BurmaNet News: August 5 2003

[editor at burmanet.org]

August 5 2003 Issue #2299

INSIDE BURMA
AP: Explosion occurs near site of Myanmar's May violence
DVB: Top SPDC military commander visits Kachin State to secure support
from the ethnic groups
AP: Red Cross team visits pro-democracy detainees in Myamar prison
DVB: More political activists were arrested in Kawthaung
Xinhua: Myanmar national committee plans water programs

GUNS
DVB: 50 tanks that the SPDC bought from Ukraine arrive in Burma

REGIONAL
BBC Monitoring: UN Special Envoy, Thai Minister to Discuss Burma at
Bangkok Meeting
Irrawaddy: Mapping the Road to Reconciliation: An Interview with Kobsak
Chutikul
AFP: Indian state plans drive to deport illegal Myanmar settlers

INTERNATIONAL
LA Times: Unocal to Urge Judge to Strike Criticism

EDITORIALS
Christian Science Monitor: Ballot-Wise in Southeast Asia
SCMP: Persuade, not pressure, Myanmar
Nation: Scrambling to get a hearing in Burma
Hindu: Military Unmoved in Myanmar


INSIDE BURMA

Associated Press Worldstream   August 5 2003
Explosion occurs near site of Myanmar's May violence

A suspected bomb blast occurred in a northern Myanmar town near where
violence two months ago led to a crackdown on the country's pro-democracy
movement, the government spokesman's office said Tuesday.

The explosion on Monday in Monywa, 520 kilometers (320 miles) north of
Yangon, caused "no significant damage," said the spokesman's office,
providing no other details.

It said the explosion was "still under investigation."

Monywa was pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi's last major stop before
her motorcade, making a political tour, was involved in a violent incident
on May 30. Afterward, the military took Suu Kyi into custody and launched
a crackdown on her National League for Democracy party.

The government denied any hand in the May 30 violence and said four people
died. It blamed the clash on Suu Kyi's supporters.

Witnesses, however, said Suu Kyi's supporters were attacked by pro-junta
thugs. Pro-democracy sympathizers said dozens of people might have died.

The day after the violence, a protest staged by Suu Kyi's supporters in
the town of Monywa was crushed by the authorities, with some accounts
saying at least one person died.

Suu Kyi and other leaders of her party are still being held incommunicado
despite international calls for their release.

The government has described the detentions as a measure to safeguard
stability against a plot to stir up violence. On July 26, it said it had
arrested 12 people for planning a series of bomb attacks and
assassinations. It said the plotters were not NLD members, but that they
had tried to get in touch with the party's leaders.

Perviously, it had suggested that several bombings around the country
carried out before May 30 were done out by opposition activists in touch
with Suu Kyi's party.

Suu Kyi won the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize for her non-violent struggle for
democracy in Myanmar, which has been ruled by its military since 1962.
____________

Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB)   August 5 2003
Top SPDC military commander visits Kachin State to secure support from the
ethnic groups

Lieutenant-General Thura Shwe Mann, one of the top military commanders in
Burma and his team have met with armed ethic groups who signed ceasefire
agreement with the military junta in the Sino-Burmese border regions in
northeast Burma.

During their visit, they have met, U Za Khom Thain Yain, the chairman of
New democratic Army – Kachin (NDAK) in Panwa and, U Lamung Tu Jai, the
chairman of Kachin Independent Organisation(KIO) in Loinza.

Although the reason for those visit was unknown, political analysts on the
Sino-Burmese border believed that during the meeting the ethnic groups
were told not to criticise the May 30 Dipeyin incident.

On the 1st of July, KIO together with other ceasefire groups issued a
statement that severely denounced the May 30 incident and it also demanded
the regime to solve political problems by political means.

But before the statement was issued, the SPDC military intelligence (MI)
official, General Kyaw Thein visited Loinza and discussed the matter with
KIO.

Furthermore, political analysts also believed that they might discuss
political issues such as the ethic groups’ attitudes on the possible
national convention and regional developments.

After KIO had signed the ceasefire agreements in October 1993, it had been
issuing political statements with other ceasefire groups.

Although the effort seemed to be unsuccessful, according to a military
source, there would still be a celebration of 10th anniversary of the
ceasefire agreements by the KIO.

But one local resident in Loinza who did not want to be named said, the
SPDC insisted that the signboards for the occasion should display the
words, ‘The 10th anniversary of Peace’ instead of ‘The 10th anniversary of
ceasefire agreements’.

Members of the team
Secretary –2, Lieutenant General Soe Win
Lieutenant-General Ye Myint
The commander of Northern Military Command, Maung Maung Shwe
____________

Associated Press   August 5 2003
Red Cross team visits pro-democracy detainees in Myamar prison

A Red Cross team has visited imprisoned pro-democracy activists held in a
prison in northern Myanmar in crackdown on supporters of detained Nobel
Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, the organization said.

The team, comprising a medical doctor and interpreters, visited Shwebo
prison, 640 kilometers (400 miles) north of Yangon, from Thursday to
Saturday, said Michel Ducraux, the head of International Committee of the
Red Cross mission in Yangon.

Ducraux declined to comment on the condition of the detainees or say now
many the team had interviewed.

