The BurmaNet News: December 1, 1999

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The BurmaNet News: December 1, 1999
Issue #1413

Noted in Passing: "For eight years I have lived in fear, like a living
dead. Only my eyes were alive and took in all that was have happening. Now
I want to write and live again and tell the world the story of my country."
 - Maung Thara (see THE TELEGRAPH: EXILE AND THE KINGDOM)

HEADLINES:
==========
SHRF: RAPE OF SCHOOLGIRLS IN LAI-KHA 
IHT: BURMA AND THE WORLD BANK 
PD BURMA: FOLLOW-UP TO IPC RESOLUTIONS 
JAPAN TIMES: JAPAN WAITS FOR US COURT RULING 
THE NATION: IMMIGRATION LEGISLATION OUTDATED 
THE TELEGRAPH: EXILE AND THE KINGDOM 
***************************************************

SHAN HUMAN RIGHTS FOUNDATION: RAPE OF SCHOOLGIRLS IN LAI-KHA
November, 1999 

In early October 1999, 2 schoolgirls from a middle school in Lai-Kha were
arrested, detained and raped by the Commander of SPDC's LIB515, Lt-Col.
Htun Sein, in the military base in Lai-Kha, and money was extorted for
their release.

On 8.10.99, a school meeting of all teachers and students of a middle
school in Lai-Kha town, where there were 84 students studying up to 6th
Standard, was held at the school. After giving a counselling speech and
announcing a 15-day holiday, the head teacher, U Kyi Maung, asked the
students if they had any questions to ask.

Accordingly, a 17-year-old schoolgirl, Naang Mawn Zing, from the 5th
Standard asked the following question: "I would like to ask why the Burmese
soldiers who claim to be government troops oppress the people so much. A
lot of village people have been forced to move to the town where they are
faced with difficulties to settle down and make a living. I've seen how
pitiful they are".

Another schoolgirl, Naang Lam Poi, aged 18, from the 6th Standard also
asked, "Why did the government troops close down the main market place of
Lai-Kha town?. This market has been where it is since a very long time ago,
but now it has been closed down for 2-3 weeks by the government soldiers
and has not yet opened again, why? If the government soldiers are angry
with the Shan soldiers, they should go after them. We students don't
understand and would like to ask why the government troops are oppressing
the people like this instead of going after the Shan soldiers".

Before the head teacher, who was hesitating, could answer the questions, 2
of the SPDC soldiers who were on security duty at the school called out the
2 girls and said that they should go to the military base and ask the
commander if they really wanted to know, and actually took them to LIB515
base. As soon as the 2 soldiers finished reporting about the incident and
what the 2 girls had asked, commander Htun Sein ordered them to lock up the
girls in the military base.

At night, around 21:00 hrs, soldiers took Naang Mawn Zing to Htun Sein for
interrogation. After Naang Mawn Zing told him what she had asked the head
teacher, Htun Sein said that asking about what one did not know was good,
but her question was against the laws of the country, so she would have to
stay and wait at the military base for a while.

Htun Sein then took Naang Mawn Zing into his bedroom and ordered her to
take off all her clothes, but she refused, asking why such a military
officer who was in charge of a whole battalion as him could become so low
as to order her to take off her clothes. That caused him to point his
pistol at her and asked if she would do as told or not, but the girl only
fell down on the bed and cried. Htun Sein then put away his pistol,
forcibly pulled off her clothes and raped her all night.

In the morning, he sent Naang Mawn Zing back to the lockup and brought out
Naang Lam Poi and did the same to her, and raped her for one day and one
night.

After raping the girls, in turns, for 4 days and 4 nights, Htun Sein
ordered the girls' parents to pay 15,000 Kyat for the release of each of them.

After their release, the 2 girls recounted their plight to their parents,
village and community leaders and the head teacher, and wanted their cases
submitted to higher authority. However, the head teacher said that their
questions were against the laws of the country and that he was not at all
sure whether they would win or lose the case, so the best thing to do at
the moment was to keep quiet. So, they have been keeping quiet up to the
present.

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

INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE: BURMA AND THE WORLD BANK
30 November, 1999 

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Regarding ''It's Right to Tell the Burma Regime What It's Doing Wrong''
(Opinion, Nov. 15) by David Steinberg:

Mr. Steinberg asserts that Burma's National League for Democracy was
opposed to the World Bank conducting an objective study of Burma's economy
and faults Burma's democratically elected leaders for being critical of the
report when they ''should have applauded (its) sound recommendations.''

The NLD has not issued any comment on the report. Indeed, as the
International Herald Tribune reported on Nov. 13, ''The 109-page report was
secretly distributed in draft version last month to top generals and the
opposition leader, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.''

