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BURMA RELATED NEWS
- January 14, 2003.
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HEADLINES
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AFP - Human rights abuses
persist in Myanmar: Human Rights Watch
AFP - War on terror stifling human
rights: Human Rights Watch
AFP - SE Asia officials in Manila to
boost cooperation against terror
Asia Pulse - S Korea to Attend Six
Environment Ministerial Meetings This Year
PD - Sino-Myanmar Friendship to
Develop Faster
NDTV - WB reopens hijacking case
against Burmese refugee
Bkk Post - New trade avenue sought in
Burma
Bkk Post - EDITORIAL - Burma has
become land of promises
The Nation - Junta will be asked to
fight crime
Asian Tribune - Burmese Military
Threaten Villagers before the ICRC visit to Shan State.
TI - 1990 hijack case
revived
-------------------------------------------------------------------- Human rights abuses persist in
Myanmar: Human Rights Watch
YANGON, Jan 14 (AFP) - Myanmar's population faced ongoing civil and political rights abuses over 2002, with ethnic minorities in particular suffering atrocities, Human Rights Watch said in its annual report released Tuesday. Hopes for an improvement in the human rights situation which were raised following the release from house arrest of democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi in May failed to be realised, the New York-based watchdog said. "By late 2002, talks between Suu Kyi and the government had ground to a halt and systemic restrictions on basic civil and political liberties continued unabated," the group said in its report for 2003. UN-brokered talks between the junta and Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party aimed at national reconciliation began in October 2000, but are yet to progress to a political dialogue. The report noted that although the junta released more than 300 political prisoners following Aung San Suu Kyi's release, a call from the UN for a general amnesty for all political prisoners was ignored and political dissidents continued to be arrested. Human rights problems facing the population included forced labour, forced relocations, censorship, the use of child soldiers, violations of religious freedom and atrocities committed against ethnic minorities, the report found. "Children as young as seven were used as forced labour in many parts of the country to carry army supplies or work on construction sites," it said, adding that thousands of boys as young as 11 had been forced into the army. The most extreme violations were reported against the country's ethnic minority groups, particularly in Karen and Shan states. The junta also launched a broad crackdown on Rohingya Muslims following international press reports alleging ties between them and al-Qaeda, the report said. Thailand's relationship with Myanmar also came under criticism. "At times, Thailand, the main destination for minorities, political dissidents, rural people, and women and children fleeing violence in Burma, appeared to respond to Burma with efforts aimed at appeasing the military junta," the report said. In a particularly gruesome case illustrating the problem of illegal workers, the bodies of 20 ethnic Karen villagers were found in the river dividing the two countries. "Investigators later concluded that the Karens were being smuggled in by a Thai couple, who discovered en route that the labourers had suffocated and simply dumped their bodies in the river," it said. --------------------------------------------------------------------
War on terror stifling human
rights: Human Rights Watch
WASHINGTON, Jan 14 (AFP) - US willingness to overlook abuses by allies in the war on terrorism, such as Pakistan, China, Saudi Arabia and some Afghan warlords, undermines efforts to improve conditions around the world, Human Rights Watch said Tuesday in its annual survey. In its 13th annual review, comprised of reports on 58 countries, the rights group criticized the United States for turning a blind eye to repression in countries that provide important support for the US-led campaign against terrorism launched after September 11, 2001. "The United States is far from the world's worst human rights abuser," said Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch. "But Washington has so much power today that when it flouts human rights standards, it damages the human rights cause worldwide." In the report, Human Rights Watch said that by ignoring human rights in the name of fighting terror Washington had bred a "copycat phenomenon," in which other governments flout rights in the name of security. "By waving the anti-terrorism banner, governments such as Uzbekistan seemed to feel that they had license to persecute religious dissenters, while governments such as Russia, Israel, and China seemed to feel freer to intensify repression in Chechnya, the West Bank, and Xinjiang," the group said. The report criticized Tunisia for trying civilians on terrorism charges before military courts, and Australia for imposing "some of the tightest restrictions on asylum in the industrialized world" out of fear of letting in terrorists. Human Rights Watch said that stifling rights in the name of security had taken "absurd proportions" in sub-Saharan Africa, with Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe justifying the November 2001 arrest of six journalists for writing stories about political violence as fighting terrorists. The group warned that repression in the name of security would backfire, breeding resentment of governments and the United States by the repressed. It noted resentment in Pakistan for Washington's uncritical backing of General Pervez Musharraf, who took power in a 1999 coup. The report also criticized the United States for downplaying repression of Muslims in China and Saudi Arabia. "To fight terrorism, you need the support of people in countries where the terrorists live," said Roth. "Cozying up to oppressive governments is hardly a way to build those alliances." The report noted some improvements in human rights, including the end of wars in Angola, Sudan and Sierra Leone and moves toward peace in Sri Lanka. But the group lamented the continued killing of civilians in conflicts around the globe, from Colombia to the Democratic Republic of Congo. It also noted new repressive policies implemented in 2002 in Myanmar, China, Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Liberia and Vietnam. --------------------------------------------------------------------
SE Asia officials in Manila to
boost cooperation against terror
MANILA, Jan 14 (AFP) - Security officials from Southeast Asian countries Tuesday attended a conference here to boost intelligence cooperation to fight terrorism, the Philippines' National Security Adviser Roilo Golez said Golez said the aim of the three-day meeting was to fine-tune multilateral procedures in addressing potential threats by exchanging experiences in the fight against terrorism. "In this simulation exercise, we expect to benefit from the experience of other ASEAN countries. No one is an expert in this new security environment," Golez said. "We have to share information, we have to share intelligence and we have to share our experiences and our knowledge," he said. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Golez said security chiefs in the region were mulling the creation of an ASEAN center where intelligence information on threats could be assessed. No other details were available, but he said the center could be "here or it can be rotating." The terrorist bombings in Bali, Indonesia last year and a spate of attacks in the Philippines have highlighted the need for greater cooperation to crack down on suspected terrorist groups. Singapore last week linked the southern Philippines-based Muslim separatist group Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) to the Jemaah Islamiyah terror group, which has been blamed for the Bali attack. It said the MILF, which has been waging a rebellion in the south since 1978, had played a key role in training JI militants at its sprawling guerrilla base on Mindanao island, which was later overrun by the military. Regional authorities said the JI's ultimate aim was to establish a caliphate comprising Malaysia, Indonesia, southern Philippines and Singapore. A smaller Islamic radical group, the Abu Sayyaf, also operates in the southern Philippines, and last year was the target of a joint United States-Philippines counter-terrorism operation. The Abu Sayyaf was formed by a Muslim firebrand in the early 1990s, but has since deteriorated into a bandit group responsible for a spate of bombings and attacks in the south. --------------------------------------------------------------------
Monday January 13, 10:56 AM
S Korea to Attend Six Environment Ministerial Meetings This Year SEOUL, Jan 13 Asia Pulse - With the Kyoto Protocol becoming a global issue, South Korea will attend approximately six environment ministerial meetings during 2003, the Ministry of Environment said Monday. According to the ministry, Lee Maan-ee, deputy environment minister, will leave for Nairobi early next month to attend the United Nations Environment Program's 22th session of the governing council/global ministerial environment forum. Lee will discuss there follow-up measures from the World Summit on Sustainable Development [WSSD] held in Johannesburg, South Africa last year. The 11th plenary session of the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development [UNCSD] slated to open in New York late April would be the first ministerial gathering which Korea's new environment minister from the incoming administration will attend. The new environment minister will also take part in the second ASEM environment ministers' meeting slated for the latter part of the year. They are also likely to fly to China to attend the fifth trilateral environment ministerial meeting among South Korea, China and Japan scheduled for the second half of the year in Beijing. On the sidelines of those conferences, the third World Water Forum is scheduled to open in Kyoto late March and the third roundtable meeting of Korea, China and Japan on environmental industry will be held in the Chinese capital in June. The fifth WTO cabinet meeting to deal with Doha Development Agenda [DDA] and other environment-related matters will open in the middle of September in Mexico. An environmental ministers' meeting of South Korea, China, Japan and member countries of ASEAN, or the "ASEAN Plus Three Environment Ministers' Meeting" will be held in November in Yangon, Myanmar. The next government's environment minister would attend 2-6 international gatherings with others likely to be substituted by working-level officials, the ministry predicted. --------------------------------------------------------------------
