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BurmaNet News February 23, 1997
- Subject: BurmaNet News February 23, 1997
- From: strider@xxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sun, 23 Feb 1997 05:50:00
------------------------ BurmaNet ------------------------
"Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies"
----------------------------------------------------------
The BurmaNet News: February 22, 1997
Issue #646
HEADLINES:
==========
KNU: PRESS RELEASE No. 2/97
KNU: SITUATION UPDATE, MERGUI TAVOY DISTRICT, 4TH
KNU: HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS IN THATON DISTRICT
US STATE DEPT: US DEPLORES ATTACKS ON KAREN
BKK POST: BURMESE REFUSE TO RETURN VEHICLES SEIZED
HUAI KALOK REFUGEE CAMP: STUDENTS? FLYER
THAILAND TIMES: OFFICIAL SLORC VISIT TO KNU WAS PRELUDE
THE NATION: KARENS' LAST STAND BEFORE THE FINAL
NATION: AUST URGED TO OFFER NEWS IN BURMESE
NATION: SUHARTO'S BURMA TRIP COULD SPARK MILITARISM
REUTER: BURMA WELCOMES SUHARTO BEFORE KEY ASEAN
THE NATION: SLORC WILL RESPOND TO STICKS
--------------------------------------------------------------
KNU: PRESS RELEASE No. 2/97
Date: 22nd February, 1997
REGARDING THE 1997 SLORC OFFENSIVE AGAINST THE KNU
----------------------------
The SLORC launched its general offensive against the KNU in 6th Brigade area
on the 8th of February 1997. Simultaneously, the SLORC launched an
offensive against the KNU's Brigade 4 area. The SLORC's Southern Command is
led by Division Commander Thura Sit Maung, notorious for human rights abuse
perpetrated against the civilian population in southern Burma. In this
offensive, battalions from Light Infantry Divisions (LIDs) 11, 22, 33, 55,
66 and 99 were deployed, having a combined strength of approximately 3, 000
men, as well as the troops usually operating in the southern area.
The battle front news from KNU 4th Brigade area is as follows:
8th of February, 1997:
---------------------------
A clash between SLORC (Burmese army) troops and Karen National Liberation
Front (KNLA) troops took place at Mu Hta village. SLORC casualties are unknown.
9th of February, 1997:
----------------------------
The KNLA attacked SLORC troops near Mae Plu Kho village in KNU 4th Brigade
area. The battle began at 8.30 AM and lasted the whole day. In this clash,
9 SLORC soldiers were killed, including one major, and 15 SLORC soldiers
were injured.
10th of February, 1997:
------------------------------
The KNLA ambushed SLORC soldiers at Kleh Gyu village. One SLORC soldier was
killed and two SLORC soldiers were injured.
11th of February 1997:
----------------------------
The KNLA attacked the SLORC at Taung Thon Lone village. Casualty numbers
are unknown. On the same day, KNLA soldiers ambushed SLORC soldiers at Po
Se camp, near Maw Lo Kheh village. the SLORC retaliated using 20 artillery
shells. Casualties are as yet unknown.
13th of February 1997:
----------------------------
The KNLA ambushed SLORC troops at Yo Lay and Mae Moe Kay Klaw villages. The
battle began at 7.30 AM and lasted the whole day, leaving the SLORC with 18
men wounded or dead. Three SLORC soldiers and seven porters fled the battle
field. The SLORC soldiers tried to recapture the fleeing soldiers and
porters, and then a new battle with the KNLA soldiers occurred. Three SLORC
soldiers were killed in this battle. The run-away soldiers and porters were
then executed by the commanding officers of the SLORC battalion.
15th of February 1997:
----------------------------
The SLORC soldiers attacked the KNLA forces at Kwee Wah Wah village at 6.30
AM. One KNLA soldier was injured. SLORC casualties are unknown. Fighting
broke out again at 11.30 AM and 20 SLORC soldiers were killed, including one
officer. One KNLA soldier died and 5 were injured in this battle.
16th of February 1997:
----------------------------
Clashes broke out between KNLA and SLORC troops at a position between Kwee
Wah Wah and Nyah Plah Thu villages. SLORC casualties are unknown. KNLA
troops suffered no casualties.
17th of February 1997:
----------------------------
The KNLA captured a boat carrying SLORC military supplies and 10 sacks of
rice and other military rations were seized. On the same day, the KNLA
attacked the SLORC soldiers at Maw Ma Pru mountain. SLORC casualties are
unknown.
