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