News & Articles on Burma
Tuesday, 17 May, 2011
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Burma Frees Prisoners as US Renews Sanctions
Surveillance of media and Internet stepped up under new civilian president
Myanmar: Prison sentence reductions are not enough
US renews Myanmar sanctions
Burma to free 17,000 from jail
Burma frees 14,600, but few political prisoners
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Burma Frees Prisoners as US Renews Sanctions
VOA News May 17, 2011
Burma began releasing thousands of prisoners Tuesday under a limited clemency program that will have little impact on the nation's political prisoners.
Human rights groups and the U.S. State Department have said the government must go further and immediately release Burma's estimated 2,200 political prisoners. U.S. President Barack Obama renewed American economic sanctions on Burma for another year Monday, saying the large-scale repression of the democratic opposition in that country has not been resolved.
The clemency program, proclaimed Monday by President Thein Sein, commuted death sentences to life imprisonment and reduced all other jail terms by one year.
The government Tuesday began releasing more than 14,000 prisoners who had less than one year left on their terms. However the release was expected to affect very few political prisoners, most of who are serving terms of up to 65 years.
The French news agency AFP quoted an unidentified Burmese official saying the release would include some intelligence officers who were on the losing side of a power struggle in 2004. However former prime minister and intelligence chief Khin Nyunt is serving a 44-year sentence and was not expected to be freed.
Human Rights Watch on Monday dismissed the clemency program as a "pathetic response" to demands for increased political freedom. It called the program a "slap in the face" for a senior United Nations envoy who had just urged the release of all political prisoners in Burma.
Vijay Nambiar, the chief of staff to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, made the call at the end of a visit to Burma last week. http://www.voanews.com/english/news/asia/southeast/Burma-Frees-Prisoners-as-US-Renews-Sanctions-121988499.html
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Surveillance of media and Internet stepped up under new civilian president
Reporters without Borders:
Published on Tuesday 17 May 2011.
Press freedom and online freedom of information are still being flouted in Burma, three months after Thein Sein’s election as a civilian president. He promised to “respect the role of the media” but heavy jail sentences for journalists, suspension of newspapers and police raids on Internet cafés show that there has been no let-up in controls and intimidation. And now a string of new measures have just tightened control over Internet use.
“Thein Sein announced a general amnesty on 16 April for prisoners sentenced to death but there has been no pardon for Burma’s 2,000 political prisoners,” Reporters Without Borders said. “The regime’s professions of good intentions aim to deflect attention from recent measures designed to reinforce restrictions on news and information.
“The authorities clearly fear that the Arab Spring could spread. The new regulations are intended to intimidate Burmese Internet users and cut them off from the outside world. It is unacceptable that Burma is reacting in this way while chairing ASEAN, whose charter mentions respect for fundamental freedoms, the promotion and protection of human rights and the promotion of social justice.”
The press freedom organization added: “We urge ASEAN’s members including Indonesia, which takes over its presidency this year, to put pressure on Burma to adhere to this regional organization’s principles.”
Reporters Without Borders learned last week that the Burmese government’s censorship bureau, called the Press Scrutiny and Registration Division (PSRD), has suspended the Rangoon-based weekly True News for two weeks – supposedly for misreporting a mobile phone offer by the Ministry of Communications, Posts and Telegraphs (MCPT).
According to the exile news outlet Irrawaddy, the MCPT objected to a report quoting its chief telecommunications engineer, Zaw Min Oo, as saying anyone who owned a GSM mobile phone, which retail for 1.5 million kyat (US $1,830), would be able to get a second one for just 50,000 kyat ($60). But a True News reporter who requested anonymity said other articles published by weekly were the real reason for the suspension.
At the same time, the MCPT has just sent a new set of rules to Internet cafés, which were already subject to draconian regulations imposed by the ministry, including a requirement to keep the personal data of all their clients along with a record of all the websites they visit, and make it available to the authorities.
The new set of directives includes a ban on the use of portable hard disks, USB flash drives and CDs in Internet cafés, and a ban on the use of Internet telephony (VoIP) services to call abroad. The grounds given by the ministry is the need to protect the state’s income from international phone calls but it will isolate dissidents more and discourage Internet users from expressing themselves freely. Above all, it will affect users of services such as Skype, Gtalk, Pfingo and VZO, which are hard to monitor for the authorities.
Reporters Without Borders has obtained a copy of the directives, which were emailed to Internet cafés earlier this month. How they will be implemented is not always clear:
Rules for Owners of Public Access Centres
1. Personal information of PAC users such as name, National Registration Card number, passport number (if the user is a foreigner), contact address, telephone number etc. must be registered.
2. Service Records of all PAC users (date, time, screen shot, URLs) must be submitted once a month to the Directorate of Communication.
3. Utilizing Internet for international phone calls is prohibited as it is illegal and not permitted by the Department of Communication.
4. PACs are not allowed to use software, programs and technologies banned by the Ministry of Post and Telecommunication, Directorate of Communication and Department of Communication. PACs must also make sure that such software, programs and technologies are not utilized by their customers.
5. PAC users must be informed by means of written notice that cyber crimes (hacking, virus distribution, port scanning etc.) and viewing, copying and distributing of media that is not in line with Myanmar culture are prohibited.
6. Computers at the PACs are not allowed to have floppy drive, CD drive, USB port and other external drives.
7. PAC license holders are obliged to permit inspections by PAC service providers, and officials from the ministry and the directorate, and local authorities.
8. Leasing or transferring of PAC license is prohibited. Owners can apply permission from the directorate if they wish to change the location of PAC or technologies used.
9. Owners may submit application to renew PAC license 30 days prior to the expiry date. Renewal fee / annual fee has to be prepaid. Owners who failed to pay in time will be fined 30,000 kyats per every delayed month. License will be revoked if required payment is not made within 90 days.
10. In case of lost or damage of the original document (license), a copy of it may be issued against payment.
11. Computer Development Law must be observed and restrictions stipulated by Ministry of Post and Telecommunication’s WAN-order no. 3/2002 must be followed. Orders and instructions made by the government, ministries, Department of Communication and Directorate of Communication must be observed. Perpetrators will not only have their PAC license revoked but also be punished according to the existing laws.
12. Information that could harm State’s security and interest must not be leaked. Perpetrators who leak such information will be punished with State Secret Act.
At the end of 2010, the authorities gave themselves the means to cut off the public’s Internet access during any social or political crisis without having to disconnect themselves at the same time. A reorganization of Internet Service Providers, billed as major step forward, has enabled the authorities to increase online surveillance and repression while improving the quality of their own Internet connections.
Reporters Without Borders and the Burma Media Association released an exclusive report on the subject, entitled “National Web portal – development or repression,” last November.
Burma’s Internet legislation is long been one of the most repressive in the world. Under the 1996 Electronic Act, which covers the Internet, TV and radio, importing, owning or using a modem without an official permit is punishable by up to 15 years in prison as a “violation of state security, national unity, culture, the national economy, law and order.”
Three netizens – Zarganar, Nay Phone Latt and Kaung Myat Hlaing (also known as "Nat Soe") – are still serving long jail sentences for expressing their views freely online.
Burma is on the Reporters Without Borders list of “Enemies of the Internet.” Amnesty International puts the number of Burmese political prisoners at more than 2,200. They include 17 video journalists (VJ) employed by the exile TV and radio station Democratic Voice of Burma, which recently launched a campaign for their release with support from Reporters Without Borders.
http://en.rsf.org/burma-surveillance-of-media-and-internet-17-05-2011,40296.html
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Myanmar: Prison sentence reductions are not enough
Prisoner of conscience Min Ko Naing faces a one-year reduction of his 65-year sentence
17 May 2011
The Myanmar government’s reduction of prison terms must be swiftly followed by the immediate and unconditional release of all prisoners of conscience, Amnesty International said today.
The Myanmar government said on Monday it had reduced by one year the sentences of all current prisoners and commuted all death sentences to life imprisonment.
“While the reductions are welcome news for political prisoners, they are astonishingly insufficient”, said Benjamin Zawacki, Amnesty International’s Myanmar researcher. “These actions fall well short of the comprehensive release of all prisoners of conscience desperately needed in Myanmar”.
Amnesty International also called upon Myanmar to go beyond commuting death sentences and join the worldwide trend towards the complete abolition of the death penalty.
While no death row prisoner in Myanmar is known to have been executed since 1988, the death penalty is still in the statute books and death sentences continue to be imposed.
“The commutation of these death sentences is encouraging, but the next move should be to bring about all necessary legislative changes to abolish the death penalty in Myanmar”, said Benjamin Zawacki.
The Myanmar authorities hold over 2,200 political prisoners, many of whom have been subjected to torture and other forms of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. They are held in poor conditions in prisons that lack adequate medical treatment and are often located far away from prisoners’ families.
The international community has repeatedly called on the Myanmar authorities to release political prisoners, especially in the run-up to the country’s first elections in 20 years that took place in November 2010. However, at the January 2011 United Nations Human Rights Council, Myanmar government representatives denied that there were any political prisoners in the country.
“The Myanmar government has for decades used imprisonment to silence peaceful dissent, opting for sentence reductions and selective periodic amnesties as a small concession to international criticism of its human rights record,” said Benjamin Zawacki.
Last week, Mr. Vijay Nambiar, Special Adviser to the UN Secretary-General, stressed the release of all political prisoners during his first post-elections visit to Myanmar.
Amnesty International also urged Myanmar to take concrete steps toward guaranteeing basic freedoms.
"The authorities should repeal or amend laws and practices that arbitrarily restrict rights, such as the Electronic Transactions Law that prevents the reporting of views critical of the government, and should ensure that the judiciary is free from political interference and other abuses", said Benjamin Zawacki.
http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/myanmar-prison-sentence-reductions-are-not-enough-2011-05-17
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US renews Myanmar sanctions
Posted: 17 May 2011 0836 hrs
WASHINGTON: The United States on Monday renewed its economic sanctions against Myanmar and urged the military-backed regime to go much further after it reduced prisoners' terms by just one year.
In a formal notice to Congress, President Barack Obama said that he was renewing sanctions that would otherwise have expired this month because Myanmar, also known as Burma, was taking actions "hostile to US interests."
Obama, using language nearly identical to previous years, criticized actions by the regime including the "large-scale repression of the democratic opposition" in deciding to extend the measures that limit trade with Myanmar.
The Obama administration in 2009 launched an engagement drive with Myanmar, concluding that the previous Western policy of trying to isolate the regime had failed.
But the administration has said that it is disappointed with the results of the dialogue and rejected calls by some Asian nations to ease sanctions on Myanmar after it last year held elections, which were widely criticized.
Myanmar's President Thein Sein, in a message read on state television Monday, said that the government was reducing all prisoners' sentences by one year and commuting the death penalty to life imprisonment.
The United States and democracy activists have called for a broader amnesty in Myanmar, where many political opponents are held under vague laws for double-digit terms.
"We would just reiterate our call that all political prisoners should be released immediately," US State Department spokesman Mark Toner told reporters.
The regime last year released Nobel Prize-winning opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who has spent most of the last two decades under house arrest.
But human rights groups say more than 2,000 other political prisoners remain.
