Reuters-U.S. activists ``kings,'' T

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U.S. activists ``kings,'' Thais paupers in Myanmar 
05:51 a.m. Aug 15, 1998 Eastern 

By Phisanu Phromchanya 

BANGKOK, Aug 15 (Reuters) - The 18 human rights activists deported from
Myanmar to Thailand on Saturday gave starkly different accounts of their
treatment by the Yangon police. 

One American activist said the six U.S. citizens were treated like royalty
with every need catered for. 

But a Thai activist said his group of three were treated harshly in the
first four days of detention in police headquarters before all 18 were
united at a state guest house. 

The activists -- six Americans, three Thais, three Malaysians, three
Indonesians, two Filipinos and an Australian -- were picked up by police in
Yangon on Sunday after distributing thousands of pro-democracy leaflets. 

``We were treated like kings and queens,'' Sapna Chhatpar, one of six U.S.
activists, told Reuters as she arrived at the VIP lounge at Don Muang
airport in the Thai capital, Bangkok. 

``We were given everything that we could possibly have wanted. We were kept
in police headquarters with fans, airconditioning, food and anything we
could possibly want.'' 

The Americans were split by sex had to sleep on the floor of their rooms in
the first night but were later given beds. 

Sawat Uppahad, a businessman said the three Thais had to sleep on the dirty
floor of an almost bare room in the same building and were not even given a
mat to lie on at night. 

``We were separated by nationality at first and put into different rooms.
There were rats running about our room and we were watched 24 hours a day
by police,'' he said. 

``There was no running water, nothing to read, no books and they wouldn't
give me a newspaper,'' he said. 

None of the activists, 10 men and eight women, said they had plans to
return to Myanmar but the organisation that sent them there, the
Alternative ASEAN Network on Burma, promised another venture in the near
future. 

``When we are free to do so, we are going to go back and distribute this
goodwill message again -- very soon, I hope,'' said coordinator Debbie
Stothard. 

The activists were sentenced to five years in prison with hard labour on
Friday, but in a dramatic turnaround the court then suspended the sentences
on condition they were deported. 

Most of them said they had been ready to be punished by the government if
they were caught but didn't think they would be. 

After being seized by police, the worst thing about their six-day detention
for the Americans was not knowing what would be the outcome. 

``We have not been beaten up, we have not been physically tortured or
anything, but we were not allowed to contact our embassies,'' U.S. activist
Tyler Giannini told Reuters. 

``They never told us anything the whole time we were there. We did not know
we were being charged until we went on trial, which was yesterday,'' he
said. 

The 18 were greeted with garlands of yellow jasmine and pink roses on their
arrival in Bangkok where they were welcomed by about 200 cheering
supporters, relatives and reporters. 

They appeared tired on their arrival but more firmly wedded than ever to
the cause of democracy in Myanmar. 

``What is horrible is that we could leave after six days but people in
Burma that perhaps commit the exact same crime could be sentenced for life
or could be killed,'' Chhatpar said. 

Australian activist Alison Vicary told a news conference at the airport
that before the group's arrest, they had asked people in Yangon whether
they supported the military regime. 

``They said 'No we don't, but we are scared','' she said. 

``Before I went to Burma I was quite familiar with the situation in that I
had read a lot about it. But nothing prepared me for the level of fear that
permeates Burmese society,'' she added. 

Jaran Dithapichai, a Thai activist and political science lecturer at
Rangsit University, said the Myanmar government had eventually released
them because of international pressure that came from the United States and
politicians around Asia. 

``We were not guilty. We only joined the Burmese people to celebrate the
10th anniversary of an uprising for democracy and we spread our goodwill
message which did no harm,'' he said. 

Malaysian activist Chong Kok Wei said he was glad he had been to Myanmar:
``Six or seven days for what we have done, if we have at least advanced our
fight for human rights and democracy and made people's lives better in
Burma, is worth it,'' he said.