------------------------ BurmaNet ------------------------ "Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies" ---------------------------------------------------------- The BurmaNet News: May 24, 1997 Issue #730 Noted in Passing: These round-ups have become an annual May ritual. --Editorial on recent arrests of NLD members (The Straits Times: Myanmar has to Earn its Keep) HEADLINES: ========== SLORC: INFORMATION SHEET NO. A-0045 SAIN: UPDATE ON THE STATUS OF POLITICAL PRISONERS REUTER: PRESSURE MOUNTS ON ASEAN TO DEFER BURMA THE NATION: ASEAN MINISTERS TO DISCUSS PREPAREDNESS THE STRAITS TIMES: MYANMAR HAS TO EARN ITS KEEP SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST: LIFE IN SHADOW OF DEATH THE NATION: BIG WELCOME FOR DO MUOI IN RANGOON BURMA OFFICE: PRESS RELEASE ON MASSIVE CRACK DOWN SINGAPORE PRESS RELEASE: NLD ARRESTS THE NATION: RFD OFFICIAL FOUND SLAIN IN HIS HOME ----------------------------------------------------------------- SLORC: INFORMATION SHEET NO. A-0045 From: OKKAR66127@AOL.COM May 23, 1997 It is learnt from some news agencies that the NLD has stated that (100) of her party members have been arrested by the government. The official government authorities concerned have denied any arrest being made so far.There are instances where local authorities have requested some invited party members to refrain from taking the course of action which is geared to create chaos in the country. It is quite obvious that the NLD has intentions to try to get as much of their members arrested for propaganda purpose by trying to create a situation where the government has no choice but to take strong counter measures. More importantly, it is very much regretful that the government is being blamed for trying to maintain law and order as well as stability in the country. It is universally accepted that appropriate action will be taken by any government in the world if the law of the country is being challenged by any person or party for his/her or their own vested interest. Myanmar is also very much interested to learn how those countries that are now blaming the Myanmar Government will react when they come across with similar situation and the world still remembers how they reacted when they were being challenged. ********************************** SAIN: UPDATE ON THE STATUS OF POLITICAL PRISONERS May 23, 1997 SOUTHEAST ASIAN INFORMATION NETWORK (SAIN) UPDATE ON THE STATUS OF POLITICAL PRISONERS IN BURMA This is the latest information received with regard to students arrested in December for participating in demonstrations calling for students’ rights, democracy and human rights in Burma. Some of this information is already known, however this update should help clear some inquiries with regard to certain individuals. The following people have been charged under Section 5j: 17/1 (Helping an undergound organisation) or 17/2 (Member of an underground organisation). NAME SENTENCE Thet Oo 26 years (Charged for collaboration with the underground through the use of a photocopier) Phyone Phyone Aye (Wife of Thet Oo) Unknown Ye Naing Win (aka Ko Ye) 19 years Ye Kyaw Swar 19 years (President of the December movement. He was jailed in 1989 and released in 1994. He then continued studying where he left off in 1988 and passed his matriculation with 3 distinctions at RIT. At the same time he continued with the struggle for democracy in Burma.) Ye Maw Htoo 19 years Ye Ye Tun 19 years (Ye Ye Tun was in his final year at MSC studying Computer Science) Saw Robert 5 years The following people have been charged under Section 5j but 17/1 and 17/2 have not been used against them. Hnin Hnin Phwe 7 years Moe Moe Aye 7 years Toe Toe Tun 7 years Wai Lin 7 years Aye Naing 7 years Aung Zin Min (poet) 7 years U Tin Oo (engineer) 7 years Kyaw Kyaw Soe (Final year student RIT) 7 years Htwe Htwe Maw 7 years Ko Thet 7 years Myo Min Naing 7 years Kyaw Kyaw Htwe 7 years Aung Gyi 7 years Maung Zaw (or Aung Zaw?) 7 years Maung Maung Latt 7 years Soe Thaung 7 years Ye Min Thu 7 years Than Zaw 7 years Ba Thein Latt 7 years Phone Thet Naing 7 years Ye Kyaw Thu 7 years Sein Hla Oo 7 years Kyaw San Oo 7 years Maung Maung Oo 7 years Myo Mint Naing 7 years Nyain Myint 7 years Min Naing Ko (alias Kyaw Kyaw) 7 years Soe Tun 7 years Thar Gyi 7 years Thi Ha 7 years Saung Win Lat 3 years (Editor of the magazine for the Rangoon Municipal Corporation) Ko