BurmaNet News: July 23, 2001

[strider@xxxxxxxxxxx]

______________ THE BURMANET NEWS ______________
        An on-line newspaper covering Burma 
           July 23, 2001   Issue # 1849
______________ www.burmanet.org _______________


NOTED IN PASSING:  ?...the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, which is 
employing the  persons who want to slander others to get money for a 
living without knowing  their weakness, should be called ... ?All 
Bullshit  Corporation?? 

See The New Light of Myanmar (SPDC): The one-sided harmonious slander of 
ABC (Part II) 

INSIDE BURMA _______
*Reuters: Myanmar says landmark talks with Suu Kyi on track
*Bangkok Post: Suu Kyi rains on Rangoon's parade 
*The Australian: Hit-and-run scapegoats in Burma
*Time: Step By Step- The release of political prisoners by Burma's 
military government is a good  sign -- but more are needed 
*Burma Courier: Junta Swaps One Woman Political Prisoner for Another

MONEY _______
*Burma Courier: Agriculture Sector Hit by Sky-high Oil and Gas Prices

GUNS______
*Burma Courier: IB 66 Column Murdered Parents, Children of 4 and 6 Years

DRUGS______


REGIONAL/INTERNATIONAL _______
*AFP: ASEAN to hail "encouraging developments" in Myanmar
*AP: Watchdog protests Myanmar blacklisting of two foreign journalists 
*Mizzima: Mizoram wants border with Burma to be fenced 
*Mizzima: Indian human rights activists not allowed to meet Burma 
detainees in Port Blair 

EDITORIALS/OPINION/PROPAGANDA________
*New Light of Myanmar (SPDC): The one-sided harmonious slander of ABC 
(Part II) 

OTHER______
*Karen Human Rights Group: Position Available



					
__________________ INSIDE BURMA ____________________



Reuters: Myanmar says landmark talks with Suu Kyi on track

Sunday July 22, 10:34 PM

 
HANOI (Reuters) - Myanmar's military government said on Sunday landmark 
peace talks with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi were on track, 
brushing aside concerns that her snub of a ceremony last week was a sign 
the dialogue was in trouble.  
"It has not stalled," Myanmar Foreign Minister Win Aung told reporters 
on arrival in Hanoi for a regional meeting.  
"It is progressing and on track." 

The military government has been holding secret meetings with the 
detained Nobel Peace prize winner since October, a development widely 
welcomed by the international community.  

Since the talks began the ruling generals have extended several olive 
branches to Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD), which won the 
country's last elections in 1990 by a landslide but has never been 
allowed to govern.  

More than 150 NLD detainees have been released and the party has been 
allowed to reopen 18 of its branch offices. Attacks on the party in 
Myanmar's state-controlled press have also ceased.  

But no news on the progress of the talks has emerged -- the government 
says the content of the dialogue is confidential, and Suu Kyi has been 
kept confined to her Yangon residence since September, with only a 
handful of diplomats allowed to see her.  

Last week, the 56-year-old Suu Kyi declined to attend a national 
ceremony marking the 1947 assassination by political opponents of her 
father, independence hero Aung San, and eight other cabinet ministers. 
They were gunned down during Myanmar's transition to independence from 
Britain, when Suu Kyi was just two years old.  

Despite her rift with the ruling generals, Suu Kyi had always attended 
the Martyrs' day ceremony in recent years, and her failure to show up 
this year was widely interpreted as a signal that the talks with the 
government had hit problems.  

Earlier this year, foreign diplomats in Yangon said the talks appeared 
to have hit an impasse, but subsequent prisoner releases and a visit by 
United Nations special envoy Razali Ismail, who helped broker the 
dialogue, stirred hopes the negotiations were still on track.  

Last week the government said it was surprised by Suu Kyi's decision to 
stay away from the ceremony, and that the country regretted her absence. 

 
Foreign ministers from the Association of South East Asian Nations 
(ASEAN) arrived in Hanoi on Sunday for a week of meetings that will also 
include key regional players China, Japan and South Korea and ASEAN's 
dialogue partners in the 23-member ASEAN Regional Forum, Asia's main 
security grouping.  

Win Aung said he would brief his counterparts about developments in 
Myanmar.  
"Let's hope for the best," he said.



___________________________________________________



Bangkok Post: Suu Kyi rains on Rangoon's parade 

 July 22, 2001.

Ducks ceremony in sign of displeasure
Supamart Kasem 

Aung San Suu Kyi's absence from a ceremony to mark the assassination of 
her father and other leaders was a political statement showing her 
unhappiness with the Burmese military junta, said a pro-democracy 
leader. 

"The fact that she didn't attend is a signal that she isn't happy with 
the junta, whose attempts such as the release of political prisoners are 
merely to create a favourable image and make them eligible for financial 
aid," said Maung Maung Aye, a senior member of the National Coalition 
Government of the Union of Burma. 

