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Burma Net News #425, 426, 427



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"Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies" 
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The BurmaNet News: May 29, 1996 
Issue #425 
 
HEADLINES: 
========== 
THE NATION: WALKING THROUGH THE BARRICADES 
THE NATION: SIKH SUPPORT 
THE NATION: TRADE SANCTIONS 
REUTER : BURMA PARTY MEETING ENDS WITH NEW CHARTER MOVE. 
REUTER : BURMA GOVT LASHES OUT AS OPPOSITION CONGRESS ENDS. 
REUTER : MOVEMENT OF THE ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE  
MICHAEL DWYER . DOWNER TO MAINTAIN LABOR  
POLICY STANCE ON BURMA REGIME.  
AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW : THE VOICE OF COURAGE.  
SYDNEY MORNING HERALD : FIRST SIGNS OF SOFTENING IN  
REGIME'S CYCLE OF REPRESSION 
REUTER : MOVEMENT OF THE ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE  
AP : 10,000 ATTENDED SUNADY'S NLD FORUM 
ABSDF : BURMESE STUDENTS NABBED AFTER THEIR RALLY 
REUTER : SEAN SECRETARY GENERAL INVITED TO BURMA 
REUTER : MALAYSIA OPPOSITION SAID ASEAN SHOULD SEE  
ABOUT BURMA SITUATION 
 
 
 
 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
 
WALKING THROUGH THE BARRICADES 
28.5.96/The Nation 
 
It is traditional to release caged birds or fish on Burmese New 
Year's Day as an act of merit. In April 1989, the last Burmese 
New Year I celebrated before my house arrest, we released some 
doves, launching them into the emptiness above Inya Lake on which 
my house stands. 
 
The poor creatures had become used to captivity and fluttered 
about in a dazed way before they gained enough confidence to take 
off. One fell into the reeds at the edge of the lake and had to 
be rescued and relaunched. It hovered uncertainly near us for a 
few minutes before soaring away into the distance. We hoped that 
its flight would not end in the snare of a bird catcher. Many 
released birds are caught again and again and sold and resold to 
those who wish to gain the merit of freeing caged creatures. I 
could not help wondering how much value there could be to a 
gesture of liberation that does not truly guarantee freedom. 
 
This year the women's wing of the National League for Democracy 
(NLD) decided they would like to arrange a fish-releasing 
ceremony on New Year's Day, April 16. They were to gather at my 
house and walk in procession to a pond near the Shwedagon Pagoda 
where the fish could be released to swim their lives out in 
peace. The Rangoon Division Law and Order Restoration Council 
(SLORC) was informed of our plan before the beginning of the 
water festival which precedes the New Year. 
 
On April 15, the authorities reacted. A number of township NLD 
offices received letters from their respective Lorcs forbidding 
them to go ahead with the ceremony. In addition U. Aung Shwe, the 
chairman of the NLD, and two of the members of the executive 
committee were asked to come to the office of the Bahan Township 
Lorc. A statement was read out: The government could not allow 
the NLD ceremony to take place; as the ceremony would be 
conducted in the form of a public gathering organised by a 
political party, it would have to be considered a political 
activity and the authorities could not allow political benefit to 
be derived from a traditional ceremony. 
 
Further, such a gathering would be detrimental to peace and 
harmony, to the rule of law and to the prevalence of order. It 
would disturb and destroy peace and harmony in the nation and 
incite fear and alarm. U Aung Shwe countered that the whole 
statement was based on mere assumptions a written protest. 
 
The reaction of the authorities was both nonsensical and 
revealing. Slorc makes repeated claims that it has succeeded in 
restoring law and order and peace and harmony to the land. How 
fragile must be the law and order that can be seriously 
threatened by a procession of women taking part in a traditional 
religious ceremony. How insubstantial must be the peace and 
harmony in a country where such a procession is expected to throw 
the populace into a panic. 
 
We knew that what the authorities really feared was not so much a 
public disturbance as a demonstration of public support for the 
NLD. However, New Year's Day should be an auspicious occasion and 
we wished it to be a day of happiness rather than confrontation, 
so we cancelled our plans for the releasing of fish. We would 
listen to the chanting of protective sutras and pay our respects 
to our elders. But the authorities had other plans. 
 
On New Year's Day at about 11.30 in the morning, the street in 
front of my house was blocked off with barbed wire barricades. 
Nobody was allowed to come in or go out except members of the 
security forces and numbers of awkward-looking men in civilian 
clothes, each with a handkerchief tied around one wrist. 
 
We discovered later that these were members of the Union 
Solidarity and Development Association (Usda). They had been 
collected from various townships and told to beat up those 
members of the NLD who came in through the barricades. Usda was 
assured that the authorities would be behind them. Once serious 
fighting had erupted, all those involved_ would be taken away to 
prison (there were several prison vans waiting at the local 
police station), but Usda members t would soon be released. 
 
The NLD members would no doubt be given substantial prison 
sentences. Thus, Usda was promoted from mere tomato throwers to 
that of thugs. 
 
The planned violence did not materialise because the NLD members 
took a firm, disciplined stand. They did not rush to the 
barricades but they refused to leave on the orders of the 
security forces. They waited for a decision to be taken by 
members of the executive committee who had been allowed to come 
to my house. We decided that the ceremony of paying respects to 
the elders must go ahead; if our people were prevented from 
coming to us, we would go out to them. 
 
Accordingly, we walked out through the barricades to where our 
people stood and thus an auspicious New Year's Day ceremony took 
place in the middle of the street, near a crossroad. It seemed an 
omen that the NLD would not lack public attention during the 
coming year. 
 
Aung San Suu Kyi 
Letters from Burma is a series of weekly articles containing Aung 
San Suu Kyi's reflections on the social, cultural political scene 
in Burma today. 
 
***************************************** 
 
SIKH SUPPORT 
28.5.96/The Nation/Letter 
 
A government that has to rely on special laws to suppress the 
press, that bans hundreds of organisations and keeps people in 
prison without trial, ceases to have even a shadow of 
justification for its existence. That is the government in Burma 
today. The ruling military junta in Burma is a model of 
antidemocratic power that does not have any legitimacy in the 
country. 
 
The arrests of over 200 members of Aung San Suu Kyi's National 
League for Democracy clearly shows that the military junta is 
frightened of the popularity of the Nobel Peace laureate. They 
are aware that her public support is strong. But no matter what, 
despite these arrests, the NLD conference will certainly boost 
the morale of the Burmese people in their struggle against 
military dictatorship. 
 
We, the Sikhs in Thailand, support our Burmese brothers and 
sisters in their fight for' democracy and freedom. We stand 
together with them in their hour of need. We are indeed 
disappointed that the government of India chooses to ignore Aung 
San Suu Kyi, and has accorded recognition to the Slorc instead. 
That the world's largest democracy chooses to do this is 
shameful. 
 
Above all, apart from the sincere efforts of the Burmese people, 
the Western capitalist powers - who untiringly proclaim 
themselves as paragons of democracy and freedom for all peoples 
of the world - must impose a near-total embargo on Burma to force 
democratic change. Only trade, and nothing else, is the effective 
tool to pressure the junta to restore democracy back to Burma. 
 
The high-handed military action against the lady's nonviolent 
campaign for democracy, just goes to show that butchers are 
incapable of being humans. 
 
Kanwaljit Singh 
Bangkok 
 
***************************************** 
 
TRADE SANCTIONS 
28.5.96/The Nation/Letter 
 
It is obvious that the Burma situation is getting critical. To 
most of us who are used to hearing only of warfare among the 
various people of Burma, the latest development is a clarion call 
to action, especially in re-examining the relations between 
Asean, ARF, etc and Burma, or more precisely Slorc. ' 
 
What more evidence does the international community need to see 
that Slorc has no intention of adhering to accepted standards of 
behaviour while dealing with their own people, their neighbours 
and the rest of the world when they ignore convention, by 
brazenly arresting the elected representatives of the Burmese 
people who wish to gather for a conference at Aung San Suu Kyi's 
residence. This pussy-footing by the international community has 
to stop immediately. 
 
Many apparently feel squeamish about economic sanctions, 
especially those whose private sector has much at stake in 
exploiting Burma, and wish to continue the shop-worn 
"constructive engagement" policy as though that was the only 
infallible approach to handling a dictatorship. 
 
It is my opinion that democracies which maintain diplomatic 
relations with this lawless regime should indicate their profound 
displeasure by downgrading their embassies. In this the US has 
shown remarkable leadership by understaffing their Rangoon 
embassy for several years. Asean should follow suit. 
 
MPadang  
Chiang Mai 
 
***************************************** 
 
BURMA PARTY MEETING ENDS WITH NEW CHARTER MOVE. 
 
RANGOON, May 28 (Reuter) - A congress of Burma's National League for 
Democracy (NLD) ended on Tuesday with the party adopting a series of 
resolutions that could infuriate the military government. NLD leader Aung 
San Suu Kyi said the party's leadership would draw up a new draft 
constitution for Burma, ignoring a government-sponsored constitutional 
convention from which the NLD withdrew last November.   
(c) Reuters Limited 1996 
REUTER NEWS SERVICE 
 
************************************ 
 
BURMA GOVT LASHES OUT AS OPPOSITION CONGRESS ENDS. 
By Deborah Charles 
 
RANGOON, May 28 (Reuter) - Burma's military rulers launched a personal 
attack on Tuesday on democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi as her National 
League for Democracy wound up a three-day congress against the backdrop of 
mass detentions. The ruling military body, the State Law and Order 
Restoration Council (SLORC), attacked Suu Kyi and the NLD in the official 
media after holding a massive public rally on Monday to denounce 
"destructionist forces" in Burma. Sources in Rangoon said the government was 
expected to stage another rally on Tuesday. The government attacked Suu Kyi, 
the NLD leader and a Nobel Peace Prize winner, in a commentary for allowing 
herself to be a "puppet of the colonialist groups", calling her an "enemy of 
the people" and a "traitor". "Aung San Suu Kyi, the wife of Englishman 
Michael Aris, and daughter of General Aung San, the architect of Myanmar's 
(Burma's) independence, is serving as a puppet of the colonialist group," 
said the commentary in Burmese-language newspapers. "The entire populace 
from all across the country are now shouting to crush whoever spoils the 
progress of constructive activities, whoever protests against the National 
Convention, by designating them as a people's enemy," it said. Suu Kyi and 
the NLD defied government intimidation and the detention of pro-democracy 
politicians and began a party congress on Sunday.Suu Kyi opened the 
congress, which the government tried to scuttle by seizing at least 258 NLD 
members who were planning to attend, by vowing to increase the momentum of 
the democracy movement. On Saturday about 5,000 people flocked to the gates 
of Suu Kyi's lakeside home, where the meeting was held, and on Sunday about 
10,000 showed up to underscore their support for the NLD. The government 
countered with its own public rally in Rangoon on Monday, where 40,000 
people chanted slogans and denounced "the traitors' acts to destabilise the 
country and to spoil progress", official media reported. The military often 
forces citizens to attend government-sponsored public rallies, diplomats and 
opposition sources say. The fledgling democracy movement was set to end its 
three-day congress on Tuesday with Suu Kyi detailing some of the party's 
main policy decisions at the closing ceremony. The newspaper commentary also 
denounced Suu Kyi's connections with foreigners, accusing her of dealing 
with "meddling diplomats and journalists". Over the past week, Suu Kyi has 
held daily news conferences for foreign journalists, issuing information 
about NLD members she said had been arrested by the military government. 
On Monday, Suu Kyi told reporters at her lakeside Rangoon home she was 
worried about the fate of the detainees because at least two had been 
charged. The SLORC has denied arresting the NLD members, saying it has only 
detained them for questioning to avoid "anarchy" or unrest that could result 
from the congress. The arrests have drawn international condemnation, with 
many nations urging the SLORC to release the people it has detained.   
 
(c) Reuters Limited 1996 
REUTER NEWS SERVICE 
 
******************************************* 
 
 
DOWNER TO MAINTAIN LABOR POLICY STANCE ON BURMA REGIME.  
By Michael Dwyer. 
AUSTRALIA 
 
The Federal Government yesterday conceded that Australia's policy stance 
towards Burma had failed to encourage the country's military regime to 
embrace democracy. The admission came amid mounting tension as Burma's 
opposition National League for Democracy begins a concerted push for a new 
Constitution. The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Alexander Downer, told 
Parliament that the Coalition would maintain the previous Government's 
policy on Burma. "This Government is continuing with this policy because we 
see it at this stage being the most appropriate way forward," Mr Downer said. 
ASEAN countries agreed to a process of constructive engagement with Burma at 
their ministerial conference of 1994, prompting Australia to outline a 
"benchmark" approach to its own relationship with the military regime. 
Australia has established a series of "benchmarks" for Burma's governing 
State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) under which it would be 
prepared to accept the nation's re-entry into international forums. These 
benchmarks involve progress by SLORC on both human rights and 
democratisation. But Mr Downer conceded that the approaches adopted by both 
ASEAN and Australia had failed to shift SLORC. "As far as Burma is 
concerned, we look for outcomes and policy approaches which will encourage 
the process of democracy and which will encourage (opposition leader) Aung 
San Suu Kyi," Mr Downer said. "This will, we hope, lead to a greater process 
of liberalisation by the SLORC. 
 
