------------------------ BurmaNet ------------------------ "Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies" ---------------------------------------------------------- The BurmaNet News: June 25, 1997 Issue #758 Noted in Passing: ``The food crisis is severe there. I could not buy even two kilograms of rice with my whole day's wage.'' -- Yusuf Jalal, a Rohingya who fled the Burmese town of Maungdaw last week. (see Reuter: Bangladesh Reports Fresh Influx of Burma Refugees) HEADLINES: ========== AP: BURMA MILITARY: SUU KYI'S PARTY WANTS TO REJOIN PNF: SUHARTO'S POISONED 30TH BIRTHDAY PRESENT REUTER: BANGLADESH REPORTS FRESH INFLUX OF REFUGEES RANGOON RADIO MYANMAR: SLORC'S MAUNG AYE RECEIVES MOSCOW ITAR-TASS: OFFICIAL MEETS WITH BURMESE DEPUTY REUTER: BRITAIN SAYS COULD IMPOSE MORE SANCTIONS TT: TAK INTRODUCES 24-HOUR CHECKPOINTS TT: CONSTRUCTION MARKET IN BURMA TARGETED THE NATION: PM SEES PEACE PREVAILING IN REGION THE NATION: A TEST OF MANILA'S DEMOCRATIC IDEALS AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL: CONCERN OVER NLD ARRESTS ----------------------------------------------------------------- AP: BURMA MILITARY SAYS SUU KYI'S PARTY WANTS TO REJOIN CONVENTION June 24, 1997 RANGOON, Burma (AP) _ Burmese democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi's political party wants to rejoin the military-run constitutional convention it walked out of in 1995, state-run newspapers said Tuesday. Commentaries in all three Burmese papers said the National League for Democracy's executive committee had passed a resolution at a party congress last month ``to rejoin the national convention and to conclude the convention honorably.'' It was unclear, however, whether Suu Kyi's party had made the request directly to the military government, or whether the government would allow it to return. Suu Kyi and party leaders could not be reached for comment as their phones lines have been cut by the government. The NLD walked out of the convention in November 1995, saying it was undemocratic. The convention's leaders then formally expelled the NLD, and government officials have said there is no procedure to allow a party to rejoin. The convention, which has been meeting intermittently since 1993, is drawing up a new constitution. There have been no meetings for more than a year however, leading to speculation by diplomats and analysts that several groups participating in the convention are unhappy with the charter being drafted. Democracy activists have labeled the convention a sham because most delegates were handpicked by the military, and the constitution they are drafting enshrines military rule. The NLD won 82 percent of the vote in a 1990 election the military refused to honor, but has only about 15 percent of the seats at the convention. Instead of celebrating the NLD resolution as a move toward reconciliation, the commentaries in Tuesday's papers all derided Suu Kyi and her party. ``Why and for what reasons do you want to rejoin the national convention that the political stunt star wife of the Englishman (Suu Kyi) and her masters had slandered and opposed,'' said the commentary, written by a high-ranking intelligence officer under a pseudonym. On Monday, the same author wrote that the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize winner was a puppet and her master was the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency. ``The national convention is not a licenseless bootleg liquor shop where you can go in and come out without discipline,'' he wrote. Diplomats have said that relations between Suu Kyi and the military government began spiraling downward after the NLD left the convention. Suu Kyi said that when her party asked for compromise on some of the clauses in the draft charter that gave power to the military, it was told to stop opposing the will of the regime or it would be expelled from the convention. Since the NLD pulled out, the regime has stepped up arrests of its members, prevented Suu Kyi from delivering her weekend addresses to the public, paid a mob to attack her motorcade with sticks and pipes, and put her under a state of near house arrest, allowing very few people to meet with her. Suu Kyi spent six years under house arrest for her political activities from 1989-95. Burma's military government came to power in 1988 after gunning down more than 3,000 people demonstrating for democracy. ********************************************** PHILIPPINES NEWS & FEATURES: SUHARTO'S POISONED 30TH BIRTHDAY PRESENT FOR ASEAN June 20, 1997 [abridged] by George J. Aditjondro The entry of Burma, Laos, and Cambodia into ASEAN will turn this regional association increasingly into a club of repressive regimes. Especially since the two remaining relatively more democratic regimes -- the Philippines and Thailand -- have increasingly yielded to the pressure of the more repressive ASEAN regimes, in particular Indonesia. As an Indonesian dissident in exile, allow to focus on the relation between