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The BurmaNet News: April 27, 1999



------------------------ BurmaNet ------------------------
 "Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies"
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The BurmaNet News: April 27, 1999
Issue #1259

HEADLINES:
==========
REUTERS: UN DEPLORES KILLINGS, FORCED LABOUR 
THE NATION: SUU KYI IS ANGRY BUT WANTS TALKS 
DVB: EMERGENCE OF CRIMINAL GANGS IN BURMA 
BKK POST: ARMY CHIEF IN DRIVE FOR TOURISM 
REUTERS: MYANMAR TO HOST ASEAN BUSINESS MEETING 
IRRAWADDY: INDIA AND BURMA RELATIONSHIP 
AP: US CRITICISM OF CHINA BLOCKED 
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REUTERS: UN DEPLORES KILLINGS, FORCED LABOUR IN MYANMAR 
24 April, 1999 

GENEVA, April 23 (Reuters) - The United Nations main human rights body on
Friday approved a Western resolution deploring alleged violations in
Myanmar including executions, political repression and forced labour.

The text, tabled by the European Union and co-sponsored by countries
including the United States, was adopted by consensus at the 53-member
state U.N. Commission on Human Rights, holding its annual talks in Geneva.

The seven-page resolution deplores an "escalation in the persecution of the
democratic opposition, particularly members and supporters of the National
League for Democracy (NLD)."

It regrets "threats of deportation, arrest and physical violence against
Aung San Suu Kyi and the continued harassment, arrest and detention of NLD
and other democratic group activists including elected representatives to
the Parliament."

The military has increased pressure on Suu Kyi and her NLD since she
demanded the government convene a people's parliament elected in 1990 polls
which the military has refused to recognise.

The EU text deplores violations including "extrajudicial, summary or
arbitrary executions," "arbitrary seizures of land and property,"
"systematic programmes of forced relocation" and the "widespread use of
forced labour, including for work on infrastructure projects and as porters
for the army."

Myanmar's delegation, which has observer status, denounced the EU text as
"a litany of unproven false allegations."

Myanmar's delegate said the text paid "undue attention to one political
party and individual." "Perhaps the intention is to encourage members of
the political party to break laws and destabilise the country," he told the
Commission. 

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THE NATION: SUU KYI IS ANGRY BUT WANTS TALKS
26 April, 1999 

RANGOON - Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi is angry at the ruling
generals' refusal to allow her husband to visit her before he died, but she
still wants a dialogue with them, the deputy head of her party has said.

"She considers politics and personal matters are quite separate," Tin Oo,
the vice chairman of the National League for Democracy (NLD), said in an
interview at his Rangoon home late on Saturday.

"I know her feelings quite well and she is a great lady. She's very serene
and quite calm. Actually she feels a bit uneasy and some anger, but she can
bury the animosity as long as there is the possibility of dialogue. If they
really care about the interests of Burma, why not sit down and talk?"

Suu Kyi's husband, Oxford academic Michael Aris, died late last month of
prostate cancer on his 53rd birthday.

He had not been allowed into Burma to visit his wife for the past three
years. The generals responded to his request to visit his wife a last time
by saying Suu Kyi should visit him in England.

The 1991 Nobel Peace Prize winner rejected this, fearing she would not be
allowed to return. She has not discussed her feelings since, calling it a
private affair.

"We have no thoughts of retaliation or a hardening of attitude," Tin Oo
said. "We just want dialogue."

Tin Oo said the government had missed an opportunity to build confidence
with the opposition.

Tin Oo said the NLD had set no preconditions for talk except that the party
should be able to decide which of its representatives take part. The
purpose of talks would be "first to sit down, just to break the ice".

NLD chairman Aung Shwe did meet the powerful head of military intelligence
Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt last year and the NLD called for the release of political
prisoners as a sign of good faith

"But nothing came of that," Tin Oo said. 

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DEMOCRATIC VOICE OF BURMA: EMERGENCE OF CRIMINAL GANGS IN BURMA 
14 April, 1999 

[Translated from Burmese, excerpted.]

While the SPDC [State Peace and Development Council] military government is
inviting foreign investment and allowing drug traffickers to operate
legitimate economic enterprises, foreign street gangs and mafia-type gangs
are emerging in Rangoon. The three major gangs now dominating Rangoon are
Scorpion, White Snake, and Japanese Yakuza.

The notorious Scorpion Gang is headed by Kyaw Ne Win, a grandson of U Ne
Win and a son of his daughter, Daw Sanda Win and the White Snake Gang is
led by the sons of the director general of the police force and the deputy
mayor. The main aim of these gangs is to intimidate and terrorize in all
matters using the influence of parents and relatives. The Yakuza Gang,
which is led by the gang leader or (gaiya bong), is formed like a branch of
the Japanese criminal gang. The main operation of the Yakuza Gang is drug
trafficking.

