News & Articles on Burma-Saturday, 15 October, 2011

News & Articles on Burma Saturday, 15 October, 2011 --------------------------------------- Political prisoner release should prompt continued pressure on Myanmar Burma rides the winds of rapid change India offers loan to Myanmar amid tentative reforms India promises assistance to Myanmar in agri sector Indo-Myanmar pact to tackle insurgency in north-east: Gogoi Burma workers win right to strike All eyes on change in Burma India scents opportunity in Burma leader visit A shift in Myanmar Myanmar Relaxes Media Grip ------------------------------------------ October 14, 2011 Political prisoner release should prompt continued pressure on Myanmar Prisoners of conscience Zarganar, Su Su Nway and Zaw Htet Ko Ko have been released in Myanmar’s latest mass prisoner amnesty, after sustained campaigning by human rights organisations including Amnesty International. Amnesty International’s membership across the world has been campaigning for the release of the three political prisoners by writing letters, signing petitions and lobbying governments. “We are celebrating the freedom of people for whom we have campaigned for years,” said Sam Zarifi, Amnesty International’s Asia-Pacific Director. “The now confirmed release of more than 200 political prisoners this month shows that all those letters and petitions can have a real impact in individual cases.” “But the work is far from over while many more political prisoners remain behind bars. This amnesty should inspire the international community to keep pressuring Myanmar to release all political prisoners immediately.” The Myanmar government announced that the latest prisoner amnesty was on humanitarian grounds for the elderly, sick and disabled. “This is ironic, considering that political prisoners are routinely placed in remote jails far from hospitals and support networks, and intentionally mistreated and denied medical treatment in order to ruin their health and break their spirits,” said Sam Zarifi. Zarganar, Su Su Nway and Zaw Htet Ko Ko were no exceptions. Zarganar, Myanmar’s best-known comedian, had been serving a 35-year prison sentence in a prison in Kachin state at the time of his release. Aged 50, he had reportedly been suffering health problems in prison. He was jailed in 2007 for leading a private donor movement in response to the government’s blocking of foreign aid in the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis. He gave regular interviews to foreign media criticising the government and exposing the unfolding humanitarian crisis, marshalling over 400 volunteers to deliver emergency aid. In the 2010 documentary ‘This Prison Where I Live’, he described the mistreatment he suffered during a previous detention: “They beat and they kick and sometimes they use some rubber pipe. They use a rubber pipe to beat my back and my belly…Some of my friends in that jail tried to kill themselves…” Labour rights activist Su Su Nway, 39, had been serving a seven and a half-year sentence for treason and other vaguely defined security offences at the time of her release this October. Her acts of political protest even while in prison saw her despatched to a jail near the border with India’s Nagaland, far from her family and medical treatment, despite her heart problem. There was later a reported tuberculosis outbreak in that prison. She had been arrested in November 2007 in the wake of the ‘Saffron Revolution’, after putting up an anti-government banner near a hotel where the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar was staying. Su Su Nway was the first person in Myanmar to sue the government successfully for subjecting her and her village to forced labour. The government imprisoned her for eight months in retaliation. Upon being released in 2006 from that first imprisonment, she said to the Democratic Voice of Burma, a dissident media outlet based outside the country: “I take my prison uniform with me because I know that I will have to come back to jail until Burma gets democracy." Despite being 30 years old at the time of his release, Zaw Htet Ko Ko was also known to be suffering health problems while in prison in Rakhine state, over 660km away from his family in Yangon. Shortly after his arrest in October 2007, his father told Amnesty International that he feared his son was being tortured in detention. At the time of his release, Zaw Htet Ko Ko had been serving a 10 year sentence for ‘inciting offences against public tranquility’ due to his involvement in the ‘Saffron Revolution’ protests of 2007. As a young member and official photographer of the 88 Generation Students Group, Zaw Htet Ko Ko was of the internet-savvy generation who had embraced new technology to circumvent censorship and communicate with the world outside Myanmar. During August and September 2007, the authorities reportedly raided his home up to five times and repeatedly threatened and harassed his family in Yangon. His father U Aung Myint, a political exile living in the Netherlands, told Amnesty International that he had asked his son in the past if he understood the risks of political activism. His son replied: “Yes, I've considered everything, about dangers. If I don't do what I'm doing, who will do it for the