Ninety-fourth edition of the N&O column / Spooks newsletter

(Date: Tue, 03 May 2005 22:23:58 +0200)

Intelligence profile : Burma

Background

Britain conquered Burma over a period of 62 years (1824-1886) and incorporated it into its Indian Empire. Burma was administered as a province of India until 1937 when it became a separate, self-governing colony; independence outside of the Commonwealth was attained in 1948. General NE WIN dominated the government from 1962 to 1988, first as military ruler, then as president, and later as political kingmaker. Despite multiparty elections in 1990 that resulted in the main opposition party - the National League for Democracy (NLD) - winning a landslide victory, the ruling junta refused to hand over power. NLD leader and Nobel Peace Prize recipient AUNG SAN SUU KYI, who was under house arrest from 1989 to 1995 and 2000 to 2002, was arrested in May 2003 and is currently under house arrest.

General

Country name	:	Union of Burma (Burma)
Local name	:	Pyidaungzu Myanma Naingngandaw (Myanma Naingngandaw)
Capital	:	Rangoon (regime refers to the capital as Yangon)
Note	:	Since 1989 the military regime in Burma have promoted the name Myanmar as a conventional name for their state; this decision was not approved by any sitting legislature in Burma.
Administrative divisions	:	7 divisions (taing-myar, singular - taing); Ayeyarwady, Bago, Magway, Mandalay, Sagaing, Tanintharyi, Yangon
and
States		7 states (pyi ne-myar, singular - pyi ne); Chin State, Kachin State, Kayin State, Kayah State, Mon State, Rakhine State, Shan State.

Burma's military government, known as the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) has changed its name as of November 15, 1997 to the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC).

Military branches

Army, Navy, Air Force

Intelligence / Security

9th Plt Burma Intelligence Corps, 29th. Field Security Unit. This Division returned to India in June 1945 and was disbanded.
Directorate of Defence Services Intelligence (DDSI)
Military Intelligence Service (MIS)
Army Intelligence
Air Force Intelligence
Navy Intelligence
National Intelligence Bureau (NIB)
Criminal Investigation Department (CID)
Special Investigation Department (SID)
Bureau of Special Investigations (BSI)
Defense Services Intelligence Bureau (DSIB)
Office of Strategic Studies (OSS)

The Burmese government have been able to effectively jam broadcasts from the BBC, Voice of America, Radio Free Asia and the Norway-based opposition station Democratic Voice of Burma target listeners in the country. All forms of domestic public media are controlled or censored. Many domestic long-distance connections and all international telephone an Myanmar Posts and Telecommunications (MPT), which is controlled by the Ministry of Communications, Posts and Telegraph.

Three agencies are controlled by the Ministry of Home Affairs:

the Criminal Investigation Department (CID);
the Special Investigation Department (SID);
the Bureau of Special Investigations (BSI).

According to some sources, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Immigration and Population in 1992 seem to have several intelligence functions.

One of the latest intelligence organizations was the Office of Strategic Studies (OSS). In 2001 the OSS and the Directorate of Defence Services Intelligence have been merged to form the Defense Services Intelligence Bureau (DSIB) which is divided in seven offices:

Administration;
Training;
Foreign Affairs;
Counter Intelligence;
Internal Security;
Border Areas;
Computer Section.

Burma's most powerful agency is the Directorate of Defence Services, Intelligence (DDSI) which is controlled by the Ministry of Defence. The DDSI controls the Military Intelligence Service (MIS), Army Intelligence, Air Force Intelligence and Navy Intelligence. The agency also participates in the DSIB.

The DDSI was already the largest and most powerful intelligence agency in Burma before 1988 but is now even more powerful than before. Apart from the military agencies it also controlled the National Intelligence Bureau (NIB), and thus the activities of all other Burmese intelligence agencies. The NIB was set up in 1983 to give military intelligence wide- ranging powers which included the criminal investigation department and police special branch. Officially it was Burma's highest intelligence agency but it was dominated by the DDSI. The State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) has closed down the NIB on 22 October 2004.

The DDSI has several Bureaus, each of which has its own responsibility. Bureau MI-1 is responsible for combat intelligence, MI-3 covers foreign liaison, and MI-4 covers the communist front organizations. It also has a number of branches and intelligence companies at regional command level. They are spread throughout the country and are also named MI+number. MI-6, MI-7 and MI-14 are based in Rangoon. MI-16 is based in Mandalay, MI-5 in Hpa-an and MI-4 in Bassein.

Sources / references

BBC News, Federation of American Scientists (FAS), CIA World Factbook, AFP, Burma's SIGINT capabilities by Desmond Ball, Burma's Intelligence Apparatus by Andrew Selth, Tortured Voices (published by the All Burma Students' Democratic Front), Democratic Voice of Burma.