BurmaNet News Feb 28 - March 1, 2004

[editor at burmanet.org]

Feb 28 - March 1, 2004 Issue # 2430


INSIDE BURMA
AFP: UN envoy Razali plans to see Aung San Suu Kyi during visit to Myanmar
AFP: UN envoy Razali makes surprise visit to Myanmar
BBC Monitor: Burma counterclaims on US rights record
Xinhua: More anti-govt members surrender in Myanmar
Irrawaddy: Rangoon Electricity Blackouts

ON THE BORDER
Mizzima: Karen Women Still Being Harassed

DRUGS
Mizzima: India assists Burma to Fight Drugs Smuggling
AFP: China laments heroin influx from Myanmar; warns of growing problem

BUSINESS / MONEY
Xinhua: Japan to extend more grant aid to Myanmar
Xinhua: South Korean company to explore new gas field in Myanmar


INTERNATIONAL
BBC Monitor: Burmese exile groups form Burma Democratic Alliance


OPINION / OTHER
Dallas Morning News: This "Mother Teresa" risks her life to help others
Mizzima: Beyond Humanitarian Disaster
Irrawaddy: Ceasefire Does Not Imply Democratization
The Economist: Among the ruins




INSIDE BURMA
___________________________________

March 1, Agence France Presse
UN envoy Razali plans to see Aung San Suu Kyi during visit to Myanmar

United Nations envoy Razali Ismail said Monday he planned to see detained
pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi after arriving on an unpublicised
visit to Myanmar.

"Yes I will see the usual people," he told reporters when asked whether he
would meet with the Nobel peace laureate who he has seen during 11
previous visits aimed at spurring democratic reforms in the military-run
state.

Razali is expected to again push for her release, after failing to secure
her freedom during meetings with the ruling generals during his last visit
in October.

He declined to say how long he was staying in Myanmar, or explain why the
trip was not publicly announced, but hotel staff confirmed he was
scheduled to depart on Thursday.

An official source said Razali was greeted in Yangon Monday by foreign
ministry officials and a dinner was hosted later in his honour.

Khun Tun Oo, leader of the Shan National League for Democracy (NLD), said
Razali had asked to meet with ethnic political parties on Tuesday.

"We have been asked to meet him tomorrow morning," he said, adding that
the invitation was extended to the United Nationalities Alliance, a loose
alliance of ethnic-based political parties.

Razali, a former Malaysian diplomat, said in December that he aimed to
make his 12th visit to Myanmar early in the new year, but sources said his
overtures were repeatedly rebuffed.

Earlier this month he was invited to see Foreign Minister Win Aung on the
sidelines of a regional meeting in Thailand, but he failed to win an
invitation or find out when a much-vaunted "road map" to democracy will be
launched.

The road map was unveiled by Prime Minister General Khin Nyunt last year
as part of a public relations campaign rolled out by the junta after it
took opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi into detention in May.

The military regime has said only that the first step in the process, a
national convention to write a new constitution, will be held some time
this year.

Razali was the catalyst for landmark contacts between the junta and Aung
San Suu Kyi which began in October 2000 but collapsed last year, dashing
hopes for national reconciliation in Myanmar.

The Nobel peace laureate is now under house arrest for the third time
since 1988, after being detained in the wake of political unrest which
also triggered a sweeping crackdown on her party.

The United States and European Union tightened their sanctions against
Myanmar in response to the move against the opposition leader and her
National League for Democracy, which won 1990 elections but was never
allowed to rule.

__________________________

March 1, Agence Presse France
UN envoy Razali makes surprise visit to Myanmar

United Nations envoy to Myanmar Razali Ismail has arrived in Myanmar for a
surprise visit to the military-run state where he is attempting to spur
democratic reforms, officials said Monday.

Khun Tun Oo, leader of the Shan National League for Democracy (NLD), said
Razali had asked to meet with ethnic political parties on Tuesday during
the unpublicised trip.

"We have been asked to meet him tomorrow morning," he said, adding that
the invitation was extended to the United Nationalities Alliance, a loose
alliance of ethnic-based political parties.

"He said he will also meet with government officials," Khun Tun Oo told AFP.

Hotel staff confirmed Razali had checked into the hotel where he normally
stays during his visits to Myanmar but he was not immediately available
for comment.

Razali said in December that he aimed to make his 12th visit to Myanmar
early in the new year, but his overtures were rebuffed.

Earlier this month he was invited to see Foreign Minister Win Aung on the
sidelines of a regional meeting in Thailand, but he failed to win an
invitation or find out when a much-vaunted "road map" to democracy will be
launched.

The road map was unveiled by Prime Minister General Khin Nyunt last year
as part of a public relations campaign rolled out by the junta after it
took opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi into detention in May.

The military regime has said only that the first step in the process, a
national convention to write a new constitution, will be held some time
this year.

Razali was the catalyst for landmark contacts between the junta and Aung
San Suu Kyi which began in October 2000 but collapsed last year, dashing
hopes for national reconciliation in Myanmar.

The Nobel peace laureate is now under house arrest for the third time
since 1988, after being detained in the wake of political unrest which
also triggered a sweeping crackdown on her party.

The United States and European Union tightened their sanctions against
Myanmar in response to the move against the opposition leader and her
National League for Democracy, which won 1990 elections but was never
allowed to rule.
__________________________

March 1, BBC Monitor
Burma counterclaims on US rights record

Text of Information Sheet No C-2949 (I/L) issued by the "Myanmar
Information Committee" in Rangoon on 28 February: "Washington has lost its
credibility on human rights, says Myanmar", carried in English by Myanmar
Information Committee web site on 28 February; subheadings as carried

The US State Department released on Wednesday (25 February) its annual
reports on human rights (HR) around the world. Regrettably, the United
States has lost its credibility on human rights issues. It fails to report
about other countries in a balanced and accurate way; its research is
based on hearsay and rumour rather than fact; and America's own recent
record on human rights abuses is extremely disturbing, including
documented accounts of torture of children.

