News & Articles on Burma-Friday, 25 February, 2011

News & Articles on Burma
Friday, 25 February, 2011
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Rice Prices Rising on Rumor of New Banknote
Burma's MPs Paid a Bonus
Students from war zone stranded in towns
Burma jails five dissidents: lawyer
Burma's President-Elect: A Clever Puppet?
Chin state abuses are the tip of the iceberg
Unpreventable armed conflicts in Burma
Myanmar’s human rights problems affect other countries in the region
U.S. in talks on Myanmar aid
Suu Kyi’s determination to peacefully defy dictatorship
Compound interest in Myanmar
9,000 War Refugees Still Stranded in Thailand
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Rice Prices Rising on Rumor of New Banknote
By THE IRRAWADDY Friday, February 25, 2011

The price of rice and some related goods is rising in Rangoon due to rumors that the Burmese regime plans to introduce new 10,000-kyat banknotes in the near future, according to business sources in the former capital.

A rice trader at Rangoon's Bayintnaung market said that a standard-size pack of Pyapon Paw San Hmwe, a high-grade rice, has risen from 29,500 kyat (US $34) to 33,000 kyat ($38) in recent weeks, while Shwebo Paw San Hmwe, another high-grade variety, is now 35,000 kyat ($40), up from 30,000 kyat ($34).

“Prices have been increasing day by day since the rumors started. Another reason is that transportation costs have also gone up. Many people speculate that the price will be higher during the rainy season when farmers start planting again,” a source said.

The price of other varieties of rice is also increasing. Two commonly consumed varieties, Manaw Thukha and Ziya, now costs 18,000 kyat ($21), up by 4,000 kyat ($4.60) in recent weeks.

There is widespread speculation that rice prices will continue to rise in the coming months as Burma enters its rainy season. The price of high-quality rice such as Paw San Hmwe could go as high as 50,000 kyat ($57) per pack, according to some observers.

A rice trader in Myaung Mya Township in Irrawaddy Division said that many local traders are holding onto their rice in expectations of higher prices in the future.

Another factor affecting the price of rice is the weather, which has been unusually wet in Upper Burma this year. Cyclone Giri, which hit the Arakan coast late last year, has also had an impact.

Some observers also attributed rising commodity prices to increasing transport costs, as Burma changes its regulations to conform with the standards of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

The price of cooking oil has risen as well. One viss of peanut oil has gone from 4,200 kyat ($4.80) to 4,500 kyat ($5.17) and sesame oil, previously priced at 3,000 kyat ($3.45), is now 3,200 kyat ($3.70), according to local sources.
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=20832
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Burma's MPs Paid a Bonus
By THE IRRAWADDY Friday, February 25, 2011

The 658 members of Burma’s Parliament, called the Hluttaw, were given a bonus and allowance of 600,000 kyat (US $681.81) each at the conclusion of their parliamentary session on Friday.

In total, the Burmese government paid the members of Parliament more than $467,000 dollars on Friday. By comparison, a majority of the people in Burma survive on less than one dollar per day.

“This is a kind of salary for the lawmakers and military officers serving in Parliament. But the Hluttaw officials did not say it was the payment of salary, they said it was a bonus and allowance,” said an MP who attended Friday's joint session of the Upper and Lower Houses of Parliament and spoke on condition of anonymity.

According to lawmakers who attended the joint session, the Lower House and Upper House will meet separately next week to discuss the budget, begin drafting laws, form sub-committees and consider proposals raised by lawmakers.

“In March, ministers-in-waiting will also answer questions from lawmakers after the new government is officially formed,” said an ethnic MP.

However, lawmakers said they do not expect to engage in critical debate because no big change was possible given that the junta-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) and military officers appointed by the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces dominate both Houses.

“We cannot hope for much at the Hluttaw meetings. During the Union Hluttaw meetings [joint sessions of Parliament], the handful of lawmakers from the minority parties could not say or do anything,” said a MP from the National Democratic Front, which won four Upper House seats and 12 Lower House seats.

“The USDP and military officers hold a majority in both Houses and they speak as one voice,” he said. “As long as they speak as one voice, opposition parties cannot do anything here.”
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=20829
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Students from war zone stranded in towns
Friday, 25 February 2011 11:41 S.H.A.N.

As war clouds gather in central Shan State, students who are finishing their final exams say they might be stuck in towns where they have been studying, according to sources from Lashio and Mandalay.

The Burma Army has closed passage of moter vehicles going south to Monghsu, where a rubyland was discovered around 1990. Between it and Kehsi in the west is Wanhai, the headquarters of the Shan State Army (SSA) ‘North’ of Maj-Gen Pangfa, who has turned down the Naypyitaw-run Border Guard Force (BGF) program.

“The only road open is from Mongnawng (south of Monghsu)”, said a father of two children who are studying in Mandalay. “But once shooting begins, it’ll be closed too.”

Aside from 16 armored personnel carriers (APCs) and 30 military trucks full of soldiers going up from Taunggyi, Light Infantry Dission (LID) 99 have been sighted in Namlan, Hsipaw township, on their way to the south. “We think they are going to Wanhai,” said a driver whose truck has been turned back.

The SSA North, meanwhile, says Burma Army troops are still keeping their distance from Wanhai, from where all the civilians have left.

