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| Tata Motors setting up heavy trucks unit in Myanmar |
| Tuesday, 31 March 2009 |
After launching the world's cheapest car, Nano, Tata Motors is looking east, towards neighbouring Myanmar, to boost its sales by setting up a truck manufacturing plant in the military ruled country.
Tata Motors, the world's fourth largest truck manufacturer and second largest bus manufacturer, will be setting up a heavy turbo truck assembly and component production factory in that country. Production is expected to start by December 2009.
Manas Kumar Mishra of Tata Motors met Myanmar's minister of energy, vice admiral Soe Thein in Naypyitaw on Thursday to finalise the first Indian truck manufacturing unit in Myanmar.
Myanmar's official newspaper, The New Light of Myanmar, said, ''Both sides discussed the speedy implementation of a heavy turbo truck assembly and component parts production factory project and starting manufacturing operations from December 2009.''
This project is part of India's cooperation with ASEAN countries and `Look East Policy' started in 1994, whereby the Indian government wants to engage in bilateral development projects such as construction of roads, power projects, oil refinery units, transmission lines, telecommunications, and Information technology services in East Asian countries like Myanmar.
Tata Motors will get $20 million (Rs100 crore) line of credit that has been sanctioned by the external affairs ministry for setting up the heavy turbo truck assembly and component production factory in Myanmar.
As part of its expansion plans in Southeast Asia, Tata Motors had inked a joint venture with Thailand's Thonburi Auto Assembly's to manufacture up to 35,000 one-tonne pick-up trucks a year over the next 3-5 years. (See: Tata Motors to move fast on small car project, tap Southeast Asian truck market)
Last year the company had raised a further $1 one billion in debt or equity from overseas markets to fund further acquisitions and/or strategic alliances in India and abroad. (See: Tata Motors plans more acquisitions; to raise $1 billion overseas)
India's bilateral trade with Burma for 2007-08 was $901.3 million while Myanmar's export to India was $727.85 million. India's exports to Myanmar totalled $173.46 million.
For a nation of 47.37 million people, there are about 900,000 motor vehicles in Myanmar, more than half of which are in Yangon, and more than half of which are motorcycles.
There are only a handful of truck manufacturers in Myanmar with most of them being located in the Taunggyi industrial zone of southern Shan state manufacturing light trucks and jeeps.
Most of the light trucks are imported, with Japan being the biggest source of light truck imports into Myanmar. Tata Motors, however, therefore not face competition in the heavy truck segment from Japanese imports.
Among the imported trucks, the Mitsubishi Canter and Toyota Dyna of Japan have the highest sales in Myanmar with the Mitsubishi Canter being the most preferred truck because their engines have more power than Dynas.
Japan's Suzuki Motor Co had established a joint venture in 1998 with Myanmar Automobile and Diesel Engine Industries and manufactures Wagon R saloon cars, light trucks and Suzuki motor cycles.
Since 1997, the US and the EU has imposed economic sanctions on Myanmar's military rulers for overthrowing the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi, and former president George Bush in July 2008, further strengthened the sanctions when the military junta brutally cracked down on the monk-led protests in September 2007.
Since foreign fund flows are scarce, investments in Myanmar have come mainly from its immediate neighbours like China, India as well as from Russia, Singapore and Vietnam.
Foreign investment in Myanmar nearly doubled in the first 11 months of 2008 to $974.9 million, with $855.99 million coming from China. Majority of Chinese investments are in the mining and oil and gas industries.
In 1995, the Essar Group of India, through its subsidiary Essar Oil, signed contracts with the Myanmar government for onshore and offshore explorations for oil and gas and is currently drilling two wells - one onshore and the other offshore.
GAIL and ONGC are part of a consortium in the massive Shwe gas field off the coast of Myanmar with ONGC holding a 20 per cent stake. Recently they discovered new gas reserves, which require an investment of about $2 billion to develop the find.
