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Information Technologies, Practical Strategies
The BurmaNet News: November 9, 1998
Issue #1134
Noted in Passing: "If selective purchasing had been banned
ten years ago, Nelson Mandela might still be in prison
today." - Rep. Byron Rushing -
Democrat, Boston (see THE NATION: PRO-BURMA MOVE ANGERS MANY)
HEADLINES:
ASIAWEEK: CORRUPTION: MYANMAR'S WAY
13 November, 1998
NONE OF MYANMAR'S MINISTERS AND TOP CIVIL SERVANTS who were
sacked for corruption last November have been brought to trial.
Most, though, have been forced to bow so far out of public life
that they are almost under house arrest. In some cases, their
assets have been sequestered. The cleanup continues: Last month,
deputy commerce minister Col. Kyaw Shwe was abruptly sacked and
other officials purged. Cabinet minister Brig.-Gen. Maung Maung
alleged to Asiaweek: "Yes, the deputy commerce minister took
a bribe. He was kicked out." It was all done very quietly,
unlike last November's sweep. A top commerce official is said to
have been jailed for life. Details are sketchy, but skim-offs on
rice exports and kickbacks on auto sales appear to be involved.
"Kyaw Shwe was involved in many things like rice and cars,
especially the cars - Pajeros, Monteros, saloons. So many,"
is the way Yangon Mayor Col. Ko Lay told it.
THE NATION: SUPPRESSION OF PRESS FREEDOM
IN BURMA GETS WORSE
8 November, 1998 by Aung Zaw
Editorial & Opinion
From 30 newspapers, Burma, under the military junta, has closed
down all and jailed most of the journalists branding them as
'enemies of the state'. The tragic experience in Burma and
elsewhere in the region calls for solidarity among journalists,
writes Aung Zaw.
KING Mindon who ruled Burma in 1880s had no chance of seeing
Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. But as
his kingdom began circulating Burma's first newspaper, Yadanapon,
the King declared firmly that press freedom must prevail in his
dynasty. Thus, newspapers published in his kingdom practised
press freedom. Even under the British and then during the era of
the late prime minister U Nu, Burma enjoyed a flourishing free
press.
More than 30 newspapers including English and Chinese language
titles were in circulation. But when Gen. Ne Win came to power in
1962 all private magazines and newspapers were eventually shut
down, and editors, journalists and writers were thrown into jails
as they were considered enemies of the state. Gen. Ne Win himself
held only one press conference shortly after he staged the coup.
At the press room, as journalists questioned him about his
mission, the general was furious. The veteran journalists did not
give up but sat and pressed for answers. Finally, the angry
general, using obscene language, jumped out of his chair and
kicked it and left the press room in utter stillness. That was
the first and last of Ne Win's press conferences. This meeting
also signaled the end of a free press and the beginning of
repression of the press freedom in Burma. While he ruled the
country for 26 years, Ne Win's socialist regime decreed freedom
of expression was only permitted ''within the accepted limits of
the Burmese way to socialism.''
The Press Scrutiny Board (PSB) was set up to monitor and censor
books, magazines and journals as well as to control writers and
journalists. Newspapers were nationalised and well-respected
editors and columnists were forced to close down their papers.
Though Burma continued to publish more than one daily newspaper,
the coverage of news was bland and limited almost exclusively to
the government's activities, like generals' visit to schools and
pagodas giving necessary instructions. Burma's press freedom made
a comeback in 1988 but did not last long.
During the summer of 1988, when Burma's streets were filled with
peaceful demonstrators, almost 100 private newspapers, journals
and bulletins were in circulation. For a brief period, Burmese
people were re-acquainted with freedom of the press. But this
would last only until the military staged a bloody coup in
September. Now, with even more restrictions, newspapers, journals
and magazines are tightly controlled by the State Peace and
Development Council (SPDC) which has ruled the country with an
iron fist for 10 years.
