------------------------ BurmaNet ------------------------ "Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies" ---------------------------------------------------------- The BurmaNet News: May 29, 1996 Issue #425 HEADLINES: ========== THE NATION: WALKING THROUGH THE BARRICADES THE NATION: SIKH SUPPORT THE NATION: TRADE SANCTIONS REUTER : BURMA PARTY MEETING ENDS WITH NEW CHARTER MOVE. REUTER : BURMA GOVT LASHES OUT AS OPPOSITION CONGRESS ENDS. REUTER : MOVEMENT OF THE ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE MICHAEL DWYER . DOWNER TO MAINTAIN LABOR POLICY STANCE ON BURMA REGIME. AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW : THE VOICE OF COURAGE. SYDNEY MORNING HERALD : FIRST SIGNS OF SOFTENING IN REGIME'S CYCLE OF REPRESSION REUTER : MOVEMENT OF THE ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE AP : 10,000 ATTENDED SUNADY'S NLD FORUM ABSDF : BURMESE STUDENTS NABBED AFTER THEIR RALLY REUTER : SEAN SECRETARY GENERAL INVITED TO BURMA REUTER : MALAYSIA OPPOSITION SAID ASEAN SHOULD SEE ABOUT BURMA SITUATION -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- WALKING THROUGH THE BARRICADES 28.5.96/The Nation It is traditional to release caged birds or fish on Burmese New Year's Day as an act of merit. In April 1989, the last Burmese New Year I celebrated before my house arrest, we released some doves, launching them into the emptiness above Inya Lake on which my house stands. The poor creatures had become used to captivity and fluttered about in a dazed way before they gained enough confidence to take off. One fell into the reeds at the edge of the lake and had to be rescued and relaunched. It hovered uncertainly near us for a few minutes before soaring away into the distance. We hoped that its flight would not end in the snare of a bird catcher. Many released birds are caught again and again and sold and resold to those who wish to gain the merit of freeing caged creatures. I could not help wondering how much value there could be to a gesture of liberation that does not truly guarantee freedom. This year the women's wing of the National League for Democracy (NLD) decided they would like to arrange a fish-releasing ceremony on New Year's Day, April 16. They were to gather at my house and walk in procession to a pond near the Shwedagon Pagoda where the fish could be released to swim their lives out in peace. The Rangoon Division Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) was informed of our plan before the beginning of the water festival which precedes the New Year. On April 15, the authorities reacted. A number of township NLD offices received letters from their respective Lorcs forbidding them to go ahead with the ceremony. In addition U. Aung Shwe, the chairman of the NLD, and two of the members of the executive committee were asked to come to the office of the Bahan Township Lorc. A statement was read out: The government could not allow the NLD ceremony to take place; as the ceremony would be conducted in the form of a public gathering organised by a political party, it would have to be considered a political activity and the authorities could not allow political benefit to be derived from a traditional ceremony. Further, such a gathering would be detrimental to peace and harmony, to the rule of law and to the prevalence of order. It would disturb and destroy peace and harmony in the nation and incite fear and alarm. U Aung Shwe countered that the whole statement was based on mere assumptions a written protest. The reaction of the authorities was both nonsensical and revealing. Slorc makes repeated claims that it has succeeded in restoring law and order and peace and harmony to the land. How fragile must be the law and order that can be seriously threatened by a procession of women taking part in a traditional religious ceremony. How insubstantial must be the peace and harmony in a country where such a procession is expected to throw the populace into a panic. We knew that what the authorities really feared was not so much a public disturbance as a demonstration of public support for the NLD. However, New Year's Day should be an auspicious occasion and we wished it to be a day of happiness rather than confrontation, so we cancelled our plans for the releasing of fish. We would listen to the chanting of protective sutras and pay our respects to our elders. But the authorities had other plans. On New Year's Day at about 11.30 in the morning, the street in front of my house was blocked off with barbed wire barricades. Nobody was allowed to come in or go out except members of the security forces and numbers of awkward-looking men in civilian clothes, each with a handkerchief tied around one wrist. We discovered later that these were members of the Union Solidarity and Development Association (Usda). They had been collected from various townships and told to beat up those members of the NLD who came in through the barricades. Usda was assured that the authorities would be behind them. Once serious fighting had erupted, all those involved_ would be taken away to prison (there were several prison vans waiting at the local police station), but Usda members t would soon be released. The NLD members would no doubt be given substantial prison sentences. Thus, Usda was promoted from mere tomato throwers to that of thugs. The planned