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BurmaNet News: February 21, 2001
- Subject: BurmaNet News: February 21, 2001
- From: strider@xxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 21 Feb 2001 21:16:00
______________ THE BURMANET NEWS ______________
An on-line newspaper covering Burma
February 21, 2001 Issue # 1741
______________ www.burmanet.org _______________
INSIDE BURMA _______
*Freedom News (Shan State Army): A Junta's Military Camp Overrun
*The Australian: Chopper crash tips power balance
*Bangkok Post: Dispute 'Not Connected'
*(SPDC): Biography of Secretary-2 of State Peace and Development Council
*Star News TV: Democracy still a feared word in Myanmar
*Karen Human Rights Group: Villagers Fleeing Forced Labour Establishing
SPDC Army Camps, Building Access Roads and Clearing Landmines
REGIONAL/INTERNATIONAL _______
*Bangkok Post: Forays Could Lead to War, Junta Warned
*The Nation: Army on alert as Burmese troops battle Shan guerrillas
ECONOMY/BUSINESS _______
*Financial Times: Energy groups under pressure from all sides
OTHER______
*"Return To Paradise" 2000 Burma Documentary released
__________________ INSIDE BURMA ____________________
Freedom News (Shan State Army): A Junta's Military Camp Overrun
21 February 2001
The battle goes on
The battle of Loi Kaw Wan started on 5th Feb 2001 when the Burmese
troops tried to capture this camp.
A chain of battle broke out with SSA on the winning side. After Burmese
(i.e.SPDC) troops tried to encircle the camp by encroaching on Thai
soil, the Pang Noon incidence occurred. Since then, Burmese junta troops
have beefed up their strength in this area as well as along the Thai
border for new offensives, reinforced with more troops, arms and heavy
artillery pieces.
Early this morning, the 21st February, at 04:30 hr, SSA troops from the
Keng Tung front made an assault on the Burma army camp of Loi Sarng
Muop, near Loi Kaw Wan. After 06:00 hr the Burmese camp was overran and
captured by SSA troops. The details are still to be reported.
___________________________________________________
The Nation: Burma Not Aggressive, Leader Says
Wednesday, February 21, 2001
RANGOON - Burma's military regime was not "aggressive" in its foreign
relations and wanted to resolve its border dispute with Thailand
peacefully, a top Burmese general was quoted as saying yesterday.
"The current [Burmese]-Thai border problem should be solved with [an]
optimistic approach based on mutual understanding, respect and
magnanimity as true good neighbours," Lt-General Khin Nyunt, fourth
highest official in the state hierarchy, was quoted as saying by all
three official Burmese newspapers yesterday.
Earlier this month Burmese and Thai troops clashed when fighting between
Burmese and rebel Shan State Army (SSA) forces spilt over into
Thailand's Chiang Rai province. At least five civilians were killed on
both sides of the border, driving relations to their lowest point in
several years. Border checkpoints in the region have been closed for
more than a week.
Thailand launched a heavy artillery attack to drive out Burmese forces
that the army said intruded onto Chiang Rai's Ban Pang Noon hill to
attack the SSA. Burma, meanwhile, accused Thailand of aiding the Shan
rebels.
Khin Nyunt said the SSA and "a misunderstanding by some Thai authorities
who had relied on false information from lower-level Thai officials" had
been to blame for the dispute.
"Although our government is a military government, we have no aggressive
attitude. We promote friendly relations with every country and abide by
international rules and regulations," Khin Nyunt said at a ceremony to
mark the end of a teacher-training course on Monday at Phaunggyi, 60
kilometres north of Rangoon.
But in an apparent jab at Thailand for allegedly supporting the Shan
rebels, Khin Nyunt said Burma had never allowed another group to
endanger other countries from its territory or used such groups for its
own ends.
That claim would be contested by Thailand, which has expressed growing
frustration at the activities of another Burmese ethnic army, the United
Wa State Army, that produces illegal drugs in the border area adjoining
Thailand.
The drug trade is regarded as socially divisive and a major cause of
violent crime in Thailand. But the Wa army has reached a cease-fire
agreement with Burma and enjoys virtual autonomy in areas of Shan State
in eastern Burma.
Thai Third Army commander Lt-General Wattanachai Chaimuanwong said
yesterday tension on the northern border would be reduced if Thai and
Burmese officials could hold a high-level meeting, but Burma would have
to initiate this.
