The BurmaNet News: October 11, 1995 Issue# 248 Noted in Passing: It is therefore resolved, based on the foregoing information, that the board revokes its previous sponsorship of the Burma Passage travel programme scheduled for Jan 8-25, 1996. - UCLA Alumni Association Board of Directors' Statement (quoted in THE NATION: US SCHOOL CANCELS BURMA CRUISE OVER HUMAN RIGHTS) HEADLINES: ========== ASAHI EVENING NEWS: FORMER DICTATOR ABSENT FROM CEREMONY JAPAN TIMES: SUU KYI LEAVES RANGOON TO VISIT BUDDHIST PRIEST AFP: UN HUMAN RIGHTS ENVOY MEETS BURMESE OFFICIALS IN RANGOON CAMPAIGN FOR FREE BURMA: UCLA CANCELS BURMA TOUR CAMPAIGN FOR FREE BURMA: BURMA TOUR BOYCOTT THE NATION: US SCHOOL CANCELS BURMA CRUISE OVER HUMAN RIGHTS S.H.A.N : SHAN ANSWER TO BURMESE MAGIC BKK POST: TWO ARRESTED ON CHARGE OF KILLING BURMESE SEAMEN BKK POST: AQUINO URGES LEADERS TO SPEAK OUT ON SLORC BKK POST: KHUN SA AGAIN OFFERS TO RELINQUISH POWER BKK POST: BURMA DELAYS CONVENTION TALKS BKK POST: SMUGGLERS HIT THE NATION: JAPANESE FIRMS EYE INVESTMENT IN 'NEW' BURMA ---------------------------------------------------------- Produced with the support of the Burma Information Group (B.I.G) and the Research Department of the ABSDF {MTZ} The BurmaNet News is an electronic newspaper covering Burma. 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For a free subscription to the BurmaNet News, send an e-mail message to: majordomo@igc.apc.org In the body of the message, type "subscribe burmanet-l" (without quotation marks) Letters to the editor, comments or contributions of articles should be sent to the editor at: strider@igc.apc.org ------------------------------------------------------------- INFORMATION ABOUT BURMA VIA THE WEB AND GOPHER: Information about Burma is available via the WorldWideWeb at: FreeBurmaWWW http://sunsite.unc.edu/freeburma/freeburma.html [including back issues of the BurmaNet News as .txt files] BurmaWeb: http://www.uio.no/tormodl Burma fonts: http://www.cs.bham.ac.uk/~lka/burmese-fonts/moe.html Ethnologue Database(Myanmar): http://www-ala.doc.ic.ac.uk/~rap/Ethnologue/eth.cgi/Myanmar TO ACCESS INFORMATION ABOUT BURMA VIA GOPHER: gopher csf.colorado.edu. Look under the International Political Economy section, then select Geographic_Archive, then Asia, then Burma. ---------------------------------------------------------- BURMANET SUBJECT-MATTER RESOURCE LIST BurmaNet regularly receives enquiries on a number of different topics related to Burma. The scope of the subjects involved is simplytoo broad for any one person to cover. BurmaNet is therefore organizing a number of volunteer coordinators to field questions on various subjects. 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- Michael W. Charney Bangladesh Border GoMaha@aol.com Campus activism: tlandon@ewu.edu Boycott campaigns: [Pepsi] wcsbeau@superior.ccs.carleton.ca Buddhism: Buddhist Relief Mission, brelief@gol.com Chin history/culture: plilian@asc.corp.mot.com Fonts: tom@cs.colgate.edu History of Burma: zni@students.wisc.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: Wungram Shishak, z954001@oats.farm.niu.edu Burma-India border [volunteer needed] Pali literature: "Palmleaf" c/o burmanet@igc.apc.org Shan history/culture: [volunteer needed] Shareholder activism: simon_billenness@mail.cybercom.net Tourism campaigns: bagp@gn.apc.org "Attn. S.Sutcliffe" World Wide Web: FreeBurma@POBox.com Volunteering: christin@ksc.net.th [Feel free to suggest more areas of coverage] ************************ ASAHI EVENING NEWS: FORMER DICTATOR ABSENT FROM CEREMONY October 9, 2995 (The Associated Press) posted by BRC-J RANGOON, Burma-More than 200 university students gathered at democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi's lakeside home Sunday to pay respects to elder statesmen, including former dictator Ne Win and members of the current military government, whom they had invited to attend. Ne Win and his successors did not attend. Fifty-five out of 92 senior politicians did attend the traditional ceremony to honor teachers, parents and elders on the holiday called "Thadingyut" which marks the end of Buddhist Lent. Invitations signed by university students requested the invitees to attend the ceremony at Suu Kyi's home "without fail." The 1991 Nobel Peace Prize winner's name was not mentioned in the invitation. Maung Maung, a student representative, said that government leaders had informed them that it was "too early to attend such a ceremony." The reclusive 84-year-old Gen. Ne Win has rarely been seen in public since he stepped down from power. During his 26 years in office until 1988 he cut Burma off from the rest of the world and transformed it from one of the richest countries in Southeast Asia into one of the poorest in the world. In his final months of power, as well as shortly after he stepped down, thousands of unarmed pro -democracy demonstrators were slaughtered by the military in the streets of Rangoon and other major Burmese cities. Many Burmese believe Ne Win still controls the government, although government leaders deny it. Since her release from six years of house arrest July 10, Suu Kyi has been pressing the government for a dialogue on solving the nation's problems. Speaking at the ceremony, Bohmu Aung, a close friend of Aung San, Burma's independence hero and Suu Kyi's father, said that national unity could be achieved through negotiation. ***************************** JAPAN TIMES: SUU KYI LEAVES RANGOON TO VISIT BUDDHIST PRIEST October 7, 1995 (posted by BRC-Japan) RANGOON (UPI-Kyodo) Myanmar's (Burma's) opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi paid her respects to a revered Buddhist priest Thursday while on her first trip out of Rangoon since her release from house arrest. Sources close to her relatives said Suu Kyi, 50, left the Myanmarese (Burmese) capital early Wednesday to pay homage to the presiding priest of the monastery on Thar-Myin-Nya Hill, in the jungle 32 km from Pa-an and 160 km east of Rangoon. The priest is believed by devotees to be an "arhat," or saint, who possesses supernatural spiritual powers. The Myanmarese sources said Suu Kyi, who was released July 10 from nearly six years of house arrest, will return to Rangoon on Friday. Suu Kyi has maintained a relatively low political profile since her release, giving speeches to crowds of supporters who gather daily in front of her suburban Rangoon residence. Myanmar's military government, meanwhile, has virtually ignored her in the official press, while pressing ahead with the drafting of a new constitution that will guarantee the army's continued dominant political role. In an official notification issued Wednesday, the ruling junta said the 700-member national constitutional convention, which has been in recess since April 8, will be reconvened on Nov. 28, a month later than scheduled. The notification, signed by Lt. Gen. Myo Nyunt, chairman of the National Convention Commission, said the postponement was made in response to the wishes of delegates who want to attend agricultural and religious activities coinciding with the end of the monsoon season. At its last session from March 29 to April 7, the convention took up the sensitive issue of creating self- administered areas for minority races. Convention delegates decided that only six of the country's 135 ethnic minority peoples have the requisite population size and geographical concentrations to qualify for the status of self - administered areas. These ethnic groups are the Naga of the Sagaing Division and the Danu, Pa-oh, Palaung, Kokang and Wa of the Shan State. At previous sessions, the military-dominated convention ruled that persons who have lived for long periods abroad or who are married to foreigners are banned from holding high-level government positions. ************************* AFP: UN HUMAN RIGHTS ENVOY MEETS BURMESE OFFICIALS IN RANGOON October 9, 1995 BANGKOK, Oct 9 (AFP) - United Nations special envoy Yozo Yokota met with senior Burmese military junta members Monday at the start of his official visit, state-run Burmese radio reported. Yokota, a UN special rapporteur for human rights, will also meet later in his visit with Aung San Suu Kyi, Burma's leading pro-democracy activist who was released from her six-year house arrest in July. It will be his first meeting with the Nobel Peace laureate as he was not allowed to see her on previous trips. On Monday, Yokota held talks with Health Minister Than Nyunt and Deputy Foreign Minister Nyunt Swe, Radio Rangoon said in a broadcast monitored here. According to the report, Yokota also held a meeting with senior Burmese foreign ministry officials Monday afternoon to coordinate the rest of his visit. Yokota, a Japanese professor who arrived in Rangoon on Sunday for a one-week trip, was appointed by UN's Human Rights Commission to gather information on the human rights situation in Burma. A reliable sources in Rangoon said earlier that Yokota is expected to meet with senior Burmese military generals, leaders of political parties and visit country's major prisons to check the welfare of political prisoners. CAMPAIGN FOR FREE BURMA: UCLA CANCELS BURMA TOUR October 4, 1995 From: freeburma@pobox.com (Free Burma WWW) The following is posted for David Wolfberg: Los Angeles Campaign for a Free Burma FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: DAVID WOLFBERG, L.A. Campaign for a Free Burma (310) 391-7788 OCTOBER 4, 1995 DANG NGO, UCLA Rainforest Action Group (310) 208-5978 UCLA ALUMNI ASSOCIATION CANCELS BURMA TOUR UCLA's Alumni Association is abandoning its "Burma Passage" tour package after learning that the tour would bring funds to an illegal military regime with an appetite for forced labor and no tolerance for academic freedom. At the association's Board of Directors meeting Thursday evening, Burmese exiles, UCLA students, and the Campaign for a Free Burma also argued that travelers could be exposed to substantial health risks. UCLA's decision was hailed as a sharp rebuke to Burma's ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC). In preparation for "Visit Myanmar [Burma] 1996", the SLORC has conscripted thousands of Burmese, including pregnant women and 8-year-old children, to re-construct roads, railroads, an airport, and numerous tour spots in Burma. Tourism-related forced labor has been documented by the New York Times, BBC television and ABC's Nightline. For tourists, the SLORC's program is also a bad deal. A docking fee from leisure vessels will go directly to SLORC. Travelers will have to convert their dollars to Burmese kyats. The junta gives tourists 6 kyats per dollar, but it will cost 120 kyats for a dollar's worth of goods under the common black market rates. In a nation with one doctor per 12,500 citizens, medical risks are high. The International Red Cross found it impossible to operate in Burma due to the SLORC, whose soldiers have murdered and tortured doctors and nurses and destroyed medical facilities. On the heels of this year's devastating monsoon season, tourists may be exposed to malaria, dengue, cholera, TB, tetanus, typhoid, and hepatitis. Visitors to Burma can forget about the outside world, as SLORC controls the only radio and television broadcasts and the only magazine and newspaper. A traveler in Rangoon won't hear much from BBC or Voice of America because the SLORC is jamming broadcast signals. Following twenty minutes of closed-door discussion, the UCLA Alumni Association issued the following statement: Whereas, the Board of Directors of the UCLA Alumni Association received substantial and credible information at its September 28, 1995 meeting to the effect that 1) there are serious human rights violations being committed by the government of Burma; 2) that the US State Dept. is considering issuing travel restrictions or canceling travel visas to Burma; and 3) that some human rights groups are advocating an economic boycott of Burma. It is therefore resolved based upon the foregoing information that the Board revokes its previous sponsorship of the Burma Passage travel program scheduled for January 8 - 25, 1996. In abandoning the tour, UCLA will provide human rights documentation to alumni who signed up for the trip. The L.A. Campaign for a Free Burma is calling on other alumni associations, notably that of cross-town rival University of Southern California, to join UCLA in canceling the travel packages. In addition to UCLA and USC, Burma tour programs have been identified at Duke, Yale, and Northwestern. The Northwestern campus has already been approached about a related Burma issue - Unocal Corporation's joint venture with SLORC for construction of a natural gas pipeline through Burma to Thailand. The Dean of Northwestern's Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Donald Jacobs, is a Director at Unocal. A new British documentary, Life on the Line, has revealed a pattern of executions & forcible relocation throughout the region of Unocal's pipeline. ****************************** CAMPAIGN FOR FREE BURMA: BURMA TOUR BOYCOTT October 3, 1995 From: freeburma@pobox.com (Free Burma WWW) Posted for David Wolfberg: Los Angeles Campaign for a Free Burma FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: DAVID WOLFBERG, L.A. Campaign for a Free Burma (310) 391-7788 OCTOBER 3, 1995 LARRY DOHRS, Seattle Campaign for a Free Burma (206) 784-6873 ASEAN STATES IMPACTED BY BURMA TOUR BOYCOTT Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore And Others May Lose Tour Dollars ASEAN nations may have to decide between a brutal military regime and a major industry - tourism - as internationally based human rights activists push to deprive the Burma junta of the foreign capital sought through its "Visit Myanmar Year 1996" tourism campaign. UCLA's Alumni Association has canceled sponsorship of "Burma Passage", a cruise package which includes stops in Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore & Hong Kong. The final stop of "Burma Passage" is in Burma's capital city of Rangoon, where Alumni would have no choice but to disembark. There, foreigners must exchange dollars for kyats at rates falsely inflated 1900% in favor of the ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC). Groups like London's Burma Action Group, Canadian Friends of Burma, Burmese Relief Center of Japan, Southeast Asia Information Network, and Campaigns for a Free Burma based throughout the United States have vowed to halt tourism to Burma due to the inexorable links between "Visit Myanmar Year" and human rights violations, including forced labor and forced relocation. The groups will be contacting Duke University, another sponsor of "Burma Passage", in hopes that Duke will also withdraw. The University of Southern California, Northwestern University, and Yale will also be contacted. Burma's neighboring nations will have to encourage tour packages which exclude stops in Burma or bear the financial burden of SLORC's human rights problem. If the USC and Duke packages are abandoned, Thailand could be impacted by three withdrawals from universities alone. The USC Alumni Association's travel plan is of great concern to human rights groups because it takes tourists via cruise ship up the Irrawaddy -- a river leading to Mandalay. According to the New York Times [7/17/94], Mandalay's 500,000 residents have been ordered to send family members for forced labor on the massive moat around the Great Palace there. The moat is six miles long and eleven feet deep. Much of the work is performed by women and children in Mandalay's 95-degree heat. The Southeast Asia Information Network has reported that forced labor has also been used by SLORC to build railroads for transporting tourists in and out of Mandalay. Recently, ABC's Nightline captured footage of forced laborers, as young as 8 years old, constructing a roadway that is to be used as a tour route. Tourism-related forced labor has also been documented by BBC television. The State Law and Order Restoration Council brutally suppressed a pro-democratic uprising in 1988, massacring thousands of citizens and torturing many others. SLORC held Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi for six years, releasing her only this summer. Several businesses have withdrawn from Burma, including Petro-Canada, Amoco oil, Levi Strauss & Co., Eddie Bauer, Macy's and Liz Claiborne. ************************** THE NATION: US SCHOOL CANCELS BURMA CRUISE OVER HUMAN RIGHTS October 10, 1995 Yindee Lertcharoenchok The Alumni Association of the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) has canceled its sponsorship of the "Burma Passage" cruise package scheduled for next January to deprive the Burmese junta of foreign capital through its "Visit Myanmar (Burma) Year 1996". The decision was made during a closed-door discussion on Sept 28 of the Board of Directors of the UCLA Alumni Association. In a statement issued after the meeting, the Alumni said its resolve stemmed from "substantial and credible" information of serious human rights abuses by the Burmese junta, the US State Department's consideration of issuing travel restrictions or cancelling travel visas to Burma, and the advocating of an economic boycott of Burma by some human rights groups. "It is therefore resolved, based on the