The NCGUB is an anti-junta coalition based at the Thai-Burmese border. 

The Martyrs' Day ceremony at the Shwedagon Pagoda was lacklustre this 
year and even senior figures from the military junta-the State Peace and 
Development Council (SPDC)-failed to attend. 

The Burmese democracy leader has been held under house arrest since last 
September, before opening talks with the government on a possible 
national reconciliation dialogue. 

- Maung Maung Aye said if Rangoon had been sincere, it would have 
released some 1,500 political prisoners including Min Ko Naing, former 
chairman of All Burma Federal Students Union. 

The release of 51 people arrested last September had no merit because 
they should not have been held in the first place, said U Maung Maung 
Aye, speaking at the border area opposite Tak. 

The freed political prisoners were arrested last September as they were 
seeing off Mrs Suu Kyi as she left Rangoon to meet members of the 
National League for Democracy. 
- Maung Maung Aye said the military junta had yet to schedule a meeting 
with UN special representative, Razali Ismail, expected in Rangoon this 
month. 

The junta had not really pushed for talks with the NLD to put an end to 
the conflict, he said. 

Karen National Union president Pado U Ba Thin Sein backed talks between 
the State Peace and Development Council and the National League for 
Democracy. 
He said if the dialogue yielded fruit it might pave the way for 
three-party talks between SPDC, NLD and minority rebel groups. 

The Karen National Union held talks with the SPDC in 1996, which 
collapsed when Rangoon demanded they lay down arms. 

Meanwhile, a senior NLD official said Mrs Suu Kyi had decided on her own 
not to attend the ceremony. 

Diplomats in Rangoon said her absence meant there was not much progress 
in the talks between the NLD and SPDC. 

The military junta said it was a pity that Mrs Suu Kyi did not show up, 
as reconciliation looked promising. 




___________________________________________________




The Australian: Hit-and-run scapegoats in Burma


>From ERIC ELLIS in Singapore

23 July 2001

WHY take the rap when you kill someone if you can pay someone else to 
take it for you? 

That's the advice doled out to Singapore's businessmen operating in 
Asia's pariah nation, Burma, in a new business guide book recently 
published by a respected Singapore diplomat and trade adviser. 

The book, Burma In My Heart, by Matthew Sim, has been published by Times 
Publishing, a division of the Singapore government-connected Fraser and 
Neave group, a big Singapore beverage company with interests in Burma, 
or Myanmar, as it is known in the region. 

The book makes stunning reading, particularly as its audience is a 
country that famously attributes much of its success to being the Asian 
economy least tolerant of corruption. 

Singapore has strict laws governing corruption. One cabinet minister 
recently took his own life after being suspected of kickbacks, including 
corrupt practices, while abroad. 
The Sim book recommends effective methods of bribing Burmese government 
officials, money-laundering, procuring prostitutes and avoiding 
prosecution in fatal traffic accidents. 

The author was commercial secretary of Singapore's embassy in Rangoon 
from 1995 to 1997, where he helped make Singapore Burma's second biggest 
trading partner and investor. 

Before arriving in Rangoon, Australian-educated Mr Sim was a career 
officer at the Singapore Government's Trade Development Board with the 
task of overseeing the promotion of Singapore's exportable services and 
products to the world. 
He is now a lecturer in international business at a Singapore 
polytechnic. 
Under the chapter heading, Committing Manslaughter When Driving, Mr Sim 
asks what an international businessman does when he has accidentally 
killed a pedestrian, before describing two ways of avoiding prosecution 
if Burmese throw themselves in front of a car. 

Firstly, the international businessman could give the family of the 
deceased some money as compensation and dissuade them from pressing 
charges. 
Secondly, he could pay a Burmese citizen to take the blame by declaring 
that he was the driver in the fatal accident. 

An international businessman should not make the mistake of trying to 
argue his case in a court of law when it comes to a fatal accident, even 
if he is in the right. 

"He highly probable (sic) that he will spend time in jail regretting it. 
It is a sad and hard world. The facts of life can be ugly," it says. 

Described by one local reviewer as a critical step in this 
knowledge-based economy, Mr Sim's guide seems to open a window into 
Singapore's pragmatic corporate practices in Burma. 

In his book, Mr Sim also has a message for those battling Burma's 
notorious official corruption, which has helped make it Asia's most 
desperate country. 
His advice? Go along with it.

A little money goes a long way in greasing the wheels of productivity, 
he writes. 
And Mr Sim pulls no PC punches when it comes to prostitution. "I have 
always said that women have their cosmetics while men have their money," 
he writes. "With money, men who are old, fat and ugly can be 
instantaneously transformed into desirable creatures sought by young 
pretty women everywhere." 

