BURMA 1995: The Year In Review

BurmaNet News Issue #313 by the BurmaNet Editor

Aung San Suu Kyi freed

The most momentous event of 1995 was the surprise release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest on the tenth of July. Not long before, Khin Nyunt stated that she would not be released anytime soon, although the Japanese Embassy was tipped off a few days in advance. At first Burma watchers speculated that her release might signal a more conciliatory attitude on the part of the SLORC. Events in the months following have proved otherwise. The official media never announced her release and the military junta has not engaged in a political dialogue with her. She was not allowed to officially resume her position as the secretary general of the NLD, and she cannot travel freely. When she attempted to attend the Karen New Year celebration in Insein on December 21, she was detained by the police and sent home.

It is now clear that the SLORC released Suu Kyi in order to lessen international pressure. Their strategy has paid off. A number of companies and foreign banks have gone into Burma in the past six months, and even the World Bank is considering providing assistance in the near future. Daw Suu has asked companies not to invest and governments not to provide foreign aid until democracy is restored, but few have listened.


Daw Suu's Activities

Aung San Suu Kyi appears to be undaunted by the SLORC, although she has been criticized by some for moving too cautiously. Not able to communicate with the people through the official media, she has been addressing crowds at her gate every weekend. The crowds have gradually grown from a few hundred to 4 or 5000. She has placed a mailbox on her gate into which citizens can drop letters with questions. Each Saturday and Sunday, she reads and responds to four or five of these letters, organizing her remarks around a particular theme such as education or responsibility.

Afraid that if she leaves the country she will not be allowed back in, she has still managed to communicate with the international community. She regularly makes time for journalists to interview her at her house, and she has had her videotaped speeches smuggled out to various international conferences including the UN Women's Conference in Beijing and the International Free Trade Union Conference in Manila. She has also begun writing a weekly column in the Mainichi Daily News entitled Letters From Burma.

Refusing to criticize the SLORC openly, Daw Suu is still insisting that a political dialogue is the only answer. In the meantime, she has been meeting with NLD delegations from all over the country and working with the NLD central committee to plan their strategy. She organized a Diamond Jubilee celebration at her house which over 1000 people attended. Recently she has begun setting up a sort of shadow government with committees for health and welfare. She is urging NGOs and others to work through these committees instead of SLORC ministries.


The NLD re-emerges

After 5 years of virtually no public activity, the NLD has sprung to life again. While NLD members continued to meet informally during Daw Suu's house arrest, they did not dare to organize openly. Since July, delegations of NLD members from all over Burma have been traveling to Rangoon to meet with Daw Suu and other Executive Committee members. They have been videotaping their meetings and taking them back home to copy and show others. Although a number of NLD members have left the country, remain in jail, or no longer dare to be active, it appears that a significant number are ready to assume a more active role again. Daw Suu's idea to set up various committees to assist the people may provide concrete tasks for NLD members to begin carrying out.

However, the SLORC is beginning to clamp down on NLD activities. The SLORC has issued new orders which say that any NLD member must seek permission from local Law and Order Restoration Councils before traveling anywhere or attending party meetings. Additional restrictions have also been placed on the publication and distribution of NLD literature and videotapes. U Sein Hla Aung, an NLD member from Mandalay was recently arrested for distributing videotapes of Daw Suu's weekend forums, and the three NLD members who accompanied Daw Suu to a Karen New Year's celebration have been held since December 21. Earlier this month it was reported that prison vans were waiting in front of U Kyi Maung's and U Tin Oo's houses.


National Convention

The National Convention, which commenced in January 1993 and has met sporadically ever since, resumed on November 28, 1995. On November 22, 1995, Daw Suu issued a press statement that criticized the National Convention for being undemocratic in its composition and work procedures. Only 15% of the 677 delegates were actually elected. On November 28, all 86 of the NLD delegates briefly attended the Convention and then walked out. Two days later, they were officially expelled from the Convention for being absent without permission. Lieutenant General Myo Nyunt, chairman of the NC convening committee attacked Suu Kyi for trying to "spoil" the Convention and said that the convention would continue without the NLD.

The NLD received support for their move from some ethnic minority groups as well as Burmese groups in exile in Thailand, India, and the United States. Delegates from the SNLD (Shan Nationalities League for Democracy) have been under extreme pressure to remain at the NC. According to one source, at least two of the NLD members who walked out of the convention have had their water and electricity cut off.


