BurmaNet News: December 4 2002

[editor at burmanet.org]

December 4 2002 Issue #2133

INSIDE BURMA

Asian Tribune: Detained journalist Win Tin transferred to Rangoon general
hospital
Asian Tribune: Investigation on License to Rape—a ploy crumbles under the
very feet of the Army Generals
Network Media Group: Shan New Year festival barred due to visit of Gen.
Khin Nyunt’s wife
DVB: Mon rebels are reuniting
DVB: CRPP new members
DVB: Sweet charity—thriving on other people’s woes
Kaladan: Burmese Nasaka troops summarily executed two Rohingya villagers
in Arakan

DRUGS

Xinhua: Myanmar exposes 66,000 drug-related cases in 14 years

REGIONAL

AFP: Thailand raps Myanmar over repatriation of illegal workers
Bangkok Post: Wa free 16 Thais

INTERNATIONAL

AFP: Media watchdog calls for release of ailing jailed Myanmar journalist
Narinjara: Swedish Ambassador calls at villagers in western Burma

EDITORIAL/OTHER

Myanmar Information Committee: [Response to Dec 3 Washington Times editorial]
Charles Wallace Burma Trust: Funding for Burmese students in Britain

INSIDE BURMA

Asian Tribune December 4 2002

Detained journalist Win Tin again transferred to Rangoon general hospital

Reporters Without Borders (Reporters Sans Frontières) and the Burma Media
Association (of Burmese journalists in exile) today voiced their concern
about the health of detained journalist and pro-democracy activist Win
Tin, who was transferred to Rangoon general hospital on 23 November.

"Following the recent release of around 100 political prisoners, the
Burmese military government should pursue this policy by freeing ailing
political prisoners as a priority," Reporters Without Borders
secretary-general Robert Ménard and Burma Media Association chairman U
Thaung said in a letter to the interior minister, Col. Tin Hlaing. Win
Tin, who is 72 and has been imprisoned for the past 13 years, should be an
immediate beneficiary of such a policy, the letter said.

Win Tin was taken to the district hospital near Insein prison, on the
outskirts of Rangoon, on 22 November for tests in connection with a heart
ailment. Because of his electrocardiogram result and the existence of a
localised infection, a doctor requested his transfer to Rangoon general
hospital the next day.

Since then, he has been kept in one of the rooms for political prisoners
in the hospital's ground floor where Htwe Myint and Doctor Than Nyein,
members of Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy are also being
treated. Reporters Without Borders and the Burma Media Association have
been told that he is being held in a room of about 15 square metres, where
he is examined by a doctor every day and receives medicine appropriate for
his condition.

Conditions at Insein prison have taken a heavy toll on Win Tin's health,
and he has had to be hospitalised several times. While in prison, he has
had two heart attacks, high blood pressure, diabetes and spondylitis (an
inflammation of the vertebrae). He has also undergone an operation for a
hernia
______

Asian Tribune December 3 2002

Investigation on License to Rape – A ploy crumbles under the very feet of
the Army Generals
by K.T. Rajasingham

The Burmese (Myanmar) Governments propaganda ploy on the allegation of the
investigation of rape charges in the Shan state has fizzled out. In the
height of the criticism pouring in against those barbaric acts of the
Burmese soldiers for mercilessly raping women in the Shan state, the
military government was forced to make amends by ordering some form of
investigation. But their move failed miserably.

When this writer made a field survey of this most heart-wrenching issue of
rape and destruction of women, the results clearly showed that the Burmese
Generals’ ploy has crumbled into pieces under their very own feet.

"As far as I know, the State and Peace Development Council (SPDC) is very
eager to get the support from a credible international organisation
proving the claims of rapes are not true. They have invited Professor
Sergio Pinheiro to investigate this, but got denial of him based on many
reasons. Then, they claimed that a International Committee fro Red Cross
(ICRC) delegation came and already left for Shan State to make inquiry on
this issue. But ICRC rejected this claim saying it do not have the mandate
to do so,” wrote Sann Aung, Minister of the Prime Minister’s Office (East)
in the National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma (NCGUB – a
government in exile), to an e-mail inquiry of this writer.

