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-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- BURMA RELATED NEWS - NOV - 19, 2000. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HEADLINE
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SMH - A martyr or a madman?
Bkk Post - Editorial - Burma's insincere
attitude on drugs
AFP - Aung San Suu Kyi to be allowed out
of house arrest for court hearing
AFP - Myanmar junta harks back to past
glories with giant Buddha image
AFP - Sex workers wrap up first Asian
conference
AFP - Political troubles threaten to
overshadow economic agenda at summit
Bkk Post - No decision yet on Asean-Euro
meeting
Bkk Post - Alien held with ID of dead
man
The Nation - Junta hits out at ILO
sanctions
The Nation - EDITORIAL: Rangoon
intransigence threatens Asean's future
The Nation - Evading the Burma issue like
the plague
The Nation - Letters - A plea to
investigate the brutal murder
Asia Week - Viewpoint: Battle for the
Media
Sydney Morning Herald
A martyr or a madman? Date: 19/11/2000 By OLIVER BURKEMAN in London James Mawdsley is sitting in his father's flat in west London, hollow-eyed
with exhaustion, dazed by the publicity that has greeted his return to
Britain.
This is hardly surprising for a man who a month ago was entering his 415th
day of solitary confinement in a Burmese prison, one year into a 17-year
sentence for distributing leaflets critical of the country's brutal military
regime.
But there is also a strange kind of homesickness for the place he has left
and a heavy dose of disgust for the one in which he finds himself. "What's
regarded as important out there is things like life and death; here, it's
designer clothes, luxury ice cream and male cosmetics," he says.
Mawdsley landed at Heathrow to a reception that combined admiration, awe,
sympathy - and frustration at the apparent naivety he demonstrated in support of
Burmese democracy and its heroic figurehead, Aung San Suu Kyi.
Three times the 27-year-old visited Burma with the explicit intention of
being jailed; three times he was arrested within an hour of starting to hand out
leaflets or play pro-democracy songs.
The first time, in 1997, he was deported; the second, in 1998, he was
tortured and served 99 days of a five-year sentence in Rangoon's notorious
Insein prison. Feverish and underfed, in a cell measuring 3m by 2.7m, he was
left on the edge of madness by the devastating experience.
When he returned a third time, in 1999 - in the certain knowledge that a
far longer prison sentence would follow - his motivations had long surpassed
public comprehension.
He endured savage beatings in Keng Tung, the jail in north-east Burma where
he spent the past year. Fifteen-strong gangs of men wielding wooden clubs
attacked him repeatedly in his cell, leaving him bruised and bleeding
internally.
The rest of the time he was lucky to be out of solitary for an hour each
day; often, he got only 10 minutes. A fluorescent light in his cell was never
turned off.
His parents could visit only infrequently; he spent his days doing
press-ups and reading what few books the prison authorities did not confiscate -
among them Nelson Mandela's autobiography and a book by the 15th-century monk
Thomas a Kempis, reflecting his strong Catholic faith.
Mawdsley says he doesn't have the personality of a martyr but it's
difficult to know how else to interpret his responses to his treatment in Keng
Tung.
He refused the authorities' offer to punish his attackers; they were
actually prisoners he counted among his friends, coerced into carrying out the
wishes of the guards. And anyway, "beating someone up is not nice, but it's very
simple-minded - it's not particularly sinister ... after the fear I experienced
in Insein I will never, ever, question what a man bows to do," he said.
It is only when conversation moves to the imprisonment of his Burmese
friends that tears well up. "I had a kind of hope, that I was going to get out
of prison and go back to England," he says, his voice cracking. "Burmese people
don't have that hope. When they get out of prison, they're still in a
prison."
Mawdsley was born in Germany but grew up in Ormskirk, Lancashire - with a
twin brother, Jeremy, now a lieutenant in the Royal Artillery. He got stellar
A-level grades and started a degree in physics and philosophy at Bristol
University.
He was a typical student, he says.
"I wasn't any kind of campaigner. I believed completely in the system - I
thought I'd work hard, get a good degree, get a good job, be a nice boy, and it
would all check out."
Suddenly, aged 20, he dropped out. He still doesn't know exactly what it
was that happened to him. Reading Aung San Suu Kyi's biography Freedom From Fear
seems to have played a part: the weight of appalling information simply became
too great to ignore.
"If two women in Burma were having hot wax poured on every inch of their
bodies," he remembers thinking, "why aren't we doing something about it?"
It was an epiphany that left him facing a simple, logical imperative: he
had to know if what the human rights reports were saying was true - that Burma's
ruling junta was killing tens of thousands in a program of massacres, torture
and slave labour - and to do that he had to go there.