foregoing information, that the board revokes its previous sponsorship of the Burma Passage travel programme scheduled for Jan 8-25, 1996," said the statement. The travel package included stops in Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong with the final stop in Burma's capital Rangoon where Alumni would have disembarked. In a press release dated Oct 3, the Los Angeles Campaign for a Free Burma said group like London-based Burma Action Group, Canadian Friends of Burma, Burmese relief Centre of Japan, Southeast Asia Information Network as well as the organization itself will be urging Duke University, another sponsor of 'Burma Passage' to withdraw. The University of Southern California (USC), Northwestern University and Yale ill also be contacted, it said. It added that Burma's neighbours should encourage tour packages which exclude stops in Burma or bear the financial burden of the junta's human rights problems. "If the USC and Duke packages are abandoned, Thailand could be impacted by the withdrawal of three universities alone," said the release. It added that human rights groups were very concerned with the USC Alumni Association's travel plans because tourists would have cruised up the Irrawaddy River to Mandalay, Burma's second largest city and former capital, "where 500,000 residents have been ordered to send family members for forced labour on the massive moat around the Great Place there." "The moat is six miles long and eleven feet deep. Much of the work is performed by women and children in Mandalay's 95 degree [Farenheit] heat," it said. In preparation for 'Visit Myanmar Year' the Slorc has conscripted thousands of Burmese, including pregnant women and 8-year-old children to reconstruct roads, railroads, an airport, and numerous tour spots in the country, it said. "Recently, ABC's Nightline captured footage of forced labourers, some as young as eight years old, constructing a roadway that is to be used as a tour route. Tourism-related forced labour has also been documented by BBC television," said the statement. The LA campaign group has warned that travellers could be exposed to "substantial health risks" of malaria, dengue fever, cholera, tuberculosis, tetanus, typhoid and hepatitis due to this year's devastating monsoon season. It also warned that tourists will be forced to convert their dollars to Burmese currency at an official rate of six Kyat per dollar while the black market fetches 120 Kyat. The group said Northwestern University has also been approached on the issue of Unocal Corporation's joint venture with the ruling Burmese State Law and Order Restoration Council (Slorc) to construct a natural gas pipeline from Burma to Thailand. The Dean of Northwestern's kellogg Graduate School of Management, Donald Jacobs, is a director at Unocal. (TN) ********************* S.H.A.N : SHAN ANSWER TO BURMESE MAGIC Muangmai , October 9, 1995 For more than four decades, since the first entry of Burmese troops into the Shan State, reports about Burmese astrologers using sorcery in the name of the promotion of Buddhism in order to keep the rebellious Shans under their permanent subjugation have been numerous. Statues of the Buddha and Pagodas built by the Burmese are said to have been designed to sow dissension among the Shans so as to facilitate Burmese domination over them. Now the Shan shamans in Homong, the capital of the resistance, say they have discovered the cause of Major Karnyord's mutiny and the subsequent chaos in the Mong Tai Army, the largest rebel armed resistance movement fighting against the SLORC. According to them, one of the many travelling astrologers passing in and out of the rebels' " Free Territory " until last year is a Burmese agent who made several magical designs for the sacred places and homes of the local populace, ostensibly to help advance their general well-being, but actually with evil intent. S.H.A.N was shown by the shamans how it was done, before the ominous designs were put to the torce. The Shan astrologers' answer to this " Star Wars " offensive of the Burmese has been the construction of the Saijaikhurn " Line of Life " Pagoda since last August. The crowning Ceremony in November is due to be presided over by the new chairman Zao Gunjade, who was mistakenly reported by foreign press to have gone over to the mutineers' camp. " You educated people may laugh at us, " says one veteran astrologer. " But if you think carefully how our troops, outnumbered and outgunned by the Wa several times, have been able to beat off their offensive on September 19, you will understand it is not to be treated as a joke." *********************** BKK POST: TWO ARRESTED ON CHARGE OF KILLING BURMESE SEAMEN October 10, 1995 Two more Thai fishermen have been arrested by police and charged with taking part in the murder of at least six Burmese seamen in the Andaman Sea early in August. The incident occurred on board the JV 44 fishing boat owned by the Myanmar Narong Company, a joint venture of Narong Canning Company and Burma's Fishery Department, on August 6. The murder upset Burmese authorities who reacted by closing the Thai-Burmese border adjacent to Ranong. The two suspects were identified as Chel Inyam, 19, and Prachak or Tualek Chaiphoon, 17. They were arrested recently at a pier in Tambon Paknam, Mung District, while working for the Suthipongchai 9 fishing boat owned by the Narong Canning Company. Both denied the murder charge. Ranong Provincial Governor Sira Chavanavirach reported the arrest to the Interior Ministry and the Fourth Army Region. He did not mention the exact date of the arrest. Earlier, the Ranong prosecution had field the murder charge with the Ranong court against three other suspects: Khamsai Kaenkaew, Porn or Kim Khammarroeng, and Soonthorn Kaewsongduang. They had also been escorted to Burma where Burmese seamen who reportedly survived the incident identified them as the murderers. The murders occurred after Burmese authorities boarded the JV 44 and took away 10 Burmese nationals for interrogation following complaints about alleged violations of the fishing agreement between Thailand and Burma. Burmese fishermen informed their authorities that Narong Canning Company had unloaded fish on to other Thai vessels before arriving at a port to distribute half the amount of fish caught to Burmese authorities. After the authorities left the vessel, a group of Thai fishermen allegedly began assaulting 18 other Burmese seamen left on board. Six of the Burmese seamen were murdered. The Burmese authorities have continued to ban Thai people from entering Burma through Ranong but occasionally allow Burmese nationals to buy consumer goods across the border. Burma also ordered Thai vessels fishing in its waters to sell the catch to Malaysia and Singapore where only some types of fish could be sold. As a result, some operators stopped fishing as the practice was economically not worth while. (BP) BKK POST: AQUINO URGES LEADERS TO SPEAK OUT ON SLORC'S 'INHUMANITY' October 10, 1995 Manila, AFP Former Philippine president Corazon Aquino yesterday urged world leaders to speak out against the "inhumanity" of the ruling military junta in Burma, which some trade union groups allege are using slave labor. Aquino, whose "people power" revolt toppled the Ferdinand Marcos regime in 1986, said Rangoon and like-minded governments have no right to invoke sovereignty to trample on the civil rights of their citizens. Burma's ruling junta, called the State Law and Order Restoration Council (Slorc), seized power in 1988 and disregarded the results of the 1990 national election won by the opposition. In July it released opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who had been under house arrest since 1989. Aquino told an international conference on Burma in the Philippine capital that "as members of the human race" individuals and governments both had a duty to speak out against human rights abuses, which she described as the "worst from of inhumanity." "For all nations to do nothing about such inhumanity will be the worst crime of all," she added. Aquino said world leaders should "speak out in a very loud and clear voice," and "the dictatorship would have to listen." She said the pressure of world opinion in 1977 prevented Marcos from carrying out the execution by firing squad of her late husband, the opposition leader Benigno Aquino, after he was convicted by a military court of rebellion. However, she said she did not know at the time that Marcos had only "postponed" her husband's execution. He was assassinated at Manila airport in 1983. After Marcos was toppled, a court under the new government, led by Corazon Aquino, convicted 15 soldiers and a civilian of the murder. Aquino maintains the Marcos family was the real brains behind the assassination, but none of them have been charged in connection with the killing. The Burma conference was organised here by the Brussels-based International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU). (BP) ********************* BKK POST:KHUN SA AGAIN OFFERS TO RELINQUISH POWER October 10, 1995 Golden triangle opium warlord Khun Sa has reiterated his vow to relinquish power once his top aide said to have defected to a rival faction returns, guerrilla sources said yesterday. Khun Sa also warned Shan leaders supporting the faction that broke away earlier this year that their lives were in danger, the source said. Khun Sa repeated his vow to step down during a ceremony to mark the end of Buddhist lent at his Ho Mong headquarters over the weekend, they said. He was waiting for the top aide, Kan Chit, to return before stepping down, they said. "He (Khun Sa) said since Kan Chit was appointed as the chairman of the Shan State Administration Council (SSAC) while he was absent in August, he would have an official handover ceremony once Kan Chit return," Keunsai Chaiyen, a close aide of Khun Sa, told Reuters. Veteran Shan fighter Kan Chit was sent by Khun Sa sometime back to persuade more than 3,000 former guerrillas who broke away from his Mong Tai Army (MTA) in early July to join the rebel organisation. But Kan Chit has not yet returned and sources close to the defectors said he had decided to join their group. In order to patch the rift in his organisation, K as meant to replace his one-man absolute rule and run the organisation by collective power. A Shan leader confirmed Khun Sa's remarks over the weekend, but said the opium kingpin was also threatening the people who support the defectors. "He frightened us by saying that somebody might kill us and he won't take responsibility for it," a veteran Shan politician who claimed to have a tape of Khun Sa's speech told Reuters. Khun Sa, 61, is the half Shan, half Chinese commander of about 10,000 strong MTA guerrillas who he says are fighting for the independence of Shan State. But the Burmese government and international drug agencies accuse Khun Sa as a personal army to protect his heroin trafficking. He denies the charges, saying he only taxes opium traders travelling through areas his forces control on the golden triangle, where the borders of Burma, Laos and Thailand meet, to finance his political programme. The July defection was sparked by some 3,000 ethnic Shan angry with Khun Sa's role in drug trafficking. After breaking away, the group vowed to fight against him. Intermittent fighting between MTA and the breakaway faction has already begun in central Shan state. A source in the Thai border police said thousands of combined troops from Burma and the United Wa State Army were poised to attack Khun Sa once rains were over next month. The Thai source said hundreds of people from Khun Sa's camp have fled to Thai border villages in the past week in apparent preparation for an attack. But Khun Sa's aide played down a possible attack and said the people merely left the jungle to work in Thailand. "Yes, people have left from our camps but they have gone to seek work in Thailand," Keunsai said. (BP) ******************************* BKK POST: BURMA DELAYS CONVENTION TALKS October 10, 1995 Burma has delayed the next session of a national constitutional convention for a month, to avoid disrupting rice-planting and the observance of Buddhist holidays. But analysts linked the delay to the United Nations annual vote on a resolution calling for improved human rights in Burma. For now, the military junta can rest on the laurels it won for releasing pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi in July. (BP) BKK POST: SMUGGLERS HIT October 10, 1995 Gem smugglers in Burma now face tougher punishment ranging from 10 years in prison to life, plus fines, according to a new law passed by the junta. Other lesser infringements, which carry jail terms ranging from one to 15 years, include the failure by licensed operators to register newly-discovered gemstones and illegal gem and jewellery trading. The law, promulgated on September 29, sets up a "central gemstone supervisory committee". Licences are available from the ministry of mines. (BP) ***************** THE NATION: JAPANESE FIRMS EYE INVESTMENT IN 'NEW' BURMA October 10, 1995 By Noriko Sato (Kyodo) More Japanese companies are contemplating investing in Burma since the release of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi in July. "Burma was almost forgotten before, but suddenly, people want to know all about it," says spokesman at the Myanmar Center for Business and Information, which was set up in Tokyo by Burma's military government to respond to the new interest among Japanese companies. "The country is one of the last frontiers in Asia, and companies don't want to miss their chance," he said. Burma has been virtually scheduled from the rest of the world for the last 30 years or so. In 1962, it shunned foreign investment under a nationalist socialist policy that lasted 26 years, and which led to economic stagnation. In 1988, the country adopted free market principles, reopening its doors to foreign investment under the Foreign Investment Law. Investors have been largely wary, however, since most foreign aid to the country was cut off after the military junta's oppression of democracy movements in the same year. The release of Suu Kyi, who was put under house arrest in 1989, is seen in some circles as a good reason to resume investment in the country. "It's a promising sign. We can hope for investment to grow in Burma as in Vietnam," says Akinori Seki, deputy executive officer of strategies and coordination at Marubeni Corp, one of the major trading companies that is looking to do long-term business in Burma. To encourage companies, the Ministry of International Trade and Industry this year resumed underwriting trade insurance policies for investment in the country, suspended since 1988. For investors, the attractions in Burma are its rich natural resources and the low labour costs of a population of approximately 45 million. "Also welcome are the people's ability to speak English, their industriousness, and most reassuring to Japanese companies, their mentality that is very close to the Japanese," says Seki at Marubeni. However, the lack of infrastructure is a setback for many companies, particularly those in the manufacturing sector. "Burma lacks water and electricity supplies and other basic essentials. We will be staying sidelined for the time being," says a spokesman at a major consumer electric appliances company. In addition to the poor port, transport and telecommunications facilities, investors also have to reckon with a dual currency exchange rate. While the official value of the dollar is at around 5.60 Kyats, its actual market value is 20 times higher at around 120-135 kyats. As of the end of June, only five government-approved Japanese companies were operating in Burma, their investment totalling $101 million, ranking sixth among foreign investors. The top five investors are Britain, France, Thailand, Singapore and the United States. Among the Japanese investors, major trading companies are notably taking the lead. Marubeni, in addition to the deals struck for joint ventures for galvanized steel and soft drinks, is hoping to cooperate in the airport, energy and industrial complex sectors. "We also have our eyes on the farming industry, an area where Burma has a lot to offer," said Seki, saying the country could become an important food supplier amid the expected decrease of China's agricultural supplying capacity. Another trading company, Mitsui and Co, is considering undertaking projects for gas development, industrial parks, steel sheet production and hotels. (TN) ------------------------ BurmaNet ------------------------ "Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies" ---------------------------------------------------------- The BurmaNet News: October 12, 1995 Issue# 249 Noted in Passing: In time, we shall need investment and we hope we shall have a lot of very good, productive investment in Burma. But we do not want to encourage any form of investment that goes against the process of democratization. - Aung San Suu Kyi in videotaped speech at Manila Conference (qutoed in BKK POST: AUNG SAN SUU KYI SUGGESTS IT'S TOO EARLY TO INVEST IN BURMA) HEADLINES: ========== NATION: BURMA'S SUU KYI REINSTATED AS NLD GENERAL SECRETARY BKK POST: AUNG SAN SUU KYI SUGGESTS IT'S TOO EARLY TO INVEST IN BURMA BKK POST: CONSULT SEES WORTHWHILE LONG-RANGE OUTLOOK FOR BURMA JAPAN TIMES: l.625 BILLION YEN GRANTED MYANMAR NURSE SCHOOL ASIAWEEK: MYANMAR IS NOW OPEN FOR INVESTMENT BKK POST: OVERTURES TO BURMA NOT FAVOURED BY ALL BKK POST: BURMA PREPARES FOR TOURIST INFLUX BKK POST: VETERAN BURMESE JOURNALIST PAYS PRICE FOR BEING 'NEUTRAL' NATION: SUU KYI CALLS FOR STRONGER LABOUR UNIONS NATION: A BURMA FREED FROM NE WIN'S DREAMSCAPE? BKK POST: BURMESE SET NEW CONDITION FOR WORK RESUMPTION BKK POST: AIR MANDALAY HELPS BUILD CHIANG MAI'S HUB STATUS ---------------------------------------------------------- Produced with the support of the Burma Information Group (B.I.G) and the Research Department of the ABSDF {MTZ} 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. The BurmaNet News is e-mailed directly to subscribers and is also distributed via the soc.culture.burma and seasia-l mailing lists and is also available via the reg.burma conference on the APC networks. For a free subscription to the BurmaNet News, send an e-mail message to: majordomo@igc.apc.org In the body of the message, type "subscribe burmanet-l" (without quotation marks) Letters to the editor, comments or contributions of articles should be sent to the editor at: strider@igc.apc.org ------------------------------------------------------------- INFORMATION ABOUT BURMA VIA THE WEB AND GOPHER: Information about Burma is available via the WorldWideWeb at: FreeBurmaWWW http://sunsite.unc.edu/freeburma/freeburma.html [including back issues of the BurmaNet News as .txt files] BurmaWeb: http://www.uio.no/tormodl Burma fonts: http://www.cs.bham.ac.uk/~lka/burmese-fonts/moe.html Ethnologue Database(Myanmar): http://www-ala.doc.ic.ac.uk/~rap/Ethnologue/eth.cgi/Myanmar TO ACCESS INFORMATION ABOUT BURMA VIA GOPHER: gopher csf.colorado.edu. Look under the International Political Economy section, then select Geographic_Archive, then Asia, then Burma. ---------------------------------------------------------- BURMANET SUBJECT-MATTER RESOURCE LIST BurmaNet regularly receives enquiries on a number of different topics related to Burma. The scope of the subjects involved is simplytoo broad for any one person to cover. BurmaNet is therefore organizing a number of volunteer coordinators to field questions on various subjects. 