BurmaNet News: June 27 2003

[editor at burmanet.org]

June 27 2003 Issue #2271


REGIONAL
FT: Asean leaders warn of more sanctions if Burma fails to free Suu Kyi
AFP: UN special envoy due in Jakarta for talks on Myanmar
DPA: Thailand jails 11 supporters of Myanmar democracy campaigner
DVB: Burmese activists arrested in Bangkok
AFP: Thai PM lashes UN refugee agency over Myanmer exiles
Kaladan: TPDC Chairman ordered to vacate 26 dwelling houses at Maungdaw town
Bangkok Post: A Nationalist Takes to World Stage

INSIDE BURMA
Khonumthung: 3 NLD Leaders in Chin State Sentenced to 11 Years in Prison
DVB: Sayadaw Seiddarat passed away suddenly
AP: Rights group charges official use of forced labor in Myanmar

MONEY
Daily Yomiuri: Freeze set on ODA to Myanmar
The Guardian (UK): City diary

EDITORIALS
IHT: Democracy for Burma; Lean on the generals
Straits Times: Japan Plays Its Hand

STATEMENTS
Statement by the President: United Nations International Day in Support of
Victims of Torture
EU: Declaration by the Presidency concerning the Council Decision on
Burma/Myanmar
Testimony to US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations: Aung Din, Free
Burma Coalition


REGIONAL

Financial Times (London)   June 27 2003
Asean leaders warn of more sanctions if Burma fails to free Suu Kyi
By Amy Kazmin

BANGKOK: South-east Asian countries yesterday stepped up calls for Burma's
military regime to release detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi,
but China said that tensions between the junta and the opposition were not
a matter for international involvement.


Thaksin Shinawatra, Thailand's prime minister, warned that the junta would
face further international sanctions if it failed to free Ms Suu Kyi.
Malaysia, another key ally, urged the Rangoon regime to heed advice from a
"good friend" to resume the process of national reconciliation.

"They have detained her long enough," Mr Thaksin said in Bangkok. "Now it
is time to decide whether to release her or face more and tougher
sanctions from the world community."

Ms Suu Kyi has been held incommunicado since she was taken into what the
military called "protective custody" after her motorcade was attacked by a
mob while she was on tour on May 30.

A United Nations envoy, Razali Ismail, the only outsider permitted to see
Ms Suu Kyi since her arrest, said in Japan this week that she was in "good
spirits" despite being held in "deplorable conditions". Japan said this
week that it would freeze aid to Burma if Ms Suu Kyi, a Nobel peace prize
winner and the daughter of Burma's independence leader, was not released.

Mr Thaksin and Syed Hamid Albar, Malaysia's foreign minister, separately
said that the junta's prolonged detention of Ms Suu Kyi was weakening the
reputation of the Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean), which
admitted Burma, also known as Myanmar, into its ranks in 1997.

"We have managed to convince people outside our region that Asean's policy
of constructive engagement is working, but the recent events that have
taken place in Myanmar have become a setback," the Malaysian minister
said.

Now, he said, "not only Myanmar is questioned, Asean is questioned."

Mr Thaksin, who has placed high priority on improving Bangkok's relations
with the junta, said: "The slower the release, the more frustrated Asean
and its dialogue partners will feel."

However, China said it was inappropriate for foreign countries to put
pressure on the junta over the arrest of Ms Suu Kyi, which it considers an
internal Burmese matter. "We feel that at a basic level this issue is a
problem between the Myanmar government and opposition and it is an
internal political issue," Kong Quan, a foreign ministry spokesman, said
yesterday.

The Thai premier warned that fresh sanctions would worsen Burma's already
poor economic conditions, increasing the flow of migrant workers from
Burma into Thailand. The Thai government has identified Burmese migrant
workers as one of Thailand's top security problems, along with illegal
drugs.

"If they receive more sanctions, their people will be in even more
hardship. When more people face hardship more of them will flood to
Thailand and Thailand will shoulder more of a burden," Mr Thaksin said.
____________

Agence France Presse   June 27 2003
UN special envoy due in Jakarta for talks on Myanmar

JAKARTA: A UN special envoy will hold talks in Indonesia this weekend amid
heightened international pressure for the release of Myanmar's
pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Special envoy on Myanmar Razali Ismail will hold informal talks with
Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda, ministry spokesman Marty Natalegawa told
AFP on Friday.

Talks will focus on the situation in the military-ruled country but are
"not directly" connected to a plan by the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations (ASEAN) to send a delegation to Myanmar, Natalegawa said.

Indonesia, the grouping's new chairman, is due to lead the delegation. No
time has been set for the visit.

ASEAN foreign ministers meeting this month called for Aung San Suu Kyi's
release, breaking a decades-old convention of non-interference in members'
internal affairs.

Myanmar's ruling junta announced on May 31 that the popular leader had
been detained. She was held after a junta-backed mob attacked her
supporters in violence feared to have left dozens dead.

On Wednesday, Razali told Japanese Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi that
Aung San Suu Kyi was being detained in poor surroundings at a Yangon
prison when he was allowed to meet her on June 10.

Aung San Suu Kyi's detention has sparked outrage among the international
community, led by the United States and the European Union which have
beefed up their sanctions against the Yangon regime.

Japan, Myanmar's largest donor, on Wednesday announced it had suspended
new economic aid to the impoverished country.

Malaysia's Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said Thursday the detention
of the Nobel laureate had damaged ASEAN's reputation and was a setback for
the region.
____________

Deutsche Presse-Agentur   June 27, 2003
Thailand jails 11 supporters of Myanmar democracy campaigner

Bangkok: Eleven Myanmar (Burmese) pro-democracy activists were charged
with illegal entry by Thai authorities Friday after they staged
demonstrations in Bangkok calling for the release of jailed Nobel Peace
Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.

The activists, who identified themselves as members of the Democratic
Federation of Burma (Thailand Branch), were arrested on Thursday afternoon
in what appeared to be a general crackdown on Thai-based Myanmar
dissidents.

