[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index ][Thread Index ]

BurmaNet News: April 17, 1995 [#149



Subject: BurmaNet News: April 17, 1995 [#149]

**************************BurmaNet***************************
"Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies"
*************************************************************
The BurmaNet News: 17 APRIL 1995 
Issue #149

**************************************************************
NOTED IN PASSING:

          "Do you really think a company like Unocal will do that?" 
                    Unocal Vice-President Marty Miller in response to
                    allegations that forced labor will be used to
                    construct the Unocal/Total pipeline in Burma. <See
                    BKK POST: TOTAL,UNOCAL SET TO ACQUIRE GREATER
                    INTERESTS IN BURMA


Contents:                                  
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

BKK POST: TOTAL,UNOCAL SET TO ACQUIRE GREATER INTERESTS IN           
          BURMA
BKK POST: BRITISH MP SEEKS MEETING WITH AUNG SAN SUU KYI
BKK POST: DEMOCRACY WILL PREVAIL IN BURMA
THE NATION; RANGOON SOLDIERS AND KAREN KILLED MONS, CLAIMS          
               STUDENTS
THE NATION: 'RANGOON TROOPS KILL ETHNIC MONS'
BKK POST: KENNEDY JOINS LIST CRITISING JUNTA RULE
KHRG: SUMMARY OF TYPES OF FORCED PORTERING
MON INFORMATION SERVICE: UPDATE, APRIL 14 1995
SCB: BURMESE PASSIVE RESISTENCE

**************************************************************

The BurmaNet News is an      *********************************
electronic newspaper         *                  Iti          *
covering Burma.  Articles    *                 snotpo        *
from newspapers, magazines,  *             werthatcor        *
newsletters, the wire        *            ruptsbutfea        *
services and the Internet as *           r.Fearoflos         *
well as original material    *          ingpowercor          *
are published.               *       ruptsthosewhoare        *
The BurmaNet News  is        *     subjecttoit...Theef       *
e-mailed  directly to        *     fortnecessarytoremain     *
subscribers  and  is         *   uncorruptedinanenvironm     *
also  distributed via        *  entwherefearisanintegralpar  *
the soc.culture.burma        *   tofeverydayexistenceisnoti  *
and seasia-l mailing         *     mmediatelyapparentto      *
lists and is also            *       thosefortunate          *
available via the            *       enoughtolivein          *
reg.burma conference on      *        statesgovern           *
the APC networks.  For a     *         edbytherule           *
free subscription to         *         oflaw...fear          *
the BurmaNet News, send      *          is ahab  it.         *
an e-mail message to:        *                 Iam           *
                             *                   no          *
 majordomo@xxxxxxxxxxx       *                  taf          *
                             *                   ra          *
In the body of the message,  *                  id.          *
type "subscribe burmanet-l"  *                  Aun          *
(without quotation marks)    *                  gSa          *
                             *                  nS           *
Letters  to  the  editor,    *                   uu          *
comments or contributions    *                   Ky          *
of articles should be        *                   i.          *
sent to the editor at:       *********************************

                        
                strider@xxxxxxxxxxx
In Washington:

  Attention to BurmaNet
   c/o National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma
  (NCGUB) 
  Information Office
  815 15th Street NW, Suite 609
  Washington D.C. 20005
  Tel: (202) 393-7342, Fax: (202) 393-7343

In Bangkok:
  Attention to BurmaNet
  c/o Burma Issues
  PO Box 1076, Silom Post Office
  Bangkok 10504 Thailand
  Tel: (066) (02) 234-6674, Fax: (066) (02) 631 0133

[The NCGUB is the government-in-exile, made up of the people
who won the election in 1990.  Burma Issues is a Bangkok-based
non-governmental organization that documents human rights
conditions in Burma and maintains an archive of Burma-related
documents.  Views expressed in The BurmaNet News do not
necessarily reflect those of either NCGUB or Burma Issues]

TOTAL,UNOCAL SET TO ACQUIRE GREATER INTERESTS IN BURMA
BY BOONSONG KOSITCHOTHANA
17 April 1995

Although their business involvement in Burma has been
criticised by anti-Rangoon elements, French oil firm Total and US energy
concern Unocal are looking to acquire a greater
interest in oil/gas exploration in the military-ruled country. The
alliance, already engaged in the $1-billion development of Burma's
largest known off shore gas field, Yadana, is looking to acquire
additional acreages adjacent to the field.

Unocal vice-president Marty Miller and Total chief executive for the Far
East J.M. Beuque revealed this move to the
Business Post as the next step to boost their controversial presence in
Burma, especially in offshore areas which they believe possess a strong
gas potential.

?Yes, we'd like to pick up some more acreages, probably with Total,? Mr
Miller said. The California-based executive noted that Unocal tried to
get new blocks rather than seeking farm-in interests.

The French executive said Total was looking into the
possibility of acquiring tracts around the M5 and M6 blocks, which Total
currently shares with Unocal and PTT Exploration & Production of
Thailand.

Mr Beaque said Thailand's ?tremendous? demand for natural gas provided a
ready market for any incremental gas which Total might be able to find
and produce offshore Burma.

The Paris-based executive also revealed Total-Unocal-PTTEP's plan to
launch soon an extensive exploration programme in the area outside the
Yadana structure, but within M5 and M6, to find if there were additional
gas reserves.

As for the Yadana gas field development, the Total chief
executive expressed confidence that Total, as the operator, can put the
field on stream in the next three years as committed under the gas supply
contract signed with Thailand in February. The company is to finalise the
main engineering study and is preparing to call tenders for offshore
work, Physical work offshore will start next year.

The field development of Yadana is quite similar to the
Bongkot gas field in the Gulf of Thailand, in which Total is also an
operator. The main difference will be that horizontal drilling techniques
will be used for the Burmese operation. Yadana, with certified reserves
of more than five trillion cubic feet (Tcf), is quite productive and does
not required Total to drill as many wells as is the case at Bongkot.
Mr Beaque said 10-15 wells wound be drilled in the initial stage, and
these wells were expected to be producing up to 500 million cubic feet
per day (Mmcfd), the level contracted with the Petroleum Authority of
Thailand (PTT).

On suggestions that the Burmese military junta employ forced local labour
for the construction of a gas pipeline from
Yadana to western Thailand, both Mr Beaque and Mr Marty gave an assurance
that the alliance would not let that happen. "Do you really think a
company like Unocal will do that?"  Asked Mr Marty, adding that Unocal
had a "code of ethics" to observe wherever it operated.

"We are going to control them (the supervision of pipe laying and related
works) very strictly," Mr Beaque said separately. Meanwhile, troubles
erupted on Burma's Yadana gas pipeline project with the confirmed killing
of five and wounding of 11 other members of a pipeline route survey team
by heavily armed attackers.

The March 8 incident reportedly took place near the village of Kanbauk,
near the western end of the planned pipeline and away from Burma's border
with Thailand.

The victims were Burmese nationals employed by the alliance of Total,
Unocal and PTTEP to survey the route of the pipeline that will transport
natural gas from the Yadana gas field, some 320 km south of Rangoon in
the Gulf of Matarban, to western Thailand.

