Human rights group renews boycott call on Burma's gems

Abid Aslam

15 January 2008

Washington: Human Rights Watch assailed the gem trade as propping up the military dictatorship. It renewed its calls for a gems boycott in advance of an auction of precious stones scheduled for Tuesday through Saturday by the Union of Myanmar Economic Holdings Co. Ltd. (UMEH), a conglomerate owned by senior armed forces officers and the defence ministry.

The rights lobby is seeking to draw attention to hundreds of people who, it says, remain in arbitrary detention following the deadly violence with which government forces greeted peaceful protest last year.

"Burma's generals are counting on gem sales to help pay for their abusive rule," said Arvind Ganesan, director of the lobby's business and human rights programme. "They deserve to be disappointed."

Monks, students, and other civilians took to the streets of major cities last August and September. What had begun as popular disapproval of fuel price hikes quickly morphed into rallies for democracy.

Burma, one of the world's top gem producers, has held periodic auctions of precious stones since 1964, drawing buyers from all over the world.

The government's Myanmar Gem Enterprise stands third among the country's largest exporters, after the state-run oil and timber companies. In 2006, the gems firm said it generated nearly 300 million dollars in sales - a 45 per cent increase over the previous year.

The full value of the gems trade is unknown as smuggling and private deals by or on behalf of military officers are said to be significant. By some estimates, jade alone accounts for about 10 per cent of Burma's yearly export earnings.

Sanctions working

Trade in Burmese jade seems to be flourishing, especially with Asian markets dominated by China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. Even so, proponents say Western boycotts and sanctions have begun to gnaw at the junta's profits.

Recent auctions have raised less hard currency and the government has been attempting to increase their frequency, according to Ganesan's group.

"There are signs that international pressure has dampened the trade in Burma's gems," Human Rights Watch said in a statement.

"The upcoming gem auction by the UMEH comes on the heels of the Myanmar Gems Emporium held in November 2007. Sales at that event did not meet expectations," it added.

The group, citing official and media sources, said last November's auction netted about 150 million dollars, well below Myanmar Gems Enterprise's lowest sales projection of 230 million dollars.

Human Rights Watch estimated that proceeds in November were down eight percent from the previous gem auction in July 2007. It said the decline might reflect voluntary boycotts and moves toward new sanctions in Europe and the United States, traditionally the top buyers of Burmese rubies.

Burmese precious and semi-precious stones are banned from the European Union under rules that took effect last November. In December, both chambers of the U.S. Congress approved legislation to tighten an existing ban on Burmese gems. The same month, Canada barred all Burmese imports.

Some Western firms have long shunned Burmese gems. Among them are U.S.-based Tiffany & Co. and Leber Jeweler Inc. Others volunteering to follow suit since last year's crackdown include Italy's Bulgari and France's Cartier.

Opponents of trade embargoes against Burma have said such measures would pauperise the masses. Growing economic isolation in the 1990s led to a resurgence of smuggling and the drugs and sex trades.

Rights advocates maintain they seek sanctions against industries and firms that benefit the ruling junta, not those from which civilians stand to gain.

Burma's junta owns at least a majority stake in each of the country's mines. Human Rights Watch, citing reports from non-governmental groups, said forced and child labour, unsafe work conditions, and the confiscation of land from local communities were rampant throughout the industry.

Source: IPS

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