BurmaNet News: November 28, 1995 #2 (r)

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Subject: BurmaNet News: November 28, 1995 #218



------------------------ BurmaNet ------------------------
"Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies"
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The BurmaNet News: December 4, 1995
Issue #295

Noted in Passing:

	I look forrward to further steps to speed up the return of
	multi-party democracy in Myanmar. - Boutros Boutros Ghali, 
	Secretary-General of the United Nations 
	(see UN SECRETARY - GENERAL: STATEMENT ON BURMA)


HEADINGS:
=========
USUN: PRESS RELEASE #218-(95), STATEMENT BY M. ALBRIGHT
UN SECRETARY - GENERAL: STATEMENT ON BURMA
BRIEF REPORTS FROM AUSTRALIAN PAPERS
THE STATESMAN: AGONY  OF  MYANMAR
ABSDF-DNA:  STATEMENT ON THE DIAMOND JUBILEE ANNIVERSARY 
NATION: WASHINGTON TELLS SLORC TO STOP THREATENING 
NATION: AMNESTY URGES THAILAND TO RELEASE BURMA
BANGKOK POST: KAREN AMBUSH HITS TOURISM IN TAK
BKK POST: BURMESE ARMY SHELLS KAREN REBEL POSITION 
BANGKOK POST: THE BURMESE CHARADE 
---------------------------------------------------------------

USUN: PRESS RELEASE #218-(95), STATEMENT BY M. ALBRIGHT
November 28, 1995

Statement by Ambassador Madeleine K. Albright, United States
Permanent Representative to the United Nations, on Human Rights
Situations and Reports, in the Third Committee, November 28, 1995
-----------------------------------------------------------------

Mr. Chairman  we celebrate this year the fiftieth anniversary of the 
United Nations and of the Charter upon which it is based. Under that 
Charter, each nation affirms its "faith in fundamental human rights, in 
the dignity and worth of the human person, (and) in the equal rights of 
men and women."

In so doing, each nation assumes an obligation not to deprive those 
within its jurisdiction of these fundamental rights, whether in law, 
policy or practice.  The Charter admits no exceptions.  There are no 
grounds of history, culture, economic condition or sovereign prerogative 
that excuse or permit the theft of human dignity.

As members of this organization our governments have acknowledged the
universal and inalienable nature of human rights.  But the exercise of
these rights is not possible in the absence of political freedom. 

As the Universal Declaration stipulates, the will of the people shall be
the basis of the authority of government; this shall be expressed in
periodic and genuine elections, which shall be by universal and equal
suffrage and shall be held by secret vote. 

My government has made the point for many decades in many forums that
democratic practices not only protect individuals, but spur economic and
social progress.  People who are free to think, to exchange ideas and to
invest their own energies and capital will contribute more to a society
than those stunted by repression.  The power of this argument, and its
truth, are on display today in emerging democracies around the world. 

Unfortunately, this democratic trend, although widespread, is not
universal.  Many governments continue to rely not on the consent of the
governed for their authority, but on coercion.  Burma is one example. 

Here, the current governing authorities face an historic choice between
the continued denial of fundamental rights and movement towards
democracy.  It is encouraging that the government expresses a desire for
international respect, foreign investment, tourisin and democratic
reforin.  It is encouraging that the government has, this past year,
released a number of political prisoners1 including Nobel prize-Winner
and democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. 

It is, however, very discouraging that the government has failed, thus
far, to begin a serious political dialogue with Aung San Suu Kyi and
other representatives of the democratic movement and ethnic groups.  It
is discouraging that the National Convention called to draft a new
constitution is not representative of the Burmese people.  And it is
discouraging that the government has done so little to lift the cloud of
fear and repression caused by its past and current policies towards
political and social freedom. 

This year, my government will urge the General Assembly to re-state, in
clear and compelling terms, its support for democracy and respect for
internationally-recognized human rights in Burma.  The Assembly should
call for the release of the remaining political prisoners, for an end to
torture, for an end to forced labor and forced porterage and for an end
to disappearances and killings of civilians by the military. 

The Government of Burma has a choice.  And the international community
has a choice-- We must choose to encourage Burma to choose wisely: to
reject the easy, but ultimately disastrous, path of the status quo, and
to move towards democracy. 

