ビルマ民主化指導者たちが援助停止措置の継続を求める国際的なよびかけに加わった。ビルマ国民連合政府（ＮＣＧＵＢ）は日本政府が声明で、ビルマ軍事政権への政府開発援助（ＯＤＡ）を再開する検討をしているとしたことに対して衝撃を受け強く失望している。

ＮＣＧＵＢは日本政府に対し、援助停止措置を続行し、またビルマ軍事政権が人権を尊重し民主的改革をするよう国際的圧力をかけるのに手を貸すよう強く促すものである。日本政府は２月２６日、ビルマの首都ラングーンの主要空港を改善するために２５億円を円借款として提供する用意があると述べた。

ＮＣＧＵＢ首相および選挙議員のセインウィン博士は「この微妙な時期に軍事政権に資金提供することは、軍事政権指導者たちに全くまちがったメッセージを送ることになる」と警告した。さらに「軍事政権指導者たちは現在進行している不景気や、ビルマの民主的改革に向けた対話を始めようとしないことについて報酬を受けていると考えるだろう」と述べた。

（ＮＣＧＵＢプレスリリース、『週刊Burma Today』第９号より転載）

PRESS RELEASE

National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma

March 3, 1998

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PROPOSED JAPANESE AID WILL BOLSTER BURMA'S MILITARY JUNTA
Burmese Democracy Leaders Join International Calls for Continued Suspension

The National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma (NCGUB) is shocked and deeply disappointed by a Japanese Government statement that it is considering resumption of Official Development Assistance (ODA) to junta. The NCGUB strongly urges the Japanese Government to maintain its aid suspension and to help increase international pressure on Burma's military junta to respect human rights and democratic reform.

Japanese officials said on February 26 that it may release 2.5 billion yen in loans for improvements to the main airport in Burma's capital Rangoon.

"Funding the military junta at this sensitive moment will send the generals exactly the wrong message," warned NCGUB Prime Minister and elected member of Parliament Dr. Sein Win. "They may believe they are being rewarded for ongoing repression and their refusal to enter into dialogue toward democratic reforms in Burma,"

The NCGUB welcomed statements by several senior members of the Japanese Diet, Japanese non-governmental organizations, and by the United States Government urging the Japanese Government to reconsider its decision.

"Funding infrastructure projects in Burma will only allow the army junta to divert money to military spending and ease international pressure on the generals," said Prime Minister Sein Win. "It would also break Japan's own guidelines on providing foreign aid."

Japan has joined with United States and the European Union in freezing development assistance to Burma following the military junta's 1988 massacre of pro-democracy demonstrators. The ban was maintained after the military regime refused to accept results of May 1990 elections which were overwhelmingly won by the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD). Resumption of Japanese ODA to Burma would not only mean that Japan breaks ranks with other industrialized democracies, but that it would also ignore its own clearly stated principles regarding norms for receiving ODA assistance.

Japan's ODA guidelines require attention be paid to trends in "recipient countries' military expenditures" and "appropriate priorities in the allocation of their resources on their own economic and social development." According to the United Nations Development Programme, Burma today spends 222% more on the military than on social projects. This ranks Burma fourth worst among 175 countries surveyed. Spending on education and health programs are declining on a proportion of the national budget. This negligence has created what UNICEF calls a "silent emergency" in Burma, with one of the highest infant and maternal mortality rates in the world resulted from severe malnutrition, preventable diseases and at least 500,000 HIV/AIDS positive cases with no adequate medical service.

Another ODA principle demands that full attention should be paid to securing "basic human rights and freedom," efforts for "promoting democratization" and introduction of a "market-oriented economy." According to the United Nations and many other independent reports, this situation clearly does not exist in Burma under military rule today. Amnesty International reports there are over 2,000 political prisoners. Murder, torture, rape and forced labor by security forces is common.

Despite severe economic problems, plummeting foreign reserves, and a lack of external enemies, the military regime's first priority is a continuing military build-up. The Burmese army has expanded from 180,000 before 1988 to 450,000 now, and is still growing. During the last nine years, the regime has purchased $1.8 billion worth of weapons, mostly from China. The latest reported acquisition is 21 military aircraft, including Chengdu F-7MG combat jets, in 1998. It has also purchased high technology equipment from a Singapore company to create a Cyber-Warfare Centre through which the junta is tapping domestic phone, fax and c-mail lines on a country wide basis.

Japan's own ODA regulations, as well as international moral standards and the terms of UN General Assembly resolutions for which Japan has voted, demand that Japan meet its obligations to encourage respect for human rights and democratization in Burma. The NCGUB strongly opposes resumption of assistance to the military junta, and asks the Japanese people to urge their government to increase pressure on, and not assistance to, Burma's military regime.