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BurmaNet News: March 6, 1995
- Subject: BurmaNet News: March 6, 1995
- From: strider@xxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 06 Mar 1995 19:04:00
Received: (from strider) by igc2.igc.apc.org (8.6.9/Revision: 1.10 ) id TAA08477 for conf:reg.burma; Mon, 6 Mar 1995 19:04:24 -0800
Date: Mon, 6 Mar 1995 19:04:24 -0800
/* Written 5:51 PM Mar 5, 1995 by burmanet in igc:soc.cult.burma */
/* ---------- "BurmaNet News: March 6, 1995" ---------- */
**************************BurmaNet***************************
"Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies"
*************************************************************
The BurmaNet News: Monday, March 6, 1995
Issue #120
NOTED IN PASSING:
"What governments should really fear is a
communications expert."
Zapatista rebel spokesman, Subcommandante Marcos
<See NEWSWEEK: WHEN WORDS ARE THE BEST WEAPON--
HOW REBELS USE THE INTERNET AND SATELLITE TV>
"No, what they should fear is a demolitions expert."
An ethnic rebel from Burma on being read the
Newsweek article. He was holding a map of the
planned Unocal/Total gas pipeline.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Contents:
***********************INSIDE BURMA***************************
AMNESTY: "NO LAW AT ALL"
******************KAREN STATE/KAWTHOOLEI**********************
NLM/SLORC: 9,495 PERSONS OF 1,880 HOUSEHOLDS ARRIVE BACK
NLM/SLORC: WHITHER KNU? CHAPTERS 23 AND 24
********************INTERNATIONAL*****************************
SCB: TEXACO SHAREHOLDER RESOLUTION ON HUMAN RIGHTS
****************************MISC******************************
SCB: TIN MAUNG WIN THE HUMBUG [SLORCITE]
NEWSWEEK: WHEN WORDS ARE THE BEST WEAPON
**************************************************************
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**************************************************************
*************THE BURMANET NEWS--MARCH 6, 1995*************
**************************************************************
***********************INSIDE BURMA***************************
AMNESTY: "NO LAW AT ALL"
Posted by uneoo@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Wed Mar 1 20:36:06
1995 From: U Ne Oo <uneoo@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: OPPRESSIVE LAWS IN BURMA
To: soc.culture.burma@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Thu, 2 Mar 1995 15:13:45 +1030 (CST)
Cc: strider@xxxxxxxxxxx
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
/* written Thu Mar 2 15:02:04 CST 1995
uneoo@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx on igc:so c.culture.burma */
/* Various laws restricting freedom of speech and associations
in Burma */
[Following summary, which is given in the Appendix-1 of
the Amnesty International document ASA 16/11/92, explained
about oppressive laws in Burma. These laws dating back even to
the period of 1950s. But the enforcement as well as
enactment of these laws are much more severe in the period of
present Military Government of Myanmar, the State Law and
Order Restoration Council (SLORC). We should encourage the
U.N. Special Rapporteur, Prof. Yozo Yokota, to put more
pressure on the Military Government of Myanmar to abolish
these oppressive laws. -- U Ne Oo.]
MYANMAR: NO LAW AT ALL
HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS UNDER MILITARY RULE
October 1992. (ASA 16/11/92)
PP-34, APPENDIX -1
------------------
This appendix summarizes the principal laws employed by the
SLORC to imprison and try prisoners of conscience and other
political prisoners.
Laws in force before September 1988
-----------------------------------
1. The 1950 Emergency Provisions Act: allows for the
imprisonment of up to seven years of any person who either
"infringes upon the integrity, health, conduct and
respect of State military organizations and Government
employees towards the ...government", or "spreads false
news about the government", or "disrupts the morality or the
behaviour of a group of people".
2. The 1957 Unlawful Associations Act: allows for imprisonment
for up to five years for anyone who has been a member of, or
assisted any association "(a) which encourages or aids
persons to commit acts of violence of intimidation or
[whose] members habitually commit such acts, or (b) which has
been declared unlawful by the President of the Union".
3. Sections 121,122-1, and 124 of the 1957 Penal Code: define
High TReason and misprision of High Treason (Knowing that high
treason has been or will be committed, but not
reporting it to the authorities ) and allows for sentences of
death, life or seven years' imprisonment. In late 1990, 35
people, including 25 members of parliament-elect, were accused
of being party to discussions on the establishment of a
"parallel government" and sentenced under these Sections to
between seven and 25 years imprisonment.
4. The 1962 Printers' and Publishers' Registration Law:was
amended in July 1989, increasing the maximum sentences under
the law to five years' imprisonment. The amendment followed
an announcement by SLORC Secretary-1 Khin Nyunt that "Legal
organizations that have registered [and] that wish to print and
publish documents, books, and printed material, will have
to register with the Ministry of Home and Religious Affairs and
apply for exemption in accordance with the 1962 Printers
and Publication Law." After obtaining an exemption they could
print and publish documents, books and printed materials on
the condition that they do not contain material which "opposes
the SLORC, the regional LORCs at different levels, or the
government; insults, slanders or attempts to divide the
Defense Forces; instigates actions that affect law and order
and peace and tranquility; or contradicts the orders that
have been issued whenever necessary."
5. The 1975 State Protection Law ( Law to Safeguard the State
from the Danger of Destructive Elements) was amended in August
1991 to allow the state to detain without trial for up to
five years any person "who will do, is doing, or has done, an
act which endangers the peace of most citizens or the
security of the state, or thgnty of the st ate." Aung San Suu
Kyi, who was awarded the
Nobel Peace Prize in 1991, is detained under this law, as was
U Nu Prior to his release in April 1992.
Martial Law Restrictions from September 1988
--------------------------------------------
6. Order No. 2/88, September 1988: set the parameters of
martial law. It included a curfew from 8 pm to 4 am and
forbade gatherings of more than five people on the streets
"regardless of whether the act is with the intention of
creating a disturbance or of committing a crime". Although
the curfew has been reduced in some areas and lifted entirely
in others, other aspects of martial law, including severe
restrictions on freedom of expression and assembly and unfair
trials by military tribunals, remain in force across the
country.
7. SLORC Martial Law Order No. 2/89 in July 1989:
established military tribunals to try martial law
offenders in "cases concerning defiance of orders issued
by the State Law and Order Restoration Council, by the
Government or by the Commanders concerned" and are
empowered to impose sentences of death, life imprisonment, or
not less than three years' imprisonment with hard labour. The
tribunals use summary procedures, including waiving
"unnecessary witnesses". The decisions of the tribunals are
final; there is no judicial appeal against their sentences.
8. SLORC Order No.3/90,:"relating to the right to assemble
and campaign", was announced in February 1990, during the
election campaign. All political speeches had to be given
prior approval by the local township authorities. Criticism of
the authorities was forbidden, and any statement deemed
insulting to the SLORC, the regional LORCs, the defence forces
and the "solidarity of the national races" was made
punishable by up to three years' imprisonment and a fine.
9. SLORC Declaration No. 1/90,: issued in july 1990, declared
that "the SLORC, the Defence Forces, is not bound by any
constitution. The SLORC is ruling the country with martial law.
