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Information Sheet No.A-0594(I)



                    MYANMAR IMFORMATION COMMITTEE
                                          YANGON

                                     Information Sheet

                   
                No.A-0594(I)         6th September 1998

(1)		Myanmar has Seen Emergence of Prominent Women in History Worthy of Honour
Women in Myanmar today Enjoy Equal Rights, Adhere to High 	 Moral Values and
Good Conduct

		A ceremony to give away prizes to winners of 1998 Myanmar Women's Day
Commemorative Essay Competitions organized by the National Working Committee
for Women's Affairs was held in the National Theatre on Myomakyaung Street on
5 September afternoon, and Secretary-1 of the State Peace and Development
Council addressed the ceremony and presented prizes to winners. In his
address, Secretary-1 said Myanmar Women's  Day could be designated in honour
of the entire Myanmar women imbued with virtues such as preserving their own
traditional culture, mores and lineage, and it amounts to putting up a
historic milestone worthy of dignity of the entire Myanmar women. As for
Myanmar women, they have been  enjoying status equal to men beginning the dawn
of Myanmar civilisation, and moreover, they could preserve their own cultural
characteristics according to Myanma tradition without letting Myanmar culture
be eclipsed by other culture which does not proffer women status equal to men
though there have been relations with other nations. The good reputation of
Myanmar women is well-known, and it is evident that they are enjoying status
equal to men as a birthright.  Disparaging and preposterous accusations such
as that there is inequality of rights for women in Myanmar, that the health
and education standard of Myanmar women is low and their moral is corrupted,
and that because of Myanmar women, AIDS is prevalent in Myanmar. These
accusations brought the dignity of Myanmar women on the verge of being
tainted. In fact, Myanmar women while preserving their cherishable traditional
culture through out their life and enjoying status equal to men, always uphold
the fine tradition of observing moral codes of conduct which are respectably
observed in Myanmar society. In the tenure of the State Peace and Development
Council, Myanmar women can enjoy their rights fully, and the Government is
creating opportunities which can contribute to the development of women. As a
result, many outstanding women have emerged and it can be seen that with the
collective strength of the entire Myanmar women, women's social and economic
organizations have emerged and Myanmar women, taking the lead, are
contributing to the effort for the development of the nation.

		As a token of participating in international women's activities under the
aegis of the United States, Myanmar women delegation attended the fourth World
Conference on Women held in Beijing, The People's Republic of China. Myanmar
ratified the Beijing Declaration and Plan of Action adopted at the fourth
World Conference on Women. In accord with the future tasks of the Beijing
Declaration , the government formed the National Working Committee for Women's
Affairs on 3 July 1996 to be able to oustandingly strive for the development
of Myanmar women and to systematically mobilize Myanmar women associations.
Out of 12 future tasks of the Beijing Declaration, the National Working
committee for Women's Affairs is implementing six tasks concerning education,
health, economy, culture, protection of women from violence and rehabilitation
and development of life of young women. The National Working Committee for
Women's Affairs, the First National level women's organization working for
allround development of women and preservation and safeguarding of culture and
traditions and national character is regarded as the one representing entire
mass of women and 3 July, the founding day of the Committee, was designated
Myanmar Women's Day.

(2)		25th Convocation of IM-2

		The 25th convocation of Institute of Medicine -2 was held in the Convocation
Hall of Yangon University on 5 September morning. Rector Dr Tha Hla Shwe spoke
and conferred degrees on nine postgraduates and 19 graduates.      
						
				 Special Feature

		This Office is Presenting an Interview Conducted by Peter Mares of Radio
Australia (Asia-Pacific) with Lt-Col Hla Min of Office of Strategic Studies
 
Ruling authorities spokesman on Suu Kyi, rejects international call for UN
role 

Text of report by Radio Australia on 27th August

[Presenter Peter Mares] Burma's military regime rejects claims of  human
rights abuse and remains defiant in the face of growing international
pressure-US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright telephoned the foreign
ministers of Indonesia, Japan, the Philippines and Thailand last weekend to
discuss developments in Burma and earlier this month Australian Foreign
Minister Alexander Downer suggested that UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan
should travel personally to Rangoon to mediate between Burma's military rulers
and the opposition NLD the National League for Democracy. But the Burmese
regime today rejected that suggestion outright.
 
		In a rare interview, a military official told "Asia-Pacific" [ this feature]
that Burma, or Myanmar as it is officially known can solve its own problems.
Lt-Col Hla Min also defended the government's refusal to allow Nobel Prize
winner Aung San Suu Kyi to travel outside the capital, saying the restriction
is for her own safety.
 
