The BurmaNet News: November 2, 1999

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The BurmaNet News: November 2, 1999
Issue #1392

HEADLINES:
==========
REUTERS: MYANMAR FREES BRITISH ACTIVIST FROM JAIL
ALTSEAN: WHY RACHEL GOLDWYN WAS RELEASED
BKK POST: KILLING ME SOFTLY
WAN: LETTER TO GENERAL THAN SHWE
NLOM: EX-REP-ELECT EXPRESSES HIS WISH
MIC: AMBASSADOR TO PHILIPPINES APPOINTED
KOREA HERALD: BURMESE DEMOCRACY ESSENTIAL TO SECURITY
NATION: MAI SAI IS UNFAZED BY THE BORDER SHUT-DOWN
BKK POST: MONEY FOR CENTRE UPGRADE FALLS SHORT
ASIAWEEK: AIDS EXPLOSION
ANNOUNCEMENT: BURMESE ACTIVIST HONORED
*****************************************************

REUTERS: MYANMAR FREES BRITISH ACTIVIST FROM JAIL EARLY
1 November, 1999

LONDON, Nov 1 (Reuters) - A British woman jailed for seven years in Myanmar
after staging a pro-democracy protest was freed on Monday after serving less
than two months in prison.

Britain's Foreign Office put Rachel Goldwyn's early release down to "quiet
diplomacy" and said the 28-year-old Londoner was now celebrating with her
parents in Myanmar.

"Rachel was released today. Obviously this is welcome news to her and her
family," said a Foreign Office spokesman.

Human rights worker Goldwyn was jailed in September for "endangering state
security" after she tied herself to a lamp post in Yangon, shouting and
singing pro-democracy slogans.

Goldwyn's September 7 solo protest earned her seven years with labour -- a
sentence that stunned her family.

"I'm thrilled. It's fantastic," said her sister Naomi Rose after the Foreign
Office woke her with the news that Goldwyn was now free. Rose told BBC radio
the two months had "been like two years to me" and called her sister's
release a total surprise.

Goldwyn is now with her parents in Myanmar and is set to fly back to her
suburban southwest London home in a few days.

The Foreign Office spokesman did not say why the authorities in Myanmar,
formerly Burma, had opted for an early release, saying only: "This is a
matter which has been resolved by quiet diplomacy by all parties."

Britain had urged military-ruled Myanmar to hear Goldwyn's appeal as soon as
possible and had expressed concern about both the handling of the case and
severity of the sentence.

Myanmar's military does not tolerate dissent and has been widely criticised
for rights abuses since taking direct power in 1988 by killing thousands in
a pro-democracy uprising.

It ignored the 1990 general election, which the opposition National League
for Democracy won by a landslide, and has since tried to suppress dissent
through arrests and intimidation.

Goldwyn had admitted the protest -- her first offence in Myanmar -- but
insisted her aim was not to stir unrest.

"I wasn't trying to incite others," she said before her sentencing. "I was
just trying to show the extent of control, not to undermine security."

She has been held at Yangon's notorious Insein Jail, past home to many
political prisoners. The embassy has said she was being well treated but the
spokesman had no comment on her health or spirits on Monday.

"We've been visiting her on a regular basis and giving her prison comforts,"
said the Foreign Office spokesman.

While Goldwyn is due home soon, she leaves behind fellow activist James
Mawdsley, a British man who was jailed in September for 17 years for his
pro-democracy activities.

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

ALTSEAN: WHY RACHEL GOLDWYN WAS RELEASED
1 November, 1999 by Debbie Stothard

Like the rest of the pro-democracy movement, we are extremely relieved that
Rachel Goldwyn has been released and is able to enjoy a holiday with her
parents in Burma.

Ms Goldwyn should not have been arrested or detained in the first place.
Like thousands of Burma's political prisoners including fellow Briton James
Mawsdley, Ms Goldwyn was unlawfully arrested, detained and sentenced.

It is well known in Rangoon and London that the military junta had not even
adhered to its own 'laws' in handling Ms Goldwyn's case. An appeal would
have exposed the gross incompetence of the regime. It would have also proved
what most people (in and outside Burma) already know - the regime has not
the faintest respect for or understanding of the rule of law.

