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Subject: [theburmanetnews] BurmaNet News: May 29, 2000
______________ THE BURMANET NEWS ______________
An on-line newspaper covering Burma
______________ www.burmanet.org _______________
May 29, 2000
Issue # 1540
NOTED IN PASSING:
"The price of a holiday in Burma could literally be someone else's
life."
Yvette Mahon, Burma Campaign UK (See BURMA CAMPAIGN UK/TOURISM
CONCERN: WHY TO BOYCOTT LONELY PLANET)
*Inside Burma
AFP: FIRST-EVER ILO MISSION MEETS AUNG SAN SUU KYI, MYANMAR MINISTERS
NLD: REGIME ENDS HOME VISITS FOR DETAINED MPS
AVA: SPDC TROOPS TAXES THE OPIUM GROWERS IN NORTHERN SHAN STATE
AFP: "SUDDEN ILLNESS" LEADS MYANMAR'S LEADER TO POSTPONE RARE FOREIGN
VISIT
THE NATION: FROM THE EDGE--BURMESE JUNTA TIGHTENS GRIP ON TIGER'S BACK
*International
BURMANET: VISA BAN
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH(LONDON): TRAVEL: BURMA GUIDE BLACKLISTED
BBC: BURMESE FORCED LABOUR CONDEMNED
REUTERS: TOTALFINAELF UNDER ATTACK ON OIL SPILL, MYANMAR
*Economy/Business
THE STRAITS TIMES: BURMA NEEDS SURGERY, NOT COSMETIC CHANGES
*Opinion/Editorials
BURMA CONCERN UK/TOURISM CONCERN: WHY TO BOYCOTT LONELY PLANET
*Other
ASIAWEEK: WHAT TO DO ABOUT MYANMAR -- NUKE 'EM
EUROPEAN UNION: LIST OF PERSONS TO WHOM EU VISA BAN APPLIES, AND
WHOSE FUNDS HELD IN THE EU WILL BE FROZEN
__________________ INSIDE BURMA ____________________
AFP: FIRST-EVER ILO MISSION MEETS AUNG SAN SUU KYI, MYANMAR MINISTERS
YANGON, May 26 (AFP) -
A delegation of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) on a
discreet first-ever visit to Yangon has met with Aung San Suu Kyi and
high-ranking government officials, government and opposition sources
said Friday.
Neither the ILO nor the Myanmar government have commented on the
mission, but sources told AFP the ILO's three-man delegation met with
opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, the Myanmar junta's labour
minister and other ministerial level officials.
The ILO mission was expected to discuss with the junta and the
opposition implementation of ILO recommendations against forced
labour, alleged to be widely practiced in Myanmar.
Diplomatic and business sources previously told AFP they expected
representatives of the junta to take ILO officials to visit several
jails and factories.
Though it has not made any official comment, Myanmar's ruling junta
Wednesday had lashed out at the ILO as an undignified organization
controlled by big powers.
The state-controlled newspaper New Light of Myanmar dismissed the ILO
mission, saying the organisation "had lost its dignity" because it
has abandoned its "main function of setting down norms for workers'
rights."
Instead, the New Light said, the ILO simply promotes the agendas
of "new colonialists" such as Britain and the United States, who try
to apply political pressure on Myanmar.
Diplomatic sources had said the Myanmar government's simultaneous
slamming of the ILO while allowing the organization into Yangon
seemed "counterproductive," but added that the junta becomes
extremely defensive on labor issues.
An ILO commission of enquiry in a report in August 1999 found
compulsory labour in Myanmar was practised in a "systematic manner
with a total disregard for the human dignity, safety and health" of
the people.
The ILO governing body ordered Myanmar's case to be raised at the
organisation's assembly in June 2000, and in March invoked for the
first time an ILO article allowing it to recommend measures to oblige
the offending party to comply.
It recommended that the Myanmar government ensure that its
legislation is brought into line with the terms of the 1930 forced
labour convention which Myanmar has ratified.
It also urged the eradication of forced labour in the country and
called for rigorous prosecution and punishment of those found guilty
of exacting forced labour.
The Myanmar goverment had previously described ILO reports as
partisan and biased.
Yangon's junta stands accused of a catalogue of human rights abuses
including rape, torture and holding political prisoners. The United
States and the European Union enforce a range of punitive sanctions
including trade and visa bans.
____________________________________________________
NLD: REGIME ENDS HOME VISITS FOR DETAINED MPS
National League for Democracy
No: (97/B), West Shwegonedine Road
Bahan Township, Rangoon
Statement 74 (5/00) (translation)
Burma, a signatory to the International Declaration of Human Rights
is violating the provisions of Articles 6,7,9,12, 18,19, 20 in
arresting and keeping under detention honorable NLD members of
parliament since 6 September 1998. Right up to date they have not
been accused of violating any provisions of law. Therefore it must be
concluded that it is deliberately out of hatred and spite.
The MPs from Rangoon Division used to be taken back to their homes
and families fortnightly.
Without any reason whatsoever, this practice has stopped since the
month of March this year. This long separation from their families is
liable to have negative effects on the physical and mental health of
the individuals. We stress that this is a reminder to the military
dictators that they will be responsible for any consequences to life
and limb of the people they are now holding in their custody.
Central Executive Committee
National League for Democracy
Rangoon
23 May 2000
____________________________________________________
AVA: SPDC TROOPS TAXES THE OPIUM GROWERS IN NORTHERN SHAN STATE
SPDC troops taxes the opium growers in Northern Shan State
May 23, 2000
The villagers who grow opium in Namkham township in Northern Shan
State have to pay 5,000 kyats per house to local SPDC troops. The
army backed anti-insurgence group also has to pay opium tax for the
SPDC battalion.
