BurmaNet News, March 3, 2004

[editor at burmanet.org]

March 3, 2004 Issue # 2432


INSIDE BURMA
AFP: UN envoy sees Suu Kyi in attempt to bridge Myanmar's political divide
NMG: KNPP to talk with Regime in March
Reuters: U.N. Envoy Meets Suu Kyi, Says She Is 'Fine'

DRUGS
Xinhua: Myanmar's opium poppy cultivation drops in 2003: UNODC
Xinhua: More Myanmar's opium-substitute product exported to Japan
AFX: Heroin and methamphetamine use soars in Asia - UN report

BUSINESS / MONEY
Irrawaddy: Burma to Stop Joint Venture with UMA
Financial Express: Indo-Myanmar trade may touch $1 Bn by 2006

INTERNATIONAL
AFP: EU pledges 9.5 mln euros in aid for Myanmar refugees, ethnic groups

OPINION / OTHER
Irrawaddy: An Interview with Elzbieta Matynia
Kao Wao: Slash and burn tactics: the regime's old habits die hard



INSIDE BURMA
___________________________________

March 3, Agence France Presse
UN envoy sees Suu Kyi in attempt to bridge Myanmar's political divide

UN envoy Razali Ismail pushed ahead with a new proposal to bridge
Myanmar's bitter political divide Wednesday in meetings with democracy
icon Aung San Suu Kyi and top members of her opposition party.

"We wish him success in this mission. And we will give him our support,"
said Soe Myint, one of five National League for Democracy (NLD) leaders
who held talks with the Malaysian diplomat.

Razali's visit to the opposition leader's lakeside residence, where she is
being held under house arrest, was his second since arriving in Yangon
Monday for his 12th mission to the military-ruled state.

Political leaders have said he is pursuing a plan for the United Nations
to become more involved with the junta's "road map" to democracy which is
expected to begin this year with a national convention to draft a new
constitution.

"He talked to us about the road map but we are in no position to give our
assessment at this point," said Soe Myint, referring to the continuing
detention of Aung San Suu Kyi and three of her deputies after a May
crackdown.

"We told him that before we had any further discussions on the road map
and the national convention, our leaders should be freed, our offices
should be allowed to reopen, and that we should be given freedom of
movement."

But Soe Myint voiced optimism over the initiative promoted by Razali, who
is due to leave Yangon Thursday, saying "this visit clears the way for
further discussions."

The road map has been met with scepticism from Western governments, which
tightened sanctions against Myanmar after the crackdown on the NLD, which
won a landslide 1990 election victory but was never allowed to rule.

But Razali appears to have thrown his support whole-heartedly behind the
process during this visit, holding a series of meetings with government
officials Wednesday as well as talks with foreign diplomats.

A senior ethnic political leader said after meeting with the envoy Tuesday
that he had come to Yangon to propose that the NLD take part in a new
forum with the ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) and
ethnic parties.

Khun Tun Oo, of the Shan National League for Democracy, described the move
as a "breakthrough" in efforts to bring the warring sides to the
negotiating table.

He said the so-called "constitution-drafting council" would be held ahead
of a national convention which the regime has said will begin this year as
the first step in the democracy road map.

It would represent a landmark resumption of contacts between the SPDC and
the opposition, which were initiated by Razali in October 2000 but broke
down last year in a blow to hopes for national reconciliation.

The NLD withdrew from an earlier convention in 1995, saying the process
was unrepresentative, and the ruling generals have attempted to boost the
credibility of the new convention by ensuring many ethnic groups will
attend.

Khun Tun Oo said the constitution-drafting council would act as an
advisory body on the establishment of the national convention, ensuring it
was more inclusive and that the pro-democracy side would not be muzzled.
__________________________

March 3, Network Media Group
KNPP to talk with Regime in March

One of the armed rebel groups currently fighting against Rangoon, Karenni
National Progressive Party (KNPP) has reached an agreement within their
group to talk with the junta within this month after a meeting between
high ranking officials of KNPP along with the “peace delegation” of Kayah
State, Khu Rimond Htoo, secretary of the KNPP revealed.

“Yes, we answered ‘Yes’ to talk with junta. After several discussion and
meetings among us, we have sent our view to them (the government). They
said they will reply KNPP as soon as possible,” Rimond Htoo said.

