Weekly News Package,
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Inside
Arakanese Farmers Forced to Sell
Rice to Burmese Army (Narinjara News)
Military Personnel Deposits Large Amount of Money at UMEH bank
(Narinjara News)
Border News
Border Police seize Contraceptives Destined to
Palaung Conference on Culture and Literature Held on
(Mizzima News)
KNPP Heading to
Media Group)
Rights Groups Bid to Stop Child Soldier in
Burmese Right Group PUblishes book on Child Soldiers
(Network Media
Group)
International
Human Rights and US Strategy in
Drugs
Opium Cultivation Continues in
Other Interest
Trade In Animals (Mizzima News)
Arakanese Monk Donates Ancient Coins to Burmese
Government (Narinjara
News)
Ordination Ceremony Held in Midst of Crackdown on Illegals
(Network
Media Group)
Opinion
UN Should Lead International Forum on
*** *** *** **** ***
Inside
Arakanese Farmers Forced to Sell Rice to Burmese
Army
Sittwe, March 23 (Narinjara News): Troops under the Western Command of
the Burmese Army have been getting
rice from the Arakanese local
farmers since February 16, and though
some farmers received money in
return, in some areas farmers have
been robbed of their rice by the
army.
“In the remote villages, especially those upstream on the
Lay Myo
River, the army buys 10 tinn of
rice ( a tinn is equivalent
to 32 kg)
with money and then forces farmers
to give 10 more tinn for free as
a ‘donation’ to the army,” said a
local farmer from Mrauk-Oo.
In Mrauk-Oo and Kyauk Taw townships, there were some reports that local
Military Intelligence (MI) and local troops looted rice from
the
farmers to make up their yearly
supply.
The SPDC in
for army purchases, but in some
places that amount is not paid in full.
“They only pay 900 kyats for a tinn
of rice, but on the receipt they
write 1,280 kyats. They say the
discrepancy is to cover the costs of
the soldiers’ trip to collect the
rice.” a farmer informed us.
In the whole of Arakan, the army
personnel, with the help of the local
administrative authorities from the
Peace and Development Councils, are
forcing farmers to supply them with
rice. However, since the price of
rice is falling, there are
incidents in some regions of unwilling
cooperation from the farmers.
In
collected for the army, according
to an unconfirmed report from the
region. The Army Supply Authority
claimed to have bought the rice at
1,250 kyats per tinn .
Some business people have suggested that the rice was bought
for the
export market due to the large
amount purchased, though the authorities
claim it is all for the army’s
supply.
*** *** *** ***
Military Personnel Deposits Large Amount
of Money at UMEH bank
Akyab(Sittwe), March 24 (Narinjara News) : Military personnel who have
been posted in Arakan
State in
Arakanese people in various
illegal ways, such as bribes, tolls and
extortion.
This money have been deposited in United Myanmar Economic
Holdings Bank
Limited, which was established by the SPDC military
government
specifically to run the banking
affairs of military people.
Arakan is one of the most
politically troublesome states in
Against a backdrop of political turmoil, armed forces have
been heavily
deployed. Everything from
development projects down to small businesses
is under the control of the army.
In these circumstances army personnel
have been making money according to
their rank and file.
From a reliable source we received a list of money and
owners of the
accounts with U-Pai
Bank Ltd. To inform people at home and abroad about
the accounts of the army personnel
with the bank, we include the table
below:
(1)Kyat 3875000 by Lt. Colonel Aung Thein
of LIB 346 stationed at Taung
(2)Kyat 5700000 by Lt. Colonel Htun
Than of LIB 371 stationed at Ann
Township
(3) Kyat 5400000 by Lt . Colonel Nyo Oo of LIB 372,
(4) Kyat 3900000 by Lt . Colonel
Kyaw Zaw of LIB 373, Ann Town ship
(5) Kyat 3200000 by Lt . Colonel Myint Than of LIB 542, Kyuk Pru
Township
(6) Kyat 6000000 by Lt . Colonel
Aung Kyaw Oo of LIB 543, Kyuk Pru
Township
(7) Kyat 4000000 by Lt . Colonel
Khin Win of LIB 544, Taung Gauk
Township
(8) Kyat 6400000 by Lt . Colonel Zaw Myint Than of LIB 562,
(9) Kyat 4900000 by Lt . Colonel Hla Min of LIB 563,
(10) Kyat 2600000 by Lt. Colonel of LIB 566,
(11) Kyat 13000000 by Brigadier General Kyi Thein of Sa Ka Kha
(5), Ann
Township
The ten battalions mentioned above are under the Cha-Ka-Kha (5),
Operation Planning and Control Headquarters
,
Cha-Ka-Kha (15) stationed at Buthidaung, which have deposited kyat
75445000, while MI(18) has
deposited kyat 20 million with U-Pai Bank
Ltd.
