BurmaNet News, May 28, 2004

[Editor]

May 28, 2004, Issue # 2485


INSIDE BURMA
AFP: Myanmar's hopes for democracy fade as Suu Kyi marks one year in custody
S.H.A.N.: Ceasefire groups held to ransom
Reuters: Cyclone killed at least 140 in Myanmar

ON THE BORDER
Kaladan: BDR Destroyed about 100 Huts of Unofficial Rohingya Refugees at
Teknaf

REGIONAL
Nation: Police arrest 34 Burmese protesters

INTERNATIONAL
UPI: Britain calls for Suu Kyi's release

OPINION/OTHER
Irrawaddy: The Non-Violent Movement in Burma’s Prisons

PRESS RELEASE
IID: IID commends Indonesia’s stand on Burma, challenges RP gov’t, ASEAN
to do the same


INSIDE BURMA
______________________________________

May 28, Agence France Presse
Myanmar's hopes for democracy fade as Suu Kyi marks one year in custody -
Pascale Trouillaud

Bangkok: One year after a bloody crackdown on Myanmar's opposition,
democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi remains in detention with her party
sidelined by the ruling junta which has embarked on a "democratisation"
process without it.

The deadly attack on the Nobel peace laureate's convoy, carried out by a
pro-junta mob on May 30, 2003 during a tour of the nation's north, marked
a dramatic deterioration in an already gloomy political scene.

Within days, every top member of the National League for Democracy (NLD)
was in custody and its offices were slammed shut nationwide -- crippling
the party which won 1990 elections but was never allowed to rule.

As Aung San Suu Kyi began her third stint under house arrest, the ruling
generals were hit with international outrage and tighter economic
sanctions ordered by the United States and European Union.

Japan suspended all new economic aid and Myanmar's neighbours in the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations made the unprecedented move --
under pressure from the US -- of calling for the opposition leader's
release.

It was in this dire context that the junta in August unveiled a "democracy
roadmap" billed as starting with a constitutional convention and ending in
free elections -- squarely aimed at deflecting the criticisms from abroad.

"They want to whitewash Black Friday, the Depayin massacre, and they are
using the convention in an attempt to do this," said Zin Linn, spokesman
for the National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma which
represents elected Myanmar MPs in exile.

The roadmap was launched on May 17 with the constitutional talks, which
were completely discredited by an NLD boycott called when the junta
refused its demands to free Aung San Suu Kyi and reform the forum's rules.

One year after the "May 30" incident outside the town of Depayin,
political observers say that prospects for democracy in Myanmar are even
more faint.

"At one point it was thought that the Depayin incident was going to be the
catalyst for change, but then we realised that was not the case," said one
Western analyst based in Yangon.

"The international community gave the roadmap the benefit of the doubt but
now there is nothing positive to be expected out of it," he added.

"We are facing a hardening of their stance. There was a group (of
generals) which wanted some change but they are not the ones who won."

So Aung San Suu Kyi on Sunday begins her second year in detention,
confined to her home on the shores of Yangon's Inya Lake with no
indication of when she will be freed.

The events of May 30 remain unclear, but witnesses say that after a
triumphant tour which drew thousands of excited people to hear her speak,
Aung San Suu Kyi and her supporters were attacked by hundreds of
assailants.

Armed with iron bars and bamboo staves, they ambushed the convoy and
brutally attacked both men and women, leaving as many as 100 dead
according to dissidents who escaped and managed to tell their story.

The government claims four people were killed and 50 injured in the melee,
but there is no prospect of an independent investigation to determine
exactly what happened in the remote town.

After the Depayin incident, which was fuelled by the junta's deep-seated
fear of Aung San Suu Kyi's immense popularity and the risk of it
triggering a popular revolt, the opposition leader was immediately taken
into custody.

She was held in Yangon's notorious Insein jail for one month under what
visiting United Nations envoy Razali Ismail said were "deplorable"
conditions, and then transferred to an army camp, before undergoing
surgery and then being taken to her home where she had endured two
previous confinements.

The entire NLD leadership was also put under house arrest and dozens of
other activists were pursued, arrested and sometimes tortured, according
to dissidents.

