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BURMA RELATED NEWS - April
26-27, 2002.
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HEADLINES
----------------------------------------------------------------- AP - Razali ends Myanmar visit amid renewed
optimism on ending deadlock
BBC - UN's Burma envoy hints at
progress
Reuters - Myanmar junta looks set for major
political gesture
AFP - UN envoy in rare talks with junta leader
at end of Myanmar mission
Reuters - UN envoy hopeful of Myanmar
breakthrough soon
Reuters - U.N. deplores rights abuses in
Myanmar
AP - Thai troops clash with forces from Myanmar,
10 reported killed
AP - Myanmar junta expresses regret at UN
human rights resolution
AP - U.N. expecting announcement by Myanmar
government following latest mediation effort by U.N. envoy
The Moscow Times - Astrology Thriving in Myanmar
ENN - Gunboat petroleum: Burma?s Unocal/Total
pipeline
----------------------------------------------------------------- Friday, 26 April 2002
Razali ends Myanmar visit amid renewed optimism on ending deadlock By AYE AYE WIN Associated Press Writer YANGON, Myanmar (AP): U.N.
envoy Razali Ismail ended a visit to Myanmar Friday amid renewed optimism that
he has progressed in his efforts to end a 12-year-old political rift between the
military junta and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Razali, a retired Malaysian diplomat, flew to Malaysia after the four-day
visit, which included a rare and crucial meeting with Gen. Than Shwe, the leader
of Myanmar's military government.
"It was a very useful meeting. I learned a lot. I am optimistic about my
discussion,'' Razali told reporters after the one-hour meeting. Asked if any
developments can be expected, he said: "It's for you to be a witness to.''
Although Razali has used the word "optimistic'' after each one of his past
six visits also, diplomats say there appear to be real cause for optimism this
time.
Razali, who was appointed a special envoy of the U.N. secretary general two
years ago, was instrumental in starting the reconciliation talks that the junta
has been holding with Suu Kyi behind closed doors since October 2000.
Razali's latest visit to Myanmar appears to have allayed doubts about the
usefulness of the talks, which have produced no big results so far.
On Friday, Razali briefed diplomats and ambassadors before his talks with
Than Shwe. Razali had met Than Shwe in his capacity as the U.N. envoy only once
before in October 2000.
One Western diplomat said Razali's meeting with the general was "crucial.''
He said Razali, who appeared unusually upbeat during the briefing, told the
diplomats that there could be "concrete progress'' soon in terms of releasing
political prisoners.
"Razali said something good and promising will happen,'' an Asian
ambassador said. Both diplomats spoke on condition of anonymity.
Razali has been tightlipped in the presence of reporters, but has said in
private meetings with Suu Kyi's aides, foreign businessmen and leaders of ethnic
parties that he expects progress soon.
"Mr. Razali told us there will be a new development coming up soon,'' U
Lwin, the secretary of Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party, told
reporters on Thursday.
The political deadlock is over the junta's refusal to hand over power to
the NLD, which won elections in 1990 that were called by the generals themselves
after they seized power in 1988.
The junta has instead harassed and jailed NLD members, and closed party
offices. Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace laureate, was put under house arrest several
times and her movements restricted.
She has again been under virtual house arrest since September 2000. Razali
met twice with Suu Kyi during his visit and once with Lt. Gen. Khin Nyunt, the
influential chief of military intelligence and the No. 3 leader in the junta.
The NLD has demanded Suu Kyi's release but indicated privately that her
confinement has allowed her to pursue the talks without outside distractions.
The only tangible results of the talks have been the freeing of 258
political prisoners and allowing the NLD to reopen 35 of more than 300 branches
it once had in Yangon. Human rights groups say more than 1,000 political
detainees remain in jail.
On Thursday, the 53-nation U.N. Human Rights Commission in Geneva adopted a
resolution expressing "grave concern'' at the slow place of democratisation in
Myanmar, the political repression, the imprisonment of NLD members and the
restrictions on Suu Kyi.
The resolution "deplores the continuing pattern of gross and systematic
violations of human rights in Myanmar.''
----------------------------------------------------------------- BBC - Friday, 26 April, 2002,
13:31 GMT 14:31 UK
UN's Burma envoy hints at progress The United Nations special envoy to Burma, Razali Ismail, has told the BBC
he expects "significant developments" soon in the talks between the country's
military government and opposition.