At present all kinds of businesses are in the hands of army
personnel,
such as transportation, logging,
fisheries, shrimp culture and many
other lucrative businesses. They
are draining the livelihood from the
Arakanese people. What is worse, is that the respective divisions of
the army have been encouraged to
extract more money from the people by
raising their ranks and positions
so that they can bank money with U-
Pai Bank Limited.
Arakan people have now become a
target from whom money can be easily
collected. Army personnel are
placing high rate leases on streams,
rivers, water reservoirs, even
small water courses, small bazaars,
markets and ferry points. This is
being done even in the remote region
of Arakan
province, so as to collect huge amounts of illegal money.
This money can then be deposited in the bank to obtain the favour of
higher authorities. In this
situation, the people of Arakan, especially
those who dwell in remote areas,
have to suffer indescribable hardships.
**** ***** **** *****
Border News
Cox’s Bazar, March 20:
pills and syringes with a value of
more than half a million Taka from a
bus bound for the Burmese border.
Acting on a tip given by a local Bangladeshi, police
searched all the
vehicles heading to the Burmese
border, and said that birth control
materials had been seized.
According to police sources, the seized materials were
packed into more
than 20,000 small consignments and
their present market value is about
630,000 Taka.
Traffickers from both countries are involved in the
smuggling of
contraceptive pills and
medicines from
suffering from a severe shortage of
medical supplies.
The owner of the smuggled goods was Mahamad
Yunus(32),
a resident of
Teknaf town ,
which lies opposite Maung Daw, a Burmese town.
The border
of medicines; even those medicines
supplied by the military government
are insufficient. The people of Arakan have to depend on smuggled
medicines from the neighboring
countries of
also have to buy Chinese drugs
which are a bit cheaper than those from
*** *** ***
Palaung Conference on Culture and Literature Held
in
literature, the Palaung
Conference on Culture and Literature was held
from March 21 to 23, at
According to a local resident, the conference was organized
by the
Palaung Organization for Culture
and Literature and was held at
hold it in
The conference was attended by over 2000 Palaungs
from all over the
region, along with the State Peace
and Development Council (SPDC)
officials of the region.
According to a regional trader, the conference, which aimed to promote
the Culture and Literature of the Palaung people is held once every
four years and this was the eighth
annual conference.
*** *** *** *** ***
KNPP Heading to
March 21 (Network Media Group): One of the remaining rebel
groups in
to
comments from the junta, KNPP
secretary Khu Rimond Htoo said.
Khu Rimond
Htoo told NMG that “In
the letter we received from the
government through the Peace
Delegation, they said they would welcome
us if we come to
the delegation. The government also
claimed that as the KNPP and the
government had already reached a
cease-fire agreement in 1995, there
are no special issues to be
discussed, but the KNPP must inform them if
they are going to
He also added that the KNPP is heading to
and only when necessary arrangements
for their travel are ready will
they decide who will be in the
delegation of at least five.
The military government has increased the number of its
troops in the
Karenni region, violating the 1995 cease-fire agreement and
breaking
the agreement, the KNPP said.
political ‘Road Map’ in August last
year. Reports indicate that the
military government is trying to
put pressure on anti-government ethnic
groups to join the National Convention,
which has been suspended since
1996.
*** *** ****
Rights Groups Bid to Stop Children from
Working as Soldiers
March 21 (NMG): Several rights groups, including
international and
Burmese organizations such as Human Rights Education
Institute of Burma
(HREIB), have identified two key strategies to prevent
children
becoming soldiers in
Mai.
“We support neither anti-government groups nor the
government. We
simply believe that children under
18 years old must not be used as
soldiers in armed conflict or in
any military operations. We urge every
organization to stop this
practice,” said Ms Claudia Ricca, a
representative of the London-based
Coalition to Stop Using Child
Soldiers, expressing her criticism of
using children as soldiers.
The Coalition to Stop Using Child Soldiers will coordinate
with the
Burmese military government to stop the use of child
soldiers in the
Burmese Army.
In order to accomplish their task, the Coalition vowed to
keep pressure
on the Burmese government while
lobbying international organizations
such as the UN, EU and ASEAN
nations.
