------------------------ BurmaNet ------------------------ "Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies" ---------------------------------------------------------- The BurmaNet News: October 17, 1997 Issue #847 HEADLINES: ========== ABSDF: PRISONERS RECOUNT HORRORS IN LOIKAW PRISON THE NATION: BURMA OPENS HI-TECH WARFARE, SPYING CENTRE BKK POST: RAMOS URGES SLORC TO BE 'TOLERANT' ABSDF: IMPRISONED NLD REPRESENTATIVE: HEALTH DECLINING REUTERS: PRIVATE U.S. MISSION MEETS BURMA MILITARY FEER: PASSPORT RACKET BKK POST: SOME PROGRESS ACHIEVED THE STAR: 68 % OF BURMA'S PRODUCTS WITHIN 0-5% TARIFF RATE ORCHESTRA BURMA REPORT: TEACHERS FORCED TO RESIGN BKK POST: SERIOUS OVERCROWDING AT DETENTION CENTRE BKK POST: COURT RULES DEPUTY CHIEF JUDGE GUILTY BKK POST: PTT FAILS TO WOO KORN TO JOIN TALKS ANNOUNCEMENT: FBC-LA MEETING REQUEST FOR INPUT: BURMA ACTION CALENDAR (BAC) 1997-98 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ABSDF PRESS RELEASE: PRISONERS RECOUNT HORRORS IN LOIKAW PRISON October 16, 1997 From: Caroline Lurie Burmese Military Intelligence officers in Loikaw Prison, Karenni State, beat prisoners, use various forms of torture, sexually abuse female prisoners and force women to give birth in their cells, according to a female prisoner recently released from the prison. Ma Hnin Nu (not her real name), 32, spent a year in Loikaw Prison with 70 other female prisoners, most of whom were incarcerated for their involvement with opposition political organisations. She told the ABSDF that prisoners are beaten with batons, forced to kneel on broken glass and to look at glaring high-voltage bulbs for long periods as part of punishment or during interrogations. Sources estimate there are about 800 prisoners including a considerable number of political prisoners in Loikaw Prison. Most of them are in prison for political offences such as associating with an illegal political organization and breaching internal security laws. Ma Hnin Nu says those who conduct the torture against the prisoners are military intelligence officers from Burmese Intelligence Unit 27, led by Lieutenants Kyaw Kyaw Thu and Kyaw Win. She says that women in Loikaw Prison are not given proper care during pregnancy or during their menstrual periods. Some women who go into labour are not sent to the hospital but instead are forced to give birth in their cells. Others are subject to sexual abuse by one particular warden, but also by other prison officials. Ma Hnin Nu believes that HIV/Aids is spreading in the prison due to the repeated use of dirty needles at the hospital. Those who can afford to bribe the prison officials are the only prisoners exempt from abuse and are allowed clean needles. Ko Thaung Tin, 37, is another former prisoner of Loikaw. He was sentenced to 7 years with hard labour after a fight with the chairman of the Village Law and Order Restoration Council. He recently fled to the Thai-Burma border and said that he was recruited as a porter for the Burmese Army at Loikaw Prison, which is not an unusual practice. Ko Thaung Tin says that with the shortage of under-5 year prisoners who are usually used as porters, the SLORC has now begun to use prisoners sentenced between 5 and 10 years. Porters are forced to carry heavy loads, brutally beaten, underfed and not given medical care. Those who cannot walk or carry the supplies are often killed or left to die in the jungle. For more information please call: 01-923 1687. ******************************************* THE NATION: BURMA OPENS HI-TECH WARFARE, SPYING CENTRE October 17, 1997 AP BURMA'S military government recently opened a hi-tech warfare and spying centre built and supplied by a Singaporean company, a defence journal has reported. The new Cyber Warfare centre is located inside the Ministry of Defence compound in Rangoon, reported the Asian Defence compound in its September issue, distributed yesterday at a defence show in Bangkok. The centre "has been optimised for tapping domestic phone, fax and e-mail lines on a countrywide basis," the journal said. "It was built and supplied under a turnkey project by an unnamed Singaporean company, whose representatives are currently training their [Burmese] counterparts in how to use advanced electronic intelligence hardware installed in the centre," the Malaysian-based publication said. Despite severe economic problems and plummeting foreign reserves, Burma's military government spends more than half its yearly budget on arms and defence, according to World Bank figures. Burma