The report on Myanmar (Burma)

The State Department's report on Myanmar is poorly researched, riddled
with errors, and ignores the many positive developments that have taken
place in the past year. The report is essentially a series of assertions,
almost none of which are backed up with evidence or with responsible
sources. Rumours and assumptions are repeated as fact, usually without
sources. When sources are cited, they are only referred to as anonymous
"credible sources". These are perhaps the same "credible sources" cited by
Washington last year when it officially announced that political figure
Aung San Suu Kyi was on a hunger strike - reports that were later proven
to be false.

Other "sources" cited by the State Department include an anonymous "highly
respected private citizen in Thailand"; groups known to be involved in
drug-smuggling; and media-affiliated with fringe political parties, such
as the Democratic Voice of Burma. The fact that the US Government must
rely on such weak sources of information reflects a disturbing lack of
professionalism and seriousness.

The State Department also failed to provide a fair and balanced reporting
on both sides of the issue. The most glaring omission was the failure to
report on the historic "Road Map to Democracy" announced by Prime Minister
Gen. Khin Nyunt in August 2003. A National Convention to draw up a
democratic Constitution will begin this year, and elections will be held
after that. This road map marks an important step forward for Myanmar, as
her partners in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations have confirmed.

To its discredit, the State Department also failed to mention that the US
sanctions imposed last summer have dramatically worsened the basic human
rights of many Myanmar citizens. According to Assistant US Secretary of
State Matthew Daley: "Tens of thousands of Myanmar women will lose their
jobs in the textile industry, and may be forced by the sanctions to seek
work in the sex industry".

The State Department's silence on the devastating effects of US sanctions
confirms how and why one-sided and unbalanced this report is. This may
indicate that the report was written to serve a political agenda, rather
than to seriously address the issues of her basic human rights.

The recent record of the United States

According to groups like the US. Human Rights Network, a coalition of more
than 100 legal and human rights groups in the United States "dramatic and
flagrant violations are occurring in the context of sustained general
attacks on privacy, freedom of information and expression, due process,
and economic and social rights, among others."

Horrifying accounts of American use of torture have also been revealed in
recent months. A 26 December article in The Washington Post described how
persons held in the CIA interrogation centre at Bagram air base in
Afghanistan are being subject to "stress and duress" techniques, including
"standing or kneeling for hours, in black hoods" and being "held in
awkward, painful positions and deprived of sleep with a 24-hour
bombardment of lights." Such acts violate the United States ratified
international legal prohibitions against torture.

The treatment of more than 600 prisoners at the US naval base at
Guantanamo Bay has also raised serious questions about US human rights
abuses. These foreign nationals have been detained without charge or trial
or access to legal counsel or to family members.

According to Amnesty International, "The conditions of the detainees'
transfer to and detention in Guantanamo Bay gave cause for serious
concern. During the 22-hour flights, the prisoners were handcuffed,
shackled, made to wear mittens, surgical masks and ear muffs, and were
effectively blindfolded by the use of taped-over ski goggles. They also
had their beards and heads shaved. At first, the detainees were held in
Camp X-Ray at the naval base, a temporary facility consisting of small
wire-mesh cells, exposed to the elements, and lit up throughout the night
by powerful arc lighting. Prisoners were made to wear shackles whenever
they were taken out of their cells, and granted almost no out of cell
exercise time."

A 12 February 2004 article in the Washington Post detailed the treatment
of one of these prisoners, an Afghan village child of 13 who was seized by
the US military, taken to Guantanamo Bay, and forbidden any communication
with his family or the outside world. He was finally released after 14
months of captivity.

According to The Washington Post, the child, Ismail Agha, described his
treatment by the United States. "It was a very bad place," he said.
"Whenever I started to fall asleep, they would kick on my door and yell at
me to wake up. When they were trying to get me to confess, they made me
stand partway, with my knees bent, for one or two hours. Sometimes I
couldn't bear it any more and I fell down, but they made me stand that way
some more."

The government of Myanmar together with the international community are
gravely concerned about these abuses of human rights by the United States,
especially the abuse of children.

The government of Myanmar therefore urges the United States to abide by
the International Convention on Human Rights, and to adopt a policy of
fairness, responsibility and accuracy when reporting on human rights
issues in other countries. It also encourages the United States to take
responsibility for the human rights abuses it has committed against the
people of Myanmar through economic sanctions. Only by being honest and
accurate can we achieve our common agenda of peace, development and
freedom for all the peoples of the world.

Source: Myanmar Information Committee web site, Rangoon, in English 28 Feb 04
__________________________

March 1, Xinhua
More anti-govt members surrender in Myanmar

A total of 49 more members from some anti-government armed groups in
Myanmar laid down their arms to the government forces in last December and
January, according to Monday's report of the official newspaper The New
Light of Myanmar.

These members, who "exchanged arms for peace" with the government during
the two months, including those from the Kayin National Union
(KNU),Kayinni National Progressive Party (KNPP)and Shan United
Revolutionary Army(SURA).

They brought along with them a total of over 50 rounds of ammunition among
others, the report said.

Of these armed groups, the KNU is the largest one fighting with the
government for more than five decades. Meanwhile, a renewed peace talks
was held in February between the government and the KNU. Despite reaching
no formal peace agreement yet, the talks are expected to contuine this
month.