"We support Aung San Suu Kyi," said one of the activists as he was led
past reporters at Bangkok's Suan Plu Immigration Jail. "We're students. We
haven't done anything wrong. We don't understand why the Thai government
is doing this."

The activists said they had certificates from the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) affirming their status as refugees from
persecution in Myanmar.

Thailand has been home to a large Myanmar refugee community since 1988,
when the current Myanmar junta took control of the country and gunned down
thousands of pro-democracy demonstrators.

Suu Kyi, the leader of Myanmar's National League for Democracy, was jailed
without charge after her supporters clashed with backers of the junta in
northern Myanmar on the night of May 30.

The arrest caused worldwide outrage and Thai-based Myanmar activists
staged a series of peaceful protests at the Myanmar embassy in Bangkok,
demanding her release.

The commander of Bangkok's Metropolitan Police Division Nine, Major
General Chirasit Mahintratep, said the 11 activists, who had taken part in
the embassy protests, did not have the right to stage demonstrations.

"They're not allowed to engage in political activities in Thailand,"
Chirasit told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa. "The UNHCR certificates are not
the same as passports."

The activists have expressed fears they could be killed if they are
deported back to Myanmar.

Their arrest followed reports that the Myanmar embassy had passed
intelligence information to Thai authorities that Myanmar dissidents
planned to kidnap the Myanmar ambassador to Thailand.

The Myanmar dissidents have strongly denied any such plans, insisting they
are committed to Suu Kyi's non-violent campaign to bring democracy to the
country.

Meanwhile, Thai authorities rounded up a total of 814 illegal workers in
overnight raids Thursday and Friday.

Labour Minister Suwat Liptapanlop said the arrests of the labourers from
Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos were part of a continuing crackdown on illegal
workers.

"This is also for the country's security," Suwat said. "There might be
more of these labourers hiding in dark corners."
____________

Democratic Voice of Burma   June 26 2003
Burmese activists arrested in Bangkok

It is reported that Burmese activists who gathered to plan protests in
front of the Burmese embassy in Bangkok were arrested by Thai police today
at noon.

The arrests came after the rumours of possible kidnapping of the Burmese
ambassador and staff emerged. DVB’s Aung Lwin Oo reports:

Aung Lwin Oo : The Thai security police forces arrested 15 Burmese
activists without warning at noon in Bangkok. At the moment, they are
being detained at Ban Kim Police Station and they are being interrogated
on whether they are connected with the kidnapping rumours.

Ko Htay Lwin one of the people who were arrested told the DVB about their
arrests as follows:

Ko Htay Lwin : DFB (Democratic Fedration of Burma) was about to hold a
meeting here at Ban Kim area to discuss the possibility of holding a
prayer meeting and staging a peaceful protest for those who died on Black
Friday. The police arrived at 2pm and we hadn’t started the meeting. They
have locked up all the rooms for meeting. Some were arrested and we didn’t
know that. They arrested us as soon as we arrived. We showed them our
identity card that is issued by UNHCR. They handled us very roughly. They
didn’t allow us to call people. They bungled us into their cars and
shipped us away. At the police station, their leaders arrived and we
managed to make calls secretly.

Aung Lwin Oo : The majority of the people arrested are holders of the
UNHCR recognised cards but they were still arrested by the police, he
added as follows:

Ko Htay Lwin : First, they didn’t know who we were. Then, at the police
station, we told them that we are students. They told us that people are
trying to kidnap the Burmese ambassador to Bangkok. They interrogated and
searched us from top to toe. We told them that we are students who are
demonstrating peacefully. The township authority came to identify us and
told them that we are not terrorists but peaceful demonstrators. He
guaranteed for us bailed us out from the case. But the police still have
no desire to release us.

Aung Lwin Oo :As the Thai police have stepped up security measures around
the Burmese embassy in Bangkok, the number of protesters is steadily
declining and today there are only five protesters in front of the
embassy.
____________

Agence France Presse   June 27 2003
Thai PM lashes UN refugee agency over Myanmer exiles

BANGKOK: Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra Friday accused the United
Nations' refugee agency of violating Thai sovereignty by granting refugee
status to Myanmar exiles without the government's permission.

"When issuing the cards, the UNHCR (UN High Commissioner for Refugees)
must get Thai authorities' consent, otherwise the UNHCR will have
sovereignty over Thailand. Thailand is a member of the UN but not a
lackey," he told reporters.

Some 110,000 refugees from military-run Myanmar live in camps on the
border that are administered by the Thai government. However, many others
live elsewhere in the country by registering with the UNHCR in Bangkok.

"Anyone holding a UNHCR card must stay in their camp and they are not
supposed to freely roam across the country," Thaksin said.

"But it turns out that now the UNHCR has sovereignty over Thailand because
by issuing a piece of paper these people can live in Thailand legally
wherever they want. Where is our sovereignty?" he asked.

Thaksin said Thailand had ignored the problem for some time before
recently deciding to "put this into order".

"We have shouldered a lot of the burden of the refugees," he said. "When
we want to get something put in order, there are a lot of saints who cry
out loud and criticise."

The UNHCR office in Bangkok said it had the right to grant refugee status
because Thailand was not a signatory to the main UN treaty on refugees,
and did not have its own legislation to provide for determining refugee
status.

"Under the terms of its statute the UNHCR has been empowered by the
international community to carry out refugee status determination itself
in the absence of a state procedure," said spokeswoman Kirsten Young.

"Obviously we only do that with the consent and cooperation of the state
in which we do it. And we've been doing this in Thailand now for the past
two decades."

The UNHCR declined to reveal how many Myanmar exiles have been granted
refugee status, but Young said only "a very small proportion of all
Burmese in Bangkok actually approach us for protection and assistance".

Thaksin's complaint follows the arrests Thursday of 11 Myanmar democracy
activists for illegal entry after they were found organising a
demonstration calling for the release of Myanmar opposition leader Aung
San Suu Kyi.

