sunsite.unc.edu/freeburma/boycott/progress.html) Harvard Burma activists recently caused Pepsi to lose a $1 million five-year contract with the Harvard Dinning Services. many universities have cancelled planned tourist visits to Burma, refusing to give SLORC the hard currency that they are craving for. many companies have pulled out of doing business in Burma: PepsiCo (pulled out "half way"), Heineken Brewery, Carlberg Brewery, Eddie Bauer, Reebok, Amoco, Levi Strauss, Macy's Department Store. on September 3, the Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law, a human rights group, sued Unocal to block construction of a $1.2 billion pipeline in Burma, charging the military government is destroying villages in the project's path and using forced labor. The federal lawsuit seeks to end the contract between SLORC and Los Angeles-based Unocal. -------------------------------------------------------------------- === 3. Burma selective contracting laws === activists have been working to pass "selective contracting laws" or "sanction bills" in various governments. these laws forbid the local (or federal) governments from doing business with companies that are still doing business in Burma. on Sept 17, the US Congress approved the Cohen-Feinstein Amendment (Section 569 of the Foreign Operations and Appropriations Act), which President Clinton signed into law in early October. this is a weak version of the original sanction bill, in that it would only impose a ban on *new* US investment in Burma if (1) Aung San Suu Kyi (winner of 1991 Nobel Peace Prize) is harmed, imprisoned, or killed; or (2) there is a large-scale crackdown on the democracy movement. Such sanctions are conditional and do not affect existing US investment or investment by non-US companies. much stronger forms of "selective contracting laws" have passed in various local governments. The entire State of Massachusetts passed a tough selective contracting law on 6/25/96. Berkeley was the first city to passed such a law (Feb 95), and other cities are following: Madison, Wisconsin (8/16/95), Santa Monica (11/28/95), Ann Arbor, Michigan (4/15/96), San Francisco (4/22/96), Oakland (4/23/96). -------------------------------------------------------------------- === 4. what we (NLG subgroup) are doing === we think it is possible to pass a "Burma selective contracting law" for the city of Davis as a city ordinance. (if Davis is really a city of progressive-minded people, then passing this law should be very easy.) we currently call ourselves the NLG (National Lawyers Guild) focus group on International Human Rights or International Human Rights Action Committee (IHRAC, "eye-rack"). we've been gathering information and making contacts with the activists in the country, and we will soon be approaching members of the Davis City Council in hopes that they will sponsor the bill. i'm personally interested in finding out firsthand how laws are proposed and made, and what kind of actions (lobbying) are effective. later in October we'll be showing in the law school a 12-minute videotape (a BBC show?) that describes the forced labor situation in Burma. please come join our efforts and give us a hand, or give us your insights, or just see what we are doing. contact me or Mark Windsor with any questions or ideas. [update: on Nov 21, 1996 i (Tanaka) gave a presentation on the matter at the City's Human Relations Commission meeting. commission members seemed supportive of the idea, and we decided to form a subcommittee to draft the resolution and the city ordinance. we hope to pass both the resolution and the city ordinance (only an ordinance would have a real legal effect).]