The release of Aung San Suu Kyi provides at least the hope that in
Burma--with sufficient international interest and support--the human
rights situation will improve.  ((passage on iraq omitted))

UN SECRETARY - GENERAL: STATEMENT ON BURMA December 1, 1995 From:
myoa@xxxxxxxxxx (Myo Aye)

        "In keeping with the good offices mandate I received from the
General Assembly and from the Commission on Human Rights, I have
established a dialogue with the Government of Myanmar in order to
address various issues of concern to the international community, in
particular with respect to the process of democratization and national
reconciliation in that country. During the period under review, my
Representatives have held several rounds of talks in New York and Yangon
with Secretary 1 of the State Law and Order Restoration Council, the
Minister for Foreign Affairs and other authorities of the Government. In
the talks, a series of ideas were discussed, which, if implemented would
assist in moving the process forward. 

        I welcome the Government's decision to lift the restrictions
imposed on Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and to release a number of other
political prisoners, including several leading members of the National
League for Democracy. I look forrward to further steps to speed up the
return of multi-party democracy in Myanmar. I will report to the General
Assembly at its fifteth session on the progress of those discussions,
which are being continued on my behalf at Yangon in August by the
Assistant Secretary General for Political Affairs." 

(Boutros Boutros Ghali, Secretary-General of the United Nations)

[Annual Report on the Work of the Organisation 1995, United Nations].
******************************************************

BRIEF REPORTS FROM AUSTRALIAN PAPERS
December 3, 1995
Subject: (1) Burma's true picture (2)  Rangoon University (3) U Tin Oo.

CANBERRA TIMES: BURMA'S TRUE PICTURE
December 1, 1995

The withdrawal by Aung San Suu Kyi from talks with the Burmese military
regime over the proposed new Constitution for Burma gives the lie to
those who have suggested the State Law and Order Restoration Council has
had a change of heart toward the democratic process. 

In fact, they are seeking, through a combination of threats and vague
promises, to entrench their power and give it a patina of legitimacy.
Unfortunately, they are assisted in the processby greedly "businessmen"
and exploitative corporations close to neighbouring governments to view
their tactics as potentially sucessful. They are peddling the line that
it is preferable to have Burma within the community of nations so that
practical collegiate influence may be brought to bear rather than
keeping the dictators out in the cold. 

Indeed, this is presented in Australia as the legitimate "Asian"
approach in the hope that, thereby, Australian leaders will accede to a
new cultural cringe that seeks to substitute compromise for principle.
As Suu Kyi's action themselves reveal, there is nothing "Asian" about
bearing the yoke of the oppressor. She and her colleages in the National
League for Democracy are preparing themselves for SLORC retribution as
SLORC reportedly prepares the entire wing of a prison to take them and
their confederates.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
THE AUSTRALIAN: RANGOON UNIVERSITY December 3, 1995

(Editor's Note: there have been reports from inside Burma that all
universities - and perhaps other schools - have been closed.  As soon as
we have more information, we will post it.)

There was a strong military presence outside Rangoon University
yesterday, the focal point of celebration of the university's diamond
jubilee. Some troops were in full combat gear and wore flak jackets. 

But inside there was a carnival atmosphere and the man regarded as the
key figure in SLORC, Lietenant-General Khin Nyunt, walked unconcerned
among the students. 

SLORC was evidently taking precautions because there had been unrest on the
campus during the university's golden jubilee celebrations.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SYDNEY MORNING HERALD: U TIN OO
December 2, 1995

Rangoon, Friday: U Tin Oo remembers how the long prison years began.
Called before a military court outside Rangoon's Insein Prison, the
former armed forces commander and defence minister was accused of
sedition and conspiracy to split the military. No cross-examination was
allowed, and no defence witnesses could be called. 

"In the end, I turned and faced them," he says. "And I told them: "I
joined the army when I was 16, with the taste of my mother's milk still
on my teeth. I have always loved the Burmese Army, but I love the people
more. I take this punishment as a dignity." 

