Burma Related News - Sep 23, 2000

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BURMA RELATED NEWS - SEP 23, 2000.

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HEADLINE

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AFP - Human Rights Watch calls for action against Myanmar junta

AFP - Myanmar junta slaps fresh measures on NLD after train confrontation

AP - Myanmar Leader Suu Kyi Detained

AP - Myanmar Govt Detains Suu Kyi Followers At 'Guest House'

Business Recorder - US deplores restrictions on Suu Kyi

BBC - Analysis: War of attrition continues

Kyodo News - Tension heats up between Myanmar junta and Suu Kyi

LA Times - 9 Followers of Myanmar Activist Held

Xinhua - Myanmar to Host ASEAN Railway Officials' Conference

Bkk Post - Large tracts cleared in Tak

The Nation - Burma urged to let Asean mediate

BBC - Burma crackdown intensifies

SCMP - Activist back home after rail 'farce'

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TSL - NLD(LA) Press release on SPDC’s harassment to Daw Aung San Su kyi’s upperBurma visit

Saturday, September 23 5:34 PM SGT
Human Rights Watch calls for action against Myanmar junta

BANGKOK, Sept 23 (AFP) - Human Rights Watch called Saturday for concerted action against the Myanmar junta, following the detention of the deputy leader of the opposition party and the de facto house arrest placed on Aung San Suu Kyi.

"Human Rights Watch today called for immediate international pressure on Burma to lift new government restrictions on the opposition party," the rights group said in a statement received here.

"It's time for concerted action by the UN, Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), and others. Diplomatic appeals are not enough."

Human Rights Watch urged ASEAN to warn Yangon that human rights abuses may threaten trade within the group of states.

It also said the European Union should cancel its planned summit with ASEAN, scheduled for December 11-12 in Vientiane, Laos, if Myanmar takes part.

Myanmar is a member of ASEAN along with nine other Southeast Asian states.

The New York-based rights group suggested that Razali Ismail, the UN's Special Envoy to Myanmar, call for the immediate and permanent lifting of restrictions on the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) when he next visits Yangon in early October.

On Saturday, Myanmar's military regime detained deputy NLD leader Tin Oo at a military base 50 kilometres (30 miles) north of Yangon and placed a tight security cordon around party leader Aung San Suu Kyi's house, preventing her from leaving her residence or visitors from seeing her.

The junta also issued a warning that Aung San Suu Kyi could face an uncertain fate if she kept up her "confrontational" ways.

The moves come one day after Aung San Suu Kyi and Tin Oo were escorted from Yangon central station where they were stopped from boarding a train to the northern city of Mandalay.

The junta last week lifted the house arrest of Aung San Suu Kyi and other NLD leaders following a nine-day roadside showdown but barred her from leaving the capital.

The NLD won a landslide general election victory in 1990, but the junta has never recognised the result and is accused by foreign critics and human rights groups of severe repression of its opponents.

Aung San Suu Kyi, the daughter of independence hero General Aung San, was put under house arrest for six years and has subsequently had her movements greatly restricted.

Saturday, September 23 12:22 PM SGT
Myanmar junta slaps fresh measures on NLD after train confrontation

YANGON, Sept 23 (AFP) - Myanmar's junta Saturday placed the deputy leader of the opposition National League for Democracy, Tin Oo, under house arrest and ringed Aung San Suu Kyi's home with a security cordon.

The moves came one day after Aung San Suu Kyi was escorted from Yangon central station where she was prevented from boarding a train to the northern city of Mandalay.

Tin Oo was shifted to Ye Mon military base 50 kilometres (30 miles) north of Yangon and would have no visitors, a government official told AFP adding the NLD needed time to cool down.

The military considers Tin Oo one of the most pro-active and fiery NLD leaders and he was targeted by the state press.

"Tin Oo never has the will to do things in a restrained manner. He always tries to stir up troubles ... and is involved in high treason," the state newspaper New Light of Myanmar said Saturday.

