The BurmaNet News: April, 12, 1999

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The BurmaNet News: April 12,1999
Issue #1248

HEADLINES:
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BURMANET: MONTHLY SUMMARY - MARCH, 1999 
THE BANGKOK POST: BURMESE DRUG BARON MOVES HOUSE 
THE BANGKOK POST: BORDER PASSES MAY BE SHUT 
RADIO FREE BURMA: UMBRELLA FOR ETERNAL ARMY RULE 
ANNOUNCEMENT: BURMESE NEW YEAR 
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BURMANET: MONTHLY SUMMARY - MARCH, 1999 
10 April, 1999 by BurmaNet Editor 

Several significant anniversaries in Burmese political history occur in
March, and remembering these important events provides important
perspective for taking stock of the current political situation.  March 2
marks the day that General Ne Win seized control of the state in his 1962
coup that ushered in 26 years of isolation under the Burmese Way to
Socialism.  Resistance Day (called Armed Forces Day by the SPDC) on March
27th symbolizes greater hope by commemorating the beginning of successful
resistance of the Burmese people against the Japanese occupation that ended
in May 1945, beginning the transition to independence from Great Britain.
It was after the Japanese were defeated that General Aung San chose to
relinquish his role as a military commander and enter the political arena.
His separation of the military from political affairs set an important
precedent that has been disregarded since the 1962 coup, but still serves
as a model for the democratic movement.  

Two major events in the middle of March, 1988 -- the death of Phone Maw and
Red Bridge Day -- highlighted the military's brutality.  On March 13, 200-
300 students from the Rangoon Institute of Technology (RIT) marched down a
Rangoon street, protesting the release from police custody of a youth who
had assaulted an RIT student in a teashop on the previous day.  The youth
was the son of a powerful local official, so the police allowed him to act
with impunity and released him with no charges the day after the assault.
As the students marched in protest, riot police (Lon Htein) fired into the
crowd, injuring dozens of students.  Phone Maw, a popular 23-year old
student who was in the march, died that night and became the first casualty
of the '88 protests. Three days later, on March 16, thousands of students
were again marching when the riot police trapped them on "the White Bridge"
on the banks of Inya Lake.  The Lon Htein then brutally attacked them,
beating and drowning some and carting girls off to interrogation centers
and raping them.  The blood from the massacre stained the bridge, and March
16 became known as Red Bridge Day.  Soon after, the authorities closed down
the universities.  The events during that week in March, 1988 infuriated
the rest of the population and fuelled support for the nationwide
demonstrations a few months later.

Besides anniversaries, other significant events this month:

In early March of this year, the National Unity Party (NUP) began
organizing and campaigning in Karen State.  The NUP is the successor to the
Burmese Socialist Programme Party (BSPP), the only political party allowed
during Ne Win's rule, whose majority membership was army and police
personnel.  The NUP contested the elections in 1990, winning only 10 seats
(in contrast to the 392 won by the National League for Democracy [NLD]).
In the wake of the mass crackdown on the NLD, the renewed visibility of the
NUP suggests that the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) may be
considering new elections, having refused to honor the results of the 1990
poll.


The harassment directed against the NLD since September, 1998 was
highlighted by the United Nations Special Rapporteur for Burma, Mr.
Rajsoomer Lallah, in his annual report, which was made public in March.
Concerning the "guest housing" of hundreds of NLD members, including
elected Members of Parliament, Mr. Lallah correctly pointed out that
"keeping people in so-called 'guest houses' against their will or under the
threat that their detention will continue unless they desist from political
activities or abandon membership of the party or of their seat in
Parliament is no more than a euphemism for arbitrary imprisonment in
violation of article 9 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as
more fully elaborated in article 9 of the International Covenant on Civil
and Political Rights."

The report also focused on the gross violations of human rights carried out
by the SPDC against ethnic minority groups.  The report adds to the growing
documentation of massacres, forced relocations, forced labor and portering,
rape, arbitrary killing, extreme restrictions on farmers, and land
confiscation.  Mr. Lallah's assessment suggests that these abuses are
carried out to both secure resources from the local populations and to
weaken the resource base of insurgent groups.  A summary recommendation at
the end of the report points out the "military solution" adopted by the
SPDC in the ethnic minority areas has become a serious problem rather than
a solution, and that political dialogue is urgently needed to find a
political solution to the problems in these areas.

