BurmaNet News: November 11 2002

[editor at burmanet.org]

November 11 2002 Issue #2119

INSIDE BURMA

DVB: Hey, you! Donate!
DVB: Woes of prisoners’ family
Kao Wao: Mon appeals to UN to monitor displaced persons

INTERNATIONAL

Malaysiakini: Razali may quit
Reuters: U.S. calls for substantive dialogue in Myanmar

REGIONAL

NLM: Myanmar-Thai joint task force on illegal workers meets

MISCELLANEOUS

BBC: Job announcement

_____INSIDE BURMA____

Democratic Voice of Burma
November 11 2002

Hey, you! Donate!
According to DVB sources, the people of Magwe are being forced to
contribute to the expenses on clothes for members of official women
organisations and the USDA so that they could attend the opening ceremony
of a new bridge on River Irrawaddy at Minbu, Magwe Division.
300 kyats are demanded from each family. As the ceremony is to be attended
by the top brass of SPDC, the local population is instructed to wear
matching clothes as those of local organisations. All the expenses are to
be meted out from local people by local authorities.
____________

Democratic Voice of Burma
November 11 2002

Woes of prisoners' family

Political prisoners are deliberately being imprisoned in faraway prisons
and the practice is causing much distress to members of their families.
Among them, the family of Ko Thet Win Aung who was imprisoned 59 years is
one.
The military government SPDC arrested Ko Thet Win Aung in 1998 and
sentenced him 59 years in prison. He was moved to Khamtee Prison in
northern Burma last month for his involvement in a hunger strike. Members
of his family who live in Rangoon are finding it very hard to meet him in
prison. The following is a phone interview with his older brother:
Ko Moe Aye : We want to find out about Ko Thet Win Aung's health.
Ko Thet Win Aung's brother : It's good. Compared to previous situations,
his health is much better now. His complexion is much better. Local people
and prison authorities are also helping.
Ko Moe Aye : Why was he moved from Kale Prison to Khamtee Prison?
Ko Thet Win Aung's brother : He was moved because he went on hunger
strike. There were 11 of them.
Ko Moe Aye : So there are no worries for his health?
Ko Thet Win Aung's brother : His health is OK.
Ko Moe Aye : How is his mental health and strength?
Ko Thet Win Aung's brother : From what I have learnt, it's quite good. His
condition is quite good. Previously, he used to have malaria. We are
worried about that.
Ko Moe Aye : How often can you see him?
Ko Thet Win Aung's brother : Only once in three or four months.You could
only go there by that length of time because it's very difficult to go
there. But if you could go there by flight, it would be easier. There are
difficulties in catching a flight directly as you know. So, we have to
take a flight from Rangoon to Kale and from Kale to Khamtee. We have to
take speedboats in Chindwin River. If you go that way and leave early in
the morning, you will get there by the evening. It takes about two days.
From Kale to Kalewa you take a car and then from Kalewa to Mawlite. From
Mawlite you take a speedboat to Homlim. You sleep in Homlin one night. You
sleep one night in Mawlite and the next morning, you travel from Homlin to
Khamtee for the whole day and you only get to Khamtee in the evening. The
journey is far and it's very tiring. It's no problem for young people but
for old people it's very punishing. By flight, it's not bad if you could
fly from Rangoon to Kale and Kamtee or Rangoon to Mandalay and to Khamtee.
That way it's not bad. But for us, because of the charitable acts of local
people, we got return flight from Khamtee to Mandalay. From Mandalay, we
took the train [to Rangoon]. When we arrived at Mandalay, there were
problems obtaining train tickets.
Ko Moe Aye : In all, how many days did it take you to there and back?
Ko Thet Win Aung's brother : It took 10 days. Even that it's because we
could get tickets quite easily. The local people told us the route and we
could travel easily. It could take longer for us, had we travelled without
clear idea of direction. The journey from Kale to Khamtee might be 3
nights and two days, but if you go by a passenger boat, we were told that
it takes five nights. Even five nights, you might not get there. It all
depends on the currents.
Ko Moe Aye : How much would it cost for one trip?
Ko Thet Win Aung's brother : All the costs combines it cost between 70,000
and 80,000 kyats. Lodgings are expensive. Food is expensive.
Ko Moe Aye : What do you feel about a member of your family being
imprisoned in the farthest place from your home in Rangoon?
Ko Thet Win Aung's brother : We have our own feelings. We are human
beings. We Burmese even have feelings towards strangers. As for fraternal
feelings, I don't want to say that I don't have feelings.
Ko Moe Aye : Why do you think they keep Ko Thet Win Aung far away from his
family?
Ko Thet Win Aung's brother : I don't understand that either.
Ko Moe Aye : Have you requested the ICRC to move Ko Thet Win Aung to a
place nearer to Rangoon?
Ko Thet Win Aung's brother : We haven't done that yet. My younger brother
did plead prison authorities to move him to one of the prisons nearer to
home. We don't know yet how the situation will turn out to be.
_________

Kao Wao
November 1 2002

MON APPEALS TO UN TO MONITOR DISPLACED PERSONS

The umbrella organization of the Mon has asked the UN human rights envoy to
allow the International Committee of Red Cross access into the areas of
displaced persons.

Sunthorn, Sripanngern, General Secretary of the Mon Unity League, asked for
ICRC access into the Mon area of internally displaced people at a meeting
with the UN human rights special envoy, Mr. Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, in
Bangkok on Wednesday afternoon.

According to an MUL spokesperson, the meeting was organized by Mr Nicholas
Howen, UNHCR Regional Representative for Asia-Pacific, and attended by NGOs
working on Burma and the Head of ICRC Regional Delegation for East Asia, Mr
Jean-Marc Bornet.