After the collapse of the socialist dictatorship in the Soviet Union, an
undisciplined market-oriented economic system dominated by criminal gangs
emerged. Observers are saying a similar development is taking place in
Burma with the emergence of the corrupt economic system and street and
criminal gangs. 

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THE BANGKOK POST: ARMY CHIEF IN DRIVE FOR TOURISM 
26 April, 1999 

SURAYUD WILL LEAD 800KM RALLY

[Thai] Army chief Gen Surayud Chulalont will drive a four-wheel-drive off
roader in an 800km rally from Ban-tong in Kanchanaburi to Martaban town in
Burma during May 8-10 to promote Thai-Burmese tourism, a source said.

The rally is jointly organised by the army and the Tourism Authority of
Thailand.

The source said Gen Surayud will drive an off-road vehicle to lead the
rally by himself. He will be accompanied by his wife, Col Khunying Jitrawadee.

Burma will provide security along the route which runs through rugged terrain.

The event will also help boost relations between Burma and Thailand, the
source added.

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REUTERS: MYANMAR TO HOST ASEAN BUSINESS MEETING 
26 April, 1999 

YANGON, April 26 (Reuters) - Myanmar will host a meeting of the ASEAN
Chambers of Commerce and Industry between May 26 and 28, officials said on
Monday.

"A total of 150 participants from ASEAN countries and other regions are
expected to attend the 56th Council Meeting of the ASEAN Chambers of
Commerce and Industry," the chairman of Myanmar's Federation of Chambers of
Commerce and Industry, Win Myint, told a news conference.

Participants would have an opportunity to explore potential business and
investment in Myanmar and to visit industrial parks being built in the
country, he said.

Founded in 1972, the ASEAN Chambers of Commerce and Industry is supported
by eight of the nine members of the Association of South East Asian Nations
(ASEAN). The ninth ASEAN member, Laos has not joined.

Myanmar, ostracised by much of the Western world for its record on
political and human rights, was admitted to ASEAN in 1997. ASEAN has a
policy of non-interference in what it considers the internal affairs of its
members.

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THE IRRAWADDY: INDIA AND BURMA, WORKING ON THEIR RELATIONSHIP 
March, 1999 by Soe Myint 

SOE MYINT EXAMINES THE EVOLUTION OF INDO-BURMESE RELATIONS SINCE THE
PRO-DEMOCRACY UPRISINGS OF 1988, AND CONSIDERS WHAT THE PUSH FOR A "WORKING
RELATIONSHIP" MAY MEAN FOR ACTIVISTS IN EXILE.

Indian Foreign Secretary Mr K. Raghunath's recent visit to Burma is further
evidence that India and Burma are re-entering a "working relationship". The
visit was the first by an Indian Foreign Secretary since Mr J.N. Dixit
visited Rangoon six years ago. The two sides reportedly agreed to enhance
state-to-state cooperation and contacts in various fields including trade
and security along the two country's border.

India and Burma have traditionally had a very close relationship due to
their historical, cultural and administrative ties. Buddhism came from
India to Burma and established abiding cultural ties between the people of
the two countries. During the freedom struggle against colonial rule, the
national leaders of the two countries developed close political links which
survived for years after independence. Nehru and U Nu shared a common world
view and India helped in many ways when the newly independent Burma was in
crisis. India extended military assistance to U Nu, in fact saving his
"Rangoon Government" from falling to insurgents. Even after General Ne Win
seized power in 1962, the relationship between the two countries remained
positive.

However, the pro-democracy uprising in 1988 and the junta's subsequent
crackdown on peaceful demonstrators marked a turning point in Indo-Burma
relations. India was the only neighboring country to clearly and openly
stand on the side of democratic forces in Burma at that time. The Prime
Minister at the time, Mr Rajiv Gandhi, clearly stated in 1988 that India
must strengthen the aspirations of the people of Burma for democracy. When
student activists fled to India for shelter after the military takeover in
September 1988, India willingly accepted them. The then External Affairs
Minister (later Prime Minister) Mr Narasimha Rao informed a parliamentary
panel that strict orders had been given not to turn back any genuine
Burmese refugees seeking shelter in India.

