BurmaNet News April 5, 1996 #376

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The BurmaNet News: April 5, 1996 
Issue #376

HEADLINES:
==========
FDL QUARTERLY: CIVIL SOCIETY IN BURMA
FEER: CONSTRUCTIVE ENGAGEMENT
THE NATION: MOMENTUM BUILDS IN UK FOR BURMA BOYCOTT
BKK POST: POLITICAL PRISONERS' JAIL TERMS EXTENDED BY JUNTA
BKK POST: BURMESE STUDENT EXECUTED AS RENEGADES RAID VILLAGE
BKK POST: THAI BANKS WIN APPROVAL TO HANDLE BORDER TRADE 
BKK POST: A TOUCH OF RIGHT ROYAL HOSPITALITY 
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FDL QUARTERLY: CIVIL SOCIETY IN BURMA
Winter, 1995
By David Steinberg

Civil Society is composed of those local or national organizations, which 
are independent of the state and act as
alternative loci for power and influence. These
organizations may be indigenous or foreign - based. Usually,
indigenous civil society includes the media, business,
religious, political, labor, community. and / or professional
organizations, but it always includes the NGO community as
an essential component.

Burma today effectively has no civil society. This is not a
new development under the State Law and Order
Restoration Council (SLORC). but may be traced directly to
the military coup of 1962 and the role of the military - run
Burma Socialist Programme Party (BSPP). There are no
groups in Burma that are not under direct or indirect
government control or supervision, beyond those associated
with raising funds or performing other merit - making
activities for a local temple. Even the Sangha. or Buddhist
clergy, as a whole is under state guidance and registration.

During the summer of 1988, with a people's revolution in
the making, civil society began to emerge in Burma. An
alternative, although ephemeral, press began to develop and
spontaneous local organizations began to appear. This
movement was crushed by the coup of September 18, 1988,
and there was a return to the rigid control characterized in
the BSPP era. This should not be surprising, since the
military coup of 1988 was a means to shore up, but only
cosmetically change, the regime in power, namely, the
military in civilian dress.

The SLORC reestablished the rigid control that had been the
hallmark of the BSPP, with two partial exceptions. First.
they began to encourage the development of the private
sector. Second. they allowed the formation of a myriad of
political parties before the elections of May 1990, which
they then proceeded to ignore when the voting went
dramatically against them. Although the economic
liberalization was a welcome change from the rigidity of the
previous command economy, it is unlikely that the private
sector will be allowed to function free from state control.
Indeed, the military through various intermediate means has
effective control over the economy.

Similarly, allowing political parties has been a charade.
They have been emasculated and have neither influence nor
authority. The release of Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi from
house arrest was, of course, most welcome, but she has been
released into a controlled environment where power is still
concentrated in the hands of a single group.

In a sense the SLORC has been attempting to create its own
 civil society' -- one that it controls. This contradiction in
terms does not make the effort any less intrusive or ubiquitous. 
The United Solidarity and Development Association (USDA), the 
military's answer to voluntary associations, is designed to force 
private individual and group activities into state - authorized 
channels. In a sense, the private NGO community is alive and well -- 
and run by the government.

Several indigenous NGOs are allowed to exist. and with
which related foreign NGOs may have relations, although
they are not allowed to exercise influence. But these NGOs have no 
independent roles and their leadership is determined by the state.

Because of the obvious need and the  allure' of poverty, foreign 
NGOs have been anxious to explore avenues of possible action 
within Burma. A few NGOs work in the Arakan; however such 
operations are carried out in circumscribed conditions.

The SLORC has determined that they wished to work with
foreign NGOs separately and would consider their possible
entry into Burma on a case - by - case basis. It is apparent
that the approval of a foreign NGO to operate in the
minority areas would require that organizations get
sponsorship of the relevant substantive ministry (Education,
Health. etc.), register with some branch of the government
(perhaps the Ministry of Home Affairs), receive the
approval to work from the Ministry concerned with border
areas, and have the authorization of the local military
commander. Goods imported into the country for
distribution (health supplies, educational materials, etc.)
would require separate authorization. in each individual
case, for duty - free customs clearance. Funds or equipment
would be distributed by the local military in accordance
with the approved project, although the NGO would be
allowed to ensure that the matenals reached their designated
recipients. Only after a suitable probationary period would
the NGO be allowed to carry out projects directly without
involving the local military in distribution, although they
would still be involved in the approval process.

