Many of you may already know that Myanmar (aka Burma) was devastated by a strong tropical cyclone. Many of you may already know that it has caused catastrophic destruction and up to 100,000 people may be feared dead.
However not many of you may know that the Military Junta of Myanmar, a military regime accused of brutal persecutions of minority ethnic groups, opposition groups, students and human-rights activists, is denying foreign aid into the country, or to be more precise, it is doing a terrible job. In a situation like this any country should have the urgent response measures in force. The UN says that an estimated 1.5 million people have been affected by this cyclone and swift aid is of the essence. But the junta are not responding to foreign aid. Red Cross have at last started to fly in some emergency relief but for many it may already be too late.
Fact:Myanmar needs a regime change. Not through warfare, not through violence. The same response and heart-felt emotion the world had and still has for a free Tibet should now also be shown for Myanmar and its people.
In a landmark legal case, some human rights groups have sued the Unocal Corporation, previously known as Union Oil of California and now part of the Chevron Corporation They charge that since the early 1990s, Unocal has joined hands with dictators in Myanmar to turn thousands of citizens there into virtual slaves under brutality. Unocal, before being purchased, stated that they had no knowledge or connection to these alleged actions although it continued working in Myanmar. This was a landmark case as this might be the first time that anybody has sued an American corporation in a U.S. court on the grounds that the company violated human rights in another country.
Another Fact:
Evidence has been gathered suggesting that the Burmese regime has marked certain ethnic minorities such as the Karen for extermination or 'Burmisation'. This has received little attention from the international community, however, since it has been more subtle and indirect than the mass killings in places like Rwanda.
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