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The BurmaNet News: February 16, 199



Subject: The BurmaNet News: February 16, 1999

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

The BurmaNet News: February 16, 1999
Issue #1208

Noted in Passing: "The main function of these units to date has been to
execute any civilian even remotely suspected of present or past connections
with the KNU or KNLA." - Karen Human Rights Group, on the formation of a
new Death Squad Battalion, the Sa Sa Sa (SEE KHRG: UPDATE #99-U1 --
NYAUNGLEBI)

HEADLINES:
==========
KAREN HUMAN RIGHTS GROUP: UPDATE #99-U1 -- NYAUNGLEBI 
SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST: GESTURES RIDICULED 
THE BANGKOK POST: MINISTER TO VISIT FOUR ASIAN NATIONS 
THE NATION: INTERPOL URGED TO CANCEL RANGOON HEROIN MEETING 
MIZZIMA NEWS GROUP: NOBEL LAUREATE AMARTYA SEN AND BURMA 
MIZZIMA NEWS GROUP: BURMA AND GEORGE FERNANDES 
ASIAWEEK: A THAI HAND FOR THE NEEDIEST 
****************************************************************

KAREN HUMAN RIGHTS GROUP: UPDATE #99-U1 -- NYAUNGLEBI 
15 February, 1999 

An Independent Report by the Karen Human Rights Group

[Information Update is periodically produced by KHRG in order to provide
timely reporting of specific developments, particularly when urgent action
may be required.  It is produced primarily for Internet distribution.
Topics covered will generally be reported in more detail in upcoming KHRG
reports.]

Nyaunglebin District:  Internally Displaced People and SPDC Death Squads

Nyaunglebin (known in Karen as Kler Lwe Htoo) District is a northern Karen
region straddling the border of northern Karen State and Pegu Division.  It
contains the northern reaches of the Bilin (Bu Loh Kloh) River northwest of
Papun, and stretches westward as far as the Sittaung (Sittang) River in the
area 60 to 150 kilometres north of Pegu (named Bago by the SPDC).  The
District has 3 townships:  Ler Doh (Kyauk Kyi in Burmese), Hsaw Tee
(Shwegyin), and Mone.    The eastern two-thirds of the district is covered
by forested hills dotted with small Karen villages, and the Karen National
Liberation Army (KNLA) operates extensively in this region.  The western
part of the district is in the plains of the Sittaung river basin; here
there are larger villages of mixed Karen and Burman population, and this
area is under strong SPDC control.  

For several years now SLORC/SPDC forces have tried to destroy Karen
resistance in the eastern hills, largely by forcing villagers to move and
wiping out their ability to produce food.  Many villages in the parts of
these eastern hills bordering Papun District have been destroyed since 1997
as part of the SPDC campaign to wipe out Karen villages in northern Papun
and eastern Nyaunglebin Districts (see "Wholesale Destruction", KHRG, April
1998).  According to reports by KHRG monitors in the region and interviews
with internally displaced villagers and new refugees, the situation
continues to worsen for villagers in eastern and western Nyaunglebin,
particularly with the recent creation of SPDC 'Dam Byan Byaut Kya' death
squads.


Finding itself unable to suppress Karen resistance activity in the eastern
hills of Nyaunglebin District, in early 1997 the SPDC (then named SLORC)
began a campaign to wipe out all Karen civilian villages in the hills.
Where villagers could be found they were ordered to relocate westward into
the plains; where they could not be caught, their villages were shelled
without warning, looted and then burned to the ground, while villagers
found afterwards were shot on sight.  In 1997 KHRG compiled a list of 35
villages in Shwegyin (Hsaw Tee) township alone which had been completely
destroyed.  Most villagers fled into the hills to live in hiding in small
groups of families while trying to grow small patches of rice, and many
others moved westward as ordered into the plains, either to stay with
relatives or to garrison villages along the main roads as the SPDC troops
had demanded.

Many of the people who moved into the plains have now fled back into the
hills, and some have been interviewed by KHRG monitors.  They say that they
returned to the hills because they could not survive in the plains; they
had no land to plant, there was no paid labour to survive on, and they
could not face all the demands for forced labour and money from the SPDC
troops.  Some had died because they were not used to the water and the
illnesses in the plains.  In the end they fled back into the hills, even
though they knew their villages had been destroyed, that they would have to
live in hiding and that they would be shot if found by SPDC patrols. Now
they join the thousands of Karen villagers who have lived internally
displaced in these hills since 1997.

