BurmaNet News: July 4-5 2003

[editor at burmanet.org]

July 4-5 2003 Issue 2277

INSIDE BURMA

AFP: Myanmar junta launches new attack on detained Suu Kyi
Bloomberg: Red Cross says Myanmar holds 30 opposition members, AFP reports
DVB: Dipeyin victims latest
IMNA & Kao Wao: Villagers flee forced military training

MONEY

DVB: NLD supporters’ businesses undermined

ON THE BORDER

DVB: Black Friday eyewitnesses escape to Thailand
NMG: Recognition of women leadership increased among Burmese opposition

REGIONAL

Narinjara: Bangladesh Govt hopes completion of repatriation of Burmese
refugees soon
Narinjara: Burma FM arrives today
Reuters: Japan dissatisfied with Myanmar Suu Kyi response

STATEMENTS

Bangkok Post: ASEAN shines a ray of light on Rangoon
Burma Campaign UK: Government to tell travel firms to end Burma tourism

INSIDE BURMA

Agence France Presse July 5 2003

Myanmar junta launches new attack on detained Suu Kyi

Myanmar's military junta launched a new attack on
detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi Saturday, in an insulting
commentary that indicated it is unlikely to release her any time soon.

The article in the official press was the regime's latest attempt to
portray the National League for Democracy (NLD) leader as the instigator of
violence in northern Myanmar on May 30 which triggered her detention.

"Auntie Suu is a willful and hard-headed person liable to rash judgments
followed by blind action, in her relations with the present government," it
said.

"Nevertheless, whatever the provocation, responsible leaders of the present
government, preferring to act with forbearance, and on the basis of give and
take, have always chosen to take action in moderation."

"To put it frankly, from the time our NLD party leader Auntie Suu who as an
ordinary housewife ventured into the Myanmar political arena, every
circumstance has been in her favour," it said.

Saturday's commentary included photos of Suu Kyi taken when she was
released from house arrest in 1995 and held a rare meeting with the nation's
ruler Senior General Than Shwe.

The photos showed her smiling and shaking hands with Than Shwe and sitting
with the general in what was billed by the caption as "a family dinner".
__________

Bloomberg.com July 4 2003

Red Cross Says Myanmar Holds 30 Opposition Members, AFP Reports
July 4 (Bloomberg) -- Myanmar's military junta is holding at least 30
members of the opposition National League for Democracy, including its
leader Aung San Suu Kyi, the Associated Press said, citing the
International Committee of the Red Cross.
A Red Cross team visited 30 opposition supporters during a tour of prisons
in the north of the country, AP cited Michel Ducreaux, a representative of
the International Committee of the Red Cross in Myanmar, as saying
yesterday in the capital, Yangon. He didn't say when the visits took
place.
The military government hasn't disclosed how many opposition supporters
were detained after a clash May 30 in northern Myanmar with followers of
the junta. Among the prisoners visited was Tin Oo, the vice-chairman of
the National League for Democracy, Ducreaux said earlier this week. The
team hasn't been allowed to visit Suu Kyi, who is now said to have been
moved from Insein jail in Yangon to an undisclosed location, Agence
France-Presse reported earlier this week.
The detention of Suu Kyi and opposition leaders prompted international
demands for her release, including a call from the 10-nation Association
of Southeast Asian Nations, which has Myanmar as a member. Suu Kyi won the
1991 Nobel Peace prize for her campaign to return Myanmar to democracy.
The military has ruled the country formerly known as Burma since 1962.
______________-

Democratic Voice of Burma July 5 2003

Dipeyin victims latest

Although the SPDC hasn’t issued any exact list of people who were killed
and arrested on the 30th of May at the Dipeyin [Tabayin] incident, it is
believed that 140 people were taken to Shwebo Prison on the day of the
incident alone.

According to someone who was recently-released prisoner from Shwebo jail,
among the detained, 40 people are critically wounded and their conditions
are said to be life-threateningly serious.