the Suharto regime and Burma's military junta, the so-called State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC). Why is it that the Suharto regime has so strongly supported an early admission of Burma into ASEAN? The answer is twofold. Firstly, the admission of another and more brutal military regime into this regional bloc, helps to cover up Suharto's own reputation in violating the rights of East Timorese, West Papuan, Dayak, Acehnese and other peoples ruled by his bureacratic-military -industrial regime. In other words, Suharto can use ASEAN more effectively as his 'shield' in international political forums. Secondly, an early entry of Burma, Laos and Cambodia into ASEAN provides Suharto-linked businesses with more time to prepare for the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) in the year 2003. Through all the interlocking businesses between the First Family and their cronies, the Suharto regime has already reduced ASEAN into their private "gold mine", which has catapulted the Suharto family into the second richest Asian head of state, with an estimated wealth of US$ 6.3 billion. Older ASEAN countries, such as the Philippines, have already become a "playground" for the Soeharto-family businesses (see my articles in PNF bulletins No. 17 and 18, Volume XIII, December 5 and 7, 1996). Suharto-related businesses have also penetrated younger ASEAN countries, such as Vietnam, and other soon to become ASEAN countries, such as Cambodia. Titiek Prabowo, Suharto's second daughter, is involved in one of the most environment-unfriendly businesses in that country, namely logging, through a partnership with a young Sino-Indonesian businessman, Jopie Widjaja. Titiek's siblings, Tutut and Bambang, also have close business partnerships with another Sino-Indonesian businessman, Prajogo Pangestu, whose Barito Pacific Group controls a one-million hectare timber concession in Vietnam. For the last seven years, Suharto-linked businesses have already made substantial inroads into Burma. They now have covered a pretty wide variety of sectors and commodities, ranging from consumer goods to extractive industries. Let me begin by exposing the First Family's trading activities with Burma. In August 1991, an Indonesian-based company, PT Indomiwon Citra Inti (ICI) first exported 70 tonnes of monosodium glutamate (MSG) to Burma, Vietnam and Hong Kong. This company is a fifty-fifty joint venture between PT Sambada Widyacita and Miwon from Korea. PT Sambada Widyacita itself is a joint venture between Bambang Trihatmojo, President Suharto's second son, and Anthony Salim, chief executive officer of the Salim Group, Indonesia's largest business conglomerates in which two of Bambang's siblings -- Siti Hariyanti Rukmana and Sigit Harjojudanto -- are shareholders. Two years later, another Suharto-related company, PT Prima Comexindo Trading (PCT), began bartering Indonesian-made medicines with Burmese products. This company is owned by Hashim Djojohadikusumo, whose elder brother, Mayor General Prabowo Subianto, is married to Suharto's second daughter, Siti Hediyati Hariyadi, also known as Titiek Prabowo. In fact, Titiek is a co-shareholder in several of Hashim's companies. Hasyim's Tirtamas Group and Titiek Prabowo's Maharani Group control numerous overlapping companies, including cement factories and a coal mine. When Hashim began bartering with the SLORC, Suharto's youngest son, Hutomo Mandalaputra Suharto, also known as Tommy Suharto, began to export oil drilling explosives to Burma. This was carried out by PT Bina Reksa Perdana, in which Tommy owns 55% shares. In 1994, this company received orders amounting to more than US$ 4 million from Burma, India, Iraq, and Australia. Where do the explosives come from? No problem for the president's most-beloved son, who could easily form a consortium with the state's explosive factory, PT Dahana, controlled by Suharto's favorite Research and Technology Minister, Dr B.J. Habibie. Another member of the consortium is Chartered Oiltech Services Ltd. of Singapore. In the good capitalist spirit of competition as well as the notorious spirit of Suharto sibling rivalry, Tommy's elder brother Bambang also began to expand his business activities in Burma -- via Bangkok. Four years ago, one of Bambang's companies, PT Elektrindo Nusantara, became a supplier for the Royal Thai Airforce and the Thai Department of Interior. All those businesses are still peanuts compared to Indonesia's automobiles export to Burma, handled by another Suharto-related company, PT Astra International. This company is currently directed by a Suharto crony, Mohammad "Bob" Hasan, on behalf of PT Nusamba, which is 80% owned by three charities headed by Suharto himself. Other Suharto-related companies are co-shareholders of Astra, the largest automotive producer and assembler in Indonesia, which main products are Toyota cars. After Astra's success in marketing Toyota Kijang cars abroad, the company became the importer and sole