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-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- BURMA RELATED NEWS - SEP 11, 2000. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HEADLINE
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- AP - Myanmar Steps Up Attacks
on Suu Kyi AFP - Asia has dismal mental health
services for sexually abused kids: UN
AFP - ASEAN urged to reverse
perception as a sunset organisation: Singapore
AP -Asian
Children's Aid Said Inadequate
SMH - Protesters want tougher stand on
Burma
Bernama - U.N. PLANS TO SEND A MISSION TO MYANMAR
AP -Myanmar newspaper hits Thai
daily, Western press
Bkk Post - Better co-operation
from Burma sought
Bkk Post - Postbag - Burmese
people made their choice
Bkk Post - Thailand stands to benefit
by paying for gas, not defaulting
BBC - Sixty years of
broadcasting to Burma
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Monday September 11 6:17 AM
ET
Myanmar Steps Up Attacks on Suu Kyi YANGON, Myanmar (AP) -
Myanmar stepped up its litany against opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and the
United States, saying Monday that ``internal traitors'' are collaborating with a
new breed of colonizers to destabilize the country.
The article published in the newspaper Myanmar Ahlin did
not name Suu Kyi or the United States, but the references were
clear.
``A country that failed to pay millions of its due to the
United Nations continues to interfere in the affairs of the countries that (it
does) not favor,'' said the article. The United Nations puts U.S. debt at $1.8
billion.
It was the latest in a series of attacks published in
official newspapers since Suu Kyi's confrontation with Myanmar's military rulers
last month.
Suu Kyi, who won the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize for her
nonviolent pro-democracy work, sat in her car for nine days after government
authorities stopped her as she left the capital to conduct political work in the
countryside on Aug. 24. It was her first attempt to leave the capital since
1998, when she had a similar standoff with the government for 13
days.
Initially a test of wills between Suu Kyi and the
government, the confrontation turned into an international war of words when
President Clinton criticized Myanmar for cracking down on Suu Kyi and her
National League for Democracy party. British Prime Minister Tony Blair and other
western nations also joined the chorus of protests.
The NLD, which won national elections in 1990, has never
been allowed to take office. Suu Kyi was put under house arrest in 1989. She was
released in 1995 but has been kept on a tight leash.
She and the 14 party members who refused to go back to the
capital earlier this month were forcibly returned to Yangon on Sept. 1. Some
have been confined to their homes since then and have not been seen in public
for the last 11 days.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Monday, September 11 2:30 PM SGT
Asia has dismal mental health services for sexually abused kids: UN BANGKOK, Sept 11 (AFP) - Asian nations provide grossly inadequate
health and pyschological services for sexually abused and exploited children,
two UN studies released here said Monday.
"We found that there were virtually no services available
for young victims of sexual abuse and sexual exploitation" in Asia, Kim Sak-Su,
executive secretary of the UN's Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the
Pacific (ESCAP), which oversaw the studies, said.
"Where services existed, they only treated physical
ailments. Almost no regard was paid to the emotional and psychological care
young victims needed to help them recover and reintegrate into society," he
said.
Sexually abused and trafficked children faced not only
physical health problems such as HIV/AIDS but also psychological problems such
as anxiety, depression, fear and guilt, the studies said.
Although legislation against sexual abuse exists in most
states and despite the lack of services for abused children, few Asian states
are making efforts to develop and fund law enforcement or abused-child services,
they said.
"Great challenges remain to enforce these laws, as well as
to strengthen preventative and punitive measures against perpetrators," Kim
said.
Sexual exploitation of children is increasing
significantly throughout Asia, UN sources had previously said.
The financial crisis had forced more children onto the
margins of society, pushing down the price for a child and encouraging foreign
paedophiles to stream into the region, they said.
While the majority of victims of sexual abuse were girls
aged between six and 12, some victims are as young as four, the UN studies said.
Thailand's sex industry had begun importing Burmese and
ethnic minority virgins from Myanmar to serve foreign customers in Thai cities,
a report said last week.
"Virgins are highly valued not only for the reduced risk
of their having HIV, but also because in some cultures, deflowering a virgin is
considered to bestow upon the perpetrator youthful potency," said a paper
presented by David Kyle, a sociologist.
Kyle further charged that Thai and Myanmar authorities
were tacitly encouraging the shipment of virgins.
In many cases, child molesters go free even after they
have been tracked down and arrested, child sex tourism expert Muireenn O'Briain
had said.
Some 20 countries have laws which enable nationals who
abuse children overseas to be tried at home, but these statutes are difficult to
implement.