Burmese people?" http://www.amnestyusa.org/our-work/latest-victories/political-prisoner-release-should-prompt-continued-pressure-on-myanmar -------------------------------------- Burma rides the winds of rapid change Myo Thein, Dean Nelson October 16, 2011 FROM a shelf on a roadside news-stand, the gentle, smiling face of Burma's long-suffering freedom movement leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, beams down from a magazine, flanked by her son and the family dog. A few magazines along, there she is again, the West's poster girl of democratic defiance. Yet this is not London or New York, but Rangoon. Today, for the first time in more than 20 years, Ms Suu Kyi is the cover story in her own country. This would have been unthinkable just a few weeks ago, said one Western diplomat, amazed at the speed of change in one of the world's hitherto most repressive states. Then, no publisher would have dared print her picture, let along distribute it to vendors. Advertisement: Story continues below But since the Nobel peace prize winner met President Thein Sein, a former general, in August, a series of symbolic and tangible reforms has been rolled out with such speed that a nation resigned to repression is daring to talk freely about politics for the first time in decades. The past eight weeks have witnessed the government cancel the China-backed Myitsone Dam on the Irrawaddy River, apparently after public protest, end restrictions on the internet, allow opposition voices in the media and, on Friday, lift a ban on free trade unions. Last week, more than 200 political prisoners were released, including the country's most celebrated film star and comedian, Zarganar, who had been sentenced to 59 years in jail for criticising the government's response to cyclone Nargis; Zaw Htet Ko Ko, one of the leaders of the 1988 student uprising; and Sai Say Htan, who was serving a 104-year sentence for rejecting the country's new constitution. On the streets of Rangoon on Friday, normally cautious middle-class youths gathered in tea shops and internet cafes to take advantage of their new-found freedom. ''My family now talks more openly about politics,'' said one young man. At the Cafe Parisian on Sule Pyay Road, a civil servant spoke of how he believed that the former military ruler General Than Shwe continued to wield influence, before stopping to marvel at being able to make such a comment. Another said the government's dash for democracy had won over relations who were fierce opponents. ''My mother did not like [President] U Thein Sein but she is now saying that yes, she thinks he is doing good things. She likes now U Thein Sein and also Aung San Suu Kyi,'' he added. Other government moves to build confidence have included appointing a former liaison officer to Ms Suu Kyi to run the Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement. U Myint, a close friend of the Nobel laureate, has become the President's economic adviser. Mr Myint's appointment offered a clue not only to the direction in which the new civilian government was heading, but also to the cause. Mr Thein Sein wants foreign investment to develop the economy, but knows its growth potential will always be restricted by United States and European Union sanctions until Burma returns to democracy. The country has much to offer: vast unexploited oil and gas reserves, great expanses of coveted farmland for food production and an unused gateway to China, until now its only meaningful friend and patron. On Friday the President met India's Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, in New Delhi as part of a campaign to boost external trade and persuade the West to drop its sanctions. India announced a $US500 million loan and one of Dr Singh's most influential advisers suggested that New Delhi could play a key role in ''encouraging the US and Europe to begin dismantling their long-standing policy of isolating and sanctioning Burma''. Hillary Clinton, the US Secretary of State, and William Hague, Britain's Foreign Secretary, welcomed the recent reforms and the release of political prisoners but stressed that they would ''wait and see'' how far Mr Thein Sein goes in his talks with Ms Suu Kyi before weighing their response. The Nobel laureate, they indicated, holds the key to Burma's return to polite society. On the streets of the former capital, the euphoria is checked by a concern that it may not last. Plainclothes security agents and youth apparatchiks remain fixtures at events and in areas deemed politically sensitive. Zarganar, the actor-comedian, is unhappy that more than 1000 political prisoners remain in detention. ''They are releasing political prisoners little by little; so we are like the victims in the hands of Somali pirates. What are their ransom demands? The situation is like that,'' he said. Hours earlier he had been in his cell in Myitkyina Prison, where he had spent every day in solitary confinement since he was jailed in June 2008. When he first emerged from jail, he voiced resentment that Ms Suu Kyi's dialogue with the government had yielded so few prisoner releases, but on Friday he told the Burmese free news website Mizzama that he supported the talks. ''Some people worry Suu Kyi is being used by the government … I