[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index ][Thread Index ]

The BurmaNet News: January 7, 1999



------------------------ BurmaNet ------------------------
 "Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies"
----------------------------------------------------------

The BurmaNet News: January 7, 1999
Issue #1180

HEADLINES:
==========
SCMP: MUTINOUS TROOPS BACK TOP ACTIVIST 
BKK POST: ARMOUR BATTALIONS JOIN DRIVE 
IRRAWADDY: FORCED RESIGNATIONS - THE FINAL ONSLAUGHT 
IRRAWADDY: PRESS FREEDOM IN BURMA 
BKK POST: BURMESE RAID DRUG WAREHOUSE 
****************************************************************

SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST: MUTINOUS TROOPS BACK TOP ACTIVIST
6 January, 1999 by William Barnes 

Dozens of Burmese troops have walked out on their commanders in the Shan
state, voicing support for opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, sources on
the Thai-Burma border say. The move will be a serious blow to a regime that
has retained a remarkably united military front in the face of
international condemnation, civil conflicts and economic crisis.

Soldiers based at Mong Ton and Mong Hsat, across the border from the
northern Thai town of Fang, are reported to have left the camp recently -
some tearing off their badges and allegedly voicing support for Ms Aung San
Suu Kyi. Border sources talk of "big trouble" and of "some kind of shooting".

Two companies from one battalion, and large numbers from another, are said
to have left the ranks.   Desertions are not uncommon in an army that feeds
its ballooning appetite for recruits with often unemployed youths, some of
whom are press-ganged into service.

However, one observer said: "Any breaking of the ranks must be deeply
disturbing for the generals. If this is anything more than a one-off thing
it is very significant."  Not the least of the generals' fears is that
dissatisfied troops will link up with ethnic rebels along the border or
dissidents inside the country.

The regime uses vicious discipline, but also rare perks, to retain the
loyalty of its soldiers. Yet economic privileges have been severely eroded
by the country's dire stagnation and mismanagement by the central authorities.

There have been several reports that battalions have been asked to grow
their own food. Even if in practice this usually means more forced labour
and confiscations for local people, it hardly smacks of high rewards for a
hard life.

Maintaining discipline in an army that may have nearly tripled in size to
around 400,000 personnel in the 10 years since the junta was formed appears
increasingly problematic. Many soldiers are known to resent the favours
given to well-connected, often Chinese businessmen, and the privileges of
the elite.

Some observers say the junta will not talk to Ms Aung San Suu Kyi for fear
of her potential power over many sections of the military. 

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

THE BANGKOK POST: ARMOUR BATTALIONS JOIN DRIVE
6 January, 1999 by Preecha Srisatharn 

Kanchanaburi

Funding said coming from Unocal, Total

Rangoon has sent troops and armour to suppress ethnic groups along the
Yadana pipeline, which brings gas to a power plant in Ratchaburi.

The Burmese unit has been assigned to a 6Okm stretch of the pipeline from
the town of Kanbauk to the border at Thong Pha Phum district, Kanchanaburi,
a source from the Ninth Infantry Division's Surasee Task Force said yesterday.

The unit, which comprises an artillery battalion and five rapid response
battalions, two of them armoured, has been backed financially by Unocal and
Total, which extract gas from the Yadana field, he said.

Col Aung Hsa Tin, deputy commander of the unit, quoted Burmese intelligence
as saying ethnic groups were seeking to sabotage the pipeline for political
and criminal purposes.

Four Karen men arrested as spies a month ago admitted they were planning to
bomb the pipeline, he said.

The Burmese officer also rejected a request to open to Thai traffic a road
running parallel to the pipeline. He said the contract between Rangoon and
Unocal and Total did not allow the road to be opened.

However, the road could be used occasionally with the consent of the
Burmese government and the gas developers, he said.

Rangoon forces based at Huay Ponglao have also sent a protest letter to the
Thai-Burmese border coordination panel in Mae Hong Son, accusing Thai
authorities of supporting ethnic minorities in their struggle against the
junta.

On Jan 1, Karen rebels attacked a Burmese camp at Ban Tanakwai, opposite
Mae Hong Son. Eight other attacks against Burmese military camps were
carried out in Burma's Kayah state around the New Year holiday.

Rangoon claims armed minority groups, especially the Karens, are operating
from Thailand, an allegation the Thai military routinely denies.

In another development, Kanchanaburi locals are upset with the Petroleum
Authority of Thailand (PTT) which buys the Yadana gas.

