Independence Weekly

Independence Weekly, No. 32 (17 - 24 February 2003)

The World
I think the world should rise up against Saddam Hussein … because of the way he treats his own people. Next the world should go after Kim Jong-il and the junta in Burma. 

Passive acceptance of evil is not a virtue. Doing nothing while brutal dictators starve and torture their own people is not humane. 
(Somwang Charthong, Postbag, 17 February)

The only thing I'm upset with the (Bush) administration is that they didn't include Burma in the axis of evil. 
Richard Aung Myint, Burma activist, quoted by Irrawaddy, 17 February

18 February
Arson attack kills 130 people in South Korea's Taegu subway. 

International Relations
15 February
US considering further sanctions after Suu Kyi release failed to be followed by substantive dialogue, says Lorne Craner, Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights, Democracy and Labor. (AFP)

20 February
Rangoon has invited US to enter dialogue on the country's political future. (Financial Times) US replies "the critical dialogue" is between the regime and Aung San Suu Kyi.(VOA)

21 February
EU urges Rangoon to release political prisoners and stop harassing Aung San Suu Kyi. (AFP)

Thai-Burma relations
11 February
How Thailand stacks up against Burma and the rest of the world: 

(Bangkok Post, quoting Economist's "Pocket World in Figures" 2003 edition)

20 February
Joint police-military raid on Nawng Ook (Ban Arunothai) to search for blacklisted drug dealers alert Burmese troops in Mongton Township across the border. (S.H.A.N.) 

24 February
Support from NGOs for 'minority' groups has made it hard for Thailand to persuade them to join the talks, says a senior military source. 'The task is difficult because both sides are sticking to their positions', says Gen Thammarak Issarangkura na Ayuddhya, Defense Minster. (Bangkok Post)

Politics
17 February
Mons celebrate the founding of their greatest kingdom, Hongsawaddy, in the year 573. It fell to Burmese attack in 1757. 

Allusion: 
Burmse saying, Myauk-pya-hsan-taung, meaning "show monkey and ask for rice"

Elephants are animals whether they are white or black. 
(Dr. Than Htun, historian, Irrawaddy, 17 February)

18 February
Jody Williams, 1997 Nobel Peace Laureate, visits Aung San Suu Kyi. (Nonviolence International)

20 February
Private journals are "requested" not to write about the bank crisis. (AP)

Chin National Day celebrations. 

9-12 February
UNLD in exile holds meeting. Elects Central Executive Committee headed by Marko Ban, Makhaw Khun Sa and Salai Liang Hmung. (Statement)

21 February
Aung San Suu Kyi goes to jail for refusing to pay 500 kyat fine after Rangoon court finds her guilty of wrongful restraint of a person for refusing to allow her cousin to enter their property. The punishment is 500 kyat fine or seven days in jail. (Oway)

Business / Economy
17 February
Two days after Yoma Bank suspended its credit card services, Asia Wealth follows. A third bank, Kambawza, says it shall also suspend its services soon. (AFP)

19 February
The attached sticker has been assumed to be one of the immediate causes of the bank crisis. (Peace)

20 February
Freeze on private bank accounts has strengthened the kyat. The kyat today is trading at 900 to the dollar up from 1,100. (Irrawaddy)

21 February
Three leading banks: Asia Wealth, Yoma and Kambawza, receive loans, 5-11 billion kyats each, from central bank. (AFP)

22 February
Gen Khin Nyunt urges people to conduct their business with the banks as usual, blaming current flap to baseless rumors. (AFP)

Shans
19 February
One can speculate as to what motivates (Yawdserk), whom Burma has consistently accused of being a Thai proxy, to (dismiss offers by Bangkok to mediate.) 
The Nation, 19 February 2003

Human Rights
19 February
12 civilians were shot dead and 1 wounded in Mongnai by army-men dressed in Shan State Army uniforms on 18 January, charges a village headman who had fled to Thailand since. (S.H.A.N.)

Environment
11 February
A section of the Yadana pipeline explodes. It is the third time such an accident has occurred. Some says it was built with poor technology and engineering. (Kao Wao) 

20 February
Dam in Karen State part of the Salween will still in undated parts of Karenni and Shan State upstream, says an informed source from a Thai environment group. (S.H.A.N.)

Drugs
18 February
Cattle trade is being used to launder dirty money in North and Northeast Thailand. (Bangkok Post)

The new US policy - to attack drugs from all sides - instead of attacking growers, makers, sellers and users, goes into effect this week. (Bangkok Post)

24 February
Rangoon has approved making a feature film on drug suppression in Burma, says Gen Sanan Kachornklam, secretary general of Thai-Burma Economic and Cultural Cooperation Association. Filmmakers will start work in Rangoon on 26 February. (Bangkok Post) 

19 February
Banking scare in Burma began when a key drug operator was arrested and his bank assets seized without making any official announcement. (S.H.A.N.)

21 February
Amnesty says pathologists were not allowed to perform autopsies (on suspects killed during crackdown) and bullets were reportedly removed from the corpses. (Bangkok Post)

23 February
Before 1 February, Forensic Science Institute was examining two extrajudicial killings daily. It then dropped to zero, says acting director Pornthip Rojanasuwan. 

Despite more than 300 killings (declared as not extra-judicial) the police have not arrested a single murder, points out Somchai Homla of, Forum Aisa. (Bangkok Post)