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BurmaNet News: January 25, 2000
- Subject: BurmaNet News: January 25, 2000
- From: strider@xxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 25 Jan 2000 07:01:00
=============== The BurmaNet News ===============
January 25, 2000
Issue # 1446
=========================================
Noted in Passing: "Sanchai Ratchatawan" The name of the commander of
the 9th Infantry Divison who gave the order to shell Kamerplaw, killing
up to 200 civilian refugees and precipitating the attack on the
Ratchaburi hospital. (See BANGKOK POST: WHO'S GOD'S ARMY?)
=========
Headlines
=========
THE INDEPENDENT (London): JOHNNY AND LUTHER ARE 12-YEAR-OLD TWINS.
YESTERDAY THEIR ARMY TOOK 700 HOSTAGES
AFP: THAI HOSTAGES SAY DEAD REBELS HAD NO PLANS TO HARM CAPTIVES
WASHINGTON POST: THAIS RETAKE HOSPITAL FROM REBELS; BURMESE FOLLOWERS OF
TWIN BOYS HELD HUNDREDS HOSTAGE
AFP: THAI GOVERNMENT SAYS MYANMAR REFUGEES CAN STAY DESPITE HOSTAGE
CRISIS
ALTSEAN: PRESS STATEMENT ON RATCHABURI INCIDENT
NATION: SANCTITY OF HOSPITAL RAPED BY ACTIVISTS, SAY PATIENTS
NATION: GOD'S ARMY DIRECTS TV COVERAGE
FBC: FRINGE GROUP ACTION IN THAILAND "ILL-CONSIDERED,
UNFORTUNATE"
NCGUB: 'VIOLENCE' SHOULD NOT BE OPTION IN SEEKING CHANGE
MIC: MYANMAR GOVERNMENT COMMENDS THAI AUTHORITIES FOR ITS ACTIONS
AGAINST ARMED TERRORISM
NATION: FLOOD OF WEBSITE CRITICISM
MIC: PRODUCTION-SHARING CONTRACT ON EXPLORATION AND PRODUCTION OF OIL
AND GAS SIGNED
ASIAN AGE/AFP: "TRADE UNION MEET DECIDES TO OPPOSE BURMA JUNTA"
KATHMANDU POST: MYANMAR DEMOCRACY BACKED
KATHMANDU POST: CALL TO PUT PRESSURE ON MYANMAR JUNTA
THE JAPAN TIMES: MYANMAR SUFFERS AS ITS VOICE OF REASON IS SILENCED
NEBRT: RALLY FOR THE MASS. BURMA LAW - MARCH 22
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
THE INDEPENDENT (London): JOHNNY AND LUTHER ARE 12-YEAR-OLD TWINS.
YESTERDAY THEIR ARMY TOOK 700 HOSTAGES
January 25, 2000, Tuesday
James East In Ratchaburi, Thailand
IT IS HARD to imagine a more bizarre hijack - 700 people held prisoner
in a Thai hospital by about 10 gunmen who take their inspiration from a
pair of mystical 12-year-old twins idolised by their Burmese followers
as "God children".
They arrived appropriately enough, in a hijacked school bus, bursting
their way into the hospital in a blaze of gunfire.
Throughout the day groups of terrified hostages slipped out of
Ratchaburi hospital, 75 miles west of the capital, Bangkok, some of them
released by their captors, others taking their chances and running for
it.
As darkness fell, the only reported injury was to a teacher from a
nearby school who was wounded by a stray bullet. All day yesterday, Thai
soldiers and police took up positions outside the hospital. Having been
humiliated in a hostage-taking incident in October, when dissident
Burmese students stormed their embassy in Bangkok, the government
appeared in no mood to compromise on the hijackers' main demand of
access to medical treatment and refuge from pursuing Burmese troops.
For the rebels of "God's Army" and for its leaders, Johnny and Luther
Htoo, it is hard to imagine any good coming of this. Public opinion in
Thailand has turned against the Burmese rebels. Their seizure of the
hospital indicates the desperation of the Karen people in Burma. Trapped
between a relentless government and a hostile Thailand, ravaged by
malaria and under artillery bombardment from both sides, theirs is a
dying movement with nothing left to lose.
The gunmen are part of a breakaway sect from Burma's Karen National
Union (KNU) and - armed with grenades and automatic weapons and wearing
Balaclavas - they infiltrated the sprawling hospital complex, issuing a
warning that the front of the building had been mined.
A team of Thai negotiators sent into secure the release of the hostages
dashed out of the hospital amid gunfire. The gunmen released two groups
during the day-long stand-off with hundreds of Thai police and military.
The first group of 11 hostages, mainly the elderly, women and children,
was released at around 11am, with the second group of about 20 hostages
being released at around 4.30 pm. Hostages were taken to two special
command centres for debriefing.
The release came shortly after the Thai army chief, General Surayudh
Julanond, said he had ordered troops to stop shelling the guerrillas'
base on the Burmese border. General Surayudh also said Thailand would
allow in unarmed refugees from fighting across the border for medical
treatment.
He said negotiations with the hijackers had been going well and tensions
were easing, but one of the gunmen, who identified himself as "Knui",
told Thai television that their five demands had still not been met. He
told Reuters news agency: "We will go back when our demands are met,
when we reach an agreement. We still don't have any definite plan on how
to return. We don't want to stay here too long."
