Kyi Aung

Major-General Kyi Aung (Burmese: ကြည်အောင်) was Minister of Information and Minister of Culture in Burma. He retired in May 2006.

Kyi Aung
ကြည်အောင်
Minister of Information
In office
15 November 1997 – 13 September 2002
Preceded byMajor-General Aye Kyaw
Succeeded byBrigadier-General Kyaw Hsan
Minister of Culture
In office
13 September 2002 – 15 May 2006
Preceded byTin Win
Succeeded byKhin Aung Myint
Military service
RankMajor-General

Military career

In January 1995 troops from Southern Command under Brigadier General Kyi Aung began a drive in Taungoo District to consolidate SLORC control. All villagers were to be forced into military-controlled areas, or killed if they failed to obey. In October 1995 he sent in troops with orders to destroy villages in Taungoo District and their supplies of food. He ordered Lt. Col. Aung Naing Htun to start to forcible relocation all villages.[1] On 18 February 1996 he ordered his troops to gather villagers in Taungoo District and to set them to work clearing land mines. The troops raped one of the women.[2] Kyi Aung was head of the South Burma Sub District (SBSD) Headquarters from 18 June 1995 until 16 November 1997, succeeding Major General Soe Myint and succeeded by Major General Tin Aye.[3]

Minister of Information

On 15 November 1997 the State Peace and Development Council issued a proclamation naming the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Ministers and Ministers in the government. Major General Kyi Aung was named Minister of Information[4] In December 1998 Kyi Aung attended ceremonies to hand over public buildings in Dagon Seikkan Township, Yongon Division, along with other cabinet members.[5]

On 30 September 1999 the National League for Democracy, the main opposition party, filed lawsuits claiming "Abuse of Power" against government officials including Lieutenant-General Khin Nyunt, director-general of the National Bureau of Intelligence, Home Minister Colonel Tin Hlaing, Information Minister Major-General Kyi Aung and others. A month later a Supreme Court judge dismissed the case, declaring it invalid due to lack of evidence.[6]

In January 2000 Major-General Kyi Aung presided over the ceremony to present motion picture awards for 1998. He noted that 15 movies had been released in 1998 compared to 30 in 1995, 25 in 1996 and just 11 in 1997. He called for production of classical movies that met international standards. The General warned against unlicensed production or distribution of videos, saying anyone who did so would be published according to the 1996 laws forbidding such activity.[7]

Minister of culture

On 13 September 2002 in a minor cabinet reshuffle Major-General Kyi Aung was moved to the Ministry of Culture, replacing U Tin Win, who had been holding this ministry as well the Ministry of Labor. His place as Minister of Information was filled by Brigadier-General Kyaw Hsan, promoted from Deputy Minister of Commerce.[8] The writer, composer and journalist Soe Nyunt was Deputy Minister of Culture until 2003 under Major General Kyi Aung.[9]

As Minister of Culture, Kyi Aung was named by the Council of the European Union in June 2003 as a member of the military regime who were subject to a visa ban and assets freeze. His wife Daw Khin Khin Lay was also listed.[10] In December 2005 Kyi Aung welcomed Senior General Than Shwe when he visited the site where the palace of King Anawrahta, founder of the First Myanmar Empire, was being excavated and reconstructed.[11]

In May 2006 Kyi Aung was "granted permission to retire". He was replaced by the former Minister of Defense, Major-General Khin Aung Myint.[12] In May 2007 his wife was removed from the list of people against whom EU sanctions applied.[13]

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References
  1. "FIELD REPORTS Taungoo and Other Districts". Karen Human Rights Group. 29 February 1996. Archived from the original on 20 October 2012. Retrieved 24 February 2012.
  2. "Incidents of Rape and Sexual Assault" (PDF). HUMAN RIGHTS YEARBOOK 1996: BURMA. Human Rights Documentation Unit. Retrieved 24 February 2012.
  3. Maung Aung Myoe (2009). Building the Tatmadaw: Myanmar armed forced since 1948. Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. p. 222. ISBN 978-981-230-848-1.
  4. "The State Peace and Development Council Proclamation (Proclamation No. 2/97)". 15 November 1997. Archived from the original on 5 March 2012. Retrieved 24 February 2012.
  5. "Secretary-l attends opening ceremony of 1998 health research paper reading session". New Light of Myanmar. 21 December 1998. Archived from the original on 11 December 2011. Retrieved 23 February 2012.
  6. "NLD lawsuit against SPDC oppression" (PDF). HUMAN RIGHTS YEARBOOK 1999-2000: BURMA. Human Rights Documentation Unit. Retrieved 24 February 2012.
  7. "BURMA PRESENTS MOTION PICTURE AWARDS FOR 1998". BURMA NEWS UPDATE. 22 January 2000. Retrieved 24 February 2012.
  8. "Myanmar reshuffles cabinet". Xinhua. 14 September 2002. Retrieved 24 February 2012.
  9. Khine Thazin Aung (12–18 October 2009). "Poet Htilar Sitthu dies of liver cancer, aged 78". Myanmar Times. Archived from the original on 19 April 2010. Retrieved 24 February 2012.
  10. "COUNCIL DECISION 2003/461/CFSP". European Union. 20 June 2003. Retrieved 23 February 2012.
  11. "Senior General Than Shwe visits Nanmyint Tower, project site for construction of Bagan Palace in Bagan-NyaungU". Mission of Burma to the United Nations. 16 December 2005. Retrieved 24 February 2012.
  12. Aung Lwin Oo (16 May 2006). "Burma Cabinet Reshuffle". the Irriwaddy. Retrieved 23 February 2012.
  13. "FINANCIAL SANCTIONS: BURMA/MYANMAR" (PDF). Bank of England. 2 May 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 November 2012. Retrieved 24 February 2012.
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