"They were asking four Myanmar workers to gather in front of the Myanmar
embassy on June 30 to mark the first month of Aung San Suu Kyi's
detention," police Lieutenant Colonel Santi Siriwattanapornkul told AFP.

Santi said those arrested claimed they were legally registered with the
UNHCR as "persons of concern", as refugee status is known in Thailand, but
that the UN agency said their identification cards were no longer valid.

Thailand is on high alert over Myanmar dissidents after the ruling junta
said it had learned of a possible plan to take its diplomats hostage in
protest over Suu Kyi's detention.
____________

Kaladan News   June 26,2003
TPDC Chairman ordered to vacate 26 dwelling houses at Maungdaw town

Maungdaw, June 26: On 14th June 2003, The Maungdaw Township Peace and
Development Council (TPDC) Chairman ordered to evacuate 26 dwelling houses
at Shikdar Para (Moma Kayandan) of Maungdaw Town, Arakan State by the end
of this month, according to our correspondent.

 To evacuate families are: 1). Haji Yunus, 2) Abdul Matalab,3) Mohamed
Dullah, 4) Yasin, 5) Mohamed Jalil, 6) Nazo Mullah, 7)Abul Foras, 8) Abul
Kalam, 9) Zibu Rahman, 10) Shukur, 11) Hala Boda, 12) Ayub Ali, 13) Mono
Meah, 14) Mohamed Alam, 15) Hakim Ali, 16) Basar17), Abu Tahir, 18)
Mohamed Ayub, 19) Mohamed Kha Sim, 20) Lalu, 21) Ali Akbar, 22) Kha Lu,
23) Say Tu, 24) Ms. Nasima Khatun, 25) Ms. Mazuma, 26) and Ms. Shuna Bi
Bi, he further added.

The affected villagers have appealed to the Chairman of TPDC to allow them
to continue their stay until the end of the monsoon. And they also
requested for alternative site for their resettlement. But, till now,
there is no response from the government side, the sources said.

In the same way, in last year August, the concerned authority had ordered
to vacate these houses but the authorities had verbally allowed them to
continue their stay after bribing some money, said one of the victims.

There was no instruction from government side about the compensation or
alternative site for their resettlement, the victim further added.

If the villagers to be vacated under the monsoon, they are going to face
many difficulties when they are moved to new location, building new huts,
said a villager.

Confiscation of Rohingya lands and uprooting of their centuries old
settlements have now been restarted. This is nothing but and attempt to
destroying the economic bases of the Rohingya people, said a schoolteacher
to our correspondent.
____________

Bangkok Post   June 27 2003
A Nationalist Takes to World Stage
By Thitinan Pongsudhirak

Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra appears unstoppable. Having consolidated
and fortified his political power at home, the prime minister has
increasingly turned his attention to the outside world.

He is fast becoming the most travelled Thai leader in history, having met
with world leaders in Bangkok and a host of Asian and European capitals
over the past 18 months. His most recent personalised diplomacy took him
to Washington, where he met with President George W. Bush. The
Thaksin-Bush meeting has crucially re-oriented Thai-US relations, placed
Thailand firmly in the broad counter-terrorism coalition, promoted Thai
political and economic interests, and elevated Mr Thaksin's international
profile to the extent that it will further bolster the prime minister's
domestic popularity. Indeed, Mr Thaksin is no longer just an average
elected leader from an average democracy. He is pitching himself as a
regional leader with global notoriety.

Interestingly enough, Mr Thaksin's meeting with Mr Bush almost became a
non-starter. The US had been critical of the Thaksin government's
extra-judicial killings in its violent campaign to eradicate drugs, and
had consequently suspended training and financial assistance to Thailand's
provincial police.

Faced with the prospect of having to cancel Mr Thaksin's trip for fear of
a loss of face without a meeting with Mr Bush, the Thaksin team went into
high gear. The Foreign Ministry and its embassy in Washington highlighted
Thailand's role in the postwar reconstruction of Afghanistan and Iraq,
notwithstanding Thailand's proclaimed neutrality in the Iraqi war.
Washington initially conceded an informal visit'' with a brief chat with
Mr Bush. With more diplomatic finessing from the Thai side, Mr Thaksin's
trip was upgraded to a working visit'' with a full-length discussion
between the two leaders about the whole bilateral relationship.

In the end, both sides got what they wanted.

With Mr Bush's blessing, Thailand is to be considered by the US congress
as a major non-Nato ally. Bangkok signed on to the Container Security
Initiative, which benefits Thai exporters by circumventing the US's strict
anti-terrorism customs procedures. To expand trade ties under the limited
Thai-US Trade and Investment Framework Agreement, a full-fledged bilateral
free trade area is to be promoted at Mr Thaksin's request. Mr Thaksin also
counted Thai military and humanitarian contributions in both postwar
Afghanistan and Iraq.

For the US, the Bush administration can now count on Thailand's
wide-ranging cooperation in counter-terrorism, including a greater
compilation and sharing of intelligence and toughened law enforcement. Mr
Bush got Mr Thaksin to exempt US citizens, particularly US servicemen,
from extradition to the International Criminal Court for criminal
prosecution. And Mr Bush was able to wax US concern over the Burmese
military's detention of Aung San Suu Kyi, an explosive issue in
Washington.

To grease the bilateral talks, the Thai authorities arrested three
suspected Jemaah Islamiyah operatives in the southern province of
Narathiwat on June 10, just hours before the Thaksin-Bush meeting.

From the US standpoint, the war on terrorism was paramount. The US
position was broadly conciliatory as long as Thailand, a key player in the
Southeast Asian theatre of the war on terrorism, would lend a helping
hand.