Burma's state-controlled newspapers do not cover the current
events in the region. Instead, news is heavily censored.
Suharto's downfall and street protests in Malaysia are rarely
mentioned in the state organs. The Britain-based anti-censorship
group, Article 19, in a report released in 1995, said Burma is
one of the most heavily censored states in the world. Burmese
reporters working for foreign news agencies are heavily
monitored.
''Negative sides of the country or the opposition movement is not
allowed to be reported in foreign press. We are permitted to
report very few events. We know we are being watched,'' said a
veteran journalist in Rangoon.
The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has
released a report this year saying that in Asia, Burma and
Indonesia are the "enemies of the press.''
''Owning a fax machine or photocopier is illegal in Burma. As
there is no independent press and popular foreign broadcasts are
jammed, Burmese are kept in the dark even about the nature of
their own government,'' the CPJ said.
Having no alternative news source, the Burmese heavily rely on
foreign broadcasts.
''They have little faith in newspapers. They read newspapers for
announcements,'' said an analyst in Rangoon.
Recently, local reporters, writers and publishers from
state-owned and joint venture publications were summoned by
officials to publish an article attacking opposition leader Aung
San Suu Kyi.
A reporter based in Rangoon told Radio Free Asia (RFA) recently
that authorities ordered publishers of weekly journals to include
articles attacking Suu Kyi. ''We have to go and get a copy of an
article every week. They [officials] give us an article. We have
to publish it. We cannot say no.''
Weekly journals now carry articles attacking Suu Kyi. Each
journal has to include at least one such article. Journalists in
Burma work in an atmosphere of uncertainty and apprehension as
the country is ruled by one of the most repressive regimes in the
world. Recently, veteran journalists belonging to the Foreign
Correspondents Club of Myanmar were invited for a dinner by
senior intelligence officers. When called, some journalists
jokingly asked, ''Do you want us to bring blankets and mosquito
nets?'' inquiring whether they (journalists) were ''invited'' for
interrogation in prison.
FCCM members are elderly journalists whose activities are heavily
monitored. ''We have an informer in our group,'' said one
reporter in Rangoon. Definitely, there is a reason to be afraid.
Some reporters were simply arrested because they had distributed
publications that ''make people lose respect for the
government.'' The jail term is between five and seven years with
hard labour.
''We should know our limits. If we step out of the line we are
looking at Insein,'' a writer in Rangoon said. Insein is an
infamous prison where political prisoners including journalists
are being detained.
One Burmese writer said, ''Every writer, every poet, every
journalist and every cartoonist is always ruled by fear that what
he has written will not get past the censor. Almost every freely
created work of art is subjected to censorship.'' Even though
there is no official figure on how many journalists are currently
being detained in Burma's gulag, analysts in Rangoon guess that
approximately 20 journalists including women reporters are
languishing in Insein prison. One of them is Burma's most
prominent journalist Win Tin, who has been detained for 9 years.
Win Tin is well-respected as he has written many articles on
painting, world literature, politics and journalism. In the
1970s, he was chief editor of the Mandalay-based Hanthawaddy
newspaper, which was eventually shut down by the government.
1989, Win Tin became a leading member of the Nation League for
Democracy [NLD] and chief adviser of Suu Kyi. Now in his 60s Win
Tin has been suffering from heart disease and requires constant
medication. He was visited by UN former special human rights
investigator Yozo Yokota and US congressmen. His sentence was
extended as he was convicted of smuggling letters describing
conditions at Insein prison. Friends, relatives and admirers
express their grave concern over Win Tin's health as journalists
have died in Burma's prisons because of lack of medication.
Last year, Burma's well-known journalist and writer U Tin Shwe
died in prison as a result of torture and maltreatment. With
regard to press freedom and safety of media persons, Burma might
be the worst case but it is not alone. At a recent seminar on
investigative journalism in Asia, held in Subic Bay in the
Philippines, journalists from around the region expressed their
concern about harassment and some governments' tight control over
newspapers and journalists.
