BurmaNet News: March 6-7 2003

[editor at burmanet.org]

March 6-7 2003 Issue #2190

INSIDE BURMA
Irrawaddy: Mon Revolutionary Dies
DVB: Anti- Suu Kyi tracts also found in Tenesserim Division

MONEY
The Nation (Thailand): Bumrungrad inks Burma deal
Xinhua: China makes first export of spring wheat for human consumption

DRUGS
Bangkok Post:  No let-up in suppression drive planned
Bangkok Post: Smugglers could turn to aircraft
AFP: Thai rights commissioner "desperate" over drugs war death threats
SHAN: Packaging of speed just over the border

GUNS
Bangkok Post: Rangoon says Thai military base encroaching on its side
Asian Tribune: Defiant Shans will not submit to pressure either from
Thailand or Burma to lay down their arms.

REGIONAL
DVB: 100 Karen refugees missing
Kaladan: Dhaka, Rangoon plan trade expansion
Irrawaddy: Passage to India
Xinhua: Thai princess to visit Myanmar

INTERNATIONAL
AFP: Democracy essential to protect Myanmar's women, rights groups say
The Guardian (London): City diary
AP: Christian leader says Myanmar junta sympathetic to complaints of
discrimination

EDITORIALS
Parlamentskaya Gazeta (Russian): Thailand offers contracts
Mizzima: Modern Burma in the Historical Context

STATEMENTS
US Department of State: Designation of “Countries of Particular Concern”
Under the International Religious Freedom Act


INSIDE BURMA
Irrawaddy  March 7 2003
Mon Revolutionary Dies
By Naw Seng

Nai Shwe Kyin, the founding father of the Mon resistance, died today at
his home in Moulmein, the capital of Mon State, at the age of 90.

Mon youth leaders today expressed regret at their leaders passing. "We are
very saddened over the death of our leader and it is a huge loss for Mon
people because he served all his life in the Mon revolution," said one
youth leader today.

Nai Shwe Kyin was born March 1, 1913 in Phekata Village near Thaton in
Burma’s Mon State. He studied art at Rangoon University from 1933-34,
before founding the Mon Freedom League in 1947. He went underground the
following year with fellow Mon resistance leaders Nai Aung Than and Nai
Ngwe Thein.

The Burmese government first arrested and detained him for five days in
July 1948, and then rearrested him in Jan 1949 and held him until Nov 1951
for his political activities.

He was one of the founding members of the Mon People’s Front in 1952, and
was the only Mon leader who did not capitulate to U Nu's parliamentary
government in 1958. U Nu had asked some ethnic leaders to surrender their
struggles in exchange for representation under a democratic government.
Nai Shwe Kyin, however, opposed the truce, and instead remained in the
jungle.

Following these events he founded the New Mon State Party (NMSP) in July
1958, and later participated in the 1963 peace talks in Rangoon, held by
former Burmese dictator Gen Ne Win’s Revolutionary Council government.

The NMSP established its headquarters in the Three Pagodas Pass area on
the Thai Burma Border in 1965. In May 1970, he signed the Mon-Karen-Burman
joint agreement with Mahn Ba Zan of the Karen National Union and former
Burmese Prime Minister U Nu, who was then living in exile in Thailand.

The NMSP split in 1981, before Nai Shwe Kyin was able to reunite the two
factions on December 9, 1987. He also served as vice-chairman of the
Democratic Alliance of Burma in November 1988, and then headed the
National Democratic Front from July 1991 until 1995, when the NMSP entered
a cease fire agreement with the Burmese junta.

Mon leaders say it is too early to tell who will take over Nai Shwe Kyin’s
role as party leader. He was also unable to attend the party’s fifth
conference held in January of this year.

The NMSP is holding an emergency meeting today to decide on a date and
location for Nai Shwe Kyin’s funeral. He is survived by one son, Ko Oo.
________

Democratic Voice of Burma  March 6 2003
Anti- Suu Kyi tracts also found in Tenesserim Division

It is reported that on the 2nd of March, shopkeepers and traders arrested
two suspicious men in the new Myeik Market, Tenesserim Division and found
some anti- Daw Aung San Suu Kyi pamphlets containing ribald cartoons.
Later, they were collected by the military intelligence [MI] and the
nothing was heard of them any more. DVB's Myint Maung Maung reports:

MMM: On the 2nd of March at 5am, some shopkeepers who came to open their
shops at the new market of Myeik found two suspicious men and arrested
them. The arrested are Aung Tha, 31 and Myint Kyaw Aye, 29. With them the
shopkeepers found two bags filled with packets of A4 papers printed with
ribald cartoons degrading Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. The shopkeepers wanted the
two to be handed over to the NLD office at the new ward but the market
committee pressurised them to hand over them to the local SPDC office and
they had to relent. People from the NLD went to the office to see the two
culprits but they were barred from seeing them with fire engines and
threatened to arrest them with act 5J. The two were picked up in a car by
Colonel Than Aung Win of No.6 Intelligence Regiment and ten policemen at
9.15pm and they were hidden away. Local people are said to be keeping a
watchful eye on their wards to capture people who intend to do the same
thing.


MONEY
The Nation (Thailand)   March 7, 2003, Friday
Bumrungrad inks Burma deal

Bumrungrad Hospital International (BHI) last week signed an agreement to
manage Burma's first privately licensed hospital, a statement released
yesterday said.

The US$20-million (Bt847 million) Pun Hlaing International Hospital in
Rangoon is owned by Serge Pun and Associates, which has spearheaded many
development projects in Burma and operates more than 40 businesses in the
country.

