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BURMA RELATED NEWS
- October 08 - 09, 2002.
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HEADLINES
------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Reuters - Thailand and Myanmar end
standoff, border to reopen
Reuters - Myanmar to reopen "Golden
Triangle" border with Thailand
Reuters - Canada Lashes Myanmar for
Stifling Democracy
AP - Prime minister: Myanmar border
checkpoints to reopen next week
AP - Thai police seize 2.5 million speed pills
AP - OECD opens three-day
conference on money laundering
AP - China Orders Retrial for
Christians
Straight Goods - Movement pushes
Canadian mining company to get out of Burma
Straight Goods - Burma regime still
offers "Licence to Rape" despite report denials
Bkk Post - New security chief to work
for better ties
Bkk Post - EDITORIAL - Rangoon
refuses to keep promises
AFP - Myanmar junta maintains tight
grip on religious activity: US report
Time - Prisoner of the
Heart
SHAN - Rape report fallout: Shan
women burrow in
UN Wire - Southeast Asia
Conference Examines Intravenous Drug User Risk
Mizzima - Women Network
criticizes Downer for Burma policy
------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tuesday October 8, 12:12 PM
UPDATE 1-Thailand and Myanmar end standoff, border to reopen BANGKOK, Oct 8 (Reuters) - Myanmar will reopen its border with Thailand next week after a five-month closure prompted by a series of bloody clashes and a row over illicit drugs production, the two Southeast Asian countries said on Tuesday. Relations between Thailand and Myanmar plummeted in May after the skirmishes and Yangon shut all border crossings. Myanmar's ruling generals accused Bangkok of aiding ethnic minority rebels fighting the Yangon junta, a charge Bangkok denied. Thai Foreign Ministry spokesman Rathakit Manathat told Reuters on Tuesday the reopening of the 1,800-km (1,125-mile) frontier was the result of a flurry of high-level diplomatic activity. "Foreign Affairs Permanent Secretary Tej Buunag's visit to Myanmar yesterday was the final touch to solve the conflicts relating to the reopening of the border crossings," he said. He said three permanent border checkpoints would be reopened along with 13 temporary ones on October 15. The point where the Myanmar, Thai and Lao borders meet is known as the "Golden Triangle", the origin of much of the opium used to make heroin for the world market. Yangon and Bangkok accuse each other of supporting rival armed ethnic groups involved in drug trafficking. Myanmar Foreign Minister Win Aung held talks on the border dispute with Thai Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai on a visit to Bangkok earlier this month. He also met Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. Thailand had sought high-level talks to try to patch up ties but was rebuffed until July, when Win Aung met Surakiart at a regional security meeting in Brunei. Last month, Surakiart went to Yangon for more talks. Closure of the crossings dealt a blow to Myanmar's economy, already tottering after years of neglect and strict sanctions by many Western nations, and severely hurt trade in several Thai border towns. Myanmar's state-run New Light of Myanmar newspaper on Tuesday also announced the planned reopening. It said Myanmar and Thai officials meeting in Yangon had agreed to cooperate in suppressing drugs along the border. "The meetings reaffirmed the determination of both sides to transform the common border into a place of peace, harmony and prosperity," the Myanmar newspaper said. "The two sides agreed strict ground rules for border crossings would be observed," it said, without elaborating. Thailand has been flooded in recent years with billions of methamphetamine pills, believed by Western and Thai anti-narcotics agencies to be mainly produced by an ethnic Wa minority force allied to Myanmar's military rulers. Thailand says that Myanmar's military turns a blind eye to the trade and that some officers may even profit from it, a charge Yangon denies. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tuesday October 8, 12:35 PM
Myanmar to reopen "Golden Triangle" border with Thailand BANGKOK (Reuters) - Myanmar will reopen its border with Thailand next week after a five-month closure prompted by a series of bloody clashes and a row over illicit drugs production, the two Southeast Asian countries said on Tuesday. Relations between Thailand and Myanmar plummeted in May after the skirmishes and Yangon shut all border crossings. Myanmar's ruling generals accused Bangkok of aiding ethnic minority rebels fighting the Yangon junta, a charge Bangkok denied. Thai Foreign Ministry spokesman Rathakit Manathat told Reuters on Tuesday the reopening of the 1,800-km frontier was the result of a flurry of high-level diplomatic activity. "Foreign Affairs Permanent Secretary Tej Buunag's visit to Myanmar yesterday was the final touch to solve the conflicts relating to the reopening of the border crossings," he said. He said three permanent border checkpoints would be reopened along with 13 temporary ones on October 15. The point where the Myanmar, Thai and Lao borders meet is known as the "Golden Triangle", the origin of much of the opium used to make heroin for the world market. Yangon and Bangkok accuse each other of supporting rival armed ethnic groups involved in drug trafficking. Myanmar Foreign Minister Win Aung held talks on the border dispute with Thai Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai on a visit to Bangkok earlier this month. He also met Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. Thailand had sought high-level talks to try to patch up ties but was rebuffed until July, when Win Aung met Surakiart at a regional security meeting in Brunei. Last month, Surakiart went to Yangon for more talks. Closure of the crossings dealt a blow to Myanmar's economy, already tottering after years of neglect and strict sanctions by many Western nations, and severely hurt trade in several Thai border towns. Myanmar's state-run New Light of Myanmar newspaper on Tuesday also announced the planned reopening. It said Myanmar and Thai officials meeting in Yangon had agreed to cooperate in suppressing drugs along the border. "The meetings reaffirmed the determination of both sides to transform the common border into a place of peace, harmony and prosperity," the Myanmar newspaper said. "The two sides agreed strict ground rules for border crossings would be observed," it said, without elaborating. Thailand has been flooded in recent years with billions of methamphetamine pills, believed by Western and Thai anti-narcotics agencies to be mainly produced by an ethnic Wa minority force allied to Myanmar's military rulers. Thailand says that Myanmar's military turns a blind eye to the trade and that some officers may even profit from it, a charge Yangon denies. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Canada Lashes Myanmar for
