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The BurmaNet News: October 8, 1998



------------------------ BurmaNet ------------------------
 "Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies"
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The BurmaNet News: October 8, 1998
Issue #1113

Noted in Passing: "The arrests are an admission by the government that
pro-democracy people are being detained." - Aung Naing Oo (see REUTERS:
MYANMAR MILITARY HOLDS 54) 


HEADLINES:
==========
REUTERS: MILITARY HOLDS 54 FOR SPARKING UNREST 
SCMP: DETAINED MP'S AND OFFICIALS CHARGED 
SHRF: SEPTEMBER MONTHLY REPORT 
THE NATION: AUNG GYI, BURMA'S COMMANDER OF ILL OMEN 
THE NATION: SANCTIONS ON BURMA MUST CONTINUE 
****************************************************************

REUTERS: MYANMAR MILITARY HOLDS 54 FOR SPARKING UNREST 
7 October, 1998 

YANGON, Oct 7 (Reuters) - Myanmar said on Wednesday that 54 people,
including 23 members of the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD),
had been detained for sparking student unrest and demonstrations in August
and September.

Among those detained were activists of anti-government Myanmar exile groups
who had obtained funds and conspired with foreign organisations to incite
the disturbances, military government spokesman Colonel Thein Swe told a
news conference.

[from AFP: A junta statement said the plot involved non-government
organisations based in the United States, Canada and Thailand, and had
Western financial support.

"Some Western, neo-colonialist super powers are giving both financial aid
and manpower assistance to government opposition groups under the
camouflage of democracy and human rights because they wish to bring about
the collapse of our country," the 15-page statement said.

The junta said those arrested had distributed seditious pamphlets and
"created disturbances" to provoke the government as part of the NLD's
stated aim to convene the parliament elected in 1990 but which has never met.]

Foreign organisations involved in the alleged plot were the New York-based
Open Society Institute (OSI) founded by billionaire George Soros, and the
Thai chapter of the Vatican City-based World Society of Jesuit Refugee
Services (JRS).

[from AFP: (Other) foreign groups allegedly involved include US-based
National Endowment for Democracy and the International Center for Human
Rights and Democratic Development of Canada.

"The western bloc countries and so-called NGO's (non-government
organisations), in the name of democracy, are using all possible devious
means and exerting all kinds of pressure to destabilise the internal
situation," the statement said.

The allegedly seditious pamphlets had titles such as "Those Who Obstruct
the Convening of Parliament are the Common Enemy," and "To the Simple and
Honest Lions Caught in a Trap."]

Exiled Myanmar groups named were the National Coalition Government of the
Union of Burma (NCGUB), the Karen National Union (KNU) guerrilla group, the
All Burma Students Democratic Front (ABSDF) and the Alternative Asean
Network of Burma.

"Those detained are in custody now and arrangements will be made to take
legal action against them," said Thein Swe.

NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi and some party members, working with the
expatriate activist-backed All Burma Student's Union (ABSU) [sic] and the
exiled and foreign organisations, had joined forces to stir up the unrest,
the government said in a statement.

Suu Kyi and NLD officials were unavailable for comment on the government
charges.

The statement said they had timed the unrest, which included student
protests at some university campuses, a street demonstration by 18
foreigners in August, car sit-in protests by Suu Kyi in July and August,
and the NLD call for convening a parliament of representatives elected in
the May 1990 election.

The military ignored the results of the 1990 election, which the NLD swept.

The ruling State Peace and Development Council has flatly refused to call a
parliament as sought by the NLD, and the opposition party has set up a
panel to act for the parliament.

Spokesman Thein Swe said the 54 people detained now did not include NLD
members and elected representatives who have been questioned in government
guest houses. The NLD has said that since May 27, the number of its MPs and
members held by the military totalled 967.

The groups identified by the government as being involved in inciting
unrest were operating from the Thai side of the border, the government
statement said.

Touching on the involvement of the OSI and the JRS, the statement said they
had aided and financed the activists. "The OSI and JRS only constitute the
tip of the iceberg for there are a large number of other groups similarly
occupied," it added.

"As a matter of fact, it is doubtful if the religious leaders of the
Vatican are even aware that the JRS in Thailand has been aiding and
abetting those insurgents and lending them a hand in committing violence
and unrest in the country," it said.

"It is possible that the leaders of the Vatican would be most pained if
they should come to hear of these transgressions."

But a JRS spokesman in Thailand denied the group's involvement in any
Myanmar unrest.

