BURMA: ILO TO EDUCATE CEASE-FIRE GROUPS ON FORCED

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 RANGOON 000153 SIPDIS STATE FOR EAP, G/TIP, DRL, AND IO DEPT OF LABOR FOR ILAB PACOM FOR FPA US MISSION TO GENEVA FOR LABOR ATTACHE E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/10/2019 TAGS: ELAB PGOV PREL PHUM BM SUBJECT: BURMA: ILO TO EDUCATE CEASE-FIRE GROUPS ON FORCED LABOR REF: A. RANGOON 133 ¶B. 08 RANGOON 875 Classified By: Economic Officer Samantha A. Carl-Yoder for reasons 1.4 (b and d). Summary -------------- ¶1. (C) The local ILO office has reached an agreement with two Karen cease-fire groups to conduct awareness training in areas traditionally off-limits to foreigners. ILO Liaison Officer chief Steve Marshall, who will conduct the training, hopes to reach the same agreement with the Wa ethnic group by the end of 2009. In a reverse of previous trends, the ILO in the past four months has seen a marked decrease in the number of forced labor and child soldier cases brought by private complainants; Marshall believes the drop is linked to GOB harassment of ILO facilitators who often assist labor victims. During the ILO Governing Body meeting later this month, Marshall will detail both the positive steps taken by the GOB to eradicate forced labor, as well as the areas for improvement -- including an end to such harassment, the need for proper punishment of forced labor perpetrators, and the immediate release of prisoners arrested because of their ILO affiliation. End Summary. Educating Cease-Fire Groups -------------- ¶2. (C) The ILO, working through the Ministry of Labor, recently secured an agreement with two pro-regime cease-fire groups -- the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) and the Karen National Union/Karen National Liberation Army Peace Council (KNU/KNLA-PC, a splinter group of the KNU)-- allowing ILO Liaison Officer Steve Marshall to conduct awareness raising activities in areas under their control. (Note: UN Special Rapporteur for Human Rights Ojea Quintana met with both groups during his February visit to Burma.) According to Marshall, he will travel to Hpa-an, Karen State and the surrounding area before May, where he will provide training to GOB local authorities (including police, labor officials, and military officers) on human and labor rights, best labor practices, and proper recruitment practices. Additionally, Marshall will meet with DKBA and KNU/KNLA-PC officials to discuss the use of forced labor and child soldiers in their areas, explain the ILO's complaint mechanism process, and emphasize that forced labor practices violate both international and local law. ¶3. (C) Noting that the KNU/KNLA-PC's 2007 cease-fire agreement with the GOB provided it with a small land area along the Thai-Burma border with some level of autonomy (the area is not subject to Burmese laws on forced labor, for example),Marshall also plans to begin a dialogue with the KNU/KNLA-PC to establish a similar complaint mechanism for those living in its controlled areas. Based on preliminary feedback from both DKBA and KNU/KNLA-PC officials, Marshall is confident that both cease-fire groups will sign a formal declaration banning the use of child soldiers. An agreement is not enough, he noted. Marshall plans to negotiate with both the DKBA and KNU/KNLA-PC to allow the ILO to monitor soldier recruitment practices in areas under their control. ¶4. (C) Marshall intends to seek similar arrangements with other ethnic cease-fire and insurgent groups. During a planned trip to Northern Shan State in July, he will try to visit the Wa territory, an area where there is allegedly a high incidence of forced labor. Decrease in Formal Complaints -------------- ¶5. (C) While Marshall continues to assert that the Ministry RANGOON 00000153 002 OF 002 of Labor has made substantial strides in eradicating forced labor within the parameters of the Supplementary Understanding (SU) on Forced Labor (Ref A),he acknowledges that more can be done. Since November, the ILO Office has received 13 formal complaints -- 6 forced labor and 7 child soldier cases -- compared to 29 cases during the same period last year. Marshall attributes the sharp decline to GOB harassment and arrest of ILO facilitators. According to Marshall, these facilitators are volunteers who often live in rural areas and work with various UN agencies, NGOs, or the NLD, and who provide information to the ILO on forced labor practices. The ILO has trained its facilitators on best labor practices, human rights, and labor rights under Burmese law. ¶6. (C) Since 2007 more than 10 ILO facilitators have been arrested and many more harassed by local authorities, according to Marshall. In 2008 four facilitators who filed a complaint on behalf of 63 farmers in Magwe Division were arrested because of their actions (Ref B). While the military released three of them, the fourth, Zaw Htay, was tried and convicted of violating the Secrecy Act. He was sentenced in December to 10 years in prison. Additionally, several of Marshall's facilitators from Magwe Division and Rakhine State were also arrested in 2008, although the GOB claims they were involved in non-labor-related illicit activities. Others have been detained and subsequently released. This practice, often conducted by local officials rather than central government officials, violates the terms of the SU and deters people from filing forced labor complaints, Marshall highlighted. Making the Case for Proper Punishment -------------- ¶7. (C) During his February visit, ILO Executive Director Kari Tapiola raised the need for the GOB to punish all perpetrators of forced labor, including the military, under the Penal Code (Ref A). While members of the GOB Working Group on Forced Labor have acknowledged the issue, they blame the military for protecting its ranks. Marshall informed us of a recent child soldier recruitment case, in which a military official acted as a broker, shopping the child around to several military recruitment offices before one accepted the child into military service. Working with the ILO, the military acknowledged the violation and released the child in January. On March 5, Marshall received a letter from the Working Group detailing how the military suspended the military official's salary for two weeks (an administrative punishment). Marshall replied formally that the case was a deliberate breach of Burmese law and that the officer should be criminally charged. He expects to raise this case as an example during the ILO Governing Body meeting. Comment -------------- ¶8. (C) As noted in previous reporting, while the GOB has taken some steps to address, prevent, and respond to forced labor cases during the past two years, the ILO is justified in demanding that more should be done. During the ILO Governing Body meeting in Geneva, we recommend the U.S. delegation emphasize that GOB harassment and arrest of ILO facilitators represent a clear violation of the GOB's commitments under the SU and limit the ability of the ILO to operate in Burma. Additionally, we recommend the U.S. delegation take a strong position regarding the need for criminal punishment of both civilian and military perpetrators of forced labor. Without a clear mechanism for punishment, there is little incentive for those in power to stop using forced labor. VAJDA