KAO WAO NEWS No. 32

An electronic newsletter for social justice and freedom in Burma

No. 32, November 28-December 10, 2002

READER’S FRONT

VILLAGERS KILLED BY RAMPANT SHOOTING

POLICE OFFICER RELEASED BY SPLINTER GROUP

BURMA’S DENIAL SEND AIDS TOWARD THE BRINK

JOINT ASSOCIATION OPENED AT THREE PAGODAS BORDER

BUSINESS OVER THE RIVER KWAI BRIDGE

CURFEW IN WESTERN BURMA

MON NOT ALLOWED TO SPEAK

BREAK AWAY GROUP JOINS NEW MON STATE PARTY

MON CANADIAN ASSOCIATION

BURMESE NATIONAL DAY AT THE BORDER

FORMER DICTATOR NE WIN DIES

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READER’S FRONT

Dear Readers,

We invite comments and suggestions on improvements to Kao-Wao newsletter. With your help, we hope that Kao-Wao News will continue to grow to serve better the needs of those seeking social justice in Burma and Thailand. And we hope that it will become an important forum for discussion and debate and help readers to keep abreast of issues and news. Above all, we hope the newsletter will be used as a vehicle for those who want to share their views and experiences.

We reserve the right to edit and reject articles without prior notification. You can use a pseudonym but we encourage you to include your full name and address.

Regards,

Editor

[email protected]

Dear Editor,

Your news on the splinter group and the New Mon State Party reminds me of the anti-government organization called the Communist Party of Burma (CPB), which operated in the past in Burma.  The CPB disappeared after they killed each other off rather than joining together to fight against their main enemy the “Burma Socialist Programme Party (BSPP)”.  This time the NMSP will learn the same experience. It will be great that Kao Wao report on the public’s criticisms on this important issue because I have been unaware of the political situation.  I appreciate your effort.

Kwae Mon

Australia

Dear all Mons,

I can not help but express my appreciation to Kao-Wao news about (Nai Min Htut was ambushed by an armed group). It’s good judgement on your part not to point at exactly a person or a group until all the facts are in.  At this time we need to build  unity among ourselves to fight against the Military Junta. It is very important to restrain from writing reports which could provoke one group to hate another.

I urge the Mon People to see the real enemy as the SPDC rather than each other and I suggest to our Mon People to read the book: "Who killed Aung San" to understand clearly on who killed Nai Min Htut. The SPDC always tries to create disunity among groups and create problems one way or the other, with the intention the Mon will kill each other off. I like to remind the NMSP's leaders to take lessons from the Karen Revolution Council (1963) which sincerely wanted to seek Internal Peace and did not want to fight with the Ne Win Military Junta at that time. It signed a cease-fire agreement with the Ne Win Revolutionary Council. What happened? Some leaders of this Karen Revolutionary Council were killed and arrested with the rest thrown into prison for years.

With great respect

Nai Hongsawatoi (via Monnet)

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Mon State at War

VILLAGERS KILLED BY RAMPANT SHOOTING

(By Taramon / Kao-Wao)

Ye, December 5, 2002 -- The Burmese Army opened fire on villages killing civilians and wounding several after its army was ambushed by the Mon armed group during a military operation in southern Mon State.

According to local sources, the Burmese Army launched an offensive against the Mon armed group led by Nai Hloin in the Southern Ye area since after the raining season ended two months ago.

Oslo based Democratic Voice of Burma radio reported the Light Infantry Battalion No. 273 led by Major Myint Oo opened fire on Mi Tow Hlar village on November 9, 2002 and Nai Lun Shein, a 47 years old Mon villager, was killed by the rampant shooting while a Buddhist monk and some older villagers were severely wounded.  The DVB local reporter said it was an act of retaliation after the Battalion No. 282 led by Major Win Shwe engaged in fighting with the Mon guerrillas at Pauk PinKwin village. The guerrillas killed two soldiers from the battalion including one sergeant.

On November 10, the column from Battalion No. 282 opened fire on KaBya Wa (Pai Mahae) village killing one woman and wounding two men.

