Subject: BurmaNet News: January 20, 1997 Date: Mon, 20 Jan 1997 20:37:24 -0800 (PST) From: strider@igc.apc.org Reply-To: Conference "reg.burma" To: Recipients of burmanet-l ------------------------ BurmaNet ------------------------ "Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies" ---------------------------------------------------------- The BurmaNet News: January 20, 1997 Issue #615 Noted in Passing: If they were actually guilty, there is no reason why the government should not be in a position to make their trials public. - Aung San Suu Kyi, re: NLD arrests (see NATION: BURMA JAILS 20) HEADLINES: ========== NATION: BURMA JAILS 20 STUDENTS (sic) ON CIVIL UNREST NATION: SUU KYI SAYS PROTESTERS DID NOT GET A FAIR HEARING ABSDF: RELIGIOUS RIGHTS VIOLATIONS IN NAGA HILL TRACT RADIO MYANMAR: CENTRAL BANK LAW AMENDED NATION: BURMA JUNTA GETS WARNING ON ABUSE OF CHILD BANGKOK POST: NGO URGES ACTION OVER CHILD ABUSE BANGKOK POST: PLANE CRASHES AT BURMA BORDER PARADE MAGAZINE: HOW ONE WOMAN BECAME THE VOICE THAILAND TIMES: BORDER OFFICIAL GETS BURMESE GO SIGNAL XINHUA: U.S. MAKES RESEARCH ON INSEMINATION OF ELEPHANTS ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- NATION: BURMA JAILS 20 STUDENTS (sic) ON CIVIL UNREST CHARGES January 19, 1997 AFP (BurmaNet Editor's Note: The above title is inaccurate. No students were sentenced in this batch. They were NLD members and others accused of inciting the students) BURMA said yesterday that 20 people, including six members of Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD), have been jailed for seven years for their role in student unrest last month. The 20 were jailed for "inciting students and non-students during December 1996 student demonstrations" in Rangoon, Burmese military intelligence said in a statement. The statement said the sentences were carried out under the country's emergency act of 1950 but did not say when: It added that none of those sentenced, whose identities were not given, were students. Opposition officials reached by telephone in Rangoon said they had not been informed of the sentencings. Up to 1,000 students took part in the biggest protest, which was ringed by non-student supporters before it was violently broken up by armed riot police and troops on Dec 7. The demonstrations were triggered by the beating of three students while in police custody following a minor incident at a tea shop, but the demands quickly expanded to encompass the right of students to form a national union. Burma's military government has accused the NLD of being partly responsible for instigating the spate of demonstrations. At a briefing for Burmese journalists on Dec 31, military officials said 47 people, including 13 NLD members, had been arrested for instigating the student unrest. NLD officials earlier said 64 members of the party had been arrested, while a Thailand-based dissident group said more than 100 were under arrest in connection with the demonstrations. December's street protests were the most defiant student actions seen in the Burmese capital since the military took power after brutally suppressing nationwide pro-democracy demonstrations in 1988. The Burmese government responded to the protests by closing university campuses in the capital and maintaining a heavy security presence on the streets, including the stationing of tanks downtown. Although Aung San Suu Kyi and the NLD denied any connection with the student demonstrators, the opposition leader's movements have been restricted since then, although she has been allowed on occasion to leave her home. Aung Naing Oo of the All Burma Students Democratic Front said that the military junta's accusations that the NLD was behind the demonstrations were unfounded. "The demonstrations were triggered 100 per cent by the students themselves," [ he said. "[But the junta] cannot blame the students because their grievances are legitimate." The ruling military found a convenient scapegoat in the NLD, which it wanted to discredit as the legitimate winner of parliamentary elections held by the junta in 1990 but never ratified, Aung Naing Oo said. He also cast doubt on the legitimacy of the judicial process under the regime, saying that those arrested on political charges are denied access to legal counsel and subjected to summary trials. Slorc leaders have accused her party, die-hard elements of the moribund Burmese Communist Party, and ethnic and student rebels of fomenting the protests and orchestrating a Christmas Day bombing at a pagoda compound that killed five people and injured 17. They deny the accusations. The military has ruled Burma since 1962 Suu Kyi, daughter of independence hero Aung San, was propelled to the leadership of the pro-democracy movement in 1988. Her supporters won parliamentary elections in 1990 that the regime refused to honour. **************************************************************** NATION: SUU KYI SAYS PROTESTERS DID NOT GET A FAIR HEARING January 19, 1997 Agence Franc -Presse BURMESE opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi said yesterday that 20 people jailed by the junta for their role in student unrest were denied access to counsel and must be presumed innocent. "The families were not given access to the