The villagers in Pansae, Minbu, Mansup and Manton villages in Namkham
were forced to pay 5,000 kyats per house for growing opium as tax to
Kukhai based LIB 242. The Pansae Anti-insurgence group (Tha-pha-sa-
Ka) also has to pay seven million kyats to get permission to grow
opium.
During last year, the villagers in the region were told by SPDC
commanders that they would allow growing opium for next three years.
The opium was produced from the field during March and April of
2000. The next opium cultivation will be started from October.
According to the sources from Shan State one viss of newly produced
opium costs 150,000 kyats where the old opium costs about 200,000
kyats in Shan State.
Note: One viss is approximately 1.5 Kg.
____________________________________________________
AFP: "SUDDEN ILLNESS" LEADS MYANMAR'S LEADER TO POSTPONE RARE FOREIGN
VISIT
BANGKOK, May 29 (AFP) - The supreme leader of Myanmar's secretive
military junta Senior General Than Shwe has been forced to postpone a
rare foreign visit, his government confirmed Monday, after suffering
a "sudden illness." Bangladesh's top diplomat, C.M. Shafi Sami,
said Sunday in Dhaka the change of plan was due to Than
Shwe's "sudden illness," adding he had been "advised by his
physicians to take a complete rest."
A Yangon government spokesman Monday confirmed Than Shwe's visit
had been postponed "due to the medical recommendation given by his
physician." Than Shwe, who is military commander in chief, prime
minister and defence minister, would have been the first top leader
from Myanmar to visit since Bangladesh won independence from Pakistan
in 1971.
Myanmar was among the first countries to recognise the new
state. Myanmar and Bangladesh had planned to discuss issues
include the demarcation of a sea boundary, opening road and shipping
links, expanding bilateral trade and combating armed groups operating
on their common border. Bangladesh Foreign Minister Abdus Samad
Azad had said: "This visit is very important from different sides."
The military has been in control of Myanmar, formerly known as
Burma, in various guises since 1962.
It is accused of a host of human rights violations including
forced labor, torture and restrictions on the press and on freedom of
movement. Myanmar junta chief Senior General Than Shwe's visit to
Bangladesh had been designed to highlight Yangon's growing ties with
Dhaka, part of a policy of "constructive engagement" by Bangladesh.
Ties between the neigboring states have improved as Myanmar has in
recent years repatriated the majority of the 250,000 Rohyngya Muslims
in Myanmar back to Bangladesh.
More than 20,000 of the Muslims still live in Myanmar refugee
camps, however, and the Rohyngya situation continues to be monitored
by both countries and international non-governmental
organizations. Dhaka leaders have argued they see no contradiction
between Bangladesh's ties with Yangon and their support for the pro-
democracy campaign in Myanmar, saying it is necessary to retain good
relations with neighbors. But Myanmar's dissident groups Monday
said in a statement they were "disheartened" that Bangladesh, a
country "who loves democracy," had invited Than Shwe, "who does not
represent the Myanmar people."
"We hope that you recall how Bangladeshi people suffered miseries
under the tyrannical rule of Pakistani military dictators," they
said. "Have sympathy for the Myanmar people who are suffering."
Myanmar is the only country apart from India to border Bangladesh.
Both states are members of new regional grouping BIMSTEC -- Economic
Cooperation among Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and
Thailand.
____________________________________________________
THE NATION: FROM THE EDGE--BURMESE JUNTA TIGHTENS GRIP ON TIGER'S BACK
May 26, 2000.
AFTER 38 years of military rule, will Burma ever see the dawn of
democracy without another round of bloodshed? Despite continuing
optimism from key pro-democracy Burmese dissidents, the answers from
most political observers, diplomats and even ethnic Burmese
guerrillas are sadly negative.
Since the current junta's bloody coup in 1988, which suppressed
massive pro-democracy protests and, ironically, took power from a
military predecessor, every domestic and international effort to make
a peaceful transition to democracy has hit an iron wall.
The ruling generals - who initially banded together under the State
Law and Order Restoration Council, later renamed the State Peace and
Development Council (SPDC) - have been defiant. The regime has
rejected sensible arguments that Burma cannot expect to attain
international recognition without democratic reforms and respect for
human rights. Instead, the junta has embarked on a series of
political and economic campaigns which are aimed only at prolonging
its own existence.
The junta organised, exactly 10 years ago today, a multi-party
general election. The stunning victory of the popular National League
for Democracy (NLD) over the military's preferred party came as a
shock and the regime promptly restricted the newly elected MPs to the
mere task of writing the country's new Constitution. The drafting,
which began in early 1993, has become a foot-dragging process with no
end in sight.
The NLD's repeated calls for dialogue to end the country's political
turmoil have fallen on deaf ears. The SPDC adamantly rejects the
legitimacy given to the party by the 45 million Burmese people.
Instead, the military regime has arrested, tortured, and imprisoned
thousands of NLD MPs, leaders, members and supporters across Burma
and, in many cases, forced them to resign from the party in exchange
for their freedom.
While refusing to talk with the NLD, the regime, again ironically,
held talks with over a dozen armed ethnic groups, several of which
have thrived on the narcotics trade.
The general public has not been free from the regime's harassment and
its policy mismanagement. Potential dissidents are quickly harassed
or arrested. Young men and women are rounded up for forced labour on
the battlefield. The young are denied proper education because higher
learning institutionsremain closed as hotbeds for student uprisings.
Monks and religious centres have been placed under close watch as
they too can revolt. Economic programmes haven't truly benefited the
grassroots, and foreign capital and income usually go to support the
regime's plan to strengthen its military might.
In border areas, ethnic populations have been uprooted. With their
homes and farmlands destroyed, villagers have no choice but to take
flight either into the jungle or across the border to Burma's
neighbouring states. Those less fortunate are relocated to tightly
watched areas under the control of the Burmese Army.
