News & Articles on Burma Friday, 28 October 2011 ---------------------------------------- Burma Plays the Asean Card Yawdserk: Ceasefire with one must be ceasefire with others 23 govt soldiers killed by KIA during fighting in three areas Hampstead actress Emma Thompson meets Aung San Suu Kyi in Burma Political Prisoners Are Burma's Unsung Heroes Rome Film Festival Opens With Suu Kyi Biopic Suu Kyi, Zarganar to host film festival Large-scale gold mining on rivers to be shut down; panning ok Amended party registration law opens way for NLD to re-register Thailand 'protecting migrants' as water rises Myanmar police charge 7 for staging land protest 9 Burmese soldiers killed on Myitkyina-Sumprabum Road ----------------------------------------- Burma Plays the Asean Card By LARRY JAGAN Friday, October 28, 2011 BANGKOK --- Indonesia's Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa has arrived in Burma on the start of a three-day visit ahead of next month's Asean summit in Bali where the 2014 chairmanship of the regional bloc is expected be decided. Natalegawa is going to see what political progress has been made and whether the country will be able to host the three major annual meetings associated with the chairmanship, said a senior diplomat on condition of anonymity. At these meetings, the bloc's foreign partners including the EU and the US will participate, and it is feared they may boycott if summits are hosted by Burma---many of whose leaders appear on Western sanctions lists. Natalegawa will meet Burmese President Thein Sein and other senior ministers while in the capital Naypyidaw. He is also scheduled to meet the powerful speaker of the Lower House, Shwe Mann, as well as the vice-president and the speaker of the Upper House. He is also scheduled to meet representatives of the various political parties, including pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, before he leaves the country on Sunday afternoon. The Indonesian foreign minister recently said he wanted to get a detailed "snapshot" of developments in Burma. As part of that mission he is scheduled to meet members of the business community and civic society, notably including Burma's recently formed human rights' commission. In Rangoon he will meet several groups of businessmen and representatives of NGOs with a view to learning more about developments in agriculture, education, health and youth affairs, said a senior Indonesian diplomat. "He [the foreign minister] is also keen to learn more about the country's efforts to end the ethnic conflict," he said. The most important meeting may yet prove to be with Suu Kyi. Her views may influence whether Indonesia pushes for Burma to be given the Asean chairmanship in 2014. The fact that Natalegawa has insisted on meeting The Lady is significant in itself. The Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra declined to do so on her recent visit to Burma---reportedly because former junta chief Snr-Gen Than Shwe, a close partner of her brother's when he was the Thai premier, refused to sanction a meeting. Thailand's former premier, Democrat Abhisit Vejjajiva---while he was the chair of Asean in 2009---was refused permission to visit Burma because he insisted on meeting Aung San Suu Kyi who was then under house arrest. When he did visit Burma a year later---no longer as head of the bloc---he dropped that condition. However, he became the second Asean leader to speak to Suu Kyi last year after she was freed from house arrest. The Indonesian foreign minister's visit is crucially important to Burma, as its leaders appear anxious to be given the Asean chairmanship as soon as possible---2014 being the first vacancy. Since his appointment as president, Thein Sein has been pushing for the chairmanship, and was disappointed---according to senior Burmese diplomats---that the Asean summit in Jakarta earlier this year deferred the decision. "Thein Sein is looking toward Asean both diplomatically and economically," a former senior Burmese diplomat told The Irrawaddy on condition of anonymity. The US special envoy for Burma, Derek Mitchell, made an unannounced visit to the country earlier this week. He met senior government officials in Naypyidaw on Monday and Aung San Suu Kyi on Tuesday morning for around 90 minutes. He then flew back to Washington, only stopping in Bangkok to change planes. He did not, as reported, earlier return via Jakarta. US views on Burma's chairmanship may determine whether Naypyidaw is appointed for 2014, the Asean Secretary General Surin Pitsuwan told The Irrawaddy in Jakarta earlier this year. If Washington were to boycott the summits because they were held in Naypyidaw, this would be a major slap in the face for the bloc---especially as it prepares to launch its regional economic zone in 2015. http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=22342 ----------------------------------------------------- Yawdserk: Ceasefire with one must be ceasefire with others Friday, 28 October 2011 15:46 Stephen Perraud / Hseng Khio Fah Lt-Gen Yawdserk of the Restoration Council of Shan State/Shan State Army (RCSS/SSA), generally known as SSA South says ceasefire with Shan State Army (SSA) South, should also be ceasefire with SSA North, which will bolster mutual confidence and lead the way to peaceful resolution of the country's woes. Stop fighting only in our RCSS controlled areas, but continue in SSPP's areas is cannot be accepted, Yawdserk said. Now both RCSS and SSPP are preparing to meet Burma movement for peace talks. The core of its planned proposition would be "political problems should be resolved by political means. But before holding political talks, fighting must be stop first. "As we had declared in May there is only one SSA. Therefore, if RCSS negotiates with the Burma government it means it is representing the SSPP. We both represent each other," he said. He however conceded that when it came to political negotiations, the two might choose to negotiate separately, as the SSA North is part of the 12 member alliance known as the United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC). http://shanland.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4150:yawdserk-ceasefire-with-one-must-be-ceasefire-with-others&catid=85:politics&Itemid=266 ----------------------------------------- 23 govt soldiers killed by KIA during fighting in three areas Created on Friday, 28 October 2011 08:29 Published on Friday, 28 October 2011 08:29 Written by KNG A civilian fighter of Kachin People's Army under KIA. At least 23 government soldiers were killed and more than 22 were injured during fighting in three different locations on Thursday, in Kachin State, said witnesses. Sixteen were killed and more than 22 injured during an ambush by the Kachin People's Army Thursday afternoon in southern Kachin State, local people said. At least three military horses were also killed, said witnesses. A government military column was ambushed near Ja Ing Yang, on the road to Sinbo, according to local witnesses. It was largest loss of Burmese troops this week in that area, said local people. The ambush was carried out by civilian fighters under the Kachin Independence Army, KIA officers at the Laiza headquarters confirmed. Three Burmese soldiers from the Sarhmaw-based Infantry Battalion No. 105, from the Kai Htik Post on the Manmaw (Bhamo)-Kai Htik-Nam Hkam Road were killed in the quick attack by the KIA's Battalion 1, said witnesses. Burmese soldiers responded by firing mortars at the KIA for an hour. A Kachin soldier received minor injuries, according to a KIA officer. Four Burmese soldiers from the Dawhpumyang-based Infantry Battalion No. 142 were ambushed and killed by KIA troops from Battalion 24, when government troops tried to transport rations to the frontline near Dawhpunyang, from Num Lang Village, said witnesses. The fighting continued on Friday as Burmese troops continued to fire 120 mm mortar rounds at the KIA positions, said local people. According to KIA officers, over 6,000 government troops are now deployed around the headquarters but cannot overrun Laiza because of KIA resistance. http://www.kachinnews.com/news/2121-23-govt-soldiers-killed-by-kia-during-fighting-in-three-areas.html --------------------------------------- Hampstead actress Emma Thompson meets Aung San Suu Kyi in Burma By Josh Pettitt, Reporter Friday, October 28, 2011 11:00 AM Hampstead actress Emma Thompson is campaigning to raise human rights awareness in Burma after meeting newly-liberated pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. The Oscar-winning actress spoke to the democracy leader almost a year after she was freed from 15 years of house arrest. Thompson, who has campaigned for human rights in the Middle East in the past, travelled to Burma this month with her adopted son Tindy, as the country finally begins to relax its censorship laws and release political prisoners She said: "Meeting Aung San Suu Kyi was a remarkable experience. She's an extraordinary woman and with a resilient, wise, witty, dignity. "Fascinated by the arts, we talked a lot about films and books and, very perspicacious as you might imagine, about the political movement in her country, what's really happening -- very cautious but optimistic." She continued: "The phrase she used to me about what was happening now was 'it is very important that we do not proceed with indecent haste'. And I thought that was incredibly telling, redolent and right." Burma has had a military-led government since 1962. But recent elections and the appointment of a new president have seen the release of some political prisoners, the easing of censorship, and a greater sense of hope for the future. Thompson was in the country as an ambassador for Action Aid, a charity working to help women and young people in some of the country's poorest communities. http://www.hamhigh.co.uk/news/hampstead_actress_emma_thompson_meets_aung_san_suu_kyi_in_burma_1_1108641 --------------------------------------- Political Prisoners Are Burma's Unsung Heroes By Christian Papesch/IPS NEW YORK, Oct 27, 2011 (IPS) - In a move that highlighted its sub-par human rights record, the government of Burma announced Oct. 11 that it would release 6,359 prisoners, but how many of these will be drawn from the country's estimated 500 to over 2,000 political prisoners remains uncertain. The following day, Burma, officially known as the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, set free the first 200 prisoners. Among them was comedian and activist Zarganar, who was arrested in June 2008 for speaking to foreign media about the precarious situation of millions of Burmese left homeless in the Irrawaddy delta following a devastating cyclone. Five months later, Zarganar had been sentenced to 59 years in prison for public order offences. Even though international activists and organisations such as New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) generally appreciated the initial wave of releases, they remain critical about the actual reach of the announcement. "It is a positive step in terms of those individuals and their families, but in terms of bigger amnesties they should really release all prisoners unconditionally," Elaine Pearson, deputy director of HRW's Asia division, told IPS. "It is really quite a small step forward. These people are not bargaining chips or hostages for the military to play with. They're people who have been unjustly imprisoned." "Into the Current", a documentary by Bangkok-based American filmmaker Jeanne Marie Hallacy, portrays some of those prisoners and gives an overview of the political and social situation in Burma, a country that was under military rule from 1962 to 2011. "The most challenging aspect of the film was that we knew that we had to rely upon memory," the director said in an interview with IPS. "It was really challenging for us to find a way that we could be provocative and evoke the kind of deep emotion and passion that people experienced in prison without having visual evidence of what they actually experienced," she explained. But this lack of visual imagery also lends itself to the oppressive and alarming atmosphere of "Into the Current". By relying on statements made by former prisoners, the political terror of an oppressing regime acquires a face, a voice and a destiny. One of the thousands of prisoners who endured the cruelty of Burma's jails is Thet Moo, imprisoned for seven years for being a member of the All Burma Federation of Student Unions (ABFSU), which helped organise the 1988 pro-democracy national uprising that was violently suppressed by the military junta. In prison, "we don't know our future," Moo told IPS. "I don't know if I can get out alive or not." Not only are mental and physical punishment the order of the day for the majority of prisoners, but filmmakers like Hallacy along with journalists supporting her work in Burma also face serious daily threats. "Working inside the country is extremely difficult for journalists and media," the director, who has not been granted a Burmese visa since the late 1990s, said. "We have seen Burmese journalists who have been sentenced for 65 years for one story. And we have gotten corroborated information that they have been tortured in order to have them spill out other information about their colleagues in this underground network of media who gather information." For this reason, a lot of the material used in the film is old footage shot by Hallacy during the 1990s, secretly filmed recordings or personal statements and objects -- portraits of families, letters to friends or a song sung by a prisoner himself. "People respond to stories of individual human beings -- people who are fathers or mothers or have sisters or brothers who are in prison," Hallacy said. "They're numbed by numbers," she elaborated. "If you cite a statistic, it's meaningless to most people. But if you try to bring into focus a few of these heroes and heroines and their acts of courage it speaks on behalf of the whole." The broader image that "Into the Current" draws of Burma is a negative one, but the film's message is not completely pessimistic. At the end, protagonist Bo Kyi, a former political prisoner who is currently in exile in Thailand, finally gets to see his wife and little daughter again. Even though their family cannot yet lead a normal life in Burma, hope for a better Burma does exist, especially after last year's election of a new government. "The problem of the new government is that their bureaucracy is very slow," Thet Moo explained. "We are waiting for them to change. If they are changing, everybody would want to return to Burma." For Pearson, the second largest country in Southeast Asia still has a very long way to go. "Burma has one of the most desperate human rights situations in the world," she said. "We haven't seen the new government really putting in the effort to effect change in the country." The great white hope of Burma -- and one of the characters to which the film repeatedly refers -- is Aung San Suu Kyi, Burmese opposition politician and 1991 winner of the Nobel Peace Price "for her non-violent struggle for democracy and human rights". "The message of the film was to convey that non-violence is their path," Hallacy pointed out. "That's what will prevail change -- not vengeance, not hatred, not retribution but actual inclusion and responding to cruelty with kindness, because that's what changes people. When you change people's hearts, you change people's politics." Aung San Suu Kyi has never been in jail, but she has been under house arrest for 15 of the last 21 years. This is one of the reasons why the politician has become a symbol of opposition against oppression for many Burmese, especially those who still remain in prison for their resistance against the governing system. "We saw the release of 200 political prisoners, there is still another 1800 that remain in prison," Pearson concluded. "These are people who have criticised the government, written controversial articles in the media, participated in demonstrations. They are not people who should be in prison. They are people who should be part of the community." (END) http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=105633 -------------------------------------- Rome Film Festival Opens With Suu Kyi Biopic VOA: Posted Thursday, October 27th, 