------------------------ BurmaNet ------------------------ "Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies" ---------------------------------------------------------- The BurmaNet News: September 24, 1997 Issue #827 Noted in Passing: Do not buy the rice from Kabaw valley, it is not rice, it is our blood, sweat and lives. Do not buy the rice, do not buy our blood. --A prisoner forced to labour in the rice fields [ABSL: FORCED LABOUR IN KABAW VALLEY] HEADLINES: ========== AP: NE WIN'S IN INDONESIA BKK POST: PETRONAS TO ACQUIRE STAKE IN BURMESE GAS AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL: REPORT SUMMARY - ROHINGYAS ABSL: FORCED LABOUR IN KABAW VALLEY WASHINGTON BUSINESS JOURNAL: NEW LOBBYIST BKK POST: ILLEGAL TEAK WOOD SEIZED IN NORTH NATION: PTT SCRUTINISES GAS PROJECT DUE TO FISCAL TURMOIL UPDATE: MASSACHUSETTS BURMA LAW IMAGES ASIA: VIDEOS AND REPORTS AVAILABLE BURMANET SUBJECT-MATTER RESOURCE LIST -------------------------------------------------------------------------- AP: NE WIN'S IN INDONESIA September 23, 1997 (AP) - Making his first public appearance in eight years, Burma's former military dictator Ne Win shook hands and hugged Indonesia's President Suharto when the two old friends met for dinner Tuesday night. Ne Win ruled Burma with an iron hand for 26 years after overthrowing a democratically elected government in 1962. Many Burmese believe the 86-year-old Ne Win still exercises control over Burma's present military government, the State Law and Order Restoration Council, which succeeded him in September 1988, gunning down more than 3,000 pro-democracy protesters in the process. Ne Win flew in from Rangoon on an Indonesian executive jet Tuesday afternoon for a brief private visit. ``We Indonesians are highly appreciative of your dedication and services in bringing understanding to our two nations and people,'' Suharto said through a translator at Jakarta's presidential palace. Suharto, a former army general who came to power after he crushed an abortive communist coup in 1965, has known Ne Win for about three decades. Ne Win looked frail and pale as he walked beside the Indonesian leader. Suharto praised his guest for helping Burma to join the Association of Southeast Asian Nations this year - a move opposed by Western countries critical of Burma's poor human rights record. Indonesian officials said Ne Win is to visit the grave of Suharto's wife Tien in the city of Solo on Wednesday then fly on to Singapore for a routine medical checkup Thursday. Critics say during his years in power, Ne Win drove resource-rich Burma into poverty with an isolationist policy. On July 23, 1988, he stepped down in the midst of a nationwide democracy uprising that saw the emergence of Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi as its leader. In his final public speech, he warned the demonstrators that ``when the army shoots, it shoots to hit.'' Chroniclers of the uprising have written that Suu Kyi was placed under six years of house arrest after she publicly criticized Ne Win by name. ***************************************** BKK POST: PETRONAS TO ACQUIRE STAKE IN BURMESE GAS PROJECT September 23, 1997 Kuala Lumpur, DPA Premier takes over entire Texaco stake Malaysia's state oil firm, Petronas, said yesterday it is taking up a 36.4% stake in Burma's Yetagun gas project from Britain's Premier 011 Plc. Petronas Carigali, the oil firm's exploration arm, has signed conditional agreements with Premier Petroleum Myanmar Ltd to acquire the stake in the project 9 s Blocks M-12, M-13 and M-14, and in a pipeline that will deliver the gas to Thailand. Premier Petroleum Myanmar, a wholly owned subsidiary of Premier Oil, is taking over the entire stake of US-based Texaco Inc in the Yetagun gas project and in the Block M-10 field. Premier will also assume operator ship of the project. Texaco was reported to have a 40% stake in Yetagun. Petronas Carigali will also take up a 42.4% interest in Block M-10 from Premier, a company statement said. Block M-10 is an exploration block with promising geological prospects. The statement said the Yetagun acquisitions mark Petronas' return to upstream activities in Burma and is in line with the oil company's expansion programme in Asia. It relinquished exploration rights to an onshore project in Burma several years ago, in a venture with Japan's Idemitsu Co, after tests showed the project was not viable. News reports have said Texaco wanted to sell off its stake in Yetagun, following Washington's decision to impose sanctions on new US investments in military-ruled Burma. Although the sanctions will apply only to new investments and not to existing projects like the Yetagun field, Texaco had been talking with Petronas as well as Indonesia's state oil firm Pertamina and Thai energy and mining group Ban Pu Plc. The Yetagun gas fields were discovered in 1991 off the Gulf of Martaban and have estimated reserves of 1.8 trillion cubic feet of gas and about 48 million barrels of condensate. Production is set to start in late 1999 at