Tin Oo's real crime was to have joined Aung San Suu Kyi in forming the
National League for Democracy (NLD) in late 1988. While the daughter of
the hero of Burma's struggle for independence spent six years detained
in her home, Tin Oo was held in solitary confinement in the squalor of
Insein Prison and was only released in April. Late this week, the threat
of jail again hung over the 78-year-old vice-chairman of the NLD. "If
they put me back in prison will you come and interview me there? he
joked, nervously. 

****************************************************************************

THE STATESMAN: AGONY  OF  MYANMAR
December 2, 1995    (Editorial) (India)
chan@.unv.ernet.in

The State Law and Order Restoration Council in Myanmar, an euphemism for
an unashamed military dictatorship, is like the Bourbons, it learns
nothing and forgets nothing. For the first time since the release of Daw
Aung San Suu Kyi, the acknowledged leader

 of the Myanmarese people from house arrest, they went back to
reconvening the discredited assembly to draft a new constitution for the
country. The junta do not need a new constitution, they are adept at
ignoring the one they have and if it suited them t

hey would do the same with the next one. What they are doing is to test
the waters, to see whether the hostility of the population to their
excesses which swept Suu Kyi to victory in May 1990 has abated. It is
reasonable to suppose that they are also inte

rested in finding out whether her popularity has been affected by her
long incarceration. Unless the generals are totally blinded by their
addiction to power, they will recognize that the crowds outside her
house are as good an indication as any that it w

ould be dangerous to tangle with her. 

For her part, Suu Kyi has played her cards well. She has done her best
to contain expectations following her release, warning that progress
will not be easy and calling for discipline. She has been moderate in
her language about the generals but has made

no secret of her devotion to democracy and the rule of law. She allowed
her National League for Democracy to attend a few sessions of the
assembly set up to draft the new constitution knowing that it was packed
with supporters of the junta, in order not t

o appear to have closed her mind to possible progress in the right
direction despite the odds. As soon as it became clear that the NLD
would not be allowed to function and that continued association with the
front and cover for continuation of military r

ule would hurt the cause, she acted. Reports that have come out of
Myanmar of certain provisions to from part of the new draft include
barring any citizen married to a foreigner from high public office-a
measure aimed only at her-and ensuring the supremac

y of the armed forces, convinced her of what she always suspected. The
military have no intention of giving up their stranglehold on the nation
and its resources. With courage and resolution she pulled the NLD out of
the assembly. 

The stage is set for an eye-ball confrontation and it can be assumed
that Suu Kyi will not be the first to blink. The worry is that the
generals have no place to hide or retreat. They can hardly lock up Suu
Kyi again without risking worldwide condemnation

 . They will also forfeit the goodwill of those countries in the
Asian-Pacific region which are acting on the assumption that going along
with the generals is the best way to bring them round. The future in
Myanmar belongs to democracy; the question is how

 long will it take the long-suffering Myanmarese to get there and what
price will be exacted from them. The duty of the rest of the world is
clear. It is to respond to Suu Kyi's appeal to support democracy. 