Htay 7 years All of those sentenced had their trials held in secret at Insein Jail. Trials were not held at the same time. Some were tried in January and the rest in March. All were originally sentenced to Insein to serve their time; some were held in the main jail and some were incarcerated in the annex. In 1958 the classification distinguishing between political and criminal acts was abolished and all prisoners are considered criminals. Below is the updated list of prisoners transferred from Insein to jails up country as a form of punishment. Those arrested for their part in the December demonstrations and jailed in Insein have also now been moved. Names in capitals are new names to the previous list. MYINKYAN PRISON U Win Htein Personal Assistant to Daw Aung San Suu Kyi Amnesty International Prisoner of Conscience Bo Bo Oo, U Myatt Tun, TIN MAUNG KYI (?), BO NI MANDALAY PRISON U PhoAye (NLD activist sentenced for reporting failure of the summer crop to NLD) ZAW MAUNG MAUNG WIN, DR HLAING MYINT, U HLA TUN (NLD MP), KYI MIN DINE Dr Soe Lin, a NLD supporter arrested in a crackdown on activist doctors in February has now been released. MYITKYINA PRISON Dr Khin Zaw Win (Calvin, NLD supporter), Ko Htein Lin (son of U Pho Aye and also convicted for reproting the summer crop failure), Dr Zaw Myint Maung (MP elect, Amarapura-1, Mandaly), Kyi Pe Kyaw (Bo gale Township Irrawaddy Division), Aung Naing Maw, Hla Tun Aung (video of summer paddy failure), Cho Ko Oo, U Pa Pa Lay (comedian arrested for performingsatire at Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s compound. Amnesty prisoner of conscience. Transferrred from Kying Kringka Labour camp), Maung Maung One, KHAING KO OO, MYO TINT, PAIK TIN, KYAW KYAW HTWE. THEYET PRISON Dr Myint Naing (Hanzada MP, also a vet), U Naing Naing, Maun Myo Min (Lu Baung Thit party, DPNS), U KYAW KHIN (MP TAUNGGI), THIN THIN AYE (AKA MIMI, NLD AND STUDENT), AYE THAN. THAYARWADDY PRISON Dr Zaw Myint, Dr Hlaing Myint, KO NGWE LIN, NYEI MYINT, TIN OO, AUNG ZAW MIN, TOE TOE TUN, KO AYE NAING, U MYA THAN (NLD), MYA SHWE (NLD), KYAW KYAW SOE. U Kyaw Khin, who was previously in the list for this prison is not in Thayarwaddy but in Theyet Prison. It can not be confirmed yet which prison Kyaw Zaya and Tin Maung Gyi have been transferred to. PATHEIN PRISON Thet Min Aung, Maung Maung Latt, Hla Min, Aung Moe, Htay Aung, Ba Thein Latt, U San Myint, U Thaung (also known as Soe Thaung), Let Ya Min (also Let Ya Win), Zaw Min, AUNG SOE (COULD ALSO BE AUNG MOE), LAI AI MON (UNCONFIRMED), KYAW ZAYA (UNCONFIRMED), ZAW THAN, THAN ZAW, MOE JYO, AUNG MYO KYAW, TIN MAUNG GYI (UNCONFIRMED). MYAUNGMYA PRISON Aung Myo Tint, U Maung Maung, Thuya, U Han Nyunt, U Myo Myint, YE MIN, (THE FOLLOWING NAMES ARE ALL STUDENTS FROM DAGON COLLEGE), PHONE THET PAING, TINT NAING TUN, THUYA AUNG, THA LIN HTIN, WIN ZAW, LEI LEI MON, AUNG MYO KYAW, THI HA, TIN MAUNG GYI. TAUNGOO PRISON U Ye Tun There are two students from the December demonstrations who were arrested but nobody knows where they are; Shwe Zin and Kyi Pe Kyaw May 27 1997 is the seventh anniversary of the election. In order to prevent MP’s from coming into Rangoon to celebrate the election the SLORC is arresting all MP’s and at the same time others who are ‘in the way’. In the Ayerwaddy, MP’s are being restricted to their homes and placed under armed guard. Names of those arrested will be forthcoming. ************************************************* REUTER: PRESSURE MOUNTS ON ASEAN TO DEFER BURMA MEMBERSHIP May 23, 1997 By Bill Tarrant KUALA LUMPUR, May 23 (Reuter) - Pressure mounted on the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) on Friday to defer giving membership to Burma after the military regime's latest crackdown on democracy campaigners. But diplomats and officials say ASEAN, which groups some of the world's fastest-growing economies and has taken a leading role in Asian security issues, would not be deterred. U.S. Secretary of State Madeline Albright said on Thursday she would consider ways of adding pressure on ASEAN, expected to admit Burma as a member in July along with Cambodia and Laos. ``I have written to various (ASEAN) leaders. I would very much like to slow down the possibility of Burma coming into the ASEAN,'' Albright said when questioned about Burma policy at a Senate committee hearing. ``We have tried very hard to get the ASEAN