Despite all the misery it has created, the SPDC remains unshaken,
banking on the false hope that its intransigence and resistance to
international sanctions will outlast political pressure from domestic
democratic forces and the global community, and that over time the
world will give up on Burma.
In recent public statements, top NLD leaders including Nobel Peace
Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi remain optimistic for a peaceful
transition to democracy and urge the international community to
pressure the SPDC to open a political dialogue. But several political
observers, including an Asian diplomat who once served in Rangoon,
said they see no sign of hope that Burma will attain democracy
without another popular revolt.
"Ahimsa [non-violence] works only in civilised nations," said the
diplomat. "Burma isn't such a case. Everything is so static and
peaceful means have proven fruitless all these years. What is likely
to force change is a revolution."
In his view, every aspect of Burma - political, economic and social -
has been a "regression" in the past decade. There has been no freedom
in whatever form and people, including intellectuals, have been
placed under tight watch and control. Social and economic conditions
have also gone downhill to near crisis. At the same time, the
international community - pro-sanction or pro-engagement - is not
united in a common voice and strategy to force the regime to give
in.
Several senior Thai officials and Western Burma watchers shared the
same assessment of Burma's latest situation. According to them, the
country is on the verge of crisis and another major popular revolt
might be in the making.
One noted that a trigger factor could be the food crisis. The SPDC's
current agricultural policy, in which farmers are taxed on the basis
of their acreage and not their harvests, constitutes bad government
policy and incompetent management.
"Things have to change in Burma, but the only thing that could effect
significant change in Burma is food production - a severe rice
shortage, especially in the cities," said the observer.
Several international economists and political activists are warning
of a potential food crisis in Burma as a result of bad government
policies, mismanagement and the SPDC's severe political repression.
The popular uprising of 1988 was partly the result of the country's
worsening economy, and the people's loss of patience with the
regime's poor policies and mishandling of the country's resources.
Radical Burmese and ethnic groups such as God's Army and the militant
Vigorous Burmese Student Warriors, which seized a Thai hospital in
January until all the captors were killed by Thai forces, have in
recent years become disillusioned with peaceful struggle. They vow to
use whatever force is available to end the regime and its brutality.
With popular discontent surging, the possibility of a confrontation
is also growing as the regime has not yet shown any sign of
compromise.
"The regime is hanging on the back of a tiger," noted one
observer. "They are worried that if they loosen up, they will lose
their grip and have no way to go." At the same time, "people power
works only when the government is not prepared to be ruthless, but
this Burmese regime is different," he added. "It is prepared to use
total force."
BY YINDEE LERTCHAROENCHOK
____________________________________________________
MIZZIMA: BURMESE SOLDIER DIED IN MOB'S ATTACK FOR MOLESTING A GIRL IN
WESTERN BURMA
Dhaka, May 29, 2000
Mizzima News Group
One soldier died and three injured in a mob attack in Sittwe, capital
of Arakan State of Burma last week. On 22nd this month, about 30
people from Ohntapin Quarter in Sittwe town surrounded and attacked
four Burmese soldiers who physically molested a girl of the same
colony. Around 10:00 p.m. on that day, the four soldiers from Burma
Army (Infantry Battalion No. 20) molested the girl, a resident of
House No. 2.
Alarmed and outraged, people from the same colony surrounded the
house and attacked the soldiers. As a result, one soldier died and
the other three got injured but escaped.
At 12:00 o'clock the same night, about 40 soldiers arrived the colony
and arrested one person from each house in the colony. More than 100
residents were tortured and interrogated by the soldiers to reveal
the names of attackers.
__________________ INTERNATIONAL __________________
BURMANET: VISA BAN
The full list of regime members and those associated with the regime
who are subject to the European Union's visa ban are appended to this
issue of BurmaNet (See EUROPEAN UNION: LIST OF PERSONS TO WHOM EU
VISA BAN APPLIES, AND WHOSE FUNDS HELD IN THE EU WILL BE FROZEN)
The Regulation banning them is published in the EU Official Journal
on 24 May. The visa ban clearly applies to the family members of
those banned ( see Article 1 (b) (i) of the Common Position). While
family members are not identified by name, EU Visa Officers are
authorised to refuse them and are under instructions to check every
case where it seems likely that the application may be from the
family of a banned person.
The assets freeze also applies to the family members of banned
persons. Enforcement of this provision is likely to be fairly
effective because financial institutions have little inclination to
flout EU law on behalf of the regime.
____________________________________________________
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH(LONDON): TRAVEL: BURMA GUIDE BLACKLISTED
May 27, 2000, Saturday
By Paul Miles and Rosemary Behan
A charity that promotes sustainable tourism is calling for the public
to boycott the publisher Lonely Planet because it has issued a new
guide to Burma.
Tourism Concern says that visits by foreigners to Burma lead directly
to human rights abuses. Local people are forced to labour on tourism
projects and resettled to make way for them, and revenue from hotels
goes directly to the pockets of the country's military dictators, it
argues.
As well as dumping hundreds of Lonely Planet guides on the company's
doorstep, the charity has
produced a postcard depicting a beach scene with the word Burma
across it, reading: "The cost of a holiday to Burma could be
someone's life." It says it will send "thousands" of the cards to
Lonely Planet "until the Burma guide is withdrawn".
Lara Marsh, a spokeswoman for the London-based charity,
said: "Lonely Planet hopes that its new Burma guide will double
previous sales figures. This means more people will visit Burma -
providing further fuel for abuses of Burma's people." Tourism Concern
is organising the campaign in conjunction with a pro-democracy
pressure group called The Burma Campaign UK.
Lonely Planet, which has been publishing guides to Burma since 1979,
and sells 12,000 copies a year worldwide, acknowledges that human
rights abuses are committed under the military dictatorship, which
seized power in 1988. "We are extremely clear about human rights
atrocities and we say that if you do go and stay in big hotels [in
Burma] then people are supporting an oppressive regime," Jennifer
Cox, a spokeswoman, said. "We know people will go to Burma whether we
produce a guidebook or not."
