http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90777/90856/6610945.html
A non-governmental social organization of Norway has planned to build 6,000 houses for cyclone victims in Laputta township, Myanmar's Ayeyawaddy division,the local Weekly Eleven News reported Tuesday.
The organization will start to build 300 houses as well as 10 basic education schools in the first phase as agreed with the government, the report said.
The report also quoted a post-Nargis joint assessment report of Myanmar, ASEAN and the United Nations as saying that the Myanmar government has arranged to build 20,847 houses in cyclone-hit regions.
Meanwhile, the Japanese government will provide 3 million U.S. dollars more of aid through the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to rebuild the remaining damaged houses in the cyclone-hit regions following its aid of 2 million dollars throughthe Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) earlier to help in agricultural restoration work in the Ayeyawaddy delta after storm,according to the Japanese embassy.
Besides, the European Union (EU) will also give Myanmar humanitarian assistance of 40.5 million euros (52 million USD) this year, earlier report said.
Moreover, another Malaysian humanitarian organization, the Mercy Malaysia, will also provide help to rebuild a dozen healthcare facilities in Dedaye in the same Ayeyawaddy delta.
Statisitcs show that cyclone Nargis, which swept Myanmar in Maylast year, destroyed a total of nearly 800,000 houses in Ayeyawaddy and Yangon divisions worth of 686 million U.S. dollars.
Deadly tropical cyclone Nargis hit five divisions and states - Ayeyawaddy, Yangon, Bago, Mon and Kayin on May 2 and 3 last year, of which Ayeyawaddy and Yangon inflicted the heaviest casualties and massive infrastructural damage.
The storm has killed 84,537 people, leaving 53,836 missing and 19,359 injured according to official death toll.
Source:Xinhua
Monday, March 16, 2009
Norway NGO plans to build 6,000 houses in Myanmar cyclone-hit areas
Rivalry in the Indian Ocean
http://www.livemint.com/2009/03/10220404/Rivalry-in-the-Indian-Ocean.html?h=B
Few geographical passageways are as important to India as the Indian Ocean and if the country wants to dominate this major trade passage, it must ramp up its naval presence
font size Dominating the Indian Ocean has emerged as a central point of contention in the competition between India and China. In a recent Foreign Affairs article, Robert D. Kaplan, a security expert, argues that the Indian Ocean will take centre stage in the 21st century as India and China compete in a “great-power rivalry” over the waters.
If India wants to dominate this central trade interstate, it must ramp up its naval presence in the Indian Ocean. Meanwhile, China is escalating its role in the waters, hoping for a stronger geostrategic footing and the economic clout that comes with it.
Illustration: Jayachandran / MintKaplan notes the fairly obvious: that the Indian Ocean is —and has been historically—a major trade passage. Presently, 90% of global commerce is conducted on the sea, and half the world’s container traffic is in the Indian Ocean. He notes that 70% of petroleum-related products pass through the Indian Ocean.
Even in a world of bustling air traffic and cross-country pipelines, few geographical passageways are as important to India as the Indian Ocean.
He writes, “Like a microcosm of the world at large, the greater Indian Ocean region is developing into an area of both ferociously guarded sovereignty (with fast-growing economies and militaries) and astonishing interdependence (with its pipelines and land and sea routes).”
India must reckon with an antagonistic China in its waters. As Kaplan notes, China is opening naval bases in neighbours’ backyards, notably a base in Gwadar, Pakistan. It has plans for other facilities in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Myanmar.
While India’s military capability is certainly within the top 10 of the world, much of its capacity, it seems, is geared toward confronting or checking Pakistan. This is certainly important but it’s just not enough to deter China.
Greater naval capacity, careful strategic thinking and spending is needed. China has already decided that it will play its cards aggressively in Asian waters, generally. On Monday, US officials issued a stern rebuke to China, saying that its vessels harassed an American surveillance ship in the South China Sea.
India cannot afford to let China dominate the Indian Ocean. India’s navy is expanding, expecting to add three nuclear-powered submarines and three aircraft carriers by 2015, Kaplan says. This is welcome news, but India must ramp up its naval capabilities further—otherwise China will secure its own interests, and foothold, in the Indian Ocean.
