News & Articles on Burma
Wednesday, 07 September, 2011
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Two USDP Leaders Meet Wa Delegation
Govt. Blames KIO Demands for Lack of Peace
Is Burma’s HR Commission just another empty promise?
Journal Punished after Publishing Suu Kyi Interview
Cement Firms Seizing Land in Mon State
US Special Envoy to Make First Trip to Burma
China Pushes Ahead on Controversial Burma Pipelines
UN Burma Report Sees Opportunities, Calls For Action
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Two USDP Leaders Meet Wa Delegation
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. http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=22035
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Govt. Blames KIO Demands for Lack of Peace
By KO HTWE Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Minster of Information Kyaw San has blamed the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) for the lack of success in reaching a ceasefire agreement between the ethnic armed group and Burmese government.
He told a meeting of the Burmese Parliament's Lower House on Tuesday that KIO leaders have been making unreasonable demands despite “proper concessions” offered by Naypyidaw.
Referring to recent peace talks with the KIO, he said that “the state agreed to the wishes of the KIO as much as possible, but peace was impossible due to one-sided proposals of the armed group,” according to state-run newspaper The New Light of Myanmar.
His response came after Nan Wah Nu, MP for Kunhing Constituency in Shan State, asked the Lower House how the government intends to carry out plans for national reconciliation and internal peace.
“Similarly, looking back at some peace talks held in the past, armed groups take advantage of government ceasefires by extending their territory by force, extortion and speeding up anti-peace campaigns. That was why peace talks have failed to realize their goal,” said Kyaw San. “Some armed groups pretend to have peace talks in order to relieve their military and political problems in the short term.”
Kyaw San also said that Hluttaw representatives, including Nan Wah Nu, should not only urge the government to find peace but also advise armed groups to take the right stance and hold honest negotiations.
“Due to a lack of genuine will, we could not reach an agreement. The peace-making process relies to some extent on the true aspiration for peace and correct stance,” said Kyaw San.
But it appears that this was not everything the Burmese minister for information had to say on the issue.
“Some of Kyaw San words which insulted ethnic groups did not appear in the newspapers. That made me annoyed,” said a Lower House MP on condition of anonymity.
KIO Joint-Secretary La Nan told The Irrawaddy that he does not know what demands the government have acceded to and wants them to divulge the facts in detail.
“We have not taken any devious steps. After the fighting in June, we have consistently demanded a lasting peace to enable nationwide talks,” said La Nan.
He also denied the claim that the KIO's military wing, the Kachin Independence Army, conducted any campaign to extend their territory.
“As a minister, Kyaw San is making baseless remarks that can only damage the dignity of his position,” said La Nan.
The government is trying to arrange a new ceasefire agreement based on the undemocratic 2008 constitution. Under the plan, the only legitimate armed group would be the Burmese Army, or “Tatmataw,” and all other armed groups would exist under a Border Guard Force.
The KIO is trying to arrange a ceasefire agreement under the 1947 Panglong agreement and to arrange political dialogue through the United Nationalities Federal Council. The umbrella group represents 12 ethnic armies but the government accuses them of being one-sided and uncooperative.
Kyaw San also accused the KIO of destroying the 1994 ceasefire agreement with the Burmese government during a recent tearful press conference. http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=22034
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Is Burma’s HR Commission just another empty promise?
By Zin Linn Sep 07, 2011 3:55PM UTC
The Burmese government media announced Tuesday it has established a National Human Rights Commission to look into human rights violations
The New Light of Burma reported on September 5 that the 15-member commission is made up of diplomats, academics and former government officials, all of them are retired.
The committee was formed following the United Nations Human Rights Envoy to Burma Tomas Ojea Quintana’s visit last month. However, the government said it had already set up the commission before Quintana arrived. Quintana was allowed for the first time to visit prisoners at the notorious Insein Prison and meet with Burma’s Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.
In an interview with VOA’s Burmese service, Quintana said he welcomes the decision to establish the commission, but he also said that the commission must have independence and neutrality.
After a four-day tour of the country, Quintana said in a statement dated August 25 that he welcomed a number of initiatives by the nominally civilian government to improve a human rights record that Western leaders have strongly criticized and the United States has called abysmal.
He also mentioned ongoing charges of torture and other human rights abuses during his official interviews, as well as the use of prisoners as porters for the armed-forces, and the transfer of prisoners to far-flung prisons where their families cannot visit due to difficult communication.
Human rights groups have repeatedly condemned the situation in Burma, which still holds more than 2,000 political prisoners. They say they will wait and see if the commission is effective.
The State-media said the Myanmar National Human Rights Commission was formed with the following persons with a view to promoting and safeguarding fundamental rights of citizens described in the constitution of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar. The commission members are as follow:
(1) U Win Mra, Ambassador (Retd),Chairman; (2) U Kyaw Tint Swe, Ambassador (Retd), Vice-Chairman; (3) U Tun Aung Chein, Professor (Retd), Department of History, Member; (4) U Hla Myint, Ambassador (Retd), Member; (5) U Than Swe, Director-General (Retd), Forest Department, Member; (6) Dr Nyan Zaw,State Medical Officer (Retd), Member; (7) Dr Daw Than New, Professor (Retd), Department of Law, Member; (8) Daw Saw Khin Kyi, Professor (Retd), Department of International Relations, Member; (9) U Tin Nyo, Director-General (Retd), Basic Education Department, Member; (10) U Kwa Htiyo, State Law Officer (Retd), Member; (11) U Khin Maung Lay, Director (Retd), Labour Department, Member; (12) U Lapai Zawgun, Minister Counsellor (Retd), Member; (13) U Nyunt Swe, Deputy Director-General (Retd), Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Member; (14) Daw San San, Director (Retd), Labour Department,Member; (15) U Sit Myaing, Director-General (Retd), Social Welfare Department, Secretary.
Burma government representatives continue to deny any human rights violations, in direct contradiction to the facts on the ground. So, there remains serious doubt whether the newly formed government commission will deal with the facts and take action against human rights abuses in line with the laws. http://asiancorrespondent.com/64400/will-burma%E2%80%99s-national-human-rights-commission-stand-on-its-own-feet-independently/
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Journal Punished after Publishing Suu Kyi Interview
By BA KAUNG Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Burma's press censorship board has punished a Rangoon-based journal for violating the country's draconian media laws—apparently for publishing an interview with Aung San Suu Kyi and putting a large photograph of the pro-democracy leader on its front page.
Earlier this week, the weekly journal Messenger became the first local publication to receive permission to run an interview with Suu Kyi. The journal's latest issue quickly sold out because of the interview, according to local journalists.
However, on Wednesday, the Press Scrutiny and Registration Division (PSRD), Burma's state censorship board, informed the journal's editors that they would not be permitted to publish a regular supplement in the next issue of the journal because they had violated censorship rules.
The PSRD did not specify which rules had been broken, but local journalists said it appeared to be related to the large photograph of Suu Kyi on the front cover.
The supplement, which usually contains more up-to-date information than the journal itself, is important for generating sales.
The move comes amid a recent relaxation of control over media coverage of Suu Kyi, seen as part of the new, nominally civilian government's effort to reach out to the democratic opposition in a bid to win greater international recognition.
This week, the PSRD permitted another weekly, The People's Era, to publish an article written by Suu Kyi about her trip to the ancient Burmese capital of Pagan in July.
Journalists have also been allowed to attend recent parliamentary sessions in Napyidaw, albeit on the condition that they avoid reporting in a manner damaging to the “dignity of the Parliament and the State.”
Despite such signs that the government is opening up to greater public scrutiny, however, it continues to detain a number of reporters accused of working for exiled media outlets. http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=22031&page=2
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Cement Firms Seizing Land in Mon State
By LAWI WENG Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Villagers in Mon State have reported to The Irrawaddy that their rice paddies and rubber plantations were seized by a powerful cement company, which compensated them with a small fraction of the land value.
The land confiscations took place in January and February in and around the villages of Kaw-Pa-Naw and Kaw-Don in Kyaikmayaw Township in eastern Mon State. About 600 acres of paddy and 140 acres of rubber plantation were appropriated by John Cement Company, the villagers said.
Burma’s state-run media reported on Sept. 4, that John Cement Company and another private firm, BAC Phili Trading Company, had been granted concessions by the government to open two cement-making plants, each with a 1,000-ton daily capacity, in the Kyaikmayaw region.
According to Nai Aue Mon, a coordinator at the Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM), John Cement is a subsidiary of Zaykabar, the country's leading property developer, which is owned by powerful Burmese tycoon and military crony Khin Shwe.
The villagers said that representatives of John Cement offered payments of only 15,000 kyat (US $20) per acre for fallow land, and 150,000 kyat ($200) per acre for rice paddies.
Speaking toThe Irrawaddy by telephone from Kaw-Don village, one of the victims of the scheme, Nai Sein, said, “We can grow two harvests on our land—one season for rice and one for beans. I can sell the arable land for 700,000 kyat ($965) per acre, but they will only give me 150,000 kyat.”
A woman in Kaw-Don who did not want to be named said that about 10 percent of people in the village refused to accept financial compensation for their land.
She said the company representatives responded to those villagers by saying, “If you do not want the money—it's up to you.”
The villagers complained that there existed no mechanism for complaining about the land seizures, but several said that even those who accepted the compensation still wanted to contest the land appropriation.
According to HURFOM, which is based in Thailand, the two cement companies earlier this year measured out and demarcated hundreds of acres of land in Kaw-Don, Kaw-Pa-Naw and Ni Don villages for cement production.
It said the firms had conducted surveys and taken soil samples from the area.
At the end of 2010, the Zaykabar Company confiscated 800 acres of land in Ni Don, which is also in Kyaikmayaw Township, to build a cement plant. The company invariably paid low rates of compensation to the victims of land appropriation in Ni Don, according to HURFOM.
With regard to rubber plantations, the companies have set rates at: owners of plantations which have been in production for up to three years receive 800,000 kyat ($1,100) per acre; those that have produced rubber for up to seven years get two million kyat ($2,750) per acre.
