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BurmaNet News: February 6, 2001
- Subject: BurmaNet News: February 6, 2001
- From: strider@xxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 06 Feb 2001 02:46:00
______________ THE BURMANET NEWS ______________
An on-line newspaper covering Burma
February 6, 2001 Issue # 1728
______________ www.burmanet.org _______________
INSIDE BURMA _______
*AP: Curfew imposed in western Myanmar town after religious unrest
*DVB : Rift between army, border committee
*Myanmar Times: Small steps to the Net
*DVB: Myanmar Times reflects views of intelligence agency
*BurmaNet: Myanmar Times and the Internet in Burma
*Irrawaddy: Privileged Delinquents
*The Independent: After decades of isolation, Burma prepares to step
into the unknown
*Mon Forum/Mon News: Forced Labor Still exists in Burma
*Shan Herald Agency for News: Shans bow to CRC
REGIONAL/INTERNATIONAL _______
*Kyodo: Shan woman seeks help for women forced into brothels
*FEER: Leveling the Field [Interview with G. Soros?excerpt]
ECONOMY/BUSINESS _______
*Myanmar Times: FEC Here to stay
*Colorado Daily: Two U. Colorado student protesters booted from 'energy
summit'
OPINION/EDITORIALS_______
*KNU: Speech by KNU President, Saw Ba Thin Sein, on January 31, 2001,
the 52nd Anniversary of Karen Resistance
*The New Light of Myanmar [SPDC]: Deviant fugitives who are trying to
inculcate Myanmars abroad with false belief
__________________ INSIDE BURMA ____________________
AP: Curfew imposed in western Myanmar town after religious unrest
Feb. 6, 2001
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) _ Authorities imposed a dusk-to-dawn curfew in the
northwestern city of Sittwe after unrest between Buddhists and Muslims,
official sources and residents said Tuesday.
The unrest was triggered by a quarrel between some Buddhists and
Muslims at a market and spread around the town, about 600 kilometers
(375 miles) northwest of the capital Yangon, said local residents.
No details of damage or injuries were immediately available. The curfew
from 6:00 p.m. (1130 GMT) to 6:00 a.m. (2330 GMT) was imposed Monday
evening.
''(The curfew) is just a temporary measure. The problem is contained
and the situation is under control,'' said an official, who did not want
his name used.
Sittwe is a port city of more than 300,000 people and the capital of
Myanmar's Rakhine state.
Busshists are a majority in the city. The minority Muslims began
migrating from Bangladesh, which borders Rakhine State, during British
colonial rule in the first half of the last century.
___________________________________________________
DVB : Rift between army, border committee
Text of report by Burmese opposition radio on 2 February
There is a rift between SPDC [State Peace and Development Council]
military battalions stationed at Kawkareik Township in Karen State with
shooting incidents happening frequently. DVB [Democratic Voice of Burma]
correspondent Maung Tu filed this report.
[Maung Tu] On 29 January night two sergeants from LIB [Light Infantry
Battalion] 275 stationed at Kawkareik Township in Karen State had a
squabble. They then started to shoot each other and both died.
At 1900 [local time] on 29 January, Sgt Than Naing and Sgt Tin Shwe from
LIB 275 commanded by Maj Kyaw Tha Win had a quarrel over the transfer of
the battalion to headquarters from the forward areas. They were drinking
when the quarrel took place and then both took out their weapons and
started shooting each other killing them instantly. Two soldiers from
LIB 275 were also seriously wounded and they are now treated at
Kawkareik Township Hospital emergency ward.
According to local residents LIB 275 has been based in Thingannyinaung
for the past two years and they are responsible for regional security,
interrogation, and collecting toll fees. That is why they are treated as
a local battalion and have become very familiar with the area. Recently
Lt-Col Thant Zin, commander of Border Development Supervisory Committee
[BDSC] which was formed by Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt [secretary-1 of the State
Peace and Development Council, SPDC], ordered LIB 275 to return to
headquarters. The soldiers from LIB 275 who were not satisfied with the
order were drinking on the night of 29 January when the incident
happened. Similarly, disgruntled soldiers from LIB 275 fired heavy
artillery at Thingannyinaung satellite town on 28 January night. A
Myawadi resident said the townspeople became terrified and they are
still sleeping inside bomb shelters till today.
On 20 November 2000, Karen State-based Maj Ye Min Htwe, staff officer
grade-2, G-2, and Capt Aung Myo Lwin, staff officer grade-3, G-3, from
2nd Tactical Command under the Southeast Military Command, shot at each
other at Htikoese Village in Kya inn-Seikkyi Township [as received].
They were both killed while one captain and five soldiers were seriously
wounded.
___________________________________________________
Myanmar Times: Small steps to the Net
Feb 5-11, 2001
THE possibility of comprehensive internet access in Myanmar grows
stronger by the day. With the number of local information technology
(IT) companies on the increase and with training schools producing
hordes of computer-literate young people every month, the country today
is far closer to setting sail on the e-wave than it was even 12 months
ago.Dr Aung Maw, technical director of CE Technology.?We have limited
information available to us at the moment, whereas internationally there
is far too much: there is an unbelievable amount of information out
there.?We don?t need all that much, but we can still have a lot more
without having sites that will be in various ways harmful to the
country.?Near-universal access to putting content onto the internet has
meant that much of it is what can best be described as junk ? the chance
to watch a stranger sip coffee and go through her morning ablutions, for
example.
But some is of great value, especially to researchers.?What we need is
for scholars or professionals, such as those in health care to name just
one example, to be able to go on the net and find out the very latest
data that will help them in their work,? said Dr Aung Maw.?Before, such
research material was only available in books: expensive books and
journals we could not easily afford. But now it?s all there, at the
click of a mouse.?IT technology changes so fast, we must be connected to
what?s happening on the world wide web, or else we cannot do much for
any IT expansion here.?Of course, we need an infrastructure of good
digital phone lines (to achieve that).?Dr Aung Maw said it was
technically possible for sites deemed appropriate for mass consumption
to be made available, while those deemed inappropriate by the State
Peace and Development Council (SPDC) could be effectively blocked
out.?It is technically possible to just let through some sites,? he
said.?It would not be an intra-net, it would be the on-line use of the
internet with a firewall blocking sites we do not need.