Recently the KNPP, through the ‘peace delegates’, had repeatedly asked the
military regime to send an official letter if the government wants to talk
with the KNPP. However, the government rejected by saying that an official
letter is not necessary because the 1995 cease-fire agreement between the
two sides is still valid.

The 1995 cease-fire agreement was infringed within months and fighting
between two sides had been resumed.

Officially, the military government has enlisted the KNPP in the 17
cease-fire groups with the government.

The KNPP expressed their view on the talk after peace delegation and the
KNPP resumed the meeting since last February 27. Although no official
letter had been received from the government, the KNPP believed on what
the “peace delegation” says to them that (Burmese) government is willing
to talk with the KNPP, the secretary said.

“We are told that the government is willing to talk with us. If we agree
to do so, we just need to contact Burmese Embassy or Burmese Ambassador in
Bangkok. They (the government) will arrange for the travel. We rely on
what the delegates said,” the secretary Khu Rimond Htoo said.

Khu Rimond Htoo also added that date and venue of the meeting is yet to be
decided and the KNPP is going to select soon who will take part in the
delegation for talk when they meet with the government.

The agreement within the KNPP has reached after a two-day meeting among
the rebel government of Karenni; Prime Minister Mahn Aung Than Lay, Party
General Secretary Khu Rimond Htoo, Chief-of-Staff Gen Bi Htoo, Minister of
Home Affairs Shar Reh, Minister of Prime Minister Office Khun Lay Maung,
Col Phone Naing and five representatives of peace delegation led by Choe
Reh.

Though there were several attempts in the past to reach an agreement
between peace delegation and the KNPP by telephone, by letters and by
persons, no agreement had reached to talk with the junta. NMG has learned
that there have been more than four meetings between the KNPP and peace
delegation in order to reach an agreement to talk with junta.

The Karen group (Karen National Union- KNU) is currently under negotiation
with Burmese regime for cease-fire with the initiative of Thailand. The
prominent Karen leader, General Saw Bo Mya lead a delegation of KNU during
last January to talk with Rangoon. After the talk, KNU stated that they
reached the verbal agreement with Rangoon on cease-fire.

Network Media Group Email:netmedia at cscoms.com
Phone:+66 1 322 7194
__________________________

March 2, Reuters
U.N. Envoy Meets Suu Kyi, Says She Is 'Fine'

YANGON, Myanmar (Reuters) - U.N. special envoy Razali Ismail met
pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and Prime Minister Khin Nyunt
Tuesday in his latest attempt to bring Myanmar's military rulers and the
opposition together.

Razali, who arrived in Yangon Monday, met Suu Kyi, the Nobel peace prize
laureate, at her Yangon home where she has been confined since September.

"She is fine," Razali said without elaborating.

The veteran Malaysian diplomat declined to comment on that meeting or his
one-hour session with Khin Nyunt earlier in the day.

His last known talks with a senior Myanmar official were in Thailand
earlier this month when he met Foreign Minister Win Aung, who promised a
regional meeting that the government would try to resume multi-party talks
on a new constitution this year.

The constitutional convention was abandoned in the mid-1990s and
reconvening it is a central part of the Myanmar military regime's "road
map to democracy" announced last year.

The generals have not set a date for it despite pressure from Thailand,
which is following a policy of "constructive engagement" while the United
States has imposed sanctions.

Nor have the generals, who have ruled the resource-rich country since
1962, said when they will lift restrictions on Suu Kyi's National League
for Democracy (NLD).

She was detained in May last year after a bloody clash between her
supporters and government backers.

Suu Kyi was kept in an undisclosed location until September, when she was
taken to hospital for an operation and then allowed to return to her
lakeside villa in Yangon.

She has remained cut off there without a telephone and with visitors
requiring government permission, saying she will not accept her liberty
until all senior NLD officials are freed.


DRUGS
_____________________________________

March 3, Xinhua
Myanmar's opium poppy cultivation drops in 2003: UNODC

The opium poppy cultivated area in Myanmar dropped 24 percent to 62,200
hectares in 2003 from 2002's 81,400 hectares, an official of the United
Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) told a press briefing here
Wednesday.

The declination in the year also registered by two-thirds since 1996, said
Jean-Luc Lemahieu, UNODC representative in Myanmar.

