BurmaNet News: August 13 2003

[editor at burmanet.org]

August 13 2003 Issue #2305

INSIDE BURMA
Irrawaddy: Swift Impact of Sanctions
Xinhua: Myanmar vows to overcome western nations' disruption
DVB: Six Policemen Dismissed for Discussing 30 May Incident

ON THE BORDER
Kaladan: Five Muslims Arrested in Myawaddi Town
SCMP: Bearing silent witness

DRUGS
Nation: Rangoon plays up Wa drug threat

GUNS
Xinhua: Rangoon could attack Wa army: Thai press

REGIONAL
DVB: Details of Thai-Proposed Road Map
AFP: Thailand plans talks with ASEAN leaders on Myanmar "road map"
IPS: Skepticism Over "Road Map" Runs High
Nation: Singapore backs map
Narinjara: August Rice Killing Day observed
Narinjara: Burmese Timber and Bangladeshi Fertilizer

INTERNATIONAL
WP: Pipeline to Justice; A Burmese Activist Has the Attention of The White
House and, He Hopes, the World


INSIDE BURMA

The Irrawaddy   August 13, 2003
Swift Impact of Sanctions
By Kyaw Zwa Moe

Only two weeks after their enactment, new US sanctions have already
impacted business owners in Burma, say sources inside the country.

Sources say that business conditions in Burma have been changing gradually
since US President George W Bush signed the sanctions bill on July 29. The
bill included a ban on Burmese imports to the US, a freeze on the American
assets of junta officials, and a visa ban for regime members, their
families and close associates.

"We have no idea how to continue doing businesses since the sanctions
started," said a wealthy businessman in Rangoon. "Import and export
businesses are almost stalled, causing turmoil in the price of some
exports." The price of exports such as shrimp and beans have dropped by
nearly half. "The price of shrimp used to be about 8,000 kyat per viss [1
viss=1.63 kg], but last week, it dropped to 4,000 kyat because export
companies stopped buying shrimp," he told The Irrawaddy.

The prices of diesel and gold are rising, while commodity prices remain
relatively stable, according to the businessman. The gold price rose from
17,0000 kyat (US $154) to 20,0000 per kyat thar (1 kyat thar=5.3 g) last
week and diesel has increased from 1,100 to 1,600 kyat per gallon. The
dollar exhange rate, a good indicator of Burma’s economic situation, has
risen as well, from 900 to 1,100 kyat since the imposition of sanctions,
said the source.

Another businessman in Rangoon said the soaring dollar price is connected
to foreign banks refusing to accept Letters of Credit (LC) from Burmese
financial institutions. Singapore-based banks such as Standard Chartered
Bank and HSBC Bank stopped accepting Burmese LC at the beginning of
August. Their decision had an immediate impact on those in Burma dependent
on buying and selling goods abroad.

According to sources in Burma and Singapore, the banks have refused the LC
from the Myanmar Trade Bank, the Myanmar Investment and Commercial Bank
and the Myanmar Economic Bank. The US sanctions include blocking all
property and interests of these three state-owned banks.

"My account of US $30,000 is frozen," said a timber company executive.
"There are businessmen like me who cannot withdraw their money from
foreign banks."

The Rangoon-based businessman said bank officials in the capital are
investigating whether they can use currency from other countries to solve
their transaction problems. Financial analysts are skeptical about the
feasibility of that approach.

"If anyone here uses a different currency, trade with foreign companies
that are based on hard currency will not work," said an analyst in
Rangoon.

According to sources, embassies in Rangoon are unable to pay staffers this
month since they cannot complete foreign exchange transactions. In
addition, tourists in Burma can no longer use credit cards such as
American Express, Visa and MasterCard.

Businessmen are worried about that the situation will continue to
deteriorate. "The sanctions just started, but have affected our business,"
said a businessman who runs an import and export company. "Even at the
moment, we can’t run our businesses. In coming months, therefore, I think
the circumstances may become worse."
__________

Xinhua General News Agency   August 13, 2003
Myanmar vows to overcome western nations' disruption

YANGON, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) --Myanmar is determined to overcome the obstacles
no matter how western nations disrupt the country, Myanmar leader General
Khin Nyunt was quoted by Wednesday's official newspaper The New Light of
Myanmar as saying.

Khin Nyunt, first secretary of the State Peace and Development Council,
made the remarks at a ceremony here Tuesday at which he received donations
of SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome)-preventive medical equipment
and antibiotics from Myanmar Consulate-General in China's Hong Kong and
local and foreign wellwishers.

Khin Nyunt's pledge came after the United States imposed tougher US
sanctions against Myanmar on account of the May 30 incident and the
military government's continued detention of opposition leader Aung San
Suu Kyi (ASSK).

Khin Nyunt voiced the determination to overcome these obstacles by relying
on the internal strength and that of friendly neighboring countries in the
region.

He put the blame on a certain number of western countries which he said
were always on alert waiting for chance to disturb Myanmar under their
influence.

He said these western nations had always committed "destructive " acts
without considerating upon Myanmar and its people, thinking that a country
would surrender to them when it got into trouble.

On July 29, US President George W. Bush signed a bill to impose sanctions
on Myanmar to punish the Myanmar government for failing to release ASSK
immediately and carry out political reform.

Under the US Congress bill, the sanctions not only include banning imports
from Myanmar and freezing the military government assets in the United
States but also expand the current ban on granting US visas to Myanmar
officials and codify existing policy that opposes new international loans
or technical aid to the country.

The US move came after Yangon arrested ASSK, general secretary of the
National League for Democracy (NLD), and put her in a secret location on
account of the May 30 incident, in which ASSK's convoy was reportedly
ambushed by government supporters on a political trip in the north of the
country.

The government said four people were killed and 48 others injured in the
bloody clashes between NLD supporters and pro-government protesters.

Along with the United States, the European Union has also stepped up
sanctions against Myanmar, while Japan suspended its economic aid to the
country to press for ASSK's release.