- AFP/cc http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_asiapacific/view/1129339/1/.html
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Burma to free 17,000 from jail
Published: 17/05/2011 at 02:31 PM
Online news: Bangkok Post
About 17,000 prisoners were due to be released nationwide in Burma, an official said Tuesday, after the president announced a limited jail-term reduction that was greeted with disappointment by critics.
A Myanmar soldier stands alert during a military event in the country's administrative capital Naypyidaw. About 17,000 prisoners were due to be released nationwide in the country, an official said Tuesday, after the president announced a limited jail-term reduction that was greeted with disappointment by critics.
Among those set to be released were some of the intelligence personnel purged after the ousting of former premier and army intelligence chief Khin Nyunt in a power struggle in 2004, the official told AFP.
But the vast majority were expected to be common criminals, despite human rights groups accusing Burma of holding more than 2,000 political prisoners.
Burma's President Thein Sein, in a message read on state television on Monday, said that the government was reducing all inmates' sentences by one year and commuting the death penalty to life imprisonment.
Human Rights Watch called the news a "sick joke" given the numbers of political prisoners in the country, while the United States urged the regime to go much further as it renewed economic sanctions against Burma.
The US and democracy activists have long called for a broader amnesty in the Southeast Asian nation, where the military handed over power to a nominally civilian government led by a retired general after an election last year.
Many political opponents remain held under vague laws for double-digit terms, and while it was unclear how many had less than one year to serve and so would be released, the numbers were expected to be extremely small.
"This is a pathetic response to international calls for the immediate release of all political prisoners," said Elaine Pearson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch (HRW).
About 2,600 prisoners began to be released from Rangoon's notorious Insein prison on Tuesday.
"Altogether about 17,000 prisoners from the prisons around the country will be released. Jailed former intelligence personnel will be among those released," the official told AFP, declining to be named.
Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi was released from house arrest in November shortly after the election, Burma's first in 20 years.
The opposition and the West welcomed her freedom but criticised the poll as anything but free and fair, and have urged the government to do more to improve its human rights record.
In a formal notice to Congress on Monday, President Barack Obama said that he was renewing sanctions that would otherwise have expired this month because Burma, also known as Burma, was taking actions "hostile to US interests".
Obama, using language nearly identical to previous years, criticised actions by the regime including the "large-scale repression of the democratic opposition" in deciding to extend the measures that limit trade with Burma.http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/asia/237474/burma-frees-thousands-in-pathetic-jail-term-cut
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Burma frees 14,600, but few political prisoners
The Associated Press
Date: Tuesday May. 17, 2011 5:38 AM ET
RANGOON, Burma — Burma is releasing more than 14,600 prisoners under a clemency program that will include very few political prisoners.
Prison Department Director General Zaw Win said most of the convicts, including 2,166 women, were being freed Tuesday from jails around the country.
The limited nature of the program -- commuting death sentences to life imprisonment and cutting one year from convicts' prison terms -- has drawn criticism from many who had expected more generous terms, similar to broader amnesties that have been announced in the past.
Most of the country's political prisoners, both from the pro-democracy movement and from out-of-favor factions in the government, are serving long prison terms that will keep them locked up.
"My hopes are shattered. I thought my husband would be released in a general amnesty," said Moe Moe, 33, the wife of a former military intelligence officer sentenced in 2005 to 15 years in prison, after the measure was announced Monday night.
Asked how many political prisoners were among those to be released, Zaw Win repeated the government's position that the country has no political detainees.
But he said "some prisoners who are charged under emergency laws and for links with illegal organizations will be among those freed." Emergency laws are broadly defined security statutes usually used to prosecute political activists, who are often accused of links to banned political groups.
Long-term detainees include prominent student activists such as Min Ko Naing who are serving 65-year prison sentences and politicians from ethnic minority parties such as Shan leader Hkun Htun Oo who have sentences of more than 80 years.
Apart from pro-democracy activists, many former intelligence officers who were on the losing side of a power struggle are serving lengthy prison sentences.
Former Prime Minister and military intelligence chief Khin Nyunt, who is serving a 44-year sentence under house arrest, is not benefiting from the clemency program, Zaw Win told reporters at Yangon's Insein Prison, where he gave a speech to inmates.
U.S. State Department spokesman Mark Toner said in Washington that the U.S. reiterated its call that all political prisoners be released immediately.
New York-based Human Rights Watch issued a statement calling the clemency "a pathetic response to international calls for the immediate release of all political prisoners."
"For the 2,100 political prisoners unjustly serving sentences of up to 65 years, the one-year reduction is a sick joke," the rights group said Tuesday.
The government in Burma generally grants amnesties to mark important national days. The last in 2009 freed 7,114 prisoners. Most recipients are petty criminals, but previous mass releases have usually included a handful of political detainees.
An amnesty had been expected when the country held its first elections in 20 years in November, when parliament convened in January, and then when the nominally civilian government was sworn in at the end of March.
The country has more than 60,000 prisoners in 42 prisons and 109 labor camps.
Zaw Win said 2,600 of the more than 8,000 inmates at Insein Prison were being released. He said 348 prisoners on death row will have their sentences commuted to life imprisonment.
Burma has been under the sway of the army since 1962, and critics say its recent transition to civilian rule is a charade that perpetuates military rule. http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/World/20110517/burma-prisoners-amnesty-110517/
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Wednesday, May 18, 2011
News & Articles on Burma-Tuesday, 17 May, 2011
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
News & Articles on Burma-Monday, 16 May, 2011
News & Articles on Burma
Monday, 16 May, 2011
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Myanmar announces limited cut to jail terms
Myanmar president announces clemency for prisoners
Quintana to Meet Burmese Exile Groups
Australia and Thailand Pressure Burma on Rights Record
Jailed MPs, monks lobby home minister
Imprisoned Shan army leader in need of urgent health treatment
Internet cafes ban CDs, USB drives
China to Be Thein Sein's First State Visit
Burma's Leadership Change to Nowhere
Thai FM says Burma unfit for ASEAN chair
True News Journal Suspended for Two Weeks
Flawed math behind Myanmar 'democracy'
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May 16, 2011
Myanmar announces limited cut to jail terms
YANGON - MYANMAR'S military-backed government announced a limited amnesty on Monday by reducing all current prisoners' sentences by one year.
The news will come as a disappointment to those calling for the release of political prisoners, after an official said earlier this month that the government was preparing to grant an amnesty to some people in jail.
A message by President Thein Sein, read out on state TV news on Monday, said those who faced the death penalty would have their sentences reduced to life imprisonment.
'Prisoners will get amnesty on humanitarian grounds and through sympathy for their families,' said the announcement.
There are more than 2,200 political prisoners in Myanmar, according to rights group Amnesty International, being held under vague laws frequently used to criminalise peaceful political activists.
Many of them face double-digit jail sentences. -- AFP http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/SEAsia/Story/STIStory_669277.html
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Myanmar president announces clemency for prisoners
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) -- Myanmar's new president has announced a clemency program for prisoners, but its terms are limited and its scope is unclear.
State television and radio announced Monday that President Thein Sein signed a "general amnesty" order commuting death sentences to life imprisonment and cutting one year from convicts' prison terms.
The announcement did not say how many prisoners are covered by the order or if any of the country's more than 2,000 political prisoners will be released.
Nyan Win, a spokesman for democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi's political group, said the order would not help political prisoners because many are serving very long sentences.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AS_MYANMAR_PRISONERS?SECTION=HOME&SITE=AP&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
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Quintana to Meet Burmese Exile Groups
By SAI ZOM HSENG Monday, May 16, 2011
The United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Burma, Tomás Ojea Quintana, arrives in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand, on Monday to meet Burmese NGOs and human rights groups in exile.
Aung Myo Min, the director of the Human Rights Education Institute of Burma (HREIB), said that the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Bangkok organized a meeting with the rights groups for May 19 when some 50 representatives of various organizations will meet Quintana.
Speaking to The Irrawaddy on Monday, Aung Myo Min said, “We are going to discuss five main issues at the meeting—political prisoners; environment; education; accountability to human rights violations; and the transition to democracy.”
The issues on the agenda are to be presented individually by different organizations. The political prisoners issue will be presented by the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners-Burma; human rights by the Karen Human Rights Group; environment by the Karen Environmental and Social Action Network; the right to education by HREIB; and the transition to democracy by the Interfaith Council for Peace and Justice.
Burma's military regime has refused to issue a visa to Quintana since his trip to Burma in February 2010. During that visit, he met political prisoners and several leaders from the National League for Democracy (NLD). Although he requested permission to meet Aung San Suu Kyi while she was under house arrest, he was refused access by the military junta.
During his last visit, the UN envoy asked the military regime: to review its domestic laws which limit basic human rights; to release all political prisoners and detainees before the election; to educate the armed forces about human rights; and to ensure an independent judicial system.
Quintana recently applied for a visa from Burma's new government, which is led by President Thein Sein, a former prime minister under the military regime. To date, Naypyidaw has not responded to the envoy's request.
Observers say the military junta's angst toward Quintana was fueled by the Argentine's recommendation that the UN General Assembly establish a commission of inquiry to investigate human rights violations in Burma under the military junta.
Quintana submitted a report concerning the human rights situation in Burma at a conference in March. In the report, he urged the new government to open an inquiry into the charges and to initiate a policy of transparency. http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=21298
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Australia and Thailand Pressure Burma on Rights Record
Bangkok | Ron Corben May 15, 2011
Activists from the Free Burma Coalition holding masks of Burmese democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi at a rally in front of the Burmese Embassy in Manila in November 2010.
Australia and Thailand have called for Burma to raise its human rights record, including the release of all political prisoners, before taking up the chair of the 10-member Association of South East Asian Nations in 2014.
Earlier this month, Laos was reported to have agreed to “swap” with Burma the chairmanship of ASEAN in 2014. Laos will chair in 2012.
The call came during weekend talks between Australian Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd and his Thai counterpart Kasit Piromya in the Thai capital, Bangkok.
Burma had foregone its right to chair ASEAN in 2005 amid international pressure over its human rights record. Burma now points to political reforms since then, including general elections last year and the formation of a new parliament together with the release of opposition leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, from house arrest last year.
But human rights groups argue the parliament is largely controlled by the military and military backed parties, while more than 2,000 political prisoners remain in jails throughout the country and attacks on ethnic communities continue.
The move by Burma to host ASEAN in 2014 is opening divisions within the organization.
Australia’s Rudd says Burma needs to make more progress before considering the ASEAN chairmanship.
“Our view as Australia is that we would want to see continued and sustained improvements in human rights and democracy in Burma. We in the past have welcomed the release of Aung San Suu Kyi, we have deep concerns about the continued detention of some 2,000 political prisoners.”
Rudd also pointed to issues such as the 110,000 Burmese living in refugee camps in western Thailand with ‘thousands’ more internally displaced in Burma due to fighting between ethnic groups and Burma’s army.
Indonesia Foreign Minister Marty Natelagawa, the current chairman of ASEAN, is due to visit Burma to assess its readiness to host the ASEAN meeting in 2014.
