The BurmaNet News - 5 March, 1998

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------------------------------ BurmaNet -----------------------------
"Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies
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The BurmaNet News, 5 March, 1998
Issue #949

Noted in passing: 

"He said a few farewell words to his cell neighbours as if he was going
away for good. We never saw him again." - Moe Aye, former political prisoner
held in Insein Prison. 
(see OBSERVER (Britian): THE DEATH OF MR LEO NICHOLS)

HEADLINES:
==========
OBSERVER (Britian): THE DEATH OF MR LEO NICHOLS
THE NATION: JUNTA 'CORRECTS' REPORT
REUTERS: HERMIT MYANMAR AVOIDS ASIA MONEY CRISIS
NCGUB PRESS RELEASE: PROPOSED JAPANESE AID WILL
REUTERS: STUDENTS DO EXAMS TO ENTER CLOSED MYANMAR
THE NATION: UNHCR TO ASSESS DISSIDENT
THE NATION: KARENS BLAMED FOR SHRINKING SALWEEN
THE NATION: MORE KAREN RELOCATED
BKK POST: CURFEW IMPOSED IN 10 BORDER VILLAGES IN
BKK POST: PANEL: SHUT TEMPORARY BORDER PASSES
BKK POST: SULAK BEGINS PROTEST TO HALT PROJECT
SPDC: INFORMATION SHEET NO. A.0335 (I)

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL: URGENT ACTION
INDO-BURMA BORDER NEWS
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----

OBSERVER (Britian): THE DEATH OF MR. LEO NICHOLS
1 March, 1998

YELLOW sports shirt is the proof that honorary consul Leo 
Nichols died because of the cruelty of his Burmese jailers. 

The man who for years acted as the link between the Burmese 
opposition and the outside world was hounded to his death by 
the secret police, who deprived him of sleep and medication 
during interrogations that sometimes went on all night.

The first witness account by another prisoner of his final days
confirms that his prison treatment led to his death. The Burmese
official line was that he died of a stroke.

His son, Bill Nichols, who lives in West Australia, said he was
determined to take leaders of the ruling junta to the bar of 
international justice.
    
"I'm trying to establish which court might have jurisdiction," 
he said. "I have contacted human-rights lawyers in Australia 
and New York. We've got to make this stick. They didn't just do
it to my father. They did it to thousands of others."

A host of circumstantial details substantiates the eye-witness 
account of Moe Aye, a former political prisoner who served the 
last year of his seven-year sentence at Insein prison in Rangoon
when Nichols was held there. He now works with the All Burma Students'
Democratic Front. 

But the clincher is the yellow shirt. Bill Nichols has at home a 
photograph of his father wearing it in death "before we dressed 
him in a suit for his burial". 

Leo Nichols, an Anglo-Burmese businessman, was honorary consul 
for Norway and Denmark. After his death they demanded an 
independent autopsy.

Nichols had heart disease and diabetes. In prison he developed 
dysentery. He had been sentenced to three years with hard labour 
for the illegal possession of two fax machines and a telephone 
switchboard.

But his real crime was his friendship with, and support for, the 
elected pro-democracy leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, whose activities
have been greatly circumscribed by the authorities. 

According to Moe Aye's written account, Nichols was wearing the 
yellow sports shirt and a regulation white sarong when he arrived 
at Insein in the truck that carried the prison rice pots one evening
in May 1996. 

The blue hood pulled over his head was removed when he was taken to 
the cells. He was uncomfortable in the sarong which barely covered 
his knees -- Nichols later said it had been given to him by another 
prisoner.

"He was clearly shocked and frightened," Moe Aye recalled.

Nichols told an English-speaking prisoner in the next cell that he 
had been interrogated for six consecutive days. All his money, the 
proceeds of a recent land sale, had been confiscated. 

He had not been beaten but was forced to sit in the poun-san position -
cross-legged with hands on his knees, back straight and head bowed - 
for a long time. This was an unusual punishment even for notable 
political prisoners.

"We concluded that the military junta had shown their extreme hatred 
of him," says Moe Aye.

The chief warden denied Nichols any medication, apparently on orders 
from the secret police.  Nichols had to stand up for hours during 
interrogations and was not allowed to walk around to lessen his 
stiffness and pain.