Ms Cox said she hoped the campaign would highlight the government
atrocities in Burma. "We're giving people as much information as we
can and that's the responsible thing to do. There are human rights
abuses in many countries across the world, but we don't stop them by
stopping people going there." She added that Lonely Planet last week
donated pounds 4,600 to the Burma Relief Centre, which supports
refugees on the Burmese border.
Tour operators maintain that some of the money brought by tourists to
Burma does reach local people and that a boycott would be counter-
productive. A spokesman for Andrew Brock Travel, which has been
taking tourists to Burma for 18 years, said: "If we care about
forced labour we should also care about forced unemployment."
Sue Ockwell, spokeswoman for the Association of Independent Tour
Operators, said Tourism Concern had adopted "a totalitarian
approach".
____________________________________________________
BBC: BURMESE FORCED LABOUR CONDEMNED.
May 28, 2000
The Burmese Government said the West was interfering.
By Clare Doole in Geneva
Burma's widespread use of forced labour has come under unprecedented
criticism from the United Nations. More than 80,000 people in Burma
are press-ganged into work by the military authorities, according to
estimates by the International Labour Organisation (ILO), which is
part of the UN.
The organisation has lost patience with Burma. For several years it
has called on Rangoon to stop violating workers' rights, but without
success. The ILO's governing body on Tuesday called for all
necessary action against Burma.
US and European Union representatives said Rangoon had wilfully
ignored and shown its utter contempt for human rights standards.
Most of the Burmese, they said, were exploited by the military
authorities, who conscripted hundreds of thousands of them to work
with little or no pay as porters or building labourers. Burma's
spokesman said the allegations were unfounded and deplored Western
interference in its internal affairs.
International pressure
It is now up to the ILO annual conference in June to decide what
measures to take.
These could include recommendations to governments, unions,
employers' associations and international organisations to review
their relations with Burma. If agreed, this would increase Burma's
international isolation. The ILO feels it has already done as much
as it can to persuade Rangoon to comply with its rules. It has barred
Burma from all its activities and stopped financial aid. This
latest move amounts to a final attempt to put international pressure
on the country to come into line with global labour standards.
____________________________________________________
REUTERS: TOTALFINAELF UNDER ATTACK ON OIL SPILL, MYANMAR
FRANCE: May 26, 2000
PARIS - The head of TotalFinaElf faced a two-hour barrage of
criticism on Thursday for the Belgo-French oil giant's handling of an
oil spill off France's Atlantic coast and its investments in Myanmar,
formerly Burma.
Total Chief Executive Thierry Desmarest was accused by participants
at the company's annual shareholders' meeting, including two Belgian
members of parliament, of indirectly supporting the military junta in
Myanmar through its oil investments in the country.
And shareholders from organisations trying to tackle the
environmental and economic damage caused by the oil spill from the
shipwrecked tanker Erika accused Total of not assuming sufficient
responsibility for the impact on the Atlantic coast, which is highly
dependent on tourism and fishing.
Asked how he responded to a call by Myanmar opposition leader Aung
San Suu Kyi for Total to leave Myanmar, condemned by the West for
human rights abuses, Desmarest said the oil company did not want to
interfere in the country's internal politics and had no intention of
pulling
out of a region where it had made significant investments.
Turning to Erika, Desmarest said Total was not legally responsible
for repairing the damages caused by the oil spill, which six months
after the shipwreck, continues to sully hundreds of kilometres of
once pristine beaches.
He said Total, which made a net profit of $3 billion last year,
had raised its contribution to the clean-up effort to 850 million
French francs ($116.5 million) from 750 million, after the companies
contracted to pump out the 12,000-15,000 tonnes of heavy fuel still
in the Erika's hull upped their costs.
He said Total still did not have enough information to judge if
there was a serious risk of more pollution from numerous pockets of
oil which local activists said were floating two kilometres from the
coast.
The Total CEO was supported by an increasingly large and vociferous
group of minority shareholders, who tried to drown out questions
about Myanmar and Erika. "We don't give a damn, we're shareholders,"
shouted one repeatedly.
Whether Total has a legal responsibility to compensate victims of
the oil spill has yet to be determined. The company repeated
earlier this week it would send a court official to analyse samples
of the fuel in the ship's hull.
Total says Erika was carrying "No. 2 fuel", a by-product from
refining which can be used to fire power stations. Environmentalists
allege the stricken Maltese-registered vessel was carrying industrial
waste, which is illegal.
Story by Gillian Handyside
_________________OPINION/EDITORIALS________________
BURMA CONCERN UK/TOURISM CONCERN: WHY TO BOYCOTT LONELY PLANET
Friday 26 May
On Friday 26 May The Burma Campaign UK (TBC) and Tourism Concern
(TC) will launch a new arm of their existing campaign opposing
tourism to Burma. The campaign groups are calling for a boycott of
all Lonely Planet publications (LP) until the company withdraws its
Burma guide from the market (new edition Jan 2000). TBC and TC
representatives, and members of the Burmese community will mark the
launch by dumping hundreds of unwanted LP guides on the company's
doorstep.
There are remarkably few areas in the world where human rights are
fully respected. There are also few occasions when the nature of the
suppression of human rights is such that the exclusion of tourists
from the country is justified. However Burma provides a rare but
clear example:
The development of tourism in Burma is directly linked to well
documented mass human rights abuses. There are approximately eight
million men, women and children as young as eight years old in forced
labour each year in Burma. The United Nation's International Labour
Organisation (ILO) reports that "the military treat the civilian
population as an unlimited pool of forced labourers and servants at
their disposal. The practice of forced labour is to encourage private
investment in infrastructure development, public sector works and
tourism projects"
Income generated through tourism helps to sustain one of the most
brutal military regimes in the world. On the other hand tourism
benefits only a tiny percentage of Burma's 48 million people; eighty
percent live in rural areas and their primary means of income is
agriculture.
