News & Articles on Burma -Saturday, 27 August, 2011-UZL

News & Articles on Burma
Saturday, 27 August, 2011
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Burma MPs propose prisoner amnesty: state media
Will Burma really listen to the UN Rights Envoy?
Survival instinct steers Myanmar generals towards reform
Myanmar MPs propose prisoner amnesty: state media
Myanmar MPs propose prisoner amnesty: State media
Myanmar OKS Setting Up Of New Political Party
Burmese military agents plant a powerful bomb in Kachin quarter
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Bangkok Post
Burma MPs propose prisoner amnesty: state media

Published: 27/08/2011 at 03:32 PM
Online news: Asia

Members of Burma's army-dominated parliament have called for a sweeping jail amnesty, state media reported Saturday, after a UN envoy called for the release of prisoners of conscience.

A general view of Myanmar's parliament in Naypyidaw. Members of Myanmar's army-dominated parliament have called for a sweeping jail amnesty, state media reported Saturday, after a UN envoy called for the release of prisoners of conscience.

A proposal for a general amnesty was raised in the lower house on Friday, the New Light of Burma reported.

"They firmly hope that the president would make (an) assessment and release an order of amnesty," the newspaper said, without giving further details on who would be included.

The plight of around 2,000 political prisoners, many of whom are serving double-digit jail terms, is a key concern of the international community, along with other human rights abuses and democratic reforms.

It is the first time that serving military members of parliament have taken part in a discussion of a general amnesty since a nominally civilian government took over in March. A quarter of seats are reserved for the army.

The regime, which came to power after controversial November elections, appears keen to improve its image and recently held the first talks between democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi and President Thein Sein, a former general.

But the UN special rapporteur on human rights in Burma, Tomas Ojea Quintana, said serious concerns remained as he concluded a visit to the country on Thursday.

The UN envoy, who visited Rangoon's notorious Insein jail during his five day trip, voiced fears over allegations of torture during detention and the use of prisoners as porters for the military.

"Of key concern to me and the international community is the continuing detention of a large number of prisoners of conscience," Quintana said.

In a move that rights groups said was woefully insufficient, Burma reduced all current jail sentences by one year in May and commuted the death penalty to life imprisonment.

Amnesty International said that political detainees are imprisoned using vague laws that criminalise peaceful political activists. They are held in poor conditions and moved to jails far from their homes and families.

Opposition leader Suu Kyi was freed from seven years of house arrest in November shortly after the election, Burma's first in 20 years.

Quintana, who also held talks with the Nobel laureate last week, urged Burma's parliamentarians, many of whom shed military uniforms to contest the election, to hold "open and inclusive debates on issues of national importance".
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Will Burma really listen to the UN Rights Envoy?
By Zin Linn Aug 27, 2011 8:12PM UTC

Human Rights Special Rapporteur Mr Thomas Ojea Quintana on his Burma tour from 21 to 25 August separately met Union Parliament Speaker Thura Shwe Mann, National Parliament Speaker Khin Aung Myint, Union Chief Justice Tun Tun Oo, Chairman of the Union Election Commission Tin Aye, Union Minister for Home Affairs Lt-Gen Ko Ko, Union Minister for Defence Maj-Gen Hla Min, Union Minister for Foreign Affairs Wunna Maung Lwin, Union Minister for Labour and for Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement Aung Kyi, Union Attorney-General Dr Tun Shin and Deputy Chief of the Police Force Police Brig-Gen Zaw Win.

The explanation of Union Parliament Speaker Thura Shwe Mann to the UN Envoy was published in the New Light of Myanmar on Thursday.

“As Myanmar (Burma) is a member of the international community, it has embraced the opportunities to address democracy and human rights cases like the global community. Though, every country has different processes from other countries based on own culture, custom and historical background. As the Human Rights Special Rapporteur reviewed, Myanmar is on the correct path to democracy and will continue to march along the correct path,” Thura Shwe Mann said.

He also said, “Necessary laws will be ratified to make sure that Parliament representatives serve the public interest or bring about the people’s fundamental rights, democracy and human rights without party attachment, localism, racism and regionalism. So, the existing laws will be under review to abrogate and amend inconsistent ones and endorse new ones. Only then will multiparty democracy rights will do well in future. The power to issue writs has been grant to bring democracy and rights to the people. The government, judicial bodies, service personnel and the people will abide by the enacted laws through the check and balance.”