The majority of the people received head injuries and their wounds are
similar as the result of systematic trainings received by the attackers
before the assaults on the NLD supporters, said an unidentified youth who
has just been released from Shwebo Prison. The NLD members are still being
detained in the prison and the non-members are being released in small
number, said the same person as follows:

Rcently-released prisoner from Shwebo jail : I was included in those who
were arrested and detained in Shwebo. I was there for 9 days. As we didn’t
know much, we were not interrogated much. They are interrogating mostly
members of the NLD. There are about 140 people who were detained. Among
them more than 40 people were seriously wounded in Shwebo Prison alone.
Their injuries are similar. All of them have head injuries. It seems that
the attackers received trainings as in how to do it. The injuries are the
same; broken heads and the like. Some people received seven stitches. Some
received 21 stitches at most. U Hla Myint is still being treated in the
hospital. They kept us in two rooms which holds 150 people.

Some of the NLD youth who were detained in Shwebo Prison were sent to
Khanti and Kale Prison and there are still 50 people in Shwebo Prison.
Among them are the chief organiser of Mandalay Ko Aung Soe, Amarapura
Township NLD member U Hla Myint, Le-Way Township NLD youth member Ko Thet
Tun Oo, Ko Ye Myint Aung of Mandalay Northeast Township, Ko Tin Htut Oo
and Ko Win Khaing of Mandalay Northwest Township.

According to the same man, he heard that people were detained in Shwebo
Prison but he was unable to find out who were killed and missing. Daw Tin
Myint, a woman NLD member of Mandalay Southwest Township is one of the
people who are still unaccounted for and her family are still unable to
find out about her fate. It was rumoured that she was detained in Shwebo
Prison, but when the ICRC staff went to the prison, they could not find
her there. The DVB contacted her daughter and she gave her reactions as
follows:

Daw Tin Myint’s daughter : We haven’t heard anything. We don’t know
whether she is dead. We are very worried. We don’t know whether she is
dead or alive. If she is in prison, we could see her there. If she is
dead, we want to hold a memorial service for her. We are extremely worried
as we haven’t heard anything about her. Our family wants to know what
happened to her. We want to know exactly what her condition is, in which
prison she is being detained. Some people say that she is in Shwebo Prison
but I am not sure yet.

DVB : Where did you hear that she is in Shwebo Prison?

Daw Tin Myint’s daughter : Some people said that. They said that those
arrested were sent to Shwebo Prison. I heard from someone that she was
sent to Shwebo Prison. Women were sent to Shwebo Prison, they said. I
thought that she would be with them.

DVB : The ICRC went to see these people at prisons earlier on. Did you go
and ask the ICRC?

Daw Tin Myint’s daughter : Yes, I did.

DVB : What did they say?

Daw Tin Myint’s daughter : They told me to come back in another week. They
told me to come back in two weeks time. I went there and they told me that
there is no news and asked me to come back in a week time. As there is no
news, they asked me to come again on Friday.

DVB : Did you try to go and see her at Shwebo Prison?

Daw Tin Myint’s daughter : We did try but they told us that we could not
do that. This is the third time. We tried to do that when she was arrested
before. It was impossible to find out about her. We only found out about
her when she was released. The present situation is worse than before and
we are unable to do anything.

DVB : Did you go and ask the authorities concerned?

Daw Tin Myint’s daughter : No, we haven’t done that. They came to ask us
whether Daw Tin Myint is here. They came to do the same after two days. We
told them that she accompanied Daw Suu to Dipeyin.

DVB : How do you feel when you mother disappears in front of your eyes?
You must be waiting for her return with eagerness?

Daw Tin Myint’s daughter : Yes, I do. I do hope for her return everyday.
Last time, when we heard about news on her, we could not sleep at night.
We just waited for her return. There are three brothers and sisters in our
family and there are five in all. It’s the same with them. My sister is
married and lives with her husband. She always comes and asks about our
mother every evening. We are worried. Every evening, we pray for her and
wait for her return.
_________