an initial rate of 200 million standard cubic feet per day. Other partners in the consortium operation the Yetagun project are Japan's Nippon Oil and Thailand's PTT Exploration and Production Plc. ***************************************************** AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL: REPORT SUMMARY - ROHINGYAS September 1997 From: uneoo@physics.adelaide.edu.au AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL MYANMAR/BANGLADESH: ROHINGYAS - THE SEARCH FOR SAFETY SEPTEMBER 1997, SUMMARY OF REPORT AI INDEX: ASA 13/07/97 Thousands of Burmese Muslims from the Rakhine (Arakan) State in Myanmar, known as Rohingyas, have fled into southeastern Bangladesh during the first half of 1997. Unlike more than 250,000 Rohingya refugees who came to Bangladesh in 1991 and 1992, these new arrivals are largely living in local villages rather than in designated refugee camps. The Government of Bangladesh has not permitted the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to interview these people, asserting that they are all economic migrants. Amnesty International is aware of reports that some of the new arrivals have stated that they have left Myanmar solely because of economic hardship. However, it is concerned that others are in fact people fleeing serious human rights violations in Myanmar, and therefore would be in need of protection. Indeed, it should be noted that the distinction between economic hardship and violations of civil and political rights is not necessarily a clear one; for example, many of the Rohingyas have been unable to make a living due to continuing unpaid forced labour in Rakhine state. Given the grave human rights situation in Myanmar, it is impossible to state in a blanket fashion that Rohingyas are only fleeing economic hardship and therefore are not worthy of protection. Rohingya refugees who arrived in Bangladesh in 1991 and 1992 fled massive human rights violations in the Rakhine State, including extrajudicial executions, torture, forced labour and portering. The range and extent of these abuses constituted widespread repression of the Rohingyas by the Burmese security forces, resulting in unprecedented numbers of refugees fleeing the country. Although the human rights situation in the Rakhine State has marginally improved, forced labour, portering and forcible relocations under harsh conditions continue to be reported. Such practices are common throughout Myanmar, but members of ethnic minorities such as the Rohingyas are particularly vulnerable. Amnesty International has received reliable reports from eye-witnesses who have recently observed forced labour of civilians in the Rakhine State. According to witnesses Rohingyas and other ethnic minorities including the Arakanese and Mro, were forced to work on roads and bridges by the Burmese security forces in December 1996 and during the first half of 1997. The border patrol police in Myanmar, known as Na Sa Ka, were reportedly one of the security forces responsible for seizing them as labourers. The long-term human rights crisis in Myanmar has meant that tens of thousands of refugees from various ethnic minorities have fled to neighbouring countries, primarily Bangladesh and Thailand. Such massive outflows have created an enormous burden for these tow countries, who are under pressure to provide safe havens for these people with very limited resources themselves. Bangladesh needs international support to ensure that refugees are given protection and an appropriate level of treatment. Mass flights of refugees are an international responsibility; countries that happen to be the nearest point of safety should not be left alone to bear that responsibility. The refugee burdens Bangladesh and Thailand face make it even more imperative for the international community, including both governments and intergovernmental organizations such as the EU, to increase pressure on the SLORC to clean up its human rights record. The new arrivals joined some 21,800 Rohingyas living in camps in Bangladesh, the remainder of over 250,000 refugees who had fled in the early 1990s. Since then tens of thousands of Rohingyas have been repatriated, although various non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have expressed concern that the repatriation operation has gone forward without a fundamental improvement in the human rights situation in Myanmar, and have questioned whether the repatriation of many of these refugees was truly voluntary. The SLORC has reportedly agreed to accept only 7,500 of the remaining 21,800 Rohingyas. UNHCR has requested the Bangladeshi authorities to allow the remaining 14,000 Rohingyas to settle in Bangladesh. The repatriation process stopped in April 1997, but on 20 and 22 July 1997 the Bangladeshi security forces forcibly returned 399 Rohingyas from Kutapalong and Nayapara camps. After protests from UNHCR, who had been denied access to the refugees, the Government of Bangladesh agreed not to return any Rohingyas against their will. However the government stated at