Meanwhile, the United Nations, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations
and Canada are also urging Yangon to free ASSK as soon as possible.
____________

Democratic Voice of Burma, Oslo, in Burmese (picked up by BBC Monitoring
International Reports)
August 13, 2003
Six Policemen Dismissed for Discussing 30 May Incident

It has been learned that six policemen, who had expressed dissatisfaction
over the Tabayin incident, sentenced to a year's imprisonment with hard
labour by Kawthaung Township police director. The incident happened last
June when some policemen from Khamaunggyi police station in Kawthaung
Township got drunk and discussed loudly and openly about their
dissatisfaction over the Tabayin incident. Local residents said, although
senior police officers warned them, they would not listen but retorted
back instead so they were detained on 13 June. The police tribunal heard
the final hearing on 3 August and dismissed from service the six police
officers involved. They were all sentenced to one year imprisonment with
hard labour.

Those dismissed were Police Superintendent Thein Win, Police Sergeant Tin
Tun, Police Corporal Khin Maung Win, Police Privates Zaw Zaw, Zaw Zaw
Aung, and Myo Zaw Oo. It has been learned that authorities are planning to
transfer them from Kawthaung to Mergui jail.

Although news have emerged about the dissatisfaction over the Tabayin
incident within the police and the defence services, this is the first
time that anyone has been charged and sentenced. Similarly, on 5 August,
military intelligence personnel arrested Ko Yu Lwin from Monywa, for
participating in the Tabayin incident, and his mother Daw Phwa Tin.


ON THE BORDER

Kaladan News   August 11, 2003
Five Muslims Arrested in Myawaddi Town

Myawaddi, August 11: A combined operation cell consisting of Military
Intelligence (MI), Nasaka (Border Security Force) and USDA members
arrested five Muslim youths in Mya waddi town, a border town of Thai-
Burma, on August 8, 2003, according to Muslim Agency for News.

The arrested persons are Sidique, 31, of Insein town, Amin, 26, of
Sangingyunt town, Solaiman, 34, of Moulmein, Junite, 39, of Taunggyi and
Aras, 20, of Mandalay, source further said.

The combined operation cell members are U Aung Gyi, a leader of USDA,
Captain Lwin Oo Muint of MI and Major Than Zin of Nasaka.

The arrested persons are unskilled workers who worked in farms of Mae Sot,
a border town of Thailand, since long time. Recently, the harassments of
Thai Government increased towards Burmese migrant workers and became the
scarcity of works day by day. Regarding this, they felt that there would
be no security for them in future. So, they decided to return to their
motherland. While they were on way back to their home, the said combined
operation cell in Myawaddi town arrested them.

While they were arrested, they have Kyat 250,000/- and one Tical(15.87 gm)
of gold. The victims offered to the authority this cash and gold for their
release but, they refused to accept it. The authority demanded at least
Kyat 200,000/- per head, but the victims could not afford to fulfill their
demand.

Two days later of their arrest, they have been sent to the Moulmein Jail
after filing cases with the Moulmein police station against them.
According to a defense lawyer of victims from Moulmein town, all the
victims were accused in cases of border cross.  __________

South China Morning Post   August 13, 2003
Bearing silent witness
International attention is focused on Aung San Suu Kyi but, writes Nelson
Rand, at least another 1,300 people are behind bars for standing up to the
military junta

Some people rid themselves of bad memories by denying them. Not Bo Kyi, a
former political prisoner in Myanmar. He feels it important to remember
every detail of his incarceration to ensure others behind bars aren't
forgotten. To keep their experiences alive he has built, at the back of
his house, a replica of a cell at Insein prison, where he languished for
seven years.

It is a museum with everything from biographical information on political
prisoners to drawings of torture techniques used by guards to punish their
captives. Maps on the wall show the locations of the country's 39 prisons,
including Insein, on the outskirts of Yangon, and graphic pictures show
what can happen to people who oppose the regime. Chess pieces carved out
of soap tell how these people pass their time, and bags made from plastic
scraps show the ingenuity of bored prisoners.

The desolate museum is a stark reminder that more than 1,000 political
prisoners remain behind bars in Myanmar, even though the focus of the
international community is for the military junta to release just one:
opposition leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.

"Only Aung San Suu Kyi is under International eyes," says Bo Kyi, 38, who
has lived in the Thai town of Mae Sot since his exile in 1999. "Everybody
asks for her release. We should not forget the other political prisoners."

According to Amnesty International there are about 1,300 political
prisoners in Myanmar, although Mr Kyi puts the figure above 1,500. The
Myanmar government says there are none.

From his base in Mae Sot, Mr Kyi runs the Assistance Association for
Political Prisoners in Burma (Myanmar), an organisation that gathers
information on political prisoners in the country and pushes for their
release. He has been busy during the past couple of months following the
detention of the Nobel Peace laureate in the wake of violent clashes on
May 30 between government and pro-democracy forces that led to a crackdown
on her National League for Democracy (NLD).

Mr Kyi claims 109 others were also arrested, although the government
announced last month that 91 had been released. Mr Kyi says he has had no
confirmation on these releases.

The arrest of Ms Suu Kyi - her third since 1989 - has caused international
condemnation and urgent calls for her immediate and unconditional release.
United States President George W. Bush signed a bill last month banning
all imports from the country, and even Asean countries that have
historically never interfered in the internal affairs of member states
have taken the unprecedented step of criticising the junta publicly.

Myanmar has responded by saying that Ms Suu Kyi is in protective custody
for her own safety and that sanctions only hurt the country's poor.

"Sanctions are one-sided, unilateral actions taken by some without any
regard for the people," Foreign Minister Win Aung said last month on the
sidelines of a meeting with Asian and African officials in Bandung,
Indonesia.

He added the government was isolating Ms Suu Kyi to prevent political
anarchy. That would destroy the country, he said, and she would be
released when the situation cooled down.

A Thai army general was quoted by the Bangkok Post recently as saying he
was told by his Myanmar counterparts that Ms Suu Kyi, who won a landslide
victory in 1990 national elections but has never been allowed to govern,
may be released within the next two weeks.

But while the international community focuses on the release of the "Iron
Lady", there are hundreds of others who are also waiting to be freed from
Myanmar's prisons.

