News & Articles on Burma-Sunday, 25 September, 2011-uzl

News & Articles on Burma

Sunday, 25 September, 2011
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ICG’s latest briefing overestimates on Burma
Is Myanmar serious about change?
Official visit to Myanmar by Thai PM in early October
Myanmar army commit crime against Shan villagers
Burma Army launches storm-offensive to KIA
Burma Army plans to capture KIA’s Brigade 4 in three days
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ICG’s latest briefing overestimates on Burma
By Zin Linn Sep 24, 2011 8:17PM UTC

The latest briefing – ‘Myanmar: Major Reform Underway’ – from the International Crisis Group has brought Myanmar or Burma issue to public attention. The Group examines how President Thein Sein has moved rapidly to commence implementing an ambitious reform agenda first set out in his March 2011 inaugural address.

According to ICG, six months after the transition to a new, semi-civilian government, major changes are taking place in Myanmar (Burma). However, many steps still need to be taken to overcome decades of conflict.

But, it will be too early to say ‘major changes are taking place in Burma’.

The most significant question is no other than the ethnic issue which is rooted in the 1947 Panglong Agreement. And the most injudicious blockade is the 2008 constitution drawn by the previous military junta which systematically clutches the power through it hardcore members in the new semi-civilian government.

In August, ceasefire talks between the new namesake civilian government and the ethnic armed groups who rejected the Border Guard Force (BGF) scheme reached an immovable cul-de-sac. While the Thein Sein government clamored for pursuing ceasefire agreements with each group separately, the ethnic armed groups insisted on direct talks between government and the ethnic coalition ‘United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC)’ so as to ascertain a nationwide ceasefire.

The fact is that ceasefire talks bring to a standstill while armed clashes go on in Kachin, Shan, and Karen States producing over 50,000 war refugees.

Since mid-July there has been a dramatic change of approach, ICG evaluates referring the meeting between Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of National League of Democracy, and President Thein Sein, head of the nominal civilian government that came into office after vote rigging polls in last November.

“In recent weeks a series of concrete steps have been taken to begin implementing the president’s reform agenda, aimed at reinvigorating the economy, reforming national politics and improving human rights”, says Jim Della-Giacoma, Crisis Group’s South East Asia Project Director.

It is really difficult to say that there is a series of concrete steps as Jim Della-Giacoma has spotlighted. Although President Thein Sein had a meeting with Aung San Suu Kyi, he did not pronounced on which matters he agreed to cooperate. At least, he should declare a date for next meeting and also need to say publicly what topic will be discussed then.

Actually, there is no timeframe for reconciliation talks as yet.

And human rights improvement seems to be more blurred since UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Burma Tomás Ojea Quintana said that “serious human rights issues” in the country remain. He gave this notable remark after meeting with several former political prisoners and various members of political parties that contested the 2010 elections in Rangoon.

“While there are strong indications that the political will exists to bring fundamental change, success will require much more than a determined leader, as resistance can be expected from hardliners in the power structure and spoilers with a vested interest in the status quo,” Jim guesses.

It is more likely to be the status quo since the hardliners are majority in the new cabinet and the 11-member defense-and-security committee.

ICG’s briefing also says, “There are already indications that key benchmarks many in the West have insisted on may soon be reached, as major initiatives, such as the release of political prisoners, are now under consideration. Internal progress on human rights and economic reforms that benefit the country’s citizens should be acknowledged and supported by the international community.”

It seems too extreme to be optimistic. For instance, although there are around 2,000 political prisoners, Chief Justice Tun Tun Oo said to the members of parliament that there is no prisoner serving a term for his belief. There are only prisoners who breached the respective laws.

Hence, the issue of releasing political prisoners is still in the pipeline of the new cabinet and the 11-member defense-and-security committee which is controlled by the military mandate.

Defense Minister Maj-Gen Hla Min said at a public meeting that there has been no forced recruitment since the Army was established. With a same tune, Information Minister Kyaw San said in the recent parliament sessions that the government has no plan of annulling the Press Scrutiny and Registration Department. Additionally, it has no intention of allowing independent trade unions, Kyaw San said.