?We?ll have a server that lets in only the sites we want.?Despite hopes
for future access that is more highly evolved than an intra-net,
however, that is the model on which Bagan Cyber Tech is working with
other IT companies.The intra-net would be aimed at fostering e-commerce
development in Myanmar, enabling the posting of market prices within the
country, and facilitating the conduct of trade at a keystroke. Education
and research material and data bases would also be made available.In a
related development, from December last year Bagan Cyber Tech granted
browsing access to about 60 IT and related companies to enable them to
do better business on relevant websites.
In this way, access by other businesses ? those engaged in tourism,
those needing to check overseas prices of local produce or even sell to
foreign buyers at competitive prices, for example ? will gradually
become available. Tour companies in particular have welcomed the news as
it would enable them to make bookings and check schedules on the net.
Chefs in the hotel industry would be able to check out the latest
cuisine trends and new recipes; gem traders could learn techniques to
improve their quality, designs and presentation; and young Myanmar
people could learn foreign languages without leaving home. Artists and
craftsmen could post their works on the web, for viewing by an
international audience, and post-graduate students would have the
world?s research material at their fingertips. Even with limitations,
the possibilities are vast. A journey of a thousand miles, it is said,
starts with a single step.
___________________________________________________
DVB: Myanmar Times reflects views of intelligence agency
Text of report by Burmese opposition radio on 4 February
A high-ranking Military Intelligence [MI] officer said The Myanmar
Times, published weekly in Yangon [Rangoon], represent the policies of
the Office of Strategic Studies [OSS] led by Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt
[secretary 1 of the State Peace and Development Council, SPDC]. This
week Irrawaddy publication cited a high-ranking OSS officer who recently
told a foreign visitor in Yangon that if they wanted to know the OSS
position they should look at the Myanmar Government's web site
[www.myanmar.com] or read The Myanmar Times. He also said that The New
Light of Myanmar does not reflect the views of the OSS.
The Myanmar Times journal was launched in 1999 with the approval of the
OSS in Yangon. The journal is edited by Australian publication
entrepreneur Ross Dunkley and is financed by Burmese businessman Pyone
Maung Maung. The paper often carries the news about Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt
and his close aides. Recently the journal carried a multi-part interview
with Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt. Although The Myanmar Times journal is without
vitriolic attacks on the democratic opposition, it generally portrays
the SPDC regime in a favourable light. Col Thein Swe, the deputy head of
the OSS, is believed to be the main person behind the publication. The
Irrawaddy journal published by Thailand-based Burmese opposition group
carried this report.
___________________________________________________
BurmaNet: Myanmar Times and the Internet in Burma
February 6, 2001
Today?s issue of BurmaNet carries reports from The Myanmar Times that
the Internet is coming to Burma and from DVB to the effect that The
Myanmar Times reflects the views of the Directorate of Defence Services
Intelligence agency (DDSI). In response to a previous query from
BurmaNet, The Myanmar Times has denied that it is controlled by the
regime, insisting instead that they are a private enterprise. Rangoon
based diplomats contacted by BurmaNet contend however, that The Myanmar
Times is a project of, or is controlled by the Office of Strategic
Studies (OSS), which reports to Lt. Gen. Khin Nyunt. If so, the
operation would be similar to one run in the late 1990s in which the OSS
used a number of private companies registered in Burma to hire lobbyists
in the United States to lobby against U.S. sanctions. That operation
ended when the Washington Post revealed that the private companies were
fronting for the intelligence agency.
The article carried by the The Myanmar Times about the Internet is
consistent with reports BurmaNet has from diplomats and travelers in
Burma. The regime seems to be allowing more access to email but not to
the Internet. Rather, they appear to be constructing an Intranet?that
is a network that is available inside Burma but which is largely
segregated from the ?real? Internet. Email is reportedly available to
tourists at some guest houses. Guest houses and other users who are
allowed to subscribe to email accounts pay $3 per hour for online time
as well as a $60 annual fee to the Myanmar Post and Telecommunications
(MPT) agency which owns Burma?s sole legal Internet service provider.
Unlike email available in most of the rest of the world, the service
offered by the MPT seems to run all ingoing and outgoing email and
Internet traffic through a proxy server. Email is delayed for some
period?probably about a day?while government officials have a chance to
screen it.
In the few places where any form of web access is available, again it
appears to be through a proxy server. The proxy server allows users in
Burma to access certain pre-approved websites but not to browse anywhere
outside the 20 to 30 which are allowed. The authorized sites are
technical in nature (www.microsoft.com for example) but it is unclear
whether they are ?mirror? sites or whether the proxy server allows
direct access to the handful of sites the regime deems to be safe.
Letters to the editor from anyone with more information on this subject
should be directed to strider@xxxxxxxxxxxx
___________________________________________________
Irrawaddy: Privileged Delinquents
January 2001
Burma?s culture of impunity has spread to the next generation, with the
children of generals and their cronies becoming the terrors of the
country?s booming party scene.
by Min Zin
On the smoky, dark dance floor of a disco in the Takashimaya Complex on
Orchard Road in Singapore, Khin Maung Win took a breather as the music
wound down and tried to guess which techno-rap dance track from London
or New York would be played next.
After the customary pre-song banter, the DJ hit the button and pumped up
the volume. The crowd jumped, but Khin Maung Win was stopped in his
tracks. This was Burmese rap music that was driving the crowd of
self-styled "Eastern Americans" wild.
Given the explosion in night entertainment in Burma since the early
1990s it is perhaps not surprising that some of the region's top night
spots are playing Burmese popular music. Throughout the country?s major
cities there is now an endless array of nightspots, such as clubs,
discos and karaoke bars. Even during the daytime, there are "tea
parties" at some of Rangoon's well-known hotels to tempt high school
students to skip their school lessons and private tuition classes and
come dancing. These daytime venues also better meet the schedules of
many Burmese teenagers who are barred from hanging out at night by their
parents.