People's Daily
Online
Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, January 14, 2003 Sino-Myanmar Friendship to Develop Faster China and Myanmar are close neighbors, linked by mountains and rivers, with a common border of over 2,000 kilometers enjoying a long-standing friendship. The earliest exchange between them dates back to the 4th century BC. Since ancient times, the Myanmar people have called the Chinese "paukphaw" -- "full brothers." The two countries established diplomatic relations in 1950. For half a century since then, their cooperation in politics, economy, culture, education has been developing continuously, based on the five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence jointly advocated by both sides despite the great changes that have taken place in the international situation. Both China and Myanmar belong to the developing nations, sharing an extensive common view on many major issues. In international affairs, they support each other and coordinate closely, becoming trustful cooperative partners. China has always respected Myanmar's independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity while Myanmar has stuck to the "One China" policy, supporting China's reunification cause. There have been frequent exchange of visits between their leaders. The late Premier of China Zhou Enlai made nine visits to Myanmar, while the late former Myanmar leader U Ne Win went to China on 12 occasions. During the past few years, Chinese President Jiang Zemin, Vice-President Hu Jintao, and other Chinese leaders visited Myanmar. On their part, leaders of Myanmar including SPDC Chairman and Prime Minister Senior General Than Shwe, SPDC Vice-Chairman Vice-Senior General Maung Aye and others toured China several times. Sino-Myanmar bilateral economic and technical cooperation has also made rich achievements. They have successively signed a number of agreements on economic cooperation, according to which, China has extended to Myanmar a great deal of assistance in projects of agriculture, industry, transport, electric power, education, health and human resources development. Meanwhile, the two countries have also launched various forms of technical cooperation, based on the principles of equity, mutual benefit and mutual supplement of superiorities. Chinese companies have initiated a large number of projects in Myanmar, setting up factories in the form of whole investment or joint ventures, covering as many sectors as oil and gas exploitation andprocessing of forest and marine products. China-Myanmar bilateral trade stands an important position in their foreign trade. During the past eight years, bilateral trade including border trade reached over 600 million US dollars annually, accounting for 12 percent of Myanmar's total foreign trade. Further development of China-Myanmar friendly and cooperative ties not only conforms to the fundamental benefit of the two countries but is also beneficial to peace, stability and development of the region. Vice-Premier of the State Council of China Li Lanqing will pay a four-day goodwill visit to Myanmar from Tuesday at the invitation of First Secretary of the Myanmar State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) General Khin Nyunt. His visit will be another important tour to the country made bythe Chinese leadership, bound to further the development of the bilateral ties. --------------------------------------------------------------------
NDTV
WB reopens hijacking case against Burmese refugee Monideepa Banerjie Tuesday, January 14, 2003 (Kolkata): On November 10, 1990, a Burmese student camouflaged soap cakes as bombs and forced an aircraft on its way from Bangkok to Rangoon to divert to Kolkata. His aim was to highlight the military excesses going on in Burma at that time. He was arrested, released on bail and has since then been living in India as a refugee and working as a journalist on current affairs in Myanmar. Back in the limelight Now, 12 years later, the hijacking incident has suddenly come back to haunt him. The case against him has been revived and a West Bengal court will frame charges against him today. "I think basically there is pressure from the Burmese government. The Burmese government does not like what I'm doing. I'm exposing the human rights situation inside the country and I run a news agency that specialises in Burma and related issues," said Soe Myint, the Burmese refugee. Freedom fighter? Rallying behind the Burmese journalist are a number of leading human rights activists who have petitioned the West Bengal government for the withdrawal of the case. The public prosecutor can take a call on the same, if he is so advised by the government. However, no such advice has reached him yet. "I have to propose that charges be framed against the accused before the court. I can assure at least one thing - we never consider any law above the patriotic cause and democratic cause of the people," said Probodh Roy, the public prosecutor. Clearly, one man's hijacker is another man's freedom fighter - and Soe Myint is caught in that cleft stick. --------------------------------------------------------------------
