BURMA RELATED NEWS - DEC - 08, 2000.

[David Arnott <darnott@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

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BURMA RELATED NEWS - DEC - 08, 2000.
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Houston Chronicle - Military thugs in Myanmar deserve condemnation
Reuters - HIV Risk High Among Refugees in Myanmar, Thailand
Reuters - EU to press ASEAN over human rights in Myanmar
BBC - Son visits Burmese opposition leader
The Daily Telegraph - 'I won't be going back - not to jail'
The Times - Oil firm's secret deal on Burma prisoner
The Nation - Engagement with Burma not working - senators
The Nation - Human Rights Developments
The Manila Times - Lacson and a SLORC junta?
Xinhua - Trade Between Myanmar, NEA Countries on Rise
The Nation - Victims were warned to stop selling drugs
The Nation - Issue will be discussed at talks with Asean
_____
Houston Chronicle
Dec. 6, 2000, 6:01PM
Words and Example: Military thugs in Myanmar deserve condemnation
Sometimes injustice in the world can be met only with words of condemnation.
So if words are all we have at our disposal, let them be strong ones.
Such is the option for helping Aung San Suu Kyi, who courageously continues
to defy the military tyrants in control of Myanmar, formerly Burma.
Her National League for Democracy won elections there in 1990, but the
generals refused to honor the legitimate outcome. Meanwhile, the
high-profile, pro-democracy leader has been under virtual house arrest and
has endured almost constant harassment for most of that decade.
President Clinton on Wednesday presented Aung San Suu Kyi the Presidential
Medal of Freedom.
"She sits confined, as we speak here, in her home in Rangoon, unable to
speak to her people or the world. But her struggle continues and her spirit
still inspires us," Clinton said. "The only weapons the Burmese people have
are the words of reason and the example of this astonishingly brave woman.
Let us add our voices to their peaceful arsenal."
Words and worldwide public opinion, in reality, are probably the only things
keeping Aung San Suu Kyi alive. For their many atrocities and injustices,
the military thugs of Myanmar deserve the strongest condemnation and should
be recognized as the repugnant enemies of freedom that they are.
_____
Thursday December 7 5:24 PM ET
HIV Risk High Among Refugees in Myanmar, Thailand
By Meg Bryant
WASHINGTON (Reuters Health) - A survey of migrant workers living along the
Thai/Myanmar (formerly Burma) border reveals ''major differences'' between
that group and the ``much better publicized and better serviced refugee
population'' that is officially recognized in border camps, according to
Johns Hopkins University's Dr. Luke Mullany.
About 1.2 million Burmese migrants live just inside the Thai border, the
``vast majority'' of whom fled the oppressive military regime that is based
in Rangoon, Mullany told a conference here on reproductive health of
refugees and displaced populations. However, because the Thai government
recognizes these people as illegal economic migrants rather than refugees,
they are not entitled to any social services, he said.
As a result, ``virtually zero access has been extended to (international
relief workers) trying to document health status or education in migrant
worker factories,'' Mullany stated.
In the survey, 233 men and 492 women were asked a variety of questions
concerning prevention and transmission of the AIDS (news - web sites) virus.
The responses showed ``significant'' gender differences, with men
``consistently'' scoring higher than women in terms of basic knowledge about
the disease, according to Mullany.
With regard to prevention, only 15% of women said they had ever seen a
condom, and less than half of the women understood that birth control pills
do not prevent infection. Fewer than 2% of the women reported using a condom
at least once, as compared with nearly 13% of the men.
The survey also exposed serious gaps in the workers' awareness of HIV that
could put them at greater risk of infection. For example, 82% could identify
the major risk factors for contracting HIV, but only 27% knew that they
could learn their own HIV status with a blood test.
Mullany called the refugee-run survey ``an important first step in drawing
attention to the plight of migrant workers, not only within the context of
the HIV/AIDS epidemic, but to their lack of (healthcare) services overall.''
Another survey, by the refugee-run Reproductive Health Group in Guinea,
found similar misconceptions and cultural limitations among 976 men and
women living in camps in Guinea's Forest Region.
While roughly 90% knew of HIV and AIDS and that avoiding multiple sexual
partners and shared needles helped to prevent transmission, 54% believed
that mosquitoes can spread the virus. A lesser--but still
significant--number thought they could get HIV by touching (26%) or sharing
food (30%) with people who are HIV-positive, according to Meriwether Beatty
of the JSI Research and Training Institute. Twenty-two percent of
interviewees said that eating good food will protect against HIV/AIDS.