people concerned and neither were the lawyers we had arranged to defend them ... in direct contradiction to the spirit and the letter of the law," the National League for- Democracy (NLD) leader said. The seven-year sentences may have been passed at summary trials known to have been held on Thursday, she said by telephone from Rangoon. But she could not confirm this, as political prisoners are usually transported to trial with hoods over their heads. The illegitimacy of the proceedings cast doubt on the verdict, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate said. "If they were actually guilty, there is no reason why the government should not be in a position to make their trials public," the Nobel Peace Prize laureate said. The 20, including six NLD members, were jailed for "inciting and agitating students and non-students during December 1996 student demonstrations in Rangoon, Burmese military intelligence said in a statement received yesterday. Though the military government has accused the NLD of being partly responsible for instigating the spate of demonstrations, Aung San Suu Kyi has repeatedly denied any involvement. "Not that I would have been ashamed had I been connected to the demonstrations ... It is just a fact that I had no connection." she said. ***************************************************************** ABSDF: RELIGIOUS RIGHTS VIOLATIONS IN NAGA HILL TRACT January 18, 1997 From: "ABSDF (Western-Burma)" We are informed that native Naga people of Sagaing division are forced to covert from Christianity to Buddhism. In early November 1995 State Law and Order Restoration Council of Saggaing division chairman and commander of North-West command Gen. Hla Myint Swe issued an order in which all the battalions deployed in Sagaing division were ordered to do all the possible ways for the propagation of Buddhist orders among native Naga people. There were forced conversions from Christianity to Buddhism in this region after this order had been issued. One village chief said that State Law and Order Restoration Council forced the villagers to construct Buddhist monasteries and sent abbots to each monastery in Pansat, Kokailong, Kutki, Phongtharet, Leyon and Ngakyan villages in Sumra Naga hill tract. These abbots taking protection of Burmese army are organizing the local Christian people to be converted into Buddhism. In these regions local Christian people are forced to cut down the bamboo and wood and have to carry for the construction of monasteries. When the army authorities summon the village chiefs to army camp in order to instruct them for the construction works, they used to send a piece of bullet or charcoal or chilli enclosed with the letters. The village chief explained that -bullet means if they fail to come to the army camp they will be killed. -charcoal means if they fail to come to the army camp the villages will be burnt down. -chili means if they fail to come the army camp they will be tortured. Soldiers from Light Infantry Regiment (229) and (222) deployed in these regions were asked to marry with local Naga girls and those who married to the soldiers were forced to convert into Buddhism. After they had converted into Buddhism were sent to big cities like Rangoon and Mandalay for touring and provided good clothing. In this way the army authorities persuade more local Naga girls to convert into Buddhism. In addition native Naga people who converted into Buddhism are provided (500) to (1000) Kyats by the army authorities. The army authorities also organize the native Christian people that they will provided ration supplies and clothing regularly to those who have completed six months after conversion. Ministry of home and religious affairs has funds for the propagation of Buddhism in hill tract. From this funds they bare all the expenses of above mentioned plans. Furthermore Buddhism people from these regions are freed from porterage, forced labour and supply rations to Burmese army. Only Christian people were asked to work. And they were forced to do village sanitation, constructions of the roads and army camps on Sunday. Majority of the local people are Christian and they usually do not work on Sunday. Going to the Churches and saying prayers on Sunday is the must for Christian people. Village chief also that one day army commander of the said region angrily shouted at the villagers that what he ordered them to do is only for the sake of the development of the villages and village people. As such village people have to work whether it is Sunday or not. The commander added that those who refused his order would be in trouble. There was an order issued by the army authority in which if the pastors want to hold prayer meeting or bible training course or youth gathering or any religious function, firstly they have to ask permission from the Buddhist monks. Regarding this matter the pastors were not satisfied. So, they complained to the Ministry of Home and Religious Affairs but yet any appropriate action has been taken. Moreover, the army authorities made the Christian youths busy at work a week ahead of Christmas in order not to celebrate Christmas functions in this region. They order them to carry army supplies from Leshi town which took ten