Sunday, February 13, 2011
＜ミャンマー＞次期大統領 ３０人の閣僚名簿を国会に提出
毎日新聞 2月9日(水)20時46分配信
【バンコク西尾英之】ミャンマーのテインセイン次期大統領（現首相）は９日、近く発足する新政権の閣僚となる３０人の名簿を国会に提出した。大部分が軍出身者で、現政権の閣僚や副大臣がほぼ半数を占める。民政移管後の新政権が軍部の強い影響下に置かれることが、改めて浮き彫りになった。
名簿は氏名が列記されているだけで、誰がどのポストに就くのかは不明。
３０人のうち民間出身者は、国会議事堂を建設した軍事政権に近い大手建設企業経営者や、地方都市の医師など数人にとどまっている。また少数民族出身者は一人も含まれていない。
現政権の主要閣僚では、ニャンウィン外相やテーウ農業・かんがい相らが名簿から外れた。
News & Articles on Burma-Saturday, 12 February, 2011
News & Articles on Burma
Saturday, 12 February, 2011
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Burma strongman urges protection of 'democracy'
NLD in Disarray
Speaking to the 'People's Loudspeaker'
Australian editor of Myanmar newspaper jailed
Watchdog slams Myanmar after reporter jailed
Suu Kyi sees no reason to lift sanctions
Than Shwe Warns Against Disrupting 'Democracy'
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Burma strongman urges protection of 'democracy'
* Published: 12/02/2011 at 03:31 PM
* Online news: Asia
Burma's junta chief told people to safeguard the country's new "democracy," a day after parliament approved a cabinet packed with retired military officers.
Myanmar's strongman Than Shwe, pictured in 2010. Myanmar's new junta-backed government is packed with retired military officers who were approved by parliament as cabinet ministers on Friday, according to officials.
Senior general Than Shwe on Saturday called for people to "tackle any forms of disruptions to the new system" in a Union Day address delivered by newly-appointed vice president, Tin Aung Myint Oo.
"The democracy system introduced to the Union of Burma is still in its infancy," the message said.
"Therefore, it is required of the entire national people to safeguard and build together the newly-introduced democracy system, which has been adopted with the combined efforts of the government, the people and the Tatmadaw (army)."
Former generals remain firmly in charge in Burma's new political system, which has been criticised as a sham aimed at hiding army power behind a nominally civilian system.
A quarter of the parliamentary seats were kept aside for the military even before the country's first poll in 20 years in November, which was marred by the absence of democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi and claims of cheating and intimidation.
Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) has no voice in the new parliament after it was disbanded for opting to boycott the election.
Last week the country named retired general and key Than Shwe ally Thein Sein as its new president.
Thein Sein, along with a clutch of generals, shed his army uniform to contest last year's election as head of the junta-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), which claimed an overwhelming majority in the poll.
Officials said Friday that half of the 30 ministers that will make up Thein Sein's cabinet served under the previous military regime and only four have no army background.
Than Shwe, who took control of the country in 1992, has yet to indicate his plans for the future, but observers believe he is likely to pull the strings behind the scenes.
The 64th Union Day anniversary ceremony was attended by legislators and government officials in the capital Naypyidaw. http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/asia/221220/burma-strongman-urges-protection-of-democracy
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NEWS ANALYSIS
NLD in Disarray
By ASIA SENTINEL Saturday, February 12, 2011
Aung San Suu Kyi and the National League for Democracy, of which she is the spiritual leader, appear in disarray about whether to continue to urge western governments to maintain their sanctions against the regime in Burma.
The Nobel Prize-winning opposition icon amazed Burma watchers by calling on members of the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos to provide investment in technology and infrastructure. In a recorded audio address to the captains of western capitalism she suggested that investment was needed and welcome provided that it took account of the rights of workers and of social and environmental issues.
Shortly before the Davos address, however, in a long interview with the Financial Times she appeared to be sitting on the sanctions fence, encouraging tourism but only so long as it did not benefit the generals – a curious position given that few tourist have any way of knowing who owns what hotel or gets a cut of the taxi business.
To many the Davos address seemed a major departure from Suu Kyi's years of insistence on the merits of economic and personnel sanctions as a means of bringing about political change and of denying the military rulers and their cronies of some of the fruits of oppression and corruption. It prompted attacks on her in the columns of The Irrawaddy, the Thailand based voice of Burmese exiles.
Western governments have long had misgivings about the sanctions given that China, Thailand, India, Korea and other countries with significant economic interests there declined to take part. But such is the esteem in which Aung San Suu Kyi is held that western governments have been loath to abandon sanctions so long as she supported them.
But has she and the NLD actually changed their stance? Since the Davos meeting some NLD sources have been quoted by Irrawaddy as saying that she wants to maintain economic sanctions. But elsewhere it has been reported that the NLD wants talks with western governments to discuss the future of sanctions.
Reading between the lines, it appears that the NLD is drifting, unsurely, to a position of urging the maintenance of existing sanctions on generals and other key regime personnel while backing off from insisting on trade and investment boycotts. But shifting policy is never easy and Aung San Suu Kyi has to steer a course between offending her hard line loyalists and attracting back the support of those who feel that she has been overly stubborn and inflexible, focused on constitutional more than livelihood issues.
The logic of sanctions has been that it was the one card the NLD, and the western governments, held in their efforts to induce the Than Shwe regime to soften its stance towards her and begin a dialogue with the opposition. Some credit sanctions with her release from house arrest and hoped that in conjunction with the US willingness to engage with the regime would ultimately result in more progress.
However, by staging the November "elections" the regime appears to have out-manouvered the NLD whose refusal to take part in the show lead to breakaways and considerable dissatisfaction. Many opposition-inclined people who felt that the electoral process and new constitution, however flawed, provided a small wedge which might lead to wider political change. It has also proved difficult to sustain the argument that sanctions sanctions were hurting the generals not the populace given the ease with which the former were able to get rich through the gems, timber, gas and drugs trade with the immediate neighbors.
The argument is gaining ground among many NLD supporters, though not necessarily the leadership, that the more western tourism and investment the better, which will not only help the economy but, more importantly, increase access to the outside world and ideas of free flow of both information and trade.
Western government meanwhile are all to conscious of their own lack of leverage over the regime and sense that their own strategic and economic interests would be better served by offering an alternative source of investment. Even the regime itself may be concerned about over reliance on China, and particularly the dominant role of Chinese traders in Mandalay and the northeast.
A permanent and significant policy shift by the NLD may also to wait to see whether the new government in Naypiydaw shows signs of conducting more rational economic policies than hitherto and of genuinely welcoming foreign investment from sources less inclined to do cozy deals with the generals and their business surrogates.
Nothing will happen quickly if only because the generals are xenophobic and particularly anti-western, and they despise Aung San Suu Kyi even more than she despises them.
But the bottom line is that the NLD is shifting reluctantly and, some say belatedly, to take account of local and foreign political realities.
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=20740
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Speaking to the 'People's Loudspeaker'
By SIMON ROUGHNEEN Saturday, February 12, 2011
British filmmaker Rex Bloomstein
BANGKOK — Maung Thura, known and loved throughout Burma as Zarganar, was jailed in 2008 for 35 years after criticizing the government's response to Cyclone Nargis, which left at least 140,000 people dead. The year before, British filmmaker Rex Bloomstein met Zarganar in Burma, never using the footage he shot. Later, upon hearing about his arrest and imprisonment, Bloomstein returned to Burma with German comedian Michael Mittermeier. As expected, their attempts to meet Zarganar came to nought, and the pressure-cooker, paranoid atmosphere inside the country meant that none of Zarganar's friends would agree to be interviewed for the documentary. On at least one occasion, the team came close to arrest.
“The Prison Where I Live” was screened in Bangkok over the past week at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand and the Bangkok Art and Cultural Centre. Irrawaddy correspondent Simon Roughneen caught up with Rex Bloomstein, who was in town to discuss the movie and the challenges of filming under the nose of one of the world's most repressive regimes.
Question: Burma is infamous as a place where freedom of speech is non-existent, where the media is heavily censored, where reporters are given lengthy jail terms for working with foreign journalists. What was it like working inside Burma as a foreign journalist?
Answer: Firstly, I am not a journalist, but I say that with the greatest respect for the best journalism, which is fantastically important. I made a film on freedom of expression, which led to this film. As a documentary maker I am doing something different, I don’t have the time pressures a journalist faces, and I have less excuse to be simplistic. But ultimately we are all concerned with the same thing, namely exploring in a truthful way the lives of others, and in Zarganar's case attempting to convey the profound injustice of his sentence and what it means for Burma.
The most profound problem in Burma is fear, because the regime exercises its control through spies, agents and informers. People are worried about who is watching them, and those who stick their head above the parapet and challenge how things are, including Zarganar, are imprisoned and tortured.
Those who keep their head down can presumably lead some kind of normal life, but Zarganar is not one of those. Zarganar is fearless.
When Michael and I tried to talk to those colleagues of Zarganar's who had initially agreed to participate in the movie, we found this too dangerous after arriving in Burma.
We went in as tourists, we knew that we would endanger people if they collaborated. But there was a price to be paid even under those prohibitive circumstances, as one of our fixers had to flee the country after we were spotted filming near the prison in Myitkina, where Zarganar is held.
There are ethical issues and practical challengers when working inside a place like Burma, and it is very difficult to meet all of these simultaneously,
Q: Can you tell the readers a little about the genesis of the film? How did it come about, and what format is it in?