All of the Guinean refugees had access to free healthcare within the refugee
camps, about three fourths of those who reported having had sexually
transmitted disease symptoms sought help at one of the health facilities.
However, 82% also said they went to private pharmacies to purchase STD
medications, pointing out the ``lack of necessary drugs'' at the camp-based
clinics, Beatty said.
_____
WIRE:12/07/2000 03:07:00 ET
EU to press ASEAN over human rights in Myanmar
HANOI, Dec 7 (Reuters) - British Foreign Office Minister John Battle said on
Thursday ASEAN"s position of non-interference in Myanmar"s affairs was
unsustainable and warned Yangon"s generals they were accountable for rights
violations.
Battle told journalists during a visit to Vietnam that human rights in
military-ruled Myanmar would top the agenda of a meeting of ministers from
the European Union and the Association of South East Asian Nations in Laos
next week. Battle, who will represent Britain at the December 11-12 meeting,
said he would be looking for understanding among the 10 ASEAN members that
Myanmar had become a regional problem they could no longer brush off as
Yangon"s "internal affair."
He said his aim would be "to see if we can dismantle a traditional response
that is unsustainable." Battle said Myanmar"s "appalling" conditions were a
regional problem due to large numbers of refugees fleeing repression and the
threat of the spread of HIV/AIDS from the country. "There is a growing
awareness that the ASEAN countries have of the problem and they are starting
to speak out," he said.
NEW APPROACH SOUGHT
He said both the European Union and ASEAN were looking for a new approach
and said the intention in Vientiane would not be "to simply turn up and
blame Burma (Myanmar) and say we think you are a form of moral evil."
He pointed to the example of Vietnam, saying there were similar prospects of
economic aid and investment for Myanmar in the event of positive change.
"What we need to see is an opening of Burma...so we"re trying to find ways
to actually prise the situation open by using the political power that"s in
the region -- they are a member of ASEAN."
He warned Myanmar"s generals they could have to answer for their actions.
"There"s no way this kind of action in any society can be unaccountable at
the end of the day. The question is how many people have to suffer and die
before accountability bites in. "I think we can do something together to
point out that we are all politically, socially and economically
accountable."
Thailand said on Wednesday the Vientiane meeting, the first of its kind in
three years, would be attended by 14 foreign ministers, but only four of
them from Europe. Britain, Italy, Sweden, Portugal, Greece and Ireland will
be represented by deputy foreign ministers and France and the Netherlands by
other unidentified ministers.
Political analysts have previously speculated that the meeting could be
scrapped due to profound disagreements over the presence of Myanmar, which
was admitted to ASEAN in 1997. The European Union considers Myanmar a rogue
state and objects to its treatment of its pro-democracy opposition, led by
detained 1991 Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. ASEAN has traditionally
held to a policy of non-interference in what it calls the internal affairs
of members, although some members, notably Thailand, have criticised this
stance.
_____
BBC - Friday, 8 December, 2000, 11:44 GMT
Son visits Burmese opposition leader
The younger son of the Burmese opposition leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, has
arrived in Rangoon to visit his mother who is under house arrest.
The son, Kim Aris, is accompanied by his wife and their young son.
They flew into Rangoon from Britain on board a Thai airlines flight.
A statement by the Burmese military government wished the family an
enjoyable time during their reunion.
Meanwhile, in a legal case between Aung San Suu Kyi and her brother, Aung
San Oo, a Rangoon court has ordered his lawyers to hand over a copy of the
claim he has lodged for a half share in her house.
Aung San Suu Kyi's team have two weeks to present a challenge to the claim.
From the newsroom of the BBC World Service
_____
The Daily Telegraph - Dec 08, 2000.
'I won't be going back - not to jail'
When James Mawdsley was 22, he gave up beer and girls for a life of torture
and prayer in Burma. Elizabeth Grice meets him
JAMES MAWDSLEY may be human after all. He is not finding it easy to live up
to the standards he set himself while contemplating his future in the
stinking confines of a Burmese jail. Little by little, the young human
rights activist is getting used to the soft life, taking things for granted
like the rest of us, forgetting to pray.
Mawdsley, inspired by Aung San Suu Kyi: 'I do not have to worry about where
the next meal is coming from. If I worry, I count it as a sin. God will give
me what I need,'
"Without realising it," he says, "you start to upgrade your lifestyle:
slightly better restaurants, slightly better-quality shirts, taking a cab
instead of walking. It's so gradual, you hardly notice it."
Idealist that he is, Mawdsley does notice it. Every lapse worries his
conscience like a stone in a shoe. He is particularly disappointed that his
rigorous prayer routine has gone to pieces: in jail, he was praying 12 times
a day and telling himself he had to keep up the habit when he was released.