For Mr Thaksin, however, his Washington trip bears mixed implications. On
the one hand, it was a notable success in transforming the traditional
patron-client character of bilateral relations with the United States
towards a more nuanced and relatively equal strategic partnership'', in
marked contrast to US-Philippine relations, for example. The status as a
major non-Nato ally and the potential bilateral free trade agreement are
major achievements. On the other hand, Mr Thaksin will now have to square
his previous anti-western posture with his concessions to Mr Bush.
Moreover, his accommodation of the military junta in Rangoon, a policy
that implicitly came into question with Washington's castigation of the
Burmese junta's treatment of Ms Suu Kyi, also will need to be revamped.

Given the positive spins the Thaksin team has churned out from the prime
minister's most important foreign visit thus far, it is evident that the
Thai leader is not the xenophobic nationalist his antagonistic rhetoric
has made him out to be. However, having stoked the flames of nationalism
at home to an alarming degree, it remains to be seen how he will portray
himself domestically now that his internationalist inclinations and
apparent regional leadership ambitions have been revealed.

Has Mr Thaksin simply exploited nationalism to galvanise voter support and
thereby achieve his control over the domestic political environment? What
are we to make of his nationalist fervour now that he has made
wide-ranging deals with Mr Bush and a number of other world leaders?

In short, Mr Thaksin apparently wants to stand head-to-head with the likes
of Mr Bush, to stand tall internationally, and to stand out in the region.
These goals are incompatible with the manipulative nationalism he has
propagated.

- Thitinan Pongsudhirak is a lecturer with the Department of International
Relations, Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University.


INSIDE BURMA

Khonumthung News Group    26 June 2003
3 NLD Leaders in Chin State Sentenced to 11 Years in Prison As Post-May 30
Crackdown Continues

Three members of the National League for Democracy in Chin State’s Matupi
Township, who were arrested by military authorities earlier this month,
had been sentenced to 11 years in prison, a local NLD member who just
arrived to Mizoram border reported. The 11-year sentence was handed down
to each of the three NLD leaders during the second week of June, but it is
still unclear as to where they will be sent to serve their sentences.

The three are identified as U Aung Thang, 38, secretary of NLD for Matupi
Township, U Hla Moe (40), and Salai Pa Thang, 32, who is a local student
leader and a final year law student at University of Mandalay.

The NLD member said people are particularly concerned about the fate of
the three convicts because they are being held in unspecified location.
The sentences were arbitrarily handed down by local military intelligence
outside of the court, and their cases were never brought to the District
court in Mindat. Mindat town is one of the two District administrative
centers in Chin State, located a few miles away from Matupi.

They were arrested by military authorities on June 4 in Matupi, and were
taken away to Mindat for interrogations there. More than 20 other NLD
members escaped the arrest, and are on the run, and their whereabouts
could not still be ascertained.

U Than Sein, an NLD Member of Parliament in exile, says the crackdown in
Matupi is part of a larger effort by the ruling military regime to crush
the NLD since the May 30 incident (in which pro-government thugs violently
assaulted the touring NLD leaders). U Than Sein says he is very concerned
that the whereabouts of the three NLD detainees are not known.

Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of the National League for Democracy, visited
Matupi town on 10 April. Sources say that during her visit, crowds who
showed up to greet Suu Kyi were videotaped by an officer of the Military
Intelligence Service. Local organizers responsible for welcoming Aung San
Suu Kyi then took away his video camera and put him away from the crowd
until Suu Kyi left the town. U Aung Thang, U Hla Moe and Salai Pa Thang
were then arrested on June 4 and taken away to Mindat for questioning.
More than 20 other NLD members have since fled the town and are on hiding.

[Translated by Chin Human Rights Organization  from original Burmese
version. Source: Khonumthung News Group]
____________

Democratic Voice of Burma   June 26 2003
Sayadaw Seiddarat passed away suddenly

It is reported that the constant supporter of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and the
NLD, Sayadaw U Satetara, the abbot of
Nyangdone Monastery, Bahan Township had passed away suddenly at about 8.30
this morning.

He is 78 years old when he passed away and he has been a member of
‘Ya-han-pyo’ (Young Monks Union) since 1988. After the 8888 Uprising, he
attended all the meetings and rallies held at the NLD HQs and he has
always looked after all the NLD delegates from outside Rangoon areas at
his monastery whenever they visited Rangoon.

He is said to be very upset by the incident on the 30th of May and he
suddenly passed away in the Dhamma Thiri Hall in Nyaungdone Monastery this
morning at about 8.30. A NLD member from Rangoon told the DVB about his
support for Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and the NLD as follows:

A Rangoon NLD member : He has been supporting Daw Suu all along. The
activists could stay at his monastery. When they had all party member
meetings, they went to stay there. Not many people want to accept
political activists but he did. With his novices, he would cook food for
them at five o’clock in the morning and feed them. By nine o’clock, he
would tell them to go and rally people or to go to the office and the
like. By 11 or 12am lunch would be ready for his guests and he made them
feel at home. By 2000, the local authority, U Aung Maung and the like
would come and pressurise him not to receive political activists but
managed to resist them and he kept on receiving political activists and
made them feel at home. He gave them breakfasts and lunches and told them
to rally people and take part in political activities. He has passed away
now. He is from Nyaungdone Monastery, Dhammat Thiri Hall. He received all
political activists whether they are from the delta of Irrawaddy or from
Myeik, Tavoy or from Upper Burma.
_____________

Associated Press   June 27 2003
Rights group charges official use of forced labor in Myanmar
By Shelly Culbertson

BANGKOK: Disregarding promises to the international community, Myanmar's
military government still uses forced labor for public projects, an
international human rights group said in a new report.

The United Nations and Western countries have long accused the junta of
human rights abuses, such as forcing people to do unpaid manual labor and
to serve as army porters.

Myanmar "is the only country where forced labor is in practice and the
central government is complicit in it," said Masao Imanura, an author of a
report released earlier this month by Washington, D.C.-based EarthRights
International.

"The report shows the ongoing involvement of high-level officers ... who
are involved in giving orders to use forced labor," Tyler Giannini, a
member of the group, said Friday.