Burma's elected leaders - the only authority with a mandate to speak
for the people - have pleaded for all tourists and the tourism
industry to avoid Burma whilst it remains a dictatorship.
Why boycott Lonely Planet?
For the reasons outlined above LP's promotion of tourism to Burma
is entirely inappropriate at this time. This view is compounded by
the ill-informed account of the ethical debate concerning tourism to
Burma contained within the new edition of the guide, and the decision
to play down the severity of continuing human rights abuses in the
country: For example:
LP makes the claim that forced labour in Burma "appears to be on
the wane" (page 27). A 1998 United States Department of Labor report
states that: "the absence of the rule of law in Burma also means
international labor standards are not protectedèThe Burmese people
are subjected to forced labor and child labor appears to be
increasing. We collected and reviewed a great deal of information
from a wide and diverse range of sources but I believe the
government's refusal of access speaks volumes in itself." The United
Nation's International Labour Organisation (ILO) who have accused
Burma of a "crime against humanity" for their widespread and
systematic use of forced labour, also have no evidence in their
September 1999 report of any such wane in the practice of this abuse.
Lonely Planet has a clear responsibility to provide the most current
sources to back-up their claims.
LP refers to Aung San Suu Kyi, Burma's pro-democracy leader
inaccurately as the former, rather than the current General Secretary
of the party that won the 1990 democratic elections, the National
League for Democracy (NLD) (page 2).
LP's claim that there are divisions between the NLD and the Burmese
Government in exile (the National Coalition Government of the Union
of Burma) over tourism (page 2) is founded on inadequate research.
The NLD and the NCGUB are categorically opposed to any form of
tourism, including independent travel, to Burma at the current time.
There is no difference of opinion on this matter.
The boycott
All publishers who produce Burma guides have received written
requests from TBC and TC to withdraw their guides from the market.
The campaign groups hope LP, as the market leader, will provide an
example to the others by taking action to withdraw their guide.
Through a boycott of all LP publications - with the aim of negating
expected income from sales of the company's Burma guide in the UK -
TBC and TC aim to encourage the company to take this action.
Aung San Suu Kyi speaking in January 1999 said: "Guide book writers
should listen to their consciences and be honest about their
motivations. Profit is clearly their agenda. It's not good enough to
suggest that by visiting Burma tourists will understand more. If
tourists really wanted to find out what's happening in Burma - it's
better if they stay at home and read some of the many human rights
reports there are."
Rough Guides publications recently issued a statement explaining
its own decision not to produce a guide to Burma in the current
climate. This states, in part: "As long as the military regime
remains in power and Aung San Suu Kyi - leader of the democratically
elected National League for Democracy - requests that tourists do not
visit, Rough Guides will not publish a guide to the country."
Yvette Mahon, a Director of The Burma Campaign said: "Because of
the scale of human rights abuses linked to tourism and the financial
benefit to the regime, the high cost of tourism for the vast majority
of ordinary Burmese, dramatically outweighs any benefits. The price
of a holiday in Burma could literally be someone else's life. Lonely
Planet has clearly stated that "it is essential to respect the wishes
of the genuine representatives of the people of Myanmar". If they
stand by that statement then they must withdraw their Burma guide
immediately."
Patricia Barnett, Director of Tourism Concern said: "Whether we
like it or not there are often ethical decisions to be made when we
think about going travelling. They may not be comfortable but by
turning a blind eye we can enable human rights abuses to be
perpetuated. Whether we intend to go to Burma or not, we can all play
a part in supporting those who campaign for justice in that country,
by rejecting Lonely Planet's promotion of tourism to Burma through
boycotting their books."
For further information contact:
Yvette Mahon or John Jackson, The Burma Campaign UK: 020 7281 7377
(w) or 07957 301 346(m) Patricia Barnett, Tourism Concern: 020
7753 3330(w) or 020 7272 1749 (h)
____________________________________________________
_____________________ OTHER ______________________
ASIAWEEK: WHAT TO DO ABOUT MYANMAR -- NUKE 'EM
>From Our Correspondent: What to Do About Myanmar -- Nuke 'Em
It's the Only Language them Burmese Understand
By ROGER MITTON
Asiaweek - May 26, 2000
See, this guy, Bill, he invites me over to his place. I mean, like, I
don't really like the guy, especially since he became mayor -- tall,
red-nosed shyster who thinks he's the neighborhood's savior, though
you'd never trust him with your daughter let alone your wife. But,
you know, he's in the Westside Club too and, well, we gotta stick
together and support each other even when some of us act pretty high-
handed and, well, you know, plain dumb -- which is way too often,
especially since we got infiltrated with all these out-of-towners
with their weird notions about gun control, vegetarianism and do-unto-
others-as-you-would-be-done-unto malarky. Anyways, Bill was throwing
a real red-meat barbeque on the back lawn so I figured I'd mosy over,
have a coupla beers, a few pork chops, some franks, and maybe we'd
finish off our chinwag about the efficacy of Hegel's 'Inconsistency
Principle' in modern politics. That always gets the holier-than-thou
bozos going and separates the men with cojones from the hot-air
wafflers.
Anyways, since I know the way these Westside clubbers eat -- like
obesity is beautiful and moderation is for wimps -- I made sure I got
over there real early. Bill pulls me a cold Budweiser, tosses me some
pretzels, and then goes off to bake up a mess of potatoes. I ambled
out back to check on the brazier and just, you know, relax till the
gang rolls in. Now, okay, so Bill's place is in this pretty
spooky 'hood which he promised to clean up in his election campaign --
I mean, there's no freeway access, the street lights are all out,
you never see no cops walking around, and the people dress like
they've never heard of of Nikko or Tommy Hilfiger or Rayban; but even
so, and making allowances, I was just gobsmacked by what I saw and
heard out there.
