BurmaNet News: September 3 2003

[editor at burmanet.org]

September 3, 2003 Issue #2318

QUOTE OF THE DAY:
“How could anybody know that she’s on hunger strike when you don’t even
know where she is?” —Burma’s Ambassador to London, Kyaw Win

INSIDE BURMA
Irrawaddy: Hungry for Answers
Japan Economic Newswire: Myanmar junta tells U.S. to butt out of its affairs
Irrawaddy: Revisiting the National Convention
Xinhua: Sugar mills in Myanmar face raw material shortage

ON THE BORDER
WSJ: Myanmar Workers Protest Killing Of Compatriot In Thailand
Kaladan: BRC & UNHCR Don’t Take Responsibility for Refugees in Mae Sot

DRUGS
SHAN: Rangoon bargains with Wa: military cooperation for drug exoneration

MONEY
Dow Jones: CA, NY Pension Aides: May Sell UNOCAL Shares Over Myanmar
PR Newswire: Unocal Says Disinvestment from Myanmar Not Under Consideration
AFP: Southeast Asian trade ministers hammer out free-trade plan with China

INTERNATIONAL
AFP: US defends information on Aung San Suu Kyi hunger strike
Guardian: Stinking shrimp story follows BAT from Burma to bin

EDITORIALS
FT: Burma's road map: Suu Kyi is putting the junta's allies to shame
ABS-CBN (Philippines): Reminder
Hindu: Suu Kyi’s Protest Fast Poses a Challenge to ASEAN Leaders
Mizzima: The SPDC's Road Map is Nothing More Than Political Trickery

STATEMENTS
US Sen. McConnell calls on State Dept to Initiate Full Court Press In
Support of DASSK

ANNOUNCEMENTS
Irrawaddy: Call for women from Burma to attend journalism training program


----INSIDE BURMA----

The Irrawaddy   September 03, 2003
Hungry for Answers
By Shawn L. Nance

The United States today reiterated its claim that Burma’s opposition
leader Aung San Suu Kyi is on hunger strike while Amnesty International
expressed renewed concern for her safety and health, despite strong
denials from the ruling military government.

US State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said today that "credible
reporting" from its embassy in Rangoon about Suu Kyi’s condition supported
Washington’s earlier claim that the National League for Democracy (NLD)
party leader is staging a hunger strike to protest her three-month
detention.

Suu Kyi has been held incommunicado at an undisclosed location since the
May 30 attack on the opposition in Upper Burma. London-based human rights
group Amnesty International says that at least 117 people, including NLD
members and supporters, are still being detained or have "disappeared"
since May 30. Other NLD members are believed to be in hiding to avoid
arrest.

Amnesty also said it was "gravely concerned" by the report that Suu Kyi is
refusing food and called for her immediate release.

"Prisoner of conscience Daw Aung San Suu Kyi should never have been
arrested in the first place," Amnesty said on Monday. "The SPDC [ruling
State Peace and Development Council] must release her with adequate
medical care and protection."

Earlier this week, the Burmese Foreign Ministry dismissed Washington’s
statement that Suu Kyi is on a hunger strike as "groundless" and called it
"an attempt to overshadow recent political developments in Burma, in
particular the road map to democracy."

Burma’s Ambassador to London, Kyaw Win, yesterday also firmly denied the
report in an interview with the BBC. "How could anybody know that she’s on
hunger strike when you don’t even know where she is?" the ambassador said.
He added that Suu Kyi was in "protective custody" and vaguely rejected
that he knew of her whereabouts. "She is where she was when ICRC [the
International Committee for the Red Cross] met her. I don’t necessarily
know where she is."

The ICRC visited Suu Kyi on July 29. It is believed to be her last contact
with the outside world, Amnesty said in its statement.

An opposition source in Thailand said Suu Kyi is being held in the Ye Mon
compound of SPDC Light Infantry Battalion in the outskirts of Rangoon. The
source added Suu Kyi’s health has deteriorated to the point where military
authorities had asked for an ambulance, nurses and a female doctor to
visit her this morning.

On Saturday, Burma’s newly appointed Prime Minster Gen Khin Nyunt outlined
a seven-point road map charting Burma’s political future. He gave no
specific timeframe and made scant mention of the NLD, causing most
observers inside and outside the country to view the inaugural address as
an affirmation of the government’s hardline stance. China’s Ambassador to
Burma Li Jinjun, however, welcomed last week’s cabinet reshuffle and the
road map plan as "very positive."


Japan Economic Newswire   September 3, 2003
Myanmar junta tells U.S. to butt out of its affairs

Myanmar's junta told the United States on Wednesday to stop interfering in
the country's internal affairs under the guise of promoting democracy,
while again dismissing Washington's claim that pro-democracy leader Aung
San Suu Kyi is on a hunger strike.

'Any attempt to create unrest in Myanmar with the intention of installing
a government custom-tailored to serve the interest of a foreign government
and furthering widen its influence in Asian continent, under the pretense
of democracy would be counterproductive,' the military government said in
a statement.

The statement specifically slammed the U.S. State Department for
announcing Sunday that Suu Kyi 'is on a hunger strike to protest her
illegal detention by that country's military regime.'