Such is the growth of pop culture that, according to the Rangoon-based
Living Color business magazine, there has been an "increase in demand
for DJs along with a number of DJ training schools opening up in Burma".
It all suggests that Burma is perhaps the most sophisticated
least-developed country in the world.
The problem is that this change in the lifestyles of Burma's youth has
been matched by a decline in their appreciation of the importance of
education as schools have been repeatedly closed in Burma since 1988.
In the dozen years of current military rule, civilian universities and
colleges have been open for only 40 months," calculates Win Naing, a
former university student activist who fled to Thailand a year ago.
Many young people are now eager to go abroad to make money while those
who can?t afford to get out of the country go to the jade mines in upper
Burma and border towns along the Thai-Burma frontier for jobs that
involve hard manual labor, instead of pursuing university degrees.
"The enthusiasm among the youth to make money is fine. But to make it by
hook or crook is not the habit we should encourage,"says Ludu Daw Ahmar,
a leading Burmese social critic.
The problem is that the "wealthy" role models in Burma predominantly
range from those who made their money from get-rich-quick schemes to
those with shady backgrounds and those with government connections.
Given the money-matters-most atmosphere, many young people are
discouraged from nourishing their altruistic potential?let alone
developing any kind of political sensibility.
The result of this downplaying of the importance of education is that
most of Burma?s young are no longer interested in competing in the
classroom. Rather, they try to outdo each other with ostentatious shows
of wealth?and aggression.
"When you look at those in the privileged circles such as the children
of the generals, the drug lords and their cronies, their initial
juvenile delinquency develops into organized crime activities. Things
are in an uncontrollable situation," says Htein Lin, a tour guide from
Rangoon.
Since 1995, youth gangs have sprouted in increasing number in Burma?s
major cities. The most notorious in Rangoon is called the "Scorpion"
gang
The leading gangster is a Japan returnee. He has a Japanese wife. He is
said to have good connections with Japan's Yakuza Mafia," said a source
in Japan who is a former a friend of this gangster.
Actually, the gang has strong connections to not only the Japanese
underworld but also Taiwanese gangsters, since the children of drug
lords such as Lo Hsing-Han and Peng Kyaw-Shin have studied and been
involved in drug trafficking activities in Taiwan. Based at the 8-mile
junction of Mayanggone Township in Rangoon, the group is also closely
associated with the children of the top generals. The grandsons of Ne
Win, Burma?s long-surviving former dictator, who is still believed to be
influential behind the scenes of power in Rangoon, are also involved in
this gang?s criminal activities.
During the 1999 New Year, the gang killed a student named Thar Lainmar.
"It was clearly masterminded by the grandsons of the old man," says Ye
Lwin, who was a mutual friend of both Thar Lainmar and the grandsons,
and now lives in London. But the offenders got away with what they did.
Aye Ne Win and Kyaw Ne Win even made a phone call to the parents of the
victim after dropping his body off at their doorstep, saying they had
"sent the corpse of your son as a New Year?s gift to you". A small
notice of Thar Lainmar's death announced by the family appeared in the
New Light of Myanmar?s obituary column on Jan 3, 1999.
Also in early 1999, Aye and Kyaw forcibly took three students to the
Nawarat hotel, which is owned by their mother, Sandar Win, the beloved
daughter of Ne Win. The students were tied up and tortured. Their hair
and eyebrows were shaved and they were beaten. Later, the victims lodged
complaints with Secretary One Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt, but no action was taken
against the perpetrators.
In the last week of November 2000 the Scorpions shot dead a young man
and dropped his body off by the side of Inya Lake, sending waves of fear
throughout Rangoon.
Another gang, which dubs itself the "Nazi Gang", has, according to
hearsay, been allowed to emerge to counter the Scorpions. A university
student who visited the gang's office said, "The Nazi Gang has its own
visiting cards. If you want join them, you have to fill out a form. When
the gang accepts you, it will issue you a membership card."
Some policemen from Pazundaung Township are reported to be involved in
this gang?s activities. Nazi gangsters also work as security guards for
stage and fashion shows, for which they receive large amounts of money
The Nazi gangsters do their work as if they have the legal right and
permission since they are well-connected with the cease-fire drug lords
and the generals? children, though these sorts of gangs are not allowed
to register officially in Burma," the university student said.
In Upper Burma, the violent activities of delinquent youths directly
reflect the economic and social domination of some cease-fire groups,
drug lords and local military warlords. Widespread bullying of innocent
people takes place on the streets of Mandalay and Maymyo (Pyin Oo Lwin).
These injustices are committed by those who are children of the
generals, young intelligence officers, tycoons, Chinese migrants holding
Burmese ID cards and the members of the Kokang and Wa ethnic cease-fire
groups holding documents authorized by Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt.
Clashes between rival gangs are frequent and wild.
"What commonly happens in Mandalay is that groups charge at each other
on motorcycles using swords, iron rods and chains,"explains Aye Naing, a
trader who travels between Ruili in China?s Yunnan Province and
Mandalay. During a religious festival in the middle of 1999, five
secondary school students were killed in such motorcycle clashes and
attacks between delinquent gangs.
However, since those who were involved in this incident were sons of
military cronies and narco-tycoons, the regime quickly silenced the
affair.
"Driving cars with the rear number plate removed is not unusual here for
the privileged. When they feel another driver has annoyed them, they cut
the car off, causing it to crash. That is common up and down the
Mandalay-Maymyo road. It?s unbelievable. It all happens here like a
Hollywood action movie," said the editor of a popular journal in
Mandalay.
The abuses are not inflicted solely on Burmans. Innocent ethnic people
also suffer the same unjust treatment from the well connected. The story
of a Kachin ethnic girl who was a second-year student from Myint Kyinar
University in Kachin State is particularly heartbreaking.
"She used to be Miss Myint Kyinar. She was very beautiful and had long
hair. Once she was riding her bicycle, and four guys drove their car
alongside her and tried to harass her. Suddenly, the wind blew her hair
into the rolling wheel of the car. The moving car dragged her down on
the street. She died on the spot," said May Oo, a witness who now lives
in Thailand.
