Burma Related News - Oct 18, 2000.

Asia Times
Southeast Asia
Power struggle under way in Myanmar
STRATFOR.COM's
Global Intelligence Update
Oct 18, 2000

Last month, at a session of the United Nations Security Council, the United States condemned the Myanmar government for its crackdown on pro-democracy activists. While consistent with US policy, Washington's sentiment was unusual since the administration tends to put Myanmar on its diplomatic back burner.

But the US statement, whether intended for intervention or simply political posturing for domestic consumption, comes at a particularly delicate time for the country once known as Burma. Myanmar has drawn a flood of attention from human rights advocates and pro-democracy lobbyists because of what many feel is the Myanmar government's harassment of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Myanmar has been run by the military for nearly 30 years, notwithstanding a few scattered elections, whose results the military rigged or ignored. Under economic sanctions by the United States and Europe, Myanmar has followed the path of North Korea, closing itself off to the outside world and watching its economy crumble.

But former dictator General Ne Win - who still influences the government through a complex patronage system - is 89 years old and gradually losing his power. Senior General Than Shwe, who runs the government as prime minister, is set to retire, most likely due to illness.

Two men are battling to take the reins of power - General Maung Aye, head of the armed forces, and Lieutenant General Khin Nyunt, who runs the secret police.

Khin Nyunt leads a group of younger officers who want to open Myanmar up to Western investment. To do so probably means easing restrictions on the opposition National League for Democracy. The intelligence chief probably isn't a pro-Western liberal; he reportedly has ties to Myanmar's major drug lords. But the odds are good he will make a tidy profit from any investment.

Maung Aye is a taciturn soldier who shuns the spotlight. His views are less pronounced, but he appears to wish to keep Myanmar on its current course.

The power struggle takes on a geostrategic dimension due to Myanmar's location at the crossroads of the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea - and the shipping routes between Asia and the Persian Gulf. China has had military relations with Myanmar since 1988, and rival India has attempted to push China out of Myanmar.

Khin Nyunt favors increased ties with China, but Maung Aye is less certain about the relationship - he's concerned about Beijing's influence and that of thousands of ethnic Chinese who live in northern Myanmar. If Khin Nyunt takes power, China maintains - and probably increases - its intelligence and naval presence in Myanmar. But Maung Aye wants to balance China, and would likely increase ties with India.

But back to the original question - why did the United States suddenly pay attention to Myanmar? One answer is that Washington was simply acknowledging the cries of the human rights and pro-democracy lobbyists, and doing so in a relatively cost-free way.

The other answer is a bit subtler. Khin Nyunt's pro-investment policies associate him with the United States and the West. But Khin Nyunt looks bad if Washington openly criticizes the regime. And the United States would definitely want to make Myanmar's biggest China backer look bad.

In all likelihood, the United States government probably isn't that subtle. Washington was probably responding to domestic political pressure. But the unintended consequences may prove a setback to Khin Nyunt and China.

WIRE:10/17/2000 23:41:00 ET
Hanoi stresses ASEAN non-interference over Myanmar

HANOI, Oct 18 (Reuters) - Communist Vietnam, after a visit by its foreign minister to troubled Myanmar, has reiterated that as current chair of ASEAN it would stick to the group"s policy of non-interference in the internal affairs of members states.

Asked if all 10 Association of South East Asian Nations rejected a reported proposal by U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan for an ASEAN troika to mediate in Myanmar, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Phan Thuy Thanh said in a statement: "ASEAN always operates on the principles of consensus, respect for independence and sovereignty and non-interference into each others" internal affairs. "In its capacity as the (ASEAN Standing Committee) President, Vietnam manages the common affairs of ASEAN according to the above-said principles." The response, seen on Wednesday, came after Foreign Minister Nguyen Dy Nien returned from a two-day trip to Myanmar.

ASEAN members are split over whether to mediate in Myanmar, where the military government has held Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and other leaders of her opposition National League for Democracy under house arrest for weeks.

ASEAN agreed in July to form a "troika" of three members to try to help resolve political and security disputes, but its Secretary-General Rodolfo Severino told Reuters in Hanoi last week there was "no question of mediation" in this case. This was despite a report in a Bangkok newspaper last month quoting diplomats as saying U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan had suggested the troika help in Myanmar.

Vietnam said earlier this month "relevant" ASEAN members had rejected the idea. But ministers responsible for information from the 10 ASEAN states stayed silent at a news briefing last week in Hanoi when asked if they were united in this policy. Supatra Masdit, a minister in the Thai prime minister"s office, told Reuters she supported mediation and this should be discussed at Foreign Ministry level.

Concerns have been raised that the Myanmar issue could derail a long-delayed ASEAN-EU foreign ministers" meeting due in Laos during December. Laos has said the meeting would not be affected. ASEAN groups Myanmar with Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia, Singapore, the Philippines, Indonesia and Brunei.

WIRE:10/18/2000 02:19:00 ET
Myanmar slams U.N human rights report as biased

YANGON, Oct 18 (Reuters) - Myanmar"s military government said on Wednesday a U.N report on human rights in the country was highly biased, derogatory and based on information provided by insurgents and dissidents.

The U.N report drafted by U.N. special rapporteur Rajsoomer Lallah and circulated on Monday, noted "with deep concern the continuing deterioration of the human rights situation in Myanmar." Lallah, who was not allowed to visit Myanmar but collected information in other countries, said the most frequent violations involved "extortion, rape, torture, forced labour and portering," along with summary executions and forced relocation of minorities.

