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BURMA RELATED NEWS - MAY 21,
2002.
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HEADLINES
----------------------------------------------------------------- Reuters - Thai army trades fire with Myanmar
drug runners
Reuters - Thailand and Myanmar spar over border
clashes
Reuters - Southeast Asia to coordinate action
against terror
AFP - Southeast Asian ministers renew commitment
to wipe out terrorism
AP - Prosecution witness testifies in Myanmar
treason trial
AP - Myanmar alleges Thai army supports ethnic
rebel attacks
AP - Myanmar announces expanded opium
eradication effort
BBC - Burma treason trial opens
Herald Sun - Burma
anti-heroin push
AFL-CIO - Worker Shareholders Challenge Unocal's
Plans for New Investment in Burma And Ask for Commitment to Global Labor
Standards
ABC News - Burma?s Triumph
Kyodo News - Myanmar may resort to
'other means' to end cross-border attack
The Nation - Army hits Wa hard in dawn raid
Bkk Post - Bangkok, junta swap protests
Xinhuanet - Thailand
Denies Military Fires Artillery Shells Into Myanmar
NSTP - Tapping into intelligence
sharing
----------------------------------------------------------------- Monday May 20, 8:39 PM
Thai army trades fire with Myanmar drug runners CHIANG MAI, May 20 (Reuters) -
Thai troops on Monday traded cross-border artillery and mortar fire with a
Myanmar ethnic militia that trafficks drugs in a possible prelude to
larger-scale clashes along the frontier, military sources said.
Senior Thai officers in northern Chiang Mai told reporters on condition of
anonymity that Thailand fired at least six mortar rounds on positions of the
United Wa State Army (UWSA), one of the world's most powerful drug militias,
after shelling by the ethnic group crossed into Thai territory.
Sporadic shelling erupted in areas bordering Thailand's Mae Hong Son and
Chiang Mai provinces, but details of casualties were not available.
The officers said thousands of Thai soldiers, backed by hundreds of tanks,
had been dispatched to Chiang Mai, Mae Hong Son and two other border provinces
in early May for month-long military exercises.
Thai troops have clashed with the UWSA sporadically in recent years along
the 2,400 km (1,490 miles) border with Myanmar.
Thailand, which expects to be flooded with over 900 million methamphetamine
stimulant pills this year, says the UWSA is a major producer and supplier of the
drug.
The UWSA has some 20,000 troops and an arsenal that includes surface-to-air
missiles, according to Jane's Defence Weekly.
The Thai officers denied earlier claims by other military sources that Thai
soldiers planned a major incursion into Myanmar to seize UWSA's headquarters
close to the border.
Thai military sources said last week that Thai troops were planning to
strike across the Myanmar border after being given the go-ahead by Yangon.
The sources said the Myanmar government gave permission for a Thai attack
on the UWSA, which had signed a ceasefire deal with Yangon, in a bid to smooth
relations with Thailand.
But Thai Major General Pichanmeth Muangmanee, deputy commander of the
northern region, on Monday denied that Thai forces would cross the border.
A Thai military statement said recent clashes between forces of the UWSA
and another ethnic group, the Shan State Army (SSA), had pushed some 500 Shan
refugees into Thailand since May 7.
Army sources near the border said about 200 SSA forces on Monday mounted
attacks on two UWSA bases, including one that was defended by ethnic Wa and
Myanmar government soldiers.
They quoted SSA soldiers saying about 21 Myanmar soldiers were killed
before SSA forces overran one base. They said four SSA fighters and eight ethnic
Shan civilians were wounded during the skirmishes.
Diplomats say that the SSA are closely allied to Thai forces and many of
their operations are directed from inside Thailand.
Fighting near the second UWSA base continued late on Monday, Thai military
sources said.
Major General Pichanmeth told reporters about 150 refugees fled to Thailand
on Monday after early morning clashes between the UWSA and SSA.
----------------------------------------------------------------- Tuesday May 21, 2:57 PM
Thailand and Myanmar spar over border clashes By Aung Hla Tun YANGON, May 21 (Reuters) -
Myanmar's military government angrily denied on Tuesday that it planned to
cooperate with Thai troops in attacking an ethnic army widely accused of drug
trafficking and warned Thailand not to encroach on its soil.
In the latest salvo in a war of words between Myanmar and Thailand over a
series of clashes along their common border, Myanmar's deputy military
intelligence chief, Major-General Kyaw Win, said the junta would use "other
means" if diplomatic methods failed to resolve tension along the border.
The Thai army has moved thousands of troops to its northern border with
Myanmar in the Golden Triangle region where much of the world's heroin and
methamphetamines are produced.
The deployment is ostensibly for exercises, but military sources say the
move is a prelude for a strike against a faction of the United Wa State Army led
by Wei Hsueh-Kang, the Golden Triangle's most notorious drugs baron.
Thai military sources say the second most powerful member of Myanmar's
junta, General Maung Aye, gave the green light for an attack on Wei's forces
during a visit to Thailand last month.
But Kyaw Win told a news conference in Yangon that there had been no such
agreement.
