The BurmaNet News: September 29, 19 (r)

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Subject: The BurmaNet News: September 29, 1999

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The BurmaNet News: September 29, 1999
Issue #1368

HEADLINES:
==========
BKK POST: MILITARY WANTS TO SURRENDER POWER
AFP: MYANMAR OPPOSITION RENEWS CALL FOR PARLIAMENT
SPDC: SPEECH TO UNGA BY CHAIRMAN OF DELEGATION
NCGUB: PREVENTIVE DIPLOMACY
BKK POST: NEARLY 1 MILLION SPEED PILLS SEIZED
OXFORD UNIVERSITY: MEMORIAL SERVICE FOR MICHAEL ARIS
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THE BANGKOK POST: JUNTA'S MINISTER SAYS MILITARY WANTS TO SURRENDER POWER
28 September, 1999 by Harry Rolnick

"We are like people holding a hand grenade," said Burma's Minister of
Foreign Affairs U Win Aung on Friday "where the safety pin is out."

In a speech to the Asia Society in New York, Mr Aung admitted previous
economic errors, said the current regime was in power reluctantly, and
discussed the problem of ethnic divisions in the border regions.

The hand grenade image, which startled diplomats, businesspeople, Burmese
officials and dissidents in attendance, referred to "a society which had
been torn apart in the past, but which, under the new Constitution, is
coming together again".

Mr Aung said his government had been arguing over the best way to bring in
the warring factions, but that "it must be done. We must stop the fighting,
because we can not survive without national unity."

He said there must be power-sharing in Burma. "This is the only solution, so
that we can gradually form a sense of unity."

Mr Aung said "the present government is a transitional one. Our goal is to
end this for greater democracy. But we can not survive without the unity of
our people".

He said isolationism and past economic policies had been mistakes, and that
a market economy was the only way for Burma to prosper. "We plan to
privatise 100% of the state sector," he said. Concerning Burmese refugees in
Thailand, Mr Aung refused to admit they even existed, referring to them as
"military camps, not so-called refugee camps.

"All Myanmar people, whether they live in Thailand or the United States or
anywhere else, are always citizens of our country."

In rebuttal to Mr Aung's speech, David I. Steinberg, director of Asian
Studies at Georgetown University, said that, far from the minister's avowal
of Burma's recent progress, "the evidence is that the government is
hunkering down and ... is more isolated than it has been since 1988". Mr
Steinberg said Burmese military officers feel they cannot relinquish
essential powers because of their perceptions of internal threats to the
unity of the state".

Mr Steinberg said the military has isolated itself from the people through
its suspicion. He did not believe it had any intention of surrendering
power.

In a heated debate, Mr. Aung - himself a product of the Rangoon Military
College - said Burma's government is not an elite military affair but has
presentation from "farmers, workers and people from throughout the country".

Mr Aung denied that there has ever been human rights violations or religious
repression under his government. "A government," Mr Aung said, "not only
must rule but must take responsibility. But when the West wants to demonise
a country, they can demonise it."

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AFP: MYANMAR OPPOSITION RENEWS CALL FOR PARLIAMENT
28 September, 1999

YANGON, Sept 28 (AFP) - Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi's
National League for Democracy (NLD) marked the 11th anniversary of its
founding by calling for the ruling military to step down and allow the
formation of a parliament.

In a statement late Monday, the party also called for support from the
general population, and urged the junta to release political prisoners. "It
is essential that parliament be convened in order that democracy and human
rights become a reality," it said.

The NLD won a landslide victory in 1990 elections, but has been denied power
by the military, which has cracked down on the party and imprisoned many of
its members.

Last year the party set up a parliamentary representative committee of its
members, resulting in further detentions.

Authorities Monday set up a riot police blockade on the road passing NLD
headquarters in Yangon, diverting traffic from the area and limiting
attendance, witnesses said.

They allowed only some 300 party faithful to attend the anniversary meeting,
denying entry to foreign diplomats and journalists. Whenever the NLD holds
an anniversary or major meeting the military takes pre-emptive measures to
avoid unrest.

The junta is widely accused by the international community of gross human
rights abuses, including slave labor, rape and torture. It rejects all the
allegations and maintains that it intends to make democratic changes but
only after it has achieved stability and peace.

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SPDC: SPEECH TO UNGA BY CHAIRMAN OF DELEGATION
24 September, 1999

The following is Part 2 of the Statement by U Win Aung, Minister for Foreign
Affairs and Chairman of the Delegation of the Union of Myanmar in the
General Debate of the Fifty Fourth Session of the United Nations General
Assembly, New York, on 24 September 1999.  [See The BurmaNet News, 28
September, 1999, Issue #1367 for Part 1.]

