------------------------ BurmaNet ------------------------ "Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies" ---------------------------------------------------------- The BurmaNet News: July 4, 1995 Issue #193 PEN: BARBARA GOLDSMITH AWARD TO SAN SAN NWEH KNPP: ON VIOLATION OF THE CEASE FIRE NATION: THAILAND OPENS BORDER TO BURMA NATION: NO PARENTS, NO HOME - WHAT FUTURE? NATION: MAINLINE TO AN EPIDEMIC ABSDF-MTZ: FIGHTING AGAIN IN KNLA BRIGADE 4 AREA NATION: SLORC, KARENNI BATTLE AS CEASEFIRE COLLAPSES NATION: QUAKE HITS BURMA HRDU: SLORC COMMENCES ATTACKS ON KARENNI POSITIONS DESPITE CEASE-FIRE AGREEMENT NATION: LIP SERVICE ALONE TO THE BURMESE STRUGGLE WILL NOT SUFFICE ABSL: REQUEST FOR THE FREEDOM OF DETAINED BURMESE STUDENTS SLORC: MONS RETURN TO THE LEGAL FOLD KNPP: STATEMENT ON 30/6/95 NATION: BURMA DECLARES SECTION OF TERRITORIAL WATERS OFF-LIMIT SEASIA-: COPIES OF BURMA PEACE AGREEMENTS NEEDED NATION: BURMA DECLARES SECTION OF TERRITORIAL WATERS OFF-LIMIT NCGUB: STATEMENT REGARDING VIOLATION OF KARENNI CEASEFIRE BY SLORC NATION: BURMESE-KARENNI FIGHTING DISLOCATES 3,000 NATION: 1,000 SENT FLEEING AS BURMESE ARMY CONTINUES OFFENSIVE NATION/KYODO: MON PEACE PACT MAY SPARK HUNT FOR WAR TREASURE CACHE VOA: BURMA CENSURED ---------------------------------------------------------- o-------------------------------o The BurmaNet News is an | | electronic newspaper | Iti | covering Burma. 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If you have questions on any of the following subjects, please direct email to the following coordinators, who will either answer your question or try to put you in contact with someone who can: Arakan/Rohingya/Burma- [volunteer needed] Bangladesh border Art/archaeology/: [volunteer needed] Campus activism: Boycott campaigns: Buddhism: Buddhist Relief Mission, c/o NBH03114@niftyserve.or.jp Chin history/culture: plilian@asc.corp.mot.com Fonts: tom@CS.COLGATE.EDU History of Burma: zar1963@violet.berkeley.edu Kachin history/culture: 74750.1267@compuserve.com Karen history/culture: 102113.2571@Compuserve.com Karen Historical Society Mon history/culture: [volunteer needed] Naga history/culture: [volunteer needed] [Burma-India border] Pali literature: "Palmleaf" c/o burmanet@igc.apc.org Shan history/culture: [volunteer needed] Tourism campaigns: bagp@gn.apc.org "Attn. S. Sutcliffe" World Wide Web: FreeBurma@POBox.com Volunteering: Dr. Christina Fink c/o burmanet@igc.apc.org [Feel free to suggest more areas of coverage] ---------------------------------------------------------- PEN: BARBARA GOLDSMITH AWARDS: SAN SAN NWEH Title: PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Awards: San San Nweh, Yndamiro Restano 95 PEN/BARBARA GOLDSMITH FREEDOM-TO-WRITE AWARD April 1995 A few of us writers of realistic fiction keep trying to reflect present-day life in our work; we use subtle, indirect means, so that the people's cries of longing, their unbearable sufferings, can be just faintly heard, just dimly perceived. --San San Nweh SAN SAN NWEH, 49, was sentenced to ten years' imprisonment in Burma for "spreading information injurious to the state" and "giving one-sided views" to foreign reporters. The reason underlying her imprisonment is her active support for Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel laureate whose party won a landslide victory in the 1990 elections but who is held under house arrest by the military government. San San Nweh is the author of Prison of Darkness, a novel, and many other works of fiction and nonfiction. She is due for release in 2004. Her 21-year-old daughter is also imprisoned, and her family has no means of support while its two main breadwinners are in captivity. ***** KNPP: ON VIOLATION OF THE CEASE FIRE STATEMENT THE GOVERNMENT OF KARENNI Statement regarding SLORC's military activities in Karenni ----------------------------------------------------------- following the cease-fire agreement ----------------------------------- After a series of talk KNPP and SlORC agreed to a cease-fire and a ceremony was held in Loikaw on March 21, to mark and solemnize the cease-fire agreement. KNPP had made it known that it agreed to the cease-fire because SLORC had agreed to the 16 points it had put forward. Among the 16 points agreed upon are- -that the present military status quo in both SLORC designated and KNPP designated area areas be maintained. -that there be a stop to portering in the whole of Karenni. -that there be no more collecting of porter fees in Karenni. In spite of the agreement, SlORC on June 15, started collecting porter fees in SLORC designated areas. It started rounding up porters, horses and tractors. On June 17, two battalions of SLORC troops crossed the Salween river and moved into KNPP designated areas, one battalion massing at the confluence of Mae Su Rin stream. KNPP protested and the answer from the SLORC was that national election in Thailand was about to take place and that it foresaw troubles along the border once the election was over. As a result, it said, it needed to move troops to the border for the security of the state. KNPP replied that whatever happen in Thailand would be purely Thai internal affairs and that it saw no reason for troubles along the border. SLORC next said that the Thais were stealing logs and timber along the border, and the troops that it had moved into KNPP designated areas were to stop them from doing so, and not to attack the Karennis. It also said that the Thais had arrested two of their men and were refusing to release them. On June 26, the battalion that had been stationed at the confluence of Mae Su Rin stream moved deeper into KNPP designated area, and another two battalions crossed the Salween River from Ywa Tit and moved into KNPP designated area around Mae Su Rin confluence. It is estimated that SLORC has moved about 2000 troops into KNPP areas. The fact that SLORC has been collecting porter fees, rounding up porters and moving troops into KNPP areas is a clear breach of the cease-fire agreement reached between SLORC and KNPP. All the reasons given for moving SLORC troops into KNPP areas are simply fictitious and groundless. As a matter of fact, SLORC has pressured KNPP to vacate three border passes where it wants to garrison its forces- BP(9), BP(11) and BP(12). KNPP has refused to bow to SLORC's pressure and it is believed SLORC intends to take these posts by force. KNPP desires peace. It does not want a resumptions of hostilities. It deems SLORC hostile activities highly deplorable, and hopes that SLORC will abide by the agreement reached between the two parties. On the other hand, KNPP sees it as its duty to defend itself and its territorial integrity. Hence, should SLORC continue braking the cease-fire agreement, and should it refused to withdraw the troops it has moved into KNPP areas, It will be SLORC, and not KNPP that will have to assume the responsibility for the outbreak of hostilities. Karenni is a small nation under siege. It has been fighting for survival for decades, and will continue doing so in spite of the heavy odds against it. If SLORC should use its military might to attack Karenni - which KNPP believe it well- KNPP expects and requests all sympathetic and democratic forces the world over to extend humanitarian assistance to the Karenni people. June 28, 1995 (signed here) Aung Than Lay Prime Minister NATION: THAILAND OPENS BORDER TO BURMA The Nation/30.6.95 CHIANG RAI- Several months after the frontier was closed following the killing of a Thai citizen by Burmese troops, Thailand yesterday unilaterally re-opened two temporary crossing in this northern province to cross-border travel and trade. Chiang Rai governor and Khamron Booncherd said he had requested permission from the Interior Ministry to reopen five checkpoints in Mae Sai district, but had decided to test the security climate first by opening only two, at Bann Sailomjoy and Baan Krawsai Khamron warned local people intending to cross onto Burma's Tachilek town to do so with prudence, to take care of their own safety and property, as the Burmese had not officially endorsed the re-opening on their side. If they are not sure of the situation, they should not cross the border because the Burmese authorities have not yet officially announced the reopening of the temporary crossing. "They permit only the interim [unofficial] passing," said the governor. He stressed that only goods that were not restricted under the customs laws would be allowed to cross into Burma and that all people and vehicles travelling to Tachilek would have to adhere strictly to immigration laws. Most important of all, I have told [Thai authorities] to be especially alert for weapons, drugs and illegal immigrants because that is a matter of national security," said Khamron. He added that he was only interested in Mae Sai's economy, local tourism and international humanitarian principles, and did