the same time that none of the Rohingya refugees would be allowed to remain in Bangladesh permanently. This report summarizes a 7-page document (2,913 words), MYANMAR/BANGLADESH ROHINGYAS - THE SEARCH FOR SAFETY (AI Index: ASA 13/07/97) issued by Amnesty International in SEPTEMBER 1997. Anyone wishing further details or to take action on this issue should consult the full document. (AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL SECRETARIAT, 1 EASTON STREET, LONDON WC1X 8DJ, UNITED KINGDOM) ************************************ ABSL: FORCED LABOUR IN KABAW VALLEY September 22, 1997 From: shar@league.unv.ernet.in Prison Labour Camp. ==================== The military junta established prison labour camps elsewhere in our country; many convicts were sent to these camps to contribute their free slave labour. Among these notorious prison camps, the most notorious are the quarry mines in Kyaikhto in Mon State and Htonebo in Mandalay division. Also the camp near the Indo-Burma border is becoming notorious for harsh labour, persecution and cruelty. Kabaw Valley Camp. Under the guise of Kabaw Valley Development Project, the prison labour force is being used in land reclamation, road building, prison labour camp construction and city planning. Moreover, forced donations from people, unpaid use of cattle and farm implements, and forced labour are rampant in this area. In these camps, the main work sites are earth work, quarry, road building, farm land, plantation and building construction. The labourers work full time without holiday there. There are more than 1,000 convicts in Yarzagyo, Wetshu, Myothit and Tanan camps along the Kabaw valley. One more new camp is under construction since 1996 between Mawlaiklay and Indaing, expected to be completed in 1999. In this work site 400 persons are being used and the construction project is in full swing. Sending to Camps. Firstly, selected convicts from all over the country were sent to Monywa Prison in Sagaing Division. Among these, most were between the ages of 20 and 30, criminals and drug addicts. A few are over 50-60 years old. They were fettered in Mandalay and Monywa prisons. (Fettering written separately in more detail) They were sent to camps from there by river boats and in 200 persons a batch. On the upper deck, they were placed in rows and columns. Everyone can imagine their plight during the journey, in a sitting position throughout the journey and packed tightly like sardines. They were not allowed to stand nor to lie, overlapping thigh to thigh, hurting the rib bones each other. Due to ignorance and unbearable pain, one man who was over 50 years old stood and was subsequently beaten on the head and suffered skull crack. Even worse, they were not allowed to go to the toilet, and were given a plastic bag instead. Daily two meals were served in the morning, packed in plastic bags. The food was rotten in the evening and no one could eat it. At Kalaywa jetty, they embarked and were put onto trucks, similarly in a sitting position. The trucks have no roofing, so the prisoners were sitting in 10 rows, 50 persons per truck, travelled for two nights. They were not allowed to move nor get off for pain relief throughout the journey. After arriving at the camp, they were herded into the camp. Some could not move due to the long and painful journey and were beaten and forced to run. Then they were sent to their respective work sites. Immediately the next day they had to start to work, ignoring poor health and handicap, all of the prisoners were treated alike. Emergency reinforcements are sent there from Mandalay, Lashio and Monywa prisons when there are deaths in camps. Harsh Labour Harsh labour in farm work, earth work, land reclamation road building, construction and plantation. But there are no commute or remission in return as a reward. Work hours are from 6 AM, to 6 PM from 11 AM to 1 PM is lunch break. No excuse for sick and injuries. One day, Maung Maung Chit, age 26, mingled with the sick persons in morning roll call. (One who wanted to get medical leave had to bribe the prison officials). The prison warden and overseer kicked him and forced him to work that day. On that day he worked farm work and died the next day due to torture, poor health and poor work conditions. As sayings goes, truth is stranger than fiction, there was inhumane work, beyond imagination the plough was pulled by four persons, one person rode on the plough guarded by two wardens on each side. In this way the fields were ploughed due to lack of modern farm equipment and implements like tractor. Each morning, after breakfast gruel, the prisoners were herded in fetters after a tractor ridden by prison wardens, went ting-a-ling. Grueling work in mud and swamp all the day, no drinking water, no shed for having meal. There are many death in camps and fleeing from camp at the risk of their lives. An escaped youth, age 28 explained their anguished agony in an interview. "We decided to flee from these camps, otherwise we would die in these appalling work conditions", he said. In 1995, a rice field Labour camp was awarded first prize for high yield, but no prisoners were awarded cash rewards of in any kind for their slave Labour. A youth said in resentment, "Do not buy the rice from Kabaw valley, it is not rice, it is our blood, sweat and lives. Do not buy the rice, do not buy our blood." Though they produced paddy, beans, grams and mustard abundantly, they were given only very low ration. One prisoner was severely beaten and kicked for his petty crime of stealing and eating a fistful of beans. Living conditions and nutrition The prisoners were kept in 2 barracks in 500 x 500 yards surrounded by double barbed wire guarded by armed security. 