Independent Mon News Agency and Kao Wao July 4 2003

VILLAGERS FLEE FORCED MILITARY TRAINING

Local villagers in Ye township of southern Mon State have fled from forced
military training conducted by the Burmese Army in their region two days
ago.
Some of the villagers from AruTong and Jamsai in northern Ye were ordained
into the monkshood to take shelter in monasteries while some escaped into
areas controlled by the New Mon State Party at the Thai-Burma border to
avoid the compulsory training.
The Burmese Army Battalion No. 343 is conducting a section of training for
500 trainees nearby their base with a master plan to break down potential
uprisings in Burma.
A villager who recently arrived to the border said, “The Burmese Army has
given military training to USDA and SPDC members in the various towns, now
the local authorities in Mon State are also recruiting villagers in
Northern Ye to expand training.
According to a local headman from Mawkanin, every man from 18 to 40 years
old is expected to sign up for the training.
Members of Township PDC authorities in Mon State went to villages and
called emergency meetings to register villagers for new recruits to attend
the military training in the last two weeks.
 “The authorities did not explain to us (villagers) why we have to attend
this training. They just said we can’t refuse,” a villager from Mudon
township told IMNA about the registration.  According to the source, if
the person fails to attend, they have to pay a fine of 20,000 Kyat
(Burmese currency) to the authorities.
The authorities recruited about 1,000 men from Yaung-daung village near
Thanbyu Zayat city alone and many villages are ordered to prepare for the
training. Nai Myint, a businessman from Moulmein said the order was issued
directly from the Minister for Home Affairs.  Since the ambush attack of
Aung San Suu Kyi in late May in De-Pe-Yin of upper Burma, the State Peace
and Development Council has grown paranoid about the possibility of a
nation wide uprising that could prompt military intervention from a
foreign army into Burma, he added.


MONEY

Democratic Voice of Burma July 4 2003

NLD supporters’ businesses undermined

While the SPDC is cracking down on the supporters of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi
and the NLD, the regime is also trying to undermine and destroy the
business interests of the NLD supporters.

The first attempt of the regime is to order the dismantling of all the
4000 shops at Zegyo market mostly owned by the NDL supporters by the end
of June. Although the authority told the shopkeepers that order was issued
so as to make the market appear like the surroundings of Mandalay city,
the shopkeepers believe that they are being punished for supporting Daw
Aung San Suu Kyi during her trip to Mandalay.

A shopkeeper told the DVB about the situation as follows:

A shopkeeper : Yes. All the shops between the 26th and 28th streets, and
from 86th to 30th street are to be dismantled by the end of last month but
nothing has been done to this day, the 3rd of July. We don’t know what is
going to happen.

DVB : They told people to dismantle all the shops by the end of last month
but nothing is done yet?

A shopkeeper : Yes.

DVB : They haven’t issued more orders since?

A shopkeeper : No. But we shopkeepers are living in fear. They are saying
that we might have a chance to reclaim our shops and sometimes not... The
sale is not good and the shopkeepers are feeling dejected.

DVB : Who ordered you to dismantle your shops?

A shopkeeper : The municipal department summoned us to a meeting at the
town hall. They told the people concerned to tell shopkeepers about it.
They told us at No.1, Town Hall. They told us that they would return our
shops. It would only last six months. That’s what they said.

DVB : When they discussed things like that didn’t they ask the opinions of
the shopkeepers?

A shopkeeper : No, they didn’t. They planned it in a way that we could say
nothing. They said that they would build new shops for us near the Kanna
Street so that we won’t ask questions. When they have done that they would
return us our shops. Shopkeepers have no niggling questions to ask. That’s
how it’s done. They have planned like that so that we could ask no
question.

DVB : Did they explain to you why they wanted to dismantle the shops?

A shopkeeper : They said that Mandalay has become a city and they want to
make it look like a city. As for us, we don’t think so. Whenever there is
political instability, they have been disrupting us like that. A
contractor would come and invade our area. They take us out of the list so
that people would not be interested. Burmese people here know that they
are turning towards us. They are trying to change our minds.

DVB : What are the feelings of the shopkeepers on the attempt to dismantle
their shops?

A shopkeeper : As the country is unstable at the moment, people are
feeling rather agitated. It is very difficult to find the daily meals
these days. Would their new locations good for the business? If something
happens let it happen. That’s how they feel. If it happens, let it happen.
That is good and the like.

DVB : How do you see the current situation of the country?

