Subject: The BurmaNet News, March 3, 1997 Date: Mon, 03 Mar 1997 07:35:10 -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: March 3, 1997 Issue #655 HEADLINES: ========== NCUB:PRESS RELEASE NO ( 10) KRC:STATEMENT ON RELOCATION DECISION KNU: STATEMENT REGARDING GEN. MAUNG AYE AND GROUP NATION:ARMY FINDS BIG KNU ARMS CACHE THAILAND TIMES:UNHCR SLAMMED FOR INACTION NATION:US AMBASSADOR TO BE SUMMONED OVER KAREN THAILAND TIMES:CHEETHA SAYS US APOLOGIZED NATION:AFGHANISTAN , BURMA REMAIN ON US DRUG LIST NATION: ASEAN HOLDS THE KEY IN ENDING REPRESSION STRAITS TIMES: MYANMAR AGREES TO REPATRIATE ILLEGALS COUNCIL HEARING:NEW YORK-SELECTIVE PURCHASING BILL COLLEGE OF THE ATLANTIC: SEL PURCHASING PASSED ANNOUNCEMENT: ALBRIGHT TO GO ONLINE ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NCUB:PRESS RELEASE NO ( 10) March 3, 1997 From: "All Burma Students' Democratic Front" Situation of Karen Refugee in KNU Brigade (6) area Date: March 3, 1997 Almost 10,000 refugees have managed to escape from fighting and SLORC's human rights abuses by fleeing to the Thai-Burma border. They took refuge in Thailand following the SLORC offensive against Karen National Union Brigade (6) area, started on February 7, 1997. Last week, SLORC started disseminating several acknowledgment letters sealed with fake KNU official stamps in different refugee camps on the Thai side of the border in order to persuade Karen refugees to come back to their native villages, areas now controlled by SLORC troops. These letters stated that all run-away villagers will be warmly and safely welcomed to their homes without any punitive action being taken. At the same time, SLORC is threatening refugees using DKBA forces, and has sent ultimatums to burn down refugee camps if the refugees refuse to return. In response to the false KNU letters, some refugees mistakenly went back to their native villages, where they discovered the SLORC presence which immediately put them to work. Some of these refugees later managed to sneak back to the refugees camps in Thailand. Those who returned to the refugee camps on the Thai side are villagers from Kyait Don, Mi Nar Ark, A-Zin, Chokale, Phar klaw Nie and Mal ka Thi Hta villages. According to these refugees, they were provided with three tins of rice per family. All adult men were forced to work digging trenches, constructing military barracks and buildings, and cutting bamboo for fencing the entire village. Some villagers have been arrested and detained at night after being accused as KNU supporters or sympathisers. A number of villagers have disappeared since they were taken by SLORC troops for questioning. Therefore, all refugees who return to their homes are now living under intensely threatening and unsafe conditions. SLORC is clearly unable and uninterested in guaranteeing their rights to a safe dwellings and a safe livelihood. More returns are expected soon. The NCUB demands the SLORC to: -stop human rights abuses against innocent villagers, including extra-judicial killing, arbitrary arrest, rape and forced porterage and labour, -cease using military aggression against KNU forces and the civilian population -enter genuine tripartite dialogue for solving political problems through peaceful means and -honour the 1990 election results. The NCUB appeal to the international community including Thailand to help protect the safety of the refugees. Information Committee, National Council of the Union of Burma (NCUB) ********************************* KRC:STATEMENT ON RELOCATION DECISION March 2, 1997 KAREN REFUGEE COMMITTEE Statement on Decision to Relocate Displaced Persons on Old Camp site The KRC was much heartened by the Thai authorities at a meeting with the Task Force 34, UNHCR, NGOS's and KRC in Mae Sod on the 3rd of February. At this meeting all parties concerned agreed that a safer location should be found deeper inside THailand for the Wangkha and Donpakiang camps that had been attacked and burnt down in January of this year. It is therefore with grave concern that the KRC learned of the decision of Thai authroities (Deputy Governor of Tak Province, local district officials, Task Force 34, the MOI, and Border Patrol Ploice), at a meeting with NGO's on Febraury 26, that the displaced persons of Wangkha and Donpakiang would not be reolcated to a new location, but instead, consoldidated into one and reselttled on the old site of Wangha camp, which was razed to the ground in the fire attack on the night of Janary 26 , this year. As all concerned know, Wangkha had come under repeated threats and incursions before the atttack.. It was within an easy renage of the mortar from the other side of the border. Being on a flat land, the site can be accessed from every direction of the compass and, thus, it would be impossible to provide reasonable securtiy to a camp on it by any measure. The people from both camps numbering more than ten thousand are currently living in make-shift shelters with continued threats of further attacks. The KRC has