A source from the New Mon State Party reported that after the Burmese Army was attacked by the Mon armed group led by Nai Bin and Nai Hloin near Khaw Zar village, Southern Ye Township, Burmese marine troops from the Navy opened fire on villagers spotted along the seacoast.  Several villagers were wounded and five severely injured were sent to Ye Township hospital, said the NMSP officer.  “This is standard operating practice of the Burmese Army in the rural areas, whenever fighting breaks out with the guerrillas,” he added.

According to sources, Mon armed groups usually avoid attacking the Burmese army near villages to protect villagers from retaliation such as torture and execution.  Villagers are taken by force and used by local battalions to carry ammunitions and other supplies while being ordered to spread out in front of the column to set off land mines planted by rebel armed groups. Porters are killed or severely injured by land mines and left to die if one is set off.

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POLICE OFFICER RELEASED BY SPLINTER GROUP

(Kao-Wao, November 30, 2002)

A bus passenger traveling from Tenasserim Division to Mon State witnessed the Mon armed group release of a captured police officer.

The Mon armed group, which operates in the Southern Ye and Yebyu townships, released the SPDC (State Peace and Development Council) police officer who was taken captive during a raid on buses traveling from Tovoy to Ye, said bus passengers.

Without warning, the splinter group led by Nai Hloin and Nai Bin approached and stopped the traffic for questioning.  An SPDC police officer was among the passengers checked and taken for questioning and released shortly after.  To his surprise the officer was let go unharmed, said the witness.

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BURMA’S DENIAL SENDS AIDS TOWARD THE BRINK

(By Gong Ong and Lita Davidson on International AIDS Day)

The State Peace and Development Council’s senior leader General Khin Nyunt delivered a speech at a ceremony to mark the World AIDS Day at the International Business Centre on Pyay Road in Yangon on December 1, 2002. 

The Secretary 1 of the State Peace and Development Council proudly stated that Myanmar (Burma) has already developed a four-year Master Strategic Plan (2002-2005) to enhance and expand AIDS prevention and control programmes.

The General said the Myanmar Government has always attached the greatest importance to raising the health standards of the country as well as the mental and physical well being of the people. Vigorous measures are being implemented to bring better health services to all the regions. According to the General, before the resumption of responsibilities of the Government, there were only 631 hospitals in Burma (Myanmar). This has now increased to 759, with 104 hospitals being upgraded. Primary health care is available all over the country while modern health facilities are available in all major population centers. “The health situation in Myanmar has improved dramatically in recent years”, he claimed.

In his note regarding HIV/AIDS, Myanmar is fully aware and the disease has been identified as a priority of the National Health Plan and; the multi-sectoral National AIDS Committee has been informed about it since 1989. The State Peace and Development Council recently issued an announcement to reorganize AIDS committees for upgrading implementation and monitoring of AIDS prevention and care activities. The spread of AIDS is mainly due to the risk behaviors of people Khin Nyunt added.

Like the people they govern, Burma’s leaders choose instead to keep quiet about the impact that HIV and AIDS are having on their people. Denial is a barrier that is confounding the disease. Khin Nyunt views that ‘Cultural and social values of Myanmar society are found to have a protective effect to a greater extent in many population groups’, in other words not talking about it in the open. ‘Because of the gentle and kind nature of Myanmar people who greatly value family attachment and respect’, "Stigma and Discrimination" will not be a barrier for care and compassion for people infected by HIV/AIDS, he adds.

On the contrary, stigma and discrimination of AIDS within a social context of a ‘protective effect’ in the community only serves to mask the disease, and not talking about AIDS in the open has been and is the major problem Burma faces in addressing the disease, as it has been in all developing and Third World countries. "Overcoming the stigma and the discrimination against people living with AIDS is one of the chief ways of being able to respond adequately to the (AIDS) pandemic," Stephen Lewis, the UN Secretary-General's Special Envoy on HIV/AIDS, argues in an exclusive interview addressing the AIDS situation in Africa.

