Asia Watch Burma Report 1994

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ASIA WATCH BURMA REPORT 1994


from Human Rights Watch World Report 1994: Events of 1993
pages 145-148
by Human Rights Watch (Asia Watch)
485 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY  10017-6104
hrwatchnyc@xxxxxxxxxxx


BURMA (MYANMAR)


Human Rights Developments

The ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council or SLORC 
continued to be a human rights pariah, despite its cosmetic gestures to 
respond to international criticism. Aung San Suu Kyi, winner of the 
1991 Nobel Peace Prize, was permitted visits from her family but 
remained under house arrest for the fifth year. SLORC announced the 
release of nearly 2,000 political prisoners, but it was not clear that the 
majority had been detained on political charges, nor could most of the 
releases be verified. At least one hundred critics of SLORC were 
detained during the year, and hundreds of people tried by military 
tribunals between 1989 and 1992 remained in prison. Torture in 
Burmese prisons continued to be widespread. Foreign correspondents 
were able to obtain visas for Burma more easily, but access by human 
rights and humanitarian organizations remained tightly restricted. A 
constitutional convention met throughout the year, but over 80 
percent of the delegates were hand-picked by SLORC.

Professor Yoko Yokota, the Special Rapporteur to Myanmar appointed 
by the U.N. Commission on Human Rights, issued a report in February 
on his December 1992 visit to the country. The report documented 
systematic violations of basic personal freedoms and physical integrity 
and concluded that "serious repression and an atmosphere of 
pervasive fear exist in Myanmar." It also noted the lack of cooperation 
from SLORC and the intimidation and harassment of individuals 
wishing to provide testimony.

The human rights commission passed a resolution on March 10 which 
called on SLORC, among other things, to end torture, forced labor, 
abuse of women, enforced disappearances and summary executions; 
allow investigations of violations; improve prison conditions; 
cooperate with the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) for 
the safe return of refugees; and release Aung San Suu Kyi 
unconditionally. It also extended the mandate of the Special 
Rapporteur for one year.

To respond to international condemnation of its refusal to allow the 
National Assembly elected in May 1990 to meet, SLORC convened a 
national constitutional convention in Rangoon on January 9. Of some 
700 delegates who attended, only 120 were elected parliamentarians. It 
was chaired by a fifteen-member commission, all of whom were active 
military officers, and delegates were divided into eight groups by 
occupation and background, such as peasants, workers and "national 
races." Each group was chaired by a military officer.

The convention met on and off throughout the year, and in September, 
six out of the eight groups agreed to a constitution that gave the 
military continued control of the government. The two groups that 
opposed it were the elected parliamentarians and representatives of 
political parties.

Many SLORC opponents were arrested in connection with the 
convention meetings. On August 4, Dr. Aung Khin Sint, a convention 
delegate and elected representative of the opposition National League 
for Democracy (NLD), and Than Min, alias Tin Tun Aung, an NLD 
executive committee member for Mingla Taungnyunt township, were 
arrested for distributing leaflets. They were accused of political 
agitation and intent to undermine the national convention. On October 
15, they and nine others were sentenced to twenty years in prison. All 
were detained in Insein Prison in Rangoon.

Fighting between the Burmese military and various ethnic insurgencies 
along the Thai-Burmese and other borders was minimal during the 
year, in part because of a concerted effort by SLORC to negotiate 
cease-fires with different minority groups. In April, for example, a 
cease-fire was negotiated between SLORC and the Kachin 
Independence Army (KIA), and on October 1, SLORC signed a cease-
fire agreement with the Kachin Independence Council (KIC). Thailand 
and China pressed insurgents based along their borders to negotiate 
or else lose their ability to shelter and mobilize on their respective 
territories.

Despite the low level of conflict, however, refugees continued to 
stream into Thailand. In June, NGOs estimated that 1,000 Burmese were 
crossing the border every day. The Thai government and international 
agencies were quick to refer to the newcomers as illegal immigrants, 
but many reported fleeing forced relocations, forced labor and forced 
conscription.

The state of Arakan in northwest Burma, home to the Rohingya 
Muslim minority, remained off-limits to outside observers, raising 
concerns about the possible repatriation of almost 300,000 Rohingyas 
who had fled neighboring Bangladesh in 1991 and 1992. More than 
13,000 refugees were repatriated in late 1992 and early 1993 without 
adequate screening procedures to determine if they were returning 
voluntarily or adequate monitoring mechanisms on the Burmese side. 
On January 31, UNHCR staff were allowed to interview refugees 
scheduled for repatriation in one transit camp in Bangladesh and found 
that nearly all were there against their will. In May, a memorandum of 
understanding was signed between UNHCR and the Bangladesh 
government ensuring UNHCR full access to all camps, and in July, 
Sadako Ogata, the head of UNHCR, reached an agreement in principle 
that the agency would be allowed a monitoring presence in Arakan. 
Details of the agreement were still being negotiated as of November.