It is known to all that the SLORC is a military
government and that it is a government recognised by the
countries of the world and the United Nations." This
declaration set out a program for the drafting of a new
constitution before power could be transferred to the winners
of the election. People were required to sign their
agreement to Declaration No. 1/90 under threat of arrest.
10. SLORC Order No. 6/90, October 1990: banned all "unlawful
Sangha [Buddhist monk] organizations with the exception of the
nine Sects of Sanghas" and warned political parties that "
action shall be taken under existing laws" if they attempted to
"misuse" religion for political purposes.
11. SLORC Order No. 1/91, April 1991,: issued warnings to
civil servants. Under this Order, public servants were not
only barred from politics themselves, but were also required
to "prohibit their dependents or persons under their
guardianship from taking direct or indirect part in activities
that are aimed at opposing the government". According to
the Order, "effective legal action" would be taken against
those who failed to fulfill this requirement, but the nature of
the action and the punishment were not specified.
/* ENDREPORTS */
******************KAREN STATE/KAWTHOOLEI**********************
NLM/SLORC: 9,495 PERSONS OF 1,880 HOUSEHOLDS ARRIVE BACK
The New Light of Myanmar Newspaper
03 March 1995
After members of the Democratic Kayin Buddhist Army
(DKBA) under the Democratic Kayin Buddhist Organization (DKBO)
attacked and captured Manerplaw, the central headquarters of
terrorist KNU armed group, and Kawmura or New Wakha, the last
stronghold of KNU, peace and securty have been restored
in Manerplaw area.
The Kayin nationals who lived in border areas fled
to the other country because of KNU atrocities and those who
lived in so-called refugee camps of KNU, returned to
Myanmar group by group.
A total of 9,495 persons (4,545 males and 4,950
females) of 1,880 households arrived back up to today. Among
them were 292 males and 296 females of 99 households
of Ngethlyartaw Village: 102 males and 95 females of
32 households of Htidawkoe Village: 145 males and
156 females of 48 households of Ngethlyartaw Ywalay:
36 males and 29 females of 11 households of Htiyarthay
Village: 176 males and 156 females of 55 households
of Maelayaw Village: 80 males and 76 females of
26 households of Htinohta Village: 50 males and 54
females of 20 households of Sarda village: 28 males
and 28 females of 10 households of Htiwahkhee Village:
19 males and 18 females of 14 households of
Htibawthaw Village: 26 males and 33 females of
11 households of Htipawnohta Village: 105 males and
114 females of 40 households of Htikane Village:
20 males and 20 females of 10 households of Naw-kamoehkam
Village: 34 males and 28 females of 11 households of
KhawhtipawhoVllage:17 males and 14 females of 12
households of Wabwehtu Village: 34 males and 45 females
of 10 households of Mepalo Village: five males and
three females of two households of Htimukhee Village:
54 males and 67 females of 20 households of Htimawko
Village: and 18 males and 24 females of nine households
of Padupu Village. Altogether 1,241 males and 1,256
females totalling 2,497 persons of 400 households of
18 villages arrived back up to today.
At the same time, family members of Kayin
nationals returned to Myainggyingu group by group due to
organization of DKBO who wanted peace and realized the genuine
goodwill of the State, assistance given by the Tatmadaw
and warm welcome of the people. Altogether 3,304 males
and 3,694 females totalling 6,998 persons of 1,440
households arrived back at Myainggyingu up to today.
Officials at various villages warmly welcomed
family members of nationals who returned to their villages.
Officials at Myainggyingu Villg uittmporary huts for those who
returned, gave medical treatment and opened welfare shops and
sold essential commodities.
The Ministry of Progress of Border Areas and
National Races and Development Affairs is reforming
the earth with bulldozers for building dispensary
and school there.
******************KAREN STATE/KAWTHOOLEI**********************
NLM/SLORC: WHITHER KNU? CHAPTERS 23 AND 24
The New Light of Myanmar Newspaper
28 February 1995
KNUs believe they lost Manerplaw
because the attack was unexpected or
because the Noday and Nawta defence
line was breached. They, however,
strongly believed that Kawmura Camp
would never fall. They thought that even
a daily bombardment for three whole
months would not be able to take
Kawmura. When rains come, waters will
rise and even those in the Camp would
then have to climb up trees. Attackers
would be swept away.
Kawmura will not fall. Kawmura
must never fall.
Kawmura Fortress was very strong. The
killing ground at the 200-metre-wide
mouth of omega bend was an open
clearing. There was no cover whatsoever.
Those who came up could simply be
mowed down. Minefields and booby traps
laid between eleven lines of barbed-wire
obstacles were very thick. Planks, with
three-inch or four-inch nails driven
through had been laid on the ground.
There were barbed-wire
concertinas in between lines of barbed-
wire barricades. Barbed-wire concertinas
were no ordinary civilian use materials:
they were products of defence industries.
Barbed-wire concertinas that came while
the battle raged were brand new stock
and they still had grease on them. On 8
February 1995 the KNU managed to put
another barbed-wire barricade with two
rolls of barbed-wire concertinas after the
engagement.
The walls of concrete bunkers are
about four feet thick. Teak logs had girths
of two arms length and could easily
withstand heavy shelling. There were
hundreds of thousands of plastic sand
bags in Kawmura: the bags were those
made in the other country. Heavy arms
and small arms were in abundance. There
were more weapons than men to handle
them.
How would such a strong fortress
fall? Allies from the other country had
promised to help the KNU by firing one
hundred 150mm shells. Rocket pads
mounted on trucks were to fire in clusters.
Radars to seek targets and message
intercepting gadgets were in full function.
Some KNUs were standing by in
the other country to prevent possible
attacks from the rear through the
territory of the other country. The other
country repeatedly declared that they
would not permit such an attack. The
other country maintained that it would
not accept any of the two belligerent
forces on its territory. But forces of one
belligerent was using their land quietly
under some secret understanding,
greasing palms discreetly.
When the battle took place, the
16th Battalion sent as a reinforcement for
6th Brigade took only some symbolic
action. The ABSDF forces could not be
relied upon a bit. One after another,
ABSDF men were deserting. Htaw Hla
kept open only one wooden bridge across
the river with orders to shoot down those
who used it to flee. But deserters sneaked
through barbed-wire barricades and mine
fields.
"We run not out of fear, we run
because we don't want to fight. We don't
want to die a senseless death. You stupid
idiots, stay here to get killed".
This was what deserters from the
16th Battalion had said and it infuriated
Htaw Hla.
"Kill them. Kill those who try to
run away. Kill those who retreat".
Htaw Hla's death sentences were
unable to deter deserters. A mortar shell
fell on a 120mm mortar crew exploding
stacked mortar shells killing whole squads
of troops. This further terrorised the
KNUs.
When Htaw Hla received Tamla
Baw's evacuation order he issued
instructions for an orderly withdrawal.
But Kawmura battle did not end in a
withdrawal: it only ended in a complete
rout. There was absolutely no discipline.
Nothing could be saved. Numerous heavy
arms and small arms were left behind.
The withdrawal was most disorderly. It
was a very ugly affair. "Whichever leg is
not swift enough is a traitorous leg": this
became the slogan of those who fled as
fast as their legs could carry them.
In fact, there had been no
discipline in Kawmura for a long time.
Kawmura was strong in material
equipment but morale had long been
swiftly deteriorating. Kawmura had faced
Tatmadaw attacks only up to April 1992.