As well, a major strategy of a society in combating AIDS is the strong role of parliamentarians backed by legislation which pushes for laws to protect and promote the rights of people living with HIV/AIDS, in partnership with civil society and grassroot peoples, as stated in a recent debate sponsored by a UN development in Africa. None of these forces are initiated or allowed to take root in Burma.

"We have noticed that there is a lot more to do in terms of educating (the public) on AIDS. There should be grass-roots campaigns to achieve better results, it cannot be left to the health services alone, all of society needs to be mobilized and senstitized to the probem,” said a Mon Unity league representative. Media channels, such as television and radio are important sources of information on AIDS awarness and need to be utilized in Burma, but these sources are non-existent in many areas in Burma, very few people in villages have access to media resources.

The General’s conclusions about resources being mobilized and that services will be improved and extended to places and persons who need assistance are not being implemented along with the backing of a strong civil society in its four-year Master Program. He has only acknowledged the cooperation by governments and international organizations of Japan, the United States, International Organization of Migration (IOM), Asia Development Bank (ADB) and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS).  The audience listening to his speech may already realize this denial of the extent of epidemic. The spread of AIDS according to the regime’s own offical 1997 statistics show 10,000 being HIV-infected  and 2,000 people with AIDS, but no prevalence rates in different regions have been officially reported by the government.

In reality, Burma, located between India, Thailand and China, is widely affected by the disease. Massive illegal migration and the drug trade on all its porous borders resulted in a revolving door like situation which spreads the disease throughout the country has left it like a ticking time bomb ready to explode, it has one of the highest rate of drug-associated HIV/Aids countries in the world comparable to Russia and Africa.

The United Nations Program on HIV/Aids program puts the estimate at 530,000 of a total of 48 million people being HIV-infected. These figures could even be higher, local activists insist, because of the low rate of reporting cases and Burma's limited capacity to test for the virus. Doctors from Medecins Sans Frontieres believe it is as high a 1 million people infected. Dr. Chris Beyrer from John Hopkins estimates that 3.46 per cent of the adult population in Burma is infected.

The AIDS epidemic has reached different stages in the country. Where there is intensive drug abuse it is particularly high on the eastern border regions of Thailand and the northern border with China, the worst hit is Shan State where it is estimated that 10 per cent are HIV-infected. There have been no stats on the situation on the western borders, where it’s been reported that people are ‘dropping like flies’ from the disease, said one observer.

However, the overall estimated rate in Burma at which people get infected is about 5.3 per cent. In the two largest cities the infection rate among prostitutes is 3 times that of Thailand.

Even though the regime tries to uphold its good image and pursue cooperation with international aid programs, the government has utterly failed to launch measures to stop HIV/Aids from devastating the country.  The government bans studies on drug related problems and along with the civil war, extreme poverty and thousands of people living a migratory life, people with little educational or health awareness, are conditions that help spread the disease.

Many people in Burma are poorly educated, according to Dr. Cynthia Maung who recently received a Raymon Magsaysay award, only 25 per cent of children ever finish primary school and very little health education in the general community on its prevention is offered. In Thailand, large migrant communities have no services, are often discriminated against and arrive from Burma with little education. In Mahachai, for example, where large communities of Mons live in Thailand, estimated at 100,000, people with little or no education are at risk of contracting the disease because there are no services in the community. "Ignorance of the disease and ways to prevent it are widespread, the Thai government has not responded with any initiatives in the migrant communities, especially that of targeting young migrant workers," said a leader of the Mon Unity League.

Mehm Sorn from An Daeng of Ye Township, Mon State, a village that symbolizes the extent of the problem, said he had never heard about AIDS education in his large Mon community of five thousand.  About ten people arriving back from Thailand died of this disease recently, there are no formal public education campaigns, and people only talk about it as gossip.  He once saw a signboard in the village’s market place in Burmese about the sharing of needles can cause AIDS, but villagers do not understand the Burmese language, he added.