Min Ko Naing is one of them. Naing was arrested in March 1989, three
months before Ms Suu Kyi began her first stint of house arrest, and is
serving his 15th year of what was initially a three-year sentence.

"I have never heard of such kind of judicial system in the world," said Mr
Kyi, referring to Naing's punishment. The chairman of the All Burma
Federation of Students' Union, Naing was arrested with Mr Kyi for their
involvement in peaceful political activities. He was sentenced under
Article 10 (A) of the 1975 State Protection Act, which declares the
military believes the person to be a threat to the state.

Naing's defiance in prison is legendary, said Mr Kyi, because he refuses
to exchange his freedom for a signed agreement that he refrain from
political activity upon release.

"Every student respects Min Ko Naing because of his defiance in prison,"
says Mr Kyi. He is in Sittwe prison in Arakan state and is reportedly
suffering mental distress. His spirit, however, remains unwavering. In Mr
Kyi's museum is a picture of him that carries his quotation, "I always
stand on the side of the people. I will never die. Physically I might be
dead. But many Min Ko Naing's will take my place."

Another prisoner is U Win Tin, a journalist and founding member of Ms Suu
Kyi's NLD party. He has been in jail since 1989 and has been sentenced
three times. He was arrested in June 1989 and interrogated about his
activities in the democracy movement for three months.

He was then handed a three-year sentence. On the eve of his release, in
June 1992, he was sentenced to another 10 years. In 1996, an extra seven
years was added after he smuggled out a report documenting human rights
violations.

He is due to be released in 2009 if there are no further extensions to his
term and assuming he isn't caught trying to smuggle another report out of
prison. But the chances of his seeing out his term are slim: he is 73 and
has a history of heart attacks. Reporters Sans Frontiers, a French-based
media support group, recently ranked Myanmar 137th out of 139 countries
for being the worst place in the world to be a journalist. The group said
at least 16 journalists were in prison at the end of last year - including
Aung Pwint, who was arrested in September 1999 and sentenced to eight
years for "illegal possession of a fax machine ".

In an Amnesty International report on Myanmar released last month, the
group said it was "extremely concerned that sentences for political
prisoners are almost always set at the maximum length possible under the
provisions of the relevant law.

"In cases where an individual is convicted for several offences, the
sentences are applied cumulatively, rather than concurrently. Therefore
some political prisoners are frequently served such long periods that it
is inevitable that they will die before they are due for release."

The government says there are no political prisoners in the country, just
those who are involved in criminal activities or insurgency groups.

Mr Kyi disagrees; he was one himself - on two occasions. His first arrest
was with Min Ko Naing in March 1989 but he managed to escape custody by
fleeing the scene before being handcuffed. He was arrested again a year
later and served three years for organising a peaceful demonstration.

Shortly after his release in 1993, he was arrested again for refusing to
co -operate with military intelligence and was locked up until 1998.

After fleeing to Thailand in September 1999, he dedicated his life to
helping his former inmates who are still behind bars.

His organisation has detailed information of more than 200 political
prisoners in Myanmar, and this is just a fraction of the total number.

One of the prisoners he keeps track of is Daw Khin Khin Leh, a woman
detained because of her husband's political activities. Leh was arrested
in July 1999 after her husband Kyaw Wanna was involved in planning a
peaceful protest march.

By the time military intelligence personnel came for her husband a few
days after the demonstration, he had already fled to the Thai/Burma
border. Instead, military intelligence interrogated her about her
husband's activities.

In December that year, she was sentenced to life imprisonment under the
1950 Emergency Provisions Act and the 1908 Unlawful Associations Act. For
the first five days of her incarceration, her daughter Thaint Wanna Khin
was also jailed - becoming the world's youngest political prisoner. She
was three.

In Mr Kyi's museum, an honorary award from Trinity College in the US pays
tribute to Leh and elementary school teacher Daw Thida Htway, who was
sentenced at the same time as Leh for involvement in the same
demonstration.

Htway has since been released but Leh remains behind bars in Insein prison
outside Yangon. She is 38 and suffering from lung problems, according to
Mr Kyi's files.

On December 10, 1991, 135 peaceful protesters were arrested for demanding
the release of Ms Suu Kyi, who had just been awarded the Nobel Peace prize
but was still under house arrest. Among the protesters arrested was
vice-chairman of the All Burma Federation of Students' Union Ko Ko Gyi. He
had been arrested once before - in 1989 - for his activities in the
student movement but was released after two months in prison.

For protesting against the detention of Ms Suu Kyi, he was sentenced to 20
years with hard labour.

Since then, Ms Suu Kyi has been released twice, but Gyi is still in jail.
"Suu Kyi receives all the international attention," says Mr Kyi.

"Everybody asks for her release, but all political prisoners must be
released. This is the first step for change."


DRUGS

The Nation (Thailand)   August 13, 2003
BURMA: Rangoon plays up Wa drug threat

Amid mounting global pressure for political reform, Burma's ruling
military junta may be looking to divert international attention by putting
the spotlight on the Wa army, one of the largest armed ethnic groups to
enter into a cease-fire agreement with Rangoon, according to a Shan Herald
Agency for News (SHAN) report yesterday.

The agency said the United Wa State Army (UWSA) had called for an
emergency meeting amid reports that some elements in Rangoon were
considering ending the cease-fire agreement, which was inked in 1989.

The report quoted a source in Rangoon as saying the junta had mobilised
30,000 troops for a possible attack.

"A hard-line faction in Rangoon is seriously considering the resumption of
fighting with the cease-fire armies - particularly the United Wa State
Army - [hoping the move] will project an image of Rangoon fighting an
anti-drug war against narco-terrorist armies, thus distracting
international attention from their dark deeds vis-a-vis The Lady [Aung San
Suu Kyi] and from the proposed roadmap," the agency reported, quoting Shan
scholar Chao Tzang Yawnghwe.

The news agency quoted Shan, Wa and Thai border sources as saying the
situation was pointing towards the resumption of hostilities between
Rangoon and its Wa allies.

Thai military sources confirmed the reports, saying leaders in Panghsang,
the Wa capital on the Sino-Burmese border, had called a crisis meeting.