The Tatmadaw then ceased offensives
and Kawmura remained safe. Troops
began to acquire an easy-going life.
Whenever villagers in the area lost their
cattle, rustlers invariably were Kawmura
troops. But the masses dared not open
their mouths. They suffered in silence.
The Donyin Township is under the
jurisdiction of Kawmura Special Area.
The Kayin masses of Donyin Township
had suffered long under KNLA
persecution. On 19 November 1994,
therefore, KNU 2nd Lt Khin Maung of
Kawmura Township made a complaint to
101 Battalion second-in-command Than
Maung. 101 Battalion could take no
action.
The depravity of KNU leadership
had gone beyond limits.
Lt-Col Soe Soe of Maesod
frequently liaised with one Ma Wan Tin
of Khalaukno. Donyin Township
President Mahn Htain Lin had kept Moo
Moo (alias) Pyu Pyu of Mya Pe village as
his mistress. Johnny, a long-time
womanizer, bedded down with Naw Moo
Nwe of Kawpauk village. Johnny lovingly
renamed her Ratna. Phado Mahn Khin
Aung, Phado Than Lwin, Hla Gyaw,
Kyauk Khe, Saya Htoo Htoo misused the
girls from Eindu, Mya Pe, Kawpauk and
Taw Khameik villages.
KNU leaders did not only ravish
the girls; they even did business in league
with rich men. The girls kept sinking
deeper and deeper as they went on
waiting for summons of their "brother'
Bogyis and their 'brother' Phados.
Kawmura had been stinking for a long
time.
Kawmura fell leaving some
inexplicable problems behind. Among 800
men, only six who were drunk, who were
'high' on drugs and those who did not
realise that their troops were leaving kept
resisting. Htaw Hla was now left with a
responsibility to explain why Kawmura
fell. He gave a dirge-like explanation to
Nga Mya. Nga Mya, with his wife and
mentor Naw Larmu, waited for Htaw Hla
at Maesod.
"The chief culprit is the 6th
Brigade. Those fellows from the 16th
Battalion did not fight at all. When they
deserted that demoralised 101st Battalion.
On 20th Min Wai group deserted and
surrendered. It was Kyauk Khe who
enabled Min Wai to surrender. I bashed
this fellow and he admitted".
"Then why do you keep this fellow
still alive? Kill him".
Nga Mya is a man who does not
care about a human life as much as the
life of an insect and thus kept passing
death sentences.
"Saw Chit Thu is not trustworthy
too.
"Then, send him to God".
"I will do it right away."
Htaw Hla and his men, now on the
other bank of Thaungyin River, tried to
counter attack Kawmura. Those the KNU
had bribed pounded Kawmura with 155
mm mortars. Truck-mounted launch pads
sent rockets. They also opened small arms
fire. Messengers of death flew out of the
other country, crossed the Thaungyin
River and fell on Myanmar territory. But
they were not to get Kawmura back.
Phar Nwee of DKBA was hunting
for Johnny and Johnny was trying to get
away. Johnny fled to Maesod and
reported to Nga Mya.
"Burn the towns down. Pound
them with heavy arms. Wipe out Thingan
Nyinaung from the face of the earth".
Johnny nodded his head to Nga
Mya's oft-repeated order and came back.
Htain Maung was worried about Johnny
and tried to call him. Phar Nwee and
Kyaw Kalei were fighters of the same
calibre as Johnny. They had operated
together for a long time and each knew
the other in and out. Htain Maung would
have lost his right hand if only Johnny
were eliminated. Maung Tun and
Gyawlai were not trustworthy. They
remained completely passive.
Maj Kyaw Kalei of DKBA
entered Kawmura Camp. The forward
bunkers were in ruin. KNUs had been
trapped in them and killed. It was getting
hot and the place had begun to stink.
Teak logs were still in flames. The whole
camp was in complete ruin.
"We've been trapped. Can't get
out. Tumbling down".
Maj Kyaw Kalei had heard such
screams on his walkie-talkie. Now, those
pitiful screams seem to ring in his ears. All
KNUs in forward bunkers perished.
Those in the rear fled without making any
resistance. A big house built for Nga Mya
to stay on his visit had been turned into a
sieve. The courthouse was pock-marked
with shell hits. Maj Kyaw kalei found a
pot of rice. It was still warm and must
have been cooked very recently. Those
who did not know they were going to
withdraw must have cooked it. He had a
hearty lunch only at three o'clock in the
afternoon.
"Bohmu, villagers from the other
side have come to bridge head. Asking
whether we wanted to buy rice or ngapi.
They want to buy barbed-wire
concertinas and tin roofing. They also
want to buy timber. They want to buy
logs in bunkers".
"If they build houses with those
timber their houses will be haunted. Its a
nuisance. Destroy that wooden bridge".
Major Kyaw Kalei came to the
monastery. It was timber-walled and tin-
roofed. But it was neglected by those in
Kawmura and was now covered in
shrubbery. The whole monastery was
pock-marked having been hit by firings
from both sides. The Image of Lord
Buddha remained unscathed. Major
Kyaw Kalei made obeisance, said prayers
and shared merits gained with those who
had fallen in the fight.
The battle had ended with heavy
casualties on both sides. Kawmura was
now quiet and peaceful.
But there was no peace with the
KNUs yet. Leaders lived in panic fearing
abduction by DKBA forces. They were no
longer able to gad about in the other
country carrying arms. Military leaders of
the other country had come to regard
them as a nuisance. They were no more
amicable with the lower echelons whom
they used to bribe before. Some unknown
persons had wagged their tongues that the
other side, during the battle, gave
covering fire but only nominally and in a
haphazard way. Tension between the two
sides has arisen. Relations were not like
before.
No matter how much the West bloc
media might try to boost KNU morale, it
continued to ebb. Those media claimed in
their reports that the whole Myanmar
mass was supporting the KNU. They slyly
also provoked Tatmadaw personnel. But
the KNUs themselves have realised that
they were not supported by Kayin masses,
let alone masses of the whole country.
They were no longer able to dispute the
fact that it was the DKBO that has
received the support of the Kayin mass.
"4th Brigade and 6th Brigade will
unite to remove General Mya. They will
then make peace with Na Wa Ta".
This news hit Nga Mya in his solar
plexus. He began to get discontented with
Oliver and Shwe Sai. He now felt like
liquidating them as he had liquidated 1st
Brigade and 8th Brigade leaders in 1970.
Under Nga Mya's battering, 8th Brigade
totally disappeared. 1st Brigade
capitulated to him. But the majority of
those 1st Brigade men were now in DKBA
and were having their revenge. "It is not
just declaring that the DKBA captured
Kawmura when it was the Na Wa Ta that
captured Kawmura. This is ground for Na
Wa Ta fighters to get disgruntled. So said
radio broadcasts".
The West bloc media and the
bosses of KNU were very much
disconcerted. They began to try to agitate
even the Tatmadaw personnel. But the
Tatmadaw personnel are of one blood,
one voice and one command. They are not
after fame. Nor popularity. History is
replete with battles fought by the
Tatmadaw. Not all of those battles were
reported in papers. The DKBA could help
Tatmadaw in all possible
ways. In fact what really matters is the fall
of Kawmura.