Three months after his return to Britain, he's disgusted that he can't even
remember to say grace before he eats. "I feel now I don't have time to pray.
It's ridiculous."
Opinion is still divided over whether Mawdsley is a reckless adventurer, a
saint or a zealot, and meeting him doesn't make it any easier to decide. He
claims he isn't martyr material but he certainly suits the dictionary
definition of one. Even if he didn't want to die for the cause, he was
conducting his solo protest within a hair's breadth of his own extinction.
Mawdsley was first expelled from Burma for pro-democracy activities in 1997.
The following year, he repeated his "crime", was tortured and served 99 days
of a five-year sentence. The third time he went back - choosing a busy
market place to distribute leaflets against the repressive military regime
and playing pro-democracy songs full blast on his cassette player - he knew
the consequences.
In fact, they were part of his strategy. He had prepared his family for the
worst and read the works of Russian and Chinese prisoners of totalitarian
regimes to equip himself mentally for abuse and imprisonment. He correctly
predicted the length of his sentence and how long he would have to serve.
"For me, things were just going to plan."
Terry Waite rang to offer his help when Mawdsley was released, but he seems
to have emerged psychologically intact from his 415 days in solitary
confinement and preferred to deal with sudden freedom in his own way.
He views his slide towards Western comforts with a mixture of amusement and
distaste ("You are giving up your freedom bit by bit"), but he hardly
qualifies as a hedonist. The most noticeable thing about him - apart from
his height and his blondness - is a monkish aura of self-possession and
detachment.
His white, open-necked shirt, dark trousers and black brogues are not the
trappings of a fashion slave. He doesn't smoke or drive. All his worldly
goods are stacked behind an armchair in his father's flat in Knightsbridge -
a pitiful collection, even for an itinerant 27-year-old.
This is his base when he is in England, giving talks for Jubilee 2000, the
human rights lobby group that helped to secure his freedom in October.
Otherwise, he lives in Munich with a degree of secrecy that suggests he is
trying to regain a private life. He says he likes being there because he's
not recognised and can get on with the next stage of his campaign - writing
a book - in peace.
Mawdsley gets asked all the time if he's a masochist. What does he think he
has achieved? Surely there were more productive ways of drawing attention to
human rights violations? No, he says, he chose the most effective way
possible at that time. Look at the media coverage his protest received. But
his epic defiance of the military junta - a personal crusade against evil,
no less - has not been all positive. Some British aid workers, used to
entering and leaving the country as simple tourists, are now subject to much
greater scrutiny.
Mawdsley believes his actions are being guided by an unseen hand and that
his life was never seriously at risk. He argues he could not disappear
without trace because he'd made sure enough people knew of his movements and
intentions to deter the Burmese from killing him. "I may appear reckless but
I am actually an extremely careful person. The reason I am out in one piece
is careful preparation and a lot of support from good people."
But his father believes the threat was real. "There's no question about it,"
says David Mawdsley, "these people are quite capable of murdering anybody.
Trying to dissuade James was not easy. So we sent him away with our
blessing. Our biggest fear was that he would be tortured again."
Inevitably, he was. Perhaps if he had been a more compliant prisoner, this
would not have happened, but Mawdsley was hell-bent on making a nuisance of
himself. He went on a 20-day hunger strike to get a transcript of his trial.
He inscribed democracy slogans on his cell wall with a nail. Most
aggravating to the prison authorities, he took to banging on the door of his
cell with his fists, shouting about human rights at the top of his voice.
"Any show of dissent is absolutely not tolerated in Burma," he says. "The
threat of violence had been building up throughout the year. They had been
coming in with sticks and firing catapults close to my face. They were
getting more and more angry because they could not control me.
"The threats weren't working. The beatings weren't working, either. After
each beating, I immediately got up and continued talking about human rights
to make it clear that they can't shut us up through violence."
When 15 men shouldered their way into his cell, equipped with 3ft wooden
batons and gravel-filled socks, Mawdsley knew he was in for the mother of
all beatings and admits to feeling nervous. He was left with internal
injuries, a broken nose and bleeding face. "Some of the bruises didn't come
up for weeks because the batons were wrapped in rubber. It actually takes
away a lot of the pain."
He assures me that his hunger strike was "quite painless" after the first
eight days. "No worries. I used to get boiled water, which was almost as
satisfying as a meal. It was gorgeous to feel so warm inside. I used to
drink buckets of it."
Mawdsley rates his sufferings as insignificant compared with what other
prisoners this century have endured - though he's not sure how much longer
he could have held out.