Thai Foreign Minister Kasit says an assessment has to include progress by Burma, also known as Myanmar, since the elections and Burma’s obligation under the ASEAN charter which includes recognition of human rights. Kasit says there remain outstanding issues.
“Especially the release of all the remaining political prisoners, the general overall freedom or liberalization of the whole political process as well as the long awaited dialogue between Daw Aung San Suu Kyi on behalf of the opposition with the newly installed government of Myanmar as part of the whole national reconciliation process and national building.”
Human rights groups welcomed the calls by Australia and Thailand for political reforms in Burma. Debbie Stothard is spokeswoman for the rights group Alternative ASEAN Network.
“Burma should not be allowed to chair ASEAN until it has engaged in genuine reform and that means release of all political prisoners and a cessation of war against all ethnic nationality communities.”
Stothard says if Burma took up the chair of ASEAN in 2014 without further reforms, key dialogue partner countries, that include Australia, Canada, the European Union and Japan as well as the United States, may boycott the meetings. http://www.voanews.com/english/news/and-Thailand-Pressure-Burma-on-Rights-Record--121859134.html
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Jailed MPs, monks lobby home minister
By SHWE AUNG
Published: 16 May 2011
Four political prisoners in the remote Kale jail have addressed a letter to Burma’s home affairs minister, U Ko Ko, in which they claim they are being denied adequate healthcare, food and the freedom to communicate with their families.
Among the four is Ashin Gambira, who is serving a 63-year sentence for his pivotal role in the September 2007 uprising. His sister, Khin Thu Htay, who visited him on 14 May, said that the letter was sent on behalf of political prisoners and regular prisoners who “vowed to go on hunger strike if there is no response by 31 May”.
“There are over 16 other [political prisoners] in other wards [in Kale] and apparently they will also send out a letter today,” she added.
Nyi Pu, who was elected in 1990 to the People’s Parliament before being sentenced to 15 years, is also among the signatories. In September last year he was reported to be in poor health after not receiving help for a condition that lowers the level of potassium in the blood.
Among the other would-be recipients of the letter, which also asks for prisoners to be allowed reading books, radio and satellite television, will be President Thein Sein and the three vice-presidents, as well as the UN Human Rights Commission. Thein Sein has suggested that a prisoner amnesty is on the cards, but concrete details have not been given.
Ashin Gambira also reported that a Political Prisoners’ Union has been formed and will “work to form a regular Prisoners’ Union,” according to his sister. Previous demands he made for former junta chief Than Shwe to visit him in prison and begin dialogue were met with heavy treatment by authorities, who filled his mouth with a cloth, taped him up and repeatedly beat him.
Burma is estimated to have around 200,000 prisoners in 43 jails across the country. The Thailand-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners-Burma (AAPPB) claims there is only one doctor for every 8,000 prisoners. Demands for better healthcare are frequently made by rights groups but protests by inmates are rare, and can result in heavy-handed punishments.
http://www.dvb.no/news/jailed-mps-monks-lobby-home-minister/15676
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Imprisoned Shan army leader in need of urgent health treatment
Monday, 16 May 2011 16:14 Hseng Khio Fah
One of the most prominent Shan political prisoners Maj-Gen Hso Ten of Shan State Army (SSA) ‘North’ that is fighting against the Burma Army since March, is in urgent need to receive medical treatment due to his failing health condition, according to Sai Leik, spokesperson of the defunct Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD).
Sao Hso Ten (Photo: S.H.A.N.)
“We were informed that he is seriously suffering from high blood pressure with 180 up and 80 down when his family visited him,” said Sai Leik. “This time the authorities have reportedly made a medical checkup.”
Gen Hso Ten has been suffering from high blood pressure and an eye problem as he is almost losing his eyesight since 2008, three years after his arrest. But authorities have mentioned nothing about his health problems.
“We believe his eye problem will also be considered if his high blood pressure condition becomes normal,” Sai Leik added.
But he is expected to be treated only in Sittwe hospital while his family wants to bring him to Rangoon.
He had been serving a 106 year term since 2005 along with Khun Htun Oo, chairman of SNLD the second winning party in 1990 and 7 other Shan politicians for defamation of the state, association with illegal parties and conspiracy against the state.
But they were separately imprisoned. In August, Gen Hso had been transferred from Khamti prison in Kachin State to Rakhaing State’s Sittwe, western part of Burma and is also one of the remotest areas.
Among the said 8 leaders, two were also reportedly seriously in poor health. Khun Htun Oo is reported to have been suffering bladder distention, peptic ulcer and arthritis both hands and knees and legs swelling due to lack adequate exercise and regular medical treatment while another one Sai Myo Win Tun, who is serving 79 years imprison in proper Burma’s Myingyan prison, is reportedly suffering from mental illness.
The 9th detainee “Math” Than Myint died in prison in 2006. http://www.shanland.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3686:imprisoned-shan-army-leader-in-need-of-urgent-health-treatment&catid=93:general&Itemid=291
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Internet cafes ban CDs, USB drives
By SHWE AUNG and FRANCIS WADE
Published: 16 May 2011
Cyber café customers will no longer be allowed to use external drives in computers, according to a new regulation issued by Burma’s communications ministry that further tightens the clamp on the country’s growing population of internet users.
The ban on CDs, USB sticks and floppy drives comes two months after the government prohibited the use of services like Skype and VZOchat that allow internet users to make free or cheap international phone calls.
The justification then was that there had been a drop in income from overseas calls, although analysts claimed it more likely stemmed from the government’s inability to monitor VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) services, as these are known.
The external drive ban adds to a long list of regulations that govern ownership of internet cafes and that threaten heavy penalties if they are ignored. Already foreigners are required to hand over passport details, address and phone number before using an internet café computer, while café owners must submit monthly records of users’ internet usage data to the Myanma Post and Telecommunications Ministry.
At around two percent of the country, Burma’s internet penetration ranks among the lowest in the world, but numbers appear to be on the increase. Despite draconian laws surrounding the transfer of information, it has developed a thriving underground blogging community.
The evolution of social media in Burma, which is described by the Committee to Protect Journalists as both an ‘enemy of the internet’ and one of the world’s ‘worst countries in which to be a blogger’, appears to have concerned the government, particularly in light the internet-driven Arab uprisings this year.
A so-called upgrade of the country’s internet service shortly after the elections last year is claimed by media watchdogs to be used to reinforce surveillance and repression of national web users.
A joint report by Reporters Without Borders and Burma Media Association said that the Hantharwaddy National Gateway, Burma’s main link to the global internet, will be controlled exclusively by the military. Additionally, the introduction of an additional ISP means that the government can now shut off the civilian service during times of political unrest whilst keeping its own system online.
http://www.dvb.no/news/internet-cafes-ban-cds-usb-drives/15659
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China to Be Thein Sein's First State Visit
By WAI MOE Monday, May 16, 2011
Burmese President Thein Sein (right) shakes hands with China's Xu Caihou in Naypyidaw on May 13. (Photo : Xinhua)
Burma's new president, Thein Sein, is scheduled to visit China in late May, according to intelligence sources in Naypyidaw. The official visit will be his second overseas trip this month and his first state visit since being sworn in on March 30.
The Burmese delegation led by Thein Sein is looking to boost the Sino-Burmese bilateral relationship, the sources said. Beijing and Naypyidaw are likely to discuss security and strategic matters, including the possibility of Chinese naval ships docking at Kyaukpyu deep seaport in western Burma.
“Both sides are preparing for U Thein Sein’s state visit to China,” said a source who spoke on conditional of anonymity. “The date should be May 26. Commander-in-Chief Gen Min Aung Hlaing and other senior officials, such as Defense Minister Maj-Gen Hla Min, Home Minister Lt-Gen Ko Ko and Border Affairs Minister Maj-Gen Thein Htay will join the trip.”
Earlier this month, Thein Sein visited Indonesia to attend a regional summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
Thein Sein’s trip to China comes shortly after a high-level Chinese military visit to Burma led by Gen Xu Caihou, the vice-chairman of China's Central Military Commission, which visited Burma from May 12 to 15.
Xu met Thein Sein and other top officials, including both vice-presidents, Tin Aung Myint Oo and Sai Mauk Kham, in Naypyidaw on May 13, according to Burmese state-run newspaper The New Light of Myanmar.
Before meeting with Thein Sein, the Chinese general met Min Aung Hlaing and other top Burmese generals in the capital. The Burmese state media reported that Min Aung Hlaing and Xu Caihou signed “[an] agreement and exchanged emblems of Armed Forces.”
China’s Xinhua reported that Xu “made a three-point proposal for the development of the two armed forces— 1. enhancement of mutual trust strategically and consolidation of the friendly overall situation. 2. Strengthening of link and coordination and safeguarding of the two countries' common benefit, and 3. Pushing forward of practical cooperation and exchange and deepening of the two armed forces' friendly ties.” [sic]
"My present visit is to further enhance the China-Myanmar traditional friendship, boost understanding, expand consent, deepen cooperation, push the friendly and cooperative ties between the two countries and the two armed forces ahead and strive for the maintenance of regional peace and stability," Xu was quoted as saying by Xinhua.
Although neither national media reported it, officials sources in Naypyidaw said that the Chinese general also raised the prospect of the Chinese navy docking at Kyaukpyu to safeguard Chinese interests. http://irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=21301
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Burma's Leadership Change to Nowhere
The junta's new generation: Same as the old generation.
By BERTIL LINTNER
Some in Asia have looked to recent events in the Middle East for clues about whether similar uprisings against unpopular authoritarian regimes could happen in places like China or Burma. But that's not the only point to consider from Asia's perspective. Those stories also offer a warning about the nature of change within such regimes, a red flag that is particularly relevant for Burma right now: A younger set of leaders is not always as liberal as outsiders hope.
Burma's military junta is in the midst of a political transition to a new generation. Long-ruling general Than Shwe, 78, has stepped aside, replaced by Thein Sein, a "youthful" 66. Since his appointment, Thein Sein has made some seemingly conciliatory remarks regarding freedom of expression. The European Union in particular has greeted this change with cautious optimism, slightly easing its sanctions against the regime.
Diplomats hope that a new generation may be more liberal-minded—that the next round of elections will be freer and fairer than last November's rigged polling; that the release of pro-democracy leader and Nobel Peace Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi from her long house arrest will be lasting; and that recent media opening and better access for international aid agencies are the start of a trend.
But if the Middle East teaches something for Asia, it's that the new generation isn't always what it's cracked up to be. In Libya, Moammar Qadaffi's son Saif al Islam was educated at the London School of Economics and was once hailed as a reformist influence. Syrian ruler Bashar Assad is a doctor once greeted as a reformer when he took over power from his father. Both are now leading bloody crackdowns in their countries.
Sure enough, Burma's new leaders follow this pattern. Gen. Thein Sein is no closet liberal. A former major general, he served as chief of the army's Golden Triangle command from 1997-2001. As prime minister he visited North Korea in August last year, heaping praise on Kim Jong Il and saying that Burma would "strive to strengthen and develop friendly relations" with the Pyongyang regime.
And despite recent signs of openness, other signs show the regime is busily entrenching itself for another generation. The Burmese military did not implement a new constitution and hold "elections" last year because the generals wanted to change the system that has kept them in power for half a century. Those "reforms" were meant to institutionalize the present order with the aim of perpetuating it.
