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BurmaNet News: September, 1996
- Subject: BurmaNet News: September, 1996
- From: strider@xxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 12 Sep 1996 08:06:00
---------------------------------BurmaNet-----------------------------------
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"Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies"
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The BurmaNet News: September 12, 1996
Issue #512
HEADLINES:
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REUTERS: SINGAPORE INVESTS $128 MLN IN BURMA COMPLEX
BKK POST: CASINO TO OPEN IN BURMA SOON
THE ECONONOMIST: MYANMAR DIRTY FINGERS
NYT: LETTER - BURMESE DEMOCRACY WILL NOT BE STOPPED
ANNOUCEMENT: CO-SPONSORS FOR THE BURMA FREEDOM BILL
BKK POST: BURMA READY FOR ENTRY IN JULY ' 97
DAWN GWIN: NEW BATTALION AND HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS
DAWN GWIN: RELIGIOUS DISCRIMINATION IN NAGA HILLS REGION
DAWN GWIN: SLORC EXPANDS MILITARY STRENGTH
BKK POST: LETTER: SLORC - LIARS
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REUTERS: SINGAPORE INVESTS $128 MLN IN BURMA COMPLEX
September 11, 1996
RANGOON, Sept 11 (Reuter) - Traders Square Co Ltd, a
subsidiary of Singapore's Kuok Group, will invest $128 million
to build a commercial complex in Rangoon, official media
reported on Wednesday.
Under terms of an agreement between Traders Square and
Burma's ministry of defence, Traders Square will build a
22-storey building complex comprising shopping malls, offices
and residences within 4-1/2 years, state-run New Light of
Myanmar reported.
The Hotels and Tourism Minister, Lieutenant General Kyaw Ba,
showed his appreciation for Singapore's continued investment in
Burma, despite recent negative news about the country.
"The encouragement of the government of Singapore gave
impetus to Singaporean businessmen to invest in Myanmar
(Burma)," the newspaper quoted him as saying.
"We owe so much to the government of Singapore for
strengthening the bilateral economic cooperation between the two
countries even at a time when negative issues on our country are
spreading all over the world," he said.
Democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi has urged foreign
investors not to do business in Burma until the military
government takes steps towards improving its human rights record
and working towards democracy.
Singapore is Burma's largest foreign investor, and the
latest deal will bring the total promised investment to $652
million, Kyaw Ba said.
A total of 204 projects from foreign investors worth $4.3
billion in 10 sectors have been approved by the Burmese
government through August 31, government officials said.
********************************************************
BKK POST: CASINO TO OPEN IN BURMA SOON
September 11, 1996
Thirawat Khamthita
Chiang Rai
A casino owned by Thai and foreign businessmen is expected to
start operating in the middle of next year in the Golden Triangle
area inside Burma opposite Chiang Saen district of this northern
province, according to a border source.
A 150-room hotel with a casino, restaurants, a duty-free market
with a currency exchange facility, a swimming pool and two golf
courses is now under construction on the bank of the Mekong River
in Tachilek district of Burma. There will also be a pier to
accommodate boats and ferries taking gamblers to the casino. The
project is now about 50 percent completed.
The project's construction started in 1988 after the Burmese
government gave the investors a 30-year lease of a plot of land
in the Golden Triangle.
The cost of construction materials for the casino was initially
estimated at 60 million baht.
*********************************************************
THE ECONONOMIST: MYANMAR DIRTY FINGERS
September 7, 1996
>From Dawn star
"If you play with garbage, your fingers get soiled." SLORC General David Abel
Yangon - A young soldier in full combat fatigues guards the door of the
information department in Yangon, the capital of Myanmar. His rifle bobs
about, alarmingly for the foreign reporters waiting in the lobby. But
although this is the office of the ruling military junta responsible for
the press, he is probably the most helpful person they will meet. The junta
does not like foreign journalists, claiming most are biased in favour of the
political opposition led by Aung San Suu Kyi. Those allowed into the
country find their requests to interview the junta's officials routinely
ignored. So they talk to Miss Suu Kyi, an articulate and protogenic
politician, and are denounced for their 'slanted' reports.
