News & Articles on Burma-Wednesday 25 May, 2011

News & Articles on Burma
Wednesday 25 May, 2011
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The DW Debate with Aung San Suu Kyi
http://www.dw-world.de/popups/popup_single_mediaplayer/0,,6532017_type_video_struct_4756_contentId_6520969,00.html
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Political Prisoners go on hunger-strike in Burma’s prison
Aung San Suu Kyi records message for Amnesty International's 50th Birthday
Burma remains a millstone around Asean's neck
New Burma leader seeks friendly deals
China says Myanmar wants greater engagement with outside world
Visits from NKorean, Myanmar leaders highlights China’s close ties to shunned regimes
White Tiger party to cooperate with Thai company for mining in Shan State
All KIA troops in Northern Burma on alert
Headache for Thein Sein, 4 Chinese dam workers vanish into thin air
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Political Prisoners go on hunger-strike in Burma’s prison
By Zin Linn May 25, 2011 11:43PM UTC

A grouping of 22 political prisoners in Rangoon’s infamous Insein jail has been going on a hunger-strike for better living conditions since 17 May. According to Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma), seven out of those 22 political prisoners have been placed in solitary confinement.

They have demand six points regarding basic prisoner rights and they have decided to undergo a hunger-strike until their demands are met. The prison authorities responded by sending them to the Military Dog-Cell, a disreputably well-known prison chamber for brutal torture and extreme punishment. They were transferred on 24 May in the afternoon.

Other political prisoners who have been on hunger strike were told to collect their possessions, an indication that they will be transferred to remote prisons as a punishment, Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma) said.

The hunger-strike starts as over 14,600 prisoners have left prison last week under a clemency program for prisoners or a limited amnesty granted by the new president but “astonishingly insufficient”, said Benjamin Zawacki, Amnesty International’s Myanmar researcher.

As said by families of political prisoners, women prisoners have also joined in the hunger-striker. The main motive of the strike is to state detest toward the namesake amnesty, which left more than 2,000 political prisoners in detention.

New president Thein Sein, former junta prime minister, said the amnesty was to “turn prisoners into citizens who will in one way or another contribute toward the process of building a new nation.”

But observers said that sham amnesty is the government’s naive effort to gain international support for itself after taking office in March. Human Rights Watch said very few of the country’s 2,200 political prisoners were among those being released. Also, the one-year reduction in sentences for political prisoners serving 65 years was “a sick joke,” Human Rights Watch said when the amnesty was announced earlier this month.

As reported by AAPP-B, at least 159 political prisoners are in poor health due to the denial of proper medical care, harsh prison conditions, torture and transfers to remote prisons where there are no doctors. Political prisoners’ right to healthcare is principally denied by the successive regimes. Prison healthcare system in Burma is totally poor, especially in far-flung jails. There are 44 prisons across Burma, and at least 50 labour camps. Some of them do not have a prison hospital as well as health assistance personnel.

The regime’s treatment of political prisoners directly breaks the 1957 UN standard minimum rules for the treatment of prisoners. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) carried out its last prison visit in Burma in November 2005. In January 2006 the ICRC suspended prison visits in the country, as it was not allowed to fulfill its independent, impartial mandate.

The AAPP-Burma said in its April report that there were 2,061 political prisoners and 156 were female. On May 17, Burma began releasing about 14,600 prisoners across the country under the one-year commutation order signed by President Thein Sein. According to the latest figures, out of the 14,600 prisoners, 55 are political prisoners. 27 out of the 55 political prisoners are members of the National League for Democracy.

There are at least 329 ethnic people who still remain in prison. Five ethnic parties joined forces in Rangoon – the Brotherhood Forum – called for the release of all political prisoners for the sake of national reconciliation.