18th of February 1997:
-----------------------------
A battle broke out again at Maw Ma Pru mountain at 9.00 AM., lasting the
whole day and leaving the SLORC with 20 casualties. The KNLA then captured
10 SLORC Navy boats carrying supplies. On the same day the KNLA attacked
the SLORC at Ta Nah P'Gaw Htah village and the SLORC suffered 20 casualties
in this battle.
19th of February 1997:
-----------------------------
The KNLA attacked SLORC soldiers at K'Htaw Nee area. The SLORC suffered
over 30 casualties.
Currently all over the KNU's 4th Brigade area, sporadic fighting is
continuing. The KNLA have had few casualties, yet injuries and deaths on
the SLORC side have been high in number.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------
For more information :
please contact Pado Mahn Shar at 055 561 040 or 055 561 062
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------
*************************************************************
KNU: SITUATION UPDATE, MERGUI TAVOY DISTRICT, 4TH BRIGADE KNU
February 20, 1997
1. MILITARY SITUATION
-NORTH OF DISTRICT HQ (HTEE KEE)
Slorc troops from Mergui arrived at Tavoy military area on 14.2.97 .
In the Taung Byauk area SLORC troops captured porters from all villages.
Slorc troops continue to repair the old road that was used by Japanese
troops in WWII.
A SLORC column from Kwee Waw Wa (Aing Wine) village marched eastward to the
Thai border. Noon, 16th Feb there was a skirmish with KNLA at Thet Hkee Hta.
Information has now been confirmed that SLORC will strike with 5
columns from all directions to destroy the KNU district HQ at Htee Kee.
On 16th and 17th Feb two skirmishes happened at Ka Neh Kaw (Pya Tha
Chaung) and Paundaw areas in the Paw Klo river valley area. SLORC
confiscated villagers's boats from Paw Klo (Ban Chaung) areas and sent
supplies to Htee Hpo Lay and Kwee Waw Wa where they are currently camped on
the banks of the Tenasserim river.
On 15th Feb SLORC division 55 arrived at Tavoy with 50 military
vehicles. They brought mules along with the convoy.
-SOUTH OF DISTRICT HQ (HTEE KEE)
On 16.2.97 SLORC troops from No They Lar left for an offensive march
to the east, it included two columns of troops.
On 15.2.97 another SLORC troop with 200men arrived at Ka Wutt Hta and
captured porters from there.
2. DISPLACED PEOPLE
- NORTH OF DISTRICT HQ (HTEE KEE)
Villagers from Kaw Wah Kwee, Htee Hpo Lay and Kwee Waw Wa arrived at Ka Saw
Wah. Accurate numbers are still not available but are estimated at 600-700.
Some people from Ka Saw Wah and Ka Ma Haw have already fled and arrived at
Htee Hta and Amoh.
- SOUTH OF DISTRICT HQ (HTEE KEE)
On 17.2.97 villagers from Htaw Ma Pyo and Min Htaing Hkee close to the
border of Thailand at Ratchaburi area were told by the Thai military to move
to a point 5 Kms back from the border line. The reason for this is not clear
since these people have stayed there for a long time.
3. HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES REPORTED
Kalet Kay, Htee Hpo lay and Kaneh Kaw villages were burnt down by SLORC
troops. Some plantations were also burnt.
15.2.97 (5) boats travelling on the river were shot at and two boats
sunk. There were casualties but the number not known.
There has been looting of villagers property and live stock from
deserted villages.
4. ASSISTANCE SOUGHT
A list of displaced persons is being collated and assistance sought from
BBC (food) and MED (medicine). The list of displaced persons is still as
reported on the first update.
THE FACTS REGARDING THE OPERATION IN MERGUI TAVOY
Name of offensive : Thu Ra
Chief Commanding officer: Bdr Gen. Thi Ha Thu Ra Sit Maung
Vice Chief Commanding officer. Col Thu Ra Maung Ni
Field commanders: Lt Col. Than Win (1st command)
Lt Col. Saw Hla Min (2nd command)
no name known (3rd command)
Designated battalions: IB 224,262,267, 273,280,25,104,17,101,103
LIB 265,342,358,431,432,401,406
Area designated: -Tavoy to Taung Thone Lone : IB 104,267
- Heinda to Paundaw IB 273
-Taung Thone Lone - Mytta - K'let Ki : IB 25
- Mytta to Kwee Waw Wa : IB 224,267,273,25,431
- Peh to Pa Lauk Nan Thila : IB 280,17
- Kyauk Lone Gyi : IB 101,103,LIB 432
Reinforcement: Supply Unit 924
Field engineers 904
Construction engineers 965
Artillery Unit 324
Field intelligence 19
Medical Unit 5/100
Communication 8
Mule and horse train unit 1
Field engineers (navy) 906
Mine detectors and trackers unit
It has been reported that Division 55 has left from Tavoy and has spread out
to the front line. On 15.2.97 they arrived from Ye with about 50 trucks
along with mules and horses.
