**************************BurmaNet*************************** "Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies" ************************************************************* The BurmaNet News: 4 April 1995 Issue #139 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ NOTED IN PASSING: Ronfeldt and a colleague coined the term netwar to describe what happens when loosely-affiliated networks -- social activists, terrorists, or drug cartels -- use new information technologies to coordinate action. Throughout the world, these networks are replacing "hierarchies" as the primary form of political organization among opponents of the state. Contents: ********************INSIDE BURMA**************************** THE NATION: EVERYTHING FOR SALE, EXCEPT FREEDOM CSM: CHINESE INROAD TO MANDALAY IRKS LOCALS *********************CHIN STATE***************************** KHRG: SLORC ABUSES IN CHIN STATE ********************THE WA HILLS**************************** BKK POST:THE WA: OPIUM'S DESTITUTES *********************SHAN STATE***************************** SCB: KHUN SA CONNIVING WITH FOREIGN AND ANTI-GOVT ORGANIZATIONS [SLORCITE] *********************THAILAND******************************* BKK POST: BURMESE MP AMONG THOSE HELD IN NORTH BKK POST: BURMA FIGHTING TAKES ITS TOLL ON GEMS TRADE ********************INTERNATIONAL*************************** SCB: PROJECT BURMAWEB BURMANET: ARTICLES ON NETWAR AND PERHAPS, PEACE PSN: NETWAR COULD MAKE MEXICO UNGOVERNABLE ZNLA: LETTER FROM SUBCOMMANDANTE MARCOS SCB-H: SARAJEVO ON LINE ************************************************************** The BurmaNet News is an ********************************* electronic newspaper * Iti * covering Burma. 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For a * edbytherule * free subscription to * oflaw...fear * the BurmaNet News, send * is ahab it. * an e-mail message to: * Iam * * no * majordomo@igc.apc.org * taf * * ra * In the body of the message, * id. * type "subscribe burmanet-l" * Aun * (without quotation marks) * gSa * * nS * Letters to the editor, * uu * comments or contributions * Ky * of articles should be * i. * sent to the editor at: ********************************* strider@igc.apc.org In Washington: Attention to BurmaNet c/o National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma (NCGUB) Information Office 815 15th Street NW, Suite 609 Washington D.C. 20005 Tel: (202) 393-7342, Fax: (202) 393-7343 In Bangkok: Attention to BurmaNet c/o Burma Issues PO Box 1076, Silom Post Office Bangkok 10504 Thailand Tel: (066) (02) 234-6674, Fax: (066) (02) 631 0133 [The NCGUB is the government-in-exile, made up of the people who won the election in 1990. Burma Issues is a Bangkok-based non-governmental organization that documents human rights conditions in Burma and maintains an archive of Burma-related documents. Views expressed in The BurmaNet News do not necessarily reflect those of either NCGUB or Burma Issues] ************************************************************** *************THE BURMANET NEWS--APRIL 4, 1995***************** ************************************************************** ********************INSIDE BURMA**************************** NATION: EVERYTHING FOR SALE, EXCEPT FREEDOM 2 April 1995 Rangoon, Burma - With his air conditioning going full blast, U Kyaw Kyaw Aung scans Rangoon's urban horizon from his new Toyota Sprinter. "There's one," he says, pointing to a satellite dish barley visible from the road. "They're not legal, but I know they're there because I installed them." Kyaw Kyaw Aung, who builds satellite dishes, defines Burma's stilting but emerging business class. His gross income of US$3,300 a month - more than 10 times what he earned as a technician for the united States Embassy - has made him one of the capital city's nouveau rich. Kyaw Kyaw Aung's business, too, is a mark of the nascent middle class - consumers with the money to buy a channel to the outside world. He estimates that there are some 4,000 registered satellite dishes in Ragoon and 20,000 that are not registered. "Anybody who has a back yard has a satellite dish," he says. "Nearly everybody can afford it - 50,000 kyat (Bt12,500) is nothing." But the average civil servant, earning about half that amount in a year, would surely disagree. For the 85 per cent of the population eking out a life in the countryside, luxury is defined by a corrugated roof and running water, not access to Cable News Network. Still, as the government follows communist Cuba and China by choosing a capitalist path and abandoning "The Burmese road to Socialism", which impoverished the country for more than a quarter century, there are signs that the free market is beginning to create some prosperity. And the government, itself, is sharking, pushing as many people as possible out of the socialist nest. "They will have to fend for themselves, become entrepreneurs, join the private sector, do something," says David Abel, head of the National Planning Ministry. "After all," he chuckles, "it's a capitalist economy." In 1988, when the government initially adopt limited market reforms, Abel says it controlled more than 95 per cent of the country's gross domestic product. After privatizing farming and their industries, he says, the private sector today controls 76 per cent of GDP. Ultimately, he predicts that only 5 per cent of Burma's economy will be in the hands of the government. As yet, Burma has at best a half baked capitalist economy, with the winners preordained by the government. It still gives government workers very inexpensive supplies of rice, gasoline, and other necessities, as it did during the socialist era; most of these supplies go to high-ranking military officers who then sell their rations on the black market at an 800 per cent markup. What's different today is that not only government officials are getting whealthy, but private citizens are beginning to reap the benefits of the trade and limited capitalism. Generally, the new middle class is comprised of the English-speaking educated elite well-known to the government - either through family ties, or surprisingly, through their opposition to the government. Take U Set Aung, who set up a joint venture importing used Korean-made motorcycles, sees two keys to doing business here, aside from some understanding of market economics and hard work: Government connections and political neutrality. Such political caution is also heard along Maha Bandoola Garden Street, Rangoon electronics centre. Ma Phyu Phyu Htun, sales manager at the Apple computer Co-op Stores Syndicate, says only in a climate of political "stability" can she shell her computers, priced from $1,350 to $8,000. "The military government is good for business, I would voted for this government over the NLD," she says. The National League for Democracy (NLD), led by Aung San Suu kyi won a landslide victory in the elections in 1990. Asked why she would not support the democracy party, Phyu Phyu Htun observes simply: "We can't eat democracy." What is happening is that the Burmese are beginning to taste the fruits of the market economy, even though it has not been completely liberalized. Many citizens can now buy "modern" conveniences for the first time. Western sources estimate that the number of telephones, TVs, and cars has nearly doubled in five years. The years of economic contraction have been reversed. In 1992-93, the economic growth rate was a real 6 per cent, according to government statistics. Inflation rose more than 30 per cent, but some western diplomats say the cost of basic necessities has increased even faster. "The government is trying give businessmen a stale in the system," says U Than Htun Aung, who manages a consulting firm in Rangoon. "That's part of their strategy. Yadanabon Enterprises, Than Htun Aung's firm, epitomizes one of the government's biggest problems: disaffection of the country's educated elite. In 1988, Than Htun Aung and 10 colleagues at the foreign Ministry marched in the pro-de- mocracy demonstrations against the government. They were forced to resign. So they started a business advising foreign governments and non governmental organisations on operation in Burma. But if Yadanabon marks a loss of government talent, it also shows how effectively political dissent is corralled. "The government doesn't make trouble for us," Than Htun Aung says. "We stay within the bounds. We don't over step. We don't belong to any political organizations." The government appears to be luring former political activists into business, says one prominent former politician. After he was released from jail last year, he says government representatives told him: "'We will not tolerate you if you go back into politics. But if you want to do business, religious work, etc, we'll give you full assistance.' So I told them I wanted a fax machine, and they had one installed. I told them I wanted an IDD international telephone line, and they put one in." But many Burmese say such compromises would dissolve if free elections were allowed and the results upheld. "If the NLD were under the leadership of Aung San Suu Kyi and there would be a free election, they would voted for the NLD," says one businessman. Another adds quickly, "95 per cent of them would vote for the NLD." (TN) CSM: CHINESE INROAD TO MANDALAY IRKS LOCALS [From the Christian Science Monitor, reprinted in The Nation, 2 April 1995] Mandalay, Burma - To see Burma's love-hate relationship with China, one need look no further than Daw Myint Myint Than and her mother, Daw Hmi. Two years ago, they lived in a spacious home inn the centre of Mandalay, Burma, complete with running water and electricity. Today they live outside the city, in a new suburb called Pebyu Gone. Now their electricity comes from a generator, and their water is drawn from a tank outside. They moved from the city, they say, because the government ordered all residents in their neighbourhood to build brick walls around their homes, adorned with "well designed gates". "We could not afford the repairs," says Daw Hmi. "We had no choice but to move." As it turned out, the women played the soaring real estate market with more skill than Donlad Trump. They sold their home to a wealthy Chinese family from Yunnan Province, bought a more spacious house, and walked away with about US$12,500 (Bt312,500) in profit - not bad in a country where the average annual income is US$250 (Bt6,250) a year. One might think, then, that Myint Myint Than would be happy about the influx of Chinese that turned their small house into a lifetime savings plan. But she shakes her head slowly. "We cannot say we like it. Not at all." Her comment captures the ambivalence that this most traditional of Burmese cities feels toward the Chinese: They welcome the money and consumer goods from nearby Yunnan, but they recent the foreigners taking the best of Mandalay for themselves. "The central part of any city is always regarded as a business centre and land prices of such regions are usually very high," says U Tun Kyi, the mayor of Mandalay. "It is not the concern of the government since it is a normal outcome of the changing economic system. The govern- ment has no control on the land prices.' The Burmese agree that it is the invisible hand of the market, rather than government design, that is turning Mandalay into " a province of Yunnan", as U Kyaw Thein, chairman of the Bur- ma Trading centre, am