Thus, it is apparent that the SLORC wishes to deal with the
foreign NGO community in a classic  divide and rule'
approach. The restrictions that were said to be imposed on
the operations of NGO activities would effectively make
anything beyond the distribution of emergency food or
humanitarian supplies administratively indefensible to any
foreign NGO that wished to retain a semblance of autonomy.

In sum, foreign NGO activities, as an element of civil
society in Burma, should be treated with great caution and
circumspection, and the complete range of conditions under
which operation; would take place should be understood in
advance. Furthermore, indigenous NGOs are likely to
remain under government control for the foreseeable future.

David Steinberg is a representative of the Asia Foundation
in Korea and former distinguished professor at Georgetown
University in Washington D.C.

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

FEER: CONSTRUCTIVE ENGAGEMENT
April 4, 1996

THE American Chamber of Commerce in Bangkok has taken a 
stand on investment and commercial ties with Burma. Going 
against the political trend in Washington, Amcham recommends 
promoting the development of US business in Burma, rather 
than adopting restrictive policies or sanctions. The chamber 
says there are some problems in Burma of serious concern to 
Americans, but argues that they should be addressed pragmatically. It 
believes US business involvement will help increase Burma's standard 
of living and contribute to nation building. (FEER) 

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

THE NATION: MOMENTUM BUILDS IN UK FOR BURMA BOYCOTT
April 5, 1996
Tom Fawthrop, The Nation

LONDON - TRAVEL agencies, tour operators and tourists in 
Britain are being urged to boycott Burma in 1996 - a year 
officially designated as a Visit Burma Year - to show their 
disapproval of human rights abuses committed by the military 
government in Rangoon.

Last week Labour's shadow foreign secretary Derek Fatchett 
described the ruling military junta as "clearly one of the 
worst in the world".

"The development of the tourist industry has been at a price 
to the local community which every decent person would 
regard as unacceptable," he said.

Two British NGOs "Burma Action Group" and "Tourism Concern" 
have launched the boycott with an "Alternative Guide" which 
documents forced labour, relocation of communities, savage 
beatings of workers all in the name of welcoming more 
visitors to Burma. New infrastructure projects, roads and 
railways are being built with up to two million "salve 
labourers" including children, allege reports which are also 
corroborated by the London-based human rights watchdog AI.

Yvette Mahon from the Burma Action Group said visiting Burma 
now "people are lending legitimacy to a cruel and greedy 
military dictatorship,"

The first call for a boycott came from Aung San Suu Kyi who 
urged tourists to "Make 1996 a year for not visiting Burma", 
a position that has been endorsed by the National Coalition 
of the Union of Burma and other Burmese opposition groups 
demanding democratic reforms.

Out of 30 UK-based tour operators offering Burma trips, 20 
companies turned up to the first-ever lobby of travel agents 
on this issue. No decision have been taken to suspend tours 
to Burma yet, but Sue Wheat of Tourism Concern commented 
that "we are expecting something in the next few weeks, 
there is definitely interest and concern about human rights 
and how tour operators can exercise some business leverage,"

However some of the bigger operators British Airways 
Holidays failed to show up. Kuino Travel's London 
representatives, Toni, Leyland, did not attend the forum but 
agreed that Burma was a very problematic tourist destination.

"Given their human rights record anyone promotes Burma is 
mad.. I don't think any British companies are pushing 
Burma." However Kuoni are not going all the way with a boycott.

"We do not approve of human rights violations but we make 
sure the client is aware of the problems, of the real 
situation and leave it up to them to decide. If they still 
want to go advise them to stay in privately-owned 
accommodation, to make sure their money goes to the people, 
the local economy, not the state," she said.

But like many travel agents Leyland argued in favour of 
"tourists can help to open up a country, and there is a 
multiplier effect with money spent among the local community."

Most travel agents are less willing than Kuoni to discuss 
the issue. Alan Flook from the Federation of Tour Operators 
said "we do not get involved in politics."

"The Alternative Guide to Burma" has been translated into 
several languages and the boycott campaign has been taken up 
in Hollandm France, Itely and Switzerland. Last year an 
association of Swiss travel agents declared that they would 
no longer promote tourism in Burma until the regime 
imp[roved its human rights record. (TN)

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

BKK POST: POLITICAL PRISONERS' JAIL TERMS EXTENDED BY JUNTA
April 5,1995  AP

Twenty-one political prisoners in Burma have received new 
prison sentences, apparently for attempting  to pass 
information about prison conditions to a representative of 
the United Nations, Amnesty International said.

In a report received in Bangkok, the London-based group said 
it had learned that the prisoners were sentenced to new jail 
terms of five to 12 years each.