Mr Razali would not be drawn on details, but UN officials said the release
from house arrest of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi was one possibility.
Mr Razali was speaking after meeting Burma's three top leaders on Friday,
as pressure mounted on all sides for a breakthrough.
Mr Razali had a working lunch with General Than Shwe, General Maung Aye,
and Lieutenant-General Khin Nyunt.
General Maung Aye arrived back a few hours earlier than planned from
Thailand to attend.
The meeting with Than Shwe, thought to be only the second between the two
men since Mr Razali initiated talks between the government and opposition 18
months ago, will be seen as symbolically important.
The talks have so far produced few concrete results, and diplomats warn
that unless the military makes concessions soon, notably by freeing Aung San Suu
Kyi, Burma could face trade sanctions.
On Thursday Mr Razali met Aung San Suu Kyi at her lakeside home where she
is under house arrest. It was their second meeting in two days. Mr Razali also
met officials from her National League of Democracy.
Rights attack
The urgent need for progress was underlined by a resolution adopted on
Thursday by the UN Commission on Human Rights in Geneva.
The 53-member commission accused the military government of "a continuing
pattern of gross and systematic violations of human rights", and of stalling on
political progress.
Its charges against Burma included:
Extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions
Enforced disappearances, rape, torture, inhuman treatment, forced labour, including the use of children Forced relocation and denial of freedom of assembly, association, _expression_, religion and movement The lack of an independent judiciary Delaying the process of national reconciliation and democratisation Mr Razali said after Thursday's meeting at NLD headquarters that he could
not promise when there would be any positive developments, but remained
"hopeful".
NLD Secretary, U Lwin, said the talks had been useful but he cautioned
against over-optimism.
Little to show
The junta has refused to give up power despite a landslide election victory
by the NLD in 1990.
The BBC's Larry Jagan in Rangoon says diplomats believe it unlikely the
military will free Aung San Suu Kyi unconditionally.
But, he adds, many feel that the main issue is whether or not the junta
will agree to meaningful political talks with the NLD.
Mr Razali has now left Burma.
----------------------------------------------------------------- Saturday April 27, 12:32 PM
ANALYSIS-Myanmar junta looks set for major political gesture By Chris Johnson BANGKOK, April 27 (Reuters) -
Myanmar's military junta looks set to make a major gesture of reconciliation
towards the opposition in a bid to stave off tougher sanctions by the West and
greater isolation from its Asian neighbours.
The generals, in power for most of the last 40 years and shunned by many
countries for their human rights record, may free a large batch of political
prisoners and could announce moves towards reform of the impoverished Southeast
Asian country.
There is also a chance, diplomats say, that the government could free the
leader of the opposition, Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, from the de
facto house arrest she has endured for more than 18 months.
Hopes of progress towards democracy have been raised by a top U.N.
official, who left Myanmar on Friday hinting of a dramatic breakthrough in
secretive talks between Suu Kyi and the junta.
U.N. Special Envoy to Myanmar Razali Ismail, who had four-days of meetings
with the generals and lengthy discussions with Suu Kyi including dinner at her
Yangon home, said he was optimistic about the prospects for political progress.
The Malaysian diplomat said the parties in Myanmar were now
"committed to the national reconciliation process".
"A few important developments may well happen quite quickly," said Razali,
who has been brokering the talks for 18 months.
Diplomats said the envoy of U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Anan must have had
solid grounds for making such a statement.
"He chooses his words very carefully," said one well-informed European
diplomat, who declined to be identified.
Razali rarely speaks in public about Myanmar, and when he does, he is
cautious, weighing his remarks, he said.
The most likely "important developments" would be either the release of Suu
Kyi or a mass release of political prisoners.
Of the two options, the latter is most likely, diplomats say.
LOCKED UP, HARASSED AND EXILED
Although the junta has freed more than 200 political detainees over the
last year, Amnesty International says about 1,500 are still languishing in jail,
including many members of Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD).
The NLD won the country's last democratic elections in 1990 but has never
been allowed to govern. Instead, its members have been locked up, harassed or
exiled and its party offices closed.
The release of Suu Kyi, the charismatic daughter of assassinated
independence hero Aung San, is widely regarded as the single most important step
the junta could take to show the outside world that it is considering political
change.
And a major gesture is necessary if Yangon is to avoid another wave of
international sanctions by the United States and other Western countries who
have been outraged at the military's treatment of Suu Kyi, who was released from
six-years house arrest in 1995, and her supporters.
