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Burma Country Report on Human Right (r)



Subject: Burma Country Report on Human Rights Practices for 1998 [PART 3]

PART 3


U.S. Department of State 

Burma Country Report on Human Rights Practices for 1998

Released by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, February 26,
1999. 
PART 3


In a number of urban areas, residents were compelled to cede land for road
widening and a host of other projects
approved without any public consultation or endorsement. Other long-term
city residents were required to cede land
for commercial redevelopment and were compensated at only a fraction of the
value of their lost homes. In a Muslim
village near Moulmein, authorities forced villagers off the land in January
in order to build a government facility.
Villagers complained that the Government's compensation was inadequate. In
urban Rangoon, previously confiscated
land was developed into high-density housing that previously evicted tenants
could purchase only at prices beyond the
means of many. In rural areas, military personnel at times confiscated
livestock, fuel, and food supplies. In July the
Attorney General banned women from marrying foreigners. This ban is not
consistently enforced.

g. Use of Excessive Force and Violations of Humanitarian Law In Internal
Conflicts

For 50 years, the army has battled diverse ethnic insurgencies. These ethnic
minority insurgent groups have sought to
gain greater autonomy, or in some cases, independence from the dominant
ethnic Burman majority. In 1989 the
SPDC began a policy of seeking cease-fire agreements with most ethnic
insurgent groups along the borders. 

Following the breakdown of its cease-fire with the separatist Karenni
National Progressive Party (KNPP) in 1995,
the army began an offensive in 1996 against the KNPP that continued through
year's end. As part of its campaign to
deny the guerrillas local support, the military forces forcibly relocated
hundreds of villages and tens of thousands of
Karenni civilians. In central and southern Shan state, the military forces
continued to engage the Shan State Army
(SSA), a remnant of Khun Sa's narcotics-linked former Mong Tai Army, and
began a campaign of relocation against
the villagers in the region. Many thousands were forcibly removed from their
villages. There are credible reports of
retaliatory killings, rapes, and other atrocities committed by the army
against civilians. 

The Karen National Union (KNU) is the largest single insurgent group that
continues to fight against central
government rule. In 1997 cease-fire talks between the KNU and SLORC broke
down and were followed by a the
SLORC offensive that pushed the KNU out of its last strongholds in Karen
state. As a result, over 20,000 Karen
civilians fled to Thailand. The Government denied responsibility for attacks
on Karen refugee camps in Thailand that
were carried out by the DKBA. However, according to credible reports, the
DKBA receives military support from
the Government. 

In conjunction with the military's campaigns against the Karen, Karenni, and
Shan insurgents, it was standard practice
for the Government's armed forces to coerce civilians into working as
porters in rural areas in or near combat zones.
According to testimony collected by international human rights
nongovernmental organizations (NGO's) from
refugees, the men--and sometimes women and children as well--who were forced
to labor as porters often suffered
beatings. On occasion, they died as a result of their mistreatment by
soldiers (see Sections 1.a, 1.b., 1.c., and 6.c.).
There were reports that soldiers raped some female members of ethnic
minorities in contested areas. 

In regions controlled by insurgents groups such as the Shan state, or in
areas controlled by groups that have
negotiated cease-fires with the Government such as the Wa territory, there
are credible reports that these groups
engaged in narcotics production and trafficking. In combat zones or in areas
controlled by ethnic minorities, the
insurgents subjected civilians to forced labor. 

Antigovernment insurgent groups were also responsible for violence,
including deploying land mines and conducting
ambushes that caused both civilian and military deaths. The SSA insurgents
committed retaliatory killings, rapes, and
other atrocities against civilians. There were credible reports that
insurgents used women and children as porters.
Karen National Union troops reportedly are led by child soldiers.

Section 2 Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:

a. Freedom of Speech and Press

The Government continued to impose severe restrictions on freedom of speech
and of the press. The security
services continued to harass and repress those attempting to express
opposition political views, and many more
refrained from speaking out due to fear of arrest, interrogation, and other
forms of intimidation. Since late 1996, the
authorities have prohibited the weekend gatherings in front of Aung San Suu
Kyi's residence at which she and NLD
vice-chairmen Tin Oo and Kyi Maung responded to letters from the public and
delivered speeches.

In September Aung San Suu Kyi began holding weekly meetings at NLD
headquarters. Those meetings continued
through year's end, although government security forces were present. The
Government enhanced the existing barriers
that blocked access to her residence during the year, and severely
restricted her freedom to leave her compound or
to receive visitors.

The government monopoly newspaper, television, and radio remained propaganda
instruments. These official media
normally did not report opposing views except to criticize them. Editors and
reporters remained answerable to
military authorities and reportedly were compelled to publish progovernment
articles in nonofficial media. While the
English language daily, New Light of Myanmar continued to include many
edited international wire service reports on
foreign news, domestic news hewed strictly to and reinforced government
policy. Illegal copies of international news
magazines were sold by street vendors. 

