News & Articles on Burma-Friday, 28 January, 2011

News & Articles on Burma
Friday, 28 January, 2011
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Rights Groups Respond to Geneva Comments
Opposition Legislators Receive a Shabby Welcome in Naypyidaw
Above It All
Media laws obscuring parliament
Burma blasted at UN meeting
More Funds Required for Myanmar Cyclone Response
Myanmar Supreme Court rejects lawsuit seeking restoration of Suu Kyi's political party
ANALYSIS: Myanmar parliaments to usher in new era of military rule
Burma's Authorities Denied Rights Violations at UPR Session in Geneva
Burma to create SEZ, spur growth
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Rights Groups Respond to Geneva Comments
By SAW YAN NAING Friday, January 28, 2011

While a Burmese delegation in Geneva maintains that there are no human rights abuses in Burma, civilians in conflict zones, most notably in Karen State, are fleeing torture, rape, murder and other violations committed by Burmese government forces, say rights activists and witnesses.

Poe Shan, the director of Thailand-based Karen Human Rights Group, said, “The regime just says these things to defend their image. However, human rights violations remain a big problem in Burma.

“International rights groups should come and closely monitor the human rights abuses in Burma. They should continue to raise the topic [at forums],” he said.

Some 13 porters who were forced to work for the Burmese army recently escaped to an area controlled by the rebel Karen National Liberation Army.

Those interviewed said they witnessed their fellow porters brutally killed—execution-style—by regime troops when they tired or requested a rest.

Aung Kyaw Moe, one of the escaped porters, said that the troops killed his fellow porters in front of them to show the rest of the porters what they could expect if they weakened on the job.

“They [the regime troops] stabbed a porter, Sa Paw, twice in his chest with a knife on Jan 15. They said it was an example for all of us,” he said.

The regime troops also cut the necks of another two porters, Chit Ko Ko, 18, and Aung Thu Win, 17, said Joseph, another witness.

According to the KHRG, the majority of human rights abuses in armed conflict zones such as Karen State are carried out by Burmese government forces.

Civilians are targeted by government forces who accuse the villagers of supporting the Karen rebels, according to several rights groups. An endemic policy of rape and shoot-on-sight is also enacted against the ethnic civilian population.

There are currently 150,000 Burmese refugees, mostly ethnic Karen, at camps along the Thai-Burmese border. Thousands more are displaced in the jungle hiding from Burmese army patrols.

According to a recent report issued by the US-based Physicians for Human Rights, in collaboration with the Center for Public Health and Human Rights at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, nearly 92 percent of ethnic Chin people in the remote northwestern corner of Burma suffer from forced labor, rape or other serious abuses at the hands of Burmese soldiers.

Dr. Voravit Suwanvanichkij of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, who is also a researcher for the report, said that the statement made by the Burmese delegation in Geneva is inconsistent.

“Almost the entire population in Chin State has experienced human rights abuses,” he said, adding that the abuses continue and are widespread even in the wake of the Burmese election.

Jackie Pollock, the director of the Chiang Mai-based Migrant Assistance Program Foundation, said that many Burmese migrant workers come to Thailand to seek jobs due to the social and economic problems in their homeland.

Pollock said there are two million Burmese migrant workers in Thailand, many of whom have no legal travel documents.

Recently, hundreds of ethnic Rohingyas from Burma were also arrested in Thailand for illegal entry.

At the UN Human Rights Council forum in Geneva, the Burmese delegation was pressured by the international community to speed up genuine democratic reform in Burma. Western countries including Britain, France and the US called on the military regime to free the more than 2,000 political prisoners, end impunity for abuses, and halt forced labor, arbitrary arrests and the torture of critics.

At the summit, Burma's delegation, headed by Dr. Tun Shin, the country's Deputy Attorney General, said that Burma enjoys a free press, has committed no human rights violations, and has cooperated with UN Human Rights Special Envoy to Burma, Tomás Ojea Quintana.
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=20631
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Opposition Legislators Receive a Shabby Welcome in Naypyidaw
By BA KAUNG Friday, January 28, 2011

“When I opened the tap, the water that came out was the color of rust, so I haven't taken a shower since I got here,” said Ba Shin, an ethnic Arakanese politician who recently arrived in the Burmese capital of Naypyidaw to prepare for the country's first session of Parliament in more than two decades.

