------------------------ BurmaNet ------------------------ "Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies" ---------------------------------------------------------- The BurmaNet News: June 2, 1997 Issue #739 HEADLINES: ========== THE NATION: ASEAN AGREES TO BURMA'S EARLY ENTRY KYODO: HASHIMOTO VOWS CLOSE WATCH ON MYANMAR REUTER: U.S. REGRETS ASEAN NOD TO BURMA AFP: MYANMAR ENTRY A TERRIBLE SHAME, SAYS SDP'S CHEE THE NATION: CHINA, JAPAN PRAISE DECISION ON NEW TRIO THE NATION: SHAMEFUL FOR ASEAN TO EMBRACE BURMA TT: STUDENTS IN EXILE DEMAND JUNTA RE-OPEN SCHOOLS ALTSEAN: MALAYSIA- ACTIVISTS RELEASED FROM CUSTODY THE NATION: NEW MEMBERS FACE STRICTER PROCEDURES TT: CHANNEL DREDGING WILL NOT UPSET RELATIONS ASIA TIMES: EVEN THE HEROIN TRADE HAS BEEN AFFECTED ASIAWEEK: BEYOND SANCTIONS ----------------------------------------------------------------- THE NATION: ASEAN AGREES TO BURMA'S EARLY ENTRY June 1, 1997 Kulachada Chaipipat KUALA LUMPUR - The Association of Southeast Asian Nations decided yesterday to admit its final three members - Burma, Cambodia and Laos - in July, reaffirming their belief that this was in the best interests of the region and the world community. The Asean foreign ministers hailed their controversial decision to "complete" the grouping, by expanding it to bring all 10 Southeast Asian nations into its fold, but critics warned that further repression was likely in Burma as a result. The decision was made on the recommendation of the Asean Secretariat, which reported in detail on the three countries' readiness to fulfil all technical requirements and economic and non-economic commitments of membership. Malaysian Foreign Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, chairman of the Asean Standing Committee, said the three new members should be given 10 years, beginning next year, to join the Asean Free Trade Area. He said he would travel to all three capitals next month to convey the decision and for consultations on the final preparations for admission. It was decided to admit, all three countries in July despite a strong appeal from the Burmese democratic opposition, led by Aung San Suu Kyi, and regional and international human rights groups. They had called on Asean to delay Burma's admission until there were political reforms in he country. The decision also went against the United States' request that Asean reconsider the Burmese junta's bid for membership this year. In a video-taped message to Asean foreign ministers, Suu Kyi said the premature admission of Burma into the grouping would make the Burmese junta "more obdurate and oppressive than ever". In Rangoon, the ruling Burmese State Law and Order Restoration Council immediately praised the decision, saying Burma would work with other members to develop the region. The official admission ceremony will take place a day before the Asean foreign ministers' annual meeting convenes on July 24.After induction, the new members will be entitled to attend all Asean sessions, including the Post Ministerial Meeting where Asean holds talks with dialogue countries, including the US. Yesterday's decision cleared away speculation that Asean might defer the admission until December, to ward off international pressure against Burma's early membership. Badawi said the ministers agreed that the Asean Secretariat's report provided ample proof of the readiness of the three countries, while the political situation in Burma and Cambodia was not a criteria for consideration of membership. He admitted that there were concerns among Asean members about the political situation in the two countries, but said Asean believed their early inclusion would help improve the situation. "We do not think that a delay would improve the situation in those countries," he said. Thailand and the Philippines did raise the issue of political unrest in Burma and Cambodia, questioning in particular Phnom Penh's ability to ratify 19 Asean treaties and agreements. They later bowed to Indonesia's view. Indonesia's Foreign Minister Ali Alatas led those who supported the admission in July and not later. During intensive discussions on Friday night, Alatas was quoted as saying there was no proof that if admission was deferred until December the political situation in Burma and Cambodia would improve. "We are assured by the Asean secretary-general that ratification of the treaties and agreements will not be necessary for the time being, but will be later, in the next two or three years," Philippines' Foreign Minister Domingo Siazon said. "Of course, we will have more members and more problems. But we hope to increase our ability to deal with these problems now that we are together, not divided nations of seven plus three," he said. "We also hope, that integration will have a positive impact over the long-term on the human rights situation [in Burma]," he said. Foreign Minister Prachuab Chaiyasan said Thailand was led to believe that integration and co-existence would contribute to political and economic stability and prosperity in the region. Prachuab said early admission would enable Asean to help the new members improve their human resources and enable them-to fulfil economic commitments. He acknowledged the ministers had discussed the impact the admission of Burma and Cambodia could have on the grouping's relationship with its dialogue partners. He did not elaborate. An Asean source disclosed