LAURENCE GRAY
It is amazing the political will and financial resources that can be marshalled by rich nations when they are under threat.
The result is hundreds of billions of dollars invested to prevent not just a meltdown of the US financial system but its tsunamic impact on economies everywhere.
Natural disasters are becoming the ‘‘new normal’’... A ferry sits high and dry after it was tossed ashore at Mohipur, when water levels rose more than five metres during Cyclone Sidr, which hit Bangladesh on Nov 19, 2007.
The decisive response is a lesson worth noting, as the world today marks Disaster Reduction Day - an international day established to remind governments that they need to do much more to help countries avert and prepare for natural disasters.
The potential global impact of a financial disaster, including lost jobs, homes and savings, and the political response to it, provide politicians with a clear example of how to address something potentially far more damaging - the threat of climate change.
This threat has yet to evoke the same sense of urgency among politicians but desperately needs to, if many millions of people in poorer parts of the world are not to be swept up in the consequences of inaction.
Just as in the debate over the financial crisis, climate change too has been marked by warnings, denials, anger, blame, grandstanding, a questioning of the forces at work and demands that the system - or the ecosystem - be left to correct itself.
Unlike the financial crisis, what is lacking now from global leaders is a sense of foreboding, urgency and action.
Papua New Guinea, Bangladesh and Indonesia are already feeling the heat of climate change-induced disasters, but their voice barely registers within the corridors of power in the West.
Like President Bush and national leaders around the globe who have of late been issuing increasingly shrill warnings of financial collapse, environmentalists have been warning that the earth is reaching a tipping point which, if passed, would unleash massive climatic changes.
Those who deal with disasters on a daily basis, like Sir John Holmes, the UN's emergency relief chief, says the number of disasters has doubled from around 200 to over 400 per year over the past two decades, with nine out of every ten being climate-related.
He states that these events are not abnormal but the "new normal".
World Vision, the organisation I work for, has just published Planet Prepare, a report that looks specifically at the disaster threats facing coastal communities in the Asia-Pacific region (http://www.wvasiapacific.org).
Publication of the report was postponed to take account of Cyclone Nargis, which hit Burma five months ago, killing as many as 140,000 people. Most of the very poor farmers and fisherfolk who lived in the delta flatlands of the Irrawaddy were killed not by the cyclonic winds but by the resulting sea surge that swept up to 35km inland.
The frightening scenario Planet Prepare highlighted was how sea level rise combined with massive populations living in delta or low-lying and sinking cities are putting tens of millions of poor people at great risk.
The warning signs are clear: Antarctic ice shelves are threatening to collapse, and mass deforestation and rapidly rising carbon-based energy use are combining to further raise atmospheric temperatures and sea levels. This will result in more frequent and violent storms and surges.
Here are some lessons that should be applied from the financial crisis if we are to stand any chance of responding to the impact of climate change.
Lesson One: Those at the bottom of the pyramid suffer most. In the United States, low-income sub-prime mortgage defaulters have lost homes while many more are at risk. A worsening crisis means that those without savings and jobs will be extremely vulnerable.
Climate change, likewise, will disproportionately impact the poor. This is especially true in Asia, with its massive coastal capitals - including Manila in the Philippines, Jakarta in Indonesia and Dhaka in Bangladesh.
A one-metre rise in sea level would inundate 800,000sqkm of land in Asia, displacing more than 100 million people. In Vietnam alone, 11% of the population would be displaced.
Lesson Two: We are all inter-connected. Any collapse of Wall Street would domino across the globe, resulting in devastating consequences for banks, bourses and economies. In turn this could lead to mass job losses and an increase in poverty and unknown economic, political and social consequences.
In a similar way, our environment is globalised and therefore any nations failure to significantly reduce greenhouse gases has severe implications for others.
America's gas guzzling cars emit carbon dioxide that will lead to sea level rises that will impact China, while Australian coal burnt in China's power stations will help fuel hurricanes that impact Florida.
However, some wealthier nations have historically emitted more carbon dioxide and therefore have a larger obligation to act.
Lesson Three: The money can be found.
The US$700 billion bailout package proves that wealthy nations can find the money when they have to, and they can sell it to their electorates when the threat and cost of inaction is made clear.
In environmental terms, aside from a global commitment to reducing greenhouse gases, tens of billions of dollars must be spent to help the developing world prepare for climate change that is already locked into the system.
This money is needed to help communities adapt, to build protective infrastructure, train children and adults how to prepare for and survive disasters.
Every US$1 spent on building disaster resilience is a wise investment because it saves many more that would otherwise be spent on post-disaster relief responses.
In 1970, Bangladesh lost over 300,000 people to a massive cyclone.
In response, humanitarian organisations like World Vision worked with the Bangladesh government to build scores of cyclone shelters and invested in early warning systems.
When Cyclone Sidr barrelled into Bangladesh last November, some 4,000 people died - a huge number, but far lower than what might have been.
If climate change is not taken seriously enough, the world will be forced to cope with mass migrations of millions and likely political and social upheaval associated with poverty and displacement.
The challenge climate change presents has obvious parallels with how governments are responding to the current financial crisis.
The danger signs are clear, the need for an urgent response is undeniable, and the money can be found.
All that is lacking is the decisive political will from wealthy nations to act quickly and comprehensively.
If we fail to do so, we will all suffer - and the poor more than most.
Time is running out.
Laurence Gray is Advocacy Director for World Vision, Asia-Pacific
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Where there's political will, there is a way
Two Japanese, American win 2008 physics Nobel
Yoichiro Nambu (R), one of three winners of the 2008 Nobel Prize for physics, laughs with University of Chicago Provost Thomas Rosenbaum (C) and President Robert Zimmer before a news conference at the University of Chicago October 7, 2008.
REUTERS/John Gress
STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Two Japanese scientists and a Tokyo-born American shared the 2008 Nobel Prize for physics for helping to explain the behavior of subatomic particles, work that has helped shape modern physics theory, the prize committee said on Tuesday.