A: I filmed Zarganar in 2007 but never used the footage for various reasons. I was called 15 months later by a NGO in London, and I was told he was in jail. I had three and a half hours of footage, and went about trying to use that for a film. Note that in normal circumstances, you would make a documentary using 50,100 or more hours of footage, out of which would come the end product, be that an hour or ninety minutes, whatever the case may be.
To the best if my knowledge, the interview footage with Zarganar is the first such footage that has been filmed or broadcast. Despite the fact that there were only three and a half hours, it seemed to be that there was a lot of content, given the range of subjects we covered.
Through various contacts, I was put in touch with a leading German comedian, Michael Mittermeier, who has a deep interest in Burma, has visited the country, supports charities there. I was intrigued by the fact that a contemporary German comedian was so interested in a brother comedian in Burma. So when we looked at the material, we decided to go into Burma.
Q: During the making of the film there were some moments of particular danger, of high tension. Can you take us through some of these again? What was it like when the work was in progress? one example that stands out is when you all returned to the outskirts of Myitkina prison to do a second take. Do you feel that was somewhat foolhardly?
A: Yes, I do, and I said in the film that we should not have done it. But we wanted to get as close to Zarganar as we could. I was struck by the fact that a German comedian was trying to get as close as he could to man he feels is a kindred spirit. The dangers were such that we backed away from our first attempt to film near the jail, but thought that we should go back.
But as soon as we started, we were spotted, and we knew we had to get away. We were lucky, we thought we were going to be arrested, either there in the town, or back in Rangoon. They took the details of our vehicle. That led to our fixer having to leave. But we waited frankly to be arrested, we assumed it was passed up the chain of command, but nobody came.
We took small domestic-looking cameras, so we were unobtrusive with our equipment and therefore, I think, we managed to get out OK.
Q: Do you have any contact directly or indirectly with Zarganar now? I recently interviewed Htein Lin, who is listed as a consultant to your film. He said that Zarganar's health has improved somewhat of late. Do you have any more up-to-date information?
A: I don't have anything new on that. The man has another 33 years to serve of his sentence. He has had many health problems and a number of illnesses as I documented, not to mention the stress and trauma of jail, of being separated from his wife and children. Can he survive while he is so vulnerable? Can you imagine it—the rest of your life, 33 years, in jail?
He and more than 2,000 others are political prisoners in Burma. The junta is playing a cat and mouse game with the future of their country, and uses Burma as a means for sustaining itself in power. They will decide totally arbitrarily whether these prisoners will ever emerge. That is a disgrace. If the elections are not to go down as a total sham, let us give the huge benefit of the doubt that the new legislature can produce something positive. But we must retain hope that the generals will see sense and allow freedoms to emerge, though the world is skeptical. I am always hopeful, though, that we will see Zarganar free sooner rather than later.
Q: And finally, tell us something about Zarganar the man. What were your impressions of him after meeting him?
A: one of the most open human beings I have ever met, totally modest, and displaying a total commitment to exposing the wrongs and injustices of the country in which he lives. A very sharp observer of his country, a very funny man with a wonderful sense of timing, a multi-talented man, producer, songwriter. What a gift to any country this man would be, but here he is in jail.
He told me he would never satirize Gandhi, Buddha or Aung San. I asked him would he join Aung San Suu Kyi's party. He said no, that his role is to be independent. And that is him—a great independent spirit, but one who has crossed the line to become an activist as well as a performer, to take part in the struggles of the society he comments on. He calls himself the People's Loudspeaker, and that is so true.
Copyright © 2008 Irrawaddy Publishing Group | www.irrawaddy.org
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=20742
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Australian editor of Myanmar newspaper jailed
Posted: Feb 12, 2011 6:07 PM
BANGKOK (AP) - The Australian editor and co-owner of an English-language newspaper in Myanmar has been arrested in what an associate suggests is a business dispute.
Myanmar Times' editor-in-chief Ross Dunkley is imprisoned in Yangon's main Insein Prison for violating a section of the immigration law applying to overstaying a visa, a business partner said Saturday. The offense is punishable by a maximum jail term of two years, or a fine, or both.
David Armstrong, Dunkley's partner is a separate Cambodian newspaper venture, the Phnom Penh Post, issued a statement saying that Thursday's arrest "coincides with tense and protracted discussions ... about the future direction of the publishing group, ownership issues and senior leadership roles" he has been holding with his Myanmar business partners. He did not elaborate.
The dispute comes as Myanmar's long-ruling junta is preparing to hand over the reins of government to a new, nominally civilian government packed with its allies. With the military expected to continue to exercise power from behind the scenes, no loosening of restrictions on the press is expected. All daily newspapers and electronic media are directly controlled by the government
Dunkley is known for founding English-language newspapers, often with a business emphasis, in authoritarian countries. He started a similar venture in communist Vietnam in the 1990s and bought Cambodia's well-established but financially weak Phnom Penh Post two years ago. He founded the Myanmar Times in 2000 during a period of relative liberalization under the ruling junta. The weekly also has a Myanmar-language counterpart.
The Myanmar Times uses many professional journalism conventions - naming sources, portraying opposing sides of issues - though it generally pulls its punches when it comes to criticizing the government, which tightly restricts what is published.
Armstrong said in his statement, published on the website of the Phnom Penh Post, that Dunkley will be brought to court on Feb. 24.
"His lawyers in Yangon say Mr. Dunkley is confident he can answer any charges or allegations made against him and is looking forward to returning to lead the Myanmar Times group in the exciting times ahead for the publishers and the country," Armstrong said.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. http://www.abc6.com/Global/story.asp?S=14017642
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STRAITS TIMES:Feb 12, 2011
Watchdog slams Myanmar after reporter jailed
NAYPYIDAW - A MEDIA watchdog called on Myanmar on Saturday to end a 'despicable' junta policy of jailing independent journalists after a video reporter was imprisoned for 13 years.
Maung Maung Zeya, 58, was sentenced on the same day last week that Myanmar announced a new president, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said, amid fears that the military has kept a firm grip on the new political system.
The prison term 'should dispel any illusions that Burma is on a new path', said CPJ Asia programme coordinator Bob Dietz, using the country's former name.
'The old junta's pretence that its elections would install a democratic government has been revealed for the sham that it really is.' Myanmar's November election was marred by the absence of democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi and claims of cheating and intimidation, while its new political system has been criticised as a way of hiding army power behind civilian rule.
A key retired general, Prime Minister Thein Sein, is the new president as well as head of the junta-backed USDP, which claimed an overwhelming majority in the poll.
Maung Maung Zeya and his son Sithu Zeya, both said to be reporters for the banned Democratic Voice of Burma exile media group, were arrested for filming at the scene of bomb blasts in Yangon last year. -- AFP http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/SEAsia/Story/STIStory_634290.html
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Suu Kyi sees no reason to lift sanctions
By Aung Hla Tun
YANGON (Reuters) - Myanmar's pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi said on Saturday she saw no reason for Western countries to lift sanctions against the military-dominated government, but the issue had to be discussed.
Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi speaks with supporters outside her home, where she was previously placed under house arrest in Yangon November 13, 2010. (REUTERS/Soe Zeya Tun/Files)
Myanmar, ruled by the military since a 1962 coup, held its first elections in two decades last year and authorities later released Suu Kyi from house arrest. But the military shows no sign of loosening its grip.
Suu Kyi's political party said on Tuesday it supported Western sanctions but wanted talks on whether to modify them, signalling a willingness to discuss a more flexible approach.
Suu Kyi, asked by Reuters at a party function on Saturday to elaborate, said sanctions had to be discussed.
"Whether or not to lift the sanctions is something to be decided after discussions," she said.
"At the present situation, I don't see any reason to lift the sanctions."
She did not elaborate on who should discuss the issue.
Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD), which won the previous election in 1990 but was never allowed to govern, was officially disbanded for refusing to take part in last November's polls.
The vote was, as expected, swept by the main pro-military party and the generals have given no indication they will really relinquish power to new civilian rulers.
In another apparent indication the country had not lost its authoritarian edge, an Australian journalist and businessman involved in the publication of a newspaper in Myanmar had been arrested, a colleague said.
The NLD, which has long supported sanctions to pressure the military, on Tuesday restated its insistence that the release of an estimated 2,100 political prisoners was a "critical requirement" to end punitive measures.
EXCLUDED, IGNORED
Suu Kyi has been excluded from politics since 1989, when she was first detained, a year after the military crushed a student-led uprising. She has no stake in the new army-dominated system and authorities have ignored her calls for dialogue.
But Suu Kyi has significant influence over Western countries' policies towards Myanmar and sanctions are the only real bargaining chip she has with the generals -- assuming they want the restrictions lifted.
China, Thailand, India and Singapore are already big investors in Myanmar, also known as Burma. Chinese companies poured in more than $8 billion last year, mostly in energy-related projects, according to official Myanmar data.
Australian journalist and publisher Ross Dunkley was arrested in Yangon last Thursday under an immigration law, said a colleague, David Armstrong, chairman of Post Media Ltd.
Dunkley, chief executive officer and editor of the Myanmar Times and publisher of Cambodia's Phnom Penh Post, was being held in the notorious Insein prison, Armstrong said, adding the timing of his arrest was significant.
"It coincides with tense and protracted discussions Mr Dunkley and the foreign ownership partners in the Myanmar Times have been conducting with local partners about the future direction of the publishing group, ownership issues and senior leadership roles," he said.
