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BURMA RELATED NEWS - OCT - 11, 2000. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HEADLINE
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AFP - UN envoy to meet head of Myanmar junta: government
source
The Times - Burma ignores its AIDS crisis
Reuters - UK demands release of jailed activist in
Myanmar
Reuters - US slams Myanmar for cutting off Aung San Suu
Kyi
Reuters - Myanmar's Suu Kyi said to meet U.N. special
envoy
AFP - Aung San Suu Kyi meets with UN envoy in
Myanmar
AFP - Aung San Suu Kyi meets with UN envoy
AFP - UN envoy meets Myanmar head amid signs of possible Suu
Kyi meeting
AFP - ASEAN conference admits amphetamines becoming region's
scourge
AP - Myanmar Says Neighbors To Blame Also For Drug
Production
AP - UN Envoy Visits Myanmar Opposition Leader Suu
Kyi
The Age - Australia under fire over
Burma human rights seminars
Ananova - Burma holding rights campaigner unlawfully:
UN
BBC - UN condemns Briton's detention in Burma
Independent-bangladesh - Yangon warns UN not to interfere as
envoy tours Myanmar
SMH - Human rights seminars
'misguided from outset'
The Nation - Karen rebels, Thai police take aim across Moei
River
SCMP - UN envoy visits Suu Kyi's home
Wednesday, October 11 3:15 PM SGT
UN envoy to meet head of Myanmar junta: government
source
YANGON, Oct 11 (AFP) - UN envoy Razali Ismail was
Wednesday due to hold a landmark meeting with the leader of the Myanmar junta
Senior General Than Shwe, a government source said.
Although unconfirmed, the meeting with the head of the
military junta would be the first to be held by Razali or his UN
predecessor.
The junta has not still not publicly said whether
Razali will be able to meet with Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of the opposition
National League for Democracy (NLD) party.
But a senior Myanmar official said there was no reason
why the veteran Malaysian diplomat could not meet her.
"The government has no opposition to him seeing her,"
Colonel Kyaw Thein, head of the Office of Strategic Studies at Myanmar's defence
ministry told AFP in Bangkok where he is attending an anti-drugs
conference.
However, a source close to the opposition party said
Tuesday she might not even want to meet the envoy unless restrictions on the
rest of the NLD leadership's movements were removed.
"Whether she'll see Razali alone without the rest of
the party's central executive committee and under the present restrictive
circumstances remains to be seen," the source said.
Razali, who arrived in Yangon Monday on his second trip
to the country under UN auspices, is attempting to break the deadlock between
the ruling junta and the opposition.
During his first trip in July, Razali apparently made
little headway in kickstarting relations between the NLD and the
junta.
Both the junta and the UN have maintained a strict
media blackout on the agenda or details of the talks.
UN spokesman Fred Eckhard's only comment last week was
that Razali would discuss "continuing violations of human rights in Myanmar" and
would report back to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan.
Razali's four-day visit comes against the backdrop of a
renewed crackdown on the NLD despite fierce international
criticism.
Aung San Suu Kyi and other party elders remain under de
facto house arrest since they were prevented from travelling to the northern
city of Mandalay on September 22. There has reportedly been little or no
communication between them since then.
In meetings Tuesday, First Secretary Khin Nyunt, head
of intelligence, lectured Razali on the NLD's confrontational tactics which he
said had damaged the process of democracy in Myanmar, government sources said.
Khin Nyunt reaffirmed the junta would give no ground to
the opposition party accusing it of collaborating with dangerous "external
elements," the sources said.
After returning to Yangon Wednesday following a trip to
one of Myanmar's natural beauty spots Inle Lake, Razali met with two senior
leaders of the socialist National Unity Party (NUP), a party source told
AFP.
The NUP, previously known as the Burma Socialist
Programme Party, was the former dictator General Ne Win's party vehicle
following his coup and declaration of a one-party state in 1974.
The NUP was part of the National Convention, the
mechanism set up by the ruling junta in 1993 to draw up a new constitution to
facilitate new democratic elections.
However, Aung San Suu Kyi withdrew the NLD from the
National Convention after her release from five years of house arrest in 1995
declaring it was a sham.
The junta, which subsequently suspended the National
Convention, has delayed reconstituting it because of what it says is the
confrontational approach of the NLD in league with western
countries.
The NLD won a landslide general election victory in
1990, but the junta has never recognised the result and is accused by foreign
critics and human rights groups of severe repression of its
opponents.
The Times - Oct 16, 2000.
A New Epicenter Burma ignores its AIDS crisis No country in Asia is in deeper denial over AIDS than Burma. As neighboring
Cambodia and Thailand marshal their meager resources to combat the spread of
AIDS, the generals who rule Burma have chosen a different strategy to fight the
disease: they lie about it. As Burma becomes a new epicenter for the
proliferation of HIV, these fabrications are proving deadly not only for the
nation's citizens, but also for their neighbors.
