------------------------ BurmaNet ------------------------
"Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical
Strategies"
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The BurmaNet News: November 27, 1998
Issue #1146
HEADLINES:
ASSOCIATED PRESS: UN, MYANMAR IN SECRET TALKS OVER
DIALOGUE WITH SUU KYI
26 November, 1998
BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) - The World Bank and the United Nations
have offered $1 billion in aid to Myanmar if the military regime
opens a dialogue with the opposition led by Aung San Suu Kyi, a
newspaper reported today. U.N. envoy Alvaro de Soto presented the
plan several weeks ago and it may represent the best chance yet
to overcome the government's reluctance to hold talks with the
opposition, the International Herald-Tribune reported, citing
unidentified sources involved in the negotiations. World Bank
officials in Bangkok would not comment on the matter. The
initiative comes amid a deepening deadlock between Suu Kyi's
National League for Democracy and the military. If it succeeds,
the United States would withdraw its long-standing veto of any
World Bank or International Monetary Fund assistance to Myanmar,
the newspaper said.
Myanmar, also known as Burma, has been ruled by the military
since 1962. One of the world's poorest countries, it is under
economic and political sanctions by the United States and other
countries opposed to the government's poor human-rights record.
Both sides reportedly responded well to the overture, but it
would require significant government and opposition compromises.
Progress would be rewarded by increasing amounts of financial
assistance and humanitarian aid, the International Herald-Tribune
reported. The first steps would be for the government to free
political prisoners, allow Suu Kyi freedom of movement - the 1991
Nobel Peace Prize winner is largely confined to her house - and
permit her party to function.
Those would amount to huge concessions from the government, which
released some prisoners two months ago but since has taken
hundreds more opposition members into custody to persuade them to
quit the party. In exchange, the National League for Democracy
party would agree to rescind calls to convene the
opposition-dominated parliament that was elected in 1990. The
military has never allowed the parliament to meet. Suu Kyi said
earlier this week that she has no intention of withdrawing her
call to convene parliament.
AFP: MYANMAR HOLDS ACTIVISTS HOSTAGE TO NLD DEMANDS
21 November, 1998
MYANMAR'S junta yesterday accused Aung San Suu Kyi's opposition
of blocking dialogue with the government, effectively warning
that detained activists were hostages to her demands for a
meeting of parliament. The fate of hundreds of National League
for Democracy (NLD) members confined to government "guest
houses" lay with NLD leaders, said top government spokesman
Lieutenant Colonel Hla Min.
"The sooner the NLD decides to retract their intentions to
holding this parliament, the sooner the rest of the people would
be returned home," he said at a briefing attended by more
than 30 foreign diplomats here. NLD leaders called earlier this
year for the convening of the parliament which arose out of its
landslide victory in 1990 polls which the military government has
not recognised.
The NLD is due to hold its own briefing today. Its demand for a
parliament prompted the junta's nationwide campaign against the
being set free. According to government figures yesterday, 384
NLD members had been set free and 467 "still remain as
guests of the government". The NLD says 182 MPs are detained
along with 701 other activists.
THE NATION: DENYING THE ANTI-FASCIST REVOLUTION IN
BURMA?
26 November, 1998 by Moe Aye
BURMESE HISTORY HAS BEEN STAINED WITH ANTI-FASCIST AND
ANTI-COLONIALIST
REVOLUTIONS. HOWEVER, THE NEW JUNTA IS ATTEMPTING TO REWRITE
HISTORY, SAYS
MOE AYE.
BANGKOK- On November 10, 1998, Lieutenant General Khin Nyunt,
head of the Burmese military intelligence unit, was speaking at
the opening of the Burma-Japan Bilateral Conference on
Information Technology Co-operation in Rangoon. "We shall
never forget the important role played by Japan in our struggle
for independence," said Khin Nyunt, the State Peace and
Development Council (SPDC) first secretary, and the most powerful
general in the SPDC. "In the same vein, we will remember
that our tatmadaw [military] was born in Japan". Many
Burmese were confused about the general's words. They didn't
understand what the general wanted to mean directly, especially
by using the words "the important role played by
Japan". The word "important" is now controversial
for Burmese people.