Speaking to The Irrawaddy by phone on Friday, Ba Shin said that dirty water in the pipes of his shower wasn't the only problem he has had to face at the municipally run guesthouse where he and other opposition parliamentarians are staying.

“Last night while I was eating my dinner, the lights suddenly went out, so I had to use a flashlight to finish my meal,” said Ba Shin, a representative of the Rakhine Nationalities Development Party who will be one of 664 lawmakers sitting in the country's Parliament when it convenes next Monday.

The guesthouse, located about 16 km from the Parliament building, is offered as free accommodation to MPs from parties that won a handful of seats in last November's election, as well as some low-ranking members of the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), the junta proxy that claimed 388 of the seats in the bicameral Parliament in Naypyidaw. Another 166 seats, or 25 percent of the total, will be occupied by military appointees.

While the newly arrived opposition MPs are trying to make themselves comfortable, some retired military generals and businessmen representing the USDP's upper echelons are finding that task much easier, as they check in at Naypyidaw's most luxurious hotels.

On Monday, the lawmakers will be sworn in at the capital's newly constructed Parliament building, where they will also elect the heads and deputy heads of the two-chamber legislature and nominate vice-presidents.

However, many representing ethnic minority parties and Rangoon-based opposition parties said they remain in the dark as to how long the first session of Parliament will last and what sort of procedures they will be undergoing.

“I don't know how long this will take. Some say it will take around a week, while others say it could go on for nearly a month,” said Soe Win, one of 12 members of the National Democratic Force (NDF) who were elected in November.

“We won't know how it will go until we enter the Parliament building,” he said. “But as far as our party is concerned, we have already prepared our own agenda, including some bills we intend to submit.”

Among them, he said, are calls for economic liberalization in the country and the release of more than 2,000 political prisoners.

Soe Win said that most of the others staying at the guesthouse, including a mixture of low-level USDP MPs, representatives of the pro-regime National Unity Party and members of the opposition parties, have mingled with each other, but few have touched on serious political issues.

“We've only had small chats. No one is talking about serious topics,” said Soe Win, who was elected as a member of Parliament for the National League for Democracy in 1990 but never allowed to sit because the regime refused to recognize the results.

While Monday will mark the first time that Parliament has convened in Burma since the collapse of the Ne Win regime in 1988, the event is not attracting much attention inside the country, where most see it as little more than a continuation of Ne Win's style of military rule in parliamentary guise.

“Although there will be several parties this time, parliamentary regulations mean that there will be no more debate now than there was in Ne Win's one-party socialist parliament. That's why the general public has no interest in what's going on here in Naypyidaw,” said a political dissident in Rangoon.

The regulations forbid MPs to bring any communication device with them into the Parliament building, and also bar media access.

According to a high-ranking official in the Ministry of Information, when Information Minister Kyaw Hsan asked junta chief Snr-Gen Than Shwe if the media should be allowed to attend sessions of Parliament, the top general replied that it would be easy to allow the media, but difficult to control it.

The official added that the ministry even vetted reporters from the state-run media before authorizing them to cover sessions of Parliament.

“Since even MPs are not allowed to carry any kind of electronic devices, we don't expect the media to have a chance at all of directly covering Parliament,” said a Rangoon journalist.

For now, the MPs in Naypyidaw are busy receiving ID cards to enter the Parliament building and money to cover their travel and living costs.

“I received 300,000 kyat [US $360],” said Min Myo Tint Lwin, a representative of the All Mon Regions Democracy Party.

Like many of the other MPs now arriving in Naypydiaw, he has yet to see the new Parliament building, although he did get a glimpse of it today while going around the capital.

“It looks like a real palace, at least from a distance,” he said, adding he has no complaints about Naypyidaw so far—except for the red water in his guesthouse shower.

Irrawaddy correspondent Sithu contributed to this article from Naypyidaw.
Copyright © 2008 Irrawaddy Publishing Group | www.irrawaddy.org
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=20630
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NEWS ANALYSIS
Above It All
Friday, January 28, 2011

When Burma's former head of military intelligence and prime minister Khin Nyunt was purged from the ruling regime in 2004, his successor, then Gen Thura Shwe Mann, famously said that in Burma, as in other civilized countries, “no one is above the law.”

This comment has earned Shwe Mann, who is tipped to become Burma's new president or chairman of the country's new Parliament, a reputation as a smooth talker. This is a skill that he will definitely need if he is appointed to a senior position in the new government, which is expected to be formed soon after Parliament convenes at the end of this month. One of the conditions for assuming a top spot is a full disclosure of personal assets, and Shwe Mann will have his work cut out for him explaining the fortune he has amassed in the course of his rise through the current junta's ranks.