distributor of BMW and Land Rover in Burma. With 25% shares of Chine Motor of Burma and 5% shares of Marubeni Auto China of Japan, Astra formed a Burma-based joint venture, named Myanmar Astra Chinte Motor. Any discussion about Suharto-related businesses in Burma, however, is not complete without talking about the First Family's airlines. In this case, Tommy's Sempati Air, which has since 1991 served direct flights from Jakarta to Rangoon. At the moment, Sempati Air has become an ASEAN airline, since a Sabah-based company, ASEAN Aviation Inc. (AAI), has bought 40% of the shares of Sempati, which was originally fully owned by an Indonesian Army company. Six years ago, Tommy took over the company by buying 25% of the shares, bringing in PT Nusamba as another (35%) shareholder. Tommy's shares will be reduced even further from its current 15%, when Singapore Airlines's plans to buy a stake in Sempati, will be materialized. All these trading links quickly led to lucrative investment plans. The first Suharto-linked company to invest in Burma was PT Rante Mario, one of the many companies under Tommy's Humpuss Group. Through a joint venture with a Burmese state company, Myanmar Timber Enterprise (MTI), PT Rante Mario plans to build a wood processing industry with an investment of US$ 75 million. Until 1999, however, this joint venture only has to produce logs and lumber. After that, it plans to go into plywood. Meanwhile, brother Bambang also began to invest in Burma. His electronic company, PT Elektrindo Nusantara has built small telephone central units for 256 subscribers in Rangoon, as a pilot project for a much bigger deal with the SLORC. This company is 51% owned by Bambang, and is one of the main money makers of his Bimantara Group. Bambang's brothers-in-law, Indra Rukmana, who is married to Suharto's eldest daughter, Siti Hariyanti Rukmana, also known as Tutut, is a fellow Bimantara shareholder. Simultaneous with the Elektrindo Nusantara deal, another Bimantara company, PT Japfa Comfeed, planned to invest in an animal feed company in Burma. The third member of Suharto's extended family to invest in Burma is Hashim Djojohadikusumo. Although he already owns three cement factories in Indonesia, last year he signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with a Burmese state-company, The Union of Myanmar Economic Holding Limited (UMEHL) to build a one million ton per annum cement factory. The US$ 210 million joint venture is expected to go into full steam in 2000, and will be 70% owned by Hashim's Tirtamas Group. As has happened with most juicy businesses of the Suharto family, Hashim's businesses are also milking cows for the Indonesian Army. In particular, milking cows for the most feared Special Forces, Kopassus, also known as the Red Berets. These troops, which have been involved in quelling major uprisings in East Timor and Indonesia, is commanded by Hashim's brother, Mayor General Prabowo Subianto. Therefore it is not suprising that the SLORC like to do business with Hashim, who knows how to please soldiers. Hashim's cement factory may become a boon for other Suharto-related projects in Burma, especially toll roads. During his recent two days visit to Burma, President Suharto and the SLORC chairman, General Than Swee, witnessed the signing of an MoU between a Burmese state company and an Indonesian "private" company. The Indonesian company concerned was PT Citra Lamtoro Gung Persada, headed by Suharto's eldest daughter, Siti Hardiyanti Rukmana alias Tutut. Travelling as part of her father's official entourage, Tutut signed an MoU with Union of Myanmar Holding Ltd. Although the contents of the MoU was not disclosed, journalists promptly guessed that it covers the construction of toll roads, since that is Tutut's specialty in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and China. Nevertheless, any discussion about Burma's economic potentials is not complete without mentioning investments in oil mining, where two Suharto-related companies have jumped on the bandwagon. Aside from its Toyota, BMW, and Land Rover dealership, PT Astra International has began oil exploration in Burma and Vietnam. Meanwhile, another Suharto-related company, Meta Epsi Duta from the Medco Group, also plans to sign an oil exploration in Burma in the near future. The latter company is partly owned by Tutut's father-in-law, the late Eddy Kowara. It might not be long before Bambang will invest his easy gained fortune in Burma's oil and mineral wealth as well. Right now, he is already involved, with Indonesian, Canadian and Malaysian partners, in gold mining in Indonesia and Khazakstan. His Sydney-based Canadian partner, Robert Friedland, is currently developing a copper mine near Monywa in Central Burma and is exploring for gold and copper in six other areas in Burma. Overseeing those mining activities is a fifty-fifty joint venture between Friedland's company, Ivanhoe Myanmar Holdings and a mining enterprise owned by the SLORC. So it