"This is the second emergency meeting in a month," a Thai colonel in
Chiang Rai was quoted as saying.

"The only thing that stands between war and continued cease-fire, apart
from China's forces along the border, might be General Khin Nyunt, and no
one is sure how long he can block this dangerous move," added Chao Tzang.

Burma's security chief General Khin Nyunt orchestrated the 1989 cease-fire
with the Wa.

The UWSA has been accused of being a major producer and supplier of
methamphetamines and heroin. The organisation has dismissed the
allegations.


GUNS

Xinhua General News Agency   August 13, 2003
Rangoon could attack Wa army: Thai press

BANGKOK: The Myanmar government had mobilized 30,000 troops and could
resume fighting with United Wa State Army (UWSA), which signed a
cease-fire agreement with Yangon in 1989, the Nation newspaper reported
Wednesday.

The Nation cited the report of Shan Herald Agency for News ( SHAN) as
saying that the UWSA had called for an emergency meeting amid reports that
some elements in Yangon were considering ending the cease-fire agreement.

Thai military sources confirmed the reports of SHAN, the Nation said,
adding that leaders in Panghsang, the Wa capital on the Myanmar-Chinese
border, had called for an urgent meeting which was the second in a month.

The report of SHAN said that the move aimed at projecting an image of
Yangon fighting an anti-drug war in order to distract international
attention from the arrest of the opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

However, a source from the 3rd Army Area of Thailand told Xinhua that the
relationship between the Myanmar government and the Wa allies had worsen
since Yangon implemented serious anti-drug policy.

According to the information of Thai Army, Wa is one of the 135 military
groups dwelling in Myanmar. The Wa population is estimated at about
700,000 to 800,000, most of whom stay on highland at the northeastern part
of Myanmar.

The Myanmar government arranged Wa to live in the 2nd Special Zone of
Control, or Wa State, in 1989 and signed peace agreement with UWSA, the
task force of Wa State.

The 20,000-strong UWSA has been accused of being a major producer and
supplier of methamphetamines and heroin.


REGIONAL

Democratic Voice of Burma, Oslo, in Burmese (picked up by BBC Monitoring
International Reports)
August 13, 2003
Details of Thai-Proposed Road Map

DVB (Democratic Voice of Burma) has learned about some facts concerning
the Thai government's proposed "road map" for restoration of democracy in
Burma. The road map involves two paths - one is internal dialogue and the
other is the SPDC (State Peace and Development Council) discussing and
implementing the suggestions of the international community with other
parties including the military.

A source told DVB that the two paths emerged because the SPDC has clearly
indicated that they would not accept direct intervention by the
international community in Burma's political transformation process. At
present, the Thai government is pushing to implement the second path
urging the SPDC government to attend international forums and to accept
Thailand's sponsorship. To realize this point, the Thai government is
planning to sponsor an international forum to discuss Burmese affairs
before the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) summit in
October and on the other hand, it is actively canvassing support from
China, Japan, EU, and the US apart from the ASEAN countries to attend the
forum. Sources told DVB that the Thai government is also persuading the
SPDC to attend the meeting in an official manner.

As for the participation of the Burmese opposition groups, plans are under
way to hold open discussions to suggest on the Thai government's proposed
road map. As a first step, a closed-door meeting of Thai Foreign Ministry
officials, Burma experts, and some Burmese opposition leaders will be held
at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok on 14 August to brainstorm on some
of the initial ideas of the road map.

The man who is leading the ministerial road map team is Mr Varasakdi
Futrakul, deputy permanent secretary of the Thai Foreign Ministry, who was
the Thai ambassador to Burma in the early 1990s and a career diplomat. He
was in Rangoon last week where he had further discussions with the SPDC
leaders. Some of the details of the road map are,

1. To release Daw Aung San Suu Kyi

2. To rebuild confidence

3. To draft a constitution

4. To share power

5. To hold elections

Although no definite timeframe has been set for transition to democracy,
it is clear that the military government must cease and Burma must become
a full-fledged democracy before 2006 when Burma would take over the
chairmanship of ASEAN. The road map includes means, which will be put in
place, to measure the changes and international sanctions against Rangoon
will be lifted base on the changes.
__________

Agence France Presse   August 13, 2003
Thailand plans talks with ASEAN leaders on Myanmar "road map"

BANGKOK: Thailand's Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said Wednesday he
planned to consult regional leaders further on the kingdom's "road map"
proposal for democratic reforms in neighbouring Myanmar.

"There will be more consultations on the road map. The issue of Myanmar is
both a Thai and an ASEAN concern," Thaksin told reporters.

The military-ruled state has been intensely criticised by the
international community since it detained opposition leader Aung San Suu
Kyi after her supporters were mobbed by a pro-junta gang on May 30.

But Myanmar's generals have resisted calls for the democracy icon's
release, raising concerns among its Southeast Asian neighbours who fear
the entire region will be brought into disrepute by its intransigence.

Thailand, which is concerned about a potential flood of illegal migrants
from Myanmar as tough new US sanctions bite into its economy, has floated
the "road map" as a way out of the crisis.

Thaksin said he planned to discuss the proposal with various leaders of
the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in the next few weeks.

"The ASEAN leaders will consult with each other. I will discuss it with
Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri later this month and with Prime
Minister Goh Chok Tong in our retreat early next month, and maybe with
President Gloria Arroyo," he said.

The Indonesian president is due to make an official visit to Thailand on
August 29 and 30, while Thaksin will reportedly travel to Singapore and
the Philippines in early September.

The premier said he was hopeful that the road map, presented earlier this
month to Myanmar Foreign Minister Win Aung in Bangkok, would be received
positively.

"On the one hand Myanmar is concerned with dignity and its sovereignty,
but on the other hand, it realises Thailand's goodwill in trying to make
Myanmar acceptable to the international community," he said.

The premier's comments came after Thailand's Foreign Minister Surakiart
Sathirathai returned from a one-day visit to Singapore Tuesday, during
which he held talks with his Singaporean counterpart S. Jayakumar.

Surakiart said in a statement that the two agreed ASEAN should play a key
role in pushing national reconciliation in Myanmar.

