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BURMA RELATED
NEWS
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HEADLINES
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AP - Thai Min: Execute Death-Row
Convicts Quicker To Save Cash
AP - China Said To Agree To Thai-Sino-Myanmar Anti-Drug
Plan
AFP -
Lobbyists' role at UN human rights talks prompts heated
debate
AFP -China agrees to
anti-drug cooperation with Thailand, Myanmar
Reuters - Myanmar says some Thai
politicians traffic drugs
Reuters - Thailand to aid Myanmar ties with personal
touch
BBC - Key
Chinese army officer defects
The Nation -
Beijing 'supports' trilateral talks with
Burma
Bkk Post -
New unit in battle to stop smuggling of
precursors
Xinhuanet - Japan Provides Debt Relief to
Myanmar
The Times of India - Myanmar frees jailed youth democracy activists
Friday March 23, 7:21 PM Thai Min: Execute Death-Row
Convicts Quicker To Save Cash
BANGKOK (AP)--Thailand's interior minister on
Friday urged the country's corrections department to speed up the execution of
prisoners on death row, saying the government doesn't want to waste money on
their upkeep.
Most prisoners on death row are convicted of drug
trafficking, and the minister's comments reflect the government's determination
to crack down on the narcotics problem, considered the country's top social
problem.
"There are reported to be 19 convicts currently on death
row, most of them drug offenders," Interior Minister Purachai Piemsomboon said.
"The government does not want to waste more money for
these unwanted people ... they have to be executed as soon as possible," he
said.
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who took office in
February, has announced a policy to rehabilitate addicts while increasing
pressure on dealers and producers of methamphetamines, the latest illegal
stimulant of choice among youngsters.
Thai officials say methamphetamines are smuggled in vast
quantities from neighboring Myanmar, also known as Burma.
Purachai's comments also come in the context of a
continuing budget squeeze, which has limited government spending since a
financial crisis roiled the region in 1997.
The corrections department, which is overseen by Purachai,
must take care of 230,455 prisoners nationwide in facilities meant for fewer
than 100,000. Drug offenders account for about 63% of the prison population.
Even after they exhaust their legal avenues, convicts have
the right to appeal to the king for clemency.
Earlier this month, Thammarak Issarangkura na Ayuthaya, a
minister in the Prime Minister's Office in charge of the anti-narcotics police,
said he would consult with the king's office to amend the law so that condemned
traffickers can be executed if the king doesn't respond to their clemency plea
within 60 days.
At present, the government cannot carry out an executions
unless the king rejects the mandatory appeal.
"Speeding up of execution is needed to deter people from
jumping into the habit of drugs trafficking," Thammarak said.
Friday March 23, 10:46 PM
China Said To Agree To
Thai-Sino-Myanmar Anti-Drug Plan
BANGKOK, Thailand (AP)--Chinese President Jiang Zemin agreed to
Thailand's proposal of Thai-Sino-Myanmar cooperation to combat drug trafficking,
Thai Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai said Friday.
Surakiart flew to the Chinese capital, Beijing, Thursday
for a four-day official visit. He was interviewed by reporters in Thailand by
telephone.
Cooperation in fighting drug trafficking was a major item
on Surakiart's agenda in his discussion with Jiang. Also on the agenda were
trade issues, and China promised to increase its imports from Thailand,
Surakiart said.
Thailand and China signed an agreement last year on
exchanging information on the suppression of drugs.
The focus is the trafficking of the illegal stimulant
methamphetamine produced by ethnic minority guerrilla groups in Myanmar, also
known as Burma.
Millions of tablets are believed to be smuggled from
Myanmar into Thailand and China every year. Myanmar is also a major exporter of
heroin.
According to Surakiart, China agreed to the stationing of
drug suppression officials in each other's country for better cooperation and
more effective action under the pact.
Friday March 23, 9:55 PM
Lobbyists' role at UN human
rights talks prompts heated debate
GENEVA, March 23 (AFP) - The role of lobbyists at the annual
sessions of the UN Human Rights Commission has prompted a heated debate here
after a number of member states openly contested the legitimacy of actions by
some non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
Seventeen nations, including a number of the 53 members of
the UN's main human rights body holding its annual session here, have officially
called for the activities of NGOs to be limited.
Algeria, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, Cuba, Egypt, India,
Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka,
Sudan and Vietnam voiced concern at the growing role of NGOs, who are officially
entitled to take part in the annual Human Rights Commission
session.
Speaking on behalf of the 17 states which he called
"like-minded countries", Ambassador Susanto Sutoyo of Indonesia asked the United
Nations to revise its rules on the accreditation of NGOs to the
commission.
