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BURMA RELATED NEWS - JUNE 12,
2002.
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HEADLINES
----------------------------------------------------------------- AFP - Aung San Suu Kyi urges Myanmar people to
persevere for democracy
AFP - Myanmar human rights abuse case against US
oil giant to go ahead
Seattle Times - Court favors Burmese
refugees in rights ruling
AP - Los Angeles judge orders Unocal to
trial over alleged abuses in Myanmar
The Star
- Singapore foils illegal entry by five foreigners
The
Nation - 'We didn't shell Burma'
The
Nation - 'Common Burma strategy vital'
Bkk Post - Isoc, police at odds over motive, KNU
captain offers help
Bkk Post - Analysts call for clear-cut policy
----------------------------------------------------------------- Wednesday June 12, 4:02 PM
Aung San Suu Kyi urges Myanmar people to persevere for democracy (AFP) - Myanmar's pro-democracy
leader Aung San Suu Kyi urged a crowd who gathered to see her in eastern Yangon
to be responsible and persevere in their fight for democracy.
In an impromptu speech to some 1,000 people outside the National League for
Democracy (NLD) office in the township of Taketha, Aung San Suu Kyi said that
the arrival of democracy would depend on the people themselves.
"My father once said a free nation deserves democracy. I also firmly
believe that only democracy can guarantee freedom for its people. But as I have
said repeatedly, with rights and privileges comes responsibility," she told the
crowd from the NLD office balcony.
Aung San Suu Kyi's father, General Aung San, is hailed as the father of
Myanmar's independence. He was assassinated in 1947, just months before the
country achieved independence in 1948.
"So you must be not only spiritually and mentally strong but you must also
be responsible people, because one day it is the people who will be ruling the
country, and you must be prepared spiritually and mentally for this time," she
said, as usual wearing traditional dress and flowers in her hair.
"You ask me how soon are we going to get democracy? Well, how soon really
depends on how much desire you have for it. You must persevere and this
perseverance must be based on desire," she added.
Aung San Suu Kyi has been engaged in talks aimed at national reconciliation
with the country's ruling military regime since October 2000, one month after
she was placed under house arrest.
She was released on May 6 this year.
The leader also commended chairman of the NLD office, U Soe Myint, who was
jailed four years ago. The 62-year-old remains in Insein jail along with three
youths from Taketha town.
"This is one sign that this is one of the townships that have been very
active," she said.
The visit to Taketha was the Nobel peace laureate's fifth visit to a Yangon
township since her release from house arrest. She is yet to make any visit
outside Yangon, which observers believe would be a true test of the military
regime's commitment to allow her freedom of movement.
She visited the NLD office to assist in reorganising its youth
committee.
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Wednesday June 12, 9:31 AM
Myanmar human rights abuse case against US oil giant to go ahead (AFP) - A lawsuit claiming US
energy giant Unocal was complicit in human rights abuses committed by Myanmar's
military regime will go ahead in California in September, lawyers said.
A Los Angeles judge made the ruling on the six-year-old case Monday,
according to attorneys for villagers who lived near a disputed pipeline built
with "slave labour" to carry natural gas from Myanmar to neighbouring
Thailand.
"This is a huge victory for us and means that the heart of our long-running
case against Unocal will go to a jury and be heard in open court for the first
time," said civill rights lawyer Paul Hoffman, an attorney for the
villagers.
"We hope that this will serve as a message to Unocal and other firms that
deal with regimes engaged in human rights violations that if you do business
with the devil you can be held responsible for the devil's work."
The lawsuit, originally filed in 1996, claims Unocal was partly responsible
for human rights violations committed by Myanmar's military junta during the
construction of the Yadana pipeline commissioned by the company and its joint
venture partner, the Myanmar government.
They have long alleged Unocal -- and its partners including France's Total
oil -- were aware forced labour was used in Myanmar before they agreed to build
the pipeline, but went ahead with the project anyway.