*********************************** 
  
AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW 28/5/96 P9  
 
EDITORIAL - THE VOICE OF COURAGE.  
 
THE SLORC is confused, and like all insecure regimes it is becoming both 
weaker and more dangerous. Last week the ruling military junta in Burma 
(Myanmar), which bears the Orwellian title of State Law and Order Council, 
arrested more than 250 members of the National League for Democracy. It did 
so to prevent the NLD members from holding an entirely peaceful party 
meeting. This went ahead anyway, with a huge crowd of undeterred supporters 
cheering the NLD's leader Aung San Suu Kyi. "Giving in to bullying", she 
told them, "is not good for... the bully or those who are bullied." The 
official press has denounced Ms Suu Kyi as a "poisonous snake" and a 
"sorceress." Then yesterday one tame newspaper published a commentary 
addressing her in more respectful terms, and claiming that the regime 
supported the "democratic principle" of freedom of association. It also 
returned to the theme of dialogue between the SLORC and the democratic 
forces. The NLD, we should note, though described as being "in opposition", 
must by virtue of the 1990 election which it won overwhelmingly be regarded 
as Burma's rightful government. 
 
The junta has played word-games several times before, but the effect of 
international pressure and adverse publicity upon it now should not be 
under-estimated. Ms Suu Kyi herself deserves most of the credit: refusing to 
be exiled from her native country she sat out the generals under house 
arrest until they sought to regain credibility by releasing her. Since then 
she has gradually found her voice while avoiding any over-provocative move. 
Her strength, and that of the democracy movement, lies in the simplicity of 
its demands. These are set out very clearly in a recent interview with John 
Pilger - whose own work on Burma, with David Munro, has refocused our 
attention on the horrors of the SLORC.* "We want a system that will 
guarantee our rights so that we can live in security," she says, "so that we 
do not have to wonder from day to day what will happen to us if we do 
something that will annoy those in power." It should not be too much to ask. 
It is not always easy to decide just how far to intervene in another 
country's internal politics. But the case of Burma/Myanmar - like that of 
South Africa under apartheid - is overwhelming. The only question to be 
asked is what can be done most effectively. Western governments greeted Ms 
Suu Kyi's release from house arrest as a signal for relaxing pressure and 
encouraging trade contacts: this, as the junta's behaviour shows, sends 
exactly the wrong message. The regime in Rangoon should be told that it 
faces international isolation and sanctions, and that its first step must be 
to release the detained NLD members. Whether or not some of these have been 
sent to the Insein prison camp, conditions there for hundreds of political 
prisoners, as reported by Amnesty International, are also a matter for 
serious concern. Whatever governments choose to do, individuals can all make 
their own decisions. No reputable travel agent or tour operator should allow 
travel to Burma to remain in its brochure and the independent tourist should 
stay away. No business firm should fall for the absurd and callous 
proposition of a recent British trade conference that Burma will become "the 
next Asian tiger." With railways and construction projects being built by 
forced labour, it neither deserves to, nor does it possess the necessary 
popular dynamism. Nor is it a safe bet either (as Ms Suu Kyi shrewdly 
argues) so long as the brutal, but baffled, generals remain in charge. 
 
******************************* 
 
FIRST SIGNS OF SOFTENING IN REGIME'S CYCLE OF REPRESSION 
 
May 28, 1996 
Sydney Morning Herald 
By MARK BAKER, Herald Correspondent in Rangoon 
 
Burma's military leadership has given the first hints that it might be ready 
for a political solution to its bitter, seven-year conflict with the country's 
democracy movement. 
 
As Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi continued to stage a congress of her 
National League for Democracy (NLD) in defiance of the regime, Burma's 
Government-controlled press yesterday outlined conditions for a possible 
peace dialogue. 
 
A commentary published in the country's two Burmese language newspapers 
denied the regime was opposed to a dialogue with Ms Suu Kyi and conceded 
that the majority of Burmese wanted national reconciliation. 
 
It indicated the regime might be prepared to open talks, provided the NLD 
accepted a continuing central political role for the military and agreed to a 
process of "mutual confidence building". 
 
It said that if Ms Suu Kyi were prepared to "build national reconciliation 
with a sacrificing spirit" the dialogue would be smooth and fast. 
 
But the commentary also warned that if she attempted to drive the 
authorities into a corner through domestic and international agitation "the 
country and people will have to remain in trouble for a long time to come". 
 
Political analysts said the article - expressed in unusually polite and 
conciliatory language - was the first formal acknowledgment by the regime 
of Ms Suu Kyi's demand for dialogue.  
 
But they were uncertain whether the comments signalled a genuine shift in 
the regime's hard line, or were simply an attempt to deflect mounting 
international criticism. 
 
Other articles published in the official press yesterday continued the 
regime's usual belligerent rhetoric against the democracy movement. One 
described Ms Suu Kyi and her supporters as "bastards who stink like slaves." 
Another described them as "maggots in the flesh". 
 
The developments came as several hundred NLD officials held the second day 
of a congress which the authorities have attempted to block by detaining 
more than 260 party members. 
 
The arrests have been denounced by Western governments and the United 
States has announced that it will lobby for tougher international action 
against Burma in response to the crackdown. 
 
On Sunday Ms Suu Kyi - released last July from six years' house arrest - 
announced a renewed campaign to force the regime to honour the NLD's 
landslide 1990 election win.  
 
While she has previously accepted the military's important role in Burmese 
society, her delegates walked out of a convention last year which is drafting 
a new Constitution that would entrench the military's grip on power and bar 
her from leading the country. 
 
Yesterday's commentary stressed that Ms Suu Kyi must declare her 
willingness to engage in a reconciliation process that accepted the "key" role 
of the armed forces in politics. 
 
It said differences needed to be negotiated with tolerance and Ms Suu Kyi's 
failure to define the kind of dialogue she wanted had complicated the 
process. 
 
*********************************************** 
 
MOVEMENT OF THE ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE  
 
RANGOON, May 28 (Reuter) - Burma's military government lashed out on 
Tuesday at democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, calling her a "puppet" of 
colonialist groups and an "enemy of the people." 
 
"Aung San Suu Kyi. the wife of Englishman Michael Aris, and daughter 
of General Aung San, the architect of Myanmar's (Burma's) independence, is 
serving as a puppet of the colonialist group," the military-led government 
said in a commentary in Burmese-language newspapers. 
 
"The entire populace from all across the country are now shouting to 
crush whoever spoils progress of constructive activities, whoever protests 
against the national convention, by designating them as a people's enemy," 
it said. 
 
It is the first time Burma's government has made a clear statement 
since Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy (NLD) party defied 
government intimidation and forged ahead with a three-day party congress 
due to end late on Tuesday. 
 
The NLD won a landslide victory in a May 1990 general election but the 
ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) refused to honour 
the result. 
 
A defiant Suu Kyi, shrugging off the government's detention of more 
than 250 party activists last week, opened the congress on Sunday vowing to 
increase the momentum of the country's democracy movement. 
On Monday the government held a massive public rally in Rangoon to 
denounce "destructionists" in the country. 
  
About 40,000 people from 14 townships chanted slogans and denounced 
"the traitors' acts to destabilise the country and to spoil progress," 
official media reported. 
 
 Dagon University Rector Kaung Nyunt, the main speaker at the rally, 
said recent moves by the democracy movement were intolerable. 
 
"Just as the momentum of constructive development is being achieved, 
the instigation to cause instability and unrest by destructive elements has 
become very intolerable," he was quoting as saying. 
 
"That is why the people have turned out en masse today to support the 
government's constructive development works, and to denounce the 
destructionists." 
 
Government-sponspored public rallies are often staged with the 
military forcing people to attend, diplomats and opposition sources say. 
The government was expected to hold another rally on Tuesday, sources said. 
 
**************************************** 
 
10,000 ATTENDED SUNADY'S NLD FORUM 
 
 By ROBERT HORN 
 Associated Press Writer 
RANGOON, Burma (AP) -- When pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi 
denounced Burma's ruling junta and vowed to fight it, millions of Burmese 
too frightened to attend the speech listened to tape recordings distributed 
by her supporters. 
 
As long as the generals rule the country, Burmese will never read a 
speech by Suu Kyi in the daily newspapers. So her supporters are spreading 
Suu Kyi's words on their own. 
 
As many as 10,000 people appeared outside Suu Kyi's home Sunday for her 
weekly speech -- the largest crowd since her release last July from six 
years of house arrest -- and dozens of them held as many as six cassette 
recorders in their hands. 
 
The tapes made it around Rangoon by Monday morning, and others should 
reach the countryside in a few days. 
 
"It was a fantastic speech. She was more defiant than usual," said Thein 
Nyunt, a 30-year-old mechanic. "I was too afraid to go. But my father went 
and taped it, and I think it was great." 
 
The tapes also reached the desks of the military regime formally known 
as the State Law and Order Restoration Council. On Monday, the 
state-controlled press called Suu Kyi a "maggot" and tool of a U.S. 
conspiracy to colonize Burma by introducing democracy and human rights. The 
people, the press says, love and support the regime. 
 
The people of Burma appreciate the defiance of the petite, 
Oxford-educated Suu Kyi, winner of the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize for her 
nonviolent promotion of democracy. 
 
But they're afraid to show too much open support, remembering that the 
military dictatorship gunned down hundreds of pro-democracy demonstrators 
in 1988. 
 
Fear runs so deep in Rangoon that the army hasn't even felt compelled to 
call out extra soldiers, despite the political tension. As monsoon rains 
swept the palm-lined roads Monday, people in the city went about business 
as usual. 
 
But some of the few Burmese willing to speak to foreigners commented in 
the dank shops and crowded tearooms that the only topic of conversation was 
Sunday's speech. Like Thein Nyunt, they'd heard it on tape.  
 
On Sunday, Suu Kyi and fellow leaders of her National League for 
Democracy rebuked the authorities for arresting at least 262 people -- 
nearly all the delegates to the party's most important conference in six 
years. They demanded that the opposition victory in parliamentary elections 
in May 1990 finally be recognized. 
 
"Giving in to bullying is not good," Suu Kyi said. "We must have the 
courage to face the bully's challenge." 
 
Speaking to reporters Monday, Suu Kyi predicted the military regime 
would detain some of her jailed supporters indefinitely and said her 
personal assistant had been thrown into a prison known for torture. 
 
The climate of fear is reflected in Burma's primitive financial 
institutions. There's not much of a stock market, but the currency black 
market is a fair barometer. 
 
The official exchange rate for Burma's currency, the kyat, is 6 to $1. 
On the black market, the kyat was recently trading for 139 to the dollar. 
Rumors that the military had blocked streets to Suu Kyi's home caused the 
kyat to plummet. 
 
"Business is bad. I lost 100,000 kyats this weekend," said a woman who 
changes money in the back of her grocery shop. She refused to be 
identified. Though the black market is no secret, it remains illegal. 
  
"People liked the speech, but they don't expect any change," said the 
currency trader. "Nobody can make this government do anything they don't 
want to do. They have all the guns." 
 
**************************************** 
 
 
FIGHT ON TILL WE REACH DEMOCRACY, SUU KYI TELLS BURMESE 
THOUSANDS STILL FLOCKING TO MEET 
"The Asian Age", New Delhi (28 May 1996) {Page-6} 
 
Rangoon, May 27: Burmese Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her  
National League for Democracy lunched the second day of a party congress on  
Monday which ahead despite the detention of more than 250 NLD activists in 
 the military junta's attempt to stop it. 
 
The opening day of the conference on Sunday culminated in a massive show of  
support for the NLD as a record number of people turned out in front of Ms  
Aung San Suu Kyi' house to hear one of her twice weekly addresses. 
 
Some 10,000 people cheered and applauded as she pledged to 'march on until we  
reach our goal of democracy'. and appealed for the 'full support of the people'. 
 
The military junta has arrested some 257 NLD activists---mostly party  
candidates who won seats in the abortive 1990 elections---in a bid to foil the  
landmark party meeting. 
 