The SLORC

The SLORC appears to have gained strength in 1995 through its moves to liberalize the economy and welcome foreign investment. Growing investment has not only given the SLORC some legitimacy but also enriched them personally. The SLORC has continued to increase the size of the army, and it has managed to expand its military presence deeper into the border areas.

The SLORC has used the New Light of Myanmar to attack the KNU (the Whither KNU series, which was later printed into a book and sold on the streets of Rangoon) Thailand (the Other Country series), NGOs and individuals working with the pro-democracy and ethnic minority groups, and more recently Aung San Suu Kyi. The SLORC or friends of the SLORC have occasionally posted their views in burmanet-l and soc.culture.burma, and there is now a pro- SLORC myanmar home page on the web.

Some Burma-watchers have suggested that a split exists between the army faction (mostly former field commanders) and the military intelligence faction of the SLORC. Conflicts between Maung Aye and Khin Nyunt were reported over whether or not to attack the Karenni after signing a ceasefire with them. There were also disagreements about the advisability of releasing Aung San Suu Kyi in July. Nevertheless, these conflicts have never been made public, and the individuals who comprise the SLORC recognize that they must stick together in order to survive.

The children of the SLORC have also had a good year. Khin Nyunt and Kyaw Ba's sons opened a boutique called Living Color, which sells expensive designer clothing from the West. They were able to persuade the military regime to keep Scot's market, where the boutique is located, open on Sundays, so that they could increase their profits.


The people inside Burma

Some people have benefited from economic liberalization and are making money in businesses catering to tourists and foreign investors. However, the vast majority of the people have suffered from rising inflation, continued demands for forced labor, and extortion of funds by the SLORC army and local officials. Government salaries have not increased while rice prices have almost doubled. Forced labor on the Ye-Tavoy railway, roads, irrigation projects, and local army posts has continued everywhere except in Rangoon. In Rangoon itself, people's land has been confiscated and, in some areas, homes have burnt down in mysterious fires to make way for hotels and factories.

As many as 1 million people have left Burma in search of work in Thailand because they are unable to feed their families or cannot afford the monthly fees demanded by local officials.

The majority of students continue to drop out of school before financing even five years of education, because parents need their children's labor and see no value in the present education system. Hospitals have no supplies or medicine, and people must buy their own or go to expensive private clinics in order to get treated. Outside observers suspect that AIDS infection rates are rising dramatically because of the increasing number of IV drug users and the lack of access to information about AIDS and protective devices (condoms, clean needles).


Burmese pro-democracy groups in exile

Burmese pro-democracy groups were hurt by the loss of Manerplaw, the Karen National Union Headquarters, where they also maintained their offices. The ABSDFs also lost many of their military bases of operation and have shifted away from military action and toward political work.

As ceasefires are signed between the ethnic groups and the SLORC, the ABSDF and other groups are being forced to move out of the border areas. The SLORC has not offered any ceasefire agreements to the Burmese political groups, although Khin Nyunt did make an announcement this summer saying that all students could come back. A few students have returned, and while they were not immediately arrested, they were closely watched and quickly blamed when any anti-regime activities developed in their localities.

The NCUB was formed in order to provide an umbrella organization which included NLD members as well as Burmese students and the ethnic political organizations.

Most of the pro-democracy groups now have e-mail access and have taken advantage of this communication tool to disseminate information about their own activities and as well as events inside Burma.


ASEAN Relations

Burma's relations with ASEAN steadily improved throughout 1995, as ASEAN members trumpeted their constructive engagement policy as the main factor in Aung San Suu Kyi's release. In July, Burma told Brunei that it wished to accede the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation, the first step toward full membership of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Burma's foreign minister, Ohn Gyaw attended the ASEAN foreign minister's meeting in Brunei as a "guest of the host country" and top SLORC officials came to the ASEAN summit in Bangkok in early December.

ASEAN countries, particularly Thailand and Singapore, have invested heavily in Burma, and their governments have continued to defend the oppressive regime's practices with the argument that Asian values are different from Western values. According to this argument, Asians value security and collective benefits over individual rights and freedom. The argument ignores the fact that in Burma today, people have neither security nor sufficient food to eat. Moreover, Aung San Suu Kyi and Burmese in exile have rejected the Asian values argument and suggested that it is merely a justification for countries which wish to do business with the military regime.

