------------------------ BurmaNet ------------------------ "Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies" ---------------------------------------------------------- The BurmaNet News: November 8, 1995 Issue #274 Noted in Passing: Some of the allegations received indicate that soldiers view rape as a right, and that sometimes it is encouraged by officers... and that women are sometimes singled out for portering or other forced labour in order to be raped. - UN Report on Human Rights abuses in Burma (quoted in BKK POST: UN RIGHTS REPORT PAINTS GRUESOME PICTURE OF BURMA) HEADLINES: ========== REUTER: RANGOON COMES TO SAREJEVO TO SHOW SOLIDARITY ISBDA: SLORC EMBASSY OFFICIALLY DENYING CHILDREN'S RIGHTS FBC: OCT 27 RECAP - U. MICHIGAN ANNOUNCEMENT: BURMA PANEL DISCUSSION AT TUFTS BKK POST: UN RIGHTS REPORT PAINTS GRUESOME PICTURE OF BURMA NATION:BURMA MAY BE USING FORCED LABOUR FOR TOURISM, UN SAYS BKK POST: WE CAN END BORDER TIFFS: JUNTA MEMBER BKK POST: BURMESE STUDENTS TO RALLY AGAINST SLORC MEMBERS BKK POST: BURMESE THREATS CAUSE GEMS TRADE TO PLUMMET BKK POST: FISHING DISPUTE TO BE DISCUSSED NATION: LETTER TO SUU KYI LANDS JAILED DISSIDENT IN SOLITARY ---------------------------------------------------------- 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 volunteer needed Bangladesh Border Campus activism: zni@students.wisc.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: RANGOON COMES TO SAREJEVO TO SHOW SOLIDARITY November 5, 1995 By Peter Bale SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina (Reuter) - Two bloody struggles from opposite ends of the world came together Saturday when Burmese dissidents arrived in a snowy Sarajevo to promote their cause in Bosnia. ``What I see in Sarajevo is hope for the future,'' exiled Burmese academic-turned-actor U Aung Ko told a news conference in the bullet-pocked building of Sarajevo's arts university. ``Free thought, freedom from fear,'' said Aung Ko, who stars in the film ``Beyond Rangoon'' by British director John Boorman. Aung Ko was in Sarajevo under the auspices of the Soros Foundation of Hungarian-born international financier George Soros which is sponsoring programs in Bosnia and in Burma. Soros has provided water supplies, newsprint, technology and this month a film festival for besieged Sarajevo. In Burma the Soros Foundation works to infiltrate independent radio communications and pro-democracy literature to combat the ruling military junta. ``Beyond Rangoon'' is a centerpiece of the Sarajevo festival along with less polemical contemporary classics like Quentin Tarantino's bloodthirsty ``Pulp Fiction'' and ``Reservoir Dogs'' -- oddly popular in a city where bloodshed is a daily event. ``Why are we here? Insanity, same as you,'' joked Soros Foundation Burma Project director Maureen Aung-Thwin. She said the Soros Foundation was determined through festivals and other projects to bring some kind of intellectual and cultural normality to the once-thriving city of Sarajevo. Bringing it a taste of Burma's struggle is part of that. The new Boorman film is a drama loosely based on the 1988 student uprisings in Rangoon against the military committee which has run the Southeast Asian country since 1962. In real life, Aung Ko is a Paris-based academic who runs a Burmese pressure group named after Nobel Peace Prize-winning Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, recently released from house arrest by the military leadership. For Soros Foundation director in Sarajevo Zdravko Grebo, the promotion of the Burmese democratic cause is an important chance for Sarajevans to be exposed to crises beyond their own. The world's reluctance to intervene in the Bosnian conflict and its reluctance to combat the military junta in Burma, he suggested, showed the same ``shameful, disgraceful betrayal of all the principles of the international community.'' At the same time, he said, there was a need for Sarajevans to look beyond their own misery. Soros has organized fund raisings or events in the Bosnian capital for crises in Rwanda, Chechnya and now the democratic struggle in Burma. Meanwhile in the hills not far from where the festival is being held, soldiers manned snow-covered frontlines. ********************************* ISBDA: SLORC EMBASSY OFFICIALLY DENIED CHILDREN'S RIGHT November 4, 1995. The following is a translation of official document to prove that SLORC is violating children's rights in education. Friends who would like to get the original Burmese document should send back their fax number to ISBDA. =================================== Transltion of the Announcement by THE EMBASSY OF THE UNION OF MYANMAR - TOKYO Re: Examinations of 1995/96 Academic Year for the Classes from Basic Education Primary School to High School which will be held at the Embassy of Myanmar, Tokyo. 