RAIDS AND ARRESTS CONTINUE IN BURMA

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 RANGOON 000977

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EAP/MLS, DRL, AND IO
PACOM FOR FPA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/03/2017
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM BM
SUBJECT: RAIDS AND ARRESTS CONTINUE IN BURMA

REF: RANGOON 971 AND PREVIOUS

RANGOON 00000977 001.2 OF 002


Classified By: P/E Chief Leslie Hayden for Reasons 1.4 (b) & (d)


1. (C) Summary: The Charge d'Affaires has been summoned to
Nay Pyi Taw to meet with the Deputy Foreign Minister for a
one-on-one meeting about the situation; we learned that the
Chinese and Russian Ambassadors had been invited for similar
meetings today. Nightly arrests and raids on monasteries
continue, although the UN was informed it could collect their
employee and her family arrested yesterday evening. We have
learned of other releases, but expect nightly raids and
arrests to continue as the government gathers more
intelligence from interrogations and identifies participants
from the pictures it collected during the demonstrations.
End summary

Charge d' Affaires Summoned to Nay Pyi Taw
--------------


2. (C) The Ministry of Foreign Affairs contacted Charge
d'Affaires this afternoon to request she travel to Nay Pyi
Taw tomorrow to meet with Deputy Foreign Minister Maung Myint
for a one-on-one discussion about the current situation. We
have learned the Russian and Chinese Ambassadors were in Nay
Pyi Taw today, also for meetings with Maung Myint. The
Charge has requested a meeting with the Chinese Ambassador
this evening for a readout on his meeting with the Deputy
Foreign Minister.


3. (C) Regarding the prominent role of the Chinese
Ambassador in Gambari's visit, The Ambassador appears to have
acted as a key facilitator of the visit, lobbying the Burmese
government to allow Gambari to stay longer than twenty-four
hours in Burma and convincing the government to give Gambari
meetings with the senior generals. The UN remains mum on the
results of Gambari's meetings here. Pol/econ chief met today
with the Counselor from the Swiss Embassy, who expressed
frustration at the UN's unwillingness to share information on
the visit.

Anatomy of a Monastery Raid
--------------


4. (C) The military reportedly continued arrests and raids
of monasteries today. Two monasteries in South Oakkalapa
Township were reportedly raided today after the monks had
finished their lunch. Details of some of the nighttime
monastery raids last week are slowly beginning to emerge.
Foreign journalists operating in Burma told Poloff they have
spoken with several witnesses who have provided them with
additional details on September 27th's early-morning raid on
the Ngwe Kyar Yan Monastery in Rangoon. These sources
reported that at approximately 0200 on September 27, security
forces forcibly entered the monastery, beating monks and
destroying property with riot control munitions and bamboo
and rattan batons. Approximately 70 monks were taken away
according to local residents and monastery officials. Members
of the monastery also reported that cash, jewelry, and other
valuables were missing following the raid.


5. (C) Witnesses reported that later that morning a senior
official from Burma's Religious Affairs Department visited
the Ngwe Kyar Yan to ask the senior abbot to relocate to Kaba
Aya Pagoda and order the remaining monks to clean the
evidence of the raid. When the abbot and monks refused, the
official departed and security forces returned along with
members of the Swan Ahr Shin, the plain-clothes militia
associated with USDA. This time however, local residents
reportedly surrounded the monastery preventing security
personnel outside from entering and those inside from
leaving. Eventually reinforcements arrived and forcibly
dispersed the crowd at approximately 1800, according to
witnesses. Local residents reported two young men were shot
and killed by soldiers, including 18 year old Zayar Naing Oo.
Similar incidents were reported at other local monasteries,
including Kyaik Ka San, where security forces reportedly shot
dead two people and beat another to death when he mistakenly

RANGOON 00000977 002.2 OF 002


beeped his car horn near soldiers.


6. (C) We have been unable to confirm reports of continuing
demonstrations by monks in Rakhine State. We have heard many
such reports that have turned out to be highly exaggerated or
false. Rangoon monasteries hosting monks from Rakhine State
were major targets of the regime's raids since Rakhine monks
were active in the demonstrations. Many of these Rangoon
monasteries are completely empty. Additionally, The regime
is pressuring the heads of monasteries across Burma to send
all monks studying Buddhist literature home. Only monks
managing the monasteries and their deputies are being allowed
to stay. The Sin Phyu Monastery in Mawlamyaing Township,
where nearly six hundred students were studying, is now
reportedly empty.

UN Employee, Journalist Freed
--------------


7. (C) UNDP Deputy Director Sanaka Samarasinha told us today
the government informed him this afternoon that the UN could
collect their employee arrested yesterday evening, who was
being held at the Kayaikasan Race Course, and also her family
members, who were being detained at the Government Technical
Institute (GTI). The UNDP employee had been rounded up with
several others when the military raided businesses and homes
near the eastern entrance to Shwe Dagon Pagoda, which had
been a gathering place for demonstrators and activists
(reftel). Samarasinha asked us not to publicly discuss news
of their impending release until it was confirmed. He said
he would contact us as soon as this happens and to brief us,
to the extent possible, about their physical condition and
experience in custody.


8. (C) Pol/econ chief met today with Min Zaw, correspondent
for The Tokyo Shimbun, who was detained by Special Branch
Police September 28, when they came to his house at 2:00 a.m.
Min Zaw is married to local AP correspondent Aye Aye Win and
both have been close and helpful sources for emboffs. Min
Zaw told us he was interrogated regarding the presence of his
Japanese Bureau chief in Burma, and whether or not his
employer was transmitting pictures of the recent
demonstrations. Min Zaw said he was held at the Rangoon
headquarters of the Ministry of Home Affairs. He was not
tortured and received medication for his diabetes. Min Zaw
told his interrogators he had properly obtained a journalist
visa for his bureau chief through the Ministry of Information
and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He said that during his
five-day detention his guards told him the "top brass" were
furious over the pictures of the demonstrations and the
crackdown that had leaked to the international media.


9. (C) Min Zaw said the authorities lacked a fundamental
understanding of how easy it is for digital pictures to be
transmitted over the internet and distributed throughout the
world, but are beginning to understand now. Min Zaw was an
up-close witness to the September 28 military attack on
peaceful demonstrators and told us he saw soldiers shooting
directly into the crowd, not firing warning shots as they
claimed. Min Zaw dismissed rumors of a split between the
senior generals saying the top members of the SPDC were like
a family that may fight amongst themselves, but circle the
wagons when under fire.
Comment:
--------------


10. (C) We have received reports of other releases, but
expect nightly raids and arrests to continue as the
government gathers more intelligence from interrogations and
identifies participants from the pictures it collected during
the demonstrations. The regime's actions against the
monasteries indicate the generals are pursuing the same
tactics used against the universities after the 1988 uprising
- they are dismantling the entire educational system of the
clergy. End comment.
VILLAROSA