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The BurmaNet News February 13, 1997




------------------------ BurmaNet ------------------------
"Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies"
----------------------------------------------------------

The BurmaNet News: February 13, 1997
Issue #637

HEADLINES:
==========
KAREN HUMAN RIGHTS GROUP: INFORMATION UPDATE #97-U1
THE NATION: HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSE BY SLORC 'SURGES IN 1996'
KYODO: BURMA ASKS TAISEI TO REMOVE CONSTRUCTION EQUIP.
THE NATION: EU MUST NOT BOW TO ASEAN'S 'SHUT-UP' POLICY
NATION: OFFICIAL OPPOSES RELOCATION OF KAREN
BKK POST: TALKS ON BURMA PERMISSIBLE
BKK POST: MINORITIES DETERMINED TO PURSUE AUTONOMY
S. CHINA MORNING POST: KAREN GUERRILLAS BRACE ONSLAUGHT
STRAITS TIMES: ASEAN AND EU SHOULD AVOID DIVISIVE ISSUES
REUTER: OIL EXECUTIVES BLAST U.S. UNILATERAL SANCTIONS
BKK POST:PTT HOLDS HEARING ON PIPELINE PLAN
BURMA BUREAU GERMANY: THE US SELECTIVE PURCHASING LAW
DEMOCRATIC VOICE OF BURMA: SYDNEY- INTERNET PROGRAM
------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

KAREN HUMAN RIGHTS GROUP: INFORMATION UPDATE #97-U1
February 9, 1997

An Independent Report by the Karen Human Rights Group
Tenasserim Division:  Forced Relocation and Forced Labour

SLORC's campaign of forced relocations and forced-labour road building in 
the Palauk-Palaw, Mergui and Tenasserim regions, which began in September
1996, is now being accelerated.  [Note: Mergui is known in Burmese as Meik
and in Karen as Blih; Tenasserim is known is Burmese as Taninthari.  Both
are towns in southern Tenasserim Division.  Mergui is on the Andaman Sea
coast about 200 km. south of Tavoy, and Tenasserim is on the southern
Tenasserim River, 50 km. south of Mergui and 20 km. inland. Palauk and Palaw
are smaller towns on the Tavoy-Mergui road, 100 and 140 km. south of Tavoy
respectively].  

Almost every village between the Tavoy-Mergui-Kawthaung car road in the west
and the Tenasserim River in the east, from Palauk in the north to Tenasserim
town in the south has been ordered to move one or more times between
September 1996 and January 1997.  The area measures about 120 km.
north-south and 30 km. east-west.  At least 35-40 villages, ranging in size
from 20-150 households, have been affected.  The area is almost entirely
populated by Karen, with some Burman villages along the coastal  road and
the coastal reaches of main rivers.  Almost all the villages ordered to move
are Karen, but the people of several Burman villages have been issued orders
that all families must move into the centre of their village.  

Generally village headmen are summoned to the nearest military camp and
ordered to move within a few days, though some have been given less than 
24 hours.  Villagers are ordered to destroy their own houses by removing the
floor, walls, and roof, and if they do not then troops will burn their
entire village.  Several villages have already been completely or partially
burned, including Pyi Cha, May Way, Wah Tho, Ku Teh, Wa Thu Lo, Ka Weh, Wah
Lo, Noh Aw, and Ta Po Kee.  The troops have even burned down SLORC schools
in these villages which formerly had SLORC-provided teachers (though the
villagers had to pay for them as well as the school and all related costs).

The villagers have been ordered to move to the roadsides along the
Tavoy-Mergui-Kawthaung car road, the Boke-Ka Pyaw-Kyay Nan Daing car road,
or to Burman villages on the lower Tenasserim River, depending on the area.
No land, materials or assistance are provided.  In every case the villagers
are then used every day as forced labour on car roads.  As soon as one road
is finished, they are assigned to another road, and if there is any break in
the road labour they are called to do forced labour building and maintaining
the Army camps in the area.  