A warder told the prisoners he had heard some officers discussing how 
to break down Nichols' morale and the best ways to give him a 'lesson'
and 'psychological torture'.

Another said Major Soe Nyunt of the Ministry of Internal Security had 
ordered his men to 'be tough on him no matter who he is'.
 
Moe Aye recalled: "[Nichols] confided in us that he was very afraid 
of the night time, the time when he was taken away for questioning. 
Trembling, he said: "I don't know if I can go through this any longer. 
I can't take this any more."

The dysentery added to Nichols' misery but he was given nothing with
which to clean himself.

"It was a great discomfort and embarrassment for him," Moe Aye said.

The prisoners lent him bits of old garments. One temporarily exchanged 
his prison sarong with him, another the yellow sports shirt, so that 
they could be washed. A warder was persuaded to turn a blind eye to a 
piece of smuggled soap.

One day he was taken away in the truck, the hood over his head, and 
did not return for four days. "His legs were swollen and his face was
all puffed up," Moe Aye added.
 
The Security Ministry repeatedly asked his opinions about the possible
actions of the European Union over Burma and about Suu Kyi's personal 
life.

A few days later he was taken away again. By now he had acute dysentery,
was vomiting and suffering from dizziness. His legs were swollen and he
couldn't walk properly.

"He said a few farewell words to his cell neighbours as if he was going
away for good," Moe Aye said. "We never saw him again."

He had told the English-speaking prisoner: "I'll lie down on the floor 
if they force me to stand to ask questions this time. I can't take this 
any more . . .  "I think I'll be lucky if I make it back here one more 
time. If I can't make it back, please tell everyone here for me that 
I owe them for their kind help."

A Norwegian Foreign Office spokesman, Ingvard Havnen, said: "This a
convincing account, and very much in line with our own conclusions."
He conceded that pressure on the Burmese authorities "had not led to 
very much". But he added: "We will look at every possibility to cast 
light on what really happened."

[The original eye-witness account on which this report is based was 
written by Moe Aye, a former political prisoner who is now working 
with the All Burma Students Democratic Front (ABSDF).]
 
************************************************************

THE NATION: JUNTA 'CORRECTS' REPORT
4 March, 1998

AFP -- BURMA'S military junta said yesterday that 15 members of
a student organisation had been arrested for plotting to bomb 
targets in Rangoon, not 40 as reported in the local media.

Officials said the 15 were among 40 people, including members of
Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for
Democracy (NLD), who were arrested late last year in connection
with a range of "subversive"  activities.

The alleged bomb plotters, members of the All Burma Students
Democratic Front, - were planning a "series of terrorist acts 
by bombing buildings and busy, crowded places", as well as
assassinating top generals in the military junta, a junta
spokesman said. 

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

REUTERS: HERMIT MYANMAR AVOIDS ASIA MONEY CRISIS
4 March, 1998
by Sutin Wannabovorn 

YANGON -- One of the key stops on arrival at Yangon airport is 
the currency booth, where foreigners are obliged to buy $300 in 
Foreign Exchange Certificates (FEC) that can be spent at hotels, 
tourist spots or state shops in Myanmar (Burma). 

FECs also can be exchanged for the local kyat currency in the 
black market at many times the official rate. 

The FEC is Myanmar's way of stopping currency speculators from 
putting pressure on the kyat, and have helped the country escape 
the brunt of Asia's monetary crisis, a government official said. 

"The current regional monetary crisis does not affect us," Khin 
Muang Latt, director general of Myanmar's (Burma's) Directorate 
of Hotels and Tourism, told Reuters. "We do not have a stock 
exchange and money trading rooms like in other countries."

He is confident that the government can maintain full control 
of the supply of much-needed dollars and other hard currencies. 

"The FEC is equivalent to the U.S. dollar, helping us to keep 
control of dollars," Khin Muang Latt said. "Even if you change 
the FEC in the black market, the difference will not be more than
one or two percent."

Tourism brought significant hard currency into Myanmar in 1997 
and is expected to do the same in 1998, he added. 

"Last year we gained $50 million from tourism and we set the same
target for this year."