KNU Information Center
***********************************************************
KNU: HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS IN THATON DISTRICT
February 20, 1997
On 8/2/97 SLORC'S Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) 219 commanded by Lt.
Colonel Aung Ko Ko burned unmilled rice belonging to the following villagers
in Mae Baw Kee village, Thaton District.
(1) Saw Pah Er 75 baskets
(2) Maung Kya Ngay 60 baskets
(3) Pa Baw 75 baskets
On the same day, they killed and ate a buffalo belonging to Maw Loh Pa. On
10/2/97 the two villages of Noe Baw Kee and La Kyo Ko were relocated to Htaw
Klaw Kee village by SLORC Infantry Battalion 63 which is also located in
this village. The entire village was fenced and the villagers are virtual
prisoners. They leave only to be used as forced laborers working on a road
being built by SLORC troops in this area.
KNU INFORMATION CENTER
****************************************************
US STATE DEPT: US DEPLORES ATTACKS ON KAREN
February 18, 1997
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE OFFICE OF THE SPOKESMAN
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
FEBRUARY 18, 1997
STATEMENT BY GLYN DAVIES, ACTING SPOKESMAN
BURMA -- U.S. DEPLORES ATTACKS ON KAREN
The United States is deeply disturbed by the Burma Army's attacks
against ethnic Karens living near the border with Thailand. The vast
majority of those affected are civilians, including women, children
and the elderly. Thousands of refugees have fled their homes to seek
temporary refuge in Thailand. We are also deeply disturbed by the
forcible conscription of thousands of civilians to serve as porters
for the Burma Army in its offensive.
We call upon the Government of Burma to halt its military attacks and
return to negotiations to achieve national reconciliation with the
ethnic minority groups and the democratic political opposition.
*********************************************************
BKK POST: BURMESE REFUSE TO RETURN VEHICLES SEIZED IN CLASH
February 22, 1997
Mae Sot, Tak
Thai authorities yesterday failed to persuade Burma to return
vehicles and other military goods seized during a clash at a
disputed border point.
On Thursday about 100 Burmese soldiers laid siege to a 50 strong
combined military and police force that was despatched to Ban Mae
Kho in Tambon Mae Chan of Umphang district.
A border source said the Thai force had been sent to see if
Burmese soldiers had crossed onto Thai soil. However, there was a
brief battle in which the Thai's were outnumbered. There were no
casualties but pick up trucks, ammunition, a communication radio
and food supplies were seized and taken back across the border.
Initial reports indicated Burmese soldiers and captured Pol Sgt
Maj Suriya Sathumrat, of the border police, and three soldiers of
the Fourth Infantry Regiment's task force.
However, task force commander Col Suvit Maenmuan yesterday denied
the reports. He explained that the clash had taken place in an
ill-defined border area claimed by both Thailand and Burma.
Both sides met for talks at Ban Klo Tho yesterday morning. The
Thai delegation was led by Fourth Infantry Regiment deputy
commander Col Chainarong Thanaroon.
*************************************************************
HUAI KALOK REFUGEE CAMP: STUDENTS? FLYER
February 20, 1997
This is the text of a flyer which was produced and distributed by Karen
students from Huai Kalok Refugee Camp, which was almost totally destroyed
after a SLORC/DKBA attack three weeks ago.
* LONG LIVE THEIR MAJESTIES THE KING AND QUEEN OF THAILAND.
* WE ARE GENUINE KAREN REFUGEES TEMPORARILY LIVING IN THAILAND.
* WE THANK THE THAI AUTHORITIES FOR LETTING US STAY IN THAILAND.
* THE ACTION TO DESTROY OUR REFUGEE CAMPS IS THE PLAN OF THE SLORC
MILITARY GOVERNMENT.
* WE REQUEST THE THAI AUTHORITIES TO PROTECT US.
* WE REEQUEST THE THAI BUDDHIST LEADERSHIP TO MEET WITH THE SLORC
AND DKBA LEADERS TO NOT SEND THEIR SOLDIERS TO ATTACK US AGAIN.
* WE REQUEST WORLD BUDDHIST ORGANIZATIONS TO TAKE STRONG ACTION AGAINST
SLORC AND DKBA FOR THIS ACTION OF BURNING OUR REFUGEE CAMPS.