Quoting Wednesday's report of the International Narcotics Control Board
(INCB) with regard to the drug situation in Myanmar, he said despite the
fall in poppy cultivation, the country still faces many issues which
include the assistance for settlement needed for 2 million people who
depend their livelihood on poppy cultivation.

Of the 2 million poppy growers, about 350,000 live in Kokang and Wa
regions in northeastern Shan state, he noted, adding that 26 million US
dollars of aid is needed for the resettlement of these people involved in
opium-substitue projects in the two regions.

Noting that Myanmar faces a serious and growing internal drug abuse
problem, he estimated that there are about 150,000 to 200, 000 drug
injection users in the country.

He also disclosed that about 300,000 people are infected by HIV/ AIDS in
Myanmar.

Myanmar has launched joint annual poppy cultivation survey in the Shan
state with the UNODC for four times since 2001. The last three-month
survey covered nearly 40 townships in the state.

The UNODC survey also revealed that the potential opium production in
Myanmar fell 2 percent to 810 tons in 2003 from 828 tons in 2002.

As part of its drug eradication efforts, Myanmar destroyed a total of
2,558 hectares of illegally grown opium poppy plantations in four states
and divisions including Shan state during the 2003-04 poppy cultivation
season up to February, other official statistics show.

It also indicates that in 2003, Myanmar exposed 2,760 drug-related cases,
seizing 568 kilos of heroin and 1,481.5 kilos of opium as well as 4
million stimulant tablets.
__________________________

March 3, Xinhua
More Myanmar's opium-substitute product exported to Japan

Myanmar are exporting 100 tons more of buckwheat, one of the
opium-substitute crops, to Japan, encouraging its former opium growers to
abandon poppy cultivation, the local Myanmar Times reported in its latest
issue.

The shipment of the buckwheat, which began in mid-February and will
complete at the end of March, is being done under a 230,000-US-dollar
contract between the Myanmar Ministry of Progress of Border Areas and
National Races and Development Affairs and a Tokyo-based company, the
Taiyo Pusan.

According to the ministry, Myanmar has exported more than 200 tons of the
buckwheat to Japan since 2000 at prices ranging from 150 to 300 dollars
per ton.

Buckwheat has been cultivated in Kokang region in northeastern Shan state
since 1998 under an opium crop substitution project initiated by the Japan
International Cooperation Agency, the Japanese government's overseas aid
agency.

The crop was initially grown on only 1.62 hectares but the area has
increased to more than 1,620 hectares. The project has involved 5,000
local farmers.

According to official statistics, the total cultivated area of various
opium-substitute crops in the Kokang region has reached over 17,520
hectares.

Cultivation of opium-substitute crops play a key role in tackling the food
problem in Myanmar's poppy growing areas as well as in consolidating the
country's achievements made in drug control.

As part of its drug eradication efforts, Myanmar destroyed a total of
2,255 hectares of illegally grown opium poppy plantations in four states
and divisions during the 2003-04 poppy cultivation season up to January,
the statistics also show.
__________________________

March 3, AFX News Ltd
Heroin and methamphetamine use soars in Asia - UN report

Soaring opium cultivation in Afghanistan and surging methamphetamine
production elsewhere are the major drug problems facing Asia, a UN report
said today.  The growing taste for hard drugs is not only posing problems
for social services and law enforcement, but is also helping fund
terrorism and creating political instability, the International Narcotics
Control Board added.

The UN drugs monitoring agency has painted a patchy picture of success in
the region's fight against substance production and abuse.

In some areas, authorities have scored some successes -- cannabis use has
slumped and ecstasy seizures are dropping.

Also, a combination of legislation and action has led to a two-thirds
reduction in opium poppy production in Myanmar, the world's second largest
source of illegal opiates.

A similar drop has also been seen in Laos, the world's third largest
producer.  However, output in the world's No 1 source, Afghanistan, has
soared since the US-led removal of the hard-line Islamic Taliban regime in
2001, a situation the report warns could lead to greater political
instability.

"Unless the Transitional Authority of Afghanistan, with the full support
of the international community (which is indispensable), makes progress in
drug control efforts, any successes in the construction of that nation ...
and in the fight against terrorism will not be sustainable," it said.

"The fight against drugs has to be among the highest priorities of the
Transitional Authority."