The trials of the prisoners, many of whom are members of the 
National League for Democracy, took place in closed session 
in Insein Prison _ just outside Rangoon _ where the men are being held.

"The group was accused of hiding three radio sets and 
circulating a newsletter in Insein Prison," Amnesty said, 
adding that among the materials confiscated was a letter to 
the UN Special Rapporteur for Burma, whose mandate includes 
investigation of human rights and political conditions in the country.

The men were sentenced under a 1950 emergency law calling 
for punishment for anyone who "causes or intends to disrupt 
the morality or behaviour of a group of people or the 
general public, or to disrupt the security or reconstruction 
of the stability of the Union," the report said.

Amnesty said the prisoners had no legal counsel and may have 
been punished solely for exercising their right to contact 
with the outside world.

The report said two prominent prisoners, Win Tin, an NLD 
leader, and Myo Myint Nyein, a magazine editor, "had been 
held in tiny military dog cells, forced to sleep on concrete 
floors with no bedding, and forbidden any family visits."

The report also said that the junta holds more than 1,000 
political prisoners, the majority of whom were jailed after 
unfair trials. Members of ethnic minorities are also the 
targets of widespread abuse by the armed forces, including 
the killing of unarmed civilians, Amnesty said.

It said security forces have subjected members of the Karen, 
Mon, Shan, Karenni and Rohingya minorities to torture and 
ill-treatment. It said abuses in Karen State are 
particularly acute because the Government faces its last 
major ethnic insurgency there, led by the Karen National Union.

As part of its campaign against the KNU, the Burmese Army 
apparently has a "de facto shoot-to-kill policy" for any civilian who 
flees from its troops as they approach a village, the report said.

Suspected supporters of the KNU also have reportedly been 
executed, the group said, and "the Army has killed still other 
victims seemingly at random, in an apparent effort to terrorise 
villagers into severing their alleged connections with KNU soldiers."

In its efforts to combat the KNU, the Army also has forcibly 
relocated Karen villages without compensating villagers for 
their loss of land and homes, it added. The Army "has also 
targeted Karen civilians for unpaid forced portering and 
labour duties, in the course of which the Karens have 
sometimes been ill-treated," it said.

Amnesty said it obtained information for its report in 
interviews with dozens of newly arrived Karen civilians in 
refugee camps in Thailand. The group said it was gravely 
concerned by reports of extrajudicial executions, ill-
treatment and arbitrary arrests, particularly in Karen State.

It said also was concerned that those committing such abuses 
appeared to enjoy immunity from punishment. (BP)

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

BKK POST: BURMESE STUDENT EXECUTED AS RENEGADES RAID VILLAGE
April 5,1996

A Burmese student has been executed by Rangoon soldiers and 
renegade Karens after a raid on Ban Mae La, Tak. The 
intruders abducted five people, including two members of the 
All Burma Students' Democratic Front, when they attacked the 
village, which straddles the border.

Witnesses said the soldiers, wearing the uniform of the 
Democratic Karen Buddhist Army, belonged to Light Infantry 
Battalion 301, under Division 88. The abducted Karen 
villagers were identified as Khin Win, Mya Win and Ko Nge, 
and the students as Aung Toe and Aung Aung, who was executed 
before the others were released.

Aung Aung, 25, fled Kyaiklat, Irrawaddy Division, in 1989 
for the Thai-Burmese border, where he joined the ABSDF at 
Wangkha. Ko Nge, an ABSDF member and witness, said the 
raiders also took a video recorder, a 20-inch television, a 
generator and other belongings from the students' house.

The students had gone to the village to earn money for their 
camp by showing videos to logging workers.

The day after the raid, another unit of State Law and Order 
Restoration Council troops and renegade Karens returned to 
torch the village and told locals they would be killed if 
they did not move out within five days.

Leaders of the military junta in Rangoon have repeatedly 
insisted they neither support nor operate alongside the 
renegade Karens. The attacks appear to have been prompted by 
attempts to cover up bribes local Slorc leaders demanded 
from villagers engaged in illegal logging.

The Slorc unit, which was rotated on April 2, did not want 
their replacements to know about the corruption. After the 
arson attack, the 400 inhabitants of the Burmese part of Mae 
La fled to the Thai side, where they have been given temporary shelter.

 * A senior Burmese army officer has warned against anyone 
taking advantage of a popular and at times rowdy holiday for 
incitement or political gain.