Official statistics show that up to now, 17 anti-government armed groups
have reached ceasefire agreements with the government since Myanmar
carried out the national reconciliation policy in 1989.
__________________________

March 1, Irrawaddy - Kyaw Zwa Moe
Rangoon Electricity Blackouts

A chronic shortage of electricity in Rangoon that has run for two weeks is
making residents’ lives difficult.

"No electricity here," said computer programmer Ko Myo (not his real name)
by telephone on Monday. "Right now I’m sitting in front of my computer,
but I can’t do anything. I have no idea when I can restart my work today."

According to Ko Myo, for the last two weeks power has been distributed on
rotation to townships in the capital. His house has electricity from 2:00
am through 6:00 am. His wife now wakes at 2:00 am to cook.

The government-run Myanmar Electric Power Enterprise managing director Dr
San Oo could not be reached for comment on Monday, but another member of
his office, who declined to be named, told The Irrawaddy that the dry
season may have reduced hydro-electricity generating capacity.

The most important source of power in Burma is the Lawpita hydro dam,
which was built by Japan in Karenni State in the 1950s as part of a war
reparations package. Its generating capacity has atrophied over the years.
In addition, onshore gas reserves that fuel gas-fired stations are being
exhausted.

The last time Rangoon faced an acute electricity shortage was from April
2001 through September 2002. During that period the Japanese government
approved a US $28 million grant for an upgrade to the Lawpita power
station.


ON THE BORDER
_____________________________________

Feb 27, Mizzima
Karen Women Still Being Harassed

Even while ceasefire talks between the Karen National Union (KNU) and
State Peace Development Council (SPDC) are ongoing, violence against Karen
women by the SPDC is still continuing, said the Thai-Burma based Karen
Women’s Organization (KWO).

“A woman was raped in Taung Ngu district around 17th of last month. And
even during this time there is other evidence of violence against women. 
After they (SPDC soldiers) rape the women, they deny the allegation,
claiming that they only take women to act as their guides. The soldiers
also force the village pastors, elders and even the women’s own husbands
at gunpoint to sign statements saying that the military had only taken
women as guides. In some cases women are also beaten. With all this
evidence, we are able to say that violence against Karen women has not
ceased,” said a Nan Wa Wa Soe Thein, a KWO central committee member and
spokesperson.

The KWO is calling for groups to monitor the constant human rights
violations, including sexual violence against women, in the Karen areas.

“Even though they are currently in a ceasefire negotiating process, there
continue to be controversies. To have a balanced perspective and be able
to judge the situation accurately, organizations like the ICRC or a human
rights watch group, SPDC representatives and KNU representatives should
form an observer group,” said Nan Wa Wa Soe Thein.

The KWO also expresses concern that unless there is a genuine political
resolution, the Karen refugees in Thailand should not be deported back to
their country. However, if this was to happen, it should only be done with
the United High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) monitoring the process.

The KWO held a two-day consultation meeting on the current political
situation on the Thai-Burma border on 24-25 February with 58
representatives attending, including from inside Burma.

While the KWO have stated their support for a ceasefire peace agreement
between the KNU and the SPDC, they also stated that the KWO would demand a
role for Karen women in the negotiation process.

The first task prioritized to be the clearance of landmines for victims
who are internally displaced so they are able to go back to their original
areas, said the KWO. The KWO condemns the military junta’s proposed
National Convention arguing that this process will only ensure a longer
life for the brutal military.

After 50 years of armed struggle with Rangoon, the KNU’s vice-president,
Gen. Bo Mya, reached a verbal agreement with the SPDC's Prime Minister,
Gen. Khin Nyunt, at a meeting in Rangoon in December 2003. A third round
of talks took place on February 21 in Moulmyein. Though originally planned
for 5 days, the talks were cut short to 2 days.

During the third round of talks, the KNU attacked a SPDC ammunition camp
in the port village of Duyin near Moulmyin, killing 3 and wounding 7
SPDC's soldiers. However, the KNU also accused of the SPDC of violating
the ceasefire agreement during their previous round of talks.

Working to support the Karen political struggle, the KWO was established
in 1949. It has approximately 30 000 members from Thahton, Taung Ngu,
Nyaung Lay Pin, Maigui-Tavoy, Phua Pon, Pha Ant and Du Palaya districts in
Burma as well as many in exile.


DRUGS
_____________________________________

March 1, Mizzima
India assists Burma to Fight Drugs Smuggling

In view of the growing drug-related problems along the Indo-Burma border
and the frequent arrest of drug traffickers, particularly at Moreh in
northeast India, India and Burma have agreed to intensify operations
against drug smuggling. Both countries have reached an agreement to share
intelligence in order to curb the growing problem.

Sources in India’s Customs Department have told Mizzima News that India
has provided sophisticated equipment to the Burma military to help contain
the problem in Burma. Indian authorities have already asked the Burmese
junta to intensify patrolling border areas to crackdown on drug
trafficking.

The sources also said that lately, Burmese authorities have taken some
stringent actions in their territory to tackle drug issues, including
awareness raising among the general population, particularly in the border
areas, death penalty for drug traffickers and frequent patrolling of
important trafficking routes. “Similarly, the Indian Government has also
intensified patrolling the international border, as well as deploying more
anti-smuggling units in Moreh (India’s border town with Burma) equipped
with electronic machines,” sources added.

Northeast India has been facing serious problems for several decades due
to the unabated flow of heroin and other illicit drugs in the region.  The
porous border and prevailing insurgency problems provide favourable
conditions for drug racketeering. Though the Indian Government had been
pursuing the matter with the Burmese authorities, they have not been
successful in eliminating the problem. However, since the improvement of
Indo-Burmese relations, both the Indian and Burmese customs departments
have now agreed to fight the problem jointly. Both, India and Burma have
experienced seriously retarded regional development related to illicit
drugs.