The West bloc felt like being
sprayed with acid when Kawmura fell,
suppurating. America is said to have
protested. Australian Foreign Minister
Gareth Evans made a loud noise and
threatened to isolate Myanmar in South-
East Asia. They keep whining for
sympathy towards KNU refugees.
They call KNU insurgents
'refugees'. Myanmar call only destitutes
refugees. But the KNUs have been
fighting after helping themselves to
provisions being provided in abundance
by Norway. Leaders are filthy rich.
The West bloc is trying hard to
support and rearm Myanma insurgents
by calling them refugees. KNUs have been
ruthless terrorists. They fled to the other
country when they were beaten. The other
side warmly welcomed them as refugees
and began to work to rearm them.
Numerous lives had been lost at the hands
of the KNU. Not satisfied with that they
are still egging the KNU on continued
insurrection. This is nothing but a dirty
and vile conspiracy to destroy Myanmar.
The refugee policy of the West bloc
is nothing but a policy of enslaving other
nations under a neo-colonialist policy by
breeding thugs. Their championing of
human rights is also a perfidy already
known to everybody. What will they say
if Myanmar were to welcome Mizo rebels
and Phizo rebels of India as refugees and
entertain them in Myanmar? What will
Thailand say if Myanmar were to allow
Meo rebels of Thailand to establish bases
in Myanmar? And what with the UN
High Commissioner for Refugees Office
offer?
In fact they are all scoundrels and
swindlers, rogues and rascals, crooks and
scam artists. They keep swindling
contributions made by the international
community to look after refugees. They
misappropriate refugee funds. They act as
brokers on behalf of the KNU and of
defectors and keep making a racket out of
it. Who is there to believe that Norway or
Australia loves Myanmar?
Gentlemen speak what is good.
But some gentlemen now are talking vile
in public without shame and egging on a
murderer like Nga Mya.
What a shame!
Mail: (i)ndex (u)nread (w)rite (c)apture (d)elete (s)ave (h)elp
(q)uit:
Message 9 (362 lines)
>From news.reporter@xxxxxxxxxx Fri Mar 3 14:56:34 1995
Organization: Unique Online Information Services, Elkridge,
Maryland, USA Date: Fri, 03 Mar 95 13:58:49
Subject: Whither KNU? 24
To: strider@xxxxxxxxxxx
File attached....
Whither KNU? - 24
The New Light of Myanmar Newspaper
01 March 1995
The KNU and its armed wing, the
KNLA, have been on an irretrievable
downslide for a very long time but they have
now completely sank. The DKBO and the
DKBA that have defied the KNU are gaining
strength to strength. Those who really desire
the wellbeing of Kayin nationals no longer
care the KNU. Men and monks of Kayin State
are whole-heartedly supporting the DKBO.
The KNU Central Committee
members know the reason for the collapse of
KNU. They know Nga Mya's leadership has
been awfully bad. But they grew up under
Nga Mya's thraldom. They dare not defy Nga
Mya who does not care for a human life as
much as he cares for a tree leaf. They were
also disunited among themselves.
5 February 1995 was the 48th
anniversary of the KNU. Every year in the
past, Nga Mya saw to it that this anniversary
was celebrated on a grand scale at
Manerplaw. Manerplaw, vibrant with foreign
guests on those days in the past has now
fallen. Nobody remembered the KNU Day.
In fact Kayin nationals had fallen prey
to the divide and rule policy of vile
imperialism. Imperialists who came back to
Myanmar in the wake of Myanma Anti-
Fascist Revolution openly incited and agitated
Kayin organisations. The imperialists urged
some Kayin leaders to decide to remain within
the British Empire.
On 5 February 1947, Kayin political
organisations joined together to form the
KNU or the Kayin National Union. On 16
July 1947, with the help of the imperialist
armed forces, they founded the KNDO, or an
armed Kayin National Defence Organisation.
The objectives of the KNU were to
remain within the British Empire, to oppose
formation of a Union and to obstruct
movements for Independence. Under those
circumstances, many Kayin leaders including
the then KNU President Saw San Po Thin,
Mahn Ba Khine who was martyred together
with Bogyoke Aung San and Mahn Win
Maung who later served as the President of
the Union turned their backs on the KNU.
The KNU then ceased to be a federation or
front of Kayin political organisations and
dropped to the status of just another Kayin
political party.
Saw Ba U Gyi, educated in England
and who had married an English woman took
over the leadership of the KNU and worked
for creation of a Kayin State. After Myanmar
regained Independence, the KNU worked for
cecession of Kayin State from the Union. In
March 1948, the Communists went
underground and began their insurrection and
the White PVO followed them. The Anti-
Fascist People's Freedom League, or the Pha
Sa Pa La, had then to enter into discussions
with Leftists. When the government showed
signs of leaning to the Left, imperialists found
reason to incite the KNU.
In July 1948, the KNDO units led by
the KNU seized administrative powers of
towns when they were stationed and began
their insurrection. Open clashes began in
January 1949. KNDO units, armed and
cultivated by imperialists, took over several
towns and villages including Insein, a suburb
of Yangon, Mandalay the second capital of
the Union, Mawlamyine, Hpa-an and
Taunggyi, the capital cities of States and
Divisions.
But the KNU never again achieved
that kind of military success of 1949. From
the very outset the KNU committed several
terrible massacres which became intolerable
even to Kayin people. KNUs marauded
villages and looted public property. They
raped the village women. They slaughtered
men, women and even children. They burnt
whole villages.
As the KNU, relying on imperialist
help and with their narrow rascist views
continued on their unrestrained destructive
spree, they gradually began to follow the
policy of warlords. Eventually, when even the
Kayin masses refused to accept them, they
withdrew from the towns and fled into the
wilderness beginning 1950.
On 12 August 1950, KNU leader Saw
Ba U Gyi, Saw San Kay and a British army
officer, Captain Vivian, were killed at
Tawkoekoe village in Kawkareik area under
an attack of the Tatmadaw. Captain Vivian
was serving a term in Insein Jail for supplying
arms to Galon U Saw to assassinate Bogyoke
Aung San when, during the Insein battle, the
KNU took him away and made him their
mentor.
After Saw Ba U Gyi's death, the
leadership of KNU passed into the hands of
Mahn Ba Zan, a former artillery officer of the
British army and Saw Hunter Tha Hmway.
The two of them sought reasons for the
decline of Kayin revolution and discovered
that the reasons were their over-reliance on
imperialists, the rise lordism in their
organisation and their indulgence in anti-mass
destructive activities. They found that the
First Programme of the KNU lacked any
substance or direction. They had a CAS (K)
(Civil Affairs Service, Kawthoolei)
administrative programme drawn up on the
lines of the British CAS (B) (Civil Affairs
Service, Burma) administrative programme,
but that programme remained only on paper.
Mahn Ba Zan and Saw Hunter Tha
Hmway agreed to collaborate with the Burma
Communist Party and designated their
communist programme as the Second
Programme. In May 1952 Thakhin Zin of
Burma Communist Party and Mahn Ba Zan
signed the Zin-Zan Agreement. The KNU was
reorganised in communist pattern and
designated the KNU front party.
