BURMA COURIER No. 262 Mar 11 - 17, 2001

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MONS STRESS SOLIDARITY WITH OTHER MINORITY COMMUNITIES

SANGKHLABURI, Mar 12 (CNS) -- A conference of sixty representatives from Mon
communities and organizations around the world has welcomed the initiation
of talks between NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi and Burma's military junta but
warned that the dialogue must be broadened to include representatives of
Burma's many ethnic minorities.

In a statement issued after the its third international gathering in
February at a "safe location" in Mon state, the Mon Unity League said that
it was agreed that only through a "tripartite" political dialogue involving
the "input and consensus" of Burma's ethnic minorities including the Mon
community, could "genuine solutions" be crafted for Burma's many problems.
Delegates to the conference said they supported both the outlawed Mon
National Democratic Front (MNDF) and the New Mon State Party (NMSP), which
has a cease-fire agreement with Burma's ruling military council, as their
designated instruments "to speak for the Mon [people]" in any political
dialogue that takes place inside Burma.

The statement noted that the results of a cease-fire agreement with the
Burmese military had been far from satisfying. "Although the New Mon State
Party has for over five years conformed to the cease fire agreement entered
into with the SLORC/SPDC military government of Burma in 1996, the human
rights situation in Mon areas of Burma has not improved as had been
expected. . The Mon continue to suffer from regular and frequent
conscription of forced labor (including as porters for the military),
various types of illegal and arbitrary taxes, paddy collection and land
seizures, as well as continued interruption and harassment of Mon efforts in
language education and cultural and literary production. The Mon National
Democratic Front was banned by the military government for freedom of
association and assembly and many of its leaders imprisoned for their
support of the Committee Representing People's Parliament".

The MUL statement said that any formal negotiations must be preceded by
cease-fire arrangements with all of Burma's minority opposition groups and a
full amnesty and liberty for all political prisoners in Burma.

The Mon Unity League is one of the few politically oriented organizations
that embraces delegates from both the exile community and inside Burma in
its publicly reported gatherings.

Chosen as chairman of the Mon Unity League in elections at the conclusion of
the three-day conference was the veteran freedom fighter and Mon patriot Nai
Damrong Pungbangkadee whose long career stretches back to the time when
Burma won its independence from Britain in 1947-48. Speaking to the
conference after his election, Nai Damrong pledged to carry out the mandate
given to him by the assembly and the agreements reached there.

The conference was followed by committee meetings dealing with the sensitive
issues of education and constitution drafting, also held in the liberated
area of Monland. It is understood that a draft constitution prepared by a
standing committee of the League was submitted and debated during the
constitutional seminar. With several of its key political leaders in prison
or otherwise immobilized, one of the key requirements of the committee is to
find qualified personnel to carry forward the legal and administrative
requirements involved in the drafting process. A report is expected.

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