Lately, however, the generals running Myanmar are trying to improve
their public relations image. The junta has started giving monthly press
briefings in Yangon. Some of its senior officials have also been
travelling, and taking the opportunity to proselytise. In the past two
months Ohn Gyaw, the foreign minister, has given press conferences in
Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur. In China, for a meeting on regional co-operation,
General David Abel, the planning minister, oozed afability.
The junta's spokesmen seem to say some preposterous things. In Jakarta, Mr
Ohn Gyaw said that Leo Nichols, a friend of Miss Suu Kyi who died in police
custody, had fallen victim to 'rich food' in prison. General Abel
claimed that Myamar's economic statistics, which have baffled many
outsiders, including the World Bank and the IMF, were 'totally transparent'.
Nor did the senior military intelligence, officer at the second Yangon
press briefing, on September 2nd, charm many of the observers. He accused
Miss Suu Kyi of 'subversion' and suggested she had not been rearrested only
because her subversive activities were confined to her own home (implying
that her circumstances have not changed much since she was 'released' from
six years of hous arrest in July last year). At least 60 of her supporters
have been detained since May, however, and 30 given long prison sentences.
This has been achieved without the international outcry that greeted the
detention of more than 250 opposition politicians in May, before a meeting
of Miss Suu Kyi's party. The junta now seems to be adopting a less
conspicuous approach to its task of isolating her.
It does, however, seem to be hinting it might lock the lady up again.
General Abel plays down the possibility, saying that a call for her arrest
in an official newspaper was the work of a 'mischief-maker'. It would
certainly cause mischief for those who, like the general, are tyring to
burnish the junta's image. Economic sanctions might well follow. Officials
from other South-East Asian countries say that General Abel and Mr Ohn Gyaw
are 'moderates', representing a positive, reformist tendency in the regime.
But being the face of the junta is a tough job, in the light of its
aptitude for public-relations disasters. As General Abel himself puts it of
the junta's critics: 'If you play with garbage, your fingers get soiled'. Quite.
************************************************************
NYT: LETTER - BURMESE DEMOCRACY WILL NOT BE STOPPED
September 5, 1996
To the Editor:
The Burmese military junta has denounced American citizens for assisting
pro-democracy groups in their struggle to achieve democratic rule in Myanmar
(news article, Sept. 3). As one of the American citizens named at the
junta's news conference, I would like to clarify my role and that of my
organization in Myanmar's fight for democracy.
The Albert Einstein Institution, a nonprofit organization advancing the study
and use of strategic nonviolent action in conflicts around the world, was
asked to provide educational materials and to conduct workships on nonviolent
action for Burmese pro-democracy groups.
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel Peace Price winner, has called on the Burmese
people to engage in nonviolent struggle against the military regime to bring
democracy to Burma. Pro-democracy groups, in response, have developed a
strategy of "political defiance" to challenge the military junta's
repressive rule.
Our organization is conducting its workshops for these pro-democracy groups
along the Thai-Myanmar border. Our most recent was held in August, just as
the junta started making new arrests of activists for "political defiance."
The junta may rant about "aliens and mercenaries," but it will not be able to
deflect the Burmese people's desire for responsible democratic governance.
Bruce Jenkins
Executive Director
Albert Einstein Institution
Cambridge, Mass. Sept. 5, 1996
**************************************************************
ANNOUNCEMENT: CO-SPONSORS FOR THE BURMA FREEDOM BILL
September 11, 1996
Sender: FreeBurma@xxxxxxx
Congressmen Richard J. Durbin (D-Illinois) and Joe Moakley (D-Massachusetts)
have become co-sponsors of the Burma Freedom and Democracy Act of 1995
(HR.2892) on September 5, 1996. Now there are 25 co-sponsors for this Bill.