* WE REQUEST THAI AUTHORITIES AND ASEAN TO RECONSIDER THEIR "CONSTRUCTIVE
ENGAGEMENT' WITH SLORC.
* WE REQUEST THAI AUTHORITIES NOT TO FORCIBLY REPATRIATE US.
* WE REQUEST THAI GOVERNMENT ASSISTANCE FOR THE REBUILDING OF OUR REFUGEE
CAMPS AT A NEW SECURE LOCATION.
****************************************************
THAILAND TIMES: OFFICIAL SLORC VISIT TO KNU WAS PRELUDE TO CAMP CAPTURE
(abridged)
February 15, 1997
by Atsawin Phinitwong
Tak -- The official visit of members of Burma's ruling junta to the Karen
National Union's (KNU) Teekaper stronghold late last month was simply
a reconnaissance mission in preparation for the junta's capture of the base
two days ago, a senior military officer said yesterday.
The officer, who requested anonymity, said it was no coincidence that the
fall of the stronghold came only two weeks after the Burmese government had
sent its representatives to meet KNU leader Gen Bo Mya on the
occasion of the KNU Revolution Day celebrations.
While the ostensible purpose had been to ask the rebels to commit themselves
to a cease fire, the delegation's primary concern was to sound out the
terrain and the KNU's military capacity, the officer said. Dubious motives
were strongly indicated by the presence of officers from the junta's
intelligence unit among the 11-member delegation to the base, said the
officer, adding thatmembers of the mapping and military strategies unit had
also been present.
Only a week after the delegation's visit, the Burmese regime reinforced its
troops in the area, later launching offensives on a number of the KNU's
camps and torching four Karen border villages.
[section on early February attacks cut]
While the refugees face a precarious future in Thailand, an announcement
yesterday by Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer that the
Australian government will contribute 16 million baht to provide
humanitarian relief to Karen refugees in Thailand will do something to
alleviate their hardship.
******************************
THE NATION: KARENS' LAST STAND BEFORE THE FINAL ONSLAUGHT (abridged)
February 20, 1997
Southeast Asia's longest ethnic struggle is in danger of complete collapse.
If the Karen National Union is defeated, Thailand will bear the brunt of the
burden, writes Yindee Lertcharoenchok.
Two years after a major setback from the untimely loss of its Manerplaw
headquarters, Burma's embattled Karen guerrilla movement is now facing a new
military and political crisis. This crisis threatens to end the longest
armed struggle in Burma for the recognition of ethnic rights and greater
autonomy.
Although the military operation which took place two weeks after Burmese
and renegade Karen troops trespassed into Thai territory to attack three
Karen refugee camps was primarily aimed at strategic KNU strongholds, its
manoeuvres, however, have created a wider impact on the Burmese civilian
population and Burma's eastern neighbour.
Hundreds of porters and tens of thousands of refugees who fled the Burmese
lightning attacks last week on KNU's 6th Brigade area have entered
Thailand's Umphang district in Tak province.
Thai authorities in Mae Sot estimate that about 700 to 800 porters were
forcibly recruited to carry weapons and supplies for the assaults. From the
look of things, many of these porters, because of the harsh circumstances
they are in, will sneak across the border and seek refuge in Thailand.
Mae Sot officials have suggested that these porters be liable to legal
prosecution because they are ''illegal immigrants" and not refugees fleeing
the fighting thus making them victims both in their homeland and in the
country where they are seeking refuge.
Although Thai officials promptly promised a safe place for the new influx of
over 20,000 new Karen fugitives from the KNU's 6th Brigade, the combined
number of the new arrivals and those already taking shelter in over a dozen
camps along the Thai-Burmese border has reached a high record of over
100,000 the largest number of refugees on Thai soil since the Cambodian
conflicts in the 1980s.
KNU officials predict that as many as 50,000 more Karen civilians could flee
across the border into Thailand's Kanchanaburi down to Ratchaburi, Prachuab
Khiri Khan, and Chumphon provinces if the Burmese Army begins a full-scale
operation against the 4th Brigade, now that it has already taken full
control of the 6th Brigade.
Already, eight Burmese Army battalions of about 350 to 400 troops each have
been deployed to attack the 4th Brigade, which is currently the primary
source of KNU's income from fisheries, logging and mining. Another
contingent of six more Burmese battalions are currently attacking KNU
strongholds at Chong Kamiew, opposite Thailand's Chumphon province where the
KNU's 11th and 12th battalions are located.