He travelled to New Zealand, where he met a group of Burmese refugees; he
made his first border crossing from Thailand into Burma shortly thereafter. When
he returned, life in Britain seemed petty and meaningless and he was soon back.
The first time he was arrested, he was handcuffed, kicked and punched and
his shins beaten with a bamboo stick before he was sent home.
Throughout, Mawdsley's parents, David and Diana - a property manager and a nurse, both with military backgrounds - have played a role that astonished many. They are divorced, but campaigned energetically in unison, not just for their son's welfare and release but for his cause as well, even to the extent of backing his decision to return to certain arrest. "My mum went out to the border and was nursing there. She saw the victims
of the suppression. She came back and said: 'James, I understand why you went.'
That was a magic line."
When he returned for the last time, Mawdsley's father tried to persuade him
out of it - but when he failed, he drove him to Heathrow instead. "I've never
been a particularly politically aware person," David Mawdsley said later. "James
has made me aware."
But there will not be another return. Mawdsley plans to write a book, to
work for Burma through institutional channels and maybe return to the Thai
border to meet friends released from jail. But the mission that has occupied the
past seven years is complete.
"It's never naive to stand for the truth," he says. "People say it's
stupid, I could have died ... but I didn't. It was a risk, but it was a
calculated risk. It paid off. It worked well."
He knew he had won when he stood up to the beatings and the authorities
relented. "I thought: I've done it. I've succeeded. They cracked before I
did.
"There's a lot of satisfaction in that," he adds quietly.
Bangkok Post - Nov 19,
2000.
Editorial - Burma's insincere attitude on drugs For the second time in six months, the United Nations is sponsoring a
conference against drugs in the centre of the main drug trafficking in Southeast
Asia. The United States and several other countries are boycotting this largely
futile meeting of regional policemen. Burmese organisers claim this shows that
certain countries-translation: the United States-refuse to co-operate with Burma
in its efforts to fight the drug trade. If it were not so serious, it would be
funny.
Even the reason for the second meeting of law-enforcement chiefs is
unclear. The meeting of Asean police chiefs in Rangoon last May produced no
discernible positive results. On the contrary, the it seemed distasteful to
force the top law-enforcement officers to meet in the home town of Khun Sa, Lo
Hsing-han and other infamous, free drug dealers. Officials argued that the
chiefs could make personal contacts that would serve all countries later
on.
Perhaps this is true. But even last May, it seemed somewhat unsavoury. In
many minds, correctly, Burma and drug trafficking are linked. The country
produces more opium and heroin than any other in the region. Its illicit drug
factories are churning out hundreds of millions of methamphetamines and similar
stimulants. Burma's leading drug traffickers all have direct links to the
leaders of the ruling military junta.
Thailand, India and Laos all have declared drug trafficking from Burma to
be a major threat to their national security. Chinese leaders, who ironically
are close to the Burmese dictators, have stated that drugs threaten both the
health and the national security of southern Chinese, particularly in Yunnan.
The World Health Organisation recently pointed out that use of drugs from Burma
has caused and spread the major part of the ruinous and tragic Aids epidemics in
South and Southeast Asia.
Against all of this, Interpol and the UN Drug Control Programme took their
24th conference of Asia-Pacific law enforcement chiefs to Rangoon. Perhaps they
like the availability of hotels, caused by a world-wide tourist boycott. Perhaps
they think it was Burma's turn. Many would call their choice a bad idea, and in
bad taste.
Burmese officials, not known for their humility, went immediately on the
offensive. Col Tin Hlaing, the junta officer who doubles as interior minister,
blasted "some responsible countries" for boycotting the meeting. He made it
clear he meant, especially, the United States. The Americans, he went on, were
insincere in anti-drug co-operation. In their long fight against drug
trafficking the Americans have been accused of many things-too much violence,
pressuring allies too hard, giving too much aid, and focussing on supply rather
than demand. Failing to fight drug trafficking is a new charge against the US.
It is also ridiculous on the face of it.
The Americans boycotted the Rangoon conference, again, to protest the
Burmese failure to take action against their own drug traffickers. It is
unproductive in the extreme to argue that the Americans will not assist the
anti-drug effort when Rangoon allows its home-grown traffickers to walk free in
Rangoon, invest in government-backed projects, and run private, drug-dealing
fiefdoms, like the United Wa State Army in the northern areas.
The United Nations should think more seriously about putting its
conferences in such cities as Rangoon. The fight over the site made it
impossible for any progress at the meetings. But the main problem is Burma
itself. The attack on the US is a laughable effort to divert attention from the
drug traffickers who live and prosper in that country. The continuing, growing
addiction of Thai youths is the daily proof that Burma will not co-operate on
fighting drug trafficking.