been in a process of considering a safer site for them. Accordingly, the KRC would like to respectfully appeal to the Thai authorities to reconsider their decision and request the UNHCR, the international community and the NGO's to appeal to the Royal Thal Government to relocate the Karen displaced persons to a safer location, in accordance with international norms and practices. March 2, 1997 ************************************** KNU: STATEMENT REGARDING GEN. MAUNG AYE AND GROUP March 3, 1997 From: Karen National Union O F F I C E O F T H E S U P R E M E H E A D Q U A R T E R S K A R E N N A T I O N A L U N I O N K A W T H O O L E I ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- KNU Statement regarding the Case of Gen. Maung Aye and Group Stepping Underfoot the Karan National Flag At the surrender ceremony of the 16th Bn. Commander of the KNU, Thumu Heh, in Kuaikdon, the SLORC Gen. Maung Aye: 1. Made Thumu Hen kneel in front of SLORC leaders and apologise for his past mistakes, 2. Step underfoot the Karen national flag laid down on the ground. It is not unusual for Thumu Heh, who had surrendered to the fascist military dictatorship of the SLORC, to perform the humiliating rite. We are certain that he will be further humiliated by the SLORC in the future. However, the stepping underfoot of the Karen national flag which is held as a sacred symbol by the entire Karen people, by SLORC Gen. Maung Aye and his entourage, in public, demonstrates the vileness and the true nature of the SLORC. This incident also proves beyond all doubt that the SLORC; (1) Regards the entire Karen people as its enemy; (2) Regards all the oppressed nationalities as its enemy, as it does the Karen people, (3) Has no intention to resolve the political problems of the country by peaceful means and that it is politically bankrupt. Dear Karen Resistance Fighters and the Entire Karen People, We, the KNU, have held four rounds of talks with the SLORC, with the intention of resolving political problems by peaceful means and bearing in mind the basic and just interest of the Karen people as well as the interest of the entire people of the country. In the talks, the KNU had proposed a cease-fire and resolution of political problems, that had been the underlying causes of the civil war and instability through dialogue. However the SLORC just heinously demanded that the KNU return to the legal fold or, in other words, submit to its fascist domination. Without formally replying to the KNU's request for the 5th round of talks, the SLORC unilaterally abrogated the dialogue process and wickedly launched a large-scale military offensive against the KNU and the Karen people. As usual, the SLORC troops perpetrate, daily, atrocities against Karen civilians, such as arbitrary arrest, torture, execution, rape of women, forced labour, burning down villages and etc.., at a higher rate, in the offensive. Now, to crown their wanton acts, the SLORC leaders publicly step underfoot the Karen national flag which is held in high respect by the entire Karen people. Therefore, we, the KNU call upon the entire Karen people: (1) To resolutely oppose and fight until the annihilation of the SLORC military dictatorship, bearing in mind the exhortation "for the Karen people, surrender is out of the question," made by our heroic leader Saw Ba U Gyi; (2) To unite absolutely, without discrimination as to dialects, religious creeds, regions or ideological differences; (3) To continue the struggle for freedom and democracy by joining hands with all the anti-SLORC forces. * Domination of the fascist SLORC must fall! * The Just Resistance of the Karen People Shall triumph! Central Executive Committee March 3, 1997 ******************************* NATION:ARMY FINDS BIG KNU ARMS CACHE March 3, 1997 Reuter UMPHANG - The Thai army dealt another big blow to the beleaguered Karen National Union (KNU) when it unearthed a cache of its weapons at the Thai-Burma border and confiscated them, officials said yesterday. They said that about 200 soldiers made a surprise raid late on Saturday at Htee Ho Koh near Maechon village on the northwestern border with Burma and found the cache. Among the weapons seized were 87 rocket launchers, 11 recoilless rifles, nine machine guns and 1,239 other rifles. The assortment of arms, the military's biggest seizure of its kind in recent years, was believed to have been hidden by KNU guerrillas fleeing a Burmese army offensive against them earlier this month, the officials said. Burmese troops sacked KNU mobile bases in the eastern part of the country in attacks which sent thousands of refugees and guerrillas scurrying for shelter into Thailand. "We informed our Burmese counterparts that our operation was only meant to search for the rebels' weapons and not to provoke or confront them (Burmese)," said Col Suvit Maenmuan, commander of the Thai task force which undertook the operation. Burmese soldiers watched the action just a few meters away across the border. A reporter at