April 8 2003 Issue #2211

[editor at burmanet.org]

April 8 2003 Issue #2211

INSIDE BURMA
AFP: Aung San Suu Kyi and Myanmar junta just aren't talking, say analysts
Mizzima: Militancy threatens Junta in Upper Burma
AFP: British embassy in Myanmar mum over protestor

MONEY
Irrawaddy: Burma’s Busted Banks

DRUGS
Xinhua: Japan extends more aid for Myanmar's drug control project
NYT: A Wave of Drug Killings Is Linked to Thai Police
Deutsche Presse-Agentur: Police raid huge drugs factory on China-Myanmar
border

REGIONAL
Statesman: Singapore PM Begins India Tour

INTERNATIONAL
UNIS: UN Commission on Human Rights completes discussion of economic,
social and cultural rights

EDITORIALS
Vancouver Sun: Thailand enforces a policy of take-no-prisoners in its war
on drugs

STATEMENTS
EarthRights International: Caught in the Wrong Place at the Wrong Time



INSIDE BURMA

Agence France Presse   April 8, 2003
Aung San Suu Kyi and Myanmar junta just aren't talking, say analysts
By Pascale Trouillaud

YANGON: Nearly a year after the release of Aung San Suu Kyi, the hopes of
seeing the opposition leader begin a political dialogue with Myanmar's
military junta appear dashed.

The pro-democracy campaigner and the generals are just not talking to each
other, analysts and diplomats say.

Last May 6, the slight yet charismatic 56-year-old was released from 19
months of house arrest. The jubilant scenes were recorded by the world's
media.

But since the symbolic release, praised in major capitals, the Nobel peace
laureate has been unable to start the much-heralded reconciliation talks
she had wished to launch "within a few weeks" of her freedom.

The dialogue was to have come on the heels of talks opened secretly
between the junta and its former arch-enemy in late 2000, with help from
Razali Ismail, the UN secretary general's special envoy to Myanmar.

"There has been no substantive contact since she has been released," said
one Western diplomat in Yangon. "The process has stalled, they (the
generals) are very entrenched."

"It is possible that nothing takes place for months, years even."

An Asian diplomat concurred: "There is a kind of emptiness in their
relations, clearly an impasse".

For Yangon-based observers, the explanation for the stagnation lies with
Senior General Than Shwe, the regime's number one, who is seen to loathe
easing his absolute grip on power.

"The reason is Than Shwe. Than Shwe is the big obstacle," said the Western
diplomat. "He is not prepared to go ahead with it, this is increasingly
clear."

A marked change in attitude among the generals appeared to follow the
visit to Myanmar last year by Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad.

"Things turned around when Mahathir came last August," the diplomat added.
"Since his visit it seems to have dried up."

A Yangon-based expert said that while Mahathir is deemed one of the
junta's few allies, he was refused a chance to meet Aung San Suu Kyi.

"Than Shwe understood that if they could do this to Mahathir, then..,"
said the expert, adding that after his last visit Mahathir told Razali he
"had doubts about the junta's sincerity."

The indefatigable Razali, who has already completed nine missions to
Myanmar and is himself a close advisor to the Malaysian leader, has failed
to visit Yangon on four attempts since the beginning of the year, having
been told his hosts "were busy," the expert said.

He "doesn't come here because they have nothing to offer him," he added.
"There is no element that could make us feel a will that they want to move
towards a democratic state."

Since May 2002, the generals have been content to let Aung San Suu Kyi
move about the country to meet her party's supporters, although of late
they have been hassling her and her followers.

They have released a trickle of political prisoners while making new arrests.

Events around the globe are serving Myanmar's leaders well.

The junta has always "played for time," experts say, and is probably not
unhappy to see world attention focusing on Iraq.

Yangon, in the meantime, is leading a diplomatic charm offensive in its
neighbourhood, exchanging high-level visits in recent months with China,
Vietnam, Bangladesh and Thailand.

For the experts, it was a way of Yangon saying: "We don't have the plague."

Aung San Suu Kyi, for her part, has softened on several issues, including
foreign aid, after witnessing the misery in rural areas during her
upcountry trips.

Recently she extended a hand to the military by making it clear they could
retain a role in a democratic Myanmar.

"She has made overtures... the NLD (her National League for Democracy
party) has gone more than halfway," one Western diplomat said.

Yet ultimately it appears the lady "has little room for maneuvre," the
expert said.

