From: BurmaNet ------------------------ BurmaNet ------------------------ "Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies" ---------------------------------------------------------- The BurmaNet News: August 27, 1995 HEADLINES: ========== THE NATION: SLORC PRESS-GANGED 4,000 TO WORK AS PORTERS, CLAIM REBELS THE NATION: DISSIDENT GROUPS FORM MILITARY PACT TO ASSIST KARENNI REBELS BKK POST: STUDENTS SEEK CHAVALIT'S HELP OVER PRISONERS BKK POST: PAIROTE SAYS MAE SAI NEEDS URGENT ECONOMIC AID BKK POST: THE SLORC CAN'T HIDE THE TRUTH BKK POST: A HARSH LIFE IN BURMESE JAIL ---------------------------------------------------------- Produced with the support of the Burma Information Group (B.I.G). The BurmaNet News is an electronic newspaper covering Burma. Articles from newspapers, magazines, newsletters, the wire services and the Internet as well as original material are published. 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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] ---------------------------------------------------------- ===== item ===== SLORC PRESS-GANGED 4,000 TO WORK AS PORTERS, CLAIM REBELS 27 AUGUST 1995, The Nation The Burmese army has forced more than 4,000 villagers to serve as porters in a rebellious ethnic border area, and demanding villages send more, an official of the ethnic group said yesterday. Several villages near Loikaw in Kayah State, 365 kilometres northeast of Rangoon, were told by the army to send 50 people each, said Abel Tweest, foreign affairs minister of the Karenni National Progressive Party, in a telephone interview with the Associated Press. For each person younger than 50, villages will bew fined 3,000 kyats, which equals US$ 500 at the official exchange rate or about US$ 30 at the widely-used black market rate. Villagers face arrest if they cannot pay, Abel Tweest said. The Karenni are one of 15 ethnic groups that have signed ceasefire agreements with the Burmese government. In June fighting resumed between government soldiers and Karenni troops. A number of international human rights organizations have condemned the Burmese military for using forced labour and treating porters with brutality. Karenni leaders say the Burmese army wanted to use their area to stage an offensive against opium warlord Khun Sa, whose strong hold is in neighbouring Shan State. But they have refused. They also say that disputes arose over the Karenni selling teak to Thailand. The Burmese government, Karenni leaders said, wanted complete control of the trade. Gen Khin Nyunt, a powerful leader in Burma's military government, has called the fighting a misunderstanding and a minor conflict. He has invited Karenni leaders to attend talks at Loikaw. Abel Tweest said, however, that Karenni leaders had no intention of travelling through areas they say are controlled by 7,000 Burmese soldiers. They have asked for negotiations in a third country. A Thai military official near the border, who demanded anonymity, said that fighting was continuing. Karenni leaders say Kayah is an independent state, having been founded in 1946, two years before Burma achieved independence. Reuter adds from London: BBC Burmese language radio broadcasts into Burma are being jammed for the first time in their 55 year history, just a month after the release of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, the BBC said yesterday. The British Broadcasting Corporation in London said its engineers had found deliberate interference on two of the three regular short-wave frequencies carrying news into Burma. (TN) DISSIDENT GROUPS FORM MILITARY PACT TO ASSIST KARENNI REBELS 27 AUGUST 1995, The Nation Four dissident groups in Burma have formed a military alliance to help ethnic Karenni in their fight against Burmese troops in the eastern state of Kayah, a joint statement said yesterday. Leaders of the Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP), All Burma Students' Democratic Front, Mergui/Tavoy United Front and Social Democratc, Burma met at a clandestine location in Burma near the Thai border last week, it said. The meeting was held to seek an "appropriate way to help the KNPP" after Rangoon allegedly violated a ceasefire agreement by mobilizing troops into Kayah State to "wipe out KNPP members from their native area." Rangoon allegedly sent several thousands soldiers across the Salween River into KNPP-designated areas in June, breaking a ceasefire pledge made with the ethnic group in March. The Burmese troop presence there was seen as Rangoon's attempt to secure its logging routes in the timber-rich state. According to the statement, the alliance was formed to "support the KNPP in its just struggles and to initiate a genuine countrywide national reconciliation." But no joint military actions or immediate concrete measures against the Burmese troops were mentioned in the statement which said only that the alliance would strengthen the line of communication, exchange of information. (TN) STUDENTS SEEK CHAVALIT'S HELP OVER PRISONERS 27 AUGUST 1995, Bangkok Post Burmese students in Bangkok plan to submit an open letter to Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudh before he makes a two-day official visit to Burma. John Aung, a secretary-general of the Bangkok-based Overseas National Students of Burma (ONSOB), yesterday disclosed that Burmese students are preparing an open letter for the ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council through Gen Chavalit, calling for the release of all political prisoners. The students plan to call on Gen Chavalit, who is due to visit Burma on Friday to improve relations between the two countries, to help mediate in talks with the Slorc on releasing National League for Democracy (NLD) politicians who are still in jail, Mr Aung said. In 1990, with its leader Aung San Suu Kyi