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BurmaNet News: August 7, 1996
- Subject: BurmaNet News: August 7, 1996
- From: strider@xxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 07 Aug 1996 03:06:00
------------------------ BurmaNet ------------------------
"Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies"
----------------------------------------------------------
The BurmaNet News: August 7, 1996
Issue #485
Noted in Passing:
============
After making detailed studies, I notice the main salient
factor written in the report is that the SLORC is not
transparent in its financial dealings or policies, Brigadier
-General David Abel, Minister for National Planning and
Economic Development (see: REUTERS/AP/COMMENTS:
US EMBASSY REPORT ON BURMA'S ECONOMY)
HEADLINES:
==========
REUTERS/AP/COMMENTS: US EMBASSY REPORT ON BURMA'S
ECONOMY
REUTERS: US SAYS BURMA ECONOMY UNSTABLE
REUTERS: DIPLOMATS SAY BURMA POLITICIAN A JAIL VICTIM
UPI: US SAYS BURMA INHUMANE
VOA: BURMA DEATH COULD BE TORTURE
ASSK: PHOTOS AND THE ART OF RELAXATION
STATEMENT: IN COMMEMORATION OF 8-8-88 UPRISING
REUTERS: BURMA SAYS "TRAITORS" CANNOT DETER TOURISTS
KYODO: JAPAN BANKS TO BOOST PRESENCE IN BURMA
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
REUTERS/AP/COMMENTS: US EMBASSY REPORT ON BURMA'S
ECONOMY
August 3, 1996
COMMENT BY LARRY DOHRS, Seattle Campaign for a Free Burma (FBC):
August 3, 1996
This report is available through the Burma, Thailand, Laos and Cambodia
desk at U. S. State Dept. Call 202-647-7108 or fax 202-736-4559. A fax
of the 3 page executive summary is available there.
In contrast to the superficial analyses from the IMF and World Bank, this
report uses official numbers to examine military spending and opiates
income within the economy, both of which were exempted from the IMF and
World Bank studies. The report finds that approx. 3% of GNP is derived
from unpaid labor, mostly on infrasctructure, that military spending
accounts for half of total spending, and that governance in Burma
is opaque and unaccountable.
This report should be widely read and discussed. It is quite simply the
best analysis done on the Burmese economy in many, many years.
-------------------------------
COMMENT BY BURMANET EDITOR:
August 6, 1996
SLORC Minister for National Planning and Economic Development,
David Abel, has claimed that the US Embassy's report on the Burmese
economy is based on "unofficial" figures and therefore should not be
taken seriously. In fact, most of the data in the report comes directly
from the SLORC's own official figures on the economy. The only
difference is that the Embassy recalculated the figures in cases where
exchanges actually took place at the unofficial exchange rate instead
of at the official exchange rate.
The official exchange rate is 6 kyat per U.S. dollar, but in 1995-6 the
unofficial rate has fluctuated between 115-150 kyat per dollar. Over the
past few years, fewer and fewer transactions have been taking place at the
official rate. Even the government has legalized the exchange of US dollars
at the unofficial rate by opening up their own foreign exchange counters in
downtown Rangoon which are more competitive than the illegal street money
exchangers.
The SLORC misrepresented its economic data by plugging in the official rate
where it was not actually used. One important reason for doing this was to
hide the very large deficit, which is actually somewhere between 12 and
25%. No major lending agencies would want to provide money to a
government which is running such a high deficit.
The World Bank and IMF also used the SLORC's official figures in
preparing their earlier reports. However, they did not convert figures to
the unofficial exchange rate and therefore come up with a less gloomy picture
of the economy. Even the World Bank, though, insists that current defense
spending eats up a good 45% of the budget.
The US Embassy's economic report also argues that roughly 50% of the
economy's activities are not reflected in the government figures. Much of
the money circulating in the extralegal economy is drug money, which is
laundered and used for weapons purchases, among other things. The national
bank in Rangoon openly launders money, taking a percentage in return for
turning it into "clean" money. From time to time, Official announcements
are posted in the SLORC-controlled press promoting special amnesties when
money of unknown origin can be made clean at a rate of 25% instead of the
usual 40%. The SLORC economy is an economy which is fueled by
narco-dollars.
