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BurmaNet News: February 6, 1995 (r)
- Subject: BurmaNet News: February 6, 1995 (r)
- From: strider@xxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 08 Feb 1995 08:52:00
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The BurmaNet News: Tuesday, February 6, 1995
Issue #106
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Contents:
*************************INSIDE BURMA*************************
NATION: 23 MORE POLITICAL PRISONERS FREED
NATION: U.S. FIRMS GIVEN BURMA OIL CONCESSIONS
BRC-J: LETTER FROM BURMA
*****************KAREN STATE/KAWTHOOLEI***********************
NATION: REGROUPING KAREN SET UP NEW 'MOBILE HEADQUARTERS'
BURMANET: SEIGE AT KAWMOORA
BKK POST: INSURGENTS KICK OFF GUERRILLA CAMPAIGN
BKK POST: KNU LEADERS ANNOUNCE NEW HEADQUARTERS
REUTERS: BURMESE RULERS SEEM COOL TO TALKS WITH KAREN REBELS
****************************THAILAND***************************
BKK POST: ARMY TO KEEP CLOSE TAB ON REPATRIATION OF REFUGEES
*************************INTERNATIONAL*************************
SCB: UNOCAL ACTION PACKET AVAILABLE
BURMANET: TEACH-IN AT HARVARD UNIVERSITY
BKK POST: BURMA'S ONLY WAY TO END ITS VILE STIGMA
BRC-J: LETTER TO SLORC
BKK POST: NOT ROUGH ENOUGH ON RANGOON
AUSTRALIAN GOVT: PUBLICATION OF BURMA HUMAN RIGHTS DOCUMENTS
****************************************************************
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**************************************************************
**************THE BURMANET NEWS, FEBRUARY 6, 1995*************
**************************************************************
*************************INSIDE BURMA*************************
NATION: 23 MORE POLITICAL PRISONERS FREED
6 February 1995
Kyodo
RANGOON_ Twenty-three political prisoners, including Aung Khin
Sint of detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi's National
League for Democracy (NLD), were released from prison on
Saturday, government radio and television reported.
Aung khin Sint was an elected NLD candidate in the 1990
general elections and also a delegate to the ongoing national
convention. He was arrested in August 1993 for allegedly
sending anonymous threatening letters to other delegates at the
convention and later sentenced to 20 years in prison.
With Saturday's release, a total of 2,132 political prisoners
have been freed since Gen Than Shwe became State Law and order
Restoration Council (Slorc) chairman in April 1992. (TN)
*************************INSIDE BURMA*************************
NATION: U.S. FIRMS GIVEN BURMA OIL CONCESSIONS
6 February 1995
Texaco, newcomer get rights to survey in wake of PTT deal
PICHAYA CHANGSORN
The Burmese government will give two more petroleum
concessions to two American companies following last week's
controversial signing of the Burmese gas purchase agreement with
the Petroleum Authority of Thailand (PTT).
U Pe Kyi, managing director of the Burmese national oil
company_Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE)_ told The Nation
that one of the new concessions to be awarded to an American firm
covers blocks 12, 13 and 14 in the Gulf of Mataban, near the
Yadana gas field.
However, he declined to name the firm, only saying that it is a
newcomer.
Another new concession will be awarded to US oil giant Texaco
Inc, which is expected to receive the rights to survey
petroleum block number 10, also located near the Yadana gas
field.
If that is the case, the latest concession will mark the
fourth gas deposit track in Burma which Texaco has received the
right to survey.
Texaco is a shareholder of Caltex Oil Co, which has a
substantial retail network in Thailand. Dallas-based Caltex is
also investing in a massive refinery complex in Rayong.
Texaco is also negotiating with PTT to supply the natural gas
from Yetagun track in Burma to PTT.
On Thursday, PTT signed the agreement top buy natural gas from
Yanada gas field in the Gulf of Mataban for 30 years.
It marks the first time in history that Thailand has bought
natural gas from foreign sources.
Momentum
Sources said that after the PTT contract with the Burmese
government, foreign investors appeared to be more enthusiastic
about exploring opportunities in Burma again.
The commitment from Thailand and rthe gas pipeline to be
invested in by the Yadana gas developers immediate markets for
future discovered gas.
U Pe Kyi agreed that the Thai-Burmese gas deal has given
momentum to the petroleum development activities in Burma as
represented by the two additional deals with the two American
companies.
Foreign investor interests have been undermined in the past
because they failed to profit from petroleum exploration.
