BurmaNet News: March 5 2003

[editor at burmanet.org]

March 5 2003 Issue #2189

INSIDE BURMA

AFP: UN urged to pressure Myanmar to release ailing Mon leaders
Kaladan: Nasaka imposed movement restriction on the villagers of Maungdaw
south
Narinjara: Burmese army grabs huge tracts of civilian land for newer
settlement

REGIONAL

Narinjara: What happened to Burmese Foreign Minister that night?
Bangkok Post: Army forces Shan State troops off mountains to appease Burma
Irrawaddy: Shan State Army unmoved
Irrawaddy: Refugees continue to arrive
Xinhua: China still faces tough challenge in fight against drugs

INTERNATIONAL

DVB: Mr Pinheiro to visit Burma
Dept of Foreign Affairs and Trade: Australia names new envoy to Burma

STATMENTS

Senator Mitch McConnell: On the Burmese junta’s persistent use of child
soldiers
UNLD: Letter to Thaksin Shinawatra

INSIDE BURMA

Agence France Presse March 5 2003

UN urged to pressure Myanmar to release ailing Mon leaders

Exiled representatives of Myanmar's Mon ethnic group have urged the United
Nations to pressure the military government to release three ailing Mon
leaders jailed on political grounds, according to a letter seen here
Wednesday.

Mon National Democratic Front (MNDF) vice chairman Nai Ngwe Thein,
secretary Min Soe Lin and joint secretary Min Kyi Win have been in jail
since 1998, the letter to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human
Rights in Geneva read.

Min Soe Lin was in critical condition with tuberculosis and it was feared
he could die soon if he remained in jail, according to the letter, dated
February 28.

Nai Ngwe Thein, 80, was suffering from diabetes and a kidney ailment,
while Min Kyi Win had a gastric problem and also needed urgent medical
treatment, it said.

"So Mon National Council, on behalf of Mon communities around the world,
would like to request (the) High Commissioner for Human Rights to take
urgent actions and to put strong pressure upon the State Peace and
Development Council, Burma, for releasing all these Mon leaders
immediately," the letter said.

Myanmar, formerly called Burma, has frequently been criticised about its
poor human rights record and urged to release its political prisoners,
which Amnesty International says number between 1,200 and 1,300.

The letter was from the Mon National Council in Australia and received by
e-mail in Thailand.
___________

Kaladan News March 5 2003

NASAKA IMPOSED MOVEMENT RESTRICTION TO THE VILLAGERS
OF MAUNGDAW SOUTH

Maungdaw, March 5: The villagers of Maungdaw south are being imposed
further movement restriction by the Nasaka to go to Maungdaw town for the
cause of committed an armed robbery in those areas by the
Bangladeshi dacoits, according to our correspondent.

On 26th February, a group of Bangladeshi dacoits, numbering 11 from Teknaf
border area with arms and ammunitions crossed the Naff River and were
trying to commit a robbery to a house of Ghodosara of Maungdaw
Township in Arakan State, he further said.
While the robbers were trying to enter the house of Noor Amin, one Sayed
Alam and his young brother, nephews of house owner, seeing the dacoits,
they were fleeing and raised a great hue and cry. The villagers, hearing
the hue and cry rushed to the spot. At the same time, the dacoits were
firing to the fleeing persons and the bullet hit the younger brother of
Sayed Alam and was dead on the spot and the dacoits immediately fled from
the scene, according to our sources.

On 27th February, in the early morning, six of the 11 dacoits were caught
by the villagers of Tet Oo Chaung ( Kiladaung) of Maungdaw another village
of Maungdaw township and were handed them over to the Nasaka Headquarters.
Later, the Nasaka recovered 2 arms from the dacoits, sources further
added.  On 28th February, another 2 dacoits were arrested by the Nasaka
with the collaboration of the villagers and
have to arrest another three dacoits with two arms.
__________

Narinjara News March 5 2003

Burmese Army grabs huge tracts of civilian land for newer settlement:
Design to tip ethnic balance in Rakhine State?