"There should be a check and balance mechanism such as a
code of conduct so as to ensure that no misconduct or abuses should happen," he
told the commission.
"NGOs attending the commission should not be permitted to
distribute scurrilous and politically motivated material," he said.
Some member states are concerned that accreditated NGOs
are able to invite representatives of their choosing to speak at the forum, a
right granted by the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), the main body
coordinating the UN's work.
Many NGOs, of which there were 224 at the 2000 Commission,
make full use of this right, for example to present victims of human rights
violations, sometimes giving up their own right to take the floor to allow their
guests to speak instead.
This has proved controversial.
In 1999, the US protestant organisation Christian
Solidarity International (CSI) allowed southern Sudan rebel chief John Garang to
speak during their allotted time. The following year CSI's accreditation was
temporarily suspended.
The French-based humanitarian organisation, the
International Federation of Human Rights (FIDH), has run up against problems on
two occasions when Algeria and Bahrain demanded -- without success -- for their
accreditation to be suspended.
Diplomatic sources have put these actions by some member
countries against NGOs down to efforts to avoid "harrassment" by
lobbyists.
But the countries themselves underline their national
sovereignty should be respected, as the Chinese representative argued before the
commission on Tuesday.
Ambassador Qiao Zonghuai said NGOs' activities must
conducted in accordance with ECOSOC rules and other UN resolutions.
"They must neither abuse their consultative status, nor
act against the principles and purposes of the (UN) Charter," he
said.
Beijing tried unsuccessfullly this year to have both the
UN and the canton of Geneva ban demonstrations outside the UN headquarters here
by the Chinese spiritual movement Falungong.
Another emerging issue is the creation of so-called
"GONGOs," or "governmental non-governmental organisations", NGO sources
said.
Such bodies are set up to speak in favor of some
governments, either as a member of the 53-member body or by getting them
accredited as NGOs, the sources said.
"This situation has got worse in the past few years," said
Eleni Petroula, the FIDH representative here.
Saturday March 24, 4:17 PM
China agrees to anti-drug
cooperation with Thailand, Myanmar
BANGKOK, March 24 (AFP) - China has agreed to cooperate with Thailand
and Myanmar to combat the flow of illegal drugs in the region, the foreign
ministry here announced Saturday.
"The Chinese foreign minister has agreed in principle on a
tripartite cooperation with Thailand and Myanmar for drugs suppression," a
ministry statement said.
The announcement coincides with a four-day official visit
by Thai Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai to China that started Thursday
and which has included meetings with President Jiang Zemin and his counterpart
Tang Jiaxuan.
The minister said before the visit he would request broad
cooperation from Chinese officials on the regional narcotics trade, especially
the fight against the amphetamines which are tearing at the fabric of Thai
society.
He has specifically asked Beijing to exchange information
and offer technical assistance to combat drug production and trafficking along
the Myanmar-Thai border, an area close to China's southern Yunan
province.
Thailand and China have agreed during Surakiart's visit to
exchange embassy-level anti-narcotics agents.
Beijing has already signed separate initial agreements
with Bangkok and Yangon on bilateral anti-drug cooperation.
However, Thai authorities are increasignly concerned by
the flood of amphetamines -- estimated at some 600 million pills per year --
from the Golden Triangle drug-producing area which includes parts of Myanmar,
Laos and Thailand, and borders on southern China.
The raw chemical ingredients which go into the making of
amphetamines are often illegally imported into Thailand and Myanmar from
China.
Thailand is hoping China will be able to use its influence
on Myanmar at a time when its own relations with Yangon are at a low point over
a border dispute stemming mainly from the region's lucrative drug
trade.
Isolated by the international community, Myanmar has drawn
close to China, and is counting on its "big brother" to help thwart Western
sanctions, and with its failing economy.
Surakiart's visit to China is his first outside Southeast
Asia since he took up his post last month.
He is scheduled to hold anti-drug talks with Myanmar's
vice foreign minister Khin Maung Win next week in Chile on the sidelines of a
meeting between ministers of East Asian and Latin American
countries.
Friday March 23, 6:41 PM
Myanmar says some Thai politicians
traffic drugs
By Aung Hla Tun YANGON, March 23 (Reuters) -
Myanmar's military government accused unidentified Thai politicians on Friday of
drug trafficking, saying it had "abundant information" of their involvement in
the lucrative trade.
In the latest salvo in a heated war of words between the two neighbours, a
Myanmar government spokesman said Yangon had learnt of the involvement of Thai
politicians from known drugs figures.
