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URGENT ACTION (r)



EXTERNAL  AI Index: ASA 16/31/97

EXTRA 147/97   Fear of torture/ill-treatment /Possible prisoners of
conscience    

31 October 1997

MYANMAR        
               Daw San San (f)
               U Soe Myint
               Dr Than Nyein, NLD Member of Parliament-elect
               Win Win Htay alias Ma Po (f)
               Daw May Win Myint (f), NLD MP-elect
               Khin Maung Myint
               U Win Thaung
               U Mya Thaung


Eight people, arrested on the night of 28/29 October 1997, are feared to be
at risk of torture or ill-treatment, common during interrogation in
Myanmar.  Seven of the detainees are leading members of the National League
for Democracy (NLD), the opposition party led by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.

On the morning of 28 October the NLD attempted to hold a meeting at its
Mayangone township office on the outskirts of  Yangon, the capital (see
below). However, the security forces set up barricades and blocked Aung San
Suu Kyi's supporters from meeting with her.  A number of them were rounded
up and trucked several miles away where they were then released.  The seven
NLD leaders and one other, named above, are still believed to be in
detention at an unknown place.

Daw May Win Myint, NLD Divisional Organizer and Member of Parliament (MP)
elect from Mayagone, was arrested by Military Intelligence Officers at 10pm
on 28 October after they had taken documents from her.  Also at 10pm, Khin
Maung Myint, NLD Central Youth member and Secretary of Latha Township, was
arrested by a combined force of Military Intelligence and other security
personnel.  Daw San San, the NLD Seikkan Divisional Vice-Chairman and NLD
women's leader, was arrested at midnight after documents were taken from
her.  At the same time, Win Win Htay, a member of the Yangon NLD Youth
Division, was arrested after security forces seized documents from her. U
Soe Myint, the Chairman of the Thaketa NLD, was arrested at 1am on 29
October.  One and a half hours later, Dr Than Nyein, an MP-elect from
Kyauktan township, was arrested after a combined group of Military
Intelligence and other security forces had confiscated documents from his
home.  U Win Thaung, the Chairman of the Mayangone NLD, was arrested
sometime late in the evening of 28 October or in the early hours of 29
October.  U Mya Thaung, who is the landlord of the Mayangone NLD office,
was arrested at around the same time.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

The State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC), Myanmar's military
government, has subsequently accused the NLD of being "confrontational" and
of attempting to embarrass the SLORC in front of the international
community. On 30 October the SLORC stated that it had detained four NLD
members for questioning, but did not identify the four.  The authorities
further claimed that the four were breaking the law by holding the meeting. 

The 28 October meeting had been planned in order to reorganize the Mayangon
Township's NLD youth wing. The previous week, on 21 October, Aung San Suu
Kyi had travelled to Thaketa, outside of Yangon, in order to meet NLD youth
members there. The authorities did not prevent her from holding the
meeting, and they also allowed the NLD to hold a national party congress in
late September for the first time.  However, the latest crackdown on
peaceful political activity has diminished hopes that the SLORC is becoming
more tolerant of NLD activities.    RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send
telegrams/telexes/ faxes/ express/airmail letters in English or your own
language:

- calling on the authorities to immediately make known the whereabouts of
the eight detainees and the charges against them, and to release all eight
immediately and unconditionally if they are being held solely for their
peaceful political activities;

- urging that the detainees be protected from any form of torture or
ill-treatment and granted immediate and continuing access to their lawyers,
doctors, and family members, in accordance with international standards. 