days journey on foot. When they got back home the Christmas was over. Three Christian youths who refused the order were badly beaten by the soldiers. One villager said in the year 1995 in Sumra village while the village people were celebrating Christmas function, the Burmese soldiers deployed in that village fired in the air and came over to the place and order them to stop the function immediately for security purpose. The section commander explained to the villagers that according to their information insurgents were planing to enter the village on that very night. In fact there were no insurgents. But the army did purposely in order not to celebrate the Christmas function. The above mention villages are located in Leshi township. But local people said the Burmese army is practicing the same tactic in other townships of Naga hill tract. Previously, Khamti, Namyon, Leshi, Lahe and Homlin townships were considered as Naga hill tract. But after the National Convention held by the SLORC, only Namyon, Leshi and Leha townships were considered as " special autonomous area ". Almost all the Naga people are not satisfied on this decision. Finally the village chief said that to eradicate all the Naga insurgents, the SLORC is creating a problem between Buddhist and Christian people in Naga hill tract as they did in Karen state last two years back. News and information Unit ABSDF (Western-Burma) ******************************************************* RADIO MYANMAR: CENTRAL BANK LAW AMENDED, STIFF PENALTIES INTRODUCED January 13, 1997 Text of the State Law and Order Restoration Council Law No 2/97, The Law Amending the Central Bank of Myanmar Law Date 13th January 1997 The State Law and Order Restoration Council [SLORC] hereby enacts the following law: 1. This law shall be called the Law Amending the Central Bank of Myanmar [Burma] Law. 2. Sub-Section A of Section 83 of the Central Bank of Myanmar Law shall be amended as follows: Sub-Section A. Licensing, revoking the licence of, inspecting, supervising and regulating persons who deal in foreign currencies or any instrument or certificates incidental to foreign exchange. 3. After Section 84 of the Central Bank of Myanmar Law, Section 84-A shall be inserted as follows: Section 84-A; Sub-Section A. No licensee who deals in foreign currencies or any instrument or certificates incidental to foreign exchange shall violate any condition of the business licence; Sub-Section B. No person shall violate any prohibition contained in an order or directive issued by the Central Bank with respect to dealing in foreign currencies or any instrument or certificates incidental to foreign exchange; Sub-Section C. No person shall deal in foreign currencies or any instrument or certificates incidental to foreign exchange without a business licence. 4. Section 87 of the Central Bank of Myanmar Law shall be amended as follows: Section 87. Whoever violates any provision of Section 84 shall, on conviction be fined in an amount not to exceed to kyats [Burmese currency unit] 10,000 or with imprisonment for a term not to exceed two years or with both. In addition, the exhibits shall also be liable to confiscation. 5. After Section 87 of the Central Bank of Myanmar Law, Section 87-A and Section 87-B shall be inserted as follows: Section 87-A. Whoever violates any provision of Sub-Sections A and B of Section 84-A shall, on conviction, be fined in an amount not to exceed 100,000 kyats or with imprisonment for a term not to exceed 5 years or with both. In addition, the exhibits shall also be liable to confiscation. Section 87-B. Whoever violates the provision of Sub-Section C of Section 84-A shall, on conviction, be fined in an amount not to exceed 200,000 kyats or with imprisonment for a term not to exceed seven years or with both. In addition, the exhibits shall also be liable to confiscation. 6. The expression "Under Section 87 or Section 88" contained in Section 93 of the Central Bank of Myanmar Law shall be replaced by the expression "Under Section 87, Section 87-A, Section 87-B or Section 88." Signed: Than Shwe Senior General Chairman of the SLORC ***************************************************** NATION: BURMA JUNTA GETS WARNING ON ABUSE OF CHILD RIGHTS January 18, 1997 Burma's human rights record has long been appalling. Now, however, some of the harshest treatment is doled out to that country's children, writes Inter Press Service's GUSTAVO CAPDEVILA in Geneva. The United Nations Committee on Children's Rights recommended on Thursday that the Burmese government take specific action to eradicate child labour, the recruitment of minors into the army, and child prostitution. It also recommended that the government tackle the issue of malnutrition. Members of the committee - the mechanism responsible for monitoring the implementation of the Convention on Children's Rights - expressed concern over reports that the army uses young boys as porters and that the anti-guerrilla squads rape girls. The independent experts who make up the committee said they were unsatisfied with the explanations offered by the Burmese military regime, the State Law and Order Restoration Council (Slorc), which attended the two-day session of the panel this week. Rangoon's delegation, led