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BURMANET

BPF: SELECTED DOCUMENTS 1991-94 

THE BURMA PEACE FOUNDATION



A LIST OF DOCUMENTS FOLLOWED BY THE FRONT PAGE OR INTRODUCTION 
TO SOME OF THEM



BURMA PEACE FOUNDATION
777, UN Plaza, 6th Floor, New York, NY 10017, USA
Tel (+1-212) 338 0048, Fax 692 9748; 
Email darnott@xxxxxxx


1991

Burma (re-named Myanmar) at the Commission on Human Rights,
Geneva 1991 (April 1991).  UN, Government and NGO statements and
documents (63 pages).

Burma Isolated at the UN  (November 91). Press release in the
form of a brief history and analysis of the adoption of the 1991
GA Resolution on Burma.


1992

Dossier on Aung San Suu Kyi  (January y 1992). Contains writings
by and about Aung San Suu Kyi, background material, address lists
of support groups, etc (110 pages).

Letter Campaign for Aung San Suu Kyi and Burma -- January 1992
(flyer and background information). 

Burma (Myanmar) at the Commission on Human Rights 1992  (January
92).  A paper for NGOs  in Geneva, analyzing some of the
procedural issues regarding Burma at the  Commission on Human
Rights, and suggesting  that they urge  the Working Group on
Communications to transfer discussion on Burma from the
confidential to the public procedure.

Arguments for the Transfer of the Discussion on Myanmar (Burma)
from the Confidential Procedure of the Commission on Human Rights
to the Public Session  (February 92). An expansion of the above
paper, for members of the Commission.

The Urgent Need for Security Council Action on Myanmar (Burma) 
(February 92, updated  March, June 92). An  analysis of the 
implications  for international peace and security of the
continuing civil war in Burma, with recommendations for action by
the Security Council and the Secretary-General. This paper was
endorsed by a number of non-governmental organisations (NGOs).

Letter to The UN Secretary-General  (May 92). A letter endorsed
by a number of Burma experts analyzing internal and external
aspects of  the situation in Burma, and arguing for UN mediation
and other forms of preventive diplomacy.

The need for enhanced international action to resolve the crisis
on the border between Bangladesh and Burma  (Myanmar) and to seek
a political solution to the civil war  (August 92). Background
paper  on the  Burmese Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, followed
by Elements for resolutions  on the Burma/Bangladesh crisis and
the civil  war.

Some Elements for a Draft Resolution on Myanmar  (August 1992,
updated October, November 1992. Background paper on the
deteriorating  human rights situation in Burma, containing: an
analysis of the recent "reforms";  a discussion of  the latest UN
decisions on Burma;  procedural considerations for the GA, 
followed by 5 pages of Elements for a draft resolution on Myanmar
in the 3rd Committee, and the texts of the resolutions on Burma
at the GA in 1991 and the CHR in 1992.

Burma (Myanmar) at the United Nations General Assembly 1992 --
Selected Documents from UN, Governmental and Non-Governmental
Sources (December 92). A  dossier of  most statements and docu-
ments on Burma at or around the GA 1992 (100 pages).

Introduction to "Burma (Myanmar) at the United Nations General
Assembly 1992" (December 92). A brief history of the activities
of the Burmese opposition in New York 1992, and how they
contributed to the adoption of the resolution. 

Major UN Defeat for the Burmese Military.  (December  92).
Announcement and brief description of the adoption of the 1992 GA
resolution on Burma.

Letter to the New York Times in reply to a Burmese diplomat
(December 1992)


1993

The Burma Papers, 1993 (May-August 1993). This  compilation of
background material, analyses, UN documents etc. on Burma was
produced for the 1993 session of the General Assembly (110
pages).

