-------------------------- BurmaNet -------------------------- "Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies" -------------------------------------------------------------- The BurmaNet News: 29 APRIL 1995 Issue #160 o------------------------------------------------------------o HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH/ASIA: HRW CONDEMNS ATTACKS ON REFUGEES ABSDO (AUSTRALIA): STATEMENT TO DR BOUTROS BOUTROS GHALI BURMANET: LETTER--"EASY MEAT" REUTERS: BRITAIN OPPOSES TRADE SANCTIONS AGAINST BURMA REUTERS: MALAYSIA TO SEND RUBBER MISSION TO BURMA REUTERS: UN ASKS FOR KAREN CAMPS TO BE MOVED KHRG: CHEMICAL SHELLS AT KAWMOORA-SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION o------------------------------------------------------------o o-------------------------------o The BurmaNet News is an | | electronic newspaper | Iti | covering Burma. 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For a | governedbythe | free subscription to | ruleoflaw... | the BurmaNet News, send | Fearisahabi | an e-mail message to: | t.Iam | | no | majordomo@igc.apc.org | taf | | ra | In the body of the message, | id. | type: subscribe burmanews-l | Aun | [news only mailing list], | gSa | or, for the news+discussion | nS | list, type: | uu | subscribe burmanet-l | Ky | | i. | Correspondance and letters o-------------------------------o to the editor should be addressed to: strider@igc.apc.org o------------------------------------------------------------o HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH/ASIA: HRW CONDEMNS ATTACKS ON REFUGEES FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 26, 1995 For more information: Zunetta Liddell 44-171-713-1995 - (office) In London 44-171-278-4485 - (home) Mike Jendrzejczyk 202-371-6592 x113 - (office) In DC 301-585-5824 - (home) Sidney Jones 212-972-8400 x290 (office) In NY 718-398-4186 (home) HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH/ASIA CONDEMNS ATTACKS ON BURMESE REFUGEES Human Rights Watch/Asia today condemned three attacks on Burmese refugees in Thailand since April 23 by Burmese government troops and their allies, the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA), and called for Thailand to increase the protection of refugees in all camps. In the course of the attacks, the combined Burmese and DKBA forces burned refugee camps, forced scores of refugees to return to Burma against their will and may have been responsible for the deaths of two refugees. Human Rights Watch/Asia calls on the Burmese and Thai governments to allow an international monitoring presence along their border in the area where the raids took place and on the Thai government to allow full access to the refugee camps by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and other humanitarian agencies, with whatever security protection may be necessary. Since the fall of the Karen National Union (KNU) bases at Manerplaw and Kawmoora in January and February 1995, over 10,000 Karen have sought refuge in Thailand, joining the 70,000 already in camps along the Thai-Burma border. The DKBA, a breakaway group of Buddhist Karen who left the Christian-led Karen National Union in December 1994, alleging religious discrimination and human rights abuses by Karen officers, had assisted in the Burmese government's offensive against the KNU. Following the defeat of the KNU, the DKBA began raiding refugee camps, kidnapping Buddhist Karen leaders and killing others in what are thought to have been acts of revenge. The most recent attacks are the most serious yet, and appear to be linked to leaflets distributed by the DKBA in early April warning all refugees to return to Burma by April 19. On April 23, around 200 government and DKBA troops crossed the river Moei which marks the border with Thailand and entered Klay They Loo refugee camp, close to the river in Thailand's Mae Sam Leb district. Fighting broke out between them and Karen camp guards. Unconfirmed reports suggest that at least two refugees were killed in the crossfire, and nine people were taken by the DKBA. The fighting spread to a nearby Thai Karen village, resulting in all the residents of that village fleeing, and the village was reported to have been razed to the ground. The following day, April 24, further intrusions were made into Klay The Loo camp and more refugees were abducted. On April 25, a separate group of around 200 Burmese and DKBA troops crossed into Thailand from the north, and were reported to have attacked Mae