Human Rights Watch 2003 reports stated that nearly 70,000
children are
used as soldiers in the
3,500,000-strong Burmese Army. In the worst
scenario, children as young as 12
years of age have been used as
soldiers in the Burmese Army, the
report said.
Some reports stated that not only government but also
anti-government
groups are using children as
soldiers.
One of the participants at the workshop, Ko
Kyaw Htet, representing the
DAB (Democratic Alliance of Burma) confirmed that
anti-government
groups are still using child
soldiers.
“According to some reports, there are a number of child
soldiers not
only among the government army but
among anti-government groups also.
We cannot deny these reports,” Ko
Kyaw Htet admitted.
Due to mounting pressure from international organizations, a
Burmese
government official, Maj Gen Thein Sein
who is chairperson
of ‘Preventing the Use of Children
as Soldiers Committee’ announced
that the government will take
necessary measures to prevent the use of
children as soldiers.
According to many international reports,
of child soldiers.
*** *** *** ***
Burmese Rights Group
Publishes Book on Child Soldiers
March 24 (NMG): A Burmese Rights group in exile, the HREIB
(Human
Rights Education Institute of
that contains examples of child
soldiers in the country and proposes
ways to prevent this practice in a
book titled “Stop Using Child
Soldiers”.
The book, divided into three main sections, depicts the
situation of
children, of child soldiers and
ways to overcome this inhumane problem.
It includes a definition of child soldiers, how armed groups
in
are utilizing children in armed
conflicts and the terrible effects
these experiences have on the
children.
The director of HRIEB, Aung Myo Min, who is also the writer
of the
book, elucidates “It is really bad
that
soldiers. The report of the UN
Secretary General clearly mentions that
soldiers. Just now several rights
groups are also planning to report on
this issue to the U. N. Security
Council, which is why we have
published this book at this time.”
The book has already been published in English in order to
catch the
awareness of the international
community. Now HREIB is targeting a
Burmese audience so that they can be aware of this problem
and
encourage everyone to highlight the
issue of child soldiers, Aung Myo
Min also added.
According to the figures mentioned in this book, there are
at least
70,000 child soldiers in the
Burmese Army alone, and estimates 6,000-
7,000 under-age child soldiers in anti-government rebel
groups in
different border areas. A
comparison of the poverty of children in the
Asia-Pacific region and
book.
The book will soon be available in several versions written
in the
multi-ethnic languages of
*** *** *** *** *** ***
International
Guwahati,
decided to construct a 70 km road
in the area bordering
km road is divided into two parts
and a survey has been conducted to
plan construction of the
road.
Top-level officials in the Mizoram
government told Mizzima that a 35-km
stretch covering Champhai (Mizoram of India) to Tiddim (
the second phase from Champhai to Falam (in
after completion of the first
phase.
Tiddim and Falam
fall within
inhabit these areas. The Chin
community of
with the Mizo
people. To keep relations intact, the Mizoram
government has demanded that the
Indian government carries out
developmental activities in the
area bordering Mizoram, so that the
Chin people can take advantage of it.
”The survey on the road, carried out by Indian engineers,
has been
completed in the last month and
construction will begin very soon”, the
sources said.
The Indian government has given priority to construction
along the
international border in order to
develop the border townships between
the countries, and to uplift the
people living along the border.
Another aspect of the road is the growing drug trafficking
along the
international border - the
current poor road conditions have hindered
anti-drug operations along the
border.
Sources further stated that once the road is completed,
border trade
between the two countries would
increase to a large volume. “
through the Champhai
border and hence this road is likely to play a key
role in the near future”, they
added.
The Indian government had earlier constructed a road from Moreh
(
helped
*** **** ***
arrives in
aimed at improving ties between the
two countries, foreign office
sources said.
During the visit the Prime Ministers of the two countries
will hold
official talks covering the entire
gamut of bilateral relations as well
as regional and international
issues of common concern.
Matters relating to the expansion of trade and economic
cooperation
between the two countries are
expected to figure prominently in the
discussion, as will the ongoing
repatriation of Burmese Muslim refugees.
The two leaders are likely to review the proposal for a
project.
Relations between
Khaleda Zia's
government came to power in
This will be Khin Nyunt's first
visit to
prime minister.
*** *** *** ****
Human Rights and
nations concerned about democracy
in
both sanctions and diplomacy, said
Tom Malinowski, Advocacy Director of
Human Rights Watch, based in
International Relations Committee.