Sunday, November 19 2:41 PM SGT
Aung San Suu Kyi to be allowed out of house arrest for court hearing YANGON, Nov 19 (AFP) -
Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi will be allowed to emerge briefly from house
arrest Tuesday if she chooses to attend a court hearing over her brother's claim
on her Yangon home, a junta spokesman said.
If Aung San Suu Kyi chooses to answer the summons in person, it will be her
first public appearance since September 22 when the junta laid down the
restrictions after she attempted to travel outside the capital Yangon.
The Nobel laureate was subpoenaed to appear in Yangon Divisional Court
after her brother Aung San Oo filed for half-ownership of the house which
belonged to their late mother Khin Kyi.
Colonel Than Tun, the military liaison between the National League for
Democracy (NLD) and the military regime, said Aung San Suu Kyi and other
detained party leaders were allowed leave for medical check-ups, religious
ceremonies and other important functions.
NLD deputy leader Tin Oo had recently attended the funeral of one of his
relatives, he said.
"We are not preventing them from going out if there is a legitimate
reason," Than Tun told AFP.
"Since there is this provision, we have no reason to bar Aung San Suu Kyi
from attending or responding to the court summons if she wishes to go."
Aung San Oo's legal move comes a month before the statute of limitations
expires on the 12th anniversary of his mother's death.
The US-based businessman has never played a political role in Myanmar but
makes regular low-key personal trips here and has escorted groups of potential
US investors to the country.
He is much less critical of the regime than his sister and the two are
known not to be close, although family friends said they were on speaking terms
during his visits to Yangon this year.
It is believed that before her death Khin Kyi expressed the wish that the
house be equally shared by the two children.
She also stipulated that if the property were sold the proceeds should be
donated to charity.
The timing of the lawsuit is extremely unfortunate for Aung San Suu Kyi,
coming just weeks after the owner of the NLD's Yangon headquarters gave notice
to her high-profile tenants.
The order was temporarily withdrawn in late October because party officials
were unable to pass the eviction letter on to Aung San Suu Kyi or chairman Aung
Shwe due to the house arrest restrictions.
Sunday, November 19 1:42 PM SGT
Myanmar junta harks back to past glories with giant Buddha image YANGON, Nov 19 (AFP) - On a
hilltop on the outskirts of Yangon, the capital of military-run Myanmar, a giant
marble Buddha is taking shape under the watchful gaze of the ruling
generals.
From an enormous monolith unearthed in far-off Mandalay and borne south
this year by rail and river, the sculptors' chisels have created a 12 metre
high, 500 tonne statue billed as the largest of its kind in the world.
Hundreds of thousands of villagers pitched in to haul the partly-completed
image from the ancient capital, in an epic 700-kilometre (434-mile) journey that
devotees believe accrues religious "merit" for all those taking part.
But the military regime has even more to gain by its highly publicised
backing of the project, which observers say is part of a plan to cement its grip
on power by harnessing powerful religious and historic imagery.
Four other Buddha images, also hewn from monoliths found in Mandalay's
fabled marble and ruby ranges, have been erected over the past 300 years by the
kings who once ruled the country formerly known as Burma.
The statue sitting on Mindhamma Hill, swathed in scaffolding and
whitish-blue marble dust as the finishing touches are applied, towers above
them.
"These sacred Buddha images have all been sculpted under the reign of the
most pious of the ancient kings," explains professor Khin Maung Nyunt, a
prominent historian in the country formerly known as Burma.
"This one we believe is the biggest stone image in the world," he says,
adding that the junta's leader, General Than Shwe, is expected to officiate in
front of the crowds at the consecration ceremony later this year.
"It will represent great merit for him," he says.
Buddhist scholar Alan Lopez says it will also represent a clear message
that after a decade spent systematically dismantling the power base of democracy
leader Aung San Suu Kyi, the junta remains firmly in charge.
"Buddhism has always been very closely identified with state power in Asia,
especially in Myanmar and Thailand," he says. "It's been a way in which national
unity has been fostered by various monarchies and dynasties."
National unity is a burning issue in Myanmar, where dozens of disparate
ethnic groups are counted among the population of some 50 million.
The military cited the need to maintain unity and security as a major
reason for its refusal to hand over power to Aung San Suu Kyi after her aborted
1990 election victory.
They say they are the only instutition capable of keeping the country
intact and make much of the ceasefires -- however fragile -- forged with ethnic
armies that ended decades of bitter fighting.
