BurmaNet News: December 6 2002

[editor at burmanet.org]

December 6 2002 Issue #2135

INSIDE BURMA

Narinjara: Interview with Khaing San Lunn, VP, ALD (Exile): On the death
of Ne Win
Irrawaddy: Opposition plots new course
AP: Myanmar regime quiet about death of former dictator Ne Win
NYT: Ne Win: Ex-Burmese military strongman, dies at 81
Statesman: Ne Win dies at 91
AFP: Myanmar’s former dictator Ne Win dead at 92

DRUGS

Myanmar Times: Govt welcomes US praise for drug control measures

INTERNATIONAL

SHAN: Non-Burman issue: UN expert: ‘Minorities’ can be a misleading word

REGIONAL

Bangkok Post: Extradition of suspects put in doubt
DPA: No Thai condolences for Myanmar’s dead dictator
Xinhua: Thailand arrests Shan singer involved in anti-Yangon campaign

MISCELLANEOUS

Canadian Friends of Burma: Alan Clements will speak about his new book
“Instinct for Freedom” and about Burma

INSIDE BURMA

Narinjara News December 6 2002

Interview with Khaing San Lunn, Vice President, ALD (Exile): On the death
of Ne Win

Narinjara: Comment on the death of Ne Win, please, as Vice President of
Arakan League for Democracy (Exile).
San Lunn:  The death of Ne Win does not personally affect me.  But as he
was one of the Thirty Comrades who took part in the war of independence,
well, I think I feel for his death.  Since there was nothing good that
came out of his rule between 1962 and 1988, there is nothing that we have
to comment from the angle of our party.
N – Would you please tell us a little more about the outcomes of Ne Win’s
rule in that period?
S – In 1961, there was a decision to grant regional autonomy to Rakhine
and Mon States.  In 1962, Ne Win took the state power (through military
intervention).  As a result we as Rakhine people lost not only our right
to autonomy but also to basic rights.  Under the iron rule of the dictator
Ne Win, Rakhine State once a rice-exporting region faced famine in 1967. 
When people were starving to death, the military junta led by Ne Win
killed hundreds of rallying hungry people in cold blood on 13th August. 
As we lost our basic rights, we could not even express our grievances
against the misrule.  So the period of authoritarian rule from 1962 to
1988 did not produce anything good for the people of Rakhine State.  The
whimsical rule only took the state down the road of bankruptcy, with
people suffering from the iron rule.

N: There was a very short period of democracy in Burma just after the
independence in 1948.  What difference can you find in the state of
affairs before and after 1948?
S - Before 1948 we had a large number of Rakhine scholars, we enjoyed
comparatively more freedom, personal freedom at that. We enjoyed the
rights to express freely if we paid the requisite taxes.  In the courts of
justice, people were allowed to their rights of justice – given access to
all the legal system procedures, including the right to engage a lawyer. 
But under the authoritarian rule after 1962, the system was either
abolished or dealt with an iron control by the state.  The (British)
applied the common law legal system in their courts, but in our courts,
they applied the civil law legal system.  Yet we had access to the legal
procedures as necessary.  The common law system had another advantage: it
used jury for carrying out the judgement of a legal case.  When the pros
and cons of the case were put before the jury board, there was every
chance for an accused to get proper hearing and consultation before the
justice was meted out.  Under the civil law system, a judge gives hearing
to the proceedings in the court before he pronounces the judgment.  Our
people under that system enjoyed comparative rule of law and justice at
that time.  But under Ne Win’s rule, the authority of the court of justice
was brought under the dictate of the military authority, depriving the
people of their right to justice and fair trial.
In the constitution of 1947, prepared by the Anti-Fascist People’s Freedom
League (AFPFL) according to the spirit of the Panglong Agreement between
Aung San and the ethnic leaders, the autonomy of Rakhine State was not
recognized.  But Rakhine State at that time possessed all the requirements
to be considered and recognized as a regional autonomous state.   In the
Taungyi conference of the non-Burman peoples, the autonomy of Rakhine and
Mon was recognized and accepted.
Ne Win took up the power through military means and declared the decision
taken in the Taungyi conference as an “attempt to disintegrate Burma”, and
he always shouted for “non-disintegration of Burma” to gag the voice for
autonomy of the different ethnic states.
Between 1948 and 1962 Burma is said to have enjoyed a rule of democracy,
but for the Rakhines, that ‘democracy’ was meaningless since we were
deprived of the democratic rights.  The ruling democratic government of U
Nu did not recognize the separate autonomy for such states as Rakhine and
Mon.  People were encouraged to become Burmanized by denying the education
through their own languages, or practise any of the cultural differences
they belonged.