  Contents
 
p4. The Human Rights Situation in Burma (Written principally
 for diplomats working on UN Burma resolutions, this document
 contains a brief historical background and analysis of the
 human rights situation in Burma, with a short description of
 the international response, and summaries or full texts of UN
  Burma documents. 
 
p27. Prospects for the 1993 Burma Resolution at the UN General
 Assembly (Written mainly for those interested in the Burma
 debate at the UN, it discusses some of the pros and cons of
  various options)
 
p29. Notes on the Development of the European Arms Embargo on
 Burma into a General Arms Embargo on SLORC (Written for
 Europeans wanting to reduce the flow of arms to SLORC from the
  former Eastern bloc)
 
p30. The Need for Widespread Criticism of SLORC's National
 Convention (Written principally for organisations intending to
 draft resolutions or make statements on Burma, this text
 presents an analysis of the National Convention, and suggests
  language which could be included in resolutions. 
 
p34. Burma: A Suitable Case for Preventive Democracy  (Written
 for government and UN officials, this text presents Burma as a
 potential flash-point in Asia and argues for a "whips and
  carrots"  approach to Preventive Diplomacy)  
 
p37. The Hunting of the SLORC: Politico-Military Strategies
 (This text is an analysis of the Low Intensity Conflict
 strategy which SLORC is using to force a settlement of the
 civil war, and shows the relationship between this strategy
 and the legitimation SLORC is seeking through the National
  Convention). The enclosed version is updated to April 1994.
 
p42. Towards an Asian Burma Strategy (This text suggests long-
 term approaches which could be used by Burma's neighbours in
 place of "constructive engagement" which has failed to procure
  real changes in Burma's economic and political life)
 
p43. Buddhism, Human Rights and Justice in Burma  (by Ven Dr
 Rewata Dhamma, Chairman of the Burma Peace Foundation, is a
 Buddhist approach to human rights, stressing the
 responsibility which rulers have towards their people and
 which, from a Buddhist/ Burmese perspective, SLORC has so
  clearly failed to fulfill)  
 
 p46. Myanmar or Burma? (A brief discussion of the two names)
 
p47. Oral Statements on Burma to the UN Commission on Human
 Rights (by David Arnott, on behalf of the World Conference on
 Religion and Peace; these statements present aspects of the
  situation in Burma using various UN human rights categories) 
 
p53. Elements for a Draft Resolution on Burma at the 1993
 Session of the UN General Assembly (Written mainly for
 diplomats working on the GA resolution, this is a com-pilation
 of paragraphs intended as building blocks for the Burma
  resolution.  
 
Annexes. Mainly press cuttings on the National Convention, the
 Burmese economy, Burma's relations with China and India, and
  the narcotics trade.


Documents on Forced Relocation in Burma (December 1993, currently
being updated),  A dossier with material from direct interviews,
reports by human rights organisations, newspapers etc (current
dossier 250 pages. Updated it will be approx. 450 pages).


1994

Suppliers and users of information on Burma (periodically
updated)  An 11-page list with phone, fax, postal and, where
available, email addresses.

Elements for a Draft Resolution on Myanmar at the 50th session of
the Commission on Human Rights (February 1994)  Its basic
elements are similar to the "Elements" prepared for the General
Assembly, though the difference in mandate of the two bodies is
reflected in the text.
                                     
Forced Labour and Development in Burma  (February 1994) David
Arnott's Item 12 intervention at the 1994 session of the
Commission on Human Rights. 

In Brief:  The Human Rights situation in Burma (Written by David
Arnott for  the International League for Human Rights and used as
a background document in at the 1994 session of the Commission on
Human Rights).


In Brief: Human Rights in Burma (Myanmar) IV A shorter version of
the previous document, updated for the 1994 session of the UN
General Assembly. Collective authorship.

Burma (Myanmar) at the Commission on Human Rights, 1994 (March
1994). A selection of UN, governmental and non-governmental
documents (90 pages).

Caveats, Cautions and Stringent Conditions (April 1994) An
examination of the pros and cons of NGO involvement in Burma, and
a list of conditions to be adhered to if NGOs go in (60 pages).

Military "Development" in Burma --The Burmese Civil War as
"Development"  (June 1994).  Earlier drafts of this document had
the title "Recent Developments in the Burmese Civil War". This is
a 20-page analysis of the events which followed SLORC's
invitations to the ethnic opposition to discuss "cease-fires". 
The analysis is followed by a compilation of 158 documents from
various sources, covering the different ethnic groups as well as
Thai and SLORC positions.  Being updated to September 94 (approx.
450 pages).

