The BurmaNet News, September 9, 199

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------------------------ BurmaNet ------------------------       
"Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies"       
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The BurmaNet News: September 9, 1997          
Issue #816
  
HEADLINES:          
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BURMANET: REPORT - SLORC SHOOTING OF THAI HELICOPTER
AP: DEMOCRACY MOVEMENT NEITHER DEAD NOR DORMANT
MAINICHI DAILY NEWS: LETTER FROM BURMA (NO. 8)
AUNG SAN SUU KYI'S SPEECH AT FORUM 2000 CONFERENCE
NEW YORK LAW JOURNAL: ATTEMPT TO EXTEND LIABILITY 
BURMA ISSUES: BORDER AREA DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM
FBC ANNOUNCEMENT: UK TOUR COMPANY WITHDRAWS 
ANNOUNCEMENT: MIDWEST CONFERENCE - BURMA PANEL
--------------------------------------------------------------------------  

BURMANET: REPORT ON THE SLORC SHOOTING OF THAI HELICOPTER
September 9, 1997

A Thai army Jet Ranger helicopter belonging to the Naresuan Task Force was
shot down by SLORC troops on August 28, 1997.  The helicopter was flying
along the Thai-Burma border south of Mae Sot during bad weather.  The
helicopter flew over a small piece of Burma which juts into Thailand and was
a former headquarters of the KNU (Kanalay, Walay Ki).  4 Thai soldiers died
in the crash and their bodies still have not been recovered.

Thai military sources have only reported that the plane went down in bad
weather.  Actually the plane was shot down by troops from SLORC's Light
Infantry Division 32, led by two SLORC army captains, Thein Lwin and Kyaw
San.  G3 automatic rifles and machine guns (Point 5, can shoot down planes)
were used. 

According to several border sources, the SLORC has not been cooperating with
the Thai army in trying to recover the helicopter and the bodies.  As of
September 7, 1997, Thai military personnel were not being allowed to conduct
a land search for the helicopter, and some border sources suspected that the
SLORC troops have already hidden or destroyed the helicopter and the dead
soldiers.

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

AP: SUU KYI SAYS BURMA'S DEMOCRACY MOVEMENT NEITHER DEAD NOR DORMANT
September 8, 1997
Robert Horn

BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) _ Burmese democracy advocate Aung San Suu
Kyi says her political party is neither dead nor dormant despite increased
arrests and repression by the military government.
   She also said she believes her movement has substantial support within
Burma's armed forces.
   Suu Kyi made the comments in a rare videotaped interview smuggled out of
Burma and seen in Bangkok on Monday. The regime no longer allows journalists
to meet with the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize winner and has severely restricted
her movements as it has steadily stepped up repression against her party
since last October.
   Suu Kyi said arrests of her party's members, and forced resignation of
its members of parliament, were proof it was still active despite attempts
by the State Law and Order Restoration Council _ the government's official
name _ to crush it.
   ``We are not a dormant party. That is why we are being harassed by SLORC.
If we were dead and done for, SLORC wouldn't bother to arrest anybody,'' Suu
Kyi said.
   ``They know we are a powerful force within the country, which is why they
have placed so many restrictions on us,'' she added.
   Suu Kyi held out hope that a compromise eventually will be worked out
with the military government, and noted that during the 1990 elections her
party, the National League for Democracy, had scored victories in districts
heavily populated by army personnel.
   ``I believe we have strong support within the army,'' she said.
   Military government leaders, however, ignored the election results.
   Suu Kyi played down a meeting last month between Gen. Khin Nyunt, the
head of military intelligence, and her party's chairman, Aung Shwe, that
some interpreted as a prelude to a dialogue between the NLD and the
military. It was the first meeting between a SLORC general and her party's
officials in years.
   ``At best we could think of it as a sounding out to see whether dialogue
is possible,'' Suu Kyi said. ``At worst it could be aimed at trying to
create a split in the party.''
   She also discounted any possibility that the military could exclude her
from talks.
   ``According to the mandate of the NLD, any dialogue between the NLD and
the SLORC must include me,'' she said.
   Suu Kyi said her democratic movement was gaining from Burma's
deteriorating economy _ its currency has lost more than 90 percent of its
value in the last year and inflation is running at more than 40 percent _
and the regime's newspaper attacks on her.
   ``Sometimes I think SLORC does half our work for us, the way they are
unable to handle the economy, and the way in which they attack us so
viciously in the press. That gets us a lot of sympathy,'' she said.
   Suu Kyi also said she believes that despite the regime's shrugging off
economic sanctions imposed by President Clinton, the military is very
concerned about relations with the United States.
   ``Otherwise they wouldn't waste so much energy attacking them,'' she said.
   Asked why she continued to fight for democracy in the face of
overwhelming odds, Suu Kyi it was to help people she loved and cared about.
   She also dismissed attempts by the military government to portray her as
a foreigner because she is married to a British academic.
   ``I'll be Burmese to the day I die,'' Suu Kyi said.