In his third month of freedom, Mawdsley has no obvious means of financial
support and dodges questions on this subject with whimsy. "Money comes,
money comes," he says. "God provides money, as much as I need."
How is He making sure Mawdsley is getting it this week? "Magic ways. I do
not have to worry about where the next meal is coming from. If I worry, I
count it as a sin, as distrusting God. He will give me as much money as I
need for as long as I'm putting it to good use. If I start spending it on
fancy clothes and fast cars, then it will dry up."
A number of organisations could be helping Mawdsley, but he remains vague,
talking about money coming from "unexpected places", just as morsels of
decent food - a banana, or a piece of bread - would arrive to cheer him up
in prison. He could, of course, be eking out the fee paid to him by a Sunday
newspaper for his account of life in jail. He raised £20,000 from the sale
of a booklet he wrote in jail, Real Freedom, but that is being used to
rebuild the burnt-down school, Pyo Pan Wai, where Mawdsley used to teach.
Before his ordeal, Mawdsley was a Catholic in name only. He gave up going to
church when he was 14 because he found it boring. "I was airy-fairy. I
believed in God, but I didn't know what that meant." His only mission was to
have a good time. "All I cared about between the ages of 18 and 22 was beer
and cigarettes. And girls, yes."
His twin brother, Jeremy, left school at 16 to join the Army, but James
stayed on to get brilliant A-levels and a place at Bristol University to
read physics and philosophy, with the intention of making a career in
particle physics. At the end of the first year, he got straight As in his
physics and maths papers. "This felt odd to me because I had spent the whole
year drinking." He dropped out of university ("I became more interested in
people than particles") and went travelling round Australia, where his
eldest brother, Jonathan, was working.
In New Zealand, he met his first Burmese exiles. By now, any thought of a
conventional career path had gone out of the window. Inspired by Aung San
Suu Kyi's biography, Freedom from Fear, he went to Burma to see whether the
human rights reports of massacres, slave labour and torture were true.
Mawdsley admits that, by the end of his prison term, the information he
could glean from fellow prisoners and guards had almost dried up and his
parents, visiting him every month, probably knew more about Burma than he
did.
Diana and David Mawdsley are separated but worked together for their son's
welfare and freedom - she from Durham and he in London. To their relief,
James has ruled out any further attempts to infiltrate Burma. "I won't be
going back. Not to prison. I had to do it and I'm glad I did it, but I'm not
going to hammer away at something that wouldn't be effective in the future."
He has other ideas, other strategies. But, says his friend and organiser,
Mark Rowland: "I think he would do well to keep his immediate plans to
himself."
_____
The Times
Thursday December 07 2000
Oil firm's secret deal on Burma prisoner
BY CARL MORTISHED
PREMIER OIL, the British company vilified for helping to prop up Burma's
dictatorship, was instrumental in securing the release of the human rights
activist James Mawdsley, it was disclosed yesterday.
The company, which has been singled out by the Government for attack,
initiated secret talks with Burma to free Mr Mawdsley, who was serving 17
years in jail for distributing leaflets critical of the country's brutal
military junta. The company acted as an intermediary between the Burmese
regime and Mr Mawdsley's supporters in Britain. He was released in October
after 415 days in solitary confinement.
Premier Oil is the largest British investor in Burma and has been accused of
using forced labour, a charge it denies. It intervened after Mr Mawdsley
endured a three-day punishment beating for daubing slogans on his cell
walls. Fifteen-strong gangs of men wielding wooden clubs attacked him
repeatedly, leaving him bruised and bleeding internally. He rarely had more
than one hour out of solitary confinement. A fluorescent light in his 27ft
by 23ft cell, with only bare boards to sleep on, was never turned off.
The first approach to the Burmese Embassy in London was made by Richard
Jones, the social responsibility manager at Premier Oil. The company
exploited its lucrative commercial contracts in Burma to apply pressure on
the Government, which had defied international opinion in keeping Mr
Mawdsley in jail.
Charles Jamieson, chief executive of Premier Oil, said it was able to help
because of its trading contacts. "We are not a campaigning organisation but
we are in a unique position," he said. "We are the only British organisation
which has access at all levels. Without interfering, we can sometimes
facilitate things." His company is now supporting a women's health project
against Aids and a human rights training programme.
Premier's role was praised last night by Mr Mawdsley's father, David, who
said: "They made the Burmese Ambassador realise how seriously this was being
taken by our Government." But gratitude did not temper his criticism for the
company's continued support for the dictatorship. "I still think they are
wrong in supporting the junta," he said.
