The BurmaNet News: September 10, 19 (r)

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Subject: The BurmaNet News: September 10, 1999

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The BurmaNet News: September 10, 1999
Issue #1356

Noted in Passing: "Taunggyi authorities issued an order that every
available household member must stay in front of one's house for the
inspectors to see once disturbances break out." - Taunggyi resident (see
SHAN: PANIC-STRICKEN ORDER BY JUNTA FOR FOUR 9'S)

HEADLINES:
==========
REUTERS: YANGON BRACES, BUT QUIET ON "FOUR NINES DAY" 
REUTERS: MYANMAR POSTPONES VISIT BY TOP UN DIPLOMAT 
ASIAN AGE: HUMAN RIGHTS DETERIORATE IN BURMA 
BKK POST: THE NUMBER IS UP IN RANGOON 
BKK POST: ACCESS TO SECOND DETAINEE DENIED 
SHAN: PANIC-STRICKEN ORDER BY JUNTA FOR THE FOUR 9'S 
BKK POST: THAI BORDER UNITS ALERTED 
REUTERS: PROTESTERS BREAK INTO EMBASSY IN CANBERRA 
REUTERS: DISSIDENTS EMPATHIZE WITH EAST TIMOR VOTERS 
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REUTERS: YANGON BRACES, BUT QUIET ON "FOUR NINES DAY" 
9 September, 1999 by Aung Hla Tun

YANGON, Sept 9 (Reuters) - Myanmar's government deployed extra police,
including riot-control units, in the capital Yangon on Thursday, bracing
for an uprising called by exiled dissidents for the numerically significant
"four nines day".

Dissidents chose September 9, 1999 for a repeat of a mass uprising 11 years
ago that shook authoritarian rule.

Residents said the city was unusually quiet as many people stayed at home
or did not open their businesses for fear of trouble and because of it was
the Buddhist sabbath on Thursday.

Public transport appeared to run normally, although traffic was lighter
than usual. Schools were closed for the sabbath.

Dozens of extra police were deployed at strategic points in Yangon,
including some "Lon Htein" riot units. They were stationed near the U.S.
embassy and the city's Sule Pagoda, focal points for protests during the
mass uprising in 1988.

Police shut the road running past the headquarters of the main opposition
party, the National League for Democracy led by 1991 Nobel Peace laureate
Aung San Suu Kyi, which had planned to distribute rice to the poor.

There were no signs of the street protests which the dissidents in exile
had called for. Eleven years ago, millions took to the streets demanding an
end to authoritarian rule.

Troops killed thousands to crush that uprising, creating a climate of fear
that still survives. Diplomats and other political analysts doubt ordinary
people would be willing to risk the "severe" response the government has
vowed against unrest.

In neighbouring Thailand more than 400 dissidents from Myanmar, including
members of ethnic minority groups, staged a noisy protest outside the
Myanmar embassy. They burned a Myanmar flag at nine minutes past nine in
the morning.

"We are gathering here because we think not many people can make protests
in Rangoon (Yangon) because there are too many troops," said one of the
protesters, Yai Min Aung. "The fact we are here is a clear indication that
the Burmese people want democracy."

In Australia, about 50 protesters smashed fences and overpowered police to
break into the Myanmar embassy where they attempted to rip down the
national flag  [See article below].

Diplomats in Yangon estimate the authorities have arrested more than 100
people in the city and others in the provinces in the past month to thwart
the uprising call. They include two British activists, one of whom received
a 17-year jail term last week.

Diplomats say the authorities have also imposed an unofficial night curfew
in provincial towns and parts of Yangon.

"Everyone knows today is a special day," said one diplomat.

"But we weren't expecting anything to happen today because I think people
are too scared and because this movement, if it is a movement, is too
disorganised because the government has too many military intelligence out
there who can stop things." In addition, universities that were the centres
of dissent in 1988, have been closed for much of the past decade.

"Were the universities still open, there would be the possibility for the
students to gather there," the diplomat said.

Dissidents in exile say the government has arrested more than 500 people to
contain their campaign and have called the disruption caused to the
security apparatus a victory of sorts.