The term "fascist" and mention of the cruelty of
Japanese troops were missing from the general's words. While
Korean women have the right to claim compensation from the Japan
government, Burmese women who were used as concubines for the
Japanese troops, and men who were used as forced labourers to
construct the 'Death Railway' during the war, have no right to
compensation for their sufferings. It is not because of the
Japanese government but because of the junta and the Burma
Socialist Programme Party (BSPP). Although the Japanese
government paid reparations after the war, none of this money
went to Burmese victims of Japanese atrocities. Instead, Burmese
authorities pocketed the money.
"If such sorrowful incidents had occurred under the British
rulers, the junta would at the moment push and help the victims
to claim compensation from the British government", said an
old politician who didn't want to be named. "The junta
targets the British because of Dr Michael Aris, husband of Daw
Aung San Suu Kyi. If Dr Aris was Japanese, their target would be
changed and the junta would complain about Japanese
fascism."
In Burma's history, there are two famous revolutions for her
struggle for independence the anti-fascist and the
anti-colonialist revolutions. Just before the 1988 military coup,
Burmese students from primary to high school classes had to learn
about those two revolutions. Students who took history as their
major subject had to learn those two revolutions before they
could get their degree. However, under the BSPP, most of the
historical movies which could be seen by Burmese people were
anti-fascist. In particular, the movies showed the brutality and
rudeness of the fascist Japanese during their occupation.
Although the movies showed the fascist Japanese troops rape,
torture and committed inhuman acts, there were no movies about
such actions by the British troops. Every actor and actress who
starred in the anti-fascist movies was awarded the Burmese
Academy Prize for acting. But everything has changed since the
1988 military coup.
Since the 1988 military coup the junta has ordered artists that
historical movies must show only the situation under the British
government. The state-run newspapers report about the British
colonialists' oppression very often. Worse, the junta has also
slowly been changing the curriculum for its own students. There
may be only one famous revolution in the Burmese students'
curriculum - anti colonialism - and no longer an anti-fascist
revolution. Why? The answer is that western countries strongly
support the democracy movement and constantly criticise the junta
over human rights abuses.
In the state-run newspaper published in 1990, the junta daily
described a massacre by the British troops, which occurred in
Taung Tha Township, Mandalay Division. These serial articles are
now being published in the state-run newspapers again. The
so-called journalists who were recruited by the junta had many
interviews with those local people who were still alive and
eyewitnesses. The junta had many interviews with the villagers
who were living in Mandalay and Magwe Divisions, where the
massacres by the British troops occurred during the second war.
This doesn't mean that the junta is trying to explore the true
history.
According to the local villagers, the massacres occurred not only
under the British rulers but also under the Japanese troops. At
first, they just wondered why the junta only tried to dig out
history about crimes perpetrated by the British rulers. It was
only after the villagers were forcibly sent to an infrastructure
site as forced labourers that they realised that the way the
junta used was the same one the Japanese troops used during the
war.
If every elderly person who had lived under both the British
rulers and Japanese troops were asked, they would exactly explain
the true story, that they never saw or heard about rape cases
committed by British troops, only by Japanese troops.
"To be frank with you, there was nothing good about living
under either invader. However, the Japanese troops were more
brutal and ruder than the British. As far as I know, the British
seemed to follow and respect the laws and regulations," said
one elderly man who had to live under both rulers. The Japanese
troops seemed to understand only killing, torture and rape. I am
not confused about why the junta tries to hide the history of
Japanese occupation. It is now holding the same attitude to its
ethnic minority people at the borderline. Mind you, just after
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi criticised the junta as fascist, the
generals were so angry that they finally put her under house
arrest for six years."
Another one said, "It is right that our army was born in
Japan. It's also right that Saya San, a famous farmer revolution
leader under the British rulers, was hanged in Irrawaddy prison
in central Burma. It's true that Bo Aung Gyaw, a famous student
leader, was killed during the 1938 demonstrations. We can try to
understand those sorrowful happenings because we had to live
under invaders. But I don't understand why under our Burmese
rulers we are now treated even worse. If Bo Aung Gyaw was killed
during the 1988 uprising, we could not even see his corpse. If
Saya San was arrested under this junta, he would be tortured
before his death sentence. We are now under our own neo-fascist
rulers."
His explanation is very clear about the Burmese ruling junta.