The Taliban cracked down on poppy cultivation in the country in the late
1990s. But the report said that, since the US-led war, more areas have
come under poppy cultivation, yields have increased and purity has
improved, making the drug more dangerous.

Opium production rose to 3,600 tons in 2003, from 3,400 the previous year,
and poppies were now being grown over 80,000 hectares of land in 28 of the
country's 32 provinces.

Increased cultivation in Afghanistan has meant more heroin is passing
along the traditional smuggling routes through Pakistan, but new
distribution line have opened up throughout India.

Attendant money-laundering had also increased to the benefit of terrorist
groups operating in the region, it added.

Nascent drug-combat authorities are praised for their limited efforts in
staunching the flow of heroin, but the report doubts initiatives are
working.

"The extent to which the laudable drug control plans and initiatives will
be implemented country-wide remains a major concern," it says.

The reduction of heroin production in East and Southeast Asia's so-called
Golden Triangle may have been one of the recent success stories of recent
anti-drug campaign, but it has been undone by a huge rise in the
production and use of methamphetamine stimulants.

The problem is most acute in China and Myanmar, where production is
concentrated, and Thailand, South Korea and Japan, where consumption
levels are among the highest in the world.

Illustrating the drug's penetration in the region, the report said more
than two-thirds of the global seizures of methamphetamines take place in
East and Southeast Asia and half of that is in China alone.

"Most of the clandestine laboratories were detected by the Chinese
authorities in the provinces of Fujian and Guangdong," the report notes.

For more information and to contact AFX: www.afxnews.com and www.afxpress.com


BUSINESS / MONEY
_____________________________________

March 3, Irrawaddy
Burma to Stop Joint Venture with UMA - by Naw Seng

Burma’s state-owned Myanmar Airways Ltd is to terminate its still-born
international airline joint-venture with Hong Kong-based Sunshine
Strategic Investment Holding Company, said a senior official of Burma’s
Ministry of Transport.

The bureaucrat, who asked not to be named, told The Irrawaddy by telephone
that the joint-venture will be wound up within a few weeks. However, he
said that Myanmar Airways’ local private sector partners were trying to
get the business running. "Its difficult to say it has been terminated,"
he said. "It is bad for the country and all."

Edward Tan, CEO of Sunshine Strategic Investment Company, declined to
comment on the transport ministry statement.

The venture, United Myanmar Airways, or UMA, was registered in July 2003.
Its shareholders were reported as Myanmar Airways, which is controlled by
the Ministry of Transport, Hong Kong-based Sunshine Strategic Investment,
and two private sector Burmese partners— Fortune International Ltd and
Myanmar Smooth Travels Service Company.

The firm announced that initially US $15 million would be invested in the
venture and that it would start flying routes to Bangkok, Hong Kong, Kuala
Lumpur and Singapore in September 2003 with two leased Boeing 737-400
aircraft.

UMA remains grounded, having failed to launch its operation despite
several tentative start dates. The promised leased aircraft have not
appeared and the Myanmar Times newspaper reported in January that the
company’s employees had not been paid since mid-September.

In early January the Ministry of Transport extended the deadline by which
UMA had to launch its service to the end of the month as the two Burmese
private sector partners—Fortune International Ltd and Myanmar Smooth
Travels Service Co—looked unsuccessfully for another foreign strategic
partner.

Myanmar Airways Ltd operates a domestic service and three other airlines
fly Burma’s skies as joint-ventures with the state-owned carrier. In 1992
Myanmar Airways International, or MAI, was launched with a foreign partner
to fly international routes from Rangoon. The ownership of the foreign
portion of the venture has changed hands several times since it started
operating.

