News & Articles on Burma-Saturday, 02 April, 2011

News & Articles on Burma
Saturday, 02 April, 2011
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Canadian man detained in Burma
Does Than Shwe Retain De Facto Leadership?
Canadian who illegally entered Burma to be prosecuted
Very few hope for change in Myanmar ‘civilian’ govt
US senators urge tougher sanctions on Myanmar
Curbing AIDS in Myanmar
Myanmar launches new official daily newspaper
China's top political advisor leaves to visit Myanmar, Australia, Samoa
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Canadian man detained in Burma
Postmedia News
April 2, 2011 9:39 AM
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Diplomats in Burma are trying to help a Canadian man who has been detained by police in the southeast Asian country.

Ron Zakreski, who is described as an avid traveller and keen photographer from Vancouver Island, was arrested by police on March 24, his sister Brenda told CBC News.

She said consular affairs officials have provided his family with little information and would only say that they are aware of her brother's detention.

Foreign Affairs officials confirmed to Postmedia News that they knew of the arrest, but refused to release details.

"Canadian consular officials are in close contact with Australian consular officials in Yangon. Canadians in Burma are provided with consular assistance by the Embassy of Australia under the Canada-Australia Consular Services Sharing Agreement," a Foreign Affairs spokesman wrote in a statement to Postmedia News.

Burma, also known as Myanmar, has been ruled by the military since 1962.

The current regime took power in 1988, crushing a pro-democracy uprising and killing 3,000 people. The army refused to give up power after losing a 1990 election.

© Copyright (c) Postmedia News http://www.dose.ca/news/story.html?id=4549226
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Does Than Shwe Retain De Facto Leadership?
By WAI MOE Saturday, April 2, 2011

Burma is traditionally one of most secretive countries in the world, and after Wednesday's parliamentary ceremony to swear in a new parliament, nothing has happened to alter that reputation.

The military hierarchy would appear to remain intact. If not, everyone is keeping tight-lipped about the formation of the new government anyway.

The most interesting question for Burma watchers is the future role of Snr-Gen Than Shwe, 78, and Vice Snr-Gen Maung Aye,73.

One report from Naypyidaw could offer an answer. According to military sources in the capital, Than Shwe and his deputy arrived at their new offices in Naypyidaw on Thursday morning for a meeting with top officials ahead of President Thein Sein's address to the new cabinet. Than Shwe and Maung Aye reportedly held talks with their seven closest aides including the new commanders-in-chief of the armed forces.

The report about Than Shwe’s meeting with his “top seven” came amid rumors among government officials in the capital that an extra-constitutional “board of consultants” has been established by by Than Shwe.

“Snr-Gen Than Shwe and Vice Snr-Gen Maung Aye appeared at the office located around Uppasasanti Pagoda [in Naypyidaw],” said a senior military officer who spoke on condition of anonymity.

He added that attending the meeting were: ex-Gen Shwe Mann, 63, who is now Lower House speaker; President ex-Gen Thein Sein, 65; vice presidents ex-Gen Tin Aung Myint Oo, 61, and ex-Lt-Gen Tin Aye, 65, who is also the chairman of the Union Election Commission; commander-in-chief of the armed forces Gen Min Aung Hlaing; and deputy commander-in-chief Lt-Gen Soe Win.

Commenting on Than Shwe's future role, a senior civic officer in Naypyidaw said, “I heard Than Shwe and Maung Aye will take back seats, but will be consulted.”

The senior-general is now like Kim Jong Il, the supreme leader of North Korea, or Lee Kuan Yew who is minister mentor of Singapore, he said.

He added that as Than Shwe and his board of consultants has not been officially appointed, those involved are under strict instructions to “be discreet.”

The Naypyidaw meeting on Thursday morning followed a day after President Thein Sein and his cabinet were sworn in at parliament.

Naypyidaw sources said last week that Thein Sein reportedly told Shwe Mann, Thein Sein, Tin Aung Myint Oo and Tin Aye that although they “took off their uniforms for the sake of the nation,” they will remain as de facto leaders of the Tatmadaw [Burma's armed forces].