In order to be prosecuted in America, for example,
authorities must prove that US citizens travelled abroad with the specific
objective of purchasing children.
And law enforcement officials sometimes obstruct
investigations into child sex tourism to prevent embarassing their own
nationals, O'Briain had said.
Thai and Myanmar police also frequently have been accused
of taking bribes to let paedophiles go free.
Last November, a Japanese man who was arrested naked with
a 12-year-old boy in Pattaya, a notoriously sleazy Thai beach resort, returned
home free and boasted to a Tokyo newspaper that he had paid Thai police 600,000
baht to escape.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Monday, September 11 11:10 AM SGT
ASEAN urged to reverse perception as a sunset organisation: Singapore SINGAPORE, Sept 11 (AFP) - ASEAN must reverse the perception that it
is a "sunset" organisation or risk being left behind by its more vibrant
Northeast Asian neighbors, Singapore Deputy Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong
warned Monday.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) may
have weathered the financial crisis that cut through the region in 1997, but
negative perceptions remain about the group's relevance, Lee said in a speech to
ASEAN legislators.
From a geopolitical perspective, Lee said the expansion of
the original ASEAN members -- Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines,
Singapore and Thailand -- to embrace Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam -- was
crucial for the group's strength in the long term.
"But in the short term it has added to doubts about ASEAN
viability," he told the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Organisation, highlighting the
economic disparity and political differences between the original members and
the new ones.
"The two groups are not only at different stages of
economic development but have different perspectives of the risks and benefits
of economic liberalisation and the free market."
Because of this, Lee said analysts were predicting a less
cohesive ASEAN as narrower but stronger national interests take greater
importance over the need for regional cooperation.
He did not give any examples, but Western governments have
condemned the Myanmar junta's latest move against opposition leader Aung San Suu
Kyi and her supporters, which has left them under effective house
arrest.
ASEAN stood silent, bound by its tradition of
non-interference in the internal affairs of members.
"We may not like these perceptions of ASEAN as an
ineffective sunset organisation ... But perceptions are political facts and can
define political reality," Lee said.
"If we continue to be seen as ineffective, and if
Northeast Asia continues to pull ahead, our dialogue partners and international
investors will relegate use to the sidelines, and we will be marginalised," he
said.
Lee said ASEAN members must first restore confidence in
their own countries in order to bring confidence to the region.
ASEAN "must first convince international investors and our
dialogue partners that individually all our countries are serious about adopting
the best standards of government, transparency, corporate governance and rule of
law."
"Our national standards must be comparable to
international best practices. There must be no let up in structural
reforms."
While there was no one solution for ASEAN's problems, the
group must "pick up successful ingredients from the experience of the developed
economies and adapt them to their own conditions."
ASEAN must also press on with tearing down trade barriers
and increasing investments within the region under the ASEAN Free Trade Area and
the ASEAN Investment Area, as well as promote information
technology.
The region must catch up and integrate with the rest of
Asia and the world, Lee said.
"For now, the two-tier ASEAN is a reality which we cannot
deny or ignore. But this need not be the permanent state of affairs," he
said.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Monday, September 11 6:36 PM SGT
Asian Children's Aid Said Inadequate BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) - Health and social services for child victims
of sexual abuse are grossly inadequate in Asia, where the flesh trade and
exploitation of minors is rife, the United Nations said Monday.
Two U.N. studies set for release this week find that
sexual abuse of children is one of the most hidden and underreported forms of
sexual violence in Asia.
Child victims of rape, incest, trafficking, prostitution
and pornography face grave physical and psychological health conditions, said a
statement from the Bangkok-based U.N. Economic and Social Commission for Asia
and the Pacific.
The agency conducted the studies in the Greater Mekong
Subregion - Thailand, Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and China's southern
Yunnan province - and South Asia, which includes India, Pakistan, Bangladesh,
Nepal and Sri Lanka.
The majority of victims of sexual abuse were girls ages
6-12 in the Greater Mekong Subregion and 10-15 years old in South Asia.
Researchers even found 4-year-old girls who had been abused, said Kim Hak-Su,
ESCAP executive secretary.
The report said brothel conditions in many countries are
squalid, with some children forced to serve up to 10 customers per day. They are
vulnerable to physical abuse from customers and brothel owners and at high risk
of infection with HIV/AIDS.
Children in such conditions face serious psychological
problems, including anxiety, depression, fear and guilt, the studies said. But
few attempts are being made to provide them with the psychological support they
need to overcome the trauma.