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

MAINICHI DAILY NEWS: LETTER FROM BURMA (NO. 8)
September 8, 1997
by Aung San Suu Kyi

WISDOM, STRENGTH DEFINE TRUE LEADERS
"Veterans"

	I would like to define the word veteran as "experienced" rather than as
"old."  There are people who have lived beyond the biblical three score
years and 10 without having gained the wisdom that comes of encountering a
vast range of human foibles and fancies as well as the benefits of joyful
human contact.  One would expect to mellow in one's mature years, to gain in
understanding and in compassion, to realize that while for the sake of
stable society laws have to be carefully formulated and strictly upheld
(tempered of course by mercy) those who seek to condemn others on an
individual basis should first ask themselves that invaluable question: who
can be confident that he has the right to throw the first stone?  According
to Buddhist teachings, those who vaunt their own virtues and belittle those
of others are wicked; to seek to inflate one's moral rectitude is the sign
of a mind that is far removed from true goodness.  This is somewhat similar
to the Christian story of the Pharisee whose self-righteousness was so much
less pleasing to God than the humble man who said: "Lord have mercy upon me,
a poor sinner."
        Veterans, in my interpretation of the word, should have learned from
their experience that there is still much to do to make this world a better
place to live in and that despite their years they still have a duty to do
what they can.  Such are the kind of veterans about whom I would like to
write today, political veterans who have not forgotten what it was that they
struggled for in their youth and who are determined to do their utmost to
contribute toward the building of a society that is the dream of their
countrymen.
        The Burmese struggle for independence could be said to have begun as
soon as the last king of the  Konbaung Dynasty, Thibaw, was deposed by the
British and sent away to exile in India.  Sporadic rebellions arose, led by
men who would be king.  It is not always easy to determine which by personal
ambition but what is certain is that they did not manage to mobilize enough
public support for their cause to throw the alien conquerors out of their
country.  It was only in the twentieth century, when  a new generation of
modern educated young men realized the importance of systematic political
association emerged, that the real movement for independence could be said
to have begun.
        Those first political veterans, those who began with the
organization of an apolitical, religious society the Young Men's Buddhist
Association (frankly emulative of the Young Men's Christian Association) are
no more.  But there are still a number of second generation veterans of the
Burmese independence movement to be found today, hoary old men who have not
lost their patriotic fire or their zest for political struggle.  They are
men who defied the might of the British empire, who fought against the
oppression of the fascist Japanese Imperial Army during the war, who
grappled with the problems of nation building after independence, who
suffered imprisonment and exile under military dictatorship and who, now
largely in the eight or even ninth decade of their lives, are still
determined to do their level best to realize the dreams of liberty and
justice that spurred them on half a century or more ago.  It is as though
they have drunk of the elixir of political youth.
        Let me introduce you to a few of these veterans.  There is Bohmu
Aung, one of the famous Thirty Comrades who received training from the
Japanese army at the beginning of the second world war.  He is truly a son
of the soil, a leader of peasant farmers and a member of the Dohbama
Asiayone, the "We Burmese" association which was founded in 1930 after
serious riots between the Burmese and the Indian laborers who had been
brought into the country by the British administration.  Bohmu Aung also
spent a few years in a monastery which provided him with a firm foundation
in traditional Burmese Buddhist education.  After the war, he became a
leading member of the Anti-Fascist People's Freedom League, which negotiated
independence for Burma with the British government. After the country
regained independence in 1948, he held such key posts as speaker of the
lower house of Parliament and defense minister.  After the military coup of
1962, he was imprisoned for a number of years and later he went into exile
in Thailand to fight for the restoration of democracy in Burma.  In his
sixties he returned to the country as part of an amnesty package.  One would
have imagined that after such a colorful, checkered career he would be more
than content to spend his twilight years reminiscing about the past and
watching his grandchildren grow up.  Not so.  Bohmu Aung, now 88, knows that
his duty towards his country will end only when his life ends.  He and other
indomitables of his ilk meet regularly to examine the present political
situation and to discuss what they could do the alleviate the troubles of Burma.
        Among Bohmu Aung's staunch colleagues are such veterans as Thakin
Chit (the prefix 'thakin' indicates that he was a member of the Dohbama
Asiayone), 89 years old and the last survivor of the party which went to
London to sign the Aung San-Attlee agreement that paved the way to
independence for Burma.  Then there are Thakin Khin Aung, Thakin Chit Maung
and Thakin Thein Pe, all octogenarians, all equally committed to playing
their part in building the Burma that is the dream of all right thinking
citizens.  There are some relatively younger members of the group of
veterans, such as Boh Aung Naing and Boh Nyo, one time members of the armed
forces, and Dr. Maung Maung Kyaw, a well known student leader during the
early years of Burmese independence.
        These stalwart veterans take a lively interest in what is the
present political scene and they write to the State Law and Order
Restoration Council (SLORC) whenever it seems to them necessary that the
military junta be reminded of the needs of the nation.  Such communications
usually result in a reprimand (most un-Burmese, reprimanding men of such age
and standing) from the powers that be put that does not deter our old
soldiers who will never die nor fade away from the annals of Burmese
political life.
        The last time our veterans wrote to SLORC was on August 5, 1997.
They pointed out the present political, economic and social ills of our
country and proffered the opinion that the only way of resolving these
various problems would be to adopt a spirit of understanding, forgiveness
and reconciliation and to put the good of the whole nation above personal
considerations and the interests of one's own organization.  To that end,
the veterans suggested that negotiations be conducted as soon as possible
with representatives of the National League for Democracy (NLD), which
received the mandate of the people in the elections of 1990. It was
specifically mentioned that I should be included in the negotiations.
        The predictable reaction of the authorities was to summon our
veterans to demand why they had made such a recommendation, to accuse them
of displaying favoritism towards the NLD, to ask them whether it was not
high time they stayed out of politics and kept quiet and to warn them that
action could be taken against them.  Keep quiet! How can our veterans keep
quiet when our country is in such dire straits?  They have a tradition to
maintain, they remain cheerfully indomitable.  May they live to be 120 years.

