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BurmaNet News:November 8, 1995 #274
- Subject: BurmaNet News:November 8, 1995 #274
- From: strider@xxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 09 Nov 1995 05:39:00
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Date: Thu, 9 Nov 1995 05:39:35 -0800
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The BurmaNet News: November 8, 1995
Issue #274
Noted in Passing:
Some of the allegations received indicate that soldiers
view rape as a right, and that sometimes it is encouraged
by officers... and that women are sometimes singled out
for portering or other forced labour in order to be raped.
- UN Report on Human Rights abuses in Burma
(quoted in BKK POST: UN RIGHTS REPORT PAINTS
GRUESOME PICTURE OF BURMA)
HEADLINES:
==========
REUTER: RANGOON COMES TO SAREJEVO TO SHOW SOLIDARITY
ISBDA: SLORC EMBASSY OFFICIALLY DENYING CHILDREN'S RIGHTS
FBC: OCT 27 RECAP - U. MICHIGAN
ANNOUNCEMENT: BURMA PANEL DISCUSSION AT TUFTS
BKK POST: UN RIGHTS REPORT PAINTS GRUESOME PICTURE OF BURMA
NATION:BURMA MAY BE USING FORCED LABOUR FOR TOURISM, UN SAYS
BKK POST: WE CAN END BORDER TIFFS: JUNTA MEMBER
BKK POST: BURMESE STUDENTS TO RALLY AGAINST SLORC MEMBERS
BKK POST: BURMESE THREATS CAUSE GEMS TRADE TO PLUMMET
BKK POST: FISHING DISPUTE TO BE DISCUSSED
NATION: LETTER TO SUU KYI LANDS JAILED DISSIDENT IN SOLITARY
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***********************
REUTER: RANGOON COMES TO SAREJEVO TO SHOW SOLIDARITY
November 5, 1995 By Peter Bale
SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina (Reuter) - Two bloody struggles from
opposite ends of the world came together Saturday when Burmese dissidents
arrived in a snowy Sarajevo to promote their cause in Bosnia.
``What I see in Sarajevo is hope for the future,'' exiled Burmese
academic-turned-actor U Aung Ko told a news conference in the bullet-pocked
building of Sarajevo's arts university.
``Free thought, freedom from fear,'' said Aung Ko, who stars in the film
``Beyond Rangoon'' by British director John Boorman.
Aung Ko was in Sarajevo under the auspices of the Soros Foundation of
Hungarian-born international financier George Soros which is sponsoring
programs in Bosnia and in Burma.
Soros has provided water supplies, newsprint, technology and this month a
film festival for besieged Sarajevo.
In Burma the Soros Foundation works to infiltrate independent radio
communications and pro-democracy literature to combat the ruling military
junta.
``Beyond Rangoon'' is a centerpiece of the Sarajevo festival along with
less polemical contemporary classics like Quentin Tarantino's bloodthirsty
``Pulp Fiction'' and ``Reservoir Dogs'' -- oddly popular in a city where
bloodshed is a daily event.
``Why are we here? Insanity, same as you,'' joked Soros Foundation Burma
Project director Maureen Aung-Thwin.
She said the Soros Foundation was determined through festivals and other
projects to bring some kind of intellectual and cultural normality to the
once-thriving city of Sarajevo.
Bringing it a taste of Burma's struggle is part of that.
The new Boorman film is a drama loosely based on the 1988 student
uprisings in Rangoon against the military committee which has run the
Southeast Asian country since 1962.
In real life, Aung Ko is a Paris-based academic who runs a Burmese
pressure group named after Nobel Peace Prize-winning Burmese opposition
leader Aung San Suu Kyi, recently released from house arrest by the military
leadership.
For Soros Foundation director in Sarajevo Zdravko Grebo, the promotion of
the Burmese democratic cause is an important chance for Sarajevans to be
exposed to crises beyond their own.
The world's reluctance to intervene in the Bosnian conflict and its
reluctance to combat the military junta in Burma, he suggested, showed the
same ``shameful, disgraceful betrayal of all the principles of the
international community.''
At the same time, he said, there was a need for Sarajevans to look beyond
their own misery. Soros has organized fund raisings or events in the Bosnian
capital for crises in Rwanda, Chechnya and now the democratic struggle in
Burma.
