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BURMA RELATED NEWS - April 28,
2003.
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HEADLINES
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AP - Thailand Urges
Support For Myanmar Reconciliation Process
AP - Report:
75-year old political prisoner in Myanmar launches hunger
strike
AP - Britain gives
US$15.7 million to fight AIDS in Myanmar
AFP - All eyes on
Bangkok for emergency SARS summit
Reuters - Hong Kong
chief to join SARS summit in Bangkok
Xinhuanet - Myanmar
achieves first-ever foreign trade surplus
Bkk Post - Pill
prices cut
Bkk Post - Airport
screening for leaders
The Nation - Focus
on Mekong at conference
SMH - Largest
online job site censors listings from eight countries
The Star - Garlic
price increases after China TV report
Asian Tribune -
Prominent Burmese Political Prisoner Dr. Salai Tun Than, Launches Hunger Strike
inside Insein Prison
Asian Tribune -
Statement on the Hunger Strike of Dr. Salai Tun Than by his daughter Mai Theingi
Tun Than
The Australia -
Burmese sex slave's refugee status
Asian Tribune -
Burma : The Question of Political Prisoners
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Monday April 28,
3:18 PM
Thailand Urges Support For Myanmar Reconciliation
Process
BANGKOK (AP)--Thailand on Monday urged the international
community to support moves by Myanmar's military government toward
reconciliation with the democratic opposition led by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu
Kyi.
Political change in Myanmar will be "impossible" without "some
positive response" whenever Yangon shows signs of compromise toward Suu Kyi,
Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai said.
Surakiart spoke to
reporters after talks with the United Nations special envoy to Myanmar, Razali
Ismail, who initiated a reconciliation process between the junta and Suu Kyi in
October 2000.
The talks have made little progress, with Suu Kyi accusing
the junta of being insincere. Apart from freeing Suu Kyi from house arrest last
May and releasing a few hundred other political prisoners, the junta has shown
no sign that it is willing to give up power.
The deadlock has drawn
intense criticism from the West and from human rights groups, but Thailand and
other Southeast Asian countries are recommending more leniency toward the junta.
"We've always advocated an open arms policy. Every party should also be
sincere by showing a positive response when Myanmar acts in a way that favors
reconciliation," Surakiart said.
He didn't elaborate, but was apparently
referring to the junta's concessions to the opposition in freeing Suu Kyi and
allowing her to make political trips to the countryside.
The current
group of generals in Myanmar took over the government in 1988, and refuses to
hand over power to Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party, which won the
1990 general elections.
Razali, a veteran Malaysian diplomat who was
appointed the United Nations' special envoy to Myanmar in April 2000, is said to
be seeking Thailand's help in ending Myanmar's political deadlock.
He
made his ninth trip to the isolated Southeast Asian country last November but is
reported to have been denied a visa by the junta since then.
Razali said
he was "very happy" with Bangkok's support of the reconciliation process, and
that he planned to visit Myanmar "as soon as possible." He declined to say
whether dates had been set for his next visit.
Razali refused to comment
on Suu Kyi's assertion last week that the junta wasn't serious about embracing
democracy. "I don't pass judgment on what one party or the other party says or
does not say," Razali said.
Surakiart said reconciliation talks should
include all ethnic and armed rebel groups in addition to representatives from
the ruling military and Suu Kyi.
He urged Western nations to help
Myanmar solve social problems including AIDS, unemployment, health care and
poverty, saying that social and political progress must go hand-in-hand.
He said he asked Razali to meet with the World Bank and other
international financial institutes to find ways to help Myanmar cope with its
nagging social problems.
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Monday April 28, 7:25 PM
Report: 75-year old political prisoner in Myanmar launches
hunger strike
BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) _ A 75-year-old prominent political prisoner
in Myanmar has begun refusing food to protest poor jail conditions, an
anti-government group claimed Monday. Myanmar's military regime said the
allegations were untrue.
The Washington, D.C.-based Free Burma Coalition
said in a statement received in Bangkok that Salai Tun Than _ imprisoned for
staging a political protest in 2001 _ is protesting ``violations of fundamental
human and religious rights'' in the country's prison system.
Myanmar
government spokesman Col. Hla Min said in a faxed statement that the allegation
is ``not true (and) Salai Tun Than is in good health.''
It said his
family had visited him Friday and brought him food.
``In fact, he is
enjoying his meals and how the FBC (Free Burma Coalition) came up with this
hunger strike we do not know,'' Hla Min said.
The coalition said that,
according to ``reliable sources inside Burma,'' Tun Than was protesting the
continued detention of 1,400 political prisoners, restrictions on communication
between them, unsanitary prison conditions and inadequate medical treatment.
It said he was also protesting restrictions on his religious freedom as
a Christian, including the regime's refusal to allow him a Bible or to receive
communion.
The coalition, which lobbies for the U.S. government and
American businesses to pressure Myanmar to restore democracy, did not say how it
obtained its information.
Tun Than was arrested Nov. 29, 2001, for
handing out pro-democracy flyers and staging a solo protest in front of the City
Hall in the capital city of Yangon.
The annual U.S. State Department
report on human rights around the world said he was sentenced in March 2002 to
seven years' imprisonment, but ``the details of his trial, or if he even had a
trial, were not public.''
Tun Than is an alumnus of both the University
of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of Georgia in the United States.
Students at both universities have held petition campaigns demanding his
release.
Myanmar's military government tolerates very little political
dissent, and spontaneous demonstrations, which are very rare, are usually
quashed within minutes.
Myanmar has been under military rule since 1962.
The current junta took power in 1988 and called elections in 1990 but refuses to
honor the results, which gave victory to the opposition National League for
Democracy.
The junta began closed door talks with NLD leader Aung San
Suu Kyi in October 2000, but has made no major concessions.
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Monday April 28, 7:29 PM
Britain gives US$15.7 million
to fight AIDS in Myanmar
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) _ Britain will give Myanmar US$15.7 million
for an HIV/AIDS prevention and care program being implemented by nongovernmental
organizations, officials said Monday.