Earlier, this writer wrote to Sann Aung, “Asian Tribune understand that
the Burmese Government in Rangoon has arranged and dispatched a Red Cross
delegation to the North-Eastern Shan State, to investigate allegations
that, Burmese soldiers raped local women to retaliate against Shan
insurgents. I wish to have your comment.”

In reply to the inquiry, Sann Aung wrote back: “Earlier, SPDC said they
have some misunderstanding on the ICRC visit to Shan State saying what
they said before is not true.”

The e-mail communication continues: “In the month of August and September,
the SPDC formed and sent three investigation teams to Shan state for these
rape cases and all reported back that all the claims were only lies with
the intention of defaming the Military”

Sann Aung added: “But they found out they cannot get the international
recognition of these reports. So, not they are trying restlessly to get
recognition from credible international organisations such as UN or ICRC
to support their claims.

> He emphasized in his letter: “We believed that in the current situation
of no rule of law, there can be no proper investigation done by any
organisation on these claims of rapes (I mean inside Burma). No one will
dare enough to testify against the military.”,br>
San Aung recalled another tragic incident: “Here, I remembered in 2000,
about ten Shan people were executed by military for their refusal to
provide forced labor saying there was already an order by SPDC not to use
forced labor. The ILO raised the issue with SPDC, which rejected that the
accusation is groundless.

This writer interviewed several ordinary Burmese in Thailand about the
possibility of conducting any investigation regarding the charges of rape
against the Burmese soldiers in the Shan state. Al most all in unanimity
told that, this is something practically impossible.

A Burmese as well as a Shan, who is recognised as a refugee with the UNHCR
office in Bangkok said, “ How can the innocent rape victims, the Shan
women and girls come forward to give witness where there is no protection
for them? Already most of the Shan women are in the hiding. It may be
possible only in a third country and not inside Burma, where the Army rule
the roost.” A former political prisoner and a writer Zin Linn, in his
communication wrote: “According to my point of view, none of the enquiry
into '' Licence to Rape '' cannot find the truth under the military
regime. All victims convinced that if they try to expose the truth, the
army will not allow them to breathe freely any longer, nor their
relatives. So the fundamental question is lack of democracy, freedom and
justice.

He added: “If there is freedom of press to some extent, then the truth
might appear through a narrow corner. But the press had been completely
cracked down for the past 40 years. Then, it is common thing in Burma that
no one dares to whisper the abuse of power by the soldiers. That’s why
Burmese people seriously hope for political reforms and the restoration of
the democratic form of government. To unfold the rape cases of Shan women,
there must be a genuine Constitution where basic human freedom enshrined,
which should guarantee safe and security for every citizen. And the
Constitution, the supreme law of the land must guarantee that no one is
above the law.

Earlier, Burmese Government in one of its propaganda ploy announced in the
first week of November that, a delegation of the International Red Cross
Committee has gone to Shan state to investigate allegations that Burmese
soldiers raped local women to retaliate against Shan insurgents. The news
item was reported under the headlines “Red Cross in Burma to probe rape
claims” and was dated 6 November

According to this Reuter agency news item: The red Cross delegation left
Rangoon on Saturday at the invitation of the Government to report fully on
the humanitarian situation and allegation of systematic rape, said
government statement issued late on Monday. “ Violence against women is
not now, nor has its ever been a policy or practice of our government,”
the statement quoted government spokesman Hla Min as saying.

The news item added: “This is written into laws of our country, and it
applies equally to all members of the defence forces” Hla Min said.

The statement said that the invitation to the International Committee Red
Cross was extended in response to a suggestion by a UN human rights envoy
who ended a 12-day visit to the country last month to assess the
situation.

The envoy Sergio Pinheiro had turned down a government invitation to visit
Shan state to investigate the allegations saying he did not have enough
time for a through probe.

However he urged the junta to allow Red Cross teams access to all conflict
areas to dispel suspicions about the Government conduct.

"We will ensure the ICRC team has the resources and the cooperation they
need for a through investigation to allegation we know to be false,” the
Junta statement said.

The rape allegations were made in a June 2002, report by two Thai based
Shan human rights groups, which claimed to document 173 cases of rape and
sexual violence against Shan girls and women by Burmese troops - Licence
to Rape: An Earth Shattering Revelation - Exclusive Interview

The report received widespread publicity in July when the US Department of
State said it took the allegation seriously.