It will be first management project for BHI, which was established by
Bumrungrad Hospital last year with the aim of providing
international-standard healthcare consulting and management services
throughout Asia.

The new hospital is just outside central Rangoon in the Pun Hlaing Golf
Estate in Hlaing Thar Yar Township.

The 104-bed facility is already 90-per-cent complete, and is being
constructed according to modern specifications, with the aim of providing
advanced medical services. Future expansion plans allow for the capacity
to grow to up to 350 beds.

BHI is the management and consulting arm of the luxury Bumrungrad Hospital
in Bangkok, which was founded in 1980 and is now Southeast Asia's largest
private hospital.

BHI will be responsible for managing the Burmese hospital for an initial
six-year period, during which it will be run by an international,
full-time professional management team from Bumrungrad.

Bumrungrad treats more than 850,000 patients a year - 270,000 of them from
overseas - and is the only hospital in Asia to be certified by the
US-based Joint Commission on International Accreditation.
________

XINHUA NEWS AGENCY   March 6, 2003, Thursday
China makes first export of spring wheat for human

In what is seen as a significant leap for China's agriculture,
Heilongjiang Province in the northeast, one of the country's major grain
producers, is exporting tens of thousands of tons of spring wheat to
Southeast Asian countries.

This is the first time for China to export spring wheat for human
consumption.

The export contract involving 50,000 tons of spring wheat, jointly signed
by the province and the China Grain and Oil Import and Export Co., mainly
targets Malaysia, Myanmar, Vietnam and Singapore, which need quality flour
for making bread and instant noodles.

Though the modest quantity involved has more symbolic meaning than profit
value, China's first export of spring wheat for food marks an "historic
step" in boosting food production and supply ability, according to Run
Wenyi, a researcher with the provincial agricultural research institute.

"Chinese wheat is showing increased competitiveness in quality and price
in the international market," Run said.

Since last December, 22,000 tons of spring wheat has been shipped to
Dalian Port in northeast China's Liaoning Province for export.

Although China is the world's largest wheat producer with an annual
production of 100 million tons, it has long been a large wheat importer.

After its first export of forage wheat in April 2001, China began
exporting wheat for human consumption at the end of last year. China's
wheat for export was subject to stricter quality, standards and quarantine
test requirements, said Yang Hong, a senior manager with the China Cereal
and Oil Import and Export Group.

According to statistics from the Ministry of Agriculture, China's wheat
exports were slightly more than imports last year, thanks to the
restructuring of agricultural production in recent years.

After the government's purchase price protection scheme was dropped in
1999, domestic wheat production swiftly adjusted to the demands of cereal
markets. Wheat producers also started to pursue more competitive quality,
output and cost under government guidance.

Heilongjiang agricultural department figures show that though the acreage
under spring wheat in the province shrank by 40 percent last year, the
province had the best quality and largest yield in spring wheat production
in the past five years.

Great changes in the global wheat supply in 2002 also contributed to
China's exporting wheat for food, Run said.

With sharp declines of 30 to 50 percent in wheat output in such major
producing countries as Canada, the United States and Australia due to
severe droughts last year, wheat reserves in the world fell to the lowest
in the past eight years and prices on global markets soared by over 20
percent, said sources from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).


DRUGS
Bangkok Post   March 7, 2003
NO LET-UP IN SUPPRESSION DRIVE PLANNED

BY Wassana Nanuam

There will be no let-up in the anti-drugs compaign after three months and
greater pressure would be exerted against large-scale drug traders, said
Interior Minister Wan Muhamad Nor Matha yesterday.

He said the Feb 1 campaign would not stop after three months as border
drug flows required consistent efforts to stem. But Mr Wan Nor admitted
the suppression drive could not be considered a success if there were
still drug supplies waiting to flood in from the border.

Cooperation with neighbouring countries was also crucial if its operations
were to be successful.

The government was deploying more troops to police the borders and
volunteers were working with villagers on anti-drugs intelligence
gathering.

His ministry would conduct background checks of drug suspects with the
help of the National Centre to Defeat Drugs. The suspects' movements would
be monitored vigilantly on a daily basis, Mr Wan Nor said.

Meanwhile, army chief Somdhat Attanand insisted the army had all the
measures in place to fight the drugs menace.

Gen Somdhat said the army had the capacity to intercept drugs hidden on
the Thai side of the border. The problem was busting the supplies on the
Burmese side. His Burmese counterpart Gen Maung Aye had promised to
destroy the drug production sources from his side of the border. Thailand
would provide information on the locations of the production plants.

Third Army commander Lt-Gen Udomchai Ongkhasingh said the Wa minority
rebels owned 55 speed pill factories opposite northern provinces and deep
into its dominated area of Pang Sang. There were five additional
amphetamine pill plants on the Laotian border and three more opposite Tak.
________

Bangkok Post   March 7, 2003
SMUGGLERS COULD TURN TO AIRCRAFT
BY Wassana Nanuam

Smugglers could turn to using small planes now the army has moved to seal
tight the northern border, Third Army commander Lt-Gen Udomchai
Ongkhasingh said yesterday.

The possibility had been raised by the Office of the Narcotics Control
Board, given the increased difficulty of bringing drugs into Thailand by
land. The United Wa State Army, or Red Wa, the leading drug producers and
traffickers on the Burmese side had recently opened five new
methamphetamine plants along the Mekong river opposite Chiang Rai's Chiang
Saen district and three more opposite Tak.

