Daily News- February 28 - 2003- Friday
  • Myanmar rebels welcome Thai PM's encouragement for talks with junta
  • DVB :Lawyer denies Aung San Suu Kyi filed lawsuit against cousin
  • A run on Myanmar banks affects crony capitalists
  • UNHCR Office in India comes under severe attack by the Scandinavian Burmese Committees


    • Myanmar rebels welcome Thai PM's encouragement for talks with junta

    BANGKOK, Feb 27 (AFP) - An alliance of rebel groups fighting Myanmar's military government said Thursday they welcomed Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's promise to push for the government to sit down for peace talks.

    Thaksin pledged to work to persuade Myanmar to negotiate with rebel ethnic minority groups prior to his visit there this month. After the visit, Thaksin said the leaders told him they would talk with minority groups.

    "We appreciate the Thai proposal but cautiously welcome Myanmar leaders' response because we have had a lot of experience with them breaking promises," said Nam Khur Hsen, spokeswoman for the umbrella Shan group, Restoration Council of Shan State (RCSS).

    She was speaking after a meeting of the Military Alliance Group, an alliance of five rebel groups, including the Shan State Army (SSA) and Karen National Union (KNU), held Monday in a Myanmar's eastern border region.

    "We held the meeting to prepare for future peace negotiations with Myanmar's military regime," she said."However, we have not received any official information or invitation on that matter from Yangon or the Thai government yet."

    If the push for talks came to fruition, the leaders agreed that negotiations should be attended by all groups and held in Thailand or another third country, she said.The spokeswoman added that the groups would not surrender their arms before talks -- a key condition the Myanmar junta has imposed on previous rebel groups before signing peace deals with them.

    The SSA has independently offered to enter peace negotiations with the junta several times, but has consistently refused to lay down arms first.

    Rebel activity along the Thai-Myanmar border has been a perennial irritant to relations between Thailand and Myanmar.They plummetted to a low last May when deadly border clashes led Myanmar to accuse Thailand of assisting rebels fighting its troops.

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    DVB :Lawyer denies Aung San Suu Kyi filed lawsuit against cousin

    Source: Democratic Voice of Burma, Oslo, in Burmese 1430 gmt 25 Feb 03

    The Information Committee of the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) released an Information Sheet today saying that the accusations by the National League for Democracy (NLD) with regard to the ruling of the Bahan Township Court against Daw Aung San Suu Kyi last week were untrue.The NLD had released a statement the day after the verdict by the Bahan Township Court saying that there was political interference in cases in which the NLD was involved and that the authorities were dictating all decisions for the cases.The SPDC categorically rejected the charge today.The case started when Ko Soe Aung, a cousin of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, who was permitted to live gratis in her compound, physically assaulted her last May.

    The SPDC statement said that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's own use of the Burmese courts to sue her cousin Ko Soe Aung was proof of her faith in the judicial system and that she only complained when the court did not rule in her favour. Under Burmese law, all citizens are treated equally and the NLD leadership has been using the judicial system to play politics.

    The Democratic Voice of Burma contacted U Mya Win, attorney for Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, and asked him to explain. He said Daw Aung San Suu Kyi never filed any legal complaint in the case.

    [Mya Win - recording] I have not read the Information Sheet but what I understand from what you are saying is incorrect. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi never sued anyone. But the police were informed about it because it was a police case. Filing of legal charges depends on the police who are responsible for conducting the investigation. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi did not file any charges with the court. She reported about the incident and since the police found that it was a criminal act, they filed the charges with the court. Ko Soe Aung, however, filed a complaint against Daw Aung San Suu Kyi with the court.

    [DVB] So, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi did not seek legal action in court and it was the police who filed it?

    [Mya Win] Yes, it was a police case...

    Ko Soe Aung lodged a complaint against Daw Aung San Suu Kyi at the Bahan Township Court for refusing to let him into the compound.