SLORC took no steps to address the large-scale trafficking of Burmese 
women into forced prostitution in Thailand. Instead, it appeared to be 
arresting many women deported from Thailand on charges of illegally 
leaving the country and engaging in prostitution. It also routinely 
tested returning women for AIDS without their consent and without 
regard for confidentiality.


PART TWO OF HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH 1994...

The Right To Monitor

No indigenous human rights groups were allowed in Burma, and 
passing information to outside groups was considered subversive.

The International Committee of the Red Cross had access neither to 
Burma's prisons nor to displaced populations along the border with 
China, Thailand and Bangladesh, although it did have a delegate based 
in Rangoon to run its prosthetics program for amputees.

SLORC tried to divert criticism of its refusal to allow access to 
prisoners by permitting individual foreign delegations highly 
controlled meetings with a few detainees.


U.S. Policy

The Clinton administration continued to be harshly critical of SLORC, 
and all economic assistance remained frozen, but the administration 
made no effort to discourage investment by U.S. companies. On May 
19 and July 20, President Clinton publicly called on SLORC to release 
Aung San Suu Kyi and other political prisoners, respect the 1990 
elections and undertake genuine democratic reform.

Following a meeting with a group of Nobel laureates in July, President 
Clinton ordered a high-level interagency review to determine how the 
U.S. could increase pressure on Burma to address human rights 
abuses. As of November, the review was ongoing. No decision had 
been taken about such outstanding issues as whether to send an 
ambassador to Rangoon or to advocate corporate disinvestment in 
Burma. 

At the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Post-
Ministerial Conference in Singapore on July 26, Secretary of State 
Warren Christopher repeated Clinton's statements of May and July, 
but took no action to encourage new initiatives by ASEAN towards 
Burma. Privately, U.S. officials acquiesced in ASEAN's "constructive 
engagement" policy.

Congress remained active on Burma. On June 22, more than forty 
members of the House of Representatives wrote to Prime Minister 
Chuan to urge Thailand to actively promote specific steps to improve 
human rights conditions in Burma. The Senate passed a resolution on 
April 19 calling for the immediate release of Aung San Suu Kyi, the 
transfer of power to those elected in May 1990 and an arms embargo to 
be effected through a resolution of the U.N. Security Council.

The Senate passed a resolution on April 19 calling for the immediate 
release of Aung San Suu Kyi, the transfer of power to those elected in 
May 1990 and an arms embargo to be effected through a resolution of 
the U.N. Security Council.

Administration policy was reflected in international agencies as well. 
The U.S. representatives to the fortieth session of the governing 
council of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) on June 9 
announced that the U.S. would not support infrastructure development 
projects that could enhance SLORC's legitimacy in the eyes of the 
Burmese people. The U.S. contribution to UNDP for Burma was $7 
million, to be used only for projects that promoted human rights and 
did not benefit SLORC.

The foreign operations bill adopted on June 10 by the House 
Appropriations Committee pledged $1 million for Burmese students 
displaced by civil conflict. The committee also called on the U.S. 
Agency for International Development (USAID) to support assistance 
to Burmese refugees and displaced people.

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) continued a low-level 
liaison with SLORC, although direct assistance to counter narcotics 
production remained suspended. An April report by the State 
Department on narcotics strategy concluded that while Burma 
accounts for over 50 percent of illicit opium production, there were few 
signs that SLORC would commit itself to serious law enforcement in 
this area.


The Work Of Asia Watch

Asia Watch sent missions during the year to Thailand and Bangladesh 
to interview Burmese refugees and victims of human rights abuses, 
including women trafficked over the Thai border. The missions to 
Thailand were jointly undertaken with the Jesuit Refugee Service.

A major report on the trafficking of Burmese women into Thailand was 
scheduled for release at the end of the year. A short report examining 
abuses of Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh was published in 
September, and Asia Watch issued several press releases during 1993 
calling for the release of detainees in Burma and better protection for 
Burmese refugees.

Burma was a key issue in meetings Asia Watch held with Japanese 
officials in April. Asia Watch helped coordinate and circulate a letter 
issued jointly on June 22 by the U.S. Congress and the Japanese Diet. 
The letter was addressed to the prime minister of Thailand and 
requested his assistance in implementing the recommendations of the 
March resolution on Burma of the U.N. Commission on Human Rights.

Asia Watch, in cooperation with the Lawyers Committee on Human 
Rights and the Jesuit Refugee Service, also held regular roundtable 
meetings on Burma in New York and Washington.