Naturally, India's support of the pro-democracy movement in Burma caused
strains in official ties between the two countries. In 1992, however, both
countries decided to mend some fences in their relationship. Former Indian
Foreign Secretary Mr J.N. Dixit and U Aye, a senior official of the Burmese
Foreign Ministry, were the two pioneers in regularizing bilateral ties. U
Aye's visit to New Delhi in August 1992 was the first by a junta official
since 1988. Mr J.N. Dixit paid an official visit to Burma in March 1993.
The following year, Burma's Deputy Foreign Minister U Nyunt Swe made a
six-day official visit to India, during which he held a series of meetings
with Indian officials and discussed wide-ranging issues to improve the
bilateral relationship.

On January 21, 1994, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed to increase
cooperation between the civilian border authorities of the two countries to
prevent "illegal and insurgent activities". A further bilateral agreement
was signed to regularize and promote border trade, which officially resumed
on April 12, 1995.

Since that time, the two countries have maintained contact through formal
and informal visits and exchanges of intelligence between border officials.
India is currently building a highway to link its National Highway 39,
which connects mainland India and its northeastern states, to the road
network in Burma. The road is scheduled for completion in the year 2000.
And both countries are working on plans to jointly explore nickel and coal
deposits in Burma. India has reportedly become Burma's largest export
market, accounting for 23 per cent of its total export.

One may ask why India decided to normalize the relationship with Burma, a
complete reversal of its long-standing commitment to democracy in that
country. According to some observers of Indian foreign policy, three major
factors contributed to India's decision to pursue a "working relationship"
with the Burmese junta: the presence of Indians in Burma; insurgency
problems in northeastern India; and China's growing influence in Burma.

It is estimated that there are presently about one million Indians living
in Burma, out of a total population of 47 million. By 1972, some 200,000
people of Indian origin had been forced out of the country as a result of
the economy's nationalization by Ne Win's "socialist" government. Their
wholesale and retail businesses were taken away from them without
compensation and they were given 175 kyat each to return to India. Many
Indian businessmen still in Burma hope that better relations between the
two countries will guarantee their economic security. Both they and Burmese
of Indian origin now settled in India have been partly behind the push for
improved ties.

Another factor, of greater concern to India, is the insurgency in the
northeastern part of the country, which shares a thousand kilometer-long
border with Burma. Although the Burmese government denies giving the rebels
any form of support, it is well-known that many Indian insurgent groups
have found a safe haven in Burma. Naga insurgent groups from India have
long had bases in remote areas of upper Sagaing Division of Burma, and
officials from the northeastern state of Assam claimed last October that
militants from the United Liberation Front of Assam have also been taking
shelter in Burma. It is also a known fact that arms and ammunition for
these groups come from and through Burma. The Indian government is thus
understandably anxious to get cooperation from Burmese authorities to
"contain" the insurgency in northeast.

The third factor that explains Indian policy makers' moves to form closer
ties with Burma is China's growing influence on the country, both
politically and economically. China exported US$ 1.4 billion worth of
military equipment to Burma by the beginning of 1993, including light and
medium tanks, APCs, F-7 jet fighters, Hainan class patrol vessels, arms and
ammunition. In June 1998, Indian Defence Minister Mr George Fernandes
informed the Indian Parliament  that China has been assisting Burma in
installing surveillance and communication systems on some of its islands in
the Bay of Bengal. Rangoon has denied that it has any military pact or
understanding with Beijing.

Policy-makers in New Delhi also worry that the influx of cheap Chinese
goods through Burma to northeastern India will undermine India's national
commercial interests.

But not everyone in India shares the views of the country's political
pundits. Mr Deenadayalan, head of an Indian non-governmental organization
in Delhi, expressed anger over the current government's policy on Burma. He
said, "We know that any state for the matter for its own survival has used
many bogeys and many excuses. And the China bogey is another bogey that the
India government is using. We always say that we need to find political
solutions to the problems of the northeast insurgency. Because these are
political issues. We cannot think in terms of military intervention and
military solution to a political issue."

"If the relationship between the two countries is going to benefit the
majority of  people in Burma and India, I support it. If it does not, I
oppose the growing relationship between the two countries," said Mr C.P.
Prabakar who worked for the Burmese Language Service of All India Radio
from 1966 to 1992.

The dilemma Indian policy makers face and will continue to face is that
there is widespread support and sympathy for Aung San Suu Kyi and the
Burmese pro-democracy movement in India. This is evident from the fact that
India conferred the  Jawaharlal Nehru Peace Award for International
Understanding upon Aung San Suu Kyi in 1995. On August 8, 1998, at a joint
meeting in New Delhi to mark the tenth anniversary of the 8-8-88 uprising,
six major Indian political parties reaffirmed their support for the
pro-democracy movement in Burma. Seventy-five Members of Parliament from
various political parties signed a petition supporting the NLD's call to
convene the elected parliament in Burma.

