------------------------ BurmaNet ------------------------
"Appropriate Information Technologies, Practical Strategies"
----------------------------------------------------------

The BurmaNet News: March 31, 1996
Issue #372

Noted in Passing:

                The students that we have worked with on Burma exhibited
                a lot of maturity, depth, and concern. They chose to work
                with the administration,  as opposed to jumping into protest
                mode, and that was quite effective. - Susan Ball, assoc.
                treasurer at the Unversity of Washington.
                (see CHE: BUSINESS & PHILANTHROPY)

HEADLINES:
==========
REUTER: BURMA'S DEMOCRACY PARTY SEEKS HOUSE SESSION
INDEPENDENT REPORT: NOTES ON TRIP TO BURMA-INDIA BORDER
NATION: BURMESE MILITARY VOWS TO STAY THE COURSE
CHRONICLE OF HIGHER EDUCATION: BUSINESS & PHILANTHROPY
THE ASIAN AGE: BURMESE REFUGEES IN THAILAND LIVING IN FEAR
BKK POST: RANGOON TOLD TO HALT WORK ON MOEI BRIDGE
BKK POST: SLORC TRIES TO BAR SUU KYI FROM OFFICE
WEST BURMA GROUPS: BURMA LIBRARY SET UP IN NEW DELHI
NATION: THAI, AIR MANDALAY PACT
------------------------------------------------------------

REUTER: BURMA'S DEMOCRACY PARTY SEEKS HOUSE SESSION
March 29, 1996
From: dvb@sn.no

RANGOON, March 29 (Reuter) - Burma's most popular political party, the
National League for Democracy (NLD) led by Aung San Suu Kyi, has asked the
ruling military to convene the parliament which emerged from a 1990 election
won by the NLD.

The party, in a letter written by its chairman Aung Shwe, asked the chairman
of the ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) to convene the
parliament, whose existence was never recognised by the SLORc.
The NLD won more than 80 percent of the seats in the May 1990 poll.

The letter, a copy of which was obtained by Reuters on Friday, was dated
March 25. There has been no public response from the government to the NLD's
suggestion.

Meanwhile, a constitutional convention organised by the SLORC to draw up the
guidelines of a new charter, adopted on Friday sections on Burma's future
executive and judiciary.

The chairman of the meeting's convening commission, Aung Toe, said Burma
would in future have a president elected by both an upper and lower house of
parliament.

The president would have the power to appoint all ministers with the
exception of the ministers of defence, home affairs and border region
affairs, who will be nominated by the armed forces chief, Aung Toe said.
The national convention, which has met intermittently since January 1993,
adopted on Thursday rules for a future bicameral legislature despite
opposition from some delegates to military appointments in the future
parliament.

The meeting decided Burma's future House of Representatives would have 440
members, with 110 appointed by the military and 330 elected members.
A House of Nationalities would have 224 members with 56 appointed by the
military and the remaining 168 coming from Burma's 14 administrative
regions, Aung Toe said. Both houses would have five-year terms, he added.

About 30 delegates representing five political parties objected to the
military appointments to the two houses of parliament, saying all members
should be elected.

But other delegates, virtually all 500 or so of them hand-picked by the
ruling militatry, accepted the proposal for military appointments to
parliament.
Burma's military government says the convention is central to its long-term
political plans and has ordered the meeting to enshrine for the military a
"leading role" in future politics.

Government opponents have dismissed the proceedings as a "sham" and
dissident leader Suu Kyi last last year withdrew the NLD from the meeting,
saying it was unrepresentative of the wishes of the people.
---------------------------------------
Democratic Voice of Burma(DVB) has one hour air time broadcasting to Burma
everyday. It is one of the main sources of information for the people of
Burma especially for those inside the country.  For more informaton, please
write to:
DVB, P.O Box 6720, ST.Olavs Plass, 0130 Oslo, Norway.  Tel: 47-22-200021,
Tel/fax:47-22-362525.

********************************************************

INDEPENDENT REPORT: NOTES ON TRIP TO BURMA-INDIA BORDER
March 15, 1996  Manipur
From: Michael Beer <mbeer@CapAccess.org>
By Michael Beer of Nonviolence International

What follows are my notes from a 3 hour interview with 3 refugees from a 5
township area in Northwestern Burma along the India border.  I am not a
professional interviewer, note taker, or refugee expert.  I don't speak
Burmese or Naga or Thado languages so the information at times may miss
precise details.