"We had absolutely no involvement in the student demonstrations or any
others demonstrations, absolutely none," said Jon Greenaway, information
and research officer at the Jesuit Refugee Service Asia Pacific office in
Bangkok.

He said that though agency officials made occasional visits to Myanmar,
they were not politically motivated and the organisation had no permanent
presence in the country.

Confusion may have arisen because the agency offered counselling services
to people seeking refugee status as a step towards asylum and some of them
were Myanmar students, he said.

"This is a counselling and advisory service with no political involvement,"
he added.

The ABSDF's foreign secretary Naing Oo said the latest arrests merely
confirmed pro-democracy activists were indeed being detained by the Myanmar
government.

"The arrests are an admission by the government that pro-democracy people
are being detained in Myanmar," he said. 

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

SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST: DETAINED MP'S AND OFFICIALS CHARGED, SAYS OPPOSITION
7 October, 1998 by William Barnes 

The Burmese military regime has laid serious charges against some of the
1,000 opposition MPs and officials who it claims were "invited" in for
political discussions, opposition sources said yesterday.

Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD)
claims that more than 200 MPs and supporters have been detained or harassed
to stymie the party's threat to convene parliament along the lines of the
1990 general election.

The travel restrictions and detentions worked -- the party was forced to
declare last month that a special political committee would "represent"
parliament until repression was eased enough for it to be convened.

The party's demand for parliament to be reformed is its sharpest challenge
to the authorities since pro-democracy protests were crushed a decade ago.

Although the state-controlled media have vilified Ms Aung San Suu Kyi as a
foreign-controlled interloper, the junta has responded to the challenge
with "sweet reasonableness", to quote one diplomat.

It has claimed to be puzzled by what the special committee will do and how
it will represent the country.

But reports that some politicians now face long prison terms could reveal
the iron fist inside the velvet glove, according to observers.

The All Burma Students' Democratic Front said that some MPs had been
charged with offences under the draconian 1950 Emergency Provision Act -
with its potential for long prison terms.

"Clearly it serves the purposes of the junta to imprison NLD officials and
MPs for as long as possible to thwart the efforts of the NLD to convene a
'people's parliament'," said the foreign affairs spokesman of the
Bangkok-based exiles organisation Aung Naing Oo.

About 10 of the party's MPs in Tenasserim, the southern panhandle, are
reported to be facing charges under the Emergency Provision Act.

The party won an overwhelming majority in the 1990 election, which was
subsequently ignored by the military. 

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

SHAN HUMAN RIGHTS FOUNDATION: SEPTEMBER MONTHLY REPORT 
4 October, 1998 from shan@xxxxxxxxxxxx

[BurmaNet Editor's Note: Names of victims have been removed from this
report, and some sections have been condensed.]

MONTHLY REPORT -- SEPTEMBER 1998

RAPE AND KILLING IN LAI-KHA

On the night of 17.7.98, SPDC (State Peace and Development Committee (the
name of the ruling military regime) Commander Han Aung from Lai-Kha-based
LIB515 raped and shot dead a housewife in her bedroom and threatened to
shoot the husband and the village headman in an outermost quarter of
Lai-Kha town to where rural populations had been forcibly relocated.

On that night, Han Aung led 50 troops from LIB515 and patrolled the outer
quarters of the town, occasionally searching houses for overnight guests.
At one point, Han Aung went into a house and asked if there was any guest
staying overnight. When a couple answered that there was no one, Han Aung
ordered the husband to go and tell the headman of that new quarter to find
5 viss of chicken for the military, and to wait until he got the chicken.

When the husband left, Han Aung asked the woman whether she was his wife.
When she said yes, he told her he wanted to search the bedroom and would
like her to go inside with him so that he would not be suspected of
stealing. So she went into the bedroom, holding an oil lamp. Once inside
the bedroom, Han Aung told her to take off all her clothes, but she refused
and he threatened to shoot her with his pistol, pointing it at her. He
raped her and even when he finished he told her not to get up but to lie in
the bed, but she said she wanted badly to relieve herself so he had to let
her go out of the house.

Once outside, the woman ran as soon as she had a chance until she reached
the headman's house where her husband had gone to get chicken. There she
cried and told her husband and headman how she had been treated by Han
Aung. Some soldiers who had come after her found out about it and reported
back to Han Aung, so he ordered his troops to arrest and bring back 3 of
them, including the headman. He interrogated them for a while and said that
the woman had told a lie, and had tried to defame him by accusing him of
raping her. He then asked her to show where she had been raped, and when
she said it was in the bed, he then told her to go and lie down as when she
was being raped. When she did that, he shot her dead in the bed, came out
of the bedroom, pointed his pistol at the husband and the headman and asked
them if they were satisfied with what he had just done, and threatened to
shoot them as well if they were not satisfied, leaving no choice for the 2
men but to say yes. After that incident, Han Aung and his men did not
continue their patrol but went back to the military base.

