SCMP : 'Riot squads prepare for ann

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South China Morning Post

Saturday  July 18  1998
'Riot squads prepare for anniversary' 

WILLIAM BARNES in Bangkok 
The opposition said yesterday the junta was creating riot squads to deal
with any possible uprising during next month's 10th anniversary of mass
protests against military rule.

The special 30-strong units were being formed in all major towns and
district police officers had been called to Rangoon to be briefed on how to
crush demonstrations, the All Burma Students Democratic Front said
yesterday.

The regime had also organised three-week refresher courses in handling
small arms for all police and riot squad officers, the statement added.

With the economy in deep trouble and no visible prospect of any easing of
the military's iron rule, the generals are obviously taking no chances that
the anniversary will release pent-up frustrations.

The army is thought to have massacred hundreds of people at the height the
protests a decade ago when millions of Burmese took to the streets on
August 8, 1988, a day that has become branded on the nation's collective
memory.

Amnesty International called on Thursday for the release of elderly and
sick prisoners of conscience, improved prison conditions and an end forced
labour to "defuse possibilities for conflict" ahead of the anniversary.

The London-based human rights group said it was deeply concerned that the
recent wave of political arrests and harassment had heightened tension
before a day of symbolic significance.

The National League for Democracy (NLD) said earlier this week that as many
as 80 of its members who won seats in the disbanded parliament had been
detained after refusing to sign pledges that restrict their travel.

Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi's party has deeply irritated the regime
by calling last month for parliament to be reconvened in August along the
lines of the 1990 general election when it trounced the military's party.

The junta, which ignored that election, said on Wednesday that Ms Aung San
Suu Kyi did not deserve her 1991 Nobel Peace Prize and that she is "no
Nelson Mandela".

"One is a disgruntled housewife turned politician who desperately seeks to
be popular . . . the other is a self-effacing nationalist who has devoted
his entire life to free his people from the shackles of apartheid," said a
letter aimed at rebutting a Washington Post editorial that praised Ms Aung
San Suu Kyi's courage.

NLD vice-chairman Tin Oo said the Burmese Supreme Court had thrown out a
petition by the party seeking the lifting of restrictions that require its
MPs to report twice a day to their local police station.

"This [law used against the MPs] was assigned for criminals and thieves and
it is not appropriate to apply it on dignified MPs elected to represent the
people," Mr Tin Oo said.