The meeting was originally intended to the elected representatives together to  
mark the sixth anniversary of the elections, but the detentions have forced the  
NLD to take a different tack. 
 
Ms Aung San Suu Kyi has announced that the meeting will be the first in a  
series of party congresses which will adopt positions on a new constitution,  
economic policy and issues such as human rights.  
 
The official press has unsurprisingly failed to comment on Sunday's meeting and  
the unprecedented rally outside Ms Aung San Suu Kyi's house, but aimed  
several darts Monday at the Opposition in thinly veiled editorials. 
 
The Opposition rounded-up has been roundel condemned by Western countries, in  
particular the United States. (AFP) 
 
** end ** 
*********************************************** 
 
Press Release 
May 29, 1996 
 
BURMESE STUDENTS NABBED AFTER THEIR RALLY 
 
        Twenty-to Burmese students including three female students and one 
six-year old child were rounded up by the Thai policy on their way back 
from the demonstration in front of the Burmese embassy on May 27, 1996. 
the demonstration marked the sixth year anniversary of 1990 multi-party 
general election in Burma. 
        About 200 students from different organizations joined the 
demonstration on May 27 rally in Bangkok. Both plainclothes and uniform 
Thai police were present but did not intervene during the rally. However, 
a bus with 23 students from the "safe area" in Ratchaburi Province was 
stopped by the Thai police and arrested them on their way back from the 
rally. Only one Buddhist was released later, but all other 22 including 
six-year- old child with his mother were detained at the Naung Khen police 
station on that night.  They were transferred to Immigration Detention 
Center (IDC) on the next day, on 28 May 1996, it is learnt. 
        All of these 22 students are the residents of "Safe Area" in 
Ratchaburi Province, run by the Thai Ministry of Interior. This camp is a 
holding center for the Burmese students who fled after the 1988 bloody 
coup to Thailand. All Burmese students had to register at the Thai MOI and 
stay only in the designated "safe Area."  Beginning in June 1995, the 
monthly allowance by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees has 
been cut off and forced the students to enter into the "safe area." There 
are currently about 700 students in the camp including their family 
members. 
        These 22 students came to Bangkok on May 27, to join the 
demonstration with their fellow students in Bangkok. 
        Joint Committee from five different student organization in 
Thailand who organized the daily demonstration between 23-29 May released 
an open letter to Thai Prime Minister Banharn Silpa-archa requesting him 
to release all these 22 students and send them back to the "safe area." 
The letter said " we are greatly concerned their plight and request the 
Thai authorities not to send them back to Burma, but transfer to the safe 
area."  Thai students from Student Federation of Thialnd also ask their 
government to transfer their Burmese fellow to safe area today. 
 
 
ABSDF News Agency 
ABSDF (DAWN GWIN) 
 
List of th students arrested on May 27, 1996 
 
1. Saw Thet Oo 2. Ma Htwe (female) 3. Aung Myint 4. Maung Win 5. Khine Soe 
Myint 6. Mu Mu (female) 7. Win Min Htun 8. U Tin Pe 9. Htun Shwe 10. Than 
Hteik 11. Win San 12. Saw Lu 13. Myint Zaw (a) Gwa Tho 14. Saw Khike 15. 
Sanny 16. Moe Pyan 17. Thein Thein Oo (Female) 18. Chit Oo lu 
(six-year-old son of Thein Thein Oo) 19. Win Shwe 20. Saw Thar War 21. Ah 
Bai Gyi 22. Maung Maung Win (They all are right now in IDC. Not charge or 
sentence yet.) Please take any any that would help their release. e.g. 
writing to PM, MOI and UNHCR. 
 
************************************************ 
 
SEAN SECRETARY GENERAL INVITED TO BURMA 
 
JAKARTA, May 28 (Reuter) - ASEAN Secretary-General Ajit Singh said on 
Tuesday officials were discussing the timing of a visit Burma had invited him 
to pay to Rangoon. 
 
``The government of Myanmar (Burma) has invited me to pay an official 
visit to Yangon (Rangoon). We are currently working out the details,'' he 
told an Indonesian Executive Circle lunch of diplomats and business leaders. 
 
The chief executive of the seven-member Association of Southeast Asian 
Nations later told Reuters he expected to make the trip ``in the latter part 
of the year.'' 
 
An ASEAN official said the Burmese government had extended the invitation 
last year. 
 
Singh declined to comment on the current confrontation in Burma between 
its military rulers and the opposition National League for Democracy other 
than to say: ``As far as ASEAN is concerned, we do not interfere in each 
other's internal affairs...that is a basic tenet of ASEAN.'' 
 
He said Burma was expected to get observer status in the 19-nation ASEAN 
Regional Forum (ARF) -- set up to promote regional security -- at a 
ministerial meeting in Jakarta in July. 
 
Singh said Burma had applied for observer status with ASEAN itself with 
the intention of eventual membership. 
 
Thailand is the only ASEAN member to have commented officially on the 
confrontation between Burma's military rulers and the NLD, headed by Nobel 
Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi. A Thai Foreign Ministry spokesman last 
week expressed concern over the crackdown on the opposition in Burma. 
 
Other ASEAN members are Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, 
Philippines and Brunei. 
 
****************************************** 
 
MALAYSIA OPPOSITION SAID ASEAN SHOULD SEE ABOUT BURMA SITUATION 
 
KUALA LUMPUR, May 28 (Reuter) - Burma's neighbours should break their 
silence on mass political arrests by Rangoon's military government, 
Malaysia's opposition leader said on Tuesday. 
 
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) should ``add their 
voice to the international demand for the immediate release of all political 
detainees,'' said Parliamentary Opposition leader Lim Kit Siang of the 
Democratic Action Party. 
 
``The continued silence of the ASEAN governments to the latest crackdown 
against pro-democracy leaders in Myanmar (Burma) would be construed as 
support and sympathy for the Myanmar military junta's policy of repression,'' 
Lim said in a statement. 
 
Of the seven ASEAN members -- Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the 
Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam -- only Thailand has voiced concern 
over the arrests and their political consequences. 
 
Western countries condemned last week's arrest of more than 250 Burmese 
dissidents by the military government, which had sought to block a three-day 
party congress of Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi's National League 
of Democracy. 
 
Suu Kyi ended the congress on Tuesday with the party adopting a series of 
resolutions that could infuriate the govrnment. 
 
Last year, Burma took the first step towards ASEAN membership by acceding 
to its founding treaty. ASEAN leaders said they hoped Burma would join by the 
end of the decade. 
 
 ASEAN members make a point of not criticising each other. 
ASEAN Secretary-General Ajit Singh on Tuesday declined to comment on the 
current confrontation in Burma other than to say: ``As far as ASEAN is 
concerned, we do not interfere in each other's internal affairs...that is a 
basic tenet of ASEAN.'' 
 
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------------------------ BurmaNet ------------------------ 
"Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies" 
---------------------------------------------------------- 
 
The BurmaNet News: May 29,1996 
Issue # 426 
 
	Asean countries have taken the view that constructive engagement  
	is the best way to bring about change, I think it is now time to  
	admit that change in the right direction has not taken place.  
	-Aung San Suu Kyi 
	(See SUU KYI SAYS SOFT LINE ON JUNTA A FLOP) 
 
HEADLINES: 
========== 
THE NATION:SUU KYI STEPS UP CHALLENGE AGAINST SLORC 
THE NATION:SLORC HOLDS MASS RALLIES AS NLD CONGRESS ENDS 
THE NATION:SUU KYI SAYS SOFT LINE ON JUNTA A FLOP 
BKK POST: KHUN SA'S ASSOCIATES ORDERED TO HALT LOGGING 
BKK POST: BOMB BLASTS WOUND SEVERAL AT KAREN REFUGEE CAMP 
UPI : BURMA'S MILITARY JUNTA CRITICIZED 
VOA : BURMESE REPRESSION 
VOA: WASHINGTON POST EDITORIAL 
CNN : BURMESE OPPOSITION PROPOSALS STING GOVERNMENT 
HOUSTON CHRONICLE : SUU KYI TAPES CIRCULATED  
AUSTRALIA : PROTEST SLAMS BURMA. 
ISBDA : HUNDREDS OF ARRESTS IN BURMA BESIDES THE NLD MEMBERS 
PAUL J. WILLIAMSONS : IS IMPOSING ONES VALUES &  
CONCEPTS ON OTHERS - DEMOCRATIC. 
LOS ANGELES TIMES : MYANMAR LEADERS DENOUNCE PRO-DEMOCRACY ACTIVISTS 
 
 
----------------------------------------------------------- 
 
THE NATION: SUU KYI STEPS UP CHALLENGE AGAINST SLORC 
May 29,1996 
AP 
 
Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi stepped up her challenge to the  
Burmese military regime yesterday, announcing plans by the pro- 
democracy opposition to draft a constitution separate from the one  
being debated by a government-stacked panel. 
 
The declaration on the closing day of an opposition congress  
opened a new front against the State Law and Order Restoration  
Council (Slorc) and signalled that Suu Kyi's National League for  
Democracy would not return to the constitutional conference it  
walked out of last November. 
 
The three-day party conference marked the biggest step against the  
junta for Suu Kyi, winner of the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize for her  
non-violent promotion of democracy, since she was released from  
six years of house arrest last July. 
 
Taking her battle into the constitutional arena would allow Suu  
Kyi a long-term vehicle to build on the victory she scored over  
the weekend by defiantly carrying on with the congress despite the  
arrest of 238 delegates and 24 party members. 
 
An opposition-drafted constitution _ even with no means of  
enforcing it _ would provide Burma's people with a clear contrast  
between s system emphasising democracy and human rights versus one  
weighted toward a paramount military. 
 
Asked how ordinary Burmese, armed only with courage, could prevail  
against the military, Suu Kyi replied, "That's exactly why there  
will be change, because all they have is guns. They regard  
everything we do as confrontational, but there's nothing in the  
law that says you have no right to draft a constitution." 
 
With Burmese music playing in the background, Suu Kyi closed the  
session by reading resolutions adopted by the 18 conference  
delegates who eluded arrest. The resolutions demanded the  
immediate release of all the detainees by Slorc. 
 
The resolutions called for the sitting of Parliament, a dialogue  
with the junta and said only elected representatives should sit in  
Parliament, with the military under civilian control. 
 
The resolutions stated that the military was "a necessary  
institution" that should become an "honourable" one by sticking to  
national defence and helping bring about democracy. (TN) 
 
*************** 
 
THE NATION: SLORC HOLDS MASS RALLIES AS NLD CONGRESS ENDS 
May 29,1996 
Agencies 
 
As pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi prepared to wrap up an  
arrest-depleted opposition congress yesterday, Burma's military  
junta staged mass rallies of government employees in a bid to  
demonstrate popular support. 
 
The ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council (Slorc) also  
stepped up its denunciation of Suu Kyi and said some 100,000  
people had turned out in rallies across the country in support of  
the regime. 
 
Government sound-trucks cruised the streets of poor Rangoon  
neighbourhoods on Monday night, urging people to turn out early  
yesterday to a rally at a playground. Similar rallies were  
expected to be held in other parts of the country. 
 
The rallies tried to counter perceptions of public support for Suu  
Kyi and her National League for Democracy (NLD), which closed a  
dramatic three-day congress yesterday by adopting resolutions  
which included a call for Slorc to free the more than 260 NLD MPs  
and members who were arrested and detained since last Monday. 
 
The congress marked the sixth anniversary of the May 1990 general  
elections in which the NLD won 392 of 485 seats. It posed a  
symbolic challenge to Slorc, which refused to honour the vote. 
 
The meeting was to bring together the winning candidates not  
already killed, jailed or driven into exile. Only 18 delegates  
eluded arrest and were able to attend the meeting. 
 
Though the regime detained 238 delegates and 24 other party  
supporters to derail the meeting, Suu Kyi scored a triumph on  
Sunday by pledging in her opening speech to step up opposition  
activities and hold more congresses. 
 
Suu Kyi implicitly dared the regime to crack down again and reap a  
new whirlwind of international condemnation that has thrown a  
negative spotlight on its attempts to crush dissent while quietly  
cutting deals with international corporations. 
 
The speech marked the most defiant challenge yet offered by Suu  
Kyi, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991, since her release  
from six years of house arrest last July. 
 
State controlled newspapers reported yesterday that 90,000 people  
_ far higher numbers than visible on government television reports  
_ attended government-orchestrated rallies to denounce the  
opposition as "destructionists" bent on causing anarchy. 
 
They added that mass rallies have been held in various areas  
including Rangoon since Monday. The media, however, has not  
mentioned the NLD congress. The newspapers said rallies had taken  
place in Dagon township in Rangoon and in Pegu, 80 kilometres  
north of Rangoon. 
 