not know if the Burmese decision to close down the official Tachilek- Mae Sai permanent checkpoint was a political matter. The Tachilek side of the checkpoint has been closed since opium warlord Khun Sa's forces launched a dawn attack on this town early this year. Although a number of unofficial temporary checkpoints remained open afterwards, the governor decided to seal the whole border after Burmese troops shot and killed a fleeing Thai local who crossed the Sai River into Tachilek. Khamron he decided to open the crossings at Baan Sailomjoy and Baan Krawsai because they were closed to Mae Sai town and people used them more than the other checkpoints. THE NATION: MAINLINE TO AN EPIDEMIC on 30/6/95(Part 3) Mainline to an epidemic The Nation/30.6.95 Andrew Nette on Burma's role in the proliferation of intravenous drug use. While Burma's position as one of the main narcotics producing nations in the world is well known, less documented has been an export of a different kind the shift from smoking to intravenous drug use. Experts say this is facilitating the spread of HIV/Aids among neighbouring countries already struggling to deal with the impact of the disease. "Historically speaking, the shift from smoking to injection drug use could not have come at a worse time in terms of HIV/Aids transmission in the sub-region," said one foreign NGO worker involved in the anti-Aids campaign in Vietnam. "As it is, the disease is increasing rapidly this just makes it worse." Although the Burma's National Committee for the Control of Aids has identified only 8,191 cases if HIV infection and 334 persons with full-blown Aids, the World Health Organization believes that haphazard testing and government secrecy means this figure represents only a fraction of the real total. WHO says approximately 400,000 people - almost one per cent of the current population - could have the disease, on a per capita basic far surpassing infection rates in India and Thailand, the two Asian countries considered worst hit by the disease. While drug use is not the only factor associated with the disease, it is one of the most prominent. Foreign sources familiar with the situation believe that Burma's Aids crisis originated among the country's large population of injecting drug users, estimated by the government and police to number approximately 39,000, but which independent observers say is much higher. An HIV/Aids country profile of Burma prepared by the Australian government in 1994 noted "extraordinarily high rates of HIV infection among IDUs [injecting drug users] compared with the rest of the world." A February 1994 United Nations Drug Control Programme report quotes Burmese government figures showing HIV prevalence rates among IDUs varying from 70 per cent to 95 per cent in some areas of the country. the UNDCP report maintained that much of the drug use takes place in communal "shooting galleries", private and semi private venues where addicts share needles, often with no sterilization measures, and using a variety of home made equipment to inject narcotics, including lengths of polythene tube with an attached needles, drip sets and eye droppers. The same shift has been detected in China, Vietnam, and to a small but growing extent in Cambodia. In Vietnam neatly 80 per cent of the official HIV positive cases are IDUs, and similar level have been recorded in China's Yunnan province. Foremost among the factors behind the change have been the evolving dynamics of the international drug trade over the last two decades. in the fifties and sixties, drug use in Burma was restricted almost completely to the consumption of opium by ethnic minority people in rural areas. Most of the country's drug crop was exported to laboratories in Hong Kong, Bangkok and Marseilles for processing into heroin and sold abroad. Following increased law enforcement in these countries resulting in the closure of a number of these refineries, improved laboratory techniques, and the increased availability of cheap, chemical, heroin refineries have moved closer to the opium growing areas, in turn ushering a period of cheap, easily accessible heroin. Although foreign observers stress that such reprocessing facilities to not exist in China or Vietnam, their increasing significance as transit points for the trafficking of narcotics has seen the creation of large user groups of their own. A single dose of heroin in Rangoon costs about Kyat 30 (US$0.30), cheaper in border areas. In Yunnan, health officials report that injecting opium is up to one-third the cost of smoking. Many experts also argue that it is the very law enforcement tactics adopted by governments to counter the narcotics trade which have led to the growth of injecting drug use. These put pressure on addicts to tale drugs in faster and more covert ways, forcing them underground, where they are more difficult to access for treatment and Aids prevention education. This is supported by a numerous studies across the sub-region in which addicts have said that not only does injecting heroin give a better hit, but is a faster, less detectable way of consuming drugs. As part of its campaign against drug abuse, Chinese Premier Li Peng signed the "Provision for Compulsary narcotics Detoxification". This law stipulates that addicts arrested for drug abuse should be jailed and forced to undergo 3-6 months of rehabilitation in treatment centres run by the Public Security Bureau. In the case of Burma, there is evidence that injecting drug use has been unwittingly influenced by authorities workers found in possession of syringes. Meanwhile, the growth of injecting drug use feeds into factors which have already made Burma abridge for the spread of the epidemic. On the country's Western border is the Indian state of Manipuar which contains the highest detected rates of drug addiction and Aids in India. To the east, there is a thriving cross-border traffic in Burmese women to the sex industry in Thailand. On the north-west border with southern China's Yunnan province is Shan state, Burma's main source of narcotics production. Economic reforms are opening up the previously isolated frontier between Shan and Yunnan, which has a serious HIV/Aids problems of its own. In particular, the tiny town of Ruili in Yunnan, just over the Burmese border is the entry point for heroin from refineries in the Golden Triangle en route to markets in East Asia, Australia and Europe. Approximately two-third of China's recorded cases of HIV/Aids are in Ruili alone. Ruili has a permanent population of 100,000 and an additional 40,000 transients - mainly young men working in the booming construction trade, and Burmese women who come to take advantage of the town's 24 hour sex industry. NGO workers who have visited tie town say these people have virtually no knowledge of HIV/Aids. **************************************************************** NATION: NO PARENTS, NO HOME - WHAT FUTURE? Aung Zaw reports on the plight of Mon children orphaned by the fighting that rages in their homeland. Mehn Chan was nine years old when he became an orphan. In 1993, he was living in Way Tha li village, Mon state when government troops clashed with Mon insurgents there. Among the victims were Mehn Chan's parents, Naing Dok and Daw Hnin May. Since then, Mehn Chan has stayed with his relatives. But they could not take care him for long and he was finally taken to the border camp. The camps along the border are Bee Rec, Payaw, Prachuab and Halockhani which were attacked by the Burmese army last year. There are approximately 6,000 Mon, Karen and Burmese children staying at the border camps and it is the Mon National Relief Committee (MNRC) that looks after them now. At the camps, they are taught Mon and Burmese. There are some Mon orphans on Thai soil as well. Source at the border said their ages range from seven to 12. "The children are illegals, and if the Thai police came and arrested them, they would not be able to do anything," said a Mon relief worker based at the border. They have no parents. What will be their future?" he asked. He also said Slorc troops have not stopped their daily routine of forced relocation, forced labour and tax extortion, which has forced more people to flee to the border areas. Mon villagers who arrived at the camps last year and this year were conscripted to work for the railway project. "Between 50 to 100 people come every month," said the Mon relief worker. Nevertheless, a few weeks ago representative of the New Mon State Party (NMSP) met with Slorc members in Moulmein, the capital of Mon state. Last year, the Mon also held talks with Slorc. It is believed that the NMSP might soon sign an agreement with Slorc in the near future. If a ceasefire is agreed upon, the NMSP would be 15th armed group to have come to terms with Slorc. Thai sources said Slorc had agreed to let the NMSP administer 19 small areas of about 10 sq-km