The crackdown against the National League for Democracy and its leader Suu
Kyi, was launched after what witnesses said was a planned attack on her
motorcade by pro-junta thugs as she toured northern Myanmar on May 30.

The government denies any hand in the violence and says only four people
died in a clash they allege started after Suu Kyi's motorcade plowed
through a crowd of government supporters. Opposition sympathizers say
dozens of people might have died.

The ICRC has been seeking to visit all people detained in the crackdown as
part of their normal mission of certifying the condition of prisoners.
Since 1999, it has made about 230 visits to some 5,000 people in about 80
detention centers in Myanmar, also known as Burma.

"We asked for special visits to some places where we know such people were
concentrated and Shwebo was an important step in this respect," said
Ducraux. Other detainees from the May 30 incident were visited earlier.

At the end of July, an ICRC official met with Suu Kyi at her place of
detention and said afterward that she was in good health and good spirits.

He was only the second outsider to see Suu Kyi since she was taken into
custody, the other being Razali Ismail, the U.N. special envoy to Myanmar.
The government refuses to disclose where she is being held.

Ducraux said he will seek permission from the authorities for further
meetings with Suu Kyi and other detainees.

Ducraux said the team which visited Shwebo prison was allowed to interview
all those detained in connection with the May 30 incident.

He said the ICRC offered to send messages from the detainees to their
families and will provide financial assistance to families to visit their
relatives in various prisons.
____________

Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB)   August 5 2003
More political activists were arrested in Kawthaung

Six former NLD members who were involved in the 8888 uprising were
arrested by the SPDC’s military intelligence [MI] which was headed by U
Than Tin with the order from the local authority chairman,
lieutenant-colonel Kyaw Phyoe.

The arrested were detained at 9-mile Prison at Kawthaung and were charged
with the participation in political activities in Kawthaung, Tenesserim
Division in southern Burma.

Government had warned the local civil servants, private business owners
and monks in Kawthaung not to participate in politics. They should also
report to the government if they suspected anyone was not following the
order.

In addition, security measures were also tightened around schools.

The arrested:
U Soe Win (41)
U Than Lwin (46)
U Khin Aung (51)
U Minn Maung (50)
U Myint Aung (53) and
U Kyaw Aye (55)
__________

Xinhua General News Agency   August 5 2003
Myanmar national committee plans water programs

YANGON, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) --Myanmar's National Committee for International
Hydrological Program (NCIHP) held its first session Monday to lay down
plan for management of water resources and control of water quality,
official newspaper The New Light of Myanmar reported Tuesday.

The NCIHP comprises of five work committees involving technicians of
government departments and other organizations.

The work program will be carried out in accordance with the mottoes
adopted by the International Hydrological Program, the report said.

Keeping aware of water resources, Myanmar has been implementing programs
of installing water supply facilities in many rural areas, especially in
the central part of the country where there is insufficient rain fall.
Water supply works, including underground water tapping projects,
irrigation works and river water pumping projects, are also being carried
out.

According to official statistics, in its endeavors to improve rural water
supply, Myanmar has sunk tube wells in 3,966 villages in three divisions
of arid zone during the first three years of a 10-year rural water supply
project which began in 2000-01 fiscal year with the assistance of Japan.

Out of 8,042 water-scare villages in the three divisions of Mandalay,
Sagaing and Magway, nearly 50 percent now have had tube wells providing
clean and safe water.

Meanwhile, as part of its efforts to improve irrigation water resources,
Myanmar has built 148 dam facilities in 15 years since 1988, adding an
irrigated area of 1.21 million hectares at a cost of 62,600 million Kyats
(about 178.85 million US dollars) during the period and bringing the total
irrigated area to about 2.22 million hectares, 22 percent of the
cultivated area.

Moreover, the government has also implemented 265 river-water pumping
projects, irrigating 121,500 hectares more of the farmland.

However, out of 1,073.87 billion cubic-meters of water flowing in the
country's rivers and creeks, only 37 billion cubic-meters or 3.4 percent
are utilized.


GUNS

Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB)  July 29 2003
50 tanks that the SPDC bought from Ukraine arrive in Burma (translated
from DVB Burmese service)

50 tanks that the SPDC purchased from Ukraine arrived in Rangoon. A source
inside the Burmese army told DVB that the Type 72 tanks were said to be
purchased for the armored personnel division. All 52 tanks are said to be
on their way to Ba Htoo Army facility in Mandalay. A month long training
session is planned for early August. Orders have been given to the armored
personnel of Regiments 505, 606, 707, 808, 909, 903, and 905 to attend
this training.

Burma is said to have purchased MIG 29 aircraft from Russia but this seems
to be the first time Burma has bought equipment from Ukraine. Burma
regularly beefs up its armed forces equipment from neighboring China.


REGIONAL

BBC Monitoring International Reports    August 5 2003
UN Special Envoy, Thai Minister to Discuss Burma at Bangkok Meeting

UN special envoy to Burma Razali Ismail is to meet Foreign Minister
Surakiart Sathirathai next week to discuss Thailand's proposal to organize
a forum for a road map towards peace and national reconciliation in Burma.
Surakiart said he would meet Razali, who will visit Bangkok at the
invitation of the Foreign Ministry, on Monday (11 August) afternoon. The
meeting is aimed at developing the road map concept to make it as concrete
as possible, he said.

