The BurmaNet News: December 18, 199

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Subject: The BurmaNet News: December 18, 1998

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 "Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies"
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The BurmaNet News: December 18, 1998
Issue #1161

Noted in Passing: "All members of Monywa township (NLD) organising
committee will resign failing which my duty is to take appropriate action.
Resignations can be made individually also."  - Chairman of local Peace and
Development Council in Monywa township of Sagaing Division (see NLD:
STATEMENT #121) 

HEADLINES:
==========
DVB: BURMESE FIRE SERVICES GIVEN ARMS TRAINING 
NLD: STATEMENT #121 
THE NATION: LITTLE TO HELP BURMA'S FORESTS
AP: THAI TROOPS ON ALERT ALONG MYANMAR BORDER 
THE NATION: ESTRADA PUSHES JUNTA ON REFORMS 
AFP: MYANMAR SEEKS "QUIET DIPLOMACY" IN ASEAN 
IPS: EXILED ARTIST PAINTS FOR DEMOCRACY 
ANNC: DANISH PARLIAMENTARIANS GIVE SUPPORT TO CRPP 
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DEMOCRATIC VOICE OF BURMA: BURMESE FIRE SERVICES GIVEN ARMS TRAINING
11 December, 1998 

It has been reported that the SPDC [State Peace and Development Council] is
giving arms training to members of Fire Services in Phaunggyi in order to
deploy them in case of mass uprising.  This arms training will be given
every four months and Fire Services personnel will be given a stipend of
600 Kyat and 12 Pyi of rice monthly.  It is said that Fire Services are
being given arms training due to lack of manpower in the Army and the
Police Force and to use the Fire Services in case of a mass uprising.  It
is aimed at putting Fire Services up against the people and to hoodwink
international opinion by giving the impression of non-involvement of the Army.

Meanwhile, various methods are being used in pressuring the NLD [National
League for Democracy] members to sign letters of resignation. Armed with
typed letters of resignation, authorities are coercing and coaxing NLD
members to resign.  They have taken pictures of NLD signboards which had
been removed forcefully and showed the pictures to NLD members in other
townships, saying others had already brought down the party signboards.
They are using such propaganda methods to demoralize and confuse the NLD
members.  In some townships where NLD Executive Committees steadfastly
resisted pressure to resign, they give the impression of resignation by the
entire party.  It is understood that arms training are being given to Fire
Services to deploy them in case of mass uprising. 

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NLD: STATEMENT #121
14 December, 1998 

National League for Democracy
(97/b), West Shwegondine
Bahan, Rangoon

Statement 121 (12/98)

1.	The National League for Democracy is a legally constituted political
party performing legal duties in the national interest and as such, all its
branches at state, division, township and village levels, all its
organising committees and all other working groups automatically have the
same legal status as the central body. This organisation was duly
registered in conformity with the law promulgated by the authorities that
had assumed state power in 1988.

2.     (a) 	In breach of the provisions contained in the Political Parties
Registration Law; in breach of the principles of the rule of law; in breach
of its own laws (laws made by them); the authorities are now deceitfully
announcing that NLD township branches have been voluntarily dissolved when
the truth of the matter is that by the use of power and authority and
intimidation, these branches and organising committees are now being
decapitated by them. These activities by the authorities are illegal and
unjust and do not have the force of law. In the same way they have forces
the resignations of our members. This is illegal and abuse of power to the
extreme.

        (b) 	We declare that the above activities are totally unacceptable
and strongly denounce such reprehensible conduct.

3.	Illegal methods used by the Military Intelligence and specific instances
of forced closures of branches and resignations of members are cited below:-

	(a) 	In some townships while most of the members of the organising
committees were arrested, the remaining one or two members were threatened
and made to close down. The office signboards, seals, documents and other
paraphernalia were forcefully removed and taken by the authorities to the
respective election commission offices. There was no entrustment by the
members.

