POLITICAL MOVEMENTS INCREASING IN J

[soewin@xxxxxxx]

Subject: POLITICAL MOVEMENTS INCREASING IN JAPAN.

DECLARATION OF SOLIDARITY WITH THE KAREN 
AND ALL GROUPS FIGHTING TO FREE BURMA

BURMA YOUTH VOLUNTEER ASSOCIATION (JAPAN)
INTERNATIONAL NETWORK FOR BURMA RELIEF
BURMESE RELIEF CENTER-JAPAN
DEMOCRATIC BURMESE STUDENT ORGANIZATION (JAPAN)

Sunday, February 12, 1995
    
	We have gathered here today to declare our solidarity with our
courageous allies in the Karen National Union, who at this very moment are
locked in battle with our common enemy, the State Law and Order
Restoration Council or SLORC. 
 	Like the KNU, we vow to fight until we achieve freedom, no matter how
many years that will take.  But how long must we wait? Some are saying
that our demands for freedom are unrealistic: Wait until SLORC develops
the economy, they say, and a middle cla ss forms to challenge SLORC's
rule. 
	For 33 years we have waited, and in that time we have watched our
Golden Land degenerate into one of the world's poorest nations. We have
seen the blood of people we love running in the streets of Burma's cities,
and we have heard about the sufferings of the people on Burma's 
frontiers. Even now, Karen villagers are being
forced to carry military equipment destined to be used against their own
people, or to use their own bodies to detonate mines laid by their own
people to stop the advance of SLORC troo ps. Even now, Karen women are
facing the trauma of rape while at the same time mourning the deaths of
family and neighbors.  Even now, Karen children are learning the harsh
realities of refugee life instead of reading, writing and arithmetic. 
	They tell us to wait, but we have waited long enough. We have
waited 33 years for the return of democracy to our country. We have waited
five years for SLORC to honor the results of the 1990 elections, won
overwhelmingly by the National League for Democr acy. We have waited five
years for the release of our elected leader, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, and
other political prisoners. We cannot wait any longer.
	They say we are impatient, but it is they who are impatient.
They_the advocates of constructive engagement _ are the very same people
who cannot wait to join SLORC in exploiting our country. At the same time
SLORC troops are attacking the Karen, two ma jor Japanese investment
firms, Daiwa Institute of Research and Mitsui & Co., are holding a seminar
on investment in Burma. The guests of honor at this meeting are a
five-member delegation led by a SLORC general.
	The relationship between foreign money and Karen misery is
undeniable. The recent attack against them was carried out for foreign
investors and was bankrolled by them. It is the Karen's particular
misfortune to live on land slated for two important energ y projects_the
Salween Dams and the Nat Ei Taung Pipeline. Like most of SLORC's so-called
development projects, neither of these will benefit the Karen. Knowing the
Karen would never consent to the projects, SLORC opted for the neat logic
of military st rength [over] the inevitable compromises of democratic
politics, to quote a recent editorial in the Japan Times. 
	The question, therefore, is not why we can't wait. The question
is, why do the advocates of constructive engagement have so much patience
when it comes to our human rights and so little when it comes to their
profits?
	We therefore call on the Japanese government; 
1. To condemn SLORC
   loudly and clearly for its attacks against the Karen ethnic group and
   democracy groups in Karen territory and for its duplicity in the UN
   General Assembly, where it promised delegates to work for peace and
   national reconciliation in Bu rma. 

2. To formally contact the Thai government and urge them: 
	(a) not to allow SLORC troops to use Thai airspace and territory
	(b) to afford Karen and student leaders protection on Thai soil
	(c) not to repatriate Burmese refugees who flee to Thailand to
            escape SLORC troops
	(d) not to support SLORC troops with food or other supplies 

3. To increase pressure on SLORC to release Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and all
   political prisoners and to work closely with the democratic forces to
   restore democracy and human rights in Burma. 

4. To urge the UN Secretary-General to use his good offices to halt the
   SLORC offensive in order to preserve regional peace and security, and to
   achieve a genuine political settlement and national reconciliation in
   Burma, in accordance with the latest UN General Assembly resolution. 

5. To cease all economic aid to SLORC and to resist pressure by Japanese
   business to continue such aid. 
 	We call on Japanese companies such as Nisseki and Daiwa Securities to
stop doing business with SLORC. 

	We call on Japanese consumers to boycott these companies until
they stop doing business with SLORC. 

________________________________________________________________________ 

PRESS RELEASE
 
Contact: 	Burma Youth Volunteer Association
Tel/Fax: 	+81-3-3916-4996

Burmese Dissidents in Tokyo Protest SLORC Attack on Karen

	Activists from various democracy and human rights groups marched
through Tokyo's Shinagawa Ward on Sunday to protest the Burmese
government's recent attack on the Karen ethnic group and on dissidents
living in Karen-held territory.
	About 40 democracy activists from Burma Youth Volunteer
Association and Democratic Burmese Student Organization (Japan) joined by
representatives from various democracy groups marched from Gogenyama Park
to the SLORC Embassy, chanting slogans, singing s ongs, and handing out
leaflets to passers-by. In front of the embassy gate they laid flowers in
memory of Karen killed by the Burmese army and unfurled a sign saying "
Kawthoolei" . Kawthoolei, meaning Flowerland, is the Karen name for the
land on which
 they live. The Karen have been fighting the Burmese government for
greater autonomy for more than 40 years. 47 years ago on the same day, Daw
Aung San Suu Kyi's father General Aung San signed the historic Pinlon
Agreement_a treaty to establish the Union of Burma and to share weal and
woe together _ with other leaders of ethnic nationalities , so the day is
call ed the Union Day in Burma. Today, SLORC kills the people of all
races, nationalities and religions who wish authentic democracy and human
rights.
	In a statement read at a rally following the march, demonstrators
demanded that SLORC cease its current offensive against the Karen and that
Thailand protect the thousands of Karen refugees who have fled the
fighting near the border. Demonstrators also called on the Japanese
government to discontinue overseas development assistance (ODA) to SLORC
and Japanese companies to withdraw their investments from Burma. Opponents
of the regime claim that economic aid and foreign investment allo w SLORC
to stay in power, despite its overwhelming defeat in democratic elections
in 1990.
	Under pressure from Japanese business, the Foreign Ministry in
November resumed ODA to Burma. Two major Japanese investment firms, Daiwa
Institute of Research and Mitsui & Co., are currently playing host to a
SLORC delegation at a seminar on investment in Burma. 

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 MYANMAR  TEAM  TO  STUDY  STOCK  EXCHANGE
(Japan Times, 8 Feb 95)

RANGOON (Reuter) A five member delegation led by Brigadier General David
Abel, Myanmarese minister of national Planning and Economic Development,
arrived in Japan Monday for a visit that will include study of the Tokyo
Stock Exchange, state television re ported.
	Last November Myanmar signed a memorandum of understanding with
Daiwa Institute of Research Ltd., a unit of Daiwa Securities Co. Ltd., on
setting up a stock exchange, privatizing state owned enterprises and
developing a capital market in Myanmar. Abels team will first attend a
seminar sponsored by the Asian Development Bank on Mekong regional
cooperation, grouping Cambodia, China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and
Vietnam. From February 10 to 14, the delegation will attend a meeting
sponsored by the Daiwa Institute of Research Ltd. and Mitsui & Co. Ltd.,
on investment in Myanmar.
	They will also study the stock exchange and development of the
capital market in Japan, the television program said. A Daiwa executive
said in Tokyo in December that Myanmar would have to enact legislation on
its securities market before a stock exchange could be set up.