 At least three of the nearly sixty battalions of the Burmese Army
stationed in Rakhine State in western Burma have been probing and
confiscating more tracts of land besides their own extent of land
beginning January this year, according to our correspondent quoting
sources in the Department of Land Survey.  The confiscation of land is
aimed at enlarging the areas of army-owned land for the purpose of
growing fruit trees and other cash crops like black peppers that grow
suitably in the fertile soil of the state.  The money received from the
harvest will be used for the purpose of the upkeep of the families of the
members of the armed forces who the Burmese junta cannot afford to pay
fairly enough to maintain their respective families, sources in the
administration said.

At Rathedaung Township, close to Sittwe  the capital of Rakhine State, the
Light Infantry Battalion 536 have confiscated fifty acres of land owned by
the villagers of Khanaung-gyi Kan-byin for their own use.  The army has
taken up a huge project to grow black pepper, Pe-fyin-khon (pigeon pea),
and fruit trees in the last one month.

In another incidence the LIB 537 stationed at Rathedaung Township
confiscated another one hundred and twenty-five acres of villagers’ land
from the nearby Yaw-Ngun village at Ponnagyun Township.

At Buthidaung Township the LIB 345 have completed confiscation of more
than two hundred acres of villagers’ land from Let-way-dett and
Bajun-chaung village tracts.

According to sources, this has been completed under the first phase of the
land-grabbing scheme of the Burmese Army that will be extended to all of
the sixty battalion-headquarters across the state in phases.  This time
only those tracts of land situated close to the battalion headquarters
have solely been selected for the purpose.  The higher authority in the
Burmese Army has also issued requests to the Department of Land Affairs to
register and allocate the same to the respective battalions, changing the
ownership wherever necessary and making alterations to this effect, which
can mean dispossessing many of the civil owners of their legal rights to
the lands, the source said.

Meanwhile the members of the armed forces have been handed over with
saplings of fruit trees, teak and mahogany and other hard wood to be
planted in the newly confiscated acres, which indicates that the ruling
Burmese State Peace and Development Council junta has more sinister
designs than simply covering the upkeep of the members of the armed
forces.  “This could also mean settlement campaign of Burmese people in
Rakhine State to tip the population balance that now favours the ethnic
peoples of the state including Rakhine.  This is tantamount to ‘ethnic
cleansing’ as conducted by evil dictators in some parts of the world.  The
UN should intervene this evil scheme right now,” a professor in the
university college said.

REGIONAL

Narinjara News March 3 2003

What happened to Burmese Foreign Minister that night?

The visiting foreign minister of Burma, U Win Aung, got up from sleep
shouting at the top of his voice deep in the night.  A sarong-clad man
came running at him when he rushed to the toilet for fear of life. 
Hearing the shouts the security personnel on duty at the Padma State Guest
House in Dhaka promptly came to his rescue.  The incidence was instantly
informed to the Bangladesh foreign minister, said the Janakantha, a
Bengali newspaper, today.

The visiting foreign minister at once left the state guesthouse for the
Burmese Embassy.  By cutting his visit short the foreign minister returned
home.  The incidence put the government circle into confusion and the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs lodged a formal FIR on Tuesday at the Ramna
police station in the city.  So for a total of 39 employees of the
guesthouse have been arrested for interrogation.  The investigation of the
incident has been taken up by a number of government agencies including
the Detective Branch, Special Branch and NSI.

On the other hand a spokesperson from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
demanded that the visting Burmese minister left the country after
completing his state visit.  It also added that the police have been
entrusted with the investigation of the matter.

Thje Burmese foreign minister came to Dhaka last Sunday afternoon to
formally hand over the letter of invitation from his country to the Prime
Minister of Bangladesh.  The visiting dignitary put up at the state
guesthouse Padma, situated just across the Ramna Police Station.  A few
other important people also accompanied him.  The minister was at Room No.
1, while those accompanying him were put up at rooms numbered 2 and 3 on
the first floor.   Six members of the metropolitan police force were
deployed for the security of the dignitaries there.

In the case filed by senior assistant secretary of the ministry, Muhammad
Yusuf Ali put on record that a man entered the room at 2 in the night of
Sunday.  At 2:15 an attendant of the Padma guesthouse informed him of the
matter.  He said the minister was shouting as “man, man” in the room. 
When he called him by opening the door and asked him to call a few
policemen, he went there with a house guard and conducted a search in the
room to no avail.  Though there were attendant Nurul Amin, phone operator
Alamgir, security guards Nurul Islam and Rabbani, and six police officers
outside the guesthouse, the incident has created an awkward situation,
according to the case filed.