Although there were many innocent people and students who were
killed during the 1988 uprising, the junta claimed that just 15
were killed. So far, nobody knows where other corpses were
secretly buried. Many NLD members and activists have been sent to
prison without trial. Many political prisoners died in custody
because of harassment and the prison conditions. In the military
intelligence centre, all political detainees have been tortured,
not by the Japanese and British, but by the Burmese military
intelligence officers. Although the junta claims that the civil
war occurred because of the 'divide and rule policy of the
British, it also uses this policy towards the minority ethnic
groups, the NLD, students and people.
"The junta complains about the worst things of colonialism
on the surface. However, I believe that in their minds they thank
the British too much for how to divide the opposition
groups", said a retired history lecturer. "In reality,
the junta chose to practice even worse things than former fascist
Japan and the British colonialists. The junta has been using many
laws and rules which were adopted by the British to oppress our
Burmese people, especially the revolutionaries."
Under British colonial rule, the laws regulating prisons and
courts were created. The junta uses the same laws, but has 0
taken away the rights that prisoners once had under the British.
Now political prisoners have no right to a lawyer for their
trial. Once imprisoned, they are not allowed to read or study. Ye
Teiza, a prominent student activist and former political
prisoner, said, "I have a chance to meet with many old
politicians in prison who have lived in prison under the British
and the BSPP. When I ask which prison situation is much
convenient, they all answer that the situation under the junta is
the worst."
The junta always complains very loudly that General Aung San was
assassinated by a British government conspiracy. However, from
the time of the BSPP to the ruling military junta, no top
military leader has paid respect to Martyr's Day on July r 19,
when Gen Aung San and other national leaders were assassinated.
They are never interested in attending the Martyr's Day ceremony.
In the past, Burmese people anxiously awaited the sound of
sirens, which would sound on Martyrs Day at the time that Gen
Aung San was assassinated. This allowed them to pay; their
respects to their national heroes, and they would observe
one minute's silence. Under the junta there are no more sirens as
the national sign of sorrow. This clearly means that the junta
has been trying to tarnish the image of Gen Aung San.
Why? The answer may be that Gen Aung San is the father of Daw
Aung San Suu Kyi who is supported by the majority of Burmese
people. If Gen Aung San had, been assassinated by Japanese
troops, the junta would try to hide the whole history of Martyr's
Day, and not only tarnish the image of Gen Aung San. As long as
the British and western countries strongly criticise the junta's
human rights abuses and ignorance of the May 1990 election
result, and Dr Michael Aris is still British, the words that
loudly come from the junta will be "anti-colonialism".
As long as the junta, which has been accused of being neo-fascist
by its own people, holds the power, and the Japanese government
healthily supports so-called humanitarian aid to the junta, the
antifascist revolution will no longer appear on the leaves of
Burmese history. However, it is the Burmese people who will need
to ' prove that "history is not in the hands of the
junta".
MOE AYE is a former political prisoner and now working with the
All Burma Students' Democratic Front (ABSDF).
The Bangkok Post: Chetta to Visit Burma Next Month
26 November, 1998
Gen Chettha Thanajaro, adviser to deputy premier Maj Gen Sanan
Kachornprasart, will leave for Burma early next month to seek
Burmese cooperation to suppress illegal drug activities along the
common border, a security source said yesterday. The source said
the former army chief has a plan to raise border cooperation
especially on drug issues with Burmese military strongman Lt Gen
Khin Nyunt secretary-general of Burma's State Peace and
Development Council, during the unofficial trip.
AFP: BOYCOTT THREAT OVER BURMA
20 November, 1998
A US human rights group has warned that certain US apparel
companies will soon be hit with a boycott unless they pull out of
Burma, where it says a military dictatorship has imposed "a
regime of terror". The National Labor Committee, at a press
conference in Washington this week, also denounced what it
described as gross violations of workers' rights at plants in El
Salvador doing contract work for US companies Nike and Liz
Claiborne. "Once again, this time in Burma, we see US
apparel companies and retailers tragically on the wrong side of
human rights and democracy, choosing instead to side with and
prop up the vicious Burmese military dictators," NLC
director Charles Kernaghan charged.