In Burma, a country of 45 million, about 530,000 people were infected with
HIV at the end of 1999, according to the Joint United Nations Program on
HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS). Many experts suspect the number is much higher: information
is hard to come by, particularly since parts of the country are closed to
outsiders because of conflicts involving ethnic minorities. "Numbers are red
herrings," says Tony Lisle, intercountry coordinator for UNAIDS in Asia. "What
is clear is that the epidemic in Burma is severe." Kul Gautam, deputy executive
director of unicef, warns that Burma's problem may soon rival that of African
countries. Among the factors: large-scale heroin production and addiction and a
fast-growing commercial sex industry.
Intelligence chief Lieut. General Khin Nyunt, one of the junta's most
powerful figures, downplays the danger. Burma has "no rampaging AIDS epidemic,"
he told a regional conference of health ministers in Rangoon last year. Just
25,000 Burmese were HIV-positive, he said, adding that claims the country is
suffering from an AIDS contagion were fabricated by the regime's enemies.
Burma is one of the poorest nations in Asia. The generals, however, spend
more than twice as much on weapons as they do on health and education combined.
(U.S. spending on health and education is six times its defense budget.)
According to the Southeast Asian Information Network, an activist group in
Thailand, only 2% of Burmese men use condoms, which are scarce and expensive by
regional standards. The military's control of information has left many Burmese
with "no idea what causes AIDS and how to prevent it," says Debbie Stothard, a
Bangkok democracy activist.
As heroin, illegal workers and prostitutes exit the country, Burma is
emerging as an AIDS exporter. In neighboring China, India and Thailand, the
provinces with the highest HIV rates are those that border Burma. Bangkok has
voiced frustration at what it sees as the regime's lack of cooperation on the
issue. Because of Rangoon's pariah status with most Western nations—the military
violently crushed a pro-democracy uprising in 1988 and nullified an election it
lost by a landslide in 1990—Burma is not getting the outside help it needs.
Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi routinely calls for economic sanctions and
for businesses not to invest, but she believes foreign NGOS should do AIDS work
in Burma. Many decline, however, because they don't want to be accused of
helping the regime. "The international community must look at this in purely
humanitarian terms and not political terms," warns Lisle. "If it doesn't, then
the international community will be culpable." UNAIDS estimates that 48,000
Burmese died of AIDS last year, while 43,000 children have been orphaned by the
disease. By maintaining the fiction that there is no epidemic in Burma, the
military may end up killing more people with lies than it ever has with
guns.
WIRE:10/10/2000 12:12:00 ET
UK demands release of jailed activist in Myanmar LONDON, Oct 10 (Reuters) -
Foreign Secretary Robin Cook demanded on Tuesday that a British human rights
campaigner jailed in Myanmar be released after a United Nations working group
said he was being held arbitrarirly. James Mawdsley is serving a 17-year
sentence for handing out pro-democracy leaflets in the southeast Asian country.
He was imprisoned just over a year ago. Foreign Office officials said the
UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention had ruled Mawdsley was being detained
without due cause. "The UN decision confirms that James is being held
unlawfully," Cook said in a statement. "(Foreign Office minister) Baroness
Scotland is again summoning the Burmese Ambassador to demand his immediate
release. The barbaric treatment James received recently makes this all the more
urgent." Scotland lodged a stern protest with Myanmar"s ambassador to Britain
last month over reports that Mawdsley had been beaten by guards, suffering a
broken nose and black eyes.
"The Burmese regime must realise that it cannot continue to ignore human
rights and flout international opinion. It is clearer than ever that there is no
justification for the detention of James Mawdsley," Cook said. Myanmar has faced
mounting international condemnation over its treatment of opposition leader Aung
San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy which won elections in 1990 by
a landslide but has never been allowed to govern.
WIRE:10/10/2000 16:59:00 ET
US slams Myanmar for cutting off Aung San Suu Kyi WASHINGTON, Oct 10 (Reuters) -
The United States condemned Myanmar"s military rulers on Tuesday for cutting off
opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi"s contact with the outside world.
But State Department spokesman Richard Boucher could not confirm whether
she had chosen not to see a United Nations envoy this week or been barred from
doing so by the military. Diplomats said on Tuesday the 55-year-old Nobel
laureate had refused to meet the special envoy Razali Ismail in protest at
restrictions on her movements.
Boucher noted these reports at a news briefing but said he could not
confirm them. "We do know that she"s been confined to her home since Sept. 21,
when she attempted to leave Rangoon by train. She"s really had no contact with
anyone outside her home," he said.
Suu Kyi was trying to leave the capital Yangon, formerly called Rangoon,
for the city of Mandalay to investigate reports of a crackdown there against the
National League of Democracy -- the party she led to victory in general
elections in 1990 but which has never been allowed to govern.