The confidential report will not be published until February 2000 and its
content would still be confidential if the International Herald Tribune had
not obtained a copy.

It is difficult to comprehend why Mr. Steinberg should take umbrage that
the NLD has not yet commented on a draft report that has not been published.

The democratic movement has always emphasized that Burma's economic crisis
has its roots in the political situation and has called for a national
dialogue to advance political and economic reforms. Therefore, the World
Bank's conclusion that the military leadership ''must carry out major
political and human reforms before the country can achieve prosperity''
does not surprise us. As a member of the NLD, I can confirm that the
democratic movement appreciates when anyone conducts objective analyses of
what went wrong in Burma.

BO HLA-TINT. Washington. 

The writer is a member of Parliament for the National League for Democracy. 

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

PD BURMA: FOLLOW-UP TO IPC RESOLUTIONS 
12 November, 1999 

HUMAN RIGHTS

FOLLOW-UP TO THE INTER-PARLIAMENTARY COUNCIL'S RESOLUTIONS ON INDIVIDUAL
HUMAN RIGHTS CASES REGARDING PARLIAMENTARIANS

Madam President,
Mr.President,

At its 87th session, held in conjunction with the 102nd Conference of the
Inter-Parliamentary Union last month in Berlin, the Committee on the Human
Rights of Parliamentarians referred to the Inter-Parliamentary Council 22
cases regarding 130 former and incumbent parliamentarians in the following
17 countries:  Argentina, Belarus, Bhutan, Burundi, Cambodia, Colombia,
Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Ecuador, Gambia, Guinea,
Honduras, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nigeria, Republic of Moldova and Turkey.  I
hereby wish to draw your attention to the resolutions which the Council, on
the Committee's proposal, adopted in Berlin on these cases.

You will find the text of the resolutions in the document containing the
Results of the Berlin Conference which was recently sent to your National
Group and on the Union's Web site (http://www.ipu.org).  A short summary of
each case on which a resolution was adopted is annexed hereto.

May I highlight in particular the resolution regarding MPs-elect in
Myanmar, a copy of which you will find attached.  As the Committee's
President stated in his oral report, their situation is particularly
distressing to the Inter-Parliamentary Union as they have been prevented to
date by the military junta in power from exercising the mandate entrusted
to them by the people in the election of 1990.  Ever since the Committee
referred these cases to it, the Council has condemned the deliberate policy
of the Government of the Union of Myanmar of disregarding the outcome of
the 1990 elections and its unwillingness to hand over power to the
democratically elected representatives. Consequently, when the MPs-elect
established in September 1998 the "Committee Representing the People's
Parliament", the Council held that, in doing so, they were defending the
rights of their constituents to take part in the conduct of public affairs
through representatives of their choice and exercising their right to
discharge the mandate entrusted to them.  In Berlin, the Council reaffirmed
this position and called on its member parliaments "to press for respect
for democratic principles in Myanmar and show, by whatever means they deem
appropriate, particularly through support for the 'Committee representing
the People's Parliament' their solidarity with their colleagues from the
Pyithu Hluttaw elected in 1990".  The Council also invited member
parliaments to inform it of any steps they have taken to that effect.

I would therefore be grateful if your Parliament could inform me of any
action it has taken in response to the Council's appeal.  I would like to
recall in this connection the statement that your colleague, Mr. Gjellerod
from Denmark, made in Berlin, inviting his colleagues to ensure that their
respective parliaments adopt a resolution similar to the Council resolution
and contribute by all possible means to the restoration of democracy in
Myanmar.

May I further draw your attention to the resolution regarding the case of
Mr.Lim Guan Eng from Malaysia (copy attached).  The Council has
consistently expressed its strong support for a full pardon for Mr. Lim
Guan Eng and even sent a mission to Kuala Lumpur to that end  all to no
avail.  In the light of the information supplied by the Malaysian
Parliament that no further remedy was henceforth open to Mr. Lim Guan Eng,
the Council felt compelled to close his case while reaffirming its
consistent position that he was the victim of a politically motivated
prosecution.  However, the Committee was recently informed that Mr.Lim Guan
Eng has lodged a new pardon petition with H.M. the King of Malaysia.  In
view of this, the Committee's President requested me to call again on all
member parliaments to express their support for a pardon for Mr. Lim Guan
Eng so that he may continue participating in the political life of his
country and, in particular, be able to stand as a candidate in the
forthcoming parliamentary elections.