Under the contract which was signed last week, France-based
Total, Unocal from the US and PTTEP will jointly develop the
Yadana gas field, which is expected to have 5.7 million
trillion cubic feet of oil reserves. The consortium will
invest US$ 700 million to develop the Yadana gas field, and also
lay down a pipeline from Burma to Thailand.
The source noted that a number of foreign investors who have
already received concessions have yet to seriously develop the
gas field in Burma. The PTT contract with MOGE should
encourage these reluctant investors to pay more attention to
surveying the natural gas site.
Burma has a number of oil deposit sites which have yet to be
surveyed.
U Pe Kyi said that the Burmese government has given survey and
exploration concessions for five offshore gas fields. All the
inland gas field explorations to date have been done by MOGE.
Besides natural gas, Kyi believes there are also crude oil
deposits in Burma, "It's only a matter of time [to find the oil
reserve]," he said.
Previously, PTT had jointly invested with Unocal to survey the
petroleum site at Block F in central Burma. The joint
investors, however, decided to withdraw from the multi-million
dollar project later on after falling in commercial terms. Marty
F Miller, vice president of Unocal Corp, said that the Yadana gas
field project, in which Unocal holds 33.25 per cent of the total
investment, said that Unocal might have to use company capital to
finance the investment because the banks might find the project
too risky.
"But we will test the [money] markets; if the [interest] rate is
too high we will use our own [financial resources]," said the
Unocal executive. (TN)
*************************INSIDE BURMA*************************
BRC-J: LETTER FROM BURMA
January 31, 1995
We have just received this letter from a friend in Burma. We
would like to share it with you. Of course, the author must
remain anonymous.
Dear Friends,
Happy New Year. I would like to encourage efforts to
organize and publicize against Visit Myanmar Year '96, The
sheer amount of hype for VMY '96 is amazing-Pre-VMY Trade
Fairs (with nothing a tourist could possibly want to buy), VMY
Logo Contest, VMY product endorsements, ad nauseam. Rumor
also has it that Mr VMY, Minister of Tourism Kyaw Ba has
recently okayed 10 new major hotels for Upper Prome Road--just
what the city needs. According to one of the Thai engineers
working on the Novotel Mandalay construction project (right
next to Mandalay Hill) their company had to avour for
two years and had to pay him a "gift' amounting to 10% of their
budget. With ten new hotels, KB will turn quite a nice profit,
I'm sure.
Traveling in Upper Burma in December, a student I know was
struck by how many tourist guides-guest house owners quietly
suggested that they hoped VMY '96 failed--and these are people
who stand to make money from increased tourism. They were
also curious: just how could the government make Westerners
come visit now, when they couldn't in years past?
In Mandalay, work on the moat continues. The entire moat has
been dredged and is being rebanked (at regulation 45-degree
angles) in ugly concrete and stone by teams of forced labour.
The army's idea of tourist appeal? Many workers have been
brought in from Mandalay Prison (though the Army also uses its
own men now too, after the bad press in the NY Times last
summer). Many more of the labourers are from surrounding
villages. I spoke with one of the villager conscripts. He was
an old Indian man (60+), a farmer from a village north of
Mandalay. He said the Army conscripts 5000 villagers (or even
poor Mandalay locals) for 10-day shifts at no pay. They must do
service or pay 100Ks per head per day, and they must bring their
own tools, blankets, mats, firewood, cooking implements, and
food, (if second-time service, they receive 500Ks total food
allowance). The labourers are housed in zayats or lesser temple
buildings, work from 7:30AM to 5PM. Add to this the mass
demolition of house facades facing onto the moat-road earlier
this year and the horrible reconstruction job on the Palace--cast
concrete pillars not even sanded smooth to resemble teak,
"carving" with no detail or depth--and it's not hard to see the
Army will justify anything in the name of "beautification" for
the coming tourists.
In Pagan (Nyaung U), a tourist guide told a friend about local
concern among the young men about Army plans to build a
railroad from Pakkoku to Sagaing. They were expecting the
Army to begin conscripting labourers from nearby villages in
January. (Incidentally, the upper terraces to the eight of the
largest major temples in Pagan have been closed to all visitors
since November--these are the temples that most people take their
photos from! And of course, they didn't reduce the FEC$10
entrance price. Rumors of a Light and Sound Show to come.)
On my trip to Myitkyina, I was stopped repeatedly by Military
Intelligence and Immigration, even with proper authorization and
identity papers. Over three days, I was routinely questioned
twice a day--where did I go? whom did I meet? how did I know
them? what did we talk about and for how long? where did I eat?
how many photos did I shoot? of what? Tourists like to go see
the confluence of the Upper Irrawaddy Rivers, why didn't I?