After several failed attempts to lodge a complaint and after suffering
additional abuse from the perpetrators, the victim?s family accepted the
injustice with gritted teeth.
"When you are bullied, the best policy is to stay quiet. Don't think of
any compensation," said a lawyer from Mandalay who asked not to
identified.
"If they still feel annoyed with you, they could bribe the judges to
issue a warrant to arrest you and have you sentenced to a long-term
prison term. They could even arrange to have you killed when you are in
jail. That has happened. Here, money makes everything," said the lawyer.
As result, those in the heartland are growing increasingly hostile
toward Kokang, Wa, and Chinese ethnic groups. Only last year in
Mandalay, there were three serious racial clashes between Burman and
Kokang Chinese.
"The Military Intelligence cleverly uses the intense grudges and
distrust of the heartland Burmans against these ethnic cease-fire groups
as a very powerful card to play against the claims of the opposition and
ethnic minorities to build a future federal union of Burma," comments a
veteran politician in Rangoon.
In Rangoon, the most popular nightclubs do not have Burmese names but
Shan and Chinese and are owned not by Burmans but by Kokang, the Wa
cease-fire groups and their cronies?particularly Chinese migrants.
Despite it all, Burma still seems able to accept these sufferings and
abuses of power with stoic acceptance. The nightspots are crowded as
usual. And the gangsters keep getting their way.
"It is quite scary to hang out around in Rangoon at night. But it is
worth it sometimes when you really want to enjoy the stimulating music
of the Burmese DJs, who I think are of international standard," said
Khin Maung Win, who went back to Rangoon late last year.
___________________________________________________
The Independent: After decades of isolation, Burma prepares to step into
the unknown
In Foreign Parts: A new dawn comes up on the long and deceptive road
past Mandalay
By Calum MacLeod in Rangoon
3 February 2001
As pariah nations go, Burma rather disappoints. My first acquaintance
with North Korea, its fellow outcast, had excited an almost reassuring
terror. Pyongyang delivers George Orwell's 1984 nightmare of
authoritarian madness, a grey and regimented society watched by an
all-knowing, all-seeing Big Brother. Rangoon also boasts massive
monuments to an all-powerful being, but Buddha's shrines are much nicer
than those to Kim Il Sung. From the barefoot monks gathering alms to the
fading grandeur of colonial mansions, the Burmese capital lulls visitors
with the languid charms of South-east Asia.
Given the brutal reputation of its ruling junta, there is a
disconcerting lack of guns and uniforms in the streets. Burmese, clad
almost to a man in traditional longyi sarongs, are keen to engage
foreign travellers and quick to list the achievements from Britain's
many years in charge - roads, railways and schools. But what of today's
regime?
"Government spies are everywhere," whisper my newfound friends, quickly
steering the conversation to safer ground such as the British football
that dominates Saturday night screens. "Did you see our 'Oscars'?" asks
a taxi driver, his tongue loosened by Mandalay rum. The Burmese film
world had just gathered for its annual back-slap. "Every winner thanked
the military." He spits in disgust. "But they don't thank from their
hearts." The lies perfected by Burma's acting profession are repeated
countrywide. Most families harbour bitter grievances, but the choice is
clear - bare your heart and go to jail, or learn to live with the junta.
Than, a tour guide in Rangoon, was reading philosophy when the
government shut all universities in 1996 to teach the students a lesson.
Like his classmates, Than had voted in 1990 for the democratic coalition
of Aung San Suu Kyi, and watched in despair as the regime ignored her
landslide victory. "It has been an illusion since then," he says. "Now
we can't trust anything the government says." The universities
eventually reopened, transplanted to distant suburbs to dampen thoughts
of protest, and Than got his degree. Like many Burmese in the service
sector, Than resents Suu Kyi's high-minded call on foreigners to boycott
her nation until the election results are respected. "We need evolution
not revolution," he says. "The more people who come, the better. We need
foreign investment and foreign technology. We want to swim in the ocean
again."
After decades of selfimposed isolation, the government says it is ready
to take the plunge. "I hope the international community will not force
us into a corner," said the Foreign Minister, U Win, in December. "We
can stay in the corner, but we don't want to." Burma's Asian neighbours
are prepared to embrace their awkward cousin, while the West demands
improvements to its atrocious human rights record.
Hopes have been raised by the generals who run Burma holding secret
talks with Aung San Suu Kyi, the embattled torchbearer for democracy,
confined to her house or city limits since 1990. A European delegation
met her this week, after the visit in January of a UN envoy. Like
Tibet's Dalai Lama, a fellow Nobel Peace Laureate, she remains a potent
symbol of an oppressed people, yet "The Lady" is hardly the regime's
only concern. Bernard Pe-Win, a British businessman born in Burma,
says: "The only way to change the situation in this country is by
engaging it." His Forum club in Rangoon is a talking-shop for the city's
small expatriate community. "The military government is not as good as
we would want them to be, but they are a far cry from how they have been
painted." He says the West has little leverage to bring down the
military government, because resource-rich Burma can feed itself, and
most other essentials slip across the 1,362-mile border with China.
Some observers believe the international focus on Ms Suu Kyi serves the
government's aims, by denying support and negotiating space to Burma's
restless minority groups, victims of the worst human rights abuses. A
British oil executive in Rangoon says: "This place could be like the
Balkans." Burma's borderlands are home to rebel insurgents, drug
traffickers and a confusion of ethnic and religious agendas. "I take
trouble to hire Buddhists, Christians, Muslims and animists, and they
work well together. But left to themselves, they would just hire their
own kind. The 'do-gooders' call for democracy, but where will they be
when the trouble starts??