	(b) 	One outstanding instance relates to the branch in Monywa township of
Sagaing Division where the chairman of the local State Peace and
Development Council issued a summons (similar to the procedure adopted in a
criminal matter) to the organising committee for their attendance at his
office without fail on the 3 November 1998. This is what was said by him:
" xxxxx    The news about resignations of NLD members must be known to you.
All township organising committee members have also resigned. The
organising committee members of ChaungOo township (Sagaing division) have
also resigned, Therefore, all members of Monywa township organising
committee will resign failing which my duty is to take appropriate action.
Resignations can be made individually also.  xxxxx" (Note: Evidence of the
limitless use of authority)

	(c) 	The members of the township organising committee rejected the orders
to resign.

	(d) 	(1) 	The resolution taken by the ChaungOo township of Sagaing
Division was as follows:-  " The Township Executive Committee will not be
dissolved and the members have no intention whatsoever of resigning."

		(2) 	Regarding the allegation that 12 members from this township had
resigned the fact is that those twelve members had lose touch with the
party for a long period of time and had not participated in the activities
of the organisation. In order to swell their figures, the authorities have
deceitfully included them in their list of resignations.

		(3) 	The NLD signboard was illegally and forcefully removed by the
authorities on 27 November 1998 at 10:30 a.m without the knowledge or
approval of the members. Again, the display of boundless authority.

	(e)	On the 26 November 1998, a summons was sent by the local office of the
Elections Commissioner of Chauk township, Magwe Division to the members of
the NLD organising committee "inviting" them to "attend without fail" for
"discussions". "Discussions" and "without fail" are contradictory terms and
indicates boundless authority. The chairman of this Commission skillfully
told thus:  " xxxxx    Our premises is open for discussion of party matters
with individuals or in groups at all times.   xxxxx" and that as far as the
committee was concerned, they (individually or as a group) had no questions
to ask.

	(f)	(1) 	In Myaung township of Sagaing Division. members of the local SPDC
and members of the USDA who have nothing to do with the issue went to the
villages and threatened the grass roots of the organisaions by saying:
"xxxxx    Your representatives in parliament, your organising committee
members have all resigned and if you all do not resign you will be in big
trouble. When the party is declared an illegal party, action will be taken
against you so you had better resign now and we will help you. xxxxx"

		(2) 	In addition, the information we have received is that illegal
pressure is being applied and the people are being enticed with promises of
advantages if they will "speak out and organise themselves to cause
disenchantment against the General Secretary Daw Aung San Suu Kyi".

	(g) 	Some members of the NLD have been threatened with action under
Section 5(j) of the 1950 Emergency Provisions Law if they do not resign.

	(h)	The most loathsome of all their actions is by the military
intelligence who have obtained signatures of resignations from persons
pretending to be members of he NLD-this is the information that we have
received and is happening especially in the Irrawaddy Division.

4. 	We urge the higher authorities to direct their subordinates to stop and
refrain from these evil, unscrupulous and scurrilous practices.

Central Executive Committee
National League for Democracy
14 December 1998 

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THE NATION: 3D VISION - LITTLE THE WORLD CAN DO TO HELP BURMA'S FORESTS
17 December, 1998 by James Fahn 

EDITORIAL & OPINION

A NEW REPORT UNDERLINES THE DILEMMA ENVIRONMENTALISTS FACE IN DECIDING
WHETHER TO PRACTICE "PROTECTIVE ENGAGEMENT" WITH THE MILITARY POWERS IN
RANGOON.

Any high-profile corporation deciding to invest in Burma under its current
military regime is bound to become the subject of controversy. But the same
is also true for non-government organisations seeking to work in the
strife-torn country.

A new report on Burma's forests compiled by the US-based World Resources
reveals just how difficult it is for outsiders to help Burma conserve its
natural bounty. The issue is crucial because Burma now contains half of the
remaining forests in mainland Southeast Asia, but perhaps not for long.
Burma's forests are increasingly falling prey to loggers exporting timber,
usually illegally, to neighbouring countries such as China, Thailand and
India, which have already cut down most of their own forests due to
unsustainable logging practices. Unless action is taken soon, Burma will
follow in their footsteps, and suffer all the related environmental
problems of massive flooding, soil erosion and dry-season water shortages
that have become so common in the region.

