Police
investigating mail bomb sent to Myanmar Embassy in Tokyo
1 hour, 42 minutes
ago
TOKYO (AP) - An
envelope containing explosives was delivered Monday to the Myanmar Embassy in
Tokyo, police said. No injuries were reported.
A bomb squad found a detonator, wires and a battery ? parts
often used to ignite explosives ? inside a greeting card-sized envelope sent
anonymously from Thailand, a spokesman for the Tokyo Metropolitan Police said.
Japanese police have launched a criminal investigation into
the case, he said on condition of anonymity.
Japanese public television broadcaster NHK said the small
bomb was designed to explode when the card was opened and that police were
investigating it as a possible terror attempt. Police did not comment on the
report.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
U.N. rights envoy calls for
unconditional release of prisoners in Myanmar
Mon Oct 28, 7:21 AM
ET
By AYE AYE WIN, Associated Press
Writer
YANGON, Myanmar - A U.N. human rights envoy told
Myanmar's military rulers Monday to unconditionally and immediately release all
political prisoners, as he ended a 12-day visit to asses complaints of
widespread abuses.
"This release is something essential for any
substantial political dialogue" between the junta and pro-democracy leader Aung
San Suu Kyi, said the envoy, Paulo Sergio Pinheiro.
Suu Kyi, the 1991
Nobel peace laureate, has held reconciliation talks with the junta since
October, 2000 but little progress has been reported. The government refuses to
hand over power to Suu Kyi's party, although it won the 1990 general elections.
Since the start of the reconciliation process, a few hundred dissidents
have been released.
"I have heard many cases of prisoners that are being
released under conditions. I think that is not acceptable. For any political
transition, the immediate and unconditional release of prisoners is necessary,"
Pinheiro said.
He also said the junta must also allow "adequate presence
of the International Committee of the Red Cross in all conflict areas of the
country."
The Red Cross could assess the humanitarian situation, report
confidentially to the authorities and work out with them appropriate steps to
ensure the security and protection of civilians, he said.
The ICRC is
allowed to see political detainees. Red Cross officials have made 200 trips to
80 prisons in the last two years, said Pinheiro, who visited 28 political
prisoners at two prisons since his arrival Oct. 17 at the invitation of the
military junta.
"They are in stable condition, physically and mentally.
In the past two years they have not been subjected to mistreatment," he said.
Prisoner releases are a major demand of Suu Kyi, whom Pinheiro met
twice. Human rights groups say the junta holds more than 1,000 political
prisoners and that dozens have died in detention from old age and medical
neglect.
The junta faces severe criticism in the West for its
antidemocratic stand and alleged human rights abuses including forced labor,
imprisonment of political dissidents, and rape, torture and killing of ethnic
minorities.
Pinheiro told a news conference that during his mission he
considered investigating allegations of "widespread human rights violations
attributed to the military and armed groups operating in ethnic minority areas."
He did not say when he would launch the probes or make his fifth visit to the
country.
He said he also was looking into the allegations of forced
conscription of child soldiers.
Pinheiro, a Brazilian politics
professor, will report to the United Nations next month.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
U.N. rights envoy urges Myanmar
junta to allow Red Cross access in conflict areas
Mon Oct 28, 6:32
AM ET
By AYE AYE WIN, Associated Press Writer
YANGON, Myanmar - A U.N. human rights envoy wrapped up a 12-day visit to
asses complaints of abuses in Myanmar on Monday by urging its military
government to allow the Red Cross access to all conflict areas.
U.N.
human rights special rapporteur Paulo Sergio Pinheiro also stressed the need for
the "unconditional release of all political prisoners" while the junta holds
reconciliation talks with the pro-democracy opposition, led by Aung San Suu Kyi.
Pinheiro's visit, at the invitation of the military junta, was not meant
to launch investigations. But he told a news conference that he is considering
looking into forced conscription of child soldiers and "widespread human rights
violations attributed to the military and armed groups operating in ethnic
minority areas," including rapes by soldiers.
He set no date for a
future trip, though.
"As an immediate step," he urged the Myanmar junta
to "consider allowing an adequate presence of the International Committee of the
Red Cross in all conflict areas of the country."
The Red Cross could
then assess the humanitarian situation, report confidentially to the authorities
and work out with them appropriate measures to ensure the security and
protection of civilians, he said.
The ICRC is allowed to visit prisons
to see political detainees. Red Cross officials have made 200 trips to 80
prisons in the last two years, Pinheiro said.
Since he arrived in
Myanmar on Oct. 17 Pinheiro met with government leaders, judges, state security
chiefs, diplomats, ethnic party leaders, political prisoners and opposition
party members.