Burmanet readers may find this interview interesting however, because the
story of the Burma Naga and Thado (Chin sub-tribe in the north) is not
well known in or out of Burma.  Although the material may be monotonously
similar to the lives of others in Burma, you may want to consider reading
through the whole interview to remind yourself of the hundreds of
thousands of people whose lives are represented by this interview and who
have rarely been heard.

The names of the three individuals, 1 man and 2 women, are confidential.
They fear reprisals upon their relatives in Burma.

They live in a predominantly Naga area in Sagaing Division near the India
(Manipur) border.  In the 5 township area, there are no roads or railroads
let alone even footpaths.  People and communities are isolated.  There is
little communication.

Health.
There is no medical treatment available.  There often is not even
a doctor in the townships that have a "hospital."  In Lashe Township, the
doctor serves at the hospital a total of 1 month per year.  The other 11
months folks are not advised to get sick.  Serious patients have to go to
Homalin.  This journey typically takes 1 week.  For good treatment, most
folks go to India (which takes 2 days).

Education:
There are about 15 villages with a primary school and a teacher provided
by the government.  Each school has 50-150 children.  No text books or
school supplies are provided.  Naga or Thado (Chin) languages are
prohibited and not taught in the schools.  Ma ny of the supplied teachers
are ethnic Burman and some of them spy for the army.  In Lashe, there is
one secondary school with a population of 400.  (compare with the total of
1,500 primary school students in the area).  Few of the matriculated
students can continue on to higher education because of financial and
other hardships.

Agriculture
The people get no help from the government.  They have to plant and cut
the trees themselves.  They need a water supply and irrigation canal
system. Dams.  Machines are needed.  Big stones are a big obstacle.
Government does not provide good seed for pad dy.  Paddy production is not
sufficient for the Naga people.  No electric products or instruments in
Naga lands.

Religion
In late November and early December of 1994, in a series of incidents
SLORC tried to convert Naga people to Buddhism.  The army demanded that
they convert.  They complained to Khin Nyunt. but never got a response.

Conscription of Children.
Many many times, the army sends notices to village heads, "we want boys in
order to give them an education."  The boys are forced to go in to the army.
In Lashe township, 30-40 boys are conscripted into the army per year.

In the Somra area, Battalions 229, 52, or 222 have routinely conscripted 1
boy from every village to serve as the "communication" link between the
army and the village.  In fact, these boys are used for slave labor as
personal servants.

Porters
About 4 times per year, villagers are used as porters for "army
operations."  Villages must routinely supply food and rations to soldiers.
If a village is small they have to give porters from every house.  The
Naga custom is for the men to go to the jung le and farmlands during the
daytime.  Women are thus forced to serve as porters in their place.

Forced labor for roads
The army is making roads in the Naga area by forcing every township to
start roads with forced labor.  There is no payment, no machinery, no food
or supplies provided.  Usually this means 1 month before rainy season and
1 month after rainy season.  Each h ouse must provide 1 person or pay a
5000 kyat fine. (5000/125) or about $40.  A road is being built from Tamu
to Homalin.  Beginning in 1995, the locals must work one day per week for
the army on the road, even on the Sab

Requests are not made politely.  For example, village heads are often sent
demands in the form of a note which includes a bullet, a piece of charcoal
and a chili.  The bullets message is we'll kill you by shooting you.  The
charcoals messages is we'll bur n down your village. And the chili's
message is we make a hot time for you by beating you.

A small village's story.
A 7 house village lies half way between Homalin and Somra.  Every year
the army wants 1 boy from the village to enter the army.  1 house is the
house of the village head and another house is that of the assistant village
head.  These houses are exempted from military service.  A third house is
inhabited by a disabled man.  The fourth house is inhabited by an old man.
So there are three houses left.  There are no more boys.  So the village must
come up with 40,000-50,000 kyat fine every year. Some years they have
managed to buy a boy from a neighboring village to go into the army.

Women
2 or 3 women per year are raped by the army.  This of course is under
reported since when women complain to the higher authorities, there is no
action.  The women get punished by the local army post for complaining.
Shame is a big issue in these Christian communities. In the Lashe area,
porters were called recently.  The husband was gone and the woman was
breast feeding and said she couldn't go.  They forcibly dragged her for
porterage and made her carry a heavy load.  When she faltered, the army
cut off her nipples with a knife.

A baptist woman named Nim Kho Hat from Bomba village was raped while
portering 11 years ago by an army medic named Aung Htu or Htu Aung.  She
gave birth and now cares for a 10 year old boy.