The villagers claim that some of them were forced to help build the
pipeline while others suffered abuse -- including sexual assaults -- from
military officials offering "security" to the lucrative energy scheme.
They claim one infant died after "being kicked into a cooking fire" by
Myanmar military personnel.
The airing of the case of John Doe et al v. Unocal Corp. in California
Superior Court will mark the first time such claims against a US corporation's
overseas conduct would been heard in a US court, Hoffman said.
"We presented the court with evidence that the Burmese (Myanmar) military
forced villagers to perform hard labour against their will and committed
widespread human rights violations for the benefit of Unocal's project," said
another lawyer, Dan Stormer.
"Unocal was dealing with the devil. Now they have to answer to a jury," he
added following Judge Victoria Chaney's rejection on Monday of California-based
Unocal's bid to have the case dismissed.
Unocal spokesman Barry Lane strongly denied the company was in any way
responsible for the rights abuses he conceded were committed by the military of
Myanmar, formerly known as Burma.
"We were not party in any way to any rights abuses. We are not partners
with the military, did not request anything from the military and did not
receive services from the military," he said.
"There has not been any decision so far in this case yet and the judge has
indicated that there are a number of areas of the case that she is not going to
proceed with."
Lane also said while the case would go ahead in September following the
judge's rejection of Unocal's bid for dismissal and the plaintiffs' request for
a summary judgement, it remained unclear which arguments would be heard.
A similar lawsuit brought in a US federal court by the villagers, backed by
the organization EarthRights International, was rejected in September 2000,
forcing them to refile the suit in a California state court.
Rights activists have estimated that Myanmar's military regime, which
seized power in 1988, receives around 150 million dollars annually in precious
income from the Yadana pipeline, cash that they allege bankrolls the junta's
oppressive rule.
The pipeline also ran into trouble with environmentalists who forced a
brief suspension of construction last year, while Myanmar opposition leader,
Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, has called for companies to boycott the
country.
----------------------------------------------------------------- The Seattle Times - Wednesday, June
12, 2002
Court favors Burmese refugees in rights
ruling
LOS ANGELES ? A group of Burmese refugees won a landmark victory yesterday
when a Los Angeles judge ruled that Unocal oil could be tried for human-rights
violations, including forced labor, that allegedly occurred as a part of the
construction of a $1.2 billion gas pipeline in Myanmar.
Superior Court Judge Victoria Gerrard Chaney's ruling means that if the
case goes to court, Unocal would become the first U.S. corporation held to
answer charges of abuse on foreign soil.
Unocal contends the suit is part of a politically motivated campaign to
embarrass the company into divesting its holdings in Myanmar, also known as
Burma, whose military leaders seized power after free elections in 1990.
Unocal is being tried for so-called "vicarious liability," which says that
joint-venture partners bear responsibility for each other's actions involving
their common business.
The plaintiffs are 14 former residents of Burmese villages in the path of
the pipeline, which was completed in 1998 to transport gas from an offshore
field through Myanmar to Thailand. The villagers allege that Myanmar soldiers
forced them to work on the pipeline project.
----------------------------------------------------------------- Los Angeles judge orders Unocal to
trial over alleged abuses in Myanmar
Tue Jun 11,11:53 PM ET LOS ANGELES - (AP) - A
Superior Court judge has ordered the Unocal Corp. to stand trial for alleged
human rights abuses related to a pipeline project in Myanmar.
In a ruling made public Tuesday, Superior Court Judge Victoria Chaney
denied a Unocal motion for summary judgment of lawsuits brought on behalf of
citizens of and refugees from Myanmar, which was formerly known as Burma.
In a separate ruling made Friday and announced Tuesday, Chaney also denied
the plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment, saying they could not show Unocal
was solely responsible for the alleged human rights violations.
A jury trial was set for Sept. 26 in Los Angeles, where Unocal is
based.
"For the first time in any place, we are holding an American corporation
liable for human rights abuses committed abroad," said Dan Stormer, who is
representing the plaintiffs.