He also said that Parliament representatives know that armed conflicts due to misunderstanding among national races do not bring any benefits to the nation. Hence Parliament committees include the Committee for National Races Affairs and Internal Peace in addition to the Committee of Fundamental Rights, Democratic Rights and Human Rights of Citizens.

He said that the Judicial and Legal Affairs Committee has been formed to handle legal affairs in an effective way. The Parliament committees carry out tasks inside Parliaments, so it is safe to say that the tasks are carried out by the public. The report on progress in addressing land confiscation cases will be submitted to the Parliament session, and the government’s Guarantees, Pledges and Undertakings Vetting Committee will watch and see, he explained.

Union Parliament Speaker wants the Human Rights Special Rapporteur to prevent the acts of certain countries and organizations that trouble Myanmar (Burma) and the people at a time when Myanmar and the people are working together for democracy and human rights.

Finally, Thura Shwe Mann said, Myanmar (Burma) will accept and appreciate Special Rapporteur’s suggestions, people’s stances and international community’s suggestions. Moreover, the Human Rights Special Rapporteur can watch what Myanmar is working for democratization, Speaker Thura Shwe Mann said.

Even though, the UN envoy called on Burma Thursday to immediately probe human rights abuses, saying serious concerns remained regardless of signs of progress under the new questionable civilian government.

He also expressed concern about the condition in ethnic conflict areas, including attacks against civilians, extrajudicial killings, sexual violence, arbitrary arrest, the recruitment of child soldiers and forced labor.

Mr. Quintana’s visit followed key opposition figure Aung San Suu Kyi met with President Thein Sein last week. It was a top-level talk with the government’s chief since her release in November, after a controversial election. Quintana also held talks with Suu Kyi during his most up-to-date trip.

Quintana has not been issued a visa to visit Burma since March 2010, when he suggested forming of a commission of inquiry. Quintana last visited Burma in February 2010 but was not allowed to see opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who was under house arrest at the time. His consequential requests to revisit Burma have been refused.

In yesterday AFP News, Mr. Quintana, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in Burma said, “This is a key moment in Burma’s history and there are real opportunities for positive and meaningful developments to improve the human rights situation and bring about a genuine transition to democracy,”

According to him, the new government has taken a number of steps towards transition to democracy. However, many serious human rights questions are still to be addressed. He has been repetitively calling for the release of Burma’s estimated 2,000 political prisoners.
http://asiancorrespondent.com/63590/will-burma-really-listen-to-the-un-rights-envoy/
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Survival instinct steers Myanmar generals towards reform
Saturday, 27 August 2011 02:22
By Martin Petty

Rare overtures by Myanmar’s reclusive, authoritarian rulers towards liberalisation and reform suggest change could be afoot in the isolated nation.

The sudden stream of conciliatory gestures by Myanmar’s new civilian government has raised questions about the motives of the generals who only five months ago controlled one of the world’s most secretive, corrupt and oppressive regimes.

Diplomats, political analysts and many Burmese interviewed inside Myanmar say the retired generals brought back to power after a controversial election last year now appear to realise some moves towards reform could be the key to their survival.

Last week, President Thein Sein held an official meeting with and Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel Peace Prize winning democracy advocate who was detained for 15 years until released from house arrest last year.

The meeting was welcomed by the international community, but widely regarded as theatre.

Western sanctions in place since the military crushed a 1988 student uprising have isolated Myanmar’s army dictatorships and continue to frustrate the new government, but there are no signs these will be lifted until there are concrete reforms, in particular, the release of an estimated 2,100 political prisoners.

“What seems to be happening is that the regime is seeking to make itself appear legitimate, a genuine and emerging democracy,” said Michael Charney, a Myanmar expert at London’s School of Oriental and Africa Studies.

“I don’t see any of this as a positive step forward for democracy, but instead as a means of cementing in place the positions of the families who currently hold power over the country with a view towards long-term control.”

The process of consolidating political power began long ago but accelerated in late 2009 when hundreds of state assets were auctioned off as part of an opaque privatisation boom in which cronies of the then-military junta snapped up lucrative contracts, business monopolies and property.