N – What do you think about the status of Rakhine as recognized by the Ne
Win led junta in 1975?
S – In 1975, Rakhine State was formed officially.  But that was on paper
only and the people of Rakhine never took it to be a real ‘State’ –
autonomous with right to self-determination, no.  It was a sham ‘state’
with full control of the Burmese juntas.
N – Do you expect any changes in the present political scene because of
the death of Ne Win?

S – I don’t think there will be any meaningful changes in near future
taking place in the Burmese political scene.  Because the present junta
leaders are the products of the old political school of Ne Win.  The
arrest and imprisonment of Ne Win’s grandsons and disciplinary actions
against some of the high officials in the Burmese Army only shows how the
present junta has been able to exert influence upon the future rule of the
country.  This shows that, Ne Win had but little influence in the present
political scenario of Burma.  For this his death could be just as
important as any normal citizen of the country.
N – What effect do you think the death of Ne Win will bring in the ruling
junta?  Any lessons to learn on their part?
S – Change – I don’t think there will be any.  But there will be some kind
of effect – personal as well as in the form of lessons to learn.  Ne Win
is dead.  His death was not taken as an important incident, rather the
ruling SPDC junta made it into a low key affair.  As a Buddhist, we all
know the inexorable way of the karma – you end up well for your good
deeds, bad for all your misdeeds.  The present Burmese junta should learn
the lesson of this universal truth.  It is the time to repent for the
excesses committed by them upon the countless people of Burma.
N – What message do you have for the present Burmese junta?
S – Please take a close look at the end of the dictator Ne Win.  Then
please ponder deeply how powerful he once was, but in death how powerless
he was rendered.  The Old Dictator was the teacher, Saya, to the present
SPDC giants.  But even they did not bother to feign not to notice the end
of their Saya.
At present, what the junta can do is get to a meaningful dialogue with Daw
Aung San Suu Kyi – because the future of Burma is hanging on a balance. 
Let’s forget whatever injustice has been done to the people.  For a
prosperous future let’s move forward with newer understanding and
recognition, working together hand in hand.

_______

Irrawaddy December 6 2002

Opposition Plots New Course
By Htet Aung Kyaw

The Burmese opposition pushed the political envelope a little further this
week by testing the tolerance of the ruling State Peace and Development
Council (SPDC). On Wednesday the Committee Representing the People’s
Parliament (CRPP), an umbrella organization for opposition groups inside
Burma, accepted two more political parties—including exiled Prime Minister
Dr Sein Win’s party.
Three political parties and one independent elected Member of Parliament
(MP) applied for CRPP membership this week. CRPP Secretary U Aye Tha Aung,
however, said that only two of the parties, along with the independent MP,
were accepted. The new members are Dr Sein Win’s National Democracy Party
and the Party for National Human Rights and Democracy. Both parties were
banned by the military regime in 1991. No reason was given for why the
third party was denied membership.
The CRPP was formed in September 1998 after authorities refused to convene
Parliament. The CRPP attempted to call its own session, inviting all
elected MPs from the 1990 election, however, hundreds of MPs were arrested
for trying to attend, and 18 of those remain in detention.
The original members of the CRPP are the NLD, Shan National League for
Democracy (SNLD), Arakan League for Democracy, Mon National League for
Democracy and the Zomi National Congress.
Rangoon-based observers have noted the expansion of the CRPP is one of the
more significant moves taken by the opposition since Burmese pro-democracy
leader Aung San Suu Kyi was released from house arrest in May. There has
been no immediate reaction from the SPDC. But last October when the CRPP
first expanded, regime officials said it was normal and did not crackdown
on the group.
SNLD leader Khun Htun Oo said the expansion of the CRPP is part of a
shifting strategy by the opposition. "It's a new way to break the current
political deadlock," says Khun Htun Oo. "We should see the CRPP as a
negotiating token."
He also urged all political parties and independent MPs to join the CRPP
in order to gain legal status from the regime. "The allowed expansion of
the CRPP means all members are becoming semi-legal even though they were
banned by authorities," adds Khun Htun Oo. The regime only recognizes
three parties: the National Unity Party, comprised of former socialist
party members, the NLD and SNLD.
U Aye Tha Aung told the Oslo-based Democratic Voice of Burma that the SPDC
needs to stop dragging its feet and enter into dialogue with either the
CRPP or the NLD.
Meanwhile, the NLD has decided to accept new party members. The decision
came in late November after Aung San Suu Kyi returned from a two week
political organizing trip in Shan State. "Many people want to join our
party, mostly youth, and now we are ready for it," said NLD spokesperson U
Lwin.
U Lwin refused to comment on whether the opposition is now shifting
courses to a more proactive line. However, many see the CRPP expansion and
the NLD’s increasing party membership as indicators that the opposition is
no longer content on simply waiting for dialogue.
________