Government officials were not available for comment.
(Writing by Robert Birsel, editing by Miral Fahmy)
Copyright © 2011 Reuters http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/2/12/worldupdates/2011-02-12T165900Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNC_0_-548485-1&sec=Worldupdates
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Than Shwe Warns Against Disrupting 'Democracy'
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Saturday, February 12, 2011
NAYPYIDAW — The leader of Burma's junta warned against any "disruption" of the country's new military-dominated government, urging people Saturday to protect what he called the country's nascent "democracy system" a day after a Cabinet was approved.
Snr-Gen Than Shwe issued the call as the regime held a lavish national celebration at the isolated capital that will serve as headquarters for the new civilian government.
After decades of repressive military rule, critics say that Burma's self-described transition to democracy is a charade and that last year's election was orchestrated to perpetuate military rule. With one quarter of the seats in the new parliament filled by military appointees, and a lion's share of the remaining seats won by a military backed party, the army effectively retains power.
Than Shwe's message on Saturday for Union Day called on the nation's citizens to build and safeguard a "democracy system" that is "still in its infancy."
He also urged people "to tackle any form of disruption to the new system."
The new parliament on Friday unanimously approved all of President-elect Thein Sein's Cabinet nominees, although they were not told which post each would take.
Thein Sein, who was elected by parliament last week, was prime minister and a top member of the military junta that is handing over power to the new government. It is not clear when he and his Cabinet will be sworn in.
Most of the Cabinet appointees are former military officers who retired in order to run in last November's elections—the country's first in 20 years—and about a dozen were ministers in the junta's Cabinet. Only four of the appointees are strictly civilian.
Than Shwe's speech was read out in an open space at the City Hall in Naypyidaw to celebrate Union Day, which marks the anniversary of a 1947 agreement among the country's ethnic groups that paved the way to independence from Britain. The ceremony was attended by lawmakers and new and old Cabinet members.
The army has held power in Burma since 1962.
The party of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, which won the last elections in 1990 but was blocked from taking power by the military, boycotted November's vote, calling it unfair. Much of the international community also dismissed the elections as rigged in favor of the junta.
Suu Kyi's party was to hold its own separate ceremony to commemorate Union Day. It was Suu Kyi's father, Gen Aung San, the country's independence hero, who met with ethnic minority leader to sign the agreement that the holiday commemorates.
In further celebration, the government opened a "Safari Park" in Naypyitaw Saturday morning.
The park, on nearly 300 acres (120 hectares) along the Rangoon-Mandalay highway, holds animals from Asia, Australia and Africa, some of them brought to Burma on chartered flights.
Related Article: Than Shwe to Head Extra-Constitutional 'State Supreme Council'
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=20741
Saturday, February 12, 2011
News & Articles on Burma-Friday, 11 February, 2011
News & Articles on Burma
Friday, 11 February, 2011
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Can Shan Vice-President create peace in Shan-land of Burma?
New Govt Talks Tough on Tax Evasion
DKBA Changes Tactics, More Civilians at Risk
Than Shwe ‘ordered shooting of monks’
Election body delays lawsuit hearings
Myanmar's opposition says sanctions on junta work
Free political prisoners now: 88 Generation leaders
Burma Regime Misses Another Chance
NDF to Raise Reform Issues in Parliament
Than Shwe to Head Extra-Constitutional 'State Supreme Council'
Burma Army deploys more tanks to Shan army’s territory
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AsianCorrespondent.com
Can Shan Vice-President create peace in Shan-land of Burma?
By Zin Linn Feb 11, 2011 10:18PM UTC
Burma Army is reinforcing more platoons and tanks to military front line areas in Shan State South’s Mongnawng township, opposite Shan State Army (SSA) ‘North’’s controlled territory, referring local sources Shan Herald Agency for News (S.H.A.N.) reported.
Six tanks were sent from Taunggyi and arrived in Mongnawng, southeast of SSA’s First Brigade headquarters on 9 February. And over 20 tanks more are expected to arrive in the next few days, according to local sources. On the same day, 6 military trucks carrying about 200 men and supplies were reportedly heading to Mongnawng as well, an eye witness said. “All soldiers were armed and in full uniforms.”
However, the military authorities have been limiting all trucks running on the motor roads – between Kehsi and Monghsu townships – leading to SSA’s HQ Wanhai. Kehsi is situated in the west of Wanhai and Monghsu in the east of it.
Regarding the movement, it is said this is the first time that the military junta reinforces more troops to rebel armed groups after the calls of parliament. The reinforcement to rebel groups was temporarily stopped when the military called for the first session of the parliament
The SSA side says the military reinforcement and instruction of blocking the road to its area are like a signal of the military junta’s plan to launch military operation against the group.
The SSA has also ordered its fighters to be well-prepared, but all must shun taking confrontation again. However, there has been no sign of tension among the two sides yet, the officer said.
According to the SSA’s record, the group has already fought with the Burma Army 7 times since the group denied the Naypyitaw’s Border Guard Force (BGF) program.
Meanwhile, Dr. Sai Mauk Kham, a Shan physician, has been elected as a vice president in Burma’s Parliament. The vice presidency to Sai Mauk Kham has become a debatable issue in the Shan community, with several welcoming the news, but others revealing displeasure that he comes to the job as a member of the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP).
Khuensai Jaiyen, editor of Shan Herald Agency for News said that Sai Mauk Kham might not be participated in tackling issues as national security and the economy, but from optimistic point of view he may be likely to promote health, education and culture.
Coincidently, village heads in district under Northeastern Region Command in Shan State North have been instructed to conscript people in their areas and send those recruits to its headquarters based in Lashio within a week, according to local sources.
Each village tract is assigned to provide 60 men whether they are new men or serving men for military training. They all must arrive at the regional HQ by 7 February, according to a village headman. Elderly people in the villages shared their views on this new recruitment that the military regime is about to rush to end the movements of the Shan State Army (SSA) ‘North’s First Brigade. Many local people forecast that after the new USDP government formed, Burma’s armed forces are likely to commence major operations against rebels of anti-Border Guard Forces (BGF) program.
The SSA has also ordered its fighters to be well-prepared, but all must shun taking confrontation again. However, there has been no sign of tension among the two sides yet, the officer said. According to the SSA’s record, the group has already fought with the Burma Army 7 times since the group denied the Naypyitaw’s Border Guard Force (BGF) program.
Although Dr. Sai Mauk Kham, a Shan physician, elected as a vice president in Burma’s Parliament, he has no power to take part as a negotiator in the conflict between the Burmese Army and the Shan rebels. Many political analysts believe that the boss of the military has cleverly picked Sai Mauk Kham as a vice president to represent the ethnic population especially for the Shan. But, the reality is that he is more likely a pawn created by military than an ethnic Shan spokesperson.
On 12 February 1947, the Panglong agreement was signed between leaders of the Frontier Areas and Aung San to unite and jointly fight for independence, and to establish an independent union, in accordance with the principle of the ‘Right of Self-determination’. If General Aung San did not promise equal opportunity and self-determination, the country might never have been founded under the title of the Union of Burma.
The late Shan leader U Shwe Ohn, a participant at the Panglong Conference, wrote in his paper -“Toward the Third Union of Burma” (1993) – the country would have been divided into two parts: Burma and the Frontier Areas, if the Panglong Agreement was not signed.
So, military boss Than Shwe has tactfully picked Sai Mauk Kham as Shan defender in order to shield the harsh criticism based on the ethnic autonomy topic. It is clear, Sai Mauk Kham is merely a namesake vice president. He will not be allowed to exercise authentic presidential power to help peace with his Shan national relatives.
http://asiancorrespondent.com/48251/can-shan-vice-president-create-peace-in-shan-land-of-burma/
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DKBA Changes Tactics, More Civilians at Risk
By SAW YAN NAING Friday, February 11, 2011
It has been three months since an election-day border clash broke out in Myawaddy between government troops and renegade Brigade 5 of the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) that sent 20,000 refugees temporarily fleeing across the border to Thailand, and the area is still far from quiet.
Gunfire and explosions continue to be heard on the border, the latest being a bomb blast in Myawaddy town on Wednesday that killed 2 people and injured six others, with at least some of the victims being civilians.
According to sources on the border, the DKBA has changed its military tactics to target urban areas where government offices and buildings are located rather than fighting in the jungle. Maj San Aung of DKBA Brigade 5 said the brigade changed tactics because it has fewer fighters than the regime, so urban guerrilla warfare is a more effective way to hurt the junta.
As a result, however, more civilians may be caught up in the fighting and some Myawaddy locals are not happy with the change in tactics.
“If they [DKBA] want to fight, they should fight directly with the junta troops. They should not fight in urban areas. It impacts the civilians,” a resident of Myawaddy told The Irrawaddy.
“Many people in Myawaddy town are now in fear. Some parents don’t let their children go to study at school,” he added.
Other areas of Karen State have been similarly affected by the fighting. Residents of Kawkareik in southern Karen State are reportedly afraid to travel outside the town after a clash broke out on Wednesday evening between regime and Karen National Union (KNU) troops, according to Kawkareik residents.
A merchant in Kawkareik said that after the fighting began daily passenger buses stopped running on the route connecting Kawkareik and Myawaddy.
Brig-Gen Saw Lah Pwe, the commander of DKBA Brigade 5 who is also known as Na Kham Mwe, said the regime is still reinforcing its troops around his controlled areas in southern Karen State and does not seem to be seeking ceasefire talks with him.
