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BURMA RELATED NEWS - August 22,
2001.
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HEADLINES
------------------------------------------------------------------ Asahi - EDITORIAL :
Japan should demand progress in Myanmar in return for aid
Channel NewsAsia - Singapore, Thai leaders say ASEAN is more
stable
Reuters - Singapore and Thailand aim to
revitalise ASEAN
Reuters - Indonesia's Megawati on whirlwind
visit to Vietnam and Laos
The Advertiser - Stephen to head Burma mission
ABC online - Former
Australian governor general heads UN labour mission to Burma
The Star - Myanmar hope to boost medal
tally
The Nation - Smuggling 'unabated'
Bkk Post - Junta troops killed in attack on
rebels
Xinhuanet - Myanmar, Laos Issue Joint Communique
to Promote Cooperation
SCMP - Activist tells of life behind bars as a
number
OGJ - Kværner to upgrade Yetagun
platform
UN - ILO team to visit
Myanmar to assess efforts against forced labour
------------------------------------------------------------------ The Asahi Shimbun, Aug. 18,
2001.
EDITORIAL : Japan should demand progress
in Myanmar in return for aid
Myanmar's military rulers have kept a vice-like grip on power for 11 years
since the National League for Democracy led by Aung San Suu Kyi won the 1990
general election by a landslide. The military junta justified its continued rule
by saying a new Constitution was needed before a transfer of power could be
contemplated. But the promised new Constitution has not materialized. The shift
to civilian rule is nowhere in sight. As it turned out, the junta insisted on
the drafting of a Constitution before moving aside. But that was only as a ploy
to continue holding on to the reins of power.
Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi has been under virtual house
arrest since last September. Despite sporadic talks between the military
government and pro-democracy forces, no significant progress has been achieved.
The junta has released a number of imprisoned politicians and activists since
the beginning of this year, but many more remain in jail. A growing number of
young people yearning for freedom despair of their country becoming a democracy
during their lifetimes.
Myanmar's social systems are riddled with fundamental flaws that hinder
efforts to weave human rights and democracy into its social fabric.
One of the big obstacles to progress is the citizenship law, which divides
the Myanmarese into three categories by pedigree and give full citizenship only
to people who can prove familial links dating back to an era before British
colonial rule started in the 19th century. Those who can trace their family
trees back to the time around the country's independence after World War II are
treated as second-class citizens, while the others are classified as naturalized
citizens.
People without full citizenship face huge disadvantages and unfavorable
treatment in the fields of land ownership, employment and education. This
discriminatory law has sown the seeds for rampant corruption among government
and military officials who take advantage of the system to receive money under
the table.
The military government has brushed aside international criticism of the
law, arguing that the question of citizenship is an internal affair.
Even so, legally classifying the people for the purposes of discrimination
represents an open challenge to the widely accepted human rights creeds of
today. The country should revise the citizenship law and guarantee equality for
its people.
Forced labor is another serious human rights issue. The International Labor
Organization last year imposed sanctions against Myanmar, accusing the military
regime of forcing citizens to serve as construction workers or porters. A report
by the United Nations Commission on Human Rights referred to cases in which boys
were forced to walk ahead of soldiers in mine fields for the soldiers'
safety.
Under mounting international pressure, the military junta has declared that
forced labor is illegal. But the practice continues in rural areas.
The international community should keep a closer watch on what is going
over there to ensure that such violations stop.
Japan has been pursuing a kind of engagement policy toward Myanmar,
supplying aid for the construction of airports and other infrastructure while
trying to encourage through dialogue the military government to move toward
democracy.
During the war, Japan occupied Myanmar, then known as Burma, and set up a
nominally independent Burmese regime. This led to an anti-Japanese resistance
movement by disillusioned pro-independence militants. It may, therefore, be
inevitable for Japan to adopt a different posture toward the country from those
of the Western democracies that try to prod the military government into
democratization with the threat and use of sanctions.
The problem is that Japan's diplomatic approach has produced no discernible
changes in the country. It is not even clear what Tokyo wants to achieve through
dialogue with the country's undemocratic government.
Obviously, Japan should strongly demand the junta in Yangon (Rangoon) to
revise the citizenship law and enforce the ban on forced labor. It should also
urge the regime to present a schedule for the transition to civilian rule. The
Japanese government needs some tangible achievements in these respects to win
public support to its continued aid to the military rulers.