The company's Yetagun project, an offshore gasfield and pipeline through
which gas is exported to Thailand, is a major source of income for the
Burmese regime.
_____
The Nation - Dec 08, 2000.
IN BRIEF: Engagement with Burma not working - senators
THE Senate Foreign Relations Committee will reconsider Thailand's policy
towards Burma due to the worsening problems of drug trafficking and illegal
workers, committee chairman Kraisak Choonhavan said.
Kraisak said the committee yesterday discussed a United Nations' resolution
to condemn Burma over its human rights and drug smuggling records.
"The traditional way of handling diplomatic ties has failed to solve the
drug trafficking problem along the border," Kraisak said.
Withaya Masaena, senator for Maha Sarakam province, said the policy of
constructive engagement had failed to solve any problems. In fact, it
created more, such as the rise in drug-trafficking and illegal workers, he
said.
The senate meeting agreed to join the UN in condemning Burma. In addition,
the meeting would also urge the government to reconsider its policy towards
Rangoon. - The Nation.
Couple fined for forgery
THE Supreme Court yesterday sentenced a city official and his wife, a former
deputy director-general at the Revenue Department, each to a suspended
two-year jail sentence plus a Bt20,000 fine. Raksa Pokhasathit, 63, director
of the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration's community development
department, and his wife, Ladda Pokhasathit, were found guilty of conspiring
to forge the latter's birth certificate in 1993.
According to the court, Raksa, then Pathum Wan district director, had a
third person forge Ladda's birth certificate by altering her date of birth
to make her three years younger. Ladda, now 62, was likely to have risen to
the top of the Revenue Department if she had not had to retire before her
boss.
Both defendants pleaded not guilty after being found guilty of falsifying
official documents by the Lower and Appeal courts and sentenced to two years
jail. The Supreme Court reduced their sentence on the grounds their offence
had not affected the public in general, their age and the fact they had not
committed a serious crime before. - The Nation.
_____
Human Rights Watch - Dec - 08, 2000.
Human Rights Developments
Defending Human Rights
The Role of the International Community
The Burmese government took no steps to improve its dire human rights
record. The ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) continued to
pursue a strategy of marginalizing the democratic opposition through
detention, intimidation, and restrictions on basic civil liberties. Despite
international condemnation, the system of forced labor remained intact.
In the war-affected areas of eastern Burma, gross violations of
international human rights and humanitarian law continued. There, the Shan
State Army-South (SSA-S), Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP), and
Karen National Union (KNU), as well as some other smaller groups, continued
their refusal to agree to a cease-fire with the government, as other
insurgent forces had done, but they were no longer able to hold significant
territory. Tens of thousands of villagers in the contested zones remained in
forced relocation sites or internally displaced within the region.
Human Rights Developments
The SPDC continued to deny its citizens freedom of expression, association,
assembly, and movement. It intimidated members of the democratic opposition
National League for Democracy (NLD) into resigning from the party and
encouraged crowds to denounce NLD members elected to parliament in the May
1990 election but not permitted to take their seats. The SPDC rhetoric
against the NLD and its leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, became increasingly
extreme. On March 27, Senior Gen. Than Shwe, in his Armed Forces Day
address, called for forces undermining stability to be eliminated. It was a
thinly veiled threat against the NLD. On May 2, a commentary in the
state-run Kyemon (Mirror) newspaper claimed there was evidence of contact
between the NLD and dissident and insurgent groups, an offense punishable by
death or life imprisonment. In a May 18 press conference, several Burmese
officials pointed to what they said were linkages between the NLD and
insurgents based along the Thai-Burma border, and on September 4 the
official Myanmar Information Committee repeated this charge in a press
release after Burmese security forces raided the NLD headquarters in
Rangoon.
The SPDC released several high-profile political prisoners during the year,
but continued to arrest individuals engaged in peaceful political
activities. It extended clemency on medical grounds to NLD Youth member Tun
Zaw Zaw, also known as Tun Tint Wai, on December 19 after his mother
appealed for him to be released to seek treatment for an eye disease. He had
served two years of a seven year prison term imposed on
politically-motivated charges of forgery and cheating. Moe Thu (Sein Myint),
former editor of the economics magazine Danna, was released on January 3,
2000, following the death of his wife. He had been in prison since June
1996. On May 22, the government released Cho Nwe Oo, who had been in prison
since 1995 for a protest at the funeral of the former prime minister, U Nu.