Nigel Blackwood, an official at
the British Embassy, said the total required for the three-year program is
estimated at US$51 million.
``We are hopeful that we will get more funds
from our donors,'' he said.
An embassy statement said the British
contribution is the biggest so far for the HIV/AIDS project.
It said the
money will be channeled through the Fund for HIV/AIDS in Myanmar, which is
managed by the United Nations Development Program.
Britain last year
provided US$10 million for HIV/AIDS projects in Myanmar.
The Myanmar
Health Ministry said the country currently has 180,000 people infected with
HIV/AIDS, while UNAIDS estimates that between 170,000 and 420,000 people are
infected with HIV.
Of the officially reported HIV cases, 30 percent are
attributed to using injected drugs and 68 percent to heterosexual transmission.
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All eyes on Bangkok for emergency SARS summit
BANGKOK, April 28 (AFP) - ASEAN's 10 leaders plus China's Premier Wen
Jiabao will seek to present a united front to a worried world at their Tuesday
summit here on the SARS virus, which continues to claim lives.
Wen was
to join leaders of the members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(ASEAN) in Bangkok for the unprecedented half-day emergency gathering to address
Asia's worst crisis since the financial meltdown of 1997-1998.
The
summit is considered crucial as "it will be a forum for making a commitment by
leaders" to a common approach against the spread of SARS, Supamit Chunsuttiwat
of Thailand's Department of Disease Control told AFP.
ASEAN leaders hope
to convince a spooked global community that they are taking efficient and
drastic measures to contain the spread of the epidemic, and are also expected to
announce new measures to coordinate their fight against the disease.
"Practically, it will be a very important meeting. It will be a forum
for endorsement for what was discussed in Malaysia," Supamit said.
Health ministers from ASEAN and key partners China, Japan and South
Korea meeting in Kuala Lumpur called Saturday for strict screening measures at
all airports and other exit points to prevent suspected SARS cases from
travelling.
"The rest of the world may be keeping an eye on it because
the countries involved in the summit might represent more than 90 percent of the
cases," Supamit said.
SARS is wreaking havoc on ASEAN's economies, with
growth forecasts being steadily lowered and tourism plummetting, leaving related
industries such as aviation reeling.
Its potentially devastating social
impact is also becoming clear, with more than 320 people now dead from the
illness, mostly in Asia, and more than 5,400 people infected in more than 25
countries.
In one bright spot, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said
Tuesday that cases of SARS in Vietnam, Hong Kong, Singapore and Canada's Toronto
appear to have peaked.
"It appears from reports we have from Hong Kong,
Singapore, Toronto and Vietnam that the epidemic has peaked in those countries
and now they're having fewer cases every day, and in some countries, no new
cases, such as Vietnam," David Heymann, executive director of the WHO's
Communicable Diseases Cluster, told reporters.
In China, however, which
has now reported 139 deaths from SARS with more than 3,000 infections, the peak
has not yet been reached.
"We are receiving more and more reports now of
cases in China, and it doesn't appear that it's peaked in China yet," said
Heymann.
Wen, on his first assignment outside of China since his
appointment in March, is expected to bear the focus of attention at the summit,
as his country's failure to alert the world to the emergence of the new virus in
southern Guangdong province last November has drawn widespread criticism.
ASEAN and China have realised they must join forces if they have any
chance of containing the disease, analysts say.
At the Kuala Lumpur
meeting, China's deputy health minister Huang Jiefu was asked about the value of
meeting with his ASEAN counterparts.
"I think solidarity and also
(being) united and together as a team to fight the epidemic," he said then.
Indonesia announced its first probable death from SARS after a Taiwanese
businessman died in a Jakarta hospital late Sunday.
Six ASEAN countries
are reporting SARS deaths: Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia and
the Philippines.
The other ASEAN members are Brunei, Cambodia, Laos and
Myanmar.
Vietnam on Monday saw a ray of hope in its battle against the
disease, becoming the first country in the world affected by the deadly virus to
declare that it has brought SARS under control after 20 days with no new
infections.
Tung Chee-hwa, the chief executive of Hong Kong -- one of
the worst affected regions -- will also take part in the Bangkok summit, it was
announced Monday.
Thailand's health minister said national leaders
arriving for the summit will be exempt from the stringent health checks imposed
on travelers arriving from high-risk SARS areas including China, Hong Kong,
Singapore and Vietnam.
"We will exempt health checks for leaders and
ministers," Sudarat Keyuraphan told reporters.
Other delegation members,
including accompanying reporters from China, Singapore and Hong Kong, will
undergo mandatory health checks at the airport or Thailand's foreign ministry,
where the summit is to be held.
"They will have to wear masks while they
are here," she said of delegation members excluding ministers and
leaders.
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Monday April 28, 12:42 PM
Hong Kong chief to join SARS
summit in Bangkok
BANGKOK, April 28 (Reuters) - Hong Kong leader Tung Chee-hwa will
join Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and Southeast Asian leaders meeting in Bangkok
on Tuesday to tackle the spread of SARS.
Tung will be deputy chief of
the Chinese delegation due to attend the one-day summit, Thai Foreign Minister
Surakiart Sathirathai told reporters on Monday.
Severe Acute Respiratory
Syndrome (SARS) has killed 318 people worldwide and infected more than 5,300
since it appeared in southern China late last year.
China has more than half
of the world's known cases.
The leaders are expected to sign off on
recommendations by Asian health ministers who gathered in Malaysia over the
weekend, including strict region-wide pre-departure screening of travellers for
symptoms of the virus.
The 10-member Association of South East Asian
Nations (ASEAN) will hold talks first, before meeting the Chinese in the
afternoon.
The meeting will be briefed by the World Health
Organisation's head of communicable diseases, Dr David Heymann.
ASEAN
groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines,
Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
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Myanmar achieves first-ever foreign trade surplus
Xinhuanet 2003-04-28 12:46:56
By Duan
Tingchang
ã??ã??