A number of sources have meanwhile confirmed that the visiting Burmese
foreign minister left the Padma shortly after the incident in his room. 
He attended the remaining round of talk at the guesthouse the following
morning after which he cut short his visit and left for his country in the
afternoon.  But the source in the foreign ministry said that the minister
left the country after completing his schedule.

A noted journalist from Voice of America Bengali service, Matiur Rahman
Chowdhury in his report said in the evening service yesterday that many
people believed the incidence to be caused by a frightful nightmare on the
part of the minister.

For now, the incident remains to be a mystery, said the paper.
_________

Bangkok Post March 5 2003

ARMY FORCES SHAN STATE TROOPS OFF MOUNTAINS TO APPEASE BURMA

The Third Army has expelled Shan State Army troops from border mountains
to prevent them attacking Burmese soldiers from Thai soil as relations
with Burma improve.

Third Army commander Lt-Gen Udomchai Ongkhasing said yesterday SSA troops
on mountains in Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai and Mae Hong Son provinces were
forced to lower ground. Defence Minister Gen Thammarak Isarangkura na
Ayudhaya had ordered the action, with relations improving after Prime
Minister Thaksin Shinawatra visited Rangoon on Feb 9-10.

To reciprocate, Burma was forcing Wa people to stop producing drugs by
2005, Lt-Gen Udomchai said.

He had also sent staff to convince SSA leader Chao Yodsuek to negotiate
with the Burmese government, in line with Mr Thaksin's recent promise to
mediate between Rangoon and its ethnic groups.

Maj-Gen Saprang Kalayanamit, Lt-Gen Udomchai's deputy, heads the team
negotiating with Chao Yodsuek.
____________

Irrawaddy March 5 2003

Shan State Army Unmoved
By Kyaw Zwa Moe

The ethnic Shan State Army (SSA) has denied reports that Thailand’s Third
Army expelled Shan troops from mountain areas along the border in northern
Thailand.
The Bangkok Post today reported that the Thai army’s actions were to
appease Burma’s military regime and prevent SSA troops from attacking
Burmese soldiers from Thai soil. But the SSA says there were no orders
from the Thai Army.
"We haven’t been forced to move from the mountains by the Thai Army," SSA
spokeswoman Nam Khur Hsen said. "They don’t need to force us to move from
one place to another. Our troops have stayed in their areas and have not
crossed onto Thai soil."
The Bangkok Post reported that Thai Defense Minister Gen Thammarak
Isarangkura na Ayudhaya ordered the troops to relocate to lower ground in
an effort to build on improving relations between Bangkok and Rangoon.
Relations between the two countries have been on the mend since Thai Prime
Minister Thaksin Shinawatra visited Burma on Feb 9. While in the country,
he offered to act as a mediator between the military regime and ethnic
armed groups along the border. On his return to Thailand, Thaksin asked
his defense ministry and armed forces to promote reconciliation between
the Burmese junta and ethnic groups.
Nam Khur Hsen said the success of the talks would depend on Thaksin’s
"just endeavor" as well as the military regime’s honest willingness to
solve the conflict. She said, however, that the SSA has yet to receive an
official invitation from the Thai government.
Last month, five ethnic groups acknowledged Thaksin’s proposal to mediate
reconciliation talks with Rangoon. But the groups demanded that meetings
take place in a neutral country, and that all five groups attend the talks
at the same time. The five groups are the SSA, the Karen National Union,
the Karenni National Progressive Party, the Chin National Front and the
Arakan Liberation Party.
Nam Khur Hsen added that the SSA welcomed Thailand’s proposal because they
want to see conflicts solved peacefully. However, many people remain
doubtful that talks between the junta and the ethnic groups would ever
take place. Gen Thammarak admitted mediation would not be easy.
__________