"She has exceptional patience, but because of her non-violent stance she
cannot call on her people to rise up," he added.

"She is adored by the people, she is considered as the only hope. She has
the legitimacy, both because of the 1990 elections and her lineage," he
said, referring to elections in which the NLD earned a massive victory and
her status as the daughter of independence hero Aung San, who was
assassinated in 1947.

"The situation is totally blocked," another diplomat said. "Everything
which has been done for the last 10 or 15 years -- sanctions, pressures --
has brought nothing, or hardly anything."
____________

Mizzima News (www.mizzima.com)   April 8, 2003
Militancy threatens Junta in Upper Burma

Guwahati, April 8, 2003: Hot on the heels of the bank crisis, the Military
Junta of Burma now faces the growing problem of militancy that has been
emerging in various places of the country.

The Western and the North-east regions of Burma have been racked with
turmoil in recent weeks, as armed underground movements have stepped up
their activities against the Burmese government.

In the Sagaing Division of the country, the Kuki militants have started
regrouping in order to intensify their armed struggle. Intelligence from
that region indicates that the Kuki militants have created links with the
other India's North-east militant outfits operating out of Sagaing and
Kachin. Their activities have forced the Military Junta to respond by
stepping up their security measures in the region.

Highly-placed sources today claimed that the Kuki National Army (KNA) have
started subversive activities in throughout Sagaing, causing great concern
to the Burmese Junta. The KNA is fighting for a separate homeland for
their community.

There are approximately 50,000 Kuki people living in the Sagaing Division.
But they have been deprived of all but the most basic public services and
as a result the Kukis are highly disappointed with the Burmese government.
The KNA has started mobilizing youth in order to launch a vigorous armed
movement against the alleged repression and suppression by the Junta.

The sources claimed that the KNA had held a meeting near Bokan in Sagaing
last month during which the leadership decided to carry forward their
armed movement in association with Indian underground organizations.

"In response to the actions by these underground organizations, key Junta
military leader General Khin Nyunt has decided to launch a massive
operation to suppress the activities of the ultras", the sources added.

It may be recalled that the Junta killed five National Socialist Council
of Nagaland–Khaplang (NSCN-K) members last year, as well as conducting
raids on the hide-outs of the United National Liberation Front (UNLF) .
Moreover, after the agreement between India and Burma to crack down the
militant camps, the Junta has intensified it’s patrolling along the
international border.
____________

Agence France Presse   April 8, 2003
British embassy in Myanmar mum over protestor

YANGON: The British embassy in military-ruled Myanmar remained silent
Tuesday over a protestor who fled there last week to avoid arrest, in
order to protect those involved, a source close to the embassy said.

The protestor sought refuge in the embassy Friday when authorities
arrested another man he was demonstrating with, according to the country's
junta.

"The embassy at the moment is not making any official statement regarding
the incident to protect the safety of the people involved," said a source
linked to the embassy.

British diplomats have declined to confirm the protestor was inside the
mission, but one told AFP that a "very brief pro-democracy protest" had
occurred outside the embassy Friday.

A junta statement released soon after the incident said authorities
suspected the two men of being linked to a March 27 bomb blast in downtown
Yangon which killed two government workers.

During the protest, the pair allegedly waved flags emblazoned with
fighting peacocks, a traditional symbol of resistance to military rule in
Myanmar, and disturbed the peace by shouting.

Demonstrations are strictly banned in Myanmar, but individuals
occasionally flout the law, usually by protesting against the ongoing rule
of the regime.

In January two Buddhist nuns were arrested in Yangon after they protested
the rising cost of living.

The junta maintains an iron-tight grip on Myanmar, despite Aung San Suu
Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) winning a landslide election
victory in 1990.


MONEY

The Irrawaddy   April 8 2003
Burma’s Busted Banks
By Tony Broadmoor

Rangoon: The queues of angry, stone-throwing depositors have vanished. The
banks’ protective metal doors are now securely fastened. Soldiers linger
out in front of some branches, while more furtively dressed military
intelligence officers occupy the stairwells of others. Some appear
abandoned.

Burma’s military government again seems bent on defying all economic
models as the private banking crisis creeps into its third month and
assets continue to be all but frozen. Last year in Argentina the populace
took to the streets banging pans, garbage can lids and anything else to
express their frustrations just one day after their accounts were frozen.
In Burma, however, the streets remain ominously devoid of protest.