The Shan are one of the several ethnic minorities seeking autonomy from
Burma’s central government. Armed Shan guerilla frequently battle
government troops.

In the meanwhile International Committee of the Red Cross Myanmar :
Expansion of ICRC activities

The ICRIC news report dated 8-Nov-2002, is as follows:

With the government's consent, the head of the ICRC delegation in Myanmar
is currently touring the border areas of Shan state in order to meet with
the local authorities and the civilian population and to discuss with them
the possibility of expanding ICRC protection and assistance activities in
those areas.

"The ICRC delegation in Myanmar has been carrying out regular visits to
detainees since 1999. Over the years, it has engaged in constructive
dialogue designed to build up a relationship of trust with the
authorities, and it is now seeking to expand its activities to include
other target groups. With this in mind, it has asked for permission to
increase its presence in the country so that it can assess the overall
humanitarian situation. If its request is granted, it will regularly
report its findings to the authorities on a confidential basis with a view
to working out appropriate measures to ensure the protection and security
of the civilian population.

It should be noted that, by virtue of its mandate, the ICRC cannot
investigate the allegations recently made in the report License to Rape.

Two Thai based Shan human rights groups documented 173 cases of rape and
sexual violence against Shan girls and women in the "Licence to Rape," - a
report
________

Network Media Group December 4 2002

Shan New Year festival barred due to visit of Gen. Khin Nyunt's wife

Celebration for Shan New Year festival at Muse, a town bordering China and
Burma, is facing problems because Dr. Khin Win Shwe, wife of Burmese
military Secretary-1 General Khin Nyunt, is visiting northern Shan State
from December 4 to 8, said a Shan national from Sino-Burma border.

Regional authorities barred the celebration of Shan New Year festival
which will be due on December 5 for the security of Daw Khin Win Shwe,
Chairperson of a military backed Burmese women organization, as every year
Shan people celebrate their New Year on the first day of Nat Daw (Ninth
month of Burmese Calendar), said the source.

Shan Herald Agency for News confirmed about the news when NMG contacted to
SHAN.

U Sai Aye, the owner of Muse-based So So Pyae Pyae Hotel and Company, went
for Lashio to meet with the commander of North-Eastern Command on November
27 as township and district level authorities passed each other for
responsibility. But, he could only meet with Deputy Commander at Lashio
and was replied not to hold the New Year Festival because VIP is coming to
Muse.

Nineteen members of the organizing committee of Shan New Year Festival met
on November 29 and decided to move the celebration site from down town to
Loi Tin Kham, a hill on which a pagoda situated east of Muse. They asked
permission again to the local authorities, but no answer was given yet,
said a committee member who does not want to mention his name. But, he
said with or without permission, the celebration will be held at Loi Tin
Kham.

Shan New Year festival has been held every year for long time and Muse is
the most famous and populous in Shan State and more than 50,000 people
including Shan (Tai) from China participate every year at Muse.

Local people claimed that Shan has to ask permission to celebrate New Year
whereas Chinese New Year celebration never needs to get permission though
Shan is one of the biggest nationalities of Burma.
_______

Democratic Voice of Burma December 3 2002

Mon Rebels are reuniting

It is reported that 22 members of the Hanthawadi Restoration Party [HRP]
also known as Mon splinter group have rejoined their former comrades the
New Mon State Party (NMSP) who signed a ceasefire deal with the SPDC.
The group, led by Colonel Naing Va Laing Sung was accepted by General
Naing Aung Naing of the NMSP yesterday morning at a village near Three
Pagodas Pass on the Thai-Burma border. With them they brought weapons and
12 families.
The unification came about after the intense offensives on the group by
the Burmese army. But the leader of HRP, Naing Pann Nyunt’s feeling about
the event is still not known. Meanwhile, it is reported that the SPDC and
the splinter group are having intense clashes at Ye township.
_______