The thirty-two-year old doctor had two years of his sentence still to serve
at the time of release. The government released six elderly men, five of
them reportedly NLD members, shortly after a request for the release of the
men and other prisoners made by the U.N. Secretary-General's special envoy
for Burma, Razali Ismail, during his October 2000 visit to Burma. On October
20, the government released British activist James Mawdsley following strong
protests earlier in the month by the British foreign ministry over reports
that Mawdsley had been beaten in detention and a statement by the U.N.
Working Group on Arbitrary Detention that he was being held unlawfully. He
had served one year of a seventeen-year sentence for distributing
pro-democracy leaflets in Burma.
There were also new arrests. On April 24, the SPDC detained a member of the
Committee Representing the People's Parliament (CRPP), the shadow
legislature established by the NLD. Aye Tha Aung, chairperson of the CRPP's
Committee on Ethnic Nationalities Affairs, was reportedly sentenced to
twenty-one years of imprisonment in June to be served at Insein prison,
where conditions were particularly harsh. In May, the authorities arrested
Tint Wae, Kyaw Myo Min, and Ma Htay Htay for allegedly distributing the
dissident newspaper MoJo, and sentenced them to seven years in prison. Later
the same month, the government arrested over one hundred NLD members in an
apparent attempt to suppress political protests to mark the tenth
anniversary of the 1990 election.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) continued to monitor the
conditions of thousands of prisoners, and was able to establish offices in
Kengtung in Shan state, Pa-an in Karen state, and Moulmein in Mon state to
begin to monitor the condition of civilians in eastern Burma.
On August 24, Burmese officials took action to prevent the freedom of
movement of NLD General Secretary Aung San Suu Kyi, Deputy Chairman Tin Oo,
and a dozen other party members, forcing their two vehicles off the main
road in the town of Dala, on the outskirts of Rangoon. Government forces
refused to allow the party to proceed to the NLD branch office at Kunyangon,
thirty miles from the capital, and urged them to return to Rangoon because
of "security concerns." The NLD officials refused to do so and, instead,
camped in their cars, but on September 3, police forcibly returned them to
Rangoon. Officials reportedly handcuffed Aung San Suu Kyi and Tin Oo. The
day before, security forces had raided the NLD headquarters in Rangoon and
confiscated numerous documents. The government claimed that the raid had
uncovered damning evidence that NLD members were helping insurgent groups to
smuggle explosives into Burma and confined nine NLD executive committee
members to their homes pending completion of an investigation. The
government's move sparked international condemnation. Foreign diplomats were
permitted to visit the nine detainees on September 14 and the NLD members
were then permitted to move about Rangoon.
On September 21, however, the government blocked a bid by Suu Kyi and other
NLD members to travel by train to Mandalay. Suu Kyi and eight other NLD
executive members were placed under effective house arrest. Deputy Chairman
Tin Oo was held at an unknown location. The nine executive members were
still being held as of October 2000.
The SPDC failed to put a stop to its use of forced labor for infrastructure
development, the construction of Buddhist structures, maintenance of
military camps, and portering for army patrols. A delegation from the
International Labour Organization (ILO), visited Rangoon and other areas at
the SPDC's invitation from May 23-27, shortly before the June annual
conference of the ILO. In its report on the visit, the ILO again called for
the SPDC to cease the use of forced labor, repeal or amend legal provisions
for forced labor in the Village and Towns acts, monitor compliance, and
penalize those who employed forced labor. Burmese Minister for Labour Maj.
Gen. Tin Ngwe wrote a letter dated May 27 to the ILO's director-general,
stating that the SPDC leaders "have taken and are taking the necessary
measures to ensure that there are not instances of forced labor in Myanmar."
The ILO conference, however, concluded that the SPDC had failed to end the
practice and gave the SPDC until November 2000 to institute reforms or
suffer possible sanctions. On October 19, an ILO delegation traveled to
Rangoon to assess whether forced labor was still in use.
Tens of thousands of villagers in the conflict areas of central Shan state,
Karenni state, Karen state, Mon state, and eastern Tenasserim division
remained in forced relocation sites and faced curfews, looting, and
restrictions on movement at the hands of the Burmese army. Shan refugees
escaping to Thailand reported that strict curfews had been implemented in
Burmese government relocation sites forbidding Shan villagers from leaving
their homes between dusk and dawn and, in some instances, prohibiting
speaking and imposing a strict lights-out policy. Tens of thousands of other
villagers in eastern and southeastern Burma remained displaced in the
forests or in areas contested by the army and insurgent groups.