The military junta faces severe criticism in the West for
human rights abuses including complaints of forced labor, imprisonment of
political dissidents, and rape, torture and killing of ethnic minorities.
Human rights groups say the junta holds more than 1,000 political
prisoners and that dozens have died in detention from old age and medical
neglect.
Pinheiro said he met with 28 political prisoners in two
prisons.
"They are in stable condition, physically and mentally. In the
past two years they have not been subjected to mistreatment," Pinheiro said.
"The prisoners I met said that after the visit of the ICRC the situation has
improved."
Prisoner releases are a major demand of Suu Kyi, the 1991
Nobel peace laureate, whose party won general elections in 1990 but was not
allowed to take power. The two sides began reconciliation talks in October 2000
but there has been no political breakthrough.
Pinheiro met twice with
Suu Kyi.
Pinheiro, a political science professor from Brazil, was to
report to the U.N. General Assembly next month.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
U.N. human rights envoy meets
Suu Kyi, wraps up Myanmar visit
Mon Oct 28,12:41 AM
ET
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) - A U.N. human rights envoy wrapped up Monday
a 12-day visit to investigate complaints of abuses in military-run Myanmar by
meeting with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, a U.N. official said.
It was United Nations Human Rights rapporteur Paulo Sergio Pinheiro's
second meeting with Suu Kyi during his visit and his final engagement of a busy
schedule that included meetings with political prisoners, judicial officials,
state security chiefs, diplomats and ethnic parties.
Myanmar's military
junta faces severe criticism in the West for human rights abuses including
complaints of forced labor, imprisonment of political dissidents, and rape,
torture and killing of ethnic minorities.
Details of Pinheiro's meeting
with Suu Kyi were not immediately known. Last Tuesday, Pinheiro talked to her
and her senior party members for nearly two hours. They discussed the issue of
political prisoners and national reconciliation process.
According to
human rights groups, the junta holds more than 1,000 political prisoners and
dozens have allegedly died in detention, from old age and medical neglect.
Prisoner releases are a major demand of Suu Kyi, the 1991 Nobel peace
laureate, whose party won general elections in 1990 but was not allowed to take
power. The two sides began reconciliation talks in October 2000 but there has
been no political breakthrough.
On Sunday, Pinheiro interviewed several
political prisoners at the Tharawaddy prison, notorious as a dumping ground for
political dissidents, about 130 kilometers (80 miles) north of Yangon. He also
met with political dissidents in Yangon's main Insein prison last week.
Pinheiro spent three days in Karen and Mon states as part of his
investigation, but turned down a government offer to travel to Shan State to
investigate allegations that the military uses rape as a weapon of terror
against women there, saying there was not enough time to make a full evaluation.
Pinheiro, a political science professor from Brazil, is scheduled to
leave Myanmar late Monday. He is expected to present his report to the U.N.
General Assembly next month.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
ICFTU issues blacklist of
foreign firms backing Myanmar regime
PARIS, Oct 28
(AFP) - The International
Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) on Sunday published a blacklist of
325 multinationals who it said were "contributing and supporting the brutal and
repressive dictatorship" in Myanmar.
Some 92 new companies were added to
the ICFTU's list, which detailed companies' "principal investments and others
forms of economic relations" in Myanmar, the former Burma.
New entrants
included French company Pinault-Printemps-Redoute, conglomerate British American
Tobacco, South Korean carmaker Hyundai and Austrian Airlines.
"There is
proof of links between foreign companies and the military junta ... and the use
of forced labour," the ICFTU said.
The ICFTU published a 350-paged
report last Monday which said forced labour was increasing under Myanmar's
military junta, encouraged by investments from multinational corporations.
The report cited new testimony on the use of forced labour, continuing
into this year, to build roads and other infrastructure projects linked with the
Yadana gas pipeline project.
French oil giant TotalFinaElf and US oil
group Unocal were major partners in a consortium that constructed the gas
pipeline between 1994 and 1998.
Earlier this month, a French state
prosecutor launched an investigation into allegations by two Myanmar citizens
that TotalFinaElf used forced labour on the project.
But TotalFinaElf
has rejected "all accusations concerning forced labour in Myanmar" and dismissed
the ICFTU report as "wild speculation or even pure lies".
--------------------------------------------------------------------
China says will seek to advance
free trade at ASEAN summit
BEIJING, Oct 28
(AFP) - China is eager to push
forward a free trade zone with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(ASEAN) at next week's ASEAN summit, as well as discussing a similar deal with
Japan and South Korea, officials said Monday.