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

AUNG SAN SUU KYI'S SPEECH AT FORUM 2000 CONFERENCE
September 3, 1997

FOLLOWING IS THE MESSAGE SENT BY DAW AUNG SAN SUU KYI TO THE FORUM "2000"
CONFERENCE HELD IN PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC ON SEPTEMBER 3-6.

That an end entails a beginning is the beautiful aspect of the circularity
of human existence. It is, of course, important that the soft perfection of
harmonious roundness is not debased into a vicious cycle. There is little
value to new beginning if we simply commit the same mistakes that caused so
much suffering in the past.

Many of us will view the beginning of the twenty-first century with some
degree of excitement. What will the future bring? What can we make of the
opportunities that were not given to our forefathers? Are we going to face
the challenges of what, a century ago, were unimaginable technological and
social development? And, if we choose to grapple with the problems that will
surely come with the new millennium, how shall we go about
it, how shall we educate ourselves and our young to cope with the unknown?

I regret very much that I am unable to be present at this conference and to
learn from the thoughts and words of men an women who are concerned not just
for their own immediate present but for the future of humankind. I doubt
that I would be able to add much to the learned discussions that will take
place in this conference. I would just like to pout forward the simple
suggestion that one of the greatest needs for the new millennium is the
development of a generous spirit, a spirit that will create a rich diversity
out of the different races and creeds of our planet.

A generous nature is a noble nature a kind nature that is loving and giving
and forgiving, a nature that rejoices in the good fortune of others and
allows for the weaknesses of others in a true spirit of humility that
recognizes one's own weaknesses. It is a nature that seeks to alleviate the
sufferings of others, not to aggravate them with self-righteous condemnation
or ruthless aggression. It is a nature in which there is little room for
jealousy or covetousness or contempt. It is a nature that is warm
and caring. At this point, perhaps, I should hasten to say that I am not
talking about saints except perhaps in the sense of the definition that
saints are the sinners who go on trying. I am simply talking of the kind of
people who can help to make our life a little happier in spite of the
unavoidable trials and tribulations of worldly existence.

As a politician working to establish democracy in a land ruled by a military
junta, and as an individual who has to struggle to lead a normal life under
abnormal circumstances, my appreciation for kind people with the generosity
of spirit to see through to the human needs behind the unnatural existence
of dissidents, such as myself, is unbounded. Such kindness and generosity
have come from all over the world, not least from President Vaclav Havel and
others present at this conference today. May I wish them all success in
their endeavor to "create new structures of stability and democratic
institutions that will foster individual liberties and more widespread
observance of basic human rights...(and) to develop a broader, more
humanistic consciousness that reflects the deep unity among peoples and
embraces the plurality of values in the present world."

I am confident that the generosity of spirit and the wisdom of the
participants of this conference will lead them to the right answers.

