The BurmaNet News: August 26, 1999

[strider@xxxxxxx]

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

The BurmaNet News: August 26, 1999
Issue #1345

Noted in Passing: "It would be immoral for Nigeria to do any legal business
with a government that is not democratic in nature."  -Nigerian Deputy
Foreign Minister Dubem Onyia (see AFP: NIGERIA TO SHUN TRADE WITH MYANMAR) 

HEADLINES:
==========
IRISH TIMES: AN "ENEMY OF THE 'NET" STRIKES BACK 
CHRO: 100 CIVILIAN MEN DETAINED IN THE CHURCH 
AFP: NIGERIA TO SHUN TRADE WITH MYANMAR
SHAN: YAWDSERK - THAI APPROACH TO DRUGS ILL-ADVISED 
BKK POST: THAILAND, BURMA TO JOIN FIGHT 
BKK POST: KAREN MOVED 
*****************************************************

THE IRISH TIMES: AN "ENEMY OF THE 'NET" STRIKES BACK 
23 August, 1999 by Sandy Barron 

Sandy Barron on the cyber censorship affecting Burma's new cybercafe which
has no Internet access and regular power cuts 

As though to prove wrong a report that recently described Burma as one of
the top 20 "enemies of the Internet", the military-run southeast-Asian
country has permitted a cybercafe to begin operating in the capital city
Rangoon - but without Internet access. 

The cybercafe at Innwa Bookstore, possibly the world's only Internet cafe
with no Net access, was reported to be the first of its kind in Burma by
MyaBuzz, a Thailand-based business newsletter. 

Instead of accessing the Net, customers at the cybercafe on Sule Pagoda
Road may borrow CDRoms that have passed the military junta's stringent
censorship. Customers may also use the multimedia computers for
word-processing or other tasks - during periods of the day that are free of
Rangoon's regular electricity black-outs. They are also invited to register
for the unavailable Internet access, reports MyaBuzz. 

In a recent report, the journalists' organisation Reporters Sans Frontières
(RSF) described Burma (also known as Myanmar) as one of 20 countries that
could be described as "real enemies" of the Internet because they "control
access totally or partially, have censored websites or taken action against
users". A further 25 countries restrict access to a lesser degree. 

In Burma, it is illegal to own a fax machine or a modem without a licence,
and breaking the law carries a jail sentence of up to 15 years. Leo
Nichols, a Burmese businessman, honorary consul for Norway, and a friend of
Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, died in prison some years
ago while serving a three-year sentence for possession of a fax machine. 

RSF says that in Burma, Internet censorship "is total, due to a state
monopoly on access". Television, radio, videos, CDs, newspapers and books
are also subject to blanket state censorship and thousands of Burmese rely
on BBC broadcasts for news about the country. 

Other countries in the top 20 Internet "enemies" list include Azerbaijan,
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan in central Asia and the Caucasus. In
the Middle East and Africa, RSF highlights Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Syria,
Libya and Tunisia, along with Sierra Leone and Sudan. Also on the RSF list
are Cuba, Vietnam, China and North Korea. 

"On the pretext of protecting the public from `subversive ideas' or
defending `national security and unity', some governments totally prevent
their citizens from gaining access to the Internet," says RSF. "Others
control a single Internet Services Provider (ISP) or even several,
installing filters blocking access to websites regarded as unsuitable and
sometimes forcing users to officially register with the authorities." 

Authoritarian regimes may regard the Internet as a "two-edged sword" says
RSF, because while the Net provides free access to international sources of
information and thwarts some authorities' control of information, it also
promotes economic growth through online transactions and the sharing of
information. "The economic argument seems to be winning the day in
countries such as Malaysia and Singapore, where controlling `dangerous'
sites is proving difficult for the authorities," says RSF. 

Although Burma restricts Internet access to a tiny minority of
organisations and individuals close to the regime, and monitors messages
closely, the military junta, known as the State Peace and Development
Council (SPDC) is an enthusiastic sender of information and propaganda to
international Burma discussion areas on the Net. 

The junta also operates a home page at www.myanmar.com, which was recently
featured on the site of the giant international online service America
On-Line, prompting fierce protests earlier this month from the Free Burma
Coalition (www.freeburmacoalition.org), a pro-democracy group based in the
US. AOL later deleted the link. Myanmar.com contains mainly information for
tourists, but the cybercafe at Innwa Books does not feature on its list of
attractions. 