The US Embassy report identifies some of the places where the SLORC has
under-reported certain figures. The Embassy was able to compare import and
export data from different Western embassies with the import and export
figures provided by the SLORC on trade with the same countries. These
gaps suggest areas where the SLORC has tried to hide sums of money
which were siphoned off for other expenditures (probably weapons).
The US Embassy's report provides a much more realistic picture of the
Burmese economy than any other report currently available. BurmaNet
strongly recommends this report and will be posting portions of it soon.
----------------------------------------------------------
REUTER: BURMA ATTACKS US REPORT
August 3, 1996
RANGOON- A Burmese minister lashed out at the United States on
Saturday over reports saying Burma's economy was not as strong as
the government portrayed.
Brigadier-General David Abel, Minister for National Planning
and Economic Development, told journalists the reports, written
by the U.S. Embassy, were misleading and aimed at discrediting
the Rangoon government.
The documents, one a commercial guide to Burma and the other
an economics trend report, were given to Abel by the embassy late
on Friday.
The economics trend report, a summary of which was obtained
by Reuters, said Burma faced a number of problems in the medium
and long term. It said growth rates were much lower than the
government maintained and might not be sustainable.
``I think these reports don't have much credibility,'' Abel
told reporters at a hastily called and rare news conference.
``These reports don't portray the real economic situation in
Myanamar (Burma). They are very misleading reports.''
Abel, who said he studied the reports through the night,
said they were not based on official studies or statistics. He
said Burma was on the road to very strong economic progress.
The economic trends document said the statistics were
unofficial embassy estimates but it drew heavily on reports by
the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank and data from
the Burmese government.
``Since the statistics are unofficial...we can come to the
conclusion that the intention of issuing such a report is only
to seed doubt and cause mischief and to maliciously discredit
the SLORC and the successful economic endeavours and the
nation-building process,'' Abel said, referring to the ruling
military State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC).
The SLORC has tried to liberalise the economy, which
stagnated under more than 25 years of nationalist socialist
governments, since it seized power in 1988 after quelling
pro-democracy uprisings.
Abel said the reports seem to be politically motivated by
the United States, which has repeatedly accused the SLORC of
human rights abuses and critcised its refusal to negotiate with
the democracy movement led by Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.
``After making detailed studies, I notice the main salient factor written
in the report is that the SLORC is not transparent in its financial dealings
or policies,'' Abel said.
``I don't know what they mean by not being transparent. They
don't specifiy exactly what they want to say.''
The trend report said governance was ``opaque and
unaccountable.''
It also said the SLORC had greatly increased defence spending to at least
half the total of central government operating expenditures, and in turn had
cut spending on heath and education.
It also said the SLORC had ``reduced obstacles to foreign trade and
investment, and to inflows of funds from the extralegal economy.''
Abel rejected the allegations. He said Burma's defence spending was
between eight to 10 percent of the budget and the government had rendered
reports on the financial, economic and social conditions of the country
every year.
He also denied the extralegal economy had played a major role.
``There might be a certain portion of extralegal economic
undertakings, but I think it has not played a considerable role
in the economy,'' he said.
AP (BURMA ATTACKS U.S. REPORT) ADDED ON AUGUST 3
(excerpts):
Burma's economic development minister, Gen. David Abel, said the
latest economic trends report prepared by the U.S. Embassy uses
unofficial statistics and tables that are not authentic.
"We come to the conclusion that the intention of floating such a
report is only to create doubt and cause mischief and maliciously
discredit the (government) in its successful economic endeavour,"
Abel said.
In general, the report concluded that the Burmese economy has serious
fundamental problems and is not as healthy as the government claims.
The U.S. Embassy in Rangoon was closed Saturday, and the
commercial counselor who prepared the recently released report could
not be reached for comment. Embassy officials told reporters in
Bangkok that unofficial numbers are used because the World Bank
statistics on Burma are distorted by the country's dual exchange rate.
The military government has staked much of its legitimacy on its
economic perfomance, opening up the economy after a quarter century
of socialist isolationism that reduced Burma to one of the world's
poorest countries.