The regime also needed a 'good news story' to redeem itself during the
current session of the UN General Assembly where it was condemned for
massive human rights violations including "murder, rape and forced labour
amounting to slavery". The UNGA report states that even children are used as
forced labour by the regime.

Let's not forget that despite the good news of Ms Goldwyn's release,
thousands of people continue to be unlawfully and unjustly detained by the
regime in Burma, tens of thousands are routinely subjected to military
attack, hundreds of thousands are forced out of their homes and off their
land. Let's not forget that the regime treats its fellow citizens with
brutality and contempt.

Despite the fact that Ms Goldwyn does not appear to have been subjected to
physical torture during her unlawful detention, she was subjected to intense
mental and emotional pressure to the point of being forced to 'confess'
details of her 'involvement with subversive elements'.

Despite the fact that the Goldwyn family is apparently holidaying in Burma
under the considerate supervision of Col. Hla Min so that they do not
witness any human rights violations, these systematic and brutal violations
continue to take place everyday.

The junta has to realize that releasing a lone political prisoner is not
going to make the world forget the millions of people it holds hostage in
Burma. The only solution is to release all political prisoners, cease
persecution of ethnic and religious minorities, recognize the will of the
people as expressed in the 1990 elections and commence dialogue with the
democracy movement and ethnic nationality groups.

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

THE BANGKOK POST: KILLING ME SOFTLY
31 October, 1999 by Moe Thee Zun

COMMENT / HUMAN RIGHTS

While the world community watches the junta's calculated repression from
afar, the people of Burma take it all personally

"We want the world to know that we are prisoners in our own country." -- Daw
Aung San Suu Kyi

The preamble to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) states
that: "... It is essential, if man is not to be compelled to have recourse,
as a last resort, to rebellion against tyranny and oppression, that human
rights should be protected by the rule of law." In spite of this
declaration, human rights are denied in many places throughout the world,
including Burma.

According to Webster's dictionary, violence is defined as: "force used so as
to injure, damage or destroy; extreme roughness of action; great force or
strength of feeling, conduct or expression; vehemence; fury." This
definition encompasses both physical and psychological forms of violence.

Burma has been under military dictatorship for nearly 37 years. For its own
benefit, the military regime employs psychological warfare against the
people, torturing many of them physically and emotionally. The regime's
violence influences daily life, including culture, education, creativity and
social interactions. Early this month, five armed Burmese dissidents seized
the Burmese Embassy in Bangkok and held over 80 people hostage for 25 hours.
The incident caused a great deal of anxiety. The siege was a symptom of
great frustration on the part of those who experience continual mental
oppression. This event is an example of what can occur when those who are
subjected to psychological violence are no longer able to endure it.

Justice is lost in Burma. There are no longer respectable norms of law and
order. People live in an upside-down system. Drug dealers receive lighter
sentences than students who distribute pro-democracy leaflets. These
students routinely receive sentences ranging from 7 to 14 years.

There is no political freedom in Burma. Thousands of activists have been
arrested, according to recent reports by Amnesty International. A person who
is involved in politics risks being tortured physically or psychologically
by military intelligence.

In Burma, people are afraid to get involved in politics because they fear
pressure from the government. People have started talking about changing the
pro-democracy struggle inside Burma. They wonder about taking up arms and
toppling the junta by force, saying "don't organize us, bring the guns." It
has been a long time since such expressions have been heard within the
movement.

When Nato bombed Serbia, people in the tea shops of Burma asked, "Why
doesn't Nato bomb Rangoon?" When the UN peacekeeping force entered East
Timor, the Burmese asked, "Has the UN forgotten us? "The proliferation of
such questions and opinions demonstrates the frustration felt by the people
of Burma. As Daw Aung San Suu Kyi stated in an interview after the Bangkok
embassy siege, "I think we can say that resentment is growing all the time.
And will it explode into violence? That is a possibility. And of course we
are concerned about this... .  People will seek any possible outlets for
their anger. There is a limit to what they can endure."