YANGON, April 28 (Xinhuanet) -- The Myanmar government has finally
produced surplus in its foreign trade after the problem of foreign trade deficit
plagued its economy for a long period.
According to the figures
published by the Central Statistical Organization, the country's foreign trade
deficit reached as high as 1,687 million US dollars in 1998, 1,232 million
dollars in 1999,1,048 million dollars in 2000 and 501 million dollars in 2001.
In 2002, Myanmar's foreign trade totaled 5,276 million dollars,of which
the import accounted for 2,294 million dollars, while theexport represented
2,982 million dollars, producing a trade surplus of 688 million dollars.
Myanmar has taken effective measures in reducing the trade deficit and
realizing the trade surplus. It firstly adopted the strategy of "sell more, buy
less" and "export more, import less" to encourage its countrymen to use
home-made goods, buy less foreign ones and substitute imported goods with
domestic products as much as possible.
Secondly, it greatly supported
enterprises engaged in producingexport goods by providing privileges in
accordance with its policy.
Thirdly, it opened more border trade points,
simplifying related formalities, appropriately adjusting its standard of charge
collection and strictly controlling the import of high-grade consumer goods and
luxury ones.
Fourthly, it strove for the promotion of production,
ensured goods supply and tackled the phenomena of shortage of locally
manufactured commodities.
A fact that deserves mentioning is that the
export earning of natural gas has played an important role in Myanmar's efforts
to bring down the trade deficit and realize trade surplus for the first time.
Myanmar began export of natural gas in 1998, earning 750,000 dollars
only during the year when the country suffered a trade deficit of as high as
over 1,600 million dollars. In 2001, the country's gas export proceeds increased
to 523 million dollars, while that year's trade deficit dropped to 501 million
dollars. In2002, its gas export earning attained a new record high of 846
million dollars, generating a foreign trade surplus for the first time.
Myanmar's natural gas is exported to Thailand through pipelineswith an
annual export quantity of billions of cubic meters.
According to
official statistics, Myanmar's natural gas reservereached 1,442.05 billion cubic
meters. It concentrates mainly on Rakhine state and Tanintharyi division and
Mottama.
In 2002, the gas output of Myanmar was 9,173.8 million cubic
meters. According to the present scale of production, the country's natural gas
could be exploited for 157 years.
Myanmar is an agricultural country
with very weak industrial infrastructure. The majority of its required capital
goods of machinery and equipment depends on import. As these imported
goods,which contain a high degree of technology and highly-added value, are
relatively costly, it constituted an important factor leading to the emergence
of deficit for consecutive years in its foreign trade.
Official
statistics show that in 2002, Myanmar imported capitalgoods valued at 557
million dollars, taking up 24.28 percent of the country's total imports.
At a time when the capital goods are depending on import, Myanmar has
also to import a great deal of consumer and intermediate goods annually to meet
the domestic demand. In 2002, the import vale of Myanmar's consumer and
intermediate goods stoodat 892 million dollars and 845 million dollars,
accounting for 38.88 percent and 36.84 percent of the country's total imports
respectively.
Meanwhile, as a less-developed country, Myanmar has a
unitary structure of its export goods, and commodities available for export are
very much limited. Its export goods are mainly known asprimary products such as
agricultural and marine products, timber and mine products. The prices of them
are low, constituting a great contrast against imported goods which contain a
high degree of technology and highly-added value.
In addition, Myanmar
products lack good quality and competitiveness in the world market. These
factors have also restricted Myanmar's export to a large extent.
Although
Myanmar has achieved surplus for the first time in itsforeign trade, it is hard
for the country to maintain such status in the long run. To attain this, it is
up to Myanmar to adjust thestructure of its export goods, increase the export
products categories, seek new export growth points, boost gas export, improve
the quality of export commodities, speed up the industrialization process, and
raise the level of high technology.
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Bangkok Post - Monday 28 April 2003
Pill prices cut
Drug producers in Burma have
cut the price of methamphetamine pills from 20 baht to five baht in the face of
sagging sales, says the Border Patrol Police Bureau commissioner.
Pol
Lt-Gen Saroj Panya said drug producers from Burma's Tachilek town opposite Mae
Sai district of Chiang Rai, to Myawaddy town opposite Mae Sot district of Tak,
had cut prices in response to a fall in demand caused by the government's war on
drugs.
Dealers were afraid of being killed by unknown assailants and were
reluctant to buy.
Elsewhere, in areas where the pills were scarce, prices
had increased.
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Bangkok Post - Monday 28 April 2003
SUMMIT ON
SEVERE ACUTE RESPIRATORY SYNDROME
Airport screening for leaders
Health checks unless they have certificates
Mongkol Bangprapa
All delegates to the Asean
Sars summit in Bangkok tomorrow will be liable to health screening on arrival at
Don Muang airport.
Public Health Minister Sudarat Keyuraphan said the
screening process would prevent the spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome
(Sars) in Thailand during tomorrow's meeting of leaders and their delegations
from Asean countries.
The Bangkok summit is designed to map out a
strategy to fight the virus.
Ms Sudarat said the ministry had asked Asean
leaders to show medical certificates on arrival at Don Muang airport. Those with
certificates would not be required to undergo screening or wear face
masks.
The Foreign Ministry has set aside a room where leaders who have
no certificates will undergo medical checks.
Health authorities would
issue certificates to members of delegations who pass check-ups at the airport,
Ms Sudarat said.
Public health ministers from the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations met in Malaysia at the weekend to discuss measures to
control the deadly virus and exchange information on the treatment of Sars
patients.
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said the Bangkok summit would
show other countries that Asean was serious in dealing with the epidemic. He was
sure the economy would recover from the effects of the scare. ``Thailand is the
only country that has declared itself free of Sars. At the meeting of public
health ministers in Malaysia, Asean countries agreed to map out measures to
control the disease,'' Mr Thaksin said.