For instance, the new constitution gives the commander in chief of the armed forces the power to directly select one-fourth of all parliamentary seats, and allows the president to hand over power to the army in the event of a "national crisis"—a term so vaguely defined it could mean a popular pro-democracy uprising. There is no indication Gen. Thein Sein has any intention to change this.
Likewise, recent openness in other areas should not be viewed as a sign that newer leaders are more liberal-minded. Rather, this suggests that the new generation is perpetuating the same cycle of repression, openness and then repression again that the older generation perfected.
Consider 1988, when a massive uprising started after years of repression and economic mismanagement. After gunning down thousands of demonstrators in a crackdown that would make Syria's rulers blush, the Burmese military encouragingly moved toward reform. It abolished the one-party system and announced that free elections wound he held. For almost a year, Burma experienced an unprecedented openness. Political rallies were tolerated across the country.
But in July 1989, the army moved in when democracy grew too popular. Hundreds were arrested and Ms. Suu Kyi placed under house arrest. A year later, elections were held, and they were surprisingly free and fair. Foreign journalists were allowed to cover the event. But the people made the mistake of voting for Ms. Suu Kyi's party, the National League for Democracy, and another crackdown followed. The elected National Assembly was never convened. The international community was outraged—but mellowed when the military announced that a new constitution would be drafted and fresh elections held.
Since first being put under house arrest in 1989 around the time of the election, Ms. Suu Kyi's fate has tracked the junta's cycles. She was released in 1995 and allowed to hold political meetings and rallies. Then the military cracked down , and by 2000 she was under arrest again. And so on—released in 2002, re-arrested in 2003. Given this record, it would be premature to consider her latest release, in November last year, as a sign of permanent change for the better in the regime.
Nor is the international community's optimism itself a new phenomenon. When the original strongman, Ne Win, ruled from 1962 till 1981, Burma watchers used to say that things would change once he was gone from the scene. But the next generation turned out to be just as brutal, and perhaps even more so. Similarly, the new crop of military leaders under Gen. Thein Sein might turn out to be just as repressive as Gen. Than Shwe—or worse.
Burma is not immune to the democratic winds of change. Sooner or later, real change will come. But that will not be the type of "incremental improvements" some observers, especially in the European Union, think they're seeing now. Rather, it will be when those within the system turn against it—in other words, a crack within the ruling elite.
So far, there are no signs of such a crack in Burma. And by misreading current signals, outsiders could delay the arrival of that moment. Easing sanctions as a reward for false openness, for instance, removes a stress factor that could eventually cause some within the military to rethink the wisdom of the current regime.
Until the international community, and especially the EU, learns these bitter lessons of history, they will only encourage the junta to continue as it always has. That can only prolong the sufferings of the Burmese people.
Mr. Lintner is a Thailand-based correspondent for the Swedish daily Svenska Dagbladet and author of several books on Burma.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703509104576324563051987194.html
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Thai FM says Burma unfit for ASEAN chair
By FRANCIS WADE
Published: 16 May 2011
Thai FM Kasit Piromya is accompanied by his Indonesian counterpart Marty Natalegawa after a meeting in Jakarta April 28 2011 (Reuters)
Thailand’s foreign minister has reportedly told his Australian counterpart that Burma must release all 2,100 political prisoners at the very least before ASEAN considers giving it the 2014 chair.
Kasit Piromya was speaking with Australian FM Kevin Rudd during a meeting in Bangkok last week. The Australian Associated Press quoted Kasit as saying that Burma has an “obligation to itself, to the ASEAN community in terms of the credibility, respectability and also the internal position of the ASEAN community”, all of which would need to be scrutinised before taking the chair.
It also said that both parties agreed on the need for Burma to improve its human rights record, of which the continued imprisonment of thousands of activists, politicians, monks and journalists is a cause célèbre.
Controversy erupted ten days ago after ASEAN appeared close to handing Burma the revolving chair for 2014, despite stern warnings from rights groups about both the rewarding of Burma’s maligned elections last year, and the effect it would have on the image of the bloc.
Observers quickly levelled sharp criticism at ASEAN, which has come under persistent international pressure to do more about Burma’s myriad domestic crises.
The latest reports suggest the decision has now been delayed. The US had reportedly sent a statement to the current chair, Indonesia, prior to the summit warning that it would sour relations between the bloc and the world’s largest economy if Burma was appointed.
Kasit’s comments are a rarity from a government that is increasingly attempting to court the Burmese leaders in return for furthering its economic reach in the country. It also marks a break from the recent past when Thailand, as chair of ASEAN, was reluctant to criticise the regime. According to the Rangoon-based Myanmar Times, however, ASEAN chief Surin Pitsuwan, a veteran Thai politician, supports Burma’s bid for the chair.
Australia has approached with caution pledges made by the new Burmese government that the country is transitioning to civilian rule. In a video message beamed to a parliamentary forum in Canberra last week, opposition icon Aung San Suu Kyi said that there had been “no positive, definite move towards a truly democratic process” in Burma, and urged MPs to closely scrutinise the rhetoric of the government against signs of tangible progress in the country.
http://www.dvb.no/news/thai-fm-says-burma-unfit-for-asean-chair/15672
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True News Journal Suspended for Two Weeks
By KO HTWE Monday, May 16, 2011
Burma's Press Scrutiny and Registration Division (PSRD) has suspended Rangoon-based journal True News for two weeks after the Ministry of Communications, Posts and Telegraphs (MCPT) complained about a front-page report concerning a deal on mobile phones.
The suspension of the news journal marks the first such ban on media since the new government was sworn in on March 30.
True News is accused by the MCPT of falsely reporting that any person in Burma who owns a GSM mobile phone—retail price being 1.5 million kyat [US $1,830]—can now pay an additional 50,000 kyat [$60] and receive a second cellphone. The report quoted Zaw Min Oo, a telecommunications chief engineer at the MCPT.
It is unclear why the government department objected to this report, nor has it been established whether True News is accused of misquoting Zaw Min Oo.
“The reason for the suspension is because the report went to press without the permission of the censorship board,” said a source close to True News.
The source speculated that other reasons for the suspension may exist. He said that in the same May 3 issue, True News carried a cartoon by well-known Burmese cartoonist Aw Pi Kye, depicting the government changing uniform. The journal also carried an article by Shwe Zee Kwat from the influential NGO, Free Funeral Services Society (FFSS).
“We had strong evidence to support the GSM mobile phone report,” said a reporter from True News who requested anonymity. “That same week, we were also denied permission to published news regarding Aung San Suu Kyi's visit to the FFSS, and were told to postpone an interview with FFSS founder Kyaw Thu.”
In an address to parliament on March 31, Burma's new president, Thein Sein, said that the government “must respect the role of the media.”
However, according to Nyan Tun Oo, a minister within the Rangoon regional government, the new government will continue the previous junta's policy of censoring media coverage which is sensitive to national security or critical of the state.
True News was founded in June 2008. It was previously suspended for two months in October 2009 over a photograph showing Burmese children working in Thailand.
“As far as I know,the duty of the censorship board is to prohibit news and articles that affect the state, religion and nationalism,” said Kyaw Thu. “The suspension [we received] is just the same as the former government used to impose.”
However, a Rangoon-based editor told The Irrawaddy on Monday that he feels there is a slight improvement in the PSRD's attitude toward the media since the new government was sworn in.
“If the editor [of a journal or newspaper] takes responsibility for the news coverage, then they can publish without going through the censors,” he said. “Previously, everything had to be sent to the PSRD for approval.”
The PSRD routinely censors books, journals and newspapers. Any media criticism of the military junta is strictly forbidden. Despite their strict rules and regulations, and draconian censorship practices, the PSRD currently licenses the publication of 326 newspapers, magazines and journals in Burma.
The Irrawaddy reporter Hset Linn also contributed this article. http://irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=21300
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May 17, 2011
Flawed math behind Myanmar 'democracy'
By David Scott Mathieson
MAE SOT - What if you held an election and you weren't sure how many people showed up at the polls? To establish voting patterns and trends, one needs to have an accurate estimate of the population, clearly demarcated electorates and the eligible voters contained therein, and a system of tallying votes. It is not clear how closely these prerequisites were observed ahead of the November 7, 2010, vote in Myanmar when population estimates in the country vary widely.
Myanmar has not had an effective nationwide census for decades. Previous ones took place during British colonial rule in 1931, under the post war social democratic government in 1953, and by the socialist government in 1983. The last official census in 1983 calculated the population to be 35.4 million, despite that count not being able to access considerable parts of the country due to civil war. But what is Myanmar's population now, and how did authorities count the votes on November 7, 2010?
Population estimates between 2008 and 2010 vary from 44.2 million in 2009 according to the United Nations, based on Ministry of Home Affairs figures, to 59.1 million in 2010 according to the government's Ministry of Immigration and Population estimates. The figures stem from a survey of some kind conducted from 2007 in cooperation with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) that estimated the population growth rate at 2.02% annually. From the lowest to highest figures over a two to three year period, there is a 15 million people differential in Myanmar government, UN and other international organizations' estimates.
Other estimates are as widely divergent. The Yangon-based UN agency, the Myanmar Information Management Unit (MIMU), released a map in 2009 with a breakdown of the population of all of Myanmar's 14 administrative units (states and divisions/regions) and the total population was 44.2 million based on ministry of home affairs figures. The 2009 Lonely Planet tourist guide claimed the population was 47.4 million. The US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) estimates the population to be 48.1 million.
Many newspapers reporting on last year's elections in the past several months have variously estimated the population at 50, 51, 52, 54 or 57 million, all of the estimates likely based on Internet searches through the disparate figures on a variety of websites. According to data compiled by the United Nations Millennium Development Goals in 2008, the 2010 figure for Myanmar was projected at 50,495,000. In the 2008 Statistical Yearbook of Myanmar's Ministry of National Planning and Economic Development, the population figure was listed at 57,504,000.
So why the enormous fluctuation?
To understand the disparities in counting Myanmar's population, one has to know that estimating Myanmar's population is predominantly part of the system of authoritarian control. To monitor society, authorities have long employed a Draconian system of household registration.
Every house must have a list of inhabitants that are regularly reported to local authorities, at the suburb (or in Myanmar, the ward), or village level. Visitors are either denied permission to stay overnight or must be registered with the authorities. It is prohibited for foreigners to stay overnight in a private Myanmar home and all hotel registration lists are reported daily to local police and immigration authorities.
This system of control is vertically integrated. Regular population numbers of small communities are relayed up to the next stage of monitoring control: from village to village tract, next to township, then to state or region level, and ultimately to national authorities. This is not unique to authoritarian systems but in practice it grants latitude to local authorities to act in any way to ensure that good news flows up.
In a country such as Myanmar, where avoiding the attention of authorities is a basic survival strategy, compliance by officials and citizens to accord with expectations is often the norm - despite questions of veracity or efficiency of the gathered information. Supplying positive news is an essential measure of loyalty in repressive states.