"It is utterly wrong that General Maung Aye agreed to Thailand's plan to
attack the Wa ethnic group during his visit to Thailand," Kyaw Win said.
"Even if General Maung Aye agreed to that plan, they should have contacted
us to coordinate further actions."
Kyaw Win warned Thai troops not to encroach on Myanmar soil in any attack
on Wei's forces. "We will never allow any foreign troops into our territories,"
he said.
TRADING BLAME
The Wa army signed a peace deal with Myanmar's junta in 1989. It is widely
accused of being the region's main producer of heroin and methamphetamines, a
charge the Myanmar government denies.
Myanmar has accused Thailand of supporting terrorism and of backing attacks
by the Shan State Army, another ethnic army opposed to the junta. It said the
Thai army provided artillery support for an assault by the Shan army on several
lightly armed surveillance outposts on Monday.
Thailand said on Monday that fighters of the Shan army, which diplomats say
is backed by the Thai army, attacked two Wa army positions, including one
defended by Myanmar troops.
Yangon accuses the Shan army of drug trafficking and says it is cracking
down on the group and stamping out narcotics production.
Thailand, supported by international anti-narcotics agencies, says it is
not the aggressor and that the real drug traffickers are the Wa army. Thailand
has said it expects to be flooded with over 900 million methamphetamine
stimulant pills this year, many of which will come from Wa factories inside
Myanmar.
Jane's Defence Weekly says the Wa army has some 20,000 troops and is armed
with surface-to-air missiles, making it one of the world's most powerful drug
militias. Around 5,000 Wa troops are said to be near the border with Thailand.
Myanmar said it lodged a diplomatic protest over the border incident on
Monday.
Thai Deputy Defence Minister Yuthasak Sasiprapha told reporters on Tuesday
that Thailand was not involved in the border fighting and it did not back any
ethnic faction in Myanmar.
"We did not side with any faction...we just fired warning shots to remind
them that the fighting inside Myanmar had prompted some shells to land on our
territory," he said.
----------------------------------------------------------------- Tuesday May 21, 6:02 PM
Southeast Asia to coordinate action against terror KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Southeast Asian nations sent a sharp warning to militants in the region on Tuesday by saying they would coordinate tactics to counter terror mongers. "We commit to counter, prevent and suppress all forms of terrorist acts,"
interior ministers from the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) said
after a meeting in Kuala Lumpur.
Malaysia and Singapore pledged to train neighbours in areas such as better
airport security and intelligence gathering.
Bomb attacks in the Philippines, Thailand and Indonesia, and the discovery
in Singapore and Malaysia of Islamic militants believed to be linked to Osama
bin Laden, have raised fears the region may become the new battleground in the
global war on terror.
Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines, the three countries with the
region's largest Muslim populations, signed an agreement this month to fight
terrorism and crush a militant network they say is bent on turning all three
into a single Islamic state.
The latest ASEAN action plan called for the development of multilateral or
bilateral pacts to help the apprehension, investigation, prosecution,
extradition and seizure of criminals and their assets.
Under the plan, Malaysia will provide regional training on anti-terror
intelligence gathering and psychological warfare while Indonesia would host a
workshop on combating international terrorism.
Singapore will offer logistical support for training on bomb and explosives
detection, post-blast investigation, airport security and passport security and
inspection.
The island republic will also host a dialogue session at next week's ASEAN
police chiefs' meeting.
Each ASEAN member nation will also name a key contact point on
counter-terrorism matters.
"We are seeing transnational crime as the twin brother of terrorism,"
Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi told a closing news
conference.
He listed money laundering, drug peddling and arms smuggling as key
concerns in the region, which is already battling the image of being a haven for
militants as evidence emerges of regional links to those accused of the
September 11 attacks on the United States.
Ministers from the 10-nation bloc had broached the idea of trying to define
the exact meaning of terrorism but agreed theirs was not the right forum to do
so.
Instead they outlined their plan on how to counter both cross-border crime
and terrorism.
Abdullah told reporters it would be tough to come up with a definition on
terrorism, but added that should not hamper efforts by governments to deal with
militants and terrorists.
U.S. forces are already helping the Philippine military to fight the Abu
Sayyaf, a Muslim militant group linked to bin Laden, and have joined war games
in Thailand with Thai and Singaporean forces.
In the past 12 months, Malaysia has detained dozens of militant suspects
while last December, Singapore arrested members of a cell it said planned to
attack U.S. targets on the island.
ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the
Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.
----------------------------------------------------------------- Tuesday May 21, 4:32 PM
Southeast Asian ministers renew commitment to wipe out terrorism (AFP) - Southeast Asian security ministers wrapped up a two-day meeting on terrorism with a renewed commitment to wipe out the scourge despite failing to agree on a common definition. In a joint communique, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)
ministers said they "unequivocally condemn" acts of terrorism and underscored
the "urgency for a cohesive and united approach."
In an endorsement of the Internal Security Act (ISA) used by Malaysia and
Singapore to detain without trial dozens of local militants, they acknowledged
the right of individual ASEAN countries to "continue pursuing practical
preventive measures" to address root causes of terrorism.
The ministers "strongly emphasized that terrorism must not be identified
with any religion, race, culture or nationality."