Is a new great game afoot in the Indian Ocean? Tell us at views@livemint.com
MYANMAR: HIV awareness key among injecting drug users
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=83379
There are 70,000 registered drug users in Myanmar today, the government reports
YANGON, 9 March 2009 (IRIN) - Maung Maung (not his real name) never knew he could contract HIV by sharing needles.
"I was too late," the 37-year-old, who routinely exchanged needles with drug addicts over a 10-year period, told IRIN/PlusNews.
"When I took a blood test six months ago, I was told I was HIV-positive,” he said. Maung Maung has yet to receive ART treatment, despite being registered at the Waibagi Hospital, one of the few in Myanmar with the capacity to treat people infected with HIV.
"Whenever I think of my plight, I blame myself for not knowing more at the time,” Maung Maung said.
There are thousands of injecting drug users like Maung Maung, with little or no awareness of the risks.
Government figures suggest there are around 70,000 registered drug users in the country, with the vast majority of newly registered addicts using heroin.
But with most addicts reluctant to register with the authorities (a requirement when seeking treatment) out of fear of persecution, numbers are likely to be much higher. The UN Office on Drugs and Crime estimates up to 300,000 people may be addicts.
HIV prevalence stands at about 35 percent among injecting drug users, according to government figures, in some areas topping 80 percent.
"HIV prevalence among injecting drug users is pretty high in this country,” Sun Gang, country coordinator with the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), [see IRIN report] told IRIN/PlusNews in Yangon. “One in three injecting drug users is infected with HIV/AIDS,” he said.
An estimated 240,000 people are thought to be living with HIV/AIDS in Myanmar, the agency says.
In Myanmar - the world's second-largest producer of illicit opium and one of the largest producers of amphetamine type stimulants (ATS) - injecting drug use is the main mode of transmission after heterosexual sex – accounting for approximately 30 percent of all new infections.
Behaviour change key
"You cannot get behaviour change unless you have the correct knowledge," Willy de Maere, country coordinator with Asian Harm Reduction Network (AHRN), told IRIN/PlusNews in Yangon, emphasising the importance of awareness among this high-risk group, although in some areas that is already happening.
Nelly Thein, project coordinator with the Myanmar Anti-Narcotics Association (MANA), a local NGO, said: “They [injecting drug users] should really understand how HIV could be transmitted to them, and how it can be prevented."
Other areas of additional help needed include the provision of clean needles. At present, given the prevalence of injecting drug use, existing treatment and rehabilitation services are inadequate, specialists said.
In an effort to reduce the risks of HIV among high drug using populations, UNODC and partners such as AHRN and MANA are providing HIV/AIDS knowledge, needles and syringes, and distributing condoms through drop-in-centres and outreach programmes.
The organisations also provide vital medical care for opportunistic infections, skin infections, general healthcare, and offer referral services for access to voluntary and confidential counselling and testing, prevention of mother to child transmission, treatment for HIV/TB, sexually transmitted infections and anti-retroviral treatment, detox and methadone (a heroin substitute) maintenance treatment.
Imprisonment "not a solution"
In Myanmar, drug use is illegal, and offenders face between one and three years’ imprisonment.
However, according to one doctor, who wished to remain anonymous: "Imprisonment of drug users is not a solution. It can make the situation worse in terms of HIV/AIDS transmission."
He added that police crackdowns and arrest of drug users affected the continuation of outreach and prevention activities as well as interrupting symptomatic drug treatment and other necessary treatment interventions such as anti-TB, antiretroviral and methadone treatment.
"In prison, it's hard to access clean needles and syringes, which could fuel HIV/AIDS transmission [as drugs are readily available]," the expert warned.
lm/ds/mw
Hundreds of Thousands Still Displaced in Burma: Watchdog
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=15258
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By WAI MOE Friday, March 6, 2009
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Burma’s problem of internal displacement continued in 2008 due to ongoing conflict and human rights violations, according to a report released by a Geneva-based watchdog, the Internal Displacement Monitoring Center (IDMC), on Thursday.
