BurmaNet News, Nov 25, 2003

[editor at burmanet.org]

Nov 25, 2003 Issue # 2376
www.burmanet.org



INSIDE BURMA
BBC Monitor: Another opposition party member freed from house arrest
Irrawaddy: The National Convention
BBC Monitor: Burma's union solidarity association continues annual general
meeting
Xinhua: Myanmar makes achievements in health sector

ON THE BORDER
Narinjara: No Forced Labour, Please: The Burmese Border Authority Request
the Local
Authorities

MONEY
Salai Kipp: Myanmar denounces U.S. Treasury Department action against banking

REGIONAL
AFP: Thai defence minister to lead high-level delegation to Myanmar

OPINION / OTHER
Nation: Wa Neighbours Settling In
SCMP: Junta in Yangon sets prisoners free but wins no praise;
Pro-democracy groups dismiss release of opposition leaders as 'window
dressing'

PRESS RELEASE
Situation of Burmese Refugees Worsens After India Detained 44 Burmese
Following
Police Attacks



INSIDE BURMA
_____________________________________

Nov 25,  BBC Monitor
Another opposition party member freed from house arrest

It has been learned that the release today of another NLD (National League
for Democracy) leader together with the release yesterday of four, kept
under house arrest since the 30 May Tabayin incident, has brought the
total number of NLD leaders released by the SPDC (State Peace and
Development Council) to five. NLD Central Executive Committee members U
Than Tun, U Hla Pe, U Soe Myint and U Nyunt Wei were released yesterday
while U Lun Tin was freed today. Although DVB ((Democratic Voice of Burma,
this radio station) made several attempts to contact the freed NLD CEC
members, telephone lines remain severed. U Nyan Win, elected
representative of Paung Township Constituency-1, who met U Lun Tin this
afternoon, said the following to DVB: (begin recording)

(U Nyan Win) I personally met U Lun Tin this afternoon at 1300 (local
time). I learnt just now that the other four met with NLD members at U
Than Tun's residence.

(DVB correspondent) How is U Lun Tin? Is he all right?

(U Nyan Win) He seems healthy but, because of his age, he is physically a
bit pulled down - but mentally all right.

(DVB correspondent) Did you discuss the prevailing situation in your
meeting with U Lun Tin?

(U Nyan Win) Well, regarding the prevailing situation, they believed that
there should be an independent inquiry into the Tabayin incident. The
NLD's opinion from the very beginning is that the results of the 1990
general election should be honoured and the elected representatives should
take the leading role in drawing up a new state constitution. Both sides
should hold talks and discuss the matter. That is the NLD's original
policy. U Lun Tin said they are standing by this policy. (Passage omitted)

Source: Democratic Voice of Burma, Oslo, in Burmese 1430 gmt 24 Nov 03
___________________________________
Nov 25, Irrawaddy
The National Convention

The Irrawaddy presents a chronology of the developments and setbacks in
Burma’s National Convention since 1992.

April 24, 1992—The junta announces that within six months it will organize
a "National Convention" to draft a new constitution.

May 28, 1992—A Steering Committee is formed to plan the Convention. The
committee includes 14 junta officials and 28 people from seven different
political parties. It is chaired by Rangoon Military Commander Lt-Gen Myo
Nyunt.

June 23, 1992—The Steering Committee meets for the first time. Diplomats
describe the meeting as "window dressing."

July 10, 1992—The National Convention’s 702 delegates are named. Only 99
of the elected Members of Parliament are invited to attend. Seventy
percent of the delegates are township level officials handpicked by the
military.

Nov 5, 1992—The junta announces that the National Convention will begin
Jan 9, 1993.

Jan 9, 1993—The National Convention opens, but is suspended after two
days. Delegates are alarmed to find the fist six principles have already
been laid down.

Feb 1, 1993—The Convention meets again.

April 1993—One of the elected delegates, Khun Marko Ban, flees to Thailand
and accuses the military of imposing its will on Convention participants.

April 7, 1993—Meetings are suspended after ethnic minority delegates argue
against measures to centralize the political structure. According to
reports in the state-run press, delegates have agreed to the first 15
chapters of the draft constitution.

June 7, 1993—The National Convention opens again. Myo Nyunt says the new
constitution must guarantee a leading role for the military in national
politics.

Sept 16, 1993—The Convention is suspended again, as ethnic minority
representatives continue to push for a federal system. According to
official reports, delegates have agreed to another 104 principles for the
draft constitution.

Oct 15, 1993—Twelve political activists are arrested for speaking out
about the National Convention. In 1994, the military charges another man,
Dr Aung Khin Sint, an NLD MP, for distributing leaflets critical of the
Convention. He later received a 20-year prison term.

Jan 18 to April 9, 1994—Delegates draw up specific chapters on the
structure of the state and the head of state. Despite opposition from many
of the elected representatives, the convention approves a presidential
rather than a parliamentary system. According to the approved draft, the
president of Burma must have been a continuous resident for more than 20
years, have political, administrative, military and economic experience
and not have a spouse or children who are citizens of another country.
Such requirements eliminate opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi as a
candidate.