Legislation against sexual abuse and exploitation exists
in all countries studied, but more efforts are needed to enforce it, the reports
said.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Sydney Morning Herald
Protesters want tougher stand on Burma
Date: 09/09/2000 Demonstrators outside the Burmese embassy in Canberra yesterday faced an
impenetrable line of riot police as they protested against the continuing house
detention of democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi. About 50 demonstrators were
met by about 70 police officers, including 30 from the Operational Support Group
in full tactical uniform. Mr Par Parr of the Free Burma Action Committee said:
"Our message to Burma's military regime is to recognise the elected Members of
Parliament ... We want the Australian Government to at least make clear where
they stand. We need them to take tough action. ..."
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Malaysian National News
Agency
WORLD NEWS - U.N. PLANS TO SEND A MISSION TO MYANMAR September 09 , 2000 12:39PM BRUSSELS, Sept 9 (Bernama-Kyodo) - The United Nations plans to send
a diplomatic mission to Myanmar late September, to persuade the military
government there to ease its crackdown against opposition leader Aung San Suu
Kyi, a diplomatic source said Friday.
Razali Ismail, U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan's special envoy for
Myanmar, is expected to lead the delegation and convey the concerns from the
international community to Myanmar officials, the source said.
The 15-member European Union (EU) is also expected to issue a declaration
of support for U.N. efforts to defuse the tension, he added.
Myanmar has been condemned by Western countries since it brought Suu Kyi
back to Yangon last week, forcing her to end a nine-day roadsidestandoff with
the military.
Myanmar Deputy Foreign Minister Khin Maung Win told foreign diplomatsin
Yangon earlier this week to stay away from Suu Kyi.
U.S. President Bill Clinton on Wednesday criticized the military junta at
the U.N. Millennium Summit in New York.
The EU also condemned Myanmar's military junta last week for barring the
Nobel Peace laureate from traveling and meeting her supporters.
The EU had said in April that it would send a ''Troika'' mission --
composed of former, current and incoming EU presidents -- to Yangon this fall to
establish what officials hope would be a meaningful political dialogue.
However, following the crackdown against the pro-democracy opposition
leader and her supporters, the EU postponed the mission.
''The principle of the mission has to be assessed according to the
evolution of the situation. We shall see in due time,'' the diplomatic source
said.--BERNAMA-KYODO
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Myanmar newspaper hits Thai daily,
Western press
YANGON, Myanmar, Sep 10, 2000 (AP) -- Myanmar's state-run press launched
a fresh round of attacks on the foreign press Sunday, accusing a Thai newspaper
of making up a story and the Western media of acting in cahoots with the
political opposition.
The Myanmar-language newspaper Kyemon called an article in The Nation, an English-language daily published in Bangkok, a "fabrication." It said the story about drugs carried on Myanmar's national airline was
written to mislead readers, belittle the government's anti-narcotic efforts, and
cause misunderstanding about country's cooperation with Thailand and
international organizations.
The military government has stepped up its attacks on foreign media since
receiving widespread and unfavorable publicity over a confrontation with
pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and a crackdown on her National League for
Democracy party.
The July 16 article in the Nation, headlined "Narcotics war sees no end,"
reported the difficulties that authorities in Thailand have in stemming the flow
of illegal drugs from neighboring Myanmar, also called Burma.
The commentary in Kyemon singled out an assertion, which The Nation
attributed to unidentified Thai officials, that Burma's domestic airline is
"being used to help transport methamphetamines, destined for Bangkok's streets
and elsewhere in the Kingdom, and heroin, heading to major Western
cities."
Experts believe Myanmar is the world's second biggest producer of heroin
after Afghanistan.
The Nation quoted Thai officials as saying that Myanmar authorities turned
a blind eye to the use of the state airline to carry illicit drugs from the
northern city of Kengtung to the capital, Yangon.
"This is an insult to the 50 million Myanmar population, and I denounce
such a malicious fabrication," said the Kyemon commentator, who demanded the
Thai newspaper's reporters produce proof for their assertion.
One of the reporters, Don Pathan, told The Associated Press on Sunday that
he stands by the story.
The Thai press frequently publishes article on the same theme, which
reflects the views of Thai anti-drug officials. Stories in the Thai press have
also alleged that smugglers are increasingly using Thailand's state airline,
Thai Airways, to carry drugs inside Thailand.
Another article in Kyemon accused the Western media of disseminating false
information and accused journalists of collaborating with Myanmar's
pro-democratic opposition.