Premier Zhu Rongji will
lead the Chinese delegation to the November 4-5 event in Cambodia and has a busy
schedule in Phnom Penh, foreign ministry officials said.
This includes
talks with the 10 ASEAN leaders, the "10 plus three" grouping of ASEAN, China,
Japan and South Korea as well as an informal summit between the three latter
nations.
During the ASEAN-China gathering, Zhu hopes to sign a framework
agreement on economic cooperation that will form the basis of the future
China-ASEAN free trade zone, said Fu Ying, director of the foreign ministry's
Asian department.
"He will formally announce the launching of the
process of the China-ASEAN free trade zone which is a part of the comprehensive
economic framework agreement," she told reporters.
"Most of the content
has been agreed upon so it should be signed by the leaders."
Zhu would
also give a "positive assessment" to a proposal for an East Asian free trade
agreement covering ASEAN, China, Japan and South Korea, she said.
Similar discussions for a three-way free trade agreement would be held
in the informal meeting with the Japanese and South Korean delegations.
Fu said the issue of North Korea's recently-announced nuclear program
was not on the agenda of the three-way meeting, but "it would not be surprising"
if the trio discussed the issue.
During the gathering, China was also
willing to sign with ASEAN a declaration over a code of conduct for the long
fought-over Spratly Islands archipelago, Fu said, assuming other ASEAN nations
could agree with its wording.
"The content of the declaration is about
the political will to seek a peaceful settlement of the issue," Fu said.
"It could be signed if we can get cleared up some of the differences
among ASEAN countries over the scope (of the declaration)," she said.
China, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, the Philippines and Taiwan claim parts
or all of the Spratlys, in the South China Sea, with all except Brunei
stationing troops in the resource-rich and potentially explosive isles.
ASEAN consists of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar,
the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
Before the ASEAN
summit, Zhu will make a formal visit to Cambodia on November 1-2, where he will
discuss Chinese aid for a Cambodian highway with Prime Minister Hun Sen and meet
with Cambodian King Sihanouk.
The visit to Cambodia will be the first by
a Chinese premier in 42 years, but follows a 2000 trip by President Jiang Zemin.
Zhu will also attend on November 3 the first-ever summit on the
development of the Mekong River region with leaders from Cambodia, Laos,
Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam, foreign ministry official Wang Xiaolong said.
The meeting is expected to issue a joint declaration, a project list for
the Mekong area and a funding plan for the its development, Wang said, with much
of the money being arranged by the Asian Development Bank.
The Chinese
premier will not stay for the full ASEAN summit but will return to Beijing on
November 4 to join preparations for the Communist Party Congress beginning four
days later, Fu said.
This meeting is expected to usher in a new
generation of Chinese leaders.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
BBC - Monday, 28
October, 2002, 02:49 GMT
Burma boycott
campaign stepped up
An
international trade union group has released a new list of foreign firms
investing in Burma or pursuing business links with its military rulers.
The International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) lobbies for
overseas firms to boycott Burma and for foreign governments to ban investment
there.
Despite some successes for boycott campaigners - who persuaded
bra maker Triumph International to close its Burma factory - the ICFTU's latest
list contains 92 new names.
Burma's military government has been widely
condemned by human rights groups since it refused to hand over power to the
victorious National League for Democracy (NLD) after a general election in 1990.
Forced labour
The
United Nations has sent an envoy to Burma to explore the prospect of talks
between the military junta and NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who was released
from house arrest in May.
Altogether, 325 foreign firms appear on the
ICFTU's list.
The group believes that any foreign company doing business
in Burma is providing support to "one of the world's most savage dictatorships".
It says the military junta approves foreign investments individually,
and is directly responsible for the widespread and growing use of forced labour,
often on infrastructure projects connected to the needs of foreign firms.
The ICFTU rejects the view of some multinational firms that investment
brings benefits to the Burmese people.
"We are calling for all these
companies to sever links with Burma and for governments to take stronger action
to stop investment in the country and ensure a return to democracy," said ICFTU
General Secretary Guy Ryder.
According to Burma's official statistics,
the country attracted $7.39bn of foreign investment between start of 1998 and
August 2001, much of it in the oil, agricultural and manufacturing sectors.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
VOA News
UN Human Rights Envoy Calls for Release of
All Political Prisoners in Burma
Ron
Corben
Bangkok
28 Oct 2002, 09:39
UTC
A United Nations human rights envoy is
calling on Burma's military government to release all political prisoners and
allow the Red Cross into zones of conflict with anti-government groups. The U.N.
official made the call Monday at the end of a 12-day visit to Burma.