Thai-SLORC relations have been strained by the closing of 3 border crossings by the SLORC. The SLORC has accused the Thai government of aiding the Karen and the Shan and of filling in part of the Moei River at the point where the "Friendship" Bridge is being built. Because of their own commercial interests in Burma, senior Thai military officials and their Thai business partners have been willing to bend over backwards to respond to SLORC demands. The SLORC appears to be testing the Thai government to see how far it can be pushed. The SLORC army has participated in DKBA assaults on Karen refugee camps and allowed, if not directly encouraged, DKBA attacks on Thai civilians. The Thai population has been largely apathetic, and since the departure of the Chuan administration, few Thai voices have been heard criticizing the SLORC and Thailand's policy of constructive engagement.


Japan

Japan has worked closely with the SLORC in 1995 and appears to have been instrumental in persuading the regime to release Suu Kyi in July. Almost immediately after the release, Japan began providing aid, and Japanese banks and corporations have poured into the country.

Japanese companies are positioning themselves to be major players in the development of Burma. To name a few, Daiwa Securities Co. announced plans to open a brokerage office and to set up a stock exchange in Rangoon in the near future. Mitsui is conducting a feasibility study on a $700 million power unit and fertilizer plant and Marubeni is planning an industrial park. And Chiyoda Corp is working on a massive development plan for Mandalay, which would include the construction of oil pipelines from the Bay of Bengal to Mandalay and improvement of the network of roads between Mandalay and Yunnan Province in China. The Japanese government did recently announce that it has delayed a yen 4.8 billion loan, because sufficient progress toward democracy has not been made. However, the government is not in any way inhibiting businesses from pursuing investment opportunities, and there is little public outcry against corporations which are going into Burma.


The DKBA

The Democratic Karen Buddhist Army, which was founded in December, 1994, greatly assisted the SLORC in its campaign against the KNU in 1995. About 500 soldiers left the KNLA and formed the DKBA under SLORC supervision. They were disappointed with certain KNU policies and officers and enticed by SLORC offers of support and control over Karen state. Religious discrimination by Christian officers against Buddhist foot soldiers has been sighted as the primary reason for the split. In particular, two officers who had treated their troops inappropriately were later promoted anyway. However, many Karen assert that the fundamental problem was the excessive gap in living standards between the officers and the foot soldiers. KNU officers have also attributed the problem to the lack of education of the people who joined the DKBA. The KNU is clearly partly responsible for this, because they have never made much of an effort to politicize the people or to explain the objectives of the movement.

In 1995 the DKBA recruited relatives and villagers from some refugee camps and areas in Kawthoolei where they were operating. The SLORC troops originally provided rations, uniforms, and some weapons. In return, the DKBA guided the SLORC troops through the back paths into Manerplaw in February and assisted in the capture of Kawmoora in March. The DKBA have also been terrorizing villages in Karen State, looting, torturing, and killing Karen villagers. In the areas where they operate, villagers often no longer dare to give food, shelter, or information to KNLA soldiers. The DKBA also staged several attacks on Karen refugee camps in Thailand in April and May and then again in November and December. They have looted the refugees, kidnapped KNU officials, injured and killed refugees, and burned down camps. They have also attacked a number of Thais along the border robbing and killing them. When the DKBA burned down camps earlier this year, they were supported by SLORC troops who were stationed behind them with heavy weapons and walkie talkies. Although they appear to be operating independently in their recent attacks against Thais, KNU officials have suggested that they would not dare to carry out such attacks without at least the tacit support of the SLORC.

The DKBA has attempted to recruit villagers in other areas, but so far it has not been successful. In other KNU-controlled areas further away from Manerplaw there have been no conflicts between Christian and Buddhist Karen. Also, the monks and villagers in the 6th Brigade area who have been approached do not endorse the DKBA's activities.

Some DKBA have deserted and returned to the KNU. They reported that the SLORC did not give them ammunition, stopped giving them rations, and raped many of their wives. Some have also been shot by the SLORC. At this point, there seem to be some DKBA groups who are operating independently and others who are still working closely with the SLORC. Some have deserted and returned to the KNU. They have not yet been reintegrated into their battalions, however, because of the fear that some may actually be SLORC spies.