Aung San Suu Kyi
September 3, 1997 

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

NEW YORK LAW JOURNAL: SUITS ATTEMPT TO EXTEND LIABILITY TO CORPORATIONS
September 4, 1997
By Dominic Bencivenga

CORPORATIONS doing business abroad have a new reason to worry: If they fail
to monitor how their overseas partners treat workers, they could become
targets of human rights suits.

Corporate governance attorneys are keeping a close eye on two cases pending
in federal district courts -- one in Los Angeles and another in the New
York's Southern District -- alleging corporate violations of international
human rights. The suits were brought under the Alien Tort Claims Act,
enacted by Congress in 1789. The Act was little used until 1980, when the
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed its application to
human rights cases.

The suits, believed the first to be brought against corporations, were filed
by a coalition of attorneys including the Center for Constitutional Rights
in New York. They are the latest step in a 17-year effort to enforce human
rights claims under the law, which allows aliens to sue in the United States
for torture and forced labor "committed in violation of the law of nations."
The cases build on legal standards established by the Second Circuit in 1995
when it expanded the scope of those who can be sued under the Act to
reinstate two human rights cases charging Bosnian-Serb leader Radovan
Karadzic with torture.

Although the law specifically applies to private citizens, it also should
apply to corporations, attorneys said.

"For almost all areas of the law, a corporation has liability just like a
person if the corporation is the wrongdoer," said Judith Brown Chomsky, an
attorney working with the Center for Constitutional Rights, who is
representing plaintiffs in both cases. "If any person can be liable under
the statute, then a corporation can be liable."

Claims of Torture

That logic has prevailed so far in the Los Angeles suit filed on behalf of
15 villagers from a region of Myanmar, formerly Burma, against Unocal Corp.,
its two top executives, and Total S.A., a French company. The energy
companies are partners in a joint venture with the Myanmar military
government to build a $1.2 billion pipeline through Myanmar into Thailand in
John Doe v. Unocal Corp., 963 F. Supp. 880.

The suit charges that Unocal and Total conspired with the Myanmar government
to relocate villages and enslave villagers to work on the pipeline. The
companies ignored warnings and evidence that the government forces were
torturing, raping and murdering workers, the suit claims.

Unocal denies any wrongdoing.

U.S. District Judge Richard A. Paez startled some members of the corporate
community in March by denying Unocal's motion to dismiss. The plaintiffs, he
said, may be able to prove claims that Unocal "knew or should have known"
that forced labor was being used, and that the company benefited through
lower project costs. He also found that the Myanmar government and a
state-owned energy company were entitled to sovereign immunity. Judge Paez
is scheduled to hear motions this month and next to certify the class, and
on a request to stop Unocal and Total from paying the Myanmar government
while the case is pending. Total plans to request that the suit be dismissed.

A motion to dismiss is also pending in the Southern District case, Wiwa v.
Royal Dutch Petroleum Inc., 96 Civ. 8386, which involves charges that Royal
Dutch conspired with the Nigerian military to torture and murder Nigerian
citizens. Royal Dutch owns Shell Petroleum Inc., which has offices in New York.

The 'Caremark' Effect

Some attorneys say the effect of Unocal will be to drive companies to
develop or improve international standards and practices for foreign
subsidiaries and to increase inspections of factories or projects, much like
last year's Delaware Chancery Court ruling, In re Caremark International
Inc. Derivative Litigation, 1996 Del. Ch. Lexis 125, prompted corporate
counsel to protect directors from personal liability for damages by
improving compliance programs.

"Unocal is going to be a vehicle to push people [internationally] like
Caremark was the vehicle to push people in the corporate governance area,"
said Carole Basri, executive director of the Greater New York Chapter of the
American Corporate Counsel Association. Even if Unocal is not found liable,
"in the future, [companies] are on notice that they may not get by the next
time around," she said.

But corporate governance experts point out that the legal doctrine is still
developing, particularly the standards of proof and the level of knowledge
needed to prove liability for human rights abuses.

The standard in Judge Paez's ruling "raises a lot of questions," said
Gregory J. Wallance, a partner at Kaye, Scholer, Fierman, Hays & Handler
LLP. Knowing about forced labor is "one thing, but 'should have known'? What
does that mean? And how do you prove that the company should have known?"

A Law Develops

Much of the body of law on the Alien Tort Claims Act has developed since
1980, when the Second Circuit allowed the family of a Paraguayan man who was
tortured and killed by a Paraguayan police official to sue in the U.S. when
the official moved here. Filartiga v. Pena-Irala, 630 F2d 876. The case
opened the door for a number of suits against foreign officials.

