News & Articles on Burma-Wednesday, 01 December, 2010

News & Articles on Burma
Wednesday, 01 December, 2010
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Suu Kyi urges people to be courageous on National Day
Suu Kyi calls on Thailand
A Visit with Suu Kyi in Her NLD Office
Thai army ‘obstructing refugees’
NLD to release report on junta electoral fraud
Clashes continue between DKBA faction and junta troops
Ghost election
Suu Kyi calls for Japan's continued support for democracy in Myanmar
In Burma only one in five people with HIV are treated
Canada Supports Families Impacted by Cyclone Giri in Burma
Funds for cyclone-hit Myanmar: UN
Burma's junta pays no heed to Freedom of Expression
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Suu Kyi urges people to be courageous on National Day

Dec 1, 2010, 9:16 GMT

Yangon - Myanmar's pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi urged people to be courageous on the 90th anniversary of National Day Wednesday.

The December 1 holiday celebrates protests by Rangoon University students in 1920 which started the independence movement.

'We need to be united, to persevere and be courageous,' opposition leader Suu Kyi told about 200 supporters who gathered at the National League for Democracy (NLD) party compound in Yangon.

To mark the day, military strongman and leader of the current ruling junta, Senior General Than Shwe, emphasized 'sustained efforts to achieve greater development of the nation,' the state-run New Light of Myanmar reported Wednesday.

Than Shwe praised the recent 'free and fair elections' and urged Burmese people to 'keep working with a strong sense of nationalistic spirit.'

The November 7 polls where the first in Myanmar in 20 years, but most foreign observers said they were neither free or fair.

Suu Kyi, whose NLD was banned when they boycotted the polls, on Wednesday said national affairs are the concern of all people and not just 'one party's agenda.'

The Nobel Peace Prize laureate was released from house arrest about a week after the election.

Meanwhile, the NLD is seeking a judicial order to reinstate it as a legal political party after losing its status in May when it refused to register for the general election.

The party boycotted the election to protest a law that would have required it to drop Suu Kyi as a member if the NLD were to be put on the ballot.
http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/asiapacific/news/article_1602648.php/Suu-Kyi-urges-people-to-be-courageous-on-National-Day
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THAI-BURMA RELATIONS
Suu Kyi calls on Thailand
By THE NATION
Published on December 1, 2010

Burma's pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi yesterday called on Thais to be kind to migrants and refugees from her country.

Thailand has been sheltering more than 100,000 Burmese refugees for over two decades, and about 2 million migrants from the country currently have jobs in the Kingdom. Recently, more Burmese people have fled to Thailand as troops fight with armed ethnic groups along the border.

Suu Kyi, who was released from house arrest early this month, expressed her gratitude to Thais for helping the Burmese people.

"We would like you to know that we wish to be your good friend and good neighbour," she said.

She also spoke to fellow citizens in Thailand and promised they would not be forgotten, and that she would do what she could to bring them back home as soon as possible.

Suu Kyi also called on the government to not just engage with her country's ruling junta, but also the opposition, which is working to bring democracy into the country.

"We would very much like all governments to engage with not just the government of Burma, but also with us," she said.

The Burmese opposition leader, who won the Nobel prize for her dedication to democracy in a military-ruled country, is now trying to get her National League for Democracy (NLD) party to play a significant role in the country's politics.

The immediate task, though, was for the party to re-register because officials dissolved it for failing to comply with the new political party law and refusing to take part in the November 7 election, she said.

Another task would be for the party to reach out to the younger generation and encourage them to play a bigger role in the struggle for democracy, Suu Kyi said.

The political atmosphere in Burma changed a lot while she was in detention and one of the most important changes was that the new generation was paying more attention to politics and joining the NLD, she said. The party plans to build a network of young people across the country and encourage them to work for democracy, she said.
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2010/12/01/politics/Suu-Kyi-calls-on-Thailand-30143547.html
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A Visit with Suu Kyi in Her NLD Office
By ALEX ELLGEE Wednesday, December 1, 2010

RANGOON—Following the announcement of the rigged election results, the mood across Burma was lifted by the release of democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. But despite the temporary buzz, life has gone back to normal with little change, and the future remains bleak for many Burmese citizens.

One place in Rangoon, which has come alive again, is the National League for Democracy’s crowded headquarters. Following the release of “The Lady”—as many of her adoring supporters refer to her—the wooden office building has seen a steady flow of supporters and members come to see and meet with the democracy icon and be part of a potential NLD revival.

Having just arrived from an appointment with the US ambassador and before attending a meeting with the Committee Representing the People’s Parliament (CRPP), Aung San Suu Kyi squeezed in an interview with this reporter. She’s only five minutes late but apologizes profusely.

We sat in her office on teak furniture, located on the second floor of the headquarters. It wasn't an ideal interview location. The buzz of conversation from downstairs came up through the floor and the roar of cars as they whizzed by on the main road outside.

Asked what it is like to finally be free, Suu Kyi said, “Well, it is very hectic.” Her punishing schedule backs this up. In between meeting with a long line of foreign journalists eager to ask her the same questions, she is keen to consult with as many people as possible— this includes diplomats, ethnic leaders, NGO workers, politicians and many more—before making any decisions about how to move forward, .

In between all this, she attempts to catch up with her son, Kim Aris, now 33, who she hasn’t seen in nearly 10 years. “Yes, it was very nice,” she said, commenting on the moment they met in Rangoon. “He’s changed a bit physically obviously over the last 10 years, but I don’t feel he is a stranger or I don’t feel he has become distant from me, we just picked up where we left off.”

In the office, the workers are ecstatic that their leader has finally been released and is once again visiting the office.

