Burma Related News - April 15, 2000.

The New York Times, April 15, 2000

FARAFENNI JOURNAL

Soldier's Tale: How War in Burma Altered Africa

By NORIMITSU ONISHI

ARAFENNI, Gambia -- It was late when the old man returned home from evening prayers. During the day the sand-covered street had been busy, but the dust settled as people withdrew into their houses and courtyards. The moon would not come out this night, and soon the neighborhood, save his house and perhaps another one with a generator, would sink into darkness.

	Ryan Lash for The New York Times
	Bakary Dibba, one of thousands of men drafted from the remote corners of Africa to fight for the British in World War II, displays his medals.

Inside the old man's courtyard, children were playing and women were preparing dinner. But seeing an unannounced visitor, the old man, Cpl. Bakary Dibba, a World War II veteran in his 80's, ushered him inside his house.

Around Farafenni, a border town in the interior of this tiny West African nation, Mr. Dibba is known as the last survivor among the 10 local men who fought in the British Army against Japan's Imperial Army in Burma. World War II changed Africa forever, in great part because the European colonial powers drafted hundreds of thousands of young men like Mr. Dibba from the remotest corners of their African colonies and sent them to places they never knew existed.

"Of course I had heard that a great war was being fought," Mr. Dibba said, sitting in an armchair in his starkly furnished living room, where a single weak light bulb hanging from the ceiling cast faint shadows against the blue walls. "But we never knew we were going to fight in that war. I did not know there was a place called Burma. It's only when we reached Burma that we realized we were to fight in the World War."

A clear moral imperative may have guided American and British soldiers as they fought in Europe and Asia. But for many African soldiers -- fighting as they did for their colonial masters, the same men who talked of battling the racist regimes of Nazi Germany and Japan -- there was deep ambivalence.

It all began in 1939, to hear Mr. Dibba tell it, when some British officials came here for one week searching for volunteers. Back then a highway that now goes through here had not been built, and it was only a village of several hundred farmers.

At one rally, Mr. Dibba recalled, African drums were played to stir up enthusiasm. "But after there was no volunteer," he said, "they started to use force so the youths would go. The chief went to each compound and demanded one volunteer. When they saw you, they would just grip you and take you."

Eventually, he and an older brother volunteered, the only 2 among the 10 young men who went to war. "We knew we were going to be forced," he said, "so we decided to join."

The young man was between 16 and 20 years old, already with a young bride named Binta. He did not know the year of his birth, though he remembered the exact weight -- 70 pounds -- he was able to carry in military gear and equipment.

	The New York Times

The conscripts from Gambia were sent for training to Nigeria, Britain's largest colony in West Africa. The other colonies, Sierra Leone and Ghana, then known as the Gold Coast, also sent men. The four colonies provided a total of 167,000 soldiers organized into seven brigades, according to the British historian Basil Davidson. Hundreds of thousands more were recruited by the British in East and Southern Africa, and by the French in their possessions.

Time passed. Mr. Dibba and the others sailed for India. There was more training at barracks near Delhi and then Calcutta. The size of the cities astonished him. "I realized that some people are completely white in India and some are colored, and they have very long hair," he said, excavating his memories from 60 years ago.

"I realized there are Hindus as well as Muslims," added Mr. Dibba, who until then had heard only of Muslims, like himself, and Christians.

Away from Africa, young men from different ethnic groups worked together for the first time for a common cause, just as they did in the United States military. "All tribes were mixed together -- Wollof, Mandinka, Fula," said Mr. Dibba, who is Mandinka. "We did not have any problems because of our tribes. We were together."

Mr. Dibba took off his slippers and leaned back in his armchair. His family had gathered outside the living room window, peering inside. His youngest child, Yusupha, 4, clambered onto his lap. The child was born to Mr. Dibba's 20-year-old wife, the youngest of his three wives.

With their training over, Corporal Dibba and the others were driven to northern Burma. Then they hiked for two days through jungle and mountains. On the way, 10 men died drinking water from a lake that Japanese soldiers had poisoned, he said.

By then, Japan's army had conquered Southeast Asia and had overrun Burma.

"I never knew anything about the Japanese people," Mr. Dibba said. "In Burma, I realized these people were called the Japanese people."

"Then many of us realized for the first time that it was a real war. There was no way out. Nobody could escape back to Africa. We had to fight. There was no day or night. We were fighting all the time."

