BurmaNet News: October 22 2002

[editor at burmanet.org]

October 22 2002 Issue # 2109

INSIDE BURMA

AFP: UN rights envoy meets Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi
AFP: Myanmar junta says ILO mission visiting the country
Xinhua: Myanmar agrees with ILO on developing labor practices
Irrawaddy: Kachin conference an important step forward
DVB: Burma inaugurates new naval deep-sea port, base in Bokpyin township
NLM: Burma’s energy minister inspects Mann oilfield, discusses oil, gas
production
NLM: Burmese leader Lt-Gen. Maung Bo call for sufficiency in palm oil

MONEY

Xinhua: Tourist arrivals rise in Myanmar in first half of 2002

REGIONAL

Xinhua: Myanmar calls for regional cooperation in use of resources

INTERNATIONAL

Reuters: TotalFinaElf denies Myanmar rights abuses
DPA: 15 Myanmar intruders arrested off eastern India coast

MISCELLANEOUS

ILO: Report [featured link]
Scotsman: Mugabe's Zimbabwe fast becoming Africa's Burma
International Examiner: Seattle Burmese community reacts to release

__INSIDE BURMA______

Agence France-Presse
October 22 2002

UN rights envoy meets Myanmar's Aung San Suu Kyi

United Nations human rights envoy Paulo Sergio Pinheiro said the prospects
for a long-running dialogue on national reconciliation in Myanmar were
good after meeting opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi Tuesday.

"The prospect of dialogue is good. I do not want to elaborate on it. In
fact, I have to keep everything confidential," he told reporters after a
90-minute meeting with the leader and members of her National League for
Democracy (NLD). Myanmar's military junta and Aung San Suu Kyi have been
engaged in a landmark dialogue, brokered by the United Nations, aimed at
national reconciliation since October 2000.

Although the talks have so far resulted in her release from 19 months of
house arrest in May, they are now widely believed to have stalled and have
not progressed beyond the confidence-building stage.

Pinheiro, who arrived in Yangon last Thursday and will spend 11 days here,
has also held talks with leading members of the ruling junta including
military intelligence chief General Khin Nyunt and Foreign Minister Win
Aung.

"My mission is successful in terms of full cooperation from the
authorities," he said. "I have had the opportunity to elaborate on the
need to pursue negotiations for national reconciliation."

But Pinheiro cancelled a three-day trip to Myanmar's Shan state which was
due to begin on Tuesday.

"I can't travel to the Shan state because of the impossibility of doing
fact-finding within a few days. But I will visit again in February next
year," he said, without specifying if the visit would include a trip to
Shan state.

The junta had invited him to go there to investigate a report by two Shan
women's groups based in Thailand who had alleged that the military used
rape as a weapon of war.

Myanmar activists welcomed his decision to scrap the plans, saying that
the government would have stage-managed his trip and prevented him from
speaking to victims.

Instead, according to his revised official schedule he will head to Mon
state over the next three days where he will visit prisoners in an effort
to assess the overall human rights situation in Myanmar.

The Brazilian academic has already met with several prisoners during his
visit.

"The prisoners I have met are old, aged, who are serving prison terms for
more than five years. They have some complaints concerning treatment," he
said.

International concern has been raised over elderly and sick prisoners
failing to receive appropriate medical treatment while in Myanmar's jails.

Pinheiro's visit also comes as Yangon fends off mounting criticisms of its
human rights record.

In addition to the rape allegations, US-based watchdog Human Rights Watch
said last week it believed more than a fifth of the soldiers serving in
Myanmar's army could be under the age of 18 and that some of them were
forced to participate in atrocities.

Myanmar's government has repeatedly denied all the allegations.