Associated Press December 6 2002

Myanmar regime quiet about death of former dictator Ne Win
By Aye Aye Win

Myanmar's state media on Friday blacked out news of former dictator Gen.
Ne Win's passing away, making it clear that he was as much a political
pariah in death as in the last year of his life.

However, a brief obituary submitted by Ne Win's family was published in
two Myanmar-language newspapers, though it made no mention of the
flamboyant leader's 1962-88 rule that drove the country to economic ruin.
The obituary also did not mention his army title.

Ne Win died early Thursday at the age of 91 at his lakeside compound,
where he had been under house arrest with his daughter Sandar Win since
the March 7 arrest of her husband and three sons for attempting to
overthrow the military government. Radio, television and newspapers, which
are controlled by the government, carried no official announcements of the
death of Ne Win, a one-time independence hero who ruled Myanmar, also
known as Burma, with an iron fist.

Official newspapers instead published news of a visit to construction
sites in northwestern Myanmar by junta leader Senior Gen. Than Shwe and
his deputy, Gen. Khin Nyunt, both of whom were groomed by Ne Win in the
late 80s.

Ne Win "passed away at his residence at 7:30 a.m. (0100 GMT) on Thursday
and was cremated at 1330 hours (0700 GMT) in accordance with the wish of
the deceased," said the obituary published in the Myanma Ahlin and Kyemon
newspapers.

The obituary also thanked those who took care of Ne Win during his final
days.

The late dictator had instructed his family to cremate him the day he died
and not to hold elaborate funeral rites, according to family members.

About 25 relatives and friends attended the cremation that was conducted
without fanfare at a civilian crematorium without the military honors
befitting a general. No government representative attended the cremation
except military intelligence officials who had escorted Sandar Win.

Ne Win's grandsons and son-in-law were not allowed to attend the
cremation. Sandar Win's stepsister and step brother were present. Her
sister and brother are abroad.

"The funeral was held according to the wish of the deceased," a family
friend who attended the funeral told The Associated Press.

When Ne Win took power in 1962, Myanmar was well on the way to recovering
from the ravages of World War II, exporting 2 million tons of rice per
year. But by 1987, Myanmar was reduced to the status of a least developed
nation.

Ne Win stepped down in 1988, just before the start of a pro-democracy
uprising that propelled opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi to prominence.
The uprising was brutally crushed by the new crop of generals - prot'g'es
of Ne Win - who succeeded him. The junta called elections in 1990 but
refused to hand over power when Suu Kyi's party won.

The junta has been holding reconciliation talks with Suu Kyi since October
2001 but no tangible results have been produced.

"I don't think U Ne Win's death could affect the current political
situation as U Ne Win stayed aloof from politics," said U Lwin, a finance
minister during Ne Win's socialist rule. U Lwin is now an associate of Suu
Kyi.

Ne Win is survived by nine children from three marriages. He also had two
more wives but had no children from them.

Ne Win was believed to wield enormous behind-the-scene influence on the
junta in the 1990s but that began to wane, and he was officially
discredited after the arrest of his grandsons and son-in-law this year.