Journalism trainer Moeun Chhean Nariddh from Cambodia said it is
very difficult for journalists to work in Cambodia because of
harassment and threats. Reporters from Indonesia and Malaysia
shared the same feelings. But Indonesian journalists feel that
they now enjoy more freedom and access to information than
before. Howie Severino of the Philippine Centre for Investigative
Journalism, Manila, faces a slightly different enigma. The
Philippine journalist said: ''We are being harassed by local
Mafia.''
He summed up: ''If we are going to expose their drug business and
illegal operations we are certain to face harassment, death
threats. In some cases our fellow journalists were gunned down
because of what they wrote.'' Indeed, as journalists in the
region are gathering in Bangkok to promote and monitor freedom of
the press in Southeast Asia, it is high time for journalists in
the region to build up their solidarity and strengthen their
networking.
Aung Zaw is a correspondent of Radio Free Asia and regularly
writes for The Nation.
[BurmaNet Editor's note: This article was slightly edited for The
BurmaNet News.]
REUTERS: MYANMAR OPPOSITION PROTESTS PRISON
SENTENCE
5 November, 1998
YANGON, May 5 (Reuters) - Myanmar's opposition National League
For Democracy on Thursday condemned the sentencing of one of its
members to a 14-year jail term. NLD youth committee worker Tun
Tint Wai, also known as Tun Zaw Zaw, was sentenced on November 2
under penal code sections 420 and 460, the party said in a
statement.
The NLD did not say what his offence had been, but the penal code
sections cover ``cheating'' and ``forgery for the purpose of
cheating.'' Officials with the military government were not
immediately available for comment. The NLD statement said Tun
Tint Wai had been given seven years for each offence, ``the
maximum punishments prescribed.''
``It can be assumed that the punishments were very severe and
that there lie hatreds and grudges in exercising jurisdiction,''
the statement said. ``The NLD strongly condemns this action of
the authorities.'' Last week United Nations investigator
Rajsoomer Lallah issued a strongly worded human rights report
accusing the military government of persistent harassment of the
political opposition.
He said he remained ``deeply concerned'' about the large number
of political prisoners. The NLD has reported the detention of
nearly 1,000 of its members since it resolved in May to call a
``People's Parliament'' in recognition of its landslide election
win eight years ago that was ignored by the military. The
government said on Thursday that 308 NLD members who were
``invited for exchanges of views'' with the government had been
allowed to return home. U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan is due
to make a report on Myanmar to the U.N. General Assembly this
week.
INDEPENDENT COMMENTARY: SPDC IS MAKING BURMA A
COUNTRY OF GAMBLING ASIANS
6 November, 1998 by Tun Myint
Burma today under the military regime is a country of
shame. The State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) has
been very tactful about covering up its wrongdoing, lying
squarely about human rights violations to the international
community, and blatantly refusing to transfer power to the
elected government. It is brutal and selfish in maintaining
its grip on power. Corruption and nepotism among the
political and business elites are common and becoming a tradition
in Burma under the military regime. All of these daily realities
in Burma undermine the chances for emergence of civic
institutions -- such as an independent judiciary system, good
governance, political accountability, and effective law
enforcement -- that are fundamental to cultured human (civil)
society, and are crucial elements to maintain the security of the
nation.
According to AsiaWeek (10/9/98) news and recent Thai papers, SPDC
is inviting foreign casino businesses to operate on the land of
Burma from Tha-Htay Kyun in the south, and Tachileik City in the
east, to the heart of Burma - Mandalay City. After selling
off all of the natural resources in Burma and extracting human
labor by force, the military regime now is pawning the country to
the hands of casino giants for cash flows.
SPDC, formerly known as SLORC, State Law and Order Restoration
Council, has been claiming in every spectrum of domestic and
international media that it is striving to make Burma "a
modern and developed country" while it simultaneously makes
it illegal for people of Burma to own private computers and fax
machines with access to internet which is an aspect of modernized
country nowadays (Chap IX, SPDC Computer Science Department Law).
