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BURMA RELATED NEWS - November 23, 2004 YANGON (AFP) - Myanmar's planned release of nearly 4,000 prisoners appeared to have halted with no sign of any easing of restrictions around the nation's most famous detainee, democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Families of political dissidents faced an anxious wait after one opposition MP expected to have been released was told he faced an additional 60 days in prison, according to his family. Myanmar's military leaders on Thursday ordered the release of nearly 4,000 inmates they say may have been wrongly imprisoned by a now-dissolved military intelligence unit. The opposition said red tape meant the process could take a week. Only several hundred have so far been released, among them a couple of dozen dissidents including the leader of 1988 student protests, Min Ko Naing, the country's number two political prisoner after Aung San Suu Kyi. Media on Monday gathered close to the home of the leader of the National League for Democracy (NLD) amid widespread rumours of her release from house arrest but security remained at normal levels, according to an AFP correspondent. The UN's special envoy for Myanmar, Razali Ismail, welcomed the "quite exceptional" number of detainees due to be released and said Aung San Suu Kyi wanted her freedom only after all other political prisoners. However, relatives of lower level opposition politicians spoke Monday of their frustration at delays surrounding the releases. Than Nyen, 66, an NLD politician and brother-in-law of General Khin Nyunt, the former premier who was sacked and put under house arrest last month for corruption, was told he faced another 60 days in prison despite serving his seven-year jail term, according to his wife who visited him Monday. The extension of jail terms is a popular tactic of the military if it is not ready to free a political prisoner. "I'm very worried about his state of mind... he has already gone through a hunger-strike recently and was hospitalised," his wife Khin Aye told AFP. Fellow NLD MP May Win Myint, 55, was jailed at the same time in 1997 for trying to reform the party's youth wing in her township, against official orders. Following the release announcement, her husband U Win Myint waited for two days outside the prison where she was being held without seeing her emerge. "I've decided to just wait at home and hope she appears at the door one of these days," the tearful husband told AFP. Authorities have not said exactly who is being freed. Those who have been released include the small number of political prisoners as well as several petty criminals and others who said they were serving terms of five or seven years for robbery or assault. Amnesty International says there are about 1,350 political prisoners in Myanmar, including NLD members and others. The opposition won elections by a landslide in 1990 but has never been allowed to govern by the military, which has run the nation since 1962. The US and European Union have imposed sanctions on Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, for its crackdown on the opposition and detention of Aung San Suu Kyi who has been held since May last year. SANTIAGO, Chile (Reuters) - Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda said on Sunday he had received assurances from Myanmar's military rulers that they would move toward democracy despite sacking the country's prime minister, but he said those assurances could prompt skepticism. "They assured us they would redouble their efforts and hope for concrete results but of course that is something which many would accept with skepticism," Wirajuda told Reuters in an interview in Santiago during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum summit. Wirajuda was the first senior overseas visitor to Myanmar, formerly Burma, after the military junta replaced Prime Minister Khin Nyunt amid corruption charges in October. He said he met with Myanmar's foreign minister and new Prime Minister Soe Win on Nov. 12, but details of his visit have been slow to emerge. Since that visit, Myanmar's military leaders, who have ruthlessly silenced opposition, made a mass release of prisoners but it was not clear whether this pointed to serious political reform. The government change in October surprised Myanmar's fellow members of the 10-nation Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) which have followed a policy of "constructive engagement" with a government shunned in the West for its human rights abuses. The purge ousted a prime minister believed to be ready to at least talk to detained democracy figure Aung San Suu Kyi. The Nobel peace prize laureate has been under house arrest in one form or another since May last year and her detention is a focus of Western dissatisfaction with the military rulers. "We felt that we and others in Asia are left in the dark about developments, that's why we in Indonesia tried to establish contact to get first hand information," Wirajuda said. He wanted to establish