Tourists like to visit Indawgyi Lake, again why not me? Did I
meet with the opposition Council of Ethnic Minorities? No, I
wouldn't even know where to find them. Minorities meeting a
foreigner would be highly suspect, also highly visible; if they
were doing their job, they wouldn't need to ask. Myitkyina is
supposedly an approved "white area," but the regional authorities
haven't changed since BSPP days, much less can conceive of
tourists actually visiting. The train service to Myitkyina--not
the trains or the track--has just been privatised, so they can up
prices. No insurgent threat anymore, but that doesn't much
improve the safety--shortly after I took this route, the same
train plummeted into a gorge killing 102 people. The upper class
carriage now shows Chinese karaoke videos.
I was informed by one Immigration Officer that there should be
"no problem" to go overland to Bhamo, so I ferried across the
river to Wainmaw to check car departures, and immediately I
was stopped by other Immigration Officers. They claimed no
knowledge of the first "Immigration Officer" who gave his okay
to cross (probably MI). But there I was, staring at a brand new
road--80 mi (5 hrs) straight to the Chinese border--counting a
long queue of Chinese trucks hauling bicycles and machinery and
who knows what else to be exchanged for loads of Burmese teak,
listening to two local workmen talk about the Chinese bridge
slated for early '96. Everyone whispers about all the Chinese
crossing over from Yunnan with forged Burmese Nationality
Cards. Why doesn't the Immigration squad ever question them?
The next day four Immigration Officers saw me off at the station.
One Inspector actually walked up and down the carriage aisle
until the train pulled out. When we stopped midway at Mogaung,
jumping off point for jade-prospecting, half the passengers got
off. A Kachin woman in the seat across started telhat the
hills of Pakan up there are crawling with Yunnan Chinese who
buy favour from the Army, yet speak neither Burmese nor
Kachin. Mining concessions have been sold from right under
Buddhist temples, etc. The influx is escalaigtemendously.
During his visit to Burma, Li Peng negotiated the '96 return
tour of the Sacred Relic of the Buddha's Tooth, loaned from
Yunnan earlier in the year "as a token ol." (China later
requested $500,000 for transportation costs, a monk in Mandalay
told me). A "Sweet Tooth" for Visit Myanmar Year? Or
perhaps Myanmar dim-sum? All for now.
*****************KAREN STATE/KAWTHOOLEI***********************
NATION: REGROUPING KAREN SET UP NEW 'MOBILE HEADQUARTERS'
6 February 1995
YINDEE LERTCHAROENCHOK
ETHNIC Karen guerrillas are reappraising their military and
political strategies against the Burmese junta and have
already re-established "a new mobile headquarters" to replace
Manerplaw, which was captured by the Burmese army over a week
ago.
The strategies include some changes in the leadership of the
karen National Union (KNU). Some of their leaders have
expressed a wish to retire because of old age and failing
health.
In an interview yesterday, KNU spokesman Arthur Shwe denied that
the reshuffle was the result of the religious conflicts inside
the karen organization which led to an eventual
breakaway of some 300 to 400 Buddhist troops.
The Buddhist mutineers, led by Kyaw Thant, on Dec 21 formed a
rival faction, call the Democratic Kayin (Karen) Buddhist
Army, and assisted the Burmese army, which unexpectedly broke its
unilateral cease-fire, to attack the KNU headquarters. The
mutineers have accused KNU leaders of discriminating against
Buddhist followers and failing to promote Buddhist members to
high positions.
"Some of our elderly leaders may choose this as the moment to
step aside, but not because of the split," a statement issued by
Arthur Shwe said, also secretary of the KNU foreign
affairs.
"They want to step aside to make room for the younger
generation," he added in the interview.
He identified Padoh San Linn, KNU deputy secretary-general, as
having stated his desire to step down because of old age and poor
health. KNU President Gen Bo Mya still commands popular support
and respect from KNU rank-and-file members, he said. The KNU, he
said, remains united despite the fall of Manerplaw and the
breakaway and is determined to continue its fight
against the Burmese junta, known as the State Law and Order
Restoration Council (Slorc).
The Karen spokesman said the KNU has already established "a new
mobile headquarters.... somewhere inside Burma" and most of the
leaders, including Gen Bo Mya are there now. He
declined to reveal the location of the new stronghold citing
security reasons.
"It only be a temporary headquarters because at this stage it is
not viable to establish a permanent one," he added.
"We told Slorc that we are always ready for peace talks" but
"Slorc is intent on wiping out the KNU by force and has no
intention of solving the problem peacefully," he said.