each in southeast Burma's Mon state. It was also reported that Slorc promised to stop the practise of forced labour in Mon areas. Mon representative also discussed the refugee situation at the border. It is still uncertain, however, whether the refugees will be sent back to Burma should the NMSP forge a ceasefire agreement with Slorc. Nevertheless, several rebel sources said a ceasefire agreement with Slorc would be considered "shaky". They said Slorc has refused to discuss political issues and the problems of the ethnic minorities. Because of this, their struggle will continue and the other conflicts will remain unresolved. At present, it is the Karen National Union (KNU) which has not yet come to terms with Slorc. But if the Mon does sign a ceasefire agreement with Slorc, some sources predict that it would only be a matter of time before the Karen follow suit. But senior Mon leaders believe that a ceasefire won't guarantee peace and a permanent solution to the problems besetting Mon land. To achieve peace in Mon land will e quite difficult, said a senior Mon official. "There is a long way to go" he stressed. But some other Mon sources said the Mon rebels are not united on the signing of a ceasefire agreement with Slorc. Analysts noted that most ethnic armed groups do not trust Slorc. However, they have no choice but to deal with the Rangoon generals. The Mon official put it bluntly. "The general understanding and feeling among them [ethnic armed groups] is that Slorc has no future." Correction: An article published on page A6 last Friday mistakenly stated that former Burmese army Captain Khin Maung Nyunt graduated from West Point military academy. In fact, he attended the Defence Service Academy, often refered to as 'Burma's West Point". His comments on the Burmese army should have been translated as: "Tatmadaw is built on orders and command. Burmese soldiers obey orders," and not: "Never under-estimate the Tatmadaw." ABSDF-MTZ: FIGHTING AGAIN IN KNLA BRIGADE 4 AREA Fighting started again in Minthemee area of KNLA Brigade (4) On June 24 the fighting started at Tha Byu Chaung village and the village was burnt down by the Slorc's troops. 800 Slorc troops comprising of IF No(25), LIF No(403), LIF No(404) and LIF No(405) led by Lt Col Kyi Han has occupied Ka Htaw Ni village and advancing to Minthemee. 1000 porters are also included in the offensive by the Slorc. There is also a Slorc's column at the Taung Thone Lone village near Myitta village. It designated to launch an offensive to occupy Minthamee. The Slorc troops today reached at a place of one day walk from Minthamee. ABSDF's battalions are also fighting hand in hand with the KNLA troops against the Slorc brutal offensive. Border sources NATION: SLORC, KARENNI BATTLE AS CEASEFIRE COLLAPSES on 1.7.95 Slorc, Karenni battle as ceasefire collapses The Nation/1.7.95 A FULL-SCALE battle erupted yesterday in Burma's Kayah State following the collapse of a ceasefire agreement between Karenni rebels and the State Law and Order Restoration Council, Karenni sources said. Representatives of the Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP) said shooting began around nine in the morning and could well continue for days. The bulk of the fighting is said to be taking place on two fronts approximately 10 to 20 Kilometers from Mae Hong Son province: at kao kao opposite Khun Yuan district and around Do Mo Sheh across from northern muang district. No reports of casualties were available as of yesterday afternoon. At least 1,5000 Karenni refugees have fled from a camp at Do Mo Sheh in Burma to another at Pang Yong in Mae Hong Son, Muang district, where facilities are said to be inadequate. Khun Yuan district chief Wittaya Thitisutti confirmed yesterday afternoon that fighting had broken out. Wittaya and other Thai officials stressed that this was a Burmese affair and expressed hope that it would not spill over into Thailand and affect the elections or tourism in Mae Hong Son. He said that prior to the fighting, negotiations between Slorc and the KNPP had been taking place at Huay Namma, 15 km from the Thai border in kayah State. "They were discussing the price of timber," Wittaya said. Slorc's reported anger over Karenni timber sales to Thailand is thought to be one of the causes for the outbreak of hostilities. Thai officials says they have always tried to ensure that timber imports by Thai companies have been approved by Rangoon, but add that it is often difficult to know who in Burma has the authority to approve such trade. Slorc may also be eager to fain a better foothold from which to attack Khun Sa's forces in Shan State, which borders Kayah State in the north. "SLorc's top objectives is to gain a better positions from which they can fight Khun Sa," Maw Hong Son Governor Somjet Wiriyadamrong said yesterday. "Control over natural resources has also a source of conflict between Slorc and KNPP," he added. Both Thai and Karenni sources estimate that Slorc has sent 3,000 to 4,000 troops into Kayah State. Karenni officials say they have at most 1,000 soldiers ar their disposal. ***************************************************************** NATION: QUAKE HITS BURMA The Nation/1.7.95 Local/regional news AN EARTHQUAKE measuring 5.5 on the Richter scale hit northeastern Burma on yesterday morning, a Thai meteoro-logical department official said. The epicentre of the quake was a thinly populated area of northeastern Burma's Shan State 350 kms north of Chiang Mai. It struck at 6.04 am local time, said the official. There were no immediate reports of damage or injury. Tremors were detected for several hours after the quake struck, he said_ Reuter. HRDU: SLORC COMMENCES ATTACKS ON KARENNI POSITIONS DESPITE CEASE-FIRE AGREEMENT Human Rights Documentation Unit Mae Hong Son, June 30 -- According to ethnic and student sources in the Thai border town of Mae Hong Son, the SLORC has launched a new military offensive against the Karenni National Progressive Party, KNPP, ordering a force estimated to be over 4,000 strong to march on the KNPP headquarters and an area where ABSDF students are taking refuge. Fighting broke out at 9:00 am today when Karenni forces opened fire on the advancing SLORC troops who had repeatedly ignored calls to respect the terms of the recent "gentleman's agreement" for a ceasefire that bound both sides to respect territories held by the two sides. According to the sources three columns of SLORC troops are advancing on the three most important and sensitive areas in the Karenni controlled territories on the eastern bank of the Salween River. These are widely separated and include Mae Surin, Mae Yu and Tanakwei which are near the organisational centres for the ethnic and student opposition groups. The latest move is viewed by the Karenni as a blatant breach of the cease-fire agreement that it had concluded with the SLORC on March 21, 1995. The KNPP has mobilised its forces to take up defensive positions and has begun evacuating its civilians to refugee settlements in Thailand. According to reports from Mae Hong Son, ABSDF members have also made necessary preparations to defend themselves. On June 21-22 KNPP officials met with Brigadier General Maung Kyi, chief of the Karenni State Law and Order Restoration Council and other army officers in Loikaw to resolve the problems and to discuss local development programmes. At the talks the Karenni protested incursions into Karenni territory by SLORC troops, the continued seizure of civilians for forced labour as porters for army troops and the collection of porter fees from the regional populace which directly contravened the terms of the ceasefire agreement. According to the Karenni, SLORC officials had pressured them to vacate three key border passes in the heart of the KNPP designated area so that they could station their troops there "to prevent illegal logging" by Thais. The demands from the SLORC officials ignored key provisions in the cease-fire agreement, one of which is that the SLORC troops would not cross the Salween into KNPP designated territory. The KNPP refused to accept the SLORC's demands, and even as the talks were being held SLORC troops continued the forced conscription of porters from the Loikaw area. The talks broke off on June 23 without any agreement. The resumption of fighting between the Karenni and SLORC forces ironically comes the day following the long awaited ceasefire between the SLORC and the New Mon State Party, an allied ethnic group whose territories lie several hundred kilometers to the south. HRDU. June 30, 1995 NATION: LIP SERVICE ALONE TO THE BURMESE STRUGGLE WILL NOT SUFFICE The Nation/EDITORIAL/28.6.95 Yindee Lertcharoenchok on the direction of the new US policy towards Burma. It will be interesting to watch in coming weeks when US president Bill Clinton will have to make a final official decision on the direction of the new US policy towards