Shwe Mann is tipped to become Burma's new president or chairman of the country's new Parliament. (Photo: Bangkok Post)
Shwe Mann graduated from the elite Defense Services Academy Intake 11 in 1969 and was a major when the military crushed Burma's nationwide pro-democracy uprising in 1988. The following year, he was given the honorific title “Thura” and promoted to the rank of colonel for his outstanding efforts in military offensives against Karen armed forces. In 1991, he became a tactical commander in Light Infantry Division (LID) 66, and five years later he was promoted to brigadier general and commander of LID 11, which is responsible for the security of Rangoon. A year later, he became commander of the Southwestern Regional Command, based in Bassein, Irrawaddy Division, and also a member of the ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC). In 2000, he was promoted to major general and became a permanent member of the SPDC.

Since then, he has cemented his position as one of Burma's most powerful men by cultivating a close relationship with junta chief Snr-Gen Than Shwe. Even his wife, Khin Lay Thet, is known for her solicitous behavior toward Than Shwe's wife, Kyaing Kyaing, and the rest of his family. According to those who know the family well, Khin Lay Thet often babysits Than Shwe's grandchildren and runs errands for his daughters.

While this may seem like rather subservient behavior for the wife of a major general, it certainly hasn't hurt Shwe Mann's career prospects. Than Shwe has even created an entirely new high-ranking post for him: Coordinator of Special Operations—Army, Navy and Air Force. No knows exactly how powerful this position really is, but sources in the regime's Ministry of Defense say it involves monitoring the implementation of orders from Than Shwe or his deputy, Vice Snr-Gen Maung Aye.

Shwe Mann's status as one of Than Shwe's most trusted loyalists was apparent in 2008, when he was sent to North Korea on a secret mission to cement ties with the reclusive, nuclear-armed pariah state as the head of a delegation that also included ex-Gen Tin Aye, the former chairman of the regime-owned corporation, the Union of Myanmar Economic Holdings Ltd, and other senior officials.

In the army, Shwe Mann is regarded as genial and down-to-earth. He's reasonably fit for a man his age, and when he's not in uniform, he likes to dress well. While he doesn't have a paunch like most of his colleagues, he is known to enjoy a drink—preferably in the company of a young woman.

Although there's nothing unusual about senior military leaders having “affairs,” sources close to Shwe Mann say his tastes in women are different from those of other, more “patriotic” generals. Unlike them, he is said to prefer Thai and Western girls flown in specially for him from Bangkok, courtesy of Tay Za, the owner of Air Bagan and one of the wealthiest men in Burma.

When it comes to business, Shwe Mann is no slouch himself. Although he has been careful to avoid direct involvement in money-making matters, he has used his position to increase his family's wealth. When he was the commander of the Southwestern Regional Command, which covers the Irrawaddy delta, Burma's main rice-growing area, his son Aung Thet Mann was granted the exclusive right to sell fertilizer in Irrawaddy Division. In 2001, Aung Thet Mann's company, Ayer Shwe Wah, confiscated more than 30,000 acres of farmland in the area, leaving many farmers unemployed. In 2005, the company was granted a license to export rice to Singapore and Bangladesh. It was the first time a private company had ever obtained a rice export permit.

Ayer Shwe Wah has worked together with Tay Za's Htoo Company since 1997. It exports a variety of commodities, including rice, beans, timber and seafood, and imports palm oil, fertilizer and agricultural and construction equipment. It also imports and distributes fuel and has interests in the gold and gem mining industry. “It's involved in everything except the arms trade,” said one person close to the company.

Ayer Shwe Wah also owns numerous plots of prime property in Rangoon and, according to those who know the company well, has condominiums in Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Australia, and has bank accounts in Malaysia and Thailand to avoid US financial sanctions.

Shwe Mann's younger son, Toe Naing Mann, who serves in the army, is also well-connected to the business community through his marriage to the daughter of Khin Shwe, the owner of Zaykabar, a company whose wealth comes from its investments in the construction and hotel and tourism industries. According to unconfirmed sources, Toe Naing Mann owns Red Link, a popular communications company, and the Cherry FM radio station.

While some foreign observers have seen recent moves toward privatization in Burma as a sign that the regime may finally be getting serious about the need for economic reform, people inside the country say that the process is a joke. Almost everything of value has been sold at undisclosed prices to junta cronies or close relatives of the top generals.