First off, over Bill's left-side fence, I hear this, like, repetitive
muttering, moaning sound. I went and peeked over the fence and almost
dropped my Bud. There was this young girl, very skinny, foreign-
looking, you know, oriental sorta face, walking aimlessly round and
round the backyard, muttering to herself. But, get this, she was,
like, shackled -- I mean, like there was a rope that came out from
under the back door and was tied to one of her ankles. She only had
that small backyard to move around in. Heck, it was just plain
pitiful. She was muttering away to herself like she was in some kinda
dream and she didn't even seem to notice or hear me when I called out
to her. I was figuring what to do to help her when I suddenly jumped
on hearing this awful shriek from way back over the back fence.
Jeez, it cut right through me. I ran across the lawn to have a decko
and this time I was so goddam shocked I spilt my beer down my pants.
I mean, it was, like, unbelievable, there was this young boy who was
tied to a stake, but like he had no room to move. He was a black kid,
from Africa or Asia maybe, and the kid was half-naked and he had
these bruises on him. More like welts really. My God, it would break
your heart. Heck, I was right on the verge of leaping over that
goddam fence and setting him free there and then when suddenly I hear
these thwack-thwack-like noises coming from behind my right shoulder,
from over the fence on the other side of Bill's back lawn -- which, I
have to say, he keeps very nicely mown with a perfectly manicured
border. He's like that, real home-and-garden proud is Bill, I'll say
that for him. Anyways, I dash over and there's these three kids in
this, like, cage. Yeh, I mean, like they were animals in a zoo or
something. And this fella, their father I assume, he was just going
back into the house -- carrying a whip! No, like I mean it. I'm not
lying. He'd been whipping these young kids who were kept in this
cage. I mean, they were crying and there was these bruises all over
them. I was just beside myself with rage. I mean, it was like I'd
stepped into some kinda nightmare or maybe one of those Stephen King
horror movies -- 'cept this was real.
Just then I hear Bill come out and he says to me in this real casual
way: "Sonny boy, how's it going? 'Nuther Bud? Hey, you look kinda
spooked, what's up?" Spooked? That ain't the word, I says. It's just
unbelievable, incredible -- horrible. And I tell him what's going on
over his fences on all sides. He listens kinda nonchalantly until I
get to tell him about the girl with the rope tied to her ankle. She
was really the one who looked less serious, but when he hears this,
Bill just goes completely bonkers. I mean, like a gun has gone off in
his pants or something. "Is that goddam Burmese bastard tying her up
again?" He rises up and that big schnozzola starts twitching like it
done during the campaign when the other guy accused him of being soft
on the mafia and them other neighborhood Godfathers. "That's it, when
Rob and the resta the guys get here we'll go round there to Chez
Myanmar -- that's what he calls his place -- and kick ass. We'll
really wop the guy this time. I mean, we've already kicked him and
the resta those Burmese round here outta the club. He can't go to the
supermarket, he even can't use his car after what we done. But he
just never learns. Jeez, I hate that guy. What he's doing, that's the
most brutal thing I've ever seen. It's a threat to the security of
the country -- no, to the whole goddam universe."
Well, a bit over the top, but still I was happy to hear this. And I
hoped Bill was going to insist that we mete out the same punishment
(or even worse) to those other brutes who were actually mistreating --
torturing, in fact -- their kids even more. I told him this and I
urged him to call the police right now and not wait for the other
guys to get here. Then he could tell the cops about his other
neighbors who was also abusing their kids and we could get them all
locked up and maybe treated to the same kind of music -- I'd
certainly volunteer to do that. But then I was taken aback, to put it
mildly by Bill's reaction. "Ah, never mind them," he says. "Over the
back fence there, there's a very nice Chinese couple -- they do a
great dim- sum on Sundays. And anyway, we don't want to beat up on
them, it only makes 'em worse. Besides, I do a lot of business with
them, you know, they are the council's single biggest customer, so,
you know. Gotta be careful of our own turf, eh? Now lemme fix you a
beer before I get the baseball bats to deal with that Burmese runt."
Hey, like this really upset me, being so kind and chummy to the
Chinese over the back who was beating up on their folk, and anyways,
what about the guys over the other fence what had their kids in a
cage and was beating up on them with a whip? What about that, eh,
Bill? Again, Bill shocked me when I pressed him about this. "Nah," he
says. "Just ignore them. They're a funny lot that couple over there.
He's Vietnamese, she's from Laos. That caging and whippin' and like,
that's just how they behave, it's like natural for them. Fact, is I
kinda like them now. We had problems before and I tried arguing with
them, but it don't work. Best thing is to be real nice to them. In
fact, we should invite them over to join in the barbecue, they're not
so well off so we can let them have some of the leftover franks and
potatoes, share with them. Then maybe we can sorta slip in a few
words telling them that maybe they shouldn't be beating up on their
kinfolk so badly. Just very carefully so we don't upset their
feelings."
Hang on, I says, you're going to beat up on the Burmese guy -- and
quite right too, what he's doing is totally despicable; but you're
gonna do nothing about the Chinese, Lao and Vietnamese thugs, even
though, if anything, they're doing worse things? I don't get it. I
mean, you even want to invite them over and be real chummy with them?
What is this? That's when Bill -- and his lady friend Maddy, who
finally surfaced then and waddled out, they really set me right about
all this and for that I have to be real grateful. They explained to
me how these Chinese guys, like, they have a lot of problems with
maintaining harmony in their household. I mean, for starters they're
a Godless bunch, so that doesn't help the situation. And, so, well,
natch, they need to be, like, ruthless, if not totally brutal, in
chastising their kinfolk and their kids to stop them getting outta
line.