Myanmar's ruling junta in 1999 banned forced labor. However, the
International Labor Organization in 2000 urged its 175 member governments
to impose sanctions on Myanmar and review their dealings with it to ensure
they are not abetting conscripted labor.

A Myanmar government spokesman dismissed the EarthRights report as
"fabricated for ulterior motives." The government "is cooperating with the
ILO to improve in areas that need to be further improved," he said on
condition of anonymity.

The report says the work orders are enforced with threats and violence.

One disobedient worker was buried up to his neck, and other villagers were
forced to kick his head, it said.

A villager quoted in the report said people are forced to check puddles
for land mines with their hands.

The report says the army forces eastern Myanmar villagers to carry
supplies such as ammunition, and to act as guides, build or maintain
military facilities, clear roadsides and sweep for land mines - all
without pay.

The army has battled ethnic minority insurgents in eastern Myanmar for
decades. Imanura, based in the northern Thai town of Chiang Mai, said
"people are just taken" to become porters.

"No one knows when they will come back," he said. "It is slavery."

Earlier this month, EarthRights sued U.S. oil giant Unocal on behalf of
Myanmar villagers in a U.S. appeals court in California.

The group accuses Unocal of complicity in slavery, murder and rape,
allegedly carried out by members of Myanmar's army, which provided Unocal
with security and other help during the 1996-98 construction of a gas
pipeline partly owned by the company.

Unocal claims it can't be held liable for the military's actions even if
it knew about them, because it had no control over the military.

Myanmar's government currently faces international outrage for detaining
opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and cracking down on her pro-democracy
party.

EarthRights said its report was based on interviews conducted in
2002-2003. The organization describes itself as nonprofit group of
activists, organizers and lawyers.


MONEY

The Yomiuri Shimbun/Daily Yomiuri    June 27, 2003
Freeze set on ODA to Myanmar

The government plans to freeze official development assistance to Myanmar
until pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi is released from detention, a
senior government official said Thursday.

Senior Vice Foreign Minister Tetsuro Yano said the government found it
extremely difficult to extend additional ODA to Myanmar under the current
circumstances. The government extended about 2.1 billion yen of
grants-in-aid to Myanmar in fiscal 2002, but has not made any payments
during this fiscal year.

On the same day, the government asked Japanese Ambassador to Myanmar Yuji
Miyamoto to seek information from Myanmar's ruling military junta to
confirm the whereabouts of Suu Kyi as soon as possible.

When U.N. envoy to Myanmar Razali Ismail met Foreign Minister Yoriko
Kawaguchi on Wednesday in Japan, he said he had met with Suu Kyi on June
10 in a building on prison premises. However, Yano said when he met with
Gen. Khin Nyunt, Myanmar's intelligence chief and third-ranking leader
Monday in Myanmar, the general had denied Suu Kyi was being held in a
prison.
____________

The Guardian (UK)   June 27 2003
City diary
By Richard Adams

The battle to take over media agency Cordiant Communications, which is
being slugged out between WPP and Cordiant's major shareholder, has an
interesting side angle: the "lucky" winner will end up with a company that
operates in charming Burma. Cordiant owns Bates Advertising, which has a
subsidiary in Burma - the imaginatively named Bates Myanmar - which has
carried out work for foreign investors and some government-owned companies
- including the Burmese junta's old friend, British American Tobacco. Yes,
it's the same BAT that is being put under pressure by the British
government to pull out of its joint-venture cigarette factory in Burma.
WPP is the likeliest winner of the Cordiant battle, although it remains to
be seen exactly how keen chief executive Sir Martin Sorrell is for his
company to attract the sort of publicity that money just can't buy... on a
blacklist.


EDITORIALS

The Straits Times, Singapore   June 27 2003
Japan Plays Its Hand

Japan's blunt message to Myanmar to free dissident Aung San Suu Kyi or
face a cut-off in aid has raised the stakes for the ruling junta.

It cannot continue to stall for time.

Japan's assertiveness comes on top of the ASEAN foreign ministers' joint
statement a fortnight ago calling for her release and a resumption of a
dialogue with her National League for Democracy (NLD).

ASEAN had until then steered well clear of taking a stand in member
nations' affairs.

Yesterday, Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra reminded Myanmar
pointedly that 'the slower the release, the more frustrated ASEAN will
feel.'

But Japan's strong stand could change the outlook considerably.

It is among Myanmar's most consistent aid-givers, if not the largest.
Yangon has to think twice, three times, before it chooses to cross Tokyo.

The generals are defiant and ruthless, but they know on which side their
bread is buttered.

In the dozen years the military has exercised power in defiance of a
popular vote that favored Ms Suu Kyi's NLD, it has never been faced with
an Asian front this solid.

Japan has seldom used muscle in its foreign relations. That it has been
moved to do so should be carefully noted in Yangon.

The riot act was read out when Deputy Foreign Minister Tetsuro Yano met
officials in Yangon, reinforced by an official communication from the
Foreign Ministry.

Japan and Malaysia have asked that their ambassadors be permitted to visit
Ms Suu Kyi. (The only foreign official allowed access has been Mr Razali
Ismail, the United Nations special envoy.)

New aid from Japan and funding on existing programs will be halted if her
detention runs beyond one month. As she was detained on May 30, Yangon's
margin for evasive action is getting narrow.

Still, this is so much heavy going.

Countries interceding on Ms Suu Kyi's behalf are painfully aware they are
expending a lot of energy for what could be very little gain in the end.
It is true her freedom is the top priority.

Unless the ruling generals misread the international mood, they will have
to set her free sooner or later. And then what?

What comes after is far more crucial to Myanmar's healing. She has
undergone an interminable cycle of detention, house arrest and release
since the 1990 election, while the critical element of political
restitution (its inoffensive name to the intermediaries is 'national
reconciliation') has shown little progress.