Shwe Mann and his family have been among the chief beneficiaries of this sell-off of state-owned assets. But when it comes time for him to reveal how much he has in the bank, don't be surprised if Shwe Mann declares that his sons are the ones with all the money, not him. After all, as a soldier who has been proudly serving his country for more than 40 years, he has always been above all that.

In a forthcoming article, The Irrawaddy will turn its attention to former Gen Tin Aung Myint Oo, Secretary 1 of the SPDC and its fourth highest-ranking member.
Copyright © 2008 Irrawaddy Publishing Group | www.irrawaddy.org

http://irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=20624
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Media laws obscuring parliament
By AHUNT PHONE MYAT
Published: 28 January 2011

Domestic and foreign news outlets are yet to receive any response on whether they can attend the first session of parliament next week where strict rules block possession of all electronic equipment in the building.

The 1000-plus MPs due for Monday’s sitting have been warned that no cameras, bags or mobile phones can pass through security at the Union Parliament building in the capital, Naypyidaw.

Burmese and international journalists say they have so far not been given any word on whether they can attend the session, despite Burma’s information minister, Kyaw Hsan, saying on 17 January that they would be able to cover the event.

A number had applied for passes to cover the session. One foreign correspondent told DVB on condition of anonymity that when he had contacted the ministry, they drew a blank. “They said they didn’t know yet [whether permission would be granted]. Some journalists have booked rooms at hotels in Naypyidaw and they’ll have to cancel their stay if they don’t get permission.”

He added that their last resort would be to simply wait in front of the parliament building and speak to MPs as they exited.

Burma has some of the world’s strictest media laws, and bans filming of so-called sensitive material that would include parliamentary debates unless expressly permitted to do so. Under the Electronics Act, journalists caught filming without permission face a 10-year prison sentence.

Analysts have sought to dampen expectations about the first parliamentary session since elections in November last year. Both chambers are dominated by the pro-junta Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), which won 80 percent of the vote, while a quarter of seats have already been reserved for pre-appointed military officials who effectively carry power of veto.

A senior member of the Committee for Professional Conduct (CPC), set up recently by the government’s censor board with the professed aim of protecting the interests of journalists and issuing guidelines for media practice, said the group has lobbied the government to allow reporters inside the building but was also yet to receive a response.

Parliamentary law states that only MPs and representatives are allowed to join sessions unless given special approval by the parliamentary chairman. Those who cheat this law, perhaps by entering under the guise of somebody else, will be fined 100,000 kyat ($US100) or face one year in prison.

Article 53(f) prohibits the passing of photographs and information to foreign news outlets unless given express permission. Anyone deemed guilty of this faces a two-year sentence.
http://www.dvb.no/news/media-laws-obscuring-parliament/13941
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Burma blasted at UN meeting
By AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Published: 28 January 2011

Burma came under pressure in the UN human rights council yesterday to speed up genuine democratic reform, as Western nations blasted “alarming” abuse and some Asian neighbours sought more change.

“The human rights situation in Myanmar [Burma] is alarming,” Sweden said in a statement to the 47-nation assembly as the council held its first regular review of Burma’s human rights record.

Western countries including Britain, France and the United States called on the military regime to free immediately more than 2,000 political prisoners, end impunity for abuse, and halt forced labour, arbitrary arrests and torture of critics.

US ambassador Eileen Donahoe warned of “ongoing, systematic violations of human rights” and expressed concern about reports of “hundreds of cases of torture of political prisoners.”

“We remain deeply concerned about the very poor state of human rights,” she added, warning that the elections last November were “neither free nor fair,” and “cannot be considered credible.”

Asian countries broadly welcomed steps towards democracy with the release of jailed opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and steered clear of overt criticism of the administration.

But many neighbouring countries and key members of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), including India, Indonesia and Thailand signalled that they also wanted more progress on democratisation and avoided acknowledging the elections.

“Myanmar stands at an important crossroads in its transition to democracy,” India said in a statement.

It underlined the need for “more inclusive, broad-based and expeditious” reforms and greater efforts “to address the major human rights concerns.