violence did not materialise because the NLD members took a firm, disciplined stand. They did not rush to the barricades but they refused to leave on the orders of the security forces. They waited for a decision to be taken by members of the executive committee who had been allowed to come to my house. We decided that the ceremony of paying respects to the elders must go ahead; if our people were prevented from coming to us, we would go out to them. Accordingly, we walked out through the barricades to where our people stood and thus an auspicious New Year's Day ceremony took place in the middle of the street, near a crossroad. It seemed an omen that the NLD would not lack public attention during the coming year. Aung San Suu Kyi Letters from Burma is a series of weekly articles containing Aung San Suu Kyi's reflections on the social, cultural political scene in Burma today. ***************************************** SIKH SUPPORT 28.5.96/The Nation/Letter A government that has to rely on special laws to suppress the press, that bans hundreds of organisations and keeps people in prison without trial, ceases to have even a shadow of justification for its existence. That is the government in Burma today. The ruling military junta in Burma is a model of antidemocratic power that does not have any legitimacy in the country. The arrests of over 200 members of Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy clearly shows that the military junta is frightened of the popularity of the Nobel Peace laureate. They are aware that her public support is strong. But no matter what, despite these arrests, the NLD conference will certainly boost the morale of the Burmese people in their struggle against military dictatorship. We, the Sikhs in Thailand, support our Burmese brothers and sisters in their fight for' democracy and freedom. We stand together with them in their hour of need. We are indeed disappointed that the government of India chooses to ignore Aung San Suu Kyi, and has accorded recognition to the Slorc instead. That the world's largest democracy chooses to do this is shameful. Above all, apart from the sincere efforts of the Burmese people, the Western capitalist powers - who untiringly proclaim themselves as paragons of democracy and freedom for all peoples of the world - must impose a near-total embargo on Burma to force democratic change. Only trade, and nothing else, is the effective tool to pressure the junta to restore democracy back to Burma. The high-handed military action against the lady's nonviolent campaign for democracy, just goes to show that butchers are incapable of being humans. Kanwaljit Singh Bangkok ***************************************** TRADE SANCTIONS 28.5.96/The Nation/Letter It is obvious that the Burma situation is getting critical. To most of us who are used to hearing only of warfare among the various people of Burma, the latest development is a clarion call to action, especially in re-examining the relations between Asean, ARF, etc and Burma, or more precisely Slorc. ' What more evidence does the international community need to see that Slorc has no intention of adhering to accepted standards of behaviour while dealing with their own people, their neighbours and the rest of the world when they ignore convention, by brazenly arresting the elected representatives of the Burmese people who wish to gather for a conference at Aung San Suu Kyi's residence. This pussy-footing by the international community has to stop immediately. Many apparently feel squeamish about economic sanctions, especially those whose private sector has much at stake in exploiting Burma, and wish to continue the shop-worn "constructive engagement" policy as though that was the only infallible approach to handling a dictatorship. It is my opinion that democracies which maintain diplomatic relations with this lawless regime should indicate their profound displeasure by downgrading their embassies. In this the US has shown remarkable leadership by understaffing their Rangoon embassy for several years. Asean should follow suit. MPadang Chiang Mai ***************************************** BURMA PARTY MEETING ENDS WITH NEW CHARTER MOVE. RANGOON, May 28 (Reuter) - A congress of Burma's National League for Democracy (NLD) ended on Tuesday with the party adopting a series of resolutions that could infuriate the military government. NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi said the party's leadership would draw up a new draft constitution for Burma, ignoring a government-sponsored constitutional convention from which the NLD withdrew last November. (c) Reuters Limited 1996 REUTER NEWS SERVICE ************************************ BURMA GOVT LASHES OUT AS OPPOSITION CONGRESS ENDS. By Deborah Charles RANGOON, May 28 (Reuter) - Burma's military rulers launched a personal attack on Tuesday on democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi as her National League for Democracy wound up a three-day congress against the backdrop of mass detentions. The ruling military body, the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC), attacked Suu Kyi and the NLD in the official media after holding a massive public rally on Monday to denounce "destructionist forces" in Burma. Sources in Rangoon said the government was expected to stage another rally on Tuesday. The