Police removed her from the main station in Yangon, a move U.S. Secretary
of State Madeleine Albright called an outrage. Since then she has been confined
to her house with her phone cut off and with no diplomatic access.
"These continuing actions by the Burmese authorities are an egregious
violation of her fundamental right to freedom of movement and association, as
recognised in numerous international conventions and human rights instruments,"
Boucher said. "We would urge the Burmese authorities, once again, to lift their
restrictions on Aung San Suu Kyi and the National League for Democracy," he
said. Myanmar was called Burma until a military coup in 1988.
WIRE:10/11/2000 06:34:00 ET
Myanmar's Suu Kyi said to meet U.N. special envoy YANGON, Oct 11 (Reuters) -
Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Wednesday met United Nations"
special envoy Razali Ismail at her residence in central Yangon where she is
under house arrest, witnesses said.
Witnesses saw the envoy entering the compound of Suu Kyi"s residence
accompanied by local U.N. officials. "I am going to see all important people
relevant to my duty as the special envoy," Ismail told Reuters on Wednesday
before the meeting.
Diplomats earlier said Suu Kyi had refused to meet the envoy in protest at
the government"s restrictions on her movement. The 55-year-old Nobel peace
laureate has been confined to her house with her telephone cut and diplomatic
access barred since September 21.
Ismail earlier met with Than Shwe, chairman of the ruling State Peace and
Development Council (SPDC). Myanmar officials said he met powerful
Lieutenant-General Khin Nyunt, Secretary One of the SPDC and head of military
intelligence, on Tuesday morning.
Ismail, a Malaysian national, arrived in Myanmar on Monday and is due to
leave on Thursday afternoon. He had been appointed U.N. special envoy in April
and visited Myanmar from June 29 to July 3. Ismail"s predecessor, Alvaro De
Soto, visited Myanmar several times to mediate between the SPDC and Suu Kyi"s
National League for Democracy (NLD), but his visits produced no tangible
success.
Wednesday, October 11 9:28 PM SGT
Aung San Suu Kyi meets with UN envoy in Myanmar YANGON, Oct 11 (AFP) - UN
special envoy Razali Ismail met separately Wednesday with the leaders of both
sides of Myanmar's political deadlock, Aung San Suu Kyi and junta head Senior
General Than Shwe, a government source said.
The veteran Malaysian diplomat met the National League for Democracy (NLD)
leader at her Yangon home at 4:30 pm (1000 GMT), immediately after a meeting
with the head of the military junta, Than Shwe, and First Secretary Khin Nyunt,
head of intelligence.
Razali left the Nobel Peace Prize winner's house around 6:30 pm.
Aung San Suu Kyi was the only NLD member present, a government source said.
No further details were available.
Nor was there any indication that the movement restrictions imposed on Aung
San Suu Kyi had been lifted.
The NLD leader and other party elders have remained under de facto house
arrest since they were prevented from travelling to the northern city of
Mandalay on September 22.
Razali, who arrived in Yangon Monday on his second trip to the country
under UN auspices, is attempting to break the impasse between the ruling junta
and the opposition.
His four-day visit comes against the backdrop of a renewed crackdown on the
NLD despite fierce international criticism.
During his first trip in July, Razali apparently made little headway in
kickstarting relations between the two sides.
But Razali's meeting with Than Shwe, confirmed by a government source, was
the first time the diplomat or his predecessor had met with the junta's
head.
Earlier a source close to the military told AFP two Yangon-based UN
representatives had held a 40-minute meeting with the Nobel Peace Laureate at
her house late Tuesday, although the results of the meeting were not
disclosed.
Previously sources close to the NLD had said Aung San Suu Kyi might not
even want to meet the envoy unless restrictions on the rest of the party
leadership's movements were removed.
Both the junta and the UN maintained a strict media blackout on the agenda
or other details of the talks.
UN spokesman Fred Eckhard's only comment last week was that Razali would
discuss "continuing violations of human rights in Myanmar" and would report back
to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan.
In meetings Tuesday, First Secretary Khin Nyunt, head of intelligence,
lectured Razali on the NLD's confrontational tactics which he said had damaged
the process of democracy in Myanmar, government sources said.
After returning to Yangon Wednesday following a trip to the natural beauty
spot of Inle Lake, Razali was due to meet with two senior leaders of the
socialist National Unity Party (NUP), strong advocates of the ruling junta, a
party source told AFP, but it was unclear whether the meeting had gone
ahead.
The NUP, previously known as the Burma Socialist Programme Party, was the
former dictator General Ne Win's vehicle following his coup and declaration of a
one-party state in 1974.
The NUP was part of the National Convention, the mechanism set up by the
ruling junta in 1993 to draw up a new constitution leading to new democratic
elections.