Burma. For the past two years endless debates and meetings among various inter- and intra-government agencies took place in an attempt to form an underlying unitary US position towards the Southeast Asian nation, in which the US has had little interest politically, economically and strategically. The United States is torn between its own global moral responsibility of advocating human rights and democracy in Third world countries on one hand and the protection of American citizens from the alarming danger of soaring illicit drug use and narcotic-related violence at home on the other. The result of this tug-of-war is indecisiveness. The US Department of State, the proponent of the former, has been calling for a cooling of relations, if not a tougher stance, against the military junta in Rangoon which has since 1988 defied successfully domestic and international pressure to transfer power to a democratic elected government. State Department officials have been assuring the Burmese opposition that the Clinton Administration would not sacrifices democracy and human rights as its prime objective in foreign policy and relations with Burma. However, Washington often defends US investment in the country as that of the private sector which the government has no control over. But the US drug enforcement Administration(DEA), the government crucial arm in combatting narcotics at home and abroad, has become increasingly more restless and impatient with the disclosure that heroin production in Burma has hit new records . Also as a result of this, there has been a subsequent sharp increase of the drug being smuggled into the United States. High purity heroin is now cheaply available in the US. It has strongly urged that unless Washington engages the ruling Burmese State law and Order Restoration Council(Slorc) in regular dialogues and cooperation, and resumes it anti-narcotic aid to Burma which was stopped in September 1988 following the military's violent suppression of the pro-democracy movement, the US "war on drugs" will not be successful. DEA officers and some US Congressmen have been calling for the reinstallation of a US Ambassador to Rangoon where he could resume full diplomatic responsibility including talks and cooperation with the Slorc in drug interdiction, suppression of trafficking and eradication and substitution of opium cultivation. They defended that the extension of cooperation in combatting drugs and the exercise of the strong support for human rights can go together. "I am asking you to please extend the hand of cooperation and not use human rights excuse to sever relationships that could cause the stoppage of hundreds of tons [of heroin]," said Republican Congressman Charles Rangel during a hearing last week on Drugs in Asia at the Congress House Committee on International Relations and subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific. According to the State Department's annual International Narcotics Control Strategy report released in March, Burma has, since 1989, become the world's largest producer of opium and heroin, providing over 50 per cent of known global illicit output. Net opium production yielded an estimated 2,030 metric tons in 1994, down from 2,575 tons in 1993. The 21 per cent fall was due principally to poor weather. Burma is accountable for about 60 per cent of the heroin smuggled into the United States. The drastic switch last July of many western countries - Australia, Canada, and the European Union - from the policy of tough pressure and isolation to softer approach of engaging Burma in dialogues as a means to encourage political changes had caught the US Government completely off guard. The US was left as the sole country that still adhered to the hard stance against the Slorc. To cope with the dilemma, Washington has devised a new approach called a "two-track policy" which was first introduced in November after the visit to Burma by senior US official, Thomas Hubbard who is secretary of State for Asia and the Pacific. Hubbard and his high-level team were the first members of a senior US delegation that visited Burma in more than five years. The US would improve its relations with Burma if there was a significant positive development in democracy and human rights, couple with efforts to curb the production of narcotics. On the contrary if no progress is made in these areas, Washington's ties with Rangoon would be downscaled, and this message has been made very clear to the Slorc. Dr Lee Brown, Clinton's chief drug advisor and policy maker, told the same hearing in Drugs in Asia on June 21, that his office on National Drug Control Policy has already completed and submitted to the US President a new global heroin strategy, in which he suggested and recommended a range of comprehensive approaches in attacking the narcotic menace. According to Brown, the international strategy has four major goals. First, expending and intensifying contact with foreign leaders to mobilize greater international cooperation against the threat of heroin. Second. dismantling the illicit heroin trafficking organizations by prosecuting their leaders and seizing profits and assets. Third, treating heroin trafficking as a serious national security threat. Fourth, reducing the supply of entering the United States. As for Burma, he recommends the "continuing at an appropriate level a general dialogue with the appropriate Burmese authorities regarding counternarcotics." The strategy calls "for an exchange of information, again with the appropriate Burmese officials, to support unilateral narcotic operations and provide for some in-country counternarcotics training to specialise units on a case-by-case basis, and subject to the same US standards and safeguards that we use in other countries, and continue to support the United Nations drug control programme, narcotic efforts, in Burma." Many policy analysts see Brown's position as a greenlight towards an increase in US anti-narcotic contacts and cooperation with the Slorc. But Brown, did not make clear whether the suggested dialogue meant the restoration of full diplomatic relations by re-assigning a new US ambassador to the country, and whether the US will resume its anti-drug assistance to Burma, which, after the cut-off has been channelled and re-directed to crop substitution activities under the UN Drug Control Programme and UN Development programme. Surprisingly, Brown, a former law enforcement officer in New York, is perhaps the first senior official ever to boldly suggest that the best way to serve both the US people who are suffering under the drug trade and the Burmese people who are suffering under the repressive regime is to "side with the democratic resistance in any way we can to overthrow the dictatorship and see that Aung San Suu Kyi, who was honestly elected, is able to become the leader of this country." With some congressmen and senators trying to introduce a comprehensive US economic sanction on Burma as an effective tool to break the political deadlock in Burma, others argues that an increase in diplomatic relations and direct contact and cooperation would help bring about political reform and respect for human rights. President Clinton, as well as other world leaders, can not afford to delay having a definite policy towards Burma. This coming July 11 is officially the six year deadline for popular opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi's unlawful house arrest. The Slorc is no more legal mechanism to continue her detention unless it, as done in the past, devises a new law to serve its purpose. Also later next month, Asean is scheduled to hold its annual ministerial meeting in Brunei followed by sessions with the regional groupings seven dialogue partners from the developed economies, including the US. The Slorc will again invited as guest of the host country thus calling the bluff once again of the West which has urged the exclusion of the Slorc representatives at the forum. Though the United States has rekindled the Burmese aspiration for democracy and human rights. Washington's lame threats to the Slorc has only embarrassed the free world. Mere lip-service to the Burmese struggle is not enough. Words have to be met with actions. ABSL: REQUEST FOR THE FREEDOM OF DETAINED BURMESE STUDENTS Subject: STATEMENT OF ABSL ALL BURMA STUDENTS LEAGUE(ABSL) Date. June 28,1995. At present, about 50 of the Burmese students have been being detained in SDC (special detention center) and they are facing with hopeless life behind bars but depends on Thai government's humanitarian sympathy and correct stance in politics. As the Thai government did not take charge them in order that to prolong their detention, they are bitterly suffering from the worsening life day after day. Some of detained students have been over 17 months long while the most are entering into 7 months in detention. At worst one of the