Burma and U.S. Congress Homepage: (http://www.clark.net/pub/burmaus/)
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Co-sponsors of Burma Freedom and Democracy Act of 1995
House Version (HR.2892)
Principle Sponsor: Rep.Dana Rohrabacher (D-CA)
Rep.Edward Royce (R-CA) 01/25/96
Rep.Christopher Smith (R-NJ) 01/25/96
Rep.Bob Clement (D-TN) 03/28/96
Rep.Ken Calvert (R-CA) 03/28/96
Rep.John W. Olver (D-MA) 03/28/96
Rep.Neil Abercrombie (D-HI) 03/28/96
Rep.Richard H. Baker (R-LA) 03/28/96
Rep.William O. Lipinski (D-IL) 03/28/96
Rep.John Edward Porter (R-IL) 04/30/96
Rep.Ronald V. Dellums (D-CA) 04/30/96
Rep.Sam Farr (D-CA) 06/18/96
Rep.Richard "Doc" Hastings (R-WA) 06/18/96
Rep.Barney Frank (D-MA) 06/18/96
Rep.Tom Lantos (D-CA) 06/18/96
Rep.Peter A. DeFazio (D-OR) 06/20/96
Rep.Frank Pallone (D-NJ) 07/10/96
Rep.Marty Meehan (D-MA) 07/16/96
Rep.Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) 07/18/96
Rep.Lane Evans (D-IL) 07/18/96
Rep.Louise M. Slaughter (D-NY) 07/26/96
Rep.Luis V. Gutierrez (D-IL) 07/26/96
Rep.Elizabeth Furse (D-OR) 07/26/96
Rep.Sidney R. Yates (D-IL) 07/30/96
Rep.Richard J. Durbin (D-IL) 09/05/96
Rep.Joe Moakley (D-MA) 09/05/96
**********************************************************
BKK POST: BURMA READY FOR ENTRY IN JULY ' 97
September 11, 1996
Burma wants to become a full member of the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations next year.
"[The Burmese leaders] have indicated that they would like to
join by July next year," Asean Secretary-General Ajit Singh said on Monday.
Early last week the Burmese government told its Asean embassies
to pass on a letter from Foreign Minister Ohn Gyaw confirming its intention.
It is the second letter Burma has done so. The first letter,
presented to Malaysian Foreign Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi
during the official visit to Kuala Lumpur by Burmese Premier Than
Shwe last month, did not give a time-frame.
But Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad at the time made
clear that he wanted Burma to join Asean as it celebrates its
30th anniversary next year.
Burma was granted observer status at Asean in July when Indonesia
chaired the standing committee. Malaysia subsequently took over
the rotating chairmanship which it will hold until July 1997.
The director-general of the Indonesian foreign ministry's
political department, Izhar Ibrahim, is expected to discuss the
matter with his Asean counterparts when they meet on the
Indonesian island of Batam today and tomorrow.
The Burma issue will be discussed on the sidelines of the
so-called Asean US dialogue.
Joining Asean means also joining the group's free trade scheme.
The Burma issue is not on the agenda of this week's Asean
Economic Ministers' Meeting, but an official said the meeting
might touch on the readiness of Burma, as well as of Laos and
Cambodia, to join the Asean Free Trade Area, and how the grouping
could help prepare these countries to enter the scheme.
*********************************************************
DAWN GWIN: NEW BATTALION AND HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS
July/August, 1996
While the construction of barracks and facilities for No (20) new artillery
division near Kyauk Sit Pon village, Monywa township, Sagaing division is
underway, the land owned by local people is confiscated and people are being
used as forced laborers in the construction work.
Villagers from nearby villages are ordered to work every Saturday at the
construction site for the new battalion. Locally owned motorcycles are
comandeered for use by the army in rotatation without any money paid. Army
officers are making good money in this way by selling the battalion's quota
of gasoline on the black market.