association of agricultural traders, puts it. He and others worry that Mandalay is part of a Chinese push to gain new markets and a route to the India Ocean. In the process, he says, Mandalay is selling its economic future too cheaply and becoming dependent on the inexpensive goods from the north rather than building its own industry. The Ava stereo store in the heart of Mandalay's electronics district is a testament to Chinese ingenuity and success. Displayed in the front of the store is a small "Sony" stereo. In fact, says salesman U Maung Maugn Aye, the stereo was made in China and given a bogus Japanese label. The quality is poorer than the stereos from Singapore, and comparable to those made in Burma by Daewoo, a Korean joint-venture. "the Chinese merchants know the Burmese market. They know if a stereo from Singapore costs 9,000 kyats (Bt2,250), and one from Daewoo costs 6,000 kyats (Bt1,500), then the Chinese will price their at 3,000 kyats(Bt750)," saleman U Maung Maung Aye says. The seeds of these problems were planted about 32 years ago, when Gen Ne Win staged a mili- tary coup, hermetically sealed the country, and set it off on the ruinous "Burmese Way to So- cialism". For 26 years, all foreign trade was officially cut off, and the Burmese lived in a con- sumer time warp, but a flourshing black market in goods from china, Thailand, and India con- tinued. Not until Ne Win retired in 1988 was border trade permitted again. In the meantime, says one textile shop owner, the Burmese suffered " a generation gap in economics". "Before 1962, we Burmese owned factories, we could compete with the Chinese," he says. But after the military government nationalized all businesses and shops, he says, "the bright children became doctors and writers, not businessmen. Now that the economic door is open again, we lack experience in a market system, and we can't compete.' But there is a resentment toward the Chinese acumen and everything to do with politics. As one businessman put it, "Our government's life depends on the Chinese. That's where they get arms." Since 1990, Burma's military government has bought more than a billioon dollars of Chinese International Peace Research Institute. The weapons helped tip the balance in the 45-year-old civil war with ethnic minorities fighting for independence. They also give the military the abili- ty to put down any revolt, should demonstrators ever choose to repeat the 1988 democratic up- rising. "It's clear that the Burmese decided to sidle up to the Chinese, and that puts them between a rock and a hard place," says Charles Meconis, Research director at the Institute for Global Se- curity Students in Seattle, Washington. In the meantime, people in Mandalay are watching as the Chinese customs and dialect penetrate the city. "the cultures are becoming mixed," says Kyaw Thein, of the Burma Trading centre. The Chinese are wearing Burmese Longyi (sarong), and Burmese wear short Chinese pants. "But next time you come, you will see only the long pants of the soldiers and short pants of the Chinese. The Longyi will be all gone." copyright 1995. the Christian Science Monitor Publishing. Distributed by the Los Angeles Times Syndicate. (TN) *********************CHIN STATE***************************** KHRG: SLORC ABUSES IN CHIN STATE An Independent Report by the Karen Human Rights Group March 15, 1995 / KHRG #95-09 In late 1994, KHRG helped to provide equipment and training to a few Chin individuals who are interested in documenting the human rights situation in Chin State. Since then, we have begun receiving reports and photographs from the area. This report contains the first installment of this information. While the Karen Human Rights Group focuses its activities primarily on Karen areas, we are always eager to document the situation of all peoples and areas of Burma whenever firsthand information is available. We hope we can continue to help the Chin people to disseminate information on their homeland, which is largely ignored by the outside world. Chin State is in northwestern Burma, adjacent to southern Bangladesh and India's Mizoram and Manipur states. It is mostly semi-mountainous remote hill country, and is home to the Zo people, also known as Chin, who also inhabit much of the adjacent part of India. The small but active Chin National Front is involved in armed struggle against SLORC, but there is very little fighting there compared to many other parts of Burma. In spite of this, the SLORC behaves much the same in Chin State as it does in the country's war zones, as is shown by the sample of incidents listed in this report. Names have been changed and some details omitted where necessary in this report to protect the people involved. Names which have been changed are indicated by enclosing them in quotation marks. Please feel free to use this report in any way which may help the peoples of Burma, but do not forward it to any SLORC representatives. TOPIC SUMMARY: Torture (Stories #1,2,3), Forced Labour (#1,3), Threatening massacres (#1,2), People fleeing to become refugees (#1,2,3), Unlawful conviction & sentencing (#3), Jail conditions (#3), Death in custody (#3), Interrogation drugs & torture (#3), State stealing of ethnic children (#4), Burmanization & religious persecution (#4). _______________________________________________________________ _______________ #1. NAME: "U Mya Aung" SEX: M AGE: 28 Chin Buddhist farmer ADDRESS: Longkadoo village, Plat Wa township, Chin State Two days before we came here, Company 1 of SLORC Battalion #376 called us to Doh Chaung Wa village. They called 12 villagers to go, but only 3 people could go because the villagers were very busy in their fields. So only 3 of us went. The other two were Maung Sein from Ohn Thee Wa village and Tin Soe from Paut Htoo Wa village. Then the soldiers said, "We called for 12 villagers. Why didn't you comply with our order?" So they started beating us. Then they forced the 3 of us to saw wood to build their fence, but we didn't know how to saw it. Then the soldiers accused us of being against them, so they tied up two of us with our hands behind our backs and punched and kicked all of us several times. They beat me worse than the other two. At the time, we were so scared that we tried to bribe them to release us with 1,000 Kyat. After they got the 1,000 Kyat they released us. When I got back to my village the situation got worse, because the wife, daughter and niece of the Plat Wa police inspector, U Law Her, came to our village and stayed at the village headman's house, then they disappeared. These women said they came to trade. We don't know where they went after they stayed in our village. Maybe the rebels kidnapped them. Because of this, our village headman U Ram Doh was arrested by Captain Htun Way from Battalion #376, Company 1. They took him to Pone Yaung Wa army camp, and after they got there they asked him questions: "Where are the three women?" The village head told them he didn't know anything about it, and they tied his hands and his legs and sank him in water again and again, so many times. After he couldn't say anything anymore, the soldiers punched him, kicked him and beat him with rifle butts so many times. We heard that they broke his nose and that he was bleeding all over his body and his face. Now we don't know if he's dead or alive. The day after arresting our headman, the SLORC Army sent a message with a man to our village telling us to send these 3 women back to Plat Wa town as soon as possible or else they will kill all of our villagers [this messenger (a conscripted villager) also described the torture of the headman to them]. We didn't know anything about these 3 women so we couldn't do anything. At 9 p.m. on the night of 28 December 1994, the villagers decided that we would all have to flee from our village. Some went to India, some went to Cha Krau and we came here to Kessephai together with 20 families, 123 of us altogether. We reached Kessephai [in Rarjamati province, Bangladesh] the next morning, on 29 December. Most of the people in our group are old people and children. After we reached here, we had problems to live. We stayed at the village head's house and another house, and they collect rice from the other villagers to feed us. They will finish collecting it in 1 or 2 days. We don't know how we will survive. All of our belongings, buffalos, cattle, rice, and other crops, we had to leave behind at our village. We couldn't carry anything with us. We heard that the soldiers came to our village the next day and took everything. This village where we are staying now is still very close to the Burma border, so we still have to worry for our safety and we had to plead to The Hi Ni village militia to help protect us from Burmese soldiers. Some of our people are sick [it is a cold winter in the Chin Hills] and there is no medicine. We don't know how we will survive. _______________________________________________________________ _______________ #2. NAME: "U Myo Thant" SEX: M AGE: 40 Chin Buddhist, farmer ADDRESS: Longkadoo village, Plat Wa township, Chin State For a long time, we lived comfortably in our village and we had no problem with our farms. But last week, just before we fled here, our headman went to Plat Wa town. When he came back, 3 women followed him. These women are the wives of policemen. They said they were coming to the village to trade. They slept one night in our village and then they disappeared. We don't know where they went. Then Company #1 of SLORC Battalion #376 called our headman to their Pone Yaung Wa camp because the 3 women had disappeared. When our headman arrived at their camp, the SLORC Army asked him where the 3 women were. He told them the women had slept one night in his house, then the next day he didn't see them anymore so he didn't know where they had gone. Then the soldiers tied his hands behind his back and sunk him in water. Then they asked him more questions. The headman told them he didn't know anything about the situation of the 3 women, so they pushed him under the water many times and started beating him. They tied his arms and his legs with a rope, and they punched him and kicked him many times. They hit him with a rifle butt. After the last blow he had a broken rib, his nose had been crushed by the rifle butt and his whole body was swelling up. Then the Army ordered him to send the 3 women to them. "If not", they said, "We are going to kill all the villagers." The next day, on 28 December 1994, the Army sent a man named Mao Char Mu, 40 years old, from Pone Yaung Wa village to our village to give us this message and to take back our answer [he also described the torture of the headman to them]. They ordered the villagers to send the 3 women immediately to Plat Wa town, and threatened "If not, we are going to kill all the villagers." We didn't know how to solve this problem. There was no choice for us. We were afraid we would be killed that night, so we had to run away. Some of the villagers ran to India and some to Kessephai [in Bangladesh]. My family and 12 other families ran here to Cha Krau [a village in Bangladesh]. We are 97 people altogether. We left Longkadoo village on 28 December at about 8 p.m. We had to walk the whole night, then we arrived here at Cha Krau on 29 December. We had no relatives here, and we had no food, so it is difficult for us to stay here and we have to face many troubles. A