“The government should announce a general amnesty , said Hla Saw secretary of Rakhine Nationalities Development Party (RNDP), adding that he is a former political prisoner who was released from prison in 1980 under a general amnesty.
http://asiancorrespondent.com/55799/political-prisoners-go-on-hunger-strike-in-burma%E2%80%99s-prison/
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Aung San Suu Kyi records message for Amnesty International's 50th Birthday

Posted: 25 May 2011

The world’s best known political prisoner pays tribute to the world’s largest human rights organisation and looks forward to the day Amnesty no longer exists

Amnesty International, the world’s largest human rights organisation, is celebrating 50 years of work on Saturday 28 May 2011. In a message to Amnesty International, Aung San Suu Kyi, Burma’s iconic pro-democracy leader who was released last year after having spent 15 of the last 20 years under house arrest, paid tribute to the work that Amnesty had done over the last half a century and said how happy she will be when there is no longer any need for such an organisation.

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, said:

“I wish, on this 50th anniversary of Amnesty International, that its work will continue to be so successful, that there will no longer be any need for such an organisation.

“So I hope that we shall be able to cooperate together to bring about this sad, this happy day when Amnesty International no longer needs to carry on its work. “

Aung San Suu Kyi went on to talk about her early awareness of the organisation, and how she became increasingly aware of its importance when she herself became the focus of Amnesty’s campaigning.

Aung San Suu Kyi, said:

“The work that Amnesty International has done for all those who are suffering as prisoners of conscience is great - all over the world.

“I was quite young when I first learned about Amnesty International and was struck by the fact that it had been founded simply because one thinking man had read about the arrest of two young students in Portugal. One man in the UK decided because of what had happened to two young men in Portugal, that there was a need for such an organisation as Amnesty International.

“From that day I have harboured great respect for the organisation and after I was placed under house arrest and many of my colleagues were imprisoned for their political beliefs, my appreciation for Amnesty International increased by the day.”

Amnesty was started in London, in 1961, when British barrister Peter Benenson read an article about two Portuguese students who had been arrested for raising a “toast to freedom”. In the 1960s, Portugal was one of the remaining European colonial powers in Africa, ruled by the authoritarian Estado Novo regime. Anti-regime conspiracies were vigorously repressed by the Portuguese state police and deemed anti-Portuguese. The simple toast was deemed insurgent and a challenge to the government and the two were sent to prison.

Benenson wrote an article entitled ‘The Forgotten Prisoners’, in which he highlighted the plight of similar prisoners who had been jailed around the world for peacefully expressing their views. In an impassioned plea, he coined the term ‘prisoner of conscience’ and called for like-minded people across the world to unite in an appeal for amnesty on their behalf. The response was immense, and within weeks Amnesty International, a coordinated movement of ordinary people standing up for justice, had been born.

Today Amnesty has more than three million supporters, members and activists working at the forefront of human rights issues in more than 150 countries and territories across the globe. Amnesty’s purpose is to protect people when their human rights are denied, calling for an end to the discrimination, persecution and harassment that individuals face.

Aung San Suu Kyi, said:

“Basic to the strength of Amnesty International is the fact that so many ordinary people from so many countries in the world have been persuaded to take part in its work.

“The letters written by ordinary housewives, by school children, by retired people, by active young businessmen - all over the world - for the rights of those who have been imprisoned, makes a great difference.

“One single postcard means a lot, and it’s this kind of idea; that great things start from small beginnings - that has made Amnesty International such an unusual and such a globally relevant organisation.”

Speaking from Rangoon, wearing her trade-mark huge, bright flower in her hair, the political leader known simply as “The Lady” by her Burmese supporters, looked straight into the camera and smiled as she said what a happy, sad day the end of Amnesty would mark for the world. She acknowledged how vital Amnesty had been in conveying the dire situation of human rights in Burma, and asked that Burma is not neglected after the elections last November.

Aung San Suu Kyi, concluded:

“We should be sorry not to be in touch anymore with all those people who have made this such a very, very valuable organisation, but we should also be very happy when we know that there is no need for Amnesty International any more.”

