The BurmaNet News, June 30, 1997

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------------------------- BurmaNet ------------------------     
"Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies"     
----------------------------------------------------------     
 
The BurmaNet News: June 30, 1997        
Issue #761

Noted in Passing:

 ... unlike World War II where Americans fought against a slave labor
system, some Americans are now profiting from Burma's free-market, forced
labor economy.

--Douglas Steele (see AP: US Probes Data on Burma Slave Labor)

HEADLINES:        
==========   
REUTER: BURMA SAYS OPPOSITION PLANS TERRORIST ACTS
SLORC: INFORMATION SHEET NO.A- 0058
REUTER: U.S. DENIES PLOTTING BURMA ATTACKS
NCGUB PRESS RELEASE: SLORC PRESS CONFERENCE
BUSINESS TIMES: EU TAKES STIFF LINE AGAINST MYANMAR
AP: US PROBES DATA ON BURMA SLAVE LABOR
REUTER: BANGLADESH GUARDS PUSH BACK BURMESE
KHRG UPDATE : PAPUN DISTRICT
KNU PRESS RELEASE:NO. 30/97
HONG KONG AFP: JUNTA REJECTS DENVER SUMMIT CALL 
UPI: U.S. NABS BURMESE HEROIN KINGPINS
FTUB LETTER: ARREST OF  TWO FTUB EXECUTIVE MEMBERS
----------------------------------------------------------------- 

REUTER: BURMA SAYS OPPOSITION PLANS TERRORIST ACTS
June 27, 1997 [slightly abridged]
By Aung Hla Tun

RANGOON, Burma (Reuter) - Burma's military government Friday accused exiled
dissidents and some Americans of masterminding a fatal parcel bomb attack in
April and of planning other terrorist acts in Rangoon.

He said the exiled terrorists, based in Bangkok, Tokyo and in the United
States, collaborated with Americans believed to be members of secret U.S.
organizations.

Khin Nyunt said the terrorist group, including some cousins of NLD leader
Aung San Suu Kyi, also planned to organize labor unrest in the capital this
week.

Khin Nyunt said among those involved in the terrorist acts were Sein Win,
chairman of the U.S.-based National Coalition Government of the Union of
Burma (NCGUB) and who is Suu Kyi's first cousin.

He said two Americans, identified as Philip Robson and John Osalnick, had
provided about $85,200 to Suu Kyi for the NLD's anti-government activities.

He said the Americans visited Rangoon earlier this year to hand over the
money to NLD members.

The general said other Americans had provided high explosives and other
explosive devices to the dissident group early this month. He said the
foreigners had earlier provided training to Burmese dissidents.

He said the government intercepted some explosives and equipment that
dissidents tried to smuggle through the Thai-Burmese border in early June.
-------------------------------------------------
[excepts from related articles]

REUTER: MILITARY SAYS SUU KYI'S NLD LINKED TO TERRORIST ACTS
June 27, 1997
By Vithoon Amorn

RANGOON, June 27 (Reuter) - Army colonel Thein Swe alleged that Philip
Robertson of the Labour Foundation and John Osolneck of the Asian-American
Free Labour Institute visited Rangoon in January to give the money to Suu
Kyi's aides.

``It can be inferred that the American citizens involved in these incidents
have operated under cover of front organisations in order to conceal the
organisations to which they really belong,'' he said.

``The culprits involved in these subversive plot have not only tried to stir
up unrest to disturb the peace, but have secretly given assistance
indirectly in both cash and kind to the NLD,'' the spokesman said.

The government spokesmen said nearly 10 NLD members and supporters had been
detained this month for unspecified periods but a few would likely be
released soon. They said formal charges had not been laid against them
pending on-going investigation of their activities.

A military spokesman declined to say if the government would take further
actions against other NLD leaders.

He said two exiled anti-SLORC groups, the Bangkok-based Federation of Trade
Unions-Burma (FTUB) and the Washington-based National Coalition Government
of the Union of Burma (NCGUB), had plotted bomb attacks at Chinese and
Indonesian embassies in Rangoon but their plans were uncovered before they
could be carried out.

The government said FTUB was headed by Pyi Thit Nyunt Wai, son of an NLD
central executive committee, while the NCGUB was led by Suu Kyi's first
cousin, Sein Win.