Thailand helped kick off this trend when, following the takeover of Burma
by the ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council (Slorc) in 1988,
then-Army chief Gen Chavalit Yongchaiyudh flew to Rangoon and helped secure
42 logging concessions for Thai companies in exchange for hard currency
that helped the cash-strapped regime stay afloat.

Apparently fed up with the Thais' clear-cutting tactics, Burma has since
revoked the concessions, but illegal logging by both Thai and Chinese firms
continues inside Burma, with authorities either turning a blind eye or
extending a greased palm. Meanwhile, an illegal timber trade is now also
said to be flourishing along the Indian-Burmese border.

This dire situation is highlighted in the report "Logging Burma's Frontier
Forests: Resources and the Regime", which provides a welcome addition to
our scant knowledge of the forestry situation in a country isolated by its
dictatorial rulers. A useful summary, complete with interactive maps, can
be found on the Internet at http://www.wri.org/ffi/burma/.

Slorc, now known as the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), is not
solely to blame for logging in border areas, where most of Burma's
remaining forests can be found. Some of the country's ethnic minority
groups have also overseen extensive logging operations to support their
insurrections against the central government. But the report makes clear
that most of the blame falls on the country's military rulers.

"The rate of deforestation in Burma has more than doubled since the Slorc
came to power in 1988," it states. "Timber exports have helped pay for the
regime's arms purchases and a doubling in the size of the army."

Logging also seems to be at its most rapacious in the areas controlled by
the military. The declared value of Burma's timber exports amounted to
roughly US$190 million in 1995, making it the country's largest foreign
exchange earner. Teak sales alone totaled more than $150 million, close to
10 per cent of Burma's GDP. And these are just the official figures.

Making the situation even more precarious is that Burma's system of
protected areas is so weak. Only five per cent of the country's area falls
under protected status, and enforcement is often lacking. For instance,
Burma's first wildlife sanctuary, the 200,000-hectare Pindaung reserve set
up in 1918, has been so degraded by poaching, encroachment and government
counter-insurgency measures that, according to the report, it "has
effectively ceased to exist".

Officials at Burma's Ministry of Forestry are generally considered to be
well-meaning and capable, and the Forest Policy it came up with three years
ago is considered promising (if lacking in terms of social forestry), but
it has been rendered largely ineffective due to the ministry's lack of
political power, especially compared to the Myanmar Timber Enterprise
(MTE), a state agency which has a monopoly over teak sales and funnels
revenue to the SPDC.

Indeed, although it is not mentioned in the report, in 1995 Slorc
effectively broke a ceasefire agreement and went to war with the Karenni
National Progressive Party, a resistance group which was undermining the
MTE's teak monopoly by smuggling logs into Thailand's Mae Hong Son province.

Even where logging is kept at bay, a thriving illegal wildlife trade has
"hollowed out" Burma's few conservation areas. "Hunting with the aim of
selling wildlife parts to China is particularly severe," according to the
report. "For example, the rhinoceros population of Tamanthi, Burma's
largest national park, has been almost completely wiped out [and] all
indications point to the tiger population being very thin throughout much
of its native habitat."

Under these conditions, official plans to increase the number of protected
areas to cover 10 per cent of the country, although admirable, will have a
limited impact, and in some cases the motives behind declaring conservation
zones seem murky at best. Total and Unocal, two oil companies which have
built a pipeline to transport gas from Burma's Gulf of Martaban into
Thailand, have proposed the creation of the huge Myanmoletkat Nature
Reserve in southern Burma which would cover the area the pipeline runs
through. It would also overlap with the Kaserdoh Wildlife Sanctuary
established by the Karen National Union, another resistance group still
actively fighting the SPDC.

In the words of the WRI report, the gazetting of the reserve "has raised
concerns about the extent to which the regime's renewed interest in
environmental protection is being driven by its desire to relocate
populations that might pose a security risk to key infrastructure projects".