don't think this is the case. If you give gold to a monkey, how will it be used properly? But if you give gold to a goldsmith, it is different. Aung San Suu Kyi is a goldsmith. I think these meetings will not hamper our drive for true democracy. We can look at it as something positive.'' The Telegraph Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/world/burma-rides-the-winds-of-rapid-change-20111015-1lqe7.html#ixzz1afFNTigf ------------------------------------------- Saturday, October 15, 2011 India offers loan to Myanmar amid tentative reforms NEW DELHI: India promised Myanmar a $500 million credit line to improve infrastructure on Friday and praised steps towards democracy by its reclusive neighbour, which is tentatively opening up after half a century of harsh military rule. The money and warm words came as Myanmar campaigns to shed its pariah status. It freed about 200 political prisoners this week, the latest sign of reforms in the poor and tightly controlled Southeast Asian country of 50 million people. The former British colony also known as Burma has large undeveloped gas reserves and straddles busy Bay of Bengal shipping lanes, making it strategically important for energy-hungry emerging power neighbours India and China. Myanmar President Thein Sein met Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi during a four-day state trip, spending two days visiting religious sites. About 100,000 refugees and migrants from Myanmar live in India. A few dozen protested during Sein’s visit to call for a faster pace of reform and the release of prisoners. “Kick-start genuine political dialogue,” read one placard held by a supporter of Myanmar pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who was freed from seven years of house arrest last November. “We all have come here to support Aung San Suu Kyi and to demand a democracy,” said a 16-year-old protester. Hours after the prisoners’ release, Myanmar’s first civilian president in nearly 50 years flew to India’s Bihar state to pay homage at the site where the Buddha is said to have reached enlightenment. “The prime minister of India congratulated the president of Myanmar on the transition towards democratic government and offered all necessary assistance in further strengthening this democratic transition,” they said in a joint statement. India has long weathered criticism from international partners for its accommodating stance to Myanmar’s junta, which was dissolved in April. New Delhi feels the signs of reform vindicate its policy of engagement. Reuters http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2011\10\15\story_15-10-2011_pg5_28 --------------------------------------- India promises assistance to Myanmar in agri sector New Delhi, Oct 15, (PTI): India today assured technical assistance to Myanmar in the field of agriculture particularly for key crops like rice and pulses. The assurance was given by Minister of State for Agriculture Harish Rawat to a visiting Myanmar team led by its president U Thein Sein here. The team comprised Agriculture minister U Myint Maung and entrepreneurs, who interacted with scientists at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI). Myanmar sought Indian help in increasing yield of its key crops of rice and pulses to which Rawat reacted positively, IARI sources said. The team also sought India's technical assistance in the livestock sector to boost milk productivity. India is the world's largest milk producer. The sources said the Myanmar President appreciated the fact that IARI has signed an MOU with a group of private seed producing companies, and sought details to repeat the experiment of sectoral convergence in the important area of seed production in his country, the sources added. He requested New Delhi to send a team of scientists to train his men at Advanced Centre for Agriculture Research and Education set up there with the help of India. Mayanmar evinced interest in buying Tractors from India. Later, the team visited IARI's biotechnology centre and an exhibition in genetics division. http://www.deccanherald.com/content/198066/india-promises-assistance-myanmar-agri.html ---------------------------------------- Indo-Myanmar pact to tackle insurgency in north-east: Gogoi Published on Sat, Oct 15, 2011 at 17:35 | Source : PTI Guwahati, Oct 15 (PTI) Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi today said the Indo-Myanmar agreement would benefit the security of the north-eastern region by tackling the menace of insurgency in the area. "The accord between visiting Myanmar president Thein Sein and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is good news for the north-east region from the security point of view", Gogoi told reporters here. "Insurgent outfits like ULFA, NSCN and other groups from the region have set up camps in Myanmar. Like Bangladesh did, we are now hopeful after the accord that Myanmar will also oust them from their territory for peace, security and stability in the region", Gogoi said. "Assam's uppermost tip Sadiya, adjacent Arunachal Pradesh and Myanmar are the bastion of the militants. This will be tackled by the agreement to enhance effective cooperation and coordination between the security forces of the two countries," he added. The opening of