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The Nation
Focus on Mekong at
conference
Published on Apr 28, 2003
"Business
Opportunities: the Mekong Region Comes of Age" is the theme of the fourth annual
Nation International Conference, which is expected to attract 1,200 visitors
over two days.
Experts, ministerial-level representatives and leading
business executives from the six Mekong region member countries and beyond have
been invited to the conference, to be held at the Meridien President Hotel Road
on June 12 and 13.
Joining the Nation Group in organising the conference
is Asia News Network, an alliance of 14 leading newspapers throughout Asia. The
event is sponsored by Holcim Group, Siam City Cement Plc, and the National
Economic and Social Development Board.
The themes of the previous three
Nation conferences were: the 1997 financial crisis, Thailand's investment
opportunities, and the rise of China as an economic powerhouse.
This
year's Mekong theme was conceived on the notion that substantial progress has
been made in recent years by the governments of Vietnam, Cambodia, China,
Thailand, Laos and Burma, especially in terms of facilities and infrastructure.
This is complemented by a strong |political will on all sides to see the
region, which has a combined population of 250 million, move forward with sound
and sustainable economic development.
The Bangkok conference will
present opportunities to the private sector to further participate in the
development of the region. In addition, key issues relating to the environment,
ethnic diversity and the aspirations of the member countries, and the potential
of the Mekong region as Asia's new growth area will be explored and debated.
Speakers will include Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak, who is
in charge of the Mekong development strategy for the Thai government, and senior
members of the governments of China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Burma.
There will also be representatives from international organisations,
including the Asia Development Bank, Japan Bank for International Cooperation,
the International Finance Corp, Ford Foundation, and the Pacific Asia Travel
Association.
Speakers from the private sector will include top level
executives from McKinsey & Co, Brooker Policy Research Institute, Holcim
Group, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Diethelm Travel and Bangkok Airways.
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The Sydney Morning Herald
Largest
online job site censors listings from eight countries
By Online
Staff
April 28 2003
The world's largest online job site,
Monster.com, has removed the names of eight countries - Iran, Iraq,
Burma/Myanmar, Cuba, Libya, North Korea, Sudan, and Syria - from its standard
format for resumes.
Individuals with addresses in any of these eight
countries have been dropped from the site's database. The same will apply to
international organisations in these countries.
Monster has emailed form
letters to job seekers who have given these countries in their address in their
resumes. The email says:
"The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office
of Foreign Assets Control, as well as some states, maintain sanctions which
prohibit U.S. companies from conducting certain business activities with
organizations located in or residents of the following countries... In order for
Monster to comply with applicable U.S. federal and state regulations, we will be
removing the Sanctioned Countries from the site. Your resume included one (or
more) of the Sanctioned Countries. Therefore, your resume will be altered,
removing all Sanctioned Countries from your resume(s)."
Monster has
sites in 22 countries, including Australia and New Zealand. Every site has a
free service called My Monster; after registration, an individual can post a
detailed resume which can be accessed by employers worldwide.
A
spokesperson from Monster Australia said: "Monster Asia Pacific (including
Monster.com.au, Monster.co.nz, Monster.com.hk, Monster.com.sg and
Monsterindia.com) is part of the US company Monster.com, and therefore must also
comply with the US Sanctioned Countries Guidelines."
However, the
spokesperson said this excision would not extend to people who had studied in
any of the countries listed, only those who resided in any of them. Though both
UNITA (Angola) and Liberia were mentioned in the response from Monster
Australia, both these countries are still available on the dropdown list at the
site.
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The Star
Monday, April 28,
2003
Garlic price increases after China TV
report
THE price of garlic has shot up following a TV
report in China which stated that eating garlic could help strengthen oneâ??s
immunity system in the wake of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome
outbreak.
China Press reported that people in China were stocking
up on garlic, thus leading to a price increase.
A Malaysian
importer was quoted as saying that the retail price of garlic had gone up from
RM1.20 to RM2 a kilo since Monday.
He said that in China the price
of garlic had risen from US$200 (RM760) to US$300 (RM1,140) a tonne, and was
expected to increase further next month.
Apparently, one way to
consume the garlic would be to grind it, and then soak it in hot water before
drinking it.
Sin Chew Daily, which also reported on the
shortage of garlic, said authorities in China had encouraged its people to
consume more garlic while medical experts where still looking for an effective
medicine to cure SARS patients.
However, the daily checked
with the Federal Agricultural Marketing Authority (Fama) and found that Malaysia
had sufficient supply of garlic.
A Fama official was quoted
as saying that Malaysia could source garlic from India, Thailand, Indonesia and
Myanmar if the Chinese government were to ban the export of garlic.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Asian Tribune
Date :
2003-04-28
Prominent Burmese Political Prisoner Dr. Salai Tun Than,
Launches Hunger Strike inside Insein Prison
Washington /
Rangoon April 28: - Days after U.S. President George W. Bush showered praise on
Burma's democracy movement, the Free Burma Coalition has received news that one
of the country's most prominent political prisoners, Dr. Salai Tun Than, a
75-year-old professor, has launched a hunger strike to protest violations of
fundamental human and religious rights in the Southeast Asian country's
notorious Insein prison.
His protest also comes three weeks after U.S.
Senator Russell Feingold (D-WI) and Representative Max Burns (R-GA) publicly
condemned Dr. Tun Than's imprisonment and the ongoing human rights violations by
Burma's ruling military regime on the floor of the United States
Congress.
Burma's military regime, led by Senior General Than Shwe,
imprisoned Dr. Tun Than in November 2001 after he conducted a solo protest in
front of Rangoon City Hall and called for an end to military rule and the
restoration of democracy. During his protest, he donned an academic gown and
distributed a letter that read, among other things, "It is better to die than to
live under the military regime." The regime sentenced him to seven years in
prison.