has no external enemies, but its government is considered an international pariah because of rampant human rights violations, failure to stem the massive flow of drugs from the country and its suppression of the democracy movement led by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. ******************************************************* BKK POST: RAMOS URGES SLORC TO BE 'TOLERANT' October 17, 1997 Attendance limited for NLD party today Rangoon, Agencies --Philippine President Fidel Ramos has offered Burma's top generals advice on how to deal with internal opposition, advocating patience and maximum tolerance. Mr Ramos is on a three-day visit to Burma, the first by a head of state from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations since the regional group admitted Burma as a member in July. In a speech to Burma's generals, the text of which was released yesterday, he made the first public comments by an Asean head of state urging the regime to moderate its repressive behaviour. "We both have experienced the need for reconciliation with opposition groups," Mr Ramos said. "One lesson is that as a government, we have had to exercise creative patience and maximum tolerance in order to attain the objectives of peace and national reconciliation." Denied permission to visit opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi during his visit, Mr Ramos had to settle for an announcement by the government that it would allow a gathering today of Ms Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy, although it limited attendance to 100. The non-political NLD gathering at Ms Suu Kyi's Rangoon residence is to mark the "Thadingyut" Buddhist festival. [excerpts from related article] ------------------------------------ SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST: RAMOS VISIT CEMENTS NEW ASEAN TIES October 16, 1997 AGENCIES in Rangoon --Mr Ramos was welcomed at the airport by General Than Shwe - Prime Minister and chairman of the ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council, which seized power in 1988 - and the Rangoon-based diplomatic corps. He received a 21-gun salute and was cheered by hundreds of uniformed school children waving flags along the road to a state guesthouse, a kilometre from pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi's residence. Mr Ramos was accompanied on his trip by foreign and health ministry officials. Two bilateral agreements and two memorandums of understanding, covering drugs control and economic and trade co-operation, were signed. Philippine businesses have invested US$6.67 million (HK$51.56 million) in Burma since it opened up its economy at the end of 1988, making the Philippines the 18th-largest source of foreign investment in the military state. Burmese official media hailed the visit as "auspicious". It is the first by an Association of Southeast Asian Nations head of state since Burma's admission in July. "It is our understanding that President Ramos desires broader and deeper co-operation among the Asean countries, which naturally means further bilateral and multilateral accomplishments," an editorial in the official daily New Light of Myanmar said. "The warmth of Asean brotherhood will play an increasingly crucial role and pave the way for greater co-prosperity." ***************************************** ABSDF PRESS RELEASE: IMPRISONED NLD REPRESENTATIVE: HEALTH DECLINING October 16, 1997 From: Caroline Lurie The health of 70-year-old U Saw U Rel, an elected NLD representative imprisoned in Loikaw in Kayah (Karenni) State, is worsening according to his son-in-law who recently fled to the Thai-Burma border. U Saw U Rel was hospitalized in the first week of July after suffering from serious diabetes and kidney problems. Although already in shackles, he was tied to his hospital bed. His son-in-law Aung Myint says although he has been put back in Loikaw Prison, his health has not improved. U Saw U Rel was arrested and sentenced to 17 years imprisonment on December 18, 1996, for violating Article 17 (1) of the Association With Illegal Organisations Act and violating the 1962 Printing and Publishing Act. The SLORC claimed that he was contributing financially to the outlawed Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP) and found a book he had written entitled 'The crisis of Kayah State and causes of civil war in Burma' when they searched his home. U Saw U Rel is a Second World War veteran who fought against the Japanese in a parachutist unit known as 'The