Remember Peru!!! Burmese Rebles ho

[dawnstar@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Subject: Remember Peru!!!  Burmese Rebles hold Thai Embassy, demand releases all political prisoners

This doesnt look good for the brave and desperate. Remember the Peru
Embassy takeover and Peruvian president Fujimori's "rescue" operation
that ended with the killing of 16 people in 1997 after taking hold of
the Japanese ambassador house in Lima after a reception there and
holding hundreds of hostages in the residence. 

Peaceful solutions could have been achieved if only the leaders on both
sides took some extra effort to exhaust all possibilities of reaching a
compromise.  But Fujimori, assessing his political popularity declined
with each day pushing the crisis to a stalemante, closed all peaceful
means of solving the crisis, and opted for an all-out military assault
against the Tupac Amaru hostage holding group. 

That incident bacame a dangerous international precedent, especially in
view of the popularity of it; remember that Fujimori gave the go signal
for the assualt team while they were still negotiating with the rebels,
who were then playing football inside the Japanese embassy. 

Fujimori had a directive "take no prisoners", and some witness
statements after said the Tupac Amaur rebels were murdered by the eilite
soldiers while surrendering, clear violations of Protocal I, ARt. 41
giving protection to combatants "who clearly expresses an intention to
surrender". and other related humanitarian laws. 

These burmese rebels are entitled to all basic humanitarian protection,
and not to fall victim to a breach of international law of which States
are signatory. 

It was a domestic hostage taking incident. This time the Burmese rebels
have taken their own embassy on Thai soil, which alters the equation
slightly. Fujimori wanted to crush the opposition and show himself a
dominant authoritarian leader of national unity to defeat the MRTA and
maintain political leadership and stability. So he destroyed them, and
won increasing popularity, while the opposition leaders and their
friends were killed or remain buried alive in undergound prison cells. 

If the EAst Timor crisis is at all indicative of the current political
climate in Asia, we must be all the more weary and urge measures to
avoid that this crisis be resolved in a military way.

 
> 
> Friday, October 1, 1999 Published at 10:50 GMT 11:50 UK
> World: Asia-Pacific
> 
>  gunmen demand releases all political prisoners
> 
> The Burmese opposition flag is hoisted onto the embassy's mast
> 
> Gunmen holding a number of diplomats, staff and more than a dozen
> foreigners
> hostage at the Burmese embassy in Bangkok have issued a list of demands
> calling on the Burmese Government to free all political prisoners.
> 
> In a facsimile statement to a TV station in the Thai capital, the group
> calling itself the Vigorous Burmese Students Warriors said the military
> government in Rangoon would be responsible for the consequences if it
> did
> not accede to their demands.
> 
> The statement also demanded that the government enter into talks with
> the
> Burmese opposition and convene a democratic parliament.
> 
> There are reports of a further demand for a helicopter capable of flying
> 20
> people to the Thai-Burma border.
> 
> A local media organisation, AsiaWorks, contacted one of the hostages by
> phone who said three Canadians, three Frenchmen, one American, one
> German
> several Malaysians, Singaporeans and Thais were among those being held.
> 
> A short time later, two hostages, both Thai nationals were released,
> joining
> a security guard who was allowed to go free earlier.
> 
> Gunfire heard
> 
> About a dozen armed men stormed into the embassy compound at about 1100
> (0400GMT) seizing a number of diplomats and their families.
> 
> Witnesses said several bursts of automatic gunfire could be heard from
> inside the compound as members of Thailand's elite anti-terrorist unit
> took
> positions at the scene.
> 
> It is unclear whether anybody has been wounded.
> 
> Following another round of the gunfire, the attackers removed the
> Burmese
> flag from the mast and replaced it with the yellow fighting peacock on a
> red
> background - the symbol of Burma's democracy movement.
> 
> However, the main group representing Burmese students in exile says it
> has
> no connection with the attack and does not condone it.
> 
> "We are not involved in this," Moe Thee Zun, Vice President of the All
> Burma
> Students Democratic Front told the Reuters news agency. "We don't want
> to
> support terrorist actions."
> 
> Holding fire
> 
> A Thai security police guard who was released by gunmen from the siege
> said
> that the gunmen were holding 20 hostages.
> 
> Police and anti-terrorist unit officials say they have been ordered to
> hold
> fire in order to allow negotiations to take place.
> 
> According to witnesses, the attackers were heavily armed, with AK-47
> rifles,
> 20 hand grenades, as well as grenade launchers.
> 
> The released policeman said he believed the attackers were Burmese
> students.
> 
> There are hundreds of democracy and human rights activists, including
> exiled
> students, working in Thailand to lobby for greater democracy in Burma,
> which
> is run by a military government.
> 
> Students and ethnic groups in particular regularly demonstrate in front
> of
> the Burmese embassy in Bangkok but their demonstrations are always
> peaceful.
> ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++