If they didn't, Bill explained, their entire household might break
up, there'd be social disorder in the 'hood and we'd all suffer --
the business first off, and let's not downplay that, that's what
keeps us in Buds and ribeyes. And as they explained, if you try to,
like, act tough with these guys and suggest that maybe allowing a bit
of freedom might actually foster better tranquillity and family
relations they just go wild. I mean, you just can't reason with them.
They, like, accuse you of interfering and tell you to just butt out,
and all round it just makes them get tougher on their kids so it's
plain self-defeating. Much better to engage these folk, do business
with them, invite them over, and go round to their place and party
with them. They like that. You just have to turn a blind eye to the
black sheep of the family who are caged up in the corner and have had
most of their teeth kicked out. In fact, Maddy fetched me some fliers
she'd got from the municipality showing that this was the right way
to go. These leaflets that have been very carefully thought out by
experts that Maddy knows, they all say that in dealing with any
brutes who beat up on their family that the best treatment is
engagement. Even the prez, no less, says of these kinds of
people: "We think it makes more sense to engage with them rather than
ignore them." Right on. Apparently he even said this about them North
Korean serial killers who was terrorizing the bay area and firing
rockets for God's sake. So that's what we have to do with the
Chinese. It's the right way to go.
Likewise those weird Indochinese folk over the other fence, they have
these smart-alecky kids who seem to think they don't have to obey
their parents. I mean, can you imagine? The parents've got some
friends from the same street who try to help them teach their young
kids about filial piety but that approach hasn't worked. Their kids
still act rambunctious and want to be free to speak their own minds.
So they've got no choice but to smack them down, put 'em outside in
the cold in a cage and just give them a bit of bread and a good
thwack with a billy stick now and again or maybe drag 'em around by
the hair once in a while. Bill explained that this was fine and
dandy 'cos if, like, they grew up to be students who wanted to speak
out and, you know, like even criticize their parents, what the heck
would happen then? They might even get the idea of taking over
running the house themselves and kicking their folks out. They might
want to start putting posters up saying life is better that way. They
might stop doing business with us, for God's sake. It was just
unimaginable what they might get up to. As well, said Bill, all those
neighbors were pretty buddy buddy -- and very touchy about criticism,
especially from guys like us. So they might gang up together and then
what, eh? So all told it was best just to humor them, build up
business with them, keep inviting them over for a supper now and
again, feel happy to go over there to chew the fat and check out
their lovely souvenirs from home. I mean, there's a limit to what
anyone can do. And he's right.
But that doesn't mean Bill isn't really really peeved about that damn
Burmese brute over the other side. I mean, that's something
different. That's an exception. And at some point you gotta make a
stand to show, you know, you're a real ethical kinda guy who believes
in standing up for what's right. That's why we're going to show this
town just where our social responsibility lays and get some real
tough action taken against that guy, that disgrace to humanity. I
mean, does he think we're going to be chummy chummy with him like we
are with the other guys who are behaving just as badly? I mean, just
cos he's Burmese he thinks we are gonna treat him like we do the
Chinese and them other intolerant thugs? No way, Josh We has to be
consistent. It's only ethical. Like, two wrongs don't make a right
and we only have time to focus on one at a time. That's why we have
to be totally chummy with these Chinese, Vietnamese, North Koreans
and them others, the Bruneians, Laotians and so on. It's only right.
But those Burmese, yeh, Bill's right, string 'em up, it's the only
language they understand. Better yet, if they really are a threat to
our national security as the prez says, then I says: let's nuke 'em.
Yeh, that'll really show 'em. Let's nuke 'em into the ice-age. "Hey,
Bill, gimme another Bud, willya. I'm feelin' better already."
____________________________________________________
EUROPEAN UNION: LIST OF PERSONS TO WHOM EU VISA BAN APPLIES, AND
WHOSE FUNDS HELD IN THE EU WILL BE FROZEN
Published by EU 24 May, 2000
1. State Peace and Development Council (SPDC):
Commander-in-Chief Gen. Than Shwe Chairman, also Prime Minister
and Minister of
Defense
Lt.gen. Maung Aye Vice-chairman
Lt.gen. Khin Nyunt Secretary 1
Lt.gen. Tin Oo Secretary 2
Lt.gen. Win Myint Secretary 3
Rear Admiral Nyunt Thein Commander-in-Chief of
the Navy
Brig.gen. Kyaw Than Commander-in-Chief of
the Air Force
Maj.gen. Aung Htwe Commander of Western
Military Command
Maj.gen. Ye Myint Commander of Central
Military Command