countries to follow our steps, but they don't seem to be interested in it,'' she added. ``I will relook at whether we should take some further action in encouraging them further.'' President Bill Clinton, citing ``severe repression'' in Burma, on Tuesday imposed economic sanctions on Rangoon, banning all new U.S. investment. Reports from Rangoon said at least 60 members of Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) were arrested this week ahead of a planned party gathering. Britain and Germany on Thursday condemned the arrests and called for action against Burma's military government. ``We are urgently exploring with our EU (European Union) partners the scope for further action against the SLORC,'' a British Foreign Office statement said. In Bonn, German Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel said in a statement: ``The latest intimidation, threats and arrests represent a new attempt by the military regime...to silence the democratic opposition.'' Foreign ministers of ASEAN -- Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam -- will meet in Kuala Lumpur on May 31 to decide exactly when to admit Burma. All indications point to ASEAN's annual meeting on July 24-25, diplomats say. ``Everything I hear from the Malaysians and others in ASEAN is it's quite likely to happen in July,'' said a Western diplomat who attended a senior officials meeting of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) in Malaysia's island resort of Langkawi this week. That would put the United States and the European Union in the ticklish position of sitting at the same table as Burma when ARF holds its ministerial meeting following the ASEAN meeting. All three are members of ARF, a 19-member grouping set up four years ago to help resolve potential conflicts in the Asia-Pacific region. Western members tried to raise the Burma issue at the ARF senior officials meeting, despite ground rules forbidding discussion of any country's internal affairs. ``The Burmese delegation gave the standard recitation of how things are getting better all the time,'' one diplomat said. Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, who has made a name in international affairs as an outspoken critic of the West, is determined to admit Burma this year when Malaysia takes its turn as ASEAN chairman on the grouping's 30th anniversary. The Philippines, up to now ASEAN's most reluctant member on Burma, on Thursday called for its admission. Undersecretary for Foreign Affairs Rodolfo Severino told reporters that Burma's admission was important for regional stability ``and the people of Myanmar themselves.'' ************************************************** THE NATION: ASEAN MINISTERS TO DISCUSS PREPAREDNESS OF APPLICANTS May 23, 1997 Rita Patiyasevi, The Nation Tokyo - Asean foreign ministers will next week assess the readiness of Laos, Cambodia and Burma to join the regional grouping, along with the proposal that they need not all be admitted at the same time, Foreign Minister Prachuab Chaiyasan said yesterday. Prachuab said he had told Malaysian Foreign Minister Abdullah Badawi during their meeting in Tokyo on Wednesday night that the three countries need not be admitted simultaneously, in the case any of the three do not feel ready to join. "If any of the countries say they are not ready to join yet, we should keep our door open for them to enter at a later stage," Prachuab said. Badawi had not made any comment on the proposal, but said Malaysia believed the admission of the three countries, especially Burma, was the right decision, Prachuab said. Prachuab's proposal for staggered entry is a departure from the Asean leaders' decision in December that Cambodia, Laos and Burma be admitted at the same time. Thailand suggested a fallback position, as the United States, a key political, economic and security dialogue partner of Asean, has strongly opposed Burma's membership into the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. President Bill Clinton increased US pressure on Burma on Tuesday by signing an executive order putting into effect economic sanctions against the country. Prachuab is likely to put his proposal up for discussion when Asean foreign ministers meet in Kuala Lumpur on May 30 and 31. The meeting, which was initially due to work out and announce the timing of the admission of the three countries, will instead