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BurmaNet News: December 27, 2000




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______________ THE BURMANET NEWS ______________
        An on-line newspaper covering Burma 
          December 27, 2000   Issue # 1696
______________ www.burmanet.org _______________


NOTED IN PASSING:  ?Suggestions and complaints of the consumers should  
always be considered in quality control of the products.?

Than Shwe, Senior General and now Consumer Advocate? See Myanmar 
Information Committee (SPDC): Senior General Than Shwe Urges Industry-2 
Ministry Officials to Listen  to Consumers' Suggestions, Complaints to 
Upgrade Products


INSIDE BURMA _______
*DVB: Severe jail terms imposed on Chinese migrants
*Shan Herald Agency for News: Shan party meets ceasefire leaders
*Shan Herald Agency for News:  More Wa resettlers coming

REGIONAL/INTERNATIONAL _______
*AFP: Global press watchdog condemns imprisonment of Myanmar journalist
*AFP: China seizes heroin hidden in tea near Myanmar border 

ECONOMY/BUSINESS _______
*Myanmar Information Committee (SPDC): Senior General Than Shwe Urges 
Industry-2 Ministry Officials to Listen  to Consumers' Suggestions, 
Complaints to Upgrade Products  
*Burma Courier: Indonesia's Exspan  Begins Drilling in Magwe Area

OPINION/EDITORIALS_______
*The Toronto Star: When Will Canada Stop Trade with Burma?

OTHER______
*Karen Human Rights Group: Convict Porters: The Brutal Abuse of 
Prisoners on
Burma's Frontlines?report issued by KHRG available on web
*The Irrawaddy: Sub-editor Wanted


The BurmaNet News is viewable online at:
http://theburmanetnews.editthispage.com


__________________ INSIDE BURMA ____________________


DVB: Severe jail terms imposed on Chinese migrants 

Democratic Voice of Burma, Oslo, in Burmese 1245 gmt.  Translated by BBC 
SWB.

25 Dec 00 


The SPDC State Peace and Development Council has started to impose 
severe jail terms beginning this month to Chinese nationals for illegal 
entry because of the daily increase in the influx of illegal Chinese 
into Burma. Chinese who illegally entered Burma before were temporarily 
detained and then sent back, but now they are being sentenced to severe 
jail terms because the SPDC fears the illegal entry problem could be 
blown out of proportion and could cause other unforeseen racial 
problems. 

Last July in commemoration of the 50th anniversary Golden Jubilee of 
China-Burma diplomatic relations the SPDC released detained Chinese from 
Burmese jails and also sent back illegal Chinese nationals to the 
border. An unidentified SPDC township official said lately the groups 
that have signed cease-fire agreements with the SPDC themselves are 
engaging in trafficking illegal Chinese into Burma, the directive came 
from the hierarchy to stem the flow of illegal Chinese entering Burma. 

On 20 December Mu-se Township Court sentenced one human trafficker and 
14 Chinese, who illegally entered Burma through Kyu-Hkok Panghsai, to 
jail terms ranging from four to 14 years. Some North Koreans were 
believed to be among those illegal immigrants. An unidentified Mu-se 
Township SPDC official said he was not sure whether the scheme to give 
severe jail terms to illegal Chinese immigrants will be sustainable or 
not. This report was filed by DVB Democratic Voice of Burma 
correspondent Kyaw Sein Aung



____________________________________________________


Shan Herald Agency for News: Shan party meets ceasefire leaders

27 December 2000


Shan State Journal, an organ of the Shan State Peace Council, a joint 
setup  of the Shan State Army "North" and Shan State Army "Central", 
better known  as Shan State National Army, reports meeting of the Joint 
Action Committee  on 2 September.

The meeting in Lashio was attended by 19 members including Khun Htoon 
Oo,  President' of the Shan Nationalities league for Democracy, the 
party that  won the most seats in Shan State in 1990, Sao Hsoten (SSA), 
Sao Gaifah  (SSA) and Sao Gunyawd (SSNA).

Among the topics discussed were the massacres of Shan villagers in 
Kunhing  in May and the meeting between Khun Htoon Oo and Razali Ismail, 
UN Special  Envoy, in late June. No details were given.