The SSA North has been reorganized into 5 brigades since January:
Commander in Chief – Maj Gen Pangfa
Deputy Commander in Chief (1) – Col Kherh Tai
Deputy Commander in Chief (2) – Col Sai Du
Chief of Staff – Col Khemin
1st Brigade – Ngao Fa
72nd Brigade – Lao Herh, Hseng Fa and Mongli
36th Brigade – Peun Mong
74th Brigade – Zing Mong
HQ Security Brigade – Zaw Mong and Naw Fa

It is one of the 12 groups that had formed the alliance: United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC) on 16 February.
http://www.shanland.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3486:students-from-war-zone-stranded-in-towns&catid=86:war&Itemid=284
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Bangkok Post
Burma jails five dissidents: lawyer

* Published: 25/02/2011 at 03:31 PM
* Online news: Asia

A court in military-ruled Burma sentenced five men to up to 11 years in prison for offences including associating with overseas dissident groups, a lawyer said Friday.

Myanmar soldiers are seen on parade during a ceremony in junta's administrative capital Naypyidaw. A court in the military-ruled nation has sentenced five men to up to 11 years in prison for offences including associating with overseas dissident groups.

They were initially arrested as suspects in a series of explosions at a water festival in Rangoon in April 2010 that left 10 people dead.

But they were charged with other offences after the authorities failed to find evidence linking them to the attack, said lawyer Kyaw Hoe, who was in court as an observer for Tuesday's verdict.

"They were arrested as suspects relating to the bombing.... But they were charged for other acts, not the bombing," said Kyaw Hoe, an attorney for opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party.

One of the men, Bo Bo Thein, was sentenced to a total of 11 years imprisonment for immigration and drug offences, unlawful association and anti-state activities, he said.

The others received sentences ranging from two to eight years.

"The main accusation was that Bo Bo Thein and his group had contact with NLD (LA) and Generation Wave," Kyaw Hoe said, referring to two dissident groups in exile.

He said their lawyer would try to appeal the verdict.

This month a video reporter for the Norway-based Democratic Voice of Burma was handed 13 years in prison for filming at the scene of the festival blasts with his son Sithu Zeya, who received an 18-year jail term. http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/asia/223492/burma-jails-five-dissidents-lawyer
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Burma's President-Elect: A Clever Puppet?
By THE IRRAWADDY Friday, February 25, 2011

Upon inspection, the make-up of Burma’s “new” government much resembles the old. The only apparent difference from the military regime that has run the country for the past two decades is that certain job titles have changed to accommodate the facade of a civilian government and some ministers who had fallen out of favor with junta chief Snr-Gen Than Shwe have been replaced by their deputies.

Probably the biggest indication that it is junta business-as-usual in Naypyidaw is the fact that former Prime Minister Thein Sein, who is Than Shwe’s most malleable puppet, is now President-elect Thein Sein. But does the fact that he has been appointed the new government’s first president demonstrate a shrewdness that he is not often given credit for?

Born in Irrawaddy Division, Thein Sein was a 1968 graduate of the Defense Services Academy’s 19th Intake. He was a major in Light Infantry Division 55 when the nationwide pro-democracy uprising broke out in 1988 and later served as the commander of Infantry Battalion 89 in Kalay, Sagaing Division.

In 1989, Thein Sein’s path to promotion opened following graduation from the well-known Command and General Staff College in Kalaw, Shan State, and he was later assigned to the War Office as the Colonel General Staff for Than Shwe.

Observers said Thein Sein was transferred to the War Office as a courtesy to ex-Gen Khin Maung Than, the former head of the Bureau of Special Operations. At that time, fighting in the northeastern region had subsided and the junta was focusing its military efforts on the Karen National Union and the All Burma Students' Democratic Front in the southeastern part of the country, where the army engaged in hard-fought battles in which many senior officers died.

Being good at office work, Thein Sein became known as “Senior Clerk.” The dutiful Thein Sein gained favor with Than Shwe for his work as the junta chief’s personal assistant and was promoted to brigadier general earlier than expected. Although the Colonel General Staff position was traditionally held only by colonels, Than Shwe let Brig-Gen Thein Sein remain in the post.

In order to keep up with the growing number of officers, Than Shwe and a group of military leaders decided to expand the size of the army. Consequently, more divisions were created and Thein Sein was assigned to establish the newly formed No. 4 Military Operations Command in Rangoon's Hmawbi Township.

In 1997, Thein Sein became the commander of the Triangle Region Command based in eastern Shan State. The nature of the orders he received in this command reportedly caused him painful head-aches, and according to Tachileik residents, he often went to a barber shop to get his hair washed in an effort to relieve his sufferings.

During his time as the Triangle Region Commander, Thein Sein developed a reputation of being anti-Thai because a number of border skirmishes with Thai troops occurred on his watch.

When Lt-Gen Tin Oo, who was then the Adjutant General, died in a helicopter crash in Karen State in 2001, Thein Sein became his successor. Two years later, he was appointed Secretary 2 of the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), and after the regime adopted its seven-step “Roadmap to Democracy,” he was assigned to be the chairman of the National Constitutional Convention.

