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ビルマ市民フォーラム メールマガジン 2008/12/19
People's Forum on Burma
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
在日ビルマ人のみなさんより、以下、「ビルマの政治囚の早期釈放を
求める、祈りの会」の案内をいただきました。
日本のみなさまにもぜひご参加いただきたいとのことです。
直前のご連絡となりますが、ぜひ足をお運びいただければうれしく思います。
宜しくお願いいたします。
ＰＦＢ事務局 宮澤
http://www1.jca.apc.org/pfb/
*********************************************
独裁ミャンマー軍事政権によって不当に拘束されている
民主化活動家たちの釈放を求めるお祈り会のご案内
*********************************************
現在ビルマでは、民主化を求める運動へ参加したり、軍政を批判する
行動・言動を行ったり、はたまたサイクロン被災者への支援活動
により逮捕・拘束されている人がたくさんいます。
ビルマ政治囚支援協会（本部・タイ）によると、現在、2,150名
以上もの人びとが、政治囚として不当に刑務所へ収容されています。
ビルマの民主化の進展には、まずは、政治囚の釈放が何より
も重要です。
さまざまな宗教を信仰する人びとが暮らすビルマですが、
この度、在日のビル人僧侶、キリスト教、イスラム教から代表者が
集い、宗教・民族を超え、アウンサンスーチー氏を含むすべての
政治囚の早期無条件の釈放を願い、祈りの会を行います。
ぜひ日本のみなさまも、お越しください。
■ 日時：2008年4月21日（日）午後1時集合
（お祈り会は1時30分～2時30分頃）
■ 場所： 乗蓮寺 東京大仏
http://map.yahoo.co.jp/pllat=35.46.42.973&lon=139.38.51.913&la=1&fi=1&sc=3
■ 交通： 東武東上線 下赤塚駅から徒歩18分
■ 主催： 在日ビルマ人の民主化活動家のみなさん
■ 問合先（日本語可）：080-3424-2759 、090-4221-1988
*********************************************
Friday, December 19, 2008
Flag this messageミャンマー軍事政権によって不当に拘束されている民主化活動家たちの釈放を求めるお祈り会のご案内
【日時訂正】ミャンマー軍事政権によって不当に拘束されている民主化活動家たちの釈放を求めるお祈り会のご案内
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
ビルマ市民フォーラム メールマガジン 2008/12/19
People's Forum on Burma
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
先ほどの案内に日時の間違いがありました。
訂正し、再送いたします。
誠に申し訳ありませんでした。
正： 2008年12月21日
誤： 2008年4月21日
ＰＦＢ事務局 宮澤
http://www1.jca.apc.org/pfb/
*********************************************
独裁ミャンマー軍事政権によって不当に拘束されている
民主化活動家たちの釈放を求めるお祈り会のご案内
*********************************************
現在ビルマでは、民主化を求める運動へ参加したり、軍政を批判する
行動・言動を行ったり、はたまたサイクロン被災者への支援活動
により逮捕・拘束されている人がたくさんいます。
ビルマ政治囚支援協会（本部・タイ）によると、現在、2,150名
以上もの人びとが、政治囚として不当に刑務所へ収容されています。
ビルマの民主化の進展には、まずは、政治囚の釈放が何より
も重要です。
さまざまな宗教を信仰する人びとが暮らすビルマですが、
この度、在日のビル人僧侶、キリスト教、イスラム教から代表者が
集い、宗教・民族を超え、アウンサンスーチー氏を含むすべての
政治囚の早期無条件の釈放を願い、祈りの会を行います。
ぜひ日本のみなさまも、お越しください。
■ 日時：2008年12月21日（日）午後1時集合
（お祈り会は1時30分～2時30分頃）
■ 場所： 乗蓮寺 東京大仏
http://map.yahoo.co.jp/pllat=35.46.42.973&lon=139.38.51.913&la=1&fi=1&sc=3
■ 交通： 東武東上線 下赤塚駅から徒歩18分
■ 主催： 在日ビルマ人の民主化活動家のみなさん
■ 問合先（日本語可）：080-3424-2759 、090-4221-1988
*********************************************
Risks Seen For Clinton As Husband Lists Donors
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/18/AR2008121802417.html?wpisrc=newsletter
By James V. Grimaldi and Philip Rucker
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, December 19, 2008; Page A01
Former president Bill Clinton's disclosure yesterday that foreign governments and state-sponsored agencies have donated between $75 million and $165 million to his foundation highlighted a series of potential conflicts that Hillary Rodham Clinton could face should she become secretary of state.