The fall of the 4th Brigade area would mean ''a virtual end" to all of the
KNU's stationary strongholds and controlled territories, which once
stretched along the border terrains, opposite Thailand's northern Mae Hong
Son down to southern Chumphon and Ranong provinces.
Thai Army Commander-in-Chief Gen Chettha Thanajaro has tried to play down
the impacts of the major Burmese offensive against the KNU on Thailand,
arguing that the fighting and the attacks on refugee camps is a Burmese
internal affair. The ground realities, however, are different. The border
situation has reached a critical point in terms of the crisis both involving
refugees and security.
The Thai Army's failure to protect the country's sovereignty, national
integrity and the lives of fugitives taking shelter on Thai soil against
repeated intrusions and aggression last month by Burmese and renegade Karen
intruders is already unforgivable. And Chettha's understatement of the
overall situation only makes the Army under his command look even more
hapless and questionable in the eyes of the Thai people.
In fact, the indifferent attitude of the Army chief and his mentor, Prime
Minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudh, towards the tragic events unfolding at the
Thai-Burma border, has drawn criticism. Several Burma watchers and even a
few Thai officials have gone so far as to suggest that the Thai Army and
government might be willing partners with the Burmese junta in wanting to
see the KNU and the Karen people annihilated.
Moreover, the fact that the Burmese defence attache and the Burmese
ambassador to Thailand on Feb 11 separately informed the Thai Army and the
Foreign Ministry respectively of the junta's decision to use force against
the KNU as a result of the rebel group's rejection of Rangoon's peace
initiatives only heightened the speculation. Interestingly, the Burmese
offensive against the KNU's 6th Brigade began on the very same day.
For Thailand, the Burmese victory over the KNU will have tremendous effects
and impacts on the Kingdom's overall national security.
KNU's ''defeat" and its replacement with the Burmese Army as the guardian of
the Karen traditional homeland will make it the first time the Burmese
rulers in Rangoon will be able to exercise their full central authority in
taking full control of the full 2,500-kilometre common frontier with Thailand.
The Burmese permanent presence along the entire borderline means that
Thailand will, from now on, have to fully recognise the Burmese government's
sovereignty and territorial integrity which the Kingdom could, in the past,
ignore or overlook when dealing with various ethnic insurgency groups active
along the common boundary.
Thailand's national security policy and strategy towards its western border
will also have to undergo a major overhaul and the two countries, which have
yet to resolve several territorial claims, will face a surge in new
territorial disputes.
In terms of national defence on the ground, the traditional ''buffer zone",
which Thailand had smartly devised between 1960s and 1980s by employing a
handful of active Burmese ethnic guerrilla groups to counter threats of
communism, drugs, and previous Burmese socialist ideology, will naturally
disappear.
In the case of any disputes or conflicts, the Thai Army will have to enter
into a direct confrontation with the more experienced Burmese Army and not
the underarmed Burmese ethnic minorities, whose survival depends on food,
medical supplies and basic necessities bought from neighbouring Thailand.
*****************************
NATION: AUST URGED TO OFFER NEWS IN BURMESE
February 22, 1997
Associated Press
SYDNEY - Burmese Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi called
on Australia to broadcast news to her home country in its native
language so Burmese could keep in touch with the outside world.
She said Burma's military regime had a monopoly on the whole
media and her people were forced to depend on external radio and
television stations to receive uncensored news.
"With its proximity to Burma and with the increasing numbers of
Burmese on its soil, we hope that Australia will recognise the
need for disseminating information in the Burmese language on the
educational, social, economic and political currents that are
sweeping across the globe," Suu Kyi said.
She made the plea in Sydney via her husband, Dr Michael Aris, who
accepted an honorary doctorate form Sydney University of
Technology on her behalf.
Aris read a speech prepared by his wife, the 1991 Nobel Peace
Prize winner, who went to Rangoon in 1988 to care for her ailing
mother and became the nations's greatest living hero and one of
the world's best known political prisoners.
A statement form Radio National yesterday said the Burmese
audience for its programmes was still believed to be high
although the military government had imposed tight restrictions
on all international communications.
Yesterday, Suu Kyi said, Australians are citizens of a nation which had been
forged out of hard endeavour and had a reputation for being "tough".
"We expect form you the boldness to stand up and speak for the
rights of those who are seeking to cast off their shackles," she said.
"The curtailment of the right to develop initiative and to exercise freedom
of expression has disatrous effects on the future of a nation."