The report's claim that the major portion of the government's
budget is being used for defense was false, he added.
"Defense spending is between 8 and 10 percent. Why shouldn't a
country have its own defense force to protect itself?" he said.
But even the most recent report by the World Bank said 46 percent
of Burma's budget went for defense, up from 25 percent in 1988, when
the current regime took over.
Those figures do not include money paid for military imports, such as
weapons systems from China. A similar report by the International
Monetary Fund cited large unaccounted for expenditures by the
Burmese government.
Analysts in Rangoon, interviewed by reporters in Bangkok, said
they suspect the missing money is being used for weapons purchases.
Burma, furthermore, is in the midst of increasing its army from
185,000 to 500,000 soldiers. The country has no external enemies, and
most internal insurgencies have ended in cease-fires.
*********************************************************
REUTERS: US SAYS BURMA ECONOMY UNSTABLE
August 6, 1996 (abridged)
BANGKOK, - A U.S. economic report on Burma, which sparked a sharp
response from Rangoon, questioned the long-term stability of Burma's
economy as long as the military ruled by force rather than consent.
``Foreign Economic Trends,'' written by the U.S. Embassy in Rangoon and
obtained by Reuters on Tuesday, said short and medium-term prospects for
Burma's economic growth were uncertain because the military would not
adopt economic and political reforms.
``The long-term sustainability of Burma's economic growth is still more
questionable, due to the persistence of both macroeconomic instability...
and the potential for political instability...as well as grossly inadequate
human infrastructure development, especially in the field of basic education,''
the report said.
``Each of these problems appears closely related to the high costs of
governing by force rather than consent, which appears to be the principal
and fundamental economic problem in contemporary Burma.''
``These conditions...appear likely to persist until Burma has a government
with sufficient popular support to reduce defence spending in the absence
of external threats and to collect internal revenues effectively,'' it said.
The report said the economy was hindered by a dual exchange rate, lack of
transparency, reliance on drug money to finance infrastructure and the
military rulers' violations of human rights.
Although the economy has grown at about six percent annually over the
past few years, inflation has jumped to about 35-45 percent a year, foreign
and Burmese economists have said.
Abel said the report appeared to be politically motivated by the United
States which has repeatedly accused SLORC of human rights abuses and
criticised its refusal to negotiate with the democracy movement led by
Aung San Suu Kyi.
Abel said he would write an official objection to U.S. Charge d'Affairs
Marilyn Myers. U.S. Embassy officials in Rangoon said on Tuesday no
letter had been received and the embassy stood by its report.
**********************************************************
REUTERS: DIPLOMATS SAY BURMA POLITICIAN A JAIL VICTIM
August 6, 1996
BANGKOK, - A Burmese opposition politician who died after being
jailed in Rangoon for six years was held under harsh conditions, but the
exact cause of death will probably never be known, diplomats said on
Tuesday.
Thailand-based Burmese dissidents said Hla Than, who had
been in Rangoon's Insein Prison since 1990, had been sent to the
hospital several weeks earlier with unspecified internal
injuries. They said they thought he had been tortured.
Diplomats and prison sources in Rangoon said Hla Than died
while suffering from tuberculosis and said he had been ill for a long time.
``He was an old man and he was held under pretty bad
conditions,'' said one Rangoon-based diplomat. Hla Than's family
said he was 52, although earlier reports put his age at 49.
``He was one of the prisoners put into the military dog
cells,'' the diplomat said.
``I don't think they killed him off but I don't think he was
treated well and he was sick.''
There was no official comment or explanation of Hla Than's
death from the government or in state-run media.
Most political prisoners are held in Insein Prison. Some who
have been released have recounted various torture methods used
there, including sleep and food deprivation and forcing
prisoners into unnatural positions for long periods of time.
``The bad news just continues,'' said one Bangkok-based
diplomat who said the latest death would not help the ruling
State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) convince the
world it had a fair government.
``There is no clear answer to this guy,'' said a Bangkok-based diplomat.
``We'll never get a clear answer to that just like we haven't gotten it for
Leo Nichols either.''
Nichols' death sparked widespread condemnation from Western
nations, many of whom said he was likely imprisoned because of
his support for Suu Kyi and her party.