Some who know him well said that although Thein Sein seems kinder and less haughty than other generals, he possesses the same negative character traits as most Burmese army officers—he once punched a railway station master in Mandalay. Nonetheless, among the arrogant and haughty top generals who comprise his peer group, Thein Sein is reportedly considered more open-minded and easy-going than most.

Thein Sein’s non-confrontational style led him to become known as Than Shwe’s “yes-man” who always listened to the junta chief whether he was right or wrong. From the junta chief’s perspective, this made Thein Sein the perfect choice to fill the vacancy when then Prime Minister Lt-Gen Soe Win—who allegedly masterminded the 2003 attack on Aung San Suu Kyi and her entourage—died of cancer.

As Prime Minister, Thein Sein was sent into the international arena and often asked to carry the regime’s highly controversial flag. According to recent dispatches by Wikileaks, Than Shwe ordered Thein Sein to boycott a meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) held after the 2007 monk-led protests in Burma if Asean leaders allowed Ibrahim Gambari, a former UN special envoy to Burma, to speak at the meeting.

Also according to Wikileaks, Than Shwe ordered Thein Sein to try his best to alleviate US sanctions imposed on the junta, and Thein Sein became the first Burmese general to be allowed on US soil since 1988.


During his visit to New York, Thein Sein almost had the dubious distinction of being the first Burmese prime minister to be hit by shoes when former student leader Moe Thee Zun and other Burmese activists planned to throw their shoes at his car. For better or worse, he managed to avoid the incident.

Thein Sein was not given much respect at home, either. His mandates were reportedly blocked by Thiha Thura Tin Aung Myint Oo because he was considered too weak to handle the job of prime minister. Other ministers even remarked that Tin Aung Myint Oo had usurped Thein Sein’s power.

The two rivals have moved in unison into the new government­they have now become the President and the Vice President, respectively­and some observers said tension between Thein Sein and Tin Aung Myint Oo has already appeared in the Parliament and the ruling junta.

A businessman who met Thein Sein in person told The Irrawaddy that the President-elect is a good speaker, good at administrative matters and also well-liked by many people, but he does not seem to have an economic vision. The businessman said he does not know how the new President will administer the country's economy without economic knowledge.

But even though he may not personally understand much about Burma’s economy, Thein Sein has recruited businessmen such as Khin Maung Aye, the chairman of the Co-operative Bank who allegedly became rich through illegal logging, to be his advisors. He reportedly takes Tay Za and Zaw Zaw, the Burmese economic tycoons who are subject to Western sanctions, along with him whenever he makes a trip outside the country.

Compared to Snr-Gen Than Shwe and other top generals who have been repeatedly accused of making the state's money their own, Thein Sein is thought to be the least corrupt former general. Also, his children are reportedly not business hungry persons like those of former Gen Shwe Mann and Tin Aung Myint Oo.

Khin Khin Win, Thein Sein's wife, said, “We don't have money. We are living in the house provided by the State.”

However, some ethnic Wa and other leaders from the Triangle Region Command have said that there is no regional commander or general who does not accept bribes. So Thein Sein may have savings from what he was able to pocket while serving as the regional commander and prime minister.

Perhaps Burma's Office of the Auditor General has just not yet caught up with Thein Sein­something which often coincidentally occurs when Than Shwe decides that a top junta official’s usefulness to him has run its course.

Related Article: Will Likely Vice President Be Brave? Above It All

End of an Era, or Beginning of a Dynasty? http://irrawaddy.org/highlight.php?art_id=20824
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Chin state abuses are the tip of the iceberg
By RICHARD SOLLOM
Published: 25 February 2011

Recently a new Burmese legislature convened for the first time in 22 years, but the parliament resembles last year’s electoral exercise – an elaborate show that is a democracy only in name. Yesterday, as DVB reported, Burma snatched power from judges as well.

The 50 million people living in Burma are still under the military regime’s repressive rule, and for them, the human rights abuses that they suffer at the hands of the military junta are a regular way of life.

Burma’s military regime has been a constant roadblock to democracy. The new parliament is under the junta’s strong arm, and 84 percent of all parliamentary seats are reserved for current military officers or held by General Than Shwe’s cronies – the same army soldiers who committed 73 percent of all reported human rights violations last year. The brutal treatment of ethnic nationalities under the military junta is well known to the international community, but the mass atrocities that they suffer have been deliberately hidden from the world by this repressive regime.

Physicians for Human Rights recently went door-to-door in Burma’s remote western Chin state to conduct a random survey of 702 households. Together with our local partners, we documented 2,951 abuses over a 12-month period. We found that government authorities may have killed an estimated 1,000 household members, tortured 3,800 individuals and raped 2,800 adults and children over the course of the 12-month reporting period. And that’s in just one state of 500,000 people who represent one percent of the total population of Burma. Our report, Life Under the Junta, presents strong evidence that Burmese authorities are committing crimes against humanity.

One 18-year-old woman told us how the Burmese military raped her at gunpoint in June 2009 in her rural village in Mindat. The reason they raped her and forced her into servitude is because she is Christian and Chin – a different ethnic nationality than the military, who are mostly Buddhist and Burmese.

