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BurmaNet News: December 28, 2000
- Subject: BurmaNet News: December 28, 2000
- From: strider@xxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 28 Dec 2000 23:48:00
______________ THE BURMANET NEWS ______________
An on-line newspaper covering Burma
December 28, 2000 Issue # 1697
_______________www.burmanet.org_________________
INSIDE BURMA _______
*DVB : Junta ban on contact between army, politicians
*AP: Suu Kyi Property Court Date Set
*AFP: Aung San Suu Kyi's legal team challenges brother's property suit
*AP: Myanmar newspaper reports train attack by Karen rebels
*New Light of Myanmar: Two Killed, 3 Wounded as Karen Rebels Mine,
Attack Train in Southern Burma
*Xinhua: First Drugs Elimination Museum Opens in Myanmar
*Bangkok Post: Imprisoned Writer 'Needs Medical Help'
REGIONAL/INTERNATIONAL _______
*Xinhua: Chinese Police Seize over 200 Kilograms of Heroin at
Yunnan-Burma Border
*Le Canard Enchaine (France): [Summary/translation of article on
Mitterand/Falcone/Burma]
ECONOMY/BUSINESS _______
*New York Times: A Pact Against Oil Company Abuses
OPINION/EDITORIALS_______
*The Statesman (New Delhi): Letter--No Lessons Learnt From Afghanistan
OTHER______
*Shan Herald Agency for News: News on Burma In Thai Launched
The BurmaNet News is viewable online at:
http://theburmanetnews.editthispage.com
__________________ INSIDE BURMA ____________________
DVB : Junta ban on contact between army, politicians
25 December
The SPDC [State Peace and Development Council] War Office has issued a
special internal announcement dated 23 December for its military
officers. The announcement prohibits currently serving military officers
from having any contact with veteran politicians who once fought for
Burma's independence, former military officers who belong to the
National League for Democracy [NLD] party, and any retired military
officer who was once connected with politics one way or another. It
stated any officer who violates the prohibition will be dismissed from
his position and will also face severe consequences. The order also
cited that contacts with veteran politicians and retired senior military
officers could cause undesirable internal problems in the army. The
order was signed by SPDC Chairman Sen Gen Than Shwe himself. The
announcement also affirmed that no officer for any reason must contact
the veteran politicians who participated in the struggle for Burma's
independence in various capacities.
According to reports received by DVB [Democratic Voice of Burma], the
special announcement was issued because some military officers came back
with different views and opinions after knowing the true historical
facts following meetings with the veteran politicians.
Regarding the military officers' meeting with veteran politicians, DVB
contacted one veteran politician in Burma by telephone and this is what
he said:
[Unidentified politician] Yes. They came to us to inquire and since we
actually participated in the fight [for Burma's independence] we told
them. The majority that came were lieutenant colonels and there were
some captains too. They remarked what you said is so true. Our minds are
getting confused and we dare not listen anymore. So they did not come
again. [End of recording]
According to an unidentified police officer, this announcement was sent
not only to the armed forces but also to the police, township Peace and
Development Councils, and Customs and General Administration
Departments. DVB has learned that current in-service civil officers are
also directed not to have any contact with persons who are directly or
indirectly involved with politics.
Source: Democratic Voice of Burma, Oslo, in Burmese 1245 gmt 25 Dec 00
___________________________________________________
AP: Suu Kyi Property Court Date Set
The Associated Press, Thu 28 Dec 2000
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) ? Arguments will be heard next week in a lawsuit
filed against Myanmar pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi by her
estranged brother claiming half her lakeside property, court officials
said Thursday.
Suu Kyi's elder brother, Aung San Oo, a U.S. citizen and resident, is
demanding half-ownership of the residential compound in Yangon inherited
from their mother, who died in December 1988. Suu Kyi has lived there
for the past 12 years. Arguments are scheduled to begin Jan. 5.
Suu Kyi was held under house arrest without trial there on national
security charges from 1989-95. In 1990 she won the Nobel Peace prize for
her nonviolent efforts to promote democracy.
Suu Kyi's elder brother applied to a Yangon court in November for
partition of the property.
The law prohibits foreigners from purchasing or transferring property,
but the government granted Aung San Oo an exemption. Suu Kyi's lawyers,
in a written statement to the court, questioned the legality of the
exemption.
The government continues to restrict visitors to Suu Kyi's house, and
greatly limits her freedom of movement. Her National League for
Democracy party won a 1990 general election but was never allowed to
take power, and its members face harassment and jail.
Earlier this month in Washington, President Clinton awarded in absentia
the highest U.S. civilian award, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, to
Suu Kyi for her peaceful struggle for democracy and human rights in
Myanmar, also known as Burma.