The government has reported fewer than 40 arrests and ridiculed the
"numerically obsessed" campaign. But an editorial in the Bangkok Post
newspaper said dissidents had succeeded in making the ruling military
council "jump at shadows". "It has every reason to be wary of 9-9-99..." it
said.

"With a stranglehold on the media, universities closed, communities
infested with junta eavesdroppers and severe restrictions on public
assembly, the people of Burma needed and found a way to put those numbers
to good effect." 

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

REUTERS: MYANMAR POSTPONES VISIT BY TOP UN DIPLOMAT
9 September, 1999 

BANGKOK, Sept 9 (Reuters) - Myanmar's military government  has postponed a
visit by a senior U.N. official aimed at  encouraging political
liberalisation in Myanmar, a U.N. source  said on Thursday.

The Yangon-based source said Assistant Secretary-General  Alvaro de Soto,
the U.N.'s second-ranking official for political  affairs, had been due in
Myanmar around the middle of this  month.

"The mission has been postponed by the government. I wouldn't say cancelled
-- they want him to come at some later date," said the source, who did not
want to be identified by name, adding that no explanation had been given
for the decision.

The Yangon government did not immediately respond to a request for comment
on the issue.

De Soto visited Myanmar last November as a special representative of U.N.
Secretary-General Kofi Annan and raised the possibility of development aid
if the government were to  open a dialogue with the country's main
opposition party.

The postponement of his visit comes as Myanmar has tightened security
countrywide to thwart a call by dissidents in exile for a national uprising
starting from Thursday.

A diplomat called the postponement "very peculiar." "I don't know why they
would have scheduled something for this time, then shortly before it have
postponed it."

Myanmar said earlier this year it was willing to accept de Soto's mission,
but also said it was not interested in aid with political strings attached.

Myanmar says it will not enter a dialogue with the opposition National
League for Democracy until the party led by Nobel Peace laureate Aung San
Suu Kyi disbands a committee it  established last year to represent
parliament in a challenge to  military rule.

The NLD won Myanmar's last election in 1990 by a landslide but the
government ignored the result and has since tried to  silence the party
through a campaign of arrests and intimidation. 

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THE ASIAN AGE: HUMAN RIGHTS DETERIORATE IN BURMA 
9 September, 1999 by Aung San Suu Kyi 

Rangoon: Over the last year Burma has seen a serious deterioration in the
area of human rights, in particular those rights that are relevant to the
development of a free democratic process within the country. Repression by
the military regime intensified greatly from mid-1998, when the National
League for Democracy (NLD) declared its intention to call for the convening
of the Parliament elected in May 1990. (The NLD won the elections by an
overwhelming majority, but the military government did not recognise the
results and persecuted the political parties.)

During the last 12 months many members of the NLD have been "detained" -
the euphemism used by the authorities for what is in fact unlawful arrest.
About 60 members of Parliament and an indefinite number of ordinary members
of NLD remain in detention. Some of the detainees were forced to resign by
the military regime. Others were released because their health had sharply
deteriorated during detention. A number of NLD working committees
throughout the country were demolished by the authorities and offices
forcibly shut down. Because of the criminal activities conducted by the
government against members of our party, the NLD was driven to take action
under the law, filing suits against the home ministry and the military
intelligence service.

As might be expected, the authorities have taken no action whatsoever in
response. Our cases remain in the hands of the legal authorities, and the
military regime appears to have no intention of righting the wrongs that
have been committed in the name of the law.

Of course, it's a little unrealistic to talk about law in this country,
where there is no rule of law. Some of the laws may look impressive on
paper but they do not apply to the ordinary people of Burma and apply even
less to those involved in politics and working for democracy.

We have suffered far more over the last year than over the last seven
years. We would therefore like the international community to be aware of
the fact that the human rights situation in Burma has worsened severely.

The detentions have slowed down the party's work somewhat but not too much.
We are used to working under very difficult circumstances. One priority for
the NLD is to educate the people of Burma about human rights, which many
here do not even know exist. We have tried to distribute as many copies as
we can of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and to explain
why human rights are important for national and international peace and
stability.