When people come back from their work, there is no entertainment. Propaganda
dominates the press, radio and television. Billboards throughout the country
carry slogans and there are soldiers stationed in the university instead of
students attending classes. There are no athletes, and the once famous Thu
Wa Na stadium is now used by Intelligence Station 12. This situation breeds
frustration and anger, creating social tension within the community. Some
may say that it is an exaggeration to claim that social clashes can cause a
mass uprising. However, this is what happened in 1988.

Some Burmese analysts and scholars claim that there is nothing happening
inside Burma. They claim that the army is 400,000 strong and the people have
no power. We should not judge Burma based on this statistic. We must pay
attention to the emotions and frustrations of the people. There are no
statistics about these two qualities, but their volume is increasing. There
is bitterness among students, because universities have been shut down for 4
years. Before 1988, high school matriculation examinations were critical to
the lives of students-a bridge they needed to cross in order to succeed in
the future. Now, a student who fails his matriculation exam need not worry.

Between 1996 and 1999, over 200,000 students passed their matriculation
exams, and are now waiting to attend university. They do not know what their
future will be. This effects not only the students, but also their families
and communities.

Some of Burma's brightest citizens have been offered scholarships to study
overseas, only to be prohibited from leaving the country at the last moment.
These cases clearly demonstrate the psychological cruelty of the junta.

Take the example of a civil servant who is honest and hard-working, U Hla
Shwe. He is the father of Dr Zaw Min who was a prominent student in the 1988
movement and is serving a 20-year sentence. U Hla Shwe was a manager of a
government corporation and was never involved in politics. He has four sons,
three are doctors, and all are involved in politics. The family is very well
known in the activist community, and the military intelligence (MI) is well
aware of their situation.

When U Hla Shwe won a scholarship to study abroad, the MI allowed him to
make all the necessary preparations. But when he boarded the airplane, they
called him back. They intentionally waited until the last possible moment to
inform him that he would not be permitted to leave the country. He was
punished because of the actions of his sons.

People in Burma know that if their families are involved in politics, they
will repeatedly be denied opportunities.

Today, what feeling has the most influence over the Burmese people -
pleasure or pain? We know the answer to this question, and we must therefore
work to find a solution to end the suffering of the people.

The recent announcement concerning Burmese exiles in Thailand is of grave
concern to the student movement. Sending students to a third country against
their will or forcing exiles back into Burma will not solve Thailand's
security problems, nor will it help bring democracy to Burma.

The embassy siege demonstrates the frustration felt by all those who are
victims of ongoing psychological violence in Burma. I urge the international
community to look to the root cause of the embassy siege, namely the
frustration felt by those who continue to live under a regime that daily
perpetrates physical and psychological abuse, and give the right treatment
to Burma.

[Moe Thee Zun is vice-chairman of the All Burma Students' Democratic Front.]

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

WORLD ASSOCIATION OF NEWSPAPERS: LETTER TO THAN SHWE
29 October, 1999

His Excellency General Than Shwe
President, State Law and Order Restoration Council
Fax: +95 1 22 950
c/o Embassy in France
60, rue de Courcelles
75008 Paris
Fax: 01 42 56 49 41

29 October 1999

Your Excellency,

I am writing on behalf of the World Association of Newspapers, which
represents over 17,000 publications in 93 countries, to express our outrage
over the alleged torture, murder and detention of 27 journalists and other
media workers from the state owned newspaper "Kye Mon" ("The Mirror ").

According to our reports, 27 employees of "Kye Mon" were interrogated for
describing Lieutenant General Khin Nyunt as "the world-famous crook". We
understand that the State Peace and Development Council Authorities
physically abused those believed to be responsible for the article, and that
U Hla Han and U Thar Win were tortured to death. Seven staff members of "Kye
Mon" are allegedly still detained.

The illegal detention, torture and murder of newspaper employees represents
a terrible blow to the press and the worst affront to the right to freedom
of expression, which is guaranteed by numerous international conventions. We
call on you make a full disclosure of the circumstances, to punish those
responsible and to release any employees from "Kye Mon" who are still being
held by SPDC forces.

In addition, seven additional journalists - Win Tin, Ohn Kyaing, Sein
Hlaing, Myo Myint Nyein, Sein Hla Oo, Sans San Nweh and Khin Maung Win -
remain in prison in Burma. We urge you to secure their immediate release as
we understand they were all imprisoned merely for exercising their right to
inform.