Part of the 65-km onshore stretch of the pipeline goes through areas in
southeastern Burma where the ethnic Karen and Mon guerrillas are engaged
in warfare against Rangoon forces.
Leaders of the ethnic Karen and Mon guerrillas have in the recent past
repeatedly threatened to obstruct and destroy the Yadana gas pipeline.
They charged that the revenue from Yadana gas exports to
Thailand would strengthen the Rangoon military junta's ongoing human
rights abuses. (BP)

BRITISH MP SEEKS MEETING WITH AUNG SAN SUU KYI
17 April 1995
Prominent British parliamentarian David Steele, of the Liberal Democratic
Party, intends to meet Burmese dissident leader Aung San Suu Kyi in July
to honour her pro-democracy efforts, a daily reported yesterday.
Steele said here Saturday that I trust that (the Rangoon
junta) will allow me to visit in July when her unjustified five years of
house arrest are due to end,? the Sunday Nation quoted him as saying.
He added  that he would present Aung San Suu Kyi with his
party's Liberal International Prize for Freedom, the paper reported.
?Democrats throughout the world salute her courage and determination,? he
said of the Nobel Peace Prize-winner, who has been under house arrest
since July 1989.
She could easily have taken the option of leaving  her country and
joining her family in Britain,? he was quoted as saying. Steele, who
spoke at a function to mark the 50th anniversary of Thailand's Democrat
Party, indicated that Aung San Suu
Kyi's contact with outsiders remained very closely guarded. His request
to meet with her in February was turned down, he said, adding that Aung
San Suu Kyi's husband, British academic Michael Aris, had also been
recently refused a visa, the daily said.
Aris spent Christmas with his wife in Rangoon in December, later
releasing an official statement from her to the press in Bangkok.
Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) swept free
elections in Rangoon in 1990, though the military regime the State Law
and Order Restoration Council (Slorc), has
refused to relinquish power.
Junta leaders have met with her recently, leading some to
speculate that she would be released this year. (BP)






BKK POST: DEMOCRACY WILL PREVAIL IN BURMA
16 April 95
THE other day, while I was discussing Burmese politics with a group of
friends, a young Japanese reporter made a despondent remark. "Everything
looks discouraging." He is a progressive news reporter, who cherishes
freedom and was not happy to
learn about of the Burmese democratic movement.
"All the ethnic groups that are fighting with arms had signed cease-fire
agreements with the military government. Japan has started to help the
junta, and I wonder how long the Americans can bear the Burmese drug
problem. Sooner or later, they too will cooperate with the Burmese
military," he thus recited a list of bad news to me.
"Is there any hope for restoration of democracy in Burma? he asked.
Without hesitation, my reply was, "Why not?"
"How can you say that? Are you aware that the strength of the Burmese
army will soon number 500,000 men, and the soldier will be watching every
step of the citizens everywhere?" he argued. I needed a long explanation
to justify my optimism and I did just that.
Sixty years ago, people in Burma. Indonesia and Indochina who wanted to
be rid of colonialist rule in their countries could not foresee that they
would be free one day. Capitalistic
imperialism is so strong that the freedom fighters did not even know how
to topple the system. They were very weak and fought the fought the
foreign rulers with any vision of hope. At that time they were rather
vague what the future held for them.
"The British Empire is so vast the sun never sets in its
dominion. Their army was unparalleled, and we fought them with only a few
homemade weapons we could muster. Of course we
lost. The rebel leaders almost always bungled the job. But whenever an
occasion presented itself, we tried," an old
Burmese revolutionary memorialised in a book that led to
nowhere.
Then it happened. A change emerged, politically, when the
Second World War began, and all the enslaved nations were
freed at the end of it. Nevertheless, freedom fighters who overthrew the
foreign rulers tried to establish perpetual
rule.
They turned into petty-dictators in the place of their foreign masters in
many of the small nations. As a result, the civil wars came, and foreign
powers intrusted in to the wartorn
nations. These dictators needed allies for their new brand of war the
cold type.
Thus, military dictatorship became rooted in most of the
emerging nations. Burma was one of them. The gloom of the
political climate darkened the nation for three decades
because of the historical background of foreign imperialism. Burma is not
the only one. There are other Asian Nations as well, like Indonesia,
Singapore and Malaysia, where three
petty-dictators are lording it over their countrymen. Even Thailand and
the Philippines, where the military have now
returned to the barracks, were once in the list of countries engulfed
under the could of darkness.
Filipinos had paid a big price with blood to remove the
dictator from their shoulders. Four years ago no one believed that three
would be graciously encamped in their barracks. Watching the Thai and
Filipinos enjoying their democratic
rights, other nations know that all the small countries can also build a
democratic foundation in their land. It is not a midsummer night's dream.
It is definitely a system that works. Only a decade ago, all South
American countries were securely under the military boots of
dictatorship. Today expert for Cuba, all the governments of Latin
American nations headed by elected leaders who obtained power by the
votes of the people. A few years ago, the South Korea generals were
always busy staging counter coups against one an other People matter
most, for voters decides what they want in South Korea today.
Democracy is an emerging phenomenon in all of the civilised world, and no
one or no thing could hold back its advancement. Among the suppressed
countries, dictators, nation after nation will have to yield to the
progression of democracy. People's revolutions, foreign powers'
pressures, a split among the
autocrats, and so on, are some of the progressive elements of the system
that will eventually overshadow the dictatorship system.
It is rather hard to see how this will come about. But it will eventually
happen because the collapse of all totalitarian governments is imminent.
The Singaporeans, Malaysians and
Indonesians, all of them will have total freedom, one day, some how.
The "will of the people" is mounting even in China. At the meeting of the
National People's congress last month, 38 % of the delegates voted
against a government proposal. The era of 99.78% support for the
establishment is ending in China today. Finance Minister Liu Zhongli
claimed that he had to go from "province to province" to campaign to gain
votes for his
budget proposition. Democratic development seeded in China might bloom
into a big field of flowers in the feature.
For the Burmese, the restoration of democracy will came sooner than in
other countries. It is obvious that the army has
totally destroyed the rich nation and turned it into a pauper state.
First, they closed the doors and built a socialistic  economic system,
the after the fiasco, they open the doors to neighbours to exploit the
nation's resources.
The aim of the due system are to profit the military brass. It is no
wonder that it failed miserably. Both systems flopped and the military
government could not feed the people of a nation that was once recognised
as the rice bowl of the world. Thousand of economic refugees are
deserting their home to eke out a meager living across borders where they
are often
exploited. Prisons at home are filled with people who
complain. The Burmese people are living in a state of chaos. "The Burmese
political climate changes fast," I explain to the Japanese novice. "In
the 50s, Burmese journalists had free access to the prime minister. They
could call Premier U Nu's residence at five in the morning for an
interview after the old man's morning prayers. But after the old man's
morning prayers. But after the coup in 1962 the situation changed
dramatically. Journalists, let alone those wanting to meet President Ne
Win, did not even know whether the General was home or abroad.
"I remember once in early March in 1962, I had printed a story about a
man, a drunkard, who staged a one-man demonstration in front the prime
minister's residence demanding the price of booze be reduce. A few day
later, millions od people lost
their grievances as a result of the coup d'etat carried out by Ne Win."
Landed the story, and told him yet another. "For three
decades, the Burmese, the journalists, the diplomats, all of them could
not have prophesied the fall of Ne Win.
"A young student who wanted to listen to a song that he liked got into an
argument at a small tea shop. And that small fight ended Ne Win's regime.
"The whole institution built on a strong foundation collapsed because of
an argument over a song. I am sure no writer could write that sceranio
for the end of a system."
Any event of minute importance could bring down the Burmese military any
day. Maybe tomorrow. I fell that the time is
close and near.