“We are all so happy she is able to come to the office again,” said Htun Htun, an NLD member, while running around helping to organize Suu Kyi’s hectic schedule and do crowd control in the office. “When she is around, the office comes alive, and we all have so much courage and hope. Even if we are tired, we don’t feel it.”

Downstairs NLD members sat on wooden benches drinking tea and discussing national politics under walls decorated with images of their leader and her father, Gen Aung San. Foreign journalists waited around, photographers had their cameras in hand to get any shots they could, and writers stood waiting for the all-important one-on-one interview.

Outside, a stream of well wishers waited, hoping to catch a glimpse of her walking into the office. “I don’t have any involvement with the NLD, but I love Aung San Suu Kyi and heard she was released so I just wanted to see her,” said one man who had traveled from Rangoon’s suburbs. To cater to the crowd, small shops dot the area outside. “Her release has been good business with all these people coming,” said a middle-aged man who sat on the pavement selling ice creams.

On the opposite side of the road, military intelligence personnel were also busy observing who comes and goes.

Sitting in a small teashop, with their orange motorbikes parked outside, the ‘SB’ or ‘Special Branch,’ as locals call them, keep a close eye on activities. Some men take photos with digital cameras while others scribbled notes. Even when NLD youth moved a desk outside to a clear room for a meeting, four men jumped to their feet to record the event.

Despite Big Brother's presence, few NLD members seemed to care. Least to mind was Suu Kyi, who said she will continue her work despite any harassment from the authorities.

Asked if the government’s threats to close Phyu Phyu Thin’s shelter for HIV/AIDS patents will prevent her from visiting other places, she quickly replied, “No, not at all.” It wasn’t the first time it had happened so it might not have been completely because of her visit. She then said she was sorry the place is overcrowded and said they “would be very very happy to co-ordinate with the authorities on that front, but to refuse registration is illegal, and it’s also of course highly hostile as an act.”

Suu Kyi has long said she would be willing to work with the authorities on political matters too. Asked what she felt was the biggest obstacle for the democracy movement, she said it was “not being able to get to the negotiating table. If only we could all talk to each other, and when I say all, I mean with the military and the democratic forces, and the ethnic nationalities. Burma has not been able to cultivate a precedence of talking over problems across the negotiation table. If you don’t agree with somebody, you take up arms.

“Differences are best settled through political means, that means through dialogue and negotiation and finding a solution acceptable to all parties and so on and so on, until we can establish this kind of political culture, I think there will always be the problem of armed conflict,” she said.

National reconciliation has long been her answer but the generals have shown they are quite happy on their “road map to democracy” without her, and critics have in the past suggested her inflexibility may have pushed the generals even further a way.

Asked if she felt her lack of compromise had hindered the negotiating process, Suu Kyi sharply responded, “I always ask people for an example of when I have been inflexible and no one can give me an answer. This is part of the propaganda against the NLD.

“For example with regard to sanctions, I wrote a letter officially offering to cooperate with the authorities in order to have sanctions removed, but if you study what went on then you will see that they were not that keen for cooperation.”

Around Rangoon, views are divided about how much Suu Kyi can realistically achieve, now that she is free. One student said that he felt empowered by her release.

“After the Saffron Revolution many of us were scared to do politics,” he said sipping Chinese tea. “Now that she has been released so many of us have courage to do politics. When she is free, anything can happen. She can unite everyone to topple the government.”

The opposition is somewhat divided, including Suu Kyi’s party, because of the formation of the National Democratic Front, a group of former NLD members. Asked if she felt the elections had weakened the NLD, she said, “No not in the least. I think the NLD has become stronger in the past seven years. I think it's basically because there is more public support from the people.

“There is more unity, a greater desire to coordinate efforts rather than for one to just go their own way,” she said.

Over the past week, she said she has met many independent candidates who had contested in the elections and lost and who had political agendas that she felt would benefit the country.

“We are very willing to work with all those who share our goals and work in a larger network for democracy,” she said.

Asked if she would consider working within the general’s framework and at their pace towards democracy, she said, “I think we need to work in a pace which is acceptable to all those concerned. How can we move forward, how can we come to a solution, if only one party calls the tune?”

A civil society leader told The Irrawaddy that he felt Suu Kyi could unite some of the opposition groups, but not all.

“A lot has changed since she was put under house arrest, many groups have discovered new ways of doing things,” he said, wishing to remain anonymous due to the sensitivity of the issue. “It might be difficult for her to lead people who see the election boycott as a mistake. They have committed to working within the regime’s framework which I expect she will not fully agree with.”

A young phone saleswoman in downtown Rangoon also stressed some reservations about Suu Kyi’s ability to bring change.

“We all love her but cannot see how she can do anything to help the country,” she said. “The generals have too firm a grip on power and will only exploit her release for their benefit like getting her to remove sanctions.”

On the subject of sanctions, Suu Kyi said that they would be reviewed but added they have two purposes. “They can affect things economically and politically,” she said. “The effect of sanctions on the political front has not been inconsiderable, it has been considerable.”

In a meeting the morning before this reporter’s interview, Suu Kyi met with Rangoon-based INGO workers. She said she was shocked to hear they felt that sanctions had prevented aid from coming into the country as fast as it should.

“I completely disagree with this because we have never ever said anything which would minimize humanitarian aid coming into the country. We have always said we welcome humanitarian aid as long as it is done with transparency,” she said.

At Ginky Kids Bar, a weekend hangout for the children of the military and business elite, one young man ventured to say that Suu Kyi served only one purpose now. “To remove sanctions and let the country fully develop.”

