The BurmaNet News: July 29, 1999

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------------------------ BurmaNet ------------------------
 "Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies"
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The BurmaNet News: July 29, 1999
Issue #1325

HEADLINES:
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AI: FEAR FOR WORLD'S YOUNGEST PRISONER OF CONSCIENCE 
IHT: TRY TO PROMOTE DIALOGUE IN BURMA 
NATION: BURMA TOLD IT WILL REMAIN A DISASTER 
MIZZIMA: INDIA AND BURMA BEGIN TALKS 
BKK POST: HUMBLE TYPEWRITER KEEPS Y2K AT BAY
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AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL: FEARS GROW FOR WORLD'S YOUNGEST PRISONER OF CONSCIENCE 
28 July, 1999 

The world's youngest prisoner of conscience -- a three-year-old girl
recently arrested and imprisoned by the Burmese military -- may suffer
serious health problems during her imprisonment, Amnesty International said
today.

"Locking up a young child -- effectively holding her hostage to force her
father out of hiding -- exposes the extent of the Burmese government's
ruthlessness in trying to stamp out political dissent," Amnesty
International said.

"Thaint Wunna Khin may suffer serious physical and psychological damage
during her detention. Myanmar's government should immediately end this
meaningless and cruel ordeal by releasing the child and her mother." 

Three-year-old Thaint Wunna Khin is one of 19 people arrested between 19
and 24 July in Pegu, central Myanmar. All are thought to be prisoners of
conscience, detained on suspicion of planning a 19 July march to
commemorate the 52nd anniversary of General Aung San's assassination.
General Aung San fought for independence from the British and was the
father of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of the National League for
Democracy (NLD) opposition party.

Between 16 and 18 July, pamphlets announcing the march were distributed and
messages were spray-painted on walls calling for support for the NLD, for
prices to be lowered, and for civil servants' salaries to be raised. 

The local Military Intelligence (MI) arrested Thaint Wunna Khin and her
mother, Ma Khin Khin Leh, when they could not find her father, Kyaw Wunna.
They arrested six other members of his family on 23 July. A further 11
people who distributed pamphlets were arrested between 19 and 24 July. The
local branch of MI, MI3, is believed to be interrogating all 19 people at
several locations. 

Detainees, especially young political activists, are frequently tortured
and ill-treated in Myanmar's detention centers, particularly in the early
stages of detention.

Amnesty International is urging the State Peace and Development Council,
Myanmar's military government, to immediately and unconditionally release
the other 17 political activists unless they are charged with a
recognizably criminal offence.

[BurmaNet Editor's Note: For information on AI's "Urgent Action" campaign
to have these prisoners released, contact ajsloot@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx .] 

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INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE: TRY TO PROMOTE DIALOGUE IN BURMA
27 July, 1999 by David I. Steinberg 

WASHINGTON - Nowhere else in the world does the use of a country's name so
indelibly send polarized signals. Using ''Burma'' favors the opposition,
using ''Myanmar'' favors the military government. But the name issue also
reflects deeper, continuing political problems. 


This week foreign ministers of the Association of South East Asian Nations
are meeting in Singapore with their counterparts from the United States,
China, Japan and other countries that have close ties with ASEAN.
Burma/Myanmar should be an issue of major concern. 

>From a backwater of little interest, Burma has become a regional problem.
It is the troublesome source to its neighbors of refugees, illegal labor
migration and narcotics. A growing Chinese influence in Burma has potential
security implications for the region. Political paralysis prevents
resolution of these issues. 

Last month brought the 10th anniversary of the house arrest of Daw Aung San
Suu Kyi, who was released some time ago by the military rulers after six
years in prison but is still subject to close official surveillance and
restricted contacts. 

Last month also brought the anniversary of Martyrs' Day, the commemoration
of the 1947 assassination of her father, Aung San, and the incipient
cabinet of the country that was to become independent on Jan. 4, 1948. 

This juxtaposition symbolizes much of what has stultified political
development in Burma. 

General Aung San, the father of independence, was killed in a hail of
bullets by a disgruntled rival politician. His memory and heritage strongly
affect Burmese society today. 

He was extolled as the George Washington of Burma until a decade ago.
Quotations from his writings and speeches, carefully selected to enhance
whatever point the military rulers wanted to make, were constantly
reiterated in the controlled media. 

Today his pictures and quotations are gone. Even the commemoration of
Martyrs' Day has been subdued. 