In the hills the villagers are hiding in small groups of a few families in
high valleys and other remote places.  They try to grow small patches of
rice but have little or nothing to eat; most meals consist of a small
amount of rice or thin rice gruel, combined with salt or chillies if they
are lucky enough to have these, and some forest leaves or sour cucumber
soup (which just consists of cucumber boiled in water with a bit of salt;
cucumbers are grown among the rice in hill fields).  As in many other
areas, much of the already small rice crop was destroyed by the lack of
rains early in the season and the plague of insects brought on by the drought.

SPDC patrols come through the hills as often as 2 or 3 times per month,
burn any rice storage barns they find, shoot at villagers they see in the
fields or the forests, and burn any shelters they find.  When they find
belongings they loot them and destroy whatever they don't want or can't
carry, even smashing the bottoms out of cookpots.  From September to
November 1998, before the rice was ready to harvest, SPDC patrols went
through many of the hillside ricefields they found pulling up the paddy
plants by the roots, stomping them down with their boots or cutting them
with machetes and threshing the grains off onto the ground.  Then in
November 1998, SPDC patrols opened fire on groups of villagers harvesting
rice on at least 3 separate occasions, in Tee Nya B'Day Kee, Thaw Ngeh Der,
and Tee Mu Hta villages.  When an SPDC patrol opened fire on villagers
harvesting paddy on 21 November in Tee Nya B'Day Kee, a villager named Saw
May Lay tried to run with his 9-month-old daughter in his arms, but he was
hit by shrapnel in the legs and one arm, while the baby was killed after
having one leg ripped off and the other broken by fragments of the same
shell.  Several other villagers were also seriously wounded by bullets and
shell fragments in these attacks.


The displaced villagers are always fleeing from one place to another to
avoid the patrols.  Some villagers say they won't build a proper shelter
with a raised floor until rainy season, because in dry season the SPDC
patrols are almost certain to find and burn it.  They have no change of
clothing and few or no blankets, and have to sleep around fires in
temperatures which can drop to 10 degrees Celsius or lower at this time of
year.  They have no medicines and speak of treating gunshot wounds by
applying sesame oil after saying incantations.  When interviewed one
villager sent out a plea for help with supplies of rice, cookpots and
medicines, saying that other things they can make from the forest but not
these.  These villagers don't dare go down into the plains for fear of
arrest as 'insurgents', and it is difficult or impossible for most of them
to get to Thailand because they would have to pass through all of northern
Papun District, where SPDC troops have destroyed even more villages and are
patrolling to shoot villagers on sight.  However, a small group of just
over 100 refugees managed to make this difficult journey with the help of
the KNLA and arrived in Ban Sala refugee camp in Thailand on 10 January
1999.  Many of these were from Ler Wah and Tee Mu Hta villages of Ler Doh
township, both of which were shelled and burned by SPDC troops in November
1998.  The troops also shot at the villagers and burned the entire rice
supplies of many families in these villages, giving them little option but
to flee for Thailand.

'Dam Byan Byaut Kya' Death Squads

Since October 1998 a new type of SPDC battalion has been formed in
Nyaunglebin district, apparently with the specific purpose of carrying out
extrajudicial executions: the 'Dam Byan Byaut Kya' death squads.  Many
details about this Army unit still remain vague because the only
information thus far available comes from villagers in areas where they
operate; the information presented here has been compiled by KHRG from
piecing together consistent bits of data from interviews with human rights
monitors and villagers in and from the region.

The name 'Dam Byan Byaut Kya' means 'Guerrilla Retaliation' unit, and is
the name they have told to villagers in several places.  In Mone township
they are also known as 'Sa Sa Sa Dam Byan Byaut Kya'; the prefix 'Sa Sa Sa'
(or 'Sa Thon Lon', for 'Three S's') is the abbreviation for DDSI
(Directorate of Defence Services Intelligence), which is Burma's pervasive
Military Intelligence headed by SPDC Secretary-1 Lt. Gen. Khin Nyunt. Some
villagers claim that this group was ordered created by Lt. Gen. Khin Nyunt
himself and that they remain under his direct command, though we have no
confirmation of this.  However, they do operate independently of the local
Operations Command and Strategic Commands, and are often referred to as
'A'Htoo Ah Na Ya A'Pweh', meaning 'Special Authority Force'.  Based on the
composition of the unit and its function, it is very likely that it was
formed by special order from Rangoon, and may remain under Rangoon's direct
command.