Pinheiro is due to leave Myanmar on October 28.
_______

Agence France-Presse
October 22 2002

Myanmar junta says ILO mission visiting the country

An International Labour Organisation (ILO) team, which has condemned
Myanmar for failing to eradicate forced labour, has arrived in the
country, the military government said Tuesday.
The junta said in a statement that the ILO mission which began Monday
under the direction of ILO vice director-general Kari Tapiola would
"assist and further develop Myanmar's labour practices".
"We welcome this mission and pledge to assist and cooperate fully with the
efforts of the ILO," said government spokesman Colonel Hla Min.
Myanmar is widely condemned by the international community for its use of
forced labour. A 1998 ILO inquiry found the practice was "widespread and
systematic" and targeted ethnic minorities living in border regions.
The ILO's newly appointed liaison officer in Yangon, Hong-Trang
Perret-Nguyen, told the Myanmar Times this week that while the government
had taken important steps to eradicate forced labour, more needed to be
done.
"Some very important steps have been taken by the government, in terms of
issuing orders, instructions and circulars, but those circulars and orders
have to be complemented and supplemented by more specific instructions and
then they have to be implemented," she told the semi-official weekly
newspaper.
"And there must be evidence that they are being implemented. We need to
make some progress, to show some practical measures, before the next
governing body meeting in March 2003," she said.
Perret-Nguyen was appointed in September after the Geneva-based ILO and
the junta agreed in March that the role would cover all activities related
to ensuring the "prompt and effective" elimination of forced labour in
Myanmar.
The latest ILO mission to Myanmar comes as an international trade union
organisation accused French energy giant TotalFinaElf of using forced
labour in the country on projects linked to its Yadana gas pipeline.
Separately, a French state prosecutor opened a landmark investigation last
Thursday into claims by two Myanmar citizens that they were forced to work
on the Yadana pipeline.
___

Xinhua News Agency
October 22 2002

Myanmar agrees with ILO on developing labor practices

YANGON, Oct. 22 (Xinhua) --The Myanmar government has agreed with the
International Labor Organization (ILO) on an ILO technical cooperation
mission to help the country further develop labor practices, said
government spokesman Hla Min Tuesday.

The mission, which arrived in Yangon Monday, will undertake the task as
directed by the ILO Vice Director-General Kari Tapiola. "We welcome this
mission and pledge to assist and cooperate fully with the efforts of ILO,"
Hla Min said, adding that the Myanmar government is committed to a program
of labor practices which is fully in line with international norms.

Since November 2000, the Myanmar military government has been under
pressure from the ILO, which then called on its 175 member governments to
impose sanctions on the country and review their relations with Myanmar to
ensure they were not abetting forced labor.

In March this year, the Myanmar government reached an agreement with the
ILO, allowing a representative of the organization to station in Myanmar
to ensure eradication of forced labor.
_______

Irrawaddy
October 22 2002

Kachin Conference an Important Step Forward
By Naw Seng

October 22, 2002—Amid an increasingly sensitive political situation,
ethnic Kachin people have gathered yesterday for a landmark public
conference at Laiza, close to the China border. The conference, organized
by the Kachin Independent Organization (KIO) will focus mainly on finding
a common platform to represent the Kachin people.
According to sources in Laiza, the meeting began with more than 300
delegates from across the social spectrum, including Kachin students from
major universities in Burma as well as some prominent leaders. The
five-day conference will give Kachin people a chance to discuss their
future.
"I hope that a Kachin parliament will be established to represent the
Kachin people," said Gam Awng a student delegate who attended the
conference. Gam Aung said it was that Kachin people had the chance to work
through important issues. Until now, "armed groups have had no authority
to speak about politics," he said.
Political development in the Kachin State has been at a virtual standstill
for decades and the Kachin people have suffered from ongoing uncertainty.
The KIO signed a ceasefire with the State Peace and Development Council
(SPDC) in February 1994 but any sort of political accord between the
Kachin and Burmese authorities has yet to materialize.
"Every one believes that this task is necessary, and this conference will
yield a good result for Kachin," said a KIO officer who did not want to be
identified.
Sources said that almost 40 senior members, including the leader of the
New Democratic Army-Kachin (NDA-K), attended the conference. However,
delegates from the other group, Kachin Defense Army (KDA) were absent. The
meeting was conducted with approval from the Burmese authorities but
sources said there were a lot of Burmese Military Intelligence officers
hanging around, near where the meeting was taking place.
Some leaders are skeptical of the motives of Burmese authorities. Big
meetings like this, which involve input from civilian leaders from
ceasefire groups, are rare.
"I won't sit in that meeting because the meeting organizers invited me
without being given a definite political agenda," said Zau Ing, leader of
the Kachin National Congress for Democracy (KNCD) who recently met with
the the UN’s human rights envoy, Paulo Sergio Pinheiro in Rangoon.
In June this year, KIO held another conference at its headquarters, which
was only open only to members. This public meeting is believed to be the
first open meeting in Kachin history.
Three Kachin armed groups—KIO, NDA-K and KDA—all signed ceasefire
agreements with junta in the late 1980s and early 1990s and have since
been unable to discuss political issues or take part in any real political
development.
The KNCD, a Kachin political party and member of the United Nationalities
Alliance, won three seats in the 1990 General Election, which junta
leaders have refused to honor.
______