Mr President,

Myanmar is a multi-ethnic society where many national races with different
and diverse cultural and social backgrounds are residing together. In
addition, primarily due to the divide and rule policy under colonial rule,
the unity among the national races deteriorated and as a result, armed
insurrections broke out all over the country. For these reasons, the present
government came to the conclusion that racial harmony was imperative and in
the absence of which various issues will continue to hamper the national
development endeavours. This rationale led the government to make peace
overtures with the armed groups and establish peace with them.

In order to restore trust and confidence among the national races, the
government has even allowed the ethnic armed groups to hold on their arms
until a democratic government is formally established in accordance with the
new constitution we are drafting now. This is a reflection of our trust in
our national brethren. At the same time the government has launched an
ambitious plan for the development of border areas and national races.
Despite its meager financial resources, the government has spent over 15
billion Kyats on the plan. At present, the national races are actively
working together with the government in their regional development efforts.
This conscious and willing involvement in the national development tasks as
equal partners has nurtured the Union spirit and sense of togetherness. With
17 armed groups in the legal fold, peace is holding the entire length and
breadth of the country. As far as the question of national unity is
concerned this is the first ever concrete result achieved and unprecedented
in number of armed groups involved the extent of peace established. This is
a result we achieved through sincere, genuine and open dialogue between the
government and ethnic armed groups where we first built confidence and then
convinced each other of our respective objectives. The government is open to
such a dialogue with any remaining groups, including the Karen National
Union (KNU), where we could build confidence and identify common grounds in
the sole interest of the country and its people. In this regard, I with to
reiterate that the government's offer of peace to the KNU still stands.

As a matter of fact, the same dialogue is going on in the national
convention process where representatives of national races and political
parties and delegates representing all strata of life are actively involved
in drafting a new constitution to lay solid foundation for a new democratic
political system. The national convention has been a successful process
where we had agreed on the basic principles that will govern the future life
of the country and will allow self-administered zones for certain national
groups. At this juncture, we are in the painful and arduous process of
building a consensus on power-sharing, which is an extremely sensitive issue
for all parties concerned. In view of the delicate nature of this sensitive
question, it is vitally important for us to proceed systematically and with
the greatest caution possible to safeguard the interests of all the national
races and not to repeat the short comings of the previous two constitutions.
We firmly believe that there is no better alternative at all to the current
national convention process if we genuinely wish to transform the country
into a peaceful, modern, developed, and democratic state. It is therefore
essential for us to complete the national convention process. In this
connection, it is our ardent hope that the international community will be
supportive of our sincere efforts and appreciative of the positive
achievements we have made thus far for the development of the country.

Mr President,

Myanmar is very often portrayed from outside as if vast violations of human
rights are taking place, forced labour is rampant, free flow of narcotics
exists and economic and social conditions are in chaos. These portrayals are
in contradiction to the true situation. Let me cite here a very widely known
teaching of the Lord Buddha called "Kalama Sutta". The Sutta says: (Quote)

Oh-Ye-Kalamas-
-Do not be led by whatever you are told!
-Do not be led by whatever has been handed down from the past generations!
-Do not be led by hearsay or common opinion!
-Do not be led by whatever the scriptures say!
-Do not be led by mere logic!
-Do not be led by mere deduction or inference!
-Do not be led by considering outward appearance!
-Do not be led by the theory reflected as an approval!
-Do not be led by whatever believable one says!
-Do not be led by what your teacher tells you it so! (Unquote)

In short, Lord Buddha taught us to accept and practice only when we
ourselves directly know which is wrong and which is right.

Everyone who visits Myanmar can see the greenness of the country, peace and
tranquillity prevailing throughout the nation, people leading their normal
daily lives with happiness pleasure, and building their nation with zest and
zeal. The people have full knowledge that they are on the right path to
peace and prosperity. I would like to invite all of you to come and see
yourselves. Seeing is believing!

Mr President,

Our nation is still in the process of building, solid foundations being
laid, infrastructure being improved throughout the country. The government
and the people fully understand where we were, where we are now and in which
direction we are moving. We think of ourselves as builders, carpenters and
plumbers building a house not to enjoy ourselves but for the entire people
who are rightful owners. When the building is finished, furnished, and fine
touched, it will be handed over to them. The people will decide who shall
manage the house. There are some Myanmar youths that abandoned our land and
took refuge elsewhere. By taking this opportunity, I would like to send them
a message from this podium that they are welcome with our open arms if they
return home and I would like to invite them to join us in building the
nation. Our future lies with us. If we work together, we will reach our goal
sooner than later.