He commented that the
military’s “road map” which
promises the transition to democracy is
vague and insufficient.
“We should also recognize that at the same time the Burmese
government
has been promoting its “Road Map”
to the international community, it
has continued its campaign of
repression at home. This campaign has
been characterized by the abuses to
which we have become accustomed:
brutal attacks on internally
displaced civilians, the forcible
relocation of villages, and the
conscription of civilians to carry
supplies”, he said.
He added that pressure from the outside, including
sanctions, has made
a difference in
change, therefore he is urging the
sanctions on
Daw San San, an elected Member of
Burma’s Parliament who was also
present, told the House
International Relations Committee that Burmese
people continue to die from lack of
clean water, while the regime
spends tens of millions of dollars
on military jets and tanks.
“ We are calling for a tripartite
dialogue among the military, NLD and
ethnic nationalities. The military
regime is the only group which
continuously rejects this call for
peace, unity, and transition”, she
said.
Assistant Secretary of State, Mr. Lorne Craner,
also said at the
congressional hearing that for all
the hype about a ‘road map for
democracy’, nothing has changed for
the better in terms of democracy or
human rights in
Mr.Craner also strongly indicated
that sanctions would be renewed in
April when the government was obliged to formally report to
Congress on
this issue.
Last year, President Bush brought the Burma Freedom and
Democracy Act
into law, banning all imports from
sanctions, including visa
restrictions on military leaders and a ban on
new investments by US companies.
*** *** **** ***
Drugs
Opium Cultivation
Continues in
Nan Kham
Although the military claims that it has restricted opium
cultivation
this year, locals said that people
close to the local military
authorities continue cultivating opium.
Most of the opium cultivation
is located in villages like Pan Say
and Kyan Kar where ethnic
Chinese
live.
Some plantations are large enough to extract opium resin
while others
are still small, said a local
trader. Currently 1.35 kilograms of opium
fetches around 300,000 to 400,000
Kyats. According to local observers,
most buyers are Chinese nationals.
A trader from Pan Say village said that U Kyaw Myint, a Chinese
national and a village elder, is
the largest cultivator of opium in the
region. He allegedly has a close
relationship with Gen. Khin
Nyunt. “Pan Say Kyaw Myint” has not been subjected to restrictions on
cultivating opium in the past.
*** *** ***
Other Interests
Trade in Animals
of the wildlife trade to
In a survey called, "The Status of Wildlife Trade in
individual specimens were reported
to be imported from
conducted the survey.
Each year, about 2,500 tonnes of
Burmese snakes are imported to
via Ruili,
according to survey statistics for 1996-1999. Also, several
thousands of rare lizards and
tortoises were smuggled across the
Saw Soe Soe,
a Burmese journalist who has lived in Ruili for 10
years,
said that he often saw live
wildlife trade, such as snakes, lizards,
tortoises and monkeys.
"They (animal smugglers) bring the animals by packing
them in big bags
or boxes and transport them through
the road from
Ruili. Frequently, I have seen on Ruili
Community television, police
catching these wildlife smugglers
around the border area," said Saw Soe
Soe.
Consumption of 'wild food' in
using wild animals for food, for
traditional Chinese medicine and some
even just keep them as pets.
"There are many wildlife restaurants in
Ruili. Chinese love to drink snake-based alcohol. They cut the
head off
the live snake and drink the blood,
as they believe this is very
medicinal," Saw Soe Soe added.
A former Chinese wildlife trader who declined to give his
name said
that just last year he had been to
a wildlife restaurant in a village
called Tha
Yat Taw, just outside of
Lashow. 'They kept live animals at the restaurant and the customer
could point out what they wanted to
eat.' He used to trade tiger skins
and body parts from
the endangered animal trade for the
last 10 years.
Burmese authorities have raided four wildlife restaurants in
the last year, but some animal
parts like tiger bone, skin, and
elephant tusk can still be found in
Terchilake, a Thai-Burma border
town.
Even though authorities brought in the Wildlife Protection
Act in 1994,
animal black markets around the
their trade.
*** *** *** ***
Arakan Monk Donates Ancient Coins to Burmese
Government
Akyab, March 25 (Narinjara News): An Arakanese
monk donated five
invaluable ancient coins from the Pyu era to the
This donation ceremony was held at Padawmoh
monastery of Pridawtha
quarter in Akyab
(Sittwe), a provincial city of
March.
The ceremony was attended by Cultural Minister Major General
Kyi Aung
and other officials to accept the
coins, and the monk, who is the abbot
of Padawmoh
Monastery, was also conferred with a honorary certificate
in return.