Several thousand villagers (including the Karens who have been forced to
move there and the Burmans and Mons who already live in villages along the
road) are being used every day as forced labour to resurface the
Tavoy-Mergui car road as well as its continuation south of Mergui.  This
road is ruined every rainy season and takes several months of forced labour
to build and improve each year.  SLORC is also constructing new car roads,
including a branch of the north-south road running through Boke, Ka Pyaw,
Aleh Chaung, Mazaw and Kyay Nan Daing (at least 40 km.) and a road from Tagu
to Ta Po Hta and Ta Po Kee (estimated 30-40 km.).  Forced labour
construction on these roads began in November/December 1996.  Villagers are
being forced to move to these roadsides and work every day along with
villagers who already live there, many of whose houses have been destroyed
without compensation to make way for the roads.  People from over 50 km.
away from these roads are also being forced to walk 2 days to get there in
order to work on rotating 10-day shifts hauling dirt, 
building embankments, breaking rocks and digging ditches.  Children as young
as 12, people over 60, and women still breastfeeding their infants are being
forced to do this work.  In many villages and relocation sites, one person
per household must be provided at all times without exception.  No money,
food, shelter, medical care or medicines are provided.  Soldiers are often
present but only to guard, never to work, and they often beat the villagers
for resting.  No convicts are being used.

Many villagers have moved as ordered, but the majority have fled into the
fields and forests near their villages, where they build shelters in hiding
and try to go back and forth to the village to maintain their fields,
harvest their betelnut and tend their livestock.  Whenever SLORC troops
enter the area of their village they must hide, because anyone seen in these
areas is shot on sight.  Since December 1996, at least 20 villagers have
been shot on sight or tortured to death simply for being found around their
villages.  

Those who have moved to the relocation sites as ordered can sometimes buy a
pass from local SLORC authorities to return to their village, usually only
for 1 or 2 days, but even these passes are no guarantee against being shot
on sight.  Villagers in the relocation sites have also been arrested; for
example, the Baptist pastor of Zah Di Win village was arrested on 12 January
because people in his village hadn't moved to the relocation site, even
though he and his family had.  At last report he was being held at a camp of
Infantry Battalion 17 with his hands tied behind his back day and night, and
had not yet been released.

Since early January, SLORC troops have increased their patrols into the
relocation areas to hunt out and execute villagers in hiding, re-issue
orders to move, and burn villages which have not cooperated.  Battalions
involved include Infantry Battalions #280, 101, 17, 103, 19 and 433.  The
overall operation seems to aim at clearing out the entire civilian
population between the coastal plains and the Tenasserim River 50 km. to the
east, and using these people to push new military roads into these areas so
SLORC can set  up Army posts throughout the region (which the villagers will
also be forced to build).  This would make it more difficult for Karen
soldiers to operate in the area, and would provide SLORC with positions
which could be used as a springboard for attacks on the southern Tenasserim
River valley in the future.  According to the villagers doing the labour,
the SLORC is in a great hurry to finish the new roads.  Those still hiding
in the area say that if the roads come, they will have to flee.  Over 1,000
have already fled the villages and relocation sites to reach areas along the
Tenasserim River to the east which are under Karen National Union control.
They have scattered among existing villages there and are mainly depending
on charity from villagers who live along the river.  Very few have made it
to Thailand, but this is very difficult and there is no refugee camp for
them in this part of Thailand, so they are only likely to end up on
construction sites, or doing bonded labour or sweatshop labour.

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

THE NATION: HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSE BY SLORC 'SURGES IN 1996'
February 12, 1997
Reuter

Political repression and human rights violations in Burma last year reached
their highest levels since the violent state suppression of a popular
uprising at the end of the 1980s, Amnesty International said.

The human rights body said more than 2,000 people were arrested in 1996 for
seeking human rights reform and opposition party members were attacked by
organised mobs.

Amnesty urged the international community to redouble their efforts to
ensure that the Burmese authorities improve their human rights record.

"Last year was the worst for human rights in Burma since 1990. While the
world talks about constructive engagement, things are going backwords in
Burma," it said.

"Those governments with influence, particularly the Association of South
East Asian Nations [Asean] gathering in Singapore this week, need to think
again about how to pressure the Burmese authorities to improve their human
rights records."

Amnesty accused the ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council (Slorc)
of 'an almost complete intolerance of any peaceful political activity
whatsoever".