Mr President,

Religious harmony and freedom is our shared tradition. Our previous two
constitutions provided for safe guards against religious discrimination and
religious intolerance. Similarly, the fundamental principles we have agreed
on in the national convention process guarantee religious non-discrimination
and religious tolerance. Although Myanmar is a predominantly Buddhist
country with nearly 90 percent of the population professing Buddhism, the
government attaches great importance to harmonious relations among the major
religions existing in the country. Accordingly, the government has taken all
necessary steps to encourage the prevailing harmony among the religions
through continuous contacts with the respective religious leadership and
provision of necessary assistance in both financial and material terms to
enable them to promote their faiths effectively. I want to state that there
is freedom of religion for all faiths in the country. It is also worth
recalling here that a few years ago, Madam Ogata, the High Commissioner for
Refugees remarked in her capacity as the Independent Expert of the
Commission on Human Rights, to the effect that Myanmar was a model society
as far as religious tolerance was concerned. Though made sometime in the
past, I wish to stress that these remarks remain valid and true at this
point in time as well, and the government is determined to safeguard to the
best of its ability all the religions of the country against intolerance,
and help them in all possible ways to co-exist harmoniously with each other.

Mr President,

It will not be complete without mentioning what any country is achieving on
economic front. Despite slowdown in economic growth due to Asian financial
crisis. Myanmar has enjoyed considerable economic growth in recent years.
The emphasis of the government is to promote private sector development and
privatization. At the same time, the government is focusing its endeavours
on infrastructure development as a precondition for sustained development.
Moreover, the government is carrying out an extensive programme of land
reclamation in wet and virgin lands by granting large land holding to the
private companies. The private sector has been able to reclaim and developed
1.1 million acres of fallow and wet lands for agricultural productions,
which will not only help domestic food supply but also will contribute to
regional food security.

Mr President,

We have a vision for the new millennium, where we could build a society
peaceful, modern, developed and democratic. In order to realize our vision,
we will endeavour with whatever resources we have at our disposal. The
realization of this goal could be accelerated if we receive the support of
the international community. We are optimistic that we will be able to
achieve our vision and that the international community will demonstrate
understanding and appreciation of our sincere efforts to uplift the economic
and social well-being of the people of Myanmar.

I thank you, Mr President.

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NATIONAL COALITION GOVERNMENT OF THE UNION OF BURMA: PREVENTIVE DIPLOMACY
24 September, 1999 by Naw May Oo

Preventive Diplomacy: Role of United Nations in Resolving Politico-Economic
Crisis in Burma

Human Rights and Aggressive Militarism: BURMA, by Naw May Oo, Coordinator of
Women's Affairs, NCGUB, at the 54th UNGA

UN Press Conference Room S 226, United Nations, New York

I am honored to participate in this Press Conference from which I can
explain the importance of international intervention at this time in our
country's affairs to the press and the guests.

I just made a few trips back to the Thai-Burma border, from where I came to
this country as a refugee, and this analysis I am about to present should
also reflect what I have just learned freshly, in addition to the remarks
made by other sources.

Through this, I intend to explain a few things: first, the SPDC has not
proven that genuine peace with stability is their sincere desire even though
ceasefire agreements have been reached between the regime and some ethnic
resistant groups; second, the SPDC has not improved human rights situation
in any part of the country and it is worsening everyday in some particular
areas; third, the SPDC has no respect to the international community and the
neighboring countries such as Thailand; and finally, this analysis intends
to explain the urgency for changes, politically and socially, in the country
where basic human rights of the citizens are being severely violated in
various forms.

We cannot agree more with what the Secretary General eloquently stated in
his address to the 54th General Assembly regarding the intervention of
international community to help end the suffering of people in the face of
"gross and systematic violations of human rights with grave humanitarian
consequences." Moreover, the Secretary General also mentioned that "there
are a great number of peoples who need more than just words of sympathy from
the international community. They need a real and sustained commitment to
help end their cycles of violence, and launch them on a safe passage to
prosperity." Unfortunately if I may say, the majority of Burma's population
falls into this category described by the Secretary General.

Today in Burma, if we are to look at particular areas such as Karen State,
Karenni State, and Shan State, the amount of gross human rights violations
committed against the inhabitants by the Burmese regime (Myanmar regime)
should really and immediately draw the attention of every understanding
people. The forms and nature of violations have led to what we call today
Crimes against Humanity, a paramount crime committed by some nations'
leaders.

There have been patterns of human rights violations such as forced
relocation of villages of which destruction of lives, communities,
livestock, and cultures are the consequences faced by the people, forced
labor from which men, women, and children suffer, and the worst of all, from
which women suffer double - forced labor at day and sex labor (systematic
rape) at night.

These violations mentioned have become some major trends of the Myanmar
regime and their failure to respect human rights, democracy, and the
international treaties to many of which they are signatory. What should draw
our immediate attention is that the worsened nature of torturing and killing
the innocent villagers in some particular minority ethnic areas.

Reports and the newcomer refugees that I met testified that the SPDC troops
have become militarily more aggressive than ever in those areas - namely
Shan State, Karen State, Karenni State, and Chin State. The torturing and
killing of villagers takes place almost everyday in one or the other
village. This threatens the villagers so much that they decide to leave
their home and run for lives, and this is the beginning of the phenomenal
refugees numbers that is increasing on almost weekly basis.

