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The BurmaNet News: July 13, 1999



------------------------ BurmaNet ------------------------
 "Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies"
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The BurmaNet News: July 13, 1999
Issue #1313

Noted in Passing: "It depends on them. We have been looking forward to it
for quite a long time." - Kyaw Kyaw Maung (see THE NATION: BURMA SEEKING
IMF, WORLD BANK AID) 

HEADLINES:
==========
RHODODENDRON: ATTITUDE TOWARD CHRISTIANITY 
BKK POST: REBEL FORCES KILL SEVEN 
NATION: BURMA SEEKING IMF, WORLD BANK AID 
NATION: CHUAN'S LOGIC FLAWED IN SOFT POLICY 
GUARDIAN: MINISTER STANDS BY HR RECORD 
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RHODODENDRON NEWS BULLETIN: MILITARY GOVERNMENT'S ATTITUDE TOWARD
CHRISTIANITY 
July, 1999 by Chin Human Rights Organization 

Volume II No.5

Christian persecution is on the rise in Burma. Christian activities in the
Churches and the practices of their faith are being obstructed with any
possible means and ways despite Burma being a country which has claimed the
right to freedom of religion. Just after Chin Christian Centennial
celebration in Haka in April, the CHRO's monitor met a Chin Christian
leader.  The following is a survey of the military government's attitude
towards Christianity in Chin State.

1.  The effort of the military government not to allow crosses being put up
on the top of any hill in Chin State by Christians is well known by now.
What is so unfair, to my mind, is that the military government did allow
the Buddhist group from setting up Pagoda on hills in Chin State without
any interference from anybody. This is pure injustice.

2.  The military government literally forbade the ZBC's CCOC ( Chin for
Christ in One Century ) evangelists from preaching in Paletwa; the military
"house arrested"(so to speak) seventy of them in their headquarters in
Paletwa for six months, while they allow the Buddhist monks to assault
Christians in the Paletwa districts without any restraint from the military
police. The ZBC (Zomi/Chin Baptist Convention ) later withdrew these
evangelists since they were not allowed to preach in Paletwa.

3.  In all of Burma the Buddhists could build any number of Pagodas
anywhere with full Military government's support, whereas Christians are
not allowed to build Churches.  During the last many years, no Church
building has been built officially permitted by the military government.
The only permission granted occasionally is to allow to build "a prayer
Center" or "mission center", but not Churches.

4.  In all Burma armed forces, no Christian has been promoted rank higher
than Major.  The few colonels are the ones promoted ten or fifteen years
ago. Since 1990, many of the Chin officers could go only up to Captain, and
not beyond.

5. In Magwe township, many evangelists were sent by the Churches from Chin
State, and at least 8 of them are now ordered by the military government to
return Chin State, forbidding them to preach anywhere in the district.

6.  When the "Chin Evangelical Centenary" festival was about to take place
in Hakha, the military government officially called it, "we have nothing to
do with the 'white face'" arrival in Chin State. They did not openly and
strongly oppose the celebration all the way, simply because the military
government realized that the Chins would go on and celebrate, with or
without military government's permission.  Even when the ZBC drew worship
service programs, the military government objected to a number items in the
program, and the ZBC had to revise the program four or five times before
finally giving approval. Why should a government have a say in the service
program of the Christian worship service?


7.  The military government played delaying tactic as long as they can:
when the Chin held worship services in Yangon for the celebration on March
13 & 14, the Chins did not get permission to worship for days and weeks.
The permission came only 30 minutes just before the worship service began.
The ZBC applied for permission for Centenary Permission 10 months ahead of
time. The military government granted them just 5 days before the
celebration started, they did it only when they saw that not granting them
permission would be more risky.

8.  The military government allowed only 4500 guests to attend the
centenary celebration in Hakha. What they said was, "accept only 4500
guests or you get no celebration." That was the ultimatum! However
obviously more people attended more than allowed.