May 1994—Another elected representative, Daniel Aung, flees. He says
delegates are frustrated and that the military is silencing independent
action.

Sept 2, 1994—Sessions reconvene. Delegates discuss self-administered
areas, the legislature, the executive branch and the judiciary. The
Convention approves measures insisting that at least a third of the seats
in any new parliament go to the military.

July 10, 1995—Suu Kyi is released from house arrest.

Nov 28, 1995—The National League for Democracy (NLD) requests a review of
the Convention’s working procedures. Specifically, NLD delegates want to
repeal orders which censor debate and allow for criminal punishment of
those who speak against the military during the Convention. Authorities
deny the request and the 86 delegates from the NLD boycott the meetings
for two days.

Nov 29, 1995—The junta expels all of the NLD delegates. The number of MPs
elected in 1990 now make up less than three percent of all delegates.

Dec 23, 1995—The Convention acknowledges and then rejects a Shan
Nationalities League for Democracy proposal for the new constitution to be
based on the principle of sovereignty resting with the people.

March 25, 1996—The NLD sends the military another request asking for a
parliamentary assembly to be convened.

March 31, 1996—The Burmese military adjourns the National Convention.

Aug 30, 2003—Burma’s new Prime Minister Gen Khin Nyunt announces a
seven-point road map to democracy. The first step is the resumption of the
National Convention, but no timeframe or details on delegates is provided.

Sept 22, 2003—The military organizes mass rallies to support the National
Convention and road map.

Sept 24, 2003—Representatives from two ceasefire groups in Kachin State
take part in a demonstration to support the road map. The Kachin
Independence Organization (KIO) and New Democratic Army-Kachin (NDA-K)
both agree to take part in the Convention.

Oct 22, 2003—Three more ceasefire groups say they will send delegates to
the resumed National Convention, but stipulate several conditions. The
United Wa State Army, the Shan State Army (North) and the National
Democratic Alliance Army, all from Shan State, demand freedom to meet with
other ethnic leaders, free choice of delegates, free debate and an
assurance that the convention will "lay down democratic principles."

Nov 10, 2003—UN Secretary General Kofi Annan criticizes Burma’s road map.
Several groups, including the United Nationalities Alliance, the Karen
National Union and the Committee for Representing the People’s Parliament,
also express their reservations about the military’s plan to restart the
National Convention.
___________________________________

Nov 25, BBC Monitor
Burma's union solidarity association continues annual general meeting

The second-day session of the Annual General Meeting of the Union
Solidarity and Development Association (USDA) continued at Pyidaungsu Hall
of the association's central training school in Hmawbi township at 0730
(local time) on 20 November.

The second session was attended by Lt-Gen Soe Win, State Peace and
Development Council (SPDC) secretary-1 and member of the USDA panel of
patrons; U Htay Oo, USDA secretary-general; secretariat members; Central
Executive Committee (CEC) members; and USDA representatives from states,
divisions, districts and townships.

At the meeting, U Kyaw San (information minister), member of the USDA
Secretariat, presided over the session together with CEC members U Khin
Maung (deputy agriculture and irrigation minister) and Thura U Aung Ko
(deputy religious affairs minister).

The executive of the West Pegu Division of USDA, Daw May Sanda Tun, and
Karen State USDA member Daw Nan May The Su Nyein, acted as master and
co-master of ceremonies. (Passage omitted on opening ceremony)

Next, the implementation of future tasks by USDAs in respective states and
divisions during the year was discussed. (Passage omitted)

At 0845, the findings of the USDA meeting held on 19 November were submitted.

First, U Kyaw Aung Moe, executive of the South Okkalapa Township USDA,
reported on organizational matters. (Passage omitted) He said the
association was established on 15 September 1993 and was now more than 10
years old. The association carried out organizational tasks in Kachin
State, Tenasserim Division, Rakhine State and Shan State North. He said he
welcomed the association's capability of improving organization and
stability in the respective regions. Members of the Panel of Patrons and
the CEC made 1,283 organizational trips to the basic level from July 2002
to September 2003. During their field trips to the basic level they
carried out the organizational matters of the association by implementing
the five rural development tasks and agricultural development tasks. He
said that, on behalf of the association, he took pride in their efforts
and thanked them. He added that it is the proof of the noble and correct
deeds of the association. Most significant is the holding of mass rallies
at 17 locations in support of the prime minister's speech concerning the
state's seven-point policy programme in states and divisions from 20
September to 19 October under the leadership of the association. As a
fruitful result, regarding the mass rallies on the seven-point policy
programme, the dialogue partners of Myanmar (Burma) such as the People's
Republic of China and South Korea welcomed and supported the future policy
programme at the ASEAN Summit held in October 2003 in Bali, Indonesia. In
conclusion, he suggested that, regarding state matters, the association
should hold mass rallies whenever important and appropriate.

