Indian Troops Step up Burma Border Patrols
Myanmar builds more resorts to boost tourism industry.
New Constitution Guarantees Junta Immunity: Report
Burmese PM to attend Asean summit
Obama and Suu Kyi

Oct 19, 2009 (DVB)–Several news journals in Burma normally subject to strict censorship rules have published interviews with members of Burma’s main opposition party, a party spokesperson said.

News coverage of opposition viewpoints is rare in country which normally ranks at the tail-end of international press freedom barometers.

A spokesperson for the National League for Democracy (NLD) party, Nyan Win, said that journalists from several weekly journals had visited him at his office and carried out interviews.

“They said they were constantly trying to get [the material] published…and sometimes it seems like they get through,” he said.

All published material in Burma is required to go through the government’s Censorship Board before being verified. The procedure can sometimes take days to complete.

“Under the censorship law in Burma, people are being punished for writing news and material not approved by [the Board]. The censorship law is an oppressive tool and shouldn’t exist,” he said.

He added that the government needs to do more than sporadic coverage of opposition views to prove that the elections in 2010 are to be free and fair.

“It would only be fair to allow campaigning without censorship,” he said. “The fairness of the elections is more important than whether the NLD will participate or not.”

Veteran journalist and senior NLD member, Win Tin, welcomed the shift from the government but said it should have taken place long ago.

“Our opinion should be heard as well as voices from foreign media organisations such as the DVB,” he said. “Not everybody in Burma owns a radio but when things are published in newspapers, they can read it.”

According to a law set in 1989 by the then ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC), political parties in Burma are required to register for a press permit before publishing material.

Material submitted by the NLD, which holds a permit, does not have to go through the Censorship Board, but the party has been harassed by authorities in the past for viewpoints expressed in the news.

Media watchdog Reporters Sans Frontiers (RSF) last year ranked Burma 170 out of 173 countries in its Press Freedom Index.

Reporting by Ahunt Phone Myat  http://english. dvb.no/news. php?id=2967
============ ========= ========= =
Civilians warned not to leak tunnel information

Oct 19, 2009 (DVB)–Locals in a town in central Burma say they have been warned by government troops not to leak news about a tunnel being built by the military or their villages will be razed.

The 19-mile long tunnel is being built between the villages of Ywarmon and Phatthantaung in Magwe division, according to a local in the nearby town of Natmauk.

“Now even the village authorities are too scared to talk about it,” he said. “Security is really tight in the area and taking photos is also prohibited.”

Another local in Magwe division said that four years ago the army contacted his son, a graduate of the Government Technological College, and persuaded him to work in a weapons factory being built underground in Ngaphe town near to Magwe city.

The man said that an official from the army had offered his son 35,000 kyat ($US35) per month to work on the project. “The man said he would not be able to visit home after started working in the tunnel,” he said.

In June DVB released a series of reports compiled from leaked government documents that outlined the junta’s plans to develop a network of tunnels underneath Burma that would accommodate troop battalions and armoury in the event of an invasion.

Some 800 tunnels are thought to be under construction, with sections of the project dating back as far as 1996.

The project has been clouded in secrecy, but appears to be part of a longer-term strategy to bolster Burma’s defence capabilities.

The junta is using North Korean advisors for its tunnel system, after a senior government delegation visited Pyongyang in November 2008 and took a tour round military tunnels there.

The majority of tunneling and construction equipment for the project has been bought from North Korea in a series of deals over the last three years which total at least $US9 billion, according to two purchase orders received by DVB.

The Bangladesh-based Narinjara news agency last week quoted a military source as saying that a tunnel had been dug into a mountain in Burma’s western Arakan state to store fighter jets. The tunnel is thought to be connected to a nearby air base in Ann township.

Arakan state lies alongside Burma’s border with Bangladesh, which in recent weeks has become the site of a military build-up from both sides following a dispute over ownership of gas blocks in the Bay of Bengal.

Reporting by Aye Nai http://english. dvb.no/news. php?id=2966
============ ========= =========

CONTRIBUTOR
Defeating HIV/AIDS, Preserving the Future
By PHYU PHYU THIN        Monday, October 19, 2009

When the immune deficiency syndrome disease (HIV/AIDS) first appeared in Burma in 1988, it was said that the first case was that of a sailor who was infected with the disease.

Possibly for that reason, after 1990 the syndrome was commonly known as “sailors’ disease.” Then the disease spread among the homosexual community in 1994-95, and it was called the “gays’ disease.”