Ra Ma Luang camp, north of Klay They Loo. Unlike the other camps, this is a new camp established five and half kilometers inside Thailand after earlier attacks on camps close to the border. There were over 4,500 refugees in the camp at the time of the attack. The details of the attack are unclear, but it reports suggest that sections one and three of the camp were razed. It is not known how many people were injured in the attack, nor how many people were abducted. Representatives of French and German aid organizations are attempting to reach the camp today, but there has been no confirmation as to whether they have succeeded. Without protection from Thailand, the area remains very dangerous for both refugees and those groups seeking to provide them with food and shelter. At midnight on April 25, a further attack took place in Kamaw Lay Kho camp,which is south of Mae Ma Ra Luang, between the river and the Mae Sot - Mae Sariang highway. Press reports quoted a Thai army officer as saying that some 100 troops were involved in this attack, in which 300 houses were razed and an unknown number of refugees and Thai villagers were abducted. Since the attack 3,000 residents of the camp have been forced to live in the forest. A representative of the Burma Border Consortium, the main provider of aid to the refugees, told Human Rights Watch/Asia that these attacks have dramatically increased the tension in the camps, with the fear that now any camp could be attacked at any time. It is unclear how the Thai military in the area responded to the attacks, but the Thai Third Army Region Commander, Gen. Surachet Dechatiwong, is reported to have traveled to the area to investigate the incident. He had met with his Burmese counterpart, Gen Khet Sein, at a Thai-Burma Regional Border Committee meeting on April 25, where he was reported to have raised the issue of incursions into Thai territory and was told that the SLORC could not control the DKBA forces "who are like children staying under their roof." While Human Rights Watch/Asia has no details of the current relationship between the government and the DKBO, it is known that they regularly meet and that the government has provided financial and military assistance to the DKBA. Moreover, as a paramilitary group operating from inside Burma (and the headquarters of the DKBA is just across a river from the large Kammamung military base), the Burmese government remains responsible for their actions. Human Rights Watch/Asia calls on the Thai government to protect civilians taking refuge in their country. In cases where refugees are abducted and taken to Burma against their will, the Thai government is responsible for permitting refoulement, a violation of international law. It also calls on the government to step up its protection of the camp, rather than forcing the refugees to provide for their own protection with armed guards,as this could lead to the camps being considered legitimate military targets. ******************************************* Human Rights Watch/Asia (formerly Asia Watch)Human Rights Watch is a nongovernmental organization established in 1978 to monitor and promote the observance of internationally recognized human rights in Africa, the Americas, Asia, the Middle East and among the signatories of the Helsinki accords. Kenneth Roth is the executive director; Cynthia Brown is the program director; Holly J. Burkhalter is the advocacy director; Gara LaMarche is the associate director; Juan E. Mendez is general counsel; and Susan Osnos is the communications director. Robert L. Bernstein is the chair of the executive committee and Adrian W. DeWind is vice chair. Its Asia division was established in 1985 to monitor and promote the observance of internationally recognized human rights in Asia. Sidney Jones is the executive director; Mike Jendrzejczyk is the Washington director; Robin Munro is the Hong Kong director; Zunetta Liddell, Dinah PoKempner, Patricia Gossman and Jeannine Guthrie are research associates; Mark Girouard and Shu-Ju Ada Cheng are Luce fellows; Diana Tai- Feng Cheng and Jennifer Hyman are associates; Mickey Spiegel is a research consultant. Human Rights Watch/Asia 485 Fifth Avenue, 3rd Floor New York, NY 10017 TEL: 212/972-8400 FAX: 212/972-0905 E-mail: hrwnyc@hrw.org 1522 K Street NW, Suite 910 Washington, D.C. 20005 TEL: 202/371-6592 FAX: 202/371-0124 E-mail: hrwdc@hrw.org 33 Islington High Street London, N1 9LH United Kingdom TEL: 44-171-713-1995 FAX: 44-171-713-1800 E-mail: hrwatchuk@igc.apc.org o------------------------------------------------------------o ABSDO (AUSTRALIA: STATEMENT TO DR BOUTROS BOUTROS GHALI ABSDO (Australia). ------------------------------------------- Dr.Boutros Boutros Ghali UN Secretary-General United Nations Building New York N.Y. 10017 USA. 26 April 1995. Your Excellecy Mr. Secretary-General, On behalf of the Burmese community in Australia, we wish to offer you our greetings and best wishes on this auspicious 50th anniversary of the establishment of the United Nation and encourage you and your good offices to sucessfully reaffirm the Charter of the United Nations in the case of Burma. As related in the March 3 1995 Resolution of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights,despite some cosmetic changes in terms of the State Law and Order Resotration Council(SLORC)'s human rights record, systematic and persistent human rights abuses continue across the country. This is of particular concern in border areas inhabited predominantly by ethnic minority people where forced labour and conscription as porters is used extensively in the military's operations. In Burma's central towns and cities too, arbittrary arrest, intimidation and torture of political prisoners continue to be used to silence dissent. In February, during the funeral of our former Prime Minister, U NU, 50 students were arrested following their peaceful expression of support for the pro-democracy movement. We seek your support in achieving the immediate and unconditional release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and other political prisoner as a matter of priority. It is timely that your good officers devote their attention to this aim in coming months, as the SLORC's own deadline for her release will expire. We also seek your support in ensuring that the United Nations humanitarian and development agencies reconsider their programs in Burma. The central and local levels of the military authorities are able to derive material and other benefit from the assistance provided by these agencies and use froced lobour in the construction projects undertaken in the name of border development. We question the effectiveness of the delivery of assistance to the people in Burma where the authorities determine the ultimate direction of this work. The SLORC uses the presence of UN agencies to justify the recognition afforded to it by the international community. We therefore recommend that diplomatic pressure be brought by mechanisms available to you to acknowledge the legitimacy of the elected parliament, who have held th emandate of the people since 1990. We ask that you convey to us the steps your good officeers have been able to take in effectively implementing the Resolution 49/197 to achieve national reconciliation in Burma. We wish you well and look forward to hearing your positive response. Sincerely, Central Committee All-Burma Students Democratic Organisation (Australia) o------------------------------------------------------------o UPI: UN CONCERNED ON FATE OF KAREN REFUGEES GENEVA, April 28 (UPI) -- The United Nations expressed concern Friday about the fate of more than 100 Karen refugees who were abducted from Thailand earlier this week by militia loyal to the Burmese government. The abductions took place on April 24 and 25 when armed groups entered Thailand from Burma and attacked two large refugee camps sheltering about 8,500 people, Ron Redmond, spokesman for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, said. "They burned down or blew up large sections of both camps," Redmond said. "Thousands were made homeless by the incident and fled terrified into the forest." Following the attacks, Thai security forces increased their presence in the area, a move that has been welcomed by the U.N. agency, which has also asked the authorities to move the camps farther away from the Burmese border. "These latest incidents represent a sharp and worrying escalation in a pattern of cross-border raids on refugee camps that currently shelter 74,000 Karen refugees in Thailand," Redmond said. Bangkok has strongly protested the incursions to Burmese officials, calling the attacks a violation of Thai sovereignty and territorial integrity. Karen ethnic groups have been asking the Burmese government for an autonomous region for several decades. o------------------------------------------------------------o BURMANET: LETTER--"EASY MEAT" Dear Strider, Criticizing SLORC is 'easy-meat' and punitive. Can I suggest