Stifling Democracy
Wed Oct 9,10:43 AM ET OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada launched a strong attack on Myanmar on Wednesday, accusing the military government of stifling democracy and urging it to start serious talks immediately with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Myanmar -- formerly called Burma -- has freed hundreds of political prisoners over the last two years, including more than 300 members of Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy. The releases began after the ruling generals started confidential talks with Suu Kyi, which they said were aimed at eventually bringing democracy to Myanmar. But David Kilgour, Canada's Secretary of State for Asia-Pacific, said there were few signs the junta was serious about introducing democratic reforms. "The (junta) has yet to provide any substantive reason for anyone to believe that it intends to give up power or even to engage in substantive negotiations with Aung San Suu Kyi," he said in a speech. "We have yet to be convinced that any tentative steps toward opening the system are anything more than a public relations exercise." Sporadic talks between Suu Kyi and the junta over the last two years have yet to move beyond "confidence building", officials say. Suu Kyi -- who was freed from 19 months of house arrest in May -- has repeatedly called for meaningful talks to begin as soon as possible. The National League for Democracy overwhelmingly won an election in 1990, but the military refused to hand over power. Kilgour said poverty, infant mortality, malnutrition among children and HIV infections were increasing rapidly in Myanmar and said an estimated 1,400 to 1,600 political prisoners remained in jail, often in terrible conditions. "Any meaningful consideration of engagement by Canada with the regime in Burma depends on the unconditional release of all political prisoners," he said, adding that Ottawa had no plans to reestablish full relations with Myanmar. In 1988 Canada broke off high-level bilateral ties and suspended official commercial relations with Myanmar while withdrawing all support for Canadian firms doing business in the country. "Despite the release of Aung San Suu Kyi, Canada does not feel the regime has made sufficient progress toward democracy and respect for human rights to warrant changing our policy toward Burma," Kilgour said. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Prime minister: Myanmar border
checkpoints to reopen next week
Tue Oct 8, 5:14 AM ET BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) - Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra confirmed Tuesday that Myanmar would reopen border checkpoints shut five months ago after a dispute with Thailand, which has badly hurt trade. The prime minister's comments followed an announcement late Monday by Tej Bunnag, the Foreign Ministry's permanent secretary, who made a one-day trip to Myanmar to negotiate the reopening, expected Oct. 15. "Myanmar has agreed to reopen three major border checkpoints permanently," Thaksin told reporters in Bangkok early Tuesday. He said the checkpoints ? important portals for tourism and trade between the two countries ? were Mae Sai in northern Chiang Rai province, Mae Sot in northwestern Tak province, and Koh Song in southern Ranong province. The agreement was reached unconditionally, though entry regulations on both sides of the frontier would be tightened to crack down on drug trafficking and illicit goods smuggling. Thaksin said that if the two countries maintained open lines of communication, the "border closing won't happen again." Myanmar and Thai merchants in Mae Sot said Tuesday they were excited about the imminent reopenings, which promise to revive cross-border trading that has been choked off in recent months. Also on Tuesday, 10 Myanmar nationals were given monthlong tourist visas to bring five truckloads of furniture and jewelry to Bangkok for a Southeast Asian regional trade fair. Local immigration officials said negotiations were underway to reopen an additional checkpoint near Sankalaburi, about 140 kilometers (87 miles) south of Mae Sot. Myanmar state television said Monday that Tej's meeting with Deputy Foreign Minister Khin Maung Win "reaffirmed the determination of both sides to transform the common border ... to one of peace and harmony." The border was closed by Myanmar's ruling military in May after it accused the Thai military of aiding ethnic guerrilla attacks against the Myanmar army. A huge amount of trade is conducted across the long land border between the two countries, and Thai merchants had been suffering heavy losses from its closure. Myanmar's military junta accused the Thai army of firing shells in support of attacks by Shan ethnic rebels on several small outposts on May 20. Thailand claimed it only fired warning shots when fighting between Myanmar forces and Shan rebels spilled into its territory. In addition to closing the border, the Myanmar government banned the import of Thai goods, prohibited most visits by Thai officials, and published a barrage of anti-Thai propaganda in its state-owned media. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thai police seize 2.5 million speed
pills
Tue Oct 8, 5:14 AM
ET
BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) _ Thai police have seized 2.5 million methamphetamine pills and arrested 14 suspects in two days of raids in the Bangkok area, the national police chief said Tuesday. Police arrested eight Thais and one Myanmar national who were in possession of 2 million methamphetamine pills, also called speed, in a sting operation Monday, national police chief Gen. Sant Sarutanond told a news conference. The arrests, at four locations, came after police launched an undercover operation in response to a tip-off that 5 million pills would be smuggled into Thailand, Sant said. Police tried to purchase the entire shipment, but were told by the dealers that all but 2 million had already been sold, he said. In a separate case also announced by Sant, police on Tuesday arrested five suspected drug dealers and seized 510,000 methamphetamine pills. The suspects, who also face trafficking charges punishable by death, include members of hill tribe minorities and ethnic Thais, he said. Hill tribe members often live in border areas where smuggling takes place, and their poverty and fringe status in society make them easier for dealers to recruit. Seizures of millions of methamphetamine pills are not rare in Thailand, which is deluged with the drug, which comes from neighboring Myanmar. Methamphetamine trafficking and abuse is considered such a serious social problem that it is seen as a threat to national security, and dealing large quantities is a capital offense. So far this year police have arrested more than 500 drug dealers and confiscated almost 20 million speed pills. Thailand has executed about 40 drug traffickers since the government of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra took office in February 2001 and declared drug trafficking public enemy No. 1. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- OECD opens three-day
conference on money laundering
Wed Oct 9, 08:14 AM
ET
PARIS (AP) _ An international task force against money laundering began a three-day conference Wednesday to review a blacklist of countries, including Russia, accused of not doing enough to fight the illegal practice. The group met at the Paris headquarters of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development to assess efforts by 15 blacklisted countries or territories to adopt tougher rules against money laundering. At a June meeting, the group removed four countries from the list: Israel, Hungary, Lebanon and St. Kitts and Nevis. Also in June, the group said Russia has made progress by passing legislation, but said it wanted to keep watching to make sure laws are enforced. The Financial Action Task Force was set up in 1989 by the leading industrialized nations. Fifteen countries or territories remain on its money laundering blacklist: Cook Islands, Dominica, Egypt, Grenada, Guatemala, Indonesia, Marshall Islands, Myanmar, Nauru, Nigeria, Niue, Philippines, Russia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Ukraine. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- China Orders Retrial for
Christians
The Associated Press, Tue 8 Oct 2002 BEIJING (AP) ? Citing lack of evidence, an appeals court in central China has overturned death sentences for five leaders of a banned Christian sect and ordered a retrial ? an exceptional move in a country that controls religion so tightly, a human rights group said Tuesday. The supreme court in Hubei province said a lower court's decision last year to impose the death sentences ``was not clear and was not based on enough evidence,'' the Hong Kong-based Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy said. The Jingmen City Intermediate Court must retry Gong Shengliang, Li Ying, Xiu Fuming, Hu Yong and Gong Bangkun on Wednesday, the high court ordered in its Sept. 22 ruling, according to the center. The court on Tuesday referred all inquiries to China's national Supreme Court, whose press office said it had no details. Gong established the South China Church in 1991 as an offshoot of another Christian group, the Total Scope Church. It grew over a decade to encompass some 50,000 members spread through 10 provinces in eastern and central China. China's Bureau of State Security arrested Gong and the four others in April 2001 after labeling the church a cult, part of an ongoing campaign against the outlawed Falun Gong spiritual sect and other groups seen by the Communist Party's leadership as challenging its political monopoly. The five were convicted in December 2001 of ``using an evil cult to undermine the enforcement of the law,'' the center said. The charges against the five are the most serious handed down to the leaders of groups labeled by Beijing as cults since the crackdown began in July 1999. Supporters of Falun Gong, which combines traditional Chinese exercise techniques with some Buddhist principles, have been given prison sentences of up to 18 years. China allows only government-monitored churches, and has harassed and imprisoned Christians, Buddhists and others who worship outside the official system. For example, the state-sanctioned Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association, which operates China's only authorized Catholic churches, doesn't recognize papal authority. The communist government forced Chinese Roman Catholics to break ties with the Vatican in 1951, though millions remain loyal to the pope. A report released in Washington on Monday by the U.S. State Department put China among six countries it said were trying to control religious beliefs or practices. The other five are Myanmar, Cuba, Laos, Vietnam and North Korea. In China, ``unapproved religious and spiritual groups remained under scrutiny and, in some cases, harsh repression,'' the report said. The government also continued to control the ``growth and scope of the activity of religious groups to prevent the rise of possible sources of authority outside of the control of the government,'' the report said. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue rejected the report as ``groundless,'' saying China has ``always protected freedom of religious belief according to the law.'' ``We are resolutely opposed to those actions that interfere in China's domestic affairs,'' Zhang said at a regular briefing. Kazuo Yoshihara, a professor of Asian studies at Keio University in Tokyo who has written about religion in China, said two major events ? China's entry into the World Trade Organization and the upcoming 2008 Olympics in Beijing ? may have influenced the higher court's decision. ``This change in a court is supposed to be a step in the process of democratization in China,'' Yoshihara said. ``You can call it a victory of U.S. government policy of democratizing China.'' ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Straight Goods Movement pushes Canadian
