[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index ][Thread Index ]

Burma News Update no. 55



Burma News Update No. 55
24 April 1998

UN Again Condemns Junta Abuses
On 21 April, the UN Human Rights Commission unanimously adopted a resolution
condemning a litany of human rights abuses by Burma's army junta, including
"extrajudicial, summary, or arbitrary executions." The resolution also denounced
torture, abuses of women and children, arbitrary property seizures, and "the
imposition of oppressive measures directed in particular at ethnic and religious
minorities" by the regime. The Commission urged the military junta to ensure the
"safety and physical well-being of all political leaders, including Daw Aung San
Suu Kyi, . . . and to release immediately and unconditionally those detained for
political reasons."
(Geneva, Agence France Presse, 21 April)

Atrocities Worsen in Shan State 
Burmese soldiers have killed at least 300 people "in a series of massacres" in
the country's northeastern Shan State, destroying 1,400 villages and forcing
over 300,000 ethnic Shan people to flee their homes in the past two years,
Amnesty International reported on 14 April. Over 80,000 Shan refugees have fled
to Thailand since the March 1996 start of a mass eviction campaign aimed at
cutting grassroot support for the rebel Shan State Army (SSA). The Amnesty
report offered detailed accounts of specific killings, including a 16 June 1997
murder of 27 villagers.
(Bangkok, Deutsche Presse-Agentur, 14 April)

Democracy Leader Gets 25 Years
Burma's ruling army junta has extended the prison sentence of a prominent pro-
democracy leader to 25 years for giving an interview to the British Broadcasting
Corporation in which she criticized the military regime, Burmese exiles in
Thailand reported. San San, a 58 year-old National League for Democracy elected
member of parliament, was already serving a six year sentence imposed in
December 1997, for activities alleged to "inspire security problems" or incite
"unrest among the people" under the terms of a 1950 emergency law. A junta
spokesman said San San was guilty of "fabrications and distribution of false
information domestically and internationally to create instability."
(Bangkok, Associated Press, 21 April)

Rangoon Drug Money
A Newsweek correspondent was among a small group of journalists and diplomats
recently taken on a guided tour by Burma's military regime of selected spots in
the country's opium-growing areas. Excerpts from his report:

"It is often hard to tell who is up and who down in Rangoon, a city of palpable
intrigue ruled by an Orwellian military government. . . . [Ethnic] warlords are
now prospering as tycoons. But for the military junta, it may prove a Faustian
bargain: it has gained control in the hinterlands, but the shadow of drug money
now hangs over Rangoon. . . . As quiet fell on the battlefields of the Golden
Triangle, the poppy fields flourished as never before. Proceeds of the opium
trade began pouring into Rangoon real estate as well as into roads, ports, bus
lines, amusement parks, even a casino in the northern jungle. . . . In March . .
 . the U.S. State Department complained that Burma was not only the world's chief
supplier of heroin but also 'systematically encouraged' money laundering. . . .
If nothing else, the warlord tycoons are the most egregious case of the crony
capitalism that has brought Asia's financial system to its knees. . . . Cutting
deals with the warlords may buy peace; it won't buy prosperity, or the clean
image the junta is looking for."
(Rangoon, Newsweek, 20 April 1998)

UPS and FEDEX Forced Out of Burma
On 6 April, Burma's military junta ordered 11 courier 
companies, including TNT, United Parcel Service, Overseas Courier Service, and
Federal Express, to halt operations within two weeks or face legal action. The
only courier company allowed to operate in Burma will be DHL, which is in a
joint venture with the military regime. Courier business into Burma is valued at
about $1 million monthly. The action is the latest in many difficulties facing
foreign investors in Burma. The 
regime recently barred seven private banks from dealing in 
foreign exchange, allowing only state-run banks to operate 
foreign currency accounts. 
(Singapore, Business Times, 16 April)

Burma News Update is a publication of the Burma Project 
of the Open Society Institute: 400 West 59th Street, New York, NY 10019 
Tel: (212) 548-0632 Fax: (212) 548-4655 email: burma@xxxxxxxxxxx