"We reaffirm our commitment and support to undertake the fight against acts
of terrorism committed wherever, whenever and by whomsoever without
discrimination," they said.
Host Malaysia had sought to obtain an ASEAN definition of terrorism to
boost enforcement in the region but senior officials at a preparatory meeting
Saturday failed to agree on the matter.
Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said Monday this was
not a major impediment as all 10 ASEAN members were committed to fighting
terrorism.
In their communique Tuesday, the ministers noted with concern the close
links between transnational crime and terrorism, and said this lent greater
urgency to efforts to combat cross-boundary crime.
They entrusted senior officials to execute a work program on terrorism,
which was part of an ASEAN plan of action to combat transnational crime approved
by senior officials Friday.
The program included developing legal arrangements to "facilitate
apprehension, investigation, prosecution, extradition, inquiry and seizure" to
boost mutual legal and administrative assistance.
It also involved developing regional training programs, and improved
coordination in law enforcement and intelligence sharing.
ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar,
Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
----------------------------------------------------------------- Prosecution witness testifies in
Myanmar treason trial
Mon May 20,11:41 AM ET YANGON, Myanmar (AP) -
Testimony began Monday in the treason case against relatives of former dictator
Ne Win, with a police officer who interrogated the accused explaining the
circumstances that led to their arrest.
Myanmar's military government alleges that Aye Zaw Win, the husband of Ne
Win's daughter Sandar Win, and their three sons tried to recruit military units
to kidnap junta leaders and force them to form a new regime loyal to Ne Win.
They were arrested on March 7.
The charges against the four men include high treason, which is punishable
by death, inciting military personnel to commit high treason and the illegal
importation and use of telecommunications equipment.
Under Myanmar's legal system, defendants enter a plea of guilty or innocent
after testimony have been given. The accused have not issued any public
statements on the charges against them.
At Monday's hearing in Yangon Division court, Police Lt. Col. Sein Win, who
interrogated the defendants, gave an account of their backgrounds and the
circumstances of their arrest.
Sein Win said investigations showed that they had often criticized the
country's military leaders, and expressed dissatisfaction with the government's
economic policies.
The junta has claimed that the family planned the coup because they were
upset about Ne Win's eroding influence in the government, causing them to lose
their economic and social privileges.
Ne Win, 91, seized power in a bloodless coup in 1962. He led Myanmar,
formerly known as Burma, to economic ruin before stepping down in 1988 in the
face of pro-democracy demonstrations that were quashed by the military.
Sein Win testified that Aye Ne Win, the eldest son of Aye Zaw Win, met Col.
Than Htay, commander of army division 77, at the latter's office on March 7 and
told him that the country and the military were in chaos. Aye Ne Win said a
leadership change was necessary and allegedly tried to enlist the colonel's
support for the coup plot.
Than Htay arranged for Aye Ne Win, his brothers and father to meet him at a
Chinese restaurant that evening, but also informed military intelligence. As
they talked before dinner, the alleged plotters were arrested.
Sein Win also testified how Aye Zaw Win and sons tried to recruit a Maj.
Thet Myo Aung and his unit to be in charge of Ne Win's security.
Thet Myo Aung, who was paid with cash and gifts, became a witness for the
state after he was detained, said Sein Win.
Items alleged to have been prepared for the coup, which were seized at
various properties belonging to the family, were displayed as evidence at the
court, including communication equipment, military uniforms, badges, rubber
batons and transmission cables.
Also displayed as evidence were three miniature dolls of the junta's top
three leaders, generals Than Shwe, Maung Aye and Khin Nyunt, apparently used in
black magic rituals. Ne Win, the former dictator, is famously
superstitious.
Proceedings were adjourned until Wednesday when Sein Win was supposed to
continue his testimony.
----------------------------------------------------------------- Myanmar alleges Thai army supports
ethnic rebel attacks
Mon May 20, 2:00 PM ET By AYE AYE WIN, Associated Press Writer YANGON, Myanmar - Myanmar's military government accused the Thai army of
firing artillery to back up ethnic rebel attacks on four Myanmar army border
bases Monday.
Ethnic Shan rebels launched attacks early Monday on outposts in Mong Ton
township, 500 kilometers (310 miles) northeast of Yangon, near the border with
Thailand, Myanmar military intelligence officer Lt. Col. San Pwint said.
Thai artillery and tanks gave supporting fire, he said at a news
conference. The Myanmar government had issued a strong diplomatic protest to
Thailand, San Pwint said.
However, Thai Army spokesman Col. Somkuan Saengpataranet denied that any
raid on Myanmar had taken place.
Thai officials had earlier reported fighting in the same area, but gave
conflicting accounts.
One Thai military intelligence officer told The Associated Press in Bangkok
on condition of anonymity that the military action was a Thai raid on a base
making illegal drugs and belonging to an ethnic guerrilla group, the United Wa
State Army.
Thai officials have long accused the Wa army, which has reached a
cease-fire with Myanmar's military government, of producing massive quantities
of the stimulant methamphetamine for smuggling into Thailand.