The gunmen are believed to have hijacked a school bus to drive from the
border to the hospital. The local MP, Wichet Kasemthongsri, claimed the
gunmen had killed several Thais during a skirmish at the border.
The hostage-takers were believed to be acting under the orders of Johnny
and Luther Htoo, twin brothers aged 12, who command almost mystical
loyalty among their followers along the Thai-Burmese border. Their
followers - believed to number about 100 - are said to believe the twins
have supernatural power that makes their followers invincible in battle.
The brothers are believed to have stayed in their border stronghold.
As police took up their positions yesterday, the Government made it
clear that it would take a strong line with the gunmen. "These people
are terrorists who have made an incursion into Thai territory," said a
Foreign Ministry spokesman. "After making a terrorist seizure it is
unlikely we will comply with their demands, although it is always our
policy to avoid unnecessary violence."
Thailand came under fire domestically and internationally last year when
five gunmen who stormed the Burmese embassy in Bangkok were given safe
passage to the border.
The gunmen, known as the Vigorous Burmese Student Warriors, are believed
to have joined forces with the twins. Similarities in the way the
building was stormed and the release of some of the hostages has led
army intelligence sources to believe that the ringleaders of the embassy
siege may have had a hand in the planning of yesterday's attack.
Observers believe the Government, although stressing its readiness to
negotiate, will be prepared to take a much tougher line this time to
make it clear that the Government will not tolerate terrorist activities
by Burmese and Karen pro-democracy groups.
The Interior Minister, Sanan Kachornprasart, said: "Firstly I have
ordered security forces to protect the lives of the hospital staff and
the patients. I have also told them to take tough action against the
attackers."
The Deputy Prime Minister, Korn Thappharangsi, appealed to the gunmen
not to harm any of the hostages. "I want to tell those who seized the
hospital that it is not right for bargaining.
The Burmese junta issued a blunt statement yesterday, saying: "It is
about time these armed men are treated as terrorists by the
international community."
The list of demands issued by gunmen included medical treatment for
rebels injured in recent fighting with Burmese troops, and a halt to
Thai shelling in the border area. They also demanded that the Thai
government open its border to Karen refugees fleeing Burma's military
rule.
In response, Lt-Gen Tawip Sukwanasing, army commander in the border
area, said the shelling had been stopped. He denied that Karen rebels
were targeted. "We are only concerned at insurgents coming across the
border," he said.
A Thai television crew which had been given access to the hospital to
hear the hostage-takers' demands, emerged with footage showing dozens of
trapped patients, watched over by men armed with M-16 and AK-47
automatic weapons.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
BANGKOK POST: WHO'S GOD'S ARMY?
January 25, 2000
Boy twins Johnny and Luther Htoo lead the faction and are said to
have mystical powers.
God's Army known as refuge for radicals
Active in border area opposite Suan Pueng
Wasana Nanuam
God's Army is an independent Christian Karen guerrilla group that has
split from the mainstream Karen National Union (KNU). It has been active
in areas opposite Khao Krachom in Ratchaburi's Suan Pueng district.
The anti-Rangoon group has given refuge to a number of armed radicals
calling themselves the Vigorous Burmese Student Warriors (VBSW) who
seized the Burmese embassy in Bangkok on Oct 1 last year. However, there
has been no report at this stage the radicals were involved in
yesterday's hospital seizure.
The student group is known to have ties with God's Army since when the
latter was still part of the KNU.
God's Army is led by teenage twin brothers named Johnny and Luther. Both
have a black tongue, which in the Mon and Karen traditions is taken to
be a sign of divinity. The twins hold the rank of colonel and are
revered by their followers who believe the boys have divine protection.
God's Army was trained by the KNU before it broke away from
themainstream Karen rebel group. Its guerrillas used to have joint
training with the KNU's Fourth Division led by Maj-Gen Oliver.
The 200-strong God's Army became an independent fighting force on Jan 4,
1997, in defiance of the KNU led by General Bo Mya.
The group is facing fierce suppression by Burmese government forces as
Rangoon wants to punish the group for having given refuge to the
radicals who seized its embassy in Bangkok. Rangoon also believes the
group is being supported by Western powers.
Rangoon has stepped up its military suppression of the group since early
January, forcing the guerrillas to try to flee across the Thai-Burmese
border. However, they were immediately pushed back by the Surasi Task
Force, which also fired warning mortar shots into their
stronghold.
This developed into a standoff on Jan 13 after four Thai soldiers on
patrol were killed by exploding booby traps planted by the guerrillas.
Maj-Gen Sanchai Ratchatawan, commander of the 9th Infantry Divison,
yesterday said God's Army was jeopardising border peace.
Thai and Burmese border troops had "co-existed in harmony" before the
Karen group settled in the area, he said.
"Since the dissidents involved in the embassy seizure fled to live
under its protection, a myriad of problems have occurred,"said Maj-Gen
Sanchai, who described the God's Army leaders as "child bandits" who did
not deserve any respect or credit.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
AFP: THAI HOSTAGES SAY DEAD REBELS HAD NO PLANS TO HARM CAPTIVES
RATCHABURI, Thailand, Jan 25
Hostages rescued from a day-long seige at a Thai hospital said Tuesday
they did not fear their heavily armed rebel captors would harm them.
"The hostage takers took good care of us, there was no harm or threats,
they were polite. I was not afraid at all because I knew I would
survive," said male theater nurse Dechachai Klintong.
