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BurmaNet News: October 2, 1995
- Subject: BurmaNet News: October 2, 1995
- From: strider@xxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 02 Oct 1995 21:46:00
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Date: Mon, 2 Oct 1995 21:46:35 -0700
------------------------ BurmaNet ------------------------
"Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies"
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The BurmaNet News: October 2, 1995
Issue#243
Noted in Passing:
Thai banks have even had their cash shipments stolen. -
Bruce R. Birmingham, President of Bank of Nova
Scotia referring to Thai banks which have tried to set
up operations in Burma. (quoted in CFOB: BANK OF
NOVA SCOTIA DECIDES NOT TO ENTER BURMA)
Headlines:
========
COMMENT ON WITHDRAWAL OF BURMA AMENDMENT
CFOB: BANK OF NOVA SCOTIA DECIDES NOT TO ENTER BURMA
ISBDA: PRISONS CLEANED UP AND INTELLIGENCE PROBES ALERTED
S.H.A.N : THE CEC SWEEPS AGAIN - REWARD REVOKED
NATION: LETTERS - BURMA ARMY
NATION: LETTER - MOVING REFUGEES
NATION: CHILDREN, BURMESE NABBED FOR BEGGING
INDEPENDENT LETTER: ANSWER TO MR. GREENWOOD
----------------------------------------------------------
Produced with the support of the Burma Information Group (B.I.G).
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-------------------------------------------------------------
INFORMATION ABOUT BURMA VIA THE WEB AND GOPHER:
Information about Burma is available via the WorldWideWeb at:
FreeBurmaWWW http://sunsite.unc.edu/freeburma/freeburma.html
[including back issues of the BurmaNet News as .txt files]
BurmaWeb: http://www.uio.no/tormodl
Burma fonts:
http://www.cs.bham.ac.uk/~lka/burmese-fonts/moe.html
Ethnologue Database(Myanmar):
http://www-ala.doc.ic.ac.uk/~rap/Ethnologue/eth.cgi/Myanmar
TO ACCESS INFORMATION ABOUT BURMA VIA GOPHER:
gopher csf.colorado.edu.
Look under the International Political Economy section, then
select Geographic_Archive, then Asia, then Burma.
----------------------------------------------------------
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Shareholder activism: simon_billenness@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Tourism campaigns: bagp@xxxxxxxxxx "Attn. S.Sutcliffe"
World Wide Web: FreeBurma@xxxxxxxxx
Volunteering: christin@xxxxxxxxxx
[Feel free to suggest more areas of coverage]
********************************
COMMENT ON WITHDRAWAL OF BURMA AMENDMENT
Date: Thu, 28 Sep 1995 23:16:26 -0700
At 11:00 a.m. Thursday, Mr. Kyle Simmons, press secretary in Senator Mitch
McConnell's office in Washington D.C., informed me that the sanctions on
burma which were added to the Senate Foreign Appropriations bill were deleted
in conference committee. Senator McConnell plans to reintroduce the
sanctions again soon, but is not saying when or in what form, less he alert
the opposition to his strategy. The Senator's intention to support the
Burmese people in gaining democracy and in eradicating drugs remains
steadfast, despite this setback.
Reported by Will Kidd, President of Sunsource, Unlimited, inc.
************************************
CFOB: BANK OF NOVA SCOTIA DECIDES NOT TO ENTER BURMA
September 29, 1995 (Canadian Friends of Burma)
Toronto, ON....... 29 September 1995 -- In April, the media run
by Burma's military junta, the State Law and Order Restoration
Council (SLORC), announced that a license had been granted to the
Bank of Nova Scotia, one of Canada's leading chartered banks, to
begin operations in Burma.
"We are not going in." This was the response of the Bank's
President, Bruce R. Birmingham, in a meeting today with
depositors and representatives of Canadian Friends of Burma
(CFOB). "The license will not be taken up, we're just going to
let it lapse." Mr. Birmingham was uncertain of the expiry date on
the license but estimated its lifetime would be from six months
to a year. He flatly stated that "we have not paid any money" and
continued that it is the bank's policy never to pay money simply
for permission to do business in any country.
The Bank reached its decision after consulting with the
Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade in Ottawa.