Now I have sadly learned that the Burmese military council, the
State Peace and Development Council, is making Burma "a
modern and developed country" of gamblers in Asia.
Tun Myint, Indiana University
NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR: EXHIBITION '98 - TO
REVITALIZE AND FOSTER PATRIOTIC
SPIRITS CONTINUES
6 November, 1998
YANGON, 5 NOV - Exhibition '98 - To Revitalize and Foster
Patriotic Spirit continued for the fifth day at the Tatmadaw
Convention Hall on U Wisara Road. Booths of the
Pre-Independence Period, the Post Independence Period, the
Contemporary Period, the ministries, computer room and centre
showroom are being shown at the exhibition. Displayed are the
locations of pagodas and stupas in Bagan Township, list of Bagan
emperors, military paintings related in Bagan period, Razakuma
stone inscriptions, lists of kings who reigned in Innwa, Pinya
and Sagaing periods in the PreIndependence Period.
A play featuring King Thibaw being taken away by the British
colonialists performed by members of Shwepyitha Township Thabin
Asiayon and highlights of films and video plays depicting
patriotism and nationalist fervour are shown on a 52inch TV
screen. Thirteen of the visitors won prizes in memory contests in
the computer rooms today.
THE NATION: PRO-BURMA MOVE ANGERS MANY
6 November, 1998
[BurmaNet Editor's Note: This article's title may cause some
confusion. Those mentioned in this article commenting on the
recent move to strike down Massachusetts' Burma Law would
consider it an anti-Burma (and perhaps pro-business or pro-SPDC)
move. For more comments on the need for precision in
referring to the country, as distinct from the military junta,
please see Chao-Tzang Yawnghwe's letter to the editor of The
Nation in The BurmaNet News Issue #1132, November 5, 1998.]
BOSTON - Legal scholars and elected officials urged the
state attorney general yesterday to appeal against US district
court judge Tauro's decision to strike down Massachusetts' Burma
Law. They also warned that Wednesday's decision could have
devastating consequences for local governments, US
tax-payers and the Burmese people.
"If this ruling stands, tax-payers and local governments
around the country will lose the right to decide whether to do
business that supports brutal regimes like the one in
Burma," said Rep Byron Rushing (Democrat, Boston), who
authored the law "If selective purchasing had been banned
ten years ago, Nelson Mandela might still be in prison
today," he added.
Judge Tauro ruled in favour of the National Foreign Trade Council
(NFTC) - a corporate lobbying group - yesterday afternoon,
finding that the 1996 Massachusetts Burma Law infringes on the
federal government's power to regulate foreign affairs. Advocates
for selective purchasing laws, however, argue that local
governments and tax-payers have the right to make procurement
decisions that ban contracts with companies that indirectly
support brutal regimes.
"Boycotts based on human rights have been a cornerstone of
our democracy since the Boston Tea Party," said Simon
Billeness, a senior analyst for Franklin Research and Development
Corporation in Boston. "We cannot allow a few corporations
to remove this democratic tool so that they can profit from a
murderous military junta."
Twenty-two cities and counties around the country have selective
purchasing laws that target Burma, and supporters of the laws say
that they are crucial because the Burmese regime profits from
most business enterprises in the country. In addition,
pro-democracy leader Aung Sun Suu Kyi has repeatedly called for
sanctions, and says the Massachusetts Burma Law is a critical way
to pressure the military junta without hurting the Burmese
people.
"The impact of this decision goes far beyond
Massachusetts," said Professor Robert Stumberg of Georgetown
University Law Centre. "It would deny cities and states the
power to use moral standards for choosing their business partners
if foreign commerce is affected. It could also affect laws for
domestic, minority and environmental purchasing in 45
states."