"We would lose face if we went up to them and asked for one. We didn't
do anything wrong. Besides, it's their turn to call a meeting," the
commander said.
There was no indication, Wattanachai said, that the Burmese government
would reconvene the Regional Border Committee (RBC) set up to settle
border disputes between the two countries. But Thailand believed Burma
should be the one to call the meeting as it was Burma which "violated
our sovereignty and territorial integrity".
The RBC has not met for two years.
Wattanachai said Thai troops would stand firm on the border, at least
until there was an indication that the Burmese would pull back.
According to the Shan Herald Agency for News (Shan) yesterday, ethnic
Shan living in Thailand have been supplying the SSA.
"Thanks to the media's kind coverage of our Army's struggle against
drugs and the Burmese military, Shan exiles in Thailand have been
visiting us every day with food, clothing, medicine and even cash
donations," Lt-Colonel Kawnzuen, 39, commander of the SSA's Keng Tung
front, was quoted by the agency as saying.
The Keng Tung front is facing 11 battalions, two of which are from the
United Wa State Army, a pro-Burma rebel army, according to the agency.
___________________________________________________
The Australian: Chopper crash tips power balance
21 feb 01
By Peter Alford, South-East Asia Correspondent
A HELICOPTER crash has dramatically changed power balances inside
Burma's State Peace and Development Council regime, with large
implications for the future leadership, the democracy struggle and
neighbourhood relations.
Monday's crash deprived SPDC vice-chairman and aspiring strongman
General Maung Aye of two key backers û the regime's No 4 and army
chief-of-staff Tin Oo and South-East District military commander Sit
Maung. Lieutenant-General Tin Oo and Major-General Sit Maung, who also
sat on the 19-man SPDC, belonged to General Maung Aye's "hardliners"
faction.
Tin Oo, 60, who survived two assassination bids in 1996 and 1997, was
General Maung Aye's right-hand man in the struggle against the regime's
third-ranked Lieutenant-General Khin Nyunt and his "pragmatists" to
succeed ailing SPDC chairman Senior General Than Shwe.
Burma expert Chaichok Julsiriwong, of Bangkok's Chulalongkorn
University, said yesterday the deaths were unlikely to provoke an
immediate power play by either faction.
"But this event appears to have serious long-term significance . . . it
looks even more as if Khin Nyunt is getting the upper hand."
Sit Maung was shifted by Senior General Than Shwe last October from the
Coastal District command to South-East to crush Shan and Karen ethnic
separatists in the border region.
Among their many other disagreements, General Maung Aye is said to
believe that Lieutenant-General Khin Nyunt, who has responsibility for
"progress of border areas and national races", has been too soft on
ethnic troublemakers.
For most of the past year, Lieutenant-General Khin Nyunt, whose power
base is the Military Intelligence Service, was seen as losing ground to
General Maung Aye, who holds sway in the regular army.
Senior General Than Shwe, 67 and ill, is believed to have tried to
resign last May, but was persuaded to stay by SPDC colleagues.
But dissident sources have since claimed General Maung Aye wanted the
top job this year and planned to promote Tin Oo over Lieutenant-General
Khin Nyunt to vice-chairman. However, last month's revelation that
Lieutenant-General Khin Khin Nyunt had ended a six-year freeze-out of
democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi by secretly opening talks raised
speculation that he was back in the leadership hunt. This view gained
strength when Senior General Than Shwe endorsed the initiative in his
February 13 Union Day address.
Tin Oo and Sit Maung are reported to have died along with cabinet
ministers Brigadier Lun Maung and Colonel Thein Nyunt when the
helicopter plunged into a river near Pa-An, 150km east of Rangoon.
Thein Nyunt was a Khin Nyunt ally, but cabinet ministers are of inferior
status to SPDC members.
The SPDC's fifth-ranked Win Myint, another pragmatist, is understood to
have survived the crash.
Government radio blamed the crash on poor weather conditions, but some
Thai reports yesterday claimed the helicopter was hit by ground fire
from separatist fighters.
___________________________________________________
Bangkok Post: Dispute 'Not Connected'
Wednesday, February 21, 2001
Wassana Nanuam
The border dispute between Thailand and Burma has nothing to do with
Monday's helicopter crash that killed a powerful member of the Burmese
junta, says the army.
Army chief Gen Surayud Chulanont yesterday expressed his condolences to
Rangoon and its army for the loss of army chief-of-staff Lt Gen Tin Oo.