2011 at 5:55 pm A movie about the life of Burma's opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi opened the international film festival in Rome Thursday. French director Luc Besson arrived at the opening of the film titled "The Lady" with actress Michele Yeoh who portrayed the Burmese pro-democracy icon. The Hong Kong-based actress began her career in martial arts films. Aung San Suu Kyi did not attend the festival, but she issued a statement for the occasion. She said "concepts such as truth, justice and solidarity cannot be cast off when these are often the only bastions that stand between us and the brutality of power." The Nobel Prize laureate was released last November after spending about 14 of the last 20 years in detention. The film, shown out of competition, focuses on her private life rather than politics. British actor Daniel Thewelis plays Aung San Suu Kyi's husband Michael Aris. The 15 works competing for the Marcus Aurelius prize will be presented from Friday until November 4. Among works competing for prizes are U.S. director Tanya Wexler's "Hysteria" about the invention of the vibrator in Victorian England; "Hotel Lux'' by German director Leander Haussmann; and psycho-thriller "Babycall" by Norwegian director Pal Sletaune. Hollywood star Richard Gere will receive an acting award. The festival will conclude with a screening of a restored classic movie "Breakfast at Tiffany's" to mark its 50th anniversary. http://blogs.voanews.com/breaking-news/2011/10/27/rome-film-festival-opens-with-suu-kyi-biopic/ --------------------------------------- Suu Kyi, Zarganar to host film festival By THUREIN SOE Published: 28 October 2011 Burma's independence day in January next year will be marked with the launch of a film festival organised by two of the country's leading pro-democracy luminaries, opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and comedian Zarganar. Billed as the Art of Freedom Film Festival, it will open on 31 December and showcase both short films and documentaries. Suu Kyi is due to present awards to the festival's winners on Independence Day on 4 January. "The main theme is the idea that art can be created only when there is freedom, and film makers are to define freedom in their piece in whichever way they see it," Zarganar, who was recently released from prison, told DVB. He added that a number of entries were also likely to focus on the day Burma achieved independence after nearly a century of British rule. "Our main focus is about freedom and it doesn't matter if they talk about history or not," he said. Also helping to organise the festival is former award-winning Burmese actor and director Kyaw Thu, whom since being banished from the film world has headed the highly-praised Free Funeral Service Society. The three will be joined by fellow film director Min Htin Ko Ko Gyi. Zarganar, who served three years of a 35-year sentence after criticising the Burmese government's woeful response to Cyclone Nargis in 2008, said he will be entering his own film focusing on the life of Thiri Thudhamma Khin Kyi, the wife of Burmese independence hero General Aung San and mother of Suu Kyi. Suu Kyi herself is the subject of French director Luc Besson's latest offering, The Lady, which stars Michelle Yeoh and which yesterday opened the Rome film festival. http://www.dvb.no/news/suu-kyi-zarganar-to-host-film-festival/18434 --------------------------------------- Large-scale gold mining on rivers to be shut down; panning ok Friday, 28 October 2011 14:02 Min Thet Rangoon (Mizzima) -- Small-scale panning for gold will be allowed on Burma's rivers and streams, but permits for large-scale mining will not be renewed when they expire in one year, according to the Directorate of Water Resources and Improvement of River System (DWRIRS). A woman gold miner pans for gold using one of the oldest traditional methods. Photo: Mizzima A woman gold miner pans for gold using one of the oldest traditional methods. Photo: Mizzima "The lifetime of gold mining permits is just one year. In the past, they could renew a permit. Now, gold mining permits cannot be renewed. So, it is not allowing gold mining [in the future']," an official from Mining Enterprise No. 2 said. In the past, the government allowed three types of gold mining along the Irrawaddy and Chindwin rivers: small-scale, medium-scale and large-scale. In September, Mining Enterprise No. 2 announced that it would not allow large-scale gold mining in the rivers, streams and creeks of Burma. But, traditional small-scale panning for gold would still be allowed. "We cannot forbid people who have to rely on traditional panning for gold from doing it. As usual, there will still be people who pan for gold by using pans and sieves, but they cannot harm the river," an official from DWRIRS told Mizzima on condition of anonymity. The government banned gold mining to prevent rivers from being damaged, according to officials. Most of the companies along the Irrawaddy and Chindwin rivers operate gold mines using machinery, and their practices can cause water pollution and harm the environment. Small-scale gold miners pay 260,000 (about US$ 360) kyat per year; medium-scale gold miner pay 35 per cent of the gold discovered; and large-scale gold miners pay 50 per cent of the gold discovered as taxes to government, an official from the Ministry of Mines said on condition of anonymity. According to environmental NGOs and other groups, in 1997, the Burmese government began giving gold mining concessions to Burmese businessmen. Land was often confiscated and villagers were denied access to upland farms. Many villagers had no alternative source of livelihood so they formed small groups and sold their land to invest in machinery and obtained gold mining permits. Traditionally villagers depended on rivers and forestlands for their livelihoods and cultural practices. The local environment has been severely affected in many areas. A report by the Burma Environmental Working Group in June 2011 said gold mining operations have drained water sources, increased soil erosion, and polluted rivers with mercury and other chemicals. Mercury is highly toxic to the environment and poses serious risks to public health. The vast majority of toxic wastes from gold extraction processes is disposed of untreated directly onto land and into waterways, effectively poisoning the soil and compromising water quality. Mercury and other toxics are biomagnifying in food chains and accumulate in the tissues of living organisms, with negative effects on flora and fauna, local biodiversity and human health. http://www.mizzima.com/business/6115-large-scale-gold-mining-on-rivers-to-be-shut-down-panning-ok.html ---------------------------------------- Amended party registration law opens way for NLD to re-register Thursday, 27 October 2011 22:32 Myo Thant Chiang Mai (Mizzima) -- Burma's Lower House of Parliament in Naypyitaw on Thursday approved a draft law that amends three clauses of the Political Parties Registration Law including cancellation of the clause that restricted serving prisoners from being a member of a political party. The amended party registration law clears the way for Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy to contest candidates in the election. Photo: Mizzima The amended party registration law clears the way for Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy to contest candidates in the election. Photo: Mizzima The existing party registration law says that a political party needs to contest in at least three parliamentary seats in an election. The amended law says that clause is not related to any new party that registers after the general election. Moreover, there was a change in the wording that all political parties must "protect" the country's Constitution. It was amended to "respect" the Constitution. "There is a difference between 'protect' the Constitution and 'respect' the Constitution. We have to respect all rules of law and the Constitution," said the NLD spokesperson Nyan Win. The amended act was approved in the Upper House on October 5 and sent it to the Lower House for approval. Observers said the amendments are designed to pave the way for the main opposition party, the National League for Democracy, to re-register as a political party. The NLD decided not to re-register to run in the 2010 election, saying there were elements in the new Constitution that were undemocratic. The amended act now awaits the president's signature to become a law. Recently, Aung San Suu Kyi, the general-secretary of the National League for Democracy, said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal that her party would consider re-registration after studying the amended registration law. Both Aung San Suu Kyi and party Vice Chairman Tin Oo were under house when the former military regime announced the election and party registration law. Political parties had 60 days to comply. There were intense debates within the National League for Democracy, which would have had to oust many of its members who were imprisoned, if it wanted to re-register as a party. The decision not to re-register led to some top party leaders breaking away from the NLD to form a new political party, the National Democratic Force (NDF). The NDF won 16 parliamentary seats in the 2010 November election. http://www.mizzima.com/news/election-2010-/6114-amended-party-registration-law-opens-way-for-nld-to-re-register.html ------------------------------------------------ Thailand 'protecting migrants' as water rises By MAHN SAIMON Published: 28 October 2011 A worker from Burma carrying her son wades through floodwaters during an evacuation from a flooded market in Bangkok (Reuters) Thailand's labour minister says the government is working to ensure undocumented migrant workers can take shelter at relief centres and safely travel back to their home countries as the flooding crisis worsens. Phadoemchai Sasomsap was visiting a migrant shelter in Nakhon Pathom province, west of Bangkok, on Wednesday. His proclamation follows reports that Burmese migrants have been subject to arrest as they try to flee affected areas in central and southern Thailand. Sein Htay, spokesperson of the Thailand-based Human Rights Development Foundation, who met with Phadoemchai at the shelter, said the labour ministry would contact migrants' "respective embassies for a form confirming their national identity and to ensure they get safe passage back to Burma". "So basically this is to protect them from getting arrested during this time of distress," he said. Thailand is currently experiencing its worst flooding in 70 years, with the death toll now standing at more than 370. Prime Minister Yingluck Sinawatra said there is a 50 percent chance Bangkok city centre will be submerged as thousands attempt to flee the capital. Sein Htay said the ministry had also directed migrant employers to return legal documents to their workers and requested that the immigration department provide an extension to those whose visas are about to expire. Thai law dictates that migrant workers are forbidden from travelling outside of the areas they were registered in, but police have now been ordered not to arrest those who flee their permitted zones to escape flooding. The Nakhon Pathom province shelter currently houses around 500 migrants, the majority fromBurma, although that figure is expected to rise as more escape Bangkok. Water levels on the Chao Phraya River, which weaves through Bangkok, today reached a record high, swamping the Grand Palace. Shops are running low on supplies as people stock in lieu of weeks of chaos. Up to three million Burmese migrants live in Thailand, making up 80 percent of the country's total migrant population, which accounts for five percent of its total workforce and seven percent of the country's GDP. The majority work in low-skilled factory jobs and without the legal safety net enjoyed by Thai nationals, resulting in lengthy struggles to access compensation for injuries and lay-offs. http://www.dvb.no/news/thailand-%e2%80%98protecting-migrants%e2%80%99-as-water-rises/18443 ------------------------------------- National / World News 7:06 a.m. Friday, October 28, 2011 Myanmar police charge 7 for staging land protest The Associated Press YANGON, Myanmar --- Police in Myanmar have filed charges of unlawful assembly against seven people who staged a peaceful protest in Yangon against land confiscation. Police said Friday that those charged included labor rights lawyer Pho Phyu, who was with more than 30 farmers who staged a sit-in Thursday in front of the government housing department. They are also charged with refusing a police order to disperse. The protest came as the outside world is watching the government's commitment to democratic reforms. The United States and other Western nations are maintaining political and economic sanctions against the repressive former ruling junta. But they have indicated they would respond positively to liberalization moves, such as a mass release of political prisoners. http://www.ajc.com/news/nation-world/myanmar-police-charge-7-1211813.html ------------------------------------- 9 Burmese soldiers killed on Myitkyina-Sumprabum Road Created on Thursday, 27 October 2011 08:22 Published on Thursday, 27 October 2011 08:22 Written by KNG A KIA post based in Putao district, northern Kachin State. Nine government soldiers, including military post Commander Captain Zaw Zaw, were killed on Wednesday during an attack by the Kachin Independence Army, at a frontline post on the Myitkyina-Sumprabum Road, near Sumprabum, according to sources at the frontline. Only a sergeant escaped, according to witnesses in the attack. It's was highest number of casualties for the Burma Army in the war in northern Kachin State against KIA troops from the N'Gumla-based 1st Brigade since June, KIA officers in the brigade said. Those soldiers, based near Daru Hka River, secured the river bridge. They were from the Mung Lang Shidi (Putao)-based Infantry Battalion No. 138, said local residents. A KIA soldier was killed during the fighting, added KIA sources. The KIA seized one soldier, 3 guns, 3 Kenwood R/T, one wireless transmitter and over 1,000 bullets after the fighting, said KIA officers from the KIA's Laiza headquarters. http://kachinnews.com/news/2120-9-burmese-soldiers-killed-on-myitkyina-sumprabum-road.html __._,_.___
Saturday, October 29, 2011
Friday, October 28, 2011
News & Articles on Burma-Thursday, 27 October 2011
