KAO WAO NEWS No. 58

 

An electronic newsletter for social justice and freedom in Burma

 

December 1-20, 2003

 

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READER’S FRONT

MUL WARY OF NMSP’S INVITE TO THE NATIONAL CONVENTION

ETHNIC PARTIES OPPOSE THE JUNTA’S ROAD MAP

THE INFORMATION AGE: BURMA STANDS ALONE

OBSTACLES TO ICT IN BURMA

DEATH PENALTY REVIVED TO PUNISH DISSIDENTS

13-YEAR-OLD GIRL ASSAULTED AND RAPED BY LANDLORD

AMERICAN MON WOMEN ORGANIZE

POPPIES BLOSSOM IN THE NORTH AGAIN

SHOULD WE FORGET THE PAST?

ANNAN PRESSES BURMA TO WORK ON DEMOCRACY

 

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READERS' 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 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, kaowao@shaw.ca

www.kaowao.org

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Dear Editor,

Congratulations on your 2nd anniversary!

We are well informed by Kao Wao news especially Mon issues. I am really proud of Kao Wao that as Mon group, this channel can make a loud voice and share the information to other sources.

 

Best Wishes,

Min Thura Wynn (Toronto, Canada)

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Myaingkalay cement factory damages Mon cultural site

 

Dear Kao Wao,

Regarding the Myaingkalay cement factory near Pa’an, as well as the serious human rights and environmental concerns which you mention, the factory is also having a devastating affect on an important, but not well-known, Mon cultural treasure. The factory is situated close to the Kawgun Cave, on the West bank of the Salween (Thanlwin) River. Early every evening the nearby quarry is blasted with dynamite, to extract materials for the factory. The blasting can be heard & felt in Pa’an town (the first time I experienced this, I thought it was the Tatmadaw shelling the KNLA!).

 

More alarming, the discharge causes substantial vibrations and damage at the cave. Artifacts at the Kawgun Cave date from the Pyu era, and the site has been a centre of religious devotion ever since. It consists of a long corridor-like fissure in the rock, which runs along the base of a huge limestone outcrop, semi-open to the sky & elements. This opens out into a small cave, with Buddha images. Like other Buddhist sites in lower Burma, the cave and associated structures are incredibly beautiful, and possess an air of great spirituality, and age-old religious and cultural significance. The Kawgun Cave is particularly noted for its thousands of magnificent (16-18th century?) terracotta plaques, which decorate the walls, to a height of up to 30 meters. These are often extraordinarily well-crafted and beautiful, and include many Buddha images, as well as episodes in Mon sacred and civil history (e.g. one group of large plaques depicts King Manuha of Thaton).

 

If this were Thailand, the cave would be a source of national pride, protected by the government, and promoted as a site for religious merit-making and tourism. However, this being Burma, the cave has been neglected. Until recently, this may have been a good thing, as the site’s charm has not been eroded by over-exposure: there are no stalls selling trinkets or cold drinks.

 

However, the daily blasting at the nearby Myaingkalay cement has caused many hundreds of plaques to be dislodged or otherwise damaged (also, as insurgency raged over this part of Burma in the 1940-70s, historically important elephant figures and other pieces were looted). Unless the blasting stops or the damage is alleviated, I worry that this wonderful religious and cultural site will be damaged beyond repair.

 

Best regards,

Ashley South

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On Kanbawza Win’s Are the Burmese People Fit for Democracy?

 

Dear Friends,

Kanbawza Win’s expression seems too extreme though part of it is the reality of the double impact of the military regime's 4 decade long impressive-human-mind-programming. The nature of the human being is attached with certain bad or negative attributes that cultivate bad behaviors that are not necessary or needed to express publicly. For example, all intelligent adults may know what a person does inside a restroom but it is not necessary to tell everyone about it.


The important thing to keep in mind is that we ourselves are susceptible to doing bad and necessary political evils, even though we claim in having and following the best policy for the good of the most. So, if the negative aspect of our activity beyond our control offends someone, it is important (our selves) not to be offended by his or her expression of such in-depth feeling. If we believe in self-perfection and self-glory, we may make the same or similar mistake many people have done.

 

For any democratic lover/activist to have political tolerance toward dissents and ability to work together even with the people who are impressed by our weakness or negative aspect of our activity is essential. And this must be one of our most important differences from those of the regime leaders' political practices. To value other’s ideas, opinions, and feelings is an essential leadership quality for our needed political and historical challenge.


What we do may be singled out as good as what others do or even better. But when someone evaluates the whole scenario, there could be a potential aspect that our overall performances are not that good for the overall progress of political change. "Good" is not enough but for the "best” we all struggle. It is good to remember what Hudson Taylor once said, "Good is the enemy of the best." Everybody has at least some idea what he or she thinks is good but only a few people possess the capacity to comprehend the Best.

 

So, when we are doing what we think is good, a simple good, lets also remember the potential existence of the best for which we all should struggle to in order to reach the end goal, not just spreading ourselves around the means.