Pro-democracy opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi was repeatedly refused
permission to leave her compound in 1996, it said, after being released from
six years of house arrest in July 1995. (TN)

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

KYODO: BURMA ASKS TAISEI TO REMOVE CONSTRUCTION EQUIPMENT 
February 7, 1997

Yangon --Myanmar's [Burma's] senior transport official said Friday the
Myanmar Government has asked Taisei Corp. of Japan, which was to begin work
on an expansion project for Yangon International Airport, to remove its
equipment from the airport because the Japanese Government has not resumed
yen loans to the nation. The official said the Myanmar Government and the 
Japanese major contractor agreed in April 1996 that the construction cost
would be 2 million dollars, based on the assumption that Tokyo would resume
the soft loan to the military government.
 Taisei also admitted Friday that the company received Myanmar's request
Jan. 1.  Taisei officials said both sides are currently discussing the
removal fee and are waiting for further developments before the equipment is
taken away.
 Japan has frozen the yen loans to the country since the junta took over the
government in 1988.  Around November 1995, Tokyo seemed ready to resume
the loan after the government released pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi
from house arrest in July 1995. The plans were halted, however, when the
State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) arrested members of National
League for Democracy (NLD) in May 1996.
 Myanmar began expansion of the airport in 1987, but the work has been left
unfinished since 1988 when Japan  halted the loans.

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

THE NATION: EU MUST NOT BOW TO ASEAN'S 'SHUT-UP' POLICY
February 12, 1997 (abridged)

Tomorrow, the 12th ministerial meeting between the European Union (EU) and
the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) will take place in
Singapore, followed by an Asia-Europe (Asem) meeting the next day, which
will include twenty-five foreign ministers from Asean countries, the EU, and
China, Japan and South Korea. 

Discussions have been underway on the meetings' agendas, and Asean
governments have already signalled that certain subjects ­ such as East
Timor ­ will be ruled out, but others such as Burma might be included. 

International human rights organisations have already made strong appeals
for constructive and open discussions on human rights issues. In a statement
issued in Brussels, the EU's headquarters, Amnesty International yesterday
charged Europe with being more concerned with good economic relations with
Asean than human rights issues. 

''The participating governments will discuss various aspects of their
relations ­ economic, cultural, political, security ­ without paying
particular attention to respect for people, who should be at the very centre
of social and economic development," the international human rights watchdog
said. 

Perhaps, a cue can be taken from a report prepared by the Eminent Persons
Group on the future relations of the two groupings into the next century. 

Vitthya Vejjajiva, former permanent secretary for the Foreign Ministry and
one of those commissioned to write the report, pointed out that the current
relationship has been bogged down by such issues as East Timor. Since 1992,
a negotiating directive for a new agreement between the EU and Asean remains
blocked at the European Council because of Portugal's strong protests over
Indonesia's human rights abuses in East Timor. 

''Faced with the unresolved East Timor problem and the fact that Burma will
soon join Asean, both sides must find common ground to meet the future
challenge," writes Vitthya.

Also, the EU and Asean must use the opportunity in Singapore to discuss
concrete steps to improve the human rights situation in Burma. Asean is
considering bringing Burma into the organisation as a full member this June,
and both European and Asean governments ­ including France, Britain,
Thailand and Singapore ­ have major investments in Burma. As of such,
European investors and Burma's Asian neighbours have a joint stake in seeing
this country become more open and more transparent, with due respect paid to
democracy and human rights. 

The ''shut-up" policy on human rights issues espoused by Asean on its
European partners cannot be acceptable to those governments which have a
conscience. If the EU does bow to Asean, in Singapore tomorrow, it is just
as guilty for the slow genocide that is occurring in East Timor and Burma.(TN) 

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

NATION: OFFICIAL OPPOSES RELOCATION OF KAREN
February 12, 1997

AUTHORITIES from the Thai-Burmese border town of Um Pang spoke out against
the proposal to consolidate the border Karen refugee camps further inside
the district, saying such a measure would not ensure the safety of the
refugees and would turn the area into a battleground between armed rival
Karen insurgents.

They urged Armed Forces commander in chief Gen Chettha Thanajaro
to reconsider his proposal.

Chettha last week met local authorities in Tak to discuss ways to ensure the
safety of thousands of Karen refugees living in the 14 border camps. The
torching of three refugees camps in Tak earlier this month prompted the plan
to move the camps further from the border.

The proposal received the blessing of many Thailand based international
humanitarian agencies.

Um Pang District Chief Charoen Singhayakul condemned the idea after the
provincial administrative committee's meeting yesterday. He said the
proposed consolidation of 14 refugee camps into two major camps, including
one in Um Pang in Kanchanaburi, would only add to the problems facing the
district which already hosts one large camp at Mae Ta Per Phu.