the level of commitment to a road map to democracy set out by Khin Nyunt last year, "They assured us the road map and reconciliation policy were not just the former Prime Minister's personal policy, but this policy was made by the collective leadership and said this policy would be continued," Wirajuda said. Wirajuda said the new leadership pledged to go ahead with a national convention early in 2005 to produce a new constitution. He said he specifically asked whether Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy, which is boycotting that convention, would be allowed to join the election process that is on the road map after the new constitution is drawn up. "They did not respond," Wirajuda said. BANGKOK (Reuters) - As the man who was Myanmar's second most prominent political prisoner enjoyed his first full day of freedom on Sunday, speculation deepened as to whether Min Ko Naing's sudden release portends serious political reform. Hours after being granted his freedom, the former student leader who was jailed in March 1989 told Reuters he felt as if he had "awoken from dreamland" and just started to open his eyes. But analysts say it is still too early to tell if he will notice any real change in the military junta that has kept him under lock and key for more than 15 years, and run the former Burma under various guises for more than four decades. In the murky and mysterious world of Myanmar military politics, optimists have a habit of being disappointed. "I think we definitely still need to be cautious," said Aung Zaw, editor of the Irrawaddy magazine, a Myanmar newspaper based in Thailand, adding that the motives of Yangon's secretive generals were still unclear. This weekend's mass prisoner release, which included a handful of opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) members, surprised analysts who saw last month's purging of Prime Minister Khin Nyunt as a step back for a political reform. But opposition figurehead Aung San Suu Kyi was not among those released -- the Nobel laureate remains under house arrest in her lakeside Yangon villa, and initial reports about the release of a high-profile aide, Win Tin, were false. "Of course this is good news but I think people in Yangon remain quite sceptical, especially because the reports of Win Tin being released turned out not to be true, and the number of political prisoners released was tiny," Zaw said. MOTIVES MURKY The junta, now under the exclusive control of army strongman Than Shwe, presented the mass release as a correction of arrests made "inappropriately" under the aegis of Khin Nyunt's now dismantled military intelligence apparatus. However, the presentation of corruption charges to explain Khin Nyunt's dismissal cut little ice with analysts, who say the military administration is graft-ridden. Only if the junta released Suu Kyi and started making credible noises about political reconciliation could people be sure it was serious about restoring democratic rule, said exiled opposition analyst Aung Naing Oo. "If it starts talking about some concessions, for example, we will probably see the beginning of a political process moving towards liberalisation," Aung Naing Oo said. In Yangon, the NLD was keeping a low profile, still reluctant to confirm the names of freed colleagues, possibly in case it triggered celebrations that might provoke a backlash from the ruling junta. Other analysts have pointed to a summit on Nov. 29 of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), one of the few international groupings to let in Myanmar, as a possible catalyst for the latest releases. Despite its policy of "constructive engagement" with the diplomatically isolated generals, ASEAN was expected to hit them with tough questions about Suu Kyi's detention and the fate of Khin Nyunt's "roadmap to democracy". However, Than Shwe and his associates have seldom heeded external criticism in the past, choosing instead to listen to the pronouncements of soothsayers and crystal-gazers. "You cannot predict what they are going to do. To analyse them, you have to be irrational and illogical, because they are irrational and illogical," Aung Zaw said. KUALA LUMPUR (AP) - Malaysia says military-ruled Myanmar should show "tangible" proof it is moving toward democracy to reassure an increasingly skeptical and frustrated international community. If Myanmar does not address the problem, "then not only Myanmar is going to be affected, but the credibility and integrity of ASEAN as a whole is going to be affected," Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar told The Associated Press late Sunday. He was speaking ahead of a leaders' summit of the 10 countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, to be held next Monday and Tuesday in the Laotian capital, Vientiane. It will be preceded by a meeting of ASEAN foreign ministers. Myanmar, whose unfulfilled promises to allow democracy are now largely dismissed as lies by the West and some Asian countries, has become an embarrassment for ASEAN's other members _ Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. "ASEAN will always defend its fellow members. But they (Myanmar) must do justice to their fellow members ... in order to find the best way for us to convince the international community that Myanmar is moving on the right track," he said. "There must be something tangible," he said. Myanmar's junta, which came to power in 1988 after crushing a pro-democracy movement, last week released nearly 4,000 prisoners, including many members of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi's party. But Suu Kyi remains under house arrest, and the release seemed more an attempt to discredit former Prime Minister Khin Nyunt, whose intelligence ministry is said to have jailed the detainees. Khin Nyunt was fired last month for alleged corruption and is in custody. Also, referring to the festering discontent among neighboring Thailand's minority Muslims, Syed Hamid said Thai authorities should not use excessive force to control an Islamic insurgency that many fear will become a breeding ground for Islamic terrorism. Violence between Islamic insurgents and security forces has killed more than 500 people have been killed this year in southern Thailand near Malaysia. The Thai government has been criticized for using strong-arm tactics on civilians and militants, especially after 85 people in military custody in the south on Oct. 25. But any use of excessive force "is going to be counterproductive ... in finding a durable solution," he said. He added that ASEAN should discuss problems with regional implications openly. "We cannot just say we shouldn't discuss because it is domestic or national," he said. "We must be able to help each other in order to create a better region for ourselves." KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 22 (Bernama) -- Myanmar's order to release 3,937 prisoners last Thursday is encouraging, United Nations envoy to Myanmar Tan Sri Razali Ismail said Monday. "The numbers are big, quite exceptional, an impressive number of political prisoners including student democracy leader Min Ko Naing," he told Bernama here. Asked to comment on the continuing house arrest of National League for Democracy (NLD) leader Aung San Suu Kyi, he said: "Nothing would start with her being released first because, after all, she said she did not want to be released until all the others had been released." Asked where the military government stood now on the seven-point plan announced in August last year by former prime minister Gen Khin Nyunt, who was ousted on Oct 19, he said Myanmar had declared its commitments to the "roadmap to democracy". Since Khin Nyunt's exit last month, Razali has been meeting "selected" Asean leaders to discuss the situation in Myanmar and how the UN can move forward. He expects to complete his rounds by next week when leaders will gather in Laos for the Asean summit. "It is incumbent on others (Asean leaders) to remind Myanmar of its commitment (to the roadmap) and logical to ask how Myanmar is going to go about it," the veteran diplomat said. After Khin Nyunt was deposed, the National Intelligence Bureau (NIB) which he headed was abolished. Myanmar's state media said the prisoners were going to be released because their detentions by the NIB were 'improper'. Earlier, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan also said he was encouraged by the release but hoped other political detainees including those under house arrest would also be freed. The NLD won the general election in 1990 but the ruling military refused to hand over power. Since last month, the UN facilitator has been contacting Myanmar's leaders at the highest level possible although he has yet to meet or speak with Khin Nyunt's successor, Lt-Gen Soe Win. At the Asean summit in Vientiane, he said, Myanmar's chairmanship of Asean in 2006 would be "one of the factors on people's minds." Khin Nyunt's roadmap was to pave the way towards civilian multi-party rule. Razali successfully brokered national reconciliation talks between Suu Kyi and the junta in October 2000 but the talks collapsed last year. Suu Kyi was placed under house arrest in September last year. NLD spokesman U Lwin said the release of student leader Ko Naing was an "important gesture" which could signal the government's readiness to engage in political reform. He said it improved chances of resuming the UN-brokered reconciliation talks. Asked to comment on the prospects of the talks starting again, Razali said: "We have to be realistic. We must not run ahead." -- BERNAMA Southeast Asian parliamentarians will be in Kuala Lumpur from Friday to attend a three-day workshop organised by the ‘Pro-democracy Myanmar Caucus-Malaysian Parliament’ for discussion of the humans rights and democracy situation in Burma (Myanmar). BANGKOK: As the man who was Myanmar's second most prominent political prisoner enjoyed his first full day of freedom yesterday, speculation deepened as to whether Min Ko Naing's sudden release portends serious political reform. Hours after being granted his freedom, the former