For example, the swift counting of the vote at the 2008 constitutional referendum - not an arduous task in a simple yes or no vote but still a challenge considering Myanmar's lack of development and infrastructure - was reached within a couple of weeks and publicly announced down to the individual vote: a 92% approval of the constitution with a 98% voter turnout. It was clear that local authorities knew they must deliver positive, even if false, news to the next layer of control all the way up to central authorities in Naypyidaw.
Most observers agree that Myanmar's electoral process in 2010 was one gigantic fix to ensure continued military dominance: Electoral laws were rigged and interpreted by a pro-military Electoral Commission; 2,200 political prisoners, including many opposition party leaders, were barred from contesting the polls; and the military's Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), with 18 million nominal members and a nationwide structure of offices and financial assets, ensured that smaller upstart parties were at a competitive disadvantage.
On voting day, November 7, widespread irregularities were reported, including the use of advance voting ballots to swing seats in favor of the USDP during the closing stages of counting ballots. The USDP won more than 77% of the seats in the two national level parliaments and a clear majority in the 14 regional and state based assemblies. The Electoral Commission announced that 22 million of 29 million eligible voters cast ballots, equating to a turn-out of around 75%-80%.
Inconvenient intervening variables
Few analyses of the Myanmar population include demographic factors that challenge the prevailing official assessment: displacement through conflict and development projects, migration to neighboring countries or urban areas inside the country, statelessness of the Rohingya Muslim minority, hinterland hill-tribes, and other marginalized populations, and haphazard or incomplete citizenship registration.
Myanmar is an extremely poor country sharing rugged and underdeveloped borderlands with Bangladesh, China, India, Laos and Thailand, simmering insurgent conflicts in its especially eastern borderlands, and a bewildering ethno-linguistic patchwork of peoples that official estimates put at 135 "national race groups". The following is a short list of inconvenient intervening variables that any accurate assessment of Myanmar's demographics must consider:
Internal displacement. For more than a decade, there has been a major problem of conflict and development induced displacement in eastern Myanmar. The annual survey of the Thailand-Burma [Myanmar] Border Consortium (TBBC), an aid group that works with refugees, estimated 460,000 civilians were internally displaced in Myanmar in 2010 in a mixture of nominally government controlled areas, ceasefire militia enclaves and free-fire zones contested by state and anti-state forces.
These populations are a mix of recognized citizens of Myanmar and those whose births were not officially registered but have spent most of their lives under insurgent administration. Voting on November 7 was not held in several townships in border areas, such as the Wa special region in the north, and parts of the country where conflict is still raging in the Karen and Shan states.
Add to this tens of thousands of hill-tribe minorities, including Lahu, Akha, Palaung and others, especially in the northern states, who live on the fringes of state control and have never been officially counted. Ongoing conflict, or tensions between state forces and insurgents in border areas, meant that voting did not take place in parts of northern Shan State and eastern Myanmar, affecting parts of 32 townships (constituencies) and an estimated 350,000 people in total.
Refugees. There are more than 140,000 documented refugees in nine (unofficially) recognized camps in Thailand. These numbers have stayed largely constant since 1984 when the first major waves of refugees started to cross. More than 60,000 refugees have been resettled to third countries from these camps since 2005.
The ethnic Shan have only one very small recognized camp because most who have fled across the Thai border enter the migrant worker population. They easily number in the tens of thousands. India has approximately 50,000 ethnic Chin refugees in Mizoram and several thousand more in Delhi. Refugees also travel to Malaysia where some estimate 30,000-50,000 have fled to either work or apply for refugee status. Some refugees, however, retain their citizenship.
The Rohingya Muslim minority. Myanmar's most persecuted ethno-religious minority, the estimated one million Rohingya, have been the target of both large scale brutal military expulsions into Bangladesh (in 1978 and 1991) and denied citizenship and basic rights for three decades. Many Rohingya were paradoxically granted voting rights in 2008 and 2010 through the issuance of temporary ID cards and Rohingya political parties were permitted to contest the election (they were trounced).
Military-aligned Rohingya businessmen were permitted to contest and win seats through the USDP. An estimated 250,000 Rohingya live as refugees or as undocumented migrants in Bangladesh, while tens of thousands more work as migrant laborers in the Middle East and Pakistan.
Chinese migration to northern Myanmar. Chinese migration to Myanmar has demonstrably increased since the early 1990s, especially to Myanmar's second largest city, Mandalay.
Many Chinese migrants purchase citizenship, using business contacts with officials to secure it, while others are temporary laborers, such as the tens of thousands of road builders and dam construction workers now in Kachin State. There are no hard official figures on the size of this migration, but the presence of recent Chinese immigrants in northern Myanmar is clear to visitors and the source of periodic tension between ethnic Burmese and the new arrivals.
Migrant workers. Myanmar laborers leave their country in massive numbers, some for short-term work, others for many years. The standard estimate for Myanmar migrant workers in Thailand is two million. But in the absence of a fully functioning registration system, official Thai figures are much lower. In lesser numbers migrant workers from Myanmar also travel to Malaysia and Singapore, where working conditions are often marginally better.
Some of these workers were permitted to vote in last year's elections, if they were legally recognized as migrant workers, and cast advance ballots at Myanmar embassies. Some migrant workers refused to vote, fearing that officials would be able to extort money from them or their families back in Myanmar if they engaged with embassy officials.
Struck off household lists. Many people, especially Rohingya, who leave Myanmar because of persecution or for work are often struck off household registration lists because they have left the country illegally.
Many migrant workers leave their official ID cards inside Myanmar with their parents or family members because it is illegal to take the card outside of the country. Dissidents and others who have illegally left the country for clandestine training or work are regularly charged with breaches of the migration act and sentenced to long prison terms upon their return.
Internal labor migration. It became clear after 2008's Cyclone Nargis disaster that large numbers of landless laborers who had been working in the Irrawaddy Delta and may not have ever been counted either as temporary residents or as residents were amongst the official dead or missing count of 140,000.
The experience of the 2008 referendum, held soon after the disaster, is instructive in other ways. When Human Rights Watch interviewed survivors of the cyclone from 2008-2010, researchers encountered many who said they were not included in village household lists because of their isolated location.
Many said they were never given the opportunity to cast votes as local authorities completed their ballots for them. There are many other variables of transmigration not taken into account in official figures: how many people in Myanmar move within the country for work but fail to register with the authorities?
Authoritarian 'truth'. In his new book, Proofiness: The Dark Arts of Mathematical Deception, which details how governments and corporations bandy around deceitful figures, Charles Seife writes, “In skillful hands, phony data, bogus statistics, and bad mathematics can make the most fanciful idea, the most outrageous falsehood seem true. They can be used to bludgeon enemies, to destroy critics, and to squelch debate.”
The obsession with numerical detail by Myanmar's authoritarian system is a prime example of what Seife calls "disestimation": granting credibility to a figure that is derived with too much uncertainty. Accurately estimating Myanmar's population is not only crucial for conducting elections - and one hopes that a genuinely free and fair election will take place one day in the country - but it is also crucial for increasing development projects and the disbursal of humanitarian assistance.
What Myanmar's new parliament, a reshuffled version of the former ruling military council, needs to give priority to in 2011 are credible population statistics that serve the needs of local development in health, education, land management, and economic reforms, including urgently needed micro-financing projects. These fundamentals have been lost in the haze of a system of control and the various responses by communities to survive under continued military rule (with a thin civilian facade for now).
If the United Nations system bandies around widely divergent figures, how will they coordinate with the national authorities and local communities to reach those most in need? Any agenda for international engagement with Myanmar should include reconciling the variables of communities that are not included on official registers and give more consideration to people who are used by the state when it suits them, and ignored when it doesn't.
David Scott Mathieson is a senior researcher in the Asia Division of Human Rights Watch. http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/ME17Ae01.html
Monday, May 16, 2011
News & Articles on Burma-Sunday, 15 May, 2011
News & Articles on Burma
Sunday, 15 May, 2011
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Camp inmates suffer due to Thai policy
Myanmar tells UN envoy amnesty for prisoners "likely"
Chinese military leader concludes visit to Myanmar
Myanmar: UN Envoy Meets Government And Opposition Figures
'Political situation in Burma needs to improve'
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Camp inmates suffer due to Thai policy
By Pravit Rojanaphruk
The Nation on Sunday
Published on May 15, 2011
Thailand's policy of keeping refugees from Burma in nine camps along the border has caused untold suffering and shows that the government does not know how to handle refugees.
This was particularly the case for 60,000 refugees "not registered" by Thai officials, said Veerawit Tianchainan, executive director of Thai Committee for Refugees (TRC).
Most Thais were not aware that 140,000 refugees had been kept in camps along the border for 26 years, he said.
Veerawit, who spoke during the global launch of Amnesty International's annual Human Rights Report 2011, alleged that the Thai Army had "recently stop distributing food" to the unregistered refugees.
"The government has stopped screening them [for registration] since 2006," said Veerawit, and "had tried to force them back to their home country".
In Tak province, the governor wanted to conduct a head count of refugees in the camps, in order to evict unregistered refugees, Veerawit said. "This is not a good trend."
He urged Thais to be more sympathetic to refugees: "When the Thai media talks about refugees, they talk about 'problems' and not about ways to treat refugees better.
"The Thai media produces news based on information provided by the Thai government and they have their own agenda," he said, adding that refugee camps had become a sort of "Bermuda Triangle" where reporters could not enter. "What happens inside the camp, you don't know."
Veerawit admitted that Thai attitudes towards people from Burma were shaped by school education, which still treats Burma as "the national enemy". Many Thais also failed to make a distinction between migrant workers and refugees.
However, there was a glimmer of hope, he said, as the Thai government had been more receptive over the past six months and agreed to get high-level officials to meet with leaders of NGOs to discuss the issue.
Mohamad Nasim, chairman of Thailand's Rohingya Human Rights Association, was among the audience at the Foreign Correspondents Club on Friday and spoke about hardships faced by people detained at the Immigration Detention Centre at Bangkok's Soi Suan Plu.
He said 44 Rohingyas were now held there, and one had died in detention.
"I want to know how much longer they will be detained," said Mohamad, who himself is a stateless refugee living in Thailand for the past 23 years. He said two more Rohingyas have died elsewhere in Thailand while being detained.
"We have nowhere to go."
According to the just released AI annual global report, some refugees were "forced to return [to Burma] or prevented from crossing the border into Thailand" last November when clashes broke out.
"This was also true throughout the rest of the year in relation to smaller groups of refugees escaping sporadic fighting across the border," the report stated. "In Waw Lay village in Phop Phra district in Tak province, Thai authorities forcibly returned 166 Burmese refuges on 25 December, at least 360 on 8 December, roughly 650 on 17 November, and approximately 2,500 on 10 November."
The report also said that unregistered migrant workers are "forcibly removed" to Burma, and were "subject to trafficking and extortion by both Thai officials and a [Burma] government-backed ethnic minority militia", putting them "at risk of serious human rights abuses".
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2011/05/15/national/Camp-inmates-suffer-due-to-Thai-policy-30155437.html
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Myanmar tells UN envoy amnesty for prisoners "likely"
May 15, 2011, 4:56 GMT
Yangon - United Nations envoy Vijay Nambiar was told that a general amnesty for prisoners was 'likely' during his official visit to Myanmar last week, media reports said Sunday.