9.  The military used all types of means to spy on the activities of the
Chin Christians, including Buddhist monks. Monks often came to worship
service, not because of their interest in Christians' message, but for
other reason and the Christians know it well.

10.  The military government did not permit the Carson hall in Hakha to be
completed. They may say many excuses but the fact remains: they did not
allow it to be completed. When the military government wanted to have
Students' Festival in 1998,  the military government asked for and received
all cooperation from the Christians in Hakha, including all stones the
Christians had collected for their Carson hall, but when the Christians
wanted to have their centenary celebration, help was not coming; the
military government would rather try to prevent the celebration to take
place. There is a lot of injustices, and they had the guns. The sufferings
of people is truly deep. They are simply crying. Those who shouted about
their sufferings are simply silenced either by threat or by imprisonment.

11. Last, the military government kept large armies and those who are
stationed in Chin State did not behave like professional soldiers. They
would steal and take by force whatever belongs to the citizens without
payment: their stealing is well known throughout the length and breadth of
the State. I have talked a good number of people whose grocery items have
been taken by force or stolen, by the soldiers, including chickens and pigs. 

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THE BANGKOK POST: REBEL FORCES KILL SEVEN PRO-RANGOON SOLDIERS
12 July, 1999 by Supamart Kasem 

300 THAIS FORCED TO FLEE BORDER FIGHTING

Seven soldiers of the pro-Rangoon Democratic Karen Buddhist Army were
reported killed and four other people injured during an attack by rival
Karen National Union forces on their strongholds in Burma opposite Phop
Phra district.

During the fighting, more than 300 people living in a nearby Thai border
village fled their homes after a mortar shell landed on the house of a
former local leader.

A border official said the battle between about 100 anti-Rangoon KNU troops
and about 150 DKBA soldiers took place after the KNU ambushed several DKBA
camps opposite Waleh village about 4am Saturday.


The KNU guerrillas pulled back after more than two hours of fighting.

The conflict claimed the lives of seven DKBA troops and four other Karens.

A girl was also injured.

During the battle, about 300 Thais living in tambon Waleh sought shelter
well away from the village after a mortar shell landed on the roof of a
house owned by former kamnan Prayoon Putsa.

Thai security forces did not respond as they considered the explosion an
accident, according to a source. 

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THE NATION: BURMA SEEKING IMF, WORLD BANK AID 
12 July, 1999 

REUTERS

RANGOON - Cash-strapped Burma is seeking financial and technical help from
the World Bank and International Monetary Fund to help it weather tough
economic times, the nation's central bank chief said on Friday.

Teams from the IMF and World Bank recently visited Burma to assess its
economic situation, governor Kyaw Kyaw Maung said in an interview.

Asked if they had promised assistance, he said: "It depends on them. We
have been looking forward to it for quite a long time."

The World Bank stopped its assistance programme to Burma in 1988 after the
military took power by bloodily suppressing a pro-democracy uprising. But
this year a World Bank mission visited to assess its economic and
humanitarian needs.

The IMF has been holding annual consultations with Burma but does not have
an aid programme in the country.

The issue is complicated by Western sanctions on Burma because of its human
rights record, especially its treatment of the prodemocracy opposition led
by Aung San Suu Kyi. Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy won the
country's last election in 1990 by a landslide but has never been allowed
to govern.

Kyaw Kyaw Maung said Burma needed help for its economic reform plans.
"Right now our reserves are very low," he said. He said Burma, which has
been buffeted by the side-effects of the Asian economic crisis in the past
two years, had enough reserves to finance two months of imports.

It had been able to sustain itself without foreign assistance for some time
despite a lack of adequate foreign exchange revenue thanks to a food
surplus to feed its people.

It was also helped by unconventional border trade with neighbouring
Thailand China, India and Bangladesh, which generated just enough cash to
oil the wheels of commerce in outlying areas.

"We are a food surplus country. We are rich in mineral resources, forestry
resources and so on. We also have open border trade with all our
neighbours," he said.