“We can sell one acre of rubber plantation with seven years' growth for as much as 10 million kyat ($13,800),” said Nai Shwe, a villager in Kaw-Pa-Naw.
About 460 rubber plantation owners in Kaw-Pa-Naw and Kaw-Don signed a petition which was sent earlier this year to the government in Naypyidaw and to the Southeast Military Regional Command in Moulmein.
According to the villagers, there are 2,700 acres of rubber plantation in Kaw-Pa-Naw and Kaw-Don villages. However, 140 acres have been seized since they sent the petition.
An ethnic Mon Buddhist monk in Kaw-Pa-Naw said, “The companies will take more and more land to meet their plans. But they will not take all the land at once, because the authorities are worried about an uprising.”
Meanwhile, rumors are rife that BAC Phili Trading Company plans to open another cement-making plant in nearby Kwan Ngarm village.
“They come and measure the land every day,” said villager Nai Win. “We heard that they are going to take about 1,000 acres of land.
“I will probably find out within the next two days if my rubber plantation will be confiscated,” he said.
“We have nothing left for our livelihoods,” he said. “We don't know what to do or where to go.
“Our lives will likely end with us working here as slaves for these companies,” he said. http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=22032
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US Special Envoy to Make First Trip to Burma
By LALIT K JHA Wednesday, September 7, 2011
The US special representative and policy coordinator for Burma, Derek Mitchell, will begin his first trip to Burma on September 9. During the visit he will meet top government and opposition leaders, including Aung San Suu Kyi, the US State Department announced Tuesday.
“His trip is intended to build upon US dialogue and engagement toward shared goals of genuine reform, reconciliation and development for the Burmese people,” the State Department said on the eve of his departure.
Mitchell is scheduled to leave Washington on Wednesday (US time) to begin his nearly week-long trip.
“During his trip, he looks forward to meeting with a full spectrum of Burmese society, including government officials, members of political parties, local civil society organizations and others,” the State Department said.
Mitchell will attend meetings in Burma’s capital of Naypyidaw on Sept. 9-10 and then in Rangoon from Sept. 10-14. He plans to consult with officials in Bangkok on Sept. 14-15 and Jakarta on Sept. 16-17.
His visit comes a few weeks after the nominally-civilian government in Naypyidaw showed signs that it wants to reach out to critics and improve relations with the international community. Last month, Suu Kyi had a meeting with President Thein Sein in Naypyidaw, which Suu Kyi later described as encouraging.
The US welcomed these developments, but said that it will judge the situation in Burma by the steps the government takes “to open democratic space,” and not by mere talks.
Meanwhile, officials at the UN headquarters in New York said there is no immediate plan to appoint a UN Special Representative on Burma. The post has been vacant since January 20010, and in the interim the position is being occupied by Vijay Nambiar.
UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon is scheduled to hold a meeting of his Group of Friends in Burma later this month during the annual session of the General Assembly. http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=22030
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China Pushes Ahead on Controversial Burma Pipelines
by Rachel Cernansky, Boulder, Colorado on 09. 6.11
Business & Politics
A report released today criticizes China's plans for two pipelines that will pump natural gas from Burma's offshore reserves, and oil from the Middle East and Africa, both across the country and into China. The pipelines will not only fuel conflict, the report says, but will wipe out hope for one of the world's poorest countries to benefit from the resources, as well as jeopardize the fishing and farming livelihoods of the people who live near the gas terminal.
The report, Sold Out, is put out by the Shwe Gas Movement, which was started by Burmese individuals and organizations affected by the pipeline and extraction plan.
Sold Out details the construction of a deep sea port, gas terminal, and oil transfer point in Burma's western Arakan State, as well as the nearly 800 kilometers of pipes that will be installed. The China National Petroleum Corporation, along with Korean and Burmese companies, are pushing ahead on construction despite outbreaks of armed conflict near the pipeline route, according to the Shwe Gas Movement, which continues:
The Burma Army has launched offensives to clear ethnic resistance forces out of resource-rich areas in northern Kachin and Shan states since March 2011. The battles have left an estimated 50,000 newly displaced.
Thirty-three army battalions are currently deployed along the pipeline corridor, naval patrols guard offshore construction, and a missile complex is being built next to the deep sea port.
Selling Out the Country's Future
The report says that the trillions of cubic feet of natural gas that will be extracted, if used domestically, could "transform Burma's failing economy, addressing chronic energy shortages and unaffordable petrol prices that led to uprisings in 2007."
Instead, the estimated $29 billion worth of gas will be piped across the country to China, "swallowed up by a fiscal black hole that omits gas revenues from the national budget," and fueling additional conflict along the way as fighting picks up between armed resistance groups and government troops near the pipeline corridor in northern Burma.
It adds that local people are only able to secure low-wage, temporary, and unsafe jobs on the project and that 60 workers so far have been fired for demanding better wages at the Onshore Gas Terminal site.
"Companies are ignoring widespread abuses and worsening civil war," said Wong Aung of the Shwe Gas Movement. "The regime is selling out our economic future to China." http://www.treehugger.com/files/2011/09/china-pushes-ahead-controversial-burma-pipelines.php
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UN Burma Report Sees Opportunities, Calls For Action
Posted Wednesday, September 7th, 2011 at 12:30 am
The U.N. secretary general says this year's change of government in Burma has created opportunities for a more inclusive national discourse in the country, but adds that it is too early to say whether real change is occurring.
In a report to the United Nations General Assembly this week, Ban Ki-moon says last November's elections, while flawed, and disappointing to many participants, have allowed a resumption of legal political activity after almost five decades of military rule.
Mr. Ban welcomes promises of reform from Burma's President Thein Sein, but says the real test will be whether they are implemented in a timely manner. He also notes the release from prison of pro-democracy campaigner Aung San Suu Kyi and her ability now to engage in public activities. He warns that any restrictions on her movements would “cause serious concern.”
Mr. Ban says in his human rights report on Burma that the detention of political prisoners is “of deepest concern” to the United Nations and the international community. He says their continued imprisonment will undermine all efforts by the new government to win the confidence of other countries.
In conclusion, the secretary general says it is still to be seen whether the Burmese government has the capacity and will to deliver on its reform agenda. He says he is ready to explore with Burma and its international partners how the U.N. can help to bring about effective reform. http://blogs.voanews.com/breaking-news/2011/09/07/un-burma-report-sees-opportunities-calls-for-action/
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Thursday, September 8, 2011
News & Articles on Burma-Wednesday, 07 September, 2011-UZL
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
News & Articles on Burma -Tuesday, 06 September, 2011-UZL
News & Articles on Burma
Tuesday, 06 September, 2011
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Free political prisoners in Myanamar: Indian MPs
Burma is selling out its future to China
RPT-China pipelines threaten Myanmar economic security-NGO
Nai Mya Thi, member of Mon ‘Twenty Comrades,’ dies
EU diplomats to be briefed on Burma ahead of human rights meeting
Human Rights Commission Met with Skepticism
Burma's State Media Reports Shoot-out Between Kachin Leaders
Exiled Journalist Detained after Returning to Rangoon
Deep-sea Port, Pipelines Have 'Devastating Impact': Shwe Gas
Myanmar National Human Rights Commission formed
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Free political prisoners in Myanamar: Indian MPs
Calcutta News.Net
Tuesday 6th September, 2011 (IANS)
More than 100 Indian MPs have urged the Myanmar president to free more than 2,000 political prisoners.
The appeal has been made by Ram Jethmalani, convener of the Indian Parliamentarians' Forum for Democracy in Burma (IPFDB), and members of the group.
They are backing a call from Myanmar democratic leader and Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi for the release of political prisoners.
There are still more than 2,000 political prisoners in prisons in Myanmar, and many are in deplorable conditions, the group said.
Most of them have been sentenced to 65 years and more, it said.
'We, Indian parliamentarians, hope to see a genuine democratic system in Burma and ... call upon the government to release all political prisoners in the country.
'Their release will be a positive step in the spirit of conciliation and dialogue that Burma now needs.' http://www.calcuttanews.net/story/839194/ht/Free-political-prisoners-in-Myanamar-Indian-MPs
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Burma is selling out its future to China
By Zin Linn Sep 06, 2011 10:08PM UTC
The Shwe Gas Movement and The Palaung Women’s Organization held a press conference today at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand in Bangkok. During the press conference, a new report entitled “SOLD OUT” was also released by the Shwe Gas Movement.
The report details the expending construction of a deep seaport, gas terminal and oil transfer point in Burma’s Arakan State as well as placing of nearly 800-kilometer pipe-line. Allowing freely of China pipeline project has become the cause of human rights abuses across the country. Dual pipelines across the country will become major structure pumping Burma’s natural-gas reserves as well as oil from middle-east and Africa to feed energy greedy China.
The 6,600 government soldiers to guard a corridor for the pipelines deployed from western coastline of Burma to north-eastern Sino-Burma border. The deployment risks growing abuses and ethnic instability, according to the report – Sold Out – by the Shwe Gas Movement.
Wong Aung of the Shwe Gas Movement explained the situation on the ground during the press panel that thousands of acres of farm lands have been confiscated in Arakan and Shan states as well as Magwe and Mandalay divisions to clear areas for the pipeline and associated infrastructure.
Fields have also been made unreachable; on Ramree Island the amount of land classified as “restricted access” by local authorities has recently increased in the areas around Sichoun, Sittaw and Ngagamaw villages. Construction equipment and trucks have ridden roughshod over fields, destroying crops and damaging soils. Some farmers have been prevented from harvesting crops in fields adjacent to construction areas. Companies have also dumped waste materials on paddy lands, the report says.
“Companies are ignoring widespread abuses and worsening civil war,” said Wong Aung.
Lway Aye Nang of the Palaung Women’s Organization highlighted the evil impacts of the civil war along the Chinese pipeline areas where Burmese soldiers committed rapes, murders, lootings and forced-laboring.
“The investors should pull out now before the project blows up in their faces,” Wong Aung added.
According to the Shwe Gas Movement group, the natural gas should be used domestically to transform deteriorating economy of the country. Due to fuel shortage and transportation prices increasing, a protest grew into the saffron revolution in 2007, the report said.