The Nobel committee lauded Yoichiro Nambu, now of the University of Chicago, and Makoto Kobayashi and Toshihide Maskawa of Japan for work that helped show why the universe is made up mostly of matter and not anti-matter via changes known as broken symmetries.
Nambu's analogy likens the changes to when one dinner guest uses the wrong bread plate, forcing all the other guests at a round table to change as well.
"The work he has done has had implications from the study of the early universe all the way to the behavior of magnetic materials," University of Chicago Provost Thomas Rosenbaum told a news conference.
Tue Oct 7, 2008 4:49pm EDT
By Niklas Pollard
The three men's work, done in the 1950s through the 1970s, predicted the behavior of the tiny particles known as quarks and underlies the Standard Model, which unites three of the four fundamental forces of nature: the strong nuclear force, weak nuclear force and electromagnetic force.
Nambu also influenced the development of quantum chromodynamics, which describes some interactions between protons and neutrons, which make up atoms, and the quarks that make up the protons and neutrons.
He shared half of the 10 million Swedish crown ($1.4 million) prize with Kobayashi of Japan's High Energy Accelerator Research Organization and Maskawa of Kyoto University.
Kobayashi and Maskawa predicted there were three families of quarks, instead of the two then known. Their calculations played out as predicted in high-energy particle physics experiments and there are now six known types of quarks -- up, down, strange, charm, bottom, and top.
Kobayashi said the news of his Nobel prize came as a shock. "It is my great honor and I can't believe this," he said.
Maskawa said he was not surprised.
"There is a pattern to how the Nobel prize is awarded," he was quoted as saying by Kyodo. "I am very happy that Professor Yoichiro Nambu was awarded. I myself am not that happy."
While his work helps explain how particles shift from one state to the next, Nambu described the initial reaction from his peers as "very poor."
"There was no eureka moment," University of Chicago's James Cronin, the 1980 Nobel laureate in physics, told the news conference.
But, he added, "It has been clear for so many years that of all of the people who have won the Nobel, there has been one missing, and that is Yoichiro Nambu."
Physicists are now searching for the broken symmetry, the Higgs mechanism, which threw the universe into imbalance at the time of the Big Bang 13.7 billion years ago.
Scientists at the Large Hadron Collider at the European Organization for Nuclear Research, or CERN, in Switzerland will be looking for the Higgs particle when they restart the collider in spring 2009.
The prizes, awarded by the Nobel Committee for Physics at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, are given annually for achievements in science, peace, literature and economics.
They were first awarded in 1901 in accordance with the 1895 will of Swedish dynamite millionaire Alfred Nobel.
(Additional reporting by Chisa Fujioka in Tokyo, Michael Kahn in London, John Gress, Mike Conlon and Julie Steenhuysen in Chicago; editing by Maggie Fox and Vicki Allen)
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Myanmar Political Prisoner Rejoins Suu Kyi's Party
YANGON (AFP)--Myanmar's longest-serving political prisoner Win Tin has rejoined the ruling committee
of Aung San Suu Kyi's party, two weeks after being freed from jail, a party spokesman said Tuesday.
The 79-year-old former journalist, imprisoned for 19 years, will return to the National League of
Democracy's Central Executive Committee, Nyan Win said.
"He started coming to the headquarters on Monday to start his duties as a member (of the committee).
We are very glad he is rejoining," Nyan Win said.
Win Tin was released along with more than 9,000 inmates on September 23 in an amnesty ahead of
national elections promised for 2010.
He was one of the founders of the NLD party together with Nobel peace laureate Suu Kyi, who remains
detained at her lakeside home in Yangon.
Win Tin never witnessed his party's landslide victory in 1990 elections - a win never recognized by the
junta - because he was imprisoned in July 1989 for his role as Aung San Suu Kyi's advisor, and for his
letters to the then-United Nations envoy to Myanmar.
Win Tin was officially invited by the NLD leadership to rejoin the party's ruling committee on the 20th
anniversary of its founding on September 27.
Two days after Win Tin's release, Myanmar's police chief held his first meeting with six NLD leaders,
asking them to retract their latest statement calling for a constitutional review - a move they refused.
A new constitution was brought in after a much-criticized May referendum held in the wake of a
massive cyclone that swept across the country, leaving 138,000 people dead or missing.
The junta's constitution paves the way for multiparty elections to be held in 2010 but bars Aung San Suu
Kyi, who has spent most of the past two decades under house arrest, from standing.
Myanmar has been ruled by the military since 1962.
S Korea considers to dispatch destroyer to Africa to fight pirates
www.chinaview.cn 2008-10-07 19:29:45 Print
SEOUL, Oct. 7 (Xinhua) -- South Korean Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan said Tuesday that his government is considering to dispatch a destroyer to waters off Somalia to fight pirates there.
At an inspection of the Foreign Ministry by lawmakers, Yu said consultations among related ministries are under way on the issue of dispatching a navy ship.
Yu's remarks came after eight South Koreans and 13 Myanmar aboard a South Korean ship were held hostage by pirates off the coast of Somalia last month.
Yu said the negotiations for rescue of the abductees have proceeded and the South Korean government expects the case to be resolved before long.
South Korea's Yonhap News Agency said the country may dispatch the Yi Sun-shin class destroyer to waters off Somalia.
Meanwhile, South Korean President Lee Myung-bak said in South Korea's southeastern port city of Busan, where he attended an international fleet review, that "The South Korean Navy should now play a greater role in the global fight against terrorism and piracy."
"In compliance with the nation's enhanced international status, the Korean Navy should further reinforce its role in international efforts to remove common threats to the world. The government will extend its full support to beefing up the power of the Korean military," the president said after exchanging views with South Korean Navy generals and political leaders on ways to eradicate Somali pirates.
More than 25 cases of ship kidnappings were reported on waters off Somalian coast in 2007, Yonhap said.
In April 2006, 25 crew on a South Korean tuna ship were hijacked by Somali pirates and were released for a ransom after four months.
In 2007, two South Korean fishing vessels were seized by Somali pirates. The pirates released the crew after six months.
South Korean Foreign Ministry said the dispatch of a navy ship need approval from the National Assembly.