Speaking at the Dagon rally on Monday, Kaung Nyunt, chairman of  
the rally, praised Slorc's achievements in social, economic and  
security sectors and said progress has also been made in  
reconciliation with armed groups in the jungle and in development  
of border areas. 
 
Kaung Nyunt said the "destructionists" under foreign sponsorship  
were trying to disrupt developments in the country and also called  
for the annihilation of such groups that were trying to bring the  
country back into anarchy. 
 
The rally then passed a resolution supporting the government's  
development works and condemning the "distructionists". Similar  
resolutions were passed other rallies as well. 
 
Suu Kyi said that both rallies were organised by the authorities,  
and said their messages were "awash with hatred and vindictiveness 
". Most in attendance at the rallies were state employees. 
 
Their glum faces and polite clapping contrasted with the cheers  
and chants Suu Kyi drew on Sunday when 10,000 ordinary Burmese  
braved pervasive fear of the secret police to hear her speak  
outside her home. 
 
The size of that crowd _ four times larger than usual for her  
weekend addresses _ marked a swell in overt support. Far more of  
Rangoon's 4 million people heard her on clandestine tapes, and  
many expressed approval. 
 
Suu Kyi predicted on Monday that the regime would detain some of  
her jailed supporters indefinitely and said her personal  
assistant, Win Htein, had been thrown into Insein Prison near  
Rangoon, notorious for torture. 
 
Some of the delegates had apparently been charged with violating  
emergency powers laws, which give the military authority to hold a  
detainee indefinitely for reasons of national security, she said.  
The location of the detainees is unknown. 
 
The regime claimed last week that they were only being "questioned  
 ... as guests of the government". None are known to have been  
released. 
 
The crackdown brought new criticism of foreign companies eager to  
profit by helping the junta develop Burma's economy, destroyed  
during nearly 34 years of military rule. 
 
The newspaper quoted organisers as saying that unidentified  
"minions ... with foreign masters" were trying to destabilise the  
country and destroy the government's development efforts. 
 
The organisers urged the Burmese people to "unitedly crush  
destructionists ... who are trying to destabilise the nation and  
create riots under the influence of foreign masters". (TN) 
 
*************** 
 
THE NATION: SUU KYI SAYS SOFT LINE ON JUNTA A FLOP 
May 29,1996 
Agencies 
 
Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi said yesterday that a  
wave of detentions of pro-democracy activists pointed to the  
failure of the soft-line approaches to the junta taken by  
neighbouring countries. 
 
"Asean countries have taken the view that constructive engagement  
is the best way to bring about change," she said at her lakeside  
compound. "I think it is now time to admit that change in the  
right direction has not taken place," she said. 
 
Despite Western pressure to isolate Burma, Asean has adopted the  
policy of constructive engagement based on the idea that gradually  
drawing Burma into the international fold was the best way of  
bringing about democratic reform. 
 
At least 262 activists of Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy  
(NLD) were arrested and detained since last Monday in the run up  
to one of the most important pro-democracy meetings since the  
abortive 1990 elections in a measure the junta said was taken to  
prevent a breakdown of law and order. 
 
Suu Kyi, the 1991 Nobel Peace laureate, said the situation in  
Burma also represented a threat to stability in other countries,  
making it all the more necessary for foreign governments to exert  
pressure on the junta. 
 
"We believe threats to justice anywhere and threats to justice  
everywhere and as long as there is injustice and instability in  
Burma, it will constitute a threat to justice and stability in the  
whole region," she said. 
 
The Asean countries _ Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the  
Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam _ have tried to avoid  
any comments on the internal affairs of other countries. 
 
But the Philippines yesterday became the second Asean country  
after Thailand to express concern about the political situation in  
Burma. 
 
In a press statement, the Philippine Foreign Department called for  
restraint by both the junta and the opposition forces, warning  
that a showdown could undermine stability in Southeast Asia. 
 
Manila urged both sides to "step up their efforts at national  
reconciliation in order to avoid the already tense situation from  
destabilising the situation in Myanmar [Burma]." 
 
The statement "also expressed concern over its possible disruptive  
effect on the peace and stability in the Southeast Asian region."  
In an interview with Singapore television on Monday, Suu Kyi  
likened her country to the Philippines under late dictator  
Ferdinand Marcos. 
 
The Philippine statement, however, went with the official line of  
the ruling Burmese State Law and Order Restoration Council (Slorc)  
that the detained NLD members were only "invited by the government  
for questioning." 
 
In Jakarta, Asean Secretary-General Ajit Singh said yesterday that  
officials were discussing the timing of a visit Burma had invited  
him to pay to Rangoon. "The government of Myanmar [Burma] has  
invited me to pay an official visit to Yangon [Rangoon]. We are  
currently working out the details," he told an Indonesian  
Executive Circle lunch of diplomats and business leaders. 
 
The Asean chief executive later said he expected to make the trip  
"In the latter part of the year". An Asean official said the  
Burmese government had extended the invitation last year. Singh  
declined to comment on the current confrontation in Burma other  
than to say: "As far as Asean is concerned, we do not interfere in  
each other's internal affairs ... that is a basic tenet of Asean." 
 
He said Burma was expected to get observer status in the 19-nation  
Asean Regional Forum (ARF) _ set up to promote regional security _  
at a ministerial meeting in Jakarta in July. (TN) 
 
*************** 
 
BKK POST: KHUN SA'S ASSOCIATES ORDERED TO HALT LOGGING 
May 29,1996 
 
The Burmese government has ordered associates of drug warlord Khun  
Sa to cease logging operations in Ho Mong, according to a source  
in the Mong Tai Army. 
 
The Slorc has also told them to stop trading in lumber directly  
with Thai businessmen, the source said. 
 
Slorc Second Secretary-General Gen Tin Oo and Trade Minister Lt- 
Gen Tun Kyi visited the former MTA headquarters on May 21-24, a  
source in Ho Mong said. After talks with Khun Sa's son Chao Cham  
Huang, they ordered MTA members to wind up their logging business.  
 
The Burmese junta is thought to have formed the view that it had  
not getting any benefit from the sale of logs by MTA people to  
Thai merchants. They must sell all existing logs to the Burmese  
government. (BP) 
 
*************** 
 
BKK POST: BOMB BLASTS WOUND SEVERAL AT KAREN REFUGEE CAMP 
May 29,1996 
 
Several Karen National Union refugees were wounded in explosions  
on Monday night after a group of Karen troops planted four bombs  
at a refugee camp. 
 
A woman identified as Pho Phu was seriously injured. She and a  
number of children were taken to Mae Sariang Hospital. 
 
The blasts went off at Ban Mae Kong Kha camp in Tambon Mae Yuam,  
Mae Sariang at 8.p.m. on Monday. The Karen soldiers are thought to  
have entered Thailand illegally and to be members of the  
Democratic Karen Buddhist Army. 
 
DKBA troops often cross the Salween river to look for food  
supplies in Mae Hong Son. On the other hand, the attack may have  
been the result of clashes between the bandits and certain KNU  
refugees. 
 
Songkhram Sirisrisakul, a security volunteer in the camp, said the  
explosions occurred while some 5,000 KNU refugees were performing  
religious rites. 
 
Mae Hong Son Governor Somjate Viriyadamrong said the authorities  
were investigating the incident. Mr Somjate has ordered border  
officials in Mae Sariang and Sop Moei districts to watch out for  
illegal entries or exits. (BP) 
 
*************** 
 
BURMA'S MILITARY JUNTA CRITICIZED 
         
  WASHINGTON, May 28 (UPI) - The Washington post commented editorially 
on Burma's authoritarian military junta Tuesday, saying: 
         
"The thuggish military men who rule Burma have rounded up more 
than 200 democracy activists who were planning to meet last weekend. 
Again the rulers show their regime, which goes by the appropriately 
unappetizing acronym SLORC (State Law and Order Restoration 
Council), to be worthy only of international contempt. 
         
"To the extent that Americans are at all familiar with Burma's 
plight, it is thanks to the courage of Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of 
the nation's democracy movement. Her National League for Democracy 
won an overwhelming victory in parliamentary elections in 1990, but 
SLORC refused to give up power, putting her under house arrest and 
jailing many of her colleagues. 
         
"Although Aung San Suu Kyi was nominally freed last July, after 
winning the Nobel Peace Prize, the regime has refused even to begin 
talks on a transition to democratic rule. 
         
"It was to celebrate, as it were, the sixth anniversary of those 
betrayed elections that Aung San Suu Kyi called a meeting. In fear 
of the democrats' popularity, SLORC rounded up many of her 
supporters, including should-be members of parliament. 
         
"This is far from SLORC's only abuse. Even before the latest 
events, hundreds of political prisoners remained in jail, according 
to Human Rights Watch/Asia. 
         
"The regime promotes forced labor, press-ganging citizens to act 
as porters in areas of armed conflict and to build roads, according 
to the U.S. State Department. It has built a massive army, equipped 
mostly by China. And Burma is the world's chief source of heroin. 
         
"The United States already has barred official aid or government 
loans to Burma and has influenced the World Bank and other 
multilateral organizations to follow suit. Now Sen. Mitch McConnell 
of Kentucky wants to bar private investment as well, a step 
 supported by many of Burma's democrats. 
         
"U.S. firms are the third-largest investors, McConnell said, led 
by Unocal Corp., which is helping develop Burma's natural-gas 
fields. The structure of the dictatorship ensures that much of the 
benefit of foreign investment goes into the generals' pockets. 
         
"The most active proponents of trade, investment and engagement 
with Burma have been its neighbors in Southeast Asia. A nation of 42 
million with high literacy rates and abundant natural resources, 
Burma cannot be ignored. But after SLORC's latest abuses, the burden 
is on those advocates of "engagement" to show what they have 
achieved and explain why sanctions should not be tightened. 
         
"As much as South Africa under apartheid, Burma deserves to be a 
pariah until SLORC has given way." 
  
Copyright 1996 United Press International. All rights reserved. 
 
****************************************************** 
 
BURMESE REPRESSION 
 
content=this is the second of two editorials being released for  
broadcast may 29, 1996. 
 
anncr: 
 
The voice of america presents differing points of view on a  
wide variety of issues.  next, an editorial expressing the  
policies of the united states government. 
 
Voice: 
 
 This month marks the sixth anniversary of the general  
election in which the people of Burma voted overwhelmingly for an 
end to military rule and the establishment of a democratic  
civilian government.  Because of increased repression by the  
burmese military regime, this goal now seems more distant than  
ever. 
 
For six years, Burma's military junta has prevented those  
elected in may 1990 from assuming office.  In an effort to  
deflect popular unrest and international pressure, the junta  
released some political prisoners last year and freed democracy  
leader aung san suu kyi from house arrest. 
 
This past week, over two-hundred members of the National  
League for Democracy party were detained.  Most of them had been  
elected to the unseated Burmese parliament.  The mass arrests  
were part of the military junta's attempt to block a political  
conference of the National League for Democracy called by Aung  
San Suu Kyi. 
 
     The united states condemns efforts by the Burmese junta,  
known as the State law and order restoration council, or Slorc,  
to prevent the citizens of Burma from exercising their basic  
political rights.  Because of concern about the actions of slorc  
and the potential for violence, Americans have been warned to  
curtail nonessential travel to burma. 
 
The u.s. calls for the immediate release of all political  
prisoners in Burma and renews its call for a dialogue between the 
Burmese authorities and democratic opposition leaders and  
representatives of the country's ethnic groups.  it is the only  
path to a solution of burma's crisis. 
 
anncr: 
 
    that was an editorial expressing the policies of the united  
states government.  if you would like to be heard on this issue,  
please write to editorials, voice of america, washington, d-c,  
20547, u-s-a.  you may also send us a fax at (202)619-1043.  your 
comments may be used on the air. 
 
