------------------------ BurmaNet ------------------------ "Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies" ---------------------------------------------------------- The BurmaNet News: March 28, 1997 Issue #678 Noted in Passing: “Sometimes we have to deal with repulsive regimes. We have to weigh up whether the conservation benefit is worth the risk of being seen, directly or indirectly, to be supporting those regimes.” Robert Pellew,WWF-UK director (Observer:Burma’s Junta Goes Green) HEADLINES: ========== REUTER: MOSLEMS ATTACKED ON EVE OF MILITARY DAY FBC: BURMESE JUNTA PLAY A HAND IN RELIGIOUS CONFLICT BBC:ISLAMIC LEADER-MOSQUE ATTACKS 'POLITICAL’ THE OBSERVER:BURMA'S JUNTA GOES GREEN BKK POST: A LETTER TO CHETTHA THE NATION: JUNTA URGED TO FREE FISHERMEN THE NATION: QANTAS, BA EYEING AN EASED UP BURMA THE NATION: GREEN LIGHT FOR PIPELINE, A RED LIGHT BKK POST: WELCOME TO THE RANGOON CLUB BKK POST: JUNTA DENIES HARBOURING DRUG SUSPECT THAILAND TIMES: MAE HONG SON POLICE ARREST 3 BURMESE ANNOUNCEMENT: MIDWEST GRASSROOTS CONFERENCE -------------------------------------------------------------------- REUTER: MOSLEMS ATTACKED ON EVE OF MILITARY DAY March 26, 1997 RANGOON, March 26 (Reuter) - Several isolated incidents of vandalism against Moslem property were reported around Rangoon on Wednesday, as religious tension simmered on the eve of a key Burmese military celebration, diplomats said on Wednesday. ``They are small scale, sporadic incidents,'' said one diplomat. ``It is simmering...just pops up in various places. But it's not like wide scale unrest.'' Security remained heavy in the capital as growing numbers of armed troops manned checkpoints and stood guard at various key religious and military sites ahead of Armed Forces Day on Thursday, witnesses said. One diplomat said he had confirmed reports that three houses belonging to Moslems in a Rangoon suburb had been vandalised, and monks were reported to have thrown stones at a mosque and a teashop in another Moslem district in the Rangoon area. Diplomats said the military feared possible terrorist attacks by ethnic insurgents who might take advantage of the fact that all top military brass would be in the capital at one time for the celebrations. Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, whose house has been blocked off to the public by the military government for months, also announced plans to hold an alternative celebration on Thursday at her residence for up to 1,500 invited guests. Diplomats and opposition sources said they doubted the government would allow the celebration to take place at Suu Kyi's house, which doubles as headquarters for her National League for Democracy (NLD). ``So far everything is going smoothly,'' one senior NLD official told Reuters. ``But we don't know what will happen tomorrow. We have invited about 1,400 to 1,500 NLD members and supporters, and press and embassies have also been invited.'' The last event held at Suu Kyi's house -- which served as her prison during six years of house arrest -- was in honour of Union Day in February, when she called for talks between the government, ethnic groups and pro-democracy forces to try to build national reconciliation. Government officials were not immediately available to comment on the NLD's celebration or on latest reports of vandalism of Moslem property by Buddhist monks. There were also reports of unrest at a Buddhist monastery where monks were said to have thrown bricks and stones at riot police standing guard outside. The religious troubles began about 11 days ago in Burma's second city Mandalay after Buddhist monks attacked several mosques and protested in the streets. The government says the unrest began following reports that a Buddhist girl had been molested by a Moslem. But other sources said it was sparked by reports that an important Buddha image in Mandalay had been damaged. The government said on Tuesday the attacks were politically motivated by elements bent on destabilising the nation. *********************************** FBC: BURMESE JUNTA PLAY A HAND IN BUDDHISTS-MUSLIMS RELIGIOUS CONFLICT March 27, 1997 (rec’d) From: zarni The Free Burma Coalition C/O Department of Curriculum and Instruction 225 North Mills Street Madison, WI 53706 IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contacts: Win Ko (310) 202-9112 (Los Angeles) Zarni (608)-827-7734 (Madison) Madison, WI: The Free Burma Coalition (FBC) is saddened by the news of the recent religious conflict between Buddhist monks and Burmese Muslims. On March 15, a rumor that a Buddhist girl was raped by a Muslim man sparked the unrest in Mandalay and later spread to other cities and town. Curfew has been in place in a number of cities including the central city of Mandalay. Many people were said to have been injured and even deaths of some monks were reported. In Mandalay alone, eighteen mosques were destroyed and many Muslim-owned businesses, properties, and residences were vandalized. Historically, there is a prejudice among the majority Buddhists against the Muslim population who make up about 5 percent of Burma's population. However, the tension between the two religious communities in Burma was never such as to cause the unrest of this magnitude. The FBC Coalition has confirmed reports that Burma's State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) is involved