Expressing satisfaction, the sources considered it a good sign that both
states have agreed to share intelligence information to contain the
problem. “We have also agreed to hold frequent meetings to adopt
strategies to reduce the problem,” they added.
__________________________

March 1, Agence Presse France
China laments heroin influx from Myanmar; warns of growing problem

China praised ongoing international efforts at smashing trans-national
drug trafficking rings Monday, but lamented increasing amounts of heroin
streaming over its borders with Myanmar and Afghanistan.

"The drug control situation in China is still very serious, multipoints of
entry and all lines of infiltration of illegal drugs is imposing immense
harm to China," Luo Feng, China's vice minister of police told
journalists.

"In 2003, the Golden Triangle (in Laos and Myanmar and bordering southwest
China) produced 70 to 80 tons of heroin, about which 80 percent entered
China overland through Sino-Myanmar borders."

Myanmar heroin was feeding the habits of some 643,000 active heroin users
in China, the overwhelming bulk of the nation's 740,000 illegal drug
users, Lou said at a press conference.

While Luo readily admitted that heroin and other drugs like ecstasy and
methamphetamines were easily available in bars and night clubs in cities
around the country, many of the addicts are poor farmers and the
unemployed.

And the numbers are climbing, he said, sparking alarm among police
authorities who have found that up to 80 percent of male drug users commit
theft or robbery and 80 percent of women addicts are involved in
prostitution.

"Drug abuse has caused great economic losses to the country. Heroin alone
would cost 27 billion yuan (3.3 billion dollars) a year, if each addict
used 0.3 grams a day," said Luo.

"Of those infected with AIDS in China, 55.3 percent got the disease from
intravenous drug use."

Some 72 percent of China's drug addicts are under 35 years of age.

In 2003, Chinese police confiscated 9.35 tons of heroin, up 2.6 percent
over 2002, 5.8 tons of methamphetamine, 82 percent more than the year
before and some 73 tons of precursor chemicals for drugs like
methamphetamine and ecstacy, Lou said.

One of the nation's biggest joint international operations was the
February 12 bust in the Philippines, where 300 kilograms (660 pounds) of
methamphetamine hydrochloride, also known as "ice", with a street value of
some 12 million dollars was confiscated.

The operation was conducted after extensive cooperation between China and
the Philippines, Luo said, with suspects from China's Fujian and Guangdong
provinces arrested, as well as their partners in Taiwan and Hong Kong.

"The success of the case creates conditions for further enhancing drug
control cooperation between governments and law enforcement agencies," Luo
said.

China was working with Central Asia countries to stem the trafficking of
heroin from Afghanistan, which produced up to 3,600 tons of heroin last
year and could produce as much as 4,000 tons this year.

It was also seeking to step up cooperation with Laos and Myanmar and last
year conducted 38 joint operations with Laotian and Myanmar law
enforcement agencies resulting in the capture of 281 kilograms of heroin,
he said.


BUSINESS / MONEY
_____________________________________

March 1, Xinhua
Japan to extend more grant aid to Myanmar

The Japanese government will extend more grant aid to Myanmar to improve
maternal and child health care services in rural areas of the country,
according to a press release of the Japanese Embassy here Monday.

The grassroots grant assistance of 6.2 million US dollars through the
United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) will be for purchasing essential
drugs, vaccines and test kits for HIV/AIDS among others, the release said.

Notes on the provision of the aid for launching the project was signed
here on Monday between the Japanese Embassy and the UNICEF.

According to the release, the latest pledge of aid has brought Japan's
total contribution for the maternal and child health care project to 25.3
million dollars in the past five years since 1999.

Japan is known as Myanmar's biggest donor country. Japan had provided
Myanmar with a total of 50 billion yens (426 million dollars) of Official
Development Assistance (ODA) before it suspended the aid in 1988 for
political reasons. Japan resumed the ODA in 2001 and up to 2002, such aid
amounted to 32.7 million dollars. However, Japan terminated the ODA again
in June 2003 following that year's May 30 incident in Myanmar.
__________________________

March 1, Xinhua
South Korean company to explore new gas field in Myanmar

A South Korean company will explore a second natural gas field off
Myanmar's western Rakhine coast, the local Myanmar Times newspaper
reported Monday.

The exploration on A-3 block is to be conducted under an agreement signed
here late last month between the Daewoo International Corporation and the
Myanmar Ministry of Energy, the ministry was quoted as saying.

The 6,780-square-kilometer block lies near A-1 block where a large deposit
of natural gas had been found by the same company under a prior agreement
with Myanmar signed in 2000.

Exploration on the present block will start in early 2006, the Korean side
was quoted as saying.

The A-1 block deposit is claimed as the world-class commercial-scale one
with an estimation that the whole block may yield up to 14 trillion cubic
feet (TCF) (396.2 billion cubic meters) of gas.

According to the previous production sharing contract, the Daewoo holds a
60 percent stake, while South Korea Gas Corporation possesses 10 percent
and ONGC Videsh Ltd and GAIL of India 20 percent and 10 percent,
respectively.

Myanmar estimated that it has a total of 50.9 TCF of natural gas reserve
in the country's onshore and offshore areas, while possessing 3.1 billion
barrels of recoverable crude oil reserve there.

In addition to the 19 inland oil and gas fields, Myanmar has offshore
fields mainly located in the Rakhine, Tanintharyi and Mottama areas.

Official statistics show that the country produced 9.17 billion cubic
meters of gas and 5.92 million barrels of crude oil in 2002.

Since Myanmar opened to foreign investment in late 1988, contracted
investment in the oil and gas sector reached about 2.5 billion US dollars
in over 55 projects as of the beginning of 2003.