Nambiar visited from Wednesday to Friday, when he met with members of the newly elected government and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Although he was not granted an audience with President Thein Sein, Nambiar was briefed by an 'advisory committee' that told him to have patience with the country's reform process, the Myanmar Times reported, citing an official transcript of the meeting.
Myanmar held its first election in two decades on November 7, bringing to power the pro-military Union Solidarity and Development Party, headed by former general Thein Sein.
Human rights groups and pro-democracy activists have urged the international community to continue to shun the elected government until it demonstrates a real commitment to political reform.
Human Rights Watch has called on the regime to release 2,000 political prisoners.
Chief advisor Ko Ko Hlaing told Nambiar that Thein Sein was 'likely' to declare a general amnesty at a 'time he sees fit,' although he refused to acknowledge that Myanmar has political prisoners, Myanmar Times reported.
Other members of the advisory committee stressed that the reform process will take time, as the country had been under military rule for five decades.
'The president has used the words 'good governance' and 'clean government.' These are expressions we have not heard for nearly half a century in Myanmar,' Nay Zin Latt, a member of the political affairs committee, told the visiting UN special envoy to Myanmar.
After meeting with Suu Kyi on Thursday, Nambiar described his visit as 'encouraging,' but cautioned that its outcome 'depends on the government's reaction.'
It was Nambiar's first face-to-face encounter with Suu Kyi, the 1990 Nobel Peace Prize winner, who was released from six years of house detention on November 13. She has spent about 15 of the past 21 years under house arrest.
The UN special envoy last visited Myanmar five months ago, after the November polls.
The election was generally criticized by Western democracies since it excluded Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy (NLD).
Myanmar has been under military rule since 1962. The NLD won an election in 1990 but was blocked from assuming power by the junta.
The NLD boycotted the November polls after the military passed regulations that would have forced them to expel Suu Kyi from their party in order to contest the elections.
http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/asiapacific/news/article_1639207.php/Myanmar-tells-UN-envoy-amnesty-for-prisoners-likely
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Chinese military leader concludes visit to Myanmar
11:09, May 15, 2011
Vice Chairman of China's Central Military Commission Xu Caihou wrapped up his four-day official goodwill to Myanmar and left Yangon Sunday.
During his trip in Nay Pyi Taw, Xu met with Myanmar President U Thein Sein and exchanged views with him on issues of common concern.
The two sides vowed to strengthen the friendly and cooperative ties between the two nations and make contribution to the development and stability of the regional countries.
Xu also met with speaker of the House of Parliament of Representative (Lower House) of Myanmar U Shwe Mann.
The two sides pledged to make joint efforts to consolidate the two countries' "paukphaw" (fraternal) friendship, further develop the cooperative and friendly ties and strengthen the multi-lateral cooperation in the international community.
In addition, Xu held talks with Commander-in-Chief of the Myanmar Defense Service General Min Aung Hlaing with both side underlining that the exchange and cooperation between the two countries in various sectors continuously deepened and made rich achievements and appreciating the development of the two countries ' friendly and cooperative ties under the new situation.
Xu raised a three-point proposal for cooperation and development of the two armed forces which was agreed by Min Aung Hlaing, who hoped that the existing close relations and exchange should be maintained to well safeguard the peace and stability of the two countries and the region.
Xu arrived Nay Pyi Taw Thursday on a goodwill visit to Myanmar at the invitation of General Min Aung Hlaing representing the first visit by a foreign military delegation to the country after a new government was formed.
Source: Xinhua http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90776/90883/7380074.html
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Myanmar: UN Envoy Meets Government And Opposition Figures
Saturday, 14 May 2011, 2:03 pm
Press Release: United Nations
A top United Nations official today wrapped up a visit to Myanmar, where he met with senior members of the country’s newly installed Government and the Nobel Peace Prize laureate Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and other members of the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD).
Vijay Nambiar, the Secretary-General’s Special Adviser for Myanmar, said that during the three-day visit he underlined the importance of the Government implementing its stated commitments on such issues as governance, human rights, the rule of law and sustainable development.
In a press statement issued in Yangon, Myanmar’s biggest city, Mr. Nambiar noted that expectations are high both domestically and internationally that the Government will soon take “concrete steps” to meet those commitments.
“In all my meetings I stressed that this must include the release of all political prisoners and inclusive dialogue with all segments of society, as well as greater outreach to the international community to ensure that the proposed reforms enjoyed broad buy-in,” he said.
“Only then can there be greater confidence that the efforts undertaken will indeed serve to meet the long-standing needs and aspirations of the people of Myanmar. There is no time to waste if Myanmar is to move forward.”
Mr. Nambiar welcomed the themes and reforms outlined by President Thein Sein in his inaugural speeches on “some of the most pressing political and economic challenges facing Myanmar.”
The Special Adviser cited sustainable development and equitable growth; good governance, through greater inclusiveness, accountability and transparency; respect for fundamental human rights, the media and the rule of law; and continued engagement with those who do not accept the recently adopted constitution and the Government’s roadmap agenda.
During the visit Mr. Nambiar met with the ministers of foreign affairs, home affairs, social welfare, national planning and development, as well as newly appointed presidential advisers for political, legal and economic affairs.
He also held discussions with the Deputy Speaker of the People’s Assembly and the Secretary-General of the Union Solidarity and Development Party.
In addition, Mr. Nambiar met with Ms. Suu Kyi and members of the NLD’s central executive committee, and also with representatives of parliamentary political parties and civil society organizations.
During the visit he also reiterated the UN’s commitment to engage more with the people and Government of Myanmar on issues ranging from health and education to human rights and capacity building.
May 13 2011 3:10PM http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO1105/S00306/myanmar-un-envoy-meets-government-and-opposition-figures.htm
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'Political situation in Burma needs to improve'
By Jim Pollard
The Nation on Sunday
Published on May 15, 2011
Kasit and Rudd spoke to reporters after having lunch at the Australian Embassy in Bangkok. The former Australian PM, now foreign minister, flew to Thailand early yesterday.
Kasit said Asean was obliged to consider the "totality" of Burma's bid to chair the regional body in 2014.
"The credibility and respectability of Asean has to be looked at," he said.
Other issues that had to be considered included the possible release of political prisoners, as well as the liberalisation of the political process, and dialogue with pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, Kasit said.
The request by Burma for the Asean chair was discussed at the Asean summit last weekend but no decision is expected till later in the year.
Rudd said: "Australia wants to see continued and sustained improvement in Burma. We have deep concerns about the 2,000-plus political prisoners in detention.
"We are very glad that our friend and colleague [Indonesian foreign minister] Marty Natalegawa will visit there soon [to assess developments since the election last November]."
The Australian foreign minister avoided comment on the recent clashes on the Thai-Cambodian border, saying the situation was "a matter between the two countries".
But he said they discussed the situation on the Thai-Burma border in detail and noted that Australia had given close to US$10 million (Bt300 million) over recent years to support the 140,000 refugees in nine camps along the border.
But there were challenges, he said, to provide support to a large number of people, which he put at several hundred thousand, "existing in a virtual no-man's land" - displaced in eastern Burma.
Rudd said he had an "open mind" about whether to drop sanctions against Burma's controversial military regime, but warned "we won't make that decision unless things are going in the right direction".
The pair also discussed changes to the East Asia Summit, which will be bolstered shortly by the presence of Russia and the US.
Rudd said trade between Thailand and Australia now totalled more than $20 billion and had enjoyed double-digit growth every year since the signing of a free-trade agreement in 2005.
"Our relationship has grown stronger over 60 years of diplomatic ties," he said. http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2011/05/15/national/Political-situation-in-Burma-needs-to-improve-30155436.html
Saturday, May 14, 2011
News & Articles on Burma-Friday, 13 May, 2011
News & Articles on Burma
Friday, 13 May, 2011
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Burma Rethinks Censorship. A Bit.
UN ‘very encouraged’ by new Burma govt
Myanmar president meets Chinese military leader
Chinese, Myanmar military leaders hold talks in Nay Pyi Taw
Myanmar eyes 'fraternal' ties with China
Myanmar parliament speaker meets Chinese military leader
China to gauge Burma’s insurgency policy
Burma UN Special Envoy Meets Suu Kyi, NLD Executives
Burma's 100 days of parliament: More 'Nays' than 'Yeas'
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THE DIPLOMAT
Burma Rethinks Censorship. A Bit.
May 13, 2011By Steve Finch
On a winding street in a wealthy suburb of Rangoon, the Orwellian-sounding Press Scrutiny and Registration Division quietly alters and deletes words, paragraphs and sometimes entire articles prior to publication in Burma’s 350 privately-owned newspapers, journals and magazines. It’s been that way during nearly 50 years of military rule in what ranks as one of the world’s most heavily restricted press environments.
But after a landslide (and widely-criticised) election win for a ruling party filled with former military men, Burma’s new government has offered strong indications it may at last relax the rules.
‘In Myanmar (Burma) there will be more freedom of press…in line with (the new) constitution,’ Information Minister Kyaw Hsan said in a speech in Rangoon reported in the state mouthpiece New Light of Myanmar on May 2.
His comments came after the country’s new President Thein Sein reportedly told his Cabinet at the end of March: ‘We have to respect the role of the media…we are required to inform the people about what they should know.’
Questions remain though as to how far the regime will actually go in easing restrictions, how these would work and whether Burma’s long-suffering press industry will be any freer as a result, even if the right to ‘publish freely’ is enshrined in the country’s 2008 Constitution.
Under proposed changes, coverage on mostly benign subjects, including sport and entertainment, would no longer have to pass through the office of the censor before hitting newsstands.
However, copies would have to be submitted after publication, while coverage on news and business would still be subject to the same censorship, a process that requires editors to ferry large quantities of copy back and forth to the scrutiny board late into the night on deadline day.
According to the Burma Media Association, an organisation of Burmese journalists in exile, that means about 40 percent of the country’s publications would still be subject to censorship, all of which print articles deemed the most sensitive by the government.
‘To be able to bypass the current censorship process is a step in the right direction, but it can’t be considered as a step towards press freedom,’ says BMA President Maung Maung Myint.
While the new rules would reduce the workload for many publications, journalists in Burma warn that these proposed changes would also present a new set of problems. Whereas editors currently work in an environment where they can try to push against the censorship board—if they are prepared to deal with rejected articles that must be replaced quickly before going to press—the new rules would mean the buck stops with the publication itself. That would undoubtedly lead to more self-censorship and a higher chance editors end up flouting largely unspoken rules on what can and can’t be published, said one editor in Rangoon.
‘To get suspended, they would have deliberately ignored the censorship board, and editors would have known the risks they were running,’ the editor said on condition of anonymity. ‘Now they will have to be guessing what is acceptable and what is not.’
The government has repeatedly made it clear that under the new system being considered—and widely tipped to be passed given recent prominent media coverage—editors will increasingly be in the firing line as responsibility shifts away from the censors.
‘Publishers and editors will need to decide themselves whether they are breaking the law or not when they publish,’ said Burma’s chief censor Tint Swe in an interview in The Myanmar Times, a privately-owned weekly. ‘If they break the laws, there are two ways to charge them. Call and remind the publisher or editors not to do it again, or file a lawsuit if the case is serious.’