I learned a little about the disease in school, but personally, I wasn’t very interested in the issue.

When I joined the National League for Democracy (NLD) in 1996, I became involved in various social issues, but HIV / AIDs still wasn’t high on my list.

By that time, it was well-known as the “4-alphabet disease” among Burmese youth, or “Lay lone disease” in Burmese. Many people were afraid when the government launched its first awareness campaign with billboards saying, “AIDS has no cure and there is no medicine for it.”

Apart from awareness campaigns, the government had no program to give blood tests to people in vulnerable communities such as drug users or sex workers, and it neglected the spread of the disease.

As the situation worsened, many people died from HIV/AIDS. In my small community, adults and youths died from the disease, their bodies shrinking into the form of a skeleton. If someone asked, their relatives might say that they died from tuberculosis (TB) or cerebral malaria.

When she was free for a brief period, Aung San Suu Kyi, a leader of vision, said during a speech in 1998 at the 13th International AIDS conference in Durban that openness will help control the spread of HIV, since people can discuss how it is contracted, how to control its spread and how to help those who already have the virus.

She said “containing the spread of HIV/AIDS is preserving our future,” and, “If we could develop more compassion in this world then we would all have achieved a happier, more peaceful world.”

Suu Kyi selected 19 NLD youth members to be trained in HIV prevention and care at the United Nations Development Program office in Rangoon. After the training, all 19 members started working in a NLD prevention and care program for HIV/AIDS patients. Since then, without financial assistance or salaries, we have worked to deliver care and raise HIV/AIDS awareness.

Meanwhile, the authorities are always looking at what we do, and they sometimes harass us because we are NLD members. It’s hard to keep the work going. The program continues with a small group of workers, including me and Khin Htar Yee, who is liked my elder sister. With meager resources, we keep the program going amid many uncertainties and great anxiety.

I recall that our first HIV/AIDS patient was a police officer. Since then, we have cared for almost 2,000 infected patients. Many of our patients died while receiving our care. Many stories are tragic, but others are heart warming.

In our early days, we treated patients unsystematically, and we learned as we did our work. We went to patients’ homes and offered help such as washing clothes, cleaning a room or cooking. We were not familiar with HIV/AIDS medicines, and we had no source for knowledge or supplies. The patients were thankful for our support, but we couldn’t provide medical care, and they died.

At first, we faced tremendous hardships because of the stigma attached to HIV/AIDS. Most patients didn’t want others to know of their illness. In some cases, families welcomed us. But many families rejected us, not wanting to be associated with the disease.

At that time, most people believed HIV/ AIDS was a disease of bad moral character or shameful behavior. The problem was compounded by the military government’s fear-driven campaign. Many patients would not go to hospitals or health services, and they wanted to keep their infection secret, which could sometimes lead to reckless lifestyles and more infections.

Many patients arrived too late to be treated at the Wai Bar Gi Infectious Disease Hospital. Those who could be treated often couldn’t afford to buy drugs in the government’s ill-equipped hospitals.

Now many of our patients are given ARV (anti-retroviral drugs) medicine and support, and most can continue their lives.

However, while cheaper and affordable drugs are now available, some patients still go to faith healers or take herbal medicines or dangerous concoctions, seeking a cure. Some even eat dog meat once a day, believing it can cure them. We have a long way to go to remove misguided beliefs and deep-seated fears.

If Suu Kyi were free and able guide us, we could work to support our patients and treat the disease even more effectively.

I have committed my life to help people with the disease and to eliminate the spread of HIV/AIDS in Burma. I urge people to join in the fight to prevent this catastrophic disease.

Phyu Phyu Thin, a member of the National League for Democracy, is a key organizer of the NLD’s HIV / AIDS outreach program
Copyright © 2008 Irrawaddy Publishing Group | www.irrawaddy. org

http://www.irrawadd y.org/opinion_ story.php? art_id=17021
============ ========= ========= =
Civil Society Unwelcome at Asean Summit
By MARWAAN MACAN-MARKAR / IPS WRITER     Monday, October 19, 2009

BANGKOK — A summit of regional leaders due to begin in Thailand on Oct. 23 has brought into relief a rift within the 10-member bloc about the space that should be given to civil society voices at such a gathering.

This political faultline comes at a time when the Association of Southeast Asian Nations moves ahead to reinvent itself as a rules-based, people-centered regional body by 2015. An Asean charter came into force in December last year in this effort to create a body that closely resembles the European Union (EU) in some ways.