I look forward to hearing from you at your earliest convenience about the
cases of all 34 of these persons.

Yours sincerely,

Bengt Braun
President

cc: Mr. Kofi Annan, Secretary-General, United Nations - Mrs. Mary Robinson,
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights - Mr. Federico Mayor,
Director-General, UNESCO

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

NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR: EX-REPRESENTATIVE-ELECT EXPRESSES HIS WISH NOT TO BE
CULPRIT IN POLITICAL HISTORY OF NLD
29 October, 1999 from okkar66129@xxxxxxx

(4) Ex-representative-elect of NLD expresses his wish not to be culprit in
political history of Myanmar

YANGON, 28 Oct - U Thaung Yee, who resigned as representative-elect of the
Constituency-2 of Danubyu Township on 21 January 1997 because he no longer
wished to participate in the party politics of NLD, expressed his wish not
to be a culprit in the political history of Myanmar, to voters of the
constituency at the gymnasium of Danubyu Township this morning.

The ceremony was attended by voters of the Constituency-2 of Danubyu
Township, ex-members of NLD who already resigned from the party, guests from
non-governmental organizations and the people exceeding 2,000.

Ex-Vice-Chairman of Danubyu Township NLD U Tun Shein who already resigned
from the party chaired the ceremony with members of the panel of chairmen
ex-members of NLD U Tin Han of Nyaungchaung Village and U Kyaw Tint of
Kanngu Village of Danubyu Township who also resigned from the party.

Ex-member of NLD U Than Win of Linlunbin Village of Danubyu Township who
already resigned from the party acted as master of ceremonies.

Chairman of the ceremony U Tun Shwe made a speech.

Ex-representative-elect U Thaung Yee expressed his wish not to be a culprit
in the political history of Myanmar.

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

MYANMAR INFORMATION COMMITTEE: AMBASSADOR TO PHILIPPINES APPOINTED
1 November, 1999 from okkar66129@xxxxxxx

[Information Sheets issued under the email address OKKAR66129@xxxxxxx match
those issued by the Directorate of Defence Services Intelligence (DDSI) in
Rangoon, and can be assumed to reflect official SPDC opinion.]

Information Sheet
No.B-1128(I), 1st November, 1999

(1) U Tin Htun Appointed Ambassador to Philippines
The Chairman of the State Peace and Development Council of the Union of
Myanmar has appointed U Tin Htun as Ambassador Extraordinary and
Plenipotentiary of the Union of Myanmar to the Republic of the Philippines.

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

KOREA HERALD: FDL-AP SEES BURMESE DEMOCRACY ESSENTIAL TO REGIONAL SECURITY
26 October, 1999

Recognizing that the democratization of Burma is critical to the
stabilization of democracy in the Asia-Pacific region, the FDL-AP has been
focusing its efforts on solving the democratic problems in Burma.

In 1994, the Resolution on Democratization of Burma of FDL-AP established an
ad hoc commission to take appropriate actions for democracy in Burma. In the
following year, the organization held a Burma Seminar in which participants
discussed such topics as the current situation in Burma, and the role of
NGOs in fostering political change in the country.

The Manila Conference in 1996 showed an unprecedented solidarity for Burma
with about 174 international delegates composed of respected governments
officials, academics and NGO representatives. In 1997, the delegation of the
organization to the UN discussed what further measures should be taken to
block Burma's admission to the Association of South East Asian Nations
(ASEAN) with the UN undersecretary-general.

In June this year, the organization renewed its commitment to the agenda
with the Burma Conference on New NGO Strategy for Democratization of Burma
held in Seoul. The participants to the conference reviewed previous NGO
strategies and explored alternatives to restore democracy in Burma.

Background of Burma project.

In 1988, a massive and peaceful "people power" movement demanded an end to
dictatorship in Burma. The army reacted fiercely to preserve its rule. On 18
September 1988, a new junta, the State Law and Order Restoration Council
(SLORC), seized direct power to quell the democracy movement.

Crowds of peaceful protesters were machine-gunned by troops; thousands died.
For a few days, events in Burma captured world headlines. The spotlight of
global attention again shone briefly in December 1991, when detained
democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi was awarded Nobel Peace Prize.