U Thaung is former chief editor od the Burmese language
newspaper, The Mirror Daily, the 67 year-old ventran
journalist now writes for New Era journal, and is based in Florida. (BP) 



NATION: RANGOON SOLDIERS AND KAREN KILLED MONS, CLAIMS STUDENTS
16 APRIL 1995

RANGOON soldiers and member of a breakaway Karen faction
jointly attacked ethnic Mon villages in southern Burma,
killing three, student dissidents claimed yesterday.
A military column entered Zegon vilage in northern Bilin
township  in the Mon State on April 9 and opened fire at the villagers,
killing a man and a women , both 23 year old, the ABSDF said.
The same mlitary unit launched an assault on nearby Mae Pa Li village the
following day and killed a 20 year old mahout, it said.
The joint force of the ruling Slorc and DKBO was led by
captain attached to Slorc's southeastern command, the
statement said. (TN)


BKK POST: KENNEDY JOINS LIST CRITISING JUNTA RULEK
16 April 1995

Us Senator Edward Kennedy (D-Mass) recently condemned the
Burmese military regime for their campaign against the Burmese resistance
and overrunning Manerplaw, the headquarters of
Karen National Union and various democracy groups.
In his reply to Dr Aung Khin, secretary general,
International, of the Committee for Restoration of Democracy in Burma,
Senator Kannedy said, "I strongly share your
concerns regarding the reprehensible military dictorship in Burma and the
human rights violations that are taking place in that country."
The letter dated March 16 said the senator is aware that the military
regime continues to ignore the outcome of the 1990 national elections and
refused to transfer power to the
democratically elected government.
Many of the elected officials, including 1991 Nobel laureate Aung San Suu
Kyi remain in detention today.
"Last year, I joined twenty-five other senators in writing to Secretary
of State Warren Christopher to express our concern regarding the lack of
progress in Burma on human rights and political reform.
"We urged the secretary to make Burma a priority at the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) conference in Thailand.
The Administration subsequently raised these
concerns at the Asean conference.
"I am pleased that President Clinton shares this priority and he is
pressing the military regime for democratic reforms. Aung San Suu Kyi's
release, and the initiation of dialogue with members of the pro-democracy
movement that won the 1990 popula elections.
"Despite our best efforts, however, the military regime
continues to deny citizens of Burma their democratic rights. He said he
had expressed his outrage to the White House
regarding the attack on Manerplaw which forced about 15,000 Burmese
villagers to flee across the border into Thailand. Manerplaw fell to
Slorc and the breakaway Democratic Kayin Buddhist Army troops on January
27. Kawmoora, the last KNU stronghold, opposite Thailand's Mae Sot, was
overrun on
February 21 after intense fighting.
"The Administration has indicated that it shares our concern regarding
the attack on Manerplaw and is closely monitoring the fate of the
civilians who have been displaced by the
fighting," Senator Kennedy said.
He added that the Administration has welcomed assistance from the
Government of Thailand to provide safe haven for those who are fleeing
Burma."
He said that the cause of the people of Burma is just, and their struggle
for democracy and the rule of law deserves the support of all members of
the international community.
"The dictators of Burma may have power for the movement, but they do not
have the hearts of the Burmese people.
I stand with the people of Burma in spirit and commitment, and you may be
assured that I will continue to support all
initiatives to promote democracy and human rights in their nation," he
concluded. (TN)

NATION: RANGOON TROOPS KILL ETHNIC MONS
16 April 1995

Rangoon soldiers and members of a breakaway Karen faction
jointly attacked ethnic Mon villagers in southern Burma,
killing three, student dissidents said in a statement received here
yesterday.

No independent confirmation of the allegation was immediately available.
A military column entered Zegon village in northern Bilintownship in the
Mon State on April 9 and opened fire at the villagers, killing a man and
a woman, both 23 years old. (TN) 





KHRG: SUMMARY OF TYPES OF FORCED PORTERING
         
A Special Independent Report by the Karen Human Rights Group              
          
April 11, 1995  /  KHRG #95-13


Forced portering has come to be known as one of the worst forms of human
rights abuse by the  Tatmadaw, or Burma Army.  Many people have heard the
constant reports of civilians kidnapped,  driven to the frontline like
cattle under heavy loads of ammunition, forcibly starved and then killed 
as soon as they can no longer carry.  In our reports, villagers and SLORC
written orders often  refer to "permanent porters", "operations porters",
and various kinds of conditions experienced  during portering, and it is
useful to have an understanding of what all this means. 

This document has been written in response to a specific request for a
document summarizing the  various types and conditions of forced
portering in Burma; however, we will also distribute it more  widely in
case it may be of use to anyone who is interested in Burma human rights
issues.  It is  important to stress that this document discusses only
forced portering, and that this is only one of  the many constant abuses
being faced by the peoples of Burma. 
                                  

Background

Away from the central plains, Burma is very rugged - steep mountainous
terrain, dense forests,  rainy season making paths impassable, and no
roads.  Even in the central plains, major roads are  rudimentary.  In the
mountainous terrain covering most of the country, even such roads are 
nonexistent.  People talk about the dry season from November to May as
"fighting season",  because during rainy season large-scale military
operations are almost impossible to mount.  Even  in "fighting season",
some means has to be found to transport ammunition and supplies over
rough  terrain.  Ammunition and weapons are very bulky and heavy, and
frontline soldiers also require  alot of food and other supplies.  While
guerilla forces can live among the villagers, SLORC troops  are hated by
the population and must bring in their supplies because they cannot steal
everything  they need from the sparse village populations.

The use of civilian porters was common by the British Army in colonial
days.  Porters were men  who were either hired for money, or conscripted
from a village and made to carry supplies to the  next village, where
they were sent home and the process was repeated.  After Burmese 
independence, the Burma Army continued using similar practices.  However,
as the Burma Army  degenerated into a strictly repressive force and
particularly after Ne Win took power in 1962,  portering became forced,
unpaid, harsher and more brutal.  Even before SLORC took power in  1988,
portering was already well-known among the people as a brutal form of
slavery that must be  escaped at any cost.  It was already driving
refugees across the borders. 
                             