Sincerely,
Hre Mang

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I'd like to respond to Kanbawza Win’s article and to clarify KNU’s position on the current political situation.  As he mentioned the SPDC is using its same old tactic of divide and conquer as another form of deception to divide all opposition groups.  We all know SPDC’s strategy.  SPDC started its major offensive against KNU and others opposition groups when Daw Aung San Su Kyi was released and trapped in another deception of confidence building secret talks.  The objective of SPDC was to divide the ethnic nationals and DASSK by creating rumors of secret talks.  After over a year of phony confidence building, DASSK realized it to be another phony confidence building tactic and consequently proceeded with her favorite action of mass campaign against the SPDC supported by NLD party and thousands of civilians.  Unfortunately it led to the Depeyin incident and DASSK ended up in house arrest again.

 

On November 22, 2003, SPDC’s delegate colonel Sann Pwint went to Maesot and approached KNU leaders and stated that there would be no precondition to restart peace talks between KNU and SPDC.  However, he mentioned that the meeting must be inside Burma only and refused to meet in other countries.

 

Padoh Mahn Sha, the secretary of KNU clearly stated that KNU will not buy into the road map for democracy and a national convention prepared by SPDC due to lack of honesty, sincerity and the fact that it is without DASSK.  Furthermore, KNU today does not stand alone, but closely works with other opposition alliances of democracy for Burma as well as the National Democratic Front.  KNU clearly understands the SPDC’s strategies of divide and conquer and its random attacks against the NLD parties led by DASSK and other democratic opposition groups including NDF and DAB. 

 

I understand professor Win’s concerns and appreciate his article.  We will not be defeated unless we surrender by ourselves.  Therefore, please continue our struggle to reach our objective of democracy and federal union without any confusion or misunderstanding. KNU will not abandon the DEMOCRACY BOAT until we reach our goal. 

 

Merry X’mas and Happy New Year to you all,

Mahn Kyaw Swe (Canada)

 

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Politics

 

MUL WARY OF NMSP’S INVITE TO THE NATIONAL CONVENTION

(Kao Wao, Bangkok: December 14, 2003)

 

The Mon Unity League has advised the senior leaders of New Mon State Party not to be led astray regarding the high profile National Convention in Rangoon sponsored by ruling military junta.

 

“The NMSP will not become a tool for the SPDC in its strategy in dividing the opposition forces participating in the National Convention process.  It must closely engage and cooperate with the NLD and ethnic parties,” says Sunthorn Sripanngern to the NMSP leaders in his statement letter to the Executive Committee.

 

“It is essential to inform and build unity among the opposition forces ensuring that leaders have confidence in dealing with this process”, he added in the letter in the Mon language.

 

“The Party must withdraw its participation from the National Convention when the principles of the assembly are not respected and not leading toward a tripartite dialogue. The tripartite dialogue must meet the standards and principles mandated by the National League for Democracy which paves the way toward finding a political solution”, Mr. Sripanngern stated.

 

The MUL warns that the SPDC is playing a game to win over the opposition parties who wish to emerge as the legitimate government after the Convention. The NMSP is strongly requested not to receive any intensive package for a deal during the assembly, which obviously will have several strings attached.  The SPDC has total responsibility for its wrong doing in the country.

 

The General Secretary of the MUL advised senior leaders of the NMSP to remain vigilant and to prepare for a withdrawal from the assembly when the process fails to accommodate Burma’s national interests. He said the National Convention is the first step toward breaking a political deadlock in the country in which details are evaluated and considered by all.

 

The NMSP’s emergency meeting in early December named a delegation comprised of Nai Chan Toi, General Aung Nai, Colonel Lawee Ong, Nai Tala Nyeh and Nai Tin Hla to join the state sponsored convention.

 

The MUL is the third political force in the Mon community and works by consensus among the Mon population in Thailand and Burma.  The umbrella organization, based at the Thai Burma border, was formed in 1995, the year when the cease-fire agreement between New Mon State Party and the Burmese military government was signed.

 

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ETHNIC PARTIES OPPOSE THE JUNTA’S ROAD MAP

(DVB: December 11, 2003)

 

The alliance ethnic political parties oppose the junta’s road map and the principles of the National Convention sponsored by the Rangoon regime in the coming year.

 

According to the statement issued on 10 December, the UNA firmly opposes the SPDC’s road map and the 104 basic principles set forth in the National Convention.  It believes the objective and procedure of Prime Minister Gen Khin Nyunt's road map is to revive the adjourned 1996 National Convention and to implement the 104 basic principles prescribed at that Convention. As outlined, the people's delegates are not represented in full at the National Convention and are unable to present and discuss their views freely.

 

The basic principles prescribed at the National Convention clearly indicate the military's anticipation of a further grip on power and a place in Burma’s future national politics. That is why attempts to revive the National Convention not only contravene the resolutions adopted consistently by the UN but also gravely ignore the mandate of the entire Burmese populace.

 

The UNA urged the junta to convene a genuine National Convention comprised of the democratic forces including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, representatives of the national races, and the relevant SPDC authorities.

 

The United Nationalities Alliance was formed with the nine ethnic political parties which won seats in the 1990 elections.

 

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World Summit on Information Society:  Geneva, December 8-12, 2003

 

THE INFORMATION AGE: BURMA STANDS ALONE

(Gong Ong: December 12, 2003)

 

Participants from government delegates, business sectors, civil societies, individuals, and media groups gathered in Geneva to join in the World Summit on the Information Society.