Mon workers from Kaw Dut of Mon State said their village has benefited from migrant laborers, where many leave the village to find jobs in Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore, sending money back to boast the local economy. However, he had many friends who worked in Thailand but some have died from AIDS and most likely they have spread the disease to their spouses due to lack of education and awareness.

Mi Mya, a 22 years old girl from Wae Glong of Zobbu Township had never been to Thailand but she died of the disease after contracting it from her husband who worked as a fisherman in Thailand.  Couples have died one after the other in Mon State.

Chan Mon, a medic from Zobbu Township said he’s seen a few brochures some years ago on AIDS education in the Mon language that was published at the Thai-Burma border. He is concerned that no government sponsored AIDS programs have yet reached his Mon community.  He is convinced that more education and prevention programs are needed in major population areas, especially villages with a high percentage of migrant workers. Especially more information on HIV prevention, HIV testing, HIV/AIDS care, living with HIV/AIDS, treatment, and orphan care, he noted.

“It is out of control.  We are concerned about this disease through friends and we dare not talk about it, we consider it as a secret, not discussed openly, and many people still believe that AIDS does not exist, and do not need to worry about using condoms,” he added.  In Mon villages like in other parts of Burma, children are losing their parents, some of the hardest-hit communities, particularly some migrant workers in the fishing factories, suffer from high losses from HIV/AIDS.

The International Crisis Group (ICG) reported the HIV prevalence is rising rapidly in Burma, fuelled by population mobility, poverty and frustration that breeds risky sexual activity and drug-taking. Already, one in 50 adults are estimated to be infected, and infection rates in sub-populations with high risk behaviour (such as drug users and sex workers) are among the highest in Asia. Because of the long lag time between HIV infection and death, the true impact of the epidemic is just beginning to be felt.  The National AIDS Program, while professionally competent, is woefully under staffed and under funded and struggles beneath the weight of its tasks.

Surveys have pointed out that preventative measures have slowed the spread of the disease of Burma’s neighbours, Thailand and Cambodia.  But unless large-scale interventions are introduced both nationally and at the community level medical experts insist that HIV/Aids will reach epidemic levels in Burma and will soon eclipse the worst situation in Africa.

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Thai-Burma relations

JOINT ASSOCIATION OPENED AT THREE PAGODAS BORDER

(By Sem Ong)

Three Pagodas Pass, November 29, 2002 -- The Chairman of Thai-Myanmar Cultural and Economic Association, former Air vice Marshal Kyaw Than arrived at Sangkhlaburi for the opening of the branch office at the Thai-Burma border town.

According to a local source, Thai authorities were very busy with preparations for the opening ceremony at Sangkhlaburi, Karnchanaburi Province. “The border needs to be opened forever,” said Nai Vichan Phonparnit, vice-president of the province’s Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Than arrived at Sangkhlaburi with his Thai counterpart General Phark Akani Bood, the president of Thai side TMCEA and opened the ceremony on November 29. 

Kyaw Than, head of Burmese delegate said that both Burmese and Thai citizens need to keep and protect their integrity for maintaining harmony and boost mutual interests.

Over five hundred people including Ven. Ottama, one of the most revered Mon monks, observed the occasion with religious functioning and traditional dances. The delegates visited the Three Pagodas Pass border on the special day reported a local community worker. The delegation consisted of (30) members led by Kyaw Than arrived to the border after a business meeting held in Bangkok on November 25.  Thai businessmen expect the association to be dependent on free trading and the Three Pagodas Pass to be a major route for border trade between the two countries.

Thai-Myanmar Cultural and Economic Association was founded in 2001 and the patrons are General Khin Nyunt and General Chavalit Yongchaiyudh.

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BUSINESS OVER THE RIVER KWAI BRIDGE

(By Special Reporter)

Karnchanaburi, December 7, 2002 The River Kwai Bridge festival was held in Karnchanaburi, Thailand commemorating the Railway of Death constructed between Burma and Thailand during World War II.

The festival started on November 23 and wrapped up on December 5, the birthday of King Bhumiphol Adulyadaj.  The River Kwai Bridge was part of the notorious Railway of Death and is a lucrative tourist attraction for the Thai government and the local population; it attracts thousands of tourists to the Province each year.