On the next morning, the headman and husband went to complain about it to
the community leader who in turn led them to the head of LIB515 Commander
Soe Phyu. But Soe Phyu said he had sent Han Aung on a military operation 3
days ago and had not yet returned, and he could not understand how it could
be Han Aung. So he told the 3 men to wait until Han Aung returned and they
would talk about it.

However, not long after that, Han Aung was posted to some distant outpost
and the husband dared not stay any longer in fear of reprisal, so he headed
for Thailand 20 days after that horrible experience.

RESTRICTED SUGARCANE FARMER KILLED IN LARNG-KHUR

On 3.8.98, SPDC troops of LIB511 led by Owng Zaw shot dead a sugarcane
farmer in his sugarcane farm.

The man, his wife, and their child were originally from Nar Khar village
that had been forced to move to the town in 1997 and they had managed to
cultivate a patch of sugarcane farm about one and a half acres wide.

When on 2.7.98, Commander Aung Moe Zaw of SPDC's IB99 in Larng-Khur
township issued an order that all sugarcane farmers must clear two-thirds
of their sugarcane farms and grow soya bean and yellow bean for the army,
the farmer was so upset that he took the risky step of going to appeal to
the Commander to spare him because he had only a very small farm and that
if he had to clear away 2/3 of it, there would not be enough for his family
to subsist. He was granted permission and he continued to maintain his farm
as before.

However, on 3.8.98, while the farmer and his wife were tending the
sugarcane, about 50 SPDC troops from LIB511 led by Commander Owng Zaw came
to his farm and asked him why he had not cleared his farm like others,
accused him of defying military orders and beat, kicked and tortured him.

While his soldiers tortured the husband, Owng Zaw ordered the wife to bring
out all the money and valuables they had if she did not want her husband
dead. So she gave 600 Kyat which was all she had, hoping that her husband
would be released. But, after receiving the money, Owng Zaw told the woman
to go home before her husband, saying that they needed him to carry things
for them to the town and they would release him later. When she had not
gone so far from the farm she heard 2 gun-shots, so she was quite sure her
husband had been shot and cried all the way to her house.

The next morning, on 4.8.98, the woman called some of her relatives and
neighbours and went together to the farm, and found her dead husband in the
farm hut. After they found the body, some of her relatives went back to the
town and complained to their headman and the community leader, and together
they went to the Commander of IB99 and complained to him.

But Commander Owng Zaw of IB99 just asked them why they had not come the
previous night but waited until 10 o'clock that morning and said that it
could not be sure who shot the farmer, and it could also be the Shan soldiers.

RAPED TO DEATH IN LAI-KHA

On 25.6.98, a patrol of SPDC troops of LIB517 arrested a group of 9
villagers (ages 4 to 70 years) who were working on a farm near a deserted
village which had once been Loi Lam village in Phawng Seng tract, Lai-Kha
township.

The villagers were lined up and interrogated and beaten until some of them
lost consciousness. At the end they accused two of the women of being wives
of Shan soldiers and forced them to go with them. The 2 women were taken
along with the troops and repeatedly raped until 10.8.98 when one died of
the unbearable agony and the other lost her mental balance. When the
latter's insanity became obvious, the soldiers just abandoned her in the
jungle. Many porters had witnessed these incidents while they themselves
had to suffer brutal abuses of the SPDC soldiers.

A HOUSEWIFE BURNED TO DEATH IN LOI-LEM

On 13.7.98, a housewife, aged 25, was burned to death at Nam Yur Mu
village, Parng Hu tract, Loi Lem township, by the SPDC troops from LIB517.

Her 8-month-old child and her husband, aged 35, were also killed by the
same troops.

KILLINGS IN MURNG-KERNG

On 27.6.98, SPDC troops from LIB513 shot dead four villagers and wounded
three villagers in Murng Khun tract, Murng-Kerng township.

RAPE CASES IN LAI-KHA

On 27.7.98, Maj Thein Oo and his troops from SPDC's LIB515 raped a
13-year-old girl until she fainted.

