[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 25 (Tuesday, March 2, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1992-S1993]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          THAI POLICY TOWARD BURMA: PRINCIPLED OR FOR PROFIT?

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, as my colleagues know, freedom in Burma 
has long been under siege by a military junta calling itself the State 
Peace and Department Council (SPDC). In response to last year's brutal 
assault against the supporters of the National League for Democracy 
NLD, and its leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, Congress quickly passed--and 
the President signed into law--the Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act of 
2003.
  This was an appropriate response to an act of Terrorism orchestrated 
and carried out buy the SPDC and its affiliated organizations.
  Last week, the State Department issued its annual human rights 
report, and the section on Burma evidences egregious and systematic 
human rights abuses. Let me read one excerpt from that report:

     [the SPDC's] extremely poor human rights record worsened, and 
     it continued to commit numerous serious abuses. Citizens 
     still did not have the right to change their government. 
     Security forces continued to commit extrajudical killings and 
     rape, forcibly relocate persons, use forced labor, conscript 
     child soldiers, and reestablished forced conscription of the 
     civilian population into militia units.

  Murder, rape, forced labor, child soldiers . . . this is a sobering 
reminder of how egregious and extreme human rights violations are in 
Burma.
  While many in Burma's neighborhood raised concerns with the situation 
in that country, including Malaysia and

[[Page S1993]]

Indonesia, Thailand--led by Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra--seemed 
keen on letting the wind out of sanction sails at every opportunity. 
This strikes me as odd behavior given Thailand's processed commitment 
to democracy and human rights.
  Where others speak out to demand concrete actions from the SPDC, 
including the unconditional and immediate release of Suu Kyi and her 
compatriots, Thaksin has repeatedly risen to defend those who Secretary 
Powell referred to as ``murderous thugs''.
  Last year, he initiated an international forum on Burma self-dubbed 
the ``Bangkok Process'' that did not include the NLD, the United 
States, or other proven champions of freedom. However, it did include 
the SPDC, and was described the Thaksin as a meeting of the ``like 
minded.'' The ``Bangkok Process'' is fundamentally flawed by the very 
absence of Suu Kyi and her supporters at the table. Tellingly, they 
remain under arrest and detention in Burma.
  I agree with Norwegian Foreign Minister Jan Petersen that ``all 
voices in the country had to be heard and opposition leader Aung San 
Suu Kyi must be released.'' In stark contrast, Thaksin recently stated, 
``Burma is on the right track. . . . If they follow our 
recommendations, they will be okay and get everything done.''

  With narcotics, HIV/AIDS and other undesirable exports pouring across 
Burma's borders into Thailand, it is only fair to question Thaksin's 
motivations in his cozy relationship with the SPDC. Some suspect that 
the raison d'etre can be summed up in a single word: iPSTAR.
  iPSTAR is a $350 million broadband satellite owned by Shin Satellite, 
Sattel, and Shin Corporation, a holding company created by the Prime 
Minister that owns 53 percent of Sattel. If successfully launched and 
operational, the satellite will beam its signal across Asia.
  To convince doubting Thomases who suspect that Thailand's approach to 
Burma may be based on selfish profit--not principle--Thaksin should 
answer the following single question:
  What investments, including projects and activities related to 
iPSTAR, do Shin Satellite and Shin Corporation have in Burma, and/or 
have planned for Burma?
  I intend to pose this same question to Secretary of State Colin 
Powell when he appears before the Foreign Operations Subcommittee next 
month.
  Let me close by saying that many of us remain concerned with the 
continued deterioration of democratic institutions in Thailand--
including a free and independent press. We are alarmed and distressed 
by continued reports of the deportation of as many as 10,000 Burmese 
refugees, exiles, and migrant workers from Thailand to Burma each 
month. My colleagues can find additional information on this matter in 
a February 25th article by Ellen Nakashima in the Washington Post and 
through Human Rights Watch's report ``Out of Sight, Out of Mind: Thai 
Policy Toward Burmese Refugees and Migrants.''
  With rising tensions in the south, it is more important that ever 
that Thailand stay the course in its political and legal development.
  I am sure my colleagues will agree that accountability and 
transparency must be maintained in Thailand, be it a crackdown on drugs 
or business with Burma. As the last few weeks have clearly 
demonstrated, Thai politicians are quick to promise a chicken in every 
pot--but sometimes chickens get the flu. I say this only to illustrate 
my hopes that Prime Minister Thaksin has prepared an alternative 
approach toward Burma and the SPDC that includes the full participation 
and input of Suu Kyi and the NLD as well as all ethnic nationalities.
  I ask unanimous consent that following my remarks an article from 
Thailand's English language newspaper The Nation be printed in the 
Record. Thaksin has it wrong--the United States is not a ``useless 
friend'' to Thailand. On the contrary, America is a strong advocate of 
democracy and human rights throughout the region.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                    [From The Nation, Feb. 28, 2004]

