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BURMA HUMAN RIGHTS REPORTS # 5 & 5A
Received: by pilot.physics.adelaide.edu.au (5.61+IDA+MU/UA-5.23)
id AA16252; Fri, 17 Mar 1995 14:07:16 +0930
Subject: BURMA HUMAN RIGHTS REPORTS # 5 & 5A.
/* posted Mar 17 14:47:36 CST 1995 uneoo@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx on igc:soc.culture.burma */
/* ----------" HRSUB: Overseas Burma Liberation Front "--------- */
[Subject: To inquire into and report on the human rights situation
and lack of progress towards democracy in Myanmar(Burma) by the
Human Rights Sub-committee of the parliament of Australia.
Submissions to this enquiry by various people and
organisations are re-posted here.
This section is redistributed to Internet/PeaceNet with
permission from the Overseas Burma Liberation Front, 15A, 2 Beattie
Street, NSW 2041, AUSTRALIA. -- U Ne Oo]
# SUBMISSION NO. 5 & 5A.
OVERSEAS BURMA LIBERATION FRONT
-------------------------------
(OBLF is a member of the Democratic Alliance of Burma (DAB))
------------------------------------------------------------
11 October 1994
The Chairman
Human Rights Sub-Committee
Joint Standig Committee on Foreign Affairs,
Defence and Trade
Parliament House
CANBERRA ACT 2600
Dear Sir,
RE: ENQUIRY INTO HUMAN RIGHTS AND
PROGRESS TOWARDS DEMOCRACY IN BURMA
I am honoured to be given this opportunity to submit reports,
regarding the continuing gross violation of Human Rights in Burms,
on behalf of the Democratic Alliance of Burma (DAB), and to comment
on the current political situation in Burma.
With regards to the continuing gross violation of human rights in
Burma, I enclose reports compiled by the Karen Human Rights Group,
based at Manerplaw.
As to the recent political developments in Burma, we are of the
opinion that the meeting between Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, Senior
General Than Shwe and Lieutenant General Khin Nyunt can neither be
termed as progerss towards Burma's democracy, nor can it be
considered a political development. The question is why has the
ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC ) not
announced the contents of the discussion, as the whole nation and
the international community have been pressing for this
development? We can only welcome this development of the nation, as
this meeting is the first face-to-face meeting between the opposing
sides, and a meeting which Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has been requesting
since the 1988 days of the people's uprising.
The ruling military junta has steadfastly declared to the outside
world, that it has a genuine interest in the building of a
democratic state. Bur its actions, does not provide any proof that
it will follow its declared goals. At the latest gathering of
delegates at the military-controlled national convention, the
ruling junta has demandd twenty-five per cent of the seats in both
houses of parliament ofr its military personnek, without the
contesting of elections.
The question arises as to whether there will be any real political
developments, when taking into account the recent detention of five
National League for Democracy Party (NLD) activists in July this
year, for expressing their views of the current situation, to the
responsible personnel from international bodies, and foreign media
personnel.
Although we welcome the latest move by the military junta, we do
not believe that this is an important move towards Democracy in
Burma, as the situation is now very controversial. I request the
opportunity to tender supplementary reports, to cover any unforseen
significant events of situations which subsequently take place, in
addition to these reports after the closing date of 28 Octover
1994.
On behalf of the Democratic Alliance of Burma (DAB) and the
Overseas Burma Liberation Front (OBLF) , I offer my sincere
gratitude to your Committee, the Parliament and the Government of
Australia for the intersest and the moral support, given to us in
our struggle for democracy and human righs.
Yours faithfully,
signed. Philip E Smyth.
7 November 1994
# SUBMISSION NO. 5A.
--------------------
Dear Sir,
RE: ENQUIRY INTO HUMAN RIGHTS AND
PROGRESS TOWARDS DEMOCRACY IN BURMA
I refer to our submissions dated the 11 October, 1994, and I now
further submit our statement headed "Misleading the International
Community" for the Committee's attention.
Yours faithfully,
signed. Philip E Smyth.
" MISLEADING THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY "
---------------------------------------
The State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) sent its
representative, U Ohn Gyaw, to deliver its statement at the
forty-ninth session of the United Nations General Assembly in New
York on the 11 October 1994. The Overseas Bruma Liberation Front
(OBLF), on behalf of the silenced people of Burma , wishes to
expose and present factual incidents and occurances which the
miliitary dictators have dieliberately attempted in vain to conceal
and contain wiht false -pretense, cover-ups, and fabrications.
Quations from U Ohn Gay's statement are followed simultaneously
with explanations of actual events, in order to expose what SLORC
is trying to conceal.
"myanmar, together with the People's Republic of China and
India, enunciated the five principles of peaceful
co-exixtance nearly five decades ago. In strict observance
of these principles, Myanmar has never allowed and will
never allow its territory to be used as a springboard for
action or threat against another state."