For more information about Amnesty’s work; past, present and future, and to obtain a copy of the message from Aung San Suu Kyi, contact the press office.
http://www.amnesty.org.uk/news_details.asp?NewsID=19476
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Burma remains a millstone around Asean's neck
Editorial Desk
The Nation (Thailand)
Publication Date : 25-05-2011

The new Burmese government of President Thein Sein could make such a big difference to the future of the country and its people if it was honest about bringing positive changes. A few things would suffice to demonstrate to the international community that, as the new leader in Naypyidaw, he is not a puppet of the military strongman General Than Shwe and cronies in the former junta. Such action would include addressing human rights and corruption issues. After all, Thein Sein has been described as a new pragmatist leader who can bring changes and transformation to a much-loathed administration.

Tomas Ojea Quintana, the UN special rapporteur on human rights, and Vijay Nambiar, a UN senior envoy to Burma, have similar assessments of the current situation in Burma. Quintana was not given an entry visa while Nambiar was allowed in earlier this month to review whatever progress the new government has achieved or promised to do. But they were both disappointed.

First of all, violations of human rights among the minorities continue unabated. Quintana observed correctly that there is systematic militarisation, which leads to abuses of human rights along the Thai-Burmese border. Land confiscation, forced labour, internal displacement and sexual violence are widespread. It is a well-known fact also that the Burmese military has used rape as a weapon to terrorise the minorities, especially in the Shan dominated areas.

Most importantly, the process of national reconciliation has yet to start in a tangible way. There have been some positive signs from the government regarding certain minority groups, such as the ceasefire prospect with rebels in the Kayin State and the release of political prisoners in the Shan State. But there must be concrete results. Apart from this, the overall picture remains negative.

Last week, US deputy assistant secretary of state Joseph Yun visited Burma, the most senior US official to visit since the new government was set up. He told reporters that Washington is willing to strengthen ties with Burma on the condition that there are improvements in human rights, the release of all political prisoners and better governance. For the time being, however, Washington continues its sanctions against Burma, and will likely continue to do so until the above conditions are met.

The opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has urged the US to continue with the sanctions until there is sufficient progress on human rights, saying that they hurt the ruling military leaders.

Without positive developments in Burma, Asean should not even consider allowing it to be chairman of the regional body in 2014. Indonesian foreign minister Marty Natalegawa has yet to visit Naypyidaw to assess the situation on the ground. Fortunately, the Asean leaders have deferred their decision on whether to grant Burma the chairmanship until November. Although the proposed move is three years away, the situation in Burma could affect relations between the regional grouping and its dialogue partners, especially the US. Asean-led forums such as the East Asia Summit could be set back badly if Washington refuses to participate due to the lack of progress in Burma. Asean can ill-afford this kind of diplomatic rebuttal.

Since its admission to Asean in 1997, Burma has got away with years of brutal atrocities and dubious undertakings. Judging from this history, it is doubtful if Naypyidaw will embark on the necessary steps to meet reasonable demands from the UN and the international community. Only a well-coordinated international effort can help change Burma for the better. http://www.asianewsnet.net/home/news.php?id=19082&sec=3
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The Standard [Hong Kong]
New Burma leader seeks friendly deals
Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Burma's new civilian president, Thein Sein, is due to arrive in Beijing tomorrow on a three-day mission of friendship.

As a loyalist of the reclusive former paramount leader Than Shwe, he is no stranger to the capital, having met top leaders in previous official capacities, including as prime minister.

"He'll probably sign several agreements and maybe visit some industrial sites, as Burma's focus now is developing its economy," said Lin Xixing, a Burma expert at Jinan University, Guangzhou.

"China is investing large sums in high-speed rail and road links, as well as pipelines, in Burma."

Bilateral trade rose more than half last year to US$4.4 billion (HK$34.32 billion), and Chinese investment in Burma reached US$12.3 billion last year, with a strong focus on natural resources and energy projects.

Diplomatically, Beijing provides Burma with cover at the United Nations, fending off calls for tougher action demanded by the West on the country's human rights record.