detained Burmese students in SDC suddenly died in recent as a result of the indefinite long- detention and the lacking in humanitarian sympathy by his detainers. Furthermore, we have received a statement from SDC by mail. After trying to confirm, we seriously concern about three of detained students who are trying in hunger strike began on 24 June and proclaiming that is their fast to death hunger strike, because no media states their hunger strike action till now. We respectfully request Thai government, the Embassies interested in Burma affairs, NGOs and news medias that to kindly help detained Burmese students for their freedom from detention. We sincerely hope that Thai government will serve them to release from detention in anyway, showing its respectable dignity. Hoping for the freedom of detained Burmese students. News and Information department All Burma Students League (Thailand) **************************************************************** The release of the statement on an urgent to Thai government ------------------------------------------------------------- by holding our past to death hunger strike -------------------------------------------- We are Burmese students who are striving for achieving democracy and human rights in Burma. Last September, 1988, when the military led by an oligarchy come to power with a bloody coup of popular political demonstrations, we the Burmese students staged a nation wide pro democracy campaign, escape from Burma to Thailand. Having arrived in Thailand, we took refuge in the United Nation High Commissioner for Refugee Bangkok branch. For all we had undertaking from UNHCR, we are facing the Thai government's arrest for allegedly illegal immigrants, repatriation to Burma and other abuses day by day. At present, e are being unjustly imprisoned without trail by the Thai government for extended periods of time. It is strongly confident that the Thai government is banning us from existing on our pro democracy movement so as to favor its controversial constructive engagement policy towards SLORC so called State Law and Order Restoration Council, the cunning regime, to profit Burma economically. The worst of our recent situation is that we don't know whether or not we'll be released at what time and being to meet such an ulster disaster in stir is a fate worse than death. As for our terrible detention conditions, we made an ironical decision that is to appeal to Thai government to allow leaving for America or Australia in order that the recent caretakers government's prime minster Chaun Leekpai side the students (exile Burmese Students) who don't want to live in Thailand can go any third country willing to accept them. Then, we believe that countries which we want to will be able to rescue our trouble in the light of our proposal as adequate supports for the movements of democracy and peace in Burma and for helping our better life in future. Therefore, we would like earnestly to request of the Thai government is that the government has to allow as our special request. If the government fails to pursue following our request we are going to fight until our dying by holding our fast to death hunger strike. Based on the facts above given, we decided to begin our fast to death hunger strike on June 24, 1995. Date. June 24, 1995. Signature Signature Signature Mr. Thant Zin Htun Mr. Thet Oo Naing Mr. Nanda Kyaw The Burmese Student Detainees Bang Khen Detention Center Bangkok , Thailand cc. Royal Thai Government Embassy of the United States Embassy of Australia NATION: MON GUERRILLA GROUP SIGNS PEACE AGREEMENT WITH BURMESE JUNTA The Nation/30.6.95 MOULMEIN, BURMA_ Burma's ethnic minority Mon guerrilla group, which has been fighting for grater autonomy since 1949, signed a cease fire with Burma's military government here yesterday. A delegation of 27 Mon guerrilla officials and commanders attended a ceremony at the regional Burmese Army headquarters at which they handed over lists of 7,000 guerrillas and another of 8,000 assorted weapons. The autonomy-seeking guerrillas are allowed to retain their weapons in certain areas under the agreement, government officials said. Burma's powerful military intelligence chief, Lt Gen Khin Nyunt, and several government ministers, travelled to this southeastern town for the ceremony and subsequent talks between the two sides. "Successive governments were not able to work for the development of the country because of disunity among the national races. This is one of the reasons we have been lagging behind our neighbours," Khin Nyunt said in a speech. Since it was formed in 1988 Burma's ruling military body, State Law and Order Restoration Council(Slorc), has signed ceasefire deals with 15 guerrilla groups. Khin Nyint said the Slorc was willing to talk to the last major ethnic minority Army still fighting, the Karen National Union(KNU), but would never negotiate with opium warlord Khun Sa. "If the KNU comes to the table with sincerity and without any external manipulation we are ready to talk," he said. Of Khun Sa's powerful guerrilla force he said: "They are not ethnic group fighting for political reasons, they are merely narcotics traffickers and will be eliminated." New Mon State Party(NMSP) official Nai Tin Aung presented a list of demands his group is making including the repatriation of refugees in camps along the border with Thailand and the right to export 70,000 tons of timber already felled by Thai logging companies. He said the NMSP was also seeking fishing rights in the Andaman sea and the right to operate land transport facilities along the coast of southeast Burma and from Moulmein to Three Pagoda pass on the border with Thailand. There was no mention of the NMSP being allocated areas of administration in southeastern Burma as they have been demanding and one official said the SLorc had no right to grant such concession. we are not an elected government, we have no authority to give territorial rights, Slorc official Lieutenant-Colonel Kyaw Thein said. SLORC: MONS RETURN TO THE LEGAL FOLD [This was sent by a SLORC source but without attributing the original source. Presumably it is from the New Light of Myanmar--Strider] NEW Mon State Party becomes 15th group to realize true attitude of Government Nai Htin lauds dawining of new era of peace Mon State due to mutual trust, goodwill 7,860 brethren accept olive branch bringing in assortment of 8,346 light and heavy arms, ammo YANGON, 29 June The New Mon State Party returned to the legal fold at a ceremony in the Aung San Hall of the South- East Command at 9 am today. Chairman of Mon State Law and Order Restoration Council Commander of South-East Command Maj-Gen Ket Sein said the day marked the NMSP's return to the legal fold after giving up the line of armed struggle to join the government and implement regional deve- lopment projects. So. he said, it was an auspicious day not only for the entire Mon State but also for the Union of Myan- mar. He then explained the main reason for the NMSP's return to the legal fold. He recalled that Secretary-1 of the State Law and Order Restoration Council Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt arrived Ye on 9 March 1994. In meeting the departmental per- sonnel, local people and townselders, he invited the armed groups in the jungles to return to the legal fold in ap- preciation of the government's goodwill . Similarly, he said, the Secre- tary- 1 proceeded to Thanbyuzayat the same day and invited the armed groups to come forward for negotiations with the government to be able to join the latter ansi strive for national development. Taking into account the no- ble desire and sincere attitude of the State Law and Order Restoration Council, the NMSP entered into negotia- tions time and again with rep- resentatives of the State Law and Order Restoration Council in Mawlamyine. The NMSP then decided to cooperate with the Statc Law and Order Res- toration Council after realiz- ing the goodwiil of the latter. This has resulted in the preva t lence of peace in the entire Mon State, hc said. For more than forty years since regaining of independ- ence there erupted armed in- surrection in the country re- sulting from ideological dif- ferences, mutual suspicion and external instigations leading to difference of opinion among the national brethren. Loss in life, blood, sweat and l Iimbs have been inestimable because the problem of differ- ence of opinion among the na- tional brethren was solved through thc use of force, he said. Both the Tatmadaw mem bers and armed group mem- bers in the jungles were killed or wounded. Local populace, on their part, had been on the run in the absence of peace. They could not eat or sleep well nor earn their living in peace. They had to leave their work and face difficulties, he said. He noted that the govern- ment is working for the na- tional reconciliation with the objective of avoiding