It called that announcement 'irresponsible' and questioned its 'peculiar'
timing, coming only a day after the junta announced a national road map to
create a more peaceful and democratic state, and just ahead of the opening
of a new session of the U.N General Assembly.

'Due to this peculiar timing...Myanmar would let the world judge why the
most powerful nation on earth today, located at the other end of the
world, would have such a strong interest in such a small and peaceful
Buddhist country like Myanmar, which possesses no weapons of mass
destruction,' the statement said.

The statement also said nor does it pose any threat to regional or
international security.

In a separate statement Monday, the military government had dismissed the
claim that Suu Kyi is on hunger strike, calling it 'quite odd' for the
U.S. to make that allegation without citing any source for the
information.

The junta reiterated in its statement Wednesday that the U.S. information
was based on 'dubious sources.'

U.S. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher, however, told reporters
Tuesday in Washington that the U.S. is confident of the veracity of its
information.

'We have what we consider credible reporting from our embassy, but I'm not
in a position to go through the sourcing of that,' Boucher told a regular
press briefing.

The Myanmar junta has detained Suu Kyi since what it says were violent
clashes between National League for Democracy (NLD) supporters and
pro-junta demonstrators May 30 in northern Myanmar.

Late last month, U.S. President George W. Bush signed into law legislation
slapping economic sanctions on Myanmar including a three-year ban on
imports over the junta's detention of Suu Kyi.

The junta's statement said it would be 'unrealistic and indeed naive to
believe that the U.S. is more interested in the well-being of 52 million
Myanmar people, when thousands of Myanmar people are being forced to
unemployment by the U.S. sanctions.'

The U.S. imported $256 million in clothes and other products from Myanmar
last year.


The Irrawaddy   September 3, 2003
Revisiting the National Convention
By Aung Moe Zaw

Let’s talk about drafting a new constitution for Burma which guarantees
democracy and the rights of citizens in all communities of the country.
Let’s convene a National Convention which is fair and workable and gives
equal voice to all representatives of the people.

It sounds much like the rhetoric that proceeded the first National
Convention, when the regime ordered a constitution be drawn up under their
direction in 1993. With Gen Khin Nyunt as Prime Minister, the National
Convention has been given a new lease of life, but what has changed over
the past ten years?

In 1993, it was clear that elected members of the National League from
Democracy (NLD) were the people’s chosen representatives. In 2003, the NLD
still has a mandate to represent the people, as the massive crowds of
supporters that came to greet leader Aung San Suu Kyi on her political
trips will attest.

The new constitution will hold the fate of Burma in its pages, so the
process for drafting it should be inclusive. The National Convention must
be based on a nationwide consensus and on the outcome of the national
reconciliation process. The first step, however, is to release Suu Kyi and
re-ignite dialogue with stakeholders.

The implementation of a new a constitution in Thailand in 1997 provides a
good example for Burma. Back then, Thai people didn’t vote on a piece of
paper, they voted with green ribbons and flags hung from their bikes,
windows and clothes. Thailand’s constitution was revised with mass public
participation—there is no reason why the same cannot be achieved in Burma.

Unless of course, history repeats itself. In 1990, Gen Khin Nyunt signed
off on Order 1/90, rejecting any transfer of power to the election
victors. Paragraph 20 of the order, however, entrusted elected
representatives with the responsibility to hold a National Convention and
to draw up a new constitution.

In October the following year, Burmese Foreign Minister Ohn Kyaw spoke
before the United Nations General Assembly, outlining plans for a National
Convention of elected members of parliament, ethnic minority leaders,
political leaders and prominent individuals. But it wasn’t until January
1993 that the National Convention actually began.

A total of 702 people were invited; 147 delegates were from political
parties and elected representatives while 505 were hand-picked by the
regime. Even though the NLD won more than 80 percent of the seats in the
last election, they only constituted 12 percent of the so-called National
Convention. The junta was assured a clear majority in any vote on the
drafting of the constitution.

It didn’t really matter, because there were very few decisions to make at
the convention anyway. The regime had already prepared its own six-point
framework, from which there was to be no deviations. Some elected members
of parliament found it impossible to work within the dictatorial
directives, but when they spoke out, they faced arrest and possible
imprisonment.

But there were many elected representatives, including some from the NLD,
who stayed on and tried against all odds, to make the National Convention
work.

After her first release from house arrest in 1995, Suu Kyi with Aung Shwe
and other NLD leaders asked Gen Myo Nyunt, the chairman of the convening
committee, if they could address the Convention. It was a legitimate
request, made by members of the NLD who wanted to make the National
Convention fairer. On November 28, NLD representative waited for an answer
from junta officials, but there was no response. Although they were voting
members of the Convention, the NLD members were never given space to air
their views.

With that decision, NLD representatives walked out of the convention hall
and called an emergency meeting to find a way to turn the situation
around. But that day, the regime expelled the NLD, claiming the party had
forfeited their right to be at the Convention by their absence.

The regime had no political will to respond to the NLD, and had refused to
compromise. Not long after the opposition was thrown out, the National
Convention was adjourned. The delegates had decided on nothing.

In the years that have passed since 1996, the NLD’s election mandate has
been swept further under the carpet. Some of the elected MPs have passed
away, others are in prison, while many have fled in exile.

Authorities regularly close down opposition party offices around the
country and known NLD supporters are routinely targeted and harassed. With
Suu Kyi now back in custody, the regime can afford to dig out dusty old
policies as stalling measures.