"They [depositors] think they will lose their money if they protest," says
an employee at the Myanmar Oriental bank.

Rangoon insiders, diplomats and members of the general public, however,
are not optimistic the money will ever be returned, regardless of their
actions. In the capital, rumors abound that the government’s alleged US
$25 million bailout in February never occurred, and that the banks have
already filed for bankruptcy.

"They are going to declare bankruptcy in some months," says one prominent
Rangoon-based writer. "They are waiting for government permission, they
have already applied."

The Myanmar Oriental employee says, currently "there is not enough money
in the banks", but that bank owners still think they can "get control of
the situation" in the coming months.

The government’s continued failure to quell consumer panic has left
diplomats in Rangoon scratching their heads. They say the central
government’s decision not to bail out the banks, thus fueling consumer
anxiety, is unique to Burma. "Most bank crises are attended to immediately
by the government," says a Western diplomat in the capital. "But here the
money didn’t come in [despite government claims]."

Sources say most banks are continuing to dispense 50,000 kyat (US $52) per
week to each account holder, with some receiving up to 100,000 per week.
But this is far from enough to cover labor costs and other expenses, they
say.

Burma’s informal clearing and lending networks have acted as a safety net,
shielding the government from increased protest. Contractors have also
reportedly granted two-month grace periods for payment on certain jobs,
while some hard-up laborers have agreed to pay cuts to ensure some money
is coming in. "These incredible survival tactics" have aided the people
and businesses alike, says the Western diplomat.

One garment manufacturer in Rangoon, who accessed his account in February,
said he was just lucky to be in the right place at the right time. He
recounted how he abruptly stopped after noticing an exceptionally long
line in front of Asia Wealth Bank (AWB), Burma’s largest private bank.
Thankfully, he was able to withdraw his money before any government
restrictions were set.

Although grateful to have his cash in hand, he says Burma’s already
crippled business sector will be further eroded if the problem persists.
"If the banks don’t come back the business is gone."

Calls by the government to have individuals pay 20 to 50 percent of their
outstanding loans by March 31 seem to have fallen on deaf ears. Despite
warnings of reprisals from AWB there is little evidence that any borrowers
took action.

Diplomats continue to criticize the government’s loan repayment demands as
well as the regime’s overall incompetence in financial matters. They say
that the banks’ loan books have never been cracked to differentiate
between loans in good standing and non-performing loans. "Everybody’s
getting tarred with the same brush. Nobody is getting bailed out by the
central government," says the diplomat.

Burma’s resilience will undoubtedly be tested in the coming months as
inflated commodity prices persist and hard currency remains elusive. But
Rangoon residents appear ready to make sacrifices to offset the fallout
created by the current banking crisis. "If the price [of rice] goes up we
will buy it when we have the money or we will buy the lower grade. It’s a
choice we will have to make."


DRUGS

Xinhua News Agency   April 8, 2003
Japan extends more aid for Myanmar's drug control project

YANGON: Japan has extended 1.2 million US dollars more of aid for
Myanmar's opium substitution project in Shan state's Wa region,
implemented by the UN Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the local Myanmar
Times reported in its latest issue.

Quoting a recent announcement of the UNODC and the Japanese government,
the report said the contribution has brought the total amount extended by
Japan for the Wa alternative development project to over 1.9 million
dollars.

The UNODC started launching the 11.6-million-dollar five-year project in
1998, the largest of its kind so far implemented in Myanmar by the UN
organization.

With additional funds of one million dollars and 100,000 dollars
respectively contributed by Germany and Italy, the project is to be
prolonged for two more years up to 2005, the statement said.

The UNODC's projects in Myanmar has helped bring about substantial
reduction of poppy cultivated area and experiences have shown that
alternative development along with law enforcement endeavors constitutes a
vital part of the effective drug supply reduction strategy, the statement
added.

According to the figures of the US Counter Narcotic Center, Myanmar's
opium production dropped from about 2,365 tons in 1997 to 630 tons in
2002, while the country's opium poppy cultivated area reduced from 155,150
hectares to 77,700 hectares.

A UN report estimated that in 2002, Myanmar's opium poppy cultivated area
was 81,400 hectares and the production was 828 tons.

