News & Articles on Burma-Wednesday, 07 September, 2011-UZL

News & Articles on Burma
Wednesday, 07 September, 2011
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Two USDP Leaders Meet Wa Delegation
Govt. Blames KIO Demands for Lack of Peace
Is Burma’s HR Commission just another empty promise?
Journal Punished after Publishing Suu Kyi Interview
Cement Firms Seizing Land in Mon State
US Special Envoy to Make First Trip to Burma
China Pushes Ahead on Controversial Burma Pipelines
UN Burma Report Sees Opportunities, Calls For Action
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Two USDP Leaders Meet Wa Delegation
By WAI MOE Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Two leaders of the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) held talks with the United Wa State Army (UWSA) on Tuesday in Keng Tung, eastern Shan State, while First Vice President ex-Gen Tin Aung Myint Oo was visiting the area.

The talks are the first between Naypyidaw and Panghsang, headquarters of Burma's largest ethnic armed group, since Thein Sein’s USDP government came into power on March 30.

According to sources close to the UWSA, ex-Col Aung Thaung and ex-Brig-Gen Thein Zaw, secretaries of the USDP, went to the town by the Burmese-Thai border as President Thein Sein’s “special liaisons.” The town is also headquarters of the Triangle Regional Military Command.

The UWSA delegation was led by Bao You Liang, brother of Wa leader Bao Youxiang, and traveled to Keng Tung with senior members including Zhou Guang and Le Zuliang.

Bao You Liang is in charge of Wa financial and economic affairs while Zhou Guang handles foreign relationships and Le Zuliang is information officer.

Both the government and UWSA have kept quiet on the topics discussed at the Keng Tung meeting. However, a source who spoke on condition of anonymity said talks were related to Naypyidaw’s recent letter to the UWSA and its close ally the National Democratic Alliance Army (NDAA), also known as the Mongla group.

Khuensai Jaiyen, the editor of Chiang Mai-based Shan Herald Agency for News, said the letters regard possible peace talks and aim to resolve any problems between Naypyidaw and the ethnic groups.

Referring to a local source, the Shan Herald Agency for News reported that the Wa leadership saw the letter as “a big disappointment.”

The UWSA, NDAA and most other ceasefire groups have had a tense relationship with the regime in Naypyidaw following their refusal to adopt the government's Border Guard Force (BGF) proposal. Ethnic groups believe the plan involves disarming before a viable political solution has been found.

Meanwhile, Tin Aung Myint Oo is visiting Shan State this week for a meeting with a Pa-O ethnic group in Hopong which has agreed to join the BGF plan, according to a state-run newspaper The New Light of Myanmar.

“Local people are now enjoying the fruits of peace and stability [and the] prevalence of law and order. As such, they can peacefully undertake tasks for improvement of individual livelihoods,” Tin Aung Myint Oo was quoted as telling onlookers in Hopong, Shan State.

Repeating President Thein Sein’s words, Tin Aung Myint Oo added: “The president invites persons and organizations with different views at every opportune time to cooperate in serving the common interest that can benefit the state.”

While Naypyidaw attempts fresh talks with the UWSA, which retains close ties to Beijing, the regime is simultaneously launching military assaults and using psychological warfare against another key ethnic armed group of the Kachin Independence Army (KIA).

On Tuesday, state media reported that fighting between pro and anti-peace Kachin factions at a meeting in the KIA’s headquarters of Laiza left one person dead and a group leader injured.

However, KIA officials and local sources denied the report and said it was simply a government propaganda attempt.

Officials of the Northern Regional Military Command even contacted KIA leaders to invite them to attend government hospitals for treatment, claim Kachin sources.

“[Government military officials] knew the incident did not occur, but they still asked us as if there had been a big conflict. It was just the government’s psychological warfare,” said an official at the KIA War Office, adding that skirmishes between the KIA and government troops have increased in recent weeks.

“Historically, the former regime of the Burmese Socialist Programme Party did this kind of psychological propaganda warfare against the then biggest armed group of the Communist Party of Burma by running misreporting in state-run newspapers,” said Aung Kyaw Zaw, a Sino-Burmese border-based military observer who is close to ethnic groups.