Editor: David Du
Roundtable: No change at the top
http://english.dvb.no/news.php?id=1836
Oct 7, 2008 (DVB)蜂n both the military and opposition groups in Burma, there have been few changes in leadership or policy and newer or younger members have been unable to move to the highest positions.
Dr Aye Chan, a history professor at Kanda University in Japan, Dr Aung Khin, a London-based historian and political analyst Aung Naing Oo spoke to DVB about the stagnation at the highest levels of the government and opposition, and discussed whether a change of leadership could mean a change in policy.
Political analyst Aung Naing Oo said the issue was common to both the regime and opposition groups.
Aung Naing Oo: 的n Zimbabwe, Mugabe has been in power for 28 or 30 years, and in Cuba, Castro was in power for 40 or 50 years, and the same in North Korea. If you look at these dictatorial countries, the leaders stay in power for a long time. In Burma too, leaders have tended to stay in power for a long time. If you look at U Nu痴 parliamentary democracy era, the democratically elected U Nu was often re-elected. After that, general Ne Win was in power for 26 years, then general Saw Maung stayed for a while and now from 1992 to this day, general Than Shwe has ruled our country.
典herefore, the military government doesn稚 change leaders, and the opposition doesn稚 much either. Change only happens when they die. For example, Kachin Independence Organisation chairman Brang Seng, Karen National Union chair general Mya and New Mon State Party chairman Nai Shwe Kyin were leaders for a long time. People have great respect for them. But because they were in their positions for a long time, the people who came up behind them have not been able to show off their talents or use their energy properly. And it ends up in blocking the way of talented people.・
History professor Aye Chan believes this outlook is rooted in Burmese culture.
Aye Chan: 的t is based on the Burmese people痴 political traditions and culture. In Burma, the idea of a leader appointed by the people is not understood. Only people who have managed to seize power are recognised as leaders. Based on this political tradition, the army gave this military bureaucracy a political form. Politics is dominated by a bureaucracy, and this became politics dominated by military bureaucrats. Therefore it is very difficult to change. The army bureaucracy holds all the keys to the economy and power.・
Historian Aung Khin blames both leaders and party members for not challenging policy.
Aung Khin: 撤olitics can稚 be carried out one group of people. You have to look at whether the party members carry out the policy of the party effectively. If party members and the majority just follow the policies handed down by the central committee, like the communist parties do, you would have to say that the participation of the party members is not effective.・
While the army痴 lack of change in leadership is understandable, the problem for the opposition is a lack of unity, according to Aye Chan.
Aye Chan: 鄭s far as the opposition is concerned, they can稚 unite under a single ideology. Another point is that if we look at Burmese society, there are many ethnic nationalities with different aims and political beliefs, and there is no single united front.・p>
Aung Naing Oo: 典he second, third or lower levels of leaders can稚 challenge those above them. Furthermore, they don稚 have many options apart from the status quo. In the National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma, only members of parliament are allowed to take part, and only about 20 MPs came out, they have to be chosen from inside repeatedly, and no leaders with new ideas appear.
的n the KNU and the NMSP, we had general Mya and Nai Shwe Kyin, they were chosen in accordance with revolutionary traditions, and they ended up being chairmen for life. However much you talk about democracy, you can稚 override their authority and they don稚 change.・
Aung Khin: 的n other countries, a leader can lead up to a point and if they are not successful they can make way for another one. In the National League for Democracy, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is the only leader. When she is free, the party is active. When she is detained, it is not active. Why is it like this? It is something to think about. In politics, when a leader falls, another one rises. It was the same in the past in Burma. When the top level leader is in prison, the second-in-command takes his place. And when the second level goes to prison, the third takes his place. It is not like that here; it is formed like the army. Obey the orders or you will be expelled.
鄭 civil organisation can have proper discussions. Members must make effective decisions; they should not only obey orders. As far as I know, army officers can稚 do that kind of thing, that痴 why politics is dead. Now that U Win Tin and others a lot of experience have been released, the army officers don稚 know their capabilities and are afraid of what they can do. They are afraid of this and send them to prison. That痴 it.・
The All Burma Students・Democratic Front is one of the few organisations that has made significant changes, but its enthusiastic commitment to democratic processes has been blamed by some for the weakening of the organisation.
Aung Naing Oo, a former ABSDF leader, disputes this accusation.
鄭s some leaders did not know what to do, and it was in the initial stages, some misused incomes funds, and this could not be covered up. The grassroots comrades used democratic means to remove them. The reason why there has been change within ABSDF is that there have been people with leadership qualities from all over Burma. It is not made up of one ethnic group. Therefore, there are more people who could become leaders. First, politically well-known activists such as Ko Moe Thee Zun became chairs. But when they were wrong, there were many chances to dislodge them by democratic means.
典he ABSDF痴 mistake was not that they used democracy too much. The reasons why the ABSDF has become weak are firstly that they have no private income. They can稚 sell teak like the Karen. They can稚 sell jade like the Kachin. Another point is that ethnic groups are united by nationalism, and nationalism is more solid than weak democracy. It is easier to rally people. Ethnic groups also have their own territories and resources; they can recruit soldiers from their ethnic groups. The ABSDF didn稚 have these things and became weak.・
When asked whether a change in leadership could bring about a change in Burmese politics, Aye Chan was sceptical that any significant change could be achieved within the military.
Aye Chan: 的t痴 not possible. The army bureaucracy has been established and it has become a system with strong basis. If there was no general Than Shwe, general Maung Aye would take his place. If there was no general Maung Aye, the people below him would take his place. That痴 how it is. Moreover, they will systematically place their own people and family members in the army bureaucracy; they will become a more solid organisation. At the same time, the opposition will become weaker.・
Aung Khin: 典he reason a change of leadership is needed is due to the lack of any other change. Something has to happen. If there has been no change in 20 years, this is not good. It would be better if something changed. People are waiting and waiting for it and become dejected and apathetic.・
Aung Naing Oo: 的 don稚 think that there could be an immediate and easy leadership change in the organisations as they currently are. In some organisations, there is little choice and they have to choose the best of a bad lot. Although people are saying that a leadership change is needed, if you have no good leaders to choose from, whether you are using a democratic approach or something else, it is very difficult to make changes.