Asean, whose members include Brunei, Burma (or Myanmar), Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, was initially established in 1967 at the height of the Cold War to serve as a bulwark against the spread of communism.

Thailand, as the host of the 15th Asean summit in Cha-am, a resort town south of Bangkok, was hoping to cement a permanent place for an encounter between government leaders and representatives of the region’s non- governmental organizations, said a diplomatic source.

For now, the summit’s agenda still says so. A meeting between the two groups is still on the cards from 11:50 a.m. to 12:20 p.m. On the opening day of the Cha-am meeting.

Yet the reality is otherwise, the diplomatic source from a Southeast Asian country revealed to IPS. “Objections have been raised by Laos, echoing the concerns already expressed by Myanmar and Cambodia,” the diplomat added. “The relevance of this engagement between Asean leaders and civil society is to be downgraded.”

A well-informed Thai columnist on Southeast Asian affairs has shed more light on what appears to be a move by countries that have no semblance of a democracy—or ones that come down strongly on critical voices at home—to convert this NGO-Asean leaders engagement into an informal exchange.

“Thailand’s long-standing plan to institutionalize the interface between Asean leaders and representatives of the more than 70 Asean civil society organizations (CSO) are crumbling,” wrote Kavi Chongkittavorn in a commentary this week in The Nation, an English-language daily.

“Last week, at the Asean Joint Coordinating Meeting in Bangkok, a landlocked member proposed any such meeting in the future, including the forthcoming Cha-am summit, should be optional,” he wrote. “Asean senior officials quickly took up Vientiane’s idea, which reflected the high anxiety held by their leaders since the historic event last February during the 14th Asean summit.”

When pressed if this move did signify a “downgrading” of this meeting at future summits, a senior Thai foreign ministry official offered a diplomatic response. “We would like to see civil society participation at the Asean summit as a permanent pillar,” said Vitavas Srivihok, director general of the Asean affairs department. “But we have to take a realistic approach, respecting the political development and internal process of each Asean country.”

“Next year this meeting may come in the form of a seminar, a dinner or a reception,” he adds, referring to the 16th summit to be hosted by Vietnam, one of the two Asean countries governed by communist parties. Laos, the region’s poorest country, is the other.

But that is not all that exposes a reluctance by Asean leaders to meet NGO representatives at the summit. A selection criteria of who speaks on behalf of civil society has been introduced, giving authority to the foreign ministry from, say, military-ruled Burma to approve who makes up the NGO delegation from its country.

“All the names of civil society representatives have to be sent through foreign ministries. Our colleagues from Myanmar, in particular, wanted this,” Vitavas confirmed. “But this is not true with all countries. Thailand will give our civil society the full freedom to nominate their names.”

Little wonder why NGO leaders are alarmed at this turn of events, marking a slide backwards from the benchmark that was set in February, when Thailand hosted the 14th Asean summit in Cha-am.

Using deft diplomacy, the hosts succeeded in holding for the first time in Asean’s 42-year-history a formal, face-to-face meeting between government leaders and NGO representatives that lasted 20 minutes. Strong protests by Burmese Prime Minister Gen. Thein Sein and his Cambodian counterpart, Hun Sen—both of whom threatened to walk out of that meeting—had to be accommodated, denying the presence of the Burmese and Cambodian NGO delegates at this interface.

“We were hopeful that the success of the last Asean summit would be repeated. We wanted the interface to be institutionalized,” said Yuyun Wahyuningrum, the East Asia program manager of the Asia Forum for Human Rights and Development, a regional lobby group. “But we are disappointed at what we are hearing.
Making this meeting optional will be downgrading its importance.”

“The new selection criteria is also a problem,” she said in an interview. “It is creating a climate of fear among civil society activists coming from countries like Burma and Laos.”

“Why are the Asean leaders afraid of us?” she asked. “We are trying to build a dialogue. This interface is important to make civil society visible as our commitment to the people-centered Asean mentioned in the charter.”

A watered-down civil society encounter with the region’s leader will expose the credibility of Asean, added Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a political scientist at Bangkok’s Chulalongkorn University, who moderated the dialogue between government leaders and NGO representative at the last summit. “It comes at a critical moment when Asean is trying to make itself an inclusive, people-friendly body, than a club for government leaders and bureaucrats.”