Next, Daw Su Su Lwin, executive of the Kawthaung District USDA, Tenasserim
Division, reported on matters in the management sector. (Passage omitted)

She said books and treatises were distributed to association members for
the achievement of knowledge; exam-oriented CD-ROMs were put on sale to
support basic education students in matriculation examinations, and lumber
was distributed to primary schools to repair school furniture in the
states and divisions. She said such support contributed a lot to the basic
level's organizational activities. Therefore, she suggested the
continuation of such assistance and support in the future.

Regarding visits by foreign goodwill delegations to the association, she
said three delegations from the PRC, four from Japan, and one from Cuba
had visited the association. She suggested making, on invitation, such
goodwill visits to ASEAN member countries and other friendly nations. With
the aims of providing international experience to youth members of the
association and promoting friendship between the association and its
foreign counterparts, four delegations of the association paid goodwill
visits to the PRC, two delegations each visited Japan and ASEAN member
countries, and one delegation made a five-country tour of Cambodia, Laos,
Vietnam, Thailand and the PRC. She proposed sending youth member
delegations on such trips, especially to ASEAN and other friendly
countries. In conclusion, she quoted the guidance of Sr-Gen Than Shwe,
patron of the USDA, given at the 2002 USDA Annual General Meeting: he said
that USDA members should be loyal to the mother country; possess strength
and diligence and show constant vigilance so as to overcome any
difficulties; undertake development tasks with added momentum;
successfully implement the development tasks at designated development
zones; successfully implement economic plans and rural development tasks;
and participate in human resources development tasks being carried out by
the state. She urged the members to uphold the guidance firmly and to
undertake organizational tasks and future tasks together with the local
people and social organizations in their respective regions.

Afterward, U Win Thein, member of Thabaung Township USDA, reported on
matters related to the economic sector. (Passage omitted) He said economic
proposals submitted to the 2003 annual general meeting were based on the
association's five sectors - organizational, management, economic, social
and cultural, and education. Moreover, it is based on carrying out
smoothly the association's tasks in public assistance, rural development
and financial self-reliance, which is the fundamental principle of the
association. He said, based on self-reliance, finance is noble and ensures
perpetual existence. Therefore, the association's fund is raised by the
contribution of the labour of the members. As the country's economy is
based on agriculture, it is encouraging to see the implementation of
agriculture, livestock breeding and the distribution of fertilizer by
respective work committees under the leading economic supervisory
committee of the CEC. He suggested further extension of such undertakings
in the coming year. Moreover, he suggested providing fertilizer and seeds
in the border areas for the association's successful organizational
measure. In conclusion, he thanked the CEC of the USDA on behalf of the
representatives for presenting 304m kyats (Burmese currency unit) to state
and division USDAs. He urged the continuation of such support so as to
contribute to the successful implementation of rural development tasks.

Next, U Soe Nyunt Shwe, secretary of Yawnghwe Township USDA, reported on
social and cultural matters. (Passage omitted) He said it was encouraging
to see the association holding training courses in national culture and
moral character, especially the training courses held in Irrawaddy
Division, Mandalay Division, Pegu Division East and Yangon (Rangoon)
Division. He said, according to statistics, the number of courses held in
some states and divisions was still low. However, it is encouraging to
know from the central committee's report that training courses were able
to held throughout the country. He suggested opening to a fuller extent
the national races literature and culture training courses for development
of national spirit and love for one's culture. The USDA had been able to
open training courses to produce qualified youths with the aim of
nurturing human resources that are essential for the development of the
nation. Computer courses, English language courses and other various
courses had been conducted. USDA members must understand that it is
essential for youth to have computer and language skills in the present
all-round development age. Only then will the association be able to
nurture highly qualified youth and overcome the challenges of the
millennium and be able to stand on par with the developed nations of the
world.

Regarding sports, literature and arts, he said the association has
conducted various sports courses systematically. It is significant that
the USDA soccer championships were held up to the village-tract level. He
said it is encouraging to see the revitalization of Myanmar football.
Regarding literacy, he said it is encouraging to see the increased opening
of libraries. In conclusion, he suggested establishing e-libraries in
order to catch up with the times.

Next, Daw Khin Hlaing Myint, executive of Wundwin Township, Mandalay
Division, reported on matters related to education. (Passage omitted)

She said that, with the aim of disseminating the policies and principles
of the association among the members and the people, books were published
by the association's educational group. She suggested publishing and
including manuscripts that inspire union spirit and patriotism in
publications, and producing VCDs and tapes of perpetual union songs that
inspire nationalistic spirit. She added the necessity of giving guidance
in holding literacy talks, paper-reading sessions, and cartoon, painting,
poster and poem contests. She said good articles from the books, journals,
periodicals and magazines published by the USDA's education group should
be translated into the languages of the national races. If this could be
done, it will contribute to the flourishing of union spirit among the
national races in the border areas. She said she welcomed and honoured the
fact that the books on mass rallies held by the USDA to support the prime
minister's speech on the state's seven-point future policy and the 2003
mass rallies of the states and divisions had already been published, and
that the records of the Pagan mass rally had been compiled. In conclusion,
she said that they are the country's prominent record books in
transforming national politics and that they should be taken as historical
landmarks. She added that they are also the historic activities of the
USDA.