that US Vice President Al Gore had, prior to the meeting yesterday, sent a personal letter to Malaysia and the Philippines, expressing US opposition to Burma's early admission. "Rather than an obstruction, it provided an impetus for Asean to come to this decision," he said. According to the source, Asean did not want to be seen as bowing to US pressure. Indonesian Foreign Minister Alatas said the US concern did not divide Asean on the issue to the extent of creating indecisiveness. Asean ministers agreed that the admission of the last three new members was in the long-term strategic interest of the countries in the region and the world. "By having all of them in, we are in a better position to contribute to peace and stability in our region," he said. "For one thing, it materialises the long-held dream of the Asean founding fathers, ever since we established Asean more than 30 years ago, to have all the 10 Southeast Asian countries in one community." The ministers agreed to meet again on June 313 in Hong Kong to review final preparations before the actual admission ceremony in July. ********************************************* KYODO: HASHIMOTO VOWS CLOSE WATCH ON MYANMAR AFTER ASEAN DECISION June 1, 1997 Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto pledged Sunday to keep a close eye on developments in Myanmar following a decision Saturday by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to accept Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos as full members in July. ''It is ASEAN policy to invite Myanmar into the regional grouping and not to isolate it,'' Hashimoto said. ''Japan wants to closely follow (developments in Myanmar) so as not to turn its ASEAN membership into remission of the sins of the military government.'' ********************************** REUTER: U.S. REGRETS ASEAN NOD TO BURMA June 1, 1997 WASHINGTON, June 1 (Reuter) - The United States said on Sunday it regretted the decision by Southeast Asian states to invite Burma to join their regional grouping. The State Department acknowledged the makeup of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations was an internal matter for member states to make. ``Nonetheless, we regret that ASEAN appears to have invited Burma to join its organisation at this time,'' a department spokeswoman, Julie Reside, said. Burma, along with Cambodia and Laos, won admission to the regional grouping on Saturday at an ASEAN Foreign Ministers' meeting in Kuala Lumpur. The Clinton administration has pressed for isolation of the military junta in Burma until it stops repressing the pro-democratic opposition. The junta, the State Law and Order Restoration Council, blocked Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace laureate, from taking power after her party won a landslide victory in 1990 elections. The State Department said it was counting on ASEAN members to urge Burma's military junta to enter into a ``productive dialogue'' with domestic democratic forces and cease actions that undermine regional stability. ``Our concerns about the SLORC's policies are well known,'' Reside said. ``It has violated the rights of its own citizens and taken actions that undermine stability in the region by producing refugee flows and allowing Burma to remain a major source of narcotics.'' She added that ASEAN shared these concerns ``and, like the United States, wanted to see them addressed.'' Washington, citing ``severe repression,'' early this month imposed economic sanctions on Burma over the military government's rights record and treatment of the democracy activists. ASEAN has rejected Washington's stance and branded it as interference in the grouping's internal affairs. ****************************************** AFP: MYANMAR ENTRY A TERRIBLE SHAME, SAYS SDP'S CHEE June 1, 1997 SINGAPORE -- A Singapore opposition leader yesterday called Asean's decision to admit Myanmar in July a "terrible shame" and warned that the move could worsen the political situation in the army-ruled country. Dr Chee Soon Juan, secretary-general of the Singapore Democratic Party, also criticised the Singapore Government for joining the Asean consensus to allow Myanmar's entry. Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos are to be inducted during the Asean annual meeting in Kuala Lumpur next month after its entry was approved at a special meeting yesterday of the group's foreign ministers in the Malaysian capital. The decision was taken despite a fresh crackdown on pro-democracy forces by Myanmar's ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council (Slorc) and pressure from Western nations against opening Asean's doors to the regime. "It's a terrible shame that after all that the Slorc has done to the people of Burma, Asean is going to legitimise their rule by inclusion into the association," Dr Chee told AFP. "We feel that it's again a very sad day for Singapore to support Slorc's inclusion into Asean," he added, citing the Myanmar regime's alleged involvement in drug trafficking. Dr Chee said the Slorc would read Asean's decision as a "green light" to "carry on with its ways" instead of being pressured into opening a dialogue with the opposition led by Nobel peace prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi. -- AFP. *********************************************** THE NATION: CHINA, JAPAN PRAISE DECISION ON NEW TRIO June 1, 1997 KUALALUMPUR - Cambodia, Laos, and