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BURMA HUMAN RIGHTS REPORTS #5d (Par



Subject: BURMA HUMAN RIGHTS REPORTS #5d (Part 2)


/* posted 13 Jan 6:00am 1995 by DRUNOO@xxxxxxxxxxxx on igc:soc.culture.burma  */
/* --------------" HRSUB: OVERSEAS BURMA LIBERATION FRONT "----------------- */

[Subject:  To inquire into and report on the human rights situation
and lack of progress towards democracy  in  Myanmar(Burma)  by  the
Human Rights Sub-Committee of the parliament of Australia.
        Submissions made to this enquiry   by  various  people  and
organisations are re-posted here.-- U Ne Oo]

# SUBMISSION NO. 5d.

OVERSEAS BURMA LIBERATION FRONT
15A, 2 Beattie Street, NSW 2041, Australia.

SLORC'S MILITARY OFFENSIVE AGAINST KHUNSA AND
SLORC'S HIDDEN AGENDA

The  State  Law  and  Order Restoration Council (SLORC), hasin the last few
months launched its military  offensive  in  the  South  Eastern,  and  the
Eastern  parts  of the Shan State in Burma, against the Mong Tai Army (MTA)
headed by the drug warlord Khun Sa.

The launching by SLORC of its military offensive against Khun Sa,  and  his
MTA  strongholds  can  only  be  viewed  as  SLORC's  desperate  attempt to
authenticate its blatantly declared "anti-drug enforcement policy", and  to
simultaneously  shed  its  tarnished  image  in the international political
arena.

The hidden agenda of SLORC's latest military campaign, is its devious  plan
to  regain  Burma's  lost  stature, and the full diplomatic relationship it
once enjoyed with Western democratic nations, especially the United  States
of America, which it lost on account of its violent suppression of the 1988
democracy  movement.  SLORC  believes  that  in  commencing  this  military
offensive, it  will  certainly  regain  the  lost  privileges  of  aid  and
assistance  it once enjoyed from the West, to enable it to carry out its so
called "anti-drug campaigns". It also believes that  the  carrying  out  of
this campaign soon after the taking of Manerplaw, will defuse the animosity
and  the  criticism of the Western nations - which it underestimated at the
time.

The US Government has recently publicy declared that, in order to formalise
its  relationship  with  Burma,  the  ruling  SLORC  military  junta,  must
seriously  implement  democratic and human rights reforms, and it must also
firmly commit itself to the elimination of the illicit drug trade in Burma.
In further testing the  will  of  the  Western  nations,  SLORC's  generals
believe  that,  it  can lobby the US Government and the Western nations for
recognition  and  financial  assistance,  by  only  launching  a   military
offensive  against Khun Sa and his MTA strongholes, - and to totally ignore
the ned to initiate any serious political reforms. The  expressed  view  of
the  Burmese people on SLORC's current gambling tactics, is said to be akin
to a common Burmese proverb - "STAGING A MONKEY SHOW TO BEG FOR RICE".

Under the dectatorial rule of Ne Win  and  his  Burma  Socialist  Programme
Party (BSPP), Burma once received millions of dollars in aid and assistance
from  the  US  Government  annually for its so called "anti-drug campaigns"
from 1974 to 1988. These  campaigns  were  later  reported  to  be  totally
ineffective  and  a  sheer  waste  of US tax-payer's money, as such aid and
assistance was being diverted to support other campaigns, to eliminate  all
dissent  in  the Shan State and in the country. This deceit has resulted in
the large annual increases in poppy cultivation and  heroin  production  in
Burma.

Before  once  encourages  the  violent  elimanating of the drug trade, many
issues may need to be pondered, such as  the  allegations  that  the  "drug
trade",  "politice", and the "armed forces", all have a firm, but invisible
triangular relationship. The question:"Will Burma's burgeoning  drug  trade
cease  to  exist,  by  aid  and  assistance to the SLORC military regime by
Western nations ?" "Will the production and trafficking of  heroin  in  the
Shan State disappear, by completely annihilating KHun Sa and his MTA ?" The
answer to these questions, must be in the negative.

