KAO WAO NEWS No. 39
An electronic newsletter for social justice and
freedom in Burma
No. 39, February 26 -
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
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
CANADIAN URGED FOR
SUPPORT
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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
Regards,
Editor
kaowao@hotmail.com
http://www.burmalibrary.org/show.php?cat=1215&lo=d&sl=0
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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
“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
*******************************************
POLICE STABS MEMBER
OF NATIONAL DAY COMMITTEE
(Kao-Wao,
Three policemen stabbed organizers of the Mon National Day
Celebration Committee in the late evening after a ceremony held in
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,
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
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
*********************************************
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 Pah.
Kyaw 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
A training course took place at Yong-Dong village in
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
“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.
*******************************
(Cited from Kaladan News,
The
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,
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,
It was not known whether any agreement on the repatriation
of the Rohingya refugees would be signed.
***************************************************
REGIME FAILS TO LOBBY
THE UNITED STATES
(Kao-Wao,
According to sources from Washington D.C, the Burmese
military regime failed last year to improve its ties with the
DCI's filings
with the Justice Department offers an unusual glimpse into the efforts
by the
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
**************************************************
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 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
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
About 600 Burmese scientists are now studying in
However, General Than Shwe still has to beat the record of his predecessor U Ne Win who went to
Moreover Xinhwa News Agency wrote,
“In international affairs, they support each other and coordinate closely,
becoming trustful cooperative partners and
Obviously the frequent exchange of friendship with
To counter
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
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SEXUAL VIOLENCE
VOICED BY WOMEN GROUP
(Kao-Wao,
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
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
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.
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.
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ONE MAN, ONE FLAG:
PRESIDENT OF THE NEW MON STATE PARTY DIES
(Kao-Wao,
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
According to the source from the New Mon State Party, the
president passed away at his Myaing TharYar resident,
Nai Shwe
Kyin (aka) Nai Ba Lwin
was born at Phae KhaTaw Kawhnat, near
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
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.
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
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.
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International
Campaign
CANADIAN URGED FOR
SUPPORT
(Kao-Wao,
The
A statement was sent to Mr. Andrew McAllistor,
the Canadian Ambassador to
According to Nai Rotmon, on
Meanwhile, the Burma Watch International held its Annual
General Meeting on
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
The meeting elected Jack Freebury
as President and U Than Aung
as Vice President of BWI.
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