BURMA RELATED NEWS – SEPTEMBER 08, 2011
Sep 9th, 2011
By Zin Linn Sep 08, 2011 1:51AM UTC
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said the emergence of new so-called civilian government through controversial November elections and the release of democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi in Burma gave the country a chance to “embark on the path of progress”, according to AFP News.
In the report, dated August 5 but released Wednesday by the United Nations office in Yangon, Ban said promises from new President Thein Sein, a former general, to carry out political and economic reforms were constructive. But he urged “timely implementation”, stressing that the country continued to suffer from “serious, deep-seated and long-standing” human rights, political and economic problems.
“Whether the new government has the capacity, willingness and support to deliver on its reform agenda remains to be seen,” he said.
Ban said the continued detention of political prisoners, who are estimated to number over 2,000 in the country, “remains of deepest concern” to the United Nations.
An essential primary step in a national reconciliation procedure is to free unconditionally all 2,000 political prisoners. Government’s denial of their existence means it has no real aim towards democracy.
Release of political prisoners is an important part of trust-building between the military-backed government, democratic forces, and ethnic societies.
With the aim of improvement towards true and proper national reconciliation and democratic transition, people throughout Burma must trust in the course of action. As long as prisoners of conscience continue in prison or continue detention for articulation of their political beliefs, the people will have no confidence in any political practice performed by the Thein Sein government.
“The detention of all remaining political prisoners will continue to overshadow and undermine any confidence in the government’s efforts,” UN Secretary General said.
According to Ban, Burma’s Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, who has recently met with President Thein Sein and done her first political tour outside of Yangon, should be allowed to carry on her activities without hindrance.
“Any restrictions on her movements or threats to her security would cause serious concern and send the wrong signal,” Ban warned.
The junta-made 2008 Constitution is a barrier to national reconciliation and democratic transition since it fortifies military ruling, denies ethnic nationalities’ basic rights, and ignores human rights. It also prohibits existing political prisoners from involvement in elections by reason of their arbitrary imprisonment.
In state-run media, the Thein Sein government repeatedly condemns the offer of National Reconciliation forum raised by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and some prominent ethnic leaders as an unnecessary approach.
The worst is that Burmese government stubbornly used to say there are no political prisoners in their prisons. The nation risks a return of nationwide armed conflict due to denial of a true federal union in the 2008 Constitution drawn by the previous military junta. The military seems to be at the helm as usual in the new nominal civil government. Although the governmental composition has been transformed, all the top jobs are in the hands of the former military generals. In such a situation, most observers believe that civil war with the ethnic armed groups will not be stopped easily.
Burma government representatives to various UN meetings continue to turn down any human rights abuses, in direct challenge to the information reported by the international human rights watch groups.
Even the newly formed government commission has been under skepticism and many dare not advocate that it has ability to address human rights abuses in line with the laws. With ongoing bad human rights records, the country will not have a chance to “embark on the path of progress”.
A United Nations commission of inquiry should be set up to address Burma’s human rights violence. The UN Secretary General should not give more time to the Burmese government which repeatedly promises to start reforms in line with the UN’s successive annual decisions for two decades. It will be unwise for Mr. Ban to wait and see Thein Sein government’s reform agenda without timeframe.
Published: 7/09/2011 at 09:32 PM
Online news: The UN chief has welcomed pledges of reform by Burma’s army-backed government, but said in a report released Wednesday the detention of political prisoners undermines confidence in the regime.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said the new nominally-civilian government and the release of Aung San Suu Kyi after controversial November elections gave the country a chance to “embark on the path of progress”.
In the report, dated August 5 but released Wednesday by the United Nations office in Rangoon, Ban said commitments from new President Thein Sein, a former general, to undertake political and economic reforms were positive.
But he urged “timely implementation”, stressing that the country continued to suffer from “serious, deep-seated and long-standing” human rights, political and economic problems.
“Whether the new government has the capacity, willingness and support to deliver on its reform agenda remains to be seen,” he said.
Ban said the continued detention of political prisoners, who are estimated to number over 2,000 in the country, “remains of deepest concern” to the United Nations.
“The detention of all remaining political prisoners will continue to overshadow and undermine any confidence in the government’s efforts,” he said.
Democracy icon Suu Kyi, who has recently held talks with Thein Sein and undertaken her first political trip outside her home city of Rangoon, should be allowed to continue her activities without interference, he added.
“Any restrictions on her movements or threats to her security would cause serious concern and send the wrong signal,” Ban warned.
Suu Kyi was released from seven straight years of house arrest days after the election, which Ban described as “flawed and controlled”. Her party boycotted the vote because of rules that appeared designed to exclude her.
UN special rapporteur on human rights in Burma, Tomas Ojea Quintana, visited the country for the first time in more than a year last month amid signs the regime was reaching out to critics.
By Aliran, on 8 September 2011
Individuals and civil society groups around Asia have called on their governments to support the establishment of a Commission of Inquiry into crimes against humanity and war crimes in Burma, reports the Burma Partnership.
In letters to their respective governments, civil society groups from Cambodia, Japan, Korea, Singapore and Thailand stressed that “a Commission of Inquiry would be an impartial investigation to establish the truth about serious international crimes in the country”.
The letters also pointed out that Asian countries have a special role to play, stating that as regional states, we “are uniquely placed to encourage positive change in Burma” and that if their country “ignores and conceals the regime’s role in perpetrating human rights violations in Burma, it tacitly sanctions such acts and allows them to continue unabated”.
Meanwhile, more than 200 individuals and civil society representatives sent letters to the Indonesian government. Indonesia is an example of a successful transition to democracy and Indonesia’s former foreign minister, Hassan Wirajuda, made a public statement expressing the view that Indonesia should play an active role in encouraging genuine democratic reform in Burma. Thus, these individuals argued, Indonesia should take the lead among Asean nations in fostering progressive compliance with the human rights obligations set out in the Asean Charter by supporting the establishment of a Commission of Inquiry for Burma.
“Despite the significant support already expressed for the Commission of Inquiry from inside and outside Burma, Asian governments have remained silent. Being witnesses to the suffering of the people of Burma, it is critical that Asian governments take a public position in support of this commission to help end human rights violations and prevent future violations so that all the people of Burma can live in peace and security,” said Khin Ohmar, Coordinator of Burma Partnership.
The regime in Burma has been trying to win over the international community by organising meetings with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and inviting the UN Special Rapporteur Tomás Ojea Quintana to visit the country. At the same time the Burma Army continues to perpetrate grave human rights violations against civilians in Burma’s ethnic areas. Observing those crimes, Asian civil society groups reminded their governments of the urgent need for the establishment of a Commission of Inquiry for Burma.
SPEAKING FREELY
Asia Times Online – A democracy only in name
By Nancy Hudson-Rodd
Speaking Freely is an Asia Times Online feature that allows guest writers to have their say. Please click here if you are interested in contributing.
Myanmar is celebrating the United Nations’ International Day of Democracy 2011, according to the regime’s state newspaper, The New Light of Myanmar. “The People’s Voice is the Hluttaw’s [parliament's] Voice. The People’s Will is the Hluttaw’s Will. The People’s Expectation is the Hluttaw’s Implementation,” the government mouthpiece stated.
The new elected government fulfilled “the people’s aspirations and the wishes of the international community who wanted to see a democratic, stable and prosperous Myanmar”, Myanmar’s ambassador informed the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva in March. Despite strenuous resistance by “internal elements”, the regime has by its own estimation succeeded in transforming traditionally military-run Myanmar into a “democracy”.
