[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 90 (Friday, May 9, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Page 25658]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-12230]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Office of the Secretary


Bureau of International Labor Affairs; Public Hearings on Forced 
Labor in Burma

    This document is a notice of public hearings to be held by the 
Department of Labor for the purpose of gathering information regarding 
the use of forced labor in Burma. The hearing will be held on June 27, 
1997, at the Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW, N-3437 
D, Washington, DC 20210, beginning at 9:00 a.m. The hearing will be 
open to the public. The Department of Labor is now accepting requests 
to provide oral or written testimony at the hearing from all interested 
parties. Each presentation will be limited to ten minutes. The 
Department is not able to provide financial assistance to those wishing 
to travel to attend the hearing. Those unable to attend the hearing are 
invited to submit written testimony. Parties interested in testifying 
at the hearing on forced labor in Burma should call Joan Mackin Barrett 
(202) 219-7471, ext. 105, to be put on the roster.
    On March 27, 1997, the Governing Body of the International Labor 
Organization (ILO) established, pursuant to Article 26 of the ILO 
Constitution, a Constitution, a Commission of Inquiry to investigate a 
complaint by worker delegates to the 1996 ILO Conference about the 
existence of forced labor in Burma. The complaint alleges that the 
Government of Burma has repeatedly failed to abolish legislation which 
allows for the use of forced labor, and, far from ensuring that forced 
labor is eliminated in practice, that the Government has been actively 
engaged in its promotion. Specific allegations include the forced 
recruitment and abuse of porters by the military, as well as the use of 
forced laborers on railway, road, construction, and other 
infrastructure projects. The complaint charges that the SLORC 
government is directly responsible for an endemic abuse affecting 
hundreds of thousands of workers who are subjected to the most extreme 
forms of exploitation, including all too frequently loss of life.
    The Commission of Inquiry is the ILO's most formal, prestigious, 
public and extensive procedure for the supervision of international 
labor standards. The ILO Constitution requires member States to provide 
to Commissions of Inquiry all relevant information in their possession. 
Thus, information obtained at the hearing will be provided to the ILO's 
Commission of Inquiry on Forced Labor in Burma. Testimony should be 
confined to the topic of forced labor in Burma.

DATES: The hearing is scheduled for Friday, June 27, 1997. The deadline 
for being placed on the roster for oral testimony is 5:00 p.m. on 
Friday June 20, 1997. Presenters will be required to submit five (5) 
written copies of their oral testimony to the Office of International 
Organizations, Bureau of International Labor Affairs, by 5:00 p.m., 
Wednesday, June 25, 1997. The record will be kept open for additional 
written testimony until 5:00 p.m., Monday, July 7, 1997.

ADDRESSES: The hearing will be held at the Department of Labor 
Auditorium, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC. Written 
testimony should be addressed to the Office of International 
Organizations, Bureau of International Labor Affairs, Room S-5311, U.S. 
Department of Labor, Washington, DC 20210; fax (202) 219-9074.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Joan Mackin Barrett, Office of 
International Organizations, Bureau of International Labor Affairs, 
Room S-5311, U.S. Department of Labor, Washington, D.C., 20210; 
telephone: (202) 219-6241, ext. 105; fax: (202) 219-9074. Persons with 
disabilities who need special accommodations should contact Joan Mackin 
Barrett by Monday, June 23, 1997.
    All written or oral comments submitted pursuant to the public 
hearing will be made part of the U.S. submission to the ILO referred to 
above and will be available for public inspection.

    Signed at Washington, DC, this 2nd day of May 1997.
Andrew J. Samet,
Acting Deputy Under Secretary, International Affairs.
[FR Doc. 97-12230 Filed 5-8-97; 8:45 am]
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