Democratic Voice of Burma December 3 2002

CRPP new members

New members will be soon accepted by the oppositions-led CRPP (Committee
for Representing People’s Parliament) in Burma. Political parties which
have already applied for the membership and independent MPs are to be
accepted by the CRPP after meeting and discussing with the Chairman and
Secretary of the CRPP.
The General Secretary of CRPP, U Aye Tha Aung told the DVB about the
expansion as follows:
U Aye Tha Aung : The parties who have been applying for membership are to
meet and discuss with us and we will accept them as members. Initially,
the chairmen of the parties will be discussing with us the policies and
the results of the discussion will be submitted to the next CRPP meeting.
There are two meetings a week. As for emergency meetings, we hold them
whenever they are necessary. When we have more members, we will be
expanding and re-organising the existing sub committees.
At the moment, we have no new plans for education and health. But we will
be deciding what to do in the next annual meeting on the 16th of
September.
What I mainly want to say to the SPDC is " please do not drag your feet.
We want to persuade them to immediately start a meaningful political
dialogue with either the NLD or the CRPP. I am persuading them this
because of the dire situations of the country and for the good of the
people".
_______

Democratic Voice Burma December 3 2002

Sweet Charity - Thriving on other people’s woes

It is reported that the local SPDC authorities in Yenangyaung are
reselling rice and stealing money donated for the victims of fire. Early
this year, a big fire broke out in Yenangyaung, Magwe Division in central
Burma and 934 households were left homeless.
The members of Yenangyaung Association of Rangoon donated one million
kyats and one thousand bags of rice for the victims through Yenangyaung
authorities. The authorities gave a bag of rice to each family and the
remaining 66 bags were sold to a local rice vendor at the black market
price.
Most of the money from the sale of rice was taken by the local authority
Chairman U Chit Thein and the rest, divided among his followers who sold
the rice for him. Moreover, the 8 million kyats which were donated by
people from all over the country were not used for victims and all the
receipts and lists have all disappeared.
________

Kaladan Press December 4 2002

Burmese Nasaka troops summarily executed two Rohingya villagers in Arakan

Burmese Border Security Force ( Nasaka )  summarily executed two Rohingya
villagers on 23rd November 2002 in the Headquarters of Nasaka Sector No.2,
at Maungdaw Township in Arakan State, Western part of Burma, said a source
in Nasaka Headquarters.

The two youths are: Ansar Ullah son of Maulvi Syed Alam, 18 years, Ngaran
Chaung Village; Shafiur Rahman son of Mohamed Ismail, 38 years, Linchi
village, both of them belong to Maungdaw township, Arakan State, the
source further added. These villages are only about 2 miles from
Burma-Bangladesh border.

It may be mentioned here that on 21st October 2002, there was a landmine
blast near the Headquaters of Nasaka Sector 2 at Burapara under Linchi (
Linthi ) Village Track about 38 miles north of Maungdaw town, Arakan
State. In this blast two army personnel including a sergeant were killed
and two other wounded which were earlier laid by the Nasaka troops
themselves. The above two youths were implicated in the blast case but
were not tried in the court. After detaining and torturing inhumanly for
one moth the two were summarily executed in the Nasaksa Headquarters.
___________

DRUGS

Xinhua News Agency December 4 2002

Myanmar exposes 66,000 drug-related cases in 14 years

A total of 66,000 narcotic-drug-related cases have been   exposed by the
Myanmar authorities in the past 14 years since 1988, said the latest
figures released by the Central Committee for Drug Abuse Control.

These cases involved 89,113 offenders, of whom 42 were sentenced to death
and 48 life imprisonment, it said. Meanwhile, according to official
statistics, Myanmar has burnt up narcotic drugs in the capital of Yangon
16 times more than that in 1990 and 27 times more than that in its border
areas in 1991.

Since April this year, the Myanmar authorities have received 165.65 tons
of poppy seeds turned in by growers in five divisions and states under a
seed exchange project, of which 143.22 tons have been set ablaze and 4,850
hectares have been substituted with alternative agricultural crops.

Myanmar targets to bring down its opium production from 828 tons in 2002
to 400 tons in 2003.

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

REGIONAL

Agence France-Presse December 4 2002

Thailand raps Myanmar over repatriation of illegal workers

Thailand's government Wednesday accused the Myanmar junta of failing to
cooperate in a plan to repatriate hundreds of thousands of illegal Myanmar
workers in the kingdom.