Spiders'. He joined the NLD after the 1988 pro-democracy uprising and became a member of Kayah (Karenni) State NLD Organising Committee. He was one of the NLD delegates to the National Convention until the NLD boycott the Convention in December 1995. U Saw U Rel was forced by the SLORC to resign from the NLD on November 28, 1996, and was arrested soon after his resignation. Aung Myint, 39, and his wife (U Saw U Rel's daughter) were arrested for alleged possession of raw opium following a search of their home by Burmese military intelligence. They were forced to confess to the charge after repeated torture by military intelligence officers, and were subsequently sentenced to 9 and 12 years respectively with hard labour. Aung Myint was recruited as a porter and sent to the frontline where he then fled to the Thai-Burma border. For more information please call: 01-923 1687 ******************************************** REUTERS: PRIVATE U.S. MISSION MEETS BURMA MILITARY LEADERS October 16, 1997 RANGOON, Oct 16 (Reuters) - A private U.S. delegation met senior officials of Burma's military government on Thursday in what analysts said was a bid to persuade them to open a dialogue with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi. The four-member delegation, headed by former U.S. ambassador to Japan and the Philippines Michael Armacost, met with Secretary General One of the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) Khin Nyunt for two hours, government officials said. No official comment on the progress or content of the talks was available but local political analysts said the delegation was seeking to persuade the SLORC and Aung San Suu Kyi to enter into talks. The delegation met Suu Kyi at her Rangoon residence on Wednesday, members of her National League for Democracy (NLD) party said. Kent Wiedemann, charge d'affairs of the U.S. embassy in Rangoon, also attended that meeting, they said. The NLD won a landslide election victory in 1990, which was never recognised by the SLORC. The SLORC has repeatedly ignored Suu Kyi's requests for talks but has recently met with some other senior NLD members. ********************************************** FEER: PASSPORT RACKET October 23, 1997 For many a Hong Kong resident, visas linked to investment in Western countries have proved to be quick tickets out. But for would-be immigrants who can't afford that approach, a new route has emerged. First, they buy Japanese passports which local gangs have stolen from male Japanese tourists in the bars of Tsim Sha Tsui. Then to cover their tracks, they get Burmese visas in Along Kong and hop on a direct flight to Rangoon, where they arrange to get Indian visas. In New Delhi, they apply for Canadian tourist visas, only to disappear once they arrive in Vancouver or Toronto. Since Japanese tourists usually travel in groups and apply for visas together, certifying the identity of each applicant is difficult. But only male Hong Kong Chinese in their late 20s or early 30s are likely to afford this way out: Japanese passports are too expensive for people in Fujian, where most ethnic-Chinese illegal aliens in North America come from. ****************************************** BKK POST: SOME PROGRESS ACHIEVED October 17, 1997 Achara Ashayagachat Fiscal worries stymy bloc's attempts to get initiatives off ground Kuala Lumpur --Asean economic ministers wrapped up their meeting yesterday with an attempt to map out fiscal strategies for new members Laos and Burma - and Cambodia, on hand as an observer - and a commitment to initiatives aimed at greater integration in the next century. But the initiatives, including liberalising the services sector and concluding the controversial Asean Industrial Cooperation scheme, may not be ready for implementation as planned by December, when Asean's leaders gather for a summit. The only headway made in the ongoing process is the implementation of tariff reductions under the Common Effective Preferential Tariff (CEPT), which is on schedule. More than 93 percent of the total Asean product tariffs are already on the inclusion list, with an average regional tariff rate of 6.95 percent in 1997, compared to over 12 percent when the programme started in 1993. Laos has submitted 533 inclusive tariff lines, accounting for 15 percent of the total, while Burma has 2,355 lines, or 43 percent of the total. Both will begin reducing tariffs on January 1 and complete the programme 10 years later. Endorsement of the first package of service liberalisation, covering