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BURMA RELATED NEWS
- September 11 - 12, 2002.
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HEADLINES
------------------------------------------------------------------------------- OneWorld - Asian Rights Group Takes
Action to Stop Rape by Myanmar Soldiers
AFP - Ministers to finalise framework
for world's biggest free trade area
AFP - ASEAN economies told to restore
confidence, cut business costs
AFP - Suu Kyi, junta generals attend
9/11 ceremony in Myanmar
AFP - Southeast Asian MPs
vow to fight terrorism, but oppose attack on Iraq
AFP - Myanmar to build more
gas-turbines, purchase gas from TotalFinaElf
Reuters - Trade revamp proposals too
hot for ASEAN ministers
Reuters - Myanmar and Thais seek to
make up after border clashes
AP - Myanmar minister yet to set date
for fence-mending visit to
Ananova - Myanmar govt to buy
TotalFinaElf gas to help end power shortage
Bkk Post - More armed clashes
forecast
Bkk Post - Burmese troops held at
border to be freed
The Nation - Shan, Karen push for
inclusion
VOA News - EU Delegation Presses
Burma on Human Rights
Radio Netherland - Burma
Boycott: Too Black And White
SHAN - Police sacked for
framing Wa
------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Asian Rights Group Takes
Action to Stop Rape by Myanmar Soldiers
Wed Sep 11, 6:52 AM ET Jim Lobe,OneWorld US A prominent Asian human rights organization is putting pressure on the military regime in Myanmar (formerly known as Burma) to cease its use of "rape as a weapon" against minority groups in the Southeast Asian country. The Hong Kong-based Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has launched an online petition to press Myanmar's ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) to halt the "widespread and systematic use of rape as a weapon of war" in northeastern Shan State, home to country's largest ethnic minority group, the Shan. The move followed the publication Monday of a report, 'License to Rape,' by the Thailand-based Shan Women's Action Network and the Shan Human Rights Foundation, which found that over a five-year period there appeared to be "a concerted strategy by the Burmese army troops to rape Shan women as part of their anti-insurgency activities." The report, which is being circulated by AHRC, cited 173 incidents of rape and other forms of sexual violence, involving 625 girls and women, reportedly committed by Burmese soldiers, including officers, in Shan State between 1996 and 2001. Due to reluctance among the victims to report rape, the actual number of incidents is likely to have been far more, according to the Shan organizations. Like other ethnic minorities in Myanmar, the Shan population, which comprises some 10 percent of the nation's almost 50 million people, have long resisted central rule, particularly that of the SPDC, which has also been opposed by the pro-democracy movement headed by Nobel Peace Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. Amnesty International reported in mid-July that while the human rights situation in Myanmar's capital, Yangon (formerly Rangoon), had improved since the regime began secret talks with Suu Kyi earlier this year, the plight of ethnic minorities in the eastern area of the country, where insurgencies persist, was as bad as ever. Shan, Mon, and Karen communities were still subject to unpaid forced labor in construction projects and in military camps, despite government claims that it had outlawed such practices. Torture and summary killings by the military also continued, according to the Amnesty report which was based on interviews with some 100 migrants from the region. The high rates of rape and other sexual violence, the Shan report charged, was due to the increased militarization of Shan State where the number of army battalions has tripled since 1988. Most of the incidents, it said, took place in central Shan State where over 300,000 villagers have been forcibly relocated since 1996. Of the total incidents detailed in the report, 83 percent were committed by officers, usually in front of their own troops. The rapes often involved "extreme brutality" and torture, such as beating, mutilation, and suffocation. Almost two thirds of the incidents involved gang rapes, and 25 percent resulted in death, in some instances with bodies being displayed publicly in order to terrorize local communities. Many rapes took place when girls or women were caught outside relocation sites, usually searching for food. Rapes also occurred when women were working in forced labor projects or when they were stopped at military checkpoints, according to the report. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wednesday September 11, 3:09 PM