China, being the largest investor in Myanmar, has invested heavily in the mining and oil and gas sector.
The Chinese government had given a grant of $4.39 million to Myanmar for setting up an industrial training centre in Mandalay, the country's second largest city, to train local technicians for automotive production and maintenance.
A consortium of Chinese companies has built the biggest hydropower project in Myanmar, Shweli 1 Hydropower Station's No. 2 generating turbine on a BOT (Build- Operate-Transfer) bsis. This plant supplies power back to China, making it the first power station outside the country that will supply electricity to China.
The BOT contract is for 40 years and the power station is connected to China's power grid, which will supply power to the manufacturing hub of Guangdong.
China is now building a 2,000 km-long gas and oil pipeline from Myanmar's Arakan state to China's Yunnan province before the end of 2011 to import oil and gas from Myanmar.
The total cost of the pipeline will be approximately $1.2 billion and China will bear most of the cost.
In the early half of this month, the $332 billion sovereign wealth fund of Norway, the Pension Fund-Global, divested all its holdings in China's Dongfeng Motor Group for selling 900 trucks to the Myanmar military during the first half of 2008.
The action initiated by the Norwegian wealth fund was in line with its ethical policies of not investing in companies that sell weapons or other military materials to the Myanmar military government.
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| Myanmar leader warns on democracy |
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After reviewing more than 13,000 troops from inside a moving convertible, as part of 64th Anniversary Armed Forces Day parade, Myanmar military junta leader Senior General Than Shwe gave a 20-minute speech that focused on elections scheduled for 2010.
“Democracy in Myanmar today is at a fledgling stage and still requires patient care and attention,” Than Shwe said, “Some parties look to foreign countries for guidance and inspiration, follow the imported ideologies and directives irrationally.”
“I would like to request those who will be involved in organizing work for parties to refrain from inciting unrest, to avoid personal attacks and smear campaigns against other parties and to find unity in diversity by practicing tolerances, forgiveness and understanding toward one another,” he added, “We have to ensure that the progress of democracy in the country does not affect non-disintegration of the union and non-disintegration of national solidarity … Political parties should do their organizing works based on the conviction of non-disintegration of the Union and National Solidarity and also Union Spirit,”
Parties that carry out “mature party organizing work will receive the blessing of the government,” he said, but added the country should not expect a “well-established democracy” overnight.”As a Myanmar proverb puts it, ‘a recently dug well cannot be expected to produce clear water immediately’ _ understanding the process of gradual maturity is crucial,” he said.
In his speech, Than Shwe clearly indicated there will be no constitutional review, saying the “constitution (was) adopted by the people.”
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| Immediate talks unlikely between NMSP and junta |
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by Salai Pi Pi
New Delhi (Mizzima) – A Burmese ethnic Mon ceasefire group, New Mon State Party (NMSP), has denied a rumor of possible further talks in the near future between the organization and Burma’s military junta.
Speaking to Mizzima, Nai Ohn Mange, spokesperson for the NMSP, on Monday said the organization has no exact schedule for continuing talks with Burma’s generals following a secret meeting with junta officials in southeast Burma during the first week of March.
“At present, it is impossible that we are going to have further talks with them [Burmese regime],” Mange said.
The rejection by Mon officials of additional talks came after the exile-based Independent Mon News Agency (IMNA) on Friday carried a report that said the NMSP had decided to meet with Burmese generals on matters related to the upcoming 2010 election.
IMNA also said Lieutenant General Ye Myint pressed delegates of the NMSP to contest the forthcoming polls.
Mange said, regarding the upcoming 2010 election, the NMSP will continue to adhere to the electoral resolution passed at its party congress held on January. The resolution states the party will not consider contesting the election unless the regime allows a review of the newly adopted constitution.
“We will keep on holding to the resolution of the Party Congress,” Mange reaffirmed.
