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Random Access/Bulletin, Brussels




Hello BurmaNet folks,

Here is a copy of my column "Random Access" which appeared in The Bulletin,
the city magazine for Brussels, Belgium on April 21.  Sorry to be so late
in uploading it.

Chris Johnston
Tel/Fax: +44 171 250 3313
johnston@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


Random Access

Revalation Now

by Christopher Johnston

Copyright, 1995 by Christopher Johnston.  All Rights reserved.  Though
limited non-commericial electronic distribution is permitted with
accompanying attribution, Random Access may not be reproduced in printed
form without the express written permission of the author.

Somewhere in the Tennaserim, March 31, 1995 -- Access to technology is an
integral part of getting oneself on the global agenda.   Television is an
integral part of that equation, determining which world crises, from
Somalia to Bosnia to Rwanda will bring  bringing The Internet is an
integral part of that agenda.  But there are some areas of the world that
are so remote or dangerous to visit that television cameras couldn't get in
and out without their owners being pumped full of bullets.
That's where the Internet comes in.  It can reveal worlds to you that you
didn't know even existed.  There are a series of "newsgroups" which anybody
can write to which begin with the addresss "soc.culture".   This means that
people can write about what is happening in their own cultures without the
"filter" of the media.  So there is a "soc.culture.belgium" area in which
netters from Belgium and other parts of the world chat about the weather
and the Willy Claes/Augusta scandal.   In other areas this is a dangerous
thing.  A government official from Siingapore attempted to reign in the net
anarchy by calling for self-censorship in "soc.culture.singapore".   He was
promptly "flamed" to a crisp by Singaporean netters who have tired of the
Lee Kwan Yew style of authoritarian government.
        In "soc.culture.burma" the Internet has become a lifeline to the
outside world.  This is because Burma is one of the most repressive
countries on this face of this planet with a fascist government which goes
by the ironic acronym SLORC--The State Law and Order Restoration Council.
In "soc.culture.burma" the government and the rebel groups fighting it
trade insults and human rights are catalogued by the dozen.
        Though this war has been raging for 45 years and taken over one
million lives, the chances are you don't even know where Burma is, what
countries border, or why it is now called Myanmar (the dictator Ne Win's
astrologers said it was a lucky thing to do).  According to Amnesty
International, Medecins San Frontiers, and the UNHCR under the Slorc rape,
summary execution,  and environmental destruction is par for the course.
Young Burmese girls who have fled this awful war to the Thai border are
often kidnapped and sold into prostitution in Bangkok.
        To find out more about Burma I leapt into my Random Access Rocket
(RAR) and zipped off into the stratosphere where I soon found myself
sweating in a cramped space somewhere in a secret place in Bangkok.  With
me was Moe Thee Zon, Chairman of the rebel army, the All Burma Students'
Democratic Front (ABSDF).   Times are hard for the rebels now.  Most other
rebel bands have stopped fighting, beaten or disheartened by the Slorc
after the fall of the joint headquarters, Manerplaw, in January.   The main
guerilla group, the Karen National Union,  was fought to a standstill in
late February.
        ABSDF has an army of 4,000 men and women against the Slorc's army
of 400,000, the largest in southeast Asia.  What is going to save them?
"The Internet," says Moe Thee Zon.  "We are very interested in it and other
kinds of technology to help get the truth about Burma to the foreign
countries and to get information from the outside to the people of Burma."
        Moe Thee Zon points out that the most powerful weapons against the
Slorc are the Voice of America and the BBC.  "The media and communications
is very important.  Two weeks ago I saw a picture of an African Zulu
warrior with a mobile phone in his hand.  This is how technology is with
our barefoot students here in Burma."
        One of the foreigners most hated by the Slorc is a a BBC radio
reporter little known in the west named Christopher Gunnes, whose reports
out of Bangladesh were translated into Burmese and broadcast around Burma.
I caught up with Gunnes in Zagreb, Croatia, where he is currently working
as a spokesman for the United Nations.  "The Internet is a wonderful tool
for spreading information from countries such as Burma," he said, but
noting that for journalists using the Internet, accuracy was still of
paramount importance.  "The reason the BBC was effective in 1988 was
because we were objective and accurate in our reporting."
        Days later I found myself in the Burmese jungle, some of the most
pristine in the world, following a guide to an ABSDF camp, my apparently
balding head a beacon for Burmese Army sniper fire.  there I met Aung Thu
Nyein, Vice Chairman of ABSDF and commander of the operations on the
ground.       "The Burmese Army is very big and we are very small.  In our
future planning we have to make an underground movement inside Burma.  The
Internet is good for this.  The Internet is also very quick to give the
information to the International community.  One of the Burmese group has
already opened the node on the Internet."
        The students face more difficulties than just the Burmese
government.  According to Aung Thu Nyein the Thais have been cracking down
on Burmese workers, some of them are illegal workers, others refugees, some
ABSDF student soldiers.  Under a new Thai law the Burmese face a 2,000 Baht
fine or 28 days in jail.  It's easier just to give the police a 2,000 Baht
bribe to be set free.   However, some Thai jails are much worse than
others.  One is the jail at Prachuap Khirikhan. "From my experience I was
arrested one time since the Thais change this law.  I was arrested in
February, 1995.   At this time I had to pay 2,000 Baht to get released.
Other Burmese were arrested.  At this time some were beaten without cause,
and there was a lot of harassment, and I saw one Burmese man raped by the
Thai prisoners.  During the time I was arrested, two of the prisoners
committed suicide because they could not stand the harassment and cruelty.
"
        And the Thai police?  "They don't care about this.   They encourage it."
        "We have decided to continue our struggle until we got democracy in
our motherland," says Aung Thu Nyein.  "At this moment we have so much
difficulties to survive in this condition.  The Karens will enter into a
ceasefire.  At this moment only ABSDF and some of the pro-democracy forces
still fight the Slorc.  This is our duty.  We accept it."
        With the help of the Internet and newsgroups such as
soc.culture.burma, the student soldiers need not stand alone.

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