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The BurmaNet News: February 5, 1999



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

The BurmaNet News: 5 February, 1999
Issue #1201

Noted in Passing: "The food and medical supplies from NGOs stopped 10 days ago
and we are too scared to go back and retrieve rice from our villages." -
Saw Di
Di, Camp Leader (see REUTERS: KAREN REFUGEES SAY TRAPPED IN MYANMAR JUNGLE
CAMP)

HEADLINES:
==========
NLD: STATEMENT 14 (1/99): RICE SHORTAGE IN PEGU 
BURMA ISSUES: DAMMED IF YOU DO, DAMMED IF YOU DON'T 
XINHUA: TURN PYIN OO LWIN INTO COFFEE GROWING REGION 
REUTERS: REFUGEES SAY TRAPPED IN MYANMAR JUNGLE CAMP 
ASIAN AGE: NEW REBEL RECRUITS TRAIN TO FACE BURMESE ARMY 
BKK POST: EU APPEARS TO SOFTEN STANCE ON BURMA 
JOC: US MAY DEFEND, OPPOSE STATE'S SANCTIONS LAWS 
****************************************************************

NLD: STATEMENT 14 (1/99) - RICE SHORTAGE IN PEGU 
26 January, 1999 

National League for Democracy
NO (97/B), West Shwegondine Road
Bahan, Rangoon

Statement NO: 14(1/99)

Contents of letter dated 25 January 1999 from the Chairman of the National
League for Democracy to the Chairman of the Peace and Development Council on
the subject of "Purchase of paddy in Paungde, Pegu Division" is published for
all to know.

START

"xxx 1. We bring to your notice the current situation relating to the purchase
of paddy in Paungde township, Pegu Division and ask that appropriate action be
taken immediately.

2.  Because of the drought conditions, it has not been possible to cultivate
paddy in many many acres of land. What has been cultivated was ruined because
of insufficient water. Our information is that the Land Records Department has
made an inspection and reported that approximately 22000 acres have been lost.

3.  We have information that those in authority in the township have
disregarded the said circumstances and with the assistance of the armed forces
stationed in the area summoned the farmers individually threatening and
demanding the sale of twelve baskets of rice per acre.

4. Our information is that the cultivators are suffering great hardship
because
should they fail to deliver the paddy on the fixed date they have been
threatened with arrest for flouting an order and with withdrawal of permission
to cultivate --  a flagrant abuse of authority.

5.  Because of the drought , these farmers have suffered loss and to meet the
demands they have had to sell their cattle, carts and other properties. Others
have had to mortgage house and land.

6. Though some farmers have had a reasonable yield, they have been forced to
sell their crop at the price of Kyats 32,000 when the market price is Kyats
60,000. We have heard that those farmers who have not been able to meet the
demand are unable to sleep or eat fearing that they could be arrested at any
time (day or night ) by soldiers."

END

Central Executive Committee
National League for Democracy 

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

BURMA ISSUES: DAMMED IF YOU DO, DAMMED IF YOU DON'T
4 February, 1999 by V. Coakley 

Recent reports confirm that surveying for a dam is underway at a site in
southern Shan State along the Salween River. According to an NGO coalition
report (1) a series of teams including Japanese with Thai staff from large
infrastructure specialists MDX Plc Co, have been traveling from northern
Chiang
Mai province up to the dam site. Burma army soldiers have been providing
security - this is a civil war area which is being subjected to military
operations and systematized relocation programmes resulting in the
displacement
of thousands of people. 

There is speculation that the dam will not only produce electricity for
Thailand and Burma - an estimated 3,700 megawatts - but may also entail a
water
diversion scheme which will bring the water through Mong Ping and across
300 km
into Thailand. It would be delivered to the drought-crippled Bhumibol
reservoir
in northern Thailand. A feasibility study is being carried out by consultants
from Thai and Japanese corporations. NGOs anticipate that finance for
construction of the dam may come from the Japanese government's US$30-billion
aid package for Asian crisis hit countries. 