“We celebrate this festival to always remember the futility of war and to pray for the 80,000 or more who died in constructing the death railway,” stated RoongRit Makarn Phoong, Kanchanaburi’s Governor, in the open ceremony at the War Cemetery of Kanchanaburi.

The authorities of Kanchanaburi and the Visual Revolution Co. Ltd., sponsored the annual gathering, expecting about 600,000 foreign and domestic tourists. The Death railway on the Thai side is well repaired and maintained.  According to 2001 statistics from the Tourism Authority of Thailand more than four millions visitors from domestic and overseas visited Kanchanaburi and spent 6014.08 million bahts.  “Both Thai and Burma will profit hugely from the tourism business if people could travel freely through the Three Pagodas Pass from Sanghlaburi to Burma. But because of fighting between the ethnic groups and the Burmese junta, it’s not secure and there is a great need for the supporting infrastructure to go along with it,” said Nai Borom Maeson Ahmartaya Korn, the Kanchanaburi director of Tourism Authority of Thailand.

The 415 Km long death railway links 303.95 Km (Ban Pong- Three Pagoda Pass) in Thailand and 111.05 Km (Three Pagodas Pass Thanbyuzayart) in Burma which was constructed during 1942-1943. In World War II, the Japanese army agreed with the Thai to build a railroad from Non Pla Duk (Bang Pong) junction in Ratchburi through Kanchanaburi to Thanbyuzayart in Burma because of its strategic importance to Burma and India.  More than eighty thousand people, consisting of Indian, Burmese, Malaysian, Indonesian, Chinese and Thai labors as well as Prisoner of Wars from the UK, Netherlands, US, Australia, and New Zealand took part in the construction.

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CURFEW IN WESTERN BURMA

(Cited from Narinjara News December 2, 2002)

Curfew has been imposed in the western Burmese town of Sittwe, the capital of Rakhine (Arakan) State since last week, after a tense situation arising from the rape of a Rakhine girl and the killing of two persons by a group of Muslim fishermen, according to a Narinjara correspondent.

A group of Muslim Rohingya fishermen stopped and attacked a motorised boat heading from Ngarichaung Village of Middle Farunga Island (south to Sittwe) towards the capital. The boat was carrying a Rakhine mother (40) and her daughter (15) aboard. The Muslim fishermen took control of the boat and without warning some of them started to attack the two boatmen with knives, stabbing the mother and two boatmen, while the three other Muslim fishermen raped the teenage girl. Meanwhile, one of the boatmen was able to escape the scene with serious wounds. He was later saved by a passing boat and admitted into the State Hospital in Sittwe. As the news spread, a large number of the students of Sittwe University got enraged and gathered at the university to "take action against the perpetrators".

Fearing a disturbance the Sittwee authorities dispersed the students to bring order in the campus. The intervention brought the situation under control and a curfew was imposed and movements restricted. The dead bodies of a boatman and the mother  were recovered but the teenage girl is still missing, said a police source.

Last month, five Rohingya youths raped two Rakhine teenage girls in Maungdaw Township, close to the Bangladesh-Burma border. The incident stirred up widescale discontent among the majority Rakhine community of the state. Many concerned Rakhine citizens in the western Burmese region are worried these terrible incidents may at any time lead to increased friction between the two Buddhist and Muslim communities, leading to large scale violence, said a retired police officer.

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Perspective

MON NOT ALLOWED TO SPEAK

(By Nai Hongsawatoi)

I am sad to learn the news of Nai Ngwe Thein's deterioriating health in Moulmein Jail from Kao Wao News 31.  Worse, he is not allowed to speak with his own family in the Mon language. It’s an insult to all Mon People. From his ordeal with the prison system, I recall my own experiences in Moulmein Jail in 1963.  I was arrested when the Peace Talks between the Armed Resistant Groups and Ne Win’s Revolutionary Council broke down.

