BurmaNet News: July 12-14 2003

[editor at burmanet.org]

July 12-14 2003 Issue #2283

INSIDE BURMA

DVB: NLD women detained for writing to General Than Shwe
BBC: Burma defends Suu Kyi custody
DPA: Myanmar junta attacks U.S. ‘meddling’ in internal affairs

DRUGS

SHAN: Wa extend drug free deadline
AFP: Myanmar drugs lord under house arrest: Thai report

REGIONAL

Narinjara: Repatriation of Burmese refugees still going on

INTERNATIONAL

CQ: Myanmar sanctions measure set for action on House floor

ON THE BORDER

NMG: Thai security officer warns Burmese refugees, no protest against
relocation

EDITORIALS/STATEMENTS

Washington Post: Stop stalling on Burma
Press Release of Sen. Mitch McConnell
U.S. Dept. of State: Statement of Deputy Secretary Richard L. Armitage
FCO: Foreign Office calls for Burma travel boycott

INSIDE BURMA

Democratic Voice of Burma July 11 2003

NLD women detained for writing to General Than Shwe

It is reported that at least three NLD women members including the MP of
No.1, Mogok Constituency, Daw May Hnin Kyi who has been living in Rangoon
were arrested by the military intelligence [MI] last night.
The MI agents simultaneously swooped on their houses at around nine
o’clock and arrested them, said members of their families. The other two
women who were arrested at the same time with Daw May Hnin Kyi are Daw
Myint Myint Sein and Daw Leh Leh. Daw Myint Myint Sein is the chairman of
Central NLD Women and Daw Leh Leh is the treasurer.
Other NLD members are continued to be arrested but the DVB hasn’t received
confirmed reports yet. It is assumed that they are all being detained at
No.6, MI Interrogation Centre and it is not known how they are going to be
dealt with. Although the MI hasn’t given any reason for their arrests,
people close to the NLD believe that the women were arrested for writing a
letter to General Than Shwe on behalf of the NLD Women.
They were arrested after the letter was composed and sent by post to
General Than Shwe in recent days. The letter included three demands: to
immediately release all the people including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi who were
arrested in relation to May 30 Dipeyin [Tabayin] assault, to re-open all
the NLD offices as soon as possible and to let an independent commission
enquire into the Dipeyin incident. Similar demands were made by NLD Youth
and some NLD MPs and four members in Magwe Division were arrested while
preparing to sign the letter.
___________

BBC July 14 2003

Burma defends Suu Kyi custody
By Larry Jagan

Burma's top leader, General Than Shwe, has despatched his two foreign
ministers to countries in Asia with personal letters and an album of
photographs of the opposition leader.
Aung San Suu Kyi has been detained in what the government calls
'protective custody' for more than six weeks.
Her continued detention has outraged the international community, which
has demanded her immediate release.
In the past two weeks, General Than Shwe's two envoys, Foreign Minister
Win Aung and the Deputy Foreign Minister Khin Maung Win, have travelled
around the capitals of Asia.
They have met most of the respective prime ministers in these countries
and handed over a personal letter from General Than Shwe.
In the seven-page letter, the Burmese military leader accuses the
opposition movement of plotting an uprising that would throw the country
into anarchy and lead to the fall of the government.
Embarrassment
The letter says Aung San Suu Kyi has been trying to encourage the armed
ethnic rebel groups - most of which have signed ceasefire agreements with
Rangoon - to join the planned uprising.
General Than Shwe says the government was compelled to act in the light of
this threat to national security.
In the past week or so, the deputy foreign minister's whirlwind tour of
the region has taken him to Thailand, Japan, Malaysia, Indonesia and
Singapore, while the foreign minister has visited China, Bangladesh,
Pakistan and India.
But few Asian leaders will be convinced by these accusations against Aung
San Suu Kyi and they are likely to be dismissed as paranoia on the part of
Burma's top general.
Aung San Suu Kyi's continued detention in solitary confinement has
embarrassed most of Burma's allies in South East Asia in particular. They
know that the reputation of the regional organisation, Asean, is being
tarnished by the military government's actions.
International pressure on Burma to free Aung San Suu Kyi immediately and
restart the dialogue process with the opposition movement is bound to
increase further.

___________

Deutsche Presse Agentur July 14 2003

Myanmar junta attacks U.S. "meddling" in internal affairs

Myanmar's (Burma's) military government Monday accused the United States
and its allies of "blind and prejudiced meddling" in the country's
internal affairs.