by vice minister of social protection, Maung Ky, said the accusations could be ignored as they were, in his opinion, "false" reports provided by opposition groups. Members of the committee insisted the complaints had come from United Nations agencies and well-respected non-governmental organisations whose reports can be trusted. However, Burma's ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, U Aye, said the charges were "totally pitiful" and would be counter-productive for the promotion of human rights in the Asian country. Sources close to the committee said that in recent months the Slorc has received serious warnings over its human rights record from the international community, including the UN General Assembly. The only international treaty on human rights ratified by Burma to date, is the Convention on Children's Rights. During the discussions, said the source, the committee managed to persuade Rangoon to adopt a more open policy on human rights. The Brazilian expert, Marilia Sardenberg, one of the vice presidents of the Committee, presented recommendations asking the military government for "a change of attitude, not only to children, but also to the world which surrounds them." The UN Committee called for reforms in the Burmese legislation in order to adapt it to the Convention on Children's Rights. One of the recommendations demands the elimination of discrimination between children at the moment of granting citizenship, for at present Burmese law has three categories: citizens, associated citizens and naturalised citizens. Director of Burma'sAttorney General's Office, U Sann Maung, said most rights and privileges are an entitlement of all three categories of citizen. A report by Human Rights Watch, a human rights group which works in 70 countries, showed the associated citizens have no rights to own land or houses; cannot be doctors or engineers nor work for foreign companies, the UN or an embassy. The identity card, which is obligatory for the 46 million Burmese, includes details of the religion and ethnic group of the owner details which give away the class of citizen, said Human Rights Watch. Other recommendations included press freedom and the right of association. Sardenberg asked for clear dispositions prohibiting torture and ending the detention of children and adults together in the same prison. The Burmese government must also translate the text of the Convention into the greatest possible number of the 135 national ethnic languages. The dissemination of the international treaty must also include the information and education campaigns the Committee requested for parents, teachers, members of the military and the authorities. The Burmese government acknowledged that the gap between the poorest and richest people of the nation has widened due to the transition from a socialist regime to a market economy. However, the committee demanded the social budget be improved and a reduction in military expenditure. The Human Rights Watch report showed that the Burmese army still uses children from ethnic minorities as porters to deliver army supplies. The child porters 'often end up exhausted, ill and sometimes die, not only for the lack of medical attention but also because of the beatings, said the group. In the cities, children are arrested and detained, often with neither charges nor trial being brought simply for chanting slogans or distributing pamphlets. Human Rights Watch said that children are commonly used as unpaid workers in government construction programmes throughout the nation, while adoption here is often a way of getting free child labourers for domestic service or other business. Frontier posts controlled by military authorities also do a swift trade in trafficking Burmese girls to neighbouring Thailand, where they are made to work in conditions of slavery. ************************************************************ BANGKOK POST: NGO URGES ACTION OVER CHILD ABUSE January 18, 1997 (abridged) Geneva, AFP The Committee on the Rights of the Child issued its conclusions following a two-day meeting in Geneva attended by a Burmese government delegation. Laws restricting freedom of expression and association should be reviewed and the Citizenship Act and the Village and Town Act, which discriminate against ethnic minorities, and the Whipping Act, which sanctions corporal punishment, be repealed. Burma ratified the UN convention in 1991 a year after it took force but Human Rights Watch/Asia said the action was just a ploy to curry favour with foreign countries. Experts said a report submitted by the government on its efforts to improve child rights was "insufficient". They also called for closer cooperation between Burma and non-governmental agencies, saying Unicef and other bodies could help the country implement the convention. Childrens rights and Burma's 1993 child law "should not be politicised", the ambassador for Burma's permanent mission to the United Nations in Geneva said after the committee's wrap-up. **************************************************************** BANGKOK POST: PLANE CRASHES AT BURMA BORDER January 18, 1997 Tak A plane was spotted plunging to ,. earth with its tail on fire in the Thai-Burmese border area moments before