mining company to get out of Burma
Dateline: Saturday, October 05, 2002 "Heave-Ho Ivanhoe!" CFOB is gearing up its campaign to push Canadian company, Ivanhoe Mines, out of Burma. The Monywa copper mine, located in Sagaing Division, is a 50/50 partnership between Ivanhoe Mines and Burma's dictatorship - on par with the Taliban in terms of brutality and repression. It is the biggest foreign mining enterprise in the country. The international campaign to oust companies from Burma gained momentum when the International Labour Organization (ILO) issued its unprecedented call for sanctions against Burma in Nov.2000 - calling on its constituents to "review...the relations that they may have with Burma and take appropriate measures to ensure that [Burma] cannot take advantage of such relations to perpetuate or extend the system of forced or compulsory labour." Research done by labour and human rights groups proved without a doubt that Burma's military regime has been systematically using forced labour country_wide on infrastructure projects -- many of which are then utilized by foreign companies. In response to the ILO, the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) and the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mines and General Worker's Union (ICEM) called on Ivanhoe to clear out of Burma last June, citing examples which they say prove the Monywa mine is connected to forced labour. For example, their joint statement of June 14 states, "According to the ILO, 921,753 people were forced to build the railway connecting Monywa to the town of Pakokku. The Thazi dam hydroelectric plant which is the mine's power source was built using 3,000_5,000 forced labourers." Forced labour is so prevalent in Burma, it is no wonder that Burma's regime is reviled at home. Despite the extreme repression of opposition parties in advance of the 1990 national elections, the people - including most military personnel - voted overwhelmingly for Aung San Suu Kyi's, National League for Democracy (NLD). But the regime, then called the State Law and Order Restoration Council, refused to relinquish power. Since then, the NLD has been calling for a halt to foreign business in Burma because of the support it provides the generals. In a video-taped message to Canada smuggled out in 1999, Aung San Suu Kyi tated "We are not against investment per se...We do not think that investment in our country at this time can do our country any good." The global community, as stated in the ILO resolution, backs this call. But Ivanhoe claims its business operations in Burma are not political and refutes all accusations that its Monywa mine fosters forced labour or other human rights violations. However, in contravening the NLD, they have clearly showed where their allegiance lies. And in partnering with the military junta, Ivanhoe has become an accessory to its crimes. Ivanhoe's Monywa project provides Burma's military regime, the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), the foreign currency it so desperately needs to stay afloat. While health care is virtually non_existent in Burma, ranking second to last by the World Health Organization in 2000, the SPDC spends over 40% of its budget on weaponry. Guns are the prime tool that keep this unloved, unelected regime in control. CFOB's Director, Corinne Baumgarten sums up the debate, "Ivanhoe's denials that it is an accomplice to the SPDC's system of forced labour is paramount to a company, in business with the Taliban, claiming that their operations don't contribute to the oppression of women in Afghanistan." The Monywa copper project is poised to become a massive income generator for the junta. It is trying to raise $390 million to expand the mine by excavating a new deposit in Letpadaung. Meanwhile, the junta earns royalties and rent from Ivanhoe amounting to US$885,000 in 2000. Most Burma experts believe that the ILO's call for sanctions was the major factor in prompting the regime to enter into talks with Aung San Suu Kyi in October 2000. While the possibility for these talks to develop into meaningful dialogue appear increasingly dismal, letting up on pressure now will topple any chances for political reform. "We urge you to re_evaluate your direct business relations with the Burmese military junta in light of this global consensus," wrote Ken Georgetti, the President of the CLC to Ivanhoe Mines last June. "It is the position of the global labour movement that it is impossible to do business with the Burmese government or in Burma without subsidizing forced labour and other human rights violations. Certainly in the case of Ivanhoe's partnership with the military junta, foreign investment is directly propping up the regime." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Straight Goods
Burma regime still offers
"Licence to Rape" despite report denials