On 25.7.98, the same Thein Oo and his troops also raped a 16 year old girl
who, as a result, lost consciousness for one hour.

HEADMAN HELD HOSTAGE IN KAE-SEE

On 5.8.98, SPDC troops of LIB514 in Kae-See township went on patrol to the
villages of Wan Mai, Kung Nyawng and Pa Karng villages. When they reached
Pa Karng village they asked for 5 viss of chicken and 8 porters.

After they got that they returned to Wan Mai and arrested the village
headman and interrogated him. They asked for walkie-talkies which they
suspected were being used in the area by the villagers or the Shan resistance.

When they could not get the answer they wanted, they warned the villagers
to hand over the walkie-talkies in 7 days, or they would kill the headman.
After that, these soldiers went and stationed themselves at Nawng Yom
village. The fate of the headman is not known at the time of this report.

KILLING AND ROBBING IN LOI-LEM

On 1.8.98, SPDC troops from LIB513 led by Capt Kuma shot dead a villager.

On 4.8.98, the same Capt Kuma and his troops killed and ate 2 oxen belonged
to a Kung Lao villager.

On 4.8.98, the same troops robbed a woman villager of Kung Sarngkheng, of
3000 Kyat and a pair of ear-rings worth 5000 Kyat.

SITUATION IN THE BORDER TOWN OF TAKHILAEK (TACHILEK)

>From 6 to 9.8.98, SPDC troops of Takhilaek-based LIB331 led by Capt Sein
Hpe, together with the police and township SPDC officers, about 50 people
in all, searched the town of Takhilaek and the surrounding 5-6 villages at
night. They did this claiming that about 500 "destructive elements" were
about to disturb the town and had already sent many of their members to
penetrate the security of the town.

During these 2-3 nights, they arrested 8-9 people of all nationalities,
including Burmese, Kachin, Arakanese, Shan and Chinese, who were staying
overnight at their friends' or relatives' houses and hotels and had not yet
reported to the authorities.

On 10.8.98, all these people were sent to the Township Law Court and were
fined 30 Kyat each for infringing security regulations. However, to ensure
their release, all the people involved, including the guests, the hosts and
the hotel proprietors, had to pay 2000 Baht each under the table to the
various administrative departments.

On 10.8.98, SPDC troops from LIB526 that were taking security duty at
Takhilaek airport arrested an 18 year old man.  The reason for his arrest
was that he had driven a motorbike and entered the airport compound without
asking for permission, and there was information that some saboteurs were
trying to plant bombs at important and strategic locations in Takhilaek.

The soldiers not only arrested him but also took his mortorbike. There has
not been any further news about him at the time of this report.

On 8.8.98, members of the implementing committee for the Shan New Year in
Takhilaek were holding a meeting at Hawng Lerk village to discuss the
celebration of the coming new year.

As it happened, it coincided with the day of the 10th anniversary of the
democracy uprising known as 'four-eights' (8.8.88) in which thousands of
innocent peaceful demonstrators were killed by the Burmese army.

While the meeting was still in process, SPDC troops from company 3 of
LIB526, led by Capt Myint Aung surrounded and forcibly broke up the
meeting, threatening and banning any further meeting. They not only banned
the meeting, but also arrested 2 organizers, 1 man and 1 woman, and locked
them up for one night.

On that day, the SPDC of Takhilaek Township issued an order banning any
gathering of up to 5 people and anyone who disobeyed would face severe
punishment.

VILLAGERS ARRESTED IN CONNECTION WITH CRASHED PLANE

On 27.8.98, Takhilaek Township SPDC arrested 3 Akha villagers of Parng Kaw
who had come to report finding the Air Myanmar passenger plane that crashed
east of Takhilaek on 24.8.98.

On 28.8.98, over 60 SPDC troops from LIB no.526 led by Maj Thein Kyi
surrounded the Akha village of Parng Kaw, near which the plane crashed, in
Murng Phong tract 2, Takhilaek township, and ransacked the village,
searching from door to door. But they did not find anything illegal or what
they wanted.

The Major then ordered all the villagers to gather in the centre of the
village and said to them, "If you do not hand over the dollars from the
crashed plane, all the men in your village will be put in jail and the
elderly, women and children will have to work for the army in the compound
of LIB562 base for one month". But the villagers denied having seen
anything and insisted that they had reported finding the crashed plane as
soon as they found it, but that the 3 men who went to report it had been
arrested and detained up to the present.

When they could not get any positive answer, the troops arrested the
village headman and his 2 deputies and returned to their base.