A lot of land belonging to local villagers has been confiscated for the
construction without any compensation. In order to cultivate the land during
the cultivating season and postpone construction, landowners must pay 700
kyats per acre to Major Zaw Min, the commander of the battalion.
Similarly, large tracts of land of Thapyidaw, Kyi Padon, Palingone, Minte,
Kan O, Yinpan, Magyigone, Songone and Thegyigone villages that are affected
by the construction of 15-mile long motor-road between the Northwest
military command and new artillery battalion are also being taken without
compensation by the army.
***********************************************************
DAWN GWIN: RELIGIOUS DISCRIMINATION IN NAGA HILLS REGION
July/August, 1996
Not only Buddhism but also other religions in Burma have been persecuted
under the iron-grip reign of the Slorc. Burmese people can not enjoy the
freedom guaranteed under Article 18 of Universal Declaration of Human Rights
which clearly states the all have the right to practice according to their
own religious choice.
The mainly Christian Naga people in Layshe township, Sagaing division are
suffering racial and religious discrimination from Slorc troop in the
region. Local villagers in Layshe township have frequently been threatened
and coerced to convert to Buddhism whenever columns of LIB 222 and IB 369
come to their village.
Layyon, Pansut, Konkanlon, Sonmaya, Pontayet, Kuki and Mayeyon villages
primarily inhabited by Christian Nagas have repeatedly been the victims of
Slorc's religious persecution. In November of last year, a military column
led by division commander Capt. Myint Kyaw from LIB 369 came to the villages
and ordered the villagers to sign affidavits of conversion to Buddhism.
Many Christian villagers, fearing torture or execution, signed the affidavit.
After that, the same military column went to Sonmaya village and broke down
the door of the village church. After the soldiers made two Buddhist monks
sit on the preaching stage, they forced the Christian Naga villagers to
worship them
On December 20, a military platoon from IB. 222 arrived in Konkailon
village and ordered the Christian minister, U Maung Hlaing, to make the
Christian Naga convert to Buddhism. They also threatened to destroy the
Christian churches in the region and replace them with Buddhist temples. The
troop warned the villagers that there would be a big trouble if the
villagers did not convert into Buddhism when they came next time.
Similar actions are also taking place in some places of Karenni and Shan
States where majority of local residents are Christian. Regional Control
Military Strategic Headquarters in Loikaw, Karenni state ordered the
villagers to build one Buddhist monastery in every Christian village.
(added) Racial Discrimination and Religious Assault in Karenni
Since it took power in 1988, Slorc has been attempting to destroy many
historic and religious places across the countries. Many landmarks and
places of worship have been sealed off or destroyed.
There are four central wards in Shardaw town in Karenni State one of which
one is called " Mother Mary Ward". The name derives from the Roman Catholic
faith since the majority of the residents in the ward are Catholic. Slorc
has ordered the name of the ward changed to "Aung Chan Tha Ward" to the
distress of local Catholic residents.
Moreover, the Muslim cemetery in Loikaw was destroyed while the Catholic
cemetery in the same city was ordered closed and sealed off. Under the name
of beautification program for coming "Visit Myanmar Year 1996", many
historic and religious places are being destroyed across the country.
***************************************************************
DAWN GWIN: RELIGIOUS DISCRIMINATION IN NAGA HILLS REGION
July/August, 1996
All village and ward Law and Order Restoration offices and governmental
offices in Tacheleik Township, Shan State were ordered to hang the portraits
of Senior General Than Shwe, Slorc's Chairman, according to an order issued
by Captain Win Aung, chairman of township lorcs.
The order, issued on June 24, 1996, said the portraits of Senior General
Than Shwe are on sale at the Tacheleik township Cooperative Ltd. One
portrait costs 140 baht and everybody is entitled to purchase it, the order
said.
