UN chief discusses Myanmar with China
Sun Oct 31, 1:46 am ET

BEIJING (AFP) – UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, on a visit to China, has held talks with foreign minister Yang Jiechi on the situation in Myanmar ahead of the country’s much-criticised election next week.

Ban met Yang in Shanghai on Saturday on his first day in China before attending the closing of the World Expo Sunday.

“In addition to nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation, (they) discussed the situation in the Korean Peninsula, Myanmar and Sudan,” a UN spokesperson said in a statement emailed to AFP, without giving further details.

The UN leader has already called for more pressure to be put on Myanmar to free opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and others ahead of the nation’s first election in two decades on November 7.

Western nations and activists have criticised the vote as undemocratic, with Suu Kyi locked up, and pro-democracy parties allege that restrictions imposed by the iron-fisted military regime will virtually ensure it wins the poll.

China is one of Myanmar’s closest allies, and has long helped it to keep afloat through trade ties, arms sales, and by shielding it from UN sanctions over rights abuses as a veto-wielding member of the Security Council.

Ban’s visit to China comes amid government anger over the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to jailed dissident Liu Xiaobo.

The UN chief has not criticised China but said the Nobel award recognized a “growing international consensus for improving human rights practices and culture around the world.”

He is due to make a brief visit to the eastern city of Nanjing near Shanghai, and then head for Beijing for talks with China’s President Hu Jintao and other leaders.

Myanmar election offers no comfort for refugees
By SEBASTIAN STRANGIO, For The Associated Press – Sat Oct 30, 11:54 pm ET

MAE LA REFUGEE CAMP, Thailand (AP) – It’s no wonder that Saw Tun Wai has little desire to return to Myanmar, even after upcoming elections that its military rulers describe as a step toward democracy.

The wiry 52-year-old teacher fled to Thailand on foot over rugged mountain terrain in 2006, escaping a vicious and largely unseen army campaign against ethnic rebels that shows no sign of ending.

“The government (falsely) accused me of being a partner of the revolution,” said Saw Tun Wai, who belongs to the Karen ethnic group. “I was beaten and forced into making a confession.” Then, he said, he was press-ganged into working for the army as a porter.

The prospects that the Nov. 7 election will bring change to their homeland seem negligible to the 150,000 refugees in Thai camps near the border with Myanmar, also known by its old name, Burma.

The military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party is a shoe-in to top the polls, the first in two decades. A constitution imposed by the military in 2008 ensures that the generals will call the shots for the foreseeable future anyway.

The elections, said Saw Tun Wai, now a teacher in the Mae La refugee camp, offer no hope for positive change, “neither for the Karen, nor for any of the people in Burma.” His hope is to one day become eligible for resettlement in another country.

For the refugees, a more immediate concern is a possible shift in the attitude of Thai officials, who have indicated that they might send them home sometime after the election.

The first camp was established in the mid-1980s. Thousands of refugees have been resettled overseas under U.N. auspices, but a constant stream of new arrivals swells the populations of the nine camps, scattered along the Thai side of the border.

Picturesque streams and dirt lanes crisscross Mae La, the largest camp with an estimated 47,000 inhabitants.

In a dirt-floor tea shop, men smoke Burmese cheroots, chatting over shots of sugary milk tea and the blare of Thai music videos. The voices of children, chanting lessons in Burmese and English, come out of the many bamboo schoolhouses.

The prospect that Thailand may consider Myanmar’s election a turning point toward justice and democracy — justifying the refugees’ return — casts a shadow over their future.

Sharp international criticism forced Thai authorities to abort a planned repatriation in February of 3,000 Karen refugees from another camp to an area believed to be littered with land mines.

That came just a few months after Thailand forcibly repatriated more than 4,000 ethnic Hmong refugees to Laos, despite international fears they would face persecution.
At the end of September, Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya set off fresh jitters.

Speaking in New York, he said that he would launch “a more comprehensive program for the Myanmar people in the camps, the displaced persons, the intellectuals that run around the streets of Bangkok and Chiang Mai province, to prepare them to return to Myanmar after the elections.”

Kasit’s remarks were vague, and the Foreign Ministry later said Thailand wants to prepare the refugees to go home “when the situation in their country becomes conducive for their eventual return.”

“Thailand clearly wants to send refugees and political exiles back, but after the election the situation in Burma won’t change, so it will be hard for them to justify it,” said Mark Farmaner of Burma Campaign UK, a group that lobbies for democracy in Myanmar.

Human rights groups accuse the Myanmar army of rape, torture and summary execution in insurgent areas. They say the military forces villagers to work as porters and walk ahead of military columns as human land-mine detectors. The government denies the allegations.

Tu Ja, a 54-year-old teacher from the Kachin ethnic group, fled Myanmar after distributing political pamphlets during anti-government protests in 2007.

“The Burmese regime wants to destroy this camp, that’s for sure, but where shall we go?” he said. “All of our families are dispersed everywhere and we have no home. How can we return to Burma?”

Philippine Daily Inquirer – Asean seen failing on human rights at Hanoi summit
By Ian Timberlake
Agence France-Presse First Posted 11:35:00 10/31/2010

HANOI, Vietnam—Asean’s attitude to Myanmar, and the harsh treatment of activists by the bloc’s chair Vietnam on the eve of its summit, highlight the group’s failure to confront human rights abuses, watchdogs say.

Just as Southeast Asian leaders arrived in Hanoi Thursday, Vietnamese courts sentenced three labor activists to up to nine years in jail, convicted several Catholic villagers in a dispute over a cemetery, and arrested a dissident.

But in Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) circles, a crackdown that activists say is under way in Vietnam on political bloggers, activists, and others, goes unmentioned.

The timing of last week’s convictions and arrests placed Vietnam’s rights record “under the spotlight,” said Pavin Chachavalpongpun, a fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore.

But he said he did not expect other members of the 10-nation bloc to criticize communist Vietnam because they all feel “vulnerable” on their human rights records.

United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, not bound by Asean’s principle of non-interference in members’ internal affairs, did speak up on the sidelines of regional talks Saturday.