Shwe accepted that KNU had a thorough reassessment of its
military strategies after the major Burmese offensive in
1991-1992 to capture Manerplaw, were the KNU suffered
tremendous human and weaponry loss in defending the stronghold on
the Moei River.
His view resembled those of other KNU officers, who said in
separate interviews last week, that the KNU had, since the
1991-1992 offensive, widely known as the Sleeping Dog Hill
offensive, changed its "defensive military strategy" into
"fully mobile guerrilla warfare."
The KNU has since then decided that it would not deploy a
large number of troops to defend static strongholds,
particularly Manerplaw. (TN)
*****************KAREN STATE/KAWTHOOLEI***********************
BKK POST: INSURGENTS KICK OFF GUERRILLA CAMPAIGN
6 February 1995
Armed Karen insurgents loyal to Gen Bo Mya have split into many
small units to wage guerrilla warfare deep inside Burma against
government forces, a Karen rebel source said
yesterday.
About 2,000 armed Karen began the guerrilla campaign soon
after the Karen National Union Headquarters in Manerplaw was
overrun by Rangoon forces late last month.
Thai border patrol police said the Democratic karen Buddhist
Organization, a splinter group of karen, was supporter by 20
Burmese battalions in taking over the KNU headquarters and six
other satellite Karen outposts.
The KNU's 4th Brigade in the Tennasserrim mountainous area,
across from kanchanaburi province, was also to dissolve if
Burmese forces made a serious attack.
Karen civilians from the KNU headquarters at Manerplaw and its
satellite villages have taken refugees along Thai- Burmese
border. But most are at Mae Moei village in Thailand.
Thai officers from the Third Army area, led by Task Force 34
commander Col Direk Yaemngarmrieb, have visited the fleeing karen
at Mae Moei village where 1,500 live.
The KNU's Forestry Minister, Padoe Aung San, told the Thai
authorities the displaced Karen had brought with them some food.
He said Karen soldiers who fled to Thailand did not carry
weapons with them and would not cause any problem for
Thailand.
Border patrol police said about 1,500 Burmese troops, guided by
the karen splinter group, had moved fro the former KNU
headquarters to the south, reportedly to attack Bho Paw Hta, a
KNU market opposite Tha Song Yang district.
Third Army commander Lt-Gen Surachet Dechatiwong, who made an
official visit to the refugees camp at Mae Hong Son province,
said Thai authorities would not force the displaced persons back
to their homeland because fighting between the KNU and Burmese
troops was continuing.
"For humanitarian reasons, we will not send these people back. We
will send them back after the situation in their area has
returned to normal," he said.
Aid for these people would be the deputy of Mae Hong Son
provincial authorities, he said. Some private relief
organisations would also help.
House foreign Affairs Committee chairman Suthin Noppaket and his
team also visited Mae Toh Lah village to collect
information on the border problem.
The United Nations was trying to solve the problem, Dr Suthin
said. (BP)
*****************KAREN STATE/KAWTHOOLEI***********************
BKK POST: KNU LEADERS ANNOUNCE NEW HEADQUARTERS
6 February 1995
The Karen National Union, whose Manerplaw headquarters was
captured by Burmese government forces late last month, has set up
a new HQ deeper inside Burma where most of the KNU leaders are
now holed up, a KNU spokesman Arthur Shwe claimed
yesterday.
He said KNU president Gen Bo Mya and senior KNU officials have
left the Manerplaw area to establish a new temporary base in
Karen-held territory inside Burma.
The new HQ will be a temporary one "so that it can be easily
shifted for security reasons." He did not elaborate on the
location.
Arthur said the military situation at the border remains
highly unstable, with the Slorc concentrating on reforming troops
to attack the KNU stronghold at Kawmoora, the
headquarters of its 101st battalion, north of Myawaddy,
opposite Mae Sot , Tak.
He also handed out a press release to a small group of
reporters at a press conference in which he said that after the
withdrawal of the KNU from its headquarters at Manerplaw under an
intense artillery attack by Slorc forces, many Karen people had
crossed the border to seek refugee in Thailand. Manerplaw was
also the headquarters of pro-democracy dissidents and student
guerrillas who fled to the Karen zone following the 1988
crack-down on democracy demonstrations in Rangoon and other
cities and towns.
Arthur said he expected the Karen's partners in the opposition
alliance to join them at their new headquarters soon.
Arthur reiterated that the KNU was always ready to hold peace
talks with the ruling military body in Rangoon.
"The door is always open to talks," he said.