The spokesmen on Friday accused a Japan-based dissident group, the Burma
Association In Japan (BAIJ), of masterminding a fatal parcel bomb attack in
April that was apparently aimed at Secretary Two Tin Oo, one of Burma's four
most powerful generals.

The mail bomb exploded and killed Tin Oo's eldest daughter, Cho Lei Oo, 34,
a mother of two. The senior SLORC member was at home when the bomb went off
but he escaped injury.

The bombing was thought to be the second attack on Tin Oo in the past four
months. The army chief of staff was the last senior official to visit a
sacred Buddhist shrine before two bombs exploded on December 25 last year.

The army spokesman charged that the BAIJ members comprised NLD supporters,
some of whom had allegedly received explosives training by French and Americans.

------------------------------------------------------
DAILY YOMIURI: MYANMAR ACCUSES U.S. OF AIDING TERRORIST ATTACKS
June 28, 1997

Yangon (AP)? [Gen. Khin Nyunt] read out a list of congressional
appropriations to labor and pro-democracy groups who he said were planning
to "commit atrocities, cause chaos and confusion and thus bring down the
government and install a puppet government that would take orders from
Western powers."

The groups included the American Refugee Committee, International Rescue
Committee, the Center for International Private Enterprise, the Asian
American Free Labor Institute, The National Coalition Government of the
Union of Burma and Dr. Cynthia's Maesot Clinic, which provides free medical
care to ethnic Karen refugees in Thailand.

Khin Nyunt said that during June his men had arrested ten people including
two members Suu Kyi's political party, and two members of the National
Coalition Government of the Union of Burma, a pro-democracy exile group
based in the United States.

The NCGUB members were caught with explosive devices and materials including
plastic explosives, fuse wires and detonators, he said.

He displayed a rice cooker he said was used to smuggle the explosives into
the country.

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

SLORC: INFORMATION SHEET NO.A- 0058
June 27, 1997

(1) A special presentation was given by Lt. Gen. Khin Nyunt, Secretary (1)
of the State Law and Order Restoration Council to the Ministers, Deputy
Ministers, High Ranking Civil and Military Officials, members of various
organizations and news agencies this morning in Yangon.  The presentation
given by Secretary (1) was on ?Acts of Terrorism Presented by Illegal
Expatriate Anti-Government Organizations.? and also on ? How Some Western
Powers Have Been Aiding and Abetting Terrorism Committed by Certain
Organizations Operating Under The Guise of Democracy and Human Rights by
Giving Them Assistance in Both Cash
and Kind.?

(2) Later in the afternoon a Special Press Briefing was held at the Myanmar
Radio Broadcasting Station where the Diplomatic and Attache Corps, News
Agencies and other invited foreign guests were briefed by officials
concerned on the address Secretary (1) had earlier presented.

(3) U.S Charge d? Affaires a.i Mr. Kent Wiedemann was called to the Ministry
of Foreign Affairs at 7:30 pm this evening and handed over a copy of the
address given  this morning by Secretary (1) Lt. Gen. Khin Nyunt.

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

REUTER: U.S. DENIES PLOTTING BURMA ATTACKS
 June 27, 1997 [slightly abridged]

 WASHINGTON- The United States on Friday denounced as ``outrageous'' a
Burmese charge that Washington was plotting with opposition groups to carry
out anti-government attacks.

 ``That charge is obviously outrageous,'' State Department spokesman John
Dinger told a regular news briefing.

 He said Burma's ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council, in making
the claim, might be trying to divert attention from its ``terrible record of
abusing the human rights of its own citizens.''

``The United States has suffered very much from terrorist acts, both at home
and abroad, against its citizens,'' Dinger said. ``We are a leader in the
international fight against terrorism. And I absolutely reject that sort of
charge, categorically.'' 
--------------------------------------------------
[except from related article]
NATION: BURMA ACCUSES US OF FUNDING TERRORIST ATTACKS
June 28, 1997

RANGOON - The US charge d'affaires in Rangoon Kent Wiedemann blasted the
charge as an "absolute lie? and said he would be protesting in
the "strongest possible terms" to the military government.