Democratic Voice of Burma
October 20 2002

BURMA INAUGURATES NEW NAVAL DEEP-SEA PORT, BASE IN BOKPYIN TOWNSHIP

DVB Democratic Voice of Burma has learned that Kyaukhtanaung deep-sea port
and a security naval base were opened at Bokpyin Township in Tenasserim
Division on 18 October. Officers from the Defence Ministry and the Navy
came and opened the facility. DVB correspondent Myint Maung Maung filed
this report.

Myint Maung Maung The deep-sea port and office building of Tenasserim
Division Naval Tactical Base and No 38 Security Naval Base near Karthidi
Village at the mouth of Kyaukhtanaung Creek in Bokpyin Township were
inaugurated at 0930 on 18 October. Lt-Gen Maung Bo from the Defence
Ministry, Navy Chief of Staff Rear Admiral Soe Thein, and Coastal Military
Region Commander Maj-Gen Tha Aye opened the facility. The construction of
the deep-sea port began on 29 March 2000 and was a joint undertaking
between the SPDC State Peace and Development Council naval engineers and
Dagon International Construction Company. The SPDC naval sources say that
the Kyaukhtanaung naval deep-sea port is the biggest tactical deep-sea
port in southern Burma that could handle large strategic naval vessels.
______

New Light of Myanmar
October 21 2002

BURMA'S ENERGY MINISTER INSPECTS MANN OILFIELD, DISCUSSES OIL, GAS PRODUCTION

Yangon Rangoon , 21 October: Minister for Energy Brig-Gen Lun Thi, went to
the filling station No 0977 in Pyay Prome on 19 October and inspected the
distribution of fuel.

The minister gave instructions on direct distribution of fuel to users. In
the afternoon, the minister attended the work coordination meeting for the
third quarter of 2002-2003 of Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise held at the
meeting hall of Mann oilfield. Managers reported on production of
respective oilfields and the minister laid down future work programmes for
boosting production of oil and gas. Also present at the meeting were
Director-General of Energy Planning Department U Soe Myint, Managing
Director of Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise U San Lwin, directors and
general managers of the oilfields. The minister inspected the extension of
Shwetabin plot in Minbu yesterday and gave necessary instructions to
officials on maintenance of natural gas and crude oil pipelines.

Then, the minister saw over the repair work of Mann oil well No 39 which
was stopped functioning in 1975. The well now produces 56 barrels of crude
oil and one million cubic feet of natural gas a day. In the afternoon, the
minister went to Thagyitaung (Sabai) oil and gas field in Pauk Township,
Pakokku District, Magway Division. At the briefing hall the general
manager and officials reported to the minister on production of oil and
gas at the field. The field can produce 1100 barrels of crude oil and
seven million cubic feet of natural gas per day.