Burma’s Special Economic Zone Law was enacted in 2011 with the aim of encouraging more foreign direct investment and offers special concessions and tax incentives to companies investing in these zones. The law specifies that investors have a duty to increase the number of skilled “locals” to 25% ten years into the project, the report points out.
However “local” is defined as “national,” as a result there is no guarantee for local people to enjoy job opportunities. Land speculation and confiscation pushes out locals.
As corrupt officials and businessmen rival for major real-estate near special economic zones and land prices skyrocket, local people are forced off their lands by a “market-based forced relocation.” At the same time outright confiscation of lands in the zone by military authorities is ongoing in the Kyauk Phyu Special Economic Zone.
The report urged corporations such as China National Petroleum Corp and South Korea’s Daewoo International to withdraw from the projects, which will ship natural gas from Burma and oil from the Middle East and Africa to China.
As a final point, the Shwe gas movement accused the Burmese government of selling out the country’s economic future to China. The use of country’s natural gas domestically could change Burma into an economically healthy nation, it gave a positive message. http://asiancorrespondent.com/64349/burma-is-selling-out-its-future-to-china/
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RPT-China pipelines threaten Myanmar economic security-NGO
Tue Sep 6, 2011 3:28am EDT
(Reuters) - Controversial oil and gas pipelines spanning Myanmar will deprive its people of billions of dollars worth of their own resources and risk sparking armed conflict that threatens energy security for neighboring China, activists said on Tuesday.
Chinese-led construction of a combined 3,900 km (2,420 miles) of pipelines has displaced thousands of people and damaged livelihoods of farmers and fishermen, prioritising China's growing energy needs before those of the Burmese people, the Thailand-based Shwe Gas Movement said.
The project involves the state-owned China National Petroleum Corporation , India's ONGC Videsh and South Korea's Daewoo International .
Its construction, which began in June, has led to human rights violations from beatings, forced labour and rape to unlawful imprisonment and forced eviction, the non-governmental organisation said in a report entitled "Sold Out".
The Shwe project, it said, would earn Myanmar's government just $1 billion a year for the next 30 years and was doing nothing to address the acute domestic power shortages.
"The 'Shwe' offshore fields will produce trillions of cubic feet of natural gas that could be used to spur economic and social development in one of the world's least developed nations," it said.
"Instead it will be piped across the country to China, fuelling abuses and conflict in its path."
RISKY INVESTMENT
The pipelines, due for completion in 2013, are a major factor behind Myanmar's close ties with economic heavyweight China.
China enjoys easy access to its neighbour's abundant and cheap resources, with barely any competition from Western firms, most of which have stayed on the sidelines due to sanctions on Myanmar.
The relationship covers opaque deals worth billions of dollars in energy, mining, transport, telecommunications and construction that critics say will have only limited benefits for Myanmar's 50 million people. Many in Myanmar live below the poverty line and have watched their country wilt under five decades authoritarian military rule.
An estimated 12 million cubic metres of Burmese natural gas will be transported annually through a 2,800-km pipeline running deep into southwest China to generate electricity. A further 22 million tonnes of oil originating from the Middle East and Africa will flow into China through another 1,100-km pipeline.
The group warned firms to think twice about investing in Myanmar's energy sector because of festering political conflicts with the country's armed ethnic groups. It cited attacks by separatists in May that temporarily halted operations on a hydropower plant, leaving 30 Chinese engineers trapped.
More than 6,000 Burmese troops had been deployed to provide security, and the decision to build the pipelines close to the rebellious border states of Kachin and Shan presented a high risk of protracted conflict and severing of energy supplies.
"Armed conflict can break out at any time, posing enormous risks to foreign investments," the group said.
"Projects may be delayed and or temporarily or permanently halted due to conflict and the safety of project personnel suddenly brought into question." (Reporting Martin Petty; Editing by Yoko Nishikawa) http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/09/06/myanmar-china-pipelines-idUSL3E7K51NN20110906?rpc=401&feedType=RSS&feedName=rbssEnergyNews&rpc=401
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Nai Mya Thi, member of Mon ‘Twenty Comrades,’ dies
Tuesday, 06 September 2011 12:03 Kun Chan
Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – One of the last surviving members of the "Twenty Comrades," the first Mon revolutionary armed group, died of natural causes in Thailand on Sunday.
Nai Mya Thi, 85, who was one of the last survivors of the “Twenty comrades,” served as a patron of Mon social organizations in the Sangkhlaburi District in Kanchanaburi Province.
In 1958, when the Mon People's Front revolutionary armed group surrendered to the Burmese Anti-Fascist People's Freedom League’s government, Mon leaders of the group formed the New Mon State Party (NMSP). Nai Mya Thi did not join the group, but the leaders of New Mon State Party recognized him as a Mon revolutionary leader.
“He is a leader who sowed the seeds of revolution. Our New Mon State Party mourns his death,” said Lieutenant Colonel Nyan Tun, a NMSP foreign affairs official.
Nai Mya was born in 1926 in Mawkanin village in Ye Township in Mon State. He left school at grade 7. In 1947, when he was 21, he worked as a secretary and canvasser for the Mon Independence Group organized by Nai Ba Lwin [New Mon State Party chairman Nai Shwe Kyin].
On August 19, 1948, he was involved in a raid on the Zathapyin Police Station to seize weapons. The date is celebrated as Mon Revolutionary Day.
Under the Anti-Fascist People's Freedom League government, he worked in the Mon Language programme at Myanmar Radio.
He was a member of the Mon National Defence Organization.
He was imprisoned in Mawlamyaing Prison for two years, and he was detained in Rangoon in 1957.
His wife, Mi Ban Aung, three children and seven grandchildren survive him. His body will be cremated at a monastery in Sangkhlaburi on Wednesday afternoon, according to his family. http://www.mizzima.com/news/regional/5887-nai-mya-thi-member-of-mon-twenty-comrades-dies.html
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EU diplomats to be briefed on Burma ahead of human rights meeting
Tuesday, 06 September 2011 18:17 Mizzima News
Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – The International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI) and NGO groups plan to discuss the call for a Commission of Inquiry (COI) into war crimes in Burma with European Union (EU) diplomats ahead of a European Council meeting on human rights in Brussels on Monday.
UN special envoy Tomas Ojea Quintana will speak to EU representatives about war crimes and crimes against humanity in Burma. In this file photo, he reads a press statement while on a visit to Burma. Photo: Mizzima
UN special envoy Tomas Ojea Quintana will speak to EU representatives about war crimes and crimes against humanity in Burma. In this file photo, he reads a press statement while on a visit to Burma. Photo: Mizzima
The institute has arranged the meeting for diplomats on Tuesday with the aim to discuss the urgent need for the establishment of a United Nations COI into war crimes and crimes against humanity in Burma, according to a press release.
To this end, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Burma, Tomás Ojea Quintana, together with a representatives from Burma Campaign UK; the Burma Lawyers’ Council and the International Federation of Human Rights and Human Rights Watch will brief EU diplomats.
The meeting is scheduled ahead of a EU representatives gathering at the Meeting of the Human Rights Working Group of the European Council to discuss, among other human rights issues, the UN General Assembly resolution on Burma for 2011, which must include a provision for a COI if its establishment is to be realized in the near future, according to the press release.
The experts will summarize the current human rights situation in Burma, taking into account recent political developments there, and explain why a COI is the best way forward for deterring the commission of further crimes––reported as murder, systematic rape, sexual violence, torture, the recruitment of children as soldiers, warrantless detention, widespread forced relocations and forced labour ––and ensuring justice for victims. The technicalities of such a COI, including the terms of reference, will also be discussed, according to the institute.
In comments provided before the meeting, Dr. Mark Ellis, executive director of the International Bar Association, said: “The Burmese people have suffered grave human rights violations for more than 20 years. The perpetrators act with immunity in an environment absent of action by the international community. The United Nations General Assembly should act promptly and decisively to establish a UN COI into human rights abuses in Burma.
“A transparent, impartial and independent UN commission of inquiry is an established tool for investigating allegations of international crimes committed by all parties to a conflict,” he said. “Establishing a commission for Burma would be a crucial and long overdue step in bringing accountability to Burma.” http://www.mizzima.com/news/breaking-and-news-brief/5890-eu-diplomats-to-be-briefed-on-burma-ahead-of-human-rights-meeting.html
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Human Rights Commission Met with Skepticism
By KO HTWE Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Burmese human rights groups have greeted news of the creation of a “Myanmar National Human Rights Commission” (MNHRC) with doubts about how independent the new body will be and questions about key members, who include past defenders of the country's human rights record.
The MNHRC was officially formed on Monday to promote and safeguard the fundamental rights of citizens in accordance with the 2008 Constitution, Burma's state-run media reported on Tuesday. The 15-member body includes retired senior officials, diplomats, academics, doctors and lawyers.
The chairman and vice chairman of the commission are retired ambassadors Win Mra and Kyaw Tint Swe, while its secretary is Sit Myaing, the retired director general of the Social Welfare Department.
“I am skeptical about whether the commission will speak based on the truth and take action against human rights violations in accordance with the law,” said Aung Myo Min, the director of the Thailand-based Human Rights Education Institute of Burma.
Aung Myo Min said it was doubtful that a human rights body led by former officials who have defended the country against criticism of its human rights record in the past would act independently of the government.
Win Mra once told a UN gathering that there was no religious discrimination in Burma, and also insisted that there was no such racial group as the Rohingya—a Muslim minority living in Arakan State—in the country.
As the Burmese representative of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Human Rights Commission, Kyaw Tint Swe was often unwilling to discuss rights restrictions in Burma, added Aung Myo Min.
At a Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of Burma's human rights situation by the United Nations Human Rights Council, Burmese representatives continued to deny reports of forced labor, sexual violence against women and other abuses perpetrated by the country's military.
At the UPR meeting in January, the Burmese delegation said that accusations of widespread rights violations, especially in ethnic areas, were “baseless and merely aimed at discrediting the Burmese armed forces.”