The Committee wishes to thank you in advance for your support in this
regard and would be grateful if you could inform it of any action your
Parliament has taken on behalf of Mr.Lim Guan Eng.

I would be pleased to send you the Committee's report together with any
up-to-date information relating to developments in cases on which your
Parliament may wish to take action.  The Committee, which will hold its
next session from 23 to 27 January 2000 at the IPU headquarters will
examine confidentially any information you communicate to it and will make
no reference thereto in its public report without your explicit permission.

Thank you in advance for your kind attention in this matter.

Yours sincerely,

Anders B. Johnsson
Secretary General


PD Burma
Welhavensgt. 1
0880 Oslo
Norway

Telephone: + 47 22 98 90 05
Telefax:      + 47 22 11 49 88
Mobil Tel.: + 47 95 14 98 75
E-mail:        pdburma@xxxxxxxxx
Homepage: http://www.worldviewrights.org/pdburma.html  

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

JAPAN TIMES: JAPAN WAITS FOR US COURT RULING ON "BURMA LAW" 
29 November, 1999 by Hisane Masaki 

Japan and the European Union are in a holding pattern over a dormant WTO
probe into a Massachusetts law targeting companies that do business in
Myanmar, while they await the outcome of a domestic suit winding its way
through U.S. courts.

As such, the two are expected to ask the World Trade Organization early
next year to suspend the investigation for another year.

According to Japanese government officials, no discussions have been held
yet on the possible request to the WTO, the Geneva-based global trade
watchdog, not only between Tokyo and Brussels but also within the Japanese
government.

In theory, Japan and the 15-nation EU have two options: requesting that the
WTO resume its investigation into the Massachusetts law or letting the
United States off the hook by shying away from filing any new requests.

But both of these options appear very unlikely in view of the pending court
decision.

Under WTO rules, a neutral WTO panel established at the end of last year to
look into the law will be disbanded automatically in February if Japan and
the EU file no new requests, according to the officials.

But a senior official at the Ministry of International Trade and Industry,
speaking on condition of anonymity, pointed toward a third option.

"Before allowing the WTO probe to end completely, I think Japan and the EU
will have to wait and see if the U.S. federal district court ruling against
the Massachusetts law is upheld ... and the law itself is abolished," he said.

In July 1997, Japan and the EU filed a complaint with the WTO over the
Massachusetts law, claiming that it violates a WTO agreement on government
procurement practices. The law, which took effect in January 1997, denies
state contracts to both American and foreign companies doing business in
Myanmar.

The WTO accord covers not only central but also local governments
registered in the commitments made by WTO members. The U.S. agreed to put
Massachusetts and some other states under the WTO government procurement
accord.

Myanmar -- or Burma as the Southeast Asian country is traditionally known
-- has been shunned by large segments of the international community as its
military rulers violate democratic principles and human rights and continue
to crack down on the democracy movement led by Aung San Suu Kyi.

After filing a complaint with the WTO over Massachusetts' Myanmar sanctions
law, Japan has held three rounds of "bilateral consultations" with the U.S.
in the first stage of the WTO's dispute-settlement procedures.

Last autumn, Japan and the EU moved on to the second stage of
dispute-settlement procedures and filed a request with the WTO for the
establishment of a neutral WTO panel to adjudicate the Massachusetts case.

In response, the WTO decided last December to set up the dispute-settlement
panel, which under WTO rules and normal circumstances would have handed
down a ruling within nine months.

But in February, Japan and the EU requested the WTO to suspend the
dispute-settlement panel's work for one year.

The request followed a U.S. federal district court ruling three months
earlier supporting a complaint from the U.S. National Foreign Trade Council.

The council, which represents 580 members, claimed that the law prevented
more than 30 of its companies from seeking contracts with the state.

The federal district court ruled that the "Burma Law" is unconstitutional
because it "impermissibly" infringes on the federal government's power to
regulate foreign affairs. Massachusetts suspended enforcement of the law
after the ruling but appealed the decision to a higher court.

Ironically, rather than fighting the administration of U.S. President Bill
Clinton on this front, Japan and the EU have been joined by the U.S. in the
quest to abolish or at least amend the Massachusetts legislation.

"We want to see the case settled in a satisfactory manner for both Tokyo
and Washington," another MITI official said on condition that he not be
named. "It seems that even the Clinton administration wants the U.S.
judicial system to determine the Massachusetts law unconstitutional so that
a WTO ruling on the law can be avoided."

With enforcement of the law still suspended, no actual damage has been
inflicted on Japanese companies, which is why Japan -- in addition to the
EU -- is expected to keep the WTO panel on the case dormant without letting
it die.