Ministers to finalise framework for world's biggest free trade area (AFP) - Southeast Asian economic ministers will meet here from to finalise a framework agreement with China on how to create the world's biggest free trade area of nearly two billion people, officials said. They are expected to endorse the framework for signing by leaders of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and China during a summit in Cambodia in November. The ASEAN economic ministers are also expected to receive a report by an experts' group on a proposal for broader ASEAN-Japan ties as well as sign a declaration for closer economic relations with Australia and New Zealand. Japan proposed wideranging economic ties with ASEAN earlier this year, in what was seen as an attempt to counter China's rising influence in the region. During their four-day meeting from Thursday, the ASEAN ministers will also hold discussions with business groups operating in the region, and for the first time hold a dialogue with India, represented by the Minister of Commerce and Industry Murasoli Maran. They already hold annual dialogues with their counterparts from China, Japan and South Korea, as well as Pacific neighbours Australia and New Zealand. But, the proposed ASEAN-China free trade agreement (FTA) "will be one of the key agenda items", a spokesman for the Singapore trade ministry said in a written reply to AFP. "At their meeting in Brunei, ministers can be expected to give guidance to progress the text, so that it may be ready in time for signing by the leaders at the ASEAN-China Summit in November." While the FTA itself may sound straightforward, the preparatory talks "had been bloody," one official said of the hardnosed bargaining during the five rounds of negotiations on a draft text of the framework agreement. When the leaders of ASEAN and China agreed in 2000 to work out an FTA within 10 years, they left it to senior officials to hammer out the details. Such a free trade zone would cover China's 1.2 billion people and 500 million consumers in ASEAN. The economic region will also have a combined gross domestic product of two trillion dollars, with total trade projected at 1.23 trillion dollars. But preparatory talks have been marked by disputes, especially over the the so-called "early harvest" principle, officials familiar with the talks said. This calls for China to cut import tariffs on certain Southeast Asian products before the implementation of the FTA. ASEAN has already slashed tariffs on most products traded within the region to a maximum five percent under the ASEAN Free Trade Area, or AFTA, from this year. Any liberalisation by China is viewed by ASEAN as a goodwill gesture, but Beijing wants "early harvest" as part of the formal agreement, the officials said. There have also been differences on the tariff rates and on the sectors to be liberalised. One proposal is for products with 15 percent tariffs to have the rates cut to 10 percent by July 2003, five percent by 2004 and zero by 2005. One ASEAN trade official said the regional bloc disagreed with a proposal by China to focus early tariff liberalisation mostly on farm products and processed agricultural items as it would favour their giant neighbour. ASEAN wants coverage for non-farm products which form the bulk of its exports. Officials also said there are varying interpretations on the starting point for the 10-year period when the FTA is to be completed. The framework agreement now being prepared will define the parameters for negotiations such as the product coverage, the timing and tariff cut rates. A senior ASEAN diplomat familiar with the preparatory talks said the ministers may issue a declaration in Brunei on the launching of free trade negotiations with China. ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thursday September 12, 3:51 PM
ASEAN economies told to restore confidence, cut business costs BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, Sept 12 (AFP) - Southeast Asia must restore investor
confidence and cut business costs to become a significant global player, the
region's economic ministers were told here.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) must also push ahead with deepening its economic integration and forging wider economic links with East Asian and Pacific neighbours, Brunei ruler Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah said Thursday. "Although economies in the region are already recovering from the aftershocks of the Asian financial crisis and the September 11 terrorist attacks, we still face challanges in becoming a key global player," he said at the opening of the 34th ASEAN economic ministers meeting in Brunei's capital. "Among others, foreign direct investments have dwindled significantly from pre-crisis levels," he said, referring to the financial storm that swept through East and Southeast Asia in 1997-1998. And even if tariffs on most goods have been reduced to a maximum five percent in ASEAN's six core member countries under the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA), growth in intra-regional trade has yet to increase significantly, he said. "Consequently, confidence of foreign investors has to be restored and the cost of doing business in ASEAN has to be minimised," he said. The 10-nation regional bloc has seen its share of foreign direct investments dwindle in recent years as investors flocked to its giant neighbour China -- a single market of 1.2 billion consumers with much cheaper labour costs. ASEAN, which groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, has also been hurt by a flood of cheap Chinese exports to world markets. Hassanal said that while progress has been made in reducing tariff barriers and in efforts to harmonise standards and simplify customs procedures, ASEAN "can do more." He said initiatives aimed at enhancing regional economic cooperation "should be reviewed for their effectiveness and modified when necessary" and urged the ministers to continue to cooperate with the ASEAN private sector. The absolute monarch of the small but oil-rich kingdom also called on ASEAN to reach beyond its borders toward China, South Korea and Japan as well as to Australia and New Zealand. Officials said a key agenda item for the meeting is