KAO WAO NEWS No. 39

 

An electronic newsletter for social justice and freedom in Burma

 

No. 39, February 26 - March 15, 2003

 

READER’S FRONT

ARMY BANS SELLING OF PRODUCTS

POLICE STAB MEMBERS OF NATIONAL DAY COMMITTEE

DRUNKEN MAJOR BEATS LOCAL

USDA TRAIN VILLAGERS TO LIE TO INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTIONS

RANGOON PLANS TRADE EXPANSION

REGIME FAILS TO LOBBY THE UNITED STATES

THE TRADITIONAL KOWTOW: BY KANBAWZA WIN

SEXUAL VIOLENCE VOICED BY WOMEN GROUP

ONE MAN, ONE FLAG: PRESIDENT OF NEW MON STATE PARTY DIES

CANADIAN URGED FOR SUPPORT

 

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

 

READER’S FRONT

 

Dear Readers,

We invite comments and suggestions on improvements to Kao-Wao newsletter. With your help, we hope that Kao-Wao News will continue to grow to serve better the needs of those seeking social justice in Burma and Thailand. And we hope that it will become an important forum for discussion and debate and help readers to keep abreast of issues and news. Above all, we hope the newsletter will be used as a vehicle for those who want to share their views and experiences.  We reserve the right to edit and reject articles without prior notification. You can use a pseudonym but we encourage you to include your full name and address.

 

Regards,

Editor

kaowao@hotmail.com

http://www.burmalibrary.org/show.php?cat=1215&lo=d&sl=0

 

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

 

Mon State at war

 

ARMY BANS SELLING OF PRODUCTS IN VILLAGES

(Kao-Wao, Ye, March 1, 03)

 

The Burmese Army is using local civilians for portering in its operations against Mon guerrillas in Southern Mon State while enforcing a ban on the sale of batteries and medicine at local shops.

 

The Burmese Army LIB No. 273 ordered village headmen in northern Ye Phyu Township to provide people from their villages to carry ammunition and equipment in a military operation against Mon rebels, an escaped porter said last week.

 

The man from Lok Zaing Village who just returned from portering said three persons from each Htan JaNu, Kreik KaDin, Lok Zaing, Rot Ta Mah and Dide Tu villages were forced at gunpoint to carry heavy equipment for the Burmese soldiers.

 

“Major Kyaw Soe arrested us and ordered us to porter.  We do not have enough food and sleep, and they don’t give us mosquito nets either,” said the porter who asked not to be identified for security reasons.

 

The LIB No. 273 severely punishes porters who try to escape by beating them with a gun or fined 10,000.00 Kyat (Burmese currency) for punishment.

 

The Burmese army recently arrested men, women, and Buddhist monks as well as children for portering in southern Ye in their military operation against the Mon in the area.

 

According to local villagers, the army is also banning local people from buying medicines and batteries so as to cut off products from the rebel groups.  Traders and shopkeepers will be severely punished and fined if they sell their products. Consequently, people who are sick are unable to buy medicines due to the ban on the selling of products in the rural areas.

 

Villagers are unable to listen to news from the radio broadcast because they cannot buy the batteries, another local source said.

 

Local farmers are required to ask for permission to enter their own farms. 

The army has villagers buy a pass-ticket for Kyat 100.00 per each trip. 

Another local Burmese army LIB 282 issued an order instructing local farmers to take only two kilos of rice to their farms and banning them from sleeping over night on the farm.  No one is allowed to fish in the late evening. If found they will be labeled as supporting the rebels and will be dealt with severely.

 

Nai Ba who just arrived to the border area said many villagers have now left homes in an attempt to find employment, as they could not live and work safely in the their villages.  The Burmese army defined their area as the black area (free-fire zone) which is opposed by some Mon armed groups who are seeking to control part of it.

 

The Burmese army is searching for the Mon guerrillas led by Nai Bin and Nai Hlong, an armed group which split from the Mon National Liberation Army of the New Mon State Party after the cease-fire agreement.  After the cease-fire with the regime in 1995, some fighters left the party to fight against the Burmese army in southern Mon State of Burma.