The cabinet ministers’ mood show that they would like to follow the policies put up by the previous junta.

According to the Global Justice Center (GJC), the ICG fails to acknowledge the illegal status of “the new Myanmar government” as it is based on a constitution mandating a bifurcated sovereignty, a fundamental breach of the law of nations.

“Both the constitution and the “new Myanmar government” are null and void under international law and must be treated as such by the global community. Burma’s new constitution, further, guarantees the military impunity from prosecution, encouraging the military’s continuing crimes against humanity, genocide, and war crimes,” GJC wrote in its letter.

In its letter dated 20 September, the Global Justice Center urges the ICG to immediately revoke its longstanding policy of supporting unconditional engagement with Burma’s military rulers. http://asiancorrespondent.com/65702/icg%E2%80%99s-latest-briefing-overestimates-on-burma/
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Sunday September 25, 2011
Is Myanmar serious about change?
THE NATION
By SUPALAK GANJANAKHUNDEE

BANGKOK: The new Myanmar government is being observed by the international community for signs that reformers led by President Thein Sein can bring about a real change towards democracy and reconciliation.

Outsiders see something is happening in the country, which was under military rule for a long time, but wonder if such movements are real.

“I think everybody who follows this country knows that there have been stops and starts, that expectations have been dashed, that things only go so far, and then they stop or they reverse themselves. And I really urge the leadership to prove the sceptics wrong,” Derek Mitchell, the US special representative and policy coordinator for Myanmar, said in Rangoon last week when he wrapped up his visit.

The United States, together with the European Union, United Nations and Association of South-East Asian Nations, is now engaging Myanmar in the hope that the new government, which was installed to replace the junta in March, would dedicate itself to political reform and national reconciliation.

Over the past months since he came to power, Thein Sein has done many “positive” things for political reform. The most significant was his hour-long meeting with Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi last month in the capital of Naypyidaw.

Outsiders did not know exactly what they talked about but a diplomatic source expected that it was not a normal conversation. The meeting seemed to have set some guidelines for the political role of Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy (NLD), the source said.

Despite boycotting the November election, Aung San Suu Kyi and the NLD are not being isolated from Myanmar’s politics and reform process. Senior representatives from the US, EU and UN who visited Myanmar over the past weeks allocated equal time to meeting with her as with government officials.

Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa, who holds the rotating chairmanship of Asean, of which Myanmar is a member, said on Tuesday the group would weigh Suu Kyi’s opinion before making a decision on whether to allow Myanmar to chair the group in 2014 as requested.

Marty said he would visit Myanmar next month to explore the possibility of the country assuming the chairmanship of the grouping.

Besides meeting with Suu Kyi, Thein Sein has done many other things to show that he is steering the country toward reform. He began to tackle the economic hardships caused by the kyat currency crisis by easing many economic restrictions.

The new government listened to economists and employed economic tools to rescue the fragile economy, rather than exercise power to crack down on people it regarded as economic manipulators, like it had done before.

The new government opened up some Internet access for people in the country just before the release of a report by media watchdog Committee to Protect Journalists, which claimed that Myanmar was among the world’s most media restricted countries.

Outsiders might receive a lot of confusing signals from Naypyidaw, since the power arrangement between the reformers and hard-liners has not yet been settled, diplomats and observers said.

Thein Sein, who is regarded as the leader of the reformer camp, might not wield full authority to push forward his plan toward reform and reconciliation.

Thein Sein tagged along with Lower House Speaker Shwe Mann and Commander-in-Chief Min Aung Hlaing, who were always countered by hard-liners in the regime led by First Vice-President Tin Aung Myint Oo alongside Information and Culture Minister Kyaw Hsan, Finance Minister Hla Tun and Upper House Speaker Khin Aung Myint.

They go up against each other on many issues including development projects such as the Myitsone dam, which Thein Sein opposed due to the environmental impact, while his opponent supported it, according to Irrawaddy online.