However, Aung San Suu Kyi withdrew the NLD from the National Convention
after her release from five years of house arrest in 1995, declaring it a
sham.
The junta has delayed reform because of what it says is the NLD's
confrontational approach in league with western countries.
While in Inle Lake Razali met with the Aung Kham Ti, the leader of Palaung,
an ethnic armed opposition group and one of nine groups which agreed to a
ceasefire with the military regime following its 1989 peace offering, a
government source said.
The NLD won a landslide general election victory in 1990, but the junta has
never recognised the result and is accused by foreign critics and human rights
groups of severe repression.
Wednesday, October 11 8:07 PM SGT
Aung San Suu Kyi meets with UN envoy YANGON, Oct 11 (AFP) - Myanmar
opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi met Wednesday with UN special envoy Razali
Ismail in Yangon, a government source said.
The veteran Malaysian diplomat met the National League for Democracy (NLD)
leader at her home at 4:30 pm (1000 GMT) following an earlier meeting with the
head of the military junta, Senior General Than Shwe.
Razali left the Nobel Peace Prize winner's house at 5:30 pm but no further
details were available.
Wednesday, October 11 7:27 PM SGT
UN envoy meets Myanmar head amid signs of possible Suu Kyi meeting YANGON, Oct 11 (AFP) - UN envoy
Razali Ismail met for the first time Wednesday with the leader of the Myanmar
junta, Senior General Than Shwe, amid signs opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi
may see the envoy after all.
Razali's talks with Than Shwe, confirmed by a government source, was the
first time the veteran Malaysian diplomat or his predecessor had met with the
junta's head.
Analysts in Yangon said the appointment, along with the red carpet
treatment accorded to Razali on his arrival in Yangon Monday, indicated the
junta had not immediately dismissed his visit.
However, the regime had still not publicly said whether Razali would be
able to see Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of the opposition National League for
Democracy (NLD) party.
But a source close to the military told AFP two Yangon-based UN
representatives had held a 40-minute meeting with the Nobel Peace Laureate at
her house late Tuesday.
Although neither the UN, the NLD nor the junta made any official comment,
indications were Aung San Suu Kyi had agreed to meet Razali, the source said,
adding that no times had been set.
Previously sources close to the NLD had said she might not even want to
meet the envoy unless restrictions on the rest of the party leadership's
movements were removed.
A senior Myanmar official said Wednesday there was no reason why Razali
could not meet her.
"The government has no opposition to him seeing her," Colonel Kyaw Thein,
head of the Office of Strategic Studies at Myanmar's defence ministry told AFP
in Bangkok, where he is attending an anti-drugs conference.
Razali, on his second trip to the country under UN auspices, is attempting
to break the deadlock between the ruling junta and the opposition.
During his first trip in July, Razali apparently made little headway in
kickstarting relations between the two sides.
Both the junta and the UN have maintained a strict media blackout on the
agenda or other details of the talks.
UN spokesman Fred Eckhard's only comment last week was that Razali would
discuss "continuing violations of human rights in Myanmar" and would report back
to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan.
Razali's four-day visit comes against the backdrop of a renewed crackdown
on the NLD despite fierce international criticism.
Aung San Suu Kyi and other party elders have remained under de facto house
arrest since they were prevented from travelling to the northern city of
Mandalay on September 22.
In meetings Tuesday, First Secretary Khin Nyunt, head of intelligence,
lectured Razali on the NLD's confrontational tactics which he said had damaged
the process of democracy in Myanmar, government sources said.
After returning to Yangon Wednesday following a trip to the natural beauty
spot of Inle Lake, Razali met with two senior leaders of the socialist National
Unity Party (NUP), strong advocates of the ruling junta, a party source told
AFP.
The NUP, previously known as the Burma Socialist Programme Party, was the
former dictator General Ne Win's vehicle following his coup and declaration of a
one-party state in 1974.
The NUP was part of the National Convention, the mechanism set up by the
ruling junta in 1993 to draw up a new constitution leading to new democratic
elections.
However, Aung San Suu Kyi withdrew the NLD from the National Convention
after her release from five years of house arrest in 1995, declaring it a
sham.
The junta has delayed reform because of what it says is the NLD's
confrontational approach in league with western countries.
The NLD won a landslide general election victory in 1990, but the junta has
never recognised the result and is accused by foreign critics and human rights
groups of severe repression.
Wednesday, October 11 4:00 PM SGT
ASEAN conference admits amphetamines becoming region's scourge BANGKOK, Oct 11 (AFP) -
Officials gathering here to launch a major programme to wipe out drugs in
southeast Asia Wednesday admitted that amphetamines have become the scourge of
the region.