a framework agreement for deeper economic cooperation with China which would include a free trade agreement (FTA) to cover nearly two billion people. The ministers are expected to finalise the framework for signing by the leaders of ASEAN and China during a summit in Cambodia in November. The ministers will also hear an experts' group report on a broader economic partnership proposed by Japan earlier this year that could possibly include an FTA, as well as sign a closer economic partnership accord with Australia and New Zealand. A dialogue will be held for the first time with India. "Our frontiers of cooperation should extend beyond ASEAN's borders... we cannot hope to thrive or prosper in isolation," the sultan said. But he said that "political will is needed as we strive to consolidate our position as a region of dynamic economic growth". He warned that without political will, "we risk falling behind other regions in economic progress." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Suu Kyi, junta generals attend
9/11 ceremony in Myanmar
YANGON, Sept 11 (AFP) - Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Wednesday attended a memorial ceremony for the September 11 attacks together with senior generals from the ruling military junta, diplomats and witnesses said. It was the first time the veteran pro-democracy campaigner, freed in May from 19 months of house arrest, has been seen in public attending a function with senior junta officials, said the diplomats and witnesses who asked to remain anonymous. Aung San Suu Kyi was seated in the front row at the ceremony at Yangon's Traders Hotel, along with deputy chief of military intelligence Major General Kyaw Win and Deputy Foreign Minister Khin Maung Win. "This was the first time they were seen in public attending the same function," a diplomat told AFP. Another person attending the event said Aung San Suu Kyi and officials of the ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) "were seated separately and did not speak to one another during or after the ceremony." Some 300 invited guests including government officials, senior diplomats, ethnic minority leaders and representatives of UN agencies attended the solemn affair in which newly installed US Charge d'Affaires Carmen Martinez spoke. "History has shown that those who would underestimate the unyielding might of a democracy angered have come to regret it," Martinez said in her speech. "We continue to promote democracy, good governance and the rule of law as the best path to secure and free societies," she said. Washington has long decried Yangon's military rule and urges the restoration of democracy in Myanmar, formerly known as Burma. A US Marine detachment made a customary presentation of colours, while the Kachin Baptist Choir sang "America the Beautiful" and "Amazing Grace." While Aung San Suu Kyi and Yangon remain at odds over key issues such as the pace of political reform and a national reconciliation dialogue, one observer noted that "both of them today shared sympathy with the Americans." Kyaw Win, the top SPDC official in attendance, is known to be the prime official mediator between the generals and Aung San Suu Kyi, whose National League for Democracy (NLD) won a sweeping 1990 election victory never recognized by the junta. Since October 2000 the two sides have been engaged in secret talks aimed at ending the years of deadlock that have followed the rise to power of the current batch of generals after a bloody crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators in 1988. Aung San Suu Kyi said when released in May that the talks had moved past an initial confidence-building stage and would now begin to handle thorny issues. But since then there have been no concrete developments, prompting concern from some that the talks may have ground to a halt. On Tuesday Aung San Suu Kyi met a European Union delegation visiting Yangon to press for political reform and the release of political prisoners, telling them she was "neutral" towards the crippling economic sanctions imposed on her country. NLD spokesman U Lwin said the Nobel peace laureate, for years viewed as a key advocate of economic sanctions, told the Europeans it was up to outside governments and institutions to formulate their economic policy on Yangon. Following the conclusion of its three-day mission late Tuesday, the EU delegation said in a statement it had pressed Myanmar's rulers on political reform and expressed "continued concern at the human rights situation." It also encouraged "a stepping-up of the reconciliation process between the SPDC, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and the ethnic minorities" and "the immediate release of all remaining political prisoners." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Southeast Asian MPs vow to
fight terrorism, but oppose attack on Iraq