In the first week of March, some central executive committee members of the NMSP, led by party Chairman Nai Rotsa, quietly met with Lieutenant General Ye Myint at Southeast Command headquarters in Mawlamyaing, capital of Mon state.
“They [Burmese generals] asked about the results of the party’s conference. And what sort of help we need from them,” Mange said.
Moreover, he said the junta assured delegates of the Mon ceasefire group in a secret meeting that there would not be pressure for the NMSP to disarm.
“They said we should not be worried concerning disarmament,” maintained Mange. “It seems they were trying to console us.”
However, he added that the regime did not reveal how it expects to treat the NMSP in the future.
The NMSP was formed in July 1958 to fight for self-determination and reached a ceasefire agreement with the Burmese regime in 1995.
After originally attending the National Convention as a ceasefire group, which began in 1993 and only concluded in 2007, the NMSP later in 2005 only participated in proceedings as an observer after arguing that ethnic rights were being ignored during the convention’s proceedings.
Despite opposing the election slated for 2010, the NMSP pledged to maintain the ceasefire agreement with Burmese regime.
“We will keep on maintaining our ceasefire agreement. But, regarding talks, we will never start to offer [further talks],” said Mange.
Meanwhile, Thailand’s Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya said last week that he was asked by the Burmese junta in his last trip to the neighboring country to assist in persuading the Karen National Union, another ethnic army fighting for self-determination, to join the 2010 electoral process.
However, the KNU has since told Mizzima that while the organization is open to peace talks, they will remain firm in their demand for a revision of the junta’s constitution before agreeing to join in next year’s national polling. |
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| Rights group demands migrant compensation |
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Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – A labor rights group on Monday condemned the Thai government for denying Burmese migrants access to a workers compensation fund through Thailand’s Social Security Office.
Monday's statement, forwarded to the U.N. Special Rapporteur Homayoun Alizadeh, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)'s Regional Representative for South-East Asia and the U.N. Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, was jointly produced by the Human Rights and Development Foundation and the Thai Labor Solidarity Committee.
The groups argue that it is necessary to use an international mechanism on human rights to urge Thailand’s Ministry of Labor to cease in discrimination which denies basic rights to migrant workers from neighboring countries.
“This action violated the U.N. Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination,” affirms the statement.
“We have tried to make high level officials of the Labor Ministry aware that there are many migrant workers from Burma who have accidents on work but do not get compensation or get less than the rate as noted in the law,” say the rights groups.
However, "The ministry not only denied our previous request but also opposed our court appeal," continued the groups in defense of their current measures.
The action stems from a 2008 case in which Nang Noom, a Shan migrant worker from Burma, appealed to the Chiang Mai Administrative Court's refusal to rule on her discrimination claim against the Social Security Office (SSO), which denied her compensation for injuries suffered in a job-related accident.
Nang Noom was paralyzed from the waist down following an accident at the construction site for the Shangri-la Hotel in Chiang Mai on December 4, 2006. The case eventually made its way to the Supreme Administration Court, where it was again refused.
The case was first submitted to the Chiang Mai Administrative Court on April 11, 2008. On April 25, the Court issued notice of its refusal to consider the case, ruling that the legality of the SSO's existing policy falls within the jurisdiction of the Labor Court because it is a dispute related to labor protection laws.
According to SSO policy, only migrant workers who have passports can receive compensation from the workers compensation fund. Few Burmese migrant workers hold passports. Regulations say that every employer must pay into the fund, designed to provide compensation to a worker in case of an accident at the workplace, but the policy excludes non-passport holding workers.
In the middle of 2008, the International Labor Organization (ILO) submitted a letter to the Ministry of Labor in Thailand inquiring about the case and its potential violation of international labor laws. However, the ministry denied that it partook in any form of discrimination and ignored suggestions from the Human Rights Commission of Thailand, according to the ILO.