------------------------------------------------------------------ Channel NewsAsia - Wednesday August 22,
6:19 PM
Singapore, Thai leaders say ASEAN is more stable Recent developments in the region have led to a favourable political climate for giving ASEAN a fresh lease of life, Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his Singapore counterpart Goh Chok Tong have said. After a meeting in Singapore Wednesday, both leaders agreed to help the
10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to work together to
re-invigorate the grouping.
Mr Thaksin, on the first day of a two-day official visit to Singapore,
arrived to a grand welcome ceremony at the Istana.
And even though it is his first visit to Singapore since taking office in
January, he was clearly at ease with his Singapore counterpart, showing the
close bilateral relationship between the two countries.
According to Mr Goh's press secretary, the prime ministers agreed that
stronger partnerships between the two economies should be encouraged, including
more Singapore investments in Thailand.
Thailand is Singapore's seventh largest trading partner, with bilateral
trade reaching $20 billion last year.
The leaders also discussed developments in the region, and noted that there
is a more stable political scene in Southeast Asia now.
They felt it was timely to work closely with other ASEAN partners to
increase confidence in the grouping.
The visit by Mr Thaksin kicks off a series of bilateral visits to Singapore
by Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri and Philippines President Gloria
Arroyo over the next few days.
It will be an opportunity for the leaders to discuss the developments and
challenges facing the grouping ahead of the ASEAN summit and the APEC meeting
later this year.
Singapore is the last leg of Mr Thaksin's Southeast Asian tour, which has
brought him to other ASEAN neighbours such as Malaysia, Brunei and
Vietnam.
He will be in China next week for a three-day visit.
ASEAN's members are Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar,
the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
------------------------------------------------------------------ Wednesday August 22, 9:30 PM
Singapore and Thailand aim to revitalise ASEAN SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Singapore and Thailand said on Wednesday they will work to help regional group ASEAN regain its position as a major area of investment and trade in the world. Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong met his Thai counterpart Thaksin Shinawatra,
who is on a two-day official visit to the city state.
Talks centered on strengthening already strong trade links between the two
countries, boosting Singapore investment in Thailand, and lending more support
to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
"Singapore and Thailand will work together to strengthen bilateral ties and
reinvigorate ASEAN," Goh said in a speech to mark the Thai premier's visit.
Goh said the standing of ASEAN had diminished since the 1997 regional
crisis and the organisation had also suffered as member countries dealt with
economic and political difficulties, the emergence of China, and the current
economy slowdown.
The two leaders agreed to narrow the development gap between members of the
grouping and to facilitate the integration of its newer members.
ASEAN includes Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the
Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
Thaksin's visit to Singapore precedes that of Philippines president Gloria
Macapagal Arroyo who arrives for a three-day visit on Friday and Indonesia's
President Megawati Sukarnoputri who arrives for a two-day stay on Sunday.
------------------------------------------------------------------ Wednesday August 22, 6:47 PM
Indonesia's Megawati on whirlwind visit to Vietnam and Laos By David Brunnstrom HANOI (Reuters) - New
Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri paid a whirlwind visit to Vietnam on
Wednesday before heading to Laos on a tour aimed at reassuring Southeast Asia
that she can handle her country's massive problems.
Megawati started the day in the Philippines, then held talks in Hanoi
before arriving in the Laotian capital of Vientiane, the third stop in an
eight-day trip to all nine fellow member states of the Association of South East
Asian Nations (ASEAN).
In Hanoi, Megawati and Vietnamese President Tran Duc Luong witnessed the
signing of an agreement under which state-run Vietnam Southern Food Corp will
ship rice to Indonesia's National Logistics Agency over a one-year period, with
prices and export quantities to be decided quarterly.
In remarks while posing for news photographers, Luong stressed a
traditional friendship with Indonesia dating to the days of Vietnam's late
founding father Ho Chi Minh and Megawati's late father President Sukarno.
Megawati also referred to her family ties to Hanoi.
Vietnam's official media estimated two-way trade at $600 million, with the
balance in Jakarta's favour.
Indonesia has been an important importer of Vietnamese rice during its
troubles in recent years. The two countries are rivals in the depressed world
coffee market.
In Vientiane, Megawati met President Khamtay Siphandone and was scheduled
to attend a dinner hosted by Prime Minister Bounnyang Vorachit before leaving
for Cambodia on Thursday.
FEARS FOR REGIONAL STABILITY
Last month, fears of unrest that accompanied Megawati's ascent to power
dominated meetings in Hanoi of ASEAN foreign ministers concerned about the
impact on the entire region.
Megawati's tour highlights a week of diplomatic forays by ASEAN leaders
anxious to find ways to put their countries back on the world investment map.