HANOI, Sept 11 (AFP) - Southeast Asian parliamentarians pledged to fight terrorism on Wednesday on the first anniversary of the September 11 attacks, but said they were opposed to unprovoked military action against Iraq. In a joint communique adopted at the end of the 23rd general assembly of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Organization (AIPO) in the Vietnamese capital, legislators said further strides were needed to tackle terrorism. "The Assembly reiterated ASEAN's commitment to countering terrorist acts in all forms and manifestations in accordance with the United Nations Charter and the fundamental principles of international law," it said. However, the parliamentarians stressed that counter-terrorism policies had to go hand in hand with "measures aimed at tackling the issue of poverty, inequality and discrimination". Critics of the US-led war against terrorism have accused Washington and its allies of ignoring the fundamental problems of global inequality and perceived injustices, which they say prompt people to turn to violence. The regional parliamentarians also reiterated their opposition to "any unilateral decision to launch unjustified and unprovoked military actions on the state of Iraq". "The Assembly emphasised the urgent need for a peaceful solution to this matter and called upon the United Nations to continue to be engaged with this issue with a view to achieving durable peace in the region." They urged the international community to address the "humanitarian dimension of suffering and tragedies, emanating from the prolonged sanctions on Iraq" and said the United Nations should reconsider the embargo. The United States, which says Iraq is harbouring weapons of mass destruction, has stepped up efforts to seek foreign backing for a strike against Baghdad by promising to give diplomacy one last chance. However, its hardline stance has met strong international opposition, including from Russia, France, Germany and across the Arab world. The AIPO delegates also recognized the "serious threat posed by transnational crimes to peace, security and stability" in the region and vowed to strengthen cooperation to tackle drug production, piracy and the trafficking of women and children. Among other initiatives, they said negotiations to resolve territorial disputes in the South China Sea needed to continue unabated. Four ASEAN nations -- Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam -- as well as China and Taiwan have laid claims to the potentially oil-rich Spratly islands, which lie along vital shipping lanes. Historical foes Vietnam and China are also vying for the Paracels, another chain in the South China Sea lying 300 kilometres (180 miles) north of the Spratlys. Turning to economic matters, the parliamentarians stressed the vulnerability of developing nations to the adverse effects of globalization and the need for free and fair trade. The communique urged AIPO member parliaments to establish a legal framework to complement the tariff-slashing ASEAN Free Trade Agreement (AFTA), which it described as the "engine room for regional economic development". The meeting of AIPO, which opened on Monday, comprises the eight states with parliaments from the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations -- Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. The other two ASEAN members, Brunei and Myanmar, have no legislatures but attended the meeting as dialogue partners. Nine countries and delegations outside the grouping, including Australia, Canada, China, the European Union, Japan and New Zealand, were invited as observers. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Myanmar to build more
gas-turbines, purchase gas from TotalFinaElf YANGON, Sept 12 (AFP) - Myanmar's military junta said Thursday it planned to build more gas turbines and purchase gas from France's TotalFinaElf in a bid to end the country's chronic electricity shortages. Authorities were now constructing new generators, which would be brought on stream by 2006, deputy chief of military intelligence Major General Kyaw Win told reporters. "We estimate that by then our generators will be providing over 1,900 megawatts of electricity, far more than enough for our needs," he said. Electricity supply currently available to the entire country is now less than 560 megawatts, well below demand of 800 megawatts, he said. "Production has not been able to keep up with consumption as demand, especially by the industrial sector, increased dramatically." Also, three power plants currently under construction are due to be completed and provide an added 475 megawatts by the year 2003. The Lawpita hydroelectric power plant in eastern Kayah state, originally built by Japan which has agreed to provide 28 million dollars to renovate the facility, would be used as a reserve once the gas plan is implemented, an energy ministry official said. As a stop-gap measure, arrangements have been made to purchase gas from France's TotalFinaElf, which has a production-sharing contract with the military, to alleviate the shortage of electricity to Yangon. The capital started experiencing acute power shortages when two of the three main gas turbines providing electricity shut down due to a depletion in offshore gas reserves, the official said. Supply from the reserves should be resumed by November or December, he added. Yangon's population experiences almost daily blackouts, while supply to the rest of the impoverished country is also unreliable. The Myanmar Times last month cited South Korea's Daewoo International as saying an offshore gas field near Myanmar's border with Bangladesh could be significantly larger than the country's two other operating gas fields. Exploration of that field is reportedly due to start in October. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thursday September 12, 9:58 PM