is not unlikely that Bambang is a 'silent partner' in Ivanhoe Myanmar Holdings as well. With all these examples from the Suharto clan, more and more Indonesian businesses are flocking to Burma. This trade is not limited to civilian products, such as kretek (clove cigarettes) which are swamping the Burmese market. In fact, through his Singapore-based Transmarco company, Putera Sampurna, the Sampurna kretek tycoon, plans to develop tobacco and other businesses in Burma, while overseeing Astra's Burma operations as well, since he is also a co-shareholder in Astra with Bob Hasan. There are strong reasons to believe that the Suharto regime is also involved in supplying the needs of the Tatmadaw, the Burmese armed forces. It could be that some of the aircraft used by the Tatmadaw's air forces, such as CASA C-212 Aviocar transport planes, were not ordered directly from Spain, but from Indonesia. Why? Because when General Than Swe visited Jakarta in June 1995, he also signed an agreement to buy airplanes produced by the Indonesian aircraft industry, Industri Pesawat Terbang Nusantara, or IPTN. Apart from those CASA C-212 Aviocar transport planes, it is not impossible that more SLORC arms and ammunition have come or will come indirectly via Indonesia. This suspicion is based on the following facts. First of all, it is well known that IPTN is a licence holder for the Spanish aircraft factory, CASA, the German aircraft industry, MBB, and the French aircraft factory, Aerospatiale. Other strategic industries under Habibie's control have their own licence or contract arrangements with other European arm manufacturers. PT Pindad, the former Army-controlled ammunition factory, produces rockets and rockets launchers under licence from two Belgian arms factories, FN-Herstal and Les Forges De Zeebrugge. PT PAL, the former Navy-controlled shipyard, has contracts with two German shipyards -- Luerssen shipyard in Bremen and HDW shipyard in Kiel -- to produce high-speed ships and submarines in PT PAL's shipyard in Surabaya, East Java. There are also precedents of Habibie's strategic industries supplying military regimes in Asia and Pacific. In August 1987, right after Colonel Sitiveni Rabuka's coup d'etat in Fiji, IPTN agreed to supply the Fijian military junta with NB 109 helicopters, as well as to train Fijian soldiers to become helicopter pilots. Likewise, during the Iraq-Iran war (1980-1987), Indonesia has acted as official destination for Spanish and German arms, which were actually turned over to Saddam Hussain. IPTN -- which at that time was still called Nurtanio -- channelled German BO-1058 helicopters to Saddam Hussein. While Spanish arms industries channeled explosives to Iraq, via Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand. Looking at the evolution of Suharto-related businesses in Burma in a broader regional context, three interesting features emerge. First, Jakarta's trade with the SLORC began to flourish after the consolidation of the Tatmadaw's power, that is, after the SLORC refused to honour the sweeping victory of Aung San Suu Kyi's party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), in the May 1990 election. Secondly, Jakarta's increasing trade with the SLORC is diametrically in opposition with Aung San Suu Ky's call for a total boycott of foreign companies to trade with the SLORC. Thirdly, Jakarta's cozy trade relations with Rangoon have coincided with the forging of stronger political bonds -- and exchange of repressive tactics -- between the two repressive regimes. What repressive tactics have been exchanged by the two regimes? Firstly, learning from the overwhelming victory of the daughter of one of Burma's founding fathers, Suharto moved swiftly to prevent any chance for Megawati Sukarnoputri, also the daughter of one of Indonesia's founding fathers, to challenge him in a fair and free election. On the other hand, the SLORC has also learned from the Suharto regime, how to use thugs to terrorize political dissidents, as they applied to Aung San Suu Kyi on November 12 weekend, last year. Meanwhile, the SLORC is also preparing to form a Golkar-like ruling party in Burma, to hand over political power to an apparent civilian party, while still pulling the strings behind the scenes. Hence, there is no other option for Indonesian and other pro-democracy activists in the region, than to support Aung Sang Suu Kyi's NLD and the non-Burman ethno-nationalist movements, who are still waiting for a more federalistic structure in Burma followed by self-determination acts for all the ethnic minorities, promised by Suu Kyi's father, 50 years ago. ********************************************** REUTER: BANGLADESH REPORTS FRESH INFLUX OF BURMA REFUGEES June 23, 1997 By Nurul Islam COX'S BAZAR, Bangladesh, June 23 (Reuter) - Bangladesh officials have reported a fresh influx of Burmese Moslems, known as Rohingyas, who reported acute food shortages and rising unemployment in Burma's western Arakan province. ``A fresh