NSCN-National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Burma Faction or Kapalang
Faction).  Before 1994 there was fighting every week with the SLORC
fighting ending in late 1994 with a de facto cease fire.  Most areas are still

contested. NSCN fully controls Ledo road at the border and areas south of
the road along the border.  Villagers pay 100 kyat per year to NSCN.  NSCN
gets much of their money by taxing traders.

Naga and smaller Thado population
At least 300,000.  Overwhelmingly Christian.  Major religious sects
recognized by the government are Baptist, Anglican and Roman Catholic.
Smaller denominations not recognized include methodist?, Seventh Day
Adventists, Jehovah's Witnesses, Assembly of God, Church of Christ Burma.
Thado (Chin) and Naga are well integrated populations and don't kill each
other like on the Manipur India side.

Drugs
Drug abuse is a huge problem in the region.  Army officers are primarily
responsible for the trafficking.  Drugs are useful to keep the population
under control and are obviously a lucrative business for the army.

The Naga are in the process of forming a human rights committee in India.
Those wanting to contact the Naga for more information should contact the
ABSDF c/o Tin Win at 91-03-85 310159, fax 91-0385-224-595.

****************************************************

NATION: BURMESE MILITARY VOWS TO STAY THE COURSE
March 28,1996

Burma's military celebrated its 51th anniversary yesterday
with a parade and speeches pledging to maintain strength and
stability in the face of "external and internal destructionists".

Gen Than Shwe, military commander in chief and the de facto
leader of the ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council
(Slorc), said at a parade to commemorate Armed Forces Day
that Burma was enjoying stability and peace as never before
despite those efforts to undermine the country.

Burma had managed to lay firm political, economic and social
foundations despite "external and internal destructionists"
who continued with attempts to "drive a wedge between the
tatmadaw [military] and the people," he said.

"We shall not be divided no matter who tries and must,
together with the people, ostracise, oppose and remove these
destructionists," he said.

Than Shwe, who is also the chairman of the military junta
which has ruled Burma for nearly eight years, said the
military was determined to preserve national unity, community
peace and tranquillity. "To be strong, capable and modern is
the goal of our tatmadaw," he said, adding that the military
was working to build a developed and model nation and wanted
to ensure it would maintain a significant role in future politics.

A constitutional convention aimed at guaranteeing such a
leadership role for the military in future governments will
reconvene today. The junta has said it will only step down
after such a constitution is put in palace.

Meanwhile, members of Burma's leading opposition party, The
National League for Democracy (NLD) led by Aung San Suu Kyi,
also quietly commemorated Resistance Day, as the holiday was
known before it was adopted by the military.

The NLD, which has effectively been sidelined from Burmese
politics since walking out of the convention, appears to be
the internal obstructionists referred to by Than Shwe, analysts said.

Meanwhile, the commander of Karenni guerrillas in eastern
Burma said yesterday his fighters would continue their war
against Rangoon despite the loss of their hilltop positions.

Karenni rebel commander General Aung Myat admitted from his
jungle hideout on the edge of eastern Burma's Kayah state
near the Thai border his troops had lost their hilltop
positions, "But our soldiers are very brave and we will
continue to fight the Slorc army with guerrilla warfare tactics." (TN)

***************

CHRONICLE OF HIGHER EDUCATION: BUSINESS & PHILANTHROPY
MORALITY IN INVESTING: FEWER COLLEGES LET ETHICAL
CONCERNS CONTROL HOW THEY PLACE THEIR FUNDS
March 29, 1996  (slightly abridged)
By Joye Mercer

Since the fall of apartheid, fewer colleges are using their clout as
investors in corporate America and the world. College treasurers and
trustees say their reluctance to use endowment funds to make a moral
point is largely a reaction to the ambiguity that surrounds many issues today.
   
 "I don't see any black and white," says C.Daneil Gelatt, a member of the
Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System.  "I see lots of
grey."

"Socially responsible investing," as the application of ethical
principles to investing has come to be called, reached its height in the
1970s and '80s, when many colleges and other institutional investors
divested their holdings in companies that operated in South Africa.

On campuses, students have been the most vocal advocates of investors
of investors responsibility. In recent years they have asked their
colleges, as shareholders, to speak out about tobacco and alcohol and to
pressure companies to stiffen their environmental standards.

PRESSURE FROM STUDENTS

Students also have urged colleges to take a stand on alleged abuses of
human rights in Burma.

The University of Wisconsin at Madison is one of a growing number of
colleges whose students have asked that endowment money not to be put into
companies that operate in Burma, or that their institutions support
shareholder resolutions criticizing the military regime there.

By holding stock in companies that operate in Burma, the university is
"benefiting from political oppression," says Zar Ni, a Burmese student at
Madison.

