News & Articles on Burma-Sunday, 28 November, 2010

News & Articles on Burma
Sunday, 28 November, 2010
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UN envoy: Myanmar must address criticism of polls
UN chief of staff calls on Myanmar to free all political prisoners
Rubin: U.S. must support Aung San Suu Kyi
UN Envoy Visits Myanmar's Suu Kyi, Junta Meeting Unlikely
Burma’s junta warns opposition parliamentarians not to find political space
Ancient town found in Myanmar
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UN envoy: Myanmar must address criticism of polls
AP
YANGON, Myanmar – A U.N. special envoy to Myanmar says he told its military government it must address criticism of recent elections, which critics charged were rigged.

Vijay Nambiar, who is also chief of staff for U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, spoke Sunday to reporters as he was ending a two-day visit. He said he listened to as many parties as possible about their hopes and concerns at a critical time following the Nov. 7 polls and the release of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest.

He said that for the transition to civilian rule to be credible, concerns about the elections have to be addressed as transparently as possible. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101128/ap_on_re_as/as_myanmar_un
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UN chief of staff calls on Myanmar to free all political prisoners

Nov 28, 2010, 11:32 GMT

Yangon - The chief of staff of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Sunday called for the release of all remaining political prisoners in Myanmar and a 'national dialogue' in the wake of the country's first general election in two decades.

Vijay Nambiar was in Myanmar over the weekend to assess the political climate after the country's ruling junta held a general election
on November 7 and released opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi from seven years of house detention a week later.

'The UN calls for the release of all remaining political prisoners,' Nambiar said in a statement he read before departing for Singapore.

He added that the UN wanted to see the government hold a 'national dialogue' with all the concerned parties in the post-election period.

Nambiar on Saturday held a 90-minute interview with Suu Kyi at her National League for Democracy (NLD) headquarters in Yangon.

'The conversation was very good,' Suu Kyi said. 'It was a valuable meeting. We heard the views of the UN secretary-general but one meeting is not enough. We need more meetings.'

Nambiar said Sunday the goal of his trip was to hold talks with all parties concerned, to encourage a national dialogue between the government and opposition groups and 'to reconfirm the UN's long term commitment to Myanmar.'

He said he wished to return to Myanmar in coming months.

Nambiar, who is also Ban's special envoy on Myanmar affairs, was the first senior UN official to meet with Suu Kyi since her release on November 13.

Ban and Western democracies have long been demanding the release of Suu Kyi and 2,100 other political prisoners languishing in Myanmar jails for years.

Her release came a week after Myanmar held a general election for the first time in two decades.

The balloting was dominated by the pro-junta Union Solidarity and Development Party, but the military-staged exercise has been widely criticized by Western democracies as a sham.

Observers said they believe Suu Kyi's release was designed to deflect international criticism from the fraudulent electoral process and calm public outrage in Myanmar.

Suu Kyi is hoping the UN will pressure the regime to hold a dialogue with her and other opposition groups before lifting economic sanctions.

Her NLD was excluded from the election by regulations imposed by the military shortly before the vote.

Myanmar has been ruled by military dictatorships since 1962. The previous general election of 1990 was won by the NLD, but its elected lawmakers were blocked from assuming office.
http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/asiapacific/news/article_1601948.php/UN-chief-of-staff-calls-on-Myanmar-to-free-all-political-prisoners
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Rubin: U.S. must support Aung San Suu Kyi
By Trudy Rubin
The Philadelphia Inquirer
Posted: 11/28/2010 01:00:00 AM MST

Who, except her military jailers, was not moved when the Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi emerged from seven years of house arrest last weekend? The elegant Nobel Peace Prize winner has been imprisoned for 15 of the last 20 years as she sought to bring democracy to Myanmar, a nation once known as Burma and ruled by a hard-line military junta. Her continued popularity stems not only from her immense courage, but from her heritage: Her father led Burma's struggle for independence from Britain in 1948.

If the generals feel threatened by Suu Kyi's standing with her people, they will rearrest her, just as they nullified her party's landslide victory at the polls in 1990. This is a military with little interest in sharing power: It just held a rigged election that gave 80 percent of the seats to the party backed by the junta.