“The United States is concerned about the arrest and conviction of people for peaceful dissent, attacks on religious groups, and curbs on Internet freedom,” Clinton said after meeting with Vietnamese leaders.

“Vietnam has so much potential, and we believe that political reform and respect for human rights are an essential part of realizing that potential.”

Phil Robertson, deputy director of Human Rights Watch’s Asia division, said Asean members should also speak out because they all signed the bloc’s charter under which they pledge “respect for and protection of human rights.”

“If they’re not prepared to do that publicly, at least do it privately,” Robertson urged.

Asean has faced its biggest test over its member Myanmar, which on November 7 holds its first elections in two decades.

Critics have dismissed the vote as a sham to entrench military rule, and say it cannot be credible while it excludes opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been under house arrest for a total of 15 years.

Human rights groups say Myanmar has one of the world’s worst human rights records, detaining thousands of opponents, systematically destroying ethnic minority villages and using rape as a weapon of war.

The military-run nation has been a source of embarrassment for Asean’s more democratic members but it has taken prodding by Western governments and the United Nations for the bloc to do more to push for change.

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who met with Asean leaders last week, said he had reminded them that resolution of the Myanmar issue had wider implications for attempts to integrate the region more closely.

A coalition of regional lawmakers, the Asean Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus, said Myanmar was already in “gross violation” of the Asean charter and had tainted the reputation of the entire region.

Amnesty International also said the bloc’s credibility is at stake.

“Failure to address both past and present violations may prove critical for the future realization of peoples’ rights in Myanmar and the international credibility of its neighbors,” the watchdog said this week.

The United Nations chief this week commended Asean for establishing a human rights commission, known as the AICHR.

But regional human rights activists said the commission has “a defective mandate” and a lack of resources just one year after its establishment.

“When examining the ‘work’ that AICHR performed, one cannot help but wonder: what has AICHR done and for whom?” said Solidarity for Asean People’s Advocacy.

On Saturday Vietnam handed next year’s chairmanship to Indonesia, a country which many observers consider a democratic beacon in the region.

“Hopefully, Indonesia will focus more on democracy and human rights, because I really don’t have hope for Vietnam,” Pavin said.

Daily Telegraph - Cronies and soldiers prepare for parliament in Burma’s sham election
Crony businessmen and leaders of a new political party accused of leading bloody attacks on monks in 2007 are poised to be voted into parliament next Sunday when Burma’s first election in twenty years is held.
By Rob Cole in Rangoon and Nick Meo
Published: 7:00AM GMT 31 Oct 2010

Army officers who organised attacks on protesters in the capital Rangoon during the 2007 pro-democracy Saffron Uprising are also among government supporters expected to win the majority of the 1,150 seats in a contest set up to favour candidates from the pro-regime Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP).

The party was set up in June by the generals who have ruled Burma for decades and is lavishly funded by them.

Western leaders have condemned the election as a sham, intended to give the illusion of a transfer to civilian rule while allowing the army to maintain its grip on power, and accused the generals of arranging the election so that their candidates are sure to win.

Many leading political activists are behind bars, while plainclothes police have harassed the few independent candidates standing. A quarter of the seats have been reserved for army officers, and the cost of registering candidates is prohibitive.

Aung San Suu Kyi, the revered British-educated democracy leader who has been under house arrest in the capital Rangoon for most of the past 15 years, decided not to take part and encouraged her supporters boycott it, although not all agreed.

Prominent among the USDP candidates is former Lieutenant-Colonel Aung Thaung, a hardliner whom Burmese exiles accuse of involvement in a notorious attack in 2003. About 100 pro-democracy campaigners were murdered at Depayin, near the northern city of Mandalay, when hired thugs attacked a convoy of vehicles carrying Ms Suu Kyi, killing young campaigners by beating them with iron bars and rocks.

Burmese exiles have accused a government-run organisation called the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDA) of carrying out that attack and many others. The generals transformed the USDA into the USDP to run in the election. Members of the USDA as well as security forces were also blamed for attacking protesters on the streets of Rangoon in 2007, killing at least 31, including monks.

Col Thaung was a lowly regional boss at the time of the Depayin massacre. Since then he has risen from obscurity to become minister of industry, with a reported multi-million dollar family fortune based on pipeline construction, logging and private banking. He is expected to have a prominent position in the Cabinet of the new government.

Other regime supporters accused of involvement in the massacre are also expected to win seats. Kyaw Hsan, who was leader of the USDA in Sagaing Division at the time of Depayin is now minister of information and the government’s chief spokesman. Soe Naing, now minister of tourism, was commander of Northwestern Regional Military Command, where the massacre happened, in 2003. All three resigned from their army posts to become founder members of the USDP.

All three men are on a list of regime members and supporters drawn up by the United Nations and European Union which subject them to targeted sanctions, prohibiting them and their families from travelling abroad and allowing foreign their financial assets to be seized.

Foreign Secretary William Hague has been a leading critic of the generals’ regime. He told The Sunday Telegraph: “These elections will not be free, fair or inclusive. They are nothing more than a sham process designed to keep the military in power and deny the Burmese people their right to freely choose their leaders. As much as the regime might try to convince the world otherwise, holding flawed elections does not represent progress.”

On the streets of Rangoon this week there was scant evidence of an election taking place, and little interest among voters who believed it would change nothing.

“Some weeks ago, officials came and asked about everyone living in each house,” said a young teacher from a suburb of Rangoon. “We wondered if they were just taking our names so that they could cast our votes for us. We already know the result of the election. They will find a way to make sure that they win.”

When the National League for Democracy, the party of Ms Suu Kyi, refused to run in the election, arguing that the generals’ rules had made it impossible to hold a fair contest, they were promptly disbanded.

The party then split internally, with some members deciding to compete as the National Democratic Force, arguing that it would be more productive than an all-out boycott. Some of the other opposition candidates running in this election were student activists during the massive 1988 pro-democracy uprising which was brutally crushed by the army at the cost of hundreds of lives.