 

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

 

POLICE STABS MEMBER OF NATIONAL DAY COMMITTEE

(Kao-Wao, February 25, 2003)

 

Three policemen stabbed organizers of the Mon National Day Celebration Committee in the late evening after a ceremony held in Karen State.

 

The Burmese policemen after the Mon National Day Celebration attacked and injured Nai A-Ron and Nai Min Naung on February 17, which took place at EinDu village, Pha Ann Township in Karen State.

 

The event management group charged the policemen for wrongdoing.  During the clash, an unknown person fired a gun and hit a policeman, Soe Min Aung, suffered a stomach injury from the bullet.

 

“The dispute began when the police insulted at the event saying that they didn’t want to watch a Mon National dance because they didn’t understand it,” said a witness.  The policemen argued with the organizers and a fight broke out, he added.

 

The pro Rangoon, Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) sponsored a Drama Show for the event at EinDu village where Mon people live in Karen State

The DKBA Battalion No. 999 was responsible for security during the event as well as funding some money for the celebration.

 

The security officer, soldiers from DKBA, denied the accusation that they opened fire into the crowd as the policemen had claimed.

 

Policemen Soe Ming Aung and his team held an emergency meeting with members of Mon National Day Celebration Committee led by Nai Bee Yar soon after the clash.  Nai Bee Yar said, “it happened after those policemen abused our Mon Nationality”, a local source said.  The two injured men and policeman were brought to the hospital for treatment but only the policeman remains in the hospital.

 

Mon National Day is widely celebrated in the Mon communities to foster the Mon national spirit and commemorate the founding of the last Mon Kingdom over a thousand years ago in lower Burma.

 

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

 

DRUNKEN MAJOR BEATS LOCALS

 

Ye, February 28 -- According to an eyewitness account, a drunken officer from the LIB No. 586 beat two innocent men and arrested them.

 

The detained men are to be released only if they agree to pay the Burmese Army officer Kyat 10,000 and hand over three kilos of chicken to him, a villager from Krong Pah said.

 

The two local men were returning from Jam Sai village in the early evening and had to bypass the Burmese army location on their way home.  The drunken soldiers stopped them and beat them for traveling late in the evening and were detained for 24 hours in the army camp.

 

“I am Major Thaung Htike, I don’t care about any of you!” the drunken officer shouted at villagers of Krong PahKyaw Kyaw, a villager said, “when he’s drunk, he gets out of control, since arriving he harasses and causes trouble for everyone”.

 

Local villagers appealed to the Commander of the Burmese Army for his wrong doing in the area but no legal action has been taken, local villagers complained.

 

Local Mon villagers have suffered bitterly, especially in their social life after the Burmese army built a camp in the village a few years ago, said a social worker from the village.

 

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

 

USDA TRAIN VILLAGERS TO LIE TO INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTIONS

(Based on IMNA report)

 

Mudon, February 27 -- The Burmese authorities have started conducting training courses in Mon State on how to answer and deceive an investigative team sent in by the international institutions.

 

A training course took place at Yong-Dong village in Mudon Township on February 16, organized by the Township Peace and Development Council (TPDC).  The trainees are taught on how to direct an international team during its investigation into rural areas so as to steer them away from incriminating evidence which could tarnish Myanmar’s image to the international community, a local source said.

 

Over a hundred members of United Solidarity and Development Association (USDA) attended the course run by military officials in uniform. The course contains communication methods on how to interact with members of Amnesty International and other INGOs.

 

Officials from the Women Affairs Committee from MuDon Township lectured young members not to tell the truth about forced labor and human rights abuses that have occurred in their areas, said Min Win, a trainee from the village.

 

“We are told not to tell the truth about forced labor to international organizations”, he added.  “It’s a course on how to lie to people who ask questions.”

 

The officials forced young boys and girls to attend the training course despite the will of local Mon people.  Mi Yin Mon, a teenage girl said “I was so disgusted with the training which instructs us  not to tell the truth about the abuses that we have suffered for years.”