On the opening day of the International Congress in Pursuit of a Drug-Free
ASEAN, ministers and drug controls experts from the Association of Southeast
Asian Nations (ASEAN), China and the United Nations agreed that amphetamine
abuse was wreaking havoc on the region.
"In recent years the problem of amphetamine-type stimulants has also taken
on alarming proportions," said Pino Arlacchi, United Nations
under-secretary-general.
"New types of drugs such as methamphetamine and ecstasy are manufactured,
trafficked and consumed through illegal and secret networks," said Luo Gan,
state councillor of China.
"This has made the drug control task of all countries even more arduous and
difficult."
"In recent years, with the surge of illicit abuse, trafficking and
manufacturing of amphetamine-type stimulants (ATS) ... China is increasingly
exposed to the invasion and threat of ATS."
"ATS abuse has become an unprecedented phenomenon, affecting not only
adults but also our children and youth," said Thai Prime Minister Chuan
Leekpai.
The amphetamine trade is increasingly being funded and controlled by
transnational criminal organisations that are expanding their authority and
buying more weapons, Arlacchi said.
"Each increase in power by criminally tied groups erodes the rule of law.
The authority and credibility of the state declines," he said.
If the amphetamine scourge is to be controlled, countries in the region
must cooperate more effectively on drug control efforts, officials agreed.
Law enforcement officials throughout Asia must work together on task forces
to fight amphetamines and countries must put into place development programmes
to wean people off producing ATS, Chuan said.
The three-day conference is tasked with coming up with ways to wipe out
drugs in ASEAN by 2015.
Several officials however said that major drug producers such as Myanmar
had to make much more concerted efforts to wipe out amphetamines.
Myanmar, one of the 10 ASEAN members, is said to be a major source of
methamphetamines and amphetamine-type stimulants, and some western states have
accused its ruling military junta of turning a blind eye to the production and
trafficking of the drugs.
Myanmar denied that it supported amphetamine production and insisted it was
doing its best to fight drugs.
"Myanmar has its own master plan. By 2014 all drugs will be wiped out,"
said Col Kyaw Thein, head of Myanmar's Office of Strategic Studies.
An official from the United States however countered that Myanmar has not
effectively implemented any plan to fight drugs.
Representatives from 34 countries including the United States, Japan,
China, India and the 15-nation European Union are attending the
conference.
Wednesday, October 11 5:29 PM SGT
Myanmar Says Neighbors To Blame Also For Drug Production BANGKOK (AP)--Myanmar alone is
not to blame for the massive drug production in the country since the machinery
used to make methamphetamines is smuggled from neighboring nations, a senior
Myanmar official said Wednesday.
Col. Kyaw Thein, the military intelligence officer coordinating Myanmar's
anti-drug effort, said security forces in his country have a tough time
patrolling more than 6,000 kilometers of border.
"Because of our limited resources and because we don't have much strength
in law enforcement, it is a difficult task for our officials," Kyaw Thein told
reporters at a conference on drugs, sponsored by the United Nations
International Drug Control Program.
The three-day conference will try to find ways to eliminate drugs by 2015
in the 10 countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Myanmar is a
member of Asean.
A UNDCP report said that in contrast to North America and Europe, the
production, trafficking and abuse of amphetamine-type stimulants have continued
to rise in Southeast Asia since the early 1990s.
Most of the drugs in the region originate in the opium-producing Golden
Triangle, where the borders of northern Thailand, Laos and Myanmar meet.
Besides heroin, the drug lords are increasingly producing methamphetamines,
a hugely popular synthetic narcotic among young people in Thailand.
In a speech, Jurin Laksanawisit, a Thai Cabinet minister, said 90% of
methamphetamines sold illegally in Thailand are produced and trafficked from
outside.
But Kyaw Thein said the precursor chemicals and machinery to make
amphetamine-type stimulants are not produced in Myanmar but are made and brought
from outside.
Neighboring countries have a responsibility to stop these materials from
being smuggled into Myanmar, he said.
He also rejected suggestions that the United Wa State Army, a Myanmar rebel
group blamed for much of the drug production, is out of control.
"Everybody knows they are not the only one group in doing this
thing...international organized crime gangs and international drug traffickers
are really involved," he said.
He said Myanmar had its own national masterplan aimed at eliminating drugs
by 2014.
Wednesday, October 11 7:51 PM SGT
UN Envoy Visits Myanmar Opposition Leader Suu Kyi YANGON (AP)--A special U.N.
envoy, on a mission to break Myanmar's political deadlock, went to pro-democracy
leader Aung San Suu Kyi's house Wednesday after meeting with the leader of the
ruling military junta.
Reporters saw Razali Ismail being driven into the compound of Suu Kyi's
lakeside house in Yangon where she is being held under virtual house arrest.
Details of the meeting weren't immediately available.
