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BurmaNet News: April 4, 2001



______________ THE BURMANET NEWS ______________
        An on-line newspaper covering Burma 
         April 4, 2001   Issue # 1770
______________ www.burmanet.org _______________

INSIDE BURMA _______
*The Nation: Burma agrees to joint drug suppression
*Xinhua: Mekong Meeting on Refugees Ends in Myanmar

REGIONAL/INTERNATIONAL _______
*Bangkok Post: Low expectations for border talks
*Bangkok Post: List revealed of top dealers
*Mizzima: 36 Burmese nationals remain under detention in Andamans 
Islands
*Mizzima: 54 Burmese fishermen to be deported on 6th April

ECONOMY/BUSINESS _______
*Charlie Hebdo (France): [Article on the building of an hotel in Rangoon 
by a former secretary of the French President]
*DVB: Burma-Thai border trade in Kawthaung shut down

OPINION/EDITORIALS_______
*The Irrawaddy: Talks or Dialogue in Burma?

OTHER______
*AU Free Burma Coalition: Prominent Human Rights Activist from Burma 
Will Come  to American University to Discuss Efforts to Free His Country 
from Military  Rule		


__________________ INSIDE BURMA ____________________


The Nation: Burma agrees to joint drug suppression 



CHIANG MAI, April 4 (The Nation) -- Thai negotiators, led by a regional 
army chief, declared the Thai-Burmese Regional Border Committee (RBC) 
meeting a "success" after both sides agreed to cooperate more closely on 
drug suppression.  
Speaking at a press conference, Lt Gen Wattanachai Chaimuenwong said 
Burma had specifically agreed to Thailand's call for help in crackdown 
on amphetamine producing plants and cross-border trafficking.  

"Both sides have reached better understanding on the need to cooperate 
on issues ranging from drug suppression, demarcation of border, cross 
border trade and fisheries," Wattanachai said.  

At the two-day meeting in Burma's Ken Tung province, the two sides also 
agreed that the RBC should be held once every six months instead of 
every two years. They also agreed that the border checkpoint at 
Thachilek-Mae Sai should be reopened as soon as possible.



___________________________________________________



Xinhua: Mekong Meeting on Refugees Ends in Myanmar

2001.04.04 10:23:48  

YANGON, April 4 (Xinhuanet) -- The two-day Second Mekong Sub- Regional 
Meeting of the Asia-Pacific Consultations on Refugees,  Displaced 
Persons and Migrants ended here Tuesday evening. 

Delegates from Cambodia, China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and  Vietnam 
exchanged information on displaced persons and migrants,  and proposed 
the best measures to solve the problem of cross- border migration. 

The meeting also approved some agreements on migrants and  matters to be 
discussed at the next meeting without further  details. 

Present at the meeting, which began on Monday, were officials  of the 
Asia-Pacific Consultations and the U.N. High Commission for Refugees as 
well as observers from Brunei. 

Meanwhile, Myanmar Minister of Immigration and Population U Saw Tun has 
stressed at the meeting the need for information sharing  which he said 
is a key to developing better understanding of the  migration situation 
across the Asia-Pacific region. He also  underscored the importance of 
sound and comprehensive judicial,  legislative and executive systems in 
the reconstruction of a civil society relating to repatriation and 
reintegration.

___________________________________________________







___________________ REGIONAL/INTERNATIONAL___________________
				


Bangkok Post: Low expectations for border talks

April 04, 2001.

Kanjana Spindler

Lt-Gen Wattanachai Chaimuenwong, Third Army Region commander, is the 
epitome of a professional soldier. He's tough and straight talking, and 
fiercely patriotic. He sees himself as a soldier rather than a diplomat 
and believes the two functions don't mix well. 

His job is one of the toughest in the Royal Thai Army, covering as it 
does the highly sensitive border regions with Burma. Securing this 
border is made much more difficult by the drug traffic, the refugee 
problem, the cross-border trade issues and the anti-Rangoon forces. Add 
to this cauldron of tension and hot money the fact that almost the 
entire border with Burma is not properly demarcated, and that confusing 
policy signals emanate from the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of 
Foreign Affairs, and you have a soldier's nightmare which includes 
confusion and the political games people play. 

