BurmaNet News, May 29 - June 1, 2004

[Editor]

May 29 – June 1, 2004, Issue # 2486

INSIDE BURMA
AFP: Myanmar pro-democracy party says nine members arrested over protests
Irrawaddy: Cyclone in Western Burma Claims More Deaths

BUSINESS
Xinhua: Myanmar's foreign trade declines in 2003-04

DRUGS
S.H.A.N.: Patrons just next door

REGIONAL
Irrawaddy & AP: Burmese PM Arrives in Malaysia

INTERNATIONAL
AFP: UN rights envoy dismisses Myanmar convention as a failure
Independent: Burma criticises UK as protesters show support for Suu Kyi
AP: Ex-actress from Burma has key role in Unocal human rights case
AAP Newsfeed: Fed: Downer calls for Aung San Suu Kyi's release

OPINION/OTHER

PRESS RELEASE
DOS: Burma - Anniversary of Attack on Aung San Suu Kyi


INSIDE BURMA
______________________________________

June 1, Agence France Presse
Myanmar pro-democracy party says nine members arrested over protests

Yangon: Nine members of Aung San Suu Kyi's pro-democracy party have been
arrested for protests in the Myanmar capital which marked the anniversary
of her detention a year ago, party officials said Tuesday.

The nine, all from the National League for Democracy (NLD) youth wing,
were wearing T-shirts emblazoned with the image of the party's leader as
well as her father, independence hero General Aung San.

One NLD member said the activists distributed copies of the United Nations
human rights declaration in several locations around Yangon after becoming
frustrated that the party did not hold a ceremony to mark Sunday's
anniversary.

"They did it with the full knowledge of what would happen to them," she
told AFP, referring to strict penalties for such demonstrations and the
likelihood that they will be jailed for at least two years.

"They expected their leaders to at least hold some kind of May 30
commemoration at headquarters and were disappointed when it didn't happen
and appeared to have taken matters into their own hands," she said.

"We do sympathise with them, it shows the feeling of frustration simmering
inside them. There are a lot of these restless youths inside the NLD who
feel forced to show their feelings despite being cautioned by the
leadership."

The nine were identified as Nay Soe, Myo Min Maung, Myint Kyaw Oo, Myo Min
Way, Myo Than Htet, Myo Min Soe, Kyaw Kyaw, Than Win Aung and Myo Min.

They had been distributing the pamphlets at shopping centres, crowded
crossroads, and townships in Yangon before being caught by military
intelligence officials who were out in force Sunday to prevent any unrest.

Government sources on Monday confirmed that seven had been detained.

The protests, which were unusually extensive and synchronised, were held
on the first anniversary of an attack by a junta-backed mob on Aung San
Suu Kyi and her supporters during a political tour of northern Myanmar.

The NLD on Monday issued a statement calling for its leader and other
party members taken into custody on May 30, 2003, to be freed.

In Bangkok Tuesday, UN rights envoy to Myanmar Paulo Sergio Pinheiro
criticised the detention of Aung San Suu Kyi as well as ongoing human
rights abuses in Myanmar and the arrests of the young activists.

"They request the same thing that the (UN) secretary general, the special
envoy, the special rapporteur and all the actors of this region request --
the release of Aung San Suu Kyi," he said.

______________________________________

June 1, Irrawaddy
Cyclone in Western Burma Claims More Deaths - Naw Seng

A shortage of adequate aid has raised the number of victims from a cyclone
that swept through western Burma two weeks ago, said a Burmese journalist
on the Burma-Bangladesh border.

The May 19th cyclone with winds of up to 170 km (105 miles) per hour, was
the worst storm to hit the area since 1968. The state-run media failed to
report the cyclone immediately, waiting over a week to recognize the
disaster.

“The death toll is rising,” said Khine Myat Kyaw, by telephone. Khine Myat
Kyaw is an editor at the Dhaka-based Narinjara News Group, which covers
news from western Burma. He said it is difficult to know the exact number
of victims because the cyclone hit a remote area in the rainy season,
where communication is poor.

Death toll estimates vary: last Friday, UNICEF said 140 people were killed
and at least 2,650 homes destroyed, with another 1,385 severely damaged,
leaving an estimated 18,000 people temporarily homeless.