Despite these denials, however, there are many well-documented cases of human rights abuses in Burma, including land confiscation, forcible recruitment of child soldiers, forced labor and rape and murder of ethnic civilians in conflict zones.
Maung Maung Lay, of the Rangoon-based Human Rights Defenders and Promoters group, said he welcomed the creation any organization seeking to promote human rights, but would have to wait and see whether the new commission acted in an independent manner.
In the 1990s, Burma's ruling junta formed a human rights committee led by Home Affairs Minister Col Tin Hlaing, and later by Maj-Gen Maung Oo. http://irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=22025
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Burma's State Media Reports Shoot-out Between Kachin Leaders
By BA KAUNG Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Burmese state media alleged that a deadly shoot-out took place during a recent meeting of top Kachin rebel leaders due to differing views on ceasefire negotiations with the government, but the report was rejected as propaganda by the rebel leaders.
According to reports in the state-run newspapers on Tuesday, the deadly shoot-out occurred at a meeting of Kachin Independence Army (KIA) leaders held on Thursday in Laiza, Kachin State, where the 10,000-strong ethnic armed group has its military headquarters.
The reports said that the incident left one KIA leader dead and one wounded. It was alleged to have occurred due to different views among KIA leaders over renewing the group's ceasefire agreement with the Burmese government. The reports also said that KIA military chief Gun Shawng and his deputy, Gun Maw, were present at the meeting.
The reports came amidst growing obstacles in the efforts by the KIA and the Burmese government to renew the ceasefire agreement, which collapsed following armed clashes between the two sides in June near the Chinese border.
Col. Zau Raw, a top KIA official who along with Gun Maw participated in previous discussions with the Burmese government, rejected the report of violence at the meeting as a sheer propaganda effort aimed at misleading the people about the KIA leadership.
“The report is really outrageous. Nothing of that sort happened,” he said, adding that he and Gun Maw were on a trip together on the day when the alleged incident took place, and that the daily meeting of top KIA leaders, including Gun Maw, was held in Laiza today.
“The government wants to create confusion among our troops about their leaders. This is totally baseless,” he said.
During the past few days, several posters were put up by unknown people in Kachin State alleging that Gun Maw had been killed during internecine fighting among the KIA leadership. It is suspected that the posters were made and distributed upon the instruction of local government officials.
In discussions with Naypyidaw, the KIA's political wing, the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO), has demanded that the government open an inclusive political dialogue with all ethnic armed groups based on the pre-independence 1947 Panglong Agreement, which guaranteed ethnic minorities basic autonomy in a federal state—a promise that never materialized.
But Naypyidaw has insisted that the KIA join its border guard force under the central command of the Burmese army, and that the KIO participate in the national political process under the terms of the 2008 Constitution, which was drafted by the previous military regime.
While a renewed ceasefire remains uncertain, sporadic armed clashes between the government and the KIA continue to take place in the strategic region along the China-Burma border. http://irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=22024
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Exiled Journalist Detained after Returning to Rangoon
By WAI MOE Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Sein Kyaw Hlaing, a veteran Burmese journalist working in exile for the BBC Burmese Service (BBC Burmese) and Radio Free Asia (RFA), was reportedly detained and interrogated in Rangoon after accepting President Thein Sein's offer to exiles to return home.
Sein Kyaw Hlaing, who became well-known by Burmese audiences while working as a broadcaster for the BBC Burmese in the1990s, was reportedly detained by Burmese secret service officers shortly after he arrived at the Rangoon International Airport in late August, one of his friends told The Irrawaddy on Tuesday.
“I heard he [Sein Kyaw Hlaing] negotiated his return home with Burmese officials in Mae Sot after Thein Sein made his comments about exiles,” she said. “He was reportedly detained shortly after he landed at the Rangoon airport. He is now believed to be at the Aung Tha Pyay interrogation center of the Special Branch.”
It has not been disclosed whether Sein Kyaw Hlaing would be charged or just detained for interrogation.
On August 17, Thein Sein told Burmese businessmen and civic group officials: “We will conduct a review to make sure that Myanmar [Burmese] citizens living abroad can return home if they have not committed any crime.” However, the president did not clarify what the regime's definition of a “crime” was.
An official of the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that although President Thein Sein invited exiles to return home, old laws still remain and the ability of exiles to go home without fear still yet unkown.
While he worked with BBC, Sein Kyaw Hlaing was notable for his business reporting. With the Washington-based RFA, he covered the affairs of the ruling generals and ministers. One minister he reported on was Aung Thaung, a leader of the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party and former minister of Industry-1.
After working with the RFA, Sein Kyaw Hlaing became the editor of the New Era Journal based in Thailand. Currently, he is an outside contributor for RFA. http://irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=22022
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Deep-sea Port, Pipelines Have 'Devastating Impact': Shwe Gas
By SAW YAN NAING Tuesday, September 6, 2011
BANGKOK—The construction of China's deep-sea port off the Arakan coast, and the laying of gas and oil pipelines across Burma is having a devastating impact on thousands of people and the environment, according to a report released on Tuesday.
The report by the Shwe Gas Movement, titled “Sold Out,” said the ongoing projects, which involve Chinese, Korean and Burmese cooperation, have directly affected 80,000 people displaced along the 800-km (500 mi) pipeline route.
The dual pipelines will pump Burma’s natural gas reserves as well as oil transported from the Middle East and Africa across the country to feed China’s energy needs.
“The regime is selling our economic future to China,” said Wong Aung of the Shwe Gas Movement at a press conference in Bangkok on Tuesday.
While China takes energy from Burma, some 79 percent of Burmese people live without electricity, said Wong Aung, quoting regional energy research.
The report stated that widespread land confiscation—to make way for the pipeline corridor—is leaving farmers jobless while fishing grounds are now off limits, contributing to rising migration.
Local people are able to secure only low-wage, temporary and unsafe jobs on the project. They are banned from demanding fair wages. To date, 60 workers at the onshore Gas Terminal site alone have been fired for demanding fair wages, said the report.
Wong Aung said that 33 Burmese army battalions are currently deployed along the pipeline corridor in Arakan and Shan states. Naval patrols guard offshore construction, and a missile complex is also being built next to the deep-sea port.
The Burmese government has ordered its troops to launch offensives to clear ethnic armed groups out of resource-rich areas in northern Kachin and Shan States since March 2011, leaving thousands of people displaced, according to the report.
Wong Aung said that lands have been confiscated along the pipeline route and 80,000 people in 21 townships have been directly affected.
From a human rights perspective, Lway Aye Nang of the Palaung Women’s Organization said that local villagers have already experienced forced labor, forced relocation and land confiscations in the Palaung area of Shan State.
“Some plantations were seized even though the owners didn’t know,” said Lway Aye Nang, adding that the new government takes no responsibility for the affected people.
The report also tackled environmental issues. The clearing of forest areas and animal corridors for the pipeline route and the potential for explosions and leaks could impact areas across the country, it said.
Shwe Gas Movement said oil spills and refuse disposal off the coast endanger the entire catchment area of the Bay of Bengal, while fuel discharge as well as oil leaks and spills from the tankers offloading at the deep-sea port would have devastating impacts on the coastal ecosystem, particularly mangrove forests.
The development of large-scale petrochemical facilities on Remree and Maday islands increases the likelihood of deadly spills or the outright dumping of toxic materials into the sea and local waterways.
The construction project incorporating the deep-sea port, the gas terminal and oil transfers involves the China National Petroleum Corporation and companies from South Korea and Burma. Despite the outbreak of armed conflicts, the companies, however, have speeded up the construction.
The report said the natural gas, if used domestically, would transform Burma’s failing economy, addressing chronic energy shortages and unaffordable petrol prices that led to uprisings in 2007. The gas will instead be exported and revenues from the sale of gas—estimated at US $29 billion—will be swallowed up by a fiscal black hole that omits gas revenues from the national budget.
“The investors should pull out now before the project blows up in their faces,” said Wong Aung. http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=22023
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New Light of Myanmar
Myanmar National Human Rights Commission formed
NAY PYI TAW, 5 Sept-The Union Government of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar issued Notification No. 34/2011 dated 5-9-2011 as follows:-
Republic of the Union of Myanmar
Union Government
Notification No. (34/2011)
8th Waxing of Tawthalin1373 ME
(5 September, 2011)
Formation of Myanmar National Human Rights Commission
Myanmar National Human Rights Commission was formed with the following persons with a view to promoting and safeguarding fundamental rights of citizens described in the constitution of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar.
(a) U Win Mra
Ambassador (Retd)
Chairman
(b) U Kyaw Tint Swe
Ambassador (Retd)
Vice-Chairman
(c) U Tun Aung Chein
Professor (Retd), Department of History
Member
(d) U Hla Myint
Ambassador (Retd)
Member
(e) U Than Swe
Director-General (Retd), Forest Department
Member
(f) Dr Nyan Zaw
State Medical Officer (Retd)
Member
(g) Dr Daw Than Nwe
Professor (Retd), Department of Law
Member
(h) Daw Saw Khin Kyi
Professor (Retd), Department of International Relations
Member
(i) U Tin Nyo
Director-General (Retd), Basic Education Department
Member
(j) U Kwa Htiyo
State Law Officer (Retd)
Member
(k) U Khin Maung Lay
Director (Retd), Labour Department
Member
(l) U Lapai Zawgun
Minister Counsellor (Retd)
Member
(m) U Nyunt Swe
Deputy Director-General (Retd), Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Member
(n) Daw San San
Director (Retd), Labour Department
Member
(0) U Sit Myaing
Director-General (Retd), Social Welfare Department
Secretary
By order,
Tin Myo Kyi
Secretary
Union Government
Copyright © 2006 myanmar.com. All rights reserved.