But only the Bago Yoma Area and the
Deltaic Area followed the Second Programme
laid down by Mahn Ba Zan, the Eastern
Region or the Kayin State lying between
Sittaung river and the eastern border did not
follow this programme. The Eastern Region
continued to follow their old policy of
violence. Bo Lin Htin, Commander of 5th
KNDO Brigade, mined a passenger train,
abducted university co-eds on their way home
for vacation and sold them to the Nationalist
Chinese. Nga Mya was then leading about 50
highwaymen preying upon travellers between
Myawady and Kawkareik. And the Eastern
Region KNU even invited the Nationalist
Chinese intruders to come right down to the
sea coast.
A Left-Right conflict arose within the
KNU after adoption of the Second
Programme. Mahn Ba Zan and Saw Hunter
Tha Hmway began to drift apart. Mahn Ba
Zan was unable to resist the direct and
unreserved leadership of the Burma
Communist Party. In 1958, Central Committee
members Saw Maung Toe and Saya Barhu
surrendered to the government, together with
their followers. Saw Hunter Tha Hmway split
away from the KNU Party and went to the
Eastern Region where he founded the KRC
(Kayin Revolutionary Council). He returned
to the legal fold in 1963 when Peace Talks
with the Government succeeded. The KNUP
that had to talk peace as dictated by the
Burma Communist Party failed to achieve any
success.
In those days, Nga Mya was operating
on Kawkareik-Myawady border merely as a
gang of robbers independent of KNU
leadership. When Saw Hunter Tha Hmwe's
KRC attained peace, large sections of Eastern
Region KNU followed the KRC peace line
and returned to legal fold but Nga Mya stayed
behind. Neither was Nga Mya interested in
Kayin revolution. He continued to seek his
own fortunes leading a small band of
followers. When the Tatmadaw chased him,
he surrendered and acted as a Tatmadaw
guide. When he failed to get his hoped for
privileges he went back into the jungles. The
KNU shifted to their Second Programme but
Nga Mya must be said to have followed the
First Programme.
The KNU Front Party had abandoned
its political objective of cecession of Kayin
State from the Union and come on to the
objective of creation of a Union in communist
pattern. At that time, Nga Mya's group had
no political objective whatsoever. The Burma
Communist Party then consistently tried to
swallow the KNUP.
Bo Lin Htin, Commander of KNDO
5th Brigade followed Saw Hunter Tha
Hmway's leadership and returned to legal fold
but he had not yet shed his warlordism. He
committed murder and rape, smuggled in
arms from the other country and made an
attempt to return to the jungles. The
Tatmadaw went to him for a discussion but he
started opening fire on the Tatmadaw and he
had therefore to be captured dead. His 45th
wife, Naw Louisa Benson, returned to the
jungle leading the KNDO 5th Brigade.
Naw Louisa went on to the other
country and got married to an American
soldier leaving 5th Brigade elements in Nga
Mya's hands. Nga Mya, a leader of about 50
robbers, thus became the boss of 5th Brigade
elements and became a leader by chance. On
1 January 1966, Nga Mya made an open
break with the KNUP. On 12 April 1966, Nga
Mya formed the KNLC or the Kayin National
Liberation Council and designated the armed
bands as the KNLA or Kayin National
Liberation Army.
Nga Mya then managed to collect a
large following. He bought arms and
ammunition from the Nationalist Chinese and
built up his armed strength. He sold smuggled
cattle and timber to merchants in the other
country and smuggled in consumer stores and
became rich. But he still lacked a political
programme. When he was weak he operated
only as a gang of robbers and sought for
personal wealth but when he gained strength
he began to lust for power too.
In the KNU Party Mahn Ba Zan could
no longer bear the hegemony of Burma
Communist Party. Therefore, in October
1967, Party President Mahn Ba Zan, Than
Aung, Maung Maung and Tin U turned their
backs on the KNUP and joined up with Nga
Mya. On 21 June 1968, when the KNUF or
Kayin National United Front was formed with
Mahn Ba Zan as leader, Nga Mya became
second leader and member responsible for
military affairs. The KNLC, founded by Nga
Mya was dissolved as desired by a majority.
The 2nd Brigade and the 3rd Brigade of the
KNUP also came to join forces.
In Mahn Ba Zan's KNUF, Nga Mya
was vice-president and chief of staff. He was
also commander of the 1st Division which
was the only Division of the KNUF. Nga Mya
brought the 1st Brigade, the 6th Brigade, the
7th Brigade and the 2nd Brigade and the 3rd
Brigade that came in later, under his
command. Leaders of 1st Brigade and the 8th
Brigade who refused to accept Nga Mya's
leadership were executed by him. He then
reorganised the two brigades as the 1st
Brigade.
Nga Mya kept Mahn Ba Zan with a
strong political tradition as the President of
the KNUF but it was he who actually
dominated the KNUF. When the expatriates
emerged in 1969, the KNU gained contact
with them. They were a group that enjoyed
the full support of the West. Controlled by
CIA Agent U Law Yone, they joined ranks
with the KNU and formed the United
Liberation Front, or Ta Nya La, on 2 June
1970.
As a result of their association with
the expatriates, the KNU gained wider
international contact and aid and became
stronger in arms and armaments. But the
merger of KNUP and the KNUF was as
remote as ever. Dissensions appeared in the
alliance of KNU and expatriates even before
completion of one year. Clashes occurred in
the years after 1971. Some 2,500 strong KNU
force with rich military experience easily
bullied about 800 strong 'democracy'
expatriates. KNUP members fed up with
Burma Communist Party influence frequently
came under Mahn Ba Zan's leadership and
gained strength.
Though Mahn Ba Zan was President
of the KNUF, Nga Mya was the real boss. On
28 February 1971, Nga Mya personally
bayonetted ten Kayin leaders of the 1st
Brigade who came to Bawtharaw village.
Since then, Nga Mya gained control of the
KNU. The KNU kept feuding with expatriates
over their 'pasteur' lands and then ultimately,
in January 1975, they resigned from the
Front. And then the KNU gathered different
ethnic rebel groups and founded an All States
Union National Democratic Front but this
front also was a nominal organisation.
The KNU liquidated 'democracy'
expatriates as their first priority task and the
expatriates' People's Patriotic Party President
Bo Let Ya was killed. He was a member of
the Thirty Comrades and the first Defence
Minister of Myanmar.
The KNU Party continued to practise
lordism and was consequently crushed in the
Deltas by a combined force of Tatmadaw and
the masses of the people. The KNU Party fled
to Bago Yoma and again got crushed along
with the Burma Communist Party in 1975.
KNU Party President Saw Mya Maung and
his armed followers had to cross Sittaung
river and flee east. Those who escaped the
Tatmadaw's annihilation got annihilated by
Nga Mya. Saw Mya Maung, Soe Aung and
67 men capitulated before Nga Mya. In 1976,
Nga Mya completely dissolved the KNUP.
>From the designation KNUF given by Mahn
Ba Zan, Nga Mya dropped the letter 'F' saying
that it smacked of communism.
Nga Mya, vowing to revive the
original KNU movement in fact resuscitated
the First Programme that had disgraced the
Kayin revolution. The KNU Central
Committee members had at one time
acknowledged that the First Programme
consisted of relying too heavily on
imperialism and pursuing violently a narrow
racist policy.
They changed over to the Second
Programme saying that the First Programme
was wrong.
At that time Nga Mya simply
continued on the First Programme.
