News & Articles on Burma-Saturday, 09 June 2012-uzl

News & Articles on Burma Saturday, 09 June 2012 ----------------------------------------- Myanmar: Calm restored after rioting that killed 7 Border-based Groups Adapt to Burmas Changing Political Landscape Stop Attacks On Kachin And Begin Peace Talks - CSW Calls On Burma Army Tense Calm Returns after Latest Outbreak of Violence in Arakan State Total CEO Meets With Aung San Suu Kyi in Myanmar Speed of reform risks stirring junta: Suu Kyi Singapore To Host 6th Myanmar Business Conference Martial law in Myanmar district Four people killed by mob attacks in Rakhine state Boom putting Burma on road to reality Torture, forced confession and a death sentence in Myanmar WEEKLY BUSINESS ROUNDUP (Saturday, June 9) ---------------------------------------- Myanmar: Calm restored after rioting that killed 7 Associated Press | Posted: Saturday, June 9, 2012 8:03 am | (0) comments. Security forces in western Myanmar have restored order after rioters burned hundreds of homes in sectarian violence that killed at least seven people, state-controlled media reported Saturday. The rioting reflected long-standing tensions in Rakhine state between Buddhist residents and Muslims, many of whom are considered to be illegal settlers from neighboring Bangladesh. Although the root of the problem is localized _ centering on resentment of the alleged cross-border outsiders _ there is fear that the trouble could spread elsewhere because the split also runs along religious lines. The state-run newspaper Myanma Ahlin said security forces had to open fire to restrain the rioters, while state television announced that army troops had been deployed to help police in Maungdaw and Buthidaung townships, where the mobs rampaged. A dusk-to-dawn curfew was applied and public gatherings of more than five people banned. According to the television report, seven people were killed and 17 wounded in Friday's violence. It said 494 houses, 19 shops and a guest house were burned down. Myanma Ahlin daily reported that about 1,000 "terrorists" were responsible for the rampage, which also saw some storm Maungdaw General Hospital. State media did not otherwise identify the rioters, but the area is 90 percent Muslim, and local residents contacted by phone said the mob's members were Muslims. The dead were evidently all Buddhists, judging by the names of those victims who were mentioned in Myanma Ahlin, which added that those hurt had knife wounds. The TV report said, without further elaboration, that Myanmar naval forces were taking security measures along the nearby coast on the Bay of Bengal. The Information Ministry's website said camps have been opened at monasteries to shelter those who lost their homes, and the defense and health ministries had flown in doctors to tend to the injured. The amount of information about the incident released by state media in a timely fashion is nearly unprecedented. Under the previous military regime, such incidents usually went unreported or were referred to only in brief, cryptic fashion. The elected though military-backed government of President Thein Sein has instituted reforms to try to reverse decades of repression, including allowing a much freer flow of information. The trigger for the latest round of violence came with the rape and murder of a young Buddhist girl last month, allegedly by three Muslim youths. They have been put on trial, Myanma Ahlin reported Saturday. Some anti-Muslim pamphlets were circulated about the incident, evidently enflaming local Buddhists. On June 3, 10 Muslims were killed by an angry mob who attacked a bus carrying them from a religious gathering in Rakhine's Taunggup town. In Yangon on Saturday, a group of some 150 people from Rakhine state and some Buddhist monks went to the Shwedagon Pagoda _ Myanmar's most revered Buddhist shrine _ to say prayers for the murdered girl and those killed in the clashes. The group walked a circuit around the pagoda, made some speeches, and left. Some carried placards that read "Defend the Rakhine State" and "Remove Bengali terrorists from Rakhine State right now." On Tuesday, dozens of Muslims protested peacefully in front of a mosque in downtown Yangon calling for justice for the 10 dead and complaining about terminology used by state-run newspapers they said was derogatory. The "All Myanmar Islam Association" issued a statement carried in state newspapers Saturday asking Muslims to keep calm and condemning the "terrorizing and destruction of lives and property of innocent people." This past week the government announced it was establishing a special committee to investigate the bus incident and another unrelated case of violence in Rakhine that occurred the same day. The establishment of such a committee also breaks with past precedent. The problems in Rakhine state have long been overshadowed by the conflicts between the government and large ethnic minorities in other border areas who have been seeking greater autonomy. While Thein Sein's government has concluded cease-fires with several ethnic guerrilla groups, it still face a bitter insurgency in the north by the Kachin ethnic minority. Read more: http://www.stltoday.com/news/world/myanmar-calm-restored-after-rioting-that-killed/article_0146e07f-0bd5-5de4-b800-5c5256fd136e.html#ixzz1xJDtpOdf ----------------------------------------- Border-based Groups Adapt to Burmas Changing Political Landscape By YAN NAING HEIN/ THE IRRAWADDY| June 9, 2012 | An elderly Burmese woman sits on a bed at the Mae Tao Clinic in Mae Sot. (Photo: Steve Tickner / The Irrawaddy) MAE SOT, Thailand As part of its reforms, Burmas government has begun giving a green light to international aid donors keen to support projects inside the country, raising concerns among groups operating beyond its borders that their own funding could soon dry up. This is something that we are all discussing right now, said Aung Myo Thein, an advocacy team member of the Assistance Association for Political PrisonersBurma (APPP), an NGO based in the Thai border town of Mae Sot. Donors are shifting their priorities to inside Burma. Now that Burma has released most of its political prisoners, AAPP has also begun to shift its focus. After more than a decade of advocating on behalf of those behind bars and assisting family members struggling to care for them, it now has a program to help former prisoners get back on their feet. Most ex-political prisoners lack the skills they need to survive outside of prison, so we are providing vocational training to enable them to earn a living. For example, we are teaching them basic