Daily News- December 07- 2002- Saturday
  • Good riddance
  • The passing away of General Ne Win is diplomatically a non-event
  • Henry Dunant Center Works on next engagement to start dialogue in Burma
  • Next Buddhism summit to hold in Burma in 2004


    • Good riddance

    Editorial
    The Washington Times

    The Gloomy Gus who regularly moans that the world is becoming a worse place was proved wrong on Thursday, when U Ne Win, 91 and the former military dictator of Burma, quietly passed away at his lakeside villa near Rangoon.

    Ne Win rose to power in the late 1930s as a leader in Burma's efforts to establish autonomous rule. He first trained and fought with the Japanese against British forces in World War II, and then turned his guns on the Japanese upon learning of their own colonial designs. After a period of relative growth and stability, Ne Win seized power in a 1962 military coup and instituted his particular brand of xenophobic socialism. Over the course of the next three decades, Burma, once a crown jewel of the British empire, was reduced to unspeakable poverty and oppression.

    Ne Win wasn't just a political thug. He allegedly bathed in dolphin blood to regain his youth, and styled himself as a descendant of Burma's ancient kings. He held an especial interest in numerology, and often staged major events — brutal offensives, mostly — on dates associated with the number nine. In 1987, upon the advice of his occult adviser, Ne Win attempted to correct the country's economic woes by suddenly abolishing the currency and re-issuing 45- and 90-kyat notes. The demonitization had catastrophic effects, rendering anyone holding paper money suddenly more destitute than they already were.

    In July 1988, Ne Win "resigned" as chairman of the state's military council, and permitted — even encouraged — democratic activists to rally in the streets. Reminscent of Mao Zedong's "Hundred Flowers" campaign in China, two months later his government troops opened fire on these civilians. Thousands were slaughtered, and the darkest chapter of Burma's history began. Sadly, it is still being written.

    Ultimately, Ne Win was brought down by those whom he built up. Though he continued to exert strong influence behind the scenes throughout the last decade, his proteges inherited not only his economic stupidity and ruthlessness, but his lust for power as well. Ne Win and several members of his immediate family were arrested in March for allegedly plotting a coup with the help of voodoo dolls and sorcery. He was confined under house arrest until his death last week.

    Ne Win was quickly and quietly cremated yesterday, his ashes scattered in the Rangoon river. If only the Burmese people could wash away just as easily the wreck and ruin he visited upon them.

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    The passing away of General Ne Win is diplomatically a non-event

    Source : Asian Tribune

    There are no condolence messages forthcoming from head of states, even from any ASEAN countries on the passing away of General Ne Win, the former head of state of Burma. The passing of Ne win is considered an unusual event, as the event is so far not officially announced by the Burmese government.

    The diplomats in Rangoon are nonplussed over the passing away of General Ne Win, an autocrat ruler who ruled Burma from 1962 to 1988. Though the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) of Burma underscored the passing away of Ne Win as a non-incident, yet many diplomats were not sure whether they should meet somebody in person from SPDC and convey their message of condolence on behalf of their government.

    Also, many of these diplomats stationed in Rangoon are unable to advise their respective governments on the death of Ne Win and his cremation as there was no official word about the passing of the former head of state by the SPDC.

    Diplomats told that this was an unusual situation where unusual measures have to be taken. They said that for record they have informed their respective countries of the passing away of Ne Win, but would maintain silence, a diplomatic exercise, always followed in case of "accidents" of this nature. Unusual events are always termed as accidents in the diplomatic parlance.

    Meanwhile, according to "The Nation," the English language daily from Thailand, it came out with a single column news, in the inside page, with a head line: Ne Win’s Passing- No Condolence from Bangkok.

    The news item states, ” Thailand refrained from sending a message of condolence yesterday to Burma, following the death of the former dictator Ne Win, but foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai expressed his personal sorrow.”

    The news item further added: “The Thai reaction departed from diplomatic protocols, which would normally call for a message of condolence to be sent, following the death of a former head of state in a neighboring country.”

    According to the news item, “The Thai government did not send an official condolence message – Surakiart told reporters at the Foreign Ministry. ‘This was because Ne Win did not hold a post in the Government when he died.”

    Surakiart further added in that news item: “But from my personal point of view, I feel sorry, because General Ne Win was a senior figure in Burma for a long time.”

    It is likely that the other ASEAN countries in the region would follow suit.