The KNU

The Karen National Union has been severely weakened by the loss of it's headquarters, Manerplaw, earlier this year. The SLORC also took Kawmoora, a major stronghold, and has managed to cut off transportation and communication links between the northern part of Karen state and central Karen state. The KNU has had to relocate its headquarters 3 times this year in response to SLORC attacks. Much of the summer was spent soul-searching about past mistakes in military and organizational policy. General Bo Mya stepped down as military commander, and the military instituted a shift from a strategy of defending fixed positions to engaging in guerrilla warfare.

In July, the KNU held their 11th Congress. Although there was some initial opposition, General Bo Mya was re-elected as the President of the KNU. This fall senior KNU officials met with SLORC-appointed negotiators and middlemen on several occasions. In December, the KNU sent a delegation to Moulmein and Rangoon to meet with the Southern Commander and briefly with Khin Nyunt about the agenda of ceasefire talks and the composition of the negotiating teams. The SLORC informed the KNU that it wanted future statements on the ceasefire talks to be approved by the SLORC before being released, a condition which some KNU officers considered unreasonable. The KNU has agreed to continue talks, but not with much optimism about the outcome. They have been in contact with other ethnic groups who have been disappointed with their ceasefire agreements, and they were angered by SLORC attacks during the talks in Rangoon.

During 1995, hundreds of Karen villages have been destroyed and many villagers have been forced to move into enclosed areas which resemble concentration camps. In some areas in Paphun district, the villagers were ordered to hand their entire harvest over to the SLORC troops. They must now go collect their family's rations from the troops twice a day, or if they live farther away, once every three days. Karen civilians have continued to be taken as porters and forced laborers and tortured or killed because of suspected support for the KNU. More refugees have come out and many thousand more are internally displaced.


The Mon

In August, Nai Shwe Kyin, the President of the New Mon State Party traveled to Rangoon to sign a ceasefire agreement with the SLORC. In the agreement, the NMSP agreed to no longer collect taxes from the people, to limit their military presence to 8 small areas, and to not work with foreign NGOs unless they come through Rangoon. The SLORC promised to provide the NMSP with 400,000 kyat a month, to let the NMSP run their own schools (but with no financial support), and to establish some business enterprises. However, the NMSP delegation was told not to do business with the Thais, and senior leaders were granted passports which are only valid for travel to Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand.

Since the ceasefire, the SLORC authorities have continued to pick up porters and forced laborers in the Mon State. According to Mon and foreign sources, the extent of human rights abuses committed by the SLORC in Mon state is as bad as or worse than last year. In particular, tens of thousands of people are being forced to work on the Ye-Tavoy railway, and a large proportion of the laborers are children. Protests by Nai Shwe Kyin to the SLORC have not had any effect. Many Mon are unhappy with the ceasefire agreement, and some feel that the leadership has sold out. Refugees are due to be repatriated in January although new refugees are still coming out.


The Shan

Overseas Shan held a conference in New York early in the year, bringing various Shan factions together to discuss Shan political policy and political lobbying abroad. A Standing Committee was formed to carry out political work, with all Shan factions agreeing to work for federalism in Burma.

In March, the Mong Tai Army and the SLORC engaged in several battles in Tachilek and the surrounding area. The Shan National Army under the command of Major Karnyord broke off from away from the MTA and allegedly received funding from the SLORC. In August, Khun Sa responded to intense internal pressure and resigned from his post as head of the Shan State Restoration Council, of which the Mong Tai Army is the military wing. Many Shans were disturbed by the growing power of Chinese advisors close to Khun Sa while others felt that Khun Sa's opium connections were hurting their cause. In September, Zao Gunjade, the new chairman of the Central Executive Committee, sent a letter to the UN Secretary General indicating that the Shan were willing to work with the UN and even the SLORC in eradicating opium cultivation in Shan State. The MTA has been severely weakened by the defection of large numbers of troops and increasing difficulties in getting supplies from Thailand.


The Kachin

The Kachin have enjoyed a year of relative peace, although the SLORC has not lived up to many of the promises it made in the ceasefire agreement. The Kachin Independence Organization worked hard to reduce opium cultivation in its areas, but increased opium cultivation has been reported in parts of Kachin State under SLORC control.

Early in the year, the Kachin held a conference in China celebrating Kachin literacy. According to one Kachin who attended, over 20,000 Kachin came including Kachin from China, Burma, Thailand, the United States, and one from Argentina.