Burma applauded Asean's decision yesterday to admit them simultaneously into the regional grouping at their foreign ministers' meeting in July. The decision was also welcomed by China and Japan, two close allies of the grouping but was received with shock by the Burmese democratic opposition. There was no reaction yet from the West particularly the United States which has strongly opposed Burma's early membership. "I would like to thank the seven foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations [Asean] who decided to admit Cambodia as a full member of Asean in July this year," said Cambodian Foreign Minister Ung Huot after he opened a golf course near Phnom Penh yesterday morning. In Vientiane in the afternoon, Laotian Foreign Minister Somsavath Lengsavat said, "Laos welcomes the decision of Asean foreign ministers in Kuala Lumpur to admit Cambodia, Laos and Burma simultaneously in July." In Rangoon, a senior Burmese military officer at the Defence Ministry welcomed the acceptance. "I personally thanked the Asean leaders for their foresight and courage to make this bold decision amid Western pressures to delay the integration," the officer said on condition of anonymity. "This obviously showed the Asean unity and principle against undue interference and pressure from outside," he said. But, Burmese dissidents in Bangkok expressed anger at the decision. An official of the National Council of the Union of Burma exclaimed, "it is ugly that Asean finally legalised the Slorc, by allowing them to join the grouping in July." "It would of course allow Slorc to be more oppressive and aggressive toward the prodemocracy movement," he said. Slorc or the State Law and Order Restoration Council (Slorc) is the ruling military regime in Rangoon. Vietnam said it "warmly welcomes" the decision to admit Cambodia, Laos and Burma as Asean's full members in July. "This conforms to the desire of the Southeast Asian countries to approach to an Asean that embraces all the 10 countries in the region at an early date, and will make positive contributions to the building of a Southeast Asia of peace, stability and cooperation for development," the Vietnamese Foreign Ministry said in a statement. In Beijing, China's official Xinhua News Agency quickly reported the Asean decision to accept the three countries. With a unanimous and historical decision, the grouping will become a true association of Southeast Asian nations, the agency said in a detailed report. In Tokyo, Japan also welcomed Asean's admission decision, a Foreign Ministry source said. But added that Japan still encourages democratisation in Burma. "We basically welcome the expansion of regional cooperation through Asean," the source said, making it clear, however, that Japan "will not tolerate Burma's using the membership as a hideout for oppression of its people." Tokyo, he said, will also try and encourage improving relations between Asean and the US. *********************************************** THE NATION: SHAMEFUL FOR ASEAN TO EMBRACE BURMA June 1, 1997 Editorial Asean will never be the same again. By embracing Burma as a member it has itself become a pariah organisation. Coming as it does on the eve of the 30th anniversary of the founding of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the decision yesterday will have repercussions far beyond whatever Asean leaders may envisage. It has indeed irreversibly damaged the organisation's integrity and setback some three decades of achievement. We firmly believe the applications for membership by Burma, Laos and Cambodia should be judged on their individual merits and readiness, just as it has always been in other regional organisations. But still, these qualifications are secondary to their peoples' desire for freedom and democracy. To accept Burma without any conditions is to ignore the aspirations of the Burmese people, who voted for Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) in 1990. Why bless a regime that is clearly not legitimate? A regime that is willing to go back on its word. >From the beginning, the Burmese junta's motive in bidding for membership of Asean was obvious a regional aegis to prolong its own repressive rule and to fight against Western pressure for openness. By exploiting Asean's strengths and weaknesses the junta leaders have been able to turn the membership issue into an East-West divide - Asean against the West. In the two years Burma has sought a closer rapport with Asean it has never lived up to regional or international norms of conduct and behaviour. Now, Asean would like us and the world to believe that as a member of Asean, the Slorc leaders will be more enlightened, open-minded and less oppressive. The Asean leaders' decision yesterday was a triumph of evil over humanity. There is a Thai saying that one rotten fish can spoil the whole basket of fish. The biggest disappointment must be those Thai leaders who failed to play appropriate roles in leading Asean. Partisan politics and self-interest on the part of various authorities completely destroyed the unanimity of Thailand's positions and policies. They will have to bear responsibility for the future of the Burmese people. Nonetheless, we welcome the decision to take in Laos and Cambodia, despite the political uncertainty in Phnom Penh. Laos has been preparing for this eventuality the longest, knowing full well their inadequacies. The Laotian