The project will be sponsored by the Burmese government's national programme,
the Border Areas Development Programme (BADP). The programme's major tasks
relate broadly to infrastructure and socio-economic development. Military
regime sponsored development has serious immediate and long-term human rights
and natural resources consequences. If the dam project goes ahead, the foreign
investors will reap benefits extracted through repressive practices and
widespread social disruption. 

The Area

The site where the dam is being surveyed is in the region of the Wan Hsa La
(Ta
Sala) river area. There is currently a major bridge being built across the
river at Wan Hsa La near Ta Hsang village. The crossing links the roads
between
Mong Pan and Mong Tum townships. This area is a civil war zone, until recently
categorized by the military regime as a "black" zone (insurgent-dominated
area). Due to heavy military offensives since 1996, the area is being
transformed into a "brown" zone (government-insurgent shared area). The
civilian population continues to be subjected to military operations against
the main active ethnic resistance group in the area (the Shan United
Revolutionary Army [SURA] faction of the Shan States Army [SSA]). (2) 
Systematized relocation, and "development" programmes under the auspices of
the
BADP are also wide-spread. Thousands of people have already been forcibly
relocated from the surveying area. The Shan Human Rights Foundation (SHRF)
estimates that 61 villages - 2,031 households (an average household containing
at least five people) - were relocated in Mong Pan township, and 24 villages -
285 households - from Mong Ping between 1997 and 1998 .  (3)

Who's Involved?

Talk of damming the Salween's hydroelectric potential, and exporting the
electricity to Thailand, has been around for nearly twenty years. Five
potential dam sites on the Salween have specifically been proposed within the
past 10 years. The proponents of the dams include the governments of Thailand
and Burma (who have formed a Joint Working Commission and signed a memorandum
of understanding [MoU] in July 1997 as to purchase of electricity and, more
recently, to the use of water from the Salween River (4) ), the Asian
Development Bank, and China. Dam-building consultants from Norconsult in
Norway, and Japan's Electric Power Development Company (EPDC) and Japanese
International Cooperation Agency (JICA), have been most active in securing
bilateral aid contracts from their respective governments to carry out
pre-feasibility studies for dams. JICA (a government agency), has been working
in cooperation with Burma in the areas of irrigation and forestry for 10
years.
(5)  Several Thai companies, including Ital-Thai,  MDX Plc, and logging
company
Thai Sawat, are also involved. (6)

The feasibility study in the Wan Hsa La area is being carried out by
consultants from MDX (through its subsidiary GMS Power) along with experts
from
EPDC. (7)  The SSA has allowed the survey to go ahead but warns they want to
consult with NGOs and their people before agreeing to its construction. (8)

Who's financing?

Local sources familiar with the project quote the cost of the planned dam
between 4 billion to 7 billion US dollars. NGOs anticipate the project is
being
designed to get financing from the so-called Miyazawa Plan, which aims to
invest US$30 billion for Asian crisis-hit countries. The plan, introduced by
Japanese Finance Minister Kiichi Miyazawa last October, includes offering
official development-aid loans, in yen, to Asian countries. (9) The Japanese
foreign ministry released a statement in December saying that "Given the
situation at home and abroad involving Myanmar, Japan does not see the nation
as subject to the so-called Miyazawa plan. (10) However, Brigadier General
Kyaw
Win, deputy president of the Office of Strategic Studies under the Burmese
Defence Ministry (who recently visited Japan), is believed to be "sounding out
Tokyo about the possibility of resuming yen loans. (11) The Thai cabinet
recently approved a Science Ministry feasibility study on the Salween Water
Diversion Project to solve drought problems in the future. The Science
Minister
plans to fund the study through the Miyazawa Plan. (12) Therefore, the
Japanese
initiative could possibly be used to fund the dam project in Burma either
directly, depending on the outcome of Kyaw Win's visit, or indirectly through
Thailand.