Meanwhile in the hills not far from where the festival is being held,
soldiers manned snow-covered frontlines.
*********************************
ISBDA: SLORC EMBASSY OFFICIALLY DENIED CHILDREN'S RIGHT
November 4, 1995.
The following is a translation of official document to prove that SLORC is
violating children's rights in education. Friends who would like to get the
original Burmese document should send back their fax number to ISBDA.
===================================
Transltion of the Announcement by
THE EMBASSY OF THE UNION OF MYANMAR - TOKYO
Re: Examinations of 1995/96 Academic Year for the Classes from Basic
Education Primary School to High School which will be held at the Embassy
of Myanmar, Tokyo.
1. The examinations of basic education primary school through high school
and remote university classes at the embassies in foreign countries were
arranged only for those sons and daughters of civil servants who are
assigned to work abroad by the Government.
2. For the reason mentioned above, it is to notify to the Myanmarese who
came to Japan by their own means for the purpose of business that the
embassy has kindly considered for these citizens to allow as final chance
sitting the examinations in the basic education primary school through high
school classes for 1995/96 academic year if they meet the following
guidelines. Since this is the last acceptance for sitting examination here, it
is advisable to plan by themselves to sit examinations inside Myanmar.
Those who apply to sit the examinations should be:
(a) genuine sons or daughters of Myanmar parents who both have fully paid
their tax money to the Myanmar Embassy in Tokyo, Japan.
(b) able to sign in a pledge that he or she will neither involve in the organizations
that are against the Government of Myanmar nor contact and support them.
(c) charged in accordance with the law and regulations, if he or she is
found later that they are not consistent with the above mentioned paragraph
3. It is to notify that the embassy regards applicants eligible to sit
their examinations after careful selection procedure whether they are
found consistent or can follow above mentioned facts (or restrictions).
Signed for the Ambassador
(Kyaw Tint Swe, Counselor in Chief)
Dated: 1995 October 3rd.
Distribution:
- All the staff members in the Embassy.
- All the staff-members at the Office of Myanmar Military Attach (Army,
Navy, Air Force)
- Myanmar Five Stars Shipping Lines (Tokyo Branch Office)
- U Ohn Thaw, Professor, Kyoto University.
- Bill Board.
- Office Out File.
======================
FBC: OCT 27 RECAP - U. MICHIGAN
We had a wooden cage in the middle of our campus square, with a person inside
to represent Burma. Various signs such as "boycott pepsi" and "free burma" were
carried by people and posted on the cage. Amnesty's role was to raise
awareness about the situation; since we are not supposed to endorse
boycotts, the global issues committee we are networking with "officially"
handled that aspect-- they drafted a great petition to bring up to the Ann
Arbor City Council for a selective-purchasing act. In all, over 500
signatures were collected that day. The event was covered by the Ann
Arbor News and the campus paper.
**********************************
ANNOUNCEMENT: BURMA PANEL DISCUSSION AT TUFTS
Dear fellow Mass. Burma Activists,
Hi everyone! On Tuesday, November 14 at 7:30 p.m., the Tufts
Burma Action Group is sponsoring a panel discussion entitled, "Why We
Should Care About Burma: A look at human rights violations and the
pro-democracy movement in this war-torn nation". We have invited Ko Lay,
Tin Tin, and Zaw Win to speak. Ko Lay and Tin Tin are siblings and Arkanese
pro-democracy activist from Burma. Ko Lay was a student at Rangoon
University in the mid-1970's and helped to organize activists on campus.
He was also one of the organizers of the 1988 demonstration and fled to
the Thai border prior to coming to the United States. He will be sharing
his experiences. Tin Tin will talk about her experiences as a woman and
a member of an ethnic minority group growing up in Rangoon. Tin Tin and
Ko Lay are also bringing several of their Burmese friends to participate
in the discussion, including an American woman who worked in a Karenni
camp for almost a year. Zaw Win is a Burmese student at Boston University
and also has many interesting experiences to share.
The panel discussion will be followed by a candlelight vigil for
peace in Burma. Please join us on this evening. The presentation begins
at 7:30 at Oxfam Cafe on Tufts Campus. The Candlelight vigil will take
place at approximately 9:00 on the uphill Residential Quad. Please tell
your friends about it as well. If you are interested in coming, contact
me at (617)627-7339 for directions.