"Hosting one camp is already too much for the district. Satisfying the
demand for food, oil and electricity would be nearly impossible," Charoen said.

The official said the road between Um Pang and Mae Sot was often closed
because of flooding and he claimed that villagers are already suffering
related robberies,  lootings and killings.

Um Pang residents rely on revenue from tourism, in particular the three
month peak season when the area brings in up to Bt 60 million, he said. This
business could be threatened by the refugees if crime became a problem.

"How can we be sure that there will be no looting or robbery if thousands of
starving refugees are in town," he said.

The official also mentioned that surrounding forests are comprised of
valuable teak, saying that a large presence of refugees could harm the area.

Provincial deputy Boun-gneun Chancharoen, responsible for Um Pang area, said
the concentration of the camps into the area will have a far-reaching impact
on the district's socio-economic life. He urged Gen Chettha to reconsider
the proposal.

"If he fully understands the present situation, he will find the right
solution without having to relocate  the camps away from the fighting
areas," he said.

Boun-gneun said a Karen National Union (KNU) base run by leader Gen Bo Mya
is situated just outside Um Pang. "The relocation of the camps (to Um Pang)
would mean refocusing the battle to Um Pang," Boun-Gneun said.

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

BKK POST: TALKS ON BURMA PERMISSIBLE
February 12, 1997 (abridged)
Nussara Sawatsawang and Saritdet Marukatat, Singapore

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations is ready to talk about Burma if
the issue is raised by the European Union at their meeting starting
tomorrow, a senior Foreign Ministry official said yesterday.

"We are ready to talk, although we don't want to," said Saroj Chavanaviraj,
permanent secretary for foreign affairs, when asked how Asean would handle
the issue.

Senior officials of Asean - Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines,
Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam - held talks yesterday to prepare agendas
for the two-day 12th Asean-EU ministerial meeting.

Foreign Minister Prachuab Chaiyasan will represent Thailand.

Yesterday, Singapore and the Netherlands held a separate meeting to prepare
for the talks. The meeting was held "in a friendly atmosphere" and "was
conducted in a frank and constructive way", a spokesman of the Singapore
delegation said in a press release.

The Netherlands holds the EU's presidency for the first six months of this year.

Burma joins East Timor as issues likely to be raised by the EU which is
targetting human rights abuses.

Singapore Foreign Minister S. Jayakumar said in a recent interview with
Reuters that Asean would not interfere in other countries' internal affairs.
Once Burma joined Asean, he added, "economic liberalisation will bring
benefits to the Myanmar people and have a positive effect on political
developments in the country".

Asean and EU ministers will review and set future directions for the
Asean-EU relationship, and exchange views on political, security and
economic issues, according to the Singapore Foreign Ministry.

The Asean-EU relationship, based on their basic agreement in 1980, does not
deal with political dialogue. The two groupings agreed in 1992 to review the
pact but no progress has been made.

The Asean-EU meeting will be followed by a broader exchange on Saturday
which will include ministers from China, Japan and South Korea.

The Asem (Asia-Europe Meeting) ministers will launch the Asia-Europe
Foundation to deepen educational, cultural and social contacts between the
two continents. (BP)

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

BKK POST: MINORITIES DETERMINED TO PURSUE AUTONOMY
February 12, 1997
Nussara Sawatsawang

Burma's minorities signed a pact 50 years ago today calling for the
establishment of a federal union under which each will make up a separate state.

Hardly two weeks before Karen refugee camps came under attack on January 28,
15 of Burma's ethnic minority groups met to discuss ways of securing the
autonomy promised them under an agreement signed 50 years ago today.

The mid-January meeting, attended by 111 people, including members of the
20-year-old National Democratic Front, took place at the new headquarters of
the Karen in Mae Tha Raw Hta, which is located opposite Thailand's Tak province.

The meeting reaffirmed the ethnic people's ultimate goal of setting up a
federal union under which each minority group would be given a separate
state with a say in the central government's decisions, said Hkun Okker, of
the NDF veterans.

"The federal system is the best [way] to stay together. It is the only way
to save the country," he said.

On February 12, 1947, Gen Aung San, father of today's pro-democracy leader
Aung San Suu Kyi, and leaders of Shan, Kachin and Chin groups signed in the
Shan State town of Panglong an agreement that guaranteed "full autonomy" in
internal administration for the frontier areas, and right of secession after
a trial period.