"The Burmese junta, in a country that is only partially ethnic Burmese,
where in fact they are in a slight minority when you combine all the other
ethnic groups, has to find some kind of national symbol around which to organise
and legitimise its power," says Lopez.
The monolith's slow journey south reeked of symbolism -- ceremonies held at
points along the way featured soldiers and "peasants" dressed up in colourful
19th costume, and the barge that carried it down the Irrawaddy River was also
decorated in traditional style.
"The imagery is pretty heavy handed and it's obviously an effort to link
their own regime with the glorious kings whose history goes back several
centuries in Burma," says Lopez, from the Bangkok-based World Buddhist
Fellowship.
"Buddhism has been used as a tool to legitimise the kingship and to
legitimise power, and that doesn't end when the kingship ends, it can extend
over to military dictatorships as well."
The junta's efforts to harness religious tradition has not been lost on
Myanmar's diplomatic community, which has also been invited to take part in the
ceremonies to mark steps the Buddha image's progress.
"They are making themselves out to be the new Pagan kings," one western
diplomat said, referring to the most revered of the ancient leaders.
The official press has also made the link between the ruling State Peace
and Development Council and the kings whose reign ended in the late 19th century
with the advent of the British colonialists.
"It has been over 100 years and in the time of the State Peace and
Development Council that a chance of carving (the new image) has manifested
itself," it said after military intelligence chief Khin Nyunt visited the
site.
"Today the nation is enjoying peace and tranquillity and development. All
the citizens of the nation are living a stable and happy life and are able to do
the work benefiting race and religion.
"These favourable conditions can be put down to the cooperation of the
government and the people."
Sunday, November 19 6:54 PM SGT
Sex workers wrap up first Asian conference BANGKOK, Nov 19 (AFP) - Sex
workers from across Asia set out strategies to improve their lives and legalise
their trade during their first ever regional conference which wrapped up here
Sunday.
Sex work should be recognised as a profession like any other, said the
delegates from 11 regional nations who were joined by representatives from
Australia and the United States.
Chanthavipa Aphisuk of Bangkok-based rights group Empower said the main
problem facing prostitutes was that they were stigmatised and isolated by a
society which saw them as "dirty and shameful".
"During the conference we decided to work together to change people's
attitudes and make them realise that sex work is an economic and social issue,
not a criminal or moral issue," she said.
"We are not animals, we are human beings and we are workers."
The illegal status of the world's oldest profession meant that prostitutes
are too often "controlled by their employer rather than them having
opportunities in society," she said.
And in the poorest Asian nations, such as Laos and Myanmar, sex workers did
not even have access to condoms or basic medical care.
During the conference, delegates said that while their job was difficult
and dangerous, they deserved to be treated like any other worker, and to share
in the substantial economic benefits they bring to Asian economies.
"We do it because we want money, we want opportunities and we want to be
able to take care of our families," said "Ang," from Bangkok's red light
district.
"None of us dreamed of becoming a sex worker. To know someone for two
minutes and then have to go off with them, for me it's not easy.
"But I'm proud to be a sex worker because I can feed my two sons and look
after my family," she told reporters.
"Tini" from Malaysia said she turned to prostitution during the 1997
financial crisis, which sent unemployment soaring across the region.
"It's not easy to be a sex worker, sometimes you get beaten up and the
pimps take your money," she said. "But hopefully with the sharing here we can
come up with some solutions."
Delegates from Islamic countries said their situation was particularly
difficult.
"For us, legalisation will never become a reality, instead we are just
fighting for our basic rights, and asking the authorities to stop harassing us,"
said Tini.
May, from Hong Kong, said even though prostitution was not illegal in the
territory sex workers were increasingly coming under attack by the
authorities.
"It's become very difficult since the handover (to Chinese rule). They
harass you and move you on, even though they cannot arrest you," she said.
Thai police initially objected to the conference taking place, but later
changed their minds, while warning they would keep a close eye on the
meetings.
Chanthavipa said undercover police had trailed the delegates, taking photos
and video footage and occasionally stopping them for questioning.
The Nation newspaper slammed the official response in an editorial, noting
it was "in sharp contrast to the benign tolerance of the sex industry in their
everyday mode of operation."
"Debate on how society should deal with prostitution should be encouraged,"
it said.
"Level-headed discussion -- not an official policy influenced by prudery
and hypocrisy -- should be the order of the day."
Sunday, November 19 10:05 AM SGT
Political troubles threaten to overshadow economic agenda at summit SINGAPORE, Nov 19 (AFP) -
Economic integration and cementing of ties with China, Japan and South Korea
will top the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit agenda here
this week, officials said.
But political problems in three key ASEAN members -- Indonesia, the
Philippines and Thailand -- and resurgent international pressure on Myanmar
threaten to overshadow the economic agenda for the November 24-25 meet.