The issues surrounding Myanmoletkat highlight the political difficulties
outsiders face in their efforts to promote conservation in Burma. Among all
the international environmental groups, only the US-based Wildlife
Conservation Society has decided to bite the proverbial bullet and work
with the government by helping to train officials in protected area
management, despite the criticisms of pro-democracy activists, who claim it
is helping to prop up the military regime. Most green groups seem to agree
that constructive engagement -- or in this case, protective engagement --
with the military regime is not a wise policy, and have opted to stay out.

By all accounts, the authors of the WRI report had a difficult time coming
to a decision on this issue, but in the end they essentially concluded that
attempting to work with the current Burmese regime simply isn't worthwhile.

"Under different political circumstances, our overriding recommendation to
the international community would be that it should support the Ministry of
Forestry to implement its own Forest Policy. In practice, however, this
recommendation is meaningless because none of the preconditions for more
rational forest management exists in Burma," the report concludes.

The authors content themselves with advising the international community to
"support projects that shed light on what is happening on the ground",
include forestry and environmental issues in any international dialogue
with Burma, and use existing treaties to exchange information about
forestry management with Burma.

In practice, this means that the only hope for Burma's forests rests with a
more responsible attitude from the country's neighbours, and that is a
faint hope indeed. In the end, like so much else in Burma, meaningful
action to protect the forests must await some kind of political settlement.

[James Fahn is a journalist currently working on the TV show Rayngan
Si-khiow, which can be seen every Sunday at 14:00 on iTV. He can be reached
via e-mail at jfahn@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

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ASSOCIATED PRESS: THAI TROOPS ON ALERT ALONG MYANMAR BORDER
16 December, 1998 

BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) -- Thai army units along the border with Myanmar
have been on alert since last week in anticipation of renewed fighting
between ethnic rebels and Myanmar's military government, Thailand's army
commander in chief said today.

"We haven't increased the number of troops, but the troops are on alert and
we have rapid reaction forces ready," Gen. Surayud Chulanont told The
Associated Press.

Hostilities in Myanmar have repeatedly spilled onto Thai soil, with both
Myanmar soldiers and the ethnic guerrillas allied with them crossing the
border to burn refugee camps throughout 1997.

More than 100,000 mostly Karen refugees are living in camps inside
Thailand, having fled what they charge is an ethnic cleansing campaign
conducted by Myanmar's military.

The Karen have been fighting for autonomy from the government in Yangon
since 1949. In recent years the Myanmar army has dislodged them from most
of their bases inside the country.

With the 50th anniversary of their rebellion coming up in January, some
rebel leaders expect the army will launch another offensive aimed at wiping
them out.

Surayud said that he was seeking permission from the Interior Ministry to
move the refugees farther inside Thailand to make it more difficult for
invading forces to reach them.

The Thai army, under Surayud's predecessor, Gen. Chetta Thanajaro, was
criticized by international human rights groups and Western governments
last year for failing to protect the refugees.

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THE NATION: ESTRADA PUSHES JUNTA ON REFORMS
17 December, 1998 

MANILA -- Philippine President Joseph Estrada has told Burmese junta leader
Gen Than Shwe to hasten national reconciliation in order to set foundations
for political stability and economic growth, the presidential palace said
on Wednesday.

Estrada met Than Shwe in Hanoi on Tuesday on the sidelines of the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) summit.

"I advised him to immediately put the constitution in place so that they
can start their development. After all, they have no constitution yet," a
palace statement quoted Estrada as saying.

Estrada's spokesman Fernando Barican said the Philippine leader recounted
his country's experience after the ousting of dictator Ferdinand Marcos in
1986.

"The president noted the Philippines' both political and economical
experiences and urged all sectors in Burma to have national reconciliation
as a way of furthering economic and political growth and development,"
Barican said in Hanoi.

He said Estrada had also assured Than Shwe that Manila would expand a
scholarship programme for Burmese students in local universities, including
the elite Philippine Military Academy.

Both leaders also agreed to expand trade and investment.

Than Shwe heads the ruling junta in Rangoon called the State Peace and
Development Council which has been accused by Western powers of massive
human rights abuses.

The council has refused to turn power over to the National League for
Democracy (NLD) which won a landslide victory in the elections in 1990.