Pro-Rangoon Democratic Karen Buddhist Army fighters had been hired to
guard the new factories, he said.

Reports indicated at least 100 million speed pills had already been
stockpiled along the border with another 700 million expected to be
produced this year.

Lt-Gen Udomchai said the military was keeping a close eye on Chinese Haw
people in Piang Luang and Arunothai villages in Chiang Mai, as they were
known to have good connections with the Red Wa in Burma.

Army commander Gen Somdhat Attanand said he had ordered border forces to
refrain from shooting drug traffickers unless in self defence.

Chief-of-staff Gen Veerachai Iamsa-ard said the army was hoping to block
the smuggling of about 60 million speed pills each month.
________

Agence France Presse    March 7, 2003 Friday
Thai rights commissioner "desperate" over drugs war death threats

BANGKOK: A Thai human rights commissioner said Friday he was "desperate"
over death threats issued to him and his family after he criticised
Thailand's controversial drugs crackdown in a presentation to a UN
conference.

"I have been threatened for three or four nights now. They said they would
kill me if I spoke to the UN again," Pradit Charoenthaitawee told AFP. "I
am quite desperate because it's not only me myself suffering but also my
family. When my wife receives the calls and lifts the phone up she has to
answer this is not Dr Pradit's house," he said.

"They said they had put a bomb under my car, or would send amphetamines to
my house, or burn my house down."

At the invitation of the UN High Commission on Human Rights, Pradit
addressed a rights conference in Islamabad last month during which he
highlighted concerns over the kingdom's three-month drugs blitz, which
left more than 1,100 dead in its first month.

Police have admitted responsibility for just 31 of the killings.

The government blames the vast majority of deaths on drugs gangs members
killing traffickers to protect themselves, but rights groups are concerned
the authorities are implicitly condoning and carrying out extra-judicial
killings.

Pradit said he had raised concerns over such killings and "all the cases
of people being been shot dead not being investigated properly, no
autopsies (being carried out) and cases not getting to the courts at all."

The spokesman of the ruling Thai Rak Thai party, Suranan Vejjajiva, has
threatened Pradit with dismissal by the Senate, which appoints members of
Thailand's National Human Rights Commission, because of his criticisms.

The support of 125 of 200 senators would be required to dismiss him.

"I think that it (impeachment) could be possible because you see the
government's political party is quite strong. They have taken over most of
parliament and the Senate so they can do anything they like," Pradit said.

Amnesty International meanwhile issued a statement calling on the
government to protect Pradit and his family.

"Amnesty International is gravely concerned that Dr Pradit
Chareonthaitawee... has received death threats from an anonymous telephone
caller to his private residence," it said in a statement.

"The Royal Thai Government should do everything in its power to provide
protection to Dr Pradit and his family. It should also immediately
initiate an investigation into these repeated death threats."

Thailand's drugs blitz is focusing on methamphetamines, which flood the
kingdom from Myanmar.

Five percent of Thailand's 63 million people abuse the drug according to
health ministry figures cited by the International Narcotics Control
Board.
________

Shan Herald Agency for News March 6 2003
Packaging of speed just over the border
Millions of methamphetamine pills are being packed ready for export into
neighboring countries at a Wa-dominated Shan village 30 km across the
Chiangmai border, reported an insider source from the area.

The location is Hwe Aw, where the Special Brigade #171 of Wei Hsuehying
a.k.a Sophon Jandee, 53, younger brother of Wei Hsuehlong and Wei
Hsuehkang, is headquartered. "Day and night they are wrapping them up in
100,000 pill-packets," said the source. "I saw them drying the pills up in
the sun to let off the humidity. Each mound of pills looked just like a
small hillock."

The report coincided with Thai intelligence accounts saying 5 million
speed pills were poised to enter the kingdom. Thailand's Third Army has
already been ordered to deploy along the Burmese border to block the
smuggling routes, according to Bangkok Post.

"This is the second time since May last year when the Surasi 143 War Game
was launched," noted a Shan State Army commander," and is sure to arouse
Burmese suspicions."

The Surasi maneuvers coincided with the Battle of Pang Maisoong (20 May -
20 June 2002) that was fought between the SSA and the Burma Army.

Hwe Aw, a village of a hundred households until three years ago, is now
more than 300 households, the addition being the 171st that had moved from
its former base in Monghsat, 140 km northeast. For sometime, there has
been reports that it might moved further west to Mongjawd, 30 km away. But
it is yet to materialize so far.

The youngest Wei, who is known as Paw Htao Sarm (Elder #3) and speaks
Thai, Shan and Chinese fluently, is at present living with an 18 year old
new wife, a native of Poongpakhem, a village 15 km down south, says the
report.


GUNS
Bangkok Post   March 7, 2003
RANGOON SAYS THAI MILITARY BASE ENCROACHING ON ITS SIDE

BY Teerawat Kumtita

A Thai military base is encroaching on Burmese soil near Doi Lang in
Chiang Mai, Burmese military brass told yesterday's Township Border
Committee meeting.

Thailand should withdraw its troops, the delegates said, and drive away
500 terrorists'' led by Chao Yod Suek from Doi Tai in Mae Hong Son's Mae
La Noi district, 150 terrorists'' led by Tin Ker from the Muang Na area of
Chiang Dao district of Chiang Mai, 150 others from Mae Fa Luang district
of Chiang Rai and 400 anti-Rangoon guerrillas from Mae Sai district of
Chiang Rai. TBC chairman Col Apichart Meesommon denied Thailand supported
anti-Rangoon groups.