According to the information available, the unit was formed by selecting
the 'bravest', in other words the most brutal, 5 to 12 soldiers from each
of the many Infantry and Light Infantry Battalions operating in the region,
most or all of them being Corporals and Sergeants, and assembling them into
a special battalion of 200 to 300 troops under the command of an officer
named Bo Maung Maung from Infantry Battalion #351.  The unit is divided
into 3 groups:  'Mone Thon Mone Daing Dam Byan Byaut Kya' ('Monsoon storm
guerrilla retaliation unit'), 'Galone Dam Byan Byaut Kya' ('Garuda
guerrilla retaliation unit'), and 'D'Pyet Hleh Dam Byan Byaut Kya'
('Sweeper guerrilla retaliation unit').  They usually operate in small
patrols of 5 or 6 men, scattered in several villages but focussed on the
plains east of the Sittaung River and the westernmost reaches of the hills.
Many people call them the 'short pants' because they do not wear Army
uniform; they are usually in short pants and T-shirts or in non-standard
camouflage clothes, and carry non-standard weapons such as AK47 and AR
assault rifles (the SPDC Army standard is the much more ungainly G3 or G4,
though China has recently given them the ability to produce new assault
rifles which look like an AK47 but use NATO-standard ammunition).  They
operate independently, are not answerable to the local Operations
Commanders, and when they are present around a village other SPDC troops
are notably absent.

The main function of these units to date has been to execute any civilian
even remotely suspected of present or past connections with the KNU (Karen
National Union) or KNLA (Karen National Liberation Army). This connection
can be as minor as a distant relative in the KNU, or having given some rice
to a KNLA unit several years ago, or an unsubstantiated accusation by
anyone.  The main intention is probably to strike fear into all villagers
of having anything whatsoever to do with the KNU/KNLA.  Estimates on the
number of people executed since October vary widely, from 30 to 80 or 100.
Victims have included Burmans as well as Karens, because many Burmans are
intermixed with the Karen population in the plains and many Burmans in the
area sympathise with the KNU/KNLA.

According to villagers in the area, when the Dam Byan Byaut Kya units
suspect someone they kill them without any interrogation, often at night.
Some have been shot, some stabbed to death.  Afterwards local villagers
have been ordered not to touch, cremate or bury the bodies.  The troops
have thrown some of the bodies in the river, and have also on several
occasions cut off the heads of their victims after killing them.  After
executing two farmers from Myeh Yeh village, the troops cut off their heads
and hung them along the path between Tai Kya Sai and Ter Bpaw villages.
The villagers were then ordered to guard the heads to make sure no one
removed them, under threat that if the heads were removed those assigned to
guard them would be severely punished.  Dam Byan Byaut Kya troops have also
been reported to burn houses, shell villages and kill villagers simply on
encountering them on pathways or away from villages; for example, one Dam
Byan Byaut Kya unit found 4 Karen men and one woman from Twa Ni Gone
village staying at a hut with some rice while they fished at a large pond,
released the woman and executed the 4 men with no questions asked.  On
Christmas Day 1998, a Dam Byan Byaut Kya unit entered Bpaw Pee Der village
and opened fire on a group of young people playing volleyball (volleyball
tournaments are popular entertainment on Christmas), killing Saw San Myint.
 The troops then cut off Saw San Myint's head, stuck a cheroot in his mouth
and hung it along the path toward Mone town.


One of the units responsible for some of the most brutal attacks is
commanded by Sergeant Shan Pu.  This Sergeant was reportedly interested in
an 18-year-old schoolgirl in Lu Ah village of Mone township, so she fled
the village.  In response he threatened to kill her parents and the village
headman if she would not return and marry him, so she reportedly returned
and they are now married.