APPEALS TO:

Lieutenant General Khin Nyunt, Secretary 1
State Law and Order Restoration Council
c/o Director of Defence Services Intelligence (DDSI)
Ministry of Defence, Signal Pagoda Road
Dagon Post Office
Yangon
Union of Myanmar
Telegrams: General Khin Nyunt, Yangon, Myanmar
Telexes: 21316
Faxes: +95 1 229 50
Salutation: Dear General

Senior General Than Shwe, Chairman
State Law and Order Restoration Council
c/o Director of Defence Services (DDSI)
Ministry of Defence, Signal Pagoda Road
Dagon Post Office
Yangon
Union of Myanmar
Telegrams: General Than Shwe, Yangon, Myanmar
Telexes: 21316
Salutation: Dear General

COPIES TO:  diplomatic representatives of MYANMAR accredited to your country.


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


FURTHER BACKGROUND ADDED BY BURMA PEACE FOUNDATION

/* ---------- "slorc detains several members of nl" ---------- 

DATE=10/30/97
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
NUMBER=2-221915
TITLE=BURMA / NLD (L ONLY)
BYLINE=GARY THOMAS
DATELINE=BANGKOK
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:  

INTRO: BURMESE AUTHORITIES HAVE DETAINED SEVERAL MEMBERS OF A 
LOCAL BRANCH  OF THE OPPOSITION NATIONAL LEAGUE FOR DEMOCRACY.  
VOA CORRESPONDENT GARY THOMAS REPORTS FROM OUR SOUTHEAST ASIA 
BUREAU IN BANGKOK, THE N-L-D MEMBERS ARE  BEING QUESTIONED IN 
CONNECTION WITH TUESDAY'S ABORTED ATTEMPT BY PRO-DEMOCRACY LEADER AUNG SAN
SUU KYI TO HOLD A MEETING WITH SUPPORTERS.

TEXT:  A GOVERNMENT SPOKESMAN IN RANGOON SAYS FOUR MEMBERS OF THE MAYANGON
TOWNSHIP BRANCH OF THE N-L-D HAVE BEEN, AS THE SPOKESMAN PUT IT, "CALLED IN
FOR QUESTIONING."  THE SPOKESMAN SAYS THE FOUR -- WHO WERE NOT IDENTIFIED
-- ATTEMPTED TO CONDUCT ILLEGAL  POLITICAL MEETINGS AND VIOLATED
REGULATIONS GOVERNING SUCH GATHERINGS.  HE DID NOT SAY IF THE FOUR N-L-D
MEMBERS HAVE BEEN CHARGED.

THE SPOKESMAN SAYS POLITICAL PARTIES IN BURMA -- INCLUDING THE 
N-L-D -- HAVE THE RIGHT TO CARRY OUT PARTY ACTIVITIES, BUT THEY MUST DO SO
WITHIN THE LAW.

THE GOVERNMENT SPOKESMAN ACCUSES THE N-L-D OF DEFYING THE LAW TO EMBARRASS
THE GOVERNMENT.  HE SAYS SUCH ACTIONS WILL, AS THE SPOKESMAN PUT IT, ONLY
CREATE UNNECESSARY SETBACKS TO BUILDING DEMOCRATIC INSTITUTIONS.

ON TUESDAY, POLICE PREVENTED N-L-D LEADER AUNG SAN SUU KYI FROM MEETING
WITH SUPPORTERS IN MAYONGON, A TOWNSHIP IN NORTH RANGOON.

AUTHORITIES BLOCKED THE ROAD LEADING TO THE N-L-D OFFICE THERE 
AND SCUFFLED WITH N-L-D SUPPORTERS, AS AUNG SAN SUU KYI'S 
MOTORCADE APPROACHED.  SUPPORTERS WERE ROUNDED UP AND TAKEN AWAY, AND WERE
RELEASED SOME DISTANCE AWAY.

AUTHORITIES SAY THE N-L-D HAD NOT OBTAINED PERMISSION FOR THE 
MEETING AND THAT THEY HAD URGED THE PARTY TO HOLD THE GATHERING INSIDE AUNG
SAN SUU KYI'S LAKESIDE COMPOUND, IN RANGOON.