On Monday UN envoy to Myanmar Razali Ismail met with Surakiart in the Thai
capital on the plan, after which he said he would do everything possible
to persuade Myanmar to accept it.

Razali said the United Nations would work together with Thailand on its
proposal.

Most of the details of the scheme are being kept secret but it will
include an international forum to brainstorm solutions for Myanmar.
____________

Inter Press Service (IPS)   August 13, 2003
Skepticism Over "Road Map" Runs High
By Priscilla Koh/Bangkok

Seminars have been held and many column inches devoted to the so-called
"road map" for Burma’s democratization. But to many Burmese exiles here in
Thailand it is largely "old wine in new skin" or at best, a hope that is
tempting to nurse, but unlikely to yield results.

Zin Linn, a member of Burma’s government-in-exile, the National Coalition
Government of the Union of Burma, says the road map is nothing but "a
time-buying" device for both sides—the Burmese junta and the Thai
government, which floated this idea in July.

"This road map will make it look as if they [the Thai and Burmese
governments] are really doing something to change the situation," Zin Linn
said in an interview. "It could help to reduce international pressure on
both governments. At the same time, it makes both sides look good."

The cards are not on the side of the Burmese generals at the moment, given
pressure from foreign governments and critics in the wake of the May 30
arrest of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi. In the weeks and months
after she and her followers were ambushed in Upper Burma, in an attack
critics say was done by pro-Rangoon vigilantes, countries like the US have
slapped or threatened a series of economic and political sanctions on
Burma.

The US government has passed a new law barring imports from Burma. This
adds to other measures that other governments and institutions have taken
over the years, ranging from the European Union to the International Labor
Organization.

Even the usually taciturn and non-confrontational members of the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), led by Malaysian Prime
Minister Mahathir Mohamad, have voiced their concerns over the political
deadlock in Burma.

Of late, Thailand has also come under fire from the US government for
"siding" with Burma, after Bangkok said it was not the time to play tough
with Rangoon. The road map is still being discussed and shaped, and
reports say Thai officials hope to meet with different political and
ethnic groups from Burma.

But from various media reports, the road map is envisaged to be a series
of 10 or 12 steps that would help Rangoon move towards full democracy
within the next few years.

Last week, Thai officials discussed five stages of this map to journalists
at the Bangkok Post. The first stage would see a return to the status quo
before the May 30 incident, meaning the release of all political prisoners
including Aung San Suu Kyi, and the reopening of various branch offices of
her opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) party.

In the next stage of "confidence building", there would be a credible
investigation into the violent attack against Suu Kyi, an end to the media
campaign against her, followed by truce agreements with the remaining
armed opposition groups.

The subsequent stage will involve the drafting of a constitution that
would include the military, the democratic opposition and ethnic groups.

During the fourth and fifth stages, an independent election would get
underway. At the end of the process, an international conference on aid
for Burma would be held, media reports say.

In the meantime, Thailand’s role and policy toward Burma is of particular
concern to both local analysts and Burmese exiles.

Some Thai analysts question Thailand’s ability to take up the task of the
road map—presented like the road map which the US government laid out in
the Israeli-Palestinian conflict—through the efforts of certain
ministerial officers on each side or as a country acting by itself.

Thailand is basically playing a "one-man show" on this issue, since there
has yet to be strong support from other nations at this point, Dr Wittayu
Sucharithanarak from Bangkok’s Chulalongkorn University said in a
discussion last week.

As such, some say Burma’s junta would not take Thailand’s suggestions
seriously. In truth, "we don't really understand the internal political
structure in Burma, except through the three Burmese generals," Supalak
Ganjanakhundee of The Nation added.

Activists are also trying to make sense of Thai policy following a
crackdown in recent months on Burmese groups in Thailand, which is home to
thousands of exiles and dissidents from Burma, as well as one million
migrant workers and 100,000 refugees.

Given this backdrop, many exiles fear that this latest road map is no
different from Rangoon’s road map for Burma which the junta drew up in
1988, and the same as recent initiatives from the UN Special Envoy to
Burma, Razali Ismail.

But Thailand appears to view the situation pragmatically. For instance,
Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra explained that Bangkok was not
"interfering" with Rangoon. "[But] since we are Burma’s close neighbor, we
should initiate something that leads to the international community’s
acceptance of developments in Burma."

In an interview with The Irrawaddy, Kobsak Chutikul, vice chairman of
Thailand’s House Foreign Affairs Committee, says the vagueness of the road
map is expected but it should provide a "modality, a framework and a
process wherein they can express their desires, their wishes".

But those like Htoo Reh, a young Karen member of the anti-Rangoon
Democratic Party for a New Society branch in Bangkok, remain apprehensive.

"It is okay that Thailand wants to help bring about change in Burma. But
if they really want to help, why do they put so much pressure on the
Burmese dissidents in Thailand?" he asked.

Said Daw San San, a 73-year-old veteran from the NLD: "Frankly, I never
heard of this road map you’re all talking about until a few days ago. I
have just arrived from Burma." She added: "If Thailand wants to help
Burma, that’s good. Because Burmese people live in darkness. I hope that
the road map can be a ‘dim light’ to show us the way to democracy."
____________

The Nation (Thailand)   August 13, 2003
Singapore backs map

Singapore yesterday became the latest nation to throw its support behind
Thailand's idea for a peace road map for Burma, despite Rangoon's
indifference to it, Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai said.

Surakiart said Singapore expressed support for the Thai initiative and
gave many useful recommendations. He declined to go into details but said
the city state also suggested Thailand seek more consultation.

A day after meeting UN special envoy to Burma Razali Ismail in Bangkok,
Surakiart yesterday flew to Singapore to discuss the road map with his
Singaporean counterpart, S Jayakumar.

He said Singapore agreed that the problems in Burma should be dealt with
in a regional forum rather than by the UN Security Council.

The forum would not seek to "pressure" Burma or interfere in its internal
affairs, he said, but provide a platform for like-minded countries to have
a brainstorming session on the matter.

Surakiart insisted the road map forum would go ahead with or without the
participation of the Burmese government. But he said the ruling military
junta would eventually have to get involved if the road map was to
succeed.