The collective voices captured in our survey speak for a brutalized population who will not see the results of Burma’s new “democracy.” As one of its first orders of business, the new parliament should allow a full and independent investigation into these possible crimes. Such an investigation, which the United Nations could establish as a commission of inquiry, is an essential first step to help Burma replace impunity with accountability and bring justice and stability to the people of Burma.

I was in Geneva in the days before Burma’s review of its deplorable human rights record by the United Nations. While there, I had the opportunity to speak with UN delegations of countries that publicly support an investigation of crimes in Burma. The leadership these countries have shown in forging a path to justice is a hopeful sign, but more countries must join their ranks. Currently 14 countries publicly support establishing a UN Commission of Inquiry, most of which are Western democratic governments. Now these 14 countries, including the United States, should build cross-regional unity in the push for accountability in Burma to end these mass atrocities.

We know that Burmese authorities will continue the abuses that it has been committing for decades, and that the government will not investigate the crimes on its own. Under this regime of impunity, the 18-year-old Chin woman who told us her tale of survival will have no recourse to justice. International action is essential for justice, accountability, and a peaceful future. Now is the time for the international community to come together, stand alongside the people of Burma and Aung San Suu Kyi, and demand accountability in a country that has been plagued with injustice.

Richard Sollom is deputy director of the Nobel prize-winning Physicians for Human Rights.
http://www.dvb.no/analysis/chin-state-abuses-are-the-tip-of-the-iceberg/14439
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Unpreventable armed conflicts in Burma
Fri, 2011-02-25 01:10 — editor

* Myanmar

By - Zin Linn
25 February (Asiantribune.com):

Armed conflicts between ethnic rebels and the junta’s troops in Karen State resumed during country’s undemocratic elections last November.

Thousands of civilian fled across the border into Thailand, seeking to escape from the bloodlettings, uncertainty and instability continued. The new parliamentary system created by the military junta is dominated by retired generals who have been rightly criticized as a charade aimed at supporting military ruling.

At the same time, the junta is finding faults with some other ceasefire groups along China-Burma border. Burma’s military junta had done away with the license of an airline linked to Burma’s largest ceasefire group United Wa State Army (UWSA) since November 2010. It was the Yangon Airways which forced to suspend its operations from 3 December, due to the aviation officials refused to give back its Aircraft Operating Certificate (AOC).

The company-owner was Aik Hauk, the son-in-law of Bao Youxiang (Pau Yu Chang), who leads the strongest ceasefire rebel-group, the UWSA. Even though agreeing to a ceasefire deal with the junta in the 1990s, UWSA’s refusal to turn into the junta’s Border Guard Force plan and this has seriously damaged relations.

Then, the junta made a harsh move to beat the Wa. Following its rejection to renew operating license of the Wa’s Yangon Airways in December, Nay-pyi-taw has ordered closure of its Hong-pang bus line that runs between Tachilek, opposite Thailand’s Mae Sai, and Kengtung, 160 km north of the border, according to a report by Shan Herald Agency for News (SHAN).

The closure-order of Hong-pang bus line was delivered to the UWSA’s liaison officer Ah Chang in Kengtung on Sunday, 20 February, by General Staff Officer Grade 1 Col Khin Maung Htwe, Shan Herald said quoting a source close to the Wa. There are 2 other bus lines running between the two cities – Shwe Myodaw and Shwe Yegan.

The signs of closures of Yangon Airways Hong-pang bus line owned by UWSA seem gloomier than ever in the Shan state. The military regime has been tightening its grip toward the ceasefire groups those refused to accept the BGF proposal.

Furthermore, 21 truckloads of soldiers and military supplies were sent out to the armed clashes site between the Burma Army and the Shan State Army (SSA) South which took place at night on 22 Feb., according to local and rebel sources, SHAN News said. The night-attack took place after bombardment by an unknown armed group on the Burma Army outpost in Monghta on 18 February. The area has been actively influenced by both the Wa and the SSA, Shan Herald said.

Naypyitaw has designated Monghta, as well as Kali, Kholam and Mongzang villages on the west bank of the Salween River to become new sub-townships. The latter three sub-townships will be directly controlled by the newest Middle East Region Command.

According to the Shan rebel source, the armed clash on 22 February with Monghta-based Burma Army’s Light Infantry Battalion 328 lasted for nearly 90 minutes. The Shan patrol saw three dead and one injured, but they believed there were more casualties on the Burma Army part.

Tensions heightened between the Burma Army and ceasefire groups – the UWSA, Kachin Independence Army (KIA), SSA ‘North’ and the NDAA. Discomforts have been soaring up since the junta raises ultimatum to accept BGFs program. Both sides have been reinforcing their troops on heightened alert after none of them accepted the junta’s plan.

Although the newly formed parliament under President Thein Sein, an ex-general, has been going on with its sessions, there is no discussion on the autonomy issue put forward by the ethnic ceasefire-groups.

It is true that Sai Mauk Kham, a 61-year-old Shan physician, becomes Burma’s new vice-president. But, he will not be allowed to practice effective power within the new government. He cannot be able to fulfill the main necessities of the nation, such as national reconciliation and the ethnic equal opportunity.

Several political observers believe that the military-backed new USDP government will not change its high-handed policy, which constantly goes against the self-determination of the ethnic people.