"Thailand has repeatedly expressed its wish for Myanmar officials to fully
implement the agreed masterplan for repatriation of illegals," Deputy
Prime Minister Korn Dabbaransi told reporters.

Korn said Myanmar had so far agreed to establish only one holding center
for illegal workers -- in Myawaddy, opposite the western Thai border town
of Mae Sot. Thailand is pushing for two more centers in Kawthung and
Pyathonzu, opposite Thai's Three Pagodas pass in the western province of
Kanchanaburi.

"We have proposed two more holding centers but Myanmar has not yet
approved them," Korn said.

The problem of illegal Myanmar workers has been a perennial irritant to
relations between Thailand and its poorer neighbour.

Under a crackdown launched last year, Thailand is hoping to send back
hundreds of thousands of workers who typically took dirty and poorly-paid
jobs in factories and the agricultural sector.

In April Thailand and Myanmar signed a memorandum of understanding which
enabled Thai business owners to legally import Myanmar workers for certain
regions and industries.

But while a drive to register Myanmar labourers last year drew more than
500,000 names, this year the Labor and Social Welfare Ministry has
reported only 200,000 registrations, sparking concern among various
authorities.

Korn said the government has set up a special task force to crack down on
illegal workers and that both employers and those who shelter them would
be subject to fines and jail terms.

The minister did not give figures for those repatriated so far, but said
the slow pace of return was due to Myanmar's internal problems -- a
reference to the fact that many are afraid to return to life under a
repressive regime.

Thailand's National Security Council estimates that some one million
illegal workers from Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar are in Thailand whom
around 80 percent are Myanmar nationals.
____________

Bangkok Post December 4 2002

Wa free 16 Thais

Chiang Rai _ The pro-Rangoon United Wa State Army yesterday released 16
Thais detained in Burma since 1999.

Of the 16 _ 11 men and five women _ 14 were of Muser origin. When Thailand
closed the checkpoint at Ban San Ton Du in 1999, about 300 Thai people
were arrested and kept at Mong Yawn and Ban Hong prisons.

The 16 Thais were brought to the border by Col Min Chen, personal
secretary of Wei Hsueh-ying, commander of the 171st UWSA Brigade, and
received by a representative of the Third Army at Ban San Makhed in Mae Fa
Luang district of Chiang Rai.
__________

INTERNATIONAL

Agence France-Presse December 4 2002

Media watchdog calls for release of ailing jailed Myanmar journalist

International press watchdog Reporters Without Borders Wednesday called on
the Myanmar junta to release jailed 72-year-old journalist Win Tin who has
been admitted to hospital with a heart condition.

Win Tin was moved from his cell at the notorious Insein jail to a hospital
in the capital Yangon in late November after tests found an infection, the
Paris-based organisation said in a statement received here.

Reporters Without Borders (Reporters Sans Frontieres - RSF) called on the
ruling junta to free all ailing political prisoners, in line with a series
of dissident releases held over the past two years. "Following the recent
release of around 100 political prisoners, the Burmese military government
should pursue this policy by freeing ailing political prisoners as a
priority," said RSF secretary-general Robert Menard.

"Win Tin, who is 72 and has been imprisoned for the past 13 years, should
be an immediate beneficiary of such a policy," he said in a letter to
Interior Minister Colonel Tin Hlaing signed jointly by the Burma Media
Association.

RSF said the years of imprisonment have taken a heavy toll on Win Tins
health, and he has had to be admitted to hospital several times. He has
had two heart attacks, high blood pressure, diabetes and a painful back
inflammation.

While in hospital, he is being kept in a section reserved for political
prisoners where members of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi's party
were also being held, it added.

Since United Nations envoy Razali Ismail kicked off a dialogue between the
government and Aung San Suu Kyi in October 2000, more than 400 political
prisoners have been released in a series of small batches.

However, an estimated 1,200-1,300 remain behind bars in the country, many
of them elderly and infirm.

Tin Win, the former editor of the journal Hantharwaddy, is one of
Myanmar's best-known political prisoners.