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- Michael W. Charney Bangladesh Border GoMaha@aol.com Campus activism: tlandon@ewu.edu Boycott campaigns: [Pepsi] wcsbeau@superior.ccs.carleton.ca Buddhism: Buddhist Relief Mission, brelief@gol.com Chin history/culture: plilian@asc.corp.mot.com Fonts: tom@cs.colgate.edu History of Burma: zni@students.wisc.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: Wungram Shishak, z954001@oats.farm.niu.edu Burma-India border [volunteer needed] Pali literature: "Palmleaf" c/o burmanet@igc.apc.org Shan history/culture: [volunteer needed] Shareholder activism: simon_billenness@mail.cybercom.net Tourism campaigns: bagp@gn.apc.org "Attn. S.Sutcliffe" World Wide Web: FreeBurma@POBox.com Volunteering: christin@ksc.net.th [Feel free to suggest more areas of coverage] ************************ NATION: BURMA'S SUU KYI REINSTATED AS NLD GENERAL SECRETARY October 11, 1995 Associated Press (also printed in Daily Yomiyuri, Bkk Post) RANGOON _ Dissident leader Aung San Suu Kyi was yesterday formally restored to her former position as general secretary of the party she helped found, the National League for Democracy, party sources said. Suu Kyi, who was released from six years of house arrest in July, regained her position when a new 10-member party central executive committee was chosen. The current party chairman Aung Shwe kept his post, while Kyi Maung and Tin Oo, two prominent party leaders who were released from prison in March, became vice chairmen. The new list of central executive committee members has been submitted to the government's election commission, said the sources, who insisted on anonymity. Suu Kyi, who was detained but never tried on charges of endangering national security, has been focusing since her release on rebuilding the party. The original central executive committee was forced to change its membership after Tin Oo, then chairman, and Aung San Suu Kyi were detained in July 1989. Many other senior party members, including central executive committee member Kyi Maung, were also later detained. Aung Shwe replaced Tin Oo as chairman in 1990, while Suu Kyi's general secretary post remained vacant. Under Aung Shwe's chairmanship, the party had to expel Tin Oo, Kyi Maung and Aung San Suu Kyi in 1991, in order to retain its status as a legal party since political parties were not allowed to have members charged with offences by the government. The National League for Democracy was formed as a vehicle for pro-democratic forces to contest a 1990 general election. The party won a landslide victory, but was not allowed to take power when the military government refused to convene parliament. In the post-election period many of the league's leaders, and other Burmese opposed to the junta, were either imprisoned or fled into exile. The junta, which took power in 1988 after violently suppressing pro- democracy demonstrations, has not set a date for a return to civilian rule. Meanwhile an investigator for the United Nations Human Rights Commission met Suu Kyi and senior members of her National League for Democracy yesterday. It was the first time in five missions to Burma that Prof Yozo Yokota was able to meet Suu Kyi. The country's military government had turned down his previous requests to meet her. In reports from his previous missions, Yokota has been very critical of the government for abusing human rights and failing to make democratic reforms. # Kyodo reports from Manila: Sein Win, leader of Burma's outlawed New Democracy Party, on Monday opposed the immediate entry of Rangoon into the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, saying it would be tantamount to rewarding Burma's poor human rights record. Sein Win, "prime minister" of the, National Coalition Government of Union of Burma, told reporters that human rights violations continue to be committed by Burma's military junta despite the release in July of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi after six years of house arrest. He is in Manila to attend a conference on labour union repression in Burma. His party has been banned by the ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council (Slorc). Sein Win also accused China of selling almost US$2 billion worth of armaments to Burma and helping Rangoon set up a weapons factory. "We are very much disappointed about that," he said as he urged Beijing to use its influence over the Slorc to improve the situation in Burma and hasten the national reconciliation process. In July, Burma acceded to Asean's Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia, which is a step toward l gaining observer status, and later, membership in the association. ******************************************************* BKK POST: AUNG SAN SUU KYI SUGGESTS IT'S TOO EARLY TO INVEST IN BURMA October 11, 1995 (similar version in The Nation from AP) Manila, AFP OPPOSITION leader Aung San Suu Kyi suggested yesterday that it was too early for foreign investors to put their money in Burma and that the* entry could hurt the democracy campaign there. "In time, we shall need investment and we hope we shall have a lot of very good, productive investment in Burma, Aung San Suu Kyi, released from six years of house arrest in July, said in a videotaped message to a labor and human rights conference in the Philippine capital. "But we do not want to encourage any form of investment that goes against the process of democratization," she added without giving specific examples. "Investments should be made in the right way at the I right time. To go into it too early will not only hurt the process of democratization, it could also go against sustained economic democratization," the Nobel peace laureate said. "In the long run, it will be the businessmen themselves who will be hurt by investing at the wrong time." Aung San Suu Kyi also called for the organization of independent trade unions, "not only to help democracy but to help the workers themselves." "We need organizations to protect the rights of our people," she added. Britain, France and Singapore are among the top investors in oil- and resources-rich Rangoon, whose military Junta refused to accept general elections won by the opposition m May 1990 placing its leader under house arrest and cracking-down on other members. An exiled Burmese opposition leader, Sein Win, said China was helping the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC}, the official name of the ruling junta, set up an arms factory there. He called on Beijing to stop selling arms to Rangoon and said it was too early to contemplate integrating his country into the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN ). "We are very much disappointed that China has sold almost two billion dollars worth of arms to Burma, Sein Win told reporters, adding that Beijing was also helping Rangoon build an arms Sein Win the self-declared prime minister in exile of Burma, said "we would like to have China (adopt) a more constructive policy toward Burma." "If they (the Chinese leaders) told SLORC that they could not have this situation going on, they have to find a national reconciliation, then China, as our big neighbor, could use its influence very much for constructive engagement," said Sein Win, here to attend the labor and human rights meeting. ********************************** BKK POST: CONSULT SEES WORTHWHILE LONG-RANGE OUTLOOK FOR BURMA October 10, 1995 REPORT: Special Correspondent IS BURMA on the threshhold _ of a new era of economic development now that Aung San Suu Kyi has been freed and I the country is on its way to I ASEAN? Or will the promise wilt in the bud as in the past? The most accurate answer is probably that there is light at the end of a long tunnel, according to consultant Christopher Bruton. The managing director of Dataconsult Ltd recently told an Economist Conferences meeting in Bangkok that economic restructuring and privatisation was under way, but that investors lack confidence and the government's credibility is improving only slowly. According to official figures, GDP growth was an impressive 6.8 per cent last year, but when inflation of 23.2 per cent is taken into account it does not amount to much. "Real growth will remain flat until multilateral funding is more available, which means waiting until the country is more integrated into the world environment. Only then will the full potential for infrastructure construction and natural resource exploitation be set free," Bruton said. The brightest aspect is the agricultural performance which, despite the lack of funding, grew 7.2 per cent last year. "Myanmar used to be one of the most developed countries In Southeast Asia," the consultant noted. "In the early 1960s there were 18 international banks in Rangoon, compared to only a dozen in Singapore. "Myanmar probably isn't going to be the banking centre of Southeast Asia again, but it should become a major agricultural supplier," he said. Even without funding the country is one of the world's major rice producers and it is catching up on the leaders. Meanwhile, investors, particularly from Europe, Japan and Singapore are showing increasing interest, although there is hardly a stampede. "Investment has surpassed US$2.5 billion not much different to the $4 billion or so actually invested in Vietnam as opposed to only approved, and which will grow more rapidly." Most of the investment is going into oil and gas with the biggest single item being the $1 billion gas pipeline with Unocal and Total working jointly with Myanma Oil & Gas and the Petroleum Authority of Thailand to supply gas for Thailand to use in generating electricity. There is also strong investment in the hotel and tourism industry which will take off with Visit Myanmar Year in 1996. "But to attract more manufacturing investment, the foreign investment law requires upgrading to improve incentives, including longer privilege times, wider sectoral coverage and better tax breaks." The current tax holiday is only three years and it dates from the commencement of production, not the date when profits are earned. And when the holiday ends, profits are taxed at the standard rate of 30 per cent. Other basic problems include the foreign exchange rate disparity. Officially, the Burmese Kyat trades at six to the US dollar, but Foreign Exchange Certificates, the currency which visitors must purchase, trade at 100 to the dollar, close to the street rate. The recent announcement of more relaxed foreign exchange terms for tourists will still not help investors who, as things stand, are effectively prevented from remitting funds into the country. However, in principle the country is very. attractive, according to Bruton, despite the fact the political risk factor is never far from investors' minds. With 45 million people (compared to Vietnam's 75 million) and 767,500 square kilometres (significantly bigger than Thailand and over twice the size of Vietnam) "there's not going to be much pressure on land or the abundant natural resources even through to 2010-2020. The business infrastructure is also attractive with the 1914 British India Company Law still applying and English, widely spoken. European investors in particular quickly feel at home, especially as they can now obtain one year unlimited entry visas the same day they apply. ******************* JAPAN TIMES: l.625 BILLION YEN GRANTED MYANMAR NURSE SCHOOL TO GET AID October 12, 1995, by Hisane Masaki , Staff writer Japan will provide 1.625 billion yen in grant aid to Myanmar for the repair of a nurse training school in Rangoon, government officials said Monday, in yet another sign of the gradually warming economic relations between the two countries. The officials, who requested anonymity, said the decision on the grant aid - the largest official development assistance to be extended by Tokyo to Rangoon since the military coup there in 1988 will be formally approved at an Oct. 24 Cabinet meeting. The aid will also be the first ODA granted to the Southeast Asian country since the release in July of democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi from nearly six years of house arrest. Following the 1988 military coup in Myanmar, Japan effectively froze all types of ODA - yen loans, grants and technical cooperation. As a result, disbursement of low - interest official yen loans committed earlier by Japan for several infrastructure projects, including some 25 billion yen for repair and extension of an international airport in Rangoon, were suspended. In March, Japan took the first significant step toward gradually unfreezing ODA for Myanmar, providing 1 billion yen in grant aid to help the country increase agricultural production in areas inhabited by ethnic minorities. Japan has stressed the need for a policy of "constructive engagement" with Myanmar aimed at encouraging changes toward democratization and improvements on human rights records through dialogue, rather than international isolation. The government officials said, however, that grant aid for agricultural production and repair of the nursing school is for purely humanitarian purposes. Such aid should not be taken as a signal Tokyo will turn the aid tap on freely for Rangoon, given the lack of further progress on democratization and human rights protection, the officials added. Following Suu Kyi's July 10 release from house arrest, Japan began to prepare for a resumption of the yen loans it had already committed before the military leaders took power in the 1988 coup. Japanese officials say, however, that the suspended loans will not be resumed during the current fiscal year for technical reasons, such as the need to re-evaluate the projects to be financed by the money. In addition, Japan seems in no hurry to resume the frozen yen loans because the West, especially the United States, insists that Suu Kyi's freedom alone is far from sufficient and opposes any economic aid to Myanmar. Suu Kyi herself has made remarks in interviews with the foreign media that are critical of Japanese economic aid, especially large amounts of yen loans, although she does not seem to oppose aid for humanitarian purposes. ********************* ASIAWEEK: MYANMAR IS NOW OPEN FOR INVESTMENT October 13, 1995 The Last Frontier The release of oppositionist Aung San Suu Kyi three months ago has sparked a burst of investment activity in Myanmar -- touted as perhaps the last get - rich - quick frontier in Southeast Asia. Among the pioneers is the Myanmar Fund launched by a subsidiary of Malaysian billionaire Robert Kuok's Kerry Group. Richard Neville, 34, is the manager of the Hong Kong - based fund, which started with $28 million in capital a year ago. Neville studied for a Bachelor of Arts (Commerce) degree at the Royal Military College of Canada and got his M.B.A. from the University of Western Ontario before embarking on a career in corporate finance and