A United Nations Development Program official earlier said that Razali will
meet twice with Suu Kyi in a bid to reconcile the differences between her
pro-democracy National League for Democracy and the junta.
Razali, a Malaysian diplomat who arrived in Yangon Monday, met earlier
Wednesday with Gen. Than Shwe, head of the junta, known as the State Peace and
Development Council.
Details of Razali's meetings have not been made public, but the
Yangon-based UNDP official said "the mission is progressing well as scheduled."
He said Razali will meet twice with Suu Kyi. The official spoke on
condition of anonymity.
Razali is scheduled to leave Myanmar, also known as Burma, on Thursday.
Previous U.N. envoys, during their rare visits, have met twice with Suu Kyi
in order to convey information between government and opposition.
In Bangkok, a senior Myanmar official attending a U.N. conference, said the
junta has no objection to Razali meeting with Suu Kyi.
"We are not against it," Col. Kyaw Thein, a senior military intelligence
officer, told reporters.
Myanmar's government refuses to hold talks with the National League for
Democracy if they include Suu Kyi.
Razali met on Tuesday with Lt. Gen. Khin Nyunt, chief of military
intelligence and the third-ranking general in the regime.
Before his departure, Razali is also scheduled to have a wrap-up meeting
with Foreign Ministry officials. On his arrival Monday he met with Foreign
Minister Win Aung as well as ministers of interior and health.
There was speculation that Suu Kyi, the 1991 Nobel Peace laureate, might
object to seeing Razali while being under virtual house arrest for trying to
exercise her political rights.
Suu Kyi's party was never allowed by the junta to take power after a
sweeping general election victory in 1990, and has suffered severe repression
since then.
Suu Kyi has been confined to her home and denied diplomatic contact since
Sept. 22 after she was blocked from traveling outside the Myanmar capital on
party business. The restrictions, also applied to other leaders of her party,
were still in place Wednesday.
Razali's mandate is to discuss issues related to a U.N. General Assembly
resolution adopted in December that urges Myanmar's government to stop
widespread human rights violations.
It also calls for Myanmar to "take all necessary steps" to restore
democracy, open a dialogue with Suu Kyi and other political leaders, and to
immediately release political prisoners.
Razali's predecessor as U.N. envoy to Myanmar visited the country six times
and made no headway.
The Age
Australia under fire over Burma human rights seminars By CRAIG SKEHAN SOUTH-EAST ASIA CORRESPONDENT BANGKOK Wednesday 11 October 2000 The Australian Government came under fire yesterday for holding a new round
of human rights seminars in Burma while democracy campaigner Aung San Suu Kyi is
under house arrest.
Dr Naing Aung, a senior member of the opposition National Council for the
Union of Burma, said the seminars were misguided from the outset.
With the latest crackdown on dissent in Burma and the house arrest of Ms
Suu Kyi and other democracy leaders, he said Australia should have suspended the
seminars. "What is the point of having seminars if, while they are going on,
human rights abuses are just getting worse."
He said Australia had allowed itself to be used by the Burmese military
regime "in a public relations exercise."
The new seminars opened in Rangoon on Monday, with a government official
praising Australia for sharing its expertise on human rights conventions and the
role of the United Nations.
An academic from Melbourne's Monash University and a Sydney-based
international law expert will conduct workshops this week and will be joined at
the weekend by former Australian human rights commissioner Chris Sidoti.
Mr Sidoti was sent to Rangoon last year by Foreign Affairs Minister
Alexander Downer to help secure approval for the human rights initiative.
Mr Downer has argued that the US and European approach of isolating Burma
and imposing sanctions had not improved human rights.
Ms Suu Kyi was placed under house arrest last month after being stopped
from travelling to the city of Mandalay. In August she was stopped from visiting
rural areas.
A spokesman for Mr Downer said last night: "While we deplore the repeated
forcible return to Rangoon of Aung San Suu Kyi, we have decided to continue with
the final third workshop to enable an effective review of the entire
process."
Ananova - Oct 11,
2000.
Burma holding rights campaigner unlawfully: UN The United Nations has ruled that a British human rights campaigner is
being held in a Burmese jail unlawfully.
James Mawdsley was imprisoned a year ago for carrying pro-democracy
leaflets and has been in solitary confinement at the notorious Keng Tung prison
ever since.
Now the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has ruled James, 27, is
being held "arbitrarily" and asked the country's military junta to "remedy the
situation".
Foreign Secretary Robin Cook welcomed the UN report.
"The Burmese regime must realise that it cannot continue to ignore human
rights and flout international opinion. It is clearer than ever that there is no
justification for the detention of James Mawdsley.
"(Foreign Office minister) Baroness Scotland is again summoning the Burmese
ambassador to demand his immediate release."