According to diplomats, Myanmar officials in December said the 
country's foreign reserves were $220 million. But the diplomats 
and businessmen believe its true reserves are much lower. 

INFLATION ON RISE AS MYANMAR PRINTS MORE FECS 

Tourists, businessmen and ordinary people also say Myanmar's 
currency strategy has fuelled inflation and further encouraged 
Yangon's thriving black market. 

While curbing the supply of hard currencies, the government 
has printed large amounts of FEC and kyat, they say. 

The official exchange rate is six kyat to the dollar. 

But it traded on the street at about 180 to the dollar in 
February 1997, fell to a record low of 370 last December at 
the height of the Asian currency crisis, then recovered to 
the current 240-270 range after the military government 
cracked down on black market trading. 

One Western tourist hoping to profit from the difference in the 
kyat's official and black market rates actually lost money. 

"I changed $50 at a money exchanger at 270 kyat for one dollar, 
but when I eat at restaurants I have to convert kyat back into 
dollars at 300 kyat per dollar," he said. 

"To survive in Myanmar, you have to rely on the black market for
everything," a taxi driver said as he filled up his car with two
gallons of black market petrol. 

The official diesel price is 180 kyat per gallon (about 45 kyat 
per litre)against 450 kyat in the black market, while petrol 
costs 160 kyat per gallon at official stations and 400 kyat 
elsewhere. 

But the official stations usually run dry, forcing people to 
the black market.

INVESTORS SEEK EXCHANGE RATE REVISION 

"Doing business in Yangon, one never knows what is the value of 
kyat we have in the our pocket. This confusion has made businessmen
quote everything in dollars," a hotelier said. 

Volatile exchange rates and the unsuccessful 'Visit Myanmar Year' 
campaign last year meant problems for hotel and the tourism industry, 
he said. 

The government said more than 150,000 tourists visited Myanmar from 
April 1997 to February 1998 but hoteliers said the number was much 
lower. Most of the 4,000 hotel rooms in Yangon were vacant, forcing
hotels to lay off employees. 

"At least half of the hotel employees have already been laid off 
in the past two months," he said. 

The well-placed Traders Hotel, run by the Kuok and Shangri-La Group,
has since late 1996 laid off 204 employees. 

The hotel and tourism sector, which amassed $770.56 million in 
approved direct foreign investment for 39 projects at end January 
1998, has seen a slow down of building. 

One hotelier said the private sector asked the ruling State Peace 
and Development Council (SPDC) at a recent business seminar to 
reform its economic policy and bring the kyat's official rate in 
line with its prevailing market value. 

"Adjusting the exchange rate may be the private sector's suggestion, 
but the government would continue keeping the rate at six kyat to the 
dollar. As I told you, we have FEC to control the dollar," Khin Muang
Latt said. 

Myanmar, a hermit nation for nearly 26 years, will continue to find 
its own way to deal with economic and monetary problems, he added. 

Myanmar's need for dollars also has led it to reject Malaysia's 
proposal for members of the Association of South East Asian Nations
(ASEAN)to use local currencies for trade within the group. 

"In tourism and industries, what we want is hard currencies. As 
long as local currencies are not strong enough to counter hard 
currencies, the idea is not practical,'' Khin Muang Latt said. 

"In the European Union they have been trying for three or four 
years to seek measures to counter the U.S. dollar, but so far 
they have not succeeded. Sometimes fighting against hard currencies,
you will not win." 

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

NCGUB PRESS RELEASE: PROPOSED JAPANESE AID WILL BOLSTER BURMA'S 
MILITARY JUNTA
3 March, 1998
 
Burmese democracy leaders join international calls for continued 
suspension

The National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma (NCGUB) is 
shocked and deeply disappointed by a Japanese Government statement 
that it is considering resumption of Official Development Assistance 
(ODA) to junta.  The NCGUB strongly urges the Japanese Government 
to maintain its aid suspension and to help increase international 
pressure on Burma's military junta to respect human rights and 
democratic reform.

Japanese officials said on February 26 that it may release 2.5 
billion yen in loans for improvements to the main airport in 
Burma's capital Rangoon.