REUTERShttp://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?we_cat=3&art_id=111367&sid=32491068&con_type=1&d_str=20110525&fc=4
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STRAITS TIMES
Wednesday May 25, 2011
China says Myanmar wants greater engagement with outside world

BEIJING (Reuters) - Myanmar's new civilian government wants greater engagement economically and diplomatically with the outside world, China's ambassador to the isolated Southeast Asian nation said ahead of a visit to Beijing by the former Burma's president.

Myanmar is subject to wide-ranging sanctions by Europe and the United States, which both criticised as a sham elections last year under a "road map" to democracy and hand-over of power from a military junta.

But China's ambassador to Myanmar, Li Junhua, told the official Xinhua news agency in an interview carried on Wednesday that new president Thein Sein was much more than just a chip off the old block.

"We have seen a new phenomenon economically, (they) are inducing more foreign investment, expanding foreign trade and strengthening private enterprises," Li said, according to an English-language Xinhua report.

The new government had become "more self-confident and more active diplomatically", he added, citing Thein Sein's recent attendance at a summit of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta.

Li said Thein Sein's first speech upon taking office "produced a strong signal to the Myanmar people of all walks of life and the international community, saying that the new government would ... speed up the rate of opening to the outside world".

Li added that Thein Sein "clearly stated that Myanmar's new government will more actively participate in the activities of the international community, especially those of the Association of South East Asian Nations".

Thein Sein is a loyalist of the reclusive former paramount leader Than Shwe, and was number four in the previous military regime.

China is Myanmar's most important diplomatic ally, and the two have strong trade links. Chinese companies have invested billions of dollars in Myanmar, mostly in energy and raw material projects.

Li praised Myanmar's new government, with its "smooth" transfer of power from the military.

"Government at different levels are also operating orderly," he added.

Underscoring the importance Myanmar attaches to the president's Beijing visit this week, Thein Sein will be bringing 10 ministers with him, Li said.

China and Myanmar will sign various agreements during the trip and issue a joint statement that will "be a new breakthrough, a new push in the development of the two countries' relations and future cooperation", he added, without elaborating.

Myanmar's critics say the military is firmly in control behind a veneer of civilian rule and the government tolerates no opposition despite the release from house arrest last year of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Robert Birsel)

Copyright © 2011 Reuters http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/5/25/worldupdates/2011-05-25T134105Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNC_0_-572650-1&sec=Worldupdates
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Visits from NKorean, Myanmar leaders highlights China’s close ties to shunned regimes
By Associated Press, Updated: Wednesday, May 25, 5:48 PM

BEIJING — Visits to Beijing this week by top officials from North Korea, Myanmar, and Iran are spotlighting China’s cozy ties with nations widely shunned for human rights abuses and threatening behavior.

North Korea’s supreme leader Kim Jong Il arrived in Beijing on Wednesday for a meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao that would underscore the influence economic powerhouse China has with Kim’s ostracized regime, which struggles to feed its people.

Beijing is North Korea’s most vital diplomatic ally and economic supporter and is desperate to prevent a chaotic collapse of its hardline communist neighbor. Kim rarely makes foreign trips and his third visit to China in just over a year emphasizes his dependency on Beijing.

On Thursday, Beijing will host a visit from Myanmar President Thein Sein, a former general and prime minister in the military junta that handed power to a nominally civilian government at the end of March. Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi stopped in Beijing as part of commemorations of four decades of diplomatic ties.

To many observers, such ties tarnish Beijing’s self-image as a responsible rising power.

But to China, they represent a political kinship in rejecting Western-style democracy as well as the economic benefits of trade with partners whose markets are shunned by the West yet wide open for Chinese investment.

China’s communist leaders are themselves accused of violating rights and locking up its critics and have little patience for Western accusations against similar regimes.

“China views a number of countries in the world as in alliance in not having democracy or sharing Western human rights concepts,” said Michael Davis, a law professor and Chinese politics expert at Chinese University of Hong Kong. “It helps mobilize their legitimacy argument that the Western approach is not the only one.”

