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BurmaNet News September 22, 1995





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The BurmaNet News: September 22, 1995
Issue#233

Noted in Passing:
We are ready to place all our men and resources at your disposal
and supervision, even if it should mean we will have to cooperate
with the present government of 'Myanmar' or any other government.
- Zao Gunjade, the new chairman of the Central Executive Committee,
Shan State Restoration Council, in a letter to the UN Secretary General

Headlines:
========
BKK POST: SHAN LEADERS OFFER TO WIPE OUT OPIUM FIELDS
REUTER: BURMESE EXILES AWAIT CHANGE BEFORE GOING HOME
REUTER: BURMESE AIDS PROBLEM DUE IN PART TO POLITICS
NATION: US SENATE BILL TO SLAP SANCTIONS ON BURMA UP IN THE AIR
NATION: BURMA DISPUTES THEORY OF AIDS HOT SPOT, DUBS 
	  ALLEGATIONS AS BASELESS
NATION: LETTER TO THE EDITOR - FAIRNESS NEEDED
NATION: LETTER TO THE EDITOR - SHATTERED DREAM
BKK POST: THE BURMESE JUNTA APPROVES 157 PROJECTS WORTH 
	      MORE THAN $3B
ABSDO:	STATEMENT ON THE 7TH ANNIVERSARY OF MILITARY COUP
----------------------------------------------------------
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*******************

BKK POST: SHAN LEADERS OFFER TO WIPE OUT OPIUM FIELDS
September 21, 1995

THE Shan State Restoration Council and its military arm, the Mong
Tai Army, have called on the United Nations lo oversee the
eradication of opium production in the north east of Burma which
borders Thailand.

They expressed their readiness to place all their troops and
resources at the UN's disposal, and even to work with the Rangoon
military junta which it has been fighting for 37 years, or any
other government. 

The request is the first major political move since a new 12-
member Central Executive Committee was formed on August 12,
following intense leadership infighting which saw drug kingpin
Khun Sa step down.

Khun Sa, whose opium production supplies 70 per cent of the drug
on the United States market which made him Washington's most
wanted criminal, was increasingly seen as an obstacle for the
Shan people's international support in their long struggle for
freedom and self-determination.

In a letter to UN Secretary General Boutros Boutros Ghali, dated
September 12, a copy of which was obtained by the Bangkok Post,
Zao Gunjade, the new chairman of the Central Executive Committee,
said: "We hope the change in the Shan leadership and the policies
receives the approval of the international community and
yourself.

"We humbly appeal to you for your assistance in restoring peace,
unification, democracy and human rights in Burma and in the
timely elimination of the drug problem.

"We are ready to place all our men and resources at your disposal
and supervision, even if it should mean we will have to cooperate
with the present government of 'Myanmar' or any other government.

"The Central Executive Committee would also place itself under
the direction of any international agency or task force appointed
by you."

A copy of the new political line was also attached to the letter
to the UN chief, in which the Shan State clearly set out its
target for full autonomy and a new union under a united central
government based on equal status and rights of all constituent
states.

Other elements in the political line is a democratic system of
government, full enjoyment of human rights by the people, rule of
law, political settlement of all existing political issues, and
unity and peace of and for the people of all races.

"The word Shan is provisionally used to denote the citizens of
Shan State without discrimination as to race, social status,
culture or religion. " 

The new political line was drawn up on September 11.

*****************************************************************

REUTER: BURMESE AIDS PROBLEM DUE IN PART TO POLITICS
September 19, 1995                         By Deborah Charles 

    CHIANG MAI- AIDS in Burma is bordering on epidemic
proportions partly because the country's political isolation has limited
resources with which to fight the disease, economists and health experts said
on Tuesday. 

    Burma ranks third in Asia after India and Thailand, respectively, for the
number of people who have the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) which can
cause AIDS.  Health experts told the Third International Conference on AIDS in Asia
and the Pacific there were between 200,000 and 400,000 people in Burma who
were HIV positive, and the numbers were rising. 

    ``HIV/AIDS is a significant problem in Myanmar (Burma),'' Myo Thant,
senior economist with the Asian Development Bank, told Reuters. ``It's
conceivable that there will be 600,000 (carriers) next year, given the rate
at which it's been spreading. To be quite honest, the epidemic will only peak
in a few more years.'' 