LAST MONTH, THE AUTHORITIES ALLOWED THE PARTY TO HOLD A CONGRESS AT AUNG
SAN SUU KYI'S HOME, LEADING MANY ANALYSTS TO BELIEVE THE  GOVERNMENT WAS
SOFTENING ITS ATTITUDE TOWARD THE N-L-D.  PREVIOUS ATTEMPTS TO HOLD SUCH
MEETINGS HAVE BEEN BROKEN UP BY AUTHORITIES, BY MASS TEMPORARY DETENTIONS.
AUNG SAN SUU KYI -- WHOSE MOVEMENTS HAVE BEEN SEVERELY CURTAILED BY THE
GOVERNMENT -- WAS ALSO ALLOWED TO VISIT ANOTHER N-L-D OFFICE IN A RANGOON
SUBURB LAST WEEK.

BUT TUESDAY'S INCIDENT INDICATES, SAY ANALYSTS, THAT HOPES OF A SUPPOSED
THAW IN RELATIONS BETWEEN THE MILITARY AND THE 
PRO-DEMOCRACY MOVEMENT WERE PREMATURE.  (SIGNED)

NEB/GPT/FC/KL 

30-Oct-97 4:10 AM EST (0910 UTC)

**************8


Four NLD members missing

  	  				 
    RANGOON, Oct 29 (AFP) - Four members of the party of Burmese opposition
leader Aung San Suu Kyi are missing after being detained by security forces
on Tuesday, a party source said Wednesday. 
   The four were held after authorities moved in to stop Aung San  Suu Kyi
addressing a youth meeting at the National League for Democracy (NLD)
office in Mayangone township on the outskirts of Rangoon. 
   They were taken away after a tussle with riot police when they refused
to leave the area of the office. There was no information on them as of
Wednesday evening. 
   Aung San Suu Kyi was stopped outside the barricaded party office  in a
three hour standoff early Tuesday, as security forces dispersed a gathering
that was waiting for her. 
   The party source said 70 members of the NLD who were caught  inside the
office building when barricades were set up were taken away in trucks and
released miles away. They had since returned home. 
   The NLD will try to hold similar meetings in the future at other Rangoon
townships despite Tuesday's crackdown provided local party branches are
willing to face the consequences, the source said. 
   The party has said Aung San Suu Kyi will take a personal role in
promoting the organisation of the party's youth wing. 
   The ruling junta has shown signs of moderating its  
uncompromising stance against the NLD since Burma's controversial entry
into the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in July. It offered talks,
albeit without Aung San Suu Kyi's participation. 
   Hundreds of delegates from around the country were finally  
allowed last month to attend a party convention -- the biggest in seven
years -- at Aung San Suu Kyi's residential compound in the capital. 
   A foreign analyst said the junta was making clear it would not allow the
NLD leader to hold political meetings outside her residence, where she was
previously kept under house arrest for six years. 
   A senior government official on Tuesday slammed the NLD for  "defying"
the law and trying to cause confrontation by attempting to hold what he
called a rally without official permission. 
   The NLD was hoping to use Tuesday's incident to embarrass the ruling
junta so that the international community would be "tricked into exerting
pressure on the Myanmar (Burma) government," he claimed. 
   Authorities routinely maintain a traffic blockade either side of  the
NLD leader's home and restrict her outside political activities. Visits to
the compound are limited and phone lines are often cut. 
   The NLD won the last elections held in the military-run state in 1990.
The ruling junta, the State Law and Order Restoration Council, never
recognised the result. 
   The NLD leader had been told she could invite supporters from  townships
to her house but had ignored the request of the authorities not to hold the
meeting at Mayangone, the government official said. 
   The NLD's "political activities" risked "disturbing the  
prevailing tranquility and stability the township people are 
enjoying," he added. 
   Amnesty International said this month there had been no  
improvements since Burma became an ASEAN member and that some 57 NLD
members had been sentenced to long prison terms in the first six months of
this year. 

END

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