tourism, telecommunications, air and maritime transport and business services, and coming at the end of 18 months' work, was hailed as a highlight of this week's meeting. The initial package will be implemented by next March following a protocol signing at December's Asean informal summit. The ministers agreed that any sub-sectors ready could be opened by 2010. The scheme must be completed by 2020. The Asean Industrial Cooperation plan would offer firms the benefits of economies of scale through resource sharing and an industrial complement. The light is at the end of the tunnel, with the ministers showing determination this week to launch the project within 60 days. But any agreement on establishing an Asean Investment Area and a means of defining Asean investors according to a 30 percent equity will have to wait for the next economic ministerial meeting in September 1998: Vietnam wants time to think things over. Preliminary discussions took place this week on the need to formulate a framework for electronic commerce spearheaded by the Philippines. The ministers deliberated strategies and initiatives with a view to realising the "Asean Vision 2020", plans for which are to be unveiled by the heads of state in December. Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has already roiled the water by asking if Asean in the next two decades will be a common market or even the kind of single market for which the European Union is striving. Besides encouraging more efficiency in the utilities industry and a review of regulatory and administrative procedures at the national and regional levels, Mr Mahathir called for a crackdown on corruption to reduce the cost of doing business in the region. ******************************************************* KUALA LUMPUR THE STAR (INTERNET VERSION): SIXTY EIGHT % OF BURMA'S PRODUCTS WITHIN 0-5% TARIFF RATE October 14, 1997 ABOUT 68% of products in Myanmar are already within the zero to 5% tariff rate now, Yangon's National Planning and Economic Development Ministry adviser Dr Khin Ohn Thant said. She said only 10% of products and services had a tariff rate of between 30% and 40% as the government was trying to discourage certain activities. They included gambling businesses, liquor, antiques, imported cars and others, she said. "Of the 5,400 tariff lines (in Myanmar's product list for the Asean Free Trade Area), about 2,400 products are in the inclusion list. Over 2,900 are in the temporary exclusion list, 108 in the general exception list and 21 in the sensitive list." Myanmar and Laos have 10 years from Jan 1 next year to meet the Afta deadline. The two countries, which joined Asean in July, have submitted their products lists for Afta tariff rates and are attending the Asean economic ministerial conference here as members for the first time. *************************************** ORCHESTRA BURMA REPORT: TEACHERS FORCED TO RESIGN October 16, 1997 From: lokanat@freeburma.org [BurmaNet Editor's Note: This version has been corrected] Teachers faced with being forced to resign According reports from a middle school teacher who fled to Mae Sod, Thailand in March 1997 from Pha Pon town, Karen State, each and every teacher from all schools was offered 10,000 Kyats by the government. They asked whether they would have to pay the money back or not, but the government did not respond to their questions. After one year, the government declared that the teachers must reimburse it completely. Many teachers unable to reimburse the money were dismissed. The middle school teacher himself came to (xxxxxx) to work at a workshop with the aim of paying back the debt. He had to move to Mae Sod after getting into trouble by asking his employer for wages. Due to the fact that he would like to go back to Myanmar to work as a teacher after returning the money he owed, some of the information he gave must remain confidential. *************************************** BKK POST: SERIOUS OVERCROWDING AT DETENTION CENTRE October 16, 1997 Suthep Chaviwan Police ponder how to handle illegal aliens The Immigration Bureau's detention centre at Soi Suan Plu, where illegal aliens are detained, has a serious overcrowding problem. Designed for a maximum of 1,200 people, it now houses 1,758, according to deputy commissioner Pol Maj-Gen Chalermdej Jombunud. The detainees - Burmese, Khmers and 58 other nationalities - scarcely have enough room to sleep or even sit, he said. The bureau must provide food to the value of 30 baht per head per day, a total of 50,000 