News & Articles on Burma-Monday, 28 February, 2011

News & Articles on Burma
Monday, 28 February, 2011
-------------------------------------------------------------
Burma Arrests Two Foreigners for Spying: Sources
New Burma banknote rumour sends rice prices up
Bomb Injures Six in Rangoon
84,000 Karens Petition Ban Ki-moon
Jailed activist ‘signs empty paper’
Burma Suspends Rice Exports after Rise in Local Price
UNSC Resolution on Libya Sends a Message to Other Regimes
Bangladesh lodges claim on extended continental shelf to UN
------------------------------------------------




Burma Arrests Two Foreigners for Spying: Sources
By WAI MOE Monday, February 28, 2011

Two foreigners working as volunteers at a private school in Rangoon run by a prominent local businessman have reportedly been arrested on suspicion of being CIA agents, according to official sources in Burma's former capital.

Sources from Military Affairs Security (MAS), the Burmese regime's military intelligence agency, said that the two foreigners were arrested in the third week of February. No further details about their identities or nationalities were available.

The MAS sources said that the pair worked as volunteer teachers at a school run by Dr Sai San Tun, the owner of the Alpine Drinking Water Company and the Yadanarbon Soccer Club.

When contacted by The Irrawaddy on Monday, Alpine Drinking Water's head office in Rangoon declined to comment on the case. The US embassy in Rangoon was also not available for immediate response.

Foreigners working in Burma, including diplomatic staff and aid workers, are viewed with suspicion by the Burmese authorities, who maintain strict surveillance of their activities in the country.

Since a crackdown on protesting Buddhist monks in 2007, the regime has stepped up its efforts to keep an eye on foreigners. Foreign NGO workers traveling outside of the cities for field research report that they are routinely followed by government agents.

In December 2009, a female teacher with the American Center in Rangoon was deported from Burma after she gave a talk on environmental issues to members of the opposition National League for Democracy in Mandalay, the second largest city in Burma.
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=20845
--------------------------------------------------
New Burma banknote rumour sends rice prices up

Burma's rice prices go up following new banknote rumours. [ABC]

The price of rice and other goods has gone up in Burma's capital, Rangoon, amid rumours that the government is planning to introduce a new type of banknote.

Reports that the government's preparing to introduce a new 10,000 kyat banknote has sent high-grade rice costs up from $US34 a kilo to $US38.

Traders in the city say bad weather, higher transport and cooking oil costs have also had an impact on prices.

There are also reports that local traders are holding on to supplies, hopeful of getting more money for their rice in future.
http://www.radioaustralianews.net.au/stories/201102/3150498.htm?desktop
-------------------------------------------------
Bomb Injures Six in Rangoon
By THE IRRAWADDY Monday, February 28, 2011

At least six people, including one child, were injured when a bomb exploded in Rangoon's Insein Township on Sunday evening, according to police officials in the former Burmese capital.

The incident occurred at around 7 pm, when an unidentified man accidentally set off an explosive device which he was carrying with him, injuring himself and at least four other people, the police said.

Although no one was killed, several of the victims were said to be in critical condition, and the man suspected of carrying the explosive lost a leg.

The explosion is still under investigation and the authorities have yet to identify the man accused of carrying the explosive. However, a police official in Rangoon who is handling the case said that exiled dissidents were most likely responsible for the incident.

“According to our latest findings, this is connected to political exile groups,” the official said on condition of anonymity.

Witnesses said that the number of injured would have been much higher if the explosion had occurred in a more crowded place.

“It was a very large explosion. There would have been far more casualties if it had exploded in the city center,” said a witness.

Sources in Rangoon said that on the night of the incident, the authorities blocked roads and checked cars. They added that some former political prisoners were also questioned about the incident.

In April last year, a deadly bombing took place during the annual water festival marking the Burmese New Year.