___________________________________________________
AFP: Aung San Suu Kyi's legal team challenges brother's property suit
YANGON, Dec 28 (AFP) - Lawyers for opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi
Thursday challenged the government's decision to allow her brother to
launch a claim over half her Yangon home.
In a brief court hearing, defence lawyer Kyi Win said the Home Ministry
should never have given Aung San Oo leave to file suit over the home
that once belonged to their mother.
Kyi Win did not give a reason for his challenge, but it is believed to
be based on the fact that, as a United States citizen, Aung San Oo is
not entitled to inherit any immovable property.
Judge U Soe Thein said a proper hearing of the argument would begin on
January 5. It is expected to discuss an exemption clause to the
inheritance law, which can be invoked in special circumstances.
Critics of the Yangon regime have said the case clears the way for the
ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) to evict Aung San Suu
Kyi from the house and cripple her National League for Democracy.
As a US citizen, Aung San Oo would be forced to hand his half of the
property over to Myanmar's military government if he won the suit.
While not overtly political, Aung San Oo is much less critical of the
regime than his sister, and the two are not close.
Suu Kyi has now been under house arrest for more than three months,
after attempting to travel north to Mandalay with a group of senior NLD
members.
Her youngest son Kim Aris, his wife Rachel and their young son, left
Myanmar Thursday after spending 21 days in the country, according to
official sources.
During their stay they travelled to the towns of Bagan and Mandalay, as
well as Shan state.
They also stayed with their mother at her residence for several days,
the official source said.
___________________________________________________
AP: Myanmar newspaper reports train attack by Karen rebels
Dec. 28, 2000
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) _ Two persons were killed and three others injured
after a passenger train in southeastern Myanmar hit a land mine
allegedly planted by ethnic Karen rebels, the state-owned newspaper
Myanma Ahlin reported Thursday.
The train was traveling from the Mon State capital of Mawlamyine _ also
known as Moulmein _ to Ye, 130 kilometers (81 miles) to the south
Wednesday morning, when it hit the mine planted by 10 members of the
Karen National Union, the report said. It did not explain how the
attackers were identified.
A spokesman for the Karen National Union said the insurgent group
wasn't involved.
``We deny any responsibility for the train bomb incident; the
government is trying to frame us,'' said Ner Dah, contacted from Bangkok
by telephone. ``We are not terrorists, our policy is quite clear that we
will fight the Myanmar government and its armed forces, not its
people.''
The newspaper report said the attackers looted property from the
passengers when the train engine overturned and two coaches derailed.
It said a gun fight broke out when the train's security guards opened
fire at the ``KNU terrorists'' who made off with the looted property.
One policeman and a passenger were killed and three other passengers
were wounded, the report said.
Since 1989, 17 ethnic rebel groups, many of which had been fighting
several decades for autonomy, have reached cease-fire agreements with
the ruling military junta. The Karen National Union is the sole
remaining major ethnic rebel group holding out.
Although the government and the KNU often battle for control of the
rebel group's enclaves along the border with Thailand, offensive action
by the Karen is rare.
Myanma Ahlin also reported Thursday that 27 members of several rebel
groups surrendered with assorted weapons and ammunition in various
regions from Nov. 1 to 30. It said they were from the KNU, the All
Burmese Students Democratic Front, and Shan and Karenni ethnic rebel
groups.