and Cambodian peoples are supportive of their governments' desire to join Asean. The only tangible benefit of Burma's admission is perhaps the fulfillment of an Asean dream to encompass all 10 countries, as outlined in the Bangkok Declaration of 1967. It is doubtful whether the attainment of an Asean 10 under such circumstances will add to the influence that Asean has come to expect. Then again, the decision should not come as a surprise to anyone. Most Asean leaders have much in common with the State Law and Order Restoration Council in Rangoon. The decision is very much in line with their domestic politics - the ostensibly one-party rule in Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam and Singapore, and the vote-buying and political patronage which victimises the people of Thailand. In the final analysis, it is not the international pressure against Slorc that really matters. What matters is the burning desire of the people in all Asean member states to incorporate democracy and human rights as part of their national development. These aspirations, like Burma, are being ignored and quashed by current Asean leaders. Thus, it is not that Asean has embraced Burma, but that Slorc has joined a club whose members are very much like themselves. And with Burma being a member of the regional grouping, we are seeing a "Slorcisation" of Asean. That, sadly, does not portend well for the people of the region. ************************************************* THAILAND TIMES:BURMESE STUDENTS IN EXILE DEMAND JUNTA RE-OPEN SCHOOLS June 1, 1997 AFP BANGKOK: Burmese students in exile yesterday demanded that the junta in Rangoon re-open schools that have been closed since student protests erupted in December, and begin the academic year as usual in June. The military's ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) closed all primary, middle and high schools and universities in the capital following the most defiant anti-government protests in years. Rangoon students took to the streets in December to protest police brutality against some of their number and to demand the right to set up their own union. ABSDF accused the SLORC of creating a special education program for -the children of the military elite to strengthen their grip on power, while causing a rapid decline in educational and living standards for the general population. "The SLORC has kept the schools closed four out of the nine years they have been in power," the Al] Burma Students Democratic Front (ABSDF) said in a statement from their office in Bangkok. Meanwhile, the children of junta members and their associates enjoy uninterrupted educations at army institutes, or are "sent to private schools in foreign countries," the junta re-open schools statement said. All schools in the country were closed from June 1988 to June 1991, before closing again from December 1991 to August 1992, the ABSDF said. The military authorities are said to be wary of the potential for student demonstrations to erupt in public protests due to the leading role students played in the nationwide democratic uprising of 1988, which ended in a bloody crack down and the formation of the current junta. Informed sources in Rangoon said Friday that schools were unlikely to be opened until August due to upcoming anniversaries important t pro-democracy groups. The anniversaries include the June 21 Myenigone incident, when students were gunned down in the streets o Rangoon, and the August 8 anniversary of the 1988 genera strike against military rule. ****************************************** ALTSEAN: MALAYSIA- ACTIVISTS RELEASED FROM CUSTODY June 1, 1997 From: altsean@ksc.th.com Sunday June 1, 5 pm. Kuala Lumpur time A L E R T U P D A T E The nine Malaysian Burma activists have been released from police custody, however it is not known if conditions have been imposed upon their freedom of movement. It is also not certain if police will proceed with charges againt the activists. The application by the police to extend their remand was rejected by a local mogaistrate. The magistrate has the discretion of extending their detention to 14 days in the police lock up. Despite this, individuals and organisations are urged to lodge their protest against the harrassment and intimidation of peaceful activists, including handcuffing them during transportation. You protest will be valuable to discourage police from pressing charges against the activists. We need to ensure that the Malaysian (and ASEAN) authorities think twice before demonstrating more "goodwill" to Burma's military junta (who wilL become a full member of Asean in July). Please note that this has not been the only intimidation to pro-Burma activists in the region. If you have not done so already, please send your protest fax to: 1. The closest Malaysian diplomatic mission 2. Mr Mohd Arshad M. Hussain Under-Secretary, South-East Asia Region Foreign Ministry of Malaysia Wisma Putra Kuala Lumpur Fax: ++ 603 2425125, 2424551 (093 if you're dialing from Thailand) 3. OCPD ACP Zainal Abidin Stadium Police Station Fax: ++ 603 202 3237 (093 if you're dialing from Thailand) Please also email or fax a copy of your protest to / fax: ++ 66 2 693 4515 or / fax: ++ 603 794 3526. THANKS FROM THE DETAINEES AND PRO-BURMA ACTIVISTS IN THE REGION TO THOSE WHO HAVE SHOWN CONCERN AND SOLIDARITY. WE COUNT UPON YOU FOR YOUR CONTINUED SUPPORT. ******************************************* THE