***************************
BKK POST: UN RIGHTS REPORT PAINTS GRUESOME PICTURE OF BURMA
November 8, 1995 United Nations, AFP
A newly-released United Nations report on Burma documents appalling
violations of human rights, including systematic rape of women, public
dismemberment to intimidate the population, and other tortures.
But a response from the Rangoon government, included in the
report, said the allegations were unfounded and were manufactured
by "anti-government sources and terrorist groups, with the aim of
discrediting the government as well as the armed forces."
The report, by special rapporteur Yozo Yokota, to the UN
secretary general for dissemination to all UN member states,
avoided drawing conclusions or condemning the reported
violations. The United Nations is still engaged in negotiations
with the Burmese Government in order to improve the human rights
situation in the country, which has been ruled by military decree since 1988.
The document, released on Monday noted "credible reports of
instances of brutality sometimes resulting in the killing of civilians by
Myanmar military forces," particularly in ethnic minority areas where
people were accused of being insurgents or collaborating with them.
The ethnic Karen rebels are currently the only remaining
insurgency fighting against the Burmese Government. Yokota's
report gave examples of porters being beaten to death for
requesting a drink of water. In another case, a 56-year-old man
was reportedly killed on suspicion of passing information to rebels.
"His ears were cut off, nails were driven through his hands and
legs and his tongue was cut off," it said. "The victim died when
nails were driven through the crown of his head."
Others had their ears and noses cut off in front of others because they
were suspected of being rebel sympathisers, the report said. It also
documented the systematic abuse of women by government soldiers.
Violations include "the undressing of women in public... raping
and gang-raping women individually or in groups," it said. "The
rape of women serving in forced labour camps or as porters is said to
be common."
"Some of the allegations received indicate that soldiers view
rape as a right, and that sometimes it is encouraged by
officers... and that women are sometimes singled out for portering or
other forced labour in order to be raped," the UN report said.
The Burmese Government responded specifically to the allegations,
saying that all women are given compensation for their labour and
portering services, and that soldiers respect women as having a symbiotic
and equal relationship with men in Burmese society.
"How can anyone from this society commit such outrageous crimes
that were mentioned in the summary of allegations" the Rangoon
response said, again calling such reports unfounded.
"It can only be repeated that unless and until the alleged
victims bring their cases to the notice of the authorities
concerned, nothing can be done to redress what they claim to
have suffered," the government said.
The report also noted the names of 15 members of parliament who
have been arrested and detained, and said an unknown number of
civilians have also been arrested on suspicion of insurgent
activities. The government responded that all those being
detained had broken laws regarding sedition or had otherwise
plotted to overthrow the government. (BP)
***************
NATION: BURMA MAY BE USING FORCED LABOUR FOR TOURISM,
UN SAYS November 8, 1995 Reuter
Burma may be using forced labour to restore landmarks for
foreign tourists in an effort to promote 1996 as "Visit Myanmar
Year," the United Nations said in a report released on Monday.
The report to the General Assembly by a UN special human rights
investigator also speaks of summary executions, torture and rape
by the army with impunity. The human rights representative, Yozo
Yokota of Japan, said three were allegations that Burma is using
forced labour to restore such tourist sites as Mandalay Palace and
upgrade the country's railways, roads and airports. The government,
he said, had proclaimed 1996 as "Visit Myanmar Year, "an action which
could be viewed as a sign of opening up of the country.
"Forced labour has allegedly been used to restore some of the
tourist sights," he said. Workers must pay to rent bulldozers,
buy their own tools and supply their own food.
In Karen state, scene of sporadic fighting between the military
and insurgent groups, Yokota said several sources reported an
increase of forced labour, accompanied by "physical abuse,
appalling living conditions and arbitrary killings of porters
who are unable to perform their tasks".
Last April, for example, two porters were beaten to death for
requesting water supplies that had been cut in Ka Neh Lay. In
response, the government denied allegations of killings and
torture. It also said it was a tradition in Burma's culture to donate
labour in the building of pagodas, monasteries, roads and bridges.
The local populace, as well as army and government employees.
"Participate enthusiastically and conscientiously", and UN agencies
were involved in such restoration projects, the government said.