So what, if anything, can the United States do to help Suu Kyi expand civic rights in her country? At a time when America's power is waning and its citizens are looking inward, is this a cause we should even embrace? The answer to the latter question is yes, and not just because Suu Kyi's cause elicits strong bipartisan support in Congress. Suu Kyi has become a symbol for all those around the world who are struggling for rights guaranteed by U.N. conventions — universal rights — in an era when the chance for achieving those rights seems to be fading.

That said, America's ability to help her is limited. U.S. sanctions on trade with, and investment in, Myanmar have not moved the generals. The Obama administration's attempts at engagement have not persuaded them to change their behavior. The junta is so wary of foreign interference that it preferred to let its people die by the thousands rather than accept international aid after a devastating 2008 cyclone.

Meantime, efforts to persuade Myanmar's neighbors — China, India, and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations — to squeeze the junta have made little progress. Myanmar's natural resources, such as oil, gas, precious metals, and gemstones, have tempted those countries to undercut traditional sanctions.

The United States supports the formation of a U.N. commission to examine possible war crimes by Myanmar's rulers. But longtime Myanmar-watchers believe the junta can't be moved unless some elements within the armed forces decide to support political reforms. No signs of that yet.

Tom Malinowski, Washington director of Human Rights Watch, says the generals might pay attention if their personal interests are threatened. He argues that, rather than pursue broad economic sanctions, Washington should implement targeted financial sanctions authorized by Congress that penalize any international banks that handle the junta's billions.

Suu Kyi's daunting struggle for political reforms, waged against phenomenal odds, is a reminder of other fighters for such freedoms.

There's Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo, serving an 11-year prison term for demanding political reforms in his country, who will be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, Norway, on Dec. 10. Beijing is refusing to let any of Liu's family members attend the ceremony.

There are many others in Russia, China, the Middle East, Iran, and elsewhere fighting for human and political rights, and against corruption, without benefit of the limelight. Suu Kyi's odyssey symbolizes their struggle, and she deserves our support.


Read more: Rubin: U.S. must support Aung San Suu Kyi - The Denver Post http://www.denverpost.com/opinion/ci_16711166#ixzz16a27J7AQ
Read The Denver Post's Terms of Use of its content: http://www.denverpost.com/termsofuse
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28 November, 2010 12:30 PM
UN Envoy Visits Myanmar's Suu Kyi, Junta Meeting Unlikely

YANGON, Nov 28 (Reuters) - A top United Nations envoy held talks with Myanmar pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Saturday but there was no indication the country's reclusive military rulers were willing to meet him.

Vijay Nambiar met with Nobel laureate Suu Kyi, who was released from seven years of house arrest on Nov. 13, for nearly two hours in Yangon but his itinerary did not include the capital Naypyitaw, home to government ministers and the junta top brass.

Diplomats said Nambiar's failure to meet the regime on his first visit, just a few weeks after Myanmar's first election in two decades and ahead of the formation of a new civilian-led government, suggests there could be many hurdles ahead in the West's efforts to engage the generals.

Nambiar, who was appointed special envoy to Myanmar by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon earlier this year, was scheduled to meet diplomats and recently elected lawmakers over the weekend. He is due to leave Myanmar on Monday.

Suu Kyi, who has spent 15 of the past 21 years in some form of detention because of her fight against military dictatorship, has been given a free reign by the generals since her release, which has raised some suspicion about their motives.

She welcomed the Indian diplomat's visit and called for more engagement with the U.N.

"We were able to tell him what we wanted to do, while we got a chance to know the secretary general's feelings," Suu Kyi told reporters.

"It was a worthwhile meeting for all. We need to meet more."

A retired Burmese academic, who asked not to be identified, said the regime's snub was a sign the generals were not yet willing to cooperate with the U.N. after years of strained ties.

"We can say it is the beginning of a new scenario: a new U.N envoy, Aung San Suu Kyi free from house arrest, newly elected parties and candidates and so on, but the key player is missing," he said.

"Without meetings with senior regime leaders, something tangible cannot be expected out of this visit."