The minister later inspected the digging of Thagyitaung oil well No 15 and
fulfilled the needs.
______

New Light of Myanmar
October 21 2002

BURMESE LEADER LT-GEN MAUNG BO CALLS FOR SUFFICIENCY IN PALM OIL

Yangon, 21 October: Member of the State Peace and Development Council SPDC
Lt-Gen Maung Bo of the Ministry of Defence, officials of the State Peace
and Development Council Office and departmental officials, left here by
air and arrived in Kawthoung Kawthaung at 0745 local time on 19 October.

Lt-Gen Maung Bo and party, together with Commander Brig-Gen Tha Aye met
oil palm entrepreneurs at Bayintnaung Hall of Kawthoung Station Yeiktha.
In his address, Lt-Gen Maung Bo said permits to grow oil palm were issued
to the national oil palm entrepreneurs in 1995-96 with the objectives
"Taninthayi Tenasserim Division must be an oil pot of the state and there
must be sufficiency of edible oil". He spoke of the need for the national
oil palm entrepreneurs to lay emphasis on boosting production of palm oil.
They are to report on true situation and difficulties encountered. The
government would provide assistance to the oil palm entrepreneurs, he
added. He said the oil palm entrepreneurs are to extend cultivation
acreage in the interests of the people and the state as well as their own.
He also urged them to make endeavours for boosting production of palm oil.
The oil palm entrepreneurs reported on cultivation of oil palm,
cultivation acreage, yield of crude palm oil, preparation for
establishment of palm oil factory, targets for extended cultivation of oil
palm and requirements. The commander, Minister Brig-Gen Maung Maung Thein,
Managing Director of Myanma Perennial Crops Enterprise U Myint Oo and
officials reported on successful implementation of oil palm project in
Taninthayi Division, benefits of establishment of palm oil factory and
provisions. Lt-Gen Maung Bo fufilled the requirements.

In the afternoon, Lt-Gen Maung Bo met departmental officials from
Kawthoung and Bokpyin Townships. Next, Kawthoung District Manager of
Myanma Agriculture Service U Maung Ko reported on paddy production for
rice sufficiency in the district, rice sufficiency in 2001-2002, targets
for 2002-2003, reclamation of land for extended cultivation of monsoon
paddy, targets for cultivation of monsoon and summer paddy and cold season
crops and cultivation of pepper. District Head of Kawthoung District
Livestock Breeding and Veterinary Department U Maung Maung Lwin reported
on giving vaccine to animals to guard against infectious diseases,
performance of vaccination on Newcastle disease and arrangements for
increased poultry farming. District Head of Kawthoung District Fisheries
Department U Aye Tin reported on preventive measures against depletion of
fish and prawn stocks, cold storage for fish and prawn processing, sale of
fish and prawn and collection of revenues.

Chairman of Kawthoung District Peace and Development Council Lt-Col Kyaw
Phyo reported on data of the district, monsoon paddy cultivation and rice
sufficiency for 2002-2003, cultivation of cold season crops, summer paddy
and oil palm, rubber and Thitseint (Bellaric Myrobalan), livestock
breeding, construction of roads and bridges, rural development and health
and education sectors. The commander reported on fulfillments for
Kawthoung District and Taninthayi Division, arrangements for reclamation
of lands and cultivation of new paddy strains and growing one oil palm by
each person programme.

Lt-Gen Maung Bo said all service personnel and officials are to discharge
duties of the State with goodwill. Necessary assistance will be provided
to farmers and the oil palm entrepreneurs who grow beans and pulses,
rubber, oil palm and perennial crops for regional development, local rice
sufficiency and consumption. According to the need for efficient use of
electricity and fuel, surplus electricity and fuel should be used in
boosting production of commodity, he said. Departmental personnel are
responsible for safeguarding territory of the State and the race and
Sasana with patriotism and they are to organize the local people to
participate in unity in those tasks.

Lt-Gen Maung Bo and party spent the night at Kawthoung Station Guest House.