“The Asean charter is being violated by this effort to ignore the importance of civil society,” he told IPS. “It will end up bankrupt if it keeps doing more of this.”
http://www.irrawadd y.org/article. php?art_id= 17016
============ ========= ======
Thailand Urged to Stop Construction of Salween Dams
By THE IRRAWADDY         Monday, October 19, 2009

Fifty-one human rights and environmental groups have submitted a petition to the Thai government calling for it to halt the construction of dams on the Salween River.

Thailand is in partnership with Burma and other countries to construct five dams on the river.

The petition was submitted to the government during a meeting of the Association of Southeast Nations People’s Forum in Hua Hin, Thailand.

Sai Sai, the coordinator of the Salween Watch Coalition, said, “The Salween dams will only mean more fighting and more refugees fleeing to Thailand.”

Attacks by Burma’s military government on armed units of the United Wa State Army, which controls the roads between the intended 7,110 megawatt Ta Sang dam and the Thai border, would lead to a massive new refugee influx into northern Thailand, the group said in a statement on Monday.

Thai military sources recently estimated about 200,000 refugees in Shan State are expected to enter northern Thailand through Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai provinces if wider armed conflicts break out in the area between government forces and ethnic armed groups.

The environmental groups also said that various dam projects on the Salween River will not provide guaranteed energy security for Thailand, as military operations and human rights violations committed by government troops have increased recently around the planned Hat Gyi dam site in Karen State and the Ta Sang dam site in Shan State.

“Building dams in Burma’s war zones makes no sense if Thailand wants a stable power supply,” said Montree Chantawong of the Thailand-based environmental group Towards Ecological Recovery and Regional Alliance (TERRA), which includes more than 20 international and regional environmental organizations.

In June, more than 3,500 ethnic Karen refugees fled to Thailand following a military offensive launched by government troops against Karen National Liberation Army Brigade 7 in order to control roads and power transmission routes to the planned 1,360 megawatt Hat Gyi dam, according to a statement issued by TERRA.

A memorandum of understanding was signed in June 2006 between Burma’s Department of Electric Power, the Thai energy authority EGAT and China’s Sinohydro Corporation to build the Hat Gyi dam.

The Thailand-based Shan Sapawa Environment Organization said that a community of 15,000 people around Keng Kham in Shan State was forced to move 10 years ago because of work on the Ta Sang dam and most had fled to Thailand.

Thailand currently depends on Burmese natural gas for 12.2 percent of its
total power capacity and has recently suffered from supply
interruptions, according the groups’ statement.

Five dams are under construction or in the planning stages on the Salween River. Four will export electricity to Thailand, and one to China.

The National Power Development Plan of Thailand, which includes electricity from the dams on the Salween River, is to be completed by the year 2014, according to environmental groups.
http://www.irrawadd y.org/article. php?art_id= 17018
============ ========= =====
China, Myanmar agree to work for border stability
Ads by Google

News Myanmar
International news from France 24 English, French & Arabic broadcasts
www.France24. com/Asia- Pacific

Raisina Residency By Tata
Buy Luxurious Villas/Apartments in Gurgaon. Get More Details!
www.RaisinaResidenc y.co.in

THE Indian Economy Report
Free report on the Indian Economy and the volatile growth to come.
MoneyMorning. com/India_ economy

Reuters
Beijing, October 19, 2009
First Published: 16:54 IST(19/10/2009)
Last Updated: 16:59 IST(19/10/2009)

China and Myanmar agreed on Monday to work together to ensure stability along their border, state media said, after violence erupted on the Myanmar side in August that pushed thousands of refugees into China.

“China and Myanmar should make efforts together to strengthen exchanges and cooperation, as well as safeguard stability on the border areas for the sake of the fundamental interests of the two peoples,” Xinhua news agency quoted Chinese Vice-Premier Li Keqiang as telling a visiting Myanmar minister.

Li added that China “would keep supporting Myanmar’s economic construction and sustainable development”.

In August, Myanmar’s army overran Kokang, a territory that lies along the border with the southwestern Chinese province of Yunnan and was controlled for years by an ethnic Chinese militia that paid little heed to the central government.

Many of the refugees were ethnic Chinese, some of them Chinese citizens, who complained their houses and businesses had been sacked and looted during the violence.

Last month, China rapped the former Burma over the violence, demanding the government protect Chinese citizens and make sure such such incidents did not happen again.

But relations appear to be improving again.