computer skills, English and how to drive a car, said Aung Myo Thein. By adapting to the changing needs of political prisoners, AAPP is hoping to continue attracting the sort of funding that it has only recently begun to receive. Although it was established in 2000, it was not until eight years later that it started receiving regular donations. In our proposals, we now talk mostly about education, vocational training, and providing health care directly to former political prisoners instead of supporting them through their families, said Aung Myo Thein. With its proven track record of accountability, AAPP has managed to find funding for its new programs, but still finds itself limited in terms of what it can offer to those who seek its services. According to Aung Myo Thein, the group has received about 60 percent of its proposed budget. It spends between US $100 and $500 on each former political prisoner, but lacks the money it would need to help them set up businesses of their ownanother idea for which it is seeking donor support. To continue its work, AAPP knows that it will eventually have to go inside Burma. So far, however, it still has no idea when that will be possible. We have told the government that we want to work inside the country to do the same work that we are doing now, but they havent responded to us yet, said Aung Myo Thein. Even if it does get permission to work in Burma, AAPP has some misgivings about whether that would really be the right move to make at this time. Like most exile groups, it tends to feel that only groups operating outside the country are truly free to report the real situation in Burma. For other groups based along the border, there is an even more compelling reason to remain where they are: the vast majority of the people they serve live there. Even these groups, however, are finding it harder to get the sort of international support that they have long relied on. According to Rev Robert Htway, chairman of the Mae Sot-based Karen Refugee Committee (KRC), a group that distributes in-kind donations of food and building materials such as bamboo and thatch, there has been a noticeable decrease in support for programs to assist refugees who have spent decades on the border after fleeing conflict in predominantly ethnic areas. Previously each refugee received 16 kg of rice. Now thats down to 13 kg, he said. With plans now in the works to begin repatriating refugees in the coming years amid a series of ceasefire agreements that many hope could mark the beginning of the end of decades of ethnic conflict in Burma, groups like KRC are worried that support will decline even further. We have asked the authorities to let us keep supporting [the repatriated refugees] inside Burma for three years after they return, because they will need assistance for that long until they can stand on their own feet, said Rev Htway. Even if Burma does succeed in breaking the cycle of violence that has forced so many to leave, the effects could still be felt for years to come, especially among the most vulnerable. This is especially significant for projects like the Mae Tao Clinic in Mae Sot, run by Dr Cynthia Maung, which serves poor Burmese on both sides of the border. Founded in 1988, the clinic treats around 100,000 patients annually. Around half come from across the border, and the other half are migrants working illegally in Thailand. If the situation in Burma improves, many migrants and refugees may go back. There are also some who hold Thai registration cards who can work here legally. But there are still many people who are not recognized by either country who are staying in border area as stateless people, and we will be here to take care of their health and education, said Dr Cynthia. But even if there is sure to be a continuing need for the clinic, there is no guarantee that aid will still be forthcoming in the future. Already, Mae Tao appears to be on the verge of losing a major donor. After the Burmese government opened up, Norwegian Church Aid opened an office in Burma. We have applied for aid from them, but so far we have received no response, said Dr Cynthia. http://www.irrawaddy.org/archives/6287 --------------------------------------- Stop Attacks On Kachin And Begin Peace Talks - CSW Calls On Burma Army Sat, 2012-06-09 00:54 editor News London, 09 June, (Asiantribune.com): Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) on Friday urges Burmas President Thein Sein and the countrys army to stop military offensives in Kachin State, and initiate a political dialogue and peace process with the ethnic armed group, the Kachin Independence Organisation (KIO). Tomorrow marks the first anniversary of the new conflict in Kachin State, which broke out on 9 June, 2011 after the Burma Army broke a ceasefire which had lasted 17 years. The regime launched its new offensive when the KIO refused to join the government-controlled Border Guard Force. The KIO emphasized that they sought a political solution through peaceful dialogue. In a year of war in Kachin State, in northern Burma bordering China, at least 70,000 civilians have been displaced from their villages, and have fled to temporary camps along the border. Serious human rights violations have been perpetrated by the Burma Army, including rape, torture, forced labour, the destruction of churches and homes, and killings. These may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity. The government and the KIO have held several rounds of talks in recent months, but the government has still refused to discuss the core political concerns at the heart of the conflict. Humanitarian conditions have deteriorated seriously over the past year, and the international community has provided very little assistance and been given very limited access to the affected areas. CSW visited internally displaced peoples in Kachin State in January and documented human rights violations and the humanitarian situation. Kachin exiles, other Burmese campaigners and international human rights organisations held a Global Day of Action for the Kachin this week, and sent a letter to President Thein Sein calling for an end to the offensive, the withdrawal of Burma Army troops, unhindered access for humanitarian aid to IDPs and refugees, an end to human rights abuses and the establishment of a meaningful political dialogue. CSWs East Asia Team Leader Benedict Rogers said: In some respects, President Thein Sein and his government have taken some positive steps towards reform in the country, including the release of significant numbers of political prisoners, relaxation of restrictions