The fighting lasted three years for Corporal Dibba. In that time, a British officer passed on a message from Farafenni that Binta, his wife, had died of meningitis.

Finally, a couple of months after Japan's surrender in August 1945, Corporal Dibba was back in Farafenni. He has never left since. But the experiences he and the other veterans brought back to Africa helped transform the continent.

Africa's participation in liberating Europe from the Nazis and Asia from the Japanese Army strengthened the continent's push for independence. In the signing of the Atlantic Charter of 1941, Roosevelt persuaded a reluctant Churchill to accept as one of the postwar goals that the Allies would "respect the right of all peoples to choose the form of government under which they will live."

The message of Africa's independence leaders -- self-determination, pan-Africanism -- found a receptive audience among veterans.

Four decades after most of Africa gained its independence, Mr. Dibba seems to have retained his ambivalence toward World War II. He keeps his three medals at the bottom of a big trunk, and had trouble digging them out. They needed polishing, he said, almost apologetically.

Mr. Dibba's 30-year-old son, Kebba Dibba, looked surprised when he was asked whether he considered his father a hero. "I don't think war produces heroes," Kebba Dibba said. "We don't need to look for such heroes. He did it and that's O.K."

It was getting very late. The old man had already changed into his pajamas. He was tired.

"They're the same, the British, the Japanese; they were fighting all for the same thing -- sovereignty," Mr. Dibba said. "I don't regret fighting for the colonial masters. But at the end of the day, they are all the same. They are all doing business together now."

The Sunday Times -
April 15 2000 BRITAIN
Row as US takes up case of Briton jailed in Burma
BY TIM REID

Mawdsley: seeks release
©
THE fate of James Mawdsley, the British pro-democracy activist serving a 17-year jail sentence in Burma, has caused a diplomatic row between Britain and America after the US State Department's unexpected intervention to try to gain his release.

The move came after dissatisfaction from Mr Mawdsley's parents over the response of the Foreign Office to their son's plight. He has been in solitary confinement in Kengtung prison, 400 miles northeast of the capital, Rangoon,since September after being jailed for distributing leaflets.

Mr Mawdsley's mother, Diana, was telephoned at home by Patrick Murphy, of the US State Department's Burma desk, earlier this month. He wanted permission for American intervention in the matter, which she was delighted to give. Until that point, she said, she had felt anger at the confused approach by the Foreign Office in London. Mr Murphy told her that Washington intended to appeal directly to Rangoon for James's deportation on "humanitarian grounds". The US State Department had been alerted by Frank Wolf, a Republican congressman and prominent human rights campaigner.

When the Foreign Office was told of the development, however, there was a meeting between the US and British ambassadors in Rangoon, where the Americans were effectively warned off the case. A Foreign Office spokesman said last night: "It is not clear what role the United States can or intends to play in this matter. James Mawdsley is a joint British and Australian citizen. He is not American.

"We have been visiting him on a regular basis. We have been looking after him. We have been keeping the family informed."

But David Mawdsley, James's father, said last night: "I think the Foreign Office have ignored James because he is embarrassing for them.

"Robin Cook talks about 'enlightened self interest' in Foreign Office policy. But I'm afraid it is still all about making profit from the oil supplies in Burma. We're never told the whole truth."

Mrs Mawdsley said: "The involvement of the US State Department brought things to a head. It made the Foreign Office think. Until then, the Americans had been getting some strange information from the Foreign Office that James did not want to be released.

"Of course that is not the case. He is happy to be released, as long as he does not compromise his position."

She said that since the American involvement, she has had a meeting with Baroness Scotland, the Foreign Office minister, which "cleared the air". Mrs Mawdsley said: "It was obvious her briefings had not been accurate. She had not even realised that James had been requesting an appeal since January."

She was keen to add, however, that Foreign Office officials "on the ground" in Rangoon had worked enormously hard to improve her son's conditions and supplies in jail.

A spokesman for Jubilee, the human rights group which has been leading support for Mr Mawdsley since he was jailed, said: "We met Baroness Scotland a few weeks ago and it was clear not enough was being done then for James. We welcome any offers of assistance to get James out now."

The Straits Times - April 15, 2000.