Despite the odds against them, some will probably win in seats this time in Rangoon and Mandalay, the main cities, where their support is strong.

One NDF candidate who has been tipped as a possible winner is Kan Khant Dein, a political novice fighting an unequal but fierce battle against Aung Thein Linn, the mayor of Rangoon and a former general. Miss Dein could win if enough disgruntled voters ignore the blandishments and bullying of her opponent and turn out for her.

The USDP has offered free T-shirts and low-interest loans to win votes, and repaved much of Rangoon’s potholed highways in the past few weeks. The mayor has been accused of telling Muslim voters that they won’t get a new mosque they want if they don’t vote him into parliament.

Another of the independent candidates who decided to run was Yuza Maw Htoon, whose father was jailed after the 1988 uprising. She argued that candidates like her should make up an independent opposition even if the military retain ultimate control.

“Nobody is saying this is a free and fair election,” she told The Sunday Telegraph. “We don’t expect much freedom or fairness, but we will try our best to give the people a voice in the coming parliament. We haven’t had that for nearly 50 years.”

Although she has been under house arrest, the presence of Aung San Suu Kyi still looms large over the proceedings.

Ms Suu Kyi, whose father was the founder of independent Burma, is immensely popular among ordinary Burmese for leading pro-democracy protests in the 1980s which came close to succeeding, and for remaining defiant in the face of cruel treatment by the generals ever since. They routinely abuse her in print and have repeatedly locked her up, separating her from her sons in England.

The generals have said they may release her one week after the vote.

Yuza Maw Htoon said people still put their trust in “The Lady” – the name used for a woman who is still spoken of mainly in whispers in case the regime’s network of spies and informants might be listening in.

“The one they trust and love is not in the arena. Now there are other candidates, but people often cannot be sure if they are really democratic,” she said.

Even though she has encouraged a boycott of the election, Ms Suu Kyi and the other 2,000 political prisoners should be freed to improve public debate and bolster the democratisation process, Ms Yuza said.

“We are still far away from democracy,” she said.

Additional reporting by Colin Hinshelwood in Chiang Mai, Thailand

The Age – Rudd concerned about Burma elections
October 31, 2010 – 2:29PM
AAP

Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd has branded next month’s military-run elections in Burma as unfair.

Mr Rudd said on Sunday he had very grave reservations about the November 7 poll – the first in 20 years – from which the international media and observers have been banned.

“They are being conducted under patently unfair election laws that place severe restrictions on political parties,” he said in a statement, ahead of a five-day visit to Asia.

The Burmese authorities have dissolved 11 political parties and denied others the right to register.

While a number of the 37 registered parties have no formal ties with the military regime, Mr Rudd said Australia respected the right of parties to contest, or not contest, the poll.

The military junta nullified the result of the 1990 election after Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy won a resounding victory.

Mr Rudd has joined Philippines President Benigno Aquino in calling for the immediate release of Ms Suu Kyi, who is one of 2000 political prisoners.

He said Australia remained committed to bans on travel and defence exports, while continuing to send foreign aid to Burma.

Australia pledged $48.6 million in aid to Burma for the current financial year, in a bid to reverse its high infant mortality rate.

Mr Rudd leaves Australia on Sunday for the closing ceremony of the Shanghai World Expo.

He will address the Caixin Summit in Beijing and meet South Korea’s new foreign minister Kim Sung-hwan in Seoul, ahead of the Group of 20 leaders’ meeting in November.

“The Republic of Korea is our third-largest goods export market, and our co-operation on defence and security matters has strengthened significantly in recent years, highlighted by the Joint Statement on Enhanced Global and Security Cooperation,” Mr Rudd said.

Sydney Morning Herald – Burma opposition bid to man polling booths
October 31, 2010 – 6:54PM
AFP

Pro-democracy candidates in Burma’s upcoming rare elections are struggling to find volunteers to man polling stations and ensure fairness on voting day, local media reported on Sunday.

Under electoral laws, candidates can appoint two agents at each polling booth in the constituency where they are contesting, to act on their behalf and be present when votes are counted in the nation’s first election in 20 years.

But party members told the Myanmar Times, a privately-owned weekly newspaper, that they were struggling to appoint even one person to each booth, with some constituencies having more than 100 polling stations.

The general secretary of the Democratic Party (Myanmar), Than Than Nu, said she had so far only been able to recruit eight polling agents to cover 138 stations in one Mandalay constituency on November 7.

“Even though we offer a T-shirt, a meal and 3000 kyat (roughly three Australian dollars) to cover volunteers’ expenses, only a few people dare accept – people refuse when they know that we are from the Democratic Party,” she told the newspaper.

“If we can’t recruit polling agents we will have to depend upon the representatives of our opponents and members of the (election) commission to ensure voting is fair.”

Other candidates reported similar problems, including the vice-chairman in the Mandalay region for the National Democratic Force (NDF), Tin Aung.

“We expect to have only half of the volunteers we are permitted because of time constraints and other problems,” he was quoted as saying.

The NDF is a breakaway group from the National League for Democracy (NLD), the party of detained democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi which was disbanded after deciding to boycott the election, saying the rules were unfair.

Some democracy activists are participating in the hope that it will open the door to change, but the odds are stacked in favour of two pro-junta parties, which are fielding about two-thirds of the more than 3000 candidates.

The vote has been criticised as undemocratic by Western nations and activists, who fear it will give a veneer of legitimacy to ongoing military rule.

Sunday October 31, 2010
The Star Online – Myanmar to keep close watch on media before poll

YANGON (Reuters) – Myanmar’s military government has ordered local journalists representing foreign news organisations to attend mandatory field trips ahead of its Nov. 7 election in an apparent move to restrict reporting of the controversial poll.

Journalists will be sent to different parts of the country to accompany diplomats on state-sponsored guided tours, and media will be barred from going within 50 metres of polling stations, the Information Ministry said on Sunday.

Foreign journalists and observers have been barred from attending the election, the first in two decades in the former British colony and widely dismissed as an elaborate stunt to cement the military’s 48-year grip on power.