China’s Foreign Ministry has refused to confirm Kim’s presence in China, although Premier Wen Jiabao has said China invited him to study, and hopefully adopt, Beijing’s market-oriented reforms. His previous stops during the trip, which began Friday, were said to be economically related.

Previous reform attempts have been abandoned by North Korea and it’s far from clear how much 69-year-old Kim — or his anointed successor, son Kim Jong Un — would be willing to change.

South Korean media said Kim arrived in Beijing on Wednesday morning from the southern city of Nanjing aboard his personal train. A motorcade believed to be carrying Kim and his delegation arrived Wednesday evening at the Great Hall of the People, the seat of the legislature in the heart of Beijing where Hu usually receives official visitors.

In South Korea’s capital, Seoul, President Lee Myung-bak said he thought Kim’s China visits were a positive thing.

“Visiting there often, watching and learning, and China’s assistance — such things would bring about changes,” Lee said, according to the Yonhap News agency.

North Korea’s exchanges with China have grown even more important since South Korea’s conservative government halted unconditional food and fertilizer shipments in early 2008 and suspended almost all trade with the North. The U.N. and other groups also have enacted sanctions to punish the country for violating nuclear agreements.

Iran for its part is under four sets of U.N. Security Council sanctions for refusing to stop uranium enrichment — an activity that can make both nuclear fuel and fissile warhead material. Like North Korea, Iran’s nuclear and missile programs are seen as a threat to its neighbors, while Myanmar’s crackdown on political opponents and ethnic minorities has seen it widely shunned by the international community.

Beijing, with its avowedly noninterventionist foreign policy, takes a different approach, emphasizing the need for continued dialogue and economic engagement. China also has a huge interest in avoiding the kind of unrest that could be unleashed at its borders if one of the regimes in North Korea or Myanmar should fall.

But while these states may seem to have warm relations, they don’t necessarily share deep trust.

North Korea and Myanmar may resent their dependence on China and often seem to want to go their own way, as shown in their unwillingness so far to undertake the economic reforms China is pitching, said Ian Storey of the Singapore-based Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, a think tank that focuses on social, political, economic and security trends.

“China’s influence over these countries tends to be greatly exaggerated,” Storey said.
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Associated Press writer Foster Klug in Seoul, South Korea contributed to this report. http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/north-korean-leader-kim-said-to-arrive-in-beijing-will-meet-chinas-hu-on-secretive-visit/2011/05/24/AFlcmpAH_story.html?wprss=rss_middle-east
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White Tiger party to cooperate with Thai company for mining in Shan State
Wednesday, 25 May 2011 17:53 Hseng Khio Fah

Shan Nationalities Democratic Party (SNDP), better known as the White Tiger party, the second winning party in Shan State at the 2010 elections, is planning to work together with some Thai companies in mining projects in Shan State as well as others business projects, according to party’s finance chief Sao Than Myint.

Apart from mining projects, the companies have also proposed, when the party members and some 10 representatives of the companies met on 23 May, at the party’s office in Rangoon, that they were willing to help develop local communities including their agricultural projects, said Sao Than Myint.

“They said they wanted to help in agricultural and farming including technical methods,” he said.

The party however has yet to reach any agreement with the companies as it still have to discuss and hold meeting with Executive Committee (EC) again whether the projects should be conducted or not.

In addition, they party and the companies will also have to make some survey first what kinds of ore the companies are interested to extract, where and which part of the state that the projects would be set up, Sao Than Myint added.

Currently, the companies have reportedly more interest to work in areas where there is a shared boundary with the Thailand like eastern and southern Shan State.

“Whatever it is we haven’t given them commitment because we are still having discussion with EC members. Then we will have another meeting with the companies,” Sao Than Myint said.

If both sides can reach an agreement, the party members then will submit a letter for permission to the state government and to the union government if necessary, for approval.

Regarding their projects, the groups say they will also make consideration for environment problems the projects may cause to local people.

The party however says it will not handle any project directly.