The Second Circuit took Filartiga a step further in its 1995 ruling in Kadic
v. Karadzic, 70 F.3d 232, which established that the law covered human
rights violators who are not "acting on behalf of a recognized government,"
as well as those who conspire with a state to commit human rights
violations, said Jennifer M. Green, a staff attorney with the Center for
Constitutional Rights who is involved in the Unocal and Royal Dutch cases.

"With the Unocal decision, we established firmly that it can also be private
actors," such as corporations, she said.

Human rights attorneys said they plan to bring more cases against
corporations on the theory that the threat of paying multi-million dollar
judgments might force the companies to improve their human rights records.
"If sheer morality doesn't do it, maybe hitting the pocketbook of companies
will make a difference," Ms. Green said.

Standards of Proof

Unocal, however, denies there have been any human rights abuses on the
pipeline project. The company said it conducted on-site tours and hired an
independent contractor to examine working conditions. In addition, the
company warns its employees to avoid practices that could violate the
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, including forced labor.

"We've done our own due diligence in the pipeline area, and we are convinced
the claims are without merit," said Dennis P.R. Codon, Unocal's general
counsel and chief legal officer. "The accusations that we have been involved
in torturing people or providing some human suffering: it's bizarre."

He added that the project has created jobs paying much more than the
prevailing wages, helped develop numerous support industries and sparked
health and social programs including malaria prevention education.

If the suit is successful, Mr. Codon said it "could have a chilling effect
with regard to foreign investment."

While the actions alleged in the Unocal and Royal Dutch cases are recognized
internationally as human rights violations, the plaintiffs still face a
formidable task in proving their claims, attorneys said.

Key areas still undefined are the amount and quality of information a
company should have about violations; which acts constitute a tort; and how
much of a direct or indirect benefit a company must receive before it is
liable under the Tort Claims Act.

"What [Unocal] leaves open is just how far does the Alien Tort Claims Act
go?" Mr. Wallance said. "What degree of knowledge should be sufficient? Some
anecdotal reports? Affidavits by farmers claiming that their land was taken
away and they were forced into slavery, or do you need direct evidence of
the company's knowledge such as admissions in company documents?"

The Unocal case was brought to U.S. attorneys by human rights groups in Asia
who found the plaintiffs and helped gather evidence, attorneys said. But in
the future, fact-finding within many countries could be a struggle, making
it difficult to distinguish systemic abuse from isolated cases.

It is also unclear how courts would view other cases that might not include
allegations of such egregious violations.

"If an American corporation used Chinese prison labor, and the prisoners
were being tortured or beaten to perform jobs, and the corporation was
involved in that, they might be hooked, like Unocal," said Jack Greenberg, a
professor at Columbia University School of Law. "On the other hand, if they
used labor that was displaced from a province, it might not be considered to
cross that line."

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

BURMA ISSUES: BORDER AREA DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM: 'AS YOU SOW...'
August 1997

"The adage 'As you sow, so shall you reap' is also interpreted in the most
practical sense when one speaks of people getting together in the 
thousands, or even hundreds of thousands, contributing to the accomplishment
of a task that would benefit the general wellbeing of the State.... For huge
undertakings as the building of railroads there is much manpower needed. We
have that plenty, in the villages in the immediate area of the project. With
little cudgeling, they get together to help." 
- Perspectives, state-run New Light of Myanmar, March 2, 1995

For the insurgent groups negotiating cease-fire agreements with the Slorc 
in recent years, development assistance via the Slorc's Border Area 
Development Program (BADP) has become familiar as the main reward on offer
in exchange for putting down their guns. Indeed, Burma's generals make it
very clear that any discussions with cease-fire groups will be limited to
business and border development projects only; that 'political' issues are
not up for discussion, now or ever. Sixteen of Burma's insurgent groups,
many of whom have been at war for more than 30 years, with large displaced
and poor populations, have accepted the deal only to find out that the
reality of the BADP falls far short of the hype. The 'carrot' brought out to
lure insurgents into cease-fire with the Slorc has turned out to be the same
stick they have known all along, only the rhetoric has changed and now the
stick is being wielded ostensibly for the good of the people.