In its latest broadside against U.S. support for democracy campaigner Aung
San Suu Kyi, state-controlled media said efforts to influence political
events in Myanmar were only causing harm to the people.

"The attempts to pave the way for their minions to seize power will
further lead to escalation of internal tensions of the victimized country
and also create much suffering for the people," said an editorial in the
government-run New Light of Myanmar newspaper.

"This blind and prejudiced meddling in Myanmar's home affairs, supporting
one side while opposing the other by America and its West European allies
have adversely affected the nation's internal stability," it said.

The U.S. and other Western powers have increased the volume of their
criticism of Myanmar's ruling junta since May 30, when a violent clash
between Suu Kyi's supporters and an armed, junta-backed mob in northern
Myanmar led her arrest and a new round of repression against her National
League for Democracy.

The American government has demanded the immediate release of Suu Kyi from
detention and the speedy implementation of reforms leading to democratic
rule in the country, which has been led by a succession of military
governments since 1962.

The latest setback to Myanmar's democracy movement has prompted some
Western leaders to call for a tightening of economic sanctions against the
junta.

More economic sanctions against Myanmar will backfire and hurt the people
they were meant to benefit, warned the junta commentary.

"It will be totally wrong to assume that poverty, hunger and hardship will
cause unrest in the name of democracy in Myanmar today," it said. "Because
a community that suffers from economic hardship and poverty lacks
discipline and knowledge, and less ability to distinguish between right
and wrong and this can give rise to anarchy and the establishment of a
'mobocracy' ruled by gangsters.

"In such a state of affairs there will be no other option but a military
coup. If such were the situation there would follow an endless cycle of
military coups with military rule leaving the house by the front door and
entering it again from the window."

DRUGS

Shan Herald Agency for News July 14 2003

Wa extend drug free deadline

Moved by three of its most powerful leaders, the United Wa State Army has
recently postponed its drug free year from 2005 to 2007, according to an
inside source.
Bao Youhua, Commander of the Headquarters Security force and youngest
brother of Wa supreme leader Bao Youxiang informed the emergency meeting
in Panghsang on 7 July before 200 plus commanders and officials that it
would be impossible for the Wa to meet the 2005 deadline given the current
political and economic situation.
($1 million for the UN supervised Wa Alternative Development Program in
Bao Youhua's Hotao area for 2003-2004 fiscal year had just been withdrawn
by the United States following 30 May debacle, according to the New Light
of Myanmar, 3 July issue.)
His motion was supported by the UWSA's southern 171st Military Region
commander Wei Hsuehkang, who said his forces would need more time to
consolidate their advance into areas west of Mongton, opposite Thailand's
Chiangmai and Maehongson provinces.
Bao Youliang, the Wa supremo's second youngest brother and Mayor of
Mongmau (Mongmai) also spoke in favor of the proposal which was finally
put to vote. "Nearly two-thirds of the participants supported the motion,"
said the source who requested not to be named.
The meeting was called after a pre-meeting among the two Baos, Youliang
and Youhua, and Wei Hsuehkang on 1 July, the 30th anniversary of the Wa
resistance in Mongmai.
Wei was reported to have departed for his southern home in Monghsat's
Wanhong base on 9 July.
He had recently moved his headquarters from Mongton's Hwe Aw to Mongjawd,
20 miles west opposite Chiangmai's Wianghaeng District, according to other
sources.
Meanwhile, Myanmar Times, 30 June - 6 July, reports Rangoon authorities
urging the United States, Britain and other European countries "to put
aside politics" and work with the junta in combatting the scourge of
drugs.
________

Agence France Presse July 14 2003

Myanmar drugs lord under house arrest: Thai report


Top Myanmar drug lord Wei Hseuh Kang has been placed under house arrest in
the military-ruled country's northeastern town of Lashio, a Thai drug
official said according to a report here Sunday.

Wei, an ethnic Chinese leader of the Yangon-aligned United Wa State Army
(UWSA) is one of the world's most notorious drug traffickers and is wanted
by the United States, which has put a two million-dollar reward on his
head.

"Drug baron Wei Hseuh Kang is under house arrest in Lashio," the offical
from Thailand's Office of Narcotics Control Board (ONCB) was quoted as
saying in Sunday's Bangkok Post.

"He has not been formally arraigned. He is only restricted from
activities," the official told the daily, adding that his trading company
had also been closed.

Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has previously threatened to take
Wei Hseuh Kang, who jumped bail in Thailand in 1990, dead or alive. In
December 2001, Thai authorities seized property reportedly worth more than
two million dollars from him.