tragic incidents and irreplaceable loss. National reconciliation is es- sential for the emergence of a modern and developed State and hence, he said, the State Law and Order Restoration Council has laid down plans and is implementing develop- ment projects for border areas and national races aimed at ensuring national unity and improving the social standard of national races. In other words, he said, the State Law and Order Restora- tion Council is determined to unswervingly implement the Four National Objectives. With much patience armed groups in the jungles are being invited to return to the legal fold in order that all the na- tional brethren may play a role in building the all-round de- veloped, modern nation, he noted. The government, he said, is committed to shaping the good future or history of Myanmar. Hence, he said, efforts are be- ing made to eliminate the evil instances in the history and create favourable conditions of stability andpeaceand national development for the future generations. NMSP becomes the 15th armed group to have returned to the legal fold after realizing the aim and attitude of the Gov- ernment. The dawning ofs peace in Mon State has been due to col- lective efforts of nationalities, Tatmadaw members, depart- mental personnel and peace negotiators, he said. The Tatmadaw will hold al- ways in esteem Our Three Main National Causes-non-disinte- gration of the Union, non-dis- integration of national solidar- ity and perpetuation of sover- eignty, and carry on with its work, he said. He went on to say that as peace has dawned in the en- tire country, a stable, peace ful and modern nation will certainly emerge in the very near future. In conclusion, he said the entire mass of national races are now happy and honoured to learn that NMSP is to work together with the government in accordance with the gov- ernment's border area devel- opment policy. Maj-Gen Ket Sein urged the NMSP to join the government ane3 strive for the rapid development and both mental and physical well be- ing in Mon State. NMSP Vice-Chairman Nai Htin speaks On behalf of Chairman Nai Shwe Kyin of the New Mon I State Party, Vice-Chairman Nai Htin spokc of an account of returning to the legal fold. He thanked thezChairman of the State Law and Order Restoration Council, the Sec- retary-1 and members, peace negotiators and officials con cerned for their genuine good- will and concerted endeavours for dawning of Iseace in Mon State, Mon region and in the entire nation. Recalling history, he said Mon and Myanmar brothers had lived together through in weal or woe for many: years in accordance with the teachings of Lord Buddha, and built the firm State. Due to disunity of Mon and Myanmar kings, the ha tion fell under servitude, he said, adding that Mon nation independence struggle under the leadership of Bogyoke Aung San till at last independ- ence was regained. Since the regaining of the independence in 1948, he said, the national brethren were disunited due to ideological differences and various instigations, and the nation had been mired in the armed strug- gle for over 40 years. The entire people bitterly suffered the effects of the armed crisis, he noted. He said the public there- fore wanted peace and it is also time for the national brethren to build national reconciliation putting an end to the armed struggle for national and public interest. The governments of re- spective eras had tried to stop fighting and negotiate in their own ways, but their attempts weSe not successful due to vari- ous reasons, he said. In the time of the State Law and Order Restoration Coun- cil, he said, corlderted cndeav- ours have been made for inter- nal peace, and because of its true goodwill, altogether 14 armed groups returned to the legal fold and are now partici- pating in national development tasks together with the govern ment. He said the Secretary- I himself visited Ye Township and extended an olive branch with genuine goodwill for co- operation for Mon fegional de- velopment. The New Mon State Party, he said, wholeheartedly wel- comesl the Secretary- I 's feace gall, and emergency meetings were held within the party and sought the aspirations of the Mon public. He noted that after passing through many difficulties, there came the moment of peace milestone, expressing belief that the entire Union nationals will be filled with joy for the NMSP's returning to the legal fold and that the party can now carry out national reconcilia- tion task. He remarked that due to the armed crisis, Mon State lagged in development and it is now essential to give priority for resettlement of those who fled the region and for progress of the transport and communi cation, health and education sectors. He emphatically ex- pressed belief that only when they join hands and work to gether with the State Law and Order Restoration Council, will the success be achieved in these tasks. In conclusion, he said the NMSP firmly believes the true goodwill of the government and is determined to cooperate with it. He firmly pledged that the party will strive their utmost to build the nation to be modern and prosper under the leader ship of the State Law and Or- der Restoration Council up- holding Our Three Main Na- tional Causes-non-disinte- gration of the Union, non-dis integration of national solidar- ity and perpetuation of sover- eignty. Joint Secretary of the Mili tary Committee of NMSP Nai Aung Naing presented the re- port on strength, arms and am- munition to Chairman of Mon State Law and Order Restora- tion Council Commander Maj- Gen Ket Sein. The Secretary-1 cor- dially greeted Vice-Chair- man of NMSP Nai Htin and members, peace negotiators and the nationals. The strength of NMSP, which returned to the legal fold today, is 7,860 who brought with them 4,360 AK automatic, 2175M-16s,432 carbines, 218 assorted arms, 176 40mm M-79s,284 PrGs, 7360mm mortars, 35 81/82mm mortars, six 75mm RFs, 230 82mm RFs, five 107mm rockets, 12 point- fives, 20SAM-7s, 10M-57s, 50 M-60s and 225 RPD AKs, totalling 8,346. Commander Maj-Gen Ket Sein hosted dinner in honour of Secretary-1 Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt and ministers and representatives of the NMSP at Aung San Hall of South-East Com- mand. KNPP: STATEMENT ON 30/6/95 THE KARENNI NATIONAL PROGRESSIVE PARTY STATEMENT(1/95) Fierce fighting broken out today at about 9 am around Kauk Kauk's outer perimeter and at Mae Surin confluence. More SLORC troops have been thrown into KNPP areas, since the latter issued its statement dated June 28, regarding SLORC military activities in Karenni. SLORC has now between four to five thousand troops spread out and poised for an all-out onslaught on Karenni bases. To "support" them, SLORC has pressured hundred of men, women and students to serve as porters. Tractors, bullocks carts, and horses are being requisitioned to carry military equipment, ammunition, and other supplies. SLORC has tried to hood-wink and divert the attention of the international community by announcing that it has, as reported in Bangkok Post, Friday, June 30, 1995, repeatedly requested access through KNPP dominated area in order to attack the Mong Tai headquarters. The irony is that SLORC has the whole of Shan State from which to launch attacks against Khun Sa. It does not in the least need to cross the tiny Karenni territory to attacks Mong Tai headquarters. The fact that SLORC is launching an all out military offensive against Karenni is not because Karenni has refused them access through Karenni to attack the Mong Tai head- quarters, but to neutralize Karenni forces and to subjugate the Karenni people. Given the fact that SLORC has a long history of broken promise and outright lies, this is nothing but, pure fabrication. SLORC, in pursuit of its objective- to destroy the Karenni forces and to subjugate the Karenni people - is brazenly violating human rights on a ground scale. To mount the military offensive against the KNPP, it has collected porters fees- 200 kyats per household, pressed 1500 civilians, woman and children included, to serve as porters, and requisitioned tractors, bullock carts and horses into service. This is rice growing season, and tractors, bullocks and bullock carts are absolutely indispensable for the farmers. SLORC present military offensive has driven more than a thousand Karenni people to seek refuge in existing Karenni refuge camps situated along the border inside Thailand. Currently there are more than six thousand Karenni refugee along the border. Karenni is a small nation. It is a small people. It is struggling to defend its freedom and its territorial integrity. The enemy which is seeking to subjugate it is a hundred times stronger. But, we believe that our cause is just, and that freedom is something worth fighting for. As a result, we have, in spite of heavy odds against us, decided to continue fighting. we will go on fighting until we achieve our freedom. On the other hand, we are looking outward to all peace loving nations and peoples the world over--governments, non-governmental organization and individual--- to support our just fight, and to extend assistance to us in whatever way they can. We requested them to lend their voice in condemning and pressuring SLORC into abiding by the agreement it reached with KNPP three months ago, and withdrawing its troops from the KNPP area. Failure by the international community to do so will not only mean sanctioning SLORC's human rights abuses, it will also embolden and encourage SLORC to continue embarking on its militaristic and despotic designs which are certain to threat the stability of the region. 