The "house arrest" came as a tight security cordon was placed around Aung San Suu Kyi's house, and the NLD leader was barred from leaving her home, witnesses said.

She was not allowed to receive any visitors and the government used the state press to slam the NLD leader while urging her to join hands with the military.

"It is obvious she is the messenger of destruction sent by the colonialists of the West bloc," the New Light of Myanmar said.

"If she does not want to get along with the military, with whom is she going to cooperate in endeavoring for the nation's benefit?" The only way she can help the nation is by joining hands with the military."

Another member of the NLD's central executive committee was placed in Insein prison, in Yangon, where human rights groups claim a series of rights violations have occured.

However, Junta officials stressed to AFP that no charges were filed against any NLD leaders, but said the leadership needs to remain under detention to allow the situation in Yangon time to calm down.

On Friday, Aung San Suu Kyi and other NLD leaders were escorted from Yangon central station by six military police cars after being prevented from boarding the train to Mandalay.

NLD leaders arrived at Yangon station Thursday afternoon saying they wanted to take a train to Mandalay. Aung San Suu Kyi had reportedly wished to check reports of a crackdown on NLD offices.

While she was prevented from boarding, about 100 supporters were herded into trucks by military police and taken to an undisclosed location.

The junta last week ended a house arrest of Aung San Suu Kyi and other NLD leaders following a nine-day roadside showdown but barred her from leaving the capital.

Aung San Suu Kyi and other members of the NLD central executive committee were placed under virtual house arrest on September 2, after they tried to attend a party meeting outside Yangon.

This triggered a prolonged stand-off with NLD leaders camped by their cars for nine days before being taken back to the capital by security officials.

Saturday, September 23 2:22 AM SGT
Myanmar Leader Suu Kyi Detained

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) - Striking a fresh blow against pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, the military government on Friday detained her deputy and eight other followers after thwarting their latest attempt to travel outside the capital.

Suu Kyi and Tin Oo, the deputy leader of her National League for Democracy, were evicted from Yangon's railway station early Friday when they became ``abusive,'' a government statement said. Suu Kyi was escorted home, it added.

But Tin Oo, 77, and eight other party workers who were planning to accompany Suu Kyi to the north for party work were taken to a ``government guest house as a temporary measure to prevent similar incidents,'' the military said.

The group wanted to take the train to Mandalay, Myanmar's second-largest city, 350 miles north of Yangon, but the government claimed tickets were sold out. Suu Kyi's sympathizers believe that was a pretext to prevent her from traveling.

Suu Kyi's last confrontation with the government was Aug. 24, when she was barred from driving to a southern town. She was put under virtual house arrest along with Tin Oo and other party members from Sept. 1 to Sept. 14.

On her release, she immediately vowed to challenge the unofficial travel ban again.

The last time Suu Kyi tried to travel by train, also to Mandalay, in 1996, authorities disconnected her carriage, claiming mechanical problems.

Suu Kyi's party won a 1990 general election but the military refused to hand over power.

In the past, several opposition leaders have been detained in government guest houses, off limits to reporters and other observers, for as long as two years. The government denies such detention constitutes arrest.

Myanmar, also known as Burma, has been under military rule since 1962. The current junta took power in 1988 after crushing a nationwide uprising for democracy and killing thousands of people.

Suu Kyi was kept under house arrest from 1989 to 1995, and her movements have remained heavily restricted. She won the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize for her nonviolent efforts to promote democracy.

On Wednesday, Myanmar's Foreign Minister Win Aung told the United Nations that his government has been under ``unfair scrutiny'' and political pressure from other nations while it is establishing its own kind of democracy.

Saturday, September 23 3:31 AM SGT
Myanmar Govt Detains Suu Kyi Followers At 'Guest House'

YANGON, Myanmar (AP)--Mayanmar's military government detained Friday the deputy leader of Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy, a pro-democracy party, and eight other followers after thwarting their latest attempt to travel outside the capital Thursday.
The party's deputy leader, Tin Oo, 77, and the eight party workers who were planning to accompany Suu Kyi to the north were taken to a "government guest house as a temporary measure to prevent similar incidents," the military said.