"For the NLD this was a catastrophe," said one Western diplomat. "Its
offices have not reopened, Suu Kyi has not been freed and there is a total
lack of dialogue with the government."

"Anything is possible, but for the moment there does not seem to be any
prospect for a release," he said of the likelihood that "The Lady" could
be given her liberty.

______________________________________

28 May, Shan Herald Agency for News
Ceasefire groups held to ransom

Log movements stopped

Armed groups in Shan State a large part of whose funds come from the
officially-authorized timber trade had recently been informed to suspend
their business activities until the National Convention is over, according
to ceasefire sources from northern Shan State.

"It is an attempt to force us into toeing their line at the Convention,"
commented one of the officers from Shan State Peace Council, a merger of
the Shan State Army "North" and Shan State National Army that had
concluded truce pacts with Rangoon in 1989 and 1995 respectively.

The coalition's 7 delegates led by Col Gaifah, its General Secretary, are
attending the extended meeting that began on 17 May to formulate
"fundamental principles for the State Constitution for the emergence of a
discipline-flourishing democracy which is desired by the people," in the
words of Lt-Gen Thein Sein, Chairman of its Convening Commission.

The order from Rangoon, relayed through the Northeastern Regional Command
based in Lashio, 110-miles south of the Sino-Burma border at Muse,
coincided with the issuance of 7-demands by 6-ceasefire groups on 11 May,
noted a source. The demands called for the re-examination of the
military's claim for a leading role in the country's politics, free
discussion and debate, and the participation of those elected in the 1990
polls, among others. (Re: Ceasefire groups position supported by Wa,
S.H.A.N. 14 May 2004)

The result was the laying-off of logging activities in the quadrangle area
controlled by the SSPC, south of Hsipaw and Lashio.

"It was just as well," remarked a source from Muse. "Because the area has
almost run out of hardwood. Too bad it couldn't have come earlier."

Since 1997, teak logs, processed into rectangular shape, had been from
transported Panghai and Nawngpu, two main timber markets, across Ta
Marnhsom and Ta Hoong ferry crossings on the Salween and through
Panghsang, the Wa capital, into China. Most of the buyers were Chinese and
Wa, who paid Y 80,000 - 100,000 per ton. "Now, the price is down to
Y60,000," said a local trader. "But there's no one to take up the offer."

The Democratic Voice of Burma also reported on 23 May that regional
commands had been ordered by Rangoon to beef up their forces around areas
controlled by ceasefire groups.

In the meantime, little information is coming out of Nyawnghnapin Camp,
north of Rangoon, where the National Convention is being held. "They are
probably listening and yawning over the riot acts being read out by the
Burmese officials who instead choose to call them democratic principles,"
wise cracked the officer.

According to London-based Global Witness, China's timber imports from
Burma surged by 40% last year.

______________________________________

May 28, Reuters
Cyclone killed at least 140 in Myanmar

Geneva: A cyclone has killed at least 140 people in Myanmar and left
18,000 homeless, the United Nations has said in the first report on a
disaster which has been ignored by national media.

The storm, which caused tidal surges and flooding in four towns in
southwestern Rakhine State near the border with Bangladesh, was the worst
to hit the area since 1968, according to a U.N. statement issued in Geneva
on Friday.

"More than 140 people are reported dead or missing due to the cyclone,"
the U.N. Children's Fund (UNICEF) said, adding that most casualties were
in the town of Myebon.

The storm damaged or destroyed schools, telephone and electricity lines
and killed livestock. Food and clean water shortages have been reported
throughout affected areas, it said.

Authorities in Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, have asked U.N. officials
in the capital Yangon to supply 200 tonnes of food, material for temporary
shelters, medicines and clothing, according to a statement by the U.N.
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).


ON THE BORDER
_____________________________________

May 27, Kaladan News
BDR Destroyed about 100 Huts of Unofficial Rohingya Refugees at Teknaf

Teknaf: Recently, Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) destroyed about 100 huts of
unofficial Rohingya refugees at Teknaf, who have been living among the
Bengali villages, according to our source.