To add a bit of intrigue, the regime has this time shuffled the ruling
dictators and disguised the plan as a seven-point "political solution".
But this is not a road map; it is a roundabout in a time warp.

Aung Moe Zaw is General Secretary of the National Council of the Union of
Burma, a broad alliance of democratic and ethnic resistance movements,
based on the Thai-Burma border.


Xinhua General News Service   September 3, 2003
Sugar mills in Myanmar face raw material shortage

YANGON, Sept. 3 (Xinhua) --The 15 sugar mills of the state-run Myanmar
sugar cane enterprise (MSE) faced shortage of sugar cane supply in 2002,
making them operating at only one-third of their capacity during the year,
the Myanmar Times reported in its latest issue.

Out of 3.7 million tons of sugar cane required to run at its full
capacity, the MSE could buy only 930,000 tons from farmers in 2002, down
from 1.4 million tons in 2001, the MSE was quoted as saying.

Aimed at increasing the sugar cane supply to its sugar mills, the MSE has
introduced a contract farming scheme starting October, the sugar cane
growing season. Under the plan, the government will provide more technical
and material aid to growers and buy all the crops harvested from them, the
report said.

Myanmar cultivated 149,850 hectares of sugar cane in 2002, of which 56,700
hectares were grown in the most productive areas near the mills.

Meanwhile, the MSE also plans to increase the areas under cane near the
mills to 89,100 hectares.

Sugar cane is mainly grown in the country's Mandalay, Bago, Magway and
Sagaing divisions and Shan state.

According to official statistics, Myanmar's sugar production dropped by
12.1 percent  in 2002 against that in 2001.


----ON THE BORDER----

Associated Press   September 2, 2003
Myanmar Workers Protest Killing Of Compatriot In Thailand

MAE SOT, Thailand: --Hundreds of Myanmar migrant workers at a Thai textile
factory demonstrated Tuesday to protest the killing of a colleague and
compatriot who was allegedly also raped, witnesses said.

The body of Tha Dar Hlaing, 25, was discovered Monday, about 2 kilometers
from the Ki Found Knitting factory, a day after she was reported missing,
said Police Sgt. Maj. Sathiang Kewriang.

He said the body was taken to the morgue where it was identified by the
factory manager. The woman appeared to have been sexually assaulted,
Sathiang added.

As word of the woman's alleged rape and death spread, about 800 workers
assembled outside the factory and tried to attack the security guard, who
they said was last seen with the victim, Sathiang said.

The guard was rescued by police and was later arrested as a suspect in the
killing.

There are more than 130 factories in northern Thailand's Mae Sot area
employing Myanmar workers. Thousands of other migrants work on fruit and
vegetable plantations and flower farms. Most of them complain of
discrimination, poor working conditions and low wages.

Mae Sot, which borders Myanmar, is about 370 kilometers (230 miles)
northwest of the capital, Bangkok.

In May, six Myanmar workers were killed and their bodies burned. A Thai
village headman has been charged with their murders.

Officials estimate that about 1 million workers from other Asian
countries, mainly Myanmar, are employed as cheap labor in Thailand. More
than half of them work in agriculture, construction and fishing.


Kaladan News   September 3, 2003
BRC and UNHCR Don’t Take Responsibility If Political Refugees of Burma
Sent to Mae Sot

Mae Sot, September 03: On September 2, 2003, a press release was released
for the security of political refugees of Burma, by (BRC), which takes
care of political refugees, who are living in Bangkok, Thailand, according
to Muslim Agency for News.

In which, Burma Relief Center (BRC) mentioned that if the political
refugees of Burma were arrested by Thai police and immigration and were
sent to the IDC (jail of immigration), they may ask helps from UNHCR
through the prison leaders who are putting on with red color shirts. UNHCR
recently has opened an office in the CID jail. But, UNHCR has not facility
to provide any helps to the political refugees of Burma who were sent to
Mae Sot.

 According to a political refugee family, last week, when Thai police went
to a refugee quarter in Bangkok to inquiry the political refugees, they
asked helps from BRC and UNHCR through phone calls, but they didn’t give
any response.

 An agreement was reached between Thai and Burma governments to eject 400
Burmese nationals from Thailand to Burma every month. Therefore, for the
safety of political refugees of Burma, the BRC has released a press
release, said a BRC officer to another political refugees.

After BRC’s press release, the political refugees of Burma who are living
in Bangkok are more upsetting for the arrest of Thai police and
immigration.


----DRUGS----

Shan Herald Agency for News   September 3, 2003
Rangoon bargains with Wa: military cooperation for drug exoneration

Following last months's two clashes between Thai and Wa forces that netted
a million speed pills and 12 Wa dead by Thai authorities, Panghsang is
holding another meeting to consider Rangoon's proposal for a military
alliance in exchange for its continued defense of the latter over drug
charges, according to two separate sources.

The first source, speaking from the Wa capital, confirmed the emergency
meeting but declined to give details on the phone. The second source, a
Shan businessman close to the Wa, said the meeting was the result of the
Thai ambush on 20 August in Chiangmai's Mae Ai opposite the Wa's Mongyawn.