Singapore Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong is raring to hammer home the
integration message when he meets with the leaders of Brunei, Cambodia,
Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.
The ASEAN leaders will also square off with Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji,
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori and South Korean President Kim Dae-Jung
under the ASEAN plus three dialogue process.
Trade-dependent Singapore is keen to keep the momentum going amid a
mushrooming of bilateral free-trade agreements pending a new round of global
trade talks.
But welding together 10 ASEAN countries with diverse cultures and political
systems and decades apart in economic development would be a formidable
task.
"Singapore's primary focus will be on ASEAN integration as a medium and
long-term objective," Goh said.
"We will discuss the present difficulties we all are faced with. But we
should not just be wringing our hands and lamenting that we have big problems,"
he said.
Key to economic integration will be a landmark e-ASEAN agreement to be
signed during the informal summit -- so called because the meetings will be held
in an atmosphere of informality, allowing for candid discussions.
The accord sets a common policy framework for the Internet as well as
measures to strengthen infrastructure and human resources to sustain recovery
from the 1997 financial crisis.
"It will encourage the use and development of information technology,"
ASEAN secratary general Rodolfo Severino said. "It envisions freer trade within
ASEAN in information technology-related goods and services."
Hopes of signing a code of conduct to prevent further tensions in the South
China Sea during the summit were dashed because of lingering differences between
China and ASEAN.
ASEAN leaders are expected to tackle political troubles in their own
backyard which have weighed down their economies.
Hong Kong-based Political and Economic Risk Consultancy Ltd. (PERC) said
earlier this month the risk of social unrest in Southeast Asia was greater than
it seemed because of the "cross-border dimension" of individual countries'
problems, especially Indonesia.
ASEAN's largest country remains engulfed in political uncertainty amid
President Abdurrahman Wahid's fragile grip on power and rising calls for
independence in Aceh.
Philippine President Joseph Estrada is battling for political survival and
Thai Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai is facing a strong challenge in upcoming
elections.
Myanmar, whose admission into ASEAN in 1997 strained ties with the West,
remains a blot in the group's image abroad.
On Thursday, the International Labour Organisation adopted sanctions on
Myanmar over the country's use of forced labour, rejecting an 11th-hour attempt
by Malaysia to put off action.
Cracks within the group emerged when Thailand vetoed a unified ASEAN
backing of Myanmar, whose ruling junta has been accused of human rights
abuses.
An EU-ASEAN ministerial meeting in Laos from December 11-12 -- which would
have marked a thaw in relations -- may be deferred after several key European
countries said they were sending junior officials.
Members of the European Parliament on Thursday called for the meeting to be
postponed indefinitely until Myanmar releases political prisoners and eases up
on opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been placed under house
arrest.
Cementing ties with East Asia will banner ASEAN's dialogue with the
Chinese, Japanese and South Korean leaders.
Details of a currency swap arrangement reached earlier this year in the
northern Thai city of Chiang Mai are likely to be further fleshed out.
The arrangement allows countries to collectively use their foreign exchange
reserves to fight speculative attacks and prevent a contagion similar to
1997.
Bangkok Post - Nov 19,
2000.
No decision yet on Asean-Euro meeting No decision has been made yet on whether to postpone the first Asean
meeting with the European Union since Burma's entry in 1997, a senior Thai
official said.
"I have spoken with both Laos and Vietnam and there has been no decision as
to whether the meeting should be postponed," said Pradab Pibulsonggram, Asean
department director-general. A European source also said there was no plan to
put it off.
Mr Pradab said the matter could be taken up in Singapore next week, at an
informal meeting of Asean foreign ministers. Some reports say Laos, the
meeting's host, and Vietnam, Asean's standing chairman, are trying to postpone
the meeting set for December 11-12 to ensure attendance by full EU ministers
gathering in Nice two days earlier.
Eight EU members have said they would send full ministers or deputy
ministers to the meeting in Vientiane. This would be more than the six ministers
and deputies who came to the last Asean-EU ministerial meeting in Singapore in
early 1997, he said.
Bangkok Post - Nov 19,
2000.
Alien held with ID of dead man Ratchaburi The provincial governor has ordered an investigation into the issuing of a
dead Thai villager's identification card to a Burmese national.
Police said Mr Uan, the Burmese man, confessed to holding an ID card issued
in the name of Kan Sritha when picked up by police at a hotel in Ban Pong
district on July 16.
Wirat Wanawatanawong, Ban Pong district chief, said the real Kan Sritha
died in a car accident in late 1991, but his death was not reported to the
authorities.