But from Stanford to Georgetown, no contemporary issue has yet had the
pull that apartheid did.

"It's been pretty quiet on the campuses," says John S. Griswold, Jr.,
senior vice-president of the Common Fund, which manages $17.5-billion in
investments for 1,400 colleges and schools.  The fund offered a "South
Africa-free" investment vehicle until 1994.  Since then, it has not
screened out any investments on morality grounds.

Some people suggest that campuses are quieter now because the
activists who erected shanty towns 10 years ago to protest apartheid have
given way to a generation of students who are more willing to cooperate
with university leaders.

"The students that we have worked with on Burma exhibited a lot of
maturity, depth, and concern," says Susan Ball, senior associate treasurer
at the University of Washington.  "They chose to work with the administration,

as opposed to jumping into protest mode, and that was quite effective."

'SELECTIVE PURCHASING'

Nick Thompson, a Stanford University student who is the statewide
coordinator for the Student Environmental Action Coalition, says that
although divesting objectionable stocks "makes a good slogan and attracts
people to the cause," it is hard to achieve.  A more attainable goal, he says,

is getting colleges to back shareholder resolutions.  Another effective
tactic--
one that is gaining popularity among Stanford students--is "selective
purchasing,"
in which colleges are persuade not to contract with certain companies for
products or services.

While divestiture is rare for colleges, some institutions screen out
certain securities from their holdings.  Tufts University, for example,
does not invest in companies that manufacture tobacco products or alcoholic
beverages.  Harvard, Johns Hopkins, and Northwestern Universities also do
not invest in tobacco stocks.

More commonly, some colleges vote for shareholder resolutions that are
consistent with their beliefs.  On far rarer occasions. colleges actually
sponsor resolutions themselves.

The University of Washington took that step recently.  With two other
institutional investors, both of them religious groups, it filed a
resolution calling on the Unocal Corporation, a petroleum company, to
include "clear human rights criteria" in its code of conduct.  (See partial
text of the resolution on Page A 51.)  The resolution was submitted because
of concerns about human rights abuses in Burma, where Unocal has a natural
gas project.  Unocal is trying to exclude the resolution from its annual
shareholders' meeting by raising objections to it with the Securities and
Exchnage Commission.

RESOLUTION ON ANIMAL TESTING

At many colleges, a committee, generally made up of students,
professors, and administrators, reviews shareholder resolutions and
recommends how they should be voted on.  Often, such committees rely on
organizations, like the Investor Responsibility Research Center, for the
data on which they base their positions.

Williams College is one of about 50 colleges that subscribe to the
I.R.R.S.'s service.  In 1995, the college's Advisory Committee on
Shareholder Responsibilities reviewed 50 resolutions, including a request
that Procter & Gamble refrain from animal testing and one that Wal-Mart
report more extensively to shareholders on its equal-employment-opportunity
policies.

VIEWS OF DONORS

In some cases, however, students are pushing for a level of investor
responsibility that no one else seems to want.

Many college trustees and treasurers, citing their obligation to
protect their institutions' endowment, question whether they should attempt
to invest according to any set of values, and whether college resoures
should be used to force moral behavior on companies or governments.  Who,
they ask, would prescribe the morals in the first place?

Complicating matters more, multinational companies are complex, often
operating a variety of businesses under one umbrella, says Kenneth E.
Goodpaster, who teaches business ethics and policy at the University of St.
Thomas.  "The capacity to be highly selective is limited in an increasingly
global and highly technological environment," says he.

Mr Gelatt, the Wisconsin regent who is also chairman of the board's
business and finance committee,says the university divested during
apartheid because, under state law, it could not invest in companies that
discrimated on the basis of race.  This meant that it had to cut ties with
companies that operated in South Africa, where racial discrimation was the
law of the land. Today, he says, no such clear-cut issue exists.

'MEANS AND ENDS'

For Jack Elliott Corbett, vice-president and co-founder of the Pax World
Fund, which invests only in "life-supportive products and services," the
answers are obvious.
     
"Colleges and universities will say that it's not their job to be
socially responsible investors, but that's a "Robin Hood' approach to
investment: 'It doesn't matter how I get it, just as long as I use it
well," he says.  "I think both means and ends have to be looked at."

Tha Pax World Fund, a balanced investment fund that contains a mix of
stock and bond securities, is an option offered by the pension plans of
Duke University and Smith College.  It produced a total return of 29.1 per
cent in 1995, compared with an average return of 24.6 per cent for all
balanced funds, according to the Lipper Balanced Fund Index.

The Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association-College Retirement
Equities Fund (TIAA-CREF), which serves higher education, also offers a
screened fund, the CREF Social Choice Account.  It screens out investments
in companies that produce nuclear energy, alcoholic beverages, or tobacco
products, and companies that rely on making weapons for a significant share
of tehir business.

DRAWING ETHICAL LINES

But Tim Smith, executive director of the Interfaith Center on
Corporate Responsibility, a federation of religious institutions,
acknowledges that screening investments is hardly simple matter.
     
"I have some sympathy for universities that say, 'These issues are
complicated.' But some use that to say,'Therefore, we can't get involved.'
The unacceptable position is the amoral response--that you have no
responsibility one way or another."
     
Some lines have to be drawn, says Doug Steele, a first-year law
student at Georgetown University, because there is money to be made
"doing all kinds of things."
     
"If maximizing the endowment was the only concern, university
investors could get a better return by selling heroin," says Mr Steele, who
wants his university to back shareholder resolutions asking companies to
pull their operations out of Burma.  "You can't save the whole world.  But
at the same time, there are a few situations that are so awful that you
can't be party to them."
    
Ken Bertsch, director of the social-issues program for the Investor
Responsibility Research Center, wonders if cries of ambiguity simply
provide an excuse to the "financial people," who never liked the idea of
constraining investments in the first place.  The more investments are
screened, the fewer the remaining choices and the weaker an endowment's
performance will be, treasurers often contend.  "If anything, after
apartheid ended," Mr. Bertsch says,"there was some sentiment not to let
this happen again."

Wisconsin's stance on investors responsibility proves Mr. Bertsch's
point, says Zar Ni, the student calling on the university to speak out
against companies that have operations in Burma.  State law forbids
investments in companies that discriminate on the basis of race, religion,
and other criteria.  But the university's reading of the law is so narro,
he complains, that it would be hard to use it as a reason for divestiture,
except in circumstances identical to apartheid.  University administrators
"completely undermine the spirit of the law, which was meant to guarantee
equality among human beings anyplace in the world," says Zar Ni. "They make
it a rhetorical statement."

Indeed, even when colleges divested during apartheid, some finance
officers and treasurers privately wondered why.

"Did colleges take a stand for moral reasons? I don't think so," says
one treasurer, who didn't want to be identified.  In the end, he says, his
own institution divested because "it just didn't make sense anymore" not
to, amid campus protests. "There was exhaustion," he says of that period.
"We had spent enough time on it."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(from the above article in the Chronicle of Higher Education)

EXCERPTS FROM A SHAREHOLDER RESOLUTION ON THE
EXPANSION OF UNOCAL'S BUSINESS ACTIVITIES IN BURMA

Following is the partial text of a shareholder resolution co-sponsored by
the University of Washington, the Adrian Dominican Sisters, and the
Catholic Foreign Mission Society of America Inc.

WHEREAS Unocal's Statement of principles functions as the company's code of
conduct for doing business internationally . . .

We commend Unocal for creating such forward looking guidelines.  However,
we believe these guidelines fall short in vitally important areas and that,
in fact, Unocal's international conduct, at times, is in direct conflict
with the company's own guidelines.

For example, take the case of Unocal's expanding involvement in the police
state of Burma, one the world's most repressive countries. . .
.Furthermore, a clear case can be made that Unocal's Burma involvement
strengthens the repressive military government through the payment of tens
of millions of dollars for exploration rights, goods and services now and
in the future, providing legitimacy to an ostracized government by
investing there and portraying the country in a positive light which helps
counter growing international criticism. . . .

RESOLVED the shareholders request the Board of Directors to review and
update the Unocal Principles and report their revisions to shareholders and
employees by September 1996.  In its review, the Board shall include a
section advising Unocal on making decisions on investing in or withdrawing
from countries where there is a pattern of on-going and systematic
violation of human rights, where a government is illegitimate, or where
there is a call by human rights advocates, pro-democracy organizations or
legitimately elected representatives for economic sanctions against their
country.

*******************************************************

THE ASIAN AGE: BURMESE REFUGEES IN THAILAND LIVING IN
SHADOW OF FEAR
March 27, 1996

By  Sutin Wannabovorn

Mae Hong Son (Thailand), March 26: More than 2,000 Karenni refugees from
Burma, most of than women and children, are living in fear after being
orced to move from a camp inside Thailand to a new site close to Burmese
Army units.

Many of the refugees are family of Karenni guerrillas battling Burmese
government troops. They fled to Thailand to escape Burmese army sweeps
and the latest round of fighting between Rangoon's forces and the separatist
rebels.