man from the village is letting us stay at the primary school. We had to flee immediately from SLORC, so we couldn't carry any food, blankets, or clothing. We had to leave behind our buffalos, our cattle, our pigs and our paddy and flee. Right now I just get too tired trying to think about how to solve our problems and continue our lives. We don't even know if our headman is dead or not. It is impossible to go back to our village. We don't dare try to survive there anymore. [The 97 people are currently staying in the primary school, a building 16 feet wide by 24 feet long, in Cha Krau village, Rarjamati District, Bangladesh. Many of them have bad colds from a particularly cold winter, and some are also suffering from malaria. They have no access to medical treatment, and no food except what the local villagers can give them.] _______________________________________________________________ _______________ #3. NAME: "Maung Ko" SEX: M AGE: 27 Chin Christian, student ADDRESS: Ma Tu Pi township, Chin State I and two of my friends named Thin Lian Klai and Thin Lian Sun went to Mizo Yapet in India to make some money during the school holidays. At the time, I was studying at the high school of Ma Tu Pi township. Along our way between Plat Wa and Phai Chaung, we saw many other people going as well. After we reached Phai Chaung, we met with SLORC Light Infantry Battalion #20 led by Captain Zaw Win. They interrogated us, accused us of being collaborators with rebels and detained us. We denied that we were collaborating with rebels. We tried hard to explain to them that we were just going to trade chickens in Mizo Yapet to get money for school, but they didn't accept this. They started beating and torturing us. After punching and kicking us many times, they covered my head and sank it in water, then they pulled my ribs apart [they reached around him from behind, grabbed the right and left sides of his lower ribcage and tried to wrench them apart]. They also used the "riding a bicycle" torture [a common SLORC torture - the victim is forced to squat in a riding position and pretend he's riding a bicycle or motorcycle, often also being forced to make honking noises, etc., under the torturer's instructions such as "Turn left! Stop! You didn't stop soon enough!" - the victim is then severely beaten], and they also forced us to squat as if we were shitting or pissing for a long time. They forced us to stand for the whole day and said "You have to confess. I am going to beat you up until you confess." They put 3 bags over my head and then they beat my back several times with a rifle butt. Then they beat my legs 100 or 200 times with a cane stick. Finally we had to confess. We said that we were collaborators with rebels. Then Captain Zaw Win sent us to court charged with 4 criminal offenses under Article 17 (1). We had no opportunity for defence. The Plat Wa court said, "We cannot sentence for political offenses", so they transferred us to Sittwe Township in Arakan State. In that court we had an opportunity to defend ourselves. In court we told them that we were not collaborators with rebels. The judge said to the Army men, "You must show evidence. Unless you can produce any evidence, we cannot convict them of being against the country." So then the SLORC Army sent a man to the court. The judge asked him, "Can you give any evidence against them? If not, we can't convict them under this Article, and we can't detain them. If you can't produce any evidence, we will release them." The Army had no evidence. Then the judge said to us, "I'm sure that you are not rebel collaborators. I could release you now by my authority. But I am so sad. I cannot do that for the time being because the Army ordered me not to release you and to put you in jail. According to the law you are clear of the crime, you are not guilty. But as you know, our country is governed by the Army and we cannot do anything against their orders. Therefore, I will have to go along with this Article. It says you can be detained for 3 to 7 years. I am going to sentence you to 3 years, because this is the shortest possible period of time. I am sure you are not guilty, and they couldn't produce any evidence. But I am daunted by the military authorities." So the judge sentenced us to 3 years and they sent us to Sittwe jail. They put the 3 of us in a 10-foot by 5-foot dark cell for 6 months. They gave us one pot for a latrine. Nothing else, only bare cement. When the pot got fuller and fuller, we asked them to empty it but they wouldn't. The smell of shit was all over the room. We had to suffer that for 6 months. In the dark room, my friend Lian Sun died of the fever he got from being tortured. We tried to report it to the authorities before he died, but they ignored us. After he died, they took his dead body to the hospital and the doctor said that he died of a heart attack. After 6 months in the dark room, my other friend was released to a normal cell, but he wasn't allowed to meet or talk to any other prisoners. We could talk to each other during the shifts of labour, but the chains on our legs were very strong. In the jail, an MI [Military Intelligence] man came to us and interrogated us often. Before he interrogated us, he made us spin around 20 times. We slowly got dizzy, and sometimes we vomited [Note: in their weak condition, the effect of this would be much stronger than on a healthy person]. Then they blindfolded us and took us walking for 20 minutes, but we didn't know where we were going. They brought 2 or 3 pills and forced us to swallow them. We couldn't protest. Half an hour after taking these pills, we slowly became very frightened and afraid. They always did this to us before interrogating us. The way the MI interrogates people is really terrible, not only to me but to the other prisoners as well. They put pins under our fingernails. They used nail-clippers to pinch our skin, and they poured very cold water on the front part of our heads. They have several ways of torturing and interrogating. Even though you are not killed, you can never be normal again. The food in the jail is really bad. They fed us twice a day, half paddy [unmilled rice, which has indigestible husks on it] and half rice. Whenever they could, they put soda in the rice gruel, so that if you leave this rice for one hour, it becomes liquid. If you eat only the rice they give you in jail, you cannot stay alive for long. If you want better rice you have to pay at least 100 Kyat per month to the jail warden. There was so much bribing going on in the jail. Unless you could bribe them, you had to suffer. In these conditions, at least 4 people died every month from starvation in Sittwe jail. By the blessing of God, I was released from jail on 27 November 1994. I planned to go and stay very happily with my family. But that was impossible, because the authorities gave me a card. The card means "This person can be arrested at any time." It said I had to report to the police station every two weeks, and they could arrest me anytime, so I had no freedom. I don't want to be arrested again. I am so afraid of that. So I just stayed with my family for one day, and then I fled and came here. ["Maung Ko" (from Ma Tu Pi township) and Thin Lian Klai (from Tan Ta Lan township) were both released after serving their full sentences. Both have now fled to Bangladesh. Thin Lian Sun, from Chaung Do village, Klay Township, died in the first 6 months in prison.] _______________________________________________________________ _______________ #4. On 30 May 1994 copies of the following letter from the Tan Ta Lan Township LORC were distributed in both Burmese and Chin languages throughout Tan Ta Lan town and to all villages in Tan Ta Lan Township: Township Law & Order Restoration Council Tan Ta Lan Township Letter No. 01/3-1/TLORC (Tan Ta Lan) Date: 1994 May 30 To: Chairmen Quarter / Village Law & Order Restoration Council Groups _________________ town / village Subject: Announcing the provision of higher education to children 1) Regarding the above subject, with the purpose of giving higher education to the children for the development of areas in the state, those below the age of 14 years are to be provided with food and clothing, provided education, and trained to be refined individuals without any racial or religious discrimination. 2) Therefore, nationals should send their children either to Rangoon or to Tan Ta Lan town in order that they may be educated. Bearing in mind the well-being of their children, they should announce the giving of higher education to the villages. Remarks: (1) The State will provide lodging, board, clothes and all other necessities for the children who enroll for higher education. (2) These children should bring with them all their particulars: date of birth, names of parents, National Registration Card number, name of village, and religion. (3) These children should be sent to Tan Ta Lan town before the end of July 1994. (4) They will be allowed to worship and practice their own religion. Attached is a copy of a translation in Chin language [Sd.] (for) Chairman (Chin Za Bone, Secretary) Some of the Christian Chin in the township believed the announcement, and at least 9 children were entrusted into the care of SLORC. They were taken first to Tan Ta Lan town, then to Rangoon. Since the end of July 1994 there has been no communication whatsoever from or about them. They have been completely cut off from their parents. When the parents investigated, they learned that all of the children were living at K'Ba Aye Buddhist monastery in Rangoon. This was communicated to the Chin Christian community in Rangoon. In the first week of December 1994, they went to the abbot of the monastery and asked permission to see these children, but permission was refused. In the third week of December 1994, two representatives from Chin State went down to Rangoon to attend the SLORC's national convention and learned about the Chin children. They went to the authorities and asked permission to see the children, and the two of them were granted permission. When they met the children at K'Ba Aye monastery, they found that the boys had had their heads shaved in order to become novice Buddhist monks, while the girls had been pressured repeatedly to have their heads shaved to become Buddhist nuns, but so far the girls had refused. All of the children cried and begged to be taken home when the 2 representatives met them. However, the children are still being held at the monastery. [Note: Not only is the SLORC using the promise of education to steal Chin children, Burmanize them and coerce or force them to become Buddhists, but there is also a further danger that as soon as the boys reach age 14 or 15 they are very likely to be conscripted into the Burma Army. SLORC has used similar tricks in the past in areas such as the Irrawaddy Delta, where it has invited young Karen boys to sporting tournaments only to kidnap them and force them into the Army. The Tatmadaw has a history of grabbing orphans and other small boys and housing them at Army camps, indoctrinating them and using them as errand boys until they are big enough to be soldiers. As Cambodian civilians learned from the Khmer Rouge, such kidnapped and brainwashed children can make the most terrifying of teenage soldiers.] *********************THE WA HILLS*************************** BKK POST: THE WA: OPIUM'S DESTITUTES 2 