 

The political wing of the State Peace and Development Council, USDA, is also known for its counter attack against democratic leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy and agitating discontent to discriminate and commit violence against ethnic and religious groups.

 

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

 

RANGOON PLANS TRADE EXPANSION

(Cited from Kaladan News, March 6, 2003)

 

The Bangladesh and Burma governments will set up a joint trade commission during PM Khaleda Zia’s visit to Rangoon on March 19th. A foreign ministerial joint commission will also be set up to oversee bilateral relations, according to the Daily Star report.

 

The two neighbours will discuss ways to introduce accounts trade and coastal shipping links to boost trade, the foreign ministry sources said. The two neighbours, Burma and Bangladesh will change the existing border trade agreement signed in 1994 to prohibit trading of third-country products, Commerce ministry sources said. Manufactured goods will require at least 30 per cent value addition to be traded.

 

The account trade arrangement would initiate two-way transactions of goods without the need for cash payment, the Daily Star reported. The proposed joint trade commissions to be headed by the commerce ministers of the two countries will be regularly reviewed and identify products for exchanges. The commission will also identify and resolve trade problems, the newspaper said. Under the coastal shipping deal, Chittagong, Cox’s Bazar and Teknaf will be linked to the Burma ports of Rangoon, Akyab and Maungdaw, the newspaper reported. In 2000-2001, the trade volume between two countries left a trade gap of $ 23.33 million against Bangladesh. But 2001-2002, the trade volume came dawn to around $19 million with the trade imbalance still against Bangladesh $4.5 million, official sources said.

 

It was not known whether any agreement on the repatriation of the Rohingya refugees would be signed. Burma assured that the refugees would be taken back after identity verification, Foreign office sources said.

 

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

 

REGIME FAILS TO LOBBY THE UNITED STATES

(Kao-Wao, March 8, 2003)

 

According to sources from Washington D.C, the Burmese military regime failed last year to improve its ties with the United States and get "certified" for its anti-narcotics programs, but it wasn't for lack of a solid effort by its lobbyists, DCI Associates.

 

DCI's filings with the Justice Department offers an unusual glimpse into the efforts by the Rangoon junta. DCI lobbyists, featuring Charles Francis, a longtime family friend of the Bushes, ran a sophisticated campaign to improve the regime's image and steer the conversation away from its rampant human rights abuses and such.

 

Francis, a prominent Republican, even set up two meetings with White House National Security Council Southeast Asia director Karen B. Brooks -- an unusual feat given that Burma is under U.S. sanctions and its top officials are barred from coming here -- to tout Burma's cooperation on anti-drug, HIV/AIDs and anti-terrorism efforts and in finding the remains of U.S. soldiers from World War II.

 

Francis, along with Barry M. Broman, a retired U.S. government employee who was stationed in Rangoon, lobbied lawmakers and staff on the Hill, including Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) and Rep. Jim Kolbe (R-Ariz.), as well as Defense Department officials and think-tankers such as former U.N. ambassador Jeane J. Kirkpatrick.

 

The campaign was on the verge of success, the State Department was about to certify the regime, but the administration backed off amid pressure from the Hill, human rights groups and the media.

 

DCI's work for Burma, which was to last a year, ended shortly after the debacle. According to the source, the Burmese regime, who paid DCI $340,000 for eight months of work, are looking for another lobby firm.

 

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

 

Opinion

 

THE TRADITIONAL KOWTOW: KANBAWZA WIN

 

‘Kowtow’ or Kotou in Chinese means paying obeisance, ‘ Kow ’  means knock and  ‘ Tow ’ means head.  The Kowtow is the Chinese custom of touching the ground with the forehead, as an expression of respect, submission or worship. This is similar to the Burmese word ‘Gadau’ (written as Kantaw) means to pay obeisance with one’s hands clasped palm to palm and raised to touch one’s forehead and bow down to the ground.  And this is exactly what the Burmese Generals are doing to the new generation of Chinese leaders.