After being briefed on the political and human rights situation
in Burma, the Bank decided that now is not the time to pursue
business in that country. Mr. Birmingham noted in passing that
"Thai banks have even had their cash shipments stolen," referring
to Thai banks which have tried to set up operations in Burma. He
said that immediately following the release of Aung San Suu Kyi,
the Bank once again consulted Ottawa and decided conditions had
still not improved and therefore the Bank's position would not
change.
"We are encouraged to see a national corporation of such stature
adopt this position. It does not only represent a good ethical
decision but a solid business decision as well," said Christine
Harmston, coordinator of CFOB's national office. "Other companies
who have experienced the SLORC-run economy have quickly concluded
that it is not a good environment in which to do business. We
hope the position taken by the Bank of Nova Scotia will inspire
other corporations to act similarly."
For more information, call CFOB at (613) 237-8056.
*******************************
ISBDA: PRISONS CLEANED UP AND INTELLIGENCE PROBES ALERTED
IN BURMA
September 30, 1995.
Released by Information Service on Burmese Democracy Affairs (ISBDA)
Rumor spreads out among the democratic forces in Burma that SLORC is
reshuffling prison-superintendents and conducting prison clean ups that
mean unprecedented release of criminal convicts in order to make room for
the prisoners to come.
Fear is accelerated by another fact that local military intelligence probes
are ordered to closer watch on the democracy activists all over Burma. Such
steps indicate that SLORC may repeat the same tactics used in 1988 when
criminal convicts were first wiped out and mass arrest of political
activists followed sooner.
To Our Net Readers: Please clarify and discuss about these rumors.
What can we do before anything odd happen in Burma?
**************
S.H.A.N : THE CEC SWEEPS AGAIN - REWARD REVOKED
Muangmai , 28 September 1995
One of the numerous tasks of the Central Executive committee of The Shan
State Restoration, which came to power in August , has been to
straighten out all the problems created by the previous administration
headed by Khun Sa. Naturally, it has been fast earning the collective
nickname as the garbage sweeper. The latest in the series is Bulletin
No.5,dated September 27 and signed by all of the members except those on
tour in Central Shan State.
It announced the revocation of the K.1 million reward offer made by the
former leadership for the capture, dead or alive of Major Karnyord soon
after his June mutiny. Since then, it has been an endless embarrassment,
S.H.A.N learned, not only for the new leadership, but also for Khun Sa
himself, who is not unknown for doing things in haste only to repent
them on reflection.
When S.H.A.N. ventured to inquire about it, he said : "It was my anger.
when you're so angry, you don't know what you're doing. But when our
people in Taunggyi later called to report about his arrival there, my
common sense had already returned. And I instructed them to forget the
whole thing altogether." Meanwhile, the front with the UWSA and its
allies is quiet after the failure of their attack on the MTA on Tuesday.
Khun Duan Saengkham, the CEC' s spokesman, also denied rumors reported
by Rueters about low morale in the Shan army as groundless. " Things
have returned to normal. If there is panic in the movement, how do you
explain our successful defense against the Was, who outmanned and
outgunned us? " he smilingly retorted.
****************
NATION: LETTERS - BURMA ARMY
September 30, 1995
The release of Aung San Suu Kyi was a very important victory for
the Burmese democracy movement. But other less obvious but
equally important events have taken place in Burma in recent
months.
A very important power struggle within the Burma Army was
finalized a few months ago. Four key associates of General Khin
Nyunt _ the Air Force and Navy commanders _ lost their military
commands. General Khin Nyunt may still be be wearing an army
uniform but for all practical purposes he is now a politician
named U Khin Nyunt. Our intelligence reports indicate he is
planning sham elections in May 1996 in which Aung San Suu Kyi and
her close associates will not be permitted to participate. This
will lead to a violent overthrow of Slorc because we plan to
solicit the support of the Burma Army.
General Maung Aye will be leading the Burmese delegation to the
Heads of State meeting at the 50th Anniversary of the United
Nations in New York on October 22-24. We plan to initiate
discussions with the Burma Army, not Slorc, about the Army's
future role in a free and democratic Burma.