influx of Burmese has reached an alarming level in recent weeks. Some 20 to 30 families sneak in each night,'' said a police officer in Cox's Bazar district, which borders Arakan. He told Reuters on Sunday that at least 5,000 Burmese Moslems entered Bangladesh in the past month. Nurul Afsar, chairman of Cox's Bazar municipality, said about 7,000 Burmese nationals were now living illegally in and around this resort town. Refugees said they had fled because of unusual food price increases, growing unemployment and persecution by Burmese security forces. ``The food crisis is severe there. I could not buy even two kilograms of rice with my whole day's wage,'' said Yusuf Jalal, a Rohingya who fled the Burmese town of Maungdaw last week. ``(Burmese) securitymen are imposing new restrictions on our movement. There is rising pressure for forced labour,'' he said. Refugees said they had bribed security forces on both sides of the border to enter Bangladesh. ``We took the journey in the dark and crossed the Naf border river,'' one refugee said. The new influx began while some 21,500 Burmese Rohingyas were still huddled in two large camps, awaiting to return home as a long-running repatriation process was disrupted on May 1, officials said. The officials blamed the suspension on delay by Burmese immigration officials in giving clearance for home-bound Rohingyas, but they would not say what prompted the new inflow. More than 250,000 Moslems fled to southeast Bangladesh in early 1992 from Burma's Moslem-majority Arakan province, complaining of military persecution. Repatriation, supervised by the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, began in September that year following an agreement between Dhaka and Rangoon. Lieutenant-Colonel Khaled Reza, a commander of Bangladesh's border security force, said on Sunday troops were keeping a close eye on the frontier areas in an attempt to stop the latest influx. ``If caught, we are pushing the infiltrators back or sending them to jails,'' he said. Police in Cox's Bazar said some 500 Rohingyas had been sent back in past two weeks while trying to enter Bangladesh. *********************************************** RANGOON RADIO MYANMAR: SLORC'S MAUNG AYE RECEIVES VISITING THAI NAVY CHIEF June 18, 1997 [translated from Burmese] At the invitation of Vice Admiral Tin Aye, Navy commander in chief, a Thai goodwill delegation led by Admiral Wichit Chamnankan, commander in chief of the Royal Thai Navy, arrived at Yangon [Rangoon] International Airport by special aircraft at 0930 for a goodwill visit to the Union of Myanmar [Burma]. Later, Gen. Maung Aye, vice chairman of the State Law and Order Restoration Council [SLORC], deputy commander in chief of the Defense Services and Army commander in chief, received the visiting Thai goodwill delegation led by Adm. Wichit Chamnankan, commander in chief of the Royal Thai Navy, at Zeyarthiri Military Hall in Konmyinttha in Yangon at 1400. ************************************************** MOSCOW ITAR-TASS: OFFICIAL MEETS WITH BURMESE DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTER June 20, 1997 MOSCOW, June 20 (Itar-Tass) -- Security Council Deputy Secretary Yuriy Deryabin met Deputy Foreign Minister of Myanmar U Nyunt Swe on Friday [20 June] to discuss the development of the situation and the multilateral cooperation in Asia and the Pacific, the press service of the Russian Security Council told Itar-Tass. The parties also discussed bilateral cooperation between Russia and Myanmar in the sphere of combating organised crime and the illegal purchase-sale of drugs, the press service said. ************************************************** REUTER: BRITAIN SAYS COULD IMPOSE MORE SANCTIONS ON BURMA June 23, 1997 LONDON, June 23 (Reuter) - Britain could impose more economic sanctions on Burma in response to the south-east Asian nation's disregard for human rights, a Foreign Office minister said on Monday. Burma's ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) has been criticised around the world for human rights abuses and suppressing the democratic opposition led by Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. ``The Government are considering the full range of measures at our disposal in order to put further pressure on SLORC,'' junior Foreign Office minister Baroness Symons told the House of Lords upper chamber of parliament. ``As to the question of further economic sanctions, we have not ruled out the possibility of further measures, including economic sanctions,'' she said. Britain already observes a European Union embargo on arms sales and non-humanitarian aid as well as a suspension of defence links and a ban on visas for members of SLORC. The new Labour government, which has vowed to put human rights at the centre of its foreign policy, last week announced that the government had ended sponsorship of British trade missions to Burma. ``We take every opportunity to make clear to the ruling SLORC our abhorrence for their disregard