The Burma Army has been facing resistance from KIA troops while it attempts to force another round-up for the BGF, with many government casualties reported since June. http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=22035
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Govt. Blames KIO Demands for Lack of Peace
By KO HTWE Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Minster of Information Kyaw San has blamed the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) for the lack of success in reaching a ceasefire agreement between the ethnic armed group and Burmese government.

He told a meeting of the Burmese Parliament's Lower House on Tuesday that KIO leaders have been making unreasonable demands despite “proper concessions” offered by Naypyidaw.

Referring to recent peace talks with the KIO, he said that “the state agreed to the wishes of the KIO as much as possible, but peace was impossible due to one-sided proposals of the armed group,” according to state-run newspaper The New Light of Myanmar.

His response came after Nan Wah Nu, MP for Kunhing Constituency in Shan State, asked the Lower House how the government intends to carry out plans for national reconciliation and internal peace.

“Similarly, looking back at some peace talks held in the past, armed groups take advantage of government ceasefires by extending their territory by force, extortion and speeding up anti-peace campaigns. That was why peace talks have failed to realize their goal,” said Kyaw San. “Some armed groups pretend to have peace talks in order to relieve their military and political problems in the short term.”

Kyaw San also said that Hluttaw representatives, including Nan Wah Nu, should not only urge the government to find peace but also advise armed groups to take the right stance and hold honest negotiations.

“Due to a lack of genuine will, we could not reach an agreement. The peace-making process relies to some extent on the true aspiration for peace and correct stance,” said Kyaw San.

But it appears that this was not everything the Burmese minister for information had to say on the issue.

“Some of Kyaw San words which insulted ethnic groups did not appear in the newspapers. That made me annoyed,” said a Lower House MP on condition of anonymity.

KIO Joint-Secretary La Nan told The Irrawaddy that he does not know what demands the government have acceded to and wants them to divulge the facts in detail.

“We have not taken any devious steps. After the fighting in June, we have consistently demanded a lasting peace to enable nationwide talks,” said La Nan.

He also denied the claim that the KIO's military wing, the Kachin Independence Army, conducted any campaign to extend their territory.

“As a minister, Kyaw San is making baseless remarks that can only damage the dignity of his position,” said La Nan.

The government is trying to arrange a new ceasefire agreement based on the undemocratic 2008 constitution. Under the plan, the only legitimate armed group would be the Burmese Army, or “Tatmataw,” and all other armed groups would exist under a Border Guard Force.

The KIO is trying to arrange a ceasefire agreement under the 1947 Panglong agreement and to arrange political dialogue through the United Nationalities Federal Council. The umbrella group represents 12 ethnic armies but the government accuses them of being one-sided and uncooperative.

Kyaw San also accused the KIO of destroying the 1994 ceasefire agreement with the Burmese government during a recent tearful press conference. http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=22034
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Is Burma’s HR Commission just another empty promise?
By Zin Linn Sep 07, 2011 3:55PM UTC

The Burmese government media announced Tuesday it has established a National Human Rights Commission to look into human rights violations

The New Light of Burma reported on September 5 that the 15-member commission is made up of diplomats, academics and former government officials, all of them are retired.

The committee was formed following the United Nations Human Rights Envoy to Burma Tomas Ojea Quintana’s visit last month. However, the government said it had already set up the commission before Quintana arrived. Quintana was allowed for the first time to visit prisoners at the notorious Insein Prison and meet with Burma’s Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.

In an interview with VOA’s Burmese service, Quintana said he welcomes the decision to establish the commission, but he also said that the commission must have independence and neutrality.

After a four-day tour of the country, Quintana said in a statement dated August 25 that he welcomed a number of initiatives by the nominally civilian government to improve a human rights record that Western leaders have strongly criticized and the United States has called abysmal.

He also mentioned ongoing charges of torture and other human rights abuses during his official interviews, as well as the use of prisoners as porters for the armed-forces, and the transfer of prisoners to far-flung prisons where their families cannot visit due to difficult communication.