In another letter dated July 4, 1996 to the members of Slorc, it ordered
them to urge local people along the Thai-Burmese border to hang the portrait
of Slorc chairman at their home and other public places. The letter urged
the local people to demonstrate their patriotism by hanging the portrait of
the head of the state, instead of the hanging of his Majesty the King of
Thailand and other Thai leaders. It was the duty of the authorities to urge
the people to follow the order in a way of maintaining nationalism, the
letter said.
Other sources from Mandalay told that portraits of the Slorc chairman are
also hung along the stairs to Mandalay hill. However, the portraits are
frequently defaced and damaged with chewing gum by pilgrims, he said.
The source from Tacheleik said there are large numbers of the portrait of
the Slorc chairman still remaining in the shops as local people are not
following the order or purchasing the portraits.
*********************************************************
DAWN GWIN: SLORC EXPANDS MILITARY STRENGTH
July/August, 1996 (excerpts)
Since the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) brutally seized
power in September 1988, the regime has built up its military strength
beyond any reasonable level.
Not only has the size of the army been dramatically increased, SLORC has
spent literally billions of dollars on new jet fighters, ground-attack
aircraft, transport and assault helicopters, armored vehicles, artillery,
trucks, communication equipment, naval patrol boats, frigates, assault
rifles and light machine guns.
SLORC has also tried to increase its ability to produce arms and ammunition.
After eight years, SLORC is on the verge of becoming one of the region's
largest military powers, despite being one of the poorest countries in
Southeast Asia.
Expansion of Infantry Forces
Over the past eight years, SLORC has increased the size of its ground attack
forces from 18,000 to 35,000. The arms and ammunition for these new soldiers
were mainly acquired from China. Burma has also imported arms, artillery and
ammunition from several other countries. SLORC also increased production of
semi-automatic carbines, assault rifles, light machine guns and ammunition
in their own "Defense Products Factories", known as " Ka Pa Sa".
China has played a major role in the rapid build-up of the Burma Army. A
SLORC delegation visited China's "North Industries Corporation" in August
1990 and agreed to buy US $ 1.4 million worth of military supplies.
Eight Chinese trucks delivered the first batch of arms and ammunition in
November, 1990, crossing the border to Lashio. China has made a number of
other deliveries of supplies between 1991 and 1994 including: thirty 107 mm
Type 63 multiple rocket launcher systems, US $ 5 million worth of radio
equipment, nine hundred 5-ton trucks, one hundred thirty army trucks heavily
laden with arms and ammunition, one hundred fifty Type 85 tracked armoured
personnel carriers, twenty Type 69 main battle tanks, twenty Type 63 light
amphibious tanks and three hundred trucks of varying sizes.
SLORC has purchased arms not only from China but also from several other
countries. Two hundred twenty-five truck loads of various unspecified arms,
84 mm Carl Gustaf rockets, mortars and ammunition arrived in Rangoon from
Singapore via the Five Star Line in October 1988. Unidentified arms were
shipped via the S'pore Senator and Five Star Line from Belgium in July 1989.
Several shipments of unidentified military supplies were carried on Five
Star Line in July 1989 from Britain, Germany, Holland, Italy and Yugoslavia.
Pakistan Ordnance Company transported machine guns, ammunition, five
thousand 120 mm mortars and shells to Rangoon in March 1989. Further
unidentified arms were sent via the Five Star Line from Singapore in August
1989.
In February 1990, US $ 3.2 million worth of equipment for the arms factories
were shipped from Fritz Werner Industries of Germany. Arms were also sent
from Sweden and Switzerland via the Five Star Line in 1990. SLORC also
purchased rocket launchers, mortars and rifles from Afghanistan through the
Pakistan Government in June 1991 in a deal worth US $ 20 million.
SLORC intends to increase the Burmese infantry forces to 500,000 personnel.
In the past eight years, SLORC has added two military Commands and two light
infantry Divisions, each containing 10 battalions.