Razali has been working with Burma's ruling military junta and the
opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) for the past two years. He
was the first person to meet opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi in what
the junta called "protective custody" following her arrest on 30 May,
during a clash between her supporters and a pro-junta mob.

Surakiart officially proposed the Thai road map to Burma on Friday, when
Burmese Foreign Minister Win Aung visited Bangkok. Burma has yet to
officially indicate if it will attend. Countries expected to attend
include Australia, Austria, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the
United Kingdom and the European Union.

Source: The Nation web site, Bangkok, in English 5 Aug 03

) BBC Monitoring
____________

The Irrawaddy   August 5 2003
Mapping the Road to Reconciliation: An Interview with Kobsak Chutikul

Kobsak Chutikul is Vice-Chairman of Thailand’s House Foreign Affairs
Committee and Deputy Leader of the Chart Thai Party. He talked with Shawn
L Nance about his "road map" concept for Burma, and the role of Asean in
solving Burma’s political crisis.

Question: Calls from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations [Asean]
for the junta to release opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi came as a
surprise. Why has Asean decided to comment on the internal affairs of a
member country?

Answer: Well, I think it’s the timing. I think it has come to the point
where not only is there no discernable progress in a positive direction,
but there has been a falling back, highlighted by the re-arrest of Suu
Kyi. I think the news that came out of the incident and the violence
shocked a lot of people and caused a lot of concern. And the international
climate has changed in terms of intervention and preventive action because
it’s a post-Iraq world, a post-9/11 world. National boundaries,
sovereignty and internal affairs do not carry that much weight any longer.
In the case of [Malaysia’s] Prime Minister Mahathir [Mohamad], it may have
been some personal factors: he’s stepping down and maybe he has an eye on
his place in history. He was the one after all who brought Burma in to
Asean and perhaps he wants to balance that out a little bit now since it
doesn’t seem to have had any discernable effect on moderating the Burmese
government’s actions or bringing them into the wider international circle.
And, of course, Mahathir is concerned with Asean because he has been
closely identified with Asean all his career. So the effect of Burmese
membership on Asean as a whole must be something of a concern to him.

Q: How far do you think Asean will push Burma? Will they only urge for Suu
Kyi’s release or will they ask for more fundamental changes?

A: Well, I think at the moment the only consensus is for the immediate
release. If there is a release or some kind of house arrest confinement
with more public viewing of Suu Kyi, then maybe some of the pressure might
diminish. That depends on the international community, whether the
sanctions will gain momentum and have an impact on neighboring countries,
including Asean, and whether inside Burma the Burmese people take action.

Q: Is any of this motivated by Asean’s free trade arrangements with the
US, including Thailand’s ongoing negotiations?

A: I think so. Economic factors are always important, especially within
Asean—it’s an economic grouping. Singapore has signed a trade agreement
with the US. We are negotiating one. So the image of the region as a whole
affects business, investment as well as tourism because people far away
don’t differentiate between countries within the region.

Q: A lot of people have welcomed the road map but they are cautious
because the details are unclear. What are the details and how far along is
Thailand’s road map?

A: The road map is a concept that I proposed about three or four weeks ago
in a letter that I sent to the Nation newspaper, taking cue from what
seems to be a welcomed development in the Middle East. Subsequently, the
phrase "road map" was taken up and talked over with the Burmese side.
There are no details because I’ve learned that instructions were only
given to officials last Friday [July 25] at the Foreign Ministry. So
initially it was just an idea that there should be some road map, a la the
Middle East, and this was broached with the Burmese side but no details
were given. And now there will be by the end of the year some forum just
to get views and opinions from a variety of organizations, countries,
individuals of what the details of the road map should be. It’s important
now that we get down to the details of the road map—first of all to get
everybody to agree on the concept that yes, we do need a plan so everybody
will be confident that we are moving in the right direction and to prevent
any accidents, calamities, unforeseen crises that could worsen the
suffering of the Burmese people in particular. My own personal concern
would be that details and the ultimate objective now must have as the
final destination the self-determination of the Burmese people, that we
don’t plan their government for them or what they should choose, but we
have to have a modality, a framework and a process wherein they can
express their desires, their wishes. If they would, for example, vote for
a continued military government, so be it, or if they were to vote for a
federation or whatever, well, let them have that opportunity then we
should all work to help them achieve that. And then of course the idea of
the road map is that for every action there is some kind of reward, some
kind of lessening of measures by the international community. And then, a
national reconciliation council, a process, to agree on a new
constitution, and then maybe with that then would come humanitarian
assistance by international organizations. And with the adoption of the
constitution, maybe normal trading, investment, tourism. And with an
election of course then everything would return back to normal.

Q: Is the road map a move to stave off the UN Security Council’s
deliberations on Burma?

A: Well, it could be but that in itself is not bad. If there is an
immediate UN Security Council resolution or sanctions at the moment
without any clear idea of what is to be achieved down the road then that
could unsettle things even more. If we had to abide by a resolution which
forbids any kind of contact with Burma, the result for the local Thai
villages, communities, business people would also be quite drastic. I
think the UN Security Council should be sort of the last resort measure.
If the road map concept is not accepted by Burma and they’re not serious
about working out the details and then sticking to the plan, matters can
be brought to the Security Council.