The United States and the European Union already deny Yangon some aid and
restrict the issue of visas to Myanmar officials.
The U.S. congress is now considering banning all imports from Myanmar,
which would hit its textiles industry -- one of Myanmar's few legitimate foreign
exchange earners.
U.S. officials say Myanmar's biggest earner is probably heroin and
methamphetamines. The U.S. government says Myanmar was the world's top producer
of opium in 2001, thanks to a decline in Afghanistan when the Taliban banned
cultivation of opium poppies.
U.S. diplomats say the Bush administration could push a sanctions bill
through by mid-year if there is no progress. Europe would face heavy public
pressure to follow suit.
The junta's relations with the 10-member Association of South East Asian
Nations (ASEAN), which admitted Myanmar in 1997 hoping engagement would bring
change, are also becoming strained.
Singapore, Malaysian and Thai businesses hoped to profit from the
military's move to open up Myanmar's isolated economy in the mid-1990s but have
instead run up against informal Western boycotts and the junta's arbitrary
decision making.
Last month the government banned all foreign trading firms, many of which
were from neighbouring countries, in an effort to protect local firms, turning a
deaf ear to ASEAN protests.
ISOLATIONISM
"ASEAN can play a really significant role, if it chooses to, in pressing
for change here," said a Yangon-based diplomat.
"But the regime is consistently trying to keep ASEAN out of their political
business. If they revert to isolationism, they really risk the whole
relationship with ASEAN."
Economic pressure is also mounting.
The Myanmar economy is moribund with the kyat currency at an all-time low
of 1,000 to the dollar on the black market, inflation rampant and hours each day
of electricity black-outs.
Freedom for Suu Kyi, an immensely popular icon for the pro-democracy cause
inside and outside Myanmar, is the key demand of the opposition who say there
can be no real progress as long as she is confined to her lakeside home in the
Myanmar capital.
Partly because of this, diplomats think her release may have to wait a
little longer. The junta would not want to be seen to be caving in to
international pressure to release her but would prefer instead to let her go
when they choose, they say.
"She still represents something very important for the people: their
aspirations, what the country could and should be, which is why they don't
release her," said a Western diplomat.
But the junta may have to free her soon.
"We've always said if there's positive change we'll respond, but of course,
the reverse is also true," said the Western diplomat in Yangon. "If Razali comes
and there's no release, I'm not sure how much mileage is left."
----------------------------------------------------------------- Friday April 26, 3:17 PM
UN envoy in rare talks with junta leader at end of Myanmar mission (AFP) - UN envoy Razali Ismail
held rare talks with the leader of Myanmar's ruling junta at the end of a
four-day mission aimed at revitalising dragging reconciliation talks with
democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Razali boarded a Malaysian Airlines flight here after paying a 45-minute
courtesy call on Senior General Than Shwe, leader of the ruling military junta
which has held Aung San Suu Kyi under house arrest for 18 months.
"It was useful," Razali said of the meeting before his departure.
Sources said it was only the second time Razali has been granted a meeting
with the senior general, who is chairman of the State Peace and Development
Council (SPDC), in his seven trips to Myanmar since being appointed two years
ago as special envoy of UN Secretary General Kofi Annan.
Razali met with Aung San Suu Kyi twice in as many days during the trip,
including a private dinner at her lakeside residence Thursday evening.
He also held what he described as "useful and encouraging" talks Thursday
with senior lieutenants of the Nobel peace laureate's National League for
Democracy (NLD).
The flurry of meetings, which included two-hour talks Wednesday with the
junta's number three, Lieutenant-General Khin Nyunt, created fresh hope that a
major breakthrough could be reached in the coming weeks.
"I am optimistic about things," Razali told reporters before entering the
airport, adding he expected to be back in Myanmar "within the next two or three
months."
After speaking with the envoy Wednesday, one well-placed observer told AFP
Razali was upbeat.
"He (Razali) hopes there will be some results coming out in the coming
weeks," the observer added.
The results, the observer said, could be seen as the release of Aung San
Suu Kyi and an agreement that she would be free to operate as leader of the
party.
Razali himself was less committal about what new developments could be
expected. "You will probably be witness to it," he said, declining to
elaborate.
When he arrived in Myanmar on Tuesday, Razali carried with him hopes he
would finally prompt a breakthrough in the reconciliation talks, which have
proceeded at a painfully slow pace and behind closed doors.