Expansion of the Navy
The Burmese Navy has traditionally focused on two main tasks: patrol of
coastal waters and rivers in support of counter insurgency operations and
coastal surveillance and fisheries protection. The Navy has employed four
old corvettes with an average age of about 43 years ranging from 400 to 650
tons.
SLORC has stepped up the modernization of its Navy with the purchase from
China of twelve Hainan class coastal patrol vessels which are reportedly
capable of being equipped with surface to surface missiles. The Burmese Navy
also purchased three PB 90 Koncar class patrol craft in October 1990 from
the former Yugoslavia which were later equipped with 40 mm and 57 mm Bofors
from Sweden.
SLORC has also increased the number of navy personnel from 7,000 to 15,000
over the past eight years.
Modernization of naval infrastructure meanwhile includes the construction of
a new naval base on Hainggyi Island and the upgrading of facilities at Akyab
(Sittwe) with Chinese support. China has also helped SLORC to upgrade its
naval signals and radar stations on the Coco Islands between the Andamans
and Orissa.
Expansion and Modernization of the Air Force
Burma has never been able to produce air craft or aircraft components and
has always been heavily dependent on foreign equipment, logistics and
expertise to keep its aircraft operational.
Burma's Air Force was formerly provided with PC-6 'Porter' aircraft, sixteen
PC-7 and six PC-9 from Switzerland, twenty Soko Galeb G-4 ground attack
aircraft from the former Yugoslavia.
During the past eight years, SLORC purchased new Rolls-Royce engines for
its G-4 aircraft, repaired PT 6 engines and Pratt and Whitney engines from
Australia and Canada for its Pilatus PC 7 and PC 9 aircraft.
The Air Force was also reinforced with the purchase of Chinese made jet
aircraft, helicopter gun ships and transport helicopters from Poland.
The latest deal for reinforcing the Air Force was with Russia. The SLORC
army commander Lt. Gen. Tin Oo made an unpublicized visit to Russia in
October 1995 where he reached an agreement for a number of Mil Mi 17 " Hip-H
" utility transport helicopters. Eight Mil Mi 17 have been reportedly
delivered to Burma. The deal included a training package for SLORC pilots.
The latest report said that Burma has also received MiG 17 supersonic jet
fighters from Russia. It is also reported that SLORC is also interested in
buying Mil Mi-24 assault helicopters and MiG 29 "Falcrum" fighters from Russia.
Increased Arms Production
While purchasing arms from foreign countries, SLORC has also developed its
ability to build arms on its own. Burma began to develop its own arms
industries in the early 1950s when a factory was built to produce small
arms, ammunition and BA 52 sub machine guns (Ne Win Sten, copy of Italian 9
mm TZ-45). Production began as soon as the factory was completed and the BA
52 became the standard submachine gun for the Burma Army in 1953.
The arms production sector was boosted by the 1957 agreement with the German
company, Fritz Werner, to build a factory in Rangoon to produce G-3
automatic rifles. A second arms factory was built near Prome to produce 7.62
mm ammunition for G-3 and G-4 rifles and 9 mm small arms ammunition for
BA-52 and 9 mm pistols. In the 1970s Fritz Werner, with the help of
engineers from the German Technical Co-operation Agency, built more arms
manufacturing facilities. In 1984, the Fritz Werner company entered into a
joint venture arrangement with Burma's State-owned Heavy Industrial
Corporation.
Now, Burma has built its own arms factories known by Burmese initials "Ka Pa
Sa". The main factory, Ka Pa Sa No.1, was built in Rangoon near Inya Lake
together with three others.
China has also reportedly begun to play a role in strengthening SLORC's arms
industries . In 1991, a group of Chinese engineers inspected a site near
Margue to build a factory complex which could produce M-21 Semi-automatic
rifles, M-22 automatic assault rifles and M-23 light machine guns as well as
7.62 mm ammunition for these weapons. The establishment of SLORC-China joint
ventures for arsenal factories is not yet reported.