Suu Kyi's last confrontation with the government was Aug. 24, when she was barred from driving to a southern town. She was put under virtual house arrest along with Oo and other party members from Sept. 1 to Sept. 14.

On her release, she immediately vowed to challenge the unofficial travel ban again.

Suu Kyi's party won a 1990 general election but the military refused to hand over power.

Myanmar, also known as Burma, has been under military rule since 1962. The current junta took power in 1988 after crushing a nationwide uprising for democracy and killing thousands of people.

Business Recorder - Sep 23, 2000.
US deplores restrictions on Suu Kyi

WASHINGTON (September 23) : The United States on Thursday deplored what it called "a blatant, heavy-handed action" by military authorities in Myanmar to prevent opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi from leaving the capital.

Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said police "forcibly removed" Suu Kyi and other National League for Democracy leaders from the main station in Yangon in the early hours of September 21, and the United States was currently unable to confirm their whereabouts.

"This blatant, heavy-handed action is only the latest outrage committed against Aung San Suu Kyi and other party leaders by Burmese authorities," Albright said in a statement issued late on Thursday. "It is unacceptable."

"The United States holds the Burmese Government responsible for their safety and welfare and calls for the immediate restoration of their freedom of movement and access to others, including foreign diplomats," she said.

Suu Kyi was attempting to leave Yangon for the city of Mandalay. She said she wanted to investigate reports of a government crackdown there against the NLD.
The NLD won general elections in 1990 by a landslide but has never been allowed to govern. Suu Kyi was released from six years of house arrest in 1995 but her movements remain severely restricted.

The most recent stand-off ended September 2 when Suu Kyi was forcibly brought back to Yangon and locked in her house for nearly two weeks with her telephone cut and diplomatic access barred.

On Thursday, witnesses said the 55-year-old Nobel laureate and several colleagues from her National League for Democracy left the station shortly after 1 a.m. (2:30 p.m. EDT/1830 GMT Thursday), ending a new confrontation with the military government of Myanmar, the country formerly known as Burma.

Albright, who helped rally widespread diplomatic support for Suu Kyi during this month's UN General Assembly session in New York, said she was "appalled" by the actions of the military government.

"Aung San Suu Kyi is a beacon of hope to the long-suffering people of Burma whose dream of a just, democratic society has been denied for too long by a repressive regime," she said.

"The Burmese Government's restraints on Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of Burma's freely-elected majority party, violate basic principles of international human rights instruments and are an affront to free peoples everywhere," she said.

Earlier, US State Department spokesman Richard Boucher urged the authorities in Myanmar "to uphold their obligations ... and stop this violation of (Suu Kyi's) human rights."

"Furthermore, we've always said they should engage in a dialogue with a democratically elected opposition," he added.-Reuters

BBC - Friday, 22 September, 2000, 21:29 GMT 22:29 UK
Analysis: War of attrition continues
By regional analyst Larry Jagan

The battle between Burma's opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and the country's generals is set to continue.

At present the opposition leader is under virtual house arrest. After preventing her from boarding a train to Mandalay, the military authorities forcibly escorted her home.

No one has been allowed in or out of her house since. Military guards have also been placed outside the homes of all the other senior National League for Democracy (NLD) leaders.

Government officials say that they have all been detained temporarily and these measures were necessary to prevent further confrontation between the NLD and the military regime.

Diplomatic sources in Rangoon believe the situation is similar to the last time Aung San Suu Kyi was forcibly returned to Rangoon and placed under virtual house arrest.

Then, she was only detained for more than a week. But it is unclear what Burma's generals plan to do this time.

Freedom or security

The military insist that they are preventing Aung San Suu Kyi from leaving Rangoon for her own safety. They say they could not guarantee her security outside the capital.

But Aung San Suu Kyi insists that she should be free to travel wherever she wants and as there are no legal restrictions on her.

The military government has repeatedly prevented Aung San Suu Kyi from leaving Rangoon in the past two years. She has tried on several occasions to drive to various townships outside Rangoon to visit supporters.

