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-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- BURMA RELATED NEWS - January - 26, 2001. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HEADLINE
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ABC online - United Nations welcomes
release of Burma opposition leader
AP - Myanmar-Prisoners
AFP - Myanmar releases all 85 opposition youth
wing prisoners: ICRC
AFP - Mekong nations launch first scientific,
research alliance
AP - Myanmar Military Rule Seems
Entrenched Despite Dialogue
Xinhua - Myanmar Govt Releases 85 Opposition
Youth Members
Xinhua - Myanmar In Stage Of Political
Evolution: Official Information
ABC online - January - 26,
2001.
United Nations welcomes release of Burma opposition leader The United Nations Secretary General, Kofi Annan, has applauded the release
of a senior Burmese Opposition leader and 19 others.
The vice chairman of the National League for Democracy, U Tin Oo, and 19
N-L-D members were freed after four months of detention.
Mr Annan called the move by Burma's military authorities a positive step
that will contribute to the ongoing discussions between them and N-L-D leader
and Nobel peace laureate, Aung San Suu Kyi.
U Tin Oo had been held in a military camp outside Rangoon since last
September after he and Ms Suu Kyi led a sit-in at the railway station.
Relations between the Burmese government and the N-L-D have been slowly
improving since visits by Mr Annan's special envoy, Razali Ismail, to mediate
between the two sides.
WIRE
Myanmar-Prisoners YANGON, Myanmar (AP) _ In
another sign of improving relations between Myanmar"s military government and
the opposition, authorities released from prison 84 members of pro-democracy
leader Aung San Suu Kyi"s National League for Democracy, a senior party official
said Friday.
The 84, including 38 women, included party members who were arrested in
April, August and September last year. They were freed in small groups from
Yangon"s Insein prison on Thursday, the NLD official told The Associated Press,
speaking on condition of anonymity.
The releases came as tensions are showing signs of easing between the
opposition party and the ruling military, following secret talks between the two
sides over the past four months aimed at breaking a decade-long political
impasse in this Southeast Asian nation.
Suu Kyi, the party leader, remains under virtual house arrest. "I will
continue with my party activities," said one of the released prisoners and
senior party member, Ma Khine, 32. "That was my third time in prison and
hopefully my last." Khine said most of the 84 were NLD youth members. Thirty-one
were arrested in April when Suu Kyi was trying to organize the party"s youth
wing in Yangon. Two others were arrested in August, after Suu Kyi was engaged in
a nine-day standoff with the government, blocked by authorities when she tried
to travel outside the capital. The other 51 were rounded up early on Sept. 22,
when the NLD leader attempted to travel to the northern city of Mandalay by
train. All the detainees from that incident have now been released.
The Myanmar government issued no immediate comment on the prison releases.
Suu Kyi, the 1991 Nobel Prize laureate, and seven other NLD leaders were
confined to their homes on Sept. 22, but the travel bans on all but Suu Kyi and
party Chairman Aung Shwe were lifted on Dec. 1.
Party vice-chairman Tin Oo, 74, had been detained at a military camp but
was released Wednesday night. He was still barred from receiving visitors
Friday. Myo Nyunt, 34, an NLD youth-wing member, said on Friday that he strongly
believes his release was the result of the first talks between Suu Kyi and top
generals in the regime in six years. He said he heard about them during his
prison confinement. "I am very happy that talks have begun. I am confident that
the restriction on Daw Suu, U Aung Shwe and U Tin Oo will be lifted very soon,
hopefully today," he said.
Daw and U are honorifics. Suu Kyi is engaged in a decade-old political
deadlock with Myanmar"s military junta, which crushed a pro-democracy uprising
in 1988. In 1990, the generals called a national election that was won by the
NLD, but the military refused to honor the results and imposed severe
restrictions on league members.
Friday, January 26 3:52 PM SGT
Myanmar releases all 85 opposition youth wing prisoners: ICRC YANGON, Jan 26 (AFP) - Myanmar
authorities have released all 85 of the opposition youth wing members who were
thrown in jail four months ago, International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)
officials said Friday.
"The prisoners were all released Thursday," an ICRC official said,
confirming they were the group held without charge since joining in a protest
staged by National League for Democracy (NLD) leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
NLD sources said Thursday that they had been informed of the release of the
first 19 of the youth supporters, who were being detained at Yangon's notorious
Insein jail.
Friday, January 26 6:11 PM SGT
Mekong nations launch first scientific,
research alliance
BANGKOK, Jan 26 (AFP) - The
Mekong basin nations Friday launched an academic and research alliance aimed at
reducing their dependence on Western expertise in the fields of science and
technology.
The Mekong basin region, comprising Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand,
Vietnam and the southern Chinese province of Yunnan, have been working to better
harness the potential of their common market of 240 million people.
One of these initiatives is the Greater Mekong Subregion Academic and
Research Network (GMSARN), which was inaugurated Friday at Bangkok's Asian
Institute of Technology (AIT) where it will be based.
Eight academic institutions from Mekong nations have signed up to the
network, including the Institute of Technology of Cambodia and Kunming
University of Science and Technology.
