25 May 2005, ITF outrage over Burma murder The ITF is coordinating a worldwide campaign of protest after a trade union organiser was murdered in Burma.
Ko Moe Naung, an organiser for the Seafarers' Union of Burma (SUB), was arrested on 19 May and was dead three hours later, after being tortured by members of the Burmese army's Light Infantry Regiment 431. The SUB is affiliated to the ITF, and operates from Thailand, since trade unions are prohibited by the military government of Burma, the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC).
The ITF is asking trade unions, trade unionists, businesses and concerned people everywhere to express their disgust about this latest killing. Among the immediate responses planned is a demonstration outside the country's embassy in the Philippines, while delegates at the Second International Pacific Rim Mining and Maritime Unions Seminar in Los Angeles, US, voted to dedicate the conference to Ko Moe's memory.
In an angry letter to the head of the Burmese military junta, ITF General Secretary David Cockroft said that it was clear that Ko Moe had been targeted.
"This murder vividly highlights yet again the unacceptable brutality of the SPDC," he stated. "The ITF will continue to expose and condemn such actions."
"The international business community must no longer tolerate the Burmese military regime's stance of stamping out all forms of trade union organisation, with no regard for human life. The ITF, together with the wider international trade union movement, is addressing this point with transport, tourism and other transnational companies to ensure that whilst basic human and trade union rights remain alien to the SPDC regime, the country will remain isolated politically and commercially."
More information: www.itfglobal.org/solidarity/solidarity-557.cfm
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