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The BurmaNet News: July 7, 1998



------------------------ BurmaNet ------------------------
 "Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies"
----------------------------------------------------------

The BurmaNet News: July 7, 1998
Issue #1042

HEADLINES:
==========
BKK POST: JUNTA WARNS OF "HEAD-ON" COLLISION
BKK POST (LETTER): PROTECT SUU KYI
SHRF: RENEWED MASSACRES IN SHAN STATE
BKK POST: KARENS TO MOVE TO SAFER REFUGEE CAMP
BKK POST: AN OPEN PLEA TO FM SURIN 
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THE BANGKOK POST: JUNTA WARNS OF "HEAD-ON" COLLISION 
5 July, 1998 

GOVERNMENT CLAMPS DOWN ON NLD PARTY
Burma's military authorities warned yesterday of a possible "head-on
collision" with the political opposition led by Nobel Peace Prize winner
Aung San Suu Kyi.

The warning came amid growing international concern that conditions in the
isolated military state are on the verge of boiling over into violence
between the junta and opposition forces.

In a statement received in Bangkok, a senior junta official said
authorities had clamped down on Mrs Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy
(NLD) party in an effort to avoid a confrontation.

"The reason for the NLD elected members (excluding in Rangoon) to report to
local authorities is actually a preventive measure with a view to avoid
unnecessary and unwanted head-on collision, confrontation and instability,"
the statement said.

The warning comes only a day after Philippine Foreign Secretary Domingo
Siazon said the government and opposition looked to be heading towards a
new bout of political confrontation.

"It seems that the atmosphere between the government and the National
League for Democracy may be deteriorating," Mr Siazon said in Manila on
Friday.

Diplomats in Rangoon and exiled student activists in Thailand reported on
Friday that several NLD members had been detained and others had been
ordered to report twice daily to authorities.

In yesterday's statement, the junta blamed the opposition for trying to
stir up unrest to coincide with the "forthcoming resumption of the classes
of the universities, colleges and other educational institutions".

Authorities in Burma have regularly hinted that universities, closed in
December 1996 following student unrest, would reopen only when conditions
in the country were deemed stable enough.

The junta last month announced that undergraduate university students were
being permitted to sit exams for the first time since the campuses closed
18 months ago.

However, university campuses were to remain closed and students would sit
their exams at schools around the country.

But a statement released in Rangoon by the NLD on Friday linked the
clampdown to its recent demands that parliament, based on the results of a
1990 election won in a landslide by the opposition, be convened before
August 21.

Following the 1990 poll, the Burmese military have prevented the opposition
from forming a government.

The NLD statement accused the junta of misusing its power and of violating
existing laws by arresting opposition members and ordering others to report
in daily. It also demanded the revocation of the measures.

Diplomats have also linked the junta's newly toughened stance towards the
NLD to its parliament ultimatum. 

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THE BANGKOK POST: PROTECT SUU KYI 
5 July, 1998 by Dr Chao-Tzang Yawnghwe 

Letter to the Editor

In an article printed in the state-controlled New Light of Myanmar
newspaper, the regime warned that Aung San Suu Kyi could become another Ngo
Dinh Diem, a former president of South Vietnam who was assassinated at the
direction of generals in the South Vietnamese army during a coup in 1963.

Aung San Suu Kyi is a Nobel laureate and leader of Burma's non-violent
movement for the restoration of democracy and peace in Burma.

The military government which is threatening her life, shot down thousands
of peaceful, unarmed protesters in broad daylight, in front of embassies,
in 1988, and it further refused to recognise the result of the 1990 May
general elections. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's party, the NLD (National League
for Democracy) won over 80 percent of parliamentary seats.

In the last 48 hours, military intelligence agents also arrested members of
parliament in Irrawaddy, Mandalay, Shan and Pegu divisions and are swarming
around party headquarters in Rangoon, where more arrests appear imminent.

The military regime has carried out ethnic cleansing actions against ethnic
groups such as the Shan, Karen, Rakhine, Mon, and so forth. Ethnic women
have been systematically and specifically targeted, and many hundreds, if
not thousands, of ethnic women have become victims of government-sanctioned
violence against women of the "enemy race".

I hope all democracy loving people will stand solidarity with the people of
Burma against an illegitimate and illegal government that threatens the
life of a highly respected and beloved Burmese leader. 

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SHAN HUMAN RIGHTS FOUNDATION: RENEWED MASSACRES IN SHAN STATE
3 July, 1998 

In the last two months, there has been a fresh spate of mass killings by
SPDC troops of forcibly relocated villagers in Central Shan State. Shan
refugees fleeing to the Thai border have recounted at least 4 incidents of
mass killings since early May 1998, as follows:

1. On the night of May 4-5, 1998, 36 villagers, 25 men and 11 women, were
shot dead by 70-80 SPDC troops of no. 44, led by Commander Naing Maung. The
villagers had been caught in their old fields in Nawng Kwai Nai Loi, in the
township of Nam Zarng. They were killed despite the fact 	that they had
received permission from the SPDC authorities in the relocation site of Kho
Lam to return to farm their fields.

2. On June 2, 1998, 28 villagers, 19 men and 9 women, were killed by about
80 SPDC troops from Murng Sart-based LIB 333 led by Captain Tin Maung on
the bank of the Salween River at the mouth of the Nam Sim tributary. The
villagers had been relocated from their village of Wan Kyawn, Murng Poo
Long tract, Murng Paeng township, and were heading south in search of food.
They were accused of being Shan rebels and tied up and beaten. They were
then shot dead and their bodies dumped in the Salween River. Several of
their corpses were later found downriver by villagers at Ta Sa La.