baht a day, and this is a big problem, said Pol Maj-Gen Chalermdej. To tackle the overcrowding, the bureau aims to discharge aliens as soon as investigative and legal procedures are completed. A batch of Khmers detained here will soon be bussed to the border where they will be repatriated. But a new batch takes their place "and it's an endless problem," he said. There are thousands of illegal aliens in Thailand, arriving here mostly by land. Our 2,200 immigration officers cannot cope with this, he said. Pol Maj-Gen Chalermdej, whose commission supervises some 800 immigration officers at Don Muang Airport, said the bureau will concentrate more on upgrading the standard of immigration officials. This is necessary during the Amazing Thailand Years, because immigration officials are the first officials that visitors meet on arrival, he said. With the recession and the baht depreciation, more tourists will come to Thailand as it will be cheaper for them, but we must be ready to welcome them, he said. Tourist agencies registered under the Tourism Authority of Thailand do their best, he said. But there are about 70-80 illegal agencies, which he said are mostly run by foreigners, "that have destroyed our tourism". Our country must crack down on these illegal foreign-run tour agencies because they cheat tourists, he said. ******************************************** BKK POST: COURT RULES DEPUTY CHIEF JUDGE GUILTY October 16, 1997 The deputy chief justice of a regional court has been found guilty of involvement in the release on bail of drug suspect Li Yun Chung. He will be sacked, while another senior judge will be put on probation, according to the Chief Justice of Thon Buri Criminal Court, Pramote Bunnag. Mr Pramote, who chairs an investigative panel, said the committee had completed a disciplinary probe after questioning more than 20 witnesses. The two people concerned are the deputy chief justice of Region 1, Apichit Sombatsiri, and the acting chief judge of the Min Buri provincial court, Sitthichoke Indaraviset. The panel has submitted its conclusions to justice permanent secretary Kukiat Sunthornbura. The newly-appointed justice permanent secretary, Supradit Hutasingh, has been studying the report and will pass it to the chief justice of Region 1, Pramarn Tiyapaiboon, and to the justice minister. In the report, the panel proposed that Mr Apichit be sacked. He was found guilty of collaborating with former deputy criminal court chief justice Somchai Udomwong to Pocket bribes so that Li could be released on bail. Mr Somchai had told the panel that Mr Apichit helped Phuek, who allegedly brokered the bail deal, and Li's lawyer Sukij Srimuang approached him for the release of Li on bail, Mr Pramote said. Mr Sitthichote was found not guilty, but the committee proposed that the ministry put him on probation because he was found to have ties with Phuek and his team, he added. Li, wanted in America for smuggling 486 kg of heroin into that country in 1991, jumped bail and fled to Burma in February. He was rearrested in May and later extradited to the United States to stand trial. Mr Somchai was dismissed without pension in June after an investigative panel found him guilty of corruption. ******************************************************* BKK POST: PTT FAILS TO WOO KORN TO JOIN TALKS October 17, 1997 Chakrit Ridmontri Work on pipeline to remain suspended The Petroleum Authority of Thailand may have to continue the suspension of its gas pipeline construction after it failed to convince Industry Minister Korn Dabbarangsi to join talks it has been holding with opposition groups. An urgent meeting between the two sides was held yesterday to further discuss the opponents' demand to see the contracts the PTT had made with the consortium which is drilling for natural gas at Burma's Yadana and Yetagun fields. But the opposition, which includes the Kanchanaburi Conservation Group, Wildlife Fund Thailand, Friends of the Asian Elephant Foundation and a student conservation club, was reluctant to listen to the PTT's explanations about its inability to make public the original contracts. Phinan Chotirosseranee, leader of the Kanchanaburi Conservation Group, said the opponents wanted Mr Korn to formally appoint their representatives as members of a working committee to jointly study the contracts the PTT. This is to enable the opponents to examine the original version of the gas deal contracts. The PTT pledged to the group last week that it would halt all activities at the first 