Gen Surayud said the border conflict had nothing to do with the crash,
which took place more than 100km inside Burma.
Supreme Commander Gen Sampao Chusri and newly-appointed Defence Minister
Gen Chavalit Yongchaiyudh yesterday sent letters to express their
condolences to the Burmese army.
Sources said rumours had spread along the border that Gen Maung Aye, the
Burmese supreme commander, was also killed in the crash as he was among
generals on board. There was no word from Burma.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra would call a meeting with
senior officers and security officials to discuss drug problems along
the border.
Gen Sampao said Mr Thaksin would soon pay an official visit to Burma and
its neighbours to seek their co-operation in drug suppression.
Sources said the country's most successful movie, Bang Rachan, a story
of border residents in a fight against Burmese troops, would be shown in
the army's conference hall today to encourage patriotism amid border
tensions.
___________________________________________________
(SPDC): Biography of Secretary-2 of State Peace and Development Council
[Posted to Internet newsgroups February 21, 2001]
Biography of Secretary-2 of State Peace and Development Council, Chief
of Bureau of Special Operations and Chief of Staff (Army) Lt-Gen Tin Oo
State Peace and Development Council Secretary-2 Lt-Gen Tin Oo was born
of U Thu Nge Lay and Daw Khin on 13 May 1933 in Letpadan, Thayawady
District. He joined the Tatmadaw in 1950. He successfully completed the
Officers Training Course No 22 in 1958 and was commissioned in 1959.
He served as the platoon commander, intelligence officer and mortar
platoon commander in No 5 Brigade, No 10 Brigade, No 10 Light Infantry
Regiment, No 20 LIR and No 21 LIR till 1963. He had participated in Naga
Naing and Bayintnaung military operations to drive out the foreign
intruders. Lt-Gen Tin Oo also served as General Staff Officer (Grade
III) at North-West Command Headquarters and the Office of the
Commander-in-Chief (Army), Company Commander (Major) at No 34 LIR,
General Staff Officer (Grade II) at North-East Command HQ and Military
Operations Department of Office of the Commander-in-Chief (Army).
He became Commanding Officer of No 106 LIR in 1977, Staff Officer
(Grade-I) at Military Operations Department of the Office of the
Commander-in-Chief (Army) in 1979. He served as Tactical Operations
Commander at No 55 Light Infantry Division and No 33 LID as well as
Deputy Division Commander from 1980 to 1985. From 1985 to 1988, he
became the Colonel General Staff at the Office of the Commander-in-Chief
(Army) -cum- the Defence Services Inspector-General. From 1988 till his
demise, he had made selfless and strenuous efforts in serving the
interests of the State and the people day and night as Secretary-2 of
the State Law and Order Restoration Council, Secretary-2 of the State
Peace and Development Council, Chief of Bureau of Special Operations and
Chief of Staff (Army). He had also tirelessly discharged duties as
Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the many committees formed by the State
Peace and Development Council in the interests of the race and religion.
He got married to Daw Khin Than Nwe in 1963 and is survived by Daw Khin
Than Nwe, daughters Ma Phyu Phyu Oo and Ma Yin Mar Oo and sons Ko Zaw
Tun Oo and Ko Nay Tun Oo.
___________________________________________________
Star News TV: Democracy still a feared word in Myanmar
Democracy still a feared word in Myanmar
>From NDTV, Star News TV, monitored in New Delhi
Monday, February 19, 2001 (Bangkok)
Democracy has been locked up along with Myanmar's most famous dissident.
The state is under martial law and its highest profile prisoner Aung San
Suu Kyi is hidden from the visitor's eye.The firm grip of the military
junta has ensured the stamping out in public of the country's movement
for democracy. The reluctance of people to voice their thoughts is
palpable. An ex MP from the NLD and a Suu Kyi supporter refused an
interview for fear of being sent back to prison. "The very presence of a
journalist is intimidating to people here. These people have grown up in
a country which now for many decades had been one in which everyone knew
that free speech was not allowed, which you could be directly and
possibly punished for engaging in free speech," said, Jayne Dullard.
For a city that is the seat of a military government, Yangon appears a
calm and peaceful city. Its hard to imagine that in one corner of the
city is the heavily guarded house of Suu Kyi where she has been held
under house arrest for the last five months. While negotiations are on,
no one knows whether they are just a front to relieve international
pressure or whether this time, the military really means business.