Meanwhile, since Min Aung Hlaing and Soe Win—both in their early 50s— were publicly declared the new military chiefs, unconfirmed reports from the army said that there was a disagreement over the role of former commanders from the Sino-Burmese border as the two new chiefs are particularly unpopular among the northern region military officers.

Even though Than Shwe transferred the commander-in-chief post to Min Aung Hlaing, the aging dictator remains at the official residence designated for the military chief, along with a command center where his general staff officer, Col. Myint Kyi, reports and receives Than Shwe’s instructions.

“Both Snr-Gen Than Shwe and Vice Snr-Gen Maung Aye have offices at the compound of their residences in Naypyidaw,” said a military source. “The offices at their residences are referred to as 'the office of the commander-in-chief' and 'the office of the deputy commander-in-chief.'”

While Myint Kyi is general staff officer to Than Shwe, Maj Kyaw Zwa Lin serves as general staff officer to Maung Aye.

Then on Friday, news leaked from Naypyidaw that Than Shwe had appointed Lt-Gen Hla Htay Win, the current chief of armed forces, to be the next joint chief of staff (Army, Navy, Air Force), the third highest ranking position in the military.

Introduced to the Burmese military in 2002, the position of joint chief-of-staff (Army, Navy, Air Force) has the authority to oversee the commander-in-chief (Navy) and the commander-in-chief (Air Force) as well as the day-to-day operations of the army.

While newly appointed de jure commander-in-chief Min Aung Hlaing was from Defense Service Academy (DSA) Intake-19, Soe Win and Hla Htay Win were from DSA intakes 23 and 20.

Meanwhile, sources on Friday said that portraits of Than Shwe still adorn the walls of all government offices.

http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=21064
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Canadian who illegally entered Burma to be prosecuted
Friday, 01 April 2011 19:29 Kyaw Kha

New Delhi (Mizzima) – A Canadian national who entered Burma illegally from Phop Phra on the Thai side of the border with Burma, will be prosecuted for violating the Immigration Act, according to sources close to the Myawaddy Township Court.

The Moei River separating Myawaddy, Burma, and Mae Sot, Thailand. On Thursday, after a hearing in the Myawaddy Township Court, Canadian Ron Zakreski, 62, was remanded to jail on charges of violating the Burmese Immigration Act when he illegally entered the country. Photo: AFP

The Moei River separating Myawaddy, Burma, and Mae Sot, Thailand. On Thursday, after a hearing in the Myawaddy Township Court, Canadian Ron Zakreski, 62, was remanded to jail on charges of violating the Burmese Immigration Act when he illegally entered the country. Photo: AFP
Ron Zakreski, 62, was arrested by police on March 24 and detained in Kheenyalee Police Station. On Thursday, after a hearing in the Myawaddy Township Court, he was remanded to jail on a charge of violating the Immigration Act.

Zakreski was arrested for illegally entering Wawlay, Burma, by crossing the Moei River from Phop Phra, south of Mea Sot, according to an officer in the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA).

He was arrested after he took photographs of the location of a battle between the DKBA and the Burmese army’s Light Infantry Battalion 356.

Major Chitsayar of the DKBA Central Communications Department told Mizzima: ‘He entered Wawlay in Burma from near Mae Sot in the Thai side. As soon as he took the photos, he was arrested by the police. On the Thai side where he came from, there is a base of Thai army’.

He was detained and interrogated in the Kheenyalee Police Station near Wawlay Village for nearly a week before he appeared in the Myawaddy Township Court on Thursday.

One of Zakreski’s friends told Mizzima via e-mail that he was allowed to contact friends by telephone during his detention in the police station.

Some media erroneously reported that his name was Ronald James, sources said. http://www.mizzima.com/news/inside-burma/5104-canadian-who-illegally-entered-burma-to-be-prosecuted.html
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Very few hope for change in Myanmar ‘civilian’ govt

YANGON: Myanmar’s attempt to rebrand itself with a nominally civilian government was met with skepticism at home and abroad on Thursday, with critics fearing that the Army’s power has merely moved into the shadows.

Newspapers were sold out on the streets of Yangon a day after former Gen. Thein Sein was made president and the feared junta was disbanded following nearly half a century of military rule.

But while the new order provoked interest, there was little optimism.