Q: You’ve taken a lot of heat when you made the calls for perhaps
intervention against the Wa. Should there be some international efforts to
take action against the Wa?

A: Well that would be more of an unilateral action and not a UN sanctioned
action. In the post-Iraq world, in the post-9/11 world, these kinds of
actions are understandable—addressing a potential threat, not only
nationally or regionally but internationally. What I called for was not
immediate action but military planning for such an eventuality if it is
required. If the Wa continue to amass arms and fortify, become a large
narco-army and are responsible for spreading narcotics not only in the
region but around the world, and then pose a serious human rights threat
to its own population and other nationalities around the region, then
there should be that contingency plan to take military action. A punitive
strike against the Wa would send a very strong signal around the world

Q: How will economic sanctions affect regional development efforts such as
the Greater Mekong Sub-region and the Regional Growth Quadrangle?

A: They would have a major impact because a lot of the economic
assumptions for this cooperation—the Growth Triangle and the Mekong
Beltway and all of that—are based on potentially attracting foreign
investment because the money is not there for such massive investment in
infrastructure. But if the situation is like this, then of course, it is a
disincentive for investors and businessmen. So [sanctions] will have an
effect on all these grand projects and schemes, such as highways,
infrastructure and all the rest.

Q: Anti-Burmese sentiment in Thailand may be played up by the press or
politicians but there is some genuine resentment on the ground as well,
and it seems to have increased under this current Thai administration. By
courting the generals in Rangoon, by befriending them as many people
perceive, it may have negative repercussions for bilateral relations in
the future if there is a transition in Burma...

A: The anti-Burmese feeling in Thailand is not really focused on any
particular group and are just automatic knee-jerk reactions from the
history books that they’ve [Thais] been taught not to trust the Burmese,
that the Burmese are aggressive, that they burnt down our capital
Ayudhaya; so that’s always there subconsciously because that’s what
they’ve been brought up on. At the same time, there is resentment against
the illegal immigrants, the laborers coming in, the refugees here. But
those people who don’t like the refugees or immigrants want to befriend
the generals in Rangoon because of the economic benefits they see. And
when the previous government, for example, took a stronger line against
Burma, Prime Minister Chuan [Leekapi] refused to visit Burma at all unless
he was assured a meeting with Aung San Suu Kyi for example. Then many
groups of Thai people, especially businessmen, say that was too strong,
you didn’t take into account Thai interests and the interests of the
business community, so they wanted a more friendly policy towards Rangoon.

Within the military of course there are concerns about security,
geo-politics, and then using the ethnic groups as sort of buffers so that
a powerful military regime is not on the Thai border and unable to
threaten Thailand. That’s a long-standing policy. So there’s a mix of
attitudes, of feelings towards Burma as a whole. But again, we have to
look at the longer term. I think we have to look at the Burmese people. We
have to make sure that they understand that we are not taking sides
against their interest. But we have to try to explain that this is a
humanitarian duty we have, especially to a neighbor. And the important
thing is that it should not be seen as something that has no end, that is
a continuous unending burden. Then we have to have a clearer idea of what
eventually could be brought about, some resolution inside Burma so that
people can then return so then the Thai local population might think,
"Okay, we don’t have to wear this forever." At the same time, human
resources for Burma—the students, their welfare, their future— we should
do whatever we can in terms of education, providing places for them to
study, allowing teachers to teach here, so it’s a win-win situation for
both sides. They have qualified people and universities and schools and we
do need these kind of professional people. So it’s a complex panorama.

Q: How deep is the mistrust between both sides—government to government
and people to people?

A: I think it’s a learning process and what we have to be careful about
are extremes one way or the other and try to work things out on the basic
assumption that it just concerns people. We have to get away from a lot of
the trappings of geo-politics, of security, uniforms or whatever because
people will be living with each other for many more centuries as they have
done in the past, and we should try to keep that basic connection between
the people there and not to cut it off irreparably for the future.

Q: You mentioned links between terror and drugs. How are those two linked
in the region today?

A: One feeds on the other. Drug armies and drug warlords need to have
access to arms. The terrorism network around the world has that access to
arms, from small-scale arms up to potential nuclear devices. But at the
same time, the terrorism network needs the funds which are readily
available in the drug trade. So there’s some mutuality of interest there
and the trade off there, that, at least potentially, it is an issue of
very serious concern if those two currents and forces are brought together
and work together. At the same time, there are indications that some of
that is already going on. By definition, some of the drug armies are
terrorists, because they are engaged in illegal activity and they have to
engage in terror tactics in order to maintain the climate of fear and
intimidation in which then they can thrive and operate. But if we talk
about the kind of international terrorism that we think of, then that
connection is not clear-cut yet, because that involves a certain level of
ideological commitment which I don’t think the drug armies and warlords
have.
___________

Agence France Presse   August 5 2003
Indian state plans drive to deport illegal Myanmar settlers

GUWAHATI, India: India's northeastern state of Mizoram Tuesday said it was
launching a drive to detect and deport thousands of illegal refugees from
Myanmar in response to pressure from local residents.