But Myanmar"s Office of the Strategic Studies, part of the ministry of defence, dismissed the claims. "The report of the special rapporteur, as in previous years, is highly biased and derogatory," it said in a statement. "Moreover, the allegations are completely untrue since Mr Lallah has based his report on information obtained from armed insurgent and dissident groups attempting to compromise the unity, stability and development of our country," it said.

It said the U.N report completely ignored the "unprecedented peace and tranquility" which now prevailed in Myanmar as a result of the government"s efforts to stem insurgency.

The military has ruled Myanmar for most of the last four decades. Fighting in the country has eased in recent years following a series of offensives against rebels by the Yangon government and peace accords signed with other groups.

LITTLE PROGRESS

But Yangon"s critics say human rights in Myanmar are widely disregarded and the country has made no visible progress towards democracy despite holding democratic elections in 1990.

The National League for Democracy, led by Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, won those elections but has never been allowed to govern and many of its members and elected representatives have been detained.

The Yangon statement said Myanmar regarded the appointment of a special rapporteur as unnecessary and politically biased, and noted it had dissociated itself from the decision in 1992 to appoint a special rapporteur. "Mr Lallah"s report vindicated our decision which we had taken with great reluctance," the statement said.

The U.N report said some of the worst indiscriminate violence by the military was committed against civilians belonging to minorities, particularly the Shan, Karen, Karenni and Rohingya groups.

WIRE:10/18/2000 02:56:00 ET
UNHCR wants to monitor refugee returns to Myanmar

BANGKOK, Oct 18 (Reuters) - U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Sadako Ogata said on Wednesday she had asked Myanmar"s military government to let her organisation monitor the repatriation of refugees to the country to ensure their safety. Ogata told a news conference she had requested permission for a UNHCR presence along Myanmar"s borders to monitor the treatment of refugees sent back home from Thailand and Bangladesh.

"I asked for our presence in order to observe the situation of those who had returned and also we want to have first hand information," she told reporters at the end of a two-day visit to Thailand.

There are 11 camps along the Thai border with Myanmar, housing around 140,000 refugees. Most of the refugees have fled fighting between the Myanmar government and ethnic armies in the border region.

A further 20,000 refugees are still living in camps in Bangladesh, the last of around 250,000 who fled northwest Myanmar in 1991 after alleged government atrocities. Most of these people were repatriated by 1997 with the help of the UNHCR.

Thailand says it wants co-operation from the UNHCR and Myanmar to take back the refugees in camps on its territory.

Ogata spent two days in Myanmar earlier this week and met senior Myanmar officials including the chairman of Myanmar"s ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), Than Shwe, and Lieutenant-General Khin Nyunt, the SPDC"s powerful Secretary One who also heads military intelligence.

She said the Myanmar officials had not refused the UNHCR access but told her they were concerned about the security of UN officials in areas where there was fighting between rival groups. The officials told her they were examining the issue, she said. "I am not asking to be present where there is fighting, but there are certain areas like in Mon state where there is a return (of refugees) and some kind of stability and these are the places I would like to start," she said.

The arrangement could start informally, with perhaps just a visit. "It might go from an ad-hoc to a more permanent (arrangement). They are examining the issue," she said. Ogata said the Myanmar authorities viewed refugees in Thailand as "insurgents or insurgent mix." "This worries them and they would like to make sure the camp is civilian in character," she said. Ogata said it was essential that refugee camps were civilian and did not contain weapons.

WIRE:10/18/2000 05:09:00 ET
Myanmar envoy warns Briton against illegal return

LONDON, Oct 18 (Reuters) - A British activist due to be freed early from a 17-year jail sentence in Myanmar will be thrown back in prison if he returns illegally, the Asian country warned on Wednesday.

Myanmar"s ambassador to Britain, Kyaw Win, said there were "arrangements" to deport 27-year-old James Mawdsley within days but said he did not know when he would actually leave. Mawdsley"s parents said on Tuesday their son, a determined campaigner for democracy in the country formerly called Burma, knew it would be "unwise" to return, but said they could not guarantee he would stay away.

"If he comes back illegally, yes (he will go back to prison)," Kyaw told BBC radio. Mawdsley was jailed in September 1999 for possessing anti-government leaflets in Tachilek on the Thai-Myanmar border, and had been arrested twice before. "The last time, in 1998, before he was deported, he made an undertaking that if he comes back he would serve the whole sentence... which is why his sentence became unnecessarily long," Kyaw said.

The Foreign Office in London said Mawdsley"s release was unconditional but Kyaw said the decision was made after "prominent British politicans" personally offered to persuade him not to return there illegally. "We hope he will be back by Thursday, but we just don"t know," Mawdsley"s father David said on Tuesday.

"I hope he won"t go back. I hope he will continue to lobby (for democracy there) from a distance. But James will announce his own plans." Kyaw denied reports Myanmar decided to release Mawdsley because of United Nations criticism of its poor human rights record.

Diplomats in Yangon said the move was forced by fellow southeast Asian nations angry at the regime"s negative impact on trade in the region. Kyaw denied that pro-democracy opposition leader and Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi was under de facto house arrest.

She has been confined to her home in Yangon since September 22 when she was stopped from travelling to Mandalay to meet members of her party. Her telephone line has since been cut and local diplomats say she has been barred from seeing them. "Suu Kyi has never been sentenced or been arrested. (She"s) allowed to leave the country... any time she wishes," Kyaw said. "I don"t think there would be any restrictions (on her returning)."

Suu Kyi"s opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) won elections in 1990 by a landslide but has never been allowed to govern, and Myanmar"s junta cracks down severely on any dissent.

WIRE:10/18/2000 08:17:00 ET
Myanmar releases six elderly prisoners from jail

YANGON, Oct 18 (Reuters) - Myanmar"s military government said on Wednesday it had released six elderly prisoners from jail at the request of the United Nations special envoy, who visited the country last week.