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

NCGUB PRESS RELEASE: SLORC PRESS CONFERENCE
June 27, 1997

PRESS RELEASE
June 27, 1997

Contact: Bo Hla-Tint 
Tel: 202 393-7342
Fax: 202-393.7343

National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma 
815 Fifteenth Street, N. W., Suite 910 
Washington, DC 20005

Hurling False Accusations To Hide The Facts

At a press conference held in Rangoon on June 27, 1997, the ruling military
junta in Burma, State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC), made
groundless accusations against the National Coalition Government of the
Union of Burma (NCGUB)

The accusation that the NCGUB was behind the bomb explosion at the home of a
SLORC leader and was a mastermind in the plot to blow up Chinese and
Indonesian embassies in Rangoon is absurd.  The NCGUB has always been
consistent in its policy of not encouraging acts of violence or of getting
involved in violence of any kind.  It does not believe that transition to
democracy can be achieved through violence.

In line with the policy of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, which has been affirmed
time and again, the NCGUB believes only in non-violent, peaceful means to
resolve problems. It is a firm believer that political problems must be
resolved through political means.

SLORC also lied about funds being given to the National League for Democracy
(NLD) and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. Contrary to the accusations, the NCGUB has
never given any funds either to the NLD or to Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.

We condemn SLORC for resorting to such desperate means. SLORC is either
trying hide the true identity of those responsible for the bomb blast at the
SLORC leader?s home or to cover up the fact that they do not know who the
real culprits are. It also hopes to discredit the democracy movement through
false accusations and, at the same time, to find a pretext for increasing
its repression against the NLD and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.

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

BUSINESS TIMES: EU TAKES STIFF LINE AGAINST MYANMAR
June 28, 1997
By Shada Islam

Statements surprise Asean diplomats, spark new concerns

EUROPEAN Union (EU) Foreign Ministers meeting in Luxembourg issued their
strongest warning yet on Myanmar's membership of Asean.

The 15 EU governments warned Asean not to press for Myanmar's participation
in the EU-Asean cooperation agreement and said Yangon will not be asked to
attend an EU-Asia summit in London next spring.

The strong line surprised Asean diplomats and triggered concern that the
issue could become a stumbling block in Europe's expanding relations with
the region.

Earlier this month, EU governments simply "took note" of Asean's decision to
embrace Myanmar. But officials say several European governments, including
London's new Labour government, were unhappy with the soft stance taken by
Dutch Foreign Minister Hans van Mierlo, the current president of the EU
Council of Ministers.

"There was pressure to sharpen the language and deliver a stronger warning
to Asean," one EU diplomat said.

"That first statement was issued without too much preparation. This new
declaration is the culmination of serious discussion in the EU Council of
Ministers."

EU foreign ministers now express "serious concern" at "the deteriorating
human rights situation in Myanmar" and urge the country's military
authorities to release all pro-democracy prisoners.

The EU has cut off high-level contacts with Myanmar and withdrawn trade
preferences. In Luxembourg, the ministers said they would study "possible
additional measures" in September.

EU officials say the new line reflects continuing scepticism over Asean's
policy of constructive engagement, arguing this has not improved the human
rights situation.

"Asean must realise Myanmar cannot join the EU-Asean cooperation agreement,"
one EU diplomat said. "Such an accession would never be accepted by our
parliaments or our public opinion."

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

AP: US PROBES DATA ON BURMA SLAVE LABOR
June 27, 1997
By Gene Kramer

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Burma's military rulers have created a slave labor
system comparable to World War II concentration camps, human and labor
rights groups told a U.S. Labor Department panel Friday.

``Other countries have used forced labor but not since the concentration
camp system of Nazi Germany has a nation instituted such an extensive
system,'' said Douglas Steel of the International Labor Rights Fund, a
private advocacy group.

But ``unlike World War II where Americans fought against a slave labor
system,'' Steel said, ``some Americans are now profiting from Burma's
free-market, forced labor economy.''

Specifically, he mentioned the Burma-Thailand Yadana gas pipeline
project, a partnership of the two countries' government oil companies
with two multinational companies, U.S.-based Unocal and Total S.A. of
France.

``That's absolutely false regarding the project,'' said Barry Lane, a
Unocal spokesman in Los Angeles.

``First of all, we're not an operator of the project; we're an investor,
but we monitor it,'' Lane said. ``There are no improper labor practices.
All of the workers are paid above the going rate for the region. The
State Department has looked into it and not found any labor
violations.''