When they said that the Second
Programme was wrong and searched for the
Third Programme Nga Mya kept clinging to
the First Programme.
But now...
Nga Mya's consistent First
Programme had completely destroyed the
KNU. What are the KNU Central Committee
members going to do now? They have
appointed 27 February 1995 for a meeting to
seek an answer.
********************INTERNATIONAL*****************************
SCB: TEXACO SHAREHOLDER RESOLUTION ON HUMAN RIGHTS
cscheiner soc.culture.burma 3:38 PM Feb 28, 1995
************* Help Texaco learn about Human Rights!
The following resolution on international human rights will be
on the corporate shareholder ballot for Texaco this year. It
was filed by the Reformed Church in America and is being
supported by the Sisters of Loretto, among others. Similar
resolutions may be on the ballots for Pepsico and Unocal.
Most of Texaco's involvement with Indonesia and East Timor is
through Caltex, the largest foreign oil company in Indonesia,
which is owned by Texaco and Chevron.
Texaco's annual meeting will be on Tuesday, May 9 at the Rye
Town Hilton in Westchester County, New York. There will
probably be activities both inside and outside the meeting in
support of this resolution and in criticism of Texaco's
activities in Burma, Ecuador, Indonesia, East Timor, and
elsewhere. Proxies are needed to allow people access to the
meeting, where questions can be asked.
For more information, or to offer proxies, contact Charles
Scheiner at the East Timor Action Network and WESPAC
(Westchester People's Action Coalition) at PO Box 1182, White
Plains, NY 10602, 1-914-428-7299, fax 1-914-428-7383, email
cscheiner@xxxxxxxxxxxx
February 28,
1995
===============================================================
TEXACO SHAREHOLDER RESOLUTION
WHEREAS: Texaco's Corporate Conduct Guidelines function as the
company's statement of policy governing business
internationally. In it, Texaco states our company:
cooperates with federal, state and local governments in
analyzing emerging environmental issues, finding solutions to
environmental problems and developing cost-effective,
scientifically based environmental standards.
promotes employee safety and health, both on and off the
jobmonstrates commitm ent to environment, health and safety
matters by scheduling auditing/compliance assurance visits
developed annually.
believes a work environment which reflects diversity and is
free of all forms of intimidation and harassment is essential
for a productive and efficient work force.
respects each employee's right to engage in or refrain from
engaging in activities associated with representation by a
labor organization.
We commend Texaco for creating such forward looking guidelines.
However, we believe these guidelines fall short m vitally
important areas and that, in fact, Texaco's international
conduct, at times, is in direct conflict with the company's own
guidelines.
For example, take the case of Texaco's expanding involvement in
the police state of Burma, one of the world's most repressive
countries, as confirmed by Amnesty International and the U.S.
State Department. Many human rights groups believe Texaco's
controversial connection with the illegitimate military junta
in fact hurts our reputation more than it builds respect in the
world community. Furthermore, a clear case can be made that
Texaco's Burma involvement strengthens the repressive military
government through the payment of tens of millions of dollars
as payment for exploration rights, goods and services now and
in the future. We believe Texaco also provides legitimacy to an
ostracized government by investing there and portrays the
country in a positive light which helps counter growing
international criticism.
But Burma is only one example. Texaco also does business in
other countries with controversial human rights records:
Indonesia, China and Thailand.
Thus, we believe the Texaco's principles need significant
expansion. Entirely absent from the present guidelines, for
example, are clear human rights criteria. For example, Levi
Strauss, in its Guidelines for Country Selection, states, "We
should not initiate or renew contractual relationships in
countries where there are pervasive violations of human
rights."
RESOLVED: The shareholders request the Board of Directors to
review and update the Texaco Corporate Conduct Guidelines and
report their revisions to shareholders and employees by
September 1995. In its review, the Board shall include a
section with guidelines on maintaining investments in or
withdrawing from countries where there is a pattern of on-going
and systematic violation of human rights, where a government is
illegitimate or where there is a call by human rights
advocates, pro-democracy organizations or legitimately elected
representatives for economic sanctions against their country.
SUPPORTING STATEMENT: We believe our company policy has a major
loophole that needs to be addressed as it does business
internationally. This resolution urges our Directors to take
leadership and add to our Guidelines.
****************************MISC******************************
SCB: TIN MAUNG WIN THE HUMBUG [SLORCITE]
bbatpt soc.culture.burma 2:08 PM Feb 23, 1995
(at au.ac.th) (From News system)
For Immediate Rlae OEBRGO TIN MAUNG WIN THE HUMBUG YANGON,
Date. . . . . By Assistance Feature Editor Khin Hnin Pwint
I have known Tin Maung Win for some years, his father U
Win a Hindu Indian from Myaung Mya, returned to Yangon form New
Delhi when his assignment as an Ambassador of Myanmar was
terminated , in mid fifties then he was appointed as a
Religious Affairs Minister, then he became a Culture Minister.
In those days in Yangon diplomatic circle, it became a
talk of the town through Dr. Rauf That Mrs.Win and her son Tin
Maung Win had a sickness as a psychological problems, both had
the same symptoms. Dr. Rauf was the first Indian Ambassador to
Myanmar and an elder brother of Mr. M.A. Ra Cabinet Minister
for Trade and Industries.
Their known problem happened to be " KLEPTOMANIA".
Afte som ieU Win was given a generoscac otke his wife and
sonteUie ttes so as to enable them to get the best medical and
psychological treatment . He was appointed Ambassador
Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Myanmar to the United
States.
While U Win became his Excellency Mrs. Win and Tin
Maung Win started their shoplifting spree, staying at the
expensive hotels and left without paying their bills and to
make matters worst the State Department had to write a stiff
letter to his Excellency about his member of the family for
their unacceptable behaviour when leaving their rooms they
strip off everything starting from pillow case, bed sheets,
toilet soaps, perfume and even the coat hangers and ash trays.
After two years Tin Maung Win' s does not improve nor
his mother's they were eventually recalled.
When U Win arrived back in Myanmar, the then AFPFL
cabinet had no idea what to do with him , so they suggested
that he stand for election at the Yangon University Senate
members Election.
There were two vacancies, so the Trade and Industries
Minister, Mr. M.A. Rashid\ another Kala (an Indian but he was a
Muslim ) and U Win stood for the election. AFPFL supporters and
Members of the Chamber of Commebute thousands of Kyats, (in the
end it total to about Kyats 2 lakhs).
Win / Shid lost the Election heavily, to the Communist
supporter NDUF candidates.
The only person who had gained benefit from the lost of
the election was no other than Tin Maung Win , who disappeared
from Yangon by eloping with a young Myanmar (nicknm aeaotd
daughter of U Ba, principal of Teachers Training College,
embezzled the Election funds about Kyats 2 lakhs on honeymoon
in Mandalay.
Soon after this episode the rL split and Win/Shid
joined the clean faction, and that part known as clean AFPFL /
or Pyi Daung Su Party which won the landslide victory, with
this victory in the Parliamentary Democracy system, one could
not find an opposition. The Pyi Daung Su Party member had
nothing else to do but quarrelled amongst themselves and at the
same time, the Shan' s Federal System was about to brake the
country to smithering and the Tatmadaw had to intervene so as
not to disintegrate.