30th June, 1995 Central Committee Karenni National Progressive Party SEASIA-: COPIES OF BURMA PEACE AGREEMENTS NEEDED ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Sun, 2 Jul 1995 10:38:32 +0800 From: Fernand de Varennes To: Multiple recipients of list SEASIA-L Subject: Burma Peace Agreements Can anyone assist me in obtaining a copy (in English or French) of one of the peace agreements signed between Burma and any one of the 14 rebel ethnic groups? Thanks. ----------------------------- Fernand de Varennes - Lecturer School of Law - Murdoch University Perth, Western Australia 6150 AUSTRALIA Telephone: 61 9 360 6510 Fax: 61 9 310 6671 email: devarenn@central.murdoch.edu.au NATION: BURMA DECLARES SECTION OF TERRITORIAL WATERS OFF-LIMIT The Nation/ The Region IN BRIEF/2.7.95 Burmese authorities on Friday declared another area of its southern territorial waters off-limit to all ships because of seismic oil exploration operations, state-run Radio Rangoon said in a despatch monitored in Bangkok. Total-Myanmar exploration Company, a joint venture oil exploration firm set up by Burma's state owned Oil and Natural Gas Enterprise and France's Total is conducting off-shore seismic surveys in the area for six weeks beginning this weekend, the report said in a broadcast monitored here. Since 1993 Burmese authorities have declared several separate areas in its southern territorial waters off-limit for the same reason but with different companies. Burmese Deputy Foreign Minister Nyunt Swe, meanwhile, returned home Friday from China after signing a memorandum on border demarcation, Radio Rangoon said. Nyunt Swe, who headed a good-will delegation to China, signed the memorandum with his Chinese counterpart in Beijing, the radio said.- Agence France-Presse, Associated Press. NATION/KYODO: MON PEACE PACT MAY SPARK HUNT FOR WAR TREASURE CACHE The Nation/2.7.95 Kyodo RANGOON_ A Peace agreement between the Burmese military junta and Mon rebels may revive a search for a rumoured treasure trove in a cave said to have been dug by Japanese soldiers in the last days of World War II in mountains of Mon State. Mon rebels who controlled the region since 1948 recently agreed to surrender to the central government, opening the region to civilians, and renewing the prospect of a fully-funded search for the cave, rumoured to be near Thanbyu-Zayat a town of 160 kilometers southeast of Rangoon. Locals says they believe the cave was built and used by the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II to store military supplies, including weapons. Shortly before the Japanese surrender in August, 1945, the entrance of the cave was closed off with concrete and covered with earth. The town is well known as the starting point of the "death railway" built between Burma and Thailand by the Japanese Army with conscript local labour and prisoners of war. Although there is no hard evidence of the existence of the cave, word that it might contain treasures stolen by the Japanese army could be enough to promote a search. Journalists visiting the area to witness a recent surrender ceremony by Mon rebels were told by a military officer that any search for a cave would be difficult as the mountains are densely forested. Mon rebels reportedly searched for the cave, but give up after rumours that the mountain's guardian spirit was displaced and several team died. Journalist at the ceremony visited a cone-shaped pagoda built by the Japanese army near the town toward the end of the war. Unlike other pagodas in Burma which have four entrances facing north, south, east and west, the Japanese-built pagoda has entrance has entrances facing northeast, southeast, southwest and northwest, prompting speculation that the entrance facing the mountain range could point to the cave. NATION: 1,000 SENT FLEEING AS BURMESE ARMY CONTINUES OFFENSIVE YINDEE LERTCHAROENCHOK JAMES FAHN The Nation/2.7.95 AS BURMA'S armed ethnic Karenni guerrillas called for international condemnation of the ruling junta's military offensive against them, the Burmese army yesterday continued its advance for a second day and forced over 1,000 people to flee into the jungle. The attacks on the Karenni National Progressive Party were considered "serious" and "blatant" break of the ceasefire which both sides reached in March, a senior KNPP official said. After day-long clashes on Friday around Kauk Kauk Hill and the Mae Surin confluence, both of which are opposite Mae Hong Son's Khun Yuan district, more fighting erupted yesterday at Tatamaw, opposite the Muang district in the province. The official said the bodies of two Burmese soldiers were found from Friday's clashes, but the KNPP said they suffered no casualties. Fighting at Ban Nai Soi, a small border village just north of Mae Hong Son town, began at 10am yesterday, according to refugees fleeing the battle scene. By the afternoon, the battle was said to only a few kilometers from the border. Reporters were warned not to approach closer than three kilometers to the border but Thai officials insisted fighting had not spilled over into Thailand. Dozens of Karenni refugees were seen crossing into Thailand by foot. One villager said as many as 2,000 people may try to enter Thailand at Ban Nai Soi to escape the fighting> At Camp 3, an existing refugees camp about three kms from the border, refugees frantically loaded their belonging into pick-up trucks to be taken into Ban Nai Soi itself, deemed to be safer than Camp 3. Meanwhile, to the north, fighting has been reported at Mesete and Meluya, two Karenni towns located about 15 km from the border in northern Muang district. In an interview yesterday, the same KNPP official said the ruling Burmese State Law and Order Restoration Council (Slorc) violated in March and not vice versa. The official, who requested not to be named, has urged the international community "to condemn and put pressure to withdraw their troops from the KNPP-held areas", saying that a failure to do so would mean sanctioning Slorc's human rights abuses. "it will also embolden and encourage the Slorc to continue embarking on its militaristic and despotic design which are certain to threaten the stability of the region," said an urgent KNPP statement released yesterday. The official accepted that prospective "economic activities" in the KNPP-controlled area and the group's political stance could be the reasons that prompted Slorc to recently send four to five thousand troops into the Karenni controlled territory. The official quoted senior Burmese officers in the Karenni state capital of Loikaw as saying that "the order to send forces [into the KNPP area] came from senior authorities in Rangoon". Maj Gen Maung Gyi, the commander of the Burmese Army's Regional Control Command in Loikaw, was quoted as telling KNPP representatives in the city that troops were to be sent to "consolidate" and secure the border with Thailand as a newly- elected Thai government might change its border policy with Burma. The KNPP had argued against the reasoning, saying the election was a domestic affair of Thailand. Slorc, said the official, might not be happy with the KNPP public statements that despite a truce deal, the ethnic group's political stance remains unchanged - that it still demanded independence for the Karenni state. The commander also reportedly informed the ethnic group to give way and allow a foreign company, Billion Group, which was granted a logging concession from Slorc," to extract logs from the KNPP area, opposite Thailand's Khun Yuam, to Loikaw and later to Rangoon. The KNPP official said even though his group was previously paid "some money as tax" for timber concessions by logging firms a few years ago, the Billion Group and Slorc had not done so this time. "Slorc had previously allowed us to collect tax but it was still much less than what Slorc got from logging firms," he said. "We are the owners of the natural resources, but Slorc is leasing them out and making a lot of money out of foreign companies. We ourselves do not give out logging concessions," he said. The official believed that Slorc in fact wanted to control the long Thai-Burmese border frontier from opposite Mae Hong