government attacked Suu Kyi, the NLD leader and a Nobel Peace Prize winner, in a commentary for allowing herself to be a "puppet of the colonialist groups", calling her an "enemy of the people" and a "traitor". "Aung San Suu Kyi, the wife of Englishman Michael Aris, and daughter of General Aung San, the architect of Myanmar's (Burma's) independence, is serving as a puppet of the colonialist group," said the commentary in Burmese-language newspapers. "The entire populace from all across the country are now shouting to crush whoever spoils the progress of constructive activities, whoever protests against the National Convention, by designating them as a people's enemy," it said. Suu Kyi and the NLD defied government intimidation and the detention of pro-democracy politicians and began a party congress on Sunday.Suu Kyi opened the congress, which the government tried to scuttle by seizing at least 258 NLD members who were planning to attend, by vowing to increase the momentum of the democracy movement. On Saturday about 5,000 people flocked to the gates of Suu Kyi's lakeside home, where the meeting was held, and on Sunday about 10,000 showed up to underscore their support for the NLD. The government countered with its own public rally in Rangoon on Monday, where 40,000 people chanted slogans and denounced "the traitors' acts to destabilise the country and to spoil progress", official media reported. The military often forces citizens to attend government-sponsored public rallies, diplomats and opposition sources say. The fledgling democracy movement was set to end its three-day congress on Tuesday with Suu Kyi detailing some of the party's main policy decisions at the closing ceremony. The newspaper commentary also denounced Suu Kyi's connections with foreigners, accusing her of dealing with "meddling diplomats and journalists". Over the past week, Suu Kyi has held daily news conferences for foreign journalists, issuing information about NLD members she said had been arrested by the military government. On Monday, Suu Kyi told reporters at her lakeside Rangoon home she was worried about the fate of the detainees because at least two had been charged. The SLORC has denied arresting the NLD members, saying it has only detained them for questioning to avoid "anarchy" or unrest that could result from the congress. The arrests have drawn international condemnation, with many nations urging the SLORC to release the people it has detained. (c) Reuters Limited 1996 REUTER NEWS SERVICE ******************************************* DOWNER TO MAINTAIN LABOR POLICY STANCE ON BURMA REGIME. By Michael Dwyer. AUSTRALIA The Federal Government yesterday conceded that Australia's policy stance towards Burma had failed to encourage the country's military regime to embrace democracy. The admission came amid mounting tension as Burma's opposition National League for Democracy begins a concerted push for a new Constitution. The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Alexander Downer, told Parliament that the Coalition would maintain the previous Government's policy on Burma. "This Government is continuing with this policy because we see it at this stage being the most appropriate way forward," Mr Downer said. ASEAN countries agreed to a process of constructive engagement with Burma at their ministerial conference of 1994, prompting Australia to outline a "benchmark" approach to its own relationship with the military regime. Australia has established a series of "benchmarks" for Burma's governing State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) under which it would be prepared to accept the nation's re-entry into international forums. These benchmarks involve progress by SLORC on both human rights and democratisation. But Mr Downer conceded that the approaches adopted by both ASEAN and Australia had failed to shift SLORC. "As far as Burma is concerned, we look for outcomes and policy approaches which will encourage the process of democracy and which will encourage (opposition leader) Aung San Suu Kyi," Mr Downer said. "This will, we hope, lead to a greater process of liberalisation by the SLORC. *********************************** AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW 28/5/96 P9 EDITORIAL - THE VOICE OF COURAGE. THE SLORC is confused, and like all insecure regimes it is becoming both weaker and more dangerous. Last week the ruling military junta in Burma (Myanmar), which bears the Orwellian title of State Law and Order Council, arrested more than 250 members of the National League for Democracy. It did so to prevent the NLD members from holding an entirely peaceful party meeting. This went ahead anyway, with a huge crowd of undeterred supporters cheering the NLD's leader Aung San Suu Kyi. "Giving in to bullying", she told them, "is not good for... the bully or those who are bullied." The official press has denounced Ms Suu Kyi as a "poisonous snake" and a "sorceress." Then yesterday one tame newspaper published a commentary addressing her in more respectful terms, and claiming that the regime supported the "democratic principle" of freedom of association. It also returned to the theme of dialogue between the SLORC and the democratic forces. The NLD, we should note, though described as being "in opposition", must by virtue of the 1990 election which it won overwhelmingly be regarded as Burma's rightful government. The junta has played word-games several times before, but the effect of international pressure and adverse publicity upon it now should not be under-estimated. Ms Suu Kyi herself deserves most of the credit: refusing to be exiled from her native country she sat out the generals under house arrest until they sought to regain credibility by releasing her. Since then she has gradually found her voice while avoiding any over-provocative move. Her strength, and that of the democracy movement, lies in the simplicity of its demands. These are set out very clearly in a recent interview with John Pilger - whose own work on Burma, with David Munro, has refocused our attention on the horrors of the SLORC.