Last weekend, local Thai authorities ordered the refugees into trucks and
took them from their old camp about four miles inside Thailand to a new
location just on the Thai side of the frontier.

"Living here I'm very scare of Burmese soldiers because we're so close to
their positions. They can come and kill us at any time," Ms Naw Re Paw, a
mother of their children said on Tuesday as she lined up for her rice ration.

A refugee leader said Thai security officials came to their old camp and
ordered
them out.

"They red us not to try to escape from the camp, to pack and get ready to
leave. The next morning they trucked us from the camp and dropped us
here," Mr Aye Maung Said.

No huts were prepared at the new location, near a small stream. One mountain
range, which marks the border, is the only barrier between the refugees and
Burmese forces. Most of the refugees were living under plastic sheets strung
up
between trees and bushes. The few men in the camp were busy making simple
bamboo huts while many young children were sleeping or taking shelter under
bushes from the scorch sun.

Some of the refugees fled to Thailand several years ago and lived in huts in
the
old camp. Others arrived recently after Karenni National Progressive Party
guerrillas
lost positions in the latest Burmese government offensive which began late
last year.

All were moved to the new camp over the weekend. A KNPP guerrilla commander,
General Aung Myat, said he believed the refugees were driven out of their old
camp
in response to demands by Burmese authorities.

"The Burmese soldiers accused Thailand of sheltering guerrillas in the old
camp and
they threaten to fire at it with artillery if the Thai authorities did not
allow them to
search it," Mr Aung Myat said in his jungle hideout. "I'm very concerned
about the security of the refugees since they were forced to move. It's a one-
hour walk from the Burma Army camps." he said.

"But as long as there are inside Thai territory we can do nothing to provide
security for them." A Thai border security officer said all of the estimated
6,000
Karenni refugees in a string of camps inside Thailand would be relocated to
the border line. "We are looking for a location to put them all together in
one
place," the officer said.   (Reuter)

****************************************************

BKK POST: RANGOON TOLD TO HALT WORK ON MOEI BRIDGE
March 30, 1996

Local authorities yesterday officially notified their Burmese
counterparts to suspend construction of a wooden bridge across
the Moei River.

The letter, which was signed by Local Thai-Burmese Border
committee chairman Col Suvit Manmuen, asked Burma to temporarily
stop its construction work on the grounds both sides have yet to
agree over the use of the bridge by Thai and Burmese people.

Col Suvit said Thailand did not want to see any border-related
problem which might further sour relations between the two
countries in the run-up to next month's inspection of the
disputed border area at the Moei River by the joint border committee.

He said he had been told there is going to be a celebration at a
temple in Myawaddy in the next few days and Burma has to speed up
the construction of the wooden bridge so Burmese people living on
the border can take part.

Col Suvit said if it is a religious event as claimed, Myawaddy
authorities should have sought cooperation from Thailand to build
the bridge for that purpose.

He said over recent years Thailand has carefully avoided doing
anything which would lead to misunderstanding between the two
countries and it had also complied with Burma's requests in
several cases.

Meanwhile, another local Thai official claimed the Burmese had
also placed stakes into the Moei River on the Burmese side
opposite Mae Sot which has changed the river's course.

The official said Burma had never consulted Thai authorities when
it constructed the wooden bridge or placed the stakes into the
river, claiming it always ignored Thai requests and warnings.

The official said Thailand has always responded to its calls
including on the suspension of construction on the Thai-Burma
Friendship Bridge and demolition of shophouses on the river bank
on the Thai side.

# A British opposition politician has called on tourists to
boycott Burma because of its human rights record.

Launching a report by the Burma Action Group, which campaigns for
democratic reforms in the country, Labour MP Derek Fatchett said
in London: "Burma stands condemned by the United Nations for its
human rights abuses.

"The development of the tourist industry has been at a price to
the local community which every decent person would regard as
unacceptable," said Fatchett, an opposition foreign affairs
spokesman and tipped as a minister in a Labour administration.

"I would strong urge tourists to think carefully before booking a
holiday in Burma. The price of an exotic holiday could be someone
else's life," he told a news briefing in Parliament.

Fatchett said the Burma Action Group report showed around two
million people, including children, had been forced into slave
labour alongside prison chain gangs in a massive programme of
development to make the country ready for tourists.

He said it showed the SLORC had forcibly removed thousands from
their homes to make way for development.

Burmese leader Gen Than Shwe on Wednesday reaffirmed the Army's
determination to retain the political leadership and accused
"destructionist" of hindering development.