investment management. Last week, he spoke with Asiaweek's Senior Correspondent Assif Shameen. Why invest in a place like Myanmar? In the 1950s, Burma as it was then called, was the leading economy in Southeast Asia and the biggest rice exporter. Myanmar is a reasonably large, resource-rich country with 45 million people. A higher proportion of people there have a university degree than Thailand. It has a British legal system which is a bit rusty but is still considered better than Vietnam's or China's. There are international accounting rules in place. Myanmar has all the same attributes that Thailand had 15 or 20 years ago. If you had invested in Thailand then, you would be a very rich person today. How are fundamentals? They have not been this good in decades. The economy is starting off from a very low base. Between 1962 and 1989 the country was closed, with no private investment and no foreign investment. Even the corner grocery store and laundry were nationalized. Reforms started in 1989 and have taken root only in the last three years. The private sector has gone from 2% of the economy in 1988 to 73% of the economy this year and the government is continuing to privatize its holdings. Last year, GDP growth was 7.7% and this year it will again exceed 7%. What sectors are soaking up foreign investments? Two big offshore natural gas projects have been announced that will bring in investments worth $1.6 billion over the next two and half years. The first consortium has Unocal, Total and PTT of Thailand. There is a second, smaller project with Texaco. But tourism has taken the biggest chunk of investment so far - not just in hotels and resorts but also in transportation and other infrastructure. Last year 98,000 tourists came through Yangon airport; this year 150,000 tourists will visit Myanmar and next year the number should be close to 250,000. Three years ago there just 300 decent hotel rooms in Myanmar. By the end of 1997 there will be 5,000 rooms in Yangon alone, if all projects are completed on time. There are two joint venture airlines, controlled by Singapore companies, now that the government has opened up aviation services. Another area soaking up investment is the agribusiness. The government has freed the price of rice, and better irrigation will make more land available for the crop. Myanmar has the potential to become the bread basket of Southeast Asia. It has the same climate as Thailand, with similar soil and one-tenth the labor costs. Are investors worried about political risks in Myanmar? Lack of western-style democracy has not prevented foreign investments from flowing into Asian countries before or slowed down economic growth. Investors took at stability and returns. They worry whether their assets will be protected and whether they will be able to take out their profits in an efficient and timely manner. The Myanmar government has gone a long way in assuring investors that their assets will not be nationalized, that stability will be maintained and that they will be able to repatriate profits. Where are the best opportunities for investors? Because Myanmar hasn't had a private sector for 28 years you can go into industries where you are the only provider of goods and services and where annual growth is phenomenal. The manufacturing of consumer goods as well as the processing of commodities offer the best potential. Manufacturing is just 9% of GDP now compared to 20% - to - 30% for most Southeast Asian countries. The food - and - beverage sector is one area for growth, particularly seafood, prawns, shrimp and chicken processing. Investors are also looking at packaging, textiles and light industries. Where has the Myanmar Fund invested so far? We are raising $28 million over the next few weeks, since projects are increasing in size. We have invested in two four - star hotels, and have a stake in a company that has a polypropylene bag manufacturing plant, a small paper mill, timber processing and a warehouse in Yangon. We are investors in a consortium that is developing a business district on the outskirts of Yangon that will have offices, a convention center, a hotel, shopping mail and apartments spread over a 34 - acre site. We have assets that have appreciated 30% - to - 40% over the past 12 months. Yangon property has appreciated 50% in the past year or so. We are getting in on level zero. There is no stock market in Myanmar, but there is some over - the - counter trading in about 30 state companies. I believe the Yangon market will start trading in early 1997, well before the Ho Chi Minh City stock market opens that year. *********************************** BKK POST: OVERTURES TO BURMA NOT FAVOURED BY ALL October 11, 1995 Some people think Thailand is paying too high a price for better ties with Burma. Nussara Sawatsawang reports. THAILAND has taken steps over the past month on issues that have soured ties with Burma. A Thai delegation leaving for Rangoon today is hoping to find out whether the leadership there sees enough progress on the issues to warrant better relations. Gen Pat Akhanibutr, as adviser to Deputy Premier and Defence Minister Gen Chavalit Yongchaiyudh, is due to meet the first secretary-general of the ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC), Lt Gen Khin Nyunt, during his stay in Rangoon through tomorrow. In what is an all-time low in Thai Burmese relations, Burma has closed three border check-points and stalled construction of the Thai-Burmese Friendship Bridge. The preconditions for improving ties _ as were made clear to Gen Chavalit in early September by SLORC chairman Gen Than Shwe _ include Thailand's removal of structures Burma sees as encroaching on an agreed no-man's land in the Moei River shared by the two countries. Gen Than Shwe also made clear that Burma wants Thailand to centralise security control along the northern part of the border, and to bear responsibility for the murder of Burmese fishermen three months ago. The SLORC leader made plain Rangoon's preconditions during a visit by Gen Chavalit that showed the Banharn Silpa-archa Government's special attention to relations with Burma. The defence minister's trip took place only five weeks after the Government came into office. Thailand has acted on all three issues Rangoon has identified. What worries doubters is whether Thailand has paid too high a price in terms of national dignity, and legal principles, and whether that it will get what it wants after all. The most visible and controversial step was the demolition of the 16 shophouses on a small island in the Moei River which led Burma to suspend construction of the Thai-Burmese Friendship Bridge in June. Officials defending the move point out that the shophouses were not demolished just to meet Rangoon's demands, but also to clear the way for a legal 'ruling on the matter. At a date yet to be set, a factfinding mission made up of officials from the two countries will discuss the disputed area on the basis of the 1868 Thai-British Convention, according to a foreign ministry source. The treaty provides for the respective river banks to demarcate the two countries' border lines, and it will be considered violated if the mission finds that encroachment was manmade rather than caused by natural events, the source noted. After an initial appeal, owners of nine of the 16 shophouses agreed to have their structures knocked down under an order from provincial authorities in Tak. But the owners of the six others only agreed to follow suit after the Commerce Ministry gave them total compensation of 600,000 baht. Deputy Commerce Minister Montri Danpaibul also promised to find these shophouse owners a new place nearby to resume their businesses. Local officials maintain that the shophouse owners should have been evicted without compensation because they went against the Building Regulation Act. According to Mae Sot District Chief Kasem Wattanatham, the merchants built permanent structures in the area despite provincial authorities only allowing them to set up temporary stalls. That permission was given to help relieve them of the difficulties caused by floods last year, he said. Local as well as central officials also objected to the fact that the compensation was drawn from the Export Promotion Fund. The fund, derived from taxes levied on exporters, is intended to promote export activities, not law-benders, said one official who requested anonymity. The money was taken out of the fund without the acknowledgment of executive committee members, most of whom disagreed, a Commerce Ministry source added. Mr Montri, an MP for Lamphun Province with Gen Chavalit's New Aspiration Party, argued that giving the shophouse owners compensation was tantamount to indirect export promotion because Tak served as a potential export centre for trade with Rangoon. Thailand could not afford the losses in trade that might stem from: the six shophouse owners holding out against further appeals, his party supporters said. Meanwhile, Gen Than Shwe's call for more centralised control of security along the northern stretch of the border found an effective response on October 1, when the Defence Ministry put the Army's Fourth Infantry Division in charge. Previously, a joint command made up of army and border patrol police units did the job. Rebels loyal to Shan warlord Khun Sa, who earlier found easy access to Thai hospitals in times of need, are said to have already felt the pinch of the change of guard. Rangoon closed the Myawaddy-Mae Sot and Tachilek-Mae Sai border checkpoints in March in response to what it saw as Thai help for ethnic Karen and Shan rebels during SLORC's drive to crush them. Regarding the murder of the Burmese fishermen who boarded Thai vessels in August, all three suspects including a skipper who is said to have ordered the beating of the Burmese crewmen with a water pipe, are now on trial. SLORC's closure of the Victoria Point-Ranong border checkpoint soon after the incident was seen as intended to punish Thailand for the murders. But some officials remain skeptical whether the steps taken by Thailand will improve bilateral relations given the different interests and diehard suspicions. Rangoon still suspects Thailand of supporting Karen rebels, who constitute the main ethnic group resisting its rule after the Mons became the 16th group to agree to a ceasefire earlier this year. Rebels with the Karen National Union (KNU) have relocated along the border after their stronghold at Kawmoora was overrun early this year. The rebels are believed to have found new shelter in several camps that have long been home to some 70,000 Karen civilians. Burmese Ambassador to Thailand Tin Winn, in a recent interview with Bangkok Post, confirmed the SLORC's perception, saying most ethnic people living on Thai soil are not genuine displaced people but families of the KNU. Part of Rangoon's stalling on the construction of the Thai-Burmese Friendship Bridge could be due to the SLORC's view of the link as another aid to KNU rebel in continuing their struggle for autonomy, sources point out. The bridge also does not promise as much for the SLORC in terms of border trade as it does for Thai entrepreneurs. Thailand is the far stronger partner in an activity that is estimated at some 10,000 million baht a year for legal transactions, and six times more than that for illegal trade. To regulate the trade flow, the Foreign Ministry and other state agencies are pressing ahead with the drafting of a border trade agreement with Burma. Improving business with Burma was the mission of Deputy Commerce Minister Pairote Suwanchawee, who returns from Rangoon today just as Gen Pat leaves for the Burmese capital. The next 24 hours should tell where Rangoon's interest lie. ***************************************************************** BKK POST: BURMA PREPARES FOR TOURIST INFLUX October 11, 1995 Rangoon, AFP BURMA is churning out large numbers-of tour guides to handle an influx of tourists expected next year, a government official was quoted as saying yesterday. "More and more tourist guides are needed to cope with the growing number of tourists," the deputy minister for hotels and tourism, Brigadier-General Tin Aye, was quoted as saying in the official English-language New Light of Myanmar. Tin Aye, speaking at the opening of a government-sponsored course for tour guides, said there were now 900 licenced guides working in Burma. He said there had been a dramatic increase in the number of tourists visiting Burma, citing comparative figures of 8,000 in the 1991-1992 season and 100,000 last year. "Even during the first six months covering the rainy season of 1995-96, more than 45,000 tourists had already visited the country," he said. Burma, with attractions ranging from snow-capped mountains in the north sandy beaches in the south and an abundance of cultural sites, was increasingly being included in Asian tour programmes, he said. He added that Burma would be able to attract even more visitors once the country's tourism infrastructure _ including hotels, transport and guide services _ was improved. ************************************* BKK POST: VETERAN BURMESE JOURNALIST PAYS PRICE FOR BEING 'NEUTRAL' Press battle brings three jail terms REPORT and PICTURE: Nussara Sawatsawang STRONG IN mind despite advancing years, Burmese journalist Sein Win has spent several years in jail _ the penalty for fighting for freedom of the press in his country. Freedom, neutrality and responsibility are his rules, he says. They have put him behind bars three times. The first time was in April 1960 under U Nu's civilian government after he published an article entitled "Tension Easy Meal", which criticised the government's traditional way of trying to deal with the opposition by inviting them to share meals with it. "I told the government not to concentrate too much on that (meals) but to carry on the progress made by the military government, because the military is watching over its shoulder," he told Inside Indochina. The prime minister at the time, U Nu, allowed Gen Ne Win, the most powerful figure in the country, to resolve a messy political situation in 1958 as a caretaker government. U Nu, who returned to power through a general election two years later, charged Sein Win with disrespect to the government for that article and jailed him for a month. But Sein Win's warning proved timely. U Nu was ousted by a military coup d'etat in 1962. The new government, which introduced "The Burmese Way to Socialism", nationalised his English-language daily, The Guardian, and jailed him from 1965-68 without lodging a charge. It termed the measure "protective custody" and applied it to many prominent people, including businessmen. Sein Win was jailed again in late July 1988 during the pro-democracy uprising. He was detained and questioned about his appearance at the teashop of his associate Aung Gyi, another out- standing political figure. The detention lasted almost one month. He explains he entered journalism, despite low pay, because he loves freedom and independence. As a young man, Sein Win wanted to be doctor but the university that provided these courses was closed down at the outbreak of World War Two. He joined his brother-in-law's New Light of Burma, a private daily newspaper, as an unpaid translator in 1942. During the country's struggle for independence against the British, Sein Win was more than a reporter, he was also a spy, he said. Wearing an American military uniform, a 9mm pistol hidden in his boots, and riding a motorcycle, Sein Win used to smuggle secret letters from the British government to the freedom movement. He also drove leaders of the movement when needed. His job was ended soon after Gen Aung San formed a government in 1947, after independence. "I fought for the country's independence, but as a reporter I would never join the government," he said. He served in various capacities as chief reporter, assistant editor and editor at the Economic Daily The Nation, The Labour Gazette and The New Times of Burma before taking over The Guardian in May 1968. One year after his release in 1968, he joined the Associated Press as correspondent in Rangoon, where he worked for 20 years before joining the Kyodo News Service in 1989. The Zurich-based International Press Institute elected Sein Win to its executive board in 1963 and the International Federation of Newspaper Publishers in Paris awarded him the Golden Pen of Freedom trophy the same year for his efforts in Burma. He is now president of the Foreign Correspondents' Club in Rangoon. As a prominent reporter, his life is a constant balancing act. Some people suspected he was a spokesman for the military government, particularly on the release of Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi from six years under house arrest, on July 10. Sein Win was first to break the news. He denied he was a spokesman for the government, insisting the news was based on analysis of various events and long experience in establishing reliable sources. The State Law and Order Restoration Council had previously repeated the military's stand that Suu Kyi's extended detention would be only for one year ending July 11, he said. This coincided with a message from Col Kyaw Win, deputy