Types of Portering

SLORC has not only taken portering to new extremes of brutality, but they
have also used it as  part of the "Four Cuts" policy which aims to cut
off civilian support for opposition forces by  terrorizing the civilian
population and making them destitute.  In this context, villages are
faced  with such constant demands for porters and other forced labour
that they can barely work to  support themselves anymore.  Villagers and
townspeople alike must constantly face the threat of  various types of
portering, primarily the following:

OPERATIONS PORTERS:  This is the type of portering many people have read
about.  These are  porters who are kidnapped whenever SLORC needs a large
number of porters at once for a  military offensive or other large-scale
operation.  Soldiers sweep villages and take everyone; police  units and
army trucks sweep the streets of towns and cities, surround video
cinemas, train stations,  even weddings and religious festivals, and take
every able-bodied person.  Soldiers storm every  house in a neighbourhood
at 3 a.m.  Sometimes women, children and the elderly are let go; 
sometimes not.  The rest are piled onto trucks and taken to army camps or
jails, where they are  held pending further orders - some sit in jail
cells for a week before the army comes to collect  them.  Apparently, the
military command receives porter demands from each Battalion or Strategic 
Command, then decides where the porters are to be rounded up and issues
orders to the army or  district officials in the area, who then use
soldiers, police and even firemen to round up porters.   The porters are
often taken in towns, cities or villages hundreds of kilometres from the
fighting  area, sometimes because of lack of sufficient local population
but more often as a deliberate  strategy to make the porters too
frightened to escape in a frontline area far from their home.   Porters
for operations in Karen State are sometimes brought from areas as far
away as Rangoon,  southern Mon or northern Shan states.  Porters from
different areas or ethnic backgrounds can  easily be told things like "If
you escape, the Karen will cut your throat". 

Operations porters are kept for as long as the operation lasts, or even
longer - often 3 months or  more, or as some porters have said, "Until
you either die or escape".  Over the course of a month  or two, generally
up to half of them will die and up to half of them will escape, so new
porters are  constantly having to be sent.  Any caught trying to escape
are either killed or brutally beaten and  forced to continue.  They must
carry loads of ammunition or supplies of 30 to 40 kilos per man  and 20
to 30 kilos per woman.  They are generally fed one or two handfuls of
rice a day with little  or nothing else, and are often deprived of water
because it would "slow them down".  They are  generally not given any
chance to bathe, and only have the light clothing in which they were 
captured.  They have to sleep in the dirt, often inside pointed and
guarded bamboo fences which  they are forced to build themselves.  Men
are generally kept apart from women; women are often  dragged off during
the night to be gang raped by soldiers or officers.  When they get sick, 
medicine is refused, and when they get too weak to keep up they are
beaten or prodded with  bayonets.  Those who can no longer continue are
generally either left behind in the jungle to die,  beaten and left
behind, kicked down the mountainside, tied up and thrown in the river,
beaten to  death with rifle butts, shot dead or have their throats cut. 

PERMANENT PORTERS:  Soldiers need supplies and ammunition whether they
are patrolling or not.   Villages in all parts of Burma, whether they are
near a fighting area or not, receive written orders  specifying the
number of "permanent porters" they must provide to each SLORC Army camp 
which is nearby.  This is the number of people from that village that
must always be at the camp to  be at the disposal of the soldiers as
porters and messengers.  Usually the number is based on village  size;
for example, a village of 50 households may be required to provide 10
permanent porters to a  nearby camp.  These 10 people will have to go for
a 5, 7, or 10-day shift, taking all their own food  and sleeping at the
camp, to do whatever is required of them by the soldiers (including being 
raped).  At the end of this time, their replacements for the next shift
must arrive from the village or  they will not be released.  Treatment of
permanent porters tends to be less brutal than operations  porters and
beatings are rare, partly because the people bring the food and clothing
they require so  they don't get too weak, they usually don't have to
march as hard or as far as operations porters,  and partly because they
have come "voluntarily".  If a village fails to send permanent porters as 
requested, it will be shelled or burned down, village leaders will be
tortured or executed, or the  soldiers will simply storm the village and
capture many more porters than they had demanded.  If  there are several
army camps in the area, the village will usually be forced to send
permanent  porters to all of them independently.  The villager appointed
by SLORC as "Village LORC  Chairman" (usually against his will) receives
the demands for the porters, and villagers have to take  turns as he
assigns.  If the porters don't go, he will be the first one tortured. 

EMERGENCY PORTERS:  In addition to "permanent porter" quotas, villages
are constantly bombarded  with SLORC written orders demanding certain
numbers of porters or other short-term labourers to  come to the army
camp for "emergencies" - short-term jobs such as hauling the monthly rice 
supply to the local outposts.  These people must take their own food and
any required tools, and  are generally not treated brutally in the course
of their labour; however, they are still kept under  constant guard at
gunpoint, and women are often called for such duties and then raped by
night at  the army camp.  These people also often run out of food,
because usually the written order will  call them to come for 1 or 2 days
but then they will be kept for 3 days to a week or longer.  When  SLORC
wants operations porters, they often demand emergency porters for a day
and then keep  them and send them to the frontline.  As with other
demands, any village which fails to send the  emergency porters as
demanded faces being shelled or burned down and having its elders 
executed, or the soldiers will simply storm the village and capture many
more porters than they had  demanded.  Villagers have to go by turns as
decided by the Village LORC Chairman (see under  "Permanent Porters").

PORTERS OF OPPORTUNITY:  Upon seeing a few farmers or a family along the
road or in the fields,  SLORC troops on the move or patrolling will
generally grab them, interrogate them roughly and  often take them as
porters, with the idea that "you can never have too many porters". 
Sometimes  such people will only be kept for a few hours, sometimes for
several days or more.  Quite often,  SLORC troops will accuse them of
being rebel sympathizers simply because they were walking  along the road
or in the forest and will treat them extremely brutally, often ending up
by torturing  them to death.  Otherwise, they are generally treated
similarly to operations porters. 

PORTERING AS PUNISHMENT: 
 In urban or semi-urban areas, police or army units often sweep houses 
at night for porters as punishment for minor "infringements", such as
failure to pay monthly  "porter fees" or other protection money to SLORC
authorities or army battalions, failure to  register your house guests
(under SLORC law, any guest you have in your house must be  registered
with local authorities), or simply because some local official or
military officer has a  grudge against you.  In these cases, the victims
are usually sent to the police lockup, then handed  over to the local
army battalion, then often turned over to battalions who are on their way
to the  front line.  Many of these people end up as operations porters. 
House-to-house sweeps for  "infringements of the law" are also sometimes
used as an excuse during wider sweeps for  operations porters - in such
cases, people are often taken for failing to pay fees which they've 
already paid, or failing to register houseguests they've already
registered. 

CONVICT PORTERS:  
Hundreds of convicts are often taken from Burma's prisons, loaded onto
cattle  trucks and taken to frontline areas as operations porters.  There
they are treated at least as brutally  as civilian operations porters,
and are often kept at the frontline from one operation to the next, 
indefinitely, until they die or escape.  Many of them are taken from the
prisons shortly before their  sentences are about to expire, then kept at
the frontline long after they were supposed to be  released from prison. 
They are kept apart from the civilian porters and under the same amount
of  guard, and they are readily recognizable in their tattered prison
clothes - shirts and longyis of rough  burlap-type material, all dirty
white or all blue.  We have no confirmed reports of political  prisoners
being used as porters in this way, although it almost certainly has
happened.  Most of the  convicts are "criminals" - but most of those whom
we have interviewed have been imprisoned for  "crimes" such as being out
after curfew, throwing a stone at an army truck, or selling goods in the 
market without a SLORC licence.