Monday, September 5, 2011
News & Articles on Burma -Sunday, 04 September, 2011-UZL
News & Articles on Burma
Sunday, 04 September, 2011
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Suu Kyi's First Article for 23 Years Published in Burma
Govt Army Accused of Planting Landmines around Kachin Church
Burmese Supreme Court to be asked to order halt to Myitsone Dam project
WikiLeaks Cables Show China's Support for UWSA
Myanmar, NKorea traded rice for arms: US cable
Go on, Thein Sein, surprise us
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Suu Kyi's First Article for 23 Years Published in Burma
By WAI MOE Monday, September 5, 2011
Pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi has published her first article in the Burmese media for 23 years on the front page of Pyithu Khit News Journal, while Messenger News also ran an exclusive interview with the Nobel Laureate as its cover story.
Pyithu Khit (People’s Era) was permitted by the Burmese censorship board—the Press Scrutiny and Registration Division under the Ministry of Information—to publish Suu Kyi’s article entitled Holiday-1 in this week's edition, according to journalists and distributors in Rangoon.
An official at Pyithu Khit Journal told The Irrawaddy on Monday that they also carried a piece by one of her close aides—veteran journalist Win Tin’s old article on Suu Kyi’s father Aung San.
“We applied at the censorship board for the right to publish the article and they allowed it. There was not much difficulty during the process,” he added.
The other publication receiving the green light from the censorship board, headed by former military officers, is Messenger News Journal. It is run by Zaw Min Aye, son of ex-Lt-Gen Tin Aye who is currently chairman of the Union Election Commission and former chief of Military Ordinance.
The censoring process for Suu Kyi’s interview took around 10 months before permission was granted.
“The interview with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi took place in December 2010 [shortly after her release from house arrest]. Since then we have been applying for permission to publish the interview at the censorship board,” said an official with Messenger Journal who spoke on condition of anonymity.
“The censorship board cut all references to politics, which amounted to around 75 percent of the interview, but allowed issues related to youth,” he added.
In this week's issue, Pyithu Khit used Suu Kyi’s photo alongside her son Htain Lin and his dog. It was taken during her trip to Pagan in July.
The granting of permission for Suu Kyi’s article and interview to appear with front page photos comes soon after her first trip to Naypyidaw and talks with President Thein Sein on August 19-20. She was invited to the administrative capital for a state-sponsored economic workshop as a “special guest,” and also had two meetings with government minister Aung Kyi in July and August.
This move comes amid calls from the international community for the Burmese regime to ensure Suu Kyi's safety and human rights. US Senator John McCain urged the new Burmese administration to guarantee Suu Kyi’s rights and freedom of movement during a statement in Rangoon at the end of his trip to Burma in June.
For the last 23 years, even Suu Kyi’s name or any symbols indirectly referring to her—such as “the lady,” “the mother” or “the rose”—were banned in publications within the military-ruled Southeast Asian nation.
The censorship board’s recent actions contrast with last November when nine Burmese private journals were suspended from publishing for one or two weeks for covering her release. The censorship board said the journals were “crossing the line.”
Suu Kyi’s article and interview in the Burmese media this week received mixed reactions from journalists in Burma. Some welcomed the move while others view the issue with skepticism, with the Naypyidaw regime remaining notorious for enforcing draconian laws oppressing freedom of expression.
In Burma, anyone can still be charged and imprisoned under the Printers and Publishers Law, the Electronic Transaction Law and the Official Secrets Act among others, if authorities suspect any publication is challenging the state.
“I think allowing Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s article and interview is firstly the outcome of meetings between her and government officials, and secondly relates to the question of space in the Burmese media,” said an experienced freelance reporter in Rangoon.
“It would be too early and out of context if we examine only this case instead of the whole media environment of the country,” he added.
A female senior staffer with a leading news journal in Rangoon said, “It is very good to see Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s photos, article and interview in Pyithu Khit and Messenger. But some publishers will misuse her photos and writings for their own benefit since journals with her photos are easily sold out.”
According to distributors in Rangoon, this week's edition of both Pyithu Khit and Messenger with Suu Kyi’s article and interview are quite popular among readers and have been selling well.
“Many people came to buy the Messenger News Journal with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s photo this morning. Unlike last week, it was sold out within a few hours due to her interview,” said the owner of a journal stand in Rangoon’s Tamwe Township.
A correspondent of The Irrawaddy in Rangoon contributed to this article.
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=22017
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Govt Army Accused of Planting Landmines around Kachin Church
By SAW YAN NAING Monday, September 5, 2011
Clad in traditional dress, ethnic Kachin people dance during their Manaw festival to celebrate their new year in Myitkyina, the capital of the Kachin State, on Jan 8, 2011. (Photo: AP)
Kachin Christians have accused Burma's armed forces of abusing their religious rights after government troops seized control of a church in Kachin State and turned it into a military outpost, complete with fortifications, trenches and landmines, according to local sources.
The church, in the village of Katsu in Waimaw Township, was commandeered by the Burmese army last month amid an ongoing armed conflict with the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), a former ceasefire group that resumed hostilities with government troops on June 9.
On Aug 26, members of the Katsu Kachin Baptist Church sent a letter of complaint to the chief minister of Kachin State saying that government troops from Infantry Battalion (IB) 58 and IB 318 had banned them from entering the church since Aug 13.
“They [the government army] took over the church in Katsu village and started fortifying it. They have banned local villagers from going to the church or traveling around the area,” said Mai Li Awng, a spokesperson for a local Kachin relief group called Wun Tawng Ningtwey (“Light for Kachin People”).
“I don't think they should be allowed to do this because the church is a religious site, and has nothing to do with politics. It's not appropriate to take over a church and turn it into a military base. It's a human rights abuse,” she added.
Naw La, a Kachin activist, said that there has been an increase in cases of extortion, torture and looting in Katsu since fighting between the KIA and government troops began in June. Clashes occur near Katsu almost every day, he said.
The government troops have also taken over houses abandoned by local villagers. Katsu has around 100 houses and a population of about 1,000, although most have fled the area since fighting began.
The commanders of IB 58 and IB 318 had earlier rejected an appeal made by the church members on Aug 16 that called for the removal of landmines planted in the church compound, as well as in a schoolyard and along several main roads.
In their letter, the church members wrote: “We the members of the Katsu Baptist Church are facing difficulties in worshiping the God we believe in.”
In the letter, addressed to Kachin State Chief Minister La John Ngan Hsai, the church called for the removal of the mines.
“We therefore respectfully would like to urge the Kachin State Chief Minister to remove the mines, give us the normal situation around the church as before and the right to travel safely to farms and paddy fields by taking necessary actions,” read the letter.
An estimated 20,000 Kachin civilians have so far been displaced by the conflict, many of them seeking refuge on the Sino-Burmese border and in the city of Laiza, where the KIA is based, according to Kachin relief groups. http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=22015
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Monday, 05 September 2011 12:18 Tun Tun
Burmese Supreme Court to be asked to order halt to Myitsone Dam project
New Delhi (Mizzima) - A group of politicians will ask the Burmese Supreme Court to issue an injunction to stop work on the Myitsone Dam project on the Irrawaddy River and to reveal more information about the dam project.
Candidates who ran in the 2010 election including Bauk Ja and Min Aung of the National Democratic Force; Aung Myo Oo of Peace and Diversity Party; former Democracy Party (Myanmar) candidate Soe Kyi; and independent candidate Win Cho said they plan to file the lawsuit as soon as the current session of Parliament ends, if more information is not made available.
“How much benefit would the Myitsone Dam bring to our citizens? How will the dam adversely affect the people?” said Win Cho.
“It’s certain that many citizens will be adversely affected by the dams. But, we don’t know exactly how much benefit they would bring. We know as much as the exile media can make available. We want to know more about it.”
The electoral candidates said that they decided to file a lawsuit because the authorities had not disclosed enough information, and they feared the dam would lead to the extinction of the Irrawaddy River.
The 2008 Constitution gives citizens the right to sue the Union government in the Supreme Court. In cases of a citizen’s suit, the Supreme Court can issue a writ of habeas corpus, writ of mandamus, writ of prohibition, writ of quo warranto or writ of certiorari.
The suit will ask the court to issue a writ of prohibition and a writ of quo warranto. A writ of prohibition is an order to halt work or actions. A writ of quo warranto is an order to show the authority on which work or actions are based.
“If MPs cannot get real information about the Myitsone Dam construction and the possibility of the extinction of Irrawaddy River before the parliament ends, we will file suit,” Win Cho said.
After the Myitsone dam project is completed, 6,000 megawatts of electricity will be generated and the bulk of the electricity will be sold to China, according to reports. Five dams are planned for the Malikha River.
China Power Investment Corporation (CPI) is leading the construction and financing of the dam projects and Burma’s state power utility Myanma Electric Power Enterprise, the Steven Law and the Asia World companies are also involved in the projects.
The area of the Myitsone dam project is 18,000 square miles. The height of the dam is 152 meters (500 feet) and the height of the upper reservoir is 299 meters (980 feet). The affected area of the dam is wider than the area of Singapore. Because of the dam’s impact, 15,000 people in villages are likely to be adversely affected.
In September, 1,600 people including prominent writers and artists signed a petition to urge President Thein Sein to stop the Myitsone Dam project. The petition was signed by “People who want the Irrawaddy to survive forever” and titled “An appeal urging a stop to the Myitsone dam project in order to prevent the Irrawaddy River from extinction and to avoid adverse effects on the Burmese citizens.”
“If the Irrawaddy River is extinct because of the Myitsone Dam, future generations will suffer,” Nu Nu, an 88-generation student who is an organizer of the petition, told Mizzima.
The petition urged the government to authorize international experts conduct research on the Myitsone Dam project to stop the construction during the research and to inform the public about it findings. A second petition with additional signatures will be sent in the coming weeks.
On August 11, opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi released an open letter, “Irrawaddy Appeal,” saying that the lack of sound planning, the failure to enforce necessary conservation laws and poor ecological awareness have created diverse problems for the country.
Kyaw Thu, the chairman of Free Funeral Service Society, who signed the petition, said: “The Irrawaddy River is the lifeblood of our country. If you are a good Burmese citizen, you have the responsibility to preserve the river.