The sell-off preceded a carefully choreographed election in November that was won by a military-backed party. Thein Sein, the fourth in command of the former ruling military body, was chosen by parliament to become head of state. He hand-picked his own ministers.

PARIAH STATUS

The election and privatisation created a veneer of democracy and liberalisation in the former British colony also known as Burma, ensuring power, wealth and patronage was concentrated in the hands of a military-linked establishment, as previously seen in Indonesia and as now entrenched in neighbouring Thailand, where politics, business and the army are closely intertwined.

But despite those changes, Myanmar remains an international pariah, entangled in Western sanctions that restrict and stigmatise the country’s elite.

Experts suggest those tycoons may have leaned on the government to talk up reforms, engage with Suu Kyi and to try to appear more transparent and tolerant.

Western governments are watching, along with multinational companies, some of which have privately lobbied for an end to sanctions on the impoverished country of 50 million.

Recent overtures include calls for peace with armed ethnic separatists, presidential meetings with technocrats and foreign delegations, some tolerance of criticism, and the involvement of Suu Kyi in consultations about reconciliation and reform.

Yangon-based diplomats have expressed surprise at the government’s apparent change in tone but want to see more substantial progress.

“So far, so good,” said one Western diplomat. “I’m guardedly optimistic about further progress, but let’s wait and see.”

The mood is similar among parliamentarians. “Lawmakers, regardless of their party or background, have become more optimistic about the situation than before,” said Aye Maung, a senator and leader of the Rakhine Nationalities Development Party.

It is unclear whether Thein Sein is making the changes on his own or doing so at the request of Than Shwe, his political master and the country’s much-feared former strongman, whose orders are rarely defied.

David Steinberg, a veteran Myanmar analyst at Georgetown University in Washington said the lack of substantive concessions, especially political prisoners, meant real reforms or any undoing of sanctions would not come soon.

But he said the gestures were important indicators, and the government should be given the chance to prove itself.

“We’re seeing the possibility of change, things we’ve not seen before,” he said. “There’s a lot of disagreement from those who think this is phony change. It might be phony, but we should at least be open to the possibility some of it could be real.”

REUTERS http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/views/162796-survival-instinct-steers-myanmar-generals-towards-reform.html
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Myanmar MPs propose prisoner amnesty: State media
Published on Aug 27, 2011

YANGON (AFP) - Members of Myanmar's army-dominated parliament have called for a sweeping jail amnesty, state media reported on Saturday, after a UN envoy called for the release of prisoners of conscience.

A proposal for a general amnesty was raised in the lower house on Friday, the New Light of Myanmar reported. 'They firmly hope that the president would make (an) assessment and release an order of amnesty,' the newspaper said, without giving further details on who would be included.

The plight of around 2,000 political prisoners, many of whom are serving double-digit jail terms, is a key concern of the international community, along with other human rights abuses and democratic reforms. It is the first time that serving military members of parliament have taken part in a discussion of a general amnesty since a nominally civilian government took over in March. A quarter of seats are reserved for the army. The regime, which came to power after controversial November elections, appears keen to improve its image and recently held the first talks between democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi and President Thein Sein, a former general.

But the UN special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, Tomas Ojea Quintana, said serious concerns remained as he concluded a visit to the country on Thursday. http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/SEAsia/Story/STIStory_706571.html
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Radio Netherland Worldwide
Myanmar MPs propose prisoner amnesty: state media
Published on 27 August 2011 - 7:43am