He then goes into considerable detail on discreet methods of obtaining 
paid sex. 
Mr Sim also advises on effective ways of bribing. One important factor 
to keep in mind is that gifts (for VIPs) must be easily re-saleable for 
cash, and the amount should reflect their rank. 


___________________________________________________


__________________________________________________





Time: Step By Step- The release of political prisoners by Burma's 
military government is a good  sign -- but more are needed 

 Friday, July 20, 2001  



 BY ROBERT HORN 
 Thursday, July 19, 2001 
 By the time I got to Rangoon, Aye Win was in prison. "There have been 
some  arrests,'' he told me when I telephoned from Bangkok. "About 40.'' 
A few  hours later, Aye Win was Prisoner No. 41. They came for him at 1 
a.m. They  always come for you at night in Burma. 

 It was May 1996, and agents of the military government were combing the 
 country for members of the opposition National League for Democracy 
(NLD).  Summoned to a conference by their leader, Nobel Peace 
prizewinner Aung San  Suu Kyi, hundreds of NLD members, in their 
peach-colored jackets, were  heading for Rangoon. Within days, hundreds 
of them were in jail.   I flew to Rangoon with dozens of other 
journalists to cover the conference.  As the military brooks no 
opposition to its rule, we expected there would  be arrests. But I 
didn't expect Aye Win would be among them. A 60-year-old  accountant, he 
wasn't a member of the NLD. Bookish, bespectacled,  soft-spoken and 
gentle, he was Aung San Suu Kyi's secretary. That's why it  was Aye Win 
who answered the phone when I called Suu Kyi's home. He is also  her 
cousin. Furthermore, he is the son of one of the seven members of  
Burma's first Cabinet gunned down by a political rival on July 19, 1947. 
 The most revered of those seven martyrs is Suu Kyi's father, Aung San, 
the  country's independence hero. 
 Aye Win began serving as Suu Kyi's secretary after her release from six 
 years house arrest in 1995. He served because he asked her to. It was 
out  of family obligation. For his loyalty, he served five years in 
Insein  prison. He was never charged with a crime or received a trial. 
Two weeks  ago, he was finally released. 

 Aye Win was one of 51 political prisoners set free by the military  
government. Among them were Par Par Lay and U. Lu Zaw, two comedians 
known  as "The Mustache Brothers," jailed in 1996 for telling a joke 
about the  government during a party at Suu Kyi's home. On July 18, the 
military  released two more NLD members, San San Nwe, a woman journalist 
arrested in  1994 for giving an interview to a foreign reporter, and 
Aung Khin Sint, who  was elected in 1990 to the parliament the military 
refused to allow to  convene. 

 Burma's government should be praised for releasing these people. But 
none  of them should ever have been arrested in the first place. The 
time they  spent locked up under horrific conditions will always be a 
black mark  against this government. And still languishing in jail are 
people such as  Win Tin, a journalist and member of the NLD Central 
Executive Committee who  has been incarcerated since 1989, spending 
stretches of his imprisonment in  a tiny cell meant for guard dogs. And 
Win Htein, a former army officer who  served as an aide to both Suu Kyi 
and her party's vice chairman, Tin Oo.   Some Burma watchers have hailed 
the recent releases as a sign that talks  between Suu Kyi and the 
military are going well. Suu Kyi has been under  virtual house arrest 
since Sept. 22 when she tried to travel outside  Rangoon to meet party 
members. The talks, cloaked in secrecy, have been  ongoing since 
October. As both sides refuse to divulge details about them,  no one can 
say with any certainty whether or not they are bearing fruit or  going 
nowhere. 

 For the sake of Burma and its people, one can only hope they are going  
well. But on Thursday, there was a sign they are not. July 19 is 
Martyr's  Day, the anniversary of that black moment in Burma's history 
when Suu Kyi's  father and his Cabinet were assassinated. For the past 
six years, the  pro-democracy leader has appeared at every one of the 
government-sponsored  public ceremonies honoring her father. On 
Thursday, however, she wasn't  there. And although his father was also 
being honored, Aye Win was also  nowhere to be seen. 




__________________________________________________



Burma Courier: Junta Swaps One Woman Political Prisoner for Another

Week of July 15-21, 2001

Based on news from AP, DVB and CHRO:  Updated to July 19, 2001 

RANGOON - Burma's military government this week released a prominent 
woman political prisoner in Rangoon, at the same time as it sent another 
to serve a two-year sentence at a hard labour prison camp in Kalewa 
township in Sagaing division. 

Journalist San San Nweh was released Wednesday, three years before the 
end of her ten-year sentence for "producing and sending anti-government 
reports to international radio stations and foreign journalists passing 
through the country".  She had been imprisoned since August, 1994.  The 
harsh sentence drew world-wide condemnation from media and writers' 
organizations who honoured San San Nweh with numerous awards for her 
contribution to the cause of journalism.  One of her daughters confirmed 
the news of her release. 