Internet services in Myanmar have been sporadic and mostly unavailable for the past seven days, which activists believe is an attempt to restrict coverage and discussion of the election.

State media in Myanmar is tightly controlled and serves as the mouthpiece for the reclusive generals. Some foreign news organisations are permitted to hire local journalists vetted by the government.

Two parties backed by the regime and comprised of recently retired generals and their proxies are expected to sweep the ballot against pro-democracy opponents contesting no more than 14 percent of constituencies.

Aung Zaw, editor of the Thailand-based Irrawaddy magazine, said the mandatory media tours were probably an attempt by the government to appear transparent while ensuring reporters were under close watch.

“The regime is always paranoid. The political temperature is rising now and there’s a chance the military’s proxy parties might not get the support they hope for,” he said.

“They want to make sure reporters in the country, and outside, have no idea what’s really going on.”

Asian Correspondent – Without reconciliation, Burma’s elections lead to more political cataclysm
Oct. 31 2010 – 11:29 pm
Zin Linn

Burma’s military junta says the elections, the first since 1990, are essential to its direction to democracy and civilian ruling. However Burma-watchers and critics, including the United States, believe the November 7 elections are premeditated to ensure the military remains in power in the country.

On October 5 in Brussels, European and Asian leaders at an EU-Asia summit joined forces to urge Burmese junta to release political prisoners and ensure that the November 7 elections were free and fair.  Subsequently, on October 6, Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) called on Burma to immediately release 12 lawmakers from jail ahead of elections next month. The IPU is an association of 155 parliaments from around the world.

Human rights groups say Burma has one of the world’s worst human rights records, detaining thousands of opponents, systematically destroying ethnic minority villages and using rape as a weapon of war. The military-run nation has been a source of humiliation for ASEAN’s more democratic members but it has taken prodding by Western governments and the United Nations for the grouping to do more to thrust for change.

Burma’s state media today (31 October) warned that citizens must cast their votes “without fail” in the upcoming election and accused those advocating a boycott of misleading the people, as reported by the AFP News.

“Every citizen who values democracy and wants democratic rule must cast their votes without fail,” said an editorial in the New Light of Myanmar newspaper, a junta mouthpiece, ahead of the first elections in 20 years on November 7.

“However, some people are inciting the people to refrain from voting in the elections. They are attempting to mislead the people who are walking along the road to multiparty democracy for a change of a new era with instigated words,” it said.

The pro-democracy movement in the army-ruled country has been deeply divided between those who are taking part in the optimism of steady transform and others who are turning down to partake, saying the poll will entrench military ruling.

Analysts say Burmese generals are threatening the public in various ways to gain political power as they plan for the first general election in two decades. International observers have criticized the voting as a charade as it does not include key opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Detained democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi has said she will decline to cast her vote. She also recommended her supporters think about doing the same, although she did not call for an absolute boycott. Her National League for Democracy (NLD) has been officially disbanded after deciding not to participate in the poll.

Without free press, the nation’s upcoming polls cannot be produced a democratic or valid result. Analysts say the 2008 Constitution and the junta’s unyielding adherence to its seven-step roadmap in the direction of the 2010 elections will create a highly unstable political climate.

Without an agreement on national reconciliation, the elections will only lead to further political cataclysm.

Asian Correspondent – Philippines: Flawed Burma vote will damage ASEAN
Oct. 31 2010 – 12:51 pm

The Philippines says the Association of Southeast Asian Nations will be undermined if next month’s elections in military-ruled Burma are a sham.

ASEAN leaders have repeatedly pressed member state Burma to ensure the Nov. 7 vote is free and fair and have urged the regime to release of pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi.

It will be the first election in 20 years in Burma. The regime says it is a key step toward democracy, but critics say the polls are designed to cement military control. Suu Kyi’s party, which won the 1990 vote but was blocked from power, is boycotting.

Philippine Foreign Secretary Alberto Romulo said Saturday that flawed elections “will cost ASEAN not only goodwill but its own position. They are also putting at risk ASEAN itself.”

Asian Correspondent – Beware of Burmese bearing gifts
By Ben Bland
Location: Hanoi, Viet Nam
Oct. 30 2010 – 02:44 pm

This morning, I was skulking around the depths of Hanoi’s National Convention Centre, which is hosting the Asean and East Asian Summits, when I saw an intriguing sight.

A very well presented woman in a traditional Burmese longyi, was trying to gain access to the office of the United Nations delegation, with a large package.

The woman, escorted by a rather less well presented male Burmese diplomat, had a present for Ban Ki Moon, it transpired.

She told me it was a “painting made out of precious stones”.

Unfortunately, the UN had already left the building.

Presuming the painting is eventually passed on to Mr Ban, I wonder what he will do with it, given that Burma’s gem trade is reliant on forced labour, child labour and land confiscation, according to NGOs such as Human Rights Watch.

Japan Today – Maehara renews call for Myanmar’s early release of Suu Kyi
Sunday 31st October, 03:53 AM JST

HANOI — Japan urged Myanmar again Saturday to release pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, a Japanese government official said.

Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara made the call to his Myanmar counterpart Nyan Win during talks on the sidelines of a series of regional meetings involving Myanmar and other members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and their dialogue partners. Nyan Win did not give any clear response to Japan’s renewed call to release Suu Kyi, the official said.

Suu Kyi has been detained, mostly under house arrest, for most of the past two decades since her National League for Democracy won a landslide victory in elections in 1990.

Maehara was also quoted as urging Myanmar to make final efforts to conduct the Nov 7 election in an ‘‘open and fair’’ manner.

Sky News – Burma cyclone leaves destruction trail
Updated: 04:31, Tuesday October 26, 2010

At least 27 people were killed and 15 are missing after a powerful cyclone struck western Burma, leaving a trail of destruction in its path, state media reported late on Monday.

Cyclone Giri destroyed 2800 homes, dozens of government buildings and two bridges, state radio said.

The storm slammed into the coastal state of Rakhine on Friday with winds of up to 193 kilometres per hour.

State media had previously remained tight-lipped about the number of casualties.