All the Akha villagers arrested were released on 2.9.98.

On 2.9.98, Takhilaek Township SPDC Chief Lt Col Kyaw Win issued an order
banning the exchange of Burmese currency into Thai currency, because they
suspected that the villagers in the vicinity of the site of the plane crash
had taken the money from the plane and hidden it somewhere.

The SPDC troops were arresting and interrogating people they suspected in
the area and up to 5.8.98, 17-18 people had been interrogated.  Two
villagers from Saw Kong village, who were gathering firewood, were also
arrested.

On 10.9.98, about 30 SPDC troops from LIB526 led by Capt Kyaw Than
surrounded Pa Wong Ngarm village and forced all the villagers to gather in
the centre of the village. The troops arrested 14 people who they suspected
of looting the crashed plane and took them to the LIB526 base for
interrogation.

The villagers were beaten and tortured and forced to confess, but they kept
denying the charge. So the soldiers beat and tortured them until some 4-5
of them were seriously injured.  These people were detained for 3 nights
and were released on 13.9.98.

On the same day, 10.9.98, and about the same time - 7:30 a.m. according to
the villagers - 25 SPDC troops from LIB526 led by Capt San Hla, Commander
of Company 1, surrounded San Nar village and arrested 6 people they
suspected of looting the crashed plane. The villagers were also taken to
the base of LIB526 but kept in a different lock-up.

These villagers were also interrogated and tortured until some lost
consciousness, but no one confessed. They were also released on 13.9.98.

The SPDC in Takhilaek are still issuing orders to find out who stole the 36
million Kyat from the crashed plane, and members of the military, police
and people's militia are strictly guarding all the crossings of Nam Mae Sai
river.

EXTORTION IN MURNG-YARNG

On 3.8.98, some 25 SPDC troops from IB227 led by Lt Yan Naing came to Wan
Hu village, Wan Hu tract, Murng-Yarng township, and arrested 3 villagers on
a charge of drug trafficking.

The troops demanded 5000 Kyat for the release of each and took them to the
military camp in Murng Yarng.

They were released on 6.8.98 after their families paid the ransom money
which they acquired by selling families' cattle.

BEATING AND ROBBING IN LAI-KHA

On 18.7.98, SPDC troops from LIB517 ransacked the villages of Pung Sop Hoo,
Nar Taw and Nam Ke in Nawng Keng tract, Lai-Kha township, beating,
torturing and robbing the villagers.  Men and women in these villages were
robbed of money, jewelry, clothes, food, household possessions, and
whiskey, among other items.  Many of them suffered beatings, including
being kicked, hit with rifle butts, slapped, suffocated, and beaten to
unconsciousness.

OTHER VIOLATIONS IN LAI-KHA

On 13.7.98, SPDC troops from LIB515 came to Nam Tok village, Nawng Leng
tract, Lai Kha township and robbed a female villager from Pung Sop Hoo
village. She lost 1 wrist watch, 2 pairs of ear-rings and 350 Kyat. She was
not asked anything, but was slapped 2 times.

On 26.7.98, SPDC troops of LIB515 led by Maj Thein Soe robbed a village
woman at Loi Kut Kham village, Phawng Seng tract, Lai Kha township. She
lost 4 Kyat-weight of gold and was tortured with fire while her head and
face were covered with clothes.

On 29.7.98, about 80 troops from the PNO (Pa-O National Organization, one
of the groups which signed a ceasefire with the Slorc) led by Capt Kerk
beat up the villagers of Huay Hok and Nar Wen in Huay Hok tract. They also
killed and ate 100 chickens, and robbed many other things from the villagers.

On 4.8.98, an SPDC-backed counter-insurgency group led by Kyaw Mya forced
the people of Murng-Paeng and Hai Khai tracts to sell rice paddy to them at
a rate of 12 baskets per house. They paid only 30 Kyat for every portion of
rice worth 100 Kyat.

On 6.8.98, a male villager of Nar Paw, Nawng Leng tract, Ing-Ta-Nyo, aged
45 and his son, aged 5, who were returning from their farm, met SPDC troops
from LIB513 near Kung Pek village, Nawng Leng tract. The troops arrested
the man and beat him until his head was bleeding in front of his son who
became so frightened that he cried and went into shock.

On 6.8.98, SPDC troops from LIB513 ransacked the area of Parng Kharn
village, Nawng Leng tract, and robbed the villagers.