The IDMC said in its 2008 country report on Burma that the number of displaced persons in the eastern part of the country had increased by an estimated 66,000 people over the past year, bringing the total for the region to at least 451,000.
The group noted that in eastern Burma’s Karen State alone, there are more than 100,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs). Meanwhile, in Chin State, in western Burma, a new IDP crisis has emerged because of human rights violations and a lack of food security.
According to the report, people in many parts of the country continue to be displaced by forced labor and land confiscation “in the context of state-sponsored development initiatives.” The report added that information about IDPs in some parts of the country was not available.
Since 1996, over 3,200 villages in eastern Burma have been destroyed and forcibly relocated or abandoned, the report said.
From the 1980s onwards, several hundred thousand people have been forced to flee their homes and live under difficult conditions in zones of armed conflict, it added.
The report said the internal displacement in eastern Burma reflects the Burmese army’s expansion of its counter-insurgency strategy into new territories after a series of strategic gains.
Internal displacement is also occurring in ceasefire areas, caused by land confiscation and other abuses by the Burmese army, according to the report.
The group said that even in urban areas, large numbers of people have been displaced by government development projects.
A report released last year by the leading human rights watchdog, Amnesty International, also examined the problem of internal displacement in Burma.
The report, Crimes against Humanity in Eastern Myanmar, released in June 2008, details the effects of Burma’s ongoing military offensive in the area.
The report cites “widespread and systematic violations of international human rights and humanitarian law” in eastern Burma as evidence of crimes against humanity in the country.
“The weight of evidence therefore suggests that some of these violations constitute crimes against humanity and that the impunity prevailing in the country for such crimes has contributed to further human rights crises, notably the government crackdown on demonstrators in September 2007,” the report said.
Under Article 7 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC), crimes against humanity are defined as certain illegal acts “committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population, with knowledge of the attack.”
The ICC identifies 11 crimes, including murder, enslavement and “deportation or forcible transfer of population,” as acts that could constitute crimes against humanity.
“Although Myanmar [Burma] is not a party to the Rome Statute, the definition in this Statute of crimes against humanity reflects rules of customary international law binding on all states, regardless of whether or not they are parties to the Statute,” according to the AI report.
On March 4, the ICC issued a warrant for the arrest of Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, who is accused of committing genocide in Sudan’s western Darfur region. It was the first time in history that a warrant had been issued for the arrest of a current head of state facing charges of crime against humanity.
SEAPA Alert: Burmese censors go digital, journalists alarmed
SEAPA Alert: Burmese censors go digital, journalists alarmed
10 March 2009
Source: Mizzima News
The media in Burma are alarmed at the plan of the junta's Press
Scrutiny and Registration Board--better known as the Censors'
Board--to censor the digital copies of articles to be published in
Burmese journals and magazines.
Burmese journalists said they see this new system as impractical as
the Internet speed in the country is too slow for downloading and
uploading of such a big amount of files.
Also, an editor who usually deals with the Censors' Board said this
new system which uses digital and electronic media to censor
articles will enable the censors to manipulate the contents of each
article as they can easily insert the text they themselves have
written.
The editors and publishers of literary journals, newspapers and
magazines currently submit hard copies of their forthcoming
articles to the Censors' Board. The board will soon require them to
submit soft copies stored in either CD or memory stick.
This new system will be introduced first to weekly journals and
will be later expanded to other print media, according to one of
the censors.
The board will read and evaluate the articles through a computer
system linked together with LAN.
In the first stage, printed copies of the censored articles and
layouts will be sent back to the print media concerned, followed by
their corresponding soft copies. After the publication has
incorporated the revisions made by the censors, the edited soft
copies will be sent back for final approval.
A staff from this department said that a trial run is being
conducted.
Another Censors' Board official said that the current system of
requiring print media outlets to submit two thirds of the total
pages one week before the publication date, with the rest to be
submitted 2-3 days prior to publication, will remain unchanged.