"Funding the military junta at this sensitive moment will send the 
generals exactly the wrong message," warned NCGUB Prime Minister 
and elected member of Parliament Dr. Sein Win.  "They may believe 
they are being rewarded for ongoing repression and their refusal 
to enter into dialogue toward democratic reforms in Burma,"

The NCGUB welcomed statements by several senior members of the 
Japanese Diet, Japanese non-governmental organizations, and by 
the United States Government urging the Japanese Government to 
reconsider its decision.

"Funding infrastructure projects in Burma will only allow the 
army junta to divert money to military spending and ease 
international pressure on the generals," said Prime Minister 
Sein Win.  "It would also break Japan's own guidelines on 
providing foreign aid."

Japan has joined with United States and the European Union in 
freezing development assistance to Burma following the military 
junta's 1988 massacre of pro-democracy demonstrators. The ban was 
maintained after the military regime refused to accept results of 
May 1990 elections which were overwhelmingly won by the opposition
National League for Democracy (NLD).  Resumption of Japanese ODA 
to Burma would not only mean that Japan breaks ranks with other 
industrialized democracies, but that it would also ignore its 
own clearly stated principles regarding norms for receiving ODA
assistance.

Japan's ODA guidelines require attention be paid to trends in 
"recipient countries' military expenditures" and "appropriate 
priorities in the allocation of their resources on their own 
economic and social development." According to the United Nations
Development Programme, Burma today spends 222% more on the 
military than on social projects.  This ranks Burma fourth worst
among 175 countries surveyed.  Spending on education and health 
programs are declining on a proportion of the national budget.  
This negligence has created what UNICEF calls a "silent emergency"
in Burma, with one of the highest infant and maternal mortality rates
in the world resulted from severe malnutrition, preventable diseases 
and at least 500,000 HIV/AIDS positive cases with no adequate medical
service.

Another ODA principle demands that full attention should be paid to
securing "basic human rights and freedom," efforts for "promoting 
democratization" and introduction of a "market-oriented economy." 
According to the United Nations and many other independent reports,
this situation clearly does not exist in Burma under military rule 
today.  Amnesty International reports there are over 2,000 political 
prisoners.  Murder, torture, rape and forced labor by security forces
is common.

Despite severe economic problems, plummeting foreign reserves, and 
a lack of external enemies, the military regime's first priority is 
a continuing military build-up.  The Burmese army has expanded from
180,000 before 1988 to 450,000 now, and is still growing. During the
last nine years, the regime has purchased $1.8 billion worth of weapons,
mostly from China.  The latest reported acquisition is 21 military 
aircraft, including Chengdu F-7MG combat jets, in 1998.  It has also
purchased high technology equipment from a Singapore company to create
a Cyber-Warfare Centre through which the junta is tapping domestic 
phone, fax and c-mail lines on a country wide basis.

Japan's own ODA regulations, as well as international moral standards 
and the terms of UN General Assembly resolutions for which Japan has 
voted, demand that Japan meet its obligations to encourage respect for
human rights and democratization in Burma.  The NCGUB strongly opposes
resumption of assistance to the military junta, and asks the Japanese 
people to urge their government to increase pressure on, and not 
assistance to, Burma's military regime.

[The National Coalition Government of the union of Burma (NCGUB) is
comprised of the legitimately elected Members of Parliament from the 
1990 national elections but denied from taking office by the military
regime.]

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

REUTERS: STUDENTS DO EXAMS TO ENTER CLOSED MYANMAR COLLEGES
4 March, 1998

YANGON -- Nearly 400,000 Myanmar (Burmese) high school students 
began taking university entrance exams this week although most 
of the country's universities have been closed for the past 16 
months to prevent unrest and no one knows when they will reopen. 

These students are in addition to 200,000 others who were pushed 
out of more than 30 universities and colleges which were closed 
in early December 1996 after a series of anti-government protests. 

The protests were the largest seen in Myanmar since nationwide 
pro-democracy uprisings in 1988, which were brutally crushed 
by the military before it seized power. 

Powerful Secretary One of the ruling State Peace and Development 
Council(SPDC), Lieutenant General Khin Nyunt, last week said the 
government was arranging to reopen closed colleges and universities. 