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

The New York Times   April 8, 2003
A Wave of Drug Killings Is Linked to Thai Police
By Seth Mydans

BANGKOK, April 7 — An extraordinary campaign of government-approved
killings is under way in Thailand — a crackdown on drug dealers that has
taken as many as 2,000 lives over the past two months, an average of 30 a
day.

The death toll — equal to that of the carnage in East Timor in 1999 — has
drawn outrage from local and foreign human rights groups. It seems
particularly shocking in a country where democracy has replaced the coups
and strongman rule of past decades.

From the start, the police have disavowed most of the killings, saying
they are the work of drug dealers trying to silence informers. Few people
here accept that explanation. A variety of other government statements and
independent monitoring make it clear that the police are carrying out
widespread summary executions.

In rural areas and city slums, residents say they now stay indoors at
night for fear of what have become known as "silent killings." The most
dangerous thing, they say, is to answer a police summons to respond to an
accusation of drug dealing.

"Most of them got killed on the way back from the police office," said
Sunai Phasuk, a member of an independent human rights group, ForumAsia.
"People found their name on a blacklist, went to the police, then end up
dead." The Interior Ministry says its lists include 41,914 people around
the country who are "targets for monitoring."

According to the police, there are rarely any witnesses to the killings.
Bodies are often removed without autopsies. Often, they are found with
plastic bags of drugs placed neatly by their side. Few homicide arrests
have been made.

The official death toll of 2,052, announced by a police spokesman last
week, is believed to include a number of other killings carried out under
cover of the narcotics crackdown.

When it began at the start of February, the crackdown, ordered by Prime
Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, had broad public backing. Methamphetamines,
trafficked from Myanmar over the old opium routes through the Golden
Triangle, are ravaging all sectors of society, from laborers to bankers,
young and old.

But the campaign has become less popular as it has taken more innocent
lives, and it took the shooting death of a 9-year-old boy just over a
month ago to jolt the public into outrage.

The campaign has also drawn criticism from the United Nations as well as
from human rights groups. Initially, the prime minister said he would rid
Thailand of illicit drugs within three months. Now he says it will take
until the end of year.

"The scale of these killings is absolutely appalling," said Mike
Jendrzejczyk, the Washington director for Asia for Human Rights Watch.
"Thailand's image as a place where the rule of law is respected is clearly
under assault."

He added: "I think the United States should suspend all assistance to the
Thai police until there can be a credible, independent investigation into
the killings and the United States takes steps to ensure it is not
directly or indirectly complicit in them."

Mr. Thaksin has brushed aside the criticism, saying, "The United Nations
is not my father." He added sarcastically: "Opponents can gather
signatures to back their call for the government to let the drug dealers
live happily. Why care about our children?"

Indeed the country's children are at risk in the drug epidemic. The
government says 700 million methamphetamine pills are smuggled from
Myanmar every year, most of them for use in Thailand. It says three
million people use the drug — which is known here as yaa baa, or "crazy
medicine" — including 300,000 people who are addicted, in a population of
63 million.

Officials say dozens of organized crime groups run the drug trade,
protected by or run by powerful civilian and military figures. Critics
note that the current campaign targeting low-level dealers and traffickers
leaves those organizations intact.

Initial surveys by an independent polling concern showed that 90 percent
of the public supported the crackdown, even though 40 percent said they
were afraid of being falsely accused, and 30 percent said they were afraid
of being killed.

Then, just over a month ago, three undercover policemen firing at a
getaway car killed the 9-year-old boy, Chakraphan Srisa-ard, with two
bullets in the back. The police had just arrested his father for trying to
sell them 6,000 pills, and his mother was fleeing for her life with the
boy in the back seat.

The killing drew the biggest headlines since the start of the crackdown,
and the boy's funeral was widely publicized.

"The war on drugs is getting more violent every day," one of his uncles,
Chlaermpol Kerdrungruang, told reporters. "The police kept shooting and
shooting at the car. They wanted them to die. Even a child was not
spared."

Among the critics was Jaran Pakdithanakul, secretary to the Supreme Court
president. "What the police said is not credible," he said, referring to
their claim that someone else shot at the car. "We must stop these
bloodthirsty police officers."

As public opinion began to turn, officials stopped issuing regular reports
of the death toll, and the government appointed a commission to
investigate complaints of summary killings. Last week, however, Deputy
Attorney General Praphan Naiyakowit, who runs the investigation, said the
police had failed to produce any of the reports he had requested.