in causing this unrest. The trucks from SLORC's Municipal Departments were used in order to transport monks to various predominantly Muslim residential places where there were mosques and Muslim-owned businesses and properties. Some of the monks were believed to be SLORC agents in disguise. The Burmese military leaders have had a long history of exploiting religious and communal prejudices to divert people's attention from the deeper economic and political problems. In 1967, when the rice shortages reached a crisis level, the military government, then known as Revolutionary Council Government, orchestrated anti-Chinese riots using agent provocateurs having exploited anti-Communist China sentiment among the majority Burmese population. A few years ago, the SLORC infiltrated the Karen National Union (KNU) and exploited the Christian-Buddhist tension within the KNU to its advantage. Later when a Buddhist faction of the KNU split away from the main KNU, the SLORC openly supported the Buddhist faction with arms. The FBC strongly condemns the SLORC's policy of "DIVIDE, DESTROY, AND RULE" and appeals to both Muslim and Buddhist communities to refrain from further violence. Furthermore, the FBC urges these communities not to fall prey to the SLORC's despicable tricks designed to divert the people's attention from the country's real economic and political crises. Win Ko, a FBC coordinator and Burmese muslim student in Los Angeles, said," We, as Burmese muslim community in Burma, have played an important role in our country's political, economic, and cultural affairs." He said," U Razak, a Burmese muslim from Mandalay, was assassinated along with U Aung San and considered a founding father of Burma. I wish both sides recognize that the SLORC is the Public Enemy and not us, the Burmese Muslim." According to the FBC founder, Zarni, a Burmese graduate student at University of Wisconsin at Madison, the latest unrests indicate the brewing political and economic crises and the inability of the SLORC leadership to finish the so-called economic liberalization. The SLORC has opened up the country for foreign investment while not loosening its hold on political power for nearly a decade. "I think the public dissatisfaction with the SLORC's incompetence, misrule, and mismanagement of the country is nearing an all time high. And another major revolt may be brewing." said Zarni. "This political climate is not even in the short-term interest of foreign investors," added he. ****************************************** BBC LONDON: ISLAMIC LEADER SEES MOSQUE ATTACKS AS 'POLITICAL DIVERSION' (translated from Burmese) March 24, 1997 The BBC contacted Ahad U Thein, chairman of Islamic Council Headquarters in Rangoon to ask about unrest in Burma involving members of the Islamic faith and Buddhist monks. I asked Chairman Ahad U Thein about the cause of unrest. Ahad U Thein answered as follows: [Begin recording] [Ahad U Thein] One cause was cited. That was in connection with an incident two weeks ago. It was quite a normal charge. The charge involving a woman was discussed with the authorities and the ward council concerned and the matter was pretty much settled. Frankly speaking, this does not really make sense. However, there are groups who are using this as a political diversion [two preceding word rendered in English] to divert [preceding word given in English] from the problem. For instance, there is a problem and there is likely to be a diversion [preceding word given in English], and there may be diversions from many directions. It will be another direction also [preceding 10 words rendered in English]. As we understand it, it is something linked with a political diversion [preceding eight words rendered in English]. We presume there are certain instigations, including political instigations. Those behind these instigations are possibly aiming at creating religious antagonism among fraternal national people. So, we need to act with restraint to prevent such a development. [Unidentified BBC correspondent] Mr. chairman you implied possible instigations in this issue. Can you describe in detail who is possibly involved, what kind of evidence do you have to make such a statement. [Ahad U Thein] We will have to review the incident in Mandalay in connection with this issue. The incident [attack on mosque] in Mandalay took place on 16 March. When we reviewed all the events the situation became clearer. The majority of the general public did not participate. We concluded that only a very small group took a leading role in creating the crisis. I think this group is not very big because the majority of the public did not join. Initially it was thought that the security for mosques was not strong enough, but there is more security now and as security improves there is more law and order. We can say it is quite peaceful now. The situation in Mandalay is now under control It spread from Mandalay to Rangoon with a few incidents taking place in Rangoon. According to the latest developments, incidents were reported in Pakokku and Pegu today. They are just minor incidents. Such incidents are likely to take place when there are instigations aimed at creating a crisis. However, we are quite optimistic [preceding four words rendered in English] that peace will soon prevail. To enable members of the Islamic faith to handle this issue