Xinhua said vice premier Li met the visiting Myanmar minister, Tin Aung Myint Oo, during a meeting in the southwestern Chinese city of Nanning.

“Tin Aung Myint Oo extended thanks for China’s support during the meeting, saying that Myanmar appreciated its friendly relations with China,” the report said.

Myanmar was willing to deepen the mutually beneficial cooperation and stabilise the border areas, Xinhua reported the minister as saying.

The August crisis tested ties between two countries who view each other as strategic friends.

Energy-hungry China is one of the few powers willing to do business with military-run Myanmar, and has invested more than $1 billion to get access to natural resources such as oil and gas.

Resource-rich Myanmar has parried Western sanctions and pressure from its Southeast Asian neighbours over its shoddy human rights record by courting China.  http://www.hindusta ntimes.com/ China-Myanmar- to-work-on- border-stability /H1-Article1- 466794.aspx
============ ========= ======
Indian Troops Step up Burma Border Patrols
By LAWI WENG     Monday, October 19, 2009

India has deployed more troops on its Assam border with Burma to counter illegal drug and arms trading by insurgent groups, according to sources in the region.

The deployment follows a three-day visit to the Burmese capital, Naypyidaw, last week by Indian Army Chief General Deepak Kapoor, during which he discussed counter-insurgency and border ethnic issues with junta leaders.

A Chin source living in Mizoram State said about 2,000 troops had been deployed in the four frontier states of Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram.

The source, Ehang Len Piang, said: “Illegal heroin crossing the border from Burma is giving Indian authorities a headache.” Addiction among young Indians was a big problem, he said.

India has a 1,630 km border with Burma. Insurgent groups such as the United National Liberation Front (UNLF), the People’s Liberation Army, and Naga and Kuki forces are active in four border states—Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram.

The New Delhi newspaper Hindustan Times reported on Sunday that the trade in drugs and guns is carried out by Burmese Kachin, Wa and Shan armed ethnic groups and by Chins in western Burma. They also smuggled forged Indian currency into India, the newspaper said.

Lt Gen NK Singh, chief of the Indian Army’s 3rd Corps, told the Hindustan Times: “There have been quite a few seizures of small arms and drugs in recent months. Most of those involved were Chins, who have the advantage of looking like the Mizos of Mizoram and speaking a similar language.”

Min Tang, a member of the Chin National Council in India’s Mizoram State, said about 1,000 UNLF members lived on the Burmese side of the border.

He said they traded heroin and Chinese-made weapons with the Chin—and he accused Burmese officials of accepting bribes to allow the trade to continue.

Indian attempts to stem the trade and curb the insurgent groups have so far met with little success. Since 1993, the Indian government has developed a closer relationship with the Burmese junta, engaging in increased trade and providing it with military hardware.

The Burmese government has agreed to support Indian attempts to combat the insurgent groups and their illegal trading, but says it is difficult to access border areas because of poor roads.
http://www.irrawadd y.org/article. php?art_id= 17020
============ ========= =======
Myanmar builds more resorts to boost tourism industry.
Monday, 19th October 2009
Source : HVS International

Myanmar has witnessed the development of more international resort hotels to attract foreign travellers to the country and boost tourism development.

The Andaman Club, a travel and tour company, is expected to develop a US$3.5 million resort hotel, named St Luke’s Beach Resort Hotel, in New Palau Ganchar Beach on St Luke’s Island in the Andaman Sea.

Another company, Amata Hotel Group, is also expected to develop an upscale hotel located in Myeik Archipelago, the southernmost part of Myanmar. Additionally, accessibility to Ngwe Saung Beach located at Myanmar’s southwestern Ayeyawaddy division is anticipated to be facilitated by a proposed airport project.

This is envisaged to shorten the travelling time from Yangon, the former capital of Myanmar, to a short flight compared to a three-hour drive from Yangon.

Upon completion of the airport, Ngwe Saung Beach will become the second beach to be accessible by air after Ngapali. According to tourism statistics, Myanmar’s tourist arrivals for the fiscal year 2008–09, which ended in March, exceeded approximately 255,000.

www.hvs.com http://www.4hotelie rs.com/4hots_ nshw.php? mwi=6457
============ ========= ===
New Constitution Guarantees Junta Immunity: Report
By SAW YAN NAING         Saturday, October 17, 2009

When Burma’s new Constitution comes into effect after next year’s election, it will enshrine the culture of impunity that has allowed the ruling junta to commit countless human rights abuses over the past two decades, according to a new report released by the New York-based International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ).