This Story
Risks Seen For Clinton As Husband Lists Donors
Database: Search Clinton Donor List
Memorandum of Understanding (PDF)
The kingdom of Saudi Arabia made one of the largest contributions, between $10 million and $25 million, as did the Australian government's overseas aid program and a Dominican Republic agency that fights AIDS. The William J. Clinton Foundation also raised more than $1 million each from the governments of Brunei, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar.
The former president had resisted releasing the list of donors during his wife's presidential campaign, but he agreed to do so when it became a possible issue as President-elect Barack Obama was considering whether to make her part of his Cabinet.
The list -- containing more than 200,000 donor names -- shows the extent to which Bill Clinton relied on foreign governments, especially those of Middle Eastern oil states, to establish his foundation over the past decade. In many cases, those governments have national interests that have routinely come before the State Department and other U.S. government agencies.
Obama transition officials believe Clinton's disclosure "goes above and beyond in preventing conflicts," spokesman Tommy Vietor said. "Past donations to the Clinton Foundation have no connection to Senator Clinton's prospective tenure as secretary of state. Going forward, all donors will be disclosed on an annual basis, and new donations from foreign governments will be scrutinized by government ethics officers."
The release of the Clinton donors shows for the first time the scope of his international fundraising and charitable efforts since leaving the White House in 2001. Norway and the national charitable lottery of the Netherlands gave more than $5 million, for example, and the Swedish lottery also donated. The Jamaican and Italian governments each contributed more than $50,000.
"It is going to be complex to disassociate the specialized interests of the foundation of Bill Clinton from certain foreign interests that are represented by the U.S. government," said James Thurber of American University's Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies. "But I think they can do it. I don't think it is a major issue yet, but you never know, when it comes to Bill Clinton, what might come out."
Since it was established in 1997, the Clinton Foundation has raised more than $500 million, which has financed construction of Clinton's presidential library in Little Rock as well as charitable programs in global health, poverty, climate change and education. The donations have gone to an estimated 150 countries and provided medication to some 1.4 million people living with AIDS, according to foundation staff. In partnership with former president George H.W. Bush, the foundation also raised millions of dollars for recovery efforts along the Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina.
The list released yesterday includes some controversial figures and companies. Affiliates of the Korean conglomerate Hanwha -- Hanwha L&C, Hanwha Engineering and Construction, and Hanwha Stores -- donated about $1 million after Clinton traveled to Seoul in 2003 and appeared with Hanwha Group Chairman Kim Seung-youn. Kim has been charged and jailed in Korea on public corruption allegations.
Another donation followed Clinton's trip to Kazakhstan in 2005 on the private jet of Frank Giustra, a financier of mining ventures. On the trip, Clinton praised Kazakhstan's authoritarian president, and Giustra later entered into agreements to invest in uranium projects controlled by Kazakhstan's government. Giustra donated $10 million to $25 million, and the Clinton Giustra Sustainable Growth Initiative gave between $1 million and $5 million.
A donation of more than $25,000 came from Andre Agapov, a Russian mining company owner who allegedly worked with the Russian secret police for President Boris Yeltsin.
Other contributors include Friends of Saudi Arabia and the Dubai Foundation, as well as Saudi businessman Nasser Al-Rashid, each giving more than $1 million. Haim Saban, the Egyptian-born media tycoon who funds many Israeli initiatives, gave more than $5 million.
Among the top donors were foundations created by Microsoft founder Bill Gates and his wife, Melinda Gates, and Scottish retail-clothing executive Tom Hunter. Also on the list of the biggest contributors, giving between $10 million and $25 million each, are real estate and Hollywood mogul Stephen L. Bing, New York billionaire B. Thomas Golisano, Gateway computer co-founder Theodore W. Waitt and Chicago media executive Fred Eychaner. Black Entertainment Television founder Robert L. Johnson gave more than $1 million.
This Story
Risks Seen For Clinton As Husband Lists Donors
Database: Search Clinton Donor List
Memorandum of Understanding (PDF)
Billionaire financier and political supporter George Soros and his Open Society Institute each gave major donations, while the Arkansas-based foundations linked to retail giant Wal-Mart each gave at least $1 million.
The list also includes gifts from companies damaged in the current economic meltdown, such as Lehman Brothers, Citigroup, Freddie Mac and General Motors.
Entertainment figures on the list include producer Steven Spielberg, actors Cameron Diaz and the late Paul Newman, and singers Barbra Streisand and Carly Simon. New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner and Formula One driver Michael Schumacher also donated.