In Burma, the state-run New Light of Myanmar reported on Wednesday that 53
more NLD members had resigned voluntarily. "They no longer wish to
participate in political activities of NLD," the paper said.

In addition, the party's office in Tachilek, a northern city straddling the
border with Thailand, has been closed and the local chapter of the party
disbanded, the paper said.

Pro-democracy and NLD leader Suu Kyi has said the resignations have been
coerced by the military and her party's leadership does not recognise them
as valid.

Since the middle of the year, the military government has arrested nearly a
thousand NLD members, only releasing those who resign from the party or
sign agreements to cease all political activity.

For months the military insisted that arrested NLD members were staying at
government guest houses by their own choice and engaging in friendly
discussions with their hosts.

However, at a press conference earlier this month, Col Hla Min, the
government spokesman, called the NLD members hostages and said they would
not be released until Suu Kyi rescinds her call to convene parliament.

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AFP: MYANMAR SEEKS "QUIET DIPLOMACY" AND NON-INTERFERENCE IN ASEAN
15 December, 1998 

HANOI, Dec 15 (AFP) - Myanmar junta leader Senior General Than Shwe urged
ASEAN Tuesday not to abandon the grouping's policy of not interfering in
each other's internal affairs and to stick to "quiet diplomacy."

In his opening address at a two-day Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(ASEAN) summit here, Than Shwe said the "ASEAN way of seeking consensus"
had strengthened relations among its nine members.

"We remain confident that the solidarity of our association can be further
consolidated by reaffirming our basic fundamentals," he told leaders from
Brunei, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and
Vietnam.

"The guiding principles of respect for sovereignty and non-interference in
the internal affairs of one another remain valid today as they were
enunciated," he said.

"By pursuing quiet diplomacy and enhanced positive interaction, we shall
surely be able to overcome the pessimists and build an ASEAN worthy of
taking its rightful place in the international community."

Myanmar was inducted into ASEAN in July last year along with Laos. ASEAN
members hoped its entry into the regional mainstream would prod internal
reform in Myanmar, but the ruling junta remains widely criticized for human
rights abuses.

It is also locked in a protracted political struggle with pro-democracy
leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who urged ASEAN leaders ahead of the summit to
give human rights a higher priority.

Than Shwe lamented Asia's financial crisis, saying each member country had
been affected to a varying degree, and warning "it is a situation that will
be with us in the immediate future."

But he believed the region would emerge from the crisis stronger, citing
strong economic fundamentals and collective commitment among ASEAN
countries to cooperate and integrate.

"We in Myanmar, are quite confident that our countries will be able to
overcome the present difficulties and that our region will again rise up to
resume its rightful position as the most economically dynamic region of the
world," he added.

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IPS: EXILED ARTIST PAINTS FOR DEMOCRACY
17 December, 1998 by Soe Myint 

NEW DELHI, Dec (IPS) - Burmese artist Sitt Nyein Aye, who has lived in
exile in India for the past 10 years, paints for the pro-democracy movement
which is stifled in his home country.

''I feel I am a gardener ... I want to give my knowledge and art to the
Burmese pro-democracy youth who lack support,'' he says. Well known in
Burma where he had his own art gallery in  Mandalay, he now lives on the
assistance provided by the United Nations High  Commissioner for Refugees
(UNHCR) in New Delhi.

The UNHCR recently cleared him for resettlement in Canada, but Sitt has not
made up his mind about leaving India. He wants to stay here close to other
activists fighting for democracy in their country.

''I cannot live without doing something (for the democracy struggle),'' he
says. ''I have to do something, either painting in thoughts or in reality.''

Sitt's paintings proclaim bold political statements on canvas. 'High
Soaring Birds', done in exile has white doves soaring above a Chinthe, the
ubiquitous guardian symbol of Burmese temples, to reflect the aspirations
of pro-democracy activists, he says.

'Sobs of Kant-Kaw Flowers' is on the neglect of education by the military
regime in Burma. The universities there have been closed for the last three
years, and the blooming Kant-Kaw trees appear to be weeping over the death
of learning.