According to opposition souces, Aung San Suu Kyi wants to visit her supporters throughout the country to find out what their main concerns are and to discuss the NLD's policy and strategy with them. In many parts of the country the NLD is no longer functioning as a party.

In several places, including Mandalay, the military junta has forced the local landlord to evict the NLD from their premises and so close the local party headquarters. The military authorities have also pressured thousands of NLD members to resign.

It is these sorts of abuses that Aung San Suu Kyi wants to investigate first-hand. In fact it was the forced closure of Upper Burma headquarters in Mandalay and the desire to protest against it which prompted her to try to visit Mandalay.

Isolation

According to NLD sources, Aung San Suu Kyi and other party leaders intend to continue to try to visit supporters outside Rangoon.

A source close to one of them told the BBC that the opposition leader had planned to continue to return to the Rangoon railway station until she was allowed to travel to Mandalay.

But it is this which the Burmse military are not prepared to allow to happen. Their strategy so far has been to try to isolate the opposition leader and portray her as isolated. The last thing they want is for her to travel around and prove that she still has mass support throughout the country.

The military may now try to keep Aung San Suu Kyi physically isolated from the rest of her party in the hope that it creates dissension within the party leadership.

There are also growing fears that the Burmese generals may even try to de-register the NLD as a political party. But the longer the Aung Sann Suu Kyi is kept under house arrest the more there is likely to be an international outcry.

The United States has already made it position clear. President Clinton appealed to the international community at the recent UN Millennium Summit to support Aung San Suu Kyi's heroic battle for democracy in Burma, as he put it.

While the Burmese generals continue to detain the opposition leader, international outrage is likely to grow.

YANGON, Sept. 23 Kyodo
Tension heats up between Myanmar junta and Suu Kyi

Tension continues to mount between Myanmar's military government and pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi following her latest attempt to defy a travel restriction.

Suu Kyi, thwarted last month from traveling outside Yangon by car, on Thursday tried to travel to Mandalay, the country's second largest city about 700 kilometers north of the capital.

Los Angeles Times - Saturday, September 23, 2000
9 Followers of Myanmar Activist Held
Associated Press

YANGON, Myanmar--Striking a fresh blow against pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar's military regime detained her deputy and eight other followers Friday after thwarting their latest attempt to travel outside the capital, Yangon.

Suu Kyi and Tin Oo, the deputy leader of her National League for Democracy, were evicted from Yangon's railway station early Friday when they became "abusive," a government statement said. Suu Kyi was escorted home, it added.

But Tin Oo, 77, and eight other party workers who were planning to accompany Suu Kyi to the north for party work were taken to a "government guest house as a temporary measure to prevent similar incidents," the military said.

The group wanted to take the train to Mandalay, Myanmar's second-largest city, 350 miles north of Yangon, but the government claimed that tickets were sold out.
Suu Kyi had tried in late August to travel by car out of Yangon for political work, only to be stopped on the road. She and other party members were later confined to their homes for two weeks.

Myanmar to Host ASEAN Railway Officials' Conference

YANGON (Sept. 23) XINHUA - Myanmar will host the 22nd Conference of Railway General Managers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on October 17-19, official newspaper The New Light of Myanmar reported Saturday.

At the conference, cooperation including exchange of railway- related technology will be sought among the ASEAN member nations.

Myanmar, along with Laos, became a member of the ASEAN Railways Association (ARA) at the grouping's 20th railway general managers' conference (RGMC) held in Hanoi in August 1998.

The 21st ASEAN RGMC took place in Bali, Indonesia in June 1999 when Cambodia joined the ARA.

Except Singapore and Brunei, all ASEAN countries are ARA members.

Bangkok Post - Sep 23, 2000.
ILLEGAL LOGGING
Large tracts cleared in Tak

Tak - Hundreds of rai of remote mountain forest have been illegally felled and logs delivered across the border to Burma for use in furniture manufacturing.