"We have formed a special Border Management Cell to carry out a village to
village survey to find out if there are illegal Myanmarese nationals,"
Mizoram Home Minister R. Tlanghmingthanga told AFP by telephone from
capital Aizawl.

"We guess there could be at least 30,000 Myanmarese nationals illegally
staying in Mizoram. Anybody found staying illegally will either be
deported or their applications for asylum might be taken up."

The decision to detect illegal settlers from Myanmar follows a massive
anti-foreigners uprising by local pressure groups.

"At least 3,000 Myanmarese nationals have fled the state in the past
fortnight after some local groups served them with notices,"
Tlanghmingthanga said.

"We have appealed to them not to take law into their hands and leave such
sensitive matters to the authorities."

Local youth groups and the powerful church in the eastern Champhai
district of Mizoram, 200 kilometres (124 miles) from capital Aizawl, had
served quit notices to hundreds of refugees from Myanmar to leave the
state after the rape of a nine-year-old tribal Mizo girl last month.

"Refugees from Myanmar were indulging in lot of crimes and threatening our
indigenous tradition and culture," said a spokesman for the Young Mizo
Association, an influential students group.

Lack of proper fencing and patrolling along India's international borders
with Myanmar was contributing to the flow of refugees, he said.

Acccording to Tlanghmingthanga, it was not easy to stop the refugees as as
they entered Mizoram alleging "persecution from the military junta in
Myanmar."

"But we cannot simply allow our state to be dumping grounds for asylum
seekers. Hundreds ... are staying without any recognition from the
government."

The Mizoram government has granted asylum to only 42 Burmese refugees
since the exodus began in the late 1980s, the minister said.

"Most of the refugees speak the Mizo language and belong to same stock
that we come from and their physical features too resemble the local
people here. This makes the job difficult for law enforcing agencies to
detect an illegal Myanmarese from a local Mizo," the minister said.

Meanwhile, four Burmese pro-democracy groups Monday appealed to the people
of Mizoram not to throw out the refugees forcibly.


INTERNATIONAL

Los Angeles Times   August 5 2003
Unocal to Urge Judge to Strike Criticism
By: Lisa Girion, Times Staff Writer

Unocal Corp. said it would ask a judge today to withdraw her criticism of
the company for what she said was its comparison of forced labor in
Myanmar to compulsory community service, such as jury duty.

The El Segundo oil and gas company said it also would ask Superior Court
Judge Victoria Gerrard Chaney to strike her observation that "Unocal had
specific knowledge that the use of forced labor was likely, and
nevertheless chose to proceed" with the Yadana natural gas pipeline
project in the Southeast Asian country formerly known as Burma.

Chaney ruled last week that California law would apply in the case against
Unocal, which is accused in a lawsuit of complicity in human rights
abuses, including murder, rape and forced labor, carried out by Myanmar's
military. An arm of the military junta that rules Myanmar is a partner in
the $1.2-billion line.

Unocal's complaints are about last week's ruling, in which she rejected
its request that the case be tried under the laws of Bermuda, where its
pipeline subsidiary is incorporated, and the laws of Myanmar, where the
crimes allegedly occurred. A trial is set to begin Sept. 22 in Los
Angeles. The plaintiffs are 15 anonymous Myanmar refugees.

Daniel Petrocelli, a lawyer for Unocal, said the company was considering
an appeal of the ruling. But he said Unocal would ask Chaney to rewrite
elements of her opinion, including her discussion of Myanmar's Village and
Towns Acts, which until 1999 allowed forced labor.

Chaney wrote that "this court would refrain from applying" those acts,
"even in the unlikely case that these statutes authorized the violent and
oppressive behavior at issue in this (which Defendants repeatedly and
reproachably liken to 'jury duty')."

Petrocelli said Chaney was mistaken. "We never argued that the
mistreatment of people was authorized by any provision of Myanmar law and
was comparable to serving jury duty," he said.

In a brief in the case, Unocal had argued that "various forms of
compulsory labor have been and continue to be widely recognized as a
legitimate government prerogative. In this country, for example, it has
long been recognized that compulsory service for jury duty, military
service and even work on public roads are constitutionally permissible...
Thus, at the outset, it is clear that compulsory labor may be entirely
lawful."

In another brief, Unocal outlined how Myanmar law allowed authorities to
conscript civilians as guides and messengers, to supply food and to carry
supplies. "These services, which are lawfully exacted in Myanmar, are not
authorized by California law," Unocal said. "Likewise, some compulsory
community service authorized in California, such as jury duty, is not
required in Myanmar."

The plaintiffs have argued that a 1992 report prepared for Unocal by
consulting firm Control Risks Group put Unocal on notice that the project
was likely to lead to forced labor.

Petrocelli said the plaintiffs were "just wrong."

"We didn't have that knowledge, and it never happened."

The report said: "Throughout Burma the government habitually makes use of
forced labour to construct roads."

Petrocelli said Unocal executives understood that to mean forced labor was
used on public projects, not that conscripted workers would be part of
projects involving private firms.

On Wednesday, Chaney will hear several motions, including a plaintiffs'
request for sanctions for Unocal's alleged tardiness in producing
documents.