Artist Ma Thanegi, was one of Suu Kyi's closest aides who was released
from prison on a suspended sentence in 1992, today argues against Suu
Kyi's stand that sanctions against Myanmar must stay in place. "Its
totally untrue to say that investment only benefits the generals. They
are not people who need to worry about food on the table or rent for the
next month. Its people who really need jobs or who have to worry about
paying the rent, or food for this week," she said.However, whether
sanctions remain or not, Myanmar is still paying a heavy price for
dismantling democracy. And Suu Kyi must still hope that somewhere down
the line, the military will realise its own limitations.
___________________________________________________
Karen Human Rights Group: Villagers Fleeing Forced Labour Establishing
SPDC Army Camps, Building Access Roads and Clearing Landmines
[Abridged]
February 2001
Escalating abuses by the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) in
northeastern PaÆan district, Karen State have forced a stream of
families over the border into Thailand. In mid-January of this year, at
least 13 families from Hlaing Bwe township fled their village and walked
a day and a half across the mountains to cross into Thailand. Currently
over 70 Karen villagers are gathered near a Thai Karen village and they
have told KHRG that many more may soon arrive.
The new refugees come from the village of Meh Kreh located among the
Dawna Mountains in eastern Hlaing Bwe township of central Karen State,
about 120 kilometers (75 miles) north of the town of Myawaddy and the
Thai town of Mae Sot. Those interviewed by KHRG say they fled their
village on January 15th and arrived in Thailand on the 16th. The
villagers cited many motives for fleeing villages in the area, the most
salient being the increasing use of forced labour by the SPDC. All
villages in the area are compelled to send people for forced labour, the
only variation being the degrees of severity and frequency. The
conscripted workers are part of an SPDC effort to establish control over
this contested area by constructing army camps and roads in the area.
SPDC troops have frequently been demanding unpaid porters from villages,
forcing them to carry rations, ammunition or other supplies up and down
mountains. The porters are used to set up and supply the new and
existing army camps and support troop movement. They are forced to carry
loads weighing as much as 50 kilograms (110 pounds) and are often denied
adequate food and drinking water.
The painful burden of carrying immense loads is exacerbated by the
villagers? fears of landmines. Some porters are forced to walk in front
of the military columns in order to clear mines, which are laid heavily
in the area by all sides in the conflict: the SPDC, DKBA, and KNLA
(Karen National Liberation Army). At the end of November 2000, a Tee Ler
Doh villager had his leg blown off while carrying supplies for the SPDC.
In the high mountains between Shan Ywathit and Kha Leh Dee the SPDC and
Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) have both planted many mines in an
attempt to control each other?s movements. In December 2000 two soldiers
from SPDC Light Infantry Battalion 201 were injured by mines.
Consequently, at the beginning of January 2001, Major Win Naing, Column
2 commander of SPDC Light Infantry Battalion 201, summoned the village
heads from Kwih Law Ploh, Dta Kreh Kee, Deik Kya, Meh Tha Po Kee, Kha
Leh Dee, Day Law Ploh, Tha Wih Hta, Kleh Ka, Haw Tee Po, Tee Ler Doh,
Meh Pu Hta, and Meh Kreh villages and ordered them to clear parts of the
mountain of landmines. The village heads were threatened with forced
relocation to Ywa Po Hta, about 30 kilometers (20 miles) to their
southwest, if they failed to carry out these orders. Villagers were
understandably distressed over the ultimatum and many decided to flee to
Thailand. Back in Hlaing Bwe township, the village heads have been
attempting to exempt their villages from the order by offering large
sums of money to LIB 201.
Unable to bear the danger and hardship of working as porters, some
villagers have fled into the jungle. If caught, the porter can face
harsh punishment or even death. A villager from the neighbouring
township of T?Nay Hsah told KHRG that an older porter who tried to flee
from the SPDC was recaptured and tortured. SPDC soldiers bound his hands
behind his back, force-fed him massive amounts of salt and rice and
forced water down his throat. Then they beat him with a gun, released
him and fined him chicken and rice. The fact that people risk recapture,
retribution and a flight through a jungle rife with land mines attests
to the desperation of the situation for porters.
Since December 2000, LIB 201 has forced villagers to work around their
army camp at Kha Leh Dee. Villagers have to clear the ground, build
fences, dig bunkers and cut down and haul trees and bamboo and then use
the materials to construct buildings. By mid-January two buildings were
complete and a third had been started. The buildings will likely be used
as storage warehouses and are very large in scale, measuring about 70 by
25 metres. At least 80 villagers are there constructing the buildings
every day. Each village sends 5 to 10 villagers for three day rotating
shifts. Female villagers are also involved, with every family sending
someone three times a month for three day shifts to make thatch shingles
to roof the buildings.