"These reporters will have to write fabricated reports to earn the dollar,"
said a commentary. "However ... the people of Myanmar do not care even though
the internal destructive party works in collusion with the Western media."
On Aug. 24, police stopped Suu Kyi and 14 party colleagues in a suburb of
the capital, barring them from traveling to the countryside to carry out
political organizing.
Suu Kyi and her colleagues refused to return to the capital, and drew
international attention and sympathy by camping out in their cars until they
were forcibly returned to Yangon on the night of Sept. 1. She and other party
leaders are still being kept isolated.
Myanmar's government has kept the NLD on a tight leash since 1988 when Suu
Kyi led pro-democracy demonstrations. The military allowed national elections in
1990 but refused to honor the results when the NLD won a landslide.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bangkok Post - Sep 11,
2000.
NARCOTICS - Better co-operation from Burma sought A drug-free Asean is the ultimate goal Supamart Kasem Thailand is seeking greater co-operation from other countries to combat
drug problems in the region, Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai said yesterday.
"Problems in the region, especially concerning drugs, affect not only
Thailand but also other countries in the region," the prime minister said to a
group of 500 reporters from nine provinces in the Lower North.
"The Prime Minister Meets Mass Media of the Lower North" was also attended
by 12 cabinet ministers and top provincial officials.
On Thailand's handling of the drug problem, Mr Chuan said the government
had tried to seek concrete co-operation from the government of Burma, which is
known as a major source of narcotics. The curb on drugs began with an invitation
to Burmese leader Than Shwe to visit Thailand in December 1997 to discuss drug
suppression co-operation. Gen Than Shwe agreed to the proposal and Burma has
since become more co-operative.
Jurin Laksanavisit, the PM's Office minister in charge of narcotics
suppression, said nearly 100% of drugs, especially methamphetamines, are
produced in Burma and 90% of whole production is brought into Thailand.
Mr Jurin said: "As a result of bilateral co-operation, Burma on several
occasions has seized between one and five million speed pills at a time.
"At the same time, we found 40-50 methamphetamine plants along the border
and Burma has been informed about them. We are looking forward to seeing Burma's
actions," he added.
M.R. Sukhumbhand Paribatra, the deputy foreign minister, said that in the
next four to five months Thailand will reach a new drug agreement with Burma,
Malaysia and China.
On Oct 11-12, there will be a ministerial-level meeting of Asean with
co-operation from the United Nations Drug Control Programme (UNDCP). The
objective is to push for Asean to become a drug-free zone in 15 years.
Mr Chuan said he had also sought greater co-operation from the military
against the drug menace.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bangkok Post - Sep 11,
2000.
Postbag - Burmese people made their choice I was struck by the extreme irony of the remarks made by the spokesperson
for the Vietnamese Foreign Ministry reported in the Sept 8 edition of Bangkok
Post. The spokesperson stated "current developments [regarding Aung San Suu
Kyi's house arrest]... are completely Myanmar's internal affair and must be up
to the Myanmar people to decide".
I seem to remember that the people of Burma decided democratically their
choice of a democratic government 10 or more years ago only to have their choice
thwarted by the military. Madame Aung San Suu Kyi is still working to allow this
choice to be implemented and any outside efforts are similarly aimed towards
assisting the Burmese people to gain their democratically chosen system of
government.
As the Vietnamese Foreign Ministry considers politics in Burma "...must be
up to the Myanmar people to decide", shouldn't Asean be more forthcoming in
promoting the Burmese people's choice of democracy instead of propping up a
corrupt, drug dealing, military dictatorship?
G.W. Farrow
Phuket -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bangkok Post - Sep 11,
2000.
Thailand stands to benefit by paying for gas, not defaulting Potential to improve ties with Rangoon Boonsong Kositchotethana Thailand will be better off paying for natural gas from Burma than by
refusing to pay on the grounds of circumstances beyond its control.
Thai authorities came to this decision after examining the economic and
political implications of declaring force majeure.
The National Energy Policy Office (Nepo) told the Petroleum Authority of
Thailand (PTT) that it should pay the groups developing the Yadana and Yetagun
gas field, but it should press for an easing of the take-or-pay terms stipulated
in the purchase agreements.
The state-owned PTT is committed to paying in full for the contracted
amount of gas, regardless of whether it can process the supply.
It has taken only partial delivery because of the delay in building the
Ratchaburi power plant, designed to run on gas piped from Burma's Gulf of
Martaban.
"There are more benefits arising from pursuing this course (paying) than
from declaring force majeure," a senior Thai energy planner said.