The four men were sentenced to death for plotting the alleged coup that
the government said was intended to reinstall Ne Win to power. They have
appealed the verdict.

________

New York Times December 6, 2002

Ne Win, Ex-Burmese Military Strongman, Dies at 81
By Eric Pace


Ne Win, the longtime Burmese strongman who seized control of his country
in a military coup in 1962 and set up an authoritarian government that
transformed his homeland, once one of the most prosperous parts of the
British Empire, into one of the world's poorest nations, died yesterday.
He was 81.
Mr. Ne Win died at in his lakeside villa near the capital, Yangon, under
house arrest and with only his eldest daughter, Sandar Win, by his side,
The Associated Press reported, quoting family members.
His two other children are abroad, his wife lives separately, and his
three grandsons and son-in-law — Ms. Sandar Win's husband — are in jail,
sentenced to death for plotting a coup against the military junta. Mr. Ne
Win was placed under house arrest in March, when the men were jailed.
Mr. Ne Win (pronounced nay win) was an army general when he and the
military men around him overthrew an elected government in 1962. He soon
managed to smother democracy in Burma, which was renamed Myanmar in 1989.
He jailed hundreds of political leaders without trials, and he swiftly
replaced Parliament with a military dictatorship.
His rule continued for more than a quarter of a century, until a
nationwide spasm of mass democracy demonstrations in 1988 led to its
collapse. Later that year came the formation of a new and even more
repressive military junta, the State Law and Order Restoration Council,
and there were recurrent reports that Mr. Ne Win still exercised power
behind the scenes.
D. R. Sar Desai, of the University of California at Los Angeles, wrote in
a 1997 book, "Southeast Asia: Past and Present," that despite the official
changes after 1988, "authority remained, at least for the next two years,
in the hands of General Ne Win."
Mr. Ne Win ruled under various titles, including president from 1974 to 1981.
He and his advisers framed a drastic program, "the Burmese Way to
Socialism," which nationalized trade and industry and expelled Chinese and
Indian entrepreneurs. Rice exports, a key sector of the once-prosperous
economy, lagged. Black marketeers flourished. By 1968, there was
widespread corruption. Although some economic measures were more
successful in later years, resentment of government economic policies help
lead to the demonstrations of 1988.
In foreign affairs, the Ne Win government pursued isolationist policies,
even though it paid a price in lost foreign investment. Intensely
xenophobic and anticolonialist policies also resulted in lost cultural
contact with other countries.
By late 1974, the economy was in such a perilous state that the Ministry
of Planning and Finance, despite the earlier isolationism, was seeking
international economic aid. This effort was so avid that the radio of the
outlawed Burma Communist Party, broadcasting from China, called it "the
ministry of begging."
Mr. Ne Win's work methods were sometimes eccentric. He accepted policy
advice from numerologists and astrologers. Like many of his fellow
citizens, he thought that nine and multiples of nine were lucky numbers,
and it is said that as a result, his country's currency came to be printed
in denominations of 45 and 90. He was also known for enjoying his leisure,
and he often made vacation trips to Europe.
But he remained intent on dominating his compatriots. As Tillman Durdin, a
New York Times correspondent and expert on Asia, wrote in a 1966 book,
"Southeast Asia," Mr. Ne Win was "a husky, hot-tempered, quick-witted
martinet driven as much by a strong taste for discipline as by personal
ambition." Mr. Durdin said he "regards the type of socialism he practices
as a means mostly of organizing and controlling Burmese society, rather
than developing it to meet the challenge of a radically changing world."
Mr. Ne Win's coup in 1962 ousted U Nu, the magnetic and popular prime
minister who led the Burmese through 12 of the first 15 years after their
country became independent in 1948. For years, while Mr. Ne Win and his
military associates maintained their grip, Mr. Nu urged the
re-establishment of multiparty democracy. He died in 1995.
And yet a lingering craving for democracy played a major role in ending
Mr. Ne Win's rule, after the student demonstrations in 1988 touched off a
mostly peaceful democracy uprising that plunged the country into chaos.
Eventually the army intervened and killed hundreds of people while
crushing the uprising. The country came to be ruled by a new military
junta, which is now headed by Gen. Than Shwe. Today, four decades after
the coup, the military still pervades almost every part of Burmese
society, all levels of government and every sector of the economy.
Mr. Ne Win formally retired in 1988.
The years after the 1988 upheavals were eventful. In 1989, the new junta
put the leading pro-democracy leader, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, under house
arrest, but her party won 80 percent of the contested seats in a
parliamentary election in 1991. The military government annulled that
balloting, but she won the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize for her efforts to
return democracy to her homeland.
Power, either acknowledged or behind the scenes, was not Mr. Ne Win's by
birthright. He was born on May 24, 1911, in the Prome District north of
the capital, the son of a relatively low-ranking government official. He
was named Shu Maung, meaning "the apple of one's eye." He went to schools
in the district and studied two years at Rangoon University, leaving in
1931 without a degree.
He went on to hold a postal job in Rangoon, now Yangon, while working in a
militant nationalist organization and became active in the independence
movement. In 1941, he was one of 30 of its members who traveled to an
island off China for secret military training by the Japanese.
He took a new name, Ne Win, meaning "brilliant as the sun," and became an
officer in the new Burma Independence Army, whose chief of staff was Gen.
Aung San, who came to be idolized by the Burmese. Aung San, the father of
Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi, was assassinated in 1947.
When World War II spread to Asia late in 1941, Mr. Ne Win returned to
Burma. As Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi wrote decades later of her father's troops,
"the march of the B.I.A. into Burma alongside the Japanese troops was an
occasion of great pride and joy to the Burmese."
By late March 1942, the British-Indian Army in Burma was retreating toward
India. The Japanese occupied the country, and as Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi put
it, the Burmese, "who had believed they were about to gain freedom from
the British, were shattered to find themselves ground under the heels of
their fellow Asian instead."
In 1942 and 1943, during the Japanese occupation, what had been the Burma
Independence Army went through two reorganizations. The first made Aung
San its commander in chief. The second gave it the name Burma National
Army and made Colonel Ne Win the army's commander in the important delta
region of southern Burma.
In 1945, while British forces were winning Burma back from the Japanese,
they were aided by troops led by Aung San, who had turned against the
Japanese. In May 1945, after the Japanese lost Rangoon, it was Aung San's
trusted brother officer, Colonel Ne Win, who was chosen to make a radio
address to their compatriots. He declared, "The Burmese Army is not only
the hope of the country, but its very life and soul."
When the war was over, the British authorities set up a new Burma Army. Ne
Win soon became a lieutenant colonel and co-commander of a battalion, and
he was quickly promoted to higher posts. Aung San became the equivalent of
prime minister, and when he was assassinated in July 1947, he was replaced
by U Nu.
Early the next year, General Ne Win became chief of the general staff and
supreme commander of the armed forces. He remained commander until after
his coup in 1962.
Mr. Nu's government faced grave political factionalism and secessionist
movements among minority ethnic groups, and Mr. Nu handed over power
temporarily to General Ne Win. Under him, the army made progress in
bringing back law and order, and in 1960 Mr. Nu was returned to power by a
national election — only to be ousted two years later by the coup.
_______