Razali was instrumental in bringing the two sides together in October 2000
with the aim of ending years of political deadlock which followed the rise to
power of the current batch of generals after a bloody crackdown on pro-democracy
demonstrators in 1988.
The NLD said earlier this month that it was hopeful the two sides would
soon conclude an initial "confidence-building" phase and start discussing a
political transition to end four decades of military rule.
The talks have already borne some fruit, securing the release of more than
250 political prisoners and lifting the junta's pressure on the NLD, which was
in tatters before the talks began.
Razali had been due to visit Yangon last month, but the junta postponed the
visit after announcing it had foiled a coup plot mounted by relatives of former
dictator Ne Win.
Myanmar's military prevented the NLD from taking power in 1990 after the
party won a landslide election victory.
Despite optimism over Razali's mission, the United Nations has maintained
its pressure on Yangon.
On Thursday in Geneva the UN Commission on Human Rights adopted a
resolution strongly condemning the military leadership in Myanmar for what it
described as a "continuing pattern of gross and systematic violations of human
rights".
The European Union-sponsored resolution adopted by the commission also
pointed at meagre progress towards democratisation in the country.
----------------------------------------------------------------- Saturday April 27, 12:47 AM
UN envoy hopeful of Myanmar breakthrough soon By Aung Hla Tun and Patrick Chalmers YANGON/KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) -
A top U.N. envoy returned from Myanmar on Friday saying he believed four days of
talks with the country's military leadership would yield some breakthrough in a
flagging national reconciliation process.
"I think maybe the national reconciliation process is back on track,
despite the earlier problems," U.N. envoy Razali Ismail told reporters on
arrival at Kuala Lumpur International Airport.
Diplomats have said if the Malaysian diplomat's mission to Myanmar, his
seventh since he took on the challenge, ended without any sign that the
secretive peace dialogue was moving forward, the credibility of the talks would
be severely dented.
"The parties are committed to the national reconciliation process," said
Razali, whose 18 months of brokering talks have little to show so far.
"A few important developments may well happen quite quickly," he said.
But he gave no indication of what those developments might be -- or whether
the ruling junta would re-start talks with pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu
Kyi.
Her National League for Democracy (NLD) took more than 80 percent of the
seats in landmark 1990 elections, but the military, which has ruled Myanmar
1962, has refused to relinquish power.
On Thursday evening, Razali had dinner with Suu Kyi at the lakeside Yangon
home where she has been held under house arrest for most of the past decade. It
was his second meeting with the 56-year-old Nobel peace prize laureate during
his latest visit.
JUNTA'S UNITY "CLEAR"
Razali met the head of the ruling junta, Senior General Than Shwe, before
leaving Myanmar on Friday and also held talks with generals Maung Aye and Khin
Nyunt during his visit.
He said he detected no signs of division among the leaders, contrary to
speculation among diplomats of rivalry between the relatively moderate
intelligence chief Khin Nyunt and the hardline Army chief Maung Aye.
"They have more or less sorted things out," Razali told reporters. "The
unity of the leadership is quite clear."
"They have assured me this will not be an obstacle to national
reconciliation," he said in reference to the fallout from a recently reported
coup attempt.
Since the start of talks between the two sides in 2000, the military has
released more than 200 political prisoners. But a further 1,000 or more are
believed to be still languishing in jail. The talks have shown no sign of
concrete progress.
Suu Kyi's release is the top demand of the international community.
Diplomats say this alone can help allay growing suspicion the ruling
generals are merely using the talks to try to improve their image, end the
poverty-stricken country's isolation and lift crippling sanctions imposed by
many countries, including the United States and European nations.
Many diplomats, however, fear the military is in fact hardening its
attitude towards the talks with Suu Kyi.
The junta said last month it had foiled a coup bid by relatives and cronies
of elderly former dictator Ne Win. His son-in-law and three grandsons were
arrested and are to be put on trial for high treason, which carries the death
penalty.
Many in Myanmar welcomed the arrests. Ne Win began decades of dictatorial
military rule in Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, when he seized power in 1962
and then presided over its decline from one of Asia's richest nations to one of
its most backward.
Many analysts doubt a coup was ever seriously planned and say the
allegations are being used by the military to purge its ranks. They say the
purge has strengthened the hand of hardliners opposed to making any concessions
to Suu Kyi.