The military authorities claim that the provisions contained in the UDHR
are not consistent with Asian standards. This is the view, however, of
those who simply don't believe in human rights.

In Asia, governments are claiming that human rights are contrary to Eastern
standards only because an empowered people constitutes a threat to
authoritarian rule.

For example, to claim that the article of the UDHR which forbids slavery is
applicable only to the West is tantamount to saying that Asians can be
enslaved. This is gross insult to all of us.

To hold that the article that condemns unjust arrest and incarceration is
applicable only to the West is to open the people of Asia and other
non-Western countries to constant abuse by the powers that be.

There is no reason to say that the values of the UDHR are not acceptable to
us in the East. There is nothing that contradicts our religion. Not one
article runs counter to our Buddhist beliefs.

Awareness of political participation as a human right is important. People
everywhere know instinctively that they should have the right to act on
their beliefs. The Burmese people harbour very strong feelings against the
military regime because of the gross injustices that are committed in our
country. Even those who have never heard of UDHR know instinctively that
they have a right to a certain amount of human dignity.

Those of us working for human rights and democracy in Burma are aware that
the international community sympathises with our situation and are very
grateful for all the help that has been given to us. However, if the human
rights situation in Burma is not to deteriorate further, there must be
constant vigilance and continued action on the part of the international
community.

What we need now is more than just talk. We need concrete action, because
our people are suffering not just from an onslaught of words but from the
deprivation of basic justice. 

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

THE BANGKOK POST: THE NUMBER IS UP IN RANGOON 
9 September, 1999 

EDITORIAL

Security has been stepped up throughout Burma as the military dictatorship
attempts to confront the uncertainties of 9-9-99. Once again, it is failing
to understand that force cannot change conviction. Should push come to
shove, once again, it is likely to win the day but, in the end, it will
find that the victory is pyrrhic.

While there have been calls for action and warnings of military activity by
the various groups ranged against the regime, Rangoon is facing what may be
considered a formidable yet invisible challenge.

Among the more bizarre of the Rangoon junta's efforts to suppress any
expression of dissent on 9-9-99 was a request by military authorities in
Myawaddy to their counterparts in Thailand. The request was simple enough:
Please keep the Burmese out of Burma. Thai authorities were asked to tell
the employers of thousands of Burmese workers that their days off had been
cancelled and that if they wanted to go to Burma they should do so at
another time.

Strange though the request was, it was not altogether out of character for
an illegitimate regime that has listened to its own propaganda for so long
that it is in danger of believing it. The appeal to the Thai authorities
also betrays a belief on the part of the regime that any citizen who has
been abroad must be a threat to its stability. The victim of an economic
shambles courtesy of the military government, the average Burmese worker is
now seen as a potential enemy of the state merely for crossing the border
in search of employment. 

The request to the Thai authorities has come as just one of many measures
intended to ensure that today passes off without any event that the
military could construe as a threat to its existence. Curfews have been
declared, citizens have been arrested, security units are have been
declared, citizens have been arrested, security units are redoubling their
efforts to prevent the risk of people meeting and talking with one another.
According to the official version, however, none of this is taking place
because the populace is disloyal to the outfit now calling itself the State
Peace and Development Council and 9-9-99 is just another day to all but the
superstitious.

But by its very own actions and attempts to deny and conceal them, the
military regime has demonstrated clearly that even though it may not be
superstitious, it does not regard today as just another day. It has every
reason to be wary of 9-9-99 not so much for reasons of numerology but
because the numbers may also be regarded as a rallying point for a
population which would otherwise be unable to organize anything. With a
stranglehold on the media, universities close, communities infested by
junta eaves-droppers and severe restrictions on public assembly, the people
of Burma needed and found a way to put those four numbers to good effect.

The generals, as a result, are jumping at shadows, seeing threats from
within and without the country's borders, and in this respect they are
making a correct assessment because the only people who want them to
continue in power are themselves. It is reasonable to speculate that the
dictatorship is as scared of what today might bring as it is military
activity by the various groups ranged against the regime, Rangoon is facing
what may be considered a formidable yet invisible challenge. Fresh in the
minds of people who have endured decades of brutality and bungling at the
hands of the military is the memory of 8-8-88, the date of the atrocity in
which the junta slaughtered thousands of people in the interests of its own
particular interests. The opposition is unlikely to offer the military
another opportunity of that nature. 