Yet to most of the world, Burma still remains unknown. The SLORC generals
changed the country's official name in English to Myanmar, a transliteration
of the country's Burmese language name. This change, done by decree and
without public consultation, has been rejected by Burma's democratic
opposition.

In November 1997, the generals renamed their own junta the State Peace and
Development Council, in hopes of improving their international image.

FDL-AP sees, however, that, "by any name, Burma deserves increased attention
and global concern for several reasons." It puts forward following grounds
for the Burma project, which has been its prime agenda.

First, the people of Burma suffer under one of the world's most brutal and
repressive regimes. The United Nations, world religious leaders from Pope
John Paul to the Dalai Lama of Tibet, many governments, and human rights
groups have urged an end to human rights violations in Burma. The military
regime's response so far has been intensified abuse, including murder,
torture, rape, political imprisonment, and forced labor. There is no free
expression or freedom of association in Burma, and the junta allows Burmese
citizens no role in the shaping of their own future.

Second, the junta's get-rich-quick economic plans are devastating Burma's
environment and damaging the regional ecological balance as well as the
country's long-term economic prospects. Huge tracts of rainforest are being
clearcut for valuable hardwoods, destroying the traditional lands of ethnic
minorities and the last habitats of numerous endangered species. Fisheries
are being stripped for quick commercial profit. And natural gas and other
mineral exploitation is proceeding with no apparent concern for
environmental effects or local populations.

Third, the military regime allows and perhaps participates in an explosion
of heroin production. Cease-fires with several ethnic opposition armies that
have long traded drugs have allowed an estimated increase of nearly 400
percent in Burma's heroin production since the junta took power in 1988.

Around the world, this flood of cheaper and purer heroin is causing a vast
new wave of addiction. In recent years, approximately 60 percent of the
heroin reaching the United States has been of Burmese origin. And in Burma
itself, an estimated half million addicts are spreading an AIDS epidemic at
a rate equaling the world's worst-affected areas in Central Africa.

A fourth important concern is Asia's security, in which Burma plays a
pivotal role due to its strategic position linking South and Southeast Asia
and bordering the continent's two most populous countries, China and India.
Independent Burma had long pursued a policy of neutrality. To the alarm of
many countries, the military regime is now increasingly dependent on China
as a political ally and arms supplier. Fear of Chinese military influence in
Burma is helping to spur a costly regional arms race which diverts funds
desperately needed for human development. Gross human rights abuses,
environmental devastation, massive heroin smuggling, regional military
destabilization - these are Burma's realities under the junta's absolute
rule.

Before the SLORC took power in 1988, a quarter-century of self-imposed
isolation wrecked the once-buoyant economy and impoverished the nation. The
junta seeks international investment, trade, and tourism to bolster both its
finances and its legitimacy. The global community has taken some actions to
deny the junta this crucial prop to its rule.

Pro-democracy groups have called for an international arms embargo to block
the military from emptying the already meager national treasure to buy
weapons needed solely to suppress domestic dissent. Some analysts believe
stringent economic sanctions building on the 1997 U.S. ban on new investment
and European and Canadian trade restrictions can pressure the generals to
respect human rights and negotiate a transition to democratic government.
Consumer boycotts, demonstrations, shareholder actions, and sanctions
legislation have convinced many international companies to pull out of Burma
or not to begin to do business there. Grassroots action by community groups,
unions, and students has made Burma "the South Africa of the 1990s."

This public pressure is convincing elected representatives worldwide that
Burma is an issue on which they should take action. In the United States,
the state of Massachusetts, New York City, and 18 other municipal and county
governments have already adopted "selective purchasing" laws barring
companies doing business in Burma from receiving local contracts.

Pressing for increased international involvement with the military regime
are people who argue that trade and tourism can promote respect for human
rights. Some claim that "constructive engagement" could convince the junta
to fight drug trafficking and to reduce their reliance on China. A few
declare simply that business and human rights are separate issues that
should not be mixed. The junta itself, backed by a few Asian autocrats,
asserts that it respects human rights in an "Asian" or "Burmese" context and
that internationally-recognized standards do not apply.