the Stilwell Road, built during World War II in 1942 and passing through Burma would benefit Centre's Look East Policy by intensifying trading activities with South Asia to bring about overall socio-economic betterment in the area, the CM said. http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/wire-news/indo-myanmar-pact-to-tackle-insurgencynorth-east-gogoi_599989.html ------------------------------------------ Burma workers win right to strike BANGKOK POST: Published: 15/10/2011 at 12:58 AM Workers in military-dominated Burma will be allowed to unionise and go on strike for the first time in decades, officials said Friday, under landmark new legislation welcomed by the United Nations. Workers in military-dominated Myanmar will be allowed to unionise and go on strike for the first time in decades, officials said Friday, under landmark new legislation welcomed by the United Nations. The law was signed into effect by President Thein Sein on Tuesday, government sources said, and replaces the repressive 1962 Trade Unions Act, in the latest sign of tentative reform by the authoritarian regime. "Workers will have the right to form unions and to strike under the law," a government official told AFP on condition of anonymity. The legislation stipulates that workers, with the exception of military and police personnel, may set up a union with a minimum of 30 members and come up with their own name and logo. Employers must be given up to 14 days notice of industrial action and unions must specify in advance how many people will take part in the strike, it said. Providers of essential services, such as healthcare, firefighting, telecommunications, the supply of water and electricity, do not have the right to strike. The text also states that employers in breach of the new rules risk a 100,000 kyat fine ($125) or one year in prison, while employees face a fine of 30,000 kyat ($38). "Although we can't say that everything about the new labour law is good, we have to welcome it," Nyan Win, a lawyer and spokesman for Aung San Suu Kyi's opposition National League for Democracy party, told AFP. The International Labour Organisation also cheered the new measure, although Steve Marshall, the UN agency's liaison officer in Burma, cautioned that he had not yet read the full text of the legislation. "But in principle there is no question that the law is a major step for the government of Burma," he told AFP. "It is a very important factor in terms of the development both socially and economically of the country." A well-respected Rangoon businessman who did not wish to be named said he applauded the new law because he believed workers had a right to organise. "Trade unions must exist in a democratic nation," he told AFP. But the ILO's Marshall said that in a country where labour activists have frequently ended up behind bars, it would take a while before workers felt brave enough to take action under the newly-passed law. "It is a new approach and a new culture," he said. "It will take some time. We will not see immediate change overnight." The labour law is the latest evidence of a modest wind of change blowing through Burma in recent months, as the new nominally-civilian government tries to show it is serious about embracing change after decades of repression. On Wednesday, the regime pardoned about 200 political prisoners in a much-anticipated amnesty though critics said the gesture did not go far enough as most of the country's roughly 2,000 political detainees are still locked up -- including many labour rights advocates. "There remain quite a number of labour activists still in prison," Marshall said. Burma expert Sean Turnell from Australia's Macquarie University said the authorities would have to reassure a sceptical public that they would let the unions operate in peace. "The real test will come with implementation -- will people really be able to strike?" he asked, adding that it would take "a huge leap" of faith for workers to suddenly start protesting. "People have to feel that they can trust those laws, so it is going to take some time I think before people are convinced." http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/asia/261413/burma-workers-win-right-to-strike ------------------------------------------ All eyes on change in Burma By Andrew Buncombe 10:03 AM Saturday Oct 15, 2011 Residents await the arrival of prisoners being released from Insein Prison in Yangon. Photo / AP Expand Residents await the arrival of prisoners being released from Insein Prison in Yangon. Photo / AP It had long turned dark by the time Thein Sein reached the Mahabodhi temple complex in northeast India, the silhouettes of his security guards mingling with those of robed Buddhist monks standing among the scented grounds as the Burmese President knelt to pray. It would be tempting, if a little presumptuous, to assume the Burmese leader was seeking insight and wisdom as he prostrated himself beneath the sprawling tree where Prince Siddhartha Gautama the Buddha achieved enlightenment in 623BC. But whether or not he was successful remains unclear. The world is watching every move the President makes. It wants to know whether he represents a genuinely new chapter in Burma's history, a step on the path to real democracy