The previous ceasefire between the junta and DKBA Brigade 5 broke down on Nov 8 after the ethnic Karen armed group refused to join the junta’s border guard force (BGF) under Burmese army control.
Observers said the regime likely will use a divide-and-rule strategy in an attempt to defeat the strongest ethic armed groups that have rejected the BGF, such as the United Wa State Army, which has about 30,000 troops, and the Kachin Independence Army, with some 10,000 troops.
But with respect to ethnic Karen armed groups such as DKBA Brigade 5 and the Karen National Union (KNU), the observers said the regime will only use military means in its attempt to totally defeat the militias. KNU sources said that the junta is sending troops, ammunition and food supplies to the KNU's stronghold area in Papun District in northern Karen State—raising concern among civilians that war is imminent.
Saw Lah Pwe said he doesn’t know when the border clashes will end. “We stay at our home, but they come and attack us. So we have to fight them back,” he said.
Dah Eh Kler, the secretary of the Karen Women’s Organization, said that women and children are the most vulnerable in the ongoing conflict. On Jan 30, a woman and two young boys from Karen State who sought refuge in Thailand were seriously injured by shrapnel from mortars that landed on the Thai side of the border, according to a statement released by the Women’s League of Burma on Feb 1.
The women's rights groups said that as the armed conflict drags on, there is no rest for anyone on the border, including the elderly, the ill, pregnant women and children— farmers can’t tend to their farms and children can't attend school, their statement said.
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=20733
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New Govt Talks Tough on Tax Evasion
By THE IRRAWADDY Friday, February 11, 2011
Burma's new government, led by recently elected President Thein Sein, is to issue strict laws and bylaws on taxation, including punitive measures for those who evade taxes, according to an official source.
Speaking to The Irrawaddy on Friday, an official from the Internal Revenue Department (IRD) in Naypyidaw, which falls under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Finance and Revenue (MFR), said that when Burma was under military rule most tax-related matters, including income tax, commercial tax and profit tax, were flexible and settled “constructively.” However, as the country is transforming into a democratic state, strict taxation laws will be enacted and every citizen will be obliged to pay taxes, he said.
“The prime minister [now President] Thein Sein told us to deal with tax-related matters strictly and objectively. He also directed us to amend the taxation laws as necessary so that taxes can be collected in accordance with international standards. New laws will include punishments—from fines to imprisonment—for those who avoid paying taxes,” said the IRD official.
Income tax, commercial tax, withholding tax and profit tax are likely to be strictly monitored under new taxation laws, he said.
“The Withholding Tax system, which came into effect on Jan. 1 this year, is now successful,” said an IRD official from Rangoon Division. “The government bank issues Letters of Credit to those who run import businesses only after they have paid the appropriate withholding tax. Now everyone in Burma's business world is paying it.”
A source close to the MFR told The Irrawaddy that although the existing taxation law states that anyone with a monthly salary higher than 30,000 kyat [US$ 30] has to pay tax, few people heed the regulation.
Official data suggests that only 1.09 percent of Burma's more than 50 million people regularly pay taxes.
“Income tax rates were specified at a cabinet meeting, led by the then Prime Minister Gen Thein Sein, held on April 6, 2006. I heard taxes will be collected at those rates,” said the Rangoon IRD official.
Those who earn 30,000-50,000 kyat per month will reportedly have to pay 12 percent income tax; 50,000-70,000 kyat is to be taxed at 14 percent; 70,000-90,000 kyat at 16 percent; 90,000-110,000 kyat at 17 percent; 110,000-150,000 kyat at 18 percent; 150,000-200,000 kyat at 19 percent; and anyone earning over 500,000 kyat ($500) per month will reportedly have to pay 30 percent tax.
“People have the perception that their tax money will fall into the pockets of government employees, because they see how rich the generals and high-ranking government officials are,” said a businessman in Rangoon. “I think IRD employees will be highly engaged in corruption if the new law punishes those who evade taxes.”
A Rangoon-based journalist said the income generated from selling the country's natural gas, oil and other natural resources is mostly spent on building up its army and other military affairs. Over the years, the health care and education sectors have been very poorly funded, he said.
“Citizens will not pay taxes if their government doesn't do anything for them,” said the journalist. “The regime spends almost all the state's money on the military. So who wants to pay tax? If the regime wants its citizens to pay taxes, it has to prove itself by doing something for the people.”
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=20737
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Than Shwe ‘ordered shooting of monks’
By FRANCIS WADE
Published: 11 February 2011
Burmese junta chief Than Shwe had ordered troops to shoot protesting monks during the September 2007 mass uprising, leaked US diplomatic cables allege.
The claim is buried in the middle of a November 2007 cable sent from the US embassy in Rangoon to Washington by former US political and economic chief to Burma, Leslie Hayden.
Published in Norwegian daily, Aftenposten, the cable sees Hayden paraphrasing a redacted source who claims his “military contacts” knew of Than Shwe’s intent during the protests.
“According to [TEXT REMOVED BY AFTENPOSTEN]´s military contacts, both Than Shwe and Maung Aye gave the orders to crackdown on the monks, including shooting them if necessary,” it says, referring to the junta chief’s second-in-command.
“Number three General Thura Shwe Man personally opposed the order, but carried it out, quietly advising regional commanders to do so with minimal bloodshed.”
How many monks died in what became known as the Saffron Revolution is unknown, as is the total number of demonstrators killed by Burmese troops. Burmese state media put the official toll at 13, while UN Human Rights Council’s special rapporteur Paulo, Sérgio Pinheiro, quoted independent sources who claimed that 30 to 40 monks were among the more than 100 killed.
Sparked by a sudden 66 percent rise in fuel prices, the protests became the biggest show of defiance against the ruling junta since the student uprising of 1988.
Burmese Foreign Minister Nyan Win responded to early criticism of the way the army handled the protests by saying that the hundreds of thousands of men and women on the streets had been encouraged by foreign or exiled forces.
“Recent events make clear that there are elements within and outside the country who wish to derail the ongoing process (toward democracy) so that they can take advantage of the chaos that would follow,” he said, making no reference to the deaths.
He also praised the initial “restraint” shown by troops in the early days of the protests, which gained momentum on 18 September, but said the subsequent crackdown was necessary “to restore the situation”. Up to 6000 people are believed to have been detained.
Despite the reverence with which Burma holds its monastic community, monks currently account for 254 of Burma’s 2,189 political prisoners. One monk, U Nanda Vathu, is serving a 71-year sentence, while nearly two dozen of those detained are serving sentences of 20 years or more.
The cable, dated 28 November 2007 and titled “BURMA: THE DIALOGUE IS DEAD”, is one of thousands released by whistleblowing website, Wikileaks. They also reveal French concerns about business operations in Burma, as well as heightened US concerns about Burma’s cosying relationship with North Korea.
http://www.dvb.no/news/than-shwe-%E2%80%98ordered-shooting-of-monks%E2%80%99/14228
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Election body delays lawsuit hearings
By AHUNT PHONE MYAT
Published: 11 February 2011
Hearings for nearly 30 lawsuits filed by aggrieved candidates in last November’s elections have been delayed due to the conflicting schedules of individuals involved.
Burma’s supreme election authority, the Union Election Commission (UEC), was due to hear the cases on 10 and 11 February but now says that parliamentary commitments mean they’ll be forced to postpone them.
“All hearings have been suspended,” said lawyer Myint Thwin, who is representing several complainants. “The UEC said they will contact us again around the 16th or 17th this month and also told us to make contact with them.”
So far 29 cases have been filed at the UEC alleging foul play in the controversial 7 November elections last year. All but two of these were lodged by members of the pro-junta Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), which won around 80 percent of seats.
Myint Thwin said however that there have been rumours the USDP was planning to withdraw some of their complaints.
The USDP, which was led by President Thein Sein and received the backing of the Burmese military, had been accused on a number of occasions of fraud and intimidation during the campaigning stage, as well as infractions on voting day itself.
Many of the allegations were directed at the party’s collecting of advance votes, although there were also numbers of reports claiming that USDP campaigners had coerced people into joining up. Villagers in Shan state also alleged that the names of dead people had appeared on voting lists.
Although the UEC, which was handpicked by the ruling junta, had been expected to weigh heavily in favour of the USDP, it has already dropped one case filed by a party member citing lack of evidence.
There are also thought to be around 100 complaints filed at local police stations around Burma that have not been picked up by the UEC.
A candidate for the opposition Democratic Party Myanmar told DVB shortly before the elections that three complaints it had lodged against the USDP’s campaigning tactics had been ignored by the UEC.
http://www.dvb.no/news/election-body-delays-lawsuit-hearings/14233
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Associated Press Featured Article
February 11, 2011
Myanmar's opposition says sanctions on junta work
By Associated Press ,
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — The pro–democracy party of Aung San Suu Kyi endorsed Western sanctions against Myanmar on Tuesday, saying they hurt the authoritarian regime not ordinary citizens and implying it's too early to lift them.
For weeks, there have been indications that the Nobel (News - Alert) Peace Prize laureate was questioning her longtime support of sanctions. But a four–page report issued by her party Tuesday was the first clarification of her position and could temper any momentum to lift sanctions.
Suu Kyi had suggested after her recent release from years of house arrest that she might be open to an easing of the measures. Her comments raised interest in the West, which has long taken its cues from her and her party on the subject.
