BurmaNet News: November 26 2002

[editor at burmanet.org]

November 26 2002 Issue #2129 (Repost)

INSIDE BURMA

Irrawaddy: Complaint over harassment on Suu Kyi trip
SCMP: Military rulers will dictate Myanmar’s future; the self-serving
attitude of the top generals will ensure their survival

DRUGS

Xinhua: Myanmar exposes over 1,900 drug-related cases

REGIONAL

Mizzima: Indian exporters punch Burmese agricultural markets
Independent: Myanmar PM due on 17 December
AFP: India ends ban on powerful separatist Naga guerrillas
AFP: One million new AIDS infections in Asia-Pacific in 2002: UN

STATEMENTS/OTHER

FBC: Burlington Coat Factory wraps up Burma buys
Editor's Note: Burmanet.org site

INSIDE BURMA

Irrawaddy
November 26 2002

Complaint over Harassment on Suu Kyi Trip

Burma's opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) has lodged an
official complaint to the ruling junta after local military intelligence
(MI) officers reportedly harassed party leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in
northern Shan State, an NLD official said today.
Suu Kyi finished her trip in the south of the state last week, then headed
north when harassment by MI officers began.
In the party's convoy on its way from Taunggyi to Maymyo, a local
intelligence van sped up to take videotape Suu Kyi's car at the front of
the convoy. As the van rushed to get ahead of the convoy, one of the NLD
escort motorcycles fell and crashed on the roadside.
U Lwin, an NLD spokesperson, said incidents in the town of Muse, northern
Shan State were worse. Before Suu Kyi arrived at the town, military
intelligence officers instructed local people not to welcome the democracy
leader.
Local people on motorcycles were banned from going out to welcome the
opposition leader. Restrictions meant that fewer people went to greet Suu
Kyi at the local NLD office, sources say only around 200 supporters
gathered to see her.
Intelligence officers watched Suu Kyi closely. "Local intelligence
videotaped Aung San Suu Kyi even when she went to rest room," U Lwin told
The Irrawaddy. "She told authorities that it wasn't appropriate, but they
continued."
In Hispaw, local people were also warned to stay away from Suu Kyi and NLD
officials visiting the area. Despite restrictions and harassment in
Maymyo, Muse and Hispaw, around 50,000 supporters welcomed Suu Kyi when
she arrived in the town of Kyaukme.
The NLD office in Rangoon confirmed that Suu Kyi was in Mandalay today
where she would stay overnight. Suu Kyi is due to return to Rangoon
tomorrow.
Suu Kyi began her trip to Shan State on Nov 13. It was her first trip to
the state since her release from house arrest in May this year.
___________

South China Morning Post
November 26 2002

Military rulers will dictate Myanmar's future The self-serving attitude of
the top generals will ensure their survival
By William Barnes

A COUPLE OF years ago, a technocrat in Myanmar showed signs of distress at
a military seminar when his proposals for greater transparency and more
free markets were ignored.

Afterwards the army chief, General Maung Aye, threw an arm around him and
said: "Don't take it so personally if we don't accept all your ideas."

The technocrat later recounted how his unspoken reply was: "Damn you. It
is for the sake of the country that I am saying this, not my pride." In
the small world of privileged Yangon, the ruling generals are often talked
about as if they were willful children: arbitrary, impulsive,
mistake-prone and very, very stubborn.

Political dialogue in Myanmar - the best hope for a breakthrough - between
the military regime and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi "doesn't seem
to be getting very far", as James Kelly, United States Assistant Secretary
of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, pointed out last week.

Knowing what the senior military leaders think, see and want is now more
important than ever. Knowing what they want is probably the easiest to
answer: legitimacy.

This would provide cover for the top generals to carry on playing their
power games and to justify their past actions. It would also safeguard
their personal wealth and security.

To probe beyond those logical assumptions is much harder: to simply write
them off as unsophisticated thugs misses the point that they are efficient
in protecting themselves with both guns and a sincerely held belief in
their "mission".