Shortly before Megawati's departure from Hanoi, President Luong left for a
four-day official visit to South Korea. That trip, according to Vietnam's state
press, is aimed at boosting relations to a higher level of "comprehensive
partnership".
It will be the first visit by a Vietnamese president to South Korea, a
former Cold War foe, and follows a visit to Hanoi in 1998 by South Korean
President Kim Dae-jung.
Minutes after Megawati left Manila for Hanoi, the Philippine President
Gloria Macapagal Arroyo departed for Brunei and then Singapore. Thailand's Prime
Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who assumed office four months ago, flew to
Singapore on Wednesday.
Megawati's talks with Arroyo touched on economic and security issues. The
Indonesian president said she outlined how she would deal with her country's
problems and pledged cooperation in achieving peace and stability in the ASEAN
region.
It has been a tradition for new ASEAN heads of state to visit all members
of the 10-nation bloc, which comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos,
Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, shortly
after taking office.
But diplomats said Megawati's regional tour was also aimed at displaying
her confidence in weathering troubles at home.
In her one month in office, she has exceeded the expectations of
Indonesia's allies. She has appointed a widely praised cabinet, sought to
improve ties with the international financial community and moved to address
separatism in Aceh and Irian Jaya.
------------------------------------------------------------------ The Advertiser
Stephen to head Burma
mission
23aug01
UNITED NATIONS: Former Australian governor-general Ninian Stephen will head
a four-member mission from the International Labour Organisation to Burma next
month to assess actions by the military junta to end forced labour.
The mission is expected to visit Burma in mid-September and to spend up to
three weeks in the country, the Geneva-based ILO said.
"In carrying out its mandate, the team will have full discretion to establish a program of such contacts and visits as it considers appropriate across the country," the ILO said. Other members of the team are Nieves Roldan-Confesor, former secretary of
labour in The Philippines, Kulatilaka Ranasinghe, former chief justice of Sri
Lanka, and Jerzy Makarczyk, a former deputy foreign minister of Poland and
currently a judge with the European Court of Human Rights.
Burma's military Government agreed to the visit in June, and said team
members would be free to travel and arrange meetings unless there were "valid
security considerations".
Last November, the ILO recommended its members review their relations with
Rangoon, paving the way for possible sanctions.
Burma has been under fire from the ILO since 1998, when an inquiry said it
had significant testimony of systematic and widespread use of forced labour,
particularly involving ethnic minorities.
------------------------------------------------------------------ Australian Broadcasting Corporation
August 22, 2001.
Former Australian governor general heads
UN labour mission to Burma
Former Australian Governor General, Sir Ninian Stephen, will lead a
four-member mission from the International Labour Organisation to Burma.
The United Nations says the mission will assess actions by Burma's military
junta to end forced labour in the country.
The mission is expected to visit Burma in mid-September and to spend up to
three weeks in the country.
The Geneva-based I-L-O noted that in carrying out its mandate, the team
will have full discretion to establish contacts and visits as it considers
appropriate across the country.
The Burmese government agreed to the visit in June and said team members
would be free to travel and arrange meetings unless there were valid security
considerations.
Burma has been under I-L-O scrutiny since 1998, when an inquiry commission
said it had evidence of the systematic and general use of forced labour,
especially involving ethnic minorities.
------------------------------------------------------------------ The Star
Wednesday, August 22, 2001
SEA Games - Myanmar hope to boost medal tally YANGON: Myanmar are hopeful of extending their medal tally by contesting
twice as many events in next month's SEA Games in Malaysia than they did in the
last Games two years ago, a top sports official said yesterday.
Maung Win, director general of sports and physical education, said Myanmar aimed to surpass their tally of three golds, 10 silvers and 10 bronzes won in the 20th SEA Games in Brunei in 1999. "We are sending a bigger contingent and hope to win more medals this year,"
Maung Win said.
Myanmar's 252-strong team of 163 men and 89 women will compete in 24 events
in the Kuala Lumpur SEA Games, to be held from Sept 8-17, compared with the 144
who contested 12 events last time.
In Brunei, Myanmar won their golds in boat racing, but this time hope to
win at archery, women's weightlifting, taekwondo, sepaktakraw, judo and
shooting, Maung Win said.
Myanmar could also do well at billiards, boxing, volleyball, rowing,
sailing and the martial art of wushu, he said.
------------------------------------------------------------------ The Nation
Smuggling 'unabated' Published on Aug 22, 2001 About 700 to 800 million methamphetamine pills are expected to be smuggled
into the country in the second half of this year, the National Security Council
(NSC) told a Cabinet meeting yesterday.