Feasibility Studies

Although a feasibility study is being conducted at the site, proponents of
building dams in the Salween River basin have not initiated environmental and
social impact assessments to address the possible damage of proposed dams on
the whole river basin, or the cumulative effects of the construction of such a
large number of dams and river diversion schemes on the Salween River's
ecology, biology and local people's means of livelihood. Such studies
should be
based on the knowledge of potentially affected local people, who understand
the
rivers, forests, and agro-ecosystems upon which they depend for their means of
livelihood. These should identify the short and long term harm the dams might
cause the environment before being built, and find ways to lessen or solve the
problems. As the people in this area have been targeted as enemies of the
SPDC,
their participation or consultation in such a process is highly unlikely.

Immediate Consequences

There are considerable strategic benefits for the SPDC in building the dam in
this area. The benefits will be similar to those gained by the activities of
the Thai and Chinese loggers and the builders of the Yadana gas pipeline in
Tenasserim Division, an area occupied by Mon and Karen ethnic nationalities.
The army can extend its efforts to transform the area into an insurgent-free
zone, bring the ethnic populations under SPDC control, and cut off support
from
Thai authorities now wanting to secure their interests. Security fears by the
SPDC were used as a justification for a build up of soldiers in the
construction areas of the Yadana project.

Consortium partners US oil company Unocal and its French partner Total have
recently been accused of financing soldiers to suppress ethnic groups along
the
pipeline route. Both Unocal and Total have denied any direct payment to the
military for security services. (13) Unocal is battling a lawsuit in the U.S.
over this issue and responsibility for the effect the project has had on local
communities. The presence of consortium partners legitimizes military activity
as the MoU allocates responsibility for ensuring security to the SPDC.  This
furthers both the regime's economic and military agendas in the region. 

Thai authorities, who had previously allowed the Mon and Karen insurgent
groups
to move back and forth across the border, warned them against sabotaging the
project. This led to a cease-fire agreement with the Mon and significantly
weakened the Karen insurgency.  A senior MDX advisor and former government
minister has already asked the SSA, through intermediaries, not to interfere
with the project. Regardless of whether the SSA agrees to construction or not,
as it is highly unlikely the local peoples will be consulted about the project
or compensated for resulting loss of lands and livelihoods, they are
"dammed if
they do and dammed if they don't." 

Along with a natural corresponding increase in human rights violations due to
increased military presence, there is extensive documentation that villagers
who have been relocated in civil war areas become a readily available labor
pool to consolidate military objectives. With increased infrastructure work in
the region comes an increased demand on villagers to labor on these projects,
along with duties at army camps and logging. A recent U.S. embassy report
notes
that "'People's contributions,' chiefly in the form of uncompensated labor,
have been extensively used, not only in local rural development construction
projects, but also in larger regional and national physical infrastructure
construction projects ... " (14) 

A report released by the International Labor Organization (ILO) last year
emphasized:

"There is abundant evidence showing the pervasive use of forced labor imposed
on the civilian population throughout Myanmar by the authorities and the
military for portering, the construction, maintenance and servicing of
military
camps, other work in support of the military, work on agriculture, logging and
other production projects undertaken by the authorities or the military...,
the
construction and maintenance of roads, railways and bridges, other
infrastructure work and a range of other tasks." (15)

The regime, in its submission to the ILO (Article 118), denied allegations of
forced labor specifically referring to the Yadana gas pipeline project -
despite extensive documentation by the ILO Commission to the contrary. 

One of the environmental consequences will be deforestation. Forests will be
cleared during construction of access roads to the dam. More areas of forest
for the planting of food crops will be cleared out of necessity, as local
people are evicted from their land, forcibly resettled, or flee from areas
under SPDC control. Reduction in forest cover destroys or reduces habitat for
forest animals and increases danger of rainy-season floods in down-stream
areas. This will undermine food security as sustainable agriculture and
gathering of forest foods are the primary means of subsistence for ethnic
groups living in this area. Local people who suffer physical and environmental
damage as a result of the project have no legal avenue for relief in Burma. 
This also allows the foreign consortium parties to act without
accountability. 