Villagers intimidated into denying ongoing atrocities documented in June report say Shan Women activists in Canada for one-day conference Dateline: Monday, October 07, 2002 by Penny Sanger The dictatorship in Burma is is full damage control mode as it fights a damning report documenting rape as a system tool of repression issued last June by a grassroots women's group in Burma. Although largely ignored by Canadian media, Licence to Rape, a 125-page documented report of systemic sexual violence used by the Burmese army in the ongoing war in Shan State, Burma, has created an international uproar. The US State Department and members of Congress deplored the actions of the Burmese military regime, according to Hseng Noung. Ms. Noung is a member of the Shan Women's Action Network and the Shan Human Rights Foundation which published the report and is part of a delegation of activicts taking part in a one-day conference Wednesday, Oct. 9 in Ottawa. The conference looks at how the international community can help the transition to democracy in Burma, at the Crowne Plaza Hotel. International media coverage was immediate, with stories in major US and UK dailies and wire services as well as the Asian Wall Street Journal, South China Morning Post, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Agence France Presse, Bangkok Post and other media. The last media stories logged by the Licence to Rape team ran a week ago. The regime in Rangoon, the so-called State Peace and Development Council denounced the report as the "fabrications of insurgents". Then in early August, it decided it would mount its own investigation into the report's detailed accounts. A 12-truck military convoy, each truck with eight to nine armed soldiers, was dispatched August 18 to the villages of southern Shan State. It was supposed to complete its task by August 30. But only five days after it began, on August 23, the SPDC was able to inform diplomats and heads of UN agencies in Rangoon that it had found the "allegations" to be "groundless and malicious". The teams were fronted by the wife of Secretary 1, Lt Gen Khin Nyunt who is the best-known of the triumvirate that runs the military regime, and the deputy home minister, who had already called the report "preposterous" in the state-run newspaper New Light of Myanmar. For a fascinating description of the way the investigations proceeded, on the ground in Shan State, SWAN, the Shan Women's Action Network, provides the following details from informants: "Male military officers led the investigation .Headmen in selected localities were ordered several days in advance by local military units to provide a specific number of villagers (between 15 and 40) to meet the visiting team. The headmen were threatened not to mention any incidences of rape by the Burmese military in their area. If a headman did not attend the meeting he was threatened with a fine of 3,000 kyats (equivalent to 10 days labour at the current daily wage rate in Shan State). The headman randomly chose people who were available. Male villagers, on the whole, met the investigation team. At each locality the team's armed escorts and local soldiers scoured the area in advance and stood guard while the meeting took place. The venue was either in front of a local district office, a school, a village headman's house or in a military base. "As villagers arrived at the venue a military officer wrote their names on a Burmese language document. When the required number of villagers had arrived, the visiting SPDC team came to the venue. The officer in charge of the team then stated he was there to confirm there had been no incidences of Burmese troops raping women in that area. He spoke in Burmese; there was no translation. Villagers who did not understand Burmese did not know what was being said. Those that could speak Burmese did not dare mention any cases. All the villagers were ordered to sign their names on the prepared document, which stated that there had been no incidences of Burmese troops raping women in their area. Those that could not write had to stamp their fingerprints, and did not know what the document said. Outside the township office in Murng Hsat, after signing the statement, the villagers were forced to chant publicly three times, 'The Burmese army have not raped Shan women' and raise their hands as they chanted this. Pictures were taken of them doing this. "Judicial, police and military records show there had only been three rape cases, and only two involving Shan women, and the three soldiers involved have already been given heavy military sentences by military courts." (New Light of Myanmar, August 23, 2002) "No details have been provided by the SPDC about these cases," SWAN continues. It cannot be confirmed whether the perpetrators in these incidences were punished. However, there is evidence that the SPDC investigation teams uncovered rape cases but they did not report these publicly in their findings. "Sources from Laikha township, southern Shan State, reported that SPDC #3 team investigating the Licence to Rape report found evidence of a case covered up by local military authrorities. The case involved six Shan women who had been severely tortured as well as sexually abused. "On 30 July 1997 Aung Win, a Burmese army private fromCompany 4, Infantry Battalion 64, deserted after killing Lance Corporal Min Din and private Thet Oo. Captain Khin Maung Toe and his unit, Company 2, from the same battalion was assigned to track down Aung Win as he had seized some weapons. The captain ordered six women from Wan Mawn village to accompany the unit as guides. When the unit returned, the parents of the women filed a complaint that their daughters had been raped and tortured by the troops. The women were hospitalized for five days at the Laikha civil hospital. In addition to wounds resulting from the rapes they had been beaten and scratched, their sex organs burnt and their pubic hair pulled out. Major Hla Moe. The acting commander of the battalion, ordered Major Moe Zaw, in charge of the battalion's affairs to suppress the case. No action was taken against the perpetrators." Interview with Mo Hom, principal researcher for Licence to Rape." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bangkok Post -
Wednesday 09 October 2002