The move follows the announcement earlier this week that jailed British activist James Mawdsley would be freed.

The six elderly prisoners released this week had ages ranging from 55 to 77, and included prominent barrister Chein Poe, who was sentenced to 14 years earlier this year for distributing cuttings from foreign publications.

U.N. envoy Razali Ismail visited Myanmar for four days last week, holding talks with senior government ministers as well as opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Diplomats said the release of Mawdsley and the six elderly prisoners was an attempt by Myanmar to improve its image following Razali"s visit. They said the regime may also have responded to pressure from other Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) members who have grown increasingly exasperated by Myanmar"s impact on the region"s hopes of expanding its trade and influence.

But diplomats pointed out that the regime"s crackdown on Suu Kyi"s National League for Democracy showed no sign of abating. They said the regime may have decided to release Mawdsley to try to ease international pressure while maintaining restrictions on the NLD, which was the clear winner of elections in 1990 but has never been allowed to govern.

Suu Kyi, 55, has been under de facto house arrest in Yangon since September 22 when she was prevented from travelling by train to Mandalay to meet party members. Her telephone has been cut and diplomatic access barred. Other senior NLD leaders face similar restrictions and the party"s vice-chairman, Tin Oo, is in government detention.

Wednesday, October 18 9:38 PM SGT
Myanmar confirms release of Briton, six other political prisoners

YANGON, Oct 18 (AFP) - Myanmar's junta confirmed in a statement Wednesday it would deport jailed British human rights activist.

It also announced the release of six other political prisoners late Tuesday.

The announcements come one week after the visit to the country by a UN special envoy as the junta faces mounting international pressure.

The junta released six elderly political prisoners Tuesday from jails in Yangon, Mandalay and the south of the country after a special request was made last week by UN special envoy Razali Ismail, official sources said.

All except one of the prisoners, who are aged between 53 and 77 years old, are members of Aung San Suu Kyi's opposition National League for Democracy (NLD).

They were serving sentences of between two to fourteen years for threatening the security of the state.

The junta also confirmed it would release Mawdsley within a week on "charitable" grounds.

The junta said it hoped its "leniency" in deporting Mawdsley for the third time would "be respected and the sovereignty of the country be respected in the future."

Mawdsley, who holds both Australian and British nationality, was jailed for 17 years in September 1999 after being arrested in the town of Tachilek, on the border with Thailand, for distributing pro-democracy leaflets in Myanmar.

He had already been deported twice from Myanmar in the two previous years.

British diplomats told AFP that following "logistical" discussions with the junta he would most probably be released on Friday.

On Monday, Britain's junior foreign minister, John Battle, welcomed the news of his impending release and praised "efforts made by our Foreign Office staff, our ambassador in Rangoon, the family and the campaign groups, together with the support of our international partners."

Myanmar is in the middle of a flurry of diplomatic visits seeking to bring it back into the international community.

Last week, Razali spent four days trying to break the deadlock between the junta and the NLD, which won elections in 1990 that the military junta refused to recognise.

Earlier this week, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Sadako Ogata met senior junta leaders to discuss the issue of Myanmar refugees and displaced persons.

And a delegation from the International Labour Organization (ILO) is due to arrive in Myanmar Friday for a last-chance mission.

The ILO has given the junta until the end of November to stamp out forced labour or face sanctions.

Analysts in Yangon last week said Razali's meeting with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, along with the red carpet treatment accorded to him on his arrival in Yangon, indicated the junta had not immediately dismissed his visit.

During his meetings with junta head Than Shwe and Khin Nyunt, head of intelligence, Razali made a special appeal for these older prisoners to be released, official sources said.

The UN envoy also met with NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been held under de facto house arrest since her attempt to defy the junta's ban to travel outside of the capital on September 21.

She presented him with a list of 67 party members that she knew had been imprisoned on that day.

But the junta has so far shown no willingness to lift the restrictions on Aung San Suu Kyi and other senior NLD members.

The NLD has also been issued with an eviction order to vacate its party headquarters in Yangon by October 25 or face legal action.

Wednesday, October 18 8:51 PM SGT
Briton may be freed Friday from Myanmar jail

YANGON, Oct 18 (AFP) - British human rights activist James Mawdsley is expected to be released from a Myanmar jail on Friday after serving more than a year of his 17-year term, a diplomat said Wednesday.

"We have been in contact with the ministry of foreign affairs working out logistics for his release," a British diplomat in Yangon told AFP in Bangkok.

"We are working on him being released on Friday," the diplomat said.

Official sources told AFP that Mawdsley would be released within a week.

His mother, Diana Mawdsley, is waiting in Yangon for her son's release from Keng Tung prison, 630 kilometres (390 miles) north of Yangon.

Diplomats expect Mawdsley and his mother to take the first available flight out of the country.

Myanmar's ambassador in London, Kyaw Win, told Britain's junior foreign minister, John Battle, on Monday that Mawdsley, 27, would be freed and deported.

Mawdsley had already been deported twice from Myanmar in the two previous years.

The junta also announced Wednesday that it had released six elderly political prisoners in line with a special request made last week by visiting UN special envoy Razali Ismail, official sources said.

The six prisoners were released late Tuesday from jails in Yangon, Mandalay and the south of the country, the officials said.

All except one of the prisoners are members of Aung San Suu Kyi's opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) serving sentences of between two and 14 years.

The six, between 53 and 77 years old, had been jailed for threatening the security of the state.

The announcement of the release of Mawdsley and the other prisoners comes amid mounting international pressure on Yangon.