*************************************************************
NATION: SUHARTO'S BURMA TRIP COULD SPARK MILITARISM, WARNS OPPOSITION LEADER
February 21, 1997
By Andreas Harsono (Jakarta)
An opposition figure has questioned the purpose of President Suharto
visiting the military regime in Burma, speculating that the visit might
revitalise fascism and militarism in the historically-troubled southeast
Asian region.
Indonesian opposition leader Sri-Bintang Pamungkas told The Nation
yesterday that the State Law and Order Restoration Council (Slorc) in
Rangoon had long imported military doctrines and techniques from Jakarta.
''Suharto is now looking for friends to excuse the practice of fascism in
Indonesia, to legitimise the practice of having only one single state
ideology, one single party system and widespread intelligence services,"
Pamungkas said.
The former legislator said that former fascist-communist countries in
southeast Asia, which include Burma, Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, could
easily adopt a renewed fascist-militaristic ideology. Suharto arrived in
Rangoon yesterday from Vientiane on the last leg of a tour to Cambodia, Laos
and Burma. The Indonesian president, who rose to power in 1965, visited
Burma in 1974 during the rule of Burmese strongman Ne Win.
According to Pamungkas, the Slorc generals had adopted the Indonesian
doctrine of ''Dwifungsi Abri" which literally means the ''Armed Forces' Dual
Function" and principally justifies the involvement of active officers in
politics.
An Indonesian representative in Rangoon once said the Burmese government
would like to imitate the Indonesian government in three key areas: the
Indonesian state ideology Pancasila, the 1945 constitution and the Dwifungsi
Abri.
Rangoon has also learned from Jakarta sophisticated methods to suppress
dissent as well as intelligence techniques to divide-and-rule the opposition
in a bid to suppress Burmese opposition leader and Nobel Peace laureate Aung
San Suu Kyi.
''Suharto's move is very dangerous. He could incite the rise of militarism
here. He might build Asean [The Association of Southeast Asian Nations] into
a fascist-military block," said Pamungkas, referring to the Vietnam War, the
communism threat in Malaysia and southern Thailand, border conflicts between
Indonesia and Malaysia in the 1960s, as well as the civilian war in Cambodia
which concluded with the end of the Cold War. Indonesian officials said that
during his visit Suharto would sign a memorandum of understanding between
Citra Lamtoro Gung, a business group controlled by his eldest daughter Siti
Hardiyanti Rukmana, and the Union of Myanmar Economic Holdings.
Indonesia has already begun cooperating with Burma in the cement and
tobacco industries and trading. Indonesia's PT Semen Cibinong said last
month that it would invest US$210 million (Bt5.25 billion) in building
cement plants in Burma.
Other observers said Suharto wants to give his support to Laos, Cambodia
and Burma, which are expected to enter Asean in July. Asean's current
members are Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore,
Thailand and Vietnam.
A human rights campaigner said in a separate interview that Suharto's
support for the military regime in Rangoon is supposed to be answered with
broader Asean support of Indonesia's stance on East Timor. ''It's parallel.
Suharto wants to get wider support on East Timor. Burma wants to get Asean
support as well as deal with international pressure," said Bonar Tigor
Naipospos of the Jakarta-based Pijar rights organisation.
Pijar is among a few Indonesian NGOs which openly supported and displayed
Suu Kyi's picture during last year's pro-democracy street protests in
Jakarta in support of Indonesian leader Megawati Sukarnoputri. The protests
ended in serious riots on July 27.
Naipospos said Suharto needs Burma, especially after East Timorese Bishop
Carlos Ximenes Belo and resistance leader Jose Ramos-Horta received the
prestigious Nobel Peace Prize Award in December.
''Suharto wants to stress his stance that other countries, especially
Western ones, should not intervene in the internal affairs of countries like
Burma or Indonesia," he said, adding that despite freer trade and
globalisation, Suharto wants to stick to his own rule that politics should
be separated from human rights and democratisation issues.
Naipospos also said that the international community should realise now
that Suharto had become the ''main guardian" of the Burmese generals. ''If
they want to put pressure on Burma, they have to put on their agendas the
name of Suharto as well," he added.
The mouthpiece of the Burmese military regime, the New Light of
Myanmar newspaper, once dubbed the relationship between Indonesia and
Burma, ''Two Nations with a Common Identity" as it reported a sharp increase
in the exchange of official visits between the two governments.
Indonesian officials including Foreign Minister Ali Alatas and Defence
Minister Edi Sudrajat visited Rangoon in February 1994 and November 1995,
respectively.
Earlier, in August 1994, businessman Hutomo Mandala Putra of the Humpuss
business group and the youngest son of President Suharto also led a
high-profile business delegation to Rangoon.