“Constructing the dam…is very dangerous. We need to ensure that we do the things that will protect it and restore it to its original condition.” http://mizzima.com/news/inside-burma/5878-burmese-supreme-court-to-be-asked-to-order-halt-to-myitsone-dam-project.html
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WikiLeaks Cables Show China's Support for UWSA
By KO HTWE Monday, September 5, 2011
Burma's strongest ethnic armed group of the United Wa State Army (UWSA) is confident of the “upper hand” in any battle with government troops after being equipped with more than 30 US-manufactured surface-to-air missiles, according to a recent dispatch by WikiLeaks.
Rangoon-based United States Embassy Charge d'Affaires Larry Dinger sent the cable in January 2010 after talking with UWSA's Deputy Liaison Officer Soe Than.
In the cable, Soe Than also predicted that Burmese troops would face serious logistical challenges and numerous potential casualties if they were to attack the group.
The UWSA also received financial and moral support from China, said Soe Than.
He said the Chinese thought the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) was angling for new allies—specifically the US, North Korea and Russia—so China was beefing up its financial and military support for the UWSA in response.
Chinese government representatives attend all UWSA ceremonies and five representatives from the Chinese Embassy in Rangoon attended a Wa anniversary celebration in December 2009, he added.
A separate 2009 cable concerning the UWSA also claimed that the group was well-armed with US-manufactured grenade launchers, as well as shoulder-mounted surface-to-air missiles and launchers provided by Russia.
The cable claims that there were 30,000 active-duty Wa troops with an additional 10,000 youth and auxiliary forces, many of whom are enrolled in training or engaged in agriculture.
“The only threat the UWSA is not prepared to face is major airstrikes by the Burma Army,” Soe Than was quoted in the cable.
The Wa group found it easy to purchase arms from Thailand, China (including Hong Kong), and Singapore, according to leaked documents. But the UWSA denied manufacturing armaments or purchasing shoulder-mounted surface-to-air missiles and launchers from Russia in 2005 or 2006.
Hong Pang Company, based in Tachilek, is the parent company for many Wa investments, said Soe Than.
He also claimed the UWSA has over US $2billion invested in “transportation (including Yangon Airway), hotels (including Yangon City Hotel), restaurants, gems, mining, teak, road/building construction, property development, manufacturing (including of the ubiquitous plastic rice bags), wood processing (including a facility at the Mingaladon Industrial Estate near Rangoon's airport), massage parlors, and music recording studios (including "NASA" Studio—NFI).”
For the Wa, retention of the UWSA is non-negotiable and leaders are prepared to abandon all legitimate economic interests throughout the country—estimated by the Wa as over US $2 billion—if necessary to preserve their right to arms.
Since last year, the Burmese regime has been pressuring 17 ceasefire armies to accept the Border Guard Force (BGF) plan, but only a few have joined. The others, including the UWSA and the Karen Independence Army, have refused.
Comparing Military Security Affairs Chief Lieutenant General Ye Myint with former Prime Minister and Military Intelligence Chief Khin Nyunt, UWSA Commander Bao Youxiang said he respected Khin Nyunt.
In 2009, Bao Youxiang met with Ye Myint for 30 minutes but no solution regarding the BGF was reached. The UWSA did not accept the Burmese government's BGF proposal but opted to “not answer” rather than reply no.
Soe Than said, “You can never trust the SPDC. They always negotiate while holding a sword behind their back.”
Burma's ethnic Wa population is estimated at nearly one million and strives to maintain its army and autonomy over its own ethnic region, but has expressed no desire leave the federal system and secede from Burma. http://irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=22013
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Myanmar, NKorea traded rice for arms: US cable
Bangkok, Sep 5 (AFP)
Myanmar's regime has allegedly exported rice and other agricultural commodities to North Korea in exchange for arms, according to a US diplomatic cable released by anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks.
The July 2009 memo from the US embassy in Yangon said that Myanmar had exported about 20,000 tons of rice to North Korea through military-owned Myanmar Economic Holdings Ltd.
According to a well-placed business source, Myanmar "has been exporting rice and other agricultural commodities to North Korea for over five years in exchange for arms," added the cable, which referred to "conventional weapons".
US diplomatic memos released last year by WikiLeaks said Washington has also suspected for years that Myanmar ran a secret nuclear programme supported by Pyongyang.
A UN report published in November said North Korea was supplying banned nuclear and ballistic equipment to Myanmar, along with Iran and Syria.
Myanmar has dismissed reports of its nuclear intentions and brushed aside Western concerns about possible cooperation with North Korea.
A civilian administration has been nominally in charge of Myanmar since March, following a controversial election last year, but its ranks are dominated by former generals. http://www.deccanherald.com/content/188608/myanmar-nkorea-traded-rice-arms.html
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Go on, Thein Sein, surprise us
Monday, 05 September 2011 12:30 Benedict Rogers
(Commentary) - Two weeks ago, as Libyan rebels advanced towards Tripoli and the demise of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi became ever more certain, a surprising chain of events were taking place in another of the world’s worst dictatorships, Burma. Thein Sein, Burma’s new president and a former general, spent an hour in one-to-one talks with the country’s opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, the first time the two had met.
Since her release from house arrest nine months ago, Suu Kyi has consistently called for dialogue with the regime. Indeed, ever since her struggle for Burma’s freedom began 23 years ago, dialogue has been her mantra. Despite spending more than 15 years under house arrest, she has never changed her core demand: let’s talk. Apart from a few stalled attempts a decade ago, the generals have usually met her call with stony silence.
So why now? There are plenty of reasons to be sceptical and cynical about the regime’s intentions. Is it a charade, designed to present a veneer of reasonableness to a watching world, particularly to the Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean), whose chairmanship Burma is hoping to assume in 2014? Is it a trick, an astute divide-and-rule tactic used repeatedly by the regime? Or could it be that after the sham elections last November a power struggle ensued within the regime, emboldening the emergence of reform-minded generals?
It is worth recalling that the elections were so blatantly rigged that the regime remained almost entirely in military hands if not in military clothes. Few believed that the previous dictator, Than Shwe, had genuinely retired, assuming instead that he would pull the strings from behind the scenes. Either that analysis is wrong and Thein Sein is his own man, or Than Shwe is performing his ultimate piece of psychological warfare, as puppet master of tricks and traps.
In addition to talking to Suu Kyi, Thein Sein made two other announcements last month. First, he invited Burmese living in exile to return. By itself, that’s easy to ignore as a piece of typical propaganda. No Burmese I know feels ready to take him up on his offer. The second is more interesting. For the first time, the regime has called for peace talks with all armed ethnic groups along Burma’s borders. Unlike in the past, the offer applies to all the groups, simultaneously, rather than piecemeal deals designed to pick them off one by one and sow division. It is unclear what the mechanism for talks will be, and what will be on offer—and piecemeal deals may still be the plan, even if talks are occurring simultaneously. No nationwide cease-fire has been offered, as yet. It is, nevertheless, interesting.
So what should we make of all this? There are two dangers we must avoid. The first is to embrace these steps as some great breakthrough, and immediately ease all international pressure on the regime. That would be disastrous, though it would be what the regime is hoping for. The second, however, would be to dismiss these developments out of hand. Having called for dialogue for years, we cannot now write it off when it is offered. Instead, the international community must undertake the following steps.
First and foremost, listen to Suu Kyi and the ethnic nationalities. How are they responding? What is their analysis? What are their desires?
Second, spell out to the regime very clearly what must happen if international pressure is to ease. Benchmarks of progress are needed now more than ever. If Thein Sein’s talks with Suu Kyi are to amount to more than a cup of tea, there must be some outcomes. Another round of talks, for a start. The release of all political prisoners. A nationwide ceasefire. An end to the widespread, systematic use of rape as a weapon of war, forced labour, torture, persecution of religious and ethnic minorities, destruction of villages, killings.
When we see evidence of a real change of heart, and a corresponding change of policy, then we can talk seriously about lifting sanctions. Until then, the European Union, the United States, Canada and Australia must not only maintain sanctions, but must pursue the proposal of the UN Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in Burma, Tomas Ojea Quintana, for a Commission of Inquiry to investigate crimes against humanity.
Burma’s neighbours have a crucial role to play, now more than ever. Now is the time for China, India, Japan and Asean member states to tell Thein Sein: “Okay, good step—now where’s the substance?” For years, they have provided the regime with diplomatic, political, economic and in some cases military cover, often damaging their reputations. Now is the time to tell the regime: “Give us results.”
Thein Sein has undoubtedly watched the fall of Ben Ali in Tunisia, Hosni Mubarak in Egypt and now Gaddafi with growing horror. Mubarak’s trial and the arrest of Gaddafi’s sons for prosecution in the International Criminal Court must fill him with dread. For those reasons alone, he should take the chance now to chart a different course for Burma. In Aung San Suu Kyi, he could not have a more reasonable opponent.
Thein Sein can also look at history and consider the dictators that are remembered, and why. People today still talk about Russia’s Mikhail Gorbachev and South Africa’s FW de Klerk, forgetting the bad things they did and remembering them as dictators who helped transition their countries to freedom. Leonid Brezhnev and PW Botha are consigned to the dustbin of history. Most people right now do not even know who Thein Sein is. Now is his chance—he could go the way of other Burmese dictators, into oblivion, he could go the way of Mubarak and Gaddafi, or he could take his place in history as the Gorbachev or de Klerk of Burma? Does he have the skills, the strength and the courage to do it? Now is his chance to surprise us.
Benedict Rogers is the East Asia team leader at Christian Solidarity Worldwide, an international human rights organization, and author of “Than Shwe: Unmasking Burma’s Tyrant.” http://mizzima.com/edop/commentary/5879-go-on-thein-sein-surprise-us.html
News & Articles on Burma -Sunday, 04 September, 2011-UZL
News & Articles on Burma
Sunday, 04 September, 2011
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Myanmar pledges fair payments for railroad land
Burma: Government drives wedge between Karen Party and Karen armed groups
Amnesty urges Europe to back Burma crimes inquiry
Burma's barmy army cry freedom
Burma's women forced to be Chinese brides
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Myanmar pledges fair payments for railroad land
Sep 4, 2011, 6:31 GMT
Yangon - Myanmar's government has pledged to adequately compensate landowners along a 800-kilometre route for a rail link from China to the Bay of Bengal, reports said Sunday.