Most of the drugs would be for the local market, while the remainder would
be destined for other countries, the NSC said.
The agency described the drug situation in the first half of the year as
"stable," a source said. The number of speed pills smuggled into Thailand in the
first half of this year were unavailable.
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra proposed yesterday that a meeting of
Thai, Chinese, Burmese and Lao leaders should be held shortly after the meeting
of foreign ministers from those countries scheduled for later this month.
The timing of the summit was aimed at "sending a signal" to government
officials in those countries that their leaders were serious about tackling the
drug problem, Thaksin said.
Foreign ministers from the four countries are scheduled to meet this month
in China to discuss intelligence cooperation and suppression of the drug
trade.
Interior Minister Purachai Piumsombun yesterday said the blacklist of
police officers allegedly involved in the narcotics trade would soon be
forwarded to Thaksin. He said he expected the premier to instruct the national
police chief on what action to take against those listed.
Legal and disciplinary action would be taken against police with strong
evidence against them, Purachai said. If there was no compelling evidence
against the accused officers, they would be seconded to inactive positions, he
added.
Methamphetamines, also called yaa baa or "crazy drug", have hooked an
estimated 300,000 addicts in Thailand and another 2.7 million "casual users".
The synthetic stimulant, produced across the border in Burmese territory
controlled by the United Wa State Army, is expertly marketed by a nationwide
network of Thai pushers to schools, colleges and slums.
What worries the government is that the drug has become immensely popular
in the past six years with the younger generation, especially teenage boys who
account for about 90 per cent of the addicts.
------------------------------------------------------------------ Bangkok Post - August 22,
2001.
Junta troops killed in attack on rebels Three Burmese soldiers were killed when junta forces attacked a camp
occupied by democratic opposition forces, opposite Tak province.
The recent afternoon raid on the camp of the Karen National Union, the All
Burma Students' Democratic Front and the Parliamentary Democracy Party was
repelled after an hour-long battle, sources said. Burmese troops employed 81mm
mortars during the assault with about 10 shells landing on Thai territory and
destroying a village.
The attack was launched to protect an amphetamine factory located about a
mile from the camp, the sources said.
------------------------------------------------------------------ Myanmar, Laos Issue Joint
Communique to Promote Cooperation
Xinhuanet 2001.08.22 22:26:55 YANGON, August 22 (Xinhuanet)
-- Myanmar and Laos issued a joint Communique here Wednesday at the end of
a four-day official visit by Lao Prime Minister Boungnang Vorachith,
saying that his successful Yangon visit has set a firm base for enhancing
the ongoing cooperative activities of the two countries.
During the visit, the Communique said, Boungnang had fruitful
exchange of views on bilateral, regional and international issues with
Senior-General Than Shwe, Chairman of the Myanmar State Peace and Development
Council and Prime Minister.
The two prime ministers reviewed with satisfaction the significant
progress on the bilateral relations, agreeing that there exists a variety
of opportunities for expanding cooperation in the economic, trade,
cultural and technical fields.
Than Shwe reaffirmed Myanmar's independent and active foreign policy,
guided by the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence and maintaining
friendly relations with all countries, especially neighboring ones with
firm commitment to closer cooperation with the members of the Association
of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
The two prime ministers shared the view that a regional
community, comprising all Southeast Asian nations under the ASEAN
umbrella, will establish durable peace and security and elevate the
well-being of the people of the region, the Communique noted.
The Communique disclosed that the upcoming 6th meeting of the two
countries' Joint Commission for Bilateral Cooperation will be held in
Vientiane.
It also disclosed that Than Shwe had accepted Boungnang's invitation
to officially visit Laos.
Boungnang arrived here Sunday at the invitation of Than Shwe.
------------------------------------------------------------------ South China Morning Post
Wednesday, August 22, 2001
MALAYSIA - Activist tells of life behind
bars as a number
BARADAN KUPPUSAMY in Kuala Lumpur A political activist who was accused of plotting the violent overthrow of
Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and jailed under the feared Internal Security
Act has told of his time behind bars.
In a book published on Sunday entitled From Prince To Prisoner, Raja Petra
Kamarudin, 49, who ran the FreeAnwar Web site, describes his arrest, detention
and weeks of interrogation.
He tells how he was handcuffed, blindfolded and taken to an interrogation
cell, where each day he was repeatedly accused of seeking to overthrow the
Government.