Soldiers, the UN report said, viewed rape as a right with women
prisoners, in forced labour camps and among porters; officers
sometimes encouraged such behaviour.
"These include the undressing of women in public, touching
breasts or sucking nipples, raping and gang-raping women
individually or in groups," Yokota said. The government, which
answered each point in the report, said the charges were
unfounded and it could do little unless the victims brought
their cases to the proper authorities.
The ruling military government has not recognised the 1990
elections and has refused to give up power to followers of Nobel
Prize Winner Aung San Suu Kyi, who was released from house
arrest in July. Yokota last visited Burma in October but did not
include his observations in this report.
He told reporters at Rangoon airport then that he was impressed
with both her willingness and the government's readiness "to
meet each other and to work together".
Nevertheless, he said in the report that politicians were still
imprisoned, and there was still a "high-level of intimidation"
although jailing people for anti-government activities appeared
less frequent. (TN)
***************************************
BKK POST: WE CAN END BORDER TIFFS: JUNTA MEMBER
November 8, 1995 By Supapohn Kanwerayotin, Rangoon
Thai-Burmese ties, under strain since early this year, showed
signs of improvement yesterday when a senior member of the junta
spoke for the first time about the possibility of bilateral
cooperation in the construction of the Kanchanaburi-Tavoy road.
Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt first secretary of the State Law and Order
Restoration Council, said border problems could be resolved
soon, and the two countries should start looking into how to
cooperate better to achieve long-term, sustainable economic development.
Gen Siri Thiwaphan, chief adviser to Foreign Minister Kasem S.
Kasemsri, described the 45-minute talks he had here yesterday
with Khin Nyunt as "very warm and positive". He said they
"created a good atmosphere" for Kasem's visit to Rangoon this weekend.
Siri brought royally-sponsored kathin offerings to Nagalaigu
temple in Rangoon on Monday to mark the annual Buddhist kathin
season. He was given an opportunity to call on Khin Nyunt
yesterday before heading back to Bangkok.
The Burmese official reportedly told Siri, former Third Army
region commander, that tensions were "characteristic" of the two
countries sharing such a long frontier. "But these problems are not
beyond our capability to resolve," Siri quoted Khin Nyunt as saying.
Burma has closed three main border checkpoints across the border
from Chiang Rai, Tak and Ranong. Rangoon cited Thai support for
what it called ethnic insurgency and for drug warlord Khun Sa
when it shut down the first two checkpoints.
The doors at Ranong were slammed shut after the brutal murders
of a Burmese crew aboard a Thai trawler in August. Meanwhile,
Thai and Burmese officials have completed the groundwork for
conclusion of the draft border trade agreement.
If signed and enforced, the agreement will be the first of its
kind between Thailand and countries with which it shares
borders. Hitherto unregulated, and prone to control by vested
interests and various conflicts, border trade with Burma will be
brought into line if the agreement comes into force.
Kobsak Chutikul, director-general of the Foreign Ministry's economics
department, said officials had done their share of the drafting, and the
two sides awaited further policy advice from higher authorities.
The draft is unlikely to be wrapped up by the time Kasem arrives
in Rangoon this weekend. Burma has entered into border
agreements with all other neighbours with whom it trades, namely
China, India and Bangladesh.
It proposed having such a pact with Thailand five years ago. But
it was not until two weeks ago that Thailand responded with a
concrete gesture, according to Kobsak. Thailand does not have
any official border trade agreement with Cambodia, Laos or Malaysia.
"It must be made clear at this point that border trade, once
resumed, will not be in the 'wild west' style it once was. It
was this style which caused the clashes that led to the eventual
closure of the checkpoints," one Thai official said. (BP)
***************
BKK POST: BURMESE STUDENTS TO RALLY AGAINST SLORC
MEMBER November 8, 1995
Burmese students in Thailand plan to carry out demonstrations
during separate visits to Bangkok by leading Burmese government
figures over the next two months, according to an informed source.
Some 14 leading members of Burmese student groups met in Bangkok
on Sunday to draw up protest plans. During the protest they will
demand that the State Law and Order Restoration Council release
all political prisoners as soon as possible and revoke its planned
Constitution which is widely criticised for being dictatorial.
They will also demand that the Slorc allow the establishment of
an ad-hoc administration comprising representatives from various
occupational groups before an elected government takes power.