SLORC has also improved its capacity to produce ammunition. For some time,
Burma has had the ability to produce small calibre ammunition such as .303
British, 7.62 mm Nato and 9 mm Parabellum. Slorc also makes 51 mm (BA 78)
and 81 mm mortar bombs. It has replaced US and UK made Type 36 and BA 77
anti-personnel hand grenades with locally produced BA 88 ( offensive), BA 91
(defensive) and BA 109 (general-purpose) grenades. SLORC also has the
ability to produce 120 mm and 60 mm mortar bombs, 41 mm ( BA 92 ) and 51 mm
(BA 80) rifle grenades.
SLORC has also attempted to boost its production of naval craft. Since 1988,
the Naval Engineering Depot and Myanmar Shipyard in Rangoon have produced
two coastal patrol boats and four river patrol craft. It has also completed
two newly designed fast-attack gunboats, to be powered by German Mercedes
diesel engines.
Although SLORC remains mainly dependent on foreign technology and logistics
in naval and aircraft components, it is obvious that SLORC has made
significant strides in developing its ability to produce its own arms.
Funding the Arms Build-up
There are twelve distinct "Defense Industries" that produce a variety of
goods ranging from weapons to sport balls. These twelve industries are
funded as part of the central government's budget and supervised by the
Defense Ministry's Directorate of Defense Industries (DDI). The Defense
Ministry owns several enterprises in Burma after the creation of a private
sector after 1988. Apart from DDI, the Defense Ministry also has another
economic department, Department of Defense Procurement (DDP), which imports
small arms. In July 1990, SLORC formed the Union of Myanmar Economic
Holdings Limited (UMEH) which is run by DDP.
The SLORC Defense Ministry cashes in on far more than just arms production:
it controls real estate enterprises, trading companies, and timber,
fisheries and mining concessions through Union of Myanmar Economic Holdings
Ltd. SLORC also takes a percentage of foreign investments and unofficial
jewelry trading to help finance its arms build-up.
SLORC also has hidden allocations from the public sector to the Defense
Ministry. The Ministry of Defense uses 16-18 % of Burma's generated
electricity without paying for it and buys fuel from the state petrochemical
monopoly at prices very far below market prices.
*********************************************************
BKK POST: SLORC - LIARS
September 8, 1996 (perspective)
In response to the "Myanmar" embassy's letters of August 23
(Report Intended to Discredit) and August 26 (Don't view Burma as
a pessimist), I insist that it looks to all the world as if
Bangkok Post's investigative reporting (a new freedom recently
allowed by the relatively democratic Thailand) is factual,
responsible and reliable, while the Embassy staff merely react
with a knee-jerk defence to save face with no investigation of their own.
Another example of this was the Tokyo "Myanmar" Embassy's denial
that NLD members were being arrested last June before their
convention. In fact, 260 were seized in an attempt to derail
all NLD political activity, then 30-60 were tried and punished
with a severity equivalent to striking a mosquito with a sledge-hammer.
Even the British businessman and diplomatic honorary consul for
Scandinavia, Leo Nichols was evidently and allegedly tortured to
death in Insein Prison by sleep deprivation and ceaseless
perpetual interrogation. Many other dissidents have died under
similar circumstances and it certainly does appear as if the
SLORC is gaining confidence from its acceptance as observer and
applicant for ASEAN membership, interpreted as moral support.
There is mounting and considerable evidence that SLORC-owned
companies are acquiring desperately needed, hard, foreign
currency from the newly booming drug trade as well as serving and
protecting the freely retired drug king Khun Sa (now rumoured to
reside on a military base in Rangoon). I personally know a
firsthand witness to the weekly (Thursdays at the time) sale of
slaves for fishing boats and brothels at a border village in full
view of Burmese soldiers and officers, who gruffly tore down any
protest signs and prevented any open discussion.