the scene said the Thais politely turned down their request to join in the search. Another Thai officer who took part in the operation said it was part of an overall strategy to stop the KNU from regrouping on Thai soil and using it as a springboard to wage guerrilla warfare against Burma. "KNU leaders and officers have been told to live in one central area and are not allowed to make any movement as long as they are in Thailand," said the officer who declined to be identified. In the past, Thailand used to turn a blind eye to KNU activities along the border, but Bangkok has now changed its attitude towards the rebel group, which is fighting for greater autonomy for the eastern Karen state. The KNU formed in 1948, has rejected several peace overtures from the ruling Burmese military junta and refused to lay down its arms. Last week, the Thai army refused to allow several hundred male KNU guerrillas fleeing the Burmese attack to allow several hundred male KNU guerrillas fleeing the Burmese attack to cross to Thai soil. The United States, rights groups and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees criticised Bangkok for the move, alleging that it was refusing refuge for those fleeing the fighting in Burma and was forcibly repatriating Karen refugees. Thailand denied it was repatriating refugees and said it was instead moving them to safer havens deeper inside its territory. However, both military and government said suspected KNU guerrillas would not be allowed to enter the country. Thai army officers, who have long been dealing with the KNU, and some senior KNU officials said that the group's internal rifts, increased military pressure from the ruling junta, the State Law and Order Restoration Council (Slorc), and a hostile Thai military could spell the end for the KNU in the near future. "It is too late to make any change now, nobody wants to support the KNU any more and, if the Slorc comes up with a proper approach, I think most will defect to it," said a senior KNU source who asked not to be named. Agence France-Presse adds; The KNU vowed yesterday to keep fighting a massive Burmese government offensive which has displaced thousands of civilians unless the ruling junta resumes peace talks. "The fighting shall continue, unless the Slorc can be brought back to the negotiating table," the supreme command of the KNU announced in a statement received in Bangkok form the Thai border. The KNU statement said that more than 20,000 refugees had escaped to Thailand since the attack on Karen held territories in eastern and southern Burma by junta forces began on Feb 10. It added that "many thousands" of Karen and Burmese displaced people remain trapped inside Burma as the Slorc's troops have attempted to cut off access to the border. "These people are in grave danger and many families have been separated, causing much suffering to the refugees who survived the hazardous journey to the border," the statement said. *************************************** THAILAND TIMES:UNHCR SLAMMED FOR INACTION ON REFUGEES March 2, 1997 by Bechamas Chumworathayee BANGKOK/RATCHABURI: In a rare show of agreement, a human rights group yesterday joined with the military in condemnation of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) for its failure to provide assistance to Karen refugees sheltering in Thailand. Despite repeated calls from human rights groups for the UNHCR to lend a hand, UNHCR officials were only observing the situation and did nothing concrete to help the refugees, said Puttinee Kangkan, a spokeswoman for the Thai Action Committee for Democracy in Burma (TACDB). Her remarks support those of Maj Gen Taweep Suwannasing, commander of the Surasi Task Force that currently looks after the refugees, who said on Thursday that the military had not received any UN assistance to help the aid operation. He said the Interior Ministry's initial allocation of 500,000 baht to provide aid for the thousands of new arrivals fleeing from Burma's civil war was insufficient unless backed up by outside funds. Over 100,000 refugees have crossed the border in recent weeks following a severe military crackdown against Burma's ethnic minorities by the ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council (Slorc). Around 10,000 refugees are sheltering in Kanchanaburi and Ratchaburi provinces alone, where they are forced endure primitive conditions. Frankie Abreu, 38, a Karen refugee at a temporary camp near Kanchanaburi's Pu Nam Ron village, called on humanitarian organizations across the globe to take heed of their plight. Abreu, one of some 3,000 refugees sheltering in the camp, said the refugees lack food, water, medicine, clothes and even basis shelter. With only plastic sheeting to cover the shacks that they live in During the day they are at the mercy of the fierce sun, while at night they have no protection from the dew. ************************************* NATION:US AMBASSADOR TO BE SUMMONED OVER KAREN March 2, 1997 UPSET by a strong