“The party will not be directly involved in business. We will lay down principles and hire someone to handle on behalf of the party. He/she then will operate the project in the name of the party’s company,” Sao Than Myint added.

The company name is called “Top White Tiger”, according to the party. Now, the party is producing detergent powder with “White Tiger” logo. The raw materials are imported from Malaysia.
http://www.shanland.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3722:white-tiger-party-to-cooperate-with-thai-company-for-mining-in-shan-state&catid=85:politics&Itemid=266
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All KIA troops in Northern Burma on alert
Tuesday, 24 May 2011 18:53 KNG

All frontline KIA troops have been placed on alert in Kachin State and Northern Shan State, in the country’s north. The KIA is waiting to see how the central Burmese government will respond to the KIA warning to withdraw Burmese troops near KIA military bases by tomorrow.

The warning includes withdrawal of the three new Burmese military posts circling the KIA’s Pang Hkawn-based, Battalion 5, in Sinbo, Mohnyin Township.

The unusual warning from the Central Committee of the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO), the political wing of the KIA, was released on May 19 after the Burmese army fired mortar rounds at Battalion 25, based in Dum Bung Krung, near the Taping (Ta Hkaw Hka or Dapein) hydropower plants.

The warning was contained in a letter sent to the Burmese Army’s Northern Regional Commander, Brig-Gen Zeyar Aung. A copy was also sent to Lajawn Ngan Seng, Chief Minister of the government in Kachin State.

The KIA official in Laiza headquarters in eastern Kachin State said the civil war will be broken out if the central government responds the KIA’s warning with military ways. http://www.kachinnews.com/news/1920-all-kia-troops-in-northern-burma-on-alert.html
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Headache for Thein Sein, 4 Chinese dam workers vanish into thin air
Tuesday, 24 May 2011 13:10 S.H.A.N.

4 Chinese workers from the Tasang hydropower project disappeared on 17 May probably causing a pain in the backside for President Thein Sein who is scheduled to visit Beijing the day after tomorrow, 26 May, according to sources from Mongton, opposite Chiangmai.

“If they aren’t found before he leaves, it’ll be a fly in the ointment throughout his trip,” a businessman on the Thai-Burma commented.

It might even cost a job and a future for Col Tun Tun Shwe, the commander in Pongpakhem, south of Mongton, who is responsible for the area security. He is now personally monitoring the developments at Ta Hsala, just a few miles south of the project dam site.

The 4 Chinese reportedly took a motorboat upstream, “with maps and local guides” last Tuesday, coinciding with the Buddhist holy day of the Vesak and failed to return in the evening. The next day, 27 truckloads of soldiers from Mongton went down to the dam site on the Salween and scoured the surrounding area for 4 days. On 21 May, they returned to their home bases empty-handed.

The area is under heavy security provided by 3 Infantry Battalions (#43, 49 and 225) and 1 Light Infantry Battalion (#519) plus a local militia led by Panta of Ta Hsala.

Apart from the Chinese workers believed to be from the Three Gorges Group Corporation there are also a number of officials from Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT).

Lt-Gen Yawd Serk, whose anti-Naypyitaw Shan State Army (SSA) fighters are active outside the security perimeter dismissed speculations that his troops might be involved. “We have no reason to do it (any kidnapping),” he told SHAN this morning from his Loi Taileng base, further southwest on the Maehongson-Mongpan border. “The Burma Army commanders must be trying to shift reasonability to us.”

He promised to help find out the truth “if I’m requested by the Chinese company concerned.”

The SSA’s 701st Force is also active on the Sino-Burma border in Namkham township. Naypyitaw has reportedly lodged complaints with Chinese authorities in the past all to no avail.

The Tasang dam project since the survey began in 1997 by Thailand’s MDX Group, has been opposed by a score of human rights and environmental movements that are united under the umbrella group called Salween Watch. http://www.shanland.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3711:headache-for-thein-sein-4-chinese-dam-workers-vanish-into-thin-air&catid=85:politics&Itemid=266

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