"Preparations are under way for students' peaceful pursuit of their 
studies, their transport and accommodation and peace of mind of 
their parents," Khin Nyunt said. 

He also denied rumours that universities would be closed for a long 
time, but did not say when they might be reopened. 

Over 200,000 other students who passed the entrance exams in 1996 and 
1997 are also still waiting to begin their tertiary education. 

Universities and colleges were closed for two years following the 1988
uprisings, and students have said they fear for their education with 
this round of closures. 

Students were at the heart of the 1988 uprisings and analysts said 
authorities were worried about the unexpected December, 1996 protests 
which were sparked by what students said was unfair police handling of 
a quarrel between some students and restaurant workers. 

The government later blamed underground agents of the disbanded Burma
Communist Party for fanning the demonstrations which spread from Yangon
to dozens of universities and colleges across the country. 

When the previous government, the State Law and Order Restoration Council,
closed the institutions, it vowed to reopen them when the situation
normalised.

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

THE NATION: UNHCR TO ASSESS DISSIDENT
4 March, 1998
 
THE United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) Tuesday
began interviewing convicted Burmese student San Naing to determine 
whether he is eligible for "people of concern" status, an informed 
source at the immigration bureau said. 

San Naing, 32, who was released from jail on Friday, may remain in 
custody at the Immigration Detention Centre pending deportation 
unless he can find a third country to accept him, the source said. 

So far the United States, Canada and Australia have refused his 
request for asylum on the grounds of his violent record.

The granting of UNHCR status is one of several conditions required 
for San Naing to gain acceptance to a third country. 

Thai authorities have already indicated they do not want him to 
stay here, although they will not try to deport him to Burma. 

A UNHCR source said it will take some time before San Naing's 
assessment - which will have to be referred to headquarters in 
Geneva as he was found guilty of criminal conduct -can be completed. 

In 1989, San Naing and an accomplice hijacked a flight from Burma to 
U-Tapao and demanded the release of Burmese opposition leader Aung 
San Suu Kyi and other opposition leaders. 

San Naing and his colleague Ye Yint were sentenced to three years 
in prison. Ye Yint was granted political asylum by the United States 
after his release in 1992. 

In 1993, San Naing was convicted of possessing explosives and
ammunition for automatic weapons. He was sentenced to five years
and four months in jail and was released last Friday. 

He was also convicted of illegal entry for which he will be deported. 

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

THE NATION: KARENS BLAMED FOR SHRINKING SALWEEN FORESTS
4 March, 1998
 
A COMMITTEE looking into the illegal logging in Salween forests
Tuesday blamed Karen refugees for massive cutting of trees in the
area. 

The fact-finding panel, chaired by Interior Permanent Secretary
Chanasak Yuwaboon, suggested that Karen refugees should be
removed from the forests and that the opening of temporary border
checkpoints should be halted. 

The committee, assigned by the prime minister to investigate
illegal logging in Salween National Park and Salween Wildlife
Sanctuary, Tuesday held a meeting to discuss initial findings. 

Committee member Plodprasob Suraswadee said that initial
investigation had found that more than 13,000 logs seized last
year were actually felled in the Salween area and were not from
Burma as some people had claimed. 

"Almost all of them were cut in the Salween forests. There are
only about 1,000 logs that were imported lawfully with
certificates of origin," he said, adding that logs illegally
felled by Karen refugees were sent to Burma and then returned to
Thailand under the guise that the logs had originated there.

He also blamed the import of logs, originally felled in Salween,
from Burma on the lack of coordination among Thai officials. 

Plodprasob, who heads the committee's working group looking into
logging, said his team believes that the opening of temporary
border checkpoints had led to illegal logging in Thailand. 

Deputy national police chief Sant Sarutanon, secretary of the
working group looking for culprits in the logging scandal, said
three groups of people are involved: business people, government
officials and people who have the authority to approve the
opening of temporary checkpoints. 

Kajadpai Burutpat, who chairs the working group gathering
information on logging firm applications for the opening of
temporary checkpoints and Karen refugees, said that there had
been 48 companies importing logs totalling more than three
million cubic metres between 1989 and 1991. 