Burma's military junta -- the State Law and Order Restoration Council --
has also disputed the forced labor charges, maintaining that voluntary
work is party of the country's cultural tradition.,

Steel was several witnesses testifying Friday before the U.S. panel,
which is gathering evidence as part of a U.N. International Labor
Organization probe of allegations that Burma is violating the 1930
Convention Against Forced Labor.

The United States and other member governments have been asked to
provide all available data on the issue for the ILO's ninth such formal
inquiry since its founding 78 years ago, said Andrew J. Samet, an acting
deputy Labor Department undersecretary.

Bo Hla-tint of the Washington-based group claiming to be a Burmese exile
government said unpaid forced labor in Burma is widespread and carried
out on a national scale to build roads, railways, bridges and tourist
facilities.

``Whole villages are ordered to send at least one person per household,''
Hla-tint told the Labor Department panel. ``The practice is for soldiers to
suddenly appear at public places and drag people onto military trucks ... to
carry arms and ammunition and serve as minesweepers.... The old and the
weak, slow on the move, are beaten and shot on the spot.''

Amnesty International has repeatedly documented Burma's forced use of
civilians as porters and for other hazardous work, said T. Kumar, the
organization's advocacy director for Asia and the Pacific.

Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Gare A. Smith said ``credible
allegations of forced labor'' in the construction of the pipeline, roads,
railroads and hotels ``contributed to the decision'' by President Clinton in
May to ban new U.S. investments in Burma said

Such information also contributed to the European Union decision to join
the United States in denying certain trade preferences to Burma, said
Smith, who co-chaired Friday's hearing with Samet.

The ban did not halt existing investments but after it was ordered, Unocal
its was pulling out of some planned Burmese oil exploration ventures.
--------------------------------------------
[excerpts from related article]

THE NATION: RIGHT LOBBY ACCUSES BURMA OF UTILISING FORCED LABOUR
June 29, 1997

WASHINGTON - At a fact-finding hearing that is part of an international
investigation, human rights and labour groups said the military government
of Burma, organised its forced labour system around 1991, mostly to rebuild
infrastructure, such as highways and railroads.

"The widespread use of forced labour by the Burmese military regime truly is
one of the great crimes of our time, and this hearing contributes to the
growing awareness of its dimension and inhumanity," said Phil Fishman,
assistant director of the AFL-CIO's International Affairs Department.

The AFL-CIO, a federation of 78 US labour unions, helped prepare a complaint
last year by worker delegates to the governing body of the International
Labour Organisation, which led to the creation of a Commission of Inquiry.

The commission will hold six days of hearings in Geneva in November to
examine charges that Burma violated an ILO convention against forced labour
that it ratified in 1955.

It is only the ninth time in the ILO's 78-year history that such a panel has
been created.

"It is a matter of the gravest concern to the [Clinton] administration and
to the Department of Labour," said Andrew Samet, who heads the US Labour
Department's Bureau of International Affairs and conducted Friday's hearing.

After the hearing, Samet called Burma's labour practices "one of the most
outrageous systematic violations of human rights anywhere in the world today."

Douglas Steele of the International Labour Rights Fund, a Washington-based
labour rights organisation, estimated that two per cent of Burma's 42
million to 45 million people were forced to work each day, but up to
one-fourth of the population was coerced into labour during some portion of
each year.

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

REUTER: BANGLADESH GUARDS PUSH BACK BURMESE MOSLEMS
 June 28, 1997 

 COX'S BAZAR, Bangladesh - Bangladeshi border guards have sent back over
1,000 Burmese Moslems who illegally crossed into Bangladesh in recent weeks,
police said on Saturday.

 They said over 400 ``Rohingya'' Moslems, inhabitants of west Burma's Arakan
province, were arrested on Thursday when security forces raided their forest
hideouts and put them on several boats across the Naf border river.

 Over 500 Rohingyas were sent back earlier this month after they fled to
Bangladesh's Cox's Bazar district, which borders Arakan, Burma's only
Moslem-majority province.

 The arrested Rohingyas told police and officials that the influx was
triggered by rising food prices, unemployment, torture by security forces
and forced labour.

 Eight Rohingyas were drowned on Tuesday as they crossed the Naf river in an
attempt to reach Bangladesh, police said.