Human rights groups have repeatedly condemned the situation in Burma, which still holds more than 2,000 political prisoners. They say they will wait and see if the commission is effective.

The State-media said the Myanmar National Human Rights Commission was formed with the following persons with a view to promoting and safeguarding fundamental rights of citizens described in the constitution of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar. The commission members are as follow:

(1) U Win Mra, Ambassador (Retd),Chairman; (2) U Kyaw Tint Swe, Ambassador (Retd), Vice-Chairman; (3) U Tun Aung Chein, Professor (Retd), Department of History, Member; (4) U Hla Myint, Ambassador (Retd), Member; (5) U Than Swe, Director-General (Retd), Forest Department, Member; (6) Dr Nyan Zaw,State Medical Officer (Retd), Member; (7) Dr Daw Than New, Professor (Retd), Department of Law, Member; (8) Daw Saw Khin Kyi, Professor (Retd), Department of International Relations, Member; (9) U Tin Nyo, Director-General (Retd), Basic Education Department, Member; (10) U Kwa Htiyo, State Law Officer (Retd), Member; (11) U Khin Maung Lay, Director (Retd), Labour Department, Member; (12) U Lapai Zawgun, Minister Counsellor (Retd), Member; (13) U Nyunt Swe, Deputy Director-General (Retd), Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Member; (14) Daw San San, Director (Retd), Labour Department,Member; (15) U Sit Myaing, Director-General (Retd), Social Welfare Department, Secretary.

Burma government representatives continue to deny any human rights violations, in direct contradiction to the facts on the ground. So, there remains serious doubt whether the newly formed government commission will deal with the facts and take action against human rights abuses in line with the laws. http://asiancorrespondent.com/64400/will-burma%E2%80%99s-national-human-rights-commission-stand-on-its-own-feet-independently/
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Journal Punished after Publishing Suu Kyi Interview
By BA KAUNG Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Burma's press censorship board has punished a Rangoon-based journal for violating the country's draconian media laws—apparently for publishing an interview with Aung San Suu Kyi and putting a large photograph of the pro-democracy leader on its front page.

Earlier this week, the weekly journal Messenger became the first local publication to receive permission to run an interview with Suu Kyi. The journal's latest issue quickly sold out because of the interview, according to local journalists.

However, on Wednesday, the Press Scrutiny and Registration Division (PSRD), Burma's state censorship board, informed the journal's editors that they would not be permitted to publish a regular supplement in the next issue of the journal because they had violated censorship rules.

The PSRD did not specify which rules had been broken, but local journalists said it appeared to be related to the large photograph of Suu Kyi on the front cover.

The supplement, which usually contains more up-to-date information than the journal itself, is important for generating sales.

The move comes amid a recent relaxation of control over media coverage of Suu Kyi, seen as part of the new, nominally civilian government's effort to reach out to the democratic opposition in a bid to win greater international recognition.

This week, the PSRD permitted another weekly, The People's Era, to publish an article written by Suu Kyi about her trip to the ancient Burmese capital of Pagan in July.

Journalists have also been allowed to attend recent parliamentary sessions in Napyidaw, albeit on the condition that they avoid reporting in a manner damaging to the “dignity of the Parliament and the State.”

Despite such signs that the government is opening up to greater public scrutiny, however, it continues to detain a number of reporters accused of working for exiled media outlets. http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=22031&page=2
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Cement Firms Seizing Land in Mon State
By LAWI WENG Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Villagers in Mon State have reported to The Irrawaddy that their rice paddies and rubber plantations were seized by a powerful cement company, which compensated them with a small fraction of the land value.

The land confiscations took place in January and February in and around the villages of Kaw-Pa-Naw and Kaw-Don in Kyaikmayaw Township in eastern Mon State. About 600 acres of paddy and 140 acres of rubber plantation were appropriated by John Cement Company, the villagers said.

Burma’s state-run media reported on Sept. 4, that John Cement Company and another private firm, BAC Phili Trading Company, had been granted concessions by the government to open two cement-making plants, each with a 1,000-ton daily capacity, in the Kyaikmayaw region.