First private newspaper shakes up Yangon press

YANGON -- Myanmar's first private newspaper in over three decades, the Myanmar Times, has shaken up Yangon's ossified press, but some critics argue it is little more than "sophisticated propaganda".

Launched on March 6, the full-colour weekly promised "independence, authority, and integrity" in reporting, exciting Myanmar residents used to a one-sided and heavily censored presentation of news.

Myanmar "needs more professional media ... more sophisticated media", Mr Ross Dunkley, the Australian managing editor of the Myanmar Times & Business Review, told AFP.

"I want to bring more balance to local reporting ... to use the paper as a forum to discuss issues."

In its first month of publication, the Myanmar Times has run in-depth business analyses, a range of international news stories, and limited investigative reporting of infrastructure breakdowns and other problems in Yangon.

But critics charge that the paper is closely tied to the ruling junta and just as guilty of biased coverage of Myanmar issues. -- AFP

Bangkok Post - April 15, 2000.

NARCOTICS SUPPRESSION

Army set to block drug lanes

Eight checkpoints to be closely monitored

Yuwadee Thunyasiri and Sermsuk Kasitipradit
Some northern border checkpoints will be closed if they are found to be transit points for illicit drugs from Burma, Jurin Laksanavisit, PM's Office minister, said.

Mr Jurin, who is also deputy chief of the National Narcotics Operation Centre (NNOC), said the North Narcotics Suppression Centre (NNSC) would close checkpoints used by smugglers to transport illegal drugs and other contraband.

The NNOC was waiting for a report from the NNSC, headed by Third Army commander Lt-Gen Wattanachai Chaimuengwong.

"We will take further steps after we see the report from the NNSC," Mr Jurin said.

Earlier this month, Lt-Gen Wattanachai called an NNSC meeting in Chiang Rai, where anti-narcotics agencies discussed plans to more efficiently stem the flow of drugs and smuggled goods through Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Mae Hong Son and Tak.

It was agreed that imports and exports through eight border checkpoints in the four provinces would be closely monitored.

The Third Army was considering the closure of a checkpoint at Ban Pang Ha, under the control of Saengsanit Chaisri, a local kamnan.

Mr Saengsanit is known to be an influential canvasser for several local politicians, including Samphan Lertnuwat (New Aspiration) and Mongkol Chongsuthanamani (Chart Pattana).

"Chiang Rai Governor Samroeng Bunyopakorn does not want to close the checkpoint while the Third Army wants it closed," a local source said.

Lt-Gen Wattanachai was expected to use his powers as NNSC chief to close the checkpoint if the situation did not improve.

"We've closely monitored activities at the checkpoint for quite some time and are confident that it is regularly used as a transit point for smuggled goods and illicit drugs," an army source said.

Mr Jurin said he was satisfied with the NNSC's suppression of illicit drugs and said that over 200 drug suppression units were deployed along the Thai-Burma border.

Mr Jurin was not pessimistic about reports of methamphetamine laboratories along the border with Cambodia because of good border co-operation between Thailand and Cambodia.

Mr Jurin said methamphetamine from Cambodia was of lower quality than that from Burma. Two different groups were operating along the two borders.

The Nation - April 15, 2000.

Innocent victims of senseless Thai-Burmese border battles

THA SONG YANG, Tak - It is 8 o'clock one summer morning, and the sun slowly emerges from behind the dry mountain range that straddles the Thai-Burmese border, signalling that life in this conflict-plagued land must go on for another unpredictable day.

But for Cha Lo Chai, 20, it does not matter whether it is night or day.

Cha Lo Chai is one of the thousands of displaced Karens who fled the latest round of fighting between Burmese troops and the Karen National Union (KNU) into Thailand early this month. The KNU is the biggest thorn in the side of the Rangoon military government as it is the largest ethnic minority force that still refuses to lay down its arms.

The burning heat of the far-flung province of Tak does not seem to bother this young man dressed in tattered clothes who keeps looking aimlessly at the mountains on the another side of the Moei River, a natural boundary between Thailand and Burma, his eyes brimming with tears.

Less than a kilometre away from where he is standing lie the innumerable charred stakes and ashes which once formed the crowded town of Mae La Po Hta, his birthplace and his life.