student leader who was jailed in March 1989 said he felt as if he had “awoken from dreamland” and just started to open his eyes. But analysts say it is still too early to tell if he will notice any real change in the military junta that has kept him under lock and key for more than 15 years, and run the former Burma under various guises for more than four decades. In the murky and mysterious world of Myanmar military politics, optimists have a habit of being disappointed. “I think we definitely still need to be cautious,” said Aung Zaw, editor of the Irrawaddy magazine, a Myanmar newspaper based in Thailand, adding that the motives of Yangon's secretive generals were still unclear. This weekend's mass prisoner release, which included a handful of opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) members, surprised analysts who saw last month's purging of Prime Minister Khin Nyunt as a step back for a political reform. But opposition figurehead Aung San Suu Kyi was not among those released – the Nobel laureate remains under house arrest in her lakeside Yangon villa, and initial reports about the release of a high-profile aide, Win Tin, were false. “Of course this is good news but I think people in Yangon remain quite sceptical, especially because the reports of Win Tin being released turned out not to be true, and the number of political prisoners released was tiny,” Zaw said. The junta, now under the exclusive control of army strongman Than Shwe, presented the mass release as a correction of arrests made “inappropriately” under the aegis of Khin Nyunt's now dismantled military intelligence apparatus. However, the presentation of corruption charges to explain Khin Nyunt's dismissal cut little ice with analysts, who say the military administration is graft-ridden. Only if the junta released Suu Kyi and started making credible noises about political reconciliation could people be sure it was serious about restoring democratic rule, said exiled opposition analyst Aung Naing Oo. In Yangon, the NLD was keeping a low profile, still reluctant to confirm the names of freed colleagues, possibly in case it triggered celebrations that might provoke a backlash from the ruling junta. Other analysts have pointed to a summit on Nov 29 of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (Asean), one of the few international groupings to let in Myanmar, as a possible catalyst for the latest releases. – Reuters VIENTIANE:(Channel NewsAsia) - Accelerating regional economic integration, unrest in Thailand, terrorism and Myanmar's political problems are expected to dominate the annual summit of Southeast Asian leaders in Laos. Senior Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) officials will kick off talks in the Laotian capital of Vientiane on Wednesday, followed by a gathering of their foreign ministers on Saturday and a two-day leaders' summit from November 29. Southeast Asian governent officials who will attend the summit told AFP that a push to accelerate a 2020 timetable for ASEAN to establish a European Union-style single market would be a key topic of discussion for the leaders. Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra are leading the call for an earlier deadline, saying 2020 is too far away, although the less developed ASEAN nations are more reluctant. The ASEAN leaders will be joined at their summit by their counterparts from China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand, as the Southeast Asian bloc seeks to pursue closer economic ties throughout the Asia-Pacific. "The Vientiane summit will put across ASEAN's drive to remain focused on promoting ASEAN's economic integration and on building common economic space within East Asia," ASEAN Secretariat spokesman M.C. Abad told AFP. ASEAN is already negotiating separate free-trade agreements with China, Japan and India to be completed within 10 years, and South Korea, which has dithered on such a pact, also now wants to hitch onto the bandwagon. South Korea is expected to sign a comprehensive cooperation partnership joint declaration with ASEAN to establish a free trade area within 10 years or earlier, according to a Southeast Asian source who asked not to be named. ASEAN is also expected to discuss with Australia and New Zealand plans to elevate their current "closer economic partnership" into a free-trade pact that would be implemented within 10 years, added the source. The accord is important because the combined gross domestic product of Australia and New Zealand is estimated at 1.3 trillion US dollars, not far off China's 1.4 trillion dollars, he said. To speed up economic integration within ASEAN itself, the leaders are expected to endorse an agreement reached by their finance ministers in September to remove trade barriers in 11 priority sectors. These are: air travel, auto, electronics, fisheries, agro-based products, healthcare, information and communications technology, rubber, textiles and clothing, tourism and wood products. Concrete developments are also expected in the ASEAN-China free trade