___________________________________________________
Mon Forum/Mon News: Forced Labor Still exists in Burma
Conscription of Forced Labour by LIB No. 299
After Order Halting This Practices by SPDC
With dated October 27, 2000, although SPDC's Ministry of Interior (MOI)
officially issued an order of stopping the practices of all types of
conscription of forced labour to its township, village tract and village
levels administration and military battalions, LIB No. 299, which bases
in southern part of Ye Township, still conscripted or requested civilian
porters from villages in southern part of Ye Township, Mon State, in
early December. These civilian porters were requested by that
battalion when they required to operate a military operations and
planned to deploy base in Three Pagoda Pass town, a border town with
Thailand.
On December 1 and 2, before LIB No. 299 left to the border town,
battalion commander, Col. Aye Tun ordered the village headmen from 11
Mon villages in Ye southern part area to send some numbers of villagers
for battalion to use them as porters. Depending on the sizes,
population and household number in the village, he ordered to send 5
villagers from Koe-mile, 6 villagers from Kalort-gyi, 8 villagers from
Hangan, 2 villagers from Ba-round, 4 villagers from Kaw-hlaing, 3
villagers from Singu, 3 villagers from Toe-tet, 4 villagers from
Ying-ye, 4 villagers from Yin-dein, 4 villagers from Kabya and 8
villagers from Kapyar villages respectively. The commander also
requested 100, 000 Kyat from these villages for expenses for foods to
feed these porters during their military operation to border town with
Thailand. The deadline to send these all porters was on December 3.
After the battalion gathered the required total 43 civilian porters and
porter fee, they started moving to border town on December from Ye town.
>From Ye town, to reach to Thanbyuzayat town, the battalion took by
trucks and from that Thanbyuzayat to border town of Three Pagoda Pass
town, the soldiers had to walk to avoid from the ambush attacks of
KNU/KNLA troops and so, the civilians had to carry ammunitions and food
supplies along over 60-mile-long Three Pagoda Pass - Thanbyuzayat motor
road. They had lasted about 3 days to reach to Three Pagoda Pass town
and LIB No. 299 troops were also attacked by KNU/KNLA's Karen troops two
times along their way. But no porter was killed, while some soldiers
injured.
After 3 days along the road, LIB No. 299 reached to Three Pagoda Pass
town and changed position with LIB No. 343, and transfer all porters to
LIB No. 343, which needed to return to Ye township again. In
principle, SPDC does not deploy a permanent battalion in Three Pagoda
Pass town and send about two columns of troops from a battalion from
regular battalions in Mon State and Karen State to take base in that
town for three months. On a quarterly basis, SPDC's Southeast Command,
which bases in Moulmein, the capital of Mon State, has responsibility to
send and change troops for three months deployment in this town.
When LIB No. 343 returned to Ye township, 43 porters were transferred
and they were forced to carry ammunitions and food supplies for LIB No.
343 again and it lasted about 3 days to reach to battalion base in
northern part of Ye township. Thus, these porters were used for two
battalions, they were taken for over one week for their homes and the
battalions never provided them with any payment.
Regarding for the arrest of porters, NMSP also sent a complaint letter
to concerned strategic commander in IB No. 61 battalion and pointed out
the issued order from MOI dated October 27, and send a copy to Southern
Command. However, Southeast Command did not reply to NMSP for their
subordinated battalions' wrong-doings.
Conscription of Forced Labour in Karen State
Similarly to some situation in Mon State that some military battalions
have conscripted of forced labour or arrest of civilian porters to use
them in military offensives after SPDC's MOI issued order dated on
October 27, some army battalions in Karen State such as IB No. 81, LIB
No. 545, LIB No. 546, IB No. 32 have also forced local villagers to
contribute unpaid labour in battalions' rice-farms and other works.
In the period from the second week of December until the end of that
month, two military battalions, LIB No. 545, No. 546 and a Military
Intelligence Unit. 25, which base in Kawkareik township have forced the
villagers from Kyone-done and Kawbeik village tracts to contribute free
labour in their own 300 acres of farmlands for the work of harvesting
paddy crops. Army commanders have asked 40 villagers every day from
Kanni, Kaw-lyan, Thayet-taw, Tadar-oo, Kaw-kyaik, Kaw-khaik and others
to contribute labour in reaping ripe paddy plants for the whole day.
When army forced the villagers to contribute labour for harvesting, the
commanders also instructed villagers to bring their own foods and tools.
After SLORC/SPDC instructed its army commands and local battalions to
implement "self-help" plan, most battalions confiscated lands and forced
the villagers in all processes of farming. Additionally, some
battalions that confiscated lands close to rivers also have grown two
seasons crops including dry season crop and unceasingly force the local
villagers for farming.
As an instance, from second week to third week if November, a military
battalion based in Pa-an township of Karen State, IB No. 81 has forced
the villagers from villages nearby to prepare lands and grow dry season
crops, soon after harvesting rainy season crops. The battalion asked
60 villagers everyday from Than-hlae, Khaya, Kawlamu and Kawzin villages
to work in its 50 acres of land. The villagers had to plough lands,
bring water to lands and grow paddy plants. The battalion this 60
number of villagers for 9 days and later it used small number of
villagers to fill water in farm plots and provide fertilizers in there.
Besides the conscription of villagers, the battalion also collected
fund from the villages nearby for expense used for gasoline for water
pumping engines and to buy fertilizer. So, the villagers had to
provide for battalion from 20, 000 to 50, 000 Kyat per village.
Similarly, to seek battalion fund, IB No. 32 that bases in Kya Inn
Seikyi township, also established a brick-making factory near its base.
In making earth bricks, the battalion needs a lot of woods to burn them
until it becomes hard. To get many tons of woods to burn earth to get
hard bricks, the army battalions have also forced the villagers near Kya
Inn Seikyi town to find woods in forests and give them. According to
order in early December, the battalion instructed the village headmen
that to provide 5 tons woods from Shwe-la-inn village, 5 tons wood from
Kyauk-pone village and 20 ton from Htee-paukho village respectively.
Then the battalion instructed them that to bring all woods to a
designated place on Zami riverbank. The battalions ordered boats from
the villages nearby to carry many tons of woods along Zami river to
their factory. Before this conscription of forced labour was done, IB
No. 32 also forced many villages from these villagers for harvesting in
its 100 acres of rice farms. Although SPDC officially ordered all its
battalions and army commands to stop all practices of using forced
labour in rural area, Burmese Army's battalions in remote areas of
ethnic areas still have conscripted forced labour like the previous
situation.