The explosion, which killed at least 10 people, including a senior military officer, 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 authorities blamed exiled groups for the incident and handed down an eight-year prison sentence to a Rangoon resident accused of involvement in the explosion. http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=20837
------------------------------------------
84,000 Karens Petition Ban Ki-moon
By THE IRRAWADDY Monday, February 28, 2011

Some 84,000 Karen people from across the world have signed a petition that is to be handed over to world leaders, including UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, calling on them to immediately stop the Burmese regime attacking Karen civilians and commiting human rights abuses against them.

Endorsed by 30 Karen organizations from 15 countries, the first ever worldwide Karen petition will be sent to many world leaders and organizations, including Ban’s office, British Prime Minister David Cameron and Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard. The petition will also be delivered to the governments of Japan, Norway, Germany, Denmark, Sweden and Canada among others.

“This is an unprecedented appeal to the United Nations from ordinary villagers in Burma who are facing appalling human rights abuses,” said Zipporah Sein, the general-secretary of the Karen National Union (KNU), an armed Karen resistance group that has been fighting for autonomy for more than six decades.

“The Burmese army has been committing war crimes and crimes against humanity for so long,” she said. “We call on the UN secretary-general to use his power to put pressure on the Burmese regime to stop their military operations and human rights violations in Karen State and other Karen areas.

“We urge Ban Ki-moon to work with concerned governments around the world to secure a nationwide ceasefire, leading to meaningful and inclusive dialogue to achieve genuine national reconciliation and the establishment of a federal Burma that guarantee ethnic equality and human rights,” comcluded the KNU general-secretary.

All signatories of the petition have been affected by Burmese government forces. Many were subjected to abuses including forced labor, looting, extortion, destruction of homes, villages, crops and fields, forced relocation, extrajudicial killings, beatings, torture and the systematic rape of women and children by the Burmese army for decades, according to a statement released by the KNU on Monday.

More than 3,600 villages have been destroyed in eastern Burma in the past 15 years, an average of four every week, according to KNU records.

The KNU statement said that in 2010, in the months leading up to the general election in Burma, 18 civilians in KNU-controlled areas were killed, 38 civilians were tortured and beaten, 52 civilians were arrested without reason, 2,336 civilians were used as forced labor, 198 homes, schools and churches were destroyed, 146 fields and orchards were destroyed and more than 3,000 civilians were forced to flee and hide in the jungle

It also said that November's general election did not represent any kind of progress toward democratization, national reconciliation or peace and stability in Burma, and will not solve the fundamental problems, which are a lack of ethnic equality and human rights.

The statement went on to say that the constitution that the elections brought in was only designed to enshrine military rule without granting any ethnic rights or protection, and that it “is a serious threat to ethnic minorities in Burma.”

One day after the election, a serious clash between the Burmese army and a splinter group of Karen rebels, Democratic Karen Buddhist Army Brigade 5, broke out at the Thai-Burmese border that caused more than 20,000 Burmese refugee to flee to Thai soil. The conflict is continuing and there are still some 10,000 Karen refugees stranded on the border.

Last week, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in Burma, Tomás Ojea Quintana, criticized the Burmese junta over its 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.”

Related article: 9,000 War Refugees Still Stranded in Thailand
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=20842
-----------------------------------------------
Jailed activist ‘signs empty paper’
By MIN LWIN
Published: 28 February 2011

An activist serving a 58-year sentence in Rangoon’s Insein prison has been allegedly forced into making a confession that resulted in an additional decade being tacked onto his jail term.

Kyaw Zwa Linn, 25, a member of the banned All Burma Students’ Democratic Front (ABSDF), has been held in prison since September 2008 after being convicted on a raft of charges, including possession of explosives. His family only learnt of the additional sentencing after word was passed from a source visiting a fellow political inmate in Insein prison last week.

“Kyaw Zwa Linn was forced to give his fingerprint on an empty paper,” the man said. “This is worrying for political prisoners’ security – they don’t know what [the authorities] will do next with those [fingerprints].”