Minister for Railways Aung Min said the government was determined to ensure that citizens 'are not cheated' by the 20-billion-dollar project. The railroad would link a deep seaport in Rakhine State on the Bay of Bengal with Muse on the Chinese border, the Myanmar Times reported.
'We are negotiating in detail with the Chinese side on all issues, including compensation for the land needed to construct the line,' Aung Min said last week. 'We are doing everything to protect our people so they are not cheated.'
Human rights groups have raised concerns about the rail link, noting that mega-projects in Myanmar have led to land expropriation, forced labour and other abuses in the past.
'If the land is privately owned, we will evaluate the value with the local authorities and the Chinese company will pay that price to the owners,' Aung Min said.
He said the government was negotiating s contract with state-owned China Railways Engineering Corporation. Construction could begin in December.
Aung Min is a member of the cabinet that started work on April 1, following the November 7 general election.
Construction of the Kyaukpyu-Muse railroad is expected to take five years to complete under a build, operate and transfer contract.
'It will cost about 20 billion dollars,' Aung Min said. 'We might give China Railways Engineering Corporation the right to operate the line for 50 years.'
The single-track line would operate with electric trains capable of travelling at about 200 kilometres per hour, with a capacity for 4,000 tons of cargo plus passengers.
The railroad will follow the same route as oil and natural gas pipelines from the Bay of Bengal to the Myanmar-China border, which is being built by another state-owned Chinese company.
Both projects are designed to cut transportation costs for China.
'With this railroad China can get access to the sea and transport their goods without having to pass through the Malacca Strait,' Aung Min said.
The government is also considering a plan to build a railroad linking Dawei on the Bay of Martaban to Kanchanaburi in Thailand.
In November 2010, Ital-Thai Development Corp of Thailand signed an agreement to develop a deep seaport and special economic zone near Dawei.
http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/business/news/article_1660788.php/Myanmar-pledges-fair-payments-for-railroad-land
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Burma: Government drives wedge between Karen Party and Karen armed groups
By Zin Linn Sep 04, 2011 12:20AM UTC
Karen State Democracy and Development Party (KSDDP) based in Hpa-an in Karen State announced its attitude towards DKBA on Saturday, according to the state-media.
The government invited armed groups to hold peace talks for building national unity for national development by issuing Announcement No. 1/2011 dated 18-8-2011, state-run media declared Saturday. A news agency broadcast that with regard to the announcement, the Democratic Kayin Buddhist Army met leaders of Shan State Army and held discussions on cooperation and providing military assistance to each other; and DKBA showed its stance to hold discussion representing the combined forces, but not as a separate group.
The New Light of Myanmar reported that as of 18-8-2011, DKBA has been formed as Border Guard Force with 12 battalions in accord with the constitution.
Moreover, the paper says, Kayin State Democracy and Development Party (KSDDP) has officially been formed with officers and servicemen of above-50 years old to be able to participate in nation-building tasks. Units of Border Guard Force are discharging State duties.
Thus, there is no more DKBA any longer, KSDDP’s statement says. Consequently, the KSDDP affirmed that it does not recognize the organization under the name of DKBA undermining peace and stability of the State.
Although the statement was made under the name of KSDDP, people understood the work as government propaganda to deceive the people.
On 20 August, motor vehicle convoy carrying the Karen State Minister, Major General Zaw Min and Director of the People’s Militias and Border Forces Directorate Major General Maung Maung Ohn were ambushed on their way back from a Border Guard Force (BGF) one year anniversary celebration in Myawaddy Township, DVB News said.
Three Burmese soldiers were killed in the ambush by the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA). However both senior government officials were capable of fleeing with their lives. DKBA ambushed the Karen State Minister’s convoy with some explosive mines and small-arms attack.
Captain Saw Two Three of the DKBA Brigade-5 intelligence unit told DVB that one of the trucks in the convoy was hit by a mine in the attack that took place at Wesha Maepleh village in Myawaddy township.
Last year, a division of the DKBA fighters determined not in favor of signing the government’s border guard force (BGF) program, which was an attempt to weaken ethnic armed groups and put them under the Burmese military command.
The current conflict started when Brigade 5 led by Saw Lha Pwe, who opposed the junta’s plan to change his troops into the Burma Army’s border guard force, raided for a short period government’s key positions in Myawaddy Township on controversial Election Day, 7 November 2010.
Brig-Gen Saw Lah Pwe, the commander of DKBA Brigade 5 said that the government is still reinforcing its troops in Karen State and does not seem to be seeking ceasefire talks. The previous ceasefire between the military regime and DKBA Brigade 5 broke down after the group refused to join the junta’s border guard force (BGF) under Burmese army control.
Hence, today statement by the KSDDP seems to be released under the guideline of the current President Thein Sein government. It also indicates that the government does not recognize the organization under the name of DKBA and will not seek peace talks with the ethnic armed group.
Some analysts believe the regime exercises a divide-and-rule strategy in an attempt to defeat the vigorous ethic armed groups that have rejected the BGF.
So, regarding ethnic Karen armed groups such as DKBA Brigade 5 and the Karen National Union (KNU), the observers consider the regime will only use military means in its attempt to totally defeat the ethnic armed troops. KNU sources said that the junta is sending troops, ammunition and food supplies to the KNU’s stronghold area in Papun District in northern Karen State.
Then, the move is totally inconsistent with President Thein Sein’s policy speech delivered at 1/2011-Meeting held at the President Office in Naypyitaw on 23 April. At that time he emphasized that without national unity, the country with more than 100 races cannot have peace and stability. So, his government will prioritize the national unity, he said.
But, according to recent moves in Kachin, Shan and Karen states, his government seems to tackle the ethnic issues by means of aggressive strategy. http://asiancorrespondent.com/64077/burma-government-drives-wedge-between-karen-party-and-karen-armed-groups/
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THE BANGKOK POST
Amnesty urges Europe to back Burma crimes inquiry
Published: 4/09/2011 at 03:32 AM
Online news: Asia
Europe's "wait and see" approach to army-dominated Burma is "irresponsible", Amnesty International has said, urging the EU to back an inquiry into crimes against humanity in the country.
Military members of Myanmar's upper house of parliament attend a house session in Naypyidaw in August 2011. The Myanmar government "has continued to violate human rights on a massive scale", four years after the brutal suppression of a monk-led protest, known as the Saffron Revolution, said Amnesty's Myanmar researcher Benjamin Zawacki.
The Burma government "has continued to violate human rights on a massive scale", four years after the brutal suppression of a monk-led protest, known as the Saffron Revolution, said Amnesty's Burma researcher Benjamin Zawacki.
He said reports from ethnic minority areas suggest 50,000 people may be internally displaced by conflict, while abuses have continued under a new regime, which came to power after controversial November elections.
In an article on Friday for the online exile news magazine Irrawaddy, Amnesty urged the European Union and its member states to lend their support to the establishment of a UN commission of inquiry into crimes against humanity.
"'Wait and see' -- what the government will do before the elections, how the elections will be conducted, whether the new government will make any changes -- has been the prevailing and irresponsible approach," he said of the international community, including the EU.
"We have waited for years, even decades, and seen quite enough: these violations call for accountability."
Hostilities between the military and armed ethnic rebels in Kachin State in the north and Karen and Shan states near the Thai border in the east, have been "accelerated or renewed" since the election, Zawacki said.
There have been recent accounts of the army using prisoners as porters, human shields and minesweepers and of rape and other forms of sexual violence, he said. The number of displaced people was thought to be 30,000 in Shan State and 20,000 in Kachin State as of the end of July.
The UN special rapporteur on human rights in Burma, Tomas Ojea Quintana, is to present a report to the UN in October and Zawacki said an EU-led resolution on Burma is likely to follow.
Amnesty welcomed the public support of 12 EU nations for a commission of inquiry, but "regrets" that the EU as a bloc and influential members Germany, Italy, Spain and Sweden have not openly backed the move.
On a recent rare visit to the country Quintana, who angered Burma's ruling generals last year by suggesting that rights violations could warrant a UN inquiry, said serious concerns remained, particularly the plight of more than 2,000 political prisoners.
Burma's government has appeared keen to improve its image recently, holding the first talks between democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi and President Thein Sein, a former general.
The regime has also called for peace in minority areas, but its overtures have so far been met with distrust by rebel groups.
A report on Friday's parliamentary session in the state-run New Light of Burma said rebels wanting an end to the conflicts should get in touch with the government, which plans to set up a "team for peace talks".
Minister for Information Kyaw Hsan said the regime would "conduct peace negotiations with armed groups in accordance with the 2008 constitution to make peace with them, maintaining balance of the both sides", the paper reported on Saturday. http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/asia/254871/amnesty-urges-europe-to-back-burma-crimes-inquiry
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Burma's barmy army cry freedom
Published Date: 04 September 2011
By Lewis Pierce in Rangoon
THE hardships and oppression of living in an authoritarian country like Burma, or Myanmar as its military rulers style it, all but vanish at the gates of its football stadiums.
Or so say the fans, who swarm in for a carnival of drunken revelry that would never be tolerated off the terraces.
"I don't come here to support any particular team," said schoolboy Kyaw Lin, 15, standing in a particularly rowdy section at a recent match. "I come for the freedom to shout anything I want."
Sport provides an escape in much of the world. But in Burma, with secret police and jail terms of up to 100 years for dissent, a football match offers even more cause for raucous merriment in a sea of grinding poverty and fear. It offers 90 minutes of liberation, even though lorryloads of riot police ring stadiums during games, mostly near the exits.
A World Cup qualifier in July between "Myanmar" and Oman was called off before half-time by a Japanese referee after fans threw stones, bottles and shoes onto the pitch, and an Oman coach was reportedly hit on the head.
The episode, however, has done little to diminish the excitement in the stands. "I'm going to break your legs!" shouted a fan as a striker moved down field in a recent match. This was one of the more polite contributions. The stand reeked of cheap booze, and the occasional pool of vomit, from barechested fans sporting a variety of crude tattoos.