The Thai Labor Solidarity Committee consists of 24 labor associations and organizations while the Human Rights and Development Foundation works closely with migrant workers in Thailand, particularly in providing assistance related to labor rights and the legal process. |
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| Burma again chastised for lack of religious freedom |
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by Mizzima News
The United States State Department has once again saddled Burma with the moniker of a 'country of particular concern' (CPC) for the Burmese government's failure to address the lack of religious freedom inside the troubled Southeast Asian country.
Burma maintains the distinction of being named to the CPC list every year since the inception of the categorization in 1999 – with the exception of 2007, in which the State Department failed to compile a list.
The 2008 list, released at the end of last week, is a product of the former administration and the State Department under then Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. The CPC list is identical to its predecessor, consisting of Burma, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, China, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, and Uzbekistan.
The CPC designation is reserved for the governments of countries in which persecution of religious freedom is found to be "particularly severe", including torture, and characterized by the "flagrant denial of the right to life, liberty, or the security of persons."
In recent weeks, Burma's predominantly Muslim Rohingya population has come under international attention for its alleged and prolonged persecution at the hands of Burmese authorities and their travails in attempting to flee the harsh living conditions of Burma.
If not granted a waiver, designation as a CPC requires the President to take measures, such as enacting sanctions against the government in violation, to impel an improvement in the status of freedom of religion inside the country of concern.
Following the nationwide uprising of 1988, and principally after passage of the 2003 Burma Freedom and Democracy Act, the United States has maintained comprehensive sanctions against Burma and its military leaders.
Prior to releasing the results, the findings were forwarded to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) for reaction and recommendation.
In its ensuing statement, released on Friday, the USCIRF responded critically with regard to both the lack of action taken against the most serious violators and to the composition of the CPC list itself.
"[T]he Commission concludes that the State Department should have acted years ago in the case of a number of the countries our Commission recommended for CPC designation," voiced Felice Gaer, Chair of the USCIRF.
Gaer went on to say that "we [USCIRF] hope the Obama Administration will recognize the added value that CPC status can bring to American public diplomacy on human rights."
USCIRF had counseled inclusion of Pakistan, Vietnam, Turkmenistan and Iraq as CPCs in the most recent State Department listing of the world's worst violators of religious freedom – but the State Department declined to act on any of the referrals.
The list has often been criticized for being unduly influenced by political necessity, as epitomized by the waiver routinely granted to Saudi Arabia, effectively relieving the kingdom of any potential punishment stemming from their categorization, despite the Middle Eastern country's abominable record with respect to honoring freedom of religion. |
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| Opposition party responds to junta’s call for election participation |
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(DVB)–Burma’s military leader urged political parties last week to participate in the 2010 elections, whilst warning them not to criticise the 2008 constitution, which many claim guarantees a continuation of military rule.
Political observers in Burma understood the speech, given during National Arms Day (Tatmadaw Day) on Friday, to be directly aimed at the National League for Democracy, which has been calling for a revision of the constitution.
The NLD’s spokesperson, Thein Nyunt, however said there was nothing explicit in Senior General Than Shwe’s speech that suggested a revision of the constitution will be blocked.
“I didn’t hear any statement about denying revision of the constitution,” he said.
“In every constitution ever written, there is always a session on revising the document itself because it is the ‘basic’ constitution, as we call it, which is not the ‘complete’ or the ‘perfect’ constitution.”
He went on to say that the NLD statement released on Friday reinstated the party’s call to form a constitution amendment committee to include representatives from parliament, ethnic groups and the military.
No response has so far been received from the government.
“The government and the NLD have different opinions from each other,” he said.
“They don’t want us to attack the constitution but we think it needs amending.
"I think the best way to find an answer to this argument is to hold a dialogue and find out how we could do the best for our people.”
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| General’s Promotion Signals Power Struggles at the Top |
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Burma’s top-ranking generals know that they must hang together or risk hanging separately. But that doesn’t mean that there are no real rivalries among the men who rule the country with an iron fist.