Chaney, however, also granted a Unocal motion for summary judgment that
concerned the oil company's direct liability for actions of Myanmar's military.
She ruled that the issue was litigated previously in federal court, where it was
found that Unocal did not control the military.
"The guts of the case have been knocked out," said Unocal attorney Edwin
Woodsome Jr.
Labor activists have accused Unocal of ignoring reports that Myanmar
forcibly relocated residents and used slave labor in conjunction with the
construction of the dlrs 1.2 billion Yadana pipeline.
Unocal officials have strongly denied the accusations.
The case originally was filed in 1996 on behalf of villagers who claimed
they were forced to work on the project by the country's military.
The plaintiffs' lead counsel, Terry Collingsworth of the Washington,
D.C.-based International Labor Rights Fund, called the upcoming trial "a major
victory."
"As we have alleged from the outset, the evidence shows that Unocal entered
into a business relationship with the brutal military regime in Burma, knowing
that the military would engage in massive human rights violations in furtherance
of the project. This was an acceptable cost for Unocal," Collingsworth
said.
----------------------------------------------------------------- The Star
Wednesday, June 12, 2002
Singapore foils illegal entry by five foreigners SINGAPORE: Five foreigners? attempt to enter Singapore by hiding in a car
boot on Sunday was thwarted when immigration officers stepped up checks at the
Tuas checkpoint.
The officers stopped a grey Proton Wira at 11.30pm, and found three Myanmar
nationals and two Bangladeshis huddled in the boot.
The Malaysian-registered car was driven by a 23-year-old Malaysian. The
driver and the five illegals, aged between 22 and 37, had been arrested and the
car seized.
The six would be charged in court, said Singapore Immigration and
Registration.
In a statement on Monday, it said security checks on passengers and
vehicles at checkpoints had been stepped up, and foreigners who tried to enter
Singapore illegally would face harsh penalties.
If convicted, the five could be jailed for up to six months. They could
also be fined up to S$6,000 (RM12,600) or caned at least three times.
----------------------------------------------------------------- The Nation
BORDER TENSIONS: 'We didn't shell
Burma'
Published on Jun 12, 2002
Supreme Command finds Army did not violate neighbour's sovereignty -
Chavalit
The Thai Army did not shell Burmese military outposts along the border as
claimed by Rangoon, Defence Minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudh said yesterday,
quoting a recent investigation report by the Supreme Command.
Chavalit said the official Supreme Command probe concluded that the Army
had not violated Burma's sovereignty.
The report, signed by Supreme Commander Admiral Narong Yuthawong, was
submitted to the Defence Ministry about four days ago, Chavalit said.
Burma accused Thai troops of supporting Shan rebels by firing artillery
shells at Burmese Army outposts along the northern border area, an allegation
that Bangkok denied.
Chavalit said there was no need to submit the findings to the Burmese
because "it is not necessary to inform them about every step we take".
Rangoon unilaterally closed its border checkpoints with Thailand, blocked
official visiting delegations, and launched a stream of anti-Thai statements in
its state-run media.
Chavalit yesterday urged Burma to resume dialogue as soon as possible,
saying that the tension would be "irreversible" if both sides did not take
immediate action to prevent bilateral ties from deteriorating further.
He said there had been some progress in the possibility of resuming
dialogue with the Burmese leaders, pointing to low-level contacts between
Rangoon and Bangkok. He did not elaborate.
Meanwhile, fighting between Shan State Army and Burmese troops in areas
adjacent to Chiang Mai's Vieng Haeng district picked up again yesterday after a
one-day break due to heavy rain and troop fatigue.
Colonel Chavalit Sirikit, commander of the Cavalry Task Force 2, said that
stray bullets and mortar shells from Burmese troops continued to hit homes of
Thai residents in Pieng Luang sub-district.
Third Army commander Lt-General Udomchai Ongkasing, who inspected the area
yesterday, declined to comment to reporters.
