Published by Associate Press, by MICK ELMORE, November 16, 2007
Myanmar Rubies Have Dealers Seeing Red.
2 excerpts: BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) — The rich red hue of Myanmar’s prized rubies is a reminder to many gem dealers of the military government’s bloody crackdown on democracy advocates, and talk of a boycott is increasing.
“There is a growing awareness that it is a fascist regime,” said Brian Leber, a third generation American gem dealer.
“Considering what this regime has done to its own people, we’re troubled to see that a precious stone is offering such a great source of cash for them,” he said in a telephone interview from the Chicago suburb of Western Springs, Ill.
“Trade in these stones supports human rights abuses,” New York-based Human Rights Watch said in a statement this week. “The sale of these gems gives Burma’s military rulers quick cash to stay in power.” Myanmar is also called Burma.
But a successful boycott of what activists call “blood rubies” will prove difficult. More than 1,500 people from more than 20 countries registered for a gems auction that opened Wednesday, despite the boycott calls. While some rubies are exported legally, many also are smuggled out of Myanmar …
… American companies stopped buying rubies in 2003, when the United States banned imports of all Myanmar products under a law enacted in reaction to the ruling generals’ human rights abuses.
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