The report is bound to anger Myanmar's military rulers who have long sought to have the sanctions lifted on grounds that they hurt the people of Myanmar and have pushed the country deeper into poverty. They have trumpeted elections held in November as evidence of their commitment to democracy, but the polls were widely criticized as rigged to cement the junta's power.
The release coincided with the resumption of parliament in the remote capital of Naypyitaw following Friday's appointment of the country's new president, Thein Sein, who served as prime minister under the junta. His selection by parliament last week was seen as the latest example of the junta's tightening its grip on power.
"Recently, there have been calls for the removal of sanctions," said the report, which was based on the National League for Democracy's own research and consultation with economists. "It can be asserted that these measures do not hurt the public at large."
"Targeted sanctions serve as a warning that acts contrary to basic norms of justice and human rights cannot be committed with impunity even by authoritarian governments," said the report, which blamed the country's hardships on "misguided government policies," not sanctions.
The United States first imposed broad sanctions on Myanmar in 1988 after the junta's crackdown on pro–democracy protests and subsequently tightened them, banning trade and American investment in Myanmar. Since then, the EU and other Western countries have added political and economic sanctions to punish the regime for its poor human rights record and failure to move toward democracy.
"The NLD calls for discussions with the United States, the European Union, Canada and Australia with a view to reaching agreement on when, how and under what circumstances sanctions might be modified in the interests of democracy, human rights and a healthy economic environment," the report said.
Suu Kyi's party boycotted November's election, the first in 20 years, calling it unfair and rigged in favor of the military's allies. The party won the previous elections in 1990 but was blocked at the time from taking power by the military.
Suu Kyi was detained for 15 of the last 21 years and released shortly after the election.
"We would urge the countries that are helping Myanmar's democratic movement to maintain their targeted sanctions," the party's vice chairman Tin Oo told reporters. "There is no tangible progress toward Myanmar's democratic reforms."
http://topnews360.tmcnet.com/topics/associated-press/articles/2011/02/11/143750-myanmars-opposition-says-sanctions-junta-work.htm
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Free political prisoners now: 88 Generation leaders
Friday, 11 February 2011 13:01 Ko Pauk
Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – Leaders of the 88-Generation Students group issued a statement on Thursday calling for the new Parliament to grant a general amnesty to all political prisoners.
The front page of the statement by the 88 Generation Students group calling for a general amnesty for all political prisoners and genuine movement toward national reconciliation.
The front page of the statement by the 88 Generation Students group calling for a general amnesty for all political prisoners and genuine movement toward national reconciliation.
Issued on the eve of Union Day, the statement also calls for the immediate implementation of national reconciliation.
‘They claimed that this [new Parliament] is a new political dimension and environment’, Myo Yannaung Thein, an 88-Generation Student leader, told Mizzima. ‘In this new political dimension, they should get rid of all the old political dimensions. The old laws enacted in their old political dimension should not exist anymore’.
The Assistance Association of Political Prisoners (AAPP) joint secretary Bo Kyi, responding to the statement, said: ‘We can assess if their new political dimension is really a new one only after seeing whether the political prisoners are released or not, and whether they are allowed to play in this new political dimension.’
Myo Yannaung Thein said, ‘If this new government really focuses on national reconciliation, they should issue an executive order granting general amnesty’.
The statement said that all national civic groups should join hands in calling for the release of political prisoners, noting that it was a major campaign issue for many political parties.
Amnesty has been granted in Burma three times in the post-independence era.
The first time was in 1963 prior to holding a peace talk; in 1974, after the approval of the 1974 Constitution and the convening of the first session of parliament under that constitution; and in 1980, when talks for internal peace were being held.
Under the 2008 Constitution, the president has the power to grant amnesty in accord with the recommendation of the National Defence and Security Council.
The new president, Thein Sein, is the former chairman of the United Solidarity and Development Party and a retired general. http://www.mizzima.com/news/inside-burma/4873-free-political-prisoners-now-88-generation-leaders.html
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VOANews.com
Burma Regime Misses Another Chance
Burma's highest court has upheld a decision to dissolve the country's leading opposition political party.
As a political force, however, the NLD will continue in the hearts and minds of the people.
Burma's highest court has upheld a decision to dissolve the country's leading opposition political party, which was outlawed last year for failing to register according to conditions set down by Burma's ruling military regime. The decision leaves Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and thousands of other pro-democracy activists outside formal politics in Burma just as the regime claims to be moving the nation to civilian rule.
The high court took little time to decide against the National League for Democracy's appeal of lower court rulings that it be banned. A lawyer representing the NLD said that only the country's chief justice could now change the ruling, and he saw little likelihood of that happening. As a political force, however, the NLD will continue in the hearts and minds of the people.
The NLD won a resounding victory in Burma's last elections in 1990, but was kept from power by the military junta. As the nation prepared for new elections in November, the regime laid down restrictive rules on membership and political activities for parties wishing to offer candidates. The NLD refused to take part, calling the registration rules unfair and undemocratic. In return, it was barred from the race and declared illegal.
As the high court was ruling, the new parliament elected in November was being seated in a show of a supposed transition to democracy. Not only did the military leadership limit the ability of opposition candidates to campaign for elected seats, it guaranteed itself a strong hand in the next government with a large number of designated military appointees and full support for the government’s proxy party.
The United States is disappointed in the high court's decision to uphold the banning of the NLD. Authorizing recognition of that and other democratic and ethnic opposition parties would have been a good step to enter into a genuine and inclusive dialogue on the nation's future. Instead, the decision was another lost opportunity for bringing Burma much needed and fundamental change and progress toward reconciliation. http://www.voanews.com/policy/editorials/Burma-Regime-Offers-Another-Chance--115727979.html
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NDF to Raise Reform Issues in Parliament
By THE IRRAWADDY Friday, February 11, 2011
The National Democratic Force (NDF), which has four seats in the Upper House of Burma's new parliament and 12 seats in the Lower House, has vowed it will raise the issues of press freedom, a general amnesty, and economic and land reform in parliament, according to a party official.
Khin Maung Swe, a party leader and former political prisoner, said that their proposal included two questions—concerning press freedom and farmland reform—and two proposals: for a general amnesty and for the reform of Burma’s economy, which is riddled by corruption and nepotism.
“The press still cannot publish freely. Our MP, U Khin Maung Win, will raise this issue in the People's Assembly,” said Khin Maung Swe. “With regard to the issue of farmland reform, our MP U Aung Zin will bring to the floor of the Nationalities' assembly the question: 'How does the 1963 Farmland Law, which guarantees farmers' rights, apply to the current situation where farmland across the country is being seized by private companies?'”
Speaking to The Irrawaddy, Khin Maung Swe said that for national reconciliation to succeed in Burma, a general amnesty must be applied. NDF Lower House representative Than Win will raise the amnesty issue in parliament, he said.
“We will propose an amnesty for all political prisoners, as well as exiled activists and all armed groups,” he said. “It is not unusual [in other countries] for an incoming government to grant a general amnesty.”
The NDF leader said the party’s Upper House member Myat Nyana Soe will raise the issue of economic reform, and propose free and fair business competition instead of the current crony-manipulated economy.
Meanwhile, an independent MP in the Lower House, Thein Nyunt, said he too will propose a general amnesty; and the Shan Nationalities Democratic Party announced it will propose drafting a new law on hydro power.
However, no MP has asked to raise questions on defense, security, ethnic affairs or the status of political dissidents.
According to parliamentary regulations, an MP must inform the House Speaker 10 days in advance if he or she wishes to raise a question, 15 days in advance for a proposal, and no less than 30 days to propose a new law.
Other opposition leaders who did not take part in the elections are skeptical about the NDF approach since the parliament sessions in Naypyidaw are totally dominated by the military and its proxy Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP).
“Questions and proposals must be tabled at least 10 days in advance, which means the USDP and military officers will have time for preemptive responses,” said Aye Thar Aung, a Arakan leader who is secretary of the Committee Representing the People’s Parliament.
“Less than 20 percent of parliament is non-USDP and non-military,” he added. “Therefore, we are faced with a situation where absolutely nothing may happen in Parliament.”
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=20732
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Than Shwe to Head Extra-Constitutional 'State Supreme Council'
By THE IRRAWADDY Thursday, February 10, 2011
RANGOON—Although the Burmese military regime said that it will hand over state power to president-elect Thein Sein and the new government on March 15, junta chief Snr-Gen Than Shwe has now revealed that he will personally lead a newly created council called the “State Supreme Council,” which as its name implies will be the most powerful body in the country, according to sources in Naypyidaw.
Junta chief Snr-Gen Than Shwe, center, with Vice Snr-Gen Maung Aye, left, and a group of other regime generals.
Two bodies have now emerged in the new government's administrative structure that observers say will have powers that reach—either directly or indirectly—above and beyond the powers of the new civilian executive and legislative branches. The first is the eight-member State Supreme Council, which is nowhere mentioned in the 2008 Constitution and will be led by Than Shwe. The second is the eleven-member National Defense and Security Council (NDSC), which is called for in the 2008 Constitution and will be led by Thein Sein.
“The State Supreme Council will become the highest body of the state. While it will assume an advisory role to guide the future governments, the body will be very influential,” said a source close to the military.
The members of the State Supreme Council will be: Snr-Gen Than Shwe, Vice Snr-Gen Maung Aye, Pyithu Hluttaw [Lower House] Speaker Thura Shwe Mann, President-elect Thein Sein, Vice President-elect Thiha Thura Tin Aung Myint Oo, former Lt. Gen Tin Aye and other two senior military generals.