 The new influx began while some 21,500 Burmese Rohingyas were still huddled
in two large camps, awaiting their return home after a long-running
repatriation process was disrupted on May 1, officials said.

 The officials blamed the suspension on delay by Burmese immigration
authorities in giving clearance for the home-bound Rohingyas.

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

KHRG UPDATE : PAPUN DISTRICT
June 25, 1997

                       KAREN HUMAN RIGHTS GROUP
                          INFORMATION UPDATE

         An Independent Report by the Karen Human Rights Group
                  June 25, 1997     /     KHRG #97-U3

Information Update is periodically produced by KHRG in order to provide
timely reporting of specific developments, particularly when urgent action
may be required.  It is produced primarily for Internet distribution.
Topics covered will generally be reported in more detail in upcoming KHRG
reports.
_________________________________________________________

          Destruction of All Hill Villages in Papun District

Since the beginning of 1996, SLORC has launched campaigns in many parts of
Burma to forcibly move or wipe out all rural villages which are not under
the direct physical control of an Army camp.  In February/March 1997, SLORC
began a campaign to obliterate all villages in the hills of Papun District,
northern Karen State.  The initial wave of village destruction was carried
out through March 1997, but since the beginning of June 1997 SLORC patrols
have stepped up their efforts to destroy all signs of habitation and food
supplies wherever villagers had managed to rebuild.  KHRG has compiled and
confirmed a list of 68 villages which have been completely burned and
destroyed and 4 more which have been partially burned.  These are all Karen
villages, averaging about 15 households (population 100) per village. This
list is by no means complete, and right now SLORC patrols continue to burn
villages in the area.

The main areas targetted are the Bilin (Bu Loh Kloh) and Yunzalin (Bway Loh
Kloh) river valleys and adjacent areas west, north, and northeast of the
town of Papun.  At least nine SLORC Army battalions have been involved in
the operation: Light Infantry Battalions #106, 107, 391, 546, 547, and 548,
and Infantry Battalions #39, 57, and 59 (#106, 107, and 391 were rotated out
of the area and replaced by #39, 57, and 59; at least six Battalions are
active at a time).  Each of the several SLORC posts in the area sends out
columns of from 50 to 300 men which move from village to village.  On
arrival near a village, the troops first shell it with mortars from the
adjacent hills, then enter the village firing at anything that moves and
proceed to burn every house, farmfield hut, and shelter they find in the
area.  Paddy storage barns are especially sought out and burned in order to
destroy the villagers' food supply.  Any villagers seen in the villages,
forests, or fields are shot on sight with no questions asked.  The troops
bring porters with them from Papun and other towns, but if they need more
porters they take any villagers they catch, and they have already taken many
women and men, some aged over 65, for this.  However, the objective is not
to catch villagers, as in several cases they have surrounded villagers in
field huts and then simply opened fire instead of trying to catch them.  The
patrols seem to have no interest in interrogating the villagers, only in
eliminating them. Villages very close to Papun and Meh Way have been ordered
to move to Meh Way or to Army camps near Papun, such as Toh Thay Pu, but the
vast majority of villages have been given no orders whatsoever, they have
simply been destroyed.  Most of the villagers in the area say they do not
even understand why SLORC is doing this, and that they think SLORC is just
trying to wipe out the Karen population.  KNLA [Karen National Liberation
Army] troops are not based in any of these villages, and have never yet been
in a village when it was attacked.

The villagers generally hear up to a day in advance that a SLORC column is
coming, so they flee further into the hills and very few of them are sighted
by the troops.  Once the troops have destroyed their village and passed on,
they survive in leaf shelters or small huts which they build in the forest
and try to continue taking care of their fields.  Those whose paddy storage
barns have not been destroyed generally share out their rice with those who
have no more food.  Most are living on plain rice with some jungle leaf
soup, and salt if they are lucky enough to have any.  Almost all livestock
has been left behind and slaughtered by SLORC troops, who simply shoot it,
eat a small part and leave the rest to rot.  SLORC patrols are now returning
to areas which they previously burned out in order to seek out and destroy
the forest huts where the villagers are hiding, destroy any remaining rice
supplies and shoot any people they can find.  Units rotating in or out of
the area or travelling between camps are also burning any signs of
habitation they find.  If they have not enough
time to burn every house or if heavy rains prevent a good fire, they report
the location to the troops at their destination and a patrol is sent out to
destroy the site.