director of the Directorate of Defence Services Intelligence, a subordinate of SLORC chairman Sen Gen Than Shwe, asking the foreign press at a Japanese Embassy reception three days earlier to stay in Rangoon on July 10-19. No reason was given. "I had already written about the release with all background in my computer. Only the time of the release was needed. After I checked with my source, I Just added one word _ "unconditionally" _ about her release," he said. Sein Win reserves his right to criticise both SLORC and the opposition leader. He said the ruling junta, although it could build foreign reserves up to US$ 600 million, had failed to develop the country. "We need good managers, technology and capital. If we have good managers, we can pick up from where we left 30 years ago when we were ahead of Thailand," he said. Suu Kyi probably could devote herself to the country in social services such as education, but could not get directly involved in national politics unless the constitution is amended. The new constitution, which is being drafted by the military sponsored national convention since early 1993, already stipulates that Suu Kyi cannot be elected to parliament because she is married to a foreigner. Sein Win said it would be at least two years before the constitution could be amended. The drafting process may take another year or so and, if elections are allowed, the new government may or may not take up the Suu Kyi issue and through the required process to amend the constitution. He claims half of Suu Kyi's popularity stemmed from hatred of the military government. After a lifetime in the profession, Sein Win has a cautionary word for aspiring journalists, referring to 20 cadet reporters at a journalism course organised by the Foreign Correspondents' Club. "They thought that a free press means they can write anything they want. In fact, the press has to be free and responsible. You have to separate feelings from wisdom. Be an observer, not a participant," he said. ******************************** BKK POST: AIR MANDALAY HELPS BUILD CHIANG MAI'S HUB STATUS October 12, 1995 By Thanin Weeradet NORTHERN Thailand's status as a regional tourism hub has received a boost with the recent debut of Air Mandalay's service from Chiang Mai to Rangoon. The airline now operates two flights a week on the Rangoon-Chiang Mai-Rangoon route and may add another in December. A Chiang Mai-Mandalay route may be offered at the same time, according to Sim Kok Chwee, assistant marketing manager of the Air Mandalay Ltd. Regional air links out of Chiang Mai are on the rise, with Lao Aviation offering t service to Vientiane, THAI to Kunming, and Orient Express Air to the Isan region. The result, said Mr Sim, is that Chiang Mai is poised to become an important base for long-haul visitors wishing to travel within the Mekong region. "Bangkok has long been the premier gateway for visitors into Thailand and Indochina, but one can spot a significant trend among long-haul visitors to give Bangkok a miss," he said. Currently, more than one million visitors a year, particularly from western Europe, stop in Chiang Mai and northern Thailand. The region's history, religion, unspoiled landscape and ethnic diversity all attract their interest. Interest could intensify if Burma is packaged with their itineraries. Some European tour operators as well as Thai operators based in both Bangkok and Chiang Mai are on the verge of incorporating Burma into their programmes, Mr Sim told Horizons. Since its inaugural flight, Air Mandalay has detected a healthy interest among the local population in travel into Burma. As well, Rangoon's expatriate population is growing and seeking nearby destinations for holidays. "This segment will take short but frequent trips, mostly over the weekend," said Mr Sim, noting that the airline is wooing business travellers as well. Air Mandalay had a very successful outing at the ITB'95 travel show last March in Berlin, and it expects healthy passenger volume in the coming high season. It will also be represented at Asia Travel Mart in Singapore from October 1922, and at the ITB'96 next March Later this month the airline will launch Golden Flight, an inflight magazine focussing on the history, culture, sights, festivals, art and business climate of Burma. It will also be mailed to major tour operators and corporate clients worldwide. In the coming year, Phuket is likely to be another stop for the airline, apart from route expansion within Burma. Air Mandalay does not intend to compete with flag carriers on the main Bangkok-Rangoon route. "Our equipment and the nature of our operations makes Air Mandalay more suitable as a carrier that caters to travel on secondary routes," said Mr Sim. The airline also serves Bagan, Heho and Thandwe in Burma, so regional travel is a niche in which it feels very comfortable. Its fleet allows for efficient operation or these routes, since anything bigger than a Boeing 737 can not land ,at any Burmese air ports except Rangoon. Great potential also exists for Air Mandalay to cooperate with carriers such as Silk Air and Malaysia Airlines to package northern Thailand and Burma, Mr Sim added. ***************************************************************** ------------------------ BurmaNet ------------------------ "Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies" ---------------------------------------------------------- The BurmaNet News: October 15, 1995 Issue# 251 HEADLINES: ========== REUTER: TOURISM IN BURMA A DOBBLE-EDGED SWORD REUTER: BURMA TEAM TO SEEK SINGAPORE TOURISM INVESTMENT REUTER: VIETNAM AND BURMA TO SIGN AIR SERVICES ACCORD INDEPENDENT ANALYSIS: THE NEW WORLD ORDER IN SEA/BURMA S.H.A.N.: KHUN SA STILL RESPECTED AI: MYANMAR - CONDITIONS IN PRISONS AND LABOUR CAMPS FBC: RIGOBERTA MENCHU ENDORSES SANCTIONS AGAINST SLORC FBC: PRESS RELEASE - CALL FOR ACTIONS (OCTOBER 27, 1995) ANNOUNCEMENT: MAILING LIST FOR OCT. 27 FOLKS. ANNOUNCEMENT: MYANVIEW FROM INST. OF SEASIAN STUDIES (ISEAS) ANNOUNCEMENT: ALL BURMA YOUNG MONKS' UNION (ARAKAN) ---------------------------------------------------------- Produced with the support of the Burma Information Group (B.I.G) and the Research Department of the ABSDF {MTZ} 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. The BurmaNet News is e-mailed directly to subscribers and is also distributed via the soc.culture.burma and seasia-l mailing lists and is also available via the reg.burma conference on the APC networks. For a free subscription to the BurmaNet News, send an e-mail message to: majordomo@igc.apc.org In the body of the message, type "subscribe burmanet-l" (without quotation marks) Letters to the editor, comments or contributions of articles should be sent to the editor at: strider@igc.apc.org ------------------------------------------------------------- INFORMATION ABOUT BURMA VIA THE WEB AND GOPHER: Information about Burma is available via the WorldWideWeb at: FreeBurmaWWW http://sunsite.unc.edu/freeburma/freeburma.html [including back issues of the BurmaNet News as .txt files] BurmaWeb: http://www.uio.no/tormodl Burma fonts: http://www.cs.bham.ac.uk/~lka/burmese-fonts/moe.html Ethnologue Database(Myanmar): http://www-ala.doc.ic.ac.uk/~rap/Ethnologue/eth.cgi/Myanmar TO ACCESS INFORMATION ABOUT BURMA VIA GOPHER: gopher csf.colorado.edu. Look under the International Political Economy section, then select Geographic Archive, then Asia, then Burma. ---------------------------------------------------------- BURMANET SUBJECT-MATTER RESOURCE LIST BurmaNet regularly receives enquiries on a number of different topics related to Burma. If you have questions on any of the following subjects, please direct email to the following volunteer coordinators, who will either answer your question or try to put you in contact with someone who can: Arakan/Rohingya/Burma- Michael W. Charney: GoMaha@aol.com Bangladesh Border Campus activism: tlandon@ewu.edu Boycott campaigns: [Pepsi] wcsbeau@superior.ccs.carleton.ca Buddhism: Buddhist Relief Mission: brelief@gol.com Chin history/culture: plilian@asc.corp.mot.com Fonts: tom@cs.colgate.edu History of Burma: zni@students.wisc.edu Kachin history/culture: 74750.1267@compuserve.com Karen history/culture: Karen Historical Society: 102113.2571@Compuserve.com Mon history/culture: [volunteer needed] Naga history/culture: Wungram Shishak: z954001@oats.farm.niu.edu Burma-India border [volunteer needed] Pali literature: "Palmleaf": c/o burmanet@igc.apc.org Shan history/culture: [volunteer needed] Shareholder activism: simon_billenness@mail.cybercom.net Tourism campaigns: bagp@gn.apc.org "Attn. S.Sutcliffe" World Wide Web: FreeBurma@POBox.com Volunteering: christin@ksc.net.th [Feel free to suggest more areas of coverage] ************************ REUTER: TOURISM IN BURMA A DOBBLE-EDGED SWORD October 9, 1995 by Sonya Hepinstall PAGAN, Burma, Oct 9 (Reuter) - Aung is hitching his horse cart and his fortunes to ``Visit Myanmar Year 1996''. The 18-year-old, the second bread-winner in his family, long ago had to abandon his dreams of continuing his education. Tourism is his ticket to a better future now. His horsecart, one of 160 licensed to take tourists around the famed temple complexes of Pagan, belongs to his farmer grandfather, who bought it for 75,000 kyat -- $650 at the more realistic black market rate but officially $12,500 -- and who takes 70 percent of Aung's daily income. With the tourists the government expects to draw to Burma, or Myanmar, in 1996, Aung hopes to save enough to buy the cart himself -- a hefty forecast in a country where average per capita income is estimated at less than $300 and a civil servant earns below $20 a month. Everyone in Burma, it seems, is trying to figure out how they can get even a crumb from the tourism pie, from the market stall owner planning to pre-package traditional cornhusk cigars to the powerful general renovating a former state hotel. But for many Burmese and some visitors, tourism is a double-edged sword. How many of those tourism dollars are going to ordinary people and to sustained development in one of the world's poorest countries, and how much to prop up an unpopular military regime? And at what price? Burma's biggest asset is its incredible cultural and historical diversity, from the experience of modern Buddhism in practice at the Shwedagon and Mahamuni temples in Rangoon and Mandalay, to the remnants of colonial life in old British hill stations like Maymyo, to the 11th century ruins of Pagan. So there are few reasons why the tourism promotion should fail, with the government doing everything it can to encourage tourism and with even those sceptical Burmese seemingly unable to supress their natural hospitality. Government projections are for as many as 300,000 tourists in 1996, up from 61,000 in 1993-94. The regulation that all tourists must change $300 into ``foreign exchange certificates'' for use at hotels and travel services is rarely, if ever, enforced. Exchanging money on the black market rather than at the official six kyat to the dollar rate is ludicrously routine. ``We were afraid because we thought we would be bothered by administrative problems,'' said one French tourist, travelling to Pagan via a leisurely 13-hour boat ride from Mandalay. ``But when we arrived it was very easy, there were practically no controls,'' she said. Travel in the more remote parts of Burma, long restricted on the grounds that ethnic minority insurgencies made certain areas dangerous, has been opened to tourists since the government signed ceasefires with all but a few of the groups. Visitors expecting a dour police state will also be pleasantly surprised. People are open to contact with foreigners and love to talk -- as long as it's not about politics. For many Burmese, an increase in tourism will mean more business and perhaps more opportunities, especially for those whose livelihood is connected to the industry. ``More tourism means more development,'' said Go Zaw, 35, a drinks seller on the road to Maymyo from Mandalay. But there's an insidious flip side. Hotel industry sources say that out of 44 state-run hotels in 1990, only five remain nationwide, looking sadly out-of-date beside their newly-renovated cousins. ``By the time of Visit Myanmar Year, all the hotels will be privatised,'' said one state-run hotel employee. ``Nowadays we have to compete... With all the tourists, the management must be changed.'' Questions about the ownership of a few hotels reveals, however, that often only the military and a few wealthy individuals have the funds and connections for such operations. Sources at the town-level confirm what Western human rights groups have long said, that labour behind some projects to upgrade roads and other infrastructure is forced and unpaid. In Pagan, the entire original village was forcibly moved some miles (kilometres) south in 1990, at least partly because of fears of what the combined impact of increased tourism and continued village development would have on the temples. A February 1988 United Nations/World Tourism Organisation report often cited as having recommended such a move had in fact said only that another town centre would soon be necessary. These days in nearby Nyaung-oo the road is continually being widened for the hoped-for onslaught, forcing residents and shopowners to rebuild, reportedly at their own expense. ``It is difficult to feel this situation,'' the French tourist said. ``Everyone seems so friendly and happy. Not too many people complain.'' *********************************** REUTER: BURMA TEAM TO SEEK SINGAPORE TOURISM INVESTMENT October 10, 1995 SINGAPORE, - Senior Burmese government officials will visit Singapore on October 16 to seek private sector investments in tourism infrastructure development, Singapore said on Tuesday. The delegation, to be led by Burmese Deputy Minister for Hotels and Tourism Tin Aye, will speak at a seminar to be jointly organised by the Singapore Trade Development Board (TDB) and the Singapore-Myanmar International Leisure Enterprise. The TDB said that so far about US$600 million in total foreign investment has gone into the construction of 17 hotels in Burma, mainly in the capital Rangoon. ``Besides the construction of hotels, Myanmar (Burma) is eager for Singapore to invest in the building of roads, communication and transportation facilities, ports and airports, and in the setting up of travel agencies,'' TDB deputy chief executive officer David Chin said in a statement. The Burmese government, placing top priority on tourism development, is offering incentives for foreign direct investment, the TDB said. Singapore, Burma's second largest investor behind the United Kingdom, had invested some US$528 million as at end August, the TDB said. Of this, some US$279 million was invested in tourism projects with the rest in agro business, mining and manufacturing. ************************** REUTER: VIETNAM AND BURMA TO SIGN AIR SERVICES ACCORD October 10, 1995 HANOI, - Vietnam and Burma are expected to sign an air services agreement on Friday, the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) announced on Tuesday. The news was contained in a CAAV press release. It gave no further details. However, a senior Burmese diplomat in Hanoi told Reuters the agreement would cover flights involving the two national carriers Vietnam Airlines and Rangoon's Myanmar Airlines. ``Relations (between Vietnam and Burma) have been developing in recent years,'' he said. ``We are close, so we should have air links, not only for tourism, but for business as well,'' he added. The diplomat said no date had been set for the inauguration of direct flights between the two Southeast Asian countries, but he expected it to be soon. At present, air travel between Vietnam and Burma involves changing flights at Bangkok. It was not clear who would sign the accord on the Vietnamese side, but the diplomat said Burma's ambassador to Hanoi would initial the agreement on behalf of Rangoon. ******************************* INDEPENDENT ANALYSIS: THE NEW WORLD ORDER IN SOUTHEAST ASIA AND BURMA By Chao-Tzang Yawnghwe - A Ph.D. candidate at the University of British Columbia, who is writing his dissertation on military intrusion into politics in Burma, Thailand and Indonesia. He also teaches in the Political Science Department at Simon Fraser University. With the collapse of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and Cory Aquino's earlier people's power revolution, it indeed seemed that the world, and Southeast Asia too, would be shaped by economic and political freedom, i.e., by the free market economy and "middle class" democracy. The 1988 uprising in Burma which toppled Ne Win's one-man rule seemed part of a global democratization process. Quite unexpectedly, however, outside actors -- Singapore, China, and the Thai military -- stepped in to shore up the new military junta, SLORC (State Law and Order Restoration Council), which emerged to forestall bloodily the rollback of authoritarianism. This was followed in 1989 by an equally bloody Dengist rollback of the democratization aspirations of the Chinese people. Since then, there has been solidified what could be called a "free market, authoritarian front" of Chinese and ASEAN leaders and