Therefore, his name had not been deleted from the household registration
paper.
On March 20, 1995, Kan's mother, Mrs Saijai, and Ngern Taesirithavorn, the
chief of village group 16, accompanied Mr Uan to the district office and asked
for a new ID for Kan, saying he lost the old one.
A new ID card for Kan was subsequently issued with Mr Uan's picture.
Komes Daengthongdee, the governor, ordered a probe and legal action against
those involved.
The Nation - Nov 19,
2000.
Junta hits out at ILO sanctions BY VORAPUN SRIVORANART A NEW chapter on Burma began on Thursday after the International Labour
Organisation's governing body voted overwhelmingly to slap sanctions on the
country for its persistent use of forced labour.
The punitive action, due to take effect on November 30, in a sense banishes
the Rangoon junta from the international community. It also enforces a
complicating ramification for many countries and United Nations agencies with a
stake in the country.
The governing body's resolution, in which 52 out of 56 members voted in
support of the sanctions, put a cap on months of intense lobbying, including
last-minute efforts by Rangoon to give a pretence of "complying".
For opposition forces and trade unionists, it was billed as a victory for
democracy and human rights and hopes are high that fresh sanctions would deal a
serious blow to the economic base of the military government and hence
precipitate its downfall. "This broadens the effort to get the government of
Burma to meet its obligations under the ILO Convention against Forced Labour,
which it has ratified," ILO spokesman John Doohan said.
As anticipated, Rangoon reacted furiously, accusing the international
community of turning "a blind eye" to positive developments and sincere
cooperation undertaken by the regime after the June resolution of the
International Labour Conference. It said such a measure would be
counterproductive.
Like many important punitive actions before, the devil is in the
implementation. The ILO's decision per se is non-binding and subject to the
judgement of individual UN bodies, states and companies as to what action they
deem appropriate to prevent them from abetting compulsory labour in Burma.
As a result, there is much doubt over how far countries with major
commercial interests and an inclination to sympathise with the regime, such as
China, India, Japan and Asean states - with the exception of Thailand, are
willing to go.
The activities of various UN agencies with projects inside Burma are now
also subject to worldwide scrutiny. According to one Burma watcher, who
requested anonymity, these bodies must now seriously review whether cooperation
with Rangoon contributes to the use of forced labour.
But multinational energy companies operating in Burma, such as Total-Fina
and Unocal, are the ones most likely to be hit by the resolution.
In the past their activities have drawn bitter protests and lawsuits from
human rights activists. Now, the ILO vote means they are likely to face even
more pressure to abandon business in Burma.
All in all, the rules of the game have been amended and it will be
interesting to see how these players react to avoid international criticism that
they are abetting human rights violations. For Burma, shutting its door in
retaliation, would do more harm than good since it would reinforce its pariah
status.
The Nation - Nov 19,
2000.
EDITORIAL: Rangoon intransigence threatens Asean's future After months of speculation, Burma has finally shown its true colours. The
Rangoon military junta simply boycotted the International Labour Organisation on
the forced-labour issue. The fact remains that forced labour is being practised
in Burma and the junta just cannot deal with it. Malaysia, which is in the ILO
government body, tried to convince the rest of Asean to go against the ILO
planned sanctions. It called on Asean's support to come out with a statement to
show solidarity with Burma and allow the country more time to cope with forced
labour. But Thailand refused to support the call. Certainly, Malaysia has an
extra axe to grind. It was Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad who single-handedly
pushed Burma inside Asean in 1997. At the time, Burma was an issue of the
East-West divide. Bringing Burma inside the grouping at least proved that Asean
could make its own decisions instead of delaying membership.
Now, Asean is facing a new dilemma, whether the scheduled Asean-EU
ministerial meeting will be carried out. It is highly unlikely that the
long-awaited meeting will be convened. Even if both sides agree to proceed with
the meeting in Vientiane in early December, it will be attended by junior
officials from the EU, which will downgrade its significance. Laos badly needs
to host this meeting as the new Asean-EU coordinator and to show that its
government has the political and security situation in control following the
bomb blast at Wat Tay Airport.
Asean leaders are meeting in Singapore later this week to discuss the
future of Asean. They will exchange views on ways and means to improve Asean's
relevancy and effectiveness in the international community. That will be hard to
come by because of Burma's growing intransigence. Caretaker Prime Minister Chuan
Leekpai, who has yet to visit Burma officially, is not scheduled to meet his
Burmese counterpart bilaterally in Singapore. Chuan should not. He has been
adamant that there must be improvement inside Burma before he takes up Rangoon's
invitation for an official visit.