RESTRICTIONS ON FARMERS IN KAE-SEE

On 23.6.98, Maj Thaung Sein from SPDC's IB286 in Kae-See, Commander of the
troops who were deployed in the areas of Murng Nawng and Murng Narng,
called the villagers of the following villages -- Nawng Wo, Wan Nar, Mark
Na, Nam Maw Sai, Wan Eet, Nawng Tao, Luk Khar and Nam Op etc. -- to a meeting.

At that meeting, Maj Thaung Sein announced that those who wanted to
cultivate rice had to enlist their names and get licences for doing so.
However, those who cultivated under licence had to give half of their
produce to the army. Those who grew rice without licence or without their
names being enlisted would be arrested and imprisoned, and their rice
fields or farms would be confiscated. He further announced that those who
wanted the licences for growing rice had to go and get them from Capt Ne
Myo Zaw at the military camp at Murng Narng.

FORCED LABOUR IN SOUTHERN TOWNSHIPS

Since May 1998, SPDC troops in Murng Pan, Larng Khur, Murng Nai and Nam
Zarng townships have been forcing civilian populations in the areas to
split stones near Ta Sarng, one of the main Salween river crossing points,
saying that they would pay 20 Kyat per person per day.

Ten persons from each township have to work for 15 days after which they
would be replaced by another batch of forced labourers. They have to bring
their own rice and the military only provide 1 condensed-milk tin of yellow
bean for each person for 1 day.
When the labourers who were released after working the required 15 days ask
for their daily wages which were promised them by the military, Capt Aung
Myint Oo from Murng Sart-based LIB333 who is in charge at Ta Sarng simply
told them that they would have to pay for the yellow bean they received
during the 15 working days -- 20 Kyat for 1 tin -- 300 Kyat each. So,
eventually no one received anything from the military. Whenever there were
enough split stones for 10 trucks, they would be trucked to some big cities
like Rangoon to be sold to rich people at a rate of 12000-15000 Kyat per
truck-load.

Shan Human Rights Foundation (S.H.R.F) 
P.O. Box 201, Phrasing P.O., Chiangmai 50200, Thailand 
E-mail: SHRF <shrf@xxxxxxxxxxxx> 
// END // 

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

THE NATION: AUNG GYI, BURMA'S COMMANDER OF ILL OMEN 
7 October, 1998 by Aung Zaw 

THE RECENT TRIP OF RETIRED BRIG-GEN AUNG GYI TO THE UNITED STATES HAS GIVEN
BURMA-WATCHERS NEW THINGS TO THINK ABOUT.

Retired Brig-Gen Aung Gyi was once known as Gen Ne Win's heir apparent.
Recently Aung Gyi surprised dissidents and Burma-watchers by visiting the
US and meeting several Burmese, including a visit to the popular radio
station Radio Free Asia (RFA).

Though no one exactly knew the real motive of the former generals
appearance in Washington, Burma's dissidents believe that the ruling junta,
the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), had given the green light
to Aung Gyi for a PR trip.

Aung Gyi was number two in the Revolutionary Council (RC) after Gen Ne Win
staged a coup in 1962, but his sunny day did not last long. He was ousted
in 1963 when he openly criticised the RC's economic policies.

But the retired general remained loyal to the army, and his connection with
'the Old Man' remained intact. It was a rare case for a police state like
Burma to pardon Aung Gyi's blunt criticism of the government.

Prior to the nationwide democracy uprising in 1988 Aung Gyi had written
several long and open letters to his former boss Ne Win.

He strongly criticised the government's Burmese Way to Socialism and warned
of possible social unrest and uprisings. In addition Aung Gyi's letters,
which were widely distributed throughout the nation, called for reform.

Frustrated with the Ne Win regime, students cheered Aung Gyi's letters. His
predictions were right as Burma faced nationwide uprisings. Aung Gyi was
somehow a hero. Again, his popularity did not last long.

He proved to be a bad politician. He failed to win the hearts and minds of
the Burmese people as he remained a staunch supporter of Ne Win and the
army. During the massacre in 1988, Aung Gyi irritated the people who came
to listen his speech by saying: "We must not feel bad about the army,"
adding: "not even in your minds". People were surprised and angry as the
army had just killed thousands of street demonstrators.

Just before the army staged a bloody coup in September 1988 he told a crowd
that he guaranteed that the army would not stage a coup. "I will kill
myself, [if the army staged a coup]" the retired general declared. A few
days later he was wrong again as tanks rolled into cities, killing hundreds
before staging a bloody coup.