********************************************* 
 
VOA: WASHINGTON POST EDITORIAL 
 May 28, 1996 
 
Text:    The washington post, meanwhile, is eyeing the latest  
         crackdown on political activism in burma, noting: 
 
Voice:   "The thuggish military men who rule Burma have now  
         rounded up more than 200 democracy activists who were  
         planning to meet last weekend.  Again they show their  
         regime, which goes by the appropriately unappetizing  
         acronym Slorc (State law and order restoration council), 
         to be worthy only of international contempt. [opt]    
         ..... Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of the Nation's democracy 
         movement ..... won an overwhelming victory in  
         parliamentary elections in 1990, but slorc refused to  
         give up power, putting her under house arrest and  
         jailing many of her colleagues. ..... it was to  
         celebrate, as it were, the sixth anniversary of those  
         betrayed elections that Aung San Suu Kyi called a  
         meeting.  In fear of the democrats' popularity, Slorc  
         rounded up many of her supporters, including should-be  
         members of parliament.  ..... after Slorc's latest  
         abuses, the burden is on those advocates of 'engagement' 
         to show what they have achieved and explain why  
         sanctions should not be tightened.  As much as south  
         Africa under Apartheid, Burma deserves to be a pariah  
         until Slorc has given way. " [end opt] 
 
******************************************** 
 
BURMESE OPPOSITION PROPOSALS STING GOVERNMENT 
 
Tue, 28 May 1996 12:26:28 -0800 
John Scherb < CNN News Briefs 5/28 > 
RANGOON, Burma (CNN) -- Aung San Suu Kyi's National 
League for Democracy approved several proposals sure 
to enrage the ruling State Law and Order Restoration 
Council as the opposition party wrapped up a 
controversial meeting Tuesday. 
 
Delegates to the three-day congress voted to let 
senior members draw up a draft constitution and 
proposed a constitutional conference representing the 
Burmese people. The NLD pulled out of 
government-sponsored constitutional talks last 
November, angering the council. 
 
Suu Kyi said the NLD wants any future government to 
be ruled by an elected parliament, with the armed forces taking a limited 
role. The current constitution calls for the military to have a leading role. 
The NLD also seeks the release of all political prisoners in government 
custody. 
 
******************************************* 
 
SUU KYI TAPES CIRCULATED  
Houston Chronicle 5/28 
(John Scherb ) 
RANGOON, Burma -- When pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi denounced Burma's 
ruling junta and vowed to fight it, millions of Burmese too frightened to attend the 
speech listened to tape recordings distributed by her supporters.  
 
The junta will not permit publication of Suu Kyi's speeches so her supporters spread the 
word.  
 
As many as 10,000 people appeared outside Suu Kyi's home Sunday for her weekly speech 
-- the largest crowd since her release last July from six years of house arrest -- and 
dozens of them held as many as six cassette recorders. The tapes made it around 
Rangoon by Monday morning, and others should reach the countryside in a few days.  
 
Tapes also reached the desks of the State Law and Order Restoration Council. On Monday, 
the state-controlled press called Suu Kyi a "maggot" and a tool of a U.S. conspiracy to 
colonize Burma by introducing democracy and human rights. 
 
*********************************************** 
PROTEST SLAMS BURMA. 
 
May 28, 1996. 
			Protest slams Burma 
			------------------- 
 
In Melbourne, Burmese Students went on a march through the city streets  
yesterday demanding sanctions be imposed on the military regime in their  
homeland. 
 
The students chanted "Democracy for Burma" as they stormed to the steps  
of Parliament as part of a national day of protest. 
 
They called on international leaders to impose trade sanctions and a  
world-wide arms embargo on Burma. 
 
They attacked the military-backed State Law and Order Restoration Council  
(SLORC) which clings to power in Burma despite widespread dissent. 
 
The All Burma Students' Democratic Organization (ABSDO) in Australia has  
written to Australian Prime Minister John Howard asking for support,  
including "discouraging trade" and closing the Austrade office in Rangoon. 
 
------------------------------------ 
 
In Canberra, more than 100 protester called on the Federal Government to  
impose trade and economic sanctions on Burma. 
 
In a rally outside the Burmese Embassy, the protesters said Australia  
should take the lead by lobbying other countries to also impose sanctions. 
 
One man was taken into police custody during the protest. 
 
Meanwhile, in Rangoon the military rulers denounced pro-democracy leader  
Aung San Suu Kyi and her followers as "dupes" and "maggots" after she  
defiantly opened an opposition congress despite the arrest of hundreds of  
people. 
 
The opposition claimed an unknown number of the 262 people  
detained last week have been transferred to the notorious Insein Prison. 
 
(Herald Sun, 28.05.96) 
 
*************************************** 
 
HUNDREDS OF ARRESTS IN BURMA BESIDES THE NLD MEMBERS 
 
Released by ISBDA on May 27, 1996. 
 
A Rangoon University teacher said that about 200 student activists have 
been arrested by the authorities during the current crackdown against the 
democratic forces of Burma.  As these students are not the members of NLD, 
the number of recent detainees reaches to at least a total of five hundred. 
On May 24, two young monks were arrested in public because they were 
holding pro-democracy placards at a bus-stop nearby Sule Pagoda. 
Many of the NLD MPs and other detainees including  monks were already 
transferred to Insein Jail. Eyewitness could not identify the detainees 
because their faces were covered by blankets. 
 
Meanwhile, a rumor spreads in Rangoon that a violent clash broke out 
between some students from Medical College No. 2 and a group of heavily 
drunk SLORC soldiers at N. Okkalapa town. 
 
*************************************** 
 
SLORC spokesman defends Brookes on soc.culture.burma 
 
Reply-To: ingameeik@xxxxxxx (Inga Meeik)  
Newsgroups: soc.culture.burma  
Subject: Is Imposing Ones Values & Concepts on Others - 
Democratic  
Date: 23 May 1996 07:25:55 -0400  
Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364)  
Message-ID: <4o1i03$87p@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> 
      
IS IMPOSING ONES VALUES & CONCEPTS ON OTHERS - DEMOCRATIC. 
Paul J. Williamsons (Hong Kong)  
      
I have been going Through some of the articles in the internet 
regarding ASIAN countries and Myanmar also came to my 
interest  because my frequent travels in the region made me 
realize that something is not right or in another words 
something is very wrong  regarding Myanmar. 
 
When I read Mr. Stephen Brookes' article on Myanmar and his 
candid comment an NLD and her leadership I cannot but 
admire him  for his sincerity and straight forwardness which is 
rare characteristic  in today's media world. I also knew that he 
would be attacked and into giving up his belief intimidated by 
those extremist who refuses the facts because it goes against 
their interest. Well, My prediction came true and I now read in 
the internet articles branding Mr. Brookes with various names. 
To be on the more objective side, who are these guys and what 
right do they have to impose their beliefs and concepts on other 
people. The sincere, straight forward and unbiased people have 
the every right to say white when they see white, brown when 
they see brown not something that will satisfy the extremists. 
 
The ed communication systems at work nothing can be kept in 
the dark for long. In addition to that Myanmar has opened it 
doors to the  outside world and the people who go in to visit the 
country are not illiterates. They can judge the situation  by 
themselves without anybody's so called assistance or 
intimidation. 
 
My colleagues and I now come to realize that the dyke which 
prevents facts from reaching the outside world has now 
beginning to show cracks and in a short period of time it will be 
broken beyond repair. No wonder the extremists are 
undermining the Visit Myanmar Year 1996, with all out 
strength.  Maybe they may still say that all the thousands of 
tourist which visited Myanmar during the visit Myanmar year 
were misled by the Myanmar Government. 
 
In my conclusion I would also like to humbly present my views 
on the usage of the internet. I believe it should be used for the 
exchange of information which is beneficial to all users.  But 
regretfully, this system today is being used as a political 
platform where are user attacks the other. Worst of all, all other 
users who have  installed the system to exchange information of 
class have to also take  the trash.  
 
************************************************ 
 
THE NLD CONGRESS RESOLUTION URGED SLORC TO TALK 
 
By AYE AYE WIN 
 Associated Press Writer 
RANGOON, Burma (AP) -- Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi ended a daring 
meeting of pro-democracy forces Tuesday by urging Burma's military regime 
to honor the results of a 1990 election and return the country to civilian 
rule. 
 
Taking the challenge to Burma's ruling junta a step further, Suu Kyi 
announced opposition plans to draft an alternate constitution to one being 
drafted by a government-stacked panel. 
 
An opposition-drafted constitution -- even while unenforceable -- would 
provide Burma's people with a clear contrast between a system emphasizing 
democracy and human rights versus one weighted toward a paramount military. 
 
"They regard everything we do as confrontational," Suu Kyi told 
reporters, referring to the government. "But there's nothing in the law 
that says you have no right to draft a constitution." 
 
The three-day meeting, which opened on the sixth anniversary of the 1990 
parliamentary election, posed a symbolic challenge to the legitimacy of the 
junta, which arrested 238 of the delegates in a nationwide roundup last 
week. Only 18 eluded arrest and attended. 
 
Suu Kyi, who won the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize for her efforts to bring 
democracy to Burma, appealed to the military Tuesday to free the detained 
delegates. 
 
The delegates were opposition candidates who competed in the May 27, 
1990 parliamentary elections that Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy 
won by a landslide. The junta refused to let the parliament convene. 
 
Suu Kyi pledged in her opening speech Sunday to step up opposition 
activities and hold more conferences -- implicitly daring the regime to 
crack down again and risk a new round of international condemnation. 
 
Reading the congress' resolutions to reporters Tuesday, Suu Kyi also 
urged the government to open a dialogue with the opposition and said the 
powerful military should be subject to control by a civilian parliament. 
 
Offering an olive branch to the military, the resolutions stated that 
the armed forces were "a necessary institution in this country and we 
endorse the view that the armed forces should be an honorable institution 
which will take care of the defense of the nation and help bring about 
democracy." 
 
Burmese music played as Suu Kyi walked to the podium to read the 
resolutions before about 200 supporters under a specially built 
bamboo-and-thatch meeting hall draped with the fighting peacock banners of 
her National League for Democracy. 
 
The meeting was the most important gathering of opposition activists 
since Suu Kyi, winner of the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize for her non-violent 
promotion of democracy, was freed from six years of house arrest in July. 
 
Newspapers reported Tuesday that 90,000 people -- far higher numbers 
than visible on state-run television reports -- attended 
government-orchestrated rallies in Rangoon on Monday to denounce the 
opposition as "destructionists" bent on causing anarchy. 
 
Banners at the pro-government rallies bore slogans such as: "Those who 
create disturbances are our enemies. Those who destroy law and order are 
our enemies. Those who let themselves be used by foreigners are our 
enemies." 
 
The junta's reaction to the meeting has swung between calling Suu Kyi a 
"maggot" and politely but firmly refusing any dialogue with her. The tone 
is harsher in the English-language press, with the apparent aim of 
countering foreign criticism of the regime. 
 
******************************************* 
 
 
MYANMAR LEADERS DENOUNCE PRO-DEMOCRACY ACTIVISTS 
 
>From Associted Press 
Los Angeles Times, May 28, 1996. 
YANGON, Myanmar-- This nation's military rulers denounced pro-democracy 
leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her followers as dupes and "maggots" for going 
ahead with the most important opposition meeting since the junta quashed 
1990 elections. 
The regime has arrested 238 conference delegates and 24 other party members 
to try to block Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy from opening its 
three-day conference Sunday. But even though only 18 delegates made it, the 
meeting has proceeded as scheduled. 
Suu Kyi and her followers said Monday that an Unknown number of the 
activists recently arrested were transferred to a prison nortorious for 
torture.  
In published remarks Monday, junta leader Lt. Gen. Khin Nyunt denounced the 
meeting and accused the opposition of falling prey to the United States and 
other Western nations that he claims seek to colonize Myanmar, formerly 
called Burma. 
The conference's ultimate objective is to get Burma's military  rulers to 
accept the results of 1990 parliamentary elections that Suu Kyi's party 
overwhelmingly won. 
 
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------------------------ BurmaNet ------------------------  
"Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies"  
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The BurmaNet News: May29-30, 1996  
Issue #427  
  
	The future of course is democracy for Burma. It is going to   
	happen, and I'm going to be here when it happens.  
	-Aung San Suu Kyi said confidently  
(See YANGON KEEPS UP CRITICISM OF AUNG SAN SUU KYI IN MEDIA )  
  
  
HEADLINES:  
==========  
THE NATION:BURMA'S ASEAN AMBITIONS CLOUDED  
THE NATION:SLORC ADAMANT IT WILL 'NEVER GIVE UP POWER'   
THE NATION:DETENTIONS RESULT IN A NO COMMENT  
BKK POST: REBEL RAIDS CONTINUE ON RANGOON FORCES  
BKK POST: ELEPHANTIASIS HIT REFUGEES  
THAILAND TIME : BURMESE STUDENTS PROTEST DETENTION OF   
COLLEAGUES  
LONDON TELEGRAPH : BURMESE LEADERS STAGE RALLIES TO   
ATTACK OPPOSITION  
SYDNEY MORNING HERALD  : STOOGE PROTEST RALLIES   
AIMED AT SUU KYI  
HONG KONG STANDARD : SUU KYI DISMISSES BURMA   
GOVERNMENT RALLIES AS FARCICAL  
ABSDF : NEW FORMATION OF NCUB  
S.H.A.N : SUMMARY OF NEWS ABOUT KHUN SA / MTA IN   
THE PAST MONTH  
USA TODAY : DEMOCRACY ADVOCATES NEED TO KEEP   
A COOL HEAD  
REUTER : FILIPINO PROTESTERS ARRESTED  
REUTER : BURMA INVITED TO JOIN ASEAN POLICE FORCES  
(AWSJ): U.S. MAY TIGHTEN ECONOMIC PRESSURE ON BURMA  
HONG KONG STANDARD : SUU KYI'S ACTIONS ONLY   
MAKING THINGS WORSE  
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
THE NATION: BURMA'S ASEAN AMBITIONS CLOUDED  
May 30,1996  
  
Asean-Burmese relations have been shaken by last week's crackdown   
on opposition activists and this could affect Burma's membership   
in regional forums, a senior Asean diplomat said.  
  
