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Burma News Update, No. 92 (r)
Open Society Institute
The Burma Project
Burma News Update No. 92
09 September
UN Mission Postponed
A visit to Burma by United Nations Under-Secretary General
Alvaro DeSoto was postponed at the last minute on Tuesday,
07 September, by Burma's army junta, according to UN sources
in New York. Representatives of the military regime informed the
UN that the timing of Mr. De Soto's visit was no longer feasible,
but the visit may be rescheduled for later this year. The UN
mission was meant to discuss human rights violations and
democratic reform in Burma-Ed.
"Four Nines" Anxiety
In Burma's capital, Rangoon, extra troops are deployed at
temples and official buildings, tea shops and restaurants
have been ordered shuttered, and hundreds of people were
reportedly detained as 09 September 1999 approached. The
"Four Nines" date is considered highly auspicious by many
Burmese adherents of numerology, and some opposition
groups have called for national protests against military rule
to mark the day. The "Four-Nines" date has also been linked to
the "Four-Eights" national uprising against dictatorship of 08
August 1988. A junta official threatened "severe and effective
action" against anyone "disturbing the peace," charging that
"subversive elements," backed by Western media including the
"Voice of America, the "British Broadcasting Corporation," and
"Radio Free Asia," are seeking to instigate unrest.
"BBC World Service"; Rangoon, "Xinhua News Agency,"
06 September
Press Boycott Urged
A Burmese opposition group has called for a public
boycott of state newspapers as part of a civil
disobedience campaign against military rule. In a
statement released to journalists in Bangkok, the
All Burma Students' Democratic Front (ABSDF)
charged that tightly-controlled state newspapers are
"a waste of precious financial resources," and "urged
people not to buy, not to read and to tear up these
newspapers in support of the call for popular action
on 9-9-99." [Burma's media is among the world's most
highly-repressed. There is no free press, and the
small privately-owned publications face intensive
scrutiny and censorship by the military regime-Ed.]
Bangkok, "Deutsche Presse-Agentur"; 07 September
Britons Jailed
A British women was arrested in Burma's capital,
Rangoon, on 07 September, after shouting pro-democracy
on a downtown street. The women, identified as 28-year
old Rachael Goldwyn, reportedly urged onlookers
join pro-democracy actions, and also shouted
demands for the release of another British citizen,
James Mawdsley, who was sentenced last week
to 17 years in prison for possessing pro-democracy literature
in Burma.
Rangoon, "Kyodo News Service" 08 September
Tourist Visa Blocked
The Burmese embassy in Thailand is refusing to issue
tourist visas to individual travelers planning to visit
Burma around 09 September, a date many Burmese
consider auspicious and on which some opponents of
the country's army junta have urged a national uprising
against military rule. A Burmese embassy official in
Bangkok said the visa ban is a "temporary measure" which
would be in effect "until further notice". [The Eagle Group,
one of Burma's sole internet-service providers, has also
announced it is suspending e-mail service for 72 hours
effective midnight 07 September 1999-Ed.]
"Bangkok Post", 07 September
Detainees Listed
Officials of the International Committee of the Red Cross
(ICRC), have visited more than 600 "security detainees"
(its official designation for political prisoners) in Burma,
according to an ICRC communiqué. The ICRC visited a
total of nine prisons and detention sites in Burma under
an agreement with the country's army junta. [It is uncertain
whether the ICRC is seeking to visit any more prisons or
detention sites. The Burmese regime continues to deny
that there are any political prisoners in the country-Ed.]
United Nations, "United Press International," 03 September
BURMA NEWS UPDATE is a publication of
the Burma Project of the Open Society Institute.
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