"We have abundant information about the involvement of foreigners in drug
trafficking in the region, including Thai politicians," the spokesman told
Reuters.
The claim echoes a statement on Thursday by a Thai army general.
The Myanmar government spokesman declined to reveal the identities of the
Thai politicians, saying Myanmar wanted to cooperate with Thailand in the fight
against illegal narcotics.
Asked where the information came from, the spokesman said:
"From those who have surrendered to the government and who were in the drug
trafficking business -- for example Khun Sa."
Drug baron Khun Sa ran an infamous trafficking syndicate for years from a
base in Myanmar.
He surrendered to the Myanmar government in the mid-1990s and was reported
to have given up the drugs trade but Thai narcotics suppression agencies have
said there are signs he may have returned to the business.
The Myanmar spokesman's statement is the latest in a verbal exchange that
followed the election in January of a new Thai government under Prime Minister
Thaksin Shinawatra.
THAILAND PROMISES CRACKDOWN ON DRUGS
Thaksin has vowed to crack down hard on drugs and his government organised
a conference in the northern city of Chiang Mai three weeks ago which heard a
string of accusations that most illegal drugs in Thailand came from Myanmar.
Thailand has challenged Myanmar to tackle what it has called the "known
locations" of drugs production within its borders.
Yangon denies the Thai charges and says Bangkok is trying to blame its own
problems on others. The Myanmar military says it is doing its best to stamp out
the drugs.
On Thursday, Lieutenant-General Wattanachai Chaimuanwong, commander of
Thailand's third army, said several politicians and businessmen were involved in
drugs trafficking.
Wattanachai, responsible for defending the northern border with Myanmar,
said he could not take action because he did not have any authority or evidence
to do so.
"Narcotics trafficking is a multi-billion-baht business involving hundreds
of people and networks... Politicians need money from them to buy votes,"
Wattanachai said.
Thaksin said he would ask for a list of politicians involved in drug
trafficking.
"I will ask him for the list, to keep a close eye on those suspects," the
prime minister said. "So when we have enough evidence, I will order their arrest
-- I won't spare any of them, no matter who they are."
Wattanachai has been extremely critical of Myanmar following a series of
clashes along the Thai-Myanmar border last month.
He says Myanmar's government is encouraging the activities of the United Wa
State Army (UWSA), which he says is the source of most of the methamphetamine
pills flooding Thailand.
Thai and Myanmar officials plan to hold their first border talks in two
years on April 2-4 in the northeastern Myanmar town of Kengtung in a bid to
soothe simmering tensions.
"It is our sincere conviction that with effective cooperation and bona fide
responsibilities among nations, our fight against the drug menace will result in
success sooner or later," said the Myanmar spokesman.
Friday March 23, 7:18 PM
Thailand to aid Myanmar ties with
personal touch
By Nopporn Wong-Anan BANGKOK, March 23 (Reuters) -
Thai Defence Minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudh says the Thai military plans to
improve its relationship with Myanmar by reinforcing traditional personal ties
with senior military leaders.
Chavalit, also deputy prime minister, said in a television interview taped
on Thursday and heard by Reuters on Friday that he called the approach "defence
diplomacy".
"This is diplomacy to establish peace by a contribution from the military
to assist the foreign ministry to (personally) know and understand heads of
military units, commanders, and country leaders of all neighbours around us,"
Chavalit said.
Chavalit, who has often spoken of his good relations with Yangon's ruling
generals and keen to bring back friendly ties, appeared on a programme to mark
the defence ministry's 114th anniversary to be broadcast nationwide on April 8.
Relations between the two neighbours dived last month after border
skirmishes between Myanmar troops, their allies in the United Wa State Army
(UWSA), and anti-government Shan rebels.
Thailand says the battles spilled over onto Thai soil, forcing a response.
Myanmar denies this.
Bangkok says the UWSA is the source of hundreds of millions of
methamphetamine stimulant tablets flooding Thailand each year, and has accused
Yangon of turning a blind eye to the problem.
Myanmar says Shan rebels are the main drug traffickers.
BORDER TALKS
Officials of both countries plan to hold their first border talks in two
years in April in Myanmar's northeastern town of Kengtung in a bid to soothe
tension simmering after their soldiers clashed last month.
Chavalit, who served briefly as Thai prime minister in 1997, said the
diplomacy would start by helping neighbours restore peace in their countries and
then help them develop the economy.
"If we can create peace along all borders, we will be able to introduce a
development scheme across all borders, which is, in military terms, called
'cross border development,'" he said.
"If we help them develop the economy, all kinds of our problems, namely
drug trafficking; the massive amount of illegal immigrant workers, and
transnational crimes, will be gone."