Every new patrol that comes around forces the villagers to flee yet again
and build new shelters elsewhere.  Heavy monsoon rains began in mid-June and
will continue until October, and moving and building are very difficult.
Malaria and other fevers, diarrhoea, dysentery, and other diseases are
widespread and the villagers have no medicine whatsoever.  Many children and
the elderly have already died.  The villagers have very few belongings left
and little food.  Most of them have managed to plant at least a limited rice
crop in intervals between SLORC patrols and they are desperately relying on
this crop, although many do not have enough rice to last them until they can
harvest it in November/December.  If the crop fails or if SLORC interferes
with it, the villagers admit they do not know what they will do and the area
will certainly be in a state of emergency.  About
1,000 villagers from the area have managed to escape to Thailand thus far,
but this is difficult and dangerous because of SLORC camps and patrols and
the landmines placed along many of the paths by the KNLA. Many of them have
also heard of the abuses against refugees by Thai authorities.  However, if
this campaign worsens in any way they may have no option but to flee towards
Thailand.

Making the situation worse, SLORC is trying to build a military supply road
straight across the northern part of the area, from Kyauk Kyi in Pegu
Division (in the Sittang River valley of central Burma) directly eastward to
Saw Hta on the Salween River, which forms the border with Thailand.  They
have burned and destroyed all villages along the route and have been
constructing the road with bulldozers under heavy military guard.  They have
already pushed the road most of the way through by working from both ends,
though the KNLA has now temporarily stopped the road construction by
destroying the bulldozers.  SLORC cannot capture enough villagers in the
area to use them for forced labour on this road, but the fact that they are
using bulldozers instead of bringing in forced labour from elsewhere makes
it apparent that they are in a hurry to complete this road.  The main
purpose of the road will probably be to support a new offensive along the
Salween River to gain complete control of the river and all adjacent
territory along the border with Thailand.  This offensive, which is expected
to begin after the rainy season, would cut off and contain the Karen forces
in Papun District, block off the further escape of refugees to
Thailand and allow further sweeps through the area to wipe out the civilian
population.  It would also pose a major security threat to Thailand, as
SLORC would probably follow it up with attacks on Karen refugee camps in
Thailand's Mae Sariang District, and may also decide to begin claiming
pieces of Thai territory east of the Salween River.

Details, maps, interviews and photos regarding the situation in these areas
will be available in an upcoming KHRG report and photo set.

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

KNU: PRESS RELEASE NO. 30/97
June 27, 1997

                             OFFICE OF THE SUPREME  HEADQUARTERS
                                        KAREN  NATIONAL  UNION
                                                  KAWTHOOLEI

                                     KNU  Press Release No. 30/97
               Regarding The 1997 SLORC Military Offensive agaist KNU

       The SLORC is continuing to rain destruction and atrocities upon the
Karen people in rural areas. The troops participating in the process are
destroying villages, commiting murder, forcibly conscripting labor and
forcing the relocation of villagers in many areas.

On 10-6-97, a combined force of the SLORC troops and the DKBA, numbering
about 20, attempted to attack Plaw Par Doh, a village near Umpang, Thailand.
The group retreated without successs after firing a number of shots.

On 13-6-97, a military column from the SLORC IB 93 arrived at Klaw Ta
village in Bilin township and shot at the villagers.  They wounded one
villager, Par Tee Kreh, age 42.  The SLORC troops ransacked 42 houses and
left with looted gold weighing about 180 grams.

On 16-6-97, a 200 man column from the SLORC LID 44 forcibly relocated the
people from the villages starting from Dor Da Lay to Ga Mar Hseh village in
the Tha Ton township.

On 16-6-97, the SLORC army units of IB 20, IB 26, IB 55, LIB 535 and other
units which are conducting military operations in the Toungoo district,
burnt down 26 houses and a school in Shoko village and 7 houses in Meh Ker
Waw village.  Troops from LIB 535 and IB 20 burnt down Maw De Doh, Boh Kler
Ber and Bla Kee villages.  In addition, they seized villagers, including a
large number of women and children.  They were forced to carry supplies and
ammunition to the front line camp of Ga Maw Doh.  On 17-6-97, IB 55 burnt
down Thay Ya Yu village.