Dossier on Aung San Suu Kyi (1994)  (July 1994).  About 10%
overlap with 1992 dossier. Contains list of Burma information
suppliers, statements made around the 5th year of Suu Kyi's house
arrest, suggestions for action, speculations regarding her
possible release, UN resolutions, etc etc. (approx. 230 pages).

Op-ed published in the Washington Post, 21 July 94 (written with
Maureen Aung Thwin and Matthew Kapstein) -- full version before
the "Post" editors chopped it up.

Slorc's National Convention -- Selected Documents, (August 1994).
A dossier containing a chronology, statements by SLORC and the
Democracy movement as well as legal analyses and UN statements
(approx. 400 pages).

Forced Labour in Burma (Myanmar) (September 1994) A dossier from
various sources, on forced portering and  forced labour on road
and railway construction and tourist sites. It  also contains UN
statements and legal analyses (approx. 600 pages). 

Mon Chronology 1994  (September 1994) --A dossier tracing the
refoulement  by the Thai army  of several thousand Mon refugees
into a war zone in Burma. The documents also suggest the
commercial and military reasons for this serious violation of
customary international law (approx. 270 pages). 

Change in Burma -- Rhetoric or Reality? An evaluation of the
Burmese Foreign Minister's Statement to the UN General Assembly,
11 October 1994

Reports by the Karen Human Rights Group, 1992-1994 (November
1994)  A dossier compiled  and  introduced by the Burma Peace
Foundation, which also provided an Annotated Contents and
Thematic Index. These high-quality reports  consist  mainly of
interviews with refugees, displaced persons and people still
living in their villages in  the regions of Burma bordering
Thailand. The reports describe the collective and individual
suffering of the people in these areas.  They document the
activities of the Burmese army --  killing, torture, raping,
forced relocation, forced labour, pillaging, looting, extortion.
They also describe the economic and social breakdown of the
villages in hese areas resulting from the combined effect of
these activities. The Annotated  Contents  takes each report and
lists  the principal human rights violations described in the
report. The Thematic Index  takes the principal human rights
violations and refers them to particular reports. (approx 700
pages)

Annotated Contents and Thematic Index to the "Reports by the
Karen Human Rights Group 1992-1994".  (November 1994) 
(Distributed separately from the Reports as well as together with
them.) The Annotated  Contents  takes each report and lists  the
principal human rights violations described in the report. The
Thematic Index  takes the principal human rights violations and
refers them to particular reports.  

In preparation: Dossier on military extortion and pillaging; The
Burma Papers 1994.

We also have cassettes of the song "Free Aung San Suu Kyi" in
English and Burmese, color slides of Aung San Suu Kyi and video
copies of Leon Desclozeaux's documentary on Aung San Suu Kyi. If
anyone would like any of the documents or other items, please
contact:  

David Arnott, Burma Peace Foundation, 6th Floor, 777, UN Plaza,
NY, NY 10017, USA Tel (+1-212) 338  0048,  Fax  692 9748. 


The items are available from the Burma Peace Foundation for cost
of postage and reproduction (5 cents a page. The size of the
longer documents is given -- approximate if subject to update).






































                       FRONT PAGES OR INTRODUCTIONS
                      TO SOME OF THE ABOVE DOCUMENTS


























                 DOCUMENTS ON  FORCED RELOCATION IN BURMA


These documents deal with the forced relocation by the Burmese
army of civilians belonging to most ethnic groups, including
ethnic Burmans. Some examples are given of relocations from urban
centers, but most of those relocated are from villages.  The
village life of Burma, with its ancient traditions and
structures, and deep bonds to place, is one institution which has
so far resisted the militarization which has destroyed most other
aspects of civil society in Burma.  Forced relocation,
particularly when accompanied, as it almost always is, by forced
labour,  is demolishing the village economy.  Reinforced by
killings, rapes and other atrocities, it is threatening the very
cultural, social, and economic fabric of Burmese village life. 
Which is perhaps the idea.