James' father David Mawdsley, a London property manager, said: "I'm
delighted with this news. The UN ruling is very significant. I just hope they
have the influence to get him released. I hope it will gel all the major powers
into pressuring Burma and imposing sanctions against them for such blatant human
rights abuses."
James's arrest on August 31 last year was the third time he had been held
by Burmese authorities in two years.
The former Bristol University student was campaigning for the junta to
release all political prisoners, hold a dialogue with the country's National
League of Democracy and cease its closure of universities.
BBC -Tuesday, 10 October, 2000, 21:45
GMT 22:45 UK
UN condemns Briton's detention in Burma The United Nations has ruled that a British human rights campaigner is
being held unlawfully in jail in Burma.
The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention said that James Mawdsley was
being held arbitrarily and it asked the Burmese military rulers to remedy the
situation.
The ruling was welcomed by the British Foreign Secretary, Robin Cook.
He said that it was clearer than ever that there was no justification for
the detention of Mr Mawdsley.
Mr Cook also said that the Burmese regime had to realise that it could not
continue to ignore human rights and flout international opinion.
Mr Mawdsley is serving a seventeen year jail sentence for handing out
pro-democracy leaflets.
Last month, the Burmese ambassador to Britain was summoned by the Foreign
Office over reports that Mr Mawdsley was beaten in jail.
From the newsroom of the BBC World Service
The Independent-bangladesh.- Oct 11,
2000.
Yangon warns UN not to interfere as envoy tours Myanmar YANGON, Oct 10: Myanmar's state press Tuesday warned the United Nations not
to interfere in the junta's affairs in a commentary timed to coincide with a
visit to Yangon by UN special envoy Razali Ismail, reports AFP.
A "statement has to be made at the United Nations warning them not to make
any interference, as those outside are giving troubles (and) finding fault in
domestic affairs," said the state-controlled New Light of Myanmar."It will be
explained to (Ismail) that efforts are being made for emergence of
discipline-flourishing democracy" in Myanmar, it said. "No outside country
should need to come to negotiate or settle or give guidance; should they send a
scheme to settle, people will not accept it," the commentary said.
Ismail arrived in Yangon Monday to try to break the deadlock between
Myanmar's military junta and the opposition National League for Democracy
(NLD).Ismail would reportedly meet with First Secretary Khin Nyunt, head of
intelligence, Tuesday morning and then travel upcountry to the tourist
destination of Inle Lake.
With the junta, Razali will discuss "continuing violations of human rights
in Myanmar," and report back to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, UN spokesman
Fred Eckhard said previously. The veteran Malaysian diplomat's second trip to
Myanmar under UN auspices comes against the backdrop of deteriorating relations
between Yangon and the European Union and the junta's renewed crackdown on the
NLD despite fierce international criticism.
"Myanmar has requested the EU side to postpone the visit" of an EU foreign
policy troika to Yangon "as the present environment is not favourable for the
meeting to be constructive," a spokesman for the junta told the news
agency.
NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other party elders have remained under de
facto house arrest since they were prevented from travelling to the northern
city of Mandalay on September 22.
During his first trip in July Razali apparently made little headway in
restarting relations between the NLD and the junta.The junta has not publicly
said whether Razali would meet Aung San Suu Kyi, but observers have said it was
highly unlikely he would make the trip without being guaranteed a meeting with
the Nobel Peace Prize laureate.
The UN special envoy is scheduled to end his visit on Wednesday.The NLD won
a landslide general election victory in 1990, but the junta has never recognised
the result and is accused by foreign critics and human rights groups of severe
repression of its opponents.
Sydney Morning Herald
Human rights seminars 'misguided from outset' Date: 11/10/2000 By CRAIG SKEHAN, Herald correspondent in Bangkok The Australian Government came under fire yesterday for conducting more
human rights seminars in Burma while the democracy campaigner Ms Aung San Suu
Kyi remained under house arrest.
Dr Naing Aung, a senior member of the opposition National Council for the
Union of Burma, said the seminars, which began in July, were misguided from the
outset.
With the latest crackdown on dissent and the house arrest of Ms Suu Kyi and
other democracy leaders, the Australian Government should have at least
suspended them.
"Even now, I think they should be stopped immediately," Dr Naing Aung
said.
"What is the point of having seminars if, while they are going on, human
rights abuses are just getting worse?
"The Australian Government made a mistake in the first place by allowing
itself to be used by the Burmese military regime in a public relations
exercise."
There was an opening ceremony on Monday in Burma's capital, Rangoon, for
the latest 10-day series of seminars.
A military regime official praised Australia for its contribution in
helping Burma with expertise on international human rights conventions
and
the role of the United Nations. The 26 participating Burmese officials were drawn from the two earlier
seminar groups, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs.
An academic from Melbourne's Monash University and a Sydney-based
international law expert conducting this week's workshops are due to be joined
at the weekend by former Australian Human Rights Commissioner Mr Chris
Sidoti.