more innovative criticism about the people that 'live-off' the regime and support it's existence? Have you heard about a Burmese fable - where the magical chariot settles for the "bad" prince instead of the "good" one? It is sad, and probably cruel to say this... but the reality is our country has it's leaders that it 'deserves'. The disparity between the "haves" and "have-nots" is widening every day, and little is done from all parties to bridge this. Recently millions of money was spent on the 'Thingyan' extravaganza. Maybe this money should have been spent on the villages and the needy. Materialism, greed, insincerity, deceit, betrayal overwhelm the people of Rangoon and it's inhabitants. Much time is spent by many buddhists about 'taya'...and I am not a scholar on Buddhism to critisize. But it makes me wonder.. what do they understand and what have they applied to their everyday life to benefit society? [Name withheld] ********** Editor's reply: Finding things to criticize in Burma is as you say, simple enough. Modern Burma is for a critic what a soldier would call a "target rich environment." But the point of BurmaNet is not to criticisize, but instead to try to understand Burma and its peoples through the gathering and distribution of information. If the SLORC comes in for a good deal of criticism, it is because we understand them too well. If some individuals in Burma escape a deserved censure, perhaps it is because we understand them too little. But for insight into what is admirable and otherwise in the Burmese people, most outsiders have no choice but to rely on Burmese people such as yourself for guidance. o------------------------------------------------------------o REUTERS: BRITAIN OPPOSES TRADE SANCTIONS AGAINST BURMA LONDON, April 28 (Reuter) - Britain said on Friday it did not believe trade sanctions would help improve human rights in Burma. In a brief debate in the House of Lords, foreign office spokesman Lord Inglewood said new sanctions would hurt the people and not the country's government. "We do not believe sanctions would be effective without international support, which we do not judge to be forthcoming." "While we do not wish to offer succour to the regime, we don't believe isolating it entirely is necessarily going to benefit the Burmese people," Inglewood said. Britain has already imposed a ban on non-humanitarian aid and an arms embargo, and has severed defence links with the ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC). But Britain, along with its European Union partners, maintains a policy of "critical dialogue" with Rangoon which means holding occasional talks in which officials repeat demands for better human rights and political reform. Inglewood repeated Britain's condemnation of the SLORC's continued detention without trial of Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of the National League for Democracy. Nobel Peace Prize laureate Suu Kyi has been detained since July 1989, but nevertheless led the League to an overwhelming victory in May 1990 elections which SLORC failed to recognise. "Her continued detention without charge is indefensible and in flagrant contradiction of all principles of justice," Inglewood told the upper house of the British parliament. o------------------------------------------------------------o REUTERS: MALAYSIA TO SEND RUBBER MISSION TO BURMA KUALA LUMPUR, April 28 (Reuter) - Malaysia will send a rubber trade delegation to Burma from May 1 to 6, to improve and increase trade ties between the two countries, the national Bernama news agency reported. "With peace and stability returning to (Burma) and with a more open economic policy, Malaysian traders should take the opportunity to establish closer trade ties with (Burma)," Malaysian Rubber Exchange and Licensing Board (MRELB) chairman Ng Kok Tee was quoted by Bernama as saying. The mission was also aimed at importing more natural rubber from Burma for Malaysian factories as well as to seek investment opportunities in plantations and processing, he said in a statement. Ng will lead a 20-member delegation which is expected to hold discussion with Burmese officials and visit several rubber estates and Burma's Rubber Technology Development Centre. o------------------------------------------------------------o REUTERS: UN ASKS FOR KAREN CAMPS TO BE MOVED By Stephanie Nebehay GENEVA, April 28 (Reuter) - The United Nations said on Friday 74,000 Karen refugees in Thailand were in danger from cross-border attacks and