News & Articles on Burma Thursday, 27 October 2011 --------------------------------------- Govt Push for Peace Talks with KNU, SSA-South Amendments to Political Party Law Approved Myitsone Workers Return to China, but Beijing Still Hoping for Restart Jade or jaded? The sanctions on Burmese gems SSA outlines peace proposal Hunger strike underway in Insein prison Floods Spread to Myanmar Myanmar's release of prisoners leaves U.S. cautiously optimistic Myanmar police shut down rare protest Rangoon police disperse farmers' protest ------------------------------------------ Govt Push for Peace Talks with KNU, SSA-South By LAWI WENG Thursday, October 27, 2011 Two of Burma's main ethnic rebel groups, the Shan State Army-South (SSASouth) and the Karen National Union (KNU), are preparing to hold separate peace negotiations with a government delegation in the near future, according to sources close to the rebels. The talks will focus only on establishing Naypyidaw's plan for making peace and its sincerity to stand by any agreement, said the sources. The proposal comes at a time when government troops have launched a military offensive against Kachin rebels in northern and northeastern Burma. Before holding talks with the government delegation, the SSA-South will gather opinions from among Shan civilians and Buddhist monks, said a Shan rebel spokesman. Speaking to The Irrawaddy on Thursday, Sai Hseng Murng, the deputy spokesman of the SSASouth, said, With regard to ceasefire talks, we are going to take one more week to ask opinions and suggestions from our people. After that, we'll review the opinions before making a decision on forming a peace talk mission. Naypyidaw issued an announcement on Aug. 18 inviting all armed ethnic groups in Burma to enter into individual peace talks with the government. Sai Hseng Murng said that members of pro-government Shan militias approached the SSA-South last month carrying a proposal on behalf of the Burmese government advocating peace talks. I think the government were testing to see whether we would agree to talks, said the SSA-South spokesman. With the former government, we did not have a chance to negotiate. But we view this new government differently. The SSA-South and Burmese officials met for peace talks once before, in 2007, at the Thai-Burmese border. However, talks broke down and were never resumed. The KNU, for its part, has been fighting the Burmese army almost continuously for more than 60 years. However, Karen sources said that they were confident talks with a government delegation will go ahead though no date has yet been fixed. If they are really serious, we wish to talk with them. If they want peace, we will pursue political dialogue, said Zipporah Sein, the general secretary of the KNU. However, KNU officials maintain that they prefer to hold talks in a neighboring country, assumed by observers to mean Thailand. A source close to the KNU said that a Burmese government delegation tried to meet up with KNU officials last week in Myawaddy. A government delegation has previously met once with KNU representatives and once with the rebel New Mon State Party, though both times talks concluded without an agreement. Meanwhile, the United Wa State Army (UWSA) have deployed more troops into Wa-controlled areas on the Thai-Burmese border, according to a Shan Herald Agency for News report on Oct. 26. The Wa rebels have sent more than 30 military trucks since Sunday into Hwe Aw, the UWSA 171sts headquarters in Mongton township in southern Shan State. The military maneuver follows 171st Military Region commander Wei Xwegang saying he had received a reliable report from Burmese army sources that the SSA-South had demanded areas on the Thai-Burmese border that are currently under the control of the UWSA to be transferred to the SSA-South in exchange for peace during a recent meeting with Burmese officials. The Burmese government recently reached an agreement to uphold a two-decade-long ceasefire with the UWSA and its ally, the National Democratic Alliance Army, both of which are based in Shan State. The Irrawaddy senior reporter Saw Yan Naing also contributed to this article. http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=22337 ------------------------------------------ Amendments to Political Party Law Approved By WAI MOE Thursday, October 27, 2011 Burma's Lower House of Parliament passed an amendment to the Political Party Registration law on Thursday, a move that could see Aung San Suu Kyis National League for Democracy (NLD) return to the political fray. Thein Nyunt, a pro-democracy independent MP who attended the day's parliamentary session in Naypyidaw, told The Irrawaddy that the Lower House or Pyithu Hluttaw approved the bill without objection. Last week, the Upper House or Amyotha Hluttaw passed a proposal to amend three clauses of the Political Parties Registration Law. The clause titled Preservation of the Constitution will be replaced by Respect and Obedience of the Constitution. Secondly, the clause in Section 10 of the act which prohibits anyone convicted by a court of law from joining a political party will be removed. The third amendmentarguably the most significantwould scrap the current law that maintains that, to be recognized, each political party must have contested a minimum of three seats in the previous general election. The amended bill means that a political party will be recognized as long as it has contested at least three constituencies in by-elections, 50 of which are scheduled for November. NLD spokesman Ohn Kyaing said that the party has closely watched the process in Parliament, and will soon sit to decide whether the party will register. The NLD leadership will discuss it and decide, he said. In recent interview with The Wall Street Journal, Suu Kyi suggested the government is close to meeting her conditions to officially register her political organization. She did not rule out the possibility of running for office in a national vote expected in 2015. http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=22336 -------------------------------------------- Myitsone Workers Return to China, but Beijing Still Hoping for Restart By BA KAUNG Thursday, October 27, 2011 Nearly a month after Burma's President Thein Sein announced the suspension of the controversial Myitsone dam project in Kachin State, Chinese workers have begun returning to China, even as Beijing continues to signal its desire to resume the US $3.6 billion project in the near future. On Thursday, the ethnic Kachin Independence Army (KIA) said that Chinese workers were leaving the project site and that there were no signs of construction. Chinese workers are leaving the site through border gates in Kachin State. We also learned that the construction materials stored for the project, such as cement and fuel, are being sold to local businessmen, said KIA spokesman La Nan. But we don't know if this means the project is just suspended or canceled, he added. A similar report was made by the Rangoon-based Eleven Weekly journal this week. The suspension of the controversial hydropower project on the Irrawaddy River was seen as a move by the new quasi-civilian government in Naypyidaw to counter growing Chinese influence in the country and improve ties with the West. While the Burmese government said it acted according to the will of the people, Beijing was clearly angered by the decision and called for talks with Naypyidaw to resolve the issue. Recent reports from China, many of which described concerns about the environmental impact of the dam as exaggerated and fabricated by the Western media, made clear that Beijing remains hopeful the project will resume. On Monday, The Global Times, a Chinese government mouthpiece, described Burma's decision to suspend the Myitsone project as a move to garner short-term political gain at the expense of business, adding that the whimsical change will inevitably send troubling signals to potential investors. Apparently to contain the fallout, Burmese Vice President Tin Aung Myint Oo went to Beijing and held talks with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao last week. During the meeting, Wen asked the Burmese government to honor bilateral agreements between the two countries and allow the successful implementation of Chinese investments in Burma. Implementing important China-Myanmar cooperative projects is in the interests of both countries, Wen was quoted as telling Tin Aung Myint Oo, according to China's state-run People's Daily newspaper, which also reported that the Burmese vice-president said that Burma valued cooperative relations and would proactively look for ways to resolve issues. According the Burmese government, the project will be suspended until 2016 when Thein Sein's presidential tenure expires. A top Burmese presidential adviser recently told The Irrawaddy that Naypyidaw will probably compensate China by granting it further economic concessions in Burma. He added that bilateral relation would not be much affected by the dam suspension because there are still many other Chinese investments in the country. Despite the suspension of the Myitsone dam, which was expected to generate 6,000-megawatts of electricity, most of it for export to China, both China and Burma expressed hopes that a strategic oil and gas pipeline from Burma's Bay of Bengal coast to China's landlocked Yunnan Province would be successfully completed. According to the China National Petroleum Corporation, which is constructing the pipeline, work on section 4 of the pipeline has begun in Shan State, and the whole project is expected to become operational by May 2013. The pipeline, with an estimated capacity of 20 million tons of crude oil per year that will enjoy tax concessions and customs clearance rights from the Burmese government, will enable China to bypass the Strait of Malacca when importing crude oil from the Middle East and Africa, cutting the shipping distance by around 1,200 km. As part of the oil pipeline project, China is also constructing a deep-water crude oil unloading port and oil storage facilities on Burmas Maday Island off the coast of Arakan Statean investment that will provide China with crucial access to the geopolitically strategic Indian Ocean, where the US is poised to increase its navy presence in the coming decade. http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=22338 ------------------------------------------------------ Bangkok Post Jade or jaded? The sanctions on Burmese gems Published: 27/10/2011 at 12:00 AM Newspaper section: News For centuries Burma has been prized for its high quality gemstones, and today the Burmese gems industry continues to thrive at a furious pace despite international sanctions. A Burmese worker washes blocks of jade stone, readying them for auction. The majority of Burma's jade goes to China. Conventional estimates are that up to 90% of the world's supply in rubies and 70% of premium jadeite is of Burmese origin. Long under the exclusive management of ethnic insurgents who controlled the mining areas, and black marketeers who monopolised the trade, the underworld of Burmese gems is now dominated by a myriad of newcomers. Fragile cease-fire agreements signed by Burma's central government with ethnic Kachin, Pa'O and Shan rebels in the 1990s have opened the gem mines and trade routes to other third parties. Since then, emerging state-run conglomerates, a handful of Burmese oligarchs close to the military elite, and hordes of foreign dealers have gained the upper hand in this thriving industry. Above all, trade has been boosted by an exuberant demand from jade-crazed China. Every year since 2007 new record levels in jade production and sales revenues have been reached to satisfy Chinese demand. Paradoxically, this Burmese gem boom has coincided with the imposition of "smarter" Western sanctions which have targetted Burma's lucrative mining, timber and gemstones sectors in reaction to the government's violent repression of the 2007 Saffron Revolution. During the latest 2010-11 fiscal year, Burmese jade export revenues officially topped US$1.75 billion _ a fifth of Burma's $8.86 billion total exports for that year. Production of jadeite has jumped to 46,000 tonnes, up from an average of 10,000 tonnes in the early 2000s. Organised by the state-run Myanmar Gem Enterprises (MGE), international gem emporiums are now held three times a year, mostly in the new capital Naypyidaw. The March 2011 emporium attracted over 6,500 foreign merchants and total monetary transactions reached a staggering $2.8 billion. The Burmese government granted attendees free wi-fi access and phone cards were available for $50 _ unthinkable offers at other normal times in Burma. Proceeds from gem sales during the latest special fair held in July 2011 exceeded $1.5 billion. In comparison, revenues from similar events during the 2000s stagnated between only $150-300 million. As a result of the rising source of revenue that these gemstone bonanzas are providing to the Burmese military-ruled state, international campaigns advocating a boycott of Burmese gemstones have become increasingly vocal. Western policy-makers have subsequently relied upon "targetted" sanctions against the industry. The European Union revised its legal Common Position vis-a-vis Burma in November 2007 to include a section on Burmese-origin gemstones, while in July 2008 the US Congress adopted the Tom Lantos Block Burmese JADE (Junta's Anti-Democratic Effort) Act, which was later signed into law by President George W Bush. In addition, Canada with the 2007 Special Economic Measures Act also prohibits all Burmese imports, including gems. Yet, if there is a straightforward rationale for Western sanctions, scepticism prevails regarding their on-the-ground policy relevance and impact on the circulation of Burmese gems. Indeed, since the implementation of these various laws, Burma's revenues from gemstones have continued to skyrocket. The root of this problem is due to a serious miscalculation by these Western governments. In recent years, China has become the dominant market for the global jade industry. Also, Burma's border trade, especially with China's southwestern Yunnan province, offers a credible alternative to circumvent Western trade sanctions. Consider the border town of Ruili in Yunnan province. In less than a decade, it has become one of Asia's major jade dealing centres, connected to international hubs such as Hong Kong, Taipei and Bangkok. In 2010, gem trading alone earned the town some 2 billion yuan ($300 million). A jade-oriented touristic economy is thriving. Young Chinese from Kunming and beyond are migrating to Ruili to work in shops or factories polishing Burmese raw stones into fashionable jewels. In Burma, it is estimated that there are nearly half a million people employed in this bustling industry. As with many other Burmese commodities, the dilemma of Western sanctions lies in the tension between the will to drain revenues out of the Burmese rulers' pockets without killing local indigenous entrepreneurship. Smarter sanctions were designed to address this dilemma. America's Burmese JADE Act was intended to emulate Africa's "blood diamonds" model. In 2003, the Kimberley Process was initiated to establish an international certification scheme to trace African-origin diamonds and eradicate the trade that illicitly funded civil wars, particularly in Sierra Leone and Liberia. NGOs and scholars have pushed for its extension to encompass the entire global gemstone industry. However, imposing a Kimberley Process-styled mechanism onto the Burmese gem trade is difficult, if not downright unrealistic. First, Burma's gems and jade industry is far less cohesive than its African diamond counterpart which is still dominated by a monopolistic few, headed by the De Beers consortium. In contrast, there are myriads of local miners, mid-sized companies and state-run conglomerates that are involved in Burmese gem mining, production and trade. Second, Burmese gems are exported through different transnational trading networks. Rubies are primarily exported through Thailand, though now also increasingly India, while jadestones are almost exclusively disseminated via the Chinese mainland into subsequent Chinese diaspora networks. Third, surprisingly the Burmese state still does not have a decisive monopolistic leverage over the industry, and there is no one multinational firm powerful enough to influence actors within Burma. Fourth, Burmese gems are not perceived as contributing to Burma's woes the way diamonds were in Africa. What activists relentlessly denounce is rather the profits scooped up by some Burmese individuals, although empirical numbers are difficult to find. Last, appalling working conditions in Burmese mines, including use of child labour, along with disquieting environmental issues are what have been singled out in international reports, including by Human Rights Watch. But a local gem-based economy is nonetheless prospering in Burma, promoted by local indigenous actors _ most notably the Kachin, Shan and Burmese Muslim communities _ along with other external regional buyers. Envisioning a Kimberley Process for Burma would entail concrete cooperation from all parties involved, including the traders of a business dominated by smugglers. Above all, it would require the voluntary participation of Chinese and Burmese authorities. However, the creation of an independent transnational regulation body to trace Burmese gemstones, starting with rubies, and which encourages the adoption of responsible and accountable corporate practices, especially at the local level, would be a constructive start. The US Burmese JADE Act envisioned such a mechanism, but US policy-makers have never actively pursued this. The West should further its focus on the Burmese gem industry without killing it, and disconnect it from its persistent will to punish the rulers in Naypyidaw. Renaud Egreteau is Research Assistant Professor with the Hong Kong Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Hong Kong. The views expressed here are solely those of the author. http://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opinion/263365/jade-or-jaded-the-sanctions-on-burmese-gems --------------------------------------------- SSA outlines peace proposal Thursday, 27 October 2011 11:42 S.H.A.N. Prior to the expected talks with Naypyitaw, the Restoration Council of Shan State / Shan State Army (RCSS/SSA), better known as the SSA South, says the core of its planned proposition would be "political problems should be resolved by political means." Speaking to SHAN yesterday, Maj Lao Hseng, spokesman for the movement, said there were 3 main points to present: + The resolution of all political issues in the Union by political means (as opposed to military means) + Having fought each other for so long, a certain period for confidence building is necessary + The RCSS/SSA will also like to know what role Naypyitaw has in mind for the RCSS/SSA to play in the resolution of political issues by political means "We will then discuss and decide how best to go about it," he explained. Asked whether the Shan State Progress Party / Shan State Army (SSPP/SSA), better known as the SSA North, will take part in the talks together with the SSA South, with which it had reached an agreement in May for a merger, he replied: "It will of course produce the best results, if we do it together. But it is entirely up to Wanhai (SSA North base) decision. We've been waiting since May for it to ratify the agreement. However, whether we are doing it together or separately, we will keep each other informed and will present same propositions." The SSA North is reportedly preparing to hold its annual conference to decide on the agreement soon, though no date and venue have been disclosed. Thailand and the local People's Militia Forces (PMFs), particularly the Markkieng and Homong PMFs, have been liasing between the two sides since August, according to SSA sources. The new government issued an announcement on 18 August inviting all armed movements fighting against it for peace talks. So far, it has signed ceasefire agreements with the United Wa State Army (UWSA) and the National Democratic Alliance Army (NDAA), two groups that are non-members of the 12 party United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC). The alliance, formed in February, has rejected Naypyitaw's proposed "group wise" negotiations and instead demanded that Naypyitaw deals with it directly. The SSA North is a member of the UNFC, while the SSA South is not. http://shanland.