Among the violations Dr. Salai Tun Than is protesting, according
to reliable sources inside Burma, are the continued imprisonment of 1,400
political prisoners even after many have completed their sentences,
interrogations of prisoners following visits by the United Nations Special
Rapporteur on Human Rights Paulo Sergio Pinheiro and the International Committee
of the Red Cross, restrictions on communication between prisoners, unsanitary
prison conditions, inadequate medical supplies and treatment, and forced
"hooding" as prisoners are transported outside.
He is also protesting
restrictions on his religious freedom as a Christian, including the regime's
refusal to allow him a Bible or to receive communion. Dr. Tun Than suffers from
severe ill health including eye problems, bone disease, and other
ailments.
According to former political prisoner Aung Din, who is now
Director of Policy for the Free Burma Coalition in Washington, D.C., Dr. Tun
Than's protest may place him in danger of beatings, torture, and even death, "In
the past, guards have placed hunger-strikers in solitary confinement where they
were beaten, tortured, and shackled, and some even beaten to death. I am very
worried that Dr. Salai Tun Than may face such punishment or even be killed. At a
minimum, he may be relocated to a prison far from his family."
On May 13,
1998, for example, another of Burma's political prisoners, Aung Kyaw Moe, was
beaten to death by prison superintendent Win Myint and his troops in
Tharyarwaddy prison for staging a hunger strike. Approximately 189 of Burma's
1,400 political prisoners face serious health problems, and many have died in
recent years.
Dr. Salai Tun Than is a Baptist Christian and an alumnus of
both the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of
Georgia.
On April 24th, President Bush released a statement calling the
leader of Burma's democracy movement, 1991 Nobel Peace Prize recipient Aung San
Suu Kyi, "an example for those around the world who strive for freedom and the
non-negotiable demands of human dignity." The message also read, "The United
States continues to recognize the results of the 1990 elections and supports her
goals to restore democracy and national reconciliation through effective
political dialogue with the ruling military regime."
On April 8th,
Senator Feingold demanded the release of Tun Than and harshly criticized Burma's
regime, stating "I am. concerned about the case of Dr. Salai Tun Than, an
alumnus of the University of Wisconsin-Madison." The following day, Congressman
Burns called the imprisonment "unlawful" and said, "We must work to stop this
regime from imprisoning political dissidents and work toward a freer nation for
all Burmese citizens."
In a major policy address in February, U.S.
Assistant Secretary of State Lorne Craner said that if Than Shwe's military
regime refuses to enter into a constructive dialogue with Aung San Suu Kyi and
the Burmese people under the auspices of the United Nations, the United States
would consider imposing new economic and political sanctions against the regime.
The Dallas Morning News reported on April 6th that the powerful Senate Majority
Whip Mitch McConnell might introduce legislation aimed at penalizing Than Shwe's
ongoing rights abuses in the near future.
- Free Burma Coalition -
--------------------------------------------------------------
Asian Tribune
Date : 2003-04-28
Statement on the Hunger
Strike of Dr. Salai Tun Than by his daughter Mai Theingi Tun
Than
Washington, April 28: Mai Theingi Tun Than, Daughter of Professor Dr. Salai
Tun Than appeals for moral support and encouragement for her fatherâ??s hunger
strike, which he launched yesterday at the notorious Insein Prison in Burma.
Professor Dr. Salai Tun Than, 75 years old, launched his campaign on April 27,
inside the Insein Prison is a courageous act of an academic, who is now
languishing inside the notorious prison, for exercising his basic human rights
on 29 November 2001
That was a fateful day when the Professor staged a
solo protest in front of the Rangoon City Hall and distributed a petition
calling for the Army Generals to conduct a general election and hand over the
power of the state to the winning party. He was subsequently incarcerated and
sentenced for seven long years of imprisonment
Again the on Sunday, April
27, 2003, the 75-year old retired rector of Yezin University, Burma, started a
seven-day hunger strike from his bed in Insein Prison Hospital,
Rangoon.
Asian Tribune urges the international community to pray for the
health of the Gandhian Professor and pray that the common sense prevail in the
hearts and minds of the Army generals and they order their subordinates in the
prison treat him humanely.
The full text of the appeal made by Mai
Theingi Tun Than, Daughter of Professor Dr. Salai Tun Than, who is the only
daughter who lives outside Burma is given below:
Dear Sir/Madam, I am
writing to ask your support for my father, Dr. Salai Tun Than, the retired
rector of Yezin University, Burma, who is currently serving a seven year prison
sentence for staging a peaceful one-man protest in front of the Rangoon City
Hall building on November 29, 2001. My fatherâ??s only â??crimeâ?? was to distribute a
petition calling for the government to hold a multiparty general election within
one year and to unconditionally transfer state power to the winning party. He
has been recognized by the Amnesty International as a prisoner of conscience,
and groups all over the world are campaigning for his release.
On
Sunday, April 27, 2003, my 75-year old father started a seven-day hunger strike
from his bed in Insein Prison Hospital, Rangoon. At grave risk to his already
frail health, he decided to go on a hunger strike to draw attention to the
inhumane conditions of his confinement, which violate international human rights
standards, and to protest his inability to practice his religion while in
prison.
The prisonâ??s inhumane conditions include the
following:
Political prisoners are hooded when they are taken out even
for going to the toilet from their cells in the hospital.
Medical care
and medical facilities in the prison hospital do not meet even minimum basic
standards for health, safety and hygiene.
Prison guards and Military
Intelligence personnel monitor and record all statements made by my father and
other family members during the brief periods when they are allowed to visit.
My father is routinely interrogated after his meetings with ICRC or UN
representatives, in violation of rules governing such visits.
Political
prisoners at the prison hospital such as my father are strictly forbidden to
speak with the ordinary prisoners.
Many political prisoners have not yet
been released even though they have already served their prison terms. Some have
been released, only to be promptly re-arrested on spurious grounds.
Violations of religious freedom
My father has been denied
possession of the Bible, that his family gave to him, though he has been seeking
permission for this more than a year.
His requests to receive Christian
Holy Communion (with the help of priest) inside the prison have been refused by
prison authorities.