However, Thai Army spokesman Col. Somkuan Saengpataranet denied that any
raid on Myanmar had taken place, saying troops in northern Thailand were taking
part in an exercise that had "nothing to do with cross-border operations or any
drug suppression mission."
According to San Pwint's account of the fighting, anti-government
guerrillas from the Shan United Revolutionary Army, or SURA, attacked the four
outposts while the Thai army fired heavy artillery from inside Thailand in
support of the rebels.
As Myanmar government troops retreated from one of the outposts at
Yanpaingson, they saw the rebels hoist a Thai flag over the outpost, he
said.
Myanmar has frequently accused the Thai army of supporting the Shan rebels.
Similar confrontations early last year led to several back-and-forth shelling
incidents and a cooling of relations between the neighbor countries.
The Shan are one of about a half-dozen ethnic groups in Myanmar who have
long sought autonomy from the central government.
"The Thai army at the lower levels is deliberately trying to create
problems to damage friendly bilateral relations," said San Pwint.
Myanmar Deputy Foreign Minister Khin Maung Win said at the news conference
in Yangon that he had summoned the Thai ambassador to hand him a strong
protest.
At least two reporters on the Thai side of the border witnessed Thai forces
firing into Myanmar. They said they believed it was a response to fighting
between Shan rebels and Myanmar soldiers spilling over into Thailand's Chiang
Mai province, about 675 kilometers (420 miles) north of Bangkok.
Thailand and Myanmar share an 1,800-kilometer (1,120-mile) border that is
poorly marked in many spots, sometimes leading to disputes.
Another Thai army officer stationed near the border, also speaking on
condition of anonymity, said 150 Myanmar civilians fled into Thailand Monday
morning to escape fighting in the area. He said five of them had been
wounded.
----------------------------------------------------------------- Myanmar announces expanded opium
eradication effort
Mon May 20, 6:11 PM ET WASHINGTON (AP) - Myanmar,
believed to be the world's top producer of opium, announced Monday it will
expand a project encouraging farmers to plant alternative crops.
The announcement, made by the country's embassy in Washington, comes a week
after Myanmar officials met with U.S. State Department counternarcotics
officials in Washington.
The new anti-drug program encourages farmers to exchange opium seeds for
seeds of other crops, such as rice, wheat and corn. In the pilot phase of the
program, more than 141 tons of opium seeds have been turned in by farmers,
Myanmar said in a statement.
Col. Hla Min, a Myanmar spokesman, said the government is trying "to bring
these farmers out of poppy cultivation in a more humanitarian way than resorting
to sending in troops to destroy their sole livelihood."
Myanmar is one of three countries that the State Department says has
"failed demonstrably" to cooperate in fighting drugs. It is the only one whose
designation makes it ineligible for most types of U.S. assistance. The penalties
were waived for the other two nations, Haiti and Afghanistan, because of U.S.
national interests.
On May 13, a Myanmar anti-drug official, Col. Kyaw Thein, met with the
State Department's top counternarcotics official, Assistant Secretary Rand Beers
to discuss the steps needed to fight drugs.
Myanmar has been ruled by a group of generals since 1988, when they took
power after crushing a pro-democracy movement.
The country was the world's top opium producer in 2001, even though its
production has fallen sharply since 1996, according to State Department figures.
Opium production in Afghanistan, the top producer in 2000, was almost wiped out
in 2001 because of a ban by the Taliban militia, which ruled the country
then.
This month, Myanmar took a step toward addressing concerns about democracy
by releasing opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who had been under house arrest
since September 2000.
Suu Kyi traveled outside Yangon, the capital of Myanmar, last week for the
first time since her release.
----------------------------------------------------------------- BBC - Monday, 20 May, 2002, 14:21 GMT
15:21 UK
Burma treason trial opens The treason trial of four relatives of Burma's former military dictator,
General Ne Win, has reportedly opened in a court near the capital Rangoon.
The general's son-in-law, Aye Zaw Win, and his three grandsons were
arrested in March and are accused of plotting to overthrow the current military
government.
If found guilty they could face the death penalty.
The BBC's Burma analyst, Larry Jagan, says observers still remain sceptical
that Ne Win's family members were really plotting a coup, and suspect that the
allegations have more to do with internal conflicts within the military
leadership.
The investigating officer in the case told the special court that the
family plotted a coup when their attempts to meet the country's top military
generals failed, AFP news agency reported.
"Although they had tried repeatedly to meet with Senior General Than Shwe,
General Maung Aye and Lieutenant General Khin Nyunt, they did not succeed, so
that was when they concluded they needed the help of some military officers to
initiate the coup," said Police Lieutenant Colonel Sein Win during a detailed
submission.
Aye Zaw Win and his three sons are accused of trying to recruit soldiers to
kidnap the country's top three generals and introduce a permanent monarchy.
The defendants, handcuffed and wearing white shirts and traditional
longees, sat with their court-appointed lawyers and whispered to each other
during the proceedings.
Ne Win and his daughter Sandar Win have been under house arrest since the
rest of the family were detained.
The military government has hinted that they believe Sandar Win is actually
implicated in the plot, and that she is also likely to face trial in due
course.