The reasons are obvious - the rise in popularity of his strong-willed
daughter. The military junta has played down his role as she has played up
the connection. The Burmese do not have surnames; each person has his or
her own individual name. But Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has prefixed her father's
name to hers to make obvious the relationship and to project the aura of
someone who has become almost mythic in Burmese history. 

To the chagrin of the military, this has been eminently successful. The
junta claims that elements of British intelligence were behind General Aung
San's assassination. Since Daw Aung San Suu Kyi was married to an
Englishman, Michael Aris, who died in March, the link is stressed. 

The military propaganda machine charges that foreigners have attempted to
destroy the country's unity by the murder of General Aung San, and diluted
the race by the marriage of his daughter to a native of Britain, the former
colonial power. 

It is unclear how far this effort has influenced the public. What is
painfully obvious, however, is that the stalemate between the opposition
and the military junta continues and somehow needs to be broken. ASEAN and
its partners have a role here. They should use their influence to encourage
dialogue in Burma. 

Otherwise the country's potentially rich but disastrously poor economy will
worsen. Inflation and cuts in government spending will increase, and
foreign investment will dry up altogether. 


Political frustration is already evident. Many influential Burmese are
calling for a plague on all parties. Human rights continue to be grossly
ignored and the media stifled. 

The junta is evidently determined that it will continue to hold the key
levers of power, either openly, as today, or under a civilianized
administration, whatever cosmetic dialogue with the opposition may
eventually take place. 

Political stasis thus continues, while the cauldron of potential unrest and
instability bubbles. In effect it is Burmese of all ethnic groups who are
now the martyrs. 

[The writer, director of Asian studies at Georgetown University,
contributed this comment to the International Herald Tribune.] 

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THE NATION: BURMA TOLD IT WILL REMAIN A DISASTER 
28 July, 1999 

SINGAPORE -- US Secretary of state Madeleine Albright said yesterday that
military-ruled Burma would remain an "economic disaster as long as it
continues to repress human rights. 

"Just as democracy fosters prosperity, so repression in Burma has generated
economic disaster," Albright told a regional security conference of foreign
ministers from the Asia-Pacific, Europe and Canada. 

Burmese Foreign Minister Win Aung had earlier complained in the same
meeting about countries that use the annual Southeast Asian security talks
as a political forum to interfere with others' internal affairs. He did not
name anyone. 

Albright has been persistent in criticising Burma's human rights abuses and
participation in drug smuggling. 

As Asian nations rebound from the devastating regional financial crisis by
restructuring their economics and opening their societies, Burma lags
behind its Southeast Asian neighbours in economic development. The country
has been ruled by the military since 1962. 

An opposition party led by Aung San Suu Kyi won elections in a 1990
landslide, but was prevented from taking power. 

No consensus was reached on Burma's poor human rights record when the Asean
Regional Forum concluded its annual meeting on Monday. The consensus-driven
forum does not include language in its communique that is critical of a
member state. But in follow-up meetings yesterday, Australian Foreign
Minister Alexander Downer and European Union President Tarja Halonen joined
Albright in calling on Burma to end repression and start dialogue with the
opposition. 

Halonen said the EU "continues to be concerned about the situation in
Burma/Myanmar." 

"It is the wish of the EU to start a meaningful political dialogue with
Burma/Myanmar, but it is up to the Burmese authorities to show progress and
willingness to deal with the issues of human rights and democratic
development," Halonen said. 

"The EU urges Myanmar authorities to take measures that will have a
positive effect on all Burmese. A good start would be to respect the 1990
elections and resume a dialogue with the democratic opposition," she said. 

But Win Aung said Asean's partners should understand that in order to
advance relations with Rangoon, they must learn to "respect" Asean's core
principles of noninterference, mutual respect and non-discrimination. 


"Regretfully some dialogue partners are using this valued relationship as
a political means to interfere with the internal affairs of the member
countries," Win Aung said. 

"As a new member we are heartened to witness Asean's steadfast
determination to uphold these principles." 

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MIZZIMA NEWS GROUP: INDIA AND BURMA BEGIN TALKS ON SECURITY AND TRADE 
28 July, 1999 

Home Ministry officials from India and Burma began their three-day talks on
issues of concern to both countries in New Delhi today. The talks are
crucial and the Indian side is led by Home Secretary Mr. Kamal Pandey while
the Burmese delegation is led by Deputy Home Minister Brig. General Thura
Myint Maung. 