and plurality, or whether his strategy is simply more of what has gone before, albeit packaged with slicker PR. On the face of it, supporters of the President, appointed earlier this year after a supposedly civilian government took over from the junta which had run the country for decades, could argue there is already sufficient evidence to suggest he represents real change. The former general and his entourage of 69, including his chef, arrived for a three-day official visit in India on the morning it emerged that the first of what is expected to be several thousand prisoners were set free from Burma's jails. Among them were up to 200 political prisoners, including a popular comedian and activist, Zarganar, who was jailed in 2008 after criticising the government's response to the devastating Cyclone Nargis. The comedian and actor was certainly pleased to be out of Myitkyina prison in northern Kachin state, released along with a sick rebel commander, but he did not mince his words: "I will be happy and I will thank the Government only when all of my friends are freed." His sentiments matched those of the democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who herself was released after seven years of house arrest late last year. "The freedom of each individual is invaluable, but I wish that all political prisoners would be released," she said, even as, across the country, relatives and inmates enjoyed emotional reunions outside the jails where they had been held. While thousands of prisoners may eventually be released, it is clear that those political prisoners considered the most dangerous will not receive an amnesty from Thein Sein. Among the notable figures not released were Min Ko Naing, the "conqueror of kings", a leader of the 88 Generation Students' group who is serving a 65-year sentence, and Shin Gambira, a young monk who was among the leaders of the September 2007 Saffron Revolution, when hundreds of thousands of monks and ordinary citizens took to the streets to protest over price hikes and in support of Suu Kyi's democracy campaign. "Everybody is happy," claimed Ashin Watnawa, a monk from Burma who has lived in India for 20 years and who was visiting Mahabodhi yesterday with a colleague. "[Thein Sein] is listening to people. He is different to what went before." Asked about the brutal crackdown by the Burmese authorities in 2007, when a number of monks were among those killed and injured, he added: "You have to let some things stay in the past." It would certainly have been insightful to hear Thein Sein's views on the prisoner releases he ordered and what they represented, as well as about his plans for the months ahead in Burma. Later, as Thein Sein left Mahabodhi, strolling with his entourage past the 19 footsteps that Buddha had taken after that moment of enlightenment and now marked by a stone plinth topped with lotus flowers, his security guards stepped in to block an attempted question. "This is not the place," said one. However - in a move that highlighted the wilier, PR-savvy side of Thein Sein - it was certainly the place for media coverage that the Burmese approved of. Among the President's entourage were three cameramen from state-controlled Myanmar International Television, as well as an Indian Government photographer. They were joined later by several Indian cameramen from private channels. It certainly created a more positive image of the President than that given four years ago when monks in Burma turned their alms bowls upside down and "excommunicated" the military government of which he was part, just weeks before the Saffron Revolution. Thein Sein is going to Delhi for talks with India's Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, and other officials. Despite Burma's record on human rights, India considers its eastern neighbour increasingly important as a source of natural gas and oil and is trying to cement a relationship which matches the one Burma enjoys with China. An Indian official said recently, ahead of this visit, that the Government in Delhi believed Thein Sein was genuine in his purported desire for change. For most, the jury is still out. - INDEPENDENT http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10759235 ------------------------------------------ BANGKOK POST India scents opportunity in Burma leader visit Published: 14/10/2011 at 01:32 PM Online news: Asia India rolled out the red carpet for visiting Burma President Thein Sein on Friday, sensing a chance to deepen relations with a neighbour traditionally allied to New Delhi's regional rival Beijing. President of the Republic of Myanmar U Thein Sein (C) and first lady Daw Khin Khin Win (R) visit the Mahabodhi Temple Complex in Gaya district, Indian state of Bihar on October 13, 2011. The Mahabodhi temple is famous for being the place where the founder of Buddhism Gautama Buddha allegedly obtained enlightenment. The former general, who arrived in India on Wednesday and spent two days touring Buddhist pilgrimage sites, was given a full state welcome in New Delhi for the official leg of his three-day visit. He was scheduled to hold extensive talks later in the day with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The visit follows Burma's decision late last month to suspend