    Verdicts for both the cases were announced on Friday [21 February]. Ko Soe Aung who physically assaulted Daw Aung San Suu Kyi was found guilty and was ordered to pay a 1,000 kyat fine or spend a month in jail. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi was also ordered to pay 500 kyat fine or spend a week in prison for refusing to let Ko Soe Aung enter her compound.When Daw Aung San Suu Kyi disagreed with the verdict, the case was transferred to Western Rangoon District Court.

    DVB asked Attorney U Mya Win about the latest situation of the case.

    [Mya Win - recording] The latest situation is that we are waiting for word from the district court with regard to the revision of the case.

    [DVB] I see. We heard that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has withdrawn her complaint.

    [Mya Win] That is true.

    [DVB] What would that mean?

    [Mya Win] It means that we have withdrawn our complaint but the district court is acting on its own motion and overseeing the revision of the case.

    [DVB] Is it legal?

    [Mya Win] Yes, it is. That is in accordance with the legal process. It will reopen and revise the case.

    [DVB] Does that mean Daw Aung San Suu Kyi will have to appear before the court again?

    [Mya Win] It depends. The court can decide whether to summon her or not. We still do not know what the court decision is.

    [DVB] What is your personal opinion about the case?

    [Mya Win] My view is that no offence was committed because she prevented entry into her compound for reasons of her personal safety. For instance, her personal safety had been violated before and what she did was an act with no ulterior motive and therefore it cannot be defined as an offence in the legal sense...

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    A run on Myanmar banks affects crony capitalists

    WILLIAM BARNES in Bangkok
    South China Morning Post -Friday, February 28, 2003

    A financial crisis that shook Myanmar this month has revealed the weakness of its banks - some of which are run by former truckers and schoolteachers with powerful friends.

    The collapse of more than a dozen finance houses that used depositors' money to fund their other business interests turned into a mad scramble to withdraw money after the chairman of the central bank, U Kyaw Kyaw Muang, said publicly there was "nothing to worry about".

    Since the state-controlled media is rarely permitted to report unpleasant truths, ordinary citizens feared the worst. The country's three leading banks quickly placed limits on withdrawals in the face of a rapid rundown in reserves of the national currency, the kyat.

    The turmoil has tested the abilities of some bankers who have used their military connections, rather than their financial expertise, to grow since private banking was re-established in the early 1990s.

    The biggest, the Asia Wealth Bank, is said to be the hardest hit.Its effective chief is U Eike Htun, an ethnic-Chinese former truck driver.Bangkok-based newspapers have claimed he has strong links to the drug trade. The Kokang enclave on the Chinese border, from which he comes, has a history of drug trafficking.Eike Htun is known to be close to a very senior member of the government. His bank's sister company is the country's biggest builder, the Olympic Construction company.

    "Many of these banks make significant money by laundering drug profits. The government doesn't care. But it is a tricky business, so many things can go wrong," one Myanmar analyst in Bangkok said.

    The small, informal deposit-taking companies whose plight triggered the panic withdrawals appeared to operate outside official banking rules by paying up to 50 per cent interest to attract funds for their construction, manufacturing and trading businesses. The ripple effect has been sharp: the three-year-old Kanbawza Bank, run by former schoolteacher U Aung Ko Win, who is close to army chief General Maung Aye, and Yoma Bank, run by overseas Myanmar businessman Serge Pun, were also forced to turn depositors away temporarily. These three banks also suspended payments on their credit cards, the only ones issued in Myanmar.

    Residents say the banking crisis has been hugely disruptive for ordinary business. Even earners of precious foreign exchange have been unable to obtain kyat to settle local bills. The important border trade has also been hit.

    Even more worrying for the military regime are the memories of past collapses of people's savings, which ultimately set off massive nationwide protests over army rule. The military has cancelled major note denominations in 1964, 1985 and 1987 in an attempt to punish smugglers and speculators, to the fury of a wounded populace.

    The central bank has transferred billions of kyat to those banks able to provide collateral and the junta's powerful intelligence chief General Khin Nyunt himself has told depositors their money is safest in the bank. Given the military's history of ruthless financial manoeuvring, that may not be a great reassurance.

