Burma News Update, No. 94

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Open Society Institute
The Burma Project

Burma News Update No. 94
06 October 1999


Embassy Siege Fallout

Burma has closed its borders with Thailand after Thai authorities 
provided Burmese dissidents who had seized the Burmese 
Embassy in Rangoon safe passage to an area along the two 
country's mutual border. No one was injured during the 26-hour 
siege by five gunmen, who demanded that the military junta in 
Rangoon transfer power to a democratic government. Analysts said 
that Thailand's recently-improved relations with the Burmese junta 
could be damaged by the incident, after which Thai Interior Minister 
Sanan Kachonprasart said of the hostage-takers: "They are not 
terrorists, they are students who fight for democracy." Burma's main 
democratic opposition group, the National League for Democracy, 
explicitly denounced the armed action, stating from Rangoon, "We 
categorically condemn the seizure of the embassy and the taking of
hostages." Burmese exile groups in Thailand and Burma support groups 
echoed the NLD statement, which said the action was a result of "many 
acts of injustice and cruelty repeatedly perpetrated by the military regime." 
Non-governmental groups in Thailand urged governmental authorities 
not to take action against Burmese refugees and political exiles operating
within the law.

Bangkok, Rangoon, "wire service reports," 03-04 October



NLD Suit in Court

Burma's Supreme Court heard arguments on 29 September in a complaint 
filed by the National League for Democracy against the ruling junta's 
military intelligence service for detention and harassment of its party 
members. NLD Chairman Aung Shwe and three other NLD Central Executive 
Committee members gave testimony during the hearing, which was also 
attended by NLD leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. Junta Interior Minister Col. 
Tin Hlaing was named in four separate complaints, which allege that the 
regime has illegally detained NLD members and coerced some to leave the 
party. The NLD says that over 100 of its elected members of parliament 
remain imprisoned today.

Rangoon, "Kyodo News Service," 30 September



Junta War Crimes?

The United Nations action to investigate human rights violations in 
East Timor, and the suggestion by UN Human Rights Commissioner 
Mary Robinson that those believed responsible should be tried before an 
international tribunal, "touches a particularly raw nerve" among Burma's 
ruling generals. International rights groups have been gathering detailed 
accounts of atrocities inside Burma for years, and may soon seek to present 
their evidence to an international court.

"Far Eastern Economic Review," 27 September

"Burma Like Hand Grenade"

Burma is today like a hand grenade without a safety pin, and the 
country's military regime is only keeping power to stop the country from 
falling apart. Burmese Foreign Minister Win Aung said in an address at 
New York's Asia Society.  Win Aung stated that the country's new 
constitution will allow power sharing, and that failed socialist economic 
policies have been discarded. The junta representative took a hard line on 
Burmese refugees, however, stating that refugee camps in Thailand are 
actually "military camps." In "heated exchanges" with questioners from the 
audience, Win Aung issued a blanket denial regarding widespread human 
rights violations in Burma. [Win Aung also expressed the Burmese junta's 
opposition to a UN inquiry on human rights violations in East Timor, people 
who attended the event say. When asked if he believed that he and other 
senior junta members might one day be brought before such an international 
human rights tribunal, Win Aung replied that Burma is not Rwanda and that 
there are no mass graves in the country-Ed.]

New York, "Bangkok Post," 28 September



Junta Diplomatic Drive

Burma established diplomatic relations with Tajikistan on 29 September, 
making it the eighth country with which Burma's military junta has formalized 
ties in 1999. The others are Azerbaijan, Belarus, Croatia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, 
Turkmenistan, and Ukraine. Burma now has diplomatic relations with 84 
nations. [Observers believe the junta's actions to broaden its diplomatic ties 
may be linked to efforts to block or soften the latest version of a UN General 
Assembly resolution calling for respect for human rights and democratic reform 
in Burma, which has been adopted annually since 1992--Ed.]

Rangoon, "Xinhua," 30 September 

MSG Ban?

Production of monosodium glutamate (MSG) in Burma by Japanese chemicals 
giant Ajinomoto has halted after Burma's military regime barred importation of 
ingredients, the company said. Some sources said the regime plans to ban 
production and use of MSG because it is "unhealthy." However, MSG remains 
widely available in Rangoon, and Ajinomoto hopes to reopen its plant.
Burma's foreign minister said there are no mass graves and no ethnic 
cleansing in Burma, stating that human rights issues could be included 
on the agenda during a scheduled early September visit by UN special 
envoy, Under Secretary General Alvaro de Soto. "We respect the rights 
of human beings," said Junta Foreign Minister Win Aung, adding "We 
don't have any mass graves, the people are not disappearing in masses, 
we don't have a mass exodus . . . there are other countries where there 
are human-rights violations; we don't have that, we don't have ethnic 
cleansing."

Singapore, "Chemical News & Intelligence," 28 September 



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