The firm that most frequently asked for the opening of a
temporary border checkpoint was Skabee, who made an application
in 1996, he said. 

Karen refugees who fled violence in Burma have continuously
destroyed the Salween forests. The Interior Ministry and the
military have tried to move 12,000 Karen refugees from the area,
Kajadpai said. 

"If you don't move them from the area, problems with the Salween
forests will be endless," he said, adding that only 250 Karen
refugees had been moved so far. 

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

THE NATION: MORE KAREN RELOCATED 
4 March, 1998

AFP -- A SECOND wave of some 10,000 Karen refugees began moving 
to a new camp deeper inside Thailand yesterday following an apparent
breakthrough in  talks with authorities, border sources said.

"Yesterday they moved about 35 families, or 170 people, and today 
they are moving about 60 families, or 280 people," a spokesman from 
the Burma Border Commission, a non-governmental organisation, said.

"Basically the moves at the moment are going ahead," the spokesman 
said, adding that none had so far been repatriated to Burma, instead 
opting to move further inside Mae Hong Son.

The Thais are under instructions not to force anybody back. So at the 
moment they are being quite tolerant, allowing the move to find its 
own momentum, using local trucks and truck rivers," the source said. 

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

BKK POST: CURFEW IMPOSED IN 10 BORDER VILLAGES IN SECURITY MOVE
4 March, 1998
by Supamart Kasem

FOLLOWING A RAID BY KAREN REBELS

A curfew has been imposed in more than ten villages in border
areas of Tak and Mae Hong Son provinces to prevent security
threats from the Rangoon-backed Democratic Karen Buddhist Army
(DKBA).

The move came after the DKBA forces attacked a security force
unit in Salween National Park in Mae Sariang district of Mae Hong
Son, killing a park official and injuring two villagers. The
intruders also took three Thais hostage on Saturday.

A military source said the 4th and 7th infantry regiment task
forces in Tak's Mae Sot district and Mae Hong Son's Mae Sariang
district had already imposed a curfew on ten border villagers and
prohibited motorists from using Tha Song Yang and Mae Sariang
Highway from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m.

A number of military forces, rangers, local and border patrol
police and military volunteers had been dispatched to ensure
safety along the highway and prevent illegal entry via many
border passes, the source added.

According to another military source in Mae Sot, Fourth Infantry
Regiment Task Force commander Col Chatchapat Yamngarmriab 
ordered the establishment of a special task force to guard border 
areas of Tha Song Yang district.

The task force, which consists of some 200 infantry soldiers,
local and border patrol police and villagers, is headed by Col
Chaluay Yamphochai.

The DKBA troops who were believed to be involved in illegal
logging in border areas attacked a security force unit in the
Salween National Park only a few days after they threatened to
attack refugee camps and border officials in Tak and Mae Hong
Son, the source said.

In another development, the newly established special task force
arrested six Karens and seized M16, AK47 and M79 assault rifles,
carbines and shotguns from them in Tha Song Yang district on
Monday.

The suspects have been charged with robbing the kamnan of Tambon
Mae Wa Luang Phamohae Rungroengkhae of cash, a pistol and
valuables totalling 35,000 baht on Monday.

Tak police chief Pol Maj Gen Sompong Chalermwan said the Karens
had given police information about the case that an unidentified
number of men set fire to a police checkpoint on Tha Song
Yang-Mae Sariang Highway on February 16.

Police are gathering evidence for the case and will soon issue
warrants for the arrest of at least three suspects.

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

BKK POST: PANEL: SHUT TEMPORARY BORDER PASSES
4 March, 1998 [abridged]

3 WORKING GROUPS ASSIGNED TO PROBE

Temporary border passes will be sealed as part of a package of
proposals to prevent further forest destruction .

Provincial governors should inspect forestry work in national
reserves and wildlife sanctuaries under the proposals drawn up by
a panel investigating the Salween logging scandal.

Chanasak Yuwaboon, permanent secretary for interior, who heads
the panel said three working groups have been assigned to
investigate different aspects of the scandal.

The first, chaired by Plodprasop Suraswadi, secretary-general of
the Agricultural Land Reform Office, is covering import
irregularities.

