Wired News on March 29, 1995

[FreeBurma@xxxxxxx]

Attn: Burma Newsreaders
Re: Wired News on March 29, 1995
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Burma warns Karen guerrillas not to play politics
  
    BANGKOK, March 29 (Reuter) - A Burmese government official said on
Wednesday Burmese military authorities had made direct contract with Karen
guerrillas and he warned them to refrain from playing politics and to begin
ceasefire talks. 

    ``The chance of talks with them is possible if they are not playing
politics and are sincere,'' Deputy Foreign Minister Nyunt Swe told reporters
after talks with Thai Foreign Minister Krasae Chanawonge. 

    Nyunt Swe said representatives of Burma's ruling military body had made
direct contact with leaders of the Karen National Union (KNU) and Rangoon did
not need Thai help as a mediator in negotiations with the autonomy-seeking
rebels. 

    A Thai intelligence source told Reuters on Tuesday that guerrilla leaders
met Burmese army representatives at an undisclosed location in western
Thailand the previous day. 

    Guerrilla sources said on Tuesday that the KNU had suspended offensive
operations against Burmese forces and would begin ceasefire talks soon. 

    Last month Thailand offered to act as a mediator between Rangoon's ruling
State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) and the guerrillas but Nyunt
Shwe said that was not necessary. 

    Nyunt Swe said 14 guerrilla groups had reached ceasefire agreements with
the SLORC and he advised the KNU to follow suit. 

    The KNU has been fighting Rangoon for greater autonomy since 1949. 

    Nyunt Swe is in Thailand on a two-day visit to attend a meeting of a
Thai-Burmese boundary committee. 

 REUTER


Transmitted: 95-03-29 08:12:45 EST
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Burmese delegates meet to draft new constitution

      By Deborah Charles 

    RANGOON, March 29 (Reuter) - More than 600 delegates, most hand-picked by
Burma's military government, met on Wednesday to resume work on writing a new
constitution which some diplomats dismiss as more form than substance. 

    The 633 delegates, dressed in national costume or military uniforms,
attended the opening meeting of the National Convention to draft Burma's
third constitution in the grounds of the Presidential Palace in central
Rangoon. 

    Some delegates do not expect to see a quick conclusion to the convention,
which met first in January 1993 with the goal of writing and adopting a
constitution that authorities say will allow a democratically elected
government. 

    ``What's the hurry?'' one army delegate asked Reuters. ``This
constitution might be the last one we have. We want to make sure it's good. 

    ``We have a saying here: 'If you want the best quality, you must take
your time.' That's our theme,'' the delegate added. 

    Rangoon-based diplomats do not hold out much hope regarding the
constitution, saying even if it is completed it is not likely to be followed.


    ``My views on the constitution are that it is not worth more than the
paper it's written on,'' said one diplomat. 

    After the ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) assumed
power in 1988 following a brutal suppression of a national pro-democracy
uprising, it promised to hold elections ``as soon as law and order have been
restored.'' 

    Though a 1990 election resulted in a landslide victory for the main
opposition party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), SLORC did not
accept the outcome and many elected members of parliament were arrested in a
crackdown on the opposition. 

    Afterwards, Burma's powerful military intelligence chief Khin Nyunt said
the body elected was not a parliament but a ``constituent assembly'' with
powers only to draft a new constitution. 

    When the National Convention was first summoned in January 1993, only 107
were elected members of parliament and 49 were party representatives. The
military hand-picked the rest. 

    The convention has adjourned three times because delegates were unable to
agree on certain issues. 

    Delegates say the main stumbling block deals with Burma's many ethnic
groups and their rights of self administration. 

    Wednesday's session was dealing with this issue, to decide which of
Burma's many ethnic groups would qualify for self administered regions within
the existing state structure. 

    So far, the constitution calls for a multi-party system with a bicameral
legislature of 664 representatives. A quarter of the representatives in each
house will be military officers appointed by the commmander in chief of the
armed forces. 

    The elected members of each house and the military representatives will
each elect a vice-president. From the three elected vice-presidents, the
representatives will choose one to be the country's president. 

    Under Burma's last constitution, dated 1974, there was only one elected
house and a figurehead executive. The real power was held by the chairman of
the only party, the Burmese Socialist Programme Party. 

 REUTER


Transmitted: 95-03-29 05:07:27 EST
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Rights group fears for safety of arrested Burmese

      BANGKOK, March 29 (Reuter) - International human rights group Amnesty
International said it fears for the safety of a group of young Burmese
activists arrested last month during a rare public demonstration in Rangoon. 

    The London-based rights group, in a statement received in Bangkok on
Wednesday, urged Burma's military authorities to ensure none of the activists
is tortured or ill-treated. 

    Diplomats in Rangoon said some 50 young activists were arrested on
February 20 during a brief protest to mark the funeral that day of Burma's
last democratically-elected Prime Minister U Nu. 

    Amnesty said it had obtained the names of four of those arrested and
added that at least two of them had been previously imprisoned for their
political activities. 

    ``Amnesty International fears for the safety of these four young
activists... and renews its calls to the military authorities to ensure that
none of the 50 activists are tortured or ill-treated,'' the statement said. 

    Burma's military government, formed after putting down a democracy
uprising in 1988, tolerates no opposition or criticism and rare
anti-government demonstrations are quickly stamped out. 

 REUTER


Transmitted: 95-03-29 02:10:26 EST
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