The JAC issued a statement on 27 July in protest of the massacres that  
killed at least 83 people. The JAC is made up of three groups: SNLD, SSA 
 "North" and SSNA.


Ceasefire leaders meet spy chief

It was also reported that Maj.-Gen. Hsoten, Chairman of the SSPC and 
Col.  Gunyawd, its Secretary-General met Maj.-Gen. Kyaw Win, Deputy 
Director of  the Military Intelligence Service on 21 September. (Gunyawd 
in his  interview, same issue, says it was 20 September. The Purl, a 
weekly  internet magazine gives another different date, 19 September). 
The meeting was held at Armed Forces Guesthouse on Inya Road and 
attended  by Sai Htoon Mawng, Staff Officer of the First Region (SSA), 
Lt.-Col. Thet  Htut and Col. San Pwint, both MIS officers. It discussed 
massacres in  Kunhing, activities of the JAC and the relations with 
other ceasefire  groups, said SSJ.

"They said they would investigate (about the killings) and see to it 
that  they (the junta units) behave," said Gunyawd to SSJ. (The Purl 
however  renders a different version that Hsoten and Kyaw Win were 
embroiled in hot  dispute over the issue.)

Courtesy: Shan State Journal, Volume 2, Issue  #4 (1 November 2000) 

___________________________________________________


Shan Herald Agency for News:  More Wa resettlers coming

Dec. 27, 2000

On 10-11 December, about 600 Wa families were seen traveling from 
Panghsang  to Tachilek and continuing to Monghsat, said a source in 
Tachilek. 

Allthough details are lacking, it was reported earlier that the new  
arrivals would be resettled in Mongton Township, southeast of Mongsat. 

Up to 50,000 households from the Wa region in the north were targeted to 
be  relocated along the Thai-Shan border. It is estimated between 
15,000-25,000  households had already arrived during the last dry 
season. 




___________________ REGIONAL/INTERNATIONAL___________________
				


AFP: Global press watchdog condemns imprisonment of Myanmar journalist 


BANGKOK, Dec 27 (AFP) - International watchdog Reporters Sans Frontieres 
(RSF) Wednesday condemned the lengthy imprisonment of Myanmar journalist 
Aung Myint as a major breach of press freedom. 

 Aung Myint's 21-year jail term is "a heavy sentence (that) constitutes 
a serious violation of press freedom," the organisation said in a 
statement. 

 "Imprisonment as a punishment for the peaceful expression of an opinion 
constitutes a serious violation of human rights," it said. 

 The Yangon junta must "ensure the immediate release of a journalist who 
merely expressed his opinions." 

 Aung Myint, also known as Phya Pon Ni Loan Oo, was one of six members 
of Aung San Suu Kyi's opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) 
sentenced on December 14 to 21-year terms. 

 He had worked for a variety of Myanmar magazines and newspapers, 
several of which were banned by the military for their satirical 
content. Aung Myint since 1999 had served as an information officer for 
the NLD. 

 Aung Myint was proven guilty of violating Myanmar's emergency laws by 
distributing information regarding the NLD in September, after Aung San 
Suu Kyi was prevented from travelling outside Yangon. 

 The six had been tried in closed sessions in Yangon's Insein Prison, a 
dissident source told AFP. 

 Recent information suggests several are in very poor health, RSF said.
 
 The military authorities have held Aung San Suu Kyi and other senior 
party members under house arrest since September 22, when they attempted 
to board a train in Mandalay. 

 However, the junta lifted restrictions over six of the NLD's central 
executive committee members earlier this month. 




___________________________________________________



AFP: China seizes heroin hidden in tea near Myanmar border 

BEIJING, Dec 27 (AFP) - Police in southwest China's Yunnan province, 
which borders Myanmar, recently seized 244 kilograms (537 pounds) of 
heroin hidden in a truck that was transporting tea, state media said 
Wednesday. 

 The driver aroused the suspicion of border police at Mukang town in the 
Jingpo autonomous prefecture, and they found the drugs mixed in a box of 
tea at the bottom of the truck, Xinhua news agency said. 

 Three suspects were arrested on the spot. The truck was on its way to 
the provincial capital of Kunming. 

 The seizure was equal to more than a third of the 604 kilograms of 
heroin border police in Mukang have confiscated this year. 