Thailand has attempted to galvanise support from the international
community, but it is still not clear if political support can bring about
concrete change in Burma.

Among members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Singapore is
the biggest investor in Burma and seldom comments on the country's
political affairs.
____________

Narinjara News, August 13. 2003
August Rice Killing Day observed

Dhaka:  Reports have been received about the observation of the 13th
August Rice Killing Day across Rakhine State, in the western part of
Burma.   Rakhine people from all walks of life commemorated the day with
heavy hearts in remembrance of hundreds of people killed this day in
Sittwe, the capital of Rakhine State, 36 years ago.

As there is an undeclared ban on commemoration of the day police, army,
military intelligence and paramilitary forces including Kyant-phwe (Union
Solidarity Development Association-USDA) have been kept on high alert. 
Yet large groups of people attended the Buddhist monasteries in order to
say prayers and make religious offerings in Sittwe and some other towns.

Last year on the eve of the Rice Killings Day, unidentified townspeople
painted the streets and walls of Sittwe in red paint, denouncing the
Burmese military regime’s action on 13th August 1967.

In Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, seven Rakhine political organizations
in exile commemorated the day with a discussion meeting.  In a statement
they demanded four points: (1) Self-determination for the Rakhine people
that guarantees political equality, (2) Immediate stoppage of the ethnic
cleansing imposed on the people of Rakhine, (3) To withdraw more than
sixty battalions of Burmese Army deployed across Rakhine State, which has
been a big burden for the people, (4) Complete stoppage of the one-sided
exploitation of the natural resources of Rakhine State.

The meeting was attended by about forty participants and was held between
nine in the morning and two in the afternoon.

In 1967 during the rule of the dictator Ne Win the rice of Rakhine State
was exported, without taking into consideration of the internal demand, to
China, which caused famine across the state.  When peace-loving people of
Sittwe took to the streets demanding for rice, the Burmese Military shot
hundreds of the demonstrators and arrested many times more.  The fates of
the arrested have never been known.  It is estimated that at least three
hundred people were brutally shot and killed while about one thousand have
since been missing.
___________

Narinjara News   August 13, 2003
Burmese Timber and Bangladeshi Fertilizer

Cox’s Bazar:  On Saturday last a cargo boat carrying smuggled Burmese
timber capsized off the coastal town of Cox’s Bazar in the southeastern
part of Bangladesh.  About ten crewmembers of the boat have been missing
since then.

A sudden squall in the seas has been the cause of the accident.  It is
estimated that the cargo was worth at least taka five million (US$85,000).
 The Cox’s Bazar police and Forest guards rescued about a million-taka
worth of the floating garjan timber (Dipterocarpus turbinatus).  Hundreds
of smuggled timber pieces have been washed ashore by the tidewaters on the
shores of the islands of Maheshkhali and Kutubdia.

According to the police source a cargo boat owned by a notorious smuggler
of Chittagong, the chief seaport of Bangladesh, loaded the timber at
Sittwe port in the western Burmese state of Rakhine on 7th August.  The
fate of the ten crewmembers is yet to be known.

Meanwhile, thirty-five crewmembers of five cargo boats arrested while
smuggling out urea fertilizer to Burma have been sent to the Chittagong
jail, according to the local Bengali daily Ittefaq yesterday.  They were
arrested on Friday evening for their doubtful movements in the Bay waters
off Maheshkhali Island.  The consignments found in the boats included 718
metric tonnes of urea fertilizer produced in the Chittagong Urea
Fertilizer Company.  Since no relevant papers were found from the boats
they were brought to the Navy moorage in Chittagong.  The Navy handed over
the crew to the port police and the cargo and the boats to the Department
of Customs.

In recent months the Burmese smugglers have been offering a colour
television set for one thousand fifty-kilo bags of Bangladeshi fertilizer
smuggled, said a Burmese trader available in Cox’s Bazar.


INTERNATIONAL

The Washington Post   August 13, 2003
Pipeline to Justice; A Burmese Activist Has the Attention of The White
House and, He Hopes, the World
By David Montgomery, Washington Post Staff Writer

He was a Burmese student dissident with a taste for American heavy-metal
music. He fled the soldiers in the city and hid in the jungle. He began to
collect the stories of the people he met there: tales of rape, torture,
slavery, murder. He had the tattoo on his right forearm skinned off with a
blade so the soldiers would have more trouble identifying him. The word
"zeal" in Burmese was replaced by a scar.

For a long time nobody listened to the stories.

Now people are listening.

Human rights lawyers are listening, suing corporations for complicity in
alleged abuses overseas.

The Bush administration is listening, declaring that the stories are being
misused to threaten American foreign policy.

Global corporations are listening, complaining that the stories are
distorted and bad for business.

One recent night upstairs in an Adams Morgan restaurant, dozens of
activists are listening, too, to the slight, self-deprecating man in baggy
clothes with his hair pulled back in a careless ponytail.

Ka Hsaw Wa, 33, has come a long way since those days in the jungle when at
first he didn't even have pen and paper. Now he's an American citizen,
married, with two children, living in a pink house in Takoma Park. He has
a laptop to present a slide show on the wall of the packed barroom:
Soldiers gunning down students in Rangoon during the 1988 protests for
democracy. Families crouched in the jungle after being driven from their
villages. Bloody comrades. Bodies.

"I was just an obnoxious teenager," he says, in his way of sprinkling
humor to relieve the heavy message, "until I was tortured by the military
dictatorship for three days."

He tells about the dead woman he found in the jungle, her body violated by
someone using a tree branch.

These are powerful stories, but they aren't the ones causing angst at the
Justice Department and in corporate boardrooms. He gets to those. They
concern the natural gas pipeline. It was completed in 1998 by the French
company Total; its minority investor, California-based Unocal Corp.; and
the Burmese state oil company. It cuts 39 miles across the Burma
panhandle, carrying gas from the offshore Yadana gas field to the Thai
border. Villagers told Ka Hsaw Wa they were forcibly relocated to make way
for the $ 1.2 billion project or enslaved by the army to work on support
facilities.