The regime has often justified its suspension of civil liberties in the name of fighting against “foreign interference” in its internal affairs. For instance, when the International Labor Organization (ILO) urged its 175 member governments to impose sanctions against Myanmar for its use of forced labor, outgoing junta leader General Than Shwe explained to the UN special rapporteur on human eights and the ILO that these moves greatly hindered “democratic development”.
Thus Myanmar’s citizens have been urged by state media to be “true patriots” and “honest with good attitude for the motherland” during the country’s still uncertain political transition. “National people are to build a peaceful and prosperous society through full strength of solidarity” and support the “government in carrying out tasks of public well being, bringing economic benefits to the people after being elected by the public [and] enabling rural farmers to enjoy the benefits” state mouthpiece media recently trumpeted.
The sober reality of life under both the old and new governments, particularly for rural farmers, is the antithesis of the regime’s declarations. Indeed, farmers’ survival in Myanmar is increasingly threatened by the state as the military and their business partners engage in rampant land-grabbing.
Tay Za, a 47-year-old self-professed billionaire, runs a network of companies that have historically done the military’s bidding, often at odds with the interests of the country’s impoverished agrarians. In one of his first interviews with the foreign press (June 2011, La Republica), Tay Za boasted about being the richest man in Myanmar.
Part of those riches have come from his Htoo Construction Company, which recently cleared land for a PVC factory site that has reportedly destroyed farmers’ paddy dykes and embankments. When farmers complained, Major Win Myint, of the army-owned joint partner company, threatened them, according to those involved.
A Myanmar court eventually dismissed the case, stating that the factory was a “government” project and that the Htoo Company was “legally” entitled to forcibly take farmers’ land. Army officials severely assaulted farmers who complained at a higher court; allegedly bribed police laid charges against the farmers.
In the upside down world of Myanmar, ordinary citizens and their lawyers who make complaints against officials and companies are attacked and charged with false counter-claims. Farmers have no title to land in “democratic” Myanmar. The 2008 constitution declares the state as the “ultimate owner of all lands and all natural resources above and below the ground, above and beneath the water and in the atmosphere in the Union”.
Discipline over rights
But the power of tyrannical rule to control individuals comes not only through terror but through ideas that seek to destroy the human spirit. “Only when everybody abides by disciplines will they all be disciplined persons and will family and society and nation develop,” goes a government motto.
Over 2,000 poets, artists, comedians, teachers, students, labor activists, lawyers, journalists, politicians and Buddhist monks who threatened military discipline by speaking truth to power are currently languishing in prison. Many have been tortured. Khun Tun Oo, the 75-year-old chairman of the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy, for one, has been sentenced to 95 years in prison for violating the “5/96 Law Prohibiting People From Criticizing the Constitution”. The regime has steadfastly denied holding prisoners of conscience, claiming that all those held committed crimes against the state.
There has been optimistic speculation concerning President Thein Sein’s new government. False claims of democratic governance and reform promises have been willing accepted in countries keen to engage the regime. Struggle against repression is a difficult, long term project and many now see short term gains in working with the de facto military rulers.
Seeing no prospect of achieving democracy any time soon, some have concluded it is better to come to terms with what seems to be permanent military rule. Through negotiations, they apparently hope, positive developments will arise and fewer brutalities will be committed.
But why is there a readiness to accept brutal terroristic rule now for a supposedly better hypothetical future? Some cling to illusions – including the notion the military will fade from the political scene – when they have nothing else to grasp. Illusion also makes conducting business with repressive regimes easier for foreign corporations to deny their business ventures support the regime or that they are complicit in human rights abuses.
According to an August 19 state media report, the US-based Caterpillar Global Construction Company signed new agreements to sell heavy machinery and engine parts to the regime at a time its land-grabbing is rampant.
The regime’s offer of peace through negotiations is ultimately disingenuous. Current brutalities would end immediately if the regime stopped waging war against its own citizens. They could restore human dignity and rights, free prisoners of conscience, end torture, stop military operations against ethnic minority groups, withdraw from government and apologize to the people if their claims to democracy were genuine.
But Myanmar’s junta continues to lie, denying that it holds prisoners of conscience, brutally attacks ethnic minority villages, uses forced labor and child soldiers, and confiscates farmers’ lands. Disorder and violence are institutionalized in Myanmar’s military rule, and little has changed just because soldiers have switched from army khakis to civilian garbs. Indeed, their culture of denial encourages turning collective blind eyes, leaving abuses unexamined and normalized as part of everyday life.
But not everyone is blinded by the junta’s lies. Tomas Ojea Quintana, the UN special rapporteur for human rights in Myanmar, has recommended establishing a UN commission of inquiry into crimes against humanity and war crimes in Myanmar. Fourteen Nobel Peace Laureates, the world’s leading jurists and 16 countries have supported the inquiry. These clarion voices make it clear that there is still nothing to celebrate and little to hope for in “democratic” Myanmar.
Nancy Hudson-Rodd, PhD, human geographer, former director of the Centre for Development Studies, honorary research fellow, Edith Cowan University, Western Australia, has conducted research in Myanmar for the past decade on the arbitrary confiscation of farmers’ land by the military regime. She may be reached at n.hudson_rodd@ecu.edu.au.
Forbes – Big Sucking Sound in Burma (Myanmar) is China’s Resource Grab
Simon Montlake, Forbes Staff
Forbes writer in Asia
Foreigners have long coveted Burma’s ample energy resources. Under British colonial rule, the Glasgow-based Burmah Oil Company (BOC) drilled in central Burma, built an oil refinery in Rangoon and reinvested its profits in Persia via the Anglo-Persian Oil Company, the forerunner to British Petroleum. The BOC was forced to divest its assets in Burma
(Myanmar) after a coup in 1962 by General Ne Win.
Today it is Chinese companies that are building pipelines across Burma to funnel natural gas from Burmese waters, and imported crude oil arriving in tankers, to southwest China.
The oil pipeline, due for completion by 2013, could eventually supply as much as 10% of China’s oil imports, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit. South Korea’s Daewoo International is developing the offshore gas field, with China National Petroleum Company as the sole buyer. China also plans to build a $20 billion railway along the same route, Burma’s government said on Aug 29.
While the pipelines have drawn complaints from land-right activists, a far bigger row is brewing at a Chinese-owned hydropower dam in northern Burma. Under a 2007 agreement, China Power Investment Corp. wants to build seven large dams in Kachin State that can supply power to neighboring Yunnan Province. The main contractor is China Gezhouba Group Corp. The largest dam is under construction at Myitsone, where two rivers meet and spawn the Irrawaddy River, Burma’s main waterway that empties into the Indian Ocean.
When completed, say anti-dam campaigners, it would create a reservoir the size of New York City capable of generating up to 6,000MW of power. Transmission lines will supply electricity to energy-hungry Yunnan Province.
Taken as a whole, the seven dams represent a $20 billion bet on stability in Kachin State, which is wedged between China and India. Since June, the area has seen an upsurge in fighting between Burmese troops and the armed wing of the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO). The fighting has forced a halt to some Chinese-funded infrastructure projects, including smaller dams, though engineering work has since resumed at Myitsone, according to exiled Burmese media reports.
The Chinese dams are deeply unpopular with ethnic Kachin, who cite environmental, cultural and safety concerns. In April 2010, a series of bombs were detonated at the project site of Myitsone. In March, the KIO wrote to Beijing to register its objections and warn of the consequences of increased militarization on its turf. “The KIO would not be responsible for the Civil War if the War broke out because of this Hydro Power Plant Project and the Dam construction,” the letter said.