Contents  

(Material basically arranged by ethnic group.  One reason there
is more information about the Karen and Karenni than other groups
is that their territories are more accessible to observers than,
for instance, Kachin State.  We have so far received no actual
documents about relocations of Chin, Naga and other groups.)

1. General and Mixed 

2. Mon

3. Karen

4. Karenni

5. Shan and Palaung

6. Kachin

7. Rohingya

8. Evictions from Urban Centers


Readers with further information on forced relocations in Burma
are invited to send it to the Burma Peace Foundation at the
address below for inclusion in the dossier.










                CAVEATS, CAUTIONS AND STRINGENT CONDITIONS

          A memo on the suggestion that NGOs should go into Burma


In  recent months the State Law and Order Restoration Council
(SLORC), the martial law administration currently acting as the
de facto government of Burma, has expressed interest in having
international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) undertake
relief and development projects in the country. This study
summarizes some of the issues involved for the international
community in general, and NGOs in particular. It concludes that
NGO involvement at this time would not be in the long-term
interests of the Burmese people; but for those organizations
which decide to go in, it lists a number of conditions which, if
followed, would help limit the damage. The critique of NGO
involvement applies even more of course to bilateral and
multilateral loans, aid or development assistance. The memo is
offered as a working document within the current debate on NGO
involvement in Burma rather than an authoritative rule-book. It
assumes that readers have a basic understanding of the political,
economic and human rights situation in Burma.































                  BURMA (MYANMAR) AT THE 1994 SESSION OF 
                      THE COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS

This year's resolution on Burma at the Commission on Human Rights
was the strongest so far, covering the whole range of human
rights concern, including torture, extrajudicial executions,
forced labour and forced displacement of populations. Its demands
included the immediate release of Nobel Peace Laureate Aung San
Suu Kyi and the other political prisoners in Burma, the transfer
of  power to the representatives elected in 1990, and the lifting
of martial law decrees.  It criticised the National Convention on
several grounds, including its objective of maintaining the
political dominance of the military.  It renewed the mandate of
the Special Rapporteur and asked the Secretary-General to provide
him with all necessary assistance (see the full text, document
8).

In the debate, the Myanmar delegation distinguished itself, as in
previous years -- this time by trying to stop the speech of the
Prime Minister of the National Coalition of the Union of Burma
(see press release in NGO statements) and by failing to respect
the time constraints for speakers.


                                 CONTENTS

This compilation of documents, arranged in rough chronological
order, contains:

1) This year's report by the Special Rapporteur on Myanmar

2) The Burma Peace Foundation's exegesis of the report

3) Myanmar's statement on religious intolerance

4) The Special Rapporteur on Myanmar's oral introduction to his
report

5) Selected statements on Burma by non-governmental organisations
(including a press statement on the incident when the Myanmar
delegation tried to stop Dr Sein Win's speech and was ruled out
of order by the Chair)

6) Selected statements on Burma by governments

7) Myanmar's item 12 statement (which was not delivered in its
entirety because the Chairman, after several warnings to the
speaker, turned off the microphone 15 minutes into the speech --
observer delegations are allowed 10 minutes)

8) Text of the resolution on Myanmar adopted by the Commission on
9 March

9) Myanmar's statement protesting the resolution

10) NCGUB's statement welcoming the resolution



MILITARY "DEVELOPMENT" IN BURMA
                 (THE BURMESE CIVIL WAR AS "DEVELOPMENT") 

This study examines recent claims that SLORC is working towards
national reconciliation and a just political resolution of the
civil war. No substance is found in these claims, and the study
concludes that SLORC's goals remain the military occupation and
economic exploitation of the non-burman areas. 

The analysis and chronology are basically a brief introduction to
the documents, which indicate the reality of the civil war and
ongoing atrocities by the Burma army. It is difficult to see the
consistent and widespread  abuses as anything other than a
coordinated policy to destabilize village life and advance
SLORC's occupation and exploitation of the non-burman areas. 