The end result was, peace and tranquillity was restored
and U Win was amongst the people who were put under preventive
custody. In the mid 1965 Tin Maung Win and Maung Aung
were heavily involved in gambling,te otqie substantially at
black Jack Cards Game, so they were indebted : then Tin Maung
Win and Maung Aung had a grandiose scheme they said they were
planning a counter revolution: they needed funds for the cause.
Many people parted with their savings, jewellery and cash,
while Tin Maung Win and Maung Aung were spending part of it,
Law Enforcement Agency caught them at their fund raising
meeting . After some time they were given General Amnesty and
released . Due to Tin Maung Win's urging , instigation and
encouragement , U Win though he was under medication for heart
problems, they fled to the other country. While en route U Win
Expired in the jungle through sheer exhaustion. Tin Maung Win
was brilliant son who sent his father to his jungle grave in
the Karen insurgent territory.
Out of this tragedy Tin Maung Win found soaeadfindship
with the Karen. There h e omrcook of the Burma Oil opn' rtish
engineer Saw Bo Mya, notorious for his treachery, savagery and
expert in the art of dacoit.
When expatriate formed the so called Patriotic Army,
Tin Maung Win became a "Colonel" With his introduction U Nu
patronized Saw Bo Mya, invited him to Bangkok and made him a "
General " thus he was known as General Bo Mya, U Nu had won a
friend and influenced Nga Mya. Among the Pyi Daung Su
Democracy Party only two person were in the pay roll of the
CIA, one happened to be the late U Law Yone Editor of the
Nation and Tin Maung Win.
When Pyi Daung Su Party was dissolved in the jungle and
U Nu left in a hurry for the United States and later seeked
asylum in India, Tin Maung Win found a jack-pot.
HK 33 and M1 uoai iles bought with CIA money were in
possession of Tin Maung Win, he gave some as presents to Nga
Mya and sold some of them to KNU . The proceeds of the sale of
guns were sent back to the United States but not to the CIA,
this time to his elder brother Khin Maung Win, who works with
the VOA. Soon afterwards he reemerged in the State of Virginia,
as a young entrepreneur, managing a Cheak-speak bay sea food
restaurant living in US $600 per week condominium.
Later part of 1986 and early days of 1987 Tin Maung Win
and Ye Kyaw Thu who was certified blind with the blessing and
financing of CIA jointly organized and formed the Committee for
the restoration of Democracy in Burma, he did receive " aid "
from the CIA and also donation from the United Kingdom, Japan,
Thailand and the United States of America at this point he
resigned from the Restaurant n eclardtat he is going back to
full time politics . But CRDB got no where.
Well, during ' 88 incident one can see Tin Maung Win
and Ye Kaw Thu becoming a jet setter. The students who were
mislead by CRDB found to their amazement that they had
instantly became a pawn and refugees, and harassed by the Thai.
With Tin Maung Win and his blind comrades in arm introduced to
Nga Mya, the students were each given a bamboo stick for
military training by KNU . Thus ABSDF was formed and that is
how Tin Maung Win made a fortune. He took picture, video of
sick students, eating banana stems, well people fell for Tin
Maung Win's tricks, donations started to pour in, when he made
the fortune those donations went back to the same person, Khin
Maung Win , his elder brother ,who bought a five bed room as
alled pro-democracy opposition group to unite under a newim to
ognz organizatio aldDAB (Demcaic Alliance Burma) whichi many
c alled DOA (death on arriv al ) , by patronising British, who
had no
control over Tin Maung Win.
Tin Maung Win used the office of the DAB and made
arrangements with Opium War Lord Khun Sar and Nga Mya to meet
but not under duress, one wonders, how much did he get as
introduction fees from Khun Sar and Nga Mya.
CIA had made a vow to crush Khun Sar and stamp out the
narcotic industries which kill thousands of US citizens, we
want to believe this , they can prove it to us by denying their
involvement or through their citizen Tin Maung Win's
involvement in an unholy aetween Khun Sar and Nag Mya. All they
have to do is deny it publicly their involvement and disown Tin
Maung Win and DAB, make him a Stateless person, and strip him
Bode ads are clean. But you have the right to remain silent ,
its your privilege.
One wonisreputable CIA can get itself involve with a
known felon like Tin Maung Win.
Khin Hnin Pwint
Assistant Feature Editor
Myanmar Tele Fax News Ag ency
P. O. Box 1187
Yangon
Myanmar
****************************MISC******************************
NEWSWEEK: WHEN WORDS ARE THE BEST WEAPON
February 27, 1995
Revolution: Information an undermine dicatorships, and the
faster it flows, the more trouble they're in. How rebels use
the Internet and satellite TV:
Here's how to wage a revolution in the Information Age: two
weeks ago Mexican government troops lunged into the rain
forests of Chiapas state in renewed pursuit of the Zapatista
rebels. When the federal soldiers reached an insurgent
stonghold at Guadalupe Tepeyac, the guerrillas melted into the
jungle, leaving behind a few trucks but taking with them their
most valuable equipment--fax machines and laptop computers. In
tretreat, the Zapatistas faxed outa communique claiing that
the army was "killing children, beating and raping women...and
bombing us." Soon the government was taking another public
relations beating It stopped the offensive and allowed
reporters into the area. They found no signs of atrocities or
bombing. But the government had been thwarted, and the rebels
were free to figh on, with words as their best weapons.
The Zapatistas' chief spokesman, Subcommandante Marcos (the
government says hs name is Rafael Guillen_, knows that he will
never obtain political power from the barrel of a gun. "What
governmetns should really fear," he told a Newsweek reporter
last summer, "is a communications expert." Informatoin
technology has always been seen as a potentially revolutionary
weapon. Almost as soon as the printing press was invented,
governmetns and churges tried to control it, and the Ottoman
Empire shunned the technology for almost 300 years. The
American Revolution was spurred on by Benjamin Franklin, a
printer; Thomas Paine, a pamphleteer, and Samuel Adams, a
propagandist. In the modern era vulnerable governments have
been challenged by proliferating means of communication. Long-
distance telephone service, for example, helped to undermine
the Soviet Union, connecting dissidents to each other and to
supporters outside the country. Other Communist regimes have
been weakened by radio and television signals: West German
programs beamed into East Germany, and broadcasts from Hong
Kong feeding the appetite for reform in mainland China.
Violent revolutions, especially those that resort to terrorism,
often have the most success with relatively low-tech weapons.
But like the Zapatistas, many of today's revolutionaries are
better talkers than fighters, accomplishing little or nothing
on the battlefield. "These new insurgencies, in the end, are
aimed more at high-intensity lobbying and low-intensity
fighting," says William LeoGrande of the American University in
Washington, an expert on leftest movements. Now they have the
tools they need. Older communications technology such as radio
and televsion is centralized and subject to government contorl,
if only through the assignemetn of frequencies and the jamming
of unauthorized signals. The latest gear, such as satellite
television receivers or computers linked to the Internet, is
decentralized, diffused and --so far-- almost impossible to
police or control.
