The BurmaNet News: April 16, 1999

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The BurmaNet News: April 16, 1999
Issue #1252

HEADLINES:
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UN: SITUATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN MYANMAR 
DVB: CLASHES IN KACHIN STATE 
XINHUA: FOREIGN INVESTMENT PLUMMETS IN 1998 
SCMP: DOZENS DIE IN GOLDEN TRIANGLE DRUGS WAR 
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UNITED NATIONS: SITUATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN MYANMAR 
7 April, 1999 by Kofi Annan 

UNITED NATIONS
Economic and Social Council
Distr. GENERAL

E/CN.4/1999/29
7 April 1999

Original:  ENGLISH

COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS
Fifty fifth session
Agenda item 9

QUESTION OF THE VIOLATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS AND FUNDAMENTAL FREEDOMS IN ANY
PART OF THE WORLD

Situation of human rights in Myanmar

Report of the Secretary-General submitted pursuant to General Assembly
resolution 53/162

I. INTRODUCTION 

1.   The present report is submitted pursuant to paragraph 19 of General
Assembly resolution 53/162 of 9 December 1998, in which the Assembly
requested me to continue my discussions with the Government of Myanmar on
the situation of human rights and the restoration of democracy and to
submit additional reports to the Assembly during its fifty-third session on
the progress of these discussions, and to report to the Assembly at its
fifty fourth session and to the Commission on Human Rights at its fifty
fifth session.

2.   The Commission will be aware from my report to the General Assembly
(A/53/657) of the actions that I have taken in light of developments in
Myanmar in July 1998.  Mr. Alvaro de Soto, Assistant Secretary-General for
Political Affairs, met Foreign Minister U Ohn Gyaw on 25 September 1998 at
United Nations Headquarters.  At that meeting, the Foreign Minister
conveyed his Government's positive response to a proposal, made in July, to
have Mr. de Soto visit Yangon as my Special Envoy.  Mr. de Soto visited
Yangon from 27 to 30 October 1998 and held consultations with Secretary-1
of the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), Lieutenant-General Khin
Nyunt, Foreign Minister U Ohn Gyaw and Minister in the Office of the Prime
Minister, Brigadier-General David Abel.  He also held discussions with
Central Executive Committee members of the National League for Democracy
(NLD), including its General Secretary, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.  These
consultations are described in my report to the General Assembly.  However,
it has not been possible to arrange for senior-level contacts with the SPDC
since the adoption of resolution 53/162 by the General Assembly.

3.  Efforts are currently being undertaken for a visit to Myanmar by my
Special Envoy in the month of May.  The responsibility for fact-finding and
reporting on the human rights situation in Myanmar rests with the Special
Rapporteur appointed by the Commission on Human Rights for that purpose.
The mandate entrusted to me by the General Assembly is one of good offices
central to which is the high-level dialogue with the SPDC and other
parties.  I will therefore report to the General Assembly and to the
Commission, as appropriate and timely, in light of the continuation of that
dialogue. 


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DEMOCRATIC VOICE OF BURMA: CLASHES IN KACHIN STATE
19 March, 1999 by Myo Win Thant (Translation by BurmaNet) 

In Kutkhine Township of northern Shan State, fighting has broken out
between a group of Kachin youth and Chinese youth, but the SPDC soldiers
and township police are taking no action. Informed sources from the area
report that the security forces have stirred up such conflict before, and
it is believed that the security forces are behind the current fighting.

On 12 March, 1999, 20 Kachin youth and three Chinese youth confronted each
other at No. 4-State Area High School and began arguing and fighting.  One
of the Chinese youth had a pistol, and he shot four or five times onto the
ground, warning that if the Kachin boys kept advancing, he would shoot
them.  The Kachin youth kept moving forward, and the Chinese youth with the
pistol fired into the crowd, hitting one Kachin youth in the stomach.  The
injured youth was taken to Kutkhine Civilian Hospital.

The next day, a Chinese youth from Lashio arrived in Kutkhine.  He was
beaten by a group of Kachin youth, suffering injuries to his head.  He was
also taken to Kutkhine Civilian Hospital.