INTERNATIONAL
_____________________________________

Feb 29, BBC Monitor
Burmese exile groups form Burma Democratic Alliance

Source: Democratic Voice of Burma, Oslo, in Burmese 1430 gmt 27 Feb 04
Text of report by Burmese opposition radio on 27 February

It has been learned that Burma-Thailand border-based new generation
organizations from the 8-8-88 mass pro-democracy anti-government
demonstrations of 8 August 1988 era have formed the Burma Democratic
Alliance BDA yesterday. The BDA was formed in accordance with the need of
the prevailing internal and external political situations and the groups
include All Burma Students Democratic Front, ABSDF, Democratic Party for a
New Society, DPNS, Network for Democracy and Development, NDD, All Burma
Federation of Student Unions ABFSU Foreign Affairs Committee, People's
Defence Front, PDF, Burma Women's Union, BWU, and other 8-8-88 groups.

Dear listeners. The formation of the alliance of 8-8-88 era groups has
coincided with the ceasefire talks between the KNU, Karen National Union,
and the SPDC, State Peace and Development Council. Most believed that the
alliance was formed as a consequence of the ceasefire talks. In order to
learn more about the situation, DVB Democratic Voice of Burma contacted Dr
Naing Aung, Director of NDD and former Chairman of the ABSDF. DVB
correspondent Htet Aung Kyaw conducted the interview.

Htet Aung Kyaw - recording Dr Naing Aung, could you first explain the need
for forming such a group at this time and why? We are especially
interested to know whether it is a consequence of the KNU-SPDC ceasefire
talks.

Dr Naing Aung The main thing is we analysed the prevailing political
situation and we discovered that we need to upgrade our role, ourselves,
and our activities and we also need to protect our rights. That is why we
formed this alliance as a future path for our movement. Regarding the
ethnic groups' attempts to hold ceasefire talks, we would welcome them if
they are heading towards a genuine political dialogue. In this situation,
we will wait and see what is needed in order to achieve such genuine
political programmes. On the other hand, our democratic groups have no
platform to participate in the international activities and other
political activities. By forming this alliance we believe that the
condition will improve because we have shown our united nature and have
created a platform.

Htet Aung Kyaw Yes. As the majority of the 8-8-88 era groups and forces
reside in the KNU-controlled areas, we feel that there would be great
repercussions on the 8-8-88 era democratic alliance over the KNU-SPDC
ceasefire talks. Dr Naing Aung, could you please tell us how serious would
the ramifications be?

Dr Naing Aung Well, if they hold ceasefire talks without informing and
discussing with us, then the democratic forces residing in the ethnic
groups-controlled areas would have a cause to worry. In the past, we had
bitter experience concerning student groups in the ethnic
groups-controlled region. At present, the responsibility of the KNU, in
attempting to hold ceasefire talks, is to advance to a political dialogue
and from there to find a political situation. If such a process is heading
towards political change then it would be like creating a condition where
we could all participate. But, if it is not in that nature and the ethnic
groups are doing it for themselves, then we would continue our political
struggle for the betterment of the people and to bring about political
change in the country. In whatever circumstances, we would value what is
good and prepare ourselves for any eventualities.

Htet Aung Kyaw If you could answer this Dr Naing Aung, please do. At
present, some say that although the KNU is holding ceasefire talks with
the junta , no one seems to know how long it is going to take.
Furthermore, the KNPP Karenni National Progressive Party and the CNF Chin
National Front are also preparing to hold ceasefire talks with the junta.
In this scenario, it seems all the ethnic groups would have to make
ceasefire agreements with the junta. That leaves all other non-ethnic
organizations in limbo. Do you have a feeling that the SPDC might call for
talks with other non-ethnic groups like yours or the ABSDF or the NDD?
What are the prospects? What are your expectations?

Dr Naing Aung In our current position, we are considered the external
democratic forces and we are also the pressure groups. As for our
democratic forces, we consider Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and the NLD National
League for Democracy our forefront party because the NLD is the winning
party in the 1990 general elections. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and the NLD's
role is the main attribute. The main parties that need to be involved in
the dialogue process are the winning political parties and the ethnic
parties in the 1990 general elections including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and
the NLD; all the ethnic armed groups and parties that have faced internal
strife for decades, and the SPDC. They are the main actors on the
political stage. We are the groups that have to exert pressure for the
dialogue process to take off the ground, to create a climate for such a
dialogue to take place, to give suggestions on the tactics needed to hold
such talks, and to acknowledge the necessary assistance from the
international community to accomplish the task. Furthermore, we are at a
stage of trying to gain support from the Burmese people to accept these
political changes. There would be successes gained from the political
talks, and if a certain level of confidence is achieved among all
concerned parties then a political course suitable for all would emerge. A
course filled with democracy and freedom. When we reach that stage we
would then continue our political activities within our country. end
recording

That was an interview with Dr Naing Aung, a responsible official of the
Burma Democratic Alliance, which was formed yesterday.


OPINION / OTHER
_____________________________________

Feb 29, Dallas Morning News
This "Mother Teresa" risks her life to help others - by Rena Pederson,
Editor-at-Large

Mae Sot, Thailand - The farmer's leg had been blown off by a land mine. He
was in such pain that he couldn't remain on the hard wooden bed in this
little border hospital. He had taken refuge underneath the bed, where he
was almost hidden in the shadows, so thin and so motionless that you had
to look closely to see there was a human being there.

"These people vanish into their pain. They shut their eyes and go
somewhere else" said the doctor making rounds. Nearby, a little girl with
two prosthetic feet hobbled on crutches. Another child with third-degree
burns was being comforted by her mother.