* "We want a system that will guarantee our rights so that we can live in security," she says, "so that we do not have to wonder from day to day what will happen to us if we do something that will annoy those in power." It should not be too much to ask. It is not always easy to decide just how far to intervene in another country's internal politics. But the case of Burma/Myanmar - like that of South Africa under apartheid - is overwhelming. The only question to be asked is what can be done most effectively. Western governments greeted Ms Suu Kyi's release from house arrest as a signal for relaxing pressure and encouraging trade contacts: this, as the junta's behaviour shows, sends exactly the wrong message. The regime in Rangoon should be told that it faces international isolation and sanctions, and that its first step must be to release the detained NLD members. Whether or not some of these have been sent to the Insein prison camp, conditions there for hundreds of political prisoners, as reported by Amnesty International, are also a matter for serious concern. Whatever governments choose to do, individuals can all make their own decisions. No reputable travel agent or tour operator should allow travel to Burma to remain in its brochure and the independent tourist should stay away. No business firm should fall for the absurd and callous proposition of a recent British trade conference that Burma will become "the next Asian tiger." With railways and construction projects being built by forced labour, it neither deserves to, nor does it possess the necessary popular dynamism. Nor is it a safe bet either (as Ms Suu Kyi shrewdly argues) so long as the brutal, but baffled, generals remain in charge. ******************************* FIRST SIGNS OF SOFTENING IN REGIME'S CYCLE OF REPRESSION May 28, 1996 Sydney Morning Herald By MARK BAKER, Herald Correspondent in Rangoon Burma's military leadership has given the first hints that it might be ready for a political solution to its bitter, seven-year conflict with the country's democracy movement. As Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi continued to stage a congress of her National League for Democracy (NLD) in defiance of the regime, Burma's Government-controlled press yesterday outlined conditions for a possible peace dialogue. A commentary published in the country's two Burmese language newspapers denied the regime was opposed to a dialogue with Ms Suu Kyi and conceded that the majority of Burmese wanted national reconciliation. It indicated the regime might be prepared to open talks, provided the NLD accepted a continuing central political role for the military and agreed to a process of "mutual confidence building". It said that if Ms Suu Kyi were prepared to "build national reconciliation with a sacrificing spirit" the dialogue would be smooth and fast. But the commentary also warned that if she attempted to drive the authorities into a corner through domestic and international agitation "the country and people will have to remain in trouble for a long time to come". Political analysts said the article - expressed in unusually polite and conciliatory language - was the first formal acknowledgment by the regime of Ms Suu Kyi's demand for dialogue. But they were uncertain whether the comments signalled a genuine shift in the regime's hard line, or were simply an attempt to deflect mounting international criticism. Other articles published in the official press yesterday continued the regime's usual belligerent rhetoric against the democracy movement. One described Ms Suu Kyi and her supporters as "bastards who stink like slaves." Another described them as "maggots in the flesh". The developments came as several hundred NLD officials held the second day of a congress which the authorities have attempted to block by detaining more than 260 party members. The arrests have been denounced by Western governments and the United States has announced that it will lobby for tougher international action against Burma in response to the crackdown. On Sunday Ms Suu Kyi - released last July from six years' house arrest - announced a renewed campaign to force the regime to honour the NLD's landslide 1990 election win. While she has previously accepted the military's important role in Burmese society, her delegates walked out of a convention last year which is drafting a new Constitution that would entrench the military's grip on power and bar her from leading the country. Yesterday's commentary stressed that Ms Suu Kyi must declare her willingness to engage in a reconciliation process that