discuss details of each country's preparations for Asean membership, including progress towards joining the Asean Free Trade Area. Prachuab said he and Badawi, who is on a tour of the region, had reaffirmed Asean solidarity and its position that decisions would not be swayed by outside influence, particularly the question of the admission of Burma. They also reaffirmed their commitment to Asean's policy of "constructive engagement" with Burma. "We reaffirmed our constructive engagement policy and agreed not to isolate Burma," Prachuab said. "If we isolate Burma, nobody can guarantee it will definitely bring change. We think it is better to bring Burma into the Asean family." The foreign minister said Badawi, who has just visited China, told him Beijing supported Asean's decision to admit Burma. According to the Malaysian minister, Chinese President Jiang Zemin may attend the informal Asean summit in December. Asean members want China, Japan and South Korea to attend the summit meeting, which is expected to be attended by all 10 Southeast Asian heads of government, including those from Burma, Cambodia and Laos. (TN) ***************************************************** THE STRAITS TIMES: MYANMAR HAS TO EARN ITS KEEP May 23, 1997 Editorial WITH depressing regularity, and deepening embarrassment to Asean, the Myanmar military authorities have again begun arresting opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) members for presumed attempts to disturb the nation's "peace, tranquility and stability". These round-ups have become an annual May ritual. The NLD's elected legislators and supporters from all over the country usually gather in Yangon at this time of the year to mark the May 27 1990 election that the party won, a victory which turned out to be hollow because the generals who have long controlled the state refused to let it take office. Last May, some 260 members were arrested as they readied themselves for the anniversary and a party congress. And once again this time, the ruling junta which calls itself the State Law and Order Restoration Council (Slorc) has shown how little it thinks of Asean and wider Asian opinion by resorting to detention instead of engaging the opposition in a process of reconciliation. NLD sources report that some 60 members have been arrested in their homes or were cut off in the last few days as they headed for the capital from the provinces. More arrests may follow as the seventh anniversary on Tuesday nears. The Slorc says the planned NLD assembly at the home of its leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, is a move to create "unnecessary problems" and force the government "to take strong measures against them so that the anti-government propaganda can be played in their favour". Of course, overt demonstrations of organised resistance are proscribed and NLD die-hards can expect to face the full wrath of the law. But Slorc deludes itself too by categorising these gatherings as a public-order matter. There are graver matters of political enfranchisement and the country's future path at stake. Myanmar will remain in limbo unless the clash of wills is replaced by a willingness to compromise. Alas, Slorc has never cared much about its bad notices internationally, and has been derisive of the economic sanctions imposed by the United States. This is where the members of Asean, which Myanmar expects to join this year, should exercise peer pressure on Slorc. At the least, this can be done by expressing distaste at what is going on and urging speedy political reform, which the Slorc is committed to. Constructive engagement must remain as Asean's approach to dealing with the junta, but it must be made clear that this was never intended as carte blanche to deny the Myanmar people their popular will. Asean's charter obliges members not to interfere in each other's political system. Slorc has gained hugely from this disclaimer to take account of members' differing governing philosophies. But Myanmar should not be permitted to shelter under this cover in perpetuity. As Asean membership for Myanmar is deemed a foregone conclusion -- Asean foreign ministers meeting in Kuala Lumpur on May 31 are said to be ready to decide on the inclusion of Cambodia and Laos as well -- the Slorc generals must be apprised of two facts. Far the more important is that membership is not to be