The killings appear to have continued, though possibly at a somewhat lower
rate.

A police spokesman, Pongsapat Pongchaeroen, gave the latest death toll
last week, adding that the police had made 46,776 drug-related arrests,
had seized 12.51 million methamphetamine pills and had confiscated $14.94
million in property belonging to suspected traffickers.

As with earlier reports, he insisted that most of the victims had been
killed by fellow drug dealers. Just 46 had been killed by the police, he
said, and all of those killings had been in self-defense. He said six
police officers had been killed and 15 wounded.

Since the death of 9-year-old Chakraphan, there have been frequent reports
in the Thai press of summary executions and their innocent victims.

There was the 16-month-old girl who was shot dead along with her mother,
Raiwan Khwanthongyen. There was the pregnant woman, Daranee Tasanawadee,
who was killed in front of her two young sons. There was the 8-year-old
boy, Jirasak Unthong, who was the only witness to the killing of his
parents as they headed home from a temple fair.

There was Suwit Baison, 23, a cameraman for a local television station,
who fell to his knees in tears in front of Mr. Thaksin and begged for an
investigation into the killing of his parents.

His stepfather had once been arrested for smoking marijuana, Mr. Suwit
said. When the police offered to drop the charge if he would admit to
using methamphetamines, he opted instead to pay the $100 fine for
marijuana use.

Both parents were shot dead as they returned home from the police station
on a motorbike. Mr. Suwit said 10 other people in his neighborhood had
also been killed after surrendering to the police.
____________

Deutsche Presse-Agentur   April 8, 2003
Police raid huge drugs factory on China-Myanmar border

Beijing: Police and soldiers have arrested 37 people and seized 466
kilograms of opium and other drugs after a shoot-out at an illegal factory
on the China-Myanmar border, state media said on Tuesday.

The police seized 341 kilograms of opium, 111 kilograms of morphine and 14
kilograms of heroin in the raid on March 30, China News Service quoted a
government public security publication as saying.

Several suspects were killed and others wounded before the police took
control of the drugs factory, the agency said without giving details of
the casualties.

Police arrested 37 people and recovered 31 firearms, mines, bazookas and
drug-processing equipment at the plant just inside Myanmar, across the
border from southwestern China's Yunnan.

The agency said the factory was the largest one closed by police in the
area, which is part of the "Golden Triangle" of drugs production
straddling areas of Myanmar, Laos, Thailand and China.

The report did not specify the nationalities of the suspects or say if
they were held in Myanmar or China.



REGIONAL

The Statesman (India)   April 8 2003
Singapore PM Begins India Tour

NEW DELHI, April 7. - Singapore Prime Minister, Mr Goh Chok Tong also
began a three-day visit to this country tonight, during which the two
countries will agree to a 'joint declaration to initiate negotiations on
the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA)'. A MoU for
collaboration in providing assistance to Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and
Vietnam will also be signed during the visit.


INTERNATIONAL

UN Information Service   April 7 2003
UN Commission on Human Rights completes discussion of economic, social and
cultural rights; Begins review of civil and political rights

GENEVA: The Commission on Human Rights concluded at an extended meeting
this afternoon its annual consideration of economic, social and cultural
rights, hearing from a long series of non-governmental organizations
contending, among other things, that international financial institutions
were not acting in the best interests of the poor nations and people.

A Representative of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions
said the external debt of many poor countries and the arrangements made
for servicing it had strangled the growth and sustainable development
prospects of developing countries. The international financial
institutions and the World Trade Organization were failing to fulfil their
original undertakings and were responsible for the establishment of an
unjust economic model, which was undermining democracy and not
contributing to sustainable development or a fair process of
globalization, the Representative contended.

The non-governmental organization Indian Movement "Tupaj Amaru" charged
that the "neo-liberal" development policy of the World Bank was
responsible for serious violations of the economic, social and cultural
rights of developing countries, and that the financial policy of the
International Monetary Fund (IMF) and its structural adjustment measures
had failed at easing the extreme poverty of the majority of developing
countries.

The International Federation of Rural Adult Catholic Movements said that
during the first World Food Summit, the United Nations Food and
Agriculture Organization had adopted the liberal theses of the World Trade
Organization according to which market liberalization was the only means
for rapidly solving the problem of famine - but five years on, it was
evident that these liberal solutions had not led to a significant
reduction in the misery that still affected 800 million malnourished
people. The organization also charged that at the second World Food
Summit, in June 2002, only two Heads of State and Government of the 29
members of the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development had
been present, whereas 60 developing countries had sent high-level
delegates. This, the NGO contended, was an indication of the political
priority accorded by rich countries to famine.