accepted the "key" role of the armed forces in politics. It said differences needed to be negotiated with tolerance and Ms Suu Kyi's failure to define the kind of dialogue she wanted had complicated the process. *********************************************** MOVEMENT OF THE ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE RANGOON, May 28 (Reuter) - Burma's military government lashed out on Tuesday at democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, calling her a "puppet" of colonialist groups and an "enemy of the people." "Aung San Suu Kyi. the wife of Englishman Michael Aris, and daughter of General Aung San, the architect of Myanmar's (Burma's) independence, is serving as a puppet of the colonialist group," the military-led government said in a commentary in Burmese-language newspapers. "The entire populace from all across the country are now shouting to crush whoever spoils progress of constructive activities, whoever protests against the national convention, by designating them as a people's enemy," it said. It is the first time Burma's government has made a clear statement since Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy (NLD) party defied government intimidation and forged ahead with a three-day party congress due to end late on Tuesday. The NLD won a landslide victory in a May 1990 general election but the ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) refused to honour the result. A defiant Suu Kyi, shrugging off the government's detention of more than 250 party activists last week, opened the congress on Sunday vowing to increase the momentum of the country's democracy movement. On Monday the government held a massive public rally in Rangoon to denounce "destructionists" in the country. About 40,000 people from 14 townships chanted slogans and denounced "the traitors' acts to destabilise the country and to spoil progress," official media reported. Dagon University Rector Kaung Nyunt, the main speaker at the rally, said recent moves by the democracy movement were intolerable. "Just as the momentum of constructive development is being achieved, the instigation to cause instability and unrest by destructive elements has become very intolerable," he was quoting as saying. "That is why the people have turned out en masse today to support the government's constructive development works, and to denounce the destructionists." Government-sponspored public rallies are often staged with the military forcing people to attend, diplomats and opposition sources say. The government was expected to hold another rally on Tuesday, sources said. **************************************** 10,000 ATTENDED SUNADY'S NLD FORUM By ROBERT HORN Associated Press Writer RANGOON, Burma (AP) -- When pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi denounced Burma's ruling junta and vowed to fight it, millions of Burmese too frightened to attend the speech listened to tape recordings distributed by her supporters. As long as the generals rule the country, Burmese will never read a speech by Suu Kyi in the daily newspapers. So her supporters are spreading Suu Kyi's words on their own. As many as 10,000 people appeared outside Suu Kyi's home Sunday for her weekly speech -- the largest crowd since her release last July from six years of house arrest -- and dozens of them held as many as six cassette recorders in their hands. The tapes made it around Rangoon by Monday morning, and others should reach the countryside in a few days. "It was a fantastic speech. She was more defiant than usual," said Thein Nyunt, a 30-year-old mechanic. "I was too afraid to go. But my father went and taped it, and I think it was great." The tapes also reached the desks of the military regime formally known as the State Law and Order Restoration Council. On Monday, the state-controlled press called Suu Kyi a "maggot" and tool of a U.S. conspiracy to colonize Burma by introducing democracy and human rights. The people, the press says, love and support the regime. The people of Burma appreciate the defiance of the petite, Oxford-educated Suu Kyi, winner of the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize for her nonviolent promotion of democracy. But they're afraid to show too much open support, remembering that the military dictatorship gunned down hundreds of pro-democracy demonstrators in 1988. Fear runs so deep in Rangoon that the army hasn't even felt compelled to call out extra soldiers, despite the political tension. As monsoon rains swept the palm-lined roads Monday, people in the city went about business as usual. But some of the few Burmese willing to speak to foreigners commented in the dank shops and crowded tearooms that the only topic of conversation was Sunday's speech. Like Thein Nyunt, they'd heard it on tape. On Sunday, Suu Kyi and fellow leaders of her National League for Democracy rebuked the authorities for arresting at least 262 people -- nearly all the delegates to the party's most important conference in six years. They demanded that the opposition victory in parliamentary elections in May 1990 finally be recognized. "Giving in to bullying is not good," Suu Kyi said. "We must have the courage to face the bully's challenge." Speaking to reporters Monday, Suu Kyi predicted the military regime would detain some of her jailed supporters indefinitely and said