He said US apparel imports from Burma, assembled by workers who
earn US4c an hour, increased 43 per cent in the first six months
of 1998 compared with the same period last year. As a result,
certain US apparel firms doing business in the country would soon
be targeted in a nationwide consumer boycott. US retailers
Bradlees, JC Penny, Sears and Marshalls sell clothes made in
Burma and apparel companies such as Fashion Knitwear Group, Arrow
Shirt and Karl Kani import clothing made there, according to the
NLC.
"We will ask consumers to shop with their conscience during
the holiday season and help restore democracy and respect for
human rights to the 49 million people in Burma who are suffering
under a regime of terror," Mr Kernaghan said. The NLC also
pointed to reports of worker abuse at the Formosa factory in San
Bartolo, El Salvador, which makes apparel for Nike, Adidas and
other companies.
Nike spokeswoman Maria Eitel, responding to the charges, stressed
that the company had "zero tolerance for any sort of abuse
of our workers" and in the past had punished factories that
violated its code of conduct. At three plants in El Salvador
operated by the South Korean-owned company Do All, workers sew
clothing under contract for Liz Claiborne for US60c an hour, well
below subsistence levels, according to the National Labor
Committee.
Workers are forced to put in overtime, employees who become
pregnant are fired and "at least five (union) organising
drives have been crushed with illegal firings", the
committee charged. A Liz Claiborne statement said "parts of
the National Labor Committee's report are either incorrect or
exaggerated".
JOURNAL OF COMMERCE: MASSACHUSETTS TRIES TO REVIVE
MYANMAR BOYCOTT
23 November, 1998 by Michael S. Lelyveld
BOSTON -- A Massachusetts lawmaker said he may file new
legislation to halt public investment in companies doing business
with Myanmar. Rep. Byron Rushing, who authored the 1996 selective
purchasing law set aside by a federal judge, said activists are
considering a measure requiring commonwealth pension funds to
pull their funds out of corporations linked with military-ruled
Myanmar. The move would be a different tack for rights activists
after U.S. District Court Judge Joseph Tauro ordered an
injunction Thursday against the law.
The judge halted enforcement of the curbs on state contracting
with companies that do business with Myanmar, after ruling on
Nov. 4 that the law is unconstitutional. Massachusetts Assistant
Attorney General Thomas Barnico said an appeal may be filed as
soon as today asking either Judge Tauro or the appeals court to
reinstate the law. Frank Kittredge, president of the National
Foreign Trade Council, which brought the landmark suit against
the "subfederal" sanction in April, said the corporate
lobbying group is likely to fight any motion to keep the law in
effect.
"I think we would prefer to have it unenforceable," Mr.
Kittredge said.
The suit by the 580-member association was intended to set a
precedent for challenging dozens of subfederal measures against
companies that trade with countries ranging from Myanmar to
Nigeria. Judge Tauro ruled that the Massachusetts law infringes
on the federal power to regulate foreign affairs. The state
argues that it is only exercising its right to choose its own
suppliers. Mr. Kittredge said it has not been decided whether to
proceed against selective purchasing statutes enacted by other
states, counties and municipalities before the Massachusetts
appeal runs its course. The trade council is hoping for an
expedited process, however. Mr. Barnico estimated that the appeal
could be decided in two months. Legal scholars say the issue may
eventually go to the Supreme Court. The full extent of Judge
Tauro's injunction remains unclear. Neither side knows, for
example, whether Massachusetts will be forced to shut down its
Web site, where companies doing business with Myanmar are
identified.
Mr. Rushing, a Boston Democrat, said he believes the state still
has the right to ask companies whether they trade with Myanmar.
The new divestment legislation would allow the state to keep its
list active, he said.Massachusetts had both a selective
purchasing law and a divestment measure against South Africa in
the 1980s. Both were effective on bringing pressure on the
apartheid government, Neither was challenged. So far, no other
states have a divestment law aimed at Myanmar. The injunction
could lead to suspension of a World Trade Organization complaint
brought by the European Union and Japan. The complaint, which is
due to go before a dispute resolution panel, alleges that the
Massachusetts law violates a 1994 Government Procurement
Agreement on open bidding.
Since Judge Tauro's ruling, U.S. officials have been trying to
convince the EU and Japan to withdraw their action because the
Massachusetts law is technically no longer in effect.
"I'm sure this will be reported to Brussels and that it will
be looked at very seriously," said an EU official in
Washington, referring to the injunction. The EU filed a
friend-of-the-court brief supporting the trade council's stand.