A planned church memorial service for Nichols was never held
in Rangoon. Despite official approval for the memorial, one
church after another refused to hold the service, due to
pressure from the military, diplomats said.
Hla Than was arrested in October 1990 and was sentenced to
25 years in prison after attending a secret meeting held to
discuss the formation of a parallel government, Thailand-based
dissidents said.
*********************************************************
UPI: US SAYS BURMA INHUMANE
August 6, 1996
WASHINGTON, - Burma's refusal to allow a sick detainee who was also
a noted democracy activist permission to die at home was "inhumane,"
the Clinton administration said Tuesday.
Burma's ruling military junta, the State Law and Order Restoration
Council, jailed Hla Than shortly after his election to Parliament six years
ago. The SLORC nullified the elections and arrested, harassed or drove
into exile many victorious candidates.
State Department spokesman Nicholas Burns said the SLORC rejected
Hla Than's request to leave prison so he could die at home.
"He was held unjustly and died in detention," Burns said. "The SLORC's
refusal to let him die at home in peace is inhumane."
Hla Than's demise comes less than two months after the death in prison
of Leo Nichols, another friend of Aung San Suu Kyi who served as an
honorary consul for several Scandinavian nations.
**********************************************************
VOA: BURMA DEATH COULD BE TORTURE
August 6, 1996
Burmese opposition figures say a prominent member of Aung San Suu
Kyi's National League for Democracy was tortured to death
A statement from Burma's government-in-exile says Hla Than died Friday
at Rangoon general hospital.
A dissident group, the National Coalition Government of the Union of
Burma (NCGUB) says Hla Than died of internal injuries resulting from
torture. The torture claim could not be independently confirmed.
The reuter news agency quotes a representative of the NCUGB's
human rights unit in Bangkok, as saying Hla Than's health was
bad for a long time and the opposition group believes he was tortured.
The spokesman says the group is waiting for more information from
inside Burma about Hla Than's death.
(added: The Nation)
Meanwhile, both NLD sources and the NCGUB reported two fresh
detentions of NLD activists in July. One of them, Aung Khin Sint,
a former health ministry official and a writer who won the
National Literary Prize in 1972, had been released in February
after being arrested in August 1993 for distributing papers at
the national constitutional convention.
The second, Myo Nyunt, was arrested under the Medicines Act after
refusing a military intelligence order to resign from the NLD,
the NCGUB statement said.
The NCGUB fax added that 17 of the 485 MPs elected in 1990, when
the NLD took 392 of the seats, are currently in detention. The
NCGUB is a coalition comprised of winners of the 1990 elections
who fled into exile.
********************************************************
ASSK: PHOTOS AND THE ART OF RELAXATION
August 6, 1996 ( The Nation-Letters from Burma)
Apparently, there are people who actually enjoy the unblinking
scrutiny of a camera lens and the relentless glare of
flashlights. I am not one of them as I often find it quite
exhausting to pose for photographers when there is an insistent
piece of work waiting to be completed, or when I am longing for a
few quiet minutes with a cup of tea.
But with seasoned professionals who have a clear idea of what
kind of pictures they would like and how these could be best
achieved in prevailing circumstances, a photographic session
provides an opportunity for a welcome period of relaxation, time
off in the middle of a frantic schedule.
It is good to sit for photographers who are able to explain
precisely what they would like you to do but who, at the same
time, remain fully aware that you are a human being with muscles
that tire and ache when held in rigid positions, not a robot
model with a fixed smile. I like best those occasions when I can
read peacefully or prop myself up against a bit of furniture and
take a little rest while the camera clicks away unobtrusively.
During a session with two pleasant photographers the other day, I
was able to go through almost the whole of "From the Morning of
the World," a slim volume of poems translated from the
"Manyoshu." Sitting on a verandah in the cool stillness of the
monsoon afternoon, I savoured again some of the fa rite lines. It
was refreshing to take my mind off the rate of inflation, and
instead, to dwell on images of winter mist hanging low over blue
reed beds and wild ducks calling "chill, chill " to each other.