New security chief to work for better ties Gen Vinai Pattiyakul, the new chief of the National Security Council, says he will concentrate on strengthening Thailand's ties with its neighbours, particularly Burma. ``Good relations with neighbours will help reduce border problems, resulting in better internal security,'' said Gen Vinai, whose appointment as the NSC chief received cabinet endorsement yesterday. Many problems facing Thailand, including illegal migrant labour and drug smuggling, originated from border areas, so he would pay frequent visits to neighbouring countries to promote mutual ties and understanding, Gen Vinai said. The scheduled Oct 15 reopening of the Thai-Burmese border was a clear sign of improvement in ties between the two neighbours, he added. Gen Vinai graduated from class 17 of Chulachomklao Royal Military Academy. He commanded an infantry battalion of the 11th Army Circle, and later a division of the Armed Forces Security Centre, before he was made a major-general in 1993 while working as a staff officer of the then defence minister, Gen Banchob Bunnag. He headed the Supreme Command's directorate of joint intelligence before he was appointed commander of the United Nations peacekeeping force in East Timor, serving from Aug 2001 to Aug 2002. In this year's military reshuffle taking effect on Oct 1, Gen Vinai became a full general in the post of a special adviser to the Supreme Command, before his latest appointment as the NSC chief, replacing Kachadpai Burusapattana who retired. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bangkok Post -
Wednesday 09 October 2002
EDITORIAL - Rangoon refuses to keep promises Burma has been playing a game of diversions with the world, its citizens and with Thailand for the past five months. That is how much time has elapsed since the Rangoon dictatorship took two important actions. The first was to free the democratic leader Aung San Suu Kyi from detention, in order to ignore all calls for negotiations on national reconciliation. The second was to close the Thai border and ignore Thai requests for a sustained, cooperative effort to end the huge drug trafficking operation from Burma to Thailand. The border is to reopen but one can only hope for action on the two major problems. Rangoon maintains its strong and violent regime in the face of demonstrated Burmese will for democratic change. This has resulted in the outflow of perhaps one million refugees _ both political and economic _ to Thailand and border fighting which spills into the country. Burma also seems to acquiesce to the manufacture and smuggling of drugs into Thailand. These represent the first and second threats to Thai national security. Burma has hurled racial and national invective at Thailand and insulted the Thai monarchy. Rangoon has alternatively insulted its own refugees and refused to discuss their repatriation, then offered to hold discussions on their return. The dictators state publicly they hope to arrange a democratic regime, but have done nothing to do so, as Mrs Suu Kyi confirmed last week. The worst insult to Thai intelligence is over drugs. Burma has repeatedly stated that it will crack down on the drug trade. And it seems to have taken steps against some opium production. But it has refused to address the methamphetamine trade of the United Wa State Army, a direct ally of the Burmese regime. Last week, Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer went to Rangoon for talks. He learned, and told the world, that Rangoon has no current plans to discuss national reconciliation with the non-violent opposition, as epitomised by Mrs Suu Kyi. The Australian government is friendly to the Thai policy on Burma. Unlike most Western countries, Australia believes it can engage Rangoon in talks and convince it to cooperate with the world, and free its people. That policy is unchanged, but Mr Downer told Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai the time has come to increase the pressure on Burma. He gave few thoughts on how to accomplish this. Australia will put more public, moral pressure on Rangoon to show good faith and begin talks with Mrs Suu Kyi. This is in line with United Nations policy. Since Thaksin Shinawatra became prime minister, Thailand has refused to confront Burma on any issue other than the insults to the monarchy. Burma may mistake this as weakness. The border closure ruined scores of Thai and Burmese businesses, with all Thai goods banned in Burma. The only commercial transaction made public by the generals was the purchase of service from the iPSTAR satellite, due to be launched next year by a Shin Corporation subsidiary. The drug trade continues to thrive. The Wa traffickers have invested in building a large town, with satellite villages close to the border, mostly to further the methamphetamine business. In some circumstances, the Burmese refusal to address this dirty ya ba business could be viewed as a hostile act against Thailand. At the least, the Burmese regime is crudely avoiding its duty _ and promises to the United Nations _ to take action against friends who traffic drugs. The new defence minister, Gen Thammarak Isarangkura na Ayudhaya, said the primary role of the armed forces would be to fight the drug trade. It is vital that he keep his word, as long as the Burmese trafficking continues unabated across a newly reopened border. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Myanmar junta maintains tight
grip on religious activity: US report
WASHINGTON, Oct 8 (AFP) - Myanmar's ruling junta maintains a tight grip on religious activity, fearful of the Buddhist clergy's support of democracy while discriminating against Muslims and Christians, the United States said. In its annual report on religious freedom worldwide released Monday, the US State Department gave a generally positive picture on neighbouring Thailand, saying its citizens were free to practice their faiths. The survey said that despite the right to religious freedom enshrined in Myanmar's constitution, successive military regimes over the past four decades have routinely imposed restrictions on religious activities. "It systematically has restricted efforts by Buddhist clergy to promote human rights and political freedom... and in some ethnic minority areas, has coercively promoted Buddhism over other religions," it said. "Through its pervasive internal security apparatus, the government generally infiltrated or monitored the meetings and activities of virtually all organizations, including religious organizations." While a sharp increase in violence against the Muslim minority reported in 2001 had abated, there were accounts that restrictions on Muslim travel and worship countrywide had increased, it