PAID PORTERS:  Although SLORC units always collect "porter fees" which
are allegedly to hire  porters, porters are never paid by SLORC. 
However, in villages which are constantly or  occasionally faced with
demands for permanent or emergency porters, villagers are usually too 
afraid to go and will avoid the labour any way they can.  When it comes
their turn to go, they will  hire someone to go in their place if
possible.  Sometimes they can hire someone else in the village  to go in
their place, but usually they hire itinerant migrant workers, usually of
Indian descent, who  are so poor that they are forced to do anything they
can for a living.  Some of these labourers have  virtually made a
profession out of hiring themselves out to go in place of villagers. 
Some of them  become very adept at bribing the soldiers to get better
food while portering and to avoid beatings  and other mistreatment.  Many
of them escape from the soldiers as soon as they get the chance, 
although if they are going as a "permanent porter" replacement this will
only cause the army unit to  demand another villager from the village
responsible.  The hired porters often go as emergency or  permanent
porters only to find that SLORC is treating them too brutally or using
them as  operations porters, and then they try to escape.

                            
Porters in Battle

Porters are often taken into frontline battle conditions, especially if
they are carrying ammunition.   Most of the frontline areas have no fixed
line, but consist of SLORC troops advancing through  areas where they are
subject to ambush at any time.  In these areas, a column of porters is
often  forced to march in front of the troops as human minesweepers, and
many have lost their legs to  mines this way.  The SLORC officers and
Non-Commissioned Officers in many units force the  porters to switch
shirts with them, hoping that the porters will draw enemy fire while the
officers  will be seen as porters and spared.  During an ambush or
firefight, porters naturally dive for  whatever cover they can find. 
Sometimes the soldiers allow them to stay there, but sometimes  they
order them to stand up and bring ammunition to the point men.  There are
even cases where  the SLORC soldiers threaten to shoot the porters if
they don't get up and keep moving.  Any  porters who are killed are just
left to rot.  The seriously wounded are left to die.  Those who are 
slightly wounded are usually forced to continue carrying if they can.  If
they cannot, some units  will leave them or kill them, while others will
send them back together with the wounded soldiers  for treatment.  The
families of the dead are not compensated or even notified.  Whenever
SLORC  takes porters, they simply "disappear" - the family never knows
what has happened to them.  By  the time some escape and return home,
their families have already written them off as dead. 
                      

Women, children and the elderly

Most SLORC Battalions prefer men aged 18 to 40 as porters, because they
can carry the heaviest  loads.  However, they most often take porters
indiscriminately, including boys as young as 14 and  men as old as 70. 
Usually the young boys and old men are forced to carry loads almost as
heavy  as the young men.  When they need a large number, they take women
aged 15 through 60 as well.   Some Battalions also go out of their way to
take women porters in order to rape them - the soldiers  prefer young
unmarried girls for this.  The women are forced to carry loads about ¾ as
heavy as  those carried by the men.  They receive similar treatment in
terms of food and sleeping conditions.   They are usually beaten less
often and less brutally than the men, but they are still beaten.  Worst 
of all, during rest breaks and at night they are subject to brutal gang
rape by the soldiers and  officers.  Some die from the combined effects
of rape, beatings and exhaustion.  Others return  home with permanent
internal damage and no access to doctors, or are too ashamed to seek 
treatment.  Some return home to find they are pregnant with the child of
a hated Burmese soldier.   They secretly take desperate measures to rid
themselves of the baby, and some die or inflict  permanent damage on
themselves doing so.  If the village finds out or if they bear the child,
they  face possible ostracism and may have great difficulty finding a
husband. 
                        

"Porter fees" and Bribes

SLORC officials and military units collect "fees" from every family in
all villages and towns every  month, usually several times a month.  The
amounts are usually calculated roughly to drain the  local population of
its entire disposable income and then some.  The money is simply stolen
by the  local military officials, with a percentage often remitted to a
SLORC front company ("Myanmar  Economic Holdings Ltd.") in Rangoon.  One
of the most common fees is "porter fees" or "fees for  government
servants' salaries".  These fees are allegedly to hire porters, but
porters are never paid.   However, if you fail to pay any of these fees
you will probably be taken as a porter. 
During sweeps for operations porters, many people usually get free by
paying large bribes to the  military while they are still being held
locally, before being sent to the frontline.  These bribes  average 1,000
to several thousand Kyat.  For example, if a military unit requires 1,000
porters then  they will deliberately capture 3,000.  They will then begin
releasing those who can bribe them.   Sometimes the amount is fixed high,
such as 5,000 Kyat.  Sometimes it starts lower, maybe 800 or  1,000 Kyat,
and then as the number of people still being held drops closer to the
number of  porters needed, the price goes up.  The last group of people
released may have to pay 10,000 Kyat  or more each.  The people who are
left to go to the frontline are always the poor - the farmers,  trishaw
drivers, labourers, etc.

                       Portering for Opposition Groups

Opposition forces also need porters, and many of them conscript porters. 
Khun Sa's Mong Tai  Army has a bad reputation for conscription and
treatment of its porters.  However, the other  opposition groups tend to
use something more akin to British Army methods such as taking porters 
from one village to the next.  It is crucial to recognize the difference
between SLORC troops, who  are hated by the population, and opposition
troops, who are generally among family in the villages  and depend on the
villagers for intelligence and material support.  They also conscript
porters for  periods up to several weeks, and in many areas the people
are sick and tired of this labour.   However, during their time as
porters these villagers are fed and accomodated to the same standard  as
the soldiers (which is low), they are never beaten or otherwise
physically abused, and if they are  sick or wounded they either receive
treatment if it is available or are sent back.
_________________________________________________________________________
____________________________ 
Many people, including escaped porters themselves, often ask just how
SLORC soldiers can treat civilian porters so brutally.  The answer lies
in the statement we have heard from countless porters: "They just didn't
think of us as human beings."  It appears that in SLORC's  Officer
Training School, officers are indoctrinated to think of civilians in
general, especially after they have been taken as porters, as simple pack
animals there to serve the military.  SLORC officers and NCOs always talk
to porters using the same lines, almost word for word: "Medicine? This is
not your mother's house!"; "You are not our relatives!"; "It is your fate
to carry like this."  Burmese soldiers who hesitate to capture or beat
porters are always yelled at with, "Are these people your fathers? Your
brothers-in-law?"   The Tatmadaw teaches its soldiers and officers that
the Army is their only true blood, their only true family, and that
civilians are less than human.  In the field, officers enforce this
attitude on the rank and file soldiers through a combination of fear and
peer pressure - both of which are very strong factors when faced with a
population who hates you and porters who want nothing more than to
escape.       




MON INFORMATION SERVICE: UPDATE, APRIL 14 1995
1. April 12-14 celebration of Songkran Festival in Mon communities. 
2. Teachers Training Program.

3. Negotiations between Slorc and NMSP.

4. Proposed for genuine Peace Talk...

5. Co-ordination Committee for Mon Unity League.

6. Fightings.

7. NMSP denied ambush Thai police.

8. Another deceit of self-rule.

******************************************************************* 
1. APRIL 12-14 DELEBRATION OF SONGKRAN FESTIVAL.

April 12-14 is an occasion for merrymaking in Mon communities. In
Thailand, where the residence of Thai Mons, such as Patumthani, Phra
Pradaeng, Bankradee, Samutsakhorn, Ratchburi and Nonthaburi provin- cies
celebrated traditional Songkran Festival, merrymaking and Happy New Year
of Buddhist.