accord currently under negotiations, with ASEAN and Chinese leaders expected to sign an agreement to liberalise trade in goods. This is the first component in the negotiating process leading to an overall pact, the other chapter being opening up the services sector. The ASEAN-China FTA promises to create the world's biggest free-trade bloc of nearly two billion people. While officially not on the agenda, the violence in Thailand's restive southern Muslim provinces that has left nearly 550 people dead this year is also expected to be raised. Analysts expect Bangkok to escape rebuke due to ASEAN's policy of non-interference in members' internal affairs, although Thaksin may feel obliged to explain to his counterparts the problems in the south. "It is not on the agenda. But there is a practice in ASEAN to give voluntary briefings on issues of interest to most members," the ASEAN source said. Myanmar's military rule will also undoubtedly be a topic of discussion, following last month's leadership shake-up that saw prime minister Khin Nyunt placed under house arrest and replaced by Lieutenant General Soe Win. With Soe Win regarded as a military hardliner, his briefings to his ASEAN counterparts on Myanmar's so-called "roadmap for democracy" will be eagerly awaited. Terrorism will also be a key talking point, with ASEAN and Japan expected to adopt a joint declaration for cooperation in counter-terrorism. The declaration will cover exchange of information on the activities of terrorist groups and law enforcement cooperation, including through extradition and mutual assistance in prosecution of terrorists, an ASEAN source said. ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. - AFP MUMBAI, Nov 22 Asia Pulse - Federal bank the Reserve Bank of India on Friday said that trade transactions with Myanmar can be settled in any freely convertible currency in addition to Asian Clearing Union (ACU) mechanism. In the wake of certain international developments, it has been decided to allow trade transactions with Myanmar to be settled in any freely convertible currency, RBI said in a notification here. According to the provisions of the memorandum of ACU, all current account transactions between member countries should be routed through ACU mechanism. (PTI) BANGKOK, Nov 22 (TNA) - Thai non-governmental organizations (NGOs) will join their counterparts from other member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in taking part in a regional workshop on anti-drugs early next month. The workshop, organized by the Myanmar Anti-Narcotics Association (MANA) and the Central Committee for Drug Abuse Control, is scheduled to be held in the Myanmar capital city of Rangoon on 4-6 December. The workshop will focus on drug prevention in the region through art and sport programmes. Measures on anti-smoking and the prevention of alcohol abuse will also be discussed at the three-day workshop. CHIANG MAI, Thailand -- It is now more than obvious that developments in Myanmar have taken a sad turn. The harden- ing of the junta's position does not augur well for future United Nations involvement. The generals in Yangon will not roll out the red carpet for a U.N. envoy whose efforts they had neutralized in the past. Western sanctions are in place, but their efficacy has been questioned even by Myanmar's dissidents. Instead of voicing protests, Western capitals should assign groups of specialists to produce a list of smart sanctions aimed at the usurpers of power rather than Myanmar's population at large. One should bear in mind that, as far as the European Union is concerned, actual leverage is not very important, since only Britain, France and the Netherlands claim a measurable share of the country's total foreign investment, and this at rather low levels (18.8 percent, 6.2 percent and 3.15 percent, respectively, according to Yangon's figures.) The European side should speak with one voice, avoiding internal differences and attempts to protect particular business interests in the pariah country. It should also be pointed out that ASEM, viewed from the perspective of the common man either in Asia or in Europe, was lamentably overshadowed by whether Myanmar would participate or not. The low level of Myanmarese representation -- a concession to the EU side -- failed to hide a Myanmarese -- and thus, by extension, Asian -- victory in the row over participation. The 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations is certainly embarrassed by the membership of such an appalling regime. But geography has its own imperatives. The famous mantra of noninterference in domestic affairs may prove unpalatable concerning Myanmar, yet it has served ASEAN very well for decades. And it is still useful in a region that remains deprived of a democratic uniformity in the classic Hellenic sense. Apart from these considerations, it is essential to recognize that Myanmar's generals, despite their roughness, have achieved considerable scores on the diplomatic front. Their poor and neglected country is extremely important from a