Slorc leader Senior Gen Than Shwe also met Suharto in Jakarta in June 1995
and in November 1996 while his aide, Lt Gen Khin Nyunt, who heads the
intelligence service, travelled more frequently to Jakarta.
The Burmese embassy in Jakarta is the largest among Burma's in southeast
Asia, demonstrating that Jakarta is crucial for Slorc.
The Burmese ambassador, U Nyi Nyi Tant, a close associate of Khin Nyunt, is
portrayed as the spearhead of his nation's lobbying efforts in Jakarta,
which also hosts the Asean Secretariat.
*******************
REUTER: BURMA WELCOMES SUHARTO BEFORE KEY ASEAN DECISION
February 21, 1997
By Aung Hla Tun
RANGOON, Feb 21 (Reuter) - Indonesian President Suharto
arrived in Rangoon on Friday for a visit that Burma's military
government hopes will hasten its induction into the Association
of Southeast Asian Nations despite opposition from the West.
Burmese officials took Suharto's visit to be a hopeful sign.
"We see the president's visit as a sign that ASEAN is giving
us its backing while western countries are applying pressure on
us," a Burmese government spokesman told Reuters on Friday.
Diplomats said Rangoon would use the Suharto visit to
further its ambitions to join ASEAN this year and to counter
pressure from human rights groups and other critics.
Amnesty International said political repression and human
rights violations by the SLORC last year reached their highest
levels since the violent suppression of a popular uprising in
1988. Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has accused the
SLORC of harassing her National League for Democracy party.
In December, the SLORC closed universities indefinitely to
snuff out anti-government protests by students seeking greater
freedom and parked tanks in strategic places in Rangoon as a
show of force against any future unrest.
Suu Kyi has urged ASEAN not to invest in Burma and to
refrain from its "constructive engagement" with Rangoon until
the government's human rights record improved.
When contacted on Friday, neither Suu Kyi's aides nor other
key leaders of her party would comment on the Suharto visit.
But it was also likely that Indonesian officials might urge
Burma to undertake reforms to improve its international image
and thereby expedite its entry into ASEAN, diplomats said.
"The SLORC is being smiled on by ASEAN but it could be that
Suharto might just bite the bullet and ask them (SLORC) to
undertake reforms," said a Rangoon-based diplomat.
Indonesian Foreign Minister Ali Alatas, travelling with
Suharto, was expected to discuss with officials here Burma's
prospective entry into ASEAN.
Official Burmese media in a commentary warned that the
United States, which has been critical of Burma's human rights
record, might try to foil Burma's ASEAN membership.
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THE NATION: SLORC WILL RESPOND TO STICKS
February 17, 1997
More penalties and fewer incentives would help the cause of Burma's
beleagured opposition, Mya Maung writes.
The ability of the Burmese military regime, the State Law and Order
Restoration Council (Slorc), to sustain political power and rule against the
will of the people has been made possible in part by the outside world's
willingness to invest, trade, and establish economic ties.
Despite the verbal resolutions and rebukes of Slorc's blatant human rights
violations by the UN and the West, there has been a trend of convergence
between the foreign policies of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(Asean) and the West toward Burma.
Both of them presume that investment and trade promote economic growth and
in tandem encourage the military regime to undertake political reforms
toward democratisation. The corollary premise of this presumption is that
economic sanctions are counter-productive to economic and political
liberalisation or isolation of a dictatorial regime such as Slorc and only
hurt the people at large.
These presumptions have been proven to be utterly perverse and wrong as the
Burmese economy is in a shambles with rampant corruption, mounting inflation
and impoverishment of the majority of the people as the military regime
succeeds in attracting foreign investment to sustain its rule and to
continue rights abuses.
The US government has been the strongest among the Western government in
persistently criticising and threatening the Burmese junta with potential
economic sanctions.
Freedom Act
In July 1996, the McConnell Bill introduced in 1995, ''The Burma Freedom and
Democracy Act/" (S.1511) which was incorporated into the ''Foreign
Operations, Export Financing and Related Appropriations Act (H.R.L3540)" ,
calling for unilateral economic sanctions of Burma was resubmitted. It was
defeated and a different amendment to H.R 3540 was proposed and submitted by
senators Cohen and Feinstein.
In October, 1996, this new amendment was passed by both Houses and signed
into law by President Bill Clinton with the provision of ''a potential US
sanction be imposed upon 'new investment' by American companies if and when
the Burmese military regime harms or arrests [opposition leader Aung San]
Suu Kyi or mounts a massive repression against the dissidents."