The above statement is the desperate attempt by SLORC to cover-up
the incident, which happened near the Andaman Islands in the Indian
Ocean on 18 August 1994. Three Chinese trawlers, hoisting Burmese
flags and manned by 55 Chinese nationals, were intercepted by
Indian Coast -guards in its territorial waters and were detained at
Post Blair, its naval base. The Indian Authorities discovered
numerous electornics devices and Chinese Army maps of the Bay of
Bengal and neighbouring countries, without sighting any fish. There
are also reports of the construciton of naval bases and
surveillance stations on LRamree island, south of Akyab in the Bay
of Bengal, Coco island in the Indian Ocean, and Zar Det Hyi or St.
Matthew's island off the Tanesserim coast, and at the northermost
part of the Malacca Straits - with assistance from the Chinese.
SLORC and China are secretly implemaenting agreements for
arms-and-assistance-for-military-bases in the Indian Ocean, and the
18 August incident, is concrete and undeniable proof of their
secret dealings. The suspicious nature of incident, is concrete and
undeniable proof of their secret dealings. The suspicious nature of
the cooperation between China and Burma, is now a contributing
factor in the escalation of the arms build-ups in the region, which
will ultimately lead to tension, conflict and instability in this
part of the world. U Ohn Gaw's speech can only be seen as an
attempt to build understanding and confidence amongst neighbouring
countries - by hollow assurances.
"We, in Myanmar, are concentrating on breaking the vicious
cycle of poverty and environmental degradation. With a view
to remedying the situation, the Government in 1989 launched
a program for the development of the border areas and
national races. This integrated approach is expected to
generate higher income and productivity by providing
employment opportunities and increased welfare". "Roads,
bridges, schools, hospitals and reservoirs are being built
extensively."
While delivering the above pompous statement, U Ohn Gyaw has
sidestepped and concealed the tragic and miserable events that are
taking place in the remote border areas. Environmental degradation,
disappearance of tropical rain-forests, swamps and mangroves are
occurring at an alarming rate in Burma, because of SLORC's granting
of too many uncontrolled timber concessions to foreign companies,
in order to bestow dividends to greedy generals. The other cause is
the cutting down of trees by local people for firewood, to solve
their daily fuel-crisis. No attempts are being made by SLORC to
solve the problems that are causing environmental degradation.
Instead of solving the nation's fuel-crisis, SLORC has sold the
newly found energy resources overseas for its own benefit. On 9
September 1994, SLORC signed an agreement with Electricity
Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) to sell natural gas from
off-shore gasfields in the Gulf of Martaban for a period of thirty
years, at an estimated annual earning of US$ 400 million - for
SLORC and its dollar-hungry generals.
Roads and bridges are being built with the aim of utilising them
for military, and resources exploitation purposes, and not for the
development of the long neglected n remote areas. Schools have
been built without government contribution, and forcibly financed
by the public. Under SLORC's rule, extrordinary "Compulsory Tuition
Fees" are being levied, and due to the fees being exorbitant, the
school-drop-out rate is dramatically increasing daily. New
hospitals have been built, but in the hospitals there are neither
medical supplies nor medical equipment, bedding and other essential
supplies.
SLORC has planned to built megadams, minidams and reservoirs in the
border areas - such as the notorious Upper Salween Flood Zone
project. Survey works and feasibility studies are being carried out
with foreign collaborators. These dams and reservoirs are being
planned not with the intention of solving the nation's fresh water
shortage problems, but to sell fresh water to Thailand, to gain
hard- currency for SLORC's generals. In rural areas, people have to
use primitive methods to obtain fresh water. Whereas in the urban
cities, the people have to rely on obsolete water supply systems.
The SLORC's so-called Border Areas Development projects has
provided "employment opportunities" local ethnic people - as slave
labourers and in chain gangs. The outside world has come to known
about the tragedy of slave labourers working at gun-point, on the
Aung Ban-Loikaw, Ye-Tavoy, Pakoku-Myaing-Gangaw-Kalay railway lines
- now known as Death Railroads, and on the natural gas pipeline
project which is supervised by a French company Total, and an
Almerican oil company Unocal. Thus U Ohn Gyaw's above statement,
can only be termed as a deliberate lid and falsehood.
"The Myanmar Government does not condone human rights
abuses. In fact, it is totally against human rights abuses.
We have cooperated fully with the United Nations in every
field, and in this regards, with the Commission on Human
Rights, by providing information in connection with queries
concerning the situation in Myanmar. Not only have we
provided information sought by the Commission but have also
received the independent experts and the Special
Rapporterur by the Human Rights Commission."