A report released yesterday from the International Federation of Red Cross
said that the cyclone killed 220 people, while a state-run Burmese
language newspaper, Kyemon (the only Burmese news organization to report
the disaster), did not report any deaths and said that aid had been
supplied to survivors.

Residents on the border said access to temporary shelter and aid is still
difficult in remote areas like Kyaukpyu Island.

The Burmese government has asked for US $220,000 worth of aid including
rice and medical supplies. UN agencies have provided US $175,000 worth of
immediate aid along with rice from the World Food Program.


BUSINESS
______________________________________

June 1, Xinhua News Service
Myanmar's foreign trade declines in 2003-04

Yangon: Myanmar's foreign trade declined by 15 percent in the fiscal year
2003-04 which ended in March, registering 4.5 billion US dollars against
the previous year's 5.3 billion, the semiofficial Myanmar Times reported
in this week's issue.

Quoting the Ministry of Commerce, the report said despite drop in the
trade volume, it enjoyed a trade surplus of 123 million dollars during the
year through restriction of imports to avoid a trade deficit, while
exporting no less than the previous fiscal year.

In its efforts in gaining the trade surplus, the government introduced
measures including rewarding exporters with best export performances and
as a result, 12 private import-export companies were honored for such
performances during the year, the report added.

Myanmar had suffered a trade deficit for many years since 1988. However,
the deficit started to reduce from 1999. Until the first half of 2002, it
stroke a favorable balance of foreign trade for the first time with 434
million dollars.

According to a recent official statistics, in Myanmar's export partner
line-up,  Thailand topped with more than 1 billion dollars, followed by
India, the United States, Singapore, Japan, while the import partner was
represented by Singapore at the top with over 600 million dollars,
followed by China, Japan, Malaysia, South Korea and Thailand.

Myanmar's foreign normal trade with four members of the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) during the year accounted for more than 2
billion dollars or 51 percent of its total foreign trade.

The country's private sector normally takes up about 75 percent of the
total import value and about 55 percent of the total export.

Myanmar's export goods are known as agricultural, timber and marine
products, while its import commodities include industrial and construction
materials, fertilizer, cement, textile and electronic and pharmaceutical
products.

DRUGS
_____________________________________

June 1, Shan Herald Agency for News
Patrons just next door

Thailand's war on drugs launched last year has little effect up in
northern Shan State, as China is soaking up all it can get from Burma,
writes S.H.A.N.'s Hawkeye from the border.

According to a casino operator in Muse, who has been to China, the only
varieties a drug user cannot obtain in the world's most populous nation's
towns and cities away from the Sino-Burma border are raw opium itself and
Khakhu (a mixture of opium and minced banana leaves smoked through a pipe)
"I saw yaba (methamphetamine) everywhere I went," he told S.H.A.N.. "There
were more heroin available even than yaba."


The source said he noticed during his recent visit that the retail price
of meth pills, 2.5 - 10 yuan (1 yuan = 5 baht) each in Muse, was 25 - 50
yuan in Hunan and Zhejiang, while down in Guangdong it became as high as
100 yuan.

Sixty percent of the traffickers in China are said to be natives of
China's restless Xinjiang province, many of whom, who profess Islam, have
settled in Ruili, opposite Muse.

Back on the border, prices are on the rise. "Opium, bought on the field at
450,000 kyat (Y 4,500), is 550,000 - 600,000 (Y 5,500 - 6,000) once it
gets into town," said a trader.

Despite Rangoon's much publicized campaign against opium production, it
has not appeared to have produced the desired result at all in Namkham
township, west of Muse, though in Muse itself, Kutkhai and Hsenwi, the
output had dropped "to some extent". The decline in these townships are
also more than made up by the increase in Namkham, particularly in areas
where Panhsay Kyaw Myint, one of Rangoon's favored militia leaders,
remains untouchable, according to both Palaung and Shan sources.