on local media and civil society, ceasefire talks with other ethnic nationalities and engagement with Aung San Suu Kyi and the National League for Democracy (NLD) which resulted in their election to Parliament in by-elections in March. Benedict Rogers, further said, However, the situation in Kachin State is dire and the abuses perpetrated by the military are horrific violations of international law, amounting to war crimes and crimes against humanity. After one full year of such conflict, it is time Thein Sein showed he is serious about change, by ending the offensives, withdrawing troops, stopping the violations and establishing a political dialogue and a peace process. The international community should increase pressure on his government to stop the killing of Kachin people, also said Benedict Rogers. - Asian Tribune http://www.asiantribune.com/news/2012/06/08/stop-attacks-kachin-and-begin-peace-talks-csw-calls-burma-army ----------------------------------- Tense Calm Returns after Latest Outbreak of Violence in Arakan State By NYEIN NYEIN / THE IRRAWADDY| June 9, 2012 | A notice of the curfew in two townships in Arakan State carried in Saturday's edition of The New Light of Myanmar. The situation in northern Arakan State is stable but tense in the wake of a wave of mob violence that claimed at least seven lives and saw the complete or partial destruction of nearly two dozen villages in two townships on Friday, according to official and local sources. The authorities in Maungdaw Township, the scene of the worst violence, imposed an indefinite curfew last night after around 1,000 Muslims swept through 22 predominantly Buddhist villages, attacking residents and burning houses and other buildings. A two-month curfew was also set in Buthidaung, a neighboring township also located near Burmas border with Bangladesh. As part of the dusk-to-dawn curfews, public gatherings of more than five people are banned, according to a notice published by state-run media. The attacks marked the latest escalation of tensions between the two communities, after 10 Muslims were dragged from a bus and beaten to death last Sunday. That incident followed growing anger over the rape and murder of a Buddhist woman, allegedly by three Muslim men, late last month. According to information posted on the website of the Presidents Office on Saturday morning, in addition to the seven dead, 17 people were seriously injured in the attacks. Damage to property included the destruction of 494 houses, 19 shops and one hotel. Local sources said, however, that the authorities have not yet completed their survey of the area and are still looking for additional casualties. They added that at least 300 people who had fled to nearby mountains to escape the attacks had been rescued. State television announced on Saturday that troops had been sent to the area to reinforce local police who struggled to control the rampaging mobs. According to the state-run newspaper Myanmar Ahlin, security forces opened fire on the rioters to restore order on Friday. No casualties were reported. The Ministry of Information also reported on its website that the area had been visited by Defense Minister Lt-Gen Hla Min and other senior civilian an military officials, including Arakan State Chief Minister Hla Maung Tin, Western Regional Commander Brig-Gen Ko Ko Naing and Relief and Relocation Deputy Minister Phone Swe. According to a local resident, Hla Min assured people living in the area that the government would guarantee their security. Meanwhile, aid for those affected by the violence has begun to flow in from other parts of Arakan State. Donors are providing emergency assistance for people sheltering at a monastery near my home, said Maungdaw resident Shwe Maung Thein. Support is needed for about 400 people, he added. According to the Ministry of Information website, three monasteries are being used as temporary shelters for displaced villagers. A monk living in the area said that the villages that came under attack are home to around 5,000 people, of whom only several hundred have so far been accounted for. The government also announced on Saturday that it had formed a Stability, Relief and Rehabilitation Management Committee to provide shelter, security, healthcare and food support to the victims of the violence. http://www.irrawaddy.org/archives/6305 ---------------------------------------- Total CEO Meets With Aung San Suu Kyi in Myanmar Published June 09, 2012 Dow Jones Newswires French oil major Total SA's (TOT) Chairman and Chief Executive Christophe de Margerie Saturday met in Myanmar with the political dissident Aung San Suu Kyi, he said in a tweet. "I am pleased to see Aung San Suu Kyi free again!" Mr. de Margerie said in his tweet. "I'm delighted our discussions will continue," he added. One person who attended the meeting told Dow Jones Newswires that Ms. Suu Kyi had requested Total to help companies which seek to come back and do business in Myanmar once the sanctions against the military junta there have been lifted. "She asked Mr. de Margerie that Total helps them develop good practices," the person said over the phone from Myanmar, under conditions of anonymity. Ms. Suu Kyi told Mr. de Margerie she hoped to be able to keep up her work in favor of democracy in Myanmar, the person said. Ms. Suu Kyi last week said that while she is cautiously optimistic about progress, further reforms will require the continued backing of Myanmar's still-powerful military--whose support isn't certain--and that investors should remain cautious. Mr. de Margerie was "extremely moved to meet her again and both have planned to meet again when she travels to Paris at the end of this month," the person also said. The head of the French company also met with Myanmar's president, Thein Sein, as well as the industry minister to discuss the group's activities there, the person added. Total produces around 15,000 barrels per day of oil equivalent from the Yadana natural gas field there. Total owns 31.2% in the field. Mr. de Margerie had been traveling to Kuala Lumpur Wednesday, Thursday and Friday to attend the World Gas Conference and said in an interview with Dow Jones Thursday that he had many meetings planned later in Myanmar. Speaking about his trip, he had said then that he had no plans to discuss potential additional gas extraction projects in Myanmar, but also said the group, which has had gas production business there since 1992, would be happy to get more projects. --Simon Hall contributed to this story. Read more: http://www.foxbusiness.com/news/2012/06/09/total-ceo-meets-with-aung-san-suu-kyi-in-myanmar/#ixzz1xIQeZkDB ------------------------------------------- Speed of reform risks stirring junta: Suu Kyi by: Brendan Nicholson; From: The Australian; June 09, 2012 12:00AM WHEN the power went out in Burma last month, angry residents protested around the country, then went safely home. A year ago, paranoid soldiers would have jailed them. A year ago, paranoid soldiers would have jailed them. The new approach from President Thein Sein - a former general running a government backed by the military junta that has run Burma since 1962 - has surprised and intrigued the world. Political prisoners have been freed and media censorship relaxed. Democracy campaigner Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy was allowed to compete in April's by-elections for 45 of the 664 seats in the two houses of parliament. While too few seats were in play to give Ms Suu Kyi anything like a parliamentary majority, winning 43 has effectively made her leader of a parliamentary opposition. Her chance at the presidency will come in elections in 2015 but she is already seen as the country's head, morally and, increasingly, in practical terms. The most influential people in Sport Foreign Minister Bob Carr met Thein Sein in the capital, Napyidaw, this week, praising him as "a person from a military background who has bravely steered his country to reform". When Senator Carr arrived at Ms Suu Kyi's lakeside home this week, the Chinese ambassador was finishing an audience with her. Senator Carr says Ms Suu Kyi told him how in the months after her father, nationalist hero Aung San, was murdered in 1947, the then Chinese ambassador had shown her family great kindness. She spoke fondly of meals at his home. Senator Carr says China would be happy to buy raw materials from Burma that it could import overland. That would ease Beijing's concerns about its maritime trade routes being blocked, and help the world. But Ms Suu Kyi warns against "reckless optimism". The risk remains that some from the military's old guard might find the pace of change too fast and try to slow reform. Khun Htun Oo, chair of the Shan National League for Democracy, says some in the military are surprised by the huge support for Ms Suu Kyi's election results and they might try to protect their interests. "Corruption has become the currency of Burma," he says. "The military is afraid that people might punish them. Where has all the money gone from the gas and everything? It's all gone to the cronies and the military." Khut Htun Oo suggests Ms Suu Kyi might be assassinated. "I even think she might be like her father, you can't say," he says. Asked to clarify what he means, Khun Htun Oo makes a hand gesture as if firing a pistol. Zaw Aye Maung, a representative of Burma's Rakhine region, believes the military watched the Arab Spring and moved towards democracy, hoping it could control the timetable and lessen the chances of retribution for corruption. Some might fear the country is moving too fast, he says. Senator Carr announced Australia would lift its sanctions and more than double its aid budget to $100 million within three years. He said the time for coercion had passed but warned sanctions could be reimposed if engagement failed to work and progress slowed. Australian mining experts, business leaders and banks will all be asked to lend a hand, he said. http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/speed-of-reform-risks-stirring-junta-suu-kyi/story-e6frg6n6-1226389428447 ------------------------------------------- June 09, 2012 19:39 PM Singapore To Host 6th Myanmar Business Conference By Tengku Noor Shamsiah Tengku Abdullah SINGAPORE, June 9 (Bernama) -- Singapore will be hosting the 6th Myanmar Business Conference on July 16-17. The participants will gain valuable first-hand information on the Myanmar Foreign Investment Law and the much anticipated Condominium Law -- a must know for corporate lawyers, accountants, CEOs and others. William Tan, the organiser of the Myanmar Business Conference series, said: "Businessmen from all over the world will be briefed by a senior official from the Union of Myanmar Attorney General Office which is equivalent to the Ministry of Law on the Foreign Investment Law. "The question on foreign ownership of residential properties will also be discussed in length which is governed by the new Condominium Law. "Property developers and contractors looking to invest in development will need to know this new legislation as it defines what constitutes a condominium," he said here Saturday. Tan said the senior official would also touch on many issues concerning foreign investors in the private housing projects in Myanmar. Apart from that, he said, all legal aspects of doing business in Myanmar would also be thoroughly deliberated on. As with all the Myanmar Business Conference series, Tan said delegates would be able to develop "genuinely useful contacts that can help with your investment plans" -- BERNAMA http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v6/newsbusiness.php?id=671802 ------------------------------------------ BANGKOK POST Martial law in Myanmar district Published: 9/06/2012 at 03:46 PM Online news: Asia Authorities imposed martial law in an area of Myanmar's western Rakhine State on Saturday after Muslims allegedly torched hundreds of houses and killed at least five people. State media announced that Maung Thaw district, about 230 kilometres west of Yangon, was under a dusk-to-dawn curfew. "Nineteen shops, 386 houses and one hotel were burned," said a statement on President Thein Sein's official website. "Four men and a woman were killed with knives." The exact number of casualties was hard to determine as many villagers had fled to the hills, villagers said. "Around 100 people were injured," said Zaw Than, a resident of Maung Thaw. "Soldiers are still searching for victims who are hiding in the hills." Troops were fully deployed and military doctors were sent by plane to the area on Saturday morning. The rampage was reportedly sparked when Muslims attacked a Buddhist funeral procession. Six days earlier, a mob killed 10 Muslims in nearby Taunggup to avenge the rape and murder of a local woman, allegedly by Muslims. Police detained three Muslim suspects. The mob of 300 people attacked a bus carrying some Muslim passengers from nearby Thandwe to Yangon, killing 10 and destroying the vehicle. Muslims are a minority in predominantly Buddhist Myanmar. Rakhine State borders Bangladesh, which is mostly Muslim. http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/asia/297324/martial-law-in-myanmar-district ----------------------------------------- Four people killed by mob attacks in Rakhine state June 9, 2012 | Filed under: Featured,Humanity,Latest Posts,News | Posted by: Between Online News The continuing religious unrest in Rakhine state, western Myanmar has left four more people were killed on Friday, Myanmar officials said, according to Agency Frence-Presse news report. It is believed that an angry Muslim mob have touched Buddhist villages in Rakhine state along the Bengal Bay and killed the latest victims, the report said. The victims who have been killed by an angry Muslim mob are Buddhists and the mob attacked them with knives. A 65-year-old man dead immediately on the spot after he was stabbed with knives and the other three were seriously injured and died in hospital later, a government official told AFP on the condition of anonymous. Follow by the ongoing religious unrest between Muslim and Buddhist in Rakhine state, Myanmar government announced late Friday on state television that a night-time curfew in the unrest-hit areas where a large numbers of Rohingya Muslim live. Tensions between Muslim and Buddhist have spreading after a Buddhist woman was believed to be raped and murdered by Muslim group. Then an angry Buddhist mob has attacked a bus and left 10 Rohingya Muslims killed. http://www.betweenonline.com/2012/06/09/four-people-killed-by-mob-attacks-in-rakhine-state/ ---------------------------------------- THE AGE: June 9, 2012 Boom putting Burma on road to reality Myanmar's pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr (L) come out of her home to give a news conference after a meeting in Yangon June 6, 2012. REUTERS/Soe Zeya Tun (MYANMAR - Tags: POLITICS) Stream of visitors ... Bob Carr and Aung San Suu Kyi leave their meeting on Wednesday. Photo: Reuters As his motorcade swept along the wide boulevards of Burma's new capital, Naypyidaw, on Thursday to buildings of stunning pretence, Australia's history-minded Foreign Affairs Minister, Bob Carr, might have reflected he was in a city designed to put historical settings back to zero. Naypyidaw is a theme park of modernity built by the military junta chief, Senior General Than Shwe, who retired early last year after he introduced an elected government engineered to retain lead roles and blocking powers for his army colleagues. Its pagoda-roofed parliamentary complex, approached by a 16-lane boulevard where helmeted policemen held back non-existent traffic for Carr, could hold the Australian Parliament House several times over. Advertisement: Story continues below It all cost between $US500 million and $US3 billion, plus ''free'' work by Than Shwe's business cronies in return for banking licences, import permits for cars and other perks, says Sean Turnell, Macquarie University's Burma-watching economist. On the hot plain around the city, farmers are using cattle to pull their ploughs. In south-east Asia, Burma is the only country at the bottom of the global development scale. It used to be Asia's main rice exporter. Now many are malnourished. It used to have an envied education system. Now half its children don't complete primary school. In a humble hall in downtown Rangoon, in the quadrangle of the now-derelict British colonial secretariat, it used to have a vibrant parliament and a government of highly-educated civilians, one of whom, U Thant, went on to be secretary-general of the United Nations. That was before the generals stepped in, in 1962, thinking they knew better. They closed off the country and looted its resources for themselves and their perpetual wars against ethnic minorities. Naypyidaw was the final flourish of this half-century of delusion, designed to put their regime out of reach of Rangoon street protest or foreign naval fleets. What now draws in foreign statesmen like Carr, though, are signs that Than Shwe's trusted successors want to break out of their gilded apparatus and reconnect with reality and modern history. The President, Thein Sein, and the Speaker of the parliament, Shwe Mann, whom Carr met, seem ready to risk losing power by infusing their system with real democracy. The chief evidence for this was the by-election sweep two months ago by Aung San Suu Kyi and 42 colleagues in her National League for Democracy, ending a 22-year stand-off. There are many Burmese who think it a ruse, manipulated by Than Shwe and his clique, and that the military will baulk if Suu Kyi looks like winning the next general election in late 2015. This week, a leader of the large Shan minority, Khun Htun Oo, wondered aloud if Suu Kyi risked assassination, like her father, Aung San, shot by military rivals as Burma prepared for independence in 1948. Yet Khun Htun Oo was among a big batch of political prisoners released in January. Many have plunged straight back into active politics, with no retribution and remarkably little bitterness. Koko Gyi, a leader of the 1988 student uprising, emerged in January from almost 22 years' jail, during which he'd seen his jailers succeeded by their sons. His Buddhist faith and ''sense of humour'' got him through, and he forgave his captors, he told Carr. There are now frequent public protests against electricity shortages and strikes in garment and soft drink factories for higher wages. The most hardline former general in the government, first vice-president Tin Aung Myint Oo, is said to have resigned ''for health reasons'' and last week the Defence Minister said the military's 25 per cent of seats in parliament was not necessarily permanent. Suu Kyi receives a steady stream of foreign visitors, the Chinese ambassador just ahead of Carr on Wednesday. If it was galling that Carr saw her to check her views and invite her to Australia first, the President didn't show it. Having lost the gamble on the April by-elections (the official party expected to get at least half of the seats), but still gaining international kudos and lifting of sanctions, the government is now betting on an investment boom that will spread reliable electricity, mobile phones and jobs among voters by 2015. It is a tight schedule. Yet a start has been made by fixing the former multiple exchange rates for the kyat. Foreign business missions are crowding Rangoon's hotels - this week from France's Total and the US's General Electric, two weeks ago, an Australian group. Too many, in fact. The President's economic adviser, Set Aung, told Carr he was meeting five foreign delegations a day and trying to do his essential work at night. A foreign resident businessman says government staff have little capacity to screen sound investors from opportunists, good