Trade revamp proposals too hot for ASEAN ministers By Patrick Chalmers BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, Brunei (Reuters) - Southeast Asian economy ministers have found proposals to reinforce their trade bloc to face off Chinese competition too politically challenging, Singapore minister George Yeo said on Thursday. Yeo spoke after a presentation to ministers by management consultants McKinsey & Company, touching on lost opportunities and barriers to cooperation within the 10-country Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN). "They gave us some very interesting ideas, some not easily implemented because they touched on political fundamentals," Yeo told a news conference after the meeting of ASEAN counterparts. The only example Yeo cited from the confidential study was consultants' proposal to create 10 ASEAN agencies to oversee enforcement of trade rules in areas he did not specify. Ministers did ask the company to carry on with a second-phase study of the bloc's strengths, weaknesses and economic potential. Southeast Asian countries are grappling with the challenge posed by their giant northern neighbour's burgeoning industrialisation and its home market of 1.2 billion people. Critics see ASEAN's policy of proceeding only on a consensus basis as having strangled its efforts to make real progress. The regional economic crisis of 1997-1998 and political turmoil in former ASEAN motor Indonesia have also damaged efforts. "We have recovered somewhat from the financial crisis, all the economies are now growing again," Yeo said. NO RETURN TO GO-GO "But there is a sense from ASEAN we are not likely to resume... the growth rates of the go-go years before the crisis. The big change is the emergence of China," he said. "We've got to take a very hard look at liberalisation beyond lowering tariffs on goods," Yeo said, naming customs procedures, liberalisation of services and harmonised standards as a few of the areas needing tackling. "If we are going to have our place in the sun, there are many things that have to be examined and new things that we've got to do," he added. China's Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation Shi Guangsheng is due to meet his ASEAN counterparts on Friday for talks about a proposed ASEAN-China free trade area mooted for completion by the end of the decade. ASEAN trade ministers earlier considered two alternative targets for completing the trade zone, 2010 or 2012, a year earlier and a year later than originally suggested last year. Officials from China and ASEAN will meet again next month to draw up a list of goods to be included in a so-called "early harvest" for tariff cuts, mainly agricultural goods, though probably with a few manufactured ones as well. A report prepared in 2001 by officials from the association and China identified trade in oil and gas, food, natural-resource based products, electronics, electrical goods and tourism as among the sectors offering most opportunity for expansion. ASEAN-China trade hit just $39.5 billion in 2000 but promised much more to come based on an annual average growth rates of 20 percent throughout the 1990s. ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam -- countries spanning a huge range of wealth and poverty. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thursday September 12, 9:06 PM
Myanmar and Thais seek to make up after border clashes YANGON (Reuters) - Myanmar Foreign Minister Win Aung will make a delayed visit to Thailand later this month for talks aimed at ending a bilateral row that has shut border crossings between the two countries since May. "Win Aung is tentatively scheduled to arrive in Thailand in the last week of this month to discuss bilateral issues with his Thai counterpart," Thaung Tun, director-general at Myanmar's foreign ministry, told a news conference in Yangon on Thursday. "An exact date is still to be fixed at the mutual convenience of the two ministers." Relations between Thailand and Myanmar plummeted in May after a series of clashes on their border. Myanmar shut border crossings and accused Thailand of aiding ethnic minority rebel groups fighting the Yangon junta, a charge Bangkok denied. Thailand sought high-level talks to try to patch up ties but was rebuffed until July, when Win Aung met his Thai counterpart Surakiart Sathirathai at a regional security meeting in Brunei. Last month Surakiart went to Yangon for more talks. Border crossings remain closed, however. Officials said the subject of a possible re-opening would be discussed when the two ministers meet. Analysts say the closure of the border crossings has dealt another blow to Myanmar's tottering economy. Win Aung had initially been scheduled to come to Thailand for talks last week, but the visit was postponed, with officials saying the Myanmar minister's schedule was too busy. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Myanmar minister yet to set
date for fence-mending visit to