The Statesman (India) December 5 2002

Ne Win dies at 91

Myanmar’s former military dictator Ne Win, who ruled his country for 26
years, died today while under house arrest. He was 91.
He died at the lakeside villa in Yangon where he was kept in confinement
with his daughter since 7 March, reports from Yangon said.
They said the General’s death would be received with euphoria by the
common people who had seen the once prosperous country brought to ruin by
Ne Win during his long rule. He has been held responsible by many for
running the economy to ground. He dragged the country from near prosperity
to poverty during his 26 years in power.
The General was put under house arrest after his three grandsons and
son-in-law were arrested on charges of attempting to overthrow the
military government. The four were sentenced to death in September, but
they have appealed the verdict.
Ne Win led Myanmar’s struggle for independence from Britain which was
achieved in 1948 and he seized power in a bloddless coup in 1962. He
retired in 1988, just before an uprising for democracy triggered by his
misrule and which brought to political prominence Mrs Aung San Suu Kyi.
A superstitious man, Ne Win, had once during his rule ordered the issue of
bank notes in 45 and 90 kyat denominations as the numbers were divisible
by his lucky number nine.
__________

Agence France-Presse
December 5 2002

Myanmar’s former dictator Ne Win dead at 92

YANGON: Myanmar’s former dictator Ne Win, whose quarter-century of iron
rule left his nation bankrupt and reviled as an international pariah, died
Thursday at the age of 92, family sources said.

