GOB RESPONDS TO HAVEL-TUTU UNSC EFFORT

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