Wei's brother Wei Hseuh Tang, another UWSA leader, meanwhile reportedly
faces trial in Yangon on drug trafficking charges, the official added
without elaborating.

The 20,000-strong UWSA is accused by the international community of
controlling much of Myanmar's vast opium and methamphetamines trade.

The group is defended by Myanmar's junta, which signed a ceasefire
agreement with the group in 1989 that granted wide-ranging autonomy.

The military regime insists that the Wa have renounced their involvement
in the narcotics trade and are earnestly involved in crop substitution
programs aimed at ridding their region of drugs by 2005.

Myanmar's ongoing drugs production has tested its relations with
neighbouring Thailand, the main destination for the millions of
methamphetamine pills, known here as yaa baa or crazy medicine, churned
out of mobile factories along the border.

REGIONAL

Narinjara News July 14 2003


Repatriation of Burmese refugees still going on

Dhaka, 13 July 2003: A total of 362 Rohingya refugees of 62 families
voluntarily returned to their homes in Burma through Teknaf border from
Bangladesh between July 5 and 10 this year, According to Bangladesh local
news agency BSS's report.

According to the refugees Commission sources in Cox’sbazar on 11 July,
this Rohingya refugees, who were living in Kutupalong and Nayapara camps
here, returned home under the supervision of Bangladesh government and the
UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR).

They said 120 refugees of 17 families, 75 refugees of 11 families and 167
refugees of 34 families were repatriated their homes in Burma on July 5,7
and 10 respectively.

The Refugees Commission sources said total of 2,34,892 Burma Muslim
refugees were so far repatriated to their homes in Burma. Besides, at
least 20,393 Rohingya refugees of 3,130 families in both the camps are
still awaiting repatriation, they said.

INTERNATIONAL

Congressional Quarterly July 14 2003

Myanmar Sanctions Measure Set for Action on House Floor
By Gayle S. Putrich

After weeks in a holding pattern, a bill that would halt trade with
Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, is expected to reach the House floor
Monday under suspension of the rules.
The measure (HR 2330) would end trade with the Southeast Asian nation and
freeze the regime's U.S. assets until the president certified that Rangoon
had improved its human rights performance and implemented democratic
programs.
The bill also would extend an already existing visa ban, keeping any
current or former member of the ruling military junta from obtaining a
U.S. visa. It also would prevent Burmese affiliated with the junta,
already banned from entering the European Union, from entering the United
States.
The House International Relations Committee reported the bill June 12,
with sponsor Tom Lantos, D-Calif., urging quick response to the May 30
arrest of Aung San Suu Kyi by the ruling military junta.
Suu Kyi, leader of Myanmar's National League for Democracy, has been
detained at an undisclosed location since her capture in what State
Department officials said was an ambush by government-sponsored thugs. She
was visited June 10 by U.N. envoy Razali Ismail, who said Suu Kyi was fit.
On July 7 Myanmar's state-run newspaper published a purported photo essay
of Suu Kyi meeting with junta generals.
Action on the House bill slowed when House Judiciary Committee Chairman F.
James Sensenbrenner Jr., R-Wis., said he wanted to review the visa ban
provisions, the only section over which his committee holds jurisdiction.
A markup was scheduled for the week of June 23, but was postponed so
members could attend the funeral of former Rep. Bob Stump, R-Ariz.
(1977-2003), who died June 20.
Now, with the Judiciary panel's July 9 approval, the sanctions bill seems
to be back on track as the legislative race to the August recess heats up.
The Senate passed its version of the bill (S 1215) on June 11 by a 97-1
vote. Sen. Michael B. Enzi,R-Wyo., voted against, saying he was opposed to
unilateral sanctions.
Majority Whip Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., had tried to move the bill directly
to the floor, but members of the Finance Committee objected, saying they
wanted to check the bill's trade restrictions.
A June 10 agreement to require an annual congressional vote to continue
the trade sanctions paved the way for the next day's vote.

ON THE BORDER

Network Media Group July 14 2003

Thai security officer warns Burmese refugees, no protest against relocation

July 13 (NMG) – An officer from Border Security Force of Thailand warned
refugees in meeting on July 10 not to stage any protest against the
relocation of Mae Khong Khar Refugee Camp, said one of the participants of
the meeting.

The officer Gordon from Thai Border Security Force ordered the refugees to
keep everything in order when the relocation of refugees starts.

Previously, Thai authorities faced a series of protest against the
relocation of refugees in the attempt to merge the refugee camps --
Kalopa, and Mae Yaehta, to became the existing Mae Khong Khar camp in
1997-98.