During the talks, the two sides will discuss various issues ranging from
insurgency problems in North East India, drug trafficking and border trade.
According to Indian Home Ministry sources, the two governments will be
working on ways to cooperate with each other in tackling insurgency along
the international border, sharing of intelligence and checking drug
trafficking across the border. Moreover, border trade and banking
arrangements in border areas will be discussed. 

India is reportedly concerned about the recent attempts by some North East
insurgent groups to establish a toehold in Burma. Recent Indian
intelligence reports indicate that some (Indian) North East insurgent
groups have already set up camps on the Burmese side of the border. India
and Burma formally legalized the border trade through Mroeh town, Manipur
State of India and Tamu township, Sagaing Division of Burma in April 1995.

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THE BANGKOK POST: HUMBLE TYPEWRITER KEEPS Y2K AT BAY IN BURMA 
28 July, 1999 by Patrick McDowell 

MILLENNIUM BUG DOESN'T WORRY TYPISTS IN LOW-TECH BURMA 

Looking up from his keyboard, Myint Thein says he doesn't understand what
the Y2K fuss is about. 

Whether the world's computers crash on January 1, 2000, because old
software doesn't recognise the millennium change won't matter much to him
or, indeed, many people in low tech Burma. 

Myint Thein, 64, will do what he does every day -- set up shop at a rickety
wooden table under a big shade tree across the street from the Rangoon
courthouse and churn out official documents, in triplicate. 

He won't use a laptop and laser printer, but something far more efficient
in a country where electricity is rationed and computers are expensive and
restricted -- his trusty Remington manual typewriter, streaked with rust
and grease. 

I've never had an electric typewriter or computer," Myint Thein says. "When
computers first arrived, I was worried, but not any more. There's still a
good future for public typists in this country." 

Every major town in Burma has people like Myint Thein making a living
pounding out documents for countrymen who don't have their own typewriters
but need typed papers in dealings with officialdom. 

In Rangoon, hundreds of public typists do business outside the courthouse
and other government buildings and next to the gilded Sule Pagoda downtown,
which also does a brisk business in fortune-telling. 


Customers range from Buddhist monks filling out forms for new identity
papers to lawyers needing court transcripts to writers of dime novels. 

The technology remains well-suited to Burma. There is a lack of foreign
currency to pay for imported computers. Electricity is on for just a few
hours a day - less in many areas - to run them. And the military regime
tightly restricts the availability of modems and fax machines, fearing
dissidents could use them as revolutionary weapons. 

Myint Thein types at about 50 words a minute, fingers clattering over 33
characters and 18 accents in the local alphabet. A page takes 20 minutes,
for which he charges 40 kyats, about 6 baht. "A page from a computer would
cost 100 kyats," he says. "People here can't afford that." 

On a good day, Myint Thein earns about 1,000 kyats (130baht). 

Across town at the Armed Forces Convention Hall, exhibitors at a recent
computer show agreed that computers face serious obstacles in Burma before
they can displace old technology. 

To start, the country of 50 million people is short of trained engineers,
relying largely on students who have had some training in friendly Asian
neighbours like Singapore or Thailand. 

Though larger businesses might like computers, the poor electricity supply
limits their use to concerns and people who can afford their own power
generators. 

Access to the Internet also is strictly limited by anti-modem laws. Illegal
possession can lead to a prison term. 

Tun Thura Thet, the managing director of Burma Information Technology, says
the country isn't likely to experience many problems with the "Y2K bug"
given its low Technology base. His company has worked with the government
in updating software for computers that handle telecommunications and
bulling systems. 

"The worst thing is that people here don't know how far behind they are" in
the use of Technology, said Aung Yin, another exhibitor at the computer
show. "They think everything is OK. They've never been exposed to Silicon
Valley." 

The show was aimed at exposing the curious - mostly students and
businessmen - to high-tech, as well as sell accessories to the elite who
already own computers. Pirated games and educational programmes did a brisk
trade. 

"People coming here are very interested in the Internet and high
technology'" said K. Laring, the exhibition manager. "Many of them are
young." 

Myint Thein wasn't one of them. 

Back at the courthouse, he spooled three new sheets of paper layered with
carbons into his old Remington, sipped on a cola and reflected on his own
youth. 

"I learned to type in India when I was 20," he said. "Back them, it was a
skill that could always get you a job. I just want to keep on doing what I
know how to do."

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