protest by the United States over the Thai Army's deportation of Karen refugees last week, the Foreign Ministry will this week ask the US ambassador to Thailand to hear Thailand's explanation of its refugee policy and the country's handling of the Karen situation. Saroj CHavanaviraj, permanent secretary of the Foreign Ministry, said yesterday that his office deems it necessary to call US Ambassador William Itoh in for a meeting to clarify the repatriation on Tuesday and Wednesday of some 900 Karen refugees fleeing Burmese military offensives against Karen rebels He said the Foreign Ministry was upset with Friday's letter sent by US Charge d'Affaires Ralph Boyee to Army Chief Gen Chettha Thanajaro protesting against the forced repatriation of the refugees in Kanchanaburi back to Burma. "Why did the US do that despite the fact that they are fully aware of the real situation?" he said in a telephone interview with The Nation's affiliate, Krung Thep Turakij daily. Saroj blamed relief workers for spreading information charging that the Army's Ninth Division had trucked refugees from Bong Ti Pass in Kanchanaburi to Suan Phung district in Ratchaburi and pushed them across the border into the war zone. He also questioned the workers' motives, when they are fully aware of Thailand's latest plan to relocate the refugees to a safer place. In his strongly worded letter, Boyce pointed out that the Ninth Division had conducted the deportation at the order of Gen Chettha and asked the Army to halt any future plans to forcibly send back more refugees. He also urged the Army to allow the refugees to remain on Thai soil while the Burmese military operation is still proceeding and to allow aid workers access to the refugees. Apart from the US, the European Union and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees have also deplored the action and strongly urged Thailand to grant asylum to the unarmed Karen people based on international humanitarian principles and have asked the Thai Army to stop more forced repatriations. The strong international criticism prompted Chettha to order an abrupt halt to the relocation and repatriation of refugees in Kanchanaburi area. Top Army generals, including CHETTHA and Ninth Division Commander Maj Gen Thaweep Suwannasingh, whose forces were responsible for the repatriation, have denied that the refugees, mainly women, children, the elderly, and the disabled, were forced back to Burma against their will. They repeatedly argued that the group "volunteered to return to a safe area in Burma." However, relief workers who visited Suan Phung on Friday in an attempt to locate the 900 returnees, said they were surprised that most, instead of staying right across the border, had gone deeper into Burma, some five kilometres from the Thai frontier and eight km from where they were dropped by the trucks last week. They said the repatriated refugees, who were originally from the Paw Klo River area, told them that they were not given the choice to stay on Thai soil when Army troops dropped them off at the border and "pointed the way" and "indicated where they were to go". "They [repatriated refugees] didn't have a choice but to return to Burma. They didn't even know where they were going or where they were," reported workers who had spoken with the returnees. "There is no camp, and some [refugees] had nothing, no food, no rice, nothing to eat, "relief workers said. While trying to locate the returnees, the workers said they were shocked to learn of another forced repatriation of Karen refugees. They said the refugees, who had fled form Amla Kee to the border in Kanchanaburi, were transported in two trucks to the same site as the earlier group and forced to walk across the border back to Burma. One worker said yesterday that the Thai Army was using "clever words" to deny the forced deportation. "Dropping the refugees at night and telling them to walk across the border does not make any difference from forced repatriation," he added. Friday's deportation of the refugees took place on the very same day, and maybe before, CHettha called off the repatriation plan. Relief workers said at least two individuals who were sent back were in need of medical assistance but were refused permission to be transferred back to THailand. Also among the repatriated were at least three orphans, separated from their parents during the Burmese offensive in the area. According to Saroj, there has already been some contact between the foreign ministry and US embassy officials to clarify the issues over Thailand's handling of the refugees. Although Chettha said he will not respond to an international outcry against the Thai Army, Interior Minister Snoh Thienthong yesterday blasted reports by local and foreign media on the forced deportation as "a severe infringement on Thai sovereignty". He vowed to continue the ministry's long standing plan to send home all Karen refugees "Whether or not the US was mistaken, the refugees have to return home, although