As required by the 2008 Constitution, the NDSC will be comprised of the president, two vice presidents, commander-in-chief of the armed forces, vice commander-in-chief, and the ministers of defense, home, foreign affairs and border affairs.
Meanwhile, according to sources in Naypyidaw, Burma's ruling State Peace and Development Council will hand over power to the new government on March 15. The sources said that army commanders, heads of the military's Bureaus of Special Operations and retired generals are currently meeting to discuss the transfer of power to the new civilian regime in Naypyidaw, which will consist mostly of former generals.
According to sources close to the military in Naypyidaw, there is discontent among the military because the latest appointments of certain high-ranking military officials to major positions in the new government structure was apparently based on loyalty to Than Shwe rather than military hierarchy.
In particluar, Lt-Gen Thura Myint Aung was not chosen by Than Shwe as commander-in-chief of the armed forces, and after complaining of being assigned the position of defense minister he was removed and placed under house arrest.
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=20730
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Burma Army deploys more tanks to Shan army’s territory
Thursday, 10 February 2011 18:03 Hseng Khio Fah
Burma Army is reinforcing more troops and tanks to military front line areas in Shan State South’s Mongnawng township, opposite Shan State Army (SSA) ‘North’’s controlled territory, according to local sources.
On 9 February morning, about 6 tanks were sent from Taunggyi and arrived in Mongnawng, southeast of SSA’s First Brigade headquarters. And over 20 tanks more are expected to arrive in the next few days, according to local sources.
During the same day, 6 military trucks carrying about 200 men and supplies were reportedly heading to Mongnawng as well, an eye witness said. “All soldiers were armed and in full uniforms.”
On the other hand, the military junta is also blocking all trucks running between Kehsi and Monghsu townships, on the motor roads leading to SSA’s HQ Wanhai. Kehsi is situated in the west of Wanhai and Monghsu in the east of it.
“Any types of vehicles are banned to pass that way now and the trucks are told to use other way,” a car driver said. “The instruction was given on 8 February.” he added.
Regarding the movement, it is said this is the first time that the military junta reinforces more troops to rebel armed groups after the calls of parliament. The reinforcement to rebel groups was temporarily stopped when the military called for the first session of the parliament
The SSA side says the military reinforcement and instruction of blocking the road to its area are like a signal of the military junta's plan to launch military operation against the group.
“This is the first time they block the road in 20 years of ceasefire movement. It is their policy to destroy us in several ways. They will hinder the food flows and reinforce more troops to us until we can’t stand. No matter, our top leaders know well about the junta’s plans,” an SSA officer told SHAN in anonymity.
The SSA has also ordered its fighters to be well-prepared, but all must shun taking confrontation again. However, there has been no sign of tension among the two sides yet, the officer said.
According to the SSA’s record, the group has already fought with the Burma Army 7 times since the group denied the Naypyitaw’s Border Guard Force (BGF) program. http://www.shanland.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3459:burma-army-deploys-more-tanks-to-shan-armys-territory&catid=86:war&Itemid=284
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Friday, February 11, 2011
News & Articles on Burma-Thursday, 10 February, 2011
News & Articles on Burma
Thursday, 10 February, 2011
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Myint Aung rejects defense minister job; reportedly under arrest
2 die in explosions near Thai-Myanmar friendship bridge
It's the Politics, Stupid
Security beefed up at Shan VP’s home in Shan State North
Myint Aung Dismissed, Placed Under House Arrest
Aung San Suu Kyi honoured by Brighton Festival
Major government overhaul underway
Calls mount for Shan leader’s release
Suu Kyi’s party to take appeal
Wood Shortfall Hits Three Pagodas Pass
Five 8888-day anniversary protesters released
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Myint Aung rejects defense minister job; reportedly under arrest
Thursday, 10 February 2011 19:51 Thomas Maung Shwe
Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – Lieutenant General Myint Aung, who was on a list to be appointed defense minister on Friday has reportedly declined the cabinet post and was placed under house arrest in Naypidaw on Thursday.
Lieutenant General Myint Aung, once thought to be an heir apparent to Than Shwe, was reportedly under house arrest on Thursday after he refused a ministerial post. Photo : MRTV
Lieutenant General Myint Aung, once thought to be an heir apparent to Than Shwe, was reportedly under house arrest on Thursday after he refused a ministerial post. Photo : MRTV
Unconfirmed reports said Myint Aung, who previously served as the adjutant general, is thought to have refused the ministerial position because he perceived it as a demotion.
Prior to his rejection of the post, the Than Shwe loyalist was thought by many observers to be next in line to replace Burma’s reclusive dictator at the helm of the nation’s armed forces.
The future for Myint Aung, 55, remains unclear but his military career appears to have come to a screeching halt.
Sources said the defense minister position is now expected to go Lieutenant General Ko Ko.
Lieutenant General Min Aung Hlaing is now expected to be named commander in chief of the Armed Forces, with Major General Soe Win taking the vice commander in chief position, sources said.
Soe Win was until very recently leading the Northern Command and was a junior to Myint Aung.
Both Min Aung Hlaing and Soe Win are considered to be from the Maung Aye faction, giving Burma’s No. 2 general a significant boost in power.
Insiders in Naypidaw said that Myint Aung’s apparent rejection is just the latest bump in Than Shwe’s plan to impose a parliamentary façade on the government.
When the newly arrived members of Parliament convened behind closed doors recently to nominate their vice presidential candidates, it was reported that a majority refused to endorse Tin Aung Myint Oo because he is considered too hard line, sources said.
Due to the initial rejection of Tin Aung Myint Oo, Than Shwe is said to have been forced to make an impromptu appearance at the Parliament to instruct the lawmakers to vote for his desired choice.
Maung Aye is said to have reacted strongly to Than Shwe approach, and he was observed storming out of the building. None of the reports could be confirmed by other parties on Thursday evening. http://mizzima.com/news/breaking-and-news-brief/4869-myint-aung-rejects-defense-minister-job-reportedly-under-arrest.html
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2 die in explosions near Thai-Myanmar friendship bridge
Feb 9 08:09 AM US/Eastern
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BANGKOK, Feb. 9 (AP) - (Kyodo)—Two people in Myanmar were killed and another six wounded in explosions near the Thai-Myanmar Friendship Bridge, police said Wednesday.
According to Thai police, two bombs were hidden in front of a coffee shop near the bridge on Myanmar side and detonated around at 5 p.m.
The first bomb injured several people at the coffee shop and the second bomb exploded later as police and soldiers were inspecting the site.
Two civilians died in the second explosion, police said.
After the blasts, Myanmar deployed security forces on its side of the bridge that links to Thailand's northwestern Tak Province.
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D9L993VO0&show_article=1
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EDITORIAL
It's the Politics, Stupid
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Burma's outlawed opposition party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), released a statement on Tuesday spelling out its position on sanctions. In the well-written statement, the party argues that the impact of sanctions on the Burmese economy has been greatly overstated, while the real issue—rampant human rights abuses under military rule—has been largely ignored, and must be addressed if sanctions are to be lifted.
While there's no disputing that Burma's economy is in a sorry state, this has far less to do with sanctions than with the junta's economic mismanagement, poor governance, corruption and blatant cronyism, according to the statement.
Long before Western sanctions were imposed on Burma, the country's first military ruler, Gen Ne Win, turned Southeast Asia's most promising economy into one of the world's worst. In 1987, a year before his regime collapsed, Burma was declared a Least Developed Nation by the UN. What if Ne Win had decided to reform the economy and integrate it into the global economy? Most likely, he would not have had to face a nationwide uprising in 1988 and could have remained in power as a benevolent dictator.
Now, we have to ask why Western sanctions were imposed on Ne Win's successors in the first place. The answer, obviously, is its record of human rights violations.
On May 20, 1997, US President Bill Clinton issued Executive Order 13047 banning most new US investment in “economic development of resources in Burma.” To justify the ban, the president cited a “constant and continuing pattern of severe repression” of the democratic opposition by Burma's ruling junta, then known as the State Law and Order Restoration Council.
In June 2003, the Bush Administration passed the Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act after the military and its thugs ambushed pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her supporters in Depayin, killing dozens.
In July 2008, after the brutal crackdown on monks and activists in September 2007, the US government introduced the Burmese JADE Act, banning imports of jade and gems from Burma and imposing visa bans on regime leaders and their cronies.
Clearly, these sanctions are political tools aimed at censuring the regime’s poor human rights record, and not at hobbling Burma's economy.
Rather than focusing on the economic impact of the sanctions, perhaps we should be asking if they have had any positive effect on its politics. In other words, have sanctions been an effective tool to counter the repressive regime in Burma? The NLD statement doesn't answer this question. But what we have seen is the generals and their cronies getting richer over the past decade, thanks to the eagerness of Burma’s neighbors to extract its natural resources and invest in infrastructure with little or no benefit for Burmese people. Burma remains one of the poorest nations in the world. The regime spends the lion's share of its budget on the military, while setting aside only tiny amounts for education and health care.
According to the NLD statement, “If we look at Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), foreign capital went mainly into the extraction of natural resources. Whereas FDI for 2008-09 totaled 925 million dollars, permitted foreign investment in 2009-2010 increased to 15,839 million dollars, of which 62 percent was in the oil and natural gas sectors.” So where has all this gas money gone?