He is serving a total of 21 years in prison on a variety of subversion
charges, including informing the UN about ill-treatment in jails.
_______-

Narinjara News December 4 2002

Swedish Ambassador calls at villages in western Burma

Mr Jan Nordlander, Swedish Ambassador in Bangkok called at some villages
in the western part of Burma, northern part of Maungdaw Township in Arakan
(Rakhine) State, according to our correspondent quoting a high-ranking
official.
An entourage of nine dignitaries including Mr Rao, the Chief of UNHCR
branch at Maungdaw, accompanied the Ambassador on his tour on 27 November.
The dignitaries accompanied the Ambassador to Kring-chaung High School,
where he watched the UNHCR distributing rice to the disadvantaged students
in the area.  From there he went to Aung-cheilk-prung (Aung-seik-pyin)
Embroidery School where local jobless female students were attending
training classes.
Later he headed towards another nearby village Uda-rwa where the villagers
complained him about the difficulty in eking out a living and scarcity of
rice there, concluded our correspondent.
In the morning he called Lieutenant Colonel Aung Ngwe at the Nasaka
Security headquarters at Kyigan Byin in the western Burmese town of
Maungdaw, close to Bangladesh.  He was accompanied by high officials from
UNHCR, Rangoon, and others from Maungdaw.
The Ambassador was there to have a look over the ongoing activities of the
UNHCR including the repatriation process.  He also expressed his surprise
at the difference of the developmental activities of the region as a whole
compared to Rangoon and he said he felt deeply for all the
underdevelopment he saw in his short visit, the official said.
He then put some questions to the Nasaka officials.  He wanted to know
whether there were restrictions on the movement of the local residents,
how the junta officials took measures to provide the landless repatriated
refugees in the area, the means the authority adopted to differentiate
between distribution of land to the model villages and that of the
repatriated refugees, and finally he enquired about the existence of any
form of forced labour in the area.
When the questions about the repatriation of refugees and distribution of
land to them and the existence of forced labour were raised, Lt Col Aung
Ngwe replied that there were no discrepancies in this regard, and
therefore there were no dissatisfaction among the returnees or the local
population.
On November 28, the Ambassador and his entourage visited the repatriation
camps in the area and left for Mrauk-u, the ancient city of Rakhine State
in western Burma.
_______

EDITORIAL/OTHER

Myanmar Information Committee December 3 2002

[Response to Dec 2 Washington Times editorial]

This office is representing a response, dated 3 December, 2002, to the
Editor of the The Washington Times, Washington D.C. by the Myanmar
Embassy, Washington, United States of America for your information.

December 3, 2002

To:

The Editor

Washington Times

3600 New York Avenue NE

Washington D.C. 20002


Sir,


Narcotic-drugs is a scourge for all mankind and to eliminate illicit drug
production and trafficking is a shared responsibility for all of us. It
is, therefore, beyond comprehension why the editorial which appeared in
the December 2, 2002 issue of Washington Times, " A Blunder on Burma",
attempts to belittle Myanmar’s efforts and the successes it has gained in
the fight against narcotic drugs in the country. No one can deny that,
relying only on their own resources, much has been achieved by the
Government and the people of Myanmar in this area. Neither intimidation
nor accusations will deter us from further taking on this national cause.
Since the drug issue is totally humanitarian in nature, it surely should
not be politicized in any way.


It is our hope that the attached Press Release of the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs of Myanmar issued on November 28, 2002 on this issue will help
bring a proper perspective to the author of the editorial. We find that
the author has not bothered to do much research and that his writing seems
more like an exercise in politicized acidic wit rather than serious
journalism.


Yours sincerely,

Information Officer

Embassy of the Union of Myanmar

Washington, DC
_______

Charles Wallace Burma Trust December 4 2002

Funding for Burmese students in Britain
-----------------------
The Charles Wallace Burma Trust invites applications for help with
funding, from students from Burma/Myanmar who are studying at either
undergraduate or postgraduate level at a recognised British educational
institution.  Applicants must be citizens of Burma/Myanmar and normally
resident there.

The Trust has modest funds at its disposal and cannot act as a source of
primary funding; however it is able to provide successful applicants with
help towards either fees or maintenance costs in the UK.

For details of how to apply, please go to http://63.74.14.100/WallaceBurma/

Contact: William Crawley (secretary)