**Reuters adds from Rangoon. The leader of the latest in a series
of mass rallies against Burma's pro-democracy opposition called
on people to "crush" Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu
Kyi and her party, the state media reported yesterday. State
newspapers said more than 29,000 people rallied against Suu Kyi
and her National League for Democracy (NLD) on Wednesday in the
town of Bhamo in Kachin state, about 1,300 km northeast of
Rangoon.
It was the 19th such rally since Suu Kyi and leaders of her NLD
resolved in September to act for a "People's
Parliament" in recognition of the party's election win eight
years ago, which was ignored by the military government.
THE HINDU: JOINT VENTURE LIKELY WITH MYANMAR
FOR NICKEL EXPLORATION
6 November, 1998
India and Myanmar are likely to enter into joint ventures for
exploitation of nickel and coal deposits in the northeastern
border areas. This is one of the proposals being examined as a
result of the recent visit of a high-level delegation to Myanmar
led by the Commerce secretary, Mr. P. P. Prabbhu. Official
sources say the proposal for nickel mining is significant since
it would help to reduce the large imports of this non-ferrous
metal. The coal mines venture is also expected to be useful in
adding to the country's energy requirements. Technical teams will
be exchanged shortly to expedite follow-up of these discussions.
In the other important area of exploiting natural gas reserves,
the delegation did not hold any formal talks, but indications are
that India would be interested in any gas supplies made available
by a pipeline network from Myanmar. Currently, Myanmar has
entered into a collaboration with Thailand for exploiting its
offshore gas reserves, which will involve setting up a pipeline
network in the Southeast Asian region.
The need to step up bilateral trade was also raised during the
visit of the delegation and the importance of border trade was
recognized in this context. Currently, such trade is being
carried on through Moreh in Manipur on the Indian side and Tamu
on the Myanmar side. It was agreed that traditional border trade
for the benefit of the border area residents would continue as in
the past without any restrictions. The border point could also be
used for normal trade transactions between the two countries,
subject to the normal export-import rules. For this purpose, both
the sides agreed to shortly conclude inter-bank arrangements to
facilitate border trade.
Interestingly, India has now become Myanmar's largest export
market accounting for 23 per cent of its total export. Several
steps were discussed by the two sides to achieve a higher volume
of trade with more balance on both the sides. The possibility of
entering into counter trade was also examined.
The delegation's visit took place at the invitation of Myanmar's
Deputy Commerce Minister, Commodore Myo, and included
representatives of the Ministries of commerce, External Affairs
and Steel and Mines as well as officials of the Reserve of Bank
of India and United Bank of India. The official team was
accompanied by a ten-member business delegation comprising
representatives of the Federation of Indian Chambers of commerce
and Industry (FICCI) and the Confederation of Indian Industry
(CII). In fact, the CII entered into a memorandum of
understanding with the Myanmar chamber of commerce and Industry
(MCCI).
Efforts were also made to streamline banking ties between the two
countries. Talks were held by the RBI and UBI officials with the
Myanmar Finance Ministry, Central Bank and several public and
private sector banks in that country.
[Note added by Communication Center New Delhi (CCN):]
During that visit Indian TV channel, Discovery donated decoders
to SPDC.
Decoders Donated to Hospital, Schools and OSS
"A ceremony to donate decoders for use in Office of
Strategic Studies, Ministry of Defence, Defence Services
Orthopedic Hospital and Youth Training Schools under the Ministry
of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement by Regional Director
Mr. Sangay Khanna of Discovery Channel, Discovery Communication,
India, was held at the Tatmadaw Guest House on Innya Road in
Kamayut Township, Yangon on 27 October. First, Mr. Sangay Khanna
explained to those present the purpose of the donation. He then
presented one decoder each to Col. Than Myint for DSOH, Principal
U Win Zaw for Youth Training School, Daw Hla Yi for Women's Home
(Yangon) and Col. Thein Swe for (OSS). Col. Than Myint thanked
the donor for all."