misinterpreted as Asean forebearance (or worse, tacit approval) for whatever improprieties the Slorc might inflict on a political opposition which won 80 per cent of the seats in the 1990 election. Accepting as a member a country which now numbers among a handful of regimes ostracised by much of the world will come at no small cost to Asean's prestige. Myanmar should be left in no doubt of that. Secondly, its conduct in its internal affairs should be consistent with Asean conventions for decency. This is no window-dressing. It is in a manner contractual in that the US, the European Union and other dialogue partners of Asean's can boycott consultations and collaborations with the grouping on what is judged as the unacceptable behaviour of one constituent member. Myanmar should not bring Asean into disrepute. It has a period of probation to get past -- and Asean can and must set the toughest compliance standards. ****************************************** SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST: LIFE IN SHADOW OF THE DEATH SQUADS May 21, 1997 William Barnes Civilians are being murdered by elite units deployed by the Burmese military junta to clamp down on the guerilla forces of the Shan minority. The trouble with even the hardest, most loyal soldier is that he can be troubled by flashes of humanity. Even the most stern-faced servant of the powerful has been known to weaken at the pathos of humble family life. Twinges of doubt, perhaps even remorse, are not useful emotions for men charged with wreaking retribution on their fellow man. The refugees fleeing the broad plateaux of the Shan state harbour few fond memories of the Burmese soldiers who have played so freely with their lives. But it seems that even the soldiers who reputedly distrusted and despised them, wrecked their homes, beat them, stole from them, sometimes killed and raped them, may have been too soft for the job. For the refugees, still wide-eyed with apprehension, report that special death squads have been employed to roam the Shan state. They are the executioners' executioners. Numbering perhaps 80, they are the least pitying of men from an army not renowned for encouraging kind hearts. About two months ago four "healthy and respectful" sons, the oldest 30, the youngest 15, volunteered to cut and bring back the rice harvest that was in danger of rotting. The nephews of Sao Geena, the family patriarch, 57, knew this was no simple or safe thing. Their families had already been kicked out of their homes at Na Law and moved to virgin scrubland about 30 kilometres away at the Ko Lam holding camp. But starvation beckoned if they could not find food quickly. There was no outside help. So they told their village leader they were going to return home for a day or two to cut rice, knowing that he would, in turn, warn the local army unit what they intended to do. The four men rode out of the makeshift family camp early the next day hoping to make good time on their green Thai-made bicycles. They were wearing the usual Shan clothing of bell-bottomed trousers and loose shirts, the hoes and cutters of their simple trade slung across their shoulders. They carried enough rice for a night or two in the fields. A day later a squad of seven Burmese soldiers told the driver of an ox cart to take four bicycles to the headman of Ko Lam village. On rare occasions members of the killer teams have been known to wave away people they see on forbidden territory - knowing what their gruesome duty must be if they catch them, according to Shan farmers who have lived to tell the tale. It seems that no one gave Sao Geena's four nephews a second chance. Their bodies were found not far away. Their arms fixed in crucifixion poses by long sticks and cord. They had been stabbed and shot. Another of Sao Geena's nephews was later ordered to guide the soldiers from Ko Lam to the market town of Nam Zarng, where the bicycles fetched a fair price, about $ 160 each. Sao Geena does not think the owners got a good deal: he says they were ambushed simply because they happened to be riding shiny, green bikes. "What a waste - they tried to live like decent people and were killed for nothing, for bikes . . ." he said. The State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC), as the Burmese junta styles itself, is unhappy with the Shan people because several hundred of its younger men