The Officer Gordon added in his speech that the protests will not make any
changes to the process of relocation.

However, a member of Karen Refugee Committee (KRC), Saw Htoo Htoo told
that because of natural disasters and along with heavy causalities in
their camp, the refugees were ready to relocate and they would not protest
against the relocation.

“We don’t have plan to protest because current geographical condition of
the camp is not favorable to settle down and we faced a series of natural
disasters as well. It is better for us to change our camp because the
authorities repeatedly told every year to relocate this camp”, Saw Htoo
Htoo said.

The meeting was attended by 2000 refugees along with Thailand’s border
security forces and officials from forestry department, where refugees
were advised not to cut any trees from the forest by the forestry
officials.

Mae Khong Khar refugee camp is located near “Salween National Park” of Mae
Sarirang township in Northern province of Mae Hong Son, Thailand. Thai
authorities used to condemn on the refugees for illegal logging and
timbering in that areas.

However, Naw Khey, a former committee member of refugee camp rejected this
allegation. “In 1997 and 98 they cut the trees in the forest. They (Thai
people) used elephants as well as hired labors to cut the trees. At last
they claimed that it was done by the refugees,” said Naw Khey.

"We are refugees and we have to move if the authorities ask us to move.
But, we don't like to be accused as thieves", she continued.

Recently, Deputy Prime Minister of Thailand, Suwit Khunkiti told that his
government convinced on the reports concerning refugees were on hired as
labors in illegal logging in the Salween National Park, reported in Asian
Tribune.

The camp committee said they do not know when the relocation is going be
started though Thai government assumed it will take only two months for
the relocation of Mae Khong Khar camp. The new location site is just
opposite to previous headquarters of the KNU, Marnarplaw, which is now
under control by Burmese troops and five kilometer away from Mae Lamu
refugee camp in Suu Mwae township, said a member of Karen Refugee
Committee.

More than 17,000 refugees sheltered in Mae Khong Khar refugee camp.

EDITORIALS/STATEMENTS

Washington Post July 14 2003

Stop Stalling on Burma

U.N. SECRETARY GENERAL Kofi Annan is scheduled to meet with President Bush
at the White House today. Ahead of time, U.N. officials said they expected
the two men to discuss Liberia, the Middle East and other matters. We
trust that among those other matters will be a subject about which both
leaders have claimed to be highly concerned: the crackdown on democracy
activists in Burma. The leader of that Southeast Asian nation's democracy
movement -- the rightful leader of the country, in fact -- remains in
captivity, and neither Mr. Bush nor Mr. Annan has rallied to her defense
as strenuously as one would expect.

It's been a month since Secretary of State Colin L. Powell promised prompt
action to penalize the generals he referred to as "the thugs who run the
Burmese government." The time had come, he said in an op-ed article in the
Wall Street Journal, to freeze their financial assets and ban remittances
to Burma. But the administration has taken no such steps. It's been six
weeks since the junta sent 3,000 vigilantes, armed with wooden bats and
sharpened iron rods, to beat and stab Aung San Suu Kyi's supporters as
they traveled with her in the hinterland. Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel peace
laureate, apparently escaped injury but was taken into custody and, except
for one brief interview with a U.N. envoy, has not been heard from since.
The Senate shortly thereafter approved a measure banning imports from
Burma, where the generals control most companies, but the bill has yet to
emerge from the House. It's scheduled for action this week; the House
should vote and the president should sign the bill quickly into law.

And the United Nations? You might think the Security Council would have
swung into action to demand freedom for one of the world's most courageous
leaders and for her colleagues and to address the threat to regional
stability posed by the increasingly erratic junta. After all, there is no
dispute as to her legitimacy; the party she leads overwhelmingly won an
election in 1990 but has never been permitted to take its rightful place
in government. So far, however, the chief U.N. response has been the
election of Burma -- or Myanmar, as the generals call it -- to the vice
presidency of the General Assembly for the session that begins in
September.