 

Geneva, known as the international conference city of half a million population, was crowded with over ten thousand participants for the World Summit which was attended by Heads of State, Prime Ministers, Presidents, media bigwigs, and ministers from 176 countries who came to endorse a Declaration of Principles and a Plan of Action which sets forth a road map to bring the benefits of Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) to underserved economies.

 

United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan told delegates that we have in our hands, on our desktops, and in the skies above, the ability to improve the standard of living for millions upon millions of people.

 

But Yoshio Utsumi, Secretary General of the International Telecommunication Union and Summit cautioned that the meeting was only the start of a long and complex process.  "Telephones will not feed the poor, and computers will not replace textbooks. But ICTs can be used effectively as part of the toolbox for addressing global problems. The Summit’s successes now give us the necessary momentum to achieve this," he said. 

 

On December 11, 2003, leader of Myanmar Delegation for WSIS and Ambassador / Permanent Representative of the Union of Myanmar U Mya Than delivered a statement to the international audience that one advantageous aspect of the ICTs is the multi purpose use of these technologies to help achieve the Millennium Development Goals including infrastructure building, capacity building, and technical and financial assistance for the developing countries, especially within the LDCs (Leased Developed Countries) such as Myanmar (Burma) a country that became a LDC due to poor administration by the same military regime he spoke for.

 

It is not surprising that the Myanmar delegate ignored the WSIS Declaration of Principles that reaffirms the universality, indivisibility, interdependence and interrelation of all human rights and fundamental freedoms, given its position in ICTs. 

 

The Information Society is as outlined in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, that everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; that this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.

 

And Article 29:  that everyone has duties to the community in which alone the free and full development of their personality is possible, the exercise of their rights and freedoms, the rights and freedoms of others, and of meeting the just requirements of morality, public order and the general welfare in a democratic society.

 

Contrary to the statement made by the Myanmar delegate, ICTs in Burma stands years behind that of the developed countries, even its neighbour Thailand and Malaysia are decades ahead.  At the Exhibition Hall in Geneva’s Placexpo, the Myanmar exhibition booth was a sad statement of Burma’s position in the information age and symbolic of its information society; while it stood out in silence the Malaysian booth buzzed with activity including a colorful mix of culture performers happily demonstrating their country’s advancement in ICTs. According to the Malay representative, the government opens up to all businesspersons and potential customers; and sponsors over 150 participants to join this event.

 

The Myanmar delegation team was comprised of 4 members including the staff from Myanmar Embassy in Geneva.  Myanmar Representative U Mya Than was reluctant to talk about ICTs in his country where the telecommunication industry is a classic example of a Potemkin village. In the country computers are sitting silently gathering dust, it is a make believe charade which projects to countries such as South Korea that it is a willing consumer of IT and eligible for help in development assistance in setting up a telecommunication network, in which Myanmar tech advisors are invited to Seoul by major telecommunication companies to learn about ICTs.

 

The Government of Myanmar established the ICTs Development Council, chaired by the Prime Minister General Khin Nyunt himself.  It is true, the two Internet service providers in Burma is a family and military affair: the department of the Government’s Telecommunications Ministry, and Bagan Cybertech, a company controlled by the son of the government’s Prime Minister and top ranking military officers. 

 

While over 80% of the population has access to Internet in Canada and people can easily use the Internet at only 20 Baht an hour at various Internet Cafés in Thailand, the majority of Burmese people have absolutely no knowledge about the Internet in Burma.  Access to the Internet is blocked and only about 10,000 subscribers have been approved to use email, even then email and the Internet is closely monitored.

 

For many people in Burma having a computer is beyond anyone’s wildest dreams. The telecommunication industry in Burma is in stark contrast to that of many developing countries in the region, the junta equips computers in the government (public) schools by demanding that civilians pay for it individually, computers are not even touched because they are only for show and electricity is not easily available.

 

At the so called IntraNet centres in the Basic Education High School (BEHS) at Kamawet Mon community of Mudon Township in southern Burma, the authorities ordered private business with computers to equip schools for a short media and computer training program because the government is unable to do so.  Senior military leaders appear out of nowhere in the village to hold a drab ceremony opening the computer training programs.  The authorities need about 10 computers but the school has only 5 and another 5 were taken from the village’s various printing businesses to supply the schools.  Most students do not have the chance to access the computers after training.

 

No one is given the right to hold an opinion or express their views in Burma, they are arrested, beaten and tortured if they do so, and no one is able to seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through any media outlet. A fact, most Asian countries and their companies, such as those from South Korea and Japan, are totally unconcerned or even aware of.

 

Burma stands alone in the region, while Asian governments boast about assisting in the democracy movement in the Middle East in sending their troops; they do business with a pariah regime, and will probably do so for many decades if Burma isn’t allowed to transform its political system on democratic principles. For the military and those representing Myanmar’s telecommunication industry, ICT will forever remain a pipedream without the support of civil society. As declared by the WSIS, everyone everywhere should have the opportunity to participate and no one should be excluded from the benefits that the Information Society offers.

 

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We were very touched by your presentation and we won’t let our beloved Venezuela go the same route as that of Burma.