Lt-Gen Wattanachai probably thinks his head is on the chopping 
board-with good reason, although he appears to have survived Gen 
Chavalit Yongchaiyudh's initial desire to remove him due to reported 
intervention by Gen Prem Tinsulanonda, statesman and president of the 
Privy Council. Gen Chavalit's antipathy towards the current Royal Thai 
Army C-in-C Gen Surayud Chulanont is well documented (as too is Gen 
Chavalit's propensity to spend forward the armed forces budget to the 
maximum extent possible) so both Gen Surayud and his protege Lt-Gen 
Wattanachai might be considered fair targets in the old-style game of 
promoting one's close associates and "yes men", a game that Gen Chavalit 
practically invented. 

Moreover, neither of these two professional soldiers will utter a word 
in their defence if they are "de-activated" because they are both firm 
believers in a professional military subservient to democratic political 
control. So, hopefully, Gen Prem will continue to provide a silent and 
invisible protective shield over these two modern soldiers in order to 
preserve the de-politicisation of the Thai military which has been 
making solid progress over the last two years since Gen Surayud's 
promotion to the position of C-in-C. 

But for Lt-Gen Wattanachai the stakes are much higher.

He's currently leading the Thai delegation to the first Regional Border 
Committee meeting, in Kengtung, for nearly three years. His expectations 
are low because, with good reason, he doesn't believe the Burmese side 
is sincere. According to sources close to Lt-Gen Wattanachai, the 
Burmese are likely to do everything possible to put Lt-Gen Wattanachai 
in a bad light. They want him removed from the Third Army Region because 
he's a thorn in their side and they probably want to create an excuse 
for Gen Chavalit to try and remove him so that he can be replaced by 
someone more pliable and more susceptible to the nuances and money 
politics of this wild frontier. 
Of course, this would simply be playing into Burma's hands, something 
that Gen Chavalit might keep in mind the next time his desire to remove 
Lt-Gen Wattanachai bubbles irrepressibly. 

One item up for discussion in Kengtung will be the issue of joint border 
patrols which would allow Thai troops accompanied by Burmese troops to 
patrol areas inside Burmese territory so that both forces can help each 
other in jointly destroying the Wa's drug production bases. The 
likelihood of the Burmese accepting this idea are, of course, fairly 
remote for obvious reasons, but the request in itself is a useful test 
of their sincerity. 

Before Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai meets his Burmese 
counterpart at the beginning of next month following the Asean foreign 
ministers "retreat" in Burma, it might be useful if some intensive, 
non-public brainstorming took place including all involved Thai parties. 


We cannot and should not take a conciliatory approach towards Burma as 
long as it keeps feeding off "the tears of the Thai people". 
Kanjana Spindler is Assistant Editor, Editorial Pages, Bangkok Post.


___________________________________________________



Bangkok Post: List revealed of top dealers

April 4, 2001


Temsak Traisophon


A list of major drug dealers in the North was revealed at a meeting 
yesterday, chaired by Interior Minister Purachai Piemsomboon. 

Drug suppression chief Pol Lt-Gen Priewphan Damapong, who said the 
meeting was intended to map out strategy to deal with the menace, said 
no politicians were on the blacklist. 

Pol Lt-Gen Priewphan said police were keeping watch on major drug 
dealers in the northern provinces, especially in Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai 
and Mae Hong Son. 
Most of the people on the list had connections with the United Wa State 
Army and frequently moved locations to stay with the Wa to avoid arrest. 


The interior minister said that among topics discussed were ways to 
encourage provincial governors and senior police officers to co-operate 
closely to combat drugs despite the fact that police were no longer 
under the Interior Ministry. 

