Daily News- January 23 - 2002- Wednesday

  • Myanmar army has tortured, killed hundreds of ethnic Shan, Amnesty International says
  • EU unlikely to ease restrictions
  • Former Professor Arrested for Solo Protest
  • DPNS Finish Conference
  • Education Report Released
  • Rangoon urged to arrange more sites for returnees
  • Talk should be stepped up into tripartite dialogue
  • Russia confirms plans to build nuclear reactor in Burma
  • Assets of five Islamic foreigners ordered to be frozen

    • Myanmar army has tortured, killed hundreds of ethnic Shan, Amnesty International says

    ASSOCIATED PRESS BANGKOK, Thailand, Jan. 22 - The Myanmar army has tortured and killed hundreds of ethnic Shan villagers and forced at least 300,000 to flee their homes in the last two years, Amnesty International said Wednesday.

    ''Their victims include women, children, the elderly and Buddhist monks,'' the London-based human rights group said in a report.

    ''Witnesses described the most horrific methods of killing, including beating and kicking to death, stabbing, smashing heads in, being burnt alive, pouring boiling water over the victim's body and shooting,'' the report said.

    Myanmar's military regime replied that Amnesty International had become a platform for fabrications and exaggerations by Myanmar dissident groups to discredit the government.

    ''Some of the allegations may be partially true, but definitely not in the way Amnesty International is portraying. Especially, the killings and torturing of ethnic races are totally nonsense,'' a government official said in a fax to The Associated Press. The claims were intended to tarnish the government's attempts to bring unity to a country wracked by ethnic insurgencies in the half-century since independence from Britain, the official said.

    Shan state, the largest province in Myanmar also known as Burma has been the scene of ethnic insurgencies since 1958. The ethnic Shan, who number about 4 million, are closely related to the Thais. The warfare in the opium-rich territory means there is little hope the flow of drugs from Myanmar the world's second-largest opium producer will diminish any time soon.

    In 1996, Khun Sa, an opium warlord who commanded about 15,000 Shan fighters, surrendered to the government. But many of his men continued their insurgency, which they fund by selling opium, the raw material for heroin.

    The Amnesty report said the Myanmar army has been carrying out forced relocations of Shan villagers as part of a campaign to deprive the rebels of civilian support. And it said villagers have been forced to carry food and supplies for the army. The insurgents have also been guilty of atrocities, the report said, citing the killings of 25 civilians in one incident in 1997.

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    EU unlikely to ease restrictions

    The Bangkokpost
    By Anuraj Manibhandu

    The European Union is unlikely to change its policy on Burma but would welcome any progress Thailand might achieve there through warming relations with the junta, the Spanish ambassador said.

    Ambassador Jose Eugenio Salarich, whose country took up the EU presidency on Jan 1, said the EU's rigid framework and lack of political improvements in Burma work against ``spectacular'' changes in the EU's policy towards that country. However, he added in an interview with the Bangkok Post, ``anything which would advance the situation in Burma promoted through Bangkok, through specific co-operation or specific input ... will be of course supported.'' The form this support would take depended on what the Thai and Burmese governments wanted and what would be ``feasible'', he added.

    Thai-Burmese contacts have stepped up since Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra visited Rangoon in June last year, a step his predecessor Chuan Leekpai resisted.

    The ambassador said the ``political conditions'' the EU sought from Rangoon included respect for the results of the 1990 elections, release from house arrest of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, and release of all political prisoners in Burma. It has also pushed hard to end forced labour in that country.

    The EU's common position on Burma, last reviewed in October, calls for the continuation of an arms embargo, suspension of bilateral aid except what is strictly humanitarian, and travel restrictions against members of the Rangoon regime.

    It also offers ``incentives'', such as help in the fight against HIV-Aids, and a promise to invite the Burmese foreign minister to the Asean-EU meeting in Europe later this year.

    The ambassador, however, cautioned against any expectation that Spain would bring dramatic changes to what is a legally binding document at the next review due in April. ``We don't intend to do a spectacular thing because there is no room to make a spectacular move from our part. We have a very rigid framework of action ... which is this common position and we intend to apply this strictly because this is something that our governments have agreed upon.'' he said.

    Though Spain could not make any ``prejudgments'' at this stage, he said, the situation in Burma ``since many years has not changed enough for us to change our policy.''