While Suu Kyi perhaps has yet to appreciate fully how much Rangoon has changed over the past seven years—saying, “I don’t see that much change in the city”—there has been substantial development.

The roads in Rangoon are increasingly filling up with modern, imported cars, fancy shopping centers and coffee shops and a growing number of business-class youth spend their weekends dancing in expensive nightclubs to Justin Bieber remixes. They may be a tiny minority compared to this country of widespread poverty, but they will also be the next movers and shakers of the country. With functioning businesses, fewer people may be willing to toe any radical line, which could set back the country's growing trade links.

Among the poor of Burma, there appears to be an overwhelming support for Suu Kyi. As she herself acknowledged, most of the supporters who turned up at her first rally “appeared not to be well off.”

Several taxi drivers this reporter traveled with openly showed their support for her. A young lady selling flowers in the market said she believed she was the only person who could help the poor. “Now my living standard is so bad, only she can help to make our life better.”

Commenting on the state of the country, Suu Kyi said from studying the statistics one can see that Burma is doing much worse than other countries in terms of education and health.

“Countries like Ethiopia are doing much better, which some might find confusing,” she said.

Despite varied hopes for Suu Kyi, few disagree that the elections were a sham and that change will be a slow and painful process. One of the few things which has visibly changed, is the country's newly designed flag, which can bee seen on the streets of Rangoon on many buildings and cars.

Some observers have expressed a hope that Suu Kyi will distant herself from the NLD and become a national leader for all the opposition. Asked if she would consider creating a new party, she quickly rejected the idea.

“For any political party, its more important if we have the support of the people,” she said firmly. “It doesn’t matter if we have a piece of paper saying we are a political party or not.” Asked if she could see herself competing in the 2015 elections, she said, “We’re not even quite sure where the 2010 elections have taken us, so keep that question for later.”

In the interview, she answered every question quickly and clearly, demonstrating that her political ability is still intact despite her time isolated under house arrest. However, it will take new steps and flexibility to reconnect with all the new elements of Burmese society.

It also shouldn’t be underestimated how unwilling the generals are in relinquishing power and what measures they would use to hold on. Every move Suu Kyi makes now will be crucial for the future of her political career, and she will need to tread carefully to avoid another house arrest.

It is clear, though, that the vast majority of the country still supports Suu Kyi and has the utmost faith that she is the one who can improve their lives, but they are cautious and do not hope for too much.

“We know she is the only one who can save Burma, so we keep dreaming of that,” said Bo Bo, an advertising trainee.

“But we also know the generals and how they continue to destroy the country despite her best efforts.”
Copyright © 2008 Irrawaddy Publishing Group | www.irrawaddy.org
http://www.irrawaddy.org/highlight.php?art_id=20227
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Thai army ‘obstructing refugees’
By FRANCIS WADE
Published: 1 December 2010

Reports are emerging that suggest the Thai army is blocking refugees from escaping conflict in eastern Burma and ordering those that had fled across the border to return.

Fighting has intensified in recent days close to the border, as the Burmese army continues to hound a breakaway Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) faction. Heavy artillery fire was heard towards the end of last week and sporadic bursts of fighting have continued.

Of the 1,200-odd refugees that crossed into Thailand over the weekend, the majority have returned. But aid workers claim groups are continuing to move back and forth across the border as stability in the area south of Myawaddy remains fragile.

Moreover, refugees interviewed by the Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG), which has been closely monitoring the situation, claim the Thai army is obstructing their escape from Karen state.

“The Thais did not allow us to flee before the guns fired,” said a 38-year-old woman from Wawlay village, which has seen heavy fighting in the past four weeks. She added that “when it [the fighting] became quiet, the Thais asked [the refugees] to go back and so they had to go back.”

The KHRG said it was a case of the Thai army, which in many instances had allowed free movement of refugees, “viewing threats to civilians in the narrowest manner possible”.

“When fighting is audible or visible from Thailand, refugees report being able to enter Thailand. When individual clashes end – sometimes just hours after the sound of gunfire has subsided – refugees report being told it is safe for them to return, and that they must do so.”

Another man from Hpalu village, which was the scene of fighting over the weekend, said that he had had similar experiences with the Thai army.

“The Thai soldiers said [to villagers] ‘If you go back, go back and stay there [in your villages]. Don’t travel [back and forth]. You can stay here [in Thailand] for one or two days. But you can go back and stay there [in your villages], and come back when the fighting happens again.’”

The latest round of conflict follows a precarious period along the border which began on 8 November when the DKBA faction took key government positions in Myawaddy. In the days after, heavy fighting pushed up to 20,000 refugees into Thailand’s Tak province.

Thai policy towards refugees has come under fire several times in the past year. In February, following an exodus of up to 5000 Karen into Thailand, the Thai government said it would force them back across the border. That was suspended at the last minute following heavy pressure from rights groups, and the refugees were allowed to remain.

In December last year, however, Thailand successfully deported 4,500 ethnic Hmong back to Laos in a move that drew scathing international condemnation, given the likely persecution the minority group would face upon their return.

The movement of refugees across the Thailand-Burma has angered the Thai government, as well as catching the attention of the regional Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) bloc. ASEAN chief Surin Pitsuwan said last year in a rare rebuke to Burma that instability along the shared border was a blight on the region’s image.
http://www.dvb.no/news/thai-army-%E2%80%98obstructing-refugees%E2%80%99/13155
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NLD to release report on junta electoral fraud
Wednesday, 01 December 2010 02:22 Mizzima News

New Delhi (Mizzima) – National League for Democracy leaders say the party led by Aung San Suu Kyi has completed a draft report on the various incidents of junta electoral fraud in the run-up to and during the national elections early last month.