Not only drug laws but also money laundering laws, other related laws 
and tax measures must be used as tools to suppress the drug trade, he 
said Also present at the meeting were assistant national police chief 
Pol Lt-Gen Noppadol Somboonsap and Office of Narcotics Control Board 
secretary-general Kitti Limchai 




___________________________________________________




Mizzima: 36 Burmese nationals remain under detention in Andamans Islands 



Kolkata, April 2, 2001 


More than three years have passed that the investigation of the Central 
Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is unable to conclude and with the 
Ministry of Defence virtually refusing to cooperate, the 36 Burmese 
citizens remain under illegal detention in the Andamans Islands of 
India. The human rights lawyers of India are filing petitions before the 
court in Port Blair this week for the immediate release of 36 Burmese 
nationals. Although the light for their release remains dim, their 
freedom, if it were, would expose the true story behind this 
ôcontroversialö episode.  

On February 12, 1998, Major-General S.C Chopra, Additional Director 
General, military operations, Ministry of Defence announced in a press 
conference in New Delhi that Indian security forces had intercepted, on 
11 February, a major gang of ôinternational gunrunnersö in the Andamans 
Seas and they had arrested 73 gunrunners who were supplying arms to the 
North East militant groups. The authorities claimed that six persons 
were killed in the encounter. The arrests and seizure of around US $ 1 
million worth arms was described by the Indian armed forces as 
ôOperation Leechö, a joint operation of army, navy, air force and Coast 
Guards.  

However, the other side of story is totally different. In their letters 
from the jail to outside world, the prisoners revealed that they were 
Arakan and Karen ethnic people from Burma engaged in the struggle 
against the Burmese military junta. According to them, the Indian army 
had allowed them to operate from Landfalls Island in the Andamans. In 
exchange for this facility, a colonel of the Indian army û Lt. Col. 
Grewal - had taken thousands of dollars and gold in exchange for the use 
of the island but he double-crossed them and shot dead six of their 
senior leaders in cold blood.  
After months of detention and investigation, the CBI revealed in the 
court that 37 of those held under detention were in fact fishermen and 
thus they were released on 7th May 1999 and later deported to Burma.  

The CBI said that it has not concluded investigation on the remaining 36 
accused persons. In its appeal filed before the court in Port Blair on 
17th May 2000, CBI mentioned the delay in investigation due to 
non-cooperation of Indian Defence authorities.  

The 36 are charged under the ordinary criminal code for waging war 
against India, under the Arms and Explosive Substances Act, and under 
section 3 (1) (b) of the National Security Act, 1980. The detention 
under the National Security Act, 1980 was for one year and not renewed 
after the one-year period completed on May 15, 1999.  
Out of 36 detenus, 25 belong to National United Party of Arakan (NUPA) 
and 11 are from Karen National Union (KNU), both fighting against the 
Burmese junta with armed struggles.  

The Chief Judicial Magistrate, Port Blair, on October 13, 1999, released 
the 36 accused persons on bail when a well-known human rights lawyer Ms. 
Nandita Haksar filed petition for their release.  

The local Superintendent of Police, however, passed an order, 
immediately re-arrested them and put them under arrest in a building in 
Port Blair.  

Since then, they have been held under ôillegalö detention in the 
police-guarded building although the conditions of detention have 
improved over the months due to interventions of their lawyers.  

The 36 Burmese have approached the United Nations High Commissioner for 
Refugees (UNHCR) for protection and UNHCR has agreed to consider it.  
In her letter to the UNHCR in Geneva on January 15, 2001, Ms. Nandita 
Haksar has mentioned that if her clients are not given the protection of 
the UNHCR, they could be held indefinitely or be deported to Burma. ôAll 
the 36 detenus have a well-founded fear of persecution if they are 
deported..ö, she wrote.  
 


___________________________________________________




Mizzima: 54 Burmese fishermen to be deported on 6th April 

Calcutta, April 3, 2001 


The 54 Burmese fishermen who have been detained at Calcutta jails for 
about two years will be released and deported to their country on 6th 
April, said jail authorities in Calcutta, West Bengal of India.  

According to the Presidency jail officials, the Government had ordered 
purchase of new shoes and clothes for all the 54 Burmese fishermen and 
air tickets have also been booked for flying them to Burma on 6th April. 
 