500 persons slept in row on the long double sleep berth face to face. They did not remove the fetters during the night and the prisoners had to hold their fetters in the night to make sure they did not make any sound. Anyone who made a ting-a-ling sound could be punished. Almost all suffered beriberi due to the malnutrition. They picked and ate wild vegetables to enhance their nutrition, consequently suffered from dysentery and diarrhoea. Malaria is also rampant in this area due to unhygienic drinking water and lack of mosquito net. Some drug addicts contracted the HIV virus. Hospitalization in time is the exception and rare chance for prisoners. Very lucky prisoners were sent to Mintha and Tamu hospital by cart. But many died in hospital due to lack of medicine, lack of attention from overworked medical personnel and their late arrival. From 1997 January to July, 48 persons died in Mintha hospital. Of which, 13 persons died of AIDS. There were more deaths in the rainy season. In 1995, over 100 persons in a month, this caused a panic in all of the camps when the news spread. If the prisoner died in camp, according to the prison manual and regulations, a death report, post mortem report and medical report are required. To avoid the troublesome workload and responsibility some dead bodies were sent to hospital with glucose intravenous set attached, when they arrived at the hospital, they could easily say "the patient brought certificate from the medical officer. Prison authorities kept all the clothes and personal items on their arrival. They were only permitted the set of clothes they were wearing. "We have no spare dress to change into, our clothes are torn to pieces and we call it "Tarzan" dress. We wear these ragged clothes all the time." One prisoner said. Prison dress was issued only on the VIP for inspection and was taken back after that. The prison authorities do not inform the prisoners' relatives when they died. The authorities simply buried the dead bodies in the shallow grave. It is not surprising the prisoners tried to escape from the hell, full of torture, terror, malnutrition and poor medical care. Unlucky prisoners who were rearrested fell into a worse hell. There is a standing order to shoot without challenge and warning at the attempted escapees. Some were brought back and beaten severely by the fellow prisoners. Some were beaten by collaborator-prisoners and sent to hospital in dying condition. There are many cases of prison death of the unsuccessful escapees. In 1996 July four prisoners went berserk and beat a warden by hoe and ran away. But unfortunately they were rearrested by the prison guards and beaten to death. Unsurprisingly, no action was taken against prison authorities for their inhumane and brutal crimes. Another incident took place in 1995 June. Maung Lay, aged 20, and 3 other fisherman convicts ran away from camp and rearrested and tortured. Three prisoners died instantly of severe injuries. But, when Maung Lay did not die though he was beaten severely for a long time, impatient prison guards smashed his private parts with a brick and put him to death. "Many are crippled and handicapped upon completion of their serving terms. I can walk for only a few minutes, always suffer from arthritis", one former prisoner said showing his scars. This is mostly due to their hard labour and constant wearing of fetters. When the death rate increased in the camp, the remaining prisoners had to make up for the lost labour force and their work load increased. Fresh reinforcements used to arrive at the camp from Mandalay, Lashio and Monywa prisons within a month. "There are always 200 or more prisoners in the camp", one prisoner said. (There is always a 7 to 8 escapee rate per month). To be free from their heavy work load, fetters and torture, some prisoners bribed the prison officials to be admitted to the hospital and take rest. The price varies from 300 to 500 kyats from time to time. Those who can not pay, including the real sick and crippled prisoners had to make up their work load besides their own heavy work. On 24th July 1997, Lt. Gen Mya Thin, SLORC's Home Minister said officially that the prison labour should be used in construction work to a full extent in a routine departmental co-ordination meeting. This is the death warrant from the hell angel for all prisoners in