___________________________________________________
New Light of Myanmar: Two Killed, 3 Wounded as Karen Rebels Mine, Attack
Train in Southern Burma
[FBIS Transcribed Text] Yangon, 27 Dec--The No-171 Mawlamyine-Yay Up
train leaving Mawlamyine for Yay at 5 am met its fate when it stepped a
mine planted by about 10 members of the KNU armed terrorists group
between Mile Post 231 and 232, three miles to Anin Station, at 9.15 am
today. The engine overturned and two coaches jumped tracks. Once the
train stopped, the 10 KNU terrorists looted property from the
passengers. The security personnel travelling along to guard the train
opened fire on the KNU terrorists who fled to the east together with the
looted property. The terrorists' gunfire killed one of the Myanmar
Police Force security personnel and one passenger, and wounded three
other passengers. The Tatmadaw columns are in hot pursuit of the
terrorists. [Description of Source: Description of Source: Rangoon The
New Light of Myanmar in English --
___________________________________________________
Xinhua: First Drugs Elimination Museum Opens in Myanmar
YANGON, December 28 (Xinhua) -- A newly-built first drug elimination
museum in Laukkai, Kokang region of Myanmar's northern Shan state, was
inaugurated on Wednesday to mark the regional endeavors in getting rid
of poppy cultivation and production as well as to educate people against
the danger of narcotics, official newspaper the New Light of Myanmar
reported Thursday. The opening ceremony of the museum was attended by
First Secretary of the Myanmar State Peace and Development Council
Lieutenant-General Khin Nyunt, Chairman of the Central Committee for
Drug Abuse Control and Home Minister Colonel Tin Hlaing and Kokang
region ethnic leader U Phon Kya Shin as well as foreign diplomats in
Myanmar. The drugs elimination museum, which was built in March 1999 at
a cost of nearly 600,000 U.S. dollars, will exhibit the arrival of poppy
cultivation in Myanmar, evil consequences of the narcotic drugs and drug
eradication efforts of the region. Meanwhile, another drugs elimination
museum in the capital of Yangon has also been under construction since
July 1999. According to official statistics, in the first 10 months of
this year, the Myanmar authorities exposed 2,775 drug-related cases and
punished 4,157 drug offenders, seizing a total of over 1. 9 tons of
narcotic drugs, of which opium accounted for 1,247.3 kilograms (kg),
heroin 147.14 kg and marijuana 506.54 kg. Following the declaration of
its Mongla region in eastern Shan state as an opium-free zone in April
1997, Myanmar began in 1999 implementing a 15-year drug-eradication plan
at a cost of 255 million dollars. The plan covers 51 opium cultivating
and producing townships in the country. Enditem
2000-12-28 Thu 00:15
___________________________________________________
Bangkok Post: Imprisoned Writer 'Needs Medical Help'
Thursday, December 28, 2000
An arm of Amnesty International has appealed for the release of Burmese
writer serving a 10-year sentence in Rangoon so that she can be treated
for very worrying health problems.
Daw San San Nwe is suffering form high blood pressure, heart disease and
hemilegia on the right side, Group 387 of Amnesty France said.
"We know that she does not receive the treatment which is necessary",
the Group added.
San San Nwe was sentenced on October 6, 1994 to 10 Years in jail and is
now at Insein prison in Rangoon, dissident source said. She allegedly
had met two visiting French reporters in April 1993 and appeared in
video they produced.
Her daughter, Ma Myat Mo Mo Tun, was arrested in the same year after
allegedly contributing articles to a journal published by expatriate
Burmese.
About 20 other Burmese writers and journalists are currently held in
Burma, the source said.
___________________ REGIONAL/INTERNATIONAL___________________
Xinhua: Chinese Police Seize over 200 Kilograms of Heroin at
Yunnan-Burma Border
Dec 27, 2000 -- (BBC Monitoring) Text of report in English by official
Chinese news agency Xinhua (New China news agency).
Kunming, 27 December: Police in southwest China's Yunnan Province, which
borders Myanmar [Burma], recently seized 244 kilograms of heroin hidden
in a truck that was apparently transporting tea from Ruili County, in
the Dehong Tai and Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture, to the provincial
capital of Kunming.
The driver's expression aroused suspicion of border police at Mukang
[checkpoint] in the prefecture, which led to the seizure of the drug.
The drug was found mixed in a tea box at the bottom of the truck. Three
suspects were arrested on the spot. Border police at Mukang have
confiscated 604 kg of heroin this year
___________________________________________________
Le Canard Enchaine (France): [Summary/translation of article on
Mitterand/Falcone/Burma]
Dec. 27, 2000
[Source--Le Canard Enchaine, French language, 400.000 circulation,
influential in French political & media circles]
[Summary: Article develops the scandal of former President Mitterand's
son, now in jail . Pivotal role of Pierre Falcone is underlined,
detailing that his group, Brenco, was not only active in Angola, but
also in Burma. It is underlined that Pierre Falcone has always worked
in close association with his father, Pierre Falcone (sic), the owner of
a ranch also considered as a 1001 nights palace, (near Scottsdale,
arizona) where prominent personalities are invited. One of the most
frequent guests is George W. Bush... (Mitterrand's son was also a
common guest). End summary]
_______________ ECONOMY AND BUSINESS _______________
New York Times: A Pact Against Oil Company Abuses
December 28, 2000
Oil and mining companies do not have the luxury of relocation. They
often find themselves working in poor and violent places where
protecting a mine or pipeline is a challenge. Occasionally the security
forces hired by American or European corporations have gone too far. In
the Indonesian province of Irian Jaya in the mid-1990's, military men
hired as guards at Freeport-McMoRan's Grasberg gold and copper mine
were accused of killing civilians. The security forces contracted by
British Petroleum in Colombia and Shell and Chevron in Nigeria, among
other companies, have been accused of similar abuses.