Today, Burma's citizens are all but excluded from this debate over their
future. Aung San Suu Kyi defies the generals by speaking out for democracy.
Yet hers is an isolated voice in a land dominated by censorship and fear.
The debate on international policy towards Burma is reaching a critical
stage.

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

THE NATION: MAI SAI IS UNFAZED BY THE BORDER SHUT-DOWN
31 October, 1999 by John Buchanan

MAE SAI- The Burmese government's closure of the border crossing between Mae
Sai and the Burmese town of Tachilek has slowed but not halted the flow of
trade between them. Thai traders and Burmese townspeople have circumvented
the border shut down by smuggling goods across the Sai River at other
points.

Under the watchful eyes of Burmese soldiers deployed along the border,
porters carry goods to and fro across the shallow Sai River, which divides
the two towns. One Thai police officer, observing the transport of garbage
bags filled with perishable Chinese mushrooms across the river into
Thailand, said that the traders paid the Burmese soldiers Bt100 per bag for
permission to send to them across the border. One Burmese shop worker,
employed in Mae Sai alleged that Burmese authorities are involved in the
smuggling.

Most Burmese wishing to cross go to the outskirts of the towns, where
Burmese soldiers charge Bt20 to ford the river. But near the centre of Mae
Sai, a Burmese porter asks one hundred baht to carry people across the
river.

According to Boonma Tethachareonvilkul, chairman of Mae Sai's merchants
association, Mae Sai businesses are selling their wares in the markets on
the Thai side, and Burmese are carrying the goods to Tachilek. Most of the
traffic is basic household goods going to Tachilek.

As a result of the closure, Tachilek's supply of gasoline, medicine, and
prices have risen accordingly. The price for one kilo-gramme of tomatoes has
risen from Bt20 to Bt120 and the price of gas has risen from approximately
Bt200, Bt300 to Bt500.

While the Rangoon authorities recently closed the nearby port of Baan Pong,
which served as an alternative point of entry for oil from Thailand via the
Mekong River, there has been no interference in the smuggling activities
between Mae Sai and Taichilek.

Oil had been sent to Tachilek via Chiang Saen and Baan Poing. A limited
amount of oil was diverted to Chiang Saen, 37 kms away, where the cargo was
loaded on boats for shipment to Baan Pong, according to Police Major
Chawengchai Theerakul of the Chiang Saen Police Department. From Baan Pong,
the oil was transported to Tachilek by car. He said only a limited amount of
gas had been sent this way because the border had been shut for only a short
time. However, on Monday morning Burmese officials closed the port to Thai
goods.

The Mae Sai business community is waiting for the border to open, according
to Boonma. Some business people had planed to use the route via Baan Pong
for larger goods, if the border did not open by the end of the month.

The shutdown of the border has halted official trade between the two towns
except electricity, which Thailand continues to supply to Tachilek. Mae Sai
Customs officials estimate the value of exports and imports before the
suspension of trade at Bt4 million and Bt200,000 per day, respectively.

In the past, Mae Sai served as a gateway to Burma, and many tourists passed
through on their way to a day of sightseeing and shopping in Tachilek.
However, since the shutdown of the border, the tourism industry has slowed
down. Compared to the approximately two thousand Thai tourists in September,
there has been a 30 per cent drop since the border closed, according to Sgt

Major Prajak Jaichalat of the Tourism Authority of Thailand. Usually in
October, the number to Thai tourists in Mae Sai increases as parents bring
their children during the mid-term school break.

The arrival of an average of one 150 to 200 foreign tourists per day has not
changed. Many of these tourists are on package tours, which come to Mae Sai
with little regard for the border situation.

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

THE BANGKOK POST: MONEY FOR CENTRE UPGRADE FALLS SHORT
29 October, 1999 by Temsak Traisophon

The Interior Ministry has been allocated only half of the 11 million baht it
sought from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to improve the
Maneeloy Centre in Ratchaburi.

The 5.6 million baht awarded was enough to repair living quarters and buy
beds but there was no money left for food, said Veerachai Naewboonnian,
deputy permanent secretary in charge of security affairs.

Mr Veerachai said the ministry had to use 1.4 million baht to erect a fence
to separate Burmese and ethnic Mon students who
brawled frequently.