Ne Win, who had been in fragile health for many years, died in disgrace
after being put under house arrest in March following the arrest of his
son-in-law and three grandsons for plotting a coup against the ruling
junta.

He was cremated only hours after his death, in a simple ceremony attended
by his wife Ny Ny Myint and daughter Sandar Win, reputedly the brains
behind the family business empire who was placed under house arrest along
with her father.

The move against Ne Win’s relatives, who were sentenced in September to
death by hanging, stunned Myanmar observers who had thought he remained
extremely influential in the military-ruled state long after stepping down
in 1988.

The government said the Ne Win clan had grown disgruntled at losing their
economic and political privileges as their patriarch’s power waned, and
had used black magic and voodoo dolls as part of their plot to seize
power.

But most analysts doubt they were seriously attempting to mount a
takeover, and believe the current regime installed 14 years ago, now known
as the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), wanted to demonstrate
it is firmly in charge. Observers of Myanmar’s secretive government say Ne
Win’s death marks the passing of an era in Myanmar, but that it will have
few ramifications as he was effectively finished as a political force.

Although the cremation rites were kept low-key, with no leading generals
in attendance, as a former head of state Ne Win is entitled to a state
funeral and an official memorial service could be held at a later date.
About 20 family members attended the ceremony at a Yangon cemetary, along
with about 50 military officials who were mostly in civilian clothes.

The family source did not specify where Ne Win died, but a Yangon-based
diplomat said he was believed to have been secretly moved from his
lakeside home and into hospital several weeks ago as his condition
worsened. The scene at his heavily guarded family compound was quiet
Thursday, with only a few journalists standing watch. The office of the
official government spokesman said it could not immediately confirm Ne
Win’s death.

As a young man, Ne Win was a key member of the “Thirty Comrades” which
joined with Japan in World War Two to fight British colonialism under the
charismatic leadership of independence hero Aung San. In 1962 when he
seized power in his own military coup, Burma, as it was then known, was
still considered one of Asia’s potentially rich countries, blessed with
vast natural resources.

But by the time he stepped down in 1988, the nation he renamed Myanmar was
one of the world’s poorest countries
_________

DRUGS

Myanmar Times December 2-9 2002

Govt welcomes US praise for drug control measures
By Thet Khaing

The government has welcomed comments by a senior Bush Administration
official about the progress made by Myanmar in eradicating opium
production but rejected his criticism of the pace of the national
reconciliation process. "We fully accept the fair credit, and regret the
‘tongue-lashing’," government spokesperson, Colonel Hla Min said of the
comments by the US Assistant Secretary of State for Asia and the Pacific,
Mr James Kelly. Addressing a conference on Myanmar at Johns Hopkins
University near Washington on November 21, Mr Kelly praised the
government’s drug control measures and its increased cooperation with the
international community on narcotics issues and fighting terrorism. On
political issues, Mr Kelly said the outlook for the national
reconciliation talks between the government and the leader of the National
League for Democracy, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, was "bleak." He also
criticised the government’s economic policies. In a statement issued on
November 25, Col Hla Min described Mr Kelly’s comments on the pace of
national reconciliation as "scathing." He dismissed Mr Kelly’s description
of the government’s decision on November 21 to release the largest group
of detainees to be freed since the reconciliation process began two years
ago as a "welcome, but highly incomplete and inadequate" gesture.
"Myanmar’s continued release of detainees will not be affected by the
Assistant Secretary’s dismissal of the largest-ever release of political
detainees and the positive trend such releases portend," Col Hla Min said.
 On the other issues raised by Mr Kelly, he said the government
recommitted itself "to the serious work of narcotics control and
cooperation in the war on terror as it is not only threatening our two
nations but the entire world community." In the same statement,
Brigadier-General Kyaw Thein, who supervises the government’s
anti-narcotics efforts, said he appreciated Mr Kelly’s recognition of
Myanmar’s campaign to reduce opium production. "We are making progress and
aim to reduce the total opium crop by another 50 per cent next year,
moving from 800 metric tons to 400 metric tons," Brig Gen Kyaw Thein said.
Mr Kelly’s positive comments on Myanmar’s drug control efforts come ahead
of a decision by President Bush this month to classify Myanmar’s narcotics
control campaign. A spokesperson in Yangon for the UN Office on Drugs and
Crime (formerly the UN Drug Control Program), told Myanmar Times last week
that it was likely that US would downgrade Myan-mar’s status as one of the
world’s largest opium producers because of a "drastic" cut in output last
year. The spokesperson said the US should provide more aid for Myanmar’s
drug fight on humanitarian grounds. "Opium production in Myanmar is linked
to poverty," the spokesperson said, adding that government and UN crop
substitution projects had helped to cut opium production by 25 per cent
last year. The spokesperson said independent surveys by the UN and the US
earlier this year had confirmed a marked decline in production. "To
sustain the decline we need more help from the international community,"
he said.
_______