patiently, four Islamic organizations met repeatedly and coordinated efforts to provide security, protection, and maintenance to mosques. These organizations will also consult government organizations, when necessary, and will consult among themselves as well. The main issue is to overcome and gain control over the current situation. [end recording] ********************************* THE OBSERVER:BURMA'S JUNTA GOES GREEN March 23, 1997 Adrian Levy and Cathy Scott-Clark in Burma and David Harrison SAVE THE RHINO, KILL THE PEOPLE Rangoon wants a nature reserve. So do conservationists. But first they have to get rid of the villagers. Adrian Levy and Cathy Scott-Clark in Burma and David Harrison report. We found them deep in the Burmese jungle, east of the Tenasserim river. About 2,000 of them, hungry, exhausted and fearing for their lives. They have no money, no change of clothes and they eat what food they find. They sleep under palm leaves propped teepee-style against the trees. A sickly child is crying. An old woman sobs endlessly. Saw Lyi, 56, holds out his hands: 'We do not know what to do. We do not know what will happen to us.' Saw Lyi knows he will not be going home. He and thousands of the Karen ethnic group, a gentle, cultured and religious people, have been driven out of their homes by the Burmese army. He also knows that in a strange way he is lucky, because he made it to the jungle, starving and homeless but alive. Hundreds of people, including Saw's son, a father of six, have been murdered in the two months since the army launched its offensive to crush the Karen, according to human rights groups which base their evidence on independent research, including hundreds of eyewitness accounts. Tens of thousands have been forced to work, unpaid and unfed, building roads and railways, and 30,000 have fled into the jungle or across the border to Thailand. Why? Because the Burmese army is clearing the Karen area, razing entire villages, killing, raping, enslaving, to make way for the biggest nature reserve of its kind in the world. Dwarfing the Masai Mara and the Serengeti, it is home to rare flora and fauna, tigers, elephants and the Sumatran rhinoceros. It will attract millions of tourists. Most importantly, it will be a sign to the world that Burma, shunned because of its appalling human rights record, cares about endangered wildlife and the environment. All the Rangoon government needed was a few major international conservation organizations to turn a blind eye to atrocities committed against an irksome ethnic minority. It got them from the top drawer of wildlife protection: the New York based Wildlife Conservation Society and the Smithsonian Institute in Washington. It also claimed to have 'an open channel of communication' with the Worldwide Fund for Nature International, whose patron is Prince Philip. The junta running Burma was thrilled - as we discovered when, after our dispiriting trek into the jungle, we made for Rangoon to see if a Minister would talk about the project and the role of those conservation giants. The two-storey Forestry Ministry squats at the end of a long tree-lined road in the Burmese capital. It is part of a complex of Ministries run by the State law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) and a stone's throw from the home of Burma's most famous dissident, Aung San Suu Kyi who is under virtual house arrest. Security is tight, more so since a bomb exploded in Rangoon three months ago. The Ministry was surrounded by barbed wire and bougainvillea. A dozen soldiers, bayonets glinting in the sun, stopped us at the first road block. We had dressed in khaki and boots to add plausibility to our guise as environmental researchers from a British University, but we had no appointment, no letter of introduction. The soldiers were suspicious but sent us on to the next roadblock to put our case to the military intelligence officers, sinister figures in pale blue uniforms and reflector sunglasses. But they seemed to buy our story and we were ushered into a spartan office where two senior Ministry figures received us with a mixture of scepticism and delight that respectable British scientists were interested in their 'big idea'. One introduced himself as Ye Myint, adviser to the Forestry Minister. Eager to impress, he boasted of SLORC's plans to establish a 'unique' million hectare 'biosphere', the Myinmoletkat Nature Reserve, in the Karen area, one of the semi-independent regions set up just before Britain pulled out of Burma in 1948. 'We hope the reserve will win world heritage status,' he enthused. The reserve would also encompass a section of a gas pipeline being constructed by Total and Unocal, the French and American oil companies, which signed deals with the Burmese to pump gas from the Andaman Sea in the west to Thailand in the east. Human rights groups say forced labour is being used on the project. Ye Myint told us of another 'exciting' project, the Lanbi Island Marine National Park, off the southern Burmese coast. Coral islands would be transformed into an 'eco-tourism venture' in the first stage of a grand plan to open the entire 200 mile Mergui archipelago to mass tourism and scientific study. His colleague Aung Din, a senior policy adviser, described how international environmentalists were lending the SLORC their expertise and reputations. The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and the Smithsonian Institution were helping to run both projects, he said. Other organizations were also involved. 