The ethics and morality of SLORC representatives to buttress
their political power and promote their own slave economy (under
the guise of "Visit Myanmar year 1996") that benefits only their
elite colleagues and families at the expense of real national,
cultural development, is arbitrary and reprehensible.
Utterly devoid of principles and scruples, they have
arbitrarily refused to recognise a free, fair, legitimate
election of the National League for Democracy (by 80% landslide
in 1990). Such a surprise cancellation other broken promises
show the SLORC to be the most gigantic liars this side of Nigeria.
They even refuse to begin a peaceful, civil dialogue with the
NLD's popular, capable leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Simple, lucid,
level-headed negotiation is surely not too much to ask of any
leaders under the circumstances. The SLORC's position is clearly absurd!
But even so, they continue to justify their "legitimacy" as
absolute rulers with ultra-nationalist and even anti-caucasian
racist propaganda (see New Light of Myanmar recent issues,
June-July). Their language has recently grown more shrill and
hysterical (smash, crush the destructionist!) and they refer to
Aung San Suu Kyi as a "degenerate race mixer for her marriage to
bad hat, birds**t Briton Michael Aris.
Information in official Burma is strictly controlled and
censored; divergent opinion is banned; news that doesn't suit the
SLORC is forbidden. Meanwhile, different and opposing opinions
are permitted and freely discussed in Free Burma Coalition and
NLD materials and forums as well as the foreign press. Opinions
and rebuttals by the "Myanmar" Embassy are often printed (and
welcome) in Bangkok's English language papers. Articles and even
diatribes from the "New Light of Myanmar" are included in free
Burma Coalition news postings. So which side of the debate is
more reliable and sincere?
ASEAN unfortunately dismissed SLORC's illegitimate activities as
mere "internal problems". Refugee problems, cross-border flesh
trade smuggling, and the booming drug smuggling trade, with Burma
being the prime source of the world's opium, refute the myth that
all such affairs are "internal". The SLORC tries to promote
"Myanmar's" image as a peaceful, developing, trouble-free,
bargain-budget paradise for tourism, and to reconstruct the
ruined image of their government from hardline, violent,
unstable, "international pariah". They are even sending a
40-member tourism promotional team to Disney World in Orlando,
Florida, to attend a tourism fair from September 9 to 12.
A Concerned Burma Watcher
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BURMANET SUBJECT-MATTER RESOURCE LIST
BurmaNet regularly receives enquiries on a number of different
topics related to Burma. If you have questions on any of the
following subjects, please direct email to the following volunteer
coordinators, who will either answer your question or try to put you
in contact with someone who can:
Campus activism: zni@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Boycott campaigns: [Pepsi] ai268@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Buddhism: Buddhist Relief Mission: brelief@xxxxxxx
Chin history/culture: [volunteer temporarily away]
Fonts: tom@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
High School Activism: nculwell@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
History of Burma: zni@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
International Affairs: Julien Moe: JulienMoe@xxxxxxx
Kachin history/culture: 74750.1267@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Karen history/culture: Karen Historical Society: 102113.2571@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Mon history/culture: [volunteer needed]
Naga history/culture: Wungram Shishak: z954001@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Burma-India border [volunteer needed]
Pali literature: "Palmleaf": c/o burmanet@xxxxxxxxxxx
Pipeline Campaign freeburma@xxxxxxx
Resettlement info: refugee_help@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Rohingya culture volunteer needed
Shan history/culture: Sao Hpa Han: burma@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Shareholder activism: simon_billenness@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Total - France Dawn Star: cd@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Tourism campaigns: bagp@xxxxxxxxxx "Attn. S.Sutcliffe"
volunteering: refugee_help@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
World Wide Web: FreeBurma@xxxxxxxxx
Geographical Contacts:
Massachusetts simon_billenness@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
[Feel free to suggest more areas of coverage]
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