Last week, Razali spent four days trying to break the deadlock between the junta and the NLD, which won elections in 1990 that the military junta refused to recognise.

On Monday, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Sadako Ogata, met senior junta leaders to discuss the issue of Myanmar refugees and displaced persons.

A delegation from the International Labour Organization (ILO) is due to arrive in Myanmar Friday. The ILO has given the junta until the end of November to stamp out forced labour.

At the end of September, Mawdsley said from prison he had been beaten by his guards after he complained about being kept in solitary confinement.

His accusations sparked a diplomatic row between Myanmar and Britain.

Last week the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention declared Mawdsley was being held in prison illegally.

And in a report Monday United Nations special rapporteur Rajsoomer Lallah said the torture of political detainees and ethnic minorities was widespread and systematic in Myanmar.

The Myanmar embassy in London, in a statement issued Wednesday in Yangon, told the British foreign office the decision to release Mawdsley was based on the "personal offers" of some unnamed "prominent politicians" to persuade the human rights activist "not to return to the country illegally."

The decision was also meant as a "charitable gesture in celebration of the end of the Buddhist Lent period" and "in consideration of the traditional friendly relations" between Myanmar and Britain, the statement said.

The junta said it hoped its "leniency" in deporting Mawdsley for the third time would "be respected and the sovereignty of the country be respected in the future."

Mawdsley's 17-year sentence included five years for violating immigration law and seven years for contravening the printing and publishing act by distributing anti-government leaflets.

His prison term also included five years from a previous sentence for illegal entry of which he served only three months before being deported.

Mawdsley lost an appeal against his sentence and had planned to take his case to the supreme court where he hoped to have his conviction overturned "on the basis of a technicality," according to his lawyer quoted in a local newspaper.

Wednesday, October 18 7:11 PM SGT
2,000 MPs call on Myanmar to lift Aung San Suu Kyi's house arrest

JAKARTA, Oct 18 (AFP) - Nearly 2,000 legislators from 85 countries have signed a petition calling on the Myanmar junta to release opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest, an exiled Myanmar activist said here Wednesday.

The "International Declaration of Solidarity With the Democratically Elected Members of Burma," was unveiled here by the country's self-styled prime minister-in-exile, Sein Win, on the sidelines of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) conference here.

The MPs called for the "unequivocal release of Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest" and for the authorities in Myanmar to allow her "to move freely about the country," Sein Win said in the document.

They also called for the release of 55 elected MPs in detention in Myanmar, as well as hundreds of imprisoned members and supporters of Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy.

The declaration had been circulated for signatures since the previous IPU conference in Amman in August.

Sein Win said the document was intended to remind the world of "an underlying intent of the military regime to eliminate NLD as a legitimate force in Burma."

"That is to crush the NLD, to crush the democratic aspiration of the people of Burma," Sein Win told journalists and foreign MPs at a briefing here.

The NLD, headed by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, won a landslide victory in parliamentary elections 10 years ago but Myanmar's military junta anulled the results.

It has since refused to hand over power and has placed Aung San Suu Kyi under house arrest and incarcerated hundreds of NLD followers.

Accompanied by former Norwegian prime minister Kjell Magne Bondevik and former South Korean MP Kim Sang-woo, Win said "about 200 (Myanmar) MPs are incarcerated" by the junta.

About 55 of them were charged and given long prison terms while the rest were held in "guesthouses" under conditions similar to those of a "minimum security prison," said Win.

In a taped message shown at the briefing, Aung San Suu Kyi called on the international community to define "firm policies with regard to how they handle the situation in Burma (Myanmar)."

"They have to have clear-cut objectives which will help them to speed up the democratization process" in Myanmar, she said.

UN special rapporteur on Myanmar, Rajsoomer Lallah, in his report released Monday said torture of political detainees and ethnic minorities was widespread and systematic in Myanmar.

In particular, Lallah said murder, rape, torture and forcible relocation of ethnic tribespeople were part of the government's counter-insurgency strategy in areas bordering Thailand.

Wednesday, October 18 5:28 PM SGT
Amnesty launches global anti-torture campaign

TOKYO, Oct 18 (AFP) - Amnesty International kicked off a 14-month-long campaign Wednesday to end the use of torture around the world.

The campaign comes a few months after the human rights group completed a three-year worldwide study on torture.

The study found that torture is used in 150 countries, even though it is illegal under international law and 119 countries have ratified a treaty banning it, said Juli Morizawa, secretary general of Amnesty International Japan, at the Tokyo launch of the global campaign.

Victims died as a direct result of being tortured in at least 80 countries, and there was evidence that torture was used on children in 50 countries, she said.

"All kinds of people -- men, women, children and adults -- can be victims of torture," Morizawa said.

"Among those who are most likely to suffer torture are those who are detained under police custody and those people who are imprisoned," she said.

Amnesty International Japan kicked off the campaign by presenting six torture victims from Tibet, Myanmar, Indonesia and South Korea who spoke of their horrific experiences.

Kalsang Palmo, Tibetan nun, said she was arrested by the Chinese police in 1988 when she participated in a Tibetan pro-independence demonstration.

Swathed in the dark red robes of Tibetan buddhists, she recounted being repeatedly beaten with metal bars, assaulted with an electric cattle prod, attacked by dogs, and being hung upside down over an open fire, as well as other torture methods she experienced in a Chinese prison.

"All of my joints have been badly beaten," said Palmo, who now lives in India as a refugee. "The joints in my left leg are disfigured and I have difficulty walking."

Yenny Rosa Damayanati, an Indonesian human rights activist, said she had been arrested and tortured several times by Indonesian authorities.