____MONEY_____

Xinhua News Agency
October 22 2002

Tourist arrivals rise in Myanmar in first half of 2002

YANGON, Oct. 22 (Xinhua) --Tourist arrivals in Myanmar rose 23. 46 percent
to 170,858 in the first half of 2002 from 138,385 in the same period of
last year, according to figures issued by the Ministry of Hotels and
Tourism.

In 2001, 278,951 foreign tourists came to Myanmar, according to the
ministry. To promote tourism development, Myanmar has signed cooperation
agreements with China, Cambodia, Laos, Singapore and Thailand.

In order to attract more tourists from neighboring China, Myanmar has
allowed those from that country to use Chinese currency yuan during their
stay in Myanmar starting  July 18.

Myanmar is also cooperating with the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations (ASEAN) states in regional tourism activities, including
formulating cooperation programs for tourist destinations in the region
and launching market promotion activities of nations in the Great Mekong
region as well as Ganges-Mekong cooperation program.

Official statistics show that since Myanmar opened to the outside world in
late 1988, contracted foreign investments in the sector of hotels and
tourism have amounted to 1.054 billion US dollars. Of the foreign-invested
hotel projects, 25 have been completed  and are in operation with 11 more
under implementation.

There are also 498 local private hotels, motels and inns with 11,292 rooms
in the country.

Myanmar has set a target of drawing 500,000 foreign tourists annually.

__REGIONAL_____

Xinhua News Agency
October 22 2002

Myanmar calls for regional cooperation in use of resources

YANGON, Oct. 22 (Xinhua) --A high-ranking Myanmar official Tuesday called
the Association of the Southeast Asian Nations ( ASEAN) states to forge
further cooperation to maximize the use of resources to bring more and
more people into the economic mainstream and to promote equitable access
to the benefits of development.

Myanmar Minister of Finance and Revenue, U Khin Maung Thein made the call
at the opening ceremony of the ASEAN finance and central Bank deputies
meeting here. Reviewing the experiences after Myanmar's joining of the
ASEAN in July 1997, the minister said that ASEAN finance meeting is of
great significance for promoting mutual understanding, exchanges and
cooperation among the member countries.

He noted that one of the most important developments in recent years is
the growing awareness of interdependence of the world, urging the member
states to work and act together at every level, whether it be local,
regional or global, with mutual understanding and respect for each and
every country's integrity and sovereignty.

ASEAN economies have shown signs of recovery from the cyclical downturn
experienced during the second half of 2001, citing the growth projected
for the region for this year which is at between 3.5 and 3.9 percent, he
added.

The one-day meeting will discuss the roadmap for integration of ASEAN for
the finance sector under the agreement reached in the seventh ASEAN summit
held in Brunei in November 2001. U Khin Maung Thein reiterated Myanmar's
commitment to full cooperation with other ASEAN states to achieve the
objective.

ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the
Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