Irrawaddy March 5 2003

Refugees Continue to Arrive
By Poe Paung

Karen refugees have been pouring into Thailand over the last two months
due to the continuing human rights abuses being carried out by Burmese
troops in Karen State. The Karen Women’s Organization (KWO) says as many
as 3,500 Karen villagers have arrived at the Noe Poh refugee camp on the
Thai-Burma border this year.
Efforts to aid the refugees, however, have been hampered since Thai
authorities began prohibiting the delivery of supplies to the camp last
week, including food and building materials. Noe Poh is located in
Thailand’s Umphang District, south of Mae Sot.
The new arrivals are primarily from five different villages in Burma’s
Karen State, including Kyar Ein and Kyondo. Among those to arrive are 500
children under the age of 12 as well as 40 pregnant women.
The villagers said they had no choice but to flee after increased demands
by Burmese troops to porter and participate in forced labor projects left
them no time to tend their crops and fruit orchards. People living in Kyar
Ein Village said soldiers beat them and forced them to leave their village
if they failed to meet the demands.
A pregnant woman recalled one incident: "The [Burmese] solider asked my
husband to go do the work for their army. At that time my husband was
still sick and he couldn’t follow the soldier’s orders. Because of this
the solider tortured him and he became even sicker. The solider then
ordered me to replace my husband."
The Burmese Border Consortium has provided them with cooking materials,
but has been unable to deliver food supplies since the Thai government
began blocking deliveries. The UNHCR has also yet to recognize any of
them.
For the time being relatives and other refugees staying in the camp are
providing housing for the villagers, while new bamboo shelters are built.
Refugees say, however, that the blocking of camp supplies has stalled
construction.
Thai authorities have also kept relief workers out of the camp for the
last week, and only on Monday did they allow some food supplies to be
delivered. No reasons have been given for the blockage.
Observers note this is the first time the Thai government has blocked the
delivery of supplies to Noe Poh camp since it was erected in 1997.
____________

Xinhua News Agency March 5 2003

China still faces tough challenge in fight against drugs

The steady growth of drug trafficking and use in the world continues to
pose a tough challenge for China, a senior narcotics control official has
said.

Bai Jingfu, deputy director of the National Narcotics Control Commission
(NNCC) and vice-minister of public security, said at the commission's
plenum Tuesday that an effective crackdown must continue to prevent drug
trafficking and sales from running rampant.

He said drug dealers in the notorious "Golden Triangle" of Myanmar, Laos
and Thailand had intensified smuggling narcotics into China through
northern Myanmar during recent years.

A major seizure of 6.38 tons of heroin in southwestern China's Yunnan
Province last year came in through the neighboring "Golden Triangle", Bai
said.

He said new trends of addicts taking the "ice" drug and the amphetamine
ecstasy, known as the "head-shaking pill" in China, are emerging while
easy narcotics-making chemicals continue to flow in through illegal
channels.

The NNCC and the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation
(MOFTEC) joined hands to so far stop 2,288 tons of these chemicals from
being transported abroad.

Drug use, which was almost eradicated through draconian measures in the
first decades following the founding of the People 's Republic of China in
1949, began spiraling again in the world's most populous country from the
mid-1980s.

The NNCC's latest statistics show that the number of registered drug
addicts in China reached one million by the end of 2002, an 11 percent
rise year-on-year.

The statistics also reveal that heroin remains the principal narcotic for
Chinese addicts, with 87.6 percent of them taking the "white killer",
while more and more begin to try new drugs.

Bai said China would intensify its efforts in the anti-drug fight in 2003,
including cutting off the roots of drug inflow from Yunnan and targeting
places of entertainment where drug users and dealers gather, like dance
and singing halls and night clubs.

He noted narcotics education needs to be strengthened in schools around
the country while efforts to create "narcotics-free " communities should
be deepened.

China will also further cooperate with the international community to deal
with the drug problem, especially with neighboring countries, he added.