Foreign Investment fueling militarization

Foreign investment should not be used to finance SPDC sponsored infrastructure
development projects. The links between foreign investment and military
spending are concrete. Much of the money goes into military buildup and arms
procurement. Burma's need for military force appears to be growing smaller due
to the numerous cease-fires in place with rebellious groups, the pacification
of areas following successful offensives, and the lack of external threats.
However, the size of the army continues to expand. Defence spending is
estimated to be at least half of the total government expenditure, at 8-10
percent of recorded GDP, while real expenditure on health and education has
been cut. (16)
 
The consequences of militarization in areas where the BADP operative are at
least threefold: repression and human rights violations, loss of resources,
and
underdevelopment. (17)  Repression and human rights violations have already
been evidenced in the dam surveying area. This will increase as the military
takes responsibility for the security of the development project for the
foreign investors. The local population will not benefit from the loss of
resources, as the foreign exchange generated will be used by the SPDC to
strengthen its military structure. Ironically, the communities in this area
will remain "underdeveloped" as the high levels of military spending and the
build-up of arms utilizes resources that could be used in pursuit of social
and
economic development. Foreign investment with the military regime fuels these
consequences. Foreign exchange funds these development projects which
adversely
affect rural populations. 

Human and natural resources are expendable commodities for Burma's regime. The
BADP is a significant link between the military's efforts to pacify ethnic and
indigenous minority populations and resulting human rights violations. Foreign
companies should delay investment until a democratic government has been
formed, and the local peoples concerned have been consulted and can
participate
in decisions concerning this project and other development initiatives.

Endnotes
 
1 "Inside Source: Update On the Salween Dam Project in Shan State," BurmaNet
ed, 12 Jan 1998

2 Refer to Burma Issues newsletter, November 1998 for explanation of the
various Shan groups and their relationship with the SPDC

3 Shan Human Rights Foundation report, "Dispossessed: Forced Relocation and
Extrajudicial Killings in Shan State," Apr 1998

4 "Salween water diversion study gets green light The Nation, 21 Jan 1999

5 "Japan to implement two technical programs for Myanmar" Xinhua, 5 Jan 1999

6 "Hydroelectric and Trans-Basin Water Diversion Projects in the Salween River
Basin, Towards Ecological Recovery and Regional Alliance, (TERRA) Bangkok,
Thailand, July 1997 and NGO coalition report

7 James Fahn, "The Salween under attack again The Nation, 26 Jan 1999

8 S.H.A.N, "The Salween Dam - an upcoming reality?" 11 Dec 1998 & ibid

9 K. Chanrapanya, "Japan aid package 'the right tonic' The Nation, 5 Oct 1998

10 "Japan Denies Myanmar Included in Miyazawa Plan" Kyodo, 10 Dec 1998

11 "Japan urges junta talks with Suu Kyi" The Nation, 22 Jan 1999

12 "Salween water diversion study gets green light The Nation, 21 Jan 1999

13 Preecha Srisatharn, "Funding said coming from Unocal, Total" Bangkok
Post, 6
Jan 1999 and Alex Katz, "Unocal Implicated in Burma strife" Los Angeles
Weekly,
15 Jan 1999

4 U.S. Department of Agriculture Attache, Report on trade and crop
situation in
Myanmar/Burma, (American Embassy Rangoon, 31 Mar 1998, unofficial document) p.
81

15 International Labor Organization (ILO), News release     No. 98/32, 20 Aug
1998

16 U.S. Department of Agriculture Attache report, p. 1

17 Frame work adapted from Mathews George Chunakara, The Militarisation of
Politics and Society: Southeast Asian Experiences (Hong Kong: DAGA Press,
1994).
 
****************************************************************

XINHUA: MYANMAR TO TURN PYIN OO LWIN INTO COFFEE GROWING REGION 
3 February, 1999 by Duan Tingchang 

YANGON (Feb. 4) XINHUA - Myanmar is striving to turn Pyin Oo Lwin in central 
Mandalay division into a coffee growing region where arable land has been
found
for the move.  Pyin Oo Lwin, previously known as Maymyo, is reported to have
good climatic and physical conditions for successful cultivation of coffee.

