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Press Release
Free Burma Coalition
March 5, 2001
Students from 56 Universities Launch Fast
Calling for End to U.S. Corporate
Support for Burma's Regime
Protest After Release of U.S. State Department Cable
Students at 56 universities across the United States will fast for 24 hours in
protest against U.S. corporate and university support for Burma's military
regime beginning at 12:01 am on Tuesday, March 6th.
"We demand that our universities stop doing business with companies
operating in Burma," said Katie Ryan, leader of the Free Burma Coalition
chapter at North Carolina State University, "Desmond Tutu called Burma 'The
Next South Africa', and it is time for our universities to divest and refuse to
purchase from U.S. companies operating in or with Burma."
The fast comes after a New York Times article on March 1st exposed the links
between garment/apparel exports to the United States and Burma's ruling military
regime. The Times was delivered an unclassified State Department cable
from Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa. The cable stated "We understand that
the GOB [military regime] controls distribution of the current quota and
reserves a large portion of it in government-related factories."
Harkin, a Democrat has promised, along with Republican Senators Jesse Helms and
Mitch McConnell, to introduce legislation calling to ban imports from Burma.
Students, however, aren't waiting for legislation. "Through its investments
in UNOCAL oil company, the State of Virginia and the University of Virginia are
still supporting slavery," says University of Virginia student Andrew
Price. 'This investment offends every value we are taught in our schools and
universities."
In a tactic used successfully during the struggle to end South Africa's
apartheid regime, Students at American and Universities, Trinity College, and
the University of Minnesota already successfully pressured their universities to
divest and refuse to purchase from companies operating in Burma.
Clothing companies JanSport, Kenneth Cole, and the Dress Barn all promised to
cease sourcing from Burma late last year after student protest. Said
JanSport upon withdrawal in October, "Recently some collegiate licensed
apparel was found to have been manufactured in Myanmar without JanSport's or the
university's knowledge. This was expressly against JanSport's manufacturing
policy. I assure you, JanSport was unaware... [and] immediately took steps to
transfer the production to an alternative facility."
On Thursday, Burma, which along with Afghanistan accounts for 90% of world
heroin production, was again decertified for non-compliance with U.S.
anti-narcotic efforts. Said Randy Beers, Assistant Secretary for Narcotics
and Law Enformcement "The Government of Burma has also been unwilling or
unable to take on the most powerful trafficking groups directly, and continues to refuse to surrender major drug traffickers under indictment in the
United States, including the drug lord Khun Sa."
Press Contacts
Local:
1) Andrew Price, University of Virginia, (804) 243-2426
2) Meighan Davis, Peace College,(919) 508-2160
3) Rachel Fischer, Hartford College, piccoloer@email.com
4) Julia Earl, Emory University, jearl@emory.edu
5) Sarah Capper, American University, (202) 885-3333
Nationwide:
Jeremy Woodrum, Free Burma Coalition, (202) 547-5985
Participating Universities (as of 3/5)
University of Alabama at Huntsville
American University
Arizona State University
Boston University
Brandeis University
University of California, Berkeley
California College of Arts and Crafts
University of California, Los Angeles
College of Lake County
Community College of Southern Nevada, Las Vegas
University of Colorado
University of Denver
Duke University
George Mason
George Washington
Emory University
Exeter University
Harvard University
University of Indiana
University of Hawaii at Manoa
University of Hartford
Humboldt State (California)
Hunter College High School
University of Illinois at Chicago
University of Illinois at Chicago, Law School
University of Illinois at Urbana Champagne
LaGuardia Community College
Lewis and Clark University
London School of Economics
University of Louisville
Marymount University
Maui Community College
Mercer University
Middlebury College
Middle Tennesse State University
Millsapps University
North Carolina State
University of Carolina, Chapel Hill
University of Oklahoma
Peace College
Pepperdine University
Philadelphia College of Pharmacy
Princeton University
Reed College
Sacramento High School
Smith College
Spartanburg High School
St. Olaf's University
Trinity College
University of Virginia
University of Washington
University of Wisconsin, Madison
Virginia Tech
Whitman College (Washington St.)
Williams College
William and Mary
Yale University
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