Meanwhile, another prominent woman prisoner was transferred on Monday 
from an army base in the Chin state capital of Hakha to the Kalewa 
prison camp where she will be required to serve out a two-year sentence 
with hard labour.   Pastor Grace of Rinpi Baptist Church was arrested in 
February and charged for allegedly collaborating with the Chin National 
Front, a dissident political group.  She has been held at the army camp 
since then. 

A statement issued over the name of Chin women's groups in four 
continents on Thursday stated that Pastor Grace had been denied her 
right to a fair and impartial trial and accused Burma's military regime 
of targeting her for persecution as a means of discouraging Chin 
Christians from freely practising their faith.  They have demanded her 
immediate and unconditional release. 

In related news, ten other persons including four elected MPs of Burma's 
never summoned parliament were also released this week.  The four MPs 
were identified as Dr. Aung Khin Sint of Mingala Taung Nyunt 
constitutency in Rangoon, U Kyi Win and U Aye Kyu of Labutta in 
Irrawaddy division and U Nyunt Hlaing, the elected represenative for 
Aunglan-1 (Myede) in Magwe division.  Also released were NLD members U 
San San Nwe, U Sein Than, U Aye Myint, U Aye Kyaw, U Than Tun, U Tin Win 
and U Tun Kyi, of Aunglan, who had been sentenced along with U Nyunt 
Hlaing. 

With the exception of the ailing Dr Aung Khin Sint and Daw San San Nweh, 
those released had completed the prison terms to which they had been 
sentenced.  Hundreds of other prisoners serving terms for political 
offences remain behind bars. 


______________________MONEY________________________



Burma Courier: Agriculture Sector Hit by Sky-high Oil and Gas Prices


Week of July 15-21, 2001

Based on news items in the Myanmar Times and NLM:  Updated to July 16, 
2001 
RANGOON - The steep rise in the world prices for oil and natural gas 
over the past year has caused serious setbacks to expansion plans for 
the key agricultural sector of Burma's economy. 

This is particularly evident in the price of nitrogen based fertilizers 
in which urea is a basic component.   Natural gas serves as the key 
component in the production of urea and the price of a 50 kg bag of urea 
imported from China has risen to 4,800 kyat from 2,800 kyat a year ago. 

Other mixed fertilizers in which nitrogen is a component are also much 
more expensive this year.  An article in this week's Myanmar Times 
reports that the China-made GTSP brand had risen to K4,800 for a 
50-kilogram bag, up from K3,100 last year. The cost of a bag of 
China-made GSSP brand had risen from K1,600 to K2,500. 

Major importers of fertilizer all report that sales are sluggish this 
year with the weak demand attributed to a variety of factors, including 
higher prices.  Some traders say sales are down by more than half over 
the same period last year.  Shu San Trading Enterprise, was down to 
1,000 bags a day from between 2-5,000 bags last year.  Weak sales were 
also reported by Let Yway Zin Family Trading company where manager U 
Htun Oo told the Times, "Last year, we could sell about 2,000 bags a 
day, but this year only 200 to 300 bags." U Htun Oo said. 

The three State-owned fertilizer factories which distribute their 
products under a quota system cannot meet the needs of the farming 
sector.  This has benefited fertilizer products from China, which are 
available more cheaply due to lower transport costs than products 
imported from such countries as Indonesia, Kuwait, Russia, South Korea, 
Saudi Arabia and Thailand. 

The lowest rice prices in a decade are partly to blame for the sales 
slump, said U San Win of Shu San Trading Enterprise.  "Even though the 
price of paddy rose recently to about K600 a basket, from K350 a basket 
about four months ago, this is not enough to realize a profit."   He 
said. rice production was likely to be affected if farmers could not 
meet their fertilizer needs. 

Ambitious plans for the expansion of farm land through the reclamation 
of vacant and waste lands has also suffered cut backs due to elimination 
of subsidized diesel used for the heavy equipment used for clearing 
purposes. 

Over the last two years nineteen private companies have been given 
concessions to cultivate oil palm on a total of 480,000 acres in the 
Mergui (Myeik), Tavoy (Dawei) and Kawthoung districts of Tenasserim 
division in a bid to reduce dependence on imported cooking oil.  But the 
private oil palm projects are "standing still," an official of the 
state-owned Myanma Perennial Crop Enterprise told MT. 

U Kyaw Zaw Aung of Dagon Timber, one of the companies involved, said 
that during the first year they had been able to get diesel supplied 
from the government for land clearing but last year it was unavailable 
so companies had to turn to the black market for their supply. 

The cost of imported equipment was also weighing down heavily on the 
companies many of which are new to the plantation and oil extraction 
businesses. "We have spent more than 3.400 billion and we can not 
estimate how much more we will have to invest," said a source 
representing both the Yuzana and Annawa companies.   Yuzana, which was 
expected to have 35,000 acres under cultivation by 2002, has planted oil 
palms on only 10,400, and Annawa, which has a target of 20,000 acres has 
3,300 acres planted. 