On 20th May 2004, at about 12:00 pm, a team of BDR from Teknaf Battalion
conducted an operation along the Teknaf border area and destroyed about
100 huts of Rohingya refugees and seized 500 pieces of fishing nets from
them, he further added.

These refugees came into Bangladesh for a long time to escape political
persecution of ruling military junta. They catch fishes in the Naf River,
at the coast of Bay of Bengal and work as daily employee in the area to
earn their livelihoods for their survival.

When asked a refugee said, “ Now, we have no shelters and earning sources
as our fishing nets were seized by BDR. And also our huts were partly
destroyed by the cyclonic storm of 19th May 2004, which mainly attacks
Akyab (Burma) and Saint Martin (Bangladesh). ”

Many times, Nasak (Burma border security forces) and BDR held flag
meetings along the border to halt the flight of Rohingyas into Bangladesh
and to build a better relationship between two neighboring countries.

Another refugee said, “BDR starts operation on us instead of humanitarian
aids.”

Besides, about 20,000 Rohingya refugees have been living in two refugee
camps of Bangladesh in sub-human condition, under a hidden threat of
forced repatriation. While another 7,000 are living at a makeshift camp of
Teknaf without any helps from any quarters. In their poor condition, their
children are dying of diarrhea and malaria attacks, while many are
fighting for their lives.


REGIONAL
_____________________________________

May 28, The Nation
Police arrest 34 Burmese protesters - Rungrawee C Pinyorat

Thirty-four Burmese dissidents were arrested yesterday while protesting in
front of the Burmese Embassy to mark the 14th anniversary of the National
League for Democracy's landslide victory in the 1990 election.

The dissidents, from different Burmese ethnic groups, including Chin, Mon
and Rohinya, were rounded up after some of them went to ask police for
permission to hold the peaceful demonstration. Four of them are exiled
members of the NLD.

All of them are being held at the Immigration Detention Centre in Bangkok
for entering the country illegally. Despite its landslide victory, the NLD
was never allowed to rule the country. The military junta continues
suppressing political dissent against its rule and detaining members of
the opposition.

Fences were erected along the front gate of the Burmese Embassy ahead of
the Burmese students' arrival.

Burma's National Convention has been meeting since May 17 to draft a new
constitution without the participation of the NLD. The party demanded the
release of all key leaders as a precondition for further negotiations.

'It makes me sad that the Thai government does not support activities that
promote democracy,' said Htaw Weang, a leader of the Overseas Mon National
Students Organisation, adding that his counterparts only wanted to stage a
20-minute-long peaceful demonstration.

The group called for the immediate release of opposition leader Aung San
Suu Kyi and U Tin Oo, the NLD's deputy leader who was put under house
arrest along with other political prisoners.

'With these people under detention, the National Convention is only a
lie', Htaw said, adding that the group opposes the convention and called
for it to be abandoned.

According to the Burmese dissidents, 12 of them are registered with the
United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees (UNHCR) as 'persons of
concern' (POC) and the rest have already applied for such status.

Bernard Quah, assistant regional representative of the UNHCR in Bangkok,
said that the agency would ask that Thai authorities release the Burmese
students under its protection.

But the assistance would not cover the dissidents without the POC status,
he said.

The Thai government has told the UNHCR to stop granting POC status to
newcomers and ordered all Burmese exiles relocated to border camps.

The US has offered to take Burmese POC holders for resettlement following
the Thai authorities' suppression of their political protests and removal
to the camps.


INTERNATIONAL
_____________________________________

May 28, United Press International
Britain calls for Suu Kyi's release

London: Britain has called on Myanmar's neighbors to pressure its military
leaders to release democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi.

Britain's Foreign Office Minister Mike O'Brien expressed deep concern that
Suu Kyi has been kept under house arrest and her party, the National
League for Democracy, has not been allowed to take part in the country's
constitutional convention, which began May 17, the New Kerala News
reported Friday.

"Without the NLD, the convention lacks all credibility and prospects for a
genuine dialogue leading to national reconciliation have been severely
undermined," O'Brien said.