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) _ Myanmar said Thursday it has yet to set a date for a planned visit by its foreign minister to Thailand to ease bilateral tensions that have prompted the closure of their common border and hurt trade. Foreign Minister Win Aung, currently attending the U.N. General Assembly, is ``scheduled to visit Thailand to hold talks to promote friendly relations,'' said Thaung Tun, the director-general of the Foreign Ministry. ``However the date has not been fixed. The visit will be made at a time convenient to both foreign ministers,'' Thaung Tun said. The statement is an apparent rebuff by Myanmar's military junta of Thailand's efforts to mend fences. Thai officials said recently that Win Aung was expected to visit Thailand by the end of this month. Bilateral relations plummeted after the Thai army fired artillery shells into Myanmar territory during a battle between the Myanmar army and ethnic Shan rebels on May 20. Thailand had opened fire after Myanmar fire against the rebels spilled into northern Thailand. Myanmar responded by closing its border crossings with Thailand. Yangon has also banned Thai advertisements and goods, prohibited visits by officials and published anti-Thai articles in the state-owned media. Win Aung had been due to travel to Thailand in the first week of September for talks with his Thai counterpart, Surakiart Sathirathai, but the trip was postponed as Win Aung went to the Middle East and Europe instead before going to New York. Surakiart met with Myanmar junta leaders in Yangon Aug. 6-7 but there has been no apparent progress in their relations. Diplomats, who did not wish to be identified, said the Myanmar government is taking a hard line to express its displeasure with Kraisak Choonhavan, the chairman of the Thai Senate's Foreign Relations Committee. At a news conference in Bangkok last week, Kraisak repeated claims by a Thailand-based human rights group that ethnic minorities in Myanmar were raped and tortured by Myanmar soldiers. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ananova - Thursday
12th September 2002
Myanmar govt to buy TotalFinaElf gas to help end power shortage The military junta said it will purchase gas from TotalFinaElf as a stop-gap measure to end Myanmar's chronic electricity shortages, while the junta aims to bring new generators on stream. No financial details were given. TotalFinaElf has a production-sharing contract with the military. Yangon began experiencing acute power shortages when two of the three main gas turbines providing electricity shut down due to a depletion in offshore gas reserves, an energy ministry official said. Supply from the reserves should be resumed by November or December. Authorities are now constructing new generators to be brought on stream by 2006, deputy chief of military intelligence Major General Kyaw Win told reporters. "We estimate that by then, our generators will be providing over 1,900 megawatts of electricity, far more than enough for our needs," he said. Electricity supply currently available to the entire country is now less than 560 MW, well below demand of 800 MW, he said. Also, three power plants currently under construction are due to be completed and provide an added 475 MW by the year 2003. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bangkok Post -
Thursday 12 September 2002
More armed clashes forecast Wassana Nanuam The National Defence College will present Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra with a report recommending the military remain in a state of readiness for clashes with Burma as diplomatic moves were unlikely to resolve bilateral relations. Drafted by students under the supervision of Lt-Gen Praparn Nilawonge, chief of the armed-forces security centre, the report advises the government be prepared to deploy its military resources to handle further ``low-intensity conflicts.'' Diplomacy alone would prove inadequate in mitigating frictions with Rangoon, it said. Although relations with the Burmese junta would improve over the next five years, a degree of mistrust would prevail, undermining efforts to iron out long-standing differences. The report urged the government to strengthen support for national reconciliation in Burma, saying instability within the ethnically divided country posed a threat to domestic security. On diplomacy, the report recommended bilateral points of contention be ranked, with the least troublesome issues tabled for discussion first. Matters that remained unresolved would require constant talks to keep them from degenerating. The report said unrest along the Burmese border would continue to adversely effect domestic issues, such as drug trafficking and illegal immigration. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bangkok Post -
Thursday 12 September 2002
Burmese troops held at border to be freed Two Burmese soldiers arrested by Thai rangers on Doi Lang in Chiang Mai's Mae Ai district on Monday will be freed by the Third Army which says it was a misunderstanding. Col Pichet Sukpongpisit, head of the Third Army's civil affairs division, said Third Army commander Lt-Gen Udomchai Ongkhasingh yesterday ordered the release of the two Burmese soldiers as the arrests were made out of a misunderstanding over a disputed border area and Burmese troops' request for their release was initially denied due to communication problems. The two Burmese soldiers, attached to the 277th infantry battalion, were caught while picking tea leaves on Doi Lang. They will be handed back to the Burmese military today. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Nation
