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Burma News Update, No. 96 (r)
Open Society Institute
The Burma Project
Burma News Update No. 96
03 November 1999
Court Dismisses Abuse Suit
Burma's Supreme Court has dismissed a suit by the opposition
National League for Democracy alleging abuse of power by 29
of the country's senior military officers. According to a junta
statement, the court ruled that the charges had no merit, and in
any case, that the NLD requires the junta's prior permission to file
a suit against "civil servants." The NLD suit, filed on 30 September,
accused the military regime of disrupting NLD party activities and
illegally detaining and harassing NLD members of parliament.
Observers described the decision as a formality, since the military
tightly controls the judiciary. The ruling came as diplomats say the
regime "has been engaged on a concerted campaign to crush the
party's ability to organize and to isolate its leaders," and as the state
runs daily articles claiming mass resignations from the NLD.
Rangoon, "Reuters", "Agence France Presse," 29 October
UN Reports Burma Abuses
A United Nations report released Thursday, 28 October, details
what it calls thoroughly-documented "summary executions, rape,
torture, ill treatment during forced labour" and other abuses of
ethnic minorities in Burma, as well as broader human rights
violations. "Repression of civil and political rights continues and
intensifies whenever there is any form of public protest and any
form of public political activity," stated the report submitted by
Rajsoomer Lallah, the special rapporteur on Burma for the UN
Commission on Human Rights, adding, "The rule of law cannot
be said to exist and function as the judicial system is subject
to a military regime and serves only as a handmaiden to a policy
of repression."
United Nations, "Agence France Presse," 29 October
"Mighty" Army Needed
One of Burma's top generals called for strengthening the country's
armed forces to guard against interference and manipulation by
"big neo-colonialist powers." Ruling junta Vice Chairman General
Maung Aye warned, "In this world today, big neo-colonialist
powers are attempting to interfere in and manipulate the internal
affairs of developing countries," adding, "A modern, mighty and
qualified defence force is required to ward off this danger." [Over
the past decade, Burma has more than doubled its army to
nearly 500,000 members, although the country faces no credible
external security threat-Ed.]
Rangoon, "Reuters,' 27 October
Rice Worries?
An independent three-year investigation released on 20 October
warned that many rural communities in Burma are facing severe
food shortages. The 170-page report released in Hong Kong
said that the regime is forcing farmers to sell their crop at less
than half the market price and compelling people to work without
compensation on public works projects. However, a senior
member of Burma's ruling junta, Lt. General Tin Oo, said on
26 October that sales of official rice stocks are intended to
curb soaring inflation, and that enough rice has been stocked
to feed the army for two years. The retail price of the most
popular rice variety has leapt over 100 percent in the past year,
and there has been panic buying among some consumers.
[Meanwhile, Associated Press on 25 October reports from Mae
Sot, Thailand, that hundreds of Buddhist monks and nuns from
over 80 monasteries inside Burma have fled to Thailand because
of acute food shortages inside Burma.]
Hong Kong, "Kyodo," 20 October; Rangoon, "Reuters," 27 October
Rangoon Junta Shuffle
In the sixth set of ministerial changes in less than two years,
Burma's army junta made minor rearrangements to its ranks
in a cabinet reshuffle announced in Rangoon on 29 October.
Minister of Commerce Major-General Kyaw Than and
Minister of Sports Brigadier-General Sein Win were retired.
Minister of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement Brigadier
General Pyi Sone was reassigned as minister of commerce
and Religious Affairs Minister Major-General Sein Htwa as
minister of social welfare, relief and resettlement. The junta
named U Aung Htwe as minister of religious affairs and
Brigadier-General Thura Aye Myint as minister of sports.
Rangoon, "Xinhua," 29 October
South Africa Protest
The leader and 30 other members of the Confederation of
South African Trade Union (Cosatu) were expelled from a
major trade show in South Africa after protesting the
participation of Burma's military regime. Cosatu
Secretary-General Zwelinzima Vavi said that Cosatu is
demanding that the South African government "cut all ties"
with the military junta, which he said is guilty of "forced
slave labour, extra-judicial killings, child labour and
suppression of basic human rights." [Cosatu, South Africa's
leading labor grouping, was a crucial force in the anti-apartheid
struggle. The Burmese junta has dismissed offers by retired
President Nelson Mandela to help mediate an end to Burma's
political stalemate-Ed.]
Johannesburg, "South African Press Association," 21
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