Enlisting the Army

Recognized by the UN in 1987 as one of the least developed nations in the
world, Burma's government has plenty of reasons to be talking about
development. Some of the few statistics available on Burma, as cited by the
International Monetary Fund in its 1996 report, suggest that 10 years later,
Burma's level of development remains below that of Vietnam, Indonesia, 
and even Bangladesh, some of the poorest countries in the region. Faced with
such fundamental problems, development is for Burma a matter of 
survival. For the Slorc, also, development is a matter of survival. The Slorc
recognizes that it can gain legitimacy in the eyes of the international
community if it can show that under its rule, the level of development in
Burma is actually improving. In addition, if the Burmese people can be
convinced that the Slorc's rule may actually improve their standard of
living, Burma's generals know that they are in less danger of seeing 
another popular uprising like the one that nearly toppled them in 1988, and
less likely to see a large-scale renewal of the brutal ethnic conflicts that
they have so recently managed to suppress. However, in the border areas now
under cease-fire the Slorc must face the daunting task of making good on its
development promises with no money to back them up. The lack of funds has
not deterred them. Apparently reasoning that most things can be got as
easily with fear as money, the Slorc has applied its primary resource, the
Burmese army, to the problem of development.

For one thing, the Burmese army, or Tatmadaw is one institution in Burma
that is already semi-developed, well-funded, and growing, in spite of the
fact that widespread cease-fire indicate Burma's military needs are
shrinking. The US Embassy in Rangoon's July 1996 report on economic 
trends in Burma stated, "Neither the absence of any evident external
military threat nor the signing of cease-fires-in-place with sixteen armed
ethnic insurgent groups appears to presage any slowing of the Slorc's
military buildup." Indeed, one in every 32 work-eligible people in Burma is
in the military, a body which this year has grown to 475,000 troops, larger
than the US army and one of the largest standing armies in the world.  Based
on the Slorc's reported spending for FY 95/96, for every kyat the government
spent on 'border development', more than 26 Kyat went to the Tatmadaw. The
US Embassy estimates SLORC defense spending at much higher levels, as SLORC
reports do not include large hidden expenditures ranging from fuel and
energy, health care and rice subsidies, to land confiscation, and use of
forced unpaid labor as porters, servants, and manual laborers.

Doing the Work

Extensive evidence from central, urban, and border cease-fire areas alike
shows that civilians are forced to do the bulk of the labor on regional
development projects. In response to mounting international criticism, the
Slorc issued a directive in June 1995, prohibiting unpaid labor in national
development projects. In June 1996, the Slorc announced a new initiative 
to put the Tatmadaw to work on infrastructure projects. These moves have
generated only cosmetic changes to an established system. While it seems
apparent that Burma's military is on the payroll for many development
projects, there remains little evidence that Tatmadawmen are actually 
doing much labor.

The Ye-Tavoy railway under construction since 1993 has excited strong
international criticism due to the massive documented use of local forced
labor. During the 1995-96 dry season, a Mon human rights group 
estimated that, based on copies of actual work orders submitted to local
leaders, the project used no less than 45,000 civilian laborers each day. In
October 1996, in one of the township along the line, Tatmadaw battalions 
reportedly stopped using unpaid civilian labor and provided their own
soldiers to work on the railway. By July 1996, the soldiers seem to have run
out of resources or lost their resolve, and many villages in the township
were again called to provide labor on the line. At another location on the
Ye-Tavoy line, the local military apparently made an agreement with the
government to do the construction themselves, accepting a large advance
payment for the labor (reportedly 1 or 2 million kyat per battalion). Soon
daunted by the amount of labor they had agreed to do, the soldiers again
began forcing the locals to contribute work to the project. It proves
difficult to convince someone to pick up a shovel who has been used to using
a gun to get things done. Apparently recognizing this, commanders reportedly
disarmed soldiers assigned to the Eindayaza-Hsinku section of the railway
before sending them to work there. According to local sources, dozens of
soldiers consequently ran away from the worksite.  (Mon Information Service,
December 1996)

Slorc government reports estimate that "public donations in cash, kind and
services" averaged 40% of the total cost of development projects since 
1989. Based on extensive reports of forced labor to support development
projects, it is easy to see that the actual value of the 'people's
contributions" must be much higher. On most development projects, labor is
conscripted from local villages via written commands submitted to local
government leaders. Villages in the area of the project must provide a set
number of workers each day, who usually go to work on a rotation basis, in
'shifts' of between one and fifteen days. Villagers who cannot attend their
set rotation must pay fines to 'hire' labor in their place, though no one on
the worksite is paid more than a token amount. For example, 30 villages
along the 100 km long Three Pagoda Pass-Thanbyuzayat Motor Road in Mon state
must send workers daily to work on the road. People who could not attend had
to pay 250 kyat a day and provide rice for the hired laborer (the minimum
monthly wage for public-sector employees is 600 kyat). For prison laborers
in Burma, the shift is continuous. In Saigang Division of Chin State,
widespread reports of forced prison labor on the "New Kabaw Valley Project",
a development project funded by the UN and administered under the Slorc's
BADP. An escapee from the New Kabaw Valley estimated that In the past 4
years, half of the prisoners on the project had either died or escaped. (New
Kabaw Valley or Death Messenger Project, ABSL, May 1, 1997)  Labor on roads,
railroads, prisons, army camps, schools, police stations, bridges, dams, and
weirs throughout Burma is performed in this
way. Lengthy projects continue at an often devastating cost, when laborers
must neglect their farms and families to perform required labor, and when
abuse, accidents, and disease take their toll.