Even now, critics of the regime frequently describe it as if it had hardly
changed from the days when the old strongman, Ne Win, held his one and
only press conference in 1958.

The waiting journalists could hear the great man berate his underlings as
he approached the venue: "Damn fools. Why do you want to hold a press
conference? What do you want me to say?" And he said nothing.

Ne Win was a one-off: eccentric, shy, cunning and ruthless. But his
influence must now be minimal with generals who play golf with the leaders
of friendly countries, hold press conferences and participate in
international forums.

Yes, the economy is a disaster, but the State Peace and Development
Committee, as the ruling junta styles itself, does make a fist of being an
administration that intends to stick around.

"Most ethnic Burmans and all minorities see the regime as a praetorian
guard protecting a privileged caste; to believe otherwise, it seems to me,
underestimates their intelligence," said American Myanmar-watcher Shelby
Tucker in a recent study.

Perhaps, but as others have pointed out, the massive expansion of the
military means most families in the heartlands have at least one relative
in uniform - with access to better quality and cheaper food.

"The same individuals who in the privacy of their own living room watch
the evening news and denounce the always-featured junta members, cabinet
ministers and regional commanders, will spend the next day scheming to get
their son or nephew into the Defence Services Academy," said historian
Mary Callahan. Foreigners who laugh quietly at the outrageously crude
exhortations that to betray the military is to betray the nation, and
similar sentiments, on huge billboards scattered around Yangon, rarely
realise the messages are directed as much at members of the regime as
anyone else.

The military sometimes talks as if it is virtually synonymous with the
nation: if it survives then so does the country. This may be self serving,
but it is more true, in a sense, than many critics would like to admit.
More than four decades of blunt military rule have seen many non-military
institutions crumble. Any organisation or group that is not supported by
the regime is suspect - and quickly neutered.

This applies to the monkhood. When the Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon - writer
Somerset Maugham's "stab of hope in the dark night of the soul" - was
being fitted with a new decorative crown on its spire, state-run
television ran almost round-the-clock coverage. Yet hardly a saffron robe
was seen. Instead, senior generals filled the screen for days.

The exercise showed how the generals bow to no one, but it also
illustrated their desperate search for legitimacy.

Even if it is a game of raw power between uniformed leaders at the top,
the regime can operate knowing that the history of modern Myanmar is in
many respects the history of its army. It "won" independence, it held the
heartlands against marauding rival ethnic groups and it beat a big
communist insurgency.

To enter the new Defence Services Museum in Yangon is to enter history, a
primer in military justification.

"Visitors are expected to tour dozens of displays and leave with a sense
that nothing good in contemporary Burma came to pass without the hard work
of the tatmadaw military ," wrote one visitor.

Yet, by focusing on their own security and privileges, the generals and
their friends have merely extended the divide that separates them from the
ordinary people, despite the ocean of propaganda about the "servants of
the people".

Loyalty is so valued that marauding soldiers in the ethnic uplands go
unpunished and, closer to Yangon, quiet mayhem unfolds. Yangon remains
awash with speculation about the more brutal criminal activities of Ne
Win's three grandsons - sentenced to death by hanging for treason.

More recently, there was an ugly anti-military riot in the capital when a
monk who protested about the near-rape of a friend by a neighbourhood
militia was badly beaten.

Exasperated "friends" of the military can jokingly refer to generals as if
they were difficult relatives, while others run in fear of their lives.
The conundrum for critics hoping to see the generals bowed or broken is
that they survive in an oasis of self-justification that provides a logic
for resisting their own ousting.

The theory that they must eventually accept that the country is now in
such a dire state that it should be placed under new management does not
take into sufficient account their staying power. And stay they will - for
a while yet.

DRUGS

Xinhua News Agency
November 26 2002

Myanmar exposes over 1,900 drug-related cases

The Myanmar authorities have exposed 1,966 drug-related cases since the
beginning of this year, disclosed Police Chief Brigadier-General Khin Yee
Tuesday.