geopolitical perspective, especially for China, which has established a substantial strategic and economic relationship with Yangon that reflects Beijing's long-held desire to obtain access to the Indian Ocean. No matter how much the West agitates against Yangon, the generals feel at ease under China's protective aura. Tokyo, for its part, feels very uneasy about the developing China-Myanmar relationship, which strengthens the hand of its perennial competitor, Beijing. Even after the dramatic developments in Myanmar following the ousting of Prime Minister Khin Nyunt, a Yomiuri editorial called for Japan to stick to its policy of engagement as a means of dissuading even closer ties between Yangon and Beijing. More liberal circles in Tokyo see things differently, but the prevailing mood is not to alienate Yangon. This picture was further aggravated a few days ago by New Delhi's red-carpet welcome of Myanmar's paramount leader. This visit created a stir because of the timing -- it came soon after the fall of Khin Nyunt -- and the high levels of government involved. Moreover, it created a strange contrast between two symbols: Asia's greatest democracy vs. one of its most ruthless regimes. Observers have, of course, taken note of various imperatives for the India's treatment -- unrest in northeast India, insurgent sanctuaries in Myanmar, new energy resources, the need to counterbalance China's influence -- but a bitter aftertaste remains. As Thai former diplomat and politician Kobsak Chutikul stated in a recent article, in the context of realpolitik it is easy to lose sight of the frail and lonely figure of Aung San Suu Kyi. My own conclusion is that a solution to the Myanmar issue will emerge through a regional rather than a wider international effort. China's involvement seems unavoidable. After all, a remedy involving China is already being pursued in the approach to North Korea's nuclear development. So why not here as well? China's voice in Asia's problems can no longer be dismissed. A more mature and responsible China can at the very least help reduce unacceptable departures from proper international behavior. However, since Beijing's efforts alone are not enough, as in the case of Myanmar, perhaps the framework of ASEAN-plus-Three (Japan, China and South Korea), with additional input from India, could be put to effective use. Pressure from the West should continue, but within the parameters explained above. Myanmar's generals ultimately will have to come to their senses and listen to their immediate neighbors and partners. They should present a more humane face without waiting for 2006 -- when their scheduled assumption of ASEAN's presidency threatens to undermine and destroy a successful experiment in regional harmony. George Sioris, a former ambassador of Greece to Japan, is president emeritus of the Asiatic Society of Japan and a contributing adviser to The Japan Times. BANGKOK As Myanmar's pro-democracy movement digests the recent release of several prominent political dissidents from prison, analysts ponder whether it was foreign pressure that forced the junta's hand. DVB : Ko Min Ko Naing. I am calling you from Democratic Voice of Burma in Norway. How are you? Min Ko Naing : Yes. I am well. What I mean by “well” is – my health is not that perfect. But I am trying to be healthy. My eyes are hot and the like. My body is a little bit hot. My eyes don’t seem to be good but it is not that they are damaged. DVB : Yes. Min Ko Naing : Norway’s Democratic Voice of Burma! Coincidentally, how should I greet you? Things are like this. When I was in prison, there was nothing for me to read or do for ten years. As I had nothing to read, it was impossible to stay inside the prison. At last, after smoking some cheroots, I looked at the stubs of some cheroots I had smoked and their filters. I found that they were wrapped in shredded newspapers. I thought they were things I could read. When I looked at them, they were indeed newspapers. There, I saw faces, I mean, pictures of faces. I didn’t see any written letter. When I finished smoking another cheroot, I saw the same picture of the face. When I finished another one, it was the same face. Then, coincidentally, I saw a newspaper. In that newspaper cut-out I read that in Norway, a woman received a big egg found by a farmer. When the woman looked at it, she said to herself that the egg could still be hatched. So, she was thinking of a way to hatch a bird from the egg. As she couldn’t think of any other way, she found a way she could. She should hatch the egg by keeping it between her breasts and the heat emanating from it, and she decided to look after and keep the bird alive. That was the news I read. As I was hungry for news, when I heard this kind of news from my own bitter experience, I felt that (I said to myself) “there are still human beings like that! How I have forgotten!” That is my connection with Norway. This is about Norway. When people from Norway greeted me, I remember this little incident. And I am greeting you “mingalaba” (Greetings), in