Shan, Karen push for inclusion Published on Sep 11, 2002 Representatives of the two major ethnic minority groups in Burma have appealed to the European Union to help push for them to be included in political dialogue with the ruling military junta and the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD). The Shan Democratic Union (SDU) and the Karen National Union (KNU) ethnic minorities, who have been fighting for autonomy within Burma, occupy nearly 60 per cent of Burma and account for almost 40 per cent of the approximately 50 million population of the country. ?It is therefore impossible to leave them out of any political settlement made within the arena of Burma,? the groups said in a letter obtained by The Nation yesterday, signed by Germany-based SDU general secretary Sai Wansai and Portugal-based Saw Sakis, a central committee member of the KNU. ?The ultimate goal of the whole ethnic composition is to achieve, democracy, self-determination and equality within the framework of a genuine federalism,? the letter said. The SDU and the KNU said in spite of what appeared to be progress ? the release of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and a handful of political prisoners ? the military government of Burma continues with its repression against non-Burman ethnic groups. The two groups pointed to the recent report ?License to Rape? by the Shan Women?s Action Network and Shan Human Rights Foundation, as an example. The report, which has brutally jolted the Burmese government and prompted outrage from the international community, detailed the rape of 625 girls and women in Shan State by Burmese government troops. They also pointed to the displacement of 5,000 people by Burmese soldiers in Dooplaya district in Karen State, between April and June. Moreover, during the same period, six villages were burned, six schools destroyed, five churches burned and fifteen villagers murdered, they said. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VOA
News
EU Delegation Presses Burma on Human Rights Ron Corben Bangkok 11 Sep 2002 11:42 UTC The European Union says Burma can expect a positive response if it moves to improve the political situation in the country. The four-member EU delegation issued a statement after wrapping up a three-day visit to Burma. In its statement, the delegation said the "European Union stands ready to respond positively and proportionately to substantive improvement in the political climate of the country." The delegation called on Burma's military government to release all prisoners of conscience and improve human rights, particularly for the country's ethnic minorities. Human rights organizations say Burma continues to hold than 1,000 political prisoners. During its fact-finding mission, the delegation was not able to meet with any of Burma's senior ruling generals. Officials did, however, talk with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi. The delegation will present its findings next month at a meeting to review European sanctions on Burma. The EU visit is the latest in a series by foreign officials to encourage the government to hold substantive talks with the democratic opposition of political transition in Burma. The two sides have been engaged in private dialogue for two years and that has resulted in a series of confidence building measures. Hundreds of political prisoners have been freed, the opposition National League for Democracy has been allowed to resume limited activity and NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been released from house arrest and permitted to travel around the country. The NLD, backed by international envoys, says it is now time to talk about tough issues, specifically moving Burma toward democracy. The military government, which prevented the NLD from taking power after the 1990 elections, says it will move at a pace designed not to destabilize the country. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Radio
Netherland
Burma Boycott: Too Black And
White
a personal commentary by Yvette Turlings, 12 September 2002 `Tourism strengthens the military dictatorship in Burma and that's why you should not go there for a holiday´. That, in a nutshell, is the view of democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi and of a number of western-based aid organisations. So is a tourism ban the proper answer to Burma's problems? It goes without saying that Burma is suffering because of its' brutal regime. The question is though: how to topple such a government? ?Through boycotts' is the answer of aid organisations working in Burma. They quote Aung San Suu Kyi, Nobel peace prize laureate and the leader of Burma's National League for Democracy (NLD). The reasoning is that tourists and foreign investors generate money for the generals, which can be taken for a tacit _expression_ of support. That's why enterprises and tourists should avoid the country as long as the military do not transfer power to the democratically elected NLD. Isolation Armed with these propositions human rights organisations joined battle with multinationals like Pepsi Cola, Heineken and Triumph. For fear of negative publicity they hastily pulled out of Burma. In spring 2002 travel agencies offering trips to Burma were targeted. Successfully so, because most ceased their operations there. Complete isolation of Burma came one step closer again. But is a ban really the solution? It's true that the military will at least benefit to some extent from the dollars that tourism brings. Even if you are careful to spend your money in such a way that only private individual Burmese benefit, you can't avoid paying for a visa. That's twenty dollars to the state, times 100,000 tourists each year. Foreign Investment But even without that money the junta is home and dry. Burma is the worlds' biggest opium seller. All that money plus the revenues of the huge supplies of raw materials, gems and teak go straight into the coffers of the military. Therefore I doubt whether the junta will be impressed when foreign companies and tourists decide to stay away. Over the past thirty years there hardly was any foreign investment