Son down to Tak and Kanchanaburi now that it had captured the ethnic Karen guerrilla headquarters and other strongholds in Tak. The logging problem, he said, could in fact be resolved or a compromise reached as the KNPP was always ready to talk. "We can talk, but first we want Slorc to withdraw their troops their troops into the areas as a means to gain territory closer to opium warlord Khun Sa's headquarters at Ho-mong, which the Burmese army has repeatedly promised to overrun. "If they want to attack Homong, they did not have to send forces into Kauk Kauk Hill and Mae Surin areas which are long way from Homong. They can just go to their area in Tatamaw and proceed from there, which is closer," he said. NCGUB: STATEMENT REGARDING VIOLATION OF KARENNI CEASEFIRE BY SLORC NATIONAL COALITION GOVERNMENT OF THE UNION OF BURMA STATEMENT Regarding Violation of the Cease-fire Agreement with Karenni The National Coalition Government of has received a statement issued by the Karenni National Progressive Party regarding the breaching of the cease-fire agreement by the Burmese military regime. Since the birth of the military dictatorship on March 2, 1962, when a coup was stage against an elected government led by Prime Minister U Nu, the military leaders in Burma have always resorted to brute force as a means of resolving problems. Over the years agreements concluded with opposition forces were always short- lived because the military regime these pacts only to buy time. The military regimes's decision to send troops into Karenni territory in breach of the ceasefire agreement with the Karenni National Progressive party does not come as a surprise to us or even to the ethnic nationality groups which have entered into similar cease-fire agreements with the military regime, It was just a matter of time before that happened. The latest military venture in Karenni territory, which further expose the true nature of the military leaders, will mostly hurt the weak women, children and the aged. We call on our neighbouring countries, which are already sheltering refugees, to extend their hospitality once more to the people fleeing from the latest round of military onslaught. We understand the difficulties involved in shouldering the burden of refugees and wish we could provide a simple solution. But, socioeconomic problems that exist in Burma today directly contributed to the increase in number of refugees and those problems will remain unresolved unless we provide an overall political solution. To achieve a political solution, we need to rid Burma of its dictatorship and restore democracy and freedom. We therefore call on the international community to avoid any action that strengthens the hands of the military dictatorship and to join in the international sanctions against the military junta in Burma. June 30, 1995 NATION: BURMESE-KARENNI FIGHTING DISLOCATES 3,000 JAMES FAHIN The Nation/3.7.95 MAE HONG SON - While Thais headed to the polls yesterday, sporadic battles between Burmese troops and a Karenni resistance group continued across the border in Karenni state. The fighting which began in earnest on Friday morning has caused the dislocation of at least 3,000 people. Yesterday morning, about 1,500 Karen and Karenni refugees at camp 3 located between the village of Ban Nai Soi and the Burmese border in Muang district - began to relocate to a Padaung village about three kilometres further from the border, according to sources from the All Burma Students' Democratic Front (ABSDF). A Thai civillian official confirmed that the move would take place, although at noon he said it had not yet begun. The refugees used to live in the Padaung,or 'Longneck" village _ which is now a popular tourist site_ but the move would be difficult because their former houses were no longer standing, he said. The Thai official also confirmed that further north in Muang district about 1,500 refugees had moved from the Do Mo Sheh camp inside Burma to Pang Yong camp, which he said sits right on the border. Conditions were said to be difficult there because of almost continuous rain, but he added that there were at least some vacant houses at Pang Yong left by refugees who moved to Do Mo Sheh. Reports from Khun Yuam district, south of Muang district, were more sketchy and suggested that no more than a few hundred refugees had entered Thailand there. Meanwhile, reports on the fighting suggested that Burmese troops were attempting to move eastward from the Salween River in four columns, rather than five as previously reported. A statement issued on Saturday by the Karenni Progressive Party (KNPP) said the ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council (Slorc) had sent 45,000 troops to attack KNPP bases. In the southernmost engagement _ around Kauk Kauk, a few kilometres west of border post 12 which connects Karenni sources said they had Kept Slorc troops at bay. A bit further north, however, Burmese troops had reportedly advanced up the Mae Surin river and were at least close to taking Border Post 11, which is also in Khun Yuam district. Even further up the Mae Surin River, about 10 km inside Thailand, sits refugees Camp 5, which housed about 2,000 Karenni refugees before the fighting, and may hold more now. A third engagement was taking place further north at Mae Yu, a 14-km drive from Border Post 9, which connects Karenni state with Ban Nai Soi in Muang district. Camp 3 is also in area, as is an ABSDF camp. The northernmost engagement was reported at Mae Sa Te, about 15- km west of the camps of Do Mo Sheh and Pang Yong (Camps 2 and 1 respectively). The KNPP statement said that, in addition to press-ganging villagers into becoming porters, Slorc had requisitioned tractors, bullocks and bullock carts from farmers in Karenni state to carry military equipment and other supplies. A Karenni sources said that this suggested that Burmese troops would bring in field artillery and motors. There have already been reports of shelling at Mae Yu. VOA: BURMA CENSURED (VOA editorial) agb1 bit.listserv.seasia-l 1:40 PM Jul 1, 1995 (at postoffice3.mail.cornell.edu) (From News system) Date: Sat, 1 Jul 1995 11:41:43 -0700 Message-Id: <199507011841.LAA04025@igc3.igc.apc.org> From: apakabar@clark.net Subject: GEN/ASIA: Forced Labor in Burma Sender: owner-indonesia-l@igc.apc.org Date= July 2, 1995 Type= Editorial Number= 0-06427 Title= Burma Censured For Forced Labor Anncr: The Voice of America presents differing points of view on a wide variety of issues. Next, an editorial expressing the policies of the United States government. Forced labor is a violation of fundamental human rights. Unfortunately, in some countries this practice is still tolerated or even promoted by governments. One of the worst violators is Burma. Recently, a monitoring committee of the international labor organization censured the Burmese government for its continued use of forced labor on government projects and in military campaigns. The most blatant use of forced labor in Burma is the military regime's practice of taking people from their villages and farms and making them army porters. Civilian men are forced to carry ammunition and other supplies, as well as wounded troops, in areas where the army is fighting insurgents. The Burmese army also forces women to serve as porters, cooks and laundresses. Many women have been raped, and both men and women have become ill or even died from maltreatment and overwork. As the U.S. State department pointed out in its most recent human rights report on Burma, the use of civilian porters by the army remains a standard practice and has probably even increased. In addition, hundreds of thousands of Burmese citizens have been forcibly conscripted to work on military regime projects. They are made to work under threat of heavy fines, are subjected to severe physical abuse, and often receive no pay or food. Two large projects attracted international attention. >From april to July 1994, nearly the entire adult population of Mandalay was forced to contribute labor or money to rehabilitate the area around the city's palace compound in an attempt to make it more attractive to tourists. In southern Burma, tens of thousands of villagers were forced to work in harsh conditions to help build the Ye-Tavoy railway. The United States calls on the Burmese military regime to end immediately its abominable forced labor practices. Burma's unelected leaders should respect the wishes of the people, release all political prisoners and engage in a dialogue aimed at an early restoration of democracy. Anncr: That was an editorial expressing the policies of the United States government. If you would like to be heard on this issue, please write to editorials, Voice of America, Washington, DC, 20547, USA. You may also send us a fax at (202) 619-1043. Your comments may be used on the air. 30-Jun-95 10:29 AM EDT (1429 UTC) Source: Voice of America /END