ASEAN cannot consider its duty done just securing her release. With
support from Japan and the US-EU bloc, the interlocutors need to keep the
pressure on the junta to give the NLD and Ms Suu Kyi a role in national
affairs.

Otherwise, the generals will be off the hook again - until they come up
with the next plot to imprison her.
____________

The International Herald Tribune    June 27, 2003 Friday
Democracy for Burma; Lean on the generals
By Jose Ramos-horta

DILI, East Timor: Burma's military regime should not only release Aung San
Suu Kyi and her supporters, and reopen the offices of her party, the
National League for Democracy. The regime must accept a clear timetable
for restoring democracy in Burma.

The recent attacks on Aung San Suu Kyi, the country's opposition leader,
and her supporters were orchestrated by hard-liners in Burma's military
regime who fear her enduring popularity and the national reconciliation
process supported by other, more tolerant, members of the ruling junta.
Aung San Suu Kyi, who was awarded the Nobel Peace for her campaign to
restore democracy and civil liberties in Burma by peaceful means, has been
incarcerated and held incommunicado for several weeks. The United Nations
special envoy, Razali Ismail, who met her not long ago, says that she is
unharmed.

But the British government says Aung San Suu Kyi is being held, under the
most draconian law that the military authorities have at their disposal,
in a two-room hut at the notorious Insein jail just outside Rangoon. I and
many others are worried not just about her fate but of hundreds of her
supporters whose whereabouts and well-being are unknown.

The foreign ministers of ASEAN, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations
of which Burma is a member recently broke a taboo against interfering in
what have traditionally been regarded as the internal affairs of a member
state. Embarrassed that the international reputation of ASEAN is suffering
because of the gross and systematic human rights violations in Burma, the
ministers demanded at their annual meeting in Phnom Penh that Aung San Suu
Kyi be freed immediately.

China and Japan, as regional powers, working closely with Indonesia in its
current position as chair of ASEAN, should prod Burma's military leaders
to move toward restoring democracy. The United Nations, in close
consultation with ASEAN leaders, must be involved in facilitating and
supervising the steps for free elections within three years. In working
towards a peaceful and stable political transition, the democracy movement
in Burma as well as the international community must also consider
safeguards and incentives for those in power to allow the evolution to
proceed.

Meanwhile, the United States and the European Union should consider
responding to each meaningful step taken by the military government with
measures such as gradual easing of travel restrictions for regime members
and providing humanitarian aid through nongovernment organizations.

As the regime shows evidence of irreversible movement toward free
elections, foreign investment, trade and tourism should be encouraged. A
federated Burma would be one way to keep the country united and spare it a
new wave of conflicts along ethnic lines.

With political reform under way, the World Bank and other institutions
such as the United Nations Development Program should step in to help
reform Burma's institutions and economy.

Because of repression in Burma, ASEAN is facing a serious credibility
challenge. It must resolve the impasse in its own backyard with the help
of other concerned countries. Failure to do so will weaken ASEAN and
undermine its international influence.
*
The writer, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1996, is East Timor's
minister for foreign affairs.


STATEMENTS

Statement by President George W. Bush
Office of the Press Secretary   June 26 2003
United Nations International Day in Support of Victims of Torture

Today, on the United Nations International Day in Support of Victims of
Torture, the United States declares its strong solidarity with torture
victims across the world. Torture anywhere is an affront to human dignity
everywhere. We are committed to building a world where human rights are
respected and protected by the rule of law.

Freedom from torture is an inalienable human right. The Convention Against
Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment, ratified by the
United States and more than 130 other countries since 1984, forbids
governments from deliberately inflicting severe physical or mental pain or
suffering on those within their custody or control. Yet torture continues
to be practiced around the world by rogue regimes whose cruel methods
match their determination to crush the human spirit. Beating, burning,
rape, and electric shock are some of the grisly tools such regimes use to
terrorize their own citizens. These despicable crimes cannot be tolerated
by a world committed to justice.

Notorious human rights abusers, including, among others, Burma, Cuba,
North Korea, Iran, and Zimbabwe, have long sought to shield their abuses
from the eyes of the world by staging elaborate deceptions and denying
access to international human rights monitors. Until recently, Saddam
Hussein used similar means to hide the crimes of his regime. With Iraq's
liberation, the world is only now learning the enormity of the dictator's
three decades of victimization of the Iraqi people. Across the country,
evidence of Baathist atrocities is mounting, including scores of mass
graves containing the remains of thousands of men, women, and children and
torture chambers hidden inside palaces and ministries. The most compelling
evidence of all lies in the stories told by torture survivors, who are
recounting a vast array of sadistic acts perpetrated against the innocent.
Their testimony reminds us of their great courage in outlasting one of
history's most brutal regimes, and it reminds us that similar cruelties
are taking place behind the closed doors of other prison states.

The United States is committed to the world-wide elimination of torture
and we are leading this fight by example. I call on all governments to
join with the United States and the community of law-abiding nations in
prohibiting, investigating, and prosecuting all acts of torture and in
undertaking to prevent other cruel and unusual punishment. I call on all
nations to speak out against torture in all its forms and to make ending
torture an essential part of their diplomacy. I further urge governments
to join America and others in supporting torture victims' treatment
centers, contributing to the UN Fund for the Victims of Torture, and
supporting the efforts of non-governmental organizations to end torture
and assist its victims.

No people, no matter where they reside, should have to live in fear of
their own government. Nowhere should the midnight knock foreshadow a
nightmare of state-commissioned crime. The suffering of torture victims
must end, and the United States calls on all governments to assume this
great mission.
____________

Brussels, 27 June 2003
10957/03 (Presse 183)
P76/03

Declaration by the Presidency on behalf of the European Union on regarding
a declaration by the Acceding Countries Cyprus, the Czech Republic,
Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, the Slovak Republic
and Slovenia, and the associated countries Bulgaria and Romania and the
EFTA countries, members of the European Economic Area, concerning the
Council Decision implementing Common Position 2003/297/CFSP on
Burma/Myanmar

The Acceding Countries Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary,
Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, the Slovak Republic, and Slovenia, and
the associated countries Bulgaria and Romania and the EFTA countries,
members of the European Economic Area, declare that they share the
objectives of the Council Decision of 20 June 2003 implementing Common
Position 2003/297/CFSP concerning Burma/Myanmar defined by the Council of
the European Union on 28 April 2003 on the basis of Article 15 of the
Treaty on European Union. They will ensure that their national policies
conform to that Council Decision.