INTERNATIONAL

Shan Herald Agency for News December 6 2002

Non-Burman issue: UN expert: 'Minorities' can be a misleading word

Commenting on the UN declaration on minorities, Asbjorn Eide, the
Norwegian chairperson of the Working Group on Minorities, speaking at the
Seminar on Minorities in Chiangmai on 4 December, said the term
'minorities' could sometimes be misleading in itself.

His written treatise on the subject attempts to drive the message home
more clearly: "Outside Europe, ... countries are often composed of a large
number of groups, none of which make up a majority."

In addition, he wrote that a distinction had been drawn between the rights
of persons and those of who were termed the indigenous peoples. "The
rights of minorities are special individual rights," he said in reply to a
question put up by S.H.A.N., "while the rights of indigenous people are
collective rights."

The Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic,
Religious and Linguistic Minorities, was adopted by the United Nations
General Assembly on 18 December 1992, while the draft declaration on the
rights of indigenous people, adopted by the Working Group on Indigenous
Populations and transmitted in 1993 to the Commission on Human Rights, is
still under consideration by the Commission. (Some critics think the word
'indigenous' is problematic, due to the ongoing historical debate
surrounding the identity of the original inhabitants of each country, as
in the case of Burma, Thailand and Laos).

"However, whereas a UN rapporteur has been appointed to look after the
affairs of the indigenous peoples, there is so far no UN officer for the
minorities," he said in answer to S.H.A.N.'s question whether a UN member
nation could be asked to submit reports on the situation of minorities in
its country.

Mr Eide also discussed a link between the right of persons belonging to
minorities to effective political participation and the rights of peoples
to self determination in his paper. "If participation is denied to a
minority and its members, this might in some cases give rise to a
legitimate claim to self-determination," he writes. "(At the same time,
if) the group claims a right to self-determination and challenges the
territorial integrity of the State, it would have to claim to be a people
(instead of a minority)."

Harn Yawnghwe of the National Reconciliation Program had said on 8
December last year at the Oslo Burma meeting, "We do not like to use the
term 'Minorities'. This is because it gives the impression to outsiders
that they are talking about only 1-2% of the population. It is estimated
that Burma today has a population of approximately 50 million people.
Burmans are supposed to make up 60% of the population. (Aye Win, a
participant from the UN Information Center in Rangoon, meanwhile, writes
in his overview submitted to the seminar that many believe nearly half of
the total population of Burma are Burmans.) Therefore, when we talk about
'minority' problem in Burma, we are in fact talking about a problem that
affects the lives of at least 20 million people. I think this is more than
the population of Norway.

In terms of geography, the non-Burmans occupy 55% of the land area or
371,000 sq kms-slightly larger than Germany (357,000 sq km.) The
non-Burman problem in Burma is definitely not a 'minority' problem."

So now, we use the term ethnic nationalities or the non-Burman ethnic
nationalities to denote the non-Burman."

According to the UN declaration, states are required to protect the
existence and identity of minorities within their respective territories
and encourage conditions for the promotion of that identity.

The seminar is held 4-7 December and participated by more 40
representatives from 14 countries, including Sao Seng Suk, Chairman of the
Shan State Constitution Drafting Commission (CDC-S). (It has thus far yet
to satisfy one of S.H.A.N.'s remaining key questions: the difference
between 'a people' and 'an indigenous people'.)