It is an undeniable fact that the Special rapporteur was accepted
not willingly, but grudgingly by SLORC. The Special Rapporteur was
denied permission to meet and discuss with specified prisoners of
conscience, and to obtain testimonials directly from the abused
victims, their families and relatives and their lawyers, due to
their constant harassment and intimidation by military intelligent
personnel. The UN Special Rapporteur's investigative works can only
be summed up as partially successful, due to the hundrance of the
military junta. The detention of Khin Zaw Win, Khin Maung Swe, Sein
Hla Oo, San San Ngwe and her daughter in recent months can only be
viewed as the vital signs of SLORC's unwillingness to cooperate,
with any future UN fact-finding mission, and its desperate attempt
to securely conceal and suppress any information regarding human
rights abuses and sensitive issues, leaking out of Burma.
In July, when attending the annual conference of the Asean Foreign
Ministers in Bangkok, as the guest of the host nation, U Ohn Gyaw
publicly stated, "I don't think, we have human rihgts problems."
But while he was making this statement, SLORC's forces attacked the
Halokhani Mon refugee camp near the Three Pagoda pass. The camp was
burnt down completely and 500 women and children were taken as
hostages, with the intention of using them as human shields. The
shameless acts of cowardice, committed by SLORC's troops and its
secret militaary intelligence throughout the country, have been
deliberately ignored and omitted from U Ohn Gyaw's speech. It is
now apparent that, whatsoever remarks given by U Ohn Gyaw,
regarding human rights situations, must be acknowledged as a pack
of blatant lies.
"In October 1993, at New York, Myanmar, the People's
Republic of China ,Laos, Thailand and the UNDCP signed a
memorandum of understanding which would further harmonize
collective activities aimed at reducing drug trafficking,
and production, eliminating poppy cultivation and reducing
drug demand and consumption." "As to those who are
expressing doubt about our commitment to eradication of
narcotics, Let me ask:"Which country in the world has
sacrificed the lives of over 190 soldiers with additional
350 wounded in the combat against drug traffickers in a
matter of only four weeks ?"
The undeniable fact is that heroin production in the Burmese sector
of the Golden Triangle Area has risen enormously since the signing
of cease-fire acords between Lt. GEn Khin Nyunt and the splintered
factions of now-defunct Burma Communist Party (BCP) - comprising of
the Wa, Kokang, Shan and other minority groups. With the blessing
of SLORC, the old communist cadres have now taken on the identity
of new ethnic chieftains, but in reality they are the new active
drug warlords. These new durg warlords, the old drug baron Lo Hsing
Han , SLORC's commanders, and the lonely drug warlord Khn Sa , have
all created the biggest and booming grug trade in the recorded
history of the drug business, and this is giving considerable
headaches to drug enforcement agencies and governments around the
world.
Yang Maoxian, a Burmese citizen, was executed on 7 October after
being found guilty of smuggling 212 kilograms of heroin into China.
Cross-border trafficking of heroin is increasing, resulting in the
growing number of drug addicts and Aids-infected cases in the
neighbouring states of Yunan in China, and Assam, Manipur, Mezoram
and Nagaland in India. The Western Government are not only
concerned with drug related problems, but also about the folw of
money from the drug business into the South East Asian Financial
markets. To prevent the flow of drug money, plans and strategies
have been implemented to stop the flow, and to take action against
the booming money laundering business in the region. There are
numerous unconfirmed reports, detailing and describing the
involvement of armed forces persommel in the drug trade, spreading
throughout the nation. But one important aspect to note is that
some top military officals are unususlly rich, and are living in
style well beyond their means - and known as millinaire generals.
Thus the rhetorical statements of U Ohn Gyaw is an attempt to
deceive the International Community, in order to secure aid and
assistance from the drug enforcement agencies, while his mentor
SLORC is covertly involved in the drug trade.
"Since April 1992, the armed forces have suspended military
offensives against the armed groups in the interest of
national reconciliation." "Guns have fallen silent in the
country as never before in the history of modern Myanmar
and these groups should lood at the greater interest of the
country and work for the benefit of all the national races
as they themselves have been proclaiming for so long."
Neither has the guns have fallen silent, nor is there a suspension
of military offensives in Burma. The ethnic national races continue
to suffer from SLORC's dreaded "Four-Cuts" strategy in its severset
form, as never before experienced in the history of Burma. Forced
relocation's of village hamlets, resulting in the rural people
being forced to reside in prison camp condition , looting and
pillaging, shooting and killing of suspects without proper
investigations, raping of village women, levying of taxes
repeatatively to finance the criminal activities of the armed
forces, and forcing the people to work as slave labourers in harsh
and babaric conditions. The visible proof that SLORC is not
suspending military offensives, is the attacking of the unarmed Mon
refugee camp at Halokhani in July.