The Internet is the fastest-growing communication tool, with as
many as 30 million subscribers in 92 countries. Even Chinese
dissidents are beginning to use e-mail. News about the fight
against Chinese repression in Tibet is regularly gathered and
circulated by the Longon-based Tibet Information Network, one
of dozens of human rights organizations using the Information
Superhighway. In the Soviet Union, the Internet played a
small but vital role in defeating the attempted coup by
Communist hard liners in 1991. Soviet computer scientists had
hooked up to the Internet only a few months before. When Boris
Yeltsin and his reformists holed up in the White House, the
Russian republics's Parliament, someone inside the building
started sending bulletins, including Yeltsin's edicts, on the
Internet.l They were picked up b y the Voice of America (VOA)
which broadcast them back to the Soviet Union by radio, helping
to rally public support for Yeltsin.
Since then, the VOA has made a big investment in the Internet.
It now offers acomputer users written news reports in 47
languages and audio bulletins in 16. Access is obtained
through two fo the Interent's standard communications
protocols: Internet Gopher and FTP (File Transfer Protocol).
These aren't the most advanced gates, but that's precisely why
the VOA chose them; more users overseas are likely to have
them. The VOA currently logs about 100,000 uses of its
Internet service each week. Thta's minuscule compared with the
92 million weekly VOA radio listeners. But Christopher Kern,
the VOA's director of computer services, sayd the Internet has
"wonderful demographics:; users are educated and influential.
They also seem to have sensitive political antennae. Recently,
when Washington and Beijing got into a nasty dispute over
trade, no one in China logged on to the VOA Internet for an
entire week. The next week, with the trade issue under
negotiation, they came back on-line.
On a much more modest scale, the Internet also has become a
platform for the Zapatistas. One of the services offering
information about the movement is run from Mexico City by
Barbara pillsbury, a 24-year old American who works for a
development organization. she transmits bulletins about the
Zapatistas and communiques from Subcomandante Marcos to
subscribers around the world (Her Internet address:
pueblo@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx) She says interest in the Zapatistas
helped introduce many Mexicans to cyberspace. "Beyond their
concerns about Chiapas," says Pillsbury, "Mexicans have
realized that they need to be part of this technology."
Satellite TV is much easier to use, given the proper dish-
shaped antenna and decoding equipment. The technology has
become popular in many countries where the native TM menu is
limited. There are thought to be more than 150,000 dishes in
Saudi Arabia, pulling in programming as varied as CNN, Italian
game shows, soft pornography from Tukey, sitcoms from Israel
and religious fulminations from Iran, the kindom's archenemy.
China, where dishes are institutionally owned, would seem to be
at the opposite end of the scale as a market for satellite TV.
But four months ago the VOA began beaming a weekly hour of TV
news in Mandarin Chinese from the AsiaSat, whicha has a good
broadcast "footprint" over the mailand. Is anyone watching?
The VOA doesn't know yet. "We shot an arrow in the air," says
Kern.
Authoritarian governments of all political persuasions would
like to shoot down satellite TV. Jamming is much more
difficult that with radio, which uses a narrower and more
vulnerable bandwidth. A more productive approach is to outlaw
the dish antennas. The conservative Saudei government banned
them last year, threatening a fine of $130,000 on anyone who
continues to use them. Fundalmentalist Iran outlawed the
dishes last month. The mullahs who rule Iran have been
fighting a rear guard action against communications technology
ever since they took power in 1979. Previously they tried--and
failed--to suppress videocassettes and camcorders.
The irony is that Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and his followers
overthrew the Shah of Iran by using even more primitive
communications technology. While Khomeini was still exiled in
Parris, his calls to rebel agains the shah were disseminated
throughout Iran on tape cassettes. Any means of communicatoin
can be an intstrument of revolution, as long as it's in fairly
widespread use. For years, Iraqui dictator Saddam Hussein
banned private ownership of typewriters. He remembered the
subversive power of the mimeograph machine when he was an
ambitious young rebel plotting his own takeover.
The most tightly closed societies, such as North Korea, and the
most violently repressive one, such as Iraq and Libya, may not
be susceptible to an Information Age revolution. InNorth
Korea, shortwave radios are unavailable, even to the few who
could afford them. Fax machins, privately owned computers and
satellite TV are unheard of. Partly to constrict the flow of
information, travel is severely limited, within the country as
well as outside it: even bicyles were banned until about three
years ago. Iraq and Libya have considerably more open
sociietes, but their regimes remain in power thorugh the most
ruthless terror tactics, killing off opponents, real or
imagined, and utterly intimidating the rest of the population,
which in any case has little access to outside informatoin.
Even in less rigid dictatorships, communications technology
cannet make a revolution by itself. The Soviet Union was done
in by its own economic failures and a ruinous arms race, not by
long-distance phone calls or foreign radio broadcasts. In
Iran, the conditions for revolution were created by the shah's
brutal repression and his breakneck modernization program,
which outraged Muslim tradition. But the flow of informatoin
helps to undermine such regimes, and the faster it flows, the
more trouble they're in. Few states can afford to opt out of
the Information Age; they have to keep up with at least some of
hte latest scientific, technial and commercial developments.
"We have a kind of knowledge market going on which is, in a
way, impervious to the efforts of states to control it," says
Paul Wilkinson, professor of international relations at the
University of St. Andrews in Britain. If dictatorships want to
play any part in the modern world, they have to risk exposing
themselves to ideas and information that could inspire reform
or spark revolution.
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NEWS SOURCES REGULARLY COVERED/ABBREVIATIONS USED BY BURMANET:
ABSDF: ALL BURMA STUDENT'S DEMOCRATIC FRONT
AP: ASSOCIATED PRESS
AFP: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
AW: ASIAWEEK
Bt.: THAI BAHT; 25 Bt. EQUALS US$1 (APPROX),
BBC: BRITISH BROADCASTING CORPORATION
BKK POST: BANGKOK POST (DAILY NEWSPAPER, BANGKOK)
BRC-CM: BURMESE RELIEF CENTER-CHIANG MAI
BRC-J: BURMESE RELIEF CENTER-JAPAN
CPPSM: C'TEE FOR PUBLICITY OF THE PEOPLE'S STRUGGLE IN MONLAND
FEER: FAR EAST ECONOMIC REVIEW
IRRAWADDY: NEWSLETTER PUBLISHED BY BURMA INFORMATION GROUP
KHRG: KAREN HUMAN RIGHTS GROUP
KNU: KAREN NATIONAL UNION
Kt. BURMESE KYAT; UP TO 150 KYAT-US$1 BLACK MARKET
106 KYAT US$1-SEMI-OFFICIAL
6 KYAT-US$1 OFFICIAL
MOA: MIRROR OF ARAKAN
MNA: MYANMAR NEWS AGENCY (SLORC)
NATION: THE NATION (DAILY NEWSPAPER, BANGKOK)
NCGUB: NATIONAL COALITION GOVERNMENT OF THE UNION OF BURMA
NLM: NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR (DAILY STATE-RUN NEWSPAPER, RANGOON)
NMSP: NEW MON STATE PARTY
RTA:REC.TRAVEL.ASIA NEWSGROUP
SCB:SOC.CULTURE.BURMA NEWSGROUP
SCT:SOC.CULTURE.THAI NEWSGROUP
SEASIA-L: S.E.ASIA BITNET MAILING LIST
SLORC: STATE LAW AND ORDER RESTORATION COUNCIL
TAWSJ: THE ASIAN WALL STREET JOURNAL
UPI: UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL
USG: UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT
XNA: XINHUA NEWS AGENCY
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