"I want to personally express my deepest appreciation to our many contributors, who remain steadfast partners in our work to impact the lives of so many around the world in measurable and meaningful ways," Bill Clinton said in a statement. "We have just begun -- and it is an honor and privilege to be on this journey alongside each and every person who is committed to our foundation's ongoing charitable mission."
The foundation did not release the exact amounts or dates for donations, but it did include donors who gave very small amounts, going beyond the normal requirements for federal campaign disclosures. The donors were classified by amount of their gifts, within ranges.
Clinton released more detail than that promised by President Bush, who has said he does not plan to release names of donors, or George H.W. Bush, who also received contributions of at least $1 million from Oman, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The elder Bush also collected more than $50,000 from Japan, Hong Kong and Thailand.
Former president Jimmy Carter's center, which was a model for Clinton's, releases the names of $1 million-plus donors, and they include foreign governments as well.
Research editor Alice Crites, database editor Sarah Cohen, and staff writers Matthew Mosk, Dan Morgan, Steven Mufson, Derek Kravitz and Mary Pat Flaherty contributed to this report.
Japan to accept 30 Myanmar refugees residing in Thailand
http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20081219p2a00m0na016000c.html
The Japanese government has announced that it will accept 30 refugees from the war-torn nation of Myanmar from fiscal 2010, the first time an Asian country has formally accepted refugees who reside in another nation after fleeing their home country.
The decision was made by an inter-governmental panel on the topic by 11 ministries and agencies at a meeting on Friday. There are plans to possibly increase the number accepted in the future.
The 30 will be selected during the next fiscal year, with cooperation from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCR).
Under the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Law, interviews for prospective refugees can usually only be carried out within Japan. When candidates are refugees who are living in another country after fleeing their home nation, however, the law allows government representatives to go to the refugees' country of residence. They are currently living in Thailand.
Japan accepts refugees who have been recommended by the UNHCR as needing protection, and are deemed as families capable of fitting into Japanese society. The government will give them Japanese language lessons and job placement and training.
Some 75,300 refugees who were residing in other countries after fleeing their home countries were relocated to 14 foreign countries during fiscal 2007, according to UNHCR, with 48,300 settling in the United States. The majority were from Myanmar or Somalia.
MYANMAR: Myanmar journalists face intimidation, pressure from junta
http://www.asiamedia.ucla.edu/article-southeastasia.asp?parentid=102313
The military junta arrested 12 journalists and bloggers in 2008, according to the Burmese Journalist Protection Committee
The Jakarta Post
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
By Nugroho and Lilian Budianto
Journalists working in military-ruled Myanmar continue to face intimidation, torture and arrests in reporting on the country's corrupt and brutal regime, despite international calls for more press freedom, a conference on media safety heard Tuesday.
A Myanmar journalist, who asked not to be identified, told the conference that contrary to government claims, journalists in the country were treated as "dangerous enemies".
"There is no freedom for Burmese journalists to write about political and social conflicts," he said while asking that pictures of him and his colleague not be taken, out of safety concerns.
The Regional Conference on Creating a Culture of Safety in the Media in Asia-Pacific was organized by the International News Safety Institute (INSI) from Dec. 15-16, and brought together participants from 11 countries.
Mon Mon Myat, of the Burmese Journalist Protection Committee, said the junta had set up rules under a 2006 law on electronic media and 1996 law on film and computers that restricted how journalists could work.
Under the laws, journalists are not allowed to take pictures that might "pose a threat" to the government, with offenders facing up to 59 years in prison. Internet users are also under strict surveillance by the government, which requires service providers to check every five minutes websites visited by users and to immediately report suspicious or dangerous activities.
In 2008, 12 journalists and bloggers were arrested in Myanmar, the protection committee says. Several popular websites, including yahoo.com and hotmail.com, have also been blocked as the junta further isolates its people from the outside world.
"Eighty percent of Internet sites are banned by the government," said Ronald Aung Naing of the Burmese Journalist Protection Committee.
He added the government also monitored people regularly at checkpoints for cameras or video cameras with "dangerous" content.
Eko Maryadi, of the Indonesian Alliance of Independent Journalists, told the forum that although media freedom in Indonesia had improved since the fall in 1998 of former president Soeharto's 32-year regime, journalists still faced intimidation, harassment and lawsuits in reporting on certain issues.
"We have also seen more business groups filing complaints against journalists, claiming the reports harmed their reputation or business. This was rare in the past," he said.