USDP-free-Clinic

The junta-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party opened its free Phyo Saydanar clinic in Bahan Township, Rangoon, on Wednesday, October 20, 2010, ahead of Burma’s first elections in 20 years. The party had a rich campaign war chest and was accused of unethical practices including nationwide unmonitored advance voting and having a grossly unfair advantage over rivals with its lavish spending on public projects and offers of cheap loans to farmers for votes. Photo: Mizzima
The report was based on detailed accounts from electoral candidates across the country, NLD member Kyi Win, who was involved in compiling the draft, said.

“It presents a critical review of the junta’s election and comprises nearly 20 pages. We have completed the draft but senior members will modify it,” Kyi Win said.

The draft contains chapters such as “The Emergence of the Election”, “The Electoral Laws”, “The Constitution”, and “Electoral Fraud at Polling Stations”.

Documented were the authorities’ forced collections of advance votes for the junta-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) and further accounts of the reportedly abundant evidence regarding the junta’s electoral fraud.

“Most USDP candidates won with the help of advance votes. For instance, at first, independent candidate Dr. Saw Naing defeated the USDP candidate in South Okkalapa Township, and on November 7, the Township Election Commission told him to sign the form declaring that he was the winner. But on November 9, the state-run radio announced that the USDP candidate had defeated him … The draft report also contains a brief account of the events by Dr. Saw Naing,” Suu Kyi lawyer Kyi Win, an NLD central executive committee member, said.

The report is likely to be published in the first week of this month.

In a summary of its own extensive report titled Burma 2010 Election Recap, rights think tank Altsean-Burma (Alternative Asean Network on Burma) said “widespread evidence of electoral fraud, irregularities, threats, harassment and lack of independent monitoring characterised election day and the days leading up to it”.

The USDP won 76.52 per cent of the 1,154 seats at stake in the election, Altsean said. http://www.mizzima.com/news/election-2010-/4628-nld-to-release-report-on-junta-electoral-fraud-.html
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Clashes continue between DKBA faction and junta troops
Wednesday, 01 December 2010 01:09 Kyaw Kha

Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – Fighting between junta troops and units from a breakaway brigade of the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army continued after days of clashes in border areas, yesterday near Myawaddy, on the Burmese side of the border with Thailand, and at Kawkareik, further west, according to DKBA sources.

At least 1,000 refugees fled the fresh battles over the weekend, escaping to the south of the Thai frontier town of Mae Sot and joining about 200 who had left late on Saturday when the clashes began, some of many such battles in Dooplaya District this month, ethnic armed groups and Reuters reported.

DKBA battalion 902 led by Colonel Kyaw Thet and a junta battalion under Military Operations Command (MOC) 12, fought for about three hours near Phalu village from 8 a.m. yesterday morning.

“Junta troops fired 81 and 120 millimetre mortar shells against us so we fired back … There are some casualties,” a DKBA central battalion officer told Mizzima.

On Saturday and Sunday, DKBA battalion 902 ambushed junta troops from Infantry Battalions (IB) 61, 547 and 230 as they were being sent to reinforce comrades in IB 907, 404, and 549 in Myawaddy Township.

The DKBA said 20 junta soldiers had died and 30 were wounded in the past three days, figures Mizzima was unable to confirm.

Meanwhile, DKBA troops led by Colonel Kyaw Boo and junta troops from IB 907, 404 and 549 engaged near Wawlay and Sagawhak villages in Kawkareik Township yesterday morning, Major Kyi Aung from Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) battalion 102 told Mizzima.

A Myawaddy resident said yesterday: “We could hear the sounds of heavy weapons coming from the direction of Phalu this morning. So we are worried that the fighting would break out in Myawaddy, too. Today, when my son went to school, my wife waited for him in front of the school as we were very worried.”

A bus-ticket seller also in Myawaddy said fears about the proximity of the fighting were widespread, as shown by the few passengers using public transport.

“We dared not go out after we heard the heavy gunfire … So, trishaw (three-wheeled bicycle taxi) drivers could not get customers. Me, too! … there were no customers today. The fighting badly affected our businesses,” he said.

Although the 1,200-odd refugees who had fled to Mae Sot over the weekend were sent back to Myawaddy by Thai authorities early yesterday, many had returned to the Thai side of the border, fearing further violence. The number of refugees was still unknown.

As the junta was sending more troops to Karen State, more fighting could break out in Burma’s eastern Karen State, DKBA and Karen National Union (KNU) spokesmen said.

Fighting broke out in a few locations within Dooplaya District, Burma on November 8 as DKBA splinter battalions seized parts of Myawaddy, across the Moei River from Mae Sot. At least 20,000 villagers crossed into Mae Sot and five Thais were wounded when rocket-propelled grenades landed on the Thai side. At the same time, other breakaway DKBA units took over Payathonsu, a town about 333 miles (535 kilometres) south of Myawaddy near Three Pagodas Pass, sending at least 2,500 refugees into Sangkhlaburi, Thailand.

DKBA Brigade 5 under Colonel Saw Lah Pwe, aka Bo Moustache, has refused junta orders to bring his troops into the government’s Border Guard Force (BGF) under Burmese Army command. Ten days ago, 38 of the splinter group’s members rejoined the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), the armed wing of the KNU, long-time foes of the DKBA, which broke from the KNU and signed a ceasefire deal with the junta in 1994. The KNU refused to sign. http://www.mizzima.com/news/inside-burma/4626-clashes-continue-between-dkba-faction-junta-troops.html
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Himal
Ghost election
December 2010

As Burma’s first election in twenty years approached, the streets of Rangoon and other cities were awash with images of a golden lion. This was the insignia of the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), an entity spawned out of a military proxy ‘civilian association’ called the Union Solidarity Development Association (USDA). Following its 21 October introduction, the streets also began to be lined with the country’s new red, green and gold flag; the old red flags, which the junta had decried for their association with Burma’s previous socialist government, were duly burned. By the time voting day rolled around, the new flag was seen on every polling booth, even as many of the booths themselves lay empty for much of the appointed day. Instead, squadrons of policemen were seen hiding behind rusting barbed-wire barriers bearing equally aged guns.