Afterward, U Myo, secretary of Pyay (Prome) Township USDA, Pegu Division
West, took part in discussions on cooperation for successful
implementation of the state's seven-point future programme. (Passage
omitted)

He said the government had striven with all-out efforts for the emergence
of a new, peaceful, modern and developed nation. In doing so, the
government had acted according to our three main national causes, the 12
political, economic and social objectives, the four people's desires, and
the six resolutions of the people for achievement of development in
respective sectors. At a time when the government could bring about the
development in momentum, endeavours for national reconsolidation have been
implemented step by step. Thus, at present, 17 national races' armed
groups have entered the legal fold and are working hand in hand with the
government for the development of the state.

Based on the already-achieved good foundations in political, economic and
social sectors, Prime Minister Gen Khin Nyunt, on 30 August 2003,
clarified the state's seven-point future programme in accordance with the
people's desire to shape the country into a disciplined and democratic
nation. The seven-point policy programme laid out by the government with
far-sightedness is very significant and important for the state and the
people. Therefore, it is necessary to participate actively with might and
main for its successful implementation. The association has already
organized mass rallies in 17 places in the states and divisions for the
public to realize clearly the seven-point policy programme. After these
mass rallies, the Pagan mass rally was held in the Pagan archaeological
zone in Mandalay Division on 21 October to pass the resolutions as decided
by the people from respective states and divisions, on successful
implementation of the state's future seven-point policy programme.
Representatives of the people from the whole country and local people
attended the occasion to make decisions, and released the declaration of
the Pagan mass rally. Therefore, we are to act step by step for the
successful implementation of the seven-point policy programme.

Then the meeting stopped for a while.

Later, at 1000, the meeting continued. The Central Executive Committee
responded to the reports presented by the respective sectors. USDA
Secretary U Thaung (science and technology minister) responded on
organizational matters; USDA CEC member U Than Shwe (from the Prime
Minister's Office) responded on management matters; USDA CEC member U Soe
Tha (national planning and economic development minister) responded on
economic matters; member of the USDA Secretariat U Tin Htut (electric
power minister) responded on social and cultural matters; and USDA CEC
member U Tin Hlaing (home affairs minister) responded on educational
matters.

Then, on the second day, the USDA Annual General Meeting came to an end at
1045.

Source: TV Myanmar, Rangoon, in Burmese 1330 gmt 23 Nov 03
___________________________________
Nov 25, Xinhua
Myanmar makes achievements in health sector

Myanmar has established a number of institutes for medical education to
boost the development of the health sector.

According to a report of Tuesday's official newspaper The New Light of
Myanmar, the country has set up four institutes of medicines and two
institutes of dental medicine, up from three and one respectively in 1988.
Besides, seven medicine-related universities and one traditional medicine
university have so far been opened.

The report also said since 1988, the government has spent over 70 million
US dollars in the development of the health sector. The expenditure
included 21.7 million dollars used for supply of hospital equipment and
promotion of education on health.

According to statistics of the Ministry of Health, in the medical
education sector, the country has produced 4,302 more doctors since 1988,
bringing the total number of doctors serving in the country to 16,570 at
present with every 3,162 people having a doctor. The number of nurses went
to more than 12,800 with every 4,093 people for a nurse.

Meanwhile, the number of hospitals in health care services in Myanmar has
increased to 757 now from 617 in 1988. In remote border areas, there has
been 52 hospitals, 82 dispensaries and 70 rural health centers opened now,
up from only eight hospitals and six dispensaries in the areas in 1988.

In the medical treatment sector, the ministry claimed to have successfully
conducted some surgical operations such as pen heart surgery and kidney
transplant, separation of conjoined twins and hand micro surgery.


ON THE BORDER
_____________________________________

Nov 25, Narinjara
No Forced Labour, Please: The Burmese Border Authority Request the Local
Authorities

Maung Daw, November 25:  Since there have been reports of forced labour in
Maung Daw and Bu Thee Daung Townships by the local authorities, the
Burmese Border Authority Nasaka located in Kyi Gan Byan, Maung Daw issued
a request to the local authorities of Nasaka to stop the use of forced
labour on 14 November, a town police official told our correspondent.

The request came after an UNHCR official complained to the Nasaka area No
(9) Regional commander, Major Ran Naing Soe.  The complaint outlined that
the local military had been exploiting adolescents and students from the
region through forced labour.

The request urged the troops not to use the local population as forced
labour, and if they must use the people for their labour paying fee, that
a photographic record should be kept of these matters.  The local troops
must also explain to other troops passing through their areas, not to make
use of forced labour.

Throughout the Arakan state, the local authority uses civilians to build 
the barracks, roads, transportation vehicles (including military
hardware), and tilling the military-owned rice paddies.

It was learnt from local headman that the local Nasaka area No (9), based
in Taung Ba Zar Village, Bu The Daung Township, use high school students
for forced labour.