    The EU and Thailand, he said, have ``identical'' interests in seeing a stable political situation in Burma where people can live and trade in peace and ``where political refugees will no longer be necessary''.

    While admitting the presence of 100,000 Burmese refugees in Thailand posed ``enormous political problems'', the ambassador said the EU would continue to extend financial support to improve camp conditions in Thailand rather than resettle the refugees.

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    Former Professor Arrested for Solo Protest

    The Irrawaddy
    By Kyaw Zwa Moe

    January 22, 2002 - Reliable sources in Rangoon have reported that a former university rector was arrested in early December for staging a one-man protest against Burma`s ruling military regime.

    The sources added that they believe the retired professor is currently being detained at Rangoon`s notorious Insein prison. Dr. Salai Tun Than, 74, staged the protest in front of Rangoon City Hall, a focal point of protests in the Burmese capital during the 1988 popular uprising against military rule.

    According to the sources, the retired rector from Yezin University in Pyinmana, Upper Burma stood in front of City Hall distributing copies of a petition letter he had written to demand political reform.

    In his letter, obtained by The Irrawaddy, he called on the ruling military council to hold multiparty general elections within one year. He also requested that officials from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the United Nations supervise the election. He added that power should be transferred to the victor as soon as the results are made known to the public.

    It is believed that Dr. Salai Tun Than wore an academic gown during the protest. Otherwise, witnesses said, he did not say or do anything to draw attention to himself. In his letter, he urged military officials to kill him if they refused to meet his demands.

    "It is better to die than to live under the military regime," the letter said. He also appealed to all armed forces and police to join the people and urged the armed forces to stop killing people. Alerted by local officials, security officers arrested the professor. It is believed that he is now being detained in Insein Prison and has been denied permission to meet relatives and friends.

    Dr. Salai Tun Than, a Christian and a member of the Chin ethnic group, earned a Ph.D. in Agronomy from the University of Wisconsin and had served as rector at the Yezin University of Agriculture in Pyinmana until 1990.

    In Burma, approximately 2,000 political prisoners are currently being detained under harsh conditions. Twelve years ago, the military regime held general elections but refused to honor the National League for Democracy`s landslide victory.

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    DPNS Finish Conference

    The Irrawaddy
    By Ko Thet

    January 22, 2002— Burma's Democratic Party for a New Society (DPNS) has encouraged women to participate in both Burmese and party politics while the group vowed to continue its support of the country's reconciliation process, according to a statement released by the group on Saturday after the end of their second conference. The conference was held on the Thai-Burma border from January 10-18.

    "This time we were able to discuss the party's future and where we want to take it," Gen Sec Zaw Naing Oo told The Irrawaddy. "In 1989 during our first conference, politically speaking, we were all very young and we were not able to prepare properly for it."

    Saturday's statement said that talks between opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and the regime have not shown any significant progress and that for them to move forward all political prisoners must be released, freedom of expression for political parties must exist and a nation-wide cease-fire needs to be signed. The statement stressed the DPNS's desire to help strengthen the democracy movement while developing as a political party.

    Zaw Naing Oo said that Aung Moe Zaw was elected as the party's new chairperson and Aung Thu Nyein, former Gen Sec of the All Burma Students' Democratic Front (ABSDF) was elected vice-chairperson at the conference. Seventeen central committee members and two reserve central committee members were also elected. DPNS founder, Moe Tee Zun, will remain a central committee member.

    DPNS is a student-based party that was founded in 1988. The DPNS was the second largest political party in Burma from 1988-1989. The DPNS broke in to two factions after the party's first conference in April of 1989 before Burma's military regime outlawed the party in 1991.

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    Education Report Released

    The Irrawaddy
    By Zarny Win

    January 22, 2002 - The All Burma Federation of Student Unions` Foreign Affairs Committee (ABFSU-FAC) released a report earlier this month that analyzes the education system in Burma between 1988 and 2000.

    The report outlines the collapse of the Burmese education system since the current military leaders seized power in September 1988.

    "We published this report because we want academics and students around the world to know the education situation in Burma," said Minn Naing of the ABFSU-FAC.

    "The military has been controlling the education system and the political situation in Burma." The 95-page report consists of two parts, one covering the civilian education system and another part covering the military`s education system. Numerous statistics are cited throughout the report that point to the military`s role in the destruction of a once-thriving education system.

    "Burma`s education system is seriously damaged and the future for the students and the country is terrifying," says the report.