governments. The line pushed by the powerful front is that economic development must be (and can be ) achieved without the contamination of such "Western" notions as human rights and individual freedoms, genuine people's sovereignty, public constraints of rulers, etc. The clash between capitalist authoritarianism and capitalist democracy is precisely what Samuel Huntington's coming "clash of civilizations" scenario is all about. The point to note is that the clash appears "cultural" only because culture, instead of the communist threat, is now being used to defend authoritarian rule. In substance, the Chinese-ASEAN authoritarian development model, shorn of its cultural icings, can be seen as nothing less than an attempt by authoritarian leaders to prevent a rollback of authoritarianism -- now justified on cultural grounds. The clash between authoritarianism and democracy is made more complex by the economic success of "Asian" authoritarianism, particularly in China (and by the "Asian dragons"), and the economic decline of democracies. The perception of the West's economic decline has in turn unleashed a "cultural war" especially in the United States, whereby structures of democratic capitalism have come under increasing attack by conservatives as obstructing "wealth makers" (and "job-creators") and as the "coddling" of unenterprising elements, i.e., the poor, the minorities (including immigrants, illegal and otherwise), welfare recipients, and so on. >From a wider theoretical perspective, it seems that the collapse of communism has impelled authoritarian regimes to come up with a new paradigm in defence of authoritarianism. In this connection, there can be discerned a congruence of interest between national rulers and powerful, extranational economic actors to contain democracy, perhaps because democracy gives the powerless the capacity to "obstruct" profit-taking (on a global-regional scale). A possible outcome of such a congruence of interest could be the transformation of national governments into "executive committees" (to quote Marx) of extranational entrepreneurs and investors, not only in the "Third World" and the former communist bloc, but even in the West as well. The above trend is a global one, and it is unfortunate that Burma is now an arena where the opening battle of the global war between efficient wealth-making (espoused by authoritarian rulers and conservatives) and democratic capitalism (aspired to by the ruled) is being fought. In Burma, the battle is an unequal one since external support for democratic capitalism is, to quote a famous playwright, "all sound and fury, signifying nothing," whereas support for SLORC has been significant since it has fulfilled the role expected of national governments of the post-cold war, new world order: as an executive committee for extranational wealth-accumulators and profit-takers. ********************************** S.H.A.N.: KHUN SA STILL RESPECTED Muangmai, 12 October 1995 Given the increasing assertion of power by the newly set-up Central Executive Committee, Khun Sa may well have thought he no longer played an important role. However, the large numbers of people who came to pay their respects to him at his residence in Homong during the annual "paying respect" ceremony at the end of Buddhist Lent suggest otherwise. When S.H.A.N. asked visitors why they had come to the ceremony, the answer varied. One typical answer was : Zao Khun Sa may feel we have forgotten him, now that the leadership has gone to the CEC. This is one way to show him that he's wrong and we still remember his contributions to the Shan people's resistance. Another said : When the chips are down, when everything seems to be lost, Khun Sa is the one we can count on to fight to the last. I think he deserves the respect we are paying him. In his short speech given during the ceremony, Khun Sa, 61, thanked his guests for remembering him. " With the victorious repulse of the Wa onslaught, we have recovered from the shock Karnyord's treachery has brought us, " he said. He pledged that whatever position he held, he would not break his vow to free the Shan State. He also disclosed to them the reports he had just received from the CEC that hundreds of Lahu who had fought alongside the Wa until recently had decided to join hands with the Mong Tai Army . CEC spokesman Khun Duan Saengkham revealed further details to S.H.AN. : "it was on Monday (October 9) that they came over." The reason was given that : "They were dissatisfied with the Was' treatment of the Lahu, especially with regards to their leader Saulu, who has been under detention since May. " S.H.A.N. has since confirmed that 300 Lahu have come over to the M.T.A. Their military chief Sara Mala revealed that their Vice-President Ja U was stranded in the states. Khun Duan Saengkham commented : "By now, it should be cleared to Pangsang (the Wa capital) how futile the civil war is between us. Our offer for a ceasefire and negotiated settlement is a long-standing one. I hope they will contact our people soon." ******************* AI: MYANMAR - CONDITIONS IN PRISONS AND LABOUR CAMPS SEPTEMBER 1995 INTRODUCTION Amnesty International has recently received new information about appalling conditions in labour camps and prisons in Myanmar. Unofficial sources have provided details about the treatment of prisoners, including torture, prolonged shackling, lack of proper medical care, and insufficient food. Torture techniques include beatings, sometimes to the point of unconsciousness; being forced to crawl over sharp stones; and being held in the hot sun for prolonged periods. Such practices are used by Myanmar's security forces to punish and intimidate prisoners. Conditions in labour camps are so harsh that hundreds of prisoners have died as a result. Many prisoners who have been forced to work as porters for the army have also died as a result of ill-treatment. In the material which follows, Amnesty International has omitted details which could identify imprisoned individuals, for fear of placing them at even greater risk of torture and ill-treatment. Most of the information below concerns Insein Prison, Myanmar's largest detention facility, where at least 800 political prisoners are held along with thousands of people imprisoned under criminal charges. Insein Prison is located in the outskirts of Yangon (Rangoon, the capital). Thousands of other political prisoners are held in prisons throughout the country; however it is much more difficult to obtain information about conditions in these facilities. PRISON CONDITIONS Political prisoners are evidently subjected to torture during both the initial interrogation period and after they have been sentenced. Once imprisoned, they can be summoned at any time during the day or night by Military Intelligence (MI) personnel, who maintain a permanent presence in Insein Prison. MI wear the same uniform as that worn by prison staff, and conduct investigations of political prisoners on a regular basis. They interrogate prisoners in an office known as the "Prison Kampetei Office" (An apparent reference to practices of the Kampetei, the Japanese military police who subjected prisoners to torture and ill-treatment during World War II.), place them in leg irons, and punish them with beatings, sometimes to the point of unconsciousness. Political prisoners who break arbitrary and harsh prison rules are subjected to harsh punishments, including torture and severe ill - treatment. Even the possession of almost any reading material is a punishable offence under prison rules. Political prisoners are liable to be sent to "police dog cells", where police dogs are normally kept, or to other cells where they are subjected to beatings and placed in leg - irons made of chains or of an iron rod between the feet. One political prisoner was reportedly punished by the imposition of leg irons for one week because he cooked some curry. Another prisoner was kept in shackles in the "police dog cells" for two months because he was found with a piece of paper. Other punishments include being kept in the sun in temperatures over 100 degrees Fahrenheit (40 degrees Centigrade) and being forced to crawl on the ground over sharp stones. Male prisoners are also subjected to humiliating practices such as being forced to answer questions using a self-deprecating form of address. If they do not answer in such a manner they are beaten. These practices occur in Block 5, which was opened recently, and is now commonly referred to as the "Women's Block", because of the form of address prisoners are forced to use. Some prisoners are denied visiting rights from relatives as another form of punishment. Prisoners in Myanmar are also subjected to severe overcrowding, conditions which constitute cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. Three to four prisoners are held in small cells measuring 8 by 12 feet (2.6 by 3 metres) for more than 20 hours a day. They are fed on an inadequate diet of a thin soup of pulses or vegetables, supplemented with a small piece of fish only once a week. Medical treatment is only provided when an illness has reached a severe stage. Political prisoners are not allowed to communicate with one another and are often held in solitary confinement. MI officials transfer political prisoners at will to remote prisons where their families cannot visit and provide them with additional food and medicine. Political prisoners are generally only allowed to meet with their families after they have been sentenced, and then only for 15 minutes every two weeks; before that time they are held in incommunicado detention. Guards are present throughout the family meetings, and often take notes. Although families can bring food and medicines to their relatives, such supplies are sometimes confiscated by prison authorities. Political prisoners are also forbidden most reading and all writing materials, and are not allowed to send or receive letters. Religious tracts which have received prior approval are sometimes allowed. Amnesty International is aware that torture and ill - treatment occurs in other prisons. One recently - released Mon farmer who had been arrested for alleged connections with the New Mon State Party (NMSP) was held with many other political prisoners in one overcrowded room. He told Amnesty International: "I was not allowed to see my family while in prison. If the family sent food, the prison warder would take it all ... All prisoners were taken to work on the road ... At the prison I was forced to dig an underground pit for body discharges. " He was held in Mawlamylne (Moulmein) prison while serving a three year sentence handed down by a military tribunal. Before his trial in 1991, he said that he had been severely tortured. DEATHS IN CUSTODY OF POLITICAL PRISONERS Since September 1988 Amnesty International has recorded the deaths of 15 political prisoners in custody, many of whom died from disease after inadequate medical attention. Recently the organization has learned of the deaths of two more political prisoners. U Dhamma Wara Seit - Dhi, a 51 - year-old monk from Mandalay, reportedly died from malnutrition and malaria on 18 November 1994. He had been arrested for his participation in the 1988 - 89 pro-democracy movement and sentenced to five years' hard labour in the Kachin State. Hundreds of monks were arrested for their role in protest demonstrations and scores are believed to be still detained. After working on a road in a malarial area, U Dhamma Wara Seit - Shi died after repeated attacks of malaria. U Kin Sein, in his 50's, died in Insein Prison in early 1995 of an unknown disease. He was reportedly arrested in December 1990 and sentenced to seven years' imprisonment under Section 5j of the Emergency Provisions Act. A member of the Prome township People's Progressive Party, he was also a businessman. Amnesty International is concerned at recurrent reports of deaths in custody in Myanmar's prisons, and calls on the SLORC to ensure that prisoners receive proper medical care and food. LABOUR CAMPS AND FORCED PORTERING The SLORC has publicly acknowledged the fact that those convicted of criminal offences participate in labour projects. However the military authorities characterize such work as voluntary. A 13 July Myanmar Television broadcast reported a 7 July speech given by Lieutenant General Khin Nyunt: "The SLORC has reduced by one third the sentences of those convicted persons who have contributed volunteer labour at the various state development project sites ... Lieutenant General Khin Nyunt notified that altogether 38,753 convicted persons have been released during the SLORC's tenure of government. This shows the national government's flexibility and humanity ... While Amnesty International recognizes that there are prisoners who volunteer for work projects in order to reduce their sentences, it remains concerned at current reports of thousands of common criminals who have been forced to work under extremely harsh conditions. Such prisoners are subjected to even worse treatment than political prisoners. They are taken to labour camps established to construct infrastructure projects such as road building, often shortly after they have been imprisoned. Apparently prisoners can avoid going to such camps, or can be sent to camps which are less harsh if they can pay a large bribe to prison officials. Such bribes range from 5,000 kyats to 30,000 kyats. (Six kyats, Myanmar's official currency, is equivalent to about one US dollar; however unofficial rates are over 100 kyats to the US dollar.) Most prisoners are unable to pay such bribes, and are then sent to labour camps. Forced labour frequently entails prisoners breaking rocks for road building for long hours. Prisoners are subjected to beatings and do not receive adequate food or sleep. Many of them are injured or killed when rocks are blasted with dynamite. Female prisoners are also forced to undertake labour projects in special all-women camps which have been designated by the authorities. Elderly and sick people and even handicapped people are placed in leg irons and forced to work. Health problems, such as malnutrition, dysentery, and malaria are common. Hundreds of prisoners have reportedly died as a result of disease and ill - treatment. Conditions on the Yangon to Mandalay road are so severe that prisoners working there have a saying: "If the corpses of prisoners who lost their lives working on the Yangon to Mandalay express highway are lined up it would be longer than the mileage of the road already completed." Reprisals are swift for those prisoners who attempt to escape from the camps, and have included extrajudicial killings. At the end of 1994 two prisoners who tried to flee from the Yangon to Mandalay Road construction, also known as "the Road of No Return", were reportedly shot and killed at close range. One other was hacked to death with a hoe and the remaining seven in the group were severely injured. Amnesty International has obtained information about nine labour camps throughout Myanmar, including details of the number of reported deaths. About 500 prisoners work in each camp. Reports providing details of such information are summarized below: Location Number Of Other Information Reported Deaths Of Prisoners Kabaw Valley, reported 300 died opened February 1992 Western from first group of Myanmar 500 -, reported 200 died from second group Ywtingan - 400 prisoners opened September 1992; Hanmyinmo reportedly combined stone quarry and Road, died within one road construction Sagaing month Division Taungzuri/ a reported 30% of Mopalin prisoners have died Quarry, Mon State Pinlaung - 400 prisoners died road construction Pyinmanain four months in camps Road, Shan Shwenyaung - State - Namsan camp Central Myanmar Aungban - Loikaw Road, Shan Kayah (Karenni) State Shwenvaung - Namsan Road, Shan State Myitkyina - not known extremely harsh Sumprabom conditions Road and bad weather Myitkyina - Shibwe Lawkhaung Road (all Kachin State) Yangon - Mandalay not known widespread malaria Highway construction Yezin - Htonbo not known only female prisoners Quarry, work there south of Mandalay Myelk - Kawthaung many reported not known Road deaths due Kawthaung to disease Airport Extension, Tanintharyi (Tenasserim) Division Tuntay (Shwethahtay) not known near Yangon; reportedly Camp best conditions Tuntay Piggery Phaunggyi Piggery, all near Yangon Some of those who have been injured in labour camps are brought back to Insein Jail hospital. They suffer from broken legs, hands and backs, malnutrition, malaria, and communicable diseases which they have contracted because of the extremely harsh conditions under which they are held. However those prisoners who are returned to Insein Prison are the lucky ones -- an unknown number of other prisoners have died during their forced labour and porter duties. The death rate in labour camps is in the hundreds. Apparently many of these prisoners are homeless young people who are arrested for vagrancy and imprisoned for one year. Convicted criminals are also forced to act as porters during military operations by the tatmadaw, the Myanmar army, in counter - insurgency activities against armed ethnic minority groups. The practice of seizing civilians for porter duty by the tatmadaw is routine, and ill - treatment is common. Members of ethnic minorities are most frequently taken because they are living in areas of armed insurgency. However civilians from all over Myanmar, including criminal prisoners, are also seized and moved to such areas to act as porters. Porters are often deprived of food, receive no medical attention, and are beaten if they cannot carry their load of ammunition or food any longer. Some are left to die by the side of the road. Amnesty International opposes the practice of forced portering in all cases, whether civilians are ill-treated or not. CONCLUSION Torture has been routine in Myanmar's prisons for many years, and has increased dramatically since the imprisonment of thousands of political prisoners beginning in 1988. Amnesty International opposes the torture and ill - treatment of prisoners in all cases. Such practices are in direct contravention of international standards, including the Declaration on the Protection of all Persons from Being Subjected to Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. Ill-treatment and inhumane prison conditions are also in contravention of The Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, adopted by the First UN Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders, held in Geneva, Switzerland, in 1955. RECOMMENDATIONS Amnesty International urges the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC, Myanmar's military Government) to take the following steps to ensure that the practice of torture and ill-treatment of prisoners is eliminated: 1. Initiate an immediate investigation into all prison practices and procedures at Insein Prison and all other detention facilities. 