The company turned over 1,613 pages May 1, and Jeffrey Barker, a lawyer
for Unocal, said in an accompanying letter that they had only recently
been discovered. He said the company wasn't obliged to turn over the
documents but did so out of an "abundance of caution."

Anne Richardson, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, characterized some of the
documents in a report to Chaney as "extremely important and relevant."

Among them is a note written by a former Unocal employee asking a
consultant to help find a way to ensure that "porters used by the Army on
our project here are treated humanely and get paid."

Richardson said in a court filing that the note "is not only an admission
that porters were used on the project, but also serves to counter Unocal's
claim that they had no way to control the Army's treatment of porters."

Petrocelli said the May 1995 note didn't prove that. "Certain individuals
learned of claims that the Army was using porters in connection with its
security in the pipeline region, to build things like the barracks, or
that they were carrying their supplies -- that the battalions were using
porters -- and that was the issue that was being addressed," he said.
"Porters did not build the pipeline."

EDITORIALS

Christian Science Monitor (Boston, MA)   August 5 2003
Ballot-Wise in Southeast Asia

Now that President Bush has discovered a post-9/11 need to shore up
democracy in unstable nations, he might turn more of his attention to a
corner of the world that has a toehold on democracy but a bootful of
Muslim terrorists - as well as power-hungry military officers.

Southeast Asia, which stretches from Burma to the Philippines, was once
full of democratic promise after the 1986 revolt that ousted dictator
Ferdinand Marcos in Manila.

That "people power" revolution helped inspire a 1988 revolt against
Burma's military dictatorship, forcing a 1991 election that was won by
democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi. It also helped Thailand push its
coup-happy military further back into the barracks, and helped the United
Nations and United States get Vietnam's troops out of Cambodia so that
nation could hold an election in 1993.

And in the region's largest nation, Indonesia, another people-power
revolution in 1998 ended the 32-year reign of former General Suharto.

But recent events, as well as bombings linked to the Al Qaeda terror
network, reveal that Southeast Asia still needs acute diplomatic
attention.

A failed military mutiny in the Philippines last month showed the
precarious state of a country where corruption, poverty, and ongoing
Muslim and communist rebellions still give those with big guns a motive to
challenge elected leaders. It didn't help that President Gloria Macapagal
Arroyo herself took office in 2001 with military help. With the US
promising $ 356 million to assist the Philippine military, it can do more
to bring about reform within those armed forces.

In Cambodia, the ruling party of leader Hun Sen, who was installed by
Vietnam, won the third election since 1993 last week, but only by once
again coercing village voters. And with his grip on the Army, Hun Sen may
again threaten political foes with force, as he's done in the past, to end
challenges to his rule. (Vietnam, meanwhile, remains ruthlessly
antidemocratic.) The US has been close to Hun Sen, but it's time to
withhold military assistance to a nation that operates with political
terror.

Burma's generals, meanwhile, having lost and then scuttled the 1991
election, have once again detained Ms. Suu Kyi. The US and others are
imposing economic sanctions, but they may have little effect until Burma's
people, especially the nation's Buddhist monks, refuse to see the ruling
junta as legitimate.

In Indonesia, the elected president, Megawati Sukarnoputri, has
accommodated the military and its strong influence in society. Too few
officers are being punished for human rights abuses, and former generals
are reinventing themselves as politicians, many of them close to Ms.
Megawati. Despite all that, the US has renewed its military aid to
Indonesia.

Shoring up democracy should be the prime US goal in Southeast Asia.
Ballots, not bullets, are the best defense against terrorism in the
region.
___________

South China Morning Post   August 5 2003
Persuade, not pressure, Myanmar
By: Sunanda Kisor Datta-Ray

It is not as if the leaders in Yangon were taken unawares by the Burmese
Freedom and Democracy Act that President George W. Bush signed last week
after both Houses of the US Congress passed it almost unanimously. In
fact, Myanmar's intelligence chief, General Khin Nyunt, reportedly told
United Nations envoy Razali Ismail that Myanmar was not afraid of American
sanctions because its neighbours would compensate for the loss in trade,
aid and investment.

This creates a piquant situation for Mr Bush. His action demonstrates
moral concern, a willingness to live up to global expectations of the lone
superpower and an awareness of his place in history. Hence, a warning to
the ruling junta that unless it mends its ways within 30 days, the US will
stop imports from and ban remittances to Myanmar and freeze senior
officials' assets.

The act stipulates stringent conditions for lifting sanctions. The junta
must stop violating human rights, "including rape". It must not use
"forced and child labour" or conscript child soldiers. It must release
political prisoners, allow freedom of speech, association and religion,
and press freedom. Above all, it must resume talks with Aung San Suu Kyi's
National League for Democracy (NLD) and agree to transfer power to a
democratically elected civilian government that is accountable to the
people.

These are fine objectives, but will the junta willingly sign its death
warrant? Sanctions have not brought any other regime to heel, and are
unlikely to coerce Myanmar's rulers into submission. When the US
threatened to boycott Libyan oil, its ruler, Colonel Muammar Gaddafi,
thundered that "people who lived without oil for 5,000 years can live
without it again for a few years in order to attain their legitimate
rights".