projects from bad. The sanctions lifted by Carr on Thursday were direct personal punishment to the worst regime characters, to the extent any wanted to visit Australia or send their children to study there. Australia didn't have trade or investment bans on Burma, aside from a military supply embargo that continues, and a few businesses already operate in the country, the most notable the oil explorer Twinza, owned by Perth's Clough family. ANZ is looking at opening an operation when the US Treasury roadblock on financial clearing is lifted. Carr suggests companies take Suu Kyi's advice to be cautious. ''This country needs responsible investment that measures up to the best OECD standards,'' he says. ''Australian businesses ought to do things than the Australian people would be proud of.'' Our miners will no doubt groan but Carr proposed to Thein Sein an Australian role in setting up a regulatory environment for mining and energy. Sid Myer, of Melbourne University's Asialink, who led last month's business delegation, saw a need for advice on electricity supply, telecommunications and other infrastructure. Australia's aid effort will double to over $100 million within two years, focused on basic education and health. For Australia, engagement with Burma's tainted leaders goes back many years, to the Howard government's decision to start human rights training for the military and police. For the US, Burma has become a new piece on the Asian strategic chequerboard, with the Secretary of Defence, Leon Panetta, last week suggesting joint exercises with its once shunned military. Carr eschews any motive of encircling China. ''Burma has a naturally close relationship with China,'' he says. Suu Kyi told him of her family being hosted by the Chinese ambassador after her father was assassinated. The President's political adviser, Ko Ko Hlaing, told him Beijing had been reassured non-alignment would remain Burma's policy. If China could get energy security through its pipeline from Burma, that was good for them and ''a good thing for the world'', Carr says. Engagement is an effort to reinforce and reward reform, Carr insists. And, with a small bit of aid going to help restore Rangoon's architectural heritage, a recall of the history that the generals tried to leave behind in their opulent new capital. Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/politics/boom-putting-burma-on-road-to-reality-20120608-201d9.html#ixzz1xINKruio ------------------------------------------------- Torture, forced confession and a death sentence in Myanmar Saturday, 9 June 2012, 2:44 pm Press Release: Asian Legal Resource Centre A written statement submitted by the Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC), a non-governmental organisation with general consultative status MYANMAR: Torture, forced confession and a death sentence in Myanmar: the case of Phyo Wai Aung On 8 May 2012, a judge in Yangon sentenced young engineer Phyo Wai Aung to death for his alleged involvement in a bombing attack in 2010 that killed 10 people and injured scores. His trial began on 30 June 2010, when Myanmar was still under a military junta. Since then, many important social and political changes have occurred in Myanmar; however, the manner in which this case has been conducted and its outcome speak to the continued political control of the judiciary, and continued authoritarian tendencies in institutions of justice in Myanmar that enable officials to use the courts to persecute rather than protect citizens. Of the many and manifold violations of domestic and international law in the case of Phyo Wai Aung--whom the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar has met in prison and on whose case he has written in a number of reports (recently, A/HRC/19/67, 7 March 2012)--we wish to highlight the following: a. Illegal arrest: A group of plain-clothed officials came to arrest Phyo Wai Aung at his residence late on 22 April 2010, a week after the bombing. They did not properly identify themselves. They did not have an arrest warrant. They said that he would have to go with them for "a short time". They did not take him to a judge or a regular police station. They did not lodge any other documentation with which to initiate a criminal case or detain the accused on that date. Instead, they took him a special interrogation centre. b. Illegal detention: Special Branch police held Phyo Wai Aung for eleven days straight, of which for the first six days and six nights they tortured him to confess to involvement in the bombing. They testified in the trial that on 23 April 2010 they obtained a detention order from a court. However, no such order was ever submitted as evidence. Even if such an order were issued, it would be contrary to law, because the court that the police named as issuing the order was not the court with jurisdiction over the case. The defendant denies ever being taken to get such an order. c. Torture: Special Branch police for six days assaulted Phyo Wai Aung and forced him into stress positions for hours on end to have him confess to involvement in the bombing. They stripped him and burned his genitalia with lit newspaper, and dripped hot wax onto them. During this time neither his family nor lawyer could contact him, and he was not fed or allowed to change his clothes. The police variously threatened Phyo Wai Aung that if he died in custody it was nothing to them, that if he did not confess they would make him an accused, and that if he confessed they would make it easy for him; that he would not go to jail, or would go only go for a short time. Although Phyo Wai Aung named some of the officers responsible for his torture in court, they were not called or examined. d. Illegally obtained confession: Police Captain Win Maung testified that Phyo Wai Aung confessed after six days of interrogation. According to law, a defendant who says he wants to confess should be taken promptly to a judge. Therefore, the police should have taken the defendant to court on 27 April 2010. However, they did not take him until 3 May 2010, once they had coached him on what to say. The judge taking the confession, Judge Win Swe, failed to do his basic duties. He did not ask the accused how long he had been held in police custody, or check if the custody was lawful. He did not warn him that he was not under any obligation to confess. He did not check the body of the accused for evidence of torture. He also recorded on the confession that all questions and answers had been written in full, but when he testified in the trial, he admitted that he had only recorded a summary