Meanwhile, Burma’s ethnic groups have made a historical accord in a conference at an undisclosed venue along the Thai-Burma border. The conference held from 12 to 16 February 2011 attracted more than 50 ethnic representatives from 15 ethnic groups. They have reached a unanimous agreement to form an umbrella alliance called the United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC).

The newly formed UNFC endorsed a 16-page constitution, consisting of 32 articles in nine chapters, during a 5-day conference at a venue on the Thai-Burma border. The alliance also provided for a political department with sub-divisions such as Legal Affairs, Home Affairs and Foreign Affairs, which are expected to serve as political anchor for the grouping.

The opposition non-Burman ethnic alliance has already formed several coalitions. Most noteworthy are the organization-based National Democratic Front (NDF) formed in 1976 and the state-based Ethnic Nationalities Council (ENC) formed in 2001. On the contrary, the new coalition’s membership will be opened to all groupings, whether they are state-based, organization-based or ethnic-based, according to its constitution.

According to Shan Herald Agency for News , UNFC also welcomes oppositions like the United Wa State Army (UWSA) and Shan State Army (SSA) ‘South’ that are still playing the waiting game to become associate partners.

The conference was jointly organized by Committee for the Emergence of Federal Union (CEFU), the National Democratic Front (NDF) and the United Nationalities League for Democracy (UNLD). About 15 groupings participated.

The UNFC has selected six Central Executive Committee members and 10 Central Committee members. Gen Mutu Saypo of the Karen National Union (KNU) becomes Chairman and Lt Gen Gauri Zau Seng of the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) Vice Chairman-1, Maj Gen Abel Tweed of the Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP) Vice Chairman-2, and Nai Hongsa of the New Mon State Party (NMSP) General Secretary) respectively.

In a statement issued on last 17 February, the Emergency of a Federal Union (UNFC) said part of its basic principles and aims are to work for a better recognition of the ethnic armed groups, for ethnic equality, rights and self-determination, and for a genuine democratic federal Union of Burma.

Hence, Burma’s civil war may not prevent all along the ethnic areas unless a true democratic government takes the office.

- Asian Tribune - http://www.asiantribune.com/news/2011/02/24/unpreventable-armed-conflicts-burma
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Myanmar’s human rights problems affect other countries in the region, warns UN Special Rapporteur
Source: United Nations Human Rights Council
Date: 24 Feb 2011

KUALA LUMPUR / GENEVA (24 February 2011) – The UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, Tomás Ojea Quintana, warned Thursday that the disquieting situation of human rights in Myanmar is affecting other countries in the region.

"There is clearly an extra-territorial dimension to the human rights problem in Myanmar," Mr. Ojea Quintana said in Kuala Lumpur, at the end of his eight-day fact-finding mission to Malaysia, one of the affected countries. "Despite the promise of the transition in Myanmar, the human rights situation remains grave."

As of the end of January 2011, there were some 84,800 refugees and asylum-seekers from Myanmar registered in Malaysia, where a large number remain unregistered. Other countries in the region also host a considerable number of refugees, asylum-seekers and migrants from Myanmar.

"Countries in the region have a particular interest in persuading the Government of Myanmar to take necessary measures for the improvement of its human rights situation," the Special Rapporteur stressed. "These measures are an urgent matter for the new Government, and the international community should ensure that Myanmar fulfills this responsibility."

As part of his efforts to continuously gather information about conditions in Myanmar, Mr. Ojea Quintana met with a wide range of individuals who had fled Myanmar to Malaysia and the organizations that serve these communities in the country. The Special Rapporteur met with different ethnic groups and focused particularly on the Chin and Rohingya communities.

"During my visit I talked to many people who had recently left Myanmar fleeing forced labour, land and property confiscation, arbitrary taxation, religious and ethnic discrimination, arbitrary detention, as well as sexual and gender-based violence," the human rights expert said.

Mr. Ojea Quintana heard moving and disturbing testimony of human rights abuses suffered by numerous individuals from Myanmar. These include:

One man left Chin State after 15 years of portering and forced labour for the military. In one incident, after he was detained with 14 others on his way to church and forced to porter, he was in fear of being forcibly recruited into the military and thus fled.

One prominent Chin woman religious leader was coerced to read a statement at a televised event denying allegations of restrictions on religious freedom despite her own views. Her experiences of discrimination based on religion were echoed in many of the Special Rapporteur's interviews with Chin people.

One young man left Northern Rakhine State after he was denied the necessary travel permit to attend university and was arrested for his efforts to bypass these restrictions as part of what the Special Rapporteur sees as a widespread pattern of discrimination against the Rohingya population.

Another young man left Shan State after years of forced labour and following an incident whereby the military confiscated his family's farm for which his brother was arrested and subsequently killed; he himself was also arrested but managed to escape.

The UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar will present his latest report to the Human Rights Council in March 2011.

Mr. Tomás Ojea Quintana (Argentina) was appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council in May 2008. As Special Rapporteur, he is independent from any government or organization and serves in his individual capacity.