In 1994 Air Mandalay was launched by the Kemayan Group of Malaysia. It
flies domestic routes and a Rangoon-Chiang Mai service. Yangon Airways,
which flies only domestic routes, was started in 1996 by Thai businessman
Adul Chaiyapass, the owner of the Chaopraya Park Hotel in Bangkok. In 1997
Adul sold the airline to Burmese entrepreneur Kyaw Win, who in 2000 sold
it on to the family of United Wa State Party leader Bao Yu-xiang. Yangon
Airways’ managing director is Aik Hauk, also a Wa.
__________________________

March 3, Financial Express
Indo-Myanmar trade may touch $1 Bn by 2006

Myanmarese commerce minister Pye Sone has said the bilateral trade between
India and Myanmar may touch $ 1 billion by 2006. "The thrust on bilateral
trade was the need of the hour instead of developing trade through third
countries," he said at the opening ceremony of the 'Made in India' show in
Myanmar on Thursday. The fair is being jointly organised by the CII and
the Indian embassy in Myanmar. "India and Myanmar as members of Bimstec
and the ten-nation Asean bloc, have immense opportunities to create free
trade areas between the two countries," CII said in a release here quoting
the Myanmarese minister.


INTERNATIONAL
_____________________________________

March 3, Agence Presse France
EU pledges 9.5 mln euros in aid for Myanmar refugees, ethnic groups

The European Union has earmarked 9.5 million euros (11.59 million dollars)
for five aid projects to help Myanmar ethnic groups and refugees living
along the Thai border, the EU said Wednesday.

"International organisations and NGOs (non-governmental organisations)
operating within Burma/Myanmar and on the Thai-Burmese border will carry
out the projects," the EU said in a statement after a Bangkok signing
ceremony.

"The EU's projects in Burma/Myanmar are motivated by humanitarian
concerns," it added.

The EU has remained one of Yangon's harshest critics, and in June it
strengthened sanctions against Myanmar after the military junta detained
opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who remains under house arrest.

Among the projects, the non-governmental Burmese Border Consortium is to
receive four million euros to provide food and boost food security at two
Karen refugee camps in Thailand's Mae Hong Son province, and to provide
building materials for all nine Karen camps inside Thailand.

Some 1.2 million euros is also destined for a United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) education scheme for Karen refugees,
while 510,000 euros will go towards a health initiative for the
International Organisation for Migration, to help 20,000 displaced ethnic
Shan people.

At the signing ceremony, Ambassador Klauspeter Schmallenbach, head of the
European Commission to Thailand and Myanmar, hailed the EU's continued
support for refugees from the military-run country, according to the
statement.

The two other programmes, which are to take place within Myanmar, will be
signed in the near future, it added.

Some 1.78 million euros will be provided to the UNHCR for reintegration
assistance for Myanmar returnees coming from Bangladesh and Thailand,
while the World Food Programme will be given two million euros for the
returnees, particularly in northern Rakhine state in western Myanmar.


OPINION / OTHER
_____________________________________

March 3, Irrawaddy
An Interview with Elzbieta Matynia

"Compromise was the Main Strategy"

Elzbieta Matynia, a former Polish dissident, is the Director of the
Transregional Center for Democratic Studies at New School University in
New York. Her paper, Furnishing Democracy at the End of the Century: the
Polish Roundtable & Others, was published in the Spring 2002 edition of
"East European Politics and Society." She spoke with Aung Naing Oo about
the negotiations in Poland which ultimately effected the transition from
communist to democratic rule.

Question: Negotiations between the Polish communist government and the
Solidarity Movement in 1989 were quite a success. How would you
characterize them?

Answer: Poland’s Roundtable negotiation was critical not only because it
was first, but also, as somebody said, "because it embodied a
transformation of political culture from one based on militant
mobilization against enemies into one based on the value of compromise and
dialogue."

Q: Compromising with an enemy is not easy, and it is often the roadblock
to negotiations. Burma’s military regime is not prepared to do it. Why was
the Solidarity Movement prepared to compromise?

A: Compromise was the main strategy, even though the democratic opposition
felt very uneasy about negotiating with the enemy (they often referred to
Spain, where people made a concerted decision to negotiate with the Franco
dictatorship).  And they were aware of the fact that the compromise meant
that none of the negotiating sides would be truly happy with the final
agreement.

Q: What made the Polish Communist Party compromise with the democratic
opposition?

A: In all the cases we know best—Spain, Poland, South Africa—the regimes,
though still appearing strong on the surface, have been, in fact, in the
process of weakening. On the outside none of them seemed to be prepared
for the compromise. Yet, they know themselves that the existing state
institutions are unable to bring stability or improvement to the everyday
life in all spheres: economic, political, and cultural.