A senio Burmese military intelligence official hinted to
reporters in Rangoon on Friday that the government might be
reluctant to open peace talks with the KNU after a mutiny in the
group late last year.
"We many have to consider whether the KNU is representing the
majority of the Karen armed group members or not," Colonel Kyaw
Win told a news conference.
About 500 karen guerrillas mutinied against their leaders in
December and later assisted Burmese forces in their offensive on
Manerplaw. (BP)
*****************KAREN STATE/KAWTHOOLEI***********************
BKK POST: DAB'S PLAN TO HOLD MEET SEEMS DOOMED
6 February 1995
The Democratic Alliance of Burma's plan to call a meeting of its
21 members to discuss the fall of Manerplaw and map out
strategies to cope with the dismal situation on the Thai-Burma
border appeared doomed yesterday.
"The situation is very sensitive," said Tin Maung Win, second
vice-president of the Alliance. "The DAB leadership has no
intention of embarrassing the Thai Government which has been very
understanding."
In the past, DAB meetings have been held annually in the
liberated area on Manerplaw.
He said that to meet now would be extremely difficult.
"Besides, it's time to keep a low profile and keep our mouth
shut."
The DAB formed in November 1988, is an umbrella organization of
21 groups: ethnic armed groups, Burmese expatriate
organisations, former politicians and student leaders.
Also included are members of the All Burma Young Monks Union and
the All Burma Students' Democratic Front. The two were formed
after the 1988 democracy uprising in Burma.
On the issue of meeting Karen National Union leader Gen Bo Mya,
Tin Maung Win said he definitely wanted to see the DAB chairman,
especially in a time of crisis.
"The KNU is fighting for a just cause and also is the major
alliance of democratic forces opposing the Rangoon military
government," he said. All Alliance members have committed
themselves "to stick together".
The whereabouts of the karen leader was unknown early
yesterday.
The fall of Manerplaw, base of the Burmese democratic forces, is
a major setback for the National Coalition Government of the
Union of Burma and member of the DAB.
Exiled premier Dr Sein Win is head of the NCGUB. The paralled
government was formed in December 1990 at the KNU's now-
fallen headquarters by MPs elected in May that year.
However, Tin Maung Win, the 1962 student leader, appears
undaunted by the setback. He described it as nothing but a
"temporary slowdown" and vowed that the Alliance would
continue with its resolutions adopted at its last meeting. The
second congress of the DAB central committee was held in
Manerplaw last October 24-26.
U Aung, son of former premier U Nu, has returned to Rangoon,
according to a source who recently visited the Burmese
capital.
U Aung is an American citizen and has been in Bangkok since 1988.
He is president of the Alliance Democratic Solidarity, Burma, one
of the many Burmese opposition groups formed after the 1988
uprising.
Another recent self-exiled Burmese expatriate who return to
Rangoon is Maw. He is a former president of the Alliance
Democratic Solidarity, Burma. U Zali is the son of Dr Ba Maw,
president during the Japanese occupation of Burma. (BP)
*****************KAREN STATE/KAWTHOOLEI***********************
REUTERS: BURMESE RULERS SEEM COOL TO TALKS WITH KAREN REBELS
February 6, 1995
RANGOON (Reuter) - Burma's military government might be
reluctant to open peace talks with ethnic Karen guerrillas after
a mutiny in the group and the capture of their headquarters in
southeast Burma, a Burmese official said.
Military intelligence deputy director Colonel Kyaw Win
told a news conference late Friday it was not clear if the Karen
National Union (KNU) guerrilla group, whose Manerplaw
headquarters was captured January 27, still represented the
majority of Karen guerrillas.
``We'll have to decide according to the present
situation of the KNU,'' Kyaw Win said when asked about the
prospect of ceasefire talks.
``We may have to consider whether the KNU is still
representing the majority of the Karen armed group members or
not,'' he said.
Karen guerilla commander General Bo Mya, speaking to
Reuters in Thailand after his headquarters had been captured,
said the KNU was always willing to begin talks with the
government.
Burmese military authorities repeated their assertion
that it was the Karen mutineers, who in December formed their own
breakaway group, had captured Manerplaw, not Burmese government
forces.
The breakaway Democratic Kayin (Karen) Buddhist
Organization had been assisted by the Burmese army in the capture
of Manerplaw, military officials told the news conference.
has been fighting for greater autonomy since 1949,
one year after Burma's independence from Britain.
****************************THAILAND***************************
BKK POST: ARMY TO KEEP CLOSE TAB ON REPATRIATION OF REFUGEES
February 3, 1995
ARMY Commander Gen Wimol Wongwanich yesterday said the Army will
be "careful" about the repatriation of Karen refugees, which will
be done through proper border channels.