Aung San Suu Kyi recently added her voice to the debate, calling on all parties to review the project and to prioritize the conservation of the Irrawaddy. She highlighted the risk of building a reservoir near an earthquake fault line and said that over 12,000 people had already been displaced. Her intervention has galvanized opponents to the project, who also seized on a leaked copy of a 2009 assessment by Chinese and Burmese experts commissioned by CPI Corp. The report, which wasn’t made public at the time, warned of “serious social and environmental problems” along the Irrawaddy, which irrigates Burma’s main rice-growing areas. Its authors advised that it would be better to build the dam further upstream than at the confluence site.
The controversy has stung Burma’s new, semi-civilian government. On Aug 12, in a rare press conference, Information Minister Kyaw Hsan, a retired general and notorious hardliner, teared up when asked about the future of the project. In a rambling reply, he complained that the previous junta had tried its best under difficult conditions and was pressured by U.S. sanctions. The room went silent, said a Burmese reporter. “They were real tears, his nose was red,” he says.
A legal challenge could be next. Pawk Ja, a Kachin activist who unsuccessfully ran for parliament last November, says she wants to sue CPI Corp on behalf of villagers displaced by the dam. A former goldmine owner, she became an activist after Yuzana Company seized 200,000 acres of land in her township for a tapioca plantation. Last year, a local court accepted her class-action lawsuit against the company for failing to pay adequate compensation, but the case was later thrown out. She says CIP will be next. “This is our national heritage,” she says.
Thu Sep 8, 2011 10:10AM GMT Chinese led energy projects in conflict ridden and militarized areas of Myanmar are raising concerns amongst activists and researchers.
Thailand based Shwe Gas Movement launched their latest report on the construction of the China pipeline project that they conclude will further exacerbate human rights abuses in ethnic minority communities
of Myanmar.
Those who have produced this report explain that 12 million cubic meters of natural gas will be transported through a 2800 km pipeline, leading deep into China, to generate electricity.
The project headed by the state-owned China National Petroleum Corporation also involves Indian and South Korean companies.
This pipeline travels through conflict riddled ethnic minority regions that are heavily militarized which has led to concerns of further fighting, displacement and human rights violations.
This footage recorded in stealth by NGO workers shows poor conditions of living for local laborers in these regions working at the construction sites and the stark contrast against housing provided for Chinese employees.
Agreements between Myanmar and China also include construction of dam projects. Water is the other vital resource being sought by China at a pace that is alarming environmentalists and rights groups. Chinese firms have continued construction of dams in areas of Kachin State as shown in this video. This region of Myanmar has experienced fighting over the past few months between the Myanmar military and ethnic armed groups.
The Burma Rivers Network points to China’s responsibilities in providing aid and shelter to civilians being displaced in areas of construction where conflict has been ongoing.
Meanwhile acute water and electricity shortages continue to plague large parts of Myanmar. The Chinese led projects have also sparked ire of local civilians due to the threats to livelihoods of farmers and fishermen in these areas.
The government of Myanmar has stated that these energy projects will generate much needed revenue for the country. But, this also means that the people of Myanmar will be deprived of billions of dollars worth of natural resources that are vital for their own needs and development.
By M K Bhadrakumar – September 8, 2011
Posted in Politics. The ‘great game’ is hotting up on India’s eastern borders, with renewed American focus on the two oil and gas pipelines that China is constructing along western Myanmar straddling that country. It is an explosive mix of energy security and China’s access to the Persian Gulf and African oil producing countries that is provoking the US-sponsored campaign by Thailand-based self-styled Myanmarese ‘environmentalists’.
India is also somewhat at the receiving end of the campaign since the consortium building the 3900-kiolmetre long pipelines includes ONGC Videsh. China offered stakes (8.35% in equity) in the project to ONGC Videsh and the Indian company apparently was willing to accept, involving a total investment of around 250 million dollars. The third party in the Chinese consortium is South Korea’s Daewoo (25.4% equity), while China holds 50.9% equity in the project.
One of the pipelines will be transporting gas from gas fields with an estimated 4.5 trillion bcm reserves in the Bay of Bengal to China. What is galling for the US is probably that the second pipeline can transport around 22 million barrels of oil to China’s Yunan province directly from the Middle East and Africa. The Chinese strategy is to reduce its dependency as far as as possible on the Malacca Straits through which over three quarters of China’s oil imports currently get transported.
The US-sponsored ‘environmentalists’ and Myanmarese exile groups in Thailand have warned of ‘armed conflicts’ threatening the security of the pipelines. But China, undeterred, is pressing ahead with the project due for completion in 2013. Both China and Myanmar seem to take the US campaign as the stuff of bluster.
During his address in the Indian parliament last October, President Barack Obama had exhorted the Indian leadership to stand up and be counted on the US campaign regarding the human rights situation and democracy deficit in Myanmar. But Delhi, wisely enough, isn’t listening. Not only that, China and India find themselves on the same side in the energy project in Myanmar, contrary to the conventional wisdom of pundits that the scramble for resources by the two regional powers would get played out in bitter rivalry in Myanmar in zero-sum terms.
Published on September 8, 2011
New diplomatic effort is designed to gain more economic aid, but how much longer can the regime survive as an international pariah?
North Korean leader Kim Jong-il is on the charm offensive again. He visited China and Russia last month to further strengthen ties with his two most important allies. Kim has visited China several times in the past few years to learn from the economic growth and management of North Korea’s huge neighbour. This time he was able to hold a summit meeting with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. It was a highly publicised visit because it means bread and butter for North Korea. Obviously, Kim knows better than anybody the true state of his country.
During the discussion with Medvedev, the two leaders agreed that the stalled six party talks on North Korea’s denuclearisation should resume without any conditions, in order to reduce the simmering tension on the Korean peninsula. For the past few weeks, Pyongyang has also expressed a seeming readiness to place a moratorium on its programme for weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear weapons. So far, the responses from other concerned parties have not been too enthusiastic. After all, North Korea has pulled this kind of stunt before. More tangible action from the hermit kingdom must be forthcoming before the peace process can continue with the full enthusiasm of all sides.
It is well known that the international community has called on North Korea to rejoin the International Atomic Energy Agency and allow international inspections of the existing nuclear facilities in the country. At the moment, Pyongyang has not yet made public any firm intention to initiate a moratorium on long-range missiles and nuclear weapons. It seems that Kim’s latest diplomatic efforts are a trial balloon to gauge whether such overtures would yield international attention – and, of course, more humanitarian assistance for the country’s beleaguered population.
One aspect of North Korea’s nuclear weapons programme has great potential to destabilise the whole region. This is the relationship between Pyongyang and Burma over nuclear cooperation. It is now widely suspected that the two countries have been collaborating on this clandestine programme for about a decade. Their secretive cooperation on nuclear weapons has been widely reported in the Western press. Indeed, it has become a strong point of contention between the United States and North Korea, and is a huge obstacle in their efforts to normalise relations.
It is an open secret that Washington is very concerned about the truth of this ongoing cooperation, and has urged Burma to halt ties with North Korea on any nuclear programmes. It has been the policy of the Obama administration to aim for a global nuclear weapons free zone. That helps explain why, besides all the pivotal political issues related to human rights and political prisoners, the US government continues to focus on its non-proliferation effort in the region.
It is interesting to note that Asean has yet to take Burma to task over its ties with North Korea and the suspected nuclear cooperation. The aftermath of Japan’s nuclear crisis has prompted Asean members to discuss their future cooperation on the peaceful use of nuclear power and the many safety issues that surround it. Burma has yet to show any cooperative spirit. Thailand has called on all Asean member countries to share information on their peaceful use of nuclear energy, as a way to increase confidence and forge common ideas for a non-military nuclear policy.