Floor Burrell (Venezuela)

 

OBSTACLES TO ICT IN BURMA

(By Cham Toik: Geneva, December 10, 2003)

 

The major problems that exist in Burma today can be traced to the formation of the Union of Burma when a diverse group of indigenous peoples agreed to work together in peace before they were freed from colonial rule.  But just months after leaders of the majority Burman and the Shan, Chin, Kachin and Karenni nationalities signed the Panglong Agreement on February 12, 1947, General Aung San (father of Nobel Peace Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi) was assassinated and their hopes of establishing a Federal Union were dashed.  When Burma gained independence from Britain in 1948, the government of U Nu, who succeeded General Aung San, was installed.

 

Almost immediately, the rights of the ethnic nationalities were rejected and civil war broke out.  As a result of the denial of basic freedoms for all people in Burma and the right to self-determination previously agreed upon, this civil war has dragged on for half a century and Burma, which could have become one of the most vibrant countries in Southeast Asia was reduced to a Least Developed Country (LDC) in the world.  To this day the Burman military government blames the ethnic nationalities for the country’s failure to develop on par with other countries of Southeast Asia.

 

Lack of fundamental freedom (Article 19, Universal Declaration of Human Rights)

 

Things went from bad to the worse when General New Win seized power in a coup d’etat in 1962, he immediately introduced restrictions on freedom of expression; the free press has been silenced ever since. The country was ruled through a draconian one-party system known as the Burma Socialist Programme Party (BSPP) and other political and social organizations including those of the ethnic nationalities were forcibly disbanded and muted.

Under one form or another, state censorship continues to this day.  Under the present military government, the Press Scrutiny Board (PSB), a division of the powerful Ministry of Information, scrutinizes every single publication considered to be ‘anti-government’ and is consequently perceived as a threat to the military state. Similar censorship boards retain stringent control over art, music, film, performance and all other forms of artistic expression. All authors, publishers, journalists and poets must submit a personal biography to the board of literary censorship.

The board then investigates to find out if these individuals have any association to opposition political parties or connections to other people or groups deemed a threat to the regime. Anyone suspected or proved to have ‘undesirable’ connections is placed on a blacklist and their work is banned. (See chapter on. Freedom of Opinion, Expression, and the Press in the Burma Human Rights Yearbook 2002-3 at

http://www.ibiblio.org/obl/docs/Yearbook2002-3/yearbooks/11.%20Freedom%20of%20Opinion,%20Expression,%20and%20the%20Press.htm )

As part of their overall effort to control information, the present military regime restricts all forms of communication. Without a government permit, which is expensive and difficult to obtain, individuals can be arrested for possessing or using a fax machine, mobile phones, photocopier or computer; and imprisoned for years. (See, for instance the Computer Science Development Law of 1996 at http://www.myanmar.com/gov/laws/computerlaw.html

In the past month alone, a court in Burma sentenced nine people to death for high treason, including the editor of a sports magazine, Zaw Thet Htwe, and some Mon leaders, Nai Min Kyi, Nai Yekkha and Shwe Man, who the junta claim planned to create a mass movement in collusion with members of Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party. (AP: Rangoon December 3, 2003)

 

There are only two Internet service providers in the country: a department of the Government’s Telecommunications Ministry and Bagan Cybertech, a company controlled by the son of the military government’s Prime Minister and top ranking military officers.   Access to many parts of the Internet is blocked and only about 10,000 subscribers have been approved to use email. (Open Democracy Website, Power of Corporations, June 2003)

 

Civilians are forbidden to communicate with the outside world freely, and although many have access to foreign radio and telephone services, no independent media group is allowed to operate inside the country. This situation has marginalized people depriving them of all forms of information, their only source being the propaganda apparatus of the state-run media, which is next to useless as a reliable news source. 

Radio and TV programmes (there are only a few radio stations in Burma) are state-owned and most are the mouthpieces of the regimes propaganda machine—no ethnic and indigenous language programme is broadcasted apart from 30 minutes a day for the 7 major ethnic groups combined (Shan, Chin, Kachin, Karen, Kayah, Arakan and Mon) in their languages.

Assimilation policy

Centralization of the government has affected the life and culture of all indigenous peoples in Burma.  The non-Burman communities have systematically been deprived of their birthright to teach in their own languages and produce creative literature to preserve their cultural heritage.  Under the Burmanization policy exercised by successive Burman governments in Rangoon, the indigenous peoples are not allowed even to study their own literature in their own language in schools, whereas the Burman language is made the dominant and only official language to assimilate and drown out all other ethnic voices.

In the case of the Mon people, who lost their sovereignty more than two centuries ago in 1757, Buddhist monasteries now serve as the centers for preserving old Mon palm manuscripts and provide a venue for community schools as well.  Over the last few decades, patriotic young Mon people and the monastic community have taken a united stand by undertaking self-help Mon literacy campaigns throughout the Mon region. 

Every summer when the government schools close down, large numbers of Mon children and adults enroll in these schools in the monasteries to learn the basics of Mon literature.  This self-help Mon literacy movement provides a glimmer of hope for the Mon people to learn their own language and literature in parts of the country where their homeland is located.  However, even this self-help Mon literacy movement is constantly under surveillance and cannot grow freely under the rule of the Burman-dominated, racist military dictatorship. (See the Mon Unity League’s: The Mon, a people without a country at

http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Bridge/1256/monhistory1.htm )

Some monastery communities and students have applied to the military government’s Press Scrutiny Board for permission to publish in the Mon language but they are regularly refused permits to print Mon books, even though the contents pose no threat being simply articles from Burmese-language magazines translated into Mon.  These writings are not remotely related to politics, yet the PSB still refuses to give permission because of the assimilation policy towards the indigenous peoples.