Meeting with the press, Khin Yee also disclosed that during the period,
the authorities seized 300 kg of heroin, 1,737 kg opium as well as 9.191
million tablets of stimulant drug. He revealed that from April 1999 to
November this year, the authorities destroyed 63,112 acres of opium poppy
plantations in the country.

He further disclosed that since April this year, the authorities also
destroyed 165.646 tons of poppy seeds turned in by farmers in five
divisions and states under a poppy seeds exchange project. The five
divisions and states are Mandalay, Shan, Kayah, Rakhine and Kachin.

The destroyed poppy seeds have prevented cultivation of 41,050. 9 hectares
of opium fields from which 446.32 tons of opium can be produced.

According to official statistics, Myanmar burnt up seized narcotic drugs
for 16 times in the capital of Yangon since 1990 and 27 times in border
areas since 1991.

The narcotic drugs, destroyed in Yangon alone including 3,970 kg of
heroin, 26,722 kg opium, 5,852 kg marijuana and 115.8 million tablets of
stimulant, valued at 4,919 million dollars.

Myanmar started implementing a 15-year drug elimination plan in 1999,
covering 54 drug cultivating and producing townships.

____REGIONAL______

Mizzima
November 26 2002

Indian Exporters Punch Burmese Agricultural Markets

Guwahahti, After incurring huge ongoing revenue losses due to overseas
manufactured goods illegally flowing across the Indo-Burma border, it
seems that the Indian Commerce Ministry is now breathing a small sigh of
relief.  Indian agricultural products have reversed the flow of revenue by
hitting the Burmese markets over the last couple of years.  And the
figures indicate that the volume of export to Burma has been steadily
increasing.
According to statistics gathered by the Agricultural and Processed Food
Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), the export figure of
agricultural products with Burma during 1999 was recorded at Rs 3 crore
(US$ 620 000), while in 2001 it stood at over Rs 7 crore (US$ 1.45
million).  The export figures for 2002 thus far have been recorded at
Rs11.18 crore (US$ 2.32 million).  During this period, Indian traders have
exported various items including fruit and vegetable seeds, fresh mangoes,
pickles, buffalo meat, poultry products, cocoa products, basmati rice and
cereal products.
"Our agricultural products have dominated the Burmese markets due to their
quality, and keep in view that we are planning to produce and export
different items as per demand within Burma", an official source told this
correspondent today. The APEDA representative went on to say that while
Indian vegetable seeds have been in high demand in the world market in
general, these seeds have been particularly popular in Burma.  "Apart from
vegetable seeds, buffalo meat and poultry products have also been popular
in the Burmese markets. In view of a growing demand for poultry products,
we have set a high target", he said, adding that during 1999 about 545
metric tons (MT) of poultry products were supplied and in 2000-2001 the
export of poultry products had touched 743 MT.
Expressing satisfaction over the increasing volume of export from India to
Burma, the APEDA official stated that if the trend continued, then Burma
would become a major market for India.
The APEDA has been encouraging growers and traders in North East India to
export apples and pineapples to Burma. The North Eastern Indian states of
Arunachal Pradesh and Assam, both of which share a border with Burma, have
been under pressure to maximise their apple and pineapple production.  The
APEDA has been supporting growers in adopting a scientific farming
methodology in order to produce high quality fruit that can then be used
to tap the Burmese markets.
The APEDA source said that the authorities should take a pragmatic step
towards creating a legal trading channel with Burma, a move that would
benefit the country in the long term.
_______

The Independent
November 26 2002

Myanmar PM due on 17 December

Myanmar Burma Prime Minister Senior Gen Than Shwe will pay an official
visit to Bangladesh on 17-18 December at the invitation of Prime Minister
Begum Khaleda Zia, foreign office sources said yesterday.

The date of Than Shwe's visit was finalised during the just-concluded
official tour of Foreign Minister M. Morshed Khan to Myanmar. The foreign
minister visited Yangon Rangoon on 20-22 November and held talks with his
Myanmar counterpart U Win Aung.

A coordination meeting, held at the foreign office yesterday, discussed
the programme and preparation of the forthcoming visit of the Myanmar head
of the government.