Another obstacle to meeting cultivation targets was getting enough 
workers to clear virgin land. "We are looking for workers across the 
country," said Kyaw Zaw Aung adding that weather conditions in the 
project area were bad. "The workers are paid K500 to K800 a day but many 
do not stay long and shift to better paid jobs," he said. 
Last year Burma imported 110,000 metric tons of palm oil from Malaysia 
and Indonesia. With the price on Kuala Lumpur commodity market price up 
by more than 40% this year and now at US$ 1,040 a tonne, prices at the 
consumer level have risen sharply. Nationally, the total edible oil 
consumption comes to about 500,000 metric tons a year. 

A visit this week by Secretary No 1 to land reclamation projects 
undertaken by several large construction and trading companies in 
Pwintbyu, Minbu and Salin townships in Magwe division showed a similar 
scaling back in targets. If reports in the state press are to be 
believed there have even cutbacks in cultivated acreage on some 
projects. A year ago, Dagon International  was reported to have cleared 
4,800 acres for the planting of mustard, pedisein, pesinngon and sesamum 
on land it had reclaimed in the Chaungzon region of Pwintbyu township.  
This year it reported that it was only planting on 3,400 acres and 
making all its own arrangements for water supply. 





_______________________GUNS________________________



Burma Courier: IB 66 Column Murdered Parents, Children of 4 and 6 Years


CHIANG MAI  -- The June report of the Shan Human Rights Foundation 
reports that a column of troops of Infantry Battalion 66 beat a family 
to death in Ton Hung tract in Mong-nai township on the 29th of March. 

The family including Zaai Ma-La, 26, his wife Naang Kya Yong, 24, and 
their two children, son Zaai Bee, aged 6, and daughter Naang Thun Nae, 
aged 4, from Ter Hung village were camping about four kilometres west of 
Ton Hung on a plot of land they were clearing to grow rice when the 
troops who were out shooting cattle came across them.  No other details 
are available except that the patrol was commanded by Capt Win Soe. 

The following day as the patrol crossed over into Kun Mong tract they 
came across an oxcart loaded with wood and bamboo, driven by Lung Wong, 
51, and his niece, Naang Suay Kya, aged 17,from Kun Kawk village.  They 
were taking the wood to their rice farm to make fences when the patrol 
stopped them. 

After tying up Lung Wong some of  the soldiers, including Captain Soe 
Win. took "Naang Suay Kya", aged 17, aside and gang-raped her for 
several hours while others killed the oxen for their meat.  When Naang 
Suay Kya was able to untie the rope that tied Lung Wong after the troops 
left, it had been more than 6 hours since they were seized by the 
troops. 

On April 4, a villager who was carrying bamboo on an ox-cart was beaten 
and shot dead, by a patrol of IB 66 led by Capt. Aung Mya in Kho Lam 
tract in neighbouring Nam-zarng township. 

The victim, Zaai Wa-Ling, aged 21, was from Wan Phui village in Kho Lam 
tract, and was on his way home from gathering a load of  bamboo to build 
a house when he was stopped by the column of about 45-50 men.  During 
their questioning of Zaai Wa-Ling they started to beat him, and 
eventually shot him. The troops then burned the ox-cart and killed the 
oxen and dried their meat before they continuing their patrol of the 
area. 
Although Zaai Wa-Ling's relatives later found his body they did not dare 
to do anything more and quietly conduct a funeral for him at the village 
and bury his body properly. 







___________________ REGIONAL/INTERNATIONAL___________________
				


AFP: ASEAN to hail "encouraging developments" in Myanmar


Sunday July 22, 6:10 PM

 
HANOI, July 22 (AFP) - Southeast Asian foreign ministers are set to hail 
"encouraging developments" in the bloc's most troublesome member Myanmar 
at their annual meeting here this week, according to a draft statement 
obtained by AFP Sunday. 
"We noted encouraging developments in the Union of Myanmar and 
appreciated the efforts of the government of Myanmar towards these 
developments," the draft statement expected to be adopted by ministers 
Tuesday said. 

"(We) reiterated our support to the ongoing process of national 
reconciliation in this country." 

The release of dozens of political prisoners by the military junta in 
Yangon in recent months has sparked mounting hopes that talks between 
the generals and detained opposition leader Aung Sun Suu Kyi will lead 
to a breakthrough. 

During a visit to Singapore last week, Thai Foreign Minister Surakiart 
Sathirathai said the developments "clearly indicate that there is 
movement or positive development towards the direction we all like to 
see, towards democracy, towards ... human rights." 
Surakiart said he believed foreign governments should not intervene in 
the process but "should stand ready to assist if requested and ensure 
that the national reconciliation process will continue". 