construction of a $3.6-billion Chinese-backed dam project, triggering a rare public rebuke from Beijing. Some saw the move as signalling a desire by Thein Sein's new nominally civilian government to shed Burma's image as a client state of China and open other doors, including to Western nations who maintain sanctions imposed on the former military regime. For energy-hungry India, resource-rich Burma with its large oil and natural gas reserves is an inviting prospect. India began engaging the Burma junta in the mid-1990s on security and energy issues and as a counter to China's growing strategic influence in the Southeast Asian nation, formerly called Burma. The policy drew international criticism, with US President Barack Obama chiding New Delhi during a visit to India last year for not speaking out over human rights abuses in Burma. India however feels its approach has been vindicated by a series of reformist moves initiated by Thein Sein since he took power last year. He held direct talks with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and, on the eve of his India visit, Burma announced a mass prisoner amnesty, including a number of of political detainees. Indian trade with Burma stood at $1.2 billion last year, far short of the $4.4 billion between Burma and China. New Delhi clearly scents new opportunities under Thein Sein's leadership, and G. Parthasarathy, a former Indian ambassador to Burma, said the new government appeared to be seeking greater "diplomatic elbow room" that would leave more space for India. "What remains to be seen is whether these recent signs of opening signal a greater degree of economic liberalisation," he said. But Parthasarathy also stressed that Burma would always look to maintain a close relationship with an emerging superpower such as China. An Indian foreign ministry official insisted there was room for both China and India to play a role in Burma's future development. "Relationships between countries are not a zero-sum-game," the official argued. Beijing has long helped shield Burma from international opprobrium and the impact of western sanctions with trade ties, arms sales and through its position as a veto-wielding permanent member of the UN Security Council. http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/asia/261346/india-fetes-burma-leader-on-state-visit ------------------------------------------ THE JAPAN TIMES: Saturday, Oct. 15, 2011 A shift in Myanmar Something is happening in Myanmar. The government in that reclusive country has recently taken a number of steps that suggest change may be afoot. It is too soon to tell how substantial and enduring the changes will be, but they must be acknowledged and encouraged. It is time to engage the government in Naypyidaw and test its commitment to real reform. Military governments have ruled Myanmar since 1962. Their systemic violation of the people's will earned them international censure and isolation. (To be fair, the rulers of Myanmar have never been inclined to engage the world, either.) The first suggestions that change might be afoot came a few years ago when the government wrote a new constitution that would pave the way to civilian rule. Most observers considered that a sham, especially when most of the country's new leaders had only recently donned mufti. Elections were held last November and, as predicted, military-backed parties and individuals dominated the new parliament. Yet since taking office in March, the government of President Thein Sein has taken steps that suggest that the change is more than just cosmetic. In August, Nobel Peace Prize winner and head of the National League for Democracy Aung San Suu Kyi was invited to the capital to talk to the president; this followed her release from seven years of house arrest 11 months ago. Exiles have been invited home to rejoin the political process; the NLD, which refused to contest last year's elections because it believed they were rigged — and was subsequently delisted as a legal political party — was invited to reregister. A new national human rights commission, made up of retired bureaucrats and academics, has been set up. This was followed by the visit of the United Nations special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, the first time he has been allowed to visit in over a year. Censorship of some foreign media has stopped. Earlier this month, the state-run New Light of Myanmar newspaper reprinted an open letter from the Myanmar National Human Rights Commission that called for the release of "prisoners of conscience" who pose no threat to "public tranquility." The government followed that with the start on Wednesday of the release of nearly 6,400 prisoners. In the first batch of released prisoners were 198 of the country's estimated 2,000 political prisoners. Even Ms. Suu Kyi has conceded that "We are beginning to see the beginning of change." Finally, and among the most surprising developments, is the decision in September by the Myanmar government to suspend construction of a $3.6 billion dam being built with China. The dam was a controversial project because its location on the Irrawaddy River was seen as defacing the birthplace of the Burmese nation and because it signaled China's growing influence in the