Heroin prices, as well as yaba prices, have also climbed:
Heroin (block) 240,000 kyat per kg
Heroin (powder) 260,000 kyat per kg
Yaba (1st grade) 1,200,000 - 1,500,000 kyat per carton (ten 200-pills bags)
Yaba (2nd grade) 700,000 - 800,000 kyat per carton
Yaba (3rd grade) 200,000 - 300,000 kyat per carton

As a result, retail prices are also getting higher:
------------------------------- 2003 ------------------ 2004
Yaba (1st grade) ---- 1,000 kyat --------- 1,000 kyat
Yaba (2nd grade) --200 - 400 kyat --- 500 - 800 kyat
Yaba (3rd grade) --200 - 300 kyat --- 250 - 500 kyat

Thus, apart from the prices, neither the bulk of drugs going across the
border nor their availability at home has been much affected.

One of the headaches to local Chinese police incidentally is the presence
of thousands of Burmese migrants. "Many among them are drug pushers,"
according to a Chinese officer of Shan descent. "We have tried to send
them back to the Burmese authorities, but they would refuse to accept. We
have also tried to repatriate them back across unofficial border passes,
but these people keep coming back each time. Now we don't know what to do
with them."


REGIONAL
_____________________________________

June 1, Irrawaddy
Burmese PM Arrives in Malaysia - Aung Lwin Oo and AP

Burmese Prime Minister Gen Khin Nyunt kicked off an official visit to
Malaysia on Tuesday amid high security.

Gen Khin Nyunt arrived in Putrajaya where he met with his Malaysian
counterpart Abdullah Badawi after inspecting an honor guard at a welcoming
ceremony. Burma’s PM is scheduled to visit Bangkok on June 4 to meet with
Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

Ahead of his visit to Malaysia, tight security measures were taken.
Burmese activist Minn Kyaw, aged 26, was detained by plain-clothed police
at around 10:00am as he was on his way to Kuala Lumpur International
Airport where Gen Khin Nyunt was set to arrive, according to his Malaysian
wife who was present at the arrest.

“They hit my car in front. They stopped my car and they asked for Minn
Kyaw. They asked for my husband. They just put my husband out of the car.
He’s been handcuffed,” Yussra Shahril told The Irrawaddy by telephone from
Kuala Lumpur.

The Malaysian government lobbied for Burmese membership of the Association
of Southeast Asian Nations, or Asean, regional grouping, and has only
rarely commented on the country’s domestic issues since.

“Of course the future and stability of Myanmar [Burma] will be of
particular interest to Asean countries,” Malaysian Minister of Foreign
Affairs Syed Hamid told reporters before the leaders’ meeting.

Syed Hamid said, “I think Myanmar understands the feelings of Asean
countries and they know what is our view.”


INTERNATIONAL
_____________________________________

June 1, Agence France Presse
UN rights envoy dismisses Myanmar convention as a failure - Jack Barton

Bangkok: The United Nations' human rights envoy to Myanmar on Tuesday
dismissed the ruling junta's constitutional talks as a failure after they
were launched last month without Aung San Suu Kyi's opposition party.

Paulo Sergio Pinheiro said the talks, billed as the first step in the
government's so-called "roadmap to democracy" ending in free elections,
had no prospect of bringing reforms to Myanmar unless major changes were
made.

"Political transition requires that you write a constitution and it cannot
take place with the main leader of one of the parties in house arrest," he
said, referring to Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel peace laureate who was
detained a year ago.

"In Myanmar there is not one hint of any basic political freedom and in
all the political transitions I know ... I don't know a single transition
that has happened under this constraint," he said.

"This political transition will not work. It will not work on the moon. It
will not work on Mars."

In his harshest criticism of the junta so far, the envoy said the
convention had become largely meaningless after the military government
failed to release Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest before it began on
May 17.

"The two first stages of the roadmap proposed by (Prime Minister General
Khin Nyunt) have not been successfully implemented," he said, adding "the
national convention lacks any national or international credibility."

Pinheiro also lashed out at rules which prevent more than 1,000 delegates
-- mostly hand-picked by the junta -- from criticising the government in
any way, even in personal notes.

Apart from risking 20 years imprisonment for contravening the rules, he
said they were effectively being detained at the convention venue north of
Yangon, forbidden to leave until it ends in weeks or even months.