According to tentative programme, Senior Gen Than Shwe will arrive in
Dhaka 17 December morning leading a high-level delegation of his
government.

Official talks between the heads of the government of Bangladesh and
Myanmar will be held on the same day. Whole gamut of bilateral relations
including economic cooperation between the two countries will dominate the
talks, sources said.

Than Shwe will call on President Iajuddin Ahmed and meet the leaders of
FBCCI Federation of Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry before
leaving for home on 18 December afternoon.
_____

Agence France-Presse
November 26 2002

India ends ban on powerful separatist Naga guerrillas

India on Tuesday lifted a ban on a powerful northeastern tribal rebel
group in a bid to end separatist violence that has claimed 25,000 lives
since 1947, officials said in New Delhi.

They said the decision to reverse the ban on the most powerful faction of
the rebel Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN) was likely to
pave the way for peace talks and end five decades of bloodshed in Nagaland
state.

Home ministry officials said the government of Prime Minister Atal Behari
Vajpayee decided not to re-impose the ban, which lapsed Tuesday, on the
NSCN splinter group headed by guerrilla leaders T. Muivah and I. C. Swu.
The ban on the NSCN was renewed two years ago.

Government sources said preliminary parleys would begin soon with Muivah
and Swu before official-level peace talks could begin in India.

The move, which comes amid a bilateral ceasefire, could help broker a
solution to the Naga insurgency in the country's troubled northeast, which
borders Bhutan, Bangladesh, China and Myanmar.

The last round of tentative peace talks between India's negotiator, K.
Padmanabhaiah, and Naga rebel leaders was in Amsterdam in July. Previous
rounds were held across South Asia.

The rebel leaders have in the past refused to meet in India due to the
sheaf of criminal charges pending against them in the states of Nagaland,
Manipur and Assam.

As a goodwill measure, the Nagaland state government has withdrawn cases
against the main leaders of NSCN.

The NSCN has fought for decades to create an independent homeland for
ethnic Nagas in Nagaland, which borders Myanmar.

Last year India mulled extending the truce with the NSCN to Naga rebels in
neighboring states, but the move was scuttled amid violent protests by
members of separate ethnic groups who feared a "Greater Nagaland" was
being created.

The NSCN split in 1988 and New Delhi has separate ceasefire agreements
with the two rival groups.

The ceasefire with the faction led by Swu and Muivah opened August 1, 1997
and has been renewed annually since. The ceasefire with the junior NSCN
faction was implemented last year.
______

Agence France-Presse
November 26 2002

One million new AIDS infections in Asia-Pacific in 2002: UN

One million people in the Asia Pacific region became infected with HIV
this year, while an estimated half a million others died from the disease,
the United Nations said Tuesday.

In its end of year report, the UNAIDS agency said that in the face of an
epidemic which continued to spread there was a "vital need" for prevention
programmes focusing on people most at risk of infection.

"We have a narrow window of opportunity to prevent the epidemic from
becoming much worse in Asia ... but many governments in the region still
don't see the epidemic as one which needs to be addressed with urgency,"
said UNAIDS regional team leader Tony Lisle. "Around 11 million people in
Asia will become HIV infected in the next five years, and unless the
response to the epidemic is greatly increased and expanded in scale we
will really have a major problem," he told a press conference.

The UNAIDS report said infection rates in most Asian nations, with the
exception of Thailand, Myanmar and Cambodia, remained low. But these
figures masked serious epidemics localised in certain communities and
districts.

"India's national adult HIV prevalence rate of less than one percent
offers little indication of the serious situation it faces," it said,
noting that a massive 3.97 million people in the country were infected by
the end of 2001.

In China, epidemics have broken out among groups including blood donors,
IV drug users and sex workers in the southern provinces of Yunnan, Guangxi
and Guangdong, it said.

"Unless effective responses rapidly take hold a total 10 million Chinese
will have acquired HIV by the end of this decade -- a number equivalent to
the entire population of Belgium."

An upsurge of injecting drug use has been identified as a major new source
of infection, with more than 50 percent of IV drug users in parts of
Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand and India found to be HIV-positive.