Coinciding with the passing of this law, the Burmese regime began to slander
Suu Kyi as a traitor and a collaborator with the US to destroy the unity and
stability of Burma and threatened to re-arrest her.
In reaction to the repression in Burma and renewed threats against Suu Kyi
and pro-democracy activists, Clinton issued a proclamation banning the
issuance of visas to Burma's military rulers and their families which
triggered a tit-for-tat decree from the Burmese junta directed at US
officials and their families.
On Oct 29, the European Union followed the lead of the United States.
Meanwhile, there has been a growing call for economic sanctions against
Burma in the United States. Students from a number of US colleges and
universities have joined the Free Burma Coalition and Corporate Withdrawal
Movement to boycott products of American companies doing business in Burma.
The cities of Ann Arbor, Berkeley, Cambridge, Chicago, Madison, Oakland, San
Francisco, Santa Monica, and Seattle have adopted resolutions on the
condemnation of human rights violations and passed selective purchasing
legislation banning the products of American firms investing and conducting
business in Burma.
On June 25, 1996, Massachusetts became the first state to pass the
''selective purchasing bill", sponsored by Massachusetts state Rep Byron
Rushing calling for sanctions against American firms that are investing in
Burma.
As a result of the Free Burma Coalition and Corporate Withdrawal campaigns
and the Massachusetts sanctions bill, many US companies began pulling out of
Burma in 1996. Earlier this month, Pepsi-Cola, which was heavily targeted by
dissidents and college students, announced it was withdrawing its presence
in Burma.
The intimidation, arrest and arbitrary sentencing of members of Suu Kyi's
National League for Democracy and other dissidents have become a daily
ritual in Burma.
Physical violence
On Nov 9, 1996, the intimidation of Suu Kyi and NLD members turned into
physical violence when her motorcade was attacked twice by a crowd that
pelted the vehicles with stones.
Suu Kyi was not hurt but her colleague Tin Oo, vice-chairman of the NLD,
suffered a wound on his temple in the attack. During the first two weeks of
December, following large demonstrations by students at various campuses,
near her residence and at central locations in Rangoon, Suu Kyi's freedom of
movement was restricted after barricades were set up outside her residence
in the name of protecting her safety, forcing her to stay inside her house.
Against this background, Suu Kyi, who was kept under house arrest for nearly
six years until July 1995, called for a US embargo on foreign investment in
Burma under the Cohen-Feinstein bill.
On Feb 2, 1997, she stated:
''The conditions in Burma now are such that they do meet the requirements of
sanctions because widespread repression of the democracy movement was one of
the conditions of the imposition of sanctions and I think we can say very,
very clearly that there is large-scale repression of the democracy movement
going on."
She also produced a list of 105 people who were arrested by the authorities
since December 1996 and an order to kill her issued by the minister of
railways, Win Sein, to substantiate her call for US sanctions.
To the disappointment of the ''lady of Burma" and her followers and to the
delight of the Burmese military regime, US State Department spokesman,
Nicholas Burns, came out stating that ''the United States has not decided to
impose additional sanctions on Burma," reaffirming the old position of
''neither actively encouraging nor discouraging American companies to do
business in Burma."
In fact, Unocal, whose Yandana natural gas field project has been charged by
dissidents and various human rights organisations, including the United
Nations of promoting ecological rape, forced relocation, forced labour and
the suffering of hundreds of thousands of people inside the country and
along the Thai border, signed another offshore natural gas field project
with the Burma government.
Meanwhile, Japan which has been the largest historical creditor of the
Burmese military regime, lodged a protest against the Massachusetts
selective purchasing law as illegal with the US State Department. Asean, led
by Malaysia and Indonesia, is also hinting at willingness to accept Burma as
a member in 1997.
Hence, Burma's quest for freedom from fear and democracy is back to square
one with respect to the military regime's ability to stay in power and avoid
potential US or other international sanctions.
As Suu Kyi aptly remarked in February 1994 during a meeting with William
Richardson, the first US lawmaker allowed to visit her while she was under
house arrest: ''Too many nations use economic carrots, and not sticks to
encourage improvement in Burma's human rights records and the fundamental
question is whether the outside world's investment and trade with Burma is
really helping the people of Burma or is it simply helping the government to
dig in its heels?"
The answer to her question seems fairly obvious in light of the willingness
of the US and many nations to invest, engage and trade with the Burmese
military regime.
Mya Maung is a professor of finance at the Wallace E Carrol School of
Management, Boston College.(TN)
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