Rangoon had immediately retorted that several groups were operating in the
area but Thailand was bent on attaching the blame only on the Wa. Later,
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra disclosed he had received a message from
Gen Khin Nyunt Burma had arrested "a Wa drug producer of the Kokang tribe"
in connection with the 20 August incident. Third Army commander Lt-Gen
Picharnmet Muangmanee, confirming the news, added that the Wa leader had
already punished the culprits, according to Bangkok Post, 24 August 2003.

"Soon after the news of the clash broke," said the businessman, "Xiao Haw,
who is based in Rangoon, was summoned by the MI (Military Intelligence).
He was instructed to invite an authorized official from Panghsang for an
urgent meeting in Rangoon. In response, Bao Youliang was dispatched to the
capital."

Xiao Haw is the son-in-law of Bao Youxiang, the Wa supreme leader. (He
married Bao's third daughter). Bao Youliang, Mayor of Mongmau (Mongmai) is
his younger brother.

An emergency conference was called later to discuss Gen Khin Nyunt's
proposal, the details of which the source was unable to uncover.

"However, as the operation is reportedly due to start after monsoons, I
believe Rangoon is planning another attack against Yawdserk's Shan State
Army," he said.

The Wa were said to have resolved not to wage another war against
Yawdserk, following the one-month operation against him last year in
cooperation with the Burma Army. "The Wa thought they were to fight
against foreign invasion", a Wa source to S.H.A.N. earlier. "It turned out
to their chagrin that they were fighting against Shans instead. Zao
Nyi-lai (Bao's predecessor who is still widely respected) had raised
tantrums when the Wa expeditionary force returned from the Thai border."

Even so, the Wa were not too overly happy about the SSA. "They believe
that it was Yawdserk who had been furnishing reports about their drug
activities to the American and Thai authorities," he said.

9 dead Wa and 500,000 methamphetamine pills were captured on 20 August and
another 3 dead Wa and additional 500,000 pills were nabbed four days later
in Chiangmai. The incidents had soured the relations between the two
countries.


----MONEY----

Dow Jones Business News   September 2, 2003
CA, NY Pension Aides: May Sell UNOCAL Shares Over Myanmar

MANHATTAN BEACH, Calif. (Dow Jones)--California and New York state pension
funds would consider divesting their stock in UNOCAL Corp. (NYSE:UCL -
News) if that company cannot adequately justify its natural-gas venture
with Myanmar's military regime, the states' top financial officers said
Tuesday at a press conference here.

California treasurer Phil Angelides and New York state Comptroller Alan G.
Hevesi met Tuesday with UNOCAL chief financial officer Terry Dallas to ask
that the company either abandon the venture or "fully justify" why it
should continue, the officials said.

"As shareholder representatives, we are concerned because UNOCAL's stock
has performed much worse than other, similar companies," Hevesi said.
"UNOCAL's Burma operations create unnecessary risk for the company from
lawsuits, loss of investments - if the unstable regime loses power - and
damage to the company's reputation."

Myanmar is also known as Burma.

Still, divestiture would be a "last resort," Angelides said.

"The first responsibility we have to is to try to reform companies. If
reform is not possible, we will consider the next step," Angelides said.

Hevesi agreed, saying the New York State Common retirement Fund was "was
not looking to divest."

"(Divestiture) is almost an admission that we failed," Hevesi said.

Hevesi is the sole Trustee of the New York State Common Retirement Fund,
which holds more than 1.4 million shares of UNOCAL common stock.

Angelides sits on the board of the California Public Employees' Retirement
System (CalPERS) and California State Teachers' Retirement System (News -
Websites) (CalSTRS.), the nation's largest and third-largest public
pension funds, which have combined holdings of more than 1.9 million
UNOCAL shares.


PR Newswire   September 3, 2003
Unocal Says Disinvestment From Myanmar Project is Not Under Consideration
Press Release Source: Unocal Corporation

EL SEGUNDO, Calif., Sept. 3 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Unocal Corporation
(NYSE: UCL - News) today said it is not considering withdrawing from its
investment in the Yadana natural gas project in Myanmar. The company
reiterated its position following a misleading and erroneous headline in a
local newspaper. Unocal officials met Tuesday with California Treasurer
Phil Angelides and New York comptroller Alan G. Hevesi, who asked Unocal
to consider withdrawing from its investment in Myanmar. In that meeting,
Unocal Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Terry G.
Dallas said that withdrawal from the Yadana project is not under
consideration. The company did agree to take under advisement the request
by Angelides and Hevesi to provide an analysis of staying in the Yadana
project.

Unocal assured Angelides and Hevesi that Unocal has done its due diligence
in evaluating risks associated with the Yadana project. Dallas pointed out
that the project is economically sound for Unocal stockholders and
provides benefits to thousands of ordinary Burmese families in the region,
including jobs, health care, education and economic opportunities. He also
emphasized that the Yadana project provides essential supplies of natural
gas for power generation to neighboring Thailand, a key U.S. ally.

About Unocal Corporation

Unocal is one of the world's leading independent natural gas and crude oil
exploration and production companies. Unocal's principal oil and gas
activities are in North America and Asia.


Agence France Presse   September 3, 2003
Southeast Asian trade ministers hammer out free-trade plan with China

PHNOM PENH: Trade ministers from the 10-nation Association of Southeast
Asian Nations (ASEAN) were in talks Wednesday with Chinese officials to
accelerate the creation of the world's largest free trade area, officials
said.