'We have a very close relationship with Worldwide Fund International,' said Aung Din. He showed us a programme from a WWF conference in Rangoon last month. Delegates at the Asian Elephants Specialist Group's seven-day conference included WWF representatives and the curator of Chester Zoo. WWF-UK, the organization's British section, contributed £2,000 towards the cost. As we left, Dr Alan Rabinowitz, a senior scientist from the WCS, arrived to meet the same officials. We were told Rabinowitz had established a management committee for the Lanbi Island project and along with other scientists from the Smithsonian, was also running training programmes and conducting wildlife surveys. Rabinowitz was there to update officials and finalize plans for an expedition to upper Burma last week, part of a worldwide research and conservation programme which has taken the New York based WCS to 52 countries. The WCS and the Smithsonian are the first non-governmental groups to have worked with the SLORC since the Rangoon massacres of 1988, when 3,000 demonstrators were killed by police and troops during riots which led to the ousting of President Sein Lwin. Later that day we talked to other officials, Aung Than, director of forestry for the Tenasserim Division, spoke of the Ministry's 'open channel of communication with the WWF'. He said the WWF had discussed the new nature reserves with the SLORC, encouraged Burma to become a member of the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species, and made an 'exploratory mission' to Burma. When we asked if we could visit the new sites to conduct an audit of the rare and endangered species we were told; 'I'm afraid that will not be possible at the moment. You must be aware we have problems in this area. There is a large security operation going on. Mopping up must finish before anything else can begin.' Mopping up. That chilling phrase appears frequently in Burma's state-controlled press. It refers to the forced removal of 'troublesome elements'. That includes members of the Karen ethnic minority who object to their homes being torched and their families killed or forced to flee to the jungle. This contempt for human life was not evident last September at the launch ceremony for the Myinmoletkat Nature Reserve, held in Rangoon. Dr Kyaw Tint, Director-General of Forestry, assured guests that the welfare of local inhabitants would be paramount. Not only would rare species be protected but the lives of the rural poor would be improved. Three months later soldiers of the Tatmadaw, the SLORC's military wing, arrived at Saw Lyi's paddy fields at his village north of Mergui. The 56 year old grandfather was marched to a makeshift football field with the other villagers and told to leave within 24 hours or be shot. Overnight he lost his home and his livelihood. The SLORC needed his land for the nature reserve. He told his story, typical of the fate of thousands, at his jungle hideout, surrounded by his dead son's children and widow and other despairing relatives. 'I was tied to a bamboo post with Saw Kri, my son and hit twice in the face with a rifle butt. The soldiers punched and kicked him for about 30 minutes until he passed out. Then they killed him with a bayonet,' he said. We had been smuggled into the Tenasserim Division area by members of the Karen National Liberation Army who are resisting the SLORC slaughter. An isolated Asian frontier-land, cut through with verdant river valleys and wrapped in dense jungle, the Tenasserim already has wildlife sanctuaries established by indigenous groups. The brutal offensive began in February after troops of the newly formed Coastal Military Command, led by Brigadier General Thura Thihathura Sit Maung, had massed at both ends of the Division. Human rights monitors, who have interviewed refugees fleeing from the area and visited the region themselves say more than 2,000 have been killed, 30,000 have been evicted from their homes and as many forced to work for the SLORC in the past 18 months. Other victims told us their stories. Mal Thein Win was taken from his village near the coastal town of Tavoy and sent to a labour camp where conscripts were forced to build a railway running north to the town of Ye. After 17 people died of malaria, three of his friends tried to escape. They were caught, forced to dig their own graves and then executed. 'The soldiers buried the dead bodies but left the legs and hands exposed; nobody tried to escape after that,' he said. In a village south of the Total pipeline, Mi Aye, 34, a mother of seven, told how women were raped by soldiers guarding forced labour projects: 'they raped many women, but Mi Thein, one of the girls was raped so many times she died. She was just 18 years old.' As well as gathering scores of first-hand accounts, the Observer was shown order issued by the Tatmadaw to village leaders, commandeering men and women for work. One stated: 'If you do not come this time you will be attacked with artillery. If you do not come it will be your fault, and don't think the army is bullying you.' Saw Bobo told how the army fired at villagers in the southern zone of the proposed 'biosphere' as they tried to escape from forced labour. 