Myint Thein
Dallas, Texas
**************************************
NATION: LETTER - MOVING REFUGEES
September 30, 1995
Sleeping Giant is a Canadian inter-church group located in
Thunder Bay, Ontario. Our purpose is to bring refugees from
countries like Thailand (where resources are stretched) to
Canada, where such refugees can begin a new life in safety.
We have understood that the Thai government is not anxious to be
over-whelmed with refugees. Given however the terrible situation
in Burma, Thailand has graciously permitted refugees from there
to wait resettlement on Thai soil.
Our problem arises, it seems, from a Ministry of Interior policy
which insists on jailing the very refugees we are trying to
expedite to Canada. We are trying to help Thailand move refugees
out of the country but Thailand it seems is putting the spanner
in the works. It is very hard to transport a refugee who is being
kept under lock and key.
We would like to make a suggestion to the Thai government.
Sponsored refugees should be given a fast track by way of exit
visas from Thailand, and they should not be hindered or delayed
by being tucked away in the Immigration Detention Centre.
One further matter: it seems that some Burmese and Karen refugees
have actually been sent back over the border to Burma. This is
not only counter-productive for our resettlement plans, it is
definitely cruel and unusual punishment for the refugees
themselves who face possible death in Burma.
James M. Patterson
Chair
Sleeping Giant Refugee
Sponsorship Group
Ontario, Canada
*****************************************************************
NATION: CHILDREN, BURMESE NABBED FOR BEGGING
September 30, 1995
MORE than one hundred people, including foreigners and children,
were arrested for begging this week, police said yesterday.
Police said officers from the Metropolitan and Immigration
bureaus, acting on a request by the Social Welfare Department
arrested 60 foreigners, mostly Burmese and 48 Thais between
Tuesday and Thursday and charged them with begging. Among those
arrested were 15 children.
The beggars were all found on Thaniya Road, off Silom Road. The
foreigners also face charges of illegally entering they country
and are currently being held at the Immigration Bureau awaiting
deportation.
According to the police, some of the children had been forced to
beg. The Thai children have been sent to a holding centre for the
homeless in Nonthaburi. People who suspect their children have
been abducted should telephone the centre on 583-0044.
*****************************************************************
Typed by the Research Department of the ABSDF {MTZ} 30.9.95
******************************************************************
INDEPENDENT LETTER: ANSWER TO MR. GREENWOOD
Dear Mr. Geenwood,
I read your slanderous answer to an inquiry I made to you about slave
labor, which needs to be corrected and rebutted. On Sept. 14th I asked you
by fax (through Sue Wheat) for some detailed information about slave labor
in tourist projects. You had been suggested to me as the one source I could
rely on. However, instead of giving me the information I need for
responsible journalism, I read your very insulting article on the net.
Let us make clear from the beginning: Except of you, there are also other
forces out here working for democracy in Burma who might have a different
approach than you have. Calling them " apologists", "infamous authors" or
"collaborators" serves neither the cause, nor does it make you a journalist
with an unbiased view. You neither know me, nor the work I do, to be able
to judge as you did in your article. Before throwing mud at somebody else,
you should at least have investigated. Which, after reading what you wrote
as an answer to my fax, seems to be a very weak point in your work.
I am a subscriber to the BurmaNet and draw also on many other sources. I am
informed and I do use in journalism what has a reliable footage, though I
have not yet found the requested information in regard to slave labor in
tourist projects. For exactly the reason you criticize me, I wrote to you.
Please let me quote from my fax:
"I would appreciate if you could let me know about some proven facts,
otherwise I cannot use it in my writing .... If, however, there are proven
facts (projects, names of investors and statements of affected persons)
that slave labor serves the enrichment of whatever party (military or
foreign investors) then we have a point."
This is what I call responsible journalism, finding reliable sources for
what I write. Since I know that there is much more going on than what a
single traveler can see in the country, I need access to these sources. You
surely do not belong to them. To me, it seems, you use the Net to get your
book selling and not to assist in combining all available forces to produce
a change for the better. Your article, Mr. Greenwood, proves this clearly.
You write: " It is alleged that Mr. Klein and Mr. Pfannmuller were richly
rewarded by SLORC ..."
If you would have done the least research, then you would know that our
books are prohibited in Burma (for its political content). Clearly they
would not be, if we had anything to do with the SLORC. A little research
and intelligence is of help when going public.