For many years now, the United Nations and the United States have
supported dialogue between Aung San Suu Kyi and the nation's junta leading
toward peaceful democratization. She has consistently endorsed such a
nonviolent process, even during many years of house arrest. With their
murderous attack of May 30 and subsequent incarceration of her, Burma's
leaders have shown contempt for the idea, and so far they have paid little
price. The president and the secretary general could begin to change that
equation today.
___________

Press Release of Senator McConnell July 10 2003

Senator Mitch McConnell Meets With U.N. Special Envoy Razali On Burma

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) today met with U.N.
Special Envoy Razali to discuss the latest situation in Burma. Senator
McConnell is the author of the Senate legislation imposing a United States
import ban on goods manufactured in Burma and those made by the State
Peace and Development Council (SPDC) and companies owned by SPDC. The bill
passed on June 11, 2003.
Senator McConnell released the following statement following the meeting
with Razali:
“Last week, I sent a letter to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan to urge a
meeting between the Security Council and U.N. Special Envoy Razali Ismail
so that Mr. Razali could report to the Council on the critical situation
in Burma.
“Mr. Razali’s current mandate to promote reconciliation between the
repressive State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) and the National
League for Democracy (NLD) and ethnic nationalities is no longer relevant
in light of the brutal attack against freedom in Burma on May 30th.
“Dialogue is as dead as those the SPDC murdered on Black Friday. This fact
cannot be ignored or denied by the United Nations or the international
community.
“The President has invited U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan to the White
House early next week, and I have asked the President to discuss the
situation in Burma with Secretary-General Annan, should such a meeting
occur.
“I also recommended to the President that the Administration immediately
issue an executive order that freezes SPDC assets in the United States,
prohibits remittances to Burma, and imposes travel related restrictions to
that country. In late June, the State Department indicated that this would
occur, but we have yet to see any action.
“Yesterday, the House Judiciary Committee put the Burmese Freedom and
Democracy Act of 2003 – that imposes an import ban, visa restrictions, and
other actions against the thugs in Burma – a step closer on its journey to
the White House. I expect it will be considered by the full House early
next week.
“Let me clear that SPDC General Than Shwe will be held personally
responsible for the security and safety of Suu Kyi and other democrats
being held against their will.
  ____________

United States Department of State July 11 2003

Statement by Deputy Secretary Richard L. Armitage - Meeting with UN
Special Envoy Razali Ismail

I met today with United Nations Special Envoy for Burma Tan Sri Razali
Ismail. Ambassador Razali has made tireless efforts on behalf of national
reconciliation in Burma. We salute him for these efforts and support his
future attempts to foster dialogue.

The United States government places the blame for the lack of progress to
date squarely where it belongs, with the oppressive and shortsighted
military junta. The generals have failed to take advantage of the
opportunities offered to them to become full-fledged members of the
international community.

They should rethink their policies toward their own people and reinstate
those freedoms, such as the freedom of speech, freedom of assembly,
freedom of association and freedom to express one's political views that
are universally enshrined.

They must release Aung San Suu Kyi and the leadership of her political
party immediately.

ASEAN can play a key role in bringing about change in Burma.

We have welcomed ASEAN's comments on the situation in Burma, and we look
forward to the upcoming ASEAN ministerial-level visit to Rangoon to
encourage democratic change. Burma's association with the organization
increasingly complicates ASEAN's dealings with the international
community, particularly as Burma is scheduled to take on leadership posts,
including the ASEAN chairmanship in 2006. A country ruled by a military
dictatorship is simply incompatible with the norms and aspirations of
ASEAN.

The United States government maintains its efforts to support change in
Burma. We are working on an import ban, asset freeze and a ban on
remittances to Burma. We continue our coordination with ASEAN countries
and others who share our deep concern about the situation in Burma. We are
also evaluating additional measures at the United Nations and other
multilateral bodies. We will continue to support democratic change in
Burma through all available channels.
_______________

Foreign & Commonwealth Office July 14 2003

Foreign Office calls for Burma travel boycott

The Foreign Office today urged British travel agents to stop arranging
holidays in Burma.
The call for a boycott follows the ruling military regime's continuing
campaign of violence and intimidation against the Burmese democracy
movement.
Foreign Office Minister Mike O'Brien said there are compelling reasons not
to holiday in Burma.
"The military regime derives both direct economic benefits and political
legitimacy from Burmese tourism. Foreign visitors remain a source of hard
currency for the regime, much of which increasingly ends up in the private
bank accounts of the Generals and their associates."
He also said there are many well-documented cases of human rights abuses
associated with the country's tourist industry. Forced labour has been
used to build some of Burma's tourist infrastructure.
The Burmese democracy movement does not encourage tourists to visit the
country in the present circumstances.
"The British government recognises that the decision to visit Burma is
ultimately one for individuals themselves to make, but in the light of the
prevailing situation there, I think it is right that those considering a
holiday to the country - and the travel operators which promote them -
should think twice before proceeding," said Mr O'Brien.