The European Union takes note of this commitment and welcomes it.
____________


U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations
Washington, D.C. 20510-6225

HEARING ON “A REVIEW OF THE DEVELOPMENTS OF DEMOCRACY IN BURMA ”
SUBCOMMITTEE ON EAST ASIAN AND THE PACIFIC AFFAIRS
SENATE FOREIGN RELATIONS COMMITTEE
WASHINGTON, D.C
JUNE 18, 2003

TESTIMONY BY U AUNG DIN
DIRECTOR, FREE BURMA COALITION
1101 Pennsylvania Ave, SE # 204
Washington, D.C 20003

INTRODUCTION

Mr. Chairman,

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak on behalf of 50 million
Burmese who are locked in a battle with an illegitimate military regime to
bring peace, democracy and human rights to our country.  My name is Aung
Din, and as you mentioned I serve as the director of policy for the Free
Burma Coalition, an organization based in the United States with national
and international chapters.

I'd like to thank you, Senators McConnell and Feinstein, and the members
of the United States Senate for the overwhelming bipartisan vote to
approve the Burma Freedom and Democracy Act last week.  By supporting this
legislation, you sent a clear message to the people of Burma that you
support our struggle for freedom.   I urge the House to act on this
legislation soon.

Since you have already heard much about the events surrounding May 30th,
2003, I want to tell you about myself and discuss the many different ways
that the people of Burma are working to get rid of our country's
dictatorship.  I know that Aung San Suu Kyi is the most recognized person
from Burma, but it is important for the Committee to know that there are
thousands of others in Burma who are committed to nonviolence and working
for the removal of the regime and the institution of a democratic Burma.

In 1988, I was a student at the University of Rangoon Institute of
Technology when I and many of my fellow students helped to organize a
nationwide demonstration that almost overthrew the military government. 
We marched proudly in front of the American Embassy and waved our banners,
because we knew that Americans believe in freedom and democracy.  We
avoided the Soviet embassy for the same reason.

Tragically, as millions of people marched on the streets, the military
regime opened fire on us.  Up to 10,000 people were murdered in a matter
of weeks, including students, women and infant children.  Those who
survived were jailed and suffered daily torture sessions.
Mr. Chairman, this was one year before the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Unfortunately, because the military refused to let any international news
media inside the country, no one knew what happened to us.  After seeing
my colleagues gunned down on the streets, I was very scared, but I knew I
couldn't give up.  I continued to organize
demonstrations and protests, and eventually, I was captured by the regime.

When they arrested me, they handcuffed me, threw a hood over my head, and
pulled me off the bus I was riding.  I was taken to a military
interrogation center, where I was held with no food, no drink, no toilet,
and no sleep for one week.  My hood was never removed.  Successive shifts
of interrogation officers beat, kicked, and hit me.  When I asked for
water, they laughed at me.  When I asked to use the bathroom, they beat me
even more.  Many times I almost passed out, but they poured cold water
onto my head to wake me up so my beatings could continue.

A month later, I was put in solitary confinement, where I stayed for over
a year.  In Burma, solitary confinement means no human contact.  I was
sent to military court and given a sentence of four years in prison.  My
trial took only fifteen minutes, and I had no lawyer.  I spent the next
four years of my life behind bars.

If there is a hell on earth, it must be Burma’s Insein prison where I was
jailed.  For political prisoners such as myself each day centered on
interrogations, beatings, and mental torture.  When the guards noticed I
had written a calendar on my wall, I was thrown in pitch-black solitary
confinement.  When I forgot to stand at attention, I was forced to crawl
on sharp, pointed stones for 100 yards while the prison guards beat me
with sticks and belts.  Many of my fellow prisoners were tortured even
more.  They were tortured for dropping a cup of water.  They were tortured
for teaching English--they were tortured for anything.  Often, when I
tried to sleep, I could hear the screams of those being tortured.  Those
screams haunt me to this day.  They are the voices of my friends, many of
who were killed by the violence inflicted upon their bodies.  It is for
them that I have dedicated my life to freeing my country from the evil
darkness that is the ruling military junta.

Our families did not escape either.  My brother was also arrested for his
participation in the freedom struggle.  Many parents and families were
forced out of their jobs by the regime.  The regime through the military
intelligence (MI) apparatus, conducts a scorched earth campaign against
anyone associated with the democracy movement.

OTHER POLITICAL PRISONERS

I want to tell you about the other brave people of Burma.  There are over
1,600 men and women political prisoners in Burma and many have been behind
bars for over a decade.  We talk so many times about numbers that it can
be easy to forget their names and their stories.

My friend Min Ko Naing has been in prison since 1989.  For the Burmese
people, Aung San Suu Kyi is like George Washington.  Min Ko Naing is like
Sam Adams—he is a true hero. Just as much as Aung San Suu Kyi, he was the
main leader of our revolution.  He spoke at rallies across the country and
called on the people to believe in freedom.  I think that he understood
freedom and democracy at its roots, far before many of the rest of us.

We were both arrested at the same time.  He was also severely tortured. 
Unlike me, however, he has been held in solitary confinement for 14 years.
 It might be that the military regime will never release him.

In 1994, U.S. Congressman Bill Richardson met Min Ko Naing in prison.  He
told the Congressman to continue the struggle for freedom and democracy. 
The military
punished Min Ko Naing by transferring him 500 miles away from his family. 
Now, his family can only visit him once a year.  He has never been
permitted to leave his 8 x 10 foot cell for more than 15 minutes per day.