    Dr Bo Kywe, deputy director of Burma's AIDS/Sexually Transmitted Disease
programme, said the country was trying to deal with the problem but any
large-scale educational preventive programme would be difficult to launch
without additional funds. 

    ``It is a national concern. But to be frank, we have very limited
resources,'' he told Reuters, noting total aid by United Nations
organisations to help Burma fight AIDS and HIV amounts to about US$1.5
million a year. 

    Experts said one of the main reasons for the small amount of aid received
to fight the disease compared to many other countries was Burma's political
situation. Virtually all international aid was cut off in 1988 after the
military-led State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) took control of
the country and brutally supressed pro-democracy uprisings. 

    But experts say vital health issues such as AIDS should be divorced from
politics. ``My belief is that the HIV/AIDS issue should not be politicised,'' Bo
Kywe said. ``It is different. Neither (democracy leader) Aung San Suu Kyi nor
the SLORC generals are going to suffer. It's the people who are going to
suffer. (AIDS) has nothing to do with who is governing.'' 

    John Dwyer, president of the AIDS Society of Asia, agreed and called on
foreign governments to look beyond politics if lives were to be saved. 
``There have been far too few cooperative, international programmes to
help Burma,'' Dwyer told reporters. ``There is no reason for complacency. We
must work with Burma to try and stop the spread of the disease. It's out of
control. If we're not mature enough to divorce (AIDS) from the political
regime then we are not very mature.'' 

    Dwyer said that although Burma ranks third in Asia in terms of the number
of projected HIV cases, on a percentage basis it was the worst because of its
small population. 

    Most HIV cases in Burma were intravenous drug users, prostitutes and
migrant labourers. The latter moved freely across borders into countries such
as China, India and Thailand, thereby raising the need for intra-regional
cooperation. 

    ``We are losing the fight,'' said Dwyer. ``Things are going to get worse
unless we do things a lot smarter. We have to have cooperation.'' 
*****************************

REUTER: BURMESE EXILES AWAIT CHANGE BEFORE GOING HOME
September 18, 1995         By Robert Birsel 

    BANGKOK- Exiled Burmese democracy activists marked the
seventh anniversary on Monday of the day they became outcasts but many said
it was still too dangerous to go home despite the release of their leader
Aung San Suu Kyi. The exiles say that as long as the military holds absolute power 
no one can guarantee their safety if they return to Burma. 

    Seven months of unprecedented democracy protests across the country were
finally crushed on September 18, 1988 as the military set up a new ruling
body, the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC), and silenced the
cries for change with repeated volleys of rifle fire.  Hundreds died in the crackdown. 

    Thousands of people, most of them students, fled their homes in Rangoon,
Mandalay and other towns and linked up with anti-government insurgents in the
hills to continue their fight against military rule. 

    ``It's been seven years but we in the democracy movement think like it
was only yesterday,'' said Zaw Min, a senior member of a student guerrilla
army set up after they arrived in the jungle. 

    Within weeks an estimated 10,000 students had arrived in insurgent areas
in Burma's remote frontier areas, most in the Karen guerrilla zone in the
southeast, near the Thai border. 

    Malaria exacted a shocking toll of young exiles in the first year and
many others gave up the struggle and went home. Hundreds drifted across the
border into Thailand where, without passports or papers, they played a
continuous game of cat and mouse with Thai authorities. 

    Today, about 1,500 diehard members of the All Burma Students Democratic
Front (ABSDF) guerrilla army are holding out in the jungles along the
Thai-Burmese border. Hundreds more are living in Thailand, mounting
occassional lightning demonstrations outside the Burmese embassy, and
waiting. 

    The release in July of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi raised some
hopes, but the exiles say they have no guarantees of security if they go
back. ``After her release people were very hopeful, very encouraged but Suu Kyi
herself says the only thing that has changed has been her release,'' said
another student who fled in September 1988. 

    Since her July 10 release Suu Kyi has repeatedly called for dialogue on
national reconciliation between the military, the democracy movement and
autonomy-seeking ethnic minority groups. 

    For weeks the SLORC ignored her but earlier this month senior generals
told Madeleine Albright, the visiting U.S. representative to the United
Nations, that they were considering talks with the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize
laureate. 