___________________________________________________
Shan Herald Agency for News: Shans bow to CRC
4 February 2001
A 3-day people's seminar that ended yesterday (3 February) resolved,
among others, to change the draft age in accordance with the
international convention on children's rights.
The 2nd seminar of the Shan State people held at Loi Taileng, the
headquarters of the Restoration Council of Shan State and Shan State
Army, opposite Pang Mapha District, Maehongson Province, and attended
by 150 representatives from southern and eastern Shan State and 20
officials from the RCSS/SSA unanimously passed the resolution that the
draft age would henceforth be 18-45 in place of 16-40 as practiced
earlier.
"It is to demonstrate to the people of the world that the people of Shan
State defer to their wishes", said Sai Aung Mart, Vice President of the
RCSS, referring to the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) that
was ratified by the United Nations in November 1989.
According to the Convention, a child means every human being below the
age of 18. State parties are required to refrain from recruiting any
person under 18 into their armed forces.
Burma is a signatory to the Convention but its myriad armies, especially
the Tatmadaw of the ruling State Peace and Development Council, have
been charged by human rights activists as violating the CRC's Article
38 with regards to child soldiers.
Sai Aung Mart said he welcomed international observers to visit the Shan
State to verify the results of the resolution.
Loi Taileng contains 110-boys under 18 under the Army's care who live in
barracks and go to the public school in the camp. One of the officers
told S.H.A.N. they would be kept there until they attain the age of 18.
The first seminar was held on 21-23 February last year.
___________________ REGIONAL/INTERNATIONAL___________________
Kyodo: Shan woman seeks help for women forced into brothels
February 3, 2001, Saturday
MAE HONG SON, Thailand, Feb. 3 Kyodo
A Shan woman from Myanmar said Saturday she was deceived into
prostitution in Bangkok for 18 months and is now seeking help from Thai
authorities to free other victims.
Thun Ne, 18, from Myanmar's Shan State, managed to escape from a Bangkok
brothel on Monday by deceiving the owner before taking a bus to the
border province Mae Hong Son more than 900 kilometers north of the
capital.
There are other 50 women, mostly non-Thais, at the brothel, which is
hidden by a coconut trading shop, she said.
The woman fled from Myanmar's internal conflict nearly two years ago to
seek work in Mae Hong Son. She met an agent there who told her about a
maid's position in Bangkok paying 2,000 baht ($46.50) a month.
But she was raped when she arrived in the capital and forced to work as
a prostitute, without ever getting promised payments 36,000 baht minus
5,700 baht in commission to the agent who sent her to the city.
The woman said she wants Thai police to raid the brothel to free other
women and to guarantee her own safety due to threats from the agent.
More than 300,000 Shan people have fled from conflict between Myanmar's
ruling junta and rebellious minorities to seek a better life in
Thailand.
___________________________________________________
FEER: Levelling the Field [Interview with G. Soros?excerpt]
Far Eastern Economic Review
Issue cover-dated February 8, 2001
Are you more optimistic about Burma now?
I am very hopeful that there will be an opening. And I hope that I can
open an Open Society Foundation in Burma, which I will do as soon as
there is a political agreement with Aung San Suu Kyi [the opposition
leader]. I think there is an opening but one should not weaken the
political and economic pressure until an agreement is reached because
there has been a number of false starts. I think support [for her cause]
has to be maintained until we are sure that it is not a false start,
that in fact, there is an agreement.
Have you tried to go to Rangoon?
I have offered to go there if I can meet with Aung San Suu Kyi,
preferably together with the generals.
You haven?t got any response?
Not yet.
Maybe when you are in Bangkok?
I think it?s a little too soon. But I am eager to see the sanctions
lifted and positive interaction. But one can?t do it until there is an
agreement between Aung San Suu Kyi and the government.
Are you in touch with her?
Only indirectly.
___________________________________________________
_______________ ECONOMY AND BUSINESS _______________
Myanmar Times: FEC Here to stay
Feb 5-11, 2001
A HIGH ranking Government bank official has denied rumours of plans for
Myanmar?s FEC currency to be scrapped.U Than Lwin, Deputy Governor of
the Central Bank of Myanmar and Controller of Foreign Exchange, told
Myanmar Times: ?The rumours to the effect that FECs would be withdrawn
are purely unfounded and we have no plans to stop them from
circulation.??FECs are fully backed by the Central Bank against the
acquisition of US dollars, and even if they were to be withdrawn, the
bank would hand out the greenback equivalent,? he said.He said reports
that the FEC currency would be bought out with US dollars by a
benefactor nation were also false.The Central Bank introduced Foreign
Exchange Certificates in 1993 for circulation in place of US dollars,
the use of which is legally restricted to specific sections of the
population: only those who earn foreign exchange through lawful means
can handle the hard currency.
An FEC has an official value equal to that of the corresponding US
dollar bill and, until a few months ago, there had been little
difference in the two currencies? respective kyat values. Since late
last year, however, FEC has been worth between 20 and 35 per cent less
than the greenback in kyat exchange rates.U Than Lwin said the
misunderstanding about the future of the FEC currency might have been
caused, in the first place, by a Ministry of Trade announcement on its
tax collection system at border trade check points, and then spread by
parties with personal profit-seeking motives. Currency speculation has
been rife in the capital since the start of the FEC?s kyat exchange rate
late last year.The Ministry of Trade issued an announcement in November
that, at border trade check points, local currencies of both countries,
plus US dollars, would be accepted for tax payments.Initially, not fully
understanding the new rules, officers at some border check points were
reluctant to accept the FECs, U Than Lwin said, from which point rumours
about the imminent withdrawal of FECs might have spread. But U Than Lwin
said he was confident that the discrepancy between the FEC and US dollar
values was narrowing. The government would not take any intervention
measures in an effort to close the gap, but would let the market correct
itself, he said.