Suu Kyi was taken into custody following a violent attack on the convoy in
which she was traveling on May 30 last year. She has spent nine of the
last 15 years under house arrest. Her party won a national election in
1990, but was never allowed to assume power.


OPINION/OTHER
_____________________________________

May 28, Irrawaddy
The Non-Violent Movement in Burma’s Prisons - Wai Moe

When prisoners in Burma use non-violent means to protest against
violations of their human dignity, their demands are usually met with
violence by the authorities. However, this brutal suppression of the
non-violent movement in Burma’s prisons does nothing to deter some
prisoners from participating in the movement.

Aung Kyaw Moe, a prominent leader during the 1988 pro-democracy uprising,
was beaten to death by prison wardens while using non-violent means to
protest against the junta’s refusal to release him from detention, despite
having completed his sentence.

Having already served ten years in prison for having illegal contact with
the Communist Party of Burma, the junta continued to detain him under
Section 10(a) of the State Protection Law, an arbitrary law that gives the
authorities sweeping powers to detain anyone who may be considered as a
threat to security. In 1997, he was moved from Insein Prison to Tharawaddy
Prison, a hundred miles from Rangoon.

A year later, the junta’s unjust refusal to release Aung Kyaw Moe
triggered a hunger strike among the prisoners. The prison authorities
dealt with the strike in their usual manner—violently. Days later, he was
unjustly beaten to death. Even in the last minutes of his life he did not
withdraw his objection to his continued detention.

Action through peaceful means plays a significant role in the Burmese
democracy movement. Political prisoners’ have applied non-violent means to
fight for their fundamental rights in Burma’s prisons since the colonial
period. The Buddhist monk U Wisaya notably made his mark in history when
he died on the 144th day of his hunger strike to protest against colonial
rule in Burma.

There are three main reasons for the participation of prisoners in the
political defiance movement in Burma’s prisons: to uphold their dignity,
to survive and to fill the political void in lockdown. The political
prisoners take peaceful action when they feel it is necessary. They
believe they have a responsibility to act on behalf of their own people,
the same as freedom fighters. It is these reasons that spur them into
protesting against the unjust rule in prison.

In Burma’s notorious prisons, human rights violations take place everyday.
The political prisoners use the non-violent movement to challenge these
violations. This takes many forms; sometimes they refuse to receive
unhealthy food given to them by prison officials, other times they may ask
for standard medical care, or sometimes they demand the right to read and
so on. These challenges are very important to the prisoners and form an
important part of their lives, but not without risk. The prison officials
never respond to the prisoners’ requests politely.

As part of the movement, prisoners sometimes hold political memorial days.
These are in violation of prison law, according to the prison officials.
Yet the prisoners find clever ways to protest, such as coordinating
one-minute of silence throughout the prison to show respect for martyrs
killed in pro-democracy activities. They also refuse to work on memorial
days—knowing that they will be punished for this act of defiance.

Not all peaceful acts of non-cooperation in prison end successfully.
Displays of disobedience resulting in a violent response can lead to
death, injury or a prisoner’s transfer to another prison. However, prison
officials who are impressed by the prisoners’ fearlessness in their
participation in the movement have often engaged with the prisoners as a
result of their peaceful activities. Even though the officials do not give
into their demands, the movement has sometimes led to changes in prison
life, but not without cost.

Before any non-violent movement is undertaken in prison, the participants
must consider the authority’s worst reaction to whatever peaceful protest
they have planned. Prisoners must volunteer their participation—no
prisoner is forced into the movement. The individual’s free choice to
participate is considered very important. Prison officials’ reactions to
the movement are unsympathetic, therefore participants risk being beaten
to death by wardens, tied up in shackles, put in solitary confinement, or
they may receive additional prison terms for their involvement. Followers
of the movement also believe that volunteers who lack in dedication and
commitment to the cause will weaken the movement.

The biggest hunger strike in Burma’s history happened on Coco Island,
hundreds of miles from the mainland, in the Andaman Sea. Convicts
sentenced to life along with political prisoners were sent to serve their
sentences in a prison on the island. After the 1962 coup, the military
regime began to use the island as an oppressive tool.