----------------------------------------------------------------- Herald Sun
Burma anti-heroin
push
21may02
BURMA has promised to launch a new anti-heroin drive, code-named Project
Hell Flower, after high-level talks last week with US officials who frown on the
military-ruled state as the world's top source of illicit opium.
The Rangoon Government made the announcement through the same
Washington-based lobby group that gave the first details of democracy leader
Aung San Suu Kyi's release from house arrest two weeks ago.
The program is an exchange project designed to convince farmers to swap opium seeds for rice, wheat, maize and corn, the military government said in a statement. Burma's top anti-drugs officer, Colonel Kyaw Thein, met last week with top
officials from the US State Department, Justice Department and the Drug
Enforcement Administration.
The statement represented Burma's first public comment on the talks, the
first such contact in Washington between the two sides for years.
Anti-narcotics is one area in which there is limited US-Burma
cooperation.
But the Rangoon junta is frequently harshly criticised by the United States
over its human rights record and suppression of the pro-democracy movement of
Aung San Suu Kyi, which won elections in 1990 but was never allowed to take
power.
The junta's Rangoon-based spokesman, Colonel Hla Min, said in the statement
issued through the DCI Group here that a pilot version of Project Hell Flower
had already resulted in the turnover of 141 tonnes of opium seeds in northern
and southern Shan states.
"The idea behind Project Hell Flower is to provide incentives to turn in
poppy seeds.
"Farmers living in our rugged, remote areas struggle to survive on the
meagre income generated from selling raw opium. We have been implementing ways
and means to bring these farmers out of poppy cultivation in a more humanitarian
way than resorting to sending in troops to destroy their sole livelihood," Hla
Min said.
There was no immediate US comment on the announcement as officials said
they had not been notified of the project by Burma.
Kyaw Thein's visit to Washington came only a week after Burma freed Aung
San Suu Kyi from 19 months of house arrest.
The US State Department has insisted that Kyaw's visit was planned long in
advance of her release and was not intended as a concession to Burma.
----------------------------------------------------------------- Monday May 20, 10:52 am Eastern Time
Press Release SOURCE: AFL-CIO Worker Shareholders Challenge Unocal's Plans for New Investment in Burma And Ask for Commitment to Global Labor Standards BREA, Calif., May 20 /PRNewswire/ -- Worker shareholders at Unocal
Corporation's (NYSE: UCL - News) annual meeting today challenged the company's
reported plans to increase its investment in Burma, and announced new investor
support for a resolution on worker rights shareholders voted on at the
meeting.
In a letter hand-delivered to company chairman and CEO Charles Williamson,
AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Richard Trumka asked him to explain to shareholders
how Unocal does not violate U.S. government sanctions against new investment in
Burma in light of a recent press report indicating that Unocal intends to pursue
a new Burma-India gas pipeline. In addition, documents available on Unocal's web
site show a proposed new pipeline linking the company's Burmese offshore gas
fields to the Burmese capital Rangoon.
"Despite the recent release of Burmese democracy leader and Nobel Peace
laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, we think that this is not the time to make plans for
business expansions in Burma," said Trumka. "Ms. Suu Kyi reiterated her stance
opposing foreign investments after her house arrest ended this month. We ask
Unocal to disclose to shareholders any expansion plans it has for its Burma
operations in light of the high risks in this country."
A May 14 report from World Markets Analysis stated that Unocal, Brown &
Root, and the Indian government are believed to have conducted initial
feasibility studies to construct a 1,100 km undersea gas pipeline from Burma to
India. Unocal and the Burmese military dictatorship have been looking to find
new markets for Burmese gas.
The resolution offered at the meeting urges the board of directors to adopt
and implement a company-wide employee policy based on the International Labor
Organization's (ILO) Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work,
including bans on child and forced labor. The Longview Collective Investment
Fund of the Amalgamated Bank and Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical & Energy
Workers International Union (PACE) are the sponsors of the proposal. A similar
proposal submitted at last year's Unocal annual meeting received approximately
23 percent of the vote.
Investors are increasingly critical of Unocal's global operations.
Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. (ISS), the leading independent proxy
advisory firm in the United States, has recommended that Unocal shareholders
vote in favor of a proposal concerning worker rights. Several institutional
investors have already come out in favor of this proposal, including the New
York City Employees' Retirement System, the New York State Common Retirement
Fund, the UK-based Cooperative Insurance Society and Walden Asset Management (a
division of U.S. Trust Company of Boston) with combined total assets of more
than $198 billion. They joined the California Public Employees' Retirement
System (CalPERS), one of the world's largest pension funds with assets totaling
$156 billion, which had already announced its support for the shareholder
proposal.
"Investors are increasingly concerned that workplace and human rights
violations will impact Unocal's bottom line," said ICEM North America Regional
Coordinator Kenneth Zinn. "Worker shareholders and institutional investors alike
care that Unocal adopt best practices in its worldwide operations and minimize
unnecessary risk to shareholders."
Demonstrators outside today's shareholders meeting protested against
Unocal's participation in a $1.2 billion natural gas joint venture with a firm
owned by the Burmese military dictatorship that has been widely condemned for
its systematic use of forced labor and other human rights abuses. In addition,
Unocal's investments in Burma have exposed the company to significant potential
liabilities resulting from two lawsuits filed by Burmese refugees in U.S.
courts.