Aung San Suu Kyi has been held under de facto house arrest since 
September, just before she embarked on landmark talks with the junta 
which may pave the way for national reconciliation. 

Progress in the talks will be vital for relations between ASEAN and the 
European Union, whose external affairs commissioner Chris Patten is due 
to attend a regional forum on Wednesday following the ministers' 
meetings. 

The two regional groupings only resumed ministerial meetings last 
December after a three-year boycott by the EU in protest over Myanmar's 
admission to ASEAN in 1997. 
That meeting was held in Laos, but the next meeting is due to be held in 
Europe late this year, requiring a relaxation of the EU's visa ban on 
junta officials. 
In April, the EU renewed its sanctions against Myanmar for six more 
months, stating that the human rights situation in the Southeast Asian 
nation remained "extremely serious". 

Nevertheless, EU ministers said they "sincerely hoped" that contacts 
between the junta and Aung San Suu Kyi would lead to political 
reconciliation. 
Belgium, the current holder of the EU's rotating presidency, hopes to 
send a new mission to Yangon to assess developments there before 
ministers review the sanctions at the end of October. 

The release of more political prisoners and "freedom of movement and 
action" for political parties in Myanmar are "prerequisites" for the EU 
to lift the sanctions, which also include an arms embargo and a ban on 
non-humanitarian aid, Belgium's ambassador to Thailand, Pierre Vaesen, 
said this month. 

The EU's policy towards Myanmar will also hinge on information from 
other forthcoming visits, including a three-week International Labour 
Organisation mission in September to investigate forced labour, he said. 






___________________________________________________



AP: Watchdog protests Myanmar blacklisting of two foreign journalists 

July 23, 2001


 BANGKOK, Thailand 

 
International press watchdog Reporters Without Borders has criticized 
Myanmar's military regime for blacklisting an Australian and a U.S. 
journalist, a statement received here Monday said. 

The Paris-based group said Myanmar embassies were ordered July 9 by the 
Minister of Foreign Affairs Win Aung to add reporters Evan Williams of 
the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Tony Emerson of the American 
magazine Newsweek to a list of people banned from entering Myanmar. The 
country is also known as Burma. 

In response to an inquiry from The Associated Press about the 
blacklisting, the Myanmar government said in a statement that reporters 
judged as ''too biased and non-constructive in their concepts and 
reporting are commonly denied visas to enter the country.'' 

Reporters Without Borders said that since the current crop of generals 
took power after a bloody suppression of mass protests for democracy in 
1988, dozens of foreign journalists have been blacklisted. 

''To prevent the international public opinion from knowing the real 
situation in the country is a grave violation of the right to be 
informed,'' Robert Menard, the group's general secretary, was quoted as 
saying. 

Australian journalist Williams reported from the Thai-Myanmar border for 
a television program broadcast June 26 on the Myanmar regime's alleged 
involvement in drug smuggling. Myanmar is the world's largest source of 
opium, the raw material of heroin. 

Williams told Reporters Without Borders that he had been denied a visa 
to Myanmar for the past two years after he reported in 1998 in the 
Myanmar capital Yangon about a government crackdown against the 
opposition party of Aung San Suu Kyi. 

''The Burmese junta reproach me for my reports, but they do not let me 
cover their point of view,'' he was quoted as saying. 

Emerson wrote an article about the regime's education policy that was 
published in the July 9 issue of Newsweek. Universities in Myanmar are 
currently open but have been shut for much of the past 13 years because 
of fears of anti-government protests by students. 

Myanmar's regime issues journalist visas on a selective basis and 
usually allows foreign reporters whom it lets in to move about freely, 
but they are often monitored by military intelligence. Many reporters 
enter the country on tourist visas to avoid restrictions and detection. 

The military has ruled Myanmar since 1962. Suu Kyi's party won general 
elections in 1990 but was prevented from taking power. 






___________________________________________________




Mizzima: Mizoram wants border with Burma to be fenced 


Aizawl, July 23, 2001 
Mizzima News Group (www.mizzima.com) 

India?s North Eastern State Mizoram wants its border with Burma to be 
fenced to check infiltration of immigrants from Burma into the State. 
Mr. Zoramthanga, Chief Minister of Mizoram said today that he has 
already submitted a proposal to the Central Government for the border 
fencing to contain the influx of immigrants from Burma, particularly 
from Chin State of Burma.  

Mizoram which has 404 km of international border with Burma is facing 
problems of having received a large number of immigrants from the 
military-rule Burma. Some non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have 
estimated that the numbers of Burma citizens in Mizoram are around fifty 
thousands, mostly Chins. There are also hundreds of Burmese weavers who 
are surviving in the handloom industries of the state. These immigrants 
are residing in the state illegally without any official documents. The 
Mizoram government claims that more than 75% of crimes and drug-related 
activities in the state are being committed by the people from Burma, 
mostly Chins.  
In a measure to check the illegal immigrants in the State, Mizoram 
authorities are going to issue identity cards to the permanent residents 
in the state within this year, added Mr. Zoramthanga. By issuing 
identity cards to those who are permanently settled in the state, 
Mizoram government hopes to identify the ?outsiders?.  