Gen Wimol said he does not want the Burmese government to
misunderstand and think that the Thai army is backing the rebel
forces fighting against Rangoon.
He said the refugees have stated their desire to return to a
specific area in order to regroup, but if they are repatriated to
such a location it will be tantamount to providing military
support to the rebels, which would not be proper. "We have to be
c areful about this," he said.
It is natural that when fighting erupts along the Thai-Burmese
border it leads to an influx of refugees, which causes problems
for Thailand, the army chief said.
"When we try and send them back somebody always comes out and
says we aren't showing respect for human rights, which isn't true
because we've been careful to look after them and to repatriate
them to the proper place," he said.
Assistant army chief Gen Chetha Thanajaro said the Army will
fire warning shots if any artillery shells fall on Thai
territory.
Gen Chetha said that although Thailand and Burma have a close
relationship, the Army must protect the country's sovereignty in
the event of an intrusion.
He said armed refugees will not be allowed refuge in the
country unless they agree to be disarmed, and they will be
repatriated if the fighting ceases.
"The Army has a clear policy from our commander-in-chief," Gen
Chetha said.
Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai will visit the border in Tak and
Mae Hong Son provines on Sunday to observe the security and
refugee situation.
*************************INTERNATIONAL*************************
SCB: UNOCAL ACTION PACKET AVAILABLE
ranla@xxxxxxxxxxx
soc.culture.burma
10:04 AM Feb 5, 1995
The Burma Forum and L.A. Rainforest Action Project have prepared
a Unocal Action Packet. This can be used to approach Unocal /
Union 76 outlets in your area. For this to be sent to you,
please email your mailing address to Tamar Hurwitz of the
Rainforest Action Network at this address.
Sincerely,
David Wolfberg
L.A. Rainforest Action Project
**************************INTERNATIONAL**************************
BURMANET: TEACH-IN AT HARVARD UNIVERSITY
February 7, 1995
There will be a teach-in on Burma at Harvard University on
February 11, 1995. The teach-in will be held at Harvard Law
School's East Asian Legal Studies Program office (Pound Hall
419). It is scheduled from 2 to 7 in the afternoon.
**************************INTERNATIONAL**************************
BKK POST: BURMA'S ONLY WAY TO END ITS VILE STIGMA
6 February 1995
United Nations investigator Yozo Yokota travels to Burma again
this week in his continuing campaign to improve human rights.
Next week, undersecretary for political affairs,
Alvaro Desota, will arrive in Rangoon. On the one hand, the
visits of these officials are an optimistic sign. Rangoon
could, after all, have simply banned such visits. Often, it
appears the Burmese regime gives no consideration to the
ideals of outsiders. Although it has recently grasped the
chances for diplomatic contact with the work and Southeast Asian
nations, it has shown reluctance to accept any questions about
its darker side.
Mr Yokota, a Japanese academic, is the best-known and more
respected of the two UN investigators who will visit Rangoon. He
has focused on problems in Burma for several years. It is
depressing that the Rangoon regime has taken little action on his
reports of human rights violations. Mr Yokota's reports over the
last couple of years have been clear. they have
pointed out specific abuses of Burmese by their government. They
have detailed general Slorc police which fail to meet even
minimum respect for citizens by the government in today's world.
Mr Yokota has been diplomatic throughout his contacts with Burma.
He has welcomed "moves to expand cooperation" between the Slorc
and both UN and private human rights groups. The United Nations
official has been scrupulous and fair in welcoming the
occasional releases of political prisoners by the Burmese
government. The two meeting between the Slorc
leaders and the detained political leader Aung San Suu kyi drew
favourable comment from Mr Yokota. State-controlled media in
Burma have tried to give the impression that this is all that Mr
Yokota has addressed.
In fact, the bulk of his reporting on Burma has been critical. It
would be impossible for any objective person to do
otherwise. Since Slorc came to power in a bloody suppression of
popular political demonstration in 1988, Burma has been one of
the world's most repressive countries. As Mr Yokota has reported,
that human rights situation in Burma is "grim' and there is an
all but total lack of basic freedoms. He has cited numerous
allegations of extra-judicial killing by the
country's armed forces, especially of civilians suspected of
supporting or sympathising with insurgent groups.
The UN reports by Mr Yokota have described a "serious
restriction on civil and political rights in Burma." It is
difficult to ignore, and impossible to slough off, his
illustrations of "a generalised fear among the population that
anything they or their families do or say in the political sphere
could put them at risk of arrest." Nor has he been
blinded by the welcome releases or some political prisoners.