Nambiar is a former Indian ambassador to China and is believed to have a good relationship with Beijing, a key ally of the Myanmar junta. He recently visited India, China and Singapore to discuss issues related to Myanmar and its political process.

He is Ban's chief of staff and has replaced Ibrahim Gambari, who served as the U.N.'s envoy to Myanmar for four years but was widely criticised as being ineffective.

© REUTERS 2010 http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v5/bm/newsworld.php?id=546026
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Asia Correspondent
Burma’s junta warns opposition parliamentarians not to find political space
Nov. 28 2010 - 12:21 am

Freedom of speech for members of parliament in Burma will be restricted under laws that dictate the functioning of the newly elected government. The curbs announced on Friday in an official gazette also set a two-year prison term for any protest staged within the parliament compound, according to the Associated Press.

The laws, signed by junta chief Senior-General Than Shwe, stipulate that parliamentarians will be allowed freedom of expression unless their speeches endanger national security, the unity of the country or violate the Constitution. They also provide a two-year prison term for those who stage protests in the parliament compound or physically assault a lawmaker on its premises.

In contrast, Burma’s media – especially daily news, analyses, articles, commentaries and interviews - have also been put under serious scrutiny since the incumbent junta seized power. However along with the country's notoriously heavy censorship, the local independent media have been effective to some extent in reporting ahead of the 7 November 2010 election, according to some private news journal editors. But, the climate of press freedom is always unstable and insecure.

On 13 November, Human Rights Watch said that this month's elections were not credible, with access to Burma largely closed to observers, and reports - particularly from ethnic areas - of serious voting irregularities, such as questionable "advance voting ballots" submitted to shore up support for the military-backed parties.

Recently released official results from the elections point to an overwhelming victory by the military-formed party, the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), with more than 90 percent of the national upper house seats and 85 percent of the national level lower house seats.

During the polls, the junta blocked freedom of speech and freedom of the press since the junta-backed party breaks its own laws and commits vote rigging.

Then, at least 10 Burmese journals have been suspended for paying too much attention to the release of Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of the opposition National League for Democracy, on 13 November.

They have been suspended for one to three weeks under the directives of the junta’s authorities in the capital Naypyidaw after the military-supervised Press Scrutiny Board gave them permission to print Suu Kyi's photo and an undersized article about her release. Any further reporting about the Lady is now forbidden until further notice. It is a harsh warning for the people in the media realm.

Moreover, because of the massive filtering of websites and the frequent drastic Internet slowdowns at times of unrest, Burma is already one of the 12 countries that Reporters Without Borders has branded "Enemies of the Internet." Burma's Internet law, called the Electronic Act, is one of the most repressive in the world. The junta regards netizens as its enemies. To the junta, freedom of expression and freedom of press are out of the question.

So, the latest Than Shwe laws, targeting the fresh parliamentarians, will not allow them freedom of expression if their speeches endanger national security, the unity of the country or violate the Constitution which protects military hegemony. It will make clearer to the politicians who want to find political space in the militarized-parliaments. Than Shwe’s latest law warns that the military will not tolerate anyone who challenges for real political change via the parliament of military-run Burma.
http://asiancorrespondent.com/uzinlinn/burma%E2%80%99s-junta-warns-opposition-parliamentarians-not-to-find-political-space
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Ancient town found in Myanmar
Irish Sun
Sunday 28th November, 2010
(IANS)

Archaeologists in Myanmar have discovered parts of a religious building and a wall that circled an ancient town dating back to 100 B.C. during the Pyu era, a media report said Sunday.

The town remnants were found after an excavation in two sites in Wadee in central Myanmar during July-August this year, Xinhua reported citing the official daily New Light of Myanmar.

The new find showed that the town was established during the time of the Pyu era (100 B.C.-840 A.D.), the report said.

The archaeologists found ancient bronze sheets, bronze bells, sand slabs, charcoal and iron rivets among other items.

They also concluded that the funeral customs at the ancient town included burial of the body, or burning it and putting the ash and bones together in an urn and then burying it. http://story.irishsun.com/index.php/ct/9/cid/2411cd3571b4f088/id/712891/cs/1/