Both sides were discussing an "early harvest" package of products to be
initially covered undre the ASEAN-China Free Trade Agreement, whose
creation was agreed on in the Cambodian capital last year during the ASEAN
leaders' summit, officials said.

The ASEAN-China FTA is to create a market of 1.7 billion consumers with a
combined gross domestic product of 2.0 trillion dollars and total trade of
1.23 trillion dollars.

It would be the biggest free trade zone of its kind in the world when it
is realized in 2010.

"The FTA is designed to attract investment in that it would not matter
much if an investor locates his factory in China, in the Philippines or
any other part of ASEAN," Philippine Trade Secretary Manuel Roxas told
AFP.

"By having an FTA, his product can enter China without really having to
locate to China, for example. This is really an effort to make ASEAN and
its members much more attractive."

ASEAN-China trade reached 55.4 billion dollars in 2001, significantly
higher than the 8.9 billion dollars a decade ago, official figures showed.

Between 1993 and 2001, two-way trade grew by an average of 25.7 percent
annually, while initial studies suggest that this would be pushed
significantly higher once the FTA is fully in place.

The aim is to have the six senior or original ASEAN members -- Brunei,
Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand -- fully
implement the FTA with China in 2010.

Newer members Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam would be given five more
years to join, officials said.

Any agreement to be reached in talks here in Phnom Penh is expected to be
transmitted to ASEAN leaders for approval when they meet for their annual
summit in Bali, Indonesia next month.


----INTERNATIONAL----

Agence France Presse   September 3, 2003
US defends information on Aung San Suu Kyi hunger strike

The United States denied Wednesday that its claim that Burmese opposition
leader Aung San Suu Kyi is on a hunger strike was based on "flimsy"
intelligence, following another fierce denial from the Yangon junta.

A senior State Department official also dismissed the notion that the
detained Nobel laureate and democracy icon had simply been taking part in
a regular period of fasting.

"It was well-considered, the information as well as the action we took,"
the official said on condition of anonymity, referring to a departmental
statement issued on Sunday announcing Aung San Suu Kyi was refusing food.

"It was not done without a lot of thought or on the basis of flimsy
information," said the official, but again declined to divulge where the
US information had come from.

Myanmar earlier reinterated its denial of the US report, which it
maintains is a ruse to detract attention from what junta leaders claim is
a project to restore "democracy" to the country formerly known as Burma.

"We have already refuted the US State Department's dubious claims on Aung
San Suu Kyi's alleged hunger strike," the junta said in a statement
Wednesday.

"It would be unrealistic and indeed naive to believe that the United
States is more interested in the well-being of the 52 million Myanmar
people," it said.

A family friend of Aung San Suu Kyi, who is being held in isolation at an
undisclosed location, told AFP he had heard she was eating meals.

"She has a habit of fasting occasionally, but I hear she is having regular
meals now," he said.

But when that theory was brought up, the senior US official said : "No. In
this case there was a departure from the norm of sufficient magnitude to
be of real concern."

US Secretary of State Colin Powell meanwhile on Wednesday renewed US
support for Aung San Suu Kyi -- but did not refer specifically to the
alleged hunger strike.

"We have consistently expressed our concern about her and the plight in
which she finds herself and we will not relent in the pressure that we
have been putting on the Burmese government," he said.

"We continue to condemn the Burmese government for the kind of action they
have taken."

Powell's statement came as influential leaders in the US Congress called
for a vigorous government effort to support Aung San Suu Kyi.

"The State Department must initiate a full court press to support Suu
Kyi," said Republican Senator Mitch McConnell.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) must have immediate
access to Suu Kyi to determine her condition and provide medical
assistance, if needed," he said in a statement.


The Guardian   September 3, 2003
Stinking shrimp story follows BAT from Burma to bin
By Terry Macalister

British American Tobacco - under fire in the UK over its refusal to
withdraw from Burma - has caused a stink in the United States because of
some mysterious seafood imports.

A shipment of shrimps with the name of BAT subsidiary Rothmans of Pall
Mall stamped all over it was impounded by the American food and drug
administration and deemed unfit for human consumption.

The world's number two cigarette maker appears to have become involved in
the unusual trade through an attempt to win foreign currency for its
controversial business in Burma, otherwise known as Myanmar. The company
is regularly under fire from human rights campaigners for basing a factory
in the country.

It has so far refused to end its links with the country, which is run by a
military dictatorship, saying it is up to the government to impose
sanctions if it wishes.

BAT has established relationships with local exporters to win foreign
currency to buy raw materials for its Rangoon plant but insisted it had no
direct connection with fish or any other kind of foodstuffs.

The federation of trade unions in Burma and the human rights group, the
Burma Campaign UK, claim to have unearthed documents which appear to show
otherwise. And the US food and drug administration website says a Rothmans
of Pall Mall Myanmar shipment of frozen peeled shrimps was refused entry
to America on the grounds that it was inedible.

"The article appears to consist in whole or in part of a filthy, putrid or
decomposed substance or be otherwise unfit for food," according to the
food and drug administration entry dated December 17 2002.

BAT said last night it was baffled by the report.

"I have no idea how our name came to be attached to the shrimp exports," a
London-based spokeswoman for the company said.