Other matters criticized by NGOs included trade barriers to
developing-country agricultural products, privatization of water and
electricity supplies, the war in Iraq, and failure of countries to provide
free and compulsory education to all children.

Towards the end of the meeting, the Commission began debate on civil and
political rights.

Louis Joinet, Chairman-Rapporteur of the working group on arbitrary
detention, presented the group's annual report, saying among other things
that countries must help by responding to communications from the working
group and by responding in a timely fashion to opinions issued by the
group. Australia and Mexico took the floor as concerned parties.

And Abdelfattah Amor, Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion and
belief, said the past year had seen a general increase in religious
intolerance and discrimination - religious minorities, particularly Muslim
minorities in the United States and Europe, were particularly affected,
and as a result religious extremism was finding fertile ground for
development. Algeria made a statement as a concerned country.

Among NGOs addressing the afternoon meeting were: New Humanity (joint
statement with International Young Catholic Students and International
Organization for the Development of Freedom of Education), Women's
International League for Peace and Freedom (joint statement with
International Alliance of Women and Socialist International Women), Indian
Movement "Tupaj Amaru" (joint statement with Union of Arab Jurists and
General Arab Women Federation), Movimiento Cubano por la Paz y la
Soberania de los Pueblos (joint statement with the National Union of
Jurists of Cuba and Organization for the Solidarity of the Peoples of
Asia, Africa and Latin America), International Federation of Human Rights
Leagues, World Organization Against Torture, International Federation of
Rural Adult Catholic Movements, World Federation of Trade Unions,
International Institute for Non-Aligned Studies, Afro-Asian Peoples'
Solidarity Organization, Federacion de Asociaciones de Defensa y Promocion
de Derechos Humanos, Indian Council of Education, Colombian Commission of
Jurists, Transnational Radical Party, Europe-Third World Centre,
International Educational Development, Inc., International Confederation
of Free Trade Unions, American Association of Jurists, International
League for the Rights and Liberation of peoples, Liberation, Asian Legal
Resource Centre, Liberal International, Comite international pour le
respect et l'application de la charte africaine des droits de l'homme et
des peuples, Interfaith International, Organization for Defending Victims
of Violence, International Women's Rights Action Watch, Anti-Slavery
International, International Indian Treaty Council, Centro de Estudios
sobre la Juventud, Himalayan Research And Cultural Foundation, World
Federation for Mental Health, All Pakistan Women's Association, Andean
Commission of Jurists, Christian Democratic International, Third World
Movement against the Exploitation of Women, Association Tunisienne pour
l'Auto-Developpement et la Solidarite(ATLAS), Netherlands Organization for
International Development Cooperation, Foodfirst Information and Action
Network, Voluntary Action Network India, International Human Rights
Association of American Minorities, Pax Romana, International Islamic
Federation of Student Organizations, International Fellowship of
Reconciliation, Fraternite Notre Dame, Inc.

India, Turkey, Egypt, Cyprus, and Pakistan spoke in exercise of the right
of reply.

The Commission will reconvene at 10 a.m. Tuesday, 8 April, to continue its
consideration of civil and political rights.

EXCERPT ON BURMA, from the General Debate on Economic, Social and Cultural
Rights:

ALI SALEEM, of Asian Legal Resource Centre, said the military Government
of Myanmar was not genuine in its stated aspiration of ensuring the food
security of people in Myanmar. The right to food in Myanmar was denied by
more than mere neglect - it was a matter of principle.

In every sense, the State in Myanmar rested on the preeminence of the
armed forces. Policies there were designed at the highest level to fulfil
military needs first, without regard to civilian well-being. It was in the
remote parts of Myanmar that the worst abuses of the right to food
continued. The Government of Myanmar had failed to fulfill its obligations
under international law and it alone must be held responsible for the
pervasive food insecurity that continued to grip the country.

EXCERPT:

CHRISTIANE DEHOY, of Anti-Slavery International, said the deprivation of
civil and political rights in Myanmar also resulted in the denial of
economic, social and cultural rights, although the country was rich in
national resources.