The border demarcation committee would be asked to look into Burma's
encroachment complaint.

Thailand also asked for Burma's help in stepping up security along the
border, ahead of a visit by Her Majesty the Queen to Doi Phahompok, Col
Apichart said.

Mae Sai customs checkpoint chief Patchara Sinsawat invited Burmese leaders
to a fair on April 5 to celebrate the opening of a new customs office
between Chiang Rai's Mae Sai and Burma's Tachilek.

Cross-border trade was improving, he said, with tariffs totalling more
than one million baht collected last month.
________

Asian Tribune  March 6 2003
Defiant Shans will not submit to pressure either from Thailand or Burma to
lay down their arms.

Bangkok: Though the issue of surrendering arms to whom is so far not
clarified, Shan State Army have shown its defiance in the issue of
surrender. Chairman Yawdserk has clearly stated that he would not submit
to any pressure forthcoming from any corner to lay down their arms.

Following orders from Bangkok to the Thai army to 'play hard ball' with
the Karen and Shan rebels reportedly to bring them to the negotiating
table with Rangoon, a number of Shan State Army commanders said they would
continue to keep their arms.

"Chairman Yawdserk, if he thinks he's had enough of it all, can
surrender," said one of his top commanders this morning. "But many
officers and I have resolved that we will never submit to any pressure by
anybody to lay down our arms."

"We didn't start this war," he argued. "We have only been defending our
land and fights against the aggressors. It would therefore be wishful
thinking on the part of those who say this war will come to an end by our
surrender."

The current confusion arose when Gen Thammarak Issangkura na Ayuddhya,
Thailand's Defense Minister, made a surprising announcement that he had
instructed the Thai Third Army to 'give a hard time' to the rebels. "We
felt perplexed", said one Thai security officer, "because the order came
right after the Shans and their allies released their official communiqué
welcoming the Prime Minister's overture (on 10 February to act as a
mediator between Rangoon and the ethnic rebels).

The joint statement by Karen National Union, Restoration Council of Shan
State (the SSA's political wing) and their three other allies, namely,
Karenni National Progress Party, Arakan Liberation Party and Chin National
Front on 25 February, also declared their desire that the venue should be
in a neutral country and that they would meet Rangoon's delegation
together.

"The rebels' demands rising out of their concerns were understandable and
we naturally thought our superiors would be happy," the officer continued.
"So we were completely caught off guard when the Defense Minister
responded by ordering the army to get tough with them instead. It has put
many of us in doubt whether it was for the rebels' total submission, and
not for their coming to the peace talks, that he had agreed with Rangoon
in the first place."

Thaksin Shinawatra was in Rangoon on a 2-day visit last month, 9-10 February.

Thailand's pressure plus sanctions had contributed to the Mon ceasefire
agreement in 1995 and warlord Khun Sa's surrender a year later.

The Shan State Army 'South' led by Col Yawdserk fields 8 'brigades' and 3
mobile columns. It is active in southern and eastern Shan State, where
most of the human rights abuses by the army are taking place.


REGIONAL
Democratic Voice of Burma  March 6 2003
100 Karen refugees missing

It is reported that more than 100 refugees from Bekalaw refugee camp at
Thasongyan Province have gone missing after they were arrested by Thai
soldiers. It is not know where they are being detained and they are facing
the threat of being deported back to Burma. Among the arrested are 14
women and they were arrested while collecting dry leaves for to roof their
lean-to huts. The Thai police said that they are being handed over to Tak
Province's Immigration Office. Our correspondent Khine Thazin told us
about the incident from Maesod, western Thailand as follows:

A: There were more than 100 refugees. The leaves for roofs provided by the
NGOs are not sufficient to keep them covered. So they had to venture
outside the camp to collect more. There, they encountered the Thai
soldiers and they were arrested. Their relatives don't know where they are
being detained now and they are searching for them. They went to ask the
Karen Refugee Committee [KRC] and it doesn't know for sure where they are.

Q: Are they all refugees or are some of them illegal workers?

A: They are not all refugees, they said. Some of them are the relatives of
refugees. Some of them are people who intended to go to work in towns,
some said. Nobody knows where they are now. Their relatives believe that
they must have been sent back to Burma as they are unable to find out
where they are.
________

Kaladan News  March 6 2003
DHAKA, RANGOON PLAN TRADE EXPANSION

Chittagong, March 6: Bangladesh and Burma will set up a joint trade
commission during PM Khaleda Zia’s visit to Rangoon on 19th this month. A
foreign ministerial joint commission will also be set up to oversee
bilateral relations, according to the Daily Star report.

The two neighbours will pen agreements to introduce “accounts trade” and
coastal shipping links to boost trade, the foreign ministry sources said.

The two neighbours , Burma and Bangladesh will change the existing border
trade agreement signed in 1994 to prohibit  trading of third-country
products, Commerce ministry sources said.

Manufactured goods will require at least 30 per cent value addition to be
traded. The account trade arrangement would initiate two-way transactions
of goods without the need for cash payment, the Daily Star reported.

The proposed joint trade commissions to be headed by the commerce
ministers of the two countries will regularly reviewed and identify
products for exchanges. The commission will also identify and resolved
trade problems, the newspaper said.

Under the coastal shipping deal, Chittagong, Cox’s Bazar and Teknaf will
be linked to the Burma ports of Rangoon, Akyab and Maungdaw, the newspaper
reported.