"Certainly we have never been contacted about this by the FDA."


----EDITORIALS----

Financial Times (London)   September 3, 2003
Burma's road map: Suu Kyi is putting the junta's allies to shame

After 15 long years, Burma's slow-motion political crisis may be reaching
a turning-point. The reason is not the implausible "road map" for
democracy sketched out at the weekend by the ruling military junta but the
announcement by the US State Department that Aung San Suu Kyi, the
detained campaigner for democracy, has begun a hunger strike.

The vague offer of elections by Gen Khin Nyunt, recently appointed prime
minister in a reshuffle, should be regarded with scepticism. He did not
mention a timetable or the chance of negotiations with Ms Suu Kyi. Nor did
he recall that her National League for Democracy convincingly won the 1990
election but was robbed of power by the generals.

Since then Ms Suu Kyi has spent much of her life under house arrest, while
the junta has made clumsy and unsuccessful attempts to convert itself into
an electable party and create a constitution - with reserved parliamentary
seats for soldiers - that would ensure its victory at the polls. Gen Khin
Nyunt's offer is more of the same.

The only people to give a wholehearted welcome to the "road map" are
Thaksin Shinawatra, the populist prime minister of Thailand, and the
leaders of China, who place more weight on Burma's strategic importance
than on the fate of the Burmese people.

A much more serious issue is Ms Suu Kyi's reported hunger strike.
Washington says it is "deeply concerned" about her health and European and
some Asian governments have renewed calls for her release. The junta has
dismissed the US statement as "groundless" but if it is true, the Burmese
generals and their Asian allies should be very worried indeed.

Ms Suu Kyi, a winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, is a woman of extraordinary
courage and forbearance. Even when her British husband lay dying, she
sacrificed family life and remained in Burma for the sake of her country.
In the face of provocation from the regime she has consistently eschewed
violence. It is not too much to compare her with India's Mahatma Gandhi,
who staged hunger strikes in the struggle for independence from Britain
and for the cause of non-violence.

The US and Europe have imposed economic sanctions on Burma. Yet Asia has
shrugged off the outrage in its midst. Malaysia, whose prime minister
Mahathir Mohamad was snubbed in his attempt to meet Ms Suu Kyi last year,
has come closest to taking a stand by raising the possibility of expelling
Burma from the Association of South East Asian Nations. Asean, however,
works by consensus and few people think it will happen.

If the hunger strike turns out to be real, Ms Suu Kyi may not restore
Burmese democracy but she will expose the moral emptiness of some of
Asia's miracle economies. For their own sake, Asean members should put
some muscle into their demands for her release.


ABS-CBN.com, Philippines   September 2, 2003
Reminder

What is the sound of one person starving? Enough to make dictators tremble
and the world stand up in collective outrage. The Rangoon junta is on the
defensive again, trying to obfuscate the latest revelation of Aung San Suu
Kyi’s hunger strike. While saying she’s not on a hunger strike, the junta
leaders immediately retort that they have millions of her countrymen to
worry about.

But it’s precisely those millions that they’re worried about, because the
millions are in support of the woman who should have been the leader of
Burma a decade ago. Whatever the junta says or does, the word is out, and
if the world is concerned, what more the Burmese.

At a time when Filipinos have become unconcerned about the fate of their
democracy, when a dangerous moral relativism has set in even among the
institutions -- such as the media -- that are the pillars of a democratic
way of life, it is well to remember that there are those willing to die
for what we take for granted.

It is not proclaiming you will die for something that has meaning; it is
actually putting yourself in harm’s way. An Aung San Suu Kyi, starving
herself for freedom in an unknown cell, for a people who may or may not
know she is suffering, in defiance of a regime armed to the teeth: how can
this compare to speeches made in a hotel by soldiers in the pay of
politicians?

Yet it was not so long ago that Filipinos did the same, in the face of a
home-grown tyranny that responded to resistance much in the same way the
Marcos dictatorship did.

The Burmese are taking a page from the book Filipinos wrote. This should
serve as a sobering reminder that what we take for granted, even enjoy, is
no laughing -- or swooning -- matter to those who still dream of having
what we seem no longer inclined to defend.

Make no mistake about it: democracy is in danger in this country, though
it may be that its greatest enemy is itself. True courage, even idealism,
is not a willingness to break the rules, it is the willingness to make
them work. And the ability to draw the line separating those who realize
this and those who would use freedom to foster tyranny.


The Hindu   September 3, 2003
Suu Kyi’s Protest Fast Poses a Challenge to ASEAN Leaders
By P. S. Suryanarayana

With the United States breaking the news that Myanmar's celebrated
democracy campaigner, Aung San Suu Kyi, has begun a "hunger strike'' to
protest against her detention by the military rulers in Yangon, the
Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) finds itself with a new
political challenge concerning one of its members.

