The BurmaNet News: July 6, 1999

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The BurmaNet News: July 6, 1999
Issue #1308

HEADLINES:
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WASHINGTON POST: A FAILURE OF ENGAGEMENT 
ASIAWEEK: NE WIN - YANGON'S LION IN WINTER 
NLD: STATEMENT 88 (7/99) - INT'L AIRPORT 
NATION: BURMA BLAMES WEATHER FOR CRASH 
MIZZIMA: INDIAN ARMY ATTACKED REBEL'S CAMP 
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WASHINGTON POST: A FAILURE OF ENGAGEMENT 
5 July, 1999 

Two years ago the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) took in
Burma as a member. This was a major diplomatic triumph for Burma, whose
military rulers now call the country Myanmar, and helped ease the isolation
it earned after it trashed an incipient democracy in 1990. ASEAN's logic
was familiar: Engagement with the outside world would persuade Burma's
dictators to relax their repressive rule.

The verdict on this test case of the engagement theory thus far is clear:
The behavior of the thugs who run Burma has worsened, and so has life for
most Burmese. The latest testimony comes from Amnesty International, which
has issued three reports that detail the military regime's maltreatment of
farmers and other civilians of minority ethnic groups in Burma's
countryside. Hundreds of thousands have been forced from their homes, and
many have been killed. Amnesty's interviews with refugees also confirmed
that thousands have been forced into dangerous labor, among them many
children.

Last month the International Labor Organization (ILO), a part of the United
Nations, condemned Burma in extraordinarily harsh terms and by an
overwhelming margin. Burma was essentially expelled from the ILO. The
organization found that more than 800,000 people have been pressed into
labor, which it described as "nothing but a contemporary form of slavery."

The person most qualified to speak of the success or failure of the
engagement strategy is Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of the political party that
swept the 1990 elections, the results of which the regime refuses to honor.
She says repression of her party and arrests of its members have
intensified this year. She of all people does not favor the isolation of
the Burmese people, but she argues that any aid to Burma's generals only
strengthens their corrupt rule to the detriment of the population. ASEAN,
many of whose members are themselves struggling toward increased democracy,
soon may have to confront the failure of its engagement strategy in Burma. 

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ASIAWEEK: NE WIN - YANGON'S LION IN WINTER
9 July, 1999 

We're not sure if the night was dark and stormy, but when a shot rang out
not long ago on exclusive Maykha Street on the north shore of Yangon's Inya
Lake, irate neighbors were badly spooked. Even Myanmar's former dictator Ne
Win, who has long lived on the street must have wondered what was going on.
In fact, the fracas was between the children of his daughters, Sanda and
Kye Mone, over currying grandpa's favor. 


And when the overt nastiness persisted, military boss Lt-Gen Tin Oo
angrily withdrew the army checkpoint at the end of the tree-lined street,
originally put in place to protect the aging former despot. After this
brave indication of displeasure by authorities, peace has returned to the
Ne Win neighborhood. To ensure that it holds, the patriarch recently took
all of the family out to dinner at one of the capital's new hotels. Aside
from walking with a cane, he appears in good health for a nonagenarian and
loves to receive gifts of old religious texts. Maybe to read to the
grandkids? 

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NATIONAL LEAGUE FOR DEMOCRACY: STATEMENT 88 (7/98) - EFFECTS OF
INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT 
2 July, 1999 

Translation

1.Villagers living in Ze-gyo have been evicted because the Mandalay
Division, Ta-da-oo township international airport road (temporary) cuts
through their village. Not only is forced labour required of the villagers
in that township but they have had to dig up the soil in their compounds.

2.  On the dirt road, forced labour of the villagers is required for
transporting crushed granite powder from the vehicles transporting the
rocks to designated road sites. Whenever the rock-carrying vehicle arrives,
villagers are forced to leave whatever work they are doing to perform this
task.  These villagers are day to day wage earners and this forced labour
is causing untold hardship.

3.  In addition, collection of Kyats 15 per horse drawn cart, Kyats 20 per
bicycle, Kyats 50 per motor vehicle (small), Kyats 100 per motor vehicle
(big) is taken allegedly for the construction of the road.

4. Such imposition of poor and struggling village dwellers is hurting them
very badly.  We urge that the above practices be immediately stopped.

Central Executive Committee
National League for Democracy

Rangoon
2 July 1999 

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THE NATION: BURMA BLAMES WEATHER FOR CRASH
4 July, 1999 

REUTERS

RANGOON - Burma's official news agency said yesterday that bad weather had
caused the crash of a chartered Myanmar Airways Fokker plane in the west of
the country.