In addition to being beaten and tortured herself, she said she had witnessed countless cases of torture of juvenile prisoners in her country.

"Indonesia is believed to have achieved democracy (after former dictator Suharto was ousted)," she said. "But, believe me, the climate of torture has continued."

The international organization in each region of the world will lobby government leaders to make their countries "torture-free zones," Amnesty officials said.

Under the slogan of "Take a Step to Stamp Out Torture," Amnesty officials said the global campaign was being highlighted Wednesday in Tokyo; Nairobi, Kenya; Khiam, Lebanon; London; and Buenos Aires, Argentina.

To drive home the message, campaigners would symbolically "wrap" buildings in each city with yellow and black tape marked, "TFZ" for torture-free zone.

"Torture and ill-treatment persists as an undercurrent across the Asia Pacific region -- from India and Pakistan, to the Philippines, China and Japan," Amnesty said in a statement.

"Human rights violators include democratic, as well as repressive governments, the rich and the less developed."

About three dozen Japanese Amnesty volunteers and torture victims picketed the Tokyo embassies of China, Indonesia and Myanmar with the tape and waved Amnesty International flags.

"The Chinese government must stop torturing the people of Tibet," the group in front of the Chinese embassy chanted under the eyes of police officers and embassy guards.

As a gesture of peaceful protest, the group handed over bunches of flowers and letters asking the governments of China, Indonesia and Myanmar to stop the torture of people in their countries.

Wednesday, October 18 4:51 PM SGT

Myanmar blasts UN report on human rights violations

BANGKOK, October 18 (AFP) - Myanmar's military junta Wednesday blasted a United Nations report that condemned it for widespread human rights violations and said it was an attempt to "discredit" the country.

"The report of the special rapporteur, as in previous years, is highly biased and derogatory," Myanmar's foreign ministry said in a statement.

UN special rapporteur on Myanmar, Rajsoomer Lallah, in his report which was released Monday, said torture of political detainees and ethnic minorities was widespread and systematic in Myanmar.

In particular, Lallah said murder, rape, torture and forcible relocation of ethnic tribespeople were part of the government's counter-insurgency strategy in areas bordering Thailand.

"The allegations are completely untrue since Mr Lallah has based his report on information obtained from armed insurgent and dissident groups attempting to compromise the unity, stability and development of our country," the junta said.

Lallah said he had "received a number of convergent credible reports of a series of massacres in Kunhing township (Shan state) in which over 100 Shah and hill tribespeople were killed in the months of January, February and May of 2000."

But the junta rejected his report, saying it completely ignored the "unprecedented peace and tranquility which now prevails in Myanmar as a result of the government's endeavours to put an end to the insurgency and build unity among the national brethrens," the junta said.

"The report, even when it grudgingly noted the appreciation expressed by the (UN) Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, ... attempted to put the matter in a negative light," the statement added.

Myanmar has continually expressed its displeasure over the appointment of a special rapporteur in 1992, but has allowed the UN envoys access to the country on five occasions "because of its desire to cooperate with the United Nations."

Lallah however has still not been allowed in. The junta, in the statement, said his failure to reflect the "many positive developments" in the country had led them to question his "independence and neutrality."

"Mr Lallah's report vindicated our decision (not to receive him) which we had taken with great reluctance," the junta's statement said.

But Lallah in his report noted the visit last week by the UN's special envoy, Razali Ismail, and said he hoped the government would cooperate with him.

Razali met the head of the military junta, Than Shwe, for the first time during a four-day stay in Myanmar. He also met twice with Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) in an attempt to restart dialogue between the two sides.

The NLD won a landslide victory in 1990 parliamentary elections that were annulled by the military.

The UN special rapporteur's report also drew attention to the plight of children in Myanmar, where unofficial reports put the number of child soldiers at 50,000, the highest of any country in the world.

"The special rapporteur continues to receive information on incidents of wilful killing, torture, trafficking and forced labour of children," the report said.

Wednesday, October 18 4:33 PM SGT
Refugee return to eastern Myanmar unlikely before political change: UN

BANGKOK, Oct 18 (AFP) - The more than 100,000 people in refugee camps in Thailand are unlikely to return to eastern Myanmar until significant political change occurs in Yangon, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said Wednesday.

"In order to go home, the home has to change... You have to create better conditions in the country where they come from," said UNHCR chief Sadako Ogata here.

There must be "a change of government or government policy" in Myanmar, one which "stops persecution or stops conflict," she said.

But in Myanmar, "I don't think the national political situation is progressing," she said, referring to the constant deadlock between the Yangon junta and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Over 100,000 people have fled eastern Myanmar, usually because of fighting between the Myanmar army and ethnic minority militias, and now are living in camps on the Thai side of the border.

Myanmar "is one of the main refugee problems we have in Asia," Ogata said.

Despite her concerns that few people would be able to safely return to eastern Myanmar until political change occurs, Ogata said the UNHCR wants to expand its presence in the east.

The UNHCR would like to set up ad hoc missions in areas in eastern Myanmar where there is currently no conflict, such as Mon State, so that perhaps in the future the UN can help repatriate refugees to these places, she said.

Ogata said that she hoped for a UNHCR presence in eastern Myanmar "very soon," but allowed that 2-3 years was a more probable timetable.

The Yangon junta also needs to be reassured that refugees coming back to Myanmar are not fighters, if repatriation is to happen in eastern Myanmar, Ogata said.

"To the Myanmar authorities, many of those who have crossed into Thailand are insurgents. They want to make sure that they don't come back into Myanmar with weapons."