April 1995 >From hunting heads to opium farming Twenty years ago they were hunting heads. Now as fighting continues in northern Burma, the Wa are still the largest producers of opium, out-farming the famous Khun Sa. But three years ago, they offered to stop farming the deadly drug and no one will help them. Thierry Falise and Rene de Saint Laurent explore the Wa's Catch 22 situation. THERE are about 20 women and children, swiftly moving from one poppy to another, like a platoon of surgeons equipped with small multi-bladed scalpels, meticulously incising each seed capsule. They left their village early morning and walked two hours to the vast field - a 45 degree slope on the side of mountain opening onto a majestic valley. The lovely earth is covered with white, red and purple poppy flowers, light green, plump capsules stand straight on their stem, ready to deliver their precious tears. Everyone has to work fast, for sudden rain can destroy the harvest, as can an aggressive sun which dries the flowers and their opium treasure. It take only a few seconds for capsules to sweat thin milky drops which, when met with air, quickly get brown and sticky. Late afternoon, the two-hectare field is bled white. The morning after, the army of incisors will return with spatula to scrape opium latex. Woman will then gather in the village to weigh and pack the brown gum inside banana leaves and a white paper wrapping which is used to make opium bowls. The produce is ready to sell on lo- cal markets. It takes around 3,000 poppies to produce one viss (1.6 kilogrammes). This year in a Wa Hills - a vast mountain territory at the heart of the Golden Border - the mood is euphoric. There has been no big rain and the sun shone gently. "We should double opium production compared to last year, a shift from 2,000 to 4,000 tons," claims Kyauk Ni Lai, a tall, slim man of 56. He is secretary general of the United Wa State Party (UWSP), the WA territory's de facto government. According to the last US State Department report,, 2,230 tons of opium were produced last year in the Burmese part of the Golden Triangle. The two other countries, Thailand and Laos, produce not more than 200 tons. And yet, because of bad weather, this harvest was 21% lower than the previous year. Whatever the real production is, the Wa still produce the most opium, far ahead of other Golden Triangle hilltribes work in for the Kokang - a Chinese ethnic group established to the North-West of the Wa - and Shan during kingpin Khun Sa. A lot of villagers confirm Kyauk Ni Lai's prediction. "Last year, 20 members in my family made by 4 viss, this year we should made at least 8 viss," says Pao Ny Pun, from Kua Nae vil- lage. Passion for opium: The Wa have been producing opium from generations. Rare chronicles of the beginning of the 20th Century about Wa Hills all mention that activity. "Their real crop is opium," says one of them. "they have a passion for opium," adds another. At the end of the 19th century and beginning of 20 century , the Wa territory was mostly no man's land infested by head-hunters which neither Chinese nor British colonialists wished to ad- minister. Vast amounts of opium was produced on both side of the Burma, China, Siam, British and French colonial territories. Even though opium was banned when Burma gained independence in 1948, criminal or political organisations, such as remnants of the Kuomintang (KMT)and faction of the Burmese commu- nist Party (BCP) kept producing opium to finance an armed struggle or private interests. >From 1988 to 1993, opium producing there more than doubled, from 1,200 to 2,500 tons. The Wa themselves only used small quantities of opium for medical purposes. Addiction is lim- ited to a few old villagers. Virtually all their opium will end up in discrete makeshift bamboo refineries. The operations are found under the protective shade of jungle trees, along small streams and spread throughout the vast Shan State. Under the protection of heavily armed soldiers, Chinese chemists, mostly from Hong Kong and Taiwan, will transform opium gum into "Heroin No.4" the purest from of the deadly drug, A chemist needs ten kilos opium and the few chemical precursors like acetatic anhydride to produce one kilo of heroin. Official the Wa no longer produce heroin. "Most of the heroin is made by the Kokang and Khun Sa," claims Kyauk Ni Lai. But its an open secrete for expert and anti-narcotics organisations that the Wa remain among the biggest producers of heroin in Golden Triangle, and thus in the world. A Bangkok -based Western diplomat says, "the Wa and Khun Sa produce around 65 % of the heroin from Burma. The Wa control refineries in their northern territory but also in the south, along the Thai border some of those refineries are very big..." The production system is the same as Khun Sa's. The management of some refineries is sub- contracted to Chinese ethnic Haw businessmen - in which case the Wa provide armed protection and get a contract price of percentage from heroin production. Others are jointly owned and some totally owned by the Wa. Two year ago, one of the main Wa leaders was known to be directly in charge of a refinery with a daily production capacity of 150 kilos of No.4. Some Wa leaders have been steadily subcontracting to the three Wei brothers, an under ground Chinese family with a long drug involvement history. The Wa leaders deny the heroin refineries' existence "because they are ashamed, they know their negative effect in the West," discreetly acknowledges one of their advisers. "They also probably keep those refineries for bargaining in possible future negotiations," adds a Western Thailand -based anti-narcotics agent. Heroin addicts: Foreign government are deeply concerned by an increase in Burmese drug production. According to the State Department, 60 to 70 % of heroin sold on the US market comes from that country. The DEA estimate that 600,000 people are addicted to heroin in USA, half of them in New York City. In Thailand, there are about 200,000 addicts, a lot of them from hilltribe minorities in the north. In those remote areas, pure heroin directly bought from Burmese refineries can cost as little as 35 baht (US 1.4) gram. Burma has an estimated 200,000 to 300,000 addicts and n France, the number of heroin addicts has double in ten years to between 150,000 and 3000,000. "Because of that considerable production increase," explains a Bangkok-based Western anti- narcotics agent, "an improvement of heroin quality, for a constant price, has ben observed." In US the purity has raised from 7% ten year ago to an average of 36%; in France from 3% to 10% and the price has stabilised to about $60 to 200 for one gram. One of the first consequences of higher purity rates is increase in deaths from an overdose. In France, death by heroin overdose have doubled in five year to reach 408 in 1993. Furthermore, according to a few Thai and Thai-based Western sources, the Wa recently diversi- fied activities and became big producers of amphetamines. Million of speed tablets made from Chinese or Indian ephedrine are flooding Thailand and begin to pierce China as well. In Thailand, one table, often mixed with 50 % heroin, is sold for 30 baht to truck and bus driv- ers, fishermen, farm and construction workers but also increasingly to school children. One could expect that the main beneficiaries of the hugely fruitful drug business would be the Wa people. Actually, there is no need to spend mush time in Wa villages to understand that most still live in the Middle Ages, light-year form what's happening to their opium once it goes to local markets. The Wa were not so long ago famous for being head-hunters. Every before harvest season, vil- lage commandos organised ambushed along paths and roads or mass raids against other villages. The purpose was not bring back home as many human heads as possible to favour good crops "The last time I cut a head off - in my life I have cut not less than ten heads - was 20 ear ago," remembers Sia Jeng, headman of Yong Ngrex village, showing a large smile and bright eyes which seem to say these were the good old times when people could still enjoy life. But those time are past and the Wa are no longer "human animals" or "ferocious barbarians" as described by a Chinese explorer in the 1930s. IN more modern time, diseases like dysentery, diarrhoea, malaria and various infection, due to an absence of hygiene, are spreading." Destitutes who are the first step in one of the most lucrative business in the world depend on it because opium is their only possible cash crop. Ta Ailah, a family chief in Lah Tai village, explains that his family "need to produce opium to live six to seven month of this year. The others months we can live on rice, corn or other crops and activities." That economy can thus be very fragile. Last year, due to the bad harvest harvest, many villages began to starve and the Wa Party had to inject cash to help. Opium and heroin benefit go first into the Wa Party's pocket and are mainly used for its own army. According to Kyauk Ni lai, the Party collects a tax of 25% of opium production (in cash or opium) from the producer, another 5% on quantities sold at local market and 5% on quanti- ties sold to outside radars - a lot of them ironically being middlemen from Khun Sa, arch ene- my of the Wa. In 1994, the UWSP Central Committee officially collected 150 million Chinese yuan (US$18 million, half of which came from opium. But that does not include local taxes. Most tax revenue is spent on weapons, ammunition and other military supplies for the 15,000 to 30,000 fighters of the United Wa State Army (UWSA). Cease fire accord: According to a ceasefire agreement signed in 1989 between the Wa and Slorc, the Wa Army, who used to form the BCP rank-and-file, is allowed to keep its weapons and uniforms and play the role of regional militia in it own territory. Armed Slorc soldiers are forbidden from Wa territory. Leader strongly insist on keeping their army operational to be ready against potential attacks. Since the 1989 agreement, relationship between the Slorc and Wa have mostly been uneasy, often on the razor's edge. Both keep talking and meeting. Kyauk Ni lai,often goes to Rangoon, especially for the National Convention as the Chief of delegation for the Wa minority. Khin Nyunt regularly picks up his helicopter to pay visits to the Wa hills. But on the other hand, the Wa say they increasingly mistrust Rangoon generals because they do not fulfil promises made five years ago to develop their country by building roads and their infrastructure. "The Slorc says Kyauk Ni lai, "claims that it spent three billion Kyat(US$million at black market rate) for border area development (for the WA and other minorities). It 's a lie. "The Slorc claims that it helps the Wa but for example, when it builds a hospital, there is neither a bed or a single doctor. And when I ask the Burmese why they do that , they answer "we have our own problems". Kyauk Ni lai likes to tell how Khin Nyunt, during a visit in 1994, offered him three million Kyat (US$25,000) provided he would spread rumours that the Slorc actually built a main road in Wa territory. "I took the money. I knew any way that nobody would believe him," laughs the Wa leader. Security pact: Regularly the pressure is mounting and rumours of military build -up in Northern Burma are spreading. In November 1994, the Wa, the Kokang