On the foreign relations front, the on-again/off-again European Union (EU)
- Association of South East Asian Nation (Asean) meeting that has been
postponed for two years because of a dispute over SPDC's participation is
on again.  Scheduled for May 26 of this year, the EU agreed in late March
to allow the Burmese government to "participate" in the meeting under the
condition that the Burmese representatives not speak.  Since Burma was
accepted into Asean two years ago, the EU has refused its participation in
the dialogue in protest against the human rights abuses for which it is
responsible.

In an effort to shore up ties with the other Asean countries, SPDC Chairman
Than Shwe and a 40-member delegation visited Thailand on March 8.  A
Burmese head of government had not made an official visit to Thailand since
before the 1988 uprising.  The agenda for the visit was limited primarily
to the problem of drug trade and production, an issue on which the Burmese
military regime is going to great efforts to score public relations points
in the international community.  Before the visit, Thai Prime Minister
Chuan Leekpai suggested that other bilateral issues would not be
priorities, opting instead to focus on "broader regional interests," i.e.
negotiating a compromise between the West and Burma to improve the overall
Asean-West relations.

News at the end of the month was dominated by the illness and eventual
death of Dr. Michael Aris, husband of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.  Having been
denied a visa to visit Rangoon to see his wife for a last time, he died of
prostate cancer in London on March 27.  Because she believed she would be
denied re-entry to Burma, the NLD leader decided not to go to London to be
with her husband before his death and also did not leave Burma to attend
the funeral. The military regime's excuses for not issuing the visa to Dr.
Aris read, as one journalist noted, like universal human rights statutes
turned upside down.  Daw Aung San Suu Kyi stayed characteristically private
regarding the matter, but calling such callousness "daily fare," she
pointed out that thousands of others in Burma have had to deal with
separation during crises of loved ones.  In Burma, hundreds of supporters
risked the military's watchful eye to attend funeral rites, and many more
around the world offered condolences in commemoration of Dr. Aris' life.
In the end, the incident once again revealed the malevolence of the
military regime and also the depth of Daw Aung Suu Kyi's commitment to the
cause of democracy and human rights in Burma.


Another important anniversary this month is March 23, the date student
leader Min Ko Naing was detained in 1989.  With the elections on the
horizon and the first anniversaries of Phone Maw's death and Red Bridge Day
during the month, Min Ko Naing and other student leaders were giving
speeches and distributing leaflets, giving renewed life to the democracy
movement.   After his arrest by the Military Intelligence on March 23, he
was detained for two years without any charges, without a legal process,
and without permission to meet with his family.  He was then sentenced to
20 years imprisonment. The cycle perpetuates itself: the March
anniversaries, with people recalling the brutality of the previous year,
contributed to renewed organizing and calls for reform, which in turn
prompted another crackdown and Min Ko Naing's arrest.  The 1962 coup, the
death of Phone Maw, Red Bridge Day, the detention of Min Ko Naing, and the
successful resistance against Japanese occupation -- these anniversaries
fill the Burmese March calendar.  The death of Dr. Michael Aris on March
23, 1999 and the denial of a visa for him to visit Daw Aung San Suu Kyi
will certainly be remembered in Marches to come.

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Other Important March 1999 Dates:

3 March: US Secretary of State Albright visits Thailand

8 March: US Lobbying groups (Jefferson-Waterman and Bain &Associates)
confirm that they are no longer on SPDC payroll

9 March: KNU says 13 Burmese immigration officers, captured by KNU, were
killed in SPDC-KNU fighting

10 March: French Members of Parliament visit Burma, investigating Yadana
gas project

11 March: US Department of State issues statement warning against travel in
northern Thailand due to threats from drug traffickers

20 March: SPDC announces expulsion of two Western "instigators" for trying
to incite student demonstrations in Mandalay

22 March: 10 refugees stage hunger strike in front of UNHCR office in New
Delhi

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THE BANGKOK POST: BURMESE DRUG BARON MOVES HOUSE
10 April, 1999 by Subin Khuenkaew 

NEW BORDER BASE NEAR CHIANG RAI

New Burmese drug baron Wei Hsueh-kang, who replaced the notorious Khun Sa
when he retired, has moved his troops and his operation to a new location
just across the border from Chiang Rai province, according to informed
sources.

Last Sunday, Wei moved his family from the township of Yawn about 40
kilometres northward to Ban Hoong village, opposite Ban Therdthai village
in Chiang Rai's Mae Fa Luang district, the sources said.