Dechachai said he had been caring for a young boy who had undergone
brain surgery Monday when the 10 God's Army rebels stormed the
Ratchaburi hospital, 120 kilometers (75 miles) west of here, taking
about 500 people hostage.
Thai special forces brought the day long seige to a close in a pre-dawn
raid, which saw commandos free all the hostages unharmed and shoot dead
nine gunmen. One rebel escaped, military officials said.
Nurse Orn-Anong Vimolfaramol said after her release that she did not
believe the Myanmar dissidents would have harmed their captives.
"The hostage-takers said they were going to do no harm," said Orn-Anong.
"The food was good, there was lots of coffee and tea. They asked us what
we needed, we said food and they brought it, but I just want to call
home," Orn-Anong added.
She said the rebels had wanted her and other medical staff to travel to
the mountainous Thai-Myanmar border to treat Karen guerillas and
civilians injured during a recent offensive by Myanmar troops.
God's Army is a Christian splinter group of the Karen National Union,
and is led by two twin 12 year-old boys, believed by their followers to
have mystical powers.
Rebel groups based along the mountainous border have been fighting
Myanmar's military rulers for decades.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
WASHINGTON POST: THAIS RETAKE HOSPITAL FROM REBELS; BURMESE FOLLOWERS OF
TWIN BOYS HELD HUNDREDS HOSTAGE
BYLINE: Keith B. Richburg, Washington Post Foreign Service
BANGKOK, Jan. 25 (Tuesday)
Thai commandos today launched a predawn raid on a sprawling provincial
hospital west of here and retook it from members of a Burmese rebel
group--whose leaders are preteen twins--who had seized the facility
along with its patients and staff on Monday.
Automatic weapons fire crackled and large explosions could be heard as
Thai soldiers raced inside the compound in trucks and jeeps in the
assault.
Afterward, Thai authorities announced that nine rebels had been killed
and several Thai soldiers and police officers were injured, while one of
the Burmese rebels escaped and was being pursued. None of the hundreds
of terrified patients, hospital staff members and visitors who had been
held hostage was injured, officials said.
The assault in Ratchaburi, about 75 miles west of Bangkok, came 22 hours
into the dramatic takeover. The crisis began Monday when the rebels,
wearing face masks and wielding automatic weapons and grenades, burst
into the facility demanding treatment for their wounded comrades and an
end to Thai involvement in their obscure insurgency on the Burmese
border.
The rebels involved in the seizure are said to be members of a rebel
group called God's Army, a small Christian breakaway faction of a larger
guerrilla force of Burma's ethnic Karen minority. God's Army is led by
gun-toting, cigarette-smoking 12-year-old twins, Johnny and Luther Htoo,
whose 200-odd followers are said to believe the boys possess mystical
powers. It was not known whether the pair participated in the takeover.
The rebels had apparently placed explosives around the hospital and had
threatened to blow it up, along with the hostages, if their demands were
not met.
The Thai assault came after a day of negotiations that saw about 50
hostages freed, mostly in exchange for food. But at nightfall Monday,
the rebels were still holding at least 700 people. Thailand was under
intense pressure to take a tough stand against the rebels following a
similar hostage-taking incident less than four months ago, in which
another Burmese dissident group seized Burma's Bangkok embassy. That
seizure ended when the student-rebels were allowed to escape.
The God's Army rebels who seized the Ratchaburi hospital were demanding
that Thailand send medical teams to treat their wounded comrades at
their mountain base in Burma, and allow the guerrillas to take refuge on
Thai territory from a Burmese military advance. The rebels also demanded
that Thailand stop its shelling of the border in support of the Burmese
military operation. Thailand met some of the rebel demands.
Little is known about God's Army, except that it is a breakaway faction
of the main Karen guerrilla group called the Karen National Union. The
Karen National Union has been fighting the Burmese government for 50
years on behalf of the ethnic Karen people seeking a homeland. Karens
comprise about 7 percent of Burma's population.
As the negotiations progressed during the day, Thai Interior Minister
Sanan Kachornprasart, who was directing the talks from Bangkok, hinted
that an assault might be imminent, saying, "I do not expect the
negotiations to be protracted."
Thai media reported that commandos had infiltrated the facility
disguised as medical personnel and provided intelligence on the
situation to the gathering strike force.
A Thai television cameraman was allowed inside the building Monday, and
his footage, broadcast on television here, showed scores of frightened
hostages huddled on benches, while rebels brandishing automatic weapons
paced around them.
Last October, five Burmese students from a group called the Vigorous
Burmese Student Warriors seized Burma's Bangkok embassy, taking scores
of hostages, including diplomats and tourists. That 25-hour crisis ended
under a deal in which the student-rebels were taken to the border and
allowed to disappear into the jungle.
Those young hostage-takers, who said they were fighting for democracy
against Burma's brutal ruling junta, were known to have taken sanctuary
at the border with God's Army, the group responsible for Monday's
hospital takeover.
The military dictatorship in Burma--which calls the country
Myanmar--severely criticized the October deal that essentially allowed
the hostage-takers to go free.
The members of God's Army are mostly Christian in the overwhelmingly
Buddhist country (about 30 percent of Karens are Christians). The
12-year-old twin leaders have been filmed in the past smoking and aiming
assault rifles. Several very young soldiers also appeared among the
ranks.