Tunya Darapisaisuk, a leader of village headmen in Kanchanaburi, said
locals who had supported the PTT in building the section from the border to
the Ratchaburi plant were upset at the removal of the PTT's public
relations office in Kanchanaburi.

The PTT had promised to maintain the office until it completed a
reforestation project along the pipeline route in Kanchanaburi and a five
year project to help locals affected by construction. However, the office
closed on Dec 30 and the PTT moved the operation to Ratchaburi, Mr Tunya said.

It was now hard for local people to co-ordinate with the PTT on
reforestation and public welfare projects, he said. 

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

THE IRRAWADDY: BURMA'S FORCED RESIGNATIONS - THE FINAL ONSLAUGHT?
15 December, 1999 by Win Htein

VOL6 NO6

[The Burma Information Group was established in 1992 by Burmese citizens
living in exile and is not affiliated with any political party or
organization. BIG produces The Irrawaddy newsmagazine and has sought to
promote freedom of the press and access to unbiased information.]

Burmese opposition groups in exile were surprised when the military regime
announced: "In the Belin township, all National League for Democracy (NLD)
members have resigned from their party. They have sent their resignation
letters, the party billboard and all NLD documents to township Election
Commission. So there is no NLD in Belin, Mon state."

The state-controlled media announcement very clearly signaled the start of
an offensive against the NLD party.

In October, the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) organized mass
rally meetings known as "expressions of the people's desire'' over the
whole country. Hundreds of thousands of people were forced to come to these
rally meetings by local authorities. Most of the people were from a
government-sponsored organization, the Union Solidarity and Development
Association (USDA).

The USDA has proposed the banning of the NLD because it is an unlawful
association as well as the deportation of Aung San Suu Kyi. The people have
no chance to say "no'' because to do so means dismissal from their jobs and
imprisonment for their sympathies for the NLD.

In November, at a meeting of the Coastal Military Command in Mergui
(southern Burma), Maj Myint Oo, chief of Unit 19 of the junta's Military
Intelligence Service (MIS) said, "We must respect the people's desires
expressed at the 'people's rallies'' all over the country. The people
request that the government ban the NLD as an unlawful association and to
deport Mrs. Trouble. Therefore, we want to say please resign before the
18th of this month. After the deadline, we must take action against
'enemies of the state', who have not resigned from the NLD."

An organizer of  the Mergui  township NLD branch who attended the meeting
informed the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) that the meeting  was the last
warning after the recent detention of over 1,000 NLD members and 200 MPs.
It is intended to prevent the convening of the NLD's people's parliament.
The SPDC has abolished more than six NLD township committees.

The NLD party officials are angry and have condemned the junta's use of
unlawful force to destroy their township committees. One statement issued
by them read, "No one has the power to abolish an NLD office at any level
without permission from the party headquarters."

U Maung Maung Aye, an exiled NLD MP said, "It is obvious that the MIS used
unlawful methods to force township officials to resign. We strongly oppose
these undemocratic action. The NLD is a legal political party that
registered with the Election Commission under Order No 4/88."

He added, "The SPDC has directly abused its own Political Parties and
Election Registration law of 1998.  We are far from achieving national
reconciliation."

A Western political analyst in Bangkok commented, "These forced
resignations show that the SPDC is ready to begin an onslaught against Suu
Kyi and her party. But they want to know the reaction of the world
community before they denounce the NLD as unlawful."

In fact, there are many NLD members who have been under pressure from MIS,
and the NLD cannot control the mass resignation of its members, which
increase day by day. Some popular MPs have also resigned, like Min Thu Won,
a famous poet and writer. Other detained members have been sentenced to
seven years imprisonment.

Meanwhile, the junta spokesperson said, "We did not arrest any MPs nor
members of the NLD. We just invited them to discuss the current crisis. We
took good care of them. Whether they are sent back to their homes depends
on the activities of the NLD."

Recently, foreign minister Ohn Gyaw, speaking at the UN annual assembly
before his resignation, said that the world had no right to interfere in
his country's internal affairs when the junta has chosen the path of
democracy but on its own terms.

Aung San Suu Kyi told a foreign-based Burmese broadcast station, "We are
very afraid of what 'the Burmese Way' means when Ohn Gyaw speaks of the
'Burmese way to Democracy'. We faced the Burmese Way to Socialism for 26
years under Gen Ne Win's regime. We don't expect democracy through the
military's way."