Following the 1997 Asian financial crisis, the Myanmar Government
imposed limits on the value of monthly foreign exchange (FE) spending by
local companies in a bid to discourage the import of luxury items,
promote the establishment of import-substitute industries, and bolster
FE reserves.Currently, the maximum allowable monthly FE spending is
US$10,000.Canned sardine was designated a luxury item and one Thai
sardine company, which used to enjoy a large market share here before
the import restrictions came into effect, had since established a
subsidiary company manufacturing the product in Myanmar. But the
restriction does not apply to international hotels or airline
companies.?As long as these firms provide properly audited accounts,
have sufficient balance in the bank and have paid their income tax,
there will be no restriction on their remittance,? U Than Lwin said.
Asked about the possibility of the import rules being relaxed, he said:
?That could be, when the country?s foreign exchange reserve position
becomes more favourable.?The discovery of a new natural gas reserve and
an increase in the value of exports from the private sector would be
very helpful,? he said.
___________________________________________________
Colorado Daily: Two U. Colorado student protesters booted from 'energy
summit'
By Terje Langeland, Colorado Daily
February 5, 2001
Boulder, Colo.
In a low-profile event that might barely have drawn public attention
were it not for two Boulder activists, a large number of oil-industry
executives gathered in Vail last week for an "energy summit" sponsored
by the investment firm Credit Suisse/First Boston.
Two University of Colorado student activists, Jamie Springer and
Harrison Fox, were booted from the summit, held at the Vail Marriott
Mountain Resort.
The two were there to protest the activities of several major oil
companies, including Unocal, a California corporation that has come
under fire from human-rights groups for its ties to the military
dictatorship of Burma.
Other oil-industry giants represented at the summit included Texaco,
Conoco, BP-Amoco, Phillips and Enron.
Fox, in an e-mail message to the Colorado Daily, said he and Springer
had registered for the event via Credit Suisse's Web site and came
"armed only with four-page packets of info," but were "quickly dealt
with" by hotel security and local police.
Fox and Springer attempted to hand out the information about oil
companies' records to investors, who had been invited to the gathering
for lectures, dinners, skiing and one-on-one meetings with oil
executives.
While Fox and Springer said they had registered for the event online,
they were told there was no record of their registration, Fox said. The
two then asked to use telephones and bathrooms at the hotel, but a male
security guard subsequently entered the women's bathroom to retrieve
Springer, and the two activists were surrounded by police, according to
Michael Bauer, a fellow CU activist.
"Subjected to unwanted photographing, questioning, and harassments, the
pair were quickly escorted off of 'Marriott private property' and told
they could never return," Fox's e-mail stated. "They were handed a list
of ways that determine how one can or cannot 'express yourself' while in
Vail by plain-clothed officer Mike Warren of the Vail police. Mike
Warren then informed the two that even the sidewalk was private property
of Marriott and that they should 'try not to freeze to death.'"
Warren did not immediately respond to a phone call seeking comment
Friday.
A woman representing Credit Suisse, reached by phone at the Marriott,
refused to discuss the incident.
"We have no comment," she said.
Asked what the purpose of the summit was, she said, "It's just bringing
energy companies and investors together, basically, to (let) investors
learn more about the companies and what their plans for the future are,
OK?"
Asked to give her name, the woman hung up the phone.
Bauer, in a news release, singled out Unocal as one of the "clear
corporate offender(s)" at the summit.
Unocal is involved in a joint pipeline-building venture with the Burmese
military junta, which has been condemned for its human-rights violations
by the United Nations, the U.S. Congress, the U.S. State Department, the
European Parliament, the AFL-CIO and Amnesty International.
In addition to helping bankroll the Burmese regime, critics allege the
pipeline, known as Yadana, is being built with forced labor and will cut
through sensitive rain forests and wetlands.
Burmese dissident groups have filed lawsuits against Unocal over the
project, and organizations including the Free Burma Coalition and
Amnesty International have launched campaigns against the company.
Unocal, however, defends its involvement, saying it believes
"engagement" is a better tool for effecting change in Burma than
isolation.
"Unocal does not defend the actions and policies of the government of
Myanmar," states the company's Web site, referring to the country by the
name preferred by the military government. "We do defend our reputation
and the integrity of the Yadana project. Our hope is that Myanmar will
develop a vital, democratic society built on a strong economy. The
Yadana project, which has brought significant benefits in health care,
education, and economic opportunity to more than 40,000 people living in
the pipeline area, is a step in the right direction."
_______________OPINION/EDITORIALS_______________
KNU: Speech by KNU President, Saw Ba Thin Sein, on January 31, 2001, the
52nd Anniversary of Karen Resistance
[Abridged]
[Posted to soc.culture.burma newsgroup by Benjamin Dunn
<sawdunn@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> on February 6, 2001]
OFFICE OF THE SUPREME HEADQUARTERS
KAREN NATIONAL UNION
KAWTHOOLEI
Today is the 52nd Anniversary of Karen Resistance. In the 52 years of
resistance, the Karen people have struggled relentlessly with
determination and self-sacrifice, against terrifying onslaught by the
enemy, for the right of self-determination. Firstly, I would like to
affirm that I have great respect and praise for leaders of the Karen
resistance, the people and the comrades, and I am proud of them.
One other matter I would like to touch upon is about the Karen youth. We
frequently hear people say that young people are future leaders, and it
is true. However, how can youths become leaders of their people without
a country? However much he or she may be well educated, if there is no
country, he or she will not be able to serve his or her people. For that
reason, a country for the Karen, with self-determination, is an
essential requirement. I would like to urge every Karen youth to
struggle for the emergence of a Karen country with self-determination,
in all possible ways, with a high sense duty.
The plight of the Karen people today is tragic and very uncertain. They
have to bear forced labor like slaves, all kinds of abuses,
extra-judicial execution and torture. They have been subjected to forced
relocation away from their traditional lands. Their harvests, fields,
farms, plantations and orchards are subjected to destruction. They have
become people without land and without stability. They are facing a
great difficulty in even to sustain their very existence and survival.