A shopkeeper : We all want human rights. If we could say what we want,
that would be better. We want to do things with consensus not like the
current situation where we have to grind our teeth. We don’t know what to
do if we wanted to. The people behind us are all members of our families
who depend on us. It seems that we have to keep on struggling like this.
We are expecting the best but we don’t know where to start. We don’t know
what to do and if we plan to do something we have to watch our back all
the time. I have said too much.


ON THE BORDER

Democratic Voice of Burma July 4 2003

Black Friday Eyewitnesses escape to Thailand

Two eyewitnesses of the murderous assaults on NLD supporters on the 30th
of May at Dipeyin in Upper Burma have escaped to the Thai capital Bangkok
today.

They are 50 year-old, U Khin Zaw of the Northwest Township and the 26
year-old Ko Wunna Maung of Htun-Tone Ward in Mandalay. They testified what
they saw on Black Friday to the Thai parliament today.

They said that the incident did not occur accidentally but it is clear
that the assault was systematically planned by the military government.
They also confirmed that the death toll could be up to
70:

U Khin Zaw : ‘When Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s motorcade arrived near Kyi Ywa,
it was stopped. I was at the rear end of the motorcade. Behind us, there
were some fake monks who were wearing some red badges on their arms.

And people who were carrying iron poles, wooden poles and bamboo poles
swore at Daw Aung San Suu Kyi as the wife of an Indian and swore at the
local people as people who want to be the relatives of Indians and other
unpleasant expletives and terms.

The local people who were welcoming and supporting Daw Aung San Suu Kyi
replied to them with ‘you are the real destructive elements and the
axe-handles [lapdogs] of the regime’ and the like and they started to beat
up the villagers who said those words straight away.


At the moment, two people from my township died.

Ko Wunna Maung of Htun Tone Township described the condition of Daw Aung
San Suu Kyi and U Tin Oo’s conditions as follows:

Ko Wunna Maung : People were all bloody. We were all broken [wounded]. I
was lucky to have escaped. I was to the right of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s
car. On the left hand side, there were more people protecting her. They
attacked those people who were protecting her. They didn’t actually attack
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi but they smashed the glass and thrust a metal skewer
into the car. I don’t know whether she was hit because it was dark. U Tin
Oo was also beaten. I saw him being beaten once in front. He was wounded
while they were going for Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. People in the back were
all down on the ground with their bloody bodies. They kept on hitting
people around the place
Then, the people who could still shout told her
[Daw Aung San Suu Kyi] to escape. ‘Run, aunty, run,’ we said. She didn’t
say anything. Kyaw Soe Linn, the driver just drove the car away. Then, we
also fled. I bumped into their people who were lying in wait for us. They
were chasing us like animals. They also beat up the people who were on the
motorbikes in front of us. They dragged them down from their bikes and
beat them up. We had to drive our car into the paddy-fields. We had to
sleep in the paddy-field during the night. At about ten, we heard spurts
of gunshots. We saw burning cars from the paddy-fields. I don’t know who
was alive and who was dead. All of them were lying flat on the ground with
flowing blood.

They planned to give the details of what they saw in a news conference but
it was cancelled due to the security situation. At the moment, both of
them are taking refuge in the office of UNHCR.
__________-

Network Media Group July 5 2003

Recognition of women leadership increased among Burmese oppositions

A woman candidate got second highest votes in a recent of election for
Chairperson post at Network for Democracy and Development (NDD). The
figure approved that the recognition of women leadership increased among
Burmese oppositions.

The conference held from June 28 to July 2, the elected chairperson Kyaw
Kyaw got majority of 16 votes while the runner up, Khin Ohmar got second
highest 10 votes, said a conference delegate, Maram Noe Noe Htet San.

Maram Noe Noe Htet San who was elected as a member of Policy Board of NDD
told NMG that “In the conference, 27 persons were entitled to vote and Ko
Kyaw Kyaw obtained 16 and Ma Khin Ohmar got 10. We used secret voting
system and I could not know who votes for whom. However, role of men also
played a big role in that election.”

There were ten women delegates who attended to conference among 27 delegates.