 

Looking back at the history of our beloved country, we discover that weak Burmese kings had always given out tribute to the big neighbor China and had more or less depended on the whims and fancies of the Chinese for its security. We are afraid that this is true today, when we read that General Than Shwe calls China “Pauk Paw” literally translated in Burmese, ‘as blood brother but meaning 'fraternal friend'. His trip to Beijing yielded US$200 million of a preferential loan package, several pacts to enhance health, technical and economic cooperation, plus the prospect of new industrial projects to help the cash-strapped Junta. China has also agreed to write off parts of the due debts by Burma.

 

China has a long history of constructing bridges over the roaring Salween such as Kunlong and Takaw bridges, built Sittaung paper mill, Zwe tractor factories and now  has agreed to construct a four-lane highway bridge across the Irrawaddy River in Mandalay. Last year China completed the first phase of Rangoon's Thilawa shipyard, by far China's biggest project in Burma and has signed a US$6.5 million contract to build digital auto-telephone exchanges in 12 towns - a huge step forward for a nation with only 280,000 telephones for 56 million plus people.

 

It seems that the General has forgotten the finer points of history when in 1044 King Anurudha better known as Anawrahta, founder of the first Burmese dynasty passed through  Bhamo and Katha into Yunnan province. He forced the Chinese emperor to  exchange presents with him, a sign indicating the recognition of each other’s sovereignty. King Bayinnnaung of the second Burmese dynasty and Hsinbyushin of the Third Burmese dynasty likewise routed the Chinese army out of the country. In the long history of Southeast Asia only the Vietnamese and the Burmese can stand up against the Chinese tide. While Vietnam has maintained this glorious trait the weak and poor Burmese generals meekly kowtow to the Chinese. What a shame to the country and the people of Burma.

 

Since the current Junta came to power, the Chinese have become more involved in key economic sectors that has atrophied and shamelessly allowed the use of renminbi as a legal tender in Burma (not even the US dollar is allowed to be used) which indicates surrendering a part of its sovereignty to the Chinese. China's widening involvement underscores its growing presence and its clout is likely to grow even more. China's massive aid and trade, unmatched by any other country, fills the large void created by Burma's diplomatic isolation.

 

About 600 Burmese scientists are now studying in Moscow, and China remains the chief supplier of military hardware - tanks, ships, aircraft, rockets, recoilless guns and ammunition - to the junta, which spends about one third of its budget on the armed forces. The People’s Daily said that the New Chinese leader Hu Jintao would always consider Burma as a good neighbor.

 

However, General Than Shwe still has to beat the record of his predecessor U Ne Win who went to Beijing and kowtow thirteen times. Duan Tingchang wrote a shamelessly entitled “Sino-Myanmar friendship to develop faster” in Xinhua News Agency, 14 January 2003, saying that “The earliest exchange between them (Burma and China) dates back to the 4th century BC. Since ancient times, the Myanmar people have called the Chinese "paukphaw" ­­ "full brothers." However, historians of ancient Burmese history have all agreed that Burmese or ‘Mien’ people entered Burma only in 9th century AD from Kansu. So nobody knows where the Burmese were at the 4th century BC. In this particular aspect the Chinese seem to have taken a leaf out of the Junta in twisting history.

 

Moreover Xinhwa News Agency wrote, “In international affairs, they support each other and coordinate closely, becoming trustful cooperative partners and China has always respected Myanmar's independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity.” This indicates that China will give diplomatic support and will defend Burma if attacked by a third party.

 

Obviously the frequent exchange of friendship with Beijing upset India which fought a border war with China at the height of the Cuban Missiles crisis in 1962, when China construed that Soviet Union would go to war with the US and that it would take an advantage with India. Now that Burma has become a Chinese vassal, having access to the Indian Ocean, China can directly challenge India and the rest of South Asia. What more proof is wanted when Chinese electronic monitoring devices were set up on the Burmese coastal areas of the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea to monitor all the traffic in that area.