**************************************************

2. TEACHERS4 TRAINING PROGRAM.

A number of young Mon teachers are gathering at Thai Burma border to
attend a teachers4 training course which will start in mid April. About
50 young teachers from rural area of Mon State will atend and the course
will last for 6 weeks. There are a large number of Slorc4s military bases
in the Mon State but very few schools.

*************************************************

3. NEGOTIATIONS BETWEEN SLORC AND NMSP.

Slorc and NMSP ( New Mon State Party ) faced deadlock after 3 rounds of
talks in 1994. Slorc offered 12 places for stationing of Mon Nati- onal
Liberation Army, each one is 5 sqm in size. NMSP has agreed no- thing
with Slorc but keeps the window open for genuine peace negoti- ation with
Slorc. The NMSP has gained not much support from the Thai Mons because
its objective is just for federal state. The inclination of many Thai Mon
is the absolute Monland or Republic of Raman. 
*************************************************

4. PROPOSED FOR GENUINE PEACE TALK...

Representing New Mon State Party ( NMSP ), 
Mon Information Service ( MIS )
proposed through His Excellency Thai Foreign Minister, before his two 
day visit to Yangon on April 7-8 1995 , that for the genuine peace and
democracy of the whole country, Burma, :
     (1) The negociation should be tripartite, comprising State Law      
     and Order Restoration Council ( SLORC ), the elected MPs with the
     lead of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, and National Democratic fron ( NDF )
     representing ethnic nationalities.      
     (2) The negociation should take place at neutral area.      
     (3) The negociation should have a judge or chairperson and     
          observers.

************************************************ 

5. CO-ORDINATION COMMITTEE FOR MON UNITY LEAGUE.

After a four day seminar on Mon affairs, February 23-26, it was decided
to form " Mon Unity League" with the aim of national unity. The Mon Unity
League ( MUL ) will consist of representatives of various Mon national
organizations and intellects from various sections. This  league will be
law-maker for Mon national affairs. Prior to that, a co-ordination
committee is set up to carry out the works until the MUL is formed. The
committee has 9 members, 3 from Monland, 3 from NMSP and other 3 from
overseas Mon. Nai Tin Aung ( NMSP in charge of foreign affairs ) was
appointed as chairman and Nai Janaman ( Oversea Mon, MIS international
co-ordinator ) as secretary of the committee.

************************************************

6. FIGHTINGS.

On April 5, 1995 there was a unintentional shooting between SLORC and Mon
armed forces. It took place about 4 miles southwest of Three Pagoda Pass,
3 Mons were wounded and one SLORC soldier was shot down and 2 wounded.
Then, on April 6-7 there were some fightings in Yebyu Township, but no
casuatly was informed.

*****************************************************

7. NMSP DENIED AMBUSH THAI POLICE.

Two Thai border patrol were wounded as an unidentified armed group
ambushed them on April 5 1995. The NMSP has clarified that the  troop was
not under their command. There are several armed groups active in the
area along the gas pipeline project. Recently 5 members of the natural
gas survey team were shot down and 11 were wounded. It in not clear who
may be responsible. Previously Slorc compelled local villagers to bring
the materials for the construction of  slave labor camp in Pyingi
village, Kanbauk Township.

******************************************************

8. ANOTHER DECEIT OF SELF RULE.

SLORC4s National Constitution agreed on April 7, 1995 to grant self
administered status to six minority groups. It said, these ethnic groups
are living in regions dominated by larger minority groups. Naga would
have 3 townships in northwestern Burma, Wa 6 townships in the northeast,
Paoh 3 townships and Danu, Kokang and Palaung each has 2 townships. SLORC
often claims that there are 135 eth- nic groups in Burma. What happened,
within Karen National SLORC divided into 5 groups.  Divide and conquer
seems to be the  strategy to be used by dictatorial, brutal, oppressive
and un- legitimate government




SCB: BURMESE PASSIVE RESISTENCE
NBH03114  reg.burma 11:19 PM  Apr 14, 1995
(at niftyserve.or.jp)


ERRORS-TO:INET:strider@xxxxxxxxxxx
FROM:NBH03114@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Burmese Relief Center--Japan
DATE:April 15, 1995
TIME: 3:09PMJST
SUBJ:Burmese People's Passive Resistance, 
article by Myint Shwe

DEFYING THE LEOPARD
Burmese Show the Power of Passive Resistance

Invisible Weapons of the People
by Myint Shwe

Sometimes reading about oppressive, murderous regimes in
foreign lands serves more to alienate and depress than inform and
outrage.  For those who aren't desensitized to it, the enormity of human
suffering cause feelings of powerlessness. 
The story of the grassroots resistance in Burma, where people haven't
given up hope for a better society despite decades of blood-spattered
dictatorships, is at once horrifying and deeply inspiring.  And unlike
many international conflicts, students can easily use their economic
power to make an effective call for justice.

Freedom of expression in Burma begins on toilet room walls.  But while
the creative writing of other teens of the world is dominated by sexual
fantasy, in Rangoon, capital of Burma, washrooms have democracy walls.

The ruling military regime of Burma has freely plastered the whole
country with their slogan "Whoever divides us: We
remain strongly united" on huge and costly billboards.  This is intended
for its rank and file and as a response to all enemies at home or abroad. 
Recently however, a line appeared on a
washroom wall of the most sacred shrine and the major tourist attraction
in the country that greatly alarmed the State Law and Order Restoration
Council (SLORC).  It was an ironic
completion to their slogan, that reads: "We will split ourselves when the
time comes."

SLORC, true to its history of brutal repression, swooped down immediately
on the area the writing appeared -- informers are plentiful in this city
of three million inhabitants.  All four approaches to the shrine from
foothill to the top were sealed off for the day and all suspicious
looking youths in a mile
diametre around the pagoda were interrogated.  Those who
happened to be near the washroom that morning were even
more unfortunate.  They were taken to the intelligence units, harshly
questioned and held until the supposed culprit was discovered.

In Burma, where it can be said that fort-five million are
oppressed by forty-five thugs in uniform, strong dislike of the
dictatorship occasionally shows the power of passive
resistance.  Even the news of a washroom wall writing spreads very --
from mouth to mouth, with sardonic smiles or laughter in market places,
in cafes, even at bus stops.

Supplying the Army

People have used graffiti as a mode of resistance since SLORC gained
power through a bloody coup in 1988.  Writings
attacked the army, appearing everywhere on the walls around the city,
written quickly, anonymously, with anything at hand.  The earliest one
was written with fast varnish paint on the side of the municipal
excrement-carrying truck: "Army Supply."  In Burma, stray dogs live on
human excrement.

Sometimes, students and youth even set themselves Kamikaze-like missions
expre ssing their open
defiance against the
regime.  A mature student named Thein Tun, weary of his own ineffective
exiled opposition in Thailand, slipped back into Burma and began openly
distributing anti-regime pamphlets in the streets of Rangoon.  He is now
serving a seven-year jail sentence under Section (5) 1 of the Emergency
Provisions Act in Insein Jail, Southeast Asia's most infamous prison.