of what the accused had said, casting doubt upon the entire contents of the confession. e. Closed trial: The Supreme Court ordered that the trial be held at the central prison. The defence requested a copy of the order. It did not get one. Not only was the trial not held in a public location but the family of the defendant also was for the first 14 months of the trial refused entry to the courtroom. f. Problems with judges: Four judges heard the trial. Phyo Wai Aung's lawyer twice applied for recommencement of the trial with new judges, but his applications failed. At least one of the judges made irrelevant and prejudicial comments towards the accused, and did not sanction police who insulted and intimidated him. g. Fabricated evidence: The police submitted an immigration travel permit that supposedly shows that the accused went to the border of Thailand and Myanmar on 11 May 2010: in other words, eight days after the defendant gave his forced confession, and almost three weeks after the police had arrested him. The police also submitted a list of supposed telephone calls between the mobile phone of the defendant and the other accused. But the list was not taken directly from the phone database. Instead, it was on a computer spreadsheet, which anybody could make up. h. Contradictory evidence: The chief of police, Brigadier General Khin Yi, said in a press conference days after Phyo Wai Aung's forced confession that the police had found one of the terrorists responsible for the April 2010 bombing. The prosecutor submitted the news reports as part of the evidence. However, on at least 15 points the contents of the press conference as reported in the media were incorrect. Furthermore, the police submitted a map of the scene of the crime, with distances recorded between the sites of three explosions, but another map they submitted contained different distances. Photographs of the locations of the incident site also were inconsistent, as were the testimonies of police officers on specific facts. i. Omitted evidence: The police pressured a business associate of Phyo Wai Aung who could provide him with an alibi to give a statement before the trial began; however, no details of the pre-trial statement, which was extremely important to the defence case, were given to the court. The business associate also gave the police receipts for materials that he and the defendant had purchased on the day of the incident, the details of which are consistent with Phyo Wai Aung's testimony that he had been working on a job renovating a supermarket at the time of bombing; however, the police likewise did not submit these records to the court. j. Inadmissible evidence: Not only did the court not receive evidence for the defence, but it also allowed inadmissible evidence for the prosecution. Police witnesses testified about statements that the accused made when in custody. These statements are inadmissible against the accused; however, when the defence attorney tried to have them struck from the record the court overruled him. Hearsay statements by police officers were also recorded in evidence. And according to the Criminal Procedure Code, whereas witnesses can under certain circumstances refer to notes but cannot read verbatim from prepared statements, one police witness testified directly from start to finish off around 10 A4 pages, and from a notepad of around 80 pages. k. Denial of right to defence: When Phyo Wai Aung's lawyer came to meet him in prison before trial, Special Branch police officers listened and recorded their discussion. When the defendant gave the names and details of police officers who had tortured him, a police inspector stopped the lawyer from recording details. Later, a Special Branch police officer masqueraded as a prison officer to listening to the conversations. The prison officers also limited the lawyer's visits to his client to one per month. In trial, the presiding judge curtailed the cross-examination of two police witnesses. The court also refused to allow the defence access to, and copies of, documentary records submitted as evidence by the police. Furthermore, after over a year of hearings from more than 60 prosecution witnesses, the judge allowed the defendant only six days to testify, which was insufficient time to respond to all of the prosecution case. Despite all the above flaws, on May 8 District Judge U Aung Thein convicted Phyo Wai Aung--who is currently suffering from tuberculosis, liver illness and Hepatitis-B and who has complained of not getting adequate medical treatment in prison--of seven charges in four cases, and sentenced him to death for one of the charges and to a total of 39 years in jail for the others. To convict the accused, the judge relied primarily on the confession obtained through the use of torture. Observing this case, the Asian Legal Resource Centre is concerned that whereas other institutions and their personnel in Myanmar have in the last year begun to show signs of change in response to the newly emergent political conditions in the country, the judiciary, the police, prosecutors and other agencies concerned with the handling of criminal cases have not. Indeed, in the long run the eliminating of authoritarian tendencies from these agencies could prove to be a more difficult task than from other parts of the state apparatus. The case also speaks to the problem of the continued heavy reliance on torture to extract confession as the basis for conviction in criminal cases in Myanmar. From the work conducted by the ALRC on Myanmar over the last decade, we have observed that this method of conviction through use of confession is widespread, and is a feature of all types of criminal cases, not only those with a political or special quality, as in the current case. Indeed, the Supreme Court reports themselves attest to the continued heavy reliance on confession. Therefore, the Centre has reached the conclusion that the prevalence of torture in Myanmar will be addressed only through a reduction in reliance on confession. We also regret to learn that after his sentence, Phyo Wai Aung was diagnosed with advance liver cancer and he only has a short time left to live. Furthermore, according to his family, he is in severe pain that prevents him from lying down or sleeping, throughout his time in the central prison since 2010 he has not obtained specialist treatment. Despite the family's interventions on the case, and those that the ALRC and other groups have undertaken, Phyo Wai Aung has not received specialist medical attention of the sort stipulated in rule 22(2) of the Standard Minimum