 

To counter China's growing influence, the ASEAN countries have adopted a Constructive Engagement policy and endeavor to improve relations with the military regime. Still, China's influence as a rising power will become more palpable in the years ahead. With its growing economic might comes political clout. The proposed ASEAN-China free-trade agreement, if it comes about in 2010, will further enhance Chinese presence in the region. The Chinese clearly see that the road to Southeast Asia lies through Burma and the Singapore-Kunming Rail Link estimated about US 2.5 billion is just one project where for her hegemony over the region can be felt.

 

The visits and accompanying promises have underscored the importance of China’s patronage as the country was shunned by Western countries which had imposed sanctions on its gregarious human rights records and failure to hand over power to the democratically elected. The Junta has countered it by releasing Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and hired a Washington DC based DCI Associate lobbying firm with the vain hope that it would encourage the Western countries to soften its stance. However, the rapist Burmese army with a good record of indiscriminate killings coupled with the Generals reluctance to engage in substantive dialogue prevented it from achieving this goal.

 

Furthermore, Burma’s economy is deeply troubled, plagued by rapid inflation, including rocketing of basic food prices and plunging currency (about 1200 Kyats to a US dollar) compelled the Junta to realize that only China can save him and kowtow to them. They could have easily negotiated with dignity with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi to work together for the country and people but their lust for power propelled them to commit such shameless traits.

 

Kanbawza Win

(Bruxells Belgique)

 

Send comments on this article to kaowao@hotmail.com

 

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

 

SEXUAL VIOLENCE VOICED BY WOMEN GROUP

(Kao-Wao, March 8, 2003)

 

The Women's League of Burma honored the International Women's Day with their pledge to struggle for justice, peace and equality for the women of Burma.

 

The Thailand-Burma border based WLB issued a statement on the International Women's Day, recognized by the United Nations in 1975.

 

WLB stated that women from Burma have increasingly been raped, targeted for exploitation, bought and sold for the Thai sex trade, forciby displaced due to the civil war, torn from their families and driven to poverty over the past decade. The growing gap between the rich and poor in Asia, oppression and systematic violation of human rights by the successive Burmese military regimes has inflicted considerable hardship on the people and the country.

 

The umbrella women’s organization claimed that the Burmese authorities are denouncing the reports of documented sexual violence committed by the state and is trying to cover up their violations.  Burma's current social, political and economic development is not conducive for women's development and the League believes that the restoration of a democratic system in Burma will enable all to work for peace, gender equality and for the healthy development of women in Burma.

 

According to WLB leader Nang Hseng Noung, WLB is joining forces with international women groups’ for the elimination of discrimination against women and capacity building for women.  The Women's League of Burma (WLB) is an umbrella organization of 11 women's groups in exile, formed in December 1999.

 

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

 

ONE MAN, ONE FLAG: PRESIDENT OF THE NEW MON STATE PARTY DIES

(Kao-Wao, March 8, 2003)

 

The founder and long time President of the New Mon State Party and a leading figure in ethnic and democratic politics of the Mon people, Nai Shwe Kyin, passed away peacefully in Mon State, Burma.

 

According to the source from the New Mon State Party, the president passed away at his Myaing TharYar resident, Moulmein, capital of Mon State at 1:30 a.m. local time, March 7, 2003, he was 91.

 

Nai Shwe Kyin (aka) Nai Ba Lwin was born at Phae KhaTaw Kawhnat, near Moulmein on March 1, 1913.  He studied at a Methodist mission school and graduated from Rangoon University before joining the British Naval Volunteer Reserve and attained the rank of instructor.

 

In 1947, the young patriot founded the Mon Freedom League (MFL) with other nationalists and became the President of MPF.  Like all the politically active, Nai Ba Lwin was arrested by the central government for his political activities and imprisoned at the Mandalay jail in 1948.  Released in 1951, Nai Ba Lwin joined the Mon armed struggle and was appointed Central Committee member and Chief of Information and Propaganda for the Mon Peoples Front which was re-organized as an umbrella organization in 1955.