Indonesia, the largest member of the ASEAN, is to host the association's
next annual summit in Bali next month. From the ASEAN's perspective, the
question is how far Ms. Suu Kyi's fast against her detention can be
addressed by the "new political policy'' that Myanmar's new Prime
Minister, Khin Nyunt, announced on August 30, the day that marked three
months of her detention. Gen. Khin Nyunt was appointed Prime Minister only
on August 25 in what was the 14th reshuffle of the military Government in
Yangon since the formal renaming of the old State Law and Order
Restoration Council (SLORC) as the State Peace and Development Council
(SPDC) in November 1997. Both the SLORC and the SPDC are military outfits.
Gen. Khin Nyunt's appointment follows the SPDC's supreme leader, Senior
General Than Shwe's decision to shed the prime ministership as one of his
portfolios. Given that Myanmar is still regarded as a country with little
or no political transparency, it is not clear within the ASEAN circles as
to whether Ms. Suu Kyi had begun her "hunger strike'' (as monitored by the
U.S.) before Gen. Khin Nyunt outlined a plan for political change without
any time-table.

While regional diplomats and analysts do not discern anything dramatically
new about the latest plan, its significance is traced to the two factors
that Myanmar's new Prime Minister is a moderate within the ruling junta
and that the ASEAN's own comfort level in its collective equation with
Yangon as a constituent member has already begun to come under strain
following Ms. Suu Kyi's latest arrest.

Silent on her detention as also about her relevance to a planned future
political road map for democracy in Myanmar, Gen. Khin Nyunt's plan is
based on the central theme of summoning a long-suspended national
convention, which last met in March 1996. It was not specified whether the
convention, which was constituted in January 1993, would be reconstituted.

Deprived of the right to form a government on the basis of an electoral
victory in 1990, Ms. Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy dissociated
itself from the national convention in November 1995.

By then, it became abundantly obvious that the convention was an arguably
"constitutional" device to annul the results of the 1990 democratic
elections. Now, related to the re-summoning of the convention are the
other aspects of Gen. Khin Nyunt's seven-point roadmap for democracy.

These proposals are: the convention is to lay down principles for a new
constitution, a new basic statute may then be drafted, a referendum is
planned to be held on such a draft, a general election on a "free and
fair'' basis is also considered a possibility, a new Parliament can be
convened by the people's representatives so elected and, finally, a fresh
government could emerge from such an elected Parliament at some
unspecified point in the future.


Mizzima News   September 3 , 2003
Burma: The SPDC's Road Map is Nothing More Than Political Trickery
The regime is using its fake national convention as a tool of creating a
new constitution ensuring military dominance
By Zin Linn

Believe it or not, the Burmese military junta also has a ready-made
seven-point political '' Road Map '' as they are calling it a roadmap
towards democracy. The junta's newly-appointed Prime Minister, General
Khin Nyunt, said on 30 August, the military regime would restart a
national convention to draw up a new constitution which would lead to a
free and fair election. It's a wonder that without knowing the background
context of the national convention manipulated by the military junta,
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra expressed confidence in the SPDC's
``road map'' for national reconciliation, on 31 August. He said Rangoon's
roadmap was similar to what Thailand had presented to Myanmar's Foreign
Minister Win Aung in Bangkok last month, but did not elaborate on whether
the Thai version was now shelved.

Although it was General Khin Nyunt's first major policy speech as a new
premier, he gave no timetable for releasing the opposition leader Aung San
Suu Kyi, nor any guarantee that the military was ready to give up power
and go back to barrack.

Let's keep thinking back to the day or May 15 in 1992, Major General Khin
Nyunt, the then First Secretary of SLORC and head of military
intelligence, publicly explained the nature of martial law, '' I would
like to explain about martial law according to the records that I have
studied . . . martial law is neither more or less than the will of the
general who commands the army; in fact martial law means no law at all.''
Later Senior General Saw Maung, the then SLORC Chairman, reaffirmed and
repeated this view of what the law means in Burma, asserting that ''
martial law means the will of the general. He can do anything he wishes to
do.''

That's the ways of practising and interpretation of the law by the
military dictators. That means the junta was ruling Burma by military
decree, issuing repressive new orders aimed particularly at restricting
all democratic rights especially freedom of expression and freedom of
assembly throughout the country that challenged the "will of the general."
 For instance, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi was detained repeatedly under the
"will of the general" or the 1975 Law to Safeguard the State Against the
Dangers of Those Desiring to Cause Subversive Acts. The regime amended the
1975 law in August 1991 to allow administrative detention without trial
for up to five years for persons considered to endanger "the peace of most
citizens or the security of the state and the sovereignty of the state."
This repressive law empowered the military regime to hold Aung San Suu Kyi
and a lot of political dissidents without charge or trial again and again.

Let's keep thinking back to the day or November 27 in 1995, NLD Chairman U
Aung Shwe sent a letter addressed to U Aung Toe, Chairman of National
Convention Convening Committee, asking to discuss with the NLD their views
on the National Convention and again on 28 November another letter was
sent asking for a response to their request. On the same day the NLD sent
its third letter saying that the NLD would not attend a National
Convention that is not based on democratic principles.  In this letter,
the NLD proposed that the National Convention Convening Committee should
abolish all Convention rules and regulations that are not democratic, to
allow NLD to elect its new representatives to the National Convention and
to work for the holding of dialogue in order to work on these issues.

According to the state-owned Burmese Broadcasting Service (BBS) news, the
NLD is trying to destroy the benefits of the on-going National Convention
with destructive means. It is also trying to convene a different national
convention in which they can direct the representatives to work only for
their party's benefit.