To facilitate the delivery of supplies to the army camps being
established in the area, the SPDC is pushing the construction of a road
from Shan Ywathit to Kha Leh Dee. Since October 2000, construction has
involved the use of 10 to 20 villagers from each village near the road
site. Workers included children as young as 13 or 14 years old. As is
the usual case, villagers have to bring their own tools, materials and
food. Work days last for about 9 hours and, of course, are unpaid. The
work is made more treacherous for villagers who are sent ahead of the
bulldozer in order to clear the route of landmines. The SPDC brought in
the bulldozer to help with the road work but apparently values the
safety of the machine more than the lives of the villagers. The
villagersÆ fears over the prospect of working as minesweepers also means
more money for the SPDC officers, as they collect fees in lieu of work
from those who don?t dare to go. Another notable forced labour project
in the township is bridge construction at Meh Kheh Kloh and Tee Hsaw
Meh.
For the villagers, forced labour bears the risks of being beaten or
killed by soldiers as well as enduring severe health problems from
overexertion and exposure to disease. But on an even greater scale, it
takes them away from their farm work. Overtaxed villagers face severe
difficulties feeding themselves due the increasing demands placed on
them by the military. This problem is compounded by the actions of SPDC
and DKBA troops when they arrive in villages. Soldiers relentlessly loot
food and belongings from villagers who can no longer afford to resupply
themselves. They have taxed, fined and robbed the villagers into severe
poverty. Making things worse, the villagers from Meh Kreh say they had
heard that a well-known DKBA commander named Moe Kyo (meaning
æLightningÆ in Burmese) is to come to their area. Moe Kyo is infamous
for ordering the burning of houses and the execution of villagers in
other areas on the slightest suspicion of any contact between any
village and the KNLA.
The SPDC have made it very clear that they will stop at nothing short of
complete control of the villages. Their continued attempts to strengthen
their hold on the area means an increase in the use of forced labour,
looting, extortion, landmines and brutality. As the situation in the
Dawna mountains of eastern Hlaing Bwe township stands, villagers face a
choice between starvation, violence and utter desperation or an
unpredictable and dangerous flight to the Thai border. And at present,
it still remains unclear whether Thai authorities will grant asylum to
these refugees or not.
This Information Update is also available on the KHRG web site
(www.khrg.org).
___________________ REGIONAL/INTERNATIONAL___________________
Bangkok Post: Forays Could Lead to War, Junta Warned
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2001
Troops ignore order to get out of Mae Sai
Wassana Nanuam
The military has warned Rangoon it will retaliate if Burmese troops
encroach on Thai territory again.
Supreme Commander Gen Sampao Chusri said Burmese military leaders were
asked to make sure its border patrols do not trespass on Thai soil again
since Thai retaliation could lead to war.
Lt-Gen Winai Phattiyakul, chief of the Directorate of the Joint
Intelligence, submitted the warning to Burma's ambassador and military
attache to Thailand.
"We will not allow Burma to use Thai soil as a base for any military
operations, even if they ask for permission," the supreme commander
said.
Both sides need to enter into talks so Thailand can convince Rangoon it
does not support the anti-Rangoon Shan State Army, he said.
Thailand has always denied backing the SSA and made it clear to Gen
Maung Aye, a Burmese military leader, no Burmese minority groups would
be allowed to operate in Thailand.
Gen Sampao said the Supreme Command was ordered by Prime Minister
Thaksin Shinawatra and Defence Minister Gen Chavalit Yongchaiyudh to
arrange talks with Rangoon.
If local-level talks between Township Border Committees fail, meetings
between Regional Border Committees and Joint Committees will be held, he
said.
The township talks will be chaired by Maj-Gen Thawat Charuklad, Chiang
Rai's chief army officer, and Maj-Gen Kes Seng, his Burmese counterpart
from Tachilek. Regional-level talks will be chaired by Third Army
commander Lt-Gen Watthanachai Chaimuenwong and Lt-Gen Than Sein, Burma's
southwest army chief.
The Joint Committee talks will be chaired by the defence ministers of
both nations.