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

CHIN HUMAN RIGHTS ORGANIZATION: 100 CIVILIAN MEN DETAINED IN THE CHURCH
August, 1999 from chokhlei@xxxxxxxxxxx 

Rhododendron News Bulletin, Volume II No. 6

On 26 June 1999 a Burmese soldier disappeared from a patrolling army unit
en route to Tlangpi village from Lung Ding village of Thantlang Township,
Chin State. 

The disappeared soldier was among the 34 soldiers from Light Infantry
Battalion 266 led by 2nd Lieutenant Kyaw Soe, based at Lungler army camp
located north of Thantlang town near the Indian border.  The soldier who
was extremely exhausted due to hunger was left behind half way during the
patrolling. 

Upon noticing the disappearance on arrival at the destination village, the
commander 2nd Lt. Kyaw Soe ordered a section of army to search for the lost
soldier overnight. However, instead of searching for the soldier, the
assigned soldiers met on the way with smugglers who herded cattle to be
sold in Mizoram State of India and extorted Kyats 50000 from them. 

On the next day the commander with his soldiers vainly headed for Farrawn
village to find the soldier. They returned to Tlangpi and ordered the
villagers to find the soldier. However, the attempt too proved to be
futile. They returned to Lungler camp to report the matter to Captain Phyu
Win, 266 Second Battalion Commander & temporary camp Commander who just
arrived to the camp ahead of him. 

Under the Command of Captain Phyu Win the soldiers again immediately went
back to Tlangpi village on 1 July 1999, the Captain forcibly ordered a
total of more than 100 villagers, 40 villagers each from Lung Ding and
Tlangpi villages, members of Village PDC of Tahtlang village and another 15
villagers from the same village to search for the lost soldier. 

Some villagers who were afraid of being forced to find the soldier had to
go on hiding in the farm. Worried that those already taken to search the
soldier will escape, the soldier kept them in a Church in Tlangpi and
strictly guarded them outside. 

The arrested villagers had to sleep without blankets and had to be fed by
Tlangpi villagers. Despairing of the search, the Captain finally ordered
his inferiors to arrest every male in the village indiscriminately at
midnight to clear trees and bushes around the cart way linking
Lungding-Tlangpi-Farrawn. The villagers dared not defy the order. 

The lost soldier is still yet to be found and the villagers are facing
immense difficulty as the incident coincided with the cultivation season by
which they make their living. This forced labors by the army had badly
affected the farm work of the villagers and they (villagers) are likely to
face a new wave of crop shortage within the next years. The 100 arrested
villagers are still in the army detention.  

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

AFP: NIGERIA TO SHUN TRADE WITH MYANMAR 
25 August, 1999 

Lagos, Aug 25. Nigeria has served notice to Myanmar and other states that
"are not democratic in nature" that it will no longer do business with
them, The Guardian newspaper reported Wednesday. 

Deputy Foreign Minister Dubem Onyia told Khan Maung Win, an envoy of
Myanmar's military junta, that "it would be immoral for Nigeria to do any
legal business with a government that is not democratic in nature," the
paper said. 

Nigeria returned to civilian rule in May this year after more than 15 years
of military rule during which the west African giant became an
international pariah because of an appalling human rights record. 

Olusegun Obasanjo, himself a former military head of state, became only the
third civilian president since independence in 1960. 

Onyia said Myanmar should "do everything possible within the shortest
possible time to return to democracy." 

The envoy, who bore a message to Obasanjo, had sought closer bilateral ties
in the spirit of South-South cooperation. 

The international community has shunned Myanmar because of widespread
allegations of gross human rights abuses and Yangon's refusal to recognise
1990 elections won by Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD).

[BurmaNet Editor's Note: In related news, Christina Lamb in the Sunday
Telegraph (UK) reported on 22 August:]

Nigeria is to investigate the sins of its military past in an unprecedented
attempt to curb the power of the generals who have ruled for most of the
years since independence. 

The creation of a truth commission, along with the announcement that the
government is slashing the army by almost half and sacking 150 top
officers, has sent shock waves through the senior ranks of Africa's most
powerful military. President Olesegun Obasanjo, the former military ruler
who took office on May 29 after democratic elections, has told western
diplomats he is committed to cracking down on his former colleagues,
insisting "there will be no sacred cows". 

[ ... ]

President Obasanjo will be in the unusual position of being both answerable
to the panel as military ruler between 1976 and 1979-and able to appeal to
it as a victim, having spent two years in jail under General Abacha. 