Women issues were firstly introduced among border based Burmese
anti-government activists as early as in the mid 1990. The demands of
women participation in the leadership roles have been gradually recognized
after a series of women movement in oppositions.

Since the formation of NDD on March 2001, an organization which is
comprising of former student leaders, the founders decided to include at
least 30 per cent of women participation in leadership in receptive roles.

In a similar initiative, another anti-government organization, Democratic
Party for a New Society (DPNS) is targeting a one-third participation of
women in leadership role in their upcoming conference. Aung Moe Zaw
revealed that his party decided the preparatory guidelines for women
issues since recent conference in 2002.

Though there has been increasing number of women participations in
politics, the Chairwoman of Burmese Women Union, Mi Sue Pwint said she is
not satisfied the current situation. “Today women are allowed to
participate in politics just because of pressures from funding agencies
and current international scenarios. We have to encourage and do a lot of
changes in order to get more women participations in the politics,” she
said.


REGIONAL

Narinjara News July 4 2003

Bangladesh Govt hopes completion of repatriation of Burma refugees soon

The Bangladesh government is hopeful that the process of repatriation of
the Burmese refugees will complete in a foreseeable future, Foreign
Secretary Shamsher M Chowdhury told a regular weekly briefing at his
office yesterday, According to today’s the independent quoted to BSS
report.

“ We are in constant touch with the Burma military authorities through the
UNHCR in this regard,” he said.

Meanwhile, attention of the government has been drawn to news items
published in national and international press and media on the question of
repatriation of the remaining Burma refugees.

A press release issued by the foreign Office today said that about 250,877
people from Burma’s Northern Rakhine state crossed border to take refugee
in Bangladesh during 1991-1992. Till June 29 this year, 234,581 refugees
were repatriated to Burma in close cooperation between the two countries
and with the assistance of the UNHCR.

However, 8,212(2,936 with confirmation/ re-confirmation of clearance by
Burma and 5276 pending confirmation/re-confirmation of clearance) are
awaiting repatriation to Burma. “ The number has come down with about 500
cases cleared on July 2 last and they will go back home once clearance is
given by the Burma military authorities”, it said.

The Bangladesh government expects that the remaining 12,575 refugees will
also sign affidavit expressing their willingness to go back to their own
country by following the example of their fellow countrymen.

About 93 per cent of the refugees have returned and been rehabilitated in
their country with no complain reported so far from them. This clearly
indicates the existence of an environment conducive to the return of the
remaining refugees, the press release said.

“ In view of the excellent level of cooperation between the government of
Bangladesh and the government of Burma, it is hoped that the repatriation
process will be concluded with the return of all the remaining refugees to
their country,” it said.
____________

Narinjara News July 5 2003

Burma FM arrives today

Burma Foreign minister Win Aung come to Dhaka today carrying a letter from
Senior General Than Shwe for Bangladesh Prime Minister Khaleda Zia,
reports local press.

Bangladesh foreign secretary Shamsher Mobin Chowdhury told the reporters
at weekly press briefing Thursday but he could not surmise the content of
the letter nor the immediate purpose of the visit of Burma FM. “ He is
carrying a letter to the Prime Minister of Bangladesh,” he said.

The Burma FM will arrive in Dhaka on today night and leave Monday.

It could not be ascertained whether the Burma FM’s visit is anyway linked
with Aung San Suu Kyi who fresh detained by Burma Military Junta triggered
uproar by the international community.

The two governments have an old issue of repatriation of a little over
20,000 Rohingya refugees to Burma.

The Bangladesh Foreign Secretary said the process of repatriation has been
stepped up and expressed the hope that all the remaining refugees would be
voluntarily going back through close cooperation among Bangladesh, Burma
and the UNHCR.

The UNHCR has also agreed to supervise directly the repatriation of the
remaining Burmese refugees to Burma till December 31 next, another the
local news agency BSS said.