The Singapore meeting is a good opportunity for Asean leaders to really
take stock of their future. Never before has Asean been challenged by one of its
own peers. Asean believes that through dialogue and peer pressure, Asean spirit
or the Asean way will prevail. But this is not the case with Burma. If Asean
leaders cannot convince Burma to ameliorate its general political situation,
then what is the point of keeping it in the grouping? Can Asean afford to defend
a pariah state to the grave? If that is the case, should Thailand, as a founding
member of Asean, reconsider its position on Asean?
This is a serious matter. For the past three years Burma has become the
tail that wags Asean. Under an international microscope, Asean as always needs
to prove that it can unite and withstand outside pressure. Having done that,
Asean is now stuck with its own decision, like a bad egg.
The Eminent Persons Group has completed its vision of an Asean that will be
gentle and people-oriented. The EPG recommendation will remain unfulfilled if
Burma continues to act on its own in defiance of regional and international
standards. This would be a pity for Asean.
The Nation - Nov 19,
2000.
Evading the Burma issue like the plague Supachai MARYLAND Over the last few months Thailand has witnessed a lot of discussion about
its many years of hosting refugees from neighbouring countries. In past years it
was communist regimes and the Cold War that propelled people to flee while
Thailand was relatively free from aggression, whether because of the military
regimes and partnership with the US one will never know. Or maybe one doesn't
want to know.
What we do know is we escaped the holocausts of our neighbours. Our leaders
had insight, and we have a great King. Others were less fortunate. As we enter
into the 21st century we must contemplate whether we have escaped the past or
have never left. We see these refugees or displaced persons (as the UNHCR
prefers) as some sort of a burden. We can never imagine the conditions they
escaped.
In the November 14 edition of the New York Times, refugees explained in
detail over two full pages the paranoia of the Slorc and what Thailand's
neighbour is facing. One must already agree that the systematic flow of drugs
coming into Thailand is with the Slorc's blessings. The stories of the prison
conditions make Thailand's look like a country club. The tortures and beatings
along with the repression of the total population will make any human's hair
stand on end.
Yet we, as nice Thais, say trading has its benefits. By trade and
appeasement we believe somehow the Slorc will become human. Thanks to the greed
of our very own politicians along with unscrupulous businessmen, we can look the
other way and say we are doing our part - we are giving refuge to the Burmese
and ethnic minorities - or we can face the facts.
All Thais must call on the next government to take a solid stand on foreign
policy where it affects us most - in our own backyard. Going to Asean or Apec
meetings and asking the developed nations to open markets or joining as one
group to condemn the West, for whatever reason, looks good in the press but will
never make the daily lives of those around us better. We must first look in the
mirror and ask ourselves are we strong enough as a people who have lived free
for a long time to ever admit our past mistakes? As Buddhists we can also ask
the same questions. Do we think that assisting a dictatorship somehow will be
forgotten?
Real leaders ask tough questions. Some are never popular. Rather than join
a club made up of the haves and the have-nots, Thailand should lead along with
other democratic nations. Love the impotent Asean/Apec or leave it? These are
just some questions the next government must ask themselves. This past
government evaded the issue as though it were the Aids epidemic. The Nation - Nov 19,
2000.
Letters - A plea to investigate the brutal murder On November 8 a Burmese monk, Phra Maung, was brutally killed at Wat
Maneeloi, adjacent to the Burmese Students' Centre, Ratchaburi, Thailand. He was
a Burmese student activist, recognised as a Person of Concern by the UNHCR, and
a resident of the Burmese Students' Centre. In addition, he also had an identity
card showing that he was a Thai Buddhist monk. He became a monk in 1994 and was
respected by Thai local residents and by the Burmese students. However, he had
also been abused, prior to his death, more than once by some Thai military
authorities. These in fact abused me when I was in the Buddhist monkhood for two
months at the Students' Centre.
Phra Maung was killed with an axe. His head was nearly split in two, and
according to witnesses who saw his body there were severe cuts to his ears,
hands and legs. I received a letter from America dated October 27 which stated
that Phra Maung had been accused or suspected of working for the Burmese
military as a spy within the students' camp. But this could not be proved and
seems very unlikely and may well have been a typical poisonous rumour circulated
by the Burmese military.
Last month he asked the camp authorities for permission to stay in the camp
for his own security, instead of in the local monastery, which suggests that he
had had threats against him already. This request was rejected by the centre's
authorities. The tragedy is that, incredibly, a real and legal Buddhist monk was
murdered in a Buddhist monastery in a Buddhist country.
I do understand the dilemma of the Thai government and the difficulty of
its relations with the Burmese government. But I ask that the Thai government
and the Thai Buddhist Sangha carry out an investigation as soon as possible into
the true causes of the murder of this Buddhist monk.