典hat痴 why we are always seeing problems among ethnic nationality groups and within the NLD, opposition between the young people and the current leaders. But if a group is united behind its leaders, the group never changes and will stay under that leader. If they go on like that, that organisation will never improve and the political organisation will never change.
徹rganisations want democracy but they do not have the proper conditions or time. They should think carefully if change is needed. If it is, they must include young people and new blood. These young people and elders working together need to make the right changes・p>
Reporting by Htet Aung Kyaw
Burmese newcomers not refugees, but America's new immigrants
http://www.news-sentinel.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081007/EDITORIAL/810070329
Recently, there have been some concerns about the influx of Burmese newcomers who are scheduled to come to Fort Wayne. Because of its scale, the local media and people have their eyes on this group.
The Burmese community is not a new face in Fort Wayne; it actually has been here since the early 1990s. For years, there has been very minimal assistance for the newcomers, but their resilience, friends and families have helped them to start living in this new country, providing translation, transportation, job search, food and more. Typical Burmese work 12/7 to build their lives and would continue to do well if many area factories would not have closed. For years, the Burmese have contributed to Fort Wayne’s economy. They are taxpayers, homeowners, college students and voters.
But now there are concerns regarding health care issues that strain the city and county resources. Questions asked include: Is it true that they bring disease with them? Will they become a burden on public assistance? How can they work if they cannot speak English? Who are these people? How can we afford to help them when we have no funding? The lack of knowledge about the group has created many misunderstandings and stereotyping.
The confusion, unclear messages and news coverage about the Burmese newcomers have not only caught the attention of local residents, but also become the center of discussion at various social events in the Burmese community itself. Many are questioning how the news articles impact the Burmese community as a whole. They are asking themselves: Who are those “refugees” they’re talking about? Why do they call us refugees? Are there really refugees on American soil? Do my fellow citizens understand the term and definition of the word “refugee”? Do they really have correct information when talking to reporters? Are they aware that a complete health screen is an important step in obtaining a U.S. visa?
Many of my fellow countrymen have been left behind because of the health concern. Do they believe that commercial airlines would let TB patients get on board? Please realize how much damage can happen when these allegations are made toward many innocent people. The people of Fort Wayne deserve the right to hear the truth that will help bring the community together. This knowledge will help to clear all the doubts about Burmese newcomers so the community can actually open its arms to welcome them and help the group to become productive citizens and get on their feet.
The Burmese are here to start new lives. Being dependent on government assistance won’t give them the lives they want (i.e. house, car, job and education for their children). They know hard work will make it happen; many others have already set the example. They have spent many years in refugee camps and depend upon the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugee (UNHCR) services. They didn’t know what tomorrow would bring them. A refugee’s world is a life with not much hope, no opportunity, no certainty and no country. We have been called “displaced persons.”
It was a hard life, but many have no choice. The life in Burma was even harder. In the dark of night, Burmese soldiers raged through the villages and raped the girls and women, killed the men and the elderly and took the boys away, training them to be “child soliders.” In Burma, the poor get poorer, and if you relate to the regime you will always be rich. Even now people are jailed in their own country. There is no freedom.
There are not many Burmese who make it to the United States, and those who do make it do not want to forget their refugee memories. They will certainly pass their stories on to their children so they will appreciate this great nation and feel that they are blessed to live in a democratic society. Now the question is, should one continue calling them Burmese refugees? Is it fair to label all Burmese refugees? Isn’t it offensive? America is the land of the free; there are no refugees here. She has welcomed immigrants from everywhere around the world and let them pursue the happiness of freedom. Do the Burmese deserve the same opportunity? Some say, “In America, we’re all immigrants.” The Burmese newcomers are the new immigrants.
“It upsets me when people call me a refugee; it seems like they put me down,” said Ma So Nilar Aung, who left Burma in the early 1990s and lived in Japan 13 years before she won a lottery visa to the United States in 2005.
“I don’t like it,” said Zaw Naing Win Han. He spent 15 years working in Japan. He was granted permanent residence in this country through marriage.
“I’ve never been a refugee in my life. I am an immigrant,” said Tin Tin Pyone Win, a mother of two who shared that her husband visited Burma and met and married her. She left Burma for America in 2000 on an American spouse visa. Both their children were born here. She spent only one night at the Thai airport for her transit flight to the United States. “I was one of the many,” she added. “There are many mothers, fathers, wives, sisters and brothers who got here on a family visa.”
Their U.S. family members had to work for years to save money for reunion expenses such as passports, plane tickets and travel.
“I don’t think they have the right to call all Burmese refugees, especially the children. They are American-born kids,” Win said.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kyaw T. Soe is a graduate student and founder and coordinator of the IPFW New Immigrant Literacy Program at Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne. He immigrated to Fort Wayne from Burma in 1993.
Ban asks Myanmar to show progress in reform programme
Asia-Pacific News
Oct 7, 2008, 19:40 GMT
New York - UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said Tuesday he would cancel a planned visit to Myanmar unless the government there shows progress in democratization and humanitarian programmes.
Ban last visited Myanmar in May in the wake of the destruction caused by Cyclone Nargis in a bid to convince the military government to accept international relief aid and admit foreign workers. The government did soften its stance against international aid workers by loosening up visa restrictions.
But Ban has not yet made a return trip to make sure that funds and relief goods were used properly.
He said his plan for a new visit remains, but is dependent on whether Myanmar has carried out democratic reform, national reconciliation and the release of all political prisoners as demanded by the UN.
'I would be willing to make a return visit to Myanmar at an appropriate time, but you should also know that without any tangible or very favorable result to be achieved, then I may not be in a position to visit Myanmar,' Ban said.
'I'm now in the process of making some groundwork which may allow me to consider my own visit, but I need some more time,' he said. 'I will have to consider all the circumstances, and when it would be appropriate timing for me to visit.'