                               INTRODUCTION


Burma is a land rich in strategic and other industrial minerals
which, however, are located mainly in the territories of the non-
burman peoples, some of whom have been in a state of war with
Rangoon for the past 45 years. (The non-burman peoples comprise
about half the population of Burma, and the territories where
they predominate cover rather more than half the total land
area.)  SLORC's military and economic interests combine in the
project of subduing these peoples and making preparations for the
large-scale extraction of their resources. 

For the consumption of the international community, which will
buy anything under this name, the undertaking is described as
"development", but the predominance of the military component is
clear. It involves extending SLORC's strategy of Low Intensity
Conflict into the creation of military/economic enclaves in non-
burman areas, the massive use of forced labour, forced
relocations and economic sabotage to destabilise village life,
and the arrangement of local "cease-fires" around the
"development projects" with the groups in question. Pressure on
their organisations to agree such "cease-fires" (essentially
piecemeal surrender) is coming in large part from Thailand, on
which they are dependent for most of their supplies and
communications. Some observers claim that Japan, under pressure
from her multinationals, is supporting this kind of "development"
at the international level, but the massive and well-documented
use of forced labour in SLORC "development" projects would make
such support an extremely sensitive issue. 


Recent "changes"

Looking back over the past two years or so, one can identify two
annual SLORC Public Relations "seasons":  late August to October
-- to influence the vote on the Burma resolution at the UN
General Assembly, and January-February, to convince the UN
Commission on Human Rights that SLORC is a reformed character, or
at least is doing its best to reform. Though welcome,  none of
the so-called "reforms"  has reduced the power of the military
over the country, and some have been rather less than substantial
(for instance on 5 October 1992 Foreign Minister Aung Gyaw
announced to the UN General Assembly that SLORC had declared a
cease-fire with the Karen. The very next day came the devastating
offensive against Karen positions at Saw Hta which was only
repelled with difficulty and at the cost of many lives on both
sides).  While the additional visits allowed to Daw Aung San Suu
Kyi have broken her isolation somewhat, SLORC has announced that
her house arrest will be extended for another year; and although
a number of political prisoners have been released, all the real
leaders of the National League for Democracy are still in
detention. 

In the civil war, however, there have been important
developments, which this text traces. These include the signing
of a cease-fire between SLORC and the Kachin Independence
Organisation and the pressure from Thailand on the rest of the
ethnic opposition to do the same. A relatively new and
unpredictable factor is the military and political success of
Khun Sa, hitherto known chiefly for his drug-related activities
in Shan State.

Apart from these events, the main real changes since 1988, when
the military killed up to 10,000 students involved in the
democracy movement, are that:

* The Burma army has doubled its strength (now approaching
400,000, with the goal of 500,000 by the end of the decade) and
thanks to a $1.2 billion arms deal with China, is much better
armed. Until recently the army has not been able to think
seriously about total occupation of the areas inhabited and
administered by the various non-burman peoples, but it is now
approaching the kind of numbers which would allow this. 


* SLORC now has the confidence to engage in long-term planning,
as manifested in the convening of the so-called "National
Convention" to endorse SLORC's next constitution; the forming of
a mass organisation, the Union Solidarity and Development
Association, designed to contest new elections as the pro-
government party; and the Low Intensity Conflict  "development"
strategies which constitute the current stage of the civil war. 


Recent events in the civil war have led to predictions of an
imminent general cease-fire (document 8). The events in question
are: 

1) The discussions between the Kachin Independence Organisation
(KIO) and SLORC which have led to a formal cease-fire.

2) Increased pressure from Thailand on the other ethnic groups to
follow suit. They have dropped most of their earlier
preconditions, at least insofar as cease-fire talks are
concerned, and preliminary discussions have already been held
(documents 34-88). However, major differences in position will
have to be overcome before serious negotiations can begin. The
differences are, briefly: 
    
A) The non-burman ethnic nationalities are seeking a nation-
  wide cease-fire leading to negotiation of a comprehensive
  political settlement of the civil war, whereas SLORC's
  demand is for local suspensions of hostilities around
  specific development projects and strategic installations,
  with no talk of general cease-fires or political
    negotiations. 
  