The coastal town of Kyaukphyu was badly hit, with the power cut off and the sea wall partly destroyed. On Friday the Meteorology office predicted sea levels could swell by as much as 3.7 metres.

A Red Cross worker in Rangoon estimated on Saturday that about 70 per cent of Kyaukphyu town was destroyed, with about 60,000 people in the district needing assistance.

Trees were reportedly toppled and power was cut to some areas.

After hitting the coast, the storm headed northeast through the central part of the country and lost strength.

Burma is frequently hit by tropical storms and in 2008 was battered by Cyclone Nargis, which left 138,000 people dead or missing, mostly in the southwest delta region.

Nargis unleashed winds of 240km/h and storm surges up to four metres high, sweeping away thousands of homes, flooding rice fields with salt water and ravaging schools and hospitals.

Burma’s military government faced international criticism for its response to the disaster. It was accused of blocking emergency aid and initially refusing to grant access to humanitarian workers and supplies.

VOA News – Burma, Human Rights Issues Backdrop to Obama Asia Trip
Dan Robinson | White House 29 October 2010

A national election scheduled to be conducted by Burma’s military government on November 7 will occur as President Barack Obama is in India, the world’s largest democracy.

India is the first leg of a presidential trip that includes Indonesia, Japan and South Korea. U.S. officials are stepping up their criticism ahead of the election, and human rights groups are urging President Obama not to allow rights issues to take a back seat to bilateral and economic issues during the trip.

President Obama’s Asia travel will be framed by two important dates in military-ruled Burma.

On November 7, the first national election in Burma in two decades is scheduled to take place.  The last was in 1990, when the National League for Democracy (NLD) won an overwhelming victory, but was never allowed to take power.

Its leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991, has remained under house arrest for most of the past two decades.  Burma’s military forced the NLD to disband after it announced a boycott.

The United States, Western nations and human rights groups believe the elections will be a sham, and have called on the ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) to ensure that voting will be free and fair.

On November 13, just as President Obama is in Japan for the APEC (Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation) summit, Aung San Suu Kyi’s latest period of house arrest is due to expire.

There is widespread skepticism that she will be freed.  In unusually strong language, State Department Spokesman P.J. Crowley accused Burma’s military of trying to manipulate global public opinion about the election, by hinting that Aung San Suu Kyi would be freed after it occurs.

“This is a craven manipulation by Burma. How convenient that they are hinting that she might be released after an election that is unlikely to be fair, free or credible,” said Crowley.

Human rights groups are urging President Obama not to allow rights issues in general to take a back seat to affairs of state during his trip.

“Amnesty International is urging President Obama to raise human rights abuses in Burma, and Sri Lanka, during his trip [to] India,” said T. Kumar, Asia director for Amnesty International USA. “Whether he will raise it privately or publicly is a matter of question.  But we expect the media [and] the press to ask questions.  And we want to urge President Obama to give a strong message when those questions are raised, in terms of the elections in Burma as well as the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.”

The administration has pursued a policy of engagement with Burma’s military, hoping this would be more effective in bringing about freedom for Aung San Suu Kyi and political prisoners.  The U.S. has unilateral economic sanctions in effect against Burma.

Jared Genser, an attorney with Washington-based “Freedom Now,” says engagement has been ineffective, and suggests President Obama will have to get tougher.

“Our policy has suffered from that of the exact same problems faced by the U.N. trying to do this for 20 years, that we have had no benchmarks, no time lines and no consequences for our engagement with the [Burmese] regime, and under such circumstances we have learned repeatedly that engagement without those elements is not going to get us anywhere,” said Genser.

Earlier this year, U.S. Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs, William Burns, said:  “India’s voice as a successful democracy is important in a region where courageous leaders like Aung San Suu Kyi struggle in the non-violent footsteps of Gandhi.”

At a recent White House briefing, Burns was non-commital about whether Mr. Obama may discuss Burma when he meets with Prime Minister Singh, but said the overall U.S emphasis on human rights issues will continue.

“We have a very active dialogue with India about a whole range of regional issues and that does include Burma, and so again I can’t predict exactly what the conversations are going to be, but I think you will continue to see a strong emphasis from the president and from the U.S. on human rights issues across Asia and the Pacific,” he said.

Walter Andersen, with the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, says India generally takes a positive view toward human rights issues, but no longer speaks as loudly about Burma.

“Indians until about 10 years ago had a reduced relationship with Myanmar [Burma] because of human rights issues and its support for the dissident movement and the democracy movement there.  But that shifted, became more pragmatic, because of Chinese moves in a very substantial way to develop oil resources an other things in Myanmar.  So the Indians responded by upgrading their relationship [with Burma's military government] and toning down their criticism.  That has been their policy for the last several years,” said Andersen.

In Washington recently, 1998 Nobel laureate for economics, Amartya Kumar Sen, called India’s policy on Burma “partly in imitation of China”, and asserted that a lack of global public discussion about the upcoming election in Burma will strengthen the hand of the military.

“A propaganda victory for the regime, by muddying the water for democracy in Burma now, can put things hugely back for the real battle that has to be waged for the long-suffering Burmese people at large, of all ethnic groups, within the country,” he said.

It’s not clear how the outcome of the November 7 election in Burma might alter U.S. engagement policy, an approach the Obama White House has said it is committed to continuing beyond the election.

Also unclear is where the administration is on appointing a special representative and policy coordinator for Burma, a step required under U.S. sanctions-related legislation. The U.S., however, pushing for creation of an international commission to investigate human rights violations in Burma.
In a speech at the East-West Center in Hawaii, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton appeared to signal that Washington intends to maintain, if not increase, pressure on Burma’s military.

“And one thing we have learned over the last few years is that democracy is more than elections.  And we will make clear to Burma’s leaders, old and new alike that they must break from the policies of the past,” she said.

Secretary Clinton spoke at the start of a nearly two week trip that will take her to Asia and Pacific nations, part of which will coincide with President Obama’s presence in Asia.

eTaiwan News – US Republican wins could boost SKorean trade deal
By FOSTER KLUG
Associated Press
2010-10-31 01:08 PM

Potential big Republican wins in congressional elections next week could improve President Barack Obama’s chance of passing a stalled South Korean trade deal. His handling of a delicate, often tense, relationship with China, however, could be a focus of Republican attacks.