    ``Suu Kyi herself has said we shouldn't come back yet,'' said Zaw Min.
``She can't guarantee our safe return. Nobody can say if we will be safe or
not.''   There have been cases of returning students being rearrested and
imprisoned, students and human rights groups say. No one is willing to trust
their safety to the ruling military. 

    ``Are you kidding?'' said one student when asked if he was considering
going back. ``There have to be some genuine changes, some kind of
power-sharing before we can even think of going back,'' said the student who
requested anonymity. 

    ``It's been a long struggle. I'm really homesick, I want to see my family
but my younger brother is still in prison,'' added the 28-year-old whose
brother was sentenced to 10 years in prison in 1991 for distributing
pro-democracy leaflets. ``I don't know when I'll be able to go back but I
don't think it will be in the near future. Maybe another five or 10 years.'' 
****************************

NATION: US SENATE BILL TO SLAP SANCTIONS ON BURMA UP IN THE AIR
September 21, 1995         Agence France-Presse

WASHINGTON _ The Senate was expected this week to authorize US
funds for democracy-building activities in Burma, but the fate of
proposed sanctions legislation against the ruling junta there was
unclear.

Senator Mitch McConnell, a Republican from Kentucky and chairman
of a key funding panel, has earmarked two million dollars for
democracy-building activities in Burma, according to his
spokesman.

But he had not yet attached tough sanctions aimed at Burma's
ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council (Slorc) to foreign
aid legislation for the 1996 fiscal year, which begins October 1.

McConnell could still do so before senators take up the foreign
aid bill, spokesman Kyle Simmons told AFP. 

The Kentucky senator, chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee
on Foreign Operations has said he would "in all likelihood" offer
a sanctions amendment aimed at pressing the Slorc to free all
political prisoners and hand over power to an elected government.

His legislation would ban all US trade with, investment in, and
travel to Burma _ in which the United States is among the top
investors _ and suspend aid to countries selling arms to the
Slorc.

The Clinton administration has said little on Burma in recent
months but has made clear its opposition to the proposed
legislation, which it says would diminish its ability to set
foreign policy.

Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific
Affairs Kent Wiedemann said September 7 that sanctions would be
"counterproductive" following the junta's release in July of
Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, who spent six years under house
arrest.

Testifying before a congressional committee, Wiedemann cited a
lack of international support for sanctions against Burma and
called for continued US support of UN aid programs there.


# REUTER:  reports from Singapore: Burma said yesterday it would
accept an invitation to join four other Indochinese nations in
jointly tapping the resources of the Mekong River for economic
development. 

David Abel, Burma's minister of national planning and economic
development, told reporters Rangoon was identifying projects for
development as part of the Mekong River Commission (MRC).

"We believe that despite having our own national identity, we
have one common aspiration, that is cooperation and development
for peace and stability," Abel told a Singapore seminar on the
Mekong's development.

Cambodia's First Prime Minister Prince Norodom Ranariddh said the
MRC had outlined a framework for the development of
trans-lndochinese highways. "We have the time frame, I think we 
have found the funding," he said.

*****************************************************************

NATION: BURMA DISPUTES THEORY OF AIDS HOT SPOT, DUBS 
ALLEGATIONS AS BASELESS
September 21, 1995              Mukdawan Sakboon

CHIANG MAI _ The Burmese delegation yesterday denied that Burma
is the centre of HIV/Aids contagion in the region, and rejected
claims sufferers there were being abused as "absolutely
incorrect".

Delegates said an active campaign to combat HIV/Aids had long
been in place in Burma, and all infected people were given proper
and compassionate care, without discrimination.

On Tuesday an Australian immunologist, John Dwyer, told reporters
the Burmese government was making every possible mistake in
dealing with the epidemic.

He said authorities banished prostitutes to a "village" and
intravenous drug users to detoxification programmes or jail. He
said he had seen Aids virus carriers dying in a Rangoon hospital,
ankles chained to their beds because they were awaiting trial for
drug offences.

Dr Bo Kywe, director of Burma's national programme on Aids and
STDs, told a press conference yesterday the reports were
"absolutely incorrect".

"People like him [Dwyer] who are walking on the international
stage have to highlight some points, a lot of people are walking
in this way," said Bo Kywe said.  Another Burmese doctor, Rai Mara, 
said Dwyer had visited Rangoon three years ago and seen an HIV/Aids 
carrier shackled in a hospital.