MONEY
_____________________________________

Nov 23, Salai Kipp
Myanmar denounces U.S. Treasury Department action against banking

Myanmar's military government on Friday denounced U.S. government
sanctions against its banking industry, saying any financial sector
problems were partly the fault of developed nations that failed to provide
aid.

The U.S. Treasury Department on Wednesday designated Myanmar and two of
its private commercial banks as being of ``primary money-laundering
concern,'' and announced plans to prohibit U.S. financial institutions
from doing business with the two.

The action against the two banks represented the first time the U.S.
Treasury Department used a section of the USA Patriot Act against specific
foreign financial institutions, it said.

Instead of sharing wealth and experience, developed nations ``are heavily
hampering the countries of peaceful evolution, like Myanmar, by their
constantly negative attitude, irresponsible actions and unrealistic
expectations,'' Myanmar's government said in a statement.

The United States has long been a leading critic of Myanmar's military
regime for its poor human rights record, and its failure to hand over
power to a democratically elected government. It bans aid to the
government and strictly limits trade with the country.

``The U.S. government has been criticizing and condemning almost every
institution in existence in Myanmar, and now is the time and the turn for
Myanmar financial institutions to be accused of wrong doing,'' the
statement said.

The Treasury Department said its action against Myanmar, also known as
Burma, ``is the result of its failure to remedy serious deficiencies in
its anti-money laundering system.''

It also announced plans to impose a ban on U.S. financial institutions
having correspondent accounts with all Myanmar banks, allowing exemptions
in certain cases.

However, no exemptions would be allowed for two banks _ the Myanmar
Mayflower Bank and the Asia Wealth Bank _ accused of being tied to
narcotics traffickers.

The USA Patriot Act was previously employed against two countries, the
Ukraine and Nauru, but not against specific financial institutions, the
Treasury Department said. The wide-ranging Patriot Act was passed to fight
terrorism after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.

The two Myanmar banks are not accused of having ties to terrorists.

The Treasury Department did not specify when the sanctions might go into
effect, but said they were consistent with calls earlier this month by the
Financial Action Task Force, an international anti-money laundering
organization, for members to take measures against Myanmar.

The Treasury Department said it would continue to work with Myanmar to
help implement an anti-money laundering system there.

However, it acknowledged that Myanmar in June 2002 enacted an anti-money
laundering law that ``purportedly'' addresses some of the problems.


REGIONAL
_____________________________________

Nov 25, AFP
Thai defence minister to lead high-level delegation to Myanmar

Thai Defence Minister Thamarak Issaranggura Na Ayutthaya will lead a
high-level military delegation on a three-day visit to Myanmar this week,
officials said Tuesday.

The group which departs Wednesday includes Supreme Commander General
Somthat Attanand, Army Commander General Chaiyasith Shinawatra, Navy
Commander Admiral Chompol Pachusanon, and Air Force chief Air Chief
Marshal Kongsak Vantana.

"The purpose of the visit is to strengthen cordial relations with
Myanmar's military and high-ranking government figures," ministry
spokesman Major General Palanggoon Klaharn said.

During the visit they are due to meet with Myanmar's leader Senior General
Than Shwe and Prime Minister General Khin Nyunt.

On the agenda will be joint efforts to supress drug trafficking along
their border as well as demarcation and patrolling of the frontier.


OPINION / OTHER
_____________________________________

Nov 25, Nation
Wa Neighbours Settling In

Thai journalists recently got a rare glimpse of the bustling growth in the
United Wa State Army’s settlement in the hills of Mong Yawn, across the
border from Chiang Mai's Mae Ai district

Cradling assault rifles, three young soldiers sit at a guard post watching
convoys of trucks hauling goods and people back and forth between Mong
Yawn and the Burmese border town of Tachilek just four kilometers away.

The young men are the first contact for outsiders with the United Wa State
Army (UWSA), dubbed the world’s largest armed drug-trafficking group by
the international community and Thai counter-narcotics agencies.

The roadblock is not a dead end but the beginning of another zone, a
territory once off limits to the outside world.

Two generations ago, it was the Wa head-hunters that kept the advancing
British army at bay. After the British pulled out half a century ago, the
rugged hills of Mong Yawn became the main battleground for Communist
insurgents, Kuomintang troops and ethnic nationalities.

They slugged it out to lay claim to this rugged frontier where, since the
end of the colonial period, the most viable cash crop has been opium and,
in recent years, methamphetamines.

The Wa filled a vacuum left by Khun Sa, the Shan warlord who once ran the
largest narcotics outfit in Burma, at the head of the Mong Tai Army.

The UWSA helped the Burmese with ousting Khun Sa, who surrendered to the
government in early 1996 in exchange for amnesty and now lives in the
capital, Rangoon, as one of the richest men in the country.

Today, eight years later, his former fiefdom is slowly opening up to the
outside world.

A group of five Thai journalists were permitted, under the watchful eyes
of UWSA soldiers, to accompany a group of visiting officials from the Doi
Tung crop-substitution project.