The Myanmar Farm Enterprise under the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation
has allotted 1,912 hectares of reclaimed land in the area to thousands of
local
private growers for coffee cultivation.  According to the enterprise, plans
are
under way to grow about 2,000 coffee plants and 220 shady trees per acre
(0.405
hectare) of land in the areas to make the region lush and green.  In the years
prior to the fruiting of coffee trees, mixed cropping used to be done.

The enterprise is also planning to extend the cultivation of coffee
plantations
to other states such as Shan, Kachin and Chin which have climatic and physical
features similar to Pyin Oo Lwin.   In 1996, Vietnam provided to Myanmar
Catimor variety of coffee seeds which was grown on an experimental basis at
state-owned coffee plantations in Pyin Oo Lwin area with good yield of
high-quality coffee achieved.

A total of 1 million Catimor coffee saplings have been distributed to growers
in the region in the 1998-99 fiscal year. Coffee is one of Myanmar's main
crops
having an average annual production of  2,000 tons of coffee beans in the last
three years, according to official statistics. The state enterprises procured
annually 50 tons of coffee beans for local distribution, exports and
industrial
use in the past three years. 

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

REUTERS: KAREN REFUGEES SAY TRAPPED IN MYANMAR JUNGLE CAMP 
2 February, 1999 by Sutin Wannabovorn 

MAELA PUTHA, Myanmar, Feb 2 (Reuters) - Ethnic Karen civilians who fled
military repression in Myanmar say they have been living in fear and hunger at
this jungle camp after Yangon persuaded Thailand to block their food and
medical supplies.

Camp leaders say 4,387 civilians of eastern Myanmar's largest ethnic minority,
mostly women and children from 636 families, fled their home villages late
last
year to this makeshift riverside camp opposite Thailand.

They shelter under whatever protection they can find -- bushes, plastic sheets
and simple bamboo huts.

``The food and medical supplies from NGOs stopped 10 days ago and we are too
scared to go back and retrieve rice from our villages,'' camp leader Saw Di Di
told Reuters.

``Myanmar fears the supplies will go into the hands of KNU guerrillas and they
persuaded Thailand to stop supplies to us,'' he said, referring to the Karen
National Union, one of the last ethnic groups continuing to wage guerrilla war
against Yangon's military government.

Until last month, the refugees received food and medicine from the Karen
Refugee Committee (KRC), the Burma Border Consortium and other
non-governmental
organisations based in Thailand northern Tak province.

But the last supply, which was due on January 21, did not arrive after Myanmar
sent a letter of protest to Thai army.

The refugees at Maela Putha first fled the Myanmar army early last year to
live
just inside Thailand. They returned to their villages in September only to
flee
again two months ago.

Stopped from entering Thailand, they made camp on the Myanmar side of the Moei
River, which borders the two countries.

A senior Thai army officer told Reuters the Karens had returned voluntarily to
the Myanmar side.

``We told them that if they wanted to live in Thailand they would have to
enter
a camp and that we could not allow them to live in disorder in the jungle any
more,'' said Colonel Chayudhi Boonpan, commander of the local military
taskforce.

The Karens said they did not want to enter a Thai camp because they arrived at
the border with all their livestock and still needed to be able to return to
their home villages to tend rice and other crops if their district became safe
again.

They said Myanmar troops were currently stationed only about two hours walk
from their camp and they dared not go deeper into the country to harvest their
crops.

``We are too scared to go to get our rice from the villages,'' Di Di said.
``If
supplies don't come from the NGOs, people will starve to death.''

The KRC said it was negotiating with the Thai army on the border for a
resumption of food supplies to the refugee group.

``The Thai army has rules and regulations to abide by, but I hope that for the
sake of humanitarianism, the food supplies will resume soon,'' said KRC
chairwoman Mary On.

More than 100,000 Karen refugees live in camps in Thailand after fleeing a
decades-long war in their homeland between the Myanmar army and the KNU, which
is seeking greater autonomy.

On Monday, Chayudhi said the Thai military was poised to deport more than 800
other Karens who had entered Thai camps.

He said the 800 were ``economic migrants'' who sneaked into Huaykalok refugee
camp, in northern Tak province, last month and had not come to escape
fighting.