The activities of these death squads are frightening many people into
fleeing, not only those who have had close or distant connections with the
KNU/KNLA but also those afraid of being executed for some false suspicion
or for no reason at all.  Combined with the forced labour, extortion and
other abuses already being inflicted on the villagers of western
Nyaunglebin District, this threat has driven some people beyond the limit
of their endurance.  Some of the Karens and Burmans from the western plains
of the district do not dare flee through the hills to Papun District and
the Thai border, so they have fled along the main roads through the plains,
southward to Kyaikto and Pa'an, then eastward to Kawkareik, crossing the
border from Myawaddy to Mae Sot and ending up in Huay Kaloke (Wangka)
refugee camp far to the south of their area of origin.  The Thai Army has
treated these new arrivals with great suspicion, considering them as
'economic migrants', particularly the Burman refugees.  On 29 January 1999,
the Thai Army attempted to forcibly repatriate all of the new arrivals at
Huay Kaloke, including those from Nyaunglebin District, but were convinced
by Non-Governmental Organisations and representatives of the United Nations
High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to hold back until the arrivals
could be interviewed to determine their status.  The Thai Army has now
completed these interviews in the presence of UNHCR representatives, but no
decisions have yet been announced.  There continues to be grave concern for
these refugees, particularly as the UNHCR has given no guarantee that it
will oppose a forced repatriation if that is what the Thai Army decides to do.

Further details, interviews with the villagers affected and photographs
from some of these areas will be presented in an upcoming KHRG report and
photo set.
 
****************************************************************

SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST: GESTURES RIDICULED
15 February, 1999 by William Barnes 

Burma's junta is living in a dream world if it thinks merely releasing two
political prisoners will polish up its image, critics said yesterday.

The authorities said at the weekend writer Nyi Pu Lay had been freed after
serving 10 years in jail for links to anti-government groups.

Writer Ma Thida -- a friend of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi -- was
released last week after serving five years of a 20-year sentence.

"They release a couple of high-profile prisoners. The reality is that a
fortnight earlier about 200 people were sentenced to a total of 3,440 years
in jail," the co-ordinator of the Alternative Asean Network on Burma,
Debbie Stothard, said.

European diplomats said the latest gesture would not be enough to enable
Burma to attend next month's EU-Asean summit in Berlin.


"They are very grudging. Often they only release political prisoners when
they have been intimidated into shunning the opposition," the justice
minister of the exile government, U Thein Oo, said. 

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

THE BANGKOK POST: MINISTER TO VISIT FOUR ASIAN NATIONS 
15 February, 1999 

RANGOON, AFP

Burmese Foreign Minister Win Aung will conduct an official tour of four
Association of Southeast Asian Nations members, the junta has announced.

The tour incorporates Brunei, Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand and comes
amid a standoff between Asean and the European Union over Burma's inclusion
in a planned inter-regional summit next month.

No date or agenda was given for the trip, but the junta in a statement said
it would take place "in the near future".

Observers say Mr Win Aung will probably accompany Burma's military chief
Than Shwe to Bangkok on a trip reportedly scheduled for February 28 to 30.
That visit has yet to be officially announced.

Thai Foreign Minister Surin Pitsuwan said on Wednesday Asean would keep
trying to save next month's ministerial meeting with the EU, threatened by
a furious row over Burma's human rights record.

The Asean-EU meeting in Berlin is in doubt, with the EU refusing to relax a
visa ban that would prevent Burmese officials participating in the talks. 

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

THE NATION: INTERPOL URGED TO CANCEL RANGOON HEROIN MEETING 
15 February, 1999 

AFP

EXILED Burmese MPs and dissidents yesterday called for Interpol to cancel
its planned heroin conference in Rangoon later this month, joining growing
international condemnation of the meeting.

The National Council for the Union of Burma (NCUB) said the Burmese junta
was harbouring "drug barons" and profiting from the drugs factories
scattered along its borders with Thailand, China and Laos.

"It is deplorable and lamentable that the 'International Conference on
Narcotic Drugs' is to be held in Rangoon," a statement from the NCUB in
Thailand said.

"We gravely call upon Interpol to abrogate its plan ... and select one of
the many suitable countries as the conference venue."

Washington last week said it would boycott the meeting on Feb 23-26 to
avoid confusion about its policy toward Burma.