More than a million Burmese have fled to Thailand to escape the brutal
military regime that has a deadly grip on Burma. Their story is one of the
great untold stories of the world because you have to look closely to see
them, like the man under the hospital bed.

Were it not for the saving grace of Dr. Cynthia Maung, thousands of
refugees who desperately need medical help would have none. Though she is
little known in the United States, "Dr. Cynthia" is becoming recognized as
the "Mother Teresa of Southeast Asia".

Dr. Cynthia's primary mission is physical healing, but the humanitarian
care she dispenses saves soul as well. She is a Christian, like many of
the refugees, but she welcomes people of all faiths and ethnicities. Ask
people in the area to describe her, and they use words like "visionary"
and "nice".

Cynthia Maung had just gotten her medical degree in 1988 when students in
Rangoon revolted against the military regime and thousands were massacred.
She fled across the Thai border with few belongings, thinking the military
regime would be overturned soon. She started doctoring the wounded and
sick around her from the back of a pickup truck. Then, she converted a
small shack into a hospital, which grew into two shacks, then a half-dozen
buildings.

Nearly 15 years later, even though she still is technically an illegal
immigrant, Dr. Cynthia has put together a medical complex that includes an
emergency room, a maternity ward, an eye clinic and a pediatric wing. It
is clean but sparse. There is no state-of-the-art equiment. There is one
operating table that looks as if it came from an old Dr. Kildare set.

Six staffers treat more than 82,801 patients a year. More than 40 per cent
have malaria. Many of the women have been raped by the Burmese military.
Many have HIV/AIDS. So many orphans have been created by the violence in
Burma that all of the staffers have adopted an orphaned baby, including
Dr. Cynthia, who has two other children of her own. She has started a
school for the hundreds of children in limbo and provides vaccinations.

All this, mind you, has been accomplished while Dr. Cynthia has been at
risk of being deported herself or having her clinic shut down at any time
by the Thai government. It's a tossup whether she is one of the bravest
women in the world or one of the most caring.

She never would say such a thing herself. Although she has received
several international awards for her brave service, Dr. Cynthia doesn't
have a "love me" trophy wall of plaques in her cluttered office.  Instead,
she has two large photos of Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel Prize winner, who
has tried to bring democracy to Burma.

You might expect to find a hard-charging extrovert at the heart of such a
daring medical effort, but at 46, Dr. Cynthia has an unassuming presence,
moving quietly from task to task. She speaks softly and thinks carefully
before saying anything about the Thai government that might jeopardize her
clinic.

"We didn't expect to be here more than three or four months. We thought
the military would collapse and we could go home" she explains. "But as
soon as we arrived here, we realized there was a shortage of food, medical
supplies and a lot of malaria. We began helping the injured students at
first, and then we had to deal with the seriously sick. You learn by
working with so many people over the years...that you cannot provide all
the solution for the country. But you can find some way to help the poor".

Her precarious position is becoming more uncertain by the minute- the Thai
government has been stepping up the deportation of refugees back to Burma,
where they face prison or more violence.

The U.S. State Department and Human Rights Watch lashed out at the human
rights violations in Burma last week, as well they should. Villagers still
are being attacked, women still are being raped, children still are forced
to serve in the Army- and Aung San Suu Kyi still is under house arrest.

It's time for the United Nations to admit that war crimes have been going
on in Burma as the junta tries to wipe out opposition. It's time for U.N.
officials to insist that democracy leaders like Aung San Suu kyi be freed
so real elections can he held. If they need to see the ravages of war,
they should visit Dr. Cynthia's hospital. And if they need an example of
how to do the right thing under enormous pressure, they should watch the
good doctor.

(Ms. Rena Pederson is this year's co-chairman (with William Safire of the
New York Times) of the Pulitzer Prize Committee which awards the nation's
highest honor in journalism.)
____________________________

March 1, Kao Wao
Beyond Humanitarian Disaster - Kanbawza Win

An order from the War Office of the Defence Ministry in Rangoon, directing
all the front line soldiers to kill without making any sound to all the
ethnic nationalities youths from age18 and above was an authentic proof of
its ethnic cleansing policy. In fact this ethnic cleansing policy has been
in vogue in the delta areas where Colonel Myint Aung mauled all the teen
age Karen youths in Kyon Pyaw Township where the river turned red with
blood. Anybody who told the tale was silence off and the news remain hush
up to this day.

Burmese Army campaign on ethnic cleansing came hard on the Shan, Karen and
Karenni peoples. Other specific war crimes includes destruction of
villages, theft and destruction of villager belongings and crops with the
intention of starvation, forced relocation, forced portering, laying of
new land mines, torture of villagers, murders and rapes. It is no longer a
crisis but a human disaster where there is no international or United
Nations condemnation, much less a concerted, on the ground, humanitarian
intervention. It is extremely telling that while all of this has been
taking place, the international community has actually been renewing its
contacts with Burma’s junta, while diplomats even gone so far as to call
recent developments in the country: “progress.” Obviously, in their
fantasies they are excluding from their list of developments this massive
and systematic commission of crimes against humanity.

The Junta has declared war not against the ethnic resistance or the brave
democracy fighters but against women and children whom they kill right and
left.  After the genocide in Rwanda and Burundi, the world says: Never
Again! At least peacekeepers have been sent to the conflict in the Eastern
Congo. Why not Burma? The internally displaced persons most of whom
belongs to the ethnic nationalities remains in grave danger: under fire,
starving and freezing. How long must they wait before the world comes to
their aid?