"We are extremely concerned about Unocal's business operations in countries
with poor human rights records," said James Norris, president of PACE Local
8-675, who is a former Unocal refinery employee. "In Burma, for example,
thousands of Burmese citizens have been pressed into forced-labor gangs, up to a
third of Burmese children work instead of attend school, and trade unions are
banned," Norris continued. "Unocal should stop propping up the Burmese
dictatorship with its investments and start improving its image."
The AFL-CIO represents 13 million working men and women who participate in
the capital markets as investors through defined benefit and defined
contribution plans, as well as through mutual funds and individual accounts. The
ICEM is a global trade union federation representing 20 million workers in 110
nations, including more than nine million energy workers.
----------------------------------------------------------------- ABC NEWS
Burma?s
Triumph
In Southeast Asia, a Victory for Civil Disobedience Commentary
By Tom Nagorski May 20 ? In this time of terror, wars against terror, and particularly
dreary developments in the Middle East, the news from overseas is rarely
uplifting. The release of Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi is a
welcome exception ? a "new dawn," Suu Kyi herself said. It is also a remarkable
story.
In a quiet, understated way, Suu Kyi has accomplished something
extraordinary. She has survived the political equivalent of a long stay on some
desert island, a marathon struggle that invites comparison to Mandela and
Sakharov.
Suu Kyi is the immensely popular daughter of Aung San, the hero of Burma's
fight for independence. But before 1988 she was a housewife, essentially, living
in England with her British husband and two children.
She returned to Burma that year to care for her mother; it happened to be a
season of political unrest, which culminated in a brutal crackdown on student
demonstrators. This was her country's Tiananmen Square, and Suu Kyi said she
could not "remain indifferent to what was going on." She was, after all, her
father's daughter.
So Suu Kyi stayed, railing publicly against a dictatorship that shot
hundreds of students, jailed thousands of other dissenters, and which would
ultimately nullify the results of elections that handed 82 percent of the vote
to Suu Kyi's party. In the process she galvanized an international effort that
imposed sanctions against the Burmese government.
People Power
In July 1989, Suu Kyi led a series of rallies that drew several thousand
followers in and around the capital, Rangoon.
The ruling generals had vowed to crush any further political protest;
treading a careful line, Suu Kyi peppered her pro-democracy speeches with
references to Gandhi, and Martin Luther King. "We don't seek confrontation," she
said.
In an interview in her Rangoon home, Suu Kyi reflected on the protests, and
the threats. "I certainly don't want any students to be shot," Suu Kyi told me.
"But this does not mean we are going to sit back weakly, and do nothing."
It had been difficult to arrange the meeting; troops had taken up positions
in her neighborhood. Twelve days later Suu Kyi's home was cordoned off by
soldiers. She was placed under house arrest, the beginning of a virtual
imprisonment that lasted, in one form or another, until she was freed last
weekend.
Putting Herself Last
Time and again in the years that followed, the government offered
half-measures ? in particular it dangled the prospect of exile to Great Britain,
where Suu Kyi might join her family.
The catch was always that she could not expect a safe return. Invariably
Suu Kyi told the authorities, "I am involved in a struggle for my country. This
is not about my own personal circumstances." In 1991 she won the Nobel Peace
Prize; not surprisingly, the generals chose not to allow her to go to Oslo to
accept the honor.
When her husband, an Oxford scholar, was diagnosed with cancer in 1999, the
government refused to grant him a visa that might have let him see his wife. He
died later that year.
So Suu Kyi, who is now 56, has paid an enormous price. And it is too early
to call her release an unvarnished good-news story.
Pros and Cons of Imprisonment
The rulers of Burma (who have, among other things, changed the names of
their country and capital to Myanmar and Yangon, respectively) have apparently
calculated that the benefits of repressing Suu Kyi and her National League for
Democracy no longer outweigh the costs.
In other words, they have smelled the coffee of 21st-century global
politics. Their decision may ultimately lead to a lifting of the sanctions; it
is also likely to ease the reluctance of many international travelers to visit a
country that ? while undeniably beautiful, and welcoming ? is run by a group of
thuggish generals.
Certainly Suu Kyi and her followers will not be satisfied until the regime
frees its political prisoners, and moves towards full democracy.
But for now her achievement ought to be celebrated, as an inspiration to
anyone who chooses to stand against tyranny. The other day I fished out my notes
from that interview at her home, 13 years ago.
"Civil disobedience has a great history," Suu Kyi had said. "That is why I
mention Mahatma Ghandi, and Martin Luther King. Martin Luther King said to the
people, 'I have a dream.' Well, in a way it is the same with us. We just want to
bring our dreams to reality."
----------------------------------------------------------------- Myanmar may resort to 'other
means' to end cross-border attack
YANGON, May 21 Kyodo - Myanmar
will resort to ''other means'' if diplomatic efforts fail to stop cross-border
attacks by the Thai army, Deputy Intelligence Chief Maj. Gen. Kyaw Win said
Tuesday.