Aside from revising and deleting certain pictures, illustrations
and texts of the publications, the Censors' Board also asks the
various government ministries and departments whether to delete or
not news and articles written about them.
------------------------------------------------
Mizzima News (http://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=92apN&m=1e4Oe8NI2jKXin&b=7ERePGMwSyBAuz0prYAk3A) is a news organization
headquartered in New Delhi, India, run by exiled Burmese
journalists. A SEAPA partner, it aims to promote awareness about
the situation in Burma and promote democracy and freedom of
expression in the country.
ビルマ人権の日特別講演会(3/19)ビルマ（ミャンマー）― 牢獄からの生還～国際ロビイストになった元政治囚 アウンディンが語るビルマの真実～
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
ビルマ市民フォーラム メールマガジン 2009/3/10
People's Forum on Burma
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
3月13日「ビルマ人権の日」にあたり、ＰＦＢでは、ビルマ情報ネットワーク、
（社）アムネスティ・インターナショナル日本と共に、以下の講演会を
実施いたします。
はじめての方でもわかりやすい内容です。
ぜひお誘い合わせの上、ぜひお越しください。
ＰＦＢ事務局
http://www1.jca.apc.org/pfb/
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
ビルマ人権の日特別講演会 【3月19日(木）18時30分～】
-------------------------------------------------------
ビルマ（ミャンマー）― 牢獄からの生還
～国際ロビイストになった元政治囚 アウンディンが語るビルマの真実～
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
なぜ僕が刑務所に？ 僕にあるはずの自由と権利をただ求めただけなのに...
自分の意見を自由に述べる、行きたいところへ行き、会いたい友人に
いつでも会える----そんな「自由」や「権利」がビルマにはありません。
「微笑みの国」と称されるビルマですが、黄金に輝くパゴダ（仏塔）や
色鮮やかな民族衣装、眩しすぎる人びとの笑顔の影で、軍事政権の下、
多くの人が自由を奪われ、囚人同様の生活を強いられています。そして
軍政を批判したり、民主化を求める活動を行ったり、サイクロン被災者の
救援活動をしたことを理由に、現在も2,100人以上の僧侶や市民が政治囚
として投獄されているのです。獄内での拷問や過酷な尋問、劣悪な処遇など
も伝えられています。国連特使や人権団体などは軍事政権に対し、何度も
全政治囚の即時釈放を求めていますが、釈放のペースは鈍化しており、
その一方で多数の市民や活動家の逮捕が続いています。
3月13日は「ビルマ人権の日」です。
自らのいのち、家族、生活を犠牲にし、闘い続ける政治囚。「民主化の進展
には、まず全ての政治囚を釈放し、民主化を求める側と軍事政権とが対話を
することが最も重要」と語るアウンディン氏。「なぜ僕はビルマの民主化を
求めるのか？自らの体験をもとに、現在も獄中で闘いつづける仲間の声を、
日本のみなさんに届けたい。」
--------------------------------------------------
●日時：2009年3月19日（木）18時30分～20時30分（開場18時15分）
●場所：総評会館 ４階 402会議室
東京都千代田区神田駿河台3-2-11TEL： 03-3253-1771
【交通機関】
● 地下鉄
丸ノ内線／新宿線をご利用の方は地下道を通り、千代田線方面へ
東京メトロ千代田線 新御茶ノ水駅 B3出口 （徒歩0分）
東京メトロ丸ノ内線 淡路町駅 B3出口 ※ （B3出口まで徒歩5分）
都営地下鉄新宿線 小川町駅 B3出口 ※ （B3出口まで徒歩3分）
※B3a出口は、違う方向へ出ますのでご注意ください。
● JR中央線・総武線 御茶ノ水駅 聖橋口 （徒歩5分）
●地図：http://www.sohyokaikan.or.jp/access/index.html
●参加費：500円
●定員：50名（申込み不要／先着順）
●主催：ビルマ市民フォーラム、ビルマ情報ネットワーク（BurmaInfo）、
（社）アムネスティ・インターナショナル日本
●問合先：ビルマ市民フォーラム事務局 （宮沢）
03-5312-4817, pfb@izumibashi-law.net
--------------------------------------------------
【アウンディン氏 プロフィール】
米国ビルマ・キャンペーン共同設立者・事務局長
ビルマ政治囚支援協会（AAPP）米国代表
アウンディン氏は1988年にビルマ（ミャンマー）で起きた全国的な民主化
運動に関与したことが理由でつかまり、政治囚として4年間、獄中で過ごした。
1989年にはアムネスティ・インターナショナルの「良心の囚人」になり、
同団体の支部による手紙書きキャンペーンの対象となった。現在は獄中に
残る仲間たちや家族を支えるビルマ政治囚支援協会の一員でもある。
2003年に民主化支援団体、米国ビルマ・キャンペーンを設立（本部：ワシン
トンDC）。米国ビルマ・キャンペーンは米国議会や政府に積極的に働きかけ、
ビルマに民主化をもたらすために日々努力している。米国議会などの公聴会で