My father, Dr. Salai Tun Than, is currently suffering
from severe health problems, exacerbated by his advanced age and the inhumane
conditions of his imprisonment. Nevertheless, he is determined to carry out this
hunger strike in the knowledge that only international pressure will ease his
plight and that of other political prisoners in Burma.
As one of Dr.
Salai Tun Thanâ??s daughters, and the only one outside Burma who has the freedom
to draw attention to his plight, and as a Burmese human rights activist, I
urgently and sincerely request you and your organization to support the cause of
human rights in Burma by pressuring the military regime to release Dr. Salai Tun
Than and all the political prisoners immediately and unconditionally.
I
strongly urge that we all should work together in putting pressure on the
Burmese military regime, the State Peace and Development Council by demanding
the following actions:
1) To release Dr. Salai Tun Than and all political
prisoners immediately and unconditionally.
2) To stop all the human
rights abuses done by Burmese military in Burma
3) To resume the true
political Dialogue with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of National League for
Democracy for the benefit of Burmese people.
I really need you and your
organization's support and action on this matter and please feel free to contact
me for further concern.
Yours truly,
Mai Theingi Tun
Than
Daughter of Dr. Salai Tun Than
Contact: Mai Theingi Tun
Than
+1 (650) 991-0287
+1 (650) 255-0747
maitheingi@xxxxxxxxx
--------------------------------------------------------------
The Australian
Burmese sex slave's
refugee status
By Natalie O'Brien and
Elisabeth Wynhausen
April 28, 2003
A BURMESE
woman trafficked to Australia as a sex slave has finally been granted refugee
status, despite Immigration Department claims she was really a Thai national.
Highlighting deep divisions within the department, conflicting decisions
were made about her background, although there was overwhelming evidence proving
she was from Burma's Shan state.
Immigration insiders say the case shows
the variable quality of departmental decisions. In this instance, two officers
weighing up the same facts came to opposite conclusions.
The Refugee
Review Tribunal believed her story that she was raped and assaulted by the
Burmese military as a child, a common scenario. The tribunal accepted she was
trafficked to Thailand and forced into prostitution before being trafficked to
Australia.
Her Immigration case officer believed her story. The officer
concluded that although the woman spoke fluent Thai, it was her second language.
When the case was referred to the Immigration Department's Onshore
Protection section, which makes the final decisions on refugees, she was
rejected on another language test, using the controversial voice testing method.
But tribunal member Paul White decided the language analysis was
unreliable. In a decision published last week, he said the linguist who
conducted the test had used only a few words of Burmese and had never been to
Shan state or any part of Burma where the language was spoken.
The woman
had already shown she was familiar with Burmese food, customs, songs and
geography.
"There is no credible evidence to suggest that the applicant
has any other nationality," the tribunal member said.
The woman was
picked up in a Sydney brothel during an Immigration raid.
Soon after the
raid, she revealed she was Burmese and that she had been too scared to reveal
her nationality in case she was deported to Burma.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Asian Tribune
Date : 2003-04-28
Burma : The Question of
Political Prisoners
by Zin Linn
Zin Lin a political prisoners who spent a total of 9 years in the infamous
Insein prisons ?1982 March ? 1984 May: M.I.S Unit 7 7 arrested and made lawsuit
under 5(J) for the unlawfulul jjournal. Slammed into solitary confinement for 2
years in Insein Prison. Again 1991 -1997: Military Court No.2 sentenced 7 years
imprisonment under National Security Act 5 (J) due to delivering the NCGUB's
bulletin & statements, - now laments that a hundred political prisoners had
passed away silently and unnoticed and again another 189 are on the verge of
dying. He gives at the end of his essay the names and details of 83 political
prisoners who passed away silently.
"The release of political prisoners
is the most important thing for all those who truly wish to bring about change
in Burma" - Daw Aung San Suu Kyi
Burmese opposition leader Daw Aung San
Suu Kyi said on 23 April, that there was no sign in evidence to believe that the
military junta is interested in the democratic reforms and it was too early for
Western countries to lift crippling sanctions.
In her strongest
criticism on the junta since her release from house arrest on 6 May in 2002, the
Nobel Peace laureate said that she had been harassed repeatedly by officials on
her recent visits to places in Arakan and Chin states.
''They don't want
to change, but change is inevitable,'' Daw Aung San Suu Kyi pointed out during
press conference at the headquarters of her National League for Democracy (NLD).
''If the SPDC is truly interested in the welfare of this country, they
should cooperate with the NLD. I'd like to ask why the SPDC doesn't contact the
NLD,'' demanded the Nobel laureate.
In the past 14 years, since the
democracy uprising in 1988, little or noprogress has been made in the areas of
democracy and human rights in Burma. Especially, the neighboring nations of the
Association South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) made no genuine effort to address
the situation and instead they tend to protect Burma from criticism based on
reports of human rights abuses, for instance the use of rape as a weapon of war
by the Burmese armed forces in the Shan State.
Besides '' License to Rape
'' , the most inhumane atrocity was the issue of the prisoners of conscience.
The prisoners are kept in inhumane and in appalling conditions in various
prisons in the country. We wish to point out that the international community
should not to rush into accepting the military regime's assurances of
improvement of conditions, until it has released all the political prisoners and
also able to provide concrete evidence of improved human rights conditions and
its commitment to democratization in Burma.
As a campaign to free
political prisoners in Burma, the NGOs and Burmese students held a forum in
Bangkok on 8 August 2002 to mark the 14th anniversary of the Aug 8, 1988
political uprising, laying wreaths and airing a videotape in which National
League for Democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi calls on the ruling junta to
release all political prisoners. In her message Daw Aung San Suu Kyi says:
'' Democracy means pluralism. That means many parties, many strands of
thought. That means that we have to be able to disagree. That means we have to
be able to agree to disagree. Because of that, the holding of political
prisoners saps peoples' confidence in the possibility of change. If people ar e
going to be arrested for expressing their opinions, their political opinions,
then how can we say that there is a hope for political freedom in Burma, and
without political freedom, how can there be democracy? So, we repeat, again and
again, we reiterate, that the release of political prisoners is the most
important thing for all those who truly wish to bring about change in Burma.