All quiet: An unidentified man walks past a sign promoting the USDP ahead of the recent elections, near the Sule Pagoda in Rangoon
In the event, the USDP was duly awarded some 80 percent of the vote. Of course, everyone knew that the elections would be rigged to a certain extent. As one leader of the opposition National Democratic Force (NDF), U Khin Maung Swe, said prior to the elections, ‘From the very beginning we felt that the election laws were not fair.’ Aside from the fact that junta officials had barred all foreign observers and journalists from monitoring the proceedings, the 2008 Constitution, ratified in the immediate aftermath of the devastation of Cyclone Nargis, guaranteed that 25 percent of parliamentary seats would be reserved for military appointees. As a result, a debate raged for months among most voters and parties as to whether to take part in the polls in the first place. This caused a split in the largest civilian political grouping, the National League for Democracy (NLD), the party of Aung San Suu Kyi that won the 1990 elections hands down but was kept from forming the government. The NDF was one of the new splinter groups that decided to go ahead with putting candidates up for election.

In the office of the NDF – really just a small suburban flat – there is a small picture of a graffiti by the guerrilla artist Banksy. It depicts a forlorn chimp wearing a sandwich board saying, Laugh now, but someday we will be in power. In the hours after the polls closed, that sentiment was oddly palpable; indeed, hope was in the air. NDF Chairman Than Nyein told this writer confidently that turnout had been high – 60 percent by three in the afternoon, dubbing the NLD’s boycott of the polls a ‘useless effort’. For the NDF, a high turnout was assumed positive due to its linkages to the NLD; there is a tacit understanding that, as took place during the 1990 election, people would again vote to be rid of the military. ‘There is a lot of hatred for the USDP,’ said U Khin Maung Swe, the NDP leader. ‘But we trust our people – they know who is who in the political arena.’

By the time the results emerged two days later, however, it was clear that the chimp’s promise remained as distant as ever. It became clear that fraud had taken place on a vast scale, with thousands of ‘advance votes’ in seemingly every constituency that democratic parties had contested. Further, as one diplomat put it, the polls had been ‘tragic’ for those parties who had taken part, with friends were divided and reputations destroyed.

Complaints had started to mount prior to the elections. Days earlier, Nay Ba Swe, from the Democratic Party of Myanmar (DPM), another NLD splinter group, told this writer that advance balloting – ‘or signing the ballot papers early’ – had been happening all over the country. ‘All the civil servants, including the military men and police, have been forced to do so; if they don’t, they’re afraid they will lose their jobs,’ she said from her Rangoon home. ‘Even factory owners and businessmen have to give [the government-backed party] their votes or they will lose their licences. In the rural areas it’s the worst – people are simple and are so scared. Even farmers are forced to sign away their vote in advance.’

A local journalist noted that even the names of some people who had passed away were included on the voting register. ‘The USDP will be the first party to be voted in by ghosts,’ he said. ‘They will be the party of the dead.’

Remember the opposition
Still, in some places this advance voting did not have the desired effect. One of the 16 seats won by the NDF was a victory for Tin Nway Oo, from Rangoon’s North Dagon township. Days after the polling, despite wearing a smile of relief in contrast to most of her colleagues, she said she was still not satisfied with the results. She said over 7500 constituents had been mysteriously dropped from the voter register, which had been unveiled only the week before the vote. Monitoring had also been a significant problem for opposition parties. In her own race, she did not have the personnel needed to monitor all 53 polling stations in North Dagon, and she and her supporters had been denied entrance to some
polling stations.
Nway Oo experienced a similar monitoring problem during the subsequent vote-counting, which lasted most of two days. She raced around the township with her colleagues trying to scrutinise the counting process in the stations, but many were inevitably left unattended. She estimated that the USDP received over 2000 advance votes in her constituency alone, but in her case these were not enough to subvert the popular vote. While confirming that the election was ‘not fair’, Nway Oo promised that, having now been elected, the public ‘will remember me – I will be the loudest voice
in Parliament!’

There appear to be few options open to the majority of opposition parties. One Western diplomat notes that opposition parties could face jail time if their members lodge complaints and lose a subsequent court case – assuming that they could find the money to lodge such a complaint in the first place. Complaints would have to be made regarding specific seats, rather than brought as a whole. In the case of the NDF, the party fielded 163 candidates and won less than 10 percent of these, despite believing on polling day to be leading in many places – until the advance votes were counted. As each complaint submission would cost around USD 1000, going forward with a full challenge would offer the daunting possibility of coming up with USD 100,000, while the highly fraught complaint process could take some three to four years to resolve. Nonetheless, as Himal goes to press, the Democratic Party of Myanmar and the NDF have agreed to cooperate on the complaints process, though a joint strategy is yet to be unveiled.

The matter of money and finance is one that all democratic forces in Burma complain about. In the three levels of Parliament there were over a thousand seats up for grabs, yet most parties were able to contest only a fraction of these. As Maung Swe, the NDF leader, told this writer, ‘We are a poor party, and could not afford the USD 500 to field a candidate in most constituencies.’ In certain places, this led to seats being contested solely by military-backed parties, or even just by USDP. As a result, there is a deep cynicism among the Burmese public. ‘This is not my election,’ said one cab driver, ‘it is the military’s.’ He said he would not even consider voting, a sentiment echoed by many throughout the country in the run-up to the polls.