The US boycott decision followed similar moves by Britain, Denmark, Belgium
and the Netherlands.

Burmese police Col Win Kyi, Interpol's contact officer in Burma, said last
week the meeting would go ahead despite the boycotts.

"The conference will definitely take place here at the international
conference centre, for sure," he said.

The junta responded to the US boycott with a sharply-worded statement
blaming US and European drug addicts for the international narcotics trade.

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

Mizzima News Group: Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen and Burma 
16 February, 1999 

Democracy is People's Aspiration in Burma, said Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen

Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen said that the movement for democracy in Burma is
indigenous and it has been suppressed by the military regime. While
answering a question at an international conference on democracy, the Nobel
Laureate said that democracy is not to be exported from any country into
Burma but it is an indigenous movement and the people's aspiration. Amartya
Sen, who is a Nobel Laureate in Economics, delivered a keynote address on
15th February on the universality of democracy at the Global Conference on
Building a Worldwide Movement for Democracy, which is being held in New
Delhi from 14-17 February. The Conference, the first of its nature, aims to
establish a worldwide forum for the promotion of democracy and it is being
participated by more than 400 delegates from 85 countries of the world.


The Indian Nobel Laureate emphasized the fact that democracy is a
universal value which appeals to everyone anywhere. Recalling his earliest
memory in Burma, Amartya Sen said; "I happened to be privileged in spending
my earliest years in Burma between the ages of 3 and 6 and half are in
Mandalay. And even from the earliest memory I happened to have that period,
I would say that, the kind of question that interested people involved the
issue of freedom very much." And Burmese people's desire for democracy and
freedom was "quite striking" for him.

"In the context of Burma, it did actually begin with the democratic form of
government. And through a whole series of takeovers, including gunning down
of entire cabinet, the military seized power", said the Nobel Laureate. He
maintains also that the importance of human rights and the need to sustain
democracy are equally central and essential.

I.K Gujral, the former Prime Minister of India delivered an inaugural
speech on 14th February while U.S President Bill Clinton and Indian Prime
Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee sent video messages to the conference. It is
learnt that India-based Centre for Policy Research (CPR) and Confederation
of Indian Industry (CII) and Washington-based National Endowment for
Democracy (NED) jointly organize the conference.

Manmohan Sigh, former Finance Minister of India, Frank G Wisner, former
U.S. Ambassador to New Delhi, Mary Robinson, UN High Commissioner for Human
Rights, and U.S. Congressman Gary Ackerman were among the distinguished
speakers who had already spoken at the conference. Indian External Affairs
Minister Jaswant Singh will be delivering a closing address on 17th February.

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

MIZZIMA NEWS GROUP: BURMA AND GEORGE FERNANDES 
14 February, 1999 

Recent media reports in India said that Burmese authorities in Rangoon
officially protested to the Government of India against Indian Defence
Minster Mr. George Fernandes who is publicly well known a strong supporter
of democratic movement in Burma. The Asian Age newspaper of 7th February
1999 reported: "Burma has officially protested to New Delhi against Defence
Minister George Fernandes' alleged support to dissident Burmese groups.
Government sources told The Asian Age that the protest was lodged during a
meeting of senior home ministry officials of the two countries held in
Burma in mid-January". The OUTLOOK weekly magazine, in its February 1999
issue, had a similar story. Quoting a Burmese diplomat in the embassy in
New Delhi, the OUTLOOK wrote: "On the other hand, New Delhi officially
wants to increase military cooperation with us, and on the other, your
defence minister goes and supports the anti-government forces in our
country. How do you expect us to reconcile with this?"

MIZZIMA News Group had an interview with Ms Jaya Jaitely who is General
Secretary of Fernandes' Samta party in India on 12th February, the day when
she spoke at a meeting of "The 52nd Union Day and Constitutional problems
in Burma", organized by exiled-Burma Lawyers Council at Indian Women Press
Corporation, New Delhi.


MIZZIMA News Group

Q:	Recently, there are media reports that Burmese government protested
against Mr. George Fernandes' support to democratic activists. What is the
stand of your party on this?