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4147:ssa-outlines-peace-proposal&catid=85:politics&Itemid=266 ----------------------------------------------- Hunger strike underway in Insein prison By AYE NAI Published: 27 October 2011 Fifteen political prisoners in Rangoon's Insein jail have gone on hunger strike to protest a decision not to overturn a ruling that bars the majority of prisoners from the right to have their sentences reduced. The 15 are complaining that the revocation, which has been in place for 14 years, was unfair. Until 1997, Burmese penal law entitled all prisoners, except for those on death row or serving life sentences, to small remissions, often only a few days per year. Aung Zaw Htun, spokesperson for the Assistance Network for Families of Political Prisoners, which has released a statement on the issue, said the hunger strike commenced yesterday with the prisoners refusing breakfast. Among the strikers are Nyi Nyi Htun, who is serving an 18-year sentence, Kaung Myat Hlaing, 12 years, Nyan Lin Htun, 22 years, and Zin Min Shein, who was handed a 23-year sentence. The statement also urged the UN, international community and human rights groups to pressure the government to reintroduce the regulation. The last hunger strike in Insein prison, in May this year, was dealt with harshly by prison officials. Nearly 30 inmates began refusing food a day after Burmese authorities announced a highly criticised amnesty that saw nearly 15,000 people released from jail early, but only 55 of whom were political prisoners. Ten days into the strike, at least seven inmates were placed in solitary confinement and kept there for several days until authorities acceded to a number demands focused broadly on prisoners' rights. Insein prison, which houses more of the country's 1,700 political prisoners than any other jail, was built by the British in 1871 to house around 5,000 inmates, but the current capacity is thought to be almost double that. http://www.dvb.no/news/hunger-strike-underway-in-insein-prison/18419 ------------------------------------------------- THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: October 27, 2011, 12:12 PM SGT Floods Spread to Myanmar Add Myanmar to the list of Southeast Asian countries that are getting walloped by intense flooding. Earlier this week, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA) issued a report that flash floods in part of Myanmar have left 78 people dead or missing, with more than 35,000 people affected, 3,000 houses destroyed and a pressing need for food, shelter and other essentials. That's certainly not nearly as bad as the woes in Thailand, where an area the size of Connecticut has been inundated and Bangkok is at risk of going underwater. It may also not be as bad as Cambodia and Vietnam, which have also been struck by devastating floods in recent weeks. But Myanmar has fewer resources to deal with disasters than those countries, and given the relatively under-developed media and relief networks there, it's also often harder to get a complete picture of the damage when big storms or floods occur. Sometimes, relief workers find out much later the damage was worse than they believed. The latest flash floods occurred in the Magway, Mandalay and Sagaing regions of Myanmar, after two days of heavy rain on October 19 and 20 near the Myanmar -- Bangladesh border. Initial estimates by UN departments showed that in addition to the 3,000 destroyed houses, some 8,500 houses were also damaged to varying degrees, while other crucial infrastructure like schools, monasteries and villages were also damaged. The Magway Region, the largest of Myanmar's seven districts and home to 4.2 million people, was the worst affected by these floods. Around 26, 000 people lost their houses and their belongings, with 75% of houses flooded in the Seikphyu Township, an area which was severely affected by Cyclone Giri in 2010. In the Pauk Township, the strong winds and river current also washed away bridges and damaged roads, making it difficult to deliver aid to affected people, according to the report. Local authorities and the private sector, under the coordination of the UN, have begun emergency relief, setting up temporary camps in affected areas and providing kitchen sets, family kits and other necessities to people now displayed from their homes. Authorities have recorded the need for more essentials -- including shelter, blankets, clothes, utensils and water. A medical team was also deployed from Naypyitaw on Monday, with the Department of Health setting up temporary clinics for the displaced. At least there's some good news. Myanmar's government, which was widely criticized for its insufficient response after the devastation caused by Cyclone Nargis in 2008, has taken efforts to better its response to natural disasters, including warning citizens to evacuate and welcoming more international relief during Cyclone Giri in 2010. http://blogs.wsj.com/searealtime/2011/10/27/se-asian-floods-spread-to-myanmar/?mod=rss_asia_whats_news -------------------------------------------- Myanmar's release of prisoners leaves U.S. cautiously optimistic The Obama administration wants more reforms before economic sanctions are lifted in the Southeast Asian nation. By Paul Richter, Los Angeles Times October 26, 2011, 3:27 p.m. Reporting from Washington--- The Obama administration was encouraged by Myanmar's recent release of some prisoners under a "humanitarian" amnesty but wants to see more reforms before the U.S. considers lifting economic sanctions on the impoverished nation, officials say. The military government in the Southeast Asian nation has appeared more flexible with political opponents in major cities, but violence has continued against ethnic minorities in the rural north and east, Derek Mitchell, special U.S. envoy for Myanmar, said last week in Washington. Mitchell said there were also "credible reports" of continuing human rights abuses against women and children. "We have seen encouraging signs over time," Mitchell said, but "some things haven't changed, and we should be noting those." Myanmar, which last year ended strict house arrest for pro-democracy leader and Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, continues to fall short in key areas, U.S. officials said. Mitchell said Myanmar should release hundreds more political prisoners that human rights groups say remain incarcerated, not just the estimated 120 to 300 prisoners who were released this month. A total of 6,359 detainees were granted amnesty in a step that coincided with a religious holiday and a trip to India by President Thein Sein. Myanmar, also known as Burma, should halt a clandestine relationship with the reclusive communist regime in North Korea, Mitchell said. U.S. officials long have worried that North Korea might be trying to sell Myanmar missiles or nuclear weapons technology. Partly because of those concerns, the Obama administration has sought to build a new relationship with Myanmar, which has been ruled by the military since 1962. Over the years, the international community has repeatedly condemned the regime for widespread corruption and systematic violations of human rights and humanitarian law. Kurt Campbell, the top U.S. diplomat for East Asia, said this month in neighboring Thailand that it was "undeniably the case that there are dramatic developments underway" in Myanmar. But some pro-reform groups warned that the government has eased its harsh grip before, only to crack down again. They said the regime's motives are not always clear. Peter Manikas, Asia director of the National Democratic Institute, a nonpartisan U.S. organization that promotes democracy overseas, said experts disagree on how to interpret Myanmar's decision to abandon a hydroelectric dam project on the Irrawaddy River that China had planned. The project would have displaced thousands of people, and the move to cancel it was widely seen as a sign of a new sensitivity to public opinion. But Manikas said Myanmar officials may be trying to move the country further from China's orbit and closer to India. "We need to try to take advantage of these signs of warming," Manikas said. "But there's a danger that the entire international community is becoming unjustifiably enthusiastic. We need to approach this with some degree of skepticism." Myanmar's efforts also may be timed to encourage its selection as chair of a major regional group, the Assn. of Southeast Asian Nations. Officials say such an appointment, which could come next month but wouldn't take effect until 2014, would signal legitimacy for the regime and improve its international standing. If Myanmar does implement reforms, Washington is likely to respond with symbolic moves, including reinstating a U.S. ambassador. The United States withdrew its envoy in protest in 1990 after security forces brutally crushed a student-led uprising, killing thousands of pro-democracy demonstrators. A charge d'affaires has run the U.S. Embassy since then. paul.richter@latimes.com Copyright (c) 2011, Los Angeles Times http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-us-myanmar-20111027,0,1618949.story ------------------------------------ Myanmar police shut down rare protest YANGON | Thu Oct 27, 2011 4:33am EDT Oct 27 (Reuters) - Police in Myanmar halted a demonstration on Thursday by about 60 landless farmers, a rare protest that tests the new civilian government's commitment to reforms after decades of brutal suppression of dissent. Riot police confiscated placards and ordered the demonstrators to leave peacefully after they staged a sit-in outside a government building in the country's biggest city, Yangon, to protest against eviction from their farmland. "We have approached parliament for help but nothing happened, so we decided to take to the street," said Pho Phyu, a lawyer and an activist who campaigns for farmers' rights. Demonstrations are rare in Myanmar, a country ruled by the military for five decades until an election last year brought in a new civilian government. The new government has recently made overtures towards the pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, released more than 200 political prisoners and promised to pursue social and economic reforms. Previous protests over high prices in 1988 and 2007 were brutally suppressed by the military, leading to the imposition of western sanctions that have restricted development and hurt the country's economic elite. Pho Phyu said the authorities had seized about 10,000 acres (4,050 hectares) of land owned by about 1,000 farmers, who were given only small amount of compensation. "At first, they promised that joint-venture farming would be carried out between the farmers and private businessmen on these lands but nothing happened," he said. President Thein Sein has pledged to offer micro loans and price guarantees to raise living standards for millions of farmers in a country that depends on agriculture for about 40 percent of its gross domestic product. About half of the Burmese workforce is employed in the agriculture sector and the country was once the world's biggest rice exporter. But evictions are common and farmers have little money or legal recourse to launch any challenge. (Reporting by Aung Hla Tun; Editing by Martin Petty and Yoko Nishikawa) http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/27/myanmar-protest-idUSL3E7LR11L20111027?rpc=401&feedType=RSS&feedName=rbssConsumerGoodsAndRetailNews&rpc=401 ------------------------------------------ Rangoon police disperse farmers' protest By AFP Published: 27 October 2011 Police in Burma on Thursday broke up a demonstration of around 100 farmers protesting against the confiscation of their land, detaining three people, officials said. Led by a human rights lawyer, the demonstrators staged an early morning sit-in outside the Department of Human Settlement and Housing Development in downtown Rangoon, a government official who did not want to be named told AFP. "The leader, lawyer Phoe Phyu, and two farmers were detained for questioning," another official said. A security official said the farmers were from the outskirts of Rangoon. "They came here to protest because their farm land has been confiscated and they want their land back," he said. "Police asked them to disperse as it's not in accordance with the law." Police officers also confiscated the protesters' banners and continued patrolling the area after dispersing the demonstrators. Protests are rare in authoritarian Burma, where pro-democracy rallies in 1988 and 2007 were brutally crushed by the junta. Demonstrators must have permission from the authorities. Last month, police detained a man for holding a solo protest against a Chinese-backed dam and blocked another rally against the project, which was later suspended by the authorities in a rare response to public opinion. http://www.dvb.no/news/rangoon-police-disperse-farmers-protest/18424
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
News& Articles on Burma-Tuesday, 25 October, 2011-uzl