The rebels who seized the hospital Monday had apparently stormed across
the border and hijacked a bus, where they forced the driver to make the
45-mile drive to Ratchaburi. They burst into the hospital compound
firing their weapons.
It was unknown whether any of the Vigorous Burmese Student Warriors were
among the God's Army guerrillas at the hospital.
The rebels at first herded all the doctors and nurses into the emergency
room, but later allowed them to tend to patients. One nurse, who spoke
on a mobile phone to Thai television, said she hid in one room with the
door locked and the patients lying on the floor. "It's very tense," she
said.
The Thai army commander, Gen. Surayud Chulanond, said Thai shelling of
the border area would be halted. The military also agreed to admit
unarmed rebels for medical treatment in Thailand.
12-year-old Johnny Htoo, left, and his twin brother Luther are leaders
of the Burmese insurgent group that raided a Thai hospital Monday.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
AFP: THAI GOVERNMENT SAYS MYANMAR REFUGEES CAN STAY DESPITE HOSTAGE
CRISIS
BANGKOK, Jan 25
Thailand will continue to host Myanmar refugees along its border with
the military-ruled state, despite the seizure of a Thai hospital by a
Myanmar rebel splinter group, a Thai government spokesman said Tuesday.
Thai authorities ended the day-long siege in a pre-dawn commando raid
Tuesday, freeing more than 500 hostages and killing nine God's Army
rebels at Ratchaburi hospital 120 kilometers (75 miles) west of here.
One gunman escaped, military officials said.
Government spokesman Akapol Sorasuchart told AFP Thailand would not
launch a crackdown against Myanmar refugees living near the God's Army
jungle hide-out.
"Although this incident has happened we still need to take care of sick
and wounded people based on human rights and as long as they are not
armed we are ready to take care of them," Akapol said.
"Thailand has no plan to review our policy of accepting displaced
persons but we will seriously review the way that we take care of those
people."
The 10 God's Army gunmen who took the hospital early Monday had demanded
Thailand open its borders and provide medical help for ethnic Karen
guerillas and civilians injured during a recent offensive by the Myanmar
army.
After student gunmen allied to God's Army seized Myanmar's embassy here
last October, Thailand announced it wanted an estimated 2,000 exiled
Myanmar students living on its soil resettled in third countries.
Analysts predict the latest hostage crisis will harden the attitude of
Thai authorities and the public towards the plight of more than 100,000
Myanmar refugees sheltering along the mountainous Thai-Myanmar border.
Most have fled persecution and fighting in their military ruled
homeland, where the ruling junta is widely accused by the West of
committing gross violations of human rights and democracy.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
RADIO THAILAND 1: NCUB LEADER SAYS THAI HAVE RIGHT TO USE FORCE
[Undated]
Translation from Thai by FBIS
Maung Maung Aye, secretary general of
the National Council of the Union of Burma--a dissident group whose
guerrilla base is along the Thai-Burmese border, today expressed his
regret over the seizure of the Ratburi Hospital. He said the seizure of
the hospital by the God's army is a violation of Thai sovereignty. Thus,
the Thai Government has the right to resort to appropriate means to end
the crisis.
[Description of Source: Radio Thailand 1-- government-run
radio]
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
ALTSEAN: PRESS STATEMENT ON RATCHABURI INCIDENT
25 January 2000
We, the undersigned organisations, wish to express our relief that the
siege of Ratchburi Hospital has ended safely for the hostages and their
families. However, we are saddened at the injuries experienced by the
authorities and at deaths of the hostage-takers. We had hoped that the
situation could be resolved peacefully.
It is important to note that the hostage-taking was not supported by
refugee and human rights groups from Burma. The God's Army is a splinter
group that has worked in isolation from the policies and principles of
peace-loving groups. We note that the Karen National Union, National
Coalition Government of the Union of Burma and the National Council of
the Union of Burma (umbrella group of Burman and ethnic opposition
groups)
promptly deplored the hostage-taking. The movement remains committed to
a non-violent political solution to Burma's problems. It wishes to avoid
and discourage activities that may bring harm to people from Thailand
and Burma.
The incident is a result of the violence that the Burmese military and
its militias routinely inflict on innocent civilians in Burma. In the
recent past, Thai people have also been subjected to border incursions,
military
attack, robbery and murder by the Burmese military and its militias.
Thousands of innocent civilians continue to flee the fighting and
atrocities in Burma, including those currently needing shelter and
medical attention in
Suan Phung. We must not forget that they are innocent civilians needing
our help. We hope that the Thai government and the Thai people will
understand
that the refugees are different from the God's Army members and continue
their valuable humanitarian support.
The possibility of spill-over problems will continue to threaten
Thailand until there is a long-term, peaceful political solution to
Burma's problems. This is why it is essential that the capacity of
people to pursue non-violent means be encouraged. We need to break the
cycle of violence.
Asian Forum on Human Rights and Development
Friends Without Borders
Union for Civil Liberty
Thai Action Committee for Democracy in Burma
Altsean-Burma
For more information, please call 276 98 46 - 7 or 275 1811
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
NATION: SANCTITY OF HOSPITAL RAPED BY ACTIVISTS, SAY PATIENTS
REST and recuperation is what seriously ill patients
require, but the experience of Vaithit Pim-akad and Kulap Klamprasert
at Ratchaburi Hospital yesterday was
anything but that. Weak as they were, the two men had to flee the
hospital with their saline drips in hand after the hospital was taken
over by Burmese rebels.