This week these corporations, along with Texaco, Conoco and the Rio
Tinto mining company, signed an agreement with the British and American
governments and human rights groups on standards for security. The pact
is a modest step toward reducing a major source of abuses committed by
corporations in the third world. For now, compliance is voluntary, and
the only penalty for violation is public exposure by human rights
groups and journalists. But at least the companies have endorsed rules
that can be used to measure their behavior.
In general, the companies agreed to use their influence to see that
their security forces respect human rights. For example, they will
attempt to ensure that people implicated in abuses are not hired as
guards and that security forces respect local residents' rights to free
assembly and collective bargaining. Perhaps the most controversial
provision of the agreement says that companies should report human
rights abuses to the host government and urge investigations and
measures to prevent a recurrence. Most corporations have long resisted
speaking up on human rights, fearing it would hurt their business.
It is no coincidence that countries with oilfields or gold mines
frequently suffer from repressive regimes, political instability or
guerrilla forces. Sudden wealth from natural resources can become a
curse, distorting the economy, fostering corruption or financing wars
that are little more than a grab for the minerals. Too often the
drilling has spoiled the local environment and given little back to the
people who live nearby, thus breeding unrest. Oil drilling in Nigeria's
delta region is an example.
While the agreement has been signed by some of the businesses most
burned by bad publicity about their behavior in the past, it does not
include some major American companies, among them Unocal and Exxon
Mobil. Unocal has been accused of benefiting from the repression by
government forces at a gas pipeline in Myanmar. Exxon Mobil is
beginning work on a pipeline through Chad and Cameroon where the
possibilities of abuse are rife. Nor does the pact address the larger
question of whether oil and mining companies should be working with
some governments at all. While companies cannot control where oil is
found, they should refrain from exploiting those resources when to do
so produces misery as well as energy.
______________OPINION/EDITORIALS_________________
The Statesman (New Delhi): Letter--No Lessons Learnt From Afghanistan
December 28, 2000
Sir û The Indian government?s decision to befriend the generals in
Myanmar (Burma) is distressing on all counts. It is sought to be
justified by an appeal to pragmatism. If we have at all learnt any
lessons from history, it will be clear that the new policy is anything
but pragmatic. No nation has ever derived long-term pragmatic dividends
from a policy of befriending military juntas in other countries,
particularly neighbouring countries, where a strong public sentiment for
democracy exists.
What our government, in effect, is doing is making the people of Myanmar
permanently suspicious of Indian intentions. This is what we did in
Afghanistan when the Russians invaded that country. We sided with the
Russians and their puppet Najibulla. As a result, we have no friends
amongst the Afghan people, not even amongst the small group which is
still trying to fight the Taliban.
We must remember that the military juntas are not permanent; this one
seems to be on its way out. Only the people are permanent, and the
people in Myanmar are not with the generals. If any short-term gains are
achieved now by the rulers in Delhi, these will turn out to be illusory
within a decade, if not sooner.
I have no doubt, that when we were actively supporting the luckless
Najibulla of Afghanistan, there was no dearth of knowledgeable
commentators like J K Dutt (Ties with Myanmar, 30 November), who were
applauding the government?s policy. In the event, it did not help the
Russians and it did not help us.
We are constantly at pains to remind the world, at least those parts,
which may be listening, that we are the ôlargestö democracy in the
world. If numbers are a merit in themselves, we should certainly
congratulate ourselves. However, population explosion is not a great
achievement. The quality of our ôdemocracyö is certainly not something
we can be happy about: look at the number of criminals among our
legislators. Let us not compound whatever merit may have survived in our
democracy by supping with the generals who, not long ago, brutally
suppressed the verdict of elections.
Yours, etc., T S Gill. Shillong, 3 December.
______________________OTHER______________________
Shan Herald Agency for News: News on Burma In Thai Launched
28 December 2000
S.H.A.N., in association with five other news groups, namely: Compatriot
Network Group (CNG), Lahu Information Network (LIN), Muslim Information
Committee (MIC), Mon Information Agency (MIA) and Palaung Youth Network
Group (PYNG), collectively taking up a provisional name, Information
Network Group, has launched a weekly-internet paper in Thai.
Kham Sasoy, 27, and Sompong Saenli, 43, two of S.H.A.N. members who have
taken up this critical mission, are Shans fluent in Thai, but
admittedly still green to the whole undertaking.
S.H.A.N. on behalf of I.N.G. members, humbly request that our Thai
readers render all the help that you can to us. We need luck but more
than that we need assistance.
Those who would wish to subscribe to ING news, please call on
<in_groups@xxxxxxxxxxx>.
________________
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