The man was a prisoner sent to the hospital by a doctor for
medical attention, Rai Mara said. Burma was not the only country
where some types of prisoners were shackled, he said, adding that
since the time Dwyer visited, authorities had removed shackles on
some prisoners, including HIV/Aids virus carriers.

The Burmese delegates said an Aids prevention programme - was
already in place at all levels, including training and
monitoring.  Bo Kywe said the standard sentinel serosurveillance test 
was introduced in Burma in 1992, particularly among the "high risk
groups" _ drug users, commercial sex workers, male and female
attendants at STD clinics.

The other identified "risk" groups were blood donors, pregnant
women and military recruits, he said.  Monitoring was done twice 
a year at 19 locations all over the country, he said.

Bo Kywe acknowledged it was not possible to say HIV/Aids was
under control in Burma, but said the government was trying to
control the disease, as were other countries.
"We won't be either optimistic or pessimistic, but we are trying
to do our best," he said.

He said the rate of HIV-positive test results had declined in
some population groups, but remained constant among STD
attendants at about 9 per cent.

The infection rate among commercial sex workers, however, had
increased from around 9 per cent to 12 per cent, he said.

Since 1989, about 80 per cent of doctors and medical officers in
Burma had taken part in a training programme.

This enabled them to diagnose HIV-Aids infection and care for
patients, both the medical and social aspects, Rai Mara said.
He insisted that all the HIV/Aids people received proper and
compassionate care and attention, without discrimination.
Many training programmes were organized for doctors and prison
officers and administrators about the disease, its diagnosis and
the transfer of HIV/Aids prisoners to hospital.

*****************************************************************

NATION: LETTER TO THE EDITOR - FAIRNESS NEEDED
September 21, 1995

The media, especially in this century, have become the best
weapon to achieve success or gain power.

Media coverage is now becoming an important tool in the academic
environment at some level. For some people, it is necessary for
daily survival what to do, where to go find jobs, how to
discover new places and who is doing what. The media's important
position, however, ,should not be abused or degraded by some
reporters. I am referring to people like Donald Wilson and David
Henley, who recently co-wrote an article in The Nation (Sept 15)
about Burma's Muslim minority.

Initially, the article seems to focus on Asean's actions against
Slorc's mistreatment of Muslims in Babedan, Rangoon. It claims
that Asean should pay closer attention on this vis-a-vis its
constructive engagement policy. It is politically childish and
socially sick to reason that Asean will change its constructive
engagement policy just because of the way Slorc is treating
Muslims m Babedan.

I have been reading articles written mostly by English-speaking
reporters who have the ability to use words wisely in shaping
their opinions. Their presentation, though, leaves much to be
desired. But this particular article, while seeming to support
the Burmese people's struggle for democracy, has spawned a new
problem since it divides the local populace into Buddhists and
Muslims. Wilson and Henley should have done more research on how
Slorc treats the people of Burma. It is not only Muslims who are
being mistreated; everyone, regardless of race or religion, is
being mistreated.

If these two know the meaning of the word fair, they would have
also included in their article the repression conducted against
people in Pagan, Mandalay and in almost every city and town.
People are being forced to leave their ancestors' homes. Why
wasn't this mentioned?

This article leaves the impression that Burmese Muslims are being
selectively mistreated. Some people might have the interpretation
that Burmese discriminate only against the Muslim population.

Tun Myint
Indiana

***************************

NATION: LETTER TO THE EDITOR - SHATTERED DREAM
September 21, 1995

At a time when events in Burma seem to offer some glint of hope,
reports continue to stream in with regards to ceasefire
violations, forced porterage and other human rights violations.

One would hope that the major players in the country's political
pot such as Slorc, Aung San Suu Kyi, ethnic leaders and the
democratic opposition might find in themselves the goodwill to
chart the course of Burma's future, which invariably lies with
the youth. But now it seems that the youth are the most
disadvantaged in Burma.

Over 600 students took the examination for 1995 in Putao, Kachin
State in March and the results came out in August The anxiety to
know the result of nearly a year's effort and dedication, both
for students and parents, coupled with their expectations
came to a dreadful end after it was announced that only four
students passed. This could be due to the fact that teachers
are unqualified, unmotivated and poorly paid. Teachers from the
cities refuse to stay for any length of time in their assigned
stations, especially if they are in ethnic areas. 