Buddhist fatalism
This cynicism set in years ago. The country has been under military rule since 1962, and by today few can remember life as it existed outside of the junta’s iron fist. There are some who fear that this fatalism might have become fused with the dominant religion, Theravada Buddhism. Perhaps, goes the theory, people have already written off this life, and instead have started to look forward to the next. As senior Rangoon-based economist U Myint, former head of the Rangoon Institute of Economics, notes, this premise is also reflected in statistics. Charity and ceremonials today constitute the third-largest non-food expenditure for the average Burmese household, a figure that has steadily risen over the years. ‘It could be that the family is performing more meritorious deeds because its members have become more interested in the next life than in the present one,’ U Myint suggested. Or, as the newly released Suu Kyi put it to a crowd in Rangoon on 14 November, ‘We Burmese tend to believe in fate. But if we want change, we have to do it ourselves.’

Prior to the polls, there was some scattered anticipation in Burma that what was about to take place could indeed prove to be an historic occasion. As Ba Swe put it, ‘The door is ajar; we must slip through it somehow.’ Yet this was not a widely held perception; if anything, it appears to have been mostly confined to the educated elite and spurred on by foreign influence. The average person, it seems, long ago abandoned hope in the political process. For the most part, they have been simply trying to keep their head down and out of the political winds, focusing instead on the same concerns as always: price hikes, inflation and lack of jobs, food, education and health care.

If anything, ideal Burmese elections would probably have revolved to a great extent around the dismal state of the economy. Unfortunately, as the military-backed government remains largely unchanged in the halls of power in Naypyidaw and Rangoon, so too will continue what has by now become decades’ worth of economic mismanagement. The NDF’s vice-chair in upper Burma, U Tin Aung Aung, highlighted this point in Mandalay just before the elections took place. It is because of the export of valuable raw materials, primarily natural gas, that the junta has been able to survive without the democratic mandate, he says. Exports of some USD 2.5 billion annually are likely to soar further in coming years, and Aung Aung suggests that the only way that the November 2010 elections could have made a difference to the people of Burma is if a significant portion of that revenue gets used for the good of the people.

Anger related to livelihood remains the single most important populist motivating factor in Burma today – the last two major insurrections, in 1988 and 2007, started because of economic woes. Against this backdrop, Suu Kyi’s release after seven years of house arrest has embodied the change on which the Burmese people will now hang their hopes – not a staged Parliament.
http://www.himalmag.com/Ghost-election_nw4800.html
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Suu Kyi calls for Japan's continued support for democracy in Myanmar

Wednesday 01st December, 04:07 AM JST

YANGON —

Myanmar’s pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi said Tuesday she wants continued support from the Japanese government to bring democracy to the military-ruled country. Suu Kyi, in a telephone interview with Kyodo News, also said she will make every effort to unite the pro-democracy forces in the country.

‘‘We would like the Japanese government to work in coordination with all the other governments who are trying to help along the process of democracy,’’ she said.

Suu Kyi, 65, who was released from house arrest Nov 13 after more than seven years of detention, said she has noticed the people of Myanmar, especially the younger generation, have become ‘‘a lot more politically invigorated.’‘

When asked whether there has been any response from the military junta to her repeated calls for dialogue, she said, ‘‘No, not yet,’’ but added she will continue to call for talks.

‘‘One has to persevere. The junta has never been particularly enthusiastic about dialogue, but we have had contacts in the past and I don’t see why we should not have more in the future,’’ she said.

Commenting on Western sanctions imposed on Myanmar, Suu Kyi said she is reviewing the issue.

‘‘We are at the moment prepared to review the whole sanctions business, because we want to find out what are the effects of the sanctions…politically, economically, and we need to assess how that has affected the lives of our people,’’ she said.

Asked about her plans to cooperate with other democratic forces such as the political parties that took part in the recent parliamentary elections, she said would focus on unity among all the forces in order to bring democracy to Myanmar.

‘‘It is never easy to unite all political parties in any situation but we have to try our best, because unity means strength and strength means speedier transition to democracy,’’ Suu Kyi said.

When asked whether she has a message for the Japanese people, Suu Kyi said, ‘‘I’d like to say to the Japanese people that I’ve always found them supportive of our movement for democracy and I’m really very, very grateful and I hope that there will be closer ties between the two people because I think we do have warm feelings for each other.’’

© 2010 Kyodo News. All rights reserved. No reproduction or republication without written permission. http://www.japantoday.com/category/politics/view/suu-kyi-calls-for-japans-continued-support-for-democracy-in-myanmar
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In Burma only one in five people with HIV are treated
By Phoebe Kennedy in Rangoon
Wednesday, 1 December 2010

The first formal visit the Burmese democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi made on her release from house arrest last month was not to an ambassador's residence or a smart United Nations office, but to a tin-roofed HIV/Aids shelter in one of Rangoon's poorest districts.

Choosing to highlight the plight of one of the most neglected groups in Burmese society was characteristic of Ms Suu Kyi; her eagerness to listen to the voices of the poor and sick stood in sharp contrast to the style of Burma's ruling generals, who prefer to remain aloof in the palaces of their remote, newly-built capital.

Ms Suu Kyi chatted with many of the 80 residents of the shelter, which is funded by her National League for Democracy Party and through her own personal donations. Gaunt faces gazed up at her she clasped hands and listened, her warmth evocative of Princess Diana's visit to an HIV/Aids centre in London two decades ago.