GMSARN aims to generate, develop and share knowledge within the region, and
build the capacity of its academic and research institutions.
"The aim is to establish what the needs of the region really are," said AIT
chairman Jean-Louis Armand. "This is for the countries of the Mekong basin to
decide," he said.
One problem the network aims to overcome is the disparity in standards
between the new educational institutions in member nations.
Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos are some of the poorest countries in the world,
struggling to recreate education systems after decades of turmoil.
"The AIT is focussing its energies on countries who are the most
disadvantaged," Armand said.
Friday January 26, 6:39 PM
Myanmar Military Rule Seems Entrenched Despite Dialogue YANGON (AP)-Myanmar's ruling
military has eased its withering pressure against pro-democracy opponents but is
unlikely to give up, or even meaningfully share, its nearly 40-year grip on
power, some analysts and Myanmar observers say.
Hope was recently sparked that a decade-old deadlock between the generals
and pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi could be broken after word emerged the
two sides have been holding secret talks for nearly four months.
This dialogue, the first since 1994, is being called a "landmark" by
dissident exiles and hailed by the U.N. Some Western diplomats in the region say
it's evidence the junta, a target of Western boycotts, is in desperate economic
straits.
But several Myanmar intellectuals, who spoke on condition of anonymity, say
the country will remain the battleground of two unyielding forces for the
foreseeable future. Some foreign analysts agree.
"The dialogue is very much a show for the European Union, Japanese and the
new Bush administration," says Josef Silverstein, an American political
scientist who has studied Myanmar for a half-century. "It's a play for the
international community."
True Believers Don't Make Good Dealmakers
For a start, both Suu Kyi and the top military leaders she faces are true believers, say the observers who know these key players personally. And true believers are rarely good dealmakers. The generals regard themselves as Myanmar's saviors, and their hostility to
Suu Kyi is almost visceral. Their core position - they will retain power as long
as they see fit - appears non-negotiable.
"The Lady," as she is widely known, is a passionate democrat whose
uncompromising stance sometimes borders on arrogance. This, and the Nobel Prize
laureate's great popularity in the West, further infuriates the military.
On the surface the capital of Yangon has rarely looked better. Traffic
jams, shopping malls and high-rises indicate some have benefitted from economic
liberalization by a military group which seized power after brutally crushing a
Suu Kyi-led uprising in 1988.
Myanmar, also known as Burma, had locked itself away from the world
following a 1962 military coup. The ensuing regime - a mix of military rule and
socialism - proved disastrous.
The economy is clearly the current regime's Achilles' heel and it's been
deteriorating. Foreign investment has plummeted since 1997, hard currency is
scarce and rice, a key export, faces a glut on the world market.
This is worsened by continuing economic sanctions by Washington and the
European Community, with once No. 1 aid-giver Japan waiting for signs of
political change before opening its pocketbook.
Myanmar says it wants the sanctions lifted, and some concessions to Suu Kyi
and her National League for Democracy might prove enough to lessen international
pressure. An EU delegation is to assess the situation during a Jan. 29-31 visit
to Yangon.
Already the ruling State Peace and Development Council has stopped its
virulent attacks against the NLD and released some political prisoners although
Suu Kyi has been under house arrest since Sept. 22.
But that is far short of meeting Suu Kyi's unswerving demand that the
regime recognize results of a 1990 election her party won by a landslide. This
would spell the end of military domination.
Making such a concession to end sanctions would be unprecedented. Myanmar's
military has been up against the wall many times, but never meaningfully yielded
to foreign demands.
"These guys believe they can survive and squeeze as much out of the
population as possible," Silverstein said in a telephone interview.
Western analysts say many in military ranks want the dialogue to fail,
fearing for their full rice bowls - and their heads - should Suu Kyi's side win
and seek revenge for the imprisonment, torture and killing of NLD followers.
On the pro-democracy side, calls for demonstrations and other public action
to force change have fizzled in recent years.
"I think Suu Kyi's popularity is higher than ever. But I don't think people
are going to pick up a weapon and go out on the streets - unless they kill her,"
Silverstein said.
Some in Myanmar are even more skeptical and cynical, saying that while
anti-military sentiment rises Suu Kyi's support erodes as segments of the
population grow frustrated with political stalemate and economic hardship.
"I don't trust anybody," said Aye Hla, a 21-year-old student, when asked if
she backs Suu Kyi.
Making the Yangon rounds, a bitter joke recalls a Buddhist acceptance of
fate that has been a key element of the modern political scene:
"The socialist regime did nothing and lasted 26 years. This regime has a
done a few good things so it will last 52 years."
Myanmar Govt Releases 85
Opposition Youth Members
2001.01.26 21:31:35 YANGON, January 26 (Xinhuanet)
-- The Myanmar government Thursday released 85 youth members of the
opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) after they were jailed for
four months by the military government, NLD sources said on Friday.
The NLD members were rounded up and taken into custody on September
22 last year when they gathered at Yangon Central Railway Station to just
bid farewell to Aung San Suu Kyi, the party's general secretary, who,
along with U Tin Oo, the party's vice-chairman, was planning a trip to
Mandalay, the country's second largest city.