All of those involved are working under a Government contract awarded to
Monash.
Mr Sidoti was sent to Rangoon last year by the Foreign Minister, Mr Downer,
to help secure approval for the human rights initiative.
Mr Downer argued that isolating Burma and imposing sanctions had not
improved human rights or led to democratic reforms.
Ms Suu Kyi was placed under house arrest last month after an attempt to
travel by train to the northern city of Mandalay.
Sources said that foreign diplomats on Monday were again stopped from
visiting Ms Suu Kyi and other leaders of the National League for
Democracy.
A spokesman for Mr Downer said last night: "While we deplore the repeated
forcible return to Rangoon of Aung San Suu Kyi, we have decided to continue with
the final third workshop to enable an effective review of the entire
process.''
The Nation - Oct 11,
2000.
Karen rebels, Thai police take aim across Moei River MAE SOT - A pro-Rangoon ethnic army has positioned its weapons along the
banks of the Moei River in what appears to be preparation for a cross-border
attack on Thailand, officials said yesterday.
They said the incident followed heavy firing during the previous evening
between the two sides.
Lt-Colonel Noppodol Chathiwong, commander of the Task Force 346, said he
would protest to the Burmese authorities for turning a blind eye and allowing
the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) to launch attacks against Thailand.
The incident, which occurred near Baan Tah Art in Tak's Mae Sot district,
was in response to recent gunfights between the DKBA and Thai Border PoliceTask
Force 346.
The task force came across the DKBA two days earlier as the group was
trying to steal pickup trucks across the Moei River, which forms the border.
One DKBA soldier was killed in the gunfight.
The same unit came across another DKBA group yesterday morning on the Thai
side of the river dismantling a pickup truck, it is believed in an attempt to
take the spare parts back to Burma.
A gunfight broke out, but no injuries were reported.
The incidents have heightened insecurity in the already sensitive area, and
reinforcements have been called in on both sides.
South China Morning Post
Wednesday, October 11, 2000 BURMA - UN envoy visits Suu Kyi's home ASSOCIATED PRESS in Rangoon A special UN envoy, on a mission to break Burma's political deadlock, went
to pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi's house on Wednesday after meeting with
the leader of the ruling military junta.
Reporters saw Razali Ismail being driven into the compound of Ms Suu Kyi's lakeside house in Rangoon where she is being held under virtual house arrest. Details of the meeting were not immediately available. A United Nations Development Programme official earlier said that Mr Razali
will meet twice with Ms Suu Ky in a bid to reconcile the differences between her
pro-democracy National League for Democracy and the junta.
Mr Razali, a Malaysian diplomat who arrived in Rangoon on Monday, met
earlier on Wednesday with General Than Shwe, head of the junta, known as the
State Peace and Development Council.
Details of Mr Razali's meetings have not been made public, but the
Rangoon-based UNDP official said ''the mission is progressing well as
scheduled''.
He said Mr Razali will meet twice with Ms Suu Kyi. The official spoke on
condition of anonymity.
Mr Razali is scheduled to leave Burma on Thursday.
Previous UN envoys, during their rare visits, have met twice with Ms Suu
Kyi in order to convey information between government and opposition.
In Bangkok, a senior Burma official attending a UN conference, said the
junta has no objection to Mr Razali meeting with Ms Suu Kyi.
''We are not against it,'' Colonel Kyaw Thein, a senior military
intelligence officer, said.
Burma's government refuses to hold talks with the National League for
Democracy if they include Ms Suu Kyi.
Mr Razali met on Tuesday with Lieutentant General Khin Nyunt, chief of
military intelligence and the third-ranking general in the regime.
Before his departure, Mr Razali is also scheduled to have a wrap-up meeting
with Foreign Ministry officials. On his arrival on Monday he met with Foreign
Minister Win Aung as well as ministers of interior and health.
There was speculation that Ms Suu Kyi, the 1991 Nobel Peace laureate, might
object to seeing Mr Razali while being under virtual house arrest for trying to
exercise her political rights.
Ms Suu Kyi's party was never allowed by the junta to take power after a
sweeping general election victory in 1990, and has suffered severe repression
since then.
Ms Suu Kyi has been confined to her home and denied diplomatic contact
since September 22 after she was blocked from travelling outside the Burma
capital on party business. The restrictions, also applied to other leaders of
her party, were still in place Wednesday.
Mr Razali's mandate is to discuss issues related to a UN General Assembly
resolution adopted in December that urges Burma's government to stop widespread
human rights violations.
It also calls for Burma to ''take all necessary steps'' to restore
democracy, open a dialogue with Ms Suu Kyi and other political leaders, and to
immediately release political prisoners.
Mr Razali's predecessor as UN envoy to Burma visited the country six times
and made no
headway. |