ONe  must be aware that the drug trade under SLORC, is not isolated to Khun
Sa and MTA. There are otner prominent players in  this  field,  which  have
been  conveniently  ignored  by SLORC. One person who gained prominence was
YANG MO XIAN, who was publicly  executed  by  the  Chinese  authorities  in
October  1994,  for  smuggling over 200 kilograms of heroin into China. The
late YANG MO XIAN, was a Kokang national and a Burmese citizen. He  is  the
younger  brother  of  YANG  MO LENG  and YANG MU ANG, former leaders of the
defunct Burma Communist Party's  (BCP)  Kokang  faction.  They  signed  the
cease-fire  accord  with  SLORC  in  early  1989, with the other former BCP
groups. the two YANG brothers have been elevated and glorified by SLORC  as
the  leaders  of  the  Kokang  ethnic tribe, and permitted to form and lead
their own armed militia's.

In addition to the YANG brohters, there is the PHAUNG brothers, the Chinese
WEI brothers, the Wa group's ex-Chinese Red Guard LIN MING XIAN (aka U  Sai
Lin),  and  ZHANG  ZHI  MING  (aka  U  Kyi  Myint),  who are all well known
notorious leaders of Burma's illicit drug trade. The interesting  point  is
that,  SLORC  and  its  military  commanders  turn a blind eye to all these
groups drug activities ( as they were signatories of  the  1989  cease-fire
accord  with  SLORC)  ,  and  permit  them  to  openly  operate  their drug
activities - resulting in a flourishing drug trade  under  their  areas  of
control.

Herion  from  Burma  is  now  readily  available in the neighbouring Indian
States of Manipur, Assam, Mezoram and Nagaland, and the Indian  authorities
are  now  faced  with  a  serious  drugs  problem, which is spreading at an
alarming rate in these Indian State. In the neighbouring Chinese  State  of
Yunan, the authorities are now openly admitting that, the heroin flowing in
from burma, has resulted in increasing drug usage, drug related crimes, and
the  spresding of the HIV virus. The influx of these druges into the border
States of India and China, originate  from  different  areas  in  the  Shan
State,  as the flourishing drug trade is not isolated in one remote Eastern
corner of the Shan State - which is predominantly under the control of Khun
Sa and his MTA. What SLORC fails  to  mention  in  its  current  "anti-drug
campaign"  is  that heroin production is flourishing in areas tightly under
its control and that of tis commanders, and in the areas controlled by  the
armed militia's, that are in alliance with the military junta.


In  the  Shan  State the peace-loving and unsophisticated hill-tribes, have
endured a vicious cycle of poverty and tragic suffering,  due  to  external
interferences that have turned their once beautiful scenic landscapes, into
bloody  battle-fields.  In the 1950's and the 1960's, during the early Cold
War period, the Kuo Min Tang (KMT) Chinese troops  regrouped  in  the  Shan
State,  after  fleeing  from communist mainland China. The US Government in
implementing its Communist Containment POlicy  in  Asia,  approved  of  the
covert operations of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) which was at the
time  actively  supporting  the  KMT in the Shan State, in the launching of
military offensives into China's Yunnan province  from  Burma.  To  finance
these  anti-Communist  operations,  the  CIA  and  its  accomplice the KMT,
unleashed on the poverty stricken hill-tribes, the  cultivation  and  their
dependence  of  the  poppy,  resulting  in  the establishment of the deadly
heroin trade in the Shan State.

In the early 1970's, Ne Win's ruling junga formed an unholy  alliance  with
LO  HSING  HAN  and  KHUN SA's armed militias, known locally as the Kar Kwe
Ye's (who were at the time actively involved  in  drug  trade),  to  combat
ethnic  nationalists  and  Communism in the State. But this unholy alliance
did not last more than six years. In the period of the 1980's, the  Burmese
Communists  with  the strong backing of China, gained the upper hand in the
Shan State. It soon influenced many ethnic resistance groups, and it staged
numberous successful military offensive against Ne Win's troops, inflicting
heavy causalities on his troops in the Nothern Shan State.