'I saw at least 10 people die, women and children among them.' Almost every village in a 40 mile stretch between the towns of Tavoy and Mergui, the western perimeter of the biosphere, has been ordered to move one or more times since September 1996. One NGO report said: 'Several thousand villagers are being used every day as forced labour. Children as young as 12, people over 60 and women still breast-feeding are forced to haul dirt, build embankments, break rocks and dig ditches.' Many of the people the Observer saw in the jungle were sick and bore the scars of recent beatings. Some told how they had been pressed into helping the army as it attacked Karen villagers. Aung Thien, 27, said: 'The soldiers made me go to the scene of fighting to pick up dead bodies.' My best friend, Thon We, was killed when he refused. They tied him to a post, knocked his teeth out with a gun butt and shot him.' Others like Peu May, 32, were used as human shields in attacks on insurgents. Stories have also begun to emerge of killings and disappearances on Lanbi and other islands in the Mergui archipelago. One elder from a village near Mergui said: 'We received reports of 140 deaths between October and December. On Lanbi Island, we were told that many people had died.' Western diplomats in Rangoon and human rights organisations are investigating the reports. A second village leader said the islanders were given a deadline to move. They refused and were massacred. Also killed were many villagers from Bobyin, on the mainland. However, while inquiries into the killings and disappearances continue, the Burmese government is selling the archipelago as a 're-emerging lost island paradise.' The slaughter of the innocents go on, but the conservation groups are winning the battle with their conscience. Josh Ginsberg, science director at the Wildlife Conservation Society in New York said: 'We do not sanction forced relocation, torture or killings. But we have no control over the government. 'We are in Burma because it is one of the highest biodiversity countries in Asia. We can walk away from it, but that wouldn't do any good for anybody. We are focused on biodiversity and conservation.' A spokesman for the Smithsonian Institution said: 'We are there to do important conservation work. We may disagree with a regime but it is not our place to challenge it.' Robin Pellew, director of WWF-UK, said WWF had done an elephant survey last year and planned to do a 'quick and dirty' tiger survey in the future. It had discussed the Lanbi nature reserve with Burmese officials, but had decided not to get involved. The WWF currently had no projects in Burma and no formal relationship with the Burmese authorities. 'Sometimes we have to deal with repulsive regimes,' he said. 'We have to weigh up whether the conservation benefit is worth the risk of being seen, directly or indirectly, to be supporting those regimes.' *********************************** BKK POST: A LETTER TO CHETTHA March 27, 1997 Non-governmental organisations from the US, Britain, Sweden and France among others have sent notes to Army Commander Gen Chettha Thanajaro asking him to allow the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to help Karen refugees along the border with Burma. "The army commander was quite surprised at receiving so many letters from NGOs. It might be part of a concerted effort by the Karen National Union (KNU), which is trying hard to get a UN presence in the border area," said one security official. Last Saturday, the Karen Refugee Committee issued a statement "requesting the Royal Thai Government to permit the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to perform its mandated role in the protection of refugee rights and security and to continue to extend refuge as before to the Karen civilians who have been forced to seek refuge in the border area of Thailand". The security official said copies of the letters from the NGOs were also sent to several security agencies in the hope they might be able to exert pressure on the government to yield to the committee's request. An army insider said Gen Chettha did not pay much attention to the letters and the request from Karen committee as he thought the UNHCR would only complicate border problems. "It is not the army but the government that initiates such policies," said the insider, adding that the request from the Karen could indicate the KNU wanted to make its fight with Rangoon an international issue. "We should not fall into such a trap as it would inevitably cause a lot of border tension. We could lose our sovereignty if we allowed the UNHCR to work along the border. This would further complicate the situation," said the officer. (BP) ************************************************* THE NATION: JUNTA URGED TO FREE FISHERMEN March 27, 1997 The Nation Army Commander-in-Chief Gen Chettha Thanajaro said Thailand has asked Burma's military junta to free the remaining 280 Thai fishermen imprisoned in Rangoon for illegal fishing. According to Chettha, he submitted requests to Burmese military chief Gen Maung Aye during their recent meetings in Tachilek and Myawaddy. Chettha said he had asked Rangoon to send back 50 Thai fishermen at each meeting. "We need to be careful, since we have asked [Burma] for help many times. But I think there will be no difficulty in such negotiations," he added. Chettha