After the NLD did not get a response from the authorities, they stepped up
their campaign in order to destroy the National Convention. Their actions
and intentions are not to work for the national interest of Burma.  The
National Convention Convening Committee will never give up its noble
duties to the nation.  The National Convention will be going on as
scheduled, based on the success that the National Convention has achieved,
with the participation of other groups even without the participation of
NLD representatives, the BBS news said.

But due to the NLD General-Secretary Aung San Suu Kyi's announcement, her
party declared a boycott on Nov 29 1995, criticising the convention, which
is under the junta's guidelines for a pro-military constitution, is
completely against democratic practice. Political analysts in Burma and
abroad have branded the convention as a sham and it's also designed to
ensure military position at the top of the power institutions.

The regime is using its fake national convention as a tool of drafting a
new constitution ensuring military quotas in the parliament. Avoiding the
result of the 1990 elections, the junta issued the No. 1/90 Declaration.
The Article 20 of which confined the rights of elected members of
parliament solely to draft a new constitution for the nation. But the
junta found that it was insufficient to curb the oppositions and it
refused to follow its own 1/90 rule and then allowing only 99 out of the
485 elected representatives or MPs to participate in the so-called
national convention process. Out of those 99 MPs, only eighty-six were NLD
MPs. The rest of 702 delegates were hand-picked by the junta. Upon her
release from house arrest, Aung San Suu Kyi denounced the convention as a
sham and farce.

She went on to enumerate its shortcomings on November 22, 1995, pointing
out that the elected representatives of the people constitute only 15.24
percent of the whole delegates and thus are permanently in the minority.
Neither the objective of the convention nor its working procedures were
drawn up in consultation with delegates. Papers to be represented at the
convention are censored and have to be corrected in accordance with the
wishes of the authorities.  Decisions are laid down before an issue has
been fully discussed.

For that reasons, the pro-military constitutional convention is actually a
latest and crooked method used by the generals to ensure the military
domination upon the future political arena in Burma. That's why in late
1995, after the Nobel peace laureate's first period under house arrest,
the NLD refused to join a new session of the national convention to draft
the constitution. The junta shortly afterwards suspended the convention,
which the NLD had rejected as an undemocratic forum.

So, it is obvious, the junta's newly-appointed Prime Minister, General
Khin Nyunt's ready-made seven-point political '' Road Map '' is old wine
with the same old bottle. According to an important  statement issued by
the NLD Central Executive Committee on 04 January, on the occasion of the
country’s Independence Day,  prior to the holding of substantial political
talks with exchange of ideas on equal terms between the NLD and the SPDC
the National League for Democracy  will not accept the holding of another
election without the authorities first honoring the results of the 1990
free and fair elections and abiding by the annual and continuous
resolutions of the United Nations General Assembly calling on the SPDC to
honor the will of the people.

On the subject of a National Convention, we recall that on 18/10/1990
Secretary 1 of the then State Law and Order Restoration Council, now State
Peace and Development Council, made the following statement at the Magwe
Division, Kyunchaung Fertilizer Plant opening ceremony.

“It is the responsibility of political parties and the successful
candidates of the elections to convene a National Convention. SLORC will
play an assisting role only”

Since nothing has changed about the National Convention through democratic
means the NLD will not be participating in the process, the statement
says.

In her 'LETTERS TO A DICTATOR' (published: July, 1997) Aung San Suu Kyi
says,'' The important point is that the NLD has repeatedly written to the
SLORC asking for a dialogue. The party has done this because it believes
that the only way to solve the current problems, including those of the
National Convention is through a substantial dialogue. We strongly believe
that there is no other way.''

In conclusion, the road map to nowhere announced recently by General Khin
Nyunt to re-convene the national convention, draft a constitution, and
hold elections following a national referendum is nothing more than a
political trickery to ease mounting international pressure and prolong
military rule. Recently, Prime Minister of the National Coalition
Government of the Union of Burma Dr Sein Win also said, " We cannot accept
any political process which excludes the role of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and
the NLD.  A common course of action has to be sought through a tripartite
dialogue.  SPDC has neither the legitimacy nor the support of the people
to dictate or impose a political process, particularly on a political
party like the NLD which has the mandate of the people through the 1990
elections.''

In Rangoon, Burmese journalists are predicting that the new SPDC Prime
Minister's Road Map may be the last attempt throwing the nation into an
abysmal gorge of crisis.


----STATEMENTS----

Press Release of Senator McConnell  September 3, 2003
Senator Mitch McConnell Calls On State Department To Initiate Full Court
Press In Support Of Aung San Suu Kyi

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) today issued the
following statement calling on the State Peace and Development Council to
release Aung San Suu Kyi:

“The State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) is responsible for the
health and welfare of Burmese democracy leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. Her
detention – and that of her fellow democrats – continues to be a grave
concern to the U.S. Congress. She and all prisoners of conscience in Burma
should be immediately and unconditionally released. The International
Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) must have immediate access to Suu Kyi to
determine her condition and provide medical assistance, if needed.

“The State Department must initiate a full court press to support Suu Kyi.
Secretary Powell must make clear to the SPDC – and ASEAN member states,
China, Japan, India, as well as our partners in the European Union – that
Suu Kyi’s health and welfare is a top priority of the United States.

“To this end, the State Department must engage Burmese diplomats
throughout the region, and a strong message in support of freedom in Burma
must be delivered.”


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