In a written statement to the fifty-eighth session of the Commission on
Human Rights (E/CN.4/2002/NGO/85), the Asian Legal Resource Centre raised
concerns for millions of people trying to survive as internally displaced
persons. It draws the attention to the massive internal displacement in
Burma, and concomitant policy of forced repatriation of asylum seekers by
Thailand. It highlighted the widespread and chronic food insecurity as a
consequence of relentless human rights violations perpetrated directly by
the military regime.

The dispossession and killing of helpless farmers who are formerly
productive and peaceful cultivators is beyond Homo sapiens standard. This
is beyond the humanitarian crisis. It is deliberate targeting of
civilians, the deliberate destruction of society by a regime that put
itself beyond the pale of civilization. It is more than atrocities, more
than counter-insurgency operations -- the notorious Four-Cuts scorch earth
policy. A deliberate war waged against the people by a brutal and
desperate regime against the peasant-farmers, waging war against
thousands, shattering the rural economy, killing the future generations by
thousands as such cannot be portray it as a collateral damage of the
anti-insurgency war or as a humanitarian crisis? A regime that is
dangerous to its people, an anti-humanitarian, barbaric waging a wholesale
war against its citizens.

Norwegian Refugee Council report  “Labeling rebel groups ’terrorists’
allowed a number of regimes to intensify counter-insurgency campaigns,
attract foreign military aid, and avoid international criticism of human
rights abuses against civilians,” and this is exactly the case with Burma
The Geneva-based Global IDP Project, said Burma had over one million
internal displaced persons, the Hsopawpek news reported that the Burma
Army in its attempt to open a Wolfram mine in Karenni-Karen border is
clearing the area and have laid mines to keep the people out. Steve
Gumaers (Chiang Mai) an active aid worker that takes care for the
internally displaced people inside Burma, wrote, “The greatest appeal we
have heard is for safety and the ability to return home and continue their
lives.” A villager narrated to him “We know if we go back the Burma Army
will torture or shoot or use us to porter, now I am afraid we are running
out of food and if we go on much longer we will die." There has been no
serious fighting between the resistance and the Burmese army since both
Karen and Karenni are embarking on the ceasefire schemes, so there is no
reason for the Burmese army to wage war on the civilians. Hence this
proves to be a deliberate ethnic cleansing policy.

A very dangerous situation for these people exists as it have to face
frequent patrols, where the Burmese soldiers usually mined the area and
shoot on sight. These displaced persons dared not build fires at night, as
the marauding soldiers can see it and nighttime temperatures are often at
or near freezing point is a severe hardship. One woman died two hours
after giving birth in her hiding place. No medic could arrive in time and
she hemorrhaged to death. These are common stories. In the latest round of
cease-fire talk between the military clique and KNU the question of
internal displaced persons was brought up by the Karen but the Junta
refused to discuss it "Some of their villages have been totally destroyed,
and some have been abandoned," said David Taw, chief de mission of KNU "We
discussed allowing the villagers to return and the provision of
accommodation for those whose homes were destroyed." but to no avail. The
Burmese army have respect only to the valiant fighters of the resistance
but not to women, children and peaceful villagers. In other words they are
bent on the continued ethnic cleansing.

International Crisis Group (the sly Junta’s pet) look through the prism of
humanitarian crisis caused by conflict and equate the morality of the
regime and those of its opponents. This school argues that the
humanitarian crisis cannot wait for a political solution: what is needed
is a mass inflow of humanitarian assistance. If this hypothesis is to be
taken as face value, it clearly indicates that there is no ethnic
cleansing or internally displaced persons. Then there will be humanitarian
assistance to the grey and black zones suppose to be given access
graciously by the regime. This is exactly what the regime want, Dr Chao
Tzang describe it as the Junta wants the humanitarian assistance to flow
in, but on its term, and "distributed" through its NGOs, which it
controls, and without the regime acknowledging that there is an ethnic
cleansing or the internally displaced persons. In the first place is that
it was the Burmese army that created the problem and now it wants the
international aid just to exploit for its own purpose and to polish up its
image. By this action it means the massive problem is "hidden" and thus
ignored -- or does not exist officially – meanwhile –a million peasant
farmers, if not more, in the Shan, Karenni, Karen areas will continue to
suffer, like malnutrition, high infant mortality rate, rampant diseases
and illness of all kinds, and illiteracy for a generation or two of
children, not to mention trauma, political alienation, and violence

No doubt there is huge humanitarian aid in the offing and the Burmese army
is Tha Ye Kya literally translated into Burmese would be making water in
the mouth because he wants to eat it very much. So there is some
possibility that the Burmese army will tend to stop this ethnic cleansing
policy. Surely a certain amount of the so called humanitarian aid will go
to the regime who will gladly spend it on Pyongyang missiles, Russian nuke
reactor, Chinese hard wares, Pakistani spare parts, and Indian cannons and
not a single pence goes to the people’s health and education.

But still there are many interest groups such as Thaksin Shinwatra’s
vision of economic sphere under the pretext of helping the Burmese
refugees (whom he is driving out) and displaced person and pose as a
magnanimous leader to fill in the shoes of Lee Kwan Yew and Mahirthir.
However, the lion’s share will go to the UNHCR office in Rangoon which has
already inaugurated a forward office in Pa An with the blessing of the
Junta. This is another source of income to Burmese army.

This ethnic cleansing and internally displaced problem should be lifted
above military atrocities, collateral damage in an ant-insurgency
situation, and it is more than a humanitarian crisis. It goes to the heart
of the relationship between the state and the society whose welfare, well
being, and security it is responsible for, in the final analysis.
Therefore ethnic cleansing and the internally displace persons problem is
a very serious one, a very grave one, and it should be treated as such by
the international community. It is lamentable that the international
community does not realize the Burmese army’s Ethnic Cleansing and
Internally Displace Person problem on such a massive scale.