Vaithit and Kulap were among about 700 people who
were in the hospital in the border town of Ratchaburi when a group of
armed men from the Burmese God's Army
rebel group took it over.
Vaithit, 23, who was hospitalised on Jan 19 for a cut
intestine, said he realised something was wrong after
hearing a volley of shots early in the morning.
Then a hospital official rushed into the ward that Vaithit was sharing
with 24 other patients and told them that the Burmese had occupied the
hospital. The official asked them to lock the door and stay inside the
room.
Vaithit said the doctor came to tell them to stay calm and be patient.
But when the doctor left the ward he disguised himself in the
hospital-issue patient bedclothes and escaped from
the hospital. As noon approached, Vaithit and other patients began
planning an escape with four visitors. Twelve of them struggled for more
than two hours to escape using a ladder from the back.
''It's good that the Burmese came in early. Otherwise,
there would have been at least 50 more visitors,'' he said. Kulap, 66,
who was hospitalised with a leaking
gallbladder, also managed to escape unhurt. He said
patients escaped by crawling out of the hospital. The
patients who were less ill would check the way ahead and
signal the rest to follow.
Sithichok Phumdeduang, a stretcher attendant, said he
was about to enter the hospital for his morning shift at
about 7.30am when he heard gunfire. He saw about six heavily armed men
clad in camouflage, a long-haired man among them, running into the
outpatient building and other buildings nearby.
''They spoke in Karen and fired several shots in the air,'' Sithichok
said. Many patients screamed and ran out when they saw the men swoop
into the buildings.
He said that Burmese students from a holding centre in
Ratchaburi were being treated at the hospital. ''When the gunmen
entered the building, they distributed weapons to the Burmese students
inside,'' he said.
The group then seized all the buildings in just 15 minutes, Sithichok
said. He described one of the group as a young boy with a black
birthmark on his tongue. The God's Army is believed to be led by twin
brothers who have black birthmarks on their tongues.
He said that before escaping, he saw the gang laying
explosives in the hospital, including at the entrance.
Vatchana Sudsa-nguan, 40, said she was visiting her
husband, who was in critical condition with water in his
lungs, when she heard gunfire.
Then, at about 7.30am, a doctor told her that the Burmese had taken
over the hospital. A few hours later, she saw about 10 policemen
standing on the terrace of the nearby school. There were sounds of
shooting afterwards.
She said she was scared and tried to signal the
policemen. The policemen saw her and pointed out a safe
direction to escape from the hospital.
''We tried to help each other. We released the saline
feeds from some patients to help them out. But I am sorry that we could
not let some critical patients join us,'' Vatchana said.
Once outside, she was seen bursting into tears.
The Nation
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
BANGKOK POST: GOD'S ARMY DIRECTS TV COVERAGE
FOR half an hour, TV Channel 7 aired its scoop as the
only camera allowed inside the besieged Ratchaburi
Hospital. The footage broadcast showed a dozen armed
and masked hostage-takers walking nervously inside the
waiting area for outpatients.
Yesterday's crisis showed the skill of the insurgents,
belonging to the ethnic Karen ''God's Army'', in using the Thai media
to negotiate with Thai authorities. The gunmen picked TV Channel 7,
owned by the government but
operated by Bangkok Broadcasting Corporation, to relay
their demands to the outside world.
Seven hours after the siege at the Ratchaburi Hospital, the God's Army
insurgents allowed TV 7 cameraman Chalee
Sripen inside the hospital to hear their demands to the
Thai government.
He was guided in by a gunman named Nui, who took him
to the second floor where he saw more than 200
hostages. ''I saw 4 to 5 other gunmen with their faces
painted a dark colour,'' he said. Nui has been identified as the chief
of the insurgents' hostage-taking team.
Chalee said he heard Nui lamenting in Thai about how
their men, children and women were killed. ''At one point, Nui showed
me shrapnel from a mortar shell,'' he said.
During the siege of the Burmese Embassy last October,
the hostage-takers spoke to Thai negotiators through a
radio programme called ''Ruam duai chuai kan'' or ''Let's help each
other''. They stated their demands and allowed their hostages to talk on
air during the programme.
In yesterday's broadcast, TV 7 managed to interview a few hostages, who
were sitting in row in the outpatient waiting area in the front section
of the hospital.
One of the gunmen said that the main reason for their
attack was retaliation for the deaths of 200 women and
children under their protection in Thai artillery fire in past weeks.
Among other demands, the masked gunmen sought an end to all Thai
cooperation with Burmese troops and opening of the Thailand-Burma border
to allow them access to medical treatment and supplies.
The cameraman showed the anguished faces of the
hostages, although some were smiling without any trace of fear. One of
the hostages told TV 7 that the government should help solve the
situation as soon as possible. She said that the gunmen were treating
them very well without the use of force.
In the evening, an iTV reporter posed as a visitor looking for a
relative who was recuperating in the hospital. He managed to interview
Nui, who said that he wanted to see his friend, Tuttu, who is living in
the Maneeloy Holding Centre. ''I have no intention to harm anyone. I
have released many hostages,'' he told the reporter.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
FBC: FRINGE GROUP ACTION IN THAILAND "ILL-CONSIDERED,
UNFORTUNATE"
F R E E B U R M A C O A L I T I O N
Washington DC -- January 24 -- A hospital takeover in Thailand by a
small, isolated rebel group from inside Burma has resulted in the deaths
of nine rebels. Apparently no hostages were wounded. The Free Burma
Coalition (FBC), an international grouping of community and university
activists, categorically rejects the tactic of targetting innocent
citizens.