for human rights,'' Symons said. Last month Washington imposed economic sanctions on Burma over the government's rights record and treatment of democracy activists. Burma was annexed to British-ruled India in the 19th century and became independent in January 1948. In 1962, armed forces chief of staff General Ne Win staged a coup and ruled the country with an iron hand. He resigned in 1988 after the rise of Suu Kyi's democracy movement which was suppressed two months later. ************************************************************ TT: TAK INTRODUCES 24-HOUR CHECKPOINTS TO CURB ILLEGAL ALIENS June 23, 1997 TAK: Nearly 50 illegal immigrants were netted yesterday at special round-the-clock immigration checkpoints set up along the Thai-Burmese border in Mae Sot district, a senior local police official said. Pol Lt-Col Suthee Ariyakabutr, inspector of the Tak immigration office, said he ordered officials to establish the checkpoints in order to crack down on the increasing number of Burmese nationals who are slipping into the country illegally. He said Mae Sot is a favored entry route into Thailand because it provides easy access to the interior of the country. About 50 illegal immigrants were caught yesterday and charged with illegal entry. Most of them were between 18 and 30 years old, and reportedly intended to proceed to Bangkok and other large cities to seek employment. Suthee said the police immigration headquarters recently commanded all immigration offices throughout the country to operate 24-hour checkpoints to stamp out illegal immigration. The policy was the brainchild of the Interior -Ministry, which allocated several million baht to the immigration offices for the crackdown operations, he said. Ministry officials have come under heavy fire from the Opposition for their failure to stem the tide of illegal workers into Thai soil. Thailand has nearly a million foreign workers, a large proportion of whom are working without the required documentation. Tak, along with Chiang Rai, Kanchanaburi and Ranong provinces, is one of the most popular routes of entry. *********************************************** TT: CONSTRUCTION MARKET IN BURMA TARGETED FOR EXPORTS June 23, 1997 BANGKOK: Thai businessmen have been advised by the Commerce Ministry to invest in the construction materials business in Burma as business there is growing fast and Thailand and Burma have a long trading history with each other. The Commerce Ministry said that Thailand has a policy to expand its export markets to help increase its export figures and trade with neighboring countries especially Burma, Laos, and Cambodia are targeted as part of this policy. As these countries are lagging behind Thailand and need their infrastructure to be built up as part of their development. The ministry said that trade should be expanded to be more international. Burma is moving in this direction with its policy to open up its country by promoting tourism. Therefore, the construction of infrastructure and other important projects including hotels by both private companies and government agencies offer good opportunities to Thailand. Many foreign investors have invested in Burma and more than ten house projects are being built which require construction materials. ASEAN and other countries in the region are interested in investing in Burma, but Thailand is in a good position to penetrate the market before other countries especially for construction materials. A number of Thai businesses have already established projects in Burma and several rooftile, cement including CPAC companies have relocated their production bases to Burma. Burma needs more experts especially contractors and designers for the gas laying of a gas pipeline. The expansion of the construction materials market into Burma is seen as beneficial for the country and Burma is now opening up to encourage more tourists to enter the country which will lead to more income for the people. In 1996, Thailand's products exported to Burma amounted to 8.07 billion baht. 6.7 percent down from the 8.6 billion baht in 1995. **************************************************** THE NATION: PM SEES PEACE PREVAILING IN REGION June 24, 1997 [abridged] PRIME Minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudh yesterday told member of a visiting conservative think-tank from the United States that peace and stability will continue to prevail in Asia and the Pacific. As for Burma, Chavalit, who is also defence minister, said that he strongly believes the political situation there will improve in the very near future. He urged Western countries, particularly the United States, to be patient with Burma and give it more time to study and adapt itself to the changing global situation. Chavalit stressed that any international calls for political reforms in Burma should take into account that the changes need time and a sound understanding of the country's internal environment. The Heritage Foundation trio was led by David Brown and included former attorney general during the Reagan administration Edwin Messe III. They leave for Burma tomorrow. The team will visit and exchange views with leaders in the region and submit its finding to Congress. The tour is also a part of the celebrations of the foundation's 25th anniversary.