INTERNATIONAL

Democratic Voice of Burma March 5 2003

Mr Pinheiro to visit Burma

It is reported that the UN special human rights envoy on Burma, Mr Paulo
Sergio Pinheiro is planning to visit Rangoon in the coming days. During
his ten-day trip, he is planning to meet the military, ethnic national and
opposition leaders and political prisoners, according to news from
diplomatic quarters. This is going to be his fifth trip to Burma and it
will last from 17th to the 20th of March. According to Rangoon based
Myanmar Times, Mr Pinheiro is planning to submit a report to Human Rights
Commission before the end of this month and the draft is said to be ready.
The observers say that before publishing the report, he is visiting the
country to see the latest developments. The DVB contacted leaders of the
NLD and ethnic nationalities and they said that there has been no
notification of his trip to them. But the international journalists are
arriving at Rangoon at the moment and there could be some news soon,
according to the opposition leaders.
____________

Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Canberra March 5 2003

AUSTRALIA NAMES NEW ENVOY TO BURMA

Text of media release from the office of Foreign Affairs Minister
Alexander Downer; carried by Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and
Trade web site on 5 March

I have today announced the appointment of Paul Grigson as Australia's
ambassador to Burma. Mr Grigson will replace Trevor Wilson, who has been
ambassador since May 2000, and is expected to take up his appointment in
June 2003.

The government has been active bilaterally and multilaterally in efforts
to promote political reform and respect for human rights in Burma. Our
embassy in Rangoon maintains contact with all parties, including the
National League for Democracy, about the importance of an early start to
substantive political dialogue to achieve genuine national reconciliation.
In the area of human rights, the government's human rights initiative is
being expanded in 2003. The government will undertake a three-year
programme in Burma focused on practical approaches to human rights issues
and the rights of women and children in particular. Given Burma's severe
humanitarian situation, Australia has also taken an active role in
providing humanitarian assistance, particularly on health problems.

As Burma is the source of a significant proportion of heroin entering
Australia, the government attaches high priority to supporting
anti-narcotics activities there and pursue this goal both through
international cooperation and in conjunction with the relevant
authorities.

Mr Grigson is a senior career officer with the Department of Foreign
Affairs and Trade. He is currently assistant secretary, Maritime Southeast
Asia Branch, and has worked in the Department of the Prime Minister and
Cabinet.

Overseas, Mr Grigson held the position of charge d'affaires in Phnom Penh
(Jul-Oct 2000), chief negotiator, International Peace-Monitoring Group in
Bougainville (Mar-Jun 2000) and Deputy Head of Mission in Phnom Penh
(1993-94)...

STATEMENTS

Senator Mitch McConnell  March 4, 2003

STATEMENT OF SENATOR MITCH MCCONNELL ON THE BURMESE JUNTAíS PERSISTENT USE
OF CHILD SOLDIERS

     Mr. MCCONNELL.  Mr. President, I recently read an article that
appeared in the Washington Post on February 10, 2003 by Ellen
Nakashima that details particularly repulsive human rights abuses
committed by the Burmese military junta, whose brutal totalitarian
misrule has shattered the lives of its citizens and ruined Burmaís
economy.  I am grateful for Ms. Nakashimaís excellent reporting, and
am pleased to draw attention to this important issue.  I ask
unanimous consent that Ms. Nakashimaís article, entitled ìBurmaís
Child Soldiers Tell of Army Atrocities,î be printed in the Record
following my remarks.

     Reports of widespread use of child soldiers, forced labor, and human
rights abuse come as no surprise to anyone with even casual knowledge
of recent Burmese history.  Tragically, these recent reports are not
ënewsí, but rather business as usual in one of the worldís most
repressive countries.

     While the corrupt military junta has recently been conducting a
propagandistic offensive to convince naÔve Western diplomats that
Burma can be a responsible member of the international community, the
continual flow of evidence regarding Burmaís gross abuses of human
rights illustrates how hollow recent Burmese ëreformí has been. 
Anyone duped into believing that the juntaís decision to loosen the
shackles that bind Aung San Suu Kyi, the democratically elected
leader of Burma who has spent nearly a decade under house arrest,
represents a liberalization of the junta should think again.
Proof that the Burmese junta continues its repression of democracy came
yesterday when the Defense Ministry announced that it had detained seven
members of Aung San Suu Kyiís National League for Democracy Party (NLDP)
members.  Their treasonous crime appears to be distributing
anti-government leaflets.

     The Burmese junta maintains power through its gratuitous use of
military force against ethnic minorities and political dissidents. 
Now, the evidence is overwhelming that the junta exploits children as
young as 11 years old in pursuit of greater coercive military power. 
Human Rights Watch reports that Burmaís army of 350,000 includes
nearly 70,000 boys under the age of 18.