Mr. P. B. Chowdhury who is working for the Burmese embassy affairs in 
Calcutta confirmed the report that the Burmese fishermen will be 
deported on 6th April. He said that Burmese authorities will provide 
expenses for shoes and clothes for the fishermen while the air tickets 
expenses are being provided by the Indian government.  
Meanwhile, a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) petition filed by an 
Indian legal activist seeking action taken report from the Indian 
Foreign and Home Ministry on the Burmese fishermen is coming up for 
hearing on the 9th April 2001 before the Supreme Court of India.  

Deepak Prahladka, a Calcutta-based Legal Activist, stated in his 
petition that on the 26th July 1997, total 63  (9 Thai and 54 Burmese) 
fishermen were arrested for illegally entering Indian territorial water 
and detained in Calcutta jails. On the 20th September 1999, a 
Sub-Divisional Judicial Magistrate at Tamluk, West Bengal, India 
convicted all the 63 fishermen under section 14 of the Indian 
ForeignerÆs Act and sentenced them to suffer Rigorous Imprisonment for 2 
(two) years and also directed that the period of detention of the 63 
fishermen be computed and set off by the jail authority accordingly. The 
Magistrate also directed that since all the 63 fishermen have already 
suffered sentence of imprisonment ordered (which expired on 25th July 
1999) all of them be pushed back and/or deported to their respective 
homeland immediately.  

The Magistrate also sent copy of the aforesaid order to Indian Foreign 
and Home Ministry and all other concerned for deportation of the 63 
fishermen in compliance of the said order and directed the local police 
to file the compliance report by the 4th October 1999. In view of the 
said order dated 20-9-1999, nine Thai fishermen were released from the 
jail and deported to their country but the remaining 54 Burmese 
fishermen are still illegally incarcerated in Calcutta Presidency and 
Alipore Jail.  
Prahladka stated that 54 Burmese fishermen were legally entitled to be 
released from jail and deported to their country but the Indian Foreign 
and Home Ministry have not taken any steps for their release from jail 
and deportation to their country.  
He also stated that illegal incarceration of 54 Burmese fishermen not 
only violates their human rights and Article 21 of the Constitution of 
India but also constitutes criminal contempt of subordinate court and 
also causes pecuniary loss to Indian public exchequer as the jail 
authority had to feed all of them at the cost of the Indian public. 

However, all of them are also entitled to compensation for illegal 
incarceration.  
Prahladka stated further that 54 Burmese fishermen have been rotting in 
jail for about two years and in May 1998 they were brutally beaten up 
during a fight between them and guards in jail and now some of them have 
also become HIV positive and AIDS patients and are likely to spread 
serious diseases in jails.  

ôEven if they are released prior to 9th April, I shall proceed with the 
petition for compensation for all the 54 fishermen for their illegal 
incarcerationö, says Prahladka.  
 







_______________ ECONOMY AND BUSINESS _______________
 


Charlie Hebdo (France): [Article on the building of an hotel in Rangoon 
by a former secretary of the French President]

[Article published on the 10th january 2001 in Charlie Hebdo, a French 
publication.  Translation by Info-Birmanie]


Investigation

The Luxury Burmese Hotel of Michel Roussin

French President Jacques ChiracÆs right-hand man wanted to construct a 
½Sofitel╗ hotel in Rangoon.  A strange idea, considering that in 
Burma luxury hotels are a means of laundering drug money.  However it is 
three years now that work on the building has ceased.  French honour is 
saved. 

Tourists who visit Burma, in order to profit from the order that reigns 
there, complain somewhat when they come across the horrible shell in 
reinforced concrete that dominates the historic centre of Rangoon.  One 
hundred and sixty feet tall, this monumental wart should have become a 
Sofitel hotel, run by the French group Accor.  But the building site, 
abandoned three years ago, now serves only to honour the memory of its 
illustrious developer, Michel Roussin.