News& Articles on Burma Tuesday, 25 October, 2011 ---------------------------------------- US Burma Envoy Meets Aung San Suu Kyi What part does China play in Burma's civil war? Burma Army-KIA involved in heavy fighting at Du Ra Kawng Burma, North Korea, and Dystopian Reality Myanmar human-rights activist to get Mich. award Insight: Is it time to embrace Myanmar? Suu Kyi Sees a Shift in Myanmar Burma Army soldiers gang-raped and killed 9 Chinese women Forced displacement soars in Burma US Envoy Concludes Second Visit to Burma Shan MP Accused of Being Opium Kingpin Chance for Burma to End Ethnic Conflict: TBBC Burma: At freedom's gate Letter from Burma: Holiday (4) --------------------------------------------------- US Burma Envoy Meets Aung San Suu Kyi Posted Tuesday, October 25th, 2011 at 9:20 am The new U.S. special envoy to Burma has met in Rangoon with pro-democracy opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, as Washington presses the new, nominally-civilian Burmese government to continue releasing political prisoners. Tuesday's meeting comes on the second day of a two-day visit by Derek Mitchell, who met Monday with government officials in Burma's administrative capital, Naypyitaw. Sources in Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party told VOA that Mitchell and the Nobel laureate met for nearly two hours Tuesday. Details of the meeting were not disclosed. Mitchell's visit is the second this month. It follows the new government's highly-touted prisoner amnesty earlier this month that failed to include most of the 2,000-plus political prisoners jailed by the country's former military junta. Mitchell, speaking last week, praised the release of some 200 political prisoners. But he said the new government, which took office earlier this year, must deepen its commitment to political reforms if it wants Western governments to lift economic sanctions imposed on the Southeast Asian nation during the past decade. http://blogs.voanews.com/breaking-news/2011/10/25/us-burma-envoy-meets-aung-san-suu-kyi/ ------------------------------------------------------ What part does China play in Burma's civil war? By Zin Linn Oct 24, 2011 9:10PM UTC The Chinese army secretly transported dozens of Burmese troops inside its border on October 21 morning to fight against the Kachin Independence Army, which is resisting an offensive by Burmese regiments, Kachin News Group reported. Eyewitnesses said approximately 30 Chinese military trucks clandestinely transported Burma Army soldiers from the Chinese border trade city of Ruili (Shweli) to Jang Hkawng, another border town close to Loije on the Burmese side. Only two or three trucks in the military convoy were carrying Chinese troops and the rest carried Burmese soldiers, added local witnesses. The aim of the maneuver seems to recapture two strategic positions which recently fell to the KIA at Jan Mai and Maw Shwi, near Loije, border-based military observers said. The Kachin Independence Army (KIA) seized two important frontline posts from Burma Army in Kachin State on October 11, following more than 20 hours of fighting At the same time over 2,000 Chinese troops have arrived on the Sino-Burma border, where KIA strongholds have been positioned since early this month. Eyewitnesses said Chinese soldiers take military exercises every afternoon from 4pm to 6pm in Jang Hkawng. The Kachin Independence Army is opposing the huge 6,000 megawatt Myitsone Hydropower Project with armed resistance. The armed clashes have displaced tens of thousands of Kachin refugees, and ended a 17-year armistice agreement between the Burmese army and the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) and its military wing KIA. Kachin State, which is situated in northern Burma (Myanmar), has been facing appalling environmental damage. Kachin State holds large areas of intact natural woodland, and is one of the most important biodiversity spots in the region. It has been under threat since the 1994 ceasefire when the KIO was allowed to keep its arms and gained some some protective power while yielding control of natural resources to the then military regime. For that reason, many Kachin people believe the ceasefire agreement has been the cause of abject poverty and major environmental damage in their land. As the Burmese junta has a bad reputation with its human rights records, it offers the natural resources of the country to China in order to gainshelter from the international criticism. As for KIO's part, exploitation of the Kachin State's natural resources by the Burmese and Chinese governments are unacceptable. All natural resources management decisions are approved by Burmese authorities without local consultation. Now, the Burmese authorities seem inviting China's pressure in its ethnic affairs, amid the agreement to build seven hydropower dams on the Irrawaddy River and its tributaries with the China Power Investment Corporation (CPI). In October 2009, the Thailand-based Kachin Development Networking Group (KDNG) published a report -- "Resisting the Flood" -- highlighting the implementation of the Myitsone dam project on the Irrawaddy River. The report demanded a halt to the project, saying it creates unwelcome impacts like social, environmental, livelihood, cultural and security problems for tens of thousands of people in the area. The report states that more than 15,000 people in 60 villages around the dam sites are being forcibly relocated without proper resettlement plans. These individuals have lost their means of livelihood such as farming, fishing and collection of non-timber forest products. However, China is selfishly pressuring the Burmese government to push ahead with the dam projects. Many people believe that the Burmese government has been escalating its military pressure on the KIO in order to protect China's vested interest in Kachin State. As a result, citizens think that China is pulling the strings in Burma's politics in order to exploit not only natural resources but also to take advantage of regional politics. http://asiancorrespondent.com/67969/which-part-does-china-play-in-burma%e2%80%99s-civil-war/ ----------------------------------------------- Burma Army-KIA involved in heavy fighting at Du Ra Kawng Created on Tuesday, 25 October 2011 08:59 Published on Tuesday, 25 October 2011 08:59 Written by KNG Hits: 309 Hundreds of Burmese government and Kachin Independence Army (KIA) troops engaged in heavy fighting on Tuesday, beginning at 12 p.m. local time, at Du Ra Kawng, in Manmaw (Bhamo) District, in Kachin State, according to people at the frontline. Du Ra Kawng is situated between Lawdan and Hka Wan Bang, near N'Mawk (Momauk). Once again, the heavy fighting started when the government troops tried to march on the Burmese border town of Loije, near the China border, according to villagers from Hka Wan Bang. The Burmese troops are from the Miektila-based Light Infantry Division No. 99, Myothit (Da Sai)-based Light Infantry Battalion 347, Manje (Mansi)-based Light Infantry Battalion No. 601 and Manmaw-based Infantry Battalion No. 47, while the KIA soldiers under 3rd Brigade and the People's Army, local military observers said. A KIA officer from 3rd Brigade Command, in Maijayang, told the Kachin News Group, "It's the 8th attempt by the Burmese troops to cross into Loije. All previous attempts failed." Currently, all civilians in Hka Wan Bang, which has over 200 households, are internally displaced persons (IDPs) and have taken shelter in the town of N'Mawk since the fighting started there, said villagers. The government seemed to be moving toward major democratic reforms in some areas in the country. However, it also began a new offensive against the Kachins on June 9, who are continuing to demand a genuine federal union and political dialogue. http://www.kachinnews.com/news/2116-burma-army-kia-involved-in-heavy-fighting-at-du-ra-kawng.html --------------------------------------------- Burma, North Korea, and Dystopian Reality By DAVID I. STEINBERG Tuesday, October 25, 2011 North Korea and Burma have been referred to in the media as the two most severe authoritarian regimes in Asia. They have been included in the US proclaimed "outposts of tyranny" by Secretary of State-designate Rice, and are sometimes considered "failed" or "pariah" states. Conditions in both have been deplorable, although for those who know both societies, North Korea really captures the flag. North Korea has been hard-core authoritarian while Burma has a less harsh, but still authoritarian, ilk. That distinction does not prevent them from being grouped together, and as their bilateral relations have improved in the past few years since North Korea was "de-recognized" in 1983 following an incident when its agents attempted to assassinate the South Korean president on Burmese soil, that linkage has hardened with the supply of various types of arms from Pyongyang to Naypyidaw. Both societies shared another, less obvious, characteristic: they had a dystopian reality and a utopian propaganda image. Conditions for the average citizen in each state were exceedingly bad, while at the same time the state information mechanisms and diplomatic announcements proclaimed all was well within. The dual symmetry of reality and falsehood has now been broken. Although North Korea continues to proclaim that paradise exists under the leadership of Kim Jong Il and the Worker's Party, in Burma the new president (in contrast to the SLORC and SPDC juntas since 1988) has publicly proclaimed the warts on Burma's shining image. In his inaugural address the end of March 2011, President Thein Sein recognized many of the state's inadequacies, promised to address them, and then a few days later inaugurated an anti-poverty meeting that he personally attended. Self-exiled dissidents have been invited back, some political prisoners released (previous governments did not admit that they existed as political detainees), more liberal labor laws are being formulated, and corruption decried. The differences with the North Koreans are striking. Since the end of the Korean War, North Korea has been proclaimed a paradise, nonpareil with any other state in the world. In spite of horrendous famines in the 1990s, and food shortages today, the state's propaganda mechanisms still spew forth myths that few, if any, internally or externally believe. Burma earlier was not too dissimilar. But since the coup of 1962, the Burmese people have been wrapped in a state-sponsored cocoon that was so obviously porous that it made a mockery of official pronouncements. The people there had a better sense of reality. They knew early on what the situation was, as they had relatively easy access to external radio, television, and later e-mail and electronic communications in contrast with those in North Korea. They could leave the country and foreigners could enter as well. Older people remembered the civilian era. Since 2011, there has been a massive change. Problems of a profound nature have been admitted by the new military-turned-civilian administration, censorship has been eased, and more and more a sense of relaxation of the political strictures has occurred. People discuss politics and authority far more publicly than for almost half a century. A fledgling political pluralism exists---too young and insecure to be called "democracy" although officially it has been dubbed "discipline-flourishing democracy." These changes are real, although they may be ephemeral should more conservative and high-ranking military officials feel they have gone too far, and that their paramount position is threatened along with that of the military as an institution. In spite of US official announcements that Burma is a threat to regional security and US interests (although non-traditional security concerns, such as trafficking, the environment, migration, etc., are prevalent), that is patently not the case. North Korea, with its modest but dangerous nuclear capacity, holds the US ally South Korea, and more specifically Seoul, as militarily hostage should the US or the South act against the North. Yet US sanctions against Burma are more comprehensive than those against North Korea, perhaps because the previous Burmese military junta had a certain negative cachet in Washington and London. The deserved admiration of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, and anathema to the previous junta has guided US policies. A US official said that the contrast between the two countries was striking: Burma has Aung San Suu Kyi while North Korea has a bunch of Kims. Now, the situation has morphed. She and the president of the country are talking, and saying positive things. Few thought that so much, even tentative, progress could have been made in such a short time. And as all this occurs, the fact that Burma has begun to admit its dystopian reality, and has set about changing it, is perhaps the most encouraging sign so far. Let us hope that it proves enduring. David I. Steinberg is Distinguished Professor of Asian Studies, School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University. His latest volume is "Burma/Myanmar: What Everyone Needs to Know" (Oxford). http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=22320 --------------------------------------- Myanmar human-rights activist to get Mich. award Posted: Oct 25, 2011 3:08 PM Updated: Oct 25, 2011 3:08 PM ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) - The University of Michigan is honoring a human-rights activist in Myanmar with the Wallenberg Medal, an award named for the Swedish diplomat who saved thousands of Jews during World War II. The recipient is Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of a democracy movement in Myanmar, a Southeast Asian country formerly known as Burma. Myanmar is the subject of wide-ranging trade, economic and political sanctions from the U.S. and other nations. Suu Kyi will not be in Ann Arbor on Tuesday night to get the Wallenberg Medal but will give a videotaped speech from Myanmar and answer questions. She is a Nobel Peace laureate and was under house arrest until last year. Raoul Wallenberg was a 1935 University of Michigan graduate. The Wallenberg medal has been given annually since 1990. Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. http://www.wlns.com/story/15866156/myanmar-human-rights-activist-to-get-mich-award -------------------------------------- JAKARTA POST Insight: Is it time to embrace Myanmar? Rizal Sukma, Jakarta | Tue, 10/25/2011 9:52 AM By the end of this month, Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa will travel to Myanmar to assess the situation and developments in the country since last year's general elections. The visit is crucial for three reasons. First, the visit will take place in a new domestic context in Myanmar. After the elections, the newly installed government in Myanmar has taken some important measures that, if they continue, will change the country for the better. It has begun releasing prisoners, opening dialogue with Aung San Suu Kyi, inviting a UN Special Rapporteur to visit the country, halting construction on a controversial dam project and unblocking foreign publications and websites. Second, Minister Natalegawa's visit is also related to Myanmar's request to chair ASEAN in 2014. After agreeing to skip the chairmanship in 2006 on ASEAN's request, the new government in Nyapidaw seems to think that now is the time for the country to reclaim its rights in the regional grouping. Minister Natalegawa's visit could determine whether it was time for ASEAN to grant that request. Third, the visit will take place in the context of the rising expectations about the nature and future of democratic developments in the country. There is still ongoing debate whether the new developments really represent progress in Myanmar's implementation of its own roadmap to democracy, or just a series of calculated steps designed to achieve certain short-term objectives, such as the chairmanship of ASEAN. In other words, there are worries that after the request to chair ASEAN is granted, Myanmar will soon backtrack and reverse all the promising measures that it has begun. For Indonesia, both as the chair of ASEAN and a regional champion of democracy, the Myanmar question presents a difficult policy choice. On the one hand, current developments provide an opportunity for Indonesia and ASEAN to embrace Myanmar and encourage further reforms in the country. This, among other things, can be achieved by granting Myanmar the ASEAN chairmanship it seeks for 2014. On the other hand, however, if Myanmar started to reverse the reform process after its request was granted, it would become a major diplomatic embarrassment for Indonesia and ASEAN. In this context, ASEAN also must consider how the international community might react. The key issue here is the uncertainty regarding the nature and the future of democratic reform in Myanmar; a creative formula is needed by ASEAN. Developments in Myanmar need greater recognition from ASEAN and the international community. ASEAN, therefore, needs to give the benefit of the doubt to its problematic member. While granting the ASEAN chairmanship might open up greater opportunity for ASEAN's engagement in facilitating further