50-kilometre section of the gas pipeline from I-tong village in Kanchanaburi's Thong Pha Phum district and four other residential areas where residents were badly affected by the pipeline-laying work. The halt will be reviewed again at a meeting scheduled for today in which the PTT vowed to invite Mr Korn to meet the opponents. But at press time, the PTT remained unable to convince Mr Korn to join the talks. As a result, it may have to continue a suspension of the work. ******************************************************* ANNOUNCEMENT: FBC-LA MEETING October 16, 1997 From: "Nandar" Dear Free Burma activists and supporters, We will be meeting every other Tuesday in order to mobilize Free Burma campaign in LA area. Since selective purchasing ordinance has been introduced to LA City Council, we will be focusing on it for a few months. Also, we will be hosting a fund raising dinner as a part of FBC - Refugees Relief Program. The proposed dinner will be sometime in spring; exact date, time and location will be announced. We invite everyone to join us and work for a free Burma. Any form of your input is welcome. The first meeting will be on Oct 21st, which is next Tuesday, at 7 p.m. The location is: 3612 Mentone Avenue #8 Los Angeles, CA 90034 (310) 838-8721 (310) 399-0703 (310) 841-7782 bfla@freeburma.org asmin@pacbell.net justfree@ix.netcom.com We look forward to see you. peace, love, and hope The Free Burma Coalition - Los Angeles P.O. Box 341196 Los Angeles, CA 90034 ************************************************** REQUEST FOR INPUT:BURMA ACTION CALENDAR (BAC) 1997-98 October 14, 1997 darnott@iprolink.ch (Variable or one-off events are in lower case) PLEASE CORRECT, ADD AND SEND UPDATES TO darnott@iprolink.ch PLEASE ADD MEETINGS OF ADB, IMF, WORLD BANK, ARF, ANNUAL GENERAL MEETINGS OF DELINQUENT CORPORATIONS, INCLUDING JAPANESE, ANY MISSING NATIONAL DAYS ETC.ETC. DATE EVENT 1997 SEPTEMBER 97 3 -5 Davao, Philippines Mtg of Asean Senior Officials on Environment,.(tentative) 8 KARENNI MARTYRS DAY 9-12 New York UNICEF Executive Board 11-13 Bangkok 19th ASEAN Ministers for Agriculture and Forestry Meeting 15-17 Ottawa 2nd Meeting of APEC Women Senior Leaders' Network 15-19 Geneva Meeting of Chairpersons of Treaty Bodies 16 New York General Assembly begins -- to mid December (NY) 17-18 Manado, Indonesia 7th ASEAN Ministers Meeting on Environment (AMME) 18 ANNIVERSARY OF SLORC COUP, 1988 18-19 (Location to be confirmed) ASEAN Senior Finance Officials Meeting (ASFOM)/ASEM Finance Ministers Meeting 21-24 Kuala Lumpur ASEAN Mekong Basin Development Cooperation, Steering Committee Meeting 23-25 Hong Kong IMF Joint annual meetings of Boards of Governers 23-27 Bandar Seri Begawan (Indonesia?) 20th Meeting of the ASEAN Commitee on Social Development (COSD) 24 NATIONAL LEAGUE FOR DEMOCRACY FORMED 1988 29-30 Bangkok 5th Meeting of the ASEAN Sub-Committee on Education 29 Sept-10 Oct Geneva Working Group on the Right to Development Sept (Date and location to be confirmed) ASEAN-UNDP ASP-5 Workshop on the Preparation of Guidelines for Government/NGO/Community Collaboration in AIDS Education, Prevention and Treatment OCTOBER 97 3 Singapore First Technical Expert Group Meeting on Edible Nest 4-6 Los Angeles Free Burma Conference '97 at UCLA For more information contact: The Free Burma Coalition - Los Angeles P.O. Box 341196 Los Angeles, CA 90034 Tel (+1-310) 838-8721, 450-5375; Fax (+1-310) 399-0703 *pls. call ahead to fax Email bfla@freeburma.org asmin@pacbell.net aliburma@ix.netcom.com 9-10 Canberra 4th Meeting of the ASEAN-Australia Joint Planning Committee Sub Committee (JPC-SC) 13-17 Geneva UNHCR Executive Committee 48th Session 16 Kuala Lumpur 29th ASEAN Economic Ministers (AEM) Meeting AEM-ASEAN-CCI 17-18 Kuala Lumpur AEM Consultations with: CER (Australia and New Zealand) MITI Japan South African Development Community Mercosur 19 Kuala Lumpur JCM of ASEAN Mekong Basin Development Cooperation 22 SHAN NEW YEAR 24 Luxembourg 2nd ASEF Board of Governors Meeting 25 Luxembourg Meeting of Leading News Editors (orgaised by ASEF) 28-30 Rome World Food Programme 3rd regular session NOVEMBER 97 4-6 Rome FAO Council, 113th Session 6-20 Geneva ILO Governing Body 7-20 Rome FAO Conference, 29 Session 3-20 Vienna International Narcotics Control Board 63rd session 13-14 Rangoon Training on ASEAN Project Development Manual 13-14 Bangkok. Asia-Europe Business Forum II Mid Nov. INTERNATIONAL DAY AGAINST VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN 17-26 Geneva ILO Commission of