**********************************************************

ABSDF-DNA:  STATEMENT ON THE DIAMOND JUBILEE ANNIVERSARY 
OF RANGOON UNIVERSITY
December 3, 1995

	The 5th of December 1995 is the auspicious occasion of the
seventy-fifth diamond jubilee anniversary of the historic Rangoon
University in Burmese history. On the first of December, 1920, the
British government enacted the Rangoon University Act which could have
prolonged the British colonization in Burma. As a consequence, on 5th
December of the same year, the students from the Rangoon College
launched a boycott against the Act.  Since the students spearheaded the
firt University boycott against the British colony education, beginning
of the strike is originated from the students has been become the
well-known maxim in praise of the Burmese students. 
	The 1920 students strike could prompt the spirit of the
national-esteem and heighten the patriotism. It was also able to give
birth of national unity amongst the Burmese people and that unity paved
the way to the movement for the anti-colonization, national liberation
and independence of Burma. 
	The history of student activism, born together with the birth of
Rangoon University has been keeping still alive since from the colony
era to the current military dictatorship. For its fighting against the
all forms of oppression and its love for the truth and justice, the
spirit of student of Burma is still alive and active in Burmese politics
until now. 
	Burma has been under the iron-rule of military dictatorship for
over three decades and the dignity of the country has been deteriorated
in the world. The character of the Burmese people has been aggravated
because of the economic calamity and the country has also become one of
the Least Development Countries designated by the United Nations. The
worst thing is the plague educational system which is the basis of the
future development of the country, has notably been destroyed.  The
education under the military oppression merely not more than could make
the Burmese youth to work under inferiority in other exotic countries. 
The only democratic education, in place of the education for military
enslavement, will be able to create the better future and atmosphere for
the student youth. 
	The students has been peacefully struggling against the
suppressive governments through- out the history of student activism in
Burma. However, after the peaceful uprising of 8888 that marked the
significant chapter in the modern students movement in Burma, Students
Army was founded, as the armed wing of the democracy movement, to range
the armed struggle for the human rights and democracy in Burma.  As the
history of the Rangoon University is also the history of the student
activism, in other word, this auspicious diamond jubilee anniversary of
the Rangoon University is the diamond jubilee anniversary of the Burmese
student activism.  We, the ABSDF hereby strongly denounces the Slorcs
patronage to the celebration of this auspicious occasion of the Rangoon
University Diamond Jubilee for their political ploy. It is an another
mock political ploy by Slorc who has been ever suppressing the student
activism in cruel bloody way. 
	To build a new democratic era, the poverty and old-fashioned
systems has essentially to be exterminated. Thus, in order to overthrow
the entire military dictatorship mechanism, national unity with the
political openness is a must. We, the ABSDF would like to urge the whole
Burmese people to shoulder the inheritance of the spirit of the historic
student activism and to carry on the second struggle for the national
freedom and liberation of Burma. 
  
Central Committee
ABSDF (Dawn Gwin)
 
2nd December, 1995.

***********************************************************

NATION: WASHINGTON TELLS SLORC TO STOP THREATENING 
DEMOCRACY PARTY
December 3, 1995    Agence France-Presse

     DUBLIN-The United States on Friday called on Burma's ruling
military junta to stop threatening the opposition National League
for Democracy and engage in a peaceful dialogue.

     The statement, issued in Dublin where US President Bill
Clinton was on an official visit, followed Thursday's expulsion
of the NLD, headed by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu
Kyi, from a constitutional convention by the junta, the State Law
and Order Restoration Council (Slorc).

     The party's delegates had walked out of the convention in
Rangoon two days earlier on the grounds that the conference was
"unacceptable" in its present form.

     The US statement, expressing concern at recent events in
Burma, said: "We and other governments have noted that under
current circumstances, the National Convention convened by the
Burmese authorities does not offer the opposition a meaningful
opportunity to participate in the crucial decisions that will
determine Burma's political future.

"We understand that the National League for Democracy [NLD]
withdrew from the Convention after its repeated requests for
dialogue with the authorities were rejected, triggering a harsh
and threatening response by the authorities.

     "We urge the State Law and Order  Restoration Council to
recognize that public discussion in an environment free of
intimidation is critical to the healthy functioning of any political system.

     " We further urge the authorities to avoid threats or other
measures against those who seek freely to express their views. We
continue to believe that it is only through peaceful dialogue
between the Slorc and recognized democratic leaders that national
reconciliation will take place in Burma. "We urge the authorities in 
Burma to agree to such a dialogue."

     Lieutenant General Myo Nyunt, the convention convenor, said
earlier this week the Americans had "adopted a harsher attitude"
towards the National Convention, following a "tete-a-tete" in
September between visiting US ambassador to the United Nations,
Madeline Albright, and Aung San Suu Kyi.

On Thursday Myo Nuynt told delegates still attending the National
convention that Albright, in the aftermath of that meeting, had
"exerted pressure on the  Myanmar [Burmese] government" to have 
a dialogue with Aung San Suu Kyi.

     Other groups that called for talks  between the Slorc and
the NLD were  warned by authorities against "toeing the  American
line" and being part of a "conspiracy" to pressure the Slorc into
a  dialogue, they said.
 
     Two Burmese detained by a militant student group on charges
of spying for the Burmese military junta have escaped with two
other inmates from a border camp, a group said in a statement
issued in Bangkok on Friday.