We students, from Moulmein Degree College, got together and staged a demonstration demanding the continuation of Peace Talks and the immediate release of all political prisoners.  Nai Tun, Nai Seik No (aka) Nai Nonla, who later became the Vice-President of New Mon State Party, Nai Chan Mon, Nai Kyaung, Nai Tin Aung (who later joined NMSP and was Chairman of the Mon National Relief Committee) and Nai Kon Palai were arrested. One day, after spending two months in prison, my family came to visit me, we spoke in Mon while the MI (Military Intelligence) soldier closely monitored our conversation. He interrupted and said to talk in Burmese, not Mon. I refused saying that I was Mon as my family are and we don’t understand Burmese. He went instantly to telephone one of his superior officers and a few minutes later returned ordering my family from my cell. I was very distressed thinking I would never have another chance to meet with my family, but after two months my family was allowed to return. This time, the MI soldier said Capt. Kan Nyut gave permission for us to talk in our mother language. I was happy to finally be able to speak Mon with my family, and was allowed to thereafter.

Capt. Kan Nyunt is a Mon nationality, cousin of Min Tin Naing (alias) Min Win Htain, Mon student leader, who was killed in CPB (Communist Party of Burma) Culture Revolution period in 1965 (after he was released from Moulmein Jail in 1964 he joined CPB).

Capt. Kan Nyunt became Chief of Burma’s Military Intelligence in place of Tin Oo (Mudon) when Tin Oo was promoted to the BSPP Joint Secretary Position.  But when Tin Oo was purged from BSPP, Kan Nyunt was also wiped out from this MI Chief position. The present Khin Nyunt takes his place.

My point is that we have to fight for our rights at any place at any time. 

Even while in prison, we should fight for our rights. Nai Win Yaw, Nai Aung Htoo and I celebrated Mon National Day in Moulmein Prison in 1965. For that event we were confined in the Dark Cell for (6) months.

If they want to monitor our conversation they should send someone who can

understand Mon. It is their job and not our concern at all. We Mon must speak our own language at any place.  All prisoners must speak in their own language.  It is their right.

Nai Ngwe Thein you are a strong leader for the Mon People. We will always appreciate your courage. Don't give up! Your brave fighting will bear fruit one day in the future for our young Mons.

May Nai Ngwe Thein live a long, healthy life.

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Mon Internal Conflict

BREAK AWAY GROUP JOINS NEW MON STATE PARTY

(Kao-Wao, December 3, 2002)

A group from Hongsarwatoi Restoration Party led by Nai Blaing Sorn returned to the New Mon State Party on December 2, 2002.

The source from the NMSP said Nai Blaing Sorn ranks as a major from the HRP who along with 21 followers joined the NMSP at Tardein village near Three Pagodas Pass Thai-Burma border town opposite Sangkhalaburi, Kanchanaburi Province of Thailand.  Major Nyan Tun and Mon National Liberation Army’s Vice Commander in Chief General Aung Naing welcomed the reunion ceremony with over one hundred local Mon villagers.

General Aung Naing, in a welcoming celebration at Palaing Japan village, said that they will be fairly treated and NMSP will assist them in their resettlement and no punishment will be taken against the returnees.

Nai Blaing Sorn joined Col Pan Nyunt, a former member of the NMSP, who formed the Honsawatoi Restoration Party (HRP) last year after accusing the NMSP leadership of colluding with the Burmese military regime after signing of a cease-fire agreement in June 1995.  Nai Blain Sorn was also involved in the kidnapping of the NMSP’s General Secretary Nai RotSa on June 24, 2002.

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MON CANADIAN ASSOCIATION

(December 8, 2002)

The fifth Annual General Meeting of the Mon Canadian Association and preparation for the 56th Anniversary of Mon National Day celebration was held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on November 24, 2002.

The MCA named Nai Rotmon Hongsa as their President, Nai Banya as Secretary and other Executive Committee members at the gathering.

According to Nai Rotmon, the MCA was founded to expand the activist movement in Canada and abroad and to assist the Mon people, including the Burmese and ethnic non-Burmese immigrants. Its goals are to counsel and promote unity through networking and to maintain the Mon cultural strength and identity building through education and activism in the  area of Human Rights and Democracy.