The 40-page report, titled “Impunity Prolonged: Burma and its 2008 Constitution,” says the charter—approved last year in a referendum widely dismissed as a sham—contains a number of provisions that protect the regime from future prosecution.

Burmese junta chief Snr-Gen Than Shwe reviews a guard of honor on Armed Forces Day. Like other members of the regime, he is protected from prosecution for war crimes by the country’s new Constitution. (Photo: Getty Images)
“Burma presents one of the most difficult challenges in the world in relation to making progress toward combating impunity,” says the report, which urges the international community to withhold support for the election until the regime amends the Constitution to end impunity for human rights violations.

The junta’s human rights abuses have continued unabated since it seized power in 1988, particularly in rural areas populated by ethnic minorities. According to the Thailand Burma Border Consortium, a nongovernmental humanitarian relief group, there are currently some 451,000 internally displaced persons in eastern Burma alone.

Forced labor, recruitment of child soldiers and sexual violence against women are among the more common forms of abuse committed by the regime.

According to the ICTJ report, numerous cases documented by UN special rapporteurs and women’s groups demonstrate “that rape is not a violation committed by rogue elements in the military, but rather appears to be a strategy” of the junta.

“The perpetrators have a level of impunity that indicates institutional support for these practices,” said the report.

Khin Maung Shwe, a Burmese dissident who has attended ICTJ seminars in South Africa, said that the 2008 Constitution does not only give the armed forces 25 percent of seats in parliament; it also guarantees the military immunity from prosecution for crimes committed against the civilian population.

According to Khin Maung Shwe, under Articles 443 and 445 of Chapter XIV of the Constitution, the current regime cannot be held accountable for its wrongdoing in the past.

Article 443 states that “the preparatory work done by the [regime] before this Constitution comes into operation, to bring the Constitution into operation, shall be deemed to have been carried out in accord with this Constitution.”

“No proceeding shall be instituted against the [ruling military council] or any member thereof or any member of the Government, in respect to any act done in the execution of their respective duties,” according to Article 445.

“By legitimating the constitution, it is like giving an amnesty to the junta,” said Khin Maung Shwe.

David Mathieson, a Burma researcher with the New York-based Human Rights Watch, said the ICTJ report shows how entrenched the culture of impunity is for crimes against humanity in Burma.

“The international community should realize that just ignoring these crimes only makes the impunity worse,” he said.

Others also highlighted the need to address the issue of widespread abuses that have been carried out over decades.

“We can say with certainty that crimes against humanity and war crimes are being committed in Burma,” said Aung Htoo, the general-secretary of the exiled Burma Lawyers’ Council.

“How can the planned elections be given any credence when war still rages in eastern Burma?” asked Debbie Stothard, the coordinator of Altsean-Burma.

Many Burmese dissidents and ethnic leaders have also urged greater international pressure on the regime to revise the Constitution, which Zipporah Sein, the general secretary of Karen National Union, called “a death sentence for ethnic diversity.”
http://www.irrawadd y.org/article. php?art_id= 17014
============ ========= =====
Burmese PM to attend Asean summit
* Published: 19/10/2009 at 02:02 PM
* Online news: Breakingnews

Burma’s prime minister, General Thein Sein, will attend the annual Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) summit in Thailand this week, an official announced Monday.

Burma’s prime minister, General Thein Sein (pictured), will attend the annual Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit in Thailand this week, an official has announced.

The official confirmed a state media report that General Thein Sein would visit the key summit in the Gulf of Thailand, where regional heads of state are set to gather Friday.

“General Thein Sein will attend the Asean summit,” said the official on condition of anonymity.

His trip to Thailand comes as the junta appears to be opening up diplomatic channels abroad, with Thein Sein last month becoming the highest-ranking Burma official to attend the United Nations General Assembly in 14 years.

The prime minister made a speech before the assembly on September 28, slamming Western economic sanctions against his country as politically motivated as the US mulls greater engagement with the reclusive government.

Thein Sein’s last appearance at an Asean summit was in 2007, when he caused a diplomatic furore by forcing host Singapore to revoke an invitation to UN envoy Ibrahim Gambari.

Gambari had been due to brief regional leaders after a bloody crackdown on street protests in Burma that caused international revulsion.

Burma has caused constant problems for Asean since it joined the bloc in 1997 over its human rights record and this year’s summit is due to officially launch a new body to help prevent rights abuses in the region.