The Karenni

The Karenni National Progressive Party signed a ceasefire agreement with the SLORC in Loikaw on March 21, 1995. The SLORC announced that the KNPP had surrendered and turned over a large cache of weapons, which the KNPP later vehemently denied. In the ceasefire agreement, the SLORC agreed that the present military status quo in both SLORC designated and KNPP designated area areas would be maintained and that there would be no more rounding up of porters or collection of porter fees by the SLORC in Karenni state. However, on June 15, the SLORC started collecting porter fees and began rounding up porters, horses and tractors in SLORC designated areas. On June 17, the SLORC moved two battalions into KNPP designated areas. When the KNPP protested, the SLORC first answered that it needed to protect Burma from troubles along the border after the Thai election was over. The SLORC later said that the KNPP were illegally selling logs to Thais. Between the end of June and November, SLORC and KNPP troops have engaged in several clashes. The KNPP sent a negotiating team to Rangoon in late November, but the team was not allowed to move around freely and returned with no tangible results. The Karenni have since declared their ceasefire agreement null and void due to continued violations by the SLORC army. Nevertheless, they have said they are willing to re-negotiate a ceasefire agreement if the SLORC will actually honor it.


The Chin

Lt. Col. Thomas Thang No took over as acting Chairman of the Chin National Front, which is continuing to fight an armed struggle against the SLORC in the Chin hills. Some Christian children have been taken to Rangoon with the promise of a free education. Once they arrive in Rangoon they are forced to become novice monks and nuns, and officials attempt to Burmanize them. In the Chin hills, like elsewhere in the border regions of Burma, people are tortured, arrested, and jailed for suspected rebel allegiances, property is looted by SLORC troops, villagers are taken as porters and slave laborers, and the ethnic minorities are treated with great condescension by SLORC officers.


The Nagas

Little has been heard from the Nagas, but the DVB reported in December that porters are being collected from each village in the Naga Hills, and the SLORC army has been recruiting Naga youths, often forcibly. Villages which resist are relocated or burned down.

Also, the SLORC army launched a military operation in the Naga hills after the Naga moved border posts 10 km inside Burmese territory. The Naga moved the border posts because they wanted to live inside Indian territory where fellow Naga are better off.


The Wa

The Wa continued to produce opium in 1995, and apparently in an attempt to increase their territory, some Wa soldiers joined the SLORC in battling Khun Sa's Mong Tai Army this fall. The Wa signed a ceasefire agreement in 1989 which allows the United Wa State Army, who used to form the BCP rank-and-file, to keep its weapons and maintain control over its territory. Armed Slorc soldiers are not allowed in Wa territory. The relationship between the Wa and the SLORC remains uneasy, because the SLORC has not fulfilled its promises to build roads and undertake other infrastructure projects in Wa State. The SLORC has built hospital buildings but provides no equipment and no doctors.

The Wa continued to participate in the PDF (Peace and Democratic Front) which was formed in November, 1994 and includes the Wa, the Kokang and the smaller minorities - the Lahu, the Akha and Palaung. The PDF was created to mobilize military cooperation in case of a SLORC attack and to press for greater autonomy in Northern Burma.


The Rohingyas

The Rohingyas continued to be repatriated from Bangladesh under a program run by the UNHCR. In some cases people were forcibly repatriated or they did not know that they could refuse to be repatriated. Although the UNHCR could not guarantee the safety of refugees who returned to Burma, the UNHCR continued to promote its program. Rohingyas in Burma have suffered the same human rights abuses as other ethnic groups - portering, slave labor, and torture.


The Arakanese

According to the All Burma Young Monk's Union (Arakan), the SLORC has expanded its control over Rakhine State and used civilians in numerous forced labor projects, including on their own land which has been confiscated. In April, the SLORC army seized 3000 acres of privately owned paddies from Lanmadaw villagers in order to build an artillery battalion center. The villagers were given no compensation, and more than 30,000 people were conscripted to work as slave laborers on a highway project which connected the army post to another village. Arakanese villagers were also forced to work on a dam project on the Aung Dainy river in Sittwe which was then used for a commercial shrimp project by the military. Just before completion, a TV crew came to film, and the soldiers acted like they were doing all the work, but in fact they had done nothing.

Slave labor is also used for livestock and poultry projects taken up for the families of the Burmese army posted everywhere in the state. All the nearby villagers must take turns supplying feed and attending to the chickens, pigs, and cattle of the battalion. Village girls are forced to work there routinely and subjected to physical assault and gang rape.