"Everything is forbidden in this law," he said. "These (delegates) cannot
contact their families, cannot go out on weekends. The SPDC has condemned
(them) people to house arrest."

Pinheiro said any hope of keeping the roadmap alive would depend on the
junta including Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) in
the talks and easing the repressive rules which triggered the opposition's
boycott.

The delegates are charged with establishing precepts that will form the
basis for a new constitution. The document is then due to be drafted in
the second stage of the "roadmap".

The junta's decision to go ahead with the convention without the NLD and
key ethnic political groups who also boycotted has attracted widespread
criticism, including from the United Nations and some of Myanmar's Asian
neighbours.

Pinheiro also criticised ongoing human rights abuses in Myanmar, including
the arrests of at least seven NLD members Sunday for handing out political
leaflets on the one-year anniversary of Aung San Suu Kyi's detention.

"They request the same thing that the (UN) secretary general, the special
envoy, the special rapporteur and all the actors of this region request --
the release of Aung San Suu Kyi," he said.

The envoy said he had made two requests to visit Myanmar since his last
trip in November to assess the current human rights situation, but that
they were rejected by the military regime.

In his last report to the UN Security Council, the envoy said the rights
situation had worsened since the May unrest that triggered Aung San Suu
Kyi's arrest and a crackdown on her party.

_____________________________________

May 31, The Independent
Burma criticises UK as protesters show support for Suu Kyi - Jan McGirk

Bangkok: The Burmese junta yesterday accused Britain of interfering in its
domestic affairs as a handful of protesters dare to stage protests in
Burma to mark the first anniversary of the house arrest of the Nobel peace
laureate, Aung San Suu Kyi.

Police arrested two men distributing leaflets about human rights at
Rangoon markets and in Mandalay, north of the capital, about 100 students
staged a religious procession to honour those who died in the "Black
Friday" massacre, believed to have left between 10 and 70 people dead, on
the day Ms Suu Kyi was put under house arrest.

Western diplomats urged Burmese military authorities to free opposition
leaders and 1,000 political prisoners, and to take immediate steps toward
forming a broad-based democratic government. The United States and
European Union recently renewed sanctions that deprive the military elite
and their families of foreign exchange and visas.

The junta yesterday singled out Britain. "Britain's continued animosity
towards the people of Myanmar Burma by imposition of economic sanctions to
promote poverty, instability and social chaos is regrettable," a
government statement said.

After more than 40 years in power, the military regime is as opaque as
ever. A constitutional convention, boycotted by the opposition, is widely
derided as a rubber-stamp exercise meant to legitimise the status quo.

Last month, hopes were high that Ms Suu Kyi would be set free after one
year in her most recent captivity. After her party refused to attend the
constitutional convention, her release has been delayed indefinitely.

A British Foreign Office minister, Mike O'Brien, urged regional
politicians at the weekend not to miss the only chance to bring about
change in Burma. Mr O'Brien also urged the French oil company Total to
rethink its investments in Rangoon.

The opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) said that seven party
members who were arrested last year were freed from prison and a labour
camp last Friday. This coincided with the 14th anniversary of the
landslide NLD election victory, which the generals ignored in order to
cling to power. There was no word on the fate of Ms Suu Kyi or the elderly
party vice-chairman U Tin Oo, who is also under house arrest.

_____________________________________

June 1, Associated Press
Ex-actress from Burma has key role in Unocal human rights case – Paul Chavez

Los Angeles: The last plaintiff listed on the docket in a landmark human
rights case against Unocal Corp. is a former beauty queen who once was a
popular actress in her native Burma.
Louisa Benson, now a 63-year-old wife and mother of three, was not witness
to the alleged abuses but joined the lawsuit to bring attention to the
brutal conditions in her native country, now known as Myanmar.

 The long-running suit marks the first time a U.S. corporation has faced a
trial in this country for alleged human rights abuses committed abroad. A
Los Angeles County Superior Court judge has scheduled a hearing on July 2
to determine if the case can continue.

The lawsuit alleges that the oil giant profited from a 1990s natural gas
pipeline project that was built in partnership with Myanmar's military
government. Villagers were murdered, raped and enslaved during the course
of construction, the lawsuit alleges.
The soft-spoken Benson, a two-time Miss Burma and former lead actress in
Burmese movies, may seem an unlikely player in the international legal
battle.