reforms, denying it will definitely increase the pressure on the current Myanmar government to roll back the reforms. Therefore, ASEAN needs to decide at the upcoming ASEAN Summit in November in Bali that in principle it will allow Myanmar to take up the ASEAN chairmanship by 2014. That decision, however, should not be a blank-check. It should be tied to a number of conditions. First, Myanmar must continue to demonstrate that it is committed to further reforms and opening up the country. At the same time, ASEAN should make it clear that if it is not satisfied with the progress, and its decision to allow Myanmar to chair ASEAN will be reviewed at the July Summit in Phnom Penh next year. Second, as chair of ASEAN, Myanmar should guarantee other ASEAN countries that it will continue the practices of previous chairs, especially Indonesia, to allow greater participation of civil society organizations in the ASEAN process. More specifically, Myanmar must facilitate and organize the Civil Society Conference (CSC) in Yangon in 2012. Third, Indonesia should make it clear that it is more than happy to work with and assist Myanmar not only in preparing its chairmanship but also in assisting the country in a more comprehensive manner. For example, Indonesia --- both the government and civil society groups --- can work with Myanmar to help strengthen the institutional capacity of Myanmar to organize a series of high-level meetings associated with its chairmanship of ASEAN, exchanging experience in economic development and political reforms. Indonesia and Myanmar can also work closely to support community development, second-track dialogues and parliamentary and inter-university exchanges. Further reforms in Myanmar will benefit not only the country but also ASEAN and the region. The opportunity is now there for ASEAN to seize. ASEAN can provide valuable support in the process. Therefore, it is time for ASEAN to embrace Myanmar again in a comprehensive manner. Myanmar, however, should also make it clear that this time it has no intention of embarrassing ASEAN. The writer is the executive director of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Jakarta. http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2011/10/25/insight-is-it-time-embrace-myanmar.html ---------------------------------------- OCTOBER 25, 2011 Suu Kyi Sees a Shift in Myanmar More Changes Are Needed, Dissident Says, Before She Can Support Easing Western Sanctions By WSJ Staff Reporters YANGON, Myanmar---Dissident Aung San Suu Kyi said a series of reforms under way in Myanmar represents the biggest opening in the repressive Southeast Asian country since the 1980s, but also said she wants to see more changes before she can support easing Western economic sanctions against the military-backed government. The ex-political prisoner and Nobel laureate offered her strongest endorsement yet of steps by Myanmar's government in recent months to ease media restrictions, reform its state-dominated economy and pursue talks with the opposition. Ms. Suu Kyi's comments, in an interview with The Wall Street Journal at her party's ramshackle headquarters in Yangon, come as policy makers around the globe look to her for guidance on how to interpret the latest changes in the resource-rich, strategically important Southeast Asian nation, also known as Burma. Although she had previously signaled some support for the government's moves, many of her recent public remarks have been brief, leaving followers uncertain as to how far she would be willing to back the current government or endorse easing sanctions. Ms. Suu Kyi compared her latest talks with the government---which included an August meeting with President Thein Sein---to "where South Africa was in 1990" as it negotiated an end to apartheid, and had warm words for Mr. Thein Sein, whom she called "an honest, open kind of person" with a "sincere" desire to overhaul the country. "I know we are not there yet, but we can see the way clear ahead more than we have ever been able to," said Ms. Suu Kyi, who said her recent talks with government officials "felt real to me," unlike previous talks in earlier decades. She suggested the government is close to meeting her conditions to officially register her political organization, a significant move that would signal her trust in the unfolding system and give Myanmar's leaders a level of legitimacy they crave. She didn't rule out the possibility of running for office in a national vote expected in 2015. However, Ms. Suu Kyi said it was still too early to give up on sanctions for at least two reasons. Authorities continue to hold an undetermined number of political prisoners, she said, and have yet to fully restore relations with Myanmar's ethnic minority groups, some of which remain locked in violent armed conflicts with the government. "Obviously now is not the time" to lift sanctions, she said, though she said she expects the government to release more political prisoners soon. It released about 200 people this month, in a move criticized by human-rights organizations as too limited. Ms. Suu Kyi is walking an uncertain road toward reconciliation with leaders in Myanmar, whose strategic significance has increased in recent years as China, India and other nations compete for access to its minerals and trade. Some dissidents and Western investors want Ms. Suu Kyi to end her longstanding support for sanctions, which block most U.S. companies from doing business here. The rules have been imposed in stages since the late 1990s---largely at her behest---to punish a regime accused of widespread human-rights violations. U.S. officials have offered cautious support for the recent changes in Myanmar, which include plans to allow peaceful protests and the organization of labor unions, as well as steps to unblock websites such as the BBC and YouTube. But like Ms. Suu Kyi, U.S. officials have stopped short of advocating lifting sanctions until more progress is seen. Signs of a thaw continued Monday, as U.S. special envoy to Myanmar Derek Mitchell arrived to meet with government leaders for the second time in two months, the Associated Press reported. Ms. Suu Kyi also is facing pushback from dissidents who doubt the sincerity of the government's reform push, and fear easing sanctions now could rob the opposition of leverage.Some dissidents have criticized Ms. Suu Kyi for conducting meetings with the government in private---a move she justified as necessary to ensure the process stayed on track. Myanmar officials have said repeatedly in recent months that they are serious about reform. A government official declined Monday to comment on Ms. Suu Kyi's latest remarks, because he hadn't seen a full transcript. It is clear Ms. Suu Kyi will play a crucial role in determining when, and whether, sanctions are removed. After her release in November 2010 from her latest stint under house arrest, which lasted more than seven years, many experts expected Ms. Suu Kyi to take a tough line against the new government, which came to power after a late 2010 election that many Western leaders said was riddled with fraud and is dominated by allies of the military regime that controlled Myanmar since 1962. Instead, she has sounded increasingly conciliatory notes on the government, which is eager to win her backing to get sanctions removed. "By playing her cards very well, she's put herself in a position she hasn't been in in a long time, of being the arbiter," said Sean Turnell, a Myanmar expert at Macquarie University in Sydney. He said he doubts the U.S. would lift sanctions without a clear sign from Ms. Suu Kyi.Given the uncertainties about whether Myanmar's government is serious about changing, "they're looking to her to say yes it is, or it isn't." Ms. Suu Kyi said she was especially heartened by the easing of media restrictions, which she said is producing the most "open" environment since 1988, when student protests almost topped the military government. "People feel more relaxed about participating in politics. They aren't frightened as they used to be," she said, speaking forcefully to be heard over barking dogs and trucks rumbling outside her office, in an old building near a strip of furniture shops and weedy lots. Now, she said, activists can take part in the political process "without endangering themselves too much." Ms. Suu Kyi signaled she may be close to registering her political party, the National League for Democracy, after it was officially disbanded last year for boycotting the country's first election in 20 years. Myanmar officials are eager to see the NLD register: Such a step would bring Ms. Suu Kyi more formally into the political process and, officials hope, provide a tacit endorsement of the current political system, people familiar with the government's thinking say. The party refused to register last year, objecting to rules that, among other things, prevented political prisoners from being members. "They seem to be changing the bits that we said were not really acceptable in 2010," she said of a draft party-registration law under consideration. Many of Ms. Suu Kyi's backers oppose registration, which could be tantamount to relinquishing their claim to power. Her party won 1990 elections, Myanmar's last before the 2010 vote, a result ignored by the military regime. Ms. Suu Kyi said, however, that party leaders long ago gave up on any claim to power from the 1990 vote. "We are in fact not asking for a transfer of power as a lot of people seem to think," she said. "That would not be practical" because many NLD candidates who won office in 1990 are now dead or in exile, she added. Ms. Suu Kyi appeared lukewarm on the idea of endorsing Myanmar's bid to serve as chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in 2014, a move that has split diplomats across Southeast Asia. Myanmar officials want to take over the rotating leadership seat at Asean, an increasingly influential regional grouping, to symbolize the country's re-entry into the international community. But some Southeast Asian leaders fear it could hurt the organization's reputation and jeopardize ties with the West. "Assuming the chairmanship of Asean isn't going to do anything about improving the lives of people," she said. Ms. Suu Kyi blasted the country's legal system, saying "everybody knows" the judiciary is not independent, and that there's too much "crony capitalism." She lamented that despite the relaxation of restrictions on the media, there remains a lack of transparency within the government. For example, she said it isn't clear whether Senior Gen. Than Shwe, who was the country's paramount leader from the early 1990s until this year, is active in running the country behind the scenes despite his apparent retirement. "Because there is no freedom of information people have to depend on rumors." But she said she thinks Mr. Thein Sein, who was a military commander before being appointed president earlier this year, wields considerable power, which could augur well for further change. "People question how much support he has within not just the government but within the army, and that is important---I don't deny that," she said. "But I definitely get the feeling he is in charge, even if he is not in total charge."http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203911804576651051732968950.html ------------------------------------------------ Burma Army soldiers gang-raped and killed 9 Chinese women Created on Monday, 24 October 2011 11:58 Published on Monday, 24 October 2011 11:58 Written by KNG Nine Chinese women were gang-raped and killed by Burma Army soldiers during its offensive against the Kachin Independence Army in Northern Shan State, witnesses said. These serious human rights abuses occurred at Shau Haw Village, near Mongpaw, in Northern Shan State, after a government army column arrived in the village, said villagers. The crimes were committed by troops from the Kutkai-based Military Strategy No. 1, under Lashio-based Northeastern Regional Command, said villagers. On Oct. 22, six other Chinese women, from Ni Shang Hu village, near Mongpaw, were detained as porters by Burmese troops of the Lashio-based Light Infantry Battalion No. 522, villagers said. At the same time, animals belonging to villagers were also slaughtered by those Burmese troops, added villagers. http://kachinnews.com/news/2115-burma-army-soldiers-gang-raped-and-killed-9-chinese-women.html -------------------------------------------- Forced displacement soars in Burma By FRANCIS WADE Published: 25 October 2011 More people have been forcibly displaced over the past year from their homes in southeastern Burma than during any year since 2002, data collected by the Thailand Burma Border Consortium (TBBC) shows. The main driving force behind the alarming statistics is greater militarisation of the region bordering Thailand, as Burmese forces and allied militias look to rout ethnic armies and extend their control over trading routes and civilian populations. This has forced around 112,000 to flee their homes, TBBC says, a higher number than any documented since it began collecting annual data there nearly a decade ago. Duncan McArthur, a coordinator of emergency relief for TBBC, said that the figures over the past year however may not be unprecedented. "In the mid 1990s there was a massive forced relocation programme in Shan state, and after the collapse of buffer zone in 1996 and 1997 there was a huge flight of people," he told DVB. "So it may not be on the same level as then but since we've been documenting on an annual basis since 2002, this year is by far the worst we've seen." Attempts by Naypyidaw to coerce multiple ethnic armies into becoming government-aligned Border Guard Forces have largely failed, but the fallout from their refusal has resulted in an escalation in fighting from Kachin state in Burma's north down to Mon state in the southeast. McArthur said that one of the three main areas of "large displacement" over the past year had been in central Karen state, close to the town of Myawaddy. Fighting erupted there in November last year after a renegade faction of the once pro-government Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) attacked government positions, and has since continued in varying intensity. Central Shan state has also seen around 31,000 people displaced in the past year, following the refusal of the Shan State Army (North), which had maintained a 15-year ceasefire with the government, to bow to demands to become a BGF. The populations of the nine refugee camps over the border in Thailand have also steadily grown: in August last year the total number of refugees being helped by TBBC was 145,713; now it is 148,908. That increase however doesn't accurately signify the full extent of displacement in eastern Burma. Thousands of people are forced to hide in the jungle or return to areas of past removal, rather than crossing into Thailand. Estimates of the total number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in eastern Burma are close to half a million. The government has significant economic interests in the country's border regions, much of which is rich in natural energy potential. In the past decade or so, rising demand from neighbouring countries has fuelled a greater hunger on the part of the government to exploit these resources, causing greater militarisation and aggressive attempts to clear the areas of civilian and armed resistance. Despite various attempts at brokering dialogue between armed groups and Naypyidaw, with President Thein Sein regularly speaking of the need for countrywide peace, Burmese army offensives continue. "As prospects for the voluntary return of refugees and internally displaced persons are directly linked to national reconciliation, the urgency of finding a solution to conflict in Burma has never been greater", TBBC Executive Director Jack Dunford said in a statement. http://www.dvb.no/news/forced-displacement-soars-in-burma/18388 -------------------------------------------- US Envoy Concludes Second Visit to Burma By BA KAUNG Tuesday, October 25, 2011 Derek Mitchell, the US special envoy to Burma, concluded his second trip to the country in less than two months on Tuesday, amid signs that Naypyidaw is seeking to shed its pariah status and rebuild ties with the West. US embassy officials said that Mitchell