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

THE NATION: IMMIGRATION LEGISLATION OUTDATED - LAW PROFESSOR
30 November, 1999 

THAILAND should urgently adopt a clear-cut policy outlining the distinct
rights of asylum-seekers instead of using the present blanket legislation
that tends to confuse them with illegal immigrants, a legal expert said
yesterday. 

Vitit Muntarbhorn, a law professor from Chulalongkorn University, said in a
seminar on ''Human rights and the rights of the asylum-seekers'' that until
now Thailand had only relied on outdated laws to cope with a myriad of
problems arising from various types of immigrants. 

Vitit called on responsible public agencies to distinguish between
asylum-seekers and those who entered the country illegally. 

''Thailand's problem is that we have always resorted to following our
draconian legal system to solve this type of problem, opting against
adopting measures stipulated in the Universal Declaration on Human
Rights,'' he said. 

''The declaration affords special protection to asylum-seekers, taking into
account the fact that they had to flee injustice in their own countries and
any repatriation effort must be carried out with caution. 

''Illegal immigrants, meanwhile, are not entitled to this kind of
protection,'' he explained. 

Thailand has seen hundreds of thousand of Burmese venture into the country
to seek a better life. Most of them eked out their livelihood by trading
their labour for a token of salary. 

Besides these labourers, there are also more than 2,000 exiled students who
fled Rangoon's crackdown on pro-democracy movements during the 1988 bloody
military coup. 

Concerning Thai authorities' efforts to speed up the resettlement of these
exiled dissidents, Songsit Jarupan, a representative from the United
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), said that although it was a
good solution, he feared it would be interpreted as an incentive for those
who would like to go to third countries to start flooding into Thailand. 

The UNHCR has tried to tackle the root of the problem by trying to send
some of these dissidents back to Burma. 

But due to Burma's internal problems, it was impossible for the agency to
carry out the repatriation drive, said Songsit. 

He confirmed the UNHCR would revoke the ''People of Concern'' status from
those who stormed the Burmese embassy early last month to allow the
authorities to try them under local laws. 

Meanwhile in Ratchaburi, a group of Burmese students said they would send a
letter to Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai and Interior Minister Sanan
Kachornprasad calling for the release of their 23 fellow students. 

The Burmese students were apprehended earlier for slipping away from the
Maneeloy Holding Centre without permission. 

In a related incident, a high-ranking Thai security official said that a
batch of at least 20 Burmese students had left to settle in the United
States on Sunday night. 

National Security Council deputy secretary-general Chidchai Rattanapol said
yesterday it was the first group since the embassy seizure on Oct 1. 

''About 100 students will be sent to the US by the end of this year,'' he
said. 

However, the news was denied by a US embassy spokeswoman, who said the
mission did not acknowledge Chidchai's claim. 

''We have had small groups go in the past but from our records, the last we
had was the one that left on Nov 18,'' she said. 

''In November, 33 people were sent to the US in three separate batches,''
she added. 

A further 22 students would leave on Dec 2, she said, adding that the
programme was scheduled to be put on hold over the Christmas period.

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

THE TELEGRAPH (CALCUTTA): EXILE AND THE KINGDOM 
21 November, 1999 by Rajashri Dasgupta 

[Maung Thara is not the aloof writer his admirers think him to be. Rajashri
Dasgupta meets the prolific Burmese author who is startlingly close to his
people]

Last month a picture of Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt talking to a Buddhist monk was
published in Yangon's leading Myanmarese-language newspaper, Mirror.
Innocuous enough one would think. Except that two words were faintly
visible in the backdrop: "Worldwide Liar".

Nyunt, the first secretary of the ruling State Peace and Development
Council (SPDC), is not only the most powerful man in Myanmar's military
regime, he is also, as head of military intelligence, the most feared,. One
does not know whether the holy man forgave the pranksters. The news that
has filtered through the jackboot regime is that the military was not
amused. Journalists of Mirror were rounded up, arrested, interrogated and
two are feared killed.

The military clampdown in Myanmar makes it almost impossible to assess
whether the picture was just a printing mistake or a deliberate act of
defiance. The two Burmese and English language newspapers and the TV
channels are state run. Internet, fax, e-mail, in fact all modern means of
communications, are banned. Burmese living abroad fear to call home because
phone lines are tapped.

"I think it was a mistake, a fearful mistake," says U Thein Lwin
emphatically. "It must have been. I can't believe anybody in Burma [it's
still Burma to him, never Myanmar] would dare do such a thing." Lwin, known
by his pen name Maung Thara (pronounced Tha-ya), is Myanmar's best-known,
most-respected literary figure.