The Panglong agreement's anniversary is celebrated as Burma's Union Day
because it represents the end of the British divide-and-rule policy over the
Burmese and minorities in frontier areas.

As 135 races live in Burma, the question of ethnic minority rights and the
relationship between Burmans and non-Burmans continue to loom large.

The ethnic minorities' concern for preserving their special identities makes
their opposition to the military government in Rangoon very different from
that of the students, noted Hkun Okker, who is of Pa-O origin.

"The pro-democracy students and Aung San Suu Kyi lost their fundamental
rights, human rights, but they are not worried about their national identity
because they are Burmans - and Slorc also promotes the Burmans. They just
don't like [the] military," he pointed out.

"But for the Shan, Pa-O and Karen, our identity is not secured. If we don't
struggle, we can lose. The smaller we are, the easier we can lose our
identity," he said.

A main demand of the pro-democracy Burmese is for Rangoon to recognise the
1990 election victory of Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy.

Hkun Okker urged the NLD leader to be more clear cut about her policy on
ethnic minorities.

Mrs Suu Kyi's stand on the "federalism" sought by the minorities is "very
questionable", said Hkun Okker. "She has never made clear after she got the
power what she will do with the ethnic [question] and how much she will
guarantee our rights," she added.

Ethnic minorities favour a constitution draft written by an alliance of the
National Council of the Union of Burma (NCUB) that promotes their right of
self-determination.

Under this draft, the Burmans, as an ethnic race, will be given rights to
form only one national state in addition to existing seven ethnic states:
Rakhine, Chin, Kachin, Shan, Mon, Karen and Karenni.

Smaller ethnic groups such as Wa, Pa-O and Palaung can also claim a
nationality state if they meet criteria like a reasonable population number
and economic self-reliance.

By contrast, Slorc's constitution draft gives the military a greater say and
confirms the existing rights of Burmans, who account for 30 million of the
46 million total population, over seven regions: Irrawaddy, Magway,
Mandalay, Pegu, Sagaing, Tenasserim and Rangoon.

The NLD has not yet supported the pro-ethnic constitution although it is a
member of the NCUB, according to Hkun Okker. On the contrary, Aung San Suu
Kyi announced last year that her party would draft its own version.

Beyond politics, ethnic groups, by virtue of their cultural and religious
differences, also find it difficult to live with other groups, according to
Wirat Niyomtham, an expert on Burmese linguistics from Naresuan University
in Phitsanulok province.

Local proverbs show distrust among different groups, he noted. Rakhine women
will never marry Burman men but Karen, and Burman people still regard Karen
as subordinates under British colonialism, he added.

"But this kind of feeling can dissolve if there are genuine developments in
those areas," said the academic.

Religious differences might also have played a part in the January 28-29
attacks on refugees camps in Tak province. The assailants, calling
themselves the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA), were hitting the Karen
National Union, which is predominantly Christian, for refusal to yield to
Rangoon.

The ethnic minorities' bid for autonomy received a shot in the arm with the
formation of the NDF in May 1976, but progress has been slow since then.

The Arakan Liberation Party (ALP), Kachin Independent Organisation (KIO),
Karen National Union (KNU), Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP), Kayan
New Land Party (KNLP), Palaung State Liberation Party (SPLP), Lahu National
United Party (LNUP), Shan State Progressive Party (SSPP) and Pa-O National
Union (PNO) were founding members later joined by the Chin National Front,
New Mon State Party and the Wa National Organisation.

Strong in the mid-1980s - when it formed a military alliance with the
Communist Party of Burma and formed battalions in the north, centre and the
south - the NDF gradually weakened as members entered ceasefire agreements
with the ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council in Rangoon.

The SSPP went first in 1989, followed by the PNO and PSLP in 1991, the KIO
and KNLP in 1994 and the NMSP in 1995. The KNU is the last main group still
holding out against Slorc.

The decision of the KIO, one of the most powerful and disciplined insurgent
groups, to enter a ceasefire with Slorc three years ago was a major turning
point, noted an Asian diplomat.

Lack of human resources to feed the army and political leadership is the
alliance's main shortcoming, said Arel Tweed, who is in charge of foreign
affairs for the KNPP, which made peace with Rangoon in March 1995 and
revoked the agreement three months later.

"We fight for 50 years, but we go to nowhere. We need new generations, new
policies and new leadership," he said.