NATION: NEW MEMBERS FACE STRICTER PROCEDURES June 1, 1997 Kulachada Chaipipat KUALA LUMPUR - Laos, Cambodia and Burma must still sign 11 protocols and agreements, including commitments to the Asean Free Trade Area (Afta), before they are admitted into the grouping as a member in July, an Asean source said yesterday. The source said the requirements had been recently conceived as a means of ensuring the prospective members' commitment to the regional grouping. Since the admission of Vietnam in July 1995, the procedures and criteria for the admission of new members have been made stricter to ensure that new members cannot avoid their responsibilities. Vietnam signed the Agreement on Enhancing Asean Economic Cooperation and the Agreement on the Common Effective Preferential Tariff Scheme for Afta a few months after its admission. The three applicant nations recently sent separate letters to Malaysia, chairman of Asean this year, confirming their economic commitment, which included granting most favoured nation status to all Asean members and reducing tariffs on specific products imported from Asean members. When admitted, each country will be able to select the products it would like included or excluded in a tariff reduction scheme beginning in January of 1998. They must submit their proposed lists at the meeting of Asean economic ministers in September of this year. The three countries have been given until 2008 to bring tariffs down to between zero and five per cent, while current Asean members are scheduled to achieve the target by the year 2003. Vietnam will complete its tariff reduction programme in 2006. The three countries' commitment to economic cooperation was a crucial factor in Asean ministers' decision yesterday to admit them in July. Foreign Minister Prachuab Chaiyasan said yesterday that the decision had hinged on a detailed report of their readiness and on the requirements Asean believed the new members should meet. According to the report, submitted by the Asean Secretariat, Burma is the strongest candidate in terms of economic stability and human resources. Although Cambodia and Laos are fully committed to living up to their economic obligations, the report said, they are lacking in human resources. However, membership in Asean would entitle the three countries to technical and financial assistance from donors, aid and lending agencies such as the United Nations Development Programme and the Asian Development Bank. ****************************************** THAILAND TIMES: CHANNEL DREDGING WILL NOT UPSET RELATIONS: CHETTHA June 1, 1997 BANGKOK/TAK: Army Chief Chettha Thanajaro yesterday assured that Thai-Burmese relations will not be affected by the recent channel digging dispute at an islet in the Moei River. "The event occurred because we hadn't made clear agreements," said the chief, adding that he personally saw this as non-threatening to the territorial situation. He added that he receives regular reports of the situation by the Royal Thai Army (RTA) who were stationed near the Kok Chang Phuak islet. "The Burmese government apologized to us, and there are signs of cooperation," he said, adding that they must abide by a treaty that was drawn up previously or else agree upon a new one. He added that the frequent trouble of the river changing its course often contributed to new border disputes. But he confirmed that the earth moving equipment that was confiscated by the RTA is expected to be returned and the troops deployed in the disputed area had reportedly withdrawn. He also said that he was in continuous contact with the Burmese Army chief Maung Aye and that the latter had invited him to inspect the disputed site. "I will directly consult him for a new round of negotiations, and I believe good relations will be the outcome of this," Chettha said. The Thai-Burmese Joint Border Committee yesterday sent a petition demanding Myawwaddy authorities to move out of the embankment that was blocking the Moei River which flows between the two countries, according to a Thai border source. Originally, Burmese embankments were built to alter the river's course to flow into Thailand's channel under the Thai-Burmese Friendship Bridge. And up until now, both countries had negotiated the river issue, however recently things came to another logger head. Meanwhile the authorities of Myawaddy will not withdraw the embankments until Rangoon sends out the signal. ***************************************************** ASIA TIMES: EVEN THE HEROIN TRADE HAS BEEN AFFECTED BY GLOBALIZATION May 27, 1997 Thomas Fuller and Dan Eaton The drug heroin has been around for nearly 100 years. In the first of a three-part series, Asia Times' Thomas Fuller and Dan Eaton look at how abuse of this powerful narcotic has become a global menace despite the efforts of international law enforcement to contain the problem. "It used to be an American problem, and you always used to hear that if the Americans would stop using the drug then we wouldn't produce it," said a senior United States anti-narcotics official in Bangkok. "Well, you don't hear that any more." Heroin has gone global. Trafficking routes for the drug - once relatively simple arrows on a map - have splintered and multiplied. Countries previously untouched by heroin addiction now have fast- spreading drug problems, said International Narcotics Control Board official Bunsom Martin. "There is no