In 1993 he was sentenced to six months for not paying a bill for eggs for
his bakery shops. At that time analysts believed t hat the real reason
behind this was Aung Gyi's criticism of the government.

This time again, dissidents in exile agreed that the re-emergence of Aung
Gyi, once dubbed a loose cannon, was significant. "Something is really up
in Rangoon," says Thar Nyunt Oo, a prominent activist now in exile.

Recently in an exclusive interview with Washington-based RFA Aung Gyi
lamented: "The country's economic situation is very, very bad. The people
are so poor, and the prices are going up and up. No one can afford to eat
good meals."

When asked about the army, he said: "People despise the tatmadaw [armed
forces]. This is a bad sign. The people of Burma have lost faith in the
tatmadaw." He later talked about the corruption and nepotism of the top
junta leaders. While the generals are filthy rich, Aung Gyi warned, the
army is divided, and the generals cannot even feed their own soldiers. With
this Aung Gyi impressed dissidents at home and abroad.

However, Aung Gyi showed who his real target was popular democracy leader
Aung San Suu Kyi. He said Suu Kyi was surrounded by "communists" and blamed
her party for doing nothing. The junta leaders made the same accusations as
Aung Gyi.

In fact Aung Gyi, together with Suu Kyi, founded the National League for
Democracy (NLD). He became a chairman of the party. Then a few months later
he resigned from the party over a disagreement with party secretary-general
Suu Kyi.

He later established his own political party, the Union National Democracy
Party. He lost in the 1990 general elections.

In his interview Aung Gyi blamed the NLD party for boycotting the National
Convention (NC), which is engineered by the military government. Aung Gyi
said the NC was a meaningful process towards a better Burma.

After listening to Aung Gyi's interview, dissidents and Burma-watchers
concluded that Aung Gyi had been given special permission to criticise both
the SPDC and NLD while promoting Ne Win and militarism in Burma. Before
leaving Rangoon, Aung Gyi wrote to Ne Win and his favourite daughter Sandar
Win. His letter to Sandar read: "It is undeniable that your father must
lead the country again. It will disintegrate otherwise." In his lengthy
interview, Aung Gyi promoted Ne Win's role, saying 'the Old Man' should
come back to help solve long-standing problems in the country.

He said Ne Win was the only person who could save the country. "I want U Ne
Win to contribute something before he dies, because he knows what is right
and wrong", Aung Gyi said.

He also admitted that "the Old Man" was still influential as the former
dictator had ordered his cronies to change the name of the government and
reshaped the Cabinet in 1997. "He was echoing the junta's policies and
saying nothing constructive," said Aung Moe Zaw, chairman of the Democratic
Party for a New Society, now based on the Thai-Burmese border.

"If he wants to see national reconciliation in Burma he could be more
constructive, but he is still pro-Ne Win and anti-Suu Kyi," Zaw Htun, a
25-year-old activist, said. Though many disagreed with what Aung Gyi said,
they acknowledged the fact that his re-emergence was a bad omen.

Essentially, Aung Gyi always appears just before the storm. "Aung Gyi never
comes but he brings misfortune,' student leader Moe Thee Zun- lamented. One
thing is sure, Aung Gyi knows his timing and always appears before the
explosion.

Aung Gyi and Burma's dissidents agree on one thing, that Burma is like a
volcano that could erupt at any time.

Aung Gyi thinks Burma's long-standing problems could be fixed with the help
of the ageing Ne Win, who is reportedly gravely ill and being treated in
Singapore.

He insisted that Ne Win was the engineer who could rebuild the nation. "If
he knows something is wrong, he will fix it", Aung Gyi declared. Yet the
Burmese do not believe "Ne Win never fixed it and let it go for 26 years
until Burma became one of the poorest countries," countered Thar Nyunt Oo.
"I think they [the generals] are paranoid and desperate: that's why they
picked Aung Gyi for the PR trip", he added.

Will Ne Win rise again and reconstruct the Burma that he ruined? Is Ne Win
ready for a historic handshake with Suu Kyi, who happens to be the daughter
of his former boss Gen Aung San?

Indeed the questions for Burma are ironic and sad. Bangkok-based dissident
jokingly says: "Who wants to save Burma? It's like a sinking Titanic."
Instead of fixing it and sending an SOS, it seems the former captain [Aung
Gyi] is ready to go down with the ship.

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THE NATION: SANCTIONS ON BURMA MUST CONTINUE 
7 October, 1998 by Kavi Chongkittavorn 

The deteriorating political situation in Burma has prompted the United
Nations, key Western countries and European Community as well as Asean to
look for ways to break the current deadlock.