was referring to his negotiations with Maung Aye that led to the resumption of the Thai-Burmese Friendship Bridge, long suspended because of Burmese allegations that Thai villagers had intruded on the Moei River. Chettha labelled Thai fishermen "selfish" for intruding into Burmese territorial waters, and warned them to refrain from doing so again. "Right now, Thai fishing trawlers do not even fly Thai flags while in Burmese waters, because we have violated their waters so many times," he said. Meanwhile, Chettha yesterday condemned a Karen National Union plea for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to intervene in the handling of Karen refugees taking shelter in Thailand. Chettha said Thailand could handle the situation, contending that the Karen hold no refugee status, but are rather "people fleeing fighting". The UNHCR mandate covers only those with refugee status. "Any decision about how we handle the refugees is domestic. We prefer the right to deny such a request," he said. (TN) ******************************************************* THE NATION: QANTAS, BA EYEING AN EASED UP BURMA March 27, 1997 Jim Puntasen THAILAND is expected to become an increasingly important hub for international flights to the region when Burmese authorities loosen regulations, Nick Moore, the manager supervising both Qantas and British Airways in Thailand, says. Burmese destinations are now under ''specific" study by the management of the two airlines, and British Airways will likely become the first to offer a stopover in Rangoon for more than one route. Vietnam already offers a significant number of destinations for Qantas. In the future, British Airways will also fly there, not only to Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh, but other cities as well. Meanwhile, the return of Hong Kong to mainland China is not expected to affect the British Airways operation, according to Moore, due to a long relationship between the airline and local authorities. This year, British Airways and Qantas will seek to operate more flights to China, particularly Beijing and Shanghai. Currently, British Airways owns 25 per cent of Qantas and has no plans to sell its stake in the Australian airline. ''Thailand is becoming more and more important to us and despite the economic slowdown, a large number of Thais still travel overseas for business, holidays and study," Moore said. This year, British Airways will promote business packages to Europe and will also coordinate with United Airlines to offer major American destinations. (TN) ******************************************************* THE NATION: GREEN LIGHT FOR PIPELINE, A RED LIGHT FOR ENVIRONMENT March 27, 1997 Editorial The National Environment Board (NEB) on Monday approved the environmental impact assessment (EIA) on the controversial gas pipeline project which runs along the Burmese-Thai border. This action has brought the NEB into disgrace. The unprofessional and unethical decision made the agency little more than a rubber stamp for government projects. The Petroleum Authority of Thailand (PTT), the project owner, knew in advance that NEB would give the OK to the pipeline's construction by approving the environmental studies. PTT signed a contract with a German construction firm earlier this month but told the contractor not to start work before Monday to prevent criticism from concerned groups. A question immediately emerges: Are we once again being deceived by our government agencies? Look at the 20,000 villagers who are protesting in front of Government House. Aren't they the result of mistakes made by past governments who approved infrastructure projects without addressing social and environmental concerns? This time, the EIA approval did not come as a total surprise. After all, the NEB chairman is Prime Minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudh, while his Cabinet members serve as board members. Hence, the decision from the environmental board was made by the very people who endorsed the project. Going over NEB's two-decade history, we can see that the board has never stood up against government and industry forces which have always pushed ''development" projects regardless of the amount of damage they could bring to society and the environment. However, environment and human rights groups have said that they were shocked by the NEB's sudden decision. Only a few weeks ago, the Office of Environment Policy and Planning, which did the first reading for the NEB, twice rejected the project's EIA on the grounds that it did not contain sufficient information on the pipeline's possible effect on endangered wildlife. A biologist from the Wildlife Fund Thailand commented that, according to international EIA principles, PTT should have spent at least another year studying life cycles of various species to determine the possible impact to the ecology. But PTT cannot wait. Not because Thailand is in a dire need of natural gas from Burma to feed our power plants, but because it is forced by a contract with Burma to import gas by July 1998 or face a fine of Bt100 million a day to the Yadana gas field development consortium in Burma should purchase be delayed. In short, Thailand is being made to abuse its own environment and people for the Burmese military junta, which is infamous for abusing the rights of their own people and