and the smaller minorities - the Lahu, the Akha and Falaung - formed the Peace and Democratic Front (PDF). The PDF, according to a Thailand-based Burmese minorities expert, was created because those minorities who reached ceasefire were upset by Slorc delays on self-administration claims. The PDF is thus calling for the region East of the Salween River (in Shan State) be autonomous. Bur according to the Kyauk Ni lai, who was appointed PDF chairman, " The main reason behind the PDF id the organisation of a new military cooperation. If one of our members is attacked by anyone we counter attack." The PDF group have altogether an estimated 40,000 troops, well equipped and trained. It's security pact, like a local nation," ADDS THE SAME SOURCE. "To show our Union," says Kyauk Ni lai, "we organised in late Feb for our Chinese neighbours a 3,000 man attack training show." Blaming the Slorc for under-development of the people and aware that Rangoon generals also used their involvement in the drug business to shun them, the Wa leaders two years ago decided to ask for outside help. Kyauk Ni lai and Ta Pang, commanders in chief of the Wa army - both from the Wa two-head leadership - appointed another , Ta Saul Lu, to organise an opium eradication programme in the Wa Territory and try to drag the international community's attention. Ta Saul Lu, 54, is a Sawbwa (the title for 'prince' in Shan State). That short and broad-backed man, who permanently puffs on a Chinese bamboo pipe, has a long history with drugs. He has been fighting drug traffickers since the 1960s for successive Rangoon regimes. From 1984 and 1992, he was also an informer with 120 local agents for the American DEA. Arrested by the Slorc in Jan 1992 after denouncing to the DEA a Burmese military intelligence high officer as a drug trafficker, he was jailed and other tortures for 54 days. He is actually considered by Western anti-narcotics organisation as "a very honest and trustful man, may be the purest in that troubled game" as one of them says. After being released, he was invited to join Kyauk Ni lai,a men he fought during the BCP times, in his home town of Pang Wai in the Wa territory. The Wa leaders' message was clear: "We know that we are considered as the bad guys but our people are the last ones to profit from drug money. So we are ready to convince them to give up opium production and shift to other activities but for that we need outside help, we need agronomists, geologists, doctors and any other kind of know-know." Development potential: The Wa territory seems to have a real potential for development. Old geological studies show presence of minerals and rare metals. And one has just to cross the bor- der to realise that neighbouring China, where a large Wa community lives, managed to develop a variety of production like rice, sugar cane and rubber. Initially. in 1993, that call got a positive answer. The DEA, UNDCP as well as a few Western diplomats based in Bangkok met Ta Saul Lu secretary in the north of Thailand. But the answer was the same from every one: "As official organisations or States, we have to funnel any aid through the Slorc." Most of them consider this politically unrealistic because of human rights abuse in Burma. Many Western countries officially suspended or reduce their aid to Rangoon as long as the junta does not show any significant improvement in the human rights situation. So apart from UNDCP who implemented a few development programmes through the Slorc in a small Wa area, other interested parties had to suspend talks wit the Wa and wait for better times. Within the US government, that issue raised some conflict. The DEA was ready to push the WA proposal even if it meant to go through the Slorc. But the State department, claiming that nothing could be done be America in Burma as long as the Slorc is violating human rights, give a clear "no" to the DEA. In June 1993 for those reasons, according to the reliable sources, the State Department cancelled a the last minute a big meeting in a Wa town with a Slorc and representative from Rangoon's US embassy, DEA and UNDCP. The Wa leadership had carefully prepared that meeting, gathering thousand of troops for a giant parade, and was accordingly very upset. So today, Ta Saul Lu id clearly disappointed. "In nearly three years, there has been no result from the international community," he says bitterly. As a former DEA agent, he also asked for help from the American government. "I sent one of mt men to the DEA office in Rangoon. They told him that they would like to do their best but they are prevented by the Slorc." Apart from that, according to Kyauk Ni lai,a discreet meeting in 1994 in a small Yunnan town between himself and the US ambassador to China, reached a virtual deadlock. Furthermore the publicity organised by Ta Saul Lu and his drug eradication plan have deeply upset the Slorc. Khin Nyunt according to Ta Saul Lu, "said in 1944 to the UWSP Central Com- mittee that I will never get a single kyat from the international community because only the SLorc can implement that eradication plan." Model village: Some drug traffickers have also put a price on Ta Saul Lu's head. Two years ago, he had a hide for a few weeks with his soldiers in jungle along the Thai border to avoid a bunch of killers sent by those traffickers. Ta Saul Lu is disappointed but still wants to believe in his mission. So in a property given to him his wife and their 183 biological and adopted children. There, he began to implement a substitution programme in an attempt to make a "model village" "We have planted 20,000 tea plants, fruit trees and we experiment crops such as corn. My representatives and I also visit village and explain to the people that they have to stop opium production little by little. We have to make with tea what we have been doing with opium for years." The villagers usually say: "We know that opium kills people in the united Nations and in America but for us it's difficult to stop because there is hardly anything else to do. We think that if there is something to eat then we can decide to stop opium. The government most help us." So everywhere, even in the villagers which began to grow tea, every family keeps its opium fields. Does the lack of interest or the powerlessness of foreign countries and organisations mean that nothing can currently be done to help Wa people and convince them to shift from opium to oth- er activities? According to an anti-narcotics expert who requested anonymity, the Wa should make a goodwill gesture. The anti-narcotics community "still trust some of the Wa leaders," says that expert, :but it thinks that they should get rid of the Wei brothers who produce a very large amount of heroin for them. "Then I believe that it would mean that the Wa sincerely wish to seriously negotiate with the Slorc" and maybe finally get some help for their development. This proposal sounds like a seriously warning to the heroin traffickers working for the Wa. They actually might be the next target of a crack-down on heroin warlord launched last year by the US government all over the world. In November 1994, Thai police, in cooperation with the DEA, arrested ten men alleged to be prominent Khun Sa followers. The US have asked for their extradition. It remains to see whether the Wa Will accept easily to turn in the Wei brothers. That family weighs a lot of money, probably more than the Slorc would accept to spend in a few years for their development. (BP) *********************SHAN STATE***************************** SCB: KHUN SA CONNIVING WITH FOREIGN AND ANTI-GOVT ORGANIZATIONS [SLORC] [This is probably from the New Light of Myanmar, but was not identified as such when it was posted] bbatpt soc.culture.burma 9:42 AM Apr 3, 1995 (at au.ac.th) (From News system) Subject: Khun Sa conniving with foreign and anti-Government organizations and KNU for his existence Khun Sa conniving with foreign and anti-Government organizations and KNU for his existence Yangon, 1 April- Special Refresher Course No 15 for Basic Education Teachers concluded at Central Institute of Civil Service in Hlegu Town ship this morning with an address by Chairman of Myanmar Education Committee Secretary-1 of the State Law and Order Restoration Council Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt. The following are extracts from his address concerning matters relating to drug lord Khun Sa and KNU terrorist group. Prevalence of peace and stability in border regions opens up opportunities for development and eradicating drug trafficking and poppy cultivation there, he said. He them emphasized Myanmar's anti-drug campaign which has been jointly carried out with her neighbours, saying many nationals have been abandoning poppy cultivation under the Government's organization, leaving khun Sa's Loimaw drug trafficking terrorist group the only main group, engaged in drug business. Khun Sa, who became financially strong from profits of drug trafficking , strengthened his terrorist group which he named "Mong Tai Army" Due to the Tatmadaw's military operation , which cut off all drug trafficking routes and connection among terrorist bandits, Khun Sa's terrorist group cannot stand firmly any longer, he said. Khun Sa's drug bandit group at present is turning their terrorist acts on small villages along border areas and producing agents to demand extortion money in towns, he said. Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt revealed that Khun Sa is trying to hide his drug trafficking under his faked political activities to gain international assistance, declaring himself as leader of the Shan who is trying to liberate Shan State, although he has Chinese blood. Continuing , the Secretary-1 said Khun Sa had formed Shan People's Representative Committee (SPRC) in June 1992 and after calling a meeting in Homaing camp headquarters in December 1993 , he formed Shan State National Congress (SSNC) with 35 members, self-proclaiming Shan State as a liberated country and self-appointed himself as president. Khun Sa also formed sham organizations, such as, shan Human Rights Foundation (SHRF) led by Hkun Kya Oo, Shan State Organization (SSO) led by former member of a Shan terrorist group Hkun Kya Nu , who is residing in Chiangmai, Thailand , and Shan State Association (USA) led by Sai Hkun Hpa of Washington, to penetrate international circles to conduct anti- Government activities in other countries, revealed the Secretary-1. Secretary-1 said Khun Sa's Shan State Organization (SSO) had attended Conference on Constitution of the Union of Burma held in Marneplaw of terrorist Bo Mya in October 1994 under the sponsorship of National Council of the Union of Burma, an illegal organization, formed with anti-Government groups. SSA (USA) , a drug trafficking centre of Khun Sa, led by Sai Hkun Hpa held Shan State Conference in New York, in January 1995, he said. Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt disclosed that nine bogus groups, which only exist in name, had attended it-Journalists and Writers of Shan State; Lahu Development Organization; Over seas Shan-Europe; Shan Herald Agency for News; Shan Human Rights Foundation; Shan Overseas Association (USA); Shan State Organization ; and Women's Association of Shan State . Leaders of Khun Sa's bogus organization are former Shan terrorists who had fled to other countries. Khun Sa had called them to Homaing camp to attend his political courses. After completion of their courses, they were again sent back to other countries for drug trafficking under the cover of Sham political organizations. He is trying to associated with foreign organizations which do not wish to see Myanmar prosper, terrorist groups and anti-Government groups, said the Secretary-1. Secretary-1 revealed among those who are associating with Khun Sa is Peter Bourne, who had served as adviser for narcotic affairs under former US president Jimmy Carter, who arrived Homaing Camp in February 1994 and meet Khun Sa and leader of SSA (USA) there. The Secretary-1 said Peter Bourne also attended a ceremony in Homaing camp in April 1994 , held by Khun Sa's drug terrorists to mark beginning of their march to attack Mongkyut region, adding this proves Khun Sa's ability to penetrate even influential persons in US . He said Khun Sa has been conniving with KNU terrorist leader Bo Mya , adding they have been secretly trafficking heroin since 1991. Concerning connections between the two terrorist groups, the Secretary-1 said Bo Mya, political in-charge Dr Mata and intelligence chief Soe Soe (a) Nay Soe met Khun Sa and Moe Hein (a) Kun Sein in Homaing camp in December 1987 where they signed an agreement to cooperated in military an economy between MTA and KNU. He said under orders of Bo Mya KNU secretary Phado San Lin and intelligence chief Soe Soe met Khun Sa in Homaing in January 1988 and asked him to open another battle front against the Government and to provide money to KNU to buy arms and ammunition. He said again in October 1991, a KNU party led by Bo Mya met Khun Sa at the camp, asking for military and economic assistance. During 1992 , Khun Sa presented one million bahts to KNU , he said . Law Wadi of KNU with the rank of Lt-Col, Issac with the rank of Lt-Col, mines in charge Phado Saw Htoo and Jack met Khun Sa at the camp in April 1994, at which they discussed cooperation, building of ammunition factory, providing assistance and economic cooperation. The Vice-Chairman, Deputy Military in-charge Kansit and foreign relations and economic in-charge Khun Sai of Khun Sa group were sent to Bo Mya in April 1994 for cooperation and understanding . In the drug trafficking group-KNU relations, Bo Mya repeatedly asked for money from Khun Sa and got assistance for drug trafficking .This made profitable for him and backed Khun Sa's political activities for show. Shan State Organization (SSO) was allowed to attend NCBU meeting organized by KNU , like Sein Win's unofficial government , NLD (Liberated Area) ABSDF terrorist groups and other organizations that opposed the State. Bo Mya lived in luxury in the other country with the assistance of some foreign organizations and income from trafficking and smuggling. After the 1988 disturbances, he also received aid from NGOs in the West for new terrorists described as refugees who sought asylum under the KNU. Since most of the armed groups returned to the legal fold after realizing the government's genuine cetena there is peace and tranquillity in various parts of the country. Only the Khun Sa drug trafficking group, its ally the KNU and small groups under it are left. Khun Sa and remnants of KNU group crushed by the Tatmadaw are causing instability in the region by using hit and run tactics in towns and villages. Recently, Khun Sa's drug trafficking group attacked Tachilek, killing people and burning houses. The group fled to the other country due to the counter-offensive by the security units. It is reported that authorities in the other country only disarmed them and set them free. Myanmar has repeatedly asked them to hand the terrorists over but authorities in the other country did not honour the requests. The two neighbouring countries with goodwill relations should cooperated with mutual respect and understanding in this case and should avoid such an act. Myanmar always respects the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence and does not practise any relations which run counter to them . It is difficult to read the position of neighbouring country toward Myanmar over the Tachilek incident. Political groups of Khun Sa and Bo Mya are making pious noises on human rights and nationalities affairs to the world, demanding expulsion of Myanmar from the UN, economic sanctions, to blackmail politically and to recognize their groups and to provided assistance. Now, the cold war has ended and it is clearly seen that neo-colonialists interfere in the internal affairs of a country shouting human rights and nationalities affairs causing political and economic instability. Accusations are being made to disparse Myanmar's prestige in the world, with the collusion of news agencies and journalists. Political groups of Khun Sa and Bo Mya armed groups, pretending to represent national races and assuming that accusations of some group that opposed the State to be actual events, ask for international pressure for the release of persons arrested, to level object human rights violations and urge economic sanctions. These are one-sided interference ignoring the interest of the entire people. Secretary-1 quoted Chairman of the State Law and Order Restoration Council Senior General Than Shwe as saying on human rights at the opening of Management Course No 5 for Executive Committee members of the Union Solidarity and Development Association that basic rights and democracy must be in harmony with the nature of the country and the people, economy, society, culture and religious and cannot be copied from other by any means. There were instances that even the developed nations fell into trouble as they made carbon-copies of other people's ideas, let alone a developing country like ours . Thus we are giving priority to create firm infrastructure of basic rights such as food, clothing and shelter needs. As long as the infrastructure firm , super structure of human rights can be built stage by stage. In accordance with Senior General 's guidance, the government is fulfilling the food, clothing and shelter needs of every citizen, possession of high standard of living and security. No one can deny that there is peace and political stability in spite of their accusations. Those who pay a visit to Myanmar can enjoy pleasant life of Myanmar people. The State Law and Order Restoration Council presented Liberation Medals to American war veterans of CBI and OSS 101 who fought with allied troops in the struggle for Myanmar's independence. They heard some fabricated news about Myanmar . When they arrived in Myanmar they witnessed that the situation is totally different from what they heard. The government gives the people opportunity to enjoy democracy and human rights on its own decision. Those serving prison terms for violating the existing law were released by reducing their jail terms. Such release is made on its own decision and not because of the pressure of anyone . There has been no human rights violation in Myanmar. He spoke of the need to ignore the accusations and threats of dogmatic persons with green eyes who delay efforts for peace and tranquillity. The State Law and Order Restoration Council is striving for peace and political stability, national reconciliation and the nation is to become a new nation with the new Constitution. **********************THAILAND************************** BKK POST: BURMESE MP AMONG THOSE HELD IN NORTH 2 April 1995 A 52-YEAR old Lahu-ethnic Burmese parliamentary member was identified among the 36 ille- gal Burmese immigrants arrested in this northern capital on Thursday. Daniel Aung, 52, who walk out of the Slorc on April 12 last year, was arrested along with the rest of the Burmese immigrants while attending a seminar at a hotel. Mr Aung denied there was any political motive behind the gathering sponsored by a Thai man, Mr Sithipong Kalayanee from Image Asia and three Filipinos. Mr Sithipong paid for the fines imposed on the group. "Many of us, now behind bars, are from ethnic minority group which are trying to develop their areas. That is why we are here undergoing development management training; no politics at all," he said. "as for our group, we are aiming to carry out a programme to eradicate opium cultivation in our area. I mean to substitute poppy plants with other possible crops," he said. The Thai Government's policy of constructive engagement is one-side. It should also be sympa- thetic towards pro-democracy movements, he said. While taking a reporter from a detention room, he expressed disappointment at being kept in a police station, adding that they were being detained like criminals, causing his wife to fall sick. She was later sent to hospital. " I think we should be treated a little better. Nonetheless, we accept that Thai official are only taking action in accordance with the immigration law. Over 40 people were being kept in one small and dirty room with an overflowing toilet. They paid officers 2,700 baht to sleep in two other small rooms. Six women were detained separately. "Five elderly people among us just couldn't stay in once fowl smelling and over crowed room. So we had to pay 300 baht per person to be able to stay on the corridor pavement," he claimed. Mr Aung claims to have had the proper documentation when he entered into Thailand and trav- elled to Chaing Mai. "Our documents were processed by a Thai Army colonel who we recognise as a friend. "I don't know why I was arrested as the documents allow us to stay in Chaing Mai until early April," he said. It is possible that the ethnic minority groups will join hands to practice pro-democracy with the allied democratic groups along the border, he said, adding that they are soon to meet, although the exact date and place are not known for sure. "Over 20 minority members of the parliament are living abroad in India and America, as well as along the border. We are keeping in touch but have no definite plans to reunite," he said. (BP) *************************THAILAND***************************** BKK POST: BURMA FIGHTING TAKES ITS TOLL ON GEMS TRADE 2 April 1995 GEMS trading at this Thai-Burmese border district has been sluggish for about two months be- cause of fighting in Burma and that country's stricter control on the business. The gems market at Soi Sukhapiban 4, 5, 6 which was very crowed two years ago is now like a ghost-town. Clashes between Burmese troops and minority forces in the past months have made smuggling of gems out of that country more difficult. Burma also recently issued the Mining Act which requires traders to buy gems only in Rangoon and Tongyi. The Burmese government hoped it could collect more taxes by enforcing that law. But the legislation instead discouraged Thai gems traders from travelling inside Burma since that would not only double the investment cost but also pose a threat to their own safety. A trader said the best way to business was to buy gems smuggled by Burmese people to the border market. The Thai custom office will not charge them import tariffs but they have to pay valve-added tax at a rate of 7%. A Thai custom official said that when the situation was normal, the volume of gems trading could reach st least 100 million baht per day. Now it has dropped to tens of millions of baht daily. Ma Visuthipaet, owner of Charoenporn Mnimart in Mae Sai, said since 1992 most gems traders have migrated from Trat's Bo Rai District, once a gems-rich area, and Chanthaburi, to settle