For additional information on the mandate of the Special Rapporteur, please visit: http://www2.ohchr.org/english/countries/mm/mandate/index.htm

OHCHR Country Page – Myanmar: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/countries/AsiaRegion/Pages/MMIndex.aspx
For press inquiries and additional information, please contact Ms. Christine Chung (Tel: +41 22 928 9673 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting +41 22 928 9673 end_of_the_skype_highlighting / email: cchung@ohchr.org) or write to sr-myanmar@ohchr.org
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U.S. in talks on Myanmar aid
Thursday, February 24, 2011 7:11 AM

Feb. 24, 2011 (United Press International) -- The top U.S. diplomat in Myanmar says he is talking to opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi on aid to the military-ruled country, currently under U.S. sanctions.

"Of course, the United States is engaging in a dialogue with Aung Sang Suu Kyi and the NLD (National League for Democracy) about U.S. assistance programs in Burma (now known as Myanmar)," Larry Dinger, the U.S. chargé d'affaires, told the BBC.

Suu Kyi, recently released after years of intermittent house arrests, is the leader of the NLD. The party boycotted elections last November, widely criticized at home and abroad as a sham designed to keep the junta in power.

Under the sanctions directed at the military rulers, the United States offers no direct aid to Myanmar except in emergencies or on humanitarian grounds.

The NLD earlier this month called for discussion with Western countries on any changes to the sanctions. At the time, Suu Kyi said any discussions with the United States and other countries should deal with when, how and under what circumstances the sanctions might be modified "in the interests of democracy, human rights and a healthy economic environment."

Her party, referring to recent calls for lifting the sanctions by some organizations and nations, said available evidence showed "economic conditions in the country have not been affected by the sanctions to any notable degree.

"We hope that it will be a continuing conversation," Dinger told the BBC, adding there have also been such talks with Myanmar authorities, which he hoped would help in formulating "U.S. policies toward Burma."

The military has ruled the country since 1962. The NLD won the 1990 elections but was never allowed to form government.
(Source: UPI )
(Source: Quotemedia) http://www.istockanalyst.com/article/viewiStockNews/articleid/4918086
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Mainichi Shimbun (Japan):
Suu Kyi’s determination to peacefully defy dictatorship remains unchanged –
Pak Chong-chu
Thu 24 Feb 2011
Filed under: Opinion, Other

The Mainichi Shimbun resumed Myanmar pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s column, “Letter from Burma,” this year after a 13-year break. I flew to Myanmar where press restrains were in force late last year and visited Suu Kyi’s residence prior to the publication of the first part of the column on New Year’s Day.Suu Kyi had been under house arrest there on and off over a 15-year period from 1989 to November last year. I stood by one of the windows of her residence, and thought about how firm her determination must be to spend her life resisting Myanmar’s military dictatorship.

The military dictatorship has been in power in Myanmar for nearly half a century since the 1962 coup. Suu Kyi founded the National League for Democracy (NLD) in 1988 in a bid to democratize the country, and the party secured 82 percent of the seats in Parliament in a 1990 general election. Nevertheless, the military regime refused to hand over power to the NLD and suppressed pro-democracy movements.

The military regime has continued a reign of terror, detaining and torturing NLD members and supporters. Last autumn, the regime called a general election and released Suu Kyi from house arrest. However, the shift to civilian rule was a mirage and the military is still ruling the country.

Suu Kyi’s residence is situated in Yangon, the largest city in Myanmar. Since its gate is higher than an adult’s average height, it is impossible to look into her home from the street. There is no other house nearby, and since security forces are surrounding her home round the clock, ordinary citizens are reluctant to approach her house out of fear that security authorities might suspect they have ties to Suu Kyi.

Her house is a western-style two-story building with white walls, and security authorities set up a fence with barbed wire behind her home facing a lake. When I saw a scene at the lakeside while waiting for her to return home, I could hardly believe my eyes. There, dozens of couples were dating while people with children were taking a walk. A promenade leads to an amusement park and a Ferris wheel towers over trees.

A place isolated from the outside world and a place where citizens lead their daily lives coexist there — a ruthless reality.

Suu Kyi, who was separated from her family because of her house arrest, has never lost courage even though she regularly sees citizens nearby who appear happy, and instead tolerates her solitary life. She has reasons for having to do so.

Suu Kyi lost her husband, who had been battling cancer in Britain, in 1999 while she was under house arrest. Feeling that he was close to the end of his life, he applied for a visa to visit Myanmar to meet his wife, only to be rejected. The military regime hoped that Suu Kyi would leave for Britain to meet with her ailing husband. However, she chose to stay home because there was no guarantee that she would be allowed to come back to Myanmar once she left the country. She chose to prioritize her pro-democracy movement rather than stay with her dying husband. Her determination is undoubtedly attributable to the existence of fellow freedom fighters imprisoned as political prisoners.

In December 1995, shortly after she started the column in the Mainichi Shimbun, Suu Kyi told the world political prisoners were barred from meeting their children for over two years and that their family members were being interrogated and harassed.

Her message that she was not the only Myanmar woman detained for her political thoughts appears to reflect a kind of guilty feeling she harbors toward other people who were being suppressed by the military regime.

There is a special reason why Suu Kyi evaded being tortured or imprisoned even though she is the leader of Myanmar’s pro-democracy movement. Her father played a leading role in winning Myanmar’s independence and she is well-known to the world as a Nobel Peace Prize laureate. The military regime cannot simply take her away from society.