Company manager Konaing said that the new parliament, which was dominated by the Army hierarchy and lacks the participation of democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, was a “hot issue” with ordinary people.

“But they do not think there will be changes in the country as the generals only changed their uniforms. We [neither have] many expectations [nor] much hope,” he told Agence France-Presse.

Wednesday’s handover came after Myanmar’s first elections in 20 years in November, which were slammed by critics as a sham to provide a civilian facade to military rule, and marred by the absence of Suu Kyi, and by claims of cheating.

Myanmar’s strongman Than Shwe also relinquished his position as head of the Army during the power transfer, but many analysts believe the feared “senior general” will find a way to retain influence behind the scenes.

In a rare address, printed in Thursday’s edition of the government mouthpiece The New Light of Myanmar, Thein Sein insisted that the people “have elected us and given [us a] mandate.”

“I invite and urge some nations wishing to see democracy flourish and the people’s socioeconomy grow in Myanmar to cooperate with our new government,” he said.

But the United States expressed concern over the country’s “oppressive political environment,” while United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon urged Myanmar to prove “that this change is one of substance.”

China, however, voiced its approval of the country’s “independent choice of development path and hopes to see sustained stability and progress in democracy in the country, so as to achieve democratic development.”

Myanmar’s influential northern neighbor will send a senior official to meet Thein Sein on Sunday, the first international engagement of his presidency.

The elections, and Suu Kyi’s release from house arrest a few days later, divided the opposition and reignited a debate about sanctions.

The Nobel Peace laureate’s National League for Democracy (NLD), which has no voice in parliament and was disbanded for boycotting the polls over rules seemingly designed to exclude her, said that it “acknowledged” the changes.

“As the NLD mainly works for national reconciliation, we expect to start a dialogue with the new government,” said NLD spokesman Nyan Win.

The National Democratic Force, an opposition group that had split from Suu Kyi’s party to participate in the vote, said that the president’s speech promising to focus on health care and education, was “very significant.”

“We can see that he has the desire to reform but we have to wait and see whether it really happens,” said party leader Khin Maung Swe.

Thein Sein, the country’s former Prime Minister and a key Than Shwe ally, is among a slew of generals who shed their Army uniforms to contest the elections and are now civilian members of parliament.

His junta-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party bagged 388 of the national legislature’s 493 seats, while a quarter of the assembly was already reserved for military legislators.

AFP http://www.manilatimes.net/news/world/very-few-hope-for-change-in-myanmar-%E2%80%98civilian%E2%80%99-govt/
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The Peninsula
US senators urge tougher sanctions on Myanmar
Saturday, 02 April 2011 01:11

WASHINGTON: The United States should reject calls to ease sanctions on Myanmar junta members and instead name a special envoy to give the measures more bite, four US senators said in a letter released on Thursday.

“With the regime’s recent moves and persistent human rights abuses, conditions do not currently exist to meet the necessary criteria to consider an easing of sanctions,” they wrote to US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Senate Intelligence Committee Chair Dianne Feinstein, Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chair Barbara Boxer and Republican Senator Mark Kirk signed the letter.

The lawmakers pointed to recent comments by Myanmar’s opposition leader and democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi on the issue and said “we agree that sanctions should be maintained until the regime undertakes serious reforms.”

The group urged Clinton to name a “Special Representative and Policy Coordinator for Burma” to work with Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) “to ensure that sanctions are more effective and better utilised.”

“We therefore urge the administration to act swiftly to nominate an individual with the depth of expertise and the breadth of skills necessary to succeed in this important position,” they wrote.

The lawmakers also urged Clinton “to exercise the authority for additional banking sanctions against Burma’s leaders explicitly provided by Congress” in a law meant to pry Myanmar open to democratic and free-market reforms.

“We believe that exercising such authority represents one of the most powerful instruments at our disposal for pressuring Burma’s rulers to change course,” the senators said.

A rare election in November and Suu Kyi’s subsequent release from house arrest have re-ignited a debate about the measures, and the European Union is poised to decide in April whether to continue sanctions against the regime.

European diplomats recently held talks with Suu Kyi, 65, and other opposition members about the possibility of lifting the sanctions, which global think-tank International Crisis Group has criticized as “counterproductive.”