Hundreds more, as he says, remain in detention.
Mr Desoto is preparing a report on Burma for the current
session of the UN Human Rights Commission in Geneva. The UN
General Assembly last year urged Burma to improve its human
rights situation. Mr Desoto will be gathering information to see
if Rangoon has complied with this call. As we all known, there
will be precious little to indicate the lot of Burma's people is
improving. The recent attack on the Karen people near the Thai
frontiers is an example of how Burma uses force in preference to
negotiation.
The two UN investigators are bound by the niceties of
diplomacy when they make their reports. In fact, human rights
abuses in Burma are widespreade, systematic and a matter of
government policy. Slorc treats its citizen in an appalling
manner. It does this without credible justification. It has
created refugee problems for neighbouring countries -
particularly Thailand and Bangladesh - without a shred of
apology.
It can only be hoped that Mr Yokota and Mr Desoto will point out
Slorc's enormous shortcomings on human rights in clear language
in their reports. There may be disagreement among members of the
world community on how to try to convince
Rangoon to improve its record. But there should be no disputed
about the fact of that record.
There is only hope for the future of Burma if Slorc realised the
error of its ways and moves to correct that error. It
cannot achieve progress in today's world without national
reconciliation. It cannot move towards national reconciliation at
the point of a gun. The two UN officials must try to
convince Rangoon of the value of ending human rights abuses and
moving Burma forward. Otherwise, the Slorc will continue to reap
the results of the violence it is sowing. (BP)
**************************INTERNATIONAL**************************
BRC-J: LETTER TO SLORC
February 6, 1995
This is a letter some friends have sent to SLORC Embassies
around the world. We feel it deserves an even wider audience.
To SLORC and its friends:
The only evils in this world are greed and fear, and they are
behind every thought you think and every action you take. The
recent attack on Manerplaw is only the latest addition to 33
years of crimes against humanity. In the name of "preserving
the union," you steal, you rape, you torture, you kill. You
preserve nothing but your own power and privilege; you
destroy everything that stands between you and them.
In destroying Manerplaw, you may think that you have won
some great victory. You are deluding yourselves. You have
merely betrayed your desperation and duplicity for all the
world to see. Around the world, you are being condemned,
even by your supporters, and you have generated great
sympathy for the people you persecute. The 40 million people
of Burma are already against you. Day by day, they are being
joined by people in other countries who abhor your atrocious
behavior. You pretend to be patriots, but you owe all your
power to foreign businesses and foreign governments. In
attacking Manerplaw, you have weakened that support. Arid
when they stop supporting you, where will you be? In a word,
doomed, as all dictators ultimately are. Know this: democracy
will win in the end, for it dwells not in some roughhewn
buildings at the confluence of the Moei and Salween, but in the
hearts of Burma's people.
>From Carol Schlenker and Aung Thu
How superior
The tactics of war
How potent
The weapons!
Without gathering in
The hearts of the people,
Without relying on
The strength of the people,
The sword edge
Will shatter,
The spear
Will bend.
--Let-We Thondara
**************************INTERNATIONAL**************************
BKK POST: NOT ROUGH ENOUGH ON RANGOON
6 February 1995
The visit to Burma, for private trade purposes, by the former
prime minister, Mr Bob Hawke, has naturally aroused concern. The
foreign minister, Senator Gareth Evans, has criticised Mr Hawke's
failure to use the opportunity to press Burma's
military rulers to free Aung San Suu Kyi from the house arrest
she has been under since 1989...
There are, of course, different schools of thought about how the
international community should deal with the repressive regime
which continues to rule Burma... One, led by the US, insists that
the only way to encourage reform in Burma is to maintain economic
sanctions and other diplomatic pressures. The other - to which Mr
Hawke presumably subscribes - says that isolating Burma and
punishing its rulers has not worked and that the best way to free
up political life inside Burma and to promote change generally is
through increased trade, investment and dialogue ...
Far from being too tough on the regime in Rangoon, the
international community may will have failed the Burmese
people by not being tough enough. After the democracy movement
was crushed in 1990, several countries imposed aid and trade
sanctions. But not all. ..(BP)
**************************INTERNATIONAL**************************
AUSTRALIAN GOVT: PUBLICATION OF BURMA HUMAN RIGHTS DOCUMENTS
>From uneoo@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: ANNOUNCEMENT FOR BURMANET & HRNET
To : BurmaNet, HRNet, soc.rights.human, soc.culture.burma,
soc.culture.thai, seasia-l
Dear Friends:
---------------------------------------------------------
In a response to inquiry made by the Australian Parliament on
the "Situation of human rights and lack of progress towards
democracy in Myanmar(Burma)", number of organizations and
individuals interested in Burma sent their written
submissions to the Human Rights Sub-Committee of Department of
Foreign Affairs and Trades. These submissions, totaling 17
items, has been compiled in two volumes and kindly made
available by the Secretary. Anyone who wish to have those
documents can contact the Secretary of Human Rights
Sub-Committee. Address and phone no. are given below.