called for the camps to be moved further away from the Burmese border. The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) expressed concern about reports that armed men had crossed from Burma into Thailand and abducted "hundreds" of Karen refugees after setting fire to two camps this week. Two refugees were killed. Separately, Thai police and refugee officials said Burmese soldiers and members of an allied Karen guerrilla faction attacked two camps on Friday, killing at least one refugee. "These latest incidents represent a sharp and worrying escalation in the pattern of cross-border raids on refugee camps that currently shelter 74,000 Karen refugees in Thailand," UNHCR spokesman Ron Redmond told a briefing before the latest raid. "Obviously these people are in danger...We have requested camp relocation," he later told Reuters. UNHCR's Bangkok office has asked Thai authorities to grant its staff access to the string of more than 20 border camps sheltering the Karen refugees. The agency has yet to receive a government reply. At present the Geneva-based UNHCR has no role in the camps except for an occasional visit by a single protection officer who travels from Bangkok. "We are particularly disturbed by the reported abduction earlier this week of hundreds of refugees, including women and children, and the torching of homes in refugee camps," Redmond told reporters. "Two refugees were reported killed. Thousands were made homeless by the incidents and fled terrified into the forests." The attacks by armed men took place on Monday April 24 on Ban Mae Ra Ma Luang camp and on Kamaw Lay Ko on the night of April 25-26, according to the UNHCR spokesman. The UNHCR had no information on the attackers' identity. The camps hold 4,500 and 4,000 Karen refugees respectively. Relief workers say Burmese troops and members of the Karen guerrilla splinter faction have launched a campaign of terror against the Karen refugees in Thailand in an effort to force them back into government-controlled parts of Burma and deprive the Karen guerrilla group of its civilian support base. The agency and Thai authorities have begun discussing a greater "protection role" for UNHCR staff in the Karen camps. "We have asked Thai authorities for access to these camps this week following these incidents," Redmond said. "But we have received no response so far. We do expect that they will give us access." o------------------------------------------------------------o SCB: BURMESE STUDENTS ABROAD Posted by: ckyu@mailhost.tcs.tulane.edu soc.culture.burma 3:56 PM Apr 28, 1995 (at mailhost.tcs.tulane.edu) (From News system) Hi everyone, I'm a student at Tulane University in New Orleans. I'm wondering if there is an organization of Burmese students who are studying at various universities around the world, and who have been brought together by a vision of a Better Burma, our Motherland, our A-Mi-Myay. If there is such a group, please let me know.I will be a member right away. Chan E Kyu o------------------------------------------------------------o KHRG: CHEMICAL SHELLS AT KAWMOORA-SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION An Independent Report by the Karen Human Rights Group March 20, 1995 / KHRG #95-08-A This report provides supplementary information to the report "Chemical Shells at Kawmoora", KHRG #95-08. Further supplementary reports may be produced as more information is obtained. ____________________________________________________________ ______________ Medical and clothing samples from some of the soldiers exposed to the gas attack at Kawmoora are still under analysis overseas, and no results have been communicated to us as yet. However, some further pieces of information have been provided by various sources. Shortly after the fall of Kawmoora, Lt. Gen. Tin Oo (Secretary-2 of SLORC) was in Thailand at the invitation of Thai Army Commander-in-Chief Wimol Wongwanich. Tin Oo's contacts while in Thailand were primarily only with Thai military leaders. Just after his return to Burma, Thai journalists questioned Gen. Chettha Thanajaro, Assistant Army Chief of Staff of Thailand. In an article entitled "Burmese Admit They Used Chemicals to Fight Karens" on February 28th, the Thai-language Daily News paraphrased Gen. Chettha's words as follows: "Concerning the Australian government's protest over SLORC's use of chemicals against the Karen, Tin Oo replied that they had to wipe out the thieves and rebels that are against the government. He said that although the