The centre has been upgraded to accommodate 1,700 more Burmese students
living in Bangkok who will have to move in by Nov. 24 or face arrested for
illegal entry.

Students who leave the camp for a certain period would be detained at the
Police Private Training School in Bang Khen.

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

ASIAWEEK: AIDS EXPLOSION
5 November, 1999 by Ruchira Gupta

TIME BOMBS ALONG THE MEKONG CALL FOR A REGIONAL SOLUTION

Sanda's story tells why the rates of HIV infections in the Mekong area are
soaring. Terrorized by Myanmar soldiers, the young Shan woman was desperate
to leave her village near the Thai border. She once escaped rape by hiding
in the jungle, but that wasn't a long-term solution. So she sold her gold
chain and paid an employment agent $30 to get a job in Thailand. As so often
happens, the Pattaya "restaurant" turned out to be a brothel where she was
held captive. By the time she was rescued earlier this year, the 17-year-old
was pregnant - and HIV-positive. Thai officials want to expel her as an
illegal but to Sanda, that is equivalent to a death sentence. Once back in
Myanmar, she says, she will be locked away to die along with other AIDS
sufferers. "I don't want to go back," she says.

While Asia has so far escaped a large-scale outbreak, the dreaded virus is
spreading in every country. UNAIDS (the Joint United Nations Program on
HIV/AIDS) estimates that one quarter of the world's 33.4 million people
infected with HIV at the end of 1998 were in Asia. That's about 8 million
regionwide. And "the most rapid rise in HIV infection rates might be in the
Mekong sub-region," says Chris Beyrer of Johns Hopkins University in the
U.S.

The main causes are injected drugs and unprotected sex, exacerbated by a
large, mobile population, trafficking of women and children and little or no
information on safe sex. It's "a potentially explosive mixture," says
Beyrer, who heads an international AIDS-training program. Needle-sharing has
led to outbreaks among addicts and their sexual partners. In parts of
Thailand, northern Burma, Vietnam and southern China, infection in such
high-risk groups rose from 20% to 90% within months. Usually such outbreaks
precede the virus's spread into the general population. Yet AIDS-prevention
for intravenous drug users is neglected, delayed and often ineffective,
notes UNAIDS director Peter Piot.

Thailand was one of the first Asian countries to acknowledge it has AIDS.
Local officials project the HIV population to swell from 850,000 to as much
as 1.2 million next year. Matters could have been a lot worse but for the
Thais' determined, broad-based and matter-of-fact way of tackling the
disease. Although deaths have climbed as older patients succumb to the
virus, the rate of new infections, especially among young men, has rapidly
declined.

The reverse is true for many of the neighbors. In Cambodia, the current HIV
population is touching 180,000 and rising. According to the vice-chairman of
Vietnam's national AIDS committee, Chung A, the country's HIV numbers will
more than double from 88,000 to 200,000. And experts worry over trends in
China, where outbreaks have erupted among drug users in the mountains of
Yunnan and in coastal provinces. About 400,000 people are estimated to be
living with AIDS in the mainland. But accurate statistics are hard to come
by. Many countries barely acknowledge the possibility of an AIDS epidemic
and efforts to track the disease are elementary. But the experts agree: The
problem will be acute and as much as half the workforce in the Mekong region
is likely to be infected within a decade.

An unfortunate confluence of social and economic forces are driving up the
rates of HIV transmission. A double whammy - the high proportion of men
visiting prostitutes and the relatively large number of customers that a sex
worker sees each week - amplify the effect of commercial sex on infection.

Women are often more vulnerable. Their unequal status, consequent lack of
self-esteem - and of access to information - restrict their ability to
protect or assert themselves. Consider 19-year-old Nee. Her parents refused
to talk to her about sex, and when she married two years ago, no one
suggested that her husband should use a condom. "Sex, safe sex and telling
your husband how to have sex is a big no, no in our culture," she explains.
The Chiang Mai housewife paid horribly for her ignorance. "My husband had
HIV from visiting brothels and now I have it too," says Nee. "He never told
me that he was HIV-positive as he felt he would be ostracized and nobody
would marry him."