On 17-6-97, the SLORC troops from LIB 12 and DKBA troops from Bo Chit Thu
faction shot up the villages of Tee Wa Plaw and Tee Law Theet Kee of  Hlaing
Bwe township, wounding four villagers seriously.

On 22-6-97, troops from the SLORC LIB 12 confiscated 3 pigs, 10 chickens and
50 baskets of paddy from the villagers of Poo Way village in Hlaing Bwe
township.  Troops from SLORC IB 250 shot at a pregnant woman, Naw Toh Ko of
Gaw Tha Wa village, severing her leg.  On the same day, the troops in a
shooting spree killed an unknown Pa-O woman from Kya Ga Lay village and
wounded Saw Way Too of Kler Doh village in the shoulder.  The troops also
seized a woman named Naw Ya Ben with her one year old child.  A man named
Aung Aung from Pine Kyon village, together with his four friends, were
subjected to torture by the SLORC troops before they were taken away.  These
six villagers and child are still under detention.

Abbreviaitons:  
KNU = Karen National Union (the political wing of the Karen resistance)
SLORC = State Law and Order Resoration Council (the military junta of Burma)
DKBA = Democratic Kayin Buddhist Army (a Karen Buddhist army organized by
the SLORC)
LID = Light Infantry Division, LIB = Light Infantry Battalion, IB = Infantry
Battalion

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

HONG KONG AFP: JUNTA REJECTS DENVER SUMMIT CALL FOR TALKS WITH OPPOSITION 
June 22, 1997

BANGKOK, June 22 (AFP) -- Burma dismissed on Sunday a joint call from
nations at the Denver Summit of the Eight for Rangoon's military leaders to
open a dialogue with the country's democratic opposition and ethnic minorities.
A senior government official reached in Rangoon claimed a "meaningful
dialogue" was already in progress in the form of the long-running national
convention to frame a new constitution.
"The main problem is the west is refusing to give Myanmar (Burma) a
chance to prove itself and ... constant interference is causing unnecessary
problems," he said.
Aung San Suu Kyi's main opposition National League for Democracy,
which swept the last elections held in Burma, has pulled out of the
convention, because it would enshrine a military presence in any future
parliament.
The Rangoon official contended that the appeal on Saturday by the
foreign ministers of the eight leading world powers at the Denver summit,
was motivated by domestic concerns of some of the eight.
The United States -- which in May adopted investment sanctions against
Burma in protest at human rights violations and suppression of democracy --
was using Burma as a "sacrificial lamb to please her own voters," he said.
He argued that the junta, the State Law and Order Restoration Council
(SLORC), had made "positive steps" towards the goal of multi-party democracy.
These included ditching the former socialist constitution, introducing
a free market economy and bringing 16 ethnic insurgent groups into the
"legal fold."
The official declined to comment on the G-8's statement that it would
hold the Burmese regime "accountable" for the safety of Aung San Suu Kyi,
whose movements in Rangoon and political activities remain severely
restricted.
In Denver, the G-7 nations, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy,
Japan and the United States, plus Russia, also called for members of the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to "use their influence to
encourage an early return to democracy" in Burma.
The Burmese official did not think the call would shake the ASEAN
nations from their abiding principle of non-interference in other members'
internal affairs.
"I do not believe the G-8 nations' joint declaration will have any
impact on ASEAN ... which shares with Myanmar (Burma) its own realistic
regional interest," he said.
In July, Burma along with Cambodia and Laos will be admitted into
ASEAN, a move guided by strategic concerns and ambitions to expand economic
cooperation in the region.
ASEAN, which currently groups Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the
Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, decided to let Burma in,
despite objections from the west, which advocates isolation of the SLORC.

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UPI: U.S. NABS BURMESE HEROIN KINGPINS
June 27, 1997
Sid Balman Jr.

WASHINGTON_ U.S. marshals are flying back to the United States with two of
Burma's most notorious heroin smugglers handcuffed to their seats.

American officials tell United Press International under conditions of
anonymity that the secret operation became possible after Thai officials
holding Wei Ming and Chang Yin Lung, top lieutenants of Burmese drug lord
Khun Sa, agreed to extradite the indicted narcotics traffickers.