The officials were inspecting the Yong Kah crop-substitution project,
which received seed money of Bt20 million from the Thai government.
Another Bt100 million is still needed but no one is certain where it will
come from, given the sanctions against Burma by Western countries and
Japan.

ML Disnadda Diskul, head of the project, declined to go into details about
the controversial nature of the project that does more to legitimise the
UWSA than shed light on this 20,000-strong army.

Disnadda argued that by improving the livelihood of the Wa people, nearly
100,000 of whom have been forcibly relocated from the North Wa region near
the Chinese border to areas adjacent to Thailand’s northern border,
Thailand will be better off.

He went on at great length about how the project would push for a soybean
industry and how other crops grown here could be bought by Thailand, so
that newly resettled Wa communities get on their feet.

Not everybody is in agreement with Disnadda, however. Anti-narcotics
officials say that the project is a waste, that the Bt20-million seed
money is a drop in a bucket compared to the money the Wa can make from
drugs, while the Thai Army sees the growing presence of the UWSA as a
threat to national security.

Observers say Disnadda is playing a high-stakes game, overlooking the
explosive nature of the drug army that has been declared a threat to the
nation’s security.

If he is not careful, the entire project could end up like the Thai-built
school in the Wa township that the vast majority of local students have
shunned in favour of a Chinese-language school in a nearby village.

Under previous administrations, there often exchanges of strong words and
at times artillery fire between the Thais and Burmese over the Wa's
activities.

With the current administration determined to improve relations with
Rangoon, the issue of drugs coming out of the Burmese sector of the Golden
Triangle have been dealt with on a separate track and not linked to the
grants or development aid to the country.

In a recent interview with a group of Thai journalists, Bao Yu-yi, the
UWSA point man in charge of the South Wa region, dismissed allegations
that the outfit is involved in illicit drugs, be it opium cultivation,
methamphetamines or heroin. He did not rule out the possibility that the
Wa-controlled area could be a transit point.

Bao said the UWSA was looking to step up its counter-narcotics efforts by
stationing 600 drug officers throughout Wa-controlled areas.

Bao, the brother of UWSA chairman Bao Yu-xiang, admitted that a commander
of one of the three units in the South Wa region had been arrested last
May and sentenced to 50 years imprisonment for forging kyat, the Burmese
currency, and producing methamphetamines.

Border sources told The Nation that Wei Sai-tang had been nabbed by the Wa
soldiers in Keng Tung and immediately whisked away to the UWSA
headquarters in Panghsang.

His Brigade 171 is now under the control of a young commander, Ai Pang,
who was also present to greet the Thai delegates during the recent
three-day visit.

The sources said Wei Sai-tang’s real crime was trying to cut a deal with
the Thai Army, who saw him as a possible mole that could help break up the
UWSA’s southern command. The Thai Army’s aim was to break up the
stronghold of ethnic Chinese drug lord Wei Hsueh-kang, who is wanted in
Thailand and the United States with a US$2-million (Bt80 million) price on
his head.

Bao declined to go into details about Wei Hsueh-kang’s whereabouts, but
praised him for developing the region and helping Wa in their effort to
end opium cultivation.

But he did say that with Wei Sai-tang locked up, the Wa-controlled area
was now drug-free.

Observers, on the other hand, said that with Wei Sai-tang out of the
command structure, the UWSA southern command was effectively in the hands
of the Wei Hsueh-kang.

He is the undisputed leader in Burma’s opium-infested frontier.

As part of the UWSA’s efforts to change its image, Mong Yawn has been
renamed Yong Pang, which means “growing prosperity.” However, Mong Yawn
remains very much a household name for the Thai public.

The border checkpoint between Chiang Mai’s Mae Ai district and Mong Yawn
was closed five years ago, forcing all traffic to go via Tachilek. The
current route takes about six hours, while the road from the Mae Ai
crossing took less than an hour.

Thai narcotic officials have said they are willing to let bygones be
bygones with the Wa, including the fact that the group benefited
tremendously from the drug trade in the past. However, there will be no
compromise when it comes to Wei Hsueh-kang.

Judging from the praise from Bao on how the opium warlord is a hero of the
Wa people, getting Wei dead or alive as PM Thaksin Shinawatra has promised
to do will be easier said than done.
___________________________________

Nov 25, South China Morning Post
Junta in Yangon sets prisoners free but wins no praise; Pro-democracy
groups dismiss release of opposition leaders as 'window dressing'

Junta in Yangon sets prisoners free but wins no praise; Pro-democracy
groups dismiss release of opposition leaders as 'window dressing'

BYLINE: Peter Kammerer, Foreign Editor

BODY:
Myanmar's military rulers have won criticism rather than plaudits for
their latest effort to prove they are dedicated to implementing democracy.

Their announcement yesterday that five leaders of the National League for
Democracy (NLD) opposition group had been released from house arrest was
described by activists as "window dressing".

Party leader Aung San Suu Kyi and the NLD's three other foremost officials
- chairman Aung Shwe, secretary U Lwin and vice-president Tin Oo - remain
under home detention. Pro-democracy groups claim the junta is holding
1,600 other political prisoners and is constantly arresting more.