Local officials have reportedly acted as armed guards for the loggers.

Forestry Department sources said extensive illegal timber cutting has occurred in national reserves in Tha Song Yang district. A recent raid led to the seizure of 68 precious teak logs taken from Mae Meoi National Park and Tha Song Yang National Reserve.

Panit Suwannpat, head of Mae Meoi National Park, said action was being taken against the illegal operation, but it was made difficult by booby traps.

Wachira Muangkaew, director of the Tak Regional Forest Office, said forestry officers were inadequately equipped to patrol the forests safely.

The Nation - Sep 23, 2000.
Burma urged to let Asean mediate

THAILAND yesterday called on Burma to let an Asean troika, or mediation mission, help solve the current political impasse there, as well as improve the grouping's sagging image.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Don Pramudwinai said Thailand had long supported reconciliation among the opposing parties in Burma and activating the troika would be in line with Burma's policy.

Asean's image has been severely tarnished by the ongoing political conflict in Burma, one of its members, and thus it must restore credibility in the eyes of the international community, he said.

"We agree with the troika proposal," he said.

Thailand hopes that Burma realises that it is in its best interest to accept help from its friends, Don said.

"The best way is to have Burma bring up the issue with Asean itself," he said. The mechanism should not be construed as a breach of the grouping's cardinal principle of non-interference but as a way to reduce external pressure, he said.

Asean agreed in July to set up a troika mission to mediate in conflicts or problems within the region that affect the grouping. But to activate it a consensus is needed among the 10 member states.

Don said the would-be members of the troika - Thailand, Vietnam and Brunei, the grouping's former, current and future chairs - were all sympathetic to Burma.

Thailand's proposal comes amid a fresh stand-off between the ruling State Peace and Development Council and Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy. The confrontation has sparked a strong outcry from countries worldwide, especially the United States and those in the European Union.

United Nations secretary-general Kofi Annan recently proposed that an Asean troika be activated to end a decade of deadlock in Burma, but the proposal was swiftly shot down by Burmese Foreign Minister Win Aung, who warned against foreign countries meddling in its domestic affairs.

BBC - Saturday, 23 September, 2000, 14:54 GMT 15:54 UK
Burma crackdown intensifies

The military authorities in Burma have confirmed the detention of the deputy leader of the National League for Democracy (NLD) amid a scathing media attack on the opposition leadership.

Officials said the deputy leader of the NLD, Tin Oo, was being held at a "government guesthouse."

The location has been reported to be the Ye Mon military base 50 kilometres (30 miles) north of Yangon.

Officials said the move was to prevent the deputy leader from embarking on what were described as "stunts" similar to Aung San Suu Kyi's attempts to travel outside the capital.

Security around the home of Aung San Suu Kyi was also tightened after she tried to travel by train to the city of Mandalay on Thursday.

She was also warned to desist from her "confrontational" ways.

Press attack

A state run newspaper, The New Light of Myanmar, launched a blistering personal attack on Tin Oo and Aung San Suu Kyi.

"Tin Oo never has the will to do things in a restrained manner. He always tries to stir up trouble.

"In addition to such mischief, he always talks ill of the government and steadfastly commits acts of misconduct and holds negative views toward the government," the article said.

It also accused him of treason and described Aung San Suu Kyi as "the messenger of destruction sent by the colonialists of the West bloc."

The article went on to advise her to rather join hands with the military for the "benefit of the nation."

The BBC's South East Asia correspondent, Clive Myrie, says the military authorities are determined to show the opposition they are in control and the opposition are in turn determined to show their resolve.

South China Morning Post
Saturday, September 23, 2000

BURMA - Activist back home after rail 'farce'
WILLIAM BARNES in Bangkok

Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi was back behind the gates of the Rangoon compound yesterday after being forcibly removed from the city's railway station, where she and supporters had tried to board a train for Mandalay.
The deputy leader of her National League for Democracy, Tin Oo, 77, and seven other party members were detained at the station and taken to a "guest house" to prevent further attempts to break out of the city.