But even as the NLD statement finds fault with foreign investment that only enriches the generals and their partners, it keeps the door open for more ethical investment aimed at benefiting Burma's people and protecting its natural environment.
“The NLD considers that in the meantime the economic hardships of the people would be ameliorated if businesses that have already invested, or are thinking of investing, in Burma were to observe guidelines aimed at conserving the ecological environment, protecting the rights of workers and promoting civil society,” says the statement.
This was an echo of a statement made by NLD leader Suu Kyi in her prerecorded message to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, at the end of last month. Speaking to a gathering of world leaders, businessmen, politicians, academics and civil society representatives, she said, “I would like to request those who have invested or who are thinking of investing in Burma to put a premium on respect for the law, on environmental and social factors, on the rights of workers, on job creation and on the promotion of technological skills.”
She also reminded them: “I believe that as necessary steps towards integration within the global community Burma must achieve national reconciliation, political stability, and economic growth grounded in human resources development.”
Burma cannot live with sanctions forever. http://www.irrawaddy.org./opinion_story.php?art_id=20716
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Security beefed up at Shan VP’s home in Shan State North
Wednesday, 09 February 2011 16:49 S.H.A.N.
Local authorities in Lashio, Shan State North, have begun to construct concrete walls and barbed wire fences around the house of Dr Sai Mawk Kham who became Vice Preident #2 of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar (RUM), the new name for Burma, on Saturday 5 February, according to sources.
“I saw piles of bricks in front of his house in Longlaw (Quarter #7),” said a local source.
Sai Mawk Kham, 61, has now moved into his new residence in Naypyitaw. One source swore he found Sai Mawk Kham already moving in on 4 February, after he was nominated as one of the three presidential candidates.
Sai Mawk Kham won 140 votes against his rival Dr Aye Maung on 4 February. But he received only 75 votes the next day.
“I think he’s going to become the carrot and Tin Aung Myint Oo (who became Vice President #2) the stick of Thein Sein (President),” predicted one of his former associates.
According to a Shan monk from Lashio, Sai Mawk Kham, after he had made up his mind to run a seat in the National Assembly under the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) ticket, made his announcement to the Shan clergy. “For my family’s sake, I’m going to join the USDP, knowing fully well that my friends will not like it,” he reportedly said. “But if I’m to be blessed with an important position, I will do my best to promote the Shan literary and cultural heritage.”
“Now, it’s time we wait and see whether he will keep his promise or if it’s just hot air,” commented the clerical source.
Dr Sai Mawk Kham, a native of Muse on the Sino-Burma border, has a wife, Nang Shwe Hmone, two daughters and one son. Until lately, he was working in a clinic “Yuli Kha” in Lashio. He was also the chairman of the local Shan literary and cultural society. http://www.shanland.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3458:security-beefed-up-at-shan-vps-home-in-shan-state-north&catid=85:politics&Itemid=266
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Myint Aung Dismissed, Placed Under House Arrest
By WAI MOE Thursday, February 10, 2011
Lt-Gen Myint Aung, Burma's former adjutant general, who was appointed defense minister by junta chief Snr-Gen Than Shwe last week, has been placed under house arrest in Naypyidaw after formally declining the ministerial position, according to sources in the Burmese capital.
“Thura” Myint Aung was thought to be in line for the position as commander-in-chief of the armed forces—a title held currently by Than Shwe—but the military junta strongman has not stepped down.
Myint Aung
“He reportedly said that he did not want to be the defense minister under the possible new Commander-in-Chief Lt-Gen Min Aung Hlaing,” a military source said.
Myint Aung graduated from the elite Defense Services Academy (DSA) Intake 18 while Min Aung Hlaing was from DSA Intake 19; Myint Aung therefore being one year senior to Min Aung Hlaing.
Sources in Naypyidaw concur that Myint Aung was popular and respected among his peers and subordinates while Min Aung Hlaing is generally seen as “arrogant.”
Lt-Gen Ko Ko will now take over as head of the Defense Ministry, it was announced at Parliament on Wednesday.
After turning down the cabinet position last week, Myint Aung was dismissed from his role as lieutenant-general then placed under house arrest and separated from his family, a source said, adding that houses in Rangoon and Naypyidaw and a vehicle that had been provided for him have been retaken.
A businessman close to Myint Aung's family said that his family members were back home in Rangoon earlier this week, but that Myint Aung did not appear.
Along with more than one dozen senior military officials, such as Gen Shwe Mann, Gen Tin Aung Myint Oo, Lt-Gen Tin Aye and Lt-Gen Ko Ko, 55-year-old Myint Aung was removed from his military position in late August.
However, Myint Aung, Ko Ko and some others continued to serve in military uniform while Shwe Mann, Tin Aung Myint Oo and Tin Aye shed their uniforms to take part in November's general elections.
At the time, rumors from Naypyidaw suggested that Than Shwe favored Myint Aung and Ko Ko to succeed him and and his deputy, Vice Snr-Gen Maung Aye, respectively.
Myint Aung’s last public appearance was on Nov 7 when MRTV evening news showed him and his wife voting at a polling station in Naypyidaw alongside other generals and their wives.
Under the autocratic rule of Than Shwe, the rise and fall of many military generals has been swift and at times seemingly arbitrary. http://www.irrawaddy.org/highlight.php?art_id=20725
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BBC
Aung San Suu Kyi honoured by Brighton Festival
10 February 2011 Last updated at 11:11 GMT
Burma's pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been named as the guest director of the 2011 Brighton Festival.
Organisers said this year's festival would celebrate and champion Ms Suu Kyi's cause and world vision.
Ms Suu Kyi said it was wonderful to know there was so much support for the effort to bring democracy to Burma.
Events include a discussion with Wikileaks founder Julian Assange called Article 19, which will look at Freedom of Information and the right to know.
'Use your liberty'
Ms Suu Kyi will not be attending the event, but in a statement she said: "It is especially pleasing for me to see, albeit remotely, Brighton Festival taking shape this year, and to think that so many people will come together in May to celebrate great art and experience the inner peace it brings.
"It is wonderful too to know that there is such support for the effort to bring democracy and freedom to Burma, for which the Burmese people have been diligently working for so long."
She urged people involved in the festival to "continue to use your liberty to promote ours" - a plea which arts organisers said had been taken to the heart of the event.
The Burmese military authorities released the Nobel Peace Prize winner from house arrest on 13 November last year.
She had been detained for 15 of the previous 21 years.
Thousands of people gathered outside the home of 65-year-old Ms Suu Kyi to greet her and hear her speak.
Since her release, she has called for a peaceful revolution in Burma and said she hoped for a non-violent end to military rule.
Victorian police cells
Her brother-in-law Adrian Phillips said: "Aung San Suu Kyi has often said how important music and the arts have been to her throughout her life.
"Brighton Festival is a wonderful opportunity to bring her struggle to a wider public, at a time when it is so important for the world to keep remembering what remains to be done in Burma."
Images from New World Order performance (left) and an installation to be shown in the Old Municipal Market (right) This year's festival will champion Ms Suu Kyi's cause and explore themes of freedom and voice
Festival chief executive Andrew Comben said he hoped the programme reflected some of Ms Suu Kyi's extraordinary spirit.
He said an incredible collection of artists had come together to celebrate an iconic woman who inspired so many.
The Asian Dub Foundation will open this year's festival with a live performance inspired by the struggle in Burma.
One performance, called The New World Order, is offering the audience a "visceral experience of imprisonment" and will take people on a journey through Victorian police cells.
And Beethoven's opera, Fidelio, chosen for "startlingly contemporary" themes of wrongful incarceration, abuse of power and personal sacrifice, will be performed by the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and Brighton Festival Chorus.
The full festival programme is due to be launched later this month.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-sussex-12410512
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Major government overhaul underway
By AHUNT PHONE MYAT
Published: 9 February 2011
Two new ministries have been added to the Burmese government as part of a major overhaul of the country’s administrative system that places key military figures at the top of the pile.
Following yesterday’s parliamentary session the Ministry of the President’s Office and the Ministry of Industrial Development became the latest additions to Burma’s political landscape.
The remaining 32 have been revamped and most will come under new directorship. But the heads of four of the most prominent departments – the defence ministry, home affairs ministry, foreign affairs ministry and border affairs ministry – will be nominated solely by the commander-in-chief, Than Shwe, and then appointed by President Thein Sein.
The Ministry of Border Affairs has already been placed under the leadership of Major-General Hla Min, a senior figure in the Burmese army and former commander of the Southern Regional Military Command. The defence ministry will be headed by Lieutenant-General Ko Ko, former Chief of Bureau of Special Operations-3.
Burma’s border regions have for decades hosted conflicts between the Burmese army and armed ethnic groups that have left millions displaced. Hla Min will likely be kept busy dealing with the escalating tensions between the Burmese army and groups who refused the junta’s demands to transform into Border Guard Forces.
Retaining his position as Minister for Religious Affairs is Thura Myint Maung, the man who infamously announced on government radio in September 2007 that “action would be taken” against demonstrating monks unless they withdrew from the protests. Several were subsequently gunned down by the army.
The outcome of today’s parliamentary session will do little to appease critics of the November 2010 elections who claimed the polls were merely window-dressing, and that military rule would continue in Burma under the guise of a civilian government.
Close allies of the ruling junta make up the remaining new ministers: the country’s former police chief, Khin Yi, once a military man, has become home minister while Wunna Maung Lwin, Burma’s former ambassador to the UN, is head of foreign affairs.