Leaders attending the 15th annual summit, being held in Hua Hin, where Thailand’s revered king often resides, are due to discuss closer economic ties and ways of coping with the region’s natural disasters.

The summit will be followed by talks between the 10 members of Asean and the leaders of China, South Korea, Japan, Australia, India and New Zealand.

Thailand is mobilising an 18,000-strong security force and invoking a harsh internal security act to prevent protests disrupting the meetings, which have been cancelled twice before because of anti-government demonstrations.

Asean groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Burma, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. http://www.bangkokp ost.com/breaking news/157517/ burmese-pm- to-attend- asean-summit
============ =========
Monday, October 19, 2009
Obama and Suu Kyi
Pradip Das, A novelist, Dhaka

It is great news that US President Barack Obama has been awarded Nobel Prize. Though it is very early, there is no denying the fact that he really deserved this prize. This achievement would definitely encourage him to take more fruitful steps in establishing peace all over the world. The shining eyes of Obama who is also a follower of Mahatma Gandhi raise hope in the hearts of millions.

While Obama is enjoying the facilitations from his well wishers, a woman named Aung San Suu Kyi is leading an imprisoned life. As a fan of Obama, I strongly believe that I have the right to express my expectations from him. It would be great if he takes some bold steps to rescue Aung San Suu Kyi , an icon for all democracy lovers of the world. It is really sad to see an innocent lady suffering imprisonment.

At present the two most talked about persons of the world are Obama and Aung San Suu Kyi. If the former becomes conscious about the latter, then no jail would exist for her. None but Obama can do this. I am sure the liberation of Suu Kyi would give a new dimension to his popularity. It must be noted that both Barack Obama and Aung San Suu Kyi are Nobel Prize winners.

If they work together to establish peace in the world, then human civilization will watch a “new sun”.
http://www.thedaily star.net/ newDesign/ news-details. php?nid=110279
============ =========

Sriprapha: ‘No easy job’

The 53-year-old yesterday spoke to Achara Ashayagachat immediately after being given the three-year AICHR posting.

How will you live up to the different expectations of the civil society and the government?

Expectations vary from one country to another. Launching the commission is a state obligation and needs the involvement of more than one ministry, not just the Foreign Ministry alone. There are also other ministries and agencies that have a role to play in promoting human rights, including the National Human Rights Commission .

Regionally, the AICHR is expected to serve as a link between the state and the civil sector. It could even be asked to offer advice and technical assistance on how to organise fair and free elections in Burma next year.

Do you feel the agency has a limited scope of authority, and what are its shortcomings?

As a voice of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, I think we should only defend Asean when we really need to in the international arena, but not if they are not taking good care of their people as the spirit of the Asean charter demands. Neither should member states expect the AICHR to act as their mouthpiece if things are not in line with our mandate.

If you ask me whether I feel heavy-hearted or am afraid of conflict, the answer is no.

This is because the Asean governments and the AICHR share the same goals in promoting and protecting Asean people’s rights.

But I need to make clear that I am not the representative of the Thai government but of the Thai civil sector, which was involved in the selection process.

For controversial terms of reference, we may have to borrow Dr Vitit Muntabhorn’s guidelines which state that things that are not prohibited (by the terms) are not forbidden.

I try to encourage myself to interpret our job description more creatively so that we will not be easily discouraged. After all, the promotion aspect remains important in the region.

We could gather information and commission certain bodies to prepare studies on such issues as child soldiers – now also a problem in southern Thailand – migrant workers, violence against women, human rights violations, and development projects.

How could the AICHR and the NHRC collaborate?

The NHRC has a larger mandate as it can receive petitions and undertake investigations, while we could not move on such things without the consent of the hosts. Yet, I believe there are issues that carry cross-border impacts which the NHRC cannot grapple alone. On issues like dam construction impacts, such problems are rather common in the region, and the AICHR is in a good position to handle them.

How will the AICHR get started?

After the Asean leaders meeting in Cha-am next week, Thailand as the chair of the meeting will propose the establishment of a human rights fund.

I realise that from NGOs’ point of view, Burma might be on top of the agenda. But there are also other more important issues to be addressed, and we need to make sure none of the member governments are offended.

What will happen if the AICHR’s consensus is not in line with the governments’ expectations?

Autonomy is important, but communications and consultation with Asean foreign ministers is also key.

Are you afraid of losing your identity as a strong and principle-oriented person?

I certainly do not like to compromise my principles but will offer my cooperation in working out the details and the procedures.