The two party leaders were prevented to go on with their journey and
both placed under house arrest since then until U Tin Oo was just released
on Wednesday with Aung San Suu Kyi still under restriction.
The release of U Tin Oo and the 85 NLD youth members is seen as a goodwill
gesture to the European Union (EU) and the NLD a few days before an EU
delegation is scheduled to arrive Yangon on next Monday for a three-day visit to
Myanmar in an attempt to meet both the government and the opposition leaders for
Myanmar's reconciliation.
Meanwhile, the government media have stopped attacking Aung San Suu Kyi and
NLD in their articles and cartoons which had been a practice for the media
for years.
All the events also came less than a month after Razali Ismail, special
envoy of U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, ended his visit to Myanmar
early this month. The envoy has confirmed a direct dialogue between the
government and the opposition has started since last October.
The NLD, one of the 10 existing and legal political parties in Myanmar
under the "multi-party democratic system," overwhelmingly won the 1990
general election, sponsored by the military government.
Myanmar In Stage Of
Political Evolution: Official Information
2001.01.26 12:08:58 YANGON, January 26 (Xinhuanet)
-- Myanmar's current political situation is still in the stage of an
evolution from a single party unitary state with a centrally-planned
economic system to that of a multi-party democratic union of autonomous
states with a market-oriented economic system, said a government-released
Information Sheet available here Friday.
Quoting a news bulletin recently published by the Myanmar embassy in
London, the Information Sheet said it is evolution rather than a rapid
transformation simply because "Myanmar is determined to set its own
priorities and avoid the disruption of social, moral and cultural fabrics
that characterized the nation and its people for centuries."
It stressed that there need not be a fixed universal formula for
achievement of democracy, saying that each region of the world, inhabited by
different people with different beliefs should be allowed to develop
themselves without being pressured.
The Information Sheet blamed the United States government of the
recent past with arrogantly going on to carry out its threat to ban new
investments in Myanmar unilaterally yielding to pressure from domestic
political activists.
It pointed out that the ban-threat has had little or no effect on a
country making economic progress by simply opening its borders to
neighboring countries.
The Information Sheet praised itself that Myanmar has a remarkable
capacity to survive isolation, saying that the strategy of exerting pressure for
political change through economic sanctions is ineffectual and
counter-productive.
The Information Sheet warned that "Sanctions that lead to deprivation
of the people's rights to basic amenities such as food sufficiency, health care
and education etc. can easily induce a backlash of the people against the
powers that imposed such measures."
Myanmar Holds Second Women's
Conference
2001.01.26 11:36:34 YANGON, January 26 (Xinhuanet)
-- The Second Myanmar Women's Conference (MWC) began here Thursday to lay
down effective action plans for national women's development as a
follow-up of the First MWC held in December 1998.
The two-day conference is sponsored by the Myanmar National Committee
for Women's Affairs (MNCWA).
Speaking at the opening of the conference, First Secretary of the
Myanmar State Peace and Development Council Lieutenant-General Khin Nyunt
stressed the need to acquire the advancing technologies in globalization in
carrying out the tasks, official newspaper The New Light of Myanmar reported
Friday.
He called for paying serious attention to preserving and safeguarding
the national traits in carrying out the task for acquisition of modern
technologies.
He warned against infiltration of alien culture, emphasizing the need
to be more serious in nurturing the mass of Myanmar women to cherish and
preserve their culture and tradition, promote cultural heritage,
strengthen nationalism and patriotism, and safeguarding their originality
with national awareness.
The MNCWA was formed on July 3, 1996. The day of the formation was
designated as Myanmar Women's Day which is observed every year.
The MNCWA is reported to have been successfully implementing the
Myanmar national action plan for advancement of the country's women
covered by the action plans for women's development of the 1995 Beijing
Declaration of the Fourth World Women's Conference.
Meanwhile, Myanmar signed the Convention on the Elimination of All
Forms of Discrimination Against Women in July 1997 and hosted the Regional
Consultation on Violence Against Women and Role of Health Sector in
January 1999.
Myanmar's women population accounts for 50.34 percent of the
country's 50.12 million population, according to official
statistics.
U.S. welcomes release of Myanmar
opposition leader
WASHINGTON Jan. 25 Kyodo - The
United States on Thursday welcomed the release of more than 20 members of
Myanmar's pro-democracy National League for Democracy (NLD) from prison.
Tin Oo, vice chairman of the NLD, and 19 other NLD members have been
released since Wednesday after four months of detention.
Washington welcomes the move and ''we hope it's another step forward in the
process of dialogue that was initiated earlier this month,'' State Department
spokesman Richard Boucher told a news briefing.
Tin Oo had been held in a military camp outside Yangon since Sept. 22,
after he and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi led a sit-in at the
Yangon central railway station with NLD youths, while Suu Kyi and seven other
NLD Central Executive Committee members were restricted to their homes.
Boucher said Tin Oo was allowed to return home but he is still apparently
barred from receiving visitors.
The U.S. thus urges the Myanmar government to lift the remaining
restrictions on Tin Oo and release all political prisoners still in detention or
under house arrest, the spokesman said.
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