According to Nai Aue Mon, a coordinator at the Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM), John Cement is a subsidiary of Zaykabar, the country's leading property developer, which is owned by powerful Burmese tycoon and military crony Khin Shwe.

The villagers said that representatives of John Cement offered payments of only 15,000 kyat (US $20) per acre for fallow land, and 150,000 kyat ($200) per acre for rice paddies.

Speaking toThe Irrawaddy by telephone from Kaw-Don village, one of the victims of the scheme, Nai Sein, said, “We can grow two harvests on our land—one season for rice and one for beans. I can sell the arable land for 700,000 kyat ($965) per acre, but they will only give me 150,000 kyat.”

A woman in Kaw-Don who did not want to be named said that about 10 percent of people in the village refused to accept financial compensation for their land.

She said the company representatives responded to those villagers by saying, “If you do not want the money—it's up to you.”

The villagers complained that there existed no mechanism for complaining about the land seizures, but several said that even those who accepted the compensation still wanted to contest the land appropriation.

According to HURFOM, which is based in Thailand, the two cement companies earlier this year measured out and demarcated hundreds of acres of land in Kaw-Don, Kaw-Pa-Naw and Ni Don villages for cement production.

It said the firms had conducted surveys and taken soil samples from the area.

At the end of 2010, the Zaykabar Company confiscated 800 acres of land in Ni Don, which is also in Kyaikmayaw Township, to build a cement plant. The company invariably paid low rates of compensation to the victims of land appropriation in Ni Don, according to HURFOM.

With regard to rubber plantations, the companies have set rates at: owners of plantations which have been in production for up to three years receive 800,000 kyat ($1,100) per acre; those that have produced rubber for up to seven years get two million kyat ($2,750) per acre.

“We can sell one acre of rubber plantation with seven years' growth for as much as 10 million kyat ($13,800),” said Nai Shwe, a villager in Kaw-Pa-Naw.

About 460 rubber plantation owners in Kaw-Pa-Naw and Kaw-Don signed a petition which was sent earlier this year to the government in Naypyidaw and to the Southeast Military Regional Command in Moulmein.

According to the villagers, there are 2,700 acres of rubber plantation in Kaw-Pa-Naw and Kaw-Don villages. However, 140 acres have been seized since they sent the petition.

An ethnic Mon Buddhist monk in Kaw-Pa-Naw said, “The companies will take more and more land to meet their plans. But they will not take all the land at once, because the authorities are worried about an uprising.”

Meanwhile, rumors are rife that BAC Phili Trading Company plans to open another cement-making plant in nearby Kwan Ngarm village.

“They come and measure the land every day,” said villager Nai Win. “We heard that they are going to take about 1,000 acres of land.

“I will probably find out within the next two days if my rubber plantation will be confiscated,” he said.

“We have nothing left for our livelihoods,” he said. “We don't know what to do or where to go.

“Our lives will likely end with us working here as slaves for these companies,” he said. http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=22032
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US Special Envoy to Make First Trip to Burma
By LALIT K JHA Wednesday, September 7, 2011

The US special representative and policy coordinator for Burma, Derek Mitchell, will begin his first trip to Burma on September 9. During the visit he will meet top government and opposition leaders, including Aung San Suu Kyi, the US State Department announced Tuesday.

“His trip is intended to build upon US dialogue and engagement toward shared goals of genuine reform, reconciliation and development for the Burmese people,” the State Department said on the eve of his departure.

Mitchell is scheduled to leave Washington on Wednesday (US time) to begin his nearly week-long trip.

“During his trip, he looks forward to meeting with a full spectrum of Burmese society, including government officials, members of political parties, local civil society organizations and others,” the State Department said.

Mitchell will attend meetings in Burma’s capital of Naypyidaw on Sept. 9-10 and then in Rangoon from Sept. 10-14. He plans to consult with officials in Bangkok on Sept. 14-15 and Jakarta on Sept. 16-17.

His visit comes a few weeks after the nominally-civilian government in Naypyidaw showed signs that it wants to reach out to critics and improve relations with the international community. Last month, Suu Kyi had a meeting with President Thein Sein in Naypyidaw, which Suu Kyi later described as encouraging.