an explosion was heard. Several villagers in Tha Song Yang district said they saw the plane in trouble at about 6.30 p.m. on Thursday before it crashed in Burma. Paramilitary ranger, Sgt Pradit Kamhaeng, also saw the aircraft. He said villagers in Ban Mae Salid also heard an explosion. Bangkok air traffic control said there were no reports of a plane missing in the area. ***************************************************************** PARADE MAGAZINE: HOW ONE WOMAN BECAME THE VOICE OF HER PEOPLE (US magazine) January 19, 1997 by David Wallechinsky [BurmaNet Editor's Note: The interviews for this article must have taken place before late May, 1996, because the author talks about meeting with U Aye Win, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's press secretary, who was arrested at the time of the NLD party congress in late May. He is being held in Insein Prison and has not yet been sentenced - meaning he cannot receive food or visits from his family.] In the exotic southeast Asian nation of Burma, a country of 46 million people, a battle of wills of heroic proportions is taking place. On one side is a brutal military dictatorship known as SLORC (State Law and Restoration Council). On the other is a slim, 51- year old mother of two named Aung San Suu Kyi, who is leading her people in a nonviolent struggle for democracy. For six years, from 1989 to 1995, Aung San Suu Kyi (pronounced Awng-Sahn-Soo-Chee) was kept in isolation under house arrest for speaking out against the government, which has used torture and forced labor and which refuses to hand over power, even though it lost a national election. In 1991, still under house arrest, Aung San Suu Kyi was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Following her release in 1995, she continued to challenge the junta, every weekend addressing the thousands of followers who congregated in front of the gate to her house and across the street. It had become the only forum for free speech in the country. But since September the government has cracked down on these gatherings. It has usually arrested more than 1000 people- usually in the middle of the night. And Aung San Suu Kyi is again restricted to her home. Aung San Suu Kyi has been an inspiration, but the personal cost has been great: Since her struggle began, she has been allowed to see her husband and children only infrequently. While under house arrest, she did not see her children for 2 1/2 years. Aung San Suu Kyi comes from a politically prominent Burmese family, but until the age of 43 she had been leading a quiet life in England as a housewife and academic. How did she transform herself into the leading speaker for democracy and a symbol of freedom? And what gave this woman, by all accounts a devoted mother, the strength to sacrifice the satisfactions of marriage and motherhood, as well as the courage to risk her life again and again? I visited Aung San Suu Kyi before the latest crackdown [May, 1996] at her home in Rangoon, the capital of Burma. (While the military government has changed the country's official name from Burma to Myanmar, Aung San Suu Kyi and other supporters of democracy continue to use the name Burma.) After entering the front gate, I was forced to sign in by the military intelligence officers who camp out on her property. Her home sits beside a lake, but the view is marred by the bales of barbed wire that the government has set up between her house and the government. My first glimpse of Aung San Suu Kyi had come earlier, on a hot Saturday afternoon, as she addressed the crowd near her home. I expected her to appear stern and serious in the manner of other revolutionaries, and I expected her speech to be angry and defiant. So I was surprised when she appeared above the gate, smiling and waving, dressed in a brightly colored longyi, or sarong, and wearing three different kinds of flowers in her hair. Later, at her home, she was wearing more fresh flowers. "People give me flowers all the time," she explained, "and I wear as many of them as I can. My mother often quoted a Burmese saying: 'A man without knowledge is like a flower without a scent.' I prefer scented flowers." The speech itself that Saturday had been full of laughter and good spirits. Aung San Suu Kyi answered questions submitted by the audience. Most were serious queries, but many were sly digs at the military dictatorship, such as, "Why do the wives of government leaders were diamond jewelry?" For the Burmese people, much of Aung San Suu Kyi's power comes from her being a living link to history. She is the daughter of Burma's greatest modern hero, Aung San, who founded the Burmese Army in 1941 and is considered the father of his nation. At the end of World War II, Aung San, like George Washington, made a successful transition from military leader to political leader. He negotiated with the British and arranged for national independence to be proclaimed by Jan. 4, 1948. But before that day arrived, Aung San was assassinated by political rivals. He was 32. His daughter was barely 2 years old. Besides his wife and daughter, Aung San left two sons: One died while still a child; the other is now an American citizen, and engineer living in San Diego. "Although I was too young to