The NLD has no voice in a newly opened parliament dominated by the military and its proxies. It was disbanded for opting to boycott the vote because the rules seemed designed to bar Suu Kyi from participating.

Supporters of the trade and financial sanctions say they are the only way to pressure the military rulers of Myanmar, where there are about 2,200 political prisoners. The United States said last month that calls to ease sanctions on Myanmar were premature. AFP
http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/s.-asia/philippines/147621-us-senators-urge-tougher-sanctions-on-myanmar.html
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Health | 01.04.2011
Curbing AIDS in Myanmar

In Myanmar, progress is being made to reduce the rate of new HIV-AIDS infections after several years of a national program. But international sanctions on Myanmar are hampering efforts to curb the spread of the virus.

The United Nations estimates a quarter of a million people in Myanmar have been infected with AIDS. Just a small percentage – possibly as low as 25 per cent – have access to the vital retroviral medications.

Intravenous drug users, sex workers and men who have sex with men are most likely to contract the virus. The epidemic each year claims the lives of around 25,000 people.

Low levels of government budget spending on health and international sanctions due to the country’s human rights record have combined to leave the fight against AIDS under resourced.

More and more people are becoming infected with HIV/AIDS worldwideMore and more people are becoming infected with HIV/AIDS worldwide

But at a UNAIDS regional conference in Bangkok on universal access to prevention and treatment against AIDS, Myanmar health officials said there are signs of progress after a national program on AIDS has been adopted in recent years.

Curbing stigmas

Dr Khin Ohmar San, manager of the National AIDS program from the Department of Public Health, says programs to raise awareness about AIDS have had a positive impact. "In recent years, since we have more awareness-raising activities and some peer to peer education as well as working with community based organizations and networks, there are much less stigmas and discrimination since many networks are now even working with our basic health staff and with the community."

But Dr Khin Ohmar San says to sustain the gains made and prevent new infections, more needs to be done to focus on prevention and also comprehensive care, support and treatment for those in need. International donors have sought to fill a gap after a move in 2005 by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS to terminate a 100 million dollar aid grant to Myanmar due to what it called political interference.

Intravenous drug use is one of the main reasons for the spread of HIV/AIDSIntravenous drug use is one of the main reasons for the spread of HIV/AIDS

But Dr Saw Lwin, a deputy director general from the Department of Health blames the international sanctions on Myanmar for hampering efforts to curb the virus’ spread. "It has an effect on the accessibility of the services. Our country receives only about US $5.0 per capita per year in overseas development assistance. We also need resources for tackling this problem like other developing countries."

Community programs

Community organizations have been able to step up programs in recent years. Kaythi Win, a former sex worker who works with a Yangon-based outreach program backed by the UN, says the working environment for groups has improved. "I feel the situation in our country has changed a lot." Win adds, "In our community, people have confidence and they also know where to get access. So that’s why HIV is going down at the community level."

But the groups say they need to be vigilant with a government whose spending on general community health has been low, and a general political climate where there is little scope for open debate on sensitive issues.

Author: Ron Corben
Editor: Sarah Berning http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,6491118,00.html?maca=en-rss-en-asia-5133-rdf
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Myanmar launches new official daily newspaper

Yangon, April 2 : Myanmar has launched a new daily newspaper Myawaddy, bringing the total number of state-owned dailies to four, Xinhua reported Saturday.

The newspaper, which is based in the new capital Nay Pyi Taw, started publishing Friday and was available in Yangon Saturday.

The introduction of the 16-page daily came two days after a new elected civilian government took office Wednesday.

The other three state-run newspapers are Kyaymon, Myanma Ahlin and the English-language New Light of Myanmar.

According to the information ministry, besides newspapers, 172 journals and 182 magazines are published in Myanmar.

--IANS http://www.newkerala.com/news/world/fullnews-181306.html
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China's top political advisor leaves to visit Myanmar, Australia, Samoa
April 02, 2011

China's top political advisor Jia Qinglin left Beijing Saturday to pay official goodwill visits to Myanmar, Australia and Samoa.

Jia, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, is visiting the countries at the invitation of Myanmar's Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the governments of Australia and Samoa.

Source: Xinhua http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90001/90776/90883/7338909.html

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