In Indonesia, where IV drug use was virtually unknown just a decade ago,
up to 196,000 people are now thought to be injecting narcotics, fuelling
an epidemic of HIV infection.

"National estimates indicate that some 43,000 (Indonesia) injecting drug
users are already infected with HIV. With needle-sharing the norm, HIV is
likely to spread much more widely throughout this population in the next
few years."

UNAIDS announced that next year the global AIDS campaign will focus on
discrimination against people living with HIV-AIDS.

Lisle said recent research found that 31 percent of HIV positive people
seeking hospital treatment in the Indonesian capital Jakarta were refused
access.

"This is a very common story around the region ... stigma and
discrimination is clearly preventing and hampering responses," he said.

However, there was some good news in the end-of-year report, with Cambodia
singled out as a success story after rocketing infection rates were
successfully stabilised.

HIV prevalence among sex workers there has declined from 42 percent in
1998 to 29 percent in 2002, thanks in part to condom campaigns which saw
their use increase from 37 percent in 1997 to 90 percent in 2001.

"In Cambodia over the past four or five years the epidemic has been turned
around. It is definitely a combination of government commitment with the
involvement of civil society and the community," said UNAIDS program
development director Werasit Sittitrai.

STATEMENTS/OTHER

Free Burma Coalition
November 26 2002

Burlington Coat Factory Wraps Up Burma Buys

Largest U.S. Coat Retailer Becomes 34th Company to Ban Products from Burma

WASHINGTON and BURLINGTON, NJ - Burlington Coat Factory, the largest U.S.
seller of coats with $2.5 billion in sales and over 300 stores, has
announced that it will no longer stock merchandise made in the Southeast
Asian country of Burma, due to the human rights situation there. The
statement follows a two-month education campaign by human rights
supporters and Burmese refugees. Burlington has been stocking a
significant quantity of products from Burma, including by brands like Karl
Kani, Rocawear, and Rafaella.

“By selling products from Burma, companies help prop up Burma’s military
dictatorship,” says Ko Ko Lay of the San Francisco Burma Roundtable.
“Businesses like Burlington have come to realize this, and they don’t want
any part of it. We commend them for their principle.”

In a November 22 letter to the Free Burma Coalition, Burlington stated,
“
this will confirm that all merchandise buyers at Burlington Coat
Factory
are being instructed not to purchase any goods manufactured in
Myanmar.”

Burlington joins 33 other companies in banning products from Burma,
including retailers like The Children’s Place, which has recently pledged
to cease all production in Burma and Federated Department Stores, the
largest upscale retailer in the U.S., which implemented a policy against
stocking Burmese-made goods in September. The U.K. oil company, Premier,
also announced its withdrawal from Burma in September.

Members of the Free Burma Coalition, the American Anti-Slavery Group,
Sacramentans for International Labor Rights, and other groups first wrote
to Burlington in March after finding whole racks of products bearing “Made
in Burma” tags.

The UN, the International Labor Organization, the U.S. State Department,
Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have repeatedly condemned
human rights abuses under the military regime. Last month Human Rights
Watch issued a report showing that Burma leads the world in child
soldiers, with over 70,000. Burma’s regime, led by strongman Than Shwe,
takes boys of the streets at gunpoint and forces them to join the
military, according to the report. Burma has also been repeatedly
condemned in recent months over the military’s mass rape of women in
ethnic minority areas.

“Unfortunately, there are still a few companies, like Lord & Taylor, that
support Burma’s dictators through trade,” says Heidi Maclean of the
Sacramentans for International Labor Rights, “But more and more are saying
‘No’ to forced labor, rape, and child soldiers.”
_______

Editor's Note

Dear readers:

I am pleased to announce the inauguration of the new BurmaNet News site,
which can be located at www.burmanet.org.  Though the BurmaNet staff is
still in the process of revamping our rather voluminous archives, readers
will have access to the last month of BurmaNet issues.  If you have any
questions or comments about our new website, please direct email to
editor at burmanet.org.

Thank you for your patience,

Editor