Members of Myanmar's army-dominated parliament have called for a sweeping jail amnesty, state media reported Saturday, after a UN envoy called for the release of prisoners of conscience.
A proposal for a general amnesty was raised in the lower house on Friday, the New Light of Myanmar reported. "They firmly hope that the president would make (an) assessment and release an order of amnesty," the newspaper said, without giving further details on who would be included.
The plight of around 2,000 political prisoners, many of whom are serving double-digit jail terms, is a key concern of the international community, along with other human rights abuses and democratic reforms.
It is the first time that serving military members of parliament have taken part in a discussion of a general amnesty since a nominally civilian government took over in March. A quarter of seats are reserved for the army.
The regime, which came to power after controversial November elections, appears keen to improve its image and recently held the first talks between democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi and President Thein Sein, a former general.
But the UN special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, Tomas Ojea Quintana, said serious concerns remained as he concluded a visit to the country on Thursday.
The UN envoy, who visited Yangon's notorious Insein jail during his five day trip, voiced fears over allegations of torture during detention and the use of prisoners as porters for the military.
"Of key concern to me and the international community is the continuing detention of a large number of prisoners of conscience," Quintana said.
In a move that rights groups said was woefully insufficient, Myanmar reduced all current jail sentences by one year in May and commuted the death penalty to life imprisonment.
Amnesty International said that political detainees are imprisoned using vague laws that criminalise peaceful political activists. They are held in poor conditions and moved to jails far from their homes and families.
Opposition leader Suu Kyi was freed from seven years of house arrest in November shortly after the election, Myanmar's first in 20 years.
Quintana, who also held talks with the Nobel laureate last week, urged Myanmar's parliamentarians, many of whom shed military uniforms to contest the election, to hold "open and inclusive debates on issues of national importance".
http://www.rnw.nl/english/bulletin/myanmar-mps-propose-prisoner-amnesty-state-media-0
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August 27, 2011 10:57 AM
Myanmar OKS Setting Up Of New Political Party
YANGON, Aug 27 (Bernama) -- A new political party, Democratic Alliance Party (DAP), has been granted for establishment in Myanmar, according to the Union Election Commission on Saturday.
The establishment of the 17-member political party, inclusive of Dr. Soe Lin, has brought the number of political parties set up in the country in the post-election period to three, adding up to a total of 40 since last year's general election, reports Xinhua news agency.
In the multi-party general election held across Myanmar's seven regions and seven ethnic states on Nov 7 last year, 37 political parties including 82 independents took part and 1,154 candidates out of over 3,000 in the contest were elected as parliamentary representatives at three levels.
Besides the 1,154 elected parliamentary representatives, 388 or 25 percent were directly nominated by the military, bringing the total of the parliamentary representatives to 1,542.
The 659 union parliament representatives (house of representatives and house of nationalities) were made up of 493 elected ones and 166 or 25 percent directly nominated military ones.
Of the 493 elected parliamentary house of representatives and house of nationalities, 388 came from the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), led by then Prime Minister U Thein Sein.
In the presidential election held at the first session of the union parliament on Feb 4 as a follow-up of the general election, U Thein Sein won the presidency and U Tin Aung Myint Oo and Dr. Sai Mauk Kham as vice presidents. All of the three represent the USDP.
The new government, led by President U Thein Sein, assumed office on March 30, 2011.-- BERNAMA http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v5/newsworld.php?id=610726
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Burmese military agents plant a powerful bomb in Kachin quarter
Published on Friday, 26 August 2011 07:50
du-kahtawng-EngA powerful TNT bomb planted by Burmese military agents in Myitkyina, in Kachin State, Northern Burma, was removed on Thursday (Aug. 25) before it exploded, according to witnesses.
The mine was put on the main electrical transformer near the Kachin Baptist Church, Quarter Administrative Office and Quarter Market, which is a crowded area, residents said.
According to night security guards in the area, they found the mine planted on the transformer after they checked a man with a motorcycle stopped in front of the quarter office about 1:30 a.m.
While they were questioning the man, two other men suddenly appeared on the road, one from transformer and another from quarter office. Then, the three men quickly drove away on one motorcycle, said sources from the guards.
Before the three military agents left, the man on the bike told the guards that he stopped there to refuel. The guards rejected his story and forced him to leave because there was no fuel shop, the sources added.
A piece of wire and a TNT mine was soon discovered at the transformer.
The Quarter Administrative Office confirmed to the Kachin News Group the mine was removed by a bomb squad from the Burmese Army’s Northern Regional Command, based in Myitkyina on Thursday.
The Myitkyina Police Station No. 1 declined to answer questions from the Kachin News Group concerning the event and suggested people can go and ask questions at the police station, not by phone.
The nominally civilian government, formed in March, keeps denying the KIO is a political armed group and officially labeled it as an insurgent (or a terrorist group), at its first press conference in Naypyidaw, on August 12.
The new civil war between the government and KIO started in Kachin State and Northern Shan State when the Burmese Army attacked the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) at Sang Gang on June 9 under the pretence of protecting the Taping (Dapein) dams in N’mawk (Momauk) Township, Manmaw (Bhamo) district, in eastern Kachin State.