In the Rangoon shelter, residents receive food, reed mats to sleep on, HIV/Aids education and help in accessing treatment. It is a rare haven in a country where attitudes towards HIV are firmly rooted in the past. People infected with HIV are often considered deviant, and most don't come forward for testing. For a long time, government officials claimed that Burma's sexual conservatism and strong moral code of abstinence before marriage and fidelity after could protect the country from the epidemic. Instead, it has one of the worst HIV/Aids problems in Asia.

The visit of 65-year-old Ms Suu Kyi just days after her 13 November release threw the spotlight on an issue that Burma's military leaders have for a long time tried to keep hidden. It was attention the junta did not enjoy.

The next day, local government officials came to the refuge to order the eviction of the residents, saying they would no longer approve requests for overnight guests that are legally required for anyone in Burma if they wish to stay the night away from their home. A week later, after a mass of negative publicity, the order was reversed.

"I am greatly relieved and so are the patients," said Ko Yarzar, the shelter's manager. He said health authorities had offered to relocate the patients to a state-run HIV centre but the patients refused to move, saying their shelter not only offers medical care, food and accommodation but "warmth and affection that no other centre can provide".

Phyu Phyu Thin, a well-known HIV/Aids activist and NLD supporter who founded the shelter in 2002, told The Irrawaddy magazine that the authorities apologised when extending the permit. "In my opinion, the authorities retreated because media inside and outside of Burma, as well as other organisations, focused on the issue," she said.

An estimated 240,000 people in Burma are infected with HIV virus, a figure that comes nowhere close to the numbers infected in parts of Africa. But it is the yawning gap between those who need treatment and those who receive it that marks the country's HIV tragedy. Just a fifth of those in need of anti-retroviral treatment actually get it. The remainder are dying, or waiting to die.

The priorities of the regime lie elsewhere. The government spends nearly half of its budget on defence, but just 0.3 per cent of GDP on healthcare. Of that, only a tiny amount goes towards HIV/Aids.

A key donor in the health sector, the Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria, pulled out of the country in 2005 citing political interference, but earlier last year approved a new grant of around £100m to fund HIV/Aids treatment in Burma over five years. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/in-burma-only-one-in-five-people-with-hiv-are-treated-2148037.html
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Canadian International Development Agency - CIDA


Nov 30, 2010 10:35 ET




Canada Supports Families Impacted by Cyclone Giri in Burma
OTTAWA, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Nov. 30, 2010) - The Honourable Beverley J. Oda, Minister of International Cooperation, today announced Canada's humanitarian support to help the Burmese people affected by Cyclone Giri.

"The Government of Canada is responding to humanitarian emergencies caused by Cyclone Giri in Burma. Many families are now vulnerable and without access to essential services," said Minister Oda. "Canada's assistance will provide emergency shelter and health services, as well as access to drinkable water."

On October 22, this cyclone destroyed tens of thousands of homes, including roads and bridges, leaving 100,000 people homeless and at least 260,000 people in need of humanitarian assistance.

Canada is responding with $500,000 in humanitarian aid, through the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). Save the Children Canada and Médecins Sans Frontières Canada (MSF) will administer this aid. MSF will receive $250,000 to provide basic health care services to the disaster-affected population in the two hardest hit areas, Minbya and Myebon, while Save the Children Canada will receive $250,000 to distribute emergency shelter material and essential non-food items to families who have lost their homes in the cyclone, including essential supplies to prevent malaria and water-borne illnesses.
http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/Canada-Supports-Families-Impacted-by-Cyclone-Giri-in-Burma-1361201.htm
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Funds for cyclone-hit Myanmar: UN

New York, Dec 1 : Humanitarian agencies in Myanmar require an estimated 53 million dollars to respond to the needs of at least 260,000 people who were affected by Cyclone Giri that battered the western coast of the South-east Asian country last month, destroying thousands of homes, infrastructure and farms, the United Nations reported on Tuesday.

The cyclone left at least 45 people dead or missing and nearly 102,000 people remain homeless, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). Approximately 17,500 acres of farmland and nearly 50,000 acres of aquaculture ponds were also destroyed.

The storm also washed away roads and bridges, leaving some parts of the affected area only accessible by boat, OCHA said in an update.

The UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, Valerie Amos, has approved the allocation of approximately USD 6 million from the OCHA-managed Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) to finance projects to assist those affected. The projects include education, emergency shelter, food aid, health services, livelihood assistance, nutrition, water and sanitation and logistics.

The UN World Food Programme (WFP) and its partners are finalising preparations for a food distribution in Dec. An estimated 3,300 tonnes of mixed food items will be distributed to some 200,000 beneficiaries.

As of the end of last week, over 9,300 tarpaulins had been distributed. In addition, 6,037 emergency shelter kits are in the final stage of distribution to beneficiaries in the affected area. The cyclone response effort has so far cost USD 18 million, according to OCHA.

Cyclone Giri, a category-four storm, made landfall in Rakhine State on 22 October, close to the town of Kyaukpyu. The townships of Kyaukpyu, Myebon, Minbya and Pauktaw were badly hit by the storm.

--IBNS http://www.newkerala.com/news/world/fullnews-95659.html
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Burma's junta pays no heed to Freedom of Expression
By Zin Linn
opednews.com

Reporters from private journals and periodicals in Burma were inadmissible to be present at a press conference of a United Nation's special envy to Burma held before his departure on 28 November evening, according to sources in Rangoon.

The UN special envoy to Burma, Vijay Nambiar, spoke to foreign reporters inside the international airport in Rangoon at 5 pm. Mr. Nambiar was at closing stage of his two-day visit in which he met with both junta's officials and recently released democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi.