(The views expressed here are solely the opinion of the author. Kao-Wao
Editor)
____________________________

March 1, Irrawaddy
Ceasefire Does Not Imply Democratization - by Wai Moe

In January, deputy chairman of the Karen National Union Gen Bo Mya went to
Rangoon and agreed to a ceasefire with the regime. His delegation spoke
with Prime Minister Gen Khin Nyunt who organized a birthday party for the
KNU’s elder statesman on January 21. The junta stated that the talks
marked the end of the civil war with the Karen.

Since 1989 the government has agreed to ceasefires with most major
insurgent groups and cites this as proof that the country is on the "road
to democracy." However, the evidence thus far suggests that the ceasefires
promote neither democratization nor development. Power is simply
redistributed.

In March 1989, the Shan State-based Communist Party of Burma, or CPB,
imploded, dumping a geriatric (largely ethnic Burman) central committee
and regrouping along ethnic lines. Gen Khin Nyunt, in his capacity as
military intelligence chief, seized the opportunity to conclude ceasefires
with the five mutineer groups. The first was with the ethnic-Chinese
Myanmar National Democratic Army in Kokang District. It was soon followed
by United Wa State Army, the Shan/Akha/Wa National Democratic Alliance
Army, the newly reconstituted Shan State Army and the New Democratic Army,
which was Kachin.

The political structures of the ceasefire groups altered little with
peace. Although most of the organizations pay lip-service to democratic
principles, they are ruled—without exception—by unelected, dictatorial
administrations that are intolerant of dissent.

In the next phase of ceasefires, Rangoon enticed other rebel groups, or
factions within organizations, into the "legal fold." First to jump was
the Kachin Independence Army’s 4th Brigade in January 1991. A number of
small groups came to accords with the regime. In October 1993, the Kachin
Independence Organization agreed a ceasefire with the government. In all,
22 armed groups, some quite small, either made ceasefires with, or
surrendered to, Rangoon between 1989 and 1997.

The agreements were based on logging, fishing or mining rights and access
to border markets, rather than on promulgating democracy and development.

The political structures of the ceasefire groups altered little with
peace. Although most of the organizations pay lip-service to democratic
principles (a number even have the word "Democratic" as part of their
names) they are ruled—without exception—by unelected, dictatorial
administrations that are intolerant of dissent.

Gen Bao Yuxiang, chief of the UWSA, is essentially the Wa equivalent of
junta chairman Sr-Gen Than Shwe. He says he is working for Wa development.
But a UN report said that most Wa outside of towns were illiterate; that
there were no social services and no healthcare.

The economy of the Wa region is based on opium cultivation, heroin
refining and amphetamines manufacturing. Income from those activities has
bought the UWSA the Myanmar Mayflower Bank, numerous properties, Yangon
Airways and a stake in the Skylink mobile phone company, but ordinary
people in Wa State see none of the benefits.

When the KIO signed its ceasefire with Rangoon in October 1993 it lost
control of the Hpa Kant jade mining area, so went into logging as its main
revenue-making enterprise. Logging is causing major environmental
degradation to the area controlled by the KIO. The profits from its huge
timber trade with China benefit only a small elite. It’s likely that
dissatisfaction at the manner in which logging revenues were divvied up
between KIO leaders sparked both the successful February 2003 coup and the
failed putsch last month.

I hope the KNU ceasefire will be different from previous ceasefires. But
past performance gives little reason for confidence.

Wai Moe is a former student activist now living in exile.
____________________________

Feb 28, The Economist
Among the ruins

In the paintings that hawkers sell in Pagan, Myanmar's medieval capital,
the ruins look exactly as tourists might expect: romantic, tumble-down
temples dot the dusty plain, a fallen stupa here, a buckling wall there,
the occasional plant sprouting from a lofty crevice. But when visitors
look up, they see nothing of the sort. Almost all the city's 2,000-odd
temples have been fancifully reconstructed, with bright red modern bricks
and identical cement finials. In some cases, the authorities have built
soaring new temples on top of crumbling ancient foundations. In others,
they have taken the remains of an original spire and built a new structure
to hold it up. This ham-fisted restoration, says one foreign academic,
"verges on Disneyfication". And the same thing is happening at all the
country's best-known historical sites.

It was not always thus. In the 1980s, Burma (as Myanmar was then named)
and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation
mounted a joint restoration project in Pagan to repair damage done by an
earthquake in 1975. But Myanmar and UNESCO parted company in the 1990s
after the country's military rulers began soliciting donations for full
reconstructions. UNESCO believes that wholesale rebuilding should only be
attempted on the basis of detailed and precise information about how the
structures concerned originally looked, and with original materials if
possible. In the case of Pagan, says Pierre Pichard, an archaeologist who
has conducted an exhaustive survey of the ruins, neither is available.

Undaunted, the junta has devised several schemes to spruce up the ruins,
all of which damage the site. A big new road ploughs through the densest
cluster of temples, while a 60-metre (200-foot) viewing platform is under
construction nearby. Khin Nyunt, the prime minister, paid for the
remodelling of the huge Dhammayanzika Pagoda out of his own pocket--though
not, presumably, with his official salary.

Similar abuses are under way at Myanmar's other big tourist sites. A 19th
century teak palace in Mandalay that burned down during the second world
war has been rebuilt in concrete and aluminium. At least, Mr Pichard
points out, the design was copied from surviving colonial-era surveys and
photographs. The same cannot be said of the ruined 16th-century palace in
Pegu, which the government is also resurrecting. Since the authorities
have no idea what it originally looked like, they are simply copying the
Mandalay palace, even though it was built 300 years later at the other end
of the country, and by a different dynasty.