     If these children are fortunate enough to survive the physical and
emotional abuse heaped on them by their military superiors during
their ëtrainingí, they are then forced into combat, often against
domestic Karenni and Shan minorities.  As part of the ethnic
cleansing and intimidation campaigns the Burmese junta has conducted
against these ethnic minorities for decades, these children soldiers
are often encouraged to torture, rape, and kill innocent villagers. 
In one instance, Burmese military commanders ordered some of these
child soldiers to force Karenni villagers to clear a minefield by
walking though it.  The children were subsequently ordered to shoot
villagers who refused to walk through the minefield.

     Recently, the Burmese junta has sought to improve its standing in the
international community by touting its supposedly more intense
efforts to curb the production and trafficking of heroin.  Mr.
President, this claim is laughable.  American State Department
officials should not be deluded into believing that Burma has become
a partner in the war against drugs.
Burmese child defectors from the army who now live in refugee camps in
Thailand have corroborated reports that the Burmese military has fueled
its soldiers by making them to take amphetamines, washed down with
whiskey, before going into combat.  Countries that force drugged children
into deadly combat should not be considered allies by the United States in
any war.

     In response to Human Rights Watchís report, a Burmese military
spokesman denied that Burma ërecruitsí underage soldiers and
incredulously asserted that Burmaís military is an all-volunteer
army.  Such brazen lies should convince no one that the Burmese
government has changed its repressive ways.

     If Than Shwe, as head of the Burmese government, is committed to
upholding international standards of human rights, it can begin by
enacting meaningful and verifiable economic, political, and judicial
reforms.  It should release the seven NLDP members it has unjustly
arrested and all other political prisoners, and it should allow Aung
San Suu Kyi to meet and communicate freely with Burmese citizens
throughout the country, as well as with international
representatives.  Until the Burmese junta agrees to hold free and
fair elections to allow the Burmese people the opportunity to choose
their own leaders, it must be aware that American sanctions will
continue.
____________

United Nationalities League for Democracy February 23 2003

To.

His Excellency Taksin Shinawatra
Prime Minister
Royal Thai Government.

Dear Prime Minister,

The United Nationalities League for Democracy  (UNLD) is happy to read
about the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) agreeing to your
offer to play a mediator role to bring about political dialogue between
the SPDC and the non-Burman ethnic nationalities. We are very much
encouraged by the news and wholeheartedly welcome your initiative.

 The UNLD is an umbrella organization of 23 ethnic nationalities political
parties. The member parties of the UNLD contested the 1990 general
election under the “democracy and equality” platform and won 67 seats in
the national parliament of the Union of Burma. This established the UNLD
as the second largest political party in Burma. It has, since its
inception, fought through peaceful means, for democratic rights, equality
and justice for all ethnic nationalities and the establishment of a
federal union, as it was envisioned by General Aung San and ethnic
nationalities leaders at Panglong in 1947.

 The UNLD believes that only meaningful political dialogue can solve
Burma's problems. We believe that dialogue alone can bring national
reconciliation and peace to the country, and along with the international
community and other political organizations in Burma, have been calling
on the SPDC to engage in tripartite dialogue. We believe in a peaceful
solution to the conflict that has pushed the country to the brink of a
humanitarian crisis.

Despite repeated calls for political dialogue, there has been no
substantive response from the SPDC. Furthermore, we are disappointed by
the fact that the SPDC has shown no desire to continue talks with Aung San
Suu Kyi.

We, therefore, greatly appreciate your initiative and effort to help bring
about national reconciliation in Burma. We hope the SPDC will take your
offer seriously and engage in meaningful political dialogue not only with
the ethnic nationalities but also with the political parties and elected
representatives in Burma, including the National League for Democracy
(NLD).

We would like to take this opportunity to express our gratitude to the
Royal Thai Government for giving refuge to thousands of Burmese refugees
who fled military oppression back home.


Respectfully,



Sd/-							Sd/-
Khun Marko Ban, M.P (elected in 1990)			Dr Lian H Sakhong, Ph. D
Chairman						General Secretary