In this period, the prisoners faced many difficulties in acquiring food
and medicine for their survival. Supplies came by boat, sometimes only a
month at a time. The prisoners became fed up with the situation and
decided to take action in defense of their human dignity and survival.
They agreed that they had to get the government to remove Coco Island
Prison.

The prisoners organized a hunger strike to protest against the junta’s
policy in sending prisoners to the island as their punishment and to
demand that the authorities remove the island prison. Participants had to
be prepared to sacrifice their lives for the cause.

At first their demands were ignored, then, nearly one month later, a navy
ship arrived at the island. The ship’s chief read the government’s
statement in response to the strike. It stated the government’s orders to
remove the prison. In that instance of peaceful protest, the prisoners
won, but their victory did not come with ease. Only two of the volunteers
were still alive by the time the ship arrived, the eight other
participants died during the strike.

The non-violent movement in prison is not always successful in achieving
its ends. However, the prisoners’ actions demonstrate their belief that
they have a responsibility to act, despite having very little means to do
so.

Wai Moe is former student activist and political prisoner now living in
exile.


PRESS RELEASE
_____________________________________

May 27, Initiatives for International Dialogue
IID commends Indonesia’s stand on Burma, challenges RP gov’t, ASEAN to do
the same


The Initiatives for International Dialogue (IID), a Philippine-based NGO
advocating a genuine democracy, justice and peace in Burma today
challenged the Philippine government and ASEAN members to emulate
Indonesia, which criticized Burma’s decision to begin its charter talks
last week despite the absence of the major Burmese opposition party, the
National League of Democracy (NLD).

The military junta ruling Burma has billed the national convention as
their “first step” in a  “road map” to democracy and national
reconciliation. But the convention opened on May 17 attended mostly by
handpicked delegates and representatives of ethnic national groups which
had signed ceasefire agreements with the junta.

Indonesia, current chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations or
ASEAN, said in a May 19 Foreign Ministry statement that it hoped that the
process of implementation of  the roadmap “would be all-inclusive, with
the involvement of all groups with different ethnic and political
orientation." The NLD opted to boycott participation in the convention
because of the continued detention of NLD leaders including Aung San Suu
Kyi, massive crackdown on rights activists and the junta’s failure to act
on the opposition’s suggested reforms on the rules of the convention.

IID Executive Director Augusto Miclat said, “As a senior ASEAN member, the
Philippine government must express its utmost concern over the
undemocratic and unrepresentative national convention in Burma.”

Need for opposition and ethnic nationalities reps
Miclat said IID supports the call for a tripartite dialogue where the
junta, the major opposition and the ethnic nationalities are given equal
representation and powers during the talks. “The problem with the
convention is the junta’s refusal to make the convention all-inclusive,”
he added.

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has said the junta “risked its
credibility” by holding the talks despite the NLD's boycott, while the
United States and other Western nations said the convention is deemed
irrelevant because of the NLD boycott.

The US government even issued criticism to the junta branding the said
government as an “unusual and extraordinary threat” to the American
security. Irked by the state department’s comment, the SPDC, citing the
wars that happened in Iraq and Afghanistan, said that US should stop
lecturing about them about democracy. Miclat also hit the junta’s
dismissive stance of the US and  “forces from the outside” pushing for
democracy in Burma, saying that the junta itself has set no timetable for
completing the seven steps in its “road map” to democracy.

“The junta called for elections in 1990, but refused to hand over power
when the NLD  won in  a landslide. Are other nations not justified then in
ensuring that democratic reforms are followed this time?”, he said.

Burma needs more than entertainment
IID also criticized the junta’s reported provision of   “recreation
activities” including golf and billiards games, TV and movies, and a stage
show for the convention delegates.

Miclat commented, “Burma and its people need more than funny faces. They
need justice, peace and genuine democracy, which can be achieved not
through empty games and amusement but by restoring civilian rule in
Burma.”

He said the incoming Filipino administration can start off on the right
foot by making a firm stand on Burma, specially on the national convention
process that is expected to result in a new constitution and democratic
elections in Burma in the near future.