U.N. human rights envoy Paulo Sergio Pinheiro told reporters in Rangoon
that the unconditional release of all political prisoners is needed while the
Burmese government holds reconciliation talks with the party of pro-democracy
leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
He also urged the Burmese government to
consider allowing representatives of the Red Cross into conflict zones where the
government has been battling rebel groups.
He said the Red Cross could
then assess the humanitarian situation in these areas, make what he called a
confidential report to the authorities, and work out measures to ensure the
security of civilians there.
The Brazilian diplomat has spent the past
12 days investigating allegations of human rights abuses that include torture,
rape, forced labor and the mistreatment of ethnic minorities and political
prisoners.
During his trip he visited two prisons and interviewed prison
inmates, security officials, judges and diplomats. And he met with senior
leaders of the military government and the opposition, including pro-democracy
leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Mr. Pinheiro also visited areas where ethnic
rebels have battled government forces for decades. However, he did not visit
Karen state, which is cited as an area where there is systematic rape by the
military. The Burmese government denies the charges and welcomed the U.N.
envoy's visit, his fourth in two years.
The United Nations has been
trying to broker reconciliation talks between the Burmese government and the
pro-democracy movement, which won national elections 12 years ago but was never
allowed to govern.
Several hundred political prisoners have been
released in the past two years. But human rights groups say more than 1,000
remain in prison and they have criticized the talks for failing to move to more
substantive issues.
The editor of the Thailand-based Irriwaddy
newspaper, Aung Zaw, said U.N. negotiators must find new ways to press for
reform. "Along with the visit (by Mr. Pinheiro), the U.N. should sponsor, or
find a mechanism, that will pressure government leaders to comply with the U.N.
resolutions and demand they take the necessary political reforms. Otherwise he
can visit again and come out and make a U.N. report and that won't make any
significant change," he said.
U.N. mediators say progress is being made,
but Western governments say they will maintain economic sanctions against Burma
until they see progress in human rights and political reform.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Bangkok Post - Monday
28 October 2002
US to maintain level of
support
80 tonnes of heroin to flood into country
Subin Khuenkaew - Chiang
Mai
The United States has confirmed its continued support for
Thailand's fight against drugs after a representative inspected the Pha Muang
task force's anti-drug operations.
The representative was told that the
drug-producing United Wa State Army was still very active in Burma at the border
along Thailand's three northern provinces.
On Saturday, Barry Crane,
deputy director for the White House's Office of National Drug Control Policy,
inspected anti-drugs operations in Doi Lang, Mae Ai district.
He flew to
Doi Lang, a 43-square-kilometre disputed border area, on an army helicopter from
Doi Kiew Hung where Yawn town, a UWSA stronghold in Burma, could be
seen.
He was briefed on Wa drug activities along the border near Chiang
Rai, Chiang Mai and Mae Hong Son.
Mr Crane said: ``I always feel like
Asia is my home.
``And I worry about the spread of narcotics in this
region, especially in Thailand where teenagers have drug addiction
problems.''
A source said Mr Crane paid special attention to news reports
about drug suppression in Burma, but he doubted whether Rangoon's claims on its
anti-drug operations were for real.
During his visit to the 5th Special
Warfare Regiment's anti-drug task force 399 in Mae Rim, Mr Crane said the US
would continue giving financial and technical support to the task force to
combat drugs.
Mr Crane said he was willing to listen to the task force on
its problems and help find solutions.
Pitthaya Jinawat, director of the
Northern Narcotics Control Centre, said he believed Washington would increase
its support for Thailand to prevent more than 80 tonnes of heroin from the
Golden Triangle entering Thailand this year.
The Narcotics Control Board
had forecast that as much as 72 tonnes of heroin would be smuggled in from Burma
and eight tonnes from Laos.
``If China prevents the smuggling of heroin
via that country, more drug dealers will turn to our borders to get the drugs
out to Europe and America. The US should be aware of this,'' he
said.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Bangkok Post - Monday
28 October 2002
Editorial - World must see
action not words
We live in
troubled times, and the world faces some of the greatest threats since the end
of the Cold War a generation ago. The biggest danger to an increasingly civil
world is the fight against terrorism. But this is not the only danger. A number
of intense and dangerous crises continue to percolate and occasionally boil.
Some of these problems have been allowed to fester for too long, and must be
brought to a head and solved.