Paying the Price

Not only must Burmese civilians do the work on development projects, but
they get to foot the bill as well.  The Slorc's own numbers on development
spending are revealing. A June 16 article in the New Light of Myanmar
boasted that the Slorc had spent more than 4.8 billion kyat on border
development projects since 1989. Over the same period, it claimed, local
ministries 'donated' almost 1.2 at billion kyat to their own local
development projects, an acknowledgment that nearly 20% of cash spent 
on development in Burma since 1989 came not from the government but from the
people.

Though the government may claim that these revenues consisted of 
'donations' given in a fervor of enthusiasm for these benevolent projects,
the propaganda is contravened by endless reports from all regions of 
Burma of systematic forced taxation to support development projects. A
villager in Chin State reported having to work on the Zee Chaung hydro
project, "Now the villagers have to pay 100,000 kyats for a meter box to
connect to the power supply from this hydro project.... We have to construct
a road by ourselves from my village to another village. This is a new road
under a government scheme, but they never supplied anything toward it and we
had to collect money amongst the villagers." (Slorc abuses in Chin State,
KHRG #97-03, March 1997)  A villager reported from Mong Hsat in Shan state
reported, "At the present time all the villages around Mong Hsat, each
village, has to give 5 viss [8 kg] of meat every week. Now they are building
a new bridge, the Nam Hkok bridge. The villagers have to pay to build that
bridge. It costs 100,000 kyat.... For now, most of the people are patient
and stay there. But some who cannot pay the money for fees to the Burmese
run away."
(Interviews about Shan State, KHRG #96-27, July 27, 1996)  A refugee 
from Mon state reported, "My village, Kyauk Aing, composed of 70 households,
is normally required to pay several charges/taxes each month, including
portering charges, charges for the hire of labor on railway construction,
and compulsory contributions to a variety of local funds. The household has
to pay a total of at least 1,000 kyats every month. Just before I left the
village, I had to sell off the pair of my gold earrings worn on my ears to
be able to pay the said charges/taxes. On the other hand, rice costs 60
kyats for a Pyi [1/16 of a unit basket, or about 8 condensed-milk tins]. As
a result, the people in many households in my village cannot even afford two
meals a day regularly." (Mon Information Service, 1996) Reports are
widespread of land confiscation to build or widen roads, airports, hotels.
Even cemeteries have been confiscated to make way for development  projects,
and the families have had to arrange for the relocation of their relatives
remains. It is hard to imagine how forcing Burma's poorest people to pay for
roads, dams and bridges, and taking their land for these projects, is
expected to improve the people's living. But such is the 'development model'
being implemented in Burma.

Burma's generals seem to have concluded that by focusing the attention of 
an uneasy population on the lure of economic gain, they can distract
attention away from political demands, and buy Burma a kind of peace.
Visitors to Rangoon report that many urban Burmese, captive listeners to the
reports of the state-run media, have little idea of the scale of brutality
that lies behind the Border Area Development Program.  The hundreds of 
thousands of Burmese, supposedly the beneficiaries of this program, who are
forced work on, and pay for these projects know a different side of the
BADP.  In spite of the volumes of earth being moved in Burma's border areas,
Burma development programs are only an elaborate staging being built at the
cost of real stability.  If this kind of development is the means by which
SLORC intends to sow the seeds for the future of Burma, it may be worth
reflecting what kind of crop might be grown from the seeds of
misinformation, corruption, and brutality.  

BURMA DEVELOPMENT INDEX 
Ranking of Burma in the World Human Development Index, 
1996: 133/174 
Slorc development spending since 1989, millions of kyat: 3,759.91 
Breakdown of Slorc development spending since 1989
'Other': 42.49% 
Roads and Bridges: 29% 
Education: 7% 
Agriculture and Livestock: 7% 
Health: 5% 
Public Relations: 4% 
Energy: 3% 
Telecommunications: 3% 
Forestry: 0.01%