The Burmese adventures of Roussin go back to 1996.  Jacques ChiracÆs 
mentor had just quit his position at the Ministry of Overseas 
Cooperation, after judicial enquiries concerning fraudulent invoices 
issued by the Paris City Council.  The case against him was very quickly 
dropped, but he did not regain his ministerial portfolio.  Logically 
enough, this ex-member of the secret service (SDECE) then decided to 
turn his hand to real estate.  In December 1995, Roussin rejoined the 
public works group Eiffage as president of its subsidiary SAE 
International.

½Constructive╗ Narco-dollars

Straight away the great man conceived the idea of constructing a 
five-star hotel in Rangoon.  However no need for a market survey to 
determine whether Burma, devastated since 1988 by a fierce dictatorship, 
might lend itself better to heroin dealing than to the tourist industry. 
 In the capital of ?The Republic of Myanmar? (to use the terminology of 
the Burmese generals) the occupancy of hotels rarely exceeds 10% of 
their capacity.

Economically crazy, the project nonetheless seduced the group Eiffage 
and its partner in the venture, the group Accor.  Roussin, who was a 
policeman in his youth, knows how to be persuasive.

There is certainly a possible explanation for this sudden enthusiasm for 
Burmese hotel business.  ½In fact, the primary function of luxury hotels 
in Rangoon is to launder drug money╗ explains Francis Christophe, 
ex-member of the Geopolitical Observatory on Drugs and author of 
æBirmanie, la dictature du pavotÆ [Burma, the poppy dictatorship] 
(publisher: Θditions Pierre Picquier).  ½The Traders, for example, 
which is one of the most expensive hotels in Rangoon, belongs to the 
family of Lo Sign Harn, one of the opium lords of the Golden 
Triangle.╗  Could Roussin, of the R.P.R. Party, be avid for 
narco-dollars?  Such a suggestion cannot be seriously entertained!  We 
simply draw attention to the fact that to build a Sofitel in Burma is to 
expose oneself to suspicions of an infinitely more dishonourable nature 
than a banal case of rigged markets.

However, Michel Roussin is not one to be intimidated by malicious 
gossip.  For a former Minister for French Africa, a close friend of the 
Bongos, EyadΘma et al., to become partner to a narco-dictatorship 
is in no way shocking.  Moreover he is not alone.  In the wake of Total, 
which in 1992 signed a contract for 1,200 million dollars for the 
development of the Yadana gas field, a whole load of French investors 
has rushed to Rangoon: the arms dealer, Pierre Falcone and his friend 
from the Pasqua stable, Jean-Charles Marchiani (see addendum), Thomson, 
GEC-Alsthom, Indo-Suez, CrΘdit Lyonnais, Banque Nationale de Paris, 
Air Liquide.  The fact that the SLORC (State Law and Order Restoration 
Council, official name of the military junta) uproots the population, 
imposes on them forced labour, imprisons or kills its opponents, and 
outlaws or decimates the unions, has never caused the least embarassment 
to French decision makers.

It would be difficult to criticize them.  After all, Jacques Chirac 
himself has never concealed his fondness for the Burmese eldorado.  In 
1997 he spoke publicly at an ASEAN (Asian economic community) meeting in 
favour of admitting Rangoon to membership, in the teeth of the boycott 
declared by the international community.  The French Foreign Office and 
the French embassy in Rangoon have always approved, and even encouraged, 
candidates for the profitable takings to be made in Burma.  Even today, 
the Jospin government is the only one in Europe to practise a policy of 
½constructive engagement╗ with the worldÆs number one exporter of 
heroin.

So, it is with the blessings of the highest authorities in Paris that 
Michel Roussin landed in Rangoon on the 10th June 1996.  To prepare the 
ground for him, the French ambassador went to the trouble of sending the 
junta leaders a letter of recommendation whose obsequiousness went far 
beyond the usual formulae of diplomatic nicety.  (See appended document) 

Roussin had a very agreeable reception from the Burmese generals, 
including the Prime Minister, General Than Shwe.  It is not every day 
that a close friend of the President of the French Republic pays hommage 
to a drug dealer.

After the Sofitel, the prisons

Roussin was to make further visits to Rangoon.  But despite his 
excellent relationship with the junta, building of the hotel suddenly 
ceased in 1997.  A result of the Asian crisis?  Or was the project 
originally intended never to be completed?  It remains a mystery. 

