The BurmaNet News: October 30, 1998

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 "Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies"
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The BurmaNet News: October 30, 1998
Issue #1129

HEADLINES:
==========
MIC: INFO SHEET - VISIT OF UN ASST. SEC. GEN. 
SCMP: SPY CHIEF'S MOVE MAY PROVE A POLITICAL PLOY 
NCUB: POLITICAL AFFAIRS COMMITTEE 
REUTERS: RIGHTS VIOLATIONS PERSIST - UN REPORT 
GIU: ETHNIC OPPOSITION-THE REAL TARGET OF WAR ON DRUGS? 
XINHUA: MYANMAR TO COOPERATE WITH ASIAN COUNTRIES
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MYANMAR INFORMATION COMMITTEE: INFORMATION SHEET NO. A-0671(I)
29 October, 1998 from <OKKAR66129@xxxxxxx> 

[Information Sheets issued under the email addresses MYANPERSP@xxxxxxx and
OKKAR66129@xxxxxxx match those issued by the Directorate of Defence
Services Intelligence (DDSI) in Rangoon, and can be assumed to reflect
official SPDC opinion.]

Visit of the U.N Assistant Secretary General

The Assistant Secretary General of the United Nations Organization Mr.
Alvaro de Soto arrived Yangon on 27 October.  During his visit the
Assistant Secretary General called on the Secretary -1 of the State Peace
and Development Council Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt, Minister for Foreign Affairs U
Ohn Gyaw and Minister at the State Peace and Development Council Chairman's
Office Brig-Gen D.O. Abel.

At the meeting with Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt which took place on 28 October, the
Secretary-1 clarified the current political, social and economic situation
of Myanmar.  Mr. Alvaro de Soto also conveyed the wishes and position of
the Secretary General Mr. Kofi Annan regarding the Union of Myanmar, and
then exchanged  views in a cordial atmosphere. The meeting was reported to
be constructive and fruitful.

It is learnt that Mr. [Alvaro] de Soto also met Daw Aung San Su Kyi and
some Central Executive Committee members of National League for Democracy. 

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SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST: SPY CHIEF'S MOVE MAY PROVE A POLITICAL PLOY
28 October, 1998 by William Barnes 

Burma's powerful intelligence chief, General Khin Nyunt, dominates a new
committee that may be designed to strengthen his political control.

The 16-man committee is officially designed to provide the ruling junta
with "political policy research". But there is speculation General Khin
Nyunt will use it to consolidate his command of the military's campaign
against opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for
Democracy.

Military intelligence has co-ordinated the harassment of Ms Aung San Suu
Kyi and her colleagues in the party whenever they demand political rights.

The general may be no political liberal but even his critics have
recognised that by the junta's standards he is a wily pragmatist.

He has long been viewed as the heir apparent to the reportedly ailing
former dictator General Ne Win, who is still thought to wield considerable
influence over the regime's senior leaders.

Yet General Khin Nyunt must still seek consensus over major policy issues
with other senior members of the junta who actually control fighting
troops, according to analysts.

There is speculation that the new committee will create a political party
ready to take part in elections whenever the military feels confident it
can control them.

"It is very likely that the major thrust will take the form of attempting
to co-opt opposition elements . . . and transform them eventually into
docile and powerless supporters," said Burma analyst Chao-Tzang Yanwghwe,
of the University of British Columbia.

If so, it would be the military's biggest move since the junta pruned
itself of its most grossly corrupt or inefficient members late last year.
But some diplomatic observers in Rangoon are cautious: they cannot confirm
that his power has been significantly increased by the formation of the
committee.

"I agree that it could herald more political activity and perhaps a move
into party politics. But if I was the League I would be inclined to see
this as merely a means to find new and creative ways of snuffing them out,"
said one senior diplomat. 