1. The examinations of basic education primary school through high school and remote university classes at the embassies in foreign countries were arranged only for those sons and daughters of civil servants who are assigned to work abroad by the Government. 2. For the reason mentioned above, it is to notify to the Myanmarese who came to Japan by their own means for the purpose of business that the embassy has kindly considered for these citizens to allow as final chance sitting the examinations in the basic education primary school through high school classes for 1995/96 academic year if they meet the following guidelines. Since this is the last acceptance for sitting examination here, it is advisable to plan by themselves to sit examinations inside Myanmar. Those who apply to sit the examinations should be: (a) genuine sons or daughters of Myanmar parents who both have fully paid their tax money to the Myanmar Embassy in Tokyo, Japan. (b) able to sign in a pledge that he or she will neither involve in the organizations that are against the Government of Myanmar nor contact and support them. (c) charged in accordance with the law and regulations, if he or she is found later that they are not consistent with the above mentioned paragraph 3. It is to notify that the embassy regards applicants eligible to sit their examinations after careful selection procedure whether they are found consistent or can follow above mentioned facts (or restrictions). Signed for the Ambassador (Kyaw Tint Swe, Counselor in Chief) Dated: 1995 October 3rd. Distribution: - All the staff members in the Embassy. - All the staff-members at the Office of Myanmar Military Attach (Army, Navy, Air Force) - Myanmar Five Stars Shipping Lines (Tokyo Branch Office) - U Ohn Thaw, Professor, Kyoto University. - Bill Board. - Office Out File. ====================== FBC: OCT 27 RECAP - U. MICHIGAN We had a wooden cage in the middle of our campus square, with a person inside to represent Burma. Various signs such as "boycott pepsi" and "free burma" were carried by people and posted on the cage. Amnesty's role was to raise awareness about the situation; since we are not supposed to endorse boycotts, the global issues committee we are networking with "officially" handled that aspect-- they drafted a great petition to bring up to the Ann Arbor City Council for a selective-purchasing act. In all, over 500 signatures were collected that day. The event was covered by the Ann Arbor News and the campus paper. ********************************** ANNOUNCEMENT: BURMA PANEL DISCUSSION AT TUFTS Dear fellow Mass. Burma Activists, Hi everyone! On Tuesday, November 14 at 7:30 p.m., the Tufts Burma Action Group is sponsoring a panel discussion entitled, "Why We Should Care About Burma: A look at human rights violations and the pro-democracy movement in this war-torn nation". We have invited Ko Lay, Tin Tin, and Zaw Win to speak. Ko Lay and Tin Tin are siblings and Arkanese pro-democracy activist from Burma. Ko Lay was a student at Rangoon University in the mid-1970's and helped to organize activists on campus. He was also one of the organizers of the 1988 demonstration and fled to the Thai border prior to coming to the United States. He will be sharing his experiences. Tin Tin will talk about her experiences as a woman and a member of an ethnic minority group growing up in Rangoon. Tin Tin and Ko Lay are also bringing several of their Burmese friends to participate in the discussion, including an American woman who worked in a Karenni camp for almost a year. Zaw Win is a Burmese student at Boston University and also has many interesting experiences to share. The panel discussion will be followed by a candlelight vigil for peace in Burma. Please join us on this evening. The presentation begins at 7:30 at Oxfam Cafe on Tufts Campus. The Candlelight vigil will take place at approximately 9:00 on the uphill Residential Quad. Please tell your friends about it as well. If you are interested in coming, contact me at (617)627-7339 for directions. *************************** BKK POST: UN RIGHTS REPORT PAINTS GRUESOME PICTURE OF BURMA November 8, 1995 United Nations, AFP A newly-released United Nations report on Burma documents appalling violations of human rights, including systematic rape of women, public dismemberment to intimidate the population, and other tortures. But a response from the Rangoon government, included in the report, said the allegations were unfounded and were manufactured by "anti-government sources and terrorist groups, with the aim of discrediting the government as well as the armed forces." The report, by special rapporteur