Maj.gen. Khin Maung Than Commander of Yangon
Military Command
Maj.gen. Kyaw Win Commander of Northern
Military Command
Maj.gen. Thein Sein Commander of Triangle
Area Military Command
Gen.maj. Thura Thiha Sit Maung Commander of Coastal Area
Military Command
Brig.gen. Thura Shwe Mann Commander of
Southwest Military Command
Brig.gen. Myint Aung Commander of Southeast
Military Command
Brig.gen. Maung Bo Commander of Eastern
Military Command
Brig.gen. Thiha Thura Tin Aung Myint Oo Commander of Northeast
Military Command
Brig.gen. Soe Win Commander of
Northwest Military Command Brig.gen. Tin Aye
Commander of Southern Military Command
2. Former members of SLORC (Advisory Group):
Lt.gen. Phone Myint
Lt.gen Aung Ye Kyaw
Lt.gen. Sein Aung
Lt.gen. Chit Swe
Lt.gen. Mya Thin
Lt.gen. Kyaw Ba
Lt.gen. Tun Kyi
Lt.gen. Myo Nyunt
Lt.gen. Maung Thint
Lt.gen. Aye Thoung
Lt.gen Kyaw Min
Lt.gen. Maung Hla
Maj.gen. Soe Myint
Lt.gen. Myint Aung
3. Deputy Regional Commanders:
Brig.gen. Aung Thein (West)
Col. Nay Win (Centre)
Col. Hsan Hsint (Rangoon)
Col. Myint Swe (Triangle)
Brig.gen. Tin Latt (Coast)
Col. Tint Swe (Southwest)
Brig.gen. Aung Thein (Southeast)
Brig.gen. Myint Thein (East)
Brig.gen. San Thein (Northeast)
Brig.gen. Soe Myint (Northwest)
Brig.gen. Thura Maung Nyi (South)
4. Other Commanders States and Divisions:
Col. Thein Kyaing Magwe Division
Col. Aung Thwin Chin State
Col. Saw Khin Soe Karen State
Col. Kyaw Win Kayah State
5. Former high-ranking members of the military:
Col. Thein Lwin Former Regional
Commander
Col. Aye Myint Kyu Former Deputy
Regional Commander
Brig.gen Pyay Sone Former Regional
Commander
6. Ministers:
Rear Adm. Maung Maung Khin Deputy Prime Minister
Lt.gen. Tin Tun Deputy Prime Minister
Lt.gen. Tin Hla Deputy Prime Minister and
Minister of Military Affairs
Gen.maj. Nyunt Tin Minister of
Agriculture and Irrigation
U Aung Thaung Minister of Industry 1
Gen.maj. Hla Myint Swe Minister of Transport
U Win Aung Minister of Foreign
Affairs
U Soe Tha Minister of National
Planning and Economic
Development
Vice.adm. Tin Aye Minister of Labour
U Aung San Minister of
Cooperatives
U Pan Aung Minister of Rail
Transportation
Brig.gen. Lun Thi Minister of Energy
U Than Aung Minister of Education
Gen.maj. Ket Sein Minister of Health
Brig.gen. Pyi Zon (Sone) Minister of Trade
Gen.maj. Saw Lwin Minister of Hotels
and Tourism
Brig.gen. Win Tin Minister of
Communications, Post and Telecommunications
U Khin Maung Thein Minister of Finance
and Revenue
U Aung Khin Minister of Religious
Affairs
Gen.maj. Saw Tun Minister of
U Thaung Minister of Science
and Technology
U Win Sein Minister of Culture
U Saw Tun Minister of
Immigration and Population
Gen.maj. Kyi Aung Minister of
Information
Col. Thein Nyunt Minister of Progress
of Border Areas and National Races and Development Affairs
Gen.maj. Tin Htut Minister of Electric
Power
Brig.gen. Thura Aye Myint Minister of Sport
U Aung Phone Minister of Forestry
Col. Tin Hlaing Minister of Home Affairs
Brig.gen. Ohn Myint Minister of Mines
Gen.maj. Sein Htwa Minister of Social
Welfare, Relief and Resettlement
Brig.gen. Maung Maung Thein Minister of Livestock
Breeding and Fisheries
Lt.gen. Min Thein Minister in Office of
Chairman of SPDC
Brig.gen. Lun Maung Minister in Office of
Prime Minister
Gen.maj. Tin Ngwe Minister in Office of
Prime Minister
Brig.gen. David Abel Minister in Office of
Chairman of SPDC
Gen.maj. Saw Lwin Minister of Industry
2
7. Officials at Ministry of Hotels and Tourism:
Brig.gen. Aye Myint Kyu Deputy Minister of Hotels and
Tourism
U Aung (Ohn) Myint Ministry of Hotels
and Tourism
Lt.col. Khin Maung Latt Dir.gen., Ministry of Hotels
and Tourism
U Naing Bwa Deputy Dir.gen.
Ministry of Hotels and Tourism
8. Other high-ranking officials of Ministry of Defense:
Com. Kyi Min Navy Chief
Brig.gen. Myint Swe Air Force Chief
Maj.gen. Thein Soe
Brig.gen. Thein Soe
Brig.gen. Lun Maung
Brig.gen. Khin Aung Myint
Brig.gen. Win Hlaing
Col. Than Htay
Brig.gen. Khi Win
Brig.gen. Aung Myint
Brig.gen. Chit Than
Brig.gen. Khin Maung Win
Col. Saw Hla
Brig.gen. Aung Kyi
Brig.gen. Maung Nyo
Brig.gen. Kyaw Win
Col. Khin Maug Sann
9. Members of Directorate of Defense Services Intelligence (DDSI):
Brig.gen. Kyaw Win Deputy Director
Lt.col. Sann Pwint
Lt.col. Maung Than
Lt.col. Tin Hla
Lt.col. Nyan Lin
Lt.col. Myint Aung Kyaw
Lt.col. Ko Ko Maung
Maj. Myo Lwin
Com. Ngwe Tun
Maj. Myo Khine
Capt. Soe Than
Lt.Aung Kyaw
Capt. Moe Kyaw
10. Office of Strategic Studies (OSS):
Col. Thein Swe
Col. Kyaw Thein
Col. San Maung
Col. Than Tun
Col. Than Aye
Lt.col. Tin Oo
Lt.col. Hla Min
Lt.col. Si Thu
Lt.col. Than Aung
Lt.col. Min Lwin
11. Former members of Government:
Lt.gen. Thein Win Former Minister of Transport
Brig.gen. Myo Thant Former Minister of Office of Prime
Minister
U Kyin Maung Yin Former Minister of Office Deputy
Prime
Minister U Ohn Gyaw Former Minister of Foreign Affairs
Maj.gen. Kyaw Than Former Minister of Trade
Brig.gen. Sein Win Former Minister of Sport
U Than Shwe Former Minister of Office of Prime
Minister
Brig.gen. Maung Maung Former Minister of Office of Chairman SPDC
________________
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