held meetings with senior government officials, including Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin and Speaker of the Lower House of Parliament Thura Shwe Mann---formerly the third-highest-ranking member of the junta that ruled until earlier this year---as well as with pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi during his two-day visit. Although no further details were available, the embassy released a statement that said Mitchell "uses every opportunity to raise with Burmese authorities our longstanding core concerns, including the need for the release of all political prisoners, dialogue with the opposition and ethnic minorities, adherence to Burma's international obligations on nonproliferation, and end to violence against ethnic minorities." Since his last visit to Burma in early September, the Burmese government has made a number of moves apparently aimed at placating its international critics. On Sept 30, it announced the suspension of a controversial Chinese-backed mega hydropower dam project in the north of the country, and earlier this month, it released around 200 of an estimated 2,000 political prisoners. The suspension of the dam project has clearly angered Beijing and is seen by analysts as a move by the the Burmese government to counter Chinese influence in the country by improving relations with the US and the Western bloc. In return for these tentative signs of reform, the US government has lifted its travel restrictions on some Burmese government officials, including Wunna Maung Lwin, who attended the opening of the 66th session of the UN General Assembly in New York in later September and later traveled to Washington to hold a rare meeting with Mitchell and senior US State Department officials. The US government has also invited a Burmese delegation to attend a meeting of the Friends of the Lower Mekong---a US-initiated grouping that aims to strengthen ties with Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam---as an observer. However, the US has also made it clear that it won't lift sanctions on Burma until all of the country's political prisoners, including leading dissidents such as Min Ko Naing and Ko Ko Gyi, are freed and serious steps are taken to end violence and human rights abuses in ethnic minority areas. At a press briefing last Monday, Mitchell said the US administration is also expecting the country's military-dominated Parliament to make changes in the party registration law that will allow Suu Kyi's disbanded National League for Democracy party to participate in the country's political process. "Those are obviously very, very important moves that would lead to American gestures, steps in return," he said. The Obama administration completed its Burma policy review in September 2009 and began to pursue a dual-track approach that integrates both sanctions and engagement to achieve democratic changes in Burma. President Barack Obama appointed Mitchell to the US special representative for Burma position in mid-April 2011. Mitchell plans to visit Burma frequently to build on the US's ongoing principled engagement with Burma, including dialogue with the Burmese government and local stakeholders, the embassy statement said. In a related development, Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa will be traveling to Burma this week to assess developments in the country. His findings will be crucial in deciding whether the Association of Southeast Asian Nation (Asean) will grant Burma the chairmanship of the regional grouping in 2014. The US government, a key dialogue partner of Asean, has said that giving the chairmanship to Burma must be based on the country's efforts at improving its human rights record. The chairmanship bid is seen as a part of a concerted campaign by the Burmese government to improve its image after taking office through a deeply flawed election in March of this year. http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=22323 ----------------------------------------- Shan MP Accused of Being Opium Kingpin By KO HTWE Tuesday, October 25, 2011 Opium production and drug addiction have dramatically increased in the Namkham area of northern Shan State since the election of a local warlord in last year's general election, according to a new report by the Thailand-based Palaung Women's Organization (PWO). The report, titled "Still Poisoned,"reveals that in the 2010-11 season, 1,109 hectares (4.28 square miles) of land in 15 villages were now being used for opium cultivation, as opposed to 617 hectares two years ago in the same 15 villages---an increase of 78 percent. In addition, Monday's report also claimed that 12 villages in the Namkham area that had not previously grown opium have started since 2009. Drug addiction in local Palaung communities has spiraled out of control, the report says, and in one Palaung village 91 percent of males aged 15 and over were addicted to drugs. Namkham is situated on the Sino-Burmese border close to the Muse-Riuli crossing. The PWO report says that the opium harvest has increased as a direct result of the policies of Namkham No.2 constituency MP "Pansay" Kyaw Myint (aka Win Maung and Li Yongqiang), a representative of the junta-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) who was elected in the Nov. 7 election. Kyaw Myint is widely reported to be a major drug warlord in the region, and is the head of the local pro-regime People's Militia Force [ta-ka-sa-pha in Burmese]. He campaigned on a platform of allowing opium to be grown freely in Namkham if elected. "All of the villages that cultivate opium are in areas controlled by Kyaw Myint's militia," said Lway Nway Hnoung, the principal researcher of the report. "He himself cultivates opium in the Pansay area, so we can firmly say that the increase in opium cultivation is due to his involvement." According to the PWO, in 2006 Kyaw Myint's militia had almost 400 armed troops, and he is reported to have recruited many more by the time of Burma's first elections for 20 years in November 2010. "Kyaw Myint promised that he would protect those people who voted for him by ensuring that their opium fields would not be destroyed," the report says. Khuensai Jaiyen, the editor of the Thailand-based Shan Herald Agency for News (SHAN) and a researcher for the Shan Drug Watch newsletter, said that Kyaw Myint has exercised freely the power and influence he gained by becoming an MP. The Palaung ethnic group, which traditionally depends on tea cultivation for its collective livelihood, has been pushed into opium cultivation due to drastic plummets in the price of tea, while the price of rice and other goods has consistently increased under the Naypyidaw regime. "A new government has been sworn in to power, but they have not effectively dealt with the reasons why these farmers have to grow opium," said Lway Nway Hnoung. "We want the international community to know that the problem of opium cultivation in Palaung area is worsening." The report alleges that "Government troops, police and militia continue to openly tax opium farmers, and to collect bribes from drug addicts in exchange for their release from custody." SHAN reporter Hseng Khio Fah, who recently made a trip to Shan State, told The Irrawaddy that several years ago the mountain ranges surrounding Namkham were covered in trees. "But now the trees have been cut down and been substituted with opium fields," she said. "A serious situation is quickly developing in that so many local men and teenage boys are turning to drugs," she said. I worry for the future of these villages." Mai Bhone Kyaw, the general secretary of the Palaung State Liberation Front, said, "It is hard to crack down [on opium] if the power is in the hands of local militias which work alongside the government. "It is also difficult for the local militias to survive without income from the opium trade," he said. "So if the leader of the local militia becomes an MP, then it is very easy to begin laundering money. " The PWO concluded that the most effective way to address the opium problem in the long term is for the government to implement a nationwide ceasefire and begin a tripartite dialogue which addresses the political aspirations of Burma's ethnic nationalities. In 2010, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) reported that the total area under opium poppy cultivation across Shan State was estimated at 38,100 hectares, an increase of 20 percent from the year before. It said Shan State accounts for 92 percent of opium production in Burma. Residents in Panglong, southern Shan State, recently told The Irrawaddy that there are more opium fields around their town now than in previous years. Several said that they had chosen to work in the opium fields because it pays better wages. "The growers pay 8,000 kyat (US $10) per day," said a local worker. "But the owners are like 'godfathers' who pay bribes to the authorities and do whatever they wish." Locals in Namkham said that some plantation owners manage two harvests per year. Members of PWO said that they conducted their own research into drug usage in northern Shan State, and say that all indications are that the real rate of addiction is much higher than the UNODC's Myanmar Opium Survey 2010 reported when it said that the rate of opium use for northern Shan State is 1.2 percent of the population. PWO called on the UNODC to improve the accuracy of its data by working directly with people in the communities where opium is cultivated, rather than with the Burmese military regime. The UNODC World Drug Report 2011 said Burma's share of world opium production had increased from five percent in 2007 to 12 percent last year, and that while Afghan opium production declined over the 2007-10 period, production in Burma increased. However, it is not only opiates that are causing a drug problem in Shan State. A youth in Mong Pan in southern Shan State told The Irrawaddy: "Most youngsters under 18 quickly become addicted to drugs, especially amphetamines, which are easier to buy. One pill currently costs 2,500 kyat ($3.12). All their peers do it too. As for the authorities, they don't care what is happening in the streets," he said. http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=22322 ----------------------------------------- Chance for Burma to End Ethnic Conflict: TBBC By SAW YAN NAING Tuesday, October 25, 2011 The current window of democratic reform in Burma is the best opportunity in decades to resolve ethnic conflicts, claims an alliance of humanitarian agencies working with displaced persons from Burma. The Thailand Burma Border Consortium (TBBC) has called on Burma to urgently grasp the chance of resolving the ethnic conflicts that has prolonged human rights abuses for decades. An annual survey of conditions in southeast Burma conducted by the humanitarian agency found that more people had been forcibly displaced from their homes during the past year than any time since data was first collected in 2002. According to a TBBC statement released on Tuesday, the prospect of a genuine and inclusive process of national reconciliation that brings an end to decades of war and displacement needs to be promoted and realized. Jack Dunford, the executive director of the TBBC, said, "A determined and sustained effort to resolve ethnic conflict in Burma is essential to avoid another generation of violence and abuse." While government figures estimate that a quarter of the nation lives in poverty, the TBBC survey found that almost two-thirds of households in rural areas of the southeast are unable to meet their basic needs. Each family of displaced people spends less than US $1 per day for meals. More than 450,000 people currently remain internally displaced in the southeastern region, according to the TBBC. Some fled into Thailand as part of an ongoing flow of new refugee arrivals and others returned to former villages or resettled elsewhere in Burma. "As prospects for the voluntary return of refugees and internally displaced persons are directly linked to national reconciliation, the urgency of finding a solution to conflict in Burma has never been greater," said Dunford. He also said that democratic reforms by the new government are vital and welcomed, but the government army's orders for ethnic ceasefire groups to form Border Guard Forces has escalated conflict and displacement in minority areas. Impoverishment was found to be particularly severe in the conflict-affected areas of northern Karen State and eastern Pegu Division. Comparative analysis with World Food Program surveys suggests that standards of living in Burma's southeast are similar to conditions in northern Arakan State and far worse than those reported from the central dry zone. Saw Steve, a leader of the Committee for Internally Displaced Karen People, a humanitarian aid group helping displaced people in Karen State, said, "If there are no armed conflicts, forced labor, torture and extortion, these civilians will not be faced with this poverty. If people work peacefully and freely, they are not in poverty." "This poverty will be gone only when peace prevails in Burma. So the resolution of armed conflicts and an emergence of ceasefires and peace in ethnic areas is very important," said Saw Steve. He welcomed some recent positive steps made by the government, but called for a time-bound peacemaking plan to also be set up by Naypyidaw. The TBBC and its partner agencies have documented the destruction, forced relocation or abandonment of more than 3,700 civilian settlements in southeast Burma since 1996. This includes 105 villages and hiding sites during the past year, when at least 112,000 people were forced to leave their homes. http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=22317 -------------------------------------------------- http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/5576df62-fb37-11e0-8df6-00144feab49a.html#ixzz1bYxCRVq2 October 24, 2011 10:22 pm Burma: At freedom's gate By Amy Kazmin Rangoon finally begins to open up They have decided to change. It's not what we called for, but there are changes. Even if they are pretending to change, we should push them so the change becomes irreversible. If we keep saying that 'you haven't changed the way we want' and put obstacles in the way, then the changes will never come." The words are those of Harn Yawnghwe, son of the last hereditary ruler of an ethnic Shan principality in Burma. He went into exile as a teenager in 1963 after the country's newly rampant military killed his brother and sent his father to die in prison. More. Mr Yawnghwe is these days the director of the Euro-Burma Office in Brussels, established by dissidents to promote democracy in the downtrodden south-east Asian country. This month, he has been making his first return visit to his homeland. Few people, in Burma or the outside world, had high expectations when in March the army handed power to a quasi-civilian government after nearly five decades of repressive rule. The handover followed a tightly controlled -- some say rigged -- election under a new constitution that preserved much military clout, including the right to appoint one-quarter of the members of a new parliament. The man designated as president seemed hardly more promising. Thein Sein, a recently retired general, had made little impact in four years as prime minister in the junta led by Senior General Than Shwe. But his inauguration speech set a fresh tone. He outlined an agenda of inclusive economic development and promised to renew crumbling health and education systems, fight corruption, pass laws to protect human rights and co-operate with those holding "different ideas and concepts" on issues of national interest. Burma-charts Since then, the long-suffering population of Burma (renamed Myanmar by the generals) has witnessed almost unimaginable change. Censorship has been eased to allow debates, criticism and interviews with dissidents in domestic news publications. On the internet, previously inaccessible foreign news and opposition websites have been unblocked. Political exiles such as Mr Yawnghwe have been invited to return. Experts have been appointed to advise on reviving the economy. Parliament has held robust televised debates, has adopted a law permitting independent trade unions and is considering legislation that would make it easier to