"This ill-considered action by a desperate few, should not deflect
attention from the humanitarian and political crisis in Burma," says Dr.
Zarni, founder of the FBC. "There are more than 130,000 refugees living
in squalor along Burma's borders, and at least one million internally
displaced people who are used as forced labor by the junta. Education
has been systematically de-funded, and only about one quarter of Burmese
children even receive primary education. Non-Burman ethnic minority
groups are under fierce attack by brutal Burmese Army units."
"The United Nations and Thailand itself must make greater efforts to
solve Burma's crisis by confronting its fundamental cause: The
illegitimate miltary regime running the country against the will of the
Burmese
people," adds Zarni. "The UN Security Council must send a delegation
immediately to Bangkok and Rangoon, to address the root causes of rising
terrorism in the region."
Burma's National League for Democracy (NLD), overwhelming victors in
national elections but denied their right to rule by the army, have
always emphasized peaceful strategiess for political change. NLD leader
and
Nobel Peace Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi continues to stand for
non-violence despite the fact that more than 1000 NLD members are
political prisoners subject to torture and abuse.
"It is unfortunate that this action by a small, marginal armed group has
overshadowed the daily sufferings of thousands of Burmese citizens of
the Karen, Mon, Shan, Chin and Rohingya ethnicities," says Zarni. "It
will be
even more unfortunate if this group's action strengthens the hand of a
small number of politically influential Thais, who seek profit through
dirty business with Burma's generals, despite their record of human
rights
abuse and narcotics trafficking. Let us say it unequivocally: Burma's,
Thailand's and the region's long-term security will never be achieved
until good governance is restored in Rangoon."
The armed men also reportedly targetted the Ratchaburi power plant,
where piped-in Burmese natural gas is to be used for electricity
generation. Los Angeles based Unocal is a partner in the pipeline
project, and is
being sued in US federal court for human rights violations and forced
relocations alleged to have taken place along the pipeline route. That
case goes to trial early this year.
END
Contact: Dr. Zarni, Free Burma Coalition (312) 621-9650, Ext. 3138
Larry Dohrs, Free Burma Coalition (206) 784-5742
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NCGUB: 'VIOLENCE' SHOULD NOT BE OPTION IN SEEKING CHANGE
January 24
T
he National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma is deeply
concerned by the armed seizure of a Ratchaburi hospital in Thailand by
members of the "God's Army." No action that endangers innocent lives is
pardonable, not even when it is meant to highlight suffering of innocent
civilians. We call on the "God's Army" to release all hostages unharmed
and to resolve the problem without any bloodshed.
We praise the Royal Government of Thailand for allowing the Karen people
hurt in the shelling of the "God's Army" areas at the border to cross
into the country for medical treatment and for maintaining its
traditional calm and patience in dealing all forms of terrorism.
This deplorable incident coupled with the influx of methamphetamine
drugs into neighboring countries only bring to mind the concern that we
have been expressing for so long: that the consequences of the
oppressive military rule in Burma, if left unchanged, will spill over to
the region. Taking the opportunity at hand, we call on all parties
concerned to endeavor toward bringing peaceful change to Burma.
Dr. Sein Win, prime minister of the National Coalition Government of the
Union of Burma, said "When oppression is severe, there will be parties
that succumb to the temptation to resort to violence. We oppose the use
of violence which is detrimental to the goal of setting a precedence for
peaceful change in the country and diverts the attention of the world
away from peaceful efforts to bring democracy to Burma."
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
MIC: MYANMAR GOVERNMENT COMMENDS THAI AUTHORITIES FOR ITS ACTIONS
AGAINST ARMED TERRORISM
Myanmar Information Committee
Information Sheet
No.B-1231 (I) 25th January, 2000
The Government of Myanmar is appalled and saddened to learn that the
same armed terrorist group that stormed the Myanmar Embassy in Bangkok
in October of the last year taking the embassy staff and their families
including some foreigners as hostages, has held the sick and the entire
medical staff as hostages after storming a hospital, west of Bangkok in
Ratchaburiyesterday.
It is also very disheartening to know that this armed terrorist group
called ?God?s Army? is
exploiting the simple local ethnic people along the Thai-Myanmar border
by staging 2 twelve- year old children as immortals and supernaturals
and by manipulating locals to join its group in the service of the
manipulators? interests. It is also quite shocking to see a scene on one
ThaiTV Channel where a lot of very young children being recruited and
trained as soldiers for this terrorist army.
It is a definitely well-imaged concern for the World Community where
terrorism is becoming a choice- weapon in this new millennium for all
extremists and radicals around the world. In this regard, Myanmar would
like
to commend the Thai Government for its decisive way in handling and
protecting its citizens from the perils of terrorism and making it a
glaring example that under no pretext of guise can terrorism be
accepted.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
NATION: FLOOD OF WEBSITE CRITICISM
25-Jan-20000
SEVERAL visitors to a popular community Internet portal
site yesterday blasted the God's Army guerrilla group for seizing the
hospital in Ratchaburi.