 China borders the Golden Triangle, which covers parts of Thailand, 
Myanmar and Laos, and has become a renowned centre of the heroin trade. 

 Some of the heroin is sold inside China, while large amounts are 
reexported to third countries. 

 Although heroin seizures in China declined by 27 percent last year to 
5.3 tons, there is little to indicate the drug problem is becoming more 
manageable. 

 Last year, more than 37,000 people suspected of drug trafficking were 
arrested in China, a rise of 8.7 percent from the year before. 




_______________ ECONOMY AND BUSINESS _______________
 

Myanmar Information Committee (SPDC): Senior General Than Shwe Urges 
Industry-2 Ministry Officials to Listen  to Consumers' Suggestions, 
Complaints to Upgrade Products  

Yangon 

Information  Sheet N0. B-1659(I)                27th December, 2000 



Chairman of the State Peace and Development Council Senior General Than 
Shwe  inspected industrial projects being undertaken by the Ministry of 
Industry-2  in Indagaw region and Ngamoeyeik Bridge Project in Dagon 
Myothit (East)  Township, Yangon on 26 December. At the hall of Radiator 
Workshop, the Senior  General and party heard a report on implementation 
of the Indagaw region  industrial zone project on 375 acres near Indagaw 
village, Bago Township,  Bago Division, the aims of the project, type of 
workshops included in the  project, progress of work in building the 
workshops and arrival of machinery  presented by Minister for 
Industry-2. Managing Director of Myanma Automobile  and Diesel Engine 
Industries reported on the salient points about the  workshops of MADEI 
being built in the region, Managing Director of Myanma  Agricultural 
Machinery Industries on progress of work in setting up farm  machinery 
workshops and Managing Director of Myanma Industrial Construction  
Services on progress of work in implementing the project.  

In giving guidance, Senior General said: " As the Ministry of Industry-2 
is  the base organization of the nation's industries, it should play a 
leading  role in developing the industrial sector. The ministry should 
lay down work  plans based on its experiences gained throughout the 
years for progress of  the nation's entire industrial sector. It is 
required to make efforts to  manufacture durable, attractive and quality 
products from the ministry's  factories and workshops. 

Suggestions and complaints of the consumers should  always be considered 
in quality control of the products". Senior General  observed car parts, 
samples of the machines which are to be manufactured by  the motor parts 
and farm machinery workshops displayed in the hall. The  entourage 
inspected farm machinery including power-tillers, tyres, car parts,  
cars and 80-HP tractors, progress in construction of the Radiator 
Workshop  and arrival of machinery and assembling of a 10-ton container 
Hino truck.  

They also inspected construction of a metal bearing plan and a disc 
wheel  plant. They also went to Ngamoeyeik Bridge Project in Dagon 
Myothit (East)  Township and inspected progress in construction of 
Ngamoeyeik Bridge.  Ngamoeyeik Bridge is located 16 miles from Yangon on 
No.7 Highway linking  No.2 Highway and No.3 Highway and No.1 Highway and 
No.4 Highway. The 660 feet  long bridge will have a 28-foot wide 
mortorway and two walkways on either  side each measuring four feet in 
width. It is designed to withstand up to  60-ton trucks. 


___________________________________________________



Burma Courier: Indonesia's Exspan  Begins Drilling in Magwe Area

Issue of Dec. 17-23, 2000


RANGOON - An Indonesian company that has a production sharing contract 
with Burma's national petroleum company, MOGE, has begun drilling 
operations east of Magwe about 500 km north of Rangoon.

A news item published in national media on Thursday noted a visit by 
Energy Minister Lun Thi and officials to No.1 test-well of Exspan 
Myanmar located northwest of the village of Ohntwe in Magwe township and 
a welcome extended by Pudjo Suwarno of Exspan.

Exspan is a subsdiary of the Exspan energy group of Indonesia, over 90% 
owned by Medco Energi, a publicly listed company on the Jakarta 
stockmarket. Medco bills itself as an integrated oil and gas company.  
In Indonesia where it operates more than a dozen rigs both onshore and 
offshore, Medco has production sharing contracts with  Indonesia's state 
oil company, Pertamina. The company also operates a methanol plant on 
Bunyu island off the east Kalimantan coast.