The Chief Minister has also proposed to start issuing travel documents 
for the people of both countries who want to visit each other through 
borderland routes.  

?In order to regulate the people?s movements along the border, we need 
the cooperation of the Burmese government and the government of India as 
well.? 




___________________________________________________




Mizzima: Indian human rights activists not allowed to meet Burma 
detainees in Port Blair 


Kolkata, July 21, 2001 
Mizzima News Group (www.mizzima.com) 

A delegation of Indian human rights group based in Kolkata (Calcutta) 
was recently denied access to 36 Burma nationals (Arakanese and Karens) 
who have been detained in Andamans Islands in India since February 1998. 
 

The two members delegation led by Mr. Sujato Bhadra and Mr. Bhaskar Sen 
of the Association for Protection of Democratic Rights (APDR) visited 
Port Blair in the Andamans Islands in second week of this month to 
enquire into the latest situation of Burmese detainees. According to a 
press release issued in the Islands on July 15, the secretariat members 
of APDR met Mr.M.K.Agrawal, the S.P. of Andaman & Nicobar police and 
Mr.Balbir Singh, the chief Secretary in connection with the Burmese 
detainees. However, the local administration officials had refused to 
divulge any information regarding the safety, well being and status of 
the 36 detainees and details of cases pending against them.  

?They even refused to allow us to meet them?, said the press release. 
?We failed to understand how furnishing technical and official details 
about them could cause any prejudice or threat to the security of 
India?, said Mr. Sujato Bhadra.  

The 36 Burmese nationals, belonging to two anti-Bumrse junta armed 
groups  - National United Party of Arakan and Karen National Union, were 
arrested in February 1998 during a well-publised ?Operation Leech?, 
jointly launched by the Indian navy, air force and Coast Guards in the 
Andamans Islands. The Indian armed forces at that time claimed that it 
was a successful operation against the ?international gunrunners?. 
However, the detainees claim that one Indian military intelligence 
officer ?Lt. Col. Grewal ? promised them the offer of Landfall Island in 
the Andamans to use as their base in their fight against the Burmese 
junta. Col. Grewal, after taking thousands of US dollars and gold from 
the Burmese rebels betrayed them. They alleged that six of their leaders 
were shot dead and all their weapons were also seized by the Indian 
armed forces during the operation. 
 
The human rights group APDR, founded in 1972, has strongly protested 
over ?such bureaucratic and arbritary attitude of the local 
administration?. 




___________EDITORIALS/OPINION/PROPAGANDA__________




New Light of Myanmar: The one-sided harmonious slander of ABC (Part II) 

July 19, 2001  (Continued from 19-07-2001) 

The ABC foreign correspondent never approached the representatives of 
the  Australian Federal Police who were sent to Myanmar by the 
Australian  government and presented their opinion, but instead 
presented a set-up TV  programme based on the hearsay which he had heard 
from the irresponsible  persons and tried to mislead the people of his 
native country. It is a wonder  to watch such a one-sided slanderous 
concoction aired by the correspondent  who lacked the skill to present a 
matter in a fair and reasonable manner in  the TV programme of ABC which 
has a high esteem. 

It will be wrong for him if he thinks that he has made a clever trick in 
 disparaging Myanmar with a set-up. What he should know is that Myanmar 
since  1990 is not like it was in the 1970s and 1980s, during which it 
lacked  international experience and knowledge about the tactics of the 
foreigners,  and was the victim to all their injurious accusations. 
Since 1990, Myanmar  has gained much international experience, and 
besides the nation now has a  large population of patriotic youth who 
have worked or studied abroad and  learned all about the tactics and 
tricks of the foreigners.  
They should be aware of the fact that any Myanmar can now interpret 
their  actions and can assess their words to determine whether they are 
reasonable  or unreasonable. As pressure is being applied every time in 
their country to  present various kinds of reports including the 
quarterly report, the biannual  report and the annual report, the 
correspondent has to feed information  whether it is right or wrong. The 
so-called university scholar too has to  present falsified reports in a 
very clever way. Or else, he will meet with  redundancy or retrenchment 
and will lose his job. 

Thus, he should have to make a lie for he will become a person queuing 
at the  Centre Link asking for Dole if he loses his job. The 
unemployment benefits  like the New Start Allowance never provides to 
anyone for years or months as  in the past; a person will face 
restriction under intensive assistance or  work for dole systems after 
he has enjoyed the unemployment benefits for two  or three months; thus, 
the Australian correspondent and the scholar have to  make lies based on 
the evidences they received from various unreliable  sources to attack 
Myanmar as a means to continue to stay in their jobs.  