The description of a flowering orange tree blanching a backyard
is a soothing change from an analysis of the yo-yoing of the
value of the Burmese currency. And compared with the latest
reports on the harassment of NLD members, a man riding "haggard
on the jet black horse under the scarlet shine of autumn leaves
on Kamunabi," presented a relatively tranquil vision.
A poem by a priest provided enough food for thought to take me
through a fair part of the photographic session:
With what should I compare this world ?
With the white wake left behind
A ship that dawn watched row away
Out of its own conceiving mind.
The whole world no more than mere spume and those busy cameras
clicking away trying to capture and preserve on celluloid a
transient fleck of existence.
>From where does man's passion for recording people and events
spring? Did cave dwellers paint hunting scenes to pass an idle
hour or was it the fulfillment of an unconscious need to
immortalize their deeds for posterity? Or was it an attempt to
communicate to others their view of life around them, an
embryonic form of media activity?
What are newspapers, radio, television, and other means of mass
communication all about? Some who put more emphasis on the mass
than on the communication might say cynically that these are
simply about making money by catering to the public taste for
sensationalism and scandal. But genuine communication constitutes
a lot more than mere commerce in news, views and information.
During the year since my release from house arrest, I have met
hundreds of journalists, both professional and amateur. There
were days when I had to give so many interviews in quick
succession, I felt a little dazed. There were times when I was so
tired I was not able to do much more than repeat the same answers
to the same questions, feeling very much like a schoolgirl
repeating a lesson in class. There have been agonising sessions
when language difficulties make it a struggle for the interviewer
and myself to communicate with each other. Then there are those
sessions when perception, rather than language, is the problem
and questions puzzle while answers are misunderstood and are
sometimes misrepresented to the extent that there is little in
common between what was said and what appears in print. It all
shows that communication between human beings is interesting,
frustrating, exhilarating, infuriating intricate, exhausting- and
essential.
Experienced professional journalists can make even the last
interview of a gruelling day more of a relaxation than an ordeal.
They know how to put their questions so that new facets appear to
an old situation and talking to them becomes a learning process.
They combine thorough, inquiring minds. with an integrity and a
human warmth that make conversation with them stimulating and
enjoyable. Good photographers and good journalists are masters in
the art of communication, with a talent for presenting as
accurately as possible what is happening in one part of the world
to the rest of the globe. They are a boon to those of us who live
in lands where there is not freedom of expression.
********************************************************
STATEMENT: IN COMMEMORATION OF 8-8-88 UPRISING
August 7,1996
>From lurie@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Aug 6 11:40:51 1996
On August 8, 1996, it will be eight years since the 8-8-88
popular democratic uprising in which the people in Burma
expressed their will. The 8-8-88 uprising continued the
traditions of Burmese people who fought against imperialists and
Fascists for national freedom. On this occasion, eight years ago,
the whole people of Burma broke down the system of on-party
dictatorship and spearheaded the democratic movement.
The military dictatorship, condemned the movement saying that it
was the work of terrorists and brutally suppressed the uprising
by manipulating the army. The former Burma Socialist Program
Party changed its name to the State Law and Order Restoration
Council (SLORC) and continues to suppress the people.
In these eight years, under the rule of the military
dictatorship, the people have not only been deprived of the
democratic and human rights, but the health, education, social
and economic conditions in the country are also heading for
disaster. The military junta is totally without political
legitimacy.
The junta has expressed no desire to solve the political problems
with genuine national perspective. It continues to deny political
freedom, using force to quell the pro-democracy activists and,
crushing the democratic and ethnic resistance organizations in
the liberated area.
The ABSDF, which arose during the 8.8.88 democratic uprising, has
for eight years been struggling for the well-being of the whole
people, regardless of race, religion, political belief
and class, with the spirit of 8.8.88 which never bows down and
dares to confront the military dictatorship.
Faced with difficulties and hardships, the ABSDF continues to
undertake the historical task of the people to struggle,
sacrificing lives and blood, against the military dictatorship.
New generation forces, born of the 8.8.88 democratic uprising,
stand in solidarity with the ethnic resistance forces and the
organizations which are struggling for their political
beliefs, on the basis of anti-militarism, internal peace and
national unity. This is because of the perspective on national
politics which was generated by the 8.8.88 pro-democracy uprising.