____INTERNATIONAL_____

Reuters
October 21 2002

TotalFinaElf<TOTF.PA> denies Myanmar rights abuses
By Tom Miles

BRUSSELS, Oct 21 (Reuters) - A body representing trade unions on Monday
accused oil giant TotalFinaElf <TOTF.PA><TOTF.N> of knowingly profiting
from human rights abuses in Myanmar, an allegation the French company
denied.
The 350-page report by the Brussels-based International Confederation of
Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) is not the first time an oil firm has been
accused of wrongdoing in the resource-rich country. The report also
alleged abuses by Myanmar troops.
Many Western firms have stopped sourcing goods from Myanmar following
pressure from human rights groups. The southeast Asian nation, formerly
known as Burma, has been treated as a pariah by many Western countries for
many years.
"The ICFTU has uncovered new proof that the oil giant TotalFinaElf
directly and knowingly profits from forced labour imposed by the Burmese
army on civilians," the ICFTU said in a statement. The military has ruled
the country since 1962.
TotalFinaElf flatly rejected the criticism.
"TotalFinaElf reaffirms that it has had complete control, from start to
finish, of its operations in this country, and that it has taken into
account the daily needs of people employed on its projects," the company
said in a statement.
It said it had provided electricity, medicine, schools and sponsored
agricultural projects for the local population.
TotalFinaElf has been in the spotlight already this year when Myanmar
refugees in France and Belgium said they were taking the firm to court,
alleging they were forced into hard labour for the company. The company
has called it "unimaginable" that it could ever make use of forced labour.
UNION CRITICAL
The ICFTU statement on Monday said the report included allegations that
forced labour was being used for road building and other infrastructure
work connected to TotalFinaElf's Yadana pipeline operation.
"Multinationals such as TotalFinaElf have long maintained that there is no
link between their investments in Burma and the growing use of forced
labour," ICFTU Myanmar expert Janek Kuczkiewicz said in a statement.
"This new evidence poses real questions about the connections between
multinational enterprises, the Burmese military and the use of forced
labour," he said.
The report's other allegations, unconnected with the oil firm, included
accounts of the Burmese army attacking trade union facilities, looting
migrants' food stocks and razing elementary schools, a hospital and a
workshop for the disabled.
It said it was common practice for the army to force people to march at
the front of columns as "human shields" to protect the military against
rebel ambushes.
An ICFTU spokesman said most of its evidence, collected between October
2001 and last month, came from interviews and activists in Myanmar,
notably members of underground trade unions.
ICFTU said it had sent the report to the United Nations' International
Labour Organisation. It also called on European Union foreign ministers,
who are meeting in Luxembourg on Monday and Tuesday, to ban investment in
Myanmar by EU firms
_____

Deutsche Presse-Agentur
October 22 2002

15 Myanmar intruders arrested off eastern Indian coast

Indian navy commandos captured 15 Myanmar nationals who had intruded into
eastern Indian waters off the Southern Nicobar island, a report said
Tuesday.

The United News of India reported that the intruders were part of a group
of fishermen illegally poaching in Indian waters. The intruders who were
hiding in dense forests of Nicobar were captured on Sunday, navy officials
said.

The Myanmar nationals were noticed on October 11 and their trawlers were
confiscated by the navy, but they managed to flee into the jungle.

In a search operation that lasted for a week 13 poachers were caught and
two more poachers surrendered to the authorities.

This is the second incident of arrest of Myanmar intruders in the Andaman
and Nicobar island group off the eastern coast of India near.
_____MISCELLANEOUS_______

International Labor Organisation
November 2002

To read the full text report, please visit: Richow
(Original) pdf version online at
http://www.ilo.org/public/english/standards/relm/gb/docs/gb285/pdf/gb-4.pdf
________

Scotsman
October 18 2002

Mugabe's Zimbabwe fast becoming Africa's Burma
By Benedict Rogers (director of the human-rights organisation Christian
Solidarity Worldwide. A version of this article appeared in the Wall
Street
Journal.)

THIS week the Australian prime minister, John Howard, was unsuccessful in
his efforts to have Zimbabwe suspended from the Commonwealth at the
so-called Troika meeting at Abuja in Nigeria. The other two Troika leaders
present - from South Africa and Nigeria - said the panel should give
Mugabe another six months to improve human rights, promote political
reconciliation and cooperate with a UN land reform programme - before
considering suspending Zimbabwe. We have seen the results of such
prevarication before.

Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe is rapidly becoming Africa's Burma. The parallels
are uncanny. Both regimes came unstuck after they cast aside the old
colonial names for their nations, with Burma becoming Myanmar and Rhodesia
becoming Zimbabwe. Along with their names, both jettisoned a tradition of
efficient government under an apolitical civil service in favour of a
version of bureaucratic socialism. Now both countries are run by paranoid
dictators whose madness has wrecked their economies and killed thousands
of people.