Even after six years of defeat, most Rangoonians still do not accept it
as final and they quarrel with those who have
accepted it.  They still show signs of derision at every chance,
revealing that their passivity is only due to their total
helplessness.  On September 18, 1994, the sixth anniversary of SLORC's
coup, a man from one of Rangoon's middle class
neighbourhoods took action.  Fired from his job for his part in the
pro-democracy uprisings, he hoised the old democratic
"Union of Burma" flag last used during the civilian rule.  It contrasted
with his neighbour's new "Union of Myanmar"
flag, which showed he had embraced the new order.

This democratic sympathizer was taken to the intelligence
headquarters and questioned for three days and two nights
without breaks for food or sleep.  In rotation he was asked questions
like "What did you mean by raising that old flag?  Which organization is
behind you to make such a bold
gesture?  What do you think of the SLORC, the army and the current
leaders of the state?"

He maintained that it was a sheer mistake, an accident. 
Though dissatisfied with his answer, they drove him back
home so as to disprove the news of his arrest should it get leaked to the
foreign press.  Following his friends advice to flee, he narrowly escaped
when they came for him a second
time.  He is now in Thailand under the protection of the office of United
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

Asking for trouble?

Some people think that making these gestures is merely asking for
trouble.  Yet even these people sometimes find themselves telling jokes
about the craziness of the junta leaders.  People will tease a friend who
is frightened by a loud noise, "Don't be afraid, the shooting is only
into the sky."  This is a misquote of Ne Win, the Burmese dictator, who
threatened the country at the advent of the 1988 popular uprising by
saying, "When the army shoots, it shots to hit, no shooting into he sky." 
Senior General Saw Maung, the first chief of SLORC and responsible for
1200 civilians in Rangoon alone in September 1988
claimed in a speech to have saved the country.  For this, the people gave
him the nickname of "I Saved Burma Saw
Maung."

Ironies quickly change into humour and jokes which in turn are
transformed into invisible weapons of the people.   Where freedom of
expression is totally restricted, rumours work very well.  Every morning,
people read these independent "Daily News (without) papers" from lips in
public places such as
cafes, green markets and workplaces.  News and opinions are exchanged
freely within trusted circles.  Sometimes, they even send "Open Letters,"
consisting of fabricated news, jokes and even curses, to the authorities
by letting the junta's informers overhear.  It's the Burmese version of
the Information
Superhighway, and the people call the informers their
government-paid "channels."

Youth and students regularly invent new ciphers and
codenames in order to pass the news safely under the noses of military
officers.  The military is always checking foreigners and tourists who
show interest in Burmese underground
politics, fearing that they will bring news of the suppression home.  The
government surveillance is so high in the city that informers are
believed to be at a one-in-five ration.  Their special assignment: watch
foreigners and the Burmese students who might try to contact them.

Black Market News

Some intellectuals and technicians try to smuggle out of the country --
not contraband goods, but news about the junta's human rights violations. 
On September 4, 1994, Dr. Khin
Zaw Win, a former UNICEF worker, was arrested at Rangoon
airport when he was about to board a plane bound for
Singapore.  The agents found in his belongs a diskette
supposedly containing "false news about the state."  He was sentenced to
a ten year term of hard labour in Insein Jail.  His trial was held behind
prison walls, not in a city courtroom.  Amnesty International is
requesting his release along with other Burmese prisoners.

The junta's absolute watchfulness is not only with news leaks, but also
with the news filtering in from democratic countries.  All traders and
sailors who returned home via Thailand were carefully searched at the
airport.  Those who were found to be in possession of the anti-regime New
Era Journal (published from the Thai-Burma border and backing the exiled
civilian government) were charged with high treason and sentenced to
twenty years in jail.

They are only recent additions to a list of indefinite length as the
Burmese dictatorship continues.  The rulers and the ruled both watch each
other's weakness like two chess players at the table. The junta is
leading the tournament.  Yet, it is not unbeatable should the people find
its Achilles heel -- people have hopes for a split within the army.  The
leaders,
superstitious and fearing bad omens, remember with
trepidation that the main body of the army wholly voted
against them in the 1990 election.  They also witnessed the Soviet Army's
neutrality in the Russian episode of 1991.  This explains their inability
to tolerate any "split thoughts," even if it's just on a washroom wall.

The junta's recent display of famous political prisoner (and 1991 Nobel
Laureate for Peace) Aung San Suu Kyi was a
move worthy of Hollywood, and unfortunately indicates no
real change.  Kevin Heppner, a Metro Toronto gentleman
returned from Burma and is now showing pictures depicting
the reality there to Canadians.  From him, we learn that the leopard has
not yet changed its spots.

(Myint Shwe has been involved in Burmese anti-dictatorship activities
since the 1970s and was imprisoned there five years for it.  After the
1988 national uprising in Burma he fled to the jungle on the Burma border
and lived a guerrilla life for a year.  He arrived in Canada nine months
ago and is currently working as a native speaker informant for Burmese at
the Department of Languages, Literature and Linguistics at York
University.)


The Choice of a New Generation:
Do I want to support a dictatorship?

By Myint Shwe

Six years ago in 1988, a military dictatorship (SLORC)
disdained all norms of decent humanity and killed at least 12,000
citizens in six weeks in order to cling to the illegitimate power it
seized 26 years earlier.  It still continues to mock the world's call to
respect human rights, and is denying these to forty five million Burmese
people.

It recently expanded and upgraded its military power -- for use against
its own people.  The weapons purchased from China
alone cost $1.2 billion US.  For payments it has sold the
country's vast natural resources such as primeval rain forests, minerals,
gems, jade, oil and gas reserves and, though
indirectly, opium.  It also invites foreign investments to boost income. 
These profiteers included oil giants such as Total, Nippon Oil, Petro
Canada and PepsiCo.

Pepsi's timely money ($4 million US) along with that from
Thai logging and fishing rights, has saved the SLORC
dictatorship -- and prolonged the servitude of the Burmese people.  It's
presence as an internationally famous American firm also renders the
military junta legitimacy.

Lately the military has used chemical and biological weapons to wipe out
Burma's Karen native people from strategic areas.  Its army of
trigger-happy killers and rapists is driving
hundreds of thousands of people of all social and ethnic
minority groups out of the country, forcing them to become refugees in
neighboring lands.  It is also still holding political prisoners,
including Aung San Suu Kyi, the 1991 Nobel
Laureate for Peace, San San Nwe, a celebrated woman write
and MP and Nay Min, a well known lawyer and journalist, in prison or in
custody without real charges.

Over time, themselves disillusioned with the state of things in Burma,
some business firms such as Eddie Bauer, Levi
Strauss, Texaco, Petro Canada and others withdrew from
Burma.  But PepsiCo, instead of pulling out like others, now enjoys the
monopoly of Burma's fast food industry and even plans to open new
ventures: Pizza Hut, KFC and Taco Bell
restaurants, in addition to current Pepsi and 7-UP bottlers.  It even
sponsored a trade show to please the military rulers. 
Former Petro Canada executive John Ralson Saul called
SLORC generals, "Thugs, criminals and drug dealers." A
statement by one of a withdrawing Levi Strauss executives is remarkable. 
He said, "It is not possible to do business in Burma without directly
supporting the military government
and its pervasive violations of human rights."