2. Bring those found responsible for torture and ill - treatment to justice. 3. Ensure that prison conditions and practices are brought into conformity with the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, including the prohibition of beatings, and the provision of adequate food and medical care. 4. Allow proper access to all political prisoners by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), including permission to conduct private interviews and follow - up visits. 5. Ensure that all prison labour is not punitive in nature and abolish the practice of forced pottering of all civilians. 6. Allow independent human rights monitors to visit Myanmar's prisons and meet privately with political prisoners. ********************************** FBC: RIGOBERTA MENCHU ENDORSES SANCTIONS AGAINST SLORC October 6, 1995 from the Free Burma Coalition at the University of Wisconsin Last night the Union Theatre on Wisconsin campus was filled to its capacity (over 1,000) when 1992 Nobel Peace Laureate R. Menchu spoke. She was one of the Nobel Laureates who went to Thailand and Burma to lobby on ASSK's behalf and to meet the indigenous people such as the Karens, and Mons in the border areas. She did mention about her trip to Burma, and meeting with Karens and Mons. She spoke through an interpreter. Free Burma Coalition asked her position on the multinationals, destruction of indigenous communities, and business with repressive regimes pointing out Burma as an example case. (Obviously our motive was to have her say something about sanctions and corporations publicly. We were told she endorsed the sanctions but couldn't dig up her previous statement, so the question-answer period really helped.) The question we asked was "in the name of economic development (and business), corporations, especially from the US, come in and do business with highly corrupt and repressive regimes in the so-called third world. For instance, in my country, Burma, which you visited a few years back, American corporations do business with the authoritarian regime and pursue economic projects that lead to the destruction of indigenous communities and that encourage the regime (i.e., Slorc) to disregard the rights of indigenous people. Have you had a similar experience in Guatemala? What is your position on this? In answering three similar questions, that used different examples, Menchu said the following: "Multinationals have no ethical codes. Their purpose is to make a profit and their main concern is not people. They don't care about people. I believe in sanctions against repressive regimes that deserve sanctions." RELATED NEWS - We're distributing videotapes on slave labor, destruction of indigenous communities, UNOCAL pipeline project, and ASSK's ABC Nightline Show to our organizers. Send $10 check (Payable to Free Burma Coalition) to us in Madison. It's almost free considering the time, and labor that we put in in putting together all three documentaries in one tape.) The address is Free Burma Coalition (UW-Madison) c/o Department of Curriculum and Instruction, 225 North Mills St. Madison, WI 53706 We are hoping to see the major Total-boycott in France, as our French-connection is fired up for the Oct. 27, and he'll drum up the people there who are angry at their own government. FBC (U-Wisconsin) *************************************** FBC: PRESS RELEASE - CALL FOR ACTIONS (OCTOBER 27, 1995) Please feel free to use this press release and tailor it to your particular community. INTERNATIONAL STUDENT ACTION DAY FOR A FREE BURMA U.S. Corporations (can be substituted with the phrase "Japanese, British, etc...investors" depending on your localities) Profit from Slave Labor and Oppression in Burma On October 27, 1995 Burma activists around the world will initiate strategies to terminate corporate funding of the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC), Burma's military dictatorship. Burma is a Southeast Asian nation of 40 million people held hostage at gunpoint by SLORC armed criminals. The United Nations, Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch call SLORC one of the major human rights violators in the world. Since seizing power in 1988, SLORC has murdered thousands of pro-democracy activists, supporters of the country's popular democracy movement, and ethnic minorities while embracing trade with the international investors. In its economic projects, SLORC uses forced labor--conscripting villagers against their wills, without pay, to carry supplies for the army and to construct roads, railways, airports and hotels. Often entire villages are set on fire by SLORC troops, indigenous communities forcibly relocated in order to make way for new economic projects. In May 1990, SLORC held elections in part to appease the international community and in part because it believed the military-backed party, the National Unity Party, would win. When the popular National League for Democracy (NLD) won a landslide victory, SLORC simply ignored the election results, refused to transfer power to the elected representatives from the winning NLD, and jailed the NLD leaders and many NLD sympathizers, supporters, and activists. Despite the recent release of Burma's popular democracy leader and 1991 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Aung San Suu Kyi, (after six years of unlawful detention), thousands of political prisoners remain in captivity. U.S. corporations (again this can be changed: if you are in England, "British investors" would be a more suitable word/target) are among the top investors in Burma following Britain, France, Singapore, Thailand, and Japan: PepsiCo, Unocal, Texaco, ARCO, Chase Manhattan Bank , Walt Disney Co., Eastman Kodak Co., General Electric Co., Pan American Pharmaceutical Ltd, Sears Roebuck, Wal-mart Stores, and many others bankroll yet another dictatorship regime in the world. THE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN (put the name of the university or institution that you wish to specifically target) INVESTS IN PEPSI CO, AND THUS TAX PAYERS' MONIES AND OUR TUITION GOES DIRECTLY TO THE COFFERS OF BURMA'S GENOCIDAL REGIME! IT MUST DIVEST. World Wide Call for Sanctions and Divestment Burma activists around the world have called for the withdrawal of foreign investors until and unless SLORC transfers power to the duly elected representatives of the people headed by Aung San Suu Kyi. Many Nobel Peace Prize laureates, including Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the Dalai Lama and Rigoberta Menchu support our call for economic sanctions. In August 16, 1995, Madison (this is obviously tailored to attract the local public and activists. So put something relevant here) became the second city in the world after Berkeley, CA to pass a sanctions bill against SLORC. The boycott bill bans the city from buying goods or services from companies doing business in Burma. Similar bills are under way in other U.S. cities, including New York City, Seattle, Portland, Santa Monica, CA, Oakland, San Francisco, Cambridge, MA, and The State of Massachusetts. The Free Burma Bill ( #S1092) sponsored by Senator Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) is currently being considered at the level of the United States Congress. Therefore, we, the Free Burma Coalition, declare October 27, 1995 "International Action Student (if your group is a student one, this is an appropriate one and easier to attract and mobilize according to our experience. If you are not, then simply leave it out.) Day for a Free Burma", in order to terminate corporate funding of SLORC. We invite you to join hands with us in our fight against corporate greed and injustice. In the United States already activist groups from about fifty U.S. universities including the University of Chicago, Harvard, Stanford, Wisconsin, UCLA, Georgetown, Washington, Boston University, Tufts, Brandeis, Penn State, Columbia, Cornell, Berkeley, Colorado, Northwestern, UCSanta Cruz, Chico State, City University of New York, and New Mexico, and many others have committed to this October 27 International Campaign for a Free Burma. The campaign news will be broadcast into Burma by the Voice of America, Oslo-based Democratic Voice of Burma, and the BBC and covered by both regional and international news media. (Put your local contact here.) Contact : Zarni at zni@students.wisc.edu ************************************** ANNOUNCEMENT: MAILING LIST FOR OCT. 27 FOLKS. There is now an automated mailing list for purposes of Oct 27 organizing. You may add yourself to the list by sending a message with 'add' or 'subscribe' (no quotes) in the subject heading to: burma-request@whitewater.chem.wisc.edu To remove yourself send a message with 'remove' or 'unsubscribe' to: burma-request@whitewater.chem.wisc.edu **************************** ANNOUNCEMENT: MYANVIEW FROM INST. OF SEASIAN STUDIES (ISEAS) MyanView is a quarterly providing news and analyses of economic and political developments in Myanmar. It was launched in January 1995 to plug the information gap on that country, particularly for the busy businessman and executives of multinational companies. The annual subscription rate is S$ 180 / US$ 130. Myanview, Vol. 1, No. 3 (July 1995) Contents *Economic Outlook: A record rice export and favourable economic prospects *Political Roundup: National reconciliation: asymmetrical bargaining? *1995 Highlights *Snippets on the Processing and Manufacturing Sector Myanview, Vol. 1 No. 3 (July 1995) Supplement Contents *Banking and Financial Reforms in Myanmar *Chronology of Banking and Financial Reforms *Reforms in the Banking System *Financial Structure of Myanmar *Interest Rate Reform: New rates, but ... *Foreign Exchange Management: Still too much government control *Exchange Rate: Still very much overvalued *Foreign Exchange Certificate (FEC): De facto devaluation? *Tax Reform: Evolving slowly *Insurance Reform: Little progress There are two Burmese research fellows (Dr. Mya Than and U Tin Mg Mg Than) and Prof. Teruko Saito (visiting fellow from Tokyo Univ. of foreign studies?) at ISEAS. Ms. Saito will be there until 24 Apr 96 for her research work 'A Socio-Economic History of Burma: 1750-1990'. WWW URL of ISEAS is "http://merlion.iseas.ac.sg/iseas.html" If you would like your name to be placed on the mailing list of the Institute's Publications Unit, please fill in the mailing list form (http://merlion.iseas.ac.sg/ mail1.html). If you don't have WWW access, e-mail with your: full name, address, fax areas of interest (Politics, Economics, or Social Issues) and country of interest. please contact Mr Mustain at Tel (65) 870-2483 or fax (65) 775-6259 Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Attn: Managing Editor Heng Mui Keng Terrace, Pasir Panjang, Singapore 119596 Tel : (65) 870 2447, Fax: (65) 775 6259 or E-mail : "pubsunit@merlion.iseas.ac.sg" for a proforma invoice for the title(s) of your choice. Remember to include your snail mail address (and a fax number if available). ****************************** ANNOUNCEMENT: ALL BURMA YOUNG MONKS' UNION (ARAKAN) The Buddhist Relief Mission has just received some information about the present situation of All Burma Young Monks' Union (Arakan). The ABYMU (Arakan) is now active in both Bangladesh and India. There are seven of the organization's monks in India and the New Delhi chapter is very important since circumstances there are favorable for staging demonstrations, organizing exhibitions, and raising humanitarian assistance for Arakan refugees in India. The situation in Bangladesh, however, is extremely difficult. There are 5 ABYMU (Arakan) monks staying there, only one of whom has been granted refugee status by UNHCR yet. Because of lack of support and difficulties with accommodation in Dacca, most of the monks are scattered at different sites on the Bangladesh/Arakan border. It is difficult to organize activities in Bangladesh because of the government's position, but it is essential to maintain a presence to keep in touch with the situation at the border and also inside Arakan. ABYMU (Arakan) requests assistance with the following: * funding to enable them to maintain a basic office in Dacca in order to carry out organizing activities and maintain contact abroad. * an electric typewriter for the Dacca office * assistance for food and accommodation for the monks in New Delhi. Should anyone wish to know how to contribute to the ABYMU (Arakan), please contact Buddhist Relief Mission for further details. With metta, Ken and Visakha Kawasaki ************************** ------------------------ BurmaNet ------------------------ "Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies" ---------------------------------------------------------- The BurmaNet News: October 3, 1995 Issue#244 Noted in Passing: As the process is going very smoothly, we don't need dialogue with anybody. - Tin Winn, SLORC ambassador to Thailand on why the SLORC has not started a dialogue with Aung San Suu Kyi. (quoted in: BKK POST: SLORC 'WON'T DISCUSS REFORM WITH SUU KYI') Headlines: ======== BKK POST: SLORC 'WON'T DISCUSS REFORM WITH SUU KYI' WSJ: BURMESE FAMILY RETURNS FROM EXILE WITH KEYS BKK POST: SLORC'S KHIN NYUNT TO VISIT THAILAND BKK POST: MOEI RIVER RECLAMATION BEGINS FRDC: UPDATE FROM MASSACHUSETTS LETTER: ON MAKING "BEYOND RANGOON" ANNOUNCEMENT: PROTEST BEFORE THE UNITED NATIONS ---------------------------------------------------------- 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. The BurmaNet News is e-mailed directly to subscribers and is also distributed via the soc.culture.burma and seasia-l mailing lists and is also available via the reg.burma conference on the APC networks. For a free subscription to the BurmaNet News, send an e-mail message to: majordomo@igc.apc.org In the body of the message, type "subscribe burmanet-l" (without quotation marks) Letters to the editor, comments or contributions of articles should be sent to the editor at: strider@igc.apc.org ------------------------------------------------------------- INFORMATION ABOUT BURMA VIA THE WEB AND GOPHER: Information about Burma is available via the WorldWideWeb at: FreeBurmaWWW http://sunsite.unc.edu/freeburma/freeburma.html [including back issues of the BurmaNet News as .txt files] BurmaWeb: http://www.uio.no/tormodl Burma fonts: http://www.cs.bham.ac.uk/~lka/burmese-fonts/moe.html Ethnologue Database(Myanmar): http://www-ala.doc.ic.ac.uk/~rap/Ethnologue/eth.cgi/Myanmar TO ACCESS INFORMATION ABOUT BURMA VIA GOPHER: gopher csf.colorado.edu. Look under the International Political Economy section, then select Geographic_Archive, then Asia, then Burma. ---------------------------------------------------------- BURMANET SUBJECT-MATTER RESOURCE LIST BurmaNet regularly receives enquiries on a number of different topics related to Burma. The scope of the subjects involved is simplytoo broad for any one person to cover. BurmaNet is therefore organizing a number of volunteer coordinators to field questions on various subjects. 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- Michael W. Charney Bangladesh Border GoMaha@aol.com Campus activism: tlandon@u.washington.edu Boycott campaigns: [Pepsi] wcsbeau@superior.ccs.carleton.ca Buddhism: Buddhist Relief Mission, brelief@gol.com Chin history/culture: plilian@asc.corp.mot.com Fonts: tom@cs.colgate.edu History of Burma: zni@students.wisc.