     The All Burma Students' Democratic y Front (ABSDF) said the
two, identified as Captain Ne Win Aung and special agent Soe Lin,
fled the students' mobile camp in the ethnic Karenni area last Friday.

     The duo had been sent by the junta's National Intelligence
Bureau to infiltrate into the ABSDF ranks in order to "disrupt
the stability of ABSDF and to sneak the ABSDF's information out",
the group claimed.
*****************************************************************

NATION: AMNESTY URGES THAILAND TO RELEASE BURMA
December 3, 1995
Agence France-Presse

AMNESTY International has urged the authorities to release 25
Burmese arrested this week in what the international human rights
organization said was a crackdown on Burmese dissidents in Bangkok.

     In a statement received in Bangkok, the London-based group
said: "These asylum-seekers have been arrested solely for the
peaceful expression of their political views and should never
have been arrested."

     The police said the Burmese had been picked up by Special Branch 
and were being held for interrogation. They have not been charged.

     Amnesty International said it believed the 25 had been
detained in order to prevent any public protests during the
national constitutional convention currently under way in Rangoon.

     Bangkok is also scheduled to host the summit of the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) from Dec 14, with
top leaders from Burma, Cambodia and Laos scheduled to join the
seven Asean states on Dec 15.

     Those held include U Ye Gyaung, 75, a senior writer at the
Burmese opposition newspaper New Era Journal, who was taken from
his home along with his wife on Nov 29 and transferred to the
Immigration Detention Centre.

     Others include five activists arrested in front of the
Burmese Embassy for a Nov 29 protest against the convention
convened by military rulers in Rangoon.

     The previous day, authorities arrested nine Burmese near the
Foundation in Support of Refugee Assistance Programmes in
Thailand "where Burmese asylum-seekers are routinely picked up by
Thai police", the statement said.

     Seven others were picked up from their homes, it added.

     Amnesty said Thai police "routinely'' detain Burmese
asylum-seekers and jail them on illegal immigration charges,
contrary to international standards.

     " Amnesty International opposes the detention of refugees or
asylum-seekers unless they have been charged with a recognizably
criminal offence," the statement said.

***************************************************************
BANGKOK POST: KAREN AMBUSH HITS TOURISM IN TAK
December 3, 1995

(Editor's Note: The attacks described below were certainly not committed
by KNU troops but instead by DKBA troops.  Assailants do not normally
take off their uniforms and leave them as evidence.  The DKBA, or SLORC
army commanders who may well be ordering these terrorist attacks, only want 
sow confusion along the border and possibly to provoke the Thai authorities.
The reasoning seems to be that if there are more and more incidents along the
border, public sentiment against the KNU and Karen refugees will grow, and
the refugees may be forced back into Burma.)

     TOURISM has been hard hit by cancellations following the
murder of a tour van driver in an ambush by renegade Karen.

     The driver was killed instantly and 10 tourists injured in the November 26 
attack when the renegades fired rifle rounds and hurled a grenade. 

 The party was ambushed along the 150km scenic road along the
Moei river from Tha Song Yang, Tak, to Mae Sariang, Mae Hong Son.

     Pirapong Pannarong, assistant manager of SP Tour, in Mae
Sot, said 20 groups numbering 300 tourists, had cancelled
bookings at Mon Krating resort in Ban Mae Lamoeng, Tha Song Yang,
in the first two weeks of this month.

 Tour organisers, he said, were _ afraid their customers might be
attacked by the renegades because they have to use the scenic road.

     Rungroj Towr Co, which had also planned a visit to Mon
Krating this week, said 34 of the 80-member tour group had
cancelled their booking   even though they had paid in advance.

     Even groups bound for Umphang, which was on a different
route, had cancelled bookings with hotels and guest houses in the
district, he said.

Cancellations also affected restaurants, gift shops and transport
services which rely on tourism.

     The scenic route, which follows the Moei along the Burmese
border, is popular among local and foreign tourists drawn by the
area's natural beauty or for jungle trekking and canoeing.

     Since September, seven attacks along the road have been
blamed on Karen renegades. In at least three attacks, the assailants 
left behind uniforms with Karen National Union in signia.

     On September 11, 20 Karen with | rocket-propelled grenades
and assault 1 rifles raided the house of Boonping Klinhom,
assistant headman of Tambon Mae Tarn and fled across the border
with cash and property worth 30,000 baht.