It is not clear however what confession he is alleged to have made, although the charge and 10-year sentence also comes under the Explosives Act and relates to the same incident.

It was two separate explosives charges that originally landed Kyaw Zwa Linn with 18-year and 20-year sentences in 2008, although two years later, and on two more charges, that was brought to a total of 58 years. The recent sentencing means he will not be released until 2076.

Lawyer Saw Kyaw Kyaw Min, who in the past has represented a number of political activists, said that it against Burmese law to give multiple sentences under one accusation, adding also that a signed confession should not carry any significant weight in a Burmese court.

“The law doesn’t give police approval to use a confession with the signature or fingerprint of the defendant against him or her in a trial. Neither are they allowed to use testimony by police officers,” he said, added that the case should be dismissed.
http://www.dvb.no/news/jailed-activist-%E2%80%98signs-empty-paper%E2%80%99/14500
---------------------------------------------
Burma Suspends Rice Exports after Rise in Local Price
By The IRRAWADDY Monday, February 28, 2011

Burma's Trade Policy Council, chaired by the military junta’s Secretary-1 Tin Aung Myint Oo, has temporarily suspended rice exports following an increase in the price of rice inside Burma, according to businessmen in Rangoon.

“Except for rice currently in warehouses at the Rangoon port, future rice exports have been effectively stopped by the Trade Policy Council,” said a businessman from Rangoon’s Bayinnaung Market who is involved in rice exporting. “The order is intended to maintain the rice price in the country.”

After the rice export freeze by the Trade Policy Council—which oversees all exports, imports and investment in the country—the price of low quality rice, which Burma exports to some countries in Africa, dropped a small amount.
However, the price of high-grade rice, such as Paw San Hmwe and Inn Ma rice, has yet to decrease for Burmese consumers.

On Monday, Paw San Hmwe was still 35,000 kyat (US $39.70) for a 20-kg pack, up from 29,500 kyat ($33.50) in February. The price of low quality rice has dropped from 13,500 kyat ($15.30) to 12,500 kyat ($14.20) per 20 kgs.

The increase in rice prices came amid reports that the Burmese government planned to increase salaries for government staff in the coming 2011-12 fiscal year that begins in April.

Sources in Naypyidaw said the authorities would change government salaries and other regulations to conform with “the standards of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.”

However, Burmese consumers said they worry that commodity prices will increase even more after government salaries are officially increased.

“In the past, commodity prices were always hiked when the government increased salaries for staff,” said a 49-year-old housewife in Rangoon. “Therefore, the majority of people will be hit by more expensive commodity prices.”


Recently, fuel prices in Burma have been also risen due to instability in the global oil price. Diesel fuel was previously 3,000 kyat ($3.40) per gallon but is now 4,000 kyat ($4.5) per gallon. The price of petrol per gallon is now 3,600 kyat ($4.09), up from 2,900 kyat ($3.29).
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=20847
---------------------------------------
UNSC Resolution on Libya Sends a Message to Other Regimes
By LALIT K JHA Monday, February 28, 2011

WASHINGTON—The unprecedented unity shown by the powerful 15-member United Nations Security Council (UNSC) in passing a strong resolution against Libyan leader Muammar Al-Gaddafi, including a travel ban and asset freeze, also sends a tough warning to other hardline regimes, including Burma's military junta.

The resolution, passed unanimously late Saturday night after hours of debate, sends a strong message that the international community will no longer tolerate regimes across the globe that kill their own citizens or commit gross human rights violations to hold onto power.

“It is obvious that this referral is going well beyond Libya,” France's ambassador to the UN, Gerard Araud, told reporters Saturday night following a decision by the UNSC to refer Gaddafi and his cronies to the International Criminal Court (ICC) for alleged crimes against humanity.

Despite their initial reservations on this issue, China and India both finally agreed to go along with the rest of the Security Council in passing the resolution. This is particularly notable in the case of China, which in the past has used its veto power to block moves by Western countries led by France to invoke the “responsibility to protect” principle in the case of Burma.

This will make it more difficult in the future for China to block strong international action against the Burmese regime, as it did following the bloody crackdown on monk-led protests in September 2007 and in the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis in May 2008, when the junta was accused of dragging its heels in response to the disaster, resulting in thousands of deaths.

The decision to condemn Gaddafi—and the newfound willingness of China and others to recognize the need to take strong action against oppressive regimes—was immediately applauded in Washington.

“The Security Council resolution, which was passed in record time and included countries that are often reluctant to empower the international community to take such actions, sends a strong, unmistakable signal,” US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told reporters traveling with her on her way to Geneva to attend the meeting of the UN Human Rights Council.

Araud, the French ambassador, went even further in describing the move as a significant break from the past, calling the ICC referral “a warning to all the leaders who could be tempted to use repression against this wind of change, this wind of liberty. We feel it, we felt it in the Security Council chamber, we feel it in the corridors of this organization.”

“There is an earthquake going on, and it has reached New York. I don’t know if there will be a tomorrow. I do hope there will be a tomorrow. I do hope that responsibility to protect, international justice and sanctions against dictators will have a follow-up and that dictators will listen to what is happening even in the usually prudent Security Council,” the French ambassador said.

It is noteworthy that France had moved to invoke the UN’s responsibility to protect option on Burma in response to both the 2007 Saffron Revolution and Cyclone Nargis, but was both times rebuffed by the Chinese. At the time, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner suggested that the UN invoke this collective responsibility to protect the people of Burma.

China was not the only country that balked at the idea of invoking the responsibility to protect, or “R2P,” principle in response to the Burmese junta's handling of the Nargis relief effort. Although some experts called on the US and UK to join France in taking drastic action to deal with the disaster in Burma, neither country supported the move at the time.

“The United States and Britain should join with the French government and introduce a resolution in the UN Security Council demanding that the Burmese government accept the offers of international relief supplies and personnel, let them enter the country immediately and without interference, and allow the UN to take charge of the humanitarian mission,” wrote Ivo Daalder, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, and Paul Stares, the director of the Center for Preventive Action at the Council on Foreign Relations, in The New York Times on May 13, 2008.

The Burmese expatriate community had also urged the UN to invoke the R2P principle to save the lives of people stranded in the Irrawaddy delta after Cyclone Nargis devastated the area.

“Now is the time to act. You have helicopters, ships and supplies ready and waiting. Stop waiting for China or the Burmese regime's approval and send aid now,” wrote Aung Din, the director of the US Campaign for Burma, in a letter addressed to heads of state in the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis.
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=20840
---------------------------------------
Bangladesh lodges claim on extended continental shelf to UN
* By Anisur Rahman, Correspondent
* Published: 00:00 February 28, 2011
* Gulf News

Dhaka: Bangladesh lodged its submission on the extended continental shelf to the United Nations as a separate arbitration at a UN tribunal is under way on disputes with neighbouring India and Myanmar, foreign ministry officials said here on Sunday.

A foreign office spokesman said Foreign Minister Dipu Moni lodged the claim with the UN Division of Ocean Affairs and Law of the Sea in New York on Friday, saying the seabed appeared an issue of economic interest for all nations and "more so for a country like Bangladesh with limited resources and extensive development challenges".

"This is Bangladesh's most significant claim of the continental shelf in the Bay of Bengal since its independence and the claim ranges from 400-460 nautical miles on the seabed of the Bay of Bengal," he said.

He added that the lodging of the claim was an "outstanding obligation of Bangladesh" under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos) to provide the commission with scientific and technical information on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS) to support the claim.
http://gulfnews.com/news/world/other-world/bangladesh-lodges-claim-on-extended-continental-shelf-to-un-1.768816