Only a few Mon magazines endorsed by senior and revered monks have been granted publication rights by the regime after waiting through a long censorship process directed by various levels of the administration.  At least six months are required before approval is given and often the authorities do not issue permission or offer a rejection, but simply ignore the application.

Ethnic journalists and publishers have also been arrested and imprisoned by successive military governments in Burma.   In 1976, a well-respected Mon abbot, Rev. Palita, was arrested and sentenced to 7 years for publishing the Gatub Khit Mon magazine.  Rev. Palita, 79, has written more than 30 books in Mon and heads a monastery at Kamawet village, Mudon Township, and chairs a summer school program in Mon literacy, and through his work has inspired hundreds of young Mon to continue writing in their native tongue. 

When on trial in Moulmein in 1975, he refused to speak in Burmese, even though he knew it well enough. "This is Monland," he argued, "where I should be able to speak Mon in official matters."  Rangoon has continued to control state's affairs and insisted that Mon speak Burmese in all official matters.  (See “Mon Culture: Dying or Reviving?” by Min Zin / The Irrawaddy, October, 2003)

Nai Soe Aung, a leader of the Mon Literature and Culture Committee was arrested for publishing a poetry book and the authorities shut down Kaung Mon Press in Rangoon in December 2002 after printing poetry without the approval of the Press Scrutiny Board. (See Kao Wao News No. 38)

Another example of ICT in Burma is the setting up IntraNet centres in the high schools (Basic Education High School), in which computers in Kamawet village, Mudon Township belonging to private business were gathered up by local authorities to equip the village school for media and computer training due to a computer shortage in the school.  Senior military leaders Maung Bo and Thura Myint Aung came to the village school to hold a ceremony to open the computer-training programme. 

The authorities needed 10 computers but the school has only 5 and another 5 were taken from the village’s various printing businesses.  Kamawet is the largest Mon community in Mon State with about 10,000 households.  The computer businesses operating in the village are forced to provide computers during the training course, most students in other schools do not have the chance to access computers even after training, because the number is so limited and teachers do not allow them to be used. (IMNA: 24-11-03)

The new challenge, a constructive approach

 

In 1988 the Burma Socialist Programme Party government formed by General Ne Win collapsed as a result of a popular uprising.  The people’s movement was bloodily suppressed and a new military clique seized state power.  Many civilians and students fled to the border areas and neighboring countries where they continue today to languish in refugee camps or small enclaves known as the liberated areas.

 

Poor communication has overshadowed all sides in past and present negotiations; recently however some media groups have emerged in these liberated areas (border areas) among Burmese democratic groups and indigenous peoples during the ‘90s.  But very few publications, journals and magazines in the border areas are distributed in the Chin, Karen, Kachin, Arakan, Shan and Mon languages. For the most part, the democratic Burmese media groups who use Burmese have gained the advantage in having access and thus have an edge in playing a larger role in negotiations with the military government and a third party.

 

Access to information of course is vital for a democracy to flourish, but in a country in which the population is a deliberate target by both rebels and the military, speaking out is a risk none want to take. Few details about what is happening in Burma hamper real development in the peace and democratic process.

 

The seven million people of Mon ethnic origin in Burma and Thailand have no radio station or daily newspaper in their own language.  Two monthly news journals (Snong Tang and Khit Poey), with a circulation of about 2,000 copies are the only Mon language publication to serve the migrant community and the remote areas in Burma.  Otherwise the Mon community must follow the news through Burmese and the Thai language media.  Kao Wao Newsgroup was founded in 2001 to provide information about the situation in the Mon areas to the international community regarding ethnic, indigenous issues, forced labour, land confiscation and other human rights violations in Southern Burma to provide a clearer understanding of the situation in Burma and hence build a more constructive peace policy.

 

The small indigenous media groups depend for survival on self-reliance and the donations of a small band of patriotic-minded supporters.   Some receive limited funds from NGOs and donations from the local community.  Without proper training and government funding, indigenous media groups are facing a new challenge to keep on par with major and international communities.

 

Sustained support will be necessary if fledgling independent media groups are to survive and increase their news coverage on issues affecting the indigenous peoples, ethnic nationalities, and isolated communities that they seek to serve.  Above all, we indigenous people need to have the freedom to exercise our fundamental rights in order to enlist support and to increase awareness in the international community, all of which are crucial to making peace a reality.

 

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Human Rights

 

DEATH PENALTY REVIVED TO PUNISH DISSIDENTS

(By Banya Hongsar)

 

 Thai-Burma Border, December 6, 2003 -- Nine members of anti-military forces were sentenced to death on November 27 including members of cease-fire organizations from Mon State, Union of Burma.

 

Soon after the ruling generals sent an oral invitation inviting senior members of the New Mon State Party to attend the National Convention in Rangoon, the court later announced capital punishment for the nine dissidents.

 

There was no legal trail nor were they allowed to hire lawyers.  Legal aid is unheard of in Burma and members of the victims’ families are kept in the dark of the court’s case and its decision.  Arrested members of New Mon State Party, Nai Yekha and Chem Gakow are not allowed to meet with their families despite the cease-fire group’s request for them to do so.