in Burma, but did the ?pressure' of this absence lead to more democracy or a more sensible economic policy? On the contrary. What the boycott in effect did lead to is increased misery for the population. Aid organisations admit as much but maintain it is an unavoidable side effect of the struggle for the good. Besides, economic sanctions are what ?the Burmese' want. And that is not true. When you talk to the people in Burma you will find they are divided over Aung San Suu Kyi's appeal. Even active NLD-members do not always agree with her on this particular point. Loss To Locals Although she is widely respected as a heroine, people recount how harmful the staying away of westerners is. They lost their jobs because foreign companies suddenly pulled out of the country, under pressure from public opinion in the west. The loss of these investors provides the military with a good excuse for the economic downturn. And more power, because the remaining companies are state-owned enterprises. For most people there was no other job to go to, so they ended up in the informal economy: the sale of superfluous goods and services. And when tourists stay away, street-traders, rickshaw drivers, amateur guides and souvenir-sellers struggle even more to keep afloat. Because in a country where haggling is the norm tourists always pay ?too much' for a taxi-ride or a drink, so that one foreign customer could sometimes provide an entire days' wages. That's a heavy loss. The people who struggle everyday to eke out a living won't be very impressed with those western moral statements. Encourage Change ?A large part of the country is closed off to tourists', the aid organisations will argue. ?Those people do not benefit from tourist dollars'. That's true. But should all of Burma therefore live in poverty? And how does it benefit the Burmese when they live in a country that visited by nobody, where nobody can witness what is happening? A country without any ?critically minded' prying eyes seems to me to be the ideal breeding-ground for malpractices. But apart from that Burma's isolation has yet another negative side effect. It is impossible for the Burmese to get any independent and impartial information about the rest of the world, but also about their own country. All they have is the state-owned media and their government propaganda. Tourists can bring about a bit of change: by bringing in English language newspapers and magazines and talking to people who are interested. Contact with foreigners gives the Burmese the opportunity to tell what is really happening in Burma and that is something many will do when given the chance. And when tourists return home they can disseminate this information and keep Burma from being forgotten. Sometimes people will ask to smuggle messages out of the country for relatives who are refugees abroad. It's their only way to keep in contact. Alternatives Does this mean that everybody can just go and visit Burma without having any second thoughts? No. Those who are just out to get some sun, beaches and see a few temples, but are not prepared to avoid ?the system', should go to Thailand or Vietnam. It's just as beautiful, but not so irresponsible to go there. But the presence of travellers who are politically aware can contribute something: exchange of information, knowledge, and money to survive. Sometimes responsible travelling can be a bit tedious. Like when you need to get up before the crack of dawn to avoid paying an admittance fee to see some place of interest. Or when you are to refrain from something, like taking the train, because they are state-owned. But it can be done. And those who do take the trouble will do more good than harm in Burma. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Shan Herald Agency for
News.
No: 09 - 08 - 12 September 202 Police sacked for framing Wa The whole police unit in Tachilek, opposite Maesai, was transferred separately to other townships in eastern Shan State following an encounter with the Wa, who counter-charged the police as setting them up as drug smugglers, said sources from Tachilek yesterday. Of the 141-strong police force in Tachilek, 137 of them were ordered by Rangoon on 8 September to disperse to Monghsat, Mongyawng, Mongphyak, Mongyang and other townships, while 4 were taken to Kengtung, 102 miles north of Tachilek, to receive punishment in prison. Sources said the four policemen had put up a makeshift checkpoint near Sansai Tai Quarters where they waved down a truck driven by Wa. The police then set out to make a search at the end of which they produced a bag containing 90-100 pills of yaba (methamphetamines) and demanded a certain amount of money if they did not want to be arrested. "That was clearly a setup", said one source. "The Wa liaison officer, Yilin, who has his office in Hawngleuk, informed the MI-24 (Military Intelligence unit stationed at Tachilek), that also appeared to have concluded the same and reported to Rangoon accordingly." Another source also believed it was a frame-up. "If a Wa were being jailed for a mere few hundred pills, he would have really lost face," he said. A different perspective came from a native of Tachilek. "If even the police are dumped in favor of the Wa, what can we ordinary citizens expect anything from the junta?" he asked. The United Wa State Army, Rangoon's main ally, has been called a terrorist organization with connections to drug trafficking by the United States. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |