News & Articles on Burma-Monday, 21 March, 2011

News & Articles on Burma
Monday, 21 March, 2011
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Aung San Suu Kyi Speaks to Amnesty International Activists
Legal Action On Cards for NDF Leadership
Saudi oil to traverse Burma
Market Prices Remain High Despite Fee Decrease
Heavy Security Requirements Imposed for Water Festival
Shan rebel army: We are not terrorists
Wa army on 24-hour standby-only
UWSP conference ends on development note
Myanmar cracks down on massage parlors in capital
Anxiety pervades Burmese border town
Burma tries to strangle Skype
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Aung San Suu Kyi Speaks to Amnesty International Activists
Asia, General Amnesty, United States | Posted by: Jungwon Kim, March 19, 2011 at 9:43 PM
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There is an antidote to the weariness, cynicism and paralysis perpetuated by the heartless churn of our 24-hour news cycle: Just listen to the voices of those who walk the razor’s edge each day as they fight to change the world. Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi addressed Amnesty activists by phone at the end of Day 2 of our 50th anniversary conference, graciously acknowledging the role of grassroots activism in her release after 15 years of detention by the military junta and encouraging us not to forget the 2,000-plus political prisoners who remain locked up in Burma.

Her brief address was followed by a riveting speech by Jenni Williams, co-founder of Women of Zimbabwe Arise, a group of women who have been jailed, tortured and persecuted for their non-violent demonstrations to demand social justice. Williams recalled one August night when police abducted seven WOZA members. “The phone calls started at 3 a.m. We heard our members had been arrested in suburbs, so we called Amnesty International. By 12 noon, all seven members were delivered back to their homes by the same police officers who had abducted them,” said Williams.

Earlier in the day, I spotted New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof listening to similarly harrowing tales at the well-attended panel discussion, “Muzzling the Watchdogs,” featuring Mexican journalist Lydia Cacho, Sri Lankan journalist J.S. Tissainayagam and Iranian American journalist Roxana Saberi. All three had been arrested, imprisoned and persecuted for their work to expose injustice, and each was the subject of Amnesty International urgent actions and/or international letter campaigns demanding their freedom.

Lydia Cacho, the woman Mother Jones called “Mexico’s most wanted journalist,” thanked Amnesty International members for throwing her a lifeline time and time again. From the beginning of her career in journalism, Cacho focused on women’s and children’s rights—”before they were called human rights.” She fought editors to get her stories published and even opened a shelter for women and children fleeing violence—a move that put her life in peril repeatedly. The danger of Cacho’s work intensified after she published The Demons of Eden, her 2004 book exposing a Cancun child pornography ring involving prominent businessmen with connections to high-level government officials. Since then, she has been hunted and persecuted by powerful forces within Mexico’s government and criminal underworld.

Cacho, who has survived kidnap, torture, multiple assassination attempts and judicial persecution, emphasized how grassroots human rights work reinforces our interdependence. “Every time you take a stand for anyone—and you have saved the lives of everyone at this table in some way—you are being a true defender of free expression,” Cacho told the large audience who attended the panel. “Your voice is so powerful. It not only makes your rights valuable, it makes our rights valuable.”

I had the immense privilege of interviewing Cacho earlier in the day, and her account of her 2005 kidnapping at the behest of the governor of the state of Puebla was chilling. Her response to my question of how she kept herself from unraveling during that ordeal of torture and threats is something I wish every activist here could have heard. “When you have looked into the eyes of an eight-year-old girl who tells you about being raped and tortured repeatedly on videotape—not to save herself but solely in order to save other girls from ever having to live through such unspeakable horror—there is nothing else you can do but continue the fight. She gave me strength.”

After spending nearly two full days interviewing human rights defenders I have admired for years, I have come away with this observation: These people who dedicate their lives to fight seemingly insurmountable odds share in common a luminous sense of purpose that comes from the surrender of the individual to the collective. This connection with a larger purpose has sustained them through unspeakable hardships most of us cannot imagine. And while most of us may not be cut out for the kind of danger or hardship they face on a daily basis, each and every one of us can offer an act of solidarity that may, at that critical moment, tip the scales in favor of life over death. http://blog.amnestyusa.org/us/aung-san-suu-kyi-speaks-to-amnesty-international-activists/
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Legal Action On Cards for NDF Leadership
By THE IRRAWADDY Monday, March 21, 2011

Burma's Election Commission (EC) is reportedly planning to take legal action against top leaders of the National Democratic Force (NDF) party for alleged misappropriation of funds during last year's election.

Sources at the EC said that cases against three senior NDF members—party leader Khin Maung Swe, Dr. Than Nyein and Dr. Win Naing—have been prepared for their alleged abuse of election funds. Action against them could commence when the current parliamentary session is completed at the end of the month.

This report, however, cannot be independently verified by The Irrawaddy.

Than Nyein, the chairman of the NDF—a breakaway faction of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) party—said that he had no knowledge of any legal action being taken against them.

He said that NDF leaders already resolved allegations regarding the supposed misuse of election funds with the commission three month ago. It also concerns receiving funds from overseas, which is prohibited under election rules.

Despite a previously tense relationship resulting from their contrasting views on the November elections, Suu Kyi and senior NDF members recently had a private meeting at the home of NLD deputy leader Tin Oo in Rangoon. But Than Nyein said these discussions were simply of a personal nature and there are no plans for any political cooperation yet.

Asked if there is any concern about a possible government crackdown on the party due to increased interactions with Suu Kyi, Than Nyein said, “Many people are meeting Daw Suu these days. I don't think we would be singled out and punished for this.”
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=20975
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Saudi oil to traverse Burma
By JOSEPH ALLCHIN
Published: 21 March 2011

China has signed a major agreement with Saudi Arabian state-owned oil company Saudi Aramco to supply its Yunnan province with oil, which will likely travel through Burma to the southwestern Chinese region.

Aramco is the world’s most valuable company, worth somewhere between $US2.2 trillion to $US7 trillion. It announced the signing of the memorandum of understanding (MOU) with PetroChina Company Ltd., a subsidiary of China’s state-owned oil giant China National Petroluem Company (CNPC), to supply some 200,000 barrels of oil a day to the proposed Yunnan refinery that will serve as the endpoint of the trans-Burma Shwe pipeline.

The deal represents a new and very important strategic relationship between the world’s second top oil producer and what is becoming one of the top consumers that was underscored by Khalid A. Al-Falih, president and CEO of Aramco, in its press release:

“We don’t consider ourselves simply sellers of oil to China, but rather strategic partners whose many relationships in that important country are founded on mutual respect, interdependence and mutual benefit.”

That the relationship will hinge on Burma also underscores the importance of the Shwe gas pipeline to the Chinese, with Reuters noting that “This pipeline would make the Saudi crude very competitive because it would slash the journey time through the congested Malacca Strait that links Asia with the Middle East.”

Despite the importance and scale of the economics involved, Wong Aung of the campaign group Shwe Gas Movement (SGM) estimates that as many as 15,000 people will lose their land and livelihoods, often without any compensation.

With a barrel of oil currently trading at over $US100, this makes the daily crude delivery of the Shwe pipeline worth some $US20 million in Saudi oil alone, which is roughly equivalent to four months worth of Burmese government expenditure on health moving through the country in a single day.

Although Russia is by a whisker the world’s top producer of oil, Saudi Arabia is thought to possess the largest provable reserves of crude and as a result has received protection and patronage from the United States, despite it being regarded as one of the most repressive regimes, with sentences for “drunkenness” often including amputations.

That relationship extended to the largest recorded arms sale last year, which according to The Economist was worth up to $US90 billion. The deal included sophisticated weapons systems, including the F-15 fighter jet, apache helicopters, air defences and other equipment. The Saudi military was recently deployed in neighbouring Bahrain to suppress popular pro-democracy protests there. Bahrain houses the US fifth fleet and is a key strategic ally of both the US and Saudi Arabia.
http://www.dvb.no/news/saudi-oil-to-traverse-burma/14856
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Market Prices Remain High Despite Fee Decrease
By KO HTWE Monday, March 21, 2011

The price of rice and other marketplace goods has not decreased across Burma despite a Ministry of Transportation regulation issued last Tuesday to temporarily reduce transportation fees by about 30 percent nationwide while increasing the tonnage allowed on trucks.

Tuesday's regulation came after the Burmese military government in August agreed to conform with transportation standards in the rest of the member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean).

Following Asean standards, Burma reduced its allowance on tonnage: six-wheel trucks to carry loads of just 16 tons, down from 20 tons previously, while the legal weight limit for 10-wheel trucks was lowered from 35 to 21 tons, and for 12-wheel trucks from 40 to 25 tons.

On Tuesday, the Ministry of Transportation issued an amendment to that order, stating that forthwith all six-wheel trucks can carry an additional two tons [i.e., from 16 to 18 tons], while 10-wheel and 12-wheel trucks can now carry an additional five tons [i.e., from 25 to 30 tons].

The previous limits on truck loads caused transportation fees to rise immediately.

The Ministry of Transportation's move on March 15 has been widely seen as an attempt to stifle growing unrest with inflation by allowing retailers to reduce the cost of goods.

“Although the authorities have said the adjustment is temporary, I think we will be able to reduce the transportation fees,” said the owner of a Rangoon-based Transportation Company.

“For instance,” he said, “the cost of shipping a sack of rice from Rangoon to southern Shan State has dropped from 3,500 kyat (US $4.04) to 2,500 kyat ($2.89). The cost of transporting concrete has now been reduced from 3,800 kyat to 2,500 kyat.”

“After the new amendment, the transportation fee for goods dropped from 150 kyat ($0.15) to 100 kyat ($0.10) per viss (1.63 kg),” said Aung Tun, who works for a transportation company in Rangoon.

Elsewhere in the country, transport fees for general commodities dropped to 40 kyat per viss from Mandalay to Muse, and from Rangoon to Taunggyi; 30 kyat per viss from Rangoon to Mandalay; and 15 kyat per viss from Pa-an to Rangoon, according to the Rangoon-based 7 Day News weekly journal.

However, six days after the reduction in transport fees, the price of general commodities remains the same.

“Some people told me that the transportation fees has dropped, but the price of goods at the market is still the same,” said a housewife in Taunggyi.

In Rangoon, the price of one viss of ginger from Shan State has remained at around 1,100 kyats ($1.27), while a viss of potatoes is still 400 kyat ($0.46).

“We can reduce the transportation fees,” said Aung Tun. “But the price of goods is up to the merchants.”
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=20974
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Heavy Security Requirements Imposed for Water Festival
By THE IRRAWADDY Monday, March 21, 2011

Burmese authorities will impose heavy security requirements on those who want to set up pavilions during the annual water festival this year, according to Rangoon police sources.

Those who want to build private water-throwing pavilions this year will be required to install CCTV cameras, hire security guards and closely cooperate with the authorities, according to a senior police official in Rangoon.

The official also said that the pavilion organizers would need to have bomb-searching equipment on stand-by and create a small space at the pavilions where vehicles could be searched for bombs and explosives.

These requirements will apply to all the private pavilions to be set up in Naypyidaw and major cities such as Rangoon and Mandalay during the water festival, when thousands of revelers gather to celebrate the Buddhist new year.

“Thorough security planning will be done this year to prevent the repeat of last year's bombing,” said a government official in Rangoon, referring to the deadly bomb blasts last year near Kandawgyi Lake in Rangoon.

The bombing, which killed at least 10 people, including a senior military officer, and injured over one hundred, was believed to have been an unsuccessful attempt by militant dissidents to assassinate Nay Shwe Thwe Aung, the grandson of junta chief Snr-Gen Than Shwe.

The official also added that no pavilion would be allowed to be set up along Rangoon's University Avenue—where pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi lives—and that not many pavilions would be allowed around Kandawgyi Lake.

A young businessman in Rangoon said that a pavilion costs about US $5,780, not including a deposit with the municipality, and due to increased costs resulting from the new security measures there will be fewer pavilions this year.

“I heard that a pavilion would require at least a 10-member security unit,” he said. “So this will be a complex issue.”

Some young people in Rangoon said they are still scared by the memories of last year's bombing and therefore may not join the water festival this year.

“I will go to the meditation center during the festival instead,” said a 19-year-old university student in Rangoon.
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=20973
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Shan rebel army: We are not terrorists
Monday, 21 March 2011 18:26 S.H.A.N.

Coming out on 19 March, a day before the junta run media began calling them “insurgents”, a word synonymous with “terrorists” in the Burmese version, the Shan State Progress Party / Shan State Army (SSPP / SSA) made a flat denial of the accusation.

“We have concluded a ceasefire agreement in order to resolve (political problems) through political means,” it reads. “However, the SPDC government simply ignored our efforts and pressured us by military force to transform ourselves into (SPDC run) militias and surrender.

The multiple attacks on us: 2 in September, 3 in November, 1 in December and 6 in March are all self-evident.”

The statement continues: “We are not struggling on the basis of narrow-minded racism. We are not terrorists and we are not calling for secession.”

The statement claims resorting to military methods in order to resolve political issues only serves to undermine regional security and world peace. “It is like providing a wheel when the economy’s going down,” it adds.

It calls for the new government led by former general Thein Sein to respect and recognize “Equality, Justice and Self Determination which are the birth rights of the people of all national races.”

According to earlier reports, Naypyitaw had given an ultimatum to the group to surrender by 1 April. The statement appears to make it clear that the struggle will continue until “the emergence of a federal union based on the Panglong spirit.”

The 1947 Panglong Agreement had guaranteed total autonomy, human rights and democracy to the non-Burman peoples of Burma.
http://www.shanland.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3516:shan-rebel-army-we-are-not-terrorists&catid=85:politics&Itemid=266
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Wa army on 24-hour standby-only
Monday, 21 March 2011 17:34 Hseng Khio Fah

The United Wa State Army (UWSA) has reportedly ordered all of its frontline units along the Salween that serves as a shared boundary with its ally the Shan State Army (SSA) ‘North,’ which has been fighting with the Burma Army for a week, on an 24 hour alert, according to sources from the UWSA.

“We have alerted all our troops to be ready to defend ourselves even though we don’t want to fight. But the fight won’t be started by our side,” said a high officer who requested not to be named.

At present, the military junta has deployed more troops in areas along the Salween to cut off possible links between the two. The SSA is active on the west of the Salween while the UWSA is in the east.

The SSA is a signatory together with the UWSA, National Democratic Alliance Army (NDAA) and Kachin Independence Army (KIA) which had reached an agreement in April 2010 to help each other whenever one of them is attacked.

The SSA has been fighting against the attacking Burma Army since last Sunday 13 March, up to date. The latest fighting between the two reportedly took place in Kehsi township twice.

According to an SSA officer, the Burma Army has suffered more than 130 casualties, at least 30 killed and 100 wounded, while the SSA has had 4 killed and 8 wounded.

However, the UWSA, the strongest group, said it could not help in the fighting although they are allies. “The reason is because we are still expecting to talk with the military junta. We therefore decided not to get involved in their fighting and to only keep an eye on the Burma army movement’s and the new government’s decision,” said the Wa officer.

“Nevertheless, war is like fire, it can spread out. We therefore have to be prepared, so we can defend ourselves when attacked.”

Currently, two groups of the alliance: the SSA and the KIA have been named by the military junta as “insurgent groups.”

The junta run newspaper New Light of Myanmar reported on Sunday, 20 March that “the insurgent group, the SSA Wanhing (Wanhai) was carrying out terrorist acts and destructions while the government is striving for ensuring better transport across the nation,” saying the SSA was destroying roads and bridges in Monghsu and Mongyai townships.

Due to the offensive, dozens of civilians were reportedly killed and injured by the junta’s heavy weapons while hundreds of people had to flee to other areas for their safety. http://www.shanland.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3515:wa-army-on-24-hour-standby-only&catid=86:war&Itemid=284
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Mar 21, 2011
Myanmar cracks down on massage parlors in capital

YANGON - AUTHORITIES in Myanmar have announced a ban on massage parlors in the country's remote capital, Naypyitaw.

The privately run Myanmar Times newspaper says there are also new restrictions on restaurants and karaoke lounges in a bid to curb disguised prostitution.

They have been ordered to install transparent glass in their rooms, while beauty parlors will be required to install 'adequate' lighting.

Many massage parlors are fronts for brothels, while the other venues also sometimes offer sexual services. Prostitution is illegal in Myanmar and anyone caught running a brothel can be imprisoned.

The newspaper says the measures were announced on March 8 for Pyinmana township, which is the previously settled area around which the new capital was established in 2005. -- AP
http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/SEAsia/Story/STIStory_647550.html
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UWSP conference ends on development note
Monday, 21 March 2011 17:56 Phanida

Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – The United Wa State Party (UWSP) pledged to work harder to develop the Wa Region but warned that if the Burmese junta attacks its territory, it will mount a vigorous defence, at the end of its five-day annual conference.

Two Wa soldiers, members of the largest, most well-armed ethnic army in Burma. Photo : AFP

Two Wa soldiers, members of the largest, most well-armed ethnic army in Burma. Photo : AFP
During the conference, which ended Sunday in Pangsang, members heard reports and plans from 27 departments on how to develop the region, according to an UWSP official.

Party chairman Bao Yu Xiang, who attended the conference on Sunday, told Mizzima that the Wa army was ready to defend against any junta military offensive. The United Wa State Army, the armed wing of the UWSP, has rejected the Burmese regime’s order to transform itself into a Border Guard Force.

On March 16, Kyauk Win Kwan, the UWSP vice chairman, said the Wa can successfully avoid the junta’s orders to join the BGF.

The Wa army is well armed and has the capacity to defend its region, Aung Kyaw Zaw, an analyst based on the Sino-Burmese border told Mizzima. The UWSA has nine brigades and a total of more than 30,000 troops, he said.

Aung Kyaw Zaw said that during the coming year the Wa party hoped to take part in a political dialogue with the new parliamentary government.

Since 2005, the Wa army has stopped growing poppy to produce opium in the area and promoted growing alternative crops such as rubber and tea plants, according to a UWSA officer.

‘Because we do not grow poppy anymore, we had some financial problems but we overcame them’, he said. ‘Some Wa have earned a lot of money from rubber while some have not prospered from rubber fields. Some people allege that we are still growing poppy, but that’s not true’, he told Mizzima.

The UWSA separated from the Burma Communist Party in 1989 and signed a cease-fire agreement with the Burmese junta the same year.
http://www.mizzima.com/news/inside-burma/5042-uwsp-conference-ends-on-development-note.html
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Anxiety pervades Burmese border town
By NAW NOREEN
Published: 21 March 2011

Residents of Myawaddy have reported a tense atmosphere in the Burmese border town following reports that the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) is preparing for an attack.

A frontline commander for the ethnic opposition force, which has been battling the Burmese army in Karen state since November last year, said that the group was drawing up plans for an assault on the town in the near future.

“We are planning urban warfare to take down the [junta’s] equipment and buildings [in Myawaddy],” said Major San Aung. “However, we cannot tell you the exact date and time of the attack.”

One man in the town said that an explosion reportedly took place last week at the old bus terminal, although details of the perpetrator remain unknown.

“Most of the shops are closed today and there isn’t a lot of movement in the streets, although some big shops are open,” said the local, adding that rumours suggested they would begin on Friday last week following the end of high school exams.

San Aung said that fighting had broken out on Friday at an army checkpoint in Kawkareit town, around 20 miles west of Myawaddy.

In November last year the DKBA launched an attack on government positions in Myawaddy, which lies across the border from Thailand’s Mae Sot, sparking a wave of fighting that has spread across eastern Karen state and reined in other opposition Karen forces, such as the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA).

Myawaddy had acted as a key overland trading point between Thailand and Burma until July last year when the cross-border bridge connecting it to Mae Sot was shut by the Burmese, with recent rumours suggesting it was down to Thailand’s alleged hosting of Karen insurgents.
http://www.dvb.no/news/anxiety-pervades-burmese-border-town/14852
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Burma tries to strangle Skype
Internet voice calls are a precious lifeline in Burma. Naturally, the government wants to ban it.
Patrick WinnMarch 21, 2011 03:29

If you think U.S. cell phone bills are extortionate, consider this: until recently, acquiring a mobile phone number in Burma meant forking over nearly $1,700 to a state-run telecom.

That's just for the SIM card, the chip inside your phone that stores your number. It's an absurd charge in a country with a $1,100 per capita GDP, one of the world's lowest.

That would be like requiring someone in the U.S., where per capita GDP is $47,400, to spend more than $72,000 on a mobile phone number. (Now, for added effect, count how many cell phones you've lost.)

It's little wonder that Burmese fortunate enough to live near Internet cafes have discovered Skype and software like it such as Google Chat and Pfingo. Depending where you call, chatting through the Internet is somewhere between free (computer-to-computer) to about 25 cents a minute.

This is revolutionary in Burma, where a bleak economy and oppressive military have forced millions to live abroad. Though Burma's Internet infrastructure is pathetic, and its connection speeds sluggish, the Web is a crucial conduit linking Burmese on the inside to their friends and loved ones abroad. Even pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi uses Skype.

But Burma's military-controlled government wants to forbid Internet voice calls, according to this excellent report in Burma's exile media outlet, The Irrawaddy. At least one Web cafe owner inside Burma, reached by the Irrawaddy, says the ban will slash his revenue by up to 40 percent. Their report states that the junta has threatened cafes that offer Internet voice calls with "legal action" because it's "illegal under existing telecommunication laws."

Why does the junta want to snuff out service like Skype?

Money, for starters. These services deliver profit to foreign companies instead of the military government's telecom monopoly. Similar reasoning has triggered restrictions in countries from Belize to Oman.

Skype is also far more difficult to monitor than dedicated mobile numbers or land lines. That's a threat to the paranoid junta, which actively seeks out and crushes dissent.

According to the Irrawaddy, Burma's telecom agency has recently reduced the cost of a single SIM card to $560. Progress? Barely. In neighboring Thailand, competing telecoms recruit customers by handing out SIM cards for free. (I bought the SIM card and number I've used for years from a 7-11 for about $1.50.)

Hopefully the Skype ban won't stick in Burma's Internet cafes. Perhaps it will, snuffing out a smart, cheap and simple link between Burmese people and the outside world.
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatches/globalpost-blogs/the-rice-bowl/burma-tries-strangle-skype