said. "The government continued to discriminate against members of minority religions, restricting the educational, proselytizing, and building activities of minority religious groups." Ethnic minority groups including the Karen and the Kachin, who are predominantly Christian, were particular targets. The report said the junta continued to control and restrict the activities of the Buddhist clergy, and added that more than 100 monks were imprisoned during the 1990s for supporting democracy and human rights. "Since the early 1990s, the government increasingly has made special efforts to link itself with Buddhism as a means of boosting its own legitimacy," it said. In Thailand, the State Department report said the government generally respected the right to freedom of religion in the Buddhist majority nation, which has a five-10 percent Muslim minority. However, it raised alarm over a January 2002 immigration "blacklist" which included the names of at least 10 Falungong practitioners, all believed to be overseas residents arrested elsewhere for Falungong-related activities. "The government gave no reason for its decision to place these names on the list, and has refused to release information about the individuals placed on the list." In February 2001, it added, Thai Falungong members voluntarily decided not to proceed with plans to organize an international meeting in Bangkok, in part because of the government's opposition to such a meeting. "There were reports that the government of China had exerted significant economic pressure on the government in connection with this issue," it said. Beijing has outlawed the spiritual movement as an "evil cult." Cambodia was given the all-clear on the religious rights front, however government officials were cited as saying they were concerned foreign groups used the guise of religion to become involved in illegal or political affairs. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Time Asia
Magazine
October 14, 2002 / VOL. 160 NO. 14 Arts - Prisoner of the Heart In his memoir The Iron Road, James Mawdsley relates how he went to jail for a free Burma?twice BY BRYAN WALSH James Mawdsley: Q&A When James Mawdsley was 20 years old and tormented by the injustice of the world, he tried to kill himself. Not long after he recovered, his considerable sympathies were captured by the plight of Burma. He decided that he would go there with the purpose of getting the country's ruling military junta to throw him in prison. As a protest, the gambit was somewhat flawed. The junta was happy to jail him, but they kept letting him out. Every time Mawdsley was deported, he would return, like a self-appointed Daniel in the lion's den. Mawdsley's self-important tendencies can make him a target for mockery, and his admirable if maddening memoir The Iron Road is, at times, a bull's-eye. In Burma, a nation where so many suffer, the 29-year-old Briton's willing decision to add his pain to the mix can seem self-indulgent and quixotic. And yet, ultimately, Mawdsley comes across, like Don Quixote, as sympathetic, even a touch heroic. His heart is in the right place, even if the rest of him never seems to be. Mawdsley's involvement with Burma begins like that of any gap-year activist. In 1996, inspired by opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi's book Freedom from Fear, he hooks up with a refugee group in Burma, where he teaches English. Soon he hungers for a direct confrontation with the regime. After his one-man protest in Rangoon is broken up (it consists of Mawdsley locking himself to a gate and shouting democratic slogans while blasting the film soundtrack to The Mission), he decides that he will return with the intent of going to prison. He shrugs off conventional activism. "The powerfully written reports by NGOS and the sensationalist press?they all smack of hypocrisy and falsehood." Mawdsley's first lengthy prison experience is intense, and it brings out the best in writing that is otherwise bland. He is arrested after sneaking back into Burma in 1998, and when he withholds his identity from police, they torture him. It's nothing that would make Amnesty International's Hall of Fame, but it is terrifying, and Mawdsley makes you feel it. Worst might be the "iron road," where a metal rod is rolled up and down the victim's shins until the skin is stripped to the bone. The terror almost leads him to abandon his mission. All ambivalence, however, is wiped away by a religious experience, and he is no sooner released than he is booking his return ticket. Detained after protesting in Rangoon again in 1999, he is sentenced to 17 years and transferred to a solitary cell. While his family and friends orchestrate a campaign to draw attention to his cause, a motivated Mawdsley makes life hell for prison officials, demanding books, exercise time, a radio, everything but HBO. True, his demands are his chief means of challenging the corrupt regime, but there aren't many works of prison literature that can trigger a bit of sympathy for the police state. Ultimately, the only political prisoner released due to Mawdsley's efforts is Mawdsley himself. Maybe that was enough. The most affecting moments of the book come when he connects with a fellow prisoner, and by his sheer unlikely presence reminds the other that the outside world still cares. As Mawdsley himself writes, "I was a fool but my intentions were noble and compassionate." That's more than most of us can say. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Shan Herald Agency for
News