The combined armed strength of the KNU and KNPP is estimated at less than
10,000.

But Hkun Okker is hopeful that Slorc's failure to deliver on promises of
development help to minority groups will spark a new groundswell against the
junta. The mid-January meeting drew delegates from such disappointed groups,
including the United Wa State Party, New Mon State Party, Kayan New Land
Party and the KIO.

According to Hkun Okker, the meeting set a new strategy whereby ethnic
groups called to the Slorc-sponsored constitution drafting convention will
collectively boycott any proposal that does not make sense.

The so-called national convention launched in 1993 is proceeding
intermittently after a year-long interruption last year. At the same time, a
small group is trying to educate the ethnic minorities' young people on
their rights and voicing their concerns at international forums. (BP)

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

SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST: KAREN GUERRILLAS BRACE FOR NEW ARMY ON SLAUGHT
February 12, 1997

BURMA by Philip McClellan of Agence France-Presse

Still reeling from military defeats two years ago and doubtful that peace
talks will ever bear fruit, ethnic Karen rebels are preparing for a new
offensive by government forces.

The ethnic group's main rebel force, the Karen National Union (KNU), says it
has been monitoring movements by large numbers of Burmese troops close to
pockets of territory controlled by the rebels in eastern Burma.

Merchants crossing on Monday into the northwestern Thai border town of Mae
Sot said 12 trucks had arrived in the area, carrying Burmese troops who were
conscripting porters.

The Burmese Army has long relied on porters, who human rights groups say are
pressed into service to carry the heavy weapons and supplies needed for
offensives in the rugged border region.

Rangoon denies it is preparing an offensive to wipe out Burma's oldest
insurgency and says it is still holding out an olive branch to the rebels
despite the failure of four rounds of peace talks.

"Some government troops were sent in for a security patrol along the border
area," a Burmese government official said.

The comment follows recent attacks in Thailand on refugee camps housing
ethnic Karens by renegade Karens who the KNU says are supported by the
Burmese Government.

Two camps were destroyed in simultaneous attacks on January 28, while a
third was attacked the same night by the Democratic Buddhist Kayin Army
which helped the Burmese Government overrun two key KNU bases in 1995.

The Burmese official said the Government was waiting "with the doors wide
open" for a new Karen peace talks proposal.

For their part, KNU officials in Mae Sot say they are waiting for Rangoon to
respond to their latest proposal for a fifth round of cease-fire talks.

But they say they hold out little hope of either side being able to make the
compromises needed to forge a cease-fire.

"Up to now the junta has been demanding that we surrender and enter the
legal fold," said Major-General Maung Maung, 72, a KNU veteran who has spent
almost five decades battling governments in Rangoon.

"We are demanding that we must have a cease-fire agreement first," the Karen
general said.

"The junta says we must surrender first."

General Maung Maung said the fortunes of the KNU were at the lowest point he
could remember in his long career as a rebel.

"From a military point of view, we have been getting weaker since 1995," he
said.

Maung Maung said KNU fighters were now shying away from pitched battles with
government forces and were instead concentrating on hit-and-run attacks -
often against their erstwhile comrades in the Democratic Buddhist Kayin Army.

Although the Burmese Government says it gives the group nothing but
"humanitarian assistance", the KNU and other border sources say Rangoon is
clearly supporting the attacks on the Thai-based refugee camps. (SCMP)

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

STRAITS TIMES: ASEAN AND EU SHOULD AVOID DIVISIVE ISSUES, SAYS JAYAKUMAR
February 12, 1997 (abridged)

SINGAPORE'S Foreign Minister S. Jayakumar said yesterday that Asean and the
European Union (EU) should avoid issues that divide the two entities, such
as East Timor and Myanmar. 

In a written response to questions from Reuters, he said a principle of
Asean was not to comment on the internal situation, nor interfere in the
domestic politics, of other countries. 

He was speaking ahead of the 12th Asean-European Ministerial Meeting (AEMM)
in Singapore on Feb 13-14. Senior officials from the regions will meet today
and tomorrow to prepare for the dialogue. 

This will be followed by the first Asia-Europe Foreign Ministers Meeting
(Asem) on Feb 15. 

The Asean-EU meeting is between the two blocs while Asem is an
inter-governmental forum of individual Asean members with China, South
Korea, Japan and the 15-nation EU. 