The "rights", in the case of Myanmar's junta, are far from legitimate. But
poor countries like Libya and Myanmar can absorb punishment that would
cripple a western nation. Moreover, Iraq demonstrated that sanctions do
not hurt the elite.

Myanmar's strategic position, with a 1,930km coastline on the Andaman Sea,
gives it geopolitical advantages that the junta exploits. Chief of the
ruling junta General Than Shwe visited China and Bangladesh recently.
Acknowledging ancient cultural ties, Foreign Minister Win Aung announced
in New Delhi in January that "in some ways, India is our motherland". Thai
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's presence in Yangon in February
testified to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations' friendly
co-operation. Even Russia is courting Myanmar with MIG-29 fighters.

The Chinese government has been Myanmar's closest ally, biggest trading
partner and principal source of military hardware and training since the
army's 1988 coup. Myanmar gives China access to the Bay of Bengal and
Indian Ocean, which means the world's main shipping lines. Northern
Myanmar is vital to Yunnan's development. The Chinese government is also
concerned about Myanmar's ethnic Wa community, which is heavily involved
in opium trafficking. Visiting Yangon in 2001, former president Jiang
Zemin tacitly endorsed the junta's rule by announcing that "every country
must choose a system of government that fits their conditions and
circumstances".

India's "constructive involvement" - former prime minister Inder Kumar
Gujral's phrase - also excludes moral condemnation. India-Myanmar trade
has gone up eightfold in the last decade. India is as interested as China
in sea lanes, as much for its own security as for joint patrolling with
the American navy. What also worries leaders in New Delhi is that some of
northeast India's rebel groups operate from sanctuaries in Myanmar. Mr Win
Aung wants a summit next year of the Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka
and Thailand economic co-operation forum.

It is inconceivable that China, India or Myanmar's Asean partners will
follow America's lead. India and Asean would certainly like to see the
NLD's electoral mandate respected and an end to repressive dictatorship.
But a boycott would affect their own interests.

To adapt Prussian military strategist Carl von Clausewitz's words,
sanctions amount to war by other means. Once a country takes economic
action, it must be prepared to pursue matters to the logical end. Since Mr
Bush is not considering adding Myanmar to Afghanistan and Iraq, a defiant
junta feels it has little to fear. This, reinforced by differences between
the US and Myanmar's neighbours, might even tempt it to further excesses.
Persuasion has failed so far, but it is still likely to be less
counterproductive than half -hearted pressure.

Sunanda Kisor Datta-Ray is a former editor of the Statesman newspaper in
India
___________

Tha Nation   August 5 2003 (published on Aug 6 2003)
Scrambling to get a hearing in Burma

Cooking-up a lasting and sustainable peace plan for trouble-plagued Burma
is awfully difficult in itself. But if each of the so-called concerned
parties continues to insist on being the head chef, the dish could very
well end up in the rubbish bin.

For the past few weeks, Thailand, Indonesia and the United Nations have
been competing among themselves to be the saviour of Burma following a
damning statement from Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammed saying
Rangoon could be kicked out of Asean if the regime refused to change its
ways.

Trying desperately to come across as an honest broker, the Thai government
has been tirelessly putting together a road map for Burma's national
reconciliation.

The effort has not been smooth sailing, however, as Rangoon continues to
give a cold shoulder to the proposal.

Sources said Thailand plans to ask the British government to tell Suu Kyi
to cool it a bit, while China will be asked to put the squeeze on the
Burmese generals to make some concessions. It's a long shot but a
desperate situation calls for desperate measures.

Meanwhile, Indonesia, in its capacity as the chairman of Asean, is looking
to send a mission to Rangoon to talk sense to the generals there.

And in a related development, the UN special envoy Razali Ismail, is
poised to push the discussion to a higher plane when he goes in front of
the UN Security Council to talk about Rangoon's refusal to give in to the
calls of the international community.

With whatever accomplishments he had achieved tossed out the window by the
re-arrest of Suu Kyi, Razali is likely to encourage the council to step up
pressure on the regime.

But as the old saying goes - too many chefs could spoil the broth. No one
is certain if the generals in Rangoon will listen to any of them.

Chances that Thailand will succeed in its own endeavour are somewhere
between slim to none, say observers, pointing to the historic animosity
between the two countries.

They say Bangkok doesn't seem to realise that there are just too many
things at stake - overlapping claims, security, insurgencies and
cross-border trade - for Thailand to bill itself as a neutral party.

In fact, twice under the current administration, Thai and Burmese troops
had engaged in all out cross-border shelling, bringing bilateral ties to
its lowest ebb.

And then there is also the allegation from Rangoon that the Thai army is
backing anti-Rangoon armed ethnic groups, including the Karens and the
Shans.

Indonesia, on the other hand, besides being the chair of Asean, is far
enough away geographically to be considered a neutral party and yet close
enough not to be indifferent to the situation in Burma.

Incidentally, the approach of the current government is a break from the
norm of the previous decade when civil war in Cambodia had kept the region
on the boil.

Although Thailand had a direct stake in the outcome of the Cambodian peace
process, the government chose to stay out of the spotlight because Bangkok
acknowledged that it was too close for comfort.

Naturally, the spotlight went to Indonesia where the so-called "Jakarta
Informal Meeting" helped pave the way for the historic Paris Peace Accord.
The agreement was a major breakthrough that turned Cambodia's killing
fields into the fledgling democracy that it has now become.