The Myanmar government has so far refused to release Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of the National League for Democracy, who has spent more than 10 years under house arrest for demanding democracy. The military has ruled the impoverished nation for more than four decades.
U.S. recognizes universal jurisdiction over child soldier cases
by Mizzima News
Monday, 06 October 2008 17:18
United States President George Bush, on Friday, signed into law a bill which empowers United States courts to prosecute members of any nationality for their role in the recruitment of child soldiers anywhere in the world.
The legislation makes anyone present in the United States who has been involved in the conscription of children under the age of 15 into the armed forces of any country or group liable to federal prosecution within the United States judicial system.
According to Human Rights Watch, Burma may have more child soldiers than any other country, with estimates running as high as 70,000 – a vast majority of whom serve in Burma's state army.
Passage of the Child Soldiers Accountability Act will ensure, according to Senator Patrick Leahy, "that those who commit human rights violations cannot come to this country [United States] as a sanctuary from prosecution"
Leahy, Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, greeted the Senate's passage of the bill with the words: "During the last five years, America's reputation has suffered tremendously. Some of our ability to lead on human rights issues has been needlessly and carelessly squandered…We should do everything we can to stop this offense [recruitment of child soldiers] to human rights and human dignity."
Human Rights Watch's (HRW) Jo Becker added, "This new law is a breakthrough because it no longer leaves the prosecution of child recruiters to international tribunals and the national courts of conflict-affected countries."
HRW, along with other international rights groups such as Amnesty International, has long been a vocal advocate in insisting that states maintain a moral obligation to prosecute war crimes and crimes against humanity in accordance with a principle of "universal jurisdiction."
Employment of child soldiers was first recognized as a war crime under the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court in 1998. The authority of the ICC is supplemented by several individual countries, including the United Kingdom, Spain, Canada and Belgium, which also maintain laws permitting domestic courts to prosecute persons charged with war crimes and/or crimes against humanity.
Yet an idea of "universal jurisdiction" remains a highly divisive subject on the international stage.
Initially coming to prominence on the international stage with the Nuremburg Tribunal regarding Nazi atrocities during World War II, the concept of "universal jurisdiction" postulates that all states have an obligation in bringing justice to the perpetrators of particular crimes of international concern, regardless of where the crime was committed or the nationalities of those involved.
However several countries, including China, have objected to "universal jurisdiction" on the basis that such a doctrine directly interferes with the right and concept of state sovereignty.
To some degree reflecting states' concerns over forfeiting national sovereignty, the Rome Statute of the ICC – dealing with the prosecution of war crimes and crimes against humanity – remains unratified by numerous influential countries, including the United States, Burma, Russia, India and China.
Of the 108 countries that have acceded to the terms of the Statute, a mere nine are from Asia, with Cambodia the only ASEAN member to do so.
Burma's ruling military junta has repeatedly denied that it actively recruits child soldiers, claiming to have prosecuted dozens of persons found to be illegally involved in such an undertaking and returning over 200 children to their respective parents between the years of 2002 to 2007.
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Democratic Voice of Burma: A new constitution for a blossoming political society – Aung Htoo
Mon 6 Oct 2008
Filed under: News, Opinion, Other
The last demand set out in the National League for Democracy’s 27 September statement was the right to freedom of organisation, existence and movement for political parties.
It is obvious that such a demand is intended not only for the benefit of the NLD but also for all existing political parties in Burma. It is understood that there will be no stability and development in a country without the free existence and organisation of political parties and civic organisations and strong movements. The NLD takes this issue very seriously that’s why it included this demand in its statement.
The NLD’s demand is for all political parties and organisations. It is relevant to every ethnic group and region in the whole country.
If you look at all the countries in the world, you will observe different political systems in different countries. However, you will notice that stable and developed countries have powerful political parties and civic organisations and strong social movements. There is no country in the world that has long-lasting stability and development because of the capacity and leadership of a handful of military generals.
If you look at the background to the military coups in Burma’s history, you will learn that the army staged a coup in 1962 because of the lack of power and ineffective efforts of political parties then. The army had the opportunity to take over power when the Anti-Fascist People’s Freedom League, a popular front organisation that played a key role in Burma’s independence movement, split into ‘the Clean’ and ‘the Stable’ factions. After the general elections in 1960, the then election winning party, the Union Party, split again into ‘the U-Bo’ and ‘the Masters’ groups.
In his history book ‘Burma in the Darkness’, author Win Tint Htun mentions that U Nu, the then chairperson of the Union Party Caretaker Committee, highlighted the internal disputes and divisions within the party at the UP’s National Conference held in Kabaraye Hill on 27 January 1962 as follows:
“How is everything with you, Ko Shwe U-Bo and Ko Shwe Masters? Are you not tired from fighting each other? The fight between U-Bo and Masters is a very good one to watch. If I may use boxing language, they both use feet, heels, kneels, elbows, fists, heads, chins, finger nails and everything they have to defeat each other. It is a serious fight. I think Ko Shwe U-Bo and Ko Shwe Masters have become quite exhausted. Aren’t you tired yet?”
In India, a contemporary of Burma’s in its independence struggle during the British colonial era, the political parties that were established even before independence are still in existence and powerful. Due to the wide influence of political parties and civic organisations, the very strong Indian army has never been able to take over the country’s power. There is no prospect of a military coup in India in the near future.
Nowadays, the Communist Party of Burma is the only political party left in Burma which was actively involved in the independence movement. However, it can no longer operate above ground for a number of reasons. Other political forces from that time such as the We Burmans Association, Burma’s Freedom Bloc, the People’s Revolutionary Party and the Socialist Party do not exist any more.
As for the Burma Socialist Programme Party founded after the military coup in 1962, it was merely a superficial grouping formed by military dictators to cling on to power and was thus consigned to the trash bin of history during the 1988 ‘8888’ people’s uprising.
The NLD came into existence in a country with political party background outlined above. Considered a civic party, the NLD has become a political party that has received enormous support from the nation since the military coup in 1962. As is the nature of a political party, the NLD may have had mistakes in its strategy. However, we have to acknowledge that it has a rightful political claim.