Rules on the Treatment of Prisoners. In light of the above, the Asian Legal Resource Centre calls on the Government of Myanmar to: a. Pardon the accused, or remit his sentence, so that he can go home and live the remainder of his time in peace; and, ensure that he obtain the necessary medical attention without cost to his family. b. Accede to the Convention against Torture and introduce a law to prohibit and punish torture in accordance with the Convention at the nearest possible opportunity; c. Amend the Evidence Act, Criminal Procedure Code and Courts Manual to reduce significantly the evidentiary value of confession in criminal cases; and, to impose more stringent requirements on the taking of confession and the accepting of confession as evidence than exist at present--in particular, to remove the presumption that a confession is valid if it appears to have been taken by a judge in accordance with procedure; and, d. Amend the 2008 Constitution, which provides in its article 11(a) for the separation of powers only "to the extent possible", so that the separation of powers is normatively secured, and then take all necessary steps to have political control of the judiciary removed in fact, such that cases of this sort are not able to recur in the future. http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO1206/S00201/torture-forced-confession-and-a-death-sentence-in-myanmar.htm ----------------------------------- WEEKLY BUSINESS ROUNDUP (Saturday, June 9) By WILLIAM BOOT / THE IRRAWADDY| June 9, 2012 | Paris Group Says China Still Active on Myitsone Dam The International Commission on Large Dams (ICOLD) has denied reports in the Chinese media that it is involved in assessing the safety of the suspended Myitsone hydroelectric dam project. However, the Paris-based organization confirmed that the state-owned China Power Investment Corporation (CPI) is still active in the project despite the suspension ordered by the Burmese government last September. ICOLD follows UN rules respecting national sovereignty, it said in a statement. It issues recommendations on the state-of-the art of dam engineering but it does not have any operational role in dam building. The builder of the Irrawaddy Myitsone dam project in Myanmar has directly asked experts coming from countries with long-term experience in building and operating large dams to assess its work. ICOLD also disclosed that Burma has applied for membership of the body, which describes itself as a forum for the exchange of knowledge and experience in dam engineering. CPI is making a mockery of the dam suspension, the Kachin Development Networking Group said. Theyve refused to pull out of the dam site, and now theyre bringing in global dam technocrats to challenge the suspension. Thai Oil Firm Expands Burma Interests Thailands state-owned oil and gas giant PTT Group is stepping up its investment in Burma. Its exploration subsidiary PTTEP has signed agreements to drill in two onshore blocks in the Irrawaddy valley, and PTT said it plans to establish a chain of roadside fuel retailing stations in the country. No major [fuel retail] brands have yet been established in Myanmar. This is a good chance for PTT to set up there, chief operating officer Nuttachat Charuchinda announced. We have looked at Myanmar as a high-potential market, with oil consumption per capita still very low, said Nuttachat. Demand for liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) in Burma is only 10,000 tonnes a year compared with 200,000 consumed in Thailand each month, said PTT. Meanwhile, PTTEP has joined a little-known Burmese firm called Win Precious Resources to explore two large areas west of Naypyidaw. One block is 13,300 square km, PTTEP said. [Burma] is one of our focus countries in upstream petroleum, and were also preparing gas development plans for its central government, PTTEP chief executive Tevin Vongvanich said in a statement. Little if anything is known about Win Precious Resources other than that it is linked with Singapore. Under new rules for Burmas oil and gas sector, foreign investors must take on a Burmese partner. Stiglitz Warns Burma of Natural Resource Curse Prominent international economist Joseph Stiglitz has urged the Burmese government to establish a sovereign fund to manage all the countrys profits from oil and gas. Such a fund would help ensure the revenue benefits the whole countrys development and not become lost in what has become known as the resource curse. Many countries with large natural resources have not done well. Theyve not done well in terms of growth, equity, poverty reduction, and so much so that this is called the natural resource curse, and weve studied the causes and what can be done about it, the Nobel prize-winning economist told CNBC news. Income from oil and gas is expected to rise steadily as Burma opens up and more foreign investors move into to explore and develop energy resources. Sovereign wealth funds are usually state-owned and involve long-term international investment in stocks, property, precious metals or solid businesses, such as utilities, to maximize profitability on capital. Korean Firm Signs MoU on Rangoon Power Plant South Korean industrial firm BKB has signed an MoU to build a 500 megawatt gas-fueled power plant in the greater Rangoon area. If the plan goes ahead, it will increase Burmas electricity-generating capacity by almost one-third. The plant, planned for Tharkayta Township could be completed in about one year, the New Light of Myanmar claimed. However, no start date has been announced. The paper said the MoU also involved a firm named Hexa International, which is listed as a Burmese importer of second-hand vehicles. 200 Foreign Firms to Attend Rangoon Business Summit Organizers of a business summit in Rangoon later this month say more than 200 foreign companies have registered to take part. One-quarter of participants are from financial institutions and investment business, said the Centre for Management Technology (CMT) in Singapore, while another 22 percent are from the agricultural sector. Another 18 percent of those registered to take part are from the oil, gas and power industries. The New Myanmar Investment Summit is being held on June 21-22 in Rangoon and keynote speakers are billed from the Burmese governments newly formed Directorate of Investment and Company Administration, part of the Ministry of National Planning and Economic Development. The focus of the conference will be detailed explanations of the countrys new foreign investment rules and land reforms plans, said CMT.http://www.irrawaddy.org/archives/6283