Yozo Yokota, to the UN secretary general for dissemination to all UN member states, avoided drawing conclusions or condemning the reported violations. The United Nations is still engaged in negotiations with the Burmese Government in order to improve the human rights situation in the country, which has been ruled by military decree since 1988. The document, released on Monday noted "credible reports of instances of brutality sometimes resulting in the killing of civilians by Myanmar military forces," particularly in ethnic minority areas where people were accused of being insurgents or collaborating with them. The ethnic Karen rebels are currently the only remaining insurgency fighting against the Burmese Government. Yokota's report gave examples of porters being beaten to death for requesting a drink of water. In another case, a 56-year-old man was reportedly killed on suspicion of passing information to rebels. "His ears were cut off, nails were driven through his hands and legs and his tongue was cut off," it said. "The victim died when nails were driven through the crown of his head." Others had their ears and noses cut off in front of others because they were suspected of being rebel sympathisers, the report said. It also documented the systematic abuse of women by government soldiers. Violations include "the undressing of women in public... raping and gang-raping women individually or in groups," it said. "The rape of women serving in forced labour camps or as porters is said to be common." "Some of the allegations received indicate that soldiers view rape as a right, and that sometimes it is encouraged by officers... and that women are sometimes singled out for portering or other forced labour in order to be raped," the UN report said. The Burmese Government responded specifically to the allegations, saying that all women are given compensation for their labour and portering services, and that soldiers respect women as having a symbiotic and equal relationship with men in Burmese society. "How can anyone from this society commit such outrageous crimes that were mentioned in the summary of allegations" the Rangoon response said, again calling such reports unfounded. "It can only be repeated that unless and until the alleged victims bring their cases to the notice of the authorities concerned, nothing can be done to redress what they claim to have suffered," the government said. The report also noted the names of 15 members of parliament who have been arrested and detained, and said an unknown number of civilians have also been arrested on suspicion of insurgent activities. The government responded that all those being detained had broken laws regarding sedition or had otherwise plotted to overthrow the government. (BP) *************** NATION: BURMA MAY BE USING FORCED LABOUR FOR TOURISM, UN SAYS November 8, 1995 Reuter Burma may be using forced labour to restore landmarks for foreign tourists in an effort to promote 1996 as "Visit Myanmar Year," the United Nations said in a report released on Monday. The report to the General Assembly by a UN special human rights investigator also speaks of summary executions, torture and rape by the army with impunity. The human rights representative, Yozo Yokota of Japan, said three were allegations that Burma is using forced labour to restore such tourist sites as Mandalay Palace and upgrade the country's railways, roads and airports. The government, he said, had proclaimed 1996 as "Visit Myanmar Year, "an action which could be viewed as a sign of opening up of the country. "Forced labour has allegedly been used to restore some of the tourist sights," he said. Workers must pay to rent bulldozers, buy their own tools and supply their own food. In Karen state, scene of sporadic fighting between the military and insurgent groups, Yokota said several sources reported an increase of forced labour, accompanied by "physical abuse, appalling living conditions and arbitrary killings of porters who are unable to perform their tasks". Last April, for example, two porters were beaten to death for requesting water supplies that had been cut in Ka Neh Lay. In response, the government denied allegations of killings and torture. It also said it was a tradition in Burma's culture to donate labour in the building of pagodas, monasteries, roads and bridges. The local populace, as well as army and government employees. "Participate enthusiastically and conscientiously", and UN agencies were involved in such restoration projects, the government said. Soldiers, the UN report said, viewed rape as a right with women prisoners, in forced labour camps and among porters; officers sometimes encouraged such behaviour. "These include the undressing