The Rohingya Muslims in Northern Arkan State were the worst affected. They
were discriminated against on the basis of race and religion and were
denied citizenship rights. A policy of severe restrictions on their
movements aimed at containing them, and food insecurity was deliberately
created to induce their flight to Bangladesh. Policies of exclusion had
become policies of expulsion through food deprivation.

This past year, a new refugee influx of more than 10,000 Rohingya had been
reported in Bangladesh. Food insecurity was being used as a tool to target
and compel the most vulnerable Muslim population into leaving the country,
and once it fled, their names were deleted from Government family lists,
preventing them from ever returning. Compulsory labour deprived villagers
of their daily income. There had been many complaints of illegal taxation
and extortion. Confiscation of land also continued.


EDITORIAL

Vancouver Sun (Canada)   April 8, 2003
Thailand enforces a policy of take-no-prisoners in its war on drugs
By Jonathan Manthorpe

Away from the scrutiny of the "embeds" and their videophones, another war
is under way in which more than 2,000 people have died in the last two
months and more than 42,000 prisoners have been taken.

The war is in Thailand. It was declared on Feb. 1 by Prime Minister
Thaksin Shinawatra against the country's epidemic of drug taking and
trafficking, mostly of amphetamine pills known as yaa baa -- crazy pills
-- manufactured by warlords in neighbouring Burma.

What is not clear, though, is who is killing whom.

According to the police and government, the vast majority of the killings
have been kingpins in the drug trade murdering lesser dealers who might
inform on them.

Opposition politicians and human rights organizations don't believe it.

They think Thaksin has given the police a licence to shoot-to-kill the
pedlars as the most direct way of dealing with Thailand's massive drug
problem. At least three million Thais, five per cent of the country's 63
million population, are thought to be addicted to the yaa baa pills.

But Thai people do not appear to be impressed by warnings from the United
Nations, Amnesty International and their own Human Rights Commission that
the war might undermine their hard-won democracy and rule of law.

A recent poll showed that up to 90 per cent of Thais support their prime
minister's war. That sampling of opinion was taken before some highly
publicized "civilian" deaths, including several children, bystanders and a
75-year-old grandmother.

In response Thaksin ordered the justice ministry to investigate the police
actions.

This has only led to suspicions that different branches of government have
their own song sheets. Police failed to respond to the justice ministry
requests for reports on the deaths of more than 1,000 people killed in the
first month of the campaign.

Attorney General Wichian Wiriyaprasit said last week he was confused by
the lack of response from the police because the order for the probe came
from the prime minister.

"I suspect the silencings were carried out to prevent the dead from
implicating the police," he said.

Certainly, several hundred police officers are on a list compiled in
recent months of 55,000 people suspected of being involved in the drug
trade.

Thaksin, himself a former police officer who began his climb to being
Thailand's richest man by selling computers to his employers, has made no
bones about what he expects of his former colleagues.

"In this war, drug dealers must die," Thaksin said at the start of the
campaign. "But we don't kill them. It's a matter of the bad guys killing
the bad guys."

Thaksin has set quotas and deadlines for police chiefs and regional
governors to clear names from the list of 55,000 suspects. Those officials
who don't meet their quotas will be fired or re-assigned, he warned.

"The government's strategy is to smoke out pushers, who will be eliminated
by their own kind," Thaksin said. "I don't understand why some people are
so concerned about them while neglecting to care for the future of one
million children who are lured into becoming drug users."

Interior Minister Wan Mohammed Noor Matha, who appears to be more in the
loop than the justice minister, was equally blunt. Drug dealers, he
warned, will "be put behind bars or even vanish without a trace. Who
cares? They are destroying our country."

Police acknowledge killing 42 suspects in shoot-outs in the first seven
weeks of the campaign. They say six police officers have been killed and
another 15 wounded.

Critics don't believe that account. "According to our research, most of
them are killed by police because they want to meet their [quota] target,"
said Somchai Homlaor, secretary general of the Thai human rights group
Forum Asia. "In many provinces there are death squads roaming around
killing drug dealers. The rule of law and democracy could disappear
overnight."

The United Nations Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial Executions and
Amnesty International have expressed concern about the conduct of the war.
After Thailand's national human rights commissioner, Dr. Pradit
Chareonthaitawee, made similar comments, he started getting death threats
from anonymous telephone callers.

Some people in the government are sensitive to the harm this campaign
might be doing to Thailand's international reputation.