The visitors to Pantip.com left messages on the site's
CafÈ or message board, saying Thailand had been too
kind to the guerrilla group and should take drastic
measures against them.
Several also criticised the Thai government for inefficient security
measures allowing the guerrilla group to storm the hospital.
''Who on earth are they to demand this and that from us?
Don't you think we are too kind to them?'' one message
said.
Another visitor, under the alias of ''people'', said: ''This was an
inhumane act because they threatened the life of doctors and patients.
They should not be forgiven. Anyone behind this should be regarded as
the lowest class of criminal.''
Several messages called for the shutdown of the
Maneeloy holding centre for Burmese students and for all
Burmese political activists to be expelled from Thailand.
''First, we should hold those at Maneeloy centre as
hostages to exchange for our people at the hospital,'' one of these
messages read.
It then added: ''We don't have to worry about humanity
anymore because they took patients as hostages.'' one of
these messages read.
''We have to demand them to release the hostages as
soon as possible or else we won't guarantee the safety of their friends
at Maneeloy centre,'' another message read.
''What were the National Intelligence Agency and Security Council doing
to allow this kind of thing to happen again and again? They should show
responsibility by bringing those guerrillas to justice and expelling
those Burmese people at Maneeloy from our country.''
Another visitor to the site said: ''I think the calls of these
guerrillas are nonsense. I think they just want to draw attention. But
this is Thailand and they should not be allowed to do this.''
Yet another person said the government should
''eliminate'' the guerrillas as soon as they have negotiated to release
all the hostages.
''Wasn't it embarrassing for the government to let these guerrillas to
take over our hospital?'' asked one message.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
MIC: PRODUCTION-SHARING CONTRACT ON EXPLORATION AND PRODUCTION OF OIL
AND GAS SIGNED
Myanmar Information Committee
Information Sheet
No.B-1231 (I) 25th January, 2000
The production-sharing contract on inland block No. EP4
(Myanmar-western
Pyay region) for oil and gas exploration and production in Shwedaung and
Padaung township was signed by Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise of the
Ministry of Energy and Prime Resource Management (Cyprus) Ltd of Canada
at Yadana Hall of the Ministry of Energy in Yangon on 24 January.
Present on the occasion were ministers, the Attorney-General, deputy
ministers, directors-general,
managing directors and managing director Mr. David Stelck of Prime
Resource Management (Cypurs) Ltd and officials.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
ASIAN AGE/AFP: "TRADE UNION MEET DECIDES TO OPPOSE BURMA JUNTA"
"The Asian Age" newspaper
Date-January 24, 2000.
Kathmandu, Jan. 23: Trade Unions must play a leading role in opposing
Burma's military junta and help pave the way for democracy in the
country, union representatives from 29 countries agreed here on
Saturday.
The 60 delegates adopted the Kathmandu Declaration at the end of a
three-day conference organized by a number of national and international
unions, including the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions
and Nepal Trade Union Congress.
They called for the country to respect human rights, and said political
and economic pressure should be exerted on the military junta. Their
declaration also called for the lunch of a postcard campaign to demand
the release of imprisoned Burma trade union leaders--Myo Aung Thant and
Khin Kyaw.
Federation of Trade Unions of Burma delegate Maung Maung said at the end
of the conference that he expected the country to become democratic
soon.
The head of the NTUC, Mr. Laxman Basnet, told the delegates that worker
rights could only be exercised in a democracy. (AFP)
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
KATHMANDU POST: MYANMAR DEMOCRACY BACKED
By a Post Reporter
Kathmandu Post, January 21, 2000
Kathmandu, Jan 20 - President of the ruling Nepali Congress Girija
Prasad Koirala toady extended his "wholehearted" support for the
struggle for democracy in Myanmar. Koirala lauded the effort made by the
Burmese leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi to restore
democracy in her country.
"The heroic struggle that Suu Kyi has been waging deserves a global
applause and our wholehearted support," said Koirala. "I salute her for
her great courage and tenacity..."
Attributing Myanmar as "a very old friend" of Nepal, Koirala said "When
I think of Myanmar, it makes my heart heavy with profound agony," said
Koirala who remembered the historic Nepal-Myanmar ties established in
the 1940s.
He was addressing a two-day international conference on "Democracy for
Burma" organised by International Confederation of Free Trade Unions
(ICFTU)/ITS.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
KATHMANDU POST: CALL TO PUT PRESSURE ON MYANMAR JUNTA
By a Post Reporter
Kathmandu Post, January 23, 2000
Kathmandu, Jan 22 - An international conference organised here to
explore ways to support the restoration of democracy in Myanmar
concluded here today with the participants stressing the need to
politically and economically pressurise the military junta in Myanmar.
At a press conference organised here to highlight the outcomes of the
three-day conference, participants said unless economic and political
sanctions are imposed against Myanmar's military rulers, democracy
cannot be restored. The participants also expressed commitment to impose
the sanctions, and called on the trade unions to extend solidarity for
the cause of restoration of democracy in Myanmar.
"We are prepared to take initiatives," said the participants. More than
60 participants from 25 countries participated in the conference
organised by International Confederation of Free Trade Union
(ICFTU/ITS). General Secretary of the confederation, Noriuky Suzuki said
that the trade union members have plan to circulate a "Call for Action"
to 144 trade union offices in 29 countries so as to garner supports for
the cause.