Asked what answer Asean was likely to give if EU ministers raised concerns
about human rights in Myanmar, Prof Jayakumar said: "Isolating Myanmar or
imposing sanctions will be counter-productive and will not contribute to the
process of inducing change in Myanmar." 

The EU has been critical of Myanmar's human-rights record and Asean's
relations with Yangon's military government. 

"Asean's approach is to integrate Myanmar with the rest of the South-east
Asian community," added Prof Jayakumar. 

Asean leaders decided at a meeting in Jakarta last year to admit Myanmar,
Cambodia and Laos to the grouping. However, no specific date has been set. 

In Kuala Lumpur, Malaysian opposition leader Lim Kit Siang yesterday urged
Asean to press the Myanmar military junta to implement democratic reforms. 

In a statement, he said Asean's constructive-engagement policy "had been
very one-sided" by confining its contacts with the ruling State Law and
Order Restoration Council. -- Reuter, AFP, Bernama.
(ST)

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

REUTER: OIL EXECUTIVES BLAST U.S. UNILATERAL SANCTIONS
February 11, 1997

HOUSTON - U.S. oil executives on Tuesday blasted the use of unilateral
sanctions as a tool for punishing other countries and said the domestic
energy industry could be a powerful ally in improving foreign relations. 

A group of Houston executives urged U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine
Albright during a meeting last week to abandon unilateral sanctions as a
tool for promoting U.S. interests in the world. 

"I think she is searching for alternatives," said Archie Dunham, president
of DuPont's ( E.I. Du Pont De Nemours & Co ) Conoco Inc and one of the
executives who met with Albright during her two-day stay in Houston. 

"The use of unilateral sanctions in the history of our country has not been
effective," Dunham said in a speech at Cambridge Energy Research Associates'
energy forum in Houston. 

The United States has trade sanctions in place against 10 countries and is
considering partial or complete sanctions against Nigeria, Burma, Indonesia,
Turkey, Pakistan and China. 

By investing in countries throughout the world, U.S. oil companies are
improving cultural and economic ties overseas, Dunham said. "We should be
thought of as another tool in America's foreign policy kit," he said. 

Texaco Inc Chairman Peter Bijur said the U.S. should seek multilateral
sanctions or attempt to coordinate economic pressure through bodies like the
United Nations. "To do so on a unilateral basis simply penalizes U.S.
industry," he said. 

U.S. oil executives have long complained that U.S. sanctions hurt domestic
industry more than the target country, and Dunham urged Congress to seek
other alternatives to promote U.S. interests overseas. 

"When your only tool is a hammer, every problem begins to look like a nail,"
he said. 

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

BKK POST:PTT HOLDS HEARING ON PIPELINE PLAN
February 12, 1997
Chakrit Ridmontri, Kanchanaburi

'Project won't affect wildlife or forests'

The 1.7 billion baht gas pipeline project of the Petroleum Authority of
Thailand (PTT) will not have a severe impact on the forests or wildlife
along the route, a technical hearing on the project was told on its opening
yesterday.

The PTT arranged the two days of technical hearings for its gas pipeline
project so it could listen to the opinions of local people and environmental
groups from Thong Phaphume district, Kanchanaburi.

The pipeline will take gas from the Yadana and Yetagun fields in Burma via
I-Tong village, Thong Phaphume.

>From there, the pipeline will run for 260 kilometres through a first-class
watershed area and preserved forests in Kanchanaburi, to an Electricity
Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat) gas power station in Ratchaburi
province.

Environmental groups and local people oppose the project, however, claiming
it will harm the local wildlife and its habitat in preserved forests and
watershed areas along the first 50 kilometres of the route.

Meanwhile, a panel of environmental experts from the Office of Environmental
Policy and Planning has also been dealing with the matter.

The panel last year returned to the PTT the environmental impact assessment
done on the project by Team Consulting Engineer Co and requested that it
revise the details of the expected impact on local wildlife.

The PTT then commissioned the Forestry Department to re-study the wildlife
aspect.

The results of both the studies by the department and Team Co - that the
impact on wildlife and its habitat could be minimised to an acceptable level
- were presented to the local residents and environmental groups at the
hearing yesterday.

Sirimitr Wangsunthorn, a Team Co expert leading the EIA study, admitted that
the planned pipeline would pass through 26 kilometres of conserved forest
and 18 kilometres of woodlands.

In the project area and adjacent zones, hundreds of species of mammals,
birds, reptiles, and amphibians have been found.