       Reaction to US Rights Report: ``You're a Useless Friend''

       Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra yesterday slammed the 
     United States as a ``useless friend'' for issuing a damning 
     report on the deterioration of human rights here. ``It's 
     unacceptable to me the way the US came out with the report by 
     citing media reports. What kind of friend are they?'' a 
     fuming Thaksin said. ``Once every year, the US comes out and 
     damages the reputation of its friend. What would they do if 
     Thailand issued the same [kind of] report?'' Thaksin told 
     reporters that although Thailand has been in discussions with 
     the US on the human rights situation here the US produced a 
     report that differed from the information Thailand supplied.
       The US State Department yesterday released its annual 
     country-by-country review of human rights. Thailand's record 
     ``worsened'' last year as a result of the extra-judicial 
     killings and arbitrary arrests during the first round of the 
     war on drugs, from February to April, the report said. ``I 
     have to say bluntly that it [the US report] really annoyed 
     me. I have asked the Foreign Ministry to issue a statement,'' 
     Thaksin said.
       The Foreign Ministry ``invited'' US Ambassador Darryl 
     Johnson to receive an official complaint. Foreign Minister 
     Surakiart Sathirathai said: ``It has been like this for at 
     least three times during my time [as foreign minister]. We 
     feel that it is something that is not healthy for close 
     allies like the US and Thailand.'' In what appeared to be an 
     attempt by the ministry to maximize media coverage of the 
     summoning of Johnson, photographers were asked to position 
     themselves in what is usually an off-limits area. The 
     ministry issued a statement on Thursday expressing its ``deep 
     disappointment'' over the report, saying it contained 
     ``serious inaccuracies''--particularly on the government's 
     anti-drugs campaign--and overstated the toll from summary 
     killings.
       ``The report does not provide a balanced account of the 
     facts, even though the Thai government has gone to great 
     lengths to provide all the information to the US side,'' the 
     statement read. This was also the case for the reports in 
     2002 and 2001, when Thailand had to pinpoint various factual 
     errors and the US apologized and admitted that the reports 
     were done in haste, Surakiart claimed. Such a report is 
     ``useless'' for the governments as well as the public and it 
     needs to be corrected, he added. Johnson, who met with Deputy 
     Foreign Permanent Secretary Veerasak Futrakul, declined to 
     make any statement.
       Ministry spokesman Sihasak Phuangketkeow, however, quoted 
     Johnson as saying: ``The US generally views Thailand's human 
     rights record in a positive light, whether it is about 
     economic or political freedom.'' Sihasak submitted a memo to 
     Johnson claiming that only 46 cases of extra-judicial 
     killings were recorded and the 1,386 drug-related deaths 
     cited in the US report were not extra-judicial executions. He 
     also dismissed the allegation that the government would not 
     allow the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights 
     to make a visit to look into the matter. ``A request has 
     never been made,'' he said. According to National Police 
     figures released in December, only nine cases out of 1,176 
     drug-related deaths have been prosecuted.
       The drug killings sparked an outcry from local and 
     international human rights organizations. Foreign governments 
     and the UN Human Rights Commissioner expressed grave concern 
     about the murders, while His Majesty the King called on the 
     government to give a detailed accounting for all the deaths. 
     The Thai government had ``failed to investigate and prosecute 
     vigorously those who committed such abuses, contributing to a 
     climate of impunity,'' the US report said.
       After Thaksin's visit to Washington last June, bilateral 
     relations strengthened as Thailand agreed to dispatch troops 
     to Iraq and offered Americans immunity from the International 
     Criminal Court. Thailand signed the ICC treaty but has not 
     yet ratified it. Last December, US President George W. Bush 
     officially designate Thailand a major non-Nato ally, a move 
     that boosted security cooperation between the two countries.

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