the camps, which may put them to death definitely. We should do something for the deplorable and unsung agony of the prisoners in Kabaw Valley. They should be granted lawful prisoner rights, humane treatment and protection by law. News and Information Bureau All Burma Students League +=====================================+ | A B S L | +-------------------------------------+ | All Burma Students League | | 3, Krishna Menon Marg | | New Delhi - 110011 | | Ph : 91-11-3017172/3016035 | | Fx : 91-11-3793397 | | Email : shar@league.unv.ernet.in | +=====================================+ ********************************************* WASHINGTON BUSINESS JOURNAL: NEW LOBBYIST September 22, 1997 by Heidi Przybyla International Business IMAGE IS EVERYTHING. Bain and Associates of Alexandria is embarking on a mission to polish the tarnished reputation of Myanmar, the largest country in Southeast Asia. This past April, the U.S. government slapped trade sanctions on Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, citing human rights violations. A real estate and manufacturing company in Myanmar subsequently hired Bain and Associates, which specializes in media relations, marketing and crisis management, to tell the international press about the country's business climate, culture and opportunities. "The U.S. is using the country as a whipping boy," said Jackson Bain, president and co-owner of Bain and Associates. The U.S. government has come under fire for renewing most favored nation trading status with China, despite the country's well-documented human rights violations. While revoking China's trading status would be a risky move on many counts, Bain said, "beating up on Myanmar" may pacify the U.S. public. Bain said Myanmar, which has 45 million residents, is five to 10 years from forming a democratic constitution "that will lead to real democracy for all its people." He said the new sanctions will be impediments to the growth of Myanmar's economy and, ultimately, to the emerging democracy. Bain declined to release the value of the one-year contract. Bain and Associates has 12 clients, including the Biotechnology Industry Association and the American Public Transit Association. It also has done work for various foreign companies. Heidi Przybyla can be reached at (703) 816-0337 or by fax at (703) 875-2231. Send e-mail to hprzybyla@washbj.com. =========================== Bain and Associates 703-549-9592 ********************************************** BKK POST: ILLEGAL TEAK WOOD SEIZED IN NORTH September 23, 1997 Mae Hong Son - A combined team of police officers and forestry officials seized 300 pieces of illegally-processed teak wood worth about 100,000 baht from the Salween River yesterday. The seized logs, left there by an unknown party on Friday, were about to be sent to Burma for the necessary stamp of clearance before being sent back to Thai merchants. Two Burmese timber firms and a Mae Sot-based Thai company are reportedly engaged in the illegal activity. They have hired members of the renegade Democratic Karen Buddhist Army to fell trees in the Salween wildlife sanctuary and send them to Burma to be stamped with the seal legitimising their felling before being returned to Thailand. ***************************************************** THE NATION: PTT SCRUTINISES GAS PROJECTS DUE TO FISCAL TURMOIL September 23, 1997 AP-Dow Jones SINGAPORE ­ Thailand is studying plans to increase imports of natural gas from neighbouring Burma in line with its review of a number of natural gas import proposals, Viset Choopiban, president of Petroleum Authority of Thailand unit PTT International, said yesterday. The recent economic crisis in Thailand has forced state-owned PTT to review the feasibility of a number of petrochemical and natural gas projects, including a plan to import liquefied natural gas from Oman and also to pipe natural gas from Indonesia's giant Natuna field. Additional natural gas sourced from Burma's Yadana and Yetagun fields, in which PTT affiliate PTT Exploration and Production has a 25.5 per cent and a 14.1 per cent stake respectively, may now prove more economical as a result of a pipeline already under construction and due for completion next year, Viset said. He added that PTTEP was also looking at potential supply from the Vietnam-Thai border area, thought to be rich in gas. "We have to utilise our [nearby] sources first," Viset said. He added that these existing projects could yield additional natural gas imports more quickly than other projects under consideration. Thailand has already agreed to import about 750 million cubic feet a day of natural gas from the two Burmese fields to fuel the 4,600 megawatt power plants owned by the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat). Viset was speaking at a private briefing ahead of the start of the 13th Asia Pacific Petroleum Conference in Singapore. Regarding the planned privatisation of PTT, which the Thai government has requested be speeded up, Viset said, "PTT will still be a [single] integrated company after