In other words, Suu Kyi is a pro-democracy activist whose safety is guaranteed. Therefore, she is obviously determined to share the pain imposed on her fellow pro-democracy activists. In the second letter of the current series that ran on Feb. 6, she confessed that she made a habit of having breakfast quite late during her house arrest “so that in my hunger I would not forget our comrades who were incarcerated not in their own homes but in prisons, often in places far distant from where their families live.”

I have met various people as a journalist, but I clearly remember I felt tense when I first met Suu Kyi. The feeling derived from my sense of reverence — similar to a feeling I harbored toward citizens who repeatedly staged a sit-in protest in the Henoko district of Nago, Okinawa Prefecture, to express opposition to the relocation of a U.S. base to the area and those who were involved in a signature-collecting campaign against a so-called plutonium-thermal power generation project. They are determined to confront political power without resorting to violence.

I asked Suu Kyi, a Japanophile who studied at Kyoto University in the 1980s, what she expects Japan to do for the democratization of Myanmar. Instead of answering my question, she asked me whether I, as a Japanese national, have urged the Japanese government to pressure Myanmar’s military regime to release all political prisoners. I couldn’t nod with confidence to Suu Kyi, who shot a questioning glance at me. (By Pak Chong-chu, Foreign News Department)

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Compound interest in Myanmar
By Bertil Lintner

BANGKOK - While the outside world grapples with how much power Myanmar's new partly civilian government will command, the country's still ruling generals are literally digging in, taking no chances of a substantial power shift after last November's general elections.

Those who predicted that the blatantly rigged polls would mean something more than further institutionalizing the military regime may now have to reevaluate those assessments. United Nations secretary general Ban Ki-moon said in New York on February 5 that he hoped the new elected parliament would mark "the beginning of a change in the status quo" in Myanmar. He said that the appointment of retired general Thein Sein as the new president was "an important step".

However, those hopes were dashed just days after Ki-moon presented his optimistic scenario for Myanmar's political future. The old junta strongman, General Than Shwe, decided against retirement and will become the chairman of a new seven-member "State Supreme Council", which, as the name suggests, will be the most powerful institution in the country.

Significantly, the new constitution, under which last year's elections were held and the new government formed, does not mention or legally mandate the creation of any such body. Many earlier thought Than Shwe would retain influence through a constitutionally mandated 11-member National Defense and Security Council (NDSC), which will be led by the president.

Apart from chairman Than Shwe, the extra-constitutional State Supreme Council will also include the number two in the old junta hierarchy, General Maung Aye. Other former members of the now dissolved junta, known as the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), will include Thura Shwe Mann, a known Than Shwe ally who supposedly retired from military service to become a "civilian politician" before last year's election. He has also been appointed the new speaker of the Lower House of the new National Assembly.

More importantly, a new village has been built on the outskirts of the capital Naypyidaw, apparently to ensure that members of the top brass remain in view and stay in step with Than Shwe's new political order. According to a town plan leaked to Asia Times Online, 16 new homes have or are in the process of being built behind a high-walled compound for the country's 16 top military leaders.

Than Shwe's own residence sits at the center of this exclusive, closely guarded "gated community". He will reside in a huge mansion, complete with a sprawling garden, tree-lined driveway and swimming pool, according to the town plan. Next door, the plan shows, his deputy Maung Aye will reside in a considerably smaller villa.

Homes in the compound have also been reserved for Thein Sein, the former lieutenant-general-turned-civilian president, supposedly retired former general Thura Shwe Mann, and ex-Lieutenant General Tin Aye, now chairman of the Election Commission. The other houses will belong to other generals and newly appointed parliamentarians.

According to the source who leaked the town plans, Than Shwe wants to make sure that no one in his flock goes astray: "It's like they are under some kind of house arrest. Than Shwe is dead-scared of any possible split, or even disagreements, within the top military leadership," the source said. To guard against potential threats, there is a complex network of bunkers and bomb-proof culverts built under Than Shwe's presumptuous new residence, according to the plan. Apart from a domestic revolt, Than Shwe is known to fear a possible US-led foreign invasion.

Mild dissent
Historically, Myanmar's ruling military has demonstrated a remarkable ability to remain united in the face of both domestic protests and international condemnation, particularly of its abysmal rights record. However, divergent opinions over how to handle public unrest became apparent among junta leaders in late 2007, when hundreds of thousands of Buddhist monks marched through the old capital Yangon and other cities and towns.

There was also reportedly disagreement among the top brass over whether international aid should be accepted after Cyclone Nargis devastated much of lower Myanmar in May 2008. According to a cable from the US Embassy in Yangon, which was sent shortly after the cyclone and made public by WikiLeaks in February this year, both Than Shwe and Thura Shwe Mann were reluctant to allow international rescue workers into the country.

"Than Shwe remained worried about a US invasion and [was] determined to hold on to power," the leaked cable said. Than Shwe was eventually persuaded by other top generals to give rescue workers access to the affected areas, but only after more than a hundred thousand people had perished and hundreds of thousands more were dislocated or otherwise adversely impacted by the natural disaster.