insist on resisting the army's embrace by fighting a guerilla war. Any ethnic minority that attempts to rebuff the SLORC does so at its peril. The response, away from the gaze of the world in the long, lonely stretches of Shan state, appears to have been brutal. "I do not think it is too far fetched to call this ethnic cleansing . . . really that seems to be the effect," said Khan Harn Fah, secretary to the Shan Human Rights Foundation. "Things are much worse than they have ever been before . . . they kill on a whim." Khan Harn Fah said to his knowledge 50 Shan villagers had been killed in the past three months. The Shan have learnt the bitter cost of becoming a "suspect" population. Their empty lands have become free-fire zones for Burmese troops who appear to act as if there was hardly a check on their behaviour. One village headman, Sao Moon, 48, makes it his business to record every family's story as they pass across the border into Thailand. "Every family has story to tell me. I try not to think . . . I know every time it will be bad," he said. If they are lucky they tell only of forced labour and beatings. In early April two married couples and their pretty young relatives asked permission to go back to work their gardens near the village of Nam Woo. The next day they again returned to the gardens - without asking for the permission which they assumed was still granted. Their bodies were found by their friends; the women had been raped. Sao Moon's logbook records that a few days before this two sisters of 15 and 12 were bringing back cows to their village of Lai Ku when they were set upon by 20 soldiers. The two officers raped the girls first; the rest took their turn. The girls did not survive the ordeal. It should perhaps be pointed out that none of the Shan families who recall, stony-faced, the horrors they have endured have any particular reason to lie or exaggerate. None seem to harbour any hopes of retribution or justice. Their aim seems to be simply to survive by keeping out of sight and their families together. Even without inflicting terror the army makes a quick and efficient job of wrecking thousands of villages by insisting they pack up and move at a few hours notice. Scores of communities have been forced to move at least twice. Sao Geena gave up after his nephews were killed: he moved the 37 members of his extended family into Thailand - including his 90-year-old mother. "There is no future in the Shan state," he said. Only the extreme privations inflicted on his village caused his family to leave practically all their worldly wealth behind and try to scrape a living on the illegal fringes of Thai society. The Shan are ethnic cousins of the Thais with a similar language so they have a better chance of finding a friendlier reception than some other minorities. Khan Harn Fah said the Burmese army had been moving in lowland Burmese and Chinese migrants to fill the Shan state as it is emptied of its population. "We know of many, many cases where the soldiers have divided up confiscated land and tried to sell it or have brought in their friends or veterans," said Khan Harn Fah. In the past 12 months at least 50,000 Shan have fled across the border where they have little prospect of being recognised as refugees now that Thailand has claimed firmly that it is suffering from "refugee fatigue". Instead they work for slim wages on building sites, fruit farms or in the sweat shops that have sprung up near the border to take advantage of cheap Burmese labour. None of them appear to blame Sura, the Shan United Revolutionary Army, responsible for waging a guerilla war for some kind of autonomy. "If there was no resistance the SLORC would have the freedom to do anything - to be even worse," said Sao Moon. The Sura name is decades old - making it a venerable organisation in the turmoil of the Shan state. But the organisation that exists today is formed from an energetic, and generally young, faction that broke away from former drug warlord Khun Sa's Mong Tai Army when he surrendered to the SLORC at the beginning of 1996. The surprising ease with which Khun Sa was able to ingratiate with his old enemies revealed to his more nationalist former colleagues his cunning and ruthlessness. The Sura have taken up the cause that Khun Sa used to profess was his aim: fighting for freedom for the Shan. A Sura official said they