Most Cambodians know of the existence of AIDS, but few realize that
sufferers can carry the virus without showing the full-blown symptoms, said
a spokesperson of the Cambodian Women's Crisis Center in Phnom Penh. That's
how HIV-infected men claiming the contrary sometimes pressure girls to have
unprotected sex with them. In many cases, the stigma associated with AIDS is
greater for women, even when the husband is the source of infection. The
situation worsens when women try to treat themselves rather than endure the
prejudice associated with clinics.

Activists argue that AIDS-prevention campaigns must also address belief
systems. "When people discuss the issue, they become informed and develop
accepting attitudes, even toward those whose behavior may diverge from their
own," says Sasathorn Chaiyapeth of the Thai Red Cross. "This creates a new
social sphere where preventive tools such as condoms can be used rather than
remain an inapplicable piece of information."

Traditionally, young women assume greater responsibility in caring for
family members. The debt of gratitude owed to parents is a strongly held
concept across the Mekong area. For women in very poor families, that leaves
little option. "I understand the importance of using condoms," says a
15-year-old girl in Phnom Penh. "But I have no income. Our field produces
nothing. I have three younger sisters, two brothers and a mother who has
tuberculosis. Nobody can work." So when a "customer" from China offered her
more money to have sex without a condom, she agreed. "He told me he had AIDS
and that if I were a virgin, he would be cured. Now I have tested positive,
but I don't care. Why should my family starve?"

Decades of civil strife in Myanmar and Cambodia have swelled the river of
people criss-crossing the borders. Some are migrants seeking a better life,
others refugees from conflict. Then there are the women and girls sold into
marriage, prostitution or as modern-day slave labor. All are transients, and
all are associated with rising HIV infections. But the answer is not to
crack down on migrants, argues Jackie Pollock of Empower, a Chiang Mai-based
non-government organization. "Education on safe sex has to continue," she
says. "We must be creative and find ways to communicate with
difficult-to-reach populations."

Yet where high-risk groups are accessible, some prevention programs stumble
because of competing priorities and lack of coordination among agencies.
Notes a young prostitute in Phnom Penh: "First somebody from CARE asked me
if I knew about AIDS. Then someone from World Vision came to ask me the same
questions." Hence the launch of an inter-agency program that would not only
tackle trafficking of women in the Mekong area but also avoid overlap
between agencies. AIDS workers in Thailand have been quick to recognize
this. "We have to look at the issue regionally," says the Red Cross's
Sasathorn. "Thailand is not an island. In the Mekong region, homophobia,
sexism and other inequalities work hand in hand to further spread the
epidemic."

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

ANNOUNCEMENT: BURMESE ACTIVISTS HONORED
20 October, 1999

[BurmaNet Editor's Note: Aung Myo Min is the Director of the Human Rights
Documentation Unit of the National Coalition Government of the Union of
Burma (NCGUB) which publishes the annual Burma Human Rights Yearbook.  He
was honored with the following two awards last month.]

Certificate of Honor
Board of Supervisors
City and County of San Francisco

The Board of supervisors of the City and County of San Francisco hereby
issues, and authorizes the execution of, this Certificate of Honor in
appreciative public recognition of distinction and merit for outstanding
service to a significant portion of the people of the City and County of San
Francisco by;

SAN FRANCISCO HONORS AUNG MYO MIN;

WHEREAS, Aung Myo Min has been a champion of the rights of lesbians and gay
men in Burma, working largely underground within Burma's military's
dictatorship; and

WHEREAS, Aung Myo Min has drawn international attention to the plight of
individuals in Burma and advocated for AIDS education, civil rights and
legal support; and,

WHEREAS, Aung Myo Min has inspired San Franscisco and the work with his
courage and his tenacious organizing, therefore be it

RESOLVED, That the Board of Supervisors of the CITY and County of San
Franscisco hereby bestowed its highest honor on Aung Myo Min.

Signed by
Supervisor Mark Leno, October 20, 1999

---------------

Recognizing

the courage it requires to work on lesbigay issues in isolation

the interconnections between multiple forms of oppression

the important contribution of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people
to democratic struggles throughout the world

The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission is pleased to
honor

Aung Myo Min

as a Burmese human rights activist, a lesbigay activist, and an AIDS
activist at "A Celebration of Courage"

Signed by Julie Dorf, Executive Director, 20 October 1999

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






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