The first Mon Association in Canada (formerly known as Mon National Organization of Canada) was founded in Toronto during a Christmas holiday gathering in 1995, after more Mon resettled from Thailand, Mon communities were respectively founded in Vancouver, Toronto and Calgary.

The Calgary based Mon Cultural Society also held a preparation meeting on December 8 for the upcoming Mon national day which will be held in Calgary, Alberta, on February 15, 2003.

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BURMESE NATIONAL DAY AT THE BORDER

(Kao-Wao, November 29, 2002)

The Burmese community at Mae Sod, Thailand Burma border celebrated the 82nd anniversary of National Day to mark the first student protest when Burma was under British rule.

The National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma (NCGUB), the government in exile, also issued a statement. Released from the liberated area, the statement renewed its pledge to use all possible resources to fulfill the wishes of the people as evidenced by the 1990 general election in Burma and declared support for the political policies and activities of the Committee Representing the Peoples Parliament (CRPP).

The NCGUB urged all concerned to focus on the cessation of military rule, to promote internal peace, supported by democratic growth, to work toward the establishment of a genuine federal union and a Parliament composed of the people’s representatives and all other national programs.

The Burmese National Day was held to raise a national spirit and to commemorate the first student protest on 5th December 1920 to challenge the 1920 Rangoon University Act while Burma was under British rule.

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FORMER DICTATOR NE WIN DIES

(Based on AP, Yangon, December 5, 2002)

Gen. Ne Win, Burmese former military dictator who dragged the country from the verge of prosperity down into poverty during his 26 years in power, has died under house arrest, family members said. He was 91.

The family members said he died at 7.30 a.m. on Thursday in his lakeside villa, where he had been kept confined along with his daughter since March 7 following the arrest of his three grandsons and son-in-law on charges of attempting to overthrow the military government.  The family members spoke on condition of anonymity and no other details of the circumstances of his death were immediately available.

A national hero for his role in winning independence from Britain in 1948, Ne Win seized power in a coup in 1962, starting an era of authoritarianism that would sully his reputation.  He retired from politics in 1988 but retained behind-the-scenes clout. His influence began to wane a few years ago, and he stood totally discredited earlier this year with the arrest of his relatives.  His son-in-law -- Aye Zaw Win, 54, the husband of Ne Win's daughter Sandar Win, and the couple's three sons -- Aye Ne Win, 25, Kyaw Ne Win, 23, and Zwe Ne Win, 21 -- were sentenced to death September 26 after being convicted of treason on the coup charges. They have appealed the verdict.

Ne Win was born Shu Maung on May 14, 1911, to middle class parents in the central city of Paungde in what then was a British colony. When he joined the growing anti-British movement, he took the revolutionary name Ne Win, which means "brilliant as the sun."  In 1940 he was among a group of revolutionaries who secretly travelled to Japan for military training.  In 1949, he became armed forces chief of staff in 1949.  In 1962, Ne Win moved against the new government, jailed the prime minister and vowed to lead the country on a neutral, egalitarian and moralistic "Burmese road to socialism."  Private businesses were nationalized, foreign private investment virtually ceased, and inefficiency, corruption and black-marketing soon spread throughout the system.

Josef Silverstein, an American political scientist who has studied Burma for a half century, said Ne Win led his country from the verge of prosperity to ruin.  "When he took power he broke all his oaths by setting the constitution aside. Under his rule, Burma literally went into the tank," he said in a telephone interview.  When Ne Win took power, Myanmar/Burma was well on the way to recovering from the ravages of the World War II, exporting 2 million tons of rice per year. But by 1987, Burma was reduced to the status of a least developed nation, he said.

However, a mystique surrounded Ne Win, who was regarded by many in Burma as having almost magical powers of survival that allowed him to stay in power so long and live into old age.  For years, rumours that the "Old Man" had died circulated periodically in Yangon.

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KAO WAO NEWS GROUP

Email: [email protected], Phone: 66-1 561-0860

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