The PTT has agreed to only clear 20 metres of forest along the pipeline
route, which would mean only 112.5 rai of forest would be destroyed, Mrs
Sirimitr said.

"We would lose 112.5 rai of forest for the project, but the PTT would plant
852 rai to compensate."

"As for the impact on wildlife, the PTT would only allow the pipeline to be
built in lush forests during the dry season.

"It even says work will be prohibited at dusk and dawn when the Queen crab
and Kitti bat, both rare species, forage for food," she said.

"No person will be allowed to stay overnight at the (pipeline) construction
site; therefore, the wildlife and its habitat won't be disturbed," Mrs
Sirimitr said.

She added that the pipeline would be laid 1.5 metres underground.

Sawat Wongthirawat, a Forestry Department zoologist who conducted a separate
wildlife study on the pipeline route, agreed.

He warned, however, that: "Wildlife along the proposed route is already
threatened by a number of human activities; if the pipeline is built, it
will only intensify this impact."

He suggested that a monitoring committee be set up to mitigate any further
impact on the wildlife or forests along the route.

"This committee must be powerful enough to stop any person who tries to
damage these resources, otherwise the environmental mitigation plan will be
useless," he said. (BP)

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

BURMA BUREAU GERMANY: THE US SELECTIVE PURCHASING LAW SHOWS TELLING EFFECT
ON INVESTMENT IN BURMA
February 10, 1997

Eight business firms, namely, 1) the Asea Brown Boveri ( ABB,Mannhein ), 2)
the Asia Environmental Development Co. ( ENV, Graeben ), 3) the Berliner
Bank, 4) the Dresdner Bank, 5) the German Telecoms, 6) the Joh. Schuback &
Sons (a trading co. in Hamburg), 7) the Mueller & Partner Spedition
forwarding agency (Fulda) and 8) the Wilhelm Ispert Textile Co. (Cologne)
are collectively opening a German contact office in Rangoon in January this
year, which is being coordinated by a Hamburg-based OAV (Ostasiatisches
Verein = German Asia-Pacific Business Association).The German firms Siemens,
Deutsche Bank, clothing multinational Triumph and some tourist agencies have
already their representative offices in Rangoon. But the US-selective
purchasing law, which denies state contracts to companies doing business in
Burma, adopted by several other US-cities and counties, does show a telling
effect on German investment attitude. When more than 30 Japanese companies,
including Sony Corps. and the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi are on the list of
firms to which contracts (amount to billions of US-dollars yearly ) cannot
be given by the State of Massachusetts, the Japanese government has
complained to the US State Department and even to the Clinton
administration. The German ABB has been shaken by the news, since the
company is also running on the US market. 
Such companies are now worrying that other US-States could pass similar laws, 
which have an unbelievable effect. Even the German Telecoms giant hesitated to 
send its representative to the opening of the German contact office in Rangoon, 
when the national leader Aung San Suu Kyi showed her displeasure to the
opening. We, the Burmese comunity in Germany welcome the Massachusetts'
unique initiative and have the honour to express our heartfelt thanks and
appreciations to Governor William Weld of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
for having signed the significant law. We do also welcome and fully support
the sensible response of the honourable members of the US Congress from the
Massachusetts State to the recent comment of the Japanese government and the
EU regarding the selective purchasing law. Such comment from Japan and EU do
not represent our opinion at all and we deplore so much to have
unfortunately heard such comments especially from highly civilized world
nations like Japan and the EU. The time is absolutely right and ripe now to
impose full economic sanctions on the Burmese military SLORC, which should
be initiated by President Bill Clinton.

Nwe Aung
for Burma Bureau Germany, a coordination of Burmese community and friends of
Burma
Fahlerweg 08
D-40764 Langenfeld
Germany
Fax: +49 2173 907334  

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DEMOCRATIC VOICE OF BURMA: SYDNEY- INTERNET PROGRAM
February 9, 1997

The February 2nd  program of the DVB  SYDNEY originally  on   2NBC in 
Australia, is now available for real-time playback via RealAudio     from 
BurmaSong at  <http://users.imagiware.com/wtongue>
This is a Burmese-language program featuring Burma news, views, and music of
Burma presented by Burmese now living in Australia. It  will be appreciated  
any  suggestion  about  program , Please sends  E-mail  to (ausgeo@xxxxxxx ).

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