In this post-Cold-War-era, those who are searching for and
endeavouring to achieve peace are now becoming popular in the
political arena of the world. In order to be seen, not as pariah
but as a genuine peace-seeker, SLORC has initaited a political
stunt by offering to hold cease-fires talks with armed resistant
groups. But what SLORC has offered, is devoid of the ultimate
objectives of securing a nationwide cease-fire and resolving the
nation's political problems by means of political settlements -
between all parties to the conflict. SLORC's main aim is to break
up the resistant groups alliance and cooperation, and to achieve
this aim it has resorted to secretly bribing leaders with promises
of special privileges and influence. Thus SLORC's cease-fire
initiative, is nothing more than bribing the resistant groups'
leaders to turn their backs on the aspirations of its own ethnic
people.
"Consensus has already been reached on the 15 chapter,
headings on the 104 fundamental principles of the State as
well as the chapters on State, State structure and the head
of State." "The Chairman of the national convention
convening work committee elucudated tge oiubts rekatuve ti
tge natter if sekf-administered divisions or self
administered zones in the Union". "A balance must be struck
between the need to reach consensus among the nearly
700delegates on very urgent and vital issues like the
national races and the desire for the completion of the
process in appropriate time." "Anyone following these
deliberations closely will realise that they give lucid lie
to the allegations that the deliberations in the national
convention were orchestrated by the government."
With these fabricated remarks, U Ohn Gyaw attempts to deceive the
International Community in order to gain some credibility for
SLORC's orchestrated convention, a convention which the people of
Burma have totally rejected, by calling it a "sham convention." Out
of the 700 delegates attending the convention , close to 600 have
been selected by the ruling junta, and only 99 are the peoples
representatives who were elected in the May 1990 elections - and
were allowed to attend this sham convention. There is no freedom of
exchanging of ideas and thoughts, proposals and arguments as well
as debates are not permitted. All the delegates are forced to
adhere to the strict guidelines, dictated by the military junta,
and are under the constant surveillance of the dreaded military
intelligence. He who dares to present a positive critism, will be
victimised and charged with false allegations, and punished with
long term of imprisonment - similar to the fate of the convention
delegate and elected NLD representatives Dr. Aung Khin Sint and his
Clooeagues. There is not searching for consensus in this sham
convention, but only coercion to approve the junta wishes and its
desire. The activities of SLORC at the convention have been exposed
by former delegates, U Khun Marko Ban and U Denial Aung in the
worlds press.
U Ohn Gyaw, in his speech , intentionally omitted one of the aims
of the convention, which are contained in Chapter 1 - which is to
establish a participatory and leadership role for the armed forces
in the future national politics of Burma. At a time when the
majority and minority ethnic groups have agreed upon, and are
demanding in unison a federal system of constitution, SLORC is now
pursuing against the wishes of the nation the completion of its
draft unitary system of constitution. SLORC has already enshrined
in its draft constitution, the laws to select future presidents,
and according to these laws only retired military personnel can
become future heads of State, with full executive powers. Also in
the draft constitution, there contains an article legitimising the
army's taking of power in cases of emergency - with the intention
of making all future military coups constitutional. The desire to
prolong their stay in power for an indefinate period, is disclosed
by the junta, when it seeks to allocate 25% of seats in both houses
of future parliaments to military personnel, without the need for
them to be contestants in an election. The speech, stating that
SLORC is sincerely building a multi-party democratic state, is a
blatant lie, because in reality the military junta is only
endeavouring to build a presidential dictatorial state. In the
forty-eighth session of the United Naitons General Assemly's
resolution, the Assembly has noted its concern with regards to
SLORC's convention , and has urged SLORC to ensure that all
political parties are permitted to function freely. Neither sign of
improvement, nor any positive development in this regard has been
sighted, but U Ohn Gyaw is again delivering distorted facts and
lies about the convention to this year's Assembly - blatantly and
shamelessly. Thus U Ohn Gyaw's statement regarding SLORC's
national convention , should now be seen as being in contempt of
the United Nations General Assembly.
"At the initiative of the United Naitons Secretary-General,
Myanmar decided to establish a dialogue with the United
Nations to exchange views on various issues of common
concern." "I am happy t o appraise this Assembly through
you, Mr President, that I have had two meetings eith Mr
Marrack goulding, Under-Secretary-General for Political
Affairs of the United Nations earlier this month and that
the dialogue between the Myanmar government and the United
Nations is now well under way."
Although U Ohn Gyaw's speech has been tarnished with distortions,
fabrications,lies and cover-ups, the Overseas Burma Liberation
Front (OBLF) sincerely support and welcomes the initiatives of the
UN Secretary General, and the measures that have been reciprocated
by the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) . We
envisage that the outcome of a UN-SLORC dialogue will create
results, that will fulfill the aspirations of the entire people of
Burma without violence and bloodshed, and through such peaceful
negotiations.
Executive Committee
Overseas Burma Liberation Front.
Dated: 1 November, 1994.
/* ENDREPORT */