The latest such case is the complaint filed by the Bakrie Group against Tempo daily over its reports on the financial problems of the group's top subsidiary, PT Bumi Resources.
The alliance recorded 43 cases of violence against journalists in 2005, with 53 in 2006, 75 in 2007 and 52 cases as of September this year.
The conference closed with a declaration calling on all governments in the region to take responsibility for the safety of all journalists working in their countries and to lift impunity for groups that had endangered the lives of journalists.
Date Posted: 12/17/2008
EU to give €40.5 million in humanitarian aid to Burma-MIZZIMA
http://www.mizzima.com/nargis-impact/1475-eu-to-give-405-million-in-humanitarian-aid-to-burma.html
by Solomon
Friday, 19 December 2008 19:41
New Delhi (Mizzima) – The European Commission on Thursday said it will give another €40.5 million (US$ 58 million) of aid to Burma, particularly targeting victims of Cyclone Nargis, which swept through the country's southwestern coastal region in May.
The announcement, made in Brussels on Thursday, said €22 million of the allotted aid will be provided to cyclone victims while the remaining funds will be given to vulnerable populations inside Burma and to Burmese refugees in Thailand.
Louis Michel, EU Development Commissioner, in a press statement, said, "We have progressively developed very good cooperation with the authorities [Burma's ruling junta] on humanitarian access in the Irrawaddy Delta in the wake of the Cyclone Nargis."
The new funds will be distributed through non-governmental organizations, United Nations agencies and the Red Cross and will reach an estimated population of at least two million people.
"The Commission will continue advocating for similar cooperation and access to other parts of the country," said Michel, iterating that the aid package is aimed at more than just the country's storm ravished delta region.
The EU also said it aims to raise funds to help vulnerable sections of the Burmese population, especially the hundreds and thousands of Muslim Rohingya in Arakan state in western Burma who are facing severe oppression by the military junta, including forced relocation, forced labor and denial of citizenship.
"I am particularly concerned about the forgotten crisis in northern Rakhine (Arakan) State, where some 800,000 Muslim Rohingya live in terrible conditions," said Michel.
The EU had earlier provided €17 million in funds for cyclone relief efforts related to shelter, food, water, sanitation, health, nutrition, protection and logistics. With the new funds, EU support for cyclone relief will total some €39 million.
More than seven months after Cyclone Nargis struck the country, victims still continue to lack adequate support according to the Tripartite Core Group (TCG), which performs periodic reviews and constitutes representatives from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Burmese government and United Nations.
"The relief stage has not finished and more assistance is still needed, especially in the nutrition, food and shelter sectors," the TCG said in a press statement on Friday.
In its inaugural "Periodic Review" the TCG said that during its fact finding assessment conducted between 29 October to 19 November 2008, it found that 2,376 households in 108 communities in Irrawaddy and Rangoon Divisions are still struggling with temporary shelter and food and water shortages while confronting health obstacles such as fever and diarrhea.
"There was a need for increased support to livelihood recovery, in order for people to regain the level of self-sufficiency that they had prior to Cyclone Nargis," said the TCG.
Despite a United Nations appeal in the immediate months following the deadly storm for US$ 483 million to help survivors, thus far only 64 percent of the figure, or US$ 304 million, has been pledged.
Cyclone Nargis struck the country on May 2nd and 3rd of this year and affected more than 2.4 million people, leaving at least 130,000 people dead or missing.
A villager working in the salt business near the remote village of Wakone in Laputta Township, one of the hardest hit cyclone areas, said aid shipments to the beleaguered community have slowly petered out.
"Aid supplies are no more arriving to our place, the last one came about ten days ago," said the businessman, adding that the aid previously received was about five kilograms of rice per person.
He said it has also become extremely difficult for people to carry on business as workers demand more money – nearly three times the normal price. The situation, he claims, is due to the cyclone killing so many workers and people now experiencing a psychosis of fear in relation to working near the shore.
"We really need more money to be successfully running the business again, otherwise we cannot pay the employees," he said.
He added that before the cyclone workers were paid about 20,000 kyat (US$ 19) in advance, but now demand between four and five times that amount.
He went on to say that though the government has provided loans of 300,000 kyat per acre, businessmen are concerned they might not be able to pay the amount back in three years time, the deadline the government has fixed for reimbursement.
He also said that while a few aid agencies are still providing aid to villages with relatively large populations, small and remote villages no longer see any assistance, if in fact they ever did.
"Here people are living in small, temporary houses and it is very difficult to stay under the sun because it is too hot. We are in need of housing materials and continued food supplies," lamented one local villager.
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