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NATIONAL COUNCIL OF THE UNION OF BURMA: POLITICAL AFFAIRS COMMITTEE 
22 October, 1998 

Statement on SPDC Political Affairs Committee formed on Sept. 18, 1998

1. The Committee has 16 members with SPDC Secretary-1 Lt. Gen. Khin Nyunt
(Chief of OSS) as Chairman, Lt. Col. Pe Nyein, Director General of the
Office of the SPDC as secretary and Col. Than Tun, Head of the Department
of Office of Strategic Studies (OSS) of the Ministry of Defence as Joint
Secretary. The members are SPDC secretary-3 Lt. Gen. Win Myint, commander
of Rangoon Command Maj. Gen. Khin Maung Than, Interior Minister Col. Tin
Hlaing, Information Minister Maj. Gen. Kyi  Aung, Science and Technology
Minister U Thaung, Education Minister U Than Aung, Chief Justice U Aung
Toe, Attorney Gen. U Tha Dun, Election Commission Secretary U Aye Maung,
Joint-secretary of National Convention Convening Working Committee U Thaung
Nyunt, Deputy Information Minister U Thein Sein, Deputy Chief of OSS Brig.
Gen. Kyaw Win and Head of the Department of OSS Col. Than Aye.

2. A study of the list shows that the committee is composed of people
connected to Khin Nyunt and supporting him. The Committee has been formed
with the aim of controlling political development, through it bears a name
suggesting something else. It therefore seems to indicate that the Khin
Nyunt led faction of the SPDC has managed to strengthen itself compared to
the other members of the SPDC and that Khin Nyunt aims at gaining political
control of Burma.

3. The SPDC has consistently been saying, since it seized state power on 18
September 1988, that it is only a military government and that, as it is
not a political government, it cannot discuss political matters with any
political organization. Now, it seems that this committee could serve as a
side door for escape by proffering political negotiation, should the
situation of the country deteriorate further or a crisis develop within the
SPDC. It is evident that Khin Nyunt and his supporters have made a clever
preemptive move for political initiative. The move is calculated to make
themselves appear as a moderate group trying to avoid bloodshed, while
making other members of the SPDC appear as culprits of the savagery and
repression in Burma. The cease-fire agreements concluded between the
SLORC/SPDC and 15 armed ethnic groups are a good illustration of how Khin
Nyunt attempts to increase his influence. At that time, he was the one who
stepped forward to take the credit and honour. When negotiations broke
down, such as was the case with the KNU, and a brutal military offensive
involving indiscriminate killings and whole-scale destruction was launched,
Khin Nyunt's supporters spread the rumour that it was done by Maung Aye and
Tin Oo.

4. Moreover, both the chief justice, the attorney general and the secretary
of the election commission are included as ordinary members in the
committee under Khin Nyunt. If a government were to implement a transition
to democracy, there should be separation of powers among the executive,
legislative and judicial branches. There should not be any interference in
one from another. However, in the case of present Burma, Khin Nyunt
controls all the three powers. 

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REUTERS: RIGHTS VIOLATIONS PERSIST IN MYANMAR - UN REPORT 
28 October, 1998 by Anthony Goodman 

UNITED NATIONS, Oct 28 (Reuters) - Human rights violations, ranging from
torture of prisoners and forced labour to the monitoring of opposition
political parties, persist in Myanmar, according to a report by a U.N.
investigator released on Wednesday.

The situation in Myanmar, formerly Burma, "has not evolved in any
favourable way" since an earlier report on the matter in April, said
Rajsoomer Lallah of Mauritius, a member of the U.N.

HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION.

"Many reports indicate that in Myanmar political parties in opposition
continue to be subject to intense and constant monitoring by the regime,
aimed at restricting their activities and prohibiting members of political
parties from leaving their localities," he said.

The report was released as U.N. Assistant Secretary-General Alvaro de Soto
was on a four-day visit to Myanmar, seeking a more democratic government in
the southeast Asian nation of than 41 million people.

De Soto had a meeting on Wednesday with Lieutenant-General Khin Nyunt, the
head of military intelligence and a top member of the ruling military council.

De Soto was also reported to have met the leader of the National League for
Democracy (NLD), Aung San Suu Kyi, winner of the 1991 Nobel peace prize,
whose party won Myanmar's last election in 1990, but was never allowed to
take office.

Referring to Suu Kyi, Lallah wrote in his report that he was particularly
concerned about "the inability of her party to organise normal political
meetings and functions."