The biggest security threat to Thailand,
threats of international terrorism aside, is the behaviour of the military
regime in Burma. The generals have held power since 1962, and like all
dictatorships have grown arrogant. Since their bloody suppression of a
pro-democracy movement in 1988, they have acquiesced in _ some say encouraged _
two major projects which menace the very fabric of Thailand. The continuing drug
trafficking by the regime's United Wa State Army allies and Rangoon's refusal to
address the debilitating refugee situation constitute the two biggest perils to
this country.
The government of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has
tried, like its successors, to adjust to the Rangoon violence. And like its
successors, the government refuses to face the reality that the root of the
security problem is the military junta itself.
Last May, the generals
released opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and promised to open negotiations on
national reconciliation and to take steps towards democratic government. There
is not nearly enough pressure on Rangoon to keep this promise. Mrs Suu Kyi has
told recent visitors she has no idea when or if the generals intend to talk.
European leaders told Mr Thaksin and fellow summiteers at the Asia-Europe
Meeting that Burma must talk or face total isolation from the European Union by
next year. Thailand should back that stance. It is up to the Burmese people to
choose their government, and it is time the generals recognised
that.
Another regime recently dedicated to tokenism is the government of
President Saddam Hussein of Iraq. Like Burma, Baghdad has promised the moon. Mr
Saddam and his supporters have promised to disarm, promised to stop lying to the
United Nations, promised to welcome UN inspectors. Last week, they threw out all
foreign media, refused to allow any outsiders to inspect questionable factories
and celebrated the supposed election of Mr Saddam _ with a 100%
turnout.
It is encouraging that Baghdad claims that every Iraqi is
healthy enough to vote, after highlighting all the sickness caused by the
punishing UN sanctions. Still, Iraq must now face a serious, and one hopes
united, effort by the UN Security Council to turn from a threat to world peace
to a participatory member of the world community. The UN must make it clear to
Iraq its options are closed, and further lies to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan
cannot be tolerated.
In our own region, we have our own serial liar and
still unrepentant trouble-maker. No nation in Asia poses a greater threat to
peace than North Korea. The revelation that Pyongyang has broken its promise to
halt its nuclear programme in exchange for serious aid and goodwill must be
addressed seriously and urgently. China must play a leading role in convincing
Pyongyang that, like Iraq, its options are closed. Beijing has long demanded a
nuclear-free Korean peninsula, and the world must see how dedicated the Chinese
are to this goal.
Burma, Iraq and North Korea are separate nations. Each
requires a different approach. The similarity is that they all pose major
threats to peace, inside their countries and abroad. In addition, the solution
to changing each of these nations is clear. It is time for the world to stop
accepting their mere promises to change.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Bangkok Post - Monday
28 October 2002
Borders need to go online
Chiang Rai _ A senate panel will
ask the government to upgrade all temporary border checkpoints to permanent ones
and equip them with on-line computers.
Suradet Yasawat, chairman of the
senate committee studying the upgrading of border checkpoints, yesterday led 30
panel members to inspect checkpoints along the Thai-Burmese border in Mae Sai
district in Chiang Rai.
They were briefed on the arrival of tourists
after Burma re-opened the border on Oct 15.
Assistant district chief
Winai Lertrattanawong said more than 3,000 tourists had flocked to the district
and Burma's Tachilek town a day after the border was
re-opened.
Authorities could collect 90,000 baht daily in border pass
fees from tourists, but he was concerned officials might not be able to cope if
bigger numbers of tourists arrived.
Computers would ensure efficient and
speedy service, he said.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Asia Tribune
Date :
2002-10-28
Wedding bridges political divide in
Burma.
Rangoon, October 27:The son of an elected member
of Myanmar's opposition party and the daughter of a recently retired senior
military officer married here Sunday in a rare event bridging Myanmar's
political divide.
According to Agency news reports monitored in Bangkok,
Lieutenant Colonel Win Myint forbade the wedding during his military career but
relented shortly after his retirement, family sources told according to Agency
reports.
Aung Phone Myint, son of National League for Democracy (NLD)
member Ne Win Myint, wed Ma Shwe Zin Win, the daughter of Win Myint.
Despite the wedding being allowed to take place, two separate receptions
have been planned for later Sunday, with NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi and party
members invited to attend to one of them.
NLD member Ne Win Myint won a
seat in the 1990 elections that were never recognized by the military.
Myanmar society shunned NLD members in fear of retaliation by the ruling
military junta after the annulled elections, which were overwhelmingly won by
the NLD. A wedding between members related to each side would have been unheard
of.
Relations improved marginally when Suu Kyi and the junta began a
landmark dialogue aimed at national reconciliation in October 2000, but there
were few tangible results from the talks and relations between the two sides
remain cool.
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