(TN) ******************************************************* THE NATION: A TEST OF MANILA'S DEMOCRATIC IDEALS June 24, 1997 Maria Teresa Villanueva-Cerojano As a self-declared bulwark of democracy in the region, Manila finds itself in the difficult position of having to defend its decision to support the entry of Burma into Asean. When the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) turns 30 in August, the group will celebrate the realisation of its forefathers' dream of uniting all 10 nations of Southeast Asia into one community. For the Philippines, however, it will be an occasion to reflect on its struggle to strike a balance between democratic ideals and diplomatic imperatives. As a bulwark of democracy in the region, the Philippines now finds itself in the difficult position of defending its decision to go along with the six other Asean members in allowing military-led Burma to join the group along with Cambodia and Laos in July. The decision made by Asean foreign ministers during a May 31 meeting in Kuala Lumpur raised hackles from the United States and the European Union, as well as from human rights advocates, who have called for sanctions against Burma for its human rights record. Domestic critics have pounced on the administration of President Fidel Ramos over the decision, with Philippine Foreign Secretary Domingo Siazon and his aides called to a grilling at the Senate. Siazon told the lawmakers the Philippines continues to take an active role in promoting human rights and democracy in appropriate international forums, but that it is "only one dimension of a complex policy based on the national interest" when it comes to the question of admitting Burma into Asean. Diplomats and analysts invariably noted that the formation of an "Asean 10" united front is important to Manila at a time of escalating tensions with Beijing over the South China Sea territorial dispute. Burma's admission into the group is a strategic move to wean away Rangoon from its close ally, Beijing, and to clip China's military projections in the region, including into the Andaman Sea through Burma, they added. Burma is the only country in Southeast Asia sharing borders with both of the two big powers in the region: China and India. And if there is any one country in the region that particularly worries the Philippines and other countries in Asean, it is China. "Burma is close to China and we want to make sure that the closeness of Burma to China will not affect the shift in the balance of power in the region," a Philippine diplomat said. "We can already feel China's increasing role in the region, both as an economic and a military power, and while we do not know what China has in mind, from what we have seen in recent months it can be a little scary," she added. China and the Philippines have traded diplomatic protests in recent months over the disputed territory in the South China Sea, which China claims as a whole. Beijing's muscle-flexing resumed in April when it sent armed ships and built a new structure close to the Philippine-held Pag-asa island in the Spratlys two years after signing a code-of-conduct agreement with the Philippines calling for maintenance of the status quo in the disputed territory. Before the agreement, ties dipped to a low in February 1995 when the Philippines accused China of building military structures on Mischief Reef, which Manila claims. On each occasion, Beijing maintained that its naval presence in the area was peaceful in nature. While Burma's admission into Asean is being criticised at home, in reality an early admission may be a relief to the Ramos administration. "Can you image the noise that local human rights groups will make if Burma is admitted into Asean next year, when we play host?", another Philippine diplomat said. Defending his government's stand on the matter, Ramos said the expansion of Asean fulfills the vision of a regional group free from the animosities, divisions and barriers of the past. He said it also presents an opportunity to ensure steady progress for the 440 million people in Southeast Asia. "An Asean 10 is just clearly in line with the national interest of the Philippines, which must be grounded firmly on regional peace, stability and sustainable growth," Ramos said in a statement. He noted that integration will not only mean more opportunities, greater economic interaction and better standards of living for people in the region, but that "as economic conditions improve, societies will evolve as they ingest the new ideas that always accompany growth and development." Another Philippine diplomat added that through the continuation of Asean's policy of "constructive