destroying their forests. Unlike Thailand, the pipeline construction on the Burma side is on a fast track because of suppression of the environmental movement and an operation to sweep away ethnic rebel groups from the border. A NEB board member admitted that the go-ahead to the pipeline project had to be given due to a bilateral deal between Bangkok and Rangoon. Besides, construction of the other two projects in the same package ­ the power plant in Rachaburi and the pipeline on the Burmese side ­ are almost complete. But the Thai government should not underestimate the environmental movement in this country simply because it does business with Burmese military dictators. Residents of Kanchanaburi province, who managed to stop the Nam Choan Dam project a decade ago, pledged to fight the pipeline project for the same reason they once opposed the dam ­ to prevent massive destruction of pristine forests and wildlife. There is an urgent need for the NEB to have a structural reform, as well as review its decision about the pipeline project. Concerned citizens, like those in Kanchanaburi and independent economic and environmental experts, must have a voice on the board if the NEB is to play a significant role in the country's economically viable and environmentally sound investments. (TN) ******************************************************* BKK POST: WELCOME TO THE RANGOON CLUB March 27, 1997 Editorial The presence of Li Yun-chung in Burma is a further indication of the ruling junta's questionable attitude to international drug traffickers. Rangoon apologists in Asean might do well to temper their enthusiasm for admitting an illegitimate government that defies international efforts against narcotics. Sightings in Rangoon of Li Yun-chung, the international narcotics suspect who jumped bail in Bangkok in February, raise the prospect of a crucial test of Burma's commitment to global efforts to combat the menace of drugs and of its sense of responsibility to its neighbour to the east. LI is a fugitive from justice in Thailand, where he violated bail conditions set by the Criminal Court, and in the United States, where he has been indicted on charges of importing 486kg of heroin. The disappearance of Li during consideration of a request by the United States for his extradition has been nothing short of a national embarrassment that has left a stain on Thailand's otherwise outstanding contribution to international efforts to stem the production and movement of narcotics by organised crime syndicates that know no borders and respect no laws. Once Li's presence in Rangoon is confirmed, Thailand will make the necessary representations to bring about his return but officials here had better not hold their breath. The record of the State Law and Order Restoration Council in harbouring drug barons and traffickers is appalling. Li will, after all, feel quite at home in the Burmese capital, where his neighbours include Khun Sa, the former leader of the Mong Tai Army, and Lo Hsing-han, both of whom are also on the international wanted list. Every year is Visit Myanmar Year, it seems, if you happen to be an international narcotics fugitive with sufficient assets to impress the generals who have turned Burma into an economic basket case. The arrival of the latest recruit to the small and exclusive club of international gangsters who have ploughed their drug profits into what pass for legitimate businesses lends weight to growing concerns that what Sicily is to Europe, so Rangoon may become to Southeast Asia. Indeed, hospitality shown by Slorc to the likes of Li Yun-chung, Lo Hsing-han and Khun Sa raises critical questions about Burma's attitude to organised crime in general and narcotics in particular. Thailand's border with Burma has always been porous to movements of people, arms, drugs and run of the mill contraband, but today there is controvertible evidence that much of the supply of amphetamines that is frying the brains of so many young Thais originates in Burma, in territory taken from minority groups by Slorc forces. Senior figures in our government have gone to great lengths to portray themselves as champions in the battle against amphetamines but their efforts are likely to be undermined by the presence of laboratories on nearby foreign territory controlled by a regime that likes to make international traffickers feel at home. It is Slorc's fondness for fugitives that should induce Slorc apologists in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to wake up to the concept that a man can be judged by the company he keeps. In the context of Burma, the apologists have found it convenient to dismiss appalling human rights violations as an internal matter even though Slorc's actions send thousands of refugees fleeing across its borders. They might find it altogether more difficult to dismiss Slorc's connections with international traffickers in the same manner, particularly since that country remains the world's number one heroin exporter and meets much of the demand for amphetamines in Thailand. (BP) ******************************************************* BKK POST: JUNTA DENIES HARBOURING DRUG SUSPECT March 27, 1997 AP Burma's military government yesterday ridiculed reports that it was sheltering an alleged drug trafficker wanted in connection with the largest shipment of heroin seized in the United