At this point, we wish to make a comment that the international community
should note refugees who are accepted in the camps in Thailand and who are
forced back to Burma. The most recent estimation of Burma's refugee
population is 126, 000, and in terms of internally displaced people
(refugees in their own country), the ethnic Karen alone number 300, 000 or
more. The Shan also has the second largest numbers of refugees in Thailand
(most of them are recognized as illegal migrant workers) after the Karen.
Many reliable border based human rights documentation centers have recorded
these atrocities committed against innocent villagers by the soldiers of
Myanmar regime, we have already obtained documents  -- more than we need.

All these are committed in order to retaliate the ethnic resistant groups by
whom the regime often gets discredited for their human rights violations.
Though they may be the same old stories that we often hear from most corners
of the world today, a time has come for the international community to
refresh and reinstate their ethic of intervention on humanitarian grounds.
As stated in our focus of this Press Conference, we would humbly like to
urge for somewhat a preventive diplomacy, to prevent our country, which has
already been facing too much of atrocities, from more blood-shedding and or
other undesirable consequences. Please find our analysis paper on Human
Rights and Aggressive Militarism: BURMA, and we sincerely hope that our
message today would bring you a sense of urgency and a strength to act.

THANK YOU

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THE BANGKOK POST: NEARLY 1 MILLION SPEED PILLS SEIZED
28 September, 1999

Wa group plans new amphetamine plant

Mae Hong Son - Police seized almost one million methamphetamine pills on the
weekend amid indications the Wa National Army is planning to open another
drug factory.

Border sources said the new factory was being set up by elements of the Wa
National Army in a village in Burma's Shan state, opposite Muang district,
Mae Hong Son.

The source said Col Maha Sang, the WNA leader, and Col Maha Ja, his younger
brother, who are behind the scheme, were planning to take advantage of the
limited autonomy Rangoon has allowed in Shan state.

Authorities have stepped up suppression efforts to curb the inflow of
methamphetamines, largely coming from factories in Shan state run by the
United Wa State Army. An estimated 200 million pills are imported annually
from Burma, according to the authorities.

The border source said the new plant was being built in Mae Or Luang, about
20km south of the Ho Mong base of the UWSA and opposite the Ban Rak Thai
border crossing.

It was likely to be equipped with machinery to be delivered from Ho Mong and
several other towns in Shan and Kayah states, where small drug factories can
each produce only 250,000-300,000 pills a month.

In the weekend seizures, eight suspects were arrested in two raids.

On Saturday, police searched a car at a toll plaza near Don Muang and found
470,000 pills in a suitcase in the car's boot. Sunthorn sae Lee, 28, and
Somchai Cheewinrungroj, 27, who were charged with trafficking, said the
drugs were intended for delivery to a client at a hotel on Rama IV road.

On Sunday, six men were rounded up in Din Daeng, Suan Luang and Klong Toey
and charged with possessing 434,000 speed pills with intent to sell. Police
said the suspects, identified as Mongkol Pongsrimas, 34, Kaufei Sae-pan, 27,
Akkaradej Pongsrimas, 17, Peerapong Pongsrimas,17, Nopparuj Siripankul, 26,
and Ongart Chitcharoen, 32, told them they worked for one Bangkok-based
dealer.

The Narcotics Suppression Bureau said it has seized 5.9 million speed pills,
104kg of heroin, 42kg of cannabis and 159 ecstasy pills since January.

During the same period, the Office of the Narcotics Control Board also
confiscated some 25 million speed pills. It expects to seize five million
more.

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OXFORD UNIVERSITY: MEMORIAL SERVICE FOR MICHAEL ARIS
28 September, 1999 from helen.carasso@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

An evening of music and readings in Oxford's Sheldonian Theatre on Tuesday
28 September will celebrate the life and work of the Tibetan and Himalayan
scholar, Michael Aris. The event is being organised by Michael's family,
with the support of his college, St. Antony's. It will mark the announcement
of steps to establish a permanent memorial to his work.

During the evening, chamber music will be interspersed with readings chosen
by the Aris family to reflect the best moments of Michael's life. A Buddhist
text has been selected by his widow, the Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.
Among the capacity audience are expected to be international figures, as
well as Michael's relatives and family friends and academic colleagues.

Michael Aris died of cancer on 27 March 1999, his 53rd birthday. He was born
in Havana, and studied history at the University of Durham, before an
appointment as tutor to the royal family of Bhutan. His links to Oxford go
back to 1976, when he became junior research fellow at St. John's College.
He then became linked first with Wolfson, then St. Antony's, where he was
Dean in the last year of his life. In 1972, Michael Aris married Aung San
Suu Kyi - they have two sons, Alexander and Kim.

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