Gotta Boycott PEPSI!

>From Excalibur/York University/April 5
TOTAL,UNOCAL SET TO ACQUIRE GREATER INTERESTS IN BURMA
BY BOONSONG KOSITCHOTHANA
17 April 1995
Although their business involvement in Burma has been
criticised by anti-Rangoon elements, French oil firm Total and US energy
concern Unocal are looking to acquire a greater
interest in oil/gas exploration in the military-ruled country. The
alliance, already engaged in the $1-billion development of Burma's
largest known off shore gas field, Yadana, is looking to acquire
additional acreages adjacent to the field.
Unocal vice-president Marty Miller and Total chief executive for the Far
East J.M. Beuque revealed this move to the
Business Post as the next step to boost their controversial presence in
Burma, especially in offshore areas which they believe possess a strong
gas potential.
?Yes, we'd like to pick up some more acreages, probably with Total,? Mr
Miller said. The California-based executive noted that Unocal tried to
get new blocks rather than seeking
farm-in interests.
The French executive said Total was looking into the
possibility of acquiring tracts around the M5 and M6 blocks, which Total
currently shares with Unocal and PTT Exploration & Production of
Thailand.
Mr Beaque said Thailand's ?tremendous? demand for natural gas provided a
ready market for any incremental gas which Total might be able to find
and produce offshore Burma.
The Paris-based executive also revealed Total-Unocal-PTTEP's plan to
launch soon an extensive exploration programme in the area outside the
Yadana structure, but within M5 and M6, to find if there were additional
gas reserves.
As for the Yadana gas field development, the Total chief
executive expressed confidence that Total, as the operator, can put the
field on stream in the next three years as
committed under the gas supply contract signed with Thailand in February.
The company is to finalise the main engineering study and is preparing to
call tenders for offshore work, Physical work offshore will start next
year.
The field development of Yadana is quite similar to the
Bongkot gas field in the Gulf of Thailand, in which Total is also an
operator. The main difference will be that horizontal drilling techniques
will be used for the Burmese operation. Yadana, with certified reserves
of more than five trillion cubic feet (Tcf), is quite productive and does
not required Total to drill as many wells as is the case at Bongkot.
Mr Beaque said 10-15 wells wound be drilled in the initial stage, and
these wells were expected to be producing up to 500 million cubic feet
per day (Mmcfd), the level contracted with the Petroleum Authority of
Thailand (PTT).

On suggestions that the Burmese military junta employs forced local
labour for the construction of a gas pipeline from Yadana to western
Thailand, both Mr Beaque and Mr Marty gave an assurance that the alliance
would not let that happen. "Do you really think a company like Unocal
will do that?" Asked Mr Marty, adding that Unocal had a "code of ethics"
to observe wherever it operated.

?We are going to control them (the supervision of pipe laying and related
works) very strictly,? Mr Beaque said separately. Meanwhile, troubles
erupted on Burma's Yadana gas pipeline project with the confirmed killing
of five and wounding of 11 other members of a pipeline route survey team
by heavily armed attackers.

The March 8 incident reportedly took place near the village of Kanbauk,
near the western end of the planned pipeline and away from Burma's border
with Thailand.

The victims were Burmese nationals employed by the alliance of Total,
Unocal and PTTEP to survey the route of the pipeline that will transport
natural gas from the Yadana gas field, some 320 km south of Rangoon in
the Gulf of Matarban, to western Thailand.

Part of the 65-km onshore stretch of the pipeline goes through areas in
southeastern Burma where the ethnic Karen and Mon guerrillas are engaged
in warfare against Rangoon forces.

Leaders of the ethnic Karen and Mon guerrillas have in the recent past
repeatedly threatened to obstruct and destroy the Yadana gas pipeline.
They charged that the revenue from Yadana gas exports to
Thailand would strengthen the Rangoon military junta's ongoing human
rights abuses. (BP)

BRITISH MP SEEKS MEETING WITH AUNG SAN SUU KYI
17 April 1995

Prominent British parliamentarian David Steele, of the Liberal Democratic
Party, intends to meet Burmese dissident leader Aung San Suu Kyi in July
to honour her pro-democracy efforts, a daily reported yesterday.
Steele said here Saturday that I trust that (the Rangoon
junta) will allow me to visit in July when her unjustified five years of
house arrest are due to end,? the Sunday Nation quoted him as saying.
He added  that he would present Aung San Suu Kyi with his
party's Liberal International Prize for Freedom, the paper reported.
?Democrats throughout the world salute her courage and determination,? he
said of the Nobel Peace Prize-winner, who has been under house arrest
since July 1989.

She could easily have taken the option of leaving  her country and
joining her family in Britain,? he was quoted as saying. Steele, who
spoke at a function to mark the 50th anniversary of Thailand's Democrat
Party, indicated that Aung San Suu Kyi's contact with outsiders remained
very closely guarded. His request to meet with her in February was turned
down, he said, adding that Aung San Suu Kyi's husband, British academic
Michael Aris, had also been recently refused a visa, the daily said.

Aris spent Christmas with his wife in Rangoon in December, later
releasing an official statement from her to the press in Bangkok.
Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) swept free
elections in Rangoon in 1990, though the military regime the State Law
and Order Restoration Council (Slorc), has refused to relinquish power.
Junta leaders have met with her recently, leading some to
speculate that she would be released this year. (BP)


**************************************************************
NEWS SOURCES REGULARLY COVERED/ABBREVIATIONS USED BY BURMANET:
 ABSDF: ALL BURMA STUDENT'S DEMOCRATIC FRONT
 AMNESTY: AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
 AP: ASSOCIATED PRESS
 AFP: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
 AW: ASIAWEEK
 Bt.: THAI BAHT; 25 Bt. EQUALS US$1 (APPROX),
 BBC: BRITISH BROADCASTING CORPORATION
 BF: BURMA FORUM
 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
 GOA: GOVERNMENT OF AUSTRALIA
 IRRAWADDY: NEWSLETTER PUBLISHED BY BURMA INFORMATION GROUP
 KHRG: KAREN HUMAN RIGHTS GROUP
 KNU: KAREN NATIONAL UNION
 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
 MNA: MYANMAR NEWS AGENCY (SLORC)
 THE NATION: A DAILY NEWSPAPER IN BANGKOK
 NCGUB: NATIONAL COALITION GOVERNMENT OF THE UNION OF BURMA
 NLM: NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR (DAILY STATE-RUN NEWSPAPER,RANGOON)
 NMSP: NEW MON STATE PARTY
 RTA:REC.TRAVEL.ASIA NEWSGROUP
 RTG: ROYAL THAI GOVERNMENT
 SCB:SOC.CULTURE.BURMA NEWSGROUP
 SCT:SOC.CULTURE.THAI NEWSGROUP
 SEASIA-L: S.E.ASIA BITNET MAILING LIST
 SLORC: STATE LAW AND ORDER RESTORATION COUNCIL
 TAWSJ: THE ASIAN WALL STREET JOURNAL
 UPI: UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL
 USG: UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT
 XNA: XINHUA NEWS AGENCY
**************************************************************