Brig-Gen Khin Maung Than, commander of the Rangoon area, 
said 42 special courts would be set up to try wrongdoers 
during the April 12-15 traditional New Year celebrations, 
state-run media reported yesterday.

He also warned against the wearing of unsuitable clothes, 
drunkenness and "acts, speech and behaviour injurious to the 
state, individual persons and organisations". The 
traditional New Year is celebrated with high-spirited 
throwing of water, a traditional act of blessing. Large crowds 
usually gather on the streets to watch entertainers and parades.

Khin Maung Than said anyone caught throwing dirty water, ice 
or balloons filled with water would be punished.

* Maj-Gen Nyan Lin, a member of Burma's military government, 
has died of Parkinson's disease at a military hospital in 
Rangoon, state-run media reported. Nyan Lin, 59, had long 
been reported ill. He was an original member of the 21-man Slorc.

* Japan's Daiwa Research Institute Ltd said it would form a 
joint venture with government-owned Myanmar Economic Bank to 
launch securities trading in Burma.

The research institute affiliated with Japan's Daiwa 
Securities Co Ltd said in a statement the venture would be 
equally owned by Daiwa and the Burmese bank. The venture 
agreement is to be signed today with operations starting in 
May with capital of $3.4 million. (BP)

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

BKK POST: THAI BANKS WIN APPROVAL TO HANDLE BORDER TRADE 
WITH BURMA                  April 5, 1995
Nussara Sawatsawang

THE Burmese government has agree to allow six Thai banks 
which have representative office in Rangoon to handle cross-
border trade between the two countries, a senior official said yesterday.

The six are Bangkok bank, Thai Military Bank, Krung Thai 
bank, Thai Farmer Bank, Siam City Bank and Bank of Ayudhaya. 
Rangoon has also designated the Myanmar Investment and 
Commercial Bank and Myanmar Economic Bank to act on its behalf.

Sriwat Suwarn, minister counsellor at the office of 
commercial affairs in Rangoon, said Burma's Trade Ministry 
told him of the central Bank's agreement to Thailand's 
proposal a few day after the visit by Prime Minister Banharn 
Silpa-archa during which the border trade agreement was signed.

Rangoon was previously reluctant to agree to Thailand's 
proposal because of concern over difficulties in controlling 
too many banks, but Bangkok has consistantly stressed the 
proposal was based on market economics.

A delegation from the Thai bankers' Association is due to 
visit Rangoon soon to work out details and sign an agreement 
on banking arrangements, according to Kundaree Prachimdhit, 
director of economic relations and cooperation at the 
foreign ministry's economic affairs department.

She said the ministry was expected to lead a separate team 
to hold a "round-up" meeting with its Burmese counterpart 
and discuss the remaining technical points, including 
immigration and customs issues.

Mrs Kundaree expressed confidence that the Thai-Burmese 
border agreement could be implemented smoothly and in a 
shorter time then similar arrangements Burma has with its 
other neighbours- which took about one year to introduce. 

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

BKK POST: A TOUCH OF RIGHT ROYAL HOSPITALITY 
April 2,1996
Guest-house business brings security for daughter of Shan prince
Report: Nussara Sawatsawang and Supapohn Kanwerayotin, Yaung 
Shwe.

Running a guest-house during Burma's tourism boom is proving 
a wise choice for Haymar Thaike, a doughter of the country's 
first president, Shwe Thaike. The business has potential to 
provide lucrative income from the family's last piece of 
property and allows her to live as an ordinary woman.

Sao Haymar, 52, spends most of her time perfecting the Woody 
Guest House in her father's home town of Yaung Shwe, about 16 
kilometres from Taunggyi, the capital of Shan State. (Sao is 
a term of respect for Shan royalty)

Yaung Shwe is a popular overnight stop for those on their way 
to explore Lake Inle, which has a floating market and Intha 
tribe people known for their ability to use one leg to row a boat.

The Shan regarded this small town as their capital before the 
state was brought into the Union of Burma. Sao Shwe Thaike, 
the last prince of Yaung Shwe, used to live here in a teak palace 
which the Burmese government has since converted into a museum.

For solely practical reasons, Sao Haymar decided to start the 
hotel business, enabling her to maintain her grandfather's 
property instead of selling it like others he owned. With the 
help of her friend's cousin, she spent two million kyats 
(about 400,000 baht) to renovate the old wooden house and 
turn it into an inn.

The nine-room premises opened last June, joining the 14 
hotels and five new guest-houses in this tiny town, which had 
only one hotel back in 1992, according to Sao Haymar.