Why can we conclude the NLD has a rightful political claim?
Firstly, the legitimacy of the result of the 1990 May elections was accepted by not only the people of Burma and the international community but also the State Peace and Development Council.
The military regime has never said that the 1990 May elections result is illegitimate. The NLD has been constantly calling for the convening of the parliament based on that result.
Secondly, the NLD pointed out that the procedure of drafting the 2008 state constitution was wrong. It also pointed that the military regime had used different methods such as threats, intimidations, lies, deceptions and power abuses in order to adopt the constitution by force.
Thirdly, the NLD strongly rejects and states that it cannot accept the SPDC-sponsored magic show, the election, to be held in 2010.
In the midst of the NLD’s struggling for existence based on its righteous political stance amid incredible hardships and severe restrictions, key party leaders U Win Tin, U Khin Maung Swe and Dr Than Nyein were released from prison.
There is a saying in Burmese that “a boy comes for the good”, a metaphor for someone who can bring hope for the future to others. As for those three people, we have to say that it is the older people who have come for the good. Why?
These three leaders are very old now. U Win Tin is almost 80. They had to spend many years in prison and their health deteriorated throughout their prison terms. They could be rearrested and thrown into jail at any time if they say the wrong thing. Former army captain Win Htein, who was granted freedom on the same day these three were freed, was rearrested the next day.
Nonetheless, within a few days of being released from prison U Win Tin, U Khin Maung Swe and Dr Than Nyein announced that they would take assignments and continue serving the NLD.
People tend to say that appreciation and honour should be given only after someone has died as human beings can have many different faces. But these three people should be publicly honoured as democracy heroes even before they die for their announcement that they would steadfastly continue serving the NLD amidst severe restrictions alone.
I hope there will be 30, 300 or more democracy heroes in the NLD like these three people.
There is no shortcut to bring freedom, peace, justice and development to individual and to society as a whole. The only possible way to ensure them is by allowing the formation of strong and powerful political parties and civic organisations. To reach that end, party and organisation building should become a focal point and the persons who build these organisations should become key players.
U Win Tin, a very old man who values the NLD’s rightful political stance and will steadfastly continue serving the NLD, cannot be traded with a million youth who don’t understand any stance and work for the dictators. Political parties and civic organisations with rightful stances can be strong only if there are people like U Win Tin in these organisations.
We will be able to build a country that enjoys long-lasting freedom, peace and development only if there are a variety of political parties and civic organisations actively playing their roles like the various types of flowers are blooming in a garden.
The present SPDC constitution only allows political parties if their aims include non-disintegration of the union, non-disintegration of national solidarity and perpetuation of sovereignty. It is certain that the growth of genuine political parties and civic organisations will be terminated under such a constitution.
Therefore, the only thing we have to do is to get rid of the SPDC constitution packed with nonsensical articles and to bring about the emergence of a new constitution that permits the right for political parties and civic organisations to enjoy their freedom of organisation, existence and movement. Beautiful flowers will then blossom.
Japan Says Economy `Deteriorating' as Indicator Dives (Update1)
By Keiko Ujikane and Jason Clenfield
Oct. 7 (Bloomberg) -- Japan's government said for a third month that the world's second-largest economy is ``deteriorating'' after an indicator of current conditions fell the most ever.
The coincident index slid to 100.7 in August from 103.5 in July, the Cabinet Office said today in Tokyo. The 2.8 point drop was the biggest since the gauge was first compiled in 1980.
The word ``deterioration'' signals ``the chance of a recession is high,'' the government said, acknowledging the country may have slipped into the first downturn in six years. Crude oil's 38 percent decline since reaching a record in July probably won't be enough to spur Japan's economy as the U.S. financial crisis saps growth in the country's export markets.
``We think the economy has entered a recessionary phase'' since the first quarter, said Takehiro Sato, chief Japan economist at Morgan Stanley in Tokyo. ``The recent pullback in energy prices is a positive development, but we see increasing downside risks to our scenario, given feedback from the financial markets to the real economy.''
The three-month moving-average of the index, which the government uses to make its monthly assessment, fell to 102.2 in August from 103.2 in July, today's report showed.
The Bank of Japan today acknowledged that a recovery in the world's second-largest economy may be delayed, saying there are ``substantial uncertainties'' about the outlook.
``Economic growth has been sluggish and these conditions may persist for some time given that the slowdown in overseas economies is becoming clearer,'' the bank said today after leaving the benchmark rate at 0.5 percent in a unanimous vote. It said the economy will pick up ``in the longer run.''
Japan's largest manufacturers turned pessimistic for the first time since 2003 and factory output fell at the fastest pace in at least five years in August, reports showed in the past month.
To contact the reporter on this story: Keiko Ujikane in Tokyo at kujikane@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: October 7, 2008 01:42 EDT
Japan's opposition leader hospitalised: party
Tue Oct 7, 1:03 AM ET
TOKYO (AFP) - Japan's opposition leader Ichiro Ozawa, who has struggled to portray himself as fit to be prime minister ahead of elections, checked into hospital for several days with a bad cold, his party said Tuesday.
Ozawa, 66, who has had a history of health problems, went to a Tokyo hospital late Monday after his voice grew so hoarse he had trouble speaking.
"I presume he's taking two or three days off as a break," Yukio Hatoyama, the secretary general of Ozawa's Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), told reporters.
The DPJ declined to provide details. Jiji Press reported that Ozawa was receiving fluid from a drip and resting.
In recent days, Ozawa has been seen at party meetings wearing a scarf and a small mask over his mouth.
A former heavy smoker, Ozawa was hospitalised for 10 days last year due to fears of a relapse of a heart ailment.
The DPJ is hoping for a landmark victory in upcoming elections against the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, which has been in power for all but 10 months since 1955 but has gone through four prime ministers in the past two years.
Newspaper polls show that the DPJ has taken a narrow lead in voter preferences. But Ozawa lags far behind Prime Minister Taro Aso as the public's choice to the next leader.