Inqury on forced Labour in Burma 18-19 Bangkok 13th ASEAN-EC (JCC) Meeting 19-24 Vancouver 1997 People's Summit on APEC. Note: Full conference announcement available. Contact: Secretariat, 910-207 West Hastings Street, Vancouver, BC, v6B 1H7, Canada. Tel: (604) 682-1952. Fax: (604) 682-1931. Email popsum97@bc.sympatico.ca. 23-25 Vancouver. Senior Officers' Meeting (SOM) IV / APEC Ministerial Meeting / APEC Economic Leaders Meeting 27-28 Tilburg University, The Netherlands. Conference on United Nations Sanctions: Effectiveness and Effects, Especially in the Field of Human Rights. Note: Full conference announcement, including a call for papers, is available. Agenda: To concentrate on the effectiveness of U.N. sanctions in general and on the effects they have on the realization of human rights such as the right to food and the right to adequate health care. 24-27 Singapore 6th ASEAN Food Conference (SINGAPORE) 27-28 Singapore 15th Meeting of the ASEAN Sub-committee on Food Science and Technology Thailand 5th Meeting of the ASEAN Task Force on AIDS (ATFOA) (THAILAND) Singapore. ASEAN-EU Partenariat DECEMBER 97 1 WORLD AIDS DAY. 3-4 Vienna Commission on Narcotic Drugs, resumed 40th session 8 ANNIVERSARY OF THE FORMATION OF THE NATIONAL COALITION GOVERNMENT OF THE UNION OF BURMA, IN 1990 IN MANERPLAW 10 WORLD HUMAN RIGHTS DAY 10. New York Beginning of Human Rights Year - Commemorative activities in New York and in theGeneral Assembly for the 50th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 14-16 Kuala Lumpur Informal ASEAN summit celebration of Asean's 30th Anniversary 31 KAREN REVOLUTION DAY 1998 JANUARY 98 4 INDEPENDENCE DAY IN BURMA (OFFICIAL). 12 KAREN NEW YEAR 19-30 Geneva Working Group on a Draft Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflicts FEBRUARY 98 2-13 . Geneva Working Group on a Draft Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography, as well as Basic Measures Needed for Their Eradication (CHR Res. 1997/78, para. 9) 5 KAREN NATIONAL UNION DAY 7 SHAN NATIONAL DAY 11 KAREN NATIONAL DAY 12 NATIONAL UNION DAY IN BURMA (OFFICIAL) FOCUS ON INDIGENOUS PEOPLES OF BURMA 15 MON NATIONAL DAY 20-21 Singapore. Europe-Asia Forum, (co-organised by Herbert Quandt Stifftung, Institute of Policy Studies and ASEF) MARCH 98 2 ANNIVERSARY OF 1962 COUP AND FARMERS DAY 8 INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY 13 BURMA HUMAN RIGHTS DAY (UNOFFICIAL) 16 March.-24 April. Geneva Commission on Human Rights 54th Session, Geneva 18 "BLOODY FRIDAY" (1988) 27 RESISTANCE DAY IN BURMA London ASEM Senior Officers' Meeting (date unconfirmed) Geneva NGO Gathering - Civil Society and Human Rights Geneva (date unconfirmed) Austria ASEM 2nd Symposium of Young Leaders (date uncomfirmed) APRIL 98 2-4 London ASEM Summit II 5 KAREN WOMEN'S ORGANISATION DAY 17 UNITED WA STATE PARTY REVOLUTION DAY MAY 98 23 KAREN YOUTH ORGANISATION DAY 24 NE WIN'S BIRTHDAY(1911) 25-29 May Geneva UN Sub-Commission, Inter-sessional Working Group on Minorities (subject to renewal of mandate by CHR 54th session) 4th Session, Geneva 27 ANNIVERSARY OF 1990 ELECTIONS May/June Geneva UN Sub-Commission, Working Group on Contemporary Forms of Slavery JUNE 98 14 KAW THOO LEI DAY 19 AUNG SAN SUU KYI'S BIRTHDAY. BURMA WOMEN'S DAY 21 KARENNI NATIONAL DAY JULY 98 5 KAREN NATIONAL LIBERATION ARMY DAY 7 COMMEMORATION OF THE BOMBING OF THE STUDENT UNION AND SHOOTING OF STUDENTS IN 1962 BY SECURITY FORCES IN RANGOON 19 MARTYRS DAY (official) 27-31 Geneva UN Sub-Commission, Working Group on Indigenous Populations, 16th Session Panel on Children's Rights as Human Rights (ASIA) (exact location and date to be determined AUGUST 98 3-28 Geneva UN Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities, 50th Session 8 ANNIVERSARY OF 8.8.88 AND ASEAN BANGKOK DECLARATION (1967). 9 KARENNI RESISTANCE DAY 10 KAREN MARTYRS DAY 17 KARENNI ARMY DAY SEPTEMBER 98 8 KARENNI MARTYRS DAY 18 ANNIVERSARY OF SLORC COUP, 1988 24 NATIONAL LEAGUE FOR DEMOCRACY FORMED 1988 OCTOBER 98 22 SHAN NEW YEAR NOVEMBER 98 Mid Nov. (ANTI) VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN, INTERNATIONAL DAY DECEMBER 98 1 WORLD AIDS DAY. 8 ANNIVERSARY OF THE FORMATION OF THE NATIONAL COALITION GOVERNMENT OF THE UNION OF BURMA, IN 1990 IN MANERPLAW 10 WORLD HUMAN RIGHTS DAY 31 KAREN REVOLUTION DAY Any updates, please, to Burma Peace Foundation, 85, Rue de Montbrillant, 1202, Geneva, Switzerland. Tel/Fax (+1-41-22) 733 2040; Email darnott@iprolink.ch Internet ProLink PC User *********************************************