In the west, the SPDC continued to deprive ethnic minority Muslim Rohingya
of full citizenship rights. The Rohingya were subject to restrictions on
their freedom of movement, arbitrary taxation, and extortion by local
officials. Forced labor was also common. A direct consequence of ongoing
abuses was the gradual movement of Rohingya refugees into the Bangladeshi
labor market. Some 20,000 refugees remained in Nayapara and Kutapalong
refugee camps in Bangladesh as of October 2000, but the camps remained
officially closed to new arrivals.
On July 27, the SPDC reopened many of the country's universities, which had
been closed since 1996. Many campuses, however, had been relocated to rural
areas since the mid-90s and the doors of the University of Rangoon, a former
hotbed of political activity, remained shut for all but final year students.

_____
The Manila Times - Dec 07, 2000.
ENTHUSIASMS
By Rene Q. Bas
Lacson and a SLORC junta?
How many Filipinos really value democracy?
Obviously not the 10 to 20 percent of the electorate who sell their votes.
Now, with more than half of the population said to be below the poverty line
(up from the 35-37 percent in earlier statistical reports), the vote-sellers
will probably increase to 30 to 40 percent of the electorate.
In addition to the poor, there are also many Filipinos impatient with the
slowness and inefficiency of democracy.
Every now and then, I come across pro-junta businessmen. They are fed up
with the incompetence and corruption of elected government officials. They
believe an authoritarian junta, backed by the military and the police, will
immediately launch the country on the road to substantial social development
and economic progress.
Yesterday's by-lined commentary by Dr. Jesus Lava, one of the pillars of the
original communist movement in this country, called for a total change in
government and the installation of a "Council of Patriotic Filipino
Citizens" to administer the country and undertake a program of sweeping
changes in the economy.
Other Left-wing groups, including Mr. Popoy Lagman's BMP, also want a junta
to rule when their desired ouster of President Estrada and rejection of Vice
President Macapagal-Arroyo as successor take place.
From the Right, that faction of the RAM of which retired Colonel Maligalig
is the spokesman has often spoken of rule by a junta acceptable to all
sectors of society and politics. Chief Justice Davide is this group's choice
for junta chief.
When RAM was still led by Senator Honasan and seeking to remove President
Aquino's government, they listed Cardinal Sin at the head of the junta they
wanted to rule this country. Cardinal Sin immediately rejected RAM's
designs.
There must be many other Right-wing groups whose unconstitutional plan for
the improvement of the Philippine condition begins with a junta of their
choosing.
Vice President Macapagal-Arroyo's revelations about PNP Director-General
Lacson's movements in the United States are worrisome. He is alleged to have
tried to sell himself to the Americans as the alternative to the Vice
President when Mr. Estrada has been removed.
Journalists have verified that Mr. Lacson has indeed seen US congressmen and
defense department officials. But he went to America purportedly to discuss
police matters of mutual interest to the Philippines and the USA.
No one should discount the possibility of a coup, especially in these times
of economic decline, increasing poverty and declining confidence in the
ability and fitness of the elected president to govern. As Senator Biazon, a
famous retired general, warns, a coup d'etat is "a distinct possibility" now
that the active-duty military-not just retired officers and veterans -is
sincerely politicized.
The Manila Times editorials have been warning both the pro- and anti-Estrada
camps to stop drawing the military and the retired generals into the
political fray.
This is something we should all pray for. Rule by junta will surely turn
this country into another Burma with a very unpleasant SLORC.
_____
Trade Between Myanmar, NEA Countries on Rise
YANGON (Dec. 8) XINHUA - Bilateral trade between Myanmar and the three
Northeast Asian (NEA) countries -- China, Japan and South Korea -- totaled
678.88 million U.S. dollars in the first eight months of this year, a
year-on-year rise of 6.16 percent, the latest Economic Indicators issued by
the government showed.
Of the total, Myanmar's import from the three countries amounted to 516.54
million dollars, while its export to them was valued at 162.34 million
dollars.
The bilateral trade between Myanmar and the three NEA countries during the
eight-month period accounted for 26 percent of Myanmar' s total foreign
trade.
Of this, trade with China represented the highest volume with 298.64 million
dollars or 11.43 percent of Myanmar's total foreign trade, followed by that
with Japan at 192.97 million dollars or 7. 39 percent and that with South
Korea at 187.27 million dollars or 7.17 percent.
Of the three NEA countries, China, which has border trade with Myanmar in
addition to normal trade, stands as Myanmar's second largest trading partner
after Singapore, while Japan and South Korea remain as the country's fourth
and fifth largest trade partner, respectively. The third place belongs to
Thailand.
Meanwhile, the three NEA countries have so far injected a total of over 367
million dollars of investment in Myanmar with Japan taking the leading role
(232.8 million), followed by South Korea ( 102.3 million) and China (31.9
million).