In as Armed Forces Day speech the SLORC chairman blamed elements
at home and abroad of trying to destroy Burma.

SLORC has appealed for investment from other countries, saying
Burma's economic development would "skyrocket." It blames the
1988 uprising on economic difficulties, arguing that growth in
Burma would help both society and democracy.

*****************************************************************

BKK POST: SLORC TRIES TO BAR SUU KYI FROM OFFICE
March 30, 1996

BURMA's military-run constitutional convention has approved
measures that would bar democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi from
holding elected office and ensure the army a prominent role in politics.

A spokesman for Suu Kyi said she would not comment on the measure
because "she does not attach much importance to it".

Delegates approved guidelines stipulating that only those born of
parents who are both Burmese citizens, and do not enjoy rights
and privileges as a subject or citizen of a foreign country, will
be eligible to run for election.

Suu Kyi is married to British academic Michael Aris.

Gen Tin Oo, a leading member of the ruling State Law and Order
Restoration Council, said traitors who favour the West are trying
to disrupt the convention. His remarks were reported in the New
Light of Myanmar, a state-run newspaper.

Delegates also approved guidelines that would create a bicameral
Parliament in which the military would hold 25 per cent of the seats.

The lower house of Parliament- the House of Representatives-
would have 330 members, 110 of them from the military.

An upper house- the House of Nationalities- would have 168
members including 56 military representatives. Except for those from
the military, all representatives would be elected.  Burma has eight major
ethnic groups and more than 130 sub-groups.

The chairman of the meeting's convening commission, Aung Toe,
said that about 30 delegates representing five minor parties objected to
the military appointments and said all MPs should be elected.

Those opposed to the appointment of military men came from the
Shan National League for Democracy, the Shan State Kokang
Democratic Party, the Wa National Development Party, the Lahu
National Development Party and the Mro or Khami National Organisation.

# A UN human rights official said that Suu Kyi and the ruling junta shared
similar objectives which could provide the basis for future talks.

"Even the SLORC supports the formation of civilian and democratic
government," said the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights, Yozo
Yokota of Japan, referring to the SLORC.

Yokota submitted a report to the United Nations on human rights
in Burma which documented "torture in the prisons, forced labour
in the fields, and the suppression of political freedoms," based
on a visit last October.

"Both sides are speaking about improvement in the rights and the
life of the people," he told the Foreign Correspondents Club of
Thailand."_Agencies

*****************************************************************

WEST BURMA GROUPS: BURMA LIBRARY SET UP IN NEW DELHI
March 30, 1996
From: aungsan@giasdl01.vsnl.net.in

                        BURMA LIBRARY
 
1. INTRODUCTION
=============
 
        Books are our friends, philosophers, and guides. They give light
to those who are benighted, guide to those who are strayed and cheer to
those who are unhappy. Books are the source of intellectual light and
spiritual
elevation. Here, we would like to state what Hudson has said. According to
Hudson, they make us partakers in life larger, richer and more varied than we
ourselves can ever know of our individual knowledge; and they do this, not
only because they open up new fields of experience and new lines of thought
and speculation, because they carry us beyond the pinched and meagre humanity
of our every day round of existence into contact with fresh, strong and
magnetic
personality of the world.
        Books serve not only for delight and ability but also play a vital
role in
revolutionising public opinion and reforming the moral tone of human
society. It was through books that Hobbes gave impetus to the civil war of
1642
and Locke to the revolution of 1687. The French revolution was the out come
of the writing of Voltaire and Rousseau. Life is governed by idea and ideals,
and books which are the precious life-blood of master spirits are at the back
of all revolutionary movements.
        It can not be denied that youths are a precious asset of a country.
Future of a country is determined by the quality of the youths of present
time. When we closely observe the situation prevailing in our society, we come

to see that most of the youths in Delhi have an ample of free time, but only
few
can utilise the time beneficially. Some even resort to drug by means of
passing time. This situation arises due to excessive free time and lack of
recreational facilities. The library is an outcome of our collective effort to
ratify
the situation. Today, there are about sixty people benefiting from the
library. The
library has been receiving acclaim from every quarter.

2. A Brief Account of Burma Library
==========================
 
        The Burma library was initiated by some enthusiasts. In the
beginning it could hardly be called a library, for there were a lot of needs
to
meet the standard of a library. Later, other interested parties joined in,
bringing
their books in the library. As they could not appreciate the library's
condition,
they tried to find out the ways of improving it. Finally, they arrived at the
decision to invite all the well-wishers and other reading publics to join in
the
librarys activities. Later, a meeting was held in the Janak Puri colony,
inviting
all the people. In the same meeting a library committee composed of the
members
of various organisations and the independents was made. Following persons
were chosen to the various post accordingly.
 
1. Nanda Tint Swe                       Librarian
2. Nyi Nyi Htwe                         Assistant Librarian
3. Win Bo                               Treasurer
4. Mr. Ramjeet Verma                    Member
5. U Myint Aung                         Member
6. U Myint Thein                        Member
7. U Yan Naing                          Member
8. U Nyunt Hla                          Member
9. Dr. Zaw Win Aung                     Member
10. Ko Zin Naing                        Member
11. Ko Sitt Nyein Aye                   Member
12. Ko Ye Myint Soe                     Member
13. Ko Kyaw Moe                         Member
14. Ko Tun Tun Win                      Member
15. Ko Hmae Win                         Member
16. Ko Zaw Zaw                          Member
 
        After the formation of library committee, Several discussions were
held among committee members, in which policy on different matters were
formulated, aims and objectives of the library was laid down, extra-activities

to be carried out were decided. So far, the committee have been able to
collect more than 600 books (both English and Burmese) from various
well-wishers. About sixty reading public have been able to enjoy the benefit
of the library since its opening day.
 
 
3. ACTIVITIES
===========
        It has been decided by the library committee that the library will
also
make literary activities as much as time and fund permit. The committee have
taken a step by holding a weekly literary talk on every Sunday. Everyone
is free to participate in the talk. The conversations spoken in the talk were
recorded on the audio tape and were published into a booklet under the name
of FORUM. So far, five booklets have been published successfully. Following
publishing committee  was made with the purpose of undertaking the regular
publication.
 
Publishing Committee
----------------------------
Ko Sitt Nyein Aye               In-charge
Ko Nanda Tint Swe               DTP
Ko Aung San Myint               DTP
Ko Hmae Win                     Assistant
Ko Mya Zaw                      Assistant
 
4. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
=====================
        
        The committee has laid down following aims and objectives for the
effective operation of the establishment.
1. To cultivate a habit of reading in the Burmese community
2. To promote knowledge and thinking of the people
3. To enable Burmese youths to pursue knowledge in their leisure time
4. To avoid adverse consequences arising out of excessive leisure time of
the youths.
 
5. POLICY
========
        
        Following policies have been formulated by the committee to keep
the library always on its original track and to make sure of its success.
 
Policy regarding financial matters
-----------------------------------------
        The library shall not seek any financial assistance from the
organisations until the proposed action is in concrete form. Small
financial crises of the library must be solved by way of self-reliance
methods. The library may, during the crisis period, collect monthly fee from
its members. But it must be kept in mind that the collection of fund should
not impose burden on the members. Those members who have not received
refugee status must be exempted from the payment of fees.
 
Policy regarding political matters
-----------------------------------------
        The library shall reject political influence of any particular
party or organisation. It shall not advocate any particular political or
religious belief.
 
Policy regarding its activities
------------------------------------
        The library shall carry out other literary activities as much as
time and fund permit, but it should be subsidiary to the main objectives
of the library.
 
6. POSITION
===========
 
        In order to avoid peoples misinterpretation of the position of
the establishment, the committee has clarified it as follows;
1. The library belongs to all the Burmese community in India. Everyone is
free to give advice or participate in its activities.
2. The library does not represent any particular party or organisation.
3. The library is operated by the committee composed of the members of
various organisations and the independents. The influence of any
particular party or organisation or person shall not affect the operation of
this
establishment.
 
        We earnestly request all the well-wishers to extend  co-operation
to the library by contributing funds or  sending any  publication of your
organisation to the library regularly. All are requested to make a regular
contribution of articles or essay for the FORUM, the weekly publication.
  
Contact Address:
Burma Library
C/o Mr R. J. Verma
87-C, GG-I, Vikaspuri, New Delhi - 110018  India
* E-Mail : aungsan@giasdl01.vsnl.net.in
 
***********************************************************

NATION: THAI, AIR MANDALAY PACT
March 28,1996

Thai Airways International yesterday struck an inter-airline
agreement with Air Mandalay, the national carrier of Burma,
in a joint-venture with Singapore Airlines, allowing for the
sale of Air Mandalay's tickets at Thai offices world-wide.
After beginning operations late last year, Air Mandalay now
files on two routes _ Rangoon-Chiang Mai and Mandalay-Chiang
Mai. The airline will soon start flying the Rangoon-Phuket
route with two flights weekly. (TN)