North Korea – even with its outmoded political system – still has a very good chance to rejoin the international community and save its people from endemic poverty and possible starvation. Nobody wants to see North Korea collapse, because it would seriously affect China, South Korea and Japan, as well as the wider region. Of course, nobody expects an “Arab Spring” to occur there, but the ongoing hardships of most North Korean citizens will eventually bring the regime down, in one way or another. To avoid this catastrophe, Kim has to reform the whole system in his country, which he and his family have ruled continuously since the end of the Second World War. The way to start the process is quite simple: Kim has to stop employing his old manipulative tricks and start talking about the real issues.
By Khin Maung Win
Special to The Nation
Published on September 6, 2011 Comparisons are often made between Indonesia and Burma; two Southeast Asian nations where the militarisation of politics, democracy struggles, their achievements and transitional phases, have defined their people’s recent histories.
Burma’s former military regime; the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), was renamed from the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) in 1997, and is said to have copied Suharto’s “New Order” regime that guaranteed the dual role of the Indonesian army in politics and security affairs. SLORC initiated the writing of a constitution in January 1993 that was completed by the SPDC in May 2008 with a sham referendum in the wake of Cyclone Nargis. It has become known as the “2008 Constitution” and can be seen to reflect Suharto and his New Order regime.
The Burmese version of the Suharto-era Golka Party, the Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA), was first created a few months after the constitution drafting process started in 1993. The USDA was renamed the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) in mid-2010, months before the general election in November of the same year, conducted under the 2008 Constitution and, according to many, with a healthy dose of cheating. General Thein Sein, Prime Minister of the SPDC was a candidate for the USDP and has now been elected to the presidency.
While many are very critical about the 2008 Constitution, the 2010 election and its outcomes, and the government of President Thein Sein, some argue that these are inevitable steps in a gradual democratic transition.
Despite many critics lacking faith in President Thein Sein’s ability to initiate democratic transition, the developments witnessed lately on his initiatives have raised eyebrows. These initiatives include formal talks between opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and government ministers; changes in the attitude of the government toward the media, which included the first ever lively and fairly transparent government press conference in Naypyidaw; and public announcements in the newspapers offering peace talks with armed ethnic groups, even if these were met with scepticism.
During the historic meeting between the president and the ever iconic Aung San Suu Kyi, both parties expressed satisfaction which could not help but cast a warm PR glow onto the news pages. Lastly, but by no means least, there was the visit of Tomas Ojea Quintana, the UN special rapporteur on human rights on Burma, and his meetings with high-ranking government officials and Aung San Suu Kyi. He had previously been barred from the country for his frank call for the creation of a commission of inquiry into the numerous serious human rights violations in Burma. Furthermore, the president in his speech to the parliament on August 22 vowed that his government would reach out to the opposition. After all, even Aung San Suu Kyi’s political visit to Pegu, a town north of Rangoon, was followed and escorted by government security forces instead of being attacked by them, as was the case in 2003.
Whilst these developments are received cautiously by many observers, it seems unlikely that the president is doing all this just for PR purposes. One hopes it would be too much for any PR campaign. Many people, including Aung San Suu Kyi and her party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), view these as positive developments that could be the beginning of a long-awaited transition.
These developments once again remind one that a major transition took place in Indonesia under the presidency of Bacharuddin Jusuf Habibie. Once seen as Suharto’s subordinate and merely an engineer rather than a decisive politician, Habibie surprised the world by introducing aggressive initiatives that made a dramatic transition to democracy possible.
The initiatives included, but were not limited to: East Timor’s referendum on independence; the introduction of three new political laws – the Law on Political Partyies, the Law on General Elections and the Law on the Structure and Position of Parliament – which collectively paved the way for the 1999 democratic general election, the first in the country since 1955.
The successful holding of a free and fair general election and the transfer of power to democratically elected leaders in 1999 was a clear indicator that the most important steps of democratic transition in Indonesia occurred during the presidency of BJ Habibie in less than two years between 1998 and 1999.
In Burma, U Thein Sein became president via a controversial election, while BJ Habibie was sworn in by his mentor, Suharto, in May 1998. But both are considered the nominees or heirs of outgoing strongmen.
It is natural then, that one of the major tasks of the successor is to safeguard the legacy and ill-gotten gains of the mentor. Habibie, however, strikingly had the courage to diverge from his mentor. An investigation into alleged corruption by Suharto was initiated in late 1998, and it later put Suharto on trial. If Habibie was being controlled by Suharto during the critical period of 1998 to 1999, then Indonesia’s transition would have been a very different story.
Despite such a record as a transitional leader, Habibie himself failed to stay in power. Some still saw him as being too close to their bitter memory of the Western-backed dictator Suharto. People perceived Habibie’s initiatives for transition emanating not from a sincere conviction, rather because of pressures from activists and the public. In addition, a majority of law-makers lost confidence in him largely because of his policy on East Timor. But Habibie, to his credit, never tried to extend his grip on power beyond his mandate.
One of the most important factors contributing to the success of the transition under the presidency of Habibie was the divergence of the Indonesian army (TNI) from the Suharto family and politics. The TNI itself went trough a reform programme that greatly benefitted the orderly transition in Indonesia.
Lately, it has not escaped conjecture to wonder if President Thein Sein could be Burma’s Mikhail Gorbachev, the Soviet leader who introduced Glasnost (openness) and Perestroika (restructuring) in the late 1980s. President Thein Sein’s initiatives mentioned above may be considered the beginning of Glasnost despite the fact that other initiatives that could be considered Perestroika are yet to come.
President Thein Sein is widely believed to be one of the more humble and clean elements from the previous regime in the current government. But despite that, he may still be heavily influenced by his mentor, Senior General Than Shwe. The description “yes man” has been used to describe the protege. But he could also be compared to former Indonesian president Habibie, as the two countries have been compared for some time.
If Thein Sein is to become Burma’s equivalent of BJ Habibie for introducing initiatives to pave the way for a democratic transition, two additional but very important conditions should be met in order to make Burma’s transition successful: First, President Thein Sein must have the courage to walk his own walk and diverge from his mentor, Than Shwe. Second, Burma’s army; the Tatmadaw, must learn lessons from the TNI on how to contribute to and cope with democratic transition.
Khin Maung Win is deputy director of the Democratic Voice of Burma, expressing his personal views.
Behind precious stones lie tales of exploitation of children, some as young as four.
Last Modified: 10 Mar 2011 08:58 GMT
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia-pacific/2011/03/20113108933467745.html
Myanmar on Thursday opens one of its biggest ever sales of precious gems – an opportunity for the government to flaunt its massive ruby industry.
However, what it wont show is the virtual slavery invovled in the industry, with children as young as four being exploited to prop up production.
Al Jazeera secretly filmed in ruby producing Mogok region – where access to foreigners is strictly prohibited.
2011/09/08
By Rita Jong
news@nst.com.my KLANG: The case of a Myanmar woman who was charged with murdering her newborn girl whom she had delivered in the toilet of her home earlier this year has been transferred to the Shah Alam High Court for trial.
Magistrate Norkamilah Aziz transferred the case following an application by DPP Noor Husnita Mohd Radzi today.
Nur Aishah Abdullah, 23, was charged with committing the offence at No. 4, Lot 9902, Batu 4, in Kampung Jawa here at 9am on Jan 25.
According to previous media reports, Nur Aishah, who holds a United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNCHR) card, had allegedly stabbed her baby five times with a sharp object immediately after giving birth.
The baby was found in a plastic sheet in the toilet of the terrace house with multiple stab wounds.
By Anasuya Sanyal | Posted: 08 September 2011 1922 hrs
BANGKOK: A Thai herb has been found to have the same effect as drugs such as Viagra in combating erectile dysfunction (ED).
But the herb — Butea superba or khao krua daeng in Thai — is a long way off from reaching the market in the Kingdom.