Just as Burma was once Asia's rice bowl, Zimbabwe was the bread basket of
Africa. In 1980, the year Mugabe overthrew white rule, inflation stood at
3 per cent, while the economy was growing by 10 per cent. Now, inflation
is rapidly spiralling upwards and food prices have risen by 150 per cent
in the past year. Most economists predict a fall in gross domestic product
of 12 per cent this year - the largest in Zimbabwe's history. In the last
three years, Zimbabwe has moved from being a net exporter of food to a
situation where today most of all food consumed has to be imported.

Burma, under a similarly megalomaniac leader, Ne Win, went through a
comparable economic collapse. In 1947, when the British gave Burma its
independence, the country was the greatest exporter of rice in the world.
By 1988, it was one of the ten poorest countries in the world and a net
importer of rice.

Mugabe's violent onslaught against the white farmers is akin to the
Burmese junta's persecution of the ethnic minorities. Compare the white
farmers in Zimbabwe with, for example, the Karen in Burma. Both were
prosperous minority groups that valued education highly.

According to Pascal Khoo Thwe, from the Kayan Padaung ethnic minority in
Burma, in his recent book From the Land of Green Ghosts, Ne Win's regime
was "marked by hostility to educated people". The same could be said of
Mugabe. Ne Win adopted an isolationist, anti-colonialist stance, and
associated the ethnic minorities with being pro-British. That is precisely
Mugabe's language against the white farmers.

Ne Win's stated ideal was to "end the exploitation of man by man." There
are echoes of this in Mugabe's programme of forcibly removing the white
farmers and redistributing farmland to Zimbabwe's black majority. The only
problem, in both cases, is that however equitable the theory sounds, in
practice the only beneficiaries are the leaders' cronies. In Burma, Pascal
Khoo Thwe writes, the result was "a sort of voodoo socialism, composed of
little more than slogans". Senior Burmese army officers "embarked on a
campaign of national plunder", profiting from the jade mines and opium
trade. The news that Mugabe's wife has appropriated a farm and ordered its
elderly owners off is yet more confirmation that he and his thugs, too,
have embarked on a campaign of national plunder.

Like Burma, Zimbabwe is now a country in which one is likely to go to jail
for speaking out against the regime. The former leader of Zimbabwe's civil
service union, Ephraim Tapa, now in exile in Britain, said last month: "If
I go back, I would be dead within hours." Most Burmese in exile and Karen
and Karenni refugees in camps along the Thai-Burma border know that
feeling only too well.

Yet another parallel is the fact that even given the oppression of
minorities, the majority peoples still suffer. In Zimbabwe, more than
150,000 black farm workers have already lost their livelihoods and
possessions. Some have lost their lives. Last month, Mugabe ordered the
eviction of a further 2,900 farmers, out of 4,500 remaining - which, when
farm workers and families are taken into account, will involve up to 1.2
million people.

There is cause for concern about the use of international aid to both
countries. In both Zimbabwe and Burma, distribution of food supplies risks
being hijacked and siphoned off to the armed forces and supporters of the
regime.

Both Mugabe and the Burmese junta are illegitimate regimes. In Burma, the
seizure of power was unashamedly blatant. Aung San Suu Kyi and her
National League for Democracy won over 80 per cent of the parliamentary
seats in 1990, yet the military refused to recognise the result. She has
been in and out of house arrest ever since. In Zimbabwe, Mugabe stands
accused of rigging the presidential elections earlier this year. He
subjected his principal opponent, Morgan Tsvangirai, of the Movement for
Democratic Change, to constant harassment and, on occasion, arrest.

The biggest point that Zimbabwe and Burma have in common is the impotence
of the international community. In both cases, economic sanctions and
boycotts have been piling up. But these actions are token and involve
little effort or sacrifice.

It is time for the democratic world to take a stand and take bold, even
risky, action to end the murderers' reign of terror. Such action should
not just involve the West. The neighbours of these two tyrannies need to
end their complicity. Zimbabwe's African neighbours have been at best weak
and at worst supportive of Mugabe's thuggish behaviour. There are fears
that his land redistribution policy will be copied in Namibia. South
Africa so far has been unwilling to act, despite having considerable
leverage over Zimbabwe, because it provides most of the country's energy
supplies.