 

The trail was conducted inside Insein Prison under the hearing of Judge Daw Khin Zaw Win, according to Radio Free Asia’s report.

 

This is the first death sentence handed down to Mon activists in modern political history in Burma while the business of the legal system in Burma is still under the domination of senior military appointed judges.  (This does not account for many Mon supporters and activists who have been illegally tortured and killed in the rural area).  Dozens of dissident organizations based on the common borders have been accused as “terrorists and state plotters” by the ruling military regime for decades.  The dissident groups condemned to death are blamed for an explosion despite a lack of hard evidence.

 

Four representatives from social organizations in Mon State wrote a letter to New Mon State Party seeking a legal trial for the three Mon victims: Ne Win (Nai Yekkha), Shwe Man and Nai Min Kyi who are alleged to be behind the “State Plot” along with six other democratic activists.

 

Local civil rights groups led by Buddhist monks have sought out senior members of the NMSP to urgently deal with the unfair trail of capital punishment.  The Mon civil rights groups theorize that the three Mon activists are not the key players of the secret bomb attack against the senior military officials.

 

The Rangoon ruling generals have routinely targeted civilians and supporters of the democratic forces with various methods including rape as a weapon of war and the killing of innocent farmers in the rural areas. No legal trial or inquiry has ever been conducted by the government involving their troops who basically have a license to kill. Dozens of civilians have been killed by government troops in Mon State in the last year alone, but the victims’ family members have no legal access to sue the government troops.  Dissidents claim that the ruling Rangoon generals have committed numerous “crimes against humanity” in the country pointing to the recent massacre on democratic supporters in Depayin in May this year in upper-Burma.

 

Currently, the independent report indicated that over (1,300) political prisoners in the country have been punished in which they were rounded up and shipped off to CoCo Island to serve life sentences. Obviously, the legal trail proceeding is still dominated by military appointed judges while victims have no recourse to legal aid.

 

The ruling Rangoon military officials exercise its highest power in line with the “1975 State Protection Law” to detain, put on trail, and impose the death sentence on anyone who threatens the state. Democratic activists are charged mostly in line with the “1950 Emergency Provisions Act, 1975 State Protection Law, 1908 Unlawful Association Act. The Official Secret Act is a new law passed by the State Peace and Development Council.

 

In August this year, the Court rejected an appeal made by former General Ne Win’s family who were sentenced to death for their attempt to over throw the military government in Rangoon in March 2002.  Aye Zaw Win and his three sons have a last opportunity for receiving amnesty if their petition is granted by Head of State, Senior General Than Shwe.

 

During colonial times, the British authority sentenced Burmese dissidents to capital punishment for pursuing freedom and social justice in their homeland. The British authority paid no tolerance even to Buddhist monks and students in the country and often imposed the death penalty. When it comes to a matter of power, both the British authority and the current Rangoon ruling regime, which followed in the British footsteps, exercise the highest court order to crack down on all forms of opponents in the country.

 

During the British era in Burma, a leading farmers’ rebel Sayar San who against the unjust law, along with Buddhist monks U Wisara and U Uttama became Burmese heroes after being sentenced to death in the struggle for independence.  From 1962 to the present day, capital punishment is not meted out unless charges of assassination are involved; rather a life sentence is often the common form of punishment.

 

The constitution rather than the ruling elite must lay down the law if Burma is ever going to be a democratic society, a nation should have a vision and possess the political will to reform its institutions. The death penalty of innocent civilians, even for those demanding freedom from discrimination for their people especially that of young people, is a horrific tragedy. The ruling junta’s stance is lackadaisical and hasn’t a shred of compassion or dignity when it comes to meting out punishment. The bottom line is the will of the people which will have an ultimate impact on the democratic process, but due to very limited resources available at the time of writing this article, further exclusive fact finding should be undertaken for policy matters to bring about a dramatic change in Burma under the rule of law. The legal institution says, “no one is above the law” but in the case of Burma “every official is above the law”. 

 

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Migrant Watch

 

13-YEAR-OLD GIRL ASSAULTED AND RAPED BY LANDLORD

(Kao Wao: Bangkok, December 17, 2003)

 

A source from the migrant worker’s community said a young girl was raped by her landlord in Mahachai, about 35 Km southwest of Bangkok.


On December 11, a Mon girl was raped by Nai Od at "Thawatchai Chang-Ruey Flat" on
Derm Bang Road amid crying for help.

 

The local source reported that Nai Od, the 27 year old son of a 30 rented-room building owner, together with three others came to the room rented by 2 Mon girls around midnight on 11 December. They brought several bottles of beer and asked them for an invite to drink beer inside their tiny apartment. The girls refused, but Nai Od violently slapped the elder sister and threatened them to stay in the room.

 

After the men got drunk the landlord’s son started to molest the younger sister. When the elder sister tried to stop him a fight broke out between them. The elder asked her younger sister to escape from the room. The younger sister had escaped at first along, with the elder sister fleeing in a different direction, but sadly Nai Od's friend outside the room spotted where the young girl had hid, so Nai Od captured the young girl and brought her back into the room and raped her while she pleaded for help from surrounding neighbors. The source said Nai Od brandished a gun to keep people from stopping him.