The production sharing contract with MOGE has been in place since 1998. 
This is the first report of activity in the Magwe area.  The Yenangyaung 
field farther north has been exploited since colonial times.  There has 
been no recent news from other concessions Exspan has in the 
Kyaukkyi-Mindon, and Padaukpin-Monnatkon areas. A report  in June said  
the company had plans to drill at least two wells on its Myanmar 
concessions during the year. 

MOGE has also been doing some exploratory drilling in the Myingyan area 
of Mandalay division which the minister also included in his tour. 
Nationally, inland oil production is up about 10% this year, close to 
the 10,000 bpd level



______________OPINION/EDITORIALS_________________



The Toronto Star: When Will Canada Stop Trade with Burma? 


December 27, 2000, Wednesday, Edition 1 


Penny Sanger 

History and the world's memory have deserted the 52 million people of 
Burma. 

Their teardrop-shaped country once exported rice, teak and high 
standards of art and learning throughout southeast Asia. Now, with its 
agricultural economy in ruins, HIV-AIDS on the increase and most people 
living in poverty, fear and oppression, the generals in charge rely on 
weapons, foreign investment and tourism to keep their rickety regime 
functioning. 

Burma (or Myanmar) is probably the best current example of a country 
whose human and natural resource capital is being destroyed by the 
current taste for the uncontrolled - and ostensibly uncontrollable - 
march of corporate power across the villages, forests, farms and rivers 
of the globe. And Canada is right in there, marching with the best of 
them. 

Xinhua, the Chinese state news agency, listed Canada as one the three 
biggest investors (at $21.45 million) in Burma during the first three 
months of fiscal year 2000, probably because of the expansion of Burma's 
biggest foreign-owned mine, Ivanhoe Mines. Ivanhoe, which is in a 50-50 
partnership with the military regime in Rangoon, is incorporated in the 
Yukon, has its head office in Vancouver and is listed on the Toronto 
Stock exchange. 

Imports of Burma-made textiles and garments to Canada have more than 
doubled since Canada imposed a version of sanctions that amounted only 
to removing Burma from our list of "most favoured nation" trading 
partners. Most worrying of all are the corporate connections that link 
Canadian businesses (among them Power Corp and Prime Minister Jean 
Chretien's son-in-law Andre Desmarais) with the sale of Chinese arms to 
Burma. 

Desmarais is on the board of directors of CITIC Pacific (China 
International Trust and Investment Corporation), the huge Chinese 
conglomerate that spawned the country's military export agency, 
Polytechnologies. As everyone knows, military might - with the help of 
Chinese weapons, aircraft and armoured vehicles - is what keeps Burma's 
50 million people docile. The Chinese military contract, worth about 
$1.2 billion, has helped the Burmese army grow in recent years to more 
than 400, 000. And Burma has no external military enemies. 

There was brief hope that this might change when the International 
Labour Organization took an unprecedented action Nov. 30 on forced 
labour in Burma. It asked its 167 members, their governments, workers 
and employers to "take appropriate measures to ensure that their 
relations (with Burma) do not perpetuate or extend the system of forced 
or compulsory labour in that country . . .." 

But no one can visit or do business either in Burma or with the regime's 
business partners without in some way paying into its many-tentacled 
ruling military system. The military relies on forced labour and, until 
this summer, the day after the ILO's commission of inquiry left the 
country, there was no law against forcing people - mainly villagers and 
children - to carry out, unpaid and unfed, any jobs the military needed. 
Given the quality of the Burmese judicial system and the pandemic nature 
of forced labour in the country (The Economist recently estimated 
800,000 people could be virtual slave labourers), the new law is not 
going not change anything in a hurry. 

Young men and women carry ammunition and gear for soldiers, children 
break up rocks for new roads, grandmothers clean canals, farmers build 
barracks. Local military commands commonly force this work on citizens 
who are told they must "contribute" their labour to the national cause. 
Rape, beatings and forced prostitution are often part of the job. 
Farmers are compelled to hand over crops and chickens and pigs to the 
military, knowing that to protest could result in the whole village 
being torched. 

The ILO has no authority to impose sanctions or, like the United Nations 
Security Council, to require its member nations to do so. It can ask 
governments, employers and workers to examine what their foreign 
investors and other overseas contacts are doing in Rangoon but getting 
them to stop is another thing. 