All forms of domestic public media were officially controlled or censored.
This strict control in turn encouraged
self-censorship on the part of writers and publishers. Citizens were
generally unable to subscribe directly to foreign
publications, but a limited selection of foreign newspapers could be
purchased in a few hotels and stores in Rangoon
(see Section 1.f.). A limited supply of international newsmagazines and a
sizable number of private publications on
nonpolitical problems were available to the public, but censors frequently
banned issues or deleted articles deemed
unwelcome by the Government.

The Government issued few visas to journalists after April 1997 and held
less than a handful of press conferences on
topical subjects. Several journalists who entered the country as tourists
were detained and deported by the
authorities. 

Foreign radio broadcasts, such as those of the British Broadcasting
Corporation, Voice of America, Radio Free
Asia, and the Norway-based Democratic Voice of Burma, remained the principal
sources of uncensored information.
The authorities continued to restrict the reception of radio and satellite
television broadcasts, although restrictions are
not enforced strictly in many cases. Penalties of up to 3 years'
imprisonment for operation of an unlicensed satellite
television receiver can be imposed. Licenses were almost impossible to
obtain by politically active citizens. Many
citizens ignored the licensing regulation without penalty.

A series of totalitarian decrees issued by the Government in 1996 designed
to strengthen its control over all forms of
political expression and citizens' access to information remained in force
during the year. Order 5/96 in 1996
prohibited speeches or statements that "undermine national stability" as
well as the drafting of alternative constitutions.
A 1996 amendment to the television and video law imposed additional
restrictions and stiffer penalties on the
distribution of videotapes not approved by the censor. Also in 1996, the
Government decreed that all computers,
software, and associated telecommunications devices would be subject to
government registration. During the year,
the Government began to offer Internet services to a small number of
customers. At least two companies associated
with the Government provide electronic mail service; however, Internet
communications are restricted tightly.

University teachers and professors remained subject to the same restrictions
on freedom of speech, political activities,
and publications as other government employees. These included warnings
against criticism of the Government;
instructions not to discuss politics while at work; strictures against
joining or supporting political parties; engaging in
political activity; or meeting foreigners. Government employees also are
coerced into joining the military Government's
mass mobilization organization, the Union Solidarity and Development
Association (USDA). Teachers continued to
be held responsible for propagating SPDC political goals among their
students and for maintaining discipline and
preventing students from engaging in any unauthorized political activity.

Following student demonstrations in December 1996, the Government closed the
universities and even primary and
secondary schools to prevent further demonstrations. Primary and secondary
schools reopened in August 1997.
After 2 years, several universities were opened for abbreviated refresher
course and examinations for 2 weeks in
August. Dissatisfaction with the limited time for education prompted several
student demonstrations. The authorities
arrested student protest leaders, and universities held exams, only to be
closed again within a few weeks. The
Government did not reopen the Medical University during the year.

b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association

The Government restricts freedom of assembly. Its prohibition of
unauthorized outdoor assemblies of more than five
persons remained in effect, although it was enforced unevenly. The 10
existing legal political parties remained required
to request formal permission from the authorities to hold internal meetings
of their members, although some members
still met without official permission.

In September 1997, the authorities reversed a position barring party
meetings and allowed the NLD to celebrate the
ninth anniversary of the party's founding, the largest gathering held by the
NLD since 1990. In May the authorities
also allowed the NLD to hold a 2-day party congress on the anniversary of
the 1990 elections. The authorities also
permitted several public gatherings of NLD members and supporters on various
holidays with little or no interference.
The authorities allowed holiday celebrations to take place in Aung San Suu
Kyi's compound, but police restricted the
size of the gatherings, and their suspension of restrictions was sporadic.
On June 25, security forces blocked NLD
members from entering Aung San Suu Kyi's compound and beat them, slightly
injuring some. Riot police prevented
student demonstrations on August 24 by charging them with batons. There were
no injuries. 

The USDA continued to hold large-scale rallies in support of government
policies. In September and October, large
anti-NLD rallies were organized by the Government in every state and
division. Participants were required to attend.
There were no reported incidents in which the authorities interfered with
religious groups' assemblies or other outdoor
gatherings during the year.

The Government restricts freedom of association. Aside from officially
sanctioned organizations like the USDA, the
right of association existed only for organizations, including trade
associations and professional bodies, permitted by
law and duly registered with the Government, such as the Myanmar Women's
Entrepreneur Association. Only a few
continue to exist, and even those are subject to direct government
intervention and take special care to act in
accordance with government policy. This group includes apolitical
organizations such as the Myanmar Red Cross and
the Myanmar Medical Association. Only 10 political parties remain legally in
existence and most are moribund.

The SPDC's repression of the NLD continued; it harassed NLD members for
petty offenses, and arrested and
convicted NLD supporters for political crimes, especially those personally
associated with NLD General Secretary
Aung San Suu Kyi.