Bangkok Post -
Tuesday 14 January 2003
New trade avenue sought in Burma Chinese-run La town also has plenty of casinos Teerawat Kumtita Thai authorities and trade representatives from Burma's La town are seeking to promote cross-border trade and tourism between Chiang Rai and La. La is Shan people's special administrative zone under Burma's control where the Chinese play major roles. The town's official language is Chinese and the Chinese yuan its main currency. The town also has casinos. Chusak Traisrisilp, president of Four Lenses company which arranges tours to La town, said a Thai delegation led by Chiang Rai governor Narin Panichkij went there about two weeks ago to have talks with La authorities. La agreed to buy 50,000 tonnes of rice and sticky rice from Chiang Rai and set the import tariff at only 1%. Payment would be made partly in cash and the rest through barter-trade deals. La and China wanted to import fresh and preserved Thai fruits, while Chiang Rai wanted electrical appliances from China, Mr Chusak said. Trade representatives from La and China met Mr Narin in Chiang Rai on Sunday after surveying a route from La to Mae Sai via Burma's Kengtung and Tachilek towns. They proposed tourists be required to have only an entry permit to travel from Mae Sai to Tachilek, Kengtung, La and China's Jing Hong. Mr Narin promised to forward the proposal to Deputy Prime Minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudh and give an answer to La and Chinese authorities in four months. If the proposal is approved, about 50,000 more Chinese tourists are expected to visit Chiang Rai through La town each month. A road linking La with Mae Sai district is expected to be completed by April. Currently, Lao people need only an entry permit to enter Chiang Rai, but Chinese tourists must have entry visas to enter Chiang Rai via Burma. --------------------------------------------------------------------
Bangkok Post -
Tuesday 14 January 2003
EDITORIAL - Burma has become land of promises Army commander Gen Somdhat Attanand will fly to Rangoon next week for talks with the ruling junta. Simply put, Gen Somdhat will test the latest round of promises by the Rangoon regime to help fight drug trafficking. He would be well advised to take those promises with a large dose of salt. Burma's list of promises on international cooperation stretch back more than 40 years. Neighbours and other members of the world community are still waiting for the promises to be honoured. The state of Burma today is largely the result of broken promises. Ne Win launched a military coup that took over the country in 1962. He led _ if that is the word _ the country into the 1970s with vows to restore democracy, respect human rights, and end the drug trafficking that was helping to addict much of the world. Ne Win has died, the country remains under military rule, and it is widely reviled for running one of the worst torture chambers in the world. A great example of why Burma could be called ``The Promise Land'' is the state of democratic negotiations _ or, rather, non-negotiations. Last May, the regime freed democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest. In succeeding months, it freed a small number of political prisoners. The generals promised to begin talks with the democrats to end military dictatorship. Total movement towards democracy since then: Exactly zero. But nothing illustrates the vast chasm between promises and action in Burma like drugs. Since the early Ne Win promises to end drug trafficking, Burma has ``progressed'' from being a second-rate supplier of opium to its current status as host to the most prolific producer and biggest trafficking gang in the world. The so-called opium warlord of the 1970s, Lo Hsing-han, is an honoured citizen and major investor in the Burmese economy. Far from keeping the promise to fight drug trafficking, Burma has engaged in continuous actions that have always ended up helping the dirty business. When the United States gave Burma military aid to fight drug gangs, Ne Win battled ethnic insurgents and left the Khun Sa drug cartel alone. Now, Khun Sa lives in Rangoon as another ally in the Burmese economy. The same goes for Sai Linn, another drug trafficker wanted internationally but protected by Rangoon in defiance of its own promises. Every Thai now knows the history of the United Wa State Army. The former insurgent gang is referred to as ``blood brothers'' by Rangoon generals, especially Lieutenant-General Khin Nyunt, secretary one of the junta and chief go-between with the Thai government. The price of peace between the former rebels and Rangoon has been especially heavy for Thailand. Burma has blessed and condoned the major drug trafficking activities of the UWSA, which took over the old Khun Sa heroin trade and added a lucrative methamphetamine cartel which has bled and corrupted many in Thailand. Based on the past 40 years, one can expect Gen Somdhat to be well received in Rangoon. He is likely to return to Bangkok, like many before him, with optimistic forecasts. The military dictators of Burma are likely to promise new and extended cooperation with the Thai government in a proposed new, invigorated push against drug traffickers. New lines of communications will likely be promised. ``Promise'', of course, will be the operative word. Events have reached a point where the Rangoon regime must begin to deliver. Indeed, there are signs the generals may act against the most flagrant drug trafficking. Such action must be seen to be believed. Taking Burma at its word is what has landed Thailand deep in a drug problem. Neighbours must actually help each other, and promises are empty until they are fulfilled. --------------------------------------------------------------------