of women in public, touching breasts or sucking nipples, raping and gang-raping women individually or in groups," Yokota said. The government, which answered each point in the report, said the charges were unfounded and it could do little unless the victims brought their cases to the proper authorities. The ruling military government has not recognised the 1990 elections and has refused to give up power to followers of Nobel Prize Winner Aung San Suu Kyi, who was released from house arrest in July. Yokota last visited Burma in October but did not include his observations in this report. He told reporters at Rangoon airport then that he was impressed with both her willingness and the government's readiness "to meet each other and to work together". Nevertheless, he said in the report that politicians were still imprisoned, and there was still a "high-level of intimidation" although jailing people for anti-government activities appeared less frequent. (TN) *************************************** BKK POST: WE CAN END BORDER TIFFS: JUNTA MEMBER November 8, 1995 By Supapohn Kanwerayotin, Rangoon Thai-Burmese ties, under strain since early this year, showed signs of improvement yesterday when a senior member of the junta spoke for the first time about the possibility of bilateral cooperation in the construction of the Kanchanaburi-Tavoy road. Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt first secretary of the State Law and Order Restoration Council, said border problems could be resolved soon, and the two countries should start looking into how to cooperate better to achieve long-term, sustainable economic development. Gen Siri Thiwaphan, chief adviser to Foreign Minister Kasem S. Kasemsri, described the 45-minute talks he had here yesterday with Khin Nyunt as "very warm and positive". He said they "created a good atmosphere" for Kasem's visit to Rangoon this weekend. Siri brought royally-sponsored kathin offerings to Nagalaigu temple in Rangoon on Monday to mark the annual Buddhist kathin season. He was given an opportunity to call on Khin Nyunt yesterday before heading back to Bangkok. The Burmese official reportedly told Siri, former Third Army region commander, that tensions were "characteristic" of the two countries sharing such a long frontier. "But these problems are not beyond our capability to resolve," Siri quoted Khin Nyunt as saying. Burma has closed three main border checkpoints across the border from Chiang Rai, Tak and Ranong. Rangoon cited Thai support for what it called ethnic insurgency and for drug warlord Khun Sa when it shut down the first two checkpoints. The doors at Ranong were slammed shut after the brutal murders of a Burmese crew aboard a Thai trawler in August. Meanwhile, Thai and Burmese officials have completed the groundwork for conclusion of the draft border trade agreement. If signed and enforced, the agreement will be the first of its kind between Thailand and countries with which it shares borders. Hitherto unregulated, and prone to control by vested interests and various conflicts, border trade with Burma will be brought into line if the agreement comes into force. Kobsak Chutikul, director-general of the Foreign Ministry's economics department, said officials had done their share of the drafting, and the two sides awaited further policy advice from higher authorities. The draft is unlikely to be wrapped up by the time Kasem arrives in Rangoon this weekend. Burma has entered into border agreements with all other neighbours with whom it trades, namely China, India and Bangladesh. It proposed having such a pact with Thailand five years ago. But it was not until two weeks ago that Thailand responded with a concrete gesture, according to Kobsak. Thailand does not have any official border trade agreement with Cambodia, Laos or Malaysia. "It must be made clear at this point that border trade, once resumed, will not be in the 'wild west' style it once was. It was this style which caused the clashes that led to the eventual closure of the checkpoints," one Thai official said. (BP) *************** BKK POST: BURMESE STUDENTS TO RALLY AGAINST SLORC MEMBER November 8, 1995 Burmese students in Thailand plan to carry out demonstrations during separate visits to Bangkok by leading Burmese government figures over the next two months, according to an informed source. Some 14 leading members of Burmese student groups met in Bangkok on Sunday to draw up protest plans. During the protest they will demand that the State Law and Order Restoration Council release all political prisoners as soon as possible and revoke its planned Constitution which is widely criticised for being dictatorial. They will also demand that the Slorc allow the establishment