----------------------------------------------------------------- THE NATION,CHIANG DAO, CHIANG MAI
BORDER BATTLE: Army hits Wa hard
in dawn raid
Don Pathan
Published on May 21, 2002
12 of drug army's positions smashed in day of shelling
Thai infantry units and armoured vehicles supported by artillery launched
an all-out dawn offensive yesterday, destroying positions manned by the United
Wa State Army (UWSA) along the Thai-Burmese border.
Shelling of UWSA positions, which went on throughout the day, could be
heard well inside Thai territory in border villages in Chiang Dao district.
Artillery fire supported the advancing Thai soldiers, who are carrying out
search-and-destroy missions against the UWSA's drug labs and military outposts
just kilometres from the Burmese border.
At Ban Na Wai, a small Thai village about two kilometres from the border,
about 60 Thais, mostly women and children, took refuge at a temple after fleeing
their homes.
In a related development, rebel soldiers from the Shan State Army (SSA)
also attacked both Wa positions and Burmese government positions, forcing more
civilians from Burma's Shan State to flee over the border into Thailand.
Maj-General Pichanmeth Muangmanee, deputy commander of the Thai Third Army
Region, told reporters that 150 refugees had fled into Thailand yesterday after
a morning clash between the UWSA and SSA. Officially, the Army maintained that
no Thai soldiers had crossed into Burmese territory.
Meanwhile in Bangkok Army spokesman Colonel Somkuan Saengpataranet denied
any such raids had taken place, saying troops in northern Thailand were only
taking part in an exercise, "Surasi 143".
But eyewitnesses and intelligence officers, speaking on condition of
anonymity, said this was not the case.
A dozen of the Wa's minor positions were destroyed in yesterday's raids but
not the UWSA's three main strongholds of Kiw Cheng Kap, Don Fai and Kong Her
Bin. Each of these is manned by between 200 and 300 soldiers, according to one
estimate.
Armoured vehicles, soldiers from Special Forces units, Cavalry squadrons
and artillery units have been seen taking up positions along the northern border
in Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai and Mae Hong Son provinces in the past few
weeks.
In response to the moves by the Thai military, the Wa have reinforced their
positions.
Military sources said the Burmese Army would not intervene to thwart the
plan to destroy the UWSA, which Thailand claims is its main enemy because of its
drug-related activities, adding that Rangoon had given the UWSA plenty of
warnings to stop its illegal activities.
However, in Rangoon yesterday the Burmese Foreign Ministry summoned the
Thai ambassador to receive a strongly worded official protest note over the
incident.
Burmese Deputy Foreign Minister Khin Maung Win said the note contained
details of an incident in which the Thai army used heavy artillery against
outposts in Mongtong in eastern Shan State from before dawn.
"We protested in the strongest possible terms that the unprovoked attack
violated our sovereignty and territorial integrity," Khin Maung Win was quoted
as saying by Agence-France-Presse.
The Thai artillery attack came simultaneously as forces of Yawd Serk's Shan
State Army crossed the border and attacked not only military outposts but also
four other positions manned by the Wa, he said.
The 20,000-strong UWSA, a remnant of the now defunct Communist Party of
Burma, entered into a cease-fire agreement with Rangoon in 1989 in return for
limited self-rule.
----------------------------------------------------------------- Bangkok Post - Tuesday 21 May 2002
Bangkok, junta swap protests Thai, Wa artillery exchange shots Bangkok Post and agencies Improved relations with Burma suffered a setback yesterday when the two
countries traded protest notes after Thai troops and the United Wa State Army
traded artillery fire across the border.
The Thai ambassador to Burma was handed a formal protest about a heavy
artillery barrage claimed to have been fired earlier in the day by Thai forces
in support of the Shan State Army, an anti-Rangoon rebel group.
Burmese Military Intelligence spokesman Col San Pwint told a press
conference in Rangoon the Thai ambassador was summoned to the Foreign Affairs
Ministry and was handed a protest ``in the strongest terms'' by Deputy Foreign
Minister Khin Maung Win.
He said a similar protest was given to the Thai military attache in Rangoon
by Military Intelligence officials.
Maj-Gen Picharnmet Muangmanee, the Third Army deputy commander, said Thai
troops fired warning shots after stray shells from fighting between the Shan and
the Wa fell on Thai territory.
Thailand also sent a protest note to Burmese authorities through the joint
Thai-Burmese border committee, he said.
The Burmese protest notes accused Thai forces of supplying heavy artillery
support to anti-government Shan rebels who attacked four military positions held
by Burmese and allied ethnic Wa forces along the border opposite Chiang Mai
province.
Col San Pwint said Shan State Army guerrillas attacked Burmese military
positions at Pan Mai Swan, Nyaung Pin Kone, Pan Gant Gaw and Yan Pine Swan,
which are located between 200 and 400 metres from Thai army positions.
He said the artillery attacks on the Burmese government and Wa army
positions began about dawn yesterday and continued until noon. He made no
mention of casualties.
The United Wa State Army, reportedly financed through the sale of illegal
drugs in Thailand, is in alliance with Burma's ruling junta.