The second, chaired by Lt-Gen Vinit Krachangson, a former Third
Army chief, is working to identify wrongdoers.

The third, headed by Kachadpai Burusapattana, deputy
secretary-general of the National Security Council, is checking
past requests by logging companies for the opening of temporary
passes. It has also been assigned to investigate Karen involvement 
in logging in Salween National Park.

Mr Plodprasop said his group found thousands of logs were felled
and hauled out of the park and only a few hundred had been imported 
with proper certificates of origin.

The problem could be tackled if temporary passes were sealed, he
said. According to the initial findings, Karen refugees were
hired by wood traders to fell trees in the national park at night
and haul them out to Burma, where they were stamped as being of
Burmese origin, he said.

Lt-Gen Vinit said his investigation was 30-40 percent complete
and he vowed the guilty would be brought to book even if they are
senior officers in the Third Army.

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

BKK POST: SULAK BEGINS PROTEST TO HALT PROJECT
3 March, 1998 [abridged]

OPPONENTS RENEW CALL FOR AN IMPACT STUDY

Social critic Sulak Sivaraksa yesterday began his solo protest in
Kanchanaburi against the Yadana gas pipeline project.

Opponents of the project renewed calls for the government to halt
construction of a section to avoid the foraging grounds of wild
elephants and  carry out a new environment impact assessment
study.

Mr Sulak camped out at the construction site and vowed to stay
there as long as the Yadana gas pipeline project was not
scrapped.

According to a statement issued by Phipop Thongchai, a
representative of a coalition of 88 organisations opposing the
project, a new thorough EIA study must be conducted urgently.

This follows the panel's ruling that the Petroleum Authority of
Thailand, the project owner, is not transparent in its
implementation of the project.

It said the PTT's EIA study was incomplete and it needs to
explore the impact of the project on the wildlife too. 

Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai has given the go-ahead to the
pipeline project but vowed to correct any shortcomings after
reviewing the conclusions of the panel he has set up to sort out
the differences.

Meanwhile, Interior Minister Sanan Kachornprasart admitted
yesterday he signed the gas pipeline contract with Burma in 1993.

However, the interior minister said he had nothing to do with the
route and laying of the pipeline which was agreed to by the Thai
and Burmese energy authorities.

Commenting on Mr Sulak's protest, Maj Gen Sanan said: "It is good
for him."

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

SPDC: INFORMATION SHEET NO. A.0335 (I)
2 March 1998

GOLFERS ARRIVE
		
Thirty-four professional golfers from Japan, the United States, 
Thailand, Pakistan, Korea, India and China who will be participating 
in London-Myanmar Open Golf Tournament arrived Yangon on 1 March.  
The tournament to be held in Bagan Golf Resort from 5 to 8 March 
was jointly sponsored by Myanmar Golf Federation and APGA.
-------------------------------------------------------------

SPDC: INFORMATION SHEET NO.A-0338 (I)
4 March, 1998
MORE GOLFERS ARRIVE

Last batch of professional golfers from Thailand, Australia, The 
Netherlands, Malaysia, England , India and China arrived Yangon 
by air to participate in London-Myanmar Open '98 to be held at 
Bagan Golf Resort from 5 to 8 March.

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

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL: URGENT ACTION
3 March, 1998

EXTERNAL	AI Index: ASA 16/03/98
UA 63/98 	Fear for Safety/Fear of Ill-treatment 2 March 1998
MYANMAR	U Ohn Myint, age 81

Amnesty International is concerned about the safety and whereabouts of U
Ohn Myint, an advisor to the National League for Democracy (NLD), Myanmar's
major opposition party led by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. U Ohn Myint was also a
friend 
of the late General Aung San, the Burmese national independence hero and 
father of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.  O Ohn Myint was detained at about 11.30pm 
on 23 February 1998 for questioning and has not been heard from since.  
It is not known where he is being held or what, if any, charges have been 
made against him.