I sympathize with them as they are engaging in their business to earn 
their  living. But the so-called scholar is the person who entered 
Myanmar under the  guise of a resource person; kept his membership of 
the Refugee Review  Tribunal secret when he applied for the visa at the 
Myanmar Embassy; sent out  all the news tarnishing Myanmar's image 
through unlawful means; disguised  himself a university scholar, enjoyed 
all the hospitality and cordiality of  the Myanmars, gathered all the 
information about Myanmar and concocted it at  will. He was committing 
such perpetrations to earn his living. But what the  persons like him 
should know is that we are not that naive to be ignorant of  their 
tricks. 

Recently, the government of the People's Republic of China had to expel 
ABC  correspondent Jane Hutchinson from the country for committing 
undesirable  acts there. Kyaw Tun Aung of SBS timed his programme to 
coincide with the  ABC's and The Bangkok Post daily also featured the 
fabrications on its pages  at the same time. It is just a harmoniously 
concocted story. The most  embittering thing for me is the ABC TV's show 
of an SSA soldier kicking the  signboard bearing the word ?Myanmar? at 
the border. Despite the fact that  there is no evidence a Myanmar 
citizen has ever insulted any of the  Australian national emblem or 
symbol in any period, the ABC from Australia, a  large democracy country 
which is said to possess democracy and civilization,  showed on TV the 
insulting of the signboard bearing the word " Myanmar".  

Is it because it too would like to do the same? Or is it satisfied with 
the  act? Or does the ABC want to show the attitude of its country? 
Here, one  thing is sure. As the staff of the ABC are paid by the TV 
station, they have  to work in accord with the wish of their employer. 
They will be defined as  the mercenaries in the journalism field. It was 
a shameless act. All in all,  if the ABC or the Australian Broadcasting 
Corporation, which is employing the  persons who want to slander others 
to get money for a living without knowing  their weakness, should be 
called in Australian slang, that is " All Bullshit  Corporation " to 
stand for the acronym ABC. 

Author :A Myanmar citizen in sydney 



______________________OTHER______________________



Karen Human Rights Group: Position Available




The Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG), a human rights documentation group 
covering the situation in rural Burma, is seeking someone for a full 
time position in our information processing office. The main job 
responsibilities will be processing incoming information and writing 
human rights reports; web site maintenance may also be included. The 
work will be office-based, but may occasionally involve some local 
travel.  KHRG will provide a small volunteer allowance but cannot pay 
relocation costs of applicants from overseas.  The applicant should have 
experience working on Burma-related issues, preferably from within the 
region. Excellent writing skills in English and analytical skills are 
essential. The applicant should be computer literate, and experience 
with web site maintenance would be an advantage.  This position is not 
for short term interns, but should only be considered by those who are 
prepared to commit at least eighteen months to two years to human rights 
work on the Burma-Thai border.   

For more information and a full job description please contact 
khrg@xxxxxxxx 










________________


The BurmaNet News is an Internet newspaper providing comprehensive 
coverage of news and opinion on Burma  (Myanmar) from around the world.  
If you see something on Burma, you can bring it to our attention by 
emailing it to strider@xxxxxxx

To automatically subscribe to Burma's only free daily newspaper in 
English, send an email to:
burmanet-subscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

To subscribe to The BurmaNet News in Burmese, send an email to:

burmanetburmese-subscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx


You can also contact BurmaNet by fax:

(US) +1(413)604-9008

(Japan) +81 (3) 4512-8143


________________


Burma News Summaries available by email or the web

There are three Burma news digest services available via either email or 
the web.

Burma News Update
Frequency: Biweekly
Availability: By fax or the web.
Viewable online at 
http://www.burmaproject.org/burmanewsupdate/index.html
Cost: Free
Published by: Open Society Institute, Burma Project

The Burma Courier 
Frequency: Weekly 
Availability: E-mail, fax or post.  To subscribe or unsubscribe by email 
celsus@xxxxxxxxxxx
Viewable on line at: http://www.egroups.com/group/BurmaCourier
Cost: Free
Note: News sources are cited at the beginning of an article. 
Interpretive comments and background
details are often added.

Burma Today
Frequency: Weekly
Availability: E-mail
Viewable online at http://www.worldviewrights.org/pdburma/today.html
To subscribe, write to pdburma@xxxxxxxxx
Cost: Free
Published by: PD Burma (The International Network of Political Leaders 
Promoting Democracy in Burma)




________________

==^================================================================
EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://igc.topica.com/u/?b1dbSX.b1CGhI
Or send an email To: burmanet-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
This email was sent to: reg.burma@xxxxxxxxxx

T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail!
http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register
==^================================================================