Diplomats are worried that their fighting might jeopardise the plan to cultivate reform and reconciliation. The burning issue for Thein Sein is the economy. Unless he can overcome the economic difficulties, there could be an uprising and military intervention to bring Myanmar back to square one, diplomats said. http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/9/25/asia/9555405&sec=asia
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Official visit to Myanmar by Thai PM in early October
September 25, 2011; By Between News

Accord­ing to Thai For­eign Min­is­ter Surapong Tovichakchaikul, an offi­cial visit to Myan­mar early Octo­ber by Thai Prime Min­is­ter Yingluck Shi­nawa­tra will be under­taken to strengthen bilat­eral rela­tions between the two coun­tries both fel­low mem­bers of the Asso­ci­a­tion of South­east Asian Nations (ASEAN).

After tak­ing office, the visit will be the Thai prime minister’s intro­duc­tory visit to Myan­mar. Ear­lier, the prime min­is­ter made trips to Brunei, Indone­sia, Cam­bo­dia and Laos last week. She is sched­uled to visit Malaysia on Octo­ber 3. The Thai pre­mier waits for the con­fir­ma­tion from Myan­mar author­i­ties on the visit.

While attend­ing the 66th Ses­sion of the United Nations Gen­eral Assem­bly in New York, Mr. Surapong held bilat­eral talks with his Myan­mar coun­ter­part, Wunna Maung Lwin, wherein he asserted Thailand’s gov­ern­ment pol­icy to strengthen bilat­eral ties with neigh­bor­ing countries.

Through exchange vis­its of senior offi­cials, coop­er­a­tion in the crack­down of illicit drugs, reg­is­tra­tion of Myan­mar work­ers in Thai­land, pre­ven­tion of human traf­fick­ing and the con­struc­tion of a new deep-sea port in Tavoy, south­ern Myan­mar, Thai­land and Myan­mar rela­tions had con­tin­u­ously devel­oped, Mr. Surapong said.

Thai­land had vol­un­teered to host the 7th Thai-Myanmar Joint Commission.

The pos­si­bil­ity of open­ing the check­point at the Mae Sot dis­trict of Tak had been dis­cussed by Mr. Surapong and Wunna Maung Lwin and Myan­mar had agreed to inform the rel­e­vant agen­cies to con­sider the proposal.

The Thai min­is­ter hails the efforts towards demo­c­ra­tic devel­op­ment and rec­on­cil­i­a­tion in Myan­mar. Thai­land has given its sup­port for Myanmar’s chair­man­ship of ASEAN in 2014. The fore­go­ing news is sourced from MCOT. http://www.betweenonline.com/news-article/official-visit-to-myanmar-by-thai-pm-in-early-october
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Myanmar army commit crime against Shan villagers
September 25, 2011
By Between News

Why can’t the human rights con­cerns of a peo­ple be attended to by the United Nations? The retired gen­er­als who dis­re­gard the rights of the eth­nic groups should be stopped. The army that com­mits atroc­i­ties should be brought to trial.

It is dis­turb­ing news to hear peo­ple being abused, killed, raped, enslaved and sent away from their native land in this mod­ern age when peo­ples with the sense of jus­tice and free­dom can act in unity to out­law the unnec­es­sary vile treat­ment of oth­ers by a group of greedy and law­less ele­ments who are just a minority.

Are peo­ple too busy with their own com­fort­able lives? Are those respon­si­ble and those vested with pow­ers unable to act? Is the UN pow­er­less to do some­thing for these half mil­lion dis­placed suf­fer­ing people?

Is the for­eign invest­ment pledges of $20 bil­lion from resource-hungry China enough to destroy the lives of peace­ful eth­nic communities?

I know that only a few gen­er­als want the gold yet they are able to bully these quiet eth­nic com­mu­ni­ties because nobody tells them to stop.