The NLD group was prevented from boarding four trains on Thursday night to the northern city after failing to book tickets that were "in high demand", a government statement claimed. "Apparently upset that there were no seats available . . . Ms Suu Kyi lashed out at a station cleaner before being asked to leave by station authorities," it added. "They became abusive . . . and had to be escorted from the building at approximately 1am."

The events prompted one diplomat in the Burmese capital to quote Karl Marx's dictum about how events in history repeat themselves "first as tragedy, the second as farce". But he added: "This is a farce created by a group of people who think it is witty to deny people's basic rights to travel . . . I think it justs shows they are on a different planet."

In Washington, US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said: "This blatant, heavy-handed action is only the latest outrage committed against Aung San Suu Kyi and other party leaders."

Scores of NLD supporters who went to the station to see off their leader had also probably been detained, most likely in the capital's Insein jail, sources said.

Observers agreed that the shenanigans at Rangoon station underlined the generals' unwillingness to talk to the Nobel Peace Laureate.

One Rangoon-based analyst said it might be wiser for the regime to let her travel around relatively unremarked in a country that remains tightly corralled by troops. "You'd think this was the sensible thing to do. No headlines, no fuss," he said. "They cannot bring themselves to do that. They are scared stiff that people will ignore the restrictions and flock to see her. They will not risk damage to the precious artificial political image they have created."

Ms Aung San Suu Kyi was only released a week ago from two weeks' house arrest imposed after she tried to leave Rangoon by car. The resulting roadside stand-off was broken by a police raid after nine days.

When she did manage to board a Mandalay train in 1996, the authorities uncoupled the carriage she was in, citing technical problems.

Overseas supporters of Ms Aung San Suu Kyi who sometimes privately question her tactics wonder if she might not be more subtle about trying to duck under the junta's rigid guard. But other critics cite the understandable frustration over the decade-long stalemate since the NLD's election victory which the military ignored.

"She has offered to talk but they don't want to listen. She is dealing with a regime that at the moment does not want to talk to her, period," said Josef Silverstein, professor emeritus at Rutgers University in New York. "She is doing a magnificent job with the very few cards she has to play."

Some analysts reckon the purpose of her most recent attempts to break out of "town arrest" is to outflank moves by some countries, including Japan, to engage the regime.

One diplomat in Rangoon said the frequent assertion by foreign experts that even the very conservative junta must know the country is in a deep social and economic crisis could be wrong.

"It is quite possible that the top generals do not see the country in crisis. They don't see the poverty and the hopelessness, they see themselves as successful holders of power," the diplomat said.

(T S L)

Press release on SPDC’s harassment to Daw Aung San Su kyi’s upperBurma visit
22.Sept.2000

In the evening of 21 Setembetr, 2000,vice chairman of U Tin Oo and General Secretary Daw Aung San Su Kyi of NLD party planned for a first upper Burma visit to Mandalay by train. Objective to visit is to investigate the cases ( Junta’s restraint on NLD party’s political movements, forceful close down of NLD offices, forceful pull down of signboards of NLD ).

In this trip, totally, there are 30 youths consisting youth party members to follow with DASSK and youths who sent the visitors.They earlier arrived at the station before leaders.On that day, youth party members wore ordinary clothings like civians but intelligent officers who usually watch DASSK’s residence before have noticed them well and they informed riot police. Immediately,riot police arrived, they beat the youths and arrested.Man youth party members were beaten with rubber sticks(Burmese call‘Number stick’) by male riots and woman youth members were hit with iron fists by female riot police.Many youths were seriously injured and some escaped.

At about 3:00pm, U Tin Oo arrived at the station and DASSK at 4:00pm.They were waiting for travelling train tickets until 9:00pm but no ticket was available. Therefore, they returned their homes.

Despite that visit was failed, reportedly,she planned for another visit within next coming a few days.

We described above events in order to distribute to all people of Burma and internatonal community how junta is making brutal and unlawfully harassments on leaders and members of NLD party again.

Central news and information department
National League for Democracy( Liberated Area)