Indigenous to India, Myanmar, Thailand and Laos, to some, the herb is considered an example of the best of Thai traditional medicine.
By the year 2015, the world market for ED drugs could be as much as US$5 billion. The US and Europe dominate this market but some Asians advocate natural solutions closer to home.
A researcher with 30 years experience at Chulalongkorn University’s Department of Biology has spent decades researching and promoting the herb.
Dr Wichai Cherdshewasart even holds a US patent for it, but has found no traction in Thailand.
“At that time, we called it herbal Viagra. But it is pity that because of tough competition, as you can realise, that the Western drugs try to monopolise in this country,” Dr Wichai.
“So we have tough regulations from Thai FDA. That is why this product cannot present much in the market. They can only present in the form of traditional medicine. It means that you have to mix it with other herbs and use it at very low dose.”
Proponents of the herb say that other countries do a better job of marketing similar products like the herb Tongkat Ali in Malaysia which has the same libido energising effect as khao krua daeng.
Chemico Inter Corporation managing director Prasob Palakornkitti said: “If Thai FDA approves it, everything will be easy. A lot of products cannot grow very well because of the registration or approval from Thai FDA. This is a big problem until today.”
But the FDA said studies have shown the herb could be dangerous if taken in too high a dose.
Drug Control Bureau director Vinit Usavakidviree said: “The test on rats showed that there would be no side effects should the herb be used in an appropriate measure, for example not more than 100 milligrams a day. There will be side effects if more herb is used.”
Side effects in rats have included massive swelling of the testicles.
Still, many in Thailand swear by traditional Asian herbal remedies.
A fourth-generation shop owner in Bangkok’s Chinatown said customers like herbal medicines because they’re cheaper than Western drugs, but cautions they too, should only be taken according to directions.
By- Correspondent | Date- September 7, 2011
The hardliner faction of United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) led by C-in-C Paresh Baruah has confirmed that their bases and camps in Myanmar have been attacked by the Burmese Army.
In an email statement issued by the outfit’s publicity Chief Arunudoy Dahotiya, the ULFA hardliners stated that the Army of Myanmar has not only attacked the ULFA camps but in the deep jungles but also bases of other North Eastern rebel outfits. Appealing to the people of Assam to extend support to the outfit, the press release also claimed that the Burmese Army has been aided with heavy arms and ammunition by India and that the gun fights would get severe.
Mentionable that, as published in Times of Assam earlier on June 16, it is believed that Indian Intelligence is trying to use modern satellite technology in its quest to hunt down Paresh Baruah, who is heading the hardliner group of United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA). Sources had informed Times of Assam that the Indian Intelligence with the use of Global Positioning System (GPS) has prepared a satellite map of Taka, a jungle area in the border of China-Myanmar where Paresh Baruah is presently believed to be hiding. The place is a convenient area for Baruah and his group as being close to China; on the hint of any danger can regularly alter their bases between Myanmar and China.
Few months ago, a 14-member Indian delegation led by Shambhu Singh, Joint Secretary (North East), Ministry of Home Affairs and representatives from Manipur Government and official from the Government of Myanmar held a meeting at Kalewa, about 50 kms from Moreh, Myanmar. It is claimed that during this meet, the Indian Government pressurized and discussed with the Government of Myanmar to take immediate action against the ULFA camps in their soil. The satellite maps come handy for the Myanmar Army, who has been shooting down ULFA cadres since the 1980s.
The current all around attack of the Myanmar Army on ULFA will leave Paresh Baruah with no other option then to flee towards China and once in China, Baruah will be trapped completely as his entry and exit to Myanmar will become impossible.
ITJ – Myanmar to promote civil aviation industry
08. September 2011 The Southeast Asian country Myanmar is planning to privatise all domestic airport management businesses, to promote the country’s civil aviation industry. 32 of the nation’s 69 airports are available for aircraft landing and only eight can accommodate larger aircraft such as the Boeing B747. Under the privatisation scheme, a new measure will be chalked out to collect aviation tax from foreign airlines, which will be carried out by private companies under the privatisation scheme.
www.mot.gov.mm/dca
Published: September 7, 2011 On his third day in office, President Obama issued an executive order lifting the odious “global gag rule” that denied federal money for family planning work abroad to any group that performed abortions or counseled about the procedure, even with its own money. But he left standing another policy that imposes similar speech restrictions and bans using foreign aid money for abortions — even to save a woman’s life or in cases of rape in war zones like Congo, Sudan and Burma.
The policy is not mandated by any law. Rather, it is an overly restrictive interpretation of the Helms amendment, which was originally enacted in 1973 and bars using foreign aid money to “pay for the performance of abortion as a method of family planning or to motivate or coerce any person to practice abortions.”
Providing abortions for women and girls who have been subjected to the use of rape as a weapon in armed conflict is clearly not “a method of family planning.” And informing rape victims and governments about the right to proper medical treatment, which would include abortion, under the laws of war does not amount to lobbying or coercion. Yet the misinterpretation of the Helms amendment was formalized in a policy directive in 2008 by the United States Agency for International Development and continues to be enforced by other aid programs as well.
A coalition of human rights groups and legal and medical experts led by the Global Justice Center, along with Norway, has issued a call to lift the policy as applied to rape victims. As these groups point out, beyond being cruel and unnecessary, the current interpretation of the Helms amendment violates Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions, which entitles all victims of armed conflict — including those brutalized by rape — to complete and non-discriminatory medical treatment. That includes access to abortions and necessary information about the procedure.
Mr. Obama may fear that changing the policy would anger antiabortion extremists in Congress. But that is no excuse for breaking his pledge to abide by the Geneva Conventions. Besides, even the most radical antiabortion bill to pass the Republican House this year — a proposal to restrict abortion services, for example by discouraging employers from offering insurance plans covering abortion — contains exceptions for saving the woman’s life, incest, and, yes, rape.
BBC News – Save the Children worker in Burma ‘trafficked children’
A Save the Children charity worker in Burma has been dismissed on suspicion of trafficking boys under 18 years old to serve in a rebel army.
US diplomatic cables released by the Wikileaks website said his activities came to light last year when one of the victims escaped.
At least 16 other youths were reported to have been conscripted into the United Wa State Army, which operates near the Thai and Chinese borders.
The man was arrested by Burmese police.
“It is our understanding that the individual was taken into custody by the Myanmar [Burmese] police,” Save the Children spokesman Steve Sidebottom told the BBC. “The matter is now in the hands of the authorities.
Escape to China
The Save the Children employee was stationed in Shan state in the far east of Burma.
He is accused of trafficking nine young males – two of whom were under 18 – for service in the powerful UWSA, which is alleged to finance its operations through the drug trade.
The charity told the BBC that the employee had encountered the young men through “local contacts”.
Save the Children told US diplomats that some of the other conscripts were thought to have escaped into China, and that others had eventually made their way home.
In diplomatic cables released by the Wikileaks website, the charity said the local representative appeared to have been working for “political reasons rather than for financial gain”.
It said both he and the victims are members of the Palaung ethnic group, some of whom are allied with the Wa.
“The victim who escaped reported that at least 10 other young people from Nam Kham, and six from neighbouring Nam Sam, were serving with him in the UWSA,” the cable said.
Save the Children said the staff member was suspended as soon as the allegations came to light and was later dismissed.
The charity said it had been providing assistance to all the families involved.
The legal age for army recruitment in Burma is 18, but analysts say the problem of trafficking is thought to be endemic.