Nearly two years of argument between the human rights group, Canadian 
Friends of Burma, and the Department of Foreign Affairs and 
International Trade, about the legitimacy of Canadian mining companies 
doing business with the regime, ended in a standoff, the foreign affairs 
lawyers claiming they could not act under current World Trade 
Organization rules. 

The United States imposed sanctions on all new investment in Burma 
several years ago. A U.S. State Department report on Burma states, 
"Forced labour, including forced child labour has contributed materially 
to the new industrial parks subsequently used largely to produce 
manufactured exports including garments." But U.S. imports of garments 
have risen more than sixfold, to $231.1 million worth since 1992. Robert 
Naiman of Washington's Centre for Economic and Policy Research argues 
that since the U.S. is the destination of two-thirds of Burma's garment 
exports and these represent one- quarter of the regime's access to G-7 
currency, it is time to ban those imports. A U.S. law bans the import of 
goods made by prison labour and the WTO theoretically allows 
restrictions on such goods. 

Canada's policy on corporate complicity with human rights abuses in 
Burma is far less clear than the American. Ten years ago a democratic 
coalition won a landslide victory in Burma. Our corporate connections 
with the generals, who continue to ignore this and to lock up and 
torture their opposition, will stiffen human rights activists' 
determination to put Burma on Canada's moral map. 

Penny Sanger is an Ottawa activist and writer. 


______________________OTHER______________________


Karen Human Rights Group: Convict Porters: The Brutal Abuse of Prisoners 
on
Burma's Frontlines?report issued by KHRG available on web

Dec. 27, 2000

Convict Porters: The Brutal Abuse of Prisoners on
Burma's Frontlines, the latest report by the Karen Human Rights Group, 
is 
now available online at the KHRG Web Site (www.khrg.org). 

 Based on KHRG interviews with prison convicts from all over Burma
who have escaped forced labour for SPDC troops, this
report tells the story of their arrest, sentencing,
life in the prisons and the increasing use of convicts
as porters by Burma's military junta.  

The interviewees describe arbitrary arrest and sentencing
of people to long jail terms for petty offences, the
brutal and inhuman conditions in the prisons, and the
even more brutal abuse and killings of convicts who
are forced to go into combat situations with the
military - in many cases after their sentences should
have expired.  Many convicts now believe that the SPDC
is convicting many people on false charges, or minor
charges like "hiding in the dark", simply to get more
convicts for use as forced labour.  Thousands of
convicts are now given false promises of sentence
reductions, forcibly shunted to 'Won Saung' porter
holding camps, and then taken as forced labourers to
frontline bases until they either die or escape.
 
While the SPDC claims to be replacing civilian forced
labour with convict labour, the report explains that
this is not so: that the use of forced labour is
expanding, and that increasing numbers of both
convicts and civilians are being used to support the
ever-expanding military.  Other issues raised include
the AIDS problem in the prisons, the prison visits by
the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC),
and the frustration, anger and destitution throughout
Burma which leads more and more people to crime.




___________________________________________________


The Irrawaddy: Sub-editor Wanted
 
[Posted to soc.culture.burma]

The Irrawaddy, a Burma-related monthly newsmagazine, is seeking a new 
sub-editor to work in our Chiang Mai, Thailand office. The ideal 
candidate should possess excellent writing skills and currently reside 
in Thailand. A background in journalism and an interest in Burmese and 
Southeast Asian affairs are a very definite plus. Duties include editing 
articles submitted by outside contributors, writing news briefs, and 
some administrative tasks. The position is available immediately. Salary 
and other details will be discussed with candidates who are invited to 
come for interviews. For further information or to submit your resume, 
please contact us at waddy2@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
 
-------------------------------------------------------------------- 
 
The Irrawaddy is a publication of the Irrawaddy Publishing Group 
(formerly Burma Information Group). IPG is an independent news agency 
established by Burmese citizens living in exile and is not affiliated 
any political organization. The Irrawaddy seeks to promote press freedom 
and access to unbiased information.
 
 
Contact address:
P.O. Box 242
Chiang Mai University Post Office
Chiang Mai 50200
Thailand
waddy2@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://www.irrawaddy.org



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