The soft-spoken writer with his Mao Tse Tung-like bald pate had never
spoken out against the Nyunt's regime, never written anything seditious,
never been involved in any activity that could remotely be dubbed
rebellious or even an act of protest. Yet, in July this year, the
69-year-old was forced to flee his country with his teenage son and without
even a change of clothes. A 10-day journey from his hometown Mandalay,
Thara escaped to Thailand. What Thara eats today or the clothes he wears or
where he lives in borne by the support of his numerous admirers and
readers. Earlier this month he was in Delhi at the invitation of some of them.

Thara first captured the hearts of the Burmese people with his novel about
the life of a taxi driver, Standing on the Road, Sobbing, which also won
him the National Literary Award in 1970. Another popular novel was Married
to a King, one becomes a Queen. Woven around a Burmese proverb, it was
published at the time when General Ne Win had married his beautiful fourth
wife who is said to have royal blood. The allegory did not escape Ne Win's
men but they let it pass. Many of Thara's stories have been translated into
English, Hindi, Japanese, Chinese and Russia.

It is difficult to gauge the emotions that flit through his hooded eyes and
monk-like expressionless face as he recalls and relives "8888" (as it is
popularly called because it happened on August 8, 1988), the prodemocracy
uprising in Myanmar when young students took to the streets demanding
radical political reforms.

The military, like everywhere, responded predictably with violence,
crushing thousands to death, imprisonment and torture. As a result of the
clampdown on 8888, more than 10,000 students escaped to the borders of
India and Thailand. Till date, the junta has kept universities shut to
prevent the youth from coming together.

But even when Aung San Suu Kyi's house become the hub of political
activity, Thara stayed away from any political party or movement. He kept
to himself, writing stories about ordinary people, their lives, their
concerns, and editing his own monthly literary magazine, Thara.

His admirers were utterly confused. Why was Thara so "uninvolved" in the
mass uprisings? Why wasn't he more active? They lamented. "because I
remained aloof from politics, did not join any party, my people did not
understand my position," he states flatly.

But the junta did. His stories about the daily lives of ordinary people -
smugglers, prostitutes, students, former communists or prisoners - were
seen as revealing the "real happenings" inside Burma. For instance, the
junta denies there is prostitution or begging in the country. One of
Thara's stories is about how university girls do part-time prostitution to
be able to pay their fees. The junta wants writers and journalists to avoid
such unseemly topics and stick to romance or detective series and myths
about Buddhism. Many do. To Thara there was no other way to write.

First the military regime refused to renew the publishing license for
Thara's magazine. Then, when Thara tried to publish his book on smuggling
in Myanmar, the cover of the book had to be changed repeatedly to be
acceptable to the censor board. (All books and magazines in Burma have to
be submitted to the Press Scrutiny Board after printing.) The first cover,
depicting a train load of people, was seen to be" subversive". The second
one showed railway tracks converging - "and that proved too symbolic to the
military," said Thara with a shrug.

Then, at a routine press brief, Nyunt accused Thara, without naming him, of
being involved with dissidents to topple his government. Two months later,
in September 1989, the military intelligence "invited" Thara, the author of
60 novel and 300 short stories, to their office. "They 'requested' me not
to write anymore. By doing so they cut off my hand," said Thara. It was at
the same time when Aung San Suu Kyi was put under house arrest.

Thara abided dutifully. Aware that he was under surveillance, he was afraid
to write anything. The junta could raid his home, confiscate his books,
papers and tapes and even arrest him. Slowly he withdrew from public life,
avoided public appearances on TV shows or talks on literary topics,
rejected social invitations and lived the life of a recluse. Even when he
refused to be a member of the government's National Literary Award
Presenting Committee, Thara avoided confrontation by pleading ill health.
Still he was not safe.

The situation reached flashpoint when some youth were arrested and the
military found Thara's books in their possession. "the military held this
as evidence to accuse me of subversion," said Thara. Afraid that he might
be arrested any day, on July 12, Thara decided to leave for Thailand with
the youngest of his eight children.

At first the junta thought he was visiting his daughter. When the military
spotted him near the Thai border he told them he was sightseeing. His
famous bald head was proving to be giveaway and he had to cover it up and
pretend to be a trader of jade stones wanting to cross to Thailand for a
day. The ruse worked.

Admirers who have taken care of him since met him at the border. "For eight
years I have lived in fear, like a living dead. Only my eyes were alive and
took in all that was have happening. Now I want to write and live again and
tell the world the story of my country."

(Postscript: Back in Bangkok, Maung Thara is waiting to leave for the
United States soon, were he hopes to be granted asylum.)

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




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