An exiled Burmese student in Australia
NOVEMBER 24, 2000 VOL. 26 NO. 46 |
ASIAWEEK
Viewpoint: Battle for the Media A growing 'free press' is challenging ASEAN's old order
KAVI CHONGKITTAVORN is managing editor of The Nation newspaper in Bangkok and chairman of the alternative media organization SEAPA Like ASEAN itself, ASEAN's journalists are divided. It is increasingly
difficult to forge any kind of consensus among the region's reporters and press
organizations. Just as governments range from the dictatorial to the democratic,
press practices in the 10 nations of Southeast Asia vary from freewheeling in
the Philippines and Thailand to totalitarian in Vietnam and Burma. In between
are Singapore and Malaysia, where the semi-controlled press has long been in
vogue.
In the last few years Cambodia and Indonesia have joined the "free press"
club. Long suppressed and inexperienced, their journalists are eagerly exploring
a world with fewer limits. Sometimes criticized for being overly cynical and
negative, they will improve in time. Filipino and Thai journalists themselves
aren't exempt from criticism. Too often those who have enjoyed a tradition of
freedom resort to shallow or sensational reporting. They have been accused —
sometimes rightly — of distorting complex issues and inflaming public passions.
But the Filipinos and Thais are the region's most combative and best
organized reporters. Over the last 30 years they have fought dictatorial regimes
in order to gain their freedom. In all four "free press" countries, despite
public criticisms, journalists continue to receive wide support in showdowns
with government or corrupt officials. At a regional level, the struggle is on as
never before between journalists of the free press and the restricted
press.
Least free are Burma, Laos and Vietnam, which use the media as tools of
state propaganda and "nation-building." Political discussion is forbidden but
these nations recognize that in order to lure dollars, economic information must
flow a little freely. So they permit tame English-language publications to be
published — often ventures with foreigners — to persuade outsiders that these
places are good for investment.
More sophisticated are Singapore and Malaysia. They use the media to
manufacture consent, exercising strict press licensing and directly or
indirectly controlling most news outlets. People read the papers to find out
what the government thinks and wants them to think. In both countries,
mainstream press reports are closely scrutinized and self-censored. Online
newspapers like Malaysiakini.com are an exception. Because it wants investment
in information technology, Malaysia allows freedom on the Internet and a few
sites are providing balanced and courageous coverage. What is worrying, however,
is that the semi-controlled model is moving beyond Singapore and Malaysia. They
believe that a semi-controlled press is good for business and government and
their media establishments have invested in Thailand and Cambodia as well as
Hong Kong..
These different traditions make it difficult for journalists in the region
to cooperate. For 25 years, they have been linked through the Confederation of
ASEAN Journalists (CAJ), brainchild of Harmoko, Indonesia's minister of
information at a time when its press was controlled. A quarter-century ago,
Indonesia wanted ASEAN journalists to network, not to promote press freedom but
consensus within ASEAN and information about the grouping, which was
establishing its identity. The region has changed but the CAJ has not.
Independent journalists in ASEAN are increasingly frustrated with the old
network of journalists, which has failed to respond to regional dynamism and
join forces with the free press. The CAJ remains a monolithic organization,
specializing in so-called development journalism and lackluster conferences.
Illustrating the division was a walkout by Thai journalists at a CAJ assembly in
Singapore last month.
The Thais accused the host of lacking transparency and accountability and
failing to discuss a Thai proposal to amend the CAJ charter, including abolition
of the secretariat office in Jakarta and the post of permanent secretary. The
changes, which would allow each country to help determine CAJ directions and
core activities, are pivotal to its rejuvenation. The protest in Singapore has
sparked spirited discussions about the very existence of the CAJ.
As the "free press" grows, its journalists are establishing local and
regional associations. The sea change in Indonesia following Suharto's departure
in 1998 and the country's burgeoning free press have inspired the independent
media to unite. In Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia, they joined hands to
form the Southeast Asian Press Alliance in 1998. An alternative forum for the
independent media, SEAPA will soon be joined by Cambodia and East Timor.
SEAPA has taken bold steps to fight for press freedom. It helps fund
Malaysiakini.com as well as projects to promote access to information and combat
corruption. Its Jakarta office is at the forefront of efforts to protect the
press from abuse by police and mobs. SEAPA is also helping journalists in East
Timor to rebuild their media infrastructure. Region-wide, the media "gap" is
likely to grow wider as the semi-open press continues to assert itself as a
viable choice. A new generation of ASEAN journalists is emerging with the vision
to challenge old ways of doing things. In the long run, the only viable press
will be a free press.
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