ビルマの状況について証言するほか、各種メディアにも頻繁に登場する著名な活動
家。
アメリカン大学（修士）。
アウンディンは1989年4月23日に逮捕された（一部メディアは
24日に逮捕と報道）。逮捕の数時間前にAFPのインタビューに応じ、
「武力闘争ではなく、平和的な活動を通じて民主化を目指したい」
と語っていた。
逮捕直後の１か月間、ビルマ軍情報部の尋問センターに収容された
後、容疑も確定しないままインセイン刑務所に1年収容された。
独房に収容され、家族との面会も認められなかった。総選挙の4日
前の1990年5月23日に軍事裁判所で4年間の懲役刑を宣告される。
1993年7月、4年3か月ぶりに釈放される。
アムネスティ・インターナショナルの良心の囚人だったことは、
2001年に米国に渡って初めて知った。
--------------------------------------------------
【ビルマとは？】
ビルマ（ミャンマー）では2007年秋、燃料費の大幅値上げをきっかけに
全国で数十万の仏教僧、学生、市民が民主化を求め立ち上がりました。
これに対して軍事政権はデモの武力弾圧に踏み切り、数百人ともいわ
れる死者をだしました。これ以降、約1,000人が新たに拘束され、ビルマ
全土の政治囚は2009年2月現在，2100人にも上っています。
彼らは拷問を受け、その政治信条と政治活動ゆえに長期の禁固刑を言い
渡されました。政治囚の中には昨年5月巨大サイクロンの支援活動を
行ったこと理由に拘束された人もいます。
また、昨年5月には、巨大サイクロン「ナルギス」がビルマ史上最悪と
なる被害をもたらした直後、ビルマ軍政は、被災者の救援よりも自らの
権力維持を最優先課題とし、一方的に起案した新憲法の是非を問う国民
投票を強行しました（投票から数日後、賛成率92.4％で新憲法が承認
されたと発表）。
アウンサンスーチー氏を始めとした民主化勢力との対話もないまま
進められたこうした手続きは国際社会から厳しく批判されましたが、
軍政は新憲法に基づいて来年2010年に総選挙を実施しようとしています。
軍政はさらに、総選挙にむけて政治弾圧を強めており、2007年8月以降
約1,000人が新たに拘束され、政治囚の数は2100人にも上るなど、自由
で公正な選挙を行なうことは到底無理な状況となっています。
アウンサンスーチー氏率いる国民民主連盟（NLD）などの民主化勢力は、
各国政府に対して、軍政がすべての政治囚を解放し、民主化勢力や少数
民族の代表との対話に基づいて2008年憲法の内容を見直す作業をしない
限り、2010年に予定されている総選挙を正当な選挙とは認められない
ことを明らかに表明してほしいと要請しています。
--------------------------------------------------
【ビルマ人権の日とは？】
1988年3月ラングーン工科大（ＲＩＴ）の学生と地元有力者の息子とが茶店で
口論となり、この喧嘩を発端に学生によるデモ隊と治安警察が対立、警官は銃を
持って学生らを弾圧しようとした。そして、この弾圧により銃撃された学生ポウ
ンモー氏が命を落とし、その二日後にもう一人が死亡した。
そのため、この事件をきっかけにこれまで溜め込んでいた政府への怒りが爆発、
学生や大勢の市民によるデモが連日行われ、1988年8月8日（8888）の大暴動へと
つながった。
それ以来、民主化勢力は民主化運動の引き金となるこの象徴的な日を記念日と
して、「ビルマ人権の日」と呼んでいる。
--------------------------------------------------
参考：
◆米国ビルマ・キャンペーン
http://uscampaignforburma.org/
◆ビルマ政治囚支援協会
http://www.aappb.org/
ビルマの政治囚や彼らの家族への支援を目的に設立された。政治囚へ食料や物品を
届けるほか、国際社会と協力してビルマの政治囚の早期釈放を訴える活動を行ってい
る。
◇ビルマ市民フォーラム
http://www1.jca.apc.org/pfb/
◇ビルマ情報ネットワーク
http://www.burmainfo.org/
◇（社）アムネスティ・インターナショナル日本
http://www.amnesty.or.jp/
▽ビルマのページはこちら
http://www.amnesty.or.jp/modules/wfsection/article.php?articleid=1506
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Eight people arrested after signature campaign
http://english.dvb.no/news.php?id=2310
Mar 9, 2009 (DVB)–Eight people were arrested in Rangoon’s Twantay township on charges of not having valid guest passes after they carried out a signature campaign calling for the release of all political prisoners.
Khin Zaw, a seafood dealer and owner of a teashop in Zaythit ward, was arrested on 3 March along with seven of his employees and released two days later.
Seventy people, including Zaythit ward authority chairman, Than Oo, and the local police force, raided his house, according to Khin Zaw.
They were accompanied by Union Solidarity and Development Association members and immigration department staff.
"The immigration officer confirmed that my census list was correct but the ward chair said that my guest list was not valid,” he said.