	[Hla Min] Due to the threats of violence, travel by prominent persons to some
part of the country is inadvisable at this time.  And the KNU, the Karen
National Union, an armed insurgent separatist force, has threatened in recent
weeks to use guerrilla violence to achieve its aim. And a government analysis
[ as heard ] believed that those threats may include attacks on Ms Suu Kyi,
aimed at creating political instability in Myanmar.

	[Mares] But she just wants to leave the capital to meet with her supporters,
outside Rangoon.

	(A)	Yes, So you see the government of Myanmar has the responsibility of
protecting all of its citizens from acts of political violence from terrorist
organizations and the government will take all necessary action to protect Ms
Suu Kyi from these threats, while also  safeguarding her human rights,
including the right to freedom of movement, as much as possible.

	[Q]	But her right of freedom of movement is restricted, because she can't
leave the capital.
 
	[A]	Well, it is as I have earlier mentioned. It is due to these threats. This
is not a permanent sort of thing. If the situation improves, then of course
she will be, it will be much more easy for her to move around.

	[Q]	Why does the government refuse to meet with and negotiate with an NLD
delegation which includes Aung San Suu Kyi?

	[A]	The government  is always willing to have talks and discussions with not
only the NLD party, but the other existing nine political parties as well. Of
course the  government would like to talk to the most responsible person of
each party, which are the officially appointed chairmen or presidents. In the
case of NLD the government has always expressed its willingness to meet with
the chairman of NLD, U Aung Shwe, and the officially recognized Central
Executive Committee members, which is the top NLD officials. The government
find it extremely difficult to officially recognize party officials, those who
were officially expelled from respective parties by their own party leaders.
 
	[Q]	But Aung San Suu Kyi  has been reinstated by the National League for
Democracy . She was expelled only under duress from the government.

	[A]	No, no, no. Because , you see, there are many other parties also that had
a similar experience, some of them, of course because of their shady
backgrounds and they were sort of expelled from their parties. But what if all
the parties started to reinstate all these people who have been expelled?

	[Q]	But surely that's a matter for the party to decide, who is reinstated and
who isn't?

	[A]	But you see, they have reinstated, yes. We did not say that they cannot
reinstate. But that is not officially, that is for the internal political
activities [On] that we have nothing to say.  But when it comes to dealing
with the government officially the government can only deal with the
officially recognized senior party members.

	[Q]	Backed by some other nations, Australia has called for United Nations
Secretary-General Kofi Annan to mediate between the government and the
opposition, led by Aung San Suu Kyi. Would your government accept such a
mediating role by the UN secretary-General?

	[A]	The government of Myanmar faithfully abides by the UN charter on non-
interference in other countries' internal affairs and do expect all other UN
member countries to act the same and would rather resolve such issues without
external intervention.  Myanmar also believes it is in the process of building
conciliation and understanding with NLD and hopes the NLD also reciprocate in
the same manner, instead of inviting outsiders to resolve a family issue.

	[Q]	So you wouldn't accept a visit, a mediating role for the UN secretary-
general?

	[A]	I think at this stage it is not necessary.

	[Q]	But your partners in ASEAN, regional countries in ASEAN, the United
States, Australia, all around the world [ countries ] are concerned about the
political situation in Myanmar, in Burma, and the failure to move forward.

	[A]	Well, yes, we appreciate very much for their concern, but actually, you
see, we have our own ways and means to solve our internal issues. And on that,
we are following these ways and means, we are opening the doors for
discussions and we are quite confident that we will reach understanding. So we
would like to solve our internal issues on our own.

	[Q]	But as long as you refuse to speak to the internationally and nationally
recognized opposition figurehead, Aung San Suu Kyi , you are not really
opening the door to dialogue, are you?

	[A]	We have not ruled anything out. As I have earlier mentioned, the
confidence-building measures have just started. That is one of the main
reasons why would like to have it continued.

	[Q]	So you are saying the government may consider also including Aung San Suu
Kyi in a dialogue?

	[A]	We have not ruled anything out, so everything is possible. That is why we
want to continue  with this confidence building process.

	[Mares]	Burmese military spokesman  Lt-Col Hla Min , who is Deputy Director
of International Affairs in the Office of Strategic Studies in Burma's Defence
Ministry.

Source; Radio Australia, Melbourne, in English 1005 GMT 27 Aug 98.

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