INFRASTRUCTURE 
Slorc estimate of "People's contributions" to roads built in FY 94-95: 33% 
Roads repaired since 1989:4229 km 
People forced to labor on the Pakokku-Monywa section of the Chaung- 
Pakokku Railroad: 921,753 
Est. number of households assigned work duties on the Thanbyuzayat 
Motor Road in Mon State: 2,600 
People forced to build a 100-mile extension to the Ye-Tavoy railway: 
200,000 
People forced to work on Bassein Airport extension: 30,000 
Number of prisoners in all the camps working on the New Kabaw Valley 
Project in Chin State: 4,000

EDUCATION 
Slorc estimate of "people's contributions" to education in FY 94-95: 40%
Number of students attending new schools built since 1989: 34,322 
Number of school children whose schools were closed for 5 months by
government order: 7,000,000 
Number of universities which remain closed as of August, 1997: 30
 Total of forced contributions to one new high school built in Thayet Taung 
township: $11,079 or 1,396,000 kyat

AGRICULTURE
Slorc estimate of "People's contributions" to agricultural projects FY 94-
95: 33% 
Number of "agricultural supervisors" stationed throughout the countryside in
Burma, whose job it is to ensure that farmers comply with agricultural
quotas: 7,000
Burma's rice exports in 1995,1996: 1 million
Rice export target set by Burma for 1996, tons: 1.5 million
Actual rice exports for 1996, tons: 112,000 tons

COMMUNICATIONS 
Televisions per 1000 people: 1.9 
TV Broadcast Stations: 1 
Prison sentence for operation of an unlicensed satellite television
receiver in Burma: up to 3 years

FORESTS 
Slorc spending on forestry projects since 1989: 190,000 kyat 
19,000 kyat at the 1996 exchange rate: $1,508 
Saw mills built by Burma's Forestry Department since 1989: 12 
Amount villagers paid in 1996 for cutting 1 ton of logs in Shan State: $2
(250 kyat) Traders selling price in 1996 of 1 ton of logs in Shan State: $95
or (12,000 kyat)
Value of the contracts Slorc made with 40 Thai companies in 1989: $112 
million 
Value of Burma's teak exports in 1995/1996: $175.2 million
Slorc government defense spending 1995/1996: $155 million

Burma Issues
P.O. Box 1076
Silom Post Office
Bangkok 10504
Thailand
http://www2.gol.com/users/brelief/Index.htm

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FBC ANNOUNCEMENT: UK TOUR COMPANY WITHDRAWS FROM 
BURMA
September 4, 1997

Explore Worldwide, the UK's biggest tour operator for backpackers, has 
pulled out of Burma.

The company, based in Aldershot, Hampshire, but with agents far afield as 
Australia, the USA, Canada and Hong Kong, had been running its regular 
tour entitled "Road to Mandalay".

A spokesman for Explore commented, "Following pressure from the 
British Government we have decided to withdraw from Burma.  Quite 
simply we disapprove of the fact that all the hotels have been built with 
slave labour."

Explore's next brochure is due to be published next month.  Their 
spokesman refused to comment however, on whether Burma would be 
featured in it.

contact: 

Explore Worldwide Ltd.
1 Frederick Street
Aldershot
Tel: 01252-319448/344161
fax: 01252-343170
email: info@xxxxxxxxxxxxx

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ANNOUNCEMENT: MIDWEST CONFERENCE - BURMA PANEL
September 6, 1997

BURMA PANEL AT  "MIDWEST CONFERENCE ON ASIAN AFFAIRS"

There will be a panel on the current situation in  Burma at the 46th Annual
Meeting of the Midwest Conference on Asian Affairs (MCAA)  to be held 
at Northern Illinois University from September 6-28, 1997.

The Panel is appropriately named as " Burma Under Siege" and is chaired 
by Mr. Ye Myint NIU, Doctoral Candidate, Poli Sci <Comp, IR, & SEA>). He has
organized the panel under the guidance of   Professor Ladd Thomas (NIU) who
is an distinguished scholar in the field of Southeast Asian Politics. In
addition, the plan to organize the panel was originally conceived as part of
the larger, integrated research project proposed for the Democratic Burmese
Students' Organization, USA (DBSO-USA) , called "Future Burma", and could
therefore be considered as  a research and academic enterprise by DBSO. Mr.
Ye Myint is the Chairman of the Special Committee on  Research and
Publication of the DBSO.

 Participants and their researches  are:

 Mr. Wungram Shishak < "India-Burma Relations" >

 Mr. Ye Myint   < "Burma-ASEAN Relations: Rationales and Incentives">

 Mr. Stephen McCarthy < "Foreign Investment in Burma under SLORC">

 Mr. John Van Barringer < "The Political Development of Aung San Suu 
Kyi">

All 88-generation students are cordially invited.
Please contact:
			    Ye Myint
			"Ymyint@xxxxxxx"

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