had demonstrated their flexibility by bidding for a joint cease-fire (with less powerful Shan rivals) with the SLORC late last year. "They were not interested. They are scared of any group getting too powerful," said one senior member of the guerilla group. As with the ethnic Karen rebels fighting a similarly desperate rearguard action 480 kilometres to the south, the junta appears to have little interest in negotiating a lasting political settlement. The Sura fighters said they have made overtures to the alliance of ethnic opposition movements that have allied themselves with the Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi. "We are not gunslingers . . . we just want some basic rights," said the Sura member. The suspicion that Sura, like many other groups in Shan state, make money from narcotics trading is a shadow they must endure, although its members deny it. What the Shan experience underlines is that the SLORC's ideas of a political settlement are a long way from providing the country's myriad cynical minorities with any practical protection against the depredations of the military. "They want nothing less than our surrender," said the Sura official. "Would you do it after what we have experienced?" The 15 cease-fire agreements that the SLORC has signed with ethnic minority groups often mean less than meet the eye; especially since the potential rebels have been allowed to keep their weapons. Some of the "minority groups" are fronts for drug traffickers who appear to have little to fear from the SLORC as long as they keep out of politics. Others, like the Kachin minority, seem to think there is some hope for a political settlement. A former member of Nelson Mandela's African National Congress turned diplomat has pointed out that real peace only came to South Africa after years of trust -building meetings between the white establishment and the black opposition. "Without trust you can do nothing. All you have is rule by the gun," he argued. The well of bitterness that the SLORC has been filling in the Shan state, and everywhere else that it meets any active resistance, shows it thinks that rule by the gun will do nicely thank you. *************************************** THE NATION: BIG WELCOME FOR DO MUOI IN RANGOON May 23, 1997 [abridged] Agencies Rangoon - Vietnamese Communist Party Chief Do Muoi arrived yesterday on a three-day official visit seen as a gesture of support for Burma's Asean entry bid. Upon arrival at Rangoon airport, Do Muoi's 65-member delegation was given a red carpet welcome including a 21-gun salute, and thousands of young school children in colourful outfits lined the streets waving flags of the two countries as he drove to the state guest house. Lt Gen Khin Nyunt, first secretary of Burma's ruling military junta, the State Law and Order Restoration Council (Slorc), later called on Do Muoi, the party secretary-general and the second high-ranking Hanoi official to visit since the junta took power in 1988. Do Muoi was also due to meet Burmese leaders - including Slorc Chairman Gen Than Shwe - later yesterday to discuss bilateral and regional matters. Analysts viewed the visit as a gesture of support for Burma's bid to join Asean this year, a move opposed by the United States which on Tuesday imposed investment sanctions on Rangoon to protest its human rights record. "Since 1995, Vietnam has been a full member of Asean and the present visit is to reiterate its support for Burma to become a full member of the regional grouping by July this year," a senior foreign diplomat said. Among full Asean members, Vietnam was strident in its criticism of US sanctions against Burma, announced last month and formalised on Tuesday. (TN) ***************************************************** BURMA OFFICE: PRESS RELEASE ON MASSIVE CRACK DOWN BY SLORC May 22, 1997 From: BURMA OFFICE BURMA OFFICE Labor Council Building, Suite 6, 8th Floor, 377-383 Sussex St., Sydney, NSW 2000 Tel: (02) 9264 7694: Fax: (02) 9264 7693 E-mail burma@sydney.net PRESS RELEASE NLD Faces Massive Crackdown by the SLORC What will the Australian Government do? 22nd May 1997 Once again the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC), the military dictatorship of Burma, are cracking down on the lawful activities of the elected people’s party, the National League for Democracy (NLD). Responding to the NLD’s intention to hold