The regime has offered to release Min Ko Naing if he will sign a document
forswearing any political activity and condemning the democracy movement. 
He has refused.  In the face of such brutal tyranny, he continues to fight
back against the regime.  His courage should inspire us.

I would now to like to discuss the many different ways people are
resisting the military regime in Burma.  Aung San Suu Kyi is one person in
a democracy movement that is broad and deep.  There are hundreds of
activists that are jailed and killed each year who never receive any
attention.  Most of my people struggle, suffer, and die without a word
being raised by the international community.

INFORMATION

One way that we are working to bring change to Burma is through
information.  The National Endowment for Democracy gives money to
organizations along the
Thailand-Burma border that help to get information inside the country,
including this newspaper, the New Era Journal.  Every month, we distribute
thousands of copies inside Burma through a courier network.  Keep in mind
that possession of this newspaper is an automatic seven-year jail
sentence.

We are also very grateful for services from the Voice of America and Radio
Free Asia.  Even though many people have been sentenced to long prison
terms for listening to the radio, the people of Burma listen to these
radio programs almost every night in order to find out what's going on in
the world and in our own country.

PROTESTS AND POLITICAL DEFIANCE

My people also continue to organize protests around the country.  Last
August, two of my colleagues were arrested for organizing a protest in
downtown Rangoon.  In September 30 more people were arrested for
protesting.  In November, a man was arrested for making an NLD symbol, and
in January, two Buddhist nuns were arrested for organizing a
demonstration.  In February, one dozen people were arrested for planning a
demonstration, and in May another man was arrested.

I know that it doesn't make it in the news very often, but not a month
goes by that the people of Burma aren't trying to organize a nationwide
uprising.  There are also many actions taking place in a coordinated
manner that are directed at fostering support for the democracy movement
within Burma’s armed forces.  The Burma military is a force that is kept
together through fear and terror.  In the 1990 elections, voting precincts
in major military areas delivered overwhelming majorities for the NLD.  It
is a military that has no ideological commitment to the ruling regime. The
outreach effort is aimed at convincing military leaders that the future of
the country lies with the democracy movement, and not with the regime.

Other actions by underground groups inside the country allow freedom
activists to travel and conduct organization work with key groups such as
monks and rice farmers.  Aung San Suu Kyi’s speeches are copied and
distributed by the thousands on audiotape in Burma.  I would be happy to
talk about these efforts with you in a more private setting.  I also want
to point out that the Open Society Institute, Norweigen-Burma Committee,
and several other organizations—some government sponsored—are assisting
our movement.

ATTENDING PRO-DEMOCRACY SPEECHES

The Burmese people are also defying the military regime by attending
speeches of Aung San Suu Kyi. These are really more than just
speeches--they are democracy rallies.

In December, 20,000 people came to see her speak in Arakan state.  In
March, 30,000 people came to watch her speak in Chin State.  And on this
latest trip, tens of thousands of Burmese people risked their lives and
their livelihoods to participate.  Even when the
regime has threatened them with weapons and guns, they refused to turn back.

RECOMMENDATIONS

I would like to close my testimony by making a few recommendations for
future policy on Burma.  First and foremost, we must make it clear that,
as Senator McConnell has said, we need REGIME CHANGE in Burma.  The United
Nations has attempted to foster a dialogue that can lead to a political
transition, and events have shown this to be a failure.  Sanctions will
serve to cut the regime’s access to hard currency that it uses to finance
its instruments of repression.  We must now work on empowering activists
inside the country to allow them to bring maximum internal pressure
against the regime.  Either way, they must be removed.  The United States
is in a unique position to help bring about change in the world because
Americans believe in freedom and democracy.

In order to accomplish regime change, we must do the following things:

Increase resources to the struggle inside
We need increased resources to fund the struggle inside Burma.  Sanctions
will help us very much, but they should be seen as a first step.  The
people of Burma need to be given the tools to effect change, including
money, communications equipment, food and
humanitarian support to refugees internally displaced and in Thailand and
India;

Pressure other countries to stop supporting Burma's regime with military
sales and business investment
The United States needs to pressure ASEAN, Japan, and India to end their
political support for the military regime.  China will enjoy economic
benefits from a free-market, politically stable Burma.  Clearly, a
democratic Burma will be better for the entire region.

Push the United Nations Security Council to act on Burma
The United Nations Security Council must act now on Burma.  So far, the
United Nations has been worthless in helping my country.  The Burmese
regime has played the United Nations like a dancing marionette.  A
Security Council resolution should seek to duplicate the actions contained
in the Burma Freedom and Democracy Act.

If the Security Council refuses to act, the U.S. must help the Burmese
people overthrow the illegitimate junta through the use of a nonviolent,
mass mobilization campaign.  I want to stress that we are not asking for
military intervention, but we are asking for political and moral support
directed to activists inside the country.

The regime has been given 2 and 1/2 years to bring change to Burma.  Now,
it is time to change the regime.  We must bring unremitting pressure
against these thugs.  The same economic and political conditions that led
to the 1988 uprising are still present in Burma.  The regime is hated by
the people and, if enough political space can open, I can envision another
people power mobilization that can sweep this regime from Rangoon and
condemn it to the ash heap of history.

We know that freedom isn't free.  Its cost is measured in the bodies of
dead democracy activists, broken families and years stolen from the lives
of political prisoners.  We are willing to pay the price and we do so
every day.  We want people around the world to know that we are freedom
fighters, not victims.

Mr. Chairman, this regime will not last.  I look forward to the day, when
I am able to rejoin my family and friends in Burma, about telling them
that during our darkest hour, when our fight was far from certain, when
despair had almost overcome hope, that it was the people of the U.S. and
their representatives sitting in this Congress, that lifted the torch of
democracy and lit our path to freedom.

Thank You.
Aung Din