Kachin Expatriate
Chiang Mai 

*****************************************************************

BKK POST: THE BURMESE JUNTA APPROVES 157 PROJECTS WORTH 
	      MORE THAN $3B
September 21, 1995               Singapore AFP

THE Burmese junta has approved more than $3 billion in foreign
investment, nearly half of it in energy projects, but wants more
overseas capital, a Burmese minister said here yesterday.

Appealing for greater investment to modernise his country
National Planning and Economic Development Minister David Abel
told a seminar here that Burma "has made a significant move"
towards a "market-oriented economy."

"What is really needed for further development is the influx of
capital and technology in order to reap the most effective
benefit of (Burma's) endowment in natural and human resources,"
the brigadier-general said.

"This is the most opportune time to do business in Myanmar,
making best use of its abundant resources for mutual benefits,"
he told the seminar sponsored by the Geneva-based World Economic
Forum.

Myanmar is the official name for Burma adopted by the ruling
State Law and Order Council.

Out of 157 projects approved by the end of August under a foreign
investment law enacted in late 1988, shortly after the junta came
to power, 24 oil and gas projects accounted for $1.44 billion in
approved investments.

They were followed by 31 hotel and tourism projects, totalling
$604 million, Abel said in a seminar paper.

Other major investment sectors were fisheries, with $252 million,
real estate with $224 million and mining with $192 million.

The leading investor in terms of cumulative approved investments
was Britain, with $642 million, followed by Singapore, with $548
million, France with $465 million and Burma's closest neighbour,
Thailand. with $418 million.

The biggest foreign investment  projects in Burma is the Yadanar
gas field, in the Gulf of Moattama being developed by Total of
France and US energy firm Unocal, with estimated gas reserves of
9,000 billion cubic feet (270 billion cubic metres).

Abel said gas from the field, mainly intended to be sold to
Thailand, may also be used for the domestic market.

"Therefore, there is a great potential for the downstream
industries or oil- and gas-related industries," he said.

In the hotel and tourism sector Abel said once the 31 ongoing
projects are completed, 5,000 new rooms should be available in
Burma, which has designated 1996 as "Visit Myanmar" year to
promote itself as a tourist destination.
          
"Many investment opportunities are also available for the
development of golf courses, beach resorts, tourist villages,
amusement parks, recreational centres, service apartments,
condominium and office complexes," Abel added.

*****************************************************************
Typed by the Research Department of the ABSDF {MTZ} 21.9.95
*****************************************************************

ABSDO:	STATEMENT ON THE 7TH ANNIVERSARY OF MILITARY COUP
September 19, 1995

	Today's anniversary marks the brutal military crack-down against 
the nation-wide democracy uprising in Burma seven years ago. This military 
coup resulted in the loss of thousands of lives.

	Even with the recent release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the existence 
of basic democratic rights for Burmese people is still denied to them by the 
military regime. Thousands of activists - including Min Ko Naing and 16 
elected  representatives of the 1990 national elections - are still in 
detention with inhumane torture having been practiced on them. SLORC continue 
to reject the result of the 1990 elections and proceed with the sham 
"national convention" to ensure military power in the future Burma. Ceasefire 
agreements with ethnic groups have not been sincerely conducted by SLORC 
generals.

	Forced labour and Prison labour on many development projects are 
extensively used throughout the country and are international condemned. 
Criticism against many human rights abuses in Burmese tourism-oriented 
projects are becoming widely documented.

	Trade and investment in Burma do not benefit the grassroot population 
but serve only to reinforce the military oppression against the development 
of democratic exercises and human rights restoration.

ABSDO calls for:
		* strident Australian and international trade sanctions
		* an arms embargo
		* diplomatic boycotting of the SLORC regime accompanied 
		  by a tourism boycott of the regime's "Visit Myanmar Year, 
		  1996"

This must be done in order to bring about the following changes:
		* the transfer of power to the peoples' representatives 
		  of the 1990 election 
		* the abolishment of the "national convention"
		* the release of all political prisoners including 
		  student leader Min Ko Naing
		* the immediate ceasation of all human rights abuses.

	All Burma Students Democratic Organisation (Australia) supported by; 
Australia Burma Council, Committee for Restoration of Democracy in Burma, 
Democratic Burmese Organisation (Japan), National Union of Students, 
Network of Overseas Students Collective in Australia, ANU and University 
of Canberra Students' Associations.
*****************************************