In a meeting in Yangon Monday with Ogata, junta intelligence chief Khin Nyunt said that more than 100,000 people who have crossed the border into Thailand are rebels or relatives of rebels, and not displaced citizens.

A timeline for a complete repatriation of refugees back to eastern Myanmar was impossible to tell, she said.

While Thailand has provided shelter for the migrants, it has appealed for the UNHCR to help it convince Myanmar to take back the refugees.

"The refugee situation is a problem which must be urgently solved," Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai said earlier this year on a visit to one of the largest camps.

Ogata visited Myanmar on October 15 and 16, before a trip to Thailand on October 17 and 18. She had previously served as UN special envoy to Myanmar.

Wednesday, October 18 12:44 PM SGT
British diplomats in Myanmar still awaiting news on Mawdsley release

BANGKOK, Oct 18 (AFP) - British diplomats in Myanmar were still waiting Wednesday to hear from the ruling military junta when jailed human rights activist James Mawdsley would be set free.

"We still haven't been told anything," a British diplomat in Yangon told AFP in Bangkok.

"We think that he could be brought to Yangon today or possibly tomorrow. But we expect the junta only to give us an hour's warning," the diplomat said, adding that Mawdsley would probably take the first flight out of the country.

His mother, Diana Mawdsley, is waiting in Yangon for her son's arrival from Keng Tung prison, some 630 kilometres (390 miles) north of Yangon, where he is being held.

The junta has not made any public comment on Mawdsley's release.

Myanmar's ambassador in London, Kyaw Win, told Britain's junior foreign minister, John Battle, on Monday that Mawdsley, 27, would be freed and deported.

Mawdsley had already been deported twice from Myanmar in the two previous years.

The announcement of Mawdsley's release came amid mounting international pressure on the junta.

Last week, UN special envoy Razali Ismail spent four days trying to break the deadlock between the junta and the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) party.

On Monday, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Sadako Ogata, met senior junta leaders to discuss the issue of Myanmar refugees and displaced persons.

And a delegation from the International Labour Organization (ILO) is due to arrive in Myanmar Friday.

The ILO has given the junta until the end of November to act to stamp out forced labour or face sanctions.

Mawdsley's 17-year sentence included five years for violating the country's immigration law and seven years for contravening the printing and publishing act by distributing anti-government leaflets.

His prison term also included five years from a previous sentence when he served only 3 months for his second illegal entry before being deported.

Last week the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention declared Mawdsley was being held in prison illegally.

Mawdsley, at the end of September, said he had been beaten by his guards for several days in a row after he complained about being kept in solitary confinement, which he has had to endure since being jailed.

His accusations sparked a diplomatic row between Myanmar and Britain.

In a report Monday United Nations special rapporteur Rajsoomer Lallah said that torture of political detainees and ethnic minorities was widespread and systematic in Myanmar.

Wednesday, October 18 7:34 PM SGT
Myanmar To Release Briton For 'Friendly' UK Relations

YANGON (AP)--Myanmar said Wednesday it was releasing a jailed British human rights activist in consideration of the "traditional friendly relations" between Myanmar and Britain, an official statement said.

Yet the Myanmar regime, which also described the move as a "charitable gesture" in celebration of the end of Buddhist Lent, remained silent about exactly when it would free the activist James Mawdsley.

Mawdsley, 27, was sentenced to 17 years jail in September 1999 after he sneaked into Myanmar, also known as Burma, to protest against the junta. He was charged with immigration offenses and violating a publications law by handing out pro-democracy leaflets.

Mawdsley's mother Diana Mawdsley is currently in Yangon waiting for her son who has been serving his sentence in solitary confinement at Keng Tung prison, 390 miles northeast of the capital.

In an official statement issued Wednesday, Myanmar's military government, which regularly lambasts the British government for being critical of its human rights record, said it had decided to deport Mawdsley after requests made by the British Foreign Office to Myanmar's ambassador in London.

It also cited "the personal offers of some prominent British politicians to use their 'powers of persuasion' on James Mawdsley not to return to Myanmar illegally."

Mawdsley, from Lancashire in northwest England, had been arrested in Myanmar twice before his sentencing last year. In 1998 he served 99 days of a seven-year sentence. He was pardoned on condition he not return to the country. He also holds an Australian passport.

On Wednesday, the British embassy in Yangon said it had been in touch throughout the day with the Myanmar Foreign Ministry about Mawdsley's case but could not yet confirm when he would be released

"We don't expect it to happen today," an embassy spokeswoman said. The embassy had expected him to be freed Tuesday. She did not know the reason for the delay.

Last month, British consular officials reported that Mawdsley had been beaten by guards and had suffered a broken nose and two black eyes. The Myanmar government said he had injured himself accidentally in a scuffle with prison guards.

Last week the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention ruled that Mawdsley was being held in jail unlawfully and appealed for the Myanmar regime to remedy the situation.

UNHCR dismayed by plight of Karen refugees from Burma
Wednesday, 18 October 2000 3:48 (ET)

BANGKOK, Thailand, Oct. 18 (UPI) -- United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Sadako Ogata expressed sympathy Wednesday for more than 110,000
refugees caught between the guns of the Burmese junta and a Thai government that is doing too little to ease their suffering.

Ogata, whose 9-year stint as the UNHCR leader will end this year, was on a swing through the region that has already taken her to South Korea and Burma. On Monday she met in Rangoon with the two top Burmese junta leaders, Senior Gen. Than Shwe and First Secretary Lt. Gen. Khin Nyunt.

She said the junta leaders, who have been condemned for forcing thousands of ethnic Karens to flee into Thailand by attacking their villages, told her they were upset that refugee camps along the Thai border have become centers of resistance against Rangoon.