The two suspects, who will be arraigned in the federal court for the eastern
district of New York shortly after arriving in the United States Friday
night, have been indicted on charges related to the heroin smuggling
operation they helped mastermind and run out of Southeast Asia.

Liu and Chang, ethnic Chinese working for Khun Sa in Burma, were arrested
last year by Thai law enforcement officials in an operation known as Tiger
Trap. Although the wily Khun Sa eluded capture, 19 of his associates were
arrested and are now languishing in jail awaiting trial or
extradition.

Later today, the State Department praised Thailand for its cooperation in
the matter. Department spokesman John Dinger said, ``The United States wants
to thank the Royal Thai government for its superb cooperation in helping
bring Liu and Chang to justice.''

More than 70 percent of the world's opium supply _ roughly 4,000 metric tons
according to the State Department _ is grown and processed in the Golden
Triangle, a region encompassing several hundred square miles of northern
Thailand, eastern Burma, southern China and western Laos.
Nearly 90 percent of heroin, which is derived from processed opium, consumed
in the United States originates in the Golden Triangle.

Khun Sa, a modern-day Asian warlord who commands a formidable army of
several thousand hill tribesmen and the descendents of expatriate Chinese
soldiers who remained in Burma following World War II, controls the opium
trade in Burma.

Armed with such modern weapons as AK-47 assault rifles, hand grenades, land
mines and sophisticated communications gear, Khun Sa's troops routinely
drove mule trains laden with opium or heroin into Thailand for illicit export.

Several American administrations have accused the powerful Thai military of
complicity in the operation and repeatedly called on Bangkok to crack down
on narcotics-related corruption in the armed forces. U.S. officials say
Operation Tiger Trap, to which the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration
supplied intelligence and logistics assistance, was the first major effort
by Thailand to cooperate with Washington's efforts to stem the flow of
heroin from Southeast Asia to the United States.

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FTUB LETTER: ARREST OF  TWO FTUB EXECUTIVE MEMBERS
June 24, 1997

General Than Shwe, Chairman
State Law & Order Restoration Council
192, Kaba Aye Pagoda Road
Bahan Post Office,
Yangon, Union of Myanmar

Date- 24 June 1997

Dear General,

The International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, which represents
124 million workers through its 195 affiliated national union centres in
137 countries and territories, protest in the strongest possible terms
against the arrest, on 13 June 1997 in Yangon of U Khin Kyaw and U Myo
Aung Thant, two Executive Committee Members of the Federation of Trade
Unions-Burma (FTUB).

U Myo Aung Thant is a member of the All Burma Petrol-Chemical
Corporation Union since 1988. He was arrested on his return from Bangkok on
13th June at Mingaladon airport, by officers of National Intelligence Bureau
(NIB). His wife and children were also detained. Later that day, NIB
officials arrested U Khin Kyaw and his wife at their home. U Khin Kyaw is an
official of the seamen's Union of Burma, a member of FTUB and an ITF
affiliate of the Internal Transport Workers' Federation (ITWF). He was
detained for trade union activities in 1993; after his release by court
order5 for lack of evidence, he was never compensated for his arbitrary
detention nor re-instated in his job. He was tortured during his detention
and his wife was sexually abused.

General, arrest of the trade union activists in retaliation for the exercise
of legitimate trade union activists is a flagrant violation of
internationally-guaranteed trade union rights, full respect of which is
binding on the Union of Myanmar by virtue of its membership in the
International Labour Organization. As one of the prisoners has already been
tortured during a previous period of detention, the ICFTU further considers
both U Khin Kyaw and U Myo Aung Thant, as well as their relatives detained
with them, to be at grave risk of torture.

We thus ask you, General, to order the immediate and unconditional release
of our two detained colleagues and of all their relatives, and request you
to provide public guarantees that they have not and will not be tortured
during their detention. I must advise you that failure to obtain their
release would leave the ICFTU no choice but to lodge a formal complaint
against the Union of Myanmar at the International Labour Office (ILO) and
the appropriate UN human rights mechanisms. In the meantime, I have
requested ICFTU - affiliated unions around the world, and particularly in
the Asia & Pacific region, to denounce the arrest of the two FTUB officials
and of their relatives.

                                                        Yours sincerely

                                                        sd. xxxxxxxxxx

                                                        General Secretary

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