----------------------------------------------------------------- Friday April 26, 6:59 AM
U.N. deplores rights abuses in Myanmar GENEVA (Reuters) - The top U.N. human rights body urged Myanmar's rulers on Thursday to open "substantive" talks with the opposition to speed a transition to democracy. Adopting a resolution presented by the European Union, the forum said it
deplored "systematic violations" of human rights in Myanmar, including
executions, forced labour and forced relocation of ethnic minorities.
The U.N. Commission on Human Rights, whose 53 member states wind up their
annual six-week session in Geneva on Friday, accepted the text by consensus
after a debate.
It renewed the mandate of its special independent investigator on Myanmar,
Brazilian lawyer Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, who last visited the country in
February.
The National League for Democracy, headed by Nobel peace prize laureate
Aung San Suu Kyi, won Myanmar's last elections in 1990 by a landslide but was
never allowed to take power. Hundreds of NLD members have been jailed and
harassed over the past decade.
The text expresses concern at the "slow pace of the process of national
reconciliation and democratisation" and urges the military to release Suu Kyi
from de facto house arrest and other NLD members from prison.
Myanmar's delegate took the floor to declare that national reconciliation
was a "subtle and step-by-step process" and his country would not bow to
"pressure tactics on the pretext of promoting human rights".
The government released a record 580 detainees last year and its
cooperation with U.N. mechanisms had reached "new heights", according to the
envoy.
Delegations from Malaysia, India and Pakistan closed ranks around their
regional partner, criticising the EU for failing to sufficiently recognise
positive steps by Myanmar.
These ranged from growing cooperation with U.N. envoys including Pinheiro,
as well as the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the International
Committee of the Red Cross which began prison visits in 2000.
The government last month agreed to allow the ILO, a U.N. agency, set up a
liaison office in Myanmar to help wipe out forced labour. ILO officials say the
army is still forcing villagers to work on infrastructure projects or as
porters.
The EU resolution cites "only very modest improvement in the eradication of
forced labour", despite an official ban.
In Yangon on Thursday, U.N. envoy Razali Ismail, who is trying to salvage
flagging reconciliation talks, said he was confident of progress but could not
predict when it would come.
In 2000, Razali, a Malaysian diplomat, helped broker secretive talks
between the military and Suu Kyi, which have been hailed as a breakthrough in a
long political deadlock. But the talks have failed to produce any concrete
results and patience is waning.
----------------------------------------------------------------- Thai troops clash with forces from
Myanmar, 10 reported killed
Sat Apr 27, 7:31 AM ET BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) - Thai
troops, supported by helicopter gunships, clashed with ethnic-Wa guerrillas from
Myanmar after two of the fighters were captured inside Thailand. Ten Wa soldiers
were killed in the fighting, local media reported on Saturday.
Fighting broke out Friday after the two men were picked up about 300 meters
(330 yards) inside Chiang Rai province in northern Thailand, said Thai army
officer Lt. Col. Peranetr Kettem.
The United Wa State Army has been branded by the U.S. government as a major
drug producing and trafficking group in Southeast Asia.
Nation Television and other Thai media reported that about 10 of the
attackers had been killed and that one of the captured men was a close relative
of drug kingpin Wei Hsueh-kang.
But Peranetr could not confirm the death toll or the identity of the
captured man. Wei, one of the leaders of the Wa army, is wanted in the United
States on drug charges.
After firing mortars at Thai troops, about 70 Myanmar personnel crossed the
border and tried but failed to take their captured comrades back, the Thai
military said.
Following a 20-minute clash, the attackers retreated, but launched another
assault two hours later.
Sporadic cross-border firing was reported continuing, with two helicopters
armed with machine guns supporting the Thai troops.
Such clashes and incursions are common along the remote, poorly demarcated
border, as Myanmar troops engage against ethnic minority rebels and Thai
frontier forces try to halt a massive influx of drugs from Myanmar, also known
as Burma.
The Thai government has accused Myanmar's military rulers of failing to
curb a rampant drug trade along the border. Myanmar has denied the
accusation.
The United Wa State Army is a former guerrilla group that signed a
cease-fire with the Myanmar government and now enjoys virtual autonomy in
eastern Myanmar.
Also contributing to tensions along the northern frontier are periodic
clashes between Myanmar government forces and autonomy-seeking Shan
rebels.
Chiang Rai province is 680 kilometers (420 miles) north of the capital
Bangkok.