In 2000-2001, the trade volume between two countries leaving a trade gap
of $ 23.33 million against Bangladesh. But 2001-2002, the trade volume
came dawn to around $19 million with trade imbalance still against
Bangladesh $4.5 million, official sources said.

It was not known whether any agreement on repatriation of the Rohingya
refugees would be signed. Burma has assured that the refugees would be
taken back after identity verification, Foreign office sources said.

“Both sides are optimistic that the issue would be resolved soon,” a
highly placed source at the foreign office said.
________

Irrawaddy   March 6 2003
Passage to India
BY Tony Broadmoor

Indian Defense Minister George Fernandes defended his government’s
engagement with the Burmese regime on Tuesday, adding that the Indian
government would stand by the Burmese democracy movement.

The remarks were made in New Delhi on Tuesday at a launching of Mizzima
News Service Editor Soe Myint’s new book, Burma File: A Question of
Democracy, where Fernandes was the keynote speaker.

While not defending the Burmese regime, Fernandes said, "engagement will
remain and it must remain" as long Indian insurgent groups are launching
attacks against Indian soldiers from Burmese soil. He said the protection
of soldiers is of paramount importance, and asking the help of Burma is a
necessary tactic in ensuring that innocent lives are not lost. "Not only
do I protect my country’s borders, but to the extent possible the lives of
our soldiers. I would not call that immoral by any standard of morality."

Fernandes commended Soe Myint’s efforts on the book, which he said is a
must read for anyone committed to human and democratic rights. Soe Myint
says he wanted to highlight two main points in the book: the struggle of
Burmese journalists inside and outside the country and developments in
Burma. "[Burmese people] struggle to get the news, risking their lives,
their safety and I wanted to highlight their struggle," Soe Myint said
yesterday from New Delhi. He also said he wanted to show the importance of
"establishing independent media to promote awareness on Burma".

The book’s introduction takes a look at Soe Myint’s life and what pushed
him to become involved in the democracy movement, including his decision
to hijack a Thai Airways flight bound for Rangoon from Bangkok in November
1990. Soe Myint and another Burmese democracy activist rerouted the plane
to Calcutta in hopes of bringing international attention to the human
rights abuses in Burma.

The case was mysteriously reopened last April, and Soe Myint has since
been charged with hijacking in a West Bengal court, a charge that carries
life in prison. Fernandes, a longtime friend of both Soe Myint and the
Burmese democracy movement, commented on the case at Tuesday’s book
launch. "I confess that I have not been able to resolve that problem so
far. And I am aware of the situation in which Soe Myint finds himself. I
have constantly made efforts to see that he is out of all the danger that
he is presently facing, and he is liberated of the problem. And I have no
doubt that he will succeed in doing that."

Soe Myint’s attorney, Nandita Haksar, also addressed the crowd and told
them of the need for solidarity in fighting the charges. She said that if
nobody tries to increase public awareness of the case, Soe Myint might
spend the rest of his life in prison. If attempts to obtain a dismissal
fail, the case will be heard on April 2.

Analysts feel the case was reopened due to the continuing rapprochement
between Rangoon and New Delhi, something that is also addressed in the
book. On Tuesday, however, Fernandes said, "I wish to assure my Burmese
friends and colleagues that India as a nation, from the day Ne Win came to
power, has stood by the people of Burma and India will continue to stand
by the people of Burma."

A panel discussion was also held Tuesday, which included prominent Indian
and Burmese journalists and politicians. The group looked at the dearth of
news in the Indian press concerning Burmese events.

Fernandes said more efforts are needed to send messages to the Burmese
regime that democracy will not have a negative impact on the country. "I
believe we need to make efforts to persuade the military leadership, and
such an effort will require participation by the people and at least a
positive media projection, that democracy is not going to hurt the people
of Burma."

"The military has its role and a democratic policy is not going to have
any adverse impact on the military’s part. These are issues, which I
believe we need to articulate to a point where the necessary message is
sent to where this message should go."

Copies of Burma File: A Question of Democracy can be obtained directly
from Mizzima News Service by emailing Soe Myint at mizzima at ndf.vsnl.net.in
or by visiting www.indiaresearchpress.com. The book also addresses illegal
border trade, events in Burma since the 1988 military coup and Burma’s
regional relations with Thailand, Bangladesh, India and Pakistan.
________

XINHUA NEWS AGENCY   March 7, 2003
Thai princess to visit Myanmar

Thai Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn will pay a royal visit to Myanmar in
the near future, an official announcement said Friday.

The announcement didn't disclose the date of her visit. But informed
sources said that the princess will pay the visit in the middle of this
month.

Princess Sirindhorn's trip comes about a month after Thai Prime Minister
Thaksin Shinawatra paid a two-day working visit to northern Myanmar last
month.

During Thaksin's visit, both sides stressed the need to enhance economic
and tourism cooperation, agreeing to promote bilateral cooperation and
work together in international relations.

Bilateral ties between Myanmar and Thailand soured after border clashes
broke out on May 20, 2002 that brought about Myanmar's unilateral closure
of border points.

The reopening of all Myanmar's border points with Thailand on Oct. 15 last
year has signified the end of the nearly five-month-long border dispute.

In the incident, Thailand was accused of having backed an attack on four
military outposts on the Myanmar side along the border by anti-government
ethnic armed group, the Shan United Revolutionary Army.