"(Burmese) authorities said many of those who have crossed into Thailand are insurgents or they are insurgent mixed, and this worries them," Ogata said. "And they would like to make sure the camps are civilian in character and that they do not (engage in) combat with weapons."

Ogata said she reassured the Burmese junta leaders "that everywhere in the world we try to maintain civilian character of the camps..."

She indicated that the Burmese military had resisted her efforts to set up a UNHCR presence within Burmese territory to ease the suffering of the Karen, a mainly Christian minority that has been fighting Rangoon authorities for more than half a century.

Thailand, which played reluctant host to hundreds of thousands of Indochina refugees in the 1970s and '80s, was pushing the UNHCR to set up a repatriation program to allow the Karen refugees to return home.

During a visit to a Karen refugee camp in the western Thai province of Ratchaburi, Ogata said she was "quite shocked" at the overcrowded, squalid conditions at the camp.

While praising Thailand's previous efforts at helping refugees, she said the government was not doing enough to help the Karen.

"I was quite surprised," she said. "In this case (the Thais) are not doing what can be done."

She said the UNHCR was willing to extend help to the Thai government to improve living conditions for the Karen refugees and encouraged Thai officials to make a formal request for such aid.

In a statement issued in New York on Tuesday, Human Rights Watch Asia urged Thailand to resist internal pressure to repatriate the refugees to Burma by force.

"Most refugees in Thailand are Burmese, and they're at risk of being sent back to Burma where they face persecution and human rights abuse," said Sidney Jones, Human Rights Watch's Asia director.

In another area of concern for the UNHCR, Ogata said she was "frightened" by the continuing suffering of East Timorese who were forced to leave their homes by pro-Jakarta militia gangs and are now languishing in refugee camps in Indonesian West Timor.

She said UNHCR officials, three of whom were murdered by the militiamen last month, will not return to West Timor until the murderers are apprehended by Indonesian authorities and law and order is guaranteed there.

Dawn
EU leaders to discuss trade, security in Seoul
By Shadaba Islam

BRUSSELS, Oct 17: European Union leaders head for Seoul in South Korea this week seeking to engage East Asian nations in a first-ever security dialogue and hoping to secure the region's backing for a new global trade round.

Also on the EU agenda for the third Asia Europe Meeting (ASEM) on October 20-21, are joint efforts to combat transnational crime, illegal immigration and the trafficking of women and children.

The summit is not expected to take any decisions on expanding ASEM's membership although the EU has said that it would like more Asian nations, including India and Pakistan - once under democratic rule - to join the process.

While East Asians are eager to expand their cooperation links with Europe to balance the United States presence in the region, less welcome to some in Asia will be the EU's expressions of concern at the violence in West Timor and Burma's deteriorating human rights record following a tightening of restrictions on opposition leader and Nobel peace prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi.

Diplomats say Rangoon's get-tougher policy against pro-democracy activists may force EU foreign ministers to call off a long-awaited meeting with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in December in Laos.

In other initiatives to fight so-called ASEM "fatigue" and make the four-year old dialogue more relevant to popular concerns in both regions, the EU wants the summit to launch a "Trans-Eurasia Information Network, discuss cooperation in managing Europe-Asia migratory flows and encourage the exchange of students between the two regions through an ASEM fellowship programme".

Joint efforts to fight money laundering and foster cooperation between law enforcement bodies in East Asia and the Union are expected. The EU is hoping to secure ASEM support for the launch of a new global trade round, despite resistance to further trade liberalisation moves in some southeast Asian nations.

EU leaders go to Seoul worried about the disappointing performance of the euro and preoccupied with institutional reform and eastward enlargement.

But EU diplomats argue that these challenges could make the meeting more interesting than past summits. "Instead of being dominated by economic euphoria or crisis-driven pessimism, the encounter will highlight the two regions' common problems," says an EU official.

Europe and Asia, equally vulnerable to high oil prices, for instance, could send a powerful joint 'message' to oil producing nations on the need to ensure a steady supply of oil at reasonable costs.

Both regions are also worried about America's lead in information technology and the need to step up their own participation in the New Economy, say EU officials.

Summit participants will sign a so-called 'Asia-Europe Cooperation Framework' promising stronger political and economic links between the two regions.

The document also calls for strengthened Asia-Europe security cooperation.

BBC - Wednesday, 18 October, 2000, 11:09 GMT
Burma activist 'freed on Friday'

A human rights activist jailed in Burma is to be released on Friday, the Foreign Office has said. James Mawdsley, 27, was sentenced to 17 years in jail last year for distributing pro-democracy leaflets in Burma.

He will be met from Keng Tung prison where he is being held, by the British vice consul Karen Williams.

They will then fly to Rangoon, from where it is expected they will return to Britain.

A Foreign Office spokeswoman said: "James will probably leave some time on Friday, which would mean he would get back to the UK on Saturday morning."

Mr Mawdsley's mother Diana is waiting in Yangon for her son's arrival from the prison, some 630 kms (390 miles) north of Yangon.

She is expected to accompany him back to the UK.

Burma's ambassador in London, Kyaw Win, told Britain's junior foreign minister, John Battle, on Monday that Mr Mawdsley would be freed and deported.

Mr Mawdsley, who holds both Australian and British nationality, was jailed in September 1999

'Beaten in jail'

He has already been deported twice from Burma in the two previous years.

His sentence included five years for violating the country's immigration law.

At the end of September, Mr Mawdsley said he had been beaten by his guards for several days in a row after he complained about being kept in solitary confinement.

He has been the subject of considerable diplomatic activity by both the British government and the UN.

The announcement of Mr Mawdsley's release came amid mounting international pressure on the junta.