The current United Nations General Assembly is preparing a resolution on
Burma, which is expected to be harsher than the previous year's given the
prevailing conditions there. The draft will be ready in a couple of weeks
and will be deliberated in early November.

Earlier, UN Secretary-General Koffi Annan had appointed Malaysian veteran
diplomat, Ismail Razali, former envoy to the UN headquarters in New York,
as a special envoy to Burma. In appointing Razali, Annan hoped that the
envoy could break the current stalemate and visit Burma. Before the UN
chief settled for Razali, he approached the outgoing Filipino President
Fidel Ramos for this important job, but Ramos declined. The name of former
prime minister Anand Panyarachun was also mentioned as a possible envoy,
but in the end Anand was not approached.

Annan and his UN political staff have been concerned with the growing
suppression inside Burma and would like to have its officials inside Burma
to assess the latest situation before the UN resolution is completed and
have urged both sides to begin serious dialogue of national reconciliation.

But Burma refused to allow Razali to enter the country. However, of late
there is an indication that the junta leaders would allow UN Secretary for
Political Affairs, Alvaro de Soto, to visit Burma as the Secretary
General's representative. Annan needs to submit a report to the current
session of the Commission on Human Rights on the situation in Burma.

Across the Atlantic, the European Community will have to decide by Oct 29
if the current two-year-old sanctions will continue or intensify. EU
foreign ministers have already warned that they would impose harsher
sanctions if the political situation there worsens and more opposition
representatives are taken behind bar. The Burmese junta leaders have been
arresting numerous opposition members including nearly 200 elected
representatives.

As part of the effort to find a solution to the situation in Burma, British
Minister of State, Derek Fatchett, has called for a two-day closed door
meeting in London on Oct 12-13. The meeting will be attended by top level
officials and diplomats from EU, US, Japan, South Korea, Asean as well as
the UN. It hopes to find ways to encourage both sides to begin a dialogue.

Within Asean, as-co-ordinator for Asean-EU co-operation, Thailand continues
to work with the EU to find a suitable way out so that Asean-EU
co-operation could proceed without any impediments. EU refused to sign a
protocol with Burma, Asean's newest member, that will permit the country to
accede to the 1980 Asean-EU agreement because of the human rights
violations in Burma.

Before the just concluded German election, Asean had high hopes that the
current acrimony over Burma between Asean and EU would end once Germany
takes over the EU presidency from Austria next January. The outgoing
foreign minister Rlaus Kinkle had a good rapport with the Asean foreign
ministers and he hoped to play a mediating role on both sides. He was
instrumental in improving Asean-EU ties in 1994 at the Karlruhe meeting in
Germany. Asean wished that he could perform the same role at the next
Asean-EU ministerial meeting.

But with the new German Cabinet in the making, it is highly possible that
the Green Party leader, Joschka Fischer, could succeed Kinkle. Fischer
would have a different style of diplomacy and advocacy which could affect
Bonn's stand on Burma and the rest of EU.

This subtle shift would toughen further the international stand on Burma,
which has been consolidated since the bridge stand off between Aung San Suu
Kyi and the Burmese junta leaders in July. Sensing a more active
international support and need to apply further pressure on the junta, on
Sept 17 the opposition formed a committee to act as a new parliament with
those who were elected in 1990, when the opposition won the election
landslide.

Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi has appealed to all democratically elected
parliaments of the world to give due recognition to the committee and
support its work.

If the current Asean-EU freeze continues, Asean will be under increased
pressure to bring about positive changes inside Burma. Some of the Asean
leaders have been concerned about the political repression inside Burma.
They have discussed ways to start a dialogue between the opposition and the
Burmese junta.

However, the international effort, they realised, would not produce any
result if China, the country with the most influence in Burma, is not on
board. Diplomats in Thailand and Jakarta believe that Asean can still
persuade China to take part in the national reconciliation effort in Burma.
Beijing has maintained strong and cordial relations with Rangoon.

Asean admitted Burma last year because it feared growing Chinese influence
in Southeast Asia. The Asean leaders thought that bringing Burma into Asean
would help contain China's southward influence. But that has not happened.
In fact, the Asean concern remains there, even though Beijing has improved
ties with Asean by leaps and bounds.

If the international support for Suu Kyi remains solid, including possible
recognition of her new committee, pressure on Asean will continue to grow
to improve the situation in Burma either on its own or with China's
co-operation.

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