The two girls are originally from Ye Township,
Mon State, in southern Burma from which about fifty thousand registered migrant workers have left to migrate to work in the fishing industry in Mahachai, Thailand.

 

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Overseas Mon community

 

AMERICAN MON WOMEN ORGANIZE

 (Kao Wao, December 1, 2003)


Mon women in the
United States of America recently founded the Mon Women Organization of USA, on November 16, 2003.

 

35 Mon women gathered at a newly built Mon Buddhist Temple in Fort Wayne, Indiana electing (11) central committee members to lead a newly formed Mon women organization in the USA.


“Improving the patriotic spirit, culture and literature among the Mon nationals in the
USA is our primary aim”, said Mi Jarai Mon, chairwoman of the Mon Women Organization. She also said they will strive for gender equality and women’s rights as stated by international and United Nations’ principles to eliminate discrimination against women.  For future activities, the MWO (USA) will launch networking strategies with Mon women organizations and communities around the world.


Women fourteen and over can apply for membership and those eighteen and above can vote and be nominated into the leading committee. The committee is responsible for implementing activities freely without affiliation with any other organization. The women expressed a great responsibility in participating in the struggle for freedom and were pleased with the high turn out of women willing to work together, they will begin capacity building among their members before starting other activities.


Over 200 Mon people are now residing in
Fort Wayne and more than 80 have settled in other states including Minnesota, Ohio, North Carolina and New York.

 

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Drugs

 

POPPIES BLOSSOM IN THE NORTH AGAIN

(S.H.A.N: December 15, 2003)

 

Unlike last year, when suppression was at its height, poppy fields have begun to appear in places where there were only desolate hills, said sources returning from northern Shan State.

 

The sources who were on vacation since the end of the Buddhist Lent, said except for parts of Kutkhai and Hsipaw townships, more poppy fields were observed in townships like Lashio, Hsenwi, Muse, and Tangyan.

 

In Tangyan, local authorities appeared to be oblivious to the poppy fields in locations where, during the previous year, they had dispatched armed teams to destroy.

 

"This year's harvest is really good, especially around Khun Sa's home ground, Loimaw, Nawngliang, Mongtawm, Nam Musay, Wan Parng and Mongma," said a native from the area. "And people leaving for their fields looked exuberant as if they were going to a festival."  Mongzi and Monghawm in Kutkhai township, once known as major opium producer in the area, and Mongkhurh, Mongtoong, Mongla and Marnnawng in Hsipaw township, however, are exceptions.

 

"Cowed by last year's suppression, some farmers in Mongzi and Monghawm have moved elsewhere," a local source told the visitors. Kutkhai was one of the townships that had undergone harsh reprisals, such as extrajudicial killings, as reported in Show Business: Rangoon's War on Drugs in Shan State, released by S.H.A.N. on 10 December.  The vacationers also saw numerous poppy fields in the Wa townships of Marnhparng and Pangyang, on the eastern side of the Salween, opposite Tangyan and its neighboring township in the south, Monghsu.


"Spurred on by the 2005 zero-production deadline declared by Panghsang, even Wa officers and their families are in a frenzy to make the most of the remaining two poppy seasons," a relative told the visitors. "The officers' involvement naturally encourages us ordinary people to work harder."


In southern
Shan State, especially in Monghsu, Mongkerng, Laikha, Panglong, Kunhing, Loilem, Hopong and Hsihseng, where the travelers had visited, the production, by all accounts, is up. One of the officers of Light Infantry Battalion 514, based in Mongkerng, explained: "Unlike the north, many parts of the south are still black areas (areas where the resistance is active). And that gives us a very strong justification for allowing the people to engage in the poppy cultivation. In the north, they don't have that kind of excuse."


The Shan State Army "South" of Yawdserk, in the meanwhile, insists that it is all for peace talks but "the problem is they keep demanding that we surrender. That is against our principle. We will only surrender to an elected government."


In Panglong, the demand for fertilizers for use in the poppy fields for some traders in town were making profits from selling chicken manure brought from Shwenyaung, according to a recent arrival.


The UN Officer for Drugs and Crime reported in June that opium cultivation was cut by half in northern
Shan State but increased by 21% in the Wa region.

 

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Perspective

 

SHOULD WE FORGET THE PAST?

(Lawi Weng)

 

The Burmese military has released five senior members of the NLD (National League for Democracy) who were detained on May 30th 2003. They were released shortly after the U.N.'s human rights envoy Mr. Paulo Sergio Pinheiro visited Burma's prison in the first week of November. Mr. Pinheiro demanded that the Burmese regime release all political prisoners. He also urged them to release older political prisoners because it tarnished the country's reputation to see old political prisoners being held in Burma he said.

 

By releasing the NLD's five members of the central executive committee, I believe the regime is much like a fox, which wags its tail in front of his owner. But when his owner is no longer looking, he tries to steal the chickens in the cage, again. The Burmese fox awarded five of the chickens amnesty to highlight to the audience that he wouldn't eat them. Indeed, the chickens really made him hungry, but he turned a blind eye so the audience didn't know that he wanted to eat them. Meanwhile Burma's military leaders were drooling over the prisoners they freed.