The governor said the authorities had managed to keep the country afloat by
enforcing strict fiscal discipline and controlling public expenditure while
keeping the budget deficit under control. He did not give details about the
budget deficit.

Burma is a rice producer and exporter. It also produces a variety of other
foods such as pulses, and vegetables.

Kyaw Kyaw Maung said Burma had exported rice to neighbouring Southeast
Asian countries such as Indonesia and Malaysia in order to share its
surplus food resources with them in exchange for others goods and services.
He said Burma's inflation rate stood at more than 40 per cent but this was
based on prices in Yangon.


"Of course, the cost of living in the remaining area in the country is
lower than in Rangoon," he said.

Deputy Governor Than Lwin said he expected gross domestic product growth
for the fiscal year to next March to be around five to six per cent, barely
changed from last year's 5.6 per cent.

He said Burma was still able to post growth last year despite the Asian
crisis because it was not directly affected. 

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THE NATION: CHUAN'S LOGIC FLAWED IN SOFT BURMA POLICY 
12 July, 1999 by Khin Maung Win 

LETTERS TO EDITOR

Last week, Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai said that the promotion of
democracy in Burma cannot be the responsibility of Asean, "rather, it must
be the responsibility of Burma - we can only act as supporters."

If Asean is to be the supporter of democracy in Burma, it must demonstrate
unity with other international players strategically. Asean's opposition to
actions taken by the UN does not conform with the Thai prime minister's
recent comment that Asean can be a supporter of democracy in Burma. A clear
example is found in the opposition by all Asean nations of the recent
International Labour Organisation (ILO) resolution against Burma.

Nowadays, the international community, namely the UN and EU, are initiating
a new strategy to bring about changes in Burma. Such initiatives will not
be smooth as long as Asean holds back from supporting them.

The time has come for Thailand and Asean to accept that their past policy
is no longer applicable to the present situation. A new strategy based on a
proactive approach is required. Such a policy shift may result in some
undesired responses from the Burmese military regime in the short run,
particularly for Thailand, but will be most beneficial for peoples of all
nations in this region in the long run.

The comment by Chuan that "Burma needs time to develop democracy,"
represents a denial of realities. More than a decade is long enough for any
political group to commence essential steps towards democracy. Calls for a
faster transition to democracy are required, since the slower the
transition to democracy, the more the Burmese people suffer.

Khin Maung Win
Bangkok 

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THE GUARDIAN: MINISTER STANDS BY HUMAN RIGHTS RECORD 
1 July, 1999 by Geoffrey Hoon 

John Pilger (Immoral earnings, June 29) presents yet another of his
triumphs of professional outrage over truth and fairness.

He may not have noticed, but NATO acted to defend the very values he claims
to hold dear. It had the overwhelming support of Kosovan Albanians and
every other country in the region. To claim that NATO slaughtered 10,000
innocent people is make-believe. To claim it was responsible for the Serb
atrocities is just plain sick.

His absurd attack on the government for not making submissions to the
"international war crimes tribunal" on former president Suharto betrays
either a remarkable ignorance or a willful disregard for the truth. As John
Pilger should know, there are presently only two international tribunals on
war crimes - one for the former Yugoslavia, one for Rwanda. I wonder which
one he feels should deal with President Suharto?


Thanks to British action, the ILO has passed an emergency resolution
penalising Burma for its record on forced labour -- the first of its kind.
We have persuaded the UN to pass a series of resolutions slamming Burma's
human rights record. We have suspended government support for British
companies doing trade with Burma. With Aung San Suu Kyi's support, we now
discourage British tourists from going to Burma. The Burmese regime have
singled us out for criticism. It is hardly a record of weakness.

Following the conflict in Kosovo there is an important debate going on
about foreign policy and Britain's role in the world. He does it no favours.

Geoffrey Hoon MP
Minister of state, Foreign office

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