return. DVB : Yes. Thank you very much. Now that you are free after you have been detained for 16 years without having contact with the outside world, what kinds of differences and changes do you observe before and after your 16 years of detention? Min Ko Naing : Material matters and buildings. I see big and good buildings. I find some of them quite confusing. Is it the same place? Something was here before. Things are not the same now. I find it quite confusing. But at some buildings and places, the people who were with me warned me. For example, signs for guest houses. They told me to block my nostrils. I asked them why. Is it because they have kitchens and they are chopping meat and fish? No, they said. The places were reeking with the smell of oil. I had to walk pass the places with my nostrils blocked. There are things like that I don’t understand fully. That’s all, for now. I don’t know what I will find in the coming days. DVB : Yes. To use your word, it is only at the stage of waking up from the dream world, isn’t so? Min Ko Naing : It’s so. DVB : As you have just woken up from the dream world, I want you tell us about the dark world of the dream world? When they arrested you in 1989, could you tell us how they arrested and charged you? Min Ko Naing : After detaining me more than 3 years with (Act) 10A, one day, they took me away from my cell with a blindfold. When I was able to open my eyes, I was in a martial court. There, they asked me if I did such and such things. Yes, I did all these exactly, and I did more than what they said, I said. In that case, it is enough, they said. Then they prepared to charge me. The charge was Act 124, defaming the government with speeches and writings. Another charge was the 1962 Printing Act. That was for our student union publishing a union magazine and not going through the censorship and scrutiny board etc. They charged me with those two reasons. Then, they combined the punishments for the two charges and sentenced me to 15 years. That’s all. DVB : As far as we know, after serving 15 years, you were given another 10 years with Act 10A. How did you feel when they charged you with Act 10A? Min Ko Naing : On the day I had served my sentence, the prison governor came to me and told me that I had served my sentence and that it’s my day for freedom, but added that he received a letter ordering him to continue to detain me. That’s what he said. If you ask me what’s my opinion on this: the people (in power) at the time seemed to have thought that if they kept me outside I would be dangerous. That’s all I could guess. DVB : Another thing. As far as we know they transferred you from Insein Prison to Sittwe (Akyab) Prison. Why to Sittwe where you would be far away from your family? What was your assessment on this at the time? Min Ko Naing : I myself can’t work out why they did that. What I mean is – the main change for me was I was away from my family. As you know, in Sittwe, (my family members) were not able to see me twice a month like other people at Insein Prison. They were able to come and see me only once a year, twice a year at most. Due to the expenses and difficulties for travelling and remoteness, the situation was more family difficult for my family. There was no problem inside the prison (Insein) at the time. I knew nothing. They told me to pack up all my clothes. I was thinking that when I am released, I won’t take anything with me. I told them that I might not need anything. Then they told me that I have to change the prison and they didn’t tell me to where. I boarded on a plane and I ended up in Sittwe. I myself didn’t know why. At the time, when the group’s chief director arrived, I asked him why I was transferred and he told me that he himself didn’t know. DVB : Do you remember how many years you were in Sittwe Prison and Insein Prison? Min Ko Naing : I was in Insein from 13 March 1989. Then, I was transferred to Sittwe prison, in the third week of May 1998. DVB : What do you have to say about the differences and similarities between the two prisons? Min Ko Naing : The differences between the two prisons are not that special. But one thing – at the time, at Insein Prison, in special blocks, intelligence agents wearing Prison Administration Department uniforms were prowling and circling in the areas 24 hours a day. When I was at Sittwe Prison, there was no one like that. I didn’t see them or hear them anymore. Let’s say, this is the main development. DVB : As you were imprisoned and kept in solitary confinement for 16 years, could you tell us how you managed or not managed to discover what happened in the outside world? Min Ko Naing : There is a saying among our comrades who have been released from prisons:– when people come and see us, we would say to them, “even if you have brought no curry for us to eat, please bring us some news with you”. So, the people inside heard that Razali (UN envoy to Burma) is coming. Razali is coming. When we asked what would happen if he came, they told us that if Razali came, something will happen. And we kept