But what exactly are the rules? In the past, the censorship board has decided to reject photographs of Burmese football crowds, for instance, on the basis they have sometimes too closely resembled groups of demonstrators. And aside from overtly negative political coverage, one of the big no-nos in Burma remains images of women deemed a little too sexy in what is a traditional, predominantly Buddhist country. Entertainment editors note censors sometimes insist straps be airbrushed onto strapless tops, while the acceptable length of female hem lines is usually a guessing game.
‘Entertainment journals are likely to have the most difficult time,’ said the editor, adding many have been suspended in the past.
For Burmese journalists and their publications, the penalties can be severe. Reporters Without Borders notes only China holds more journalists behind bars, ranking Burma 171st out of 175 countries in its 2010 press freedom index. Currently, 14 journalists languish in Burmese jails. When the government released Burmese democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi from seven and a half years of detention six days after last November’s election, nine journals were suspended for ‘excessive coverage.’ Hefty fines and editions pulled from newsstands means the costs can also be financial.
Still, many editors working within Burma’s media industry have said that after nearly half of century of rigid censorship, any relaxation of the strict rules would represent an improvement. The Rangoon-based editor estimated about 30 percent of a typical working week was taken up dealing with censorship, and with many weeklies seeking daily publishing licences, relaxed rules would make tighter deadlines more feasible. Only the New Light of Myanmar and its Burmese-language sister paper are currently permitted to print on a daily basis, but rumours in Rangoon suggest private journals may soon get the same opportunity.
On the spectrum of press freedom, these changes are all relative, says Benjamin Ismael on the Reporters Without Borders Asia Desk in Paris. Burma would move closer to a looser style of press restriction seen in other media industries in the region, he added, but in reality that means becoming more like China or Vietnam and less like the worst offenders such as North Korea.
‘China is in a way similar to Burma, but we could say that it is at a different stage, more advanced,’ says Ismael. ‘For now, we are looking at cosmetic reforms (in Burma).’
Steve Finch is a Phnom Penh-based freelance journalist. His articles have also appeared in The Washington Post, TIME.com, Foreign Policy, The Phnom Penh Post and The Bangkok Post.
http://the-diplomat.com/2011/05/13/burma-rethinks-censorship-a-bit/
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UN ‘very encouraged’ by new Burma govt
By AFP
A visiting top UN official said yesterday that recent signals from Burma’s new army-backed government were “very encouraging”, after talks with democracy champion Aung San Suu Kyi.
“The government has made some very interesting statements… which are very encouraging,” Vijay Nambiar, chief of staff to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, told reporters after meeting Suu Kyi.
But he added that it was important to watch whether there was real progress in areas such as human rights, notably whether the government will release Burma’s more than 2,200 political prisoners.
Rights campaigners warned Nambiar’s visit could be exploited by Burma’s leaders.
“It depends on the action of the government. We do hope that there will be a breakthrough,” said Nambiar, who met foreign minister Wunna Maung Lwin on Wednesday in his first talks with Burma’s nominally civilian government since the dissolution of the junta at the end of March.
It was the second time the UN official has met Suu Kyi since her release from house arrest in November soon after an election that was marred by reports of intimidation and voter fraud.
Suu Kyi said she had discussed the issue of political prisoners with the UN official.
“We will have to wait and see… but we do not want to be negative,” she said.
Burma’s junta, the State Peace and Development Council, was disbanded at the end of March following the November polls.
New York-based Human Rights Watch urged Nambiar not to allow his visit “to be misused by the government to shore up its credibility on human rights in the absence of meaningful progress.”
“Should Nambiar fail to speak clearly about the need for meaningful reforms, the government will simply spin his visit to justify their abusive practices,” said HRW deputy Asia director Elaine Pearson.
http://www.dvb.no/news/un-%E2%80%98very-encouraged%E2%80%99-by-new-burmagovt/15644
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Myanmar president meets Chinese military leader
(Xinhua) Updated: 2011-05-13 15:47
NAY PYI TAW - Myanmar president U Thein Sein met with visiting Vice Chairman of China's Central Military Commission Xu Caihou here Friday with the two sides exchanging views on issues of common concern.
U Thein Sein expressed delight to see major progress achieved in the two countries' cooperation in various sectors, including frequent reciprocal visits at high level.
The visit of Xu soon after Myanmar's formation of the new government has actively reflected the friendly relations between the two countries and the two armed forces, he said.
He added that strengthening of Myanmar-China unity and cooperation not only conforms to the fundamental interests of the two peoples, but also contributes to the development and stability of the region.
On the occasion, Xu said 61 years after the two countries established diplomatic relation, bilateral ties have always maintained a healthy and stable development.
Noting that China-Myanmar friendship has strong foundation, deep cooperation and broad prospects, he stressed safeguarding of the China-Myanmar relations to conform to two countries' basic and long-term benefit.
Xu expressed that China will support unshakably the development of China-Myanmar ties, support Myanmar's development on a path chosen in line with the country's own status, safeguard Myanmar's just right on the international arena and make good neighbors, good partners and good friends together with Myanmar.
U Thein Sein spoke highly of China's development and the role played by China in the international affairs.
He attached importance to the practical cooperation with China in various sectors including on military affairs, affirming that Myanmar will abide by the "one China" policy no matter how the international situation changes.
Xu stressed the needs to maintain stability and prosperity in the China-Myanmar border areas, saying that it conforms to the fundamental benefits of the two peoples which is also the common responsibility of the two countries.
Xu said Chinese always respect Myanmar's national sovereignty and territorial integrity, and understand the efforts made by the Myanmar government in maintaining national unity and stability.
Xu believed that the Myanmar government could properly cope with challenges from home and abroad and manage related issues peacefully to create a stable environment for Myanmar's economic development.
Xu briefed Thein Sein on China's socio-economic development.
The meeting was also attended by Xu's entourage and Chinese ambassador to Myanmar Li Junhua.
Xu arrived in Nay Pyi Taw Thursday on a four-day official goodwill visit to Myanmar at the invitation of General Min Aung Hlaing, Commander-in-Chief of Myanmar Defense Services. http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2011-05/13/content_12508012.htm
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Chinese, Myanmar military leaders hold talks in Nay Pyi Taw
English.news.cn 2011-05-13 00:21:30
NAY PYI TAW, May 12 (Xinhua) -- Xu Caihou, vice chairman of China's Central Military Commission, held talks with Commander-in- Chief of the Myanmar Defense Service General Min Aung Hlaing here Thursday shortly after Xu's arrival in Myanmar's new capital of Nay Pyi Taw.
Xu said China and Myanmar have long closely exchanged and lived on good term, having forged deep paukphaw (fraternal) friendship and stood the test.
He said Chinese President Hu Jintao highly attached importance to the deepening of the two countries' friendly and cooperative ties and have for many occasions met and discussed with Myanmar leaders, reaching common consent on consolidation of such ties.
At present, the exchange and cooperation between the two countries in various sectors continuously deepened and have made rich achievements, he said, adding that the Chinese side highly appreciated the development of the two countries' friendly and cooperative ties under the new situation. "My present visit is to further enhance the China-Myanmar traditional friendship, boost understanding, expand consent, deepen cooperation, push the friendly and cooperative ties between the two countries and the two armed forces ahead and strive for the maintenance of regional peace and stability," he said.
Xu said that for a long time the two armed forces have maintained friendly exchange and launched outstanding practical achievements in reciprocal visits at high level, training of military personnel, border personnel exchange, not only boosting respective defense and armed forces construction but also making new contribution to the all-sided development of the two countries ' relations .
Xu made a three-point proposal for the development of the two armed forces -- 1. enhancement of mutual trust strategically and consolidation of the friendly overall situation. 2. Strengthening of link and coordination and safeguarding of the two countries' common benefit and 3. Pushing forward of practical cooperation and exchange and deepening of the two armed forces' friendly ties.
During the talks, Myanmar military leader General Min Aung Hlaing welcomed Xu, who is the first foreign military leader to visit Myanmar after the formation of the new government, saying that it is bound to further the two countries' "paukphaw" friendship as well as the traditional friendship existing between the peoples of two countries and the two armed forces.
He agreed with Xu's three-point proposals, saying that the development of the two countries relations meets new opportunity under the new historical era, hoping that the existing close relations and exchange should be maintained to well safeguard the peace and stability of the two countries and the region and continue to boost the relations between the two countries and the two armed forces to a new level.
Min Aung Hlaing reiterated Myanmar's stance to stick to the One China policy and support China's stances on the issues of Taiwan, Tibet and Xinjiang.
The two side exchanged views on the international and regional peace and security, and informed each other's development of their armed forces.
Xu arrived here Thursday for a goodwill visit to Myanmar at the invitation of General Min Aung Hlaing.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/china/2011-05/13/c_13872225.htm
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Myanmar eyes 'fraternal' ties with China
(Xinhua) Updated: 2011-05-13 16:46
NAY PYI TAW - Speaker of the Parliament of Representative (Lower House) of Myanmar U Shwe Mann met with visiting Vice Chairman of China's Central Military Commission Xu Caihou here Friday and the two sides held discussions in a friendly atmosphere.
Related readings:
Myanmar eyes 'fraternal' ties with ChinaMyanmar president meets Chinese military leader
U Shwe Mann said ever since Myanmar and China forged ties, the two countries have as always respected each other and supported each other, especially in recent years, the two countries made frequent exchanges in various sectors, continuously raising the level of cooperation and making apparent achievements.
He underlined that armed forces of the two countries have maintained good relations and have played an important role in the development of bilateral ties.
He held that furthering and pushing of Myanmar-China neighborly, friendly and cooperative ties is Myanmar's designated policy which conforms to the fundamental benefit of the two peoples.
He expressed wishes to make joint efforts with the Chinese side to consolidate the two countries' "paukphaw" (fraternal) friendship, further develop the cooperative and friendly ties with China and strengthen the multi-lateral cooperation in the international community, hoping that the Chinese side could continue to render support in the course of Myanmar's national development.
At the discussions, Xu said China and Myanmar, both belonging to key countries in Asia, are linked by river and mountains with mutual benefits related and close friendship between the two peoples.
Over 61 years after China and Myanmar established diplomatic ties, the two countries' relations have as always maintained a trend of healthy and stable development no matter how the international situation as well as their domestic situation changed, bringing about tangible benefit to the two peoples, he said.
At present, when facing complicated international situation, he vowed that the Chinese side would continue to uphold a foreign policy of living in good term and making partners with surrounding neighboring countries, making joint efforts with Myanmar friends to ensure the friendship could be inherited generation by generation by supporting each other and deepening cooperation.
Xu also briefed U Shwe Mann over China's socio-economic development, stressing the need for the two countries to handle well the complicated and sensitive issues related to security and stability when the two countries are amid a critical period of social development in order to better maintain peace and stability of their respective countries.
The meeting was also attended by Xu's entourage and Chinese ambassador to Myanmar Li Junhua. http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2011-05/13/content_12508668.htm
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Myanmar parliament speaker meets Chinese military leader
16:46, May 13, 2011
Speaker of the Parliament of Representative (Lower House) of Myanmar U Shwe Mann met with visiting Vice Chairman of China's Central Military Commission Xu Caihou in Nay Pyi Taw Friday and the two sides held discussions in a friendly atmosphere.