It was discovered that the coins were a thousand years old,
with
pictures of Siriwitta
on one side and a conch on the other. These
ancient artefacts
will be displayed at the
Though the coins were found in Arakan
by an Arakanese monk, he was
forced to donate them to the state
authority, some local devotees of
the monk complained.
At present the SPDC military government is excavating the
site of the
ancient Arakan
capital, Danyawadi, which existed between B.C. 3325
and
A.D. 326.
The site is adjacent to the Mahamuni
Great Temple of Kyuktaw Township
in Arakan
state, and more ancient artefacts are expected to be
found.
The Burmese government has been stashing away invaluable
ancient
archaeological works of Arakan in places where Burmans
are in a
majority.
According to some intellectuals, the SPDC military
government has been
destroying artefacts
of the Arakan people, which are historically
important as evidence of the rich
heritage of the once-independent
Arakan nation.
*** *** **** ****
Ordination Ceremony
Held in Midst of Crackdown on Illegals
March 20 (NMG): Burmese workers in Mae Sot celebrated a
Buddhist
ordination ceremony for 101 novices
despite tight security measures
imposed by Thai authorities because
this day marked the one-year
anniversary of the beginning of the
war in Iraq War, and it also
coincided with a crackdown on
illegal workers.
One of the organizers of the ceremony, Ko
Tayote-Ma, said, “The revered
Sanghas and community leaders
organized this ceremony together. I am
delighted that we can organize such
a ceremony wherever we are away
from our homes.”
Over the last twenty years, senior Burmese and Thai monks
have been
organizing such ceremonies in
Thailand. In this ordination ceremony,
ten Thai nationals also took part
together with Burmese nationals.
A grandmother of a novice-to-be expressed her feelings on
the ceremony
as follows. “My grandson is going
to become a novice today along with
others. Everybody is helping to
celebrate this ordination, even though
people are afraid of possible
arrest by Thai police.”
Despite the big crackdown on illegal migrant workers, the
Thai police
worked hard to guarantee a smooth
traffic flow for the ceremony near
Wat-Luan monastery.
One Burmese worker said that the celebration was attended by
people
from all walks of life, and was
very successful compared to previous
ceremonies. Burmese people usually
celebrate ordinations around the
time of Burmese New Year in April.
*** *** ***
Opinion
UN should lead
international forum on Burma, says ACHR
Mungpi, Mizzima
News
March 22, 2004
New Delhi
Instead of passing a generic resolution on the human rights
situation
in Burma at the 60th session of the
United Nations Commission on Human
Rights (UNCHR), the United Nations should organize a forum
on
international support for national
reconciliation in Burma, said Suhash
Chakma, director of the New
Delhi-based Asian Centre for Human Rights
(ACHR), in an article published on 17
March.
“For the last ten years the Commission on Human Rights has
been passing
resolutions condemning Burma for
human rights violations… At the moment
the international forum for
assisting Burma to return to democracy is
being facilitated by the Government
of Thailand. And when something of
this nature is facilitated by the
Government of India or the Government
of Thailand, whichever government
it might be, they always have their
own geo-political interests in
mind. That’s why the United Nations
should take over and all meetings
of this forum should be held under UN
auspices,” said Mr. Suhash.
The feature also emphasizes the crucial role played by
neighboring
countries and ASEAN in the
mediation facilitated by the UN Secretary
General's Special Envoy.
Speaking to Mizzima in regard to
the role of neighboring countries and
ASEAN, Mr. Suhash said,
“neighboring countries have so far given
diplomatic support to the Burmese
Government. I think there’s a big
difference between the restoration
of democracy and national
reconciliation. At the beginning of
the 1990s, people were talking
about a return to democracy and the
restoration of the government of
the National League for Democracy.
Now people are no longer talking
about the restoration of the
National League for Democracy, they are
talking about national
reconciliation, by which the military would be a
legitimate part of a future
government. So the neighboring countries,
especially
military government in a future
government of
Now these governments (
on the Burmese military to
acknowledge the fact that other legitimate
participants in a future government
are the National League for
Democracy and the ethnic minority groups.
Thus they have a huge role to
play in terms of convincing the
military to accept this.”
The UNCHR, which holds its annual session held in
has constantly condemned human
rights violations in
monitors human rights situations in
the Asian region, and aims to
convince governments in the region
and throughout the world to improve
their human rights situations.
----- End -----
Contact: Duty Editor
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2837