Thailand is Myanmar's third largest foreign investor after Singapore and
Britain. Since 1988, Myanmar has absorbed 1.29 billion US dollars of
contracted investment from Thailand, taking up 17.3 percent of Myanmar's
total foreign contracted investment of 7.44 billion US dollars.

Official statistics show that the bilateral trade amounted to 1, 095.71
million US dollars in the first 10 months of 2002, accounting for 26.46
percent of Myanmar's total foreign trade during the period.


INTERNATIONAL
Agence France Presse   March 7, 2003
Democracy essential to protect Myanmar's women, rights groups say

BANGKOK: Democratic reform in Myanmar is essential to protect women in the
military-ruled country against sexual violence, regional human rights
groups said Friday.

"If the regime wants to prove its sincerity about protecting its people
against abuse of power, including sexual violence, it must immediately
begin the national reconciliation process and implement democratic
reform," four groups wrote in an open letter to Myanmar's human rights
envoy Paulo Sergio Pinheiro.

"We are seriously concerned about the increased climate of insecurity for
rape survivors and their communities inside Burma at this time," they
said.

Burma is the former name of Myanmar.

The letter, released ahead of International Women's Day Saturday, was
signed by Forum-Asia, the Alternative ASEAN Network on Burma
(Altsean-Burma), Friends without Borders and the Asia Pacific Forum on
Women, Law and Development.

It said that prior to recent visits by the International Committee of the
Red Cross (ICRC) and Amnesty International, local Shan populations were
warned not to speak ill of the military.

"Most recently, in early February, local military officers threatened to
cut out the tongues and slit the throats of villagers who had dared speak
out to the ICRC during their recent visit to Shan state in January 2003,"
they said.

Myanmar's eastern Shan state came under the spotlight last May when two
Thailand-based Shan women's groups released "Licence to Rape", a report
documenting 625 sex attacks on Shan women and girls by Myanmar soldiers
which drew international outrage.

The rights groups said international attention on sexual violence in
Myanmar was important but "it is clear that this is exposing the women
survivors to even greater danger and trauma."

"Therefore, it is urgently needed for the UN and other bodies to set up
safe and secure mechanisms for conducting investigations inside Burma
which will protect the women from further risk. This can only be in the
context of genuine peace."

Meanwhile, an exiled Myanmar women's group in Thailand Friday described
the ill-treatment of women in their country at the hands of the military.

"Myanmar women are suffering from insecurity, the violation of their
dignity and a lack of the freedom to participate in the country's
political movement," the All Women's Movement Committee of Burma (AWMCB)
said in a statement.

"In some cases, we have learned that women are being used as tools of
human mine sweepers in the frontline battle areas," it said.

The political situation in Myanmar failed to protect the safety and rights
of women, while the floundering economy was leading women and girls to
fall victim to human trafficking, the statement added.

"I think the level of women rights abuse in Myanmar is much higher than
other countries," AWMCB member Aye Aye Mar told AFP.

The AWMCB also expressed concern about 11 women politicians held in jails
around the country whom they said urgently required medical care.

Most of them were suffering from high blood pressure, heart disease, gout
and kidney ailments, the group said.
________

The Guardian (London)   March 7, 2003
City diary
BY Richard Adams

* Intrepid Travel is an agency that boasts of its "ethical tourism"
policies, and has grappled with the tricky issue of selling tours to
Burma: balancing support for one of the world's most brutal military
regimes against - is there anyway of putting this politely? - making
money. Two years ago the company announced: "As an organisation that
prides itself on ethical tourism, we were concerned that our involvement
in Burma was signaling a tacit approval of the SPDC regime." As recently
as January, Intrepid assured the Burma Campaign UK that it had no plans to
go back. But company director Darrell Wade has returned from a visit to
Burma, and now the company's website promises "two new trips to Burma
soon". Why the change? "It's a company-wide decision to go back to support
the local community," says a staff member in Intrepid's London office.
Hmm. "They pretend they care about the people of Burma, and will now be
funding the generals that oppress them," is how Mark Farmaner of the Burma
Campaign sees it. "They will get pride of place on our 'dirty list'." *
Intrepid Travel doesn't yet run tours to North Korea, but talk in
Pyongyang is of the latest publishing sensation, The Biography of Comrade
Kim Jong Il, volume two (Workers Party of Korea Publishing). "Kim Jong Il
has performed revolutionary exploits to shine long in the history of the
country through his energetic ideological and theoretical activities,"
reads a hard-hitting review by the Korean News Service.
________

Associated Press   March 6, 2003 Thursday
Christian leader says Myanmar junta sympathetic to complaints of
discrimination
BY UAMDAO NOIKORN

BANGKOK: The head of the World Council of Churches said Thursday that
Myanmar's military government has agreed to investigate complaints of
discrimination and abuse against Christians.

WCC General Secretary the Rev. Konrad Raiser met with Gen. Khin Nyunt, the
third-ranking member of Myanmar's ruling junta, during a March 3-5 visit
to Myanmar's capital Yangon, part of a four-nation Asian tour.

The Geneva-based council represents more than 340 Christian churches,
denominations and fellowships worldwide.

Raiser spoke to reporters in Bangkok a day after U.S. Secretary of State
Colin Powell named Myanmar as one of six "countries of particular concern"
for severe violations of religious freedom. The others were China, Iran,
Iraq, North Korea and Sudan.

Raiser said he told Khin Nyunt not only of concerns about alleged
second-class treatment of Christians in predominantly-Buddhist Myanmar,
but also allegations of forced conversions, arson of churches and
Christian women being raped by government soldiers.