''
Sriruk Pliphat, director of Amnesty International in Thailand, also
called on in the forum that Thai NGOs should join NGOs worldwide to pressure the
Burmese junta to unconditionally free over 1,350 political prisoners held in
Burmese jails.
It's a great idea of launching a concerted effort among
international NGOs to free political prisoners in Burma. The Burmese prisoners
of conscience are arrested and sentenced to long-terms of imprisonment and are
held in the various prison facilities in the country. It is not only intertwined
with regional politics, but also connected with global humanitarianism. For that
reason, the ASEAN leaders should consider to pressure the State Peace and
Development Council (SPDC) to free all political prisoners immediately and
unconditionally.
Many of these prisoners are intentionally transferred to
prisons located in the very remote areas. Facing terrible torture, and ruthless
harassment, they are languishing in without proper food and medication in these
remote prison facilities in the country.
Numerous senior executives
belonging to the National League for Democracy (NLD) members including U Win Tin
(the Secretary of the Central Executive Committee of the NLD) and U Khin Maung
Swe (NLD Central Executive Committee member) are said to be still held in
prisons. Moreover, there are 17 MPs, 34 journalists, writers and poets and
nearly hundred female politicians are held in these infamous prisons of
Burma.
All political prisoners have been arrested due to their political
commitments and activities involving in the promotion of democracy and human
rights. Releasing prisoners of conscience may be considered a sign of sincerity,
which might indicate that the generals honestly want to restore democracy and
human rights in Burma. But, as long as the generals dilly-dallying the release
of the political prisoners, it means the generals still have no idea for
restoration of democracy and national reconciliation in Burma.
Actually,
the military regime takes advantage of releasing limited number of prisoners, in
order to reduce international pressure especially to move sanctions against
their rule. The regime should understand the fact that building an appropriate
political atmosphere is the basic need for national reconciliation. Building
such an atmosphere is the unconditional and immediate release of all political
prisoners detained arbitrarily and inhumanely. The release of all political
prisoners can spur the countryâ??s economic revival, which is on the verge of
collapse.
After his fifth visit to Rangoon, UN Special Rapporteur Mr.
Pinheiro declined the junta's claims of holding political prisoners for security
reasons as an absurdity.
"You have to release all the prisoners," said
Mr. Pinheiro, who reiterated long-standing U.N. demands on Myanmar's rulers to
free all political prisoners. He added, "I can barely imagine that prisoners 75
years old, in terrible state of health, are a security threat. This is nonsense.
This is absurd."
Harsh prison conditions are still commonplace in Burmese
prisons and detention centers, and a lot of prisoners suffer from serious mental
disorders resulting from long periods of solitary confinement. The worst is that
you cannot get appropriate pills even in Insein prison which is the model prison
in the capital. Essential medical treatments are always behind the time. Worst
of the worst is that when a political prisoner faced a fatal illness, he or she
was not allowed to hospitalize by the military authorities if he or she declined
to abandon dissident beliefs. There were many examples of such death because of
the authorities' unnecessarily negligence to give permission for
treatments.
The outcome of these inhumane measures exercised by the
regime, more than one hundred political prisoners including Members of
Parliament (MPs) and journalists had quietly passed away in the those notorious
prisons.
Unfortunately, current situations in Burma are still going on
and the country as a whole has been transformed into a prison-state. Time should
be over in favor of the military dictators and the international community
shouldn't show tolerance to the generals. It is more than an appropriate time to
overthrow the generalâ??s grip on power at least before the end of the year
2003.
In such a moment , it is too early to soften international pressure
upon Burmese junta. Instead, it deserves tougher. Last year, one diplomat
commented to the Washington Post: â??Releasing Suu Kyi was the easy step. The
generals know sheâ??s not going to rock the boat too much, and theyâ??re getting a
lot of good publicity for it. But what about the student leaders? The other
party activists? The people who might loudly criticize the generals?â?? According
to prison-sources, there are still nearly 1400 political prisoners remain in
Burmese jails. It is sad to say hundreds are dying in various prison facilities
inside Burma. For everybody's sympathy, a list of 83 unfortunate prisoners of
conscience, who already had passed away under the inhumane treatments of the
military dictators, was delivered as an appendix. There may be many names left
out of everyone's knowledge.
:Political Prisoners died under Tortures
& Lack of Medical Treatments in the SPDC's Prisons
Name -
Organization - Sentence - Prison - Deceased Date
1. Nay Win Aung Student
3 years Insein Prison Dec-88
2. Harnit Student 3 years Insein Prison
Dec-88
3. Kyaw Soe Student 3 years Insein Prison Feb.1989
. 4.
Kyaw Myo Thant Student 5 years Ma-u-bin Prison May1990
5. Myo Win
Student 5 years Pegu prison 1990
6. Khin Maung@Bo Set Yaung CPB 20 years
Insein Prison Feb-90
7. Tha Tun A L D 3 years Insein Prison 19-Aug-90
8. Se Shi K I A 7 years Insein Prison Oct-90
9. Maung Ko CPB
Under Investigation Insein Prison Jul-90
10. Maung Ko NLD Under
Investigation MIS 6, Lock-up 9 Nov. 1990
11. Oo Tha Tun Student Under
Investigation MIS 6, Lock-up 1991
12. Ba Thaw NLD 20 years 5 Insein
Prison Jun-91
13. SeinWin Ex-Student Leader 20yrs.122 Insein Prison
10Jan.1991
14. Nyo Win V-Chairman of PPP 3 years 17 Insein Prison
8-May-91
15. Tin Maung Win NLD MP Detention Insein Prison
18-Jan-91
16. Soe Htay Student Detention MIS 6, Lock-up Apr-91
17.
Maung Maung Aye NLD Kamaryut EC 7 years 5 Thayawaddy July 31 1991
18.
