Burma News Update, No. 86

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The Burma Project
Open Society Institute

Burma News Update No. 86
16 June 1999


Suu Kyi Presses for Dialogue

In an interview in Rangoon, Burmese democracy leader Daw Aung San
Suu Kyi said the National League for Democracy (NLD) would open
lower-level dialogue with the country's military regime without her presence
as a first step toward resolving the country's political deadlock. The army
junta has repeatedly claimed that the question of Aung San Suu Kyi's
participation was blocking negotiations. The regime reacted coolly to Daw
Suu Kyi's statement. Foreign minister Win Aung immediately said that 
he doubted Daw Suu Kyi's sincerity in offering to open talks. [The full
text of 
the interview with Aung San Suu Kyi is available at

http://www.pathfinder.com/asiaweek/99/0611/nat4.html

Rangoon, "Asiaweek," 11 June; Tokyo, "Agence France Presse," 04 June



Tokyo Talks: No Progress

Talks on reform in Burma between Japanese Foreign Minister Masahiko 
Komura and Burma's Foreign Minister Win Aung produced no progress, 
Japanese Foreign Ministry officials reported. Komura urged the junta to offer 
"concrete" proof of its claims of progress in protecting human rights and
returning

to democracy.

Tokyo, Kyodo News Service, 03 June


Death Squads in Action

In a special report, the Karen Human Rights Group alleges that the Burmese 
army has deployed new units operating as "execution squads" during its latest 
dry season offensive against ethnic Karen guerrillas in eastern Burma. The
"Sa 
Thon Lon Guerrilla Retaliation" units, operating under the command of
military 
intelligence, have murdered numerous people believed to have contact with the 
opposition Karen National Liberation Army.  Eye-witness testimony describes 
torture and arbitrary murder of civilians by the special units. The execution
squads are part of the broader junta effort to seize control of border
areas, which

has included other killings, detention, forced relocations, and use of
villagers as

military porters in combat zones. [Full reports may be viewed at

http://metalab.unc.edu/freeburma/humanrights/khrg/archive/latestreports
 .html] 

"Karen Human Rights Groups," 25 May



Prison "Suicide" Reported

Burma's army junta said a member of the National League for Democracy 
(NLD) jailed at Insein Prison in Rangoon hanged himself after undergoing
treatment 
for alcoholism. A regime statement said, "Usually, patients succumb to
disorderly 
and dysfunctional patterns of behaviour and one of the most fatal outcomes is 

suicide."  Hla Khin, 43, was imprisoned on subversion charges.

Rangoon, Reuters, 03 June



Red Cross Prison Visit Controversy

Burma's army junta has described as "irresponsible and groundless" claims 
by democracy leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi that hundreds of political prisoners 
were transferred from Rangoon's notorious Insein prison just before the
first visit

there on 06 May by delegates of the International Committee of the Red Cross 
(ICRC). In an interview in Rangoon with the Financial Times, Daw Suu Kyi
said that 
jailed members of the National League for Democracy have been sent to remote 
provincial prisons, cutting their contact with family members who supplied
food and

medicines. This is a "matter of life and death for our party members," Daw Suu
Kyi said.

Bangkok, "Agence France Presse,"  07 June



Khin Nyunt in China

Chinese officials said they were satisfied that a five-day visit by Burma's 
military intelligence chief and senior junta member General Khin Nyunt and 
other senior regime representatives would lead to closer ties between China 
and Burma and enhance regional stability. A top Chinese official said that 
Burma "has the right to choose the social system and development path of 
its own suited to its national conditions." General Khin Nyunt stated that
Burma 
is "delighted with the remarkable achievements scored by the brotherly
Chinese 
people under the leadership of the Communist Party of China."

Beijing, "Xinhua News Agency," 07 June



Ne Win at 90?

Retired Burmese dictator Ne Win is said to have turned 90 years old on 
12 June, but his actual birthday and real age, like his state of health and 
influence on Burma's political scene, are much debated. General Ne Win, 
who seized power in an army coup in 1962, retired from government positions 
in 1981, but remained head of the army-controlled ruling party until 1988. 
Some observes claim Ne Win still wields considerable influence as a
"super-referee"

among junta factions, and that his death "may set in motion forces that you 
can no longer control."

Bangkok, "Agence France-Presse," 12 June


BURMA NEWS UPDATE is a publication of the Burma Project 
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