her personal assistant had been thrown into a prison known for torture. The climate of fear is reflected in Burma's primitive financial institutions. There's not much of a stock market, but the currency black market is a fair barometer. The official exchange rate for Burma's currency, the kyat, is 6 to $1. On the black market, the kyat was recently trading for 139 to the dollar. Rumors that the military had blocked streets to Suu Kyi's home caused the kyat to plummet. "Business is bad. I lost 100,000 kyats this weekend," said a woman who changes money in the back of her grocery shop. She refused to be identified. Though the black market is no secret, it remains illegal. "People liked the speech, but they don't expect any change," said the currency trader. "Nobody can make this government do anything they don't want to do. They have all the guns." **************************************** FIGHT ON TILL WE REACH DEMOCRACY, SUU KYI TELLS BURMESE THOUSANDS STILL FLOCKING TO MEET "The Asian Age", New Delhi (28 May 1996) {Page-6} Rangoon, May 27: Burmese Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy lunched the second day of a party congress on Monday which ahead despite the detention of more than 250 NLD activists in the military junta's attempt to stop it. The opening day of the conference on Sunday culminated in a massive show of support for the NLD as a record number of people turned out in front of Ms Aung San Suu Kyi' house to hear one of her twice weekly addresses. Some 10,000 people cheered and applauded as she pledged to 'march on until we reach our goal of democracy'. and appealed for the 'full support of the people'. The military junta has arrested some 257 NLD activists---mostly party candidates who won seats in the abortive 1990 elections---in a bid to foil the landmark party meeting. The meeting was originally intended to the elected representatives together to mark the sixth anniversary of the elections, but the detentions have forced the NLD to take a different tack. Ms Aung San Suu Kyi has announced that the meeting will be the first in a series of party congresses which will adopt positions on a new constitution, economic policy and issues such as human rights. The official press has unsurprisingly failed to comment on Sunday's meeting and the unprecedented rally outside Ms Aung San Suu Kyi's house, but aimed several darts Monday at the Opposition in thinly veiled editorials. The Opposition rounded-up has been roundel condemned by Western countries, in particular the United States. (AFP) ** end ** *********************************************** Press Release May 29, 1996 BURMESE STUDENTS NABBED AFTER THEIR RALLY Twenty-to Burmese students including three female students and one six-year old child were rounded up by the Thai policy on their way back from the demonstration in front of the Burmese embassy on May 27, 1996. the demonstration marked the sixth year anniversary of 1990 multi-party general election in Burma. About 200 students from different organizations joined the demonstration on May 27 rally in Bangkok. Both plainclothes and uniform Thai police were present but did not intervene during the rally. However, a bus with 23 students from the "safe area" in Ratchaburi Province was stopped by the Thai police and arrested them on their way back from the rally. Only one Buddhist was released later, but all other 22 including six-year- old child with his mother were detained at the Naung Khen police station on that night. They were transferred to Immigration Detention Center (IDC) on the next day, on 28 May 1996, it is learnt. All of these 22 students are the residents of "Safe Area" in Ratchaburi Province, run by the Thai Ministry of Interior. This camp is a holding center for the Burmese students who fled after the 1988 bloody coup to Thailand. All Burmese students had to register at the Thai MOI and stay only in the designated "safe Area." Beginning in June 1995, the monthly allowance by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees has been cut off and forced the students to enter into the "safe area." There are currently about 700 students in the camp including their family members. These 22 students came to Bangkok on May 27, to join the demonstration with their fellow students in Bangkok. Joint Committee from five different student organization in Thailand who organized the daily demonstration between 23-29 May released an open letter to Thai Prime Minister Banharn Silpa-archa requesting him to release all these 22 students and send them back to the "safe area." The letter said " we are greatly concerned their plight and request the Thai authorities not to send them back to Burma, but transfer to the safe area." Thai students from Student Federation of Thialnd also ask their government to transfer their Burmese fellow to safe area today. ABSDF News Agency ABSDF (DAWN GWIN) List of th students arrested on May 27, 1996 1. Saw Thet Oo 2. Ma Htwe (female) 3. Aung Myint 4. Maung Win 5. Khine Soe Myint 6. Mu Mu (female) 7. Win Min Htun 8. U Tin Pe 9. Htun Shwe 10. Than Hteik 11. Win San 12. Saw Lu 13. Myint Zaw (a) Gwa Tho 14. Saw Khike 15. Sanny 16. Moe Pyan 17. Thein Thein Oo (Female) 18. Chit Oo lu (six-year-old son of Thein Thein Oo) 19. Win Shwe 20. Saw Thar War 21. Ah Bai Gyi 22. Maung Maung Win (They all are right now in IDC. Not charge