Project Maje: Soundbites

[strider@xxxxxxxxxxx]

Received: (from strider@localhost) by igc2.igc.apc.org (8.6.9/Revision: 1.5 ) id GAA24234; Fri, 16 Dec 1994 06:59:56 -0800
Date: Fri, 16 Dec 1994 06:59:56 -0800


SOUNDBITES FROM THE APOCALYPSE II
compiled by Project Maje, 
14 Dartmouth Rd., Cranford NJ 07016 USA  
October 10, 1994

PORTERS "If we called 3 truckloads of porters we usually only needed 
1 truck to send back those who were left. They only got a mess-tin full 
of rice to eat, so they all die. They're neglected and ignored, so they 
die. Some were killed in battle, hit by bullets and killed. Some plucked 
leaves in the forest because they didn't get enough food, ate them and 
got cholera, diarrhea or dysentery and died. They didn't get enough 
water, so they had to drink from the streams and got dysentery. Some 
tried to run away but they couldn't go far because they were weak from 
lack of food so they soldiers recaptured them and killed them. They 
shot them. Some porters were too weak or sick to climb the mountains. 
so the troops killed them. I saw this so many times."  
-- Zaw Myint, a Burma Army defector, interviewed by Karen Human 
Rights 
August 7, 1994

THE GAS PIPELINE "The slave labor charges are supported by the 
top official of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in 
Thailand. 'There seems to be a general pattern of making use of local 
labor force without paying them,' says Ruprecht von Arnim, the 
UNHCR representative in Bangkok. 'I know slave labor has been used 
for other purposes, and once the gas pipeline is to start, it is most 
likely that it will be done the same way. "'  
--Asian Wall St. Journal Sept. 9-10, 1994

UNOCAL "'We're committed to the project, and it's an important part 
of our Asian growth strategy,' says a UNOCAL spokeswoman. 'In 
terms of the pipeline, the government of the country is responsible for 
protecting the elements of the infrastructure. We're convinced the 
pipeline will be kept secure. "'  
-- AWSJ, Sept. 9-10, 1994

Constructive Engagement "Emotionally charged words like 'despots' 
and 'recalcitrant' [re: the SLORC] do no good toward advancing 
mutual respect and good-will or forming the foundation for an open 
exchange of views."
-- Gino Soave of Emmark Assoc., letter to NY Times, October 2, 1994  

BOYCOTTING PEPSI "...you really are dealing in coercion and 
strong-arm tactics. It's no different than what years ago was practiced 
by Joe McCarthy and the like. In those days, 'Establishment 
organizations' felt fully justified in using intimidation on progressives 
and liberals, feeling their noble purpose justified anything. They were 
wrong then, just as you are wrong now, in my opinion. Like a 
blacklist, a boycott is just another form of intimidation, and those 
despised tactics of the past are no different than what you are doing 
yourself. That we are a big, pretty successful company doesn't change 
the principle, at all."  
--Wayne Calloway, CEO of PepsiCo, letter July 25, 1994

MON REFUGEES
"Asked how the refugees would get enough drinking water, which has 
had to be trucked in regularly, the Sangkhlaburi [Thailand] District 
Officer, Kamol Rangsiyanun replied: 'They can drink rain water. "'  
-- The Nation (Bangkok newspaper) Aug. 19, 1994

ROHINGYA REFUGEES "In the backdrop of the situation, the 
Rohingya Muslims of Arakan, who once did not volunteer to die or 
suffer at the hand of the beastly military forces of the ruling junta and 
took shelter in an alien land, are now seemed to volunteer to join the 
repatriation only to become human cattles, who are now being 
sporadically and secretly slaughtered in northern Arakan, in addition 
to those forced labour economic hardships and various restrictions 
imposed."  
--Newsletter of Rohingya Solidarity Organization, August 15, 1994

CHIN REBELS "CNF will do everything it can to frustrate oil 
exploration and logging in Chin forests and the Chin State."  
-- a Chin National Front representative, September 5, 1994

CEASEFIRE IN KACHIN STATE "Consider: 1) Slorc has doubled 
the strength of the Burma Army in Kachinland by approximately 
30,000 men. 2) Slorc has forbidden the Kachin Independence 
Organization (KIO) to recruit. 3) The KIO can no longer collect taxes. 
4) The Kachin public is barred from making contact with the KIO by 
the all pervasive Article 17/1 of the criminal code. 5) The mass 
migration of Burmans and Kokang Chinese to Kachinland. 6) Increase 
in racism and religious intolerance. 7) Burmanization and 
monopolizing of civil service." 
-- a letter to The Nation [Bangkok] Sept. 26, 1994  

POWs "If we captured Karen soldiers we never kept them alive. We 
killed them. The NCOs didn't even interrogate them, they just said, 
'Pray to your God' and killed them with a bayonet, then beheaded 
them. Then sometimes they fried their heart and liver and ate it. I saw 
Corporal Aung Myint do this. This was done often by the Sergeants, 
Warrant Officers and sometimes Company Commanders. The 
company commander gave the order to kill the prisoners, and got the 
officers or NCOs under him to do it. Once we found a wounded Karen 
soldier and they stepped on his throat to kill him. Other times they 
killed wounded Karen soldiers with a bayonet. I saw several Karen 
soldiers executed like this, and also villagers with connections to the 
KNLA [Karen National Liberation Army]. If they suspected any 
villagers of being in contact with the KNLA they summoned them, 
and they never used a gun -- just a bayonet. Usually the Lance 
Corporals and Corporals did it, sometimes the Sergeants. They had no 
real evidence -- if they didn't like the look of a civilian they'd just 
accuse him of being connected to the KNLA and kill him."  
-- Zaw Myint, Burma Army deserter, KHRG interview, August 7, 
1994

THE TATMADAW [BURMA ARMY] "Any of our own soldiers who 
were seriously wounded were killed. If it isn't serious if they can walk 
or if it's easy to take them, then they're taken back. If not they're killed. 
The company commander orders this. When I saw things like that 
happen I feel very sad. It's a terrible fault. Our own soldiers, we must 
bring them back but we didn't. It's a crime. It's like frog eating frog, 
fish eating fish." 
-- Zaw Myint, Burma Army deserter, KHRG interview, August 7, 
1994

THE SLORC "...others say the junta simply feels the need to appeal to 
a populace that largely hates them. 'They are evil and they are idiots,' 
says a Burmese national who asked for anonymity...'With every 
mistake they make they are digging their own grave,' says an elderly 
Burmese man who once worked for the British colonial government in 
Burma. 'You don't even have to push them in, they will fall in by the 
weight of their own mistakes.' The last time this man spoke with a 
foreigner he says he was taken away to a military camp for a day's 
interrogation."  
-- Christian Science Monitor, September 23, 1994

letters to the SLORC: Gen. Than Shwe, Chairman, State Law and 
Order Restoration Council
Ministry of Defense, Sule Pagoda Rd., Yangon, Union of Myanmar 
(Burma) letters about the pipeline: Mr. Roger Beach, CEO, UNOCAL 
Corp., PO BOX 1600, Los Angeles CA 90051 letters about 
Pepsi/Burma: Mr. Wayne Calloway, CEO, PepsiCo, Purchase NY 
10577.