"It is no longer smooth sailing," the diplomat who asked not to be   
identified said. "Observer status in Asean is not an automatic   
thing," he added. "Burma's recent action suggests that it would   
not be logical to allow the country into Asean."  
  
The diplomat also urged the grouping to develop a common position   
with regards to Burma, and added that he could not see how the   
country could contribute constructively to international forums,   
such as the Asean Regional Forum (ARF), Asean Free Trade   
Agreement, or any others if Rangoon continued with its present   
course of action.  
  
"Asean has yet to develop a common definition of what   
'constructive engagement' is, and now it is time to come up with a   
common stance towards Burma," he said. "We have agreed on the   
words [constructive engagement] only, but not on its contents."  
  
Asean foreign ministers are scheduled to meet in Jakarta in mid-  
July to discuss their relations with Burma, which has applied for   
observer status in Asean, as well as a seat in ARF.  
  
He said Asean can help Burma achieve democracy and national   
reconciliation by facilitating a forum where the military junta,   
known as the State Law and Order Restoration Council (Slorc), can   
talk to its opposition, namely the National League for Democracy   
and its leader Aung San Suu Kyi, as well as the various armed   
ethnic groups in the country.  
  
When asked if such a forum means that Asean is formally   
recognising the existence of the minority groups, he said the fact   
that Slorc signed a ceasefire agreement with them, or was in the   
process of doing so, means that Rangoon acknowledged their   
existence.  
  
He said a ceasefire between Slorc and the armed ethnic groups,   
expect for the Karen National Union, was a positive development   
towards stability. He, however, said that Rangoon had to go beyond   
a simple truce and establish a full and constructive dialogue with   
the groups in order to achieve reconciliation.  
  
"You can't have democracy and stability without national   
reconciliation," he said. "There has to be some dialogue that goes   
beyond a simple ceasefire," he added. (TN)  
  
***************  
  
THE NATION: SLORC ADAMANT IT WILL 'NEVER GIVE UP POWER'  
May 30,1996  
AP  
  
The ruling military regime fired back yesterday at pro-democracy   
leader Aung San Suu Kyi, declaring that the armed forces would   
never accept a back seat in Burmese politics.  
  
Pro-government rallies also continued to denounce Suu Kyi, packed   
with people under orders to go and cheering only on command from   
organisers.  
  
The State Law and Order Restoration Council (Slorc) rejected   
resolutions adopted during a landmark opposition conference that   
Burma _ ruled  by the military since 1962 _ be governed   
exclusively by an elected Parliament, with the armed forces   
assuring only national defence.  
  
The vehement rejections via state-run newspapers indicated that   
Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy (NLD) touched a raw   
nerve among the ruling military elite and that any near-term shift   
to civilian rule was unlikely.  
  
The New Light of Myanmar ran an editorial that accused the   
opposition of trying to "alienate the Tatmadaw", or armed forces.  
  
"It would be folly to think of sidelining the Tatmadaw, with all   
it noble traditions," it said. "The Tatmadaw must always be in the   
know, for without such vigilance, it would not be able to work   
together with the people in the long-term national interest."  
  
Suu Kyi, the 1991 winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, threw down a   
gauntlet to the regime by going ahead with a three-day party   
conference even after the authorities arrested 262 of her   
supporters to prevent it from occurring. Only 18 delegates eluded   
arrest and attended.  
  
The meeting was to reunite those NLD opposition candidates not   
already killed, tortured or driven into exile who won 392 of 485   
seats in parliamentary elections in May 1990. The regime rejected   
the result and the gathering challenged its legitimacy.  
  
The opposition closed yesterday that only two detainees were known   
to have been released, one because his wife had died. An unknown   
number have been reported transferred to a prison near Rangoon   
notorious for torture.  
  
The congress closed on Tuesday with resolutions demanding the   
release of detainees, the convening of Parliament, and for the   
military to stick to an "honourable" role of national defence.  
  
Suu Kyi also announced that the opposition would draft an   
alternate constitution separate from one being considered by a   
government-stacked panel.  
  
Though unenforceable, an opposition constitution would show   
Burmese a clear contrast between a system emphasising democracy   
and human rights and one weighted toward marked a paramount   
military.  
  
The recent congress marked the most important opposition challenge   
to the junta since Suu Kyi was released from six years of house   
arrest last July. The heavy-handed attempts to stop it reaped   
international condemnation and fresh scrutiny of the government's   
crushing of dissent while quietly doing business with foreign   
corporations.  
  
The Burmese media yesterday portrayed business as usual, with   
Slorc officials attending the lunch of an IBM seminar, receiving   
business delegations from Thailand, Singapore and Germany, and the   
opening of a representative office of Deutsche Bank AG.  
  
Slorc tried to counter perceptions of a swell in overt support for   
Suu Kyi by staging the mass rallies. Reporters were barred from   
one on Tuesday at a sports stadium in  Thalyin, near Rangoon,   
attended by 10,000 people.  
  
Participants said outside that local leaders had required three   
people from each household to attend. They cheered only when   
organisers said, "Please cheer."  
  
In London, the British Broadcasting Corporation reported that a   
live broadcast of Suu Kyi beamed at Burma "disappeared off the   
airwaves" halfway  through the scheduled programme on Monday.  
  
Implying that Slorc was responsible for cutting off the telephone,   
Marcia Poole, head of the BBC's Burmese service said, "Although   
this was not an entirely unforeseen occurrence, we are of course   
very disappointed that it happened.  
  
Speaking by telephone from her home in Rangoon, Suu Kyi was taking   
part in the broadcast with two studio guests in London. Listeners   
were able to call in via the link-up to ask her and the two people   
in London questions on air.  
  
The BBC quoted Suu Kyi as saying afterward, "I hope another live   
discussion programme can be organised again. After all, I believe   
in perseverance." (TN)  
  
***************  
  
THE NATION: DETENTIONS RESULT IN A NO COMMENT  
May 30,1996  
Agencies  
  
The detention of more than 200 democracy activists in Burma was   
"an internal affair," Indonesian foreign minister Ali Alatas said   
yesterday, adding that he held "no value-judgement about what is   
going on."  
  
"We are not making any comment on the internal situation in any   
country," said Alatas, on the margin of the opening of an   
international seminar on humanitarian law.  
  
"This is a principle we stick to religiously, even as we would not   
want any foreign country to intervene in out internal affairs,"   
said Alatas, whose country holds the presidency of the Association   
of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean). "What is going on in Burma is   
an internal affair and we hope they can overcome it," he added.  
  
Burma's ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council (Slorc)   
began a crackdown on members of the opposition National League for   
Democracy (NLD) ahead of the sixth anniversary of the 1990   
elections won by the NLD. The junta had refused to relinquish   
power.  
  
The detentions have aroused international condemnation outside   
Asia, with only muted reaction from most Asian countries. In   
Sydney, Indonesian Ambassador to Australia Wiryono Sastrohandoyo   
said that his country would not condemn Slorc, preferring to   
pursue the constructive engagement policy with the ruling Burmese   
regime.  
  
"We believe in Southeast Asia that we simply cannot join Western   
countries in condemning our neighbour and we think a more   
constructive way is a better way of trying to be helpful to this   
country," he said. (TN)  
  
***************  
  
BKK POST: REBEL RAIDS CONTINUE ON RANGOON FORCES  
May 30,1996  
  
There has been no let-up in attacks by Karenni National   
Progressive Party rebels on Burmese government troops in Kayah   
State, according to a high-level KNPP source.  
  
The rebels have been pursuing guerrilla warfare against Burmese   
forces for the past two months. The source claimed the KNPP had   
killed 14 Burmese soldiers and detained three, while only three of   
their own had been killed and two injured.  
  
During April-May 1996, KNPP troops clashed with the Burmese forces   
three times. The first was in Fuso on April 18, the second on the   
western bank of the Salween River on April 24, and the third on   
May 1 in Sato, a town on the west bank of the Salween.  
  
In response, more than 3,000 Burmese government soldiers have been   
dispatched to its strongholds along the border opposite Muang and   
Khun Yuam districts of Mae Hong Son.  
  
Burmese troops of Division 99 in Loikaw Province are now ready to   
attack the Karennis in the forests of Kayah State near the border.   
(BP)  
  
***************  
  
BKK POST: ELEPHANTIASIS HIT REFUGEES  
May 30,1996  
  
Some 27 Burmese workers have been found to be suffering from   
elephantiasis. Dr Chuchart Pornnimitr of the provincial health   
office said the discovery was made after a total of 1,200 Burmese   
and Mon workers were living in 22 refugee camps in three   
districts.  
  
There had been reports that the influx of refugees had spread   
malaria to border provinces. Elephantiasis is also spread by   
mosquitoes. (BP)  
*****************************************  
  
BURMESE STUDENTS PROTEST DETENTION OF COLLEAGUES  
  
Thailand Time  
May 30, 1996  
About 50 Burmese students yesteray stged a demonstration in front  
of the Burmese embassy in Bangkok to protest the detention of 22  
anti-Rangoon protesters by Thai police.  
  
The student Federation of Thailand also delivered an open letter  
to Prime Minister Banharm Silpa-archa demanding the immediate release of  
the students.  
  
In the letter to the PM, the studnets asked Banharm to send the  
dissidents back their refugee camp in Ratchaburi province.  
  
The camp has been financed by the Thai governmen ever since the  
United Nations High Commission for Refugees reduced its funding to Burmese  
students in Thailand, who fled from the bloody 1988 massacre in Rangon.  
There are about 700 students in the camp.  
  
The demonstrators also demanded that the Thai government review  
the "Constructive Engagement" policy of the Association of Southeast Asian  
Nations (ASEAN), saying that they policy does not take into account the  
volatile political situation in Burma.  
  
" ASEAN has to stop all aid and investment to pressure the State Law  
and Order Restoration Council's (Burma's military junta) to stop human  
rights abuses," said the leader of the demonstration, Moung Pain.  
  
The Burmese students were arrested on the way back from a  
demonstration in front of the Burmese embassy on Monday. the protest  
marked the sixth year anniversary of the 1990 general elections in Burma.   
  
*****************************************  
  
BURMESE LEADERS STAGE RALLIES TO ATTACK OPPOSITION  
  
By Philip Sherwell in Rangoon   
London Telegraph 5/30  
CAREFULLY-orchestrated rallies are being staged across Burma by  
the country's military junta in response to the pro-democracy  
congress at the house of Aung San Suu Kyi, the opposition leader,  
this week.  
  
The gatherings have an Orwellian air. Local people are being  
brought in to chant slogans, hold banners and hear pro-regime  
speeches and denouncements of "destructionists" and their  
"neo-colonialist" strategies. The New Light of Myanmar, the  
government mouthpiece, has given front-page coverage to several  
such rallies. They have officially been attended by about 40,000  
people and identical speeches have been given at each meeting.  
  
The newspaper reports all concluded: "The public in attendance  
expressed their ardent support with tumultuous chanting of slogans  
after which the mass rally came to a close." The events are also  
given extensive coverage on state television. About 10,000 people  
turned up early yesterday for the latest rally at a sports stadium in  
the southern Rangoon suburb of Thanlyin.  
  
Although foreign journalists were denied entry, many participants  
said the local authorities had told them that at least three  
members of every household had to attend.  
  
But after they had registered with officials, several young men  
hitched up their wrap-around longyis then jumped over a wall and  
slipped away. It is standard practice for locals to be press-ganged  
into attending government meetings under the threat of punitive  
fines or forced labour.  
  
Observers say the current spate of rallies appears to be a direct  
response to the National League for Democracy congress which  
ended on Tuesday. Delegates of Ms Suu Kyi's party agreed that a new  
Burmese constitution should be drawn up, a clear act of defiance at  
a time when the regime is drafting its own official version.  
  