I don’t have the diplomatic skills to compromise if those skills mean I must offer blank promises without an honourable commitment. Certainly, it is not an easy job.
http://www.bangkokp ost.com/news/ local/25559/ defending- a-region- rights-can- be-a-balancing- act
============ ========
Eastern Burma facing ‘severe’ food crisis

Oct 19, 2009 (DVB)–Armed conflict has contributed to what could be the worst food security problem in Burma’s eastern Karen state in over a decade, a report by Karen rights group has warned.

Multiple factors, including recent conflict, abnormal rainfall and pest infestation, have hit Karen state in recent month and laid the groundwork for one of the lowest yielding seasons in recent memory.

The region was the scene of fierce fighting in June this year between government troops and the opposition Karen National Union (KNU) that forced some 4,000 refugees into Thailand.

A report by the Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG), ‘Starving them out’, pointed to increased activity by the Burmese army as a major factor in the food shortage.

Since 2006 the government has pursued a policy aimed at eradicating the food production abilities of the Karen people in an attempt to “significantly undermine food security,” the report states. It is hoped this tactic will undercut local civilian support for the KNU.

An official at the Committee for Internally Displaced Karen People (CIDKP), Saw Steve, echoed the report’s findings.

“The target is to destroy the food supply of the villagers, not only paddy crops but long term crops like mangosteen, jackfruit, beetle nut and other fruits and vegetables from cultivation,” he said.

The tactic marks a departure from past strategies used by the Burmese army, who until 2006 only carried out sporadic offensives against the KNU, usually commencing during the cold and hot seasons and halting in the wet season.

This break in fighting traditionally allowed local farmers the chance to harvest their crops, ensuring a stable food supply for the following months.

According to Saw Steve, government troops often launch mortars and other artillery into paddy fields, meaning farmers “dare not work in the paddy fields full time.” He added that during the harvest season farmers now only work up to 20 days a month.

Inability to tend to fields has meant that crops are now more susceptible to pest infestations and disease, and the overrunning of crops by other animals.

But the surge of military activity in the area is not the only contributing factor to this season’s drastically low yield.

Abnormal weather patterns have led to higher than average rainfall, meaning important ‘slash and burn’ farming practices cannot be carried out.

The KHRG predicts that as the Burmese army continues to “consolidate control” in Karen state, the negative effects on the food supply will be cumulative.

The report asserts that the lower quantities of available land, paired with larger populations of internally displaced people (IDPs), disease, continually interrupted agricultural cycles and unpredictable weather, have left some villages in the region “on the brink of starvation.”

Reporting by Matthew Cunningham http://english. dvb.no/news. php?id=2969
============ ========= ====
Tin Mya optimistic about 2010 elections
News – Mizzima News
Report by Moe Thu
Monday, 19 October 2009 13:00

Rangoon (Mizzima) – A veteran politician Thakhin Tin Mya is of the opinion that elections in Burma in 2010 would help the country embark on a new political path.

Speaking at a function organized for his book launch in Rangoon on October 18, the controversial politician Thakhin Tin Mya, a former communist, reiterated that local players and entities were more crucial than outside forces to help resolve Burma’s political impasse.

“This will be a guided democracy initially, which is better than nothing,” he said, urging local politicians to seek a unified approach to development.

However, Thakhin Tin Mya (85) avoided talking about the role of many local politicians, now in detention, including democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi.

He said external forces and pressures cannot usher in political change to the impoverished Southeast Asian nation. He was critical of economic sanctions imposed by some western nations.

“Sanctions cannot bring changes,” the politician said.

Meanwhile, Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of the National League for Democracy, has offered the junta to help lift sanctions against the military regime.

Thakhin Tin Mya also said NLD was expected to contest the 2010 elections, and warned that the party would go out of the realms of politics if it refused to do so.

“It had said it would not contest the elections but changed its attitude,” he said.

He said the Obama administration’ s new Burma policy would have an impact on political change in Burma but it would not be a determining factor.

The book-launching ceremony was attended by about 50 people including journalists and writers.

Tin Mya was an adviser to former dictator Gen. Ne Win’s Burma Socialist Programme Party but ousted from BSPP in 1977. Then he became a member of the Central Executive Committee of the National League for Democracy when it was founded. He was arrested a year later by Military Intelligence and sentenced to 20 years in prison but released in 1993. He criticized party leader Aung San Suu Kyi during his detention.