At the same time in the Southern Shan State, Ne Win's armed forces launched
successive military operations, code named "Operation Moe  Hein"(the  sound
of  thunder) "one", "two", "three", "four", etc. - to justify the continued
influx of massive assistance from the United States  of  America,  for  its
shan  anti-drug  campaign. Ne Win's military operations to "eridicate these
druge", had a minimal effect on the drug warlords or their drug trade,  and
only    resulted    in    the   hill-tribes   in   such   areas   suffering
forced-relocations, forced-conscription of labour, looting and pillage, and
various other human rights abuses.

After  Burma's  independence  in  1948,  there  has  been  no   significant
infrastructure  development,  or social or economic development in the Shan
State. This situation has not changed even after six years SLORC's military
rule.  Not  only  have  the  hill-tribes  been  neglected   by   successive
governments,  but they have also been forced to endure the hardship and the
misery caused to them by outsiders. In this undeclared war zone, their only
means of survival is the cultivation of the deadly poppy  as  a  cash-crop,
and to sell the raw opium to the drug traders. Up until now, no significant
plans have emerged to break of the hill-tribes vicious cycle of poverty and
suffering - which will releasie them from the cultivation of poppy.

SLORC,  whilst  totally ignoring the tragic situation in the Shan State, is
now embarking on the grandoise  Upper  Salween  River  Flood  Zone  Project
(under the disguise of Border Area Development (BAD) Projects, and alleging
that  these  projects  are  for the benefit fo the resident hill-tribes) to
build dams, reservoirs and hydro-electric  generating  stations.  The  main
intention  of  the  SLORC'S  generals in carrying out these projects, is to
sell fresh water and electritity to  neighbouring  Thailand,  in  order  to
obtain  a  regular  flow  of hard-currency. The resident hill-tribes, whose
lands will be confiscated and flooded, and who will be forced  to  relocate
to  alien  landscapes,  will  not  benefit  from  such  projects.  With the
completion of these projects, the hill-tribes will  be  deprived  of  their
livelihood  -  thus  creating more misery, suffering, and animosity in this
mountainous region of Burma.

The fundamental factors, that are acknowledged as being the root causes  of
poverty  in  the  Shan State, and the flourishing drug trade that relies on
such poverty, and exploits the continuing miserable situation, are said  to
be caused by the: -

(a) lack of co-operation and co-ordination amongst the ethnic nationals;
(b) deprivation of the self-determination of the ethnic tribes;
(c)  negligence  of  successive  governments,  in solving the political and
poverty problems, due to the lack of political courage and determination.

It is impreative that, the  rights  of  self-determination  of  the  ethnic
nationals  be  restored  as  soon  as  possible,  as  this  is an essential
ingredient in solving the problems of poverty - the poverty upon which  the
drug trade has relied on to keep up its supply of raw opium.

Neither  the  present  SLORC  military  junta,  nor the unitary system of a
centralised Constitution - which the junta's sham  National  Convention  is
drafting,  will have the capability of solving the existing poverty and the
drug problems in the Shan State. With a  Federal  system  of  constitution,
that  guarantees  the rights of self-determination of ethnic nationalities,
and with the formation of accountable governments (i.e. Federal, State  and
Local levels), and with such appropriate action taken by such demoratically
elected  and  responsible governments, the poverty and miseries will cease,
and the associated durg trade - will only then start to disappear from  the
whole nation.

Without  the  establishment  of  an  accountable  and responsible system of
government, the drug warlords will continue to exist  and  prosper  in  the
Shan  State.  The  current  military  offensive by SLORC, in a despotic and
unstable political environment,  even  if  successful,  will  only  achieve
temporary  success  in eradication the drug trade in that particular region
of the Shan State, as new drug warlords will re-emerge and the  drug  trade
will again flourish and continue to haunt civilised mankind.

Assisting  military  dictators,  or  military  regimes  whose sole means of
solving  the  drug  problem  is  by  violent  military  offensives  -  will
definitely yield no positive results for burma or for the world.

We  are  of  the  opinion  that,  if  the  rich Western democratic nations,
never-the-less resumes aid and assistance to the SLORC military junta,  the
aid  will  without a shadow of a doubt "GO UP IN THE SMOKE IN SLORC'S BOGUS
DRUG BURNING CEREMONIES".

Executive Committee.
OVERSEAS BURMA LIBERATION FRONT(OBLF)
22 April, 1995.

/* ENDREPORT */