Ozawa, a former ruling party stalwart who defected in 1993, has a rough public image. He has won the nickname "The Destroyer" for his passion for battles in parliament.
Last week he presented to parliament an outline of a DPJ-led government, promising to fix Japan's ailing pension system, close the widening gap between rich and poor and curb the powerful bureaucracy.
Aso took office on September 24 with a mission to lead his party into elections. But Aso said Monday he would not call snap polls immediately, hoping instead to focus on reviving the economy.
Burma Demands Attention: General Assembly President
The 63rd session of the United Nations General Assembly at UN headquarters. (Photo: AP)
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By LALIT K JHA / UNITED NATIONS Monday, October 6, 2008
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UN General Assembly President Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann said Burma “is certainly one of the areas of our world that demands our attention and our solidarity."
Brockmann made his remarks during a briefing at the conclusion of the general debate of the UN General Assembly. He said his "solidarity with the people of Myanmar" remains, in response to a question on Burma.
Since he assumed the presidency of the General Assembly this session, Brockmann so far has maintained a silence on Burma, making no comments regarding violation of human rights, restoration of democracy or continued arrests of political activists in Burma.
When asked specifically what his plans were for Burma as the General Assembly president, he said: "We do not come here with a pre-conceived plan, or with the idea that the president of the General Assembly is going to solve all conflicts and they are going to have to accept my preconceived recipes for peace."
However, Brockmann, who is never shy of reflecting his anti-US agenda at the UN, said he is working on the Burma issue by getting the best and most reliable information from various sources.
"My job as president is to work with the General Assembly members, to gather [them] and come at some viable way of helping our brothers and sisters in Myanmar in whatever the difficulties are," he said.
"It is premature to tell you what exactly what those steps would be," he said. Discussions are currently in an initial, consultative phase that allows member states to gather objective information on the situation, he said.
Meanwhile, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, called for the release of Burma's political prisoners including detained democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
"We believe that there are still 2,000 political prisoners in Myanmar," said Pilly on Thursday during her first press conference since taking office. "We are asking the authorities in Rangoon to free them."
The high commissioner also called the detention of Suu Kyi "completely illegal, even in respect of the country's law."
Copyright © 2008 Irrawaddy Publishing Group | www.irrawaddy.org
Credential Challenge to Continue, Say Exiled MPs
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By LALIT K JHA / UNITED NATIONS Tuesday, October 7, 2008
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The Members of Parliament Union (Burma), an exiled group of elected MPs who are heading the campaign to challenge the credentials of the Burmese military junta at the United Nations, have said that they are not deterred by the initial negative response from the UN, and that they would "intensify" their drive to have the junta denied recognition by the world body.
In addition, the “credential challenge campaign” of the Members of Parliament Union (Burma) has hired the services of two eminent US law firms, which will aid and advise it on the legal path to be followed, said Vice-president San San.
In his original letter to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon on September 8, San San challenged the credentials of the military junta to represent the people of Burma at the UN.
Asserting that the Members of Parliament Union (Burma) are the legitimate, democratically elected leaders of Burma, San San said they had appointed Thein Oo as their representative to the UN and as such he should be considered Burma's Permanent Representative to the United Nations.
The office of the secretary-general responded to the letter about a fortnight later, which was interpreted by many that the request had been rejected by Ban.
However, a copy of a letter signed by a senior UN official on behalf of the UN secretary-general indicates that Ban's office has raised technical points regarding legal requirements.
"The secretary-general's role is limited to a technical role in reviewing the formal criteria for credentials set forth in the Rules of Procedure,” said the senior official.
The procedure for the execution, submission and examination of credentials of representatives is set out in rules 27 through 29 of the Rules of Procedures of the General Assembly.
Rule 27 provides inter alia that "the credentials of representatives and the names of members of a delegation shall be submitted to the Secretary-General,” while Rule 28 provides that a committee “shall examine the credentials of representatives.”
"As such, the Secretary-General has decided not to take any action on your letter as it does not comply with the formal legal requirement set out in rule 27," the letter said.
"The Secretary-General, however, has taken note of the contents of your letter which together with its attachments, will remain on file with the Office of Legal Affairs, available for perusal by any member of the Credentials Committee at their request," the UN official said.
Members of Parliament Union (Burma) Secretary Ko Ko Lay said members of the campaign committee are not at all disappointed with the response from the UN.
He said that his team was now aided by a battery of eminent attorneys who were looking into how they can fulfill the legal requirements set out in rule 27.
"Credential challenge is only the first step in a new initiative to use all available international legal and political mechanisms to challenge the legitimacy of the regime and bring to light the multitude of abuses the regime commits against Burmese people," he said.
Encouraged by the support the Credential Challenge Campaign has been receiving from the international community, especially from Western nations, Ko Ko Lay said he was hopeful that they could achieve their goal within a few years.
At the same time, he conceded that none of Burma’s neighbors have been willing to support the committee on the issue.
Copyright © 2008 Irrawaddy Publishing Group | www.irrawaddy.org
Burma's IT Generation Combats Regime Repression
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By YENI Tuesday, October 7, 2008
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A truck carrying a squad of police pulls up in front of a Rangoon's Internet café. The police burst into the café and shout to the customers sitting at the computer terminals: "Hands off!" Then they tour the terminals and check every screen, asking users to describe what they are looking at.
If anyone is found using G-talk, the police inquire further—"Who are you chatting with?" "Where do they live?" Customers who come up with wrong or suspicious answers can be arrested.
Burma’s Internet cafes are becoming subject to severe surveillance by the police. (Photo: AFP)
This scenario is a common one in Rangoon's Internet cafes nowadays—in this era where tech-savvy young Burmese chat away on G-talk, check out the social-networking sites Facebook, Hi5 and Friendster, surf exiled Burmese websites and blogs and even share information about how to slip past regime censors by using proxy servers.
Since the September 2007 uprising, the Internet has shaped the way they think, relax and communicate in their isolated, military-ruled country. The Internet has created a virtual community and a new arena for freedom of expression.
"The uprising in Burma is ultimately an example of a protest where digitally network technologies played a critical role," researcher Mridul Chowdhury reported in his paper "The Role of the Internet in Burma’s Saffron Revolution," a case study for the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University.