Meanwhile, Gen Sampao said Burmese troops yesterday rejected the army's
4pm deadline for complete withdrawal from the Phuteng Nayong area in Mae
Sai district, Chiang Rai.
Army chief Gen Surayud Chulanont said the army would be willing to enter
into regional-level talks with Burma if Rangoon agrees.
He told the prime minister the army was ready to defend Thai soil
against another invasion and said the problem would not intensify if
negotiations are held. Gen Surayud said regional talks had been
postponed twice at Rangoon's request.
___________________________________________________
The Nation: Army on alert as Burmese troops battle Shan guerrillas
February 21, 2001
Filed at 01 : 25 pm (THLD time)
MAE SAI, Feb 21 (The Nation) -- The Third Army Region reinforced its
positions along the Thai-Burmese border as Burmese troops and Shan
ethnic rebels clashed on Wednesday in Burma's border town of Thachilek
opposite this northern province of Chiang Rai.
A Thai army intelligence officer, speaking on condition of anonymity,
said Shan guerrillas had apparently recaptured its camp in Thachilek
after repelling Burmese troops from the area.
No spillover of the clash was reported in Mae Sai district because the
fighting took place several kilometres inside Burmese territory, the
officer said.
Thai army forces have been put on full alert on the border with Burma
from Mae Sai to Mae Fahluang district following intelligence reports
indicating that the Burmese army has been massing 7-8 battalions of
troops in the border area.
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, speaking to reporters in Bangkok
Wednesday morning, said he believed the Third Army would be able to
defend the border against possible intrusion by armed foreign forces.
He said he expected Thailand and Burma to eventually resolve their
border problems at the negotiation table.
___________________________________________________
_______________ ECONOMY AND BUSINESS _______________
Financial Times: Energy groups under pressure from all sides
By David Buchan, Energy Correspondent
Published: February 19 2001 20:53GMT
Last Updated: February 20 2001 03:59GMT
Last week Premier Oil of the UK held a seminar outside Rangoon for
Burmese security and legal officials on, of all things, human rights.
This was Premier's riposte to critics, ranging from the UK government to
human rights groups, which have urged it to abandon its gas drilling
project in Burma because of political repression in that country.
Broadly similar arguments are being made to BP, under pressure to divest
its stake in Petrochina due to the latter's activities in
Chinese-occupied Tibet.
On the other side of the world, BP and other companies active in Alaska
may soon face opposition from indigenous peoples if the new Bush
administration succeeds in opening up part of the Alaskan National
Wildlife Refuge to drilling.
These are just some examples of the growing dilemmas oil companies are
facing - and compromises they are making - as they take their quest for
oil to the ends of the earth. The forces driving the quest are obvious.
Global consumption of oil, still the world's dominant fuel, is expected
to rise from 77m barrels a day to 115m b/d by 2020. Industrialised
countries want to avoid further reliance on the Middle East members of
Opec, source of 66 per cent of known global oil reserves. Discoveries
such as the North Sea and Alaska are now levelling or tailing off. So
the hunt is on for new sources, especially in central Asia, West Africa
and Latin America. Worldwide annual spending on exploration and
production is predicted by Schroder Salomon Smith Barney to rise 20 per
cent this year to $113bn.
Geology dictates that the oil industry cannot easily pick and choose
where it operates. While many countries had human rights long before
they knew they had oil, there is also ample evidence that oil can fuel
corruption, foment political instability, and introduce a damaging
boom-and-bust cycle.
Increasingly, oil companies are being called upon to help mitigate some
of these ills.
Moreover, public expectations of oil companies have also changed.
In the 1970s, when companies such as ITT were accused of toppling
governments in Latin America, "the worry was of multinationals getting
too involved in government. Now people say they should get more
involved", notes Robin Aram, a Shell vice-president.
In 1976 his company produced its first set of business principles,
telling its subsidiaries to stay out of politics. Now it tells them
they have "the right to make known their views on matters affecting
their local community".
But the revolution in general expectations of the oil industry still
leaves individual companies uncertain as to where and how to operate.
"We look for clear guidance from the international community, but we
rarely get it," says Mr Aram. United Nations sanctions on Iraq have the
merit of clarity. But the US forbids investment in Iran; European
governments permit it. The US disapproves of investment in Sudan,
European governments condone it. Nor do international NGOs agree. Some
want BP out of China, others don't.
Arvind Ganesan, oil industry expert with the New York-based Human Rights
Watch (HRW), says he thinks only Burma and Turkmenistan deserve
ostracism for their repressive and corrupt regimes.
In this confused situation, the big oil groups' attitudes tend to
reflect experience and nationality. In recent years, Shell found itself
pilloried over Nigerian army brutality in protecting its facilities,
while BP had to face the controversy over the way para-military thugs
were used to defend its Colombian operations.
But despite its base in the US, home to many human rights groups,
Exxon-Mobil, the largest oil company, has consistently refused to join
Shell and BP in signing up to any broad principles of political or
social responsibility. Unlike Premier Oil, TotalFinaElf, the French oil
group, has not faced any pressure from its home government to pull out
of Burma. A senior executive, however, admits Total has "become more
strict" in ensuring no forced labour is used in its operations there.
One area of natural paranoia for oil companies is risks to their
employees and installations in conflict zones. In the past, they have
not really cared how security was provided; now they have to.
After discussions with Amnesty and HRW in 1996-7, Shell took over
recruitment and training of the Nigerian police on its payroll, and
changed their rules of engagement. Shell joined Chevron, Texaco and BP
in signing up last December to a set of "security and human rights"
guidelines for oil and mining companies, drawn up by the US and UK
governments.
Premier says it would have signed up too, had not Washington expressed a
"level of discomfort" at having such a controversial investor on the
list of signatories.
Premier is meanwhile spending $700,000 a year in Burma on social
projects. This is intelligent self-interest in two ways, suggests
Charles Jamieson, Premier's chief executive. First, it helps win
contracts. "Unless companies actively articulate programmes, they will
not be as successful in getting [oil] concessions." Second, "having the
local community on your side makes it easier to do business".
Shell is doing the same in Nigeria, on the bigger scale of $50m a year,
as befits a company that makes over $500,000 a day profit on the
800,000 b/d it pumps out of Nigeria.
"The formal licence to operate comes from the government, but the
informal licence to operate comes from the local community and NGOs -
and you have to balance the two," according to Titus Moser, Shell's
resident anthropologist.
"We're in the business of pragmatic trade-offs", says Sir John Browne,
BP's chief executive. He acknowledges that over opening Alaska's ANWR
to drilling, "we will be in conflict with certain non-governmental
organisations. . . but that is their role".
"If I had to choose between being in a place where no one disagreed with
us or couldn't say so, and the situation today", the BP chief claims,
"I'd choose today's situation like a shot."
______________________OTHER______________________
"Return To Paradise" 2000 Burma Documentary released
[Abridged]
February 2001
A short documentary film about the human rights abuses in Burma.
Written, edited and produced by Julien Moe, a Burmese student who went
back to Burma, his native land after 10 years' residence in the United
States. A Burmese student goes back to Burma, his motherland to find
out his country's past and present. What he has discovered is a nation
ruled by a fascist government. The film includes clips on subjects
including:
Burma under the Japanese and British rule, Ne Win and U Nu, Burma under
the rule of the SPDC/SLORC, Burma through the eyes of the CIA, the 1988
Uprising, Human rights abuses by the Burmese army during the 1988
uprising Burma in ethnic conflicts, Cultural events and traditional
festivals, Forced labour and child labour, Opposition Leader Aung San
Suu Kyi and NLD, her party, All Burma Students' Democratic Front
[ABSDF], the Democratic Alliance of Burma [DAB], Khun Sa, Burmese army
brass-hats: General Than Shwe and General Maung Aye
To buy a copy, please contact jhtinzaw@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
________________
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________________
Burma News Summaries available by email or the web
There are three Burma news digest services available via either email or
the web.
Burma News Update
Frequency: Biweekly
Availability: By fax or the web.
Viewable online at http://www.soros.org/burma/burmanewsupdate/index.html
Cost: Free
Published by: Open Society Institute, Burma Project
The Burma Courier
Frequency: Weekly
Availability: E-mail, fax or post. To subscribe or unsubscribe by email
celsus@xxxxxxxxxxx
Viewable on line at: http://www.egroups.com/group/BurmaCourier
Cost: Free
Note: News sources are cited at the beginning of an article.
Interpretive comments and background
details are often added.
Burma Today
Frequency: Weekly
Availability: E-mail
Viewable online at http://www.worldviewrights.org/pdburma/today.html
To subscribe, write to pdburma@xxxxxxxxx
Cost: Free
Published by: PD Burma (The International Network of Political Leaders
Promoting Democracy in Burma)
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