No matter.  Roussin?s career is undented by this failure.  In 1999 his 
firm is given responsibility for the construction, in France this time, 
of three ½ultra-modern╗ prisons.  After the conclusion of this 
worthy contract (worth 670 million francs), Roussin abandons Eiffage to 
return to his Franco-African affairs, as vice-president for Africa of 
the BollorΘ group.  Whilst, as regards his recent judicial 
examination, concerning the affair of the publics works contracts in the 
Paris region, one can swear to the fact that Burmese drug money is not 
involved.
How sad, nonetheless, that a luxury hotel stands rotting.  To 
commercialize the Sofitel ruin, the junta generals should install on its 
facade a hoarding proclaiming the name and status of their former 
Presidential Palace associate.  The prestige of France overseas would 
find thereby a truly fitting memorial.

__________________________________________________

Last week Charlie Hebdo published details of the 1992 visit to Rangoon 
of Pierre Falcone and Jean-Charles Marchiani, two of the pricipal actors 
in the Angolan arms deal (the so-called ½Mitterand affair╗).  
Their trip was nicely timed, as the same year the Burmese junta did a 
deal with Total and, to celebrate that, they purchased twenty-four 
combat helicopters from Poland.  This disclosure aroused a lively 
interest in Warsaw.  In reply to Polish journalists, a spokesman for the 
aviation group PZL, a certain Jan Mazur, acknowledged the sale of 
twenty-four combat helicopters to Burma, but at the same time denied 
that Brenco, the company of Falcone, was involved.

½The deal was agreed at the highest level and in total legality,╗ 
said Jan Mazur.  According to him, moreover, the choppers were 
reassuringly ½ neither armoured nor armed╗, i.e. were rather like 
those used to film the Tour de France cycle race.  It would be 
unthinkable that the Burmese generals might themselves arm their 
choppers.

To summarize, Falcone and Marchioni were only in Burma to perfect their 
sun-tans.  However Brenco is still active in Rangoon.  The arms dealerÆs 
local office is run by a former member of the French spy service. 
According to the journalist Francis Christophe, the local representative 
of Falcone served under Michel Roussin at a time when the latter worked 
at the directorate of the secret service (SDECE).  All of a sudden one 
has a better understanding of why the same Roussin wanted to construct a 
Sofitel in Burma: to lodge his mates and to keep an eye on the 
temperature of their swimming pool.

------------------------------------------------------------- 

Extract of registered letter dated 29th May 1996 addressed to the 
Burmese Foreign Minister and five other officers of the military junta: 
The French Republic,
The French Embassy in Burma

 The Embassy of France presents its compliments to the Ministry of 
Foreign Affairs of the Union of Myanmar and has the honour to inform the 
latterthat Mr Michel ROUSSIN, former Minister for Cooperation, Former 
CabinetHead H.E. Mr Jacques CHIRAC, Former Deputy of Paris, Managing 
Director General of S.A.E. International ( Societe Auxilliaire 
dÆEntreprise) Wich is now building the Sofitel Hotel in Yangon, will be 
arriving in Myanmar on Monday 10 June 1996 in the 
afternoon..............



DVB: Burma-Thai border trade in Kawthaung shut down

1 April

The Kawthaung District BDSC [Border Development Supervisory Committee] 
has closed the Kawthaung-Ranong border trade since yesterday and border 
crossing is allowed only to specified personnel. It is believed that 
entrepreneurs and traders from Kawthaung and Ranong are facing 
difficulties. DVB [Democratic Voice of Burma] correspondent Myint Maung 
Maung filed this report.