Chavalit, who was Thai Army commander in chief in the early 1990s, said the
military had offered in the past to help Myanmar develop its border towns near
northern Thai towns in projects such as the Salween water diversion scheme.
The project, discussed almost 20 years ago, is being dusted off by Bangkok
to find ways to fight drought and fill up a drying major reservoir.
Chavalit said a hydroelectric dam, part of the Salween project, would
generate both water and electricity to people of both countries around the area.
He also said the military would offer to help Myanmar develop various
businesses, including a sea port around Moetama Bay, and a coal mine in a
Myanmar town opposite the western Thai town of Bang Saphan.
"This is what the Ministry of Defence has done for over a decade and we
will continue to do it," Chavalit said.
BBC - Friday, 23 March, 2001, 13:22
GMT
Key Chinese army officer defects By Adam Brookes in Beijing
An officer of the Chinese People's Liberation Army has defected to the
United States during a visit.
The BBC has learned that the officer is Xu Junping, a senior colonel.
A terse statement issued in Beijing on Friday confirmed the defection.
A Chinese Government spokesman said only that the case was being
investigated.
Key role with US
The BBC has learned that Mr Junping was head of the Americas Bureau at the
foreign affairs office at China's Central Military Commission.
His job was to handle contacts with US armed forces. He helped make
military policy towards the US and he sat right at the heart of China's
strategic thinking.
Sources say that Colonel Xu had been passed over for promotion, and that he
had marital problems and a mistress in the US.
While travelling alone in the US last December, he went to ground and then
contacted American intelligence agencies.
The sources say he was what is termed a "walk-in" - someone who offers
themselves up to the intelligence services of another country.
Harvard student
Colonel Xu had previously spent time in the US, studying at Harvard
University in 1999.
His value to the Americans will be considerable.
He is likely to know Chinese negotiating positions and he will also know
the politics and personalities at the heart of China's intensely secretive
military machine.
His arrival in the US comes at a very sensitive time. The new Bush
administration is still formulating its China policy and there are some in
Washington who want to cast China in the role of strategic and military
competitor.
This highly unusual defection will give the US new insight into China's
military capabilities and intentions.
The Nation - March 24,
2001.
Beijing 'supports' trilateral talks with
Burma
BY VORAPUN SRIVORANART
CHINA strongly supports Thailand's proposal for trilateral cooperation on the drug problem that includes Burma and has expressed concern over the tension between the two Asean members, according to Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai. Surakiart said in a telephone interview from Beijing that Chinese Foreign
Minister Tang Jiaxuan agreed in principle that a venue should be established
where representatives from China, Thailand and Burma could meet.
However, such a framework should not be construed as an attempt to pressure
any country, stressed Surakiart, who is on an official visit to China.
According to Surakiart, the proposal will be forwarded to Burmese Deputy
Foreign Minister Khin Maung Win when Thailand and Burma meet on the sidelines of
the inaugural ministerial meeting of East Asia-Latin America Forum (Ealaf) next
week in Chile.
A separate proposal for a draft bilateral memorandum of understanding (MoU)
between Bangkok and Rangoon will also be in the pipeline.
Thailand and China last year signed a bilateral MoU on countering the
narcotics trade, and Thailand is currently drafting a similar MoU with Burma.
China has a similar arrangement with Burma.
Bangkok and Beijing, Surakiart said, have already agreed to exchange
narcotics officers with each other's embassies.
During his courtesy call on President Jiang Zemin, Surakiart said, the
Chinese leader inquired about the Thai-Burmese tension and wanted to know when
he planned to talk to Burma.
State-run China Central Television yesterday reported Jiang as saying that
Beijing supported Thailand's effort to strengthen ties with neighbouring
countries, one of the government's pledges on foreign policy.
The station also quoted Surakiart as saying that Thailand supported China's
bid to host the 1998 Olympic Games.
Surakiart said Jiang looked forward to meeting Prime Minister Thaksin
Shinawatra at the upcoming Fortune 500 meeting in Hong Kong in May.
The two leaders could perhaps meet over breakfast to discuss issues of
mutual concern, he added.
Jiang also described Sino-Thai ties as "very special", as exemplified by
frequent exchanges of high-level visits.
Her Majesty the Queen made a state visit to China last October, and Her
Royal Highness Princess Sirindhorn recently completed a monthlong course in
Chinese studies at Beijing University.
Surakiart said that Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji planned to visit Thailand as
soon as possible in his current capacity. Zhu previously visited Thailand as
vice premier in 1996, during the Banharn administration.