country. The rest of the world should reciprocate the signs of change in Myanmar. Much of the West has kept its distance from the new government, believing that it is just the redressing of the old order in new clothes. Sanctions remain in place and the prevailing tone is one of skepticism. But the door is open. The West is talking to senior Myanmar officials — who were left off the list of individuals subject to sanctions in Europe. The United States has created a new special envoy for Myanmar and Myanmar's foreign minister visited Washington last month. Speaking in Bangkok days ago, Mr. Kurt Campbell, assistant U.S. secretary of state for Asia, said that Myanmar is witnessing "dramatic developments" and the U.S. is ready to revamp ties — "match their steps" — with the country. But real progress, said Mr. Campbell, depends on the release of political prisoners, the end of human rights abuses, dialogue with democracy supporters and ethnic groups, and answering questions about the country's nuclear program. The West has leverage. Sanctions have taken a bite and while it is too early to lift them, those governments could take a neutral stand on (or even encourage) international lending institutions resuming their aid to Myanmar. (This would also have the benefit of reducing the country's dependence on China.) The U.N. human rights representative has called for the establishment of an international commission of inquiry into suspected crimes against humanity and war crimes in the country. That vote will come before the United Nations this year and while the West should not be seen as being cynical about such issues, if the NLD supports abstention in the name of domestic political dialogue, then Western governments can heed its wishes. Of course, the most important question is whether there is real change in Myanmar or this is mere window dressing to exploit a moment of opportunity. It is difficult, if not impossible, to tell. Decision making in Naypyidaw remains opaque and it is hard to tell who is in charge. But the signs are promising and friends of Myanmar's long-suffering 60 million people, the poorest in Asia, deserve the benefit of the doubt. The key is a step-by-step process that matches Myanmar's moves with those of its critics. This moment must not be wasted. http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/ed20111015a1.html ------------------------------------------ ASIA NEWS: OCTOBER 15, 2011 Myanmar Relaxes Media Grip By a WSJ Staff Reporter YANGON—Myanmar residents knew something unusual was afoot this August when state-run newspapers suddenly dropped their regular slogans denouncing the BBC and the Voice of America for "sowing hatred among the people," followed by moves to unblock their websites in the country. Pictures and articles about famed dissident Aung San Suu Kyi began showing up in the press for the first time in years. Journalists have started posting articles online without the approval of government censors—previously a no-no—and even dared to criticize government policies in print. While still tightly controlled, Myanmar's media landscape is cracking open in significant ways, local journalists and residents say, as authorities loosen restrictions in a country long seen as one of the most repressive in the world. In recent years, Myanmar residents have been able to use the Internet and have had access to some foreign media, including CNN in hotels and some foreign news publications online. But the websites for many foreign news sources deemed overly critical of the government, including the BBC and Reuters, were customarily blocked, along with YouTube as well as dissident publications that reported closely on Myanmar affairs from outside the country. With the latest steps to unblock sites, Myanmar residents now have access to a wide array of foreign news sources, as well as dissident publications such as the Irrawaddy, which is based in Thailand and regularly publishes scathing criticisms of Myanmar's government. Myanmar's Political History Myanmar, the Southeast-Asian country formerly known as Burma, has faced political turbulence since its oppressive military regime gained power in 1962. See some key events in the country's history. Myanmar ranked next-to-last out of 196 countries in press freedom last year, ahead only of North Korea, according to U.S.-based advocacy group Freedom House—which put China in 181st place—and journalists are routinely imprisoned there, human-rights groups say. Daily coverage is dominated by a small handful of government mouthpieces, while articles in most of the country's 350 or so independent news publications—typically weeklies and monthly journals—must be approved in advance by a censorship board. For years that left essentially all critical reporting to be done by exile publications working with undercover reporters inside the country. But in recent weeks, reporters inside the country are openly writing about controversial topics—including a mass amnesty of an estimated 200 political prisoners that occurred earlier this week. The changes are among a host of recent developments that have boosted hopes Myanmar's government is looking to turn the page on decades of harsh rule since the military took over there in 1962. Soldiers handed