Italy should not help Myanmar's military junta, says Italian trade union leader
Rome (AsiaNews) Savinio Pezzotta, the Secretary-General of CISL*, one of Italy's major trade union federations, has called on the Italian government to stop cooperating with Myanmar's military junta.
Back from a trop to South-East Asia, where he met political and trade union leaders, Mr Pezzotta spoke to AsiaNews about his concerns for the fate of democracy in Myanmar where a junta-backed national constitutional conference is scheduled to start very soon.
In a letter to Italian Foreign Minister Gianfranco Fini, the CISL leader calls on Italy to more forcefully oppose human rights violations in the Asian country.
Here is the interview he gave to AsiaNews:
Dr Pezzotta, what did you do in Myanmar?
I visited schools and refugee camps built along the Thai border where I met the leaders of the exile trade union movement.
I also met 150 representatives of the opposition who have set up the National Council of the Union of Burma (NCUB).
They are currently drafting a new constitution and are calling on the international community not forget Burma.
So far their appeal seems to be falling on deaf ears since no one is talking about the Burma situation. What is happening there should instead come under closer scrutiny.
Right now the military government is preparing a new constitution without the participation of the opposition. At the same time, something akin to National Liberation Committee is doing the same in exile and the exiles are a broad cross-section of Burmese society, and include trade unions.
Their and our first objective is the release of Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of the League for Democracy who is currently under house arrest.
Why is a Western trade union interested in the constitution of an Asian country?
The right to organise, the right to employment and the right to a decent job are workers' rights but they are also human rights.
What struck me about the Burma situation is that people are not only exploited but they are virtual slaves. And forced labour is used to crush those who demand freedom.
The West is largely indifferent and does not give reasons for this indifference. Perhaps many people just think that it is an 'Asian' issue that does not involve the Western world. But wherever people are humiliated, we should become interested.
Is Italy doing anything for Myanmar?
I wrote a letter to Foreign Minister Gianfranco Fini asking him that Italy back what the NCUB is doing.
I also asked him that Italy respect the European Union which has called for an end to trade with Myanmar. Military-owned companies are exporting precious wood to Italy, wood that is cut down by forced labourers in ways that are harmful to the environment.
In September 2004 alone, imports totalled 717,304. The same thing is happening for textiles.
Italy must not back this regime; it should instead support pro-democracy groups.
CISL: Confederazione Italiana Sindacati Lavortori or Italian Confederation of Workers' Trade Unions.
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