good news," he said. Thailand has 500,000 addicts and China, by one estimate, a million. Even relatively poor Vietnam has 180,000 addicts, according to Vietnamese officials. A court in Hanoi earlier this month sentenced eight people to death in what was Vietnam's largest drug trafficking trial; two men were convicted of masterminding the smuggling of 300 kilogram of the opium-based drug. "It is now very much an Asian problem, perhaps more so than it is a US problem," the US official said. "While we used to ask the Asians to help us, we are now basically helping each other." Thailand, he added, had more heroin addicts per capita than the US. Ironically, many of these new heroin markets are developing as a result of the surrender of Myanmar drug warlord Khun Sa. Successful efforts in shutting down his organization have led to what the US official called the "regionalization of the problem", with smaller operations inheriting Khun Sa's business and forging new trade routes. "There is no one route," the US official said. "What we have seen is that China has emerged as a much more significant transshipment country for heroin moving out of Burma. Thailand still plays a very important role. We are also seeing Indochina emerge more significantly." The new routes have resulted in what Bengt Juhlin, a top official at the United Nations Drug Control Program, called "pockets of heroin use" in China's main cities. "This is very much a result of trafficking going through that way and also because of the rapid [economic] development." In Beijing earlier this month, an official from the Public Security Bureau, China's internal intelligence agency, said cheap heroin was flooding the capital. "The problem of drugs has returned to China with a vengeance," deputy director Ruan Zhengyi was quoted as saying. A spokesman for the bureau said heroin was coming both from Central Asia and the Golden Triangle - where the borders of Myanmar, Thailand and Laos meet. The Golden Triangle has served for two decades as the world's most important source of heroin. The global domination of the region's ethnic Chinese traffickers and chemists started in the 1970s with the successful dismantling by police of a French narcotics network known as the French connection. But today, Golden Triangle traffickers have been getting a run for their money in the past few years as drug networks, following the example of global manufacturers, are globalizing. Afghanistan's opium production has doubled in the past decade, and according to UN estimates is now rivaling that of Myanmar, the world's largest producer. "In very general terms, Afghanistan's heroin goes to Europe and the Golden Triangle's goes to the American continent and partially to Europe and Asia. Obviously proximity is the main reason," Juhlin said. Latin America's cocaine cartels have also come into the act, using their networks to supply the US market, according to the US Drug Enforcement Administration. With producers closer to each market, there has been one clear consequence: Heroin is in ample supply. Individual seizures by anti- narcotics police no longer seem to affect prices in the same way busts did 10 or 20 years ago. And heroin purity - once standard at five or 10 percent in developed markets - has reached 40 to 60 percent in the US. "Heroin is cheaper and more available in the States than it has ever been, measured by price and purity," said the US official. One reason for the cheaper heroin, officials have said, is that there are now often fewer intermediaries getting the drugs to market from Latin America. The cartels' well developed trafficking networks and infrastructure have given them a competitive edge in the US market over the famed Golden Triangle networks half a world away, according to officials. In 1993, when a method was developed for detecting the chemical "signature" distinguishing South American heroin from the Asian variety, the US Drug Enforcement Administration calculated that 15 percent of heroin seized in the US originated in South America. By 1995, seizures of South American heroin, primarily Colombian, had more than quadrupled. The DEA estimated that last year more than 60 percent of heroin in the US originated in Colombia. Southeast Asia's decline as the US' primary heroin laboratory "is a question of normal business operations", the UN's Juhlin said in Bangkok. "South America has the most secure channel for shipment and has the most reliable people. There are more steps involved in the process of getting it out from here [Southeast Asia]. That brings more risk." Senior US officials have said the loose configuration of Asian drug syndicates is less efficient than South American cartels. "[In Colombia] you have one organization controlling every aspect of the cocaine trade, from growing it, refining it, transporting it [to] the wholesale distribution," said the senior US anti-narcotics official in Bangkok. Networks working out of the Golden Triangle, however, were much more fragmented, he said, requiring a string of payments that ultimately increased the cost of heroin when it finally reached the market. According to the DEA, heroin's popularity is on the increase, partly because the US' two million-plus cocaine addicts are now also using heroin, supplied through the same channels. The heroin cushions the "crash" that follows the euphoria produced by crack cocaine. In addition, the high