engagement" the Philippines, for example, can share with the Burma people its knowledge of small and medium-scale enterprises and expose them in the process to such ideas as choice, free will and individualism. National Security Council head Jose Almonte told a roundtable conference in Malaysia that "membership [in Asean] and the liberalising influences it will have on [Burma's] economy and society will 'socialise' the [Rangoon] regime into the international community, while its continued isolation will only keep it xenophobic and repressive of its own people." But Blas Ople, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, believes the Philippines has a unique role to play in Asean with regards to the question of Burma. "The Philippines has the right to disagree and its voice as an exponent of freedom and democracy in Asia should be heard clearly and distinctly even in the councils of Asean, not muffled or suppressed in deference to the sensibilities of others," Ople wrote in his column in the daily Manila Bulletion. (TN) Maria Teresa Villanueva-Cerojano is a correspondent for Kyodo in Manila. ********************************************* AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL: CONCERN OVER NLD ARRESTS June 24, 1997 [slightly abridged] From: TUN MYINT Please read the monthly Urgent Action Network Newsletter posted on the web at: http://www.amnesty-USA.org/urgact/ Urgent Action Network Amnesty International USA PO Box 1270 Nederland CO 80466-1270 Email: sharriso@aiusa.org http://www.amnesty-usa.org/urgact/ Phone: 303 440 0913 Fax:303 258 7881 --------------------------------------------------- UA 187/97 Fear for safety/Fear of ill-treatment 24 June 1997 MYANMAR Khin Maung Win alias Ko Sunny (male) Cho Aung Than (male) Daw Khin Ma Than (female) U Shwe Myint Aung (male) U Ohn Myint (male) Amnesty International is concerned for the safety of five National League for Democracy (NLD, Myanmar's primary legal opposition party) supporters arrested since 13 June whose current whereabouts are unknown. Khin Maung Win alias Ko Sunny, is the official video- photographer for the NLD; Cho Aung Than is a cousin of and former assistant to Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of the NLD; Daw Khin Ma Than is the sister of Cho Aung Than and U Shwe Myint Aung is her husband; U Ohn Myint, an advisor to the NLD, is believed to be in his 80s. The official reason for the arrest of the five detainees is not known, but unofficial sources have stated that they were arrested for allegedly smuggling abroad video-taped speeches by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. Political prisoners in Myanmar often face ill-treatment during interrogation, which may include beatings and deprivation of sleep and food. BACKGROUND INFORMATION In 1997 the ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) has continued its policy of effectively silencing any opposition in Myanmar. In May, the authorities again temporarily detained or otherwise prevented more than 300 NLD members of parliament-elect and organizers from attending a meeting in Yangon to celebrate the seventh anniversary of their 1990 election victory. This follows the mass arrests of more than 2000 political activists during 1996 in order to prevent them from attending meetings or for taking part in demonstrations. Although most of those arrested were released, dozens have been sentenced to long prison terms. RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send telegrams/telexes/express/airmail letters: - calling on the authorities to immediately make known the whereabouts of the five detainees and the charges against them; - calling on the authorities to release all five immediately and unconditionally if they are held solely for their peaceful political activities; - calling on the authorities to ensure that all five are allowed access to their lawyers, doctors and family members; - calling on the authorities to ensure that while detained all five are not ill-treated and are held in accordance with international minimum standards. APPEALS TO: Senior General Than Shwe, Chairman State Law and Order Restoration Council c/o Director of Defence Services Intelligence (DDSI) Ministry of Defence, Signal Pagoda Road Dagon Post Office Yangon, Union of Myanmar Dear General: [Telegrams: General Than Shwe, Yangon, Myanmar] [Telexes: 713 21316] Lieutenant General Khin Nyunt, Secretary 1 State Law and Order Restoration Council c/o Director of Defence Services Intelligence (DDSI) Ministry of Defence, Signal Pagoda Road Dagon Post Office Yangon Union of Myanmar Dear Lieutenant General: [Telegrams: Lieutenant General Khin Nyunt, Yangon, Myanmar] [Telexes: 713 21316] COPIES TO: Ambassador Tin Winn Embassy of Myanmar 2300 S St. NW Washington DC 20008 Please send appeals immediately. Check with the Colorado office between 9:00 am and 6:00 pm, Mountain Time, weekdays only, if sending appeals after August 5, 1997. ************************************************