The SPDC has been unable to solve the political, economic, educational
problems facing the country, since it took power in 1988.

Burma has over 1,000 political prisoners, and some Western countries have
imposed sanctions on Burma.

Despite all these problems, the junta refuses to listen and sit down with
the opposition.

"They [the generals] never understand the people's desire for democracy.
The Burmese people wanted them to transfer power to the NLD. Instead the
junta has arrested NLD members and MPs. So it is a direct challenge to the
people", said Moe The Zun, vice chairman of the All Burma Students'
Democratic Front [ABSDF].

Moe Thee Zun called for a "people power" uprising like in 1988.

Recently, Aung Htoo, General Secretary of Burma Lawyer's Council lamented,
"The NLD should continue their people's parliament, as they have a legal
right to do so. Then they should declare a Provisional Government just as
in the case of the Philippines in their 1986 revolution, where lifelong
dictator Ferdinand Marcos was run off when Mrs. Aquino declared a new
elected government."

He added, "There is no chance for the NLD to choose any other way because
they have asked for a dialogue in the past and the junta has never
responded. The people have already elected a majority of NLD MPs to form
the new government. Eight years have passed since the election, and now the
NLD should not waste its time."

The ball is still in the NLD's court, and the team captain has a difficult
decision of how to kick the final golden goal."

The problem is that there is no referee in this final match between the NLD
and SPDC.

Win Htein is a correspondent of Democratic Voice of Burma. 

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

THE IRRAWADDY: PRESS FREEDOM IN BURMA
15 December, 1998 

VOL6 NO6

King Mindon who ruled Burma in 1880s had no chance of seeing Article 19 of
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. But as his kingdom began
circulating Burma's first newspaper, yada-napon, the King declared firmly
that press freedom must prevail in his dynasty. Thus, newspapers in his
kingdom practised press freedom.

Even under the British and then during the era of prime minister U Nu,
Burma enjoyed flourishing free press.

More than 30 newspapers including English and Chinese language titles were
in circulation. But when Gen Ne Win came to power in 1962 all private
magazines and newspapers were eventually shut down and editors, journalists
and writers were thrown into jails as they were considered to be enemies of
the state. Now with more restrictions, newspapers, journals and magazines
are tightly controlled by the SPDC.

Reporters in Rangoon told the Irrawaddy that authorities ordered publishers
of weekly journals to include articles attacking Aung San Suu Kyi. Each
journal has to include at least one article.

At the recent regional seminar held in Bangkok on promoting press freedom
in South East Asia, Thailand's prominent editor Mr. Kiatchai Pongpanich
said, "Take a look at Myanmar, Cambodia as instances.  What happened in
these two countries are that there is no press freedom. Whatever they have
to communicate to their people is merely a propaganda tool, nothing else in
the sense of basic facilities for communication.

"The problem is not so much that the press is not free as that there is no
press at all. The more the Myanmar media is severely controlled, either in
Cambodia or in any countries, the more the rumor prevails, which will lead
to the collapse of the administration. Rumor always creates fear and
angers, suspicion, disagreement, protest, etc. as in the case of what
happen in Malaysia and nothing is different from the situation prior to
Suharto' step down."

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

THE BANGKOK POST: BURMESE RAID DRUG WAREHOUSE 
6 January, 1999 

Chiang Rai

Burmese authorities have raided a warehouse in Tachilek, seizing nearly
400,000 amphetamines along with large quantities of chemical substances
used in the manufacture of the drugs, a senior anti-narcotics official said
yesterday.

Pornthep Iamprapao, chief of the Narcotics Suppression Bureau here, said
the Sunday raid was a joint operation between Thai and Burmese authorities
in wiping out drug trafficking along the border. The operation has been
under way for more than a year, he added.

A Taiwanese woman identified as Julie Ju Wao, holding both Thai and Burmese
ID cards, was arrested in the raid and will be tried in a Burmese court, he
said, adding that the authorities concerned are looking for her husband, a
main accomplice.

A drug-making machine was confiscated in the raid, he said. Unlike
Thailand, it is illegal in Burma to possess such a machine, he added.

The raid led to a search at Ms Wao's house in Chiang Rai where police found
a large number of falsified passports and ID cards, he said.

Mr Pornthep speculated that the drug problem along the border would worsen
due to lower production costs.

Meanwhile, Pol Lt-Gen Noppadol Somboonsap, assistant commissioner of the
Royal Thai Police Office, said the authorities concerned will expand the
investigation into this seizure.

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