The Council of State said after examining the contracts that it could not
conclude fully that the PTT was able to declare force majeure in order to avoid
the contractual penalty for breaching the agreements.
By adopting a softer approach, Thailand could gain indirect benefits
including an improvement in trade and investment with Burma, as well as build a
reputation that Thailand and the PTT would keep their word, officials
said.
The PTT will seek a compromise in talks with TotalFina Elf and the Yetagun
gas group headed by Premier Oil of Britain.
It recently paid US$280 million to the Yadana group for the volume of gas
it had contracted to buy last year, following a $50.47 million payment for the
committed volume in 1998.
The PTT was advised to ask the gas producers to make some amendments to
reduce the burden on Thailand. These are:
- Allowing the PTT to double the amount of gas that can be purchased later
than the contracted period to 30% from 15%.
- Postponing the delivery of natural gas from Yetagun's second stage.
- Cutting the contractual volume of gas delivery this year from Yadana and
Yetagun.
- Revising the contractual rate of gas delivery in order to ensure the same
rate of return on investment for gas producers.
Meanwhile, Thailand will try to use more Burmese gas by speeding up
construction of the Ratchaburi power station, and by laying a new west-east gas
pipeline from Ratchaburi to Wang Noi, so that some of the gas can be diverted to
the Wang Noi combined-cycle plant in Ayutthaya.
As well, gas will be used as a substitute for fuel oil at the South Bangkok
and Bang Pakong power houses.
Gas will also be promoted for industrial use and vehicle fuel.
Assuming the negotiations are successful and plans to increase use of gas
are realised, the authorities believe the take-or-pay payment obligations this
year will be reduced to 14.028 billion baht from 25.067 billion.
This will also sharply reduce the interest burden on loans taken out by the
PTT to pay for the gas.
In a related move, Nepo recently resolved how the interest burden arising
from the take-or-pay dispute should be split among the parties involved, with
the public bearing most of the cost.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- BBC - Monday, 11 September, 2000,
14:25 GMT 15:25 UK
Sixty years of broadcasting to Burma By Somchai Suwanban of the BBC Burmese Service As world leaders condemned the latest clampdown on Burmese opposition
leader Aung San Suu Kyi, for those inside Burma the BBC's Burmese Service has
provided one of the few sources of information on the situation in their own
country.
This month the service celebrates its 60th anniversary.
Frequently the target of criticism by the Burmese government, a large
section of the country's population has come to rely on the BBC for the latest
news on events in Burma and the world's reaction to them.
In a letter received recently from a Burmese monk now exiled in Bangladesh
he wrote: "No matter how much [the military government] portrayed the BBC in
many malicious ways, the audience in Burma is increasing day by day.
"Many Burmese tune into the BBC because of its fast and unbiased coverage
of news and current affairs", he said.
Closed society
The BBC first broadcast in Burmese on 2nd September 1940 at the outbreak of
war in the Far East.
In its six decades of broadcasting it has covered the country's declaration
of independence; the pro-democracy uprisings and military crackdowns; and the
overwhelming victory of Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy in the
May 1990 elections - a victory which has since been ignored by Burma's military
leaders.
Today the Burmese Section broadcasts one hour and 15 minutes every day of
the year; half an hour at dawn and 45 minutes in the early evening.
The broadcasts are regarded by many as the most reliable source of
information available to Burmese listeners, living as they do in a largely
closed society.
In early 1981, budget cuts threatened the Burmese Section with closure.
Vital service
But it was saved when diplomats in Rangoon argued that an estimated 90% of
the Burmese population listened regularly and regarded it as a vital service.
Figures for actual listenership are not known because the government will
not allow any surveys to be undertaken.
The decision to keep the service running proved its worth when political
discontent boiled over into bloody confrontation seven years later with the
military crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrations in 1988.
The following year the Burmese Section received 98,000 listeners' letters,
the highest ever recorded for any language services in Bush House.
Web service
Today the service continues to provide an invaluable resource to thousands
of listeners inside and outside Burma.
This year as part of the anniversary celebrations, the Section launched an
audio service on its website, putting the dawn programme online for the benefit
of Burmese listeners outside South-East Asia.
Late last month, the Section also sponsored a seminar in Bangkok on 'The
Role of the Media in Promoting Civil Society' with leading journalists from
Rangoon, Hanoi, Jakarta and Bangkok as the key speakers.
In his opening comments the speaker from Thailand looked at his Burmese
counterpart and said he hoped that the BBC would not have to wait for another 60
years to organise this kind of discussion in Rangoon.
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