“But the police deputy and immigration officer said that I was right and returned the list and told me to go to bed."
Ten minutes later, however, the authorities returned again and arrested his employees and detained them for two days before they were released on bail.
They are scheduled to appear in court on 9 March.
"I collected signatures for the release of all political prisoners, including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and the monks," Khin Zaw said.
"They bear grudges against me for doing that and carried out the arrests even though I did register my guests."
The authorities also came to check whether any NLD members were staying in his house a week before the raid and arrests, Khin Zaw said.
Twantay township NLD youth member Yeh Htut said that party members will continue to carry out the signature campaign despite harassments from local authorities.
Reporting by Khin Hnin Htet
Eight people arrested after signature campaign
http://english.dvb.no/news.php?id=2310
Mar 9, 2009 (DVB)–Eight people were arrested in Rangoon’s Twantay township on charges of not having valid guest passes after they carried out a signature campaign calling for the release of all political prisoners.
Khin Zaw, a seafood dealer and owner of a teashop in Zaythit ward, was arrested on 3 March along with seven of his employees and released two days later.
Seventy people, including Zaythit ward authority chairman, Than Oo, and the local police force, raided his house, according to Khin Zaw.
They were accompanied by Union Solidarity and Development Association members and immigration department staff.
"The immigration officer confirmed that my census list was correct but the ward chair said that my guest list was not valid,” he said.
“But the police deputy and immigration officer said that I was right and returned the list and told me to go to bed."
Ten minutes later, however, the authorities returned again and arrested his employees and detained them for two days before they were released on bail.
They are scheduled to appear in court on 9 March.
"I collected signatures for the release of all political prisoners, including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and the monks," Khin Zaw said.
"They bear grudges against me for doing that and carried out the arrests even though I did register my guests."
The authorities also came to check whether any NLD members were staying in his house a week before the raid and arrests, Khin Zaw said.
Twantay township NLD youth member Yeh Htut said that party members will continue to carry out the signature campaign despite harassments from local authorities.
Reporting by Khin Hnin Htet
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