Thousands of refugees

Last week the UN ruled that Mr Mawdsley was being held unlawfully in jail.

The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention said he was being held arbitrarily and asked the Burmese military rulers to remedy the situation.

His jail sentence brought worldwide attention on the Burmese military junta which has ruled the country for the last 10 years despite being heavily defeated in democratic elections by Burma's National League for Democracy (NLD).

The crisis has created thousands of Burmese refugees and displaced persons.

On Monday, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Sadako Ogata, met senior junta leaders to discuss the issue.

Burma is already subject to heavy international sanctions and the International Labour Organisation (ILO) this week gave the junta until the end of November to end forced labour or face sanctions.

Vietnamese FM Ends Visit to Myanmar

YANGON (Oct. 18) XINHUA - Vietnamese Foreign Minister Nguyen Dy Nien left here Tuesday evening after concluding his two- day official visit to Myanmar.
During his visit to Myanmar, Nien met with Chairman of the Myanmar State Peace and Development Council Senior-General Than Shwe.

Nien also met with his Myanmar counterpart U Win Aung and they had discussions on bilateral cooperation and international issues.

Nien last visited Myanmar in May this year, accompanying Vietnamese Prime Minister Phan Van Khai, during which three agreements were signed between the two governments on avoidance of double taxation and prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income, cultural cooperation and promotion and reciprocal protection of investments.

Nien arrived here on Monday for the visit at the invitation of U Win Aung.

Bangkok Post - Oct 18, 2000.
REFUGEES - Karen camp disappoints Ogata
Shelter conditions 'shocking', she says
Saritdet Marukatat

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Sadako Ogata, was shocked by living conditions at this camp for Karen refugees, describing them as "very bad" and "crowded".

Speaking to the press after a two-hour tour of the living quarters, school, and hospital, she said: "I have not seen such a crowded [situation], shelterwise very bad."Located 10km from the Burmese border in Suen Pueng district of Ratchaburi province, Tham Hin houses 8,212 Karen Christians, most of whom are women and children.

"I have also seen many other Thai camps. Not like this one, I'm sorry to say that. I was quite shocked. May be that's why you use it as a temporary area," she added.

Mrs Ogata cited the need to improve shelter facilities, to provide more space, and expressed concern about sanitation.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees was ready to help the Thai government bring improvements to these areas if it put forward such a request, she added.

The Thai government has experience and expertise in setting up refugee camps, she pointed out.

"But this one, I was quite surprised. In this case, they are not doing what they can do," she said.

Mrs Ogata visited refugee camps on the Thai-Cambodian border about seven years ago before the last Cambodian war refugees headed home in time for the first post-war general election in May 1993.

A senior Thai official who asked not to be named, however, called for a proper perspective on the situation.

"The conditions in our own Isan area are worse than this," he said.

Set up in May 1997, Tham Hin is spread over 40 rai of land, but the living quarters are closely packed.

During talks with Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai in Bangkok yesterday, Mrs Ogata expressed a wish for UNHCR officials to be allowed to stay in Tham Hin so that they could see to humanitarian questions and criteria for admitting people.

According to Mrs Ogata, the prime minister promised to consider this.

Pollawat Chayanuwatr, the deputy governor of Ratchaburi, briefed Mrs Ogata before she began the two-hour tour of Tham Hin.

While he called it a temporary shelter, she maintained that it was a camp.

Bkk Post - Oct 18, 2000.
Help urged for Burmese exiles
Premier wants to see bigger UNHCR role
Bhanravee Tansubhapol

Thailand yesterday called on the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to play a bigger role in solving the problem of Burmese exiles.

Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai made the call during a meeting with Sadako Ogata, who flew into Bangkok yesterday after talks with Burmese leaders in Rangoon.

According to Deputy Foreign Minister Sukhumbhand Paribatra, Mrs Ogata said the Burmese leaders had agreed to consider the UNHCR's proposal to operate in Burma.

Speaking to reporters, M.R. Sukhumbhand stressed the importance of such an operational presence for the safe repatriation and dignity of Burmese refugees now in Thailand.

The presence of a credible international organisation in Burma was a "first step" to build confidence among those deciding to return or to stay, he said. "If there is no confidence in this regard, there probably won't be any volunteers for the repatriation," he added.

Mrs Ogata visited the Tham Hin refugee camp in Mae Sot after two separate rounds of talks with the prime minister and M.R. Sukhumbhand.

Mr Chuan noted that the UNHCR had helped find third country resettlement for former Burmese students, a government spokesman said.

But he stressed that Thailand was still having to extend humanitarian assistance to people fleeing conflict in Burma, and that the international community should help shoulder the burden. Due to leave office at the end of the year after a 10-year term, Mrs Ogata thanked the Thai government for looking after refugees from Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam during her tenure.

She stressed that the UNHCR wanted to enhance its role with regard to Burmese refugees and to have constant access to Burma, M.R. Sukhumband said. The prime minister affirmed Thailand's readiness to help the UNHCR in all matters. Citing the long-term partnership over Indochinese refugees, M.R. Sukhumbhand urged consultations over any sticky points.

Thailand's absence from the Convention on Refugees came up during talks between M.R. Sukhumbhand and Mrs Ogata, with the latter asking when Thailand would accede.

M.R. Sukhumbhand said it might now be timely to sound out the opinions of government agencies on the matter because of several developments over the past three years.

He also emphasised that it made no difference in practice whether or not Thailand was a party to the convention.

He told reporters that a main Thai concern was the requirement for refugees to be given the same treatment as nationals. "Thai people have a lot of rights. We don't want refugees to protest in front of Government House," he said.