Last month, the foreign ministry held a briefing on the war for more than
50 Bangkok-based diplomats. "We are not insensitive to the concerns of the
international community, but we want the international community to see
our side of the story," a ministry spokesman told reporters after the
meeting.

"It's necessary for the government to take decisive action to deal with
the drug problem."

Any embarrassment the Thai government might feel about the conduct of its
war -- and there's precious little evidence it feels any -- might end when
the war itself ends at the end of this month.

With the drug problem dead and buried, at least until the Burmese
druglords can arrange a new network, the hyperactive Thaksin has another
war plan on his map table.

This one, starting in May, is going to be against the national blight of
corruption. It is unlikely the death toll will be as high in the next war.

But anyone on the take must be wondering under what rules of engagement
the police will be operating.

jmanthorpe at png.canwest.com


STATEMENTS

Caught in the Wrong Place at the Wrong Time   April 8 2003
By EarthRights International

Bangkok: Being in the wrong place at the wrong time in Burma can land you
not only in jail, but also on the road carrying supplies for the Burmese
military.  Two prisoners, who we will call Aung Naing and Tin Oo, recently
escaped while carrying heavy loads to the frontlines.  They described
their plight to EarthRights International.

Both men’s stories start innocently enough.  Aung Naing went to get his
motorcycle fixed at a nearby shop; Tin Oo visited a jewelry shop to try to
do some business.  While visiting these locations, the sites were raided
for drugs.  They were arrested along with everyone else who happened to be
there.

Innocence is not enough for the Burmese authorities, however.  Innocent or
guilty, what you need is bribe money. “They released twenty to thirty
people after money negotiations”, said Aung Naing.  He was sentenced to
five years in prison.

Tin Oo did not have bribe money either:

When I arrived at the police station, they asked me for 500,000 kyat.  I
did not have that much money, so I gave the police all I had—100,000 
kyat.  They took the money but did not let me go.  Later, they told me to
pay 400,000 kyat to have my urine tested.  If I could pay this amount of
money, they would say that I did not have any trace of drugs.  Because I
could not pay, they said that my urine test was positive.  And then they
put me in jail.

Tin Oo was sentenced to eleven years in prison—five years for a “positive”
urine test and six years for the drugs found at the site; it did not
matter that Tin Oo did not own or even live at the site.

This kind of arbitrary arrest is not unusual in Burma.  “According to the
law, if they find drugs in any area, they can arrest people who live
within fifty feet of that area,” said Tin Oo.  Aung Naing explained the
authorities’ eagerness to make drug arrests:

To get a promotion, police in the area have to bring twenty cases every
month and if they do not have enough cases, they arrest people on the road
or people who quarrel with each other.  The police can change a simple
case into a drug case. They do this to get money and in order to have more
cases in the area. Some children quarreled and the police charged them for
using drugs.  Police arrested my uncle when he traveled on the train after
they put heroine in his bag.  This has happened to many people, and they
could not refuse.

Prison conditions for the men were very poor.  “Because we did not have
good food, we were not healthy, and many people were sick.  In the prison,
people died almost every day.  Most of people died of TB and lung
disease.”  Prison officials, however, made sure that international
agencies did not find out what was really happening: “Sometimes the ICRC
(International Committee of the Red Cross) visited the prison and before
they came, the head of the prison taught us to say good things to them. 
We had to tell the ICRC that we had good food, like we have meat three
times a week, but we did not get fed any meat and didn’t have good health.
 If we told the truth, prison officials frightened us.”

After years in prison, both men were conscripted to porter for the
military.  They had to carry heavy bags of rice, backpacks, and
ammunition. Conditions were no better than in prison: “I saw the soldiers
shout at the prisoner porters. . . . Soldiers beat most of the porters
because they could not carry the heavy things.  Porters were threatened by
soldiers that if they could not carry the load, they would be shot dead.”

In recent years, to avoid accusations of forced labor, the military
government has used more prisoners as if they were a legitimate labor
force.  The use of “prisoners” like Aung Naing and Tin Oo shows how the
regime continues to prevent meaningful reforms to eradicate forced labor. 
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi recently told the International Labour Organization
that prison labor is an especially serious area of concern.  EarthRights
International (ERI) and many other organizations have documented the
Burmese military’s practice of forced labor including the use of prisoners
for years.  ERI continues to call on the military to recognize the rule of
law and improve its human rights record.