The conference has also decided to launch a postcard campaign for the
release of Burmese trade union leaders, Myo Aung Thant and Khin Kyaw. In
a bid to pressurise the military junta, the participants have planned to
mail the cards to Burmese Embassies based in various countries around
the world.
Laxman Basnet, President of Nepal Trade Union Congress said the
organisation will launch signature campaign next week to support the
restoration movement and hand it over to Burmese Embassy.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
THE JAPAN TIMES: MYANMAR SUFFERS AS ITS VOICE OF REASON IS SILENCED
January 25, 2000, Tuesday
Touching portrait of Aung San Suu Kyi, who gave up her family for her
country
THE LADY: Burma's Aung San Suu Kyi, by Barbara Victor. Chinag Mai:
Silkworm Books, 1999, 200 pp., 425 baht, Dollars 11.
Reviewed by JOHN HAYLOCK
Barbara Victor is a seasoned journalist, writer of novels and other
works. After publishing "A Voice of Reason," the biography of Hanan
Ashrawi, the prominent Palestinian, she turned to another reasonable
voice: Aung San Suu Kyi.
Hers is another reasonable voice crying out for democracy that the
military junta (once known as the State Law and Order Restoration
Council, now as the State Peace and Development Council) that rules
Myanmar longs to stifle.
Undaunted by deprivation (she was confined to her family home on Lake
Inya outside Yangon for six years), Suu Kyi, known locally as "The
Lady", is the leader of the National League for Democracy and the
daughter of the Burmese hero and patriot Aung San.
He struggled for the independence of his country first against the
British colonists and then against the Japanese occupiers after a short
alliance with them.
Suu Kyi is now allowed to meet her two deputies and to address her
followers from her garden wall. She is, though, restricted, and always
under the watchful eye of the ruthless regime.
Victor paints a touching portrait of this indomitable woman, who gave up
family life with her English husband and their two sons in order to work
for freedom in her country.
At the same time she gives an informative account of conditions in
Myanmar, its leaders and its recent history. She had permission from
SLORC to visit Myanmar and gather material for this book.
When Aung San realized that the Japanese, whom he had helped capture
Rangoon in 1942, did not plan to grant then Burma its freedom, he joined
the British Allied Forces, and was recognized as a principal leader in
the movement for Burmese independence.
After a period of confused political activity following World War II, a
constituent assembly was elected and met in June 1947, but in July of
that year Aung San was assassinated with seven of his ministers by U
Saw, a rival. Suu Kyi was then 2 years old, her father 32.
U Nu, a colleague of Aung San in the struggle for independence, became
prime minister, but there were difficulties over the rights of the
minorities, in particular the Shans and the Karens - the latter are
still fighting against the government.
U Nu, unable to cope with the unrest, asked Gen. Ne Win, another
colleague, to take over. This he did, ruling the country despotically
for 26 disastrous years.
Ne Win managed to turn Myanmar, a country with vast mineral and natural
resources, and potentially rich, into a slum.
Meanwhile Suu Kyi was being educated first at Delhi University (her
mother was ambassador to India) and then at Oxford University, where she
met the man who would later become her husband, scholar Michael Aris.
In 1988 Suu Kyi returned to Rangoon to nurse her dying mother.
At the same time, Ne Win was forced to retire by the army after being
unable to quell ethnic disturbances that had sprung up across the
country.
Desperately trying to win some credibility, the government held
elections in 1988 that it expected to win handily. Instead, it was
handed a
stunning defeat by the NLD, led by Suu Kyi. The military refused to hand
over power to the party and unrest followed. SLORC nullified the
election results and clings to power to this day, even though it has
changed its name.
Suu Kyi was arrested for attacking SLORC and Ne Win, and in 1990 was put
under house arrest.
Today "The Lady," who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991, is in
much the
same situation - she is under around-the-clock observation, her contacts
with the outside world guarded, her movements restricted - but her voice
has not been silenced.
Ne Win lives in retirement on the other side of Lake Inya. He is 86 and
still a power behind the scenes. He is steeped in superstition and
astrology. Sitting on a wooden horse in his plane, he is flown nine
times round his birthplace. Nine is his lucky number.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
NEBRT: RALLY FOR THE MASS. BURMA LAW - MARCH 22
New England Burma Roundtable
On March 22 at 10am, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in
the case against the Massachusetts Burma selective purchasing law.
There will be a rally in front of the Supreme Court in support of the
Massachusetts Burma Law starting at 9am that day. The DC-Burma Action
Network (DC-BAN) is coordinating the rally. The rally will focus
attention on how multinational corporations have used the U.S. federal
courts and the World Trade Organization's dispute mechanisms to strike
down citizen-sponsored initiatives in support of human rights, such as
the Massachusetts Burma Law.
If you can attend the rally in Washington DC. contact Dan Beeton
<danbeeton@xxxxxxxxxx> and Ted Hobart <hobiecat37@xxxxxxxxxxx> of DC-BAN
for updates.
Please post this message to as many friends and listserves that you can.
I hope to see you in Washington DC on March 22!
Simon Billenness
*for the New England Burma Roundtable*
Trillium Asset Management
711 Atlantic Avenue, Boston, MA 02111
(617) 423-6655, x225
(800) 548-5684
(617) 482-6179 - fax
sbillenness@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://www.trilliuminvest.com/
*END-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
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