_____

REGIONAL

Bangkok Post December 6 2002

EXTRADITION OF SUSPECTS PUT IN DOUBT
By Wassana Nanuam

The Burmese government looks set to go back on its promise to hand over
two suspects in a June attack on a school bus in Ratchaburi that left
three students dead.

The junta claimed it had discovered Bo Kroh and Ja-U were Burmese
citizens, not members of the Karen National Union, as originally
suspected, an army source said. It's unofficial, but we've heard Burma may
not hand over the suspects,'' the source said. It claims the extradition
cannot proceed because both suspects are Burmese, and we don't have an
extradition agreement.''

However, the army insisted the pair did have connections with the Karen
National Union.

We also have evidence to suggest they may have dual nationality,'' the
source said.

Burma previously vowed to deport the suspects for trial prior to an
October visit by Gen Vichit Yathip, chairman of the army advisory board.

___

Deutsche Presse-Agentur December 6 2002

No Thai condolences for Myanmar's dead dictator

Thailand refrained from sending a message of condolence Friday to Myanmar
(Burma) following the death of former dictator Ne Win, but Foreign
Minister Surakiart Sathirathai expressed his personal sorrow.

The Thai reaction departed from diplomatic protocol which would normally
call for a message of condolence to be sent following the death of a
former head of state in a neighbouring country. "The Thai government did
not send an official condolence message," Surakiart told reporters at the
Foreign Ministry. "This was because Ne Win did not hold a post in the
government when he died."

"But from my personal point of view, I feel sorry because General Ne Win
was a senior figure in Burma for a long time," Surakiart added.

Although Ne Win dominated Myanmar politics for nearly four decades and
ruled with an iron fist from 1962-1988, the ruling junta in Yangon
(Rangoon) laid him to rest after his death on Thursday with little
fanfare. His remains were cremated within hours of his death at the age of
91.

"His death will not have any impact on relations between Thailand and
Burma," Surakiart said. "At present, Thailand and Burma have a good
relationship."
_________

Xinhua News Agency December 6 2002

Thailand arrests Shan singer involved in anti-Yangon campaign

Thai police arrested a Shan singer who organized a anti-Yangon concert
upon the order of Shan State Army (SSA) troops for Shan New Year
celebrations on Dec. 4 and Dec. 5 in Mae Hong Son province, 950 kilometers
northwest from Bangkok.

According to the report of Bangkok Post Friday, Mae Hong Son governor
Supoj Laowansiri refused to open the fair after hearing about the band and
ordered provincial defense chief to make an inquiry for fear of
repercussions on Thai-Myanmar relations. Mae Hong Son police chief
Thong-in Harnphachonsuek said a Shan man identified only as Yi from
Myanmar's Ban Mok Mai was arrested on illegal entry charges.

He was nabbed while singing on the stage, decorated with two large Shan
national flags.

The suspect confessed that he opened the concert to celebrate Shan's New
Year on the order of SSA military leader Col Yod Suek.

A border official said the band comprising SSA troops from Myanmar's Doi
Tai Lang opposite Pang Ma Pha district of Mae Hong Son gave the fair
organizer 10,000 baht (238 US dollars), and distributed leaflets asking
Myanmar Shan people to serve the SSA.

MISCELLANEOUS

Canadian Friends of Burma December 6 2002

Alan Clements will speak about his new book “Instinct for Freedom” and
about Burma


DECEMBER 11TH  2002  AT 7 00 PM
ROBERT  GILL THEATRE  :  214  COLLEGE  STREET  (entrance on St. George
St),  TORONTO

FUNDRAISER  FOR  THE  CANADIAN  FRIENDS  OF  BURMA

"Instinct for Freedom" explores Buddhism as a vehicle for social change.
ADMITTANCE  BY  DONATION.
"Instinct for Freedom" and "A Voice of Hope" will be on sale : signed by
the author.

For further information: Elizabeth Shepherd  416 - 465 - 3458
OR
Shareef Korah
Canadian Friends of Burma
Phone: (613) 237-8056
Fax     : (613) 563-0017
www.cfob.org