privatisation ... the synergy of gas, oil [and other sectors] would be good for PTT in the long run." PTT has been studying privatisation plans for the last two years, and that study should be completed "very soon", Viset said. Previously PTT indicated the study should be finished in late September or early October. Viset estimated that PTT had working capital of US$671.8 million as of June before the de facto devaluation of the baht. He valued PTT assets at $4 billion with a turnover of $5 billion. Although Viset conceded PTT has been affected by the baht depreciation, he said nevertheless it has been "maintaining a satisfactory financial performance and a strong marketing position". He added that exchange rate fluctuations are "automatically adjusted at retail". PTT pays for its crude oil imports, amounting to 200,000 barrels a day, in US dollars, but relies on baht revenue for domestic sales. Previously a net importer of refined products, Thailand became a net exporter of most refined products only last year with the start up of two new refineries; Rayong Refinery Co, with a 145,000 b/d capacity, and Star Petroleum Refining Co, with 150,000 b/d. PTT exports of refined products from local refineries were 2.3 million barrels in the first half of 1997, while exports of liquefied petroleum gas from gas separation plants amounted to 200,000 tonnes, Viset said. Exports of natural petrol and condensate amounted to 2.4 million barrels while those from petrochemicals reached 71,000 tonnes in the first half of the year. Viset said PTT would be looking to diversify its crude oil supply to include crudes from West Africa and the Yemen within "one or two years" as crude production in East Asia declines. He said such diversification of supply would be in line with Thailand's goal to reduce production of high-sulphur diesel, and may be sought through term contracts. Separately, Viset said Thai refining margins had been negatively impacted by the rising cost of its dollar-denominated crude imports and simultaneous weakening in the value of its oil product sales. *********************************************** UPDATE: MASSACHUSETTS BURMA LAW September 23, 1997 From: sbillenness@frdc.com A bipartisan group of US Representatives have moved an amendment in Congress that would help support the Massachusetts Burma selective purchasing law. It is expected that the amendment will be moved AND voted on in Congress on Wednesday, September 24. BACKGROUND Six Members of Congress (Sanders, Rohrabacher, Stearns, Defazio, Ney, Brown and Dellums) plan to move an amendment to Commerce-State-Justice Appropriations Bill that would help defend state and local laws from the World Trade Organization. The amendment cuts $1 million from the US Commerce Department budget. The amendment reallocates the $1 million to the US Trade Representative's office (USTR) "for the express purpose of better equipping [the USTR] to identify and defend current national, state, local, tribal, territorial or DC laws adversely affected by international trade and investment agreements." This amendment puts additional explicit pressure on the USTR to defend the Massachusetts Burma selective purchasing law from the challenge by the European Commission and the Japanese government at the World Trade Organization. Modeled on a previous South Africa anti-apartheid law, the Massachusetts Burma law effectively bars state agencies from buying goods or services from companies that do business in Burma. If this amendment is successfully attached to the Appropriations bill in the House of Representatives, the action will move to the Senate where, it is hoped, a similar amendment will be moved. For more information contact: Simon Billenness * for the New England Burma Roundtable * Franklin Research & Development 711 Atlantic Avenue, Boston, MA 02111 (617) 423-6655 x225 (617) 482 6179 fax sbillenness@frdc.com ********************************** IMAGES ASIA: VIDEOS AND REPORTS AVAILABLE September 19, 1997 sitthi@cm.ksc.co.th I M A G E S A S I A Materials Available from Images Asia: VIDEOS* 1. No Childhood at All ($20.00 US dollar/500 Thai baht); This documentary explores the human rights abuses perpetrated against children in Burma. Footage smuggled out of the country includes the student demonstrations of December 6,1996. This is combined with chilling testimonies from former child soldiers, painting a shocking picture of conditions for children in Burma today. 2. Caught in the Crossfire ($20.00 US dollar/500 Thai baht); A stirring documentary about the abuses of women at the hands of SLORC. 3. BURMA: December, 1996 Student Demonstrations ($20.00 US/500 Thai baht); Footage smuggled out of the country showing the 1996 student demonstrations in Rangoon. * All videos available on either PAL/VHS and NTSC/VHS Formats - please specify. REPORTS/PUBLICATIONS: 1. No Where to Go (English language) ($4.00 US/100 Thai baht); Report on the consequences of the 1997 SLORC offensive against the Duplaya District (KNU Sixth Brigade), Karen State, Burma. 