The
Nation
Junta will be asked to fight crime Published on Jan 14, 2003 Defence Minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudh will seek support from Burma for joint patrols along the border to counter drug trafficking and other crimes, during his visit to the country next week, Army Commander-in-Chief Somtat Uttanun said yesterday. "Joint border patrols would be very effective in suppressing drug smuggling and other crimes. A good example is the Thai-Malaysia joint border patrol, which has decreased the number of drug-related crimes and separatist incidents," Somtat said. Chavalit, who is scheduled to visit Rangoon on Tuesday and Wednesday next week, will ask Rangoon leaders for their opinions on the issue, Somtat said. "Burma has more trust in Thailand and no longer accuses us of secretly supporting Burmese rebels," Somtat said. --------------------------------------------------------------------
Asian Tribune
Date : 2003-01-14 Burmese Military Threaten Villagers before the ICRC visit to Shan State. Bangkok, Jan. 14: Military officials ordered local teachers, headmen and ex-government officials at the Laikha police station to form a civilian committee to shadow the International Committee for Red Cross team. The Shan Women Action Committee Network revealed this in a press statement. Shan Women's Action Network (SWAN) in a Press statement alleges that the Burmese military authorities threaten villagers before International Red Cross visit to Central Shan State The full text of the Press Release issued by the SWAN is given below: Before the visit of an International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) team to Laikha town in Central Shan State on December 9th, 2002, village elders were threatened by the military authorities, according to reports from Shan refugees who have recently arrived at the border. The ten-member ICRC team were conducting a ten-day assessment visit to Central Shan State, from 2-12 December, traveling by road east from Taunggyi to Loilem, Namzarng, Murng Nai and Laikha. Two days prior to the visit to Laikha, police and military authorities ordered some of the local teachers, headmen and ex-government officials to come to the Laikha police station, and commanded them to form a civilian "committee" which would liaise with the ICRC. They were ordered to accompany the ICRC team and note down all questions asked, and threatened to be "careful" when answering any questions. The ICRC has only recently been allowed by the regime into this area of Central Shan State, where over 300,000 villagers have been forcibly relocated by the military regime since 1996, and where the majority of the 173 rape incidents documented in the June 2002 report "Licence to Rape" by SWAN and the Shan Human Rights Foundation were committed. The military regime has repeatedly rejected the findings of the report, citing the presence of international agencies, including the ICRC, in Shan State as evidence that the rapes could not have taken place. On December 26, 2002, it again denied it had been using rape as a weapon of war, in response to a US State Department report repeating the allegations. "It is very clear that the military regime wants to use the presence of ICRC in Shan State to help deny the charges that they are licensing rape of ethnic women," said Mo Lao of the Shan Women's Action Network. "But if they really have nothing to hide, why are they asking villagers to be "careful" when answering questions?" --------------------------------------------------------------------
TUESDAY, JANUARY 14,
2003
THE TIMES OF INDIA 1990 hijack case revived KOLKATA:-PTI- Charges will be framed against a Myanmarese student-turned-jou-rnalist at a court here on Tuesday for hijacking a Thai plane to Kolkata more than a decade ago even as the West Bengal government was being urged to withdraw the case on humanitarian grounds. A Barasat court has fixed Tuesday for framing charges against Soe Myint, one of the two Myanmarese students who diverted a Bangkok-Yangon passenger plane in 1990. Expressing surprise at the revival of the case after such a long time, his lawyer Nandita Haskar said an appeal had been made to the state government to withdraw the case as ?no public interest will be served in sending Soe Myint to jail after 12 years of the event?. Last week a petition was sent to the state government to withdraw the case by prominent politicians, social activists and journalists under the banner of Asian Social Forum. The signatories include Sitaram Yechuri, Medha Patkar, N. Ram and Saeed Mirza. State law minister Nisith Adhikary said the government could hardly do anything in this regard without the sanction of the Centre. He added that under the Anti-Hijacking Act the prosecution of the accused started with the sanction of the Centre. --------------------------------------------------------------------
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