[Myint Maung Maung] The Kawthaung BDSC allows only 60 persons to go from 
Kawthaung to Ranong and only 12 small boatloads of commodities for 
trading per day. The 60 persons permitted to cross the border are not 
allowed to carry any luggage. They had to go to the BDSC office with the 
border crossing pass books, and were given the border passes after 
answering some questions. The BDSC has stopped all border trade. It is 
not known why the Burmese side has unilaterally closed the border trade. 
Only people holding border pass books are allowed to cross the border to 
Ranong since the BDSC arrived in Kawthaung. All the Burmese workers in 
Ranong do not possess any border pass books and they have to sneak back 
into their home country by paying 300 baht [Thai currency] boat fare for 
a short trip to Kawthaung. 
Regarding the border trade, the BDSC has been collecting exorbitant 
taxes and most traders has stopped work for some time already. According 
to the latest reports, it is learned that the Burmese side has closed 
the border trade indefinitely.

Source: Democratic Voice of Burma, Oslo, in Burmese 1430 gmt 1 Apr 01 



_______________OPINION/EDITORIALS_________________



The Irrawaddy: Talks or Dialogue in Burma?

April 03, 2001



By B.K. Sen and Khin Maung Win

April 03, 2001-- The UN Special Rapporteur on Burma, Razali Ismail, has 
successfully facilitated a meeting between SPDC leaders and the 
Opposition in Burma, headed by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. Reactions to this 
meeting have been mixed. The pessimists say that this was a survival 
strategy on the part of the generals. They contend that the move was a 
tactic to silence the international community's pressure and that of the 
International Labor Organization with a view to attract investors; that 
such a tactic is directed towards slowing down the mounting anger of the 
people and creating division in the ranks of the opposition, thereby 
enabling the junta to stay in power longer.

The optimists view the development as if a dialogue has begun and the 
generals by and large are in favor of sharing power. The reason for this 
optimism is that international pressure on the junta is now at its 
maximum. There is a power struggle between the pro-dialogue and 
anti-dialogue factions in the army, heightened by the death of U Tin Oo 
(a high-ranking army general in the Burmese military government). The 
two factions cannot just fight against each other forever. They have to 
come to some compromise. However, the pragmatic view appears to be that 
the talks should be regarded not as a dialogue but simply as talks. 
Politically, dialogue reaches much further and usually shows more 
promise than talks.

It is very important to keep the talks going, no matter where they end. 
If the talks go on, the generals will have to put a brake to the wheel 
of repression. The talks, for example, would have to lead to Daw Aung 
San Suu Kyi's house arrest being lifted. They would have to lead to the 
steady disappearance of fear and frustration from the minds of the 
people, who in this way would realize that the generals are not 
all-powerful. In particular, the anti-dialogue leaders should not be 
given an excuse to call off the process like they did in 1996.

It is necessary that the talks are held without a tense atmosphere, as 
loud protests could make the generals feel very uncomfortable. It should 
be remembered that perhaps this is the last chance to achieve a peaceful 
change, and even if the talks do not yield an ideal result, they will 
allow for flexibility to move on to higher stages. The alternative would 
be a breakdown of the talks and an impasse, but this time it would not 
be a simple case of going back to square one. It would create a 
situation of great uncertainty and instability, and probably lead to a 
prolonged debilitating conflict ending in chaos and disintegration. 
Burma would then become like one of the worst nightmares of the Balkan 
region. The parties involved need to clearly envisage where the country 
should be heading. 

The present talks have to be taken very seriously and should be seen as 
being on a par with cease-fire agreements between the armed groups. The 
regime will need to stop operations against the Opposition, and the 
Opposition will have to follow certain ground rules to avoid provocative 
actions in the name of people's power. Concerns of critics will have to 
be dissipated. Both parties will have to buy time and generate mutual 
respect and trust. Confidence building measures have to be put in place, 
and such measures can only be taken by those in power. There are many 
questions that arise out of the current situation. Would the talks lead 
to power sharing? If so, what type would it be? What would be the role 
of the military? At which stage would the participation of the ethnic 
leaders start? What are their demands? Would there be a constitution 
during the transitional period? And, if so, would it be the one that was 
imposed in 1948 or the one framed by the military junta later on? These 
questions must be addressed but not now, as they are a bit premature. 
Priorities now are to set an agenda and put the talks on a firm course 
with an astute facilitator who does not allow them to get derailed or 
aborted.