    Since 1988 universities and colleges in Burma have been open for a total of just 40 months. According to the report, education and health account for just 7.7% of annual government spending in Burma, while military expenditures now comprise over 40% of the national budget.

    The report also mentions that 9.5 million children are unable to acquire a basic education, and only 37% of children who do start primary school are able to go on to the middle-school level.

    Observers have said that this sort of report by exile groups is rare due to the emphasis placed on documenting human rights abuses throughout Burma. Those interested in obtaining a copy of the book can contact bakatha@cscoms.com.

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    Rangoon urged to arrange more sites for returnees

    The Bangkokpost
    Penchan Charoensutthipan

    Rangoon will be asked to arrange two more sites to accommodate its nationals working illegally in Thailand who are to be sent back.Paisarn Preutiporn, secretary-general of the Office of the Administrative Commission on Irregular Immigrant Workers, said Thailand will hold talks with Burma next month.

    Burma will be asked to arrange two more sites: Phaya Thongsu town opposite Kanchanaburi, and Kawthaung (Victoria Point) opposite Ranong, to shelter Burmese sent back for failure to renew their work permits with Thai labour offices within the March 25 deadline.Burma earlier agreed to arrange a site in Myawaddy town, opposite Tak, to accommodate those deported for working here illegally.

    Workers, mostly from Burma, Laos and Cambodia, must register with labour offices and undergo medical check-ups before their work permits are renewed.Alien workers are required to have their work permits renewed every six months.

    Following expiry of the first registration period last Oct 1, a total of 26,040 illegal workers were caught by police, and 50 employers were arrested for hiring illegal workers.Sources said the second registration period for workers to renew their permits will be from Feb 24 to March 25.

    Immigrant workers found suffering from tuberculosis, leprosy, elephantiasis, syphilis, alcoholism or mental illness will not have their work permits renewed.

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    Talk should be stepped up into tripartite dialogue

    Network media Group

    Mae Hong Son, January 20, 2002- A three day long strategy coordination meeting among the leaders of Ethnic Nationalities Solidarity Coordinating Committee (ENSCC), National Reconciliation Program (NRP) and the Strategy Coordination Committee of National Council of Union of Burma, concluded today, January 20.

    The opposition leaders discussed and reached an agreement to put more a strategic effort into eliciting meaningful dialogue between the Burmese regime and opposition leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, Secretary of National League for Democracy, in order to step up to tripartite dialogue.

    The meeting was organized by the Strategy Coordination Committee of NCUB and also attended by representatives of youth and women's' civil society organizations based on Thai-Burma border.

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    Russia confirms plans to build nuclear reactor in Burma

    BBC Monitoring Service - United Kingdom; Jan 22, 2002
    Text of report by Russian news agency ITAR-TASS

    Moscow, 22 January: The draft contract for building a research nuclear reactor in Myanmar (Burma) has been sent to the government of the Russian Federation, after it has been coordinated with all relevant directorates.

    An ITAR-TASS correspondent leaned about this in the press service of the Russian Ministry of Atomic Energy.According to official representative of the press service, "it is expected that in the first quarter of this year the government will give its approval". "However, he noted, this is only the first step on the path of implementing the project on which talks were held last year."

    At the same time the Ministry of Atomic Energy did not confirm reports of specialist from Myanmar having arrived in or about to be sent to Russia to be trained to work on the reactor. The representative of the press service noted that "such information is totally unfounded when the main documents on this project are not ready".

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    Assets of five Islamic foreigners ordered to be frozen

    Network Media Group

    Mae Sod, January 19, 2002 - Central Bank of Union of Myanmar in Rangoon issued an order on January 16 to check and freeze the assets of five Islamic foreigners who are suspected to have connections with extreme Islamic organization, according to information from Rangoon.

    Central Bank of Union of Myanmar has issued an order to both government owned banks and private banks to check and freeze the assets of three Pakistanis, one Afghani and one Palestinian who are suspected to have links with extreme Islamic organizations, mentioned in the order.

    NMG learnt that the General Manager of Central Bank of Union of Myanmar issued the order.The managers of all the banks in Burma were ordered to check all the accounts and freeze all the assets if there were any accounts opened by these five suspected foreigners, said a staff from a bank inside Rangoon.Whether these five Islamic foreigners are staying inside Burma or not is unclear.

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