Thailand sought improvements in the country’s laws to “promote greater accountability” as well as more efforts to engage ethnic groups and deal with human rights. “We urge the authorities in Myanmar to work to consolidate the gains achieved and ensure further positive developments,” said Thai envoy Kanita Sapphaisal.
http://www.dvb.no/news/burma-blasted-at-un-meeting/13928
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More Funds Required for Myanmar Cyclone Response
Friday, 28 January 2011, 4:00 pm
Press Release: United Nations
New York, Jan 27 2011 2:10PM

Three months after Cyclone Giri struck Myanmar, key challenges such as inadequate shelter, food insecurity and lack of livelihoods remain, United Nations humanitarian agencies and their partners said today, calling for additional assistance to support early recovery efforts.

The category 4 cyclone killed at least 45 people and affected 260,000 others when it hit the country's Rakhine state in late October. According to Government estimates, at least 20,000 houses were completely destroyed, leaving over 100,000 people homeless, and 56 per cent of schools have collapsed or been damaged. Some 17,500 acres of agricultural lands and nearly 50,000 acres of agricultural ponds were also destroyed.

Emergency relief was distributed in the period following the disaster, covering basic needs such as food, health services, and temporary shelter, according to a news release issued by the Office of
the UN Resident/Humanitarian Coordinator in Myanmar.

However, a joint assessment carried out recently by the UN and its partners revealed that, as of January, an estimated 104,000 people are still living with host families in the four worst-affected townships -- Myebon, Pauktaw, Minbya and Kyaukpyu. The shelter support delivered so far has consisted primarily of tarpaulins and plastic sheeting, which are not adequate in the longer term.

It is estimated that without additional external support, nearly 60 per cent of affected houses will not be repaired or rebuilt before the next rainy season, increasing the risk of another humanitarian crisis.

Food insecurity is another major issue, given the severe damage to embankments, crops, boats and fishing gears, the news release noted. Around 60 per cent of the rice production from 2010 has been lost, and over 90 per cent of all rice fields have been damaged in Myebon alone.

Aid agencies are warning that the "significant" gap in funding th
reatens to hamper early and medium-term recovery activities in the affected areas. So far only $22 million of the $57 million needed for post-Cyclone Giri relief and early recovery has been provided by donors.

"Humanitarian partners operating in Myanmar have been able to reach the affected areas and are providing crucial support directly to the people, in coordination with the Myanmar authorities," noted UN Resident/Humanitarian Coordinator Bishow Parajuli.

"But funding constraints mean that many communities are left vulnerable. If shelters and embankments are not rebuilt before the monsoon season and farmers are unable to plant their crops this year, the people in these townships may face a prolonged crisis," he added.

The slowing-down of support provided after Giri echoes that of the response after Cyclone Nargis, which left some 140,000 dead and affected the lives of an estimated 2.4 million people in May 2008, the UN pointed out.

Only one-third of the approximately $690 millio
n needed for the Post-Nargis Recovery and Preparedness Plan, covering up to the end of 2011, has been forthcoming, and funding for recovery activities in the Ayeyarwady Delta has nearly come to a halt.

ENDS http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO1101/S00535/more-funds-required-for-myanmar-cyclone-response.htm
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Myanmar Supreme Court rejects lawsuit seeking restoration of Suu Kyi's political party

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — Myanmar's highest court has declined to hear a case filed by pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who was seeking to overturn the government's dissolution of her political party.

Her lawyer Nyan Win says the Supreme Court rejected hearing the party's appeal Friday. He says the court ruled there was no legal basis for it.

Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party lost its legal status last year after it failed to reregister in order to take part in general elections, complaining conditions set by the junta were unfair and undemocratic.

Suu Kyi's lawyers claimed the move was unlawful because the new Election Commission has no right to dissolve parties that were registered under a different Election Commission in 1990.
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/nationworld/sns-ap-as-myanmar-politics,0,3255452.story
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ANALYSIS: Myanmar parliaments to usher in new era of military rule

By Ko Ko and Peter Janssen Jan 28, 2011, 8:17 GMT

Yangon/Bangkok - Military-ruled Myanmar is to convene its first parliament session in two decades on Monday, tasked with ushering in a new era of military-led parliamentary rule.

When the upper and lower houses' elected members and 166 appointed military members meet in the capital Naypyitaw, the first item on the agenda will be the selection of a new president.

There is widespread speculation that the next head of state will be Senior General Than Shwe, 78, who has ruled Myanmar since 1992.

'I think Senior General Than Shwe will be president because he doesn't want to abandon absolute power that easily,' one Myanmar businessman said.

There are alternative scenarios.