Udomchai, reportedly under instructions from the defence minister, had
earlier told troops not to retaliate against stray shells unless Thai property
was directly hit.
----------------------------------------------------------------- The Nation
'Common Burma strategy
vital'
Supalak Ganjanakhundee
Published on Jun 12, 2002
need to come together and develop a common strategy towards Burma because
the current divided approach could bring more chaos and possible war between the
two neighbours, Thai scholars warned yesterday.
They also urged political and military leaders to stop attacking one
another through the media, which they said had a tendency to sensationalise the
situation.
The lack of a sound strategy towards neighbouring countries has created
disunity among policy-makers, allowing them to create and impose their own brand
of diplomacy in dealing with a sensitive and complicated situation, said
Chulalongkorn University expert on security affairs, Surachart Bamrungsuk.
Thailand has been so used to dealing with neighbouring countries using
strategies imported from the world's superpowers that it has become unable to
develop its own.
"The end of the Cold War has forced Thailand to face the realities of
geographical proximity with its neighbours. And we remain unable to come up with
the necessary wisdom to deal with the complexities of existing problems," he
told a seminar at the university yesterday.
Political leaders and other Thai officials never employ knowledge when
making policy, opting instead for extreme perceptions based on emotional
historical events dating back centuries when Siamese kingdoms were at war with
the Burmese, he said.
"It is sad to know that the thought process from the Ayutthaya period is
still dominating our foreign policy towards Burma in this 21st century," added
Surachart.
The latest conflict took place on May 20, when Burma says the Thai military
exchanged artillery shelling with its troops in border areas adjacent to Chiang
Mai, killing about 30 Burmese soldiers. Rangoon accused Thailand of firing to
support Shan rebels, but the Thai Army dismissed the accusation.
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has raised Thai military hackles by
accusing them of overreacting, while the press has accused the premier of being
too quick to appease Rangoon.
Surachart said the public had developed two extreme perceptions - one that
says a war with Burma will help bring democracy to the country and help end
human-rights abuses - as well as narcotics trafficking - while the other view
clings onto dialogue with Rangoon as the way out of the deadlock.
Chayachoke Chulasiriwong, a lecturer at Chula's International Relations
Department, said Thailand had never in practice imposed one single policy
towards Burma because too many factions were involved. This has led to mistrust
among the Burmese.
"We don't need to blame each other about the buffer zone since it already
exists and has never been deleted from Burma's view," he said.
Sunait Chutintaranond, another Burma expert, said Burmese politics were
changing rapidly and that Thailand needed to adapt to this development and come
up with plans on how to deal with it.
----------------------------------------------------------------- Bangkok Post - Wednesday 12 June
2002
Isoc, police at odds over motive, KNU
captain offers help
Pledges to hand in three Karen suspects
Wassana Nanuam
Police and the Internal Security Operations Command appear at odds about
the motive for the school bus attack that left three students dead in Ratchaburi
last week.
Gen Pallop Pinmanee, deputy Isoc director, said the attack stemmed from a
conflict between the school bus driver and members of the Karen National
Union.
The national police chief, meanwhile, said it might be the work of local
government officials.
Yesterday a KNU leader promised to deliver three Karen men suspected of
carrying out the attack in three days.
Capt Lakkapor, who heads a KNU supply division opposite Suan Phung
district, gave the undertaking after soldiers took him to the 31st Infantry
Regiment in Ratchaburi for questioning.
The military is insisting the attack in Ban Kha sub-district arose from a
dispute between the bus driver, Thongmon Khemthong, and KNU fighters.
The Isoc deputy chief questioned Capt Lakkapor by himself for about 40
minutes yesterday.
An Isoc source said Capt Lakkapor promised to bring the three suspects and
their weapons to the military in three days, the source said.
``Capt Lakkapor was shocked when we took him here. But we told him that we
meant no harm and only needed his co-operation in tracing the Karens who are the
murderers,'' said the source.