----------------------------------------------------------------- Myanmar junta expresses regret at
UN human rights resolution
Fri Apr 26,11:07 AM ET BANGKOK, Thailand (AP)-
Myanmar's military government Friday expressed disappointment at a resolution
adopted by the U.N. Human Rights Commission criticizing its human rights record
and political development.
A statement from the government spokesman's office expressed regret that in
spite of cooperation and positive developments, "certain countries and certain
sectors took pains to deliberately ignore all these pragmatic developments with
the sole intent to put pressure on Myanmar."
The statement was faxed to The Associated Press in Bangkok.
The cooperation to which it referred apparently means allowing visits by
U.N. human rights investigators. The positive developments seem to refer to
closed-door talks that have been taking place between the government and
opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi for about a year and a half.
The talks are aimed at breaking the country's political deadlock, which
centers around the military's refusal to cede power to Suu Kyi's National League
for Democracy party, which won a 1990 general election.
The 53-nation U.N. Human Rights Commission adopted its resolution by
consensus in Geneva on Thursday, almost two weeks later than originally planned
as countries negotiated the wording. The resolution was sponsored by the
European Union .
Overall, the resolution "deplores the continuing pattern of gross and
systematic violations of human rights in Myanmar, including extrajudicial,
summary or arbitrary executions, enforced disappearances, rape, torture, inhuman
treatment, forced labor, including the use of children, forced relocation and
denial of freedom of assembly, association, _expression_, religion and
movement."
The resolution does, however, welcome the move by the government to allow
some political functions to be resumed by the opposition, the release from
detention of some political activists and the ongoing cease-fires with ethnic
minority insurgents in some areas of the country.
The Myanmar government statement said that despite the "unfair and biased
policy and treatment", it would continue to work with other countries and the
United Nations "with a view to fulfilling its obligation and commitment as a
truly responsible member of the international community."
----------------------------------------------------------------- U.N. expecting announcement by
Myanmar government following latest mediation effort by U.N. envoy
Fri Apr 26,10:02 PM ET By EDITH M. LEDERER, Associated Press Writer UNITED NATIONS - The United Nations is expecting an announcement shortly
from the government of Myanmar following the latest mediation mission by a U.N.
envoy to reconcile the military junta and the opposition led by Aung San Suu
Kyi.
At the end of his seventh visit to Myanmar on Friday, U.N. envoy Razali
Ismail said developments could unfold "quite quickly" and he was "optimistic"
about his discussion with Gen. Than Shwe, the leader of Myanmar's military
government.
Razali, a retired Malaysian diplomat, gave no details of what kind of
breakthrough he expected, but later told reporters in Kuala Lumpur that the
generals had overcome the fallout of a recent reported coup attempt by
ex-dictator Ne Win's family that could have interfered in reconciliation.
U.N. spokesman Fred Eckhard said Friday that Razali "was pleased to have
been assured by the government that the national reconciliation process was on
track, in spite of the coup attempt uncovered in Yangon in early March."
"He was also encouraged to see that all parties remain committed to the
process. He is hopeful that certain significant progress could take place
shortly," Eckhard said.
Asked what the "significant progress" was, Eckhard said, "It's our
understanding that the government is going to make an announcement shortly, so
I'd rather not comment."
Razali has spent the past two years trying to broker a deal between the
military, which has ruled the country since 1962, and the opposition, which won
elections in 1990 but was never allowed to take office. He has won freedom for
258 political prisoners ? but perhaps 1,000 more are in jail.
Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, has been kept under various degrees
of house arrest for much of the past dozen years. Her current confinement began
in September 2000 when she defied official restrictions by trying to travel
outside Yangon for a party meeting.
The international community has grown impatient over the situation in
Myanmar and demanded the release of Suu Kyi as a demonstration of the
government's seriousness about reconciliation.
----------------------------------------------------------------- The Moscow Times
Friday, Apr. 26, 2002.
Astrology Thriving in
Myanmar
By Dominic Whiting
Reuters YANGON, Myanmar -- In a narrow, dimly lit office in central
Yangon's Bogyoke Aung San market, Myint Lwin waits for his next customer, a
folder full of lunar, solar, and stellar charts on his tatty wooden desk.
A young, well-dressed couple, who traveled more than 400 kilometers from
Taunggyi in central Myanmar, has just left the office smiling.
"They wanted to know whether they should get married," Myint Lwin says. "I
said yes. The two horoscopes are very good, but they'll have just one or two
children. And their parents are rich traders so they do not worry about money."