protest. In August, Mr Thein Sein met Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel Prize-winning democracy leader who was reviled by the junta. She later told diplomats she believed the president was sincere in his desire for reform. In September, Thein Sein risked alienating the country's long-time patrons in Beijing by suspending a $3.6bn Chinese dam project that would have flooded an area the size of Singapore. This month, the government released nearly 200 political prisoners, beginning what is expected to be a phased release of up to 2,000 dissidents. The pace of change has persuaded many that the president is serious in his ambitions to bring development and greater freedom to a country that has suffered from economic stagnation, political repression and international isolation. The sense of excitement has brought renewed attention to a nation rich in oil and gas, gems and timber, and situated at the strategic crossroads of Asia, wedged between China and India. A country that because of sanctions the west had appeared to have lost to China is suddenly back in geostrategic play. "There is a fundamental rethinking of the political direction of the country," says Richard Horsey, who spent five years in Burma with the International Labour Organisation. "We should see this as a transition. It's not a flick of the switch from authoritarianism to a fully open society. But the intention is to undertake a far-reaching liberalisation of governance in the country." Western capitals, which have long treated Burma as a pariah and subjected it to a range of sanctions, are now scrambling for an appropriate response to developments that are still fraught with uncertainty. Mr Thein Sein is almost certainly no liberal democrat and his initiatives take place within a constitutional framework that will leave Burma far short of the democratic changes for which many western governments, and Burmese exiles, have long pressed.. . . Yet in a region where authoritarian governments such as China and Vietnam have improved their people's lives by enabling rising prosperity, many argue that the west should support any credible effort at more rational, open policies after decades of erratic military fiat. With its trove of natural gas and a largely untapped domestic market of some 54m, Burma is also of keen interest to western multinationals, which had mostly been deterred from doing business there by sanctions, red tape and reputational risk. ECONOMIC REFORMS: A pariah state takes tentative steps to attract foreign investors U Myint once joked that Burma's military generals ran a "command economy". They issued orders, military-style, and expected the economy to obey. The former UN economist, having retired to Rangoon, has now been appointed President Thein Sein's most senior economic adviser. He is charged with shepherding through reforms to unleash the country's growth potential and entice investment from foreign companies. "It's going to be a long haul, with lots of work to be done," says Professor Sean Turnell of Australian National university, who fears there could be opposition from within the administration, or even from the military. "There are going to be a lot of people who will be unhappy once reforms take place, as their interests will be exposed. So the potential for reaction is there." Burma holds many attractions for foreign businesses: significant natural gas reserves, roughly equal to Brazil's; tourist appeal; fertile rice-growing land; and a youthful population, estimated at about 54m, that could be tapped to help offset rising labour costs in China. Chinese, Indian and other Asian companies have established a foothold, especially in natural resource extraction. But aside from Total of France, with its natural gas pipeline from Burma to Thailand, and a few European travel groups, western business has largely steered clear. Sanctions, and the reputational risks of operating in a pariah country, have proved deterrents. But the domestic business climate has been far from congenial. Multiple exchange rates for the local currency -- with a black market rate about 200 times weaker than the official level -- have complicated trade and banking. Red tape meant every individual import and export shipment, plus the price at which the transaction took place, required high-level approval. The state of the roads, power supply and ports reflects years of neglect and under-investment. Becoming too successful also poses risks for business -- the friends and relatives of powerful generals have been known to grab profitable enterprises. "You could never trust that your investment was not simply going to be expropriated," says Prof Turnell. The new government is already moving to improve the climate. The 10 per cent export tax has been cut to zero for most goods, and 2 per cent for others. Approvals for exports are now virtually automatic. Banks are allowed, for the first time, to sell foreign exchange at market rates. The government also wants to move to more market-based exchange rates. Until now, the multiple rate system has allowed the military to tap state gas revenues with little accountability -- a practice Prof Turnell says could be ended with the transparency brought by a single exchange rate. "I half wonder," he asks, "whether the new president knows the implications." Burma's recent history of false dawns and dashed hopes gives ample reason for caution. In 2002, Ms Suu Kyi was released from house arrest, raising expectations that the regime was poised to negotiate a transition from military rule. Just a year later, she was attacked by regime thugs and taken into custody. Back under house arrest, she then agreed a deal with Gen Khin Nyunt, the military intelligence chief of the time, for her NLD to attend the regime's constitutional convention. But at the last minute, Gen Than Shwe vetoed the deal. Gen Khin Nyunt was later purged and put under house arrest himself. Ms Suu Kyi was released only last November. Espen Barth Eide, Norway's deputy foreign minister, who met ministers and Ms Suu Kyi on a recent trip to Burma, argues that the country could be at the start of a transition similar to those of recent decades in formerly autocratic Taiwan and South Korea. They gradually came to allow more "moderate pluralism" without dramatic ruptures. "This is as good as it gets -- a military regime deciding not to be a military regime any more," he says. "It may be the start of a rough ride. But it's not fake. There's something real going on." Striking the right balance between maintaining pressure and supporting change is a high-stakes game at a time of rising tensions between Washington and Beijing over influence in Asia -- and not everyone shares the new optimism. Pro-democracy campaign groups, and some members of Ms Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy, dismiss the changes as easily reversible tactical manoeuvres to help win an end to sanctions. Human rights groups and freed dissidents themselves were disappointed by the limited scale of the recent prisoner release, which left many prominent campaigners behind bars. "Thein Sein is on a journey and his destination is not democracy," says Mark Farmaner, director of the Burma Campaign UK, another lobbying group. "His destination is lifting sanctions and gaining international legitimacy. He is looking around the world and seeing all these other dictatorships that don't have sanctions and have normal diplomatic relations, and he wants the same. He is prepared to make more compromises to achieve that goal than his predecessors." Gen Than Shwe is now in retirement. That, say some observers, has given Mr Thein Sein the opportunity to push through important changes, backed by a handful of like-minded former military men. "From the outside, we've always seen the regime as if it were some monolithic, coherent whole," says historian Thant Myint-U, author of two books on Burma. The reality was more fluid. "Thein Sein realises what many people have realised, which is the way that things were going in Burma was not sustainable, and that people in the country deserved a better government," he adds. "There are ways in which one can improve the government without having a bloody revolution." People in contact with government officials say many in the ruling elite have long been dismayed by how far Burma has lagged behind its neighbours. The country has some of Asia's highest poverty and malnutrition rates despite possessing some of its most fertile land. Much of the military top brass is also said to be discomfited by the tightening embrace of China. Diplomats say Mr Thein Sein is looking to improve relations with the west to counter dependence on Beijing. "There is a sense that they need to have a more balanced set of external economic and political relations," says Mr Horsey. "In their mind, they are susceptible to losing sovereignty. They think back to weak Burmese kings who, because of their failure to keep up with political and technical trends of the times, were dominated by foreigners." One European diplomat who has been visiting the country for years says the government has "come to the conclusion they can't survive without the west". Still, Mr Thein Sein's reform path is fraught with risk. He faces opposition from military hardliners. Many officials are sitting on the fence, reluctant to commit. For now, the president seems to have the upper hand. But analysts fret that any outbreak of social unrest could provide an excuse for hardliners to retake power, through a constitutional provision that allows the army to declare a state of emergency. "The worst case is that there is some big disaster, which he mishandles. Then the army has a reason to come back in," says Mr Yawnghwe from the Euro-Burma Office. So far, the US and the European Union have responded cautiously to the unfolding events, welcoming the changes but saying the government must release more political prisoners before they will consider a relaxation of sanctions. Renewed fighting between the army and ethnic militias in Burma's restive minority areas remains another concern. "There are still real questions about how far they are going to go and where this is going to lead," Derek Mitchell, the US special envoy for Burma, told journalists in Washington last week. "If in fact we do see reform, change, along those lines of democracy, human rights, national reconciliation and development, they will have a partner in the United States." In calibrating their response to events in Burma, western capitals are likely to take their cue from Ms Suu Kyi, who has struck a cautiously positive tone. Nyan Win, an NLD activist and former political prisoner, says the party is "thinking about how we can co-operate with the government and what we can do for democracy and human rights. We are optimistic that the present government wants to change towards democracy." Or as Mr Yawnghwe puts it: "If you ask people outside Burma, they'll say it's a sham. But if you look at people inside, they are saying, 'let's go with it, because this is what we have got'." Additional reporting by David Pilling http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/5576df62-fb37-11e0-8df6-00144feab49a.html#axzz1bYwnIm9o --------------------------------------------- Letter from Burma Letter from Burma: Holiday (4) - By - Aung San Suu Kyi It is an unhappy coincidence that while I am in the process of writing about the days I spent in Pagan, an entirely unheard of tragedy for Burma should have taken place in the vicinity of the old capital. The murder of a Japanese woman tourist by the driver of her "motorbike taxi" shocked the people of a community widely known for hospitality to strangers. The crime sent shock waves across the country and a man from the town of Nyaung-U, where the crime had been committed, spoke for all of us when he said: "Such a terrible thing has never happened here before; we cannot understand it. We are not like that, we feel so ashamed." The murderer has been apprehended and justice must take its due course, but the young woman will never be restored to life. We send our deep condolences to all those who knew and cherished her. Everything is impermanent, nothing lasts forever. This is what Buddhism teaches us and what Pagan teaches us. Yet it is surely not wrong to try to conserve what should be conserved. Not far from Pagan is Popa, an extinct volcano, the most prominent centre of spirit worship in the country. Its annual festival attracts not just believers but tens of thousands of visitors eager to observe the rituals that have been passed down through the ages since the time when the kings of Pagan were lords of life and death over their subjects. According to legend, back in the days of King Anawratha, there lived on Mount Popa a flower-eating ogress. A royal retainer with unusual powers would come every morning from Pagan at superhuman speed to gather flowers for the king. As might be expected, he met the ogress, who had the power to make herself look beautiful, and fell in love with her. The fruit of the union between the superman and the ogress were twin boys who would one day become the guardian spirits of Popa. Tourists make the trip out to Popa even when it is not festival time as there are interesting shrines all the way up to the top of the volcano. We too went out towards Popa but not to climb it. We went to visit the National Park in the foothills. It is of modest size and obviously works on a modest budget but the enthusiasm and dedication of the staff was contagious and our visit was both interesting and educational. The raised altitude makes the climate particularly pleasant and the volcanic soil is ideal for the preservation and cultivation of rare trees and plants. Exotic orchids and butterflies abound and the Park specializes in medicinal vegetables and herbs. It is an ideal setting for both conservation and research. The air was cool and there was a spacious wooden deck from which we could enjoy a magnificent view of the volcano and of green vistas that would send botanists into ecstasies. Four days in Pagan is long enough to make you realize that however many times you may come back there would be new discoveries to be made, new magic that would hold you captive to the fascination of the city of pagodas. Its traditional arts and crafts, basketwork, pottery, lacquer ware, are attractive as well as useful. Pagan is in fact the home of Burmese lacquer. The old methods and designs have been retained but there is also an awareness of the need to strike out in new directions. There is an eagerness to learn from other countries and the owner of one of the largest lacquer stores had spent some time in Japan to see if she could find ways of improving the quality of Burmese lacquer. Pagan has much to offer in the way of history, architecture, art and the beauties of nature. Its greatest asset however is its people. Gentle and courteous as befits the inhabitants of a proud old city, their charm is as memorable as their surroundings are unique. One afternoon we went to have our lunch at 'Tharaba 3.' This is just several long tables and benches laid out under a few shade trees but it is one of the most popular eating spots in town. Tharaba 1 had been arranged in a similar way and had had to move away from its original place. The demands of loyal clients had led to Tharaba 2 reappearing under other trees. When Thraba 2 also had to move, the clientele remained staunch and Tharaba 3 materialized. One meal at those tables under the trees makes you understand why those who have enjoyed the food and hospitality of Tharaba keep coming back for more. Three hundred kyats (less than U.S. 50 cents) gets you a big helping of rice and as much as you want of some five or six side dishes such as pickles, thick spicy tomato sauce, sesame mush, fermented fish and vegetable fritters. For an average eater, that constitutes an adequate meal. Dishes of meat and fish are also placed on the tables; you pay only for the pieces that you put on to your plate. I could write a whole book about my few days in Pagan but it is time to stop and what could be better than to end on a culinary note? So I will simply say: you must come and taste the simple delights of Tharaba 3 and a holiday in Burma for yourself. (By Aung San Suu Kyi)
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