or sentence yet.) Please take any any that would help their release. e.g. writing to PM, MOI and UNHCR. ************************************************ SEAN SECRETARY GENERAL INVITED TO BURMA JAKARTA, May 28 (Reuter) - ASEAN Secretary-General Ajit Singh said on Tuesday officials were discussing the timing of a visit Burma had invited him to pay to Rangoon. ``The government of Myanmar (Burma) has invited me to pay an official visit to Yangon (Rangoon). We are currently working out the details,'' he told an Indonesian Executive Circle lunch of diplomats and business leaders. The chief executive of the seven-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations later told Reuters he expected to make the trip ``in the latter part of the year.'' An ASEAN official said the Burmese government had extended the invitation last year. Singh declined to comment on the current confrontation in Burma between its military rulers and the opposition National League for Democracy other than to say: ``As far as ASEAN is concerned, we do not interfere in each other's internal affairs...that is a basic tenet of ASEAN.'' He said Burma was expected to get observer status in the 19-nation ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) -- set up to promote regional security -- at a ministerial meeting in Jakarta in July. Singh said Burma had applied for observer status with ASEAN itself with the intention of eventual membership. Thailand is the only ASEAN member to have commented officially on the confrontation between Burma's military rulers and the NLD, headed by Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi. A Thai Foreign Ministry spokesman last week expressed concern over the crackdown on the opposition in Burma. Other ASEAN members are Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, Philippines and Brunei. ****************************************** MALAYSIA OPPOSITION SAID ASEAN SHOULD SEE ABOUT BURMA SITUATION KUALA LUMPUR, May 28 (Reuter) - Burma's neighbours should break their silence on mass political arrests by Rangoon's military government, Malaysia's opposition leader said on Tuesday. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) should ``add their voice to the international demand for the immediate release of all political detainees,'' said Parliamentary Opposition leader Lim Kit Siang of the Democratic Action Party. ``The continued silence of the ASEAN governments to the latest crackdown against pro-democracy leaders in Myanmar (Burma) would be construed as support and sympathy for the Myanmar military junta's policy of repression,'' Lim said in a statement. Of the seven ASEAN members -- Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam -- only Thailand has voiced concern over the arrests and their political consequences. Western countries condemned last week's arrest of more than 250 Burmese dissidents by the military government, which had sought to block a three-day party congress of Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi's National League of Democracy. Suu Kyi ended the congress on Tuesday with the party adopting a series of resolutions that could infuriate the govrnment. Last year, Burma took the first step towards ASEAN membership by acceding to its founding treaty. ASEAN leaders said they hoped Burma would join by the end of the decade. ASEAN members make a point of not criticising each other. ASEAN Secretary-General Ajit Singh on Tuesday declined to comment on the current confrontation in Burma other than to say: ``As far as ASEAN is concerned, we do not interfere in each other's internal affairs...that is a basic tenet of ASEAN.'' ---------------------------------------------------------- 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: Campus activism: zni@students.wisc.edu Boycott campaigns: [Pepsi] ai268@freenet.carleton.ca Buddhism: Buddhist Relief Mission: brelief@gol.com Chin history/culture: [volunteer temporarily away] Fonts: tom@cs.colgate.edu High School Activism: nculwell@facstaff.wisc.edu History of Burma: zni@students.wisc.edu International Affairs: Julien Moe: JulienMoe@aol.com 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 Resettlement info: an400642@anon.penet.fi Rohingya culture volunteer needed Shan history/culture: Sao Hpa Han: burma@ix.netcom.com Shareholder activism: simon_billenness@mail.cybercom.net Total/Pipeline Dawn Star: cd@utopia.EUnet.fr Tourism campaigns: bagp@gn.apc.org "Attn. S.Sutcliffe" volunteering: an400642@anon.penet.fi World Wide Web: FreeBurma@POBox.com [Feel free to suggest more areas of coverage] --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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. It is produced with the support of the Burma Information Group (B.I.G) and the Research Department of the ABSDF {MTZ} The BurmaNet News is e-mailed directly to subscribers and is also distributed via the soc.culture.burma and seasia-l mailing lists. For a free subscription to the BurmaNet News, send an e-mail message to: majordomo@igc.apc.org For the BurmaNet News only: in the body of the message, type "subscribe burmanews-l" (without quotation marks). For the BurmaNet News and 4-5 other messages a day posted on Burma issues, type "subscribe burmanet-l" Letters to the editor, comments or contributions of articles should be sent to the editor at: strider@igc.apc.org