3. On June 2, 1998, 26 villagers, 18 men and 8 women, were killed by about
20 troops from SPDC Battalion 227 led by Commander Win Maung about 5 miles
from the town of Murng Kerng. They had been relocated from their village of
Nam Ba Look to the town of Murng Kerng, but had been given permission to
return to farm their fields outside the town by Commander Maung Maung Twe
of SPDC LIB 514. However, on their way to their fields they were caught by
the Battalion 227 troops and then all shot and killed. Their vehicles were
also burned.

4. On June 27, 1998, 13 villagers, including 2 women and 7 children, were
killed by about 120-130 SPDC troops from LIB 246 led by Commander Htoon
Nyein. The villagers were from Nong Tao village, Keng Tong, Murng Nai
township, and had been caught working in their fields. Although the
villages in the area had been forcibly relocated since 1996-1997, these
villagers had been allowed in recent months by local SPDC troops from no.
44 to return and work in their fields. However, the LIB 246 troops captured
the villagers, and shot and killed 11 of them immediately, including 2
women and 7 children (aged 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 11).  Two of the men were
later tied behind ox-carts and dragged along the ground till they died.

These killings are an attempt to enforce the forced relocation program that
was started by the Burmese military regime in 1996, and which aims to
depopulate the rural areas of Central Shan State to cut off support for the
Shan resistance. Over 300,000 villagers in 1,478 villages have been forced
to move from their homes to relocation sites near main roads and towns.
Villagers found outside these sites risk being shot on sight.

The SHRF is gravely concerned that the SPDC regime is restarting its
campaign of massacring large numbers of relocated Shan villagers as in
mid-1997.  The SHRF calls on the international community to put pressure on
the SPDC to stop immediately these mass killings and to put an end to the
forced relocation program in Shan State and let the relocated villagers
return in safety to their original homes.

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THE BANGKOK POST: KARENS TO MOVE TO SAFER REFUGEE CAMP 
5 July, 1998 

The Thai government is planning to move displaced Karens living at Ban Huay
Kalok to a safer temporary shelter located further north at Mae La over the
next two weeks, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Kobsak Chutikul said.

The government is to seek cash from the United Nations High Commissioner
for Refugees to finance the move, the spokesman added.

The area of Ban Huay Kalok in the Mae Sot district of Tak province is
unsafe for the Karens because it is only five kilometres from the
Thai-Burmese border, the spokesman said.

Mae La, the new temporary shelter, is situated in Tha Song Yang district,
also in Tak.

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THE BANGKOK POST: AN OPEN PLEA TO FM SURIN 
5 July, 1998 by Thongbai Thongpao 

COMMENTARY

Recently, I have received calls from human rights groups expressing their
concerns over the life of a Burmese activist who has fought for democracy
and human rights in his homeland. These groups include Forum-Asia, the
Society for the Rights and Freedom of the People, and the Alternative Asean
Network on Burma.

The activist, Ye Thi Ha, faces deportation to Burma where he is likely to
be charged with involvement in an alleged plot to assassinate Gen Khin
Nyunt, the first secretary of the ruling military junta.

While the potential punishment under Burmese laws is not a capital one,
chances are that the military government might impose the death penalty
against him.

The junta has done very little to democratise the laws of the country or
promote human rights. It seems the only success it can claim so far is to
change the name of the country from Burma to Myanmar.

The junta has failed to improve the well-being of the people, democracy, or
human rights. The Burmese people and other minority groups are still
subjected to maltreatment and suppression, and their human rights are
violated.

Ye Thi Ha's case highlights these problems.

In 1989, Ye Thi Ha, together with another Burmese pro-democracy activist Ye
Yint, escaped from Burma by hijacking a Fokker F-28 and forced it to land
at U-tapao airport in Chon Buri.

He was arrested by Thai authorities and a criminal charge was later filed
against him. Ye Thi Ha was jailed until 1992 when he was released through a
royal pardon granted on the occasion of Her Majesty the Queen's birthday.

Following his release, Ye Thi Ha and his Burmese friends tried to seek
refuge in a third country through the United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees.

But on November 23, 1993, Thai police arrested Ye Thi Ha and four young
Burmese student activists again on the charge of possessing guns, bullets
and explosives and plotting the assassination of Gen Khin Nyunt.

Ye Thi Ha was found guilty and detained at a special jail at the Police
Private School in Bang Khen, Bangkok. The other suspects were released.
They were later granted refuge: three in the United States, three in
Australia and one in Canada.

After serving his jail term, Ye Thi Ha was released late last year but was
subsequently detained by immigration police. He now awaits deportation to
Burma.

This development has sparked concerns among human rights activists. They
are worried that Ye Thi Ha's life will be at risk should he be repatriated
to a country where justice, laws, human rights and democracy have yet to be
established.

The latest news even fanned more worries.

Representatives of the Burmese military junta reportedly met Ye Thi Ha four
times in jail and took photos of him. According to a newspaper report, they
persuaded him to plead for a voluntary return in which case Thai
authorities will certainly comply. But in reality, Ye Thi Ha is never
willing to do so.

Another news report claimed Thai authorities have a confidential agreement
to deport Ye Thi Ha to Burma in exchange for logging deals and the arrest
of a drug suspect now in Burma.

In my opinion, for the sake of human rights and humanity, Thailand should
not repatriate Ye Thi Ha to Burma. Doing so is tantamount to sending him to
the gallows.

Cooperation in a creative way is commendable but if it means compromising a
human life or human rights, principles, and justice, then it's unforgivable.

I believe Foreign Minister Surin Pitsuwan, a former pro-democracy activist
himself, will understand what is at stake here. I place my hope on him. 

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