At the present time, there are many ceasefire groups operating in Kutkhine,
and each sponsors its own youth group.  Among them, the Kachin and the
Chinese youth groups, armed with guns and knives, are spreading throughout
the area.  The town lacks rule of law and is becoming more and more
chaotic.  Such a situation has occurred before, but the current clashes are
the worst they have been.  The SPDC continues to do nothing about the
clashes, and the local people believe that the military authorities are
instigating the violence to help them get arms and ammunition from abroad.
 
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XINHUA: FOREIGN INVESTMENT PLUMMETS IN 1998 
13 April, 1999 

YANGON (April 14) XINHUA - Myanmar received a total of 247 million U.S.
dollars of foreign investment in 1998, accounting for only 19.6 and 10.73
percent of that drawn in 1997 and 1996 respectively, according to the
latest official statistics.

Of the total, investment in the manufacturing sector made up the highest
with 181 million dollars in 10 projects, followed by that in hotels and
tourism with 40 million dollars in one project, the Central Statistical
Organization (CSO) said.

Investment in fishery amounted to 10.82 million dollars in two projects,
mining got 7.585 million dollars in five projects and oil and gas 7.2
million dollars in one project.

Last year, there were no foreign investment injected into other sectors
such as agriculture, construction, transport and real estate.

The Economic Indicators issued by the CSO attributed the falling foreign
investment to the impact of the Asian financial crisis which has lasted for
more than a year.

Up to now, a total of 26 foreign companies, mainly from South Korea,
Malaysia, Thailand and Japan, have pulled out of Myanmar.

The statistics also show that since Myanmar adopted the open-door economic
policy, it has absorbed 7.1 billion dollars of foreign investment from 23
countries and regions.


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SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST: DOZENS DIE IN GOLDEN TRIANGLE DRUGS WAR 
14 April, 1999 by William Barnes 

Thailand's northern border with Burma's Golden Triangle has become a
frontier of fire in the past month: at least a dozen people have been
killed, some in execution-style murders.

The details are murky, but the mayhem comes after desperate attempts by
Thailand to smash blatant drug trafficking by ethnic Wa gangsters.

Veteran border watchers believe the violence is likely to escalate as Thai,
Chinese and even Burmese drug fighters collide with greedy traffickers and
corrupt officials.

Two weeks ago, nine Thais were bludgeoned to death on the border, two hours
drive from the northern capital of Chiang Mai.

The police first said they were massacred by Wa thugs after stumbling upon
a heroin factory.

But now investigators have blamed ethnic Chinese gangsters.

The villagers may not have been innocent hunters but the losers when a
black business deal turned sour, according to local officials.

A few days ago, soldiers killed an intruder armed with an AK-47 after a
brisk firefight on the border. The dead man's colleagues escaped back into
Burma.

Last weekend, two Lahu tribesmen and a police officer were killed after a
gun battle between a "sizeable" Lahu gang and police in the Vieng Pao
district of Chiang Rai province.

The gang was trying to collect money for amphetamines sold to local
dealers, police said.

The leadership of the United Wa State Army have been quick to claim they
had nothing to do with the Fang massacre and have asked to meet local
senior officials.

Thai officials willingly concede privately that on many lonely parts of the
border gun law rules -- and that ugly murders are all too frequent.

But they also suspect that whoever was responsible for the grisly murders
was at the very least associated with the Wa.

"They are so powerful now. Everyone must be scared of them," said one
observer.

The Wa have become the reigning kingpins of the Golden Triangle, with
thousands of heavily armed soldiers and bases along the Thai and Chinese
borders.

They are the successors to the notorious Khun Sa, the "world's most wanted
man," who surrendered into prosperous retirement in Rangoon three years ago.

But if Khun Sa was reviled in the West for most of his long career he was
able, in reality, to cut live-and-let-live deals with Thai and Burmese
officials.

The Wa desperados and their ethnic Chinese hoodlum associates have
discovered that pushing a wave of drugs -- notably amphetamines -- into
neighbouring countries can also be highly lucrative.

The result: bedlam in many Thai communities. One report said half of Chiang
Mai schoolchildren had tried amphetamines.

This is political dynamite in Thailand. Despite the many corrupt border
police and soldiers, intense pressure from Bangkok has resulted in the
disruption of much of the illegal border trade.

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