'Shwe Mann (number 3 in the junta) is the most likely figure to become president,' a government official said. 'But Than Shwe will still be controlling the president from behind the curtain.'

There are good reasons for Than Shwe to want to stay in power, including avoiding the fate of his predecessor.

General Ne Win, military strongman from 1962 to 1988, died in disgrace and obscurity in 2002 under house arrest, where he had been placed by Than Shwe.

The system could yet play in the current ruler's favour.

Under Myanmar's new constitution, three groups nominate the next president - elected members of the upper and lower house as well as the appointed military lawmakers, who account for 25 per cent of both houses.

Even if the military men do not nominate Than Shwe, the elected parliamentarians are likely to.

Both chambers are dominated by the pro-junta Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), which won about 77 per cent of the seats in the November 7 elections. The vote was criticized for restricting access for opposition candidates.

The USDP is packed with former military men and government officials, most of whom owe their careers to Than Shwe.

The president is empowered to appoint the next cabinet and heads of bodies such as the attorney general and chief justice. He will also become the chairman of the National Defence and Security Council, a new entity.

The council is responsible for appointing - or dismissing - the next commander-in-chief of the armed forces.

It will consist of 11 members including the president, two vice presidents, the military and deputy commanders-in-chief, speakers of the two houses, the defence minister, home minister, foreign minister and border affairs minister.

The council will effectively control the military, which has been Myanmar's only real source of power for the past five decades. 'It's the same as the politburo in Beijing,' said Maung Zarni, a London-based academic and activist. 'If a handful of pseudo-communist paternalists in Beijing can control 1.3 billion Chinese, the national security council can easily control 400,000 or fewer men in uniform through incentives, coercions and exemplary severe punishment.'

These are all good reasons to assume that Than Shwe will go after the presidency, or at least make sure that whoever gets it is securely in his pocket.

But analysts see some elements of change.

'Now you're going to run a country under two institutions - the military and the government - so there could be frictions,' said Aung Din, executive director for the US Campaign for Burma. 'There are more chances to make some changes.'

The National League for Democracy (NLD), the opposition party of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, sees more chances for changes through the emergence of civil society.

There are hopes that a draft law allowing the establishment of labour unions will provide a new avenue for political activism.

Less is expected from the elected parliament and the next cabinet.

'I don't think there will be an opportunity for civilians to have a role in the next government,' said senior NLD member Nyan Win. 'There will only be a role for those so-called civilians who took off their military uniforms.'
http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/asiapacific/news/article_1615260.php/ANALYSIS-Myanmar-parliaments-to-usher-in-new-era-of-military-rule
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Burma's Authorities Denied Rights Violations at UPR Session in Geneva

27 January 2011: A delegation of Burma's ten military officials led by Deputy Attorney General Dr. Tun Shin denied state-orchestrated widespread, systematic and persistent human rights violations against the people of Burma at Burma Forum on the Universal Periodic Review (BF-UPR) held in Geneva, Switzerland today.

The delegation sent by Burma's ruling military regime faced a series of questions in regards to human rights violations perpetrated in the country at a Geneva session where the United Nations Human Rights Council examined Burma's human rights record as part of its first UPR.

Despite well-documented evidence to the contrary, the Burmese delegation said: “Accusations of rape against ethnic women are baseless, with the aim of discrediting armed forces. The armed forces have a zero tolerance policy towards serious human rights violations, including sexual violence. There is no widespread occurrence of human rights violations with impunity.”

Throughout the three-hour UPR dialogue, States raised numerous concerns, including the issue of political prisoners, treatment of ethnic and religious minorities, and impunity for perpetrators of gross human rights violations that may amount to crimes against humanity.

One of the BF-UPR Representatives, Salai Za Uk Ling of Chin Human Rights Organisation said: “Despite the claims made in the regime’s National Report to the UPR that the rights to freedom of religion and non-discrimination are guaranteed under law, Burma’s ethnic and religious minorities face ongoing persecution as part of a state policy of forced assimilation."

When asked about more than 2,190 political prisoners currently detained for peacefully execising their basic political rights, Zaw Win, Director General of Prisons, said: "They are imprisoned because they have breached prevailing laws, not because of their political beliefs. There are no prison deaths resulting from torture."

However, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma), a member of the Burma Forum on the Universal Periodic Review (BF-UPR), has documented the deaths of 146 political prisoners in detention since 1988, due to torture and denial of medical treatment.