The US welcomed these developments, but said that it will judge the situation in Burma by the steps the government takes “to open democratic space,” and not by mere talks.

Meanwhile, officials at the UN headquarters in New York said there is no immediate plan to appoint a UN Special Representative on Burma. The post has been vacant since January 20010, and in the interim the position is being occupied by Vijay Nambiar.

UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon is scheduled to hold a meeting of his Group of Friends in Burma later this month during the annual session of the General Assembly. http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=22030
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China Pushes Ahead on Controversial Burma Pipelines
by Rachel Cernansky, Boulder, Colorado on 09. 6.11
Business & Politics

A report released today criticizes China's plans for two pipelines that will pump natural gas from Burma's offshore reserves, and oil from the Middle East and Africa, both across the country and into China. The pipelines will not only fuel conflict, the report says, but will wipe out hope for one of the world's poorest countries to benefit from the resources, as well as jeopardize the fishing and farming livelihoods of the people who live near the gas terminal.

The report, Sold Out, is put out by the Shwe Gas Movement, which was started by Burmese individuals and organizations affected by the pipeline and extraction plan.

Sold Out details the construction of a deep sea port, gas terminal, and oil transfer point in Burma's western Arakan State, as well as the nearly 800 kilometers of pipes that will be installed. The China National Petroleum Corporation, along with Korean and Burmese companies, are pushing ahead on construction despite outbreaks of armed conflict near the pipeline route, according to the Shwe Gas Movement, which continues:

The Burma Army has launched offensives to clear ethnic resistance forces out of resource-rich areas in northern Kachin and Shan states since March 2011. The battles have left an estimated 50,000 newly displaced.

Thirty-three army battalions are currently deployed along the pipeline corridor, naval patrols guard offshore construction, and a missile complex is being built next to the deep sea port.

Selling Out the Country's Future
The report says that the trillions of cubic feet of natural gas that will be extracted, if used domestically, could "transform Burma's failing economy, addressing chronic energy shortages and unaffordable petrol prices that led to uprisings in 2007."

Instead, the estimated $29 billion worth of gas will be piped across the country to China, "swallowed up by a fiscal black hole that omits gas revenues from the national budget," and fueling additional conflict along the way as fighting picks up between armed resistance groups and government troops near the pipeline corridor in northern Burma.

It adds that local people are only able to secure low-wage, temporary, and unsafe jobs on the project and that 60 workers so far have been fired for demanding better wages at the Onshore Gas Terminal site.

"Companies are ignoring widespread abuses and worsening civil war," said Wong Aung of the Shwe Gas Movement. "The regime is selling out our economic future to China." http://www.treehugger.com/files/2011/09/china-pushes-ahead-controversial-burma-pipelines.php
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UN Burma Report Sees Opportunities, Calls For Action
Posted Wednesday, September 7th, 2011 at 12:30 am

The U.N. secretary general says this year's change of government in Burma has created opportunities for a more inclusive national discourse in the country, but adds that it is too early to say whether real change is occurring.

In a report to the United Nations General Assembly this week, Ban Ki-moon says last November's elections, while flawed, and disappointing to many participants, have allowed a resumption of legal political activity after almost five decades of military rule.

Mr. Ban welcomes promises of reform from Burma's President Thein Sein, but says the real test will be whether they are implemented in a timely manner. He also notes the release from prison of pro-democracy campaigner Aung San Suu Kyi and her ability now to engage in public activities. He warns that any restrictions on her movements would “cause serious concern.”

Mr. Ban says in his human rights report on Burma that the detention of political prisoners is “of deepest concern” to the United Nations and the international community. He says their continued imprisonment will undermine all efforts by the new government to win the confidence of other countries.

In conclusion, the secretary general says it is still to be seen whether the Burmese government has the capacity and will to deliver on its reform agenda. He says he is ready to explore with Burma and its international partners how the U.N. can help to bring about effective reform. http://blogs.voanews.com/breaking-news/2011/09/07/un-burma-report-sees-opportunities-calls-for-action/
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