The UN body has decided to change its earlier decision to wrap up its all
activities from Cox’sbazar this month following a series of meeting with
the Bangladesh govt officials, sources in the UNHCR said in Cox’sbazar on
Thursday.
____________

Reuters July 4 2003


Japan Dissatisfied with Myanmar Suu Kyi Response
By Elaine Lies
TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan said on Friday it was deeply disappointed with
Myanmar's response to the concerns it had raised over detained opposition
leader Aung San Suu Kyi and that it had no choice but to maintain its
freeze on fresh aid.
Japan, a key aid donor, said last week it has frozen fresh assistance to
impoverished Myanmar to protest against the military government's
detention of Suu Kyi and was considering further punitive measures unless
she was freed.
Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi was quoted by a Foreign Ministry
official as telling Khin Maung Win, a top aide to Myanmar junta leader
Than Shwe, that Myanmar's explanation of Suu Kyi's situation was
"completely unacceptable."
"We cannot continue as if nothing has happened," she was quoted as saying
in a meeting in Tokyo with the aide. "Under the current situation, we have
no choice but to put off new aid."
Khin Maung Win responded by saying he would convey Japan's views to the
"leaders" of his nation, which the ministry official said could be
interpreted as meaning Than Shwe.
Kawaguchi repeated Japan's demand that Suu Kyi and other members of her
National League for Democracy (NLD) be swiftly freed, along with allowing
the opposition group -- which won a landslide election victory in 1990 but
has never been allowed to govern -- to freely engage in political
activities.
She said Myanmar had made no apparent progress in that area.
Khin Maung Win brought with him to Tokyo a letter from Than Shwe in reply
to one from Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi last month, but the
Foreign Ministry official said it appeared shed no new light on Suu Kyi's
situation.
DIPLOMATIC DRIVE
The trip is part of a diplomatic drive by Yangon to counter international
criticism of its detention of Suu Kyi, 58, who has been held in an
undisclosed location since May 30.
Khin Maung Win showed Kawaguchi pictures of Suu Kyi that were said to show
her in captivity and added that she had been moved since June 10, when
United Nations envoy Razali Ismail met her and described her conditions as
"deplorable." But he did not give any details on where she was currently
being held.
Kawaguchi said that if Suu Kyi could not be released quickly, then she
should at least be able to meet people regularly.
Michel Ducreaux, the International Committee of the Red Cross
representative in Myanmar, said on Thursday he had heard a rumor she had
been moved to a "more appropriate" location from notorious Insein prison
in Yangon, where Britain has said she was being held, but could not
confirm it.
He also said the Red Cross was optimistic that Myanmar's rulers would
allow it to meet Suu Kyi.
International outrage and concern about Suu Kyi's condition have risen as
her detention continued, with the United States and the European Union
threatening harsher sanctions.
Tokyo has long taken a policy of engagement toward Myanmar, formerly known
as Burma. Analysts say this stems from feelings among older Japanese that
Japan helped the country win independence from Britain after World War II.
Japan stopped large-scale loans and economic assistance to Myanmar after
the military government took power in 1988, but is still one of its
biggest donors through small-scale humanitarian and other assistance. It
has also provided debt relief worth 11.3 billion yen ($95.6 million) in
the past five years.
Khin Maung Win visited Thailand on Tuesday and is set to make trips to
other Asian capitals.
An Indonesian Foreign Ministry spokesman said the Association of Southeast
Asian Nations (ASEAN) was waiting for an answer from Myanmar to "various
options" but that things had not yet reached the point of dispatching any
ASEAN delegation to Yangon. ($1=118.16 yen) (With additional reporting by
Masayuki Kitano)

STATEMENTS/OPINIONS

Bangkok Post June 26 2003

Asean shines a ray of light on Rangoon
PRISCILLA CLAPP

Those who have been dismayed by recent events in Burma can take heart at
last week's Asean ministerial meeting in Cambodia. In an historic
departure from past practice, the Asean ministers took Burma's military
regime to task for its brutal attack on the National League for Democracy,
called for the release of NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi, and urged the
government to negotiate with the democracy forces for a political
transition.

Asean has firmly resisted past entreaties from the United States and
Europe to take a stand against Burma's military regime, arguing that this
would constitute interference in the internal affairs of a member state.
Instead Asean has favoured ``constructive engagement'' with Burma, largely
in the form of trade and investment, hoping that the military leadership
would, on its own, develop the self-confidence and maturity to restore
civilian government.