Thar Htun ALD 3yrs.5 Insein Prison 19 Aug.1990
19. Chit Htaung Strike
Activist 3 years Myingyan Prison 1991
20. Mohamad Ilbus NLD 20year
Interrogation Center 22-Jun-92
21. Saw David KNU 7 years Insein Prison
2-Aug-92
22. Suppayar Mannee 14years Taung-oo 1992
23. Saw Kyaw
Lwin Student 5years Myinggyan Aug-92
24. Mann Darwait ABKO 10years Insein
Prison 12-Aug-92
25. Thanmani Sein Hla VeterenPolitician 10years Insein
Prison 14-Jun-05
26. Soe Win PVO 20years Insein Prison
5-Mar-92
27. U Zawtika Monk 3years5 Insein Prison Dec-92
28. Aye
Lwin Strike Activist 20years Insein Prison Dec-92
29. Khin Maung Myint
Chairperson of PPP 20years Insein Prison February16,1993
30. Cho Gyi NPF
7 years Myitkyina 1993
31. Aik Ko Student 7 years Thayet
13-Oct-93
32. U DhammaTheidi Monk 7years Insein Prison Nov.
1994
33. King Sein PPP 8 years Insein Prison 1994
34. Kaut Kyay
Strike Activist 7years Mandalay 1994
35. Tin Hlaing NLD 7 years Insein
Prison 1994
36. Saw Phoe Htay KNU Life Insein Prison 1994
37. U
Kyi worker 6 years Thayawaddy 1996
38. Htay Aung Lawyer 7 year Insein
Prison Jul-95
39. Htay Aung NLD 7 years Insein Prison Nov-95
40.
Saw Yin Thit KNU 20 years Myingyan Prison Jan-96
41. U Arsara Monk 7years
Thayet Feb-96
42. Kyi Saung NLD 7years Myaungmya May-96
43. Leo
Nichols Consular/Scandinavian 7 yrs Insein Prison 22-Jun-96
44. Hla Than
NLD MP 25 years Insein Prison 2-Aug-96
45. Tun Sein Astrologer 10 years
Insein Prison Sep-96
46. Zhu Pit villager 10yrs Myingyan Prison
1996
47. Hla Shwe villager 10yrs Myingyan Prison 1996
48. Myint
Shwe Strike Activist 20 years Thayet 8-Jun-97
49. Tin Shwe NLD CC 18
years Insein Prison 8-Jun-97
50. Saw Hla Chit KNU 8 years Insein Prison
Sep-97
51. Kyaw Din NLD 2 years Warkhema 20-Oct-97
52. Than Tun
Strike Activist 10 years Taung-oo 19-Jun-05
53. Thein Tin NLD Rangoon
Div.E.C Detention Insein Prison 18-Feb-98
54. Aung Kyaw Moe
A.G.T.I(Electric Power) 20yrs5 Thayawaddy 13-May-98
55. Saw Ether Karen
villager 20yrs Myingyan Prison Aug-98
56. Saw Win MP, NLD 11years
Thayawaddy 7-Oct-98
57. Aung Min NLD Detention Mandalay
21-Oct-98
58. Bo Than Done KNU Death Insein Prison 1998
59. Bo
Thar Khu KNU Death Insein Prison 1998
60. Than Win NLD 7years Insein
Prison August8 1998
61. Tin Aung NLD 7 years Bassein 1998
62. Aung
Naing Student 7 years Kale Prison 1998
63. MaungMaung San civilian
age(59) Detention MIS Lock-up 1998
64. Ko Lay civilian age(63) Detention
MIS Lock-up 1998
65. Min Thu civilian age (57) Detention MIS Lock-up
1998
66. Saw Tun New civilian age (75) Detention MIS Lock-up
1998
67. Nyunt Zaw ABSDF 10+7yrs Thayawaddy May-99
68. Ma Aye
Mu(F) TavoyWomenUnion 17/1Tavoy Aug-99
69. Naw Thinn Su(F)
TavoyWomenUnion 17/1 Tavoy Aug-99
70. Hla Khin NLD Detain Insein Prison
May-99
71. Thar Win PhotoJournalist Under Investigation MIS 6, Lock-up
Sept.1999
72. Ko Bo Under Investigation Insein Prison 1999
73. Mya
Shwe NLD 7 years Thayawaddy 1999
74. Khin Maung Myint KNU 20years
Myingyan Prison 2001
75. MaungMaung Aye NLD 4 years Bassein
25-Jun-0
76. Sithu Student leaderAMSFU 10yrs Thayawaddy
12-Jul-01
77. Khin Maung Myint NLD Youth leader 8 years Kale Prison
21-Jul-01
78. Tin Maung Lay 7 years Mandalay 20-Jun-01
79. Saw Tin
Myint KNU Life Thayet 4-Aug-01
80. La Khong Under Investigation Mandalay
?
81. Aik Pan PSLA 7 years Maulamein July 31 2002
82. Sai Pha NLD
detain 2002 83. KengTung Oct.8 2002
84. Maung Ko CPB 7 years Thayawaddy
Nov.2002
Abbreviation Notes:
ABSDF: All Burma Federation of
Student Unions
AMSFU: All Myanmar Federation of Student
Unions
ABKO: All Burma Karen Organization
ALD: Arakan League for
Democracy
KIA: Kachin Independence Army
KNU: Karen National
Union
MP: Member of Parliament
NLD: National League for
Democracy
NPF: National Political Front
PPP: Peopleâ??s Progressive
Party
PSLA: Palaung State Liberation Army
PVO: People's Volunteer
Organization
sources:
+ Assistance Association for Political
Prisoners (Burma)
+ National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma
(NCGUB)
+ Reporters Sans Fronti�res(RSF)
+ Burma Media Association
(BMA)
+ Prison-sources-in-Rangoon
We urge the international community
to flood the office of the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) with
thousand and thousands of appeal for the release of the 189 dying prisoners -
our brothers in distress. International Campaign to Free 189 Burmese political
Prisoners dying in various prisons in
Myanmar
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