U Shwe Mann said ever since Myanmar and China forged ties, the two countries have as always respected each other and supported each other, especially in recent years, the two countries made frequent exchanges in various sectors, continuously raising the level of cooperation and making apparent achievements.
He underlined that armed forces of the two countries have maintained good relations and have played an important role in the development of bilateral ties.
He held that furthering and pushing of Myanmar-China neighborly, friendly and cooperative ties is Myanmar's designated policy which conforms to the fundamental benefit of the two peoples.
He expressed wishes to make joint efforts with the Chinese side to consolidate the two countries' "paukphaw" (fraternal) friendship, further develop the cooperative and friendly ties with China and strengthen the multi-lateral cooperation in the international community, hoping that the Chinese side could continue to render support in the course of Myanmar's national development.
At the discussions, Xu said China and Myanmar, both belonging to key countries in Asia, are linked by river and mountains with mutual benefits related and close friendship between the two peoples.
Over 61 years after China and Myanmar established diplomatic ties, the two countries' relations have as always maintained a trend of healthy and stable development no matter how the international situation as well as their domestic situation changed, bringing about tangible benefit to the two peoples, he said.
At present, when facing complicated international situation, he vowed that the Chinese side would continue to uphold a foreign policy of living in good term and making partners with surrounding neighboring countries, making joint efforts with Myanmar friends to ensure the friendship could be inherited generation by generation by supporting each other and deepening cooperation.
Xu also briefed U Shwe Mann over China's socio-economic development, stressing the need for the two countries to handle well the complicated and sensitive issues related to security and stability when the two countries are amid a critical period of social development in order to better maintain peace and stability of their respective countries.
The meeting was also attended by Xu's entourage and Chinese ambassador to Myanmar Li Junhua.
Source: Xinhua http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90776/90883/7379680.html
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China to gauge Burma’s insurgency policy
By FRANCIS WADE
Published: 13 May 2011
Security along the volatile border between China and Burma is expected to take centre stage during talks this weekend with senior Chinese military officials in Naypyidaw.
The vice chairman of China’s Central Military Commission, Xu Caihou, arrived in the Burmese capital yesterday evening for what analysts are billing as high level defence exchanges between the neighbouring states. Burma’s military chief, Min Aung Hlaing, is expected to return the gesture with a visit to Beijing next month.
The key areas for discussion will be the lengthy frontier region that plays host to a number of armed ethnic groups, as well as the security of the trans-Burma Shwe dual pipeline which, when it comes online in 2013, will become a key crutch for China’s soaring energy demands.
Military analyst Aung Kyaw Zaw told DVB today that China would be looking to gauge the new Burmese government’s policy towards ethnic armies along the border. China remains concerned about stability there following clashes in 2009 that forced an exodus of Burmese refugees across the border and exposed the central government’s flimsy hold on the region.
There is also the added problem of the United Wa State Army (UWSA), Burma’s largest ethnic armed group located in northern Shan state, bordering China. Aung Kyaw Zaw said that the “Wa problem is very difficult to solve” for both governments, as China attempts to reconcile its historic support for the group with its strengthening ties to the Burmese government.
China has pumped significant capital into the Burmese economy in the past two years (some $US10 billion in 2010 alone) but has quietly reasserted its fears that political unrest in the country will jeopardise investments. This is nowhere more acute that the Shwe project, with the $US30 billion pipeline set to pass close to rebel territory before it enters Yunnan province.
The Times of India reported that as part of Beijing’s moves to strengthen its sea surveillance capabilities, more ships would be deployed to the Indian Ocean to monitor security around the Bay of Bengal, where the oil and gas pipelines begin.
Several bilateral agreements over maritime security are expected to be signed during talks with Xu Caihou this weekend, who becomes the first foreign military official to visit Burma since the nominally civilian government came to power in March.
Bar a sharp rebuke from China following the 2009 border clashes, the exchange of rhetoric between the governments has generally been one of mutual respect, with both declining to comment on their respective domestic controversies. This continued yesterday with Min Aung Hlaing reiterating Burma’s support “for the One China policy” and “China’s stances on the issues of Taiwan, Tibet and Xinjiang”, according to Xinhua.
http://www.dvb.no/news/china-to-gauge-burma%E2%80%99s-insurgency-policy/15650
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Burma UN Special Envoy Meets Suu Kyi, NLD Executives
By HTET AUNG Thursday, May 12, 2011
The UN secretary-general's acting special envoy to Burma, Vijay Nambiar, met on Thursday with pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi for the second time since her release from house arrest last November. He is also scheduled to meet separately with the National League for Democracy's (NLD) executive committee.
“The UN special envoy arrived around 5 pm at the house of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi,” said Ohn Kyaing, a spokesperson for the NLD as well as one of the members of the NLD executive committee.
The meeting between the UN special envoy and Suu Kyi concluded at 7 pm, local time, in Rangoon, but no information regarding the discussions was immediately available.
Asked about the key issues that the NLD would raise in the meeting with the UN special envoy, Ohn Kyaing said on Thursday morning: “I think our stand will be in line with the party's recent letter to President U Thein Sein. The issues will first be our long-standing call for a political dialog. which should be conducted between the two leaders—Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and U Thein Sein.
“Second, we will request the UN to help cease the armed conflicts in the frontier area and to seek a peaceful settlement between the ethnic groups and the government. Third, the human rights violations in the ethnic areas should be addressed urgently. Fourth, as a prerequisite to show real democratic reform, the new government needs to release all the political prisoners who have long been detained for their political beliefs. Fifth, due to the long-term socio-economic deterioration of the country, millions of the poor Burmese people badly need large-scale humanitarian assistance. We will urge the UN special envoy to help address the humanitarian issue.”
On Tuesday, Suu Kyi spoke with Germany-based DW-TV regarding her assessment of the current political situation in Burma. “So far I haven't seen any meaningful change,” she said. “I know there have been elections, but the government that has taken over since the elections are the same as those who were in place before the elections ... We are still waiting to see whether there has been real change.”
Asked about the UN special envoy's major focus on this trip, Aye Win, the information officer for the Rangoon-based United Nations Development Program (UNDP), said: “So far, there has been no information available for the news media, but there will be a press statement after the conclusion of the special envoy's trip.”
Nambiar will stay three days in Burma and is scheduled to meet with both the new government and opposition leaders.
On Wednesday, the first day of the special envoy's visit, Nambiar met Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin and Home Minister Lt.Gen Ko Ko in Naypyidaw, according to the state-run New Light of Myanmar. The newspaper briefly reported about discussions on development issues and cooperation between Burma and the UN.
On Thursday, the special envoy met with Suu Kyi at her lakeside residence in Rangoon, and is scheduled to meet separately with the members of the NLD executive committee.
On Friday, the special envoy is scheduled to meet with representatives from the eleven democratic parties, including the ethnic parties, which contested in the Nov. 7 election and secured some seats in parliament.
“We are invited to meet Mr. Vijay Nambiar at the office of the UNDP tomorrow [on Friday],” said Dr. Than Nyein, chairman of the National Democratic Force (NDF), a breakaway group of the NLD. “We haven't prepared for the discussion because we don't know the intention of the special envoy's mission this time. Therefore, we will respond to him based on his questions.”
Meanwhile, the US-based Human Right Watch said it is concerned that the new Burmese government will seek badly needed credibility from the visit by the UN special envoy.
“The UN and Nambiar should not allow his visit to be misused by the government to shore up its credibility on human rights in the absence of meaningful progress,” Elaine Pearson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said on Wednesday.
“Should Nambiar fail to speak clearly about the need for meaningful reforms, the government will simply spin his visit to justify their abusive practices,” said Pearson.
Lalit K Jha from Washington contributed to this story. http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=21284
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Burma's 100 days of parliament: More 'Nays' than 'Yeas'
Fri, 2011-05-13 00:09 — editor : News Comments
Canbera, 13 May, (Asiantribune.com):
Australia's Foreign Minister, MPs, senior government officials, and foreign diplomats were today warned that Burma's political, economic, and humanitarian crises persisted despite the convening of the Parliament.
A video message from Burmese pro-democracy leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and statements from a leading ASEAN legislator, an economist, and a female activist drove the message home at a conference to mark 100 days since the convening of Burma's Parliament.
The event was held at the Australian National Parliament and hosted by the Australian Parliamentarians for Democracy in Burma, a cross-party group of Australian MPs. The group is co-convened by MP Laurie Ferguson, Senator Scott Ludlam, Senator Marise Payne, and MP Janelle Saffin.
In a video message to the conference, Burmese pro-democracy leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi highlighted the urgent need for the release of political prisoners. She said that the release of political prisoners was an essential benchmark to measure the regime's progress toward democracy. "If political prisoners are not released, then I think we can say that we shall need many, many more hundreds of days before we will see the light of democracy," Daw Suu said.
[Burma has more than 2,000 political prisoners including several imprisoned after the November 2010 elections].
Indonesian MP and ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus President Mrs Eva Kusuma Sundari said that under current conditions, there was little hope that significant change in Burma would come through parliamentary channels. "Instead, as we experience in Indonesia, change is more likely to occur because people will be fed up with misrule and mismanagement."
Mrs Sundari warned that Burma's 2008 constitution that was modeled on Indonesia's discarded dwifungsi model was designed to secure the military's control of national politics. "It took the Indonesian democracy movement almost 30 years to convince the military to withdraw from politics.
Let us do better now and not condemn Burma to yet another generation of military rule," she urged.
Sean Turnell, Associate Professor of Economics at Macquarie University in Sydney, said that there had been no change in Burma's economic situation despite the elections and the convening of the Parliament. He pointed out that the regime published the national budget for the next two financial years before the Parliament convened. Such a move deprived the Parliament of its prerogative to debate the budget. As a result, the current year's budget, which allocates 51% to military expenditure and only 3% to healthcare, was not subjected to parliamentary scrutiny.
"Surprisingly, the regime failed to send a signal to the world that 'we are open for business' by promoting reforms designed to give a semblance of normalcy and make foreign investment more attractive," said Mr Turnell. He pointed out that Burma's chronic economic woes would continue because of the regime’s irresponsible approach to the management of the economy.
Ms. K'Nyaw Paw, a female activist from Burma's Karen State, reminded the conference that despite the elections and the convening of the Parliament, Burma’s military regime continued to commit widespread and systematic abuses against the civilian population. "The regime has forced over 1,200 villagers in Eastern Burma to work as porters for the military," she said, "Rape as a weapon of war continues with impunity in ethnic areas." She urged Australia to increase its overall aid to Burma, and to channel it to vulnerable populations in Eastern Burma's conflict zones by financing cross-border relief programs.
- Asian Tribune - http://www.asiantribune.com/news/2011/05/12/burmas-100-days-parliament-more-nays-yeas
Thursday, May 12, 2011
AUNG SAN SUU KYI SPEECH TO PROVIDE POLITICAL PRISONERS FAMILIES-10-MAY-2011
COPY FROM http://luthuorthan.blogspot.com/
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