use of chemicals is not right, it is necessary." At the same time, SLORC has been publishing a seemingly endless series of fictional - but supposedly true - propaganda pieces in their "New Light of Myanmar" newspaper telling the story of the fall of Manerplaw and Kawmoora, complete with fabricated conversations. In one of the articles, Gen. Bo Mya says, "I have instructed all my men to fire on towns and villages with heavy arms and small arms. I have instructed them to explode bombs everywhere. I have asked them to poison wells and tanks with potassium cyanide. ... I have asked Soe Soe to get me some chemical bombs, has he got any by now? Must explode them among my men, must explode them at Kawmoora. We may lose four or five men. I will have their bodies photographed. I will have them videotaped. I have asked them to bring in two Japanese to see for themselves how the Na Wa Ta [SLORC] army has been using poison bombs. The Na Wa Ta government will then become another Iraq. ... Well, get more potassium cyanide, poison bombs and bacteria bombs. Try and get them urgently." After working to incite a rift between Karen Buddhists and Christians, the SLORC claimed it was Bo Mya who deliberately incited the rift (despite the fact that it cost him his headquarters); after attacking Kawmoora, the SLORC claimed it was Karen who attacked Kawmoora; now it appears that after using chemical weapons against Karen, SLORC "covers" itself by claiming it was Bo Mya who used chemical weapons against his own men. The specific mention of potassium cyanide is intriguing, because no one else except SLORC has mentioned such a specific chemical. Potassium cyanide causes 'cyanosis': inability to breathe, respiratory failure and as little as 0.5 mg. can kill an adult, leaving the victim with blue face, lips and extremities. If chemically bound to some other organic compound, it can bind to the skin and cause burns and blistering, also entering the blood stream through the skin to cause cyanosis. People handling potassium cyanide without protective gloves and mask can very quickly become confused and clumsy, as it is a fine white powder which is easily inhaled. The highly lethal nature of this chemical does not appear consistent with the symptoms of the gas and burn victims at Kawmoora; however, potassium cyanide is water soluble and is ideal for the SLORC's mentioned purpose of poisoning village o------------------------------------------------------------o INFORMATION ABOUT BURMA VIA THE WEB: Information about Burma is available via the WorldWideWeb at: FreeBurmaWWW http://199.172.178.200/freebrma/freebrma.htm. [including back issues of the BurmaNet News as .txt files] BurmaWeb: http://www.uio.no/tormodl Burma fonts: http://www.cs.bham.ac.uk/~lka/burmese-fonts/moe.html Ethnologue Database(Myanmar): http://www-ala.doc.ic.ac.uk/~rap/Ethnologue/eth.cgi/Myanmar BurmaNet News (most recent issue only): http://taygate.au.ac.th/web/michael/bnn/bnn.htm o------------------------------------------------------------o CONTACTING BURMANET BY SNAILMAIL, FAX OR PHONE: In Washington: Attention to BurmaNet c/o National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma (NCGUB) Information Office 815 15th Street NW, Suite 609 Washington D.C. 20005 Tel: (202) 393-7342, Fax: (202) 393-7343 NCGUB email: ncgub@igc.apc.org In Bangkok: Attention to BurmaNet c/o Burma Issues PO Box 1076, Silom Post Office Bangkok 10500 Thailand Tel: (066) (02) 234-6674, Fax: (066) (02) 631 0133 Burma Issues email: durham@mozart.inet.co.th The NCGUB is a government-in-exile, formed by representatives of the people that won the election in 1990. 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BURMESE KYAT; UP TO 150 KYAT-US$1 BLACK MARKET 106 KYAT US$1-SEMI-OFFICIAL 6 KYAT-US$1 OFFICIAL MOA: MIRROR OF ARAKAN MNA: MYANMAR NEWS AGENCY (SLORC) THE NATION: A DAILY NEWSPAPER IN BANGKOK NCGUB: NATIONAL COALITION GOVERNMENT OF THE UNION OF BURMA NLM: NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR (DAILY STATE-RUN NEWSPAPER,RANGOON) NMSP: NEW MON STATE PARTY RTA:REC.TRAVEL.ASIA NEWSGROUP RTG: ROYAL THAI GOVERNMENT SCB:SOC.CULTURE.BURMA NEWSGROUP SCT:SOC.CULTURE.THAI NEWSGROUP SEASIA-L: S.E.ASIA BITNET MAILING LIST SLORC: STATE LAW AND ORDER RESTORATION COUNCIL TAWSJ: THE ASIAN WALL STREET JOURNAL UPI: UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL USG: UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT XNA: XINHUA NEWS AGENCY o------------------------------------------------------------o