His soldiers, known as battalion 361, followed him, with the last of them
moving out of the old base yesterday.

The deputy eastern commander of the United Wa State Army (UWSA), Takap, who
is also based in Yawn, confirmed the relocation yesterday. He said the UWSA
was relieved by the move, because it now had sole charge of the township.

Sources also said that Wei, or Prasit Cheewinnittipanya, 47, took along
with him about 500 children he was raising at his own kindergarten.

Wei, who is wanted by US authorities which have offered a US$20,000 reward
for his arrest, is emerging as a powerful drug kingpin whose profile in the
underworld is slowly overshadowing retired drug warlord Khun Sa.


He largely controls the trade in drugs, particularly amphetamines, along
the Thai-Burmese border opposite Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai and Mae Hong Son.

Sources said the UWSA was preparing to welcome Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt, the first
secretary of the ruling State Peace and Development Council, in Yawn
tomorrow. 

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THE BANGKOK POST: BORDER PASSES MAY BE SHUT 
10 April, 1999 

Army chief Gen Surayud Chulanont has told Third Army commander Lt Gen
Sommai Vichavorn to consider closing some border passes with Burma which
pose a security threat.

The request followed the murder of nine Thai villagers in Chiang Mai's Fang
district last week.

Gen Surayud said yesterday the massacre had caused a security problem for
local officials.  The Third Army earlier ordered the temporary closure of
checkpoints in five districts bordering Burma.

Gen Surayud did not confirm a report from the Interior Ministry which
blamed Chinese Havv outlaws for the brutal killings.

It was initially believed Wa rebels in the border area were responsible.

Gen Surayud has told Lt. Gen Sommai to speed up the investigation. 

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RADIO FREE BURMA: UMBRELLA FOR ETERNAL ARMY RULE 
11 April, 1999 from rfb@xxxxxxxxxxx 

Dear Friends,

Please read the Saya U Thaung's  articles  "Umbrella for Eternal Army Rule"
on Radio Free Burma web page. Just read or print in Burmese.  News and
Information on RFB page can be freely distributed for the Burmese
Democratic movement.

Radio Free Burma


http://www.fast.net.au/rfb

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ANNOUNCEMENT: BURMESE NEW YEAR 
6 April, 1999 

Dear Burmese friends and friends of Burma,

We are celebrating the Burmese New Year (1361st in Burmese calendar) on
April 25, 1999, Silicon-Valley Standard Time at the Newark Community
Center, and here are the highlights why you should Globally-Position
yourself there:

First, the event will have all the essentials a good celebration party
should have:

Plenty of good food, including Dun Pauk, Moo Hin Nga, Toe Hoo Doke,
Far-Lu-Dar, just to name a few items on the menu;

World-class music by prominent musicians and entertainers such as Thein Tan
(Myanmar Pyi), Sett Maw, Thiri, May Yu;

Raffle draws for lots of exciting prizes including a round-trip airfare to
Burma. Next, all the proceeds of the event go to Dhammapala Monastery, a
Theravada Buddhist Monastery in Fremont. What we have here is a rare
opportunity for all individuals to fulfill noble Perfections, while having
an insanely good time :-)

Last, but not least, all your friends are going to be there! Where else
would you rather be?

PLACE:  NEWARK COMMUNITY CENTER, 35501 CEDAR BLVD., NEWARK, CA 94560

DATE:  APRIL 25, 1999

PROGRAM:   9:45AM Taking 5 Precepts from Venerable Sangha, 10:00AM Honoring
of Elders*, 10:15AM Listening to the Dhamma talk from Venerable
Aggamahapandita Bhaddhanta Vicara, 11:00AM Offering lunch to Sangha,
11:30AM Celebration begins:  Entertainment and food**, 2:00PM Raffle Draw***


*	'Elders' are defined as 70-years or older. If you qualify, please let
the Monastery know ahead of time, to give us time to prepare gifts for you.

** Like last year, you will need tokens for the food. Food tokens are $10
per 10 tokens. As mentioned above, all proceeds go to Dhammapala Monastery.

*** Raffle tickets will be sold in advance as well as at the event. You
have to be present at 2:00PM Raffle Draw to claim your prize. For comments
or questions, please call Dhammapala Monastery at (510) 445 0367 or (510)
656 2487.

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