Burma is one of Asia's most impoverished countries and also one of its most expensive. Opening a cellphone account costs £400. A new car can run in excess of £124,000 because of taxes and permits. But two things are cheap here: rice (about 10p a small bucket) and a ticket to football matches (40p a go). Deliberately or not, the government is taking a page out of Imperial Roman, with football standing in for bread and circuses.
The Myanmar National League was formed with government encouragement in 2008, a time of anger at the military's handling of a deadly cyclone and fresh memories of large-scale protests led by Buddhist monks the year before. The government prodded business bosses to help bankroll the league and its 12 teams.
Now in its third season, the league has proved successful, a local complement to a longstanding obsession with the English Premiership. In Burma, sports newspapers outsell all the rest. "When someone faces a lot of hardship and burdens in his daily life, he wants to forget them," said U Ko Htut, a well-known football writer. "There are not many people who obtain success in our country. We want to imagine we are football stars. We want to put ourselves in their shoes."
Ko Htut was imprisoned for 13 years and tortured for being a student activist during a major uprising in 1988. Writing about sports is the closest thing to freedom of expression in Burma. The censors rarely bother him, he said, unlike political journalists whose work is excised and redacted.
Burma has suffered under various shades of military rule since a 1962 coup d'etat, a political legacy that has engendered a distrust for authority among its 55 million people.
So it comes as little surprise that referees - the symbol of authority during matches - are the target of generous doses of invective.
Entering a soccer stadium, the Burmese, generally polite, leave civility at the gate. U Min Aung, 29, owns a business and has a three-year-old daughter. Once in the stands, though, he strips off his shirt and paces drunkenly through the crowd, berating the opposition team.
Occasionally he throws bottles, or anything else he can get hold of, on the pitch. During a recent match he tried, unsuccessfully, to rip out the concrete seating. Min Aung said that in July he had joined the near riot during the international against Oman. He showed no signs of remorse. "The referee was unfair," he said. "Everyone was throwing bottles. I did, too."
A statement by Fifa, the World Cup governing body, said the referee stopped the match after "local supporters repeatedly hurled objects onto the field. The matter will be referred to the Fifa disciplinary committee."
The rowdiness also involves fights between rival fans. But tension is often defused because many fans are too drunk to land a punch.
Nor is bad behaviour necessarily restricted to the fans. In 2004, three players on the national team were red-carded in a game against Singapore: one for persistent fouling; another for kicking mud at the ref; and another for hitting a Singapore player with a water bottle then gesturing his contempt as he strolled to the dugout.
The incident even embarrassed some fans, already frustrated with the team's poor showing. Burma's glory years came in the 1950s and 1960s, when the team won pan-Asian tournaments and regularly defeated its neighbours.
Now Fifa ranks "Myanmar" 165th out of 203 national teams, that's 110 places behind Scotland. http://news.scotsman.com/news/Burma39s-barmy-army-cry-freedom.6830471.jp?articlepage=2
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The Telegraph
Burma's women forced to be Chinese brides
Burma, an eccentric military dictatorship ruled by golf-playing, Buddhist-worshipping generals, is now the main source of forced brides in China. David Eimer hears their story.
By David Eimer, Ruili
7:00AM BST 04 Sep 2011
Aba was just 12-years-old when she left her hometown of Muse in Burma to visit Yunnan Province in China's far southwest. When she crossed the border, she was expecting to spend only a few hours away from home.
But it would be three long years before Aba saw her family again. Like thousands of other young girls and women from Burma, she had been duped into coming to China so she could be sold into a forced marriage to one of the growing number of Chinese men who – because there are not enough girl babies born in China – cannot find wives any other way.
During her time in China, Aba endured routine beatings, while never being able to communicate with her family or even go outside on her own. Above all, she lived with the knowledge that she was destined to be married to the son of the family that had bought her – as if she was one of the pigs or chickens that ran around their farm.
"I was sold for 20,000 Yuan (£1,880)," said Aba. "I was too young to get married when they bought me. It was later that they told me I had to get married to their son. I was lucky in a way. If I had been two or three years older when I was taken, I'd be married to him now."
Most people wouldn't consider it fortunate to be kidnapped as a child and sold into virtual slavery. But Aba is one of the lucky ones. Not only did she escape a forced marriage, but she was rescued and was able to return home.
For most of the women from Burma who are sold as unwilling brides in China, there are no happy endings. Instead, they face at best lives of misery and drudgery. At worst, they are driven to suicide.
No one knows how many thousands of women are trafficked into China each year to be the wives of the men known as guang gun, or bare branches, the bachelors in rural areas who cannot find brides by conventional means. What is certain is that it is a number increasing all the time. Thirty years of China's one-child policy has combined with the traditional Chinese preference for male children to create a devastating gender imbalance.
It is estimated that 120 boys are now born in China for every 100 girls. According to the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, that means by 2020 some 24 million men will be unable to find wives.
"The one-child policy has had a considerable impact. Where you have a demographic imbalance, you have a situation where women are in demand. Sometimes, that demand is met through legitimate marriage brokers. Other times it is met by non-legitimate means," said David Feingold, the International Coordinator for HIV/Aids and Trafficking in Unesco's Bangkok office, and the writer and director of the 2003 documentary Trading Women.
Burma, an eccentric military dictatorship ruled by golf-playing, Buddhist-worshipping generals, is now the main source of forced brides in China.
Not only is it one of the most repressive countries in the world, but desperate poverty and frequent food shortages make it very easy for the traffickers to trick women into leaving for China and jobs that will never materialise. Instead, the women are sold as wives.
"The majority of women being trafficked from Burma into China end up as forced brides or in marriages where there's exploitation," said Mr Feingold.
Prices for the women range from 6,000 to 40,000 Yuan (£560-£3750), depending on their age and appearance. According to the Kachin Women's Association of Thailand (Kwat), a Thai-based NGO that helps trafficked Burmese women, around 25 per cent of the women sold in China are under 18. "The men always want healthy, young women who can produce babies. The women are really just regarded as baby-making machines," said Julia Marip, the head of Kwat's anti-trafficking programme in Yunnan Province.
Once Aba arrived in Ruili, a scruffy border town in Yunnan that is the main transit point for trafficked women from Burma, she was sold to a family who owned a cotton farm in the northeast of China. Now almost 16 and pretty with a shy smile, Aba is one of three children of a casual labourer and an unemployed mother.
At first glance, she looks like a normal teenager in her jeans and white T-shirt. It is only when she speaks in a quiet voice that it becomes clear what a horrific experience she endured, and how she remains deeply traumatised by it. "I still don't like going out on my own, especially in the evening," she said.
Thankfully, Aba escaped being paraded in public in front of potential buyers, which is the fate of many trafficked women. It is a brutal and dehumanising experience.
"Sometimes they'll be sold in markets that are held in parks. The traffickers will put the women in nice dresses and make-up. It's very cruel, because the women are happy to be wearing nice clothes, which they've never had before, and then they are sold like vegetables," said Miss Marip.
Nevertheless, it is hard to imagine the terror Aba must have felt, thousands of miles away from home with strangers who treated her as a possession they could abuse.
"I couldn't speak Chinese at first, so I couldn't understand what chores I had to do, so I would make mistakes. Then the mother would beat and slap me," said Aba. "I was afraid a lot of the time and very lonely because I had no friends to talk to. I cried a lot. In the beginning, they told me gently to stop crying. Later on, they would shout at me when I cried."
Escaping was not an option; she had no money and no idea where she was in China, while the family made sure she couldn't slip away. "They watched me all the time. I wasn't allowed to go out on my own."
One day, she discovered why she was being guarded so closely. She was told that she was to be married to the 20 year-old son of the family. "I had no idea that was why they had taken me until then. I refused but they told me I had to marry him," said Aba.
Virtually all women sold as forced brides find themselves trapped in what is essentially a marital prison. "Most trafficked women don't escape. We can't help them," said Miss Marip.
Faced with the hopelessness of their situations, some choose to end their lives by swallowing the fatal chemical pesticides used on farms, the most common way to commit suicide in the Chinese countryside.
But Aba did avoid a forced marriage. During a routine identity card check in her area, the police discovered that she was a foreigner and she was taken away, just weeks before she was due to be wed. "I explained what had happened to me and the police went to see the family. They told them, 'You can't buy people, they're not animals'. They asked me if I wanted to prosecute them but I said, 'no'. I just wanted to forget it and go home," said Aba.
Three years after she had disappeared from her parents' lives, Aba walked alone across the Chinese/Burmese border and returned to her home. "My parents were very shocked to see me. They started crying and so did I. I was so happy to see them," said Aba. Her mother and father had tried to find their daughter. "They went to the Muse police and told them I had been kidnapped and taken to China. But the police asked for 6,000 Yuan (£560) to investigate and my parents couldn't afford to pay," said Aba.
According to Kwat, that is the standard response of the Burmese authorities to cases of trafficked women. On the other side of the border, the Chinese police devote more energy to combating the domestic trafficking of children than they do to investigating the gangs who bring in women from overseas.
Until last year, the tiny minority of trafficked women who do escape were treated as illegal immigrants and imprisoned until they could be repatriated.
For Unesco's David Feingold, there is only so much the authorities can do anyway. "The idea that police enforcement can stop trafficking is ludicrous. The US hasn't been able to do it and they have almost unlimited resources. You have to address the underlying economic and social issues that prompt migration across borders," he said.
Aba knows as well as anyone what they are. Four months ago, the high unemployment in Burma saw her return to Ruili illegally in search of a job.
Now, she earns 650 Yuan (£60) a month working as a waitress in a restaurant.
Her time as a trafficked teenager has left her speaking fluent Mandarin, which enables her to blend in with the locals. Learning Chinese, though, is scant compensation for the three years of her life that was stolen from her.
"I still hate the family for what they did to me," said Aba. "I think I always will." http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/burmamyanmar/8739403/Burmas-women-forced-to-be-Chinese-brides.html
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