we have to talk to them first before sending them back to Burma," Snoh said. He said the government reserved the right to protect its territory and to ensure the well being and safety of people along its border. ************************************** THAILAND TIMES:CHEETHA SAYS STATES APOLOGIZED FOR CRITICISM March 2, 1997 BANGKOK: Army Commander in Chief Gen Chettha Thanajaro claimed yesterday that the United states has apologized for presenting misleading reports" concerning the Army's forced repatriation of refugees back to the war zone in Burma. Speaking to reporters after meeting the US Embassy's Charge de' Affairs Ralph L Boyce Jr, Chettha said the diplomat had come to express regret for the remarks the US has made over the issue. "But their apology means nothing to me," Chetta said. "I know I have done the best thing possible for those refugees." On Thursday US State Departments Spokesman Nicholas Burns, citing reports that the Thai Army had driven back 900 refugees sheltering in Ratchaburi and Kanchanaburi provinces across the border, demanded an immediate half to the forced repatriation. The US, concerns were echoed by the United Nations and human rights groups, including the London-based Amnesty International. A number of sources in Thailand have claimed the number of those driven back to Burma ran into thousands. Chettha said he will make no attempt to correct the news reports, claiming that the Army had done "nothing wrong." If there had been any hint of forced repatriation, the reporters should have told him directly rather than passing on their information to foreign news agencies, he said. He speculated that the reports may have come from a third party who wanted to defame the country's reputation. Chettha admitted however that his order for the refugees to be removed to an area away form the borderline might have led to misunderstanding. Prime Minister and Defense Minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudh was also adamant yesterday that the report was groundless. "Believe me, not the world," said the prime minister. "We gave food and shelter to the refugees and we will not send them while fighting continues." Meanwhile, Interior Minister Snoh Thienthong said the press should not believe everything said by foreign countries, as some foreign nations might harbor ill-will towards Thailand. In recent days some 5,000 more refugees have fled into Kanchanaburi following the fall of the Karen National Union (KNU)'s headquarters at Minthamee to the Burmese army. The latest arrivals sent the number of refugees in the province soaring to over 10,000 Around 100,000 refugees are now scattered in the various provinces along 2,400 kilometer Thai-Burmese border. ******************************** NATION:AFGHANISTAN , BURMA REMAIN ON US DRUG LIST March 2, 1997 WASHINGTON - The United States sternly scolded Burma, Afghanistan and four other countries on Friday for failing to cooperate fully in the fight against drug trafficking. "Drug trafficking is a deadly threat to our community and to the institutions of law and democracy that we have built. No nation acting alone can defeat that threat," said Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. Albright said President Bill Clinton had sent to COngress his official decisions on whether to certify 32 drug producing and transit countries. Each of the countries on the list could be certified, decertified and sanctioned, or decertified with a recommendation that economic sanctions be waived. Albright said Clinton was reserving the option to invoke trade and other discretionary sanctions, in addition to those mandated by foreign aid law, against Afghanistan and Burma and the remaining four decertified countries; Colombia, Iran, Nigeria and Syria. The president continued to underscore the seriousness of the heroin threat by denying certification to Burma, Afhanistan, Iran, and Syria, Albright said at the news conference. "Significant inroads into the world's heroin problem are impossible without Burma and afghanistan, which together produce about 75 per cent of the world's supply of opium," she stressed. Burma leads the world in opium poppy production, particularly since 1988 when the military regime, the State Law and Order Restoration Council (Slorc), took over the country, she said. "The vast majorityof heroin on the streets of the United States" is from Burma, she said, where opium cultivation and drug trafficking are conducted "without any meaningful constraint by authorities". She added that the Slorc has failed to prosecute the notorious drug lord Khun Sa, who reportedly runs his drug operations from Rangoon. Albright noted that drug money had penetrated Burmese society as drug traffickers became the leading investors in its new market economy and the "leading lights" in its new political order. "Drug money is so pervasive in the Burmese economy that it taints legitimate investment," she warned, adding that since 1988, some 15 percent of foreign investment in Burma has been tied to the family of Burmese narco-trafficker Lo Hsing-han. In Afghanistan, Albright decried the lack of a serious effort against illegal drugs by the Taleban, which controls 90 per cent of the land. "We are deeply concerned that the Taleban itself may be involved in opium cultivation and drug trafficking," she said. Pakistan joined Belize and Lebanon on the decertified list, but were granted waivers on sanctions. Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, India, Laos, Malaysia, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam were among those which received full certification. ************************************* THE NATION: ASEAN HOLDS THE KEY IN ENDING BURMA'S REPRESSION February 26, 1997 (exceprts) Sonny Inbaraj yesterday spoke to Lord Avebury, a member of the British House of Lords and chairman of the British Parliamentary Committee on Human Rights. This is the first of a two-part series. Q. You have been named very often as a patron for Burmese lobby groups campaigning for democracy in the country. What are your impressions of Burma and the on-going repression there? A. I think Burma is a particularly serious case because the Burmese junta seems immune from pressure. We find it very difficult to think of means of persuading the military regime to hand back power to the elected NLD [National League for Democracy]; to free the political prisoners; to stop using slave labour; to stop the offensive against ethnic minorities, which has serious implications, of course, for Thailand. In short, we find it difficult for Burma to come into the civilised family of nations ­ particularly now when Burma is opening up to foreign investment and people are finding that there are lucrative contracts there. Q. How successful has your campaign for boycotting the ''Visit Myanmar Year" been in Britain? A. I think we have not been very successful in getting the message across on why British tourists should not visit Burma. There have been particular consumer boycotts that have been successful like the campaigns against Pepsi and certain American companies which have been forced to withdraw from Burma. I'm ashamed to say this. But it seems the United States is much better at this thing than we are. Q. Do you see any future in Aung San Suu Kyi's struggle? She seems to be cornered a bit by the junta. A. I do think she's in a bit of a corner. It's fortunate that she's able to hold out. She's so tolerant herself and so relaxed. Suu Kyi looks at things with dispassion, which is an excellent quality to have if you're in that position. It's very difficult to see any way out of this except that I wish we could exert a little more pressure on Asean, than we normally do. Asean has to be reminded that human rights protection cannot be achieved simply through the process of development. That's wishful thinking. You have to do something much more than that. Asean could do much more than that by pressuring SLORC to loosen up. Q. But Asean seems bent on engaging the Slorc through its so-called constructive engagement policy. Burma is due to be admitted as an Asean member by July this year. Do you think the repression in the country will get worse by virtue of this? A. Yes. I think Asean's constructive engagement with Burma is a counter-productive policy. It's what one calls appeasement. If you have a dictatorship such as the Slorc and you try to be nice to them in the hope that is going to persuade them to be nice to their own people, it just won't work. We've got plenty of examples where one could see throughout history, where being kind to dictators has only encouraged them to be even nastier to their own people. ******************************************************* STRAITS TIMES: MYANMAR AGREES TO REPATRIATE ILLEGALS IN MALAYSIA February 27, 1997 (abridged) KUALA LUMPUR - Myanmar has agreed in principle to repatriate thousands of its nationals detained in Malaysia as illegal aliens, Malaysian Foreign Minister Datuk Abdullah Haji Badawi said here yesterday. He said about 8,000 Myanmar people rounded up as part of a Malaysian crackdown on its huge illegal-worker population would be sent home if they were proven to be Myanmar nationals despite lacking identification papers. Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad had raised the matter during a courtesy call here on Tuesday by Myanmar Deputy Prime Minister Vice-Admiral Maung Maung Khin. Datuk Abdullah said the Myanmar position was that "the illegals will be taken back only if there is proof that they are Myanmar citizens". "I do not doubt the sincerity of the Myanmar government. They said the illegals will be taken back." He said it was difficult to identify the Myanmar nationals since they had destroyed their identification papers upon entering Malaysia. If they could speak the Myanmar language, name some of their friends back home and state the village they were from, it would be sufficient evidence, he said. ********************************************************** COUNCIL