Since 1988, the junta has changed in form but not in substance, enjoying a
different acronym but continuing to feed off an oppressed people who yearn
for the democratic order they have for so long been denied. They do not
want rulers who are reviled on the international scene, with the exception
perhaps of Asean and its gullible apologists. Nor do they want to be
associated with a regime that likes to do business with drugs traffickers.
Through 9-9-99, the people are saying that dictatorship has had its day and
has failed. The generals would do well to listen.

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

THE BANGKOK POST: ACCESS TO SECOND DETAINEE DENIED 
9 September, 1999 

A 28-year-old British woman arrested for protesting against Burma's
military rulers in central Rangoon was questioned by authorities yesterday
but diplomats were not allowed to see her, the British embassy said.

Witnesses told Reuters human rights worker Rachel Goldwyn, the second
British activist arrested in Burma in a week, was detained on Tuesday
afternoon after tying herself to a lamppost at a key intersection and
shouting pro-democracy slogans.

The British embassy said it had asked for immediate consular access to Ms
Goldwyn but received no reply.

"We have asked why she was arrested, what the charges were and whether she
will appear in court and whether she will have legal representation if and
when she does. But we haven't had any answers yet," an embassy spokesman said.

The embassy said it ad still not been able to get access to James Mawdsley,
26, a Briton jailed last week for 17 years for pro-democracy activism. The
British consul traveled to the remote northeastern town of Kengtung at the
weekend where he was in jail but was not allowed to see him.

"We are very disappointed at this reaction and concerned at the length of
time it is taking to obtain consular access to Mr. Mawdsley," the spokesman
said. "We will continue to press for access until we obtain it."

In a statement released by the All Burma Students' Democratic Front, a
dissident group in exile, Ms Goldwyn said her protest was against human
rights abuses and in solidarity with the dissidents' call for a national
uprising starting today. She called on Britain to enact unilateral economic
sanctions on Burma and criticized British firms doing business there.

She said her concern about the rights situation in Burma was ignited when
she worked in a refugee camp on the Thai-Burmese border. "I saw people who
had been forced off their land into concentration camps, people who had
been tortured ... women who had been raped and landmine victims," her
statement said.

Government officials have yet to comment on the arrest. It has said access
to Mr Mawdsley, who had been arrested twice before in Burma for
anti-government protests, would be granted soon. 

Opponents of the military government living outside the country have
stepped up activity in recent weeks since calling for a mass uprising on
"four nines day" - today, September 9, 1999.

Diplomats estimate the government has arrested more than 100 activists in
Rangoon and others in the provinces in the past month to thwart the
campaign. Dissidents put the figure at about 500 while the government has
reported fewer than 40 arrests

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

SHAN HERALD AGENCY FOR NEWS: PANIC STRICKEN ORDER BY JUNTA FOR THE FOUR 9'S
9 September, 1999 

A strange order by the local authorities had compelled him and his family
to seek refuge in Thailand, said a Shan from Taunggyi, the capital of Shan
State.

"On the 1st of September, Taunggyi authorities issued an order that every
available household member must stay in front of one's house for the
inspectors to see once disturbances break out", he told S.H.A.N.

"It was bearable for those who live in the side streets within fences", he
said. "However, for those of us who live on the main road with no fences,
it is a different matter. The only place we can display ourselves for the
authorities to see is right on the road. And who is going to prevent us
from being accused of demonstrating against them?"

"It was the last straw for me, so I took my family to Maesai (Chiangrai
Province, Thailand, across from, Tachilek, Shan State) to stay here until
things quiet down. Luckily for us, we have friends here who welcome our stay".

Asked by S.H.A.N. about his high school children, he replied, "Their school
was not closed yet when we left Taunggyi, 3 days ago, although it was
already announced before the end of August that the order might come on
short notice".

"Teachers were instructed to form their students into sections of ten. The
leader of each section is to be held accountable for any offense made by a
member. My son happened to be a section leader and he was worried he might
not be able to manage his members and end up in jail as a result. So I took
him here also".