on waiting and waiting and we heard that Razali came. If Razali came what would happen? If Razali came, something will happen. And we kept on waiting and waiting. Then they said that something will happen when Razali is gone. And we kept on waiting and waiting. Then, we heard that Razali is gone. When Razali is gone, would something happen? When Razali is there, something will happen, they told us. Then, when he was gone had something happened? No, they said. Nothing happened and we kept on waiting again. Then, just when we nearly forgot all about it, they told us Razali was coming again. That ‘sansara’ circle kept on revolving. DVB : As you mentioned Mr. Razali, I want to ask how did you find out about him inside the prison? Min Ko Naing : It’s like this. I only am only starting to ask people (about him) now. About his visits (to Burma), when I ask people now I learn that he is a representative of the UN. In a word, he was sent to negotiate and intermediate as representative of the UN. That is what I have heard. The authorities who were in control at that moment liked Razali. They welcomed and accepted him, and had discussions with him. And that Razali tried his best as soon as he arrived here. But I will have to ask people, only now, whether he was effective. I didn’t know about it properly. For those who were in prisons, we were thrown around emotionally with three things: “Mr. Razali is coming. Mr. Razali is here. Mr. Razali is gone”… DVB : Did you hear about the Dipeyin incident where Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s convoy was attacked… Min Ko Naing : Dipeyin? At the time…What is Dipeyin? Is it Dipeyin where Maung Yit who was to become Maha Bandoola’s place? Are they going to erect a statue of Maung Yit or the Commander Maha Bandoola? We must have thought like that. How could we find out about that? I have to ask people only now when I am outside. That was my situation. DVB : As far as we know you have not only been sacrificing yourself for politics, it is also known that you are a very talented artist. For example, you composed some Thingyan “thankgyat” responses. How did you feel during Thingyan periods? Min Ko Naing : Whenever Thingyan time arrived, I remembered “thangyat” and films about “thangyat”. I had to console myself by thinking about the times I watched these films, and I remembered a film about “Thingyan thangyat”. A group of thangyat chanters enter a “mandat” tent. The audiences filled the tent to the left and right of the stage. In front of the stage are the judges for thangyat chanting competition. The car is parked behind the stage. Then, a well-dressed person climbs out of the car and went onto the stage. He wears traditional Burmese royal clothes including the jacket, ‘pusoe’ sarong and turban made of silk, corduroy and the like. He limbs up the stage from the back. The judges are very impressed by the fact that someone was wearing proper traditional clothes and watched him with great interest. All are watching him with silence and awe. What is he going to do? As he enters the stage from the back, the people from the back of the stage giggle. He turns his head and looks at the people with a face that seems to say “what are you laughing at”. The more he inches towards the front of the stage, more audiences from the sides of the stage roar with laughter. And he keeps on staring at people with puzzled face. The situation is like that. And the judges in front of the stage also could not understand why the audience from both sides of the stage are roaring with laughter. They could not understand. He looks at the people on the sides of the stage with this puzzled and almost angry face. The audience on the sides of the stage roar again with laughter. The judges could not understand but kept on watching. That person, without saying goodbye, with a face that says “I won’t compete with this audience” turns around to descend the stage from where he came from. Only then, do the judges in front the stage know the reason why. The reason is – there is nothing on his back and he only prepared for the front. Only when that person’s gone, they start the competition. I was thinking of it and smiling to myself. During Thingyan festival times, I was wondering whether it was a traditional joke from time immemorial or not, and whiled away my time in prison. DVB : As far as we know you were released because the authorities say that they want to compensate for the unfair deeds of the National Intelligence Bureau (NIB). They also abolished the NIB. The people who arrested you were also the intelligence people. What is your view on this? Min Ko Naing : According to their statement, they are trying to do things as closely as possible to the truth. Therefore, in order to do things as gently, as truthfully and as logically as possible, they issued the statement as such. Therefore, people who are released with this are close to the truth and released honestly and it is good. I want to say that the release was a good one. |
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