Writing, as you do .. "they were paid US$ 1000 per day" is dishonoring
beyond the word and I would not even accept an excuse from you for being
that careless in your writing. I just see it as incompetent journalism. We
did our books in Burma without being paid either by Burmese nor outside
sources and paid every step of our travels ourselves, and that, surely, as
we all know, cannot be said of everyone who airs his voice on the Net. In
our case, not even the publisher is interfering in our work and relies on
our painstaking research. Truth cannot be found through slander.
My remark regarding the not yet started work on the pipeline goes exactly
into this direction, this is responsible journalism. Answering with "I
presume that when work starts, Mr. Klein will have no objection to the use
of slave labor in its construction," however, is the opposite, pure
defamation, actually, not even worth an answer.
It seems that in your opinion, any book on Burma, irrespective of what it
deals with, must be political. If you would have read the introductions in
both books you would have read this:
"There are books that describe the economic or political hardship this
country is experiencing. This book just tries to show you some of its
hidden splendor, its endangered way of life, that the sensitive, individual
traveler will surely cherish, but which cannot survive if trampled upon by
millions of tourists who in their heart of hearts do not really care.
Neither does this book ask if the policy of isolation from cosmopolitan
ideas is a legitimate one in the 20th century, the book is intended to
serve only one purpose: to be a snapshot of a constantly changing world,
documenting some of the vanishing charms of a lifestyle which has elsewhere
already gone forever."
For you, it seems, a book with this clearly stated objective must have been
"obviously" done with the "tacit support of the SLORC." (When we I did both
books, it was eight years before anyone ever heard the word SLORC) I guess
you should question your own narrowness of mind before airing it.
To mention MTT in our book (which as you so proudly say you have not used,
thus proving nothing) has the same reason. When we wrote the Guide, there
was only MTT to get around the country. It was already at the beginning of
the 80s at a time, it seems, when you might not even have been aware of the
problems Burma was facing already then. This, too, you could have read in
the introduction.
Dear Mr. Greenwood, it pays to be a little more thorough in your writing.
I will not go deeper into sentences like: "Any mentioning of human rights
abuses - and other foolish western concepts - was strictly taboo." Since
they are just slanderous journalism and do not get us a step further.
Except of human rights, which are as much in the forefront of my mind as in
yours ( I presume), I know that there is also legality, that is basic to
civilized life. Therefore, except of what seems to be your badly presented
specialty, I try to find also an answer to the legal question. Therefore I
wrote to you in my fax:
" .. Which means, where Myanmars have to work without being paid for it on
tourism projects and where expropriations of land have taken place that are
inconsistent with the civil code of 1974. Though I know that this is often
applied according to the generals needs, it is still the valid set of
laws, since the so-called coup is unconstitutional."
I try to compare what is happening, with how the generals defend
themselves, i.e. with a set of laws, that has not been abolished, neither
during colonial nor during democratic times in Burma: the 1950 Emergency
Provisions Act, 1957 Unlawful Associations Act, 1962 Printers' and
Publishers' Registration Act, the 1975 State Protection Law, and the 1908
Villages and Towns Act which permits village councils to order citizens to
work as forced laborers. Especially the last one is not unimportant in
regard to slave labor. It was enacted, as can be seen by the date, by the
British and it has been in use ever since.
I do not need your public lectures about applied legality by an
unconstitutional government, I can use my own brain and do not need your
interpretation of what you think goes on in my mind. We live in a civilized
world and fortunately the international bodies know that a set of laws,
even after a coup, is a necessity. To abolish the aforementioned laws, we
must first press for democracy. Everything else is thoughtless politics and
polemics in which you seem to be specialized.
My question to you was simple: Tell me the facts where this law does not
apply and we have a legally valid fact?
Instead of giving me an answer (which you obviously cannot, otherwise I
would have received a different response from you) you just try to throw
mud on someone who is as concerned and touched as you are by the situation
the average Burmese is facing.
Let me end this by saying that I do not want to continue this discussion on
the level you have started it on the Net. For this answer you have asked
and you got it. Otherwise you can always reach me privately. The issue is
much too important and dear to my heart to continue in this manner. Rather
than senselessly personalizing these issues, we should, each in his way,
press the issue as best as he can.
(Wilhelm Klein)
*****************************