The Chinese leader also urged for stronger trade and economic relations,
especially between northern Thailand and Yunnan province.
In this regard Surakiart stressed that road and air links between northern
Thailand and Yunnan province should be seriously pursued to bring the two
regions closer together.
In addition a Sino-Thai Business Council should be set up in both countries
to spur further investment and trade, he added.
The issue of the Falungong was also touched upon in general, he said.
The Chinese media highlighted the issue, quoting Surakiart as reassuring
his Chinese counterpart that Thailand would not allow any organisation or
individual to use the Kingdom as a platform to attack any country.
Beijing was recently nettled by the report of an international gathering of
Falungong practitioners in Thailand.
The gathering was eventually called off.
Bangkok Post - March 24,
2001.
New unit in battle to stop
smuggling of precursors
Modern equipment, funding promised Anucha Charoenpo
A special drug suppression centre will be set up to stop the smuggling of
precursor chemicals through 16 border provinces to methamphetamine factories in
Burma.
The centre will be under the Narcotics Suppression Bureau, Pol Gen Pornsak
Durongkhaviboon, the national police chief, said yesterday.
Special funding would be arranged and he would seek modern equipment and
weapons for officers assigned to the task.
Most of the chemicals were smuggled from China and India, arriving in
Thailand through sea ports and Bangkok international airport, he said.
The major customer was the United Wa State Army, based in Mong Yawn
township.
The smuggling networks ran through Chiang Rai, Chiang Mai, Nan, Phayao,
Phrae, Mae Hong Son, Lampang, Lamphun, Narathiwat, Pattani, Yala, Songkhla,
Satun, Tak, Kanchanaburi and Ranong.
Pol Gen Pornsak also said special task forces would be set up to combat
drugs nationwide-54 in Bangkok, 140 in the Central Plains, 150 in the North, 136
in the Northeast and 105 in the South.
Community police would be encouraged to specify targets for the task
forces. Villages would be declared drug-free zones.
Books and equipment would be distributed to help communities and students
understand the drug menace.
More drug checkpoints would be opened and police would be tough on owners
of pubs and night entertainment places allowing underaged people on the premises
and staying open beyond legal hours.
Entertainment areas would be zoned, and kept away from communities.
Amendments had already been proposed to laws that cause delays in police work,
such as requiring a court order for a search warrant. Police want enhanced power
to search drug suspects' houses, he said.
Japan Provides Debt Relief to
Myanmar
2001.03.24 11:11:08 YANGON, March 24 (Xinhuanet) --
The Japanese government will provide a debt relief of 1,777.367 million
yens (about 14.45 million U.S. dollars) to the Myanmar
government.
Myanmar's Deputy Minister of Finance and Revenue Brigadier- General Than
Tun and Japanese Ambassador to Myanmar Shigeru Tsumori on Friday exchanged
notes on the debt relief, official newspaper The New Light of Myanmar
reported Saturday.
Up to 1998, Japan has provided 18 times of debt relief to Myanmar,
amounting 372 million dollars.
It is learnt that Myanmar has received a total of 2.4 billion dollars
of credit from Japan, which is the biggest creditor nation of Myanmar.
The Times of India - March 24,
2001.
Myanmar frees jailed youth democracy
activists
YANGON: Four young pro-democracy activists jailed for protesting at a state
funeral have been released, and others are expected to be freed by the end of
the month, a National League for Democracy (NLD) source said on Friday.
Four NLD youths who staged a demonstration at former Premier U Nu's funeral
in 1996 have completed their jail terms, the source told AFP.
"Maung Maung Oo, Moe Myat Thu, Tin Than Oo and Ko Htike who had been
involved in a demonstration at former Premier's U Hu's funeral here ... have
been released and several others who took part in the same demonstration are
expected to be out before the end of March," he said.
More NLD members jailed in the Toungoo and Tharyarwaddy prisons for
criminal offenses are expected to be freed by the end of this month, he
said.
The releases are seen as a further sign of easing tensions between
Myanmar's ruling junta and the opposition NLD, which is led by Nobel Peace Prize
winner Aung San Suu Kyi.
In October last year, Aung San Suu Kyi and military intelligence chief
Lieutenant-General Khin Nyunt began historic talks aimed at setting up their
first official dialogue since 1994.
The substance of the discussions has been kept tightly under wraps by both
sides, irritating the exiled dissident community and minority leaders who have
called on the junta to reveal any progress.
Until now, members of the NLD youth wing who had completed prison terms
often found themselves back in jail with extended sentences.
But the improved political climate brought about by the talks may have
changed the trend, and those who have remained free are coping with less
harrassment by the junta, the source said. (AFP)
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