By Russ Wellen, September 8, 2011 Officially, the junta known as the SPLDC (State Peace and Development Council) no longer rules Burma. It was dissolved for the 2010 elections, in which Thein Sein was “elected” president and a veneer of democracy was applied to the country. But the military still rules. In Asia Times Online, Bertil Lintner writes about the expansion of Burma’s arms manufacturing.
Myanmar has embarked on a massive expansion of its military and military capabilities since the country was shaken by a nationwide pro-democracy uprising that almost toppled the regime in 1988. … Recent defectors from the Myanmar military say that the number of infantry battalions and other military units have been increased dramatically since 1988, but most of these are understaffed and the foot soldiers are often forcibly recruited, poorly paid and badly motivated [and] the troops, and even most of the officers, lack combat experience.
… Myanmar’s newly recruited infantry may lack combat experience, and the quality of the weapons produced in its defense industries may be of poor quality. … But it is clear that the Myanmar regime is in no hurry to change its priorities, as defense spending still accounts for as much as 50% of the central government’s budget.
In particular, those priorities are
… creating a loyal officer corps that the regime can depend on for its survival rather than building a professional fighting force. Regime survival has always been the main prerogative of Myanmar’s generals and thus a loyal and well-supplied officer corps is still of utmost importance, regardless of their weakness on the battlefield.
Obviously when a populace is as disempowered as Burma’s, the junta doesn’t need a strong army.
By SAW YAN NAING Thursday, September 8, 2011
The Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA), an ethnic Karen armed militia, has reorganized its military strategy to speed up future activities, said DKBA sources.
“We held a planning meeting to organize our troops for more effective military tactics. We established two military groups, named Klo Htoo Wah and Klo Htoo Lah—one in the south and one in the north of our area,” said Maj San Aung of the DKBA.
Col Kyaw Thet is assigned to lead the Klo Htoo Wah tactical group and Col Kyaw Bi Koh is assigned to lead Klo Htoo Lah, said San Aung. The DKBA also named Klo Htoo Baw as their headquarters in southern Karen State.
Brig-Gen Saw Lah Pwe will be the commander of the entire DKBA, according to San Aung. On Nov. 8, one day after Burma’s election, Saw Lah Pwe led DKBA Brigade 5 in resisting attacks by government troops after Brigade 5 briefly took control of some government buildings in Myawaddy.
The DKBA intends to cooperate on military matters with the Karen National Union (KNU) and it’s military wing, the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), another ethnic armed group that the DKBA broke away from in 1995. At the time, the DKBA signed a ceasefire agreement with the government, but the KNU/KNLA did not.
Htee Moo, a Karen social worker who is close to the DKBA, said that the DKBA top commanders reorganized their military tactics because more troops from the government’s Karen Border Guard Force have deserted to join the DKBA.
“The DKBA will increase fighting alongside its mother organization, the KNU, against the Burmese government troops,” said Htee Moo.
The DKBA is estimated to have more than 1,000 fighters and the KNLA is estimated to have about 4,000 troops.
Currently, fighting occurs almost every day in Karen State, said Htee Moo. Karen observers said that fighting in Karen State between government troops and Karen rebel groups will intensify in the future.
The DKBA earlier changed its military tactics to target urban areas where government offices and buildings are located, rather than fighting in the jungle.
By LALIT K JHA Thursday, September 8, 2011 WASHINGTON — Five prominent women Nobel laureates urged US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Wednesday to support the establishment of a United Nations Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into possible war crimes and crimes against humanity in Burma.
In an open letter, the five Nobel laureates—Mairead Maguire, Rigoberta Menchú Tum, Jody Williams, Shirin Ebadi and Wangari Maathai—called on Clinton to “publicly and unequivocally support” the establishment of a CoI during the upcoming UN General Assembly (UNGA) meeting in September.
The letter also urged the US to work with “all relevant governments” to include language in a UNGA resolution calling on UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to establish a CoI into “possible war crimes, crimes against humanity and serious human rights abuses and report back to the General Assembly at its next session.”
There was no immediate reaction from the State Department, but it is understood that the Obama administration is working closely with its international partners in this regard in New York. So far, as many as 16 countries have signed on in support of the CoI, first recommended by UN rights envoy to Burma Tomás Ojea Quintana last year.
“Your favorable vote—and leadership in gaining support—is needed to reach majority,” the Nobel laureates said, adding that they hoped Clinton would take a stand that could put Burma’s rulers on the long road to accountability and demonstrate that crimes against humanity and war crimes are not tolerated.
“A resolution calling for a Commission of Inquiry would lend tremendous support to the people of Burma who have been toiling for so long for an end to the injustice in their country, and be a most powerful deterrent against such acts being repeated by others, elsewhere, time and again,” they said.
In their letter, they also noted that despite elections last year and promises by Naypyidaw to institute democratic reforms, the newly installed government continues to perpetrate mass human rights abuses.
“Women have been particularly affected, with the state breaking a ceasefire and launching military offensives in northern Shan and Kachin [states],” they wrote.
“The military regime commits serious crimes against the ethnic populations with complete impunity. Dozens of women have been raped since January 2011, and refugees noted that government soldiers declared they were ordered to do so, adding to previous evidence of sexual violence as a weapon of war within Burma,” they said.
By WAI MOE Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Two leaders of the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) held talks with the United Wa State Army (UWSA) on Tuesday in Keng Tung, eastern Shan State, while First Vice President ex-Gen Tin Aung Myint Oo was visiting the area.
The talks are the first between Naypyidaw and Panghsang, headquarters of Burma’s largest ethnic armed group, since Thein Sein’s USDP government came into power on March 30.
According to sources close to the UWSA, ex-Col Aung Thaung and ex-Brig-Gen Thein Zaw, secretaries of the USDP, went to the town by the Burmese-Thai border as President Thein Sein’s “special liaisons.” The town is also headquarters of the Triangle Regional Military Command.
The UWSA delegation was led by Bao You Liang, brother of Wa leader Bao Youxiang, and traveled to Keng Tung with senior members including Zhou Guang and Le Zuliang.
Bao You Liang is in charge of Wa financial and economic affairs while Zhou Guang handles foreign relationships and Le Zuliang is information officer.
Both the government and UWSA have kept quiet on the topics discussed at the Keng Tung meeting. However, a source who spoke on condition of anonymity said talks were related to Naypyidaw’s recent letter to the UWSA and its close ally the National Democratic Alliance Army (NDAA), also known as the Mongla group.
Khuensai Jaiyen, the editor of Chiang Mai-based Shan Herald Agency for News, said the letters regard possible peace talks and aim to resolve any problems between Naypyidaw and the ethnic groups.
Referring to a local source, the Shan Herald Agency for News reported that the Wa leadership saw the letter as “a big disappointment.”
The UWSA, NDAA and most other ceasefire groups have had a tense relationship with the regime in Naypyidaw following their refusal to adopt the government’s Border Guard Force (BGF) proposal. Ethnic groups believe the plan involves disarming before a viable political solution has been found.
Meanwhile, Tin Aung Myint Oo is visiting Shan State this week for a meeting with a Pa-O ethnic group in Hopong which has agreed to join the BGF plan, according to a state-run newspaper The New Light of Myanmar.
“Local people are now enjoying the fruits of peace and stability [and the] prevalence of law and order. As such, they can peacefully undertake tasks for improvement of individual livelihoods,” Tin Aung Myint Oo was quoted as telling onlookers in Hopong, Shan State.
Repeating President Thein Sein’s words, Tin Aung Myint Oo added: “The president invites persons and organizations with different views at every opportune time to cooperate in serving the common interest that can benefit the state.”
While Naypyidaw attempts fresh talks with the UWSA, which retains close ties to Beijing, the regime is simultaneously launching military assaults and using psychological warfare against another key ethnic armed group of the Kachin Independence Army (KIA).