Similarly with Burma, instead of being sidelined it has been welcomed
Into the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and has even been able to
bully its smaller neighbours, as in the case of its veto of newly
independent East Timor's application for observer status. Thailand, while
providing shelter for refugees from Burma, is too nervous to do anything
to upset the junta; China arms Rangoon to the teeth; Indonesia and the
Philippines stay silent.

Opposition groups in Zimbabwe have demanded armed UN intervention to
prevent a humanitarian catastrophe. Ethnic minorities in Burma ask for the
same. Ephraim Tapa said recently that "there is not much  Zimbabweans can
do. We need outside help now." So do the Karen and Karenni, and indeed the
pro-democracy movement in Burma.

"Governments talk openly about overthrowing Saddam Hussein. Why not
Mugabe?" says Mr Tapa. And why not the Burmese junta? Do Burma and
Zimbabwe not merit inclusion in the "axis of evil"? They may not be a
direct threat to the West in the way Iran, Iraq and North Korea are, but
they are no less evil in their slaughter of their own people and may
spread instability to their neighbours. So, on the road to Baghdad, Mr
Bush, don't forget about Rangoon and Harare.
______

International Examiner
October 21 2002

Seattle Burmese community reacts to release
By Nguyen, Nhien

   His family calls him a blacksheep. But Myo Thant, a Burmese immigrant to
Seattle, prefers to call himself a revolutionary.

Thant has been fighting for the freedom of the people of his native
country in Burma for 14 years, since age 18 when he joined the pro-democracy
uprising. Now, living in Seattle for the past two years, Thant continues with
his mission as member of the Free Burma Coalition. Reacting to last week's
news of the release of the world's most famous
political prisoner--Burma's Aung San Suu Kyi--local activists rejoice over
the
development which brings Burma one step closer to democratic freedom.

Known for her fiery charisma and Gandhi-like essays on nonviolence and
active resistance, Aung San Suu Kyi was the only Nobel Peace Prize
recipient in
the world under long-term house arrest.

Tao Sheng Kwan-Gett, a Chinese American pediatrician at Virginia Mason,
travels to the ThaiBurma border every year to work with the Burmese refugee
community. He said, "We are overjoyed with Aung San Suu Kyi's release...We
should feel proud of the many people in our community who have devoted their
time and spirit to the international Free Burma campaign."

Kwan-Gett, who is interested in human rights issues, said, "Aung San Suu
Kyi has urged us to practice compassion towards all people, and to live our
lives without fear."

Larry Dohrs, coordinator of Seattle Burma Roundtable, met Aung San Suu
Kyi in June 1996. Dohrs recalls the leader as charismatic and as having a
strong role in Southeast Asia. About the news of the release, Dohrs said,
"Yes,
it's good, but we have a long way to go."

Dohrs, a longtime Burma supporter and Vice President of Seattle's
Newground Investment Services, is cautiously optimistic about the next steps
towards progress for Burma. He believes the country is truly in crisis, with
poor public health, the rising number of HIV infection and an education
system
"in shambles."

Though Thant can count the number of Burmese people in Seattle on his
hands, he believes that there is a strong community of supporters for freedom
of Burma.

Of the feelings of fellow Burmese, Thant said, "We're very happy. We just
wait and see what happens ... We don't want to demand too much right now."

In 1988, Thant received basic military training and fought for six years
in the revolutionary area along the Thai-Burma border. Since joining the
fight
against the military regime, Thant has not seen his family for 13 years.
Currently, he is studying English and computer science in order to return to
Burma someday with helpful skills for rebuilding his country.

Thant is working to educate people in Seattle about Burmese culture and
political issues through visiting schools and other advocacy projects.

The Free Burma Coalition will be fundraising for refugees in June.
Contact burma at u.washington.edu or visit www.freeburmacoalition.org.
Article copyright the International Examiner.