B) SLORC has firmly resisted Karenni preconditions,
    including the withdrawal of SLORC troops from certain areas.
  
C) SLORC has not accepted the Karen preconditions of a
    neutral venue with international observers.
  
D) The conditions offered to the Mon amount to virtual
    surrender
     

A critical question is whether SLORC's basic logic and goals
remain military, or whether genuine development considerations
now prevail, as SLORC's spokesmen and supporters claim. Or
whether, as the true believers of Constructive Engagement
devoutly intone, economic advance automatically (but not
necessarily immediately) produces a change of heart. This is
clearly a matter of concern to the ethnic opposition groups,
which are ultimately being asked to disarm and put their trust in
SLORC's goodwill and sincerity. After 45 years of civil war and
the continuing massive violations of human rights by the Burma
army, it comes as no 
surprise that they adopt a somewhat skeptical attitude to SLORC's
talk of peace and development.  It is also a crucial question for
the international community.  

A sign of SLORC's real conversion to a politics of reconciliation
and genuine development rather than conquest would be its
willingness to sit down with the authentic leaders of the
political and ethnic opposition to work out a peaceful future for
the country and, as a preliminary to such discussions, to accept
the ethnic opposition's offer of peace talks in a neutral country
with UN observers.

































                          FORCED LABOUR IN BURMA


These documents on forced labour in Burma are arranged
chronologically, with the most recent at the front, in a binding
which permits the user to update the dossier. The minus numbers
are used for documents added since the first edition, on 10
August. There are no ethnic divisions, and UN documents, to their
dismay, are lying cheek-by-jowl with press clippings, raw
interviews, legal analyses and reports from biased sources.
However, to make life easier for the researcher, the dossier is
headed by a simple index. Where more than 50% of a document deals
with forced labour, or if it has special value as background, the
whole text is given. Otherwise it's the scissors and glue-stick. 

This has kept the dossier to a modest 600 pages at the risk,
however, of isolating forced labour from the other aspects of the
Burmese army's strategy of destabilizing Burmese village life
(described by the junta as "development"). These include forced
relocation, extortion and other forms of economic sabotage, and
terrorization of village people by rape, torture and, it is
alleged, biological devices. It is the combined impact of these
tactics which does the damage and is destroying the economic,
social and cultural structure of Burmese village communities,
especially in the border regions. (Last year the Burma Peace
Foundation produced a dossier on Forced Relocation in Burma, and
intends to compile one on extortion and other forms of economic
sabotage later in 1994.)

The point in putting all these documents together is to create a
blunt instrument with which to beat the skeptical into submission
and hint at the persistent and wide-scale nature of the abuse.
They provide a mere glimpse into the activities of the Burmese
army, a body of soldiers approaching 400,000 in number. The
Thai/Burmese border is the main source of information, which
therefore covers the Karen and Mon more than the other peoples of
Burma who over the years have suffered no less -- the Kachin, for
instance -- but who are further away from the public eye.  

Hitherto the best-documented form of forced labour has been
forced portering whereby the Burmese army raids villages and
towns for porters to carry their supplies and ammunition in the
course of offensives in the border regions. Over the past three
years, however, "development" projects have begun to overtake
portering as the principal employment of forced labour. These are
principally infrastructure projects like road and railway
building and, as the army grows in size and creates new regiments
in the non-burman regions, the construction of farms, buildings
and training grounds and other installations for the military. 

The index does not contain words like "portering", "killing",
"torture" etc because if it did, the index would be three times
as long.

If any reader has further documents on forced labour in Burma,
please send them to the Burma Peace Foundation, and they can be
incorporated into the dossier.

                            MON CHRONOLOGY 1994


Since 1993 the Royal Thai Government has been cooperating with
the Burmese military junta (SLORC -- State Law and Order
Restoration Council) to force several Burmese ethnic groups which
have been fighting Rangoon for up to 46 years, to surrender (the
term used is to agree a "cease-fire"). 