Faced with a Buddhist monk-led revolt in 2007, both Than Shwe and his deputy Maung Aye "gave the orders to crackdown on the monks, including shooting them if necessary", according to another US cable made available by WikiLeaks. Dated November 28, 2007, that cable alleges that Thura Shwe Mann disagreed with the decision to suppress the monk-led anti-government manifestation, but carried it out while "quietly advising regional commanders to do so with minimal bloodshed".

With the country's 16 most powerful men living together inside a new compound, future disagreements will be more easily managed, some sources suggest. The appointment of Thein Sein as president will also ensure that little changes after the election and the formation of a new National Assembly.

Myanmar sources draw parallels with the Machiavellian tactics deployed by former strongman Ne Win, who "retired" as president of the country in 1981 and symbolically handed power to San Yu, a weak and colorless figure who obediently complied with his boss's wishes. Ne Win also stayed on as chairman of the then ruling Burma Socialist Program Party, the country's supreme authority, until both he and San Yu resigned in 1988 amid massive anti-government demonstrations that swept the country.

According to the assessment of some Myanmar insiders, Thein Sein has become "Than Shwe's San Yu". As one of the leaked US cables suggests, Thein Sein may have been among those who wanted to accept foreign assistance after Cyclone Nargis. However he is not known to have ever challenged any major official policy - no matter how controversial.

On May 9, 2001, when Thein Sein served as a major general and commander of the Myanmar Army's Golden Triangle Command in eastern Shan State, he said in a speech before former rebels in the town of Mong La near the Chinese border: "I was in Mong Ton and Mong Hsat for two weeks. U Wei Xuegang and U Bao Youri from the Wa groups are real friends."

Wei and Bao may have made peace with the central government, but both have been indicted by a US court for their involvement in the Golden Triangle drug trade, which includes the production of methamphetamines as well as heroin. To Thein Sein, however, they were "friends" of the regime. Such tow-the-line statements indicate to observers that Thein Sein will remain a loyal servant to Than Shwe in his new presidential capacity.

According to another of the leaked US Embassy cables, "Than Shwe's isolation and paranoia know no bounds ... the question is who is brave enough to shunt Than Shwe aside? Most Burmese [Myanmars] tell us no one." Because all the top generals will be closely guarded neighbors under the watchful eye of a general who will remain the country's most powerful player, the potential for an internal coup seems as remote as the country's democratic prospects under "civilian" rule.

Bertil Lintner is a former correspondent with the Far Eastern Economic Review and the author of several books on Myanmar. He is currently a writer with Asia Pacific Media Services. http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/MB26Ae01.html
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9,000 War Refugees Still Stranded in Thailand
By SAW YAN NAING Friday, February 25, 2011

An estimated 9,000 Burmese refugees who have been stranded at the Thai-Burmese border for almost four months in the wake of border clashes are now being fed basic supplies by local Thai communities, said a relief group that assists the refugees.

The refugees are mostly ethnic Karen villagers from eastern Burma who fled to Thai soil in November after escaping fighting between Burmese government forces and Karen rebels in southern Karen State.

Although there is no official figure, and Thai authorities claim that the Karen refugees have already returned home, Karen human rights groups said that many villagers dare not to return home as clashes continue. Many are in hiding at the Thai border while others work for local Thai villagers on farms to earn enough to survive.

Mahn Mahn, the director of the Back Pack Health Workers Team, a relief group that provides food to displaced people on the border, said that supplies of food are delayed due to logistics problems.

He said his relief workers could only reach a separate group of some 1,000 refugees and provide them with two temporarily shelters in Tak Province.

“They can’t go back to their villages because clashes break out almost every day. Burmese government troops have also planted landmines around their villages,” he said, adding that a 7-year-old boy died last week after stepping on a landmine.

Several thousand refugees fled to various points along the Thai-Burmese border in November when serious clashes broke out between the Burmese army and a splinter group of the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA), Brigade 5, led by Brig-Gen Saw Lah Pwe.

On Nov. 8, the day after Burma's general election, more than 20,000 residents from Myawaddy Township fled into Mae Sot and sought refuge due to fighting. But one day later they were forced to return home by the Thai authorities.

A few days later, other pockets of refugees fled to Thailand from various parts of southern Karen State, including Myawaddy, Kawkareik and Kya Inn Seik Kyi townships, as fighting escalated.

Poe Shan, the director of Thailand-based Karen Human Rights Group, said that despite some of villagers returning home, many are still stranded in Thai villages, with some hiding in the jungle on the Thai border.

DKBA Brigade 5 Commander Saw Lah Pwe said fighting between his troops and the Burmese army has broken out almost every day in southern Karen State since November. He said he did not see any prospect of a cease-fire.

Meanwhile, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in Burma, Tomás Ojea Quintana, on Friday criticized Burma over human rights violations. He said that Burma is burdening other countries in the region, with an influx of refugees fleeing a host of abuses from forced labor and land confiscation to arbitrary detention and sexual violence.

Despite the promise of political transition in Burma, the human rights situation remains grave, said the UN envoy in Kuala Lumpur at the end of an eight-day fact-finding mission to Malaysia. Countries in the region, especially Thailand, also host a considerable number of refugees, asylum seekers and migrants from Burma, he added.

Thailand currently houses some 150,000 refugees, mostly Karen people who have fled from war in Karen State.
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=20830