The regimes still have considerable force at its, so they can stay in
power but at the same time they can do little else. And of course there is
never a full consensus among the regime’s leadership concerning the wisdom
of entering the negotiations. But the democratic opposition has to seek
some small cracks and openings in the system, and seek some frustrated,
disillusioned people in the leadership as possible allies in the
negotiation project. I have to add that the fatigue often shows on the
part of the democratic opposition as well, which is exhausted by arrests,
imprisonment, exile, and the realization that even their most spectacular
activities are beginning to lose broad support. At this point one has to
seize the opportunity. And, the international climate may help; in the
case of Poland it was the perestroika in the Soviet Union.

Q: In Burma’s political negotiations, the Burmese junta is often accused
of having no political will to settle problems peacefully. Was it an
obstacle to the Polish roundtable negotiations?

A: In Poland, in early spring 1989, when the negotiations were about to
begin, nobody (on the oppositional side) even thought about a swift
collapse of communism; rather the idea was to open up the communist
system, to introduce some real democratic mechanisms, award people some
civil and human rights, and unblock a possibility for the pluralization of
the public opinion. And to do all of this without totally humiliating the
enemy. In fact, the political will to negotiate had to be strongly present
on both sides.

Q: In Burma, the Burmese junta has vowed to continue with its seven-point
plan for democratic transition, but many believe it does not contain any
terms for negotiations prior to its implementation. How much was
negotiated at the Polish Roundtable?

A: The negotiations were very broad, as they included the whole spectrum
of political, cultural, and economic issues discussed at various
sub-tables, but the main contract concerned the elections, and the
reorganization of the parliament by adding of an additional chamber of the
parliament: the Senate. The final agreement was that the elections to the
lower chamber were to be "partially free"—65 percent of the seats were
allotted to the communist party, instead of 100 percent; and only 35
percent were truly free, as they were open for competition; and candidates
from the opposition could run. The fully free elections were to the
Senate, to which the communist party did not reserve any seats for itself,
but this chamber carried lesser legislative powers. Other important
agreement concerned the establishment of an independent media, which is
crucial for the electoral campaign in introducing to the to the public the
non-communist candidates. Indeed, almost immediately the first independent
daily was created, the Gazeta Wyborcza, which means "Electoral Gazette."

Q: Did all parties involved in the Polish negotiations stick to their
agreements?

A: The agreements were eventually kept by both the communist side and the
opposition side. The agreement concerning the elections, parliament, etc.,
was fully respected, and lasted for a full four years, even though once
the Berlin Wall collapsed, it was relatively easy to call for fully free
elections, for dismantling the parliament, and for invalidating the
roundtable contract.

But the roundtable negotiations, and the overwhelming victory of the
democratic opposition which won all allotted seats in the lower chamber
and in the Senate (the communists were actually quite sure that they would
win some of the seats), the political situation changed very quickly. Soon
democratization—the main goal of the negotiations—became a daily bread.
Even though the communists—as agreed in the contract—kept their person as
the president [General Wojciech Jaruzelski], in late August, it was clear
that at least the prime minister had to represent the "new reality" and
therefore must come from the opposition. And the first post-communist
prime minister, Tomaszow Mazowiecki, was appointed under considerable
social pressure, and he constructed a uniquely smart Solidarity-based
cabinet.

Q: In many conflicts, the post-settlement period, such as the
implementation of the results of the negotiations, often pose problems to
democratization


A: So once a compromise had been reached, and the citizens got their
voting rights, the next steps towards the transformation of the regime
followed naturally. Educational, social, and cultural organizations, which
once were illegal and worked underground, were registered as NGOs. The
censorship law was changed, and the new independent media began to
flourish. Parliamentary debates began to be broadcasted by public TV, and
the emergence of a public sphere became a reality. The fully democratic
elections to local self-governments were conducted. In this situation the
changes were unstoppable.

Q: Is there anything that the Burmese can learn from Polish negotiations?

A: For the negotiations to take off, a unified civic front had to be in
place. Lech Walesa, a charismatic but also a very wise leader, was able to
bring all these orientations together. The ultimate goal of everyone in
the opposition was to broaden the sphere of autonomy, as it was clear,
that any change depends on the existence of such a sphere. In the course
of several meetings, Walesa managed to establish relatively civil rapport
with the key figure on the side of the regime, Gen Kiszczak. It is
difficult to imagine any further working relations without it.