2. No Childhood at AII (English language) ($4.00 US/100 Thai baht); Report on the use of child soldiers and related human rights abuses of children in Burma. 3. Migrating with Hope (English language) ($4.00 US/100 Thai baht); Report concerned with the migration of Burmese women into the Thai sex industry. 4. The situation of Muslims in Burma (English language) ($4.00 US/100 Thai baht); Report on the Muslim/Buddhist disturbances in Burma in early, 1997. POSTCARDS: 1. Sets of 8, B/W ($3.00 US/70 Thai baht) - Images Asia: Postcards from Burma 2. Sets of 9, Colour ($2.00 US/SO Thai baht) - Images Asia: Postcards from the Burmese Border POSTERS: One set of three 14 ½ x 22 B & W posters ($6.00 US dollars/150 Thai baht); They include: 1. A portrait of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, with the caption, There will be change because all the military have are guns. 2. A picture of a child performing hard labour with the caption: Burma: The Golden Land, The Golden Lie! In Burma over two million people are being forced to build a tourist industry... Many of them are children... 3. A picture of a SLORC military policeman barring the photographer's entry: Burma: The Golden Lie. Including a comparison of SLORC military spending figures and health spending figures. Order from Images Asia, P.O. Box 2, Prasingha PO, Chiang Mai 50200, Thailand, with a check made out to Images Asia/Thai Farmers Bank, including shipping costs. (Overseas shipping — videos $10.00 US Postcards/reports $5.00) Bulk orders of 10 or more sets of postcards, psoters, and reports receive a 10% discount of the total. Contact Images Asia direct by e-mail: ************************************* BURMANET SUBJECT-MATTER RESOURCE LIST BurmaNet regularly receives enquiries on a number of different topics related to Burma. If you have questions on any of the following subjects, please direct email to the following volunteer coordinators, who will either answer your question or try to put you in contact with someone who can: Campus activism: zni@students.wisc.edu Boycott campaigns: ai268@freenet.carleton.ca Buddhism: Buddhist Relief Mission: brelief@gol.com Chin history/culture: [volunteer temporarily away] Fonts: tom@cs.colgate.edu High School Activism: [volunteer needed] History of Burma: zni@students.wisc.edu International Affairs: Julien Moe: moe@interport.net Kachin history/culture: 74750.1267@compuserve.com Karen history/culture: Karen Historical Society: 102113.2571@Compuserve.com Mon history/culture: [volunteer needed] Naga history/culture: Wungram Shishak: z954001@oats.farm.niu.edu Burma-India border Aung San Myint: aungsan@giasd101.vsnl.net.in Pali literature: "Palmleaf": c/o burmanet@igc.apc.org Pipeline Campaign freeburma@irn.org Resettlement info: refugee_help@mail.serve.com Rakhaing (Arakan) history/culture Kyaw Tha Hla:thisthis@nyc.pipeline.com Rohingya culture volunteer needed Shan history/culture: Sao Hpa Han: burma@ix.netcom.com Shareholder activism: simon_billenness@mail.cybercom.net Teak Boycott Tim Keating: relief@igc.org Total - France Dawn Star: cd@utopia.EUnet.fr Tourism campaigns: bagp@gn.apc.org "Attn. S.Sutcliffe" volunteering: refugee_help@mail.serve.com World Wide Web: FreeBurma@POBox.com Geographical Contacts: Massachusetts simon_billenness@mail.cybercom.net [Feel free to suggest more areas of coverage] --------------------------------------------------------------------------- FREE BURMA WEB PAGES: http://FreeBurma.org This single page serves only as an easy to remember URL and departure point to resources promoting the establishment of democracy in Burma. Please write to FreeBurma@pobox.com to add a site or for further information." - Glen, system administrator FREE BURMA COALITION: to get involved in the Free Burma Coalition, send a message to: zni@students.wisc.edu or visit their homepage, accessible through: http:// FreeBurma.org There is also an e-mail list-server especially for Free Burma activists BURMANET SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION: The BurmaNet News is an electronic newspaper covering Burma. Articles from newspapers, magazines, newsletters, the wire services and the Internet as well as original material are published. It is produced with the support of the Burma Information Group (B.I.G) and the Research Department of the ABSDF. We are also grateful to many other friends around the world who send us articles to post. The BurmaNet News is e-mailed directly to subscribers and is also distributed via the soc.culture.burma and seasia-l mailing lists. For a free subscription to the BurmaNet News: send a message to: majordomo@igc.apc.org a. For the BurmaNet News only: in the message, type: subscribe burmanews-l b. For the BurmaNet News and 4-5 other messages a day: in the message, type: subscribe burmanet-l (NOTE: all lower case letters, last letter is a lower case "L", not the numeral one). Letters to the editor, comments or contributions of articles should be sent to the editor at: strider@igc.apc.org ***************************************************