Sitt, 40, has been political since his student days. When he was in his
twenties he changed his name to Sitt Nyein Aye - which means ''war and
peace'' - after reading Leo Tolstoy's classic novel.

He was detained for one month by the authorities of the then so-called
socialist regime because of his drawing in a calendar printed in memory of
those who died in the crackdown on student demonstrators in 1974.

His deep love for his country and hatred for the army led him to take a
leading role in the historic People's Uprising on Aug.8, 1988. He joined
students and Buddhist monks who were demonstrating against the government
for its three decades of misrule.

Soon he was the reporter, writer, photographer and editor of a newspaper
published by Red Galon, the powerful Buddhist monks' association in
Mandalay. The newspaper had a circulation of 23,000.

After the military government brutally cracked down on the peaceful
demonstrators and re-strengthened itself with the coup in September 1988,
he decided that armed struggle was the only means of protest the military
generals would listen to. He left Mandalay two days after the military coup
for India.

''I want to be an artist. I want to draw paintings only,'' he says. But in
1988, ''I could not do so as the people around were suffering. So, I
decided to join with the democracy revolution, thinking that I would paint
after democracy and peace was restored in the country.''

He stayed in a camp for Burmese students opened by the Indian Government in
Manipur State and later at Aizawl in Mizoram State for two and a half years
where he taught art to students. ''A person who knows art and who can feel
art can go ahead in right direction in life,'' he explains.

In 1992, he moved to Delhi to draw international attention to the Burmese
democratic movement with his paintings. Sitt's first exhibition in New
Delhi opened on Aug. 6 the same year to commemorate the 1988 People's
Uprising in Burma.

Organised by the Delhi-based Burma Students League, it was inaugurated by
George Fernandes, the present Indian defence minister who has long
supported Burmese pro-democracy activists in India. In fact, he has allowed
Sitt to turn one of the rooms in his cavernous official residence into a
studio.

Thirty oil canvases, depicting the intense yearning and struggle of the
Burmese people for democracy were exhibited. In 1993 his painting were part
of another big event, 'Gong of Burma', organised in the Indian capital,
proceedings from which amounting to more than 100,000 rupees went to
funding Burmese student activities in Delhi.

Apart from the exhibitions, organised in India and abroad, Sitt continues
to assist the cause of democracy with his art work, including helping
various publications of exiled Burmese democracy groups.

Sitt says his determination to fight inequality and discrimination was born
from his experience at the prestigious State School of Fine Arts in
Mandalay, where he was the poorest of poor students, often finding himself
without paper or pencil to draw.

Born into a poor family near Pagan, in Upper Burma, he was one of six
children and got into art school with a state scholarship. It was at the
art school that he also found his two teachers, U Aye Kyaw and U Khin
Maung, both leading artists of Burma.

By the time he turned 30, Sitt had become a commercial success, opening his
own art gallery in 1984 where he sold 200 of his works before a major fire
gutted the gallery the same year - but his heart was not in commercial
paintings, he recalls.

It was with the spontaneous People's Uprising in 1988 that he transformed
into a political artist.

Says activist Jaya Jaitly, general secretary of Fernandes' Samata Party who
has known Sitt in exile in Delhi: ''There could be many better artists in
Burma ... but very few like Sitt who left the country for his belief in
democracy.'

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ANNOUNCEMENT: DANISH PARLIAMENTARIANS GIVE SUPPORT TO CRPP
17 December, 1998 from <pdburma@xxxxxxxxx> 

Danish parliamentarians give their support to Burmese 10 member Committee

Parliamentarian leaders from five political parties represented in the
Danish National Assembly have today given their support to the
establishment of the 10 member Committee set up to represent a People's
Parliament in Burma.

The Committee was formed by the opposition party the National League of
Democracy (NLD), led by the Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.
The roll call, released today, expressed a joint stand from these five
political parties.

The NLD has urged the international community to give their support to the
forming of the Committee in order to strengthen the democratic development
in Burma and to increase the pressure on the Burmese military junta.

Aung San Suu Kyi has expressed hope that more national and international
organisations, unions, parliaments and political movements will give their
moral and political support to the Committee.

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