in detention, the NLD swept the national parliamentary elections, winning 392 out of 485 seats. But the military regime refused to recognise the results and began rounding up all NLD politicians. The ONSOB secretary-general said all Burmese dissidents and the Burmese people want the Slorc to respect human rights and promote democracy in the country. All requests, said Mr Aung, relate to the rights of citizens that the Burmese government must take into consideration. It is reported that all Burmese democracy groups in bangkok have been planning to hold a meeting in an attempt to set up a special committee to streamline their regulations. These groups will coordinate with other Burmese students in Canada and Australia in setting up branches to carry out the fight for democracy in a coordinated fashion. (BP) PAIROTE SAYS MAE SAI NEEDS URGENT ECONOMIC AID 27 AUGUST 1995, Bangkok Post Urgent measures are needed to help improve the economic situation in the border town of Mae Sai in this northern provinces which has deteriorated after Burma imposed a ban on border crossing into Thailand. Deputy Commerce minister Pairote Suwanchawee yesterday vioced his concern over the trading standstill along the Thai-Burmese border after the inspection trip to the area and a briefing on the situation by local authorities. He is confident an official visit to Burma by Defence Minister Gen Chavalit Yongchaiyudh early next month would yield some results in resuming border trade. In March, the State Law and Order restoration Council ordered closure of the Mae Sai-Tachilek temporary checkpoint, alleging that Thailand supported drug warlord Khun Sa in his fight with Rangoon. The order has adversely affected the border trade. However, trading improved slightly last month when Thailand opened five temporary border passes in the town which enabled Burmese to buy food and other commodities. But earlier this month the Burmese regime again imposed a ban on its people from crossing from Tachilek to Mae Sai which resulted in a halt to all trade. (BP) THE SLORC CAN'T HIDE THE TRUTH 27 AUGUST 1995, Bangkok Post By Ethan Casey The author of one well-received recent book ob Burma once remarked that the situation in that unhappy country is not doubly but trebly Orwellian: it is part Nineteen Eighty-four, part Animal Farm, and part Burmese Days. Recent developments show Burma becoming ever more Kafkaesque as well, as a "freed" Aung San Suu Kyi wanders about like a laboratory animal in a maze or_more appropritely_lie a porphet, crying in a political and media wilderness, with few in her own country able even to hear what she says and, let us be honest, very few in the outside world even aware of her existence or of just how appalling conditions have been and remain in Burma. We in Thailand are more aware because we are right next door, but how many people in a provincial city in America or Europe have the remotest clue? Too often in our postmodern world, if we don't read or hear about something in the media, we presume to absolve overselves of the duty to acknowledge that it happened. Orwell was right, after all. A Prophet is not without honour except in his own country, said Jesus. Truer words were never spoken about Aung San Suu Kyi. But there is a reason prophets, true ones, usually are relegated to the wilderness; what they have to say usually is both true and unwelcome. But as haitian president Jean Bertrand Ariside, himself a prophet through a flawed one, once said: "Hiding the truth is like trying to bury water. It seeps out everywhere." So Orwell was right, but there remains hope_always. As an eldery Kashmiri who has seen a lot of history and heard a lot of lies in his own country said recently, with the kind of clam that bespeaks a hard-won serenity (like that exuded so palpably by Suu Kyi): "whatsoever may happen, truth is truth." These musings come to mind on the occasion of two news items published in Wednesday's Bangkok Post. The singal for the British Broadcasting Corporation's Burmese-language service has been jammed, almost certainly by or at the behest of the illegitimate junta in Rangoon. The jamming began shortly after a BBC interview with Aung San Suu Kyi was broadcast in Burma, according to the head of the BBC Asia-Pacific service. And Mrs Supatra Masdit, a member of the Democrat Party belonging to the Opposition, and reporters from a major Bangkok newspaper were denied visas to enter Burma to videotape a speech Suu Kyi had been invited to give at a meeting of private women's groups in Beijing at the end of this month, connected to the United Nations Conference on Women. Quite evidently, the Slorc believes it has succeeded in arrogat ing to itself so much power and control in Burma that it can take the calculated risk of "freeing" Suu Kyi, there by freeing itself of much of the pesky bad press it has been getting these last six years, at the same time quietly but blatantly tightening the screws one or two more turns. Apparently, if the Slorc has anything to say about how things develop in the post-house arrest era, which it certainly plans to do, there will be no true opening-up, no true dialogue, no true relief for Burma's people. In this context the "release" of Suu Kyi seems like a supremely cruel partical joke. One of the many ironies, of course, is that Asean and many business people and journalists seem to have been under the self- serving and rather smarmy impression that Burma was "opening up" and that might be in some vague sense a good thing. Would that it were true, as many of us wishfully believe, that economic liberalisation actually did lead to the liberalisation of human rights. But it does not, as author W.J.F. Jenner observed in a very similar context in The Tyranny of History: The Roots of China's Crisis. Like most prophets, Suu Kyi says things