The source added that Capt Lakkapor's men might also be involved in the
recent shooting of Maj Somjit Srikrod, a close aide of Maj-Gen Sornchai
Montriwat, secretary to the defence minister.
Capt Lakkapor, 45, said KNU members might have a personal conflict with Mr
Thongmon.
However, he denied the conflict involved drugs, saying the KNU never sold
drugs. Gen Pallop said he was sticking by his theory about the bus driver and
the KNU.
``There was something wrong with Thongmon's testimony. He said the gunmen
covered their faces with cloth but students said they just had pieces of cloth
tied around their heads.
``Thongmon should know them and refused to stop his vehicle when he saw
their faces,'' Gen Pallop said.
Mr Thongmon might owe the Karen money and they probably took action for the
overdue debt, Gen Pallop said.
Pol Gen Sant Sarutanont, the national police cheif, said police were
looking at three or four possible motives.
One theory was the attack was ordered by local governmental
officials.
A police source said three local officials including an unusually rich
policeman had been questioned.
Deputy Interior Minister Sora-at Klinprathum said the attackers were
probably still on Thai soil.
Mr Thongmon yesterday laid a complaint against Gen Pallop with Ban Kha
police, saying the general had tarnished his reputation by accusing him of being
involved in the drug trade and other illegal businesses. The man was later
questioned about the shooting all day.
----------------------------------------------------------------- Bangkok Post - Wednesday 12 June 2002
Analysts call for clear-cut
policy
End urged to efforts to politicise conflicts
Achara Ashayagachat and Bhanravee Tansubhapol
Analysts on Burma yesterday called for an end of efforts to politicise
Thai-Burmese conflicts through the media, and urged policy-makers to have unity
and transparency in dealing with Rangoon.
Surachart Bamrungsuk, a security and defence analyst at Chulalongkorn
University, said Thailand lacked a clear-cut policy towards Burma and other
neighbouring countries.
Patriotic prejudice and personal interests were a driving force for the
country in responding to present problems, he told a seminar.
Mainstream policy-makers looked at Burma with a negative attitude and
seemed ready to wage war as they were obsessed with the love-hate historical
perception, while those in support of talks with Rangoon were suspected of
pushing for their vested interests.
That was one answer why Thailand had no sustainable solution to bilateral
problems, he said.
All parties should stop giving conflicting interviews and politicising the
bilateral dispute for the sake of the country, he cautioned.
Problems with Burma were being complicated by the lack of a clear
borderline, which in turn led to drug trafficking and other threats, he
said.
Chaichoke Julsiriwongse, a political scientist, recommended Thailand stay
more neutral when dealing with Burma's ethnic minorities, including the Wa and
Shan rebels who were fighting for control of the drug trade.
Ethnic groups in Burma also created situations to stir conflicts between
Thailand and Burma, he said.
It was good of Thailand to propose itself as mediator for Burma's national
reconciliation.
However, to suggest the formation of a Burmese cabinet with Karen National
Union leader Bo Mya as border minister, was going too far, he said.
Thai-Burmese issues remained vulnerable to mistrust and misunderstanding as
long as the government had conflicting policies towards Burma.
At the Foreign Ministry, spokesman Rathakit Manathat yesterday declined to
comment on the role of Thailand as a mediator as raised by Defence Minister
Chavalit Yongchaiyudh, saying the ministry had not been informed about the
move.
Sunait Chutintaranond, an expert on Burmese history, told the seminar that
major powers always wanted to occupy or exploit Burma due to its abudance of
natural resources and strategic location, while Burma knew how to play regional
and world politics.
He called for a careful watch on Burma's politics, saying that the Burmese
generals _ Maung Aye and Khin Nyunt _ might be in conflict, but they both knew
that a break-up would mean the end of their role and power.
Mr Sunait expected Burma's politics to become more violent as suppression
of ethnic minority groups remained prevalent, and said personal relations could
help heal Thai-Burma conflicts in the short run.
The long-term solution needed a transparent and relevant policy towards
Burma, he said.
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