In Myanmar, almost anyone who can afford it will see an astrologer before
making an important decision, whether personal or work-related -- even the
government.
The political and economic destiny of the country, formerly called Burma,
has been intertwined with mysticism for decades.
Last month, the military government arrested members of former dictator Ne
Win for plotting to overthrow the junta with the help of an astrologer using
voodoo dolls. During his rule, mysticism-obsessed Ne Win introduced 45 kyat and
90 kyat banknotes because the numbers are divisible by, and their digits add up
to, his lucky number nine.
"Everybody believes in astrology," says Myint Lwin, vice chairman of the
Myanmar Astro Research Bureau, which claims to bring together a handful of the
country's most eminent astrologers to train budding wizards.
Myint Lwin asks $10 for a consultation -- around one month's salary for a
civil servant if you use the latest blackmarket rate of the free-falling kyat
currency. But the bureau's teaching services are free.
Myint Lwin leaves government work to others, including his disciples.
"We are the best 11 people in Myanmar, but VIP persons do not see us, they
see other people because teaching is our major subject," Myint Lwin said. "We're
a private association, but our students can go on to work for the government."
The civil service for an astrologer could mean relatively mundane
predictions of auspicious times and dates for meetings and signing international
agreements. But high-flyers give personal advice for Myanmar's omnipotent junta.
"All top leaders have their own family astrologer, just like having a
family doctor," said Aung Zaw, editor of Bangkok-based Irrawaddy magazine.
Although not known to be superstitious, Nobel laureate and leader of the
pro-democracy opposition Aung San Suu Kyi has a close relationship with a highly
revered Buddhist monk called Thamanya Sayadaw, who many believe has supernatural
powers.
Astrologers say they have seen their freedom of speech curtailed in recent
years. The Myanmar new year festival in mid-April is a time when sages release
their country forecasts for the coming year. They are likely to be upbeat.
"Government officials tell them not to make negative predictions for the
country, like drought or other catastrophes," said Aung Zaw. "They could face
imprisonment, that could happen in Myanmar," he said.
At the Astro Research Bureau, Myint Lwin declined to divulge what the
future holds for Myanmar's military rulers or Suu Kyi.
But despite current economic difficulties, Myanmar has a very bright
future, he said. "I think the country will become rich and successful. Our raw
materials are many, many -- minerals, jewels, oil."
----------------------------------------------------------------- Environmental News
Network
Gunboat petroleum: Burma?s Unocal/Total
pipeline
Friday, April 26, 2002
By Edith T. Mirante Edith T. Mirante is author of Burmese Looking Glass (Atlantic Monthly
Press, 1993) and director of Project Maje, an information project on Burma's
human rights and environmental issues. She has conducted research in remote
areas of Burma's war zone. In 1988 she was the first foreigner in decades to
walk across the Tenasserim region of southern Burma, the area which has become
the gas pipeline route. Mirante has testified about these issues before the U.S.
Congress and the European Trade Commission.
Tiny bats and huge wild elephants lived in the way of Unocal's Burma-Thailand pipeline. But that didn't stop the California multinational with a ruthless reputation from forging ahead. Colombia is in the news for a U.S.-backed military campaign to secure
petroleum pipelines. On the other side of the globe, the case of Unocal and
Total in Burma shows just how wrong such militarized pipeline projects can go,
running counter to environmental protection and the safety of indigenous
people.
Burma (which its ruling regime calls Myanmar) is the largest nation in
mainland Southeast Asia. Burma's army seized power from a democratic government
in 1962 and has gripped it ever since, suppressing a people's uprising in 1988
and denying office to the party of Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, the
landslide victor in the 1990 elections.
Burma's forests, rich in teak and other valuable hardwoods, had survived
until recently thanks to the Burma Selection System in which indigenous people
and then the British logged carefully and replanted in a disciplined way.
The military regime discarded that system and clear-cut central Burma in
the 1970s and '80s. Then after the 1988 uprising, the junta granted logging
concessions on its eastern frontier to neighboring Thailand ? whose rapacious
logging had destroyed its own forests ? and fought "teak wars" with ethnic
rebels for control of the border forests. In a couple of years Burma went from
the world's seventh highest rate of deforestation to the third highest.
More recently, Chinese and Malaysian logging companies have turned much of
northern Burma into a clear-cut zone. Hard currency from the sale of hardwood
timber mostly goes toward the purchase of weaponry from China and Russia,
including MiG fighter bombers. Russia is planning to set up a nuclear reactor in
Burma as well.