Ms Suu Kyi and the other eight members of the NLD's decision-making
general executive committee were arrested following clashes between
supporters and a pro-junta gang in northern Myanmar on May 30.

An official of the State Peace and Development Council, as the military
government refers to itself, said that Lun Tin was set free yesterday, a
day after Hla Pe, Nyunt Wai, Than Tun and Soe Myint.

The head of the Bangkok-based Assistance Association for Political
Prisoners, Bo Kyi, said 300 opposition party members had been arrested
since May 30, taking the total now being held to 1,600.

"I don't see any change by the military," he said.

"They are still making arrests and using political prisoners as political
hostages."

Bo Kyi, a political activist who spent seven years in Yangon's Insein
prison until being released and fleeing to Thailand in 1998, said the
military had to release all political prisoners to prove it was dedicated
to democratic reforms.

The military has played cat and mouse with opposition groups and western
governments pushing for reforms.

Ms Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, and members of her NLD party -
which won democratic elections in 1990 but were not allowed to take power
by the junta - and other opposition groups have been arrested, released
and rearrested.

After meeting Ms Suu Kyi at her Yangon home this month, UN human rights
envoy Paulo Sergio Pinheiro demanded the release of all political
prisoners, especially the elderly and sick. He said Ms Suu Kyi refused
freedom until her colleagues were also released.

A Thai political scientist and spokesman for the human rights group Forum
Asia, Sunai Phasuk, said yesterday the junta was not making any effort to
implement democratic changes. He described the announcement of the latest
releases as "the same old technique".

"It's a drop-by-drop approach, in which the junta gives a token concession
to the world community when there is sufficient pressure," Dr Sunai, a
professor at Thailand's Thammasat University, said.

"Releasing political prisoners is the easiest way to show in quantitative
terms a commitment to reconciliation and compromise with democratic
groups.

"But what is the point of releasing them when more are arrested? This is
just window dressing."
___________________________________

PRESS RELEASE

Nov 25, Chin Human Rights Organization
Situation of Burmese Refugees Worsens After India Detained 44 Burmese
Following Police Attacks

Chin Human Rights Organization has learnt that over 800 refugees and
asylum seekers from Burma who have been peacefully demonstrating in front
of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees UNHCR office at 14
Jorbagh road in New Delhi, India for nearly four weeks to demand refugee
status and humanitarian assistance were brutally beaten, arrested and
detained by Indian police.

Eyewitnesses reported that on November 12, 2003 at around 3 pm, about 200
riot police from the Delhi Police armed with clubs and water canon came to
disperse over 800 demonstrators, who were peacefully assembling in front
of UNHCR office for the last 23 days. Without a warning, the police hosed
the demonstrators with water cannon and began brutally beating them with
clubs. Dozens of protesters including women were seriously injured and
several children fell unconscious due to the shock of an unexpected and
sudden violence. "A horrific scene of bloodbath" was the expression one
woman described the incident. She was beaten in the neck while her
one-year-old child received severe eye burns from water cannon that hit
him in the face. Some 25 persons needed to be taken to hospital for bodily
injuries including serious injuries sustained in the heads.

Later in the evening, the police arrested all demonstrators and
incarcerated them at four different police stations. Detainees say they
were tortured in custody and that the police were seen drinking alcohol
while they were taking the detainees to the detention place. A picture of
a woman who was tortured by police shows severe bruises on her lower body.
The severity of the injuries sustained by refugees seems to support the
claims that the police were drunk at the time of the incident and that
there was no provocation whatsoever on the part of the refugees to invite
such police brutalities.

Chin Human Rights Organization is deeply concerned that until today,
November 25, 2003, the Delhi Police continues to detain 44 persons at
Tihar Jail in the western suburbs of New Delhi. The detainees are among
the most seriously injured in the police violence. The detainees have been
criminally charged with rioting, but eyewitnesses say the police beat them
unprovoked. They alleged the charges are to justify the disproportionate
and excessive use of force by the police and to cover up the tortures
while in custody. The detainees include both recognized refugees and
asylum seekers and CHRO is deeply concerned that India might eventually
deport them to Burma where their safety will be seriously jeopardized.

UNHCR staff has not agreed to the repeated requests of the refugees and
local rights groups to make legal intervention on behalf of the refugees.
This is disturbing given that there were allegations UNHCR staff had
invited the police to disperse the crowds in the first place. CHRO
fervently requests the Office of UNHCR to take urgent steps to ensure that
the 44 detainees have access to legal counsels and to attempt to secure
their early release. CHRO also requests the Office of UNHCR to take
immediate steps to prevent detained refugees from being repatriated to
Burma.