He said Khin Nyunt was fully aware of the allegations, particularly those
involving rape of members of ethnic minority groups along the border, such
as the predominantly Christian Karen.

Khin Nyunt "said that his government has sent a team to probe those
reports and also offered to take appropriate measures on future
complaints," Raiser said.

In the course of their one-hour talk, Khin Nyunt stated that Christians
would be treated properly and welcomed the WCC's ongoing involvement with
its member churches in Myanmar, Raiser said.

The U.S. State Department in its most recent annual International
Religious Freedom Report 2002, said Myanmar's junta "has imposed
restrictions on certain religious activities and frequently abused the
right to freedom of religion."

While stating that people of all faiths face repression, it said "the
government continued to discriminate against members of minority
religions, restricting the educational, proselytizing, and building
activities of minority religious groups," including Christians.

Almost 90 percent of Myanmar's 42 million people are Buddhist, with about
4 percent Christian and 4 percent Muslim.

Raiser has already visited Laos and Thailand on his Asian tour, and heads
next to Pakistan.


EDITORIALS
Parlamentskaya Gazeta, March 5, 2003
THAILAND OFFERS CONTRACTS

BY Vladimir Yermakov

HIGHLIGHT:
THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION OWES $36.5 MILLION TO THAILAND. RUSSIA HAS MANAGED
TO REACH AN AGREEMENT WITH THAILAND TO REPAY DEBT IN THE FORM OF GOODS AND
SERVICES. THE THAI PRIME MINISTER AND COMMANDER OF ALL BRANCHES OF THE
MILITARY RECENTLY VISITED RUSSIA.

Is it possible to repay national debt to a creditor-nation and receive a
realistic profit at the same time? Let's take, for instance, Thailand: the
Russian Federation owes $36.5 million to this country for deliveries of
rice on credit in the 1990s. If Russia repaid its debt to Thailand it
would open prospects which would bring in substantial dividends in the
future.

The point is that Russia has managed to reach an agreement with Thailand
to repay debt in the form of goods and services.

In addition, the government of Thailand has become interested in the
possibility of receiving some types of Russian weapons as debt repayment.
This is why the Thai prime minister and commander of all branches of the
military recently visited Russia; they wanted to meet with the leadership
of the Russian Defense Ministry and representatives of the
military-industrial complex, and receive total information about export
products by Russian producers and delivery terms at first hand.

At the same time, Bangkok says that it is too early to discuss the
prospects of such a daring break-through in the military-technical
cooperation sector in detail. Thailand thinks that it must start a new
affair like the true Buddhists, slowly and carefully. This means that
concrete agreements on deliveries of Russian weapons are still a long way
off. Nevertheless, the Thai commanders-in-chief of the Ground Forces, the
Air Force, and the Navy have received official invitations to visit Russia
along with groups of experts and open negotiations. The Thai press, which
refer to well-informed sources, say that Thailand is interested in Russian
volley-fire systems and light anti-aircraft missile systems.

So, if actual changes take place in this sector in the near future Russian
exporters will have an opportunity to break through to the Thai market of
special hardware, which currently is occupied by the West and China.

At the same time, Russia should take into account one circumstance: even
if Thai generals venture to reinforce their arsenals with Russian weapons
it is not ruled out that they will use it in an armed conflict with
Myanmar (such conflicts break out every year). The late incident on the
border took place in June 2002. Considering the fact that Russia's
relations with Myanmar are developing very dynamically, specifically in
the military-technical cooperation sector, such a turn may spoil the
prospects of further cooperation with this country.

By the way, both the Asian and Western press continue trumpeting that
Russia has allegedly "disturbed the balance of forces in the region" by
selling the MiG-29 fighters to the Myanmar government, which is considered
as "a totalitarian and potentially aggressive regime". As far as the Thai
military is concerned, the fact that Myanmar pilots fly along the border
on Russia's MiG fighter and Mi-17 helicopters, and can dominate in the air
in case of another local war alarms it. It is no secret that Washington
stirs up these apprehensions: the US is pursuing a purely commercial goal
- to convince Bangkok to strengthen its defense with US
weapons.(Translated by Alexander Dubovoi)

ORIGINAL-LANGUAGE: RUSSIAN
________

Mizzima News   March 7,2003
Modern Burma in the Historical Context
BY Kanbawza Win

I was rather astounded to read the news of Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, the
United Nations Special Human Rights Rapporteur on Burma call to engage and
not to isolate the genocidal Burmese Junta. This Brazilian academic wrote
to take stock of, acknowledge and evaluate the ongoing effects of
incremental change which have taken place. I could not believe my eyes of
such absurdities.

 Looking from the perspective of the historical context of Burma, one
could not comprehend what he is saying by incremental changes. When Burma
gained independence from Great Britain and formed the Union of Burma
under the democratic government, the opium production was just barely 170
tons for medical purpose, especially for making morphine injection. But
when the current Junta takes over it has climbed up to 02822 tons in 1996
and of course in the last two years, the production was reduced due to
bad weather and the figure come down to less than 1000 tons as compiled
by the DEA. Shall we call this and incremental changes? Prior to 1988,
before the Junta came to power, there is not a single known drug war lord
in Burma but now there are scores of drug war lords, wanted by the United
States, who are the shining gentlemen of Rangoon. At least in this
respect, because the name of new drug war lords being added to the old
ones we could perhaps construe as an incremental changes.