Equipped with cell phones and digital cameras, and with access to the Internet, determined young Burmese are communicating with each other and the outside world as never before.
During last year’s monk-led demonstrations, known as the Saffron Revolution, Internet users also became publishers of text, audio, and video files illustrating what was happening inside the country. Suddenly, Burma was attracting the full attention of such international media as the BBC, CNN and Al Jazeera. Condemnation of the regime’s repression of the protests followed from many governments.
Burma’s IT generation had a chance to flex its muscles before the generals pulled the plug on the Internet at the height of their crackdown on the September protests.
The junta has prevented Burmese citizens from using services like Hotmail, Yahoo and Gmail and to block Web sites and blogs set up by exiled Burmese critics of the regime. But Internet cafes responded by installing foreign-hosted proxy servers to circumvent the government restrictions.
Risking arrest, imprisonment and torture, young Burmese—notably journalists and bloggers—have continued to play a crucial role in informing the outside world of the true situation in Burma.
They are more likely than ever to see the Internet as a means of achieving freedom of expression with the advent of information technology. In their blogs and chat rooms, they have been demonstrating the active role they play in sharing information and debating important issues in politics and other areas of domestic concern.
This is the reason why, one year after the Saffron Revolution, Internet cafes are becoming subject to severe surveillance by the police. Cafe owners are forced to take screenshots of user activity every five minutes and deliver these images to the authorities on a regular basis.
The owner of one Internet cafe in downtown Rangoon said the local authorities and police intelligence officers had issued orders to provide ID information about customers.
According to Internet cafe owners and users in Rangoon, Internet speeds have slowed down considerably since mid-September, making it impossible to upload large files such as photos or videos.
Meanwhile, the Web sites of the exile-run, Oslo-based Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) and New Delhi-based Mizzima News were hit in July by DDoS attacks, shutting them down for several days.
Another DDoS attacks were again in September launched against The Irrawaddy, DVB and the Bangkok-based New Era Journal. The Web site of Mizzima News was hacked on October 1 with a cross-site scripting, making it inaccessible.
According to Chiang Mai-based freelance journalist Brian McCartan, two community forums Mystery Zillion and Planet Myanmar—Web sites providing information and instruction on how to circumvent the regime's control—were also disabled and shut down by similar attacks in August.
This kind of action by the regime, however, may indicate that the Internet has had an influence not only on ordinary users but also on the government’s overall response to the street demonstrations, the experts argue.
"While any number of deaths is unacceptable, it is also possible that the government actually exercised restraint in the use of force against civilian protesters because of the Internet and international media attention," Chowdhury wrote.
He pointed out that at least 3,000 demonstrators were killed in the nationwide uprising in 1988, while the official death toll in the crackdown on the 2007 demonstrations was far lower—31.
"It is plausible that the military felt it was under greater scrutiny because of the Internet, and that it was therefore more restrained in its use of force," Chowdhury said.
Copyright © 2008 Irrawaddy Publishing Group | www.irrawaddy.org
NLD Seeking to Negotiate ‘Democratic Reforms’
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By SAW YAN NAING Tuesday, October 7, 2008
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The National League for Democracy (NLD) is seeking to negotiate “democratic reform” with the Burmese generals if they will establish a constitution review committee, a NLD spokesperson said on Tuesday.
“If we get those chances, we will hold bilateral negotiations and go on based on our agreement,” said Nyan Win, an NLD spokesperson. “Our idea is for ‘democratic reform.’ We willingly want to negotiate with them [authorities].”
Other NLD members said that if the military government is willing to review the constitution, the opposition NLD party may be willing to take part in the national elections in 2010.
The junta held a referendum in May on the constitution, which was drafted by its hand-picked delegates. After the referendum, it announced that more than 92 percent of the voters approved the constitution. Critics and opposition groups inside and outside the country called the constitution and referendum a sham.
The constitution guarantees the military continues to dominate the country’s political future by assigning its own representatives seats in the people’s parliament without contesting in elections.
On September 22, the NLD released a statement calling for a review of the constitutional process, calling the draft constitution “one-sided” and lacking the participation of the 1990-elected members of parliament.
Nyan Win did not discuss any details it might propose regarding the constitution. The Burmese authorities have not responded to the request
Some observers said they were pessimistic the junta would review its own constitution.
Cin Sian Thang, the chairman of the Zomi National Congress, said he didn’t think the generals would agree to a review because they are in the middle of their “seven-step road map” to democracy.
“Even if we [ethnic leaders and NLD leaders] didn’t agree with the junta’s road map, they [Burmese authorities] are likely to continue. If they finish their process, the situation in Burma will only worsen,” he said.
The UN Special Envoy Ibrahim Gambari earlier this year also asked the junta to review the constitution but Information Minister Brig-Gen Kyaw Hsan told the envoy in March, “It is impossible to review or rewrite the constitution which was drawn with the participation of delegates from all walks of life.”
Thakin Chan Htun, a veteran Burmese politician in Rangoon, said the general election should be free and fair and the detained democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi should be allowed to participate.
To be a free and fair election, he said, the junta should first release all political prisoners including Aung San Suu Kyi.
All Burmese citizens should be allowed to vote in the multi-party election and the international community, including UN representatives, foreign observers and journalists, should be allowed to freely report on the general election, said Thakin Chan Htun.
The state constitution is step three of the regime’s seven-step “road map.” The fifth-step is the 2010 general election.
On September 25, after releasing a statement calling for a review of the constitution, the NLD was warned by the head of Burma’s police, Brig-Gen Khin Yi, to withdraw the statement. The authorities said it might motivate citizens to undertake activities critical of the military government and undermine the security of the state.
The NLD, the main opposition party in Burma, won a landslide victory in parliamentary elections in 1990. However, the current Burmese government, led by Snr-Gen Than Shwe, ignored the election results and refused to transfer power to Suu Kyi’s NLD.
Copyright © 2008 Irrawaddy Publishing Group | www.irrawaddy.org
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