Total investment from the three NEA countries takes up only 5 percent of
Myanmar's foreign investment which stands at 7.234 billion dollars as of the
end of June this year since late 1988.
_____
The Nation - Dec 08, 2000.
NORTHERN BORDER
Three killed in ambush
Victims were warned to stop selling drugs
In Tak
Gunmen killed a Thai man and two Karen soldiers and wounded two other Karen
in Phop Phra district on Wednesday.
Police said four Karen National Union soldiers were riding in a
four-wheel-drive vehicle driven by Somsak Khamhae, 24, when a group of
gunmen in a van opened fire on them with M16 assault rifles.
The Thai driver and two of his Karen passengers-Taw Soe and Maung Yu Win,
both 20, were killed instantly.
The other two Karen-Maw Tu, 22, and Ta Ja, 23, were seriously wounded. Mr
Somsak was taking the four men, who belonged to the Karen sixth division, to
the border when they were attacked near Ban Huay Mi-Muenluechai.
Police said the attacked vehicle belonged to Lt-Col Jee Lay, commander of
the 16th battalion in the sixth division.
Sources said these Karen had collaborated with soldiers of the pro-Rangoon
Democratic Karen Buddhist Army in the drugs trade.
They had been warned to stop selling drugs by KNU military leader Gen Bo
Mya, the sources said.
_____
The Nation - Dec 08, 2000.
Issue will be discussed at talks with Asean
BY DON PATHAN
VIENTIANE - The decision by Asean and the European Union to resume their
ministerial dialogue in the Laotian capital next week does not mean the EU
has softened its stance on the thorny issue of Burma's human rights record,
a senior French official said yesterday.
"The idea is to meet between the two groupings and to help each other," said
Dominique Gerard, the head of the French Foreign Ministry's East Asia
Affairs Department.
"Despite the problem of the past we have to talk together because the EU is
important for Asean and Asean is important for the EU."
Gerard said the political and economic problems in Indonesia may also be
included in the consultations-officially known as the 13th Asean-European
Ministerial Meeting- which have been on hold since 1997 because of the EU's
objection to the participation of Burma.
Thai foreign ministry permanent secretary Nitya Pibulsonggram, speaking on
the sidelines of a preparation meeting for the ministers' meetings on Monday
and Tuesday, confirmed that the Burmese human rights issue would be on the
table.
The EU, like many other Western countries and organisations, has
consistently condemned Burma's human and labour rights record. It has also
accused the junta of not doing enough to curb the flow of drugs coming out
of areas controlled by armed ethnic groups.
Delegations from Burma and Indonesia will respond on behalf of Asean and
will raise questions related to human rights, political and security matters
in the EU, said Pradap Pibulsonggram, director of the Thai foreign
ministry's Asean Affairs Department.
"It's really a good conversation among friends in the spirit of resuming a
relation that has been distanced for a while," said Gerard, who chaired
yesterday's meeting among the EU senior officials.
Senior officials from the two sides will meet today to finalise details for
their ministers' talks.
Gerard dismissed speculation that the EU was trying to send Asean a mild
rebuke as a number of EU countries are sending senior officials or deputies
rather than their ministers.
All 10 Asean foreign ministers from will be at the Vientiane meeting, but
only four of their 15 European counterparts, from Belgium, Luxembourg,
Germany and Finland, will be present. The rest of the EU delegation is
comprised of ministers in charge of development affairs, deputy foreign
ministers, permanent secretaries and ambassadors from the EU member states.
"The only problem is that there is a meeting in Nice. It's a huge event and
some people could not make themselves available," Gerard said.
"With my minister [Charles Josselin] there is no doubt about the commitment,
the seriousness and the attention paid to it. The French minister who will
be coming here and chairing the meeting is someone who knows very well the
region. He has been here many, many time, including Laos," Gerard said.
Foreign Minister Josselin is the president-in-office of the Council of the
European Union.
EU leaders are meeting in France to discuss several crucial issues,
including a plan to increase the powers of the biggest member states and the
setting up of a so-called Rapid Reaction Force.
The Vientiane meeting will also discuss strengthening cooperation between
the two blocs based on a document they began preparing in May last year.
Malaysia will present an economic recovery program for the Asean region
while Thailand will talk on the World Trade Organisation, international
financial architecture and the digital divide. Singapore will focus on
issues for Asean-EU relations. The outcome of the discussions will appear in
a joint declaration to be issued after next week's ministerial meeting,
after a separate meeting among Asean officials.
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