retain a direct memory of my father," Aung San Suu Kyi told me, "my mother taught me about his life and his principles, as did his old friends." (As an adult, she wrote a biography of Aung San.) At 15, Aung San Suu Kyi moved to New Delhi when her mother, Khin Kyi, was appointed ambassador to India. Later, she studied at Oxford University in England. After graduating with a degree in philosophy, politics and economics, she worked for almost three years at the United Nations in New York City. It was a time of political and social turmoil in the U.S. "The young people were for love and not for war," she recalled. "There was a feeling of tremendous vigor. I had been moved by Martin Luther King's 'I Have a Dream' speech and how he tried to better the lot of black people without fostering feelings of hate. It's hate that is the problem, not violence. Violence is simply the symptom of hate." In 1972, Aung San Suu Kyi married Michael Aris, a British scholar specializing in Tibetan studies. He is now a don at Oxford. Prior to their marriage, she wrote these words to him: "I only ask one thing, that should my people need me, you would help me to do my duty by them." In the meantime, she lived a reasonably normal life. She gave birth to two sons, Alexander in 1973 and Kim in 1977. For several years, she devoted herself to raising her family and continuing her studies. Then her life changed dramatically. In April 1988, she received word from Burma that her mother was gravely ill. She returned to Rangoon to care for her. This visit coincided with unusual political activity in Burma. In March, riot police has shot to death 200 demonstrators, most of them students, who had protested government policies and repression. Despite the shootings, the demonstrations grew. Increasingly, protestors demanded free multiparty elections. "Government leaders are amazing," Aung San Suu Kyi said. "So often it seems they are the last to know what the people want." Many demonstrations were staged in front of the U.S. embassy, because the U.S. was seen as a symbol of democracy. Between Aug. 8 and 13, 1988, the police killed nearly 3000 people. Aung San Suu Kyi watched these developments with growing concern. Many of the pro-democracy demonstrators carried signs with pictures of her father. On Aug. 26, a general strike was called and several hundred thousand attended a rally in front of Rangoon's Shwedagon pagoda. Here, for the first time, Aung San Suu Kyi spoke to the crowd. Recalling her father's assassination, she said, "People have been saying I know nothing of Burmese politics. The trouble is, I know too much." As the crowd warmed to her, she concluded, " I could not, as my father's daughter, remain indifferent to all that is going on. The national crisis could, in fact, be called the second struggle for independence." Overnight, Aung San Suu Kyi became the leading representative of the movement for freedom and democracy. In September, the military seized control of the government, declared martial law and killed 1000 demonstrators. Aung San Suu Kyi joined with other anti-government leaders to form the National League for Democracy (NLD). She travelled the country, giving more than 1000 speeches. During this period she was involved in a dramatic incident. On the evening of April 5, 1989, as they were returning home, she and a group of pro-democracy organizers were stopped and ordered off the road by government soldiers. "It seemed so much simpler," she later explained, "to provide them with a single target." A captain ordered his troops to raise their rifles and shoot. She continued advancing. At the last second, a major ran forward and overruled the captain. Three and a half months later, exasperated by her growing popularity, the Burmese dictators placed Aung San Kyi under house arrest. She was not allowed to see her children for more than 2 1/2 years. "I felt very guilty about not looking after them," she said. "The antidote to such feelings was knowing that others had it much worse. I knew that my children were safe with my husband in England, whereas a lot of my colleagues were in the terrible position of being in prison themselves and not knowing how safe their children were going to be." She described seeing her younger son for the first time in almost three years: "I would not have recognized him if I had seen him on the street." Later, in England, her husband told me that he supports his wife fully but could not talk on the record for fear that the Burmese government will accuse him of being a foreigner interfering in their affairs. I also met in London with Burmese women who had been arrested by SLORC and kept apart from their families. They confirmed what Aung San Suu Kyi had told me. One woman I met, who had been jailed for three years, gave birth in prison and immediately had the baby taken away from her. In 1990, SLORC agreed to hold an election - an attempt to satisfy potential foreign investors. Only the military leaders were surprised by the results: Aung San Suu Kyi herself was not allowed for office, but her party, the NLD, won 80 percent of the vote and seats. The party of the military won only 10 seats out of the 485 contested. SLORC announced that the election didn't count. Since