"It is a drastic change since the Burmese government promoted 
the tourism industry six years ago. Now more tourists are 
coming and the number of guest-houses is increasing," she said.

Last December, Woody Guest House welcomed about a dozen 
tourists, drawn to its cosy atmosphere and by its price. 
While rates in other establishments range from US$27-35, it 
asks $12 for economy and $18 for standard rooms with attached bathroom.

During the peak season from November to January, the prices 
rise by $2, yet there is a discount of $5 for the rainy 
season. Those spending more than three nights get more discounts.

The local currency, the kyat, is not accepted, because her establishment 
did not apply for a permit to do business in local currency. Besides, 
Burmese preferred to stay overnight at monasteries, Sao Haymar said.

Running  a guest-house might not be as hard as managing one's 
life. For Sao Haymar _ named after the Himalayas by Sao Shwe 
Thaike _ life took on a high profile when her father became 
Burma's first president after independence in 1948.

At the age of four, Sao Haymar was among Sao Shwe Thaike's 
three wives and 12 children who left Yaung Shwe to live 
Rangoon. Sao Shwe Thaike's presidency followed the country's 
reunification pact, the Panglong Agreement of 1947, that was 
worked out among Burmese nationalists represented by Gen Aung 
San and the Shans, Chins and Kachins.

The agreement was aimed at rebuilding their country following 
British rule, the Japanese occupation and the devastation of 
World War II. Sao Shwe Thaike was president for four years. 
For the following eight years, he served as speaker of the 
House of Nationalities, the upper house of parliament.

His tenure as speaker coincided with political turmoil 
sweeping Burma, which began with calls from Shan and Kachin 
states for their right to secede after a trial period of 10 
years as part of the Union of Burma, as spelled out in the agreement.

The 33 Shan leaders who carried the title Saopha (meaning 
Lord of the Sky, and the equivalent of Chao Fah in Thai) 
decided to hand over their power to Rangoon in the hope of 
quelling widespread rebellion. They also renounced their 
royal titles, thinking the move would stabilise the situation, 
according to Sao Haymar. But their effort was to no avail.

Gen Ne Win staged a coup d'etat on March 2, 1962, detaining 
her father and other Shan representatives while they were 
attending a conference to discuss the future status of 
frontier areas which included the Shan State.

Sao Shwe Thaike died in Insein jail, and the military regime 
nationalised private businesses including all assets of Sao 
Haymar's family except her grandfather's property. Sao 
Haymar, who was then studying at Rangoon University's 
Economics Institute, said this political episode had no big 
impact on her life at that time.

She had to leave Rangoon three years after her father died. 
She sought shelter in Taunggyi with her mother, the second 
wife of Sao Shwe Thaike, while her brothers lived in different places.

"The government allowed us to live an ordinary life and do what 
we like. So some of us chose to leave the country," she said of her kin.

One of her brothers is living in Arizona, and elder sister in 
London, and another brother in Rangoon. She does not keep in 
touch with her stepbrothers and stepsisters.

When the political scene cooled, Sao Haymar was trained at 
the Ministry of Trade and became an accountant manager in the 
ministry's branch in Pindaya, about 50 kilometres from Taunggyi.

She then made a career change into practising law, before taking her 
final job as a teacher in the international school at the US Embassy in 
Rangoon. She quit in 1988 and spent time freelancing as a tour guide.

Today, Sao Haymar lives peacefully, and so do 33 other Shan 
leaders. Although some expatriate Shans vow to continue the 
independence struggle, Sao Haymar said old Shan princes, 
because of their advanced age and difficulty of communications in 
remote areas, stayed away from politics altogether.

One of those leaders in Pindaya spends a happy life cultivating 
cabbages, according to Sao Haymar. Locals retain their respect for 
Shan royalty by still referring to them as Sao or Saopha.

"People are more interested in economics than politics. The 
stomach matters the most," she said. Sao Haymar shuttles 
between Yaung Shwe to take care of Woody Guest House, and 
Taunggiy where she looks after her mother.

She finds life as a businesswoman simple yet colourful, 
bringing encounters with many different nationalities, 
including some elderly British and Japanese who experienced 
World War II and ask about the problems they inflicted on Burma.

One British woman wanted to find the house where she lived in 
the colonial period, while many others want to reminisce 
about the "good old days" in Yaung Shwe.

Sao Haymar sometimes has to be an interpreter for Burmese 
guides. The tourism industry in Burma needs more qualified 
people, but the young seem to have little patience and 
motivation to perfect their skills, according to Sao Haymar. 

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