of an ad-hoc administration comprising representatives from various occupational groups before an elected government takes power. According to the police source, the group will meet again this Sunday to discuss their "reception" for Burmese Deputy Prime Minister Vice-Admiral Maung Maung Khin who visits Bangkok during November 14-18 as guest of his Thai counterpart Gen Chavalit Yongchaiyudh. Also during November 25-28, Slorc first secretary Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt will visit Thailand as guest of Deputy Prime Minister Amnuay Viravan. (BP) *************** BKK POST: BURMESE THREATS CAUSE GEMS TRADE TO PLUMMET November 8, 1995 Mae Sot, Reuters Burmese government threats to impose stiff prison terms on anyone caught smuggling gems have drastically reduced the trade in precious stones along the Thai-Burma border, gems traders say. One trader based in the border town of Mae Sot said the value of the gems trade had plummeted since Burma's military-run State Law and Order Restoration Council (Slorc) issued an order three weeks ago saying smugglers would face 10 years in jail for trading precious stones with Thai traders. "The stone trading had dropped from an estimated one billion baht per month to merely 200-300 million baht," the trader told Reuters in a telephone interview. He said the Burmese traders told Thai counterparts that Burma's mining minister imposed the decree to punish smugglers found trading rubies, jades and sapphires with Thai traders. Most of the rubies and sapphires come from mines in the Shan state and the jades from Kachin state before being smuggled to the Thai border. Another trader in the Thai border town of Mae Sai confirmed the reports and said leaflets explaining the new rules were distributed in the Burmese border town of Tachilek on October 16 and 19th. Relations between Thailand and Burma have been strained since early March when Muang Tai Army (MTA) guerrillas loyal to Khun Sa raided Tachilek and several guerrillas escaped to Thailand. Slorc, which has accused Thailand of sheltering MTA guerrillas, in April ordered the closure of all overland borders with Thailand. (BP) *************** BKK POST: FISHING DISPUTE TO BE DISCUSSED November 8, 1995 A Thai and Burmese fishing dispute will be discussed from November 14-18 in Bangkok, according to Agricultural and Cooperatives deputy minister Monthon Kraiwatnusorn. The Thai government will invite the Burmese deputy prime minister and other ministers to Thailand to discuss fishery problems between two countries. Mr Monthon said after his visit from Burma that he met with member of State Law and Order Restoration Council and deputy prime minister vice-admiral Maung Maung Khin with deputy minister for Livestock Breeding and Fisheries U Aung Thein. He discussed the opening of the Thai-Burmese fishing ground, which will be discussed again at the Bangkok meeting. The reason the Burmese government closed the territory is because a Thai crew of Narong Canning Co killed Burmese crew members. The Burmese may cancel the Narong Canning concession. The Thai government has permitted Thai fishermen to continue their related industries but must strictly follow Burmese regulations. "If the negotiations between the two governments turn out to be good, the Thai-Burmese borders may be opened," said Mr Mongthon. (BP) *************** NATION: LETTER TO SUU KYI LANDS JAILED BURMESE DISSIDENT IN SOLITARY November 8, 1995 A dissident Burmese student group in Bangkok yesterday accused the Burmese government of putting a jailed member of the National League for Democracy in solitary confinement for trying to send a letter to the league's co-founder, Aung San Suu Kyi. Maung Myat San, also a member of the Three Colour Flag, a group which provides Suu Kyi with personal protection, was placed in a "tiny cell" for solitary confinement after authorities at Rangoon's Insein Prison confiscated a letter he wrote to Suu Kyi shortly after her release from house arrest in July, according to the All Burma Students' Democratic Front (ABSDF). Maung Myat San is currently serving a seven-year prison term, according to a letter released yesterday by the ABSDF. The letter did not explain the reason for his prison sentence. The student group also said the Burmese government had sentenced a prison official who tried to mail the letter to five years' hard labour. Insein prison has been consistently condemned by the International Committee for Red Cross (ICRC), as well as other international organisations, against human rights violations. The ICRC had to pull out of Burma earlier this year because of a lack of cooperation from the Burmese authorities. (TN) ****************************************************************