down in this northernmost district. Ma himself also moved from Chanthaburi. He said 1992 and 1993 were the golden years of the gems trading business in Mae Sai before turning to be inactive since 1994 i the weak of the global economic recession. Problems concerning low-grade gems brought in from Burma has been another cause of the drop in both trading volume and value. Many traders complained that there were several case that the gems they bought at expensive prices turned to be ordinary stones after burning. Some traders began to switch to open their own mines in Burma, particularly in Tongyi. However, that does not have a bright prospect because of difficulties in taking heavy machinery into that country, let alone protection fees investors had to pay to several minority groups i Bur- ma. Some, meanwhile, chose to move back to Trat and Chanthaburi. If the situation still has not im- proved in May, many other would follow them, a trader said. (BP) ********************INTERNATIONAL************************** SCB: PROJECT BURMAWEB BurmaWeb fornavn.etternav soc.culture.burma 5:15 AM Apr 3, 1995 (at insitutt.uio.no) (From News system) BurmaWeb was created by the WEB TEAM of the Bumra Support Group, Norway Contact: tormodl@ulrik.uio.no BurmaWeb: http://www.uio.no/~tormodl _______________________________________________________________ ________ Oslo, 30 March 1995 PROJECT: BURMAWEB The WEB TEAM of the Burma Support Group was founded in January 1995 as a special working group for electronic mail. Our main focus has been the World Wide Web (WWW), which is rapidly expanding. WWW makes the presentation of information relatively simple to program and retrieve. Already Free Burma has set up an index directory, or what WWW language calls a "home page". For those unfamiliar with WWW, here is a very brief explanation. What is WWW? WWW is Email taken to a new level. Instead of simple text messages, now you are able to "show" (not send) text with pictures and sounds (even video clips!) by starting with your home page. This home page is on your Email account's main computer. You store files there and then connect these files together and allow other people to view, print or download them. Others are able to access these files without needing to know your password. The layout of your file can therefore be retained, since it is afterall a file (formatting is currently limited, however). Cetain words or even pictures are "linked" to files, and when you click on a designated word or picture (usually either in color and underlined) you can automatically go to a certain file which the word/picture is linked with. (Simplistically speaking, it's a bit like clicking on a "yes" button, which is connected or "linked" to another function and/or screen.) Not the best explanation of WWW, we know, but once you "try" the Web you understand what it can do. It's very straightforward to use. Since WWW is Email, you need an Email account and the WWW program (Netscape, Mosaic) to access the Web, which is free and open to all. Remember: it is not you who are sending anything to readers, but readers who are accessing certain of your files. The Future of WWW and Burma So far Free Burma has created a home page, with many files. ABSDF-Europe, DVB Radio and BSG have been discussing creating several home pages in cooperation with each other. However, there exists not only possibilities of duplication of information but also the confusion of endless "linking" of information, driving users into circles (different home pages on different computers can even be linked together, including files in other home pages to your files). One easy way to avoid this is by setting up some sort of coordination between Burma groups, as WWW becomes more readily available and understood (almost anybody can create a home page linked to however many files your server has memory available for). With coordination of index and content, we can avoid the pitfalls of many independent and isolated groups making WWW pages. What BurmaWeb Would Like to Do... During our discussions in Oslo, we have come up with some ideas for coordination to avoid repetition, and ask other future Burma WWW sites to consider them and give feedback on what you can do, or would like to do. (Converting files into WWW is a piece of cake, and special formatting or writing of files is not necessary if you have access to the right resources.) Here are the things the following groups would like to concentrate on: *Norwegian information (such as local articles, BSG newsletters) *Non-English information (articles, newsletters) *Detailed information about all organizations in English *Up-to-date address list of Burma-interested groups/people *List of publications, newsletters, where to buy/find them *Some newsletters in their entirety, reports... *Aung San Suu Kyi Press Anthology (in English) *Karen Human Rights Group Reports (in English) *UNHRC documents from the past session *Collecting and systematically organizing HR violations *Photographs from the Norwegian press BSG itself would like to concentrate mainly on databasing and stay away from current events, like BurmaNet handles. BSG would like to be a center for non-English information in the beginning, in order to collect it in one place and develop this information until it expands large enough to be put on other sites in the languages' home countries. This, of course, depends on groups in other countries sending non-English articles or information either on disk or photocopies that BSG could scan in Oslo. The idea of BumraWeb, then, is to have one group becoming a coordination center for Burma WWW sites. This is not so much to control their output, as to coordinate the outcome. Individual groups would create WWW home pages as they themselves please, but it is essential that we should all communicate our intentions with other groups *beforehand* and in the idea phase, to avoid needless duplication. Good communication would also facilitate receiving support, info, articles, etc., since any text file can be easily "dropped" into any WWW page, where on your Web site or sent via Email to another's. Setting Up a Web Coordination Center Keeping all groups aware on a regular basis of what other groups are working on for their WWW site will avoid repetition and wasted work. So if we chose a "central coordinator", where anyone could write to with suggestions or comments, and this person would then keep in contact with "local coordinators", presumably via Email (in fact, an automatically addressed Email sending program is already in BurmaWeb and can be adapted for anyone's use anywhere, including to send to many receipients the same message). Soon the Web explosion will hit all of us working with Email and Burma, and it isn't as restricted as BurmaNet, since anyone can create a WWW home page. With the ability to link all of our work together, WWW makes it possible for certain groups to focus on *certain information* and become "centers" for certain info, while being linked to a Burma Web that can be easily accessed by all both to read and send articles. BSG asks that individual groups discuss what is their aims, what they may be working on, and write their thoughts on a "BurmaWeb Coordinator" -- perhaps through Free Burma, which has already found space for a more permanent and large memory capacity on one of the American WWW sites... ____________________________________________________ Please send your ideas to: tormodl@ulrik.uio.no (ATTN WEB TEAM) or fax us at: +47-22 60 71 29 (ATTN BSG) ____________________________________________________ >From there, we will create a BurmaWeb mailing list and keep all those who contact us in contact with each other. Thanks for your support and we look forward to hearing from you soon! Ko Vit Correspondence Specialist WEB TEAM, BSG-Norway BURMANET: ARTICLES ON NETWAR AND PERHAPS, PEACE ****************************** PRN: NETWAR COULD MAKE MEXICO UNGOVERNABLE ZNLA: LETTER FROM SUBCOMMANDANTE MARCOS SCB-H: SARAJEVO ON LINE 4 April 1995 [The following three articles are either about, or examples of how the net is being used in Mexico and Bosnia. In Mexico, a corrupt government is having difficulty putting down a lightly- armed but media-savvy insurgency. There, the net is being used by the insurgents to organize and to bring international attention to an otherwise remote corner of the world. In Sarejevo, it is not so much a tool of war as of peace. There, individuals who have been under seige for three years are beginning to use the net to get messages to their families and others on the outside. Although the situation in neither Mexico nor Bosnia exactly parallels that of Burma, there are enough similarities to make these articles worth considering-- Strider] ****************************** PSN: NETWAR COULD MAKE MEXICO UNGOVERNABLE PACIFIC RIM NEWS SERVICE 450 Mission Street, Room 506 San Francisco, CA 94105 415-243-4364 NEWS ANALYSIS-665 WORDS EDITOR'S NOTE: While media attention focuses on the turmoil -- within Mexico's ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party, another destabilizing force, which Rand Corp. national security expert David F. Ronfeldt dubs "netwar," is spreading. Netwar enables widely dispersed and highly marginalized opposition groups to coordinate strategies utilizing new information technologies. While their lack of central authority makes it unlikely they could take power, they could make Mexico ungovernable. PNS contributing editor Joel Simon reports regularly from Mexico. BY JOEL SIMON, PACIFIC NEWS SERVICE MEXICO CITY -- While Mexico reels from the worst financial and political crisis in decades, a low intensity "netwar" is also spreading across the country. That's the conclusion of social scientist David F. Ronfeldt of the Santa Monica-based Rand think tank who studies the impact of new information technologies on national security. Ronfeldt and a colleague coined the term netwar to describe what happens when loosely-affiliated networks -- social activists, terrorists, or drug cartels -- use new information technologies to coordinate action. Throughout the world, these networks are replacing "hierarchies" as the primary form of political organization among opponents of the state. Whatever the outcome of the current turmoil in the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), and the gains scored by the conservative National Action Party (PAN), Ronfeldt argues that netwar will ultimately change the country's political equation by giving even the most marginalized leftist opposition new clout. "The risk for Mexico is not an old-fashioned civil war or another social revolution," he notes. "The risk is social netwar." The impact of the netwarriors is already clear. In 1993, opponents of the North American Free Trade Agreement used fax machines and the Internet to coordinate strategy. During the August 1994 Presidential elections, a watchdog group called Civic Alliance organized a network of observers throughout the country who faxed reports on voting irregularities back to Mexico City. Even the Zapatista Army of National Liberation is fighting a form of netwar. The August 1994 National Democratic Convention brought together hundreds of diverse groups in the rebels' jungle stronghold to fashion a de-centralized opposition. That they succeeded was evidenced last month when thousands marched in Mexico City to protest the Zedillo Administration's