Similar rallies were staged in November after the NLD pulled out of  
the junta's National Convention, its rubber-stamping constitutional  
forum. The meetings have heard exhortations to "support the state's  
nation-building endeavours" and the denunciation of those "who are  
trying to oppose and destroy the nation's developments". Ms Suu Kyi  
and the opposition have been portrayed as the minions of foreign  
powers and the international media.  
  
Meanwhile, about 260 NLD activists remain in detention after being  
rounded up by the authorities last week in an attempt to prevent  
the congress taking place. Several have been charged under harsh  
security laws, according to the opposition.  
***************************************  
  
YANGON KEEPS UP CRITICISM OF AUNG SAN SUU KYI IN MEDIA   
  
May 30, 1996   
Straits Times 5/30  
  
YANGON -- Myanmar's military junta kept up a war of words with opposition  
leader Aung San Suu Kyi yesterday by denouncing her and the democracy  
movement in official media.   
  
News of mass public rallies held to support government actions and to protest  
against the democracy activists took up several pages in the state-run  
newspapers.   
  
The newspapers said tens of thousands attended two rallies on Tuesday,  
chanting slogans against Ms Suu Kyi's democracy movement.   
  
They said medical superintendent Dr Hla Pe delivered a speech to a rally of  
40,000 people in Yangon, calling for "collective efforts to destroy the  
axe-handles trying to thwart developing conditions and stability in the  
country".   
  
The term "axe-handle" is used by the Myanmar media to refer to Myanmar  
citizens who are seen as helping foreigners attack the country.   
  
His speech was similar to those made at rallies on Monday and Tuesday. More  
rallies will be held in the next few days, said officials.   
  
Diplomats say these government-sponsored gatherings are usually staged, with  
the military forcing people to attend.   
  
In an interview published yesterday in the Asia Times, Myanmar's Finance  
Minister, Brigadier-General Win Tin, assailed Ms Aung San Suu Kyi for urging  
investors to stay away from the country. He also defended the ruling junta's  
efforts to develop democracy the way it saw fit.   
  
Interviewed on Monday in Yangon, Mr Win Tin said: "The Americans may try to  
block our country, but they'll try in vain. . . . We have been isolated since 1988,  
and we have grown with our own resources, so we are not bothered by any  
boycott.   
  
"It has no effect on our economy," he said, noting the rising numbers of  
businessmen setting up in Myanmar, which showed their faith in the country's  
economic growth, policies and its political and economic stability.   
  
Meanwhile, Ms Aung San Suu Kyi vowed yesterday to bring democracy to her  
country, now ruled by fear.   
  
"The people of Burma are very, very frightened. They are ruled by fear. Slorc's  
weapon is fear," she told Reuters in an interview. Slorc is the State Law and  
Order Restoration Council.   
  
"The future of course is democracy for Burma," she said confidently. "It is  
going to happen, and I'm going to be here when it happens." -- Reuter, AFP.  
  
*******************************************  
  
STOOGE PROTEST RALLIES AIMED AT SUU KYI  
Sydney Morning Herald 5/30  
May 30, 1996  
  
By MARK BAKER, Herald Correspondent in Rangoon  
  
Burma's military regime is forcing thousands of people to attend mass  
rallies in an attempt to answer the growing campaign of the democracy  
leader Ms Aung San Suu Kyi.  
  
A series of rallies has been staged in Rangoon over the past two days to  
attack Ms Suu Kyi and defend the record and legitimacy of the ruling  
State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC).  
  
Officials have been ordering city residents to attend, providing banners  
with slogans and even telling the crowds when to chant and when to raise  
their fists in choreographed protest.  
  
At one rally at a sportsground on the outskirts of Rangoon yesterday -  
where foreign journalists were refused entry - arriving demonstrators  
said local neighbourhood committees had ordered every household to send  
three members.  
  
State television has been carrying extensive coverage of the meetings,  
with grossly exaggerated crowd estimates, and speeches by officials  
accusing the democracy movement of undermining national stability and  
being manipulated by foreigners.  
  
Many of those attending are members of the Union Solidarity and  
Development Association, a mass political movement established by the  
regime two years ago. It has recruited students and young workers with  
incentives including cheap travel on public transport, computer classes  
and paid excursions.  
  
Diplomats and local observers see the rallies as a direct response to this  
week's congress of Ms Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD), at  
which she outlined plans to intensify her campaign to force a return to  
civilian rule.  
  
"It is clear that the SLORC is really starting to feel the pressure and  
their response is to stage-manage these rallies," one diplomat said.  
  
Despite the arrest of more than 260 NLD members and official threats  
against the congress, a record crowd of about 10,000 people turned out  
last Sunday to cheer Ms Suu Kyi during the weekly speech she gives from  
the gates of her home.  
  
On Tuesday she ridiculed the latest rallies and the use of banners  
indirectly accusing the NLD of being enemies who wanted to destroy  
Burma's stability and development.  
  
"They seem to think they are surrounded by enemies," she said. "It's all  
about enemies and destruction, very negative and absolutely awash with  
hatred and vindictiveness. Not nice."  
  
A similar series of anti-NLD rallies was staged across the country late  
last year after the party decided to boycott a national convention which  
is drafting a military-dominated constitution.  
  
Despite government claims last week that those detained before the NLD  
congress would be held temporarily, only two - a female member of the  
party's youth wing and another elected MP whose wife is seriously ill -  
are believed to have been released so far.  
  
Party officials say at least 10 of the detainees have now been charged  
under tough internal security laws and they expect others to receive long  
jail sentences.  
  
********************************************  
  
SUU KYI DISMISSES BURMA GOVERNMENT RALLIES AS FARCICAL  
  
Hong Kong Standard 5/30  
RANGOON: Burma's military government organised another mass rally on Wednesday to  
denounce Aung San Suu Kyi's revitalised democracy movement, but the opposition leader  
dismissed the gathering as a farce.   
  
A public rally of about 43,000 people was held in a southern Rangoon district with crowds  
chanting slogans and speakers accusing Ms Suu Kyi's and her pro-democracy supporters of  
being traitors bent on destabilising Burma.   
  
News of the mass rallies, staged in various parts of the country for three consecutive days  
now, has been widely-reported in state-run local newspapers.   
  
But Ms Suu Kyi, in an interview with Reuters at her Rangoon home, laughed at the military's  
show of its people power.   
  
``It's funny. They claim that they are peoples' rallies, well then we should be allowed to  
hold public rallies too. Why can't we go and hold a public rally?'' she asked.   
  
Under current law, meetings of more than five people in a public place are prohibited  
without government permission.   
  
``They stop us from organising a simple...ceremony on the grounds it will upset public order,  
so why have they allowed these people to hold public rallies?'' she asked.   
  
``Of course they are all bussed in, forced to come.''   
  
``It's a blatant piece of comedy, it's a farce.''   
  
Diplomats claim government-sponsored rallies are usually staged by the military which  
forces people to attend.   
  
An information ministry official told Reuters similar rallies would continue to be held in  
various places. They were meant to show support for the government's current programs  
and to denounce recent actions by the democracy movement.   
  
The rallies are part of a war of words the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC)  
is waging against Ms Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) party, which defied  
intimidation in the form of the arrest of 261 party activists, and went ahead a three-day  
congress of senior party members.   
  
Some demands made by Ms Suu Kyi at the end of the three-day NLD meeting on Tuesday drew  
sharp retorts from editorials in state-run newspapers on Wednesday.   
  
The editorials said democracy forces were moving towards a repeat of 1988 democracy  
demonstrations when ``all hell let loose, unleashed by those selfishly causing a  
conflagration in their shortcut to power''.   
  
``The very group which did that is today seeking a replay of that macabre scenario,'' an  
editorial said.   
  
The SLORC came to power in 1988 after crushing a pro-democracy uprising. Thousands of  
people were killed or imprisoned.   
  
The newspaper editorials stressed the importance of the armed forces in the Burmese  
government, and said only a strong military would make a strong country.   
  
Ms Suu Kyi has said a resolution passed by NLD members during the meeting was that the  
next government of Burma should be ruled by an elected parliament and the military should  
play an ``honourable'' but not dominant role.   
  
She also said the NLD planned to draw up a draft constitution for Burma.   
  
Contrary to the NLD's demands, the SLORC which is sponsoring a convention to draft the  
guidelines of a new constitution, wants the armed forces to play a ``leading role'' in future  
politics. _ Reuter  
  
********************************************  
  
NEW FORMATION OF NCUB  
  
PRESIDIUM  
  
1) Chairman           : General Mya      (DAB/KNU)  
2) Voice Chairman (1) : Dr. Sein Win     (MPU/NCGUB)  
3) Voice Chairman (2) : General Tarmalar Baw  (NDF/KNU)  
4) Voice Chairman (3) : U Win Khat       (NLD- LA)  
5) Member             : U Tin Maung Win  (DAB/CRDB)  
6) Member             : U Maung Maung Aye(MPU/NCGUB)  
7) Member             : Saline Myo Aye   (NDF/CNF)  
8) Member             : U Aung Saw Oo    (NLD/LA)  
  
  
SECRETARIATS     
  
 9) General Securatary     : U Tin Aung       (NLD-LA)  
10) Joint GS                 : U Moe Thee Zun   ( DAB/ABSDF)  
11) Member                 : U Myint Zaw      ( DAB/DPNS)  
12) Member                 : Dr. Naing Aung   (DAB/ABSDF)  
13) Member                 : U Khon Var Ko Bann (MPU/NCGUB)  
14) Member                 : U Maung Maung Lat (MPU)  
15) Member                 : U Khine Soe Naing Aung (NDF/APL)  
16) Member                 : U Khon Oakar (NDF/PAO)  
17) Member                 : U Than Thut (NLD-LA)  
18) Member                 : Pado Mann Shar (DAB/KNU)  
  
  
*****************************************  
  
S.H.A.N : SUMMARY OF NEWS ABOUT KHUN SA / MTA IN THE PAST MONTH  
May 28, 1996  
  
In mid April ( 15-16/4 ), Khun Sa's second son Zao zarm Hurng ( who has taken  
over the responsibility from Khun Sa and Fah Lang to see that the remaining  
1,600 ex-members of the MTA and 300 disabled soldiers still have their monthly  
allowance of rice and money ), who had gone to Rangoon to see his father  
returned to Ho Murng. He had gone to see his father with the hope of getting  
some of the business concessions or contracts such as for timber, mining, gems,  
gem factories, road construction, etc.which they had asked from SLORC generals.  
But Zao Zarm Hurng said that he had waited in vain for over a month without  
gaining anything as yet. SLORC officials kept on telling him to wait a little  
more and if urged they would suggest him to go to so and so person or to apply  
at this or that office. It had been a waste of time, he said, and the only  
worthwhile thing was that he had the opportunity to visit Mandalay, the gem  
mines of Murng Su, Murng Kut ( Mokok ) and jade mines of Phar Karnt and Ta Mark  
Kharm.  
  
But, in his speech to some remaining 7-8 officers and military trainers, he  
urged them not to lose heart, and not to trust any rumors and go away. He said  
that he had arranged to ask the SLORC Division Commander of Ho Murng for  
permission to open up factories to make chopsticks, toothpicks, paper,  
limestones etc. And if they were not permitted to do this, they would go to work  
in gem mines in a group.  
  
When Zarm Hurng went to see him, Khun Sa was staying at a small house on an  
island in Inyar Lake.  
  
Since February, most of the former MTA officials who are Chinese nationals (  
Khun Sa's men of the original SUA ) have moved to live in Burma proper. They did  
not want to live in Ho Murng nor dare to live in Shan State, as if they were  
afraid of Karn Yord's group, SSNA, or others. ( There has been widely spread  
news that Shan soldiers often rob and kill Chinese nationals. ) When they left  
Ho Murng in 3-4 groups, though safe in their own cars, they dared not leave  
until there were 7-8 cars to form a group.  
  
Gem cutting machines and equipment which Khun Sa's men had taken to Taunggyi are  
being piled there ( at the newly expanded quarter called Myo Thit ). There is  
still no place to use them.  
  
Khun Seng, Khun Sa's uncle, and a group of Loi Maw Chinese, consisting of 10  
households, have gone to live in Rangoon at an extended V.I.P quarter called  
Shwe Pyi Than Myo Thit. Some have gone to buy or rent houses and live at Sein  
Mya Karn Thar quarter in the outskirts of Rangoon. Khun Seng and Fah Lang (  
former chief of Staff of MTA ) can rent house and live freely, not like Khun Sa  
who is under the control of the MI. Khun Seng is said to be trying to set up a  
brick factory on the road to Mingaladon. Of the gem mining concessions they have  
requested, SLORC have granted them 10 plots at Phar Karnt jade mine and 10 plots  
at Murng Kut ( Mokok ) ruby mine ( nothing has been heard about Murng Su ruby  
mine ). But the granted plots are places which are not wanted by others and they  
would have to go and choose by themselves.  
  