As a consequence of the 8.8.88 pro-democracy uprising, the
international community has extended its sympathy to the people
of Burma for the human rights violations committed by SLORC, and
has offered assistance in the struggle of the democratic forces.
Achieving democracy, human rights and ethnic rights are of
paramount importance for internal peace and national unity in
Burma. These will not be restored as long as the militarism
exists in Burma, and only when the militarism has been absolutely
wiped out, can genuine internal peace and national unity be
established. Only then, can the social and economic situation of
the people be improved.
If SLORC genuinely cares for welfare of the people and the
country, it should initiate a tripartite dialogue with the ethnic
nationalities and the democratic forces led by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.
All the forces which have been struggling against the military
dictatorship are urged to strengthen their solidarity and exert
all effort to achieving a tripartite dialogue with the aim
of solving the political problems by political means.
The ABSDF appeals to the international community to continue
monitoring the current situation in Burma and to put pressure on
SLORC until it genuinely initiates a process of democratization.
The ABSDF, in loyalty to the monks, students and the people who
sacrificed their lives in the democratic movement, will continue
struggle until the militarism in Burma has been overthrown.
All oppressed people!
Struggle against militarism for freedom!
The democratic goal must be achieved!
Long live the spirit of the 8.8.88!
Central Leading Committee
ABSDF
Headquarters
88 Camp
***********************************************************
REUTERS: BURMA SAYS "TRAITORS" CANNOT DETER TOURISTS
August 6, 1996
RANGOON, - Tourist arrivals in Burma are up significantly despite
attempts by ``traitors'' and their foreign supporters to derail the tourism
industry, Burma's state media said on Tuesday.
``A significant increase in the number of tourist arrivals... proves that
attempts by internal traitors who are relying on alien nations with the
help of some foreign correspondents and columnists to hinder the nation's
tourism industry ... are unsuccessful,'' the official Myanmar News Agency
(MNA) said.
The agency did not identify the ``traitors,'' but Nobel laureate Aung San Suu
Kyi and her National League for Democracy colleagues have urged tourists
not to visit Burma until democracy is restored.
Suu Kyi has also called on foreign businesses to delay investing in Burma
until the miliary rulers move towards democratic rule.
The government has designated 1996 Visit Myanmar (Burma)Year in
what Rangoon-based diplomats see as a bid to tap the lucrative tourist
market.
The MNA said there were 46,337 tourist arrivals in the first four months
of the fiscal year that began on April 1, a 57 percent increase from the
same period last year.
Authorities originally had hoped 500,000 people would visit the country
during 1996, but industry analysts said the target was far too high given
Burma's creaking infrastructure. The 1996 target was later lowered to
around 250,000-300,000 arrivals.
Some 150,000 foreigners visited Burma last year, according
to official statistics.
*********************************************************
KYODO: JAPAN BANKS TO BOOST PRESENCE IN BURMA
August 2, 1996
Tokyo, -- Major Japanese banks have moved to strengthen their presence in
Myanmar [Burma], fueled by the expansion of Japanese enterprises in the
country, industry officials said Friday. The officials said five Japanese banks,
including the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, have already opened representative
offices in Yangon [Rangoon] while at least two others, Dai-Ichi Kangyo Bank
and Sakura Bank, plan to join the forerunners in fall.
"It will still take several more years for the Japanese banks to upgrade their
offices to branches," said an executive of a major bank, citing political
instability in Myanmar and its web of economic regulations, including a
restriction on the remittance of profits to home offices.
However, the official, who declined to be named, noted the country's
potential to become a major market in the region.
The advance into Myanmar by Japanese financial institutions was
triggered by the opening of a representative office by the Bank of Tokyo
in Yangon last August, the industry officials said. It marked the return to
Myanmar after an interval of 11 years by the bank, which was reborn in
April as Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi through a merger with Mitsubishi Bank,
they said.
The Bank of Tokyo previously maintained the office there when the country
was called Burma. Following the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi's lead, Fuji
Bank opened an office in Myanmar last December, followed by Sumitomo
Bank and Tokai Bank in May this year and by Sanwa Bank in July.
**********************************************************