A joint statement released today by a coalition of fourteen human rights and civil society organizations said it is deeply disappointing that all nine member States of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) chose to commend the regime on its 7 November elections as a positive development while failing to address the ongoing humanitarian crisis in eastern Burma as a result of intensified armed conflict since the elections, which has caused thousands of refugees to flee into neighbouring countries.

Their expressions of support on the implementation of the 7-Step Roadmap is also of particular concern, as the Roadmap fails to genuinely include all stakeholders in the country, and has resulted in a deeply flawed Constitution that enshrines impunity and fails to meet international human rights norms and standards, the statement added.

The Burma Forum on the Universal Periodic Review urges the military regime to act now and immediately halt all human rights violations and accept the numerous recommendations made during the Review including: immediately and unconditionally releasing all political prisoners; reforming the judiciary; ratifying and effectively implementing all international human rights treaties; ensuring full rights to ethnic and religious minorities both in law and in practice; and in particular, the establishment of a Commission of Inquiry in line with the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar’s recommendation, as proposed by the Czech Republic.

Representatives from Assistance Association for Political Prisoners Burma (AAPP-B), Arakan Rivers Network (ARN), Burma Fund UN Office, Burma Lawyers’ Council (BLC), Chin Human Rights Organization (CHRO), Emergency Act Team vs Backpack Health Worker Team, Federation of Trade Unions of Burma (FTUB), Foundation for Education and Development (FED), Human Rights Education Institute of Burma (HREIB), Human Rights Foundation of Mon Land (HURFOM), Kachin Women’s Organization Thailand (KWAT), Kaladan Press Bangladesh, Shwe Gas Movement, Women and Child Rights Project (WCRP), were in Geneva for the Review.
http://www.chinlandguardian.com/news-2009/1174-burmas-authorities-denied-rights-violations-at-upr-session-in-geneva.html
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Burma to create SEZ, spur growth
Share Comments (0)TweetBy JOSEPH ALLCHIN
Published: 28 January 2011

A woman walks in front of glass buildings in Shenzhen. China, which Than Shwe may be looking to emulate (Reuters)
New laws have been agreed that would allow the creation of Special Economic Zones (SEZ) in Burma as the country looks to encourage a business-friendly environment after decades of economic stagnation.

State-run press today announced the “promulgation” of the law, which comprises 12 chapters, in a bid to boost growth. It comes as fresh loans were announced from China, with one for an airport in the capital, Naypyidaw, and another between the Myanmar Economic Bank and the Chinese import-export bank.

The loan deals were signed by Burma’s deputy finance minister, Hla Thein Swe, and the Vice-President of the China Exim Bank Zhu Xinqing, with the Burmese government’s first secretary, Tin Aung Myint Oo, and Chinese Ambassador Li Junhua also in attendance.

The SEZ law will likely be developed in tandem with the $US8 billion Tavoy port project and associated facilities around the site in southern Burma, which is led by Thai company Italian-Thai.

SEZ’s have been used in regional economic giants like India and China, as well as Thailand, as a way to stimulate business in specific areas without having to alter overall legislation, and have met with varying degrees of success and controversy.

In Thailand they are often seen as a way of circumventing labour laws in order to exploit cheap, migrant workers from countries like Burma and Cambodia. And in India the creation of an SEZ in the state of West Bengal near Nandigram caused considerable violence between locals, whose land was being seized, and the local government who met protests with armed militias, resulting in dozens of deaths.

The junta may then look more towards China’s success with its original SEZ in Shenzhen, which was visited last year by Senior General Than Shwe. Shenzen has been the centre of China’s export-led rise following the government’s decision to allow foreign investment and deregulated laws over private enterprise, which were able to exploit the dollar and China’s hungry labour force.

Such labour-intensive industry is heavily needed in Burma, where agriculture’s share of GDP has changed little since 1938. Then it accounted for 47.9 percent of overall GDP, whilst today it accounts for just over 43 percent. This compares with regional nations such as Bangladesh, where its contribution of agriculture to GDP dropped from roughly 40 percent in 1980 to 18.9 percent in 2007.

Shenzhen has witnessed a dramatic rise as industry has shifted to more hi-tech value-added industries. But it will remain to be seen whether the Tavoy SEZ in Burma can develop in the same manner, or whether it will perpetually be a source of cheap labour for foreign companies and a home for dirty industries that other countries no longer permit or desire.
http://www.dvb.no/news/burma-to-create-sez-spur-growth/13948