Eight of the 14 people appointed as chief ministers of regional legislatures also come fresh from the military, further extending the army’s reach into the volatile border regions.
Overseeing the reshuffle is Burma’s new president, Thein Sein, a man whose military career spanned half a century before he retired last year. The former prime minister is known to be close to junta strongman Than Shwe, who in 2004 appointed him head of the National Convention which drafted the constitution that came into force with November’s election, and appeared designed to keep the generals in power.
Supporting the military figures now holding top positions in government ministries are the pro-junta MPs and army officials that dominate the new parliament, which sat for the first time last week. Respresentatives of the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), which was headed by Thein Sein, won 80 percent of seats, while a quarter of the total seats had been reserved for the military prior to voting.
Additional reporting by Francis Wade http://www.dvb.no/news/major-government-overhaul-underway/14179
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Calls mount for Shan leader’s release
By NANG KHAM KAEW
Published: 10 February 2011
Protests yesterday marked the sixth anniversary of the arrest of imprisoned Shan political leader Khun Htun Oo, whose health is reportedly deteriorating.
Burmese and Shan pro-democracy activists were yesterday outside the UN office in Tokyo, Japan, calling for the 68-year-old’s release. Echoing them were members of his now-defunct Shan National League for Democracy (SNDP) party who said their leader’s freedom must be realised before the junta can convince the world that it is transitioning to civilian rule.
“We cannot trust the junta claims that the country is marching towards democracy,” said Mai Kyaw Oo, a representative for the National Democratic Force (NDF) in Japan, who hails from Shan state.
He added the recent appointment of Shan politician Sai Mouk Kham to vice president was little more than window dressing, given the number of ethnic representatives that remain behind bars.
Following Khun Htun Oo’s arrest in 2005 he was sentenced to 93 years in jail, and is currently interned in the remote northern Putao prison close to Burma’s border with China. Burmese authorities had accused the politician, whose party came second in the 1990 elections, of plotting a coup against the ruling generals.
He claimed however that he was merely organising what he billed an ‘advisory council’ to guide other Shan parties in the country’s National Convention. State media at the time said however that the group was “launching movements to disintegrate national unity and solidarity”.
The SNLD’s general secretary, Sai Nyunt Lwin, was also arrested and handed an 85-year sentence, while 74-year-old Hso Ten, chairman of the Shan State Peace Council who was also involved in the alleged plot, was given 106 years.
Khun Htun Oo is believed to be suffering from diabetes and heart disease, conditions that have been exacerbated by his lack of access to adequate medicine. His cell in Putao, where weather conditions can be harsh, is cramped, making exercise difficult.
http://www.dvb.no/news/calls-mount-for-shan-leader%E2%80%99s-release/14217
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Suu Kyi’s party to take appeal to UN
By KHIN HNIN HTET
Published: 9 February 2011
The UN will be the next stop on the quest to legally reinstate Burma’s opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) as a political party, following the recent rejection of an appeal against its dissolution.
The party, led by Aung San Suu Kyi, is preparing to take their case to the UN’s Human Rights Council (UNHRC), spokesperson Nyan Win said. He claims the disbanding of the party last year following its refusal to compete in elections was a violation of their rights; moreover, that the Supreme Court’s rejection of their appeal on 28 January contradicted a number of articles in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
“Every citizen has the right to take part in the country’s governance, either directly in person or acting as a representative. Those rights of ours were violated,” he told DVB.
The main points in the appeal, he said, were the violation of freedom of expression epitomised by the dissolution, and the lack of law and order in Burma, which has been under military rule since 1962. The UNHRC was a last resort for the party because of the “[lack of] chances with legal procedure in Burma”.
A meeting held on Monday between Suu Kyi and the party’s legal wing concluded that the case would be filed within two weeks, having first gathered momentum in early October last year.
Since then it has been dismissed by three different courts in Burma, with the latest appeal being brushed aside by the Supreme Court in “a matter of minutes”, NLD lawyer Kyaw Hoe said last week.
The independence of Burma’s judicial system has been repeatedly questioned by observers, with court verdicts in the military-ruled country rarely favouring the opposition.
“It is politically very important that a decision is made as to whether we or the government is right about these legal facts,” Nyan Win said. As such, he added, the party would be making a strong case for its reinstatement.
“If the Human Rights Council decides that our stand is right and that the government’s procedures were wrong, then it will be politically beneficial to us.”
Controversy has dogged the UNHRC since its inception in 2006 – critics claim it is dominated by countries such as China, Russia and Islamic states, who prioritise each others’ interests, while UN chief Ban Ki-moon has in the past criticised what he calls a politicisation of decisions made in the 47-member Council.
http://www.dvb.no/news/suu-kyi%E2%80%99s-party-to-take-appeal-to-un/14167
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Wood Shortfall Hits Three Pagodas Pass
By LAWI WENG Thursday, February 10, 2011
More than 100 furniture factories and retailers in Three Pagodas Pass have had to suspend their operations due to a chronic shortage of wood since the Karen National Union (KNU) prohibited logging in the area.
Local resident Thu Rain told The Irrawaddy that of 138 furniture factories, workshops and retailers in the town, only 10 are currently open on a daily basis.
The rebel KNU, a 4,000-strong ethnic army that has fought the Burmese government almost constantly for more than 60 years, granted in 2010 logging concessions to cut about 1,000 tons of ironwood to several Burmese businesses, including Htoo Trading Company, which is owned by Tay Za, a Burmese business tycoon whose name has become synonymous with the term “business crony” and is top of a blacklist of persons facing sanctions by Western nations.
A logging truck heads from Three Pagodas Pass to Thailand in 2010. (PHOTO: The Irrawaddy)
However, last month the KNU did a U-turn on the policy, reportedly reneged on their contracts, and issued a total ban on logging in the areas under their control in Karen State.
The ban was enacted after clashes broke out between the group's armed wing, the Karen National Liberation Army, and Burmese government forces in southern Karen State near Myawaddy, a region known as Brigade 6 to the Karen rebels.
Nai Tun, a timber merchant in Three Pagodas Pass, said, “I don't possess a single log at the moment.
“I have tons of timber remaining in the jungle—trees that I cut down last year,” he said. “But now I cannot get into that area.”
The Forestry Office in Three Pagodas Pass last year recorded an annual turnover of some 30,000 tons of hardwood, including teak and ironwood, which was the main source of business in the town, keeping almost every furniture factory in the town supplied with timber all year round.
But all varieties of wood have run out despite a high demand, the sources said.
“In normal conditions, the factories and workshops in Three Pagodas use a total of about 50 tons of wood a day,” said Thu Rain.
As a result of the wood shortage, the price of hardwood has gone up.
One ton of ironwood is currently wholesaling for 24,000 baht (US $800), while it cost only 9,000 baht last March. One ton of softwood is currently selling at 11,000 baht, up from 4,500 baht last year.
The hardwood shortage has prompted several local rubber plantation owners to fell their trees to sell to the furniture factories, sources report.
On Feb. 8, the Burmese military authorities in Three Pagodas Pass called a meeting with representatives from the Forest Ministry, the Furniture Committee and the Burmese army, at which the government authorities issued a declaration that no small hardwood trees can be cut down in or around Three Pagodas Pass, and that violators will be punished.
“The authorities announced that too late,” said Thu Rain. “It is too hot now and there are no big trees. If they cut down small trees, there will be a drought.”
Meanwhile, across the border in Thailand, prices have also gone up. “One ton of ironwood in Sangkhalaburi is now about 30,000 baht,” said resident Nai Rubby who built a new house last week in the town.
“It is not easy to find wood now,” he said. “If you have money, you can buy gold any time you like. But you cannot buy hardwood.”
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=20728
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Five 8888-day anniversary protesters released
Thursday, 10 February 2011 20:12 Mizzima News
(Mizzima) - Five young people who were imprisoned for staging a protest against rising commodity prices on the anniversary of the 8888 uprising were released on Monday, February 7, according to the Rakhine branch of the National League for Democracy (NLD) and the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP).
The five are Ni Ni May Myint, Maung Maung Thet, Chit Maung Maung, Moe Naing Soe and Than Lwin. They staged a protest directed at the military junta on August 8, 2008, the anniversary of the 8888 uprising.
They were each sentenced to two and half years imprisonment.
‘All five of them were released on the same day. They have served their full term’, said the Rakhine State branch youth wing secretary, Thein Hlaing.
They were charged under section 143 (unlawful assembly) and section 505(b) (causing disaffection to the State) of the Penal Code.
Thein Hlaing told Mizzima that they were first held in Thandwe (Sandoway) Prison, but they were later transferred to Buthidaung Prison after they held a ‘U Ottama Day’ ceremony inside the prison.
There were a total 18 political prisoners in Buthidaung Prison and now that number has fell to 13.
There are a total of 2,189 political prisoners still behind bars across the country, the Thai-based AAPP said.
After her release from house arrest, Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi said that she would prioritize her work to achieve the release of all political prisoners.
The NLD has a social outreach program which involves volunteers who help prisoners and their familiy members in a one-on-one situation.
The ruling junta denies the existence of political prisoners in Burma, claiming they are guilty of violating the criminal penal code. International governments and the UN have regularly called for the release of all political prisoners, but the junta ignores the pleas.
http://mizzima.com/news/inside-burma/4870-five-8888-day-anniversary-protesters-released.html
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