HEARING:NEW YORK-SELECTIVE PURCHASING BILL March 1, 1997 From: Thomas R. Lansner TERROR IN BURMA, HEROIN AT HOME save this date: Tuesday 04 March 1997, 10:00 a.m. Hearing on Bill #647 Burma Selective Purchasing Legislation City Council Chambers, New York City Hall On Tuesday 04 March, 1997 at 10:00 a.m., the New York City Council will hold a hearing on Bill #647, selective purchasing legislation that will bar companies doing business in Burma from receiving New York City contracts. The suffering of Burma's peoples under a cruel military dictatorship has a real link to the suffering in our own city. We neednąt look as far away as Burma to see the costs of repression and dictatorship there. We can look at our own streets, where a heroin plague spreads pain, crime and death in troubled communities already facing great difficulties and little opportunity. This heroin isn't grown or processed in the United States. Most originates from one country‹Burma. Burma's military dictatorship‹the State Law and Order Restoration Council, or SLORC‹seized power in 1988 after slaughtering thousands of peaceful pro-democracy demonstrators. In 1989, the junta concluded ceasefires granting rebel groups unimpeded heroin-trading rights Since then, Burma's heroin production has jumped more than 350%. Much of that heroin heads straight for America. On Tuesday, Burmese democrats, human rights representatives, trade unionists, and specialists on Burma's politics and drugs trafficking will testify. This is important legislation that follows on work already done in the cities of Berkeley, Madison, Oakland, Santa Monica, Seattle and the state of Massachusetts, where selective purchasing legislation has already been adopted The Tuesday, March 4, hearing represents grass roots human rights and environmental activism in the community that is demanding and now receiving a hearing among our elected representatives regarding Burma policy. Further: … It sends an important message to businesses that are investing in Burma or thinking or doings so that now is not the time to do so. … It tells the SLORC that continued repression and heroin trafficking are generating ever-greater international opposition. … It encourages pro-democracy forces in Burma, who, despite SLORC media repression, will learn of the hearing through international radio broadcasts and word of mouth. Please come to the hearing . A good turnout will help convince New York City Council members to support this legislation. For further information, please contact: Burma UN Support Office 212-338-0048 If you can't attend, you may write or phone any or all of the following City Council members to express your support for Bill #647: New Yorkers, you can also call your own local Council member. Hon. Peter Vallone Hon. Antonio Pagan New York City Council Speaker 237 First Avenue City Hall, New York, N.Y. 10003 New York, N.Y. 10007 212-477-1203 212-788-7210 Hon. Andrew Eristoff Hon. Julia Harrison New York City Council New York City Council 409 East 14th Street 39-15 Main Street, Suite 211 New York, N.Y. 10009 Flushing, N.Y. 11354 212-473-4960 718-886-7040 Hon. Jose Rivera Hon. Israel Ruiz, Jr. New York City Council New York City Council 2488 Grand Concourse 1 East Fordham Road Bronx, N.Y. 10548 Bronx, N.Y. 10468 718-364-3700 718-220-0738 Hon. John Sabini Hon. Mary Pinkett New York City Council New York City Council 37-32 75th street 324 De Kalb Avenue Jackson Heights, N.Y. 11372 Brooklyn, N.Y. 11205 718-507-3688 718-857-0959 Hon. Annette Robinson Hon. Kenneth Fisher New York City Council New York City Council 1360 Fulton Street, Room 417 16 Court Street, Room 1505 Brooklyn, N.Y. 11216 Brooklyn, N.Y. 11241 718-399-8900 718-875-5200 Hon. Juanita Watkins Hon. Wendell Foster New York City Council New York City Council 220-07 Merrick Boulevard 1377 Jerome Avenue Laurelton, N.Y. 11413 Bronx, N.Y. 10452 718-527-4356 718-588-7500 Hon. Thomas Duane New York City Council 275 Seventh Avenue, 12th Floor New York, N.Y. 10001 212-929-5501 ******************************* COLLEGE OF THE ATLANTIC: SEL PURCHASING PASSED February 27, 1997 From: On Wednesday, Febuary 26, the College of the Atlantic's students, staff and faculty voted by a margin of 86 for and 9 against on a major policy change that bans the college from from purchasing any good or recieving services from any company doing any business in Burma. Vote was the result of a campaign by students that led to the banning of PepsiCo from campus last term. ***************************************************** ANNOUNCEMENT: ALBRIGHT TO GO ONLINE TO ANSWER POLICY QUERIES February 26, 1997 From: Myo Aye <082903@bud.cc.swin.edu.au> Concerned about human rights or puzzled by U.S. policy in Burma? Now you can send e-mail to Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and ask her to explain. Just send your query to the e-mail address secretary@state.gov and you are guaranteed a reply--though not necessarily from Albright herself. *****************************