And Thailand has had a significant role in the process along the way.

But with the "can do" attitude of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, the
idea is to take the message straight to Rangoon with the conviction that
the Burmese will see things his way.

Sources said Thaksin is even thinking about going to Rangoon himself to
meet with his Burmese counterpart, General Than Shwe.

As for help from Britain and China, so far the only thing coming out of
Beijing is a couple of statements saying Rangoon can solve its own
problems.

About seven years ago Burma was brought into the Asean family for fear
that the Rangoon government was getting too close to Beijing. Today,
ironically, China's influence in Burma is stronger as ever.

The recent scolding from Mahathir, which was followed through by Indonesia
and the Philippines, has effectively pushed Rangoon back into the hands of
the Chinese.

How China chooses to play out its Burma card remains to be seen. But
whatever card Beijing throws down, one can almost be certain that Bangkok
will not be on its mind.

Regional Desk
___________

The Hindu   August 5 2003
Military Unmoved in Myanmar
By: V. Jayanth

THE FUTURE of Myanmar and the pro-democracy movement led by the Nobel
Laureate, Aung San Suu Kyi, remains at a crossroads despite years of
intermittent efforts for a return to the democratic path. In the latest
showdown with the military junta ruling Myanmar, Ms. Suu Kyi was arrested'
on May 30, following a clash between her supporters and some pro-junta
groups. Ever since, there have been several attempts by regional groups
and the international community to secure Ms. Suu Kyi's release and open
the door for a fresh dialogue in Myanmar. The U.S. too has got into the
act, slapping some economic sanctions on the regime in Yangon.

Now, under pressure from the Association of South East Asian Nations
(ASEAN), of which it is a member, Myanmar has agreed to resolve' the
impasse before the next regional summit, or take Indonesia's help in doing
that. Indonesia currently chairs ASEAN and its Foreign Minister, Hassan
Wirajuda, discussed the controversy with his Myanmar counterpart, Win
Aung, before securing this commitment. It is eight years since Ms. Suu Kyi
was released by the junta, in July 1995, after six years of incarceration
- and 15 years since the military junta assumed power in what was then
called Burma. But there has been no tangible progress on the path to
democracy. Except for cosmetic changes, including in the renaming of the
State Law and Order Restoration Council as the Peace and Development
Council in 1997, not much has changed.

The problem really burst in the open with the uprising of the youth in
1988 against a military takeover. This was followed by a clampdown. Under
international pressure, the junta conducted a general election in 1990, in
which the National League for Democracy (NLD) led by Ms. Suu Kyi won a
nearly four-fifths majority in parliament. But the election of Ms. Suu
Kyi, daughter of Dow Aung San, popularly acknowledged as the father of the
nation,' was set aside by the junta which went on to assume complete power
and control.

Periodically from 1990, the military rulers have come under pressure from
the international community to at least open a dialogue with the
pro-democracy forces and implement a package of political and economic
reforms. To Ms. Suu Kyi's credit, it must be noted that from the day of
her release in 1995, she has only asked for a dialogue. An ardent follower
of Mahatma Gandhi, she remains committed to non-violence.

Through these trying times, Myanmar was isolated not just from its
neighbours but the rest of the world too, though the United Nations
periodically publicised the human rights violations that were being
reported from the country by activists and opposition members. But during
this phase of isolation, Myanmar turned to its big' neighbour, China, for
comfort and help which it received in plenty.

It was then that the ASEAN decided to initiate what it called
"constructive engagement" with Myanmar. ASEAN's focus was not so much on
human rights or on political reforms; some of its members are themselves
practitioners of "guided democracy." This policy of engagement led to the
inclusion of Myanmar in ASEAN in 1997, which resulted in significant
economic cooperation. As an offshoot of its entry into the regional
grouping, Myanmar shared a platform with two of its staunch critics - the
U.S. and the European Union, who are Dialogue Partners of ASEAN.

With Ms. Suu Kyi's arrest two months ago, some of ASEAN's founder members
have come under pressure from the West to show results on its policy of
"constructive engagement." As a result, ASEAN may have started a rethink
on its approach to Myanmar, without giving up the new relationship. The
one-on-one that the Myanmar Foreign Minister had with both the Indonesian
President, Megawati Sukarnoputri, and her Foreign Minister is seen as a
clear signal from ASEAN to Yangon to get moving on political reforms, even
if in a small way.

Indonesia has always been a model for the military junta. For about 10
years now, the military rulers have been trying to frame a new
Constitution for Myanmar based on the earlier Indonesian concept of a
socio-political role' for the armed forces. This was a system that saw
Gen. Suharto rule for over three decades, before his regime was virtually
overthrown by a popular uprising across the archipelago. The armed forces
had a 25 per cent share in parliament seats and controlled the elections
to determine the composition of parliament. The President was elected by
parliament.

Even after a decade, the ruling Generals in Myanmar have yet to come up
with an acceptable Constitution for the country and have shown no signs of
conducting an election. It may be in Myanmar's own interest to begin a
genuine national debate on a democratic form of governance suited to the
nation and announce a time-table for its implementation. Such a course
will also prevent its further marginalisation.