Contracts which Khun Sa and his group have been granted and are in the process  
of registering are trading companies ( tranportation, gem mining, ore mining )  
etc. They are looking for places in Pegu, Mandalay and Lashio to open up  
branches. Timber and road construction contracts have not been given to them but  
to Lo Shin Han ( former famous opium warlord ) and his group in association with  
other 5 companies. They have been given the contract to build, repair and  
improve roads from Mandylay to Muse.  
  
At the moment the Khun Sa and Khun Seng group does not look very financially  
strong  ( perhaps because they have not yet drawn enough money from their bank   
accounts in Thailand ). In early May, a man from Ho Murng ( a reliable source ) who had  
been near to Khun Sa said that SLORC had agreed to pay ( as compensation )  
500,000,000 Kyats for the surrender of the Ho Murng area and 200,000,000 Kyats  
for the areas of Mai Sung, Murng Taw and Murng Thar.  A former Shan junior  
officer under Khun Sa had the following remark, " This SLORC money will only go  
to Khun Sa, and a group of his relatives. It won't go to anyone else . "   
  
On 22-23/4/96, Khun Sa sent for 4-5 of his old followers and trusted men to go  
and work for their group in Rangoon : Khun Sa has formed a 25-member-committe in  
Rangoon and they are to take the leading posts in business and military affairs  
( according to their plan to recruit men and establish home-guard paramilitary  
unit called Kar Koy Yay. )  
  
The 4-5 men which he sent for were mostly Chinese of his original SUA group. A  
Shan Lt. Col. Zai Lurn Sau was also called, but could not go because he was not  
one of those who had surrendered. He said " My life is not in their hands. Khun  
Sa himself had made a pledge in front of the spirit-house that he would not  
betray our national cause and kowtow to the Burmese as long as he was alive. But  
now he has duped the people of Shan State. How could we continue to work with  
them ? ". Khun Sa had sent word to Zai Lurn Sau to go to him in Rangoon and to  
Maj. Zai Kham Phar to lead his 4-500 men to surrender at Tachilek. But Zai Kham  
Phar said he could not surrender. If he could not stand on his own feet, he  
would have to go and seek help from UWSA at Parng Sarng.  
  
Col. Suu Lai, who had been the commander of the areas north and west of Tachilek  
and who has not surrendered, was approached by Lt. Col. Lurn Sau and Maj. Kham  
Phar to join their force. But he refused, and even told them not to come near  
him. He said that at the moment he would not work with any other group, because  
he had worked with Khun Sa as his follower for so long that he could not do  
anything that would hurt him.  
  
inside sources  
28/4/96    
*****************************************  
  
DEMOCRACY ADVOCATES NEED TO KEEP A COOL HEAD  
USA Today: Editorial Roundup  
  
About 90 have been arrested (in Burma), and there are fears for the freedom of the  
National League for Democracy's leaders, including (Aung San) Suu Kyi. The situation  
is disconcerting.   
  
Arresting people just because they intend to join a peaceful assembly must be  
regarded as being counter to development of democracy. Such forcible action cannot  
be condoned.   
  
The cause for concern is that Suu Kyi and other leaders of the democracy movement  
are seen to have changed their approach, adopting a desperate effort to mobilize the  
masses to press for a breakthrough. This pent-up discontent could erupt and very  
suddenly get out of control. The tragedy of 1988 proves that.   
  
And because of that, we urge the democracy advocates to be cool-headed.   
  
*****************************************  
  
FILIPINO PROTESTERS ARRESTED  
  
MANILA, May 29 (Reuter)  
 Filipino protesters on Wednesday called for  
an international arms embargo on Burma and a Manila newspaper said Rangoon's  
recent crackdown on Burmese pro-democracy activists showed it was panicking.  
  
A small group of protesters from the Free Burma Coalition picketed the  
Burmese embassy in Manila and demanded to see ambassador U San Thein. Guards  
refused to admit them.  
  
In a statement, the group denounced the arrests last week of more than  
250 pro-democracy activists from the National League for Democracy led by  
Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi.  
  
``The Free Burma Coalition...calls on all Burma's neighbours and the  
international community as a whole to impose an embargo on arms and war  
supplies to SLORC,'' the statement said, referring to Burma's ruling State  
Law and Order Restoration Council.  
  
The statement also urged the Association of Southeast Asian Nations  
(ASEAN) to withhold action on Burma's application to join. ASEAN comprises  
Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, Brunei and Vietnam.  
  
``Myanmar's (Burma's) military dictatorship is panicking,'' the  
Philippine newspaper Today said in an editorial, denouncing the arrests as a  
``blatant show of dictatorial force.''  
  
The daily accused the Philippine government of failing to respond  
swiftly to Rangoon's crackdown, saying it was only on Monday that Manila  
issued a statement expressing concern about the situation in Burma.  
  
02:22 05-29-96  
  
  
*****************************************  
  
BURMA INVITED TO JOIN ASEAN POLICE FORCES  
  
KUALA LUMPUR, May 29 (Reuter) - Burma will be invited to join the  
Association of Southeast Asian Nations conference of police chiefs to help  
fight problems such as heroin trafficking, the Malaysian news agency Bernama  
said on Wednesday.  
  
Malaysia's Inspector-General of Police Rahim Noor said the three-day  
ASEAN national police chiefs (Aseanapol) conference that ended on Wednesday  
agreed to make Burma a full member. Burma currently has observer status  
within ASEAN.  
  
Malaysia has long been a conduit for heroin, smuggled from Burma, Laos  
and Thailand, and destined for Australia and Western countries.  
  
Rahim said Burma could share intelligence about heroin trafficking with  
other members through the conference.  
  
Burma is slated to become a full member of ASEAN -- which groups Brunei,  
Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam -- by  
the end of the decade.  
  
It was not clear if Burma's mass political arrests were discussed at the  
police chief's conference.  
  
ASEAN members have refrained from criticising Rangoon over its  
suppression of a pro-democracy movement led by Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung  
San Suu Kyi.  
  
ASEAN has said it is trying to influence Burma into becoming more  
democratic through a policy of ``constructive engagement'' at various ASEAN  
conferences.  
  
Rahim said Aseanapol is growing in strength and widening its networking  
among member countries. It officially launched a computer-linked database  
system during the conference which will be connected to all Asean police  
forces, except Vietnam's, by the end of the year.  
  
Vietnam's police director-general Le The Tiem said his police force could  
not link up with the database system yet because of financial problems.  
********************************************  
  
(AWSJ): U.S. MAY TIGHTEN ECONOMIC PRESSURE ON BURMA  
   
     By Eduardo Lachica and Laurie Lande   
   
WASHINGTON (AP-Dow Jones)--The U.S. has warned that it may tighten   
economic pressure on Burma if the ruling military junta continues to harass and   
arrest the followers of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, reports Monday's   
Asian Wall Street Journal.   
  
The threat surfaced last week when a senior State Department official told  
the Senate Banking Committee that the administration is willing to apply  
certain 'discretionary sanctions' on Rangoon if necessary.   
  
At the same time, the Clinton administration is reaching out to other  
countries to see whether a concerted effort can be made to moderate Rangoon's  
behavior.   
  
In a statement issued Saturday, White House press secretary Mike McCurry said  
a special envoy will be sent to 'consult with European, Asian and other friends  
and allies on a coordinated response' to the widening crackdown on Burma's  
democratically elected opposition.   
  
The White House indicated that it wanted to see how events unfolded over the  
weekend before deciding on the details of the trip. The detentions, which  
began last week, were apparently aimed at disrupting a convention held by Suu   
  
Kyi's National League of Democracy (NLD) on Sunday.   
The number of arrests rose to 256 by Saturday. The meeting, the NLD's first  
full party conference since it won national elections six years ago, was held  
without further incident on Sunday.   
  
It isn't clear at this point whether further unilateral U.S. action would  
have any effect on the regime, or whether the European Union and Japan will be  
sufficiently responsive to U.S. suggestions to a multilateral approach.   
  
The U.S. already denies Burma export financing and loan guarantees and  
routinely votes against World Bank and Asian Development Bank loans to that  
country. But such restrictions haven't deterred U.S. companies, including  
Texaco Inc. and Atlantic Richfield Co., from seeking to cash in on Burma's rich  
natural resources.   
  
In Tokyo, Foreign Minister Yukihiko Ikeda on Friday urged Burma's regime to  
release all detainees in its custody and to refrain from jailing more of Suu  
Kyi's followers.   
  
However, Ikeda didn't raise the possibility of cutting off Japanese economic  
assistance to Burma. Japan was one of the few countries to resume aid to Burma  
after Suu Kyi was released from six years of house arrest last July; Tokyo said  
the recent flows are solely humanitarian in nature.   
  
In Washington, Kent Wiedemann, deputy assistant secretary of state for East  
Asian and Pacific affairs, told the Senate panel last week that the administration  
wants to broaden its range of policy options.   
  
Wiedeman said so in reference to the more narrow legislative proposal of  
Senator Mitch McConnell, who has been a longtime advocate of sanctions against  
Burma.   
  
However, Suu Kyi, who previously has shied from seeking such intervention,  
has said that she wouldn't oppose mandatory U.S. sanctions as drastic as those  
proposed by the Kentucky Republican.   
  
Among other things, the McConnell bill would ban U.S. nationals from  
investing in Burma and virtually deny members of the ruling junta and their  
families the right to visit the U.S.   
  
McConnell, who heads the Senate panel that oversees foreign aid disbursement,  
has had impeccable timing this year. Just days after he announced he would try  
to push his bill through Congress, news reports surfaced of the mass arrests of  
democracy advocates in Burma.   
  
McConnell also has gotten Senator Alfonse D'Amato, a New York Republican and  
chairman of the Senate Banking committee, to co-sponsor the bill.   
  
The legislation would put at risk an estimated $241 million of U.S. private  
investment - most of it energy-related - according to 1994 Burmese government  
statistics.   
 (END) AP-DOW JONES NEWS 26-05-96  
   0007GMT  
  
***************************************  
  
SUU KYI'S ACTIONS ONLY MAKING THINGS WORSE  
  
EDITORIAL   
May 29, Hong Kong Standard Editorial  
  
THE conservative backlash is under way in Burma. No, it is not the kind of backlash that has  
seen leading intellectuals being purged with surprising speed.   
  
Instead, some leading intellectuals have denounced recent moves by the democracy  
movement.   
  
On Monday, the military government held a massive rally in Rangoon to denounce  
``destructionists'' in the country. No surprise there.   
  
What was surprising was that about 40,000 people from 14 townships chanted slogans and  
denounced ``the traitors' acts to destabilise the country and to spoil progress''.   
  
It would, surely, be impossible for the government to force 40,000 people to take part in a  
rally.   
  
Dagon University rector Kaung Nyunt, the main speaker at the rally, said recent moves by  
the democracy movement were intolerable _ especially at a time when ``the momentum of  
constructive development is being achieved''. By implication, he accused the pro-democracy  
activists of woolly-headed thinking.   
  
Meanwhile, the military government weighed in with a less surprising verbal assault on  
``the colonial puppet'', Aung San Suu Kyi.   
  
We certainly do not view Ms Suu Kyi as a woolly-headed idealist, but we believe she made a  
mistake when she attacked the soft-line approach towards the junta taken by neighbouring  
countries.   
  
She claims that the constructive engagement practised by the Association of Southeast  
Asian Nations (Asean) countries has not worked. But the confrontational stance adopted by  
the West has not only failed, it has been counterproductive in Burma and elsewhere. All it  
has done is make matters worse.   
  
By aligning herself with the West in this way, she only reinforces the government's  
description of her as ``the handle of the axe'' being wielded by ``the colonialists''.   
  
Yes, Ms Suu Kyi is courageous. Yes, her party won a landslide victory in a May 1990 general  
election but the military leadership refused to acknowledge the result. Yes, the arbitrary  
arrests of her supporters were deplorable and unpardonable.   
  
In an editorial last week, we pointed out that the military leaders in Burma have definitely  
not governed their country well, caring for their people and striving for their support. We  
agreed that Asian countries must provide a government of the people through democratic  
means.   
  
But we stressed that Americans and Europeans must not mistake that determination for  
uncritical acceptance of their own value systems.   
  
We sympathise with Ms Suu Kyi's ideals. But she has gone about things the wrong way.  
Appeals to the West and uncritical acceptance of Western values will not bring democracy  
to Burma, but only make matters worse.  
  
******************************************  
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