There is no such thing as ethnic cleansing under the Union of Burma and
Myanmar and non Myanmar are treated equally even though there may be some
disgruntled groups. The ethnic nationalities threw their lot with the
Myanmar and in the defense of Rangoon against the enemy, it was the Chin
and the Kachin soldiers that fought shoulder to shoulder with the Myanmar
soldiers and made supreme sacrifices to protect the solidarity of the
Union. Now, there is not a single ethnic nationality that does not raised
armed insurrection against the Junta even though some have reluctantly
enter into a stalemated ceasefire agreement. Previously Karen is the only
major group that fought the Union and now more than half a dozen are still
fighting.

What incremental changes in this respect? Shall we tow the Junta’s line
and count the Wa (who are previously communist) with the right to trade in
narcotics? Or the Kachin because the Chinese cooperated with the Junta
forces to attack from behind? The country name itself is Myanmar, not only
 indicating that all the other ethnic nationalities must kow tow to the
Myanmar tribe but was able to twist the arm of the international community
by forcing them to recognize the fair name of the country name not by the
English word of Burma but by a Myanmar language. Is this what Pinheiro
call as incremental changes?

There is no such thing as gross human rights violation or systematic rapes
in ethnic cleansing by the Tatmadaw (Burmese army) before 1962 and now the
world has known what the Junta’s army is doing. What form of incremental
changes in this respect? Has the killings of innocent villagers, raping of
ethnic women, forced labor especially pottering, forced relocation of
villages and the living quarters of the working people , religious
discrimination couple by the liquidations of religions leaders, arresting
of political opponents, forced conscription, the four cuts policy of Junta
and so on have stop? All these are going unabated and yet Pinherio called
for down to earth discussion. How can there be discussion when one is
under severe attack?

Of course he is absolutely correct when he said that “the people of the
country should not be held hostage” and that he should tell the Junta not
to make the entire people of Burma hostage by the gun and threaten them if
the international community do not respond positively to its demand. But
we have serious doubts of whether he got the guts to tell these phrases to
the marauding Burmese Generals.

It was shocking to read his report to the 59th session of the Commission
on Human Rights where on section 54 it said, “There were many political
dialogues in other South-East Asian countries that were completed before
they faced the demands for participatory democracy, namely elections,
labor standards and human rights.” Accordingly, the Special Rapporteur is
of the view that the sooner the international community is ready to
assist, the better and smoother the change will be in Burma. He therefore
continues to urge the international community to engage with the Junta
even before it introduces democratic reforms. In other words he wants the
Junta to be legitimized and left the people of Burma at the whims and
fancies these generals that do not have a vocabulary for mercy. The world
is civilized enough to understand the dictators, especially the Burmese
generals, and now the only point which they may fail to understand is why
the Special Rapporteur plays advocacy for these sordid generals.

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the Peace Nobel laureate and legally elected leader
of the people of Burma said last month that “international pressure should
be maintained to force progress in Burma, and that they are critical to
bringing about democracy in Burma" and yet Pinheiro is calling for
engagement and not for isolation. Perhaps he has taken a leaf out of
ASEAN’s infamous Constructive Engagement Policy. Yet sometimes he
contradict his own statement when he mentioned that, “it is crucial to
follow, understand and strengthen the internal forces within Myanmar, as
in the end only they will be able to bring about possibilities for change”
Obviously the most strengthen internal forces is the one selected by the
people, the NLD and they must be encouraged at all cost for they will
bring the possibility for change. .

He has also ask us “to bear in mind that to create international policies
conducive to change in a world where human rights after 11 September 2001
tend to be given a back seat, it must be recognized that the willingness
and the capacity of the international community are very limited indeed”.
A hundred percent right and what he need only is to ask Uncle Sam to use
force to restore human rights in Burma as according to his words “The
sooner the international community is ready to assist, the better and
smoother the change will be in Burma," The entire Burmese people would
support this stance. He should also tell the US that threatening of more
sanctions is not enough.

Of course the international community is not naive as they can view it
from the historical context of Burma and Pinherio is correct when he
commented “The international community must have its eyes wide open to see
the nuclei of change.” Hence the barometer of Burma should not be the
undertakings of this one and a half decade of harsh military rule but in
the entire context of the military coup since 1962 and weigh whether there
is any positive attitude or just an attempt on the part of the current
military leaders. For after all the Burmese people’s hope for its former
democratic days of pre 1962 is not much of a high expectations of the
ideal game scenario.


STATEMENTS

US Department of State Press Statement   March 5 2003
Designation of “Countries of Particular Concern” Under the International
Religious Freedom Act

Secretary of State Colin L. Powell has designated six countries as
“countries of particular concern” for particularly severe violations of
religious freedom under the International Religious Freedom Act. Those
countries are Burma, China, Iran, Iraq, North Korea, and Sudan. Last year,
these six countries were also designated. Regrettably, the status of
religious freedom has not significantly improved in any of these countries
since that time.

The designation of “countries of particular concern” is just one of many
tools the U.S. Government uses to address religious persecution and bring
pressure on those governments which are responsible. The Secretary can
make or remove a designation at any time, depending on changing conditions
in a particular country as well as on how responsive its government is in
addressing problems.

Advancing religious freedom remains a high priority of U.S. foreign
policy, both as a universal human right and as a cornerstone of stable and
free societies. The State Department also continues to promote religious
freedom through the production of the annual International Religious
Freedom Report, the annual Human Rights Report, the development of a broad
range of strategies to address both systemic issues and specific incidents
of persecution, and regular negotiations with many governments that
repress the freedom of religious belief and practice.