    "People have been very, very upset by all this," one Yangon resident said. "I predict a surge in purchases of property, land and cars. For some people it is either that or stuffing gold and dollars under the bed."

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    UNHCR Office in India comes under severe attack by the Scandinavian Burmese Committees

    Source : Asian TribuneOslo, February 27 - The office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in India shows absolute disregard to the plight of the 50,000 Burmese refugees languishing in India. An allegation of this nature was conveyed in a letter by the Burmese Committees in the four Scandinavian countries. Gro Anett Nicolaysen, Secretary General, The Norwegian Burma Committee, Tapani Ojast, Chairperson of The Finnish Burma Committee, Penny Davies, Chairperson, The Swedish Burma Committee, Anette Berentzen, Secretary General, The Danish Burma Committee were the joint signatories of a letter addressed to the Office of the UNHCR Chargé de Mission in India, located in New Delhi.

    It becomes clear that those officials manning the UNHCR offices in the South and South East Asia consider themselves only as another UN Civil Servants and not as officers with a mission to safeguard the refugees affected with a life threatening situation.

    The Scandinavian officials of the Burmese Committee have expressed in their introductory paragraph of their letter dated 27 February 2003: “The Norwegian, Finnish, Swedish and Danish Burma Committees have learnt that Burmese refugees who seek protection from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in New Delhi, India, repeatedly are being neglected and ignored by the office. Moreover, we have been informed that deep frustration concerning UNHCR’s treatment has compelled six Burmese refugees to instigate a hunger strike in front of the UNHCR Office.”

    The letter which expresses disgust and dismay for the lethargic approach of the UNHCR’s office New Delhi point out: “According to the Chin Refugee Committee/New Delhi, around fifty thousand Burmese refugees are residing in the Indian states of Mizoram and Manipur. The signatories have been informed that Burmese refugees residing in the State of Mizoram have been living under the constant threat of being evicted by the local authorities, and that this threat has intensified in the last two years. Burmese refugees have therefore fled to New Delhi to seek protection from the Office of the UNHCR. However, according to the information we have received, UNHCR does not respond to the refugees’ demands and rights. Instead, the refugees’ cases are left pending for months. “

    The Burmese Committee officials from the four Scandinavian countries explained in their letter that the Burmese refugees have fled from a brutal military regime. If those refugees are forcibly repatriated to Burma, they stand the risk of forced labour, forced relocation, as well as arrest and torture for involvement in democratic activities. Burmese Committee officials added: “The ruling State Peace and Development Council may officially try to feign that they are eradicating human rights abuses. However, it is well documented that gross abuses are still going on, especially in ethnic minority areas. “

    The Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Finland Burmese Committee officials who are signatories to the letter with a specific subject, Regarding Burmese Refugees in India expressed their deep concern about the Burmese refugees’ situation in India and the refugees on hunger strike in particular. They have further emphasised that they have been informed that the health condition of those fasting refugees has seriously deteriorated and expressed fear of fatal consequences if UNHCR does not immediately respond to the situation.

    Gro Anett Nicolaysen of Norway, Tapani Ojast of Finland, Penny Davies of Sweden and Anette Berentzen of Denmark the four signatories reiterated that this is not the first time that UNHCR has been criticized for neglecting the plight of Burmese refugees in India.While expressing regret over the lackadaisical treatment of the Burmese refugees in India, they reminded the UNHCR office that earlier in May 2001 Burmese refugees in Delhi went on a hunger strike demanding that UNHCR should recognize them as refugees and reminded even two years later the situation for the refugees has obviously not improved as they again see no other solution but to resort to extreme measures to achieve UNHCR’s attention.

    Finally, they have urged that in light of the above, the signatories strongly advocate and earnestly press the Office of the UNHCR to immediately act upon the Burmese refugees’ demands by providing the needed protection and by recognizing them as refugees.

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