A very important factor to be kept in mind is that the country has been 
under autocratic rule for generations. Burma's economy is shattered, and 
education has virtually ceased. The country is paralyzed by ethnic 
unrest, and the drugs and Aids problems have become alarming. Thai-Burma 
border clashes have presented new complications, and diplomacy is needed 
to solve all these difficulties.

The current talks show that Burma's military leaders at long last appear 
interested in ending this state of affairs, and are looking for ways to 
begin a peace process, which is good news. The forces that have locked 
Burma into stagnation, decline and ruin seem to be shifting. True, this 
process is highly tentative, and no one hardly even dares to talk about 
it, but the breakthrough does amount to the first genuine step forward 
in many years. 

Needed now are cool heads, compromise, logic, trust and, last but not 
least, a willingness to reconcile differences. The years of violence and 
antagonism should provide the motivation for a solution. If a deal is 
made, the resulting peace could liberate Burma from its long-term 
decline. 

These talks have been made possible by the consistent support of the 
international community for the pro-democracy Opposition, yet there is 
still a strong need for international organizations, governments and 
political parties of nation-states to come out in support of the talks. 
What the parties talk about is not the international community's concern 
at this stage, as change has to come from within. What is important, 
however, is that these talks do not meet the same fate as the 
Israeli-Palestinian talks in September-October 1994.

The fact the talks are being held should bring some joy and a glimpse of 
what the future might hold. The guns of repression are silent for the 
moment, as the military junta is playing a crucial role in helping the 
talks to go on. In the interests of a peaceful transition, certain 
issues have to be kept for later, so that the junta can realize that it 
is also to their benefit that the first constructive steps be taken 
towards a transition. The ideas for further talks, mentioned earlier, 
and other crucial issues will have to be sorted out before the talks can 
be said to be a real dialogue. At present it is crucial to allow fear to 
subside and new hope to be born in the hearts of the people. After all, 
the Buddha never stops smiling. 

B.K. Sen and Khin Maung Win are members of Burma Lawyers Council. 
Opinions expressed here are their own.



______________________OTHER______________________



AU Free Burma Coalition: Prominent Human Rights Activist from Burma Will 
Come  to American University to Discuss Efforts to Free His Country from 
Military  Rule

[Abridged]

When: Wednesday, April 11th, 2001, 6:00 PM

Where: Kay Spiritual Life Center
       American University
	4400 Massachusetts Ave, NW
	Washington, DC 20016

What: A prominent human rights and environmental activist from Burma 
will  come
to American University as he travels on a nationwide speaking tour 
educating 
US citizens about the horrific abuses occurring in Burma, where a brutal 
 military
dictatorship has ruled since 1962. Ka Hsaw Wa, recipient of the Reebok 
Human Rights Award, the Goldman Environmental Prize, and the Conde Nast  
Environmental
Prize, will share his compelling life story with American University  
students
and tell them what they can do to support Burmas pro-democracy movement.


Ka Hsaw Wa, a member of Burma's Karen ethnic group, participated in the  
student
protests in the capital, Rangoon. At the age of 18 police arrested him 
and  them
tortured him for three days in an effort to locate other pro-democracy 
advocates. Realizing

that his life was in danger, he fled the capital to the Thai border, 
where  he
planned to join the resistance to the military junta. But then Ka Hsaw 
Wa realized he could play a more important role by documenting human 
rights  abuses
committed by the military and sharing his evidence with the 
international media.

In 1995 he  cofounded EarthRights International and began to gather 
evidence of the destruction  caused by the Yadana natural gas pipeline 
in southern Burma, owned by Unocal and  the French oil

firm TotalFinaElf. Ka Hsaw Wa's opposition to the pipeline was 
instrumental  in
raising awareness about the destructive role of oil companies in Burma. 
Ka Hsaw Wa now divides his time between the US and Thailand, where he  
teaches
non-violent resistance and human rights abuse documentation. 

Sponsored by the University Chaplain's Office, the Office of Community  
Action
and Social Justice and the AU Free Burma Coalition.  For more info, call 
202-885-3333.








________________


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