Background:

As an organization that has been monitoring human rights situations in
Burma's western region, CHRO has long been concerned about the situations
that compelled refugees to come to India. Refugees from Burma continue to
cross into India in large numbers, but a very small fraction of that
population has access to legal protection from the United Nations High
Commissioner office in New Delhi. India has not recognized refugees from
Burma nor has it permitted the UNHCR to assess the conditions of over
50,000 Chin refugees who live in Mizoram State. Under these circumstances,
both the Government of India and UNHCR consider Chin to be mostly economic
migrants. However, this has not been the case as evidence gathered by CHRO
over the last several years suggest economic factors are not the main
cause of refugee flight from Burma. CHRO believes that the majority of
those who have crossed into India have valid fears of persecution in
Burma.

Chin account for the majority of Burmese who came to India for protection.
Expanded Burmese military establishment in Chin State and northwestern
Burma had accelerated the level of human rights abuse among the Chin
population. An inevitable consequence of this militarization has been a
rapid increase in human rights violations such as forced labor, religious
persecution, arbitrary arrest and detention, recruitment for military
service and other forms of forced labor for military purposes. Since June
of 2003, the Burmese regime has deployed two new army battalions (Light
Infantry Battalion 104 and 105) to Chin State. This new deployment adds up
to an existing more than a dozen army battalions in Chin State, an
indication that human rights
situation will deteriorate considerably in the region. The kind of human
rights abuses happening in Chin State has direct links to the number of
people who have been fleeing to India. With their areas heavily
militarized and the Burmese army dominating all aspects of life, the Chin
people today live in constant fear for their lives, not knowing when they
will fall victims to the Burmese soldiers who constantly intimidate,
torture and arbitrarily arrest civilians.

While Chin villagers can no longer find enough time to make their livings
due to the army's constant demands for forced labor for various purposes,
villagers live in constant fear of being arrested and tortured when they
could not contribute their services for the military. The Burmese army
also target people suspected of having associated with anti-government
activities and have routinely tortured, arrested and jailed, and
sometimes, executed individuals without due process of law. Chin
youngsters often become the primary target of conscription for military or
militia service and various kinds of forced labor for infrastructure and
military purposes.  Recent reports from inside Chin State say Burmese army
is forcibly recruiting people for militia training from across Chin State.
Those refusing to participate in the training are arrested and tortured,
or if they escaped, village headmen of the jurisdiction are held
responsible and punished.

Religious persecution is a major concern for the Chins who are
predominantly Christians. The Burmese army has been actively restricting
and punishing those wishing to practice Christianity, while rewarding
those who convert to Buddhism. Chin Christian churches and religiously
symbolic monuments have been destroyed, while Buddhist pagodas are being
built across Chin State often with forced labor of Christians.

Under the Burmese military junta, Chin State has become uninhabitable for
the inhabitants. The most productive times of the Chin populace who make
their primary means of survival by tilling and cultivating have been
consumed by the army's unceasing demand for forced labor and extortion of
arbitrary taxes. All of these situations underlie the primary reasons as
to which Chin people have escaped to India and elsewhere for protection.

Since the historic visit by Burma's democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi to
Chin State in April 2003 and the subsequent arrest of the leadership of
the National League for Democracy on May 30th, the people of Chin State
have been constantly intimidated by the Burmese army for the overwhelming
supports they'd shown to Aung San Suu Kyi. The Burmese army arrested two
local NLD leaders in Matupi township earlier this year and sentenced them
to 11 years in prison while a dozen persons evaded arrest by hiding in the
jungles and then later fleeing to India. On November 18, 2003, Mr. Than
Ngai, the Secretary of NLD Thantlang Township passed away in India where
he had been hiding since escaping arrest by the Burmese military.

Since the sudden influx of hundreds of refugees to India earlier last
year, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Office in New
Delhi has expressed doubts as to the reasons of such increase, suggesting
that those who approached the Office are motivated by economic reasons.
UNHCR subsequently rejected almost all asylum-seekers' applications for
refugee status. The UNHCR has also started phasing out Subsistence
Allowance to refugees, leaving the refugees with no concrete alternatives
to survive in New Delhi, a city in which they do not speak the local
language and where they do not have legal work permit from the Government
of India.

UNHCR recognized only one thousand refugees from Burma. The number
represents only a very small fraction of the total Burmese refugee
populations in India. Over 50,000 Chin refugees are estimated to be
currently taking shelter in Mizoram. Without legal protection, they risk
frequent deportation to Burma. In July of this year, about 6,000 Chin
refugees were forcibly repatriated to Burma. Again in August 2000,
hundreds of Chin individuals and families were forcibly pushed back to
Burma.  Despite the compelling circumstances, UNHCR has said it has not
considered advocating for establishing its presence in the Mizoram border.

Asylum seekers from Burma have persistently claimed the doubts that UNHCR
staff have on them are preconceived and there is an inherent prejudice in
the determination of their status. While the human rights situations in
Chin State and in Burma as a whole suggest there are valid fear of
persecution, UNHCR should reevaluate individual claims presented by asylum
seekers without any prejudgment to ensure that those who have genuine
fears for their lives are given legal protection and necessary assistance.

For more information contact:
Chin Human Rights Organization at
Ph: 510-5951872 or Ph/Fax: 613-234 2485
chokhlei at hotmail.com>chokhlei at hotmail.com
www.chro.org
___________________________________