arrest warrant for Subcomander Marcos, chanting "We Are All Marcos." Rebel supporters around the world followed developments by reading Zapatista communiques on the Internet. Precisely because of their de-centralization, the netwarriors don't have the ability to take national power. But, Ronfeldt predicts, they are a growing political force which could make the country ungovernable. And their lack of any central authority makes them far less vulnerable to cooptation or repression. Who are the netwarriors? They are the traditional leftist opponents of the PRI, groups fighting for democratic change, as well as an array of special interests, from peasant organizations to gay rights groups. At a time when the political and economic crisis has created widespread disaffection, Ronfeldt theorizes that network-style organizing will enable the opposition to overcome its traditional factionalism. The greatest threat to the government could be hundreds or thousands of independent groups united in their opposition but "accepting of each other's autonomy." Ronfeldt argues the international non-government organizations (NGOs) operating in Mexico provide a "multiplier effect" for netwarriors. Electronic communication allows Mexican groups to stay in touch with U.S. and Canadian organizations which share their goals and can coordinate an international response in the event of a government crackdown. These groups are media savvy in a way Mexicans may not be; they also have access to the international media. Global Exchange, a small humanitarian organization in San Francisco, is one example. It began denouncing human rights abuses and mobilizing protests in the U.S. only hours after government troops dislodged Zapatista rebels from villages last December. Netwar is not unique to political groups, however. Terrorist organizations and drug cartels are also becoming less hierarchical and thus harder to control, says Ronfeldt. The Sicilian Mafia is losing ground to less centralized drug cartels. Ronfeldt acknowledges that the potential for transnational netwar in Mexico is limited by the deficiencies in the nation's phone system. "Netwar doesn't work unless lots of different small groups can coordinate...and that requires high band-width communication." While fax machines have become ubiquitous in Mexico, electronic communication is only starting to take hold. Still, Ronfeldt cautions that "The country that produced the prototype social revolution of the 20th century may now be giving rise to the prototype social netwar of the 21st century." If so, the Mexican government will have its hands full. (03131995) **** END **** COPYRIGHT PNS ****************************** ZNLA: LETTER FROM SUBCOMMANDANTE MARCOS [The following letter was transmitted from the jungles of Mexico by fax (using a satellite earth station) to the United States, where it was posted to the net by moonlight@igc.apc.org] Zapatista National Liberation Army Mexico, March 25, 1995 To: The Dialogue of the Civic Society Aguascalientes, Chiapas, Mexico From: Insurgent Subcomandante Marcos Zapatista National Liberation Army Mountains of Southeastern Mexico Chiapas, Mexico Brothers and sisters: Welcome to Zapatista territory, which is to say "territory in rebellion against evil government". That is how things are, even though these lands are filled with war. Even though they want to trample dignity with war tanks and even though they want to shut up reason with the noise of planes and helicopters. We wanted to participate personally in this dialogue, but there are approximately 60,000 olive green reasons that prevent us from doing so. It doesn't matter, we hope that you accept this letter as the means by which our voice, our thinking and our hearts can reach all of you, who, after detaining the government's war, came to our lands to reaffirm the search for civic and peaceful ways to resolve the problems that we, both nationals and foreigners, suffer from in this last part of the 20th century. We hope that this will not be the last time that you visit us, and that many of you will be able to stay in the "Peace Camps" that are located in various villages in the state of Chiapas, and which have made it possible for our civilian brothers and sisters to return to their homes. We hope, also, that on another occasion we can be present to receive you as it is the custom to receive brothers and sisters: with flowers and the music of marimbas. We owe you those two things, in addition to everything that we owe you. In continuation, we present to you our proposal for "Complementary Protocol" for being incorporated into the "Universal Social Convention" which will be approved by you. We are clear that our proposal is equivalent to all the others, that it is subject to discussion, and we will respect from here the decision that you make. *Complementary Protocol for the Universal Social Convention* We human beings present today in this place demand: 1. That reason always win and never force. 2. That the majority find what the majority does, imposing its will on the minority, without the minority disappearing or having its right to become the majority restricted. 3. That any man can give any woman any flower in any part of any world, and that this woman give thanks for the flower not with just any smile, but with the best and only one. 4. That the morning no longer be a great question or a disaster waiting to happen; that the morning be just that: the morning. 5. That the night not be a cave of fear; that the night be a bed of desire. 6. That sadness be surprised with a simple look of disdain; and that happiness and laughter be free and never lacking. 7. That for everyone there be, always, bread to illuminate the table, education to feed ignorance, health to surprise death, land to harvest a future, a roof to shelter hope, and work to make hands dignified. 8. That the words and hearts of men and women no longer be prisoners of jails, tombs or threats. 9. That war be part of a long ago and foreign past, and that neither armies nor soldiers be any longer necessary. 10. That those who govern command obeying. That those who do not fulfill this, be changed for others. 11. That there always exists someone who is willing to struggle so that all that came before become not a demand, but a reality. Respectfully, From the mountains of southeastern Mexico Insurgent Subcomandante Marcos Mexico, March 1995 (translated by Cindy Arnold, volunteer, National Commission for Democracy in Mexico) ************************************* SCB-H: SARAJEVO ON LINE soc.culture.bosna-herzgvna 3 April 95 22 h sarajevoonline-e@cnam.fr Content-type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit This mail message contains dialogs between inhabitants of Sarajevo and the rest of the world. (If there is nothing under the "MESSAGES" field, it means nothing unfortunetaly arrived today.) See the Web page http://web.cnam.fr/Sarajevo/ ------- MESSAGES --------------- Message 1 ------------------- SARAJEVO 02-04-95 DAY TO DAY WITH SARAJEVO RESIDENTS >From March 29 to April 10, 1995, the residents of Sarajevo will have the chance to respond to questions posed to them by the Internet community. The conversations will focus primarily on aspects of daily life in Sarajevo, a city that has been under siege for three years. The teams of journalists from the World Media Network will only distribute the actual conversations that take place from day to day. But it will be up to the residents of Sarajevo to decide which questions to answer. WHAT WILL HAPPEN AFTER APRIL 10, 1995? Sarajevo On Line isn't meant as a one-shot operation. Besides there is a direct link with Sarajevo: The ZaMir (for Peace) Transnational Network is an electronic mail network in the region of former Yugoslavia especially dedicated to helping peace oriented people and groups, humanitarian organisations, NGO's and the alternative media in order to improve their communication possibilities. For more information, please send mail to the AEGEE at muumi@dynax.sch.bme.hu or check the AEGGEE's Web server at http://www.tue.nl/aegee/ HOW TO WRITE TO THE INHABITANTS OF SARAJEVO You can send email to Sarajevo residents: write to: sarajevoonline-en@cnam. fr to send a question in english sarajevoonline-fr@cnam. fr to send a question in french HOW TO READ THE DIALOGUES BETWEEN THE NETWORK AND SARAJEVO On the World Media-Sarajevo On Line server: You can use a Web client software like Mosaic or Netscape and direct it to one of these URL: http://web.cnam.fr/Sarajevo/ http://www.tue.nl/aegee/hrwg/exyu/Sarajevo/ http://www.infodesign.ch/Sarajevo/ On the news: The messages coming from Sarajevo will also be posted on the News (Usenet) in the groups: alt.current-events.bosnia and soc.culture.bosna-herzgvna Directly in your mail: You can sign up to be on a mailing list which will transmit the messages to you directly. * In French: Send a message to sarajevoonline-fr-request@cnam.fr with "subscribe" (not in quotes) as the subject. * In English: Send a message to sarajevoonline-en-request@cnam.fr with "subscribe" (not in quotes) as the subject. You can cancel your subscription by sending the message "unsubscribe" (not in quotes). --------------------------------------------------------------- ---- * Personnal Requests FROM: Omerovic NAMIK, tel 440-721, Sarajevo, Tesanjska street 28 TO: Seric IVO, Netherlands, Breda, G.BEIJSTRAT 17 A, 4813 EL. BREDA TEL : 225810 Many regards from Namik and Akan,see you very soon, lots of love from Namik Give my regards to brothers Vranac, Feko, Tanija, Beco, Bibica, Deman and the rest of the friends. FROM : Nezirovic NINO, Pionirska 2 E, 15 yrs TO: Nezirovic Dragica, NIEHLER str. 318, KO"LN, GERMANY tel 492217126477 Do not worry about me , i am O.K., in May I will graduate elektrotechnic high scool, and i hope the best results. Many greetings for you and Darko, and take care.So much from me for this time. FROM: Begic Muhamed Kosevo 4/ 4 TO: Bratovic Elma and Spomenka fax: 913-776-6297 Cansas City I am Begic Muhamed and I would like to ask if anybody could send by fax this message to my daughters. I would be very greatfull. Dear Spomenka and Elma. We are happy that you are all well. Did Elma receive an answer from Soros foundation. Is she better now? Jagoda called again, twice, because her daughter did not receive the money. Please let us know what seem to be the problem and if you don't have any money let us know because we have some savings. Do not worry about that. Just contact us by fax or in this way and let us know if you sent the money. Are those in California O.K? We have spoken with UNHCR about our leaving the town and when they let us know we will tell you. And at the end if you have a computer try to contact us through INTERNET network and send us your electronic address. Love you mama and daddy! * Questions from Pekka Littow, Finnish Architect in France --The city is in ruins. Are you able to look towards the future and reconstruction? Or is it too early? --Do you want to reconstruct the city as it was it before? --For you, what are the architectural symbols of Sarajevo? What has happened to them? Are they able to be restorred? --Or do you forsee a new modern Sarajevo? --Would you like foreign architects to come and build there? Or is there a nationalism in architecture? --There is little work for architects here. Do you have any work for a Finnish architect? FROM:Reuf Kolude, architect in Sarajewo,