Accordingly, it is important for the Karen people to have a country with
self-determination, in order to have stability and prosper as a people
like the others.
This age is the age of democracy. As the Karen people also like
democracy and want to have it, we must strive for a Karen country with
democracy as its base. For the emergence of such a Karen country, we
must always try to receive the sympathy and support of the ethnic
forces, democratic forces at home and of the world. We must carry on the
struggle in unity with the ethnic and democratic forces.
Some say that the demand of the Karen people and the KNU for the
establishment of a federal union would disintegrate the larger unit or
that it is based subjective motive and unfair. It is the view of the KNU
that there is a number of federal states in the world and that the
system is practiced especially in the case where a country has a sizable
number of different nationalities.
Since federal system accepts equality, democracy and self-determination,
it is the most suitable system for our situation and a formula for unity
in diversity. The areas of the nationalities of Burma today are not a
thing of recent occurrence. They had existed before the colonial period
and during the colonial period. A federal union uniting these areas of
the nationalities, on the basis of equality, would be in greatest
consonance with the interest of all the nationalities and it is a system
that would engender national unity. For that reason, I would like to
urge every Karen to do their utmost for the emergence of a genuine
federal union.
___________________________________________________
The New Light of Myanmar [SPDC]: Deviant fugitives who are trying to
inculcate Myanmars abroad with false belief
Sunday, 21 January, 2001
Maung Myo Chit (or Mr. Patriot)
Since the arrival of Shin Arahan, the true Buddhism has flourished in
the City State of Bagan. Afterwards, thousands of pagodas and other
religious edifices were built by the Buddhists of Bagan. Before the
advent of true Buddhism in the region, Bagan was dominated by the
deviant sect of the Arigyis (Deviants). The people of Bagan thinking
that the deviant sect was a true religion became its followers. The
Arigyis while pretending to propagate the true Sasana enjoyed the
sensual pleasures of the secular world. They not only tried to
inculcate the people with false belief but also denied their access to
education and knowledge. Similarly, as Myanmars living abroad are
struggling for their food, clothing and shelter needs, they are hungry
for good literature and knowledge, and a very few of them have the
opportunity to acquire them. Thanks to the government, they had been
able to pursue even the higher education through the University of
Distance Education while living in Myanmar.
Thus, they who held university degrees were imbued with knowledge. The
students in Myanmar are able to acquire knowledge as the State has laid
down the international level curricula in the basic education sector to
enable them to keep abreast of the advances. Despite developing
environment abroad, only a few number of Myanmars living there have the
opportunity to acquire education and knowledge due to various
constraints such as having to work very hard at every hour or having not
enough time to pursue education; and although there is a large number
of institutions, very few Myanmars have the opportunity to get access to
education and knowledge in foreign countries due to the high cost of
education, the education system, in which, the students have to study on
their own, without getting much help from the teacher, and the language
barrier. There are many who lack knowledge so much that they even do not
know what's happening in the country they live in. Thus, Myanmars
abroad are desirous of listening to radio programmes or reading
periodicals broadcast or published by Myanmar communities abroad in
order to get information and knowledge.
Apart from those who think too highly of foreigners and who said that
they didn't want to listen to or watch Myanmar language radio
programmes, but that they only wanted to listen to English language
programmes, all Myanmars wish to listen to Myanmar radio programmes to
enjoy Myanmar traditions and culture, songs or gain knowledge. Here, the
difficulty that Myanmars living abroad are facing is that the Myanmar
programmes of foreign radio stations and publications of Myanmar
language books are dominated and manipulated by fugitive politicians.
These fugitives did not set up Myanmar radio programmes with their own
money to benefit Myanmar people, but to mislead the Myanmar people,
saying that they are going to serve latter's interest, while putting
foreign aid into their pockets.
They set up Myanmar radio programmes for show just to get regular
provisions. They then inculcate the people with false statements through
radio and periodicals till the people became suffocated with them. They
are brazenly using abusive language which is against the Myanmar
traditions and culture. Though the parents of Myanmars abroad wanted
their children to read Myanmar periodicals and to listen to Myanmar
radio programmes in the past in order that the latter may not disregard
and disrespect Myanmar traditions and culture and Myanmar language, now
they do not encourage their children to do so as they are worried that
their offspring's may get the rough and barbarous habits, because these
mass media are dominated by the writings and talks of the fugitive
politicians.
Thus, fugitive politicians have become traitorous race-destructionists,
who are making perpetrations to cause disunity among the national
people in the Union and to cause suspicion between the Tatmadaw, which
is playing a leading role in bringing peace, stability and development
to the nation, and the people; more-over, as they are trying to put
overseas Myanmars under their evil spell, they must be given a new name
" Deviant Fugitives " in addition to their existing titles such as "
Betrayers ", " Traitors" , " Maggots" and " Foreign-Relying
Pessimists". These Deviant Fugitives pay attention only to their extreme
devotion to individuality or group. Of the manuscripts sent to them,
they always reject the works that will really give education and
knowledge to the people. They have no proper job and never try to find
a job to earn money; and they never pursue education. They are tipplers
who are exploiting each other among themselves, pretending as if they
were serving the people's interest in trying to get aids form various
foreign governments and extorting money from those who want fake visas
to gain refugee status abroad.
The foreign politicians who they are relying, began to feel loathsome
for the Deviant Fugitives as they always cause crazy troubles in front
of the Myanmar Embassy every time they haven't got as much as they want.
Thus, the foreign politicians began to stop providing them assistance
regularly. The doctrines of the Deviant Fugitives are the ones that
never really contribute to benefiting the people, national solidarity,
non-disintegration of the Union and emergence of a modern and developed
nation. They are immoral doctrines of the colonialist stooges who are
overwhelmed by self-interest. As the people of Bagan had driven away the
Arigyis (Deviants) from the City State for the emergence and
propagation of the true Sasana, the time has arrived to ostracize the
Deviant Fugitives who are trying to inculcate Myanmars abroad with false
belief and denying their access to education and knowledge.
________________
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