people don't like to hear, puts before us terrifying alternatives, choices we would prefer not to have to make. "We have to choose between dialogue and utter devastation," she said the day after her "release". The obvious implication of this true assertion is that if the people and/or the junta in Burma choose, for whatever reason, to eschew dialogue, they will thereby be choosing_freely, because they will have been warned_utter devastation. How much easier things would be for us humans if we were not constantly faced with difficult choices and the prospect of bad things like utter devastation befalling us if we choose the wrong option. Alas, the world is the way it is. But what is the problem, anyway? Surely even the Slorc can see that dialogue is preferable to the alternative. Unfortunately, though, not everyone see things or defines terms the way Suu Kyi does. Later this year the Slorc-sanctioned "National Convention" will allege to have officially institutionalised the political role of the Burmese military. But whatsoever happens, truth is truth. The truth is that the Slorc came to power by brute military means in September 1988, after thousands of people were killed by soldiers on the streets of Rangoon, solely because they were demonstrating in favour of democracy. That the National League for Democracy led by Suu Kyi won democratic elections held in May 1990 by a huge landslide; that the junta decided unilaterally to annual those inconvenient poll results. That Suu Kyi was kept under house arrest for six years for no legal or justifiable reason, and that hundreds of other dissi dents remain imprisoned; that thousands have been killed, enslaved, tortured and raped by agents of the regime. The Slorc can jam the BBC's Burmese-language signal; the Slorc can deny visas to foreigners it deems likely to tarnish its image. But hiding the truth is like trying to bury water; it seeps out everywhere. Make no mistake: the day of reckoning for the status quo in Burma/is approaching. Whether what follows is something better or utter devastation depends almost entirely on whether the Slorc is willing to choose dialogue. (BP) A HARSH LIFE IN BURMESE JAIL 27 AUGUST 1995, Bangkok Post By Supradit Kanwanich Thai fishermen detained in Burma have to endure harsh prison conditions and some have died in detention, according to a report by the Fisheries Department. Burmese jails are crowed and lack basic needs. It's not uncommon for prisoners to suffer diarrhoea and skin disease, it said. The harsh life in Burmese prisons is widely known among Thai fishermen. Therefore, most of them jump overboard and try to escape when boats are intercepted by Burmese naval ships. And many have been reported missing. The report said most illegal fishing boats are from Samut Sakhon, Ranong, Phuket, Trang, Samut Songkhram and Petchaburi. Boats from Samut Prakan, Samut Sakhon, Samut Songkhram and Petchaburi either sail around the malay peninsula or are transported overland to ranong to get to the Andaman Sea. Each vessel is manned by about 10-20 fishermen, many of whom are Burmese. In some trawlers, there are more Burmese than Thai crew. The skipper and mechanic, however, are still Thai. When Thai vessels are seized and found guilty of breaking Burmese laws, both Thai and Burmese crew members face the same sentence, but are put in different jails. Thai fishermen are normally charged with illegal entry, taking foreign currency into Burma without permission, and illegal fishing. Thai fishermen under 16 are released. Thai fishermen normally have no money to pay the fine, so they must serve jail terms in lieu. vessels and equippment involved in the violations are confiscated. The report said Thai fishermen sentenced by courts in Burmese coastal provinces are sent to Insein jail in Rangoon as requested by the Thai Government. Basically, they are not physically punished during detention. Thai Embassy officials occasionally visit them and give them medicine and dry food. When Thais serve their jail sentences, Burmese officials tell the Thai embassy to prepare extradition. Somehow, the embassy is not told in advance, so men must languish in jail another one or two months while embassy officials prepare documents and air tickets for their trip home. In the latest incident, Thai embassy officials in mid-June witnessed the sentencing by a Burmese court of a Thai skipper, Odd Saenchamla of Udon Thani Province, who was given 20 years jail for illegal entry and fishing. Five Thais were given 13 years each on the dsame charges. They could appeal the verdict within 60 days. many Thais have fallen ill and some died in detention, according to the Fisheries Department. Burmese authorities suspended fishing concessions to Thai fishermen a few years ago but started granting new concessions late last year. Still, many Thai trawlers encroach Burmese waters for illegal fishing. When chased by a Burmese naval ship, the illegal Thai trawler radio others nearby and tell them about the location. After tying the steering wheel to maintain the boat's steady course, the Thai skipper and crew jump overboard. Burmese members of the crew remain on board. Some would later be arrested, some rescued by other Thai trawlers, and some go missing, presumably drowned. Thai fishermen may have to stay afloat in the sea for one or two days before being rescued by a Thai trawler. Life of a Thai skipper in jail is better than his crew because his family could send money or needs to him. The crew normally cannot contact their families or people outside. There is an exception when some fellow prisoners are released: Letters are then slipped out of jail. Although an inspection is rather strict for relesed prisoners, Thai fishermen manage to hide letters in shoes, clothes, personal effects_and even certain parts of the body. (BP)