To Burmese nationals, it is our duty to expose and publicise
the injustice of the Military Government of Myanmar upon the
people of Burma. For the others, it is a just cause for
humanity that the oppressed been helped. I am very encouraged to
see that there are quite a number of Burmese as well as
foreigners who being able to speak-out about human rights
abuses in our home country. My submission, which I also
sent to 1994 UNGA, is also included amongst these
documents. With an exception to the one submission from a
pro-SLORC person, all other materials reach to a great
length in explaining the situation of human rights in Burma.
Anyone wishing to have these documents can contact:
MS MARGARET SWIERINGA PH: (06) 277 4306
THE SECRETARY FAX: (06) 277 2221
HUMAN RIGHTS SUB-COMMITTEE
JOINT STANDING COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS,
DEFENCE AND TRADE
PARLIAMENT HOUSE
CANBERRA, ACT 2600
AUSTRALIA
-----------------------------------------------------------------
- DECEMBER 21, 1994.
VOLUME - I
SUBMISSION NO. PAGE NO.
-------------- --------
1. Tribal Refugee Welfare in Sough East Asia(Inc)
& 6 Attachments 1
2. Mr Michael Nyunt 21
2a. Mr Michael Nyunt 27
3. Mr Ivan Brabant, President, Human Rights for Burma 44
4. Dr U Ne Oo 45
5. Mr Philip E Smyth, Overseas Burma LIberation Front 92
5a Mr Philip E Smyth, Overseas Burma Liberation Front 94
6. Mr Hugh Wood 101
7. Mr Ken Khin Maung Gyi, Committee for Restoration of
Democracy in Burma(Vic) Inc. 125
8. Confidential 134
9. Dr Htin Kyaw 135
10. Anonymous 150
11. John Scott-Murphy, Diplomacy Training Program 174
12. Mr Max Ediger, Burma Issues, Bangkok 179
VOLUME - II
13. All Burma Students League 215
14. Ko Benya Aye 217
15. Soe Soe, Burma Support Group Melbourne 223
16. Amnesty International 246
17. Australia Burma Council and the Burma NGO Forum 285
**************************************************************
NEWS SOURCES REGULARLY COVERED/ABBREVIATIONS USED BY BURMANET:
AP: ASSOCIATED PRESS
AFP: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
AW: ASIAWEEK
AWSJ: ASIAN WALL STREET JOURNAL
Bt.: THAI BAHT; 25 Bt.3 DUS$1 (APPROX),
BBC: BRITISH BROADCASTING CORPORATION
BI: BURMA ISSUES
BKK POST: BANGKOK POST (DAILY NEWSPAPER, BANGKOK)
BRC-CM: BURMESE RELIEF CENTER-CHIANG MAI
BRC-J: BURMESE RELIEF CENTER-JAPAN
CPPSM: C'TEE FOR PUBLICITY OF THE PEOPLE'S STRUGGLE IN MONLAND
FEER: FAR EAST ECONOMIC REVIEW
IRRAWADDY: NEWSLETTER PUBLISHED BY BURMA INFORMATION GROUP
JIR: JANE'S INTELLIGENCE REVIEW
KHRG: KAREN HUMAN RIGHTS GROUP
Kt. BURMESE KYAT; UP TO 150 KYAT-US$1 BLACK MARKET
106 KYAT US$1-SEMI-OFFICIAL
6 KYAT-US$1 OFFICIAL
MOA: MIRROR OF ARAKAN
NATION: THE NATION (DAILY NEWSPAPER, BANGKOK)
NLM: NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR (DAILY STATE-RUN NEWSPAPER, RANGOON)
R.T.A.:REC.TRAVEL.ASIA NEWSGROUP
S.C.B.:SOC.CULTURE.BURMA NEWSGROUP
S.C.T.:SOC.CULTURE.THAI NEWSGROUP
SEASIA-L: S.E.ASIA BITNET MAILING LIST
SLORC: STATE LAW AND ORDER RESTORATION COUNCIL
USG: UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT
XNA: XINHUA NEWS AGENCY
**************************************************************