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

ASIAN AGE: NEW REBEL RECRUITS TRAIN TO FACE BURMESE ARMY 
3 February, 1999 by Don Pathan 

Sixteen-year-old Boo Reh left his family at a refugee camp in Thailand two
months ago, returning to Burma to join a rebel army.

In mid-March, he and 45 other young men from the Karenni ethnic group some as
young as 14 will complete combat training from a camp deep inside Burma's
thickly forested hills along the border.

Then, they will head to the frontline to fight in a civil war that has spanned
three generations. The conflict is fueled by hatred and mistrust between the
military government of Burma, and the ethnic minorities scattered along the
frontier.

"The Burmese soldiers often harassed our village and demanded that we provided
them with food," said Boo Reh. "They forced many of us to us to live in a
designated area. Once, I was forced to be their porter." Rebel and human
rights
groups accuse the Burmese army of rape and murders of civilians in rebel area,
driving survivors to holding centres where they can be stopped from aiding
rebel kinsmen.

The government, which denies the allegations, has been contending with ethnic
rebellion for half a century, soon after the country gained independent from
Britain.

Many groups have signed cease-fires in recent years, but a dry season
offensive
is currently under way against those still fighting.

"The government knows the villagers support us," said Bee Htoo, leader of the
Karenni National Progress Party army, which Boo Reh has joined. "They forced
them into concentration camps to cut of support for our soldiers."

Like 100,000 refugees living in numerous border camps in Thailand, Boo Reh and
his family abandoned their village to escape being caught in civil war. Boo
Reh
said he returned because he wanted to help free his people and because his
life
in a refugee camp is not always present [sic]. "Some of the volunteers are
young but they are here of their own free will," said Maj. Soe Myint Aung ,
who
has trained new recruits for 28 years. Our biggest problem seems to be
malaria."

Recently, several recruits weren't much bigger than their M-16 riffles. All
but
one were marching in rubber sandals instead of combat boots. The basis diet is
rice and vegetables. Deer meat hunted by recruits is served once or twice a
week. Maj. Soe Myint Aung admitted that adequate training supplies, such as
weapons and medicines, are hard to come by and the troops make the best with
what they have.

The KNPP is run by a 10-man council and officially seeks independence from
Burma, though it is willing to consider some sort of federation.
Discussions on
a new constitution have been stalled for three years because of the ruling
military's dispute with pro-democracy leader Ms Aung San Suu Kyi. She
contended
the panel weighing reforms is stacked in favour of prolonged military rule.

Constitutional experts and even military agreed that any lasting arrangement
must address the ethnic groups, whose commanders usually view Ms Suu Kyi's
vision of democracy as more compatible with their hope of autonomy than the
military tough approach.

"They want us to live under a Constitution that doesn't even have the support
of their own people," said Aung Mya, KNPP deputy army commander. The Karenni
and other rebels still fighting are not in position to make many demands. (AP)

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

THE BANGKOK POST: EU APPEARS TO SOFTEN STANCE ON BURMA 
3 February, 1999 

WAYS OF RELAXING TRAVEL BAN SOUGHT

The EU has acknowledged Burma's readiness to discuss all issues and is
actively
preparing for a ministerial meeting with Asean in Germany, Foreign Minister
Surin Pitsuwan said yesterday.

As part of the preparations, the EU is seeking ways of relaxing a travel
ban on
Burmese government ministers, he added.

The minister's disclosure indicated a change in the position of the EU in
response to Burmese Foreign Minister Win Aung's stated readiness to discuss
"any matter" with the European side. Only a few days ago, the EU stood by its
travel ban against Burmese leaders that has been in effect since 1996.

Mr Win Aung's letter arrived in Bangkok after Germany let it be known that
Burma might be admitted to the meeting if it were willing to discuss human
rights.

Indicating some confidence in the turn of events, Mr Surin said the Asean-EU
ministerial meeting "might be" the first between the two groupings since Asean
admitted Burma and Laos in July 1997.