On Tuesday, state media reported that fighting between pro and anti-peace Kachin factions at a meeting in the KIA’s headquarters of Laiza left one person dead and a group leader injured.
However, KIA officials and local sources denied the report and said it was simply a government propaganda attempt.
Officials of the Northern Regional Military Command even contacted KIA leaders to invite them to attend government hospitals for treatment, claim Kachin sources.
“[Government military officials] knew the incident did not occur, but they still asked us as if there had been a big conflict. It was just the government’s psychological warfare,” said an official at the KIA War Office, adding that skirmishes between the KIA and government troops have increased in recent weeks.
“Historically, the former regime of the Burmese Socialist Programme Party did this kind of psychological propaganda warfare against the then biggest armed group of the Communist Party of Burma by running misreporting in state-run newspapers,” said Aung Kyaw Zaw, a Sino-Burmese border-based military observer who is close to ethnic groups.
The Burma Army has been facing resistance from KIA troops while it attempts to force another round-up for the BGF, with many government casualties reported since June.
By KO HTWE Thursday, September 8, 2011
In response to a parliamentary proposal regarding freedom of the media, Minister of Information Kyaw Hsan said on Wednesday it would bring “more disadvantages than advantages,” before he went on to astonish MPs with a half-hour recital from the Buddhist tales of the Jataka.
Speaking at the second session of the Lower House in Naypyidaw in response to a proposal by MP Thein Nyunt of Thingangyun Constituency in Rangoon that laws be enacted to protect the right of freely expressing and publishing opinions in the media, Kyaw Hsan said, “If press freedom is to be granted with a set of rules protecting the rights of freedom, there would be more disadvantages than advantages.”
According to state-run newspaper The New Light of Myanmar, he continued: “But if opinions are allowed to be expressed within a necessary framework, it would bring advantages to the nation.”
In a speech that observers said rambled on uninterrupted for nearly half an hour, Kyaw Hsan eulogized and patronized MPs, and recounted long passages from the ancient Hindic text of “550 Jataka Tales” and, in particular, the fable of the elephant king Saddan.
In the tale, the king offered flowers to his queen, but the flowers attracted red ants, which bit the queen, Kyaw Hsan told parliamentarians.
“What this means is that although the king wished to give flowers—representing media freedom—to his queen, the red ants, which are like the media, came down from the tree and bit her, causing much instability in the kingdom,” a Lower House MP explained to The Irrawaddy.
Eventually, the speaker of the Lower House Shwe Mann intervened, stating that Kyaw Hsan had exceeded his time limit, and that there were more matters to discuss.
Kyaw Hsan caused a stir in Burma last month when he broke down in tears at a press conference when talking about the danger to the Irrawaddy River caused by the Myitsone dam project.
Supposedly close to hardline Vice-president Tin Aung Myint Oo, Kyaw Hsan has allegedly used his position as minister of information to previously censor Shwe Mann’s speeches in state publications. He also stands accused of altering the remarks made in parliament by MPs when issuing parliamentary press releases for publication in the state media.
The fact that parliamentary rules require MPs’ proposals to be submitted to the house speaker at least 15 days in advance of the session is a hindrance to the parliamentarians’ ability to raise sensitive issues, said an observer.
While state media reports on the machinations of parliament, such as questions raised and answered, proposals discussed and bills submitted and approved, it does not report on sensitive or controversial issues such as the fact that Burma will run a deficit of about 2.2 trillion kyat (US $3.2 billion) in the 2011-2012 fiscal year, he said.
In addition, the state censorship board does not allow these types of issues to be reported in private journals, he added.
Burma’s second parliamentary session convened in Naypyidaw on Aug. 22. Under Burma’s 2008 Constitution, 110 seats in the Lower House of the Union Parliament, 56 in the Upper House and 222 in the State and Regional Parliaments are reserved for military appointees selected by the country’s armed forces chief.
Thursday, 08 September 2011 21:09 Myo Thein (Mizzima) – Historian and writer Than Myint Oo, the author of “The River of Lost Footsteps,” and National League for Democracy (NLD) General-Secretary Aung San Suu Kyi met at NLD headquarters in Rangoon on Thursday.
Than Myint Oo, a U.S. citizen who is the grandson of the late U Thant, a former secretary-general of the United Nations, requested to meet with Suu Kyi.
“He came to Rangoon for another affair, and he asked to meet her,” NLD spokesman Ohn Kyaing told Mizzima. “They met at 10:30 a.m., and the meeting lasted about thirty minutes.” No details of the meeting were disclosed.
Than Myint Oo is in Burma to attend a meeting of the Department for International Development which will be held at the British embassy in Rangoon.
Than Myint Oo received a Ph.D. in history from Cambridge University. “The River of Lost Footsteps” (in English) is a well-known cultural and political history of Burma.
Nevertheless, his book raised wide criticism among the Burmese opposition movement because it suggested that gradual change is inevitable as the country attempts to end its isolation, to promote trade, develop civil society and adopt systematic structural reform in the government.
Thursday, 08 September 2011 22:36 Ko Pauk
New Delhi (Mizzima) – Burma is experiencing serious problems that must be tackled urgently, and they are all interconnected, said the leader of the presidential political advisory group, Ko Ko Hlaing.
“We cannot say that only a specific issue should be tackled immediately. All the things that we need to do must be done urgently,” Ko Ko Hlaing told Mizzima.
“There are many issues,” he said. “They are connected with each other. For instance, in economics, regarding the exchange rate unification, we need to overhaul the banking system. Also, the commercial tax needs to be lowered,” said Ko Ko Hlaing.
“I want to express my views and ideas about how we can enhance development through recent changes and current circumstances,” he said, adding that the stability of the nation, its development and the move toward democracy should be balanced and in harmony.
“In accord with my desires, it would be best if there were no one in prison. But, unconditionally and immediately releasing all the people in prison may not be possible. There are ‘technical issues’ to be tackled,” he said.
A former military officer, Ko Ko Hlaing and outspoken, controversial writer Maung Su San, 84, will deliver a talk titled “The Political Situation in Burma in 2011” at the Orchid Hotel in Rangoon at noon on Saturday.
Maung Su San, who once said, “Politics is doing possible things,” wrote articles highlighting ‘political spaces’ and ‘political shifts’ in local periodicals.
Ko Ko Hlaing said that he welcomed any public talk by any person, but he does not get into arguments. “In accordance with the Buddha’s teaching, arguments can never bring benefits. I won’t be involved in arguments. I’m ready to work with others if we have a common ground and the same aim for the sake of the country. It’s important,” said Ko Ko Hlaing, who retired from the military as a General Staff Officer Grade I.
“Snap Shot” weekly journal and the Orchid Hotel organized the talk. Admission has been limited to 100 people and it is now fully booked, according to a journal staffer.
“The audience includes directors of companies, lawyers, and students from the Technological University,” she told Mizzima.
Thursday, 08 September 2011 21:37 Myo Thant
Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – The Burmese Upper House passed a Private School Bill on Wednesday, which could permit opening and operating middle schools and high schools, and the teaching of ethnic languages.
The bill, which passed unanimously, would allow ethnic groups to teach their language as an additional subject in private schools. It would require them to obtain approval from local education departments, said MPs who are familiar with the bill. The bill must now win approval in the Lower House.
The Private School Bill has eight chapters and 41 sections. According to the bill, private schools must teach their lessons in accord with the same curriculums and syllabuses laid down by the Ministry of Education, and they would be required to submit their lessons to the local Township Education Officer at least one-week in advance. The bill also requires that an assembly hall and sports ground be included in the private schools.