Aviation industry sources said up to nine people aboard the turboprop had
been killed in the crash near the town of Sittwe on Friday afternoon.
Sittwe is about 560 km northwest of Rangoon.

There has been no official comment on casualties.

The Myanmar News Agency said the Sittwe control tower lost contact with the
plane owing to abrupt weather changes after the pilot informed them from a
distance of about 15 km that he intended to land.

It said "the crash site was on an island near Sittwe."

The plane had been on a chartered flight from Rangoon to Sittwe carrying a
cargo of construction materials. Those aboard were crew members and minor
government officials.

It was the third fatal crash of a state owned Myanma Airways Fokker in 18
months.

Last August a Fokker F-27 belonging to the airline crashed in bad weather
near the northeastern town of Tachilek killing all 36 people aboard.


In January 1998 14 people, including three foreigners, were killed when
another F-27 crashed near the town of Thandwe about 320 km northwest of
Rangoon.

The Dutch manufacturer of the aircraft went bankrupt in 1996.

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MIZZIMA NEWS GROUP: INDIAN ARMY ATTACKED BURMA REBEL'S CAMP 
3 July, 1999 

[Edited for posting on The BurmaNet News]

About sixty soldiers from the Assam Rifles in Mizoram State of India
attacked a mobile camp of Chin National Front (CNF) in the Indo-Burma
border on 23 June 1999. Local sources said that the attack, led by Captain
N. Va Suderran from 1st Assam Rifles Battalion, occurred around 8 a.m. and
lasted for thirty minutes. The Chin National Front (CNF) is one of the
armed ethnic groups fighting against the military regime in Burma for
self-determination and democracy in the country. The CNF camp, fifty
soldiers strong, was destroyed after the attack. Indian Assam Rifles
soldiers surrounded the CNF camp at night and launched the attack next
morning.

Two CNF men were captured during the attack by Indian forces and one of
them, Mr. Reng Hu, escaped with a gun injury. Sources said that two Indian
soldiers were injured, but the Assam Rifles did not confirm that report.
One army officer from the 1st Assam Rifles Battalion said that they
attacked the CNF camp because CNF has been collecting taxes from the local
residents in Mizoram State of India, a charge that CNF denies.  The source
reported that Mr. Jimmy, the one arrested in the attack, was killed by the
Assam Rifles.

There are a number of mobile camps of the Chin National Front along the
international border and its headquarters is believed to be situated inside
Burma's Chin State, bordering with Mizoram State of India.

In November 1993, a CNF mobile unit was attacked on the international
border, and two CNF soldiers were arrested and killed by the Assam Rifles.
Despite that incident, the CNF and the Indian army had a fairly good
relationship before 1994, but relations have worsened since "Operation
Golden Bird" which was jointly launched by the Indian army and Burmese army
in 1995 against the NorthEast insurgents along the international border.
During "Operation Golden Bird," which lasted for two months, there were
skirmishes between the CNF and Indian armed forces.  

In April 1995, a CNF leader, Mr. Sang Hlun and a soldier Thawng Mang, were
arrested and the duo died in the custody of the Assam Rifles in Mizoram
State. Their relatives accused the Assam Rifles of poisoning the two to
death. In January 1999, a CNF member, Mr. Mang Duhtling, was arrested and
handed over to the Burmese army. CNF former chairman Mr. No Thang Kap and
his family were handed over to the Burmese army in September 1996 by Indian
armed forces.

The June 23 incident was the latest in a series of the Assam Rifles'
attacks against the Chin National Front.  The CNF, for their part, say they
have a keep-in-touch relationship with the local Indian army units.

When contacted, Home Minister of Mizoram Mr. Tawn Luaia denied the attack
but confirmed that a patrolling unit of Assam Rifles had engaged in
fighting with the CNF soldiers.


Moreover, sources in Mizoram said that the Indian authorities have been
putting pressure on the Chin National Front (CNF) to enter dialogue with
the Burmese government.

During the last five years, there were attempts of intermediaries for talks
between the CNF and Burmese government. But the talks have not materialized
as CNF insists that the dialogue should include discussion on political
matters, a condition which the Burmese government rejects.

There has been increased cooperation and information exchange between the
border army units of India and Burma in the past few years. The two
governments have agreed to cooperate with each other in containing the
insurgency in Northeast India. On June 27, a 16-member delegation from
Indian National Defence College arrived in.

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