 

When the MPF surrendered to U Nu’s parliamentary government in 1958 as an exchange for democracy, the only senior leader, Nai Shwe Kyin, opposed the truce and remained active in the jungle. Independence and freedom for the Mon people were essential to Nai Shwe Kyin who then formed New Mon State Party on July 20, 1958, it was to become the main political party and vanguard for the Mon armed struggle for over forty years.  Since its founding, Nai Shwe Kyin who lived in Moulmein after the cease-fire with the Burmese regime, he retained the position of President.

 

As Nai Shwe Kyin played a major role in Burmese politics for over half a century, he earned his power and presidential position over and over again; he participated in the 1963 Peace Talks with BSPP, Communist Party of Burma (CPB) and other ethnic leaders.  He formed NULF (National United Liberation Front) in Bangkok, Thailand in 1970 together with U Nu (Prime Minister of Burma) and Mahn Ba Zan (President of Karen National Union).

 

An inveterate leader of the ethnic and democratic forces and role model for the young, Nai Shwe Kyin was elected as the Chairman of NDF; ethnic based armed organization, Vice Chairman of NCUB (National Council of Union of Burma) and DAB (Democratic Alliance of Burma) before the NMSP reached a cease-fire agreement with the regime.

 

Nai Shwe Kyin was married to Daw Tint (deceased) from Waw, Pegu district and left one son behind.  According to the liaison office, the NMSP is holding an emergency meeting for a funeral service of the late President but no details have been released.

 

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

 

International Campaign

 

CANADIAN URGED FOR SUPPORT

(Kao-Wao, March 2, 2003)

 

The Toronto based Mon-Canadian Association requested the Canadian Ambassador to support human rights in Burma.

 

A statement was sent to Mr. Andrew McAllistor, the Canadian Ambassador to Thailand, who is accredited to Rangoon.  The MCA, in the statement, asked Canada in support for Mon literacy and culture in Thailand and Myanmar, to halt human rights violations including land confiscation and the release of all political prisoners.

 

According to Nai Rotmon, on March 1, 2003, the Mon-Canadians requested the Ambassador, in Ottawa on his way to Bangkok, urging him to consider the worsening social and political situation in Myanmar.

 

Meanwhile, the Burma Watch International held its Annual General Meeting on March 2, 2003 in Edmonton, Canada.  The opening speech was given by Jack Freebury; the President of BWI followed by activity reports and financial statement for the past year 2002.

 

Guest speaker Cham Toik, International Representative of the Mon Unity League, touched the heart of participants by his experience in the Mon freedom movement and national reconciliation.

 

Burma Watch International was founded in 1989 by Canadians and Burmese to promote public awareness of the social, cultural, political and economic life of the people in Burma and to provide humanitarian assistance to refugees in Burma.

 

The meeting elected Jack Freebury as President and U Than Aung as Vice President of BWI.

 

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

 

KAO WAO NEWS GROUP

Email: kaowao@hotmail.com

Phone + 66 -1 561- 0860, + 1- 403 - 248 2027

On line archive at http://www.burmalibrary.org/show.php?cat=1215&lo=d&sl=0

Online Burma Library -- http://www.burmalibrary.org

 

ABOUT US

Kao-Wao Newsgroup is committed to social justice, peace, and democracy in Burma. We hope to be able to provide more of an in-depth analysis that will help to promote lasting peace and change within Burma. Editors, reporters, writers, and overseas volunteers are dedicated members of the Mon activist community based in Thailand. Our motto is working together for lasting peace and change.

 

SUBMIT YOUR NEWS

If you are an organization or individual who is committed to the same principles as Kao-Wao, please use this eNewsletter as a tool to disseminate your views, articles, and issues pertaining to social justice and political, social and cultural freedom. We are open to all but please ensure to source your material either through email contacts or website. To ensure that it is widely read, you can use this email: kaowao@hotmail.com to tell others about this newsletter, and to let them know about your work, events, and public debate.

 

TO UNSUBSCRIBE

If you wish to stop receiving this newsletter send a message from the address you want to remove to us. Please contact editor should you need further assistance.