An army source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Thai forces
responded to stray shells from Burma by firing several warning shots from 105mm
artillery into Burma.
When these warning shots failed to stop the firing from inside Burma, more
artillery rounds were fired into Burma by Thai troops, he said.
Thousands of Thai soldiers, backed by hundreds of tanks, were deployed in
Chiang Mai, Mae Hong Son and two other border provinces in early May for
month-long military exercises.
However, he denied that Thai forces were supporting Shan rebels and said
any rebels who crossed into Thailand were disarmed. They were later allowed to
return to Burma but without their weapons.
About 150 Shan villagers have fled across the border from the fighting
between the Shan and the Wa. Clashes between the two forces took place opposite
Mae Hong Son's Pang Ma Pha district and Chiang Mai's Wiang Haeng district, army
sources said.
The fighting in Burma caused Thai authorities to evacuate hilltribe
villagers at Ban Paek Saeng to Ban Jong school in tambon Piang Luang.
However, the situation along the border ranging from Tak, Mae Hong Son,
Chiang Mai to Chiang Rai was under control with no need for reinforcement.
A border source said the SSA had seized eight UWSA strongholds in Toh and
Tha towns.
The SSA attacked and seized the UWSA's Ban Khai Luang stronghold, a major
drugs production factory, early yesterday morning, the source added.
The Third Army commander has meanwhile urged his troops to exercise
caution. Lt-Gen Udomchai Ongkhasingh was concerned about possible interference
by a third party, said Col Banyong Sirasunthorn, head of the information
office.
``The situation is volatile. A third party might interfere and provoke
clashes between Rangoon and Thai soldiers,'' said Col Banyong.
----------------------------------------------------------------- Thailand Denies Military Fires Artillery
Shells Into Myanmar
Xinhuanet 2002-05-21 20:33:40
BANGKOK, May 21 (Xinhuanet) --
Deputy Prime Minister Chavalit Yongchaiyuth Tuesday denied Thai forces had
intentionally fired artillery shells into the Myanmar territory, saying they
were justmortars fired in military exercises, the Thai News Agency reported.
Myanmar Monday summoned the Thai ambassador to hand a formal protest about
a heavy artillery barrage claimed to have been fired earlier in the day by Thai
forces in support of the Shan State Army, an anti-Government rebel group.
Chavalit, who is also defense minister, said the Thai side had conducted a
fact-finding and found the military did not fire any shells from 105mm or 155mm
artilleries into Myanmar.
The Thai soldiers just fired 81-and 82-mm mortars as part of the month-long
military exercises along the frontier with Myanmar.
Asked whether the protest would lead to sour relations between the two
neighboring countries again, he said Thailand and Myanmar had good understanding
since Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra held talks with Maung Aye, deputy
chairman of State Peace and Development Council during his recent visit to the
country.
It was usual the way to improve the bilateral relations would not be a rosy
path. But the two countries must tolerate and join hands to cope with obstacles,
he said.
----------------------------------------------------------------- The New Straits Times Press
Special Asean Ministerial Meeting On
Terrorism
Tapping into intelligence sharing By Ramlan Said May 21: THE trilateral pact on anti-terrorism signed recently by Malaysia,
Indonesia and the Philippines can be used as a framework by Asean to bolster
measures in combating terrorist activities in the region.
Philippine Secretary of Interior and Local Government Jose D. Lina said the
regional grouping could tap into the intelligence sharing and communication
procedures outlined in the agreement.
He said it would be an added advantage for other Asean members to join the
pact, but the final decision rested with each member.
Myanmar has said it was not necessary for it to participate now but its
Home Affairs Minister Colonel Tin Hlaing said it would have no problem joining
it if the need arose.
Lina said the participation of all 10 Asean members in the pact was merely
a formality compared to the importance of having the framework
established.
He said the Asean Special Ministerial Meeting on Terrorism had taken note
of the trilateral pact with it being mentioned in the communique and work
programme.
Although Asean Ministers may not be able to agree on the definition of
terrorism at the end of the meeting, he said it was clear the grouping was
committed to eradicating it.
"There is a lot of common ground among Asean members in understanding the
meaning of terrorism, of cases which are clearly terrorism (in nature)." He said
the meeting would also result in the establishment of contacts and liaison among
agencies in each country, the systematic exchange and sharing of information and
communication procedures and setting up of data bases.
However, he was not optimistic the Ministers would be able to arrive at a
consensus on defining terrorism.
"But definitely there will be some mention among Ministers of the need to
really look into the definition." Despite no agreement on defining terrorism, he
said the ratification by member countries of the work programme in countering
terrorism was a big step forward.
He said the Philippines did not object to the definition of terrorism
proposed by Malaysia.
"In fact, our delegation suggested a reformulation to the language used in
the Malaysian proposal, but basically, everything remained the same," he
said.
He said they had to follow up on agreements reached at the grouping's
meeting in Brunei, including the need to define terrorism and looking into its
root causes.
On why senior officials had failed to define terrorism for the Ministers to
endorse, he said it was not an easy process.
"It is not easy to come up with a definition.
"Even the United Nations is in the process of defining it so that it will
be acceptable universally. It is evolving," he said.
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