Another result of the economic openness of the present junta, which
controls the economy from rice to heroin, has been the sale of petroleum
exploration concessions to foreign firms. The most lucrative petro-blocks have
turned out to be offshore, where natural gas reserves were found beneath the
Andaman Sea. The regime's gunboats drove local fishing folk, including the Salon
"Sea Gypsies" from the vicinity.
Unocal from Los Angeles and Total of France hatched a scheme to build a
pipeline across southern Burma, homeland of rebellious ethnic groups including
the Mons and Karens. The intent was to pipe the gas to Thailand for electricity
generation, even though Thailand already had a gas glut and didn't really need
it. Halliburton (with Dick Cheney as CEO) provided construction expertise and
helped Unocal to lobby against sanctions on Burma's regime. Premier Oil from
England followed suit with a parallel pipeline.
The collateral damage ? indigenous people killed, raped, tortured, and
enslaved by Burma army pipeline security forces ? is ongoing. Currently there is
talk of building a new pipeline across western Burma to India as well.
The majority of the Unocal/Total pipeline route lies undersea, but on land
it cuts across the Tenasserim region of southern Burma, which contained a
treasury of the last primary tropical rainforest on mainland Asia. The area has
been recognized as a globally significant eco-region and a biodiversity hot
spot.
Ethnic rebellion had kept resource exploitation limited, and the Karens had
maintained their own wildlife sanctuary on their sacred mountain, Kaser Doh. The
indigenous civilians were deeply connected with the rainforest. As one villager
put it, "Mostly our Karen people like to stay on our own lands or in the
peaceful living conditions of the jungle."
The pipeline, 700 kilometers (435 miles) long, was completed in 1999
despite protests from international human rights and environmental groups. The
companies buried the on-land segment, paved an access road along it, and built a
security corridor around it. The pipeline is guarded by several battalions of
troops.
Surrounding woodland was logged and cleared by forced labor, and security
forces killed wild animals, including rhinoceros and elephants. Forest dwellers
were compelled to resettle in security zones, where Unocal and Total set up
development projects such as shrimp farming and pig husbandry, which have their
own negative impacts on the environment.
When the pipeline crossed over into Thailand, it sliced across a national
park and forest reserve, which was the only habitat of the world's smallest
mammal, Kitti's hog-nosed bat, as well as one of the remaining wild elephant
habitats in Thailand. Thai environmentalist Bhinand Jotiroseranee said that the
corporations involved "are accountable for this environmental destruction and
are showing disrespect to local people who have cherished elephants for
centuries."
Thai activists protested desperately along the pipeline route ? to no
avail. The once-lush forest along the route suffered die-off, and Thailand was
forced to pay Burma's junta for unwanted gas.
The Unocal/Total pipeline project has secured the Tenasserim for commercial
exploitation. Logging is now unchecked in the region, and a massive
road-building project is underway. Plantations were established, where Karen and
Mon people are forced at gunpoint to produce food for the regime's army that
occupies their land.
Unocal and Total are no strangers to controversy. Unocal is notorious for
pollution in California and on Lubicon Cree land in Canada as well as for its
support of the Taliban's rise to power in Afghanistan. Total, now
Total-Fina-Elf, earned criticism for the Erika oil spill off the French coast
and its deals with dictators worldwide.
Unocal sold off its Union 76 gas stations following a boycott, so activists
have pursued other means to pressure the company to leave Burma and hold it
accountable for crimes committed in its name. These efforts build on
investigations conducted by 1999 Goldman Environmental Award winner Ka Hsaw Wa,
a Karen exile who founded EarthRights International.
An attempt was made to revoke Unocal's corporate charter in California.
Lawsuits on behalf of civilians harmed by the Burma pipeline security campaign
are proceeding in U.S. courts. Shareholder actions, such as resolutions and
demonstrations at Unocal's annual meetings, have been supported by trade unions,
religous groups, and institutional investors. Robert Wages, president of the
International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine, and General Workers Union,
called the Unocal/Total pipeline "ecologically, socially, and financially
unsound."
Other efforts focus on helping the indigenous people of the pipeline region
to survive and trying to salvage what remains of their forests. The Burma
Humanitarian Mission has begun a project to assist and encourage the Karen
people's use of traditional botanical medicines. In a land gripped by despair,
such programs offer some hope for the future.
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