These documents, arranged chronologically, trace events relating
to one of these groups, the Mon, who live in South-east Burma,
along the Thai border. The documents, drawn from various sources,
demonstrate the interrelation of military, commercial and
political factors which have led to several thousand Mon refugees
in Thailand being forced back into a war zone of Burma. They
detail an attack by the Burmese military on one of the villages
built by the forcibly repatriated refugees, the subsequent exodus
of 6,000 Mon back into Thailand, and the means used by the Thai
army to force them back once again into Burma. 

It appears that the Thai and Burmese military are using the
refugees as pawns to force the Mon resistance into a "cease-
fire". A major motivation for this strategy is to facilitate the
construction of a pipeline through Mon territory to bring natural
gas from a Burmese off-shore field into energy-hungry Thailand --
gas for Thailand, cash for the SLORC, and profits for the
multinational corporations involved in extracting the gas, namely
Unocal and Texaco of the United States, Total of France, Nippon
of Japan and Premier of Britain. 

And the Mon? Well, the Mon who live outside the area controlled
by the Mon resistance are busy "contributing voluntary labour"
(the SLORC euphemism for slavery) to various infrastructural
projects like rail and road construction which will support the
pipeline. The  appalling conditions of work on these projects and
the collapse of village economies as the farmers are unable to
work their fields when they are "contributing voluntary labour"
are a major cause of internal displacement and flight into
Thailand.   

















                        SLORC'S NATIONAL CONVENTION

These documents on the National Convention are arranged
chronologically within the categories of:


1. Chronology

2. Statements and documents from SLORC

3. Selection of proceedings at the National Convention

4. Statements and documents from the Democracy Movement

5. UN Statements and documents

6. Legal analyses and other comments





























                 CHANGE IN BURMA -- RHETORIC OR REALITY?
                                    
                          AN EVALUATION OF THE
                                    
                               STATEMENT 
                                   BY 
                       HIS EXCELLENCY U OHN GYAW, 
                      MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS 
                                  AND 
CHAIRMAN OF THE DELEGATION OF THE UNION OF MYANMAR 
IN THE GENERAL DEBATE AT THE FORTY-NINTH SESSION 
OF THE UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY
11 OCTOBER 1994


On 11 October 1994, Burmese Foreign Minister U Ohn Gyaw addressed
the UN General Assembly. The first half of his statement was
devoted to expressing the support of his Government (the State
Law and Order Restoration Council, or SLORC) for the work of the
United Nations and the positions taken by the Group of 77 (of
developing countries). The second half comprised a positive
description of developments in Burma, and his government's
cooperation with the United Nations. 

The present paper examines a few highlights of what the Foreign
Minister said (or did not say), in the light of recent reports on
Burma and the principal demands of UN resolutions on Myanmar
since 1990.  In summary these demands are:

  * Respect for human rights, including the right to life,
    freedom from torture and from arbitrary detention
  
* The restoration of democracy in the light of the 1990
    elections
  
* Respect for the rights of the civilian population in
    conflict areas
  
* The unconditional release of Nobel Peace Laureate Daw Aung
    San Suu Kyi
  
  * Cooperation with the United Nations
  
                  ANNOTATED CONTENTS OF THE REPORTS OF THE
                          KAREN HUMAN RIGHTS GROUP 
                                  1992-1994

                        BY THE BURMA PEACE FOUNDATION

                               INTRODUCTION

Until 1990 the main civil war offensives of the Tatmadaw (the
Burmese armed forces) took the form of dry-season combat with the
armies of the different ethnic groups. This strategy involved
temporary occupation of civilian areas and a return to barracks
in the rainy season. Since 1990, however, improvements in
logistical support and
weaponry have allowed the Tatmadaw to stay in the field all year,
and make its occupation of the civilian areas permanent. These
occupations, which have involved the violation of a wide range of
human rights and humanitarian norms, are offensives against the
civilian population. As occupation of territory and control of
people, they are an end in themselves, as well as constituting a
means of exerting pressure on the armed groups to surrender,
though this strategy has not entirely replaced the offensives
against the armed groups, as we see from the the current assault
on Khun Sa's positions in Shan State. 