He also said he remained "deeply concerned about the continued harassment
of political leaders and the detention of many political prisoners."

Lallah said he has received "reports indicating that torture and
ill-treatment, including beatings in prisons and interrogation centres,
continue to be a common practice."

In view of the sanitary conditions, lack of medical attention and refusal
to allow access by the International Committee of the Red Cross, he said he
was "not surprised to continue to receive information, to the effect, that
several prisoners have died in prison, including several members or
sympathisers of the NLD."

Lallah said he also still received reports that there is forced labour
across the nation.

He cited the findings of a commission of inquiry, established by the
International Labour Organisation, that forced labour was imposed on the
civilian population for portering, building and maintenance of military
camps, roads, railways and bridges, as well as for work in agriculture,
logging and other projects.

Another area of concern was the "serious human rights violations that
continue to be committed by the armed forces in ethnic minority areas," he
said.

"The violations include extrajudicial and arbitrary executions (not sparing
women and children), rape, torture, inhuman treatment, forced labour and
denial of freedom of movement," he said.

Lallah said these violations had been so numerous as to suggest they were
not isolated incidents "but are rather the result of policy at the highest
level, entailing political and legal responsibility."

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GLOBAL INTELLIGENCE UPDATE: ETHNIC OPPOSITION - THE REAL TARGET OF
MYANMAR'S WAR ON DRUGS? 
30 October, 1998 from <alert@xxxxxxxxxxxx> 

[BurmaNet Editor's Note: for an interesting analysis and critique of the
ethnic minorities-drug war link, please see COMMENTARY: BURMA'S
"MINORITIES" AND DRUGS: HAMBURGER FLIPPERS AND THE MCDONALDS EMPIRE by
Chao-Tzang Yawnghwe in The BurmaNet News, Issue #1122, 21 October, 1998.]

According to an anonymous Thai intelligence officer, cited by the
Associated Press on October 27, Myanmar's army has deployed six battalions
to eastern Shan state to destroy heroin refineries along the Thai border.
Thai military intelligence reportedly believes that the new anti-drug
offensive may be the result of a dispute between the army and local
warlords over protection money from heroin producers.  However, recent
contention between the ruling junta, also known as the State Peace and
Development Council (SPDC), and Myanmar's opposition National League for
Democracy (NLD) over support from the country's ethnic minorities suggests
that there may be more behind the offensive than money. The drug labs are
all reportedly guarded by heavily armed members of ethnic minority
guerrilla groups, particularly the Shan and the Wa.  The offensive has
already targeted labs belonging to or guarded by ethnic Lahu, Shan and
Chinese.

On October 15, the official newspaper New Light of Myanmar reported that 42
members of the ethnic Shan Mong Tai Army (MTA) guerrilla group had
surrendered to the government since the beginning of October.  The MTA was
previously headed by drug warlord Khun Sa who surrendered to the government
in 1996. According to the Thai intelligence source cited by AP, a Myanmar
army attack on a heroin lab last week at Mong Thaw in southern Shan State
drove 52 MTA guerrillas into Thailand, where they surrendered to the Thai
army.  The New Light of Myanmar also reported that more than 200 members of
the ethnic Karen National Union (KNU), which continues to battle government
forces along the Thai border, had surrendered earlier this year.  According
to relief workers, the Myanmar army has continued to attack Karen refugee
camps and KNU bases in Thailand.

In the October 5 issue of the Asia Intelligence Update, we wrote that, "The
junta's primary concern is the support the NLD has garnered from Myanmar's
formerly militant ethnic minority groups," with most of whom the SPDC has
managed to sign cease- fire accords.  Myanmar's ethnic minorities, long a
major source of instability in the country, are proving to be a major point
of contention between the SPDC and the opposition.  Opposition leader Aung
San Suu Kyi's threat to convene the parliament, whose 1990 election was
overturned by the junta, drew support from the Shan Nationalities People's
Liberation Organization (SPLO), the Kayan New Land Party (KNLP), and the
Karenni National People's Liberation Front (KNPLF).  SPDC representatives
met with ethnic leaders and convinced them to withdraw their formal
statement of support for Suu Kyi, but the opposition claimed the ethnic
groups only backed down under government threats.  The SPDC then issued a
statement on September 28, condemning NLD efforts to convene parliament as
threatening to the peace accords with Myanmar's ethnic groups.  The
statement charged that the NLD's activities "would lead to the
disintegration of the Union and cause suspicion between the government and
the national groups."