Those are among the most noticeable ways Obama’s Asia policy is likely to be affected by Tuesday’s congressional elections, when Republicans are expected to win power in the U.S. House of Representatives and have a smaller shot at taking over the Senate as well.

A newly powerful Republican Party also probably would oppose Obama’s position on human rights abuses in Asia and attempts to engage North Korea during a nuclear standoff.

While the overwhelming focus of this year’s election campaign has been on the domestic U.S. economy, China has been one of the few international issues that have inspired lawmakers.

China’s economic policies touch on a worry of many Americans: job losses. U.S. lawmakers say that China’s undervalued currency gives Beijing a trade boost by making Chinese goods cheaper in the United States and U.S. products more expensive in China.

Obama, following Bush’s example, so far has been reluctant to confront China too strongly on currency as he looks for Chinese support on a host of crucial global initiatives. Both Republicans and Democrats share frustration over Beijing’s policies, and Republicans might step up attacks on Obama’s China policy if the U.S. economy remains weak.

More Republicans in office could help him, though, on trade deals.

Many of Obama’s Democrats are suspicious of the South Korean accord to slash trade barriers on industrial goods and services, which has languished since it was signed in 2007 by George W. Bush’s Republican administration. They want Seoul to do more to deal with its surplus in auto trade and allow more access to American beef.

Obama now backs the deal as a way to improve American exports and strengthen ties with an important U.S. ally and has directed his trade officials to settle differences before the Group of 20 economic summit Nov. 11-12 in Seoul.

Republican wins will not guarantee the deal’s passage. Both sides would have to put aside residual anger from the elections and their worries about the American public’s wariness of foreign trade deals. But success next week by Republicans, who are generally more supportive of trade efforts, could provide an opening for Obama to push through a deal many Democrats do not like.

Republicans will have limited influence on foreign policy, but they still could apply pressure by holding hearings and using their control over spending.

They probably will urge Obama to support U.S friends in Asia more strongly as they deal with territorial disputes against an assertive, fast-growing Chinese military. They will chastise what they see as Obama’s reluctance to be more outspoken on claims of human rights abuse in China, Myanmar and North Korea.

A stronger Republican Party in Congress might also push for Obama to put North Korea back on a U.S. terrorism blacklist. The Bush administration agreed to remove it in 2008 in what proved to be a failed attempt to get a nuclear disarmament deal.

Many Republicans, and some Democrats, say that was a mistake. They cite allegations that the North torpedoed a South Korean warship, tried to assassinate a senior North Korean defector in Seoul and sells missiles to anti-Israel groups the United States considers agents of terror.

Returning to the terror list would infuriate Kim Jong Il’s government, which denies a role in the sinking, and would complicate efforts to restart stalled nuclear disarmament talks. For years, North Korea has said it did not belong on the terror list.

Taiwan could benefit from Republican wins. Many Republicans in the House have been strong supporters of the self-ruled island that China claims as its own territory, and there could be more demands that the Obama administration provide Taiwan with new U.S. jets to help Taiwan deal with a military imbalance that strongly favors China.

Republicans are not expected to take power in the Senate. But if they do, the fiercest U.S. congressional critic of the military government in Myanmar probably would be elevated in power.

Mitch McConnell, the top Republican in the Senate, was for many years leader of the panel responsible for financing international programs. With that power, he was credited with putting and keeping Myanmar high on the agendas of the State Department and White House during times when it received little public attention.

GlobalPost – Myanmar: The generals’ new clothes
Senior military officers are resigning ahead of elections. But will it change anything?
By David Scott Mathieson — Special to GlobalPost
Published: October 30, 2010 10:04 ET in Worldview

MAE SOT, Thailand — In Myanmar today, dozens of middle-aged generals are shedding their uniforms.

In the latest round of preparations for Myanmar’s multi-party national elections on Nov. 7, senior military officers are resigning their commissions, ostensibly to make way for a new generation of military officers.

Prime Minister Thein Sein and 27 senior officers who are also government ministers have resigned from their military posts to form the military-controlled Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP).

The military is maneuvering to position itself for the elections, and no one should think this means it intends to give up its grip on Myanmar. The military has controlled Myanmar since a coup d’etat in 1988. They were trounced in the last elections held in 1990, losing out to Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy.

The past 20 years has been a gradual process of rigging the next elections to ensure the right result and ensure continued military rule. The constitutional referendum of 2008 produced the unlikely result of 92 percent nationwide approval from a 98 percent voter turnout.

Even with other senior military officers offering themselves up as civilians, the military will still have 110 reserved seats in the 440-seat lower house of parliament and 56 in the upper house, with another 12 — 168 in all — from each of Myanmar’s 14 regions or states. So there will be serving officers at every level of supposed civilian, democratic elected assemblies.

But even for the seats not formally reserved for the military, there’s no level electoral playing field. Significantly, President Than Shwe, a senior general, hasn’t made the sartorial transformation: he has not retired from the military and remains commander in chief of the Tatmadaw (Myanmar armed forces). It is uncertain what role he will play in the post-election power structure, but he can and might assign himself one of the reserved seats for military officers and resume his presidency.

Look at which parties have fielded a full set of candidates. The military-controlled USDP, which has absorbed the resources of the 26 million-member social welfare organization, the Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA), will field 1,163 candidates: every seat at every level. The National Unity Party, aligned with but not controlled by the army, a reformulation of the former ruling socialist party of the 1970s and 80s, will field 994 candidates.

The National Democratic Force (NDF), a splinter group of Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy, is fielding only 160 candidates and even then the military-controlled Election Commission has forced some of its leaders out of the running. The Democratic Party of Myanmar, consisting of former activists, only has the resources and finances to field 49 candidates. Some ethnic parties may field candidates, but most only a handful, and some of those are actually pro-military government proxy parties.