India

Trade between India and Burma has increased substantially in 1995, although there is a vocal opposition which is against improving ties with the SLORC. India awarded Aung San Suu Kyi the Nehru Award for her pro-democracy efforts and has provided a safe haven for Burmese students and politicians in exile. India has been much less generous toward ethnic minority groups such as the Chin (Zo), who are fighting for autonomy not only in Burma but also in India.


China

Trade between China and Burma grew dramatically in 1995, and Chinese from Yunnan Province in particular have poured into Northern Burma to take up residence and set up businesses. Mandalay has been overwhelmed by recent Chinese migrants and tensions between Chinese and local Burmans have been running high. China continued to supply Burma with weapons, but made a statement in the fall suggesting that it would stop providing arms to the regime. China is eager to work with the junta not only to gain a foothold in the marketplace but also to gain access to a corridor to the sea.


The Pipeline

Total and Unocal continued work determining and clearing the pipeline route despite the killings of 5 Total workers in March and a campaign against Unocal in the United States. In March, a group of armed Karen villagers from the pipeline area ambushed a group of Total workers and killed five. Total insists that the 5 killed were all Burmese, but the KNU has stated that some were Westerners.

Although Total denied that any work had begun on the pipeline route, villagers from the coast who were interviewed in May reported that their land had been confiscated to make way for the pipeline.

On December 2nd, angry Karen villagers attacked pipeline workers in Kanbauk village. A senior KNU official indicated that one foreigner was either killed or wounded, but Total has denied the claim. Kanbauk is supposed to serve as the main headquarters for the pipeline operation.

A company spokesman said in December that the laying of the pipeline had not yet started but some civil engineering work had begun in October, including the construction of a landing strip and a wharf to accommodate ships delivering equipment needed for pipeline construction.

There have been no reports of forced labor on the project so far, but according to the Karen Human Rights Group, local officials have used the threat of labor on the pipeline to extort money from villagers on a regular basis. Families who do not pay the "pipeline fees" are threatened with having to do 3 days forced labor on the pipeline. It is likely that local officials are acting independently in making such demands, but the villagers are reported to be scared enough that they are sending family members into Thailand to work in order to get money to pay the fees.


Madeline Albright's visit

In early September, Madeline Albright, the US ambassador to the United Nations, visited Burma. She had meetings with LTG Khin Nyunt, U Ohn Gyaw, the Foreign Minister, and representatives of United Nations agencies working in the country. She also attended a breakfast hosted by Aung San Suu Kyi. In her press statement, Albright stated, "Khin Nyunt expressed the belief that the SLORC had broad public support, and observed that the Burmese people smile a lot. I said that it has been my experience, in a lifetime of studying, repressive societies, that dictators often delude themselves into believing they have popular support, but that people often smile not because they are happy, but because they are afraid. The future of Burma must be built on hope, not fear." Since her trip, Albright has come out very strongly against the SLORC in her statements at the United Nations regarding the UN Resolution on Burma and in an article entitled "Burmese Daze".


UN Resolution

This year, as in years past, the UN has come out with a critical statement against the SLORC. The resolution stated the government should stop ``torture, abuse of women, forced labour and forced relocations and and summary executions.'' The resolution was based on a report from U.N. human rights rapporteur, Yozo Yokata who said Burma may be using forced labor to spruce up landmarks for foreign tourists. The resolution also called on the SLORC to begin a political dialogue with Aung San Suu Kyi, to release other prisoners, to restore fundamental freedoms of expression and assembly, to end forced labor, and to allow Red Cross officials access to the country's jails and prisoners.

The United States government did not co-sponsor the resolution, because the language was not strong enough. The resolution did not mention the fact that the SLORC has not honored its ceasefire agreements with the ethnic groups, nor did it include anything about the International Labor Organization's decision last June to condemn Burma's continued use of forced labor and forced porterage, especially by members of ethnic minorities. Also the resolution did not specifically ask for the UN Secretary-General to hold discussions with the Burmese Government for the purpose of stimulating progress towards democratization and national reconciliation.