Ill-treatment, particularly during initial interrogation of political 
prisoners, is common in Myanmar. On 1 March the State Peace and Development
Council (SPDC, the new name of Myanmar's military government) conducted 
a press conference alleging recent "terrorist plots and subversive activities"
and naming some 40 people who were allegedly involved in plans to detonate 
bombs and assassinate members of the government. It is believed that these 
named people were arrested in late 1997. In the press briefing U Ohn Myint 
was accused of collaborating with others in producing and illegally 
distributing articles entitled "History of the Student Movements, Me and 
They and Witnesses to History".  The SPDC stated that the articles were 
"largely exaggerated and biased accounts of events based on a few facts". 
No further statements are known to have been made about the articles, or 
about U Ohn Myint himself.

U Ohn Myint had been previously arrested in June 1997 at the same time as
several NLD members, and released unharmed in late July 1997.  His name and
the name of several NLD members were mentioned in a June 1997 press release
given by Myanmar's military government. In the government press statement
they were accused of obtaining a videotape of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and
arranging for it to be taken out of the country.

Amnesty International is also concerned that U Ohn Myint, who is 81 years
old, should be receiving immediate and regular access to proper medical
treatment.   

RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send telegrams / telexes / express / airmail 
letters in English or your own language: calling on the authorities to 
immediately make known the whereabouts of U Ohn Myint and any charges 
against him; calling on the authorities to release him immediately and
unconditionally if he is being held solely for his peaceful political 
activities; calling on the authorities to ensure that while detained 
U Ohn Myint is not ill-treated and is held in conditions which meet 
international human rights standards.

APPEALS TO:
Senior General Than Shwe, Chairman
State Peace and Development Council
c/o Director of Defence Services Intelligence (DDSI)
Ministry of Defence, Signal Pagoda Road
Dagon Post Office, Yangon, Union of Myanmar
Telegrams: General Than Shwe, Yangon, Myanmar
Telexes: 21316
Salutation: Dear General

Lieutenant General Khin Nyunt, Secretary 1
State Peace and Development Council
c/o Director of Defence Services Intelligence (DDSI)
Ministry of Defence, Signal Pagoda Road
Dagon Post Office, Yangon, Union of Myanmar
Telegrams: General Khin Nyunt, Yangon, Myanmar
Telexes: 21316
Salutation: Dear General

COPIES TO diplomatic representatives of MYANMAR accredited to 
your country.
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY. 

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INDO-BURMA BORDER NEWS
3 March, 1998 [English slightly corrected]

One civilian shot dead by drunkard policemen
 
On 19.2.98, around 5pm, Maung Thaung Han, the 25-year-old son of U 
Ba Saw from Mintha, Tamu district was shot dead on the spot at the 
bridge of Nan Tha Let stream as he returned from his paddy fiel, fired 
by the security police force at the bridge, led by Corporal San Myint Tun.
 
According to the police source, Maung Thaung Han was hit by the bullet 
of the policemen while they were quarreling and shooting at each other 
after heavy drinking.
 
The District Police Officer gave ten thousands Kyats (30 $ approximately) 
and a bag of rice to the parents of Maung Thaung Han as compensation for 
the death of their son. Although the parents did not want to accept the
compensation, they dared not refuse because of fear. The District Police 
Officer of Tamu told to the parents not to prosecute for that accident 
and not to hold the funeral ceremony widely.
 -------------------------------------------------------------------------

Forced labour at the Tha Nan- Ton He road construction.
 
The road construction between Tha Nan village of Kabaw valley and 
Ton He village of west side of Chin Dwin river started in mid-December 
1997 and the length of this road is 20 miles approximately.
 
Now, the Kuki people from Phailin, Tha Nan, Zedi, Mang Maw, Tone Kyaw 
and Man Taw villages of Kabaw valley have to participate in this road 
construction work forcibly due to the order of Tamu Township Peace and 
Development Council. Nothing is provided by the officials for the villagers 
who are doing forced labour. They have to bring their own food, camp inside 
the jungle and work without any holidays.
 
The main work is stone crushing (by hand using hammer) and the period of 
forced labour can be as long as three months. The villagers, including 
children and women, are sharing their labour for this work according to 
the quota of a person from each family.
 
So the local Kuki people have no time to do their regular works and they 
are facing financial tightness and difficulty of livelihood at present.
 
[Sent by Boundary pillars, Indo-Burma border]

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