The Electoral Commission has imposed a $500 fee to register an individual candidate, a prohibitive cost in such a poor country, and there are tight restrictions on campaign activities, including what the parties can say in public and what they can say in print. There are potential prison terms if candidates insult the military, for example.

As for the military itself, some observers have suggested that the new generation of officers may be more willing to compromise with the Myanmar opposition and the international community. But this is wishful thinking. There is little basis to suggest the new generation will be any different than the current military leaders.

If nothing else, the military now holds all of the country’s purse strings, and it has lucrative reasons for not letting go. Military officers have used their power to get their hands on much of the country’s trade. And extraction of natural wealth, from natural gas, mining, forests and even illicit trade.

Think of the American historical sociologist Charles Tilly’s famous dictum of “war making and state making as organized crime,” and it’s easy to understand the current generation of military officers for the past two decades. The long running civil war has been pushed back to isolated areas in the eastern and western borderlands, the economy has grown, trade with China and Thailand has boomed.

As opportunities for illegal or unfair graft are growing, Myanmar army officers, especially regional commanders, have been the arbiters of rackets from logging, narcotics, smuggling of gems, human trafficking and other lucrative enterprises. In short, the sign of likely advancement in the modern Tatmadaw is not just a proclivity for repression, but how well a general turns a profit.

It is wholly unlikely that a change of clothes will turn a general into a genial democrat. Economic incentives to repress Myanmar’s people remain too strong, and without focused international pressure for reform, all the elections are likely to do is refine an existing system of repression.

There may yet be one windfall, and that’s to the tailors and boutiques of Yangon, who may soon be deluged with orders from octogenarian strongmen seeking daywear for their new assignments.

David Scott Mathieson is a Senior Researcher in the Asia Division of Human Rights Watch.

Jakarta Globe – Opinion: United Nations Needs to Step It Up to Put An End to Suffering in Burma
Kanya D’Almeida | October 31, 2010

While scores of international observers wait on tenterhooks for the first election in Burma in two decades — and one of only three multiparty elections in 60 years — a report by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights there suggests that the world need not wait for Nov. 7 to judge the outcome.

“The election process has been deeply flawed and disappointing,” Tomas Quintana has said.

Early in September, Burma’s military Elections Commissioner announced that voting will not be held in some 3,300 villages in the Shan state, effectively disenfranchising 1.5 million voters.

Over 2,000 prisoners of conscience, including Nobel Peace Prize laureate and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, continue to languish in prison despite repeated calls from UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon and others for their release.

The leading opposition party, the National League for Democracy, was not even allowed to contest elections and already more than 20 extrajudicial killings have taken place.

The delegate from Britain stated that the “election result is a foregone conclusion,” adding that the international community must now look beyond the elections and towards options such as a UN Commission of Inquiry, a suggestion put forth on multiple occasions by the Special Rapporteur.

“A number of member states have expressed support for a CoI,” Quintana said. “Others have said that such an accountability measure will be counterproductive and that continued engagement would be preferred. This is a false dichotomy. An investigation of this kind would not preclude international engagement with the new government.”

Despite Quintana’s balanced report, public debate among UN member states continues to be dictated not by legal precedent but by regional ties, economic motivations and political alliances.

According to the most recent figures released by Burma’s Central Statistical Office, Thailand currently receives 52 percent of Burma’s exports, India receives 17 percent and China receives 9 percent. China is also Burma’s largest import source, supplying as much as 32 percent of total imports.

It came as no surprise that the most outspoken critics of Quintana’s report were the delegates of Thailand, China, India and Burma itself, all of whom denounced the report as one-sided and “biased” and said a CoI would only be “destructive” to the post-election climate.

With economic incentives driving superpowers’ decisions, the chances of a CoI mandated by the General Assembly or the Security Council are slim, despite the backing of the European Union, Norway and Canada.

Some human rights advocates have been adamant that such self-serving motivations are highly short-sighted. “The reality is that any country that wishes to have sustainable trade relations with Burma has to realize that the international crimes there are generating instability which is not conducive to trade,” said Debbie Stothard, the executive director of Altsean, the Alternative Asean Network on Burma.

While the UN balks at the CoI, experts such as Tyler Giannini, director of Harvard Law School’s International Human Rights Clinic, are keen to deter what they see as an imminent catastrophe unfurling in Burma.

In early October, Giannini laid out, in strictly legal terms, the case for a CoI into possible war crimes and crimes against humanity in Burma. “We decided to look specifically at only UN documents,” Giannini said, referring to the IHRC’s publication Crimes in Burma. “The conclusion was that UN institutions have consistently acknowledged abuses and used legal terms associated with international crimes, including that violations have been ‘widespread,’ ‘systematic’ or ‘part of a state policy.’?”

“Based on previous precedent,” Giannini concluded, “the UN’s next step should be to set up a CoI and that follows directly from comparisons to Darfur and to Rwanda and to former Yugoslavia.”

Giannini’s allusions to genocide are in line with the opinions of countless other human rights experts.

“What we’ve seen unfolding in Burma over the past few decades has been a slow burning genocide for several communities,” Stothard said “The longer the regional and international community refuses to deal with Burma the longer they condemn our region to yet another similar situation.”

“It will take a long time for Myanmar to have meaningful democratic institutions,” Quintana said. “This country has been under military government for 40 years. It is militarized at every level,” he added.

“The situation of the civilians in the middle of this armed conflict is extreme,” Quintana said. “It is not enough to say we need free and fair elections. We need to include justice for past violations in order to deter future violations and this is a serious challenge.

Inter Press Service

Jakarta Globe – Sumatra Hopes Pagoda Will Lift Harmony And Tourism
Aidi Yursal | November 01, 2010

Indonesia. A replica of Burma’s famous Shwedagon Pagoda was officially opened in North Sumatra on Sunday in a ceremony attended by hundreds of Buddhist monks from across Asia.

Construction of the pagoda, which shares the same name as the original in Burma, began three years ago on three hectares of land at Lumbini Park in Tonggo village, Karo subdistirct, near the Brastagi tourism development region, some 50 kilometers south of Medan.