McConnell Bill

U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell proposed a sanctions bill against Burma but so far he has not been able to get it through Congress. The McConnell Bill, would have banned all US trade and investment with the Burmese military regime, forbidden travel to Burma by US citizens, and withdrawn most-favored-nation trading status from any country that did not back sanctions against the Burmese military government. The bill also would have suspended aid to countries selling arms to the Rangoon government. In September, Senator McConnell attempted to slip the sanctions clauses into the Senate Foreign Appropriations bill as an amendment. He was persuaded to withdraw the amendment because of widespread criticisms from other senators for inserting an amendment, without unanimous backing, that could have huge repercussions. Nevertheless, McConnell has insisted that he will reintroduce the bill.


VOA and BBC

The VOA has had a rough year. In August, the SLORC jammed VOA and BBC broadcasts. Then in early December, Myint Zaw Lwin, (also known as Myint Myint Zaw) the director of VOA's Burmese language service, was sacked. Since she became the director in 1992, several other Burmese staff in the VOA, NLD and Burmese students in exile, and even the US Embassy in Rangoon have complained about the pro-SLORC slant of VOA reports. However, the situation was only exposed in December. Douglas Steele stated that documented allegations included the deliberate censoring of Aung San Suu Kyi's views, a pattern of biased and inaccurate reports, unwillingness to air the voices of the opposition and an unseemly fawning attitude towards Burma's generals. For instance, when she was in Rangoon in October, Myint Zaw Lwin avoided covering Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's press conferences and weekly meetings. Instead, she did a three part interview with Kyin Nyunt's wife. Even worse, according to Delip Kumar, who defected from the Burmese embassy in Washington, Myint Zaw Lwin is an informer for the Burmese embassy.

It seems that Myint Myint Zaw is not the only Burmese in VOA who is pro-SLORC. There are at least 3 others. The BBC is also reported to be infiltrated with SLORC supporters, although no public allegations have yet been made.


Miriam Segal

Miriam Marshall Segal, an American businesswoman who is close to the SLORC and has often appeared on Myanmar TV defending the regime, was fired from her job with Peregrine. In 1994, Segal and Peregrine formed a company called Peregrine Myanmar, with Segal holding 20% and Peregrine 80%. Her job as chief executive was to develop investment opportunities, but she decided to cheat her partners by channeling information to Mr. Dobbs- Higginson (another SLORC apologist) and the Japanese company that he represents.

Peregrine found out about this when Ms. Segal's personal assistant accidentally faxed them a memo meant for Dobbs-Higginson. Peregrine fired her in July, but she continued to present herself as representing Peregrine. In October, Peregrine filed a suit against her in a New York court, accusing her of cheating them and breaking her contract.


Beyond Rangoon

Beyond Rangoon, produced by John Boorman, came out in July, 1995. While the storyline is rather implausible and the plot focuses too much on the American tourist rather than the Burmese, the movie does effectively capture the brutality of the military regime and the fear of the people. Hundreds of copies of the movie have been distributed throughout Burma, and it has been reported that Burmese in Myawaddy have been going over to Mae Sot in Thailand to watch the video at friends' houses. In at least one Karen village in Karen State, the screening of Beyond Rangoon was the main event on Karen New Year's Day.


Free Burma Campaign

Since a strategy meeting held in New York in August, 1995, Burma action groups in the States and Canada, Free Burma groups have sprung up on campuses all over North America. Student groups have been collaborating with Amnesty International, environmental groups and other human rights groups. They are using e-mail and home pages on the internet to co-ordinate and expand their activities. On October 27, demonstrations, speeches, and video screenings were organized in more than 70 places in order to increase the international community's awareness of the present political situation in Burma. The groups have focused on two immediate objectives: getting North American companies out of Burma and stopping organized tours to Burma. They have picketed stores and offices of companies doing business in Burma, pushed their universities to support shareholders resolutions against such companies, and initiated selective purchasing legislation on their campuses. They have also asked alumni groups to call off trips to Burma, and UCLA and Northwestern have agreed. City groups have played an important role in getting clothing companies, such as Eddie Bauer and Liz Clairborne to pull out of Burma. They have also been lobbying for selective purchasing laws which prohibit city contracts with companies doing business in Burma. Such laws were passed in Santa Monica, CA, Madison, WI, and Berkeley, CA. Santa Monica previously purchased gas from Unocal and some Unocal executives live there.


What didn't happen

Perhaps what has not happened is as important as what did happen. No political settlements were reached with any of the ethnic groups. No political dialogue was begun with Aung San Suu Kyi and the NLD. And Ne Win did not die.

May 1996 be a better year for the people of Burma.