street-level purity of Colombian heroin allows it to be snorted like cocaine, ridding users of the fear of contracting AIDS from infected needles. ************************************* ASIAWEEK: BEYOND SANCTIONS June 6,1997 Investors can help break Myanmar's political gridlock James Finch, An American lawyer, is managing partner of the Yangon office of Russin & Vecchi Perhaps the only surprise in the U.S.imposition of economic sanctions against Myanmar on April 22 was that the boom had not been lowered months before. Key policymakers in the clinton administration, including Secretary of State Madeleine Ambassador to the U.N.Bill Richardson and Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen, have long attached considerable political and career importance on ending the suffering and political stalemate in Myanmar. What do the sanctions do and hope to achieve? They are contained in the Cohen - Feinstein Amendment, a Senate bill signed into law by president Clinton as part of the 1997 Appropriations Act. The Amendment makes the sanctions conditional on a finding by the president that Aung San Suu Kyi has been harmed or that large - scale repression or political violence has been committed against the democratic opposition. These conditions are so general as to have been triggered any day after the bill became law. The odd thing about the sanctions is that they don't apply to much. The only prohibition is on new investment by Americans with the Myanmar government or Burmese companies in "the economic development of resources located in Myanmar." Excepted are contracts to purchase goods, services or technology. The president's executive order muddies the eaters by attempting to broaden the sanctions. It recognises the exemptions but defines "resources" in a way which could be interpreted to include them. The consequences of this sloppy drafting may nave to be resolved in the courts, as an executive order cannot exceed the reach of a law on which it is based. In any case, what the sanctions do not do seems more significant than what they do. They do not, like some U.S. state and local ordinances designed to punish Myanmar, make any attempt to prohibit the activities of non - U.S. business interests. When the legal smoke and dust settle from the executive order it will likely be determined that U.S. companies can start or continue virtually all activities except new deals to extract natural resources such as oil and gas or timber. What happens now? It is unlikely that the U.S. sanctions alone can break the political stalemate. Though not prohibited, foreign business is reluctant to invest, as it has been for some time. Of course, economic limits on the development of a nation of any kind have the disadvantage of being disproportionately severe on the lowest rungs of the economic strata. While the high- minded arguments continue, the yearly per capitaincome in Myanmar remains low, with all the attendant human suffering. Can investors in Myanmar help break the political gridlock? Something akin to the Sullivan Principles, used to eliminate apartheid in south Africa, could be tried in Myanmar. The sullivan Principles were a voluntary code of conduct for foreign companies adopted by some doing business in south Africa. These companies were monitored for compliance by an independent consultant. The practice provided an alternative for foreign companies to quitting the country. They were able to continue operating, avoiding the disruption and job loss caused by closure. And by complying with the principles they became part of the solution of the larger problems of the country. A program could be devised which would use economic growth to improve Myanmar's human rights record. The first step is that both the National League for Democracy, in the person of Aung San Suu Kyi, and the State Law and Order Restoration Council would nave to agree on voluntary principles to which foreign companies would adhere. One benefit of this procedure would be, of course, ,to get the parties talking. By 1990s standards, the Sullivan Principles are pretty tame stuff and basically are contained in internal standards requiring many companies to be "equal opportunity employers." The content of the principles for Myanmar would be a matter for negotiation. Some key provisions: * A prohibition on forced or child labor and on any company which uses such labor. * A prohibition on dealing with local partners or contractors suspected of operating with laundered drug funds. * A ban against engaging in corrupt practices. Hiring a balance of ethnic groups and not discriminating in hiring political affiliation. * Using a portion of profits generated locally to support NGO projects such as combating malnutrition or AIDS prevention. * Meeting the highest standard of environmental practices. * Compulsory periodic meetings with representatives of both political camps to discuss progress on the principles and other matters. The program should add to the stability of Myanmar. The country's several ethnic groups are being held together by the iron hand of the military. If this rule is lifted, with the gradual onset of democracy there is real danger that the country will degenerate into ethnic splintering and bloodletting. Foreign companies, creating Jobs and economic advancement, offer on attractive alternative to these all-too-familiar ills.(AW) **********************************************