A:	Well, the support of George Fernandes and our party to the pro-democracy
movement goes back a long time. And if the Burmese government is protesting
now, it is only because of a certain section of the media in India is using
this kind of news to discredit the present government. Because George
Fernandes is the important member of this government, they feel that
whatever he does in the service of his own ministry, that is something
where he has to be responsible for the security of this country. It has no
connection with in fact any of the party's commitment to, for instance, the
establishment of freedom and democracy in Tibet or the human rights of the
Sri Lankan Tamils. We are not talking about interfering in other country's
government. What we are talking about is democracy and human rights. And
this we believe is indivisible. It is our right to speak about it. After
all, the whole world fought apartheid in South Africa. So it is not the new
thing.

The Burmese government, I think, because in one section of the press,
people tried to show that in fact the defence minister was supporting these
kind of groups which were in fact "insurgency groups" that is what they
were trying to show. But it gave a leeway; it gave a little opening for the
Burmese government to protest. However, we have no knowledge that they
actually protested and we have no knowledge of what the government's
response was. So we are not taking it seriously at all. In fact, any
protest by a government of this nature only proves our point that our
support for the pro-democracy movement is very strong and it is troubling
them.

Q:	In case the Burmese government said that they would not cooperate with
India in counter-insurgency because of George Fernandes' support to Burmese
democracy groups, what would be your party's stand?

A:	The Samta Party is not going to go back from its commitment at all. And
as far as I know there has been no such threat or any such thing from the
Burmese government. This is again part of the media. And the Indian
government I should hope is not going to succumb to such petty kind of
threats. I think we are perfectly capable of looking after our own border
areas and we can never be really assured of the support of people who
oppress their own people.

Q:	Can the insurgency problems in NorthEast be solved by cooperating with
the military regime in Burma?

A:	Eventually the military of any side cannot solve local insurgency
problems. These problems have developed over a long period of time because
of the lack of development, unemployment, then, in that particular area,
there is a free movement of drugs. All these are building up to people
loosing confidence in the central government of these many years. And
particularly as a party and also George Fernandes as Defence Minister has
made the point constantly that we cannot use our army to control our own
people. We have to use it only limited to defence of our border and for the
security of the nation against any outside nations. And for this, there has
to be many political steps bringing economic development into a region.
This is also largely what is required in Burma. But the unfortunate thing
was the military rule they try and do with multinationals. But
multi-nationals have been known to only be considering profit and not
caring about democracy.


And just look at the whole attitude of America today. They are not so
worried about the human rights or the Tibetan question because they get a
big market in China. So when you bring money and profit, then they cannot
be the ones to bring about justice and human rights. It has to be the
political will of a genuinely democratic government of that country which
brings development equally to all its people.

Q:	Your comments on the constitutional principles, drafted by the National
Convention of the military regime in Burma?

A:	We feel that we have a moral right as one of the nations of this world
who is a democracy to comment on the constitution building process of other
countries. Indians have in fact helped in the formulating of the
constitution of South Africa, which is being a very historic event.
Similarly, particularly with the neighboring country when we have had such
old historical and cultural connections, we believe that the constitution
for any democracy should be its secular Bible. And because of that it must
have the hopes and aspirations and the moral, spiritual, political,
philosophical guidelines that the country needs and its peoples need.
Something that everybody no matters what the ethnic group or what the
religion that they should be able to look up to for guidance. Now,
therefore, the constitution creating process must be as broad-based as
possible.

And the first thing that is necessary, it must incorporate fundamental
charter which incorporates human rights, the basic human rights, freedom of
speech, freedom of expression, freedom of religion, all these aspects. And
unless there is a basic charter of fundamental rights, no constitution can
have any real validity. The second point is that a constitution formulated
by a government which is a military rule which by its very nature and by
its action, is a government that it has war with its own people, cannot be
the representative body to formulate the constitution for its country. And
the way that they have kept out even the representative bodies throughout
this whole process, arresting some, favoring some and in this manner, they
had made it very selective body which is getting less and less
representatives.

Thirdly, it is so obvious when they are asking for 25% of reservation of
seats for them when they are in fact only one percent of the population. It
is quite ridiculous. There is no basis for it. Secondly, basically the
military no matter what they may say in terms of their aspiration for their
own country, the military is a profession just like any other profession.
So you could have tomorrow with equal justification, educators or doctors
or any other group of professionals asking for reservation in the same way.
The fact that they have also demanded that the Home Ministry, the defence
portfolio as well as any border related areas, those portfolios must remain
with those from the military who will be in the government and in
parliament obviously shows that they want to keep total control. Why should
they keep the Home Ministry when the home ministry has the police and
police can enter every household and all the intelligence everything comes
under?