Aung Naing Oo is a political analyst living in exile and a regular
contributor to The Irrawaddy.
_________________________

March 3, Kao Wao News
Slash and burn tactics: the regime's old habits die hard - by Taramon and
Lita Davidson

In the country of Burma undergoing an economic, social and political
crisis, life has become meaningless in the rural areas of southern Mon
State where its citizens live in a state of terror of either being
attacked or brutally killed. The Mon live on the edge in an increasingly
corrupt society where the majority suffer from a relentless campaign to
wear down their spirit and who do not know whether they will survive to
see the dawning of the next day.

Last December, several villagers ranging in age from 12 to 60 were ordered
by the Burmese Army to sit all day in the hot sun in a nearby field, says
a villager from Ywar Thit, Southern part of Ye township.

He added that local people from 15 villages from an area in which the SPDC
continues to launch a relentless military operation against the Mon armed
group (Hongsawatoi Restoration Party) were forced to sit motionless under
the hot burning sun from early morning to the late evening.

"We are not allowed to even drink water, let alone eat," he said.
Villagers must porter on a daily basis and are deployed as human shields
in the BA’s frontline offensive.

Another villager from Krein Kanyar village, who recently arrived to the
border area after attempting to enter Thailand, says his people are
routinely and harshly discriminated against by the SPDC troops because
they can't speak the Burmese language.

"A SPDC sergeant shouts at us that we are like animals and that we deserve
to be treated as such," he added.

Some villagers suspected as rebel sympathizers are brutally tortured then
locked up in the detention center.

Suspects deemed rebel sympathizers are immediately punished by the troops
who put razor blades into the mouths of their victims and then are beaten
on the check repeatedly", said a woman from Yung Dean Village. An elderly
couple, the parent’s in-law of rebel leader Nai Bin, were beaten and
locked up in the detention center.

"Women fled into the dense jungle when the SPDC troops spread into their
village area because they were afraid of being tortured or raped. A
60-year-old woman narrowly escaped to Halockhanee Mon Refugee Camp from
southern Ye after witnessing the SPDC troops pillaging, attacking, and the
burning of six houses close to her house.

To inflict a sense of hopelessness the BA army consistently intimidates
the locals into submission, three Buddhist monks from three villages; Khaw
Zar, Krein Kanyar and Mi Taw Hlar Kyi were burned severely all over the
body. It is felt by many that situation like this in which monks are
tortured is considered a violent atrocity in a Buddhist country.

Ever since the SPDC launched its cat and mouse operation against the armed
Mon splinter group on December 13 up until to the present time, they have
been unsuccessful in totaling eliminating the group because the rebels
know where to hide, to run, and how to survive.

Unlike the insurgents though, the civilians have nowhere to hide and
suffer the most from the random violence and are constantly targeted; the
people from those areas are prohibited from going to their farms and from
leaving their village.  They face constant danger at the hands of troops
and suffer hardship in terms of basic survival needs when uprooted from
their own villages without warning.  They must also provide various taxes
on command to the Burmese troops. The BA extorts taxes depending on the
level of the family income, which varies from 4,000, 6,000 and 7,000 kyats
(Burmese currency).

A woman from Yung Dean Village reported 20 men from her village were
forced to work for and guard the BA troops to protect them against an
insurgent ambush and were also deployed as emergency porters. Meanwhile
the villagers’ cattle died because their owners were unable to feed and
care for them.

According to the sources from the New Mon State Party and outlined in a
document, over 25 people were tortured and a hundred people from where the
army patrolled were ordered to sit in the hot sun all day.

Some villagers were hung up in trees and some were threatened with knives
to their throats or to their mouths. Soldiers shoved guns in faces and
blew them off close to the victim’s ears, some were burned and maimed,
some suffered the full brunt of the weapons and were brutally cut up with
knives to their faces, ears, and bodies and some were ordered to dig their
own graves.

On the first of January, 2004, hundreds of Kwan Ta-moy Tao-Tak villagers
were ordered to stay in the hot sun after the Radio Free Asia (RFA)
broadcasted human rights abuses in the village the document claimed.