According to the police source, the group will meet again this
Sunday to discuss their "reception" for Burmese Deputy Prime
Minister Vice-Admiral Maung Maung Khin who visits Bangkok during
November 14-18 as guest of his Thai counterpart Gen Chavalit
Yongchaiyudh. Also during November 25-28, Slorc first secretary
Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt will visit Thailand as guest of Deputy Prime
Minister Amnuay Viravan. (BP)
***************
BKK POST: BURMESE THREATS CAUSE GEMS TRADE TO PLUMMET
November 8, 1995 Mae Sot, Reuters
Burmese government threats to impose stiff prison terms on
anyone caught smuggling gems have drastically reduced the trade
in precious stones along the Thai-Burma border, gems traders say.
One trader based in the border town of Mae Sot said the value of
the gems trade had plummeted since Burma's military-run State
Law and Order Restoration Council (Slorc) issued an order three
weeks ago saying smugglers would face 10 years in jail for
trading precious stones with Thai traders.
"The stone trading had dropped from an estimated one billion
baht per month to merely 200-300 million baht," the trader told
Reuters in a telephone interview. He said the Burmese traders
told Thai counterparts that Burma's mining minister imposed the
decree to punish smugglers found trading rubies, jades and
sapphires with Thai traders.
Most of the rubies and sapphires come from mines in the Shan
state and the jades from Kachin state before being smuggled to
the Thai border. Another trader in the Thai border town of Mae
Sai confirmed the reports and said leaflets explaining the new
rules were distributed in the Burmese border town of Tachilek on
October 16 and 19th.
Relations between Thailand and Burma have been strained since
early March when Muang Tai Army (MTA) guerrillas loyal to Khun
Sa raided Tachilek and several guerrillas escaped to Thailand.
Slorc, which has accused Thailand of sheltering MTA guerrillas,
in April ordered the closure of all overland borders with Thailand. (BP)
***************
BKK POST: FISHING DISPUTE TO BE DISCUSSED
November 8, 1995
A Thai and Burmese fishing dispute will be discussed from
November 14-18 in Bangkok, according to Agricultural and
Cooperatives deputy minister Monthon Kraiwatnusorn.
The Thai government will invite the Burmese deputy prime
minister and other ministers to Thailand to discuss fishery
problems between two countries. Mr Monthon said after his visit
from Burma that he met with member of State Law and Order
Restoration Council and deputy prime minister vice-admiral Maung
Maung Khin with deputy minister for Livestock Breeding and
Fisheries U Aung Thein.
He discussed the opening of the Thai-Burmese fishing ground,
which will be discussed again at the Bangkok meeting. The reason
the Burmese government closed the territory is because a Thai
crew of Narong Canning Co killed Burmese crew members. The
Burmese may cancel the Narong Canning concession.
The Thai government has permitted Thai fishermen to continue
their related industries but must strictly follow Burmese
regulations. "If the negotiations between the two governments
turn out to be good, the Thai-Burmese borders may be opened,"
said Mr Mongthon. (BP)
***************
NATION: LETTER TO SUU KYI LANDS JAILED BURMESE
DISSIDENT IN SOLITARY
November 8, 1995
A dissident Burmese student group in Bangkok yesterday accused
the Burmese government of putting a jailed member of the
National League for Democracy in solitary confinement for trying
to send a letter to the league's co-founder, Aung San Suu Kyi.
Maung Myat San, also a member of the Three Colour Flag, a group
which provides Suu Kyi with personal protection, was placed in a
"tiny cell" for solitary confinement after authorities at
Rangoon's Insein Prison confiscated a letter he wrote to Suu Kyi
shortly after her release from house arrest in July, according
to the All Burma Students' Democratic Front (ABSDF).
Maung Myat San is currently serving a seven-year prison term,
according to a letter released yesterday by the ABSDF. The
letter did not explain the reason for his prison sentence.
The student group also said the Burmese government had sentenced
a prison official who tried to mail the letter to five years'
hard labour. Insein prison has been consistently condemned by
the International Committee for Red Cross (ICRC), as well as
other international organisations, against human rights
violations. The ICRC had to pull out of Burma earlier this year
because of a lack of cooperation from the Burmese authorities. (TN)
****************************************************************