8 October 2002 Rape report fallout: Shan women burrow in Shan activist groups, notably the Shan Women Action Network, that had suddenly gained worldwide prominence by its shocking report about sexual abuses by Burmese officers and men, have been forced to move off the spotlight lately both by official notification and death threats, according to reports received by S.H.A.N.. A representative of SWAN and Shan Human Rights Foundation, whose monthly reports on human rights situation in the Shan State had been the basis for the preparation of License to Rape: The Burmese military regime's use of sexual violence in the ongoing war in Shan State, was met on 9 September by a police officer who reportedly informed the representative the two offices would have to be closed. "He was very polite about it", described the representative about the meeting, "but also very direct." As it turned out, it was easier to bear with it than the reports which came earlier from different sources but tallied in one thing: the lives of the activists were in danger. One report related to S.H.A.N. by a Thai friend who operates a restaurant in Chiangmai said of a Thai businessman, who goes by the name of Pisarn (no last name was provided) and a nickname, "Teung" that was strikingly the same as that of a Maj Chalermchai Matchaklam, who incidentally was sentenced to death on 22 August for the slaying of Yasothon governor last year. "He was in Chiangmai and Chiangrai during the last week of August, asking people whether they could furnish him with information about some women rights advocates whose report had done a lot of damage to Thai Burmese relations," said the Thai friend. "Fortunately, nobody knew enough, and if they did, they were not very cooperative." According to an e-mailed report, dated 26 August, the Ratchaburi-based Pisarn, age around 40, who was working with a Thai company that had invested in Burma on shrimp farm projects, was commissioned by "a high ranking Burmese military official" to dispatch spies and assassins in order to keep watch on and wipe out the activists. "(A)nyone who can give a tip-off (of their) whereabouts will be rewarded (with) 1 million (baht)", wrote the informant. Reports filed by Shan State Army and the Shan Democratic Union about the same time also included names of male dissidents. One Thai friend, in response to the reports, said, "If they were true, I'm afraid Rangoon rulers are in for a big mess of themselves. Because if a male activist were slain, people might be apt to downplay it and forget, but if the assassination victim happens to be a woman, the whole world is going to make the general's life a living hell." The generals probably realized the folly and that was likely why no further reports about attempts on the lives of the activists were forthcoming, some Thai sympathizers reasoned. "Nevertheless, it is not yet the time to let down your vigilance," one cautioned. License to Rape was launched on 19 June. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- UNWire - Oct. 8,
2002
HIV/AIDS: Southeast Asia Conference Examines Intravenous Drug User Risk The World Health Organization kicked off a three-day meeting in Hanoi, Vietnam, yesterday, urging Vietnam, China, Myanmar and Indonesia to address an HIV/AIDS crisis among intravenous drug users. U.N. Development Program country chief Jordan Ryan called for a "separation of HIV/AIDS from social evils," a reference to Vietnam's reported tendency to see the illness as a function of prostitution and drug addiction. "HIV/AIDS is not an evil, it is a virus," Ryan said, adding that the disease "has the potential of reversing all the development gains over the past 15 years since Vietnam began its economic reforms." Ryan also said, however, that the country has begun to change its mindset. "Awareness is coming home to roost, but now the focus has to be on implementation," he said. Vietnamese health authorities said last week that almost 55,000 of the country's 80 million people have HIV. The Hanoi conference is to focus on drug abusers, who WHO expert Andrew Ball said play a critical role in the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Without looking at intravenous substance abuse, he said, "it will be very difficult to control the epidemic in these four countries and elsewhere in the region" (Agence France-Presse, Oct. 7). Official figures in Myanmar show two out of every three intravenous drug users have HIV, with the overall infection rate highest along the Chinese border. Drug-related transmission in China is also reportedly highest in this region, known for its production of opium. The Myanmar Times reported yesterday that AusAID, Australia's overseas aid agency, plans to fund a four-year project to help fight HIV/AIDS in Myanmar, China and Vietnam (Myanmar Times/BBC Monitoring, Oct. 7). ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Women Network criticizes
Downer for Burma policy
Mizzima News New Delhi, Oct. 8: An Australian women organization has criticized the Australian Foreign Minister Mr Alexander Downer, accusing him of collaborating with the Burmese dictatorship. In a statement issued today, the Women?s Rights Action Network of Australia (WRANA) condemned the Australian Government?s policy of ?limited engagement? with the Burmese military government. ?The Australian Government is in the minority in its policy of ?limited engagement? with the military junta in Burma. The USA, and many European countries have refrained from engaging with the SPDC due to their appalling record of human rights violations?, said the statement. The statement came after Mr Downer?s recent visit to Burma. In his 24-hour visit to Burma this week, the Australian Foreign Minister met the top leaders of ruling Burmese military government as well as the democratic leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. He is the first Australian Foreign Minister and the first senior member of a Western government to have visited Burma in several years. Australia has provided funds for nine human rights training courses for the Burmese military government in the last two years and has plans holding more human rights training for middle rank military officers and civil servants. Burma?s democratic leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has recently commented about the futility of continuing funding 'human rights' training courses for the Burmese military government officials. "The human rights training courses are just a facade by the regime. Their troops are continuing to this day to commit rapes and massacres in ethnic areas," said Nang Mo Lao of Shan Women?s Action Network (SWAN) based in Thailand. "Any support to the regime is just prolonging their rule." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |