book preview text

8/14/2019 Book Preview Text

1/136

About Win Htein @ Htet Aung Kyaw

Win Htein @ Htet Aung Kyaw was born in1964, in Tavoy, southern Burma. He was anart student in Moulmein University while

the government announced demonetizationof banknotes in September 1987, Po Mawcase in March, and Red bridge case in June1988. He was a local student leader in Tavoywhile 8888 uprising and 18-September coupby army.

He leaves Tavoy in the night of 19-September with dozens ofother students after the army shot death demonstrators. Theywent to Karen Rebel controlled area where they found ABSDF (AllBurma Student Democratic Front) or Student Army. He servicedas a commanding officer of 201 battalion of Student Army, a chairman of

Minthamee Camp, a Reserve CC member of ABSDF during 12-years of his life in jungle.

Win Htein was became to Htet Aung Kyaw in 1995 when he works as

a field reporter for Oslo-based Democratic Voice of Burma Radio.After series of first hand reports of Embassy drama, Ratchaburihostages and God Army surrendering, he was choice to go Oslo in 2001.In other hand, he also wrote some articles in English in the Irrawaddy,the Nation and Bangkok Post during his difficult days in Thailand.

He attended Radio journalism course in Thailand by IMMF (The Indochina Media Memorial Foundation) in 1998 and Broadcast Journalism course in Cardiff University

in UKby the Thomson Foundation in 2002.

He is a senior journalist for DVB and he still writes some articles forthe Nation and others. He is now living in Oslo, Norway.


2/136

Acknowledgement

I would like to thank Ko Aung Zaw of the Irrawaddy who urges meto write some articles in English in 1998. Secondly, I should thanklate Ralph Bachoe of Bangkok Post and Kavi Chongkittavon of theNation who edit and used my articles. Third, I should thank Sin

Thomas and Pascal Khoothwe of DVB who editing some articles for

this book. Fourth, I would like to thank all comrades of the ABSDF

and DVB who give me the chance to write this book.


3/136

Content

Part One:Law of the jungle: Life on the Thai-Burmaborder

1- Casualties of hunger ...................................................................12- Kawmura: My first battlefield experience .................................?3- At gunpoint on the Thai-Burma border.....................................?4- Role of the educated in the revolution.......................................?

Part Two:9999: Active days of student warriors

1- An alert for the coming 9999 uprising?....................................?2- Learning in limbo: Educating a neglected generation ..............?3- Fuel to the fire ............................................................................?4- The end of tolerance...................................................................?5- Burmese army trapped by its turbulent history .......................?6- From two-way talks to three-way?.............................................?

Part Three:

Cry Freedom: From bombsite to website

1- Cry Freedom on the air .............................................................?2- Muzzled media pursue goal .......................................................?3- Meeting with old foes .................................................................?4- At gunpoint back on the border: Meeting Gods Army .............?5- Burmese exiles fight over press freedom ...................................?6- The worst of the worst: Press freedoms in Burma ....................?


4/136


5/136

part one Law of the jungLe: Life on the thai-Burma Border

Part One:

Law of the jungle: Life on thethai-Burma border


6/136

htet aung Kyaw

Casualties of hunger

It was an afternoon in the rainy season in early October 1988, ourfirst full moon day since we had been in the jungle. About 50 of us

students were making our way from our camp where we being givenbasic military training by Karen National Union (KNU) soldiers toanother village with a Buddhist monastery where we could celebrateour traditional religious festival.

Tha-tin-kyunt, the full moon day that marks the end of lent, is animportant religious festival for Buddhists, but celebrating religionwas not our priority in those days after four weeks of hunger wewere more concerned about being able to eat a good meal. Everyweekend, on Saturday, we would go to the villages near our camp to

play football in return for dinner. On Sunday morning, we would visit

churches even though we were all Buddhist, looking for the chanceto eat better food. As we were students from the cities, we were notaccustomed to eating low-quality rice with no meat but only naungu-hti, or fish-paste, when we arrived at our new camp.

The paths in rural areas, especially in the KNU-controlled Ka-thongnivillage tracts, were totally different from the roads we had walkedalong as university students. The narrow, muddy paths passedthrough many streams with no bridges. We soon came to a tributary

of the Tenasserim river with a very strong current, perhaps flowing

from the mountains.

While we stopped to discuss whether we should go ahead or returnto the camp, a villager from Kyak Htoo village who had acted as ourguide waded out into the river and called to us, Dont worry guys.The water level is just up to the neck. This is an easy swim for a rebelcommando. Please just follow me.

Before the duty commander had given the green light, many studentshad already begun following the villager. So we shouted, Be careful.Take off your shoes. Hold each others hands. But our warning wastoo late. Nyi Nyi Naing, a 22-year-old mathematics student in hissecond year at Tavoy College, had been swept away by the strong


7/136


current. Deep in the jungle there were no rescuers, divers, boats orhelicopters so we did the best we could. Unfortunately the currenthad carried him into deep water where there were many fallenbranches. We searched for him late into the afternoon but eventually

had to give up.

We continued on to the monastery to play football for our dinner.But even the pork curry fed to us by the villagers could not lift ourspirits as we all talked about Nyi Nyi Naing. I can still see his face,a Chinese Tavoyan, talkative and friendly. His parents, who sellAung-Ba-Lay lottery tickets near the Tavoy cinema, are among the10 richest people in Tavoy.

The full moon day ceremony was changed into a prayer servicefor Nyi Nyi Naing. But unfortunately, there was no monk at the

monastery. There were two reasons for this: firstly, no monk wanted

to stay for long in the grey area between the Burmese troops andthe KNU as they could easily be accused of being a spy by eitherside, and secondly, it is not easy for a Buddhist monk to live in theChristian-dominated KNU-controlled area. Luckily, there was a manin our group who had served as a monk in Tavoy for a long time andso we asked him to lead the service.

Two days later, we found Nyi Nyi Naings body some hundredsmetres down the lower side of river. We tried to inform his parentsin Tavoy of his death but they could not come to the black rebel-controlled area where we were living at the time. We urged the

Karen villagers to give him a proper burial as were not able to holda Buddhist ceremony for him with no monk there.

Ka-thong-ni tract is located alongside the Bang Chaung, a tributaryof the Tenasserim, four days walk from Tavoy and two days from

Minthamee camp near the Thai border. We stayed there for over five

weeks before we went on to Minthamee camp. Nyi Nyi Naing was

the first All Burma Students Democratic Front (ABSDF) casualty

I saw with my own eyes. I have never forgotten him as a man whodied for want of food in the jungle.

**********


8/136

htet aung Kyaw

It was a summer day in 1992, just after the ABSDF split into twofactions, or three if you count the Bat-ma-like, or non-aligned group,which I led. The KNUs general secretary of Magui-Tavoy district,

Pado Ni Ni, invited me to come to his office in Min-Tha-Mee Khe at

the source of the Minthamee stream. This was about 10 kilometresfrom our camp, Min-Tha-Mee Hta, where the Minthamee streammeets the Tenasserim river. At the time, I was the coordinator forthree ABSDF factions in the area which comprised about 1000 troopsand family members.

Since the central committee of ABSDF splintered into two factionsin early 1992, some battalions had supported the Dr Naing Aungledfaction while the others followed Moe The Zun. But in our area,Minthamee, where the two strongest battalions 201 and 203

were based, we had split into five groups divided by battalion and

allegiance. In battalion 203, about 100 soldiers led by Thaung Htun(who is now resettled in New Zealand) supported Dr Naing Aungwhile about 80 led by Htein Lin (who is now resettled in the US)supported Moe The Zun. In battalion 201, we were split into threefactions: about 100 troops led by Zaw Than (who was killed by theSPDC troops in a special operation in the Andaman sea in 1997)supported Dr Naing Aung, while about 50 led by Kyaw Ya (whosurrendered to the Burmese Embassy in Bangkok in 1995) supportedMoe The Zun. About 200 troops stayed neutral and did not supporteither side. I was the leader of this non-aligned faction and so they

chose me as a coordinator for all five groups.

The first lesson I learned in the jungle was how to use democraticprinciples to resolve differences of opinions. We did not fight each

other with guns as our older brother organisations had done in thepast but with words. After the division into factions, we decided to

live separately and so went from two camps to five.

The reason the KNU wanted to see me now was to discuss the locationof one of the new camps. About 80 troops and family members frombattalion 203 led by Htein Lin were living at Alal-Store at that time,between Minthamee Khe and Minthamee Hta. They had been drivenout by Thaung Htuns original base of battalion 203 on the banks of

the Tenasserim river. When I got to Pado Ni Nis office, he confronted

me about the way the troops were treating their environment.


9/136


You students do not respect nature. The Minthamee stream isnearly dying because of you guys digging for crabs and prawns and

whatever else you can find. You guys have also been cutting down

big trees for firewood without our permission, the KNU secretary

shouted at me.

Dont be angry with us Pado. Please provide more food for themif you are worried about environmental damage, I said to him. Hebecame really angry with me when he realised my poor knowledge ofenvironmental issues. You must learn about the harmony of nature.You need to attend our forestry departments class, he advisedme. As we were their guests, I decided to stop complaining to himalthough I was well aware of the deforestation in the area under theircontrol as they sold thousands of tons of timber to Thai traders.

In the end, we agreed to move those 80 troops back to the banks ofthe Tenasserim river near Dr Naing Aungs groups from battalion

203. All five camps were based together along the river for yearswithout any major problems until the Burmese troops moved inin 1997.

**********

One sunny morning in March 1994, I travelled from the ABSDF office

in Bangkok to our new jungle camp opposite the popular Hua Hin

beach with an official from the International Refugee Committee

(IRC). We passed the beautiful beaches and the popular Ban La-

au Water fall and finally reached the last Thai village, Khaung Yai

(The big mountain) before our jungle camp. As we walked alongthe stream to our camp, the lady from the IRC, seeing the paper,plastics and food waste the students had thrown into the water, begancomplaining to me that we did not respect the environment.

When we stopped for lunch along the way, we washed our hands and

dishesinthestreamaswedideveryday.ButtheIRCofficialcomplained

again and again that the ABSDF were not respecting environmentallaw. As a Burmese rebel, I had never heard of environmental


10/136

htet aung Kyaw

law so I just smiled and paid no attention to her complaints.

Once we arrived at the camp, the IRC exclaimed loudly when I offered

her monkey curry for dinner. You guys are killers. You have killedinnocent wildlife. You are destroying the environment and nature,she shouted and spent the whole night crying.

We had no idea why she was so angry. The next morning, somestudents shot a monkey in a big tree just beside the camp and othersused the monkeys hand bone as a tool to make Yazin (cigarettes).How can you complain? If you dont want us to kill monkeys, youshould provide us with proper food, meat and milk you are thedonor, I told her.

She was really upset now but we just laughed as we didnt understand

her feelings. I heard later that she wrote an official letter of complaint

to the ABSDF headquarters saying that battalions 201 and 203 weredestroying the environment and forest wildlife. If we did not stop,she wrote, the IRC would cut our aid.

But we didnt care about that; perhaps we didnt understand thevalue of our natural environment. So we continued shooting notonly monkeys but also any kind of wildlife we could use for food.

Sometimes we used hand-grenades in the river for easy fishing.

Three years later, I began to understand her point of view whenI met Sulak Sivaraksa, a social critic who was staging a protest inHuay Khayaeng forest, Kanchanaburi province. He was campaigningto save wild animals and protect forests in the path of the 700kilometre long Yadana gas pipeline project stretching from the Gulfof Martaban in Burma to Ratchaburi province in Thailand.

I often visited these forests as an activist turned professionaljournalist to find out about the protests. Although I met manyenvironmentalists there, I struggled to understand why the smallanimals the colourful crab, the exotic birds and the narrowstreams and deep forests were more important than billion-dollargas projects.

It was only when I arrived in Norway that I truly understood herfeelings. There are many ducks in the public lakes and beaches but


11/136


no one tried to catch them. I learned that there are many regulationsto protect wild animals, but, more importantly, no one thinks to killthese animals as no one is hungry here.


12/136

htet aung Kyaw

Kawmura: My first battlefieldexperience

Although I had been a student activist and rebel leader since 19

September 1988, I had never been arrested or had a gun pointedat me by Burmese soldiers until I was in a Karen National Union(KNU) camp near the Thai border in May 1989.

My first experience of being under fire took place in the middle of

the Moei river while I was trying to get to the KNUs Kawmura campfrom Baan Wang Kaew on the Thai side of the border during a clashbetween Burmese regime troops and the KNU.

Just after the 1988 uprising the Burmese regime, then known as the

State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC), had launched an

offensive against the KNU-controlled Mathawall hill. The hill was avery important strategic point for controlling the road between theKNUs headquarters in Manaplaw and Mae Sot. Kaladay camp wasright next to the hill. The KNU led all the armed groups, includingthe thousands of students and politicians newly arrived from thecities, under the umbrella of the Democratic Alliance of Burma, the

first coordinated coalition of Burmans and ethnic nationalities.

After they gained control of Mathawall in early 1989, SLORC troops

were easily able to take Caladay, Maw Pokay, Mae La, Ye Kyaw andmany other camps along the road to Mae Sot. Kawmura was the only

stronghold to fight back against regime troops at that time.

A light rain was falling one afternoon in May 1989. I was travelling

from the All Burma Students Democratic Front (ABSDF) office in

Mae Sot to the KNUs Kawmura camp to bring food for my comrades

who had been fighting against Burmese soldiers for weeks. After

30 minutes on a red minibus, I saw heavily armed Thai soldiers

with M-16 rifles and some 105-MM mortar artillery shelling taking

place in the village next to Baan Wang Kaew, opposite Kawmura.


13/136


All the buses were forced to stop here and were not allowed to goany further.

Fortunately, I saw the family of a woman I knew in a house beside

the Thai army posts. I knew her as Amoe, the name by which elderlyKaren women are commonly called; I do not remember her realname. I knew her from Kawmura where she had run a tea shop before

the fighting broke out. She later opened the tea shop again and ranit for years despite the ongoing fighting. She and her family told methat Thai and Karen officials would not give me permission to go toKawmura now as heavy fighting was taking place. Amoe suggested

that I wait until evening if I really wanted to go there.

In fact, I had been living in Kawmura for a month before the fighting

broke out. There were several hundred troops fighting against the

Burmese army, including my group which was called the ABSDF

(KNU Territory). Our group led by Kyaw Kyaw, who is now leader

of the Network for Development and Democracy was overseeing 13camps and coordinating between the camps and the ABSDF Central

Committee. Heavy fighting broke out while I was in Mae Sot and it

was very hard for me to get back to Kawmura.

There was no telephone to consult with the Mae Sot ABSDF office

whether I should press ahead to Kawmura or return to Mae Sot.

The Karen officials with walkie-talkies had no permission to talk toABSDF officials in the camp during the heavy fighting. So I made

the decision to go ahead with my plan to go to Kawmura.

Amoe spoke to some Karen soldiers in civilian clothing about my tripand they asked me some questions in Karen about my identity and

my background. I was not fluent in the Karen language compared

with my comrades who had been living on the frontlines with Karensoldiers for years. So they questioned me in Thai. My Thai was pooras well but it was slightly better than my Karen. In the end, we talkedin Burmese but they werent too happy about it as we needed to sneakacross the border beside the Burmese troops outposts. So I didnttalk much but just followed along behind them.


14/136

htet aung Kyaw

10

At about 6.30pm, we reached a thatched hut in the forest beside theMoei river, on the opposite side to the camp, where I encountered

some KNU intelligence officials. They again asked me some similar

questions in Karen. Finally, we crossed the river to the camp underthe cover of darkness, as we were worried that Burmese soldierscould see us through binoculars from the top of the hills where theircamps were situated. The water level of Moei came up to our chestsas it was just the beginning of the rainy season.

Unfortunately, we came under fire when we were half-way across

the river as the Burmese army resumed the heavy shelling of

Kawmura and the Karen returned fire. I crouched down in the water

while bullets fell around me. Two Karen soldiers who were leadingme to the camp shouted some words in Karen. I had a limitedunderstanding of Karen, but I guessed that they were somethinglike, Dont shoot us, we are Karen. The bullets continued to fallbut a little further away from me. Finally I reached a big bunkerbelonging to KNU forces in Kawmura.

To this day, I am still not sure whether the shooting was just theKaren rebels way of testing me or if it was a real attack as I nevergot the chance to ask the people responsible. But a few days later,

my comrades in the Kawmura battle field told me, That was a lesson

we often faced from our allies in the battle zones.

I did not have long to talk about this incident with my comradesas heavy artillery shells continued to fall from the hills that wereoccupied by the Burmese army almost every day. The Burmese troops

fired 120-mm mortars, 82-mm mortars, 60-mm mortars, 84-mmlaunchers, .5-mm machine guns and G-4 rifles while we returnedfire with 57-mm launchers, 80-mm mortars, 60-mm mortars, RPG7, AK-47s and M-16 rifles.

One of my ABSDF comrades from battalion 211 and a Karen soldier

from the 57-mm launcher artillery post who were standing rightbeside me were killed by shrapnel from the shells. They were a bitcareless, failing to take cover when the rest of us crawled into tunnelsand ran to the bunkers after we heard the noise of shells coming outof the mortar barrels from the direction of the enemys hill. Theywere also quite unlucky because they were not hit directly by the


15/136


16/136

htet aung Kyaw

12

made it very hard for the Burmese army to capture Kawmura andit took them almost six years, from May 1989 to February 1995,

to wrest control of the camp from the KNU. I was there only threemonths and then backed to Minthamee camp for the ABSDFssecond conference.


17/136


13

at gunpoint on the thai-Burma border

I found myself at gunpoint again in early 1995 when I tried to sneakacross the border to Minthamee Camp with a foreign journalist.

It was a sunny afternoon in January 1995. I was on my way back

from the ABSDF office in Bangkok to Minthamee camp, across the

border from Hwaynamkhong in Thailands Kanchanaburi province,accompanied by a western journalist. We got off the bus just beforewe reached a Thai border checkpoint and walked along a junglepath to our camp as we often did when crossing the border to avoid

questions from Thai soldiers.

But this time, unbeknown to us, Thai villagers informed the

checkpoint officials that a white man had followed a Burmese man

into the jungle. After we had been walking for about 15 minutes, Iheard Thai voices and the heavy tread of jungle boots. First we hidbehind a big tree but then I began to worry that they might shootus by mistake and so I called out, We are here.

Three Thai border guards pointed their M-16 rifles at us and took

us to their base. They asked me many questions in Thai. My Thailanguage skills had improved by this time, but I was still not able

to communicate easily so the guards contacted some KNU officials

nearby. Why is a farang [foreigner] going with you into the jungle?

the Thai officer asked me.

After a night in jail in the army hut and hours of discussion at

Kanchanaburi police station, we were finally allowed to proceed to

our camp. Minthamee is located between Kanchanaburi provincein Thailand and the Tavoy district of Burma. We built the camp inthe hills alongside the Tenasserim river.

This is such a nice place with a good view, the Austrian video-journalist said when we arrived at my hut by the river. We hadnever thought of our place as nice but for him, a western journalist,


18/136

htet aung Kyaw

14

everything was new and interesting. His visit gave me my firstopportunity to learn how professional journalists work on the

ground.

The Austrian had come to our camp to make a short documentaryabout ABSDF activities. He wanted to focus on our military actions,so we took him to the frontline where we faced Burmese troops. Itwas not an easy journey from Minthamee camp in the border area tothe Andaman Sea. After two days on a tail-boat along the Tenasserimriver and another two days on foot, we reached Pyicha village inPalaw township where our frontline troops were based.

The Austrian video-journalist actually wanted to film while we

were fighting with the SPDC troops, but this would have been adeadly game. So I told my column commander Hla Oo (who is now

resettled in US) to avoid enemy outposts as we made our way toLake-U-Thaung, a coastal village where we were due to address a

public meeting. After five nights and four days travelling along the

Andaman coast, we concluded our trip with a speech at a publicmeeting at a bus station in nearby Palaw town.

The hour-long documentary Knife to Knife, Lance to Lance that

resulted from this trip was broadcast in Austria in 1996 and DVB

has often used the footage taken for stories on the ABSDF andjungle life.


19/136


15

role of the educated in therevolution

Published in The Nation on 18 April 1999

Where are the educated people, and why are they not leading the

fight for Burmas freedom?

Most educated Burmese want to go to foreign countries rather than

to lead people to fight for their rights and for a change of government

from the military to a democratic system, question in my mind. We

cannot bring democracy to Burma, so we go to democratic countries!It is a big joke among the exiled students in the safe area.

In the middle of March, about 900 Burmese students were permittedto go to the safe area, Baan Maniloi, Ratchaburi, southwest ofBangkok. There they must wait to go to third countries. This is thelargest number of students to enter the safe camp at any one timein the past eight years.

There are about 600 students staying in this camp who haveobtained refugee status from the United Nations High Commission

for Refugees (UNHCR) Bangkok office.

Since November 1992, about 900 students have gone to thirdcountries, Aung Htun, a 38-year-old former student from Rangoon

University, told the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB). Now, he

is a leader in the Burmese Students Association (BSA) in the safearea.

The camp, formerly a unit of the Border Patrol Police (BPP), has

the official name of the Burmese Students Centre. There are ten

barracks and several huts in the approximately 1,000 square metrecompound.

Some students are sleeping without a fan under a hot zinc roof.Some are sitting and talking while they smoke in the tea and betel


20/136

htet aung Kyaw

16

nut shops. A few are in the library and some of their children arestudying in Dawn School.

An official of the Thai Home Ministry controls the camp, which

is coordinated by the UNHCR. There have been many problemsbetween the Thai authorities and students seeking more rights,such as more electricity, larger barracks, more frequent travel, morepolitical activities and more open media.

However, the United States, Canada and Australia are becomingthe students new homelands because in their minds there is noalternative for their future. Most of them are former members of theAll Burma Students Democratic Front (ABSDF), which was founded

on the Thai-Burma border after the 8888 popular uprising.

We are democratic, so anyone can choose their own way. We shouldnot control them. But it must be clear, the ABSDF never urges people

to go away from Burma. Our main forces are inland. We hope that

they will continue the struggle in their own way, and go back to

Burma after their studies, explained Aung Naing Oo, spokesperson

for the ABSDF, about the Fronts policy for the students.

Why do people want to go to third countries?

Because we have no option. We cannot go back to Burma and wecannot live in Thailand, said a former member who recently resignedfrom the ABSDF. We must choose our own way for our future. If Icould go back to Burma with a guarantee of being a political activist,Im sure I would not have chosen this refugee life.

But some exiled students did not agree with his comment. I thinkwe have some options. We should choose to stay in Thailand if wewant to continue the struggle because its the nearest country. Thereare one million Burmese living here, why is it just the students whocannot stay? complained an exiled Burmese student who is now an

NGO worker in Bangkok.

A senior leader of the ABSDF disapproved of students applying togo to third countries. He said in a border camp, When people takethis option the revolutionary forces on the border and inside Burmalose numbers and strength.


21/136


17

Despite the controversy, 80 percent of exiled educated Burmese tryto go third countries. Why?

Moreover, on the other side of the border, the SPDC controlled area,what is the situation of educated people?

Inside Burma, about 15 percent of educated people go to foreign

countries to find good jobs. This is because the military rulers have

no respect for their status. They have no right to talk, write, or thinkfreely. In Burma, having a fax machine or access to the internet canincur a punishment of seven years in jail. Another problem is thatsalaries are so poor.

There are two points. First, we dont like the military rulersand second, we need a higher salary, said a Burmese lecturer inBangkoks Assumption Business Administration College (ABAC)University.

Her monthly salary in Rangoon University was 1,750 kyat (about175 Thai baht) and she had no right to make any suggestions tothe university. Now, in Bangkok, her salary is nearly 20,000 baht,she has her own computer with internet access and her opinion isvalued.

At the same time, some young educated rebels are still fighting the

junta by armed struggle in the jungle along the border. They describe

educated people who have gone to foreign countries as selfish.

What is the role of educated people in Burmas revolution?

Most analysts have said that the world situation has changed alreadyfrom favouring armed struggle to dialogue. The middle classes, oreducated people, are the leaders of the next revolutions.

For example in May 1992 in Thailand, educated people led arevolution by demonstrating against the military dictator, generalSuchinda Kraprayoon, on the streets of Bangkok.

About 60 percent of Thais are from the educated middle classes. Howlarge is the middle class in Burma? No one can say with precision.

Asian countries have some differences in their backgrounds.


22/136

htet aung Kyaw

18

Thailand, the Philippines and Korea are developed, so theirrevolution was led by the middle class. But Burma, Indonesia and

Cambodia are not yet developed so they do not have a strong middleclass, commented a Burmese journalist studying political sciencein London.

Obviously, the educated Burmese people are afraid of the authorities

more than in any other country. They are easy for the generals tocontrol because they work in government departments as civilservants. There are no independent academics, civil institutions,

or NGOs in Burma.

Even people living outside Burma are afraid of the generals.TheMIS [Military Intelligence Service] knows everything about us, they

have records for everyone in their embassies. If I give an interview,

first they will cancel my passport and then they will warn my family

in Rangoon, said an engineer in Bangkok.

This is the case not only for engineers but also for 90 percent ofBurmese, including some journalists who work for foreign-basednews agencies and for radio stations.

Dr Myo Nyunt, a Burmese economics professor from Edith Cowan

University in Australia, commented in an interview with DVB: All

educated people dont like military rule. We want a change to a newgovernment in our country.

But we know that the Burmese generals are different to rulers inany other part of the world. They are very cruel and very obstinateand they never respond to the world communitys pressure.

The lecturer from ABAC agreed with his comment. Educatedpeople in Burma had a role in which they did not openly challengethe militarys control. Because of this, educated people obey illegalcommands from ignorant people [soldiers]. So I decided in my mindnever to go back to Burma until there is democracy.

Almost all educated Burmese share her opinion. But the question is,who will bring democracy to Burma for them? They are forgettingtheir own role in the democracy movement. Therefore, it seems theeducated people are more afraid of the junta than the grassroots


23/136


19

people are!

You Burmese are not only afraid but also wracked with disunity.

I have met many opposition groups in exile. If you cannot fix these

problems, how you can face a strong army? a western journalistsaid in criticising his Burmese counterparts.

I see everyone waiting and hoping for Aung San Suu Kyi to reachfor democracy. But they are not listening to her freedom from fear,they are still afraid.

However, most educated Burmese want to go to foreign countries

rather than to lead people to fight for their rights and for a change

of government from the military to a democratic system.

We cannot bring democracy to Burma, so we go to democraticcountries! It is a big joke among the exiled students in the safearea.

We want to study modern technology and science in developed

countries. One day, I hope we can help Burma as academics in the

re-established country, said the former member of the ABSDF.

How many people are just waiting for that one day? How many

people are really fighting to take that one day? Obviously, that

one day cannot be reached automatically.

We [educated people] are not policy makers. We are just policyinstruments. We have spent over ten years in the jungle and we haveno chance here to study further. So, the leaders must think abouthow to solve this brain drain, the former member continued.

Actually, no one wants to stay in the jungle or under the militaryrulers in Burma. So why do people still live in the jungle and underthe soldiers?

We are the new generation of the 8888 uprising. There must be anend to the military dictator in our era. This is our 8888 generationshistorical task, claimed the ABSDF senior leader.

No one would argue that the educated should not study in developedcountries for the re-establishment of Burma. But this does not


24/136

htet aung Kyaw

20

mean that all educated people from Burma should go to foreigncountries.

What is the role of the educated in the coming uprising?Are they just waiting outside the country until democracy is achieved?

Or are they leading people in the struggle for Burma?


25/136


21


26/136

htet aung Kyaw

22


27/136

part two 9999: active days of student warriors

23

Part twO:

9999: active days of studentwarriors


28/136

htet aung Kyaw

24

an alert for the coming 9999uprising?

Published in The Nation on 14 March 1999

In 1988, in what later came to be known as the 8888 uprising,

Burmese students led the fight against the military junta. A decade

later, they are now talking about a 9999 incident.

Yesterday was the 11th anniversary of Burmas Human Rights Day.Ko Phone Maw, a 21-year old engineering student was killed by thearmy in the compound of Rangoon Institute of Technology (RIT),

and was the first martyr among 3000 people killed in the 8888

uprising.

At the time, they [riot police] shot at us with real bullets when weasked the soldiers to go back to their barracks. We could not seeanything under the smoke-bomb and we ran like blind men, recalledKo Kyaw Htin in a border shelter camp. He was an RIT student atthe time. Now, he is a leader of the All Burma Students DemocraticFront (ABSDF).

We had never experienced anything like this. I thought they would

shoot plastic bullets and smoke-bombs. They believed that thepolice would not use real bullets or enter the RIT compound.

The evening before, five RIT students had clashed with youngcivilians in an RIT tea shop. A generals son wielding a knife injuredthe RIT students. They called on the authorities to take action inthe case.

But the juntas reply was, Its the students mistake, they wantedviolence. This message challenged the students like a spark. If thejuntas reply had not been so stupid, the 8888 uprising may nothave begun at that point.

A day later, hundreds of thousands of students began an anti


29/136


25

authority demonstration in the RIT for the first time in the 26

years under Ne Wins Burmese Socialist Programme Party (BSPP)military rule.

At least two students were killed in the shooting, and about 30injured. People were very angry with the government about the killingof the students. Then people joined the students to demonstrate indowntown Rangoon. They smashed state-owned cars, buses and

buildings and shouted No confidence in the BSPP and Hold an

independent investigation into the case of Ko Phone Maw.

General Ne Win and his men from the BSPP were very surprisedat the students sudden reaction. In their thinking, no one couldchallenge them while they stood watch with guns. Then they orderedthe closure of all universities and the sending home of students.

But their plan was not successful. The students and peopledemonstrated again when the universities reopened in June. Thattime the demonstrations were more violent and wider, spreadingto other universities and cities.

However, strongman Ne Win never reviewed his BSPPs policy. Hedeclaimed in BSPPs parliament, The army will never shoot into theair. If they shoot, the guns will be aimed at the people. If someone

wants to complain to BSPP, he must be careful of my guns.

After his speech, no one could control the angry people. Peopledemonstrated all over the country- including in border towns andvillages. They cried, Enough is enough, BSPP, Dont need Ne Winregime and Build a Student Union.

People could not tolerate any more by that time. They had beenfacing suppression from military rule for 26 years. At the time, our

tea shop case inflamed the people to challenge Ne Wins dictator

regime, said another RIT student.

The ABSDF reviewed political progress in the last ten years in their5th conference on the northern border of Thailand. They analysedthe 8888 uprising and the current political situation in decidinghow to move forward.


30/136

htet aung Kyaw

26

In the last 8888 uprising, we could abolish the BSPP with fourpresidents and all its administration, but why could we not take

final victory? asked one in the conference hall.

Its a big lesson for us. We were not ready to find a new government

and did not understand that opportunity only knocks once.

They said, Now we have a leading political party with a strongleader. And the people are also more knowledgeable than in 8888.This could be the main difference between 8888 and 9999.

The ABSDF decided to choose this years Human Rights Day to alert

people to begin a campaign for a9999

(9 September 1999) uprisingin Burma. They said, The whole political situation is ripe. People

are just waiting for a spark.

The young political idealists said, The students and people are readyto show people power like in the 8888 uprising. They are just waitingfor a clear message from Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.

They cited last years student demonstrations in Rangoon in Augustand September on the 10th anniversary of 8888.

Moe The Zun, one of the masterminds of the ABSDF, told the

Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), We believe that there is just

one path to achieve democracy. Its the people power way.

The ABSDF concluded that it is not enough just to use the legal wayof the peoples parliament advocated by the National League forDemocracy (NLD). People power must be added.

They said, There are many pressures from the outside world andinside the country to transfer power from the military to the electedgovernment. But the junta never responds to outside pressure.

People chose their representatives for their new government inthe 1990 May election. Now these representatives have called for apeoples parliament and urged dialogue.

However, the juntas reply was to arrest more than 200 MPs andmore than 1,000 members of the NLD. Then the Military IntelligenceService forced the resignations of MPs and members throughout


31/136


27

the whole country. Now over 50 per cent of NLD members and MPshave resigned, been jailed or gone into exile.

Recently, the New Light of Myanmar, a state-controlled daily paper,said, Every day, one MP and approximately 30 members resign,

and one township level committee abolishes its office. This is of their

own volition, as they did not like Suu Kyis confrontational way toparliament. The junta knows nothing about justice, legitimacy andthe peoples desire.

The generals have encouraged the NLD to choose people power,by rejecting all other ways and backing them into a corner, the

ABSDF accused.

They added, The NLD has called for dialogue since the 1990 Mayelection. And now it has called a peoples parliament. But the juntanever responds. Therefore, we would like to say enough is enough.The NLD has no chance to choose any other way. Today, the NLDs

main task is to lead people into the final battle.

Mr James, a spokesperson for ceasefire armed group the KachinIndependent Organisation, commented in an interview with DVB,

There is no law and order in this country at the moment. So the

NLD should not confront the junta because no soldiers are interestedin justice and legitimacy. They are only interested in the power oftheir guns.

He added, This country needs national reconciliation. If no sidecan eradicate the other, there is just one path and that must benegotiation.

No one doubts that the country needs national reconciliation, exceptthe SPDC.

The source said that the NLD has chosen March to begin preparationsfor 9999. Which is the best way for this country? Dialogue ordevastation?

Everybody wants to choose dialogue and negotiate. But the rulingjunta is still rejecting dialogue. If this continues, there is only oneway left for the people - that is people power in the coming 9999uprising.


32/136

htet aung Kyaw

28

Learning in limbo: educatinga neglected generation

Published in The Irrawaddy in May 1999

Some young people in a thatched hut in a camp on the Thai-Burmaborder are debating the educational problems facing young peoplein Burma today. We must improve our education level and thenchange the curriculum in all schools in the liberated area, declaredone student with emotion.

This subject was being discussed during a brief one-off seminaron the current education situation in Burma organized by the AllBurma Students Democratic Front (ABSDF). Most ABSDF members

never graduated from university because they were deprived of theirright to continue their education for participating in the 8888demonstrations.

In Rangoon, the army closed all universities after the 8888 uprising.In the past decade, universities have been open for a total of only

about two years. They were re-opened briefly following elections in

1990, but then shut down again after students demonstrated to showtheir support for Aung San Suu Kyi when she won the 1991 NobelPeace Prize. The universities have been closed most of the time sinceDecember 1996, when protests were held at the Rangoon Institute

of Technology. Protests by RIT students during the brief reopeningof universities for examinations in August 1998 probably mean thatthey will not be opened again soon.

While students in open societies are debating whether educationshould be for business or knowledge, students in Burma dont evenhave the right to go to university. Its a very sad situation for thegeneration of Burmese who will be leading the country in the future,lamented a Burmese lecturer at Assumption Business AdministrationCollege in Bangkok. More than 500 Burmese professors and lecturersteach at universities in Thailand, while thousands more teach in


33/136


29

the US, Europe, Japan and other countries. Most left their nativecountry because there were no jobs for them at Burmese universities,

or because they could not stand working under military supervisorswith no understanding of educational matters.

Extremely poor salaries are another reason many leave Burma.My monthly salary at Rangoon University was 1750 kyat (aboutsix dollars), while a meal in the market cost nearly 100 kyat. Howcould I live on just my own income? I still had to get money frommy parents, said a lecturer in an interview with the Democratic

Voice of Burma. She now earns nearly 20,000 baht (about US$500)

a month at a Thai university, where she also has her own computer

with an Internet connection. Now, she says, she can even afford tosend some money to her parents.

Students are their enemies

Instead of helping lecturers to become better educators, the emphasisof teacher training under the military regime is learning how tocontrol students in order to prevent them from participating indemonstrations. They warned us that if one of our students joinsa protest, we will be sent to jail for six months, said a lecturer whois now working in Thailand.

In the generals minds, the students are their enemies. A dramatic

example of this mindset at work was general Ne Wins destructionof the Students Union Building at Rangoon University on 7 July1962. The dictator evidently wanted to make his attitude towardsthe students abundantly clear.

Ne Win and his Tatmadaw [military] men have never had a goodview of students. They are psychopaths who are afraid of educatedpeople. They only want uneducated people who will obey theircommands in Burma, commented Dr Mya Maung from BostonCollege, who worked for many years as a teacher at the Defence

Services Academy in Maymyo. Soon after the State Law and OrderCouncil (SLORC) took power in 1988, Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt, thepowerful first secretary of the ruling junta, became the chairman


34/136

htet aung Kyaw

30

of the National Education Committee. He is also the chief of theMilitary Intelligence Service (MIS), which orders teachers to spy

on their students.

These facts alone do a great deal to explain why the education systemin Burma is in such bad shape. Another serious problem that derivesfrom the militarys attitude towards students is underfunding. While4 percent of the national budget is spent on education, over 40percent goes to the military. There are nearly half a million soldiersin Burma, and roughly the same number of students who are waitingfor the universities to re-open. Before the student demonstrationsin December 1996, the junta planned to shorten the universitycurriculum from four years to two years in an effort to deal with thelarge number of high school graduates who spent years waiting just

to get into university.

Now it looks as if they will not even get a two-year education. Mostyoung students in Rangoon are sitting in teashops waiting for theuniversities to re-open. They want to do something but theres

nothing they can do, said a Thai NGO worker who recently attended

an education seminar in Rangoon. The sight of jobless young peoplesitting in teashops is a common one in Rangoon. Not as visible arethe many would-be students who have turned to drugs to deal withthe hopelessness of their situation.

Nor can you see the many others who have moved to Thailand insearch of work, or those sent to prison for engaging in political

activities. The world community and NGOs should hurry to Burma

to promote education, even if the universities are closed. There is noone else here who can help the younger generation. So we should not

wait until the government changes, said the Thai NGO worker.

The state of education in Burma is often ridiculed in Burmesepopular culture. In a well-known censored song, the singer lamentsthat after he graduates, he will have to ask his friend, who didnt passhigh school, to give him a job. While university graduates in many

countries complain about the difficulty of finding a decent job, in

Burma it is no exaggeration to say that many educated people are

lucky to find jobs as taxi or trishaw drivers. When a famous comedian

interviewing a recent high school graduate on state-run television


35/136


31

jokingly congratulated her on completing her education, he obviouslystruck a little too close to home. He was arrested the next day and

sentenced to a six-month jail term for making the remark.

Another weak point in Burmas education system is corruption.Money or even force is often used to ensure that the children of

influential people always do well in examinations and get into the

best universities. If you can give 100,000 kyat, you are sure to windistinction in the high school examination, said one student. Forteachers earning negligible salaries, accepting bribes is undoubtedlyan irresistible temptation.

The problem of closed universities exists only for ordinary people.

This problem is just for us because we are not VIPs, said one

student in Rangoon who has been waiting to enter university since

1995. VIP refers to members of families with military connections,

who can attend such institutions as the Defense Studies Academy, theMilitary Institute of Medicine, the Military Institute of Technology,the Military Institute of Economics, or the Military Institute ofComputer Science.

Moving forward

Finding a solution to these problems will not be easy, but activistsin the liberated area are determined to make a start. At the ABSDFeducation seminar held on the Thai-Burma border, it was decidedthat a plan should be drawn up to promote education in the liberatedarea while universities in the rest of the country remain closed.

According to figures compiled by the National Educational Council,

established in Manerplaw in 1993 by the National Council for theUnion of Burma (NCUB), the liberated area has 19 high schools,95 middle schools and 1209 primary schools, with a total of almost150,000 students. This includes schools in areas under the control

of ethnic cease-fire groups.

We have a plan to do a seminar to develop a curriculum for thewhole liberated area. But now we have no stable area, and another

problem is the various ethnic languages, said an officer of the NEC,


36/136

htet aung Kyaw

32

adding that their main task right now is to find supporting groups. At

present, the Norway Burma Council is their main donor. A studentat the ABSDF Headquarters School said, Now I study in the 6thstandard, but I dont know when we will have to move again.

Burmese army offensives have forced his school to move five times in

the past seven years. Burmese soldiers killed both his parents in his

village when he was five years old. They [the ABSDF and the Karen

National Union] are pushing for better education but their campsare not stable, said an Australian volunteer teacher at the ABSDF

Headquarters School.I believe that the Burmese are much moreinterested in education than people in my country, he added.

When he visited Rangoon, he said people asked him how theeducation system in other countries differed from that in Burma.They also asked him about relations between students and soldiers.Another western education worker involved in a teacher trainingprogram commented that while the ABSDF and KNU were veryinterested in promoting education, they were often too busy withtheir political activities to devote much energy to it. He said that hewas working on a six-month program, but after three months, theystill hadnt completed the translation of teaching materials fromEnglish into Burmese and Karen. He added that there was also a

shortage of teachers, especially ones with a professional teachingbackground.

Most of the teachers receiving training were former soldiers,politicians, doctors, or engineers. The headmaster at the ABSDFHeadquarters School is a mining engineer with no previous teaching

experience. One of the teachers working under him is a former

battalion commander from the Students Army. The headmaster wasappointed to his position, but the soldier-cum-teacher was morethan willing to make a career change.

I chose myself as a teacher because I believe that we should shareour education with the new generation here. While he seemed happyabout his new line of work, not everybody shared his enthusiasm

for teaching. One leader who used to work as a professional teacher

in Burma remarked that A commander is more important than a


37/136


33

teacher in the revolutionary area. We came here to do political work,not to teach. For some, the education problem is merely an offshoot

of the political situation. If we can change the whole political systemto make a democratic government, it [the education problem] willbe solved automatically, commented one activist.

Meanwhile, Burmese opposition groups continue to seek ways to

educate young people. One effective approach to providing post

secondary education has been through the Distance EducationProgram, a correspondence course using a curriculum developed byan Australian university. The DEP has proven very useful to former

students who werent able to complete their university studies inBurma, and younger people who have graduated from high schools

in refugee camps in border areas of Thailand and India. To date, theDEP has reached more than 300 students. Another option availableto some exceptional students is sponsorship to study in foreigncountries. Hundreds of students have received scholarships from

the Open Society Institute and some US and Australian universities,

giving them a chance to study at universities in Thailand, India orin third countries.

While such opportunities exist for a small minority of students,

however, many obstacles remain for the majority of Burmese who

live in foreign countries without official recognition. The Thai ActionCommittee for Democracy in Burma, an NGO based in Thailand,

established a primary school for the children of immigrants living inMahachai, Bangkoks Little Burma, but the school was later shutdown for security reasons.

Zaw Htoo, a 20-year-old history student from Tavoy College, hasbeen waiting since December 1996 for a chance to resume his studies.

In the meantime, he works at a fish-processing factory in Mahachai.

We are the victims of an inadequate education system and politicalunrest, he says. In my factory, all Thai graduates get high positionsand good salaries, but all we can do is manual labor. But even ifhe had graduated, he would have been lucky to earn two thousandkyat (roughly 200 baht) a month in Burma, compared to his presentsalary of 4,500 baht. Now he is not certain if he would return toBurma even if he had a chance to continue his studies.


38/136

htet aung Kyaw

34

The junta in Rangoon recently ordered all high schools to holdseparate examinations, to prevent a large gathering of students in

one place. The same order informed teachers that they could givestudents extra marks for holding correct political views. About300,000 students sat for high school examinations held in earlyMarch, of whom around 100,000 could be expected to pass. That

means there will be a significant increase in the backlog of students

waiting to enter university. If universities are not opened in the nearfuture, the total number could reach a million within a few years.

Until Burmas military regime realizes that this figure represents

a tremendous loss for the countrys future, it is unlikely to riskreopening the universities. But while the generals clearly wish to

see their hold on power last in perpetuity, they seem to regard thefuture as somebody elses problem.


39/136


35

Fuel to the fire

Published in The Bangkok Post on 14 February 1999; written withRalph Bachoe

With the Yadana gas pipeline, oil industry giants have added totensions along the Thai-Burmese border.

In a silent market shrouded in morning mist near this western Thaiborder pass, a group of Buddhist monks winds its way from onedevotee to another to accept meagre and humble offerings. Devout

Buddhists, in return, receive merit for filling the bowls of these pious

men in saffron robes.

Since the Burmese army ordered the pass closed, the merchants andtraders have vanished, lamented U Pha Su, a Tavoyan who has spenthalf of his 60 years in the once bustling village of Ban I-Taung.

Ban I-Taung, a Thai border check point in Thong Pha Phum township,is in Kanchanaburi province where the 700-kilometre Yadana gaspipeline crosses the border. The pipeline stretches from the Gulf ofMartaban in Burma to Ratchaburi province in Thailand.

The pipeline project began in the summer of 1995 after the then

ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council, now the State Peace

and Development Council, granted gas exploration rights in Burmese

waters in 1992 to Total of France and Unocal (Union Oil of California)

of the United States. The Petroleum Authority of Thailand signed acontract to buy the gas from these two Western oil giants.

The project has since drawn protests from human rights groups,environmentalists and Burmese villagers affected from the layingof the pipeline.

U Pha Suu and other shop owners say the project damaged theirbusiness after the Burmese army shut the border pass. Before theproject was launched, Ban-I-Taung, like any other border village,was a bustling trading outpost where thousands of dollars changed


40/136

htet aung Kyaw

36

hands on the black market. Goods from Burma -jade, lead, tin,wolfram, seafood, cattle and other resources were transacted in

return for electrical components, auto spares, garments, cannedfood, soft-drinks and gold from Thailand.

In December 1991, the Burmese army launched a major offensiveat Nat I-Taung (opposite Ban I-Taung) controlled by the KarenNational Union (KNU) and the All Burma Students DemocraticFront (ABSDF). During the attack, about 100 houses, a school, a

monastery and a church were torched. About 1,000 Tavoyans fled

to the Thai border.

Of the 40 battalions now scattered along the Tenasserim Divisionin southern Burma, 10 are assigned to secure the pipeline and five

to guard construction of the Kanchanaburi Tavoy highway. The 10battalions come under Strategic Command No.8 (Light InfantryBattalions 401 and 410) and have now been joined by InfantryBattalions 273 and 282.

Accommodation for the troops along the pipeline route was allegedlybuilt by forced labour, with villagers not only put to work from dawnto dusk but providing construction materials like wood, bamboo

and thatch. In addition, land was allegedly confiscated without any

compensation.

In the summer of 1996, we had to work for the soldiers using ourown building tools [knives, hammers, saws, mattocks, etc.] and

material [wood, bamboo, thatch], said a refugee from Ohn-pyin

gwin; near Kanbauk village,in Tavoy district.

We were ordered to arrive at their compound by 7am and workuntil 5pm. We also had to bring our own food, he said.

He was talking to a reporter from the Democratic Voice of Burma(DVB) at a Burmese quarters of 3,000 in Thong Pha Phum who hadfled Kanbauk to escape harassment from the military.

Accusations of forced labour were also voiced by the Burmeseopposition in exile and international organisations such as Amnesty

International, the International Labour Organisation and Asia

Watch. They claimed a 160-kilometre railway line had been built


41/136


37

with forced labour to help facilitate construction of the pipeline.

The $1-billion Yadana project was completed last year and has

already began pumping gas to Thailand.

An official from Total has denied the allegations, saying the region

has shown speedy progress since the company arrived. Thecompany has also published a pictorial depicting how it had aideddevelopment in 12 villages in the Kanbauk area by building schools,dispensaries, markets, monasteries, churches and by promotinglivestock farming.

However, an information officer of the ABSDF brushed aside this

publication as sheer propaganda. Why he said, if all this is true,

are people fleeing to Thailand? In truth, he said, the people faced allkinds of suffering such as portering, forced labour, land confiscation

and displacement.

According to local estimates, 15,000 refugees displaced by the projectare now sheltered in camps in Tham Hin, in Ratchaburi, and BanTaung Yan in Sangkhla Buri district, Kanchanaburi.

In September 1996, Burmese opposition groups sued Unocal,alleging the gas deal with the Burmese regime resulted in widespreadhuman rights abuses.

The suit was filed in Los Angeles, where Unocal has its main office

by the National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma (theparallel government-in-exile) and the Federation of Trade Unions

of Burma. It was filed on behalf on the Burmese who had been

displaced, killed or forced to work without pay on a railway inpreparation for the pipeline construction.

Also, mounting pressure from American and Burmese activistsin exile to halt investments in Burma, eventually forced the USadministration to impose economic sanctions on the militarygovernment in late 1997.

President Clinton issued an executive order to ban new USinvestments in Burma because of the countrys increased repressionof democracy efforts.


42/136


43/136


39

They claim the pipeline runs through the regions most pristine

forests, home to rare flora and fauna. Human rights advocates have

also refused to support the project on the grounds revenue fromthe investment will be used to buy arms to suppress the democraticgroups in Burma.

Sulak is now facing a lawsuit brought by PTT for obstructing the

construction of the pipeline. On the other side of the border, one

of the biggest problems is security. How effectively can the SPDCtroops guard the pipeline? said a Burmese democracy activist.

There are no guarantees in the jungle. The pipeline and constructioncompound have been attacked three times and the military bases

about 15 times in the past, killing about 50 soldiers. At least five

workers, including a French national from Total, were reported killed

and 11 injured during these raids by forces fighting the Burmese

government.

We believe there will be no development without local stability. If

they want to do business, they must solve the armed crisis with the

KNU as a first step, said Padoe Kwal Htoo, chairman of KNU 4th

Brigade Area, which is believed to have mounted the attacks.

But general Bo Mya, the KNU president, insisted that his forces haveno plans to attack the pipeline as they are not terrorists. Instead theKNU wants to solve the problem by holding talks with the SPDC, Thai

officials and the oil companies. However, there have been frequent

clashes between government troops and the multiple armed rebelgroups deployed along the pipeline.

It is almost impossible for the SPDC to have complete control overthe area, said a former Karen major who is a demolition expert.There are many armed factions and they can go wherever they wantto and whenever they wish to.

Last month, a Unocal official denied a Bangkok Post report that itsfirm and Total had provided financial backing for Burmese military

activities to protect the Yadana pipeline and to suppress Burmeseminorities near the border.

The story is baseless. There is no unusual activity in the pipeline


44/136


45/136

htet aung Kyaw

40

area. We are certainly not a party to financing anyones militaryactivity, the official said.

However, sources inside Burma insist that financial aid to the

Burmese military from the oil firms is a fact.

It was alleged that last July, Total contributed five million kyat to

the armys fund for each of the 12 battalions guarding the pipelineand the battalion commanders given 4-wheel drive vehicles andpetrol. In addition, a fund of 400 kyat a day for each porter was

provided by the firm as requested by IB 373 and 282 commanders.

And at times Totals helicopters and trucks are used to transportfood and ammunition for the same two battalions from Kanbaukto Nat I-Taung.

Padoe Thaw Thi, a spokesman for the KNU 4th Brigade Area said:This Bangkok Post report must be true because we have similarinformation.

In the meantime, plans are afoot between Burma and Thailand topromote border trade and tourism in the area whereby a road wouldcut through Kalai-aung village to take tourists to southern Burmasfamous Maung-magan beach.

Total, it seems, is not very excited with the idea as it could jeopardisethe safety of the pipeline. People like U Pha Su, however, are hopingall the troubles and unrest would soon go away so they can resumetrading.


46/136


41

the end of tolerance

Published in The Irrawaddy in February 2000

Dissidents are clinging to their commitment to non-violence, butthey may be losing their grip.

The Ratchaburi hospital crisis is over but many questions remain.

One is why ten gunmen from Gods Army stormed a Thai hospitalin the first place. Many Thai people lack sufficient knowledge about

Burma to understand this case. They are, of course, still angry at thehostage-takers for endangering the lives of patients and medical

staff.

But the Thai media and academics are more aware of the issuessurrounding the case. I understand why they came here. I dont liketo just say that those people are bad. They have suffered life-longrepression from the Burmese military. They have no way out, andcame here to do something, commented Pornpimol Trichot, a well-known researcher from the Asian Studies Institute at ChulalongkornUniversity.

The bus driver whose bus was hijacked from Ban Tagolan recalled,They commanded me to drive to Bangkok. But when they saw thehospital, they said to stop. I thought that they had no plan.

In fact, the Thai army was heavily shelling the Gods Army base atKamaplaw while the SPDC troops were trying to occupy it. Theyshelled Kamaplaw after four [Thai] soldiers were killed by a Gods

Army landmine on 18 January, confirmed a leader of the volunteer

guard in Ban Phar Pok, the closest village to Kamaplaw. [The rebels]only choice was which way to diesitting under the shelling or doingsomething before they died. They chose the second way.

However, it is not the first time Burmese activists have resorted

to such tactics. Similar incidents have occurred on three otheroccasions.


47/136

htet aung Kyaw

42

In 1989, two Burmese students, Ye Yint and Ye Thiha, hijacked aBurmese domestic plane from the southern Burma town of Mergui

to Bangkok with a fake bomb. In 1991, Ye Yint and Ye Marm hijacked

a Thai plane from Bangkok to New Delhi. But in October 1999,

dissidents did not use a fake bomb. They came heavily armed to theBurmese embassy in Bangkok. They planned to kill ambassador HlaMaung, who is close to the juntas powerful general Khin Nyunt.

A decade is long enough to wait. We must change our strategy,

declared Jonny, leader of the Vigorous Burmese Student Warriors,

in a telephone interview during the embassy siege.The time hascome to shoot to the forehead of the key general.

Jonny explained that he had taken part in peaceful protests in frontof the Burmese embassy in the past, and had also been a member ofthe All Burma Students Democratic Front. Now that 11 years have

passed, he said that demonstrations and fighting against normal

soldiers on the front line are meaningless. The world communityspressure is just talking. It will never be like Kosovo or East Timor,said Jonny.

Nearly four months later, they came again to Thai soil to do somethingto attract the attention of the world community to their countryspolitical crisis. But this time, the Thai response was very severe. Allten gunmen in the Ratchaburi hospital siege lost their lives.

[The crackdown on Burmese dissidents] is not a real resolution, justa temporary one. If we cannot send them back to their own country, itwill happen again. We must think how we can help to solve Burmascrisis, observed Pornpimol, who is studying the situation of Burmese

minorities in depth, especially the cease-fire process between the

ethnic groups and the ruling junta over the last decade.

Ye Thiha, the mastermind of the Mergui hijacking, said, I supportDaw Aung San Suu Kyis non-violent means. It is the best optionfor our country. But we do not want to sit and wait in order to see

change. We want to do something significant which will catch the

worlds attention. This was in a letter to Htun Aung Kyaw, formerchairman of the ABSDF, on the Burma-net computer network. Thaipolice have been searching for Ye Thiha in Bangkok.


48/136


43

Accused of masterminding two recent hostage-taking dramas in

Thailand, San Naing has been in hiding since last October. Here,people talk about revolution as a seasonal job. It is very hard to find

a person who has a long-term commitment. I see there are a lot ofmeetings, conferences and publishing newsletters. It is not a realrevolution.

However, the leading figure of the Burmese democracy moment,

Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, rejected the methods usedby the hostage-takers. There is only one path to reach democracy,and that is each group must talk at the negotiation table without a

gun, she said. Other armed groups have also distanced themselves

from the actions of rebels who have resorted to violence on Thaisoil.

But while official policy and Thai pressure may prevent rebel leadersfrom aligning themselves with radical elements, some rank-and-file

members of border-based groups have expressed more sympathy

with those who have sacrificed their lives for the cause.

After 11 years with no progress in Burma, many activists are findingit difficult to believe in the non-violent way and cannot tolerate

the ongoing situation. Their problem is not only an internal affairbut also a serious concern for the whole Southeast Asian region,particularly Thailand.

There are one million Burmese immigrant workers, over 100,000refugees and several thousand students and dissidents in Thailand.The Thai authorities cannot deport all of them back to Burma andthey cannot close the whole 2400-kilometre border with Burma. Thebest solution to this problem may be for Thailand to take a more

active role in mediating an end to Burmas internal conflicts, both

between the junta and the democratic opposition and Rangoon andethnic rebels.

Chulalongkorns Pornpimol urged the Thai government to take amore pro-active stance. If [the Thai government] cannot solve everyproblem at this time, they must choose some burning issue, such asminorities, Burmese students, refugees or immigrant workers as the

first step, said the researcher.


49/136

htet aung Kyaw

44

If the Thai government continues to avoid involvement in Burmas

internal affairs, it may find it increasingly difficult to contain

threats to its own security.


50/136


45

Burmese army trapped by itsturbulent history

Published in The Nation on 30 March 2000

Burmas Tatmadaw, or armed forces, facing an increasing numberof desertions and a lack of direction, badly needs to change its imagefor the better.

On 27 March 1945, general Aung San, the commander of the Burma

Independence Army (BIA) and the chairman of the Anti-Fascist

Organisation (AFO), declared zero hour to the Japanese in Rangoon

and called on the people tofind and attack the nearest enemy

.

In Burma, 27 March became known as Anti-Fascist Revolution Day.This year is the 55th anniversary of that day. But the Burmese juntahas announced that the day will henceforth be known as TatmadawDay. The re-naming of the anniversary is very controversial, becauseit overstates the Tatmadaws role in the Burma revolution.

According to Dr Aung Khin, a Burmese history professor in London,The BIA was founded on 26 December 1941 in Bangkok. Earlierthat year, 30 young Burmese rebels (later to become known as thelegendary 30 comrades) had secretly left Burma to travel to HainanIsland in southern China, which was then controlled by Japanese

troops. The Japanese army gave them military training for fivemonths, to enable them to fight the British in Burma. They then

traveled to Bangkok where they founded the BIA, before returningto Burma.

Why does the junta say now that Revolution Day is TatmadawDay? Its a lie about history, the professor continued in his radio

articles broadcast on the Democratic Voice of Burma.

In fact, the Tatmadaws role was not important in the revolution era

because it had so few members. The AFO and the Communist Party

of Burma (CPB) were more important than the Tatmadaw because


51/136

htet aung Kyaw

46

they could organise the people to rebel against the fascists. It wasreally a peoples revolution, not just the Tatmadaws offensive.

Later on, several of the 30 comrades joined the CPB and began acivil war. After half a century, the Tatmadaw said: We have rescuedthe country from falling into the hell-holes of fascism, colonialism,communism and federalism. Then they hammered into the peoplesmind that the Tatmadaw is not composed of just normal civil servantsbut is above the state. Everyone must obey its commands withoutany complaint.

But the All Burma Students Democratic Front claims nearly 100,000soldiers have deserted during the past 12 years. They are facing ashortage of food and medicine. And there are many problems among

the officers, soldiers and the Military Intelligence Service (MIS).

A few months ago, the National Council for the Union of Burmafounded a rehabilitation centre in Karen state to welcome the ex-soldiers. Monthly, about 50 soldiers join us in the Karen NationalUnion (KNU) controlled area said U Maung Maung Tate, a memberof the centre. This is just in Karen state. Many other deserters havegone to Thailand as illegal workers and some have joined other rebelgroups along the border.

Last year, the Rangoon War Office ordered all frontline battalions

to grow vegetables and raise livestock, as rations would be reduced.From then on, frontline troops took whatever they wanted fromthe villagers. Many villagers were forced to work on the armys newprojects. Some soldiers were disappointed about the order and itsconsequences for villagers. There were more desertions.

Why do people join the Tatmadaw even through it has many

problems? a reporter asked some ex-Tatmadaw men. One of the

defectors, Maung Aung Kyaw Thein, a 19 year old from a trainingcamp for new recruits in Wetgali, answered: I was arrested inMae Sot by Thai police as an illegal worker. Then they sent to me

Myawaddy. On 3 March 1998, I was arrested again by [Light Infantry

Battalion] 32 in Myawaddy. They sent to me Wetgali Training Schoolvia Moulmein soldiers conscription camp. After 10 days training,

I fled here.


52/136


47

Another question is, why do graduates join the Tatmadaw? MyintWai, a defector from the Burma Air Force, left the army to join

the 8888 uprising with another 1,000 soldiers. He commented:

Once, before the 8888 uprising, students were keen to becomeyoung Tatmadaw officers. It was a popular choice because it was an

opportunity for a job and a guaranteed future.

Now he is working for a human rights NGO in Thailand. He compared

the Thai army and Burmas Tatmadaw, saying: Their pasts are nottoo different. Both armies have staged coups. But today, the Thaiarmy is obeying the civilian government, while our Tatmadaw is

denying the legitimacy of the elected government.

Another important point is their budgets. The Thai army has fullfacilities while the Tatmadaw men are very poor. The lowest Thaiprivates salary is 4,000 baht while his Burmese counterpart receives850 kyat (85 baht). Thats why the Burmese Tatmadaw rob villagersto support their families. There is no civil war in Thailand, so thearmy budget is enough for them.

When general Than Shwe, chairman of the junta, visited Bangkok inearly March last year, it was suggested that he learn from the Thaiarmy. But the problem is that the Burmese generals never respectthe Thais because in their minds, the Thais are Nhe-Naing (those

beaten from youth). Instead, they have looked to and tried to emulatethe Indonesian army as it was before the fall of Suhartos empire.They want an Indonesian-style parliament with an ex-soldier aspresident in Burma.

However, the Indonesian army is less willing now to be the tool of adictator, and has moved towards supporting democracy. This has leftthe Burmese Tatmadaw in a dilemma, as its role model has changed.Many observers believe that there are two different groups in the

Tatmadaw the MIS and the frontline troops. The first secretary

of the State Peace and Development Council, lieutenant-generalKhin Nyunt, controls the intelligence service, while the councilsvice chairman, general Maung Aye, commands the frontline troops.

Observers have suggested that Khin Nyunt now wants to change

the image of the Tatmadaw. For example, his intelligence service

has negotiated ceasefires with 15 ethnic armed groups during the


53/136

htet aung Kyaw

48

past 10 years.

The MISs next negotiation will be with Aung San Suu Kyis NationalLeague for Democracy. But Maung Ayes group does not agree withsuch negotiations. His group wants to fully control the countryforever.


54/136


49

From two-way talks to three-way?

Published in The Nation on 21 April 2001

After six months of secret talks in Rangoon between the StatePeace and Development Council (SPDC) and the National League

for Democracy (NLD), two opinions are now widely voiced. The first

is that the results of the meetings should be immediately declared,while the second is that ethnic representatives should be includedin a three-way dialogue.

In March, six ethnic armed groups who have signed ceasefireagreements with the ruling junta over the last decade demandedto be involved in the talks. They sent their demand in a letter to

lieutenant-general Khin Nyunt, first secretary of the SPDC andmilitary intelligence chief, who is in charge of the ceasefire process.

The groups were the Shan State Peace Council, the New Mon StateParty, the Karenni Peoples Liberation Front, the Shan PeoplesLiberation Front, the Kayan New State Party and Palong StateLiberation Party.

At the same time, the National Council of Union of Burma -the

umbrella group of all dissidents in exile which includes MPs fromthe 1990 election, armed ethnic armies of the National United Frontand student-youth organisations -demanded the latest results ofthe talks be immediately announced. They stated: This discussionis for the whole country, not only for two parties. If there is a delay

in declaring results, the peoples confidence in the meetings will

become weaker.

However, there has been no reply from the SPDC or the NLD.

I have no message for you media! shouted an NLD executivemember in a phone interview. He reportedly meets Aung San SuuKyi twice a week.


55/136

htet aung Kyaw

50

On 26 March, lieutenant-general Khin Nyunt met representativesof the six ceasefire groups at the Office of Strategic Studies (OSS)

in Rangoon. They discussed matters relating to the furtherstrengthening of Union Spirit, said the juntas information sheet.

But a source from the ceasefire groups said: Khin Nyunt warned

them to stay silent. It is too early to join in the current dialogue.

On 9 April, Khin Nyunt and his OSS officials visited Kachin State,along the China-Burma border where most ceasefire groups are

based. U La Mo Tu Jai, the new chairman of the Kachin Independence

Organisation (KIO), and officers from several other groups which

mutinied against the Communist Party of Burma during the lastdecade shook hands with the delegation. At the ceremony for the

tenth anniversary of the ceasefire deal, Khin Nyunt gave a speech

along similar lines -it was still too early to join in the currentdialogue.

However, a senior official from the KIO claimed most members

were no longer content with the governments promises. We need

a political settlement, not just a ceasefire, he said. He confirmedthat KIO leaders were pressured by junior officers and communityleaders to replace the chairman who signed the ceasefire agreement

in 1993.

We absolutely support the current dialogue. We also hope that both

sides are honest, the KIO official said. At the same time, we have

the same idea as all other ethnic organisations, that is to be involvedin future dialogues.

Obviously, all political and ethnic groups are facing a crisis on how to

comment on the secret talks. They welcome the talks, but they worryabout what is happening during them. Some analysts suspect theSPDC is using the secret talks to escape from international pressure,

particularly International Labour Organisation sanctions.

Since United Nations (UN) special envoy for Burma Razali Ismail

announced the news, the ILO and all pressure groups have delaying

their procedures against Burma. Moreover, the Japanese government


56/136

decided to give Overseas Development Aid to the SPDC, which has

been on hold since the 1988 massacre.


57/136


51

Last week, a statement from the Karen National Union condemnedthe junta for using the talks in a propaganda war. The junta is

trying to destroy Suu Kyis will in this way, it said. All resistancegroups and the international community must be clear on the SPDCspsychological warfare.

However, many organisations are still hoping that an official joint

statement from the SPDC and the NLD will come out on 27 May,the eleventh anniversary of the 1990 election. But they also hopedfor an announcement on 27 March, Armed Forces Day, and nothingcame out.


58/136

htet aung Kyaw

52


59/136

part three cry freedom: from BomBsite to weBsite

53


60/136

htet aung Kyaw

54


61/136

part three cry freedom: from BomBsite to weBsite

55

Part three:

Cry Freedom: From bombsiteto website


62/136

htet aung Kyaw

56

Cry Freedom on the air

Published in The Bangkok Post on 29 November 1998

From bombsites to websites, the struggle for democracy in Burmadiscovers modern communications technology.

As the witching hour approaches, the cries of the cicadas are not theonly sounds that shatter the silence of the forest on the northernThai-Burmese border. There is also the crackling of shortwave radio

traffic as Burmese dissidents tune in to foreign broadcasts.

In a thatched hut a group of young Burmese refugees is busy trying

to find a clear frequency for a foreign station broadcasting news

about political developments in the country.

On an important day like this, the airwaves are never clear, says

one with disappointment.

This is a family camp of the All Burma Students Democratic Front

(ABSDF). They are trying to tune into the Democratic Voice ofBurma (DVB), their own radio station, based in Oslo and financed

by Norway. Most of the programmes are recorded in their junglestudio shack and powered by a generator.

There are four foreign-based radio stations supporting the Burmesedemocracy movement and supported by government agencies.

Recent additions are DVB, which began in 1992, and Radio Free

Asia (RFA) in 1997.

The others are the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and

Voice of America (VOA).

book preview text

Documents