"My eight by nine feet windowless concrete cell doubles as my sleeping
quarters. The guard leads me out of my cell block and my journey to an unknown
destination begins" he says in the book. "In the cell you have no name, just a
number. Mine was 42. I am not Raja Petra but just the 'arrested person'. This is
the first thing you lose after your freedom, your identity."
Each day he had to greet his inquisitors in Malay, state his number and
speak only when spoken to. In the book, Raja Petra details how he broke down on
the first day of his encounter with three interrogators.
"The tears flow down my cheeks and I hide my face in shame. I refuse to let
them see me break down. I want to be strong. I want to fight them. A fighter
does not cry. But I am now crying. I am no fighter. I am weak," he writes.
"It's only the first day of interrogation and already I have broken down,"
he writs in his 114-page, self-published book.
His wife, Morina Lee Abdullah, said: "We want to tell everything - all our
experiences. Raja is a strong person now." The pair have been together for 28
years.
Raja Petra's nightmare began on April 11 when police stopped his car,
pounded on the window and shouted: "You are under arrest." He was then forced to
spend 52 days in detention, 44 of them without outside contact, and was released
on June 2.
The same day, police detained several others, all under the Act. They were
also supporters of former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim, who is serving a
15-year jail term for sodomy and corruption, charges he said were fabricated to
keep him from challenging Dr Mahathir.
Like Raja Petra, all are also members of the National Justice Party headed
by Anwar's wife, Wan Azizah Ismail.
Two were ordered to be released by a court, while six others have been
detained in a political camp for two years. Their appeal before the Federal
Court is pending.
Opposition parties and rights groups are pressing for Parliament to repeal
all laws restricting individual liberty, including the Internal Security Act,
which allows for indefinite detention without trial.
A total of 4,190 people have been detained under the Act since it was
passed in 1960 to battle a communist insurgency. About 70 people being held
under the law have so far been jailed for two to four years, officials
say.
------------------------------------------------------------------ Oil & Gas Journal
Kværner to upgrade Yetagun
platform
By the OGJ Online Staff HOUSTON, Aug. 21 -- Premier Petroleum Myanmar Ltd. awarded the Singapore
office of Norwegian company Kværner ASA a contract as part of the upgrade of the
Yetagun platform in Myanmar's Gulf of Martaban, said Kværner.
The 2.92 tcf Yetagun gas-condensate field is 400 km south of Yangon (OGJ Online, Aug. 7, 2000). The project will upgrade the platform to 300 MMscfd of capacity from Oct. 1. Further upgrades are planned, said Kværner. Kværner will provide engineering, procurement, and construction management services for the upgrade program, which has a total installed cost of $30 million. Earlier this year, Kværner completed front-end engineering design for this project. During 1998-1999, Kværner's Singapore office performed the detailed engineering for the initial development of the 230 MMscfd production platform. Premier Petroleum Myanmar Ltd. is a unit of Premier Oil PLC of the UK. Partners include Malaysian company Petronas, Japan's Nippon Oil Co. and PTT Exploration & Production PLC of Thailand. ------------------------------------------------------------------ United Nations
ILO team to visit Myanmar to assess
efforts against forced labour
21 August – The United Nations International Labour Organization (ILO)
today announced the composition of a high-level team that will visit Myanmar
next month to assess the Government's actions on forced labour.
In a statement issued in Geneva, the ILO said the establishment of the
team, which was agreed in May and considered by the International Labour
Conference at its June 2001 session, was a "new and significant development"
which follows a series of steps by the ILO's competent bodies to secure
compliance by Myanmar with its obligations under the Organization's Convention
No. 29 (1930) concerning forced labour.
The team's mandate is to make an objective assessment of the implementation
and impact of various legislative, executive and administrative measures
announced by the Government in response to previous ILO action, with a view to
determining whether these measures have been effective in eliminating the
practice of forced labour. In making its assessment, the team will take into
account the views expressed recently on this matter by the ILO Committee of
Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations.
In carrying out its mandate, the team will have "full discretion to
establish a programme of such contacts and visits as it considers appropriate
across the country," the statement said. It is anticipated that it will visit
Myanmar in mid-September and spend up to three weeks in the country. It will
report to the ILO Governing Body at its November 2001 session.
The team is composed of Sir Ninian Stephen, former Governor-General of
Australia; Nieves Roldan-Confessor, former Philippines Secretary of Labour and
Employment; Mr. Kulatilaka Arthanayake Parinda Ranashinghe, former Chief Justice
of Sri Lanka; and Mr. Jerzy Makarczyk of Poland, a judge with the European Court
of Human Rights
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