Mr V. P. Dutt, a well-known Indian foreign policy commentator, in his
recently published book "India's Foreign Policy in a Changing World,"
remarked that "India's dilemma was obvious. The general sympathy was with
the movement for democracy . . . On the other hand, the military regime
seemed to be firmly in the saddle. An influential section in the foreign
establishment believed that there were many important issues that needed
continual sorting out and that India must have normal relations with
whosoever was in power in Burma . . . In fact this became the general
thrust of India's Burma policy."

However, Dr. Tint Swe, South Asian Affairs Minister of the exiled National
Coalition Government of the Union of Burma (NCGUB), rejected the notion of
the  "military government being in firm control" in the country. "The
people are with democracy and the National League for Democracy. They are
waiting for the right opportunity. Burmese people have shown on many
occasions in the past like the 8-8-88 movement or the 1990 elections that
they revolted wholeheartedly when there was a right opportunity."

The growing relationship between Burma and India is a source of worry to
Burmese pro-democracy activists based in India.  In 1997, 11 Burmese army
defectors who joined with pro-democracy groups based on the Indo-Burma
border were secretly deported by Indian military intelligence agents. A
Burmese student activist who was a UNHCR-recognized refugee was also
included in the deportation.

Last February, six guerillas were killed and seventy-three arrested in an
Indian military operation, code-named "Operation Leech," targeting the
Arakan Army and the Karen National Union, both of which are struggling
against the junta in Burma.

When Burmese pro-democracy activists tried to organize a political
conference on Burma in January this year, the venue, the Constitution Club
in New Delhi, cancelled at the last minute without explanation.

However, Indian Foreign Minister Mr Jaswant Singh told Burmese
pro-democracy activists at a Global Conference on Democracy, held in New
Delhi in February, that India is committed to protecting their security and
freedom.

But the strength of this commitment can only be tested over time, as it
faces resistance from a growing lobby in India striving to establish a
"working relationship" with the government in Burma.

Soe Myint, a freelance journalist based in New Delhi, contributed this
article to the Irrawaddy.

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ASSOCIATED PRESS: U.S. CRITICISM OF CHINA BLOCKED 
23 April, 1999 by Geir Moulson

GENEVA (AP) - China blocked a U.S. attempt to censure its human rights
record today, but Cuba, Iran and Iraq were among nations criticized by the
53-nation U.N. Human Rights Commission.

The U.S. attempt to bring U.N. criticism against China suffered the same
fate as similar motions had for seven straight years since 1991. The
commission voted 22-17 in favor of a Chinese proposal to take no action on
the U.S. motion. Fourteen countries abstained.

The United States last year suspended its annual effort to criticize China
in favor of a policy of diplomacy and dialogue. Washington put forward a
motion this year following a sharp clampdown on dissent by Communist Party
leaders in recent months.

The motion, which welcomed China's efforts to develop its economy,
expressed concern at ``continuing reports of violations of human rights and
fundamental freedoms in China.''

It also deplored ``increased restrictions on the exercise of cultural,
religious and other freedoms of Tibetans.''

Harold Hongju Koh, assistant secretary of state, said the United States was
``deeply disappointed'' at the outcome, saying Washington had ``sponsored
the resolution as part of our principled, purposeful policy of engagement
with China.''

The Chinese delegation charged that the United States pushed its motion
purely out of domestic political concerns, and accused it of trying to
derail reform in China.

Cuba claimed a ``moral victory'' after a close commission vote of 21-20,
with 12 abstentions, to criticize its record.

Last year, the commission rejected a U.S. motion against Cuba for the first
time since 1991. This year, the United States took a back seat, and the
resolution was put forward by the Czech Republic and Poland.

Cuba has faced criticism over recent moves to punish dissidents the
government says back the U.S. embargo and other anti-Cuba policies.

In other voting, Iraq was condemned for ``all-pervasive repression and
oppression sustained by broad-based discrimination and widespread terror.''
No country supported Iraq, although 18 nations abstained.

Myanmar, also known as Burma, was condemned for a long list of rights
abuses, and Afghanistan and Sudan also were censured. Procedural wrangling
delayed action on Congo.

Iran was held under special scrutiny and was censured 23-16, with
commission members expressing particular concern over the country's high
number of executions.

The commission voted for the second time in two weeks to condemn Serb
repression in Kosovo. Russia was the only nation to oppose the motion,
which deplored ``grave, horrendous and ongoing war crimes.'' An earlier
Russian move to condemn rights violations throughout Yugoslavia, aimed at
NATO airstrikes, was voted down.

Nigeria was rewarded for its transition to civilian rule after years of
military dictatorship, which will be completed next month. The commission
agreed to drop the West African nation from its agenda.

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