States. Li Yun-chung, also known as Phongsak Rojanasakul, was released on five-million-baht bail on February 7 while awaiting extradition to the United States on charges of masterminding a shipment of 486 kilos of heroin seized in Hayward, California in 1991. The judge who released him is being investigated for judicial malfeasance and possible corruption. Li never showed up for his March 7 court date, and police said they had information he had already fled to Burma, although some other reports placed him in northeastern Thailand. (BP) ******************************************************* THAILAND TIMES: MAE HONG SON POLICE ARREST 3 BURMESE SOLDIERS March 25, 1997 Report by Khachon Bunphiphat Mae Hong Son: Three Burmese soldiers were arrested by Mae Hong Son police on Sunday while trying to enter Thailand, according to Mork Champae sub-district police. Police said the three Burmese soldiers who carried hand grenades had tried to enter Thailand because they could not stand the starvation in the military camp. The three soldiers, arrested at Ban Napapapack village in Maung district, were identified as Min Soe, 16; Aung Kyaw Min, 18; and Aung Hnaing Win, 19. They were of the Burmese 99th battalion stationed near the Thai-Burmese border opposite Mork Chapae sub- district in Mae Hong Son. They told the police that Burmese troops stationed along the border are facing food and weapons shortage. The food sent by the central government from the nearby city could not reach them because of assaults by minority groups. Meanwhile, deputy Mae Hong Son Police chief Pol-Col Boonmi Suksom said police officers and Pang Ma Par district officials are trying to help six Thai villagers who were earlier held hostage by Burmese soldiers. No progress was reported on the negotiations. Boonmi said Burmese soldiers have proposed that they will release the six Thai villagers whenever Thai officials would let them transport the seized food and construction materials through the border pass at Piang Luang village. The goods were seized from the Burmese by Thai authorities about a week before the six villagers were arrested. The Thai soldiers refused the passage of goods as they were military products. It is reported that the six villagers are safe. **************************************** ANNOUNCEMENT: MIDWEST GRASSROOTS CONFERENCE March 23, 1997 From: TUN MYINT Midwest Human Rights & Environmental Conference Indianapolis, April , 5-6, Butler University & Queen Of Sheba , Ethiopian Restaurant ON DEMOCRACY, HUMAN RIGHTS, AND THE ENVIRONMENT: THE ROLE OF MULTINATIONAL CORPORATIONS WHEN: APRIL 5-6, 1997 WHERE: INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA Christian Theological Seminary, 8am-3pm Saturday April 5 Butler University, Reilly Room, 6pm Saturday April 5 Roundtable Feast!: Queen of Sheba Ethiopian Restaurant, 11am Sunday April 6 WHO: INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS AND ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVISTS WORKING TOWARD A GRASSROOTS DEMOCRACY MOVEMENT IN NIGERIA, BURMA, COLUMBIA, EAST TIMOR, MEXICO & THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA ** PRESENTED BY ** * THE FREE BURMA COALITION http://wicip.org/fbc * AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL * SIERRA CLUB *FREE NIGERIA MOVEMENT *SPEAKOUT *GLOBAL EXCHANGE *FOOD NOT BOMBS Saturday night's keynote address, Reilly Room, Butler University, 6pm *DR. OWENS WIWA Nigerian physician, brother of the late Ken Saro-Wiwa and MOSOP activist, Toronto, CANADA Saturday's workshops panelists: *YUZANA KHIN Women's Representative, National League for Democracy (Liberated Area) Burma, Baltimore, MD *DR OWENS WIWA Nigerian physician, boycott shell oil campaign, Toronto *EDITH BOWLES Jesuit Refugee Service on Thai-Burma border, Bloomington, IN *HAFSAT ABIOLA Nigerian Human rights Activist, Washington, DC *TIM KEATING Executive Director of Rainforest Relief, Brooklyn, NY *TUNDE OKORODUDU-Labor Activist, Pres. Free Nigeria Movement, Oakland, CA *DAVID WOLFBERG- L.A. Free Burma Coalition and Dierector Rainforest Action Network, Los Angeles, CA *NOBLE OBANI-NWIBARI-Vice-President MOSOP, St. Louis, MO *KIM MIZRAHI Free Burma Activist and activist in Plastics Campaign, L.A. *MUKHTAR DAN'IYAN- Sec.-Gen. Free Nigeria Movement, Indianapolis, IN *PAUL KAWIKA MARTIN EarthCulture Activist, Laurel, MD *MIRA TANNA-St. Louis Support Committee for MOSOP, St. Louis, MO *GODFREY TANEH-MOSOP Activist, St. Louis, MO *JAMES UEBARI-MOSOP Activist, St. Louis, MO Sunday's Roundtable Panelists: *DAPO OLORUNYOMI-Nigerian dissent journalist, PANOS Institute, Washington,DC *KEVIN DANAHER Co-Founder of Global Exchange, Author of , San Francisco, CA *MARTHA OJEDA, Executive Director of the Coalition for Justice in the Maquiladoras (CJM) *DR. JOE DREXLER-Special Projects Director:OCAW (Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers Union), Denver, CO VOLUNTEERS NEEDED TO HELP ORGANIZE & FUND THE CONFERENCE please contact conference coordinator with your suggestions: Dalia Brahmi 9040 Wickham Rd Indianapolis, IN 46260 (317) 573-9463 email: dbrahmi@indiana.edu fax: (317) 274-1108 registration fee (includes housing friday-sunday, food friday-sat) students/low-income $10 full fee $20 or donation optional ethiopian feast sunday $10 PLEASE BRING SLEEPING BAGS, COFFEE MUGS, SPOONS & BOWLS ************************************