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THE BANGKOK POST: THAI BORDER UNITS ALERTED 
9 September, 1999 by Cheewin Sattha

KNU threatens raids on Rangoon's allies

Mae Hong Son -- Security forces have been placed on alert after
anti-Rangoon forces threatened to begin attacks on the Burmese military and
its Karen clients.

Border units were ready to respond if any foreign forces intruded into
Thailand, security officials said.

Lt-Gen Wattanachai Chaimuengwong, the Third Army Corps chief, and other
senior officers inspected units along the border in Mae Hong Son from Mae
Saring to Pang Ma Pha districts.

Burmese units at a base opposite Ban Doi Saeng crossing in Muang district
had warned of possible clashes with guerrillas along the border.

The Karen National Union was reported to be planning attacks on several
strongholds of Burmese troops and the pro-Rangoon Democratic Karen Buddhist
Army.

Members of the All Burma Students' Democratic Front and former minority
rebel leaders said the military had begun taking precautions.

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REUTERS: PROTESTERS BREAK INTO MYANMAR EMBASSY IN CANBERRA 
9 September, 1999 

CANBERRA, Sept 9 (Reuters) - About 100 protesters broke into the Myanmar
embassy in Australia on Thursday after smashing fences and overpowering
police.

Australian Federal Police spokesman Daryl Webb told Reuters the protesters
overwhelmed around 15 police officers and smashed fences to get inside the
compound where they burned a Burmese flag and tried to tear down the
embassy flagpole.

The protesters were later cleared from the embassy compound but began a
sit-in outside the building.

The protest followed a worldwide call from exiled dissidents for an
uprising against the military government in Yangon on ``four nines'' day.
Similar protests were held in other Australian cities.

September 9, 1999, was chosen for its numerical significance after the
first uprising 11 years ago on August 8, 1988 in which thousands of
pro-democracy demonstrators were killed.

A Myanmar government spokesman told Reuters that embassies in any country
must be given protection against violent acts.

``Disciplined demonstrations are quite acceptable but physical destruction
is a criminal offence,'' he said when commenting on the storming of the
Myanmar embassy,

``I am certain that the Australian government will provide the Myanmar
embassy in Canberra with all necessary protection,'' he added.

Webb said two protesters were arrested, one for breaching the peace. He was
later released after agreeing not to return to the protest. The second was
arrested for assaulting a police officer.

``The most disturbing fact about it is that people tried to target police.
They decided to vent their anger at police.''

One police officer was injured when a clod of dirt was thrown into his eye
and another was kicked in the groin. Several police received minor cuts and
bruises in the skirmish, he said.

In Melbourne, about 90 people, mostly Burmese exiles with red armbands,
chanted and sang on the steps of Victoria's state parliament.

``We wanted to organise something public as a gesture to express we oppose
military rule,'' said Lynn Shwe, a member of the All Burma Student
Democratic Front, one of the organisers.

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REUTERS: MYANMAR DISSIDENTS EMPATHIZE WITH EAST TIMOR VOTERS 
8 September, 1999 

BANGKOK, (Reuters) - Myanmar dissidents in exile called on Tuesday for the
will of East Timor's voters to be respected and compared the situation
there to their own. 

The National Council of the Union of Burma (NCUB) said the August 30 vote
for independence in East Timor was for "a new era free from the repression
and terror of the past." 

"As the NCUB seeks the same goals for the Burmese people, we have been
greatly saddened by the violent and anti-democratic behaviour of those
whose views did not prevail in the vote," it said. 

The NCUB is an umbrella group of opponents of Myanmar's military government
based on the Thai-Myanmar border. It includes dissidents who fled Myanmar
in 1988 when the military killed thousands to crush a pro-democracy uprising. 

Myanmar's military has been criticised worldwide for human rights abuses
and ignoring the result of the country's last election in 1990 when the
opposition National League for Democracy won by a landslide. 

"As people who have also struggled for freedom for many years, the triumphs
of the Timorese people give us hope," the NCUB statement said, "but the
unfolding tragedy reminds us of the high costs of freedom."

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