Nai Win, Nai Myint, Ye Min Paing, Goke, Shwe Ba, Nai Shwe Win, Nai Min
Ong, two Buddhist monks, Nai Pha Ong and Nai Pok and other villagers from
Ham Gam, Khaw Zar, Krone Kanya, Mi Taw Hlar Doat, Kaw Hlain, Yong Rear and
Chang Gu villages were tortured throughout the months of December and
January.

Burma Army Battalions responsible for attacks on the Mon population

Five battalions of Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) No.31, IB 591, IB 586,
LIB No.97, LIB No. 61, under Coastal Command and; four battalions of LIB
282, 273, IB 408 and IB 409 under Southeast command operated in this area
since last December 10, the document paper said.

Colonel Myo Win from the Moulmein (Mawlamyaing) based Southeast Command’s
Military Strategy No. 3 led this brutal operation.

Even at times when the guerrillas commit no military action, in which hard
fighting rarely takes place during the military operation, various human
rights violations continue to be committed by the Burmese soldiers on a
continual basis, in spite of the ruling junta’s negotiated ceasefire deal.

The State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) incessantly collects money
through illegal means. The local Mon villagers must pay money between one
and two hundred thousand Kyat to the military and are often tortured
following arrest for alleged support to rebel supporters.

According to the sources from Mon Relief and Development Committee,
thousands of people from the area moved to other places as internally
displaced persons and others to refugee camps. With no other choice open
to them, some with connections to human traffickers went to Thailand on
loan, human trafficking now a worldwide global problem.

Record of Torture

The troops of Burma Army LIB No. 97 dumped water onto the head of
Secretary of Kaw Hlaing village for about 5 hours after being accused as a
rebel supporter. They forced his head into the water and held it there
until he started to suffocate for air, he suffered breathing difficulty
during the interrogation, and he was forced to sleep in his wet clothes.

13-12-2003, the BA ordered the Krein Kanyar villagers to stay in the hot
sun throughout the whole day including women.

13-12-2003, Nai Myint, Ye Min Paing, Youl, Gake and three other men were
detained at the temple and were not allowed to drink and eat anything.
Their families tried to bribe the troops between 100,000- 200,000, which
they lost, because their family members were still not released.

19-12-2003---- Six villagers from (Han Gam), southern Ye were accused of
having contact with rebels and were subsequently tortured. Bribes between
100,000 - 200,000 were offered, but they were not released; the troops
stopped torturing them after paying bribes.

22-12-2003--- A Buddhist monk Rev. Pha Ong from Khaw Zar Village was hung
up in trees by the Burma Army LIB 97 after being forced to disrobe and
accused as a rebel supporter.

23-12-2003 ----- Another monk Rev. Nai Pok from Mi Taw Hlar Doat was put
in a hole in the ground by the troops led by Colonel Myo Win.  Half of his
body was covered with the soil. The Burmese soldier opened fire close to
his ear after being threatened and was forcibly disrobed.

22-12-2003---- Nai Shwe Ba, the head of Koe Mine village was tortured and
detained because he was accused as rebel supporter.

24-12-2003 ---- Many villagers from Yong Rear were ordered to sit under
the hot sun from 10:00 to 12:00 before the meeting. They were then
threatened at the gathering that they would be killed if they support the
rebels.

24-12-2003--- BA 565 ordered most of Kwan Ta-Moy Tao-Tak villagers to stay
under the sun because the SPDC military junta heard the news that rebels
were just outside the village area. The village headman Nai Tin was beaten
and suffered from a head injury and his ear was cut with a knife and then
severely tortured. Secretary Nai Yone and Nai Nyan Shwe were also treated
in the same manner.

30-12-2003— IB 586 tortured Nai Shwe Win and Nai Min Ong. People bribed
the IB 586 to get less torture. (Yong Dean village, southern Ye)

1-1-2004 ---IB 586 tortured Nai Win, Han Gam village for using ICOM
telephone.

2-1-2004---- IB 586 put most of Kwan Ta-Moy Tao-Tak villagers under the
hot sun for the whole day after RFA (Radio Free Asia based at Washington
D.C, USA) broadcasted that human rights violations were committed by the
Burmese Army in their village.  The army intention is to intimate and
frighten villagers not to inform about the abuses inflicted upon them.

8-1-2004--- Colonel Myo Win ordered village authorities of Chang Gu,
Tao-Tak, Han Gam and Kaw Hlaing villages to build toilets (dig toilet
holes).

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