The bill does not allow opening and operating primary level schools in order to prevent the expansion of such schools, said Education Minister Dr. Mya Aye during deliberations on August 2.
Moreover, the bill bans foreign funding to the schools, and they must not be established and led by foreigners.
On behalf of the central government, the education minister introduced the bill on Wednesday, with instructions that, “Every private school must emphasize the non-disintegration of the Union, non-disintegration of the unity of the national races and the perpetuation of sovereignty.”
Violations of the law would carry a penalty of up to 3 years imprisonment and a 300,000 kyat (US$ 400) fine.
The bill will now be sent to the Lower House for deliberations. If passed by the Lower House, it will become law. The Education Ministry would then enact rules and detailed provisions and the law and rules would be published by the Parliament Bill Committee.
If the schools do not teach the same syllabuses and curriculum, they will not be covered under the Private School law. In addition, current boarding schools that are run as tuition classes must register as private schools in accordance with the new law, if it is approved.
MPs speculated that the ongoing sessions of the Lower House and Upper House would conclude at the end of this month.
By AFP
Published: 8 September 2011 Thai authorities have seized illegal drugs including heroin and methamphetamines worth an estimated $US33 million that are believed to have been smuggled from Burma, officials said on Thursday.
A military border taskforce, acting on a tip-off, said it set up a checkpoint in northern Chiang Rai province late on Wednesday.
Troops tried to stop a suspicious pickup truck but it managed to get away.
The vehicle and the drugs – including 95kg of crystal methamphetamine and 3.4kg of heroin – were later found abandoned. The suspects have not been caught.
By MARK FARMANER
Published: 8 September 2011
Much has been made of the flurry of initiatives by Thein Sein since he became president earlier this year, but his surprising enthusiasm for recycling seems to have gone unnoticed.
If the recent steps he has taken are examined in more detail, it turns out most are not new or as significant as many seem to think. Rather, they are recycled from his predecessors, Than Shwe and Ne Win.
On 31 March Thein Sein made a speech to parliament promising reforms – chiefly economic, not political. The fact that the speech got so much attention was surprising in itself. Thein Sein was on the ruling Council of the dictatorship for 14 years. The track record of the dictatorship in telling the truth during that time is amongst the worst in the world – they have lied in media, lied at international conferences, lied at the UN General Assembly, and lied to successive UN envoys, even when they knew those envoys were reporting back to the UN Security Council. For example, after his visit in November 2007, UN envoy Ibrahim Gambari faithfully reported back to the Security Council promises by the regime to halt arrests and release political prisoners. However, there were no releases, and the arrests continued. Since early 2007 Thein Sein, as prime minister, has been the main person responsible for telling lies on behalf of the dictatorship. There has been speculation that his experience and skill in dealing with the international community was one of the reasons Than Shwe picked him for the job.
Little attention was given to reasons Thein Sein gave for needing economic reform, such as “building military might” and that the “National Economy is associated with political affairs. If the nation enjoys economic growth, the people will become affluent, and they will not be under the influence of internal and external elements.” In his own words, Thein Sein’s stated motivation for economic change is strengthening the military and consolidating power, not tackling poverty.
It has been stated that Thein Sein’s promises of reform are new for a Burmese president, but they aren’t. The previous dictator, Than Shwe, made similar pledges, though without the high profile rhetoric. In fact, in 1992, when he became dictator, Than Shwe did more than just talk, he admitted there were political prisoners, and released more than 400 of them. This is in stark contrast to Thein Sein’s regime, which denies that political prisoners even exist.
Khin Nyunt, head of military intelligence and later prime minister under Than Shwe, also made regular promises of reform, in public and in private. Go back further and there are numerous examples of Ne Win, Burma’s first dictator, doing the same, often in similar grand speeches. Again, no genuine reforms followed.
The meeting held between Aung San Suu Kyi and Aung Kyi, the government minister appointed to liaise with her, was widely reported as the first meeting since the new government came to power, rather than their tenth meeting over a course of several years, which does not sound quite as significant. Another meeting followed, the eleventh.
In November 2002 Than Shwe boasted to Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi that Aung San Suu Kyi had met with government ministers on 13 occasions, and had met with a liaison officer an incredible 107 times. These meetings didn’t lead to political reforms.
There has also been an offer of ceasefire talks to armed ethnic political parties. This must have been received with incredulity by the Shan State Army–North and Kachin Independence Organisation. In March and June respectively they had been attacked by the Burmese Army for refusing to become Border Guard Forces under control of the Burmese army, breaking decades-long ceasefire agreements. The Burmese army has been targeting civilians in areas where it has broken ceasefire agreements, with soldiers killing, raping, looting and using forced labour.
Ceasefire offers which turn out to be highly conditional, or in effect amounting to demands to surrender, have been made by dictatorships in Burma dozens of times in the past 60 years. There is nothing new in this proposal to suggest it is genuine this time. But the call served its purpose, adding to the positive mood music and impression of change.
A rumour has also emerged that Thein Sein told an audience that political exiles could return home and help the country develop. Again some hailed this as a sign of change, even though no amnesty was offered, no laws that led to many of the exiles being jailed and forced to flee the country have been repealed, and military attacks of the kind which have forced hundreds of thousands of people to flee their homes have increased, not decreased.
Even if an offer of amnesty was made, again, it would not be new. Ne Win did the same back in 1980. Again it wasn’t a sign of any genuine change on the way.
With the constitution, elections, and release of Aung San Suu Kyi failing to persuade the US, EU and Canada to relax economic sanctions, and even ASEAN delaying a decision to have Burma as its chair in 2014, it obviously became clear to Thein Sein that he would have to do more to present an image of change. With a decision on the ASEAN chairmanship likely to be made before the end of the year, there is a sense of urgency. To be turned down would be a major blow to Thein Sein and the dictatorship.
This may help explain the flurry of activity. What is highly unlikely, given their track record and continuing actions, is that this has anything to do with genuine reform.
The dictatorship has successfully engaged in lies and delaying tactics for decades. They take superficial actions designed to present the impression that change could be round the corner, but that corner is never turned. All the evidence so far is that we are seeing more of the same. But what is taking place does present an opportunity. Now is not the time to adopt a wait and see approach, or for the usual softly, softly dialogue. A concerted international effort needs to be made, setting the dictatorship clear benchmarks and timelines for change. The international community has what the dictatorship wants, it has leverage. It is time to use it.
Mark Farmaner is director of Burma Campaign UK.
Published: 8 September 2011 Civil servants in northwestern Burma have been threatened with salary cuts by the chief minister of Chin state unless they labour weekly on efforts to prepare parts of a town for rejuvenation.
Civilians, including students, in Hpalam, Hakha and Htantalan townships have also been forced to work by Chief Minister Hung Ngai, according to the Chin Human Rights Organisation (CHRO).
It said that hundreds of people were ordered to “perform manual labour to clear various areas around the town” every Saturday morning since mid-July. Hpalam residents were also forced to porter for a local army battalion.
Reports of forced labour are common in Burma, although such high-level complicity is rarely documented. Hung Ngai is the most senior government official in Chin state, which borders India.
Physicians for Human Rights said in a report this year that human rights abuses in Chin state, one of the most isolated regions in Burma, were endemic.
“We found that government authorities may have killed an estimated 1,000 household members, tortured 3,800 individuals and raped 2,800 adults and children over the course of the 12-month reporting period” last year, Richard Solom, the group’s deputy director, told DVB in February.
CHRO spokesperson Salai Za Uk Ling said that aside from issues such as forced labour, the Chin struggled daily with persistent food shortages.
“Now that the new government is in office, we would like them to keep their word on the rule of law and protecting human rights,” he said, adding that the government’s promises of reform should be exemplified by Hung Ngai.