"The Mons have suffered from countless human rights abuses committed not
only by the military regime but sometimes committed by Mon armed groups,
particularly in remote areas," said MUL leader Nai Sunthorn at the meeting
held at the UN office in Bangkok. At the moment, several armed groups
including SPDC troops are active in the so-called cease-fire zone of the
Mon.  In fact the situation there is worse than before the cease-fire deal
with the SPDC regime in 1995.

On his recent trip to Burma, Mr. Pinheiro spent three days in Mon and Karen
States and met political prisoners in Moulmein prison. Mr. Pinheiro said the
political prisoners were  not being tortured, since the ICRC representatives
make regular visits to the prisons. On previous visits to Burma the UN human
rights envoy made a strong case for the release of political prisoners,
dialogue between military junta and the NLD, national reconciliation,
humanitarian assistance and the rule of law.

___INTERNATIONAL________

Malaysiakini
November 11 2002

Razali may quit

By Yap Mun Ching/Kuala Lumpur
November 11, 2002—Frustrated at the slow pace of talks, UN special envoy
to Burma Razali Ismail said he might quit his role as facilitator to the
Burmese national reconciliation process if real dialogue does not
materialize soon.
"If it goes on and on, I may decide to step down. It has been going on in
my mind—how long more, how long more?" he said.
Razali, who last visited Burma in August, said he had expected talks
between the Burmese military government and Aung San Suu Kyi to take place
within a short time after his departure.
"[The government] didn’t give a time but they said [the dialogue] would
take place very soon 
 In my understanding, ‘very soon’ would be like a
couple of weeks or three to four weeks. It has been more than that," he
lamented in an exclusive interview with Kuala Lumpur-based Malaysiakini
last week.
Razali is due to make his ninth visit to Burma tomorrow since his
appointment to the UN post two years ago.
Despite initial optimism, leaders of the regime in Rangoon and Suu Kyi
have not met since the opposition leader’s release from house arrest in
May.
The UN envoy also said he is willing to consider taking on a larger role
as mediator to the reconciliation talks if he is required to do so by the
Burmese parties. However, he expressed clear frustration at the pace of
the talks saying that he might decide to step down if he chalks no further
progress.
"I want to see a situation where there is negotiation and it comes to the
point of irreversibility. And all the parties, including the ethnic
groups, are all together."
Questioned about his agenda for his upcoming five-day trip to Rangoon,
Razali said he hopes to revitalize the move towards a dialogue between the
two sides.
"I am hoping to get the momentum moving again and I want to understand why
it has slowed down. I want to get the wheels moving again as agreed to by
all parties before," he said.
Meanwhile, the slow pace of progress has also raised concern among several
parties interested in the developments in Burma.
On November 1, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan expressed concern that the
move towards political reform in Burma was losing steam and urged for a
quick launch to substantive dialogues.
"It is only through an all-inclusive dialogue that Myanmar [Burma] will be
able to ensure that national reconciliation is durable and the transition
to democracy smooth," said Annan in a report to the UN General Assembly.
Annan also called for the release of all remaining political prisoners in
the country and for the elimination of all remaining restriction on the
activities of legal political parties.
Last September, the United States State Department issued a statement in
September expressing its disappointment that Rangoon has "failed to follow
through on steps toward national reconciliation".
_________

Reuters
November 8 2002
U.S. calls for substantive dialogue in Myanmar

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States called for "substantive dialogue"
between the government and opposition in Myanmar on Friday and said it
strongly supported a visit next week by U.N. special envoy Razali Ismail.
Ismail, on a visit between Nov. 12 and 16, expects to meet pro-democracy
opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and several members of the ruling
military junta. He will try to accelerate dialogue between the two sides.
The military rulers released Suu Kyi from house arrest earlier this year
but the dialogue has made little progress.
State Department Richard Boucher said in a written statement: "We expected
that dialogue between the regime in Burma (the old name for Myanmar) and
Aung San Suu Kyi would be well under way by now. Instead, we have seen no
signs of the discussions critical to the future of Burma.
He said the United States strongly supported Ismail's mission.
"We reiterate our call for a substantive dialogue with the democratic
opposition and the immediate and unconditional release of all of the many
remaining political prisoners," Boucher said.

_____REGIONAL_______

New Light of Myanmar
November 11 2002

Myanmar-Thai Joint Task Force on illegal workers meets
Yangon, 11 Nov - The fourth meeting of Myanmar-Thai Joint Task Force on
Illegal Workers was held at Satuyingabala hall of the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs here today. Myanmar delegation headed by Deputy Minister for
Foreign Affairs U Khin Maung Win and the Thai delegation led by Mr Tej
Bunnag, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the
Kingdom of Thailand discussed matters relating to the reception of illegal
workers in the spirit of friendship and cooperation.

______MISCELLANEOUS______

British Broadcasting Corporation
November 10 2002

Job Announcement

	Summary information BBC World Service...  ...is the world’s leading
international multimedia news provider with an audience of 150 million
worldwide in over 40 languages, including English.  Research, prepare and
produce...  ...material for radio other media forms in Burmese.
Newsgathering, write scripts, present programmes, conduct interviews.
Translate and adapt material swiftly and accurately for transmission. 
Burmese as first or equivalent language...  ...with good comprehension of
written and spoken English. Good microphone voice, in depth understanding
of international affairs and close familiarity with Burma and the target
area required. Degree level education, with recent and relevant full-time
journalistic experience. Good keyboard skills and awareness of IT and the
Internet essential.  You can apply for this vacancy right now. Or if
you'd like more information, read on.    More information JOB
SPECIFICATION Job Title: Producer, Language ServicesDivision: BBC World
ServiceBase: LondonGrade: 7D Ref: 57973