an anniversary celebration/meeting for their election victory in 1990, the SLORC have embarked on mass arrests and intimidatory tactics. It has been estimated by diplomats in Rangoon that approximately 100 people on their way to Rangoon for the meeting have been arrested mainly in Mandalay and Sagaing Divisions. People in the Shan, Mon and Karen States have also been warned not to travel to Rangoon. It was reported that the telephone of the General Secretary of the NLD, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, was cut of for many days but is now back on. While the USA pushes ahead with economic sanctions against the SLORC the Australia Government still fails to respond with appropriate policies. The Burmese Community in Australia are asking, “What does the SLORC have to do before Alexander Downer is prepared to impose tougher policies against them”. The only appropriate action at this time is for all nations of the world to join the US and Norway with the imposition of sanctions. Media Contacts: Minn Aung Myint, BURMA OFFICE Tel: (02) 9264-7694, Mobile: 041-2230 737 Amanda Zappia, NCGUB / FTUB / ABC Tel: (06) 297-7734 ____________________________________________________________ The Burma Office is working for the National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma (NCGUB), Federation of Trade Unions -- Burma (FTUB) and Australia Burma Council (ABC) ------------------------------------------------------------------------- We must force the Australian Government to come up with tough new policy. Sanctions, Visa Restrictions and the closure of the Austrade Office in Rangoon. Please take urgent action by writing to: Alexander Downer Minister Foreign Affairs Parliament House Canberra ACT 2600 Fax: (06) 2734112 Write and fax to: Senator the Hon. Margaret Reid President of the Senate Chairperson Australian Parliamentary Friends of Burma The Senate Parliament House Canberra ACT 2600 Fax: (06) 277 3108 Please ask her to get your views to the membership of the parliamentary Friends of Burma and also ask that they join the push for sanctions. *************************************** SINGAPORE PRESS RELEASE: NLD ARRESTS May 22, 1997 From: THE WORKERS' PARTY 1 Colombo Court #09-22 Singapore 0617 Telephone: 337 2371 PRESS RELEASE The Workers' Party welcomes the economic sanctions imposed on Myanmar by President Clinton following the arrest of members of the National League for Democracy. The Party calls upon the Singapore Government to lodge a strong concern with the authorities in Myanmar. It is the least the government can do, if it does not wish to support the US move. Myanmar should have no place in ASEAN so long as the military keeps the people's elected government out. The Party hopes that the new Labour Government in Britain with its announced policy to promote human rights will follow the US example. (Signed) J B Jeyaretnam Secretary-General 22nd May 1997 ******************************************* THE NATION: RFD OFFICIAL FOUND SLAIN IN HIS HOME May 23, 1997 A SENIOR forestry official in Mae Hong Son's Mae Sariang district was found murdered in his home yesterday morning with wounds to his head and face, Pol Lt Manop Pollak said. Weerawat Chiwaserichol, 45, chief of forest destruction prevention for Mae Sariang, was found dead in his pyjamas with a 30-centimetre long and 2.5-centimetre thick steel rod splattered with blood lying beside him. Police said they have two theories behind the C-7 government official's death ­ one personal and the other that he angered some people when he recently revealed the illegal logging business operating on the border between Mae Hong Son and Burma. Weerawat's claim that trees were being illegally felled in forest reserves prompted the deputy director general of the Royal Forestry Department (RFD), Prawat Tanadka, to set up a fact-finding committee to investigate the case and to order an intensive inspection of the areas. A high-ranking police officer from Regional Police Bureau 5 has been assigned to help local police solve the case. Pol Col Suthep Dejraksa, superintendent of the bureau, said Weerawat may have been silenced because he knew too much about the illegal logging business on the border. Satit Sawinyo, director general of the RFD, said Weerawat had a good work record, and was an honest and decent man. (TN) *****************************************************