The picture of the raging fire that engulfed his house is still fresh in his mind. The whole town, he recalls, was torched to the ground when the Burmese Army, accompanied by its ally the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army(DKBA), descended from the hills which in the past served as a natural fortress for this Karen community. Rangoon had branded this town a KNU military outpost that needed to be crushed.

There were no casualties, however. The place was deserted when Rangoon's men arrived. Cha Lo Chai said the villagers had received a warning to take everything they could and cross into Thailand or risk being persecuted.

The escape began before the break of dawn in chill weather. Cha Lo Chai, slinging a large rattan basket from his forehead, waded the shallow waters of the Moei along with his parents and two little sisters to Ban Nong Bua on Thai soil.

It was nothing new for this young man and the other residents of Mae La Po Hta. Two months ago they had to flee into Thailand after they heard that the Burmese army was coming. But that time luck was still on their side since the enemy did not show up and the whole town could resume its normal life.

But that is history, and all that Cha Lo Chai and the other villagers can do is look back from afar with sharp memories. After sleeping without shelter for a few nights, they are relocated by the Thai border officials to a safer area deeper inside Thai territory to avoid the risk of cross-border raids.

These people knew well when they first set foot on Thai soil that their chances of going back were close to nil. "Although last time we could go back, this time it seems we shall have to leave our homes for ever," laments Cha Lo Chai, forcing a smile.

"We have no homes any longer, and we will never again grow our rice," he whispers sadly. He explains that every single villager desires to go back, although they know deep in their hearts it is beyond their reach. "We are scared. Our fields are probably full of mines".

He is not alone, and this incident is not the first of its kind. Ethnic minorities and political dissidents from Burma have flooded into the Kingdom for decades. It is estimated that there are about a hundred thousand of them sheltering in a string of temporary camps along the border.

Looking into the eyes of this young Karen, one sees reflected only the despair of millions of refugees scattered to almost every corner of the planet. The ordeal that each has gone through is like one of the many letters that together spell a never-ending tale of inhumanity.

It is sad to have to admit that Homo sapiens, the most intelligent of all animals and blessed with the most sophisticated brain, has failed throughout its entire history to solve conflicts peacefully and wisely. Violence and war are often resorted to. Might as right has always been the name of the game. And whenever fighting breaks out for whatever cause or ideology, its real victim is neither the seemingly patriotic generals nor the charismatic politicians but innocent people who have to watch their livelihood crumble before their very eyes.

The future of Cha Lo Chai and the other people of Mae La Po Hta is anything but certain. The only thing they can do is live from day to day. It is uncertain whether the Thai authorities will classify them as "people fleeing fighting with well-found fear of persecution" and put them into one of the already crammed temporary shelters.

True, they now have all the basic necessities: shelter, blankets, food and medicines provided by the Thai government, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and various non-governmental organisations, but for these people, unwanted by both Thailand and Burma, what is the point of living without a future? The only thing they pray for is peace.

Peace, however, is easier invoked than made, and the prospect is still dim after the latest round of negotiations between Rangoon and the KNU collapsed in acrimony with each side accusing the other of insincerity and superficially advocating peace.

At this rate they will continue locked in a game of internecine war, and the innocent men, women and children will be dispensable pawns for the rest of their lives. The onus of preventing that is on everyone who has a stake in Burma, whether at home or abroad.

But first and foremost it is up to every Burmese - Karens, Burmans, Shans, Arakanese, Kachins, Chins, Mons etc, regardless of race and creed - to bring genuine peace to this land of war so that millions like Cha Lo Chai can for the first time sleep without fear and look to the future with hope.

BY VORAPUN SRIVORANART

The Nation

Myanmar's Hound Dog U Win Aung Shows a Tourist...

Fri, Apr 14 6:01 PM

Myanmar's foreign minister U Win Aung shows a tourist pamphlet while describing his country to a group of journalists at a press conference in Havana, April 14, 2000. Aung defended his country's human rights abuses, saying that economic sanctions against Myanmar are jeopardizing what he described as its slow march towards democracy.Photo by John Moore (AP)

Myanmar's Hound Dog U Win Aung Lies to Journalists...

Fri, Apr 14 6:01 PM

Myanmar's foreign minister U Win Aung talks to journalists at a press conference in Havana, April 14, 2000. Aung defended his country's human rights abuses, saying that economic sanctions against Myanmar are jeopardizing what he described as its slow march towards democracy.Photo by John Moore (AP)