     The following night, a kamnan of  Tambon Mae Wa was fired on
as he  was going home with his wife and four-year-old boy. No one
was hurt.  In October, a pickup truck was ambushed and in
November there was a robbery. 

     On November 11, eight Karen blocked the border road in
Tambon . Mae U-su with a tree trunk and fired  on a pick-up
truck, killing a nine-year old girl and wounding four
co-travellers. The attackers fled without touching their
valuables or cash, but left behind a uniform with KNU insignia.
 Police have not been able to identify which Karen rebel group or
groups were responsible although they were convinced the
perpetrators were Karen.

     An official of the pro-Rangoon Democratic Karen Buddhist
Army at Ban Mae Ta Wah camp denied involvement in the attacks.

     Lt Sein Pit, of the DKBA's 3rd battalion, blamed renegade
KNU guerrillas for the attacks. He claimed his men had merely
been assigned to persuade Karen refugees to return to Burma.

     "We are disciplined and strictly adhere to the rules laid
down by Phra Usujana," he said. "Anyone of us who committed
robbery will face execution."

      About 200 KNU rebels had broken from the KNU command and
had resorted to robbery, he said.

      A security official attributed the sudden surge in violent
crime to the interdiction of smuggled timber and forest products
from Burma which had been a major source of Karen income.

     It was virtually impossible to distinguish KNU rebels from
DKBA fighters, he said.

     Even though security along the scenic road has been stepped
up, it is not likely to convince tourists to come back quickly.

*****************************************************************

BKK POST: BURMESE ARMY SHELLS KAREN REBEL POSITION 
December 3, 1995    Mae Hong Son

BURMESE gunners have shelled a rebel outpost belonging to the
Karenni National Progressive Party about 12km from the Thai
border in this northernmost province.

     A source close to the KNPP said more than 50 81mm mortar
shells were fired into the Sher Ter outpost in Kayah State for
about one hour last Thursday.

     The shelling did not cause any casualties, said the source,
adding it was a "farewell" gesture to the Karenni rebels from a
Burmese contingent about to pull back from the frontline after
successful ceasefire talks last month between the KNPP and the
State Law and Order Restoration Council.

     The SLORC, said the source, agreed to withdraw its troops
from Karenni territory in Kayah State.

     The meeting, to discuss the ceasefire held between Nov
15-25, was attended by five representatives from the KNPP led by
Public Relations Minister U Lay and the SLORC's Col Kyaw Win.

     According to the source, the SLORC agreed to gradually
withdraw over 10,000 of its troops from Kayah State.

     SLORC troops in June violated the ceasefire agreement signed
between the two sides in Loikaw, Shan State on March 21, when
they sent 18 battalions into Karenni territory.

***************************************************************
BANGKOK POST: THE BURMESE CHARADE 
December 3, 1995

FOUR months after release from house arrest, the Burmese
opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Daw Aung San Suu
Kyi is again confounding her tormentors. The ruling junta in
Myanmar, formerly Burma, detained Mrs Aung San Suu Kyi for nearly
six years as punishment for leading a pro-democracy party.

     Having ended her house arrest, the junta would have earned
applause if it opened negotiations with Mrs Aung San Suu Kyi's
National League for Democracy, as she urged. Instead, contending
that it wanted to forge "an enduring state constitution," the
junta sought her participation in a stage-managed convention that
was to draft a new charter assuring its permanent dominance.

     Rightly, she has refused to play her assigned role. She and
her party will boycott the convention, and reject the Slorc's
assertion that opposition tactics are "confrontational."

     In truth, she and her movement have shunned demonstrations.
Police are posted outside her house at her request, so that she
cannot be blamed for any disturbances in the street.

     It is not respect for human rights that has stayed the junta
from silencing Mrs Aung San Suu Kyi. All Burmese know that her
father was Gen Aung San, who led the country's struggle for
independence, and all the world knows that she was honored by the
Nobel Committee for her eloquence in persevering in that fight
for freedom. Sooner or later, the generals will realize that only
by acknowledging her legitimate role can they hope to gain
legitimacy themselves.

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