over power to a civilian government this year after an election that was widely decried by Western observers as a fraud. But since then, authorities have rolled out a slew of conciliatory gestures, including the prisoner release and numerous economic reforms, that have caught many Western diplomats off-guard. A more robust press is already helping shape public debate in unforeseen ways in the resource-rich country between China and India. Last month, the government suspended construction of a $3.6 billion China-backed hydroelectric dam in a rare concession to environmental activists after weeks of unexpectedly critical coverage in Yangon papers, which galvanized local opposition and added pressure on the authorities to act, people familiar with the government's thinking said. The dam suspension "reflects that the government pays attention to the voice of the people and the media" now, said Than Htut Aung, chairman of the Eleven Media Group, which publishes the Weekly Eleven news journal and several other publications in Myanmar. Six months ago, he said, he wouldn't have agreed to be interviewed by a foreign reporter—saying there might have been "a lot of complications and repercussions." But "now the situation is good," he said. There are crucial limits to the media opening, which highlights why some residents remain wary of the government's recent changes. Many topics—including criticism of the military or former strongman Senior Gen. Than Shwe, who stepped down earlier this year—remain off limits, and Western-style investigative journalism into issues such as corruption is out of the question, local reporters say. Many fear the latest easing could be rolled back at any time, putting today's more outspoken journalists at risk. Even with the loosened restrictions, journalists fear they remain subject to punishments, including prison terms, if they publish something deemed later to be detrimental to the state. "Compared to what we had a few years ago, we are much freer," said Thiha Saw, editor of Myanma Dana, a monthly business magazine. But "it's not a full opening," he said. "They may be opening up, but we know they are still afraid of many things." Government officials and advisors have said authorities are serious about creating a more open media, and are contemplating a new media law that would potentially eliminate Myanmar's censorship board entirely. "What the government would like to see is a free and responsible media, not a restricted media," said Ko Ko Hlaing, an adviser to Myanmar President Thein Sein. For now, editors and journalists are trying to see how far the boundaries can be pushed. Numerous publications have splashed pictures of Ms. Suu Kyi, a Nobel laureate who was released from seven years of house arrest last year, on their front pages—an act that was unheard-of until recently. The Weekly Eleven newspaper this month published an interview with Aung Zaw, a known critic of the Myanmar government who edits the Irrawaddy news journal. "I had to pinch myself" to believe it was all happening, Mr. Aung Zaw said. Even so, "the openness is very limited—it's a baby step.""I don't know exactly why they are doing it," he said. Perhaps "they want to show a good face to the international community," he said, adding, "we cannot see behind the curtain." Myint Kyaw, a local freelance journalist, said several reporters have even started posting news stories online via Facebook and some newspaper websites in real time rather than waiting for censors' approval—and no one has complained, he said. He described covering a recent small protest rally to mark the four-year anniversary of the so-called "Saffron Revolution" in 2007, when thousands of monks marched on Yangon streets before the rallies were stopped in a bloody crackdown by government soldiers, killing at least 30 people. Not only were people allowed to gather on the anniversary—an unlikely occurrence in past years—but he and the other journalists were allowed to interview rally leaders and even take pictures of riot police nearby, which wouldn't have been possible before, he said. "Clearly they were instructed not to arrest" people, he said. Daily news in Myanmar is still dominated by state media, whose coverage in a handful of papers and TV news programs continues to focus on topics such as state meetings or government tours of infrastructure projects, while downplaying or ignoring controversial topics. Editions of the government mouthpiece New Light of Myanmar published Thursday, for instance, focused on a presidential visit to India and a "Full Moon Day" holiday, with scant reference to the massive prisoner amnesty a day earlier that also included thousands of everyday criminals. Gone, though, are the paper's well-known rants against the Western media, such as one bold-faced warning published last year calling on citizens to "not allow ourselves to be swayed by killer broadcasts designed to cause troubles," such as those by BBC or the Voice of America. Absent, too, are once-common front-page headlines such as "Myanmar citizens must be for Myanmar and not be a stooge of any alien." —Celine Fernandez in Kuala Lumpur contributed to this article. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204774604576628721876661248.html __._,_.___