then, it has followed "the Chinese model": liberalize the economy while keeping a tight lid on political dissent. Unfortunately, only a small percentage of the population has become richer, while most Burmese, suffering from spiraling inflation, actually have seen their lives become harder. But even if the economy were to improve, Aung San Suu Kyi stressed that there is more to life than material success. "This is something you Americans would be in a better position to talk about," she told me, "because there is certainly material prosperity in the United State. And yet material prosperity has not insured happiness and harmony or even contentment. I do believe in the spiritual nurture of human beings. To some it's a strange or outdated idea, but I do believe there is such a thing as a human spirit. There is a spiritual dimension to man which should be nurtured." Aung San Suu Kyi is adamant about sticking to her policy of nonviolence. "There are those," she explained, "who believe the only way we can remove the authoritarin and replace it with a democratic one is through violent means. But then, in the future, those who do not approve of a democratic government would be encouraged to try violent means of toppling it, because we would have set a precedent that you bring about political change through violence. I would like to set strongly the precedent that you bring about political change through political settlement and not through violence." The government, meanwhile, is trying to persuade foreign investors to bring their business to Burma. They also have declared 1996-97 "Visit Myanmar Year" for tourists. Aung San Suu Kyi's advice: "Tourists should wait until Burma is a freer and happier country." Foreign investors, she said, "will get better returns for their money if they invest in a country that is stable and which has a strong framework of just laws." I asked what Americans can do. Although Aung San Suu Kyi stressed that it is up to the people of Burma to solve their own problems, it is possible for others to help. "Don't support businesses which are supporting injustice in Burma," she said. In the U.S., support for Aung San Suu Kyi has united liberals and conservatives. Groups monitoring democracy in Burma have been formed on more than 100 American college campuses. The day before I left Burma, I talked in Aung San Suu Kyi's garden with her cousin Aye Win, who served as her press secretary. I was concerned that custom officials might confiscate my photos and tapes of Aung San Suu Kyi. "You have nothing to worry about," he reassured me, "because you have the power of the U.S. government behind you. It is we Burmese who have to worry." He nodded in the direction of Aung SAn Suu Kyi, who was walking toward us. "All we have," he added, "is Aung San's daughter." ************************************************ THAILAND TIMES: BORDER OFFICIAL GETS BURMESE GO SIGNAL FOR BARRIER CONSTRUCTION January 17, 1997 by Assawin Pinitwong TAK: Thailand made little headway in an unofficial talks held in the Burmese town of Myawaddy yesterday between the head of Thailand's Thai-Burmese local border committee and his counterpart, with the Burmese commander dominating the two hour discussion. Col Suwit Maenmuen, Mae Sot' s 4th Infantry special task force commander, had ostensibly crossed the border to congratulate Myawaddy's 275th Battalion Commander Lt-Col Sei Phone on the occasion of his appointment. He had hoped to use the occasion to discuss border affairs. However, the only issue Suwit was able to raise during the occasion was that of Thailand' s construction of a barrier on the bank of the Moei river to prevent soil erosion. Sei Phone informed Suwit of Burma's concern that the 400-meter barrier being built at Mae Sot district's Tha Sai Lu ad sub-district would change the course of the Moei river and adversely affect its bank. Suwit however, managed to reassure his counterpart that Burma would remain unaffected by the construction. Sei Phone gave Thailand the go-ahead for work to continue. Burma had sank stakes into the Moei river and built a permanent concrete barrier on its bank to prevent soil erosion in January last year. The barrier resulted in the change of Moei river' s course, causing the Thai bank to suffer from erosion. As a result, Thailand lost a large amount of land last year. Thai official s had sent several letters protesting the barrier's construction which Burma failed to respond. ****************************************************** XINHUA: U.S. MAKES RESEARCH ON INSEMINATION OF ELEPHANTS IN MYANMAR January 17, 1997 A U.S. zoo is conducting research on the insemination of elephants in Myanmar with the cooperation of the state-owned Myanmar Timber Enterprise (MTE). The research will cost about 450,000 U.S. dollars, the official daily the New Light of Myanmar said today. In his meeting with Myanmar Minister of Forestry Chit Swe here on Thursday, researcher of the U.S. Park Zoo Michael J. Schmidt discussed measures to promote cooperation and research on the insemination being undertaken. The U.S. Park Zoo donated 42,000 U.S. dollars' worth of insemination support facilities to the mte for the research, the report added. **************************************************