Her activism dates back to the 1960s, when she went from high-society to
the jungle to help organize a resistance movement after her husband was
assassinated amid ethnic violence.

She later remarried and joined family members in the United States, where
she led a quiet life in Santa Monica for 20 years, until the military
junta in her homeland brutally suppressed a 1988 democracy movement.

Outraged, Benson helped found Burma Forum L.A. to spread information about
the regime. She also tried to warn Unocal about the brutal nature of the
military government, which was paid to provide security on the $1.2
billion Yadana pipeline.

"The thing that makes me cry is that when Unocal went into partnership,
the military was in bad shape. They were desperate," Benson said. "Unocal
put blood into the veins of a dictatorship and made them last longer."

Her activism led human rights lawyers to ask Benson to join 14 anonymous
villagers in suing El Segundo-based Unocal. The lawsuit, which dates back
to 1996, claims Unocal should be held "vicariously liable" for the crimes
allegedly committed by the military.

Unocal, a minority member of a consortium that built and operates the
pipeline, has denied that human rights abuses occurred during the project.
Its lawyers contend the lawsuit was motivated by political activists who
want U.S. firms out of Myanmar.

Benson was raised in Burma by a Jewish father who ran a trucking company
and ice and soft drink factories. Her mother was a member of the Karen
(pronounced KUH'-rin) ethnic minority group.

Benson lived a privileged life growing up in the capital city of Rangoon,
playing sports and entering beauty contests before attending Tufts
University in Massachusetts for a year. She returned home to finish her
schooling and pursued a career as an actress.

"She was really the big movie star of her time," said Edith Mirante, an
author who writes about the country. "The main famous thing, though, was
when she was with the rebel leader, the second act."

Benson's life changed in 1962 when a military junta seized power. Her
father's business was nationalized, and he was jailed for more than three
years for supporting the Karen.

Two years later, she married a Karen brigadier general who was a key
leader in the insurgent ethnic militia. He was killed after being invited
to peace talks in 1965.

"I don't know how he was assassinated," Benson said quietly. "The only
thing I know is that he never came back."

Benson took over her husband's unit, and as a 24-year-old widow led his
troops into the jungle to regroup. A 1966 photograph shows her in
fatigues, pistol on hip, visiting a resistance camp while serving the
Karen National Union as a liaison to other ethnic militia.

Benson learned how harsh military life in the jungle can be when she came
down with malaria. Glenn Craig, a friend from Tufts, finally persuaded her
to join her father, brothers and sisters in the United States.

Benson and Craig married and raised three children before her activism was
rekindled by the pro-democracy uprising and crackdowns. She hosted
meetings at her home to generate sympathy for the plight of the Karen.

Her work and high-profile background made her a logical choice to speak
for the villagers, who now live in refugee camps in Myanmar and Thailand
because they were forced out of their homes during construction of the
pipeline.

Under California's unfair competition law, Benson was able to become a
plaintiff in the lawsuit, even though she wasn't harmed during the
pipeline project, said Paul Hoffman, a lawyer for the plaintiffs.

"There was nobody else that anyone can think of within our community who
could better represent the people of Burma, who are basically voiceless,"
Hoffman said. "She is an incredibly articulate spokesperson for their
concerns."

The suit alleges that Myanmar soldiers raped women and girls after male
family members were taken away to become slave laborers on the pipeline.
The military also is accused of forcing people out of their homes to make
way for the project. The plaintiffs include a couple who allege that their
baby daughter died from wounds she suffered after a soldier kicked the
infant and her mother into a fire.

EarthRights International and other human rights groups pursued the
lawsuit with Hoffman and other lawyers. It was filed in 1996 in federal
court. The case was dismissed by a judge who found Unocal had no
liability, but it was reinstated two years ago by a three-judge panel of
the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

Unocal argued last June before the full 11-judge panel that the case
should be dismissed. The appeals court has not yet issued a ruling.