The junta's new anti-drug campaign comes on top of continued political
maneuvering between the junta and the opposition over support from
Myanmar's ethnic minorities.  The most prominent feature of the
government's effort to lay claim to ethnic minority support has been a
series of recent pro-government rallies featuring ethnic representatives
condemning the NLD. Myanmar's state television broadcast an hour-long
report on October 13 regarding a pro-government rally in Lashio, northern
Shan State.  The report emphasized the participation of "members of
cultural delegations from indigenous races" at the 23,000- person rally.
Featured speakers included members of the Shan, Kokang, and Palaung ethnic
groups.  Rally chairman U Khun Maung, a reported Shan national, called on
all of Myanmar, particularly northern Shan State, "to oppose and contain
the destructive acts of the NLD's Suu Kyi and national traitors, who are
trying to undermine peace, stability and economic development."

The SPDC has also held recent pro-government rallies in Yangon, Mandalay,
and Rakhine states, as well as one on October 24 in the southern coastal
state of Taninthayi, reportedly with an attendance of 23,000.  The rallies
have been condemned as shams by opposition and ethnic groups, including the
National Council of the Union of Burma (NCUB), the Palaung State Liberation
Front (PSLF), the Wa National Organization (WNO), and the Lahu Democratic
Front (LDF).  In a joint statement on October 20, the PSLF, WNO and LDF
particularly condemned the military's impersonation of Shan nationals at
the rallies.

The government has also targeted ethnic minority supporters of the NLD more
directly.  On October 9, in Moulmein, Mon state, east of Yangon, the SPDC
formally charged Mon National Democratic Front (MNDF) chairman Naing Ngwe
Thein for his support for Aung San Suu Kyi's Committee Representing the
Parliament (CRP).  Two members of parliament from the Mon ethnic minority
MNDF were also charged under the Emergency Provision Act.  The SPDC told
Agence France Presse that the MNDF had been deregistered in 1992 for
supporting "armed terrorist groups," and confirmed that Naing Ngwe Thein
was being held while investigations of his illegal activities were carried
out.

The SPDC's new anti-heroin campaign may aim to emphasize to international
observers Myanmar's commitment to the war on drugs. It may also be a means
for the SPDC to gain a larger share of narcotics revenues.  But considering
the growing competition between the SPDC and the NLD for the hearts and
minds of Myanmar's ethnic minorities, the offensive looks like something
more.  If the government is attempting a preemptive strike on Myanmar's
ethnic guerrillas, it would mean that the NLD has won their support.  While
this would pose a threat to Myanmar's authoritarian regime, something
welcome in the West, it also raises the question of what quid pro quo the
NLD reached with the narcotic-trafficking rebels to win their support?
Will democracy in Myanmar come with an opium scented price?

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XINHUA: MYANMAR TO COOPERATE WITH ASIAN COUNTRIES IN SEARCH OF NEW PATH 
29 October, 1998 

YANGON (Oct. 29) XINHUA - Myanmar is willing to cooperate with other Asian
countries in search for a new path for investment in the country.

A Myanmar delegation, led by Brigadier-General Maung Maung, Minister at the
Office of the Chairman of the State Peace and Development Council and
Secretary of the Myanmar Investment Commission, is in Japan to attend the
Fifth Message from Asia: In Search for a New Path.

The two-day meeting is an annual event. It is sponsored by Japan and will
be held on October 29-30. It was attended by most Asian countries, ASEAN
countries in particular.

Due to impact of the Asian financial crisis, Myanmar received only 1.3
billion U.S. dollars of foreign investment in 1997, one billion dollars
less than that in 1996. Myanmar wants to attract more investors to the
country during the meeting.

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