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: Wungram Shishak, z954001@oats.farm.niu.edu Burma-India border [volunteer needed] Pali literature: "Palmleaf" c/o burmanet@igc.apc.org Shan history/culture: [volunteer needed] Shareholder activism: simon_billenness@mail.cybercom.net Tourism campaigns: bagp@gn.apc.org "Attn. S.Sutcliffe" World Wide Web: FreeBurma@POBox.com Volunteering: christin@ksc.net.th [Feel free to suggest more areas of coverage] ************************************* BKK POST: SLORC 'WON'T DISCUSS REFORM WITH SUU KYI' October 2, 1995 BURMA'S military government will not discuss political reforms with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, according to Rangoon's ambassador to Thailand. Reforms would continue to be undertaken solely by the as National Convention, Tin Winn said yesterday. The ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council would leave the future of the country to the convention that las been drafting a new constitution since 1993. "As the process is going very smoothly, we don't need dialogue with anybody," he said. Earlier, there were expectations of talks between the regime and the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize laureate to reform Burmese politics following her release from house arrest in July. Talks appeared possible when Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt, sectary of the military regime, told United States Ambassador to the United Nations Madeleine Albright early last month that the government [s considering political dialogue with Suu Kyi. Convention members, criticised by opposition groups for being hand-picked by military leaders, will gather for a new session on October 24-25 to continue work on the draft. The ambassador said he could not anticipate when the task would be finished, but the next president needed military "knowledge" because his country required a strong government to unite 155 minority groups. "It is not true that the president must have a military background, but must have military knowledge, he said. Civilians who met this qualification would not be ruled out. The military would hold one of the two vice-president posts because of its right to take part in politics, although it did not have a party, he said. The SLORC seized power in 1988. It refused to step down and accept the result of the 1990 election in which Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy won by a landslide, although she was under house arrest for a year before people voted. The SLORC refused to recognise the result, claiming the winning party did not live up to its promise to draw up a new constitution but instead called for the transfer of power from the military to the civilian administration, Tin Winn claimed. Burma had no constitution at that time as people refused to accept the 1974 constitution written during Ne Win's one-party system. The ambassador claimed that before the election all parties political leaders and the government discussed the drafting of the constitution and agreed the party that won j must initiate the draft. However, after the NLD won it asked for the transfer of power. Opposition groups dispute this, saying SLORC's declaration on the drafty came almost a month after the election and was a tactic by the military to retain power. The election was held in May. The announcement that elected members would draft a new constitution was dated July 27 and signed by then Brig-Gen Khin Nyunt. **************************** WSJ: BURMESE FAMILY RETURNS FROM EXILE WITH KEYS TO UNLOCK RECLUSIVE NATION September 27, 1995 By Jeremy Mark RANGOON, Burma -- As Asia's more-reclusive socialist states emerged from isolation in the past 20 years, the role of reintroducing them to the world was often played by countrymen who found their fortunes as emigres. Now it's Burma's turn. The closeted nation is trying to catch up with booming Southeast Asia, and a group of Burmese whose families once chose exile are coming home to help show Burma the way. "It's a chance of a lifetime," says Halpin Ho, the scion of a Burmese-Chinese family that left three decades ago after its businesses were nationalized. Now he's sitting on the veranda of a lakeside Rangoon hotel run by his family, discussing plans for millions of dollars in future investments. "I know the situation inside [Burma]," Mr. Ho says, "I know the situation outside. I have the backing of foreign companies. If I can make a contribution to my country, I will make my mark in history." Mr. Ho's family, which controls the Ho Group of gem and real-estate businesses in Thailand, is working closely with Kerry Financial Services Ltd. of Hong Kong, which itself is a part of the empire of Malaysian tycoon Robert Kuok. Kerry and Ho Group are partners in Irrawaddy Advisors Ltd., a small Rangoon-based company that is overseeing direct investments in Burma by the $28 million Myanmar Fund, listed in Dublin. One of the Myanmar Fund's investments is in the Hos' Kandawgyi Lake Hotel, which is completing a $20 million, 234-room expansion. The Ho family lost everything when the Burmese military took power in the early 1960s and launched the country down the road to economic stagnation. The family was split up for years, with some children staying behind. "We had a lot of businesses and property, and then we were refugees with nothing," says the 40-year-old Mr. Ho. The family eventually fetched up in Bangkok, where it started over. Mr. Ho worked in the family business, sweeping floors and sorting stones as a child and eventually presiding over its expansion into property development in Thailand. "For a long time we were scared to come back. Then I came back three and a half years ago and it wasn't like everybody was saying. Burma has its faults, but there are also good sides." The family is now planning a $200 million commercial center in Burma, complete with offices and a convention center. Mr. Ho hopes to bring together major corporate investors from around Southeast Asia to build the center. An industrial park is also in the works. ***************************************************************** BKK POST: SLORC'S KHIN NYUNT TO VISIT THAILAND BEFORE ASEAN SUMMIT October 2, 1995 BURMA'S key military figure Khin Nyunt, will pay an official visit to Thailand before the ASEAN summit starts on December 15. Rangoon's ambassador Tin Winn said yesterday the visit might take place just after the third week of October when Ohn Gyaw returns from the United Nations General Assembly in New York. Tin Winn said the Thai Embassy in Rangoon on September 7 officially invited Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt to visit Thailand as guest of Deputy Prime Minister Amnuay Viravan. Thailand hopes the visit by the Secretary No.1 of the State Law and Order Restoration Council will improve strained ties. Tin Winn said the delay in accepting an invitation from Mr Amnuay two years ago was not because of problems along the border but because of the effect the change of foreign minister in Thailand's previous government had on the timing. Burma supported a meeting of leaders of all 10 Southeast Asian countries as part of the ASEAN summit, but it would not consider attending until it received an official invitation from the host, Thailand, he said. The meeting would be a fundamental step toward all 10 nations becoming ASEAN members, he said. Burma acceded to ASEAN's Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in July and is seeking observer status from the group. ASEAN has made clear that Rangoon will not be given automatic observer status upon accession. The treaty is the first step for countries in the region to apply for membership. Tin Winn said Burma would not rush to join the group until it was ready to play a part in the organisation. ***************************************************************** BKK POST: MOEI RIVER RECLAMATION BEGINS October 1, 1995 MAE SOT _ Thai border authorities have been dismantling all structures on reclaimed land along the Moei River to complete the work by today's deadline. Mae Sot District Chief Kasem Wattanatham yesterday instructed deputy district chief Chalee Inket to monitor the dismantling of the remaining structures encroaching on the river banks and to inform Burmese authorities in Myawaddy border town, opposite the site, of the work. Local Mae Sot officials said they hoped the Burmese would be satisfied with Thailand's move and subsequently resume construction the Thai-Burmese bridge across the Moei River which was suspended early this year after the land encroachment on the Thai side. Deputy Agriculture Minister Montree Danpaibool on Wednesday went to Mae Sot to hand over Bt600,000 in compensation to owners of the 16 structures. ***************************************************************** Typed by the Research Department of the ABSDF {MTZ} 2.10.95 ***************************************************************** FRDC: UPDATE FROM MASSACHUSETTS September 27, 1995 MASSACHUSETTS BURMA ROUNDTABLE The next Roundtable will take place on Tuesday, October 10. It makes sense not to meet on Columbus Day Monday... The meeting will start at 7pm at the office of Franklin Research & Development at 711 Atlantic Avenue 4th floor, just across the street from South Station and opposite the Greyhound Bus terminal. Massachusetts Burma Roundtable Draft Agenda 1. Massachusetts Selective Purchasing Legislation (H2833) update by Simon Billenness 2. Student Activism Update update by Dorothy Chan, Miriam Leibowitz, Adam Richards 3. Cambridge Selective Purchasing Legislation update by Ann Stewart 4. Future Activities Brainstorming · BURMESE STUDENT LEADER VISITS BOSTON Moe Thee Zun, the Chairman of the All Burma Students Democratic Front, will be in the Boston area next week and making several speaking engagements. In 1988, Moe Thee Zun took part in the 1988 pro-democracy uprising and was forced to flee to the Thai-Burma border in 1989. You can meet him at the following events: October 2; 7pm-9pm. Alumni Lounge, Student Center, Brandeis University contact: Miriam Leibowitz: (617) 736 8250 st931523@pip.cc.brandeis.edu October 4; 8pm-10pm Emerson 105, Harvard Yard contact: Adam Richards (617) 491 7510 arichard@husc.harvard.edu Moe Thee Zun and Simon Billenness will be guests of Amnesty International on Be Live, Channel 55, Cambridge Community TV from 6pm-6.30pm on October 2. · Final Push on Massachusetts Burma Bill! On September 18, the Massachusetts Senate Ways & Means Committee favorably reported out H2833, State Rep. Byron Rushing's bill that would bar the state from buying goods or services from companies doing business in Burma. The bill is scheduled to be debated by the Senate Steering & Policy Committee on October 18. If it is reported out of this Committee, the bill will go to the Senate floor for its final vote. *** Please use the enclosed letters to write your State Senator and Governor Weld in support of the bill. *** Simon Billenness, Franklin Research, 711 Atlantic Avenue, Boston, MA 02111 (617) 423 6655 x225 simon_billenness@mail.cybercom.net ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------- SEND A LETTER TO YOUR STATE SENATOR... Senator ________ Massachusetts Senate State House, MA 02133-1053 Dear Senator __________: I am writing to ask your support for H2833, Representative Byron Rushing's bill that would bar state purchasing managers from buying goods or services from companies doing business with the ruling Burmese military junta. The bill has already passed the House and was favorably reported out of the Senate Ways & Means Committee on September 18. Specifically, I am requesting that you write to Senator Edward Clancy, the Chairman of the Steering & Policy Committee, to ask him to report H2833 out of committee quickly and favorably so that it can come to a floor vote. (Include a personal paragraph here. If possible, mention your personal and family history in Massachusetts and in your State Senator's district. Explain your interest in Burma.) Despite the recent release of pro-democracy leader and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, the struggle for democracy in Burma is not over. It was not until two years after the release of Nelson Mandela that he called for a lifting of economic sanctions on South Africa. As a recent Boston Globe editorial noted: "Efforts to isolate the junta must continue until the colonels permit the Burmese to retrieve a legitimate, representative government. The world can be certain that Suu Kyi will demand no less." Other cities and states are also considering laws that would effectively bar the purchase of goods or services from companies doing business in Burma. In February, Berkeley, California, became the first city to pass such a law. In August, the City of Madison, Wisconsin, passed similar legislation. On the federal level, Senator Mitch McConnell (Rep. Kentucky) has introduced the Free Burma Act (S1092), a bill imposing tough federal economic sanctions on Burma. Massachusetts has a proud history of support for democracy and human rights both at home and abroad. The Massachusetts legislature played a leading role in the successful struggle against apartheid in South Africa and continues to press for peace in Northern Ireland. I ask you to build on this tradition by supporting H2833. You can obtain the name of your state senator by calling the State House at (617) 727-2121 or by calling CPPAX (address below). Please send a copy of your letter to Citizens for Participation in Political Action (CPPAX), 25 West Street, Boston, MA 02111. If you have any questions, contact Julia Carpenter at CPPAX at (617) 426 3040 or cppax@aol.com. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------- ...AND DON'T FORGET TO WRITE GOVERNOR WELD TOO! Governor William Weld State House, MA 02133-1053 Dear Governor Weld: I am writing to ask your support for H2833, Representative Byron Rushing's bill that would bar state purchasing managers from buying goods or services from companies doing business with the ruling Burmese military junta. The bill has already passed the House. It was favorably reported out of the Senate Ways & Means Committee on September 18 and will soon come to a floor vote. (Include a personal paragraph here. If possible, mention your personal and family history in Massachusetts and in your State Senator's district. Explain your interest in Burma.) Despite the recent release of pro-democracy leader and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, the struggle for democracy in Burma is not over. It was not until two years after the release of Nelson Mandela that he called for a lifting of economic sanctions on South Africa. As a recent Boston Globe editorial noted: "Efforts to isolate the junta must continue until the colonels permit the Burmese to retrieve a legitimate, representative government. The world can be certain that Suu Kyi will demand no less." Other cities and states are also considering laws that would effectively bar the purchase of goods or services from companies doing business in Burma. In February, Berkeley, California, became the first city to pass such a law. In August, the City of Madison, Wisconsin, passed similar legislation. On the federal level, Senator Mitch McConnell (Rep. Kentucky) has introduced the Free Burma Act (S1092), a bill imposing tough federal economic sanctions on Burma. Massachusetts has a proud history of support for democracy and human rights both at home and abroad. The Massachusetts legislature played a leading role in the successful struggle against apartheid in South Africa and continues to press for peace in Northern Ireland. I ask you to build on this tradition by supporting H2833 and signing it into law at the earliest possible opportunity. Please send a copy of your letter to Citizens for Participation in Political Action (CPPAX), 25 West Street, Boston, MA 02111. If you have any questions, contact Julia Carpenter at CPPAX at (617) 426 3040 or cppax@aol.com. ***************************** LETTER: ON MAKING "BEYOND RANGOON" Professor U Kyaw Win Dear Paul Haakenson: You better believe that "Beyond Rangoon" is realistic. I was the special advisor on location in Malaysia for five months and acted as the monk at the huge reclining Buddha and ASSK's elder escort at the rally when troops impeded our path with orders to shoot. Every incident in the movie's Burma background was true even though they were transplanted at other locations exercising artistic license. I made sure of that. Burmese witnesses to the events of Aug/Sep 1988 faulted me for not showing much more blood than was done by John Boorman. Story of Laura is, of course, fiction. But many Aung Ko's lost their jobs for aiding students in earlier uprisings. Professor U Kyaw Win Orange Coast College Costa Mesa, CA 92626 e-mail: win@cccd.edu phone: (714) 432-5860 **************************** ANNOUNCEMENT: PROTEST BEFORE THE UNITED NATIONS ON THE 3RD OF OCTOBER From: JULIEN MOE A demonstration will be staged before the United Nations in New York on the 3rd of October,1995.The demonstration will be attended by the Burmese students and members of NCGUB and all interested paties are cordially invited to present themselves before UN at 12 noon on the 3rd of October.The demonstration will be staged with a view to protest against the Burmese government's delegation to UN and influence the UN to modify its stand towards Burma.