After being initially rebuffed in federal court, the plaintiffs in 2000
pursued their claims in state court. Los Angeles County Superior Court
Judge Victoria Gerrard Chaney separated the suit into two phases. The
first excluded testimony on the alleged human rights abuses and focused
solely on corporate liability issues.

At stake was whether Unocal could be held liable for the actions of its
overseas subsidiaries, which were not named in the lawsuit. Chaney
determined earlier this year that the subsidiaries were not paper shells
or the "alter ego" of Unocal, and should have been sued instead.

However, the statute of limitations to sue the subsidiaries has expired.

Daniel Petrocelli, Unocal's lead trial lawyer, said the entire case should
be dismissed in light of the judge's ruling.

Lawyers for the villagers countered that Unocal can still be held
accountable under alternate legal theories that its subsidiaries acted as
its agents or were involved in a joint venture.

Benson wants the oil company to look past the legal arguments.

"I wish that the people at Unocal would look into their hearts and act as
human beings," she said. "If they did that, I don't think they could
continue to work in Burma."

_____________________________________


May 31, AAP Newsfeed
Fed: Downer calls for Aung San Suu Kyi's release

Canberra: Foreign Minister Alexander Downer today used the anniversary of
the house arrest of Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi to call for
her immediate release.

Ms Suu Kyi, the secretary general of the National League for Democracy
(NLD), was detained after a deadly attack on her convoy a year ago which
marked a dramatic deterioration in the Burmese political scene.

As many as 100 people were killed and within days every top member of the
NLD - which won the 1990 elections but was never allowed to rule - was in
custody.

"The Australian government believes there is no justification for Aung San
Suu Kyi's continued detention and we again call for her immediate and
unconditional release," Mr Downer said in a statement.

"Aung San Suu Kyi's release is a pre-requisite for national reconciliation
in Burma as outlined in its roadmap to democracy.

"The National Convention to draft a constitution, now under way in Burma,
has lost its credibility because it has neither broad participation nor
open debate.

"It is up to the Burmese government to create a climate giving all parties
confidence about their participation in the National Convention."

_____________________________________

May 29, St. John's Telegram (Newfoundland)
Degree presented in abstentia

Although she had no control over her absence, a Nobel Peace Prize winner
and human rights activist was given an honorary degree by Memorial
University Friday.

Aung San Suu Kyi was issued a doctor of laws degree for her work in Burma
plugging democracy, freedom and human rights.

Receiving an honorary degree in absentia is a rare occasion, but the
activist has lived under house arrest in Burma since 1989 -- one year
after becoming the leader of a pro-democratic movement. While there have
been brief windows of freedom, she has lived under house arrest for most
of the last 15 years.

She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 and her long fight for
rights has attracted the admiration and praise of rock star and activist
Bono of the group U2.


OPINION / OTHER
_____________________________________

PRESS RELEASE

May 28, Department of State
Burma - Anniversary of Attack on Aung San Suu Kyi

Source: http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2004/32929.htm

On May 30, 2003, elements of the Burmese junta orchestrated a brutal
attack by government-affiliated thugs on democratic opposition leader Aung
San Suu Kyi and her pro-democracy supporters as they were traveling near
Depeyin.

Now one year later, the people of Burma are no closer to reconciliation or
accountability for human rights abuses. The Burmese junta has not
accounted fully for the dead, injured, and missing from the May 2003
attack, despite calls from the international community, including the
United Nations. Aung San Suu Kyi and fellow senior leader U Tin Oo remain
under house arrest. National League for Democracy (NLD) offices remain
closed. The junta is holding a National Convention that prohibits a free
exchange of views and that does not include the NLD and the United
Nationalities Alliance, a group of ethnic parties that participated in the
1990 elections.

This month marks the 14th anniversary of those elections, which were won
overwhelmingly by the NLD. The military junta has never recognized the
results of those elections.

The United States calls on the Burmese junta to take immediate steps that
will lead to a broad-based, democratic government. We urge the junta to
release Aung San Suu Kyi and U Tin Oo and the over one thousand political
prisoners in Burma, allow the NLD to reopen their offices, undertake a
substantive dialogue with the democratic opposition and ethnic groups,
thus beginning down the path toward genuine reconciliation.

Released on May 28, 2004