According to media sources, security personnel did not allow almost two dozens domestic correspondents with official press identifications to go into the airport. However, members of the Rangoon foreign correspondents club were allowed to be present at the press conference.

Reporters who were denied access included staff from The Myanmar Times, 7 Day, Venus, The Voice, True News, Weekly Eleven and other news journals.

As said by sources, the military junta's Press Scrutiny and Registration Division (PSRD) informed the journalists about the press conference and it will announce time and place later. But, it was likely a trick for PSRD never gave information on that press conference.

Finally, on the last minute, the matter leaked out and some journalists reached at the airport. Even though, security staff stopped the reporters at the doorway of the press conference. Actually, it is nonsensical action of the authorities as the journalists have their IDs with them. Attending a press conference must be a basic right for the media personnel.

In Burma, not only the political oppositions but also journalists and media personnel are under the junta's strictest set of laws. Journalism is hazardous work. People still bear in mind that Japanese journalist Kenji Nagai was killed in the 2007 Saffron Revolution. Several citizen journalists are still in prison.

Looking back into the near past, The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemns the 13-year prison sentence handed down on October 13 by a Burmese regime's arbitrary court to Nyi Nyi Tun, editor of the Kandarawaddy news journal.

On October 13, a township court attached to Rangoon's notorious Insein Prison found the journalist guilty of "crimes against the state". He was convicted of violating the Unlawful Associations, Immigration Emergency Provisions and Wireless Acts and other laws, according to a source in Rangoon.

"The bogus charges and harsh sentencing of Nyi Nyi Tun make a mockery of the ruling junta's professed transition towards democracy," said Shawn Crispin, CPJ's senior Southeast Asia representative. "A free press is essential to a functioning democracy -- a reality Burma's journalist-jailing junta still hasn't grasped."

Burma's junta deems journalists as its harmful enemy after the dissident politicians. Media is often targeted during periodic crackdowns on opposition. Further arrests of journalists cannot be excluded. Journalists based in Rangoon say the detentions were part of a continued crackdown by the military authorities on those involved in the mass anti-government protests in September 2007.

Win Maw, a 47-year-old activist and rock musician, has been serving a 17-year sentence for his journalistic activities since November 2008.

A military-controlled township court in Burma has handed down a 20-year jail term to freelance reporter Hla Hla Win, a young video journalist who worked with the Burma exile broadcaster "Democratic Voice of Burma" based in Norway, as the ruling junta continues its crackdown on the free press. She was arrested in September 2009 after taking a video interview at a Buddhist monastery in Pakokku, a town in Magwe Division, the Paris-based Reporters Sans Frontieres and the Burma Media Association said in a joint statement. For that she was given a seven-year prison sentence in October.

In an additional case, the Special Court in Insein prison sentenced reporter Ngwe Soe Lin to a 13-year sentence in prison under section 33(a) of the Electronic Act and section 13(1) of the Immigration Emergency Provisions Act on Jan. 27, 2010 for allegedly attempting to smuggle information to exiled media, according to prominent Rangoon lawyer U Aung Thein. Ngwe Soe Lin was detained in a Rangoon Internet café on June 26, 2009 and accused of working for the Norway-based opposition radio station Democratic Voice of Burma.

Burma has sentenced severe prison terms to scores of activists, monks, student leaders and journalists for their suspected responsibilities in the 2007 September protests and for helping victims of Cyclone Nargis in May 2008. Burma has been ruled by the military since 1962, and its aggressively controlled state media often accuses foreign news organizations of stirring trouble the country's internal affairs.

It was remarkable that an announcement dated 18 October was made by the chairman of Burma's Union Election Commission (UEC). It says no media or photography will be permitted inside or around ballot stations on Election Day. As a result, it was unavoidably to see vote-rigging and various frauds in the daylight on last November 7, 2010.

A former Major General and Judge Advocate General in Burma's armed forces, Thein Soe later became the Deputy Chief Justice and then was appointed as chairman of the UEC. In last October, Thein Soe made the UEC announcement at a press conference in Naypyidaw. According to Rangoon-based journalists who attended the press conference, Thein Soe declined to respond questions candidly related to press freedom.

Burma has more than 150 privately-owned newspapers and magazines but they are all subject to pre-publication censorship by the Press Scrutiny and Registration Division. PSRD is run by military officers. This kind of censorship is virtually unique in the world and prevents the emergence of any editorial independence.

Paris based Reporters Sans Frontières (RSF) ranks Burma 174 out of 178 countries in its 2010 press freedom index.

Burma was at the vanguard of press freedom in Southeast Asia before the 1962 military coup. The country then enjoyed a free press; censorship was something unheard of. As many as three dozen newspapers, including English, Chinese and Hindi dailies, existed between 1948 and 1962.

On the contrary, Burma stands downgraded from a free state to a prison state. All news media in Burma is strictly censored and tightly controlled by the military - all daily newspapers, radio and television stations are under supervision of the junta.

Some media related people and some politician have a dream prior of the recently held 7-November election that there may be a space for them in the upcoming parliaments. But, Freedom of speech for potential members of parliament in Burma has been restricted under laws made by the incumbent military junta.

The forbidden laws announced on 26 November in an official gazette also set a two-year prison term for any protest staged within the parliament compound. The laws, signed by junta Chief Senior-General Than Shwe, stipulate that parliamentarians will not be allowed freedom of expression even in their respective chambers.

Hence, there will not be a space for not only parliamentarians but also for journalists to practice freedom of expression under the upcoming so-called elected regime. http://www.opednews.com/articles/Burma-s-junta-pays-no-heed-by-Zin-Linn-101130-247.html