“The Shwedagon replica is hoped to bring prosperity to the people of Karo, as well as to promote religious harmony in North Sumatra,” Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali said at the opening ceremony.

Aside from being a religious site, the Buddhist pagoda is also expected to attract more tourists to the province.

Although the majority of Indonesians are Muslim, the country officially recognizes six different faiths of its diverse population and guaranteed freedom of religion for these in its Constitution, the minister said.

“It is important that we remember to always seek a balance between promoting the interests of our different religious groups and our national interest,” Suryadharma said.

Indonesia has seen a spate of religious clashes in the past few years, with several minority groups airing complaints about discrimination and the government’s slow reaction to attacks against them.

The Religious Affairs Ministry itself controversially backed a decree that prohibits followers of the Ahmadiyah Muslim sect from publicly practicing their faith or proselytizing following pressure from hard-line Islamic groups.

Tongariodjo Angkasa, head of the organizing committee for the opening ceremony, said two days of prayers would be held at the site along with other religious ceremonies by Buddhists from across the country.

“Today’s event is to help promote religious harmony here and abroad, as well as to promote the Shwedagon replica in Karo as a destination for religious tourism,” he said.

The two-story pagoda, with its 47 meter high main tower, was built with donations from various Buddhist groups. While the pagoda is now open to the public, construction continues to improve the road leading to the site. (Antara)

Monday, November 1, 2010
Says Int’l tribunal president
Diplomatic Correspondent

President of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) Judge José Luis Jesus has termed the case over the dispute concerning delimitation of the maritime boundary between Bangladesh and Myanmar in the Bay a milestone for the tribunal.

Judge José Luis Jesus told a meeting of legal advisors of ministries of foreign affairs at the United Nations in New York on October 25.

He noted that the request for an advisory opinion from the International Seabed Authority is a significant development in the tribunal’s work since it is the first case brought before the Seabed Disputes Chamber, the body with exclusive competence over matters concerning the area.

Bangladesh has maritime boundary dispute with both India and Myanmar and registered its objections with UN in this connection to get legal solution over the issue.

Bangladesh already placed its claims before ITLOS, based in Hamburg in Germany, in last June and Myanmar is due to file its counter-memorial by December 1.

After Myanmar’s submission, the ITLOS again set time for reply and rejoinder by the two countries. As per that schedule, Bangladesh will reply Myanmar’s counter-memorial by March 15 next year and then again rejoinder to be given by Myanmar on July 1 next year.

The tribunal will then start proceedings and justify the demands made by the two countries regarding the delimitation of the maritime boundary in the Bay of Bengal.

With India, Bangladesh’s deadline for submission its claim by May 31 next year and India will submit its memorial by May 31, 2012.

The foreign ministry, which is dealing with the case, has already hired experts from abroad, who surveyed the Bay and assisting Bangladesh to put its demand.

The foreign experts are also assisting Bangladesh in preparing report to place its demand of continental shelf at the UN by early next year.

The Irrawaddy – Relief Efforts Slow to Reach Arakan’s Devastated Coast
By BA KAUNG – Saturday, October 30, 2010

“The whole town looks like a garbage dump—many streets are still blocked by debris,” said Tun Naing, a local relief volunteer helping the victims of Cyclone Giri in Myebon township, one of the hardest-hit townships on the west coast of Burma.

“People still desperately need tarpaulins and rice,” he said, adding that his organization has only been able to give five small tins of rice to each person.

Seven days have passed since category four of Cyclone Giri ravaged the worst hit areas in the islands off Arakan State with winds of up to 120 miles [190 kilometers] per hour.

The confirmed death toll from the cyclone stands at 45, and about 15,000 houses have been destroyed rendering more than 70,000 people homeless, according to the latest UN report citing government sources.

Local relief groups said the victims were not getting enough aid since the government has downplayed the death toll and the scale of the destruction, however.

State-controlled media has put the death toll at 27, but local relief groups said the real figure was already more than 100 people on Thursday.

They said thousands of victims are still living in monasteries and emergency shelters in Kyaukpyu, Pauktaw, Minbya and Myebon, the worst hit townships on the islands off the Arakan coast.

Access to the islands has been very difficult, and concern is mounting that help may not reach the victims, local sources said, adding that the government has banned local journalists from taking photographs and that coverage of the disaster by the media has been minimal.

“People from villages that were completely destroyed are coming to town for food handouts,” said a Buddhist monk in Aung Mingalar monastery in Myebon Township. “Drinking water is scarce and we are using bamboo ducts to try and get water from nearby hillsides.”

Local groups are taking a leading role in the relief efforts as they had to during the Cyclone Nargis, which killed over 130,000 people in the Irrawaddy Delta in May, 2008.

“We have sent 20,000 dollars worth of rice to the victims,” said an official of an Arakan Welfare Group in Rangoon. “We have already sent 200 bags of rice and are going to send 500 more.”

Though storms and cyclones are common occurrences for Arakan’s coastal residents who make their living by fishing and farming, Cyclone Giri’s powerful winds brought surges of water 12 feet deep.

Having lost their fishing nets and their crops in the cyclone, some residents are considering abandoning the islands for good, Tun Naing said.

Although the government has reportedly not yet allowed NGOs to send international staff to affected areas, there has been no major complaint about government interference in the relief efforts.

“We are working with the Myanmar Red Cross which works in close collaboration with the government, but so far we haven’t had any problems,” said Chang Hun Choe, the program coordinator of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Society in Rangoon.

The cyclone came just two weeks before the country’s first elections in 20 years and is the worst natural disaster to hit Burma since Cyclone Nargis.

A few days after Cyclone Giri, the Rakhine National Development Party (RNDP), a major opposition party contesting the election in Arakan State, sent a letter to the Election Commission calling for a postponement of the Nov. 7 election in three townships devastated by the cyclone, but have yet to receive a response.

“The conditions are terrible—we cannot expect them to participate in an election before we have taken care of their humanitarian needs,” said Aye Maung, the RNDP chairman, adding that the government should be transparent about the impact of the cyclone.