 

I still am skeptical about why the regime gave amnesty to those five prisoners. I know that the regime didn't want to release those five people even though they are old. There are older people than them in prison. Why doesn't the regime release all the seniors in their jails? The regime might think that if they give some rice to other chickens, they will be easy to catch them whenever they want to. By feeding a carrot to the NLD, it will be easier to capture the ethnic ceasefire group’s leaders who are going to step right into the regime's trap and will be put in prison when they attend the next national convention.

 

Instead of releasing those five political prisoners, why doesn't the regime release the NLD key players in politics such U Tin Oo, U Lwin, U Myint Shwe and most importantly, Aung San Sui Kyi? The regime may think that they are younger and have more strength to resist them. They are worried the Depayin's mass killing crimes they committed will come out into the open. They are aware that if they release Aung San Suu Kyi, she will try to call for the international community to set up a commission to investigate the incident of the mass killing.

 

After the May 30 ambush killing, some of the democracy movement organizations, which are based along the Thai-Burma border, tried to implement an ombudsman commission in order to find out what really happened in the Depayin's evidence. They also urged the U.N (United Nations) human right commission to put more pressure on the regime to let the commission investigate the case. Otherwise, the regime is trying to ignore the May 30 ambush's issue. They don't want to have a nightmare, for instance, that the Dead Lord is coming to call them to go to the hell and out of power.

 

From my point of view, it is not possible for the U.N to set up a commission for the democracy movement groups in Burma because we may see a similar event to the genocide killing that happened to the innocent people in Cambodia by the Khmer Rouge. The U.N has tried to set up a criminal court for a long time in Cambodia. But it has never worked out because the Cambodian government doesn't want to cooperate with the U.N. human right’s commission. The Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen was also involved in the mass killing of his people because he was a member of the Khmer Rouge at that time before he fled to Vietnam. If the U.N. sets up the court, he will also be prosecuted in court.

 

The Burmese military is afraid like Hun Sen of Cambodia. If they allow an investigation into the May 30 ambush, what of other crimes they have committed, such as the mass killing that occurred in the 1988 student uprising? The regime is going to have to confront the atrocious crimes they have committed and will lose power and have to live in prison for the rest of their lives; the same as Milosevic's Yugoslavian dictatorship. They are looking for a way to hear from the people of Burma while giving them amnesty to all the crimes. They also want Aung San Suu Kyi to forget all the crimes from 1962 to 2003. If they continue to refuse to give power to Aung San Suu Kyi they will continue to remain free of all their crimes.

 

If Aung San Suu Kyi agrees not to talk about the Depayin case after they release her, I am sure that they will release her earlier than the last time. Not only has Aung San Suu Kyi asked for an inquiry, but also the NLD spokesman U Lwin asked for an inquiry into the May 30th ambush to investigate the ambush.

 

Some people may view Aung San Suu Kyi as a hardliner because she doesn't forget the past. She still would like to find out the truth, even though she is under house arrest. And also U Kyint Maung has mentioned if the regime falls, he is going to send them to the War Tribunal. It seems that his voice has intimidated them.

 

It is said, "no one can predict the future." But the regime can predict the future of what will happen to them. This is why the regime doesn't want to release Aung San Suu Kyi and doesn't want to start the national reconciliation process. They don't want to have peace and sustainable democracy for the people of Burma because that would mean they would have to face up to the crimes they have committed against the people of Burma. So, to have peace and sustainable democracy for Burma, should we forget the past?

 

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ANNAN PRESSES BURMA TO WORK ON DEMOCRACY

Reuters: December 20, 2003)


United Nations secretary-general Kofi Annan has urged Burma's military rulers to quickly invite his special envoy to visit so he can help the reclusive south-east Asian nation get to work on a promised shift toward democracy.

 
Mr Annan said he was encouraged by Burmese Foreign Minister Win Aung's pledge at a meeting in Bangkok to embark on a seven-step "road map to democracy" next year by reconvening a constitution-drafting national convention that has been suspended since 1996.

 
In a statement read by his spokesman, Fred Eckhard, the UN chief said he was also encouraged by Win Aung's commitment to implement the transition plan "in an all-inclusive manner".

 
Win Aung this month pledged that all ethnic groups and political parties would be able to participate, including democracy champion and Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy.


Ms Suu Kyi's party won a landslide general election victory in 1990, but the military government ignored the result.


Mr Annan wants his envoy, Malaysian Razali Ismail, "to be allowed to visit Burma as soon as possible to help facilitate the participation of all the parties concerned" in the transition process and the convention, Mr Eckhard said.

 
Burma's government opened a convention in 1993 aimed at drawing up a constitution ensuring a leading role for the military in the country's politics.

 
But Ms Suu Kyi's party walked out of it in 1995, and it has not met again since 1996.


Ms Suu Kyi and scores of her supporters were locked up at the end of May following a bloody attack on her convoy by pro-government youths as she traveled outside the capital.  She was allowed to go home after an operation in September but remains
under house arrest, refusing liberty until others arrested with her are freed.

 
Mr Razali has spearheaded a strong UN push for national reconciliation and democracy in Burma, but its rulers accuse international governments of meddling in its internal affairs and have warned of instability if Western-style democracy is imposed.

 
Mr Annan last month criticised the authorities for preparing their August 30 road map without setting out a timeline or consulting any opposition figures including Ms Suu Kyi.

 

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KAO WAO NEWS GROUP

 

Email: kaowao@hotmail.com, kaowao@shaw.ca

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

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