Sad sto­ries of sep­a­rated fam­i­lies, of peo­ple being elim­i­nated just like ani­mals arouse sen­ti­ments that con­clude that all is not right with the world. World lead­ers have become more absorbed per­haps by paper work and sta­tis­tics not mak­ing the wrong right. The noble sol­dier has become more of a mer­ce­nary and rapa­cious men have become more wide­spread. The fore­go­ing news is sourced from AP.
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Burma Army plans to capture KIA’s Brigade 4 in three days
Kachin News Group: Saturday, 24 September 2011

The Burma Army’s storm-offensive against the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) in Northern Shan State is aimed at capturing the Loikang-based Brigade 4 Command in three days, said government sources.

Over 1,000 government troops of 18 battalions under Magway-based Light Infantry Division (LID) No. 88 and Meiktila-based LID No. 99 launched the offensive early Saturday morning.

Many Burmese soldiers were killed and over 60 injured in the single day of fighting, confirmed a KIA Brigade officer.

No KIA casualties were reported.
dap-ba-4The heavy fighting occurred near the four villages of Manje, Bang Hpik, Dima and Hophet as well as Loi Lem Bum Mountain, according to KIA officers.

The fighting started at 4 a.m. and continued until 8 p.m., said witnesses.

Burmese troops mainly fired mortar rounds at the KIA post in Loi Lem Bum in the evening, said a KIA Brigade officer.

Thousands of local ethnic Kachin and Shan Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) are fleeing to the China border.

However, they are being prevented entry by Chinese People’s Liberation Army soldiers and Border Guard Force troops in Manghai, opposite the Burmese border town of Mongkoe, said IDPs. http://kachinnews.com/news/2066-burma-army-plans-to-capture-kias-brigade-4-in-three-days.html
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Burma Army launches storm-offensive to KIA
Created on Saturday, 24 September 2011 07:00
Published on Saturday, 24 September 2011 07:00
Written by KNG

The Burma Army has launched a storm-offensive with over 1,000 troops against the Kachin Independence Army (KIA)’s Brigade 4, based in Northern Shan State, in the country’s northeast, said witnesses.

The heavy fighting, with exchange of artillery, began about 4 a.m. It is happening around Loikang, under the command of Brigade 4, near Kutkai, said a KIA officer in the brigade.

According to brigade officers, the battle is happening now at Huphet, Manje, Mung Hkawm, Bang Hpik and Dima.

KIA troops of Battalion 2, Battalion 8 and Battalion 9 are resisting the government’s offensive by two Light Infantry Divisions—LID No. 88 and No. 99, which include over 15 battalions.

KIA's Brigade 4 Command
The government offensive was commanded by Lt-Gen Aung Than Htut, Commander of Burma Army’s Bureau of Special Operations-2 (BSO-2), said KIA officers.

The government troops are firing mortars into the villages in the fighting area. Two mortar rounds landed in Dima this morning but casualties are not reported yet, said villagers.

A KIA officer said, “It is the largest troop movement against the KIA since the civil war started on June 9.”

He added, the storm-offensive aims to remove the KIA from the area around the oil and gas pipelines which will cross the controlled area of Brigade 4 in Northern Shan State, said KIA officers.

All civilians in the war zone are being told to leave their villages by the KIA, sources in the area said.

Suddenly, large numbers of refugees (Internally Displaced Persons) are fleeing from the war zone to safe areas and the China border, said witnesses.

China is strictly refusing entry to Burma’s ethnic refugees (IDPs) who are seeking to cross its border, said witnesses.

Over 100 Chinese People’s Liberation Army soldiers and over 80 Border Guard Force troops have jointly blocked Burmese IDPs from crossing into Chinese territory at the Chinese Manghai border gate, opposite Mongkoe, said Mongkoe residents.

Chinese citizens in Mongkoe and other places in Shan State are allowed to return to their homeland, said witnesses.

Currently, over 20,000 Kachin IDPs are seeking shelter at the KIA headquarters at Laiza and other areas close to China.

China is also blocking the delivery of food, emergency shelter and medicines from China for the Kachin IDPs, said refugee aid groups. http://www.kachinnews.com/news/2065-burma-army-launches-storm-offensive-to-kia.html
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