Deputy Foreign Ministry spokesman Kitti Wasinondh said Mr Win Aung's letter
showed Burma's good faith forwards cooperation with Asean, and its wish for
progress in Asean-EU cooperation.

Mr Kitti emphasised that Burma was not yielding to pressure from Europe, and
expressed regret over an interpretation to this effect.

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

JOURNAL OF COMMERCE: US MAY DEFEND, OPPOSE STATE SANCTIONS 
3 February, 1999 by Michael S. Lelyveld 

In an unprecedented move, the Clinton administration is considering a plan to
oppose an economic sanction in federal court while defending it before the
World Trade Organization.

Officials say the decision to take opposite sides in the case of Massachusetts
sanctions against Myanmar, formerly named Burma, would present no legal
problems. But they concede that the strategy may be politically ambiguous, at
best.

Myanmar rulers targeted

The problem stems from Massachusetts' 1996 selective purchasing law, which
targets Myanmar's military rulers by barring public contracts with companies
that do business with the country. Four states have similar Myanmar laws
pending, while 24 U.S. cities have already enacted boycotts.

The complication for the administration arises because the Massachusetts law
has come under attack on two sides.

Last year, the European Union and Japan brought complaints against the state
law before the WTO, charging that it violates a 1994 Government Procurement
Agreement on open bidding. The Clinton administration pledged to defend
Massachusetts before the international trade body.

But last April, the National Foreign Trade Council also brought suit in
federal
District Court in Boston on behalf of corporations, charging that the law
is an
unconstitutional infringement on federal powers to conduct foreign policy. The
court agreed in November and struck down the law, but Massachusetts filed an
appeal.

Now, the administration is considering whether to file a friend-of-the-court
brief in support of its own federal powers. On Monday, a State Department
official confirmed a Washington Post report that the administration may ask
that the judgement against the state law be upheld.

State Department solicited

The Justice Department has sought State's opinion, and officials appear to be
leaning toward the argument that there are already enough problems with the
spread of U.S. unilateral sanctions without states and cities getting into the
act.

But at the same time, the administration has no intention of abandoning its
position in the WTO.

"Every time a case comes up before the WTO, we defend it," said one official.

The seemingly contradictory stands are possible because the WTO doesn't deal
with constitutional questions, while the appeals court is not ruling on the
Government Procurement Agreement with the EU. But human rights advocates are
mightily displeased.

"It is definitely inconsistent," said Massachusetts Rep. Byron Rushing, a
Boston Democrat, who wrote the Myanmar law. "This is just about tactics.
People
want the U.S. government to take a more active role in defending human
rights."

Limit to inconsistency

With all the legal wrangling, the focus on Myanmar's brutal dictatorship has
been all but lost. Activists say there is a limit to inconsistency on the
issue, because the administration has imposed its own unilateral sanctions on
new investment in Myanmar.

"They can't come up with an argument on unilateral sanctions because that is
their own position on Burma," Mr. Rushing said.

The case is on the verge of becoming a battle of the briefs, with states,
foreign countries, the federal government and perhaps Congress converging on
the appeals court.

Eight states, including New York and California, are set to file
friend-of-the-court briefs in support of Massachusetts before a Friday
deadline. There are reports that members of Congress will join them.

Last year, the EU took the unusual step of filing a brief in support of the
National Foreign Trade Council's case in the District Court. The NFTC side has
another month to file with the appeals court, giving the Clinton
administration
time to make up its mind.

Both sides confused

Both sides say they are confused by the administration's decision to consider
coming in on the case now, after it stayed out of the District Court process.

One explanation is that it is common for Justice to take notice only after
cases rise to a higher level. Another is that a debate within the State
Department between human rights advocates and anti-sanctions forces stalled an
earlier move.

Yet a third explanation is that United States, EU and Japanese diplomats are
now pursuing a common approach toward Myanmar through the United Nations and
the World Bank, offering the possibility of multilateral loans if
democratization takes place.

Ironically, a federal decision to oppose the Massachusetts law in court could
help the U.S. case in the WTO. Trade officials could argue that the EU and
Japan have no case because the law has been overturned by the District Court,
and besides, it's unconstitutional.

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