Already thousands of submissions are pouring in, including such high
profile cases as the hanging of Ken Saro Wiwa, the playwright, and eight
other Ogoni activists in 1995 and the death last year in detention of
Moshod Abiola, the winner of the annulled 1993 elections, who was locked up
by General Abacha after declaring himself president. 

[ ... ]

[The full text of this article can be accessed by subscribers to
"electronic Telegraph" homepage: www.telegraph.co.uk.  Subscription is free.]

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

SHAN HERALD AGENCY FOR NEWS: YAWDSERK - THAI APPROACH TO DRUGS ILL-ADVISED 
25 August, 1999 

The Bow and Arrow Analogy 

The leader of the Shan Resistance force, upon inquiry, commented that the
present Thai solution to check the drug flow into Thailand via cooperation
with the Rangoon junta was an ill-considered one. 

Yawdserk, Commander of the Shan States Army, asked by S.H.A.N. to comment
on Thai efforts to win Rangoon's cooperation against massive influx of
drugs, particularly amphetamines, said, "That's trying to destroy a poison
tree by pruning it and not uprooting it". 

"The Was, (the main target of the Thais) are only an arrow. The bow is
Rangoon. You can break the arrow but not stop the shooting until the bow is
under your control". 

Asked to elaborate, he said, "What I mean is: Lo Hsinghan (the first
kingpin) was arrested and jailed (in 1973). But Khun Sa took his place.
Efforts were then concentrated to bring Khun Sa down. As a result, he's
gone now only to be replaced by the Was. Does anyone guarantee that the
downfall of the Was shall end the drug problem and not bring another
druglord onto the scene instead?" 

"What should be done is to stop the junta from violating the people and
waging a proxy war through drugs against Thailand", he said. "They should
help us non-Burmans win our right to determine our destiny and the Burmans
to win their democracy". 

"That is what I mean by uprooting the problem and seizing the bow". 

Yawdserk has been waging his own war on drugs in his operational areas
since last year. 

The latest issue of his bulletin, SSArmy News, reported the seizure of a
heroin refinery in Mongton Township on 31 July. 

Drug officials, however, say Yawdserk still has to go a long way to prove
himself.

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

THE BANGKOK POST: THAILAND, BURMA TO JOIN FIGHT 
25 August, 1999 

Rangoon, AP -- Thailand and Burma agreed yesterday to strengthen border
controls and step up joint anti-narcotics efforts, four days after a Thai
drug fighter was killed in an ambush on the border.

Foreign Minister Surin Pitsuwan and his Burmese counterpart, Win Aung, said
after a meeting that increasing border security was needed to curtail drug
smuggling and human trafficking.

A Thai officer was killed and another went missing on Friday after an
ambush by drug traffickers along the border.

That followed the arrest by Thai officials of two members of an ethnic
rebel group in Burma.

The mountainous border lies in the notorious Golden Triangle, where the
poppy plantations are cultivated by drug traffickers and guerrilla groups
for the illegal production of opium and heroin.

Thai officials have accused the Burmese military of collusion with rebel
groups in the drug trade - a charge vigorously denied by Rangoon.

Mr Surin yesterday said cross-border trading between the two countries
amounted to US$267.9 million (about 9,912 million bath) during the first
half of 1999, a 27% increase over the same period last year.

The two also said Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai would soon visit Burma.

Tensions are high in Burma as the ruling State Peace and Development
Council ahs cracked down on opposition groups in fear of an uprising on
Sept 9, or 9-9-99.

At least 36 people have been arrested for alleged involvement in an
uprising, which opponents in numerology-obsessed Burma hope will succeed,
where a so-called 8-8-88 rebellion failed 11 years ago.

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

THE BANGKOK POST: KAREN MOVED 
25 August, 1999 

Tak - A first batch of 200 Karen refugees was moved from a camp in Mae Sot
to a shelter in Phop Phra district on Monday.

The Karen are among 8,000 to be moved for their own safety from Huay Klok
to a deteriorating forest reserve at Ban Um Piam-Maj in a 40-day operation
involving 20 trucks.

More than 100 Thai officials and United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees staff are engaged in the operation supervised by a Fourth Infantry
Regiment task force.

The army proposal to move refugees at least 10km from the border and the
threat of renegade attack was supported by the National Security Council,
the Interior Ministry, the UN refugee agency and NGOs.

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