He shows what he says are pictures of men with sores from being beaten or
forced to carry heavy loads for soldiers guarding the pipeline region.

He tells the story of a woman who says a soldier kicked her while she was
holding her baby girl, and the infant fell into the cooking fire. The baby
died several days later.

"They kill people, they rape women, just to prepare for the foreign
investment," Ka Hsaw Wa says.

Unocal, whose main involvement was putting up 28 percent of the project
money, says any relocations occurred before a pipeline route was chosen
and before the company was involved. It also denies anyone was forced to
work on the pipeline. And if the military committed atrocities, Unocal
says, the acts weren't connected with the project and the company had no
control over the soldiers.

But Ka Hsaw Wa's stories caught the ear of some American lawyers who
employed a novel legal theory in 1996 to sue Unocal and Total in federal
court for indirect responsibility in alleged human rights violations. The
plaintiffs are a dozen villagers who talked to Ka Hsaw Wa.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit in San Francisco just heard
arguments on what standard of liability should apply. (Total was dismissed
from the suit because the French company does not have sufficient U.S.
operations to be tried in American courts.) Meanwhile, the plaintiffs also
sued Unocal in a California state court; that trial is scheduled for later
this year. Picking up on the trend, foreign plaintiffs have begun to sue
other corporations under the same theory -- including ChevronTexaco, for
liability in alleged abuses in Nigeria; DynCorp in Ecuador; Occidental
Petroleum in Colombia.

The U.S. government has frequently condemned Burma -- called Myanmar by
the military regime -- for human rights violations. Congress just
approved, and President Bush signed, economic sanctions after the regime
recently detained democracy advocate Aung San Suu Kyi. But in the Unocal
matter in the federal court, the administration filed a brief on the
company's side, citing concerns that this new wave of lawsuits with
foreigners using American courts for redress of grievances abroad could
interfere with U.S. foreign relations.

"This court's approach . . . bears serious implications for our current
war against terrorism," said the brief, "and permits . . . claims to be
easily asserted against our allies in that war."

Could it be that global capitalism might soon find its business
relationships with brutal regimes -- and with allies of the United States
-- being scrutinized by unpredictable American juries? If so, the thin man
who emerged from the jungle haunted by stories deserves no small share of
the credit, or blame.


Ka Hsaw Wa (pronounced ka-SA-wa) means "white elephant" in Karen, the
language of the minority Karen people in Burma, the activist's ethnicity.
The appearance of a white elephant is considered a good omen in Southeast
Asia.

Ka Hsaw Wa says he chose the name because it connotes truth and power. It
was one of several cover names he adopted to protect his parents in
Rangoon during his decade in the jungle documenting abuses. A few years
ago, under the name Ka Hsaw Wa, he became recognized in Western activist
circles, winning the Reebok Human Rights Award and the Goldman
Environmental Prize. The moniker stuck.

How strange that this white elephant originally wanted to be a
businessman. The son of a doctor, he says he had a comfortable upbringing.
As a teenager he made extra money on the black market, trading U.S.
dollars. He thought he'd be a wheeler-dealer all his life. He had long
hair, outrageous earrings, a prized pair of Lee jeans, American combat
boots, two American T-shirts -- one with a skull and bones, one with a
Harley-Davidson. He liked American videos and bands such as AC/DC.

"My 'look' was ridiculous," he says, laughing at the memory in his
sparsely furnished living room -- futon couch, coffee table, acoustic
guitar, CD player, laptop. On this recent morning, he's getting ready for
a trip to the Thai-Burmese border area, where he still spends much of his
time, to prepare for the trials. But first he and his wife, Katie Redford
-- a lawyer and co-founder, with Ka Hsaw Wa and another colleague, of
EarthRights International -- are planning a quick camping trip to West
Virginia with their children, Alexis, 6, and Htoo Eh, 2.

Serious again, Ka Hsaw Wa recalls the day life changed for him: One of his
teenage friends got into a fight with the son of a member of the military,
then had to go into hiding. Soldiers came looking for Ka Hsaw Wa. He
didn't know where his friend was, but for three days he was grilled. The
soldiers played sadistic games, making him squat on his toes and pretend
he was riding a motorcycle, answering questions while going "vroom,
vroom!" If he misspoke, or if his heels touched the ground, they beat him
with a rod. He was punched and kicked. He started vomiting blood and woke
up in a hospital -- no longer an apolitical budding capitalist.

He became prominent in the student-led pro-democracy demonstrations of
1988. There was widespread discontent with the one-party state. But before
democratic change could come, the army staged a coup and installed the
military regime.

Soldiers opened fire on unarmed crowds. Ka Hsaw Wa and another student
leader were running in a street, and both fell in a heap. Ka Hsaw Wa had
merely stumbled, the friend was fatally shot. Ka Hsaw Wa says he felt what
he had felt when he was being beaten: fear being replaced by rage.

"When you see your friend fall in front of you, and you flip but he falls
because of shooting, when that happens, you don't afraid anymore," he says
in his sometimes-clumsy English. "When I was tortured, after 20 minutes
you don't afraid anymore."

He and other students fled to the jungle in Karen territory near the Thai
border. But Ka Hsaw Wa says he didn't follow others joining the armed
resistance. He became fascinated with the farmers and villagers, and
appalled at the atrocities they reported. He decided that if he could get
their stories to the outside world, it might be a more powerful way of
fighting back than picking up a gun. The armed dissidents sneered and said
he lacked "man's blood."

With the help of Canadian and U.S. activists, Ka Hsaw Wa says some
testimonies reached some international rights groups. But it didn't seem
to make any difference.

He spoke of this bleak period in an interview with Kerry Kennedy Cuomo,
published in her 2000 collection of profiles of rights workers, "Speak
Truth to Power": "I think to myself, 'What am I doing?' I don't gain
anything for myself and I can't seem to do anything to lessen the
suffering of the villagers."

Veronika Martin, now an advocate with Refugees International based in
Washington, met Ka Hsaw Wa around this time in a refugee camp. "I met him
in 1992 when he was an unknown entity and, I would say, an angry young
man," she recalls. "Even though he was this little nobody, he didn't care,
he knew he was right, he knew he had to expose abuses and he was going to
push forward without the promise of success."