On the social and economic front, the occupation has produced
widespread economic and social breakdown of village life
throughout most non-Burman areas, and in many Burman rural zones
as well. Many villages no longer exist, and of those which
remain, none has lost less than 25% of its population since 1991.
The combination of forced labour, forced relocation, economic
sabotage and terrorisation by the Burmese army which has brought
about this state of affairs is well documented in these reports.

The reduction in actual fighting typical of a strategy of
occupation has entailed a corresponding reduction in the use of
coerced porters in combat. The level of violation of humanitarian
norms and civil and political rights has therefore diminished
somewhat. However, the violation of economic, social and cultural
rights has grown. This is due largely to an absolute increase in
the use of forced labour since 1992, with several hundred
thousand farmers being forced to work on
various "development" projects like the construction of roads,
railways and army camps. When added to those still being seized
as forced porters, the result is an all-time high in forced
labour. In addition, the period for forced portering corresponds
roughly with the dry season, ie about four months a year.
"Development" projects, however,  such as road and rail
construction, are carried out for as much as eight months a year,
overlapping with vital agricultural activities like planting and
harvesting. When added to systematic looting and pillaging by a
poorly-paid and poorly-disciplined army,
the resulting severe reduction in the agricultural work-force
frequently leads to the collapse of the village economy, the
abandonment of the village, a vast increase in the number of
people internally displaced, and more refugees seeking protection
in neighbouring countries (Thailand in particular) than ever
before. 



                          CONTENTS WITHOUT CONTENTS

The "Annotated Contents" highlights the principal human rights
violations documented in the Karen Human Rights Group reports.
The reports, from January 1992 to October 1994, with a number of
colour photographs and some in black and white, take up about 600
pages. In photocopied form this is rather bulky and expensive to
give away. The "Contents" is therefore being circulated without
its documents. Those who would like a copy of the whole dossier
can request it from the Burma Peace Foundation at 5 cents per
page plus 3-hole binding and postage. With colour photos at US$1
per sheet (there are about 20 sheets) and a $1.50 binding, this
comes to about $50 plus postage (as of November 1994. More pages
can be expected later, thus increasing the cost).   


                            TECHNICAL EXPLANATION

The reports are mainly interviews and summaries of interviews,
arranged by date of publication. The title is in upper case.
Place is by Township or District. The date of the event(s) and
ethnicity and gender of victims are given, where known. The human
rights and humanitarian violations are listed when not obvious
from the title in the order they appear in the text (though if a
violation appears several times in one report, it is only listed
once). Predominant violations not in the title, or which provide
representative or detailed examples, are underlined. If a report
contains photo evidence of an event, the entry is marked "see
photo(s)". (Photos are placed after the report.)


Abbreviations and definitions

F=Female, 

M=Male, 

C=Child (less than 18 years old) 

IT=Inhuman Treatment (eg deprivation of food and water, beating
and other actions which although causing suffering, appear to
lack the intention to torture). 

ES=Economic Sabotage -- destruction of means of livelihood
(crops,
livestock, food reserves, fishing nets etc) by the Tatmadaw. This
generally occurs as systematic looting and pillaging which,
combined
with forced relocation, forced labour, confiscation of land and
terrorisation by the army, frequently results in devastation and
ultimate breakdown of the village economy and abandonment of the
village. Economic sabotage in any of its guises is a clear
violations of economic, social and cultural rights including
property rights, but hardly exists outside the context of the
violation of civil and political rights. It should be noted that
the systematic looting and
extortion which are major elements of economic sabotage seem
almost
inevitable given soldiers' extremely poor pay and supplies. A
question is whether the low rates of pay are due to pure economic
restrictions in the military budget, or whether there is a
deliberatepolicy to encourage soldiers to live off the people,
sabotage theireconomy, and thereby further the destabilisation of
non-Burman groups and increase the relative power of the
military. 

Pillaging is deliberate destruction of property, and a principal
weapon of economic sabotage.

Looting is stealing for use rather than for destruction.

Violence against women refers to violence other than rape and the
use of women as coerced porters, which are mentioned separately.