So, in fact, they want a police state or a military state in the guise of
democracy. A constitution therefore can only be formulated by totally
elected representatives of the people under a free and fair democratic
process.

Q:	Your comment on the constitution-drafting process of exiled Burmese
democratic forces like National Council of the Union of Burma (NCUB)?

A:	Well, I just had many of the pro-democracy movements all over the world
have been making various kinds of contributions. There had been leadership
training, there had been job training, and there had been so many things
which any responsible citizen who cares for the future of Burma would be
involved in. If there are so many Burmese in exile, there are so many
people who are pushed out of the democratic process, which is necessary in
their country, who are protesting in some form or the other, they are part
of the voice of Burma.

And it is very legitimate for them to undertake this kind of a process.
Sooner or later, the military rule has to go. No military rule has been
able to sustain itself. At that point of time, one does not want some chaos
to take over or the military rulers to use as an excuse that there is no
preparation for any other process to be put in place. For that reason, I
think this exercise in formulating an alternative constitution is a very
good one. Particularly when you are getting the best inputs from
constitutional experts all over the world.

In India, although we have one of the best constitutions which we are very
proud of, already till date, more than 80 amendments have been made in the
last 50 years, which means that you have to have a broadly based
constitution which everybody respect. Even then, according to changing
processes, social and other needs you may have to make amendments in the
constitution. And in fact, I think in the process that is being undertaken
by the pro-democracy movement outside Burma, there are many aspects of the
constitution which are being incorporated which I think could serve an
example even for our country.

Q:	Norway, Denmark and Belgian parliaments have expressed their support to
the Committee Representing the Peoples' Parliament (CRPP) formed by NLD.
May we ask your party's position on the committee?

A:	We have been trying to set up a group of parliamentarians on Burma. And
we already had a meeting, which is convened by our party inviting Members
of Parliament from all the parties. And we have had useful discussions,
where we are trying to involve people increase their awareness. And we hope
that we will be able to bring up for discussion, so that at the parliament
level, the country can take a decision to support such a committee.

Q:	What would you like to say on current overall political situation in Burma?

A:	I feel that after the protest which were undertaken by Aung San Suu Kyi
recently, somehow there has been a lull because the protests which she
undertook as a single individual have not been able to be really carried on
with the kind of momentum it needed by the people and whatever attempts has
been made, there had been large scale arrest. Because the important nations
of this world seem to be so rapped up in their own problems. Bill Clinton
and his own personal problems and how he tries to get out of that by
bombing Iraq. All these things are shameful episodes in history. We have
looked at America as a country that plays in active role in making the rest
of the world realize that we must force the military leadership of Burma to
give over power to the democracy forces.


But unfortunately I feel that in the present time, there is a lull. And in
this lull, the generals seem to be under some false idea that they cannot
be touched. But it is certainly one of the dark spots in the world today
where inaction is much worse than the kind of military action that is going
on in other parts of the world. And it is this inaction that must be
focused upon and anybody who is proud of their own democracy has a very
important responsibility to bring back the situation in Burma to center stage.

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ASIAWEEK: A THAI HAND FOR THE NEEDIEST 
19 February, 1999 

Even though Thailand is stepping up harsh measures against illegal
immigrants, deputy labor minister Pavena Hongsakula says camps for the most
vulnerable of them, women and girls forced or duped into prostitution in
Thailand and children forced to beg, may soon be set up.

The Thai army and police and international organizations, including the
UNDP and ILO, and drawing up plans for a series of "magnet" camp for these
at-risk people. It's a new tack for the Thais, who are inundated with close
to a million needy foreigners seeking safety or economic opportunity.

But softening the Thai stance may encourage the influx. Ner Dah, a military
commander with the Karen National Union, and son of leader Bo Mya, told
Asiaweek: "The situation is desperate for civilians over the border. A
flood of refugees may be expected as fighting intensifies in the next
couple of months."

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