Redford became friends with Ka Hsaw Wa in about 1993, when she sneaked
into Burma to gather testimony for another organization on the effect of
logging, and he helped her find witnesses. He had a knack for getting
stories. Villagers were becoming weary of strangers -- human rights
investigators, journalists -- showing up and extracting information like
just another natural resource, then disappearing. Ka Hsaw Wa was
different. He came back, year after year. He won their trust. He built
networks of sources in the jungle.

"He just connects really well with people," Redford says. "He'll go into
the jungle, put on jungle clothes, chew betel nuts, eat with [the people],
cook with them, take the time."

Ka Hsaw Wa and Redford married in 1996 after co-founding EarthRights in
Thailand. They opened the Washington office in 1999.

"A lot of people achieve success, become well-known and they become
inaccessible," says Folabi Olagbaju, director of Just Earth!, Amnesty
International's human rights and environmental program. "Ka Hsaw Wa, to
his credit, is very easygoing and doesn't see himself as a high person,
but part of the people."

And, Olagbaju continues, "he understands the need to attack the problem in
a very structured and strategic way."

A structure and strategy emerged when Ka Hsaw Wa and other activists began
to focus on the pipeline project in the mid-1990s.

American lawyers had rediscovered an obscure 1789 statute known as the
Alien Tort Claims Act. It had been used to sue individuals for alleged
human rights abuses abroad, but it hadn't been tested against a
corporation.

Ka Hsaw Wa's stories provided the raw material for just such a legal
challenge. EarthRights International, the New York-based Center for
Constitutional Rights and some private attorneys filed the federal suit in
1996. (A different set of activists and lawyers, including the
Washington-based International Labor Rights Fund, filed a similar suit
against Unocal on behalf of other villagers around the same time; the
cases are making their way together through the courts.)

The identities and depositions of plaintiffs who talked to Ka Hsaw Wa are
sealed for their protection, though they are summarized in the complaint.

Jane Doe I said her family was forced to leave their village, but instead
of moving to the village the military chose, they went to another.
Soldiers harassed them there, and that was when Baby Doe was kicked into
the fire.

John Doe V and wife Jane Doe II said they were forced to leave their
village, and their house and goods were stolen by the military. In the new
village, they had to pay for permission to work on their old farm. John
Doe V was regularly forced to work as a porter for the soldiers so he
couldn't farm his land and had to sell his livestock. He said soldiers
tortured village leaders when they failed to provide enough porters.

After that, Jane Doe II and her great-niece Jane Doe III said, they
returned to their old village to retrieve some pigs and on their way back
were detained by soldiers providing security in the pipeline region. The
soldiers raped Jane Doe III, 15, attempted to rape Jane Doe II, and stole
a pig, rice and money, the women said.

John Doe VIII said a representative of Total, the French company,
accompanied by soldiers, urged fellow villagers to support the project.
Later, he said, soldiers forced the villagers to clear brush for outposts
in the pipeline area and serve as porters, even carrying food the soldiers
stole from the village. Their loads were so heavy the porters couldn't
stand up, so they were beaten. Soldiers killed eight people, John Doe VIII
said.

Representatives of the Myanmar Embassy did not respond to requests for
comment.

A lawyer for Unocal says the stories have never been tested in court, and
the company questions some of them.

About Jane Doe I and her baby, Unocal chief legal officer Charles O.
Strathman says, "We have significant doubts that was in any way related to
the pipeline, even if it occurred." He adds, "We have significant doubts
regarding many of the alleged injuries -- both whether they actually
occurred as alleged and whether they had any connection to the pipeline."

A question at the heart of the case is how much, if any, liability Unocal
should have for acts not directly related to putting pipe in the ground,
acts that Unocal did not direct.

"It all boils down to under what circumstances is it appropriate to hold a
non-actor accountable for the behavior of someone else, in this case the
Myanmar government, the Myanmar military," says Strathman. "How can you
hold a company responsible for actions of a sovereign government and its
military that you have no means of controlling?"

But Ka Hsaw Wa and his allies say Unocal is dodging responsibility. They
say the soldiers were acting in the interest of the project.

"They knew about the violations," says Jennifer Green, a lawyer with the
Center for Constitutional Rights. "It's not that something bad happened
and they said, 'We can't participate in the project.' They knew about it
and they continued to provide financial support and to invest in the
project."

As for the Bush administration's argument that such lawsuits could
interfere with foreign policy, Green says, "If someone is alleging torture
and slavery, that's not against U.S. foreign policy because our foreign
policy is to condemn those actions."

In 2000, a federal judge in Los Angeles dismissed the suit because Unocal
did not directly participate in the alleged abuses, though the judge said
there was evidence Unocal knew that forced labor was being used and that
it benefited the project.

But in September, a three-judge appeals panel reversed the lower court,
ruling there was enough evidence for a "reasonable factfinder" to conclude
that Unocal may be liable for "aiding and abetting" the military in forced
labor, murder and rape, under a theory that hiring soldiers for security
and providing maps and information in daily meetings constitutes
assistance. Unocal disputes that the evidence warrants such a conclusion.

Now the full 11-judge appeals court is pondering whether and in what form
to send the case back down to the trial court.

Today the pipeline carries 700 million to 800 million cubic feet of
natural gas a day across the jungle. Unocal says the project has helped
the region, citing lower infant mortality, higher school attendance and
587 new jobs.

Redford says Unocal exaggerates the benefits, and, in any case, they
"can't take away the harmful impacts of their pipeline and the human
rights abuses."

Ka Hsaw Wa thinks back to when his work seemed futile, when former
comrades with guns laughed at his pen and paper. The words of powerless
people have migrated from the jungle to an American courtroom.

"It changes their perspective, that there's another way to fight against
those people," Ka Hsaw Wa says.

He and his colleagues are training legions of others to do the same work
in Asia, Latin America, elsewhere. There are more stories.

"I want corporations to be accountable," Ka Hsaw Wa says. "I don't want
corporations to do anything they want outside the United States."