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    Henry Dunant Center Works on next engagement to start dialogue in Burma

    GENEVA (AP) - The elegant little villa surrounded by carefully tended parkland just yards from Switzerland's Lake Geneva is a world away from the guerrilla war being waged in the steamy jungles and wild mountains of Indonesia's Sumatra island.

    But the little-known humanitarian organization hosting wrap-up negotiations this weekend says that the discreet location, and their subtle approach, have proven to be a crucial combination in resolving the bloody, decades-long conflict between government forces and separatist rebels in Aceh province.

    "This is a place that quiets everybody down," said Johanna Grombach Wagner, program manager at the Henry Dunant Center for Humanitarian Dialogue. "Geneva is neutral, it isn't a threat to anybody."

    For the past three years, the Center has focused on facilitating negotiations and a series of "humanitarian pauses" — all of which eventually collapsed — between Jakarta and the Free Aceh Movement.

    Last month, the mediators announced a crucial breakthrough in the bitter war — considered one of the world's most intractable armed conflicts because of the rebels' insistence on independence and the government's vow never to allow separation from Indonesia.

    Insurgents have been fighting for independence since 1870, when Dutch colonialists occupied the sultanate. They assisted Indonesia's successful 1945-49 war against the Dutch, but launched a decade-long uprising in the early 1950s — this time against Jakarta's rule.

    Although many analysts remain skeptical that the deal will actually translate into a durable peace in the resource-rich province of 4.1 million people, the two sides have agreed to sign a peace accord Monday.

    In the meantime, the combatants will meet to iron out remaining differences, including details about the fate of the rebels' arsenal and the withdrawal of Indonesian forces.

    "The (Henry Dunant Center) played an incredibly important role in facilitating dialogue for the first time ever between the government and rebels," said Sidney Jones of the International Crisis Group, a Brussels-based think tank.

    "They've had to overcome enormous obstacles ... and should get a gold medal for sheer persistence in managing to do the impossible by winning the confidence of both sides," said Jones, an Indonesia specialist.

    The Henry Dunant Center, which has a staff of only 20, is one of the newest and smallest bodies dedicated to conflict resolution in a city packed with international organizations, such as the International Red Cross, the World Trade Organization and numerous agencies of the United Nations.

    It was set up in 1999 by a group of philanthropists and the city of Geneva — which donated the Villa Plantamour for its use — with a mandate to promote "humanitarian dialogue." Although it has no institutional links to the Red Cross, the center adopted the name of that organization's founder to honor his work for the victims of war.

    The center's initial engagement was an effort to bring together the government side and Hutu rebels in Burundi.

    It also has reached out to Colombia's murderous right-wing paramilitary gangs, "whom nobody wanted to talk to," Wagner said. Another current project is an effort to start dialogue between the military government of Myanmar, or Burma, and the opposition led by Aung San Suu Kyi.

    Still, Wagner said, 90 percent of the center's capabilities are devoted to ensuring the success of the peace process in Aceh.

    Experts say that if the center's formula for Aceh proves successful, it could provide a blueprint for the resolution of Indonesia's other major separatist crisis in Papua, at the eastern end of the country.

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    Next Buddhism summit to hold in Burma in 2004

    PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) - Buddhist clerics on Saturday called on U.S. President George W. Bush not to wage war against Iraq as they wrapped up a three-day international meeting.

    The World Buddhism Conference, the third since 1998, brought together about 2,000 Buddhist leaders seeking tolerance and compassion as a means for solving violence and conflicts around the globe.

    "Too many people throughout the world would not support a war against Iraq," said the Venerable Ajain Brahamavamso, 51, a Buddhist monk from Australia. "We've had enough wars already."

    "If only Mr. Bush could actually go and live in Iraq and go to an ordinary person's home to know their fears, their root problem, then I think there would be an end to all this violence in the world," Brahamavamso added.

    Conference participants also discussed ways to promote Buddha's teachings of "the middle path" in helping to solve conflicts.

    While world peace was the conference's dominant issue, Buddhist leaders also discussed ways for reasserting their religion's influence, which they said is weak compared to Christianity and Islam.

    "Buddhism is in decline" due to different trends among its followers in different countries, Venerable Kori Shinkai, president of Japan's Nenbutsushu Buddhist sect, said.

    He called for Buddhists across the world to work together "to make stronger the unity and influence of Buddhism in the world." The Buddha's teachings should become a foundation for working for global "peace and tranquility," he said.

    The next Buddhism summit will be held in 2004 in Burma, organizers said.

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