Thus Asean's turn-around last week was nothing less than a collective
recognition by Burma's closest neighbours and traditional support base
that its military regime, the State Peace and Development Council, is no
longer simply an internal matter for Burma, but has become a blight on
Asean itself. The turn-around also signifies that Asean governments are
disillusioned with the results of their attempts at ``constructive
engagement''.

In fact, the SPDC has misused and abused Asean and other Asian investors
for years, causing most of them to leave and reducing new investment to
almost zero. The SPDC's brutal attack on the NLD on the eve of a key
regional meeting demonstrated once again the regime's blatant disregard
for the outside world, finally testing Asean's patience to the breaking
point.

The United States and Europe have, quite understandably, reacted with
outrage at the SPDC's flagrant violation of its own promise to engage with
the NLD in a negotiated transition to parliamentary democracy. But even
the authors of new sanctions against Burma by the US congress admit that
US measures alone can have only limited impact, because Burma does not
look to the US and Europe for its economic and political survival. If
anyone can have an impact it will be Burma's neighbours.

We hope that Asean's newfound political voice will soon be followed by
deeds, thus sounding the death knell for military rule in Burma.

The SPDC can now no longer pretend that its membership in international
and regional institutions has no bearing on its behaviour at home. If it
continues stubbornly to flaunt the goodwill of its neighbours, Burma will
soon find itself out in the cold.

For Burma's military leadership, time is running out on the opportunity
offered by the NLD to negotiate a peaceful political transition and secure
its own legitimacy in a future democracy.

- Priscilla Clapp is the former US charge d'affaires, the top US
diplomatic position in Burma, from 1999 to 2002.

___________-

Burma Campaign UK July 4 2003

GOVERNMENT TO TELL TRAVEL FIRMS TO END BURMA TOURISM



The British government has announced it will be writing to all travel
organisations with links to Burma asking them to end their involvement in
tourism to the country. Foreign Office minister Mike O'Brien made the
announcement in a debate on Burma in the House of Commons just before
calling on British American Tobacco to close it's factory there.

The Burma Campaign UK - which has campaigned for many years to stop
companies operating tours to Burma - welcomed the move by the British
Government. The Burma Campaign has been lobbying the government to take a
tougher line on tourism to Burma.

"This is an endorsement of what we have been saying for years," said
Yvette Mahon, Director of the Burma Campaign UK. "Travel firms operating
in Burma are helping to fund the regime, they have to stop."

Foreign office minister Mike O'Brien MP said in the debate on 2nd July:

"In 1998, the late Derek Fatchett wrote to travel associations in Britain
explaining why the Government were concerned about their encouragement of
travel in Burma. In the light of the deteriorating situation there, I
propose to write to all travel organisations with any links with tourism
in Burma. There are very few of them, but if any are involved, we shall
target them and ask them not to allow, encourage or participate in tourism
in Burma. Some people go to Burma for their own reasons, and we want to
discourage them from doing so."

Following a crackdown on the democracy movement on 30th May and the
massacre of up to 100 democracy supporters, the Burma Campaign UK vowed to
step up its campaign against tourism to Burma and has also written to tour
operators. Earlier this year Kuoni announced it is to end tours to Burma
following pressure by the Burma Campaign UK. This week Travelsphere
Holidays also announced it is to end trips to Burma "for commercial and
moral reasons." The Burma Campaign UK is currently preparing a major
campaign against Orient Express, one of the last significant tour
operators in Burma.

A decade ago the regime in Burma identified tourism as a key potential
source of income. In no other country are human rights abuses and tourism
so closely linked. Slave labour has been widely used to build tourist
infrastructure and over a million people forced to leave their homes.
Burma's regime claims it earns $100 million a year from tourism. It spends
over 40 percent of its budget on the military.

Around thirty tour operators feature on a 'dirty list' of companies in
Burma. The list will be updated later this month.

For more information contact Yvette Mahon, Director of Burma Campaign UK
on 0207 281 7377, mobile 07957 301 346, or Mark Farmaner, Media Officer,
on 0207 281 7377, 0794 123 9640.