When Snr-Gen Than Shwe promoted Thiha Thura Tin Aung Myint Oo to the rank of four-star general last Wednesday, two days before Armed Forces Day, he was not just rewarding a junior colleague for his loyal service: he was undercutting potential rivals for power.
Tin Aung Myint Oo, who is now one of only three four-star generals in the country, is reportedly close to the regime’s second-most powerful figure, Vice Snr-Gen Maung Aye. By promoting him, however, Than Shwe has ensured that Tin Aung Myint Oo’s first loyalty will now be to the senior general.
“This is a power struggle between Than Shwe and Maung Aye,” said an observer in Rangoon.
Tin Aung Myint Oo’s promotion comes as no surprise. He was often seen accompanying Maung Aye and powerful commanders, including the air defense department and intelligence chiefs, on trips around the country.
Burmese military observers suggest that Tin Aung Myint Oo’s promotion marks the rise of a third powerful faction to rival those led by Gen Thura Shwe Mann, the coordinator of Special Operations, Army, Navy and Air Force, and Lt-General Myint Swe, chief of the Bureau of Special Operation No 5.
All three groups now vie for Than Shwe’s favor, even as they seek to keep each other from rising any higher within the inner circle.
Tin Aung Myint Oo, who is in his early 60s, is the fifth-ranking general in the military hierarchy. More importantly, he holds the title of Secretary 1 of the ruling military council and has long been groomed for a prominent position in the junta.
In 1995, he was appointed head of the No 1 Military Operation Command, based in Kyaukme Township in northern Shan State, as a brigadier-general. He became commander of the Northeast Military Region in Lashio in 1997. Ten years later, when Gen Thein Sein became prime minister, Tin Aung Myint Oo took over as Secretary 1.
Burmese observers say that Tin Aung Myint Oo is a hardliner who is skeptical of offers of foreign humanitarian assistance and UN involvement in the Cyclone Nargis relief effort. He recently visited the cyclone-hit Irrawaddy delta and has been named deputy head of the National Disaster Preparedness Central Committee.
According to these observers, Than Shwe watches Shwe Mann, Tin Aung Myint Oo and Myint Swe closely to decide who will become the next Burmese military chief.
Sources inside Burma have noted that all three are close to Than Shwe’s family and loyal to the top commander, making it unlikely that any one of them would stage coup against him.
But Than Shwe doesn’t just prize loyalty towards himself: he also likes to cultivate mutual mistrust among his protégés.
At the moment, the most noteworthy rivalry is that between Tin Aung Myint Oo and Shwe Mann, another Than Shwe favorite who is said to be close to several businessmen and scholars involved in getting humanitarian assistance to the cyclone-affected areas of the delta.
Nyo Ohn Myint, head of the foreign affairs office of the National League for Democracy (Liberated Area), said that Tin Aung Myint Oo’s promotion was a classic Than Shwe maneuver.
“He wants to make competition between Shwe Mann and Tin Aung Myint Oo,” said Nyo Ohn Myint. “Than Shwe doesn’t want to rely on just one person, Shwe Mann.”
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| Skeptics Question Burma’s Internet Slowdown |
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Burma has one of slowest internet connections in the world for ordinary citizens but since March 21, Internet access has become even slower, seriously affecting businesses and the communications industry.
Myanmar Teleport, which manages the Internet, announced that Internet speed would slow on March 21-25 due to maintenance on a fiber optic cable. Then, Myanmar Teleport extended the slower service to April 1.
“Its impact is big inside Burma, especially on weekly journals, export-import companies and travel tour agencies,” said a Rangoon-based journalist who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Weekly journals include the popular sports weeklies, which depend on the Internet for international coverage of events.
A bookstore owner said, “Journals which cover football are the worst. They can do nothing if the Internet is too slow.”
Some Internet observers were skeptical about the government’s claim of Internet maintenance, and said it could have something to do with government monitoring of Internet use.
“They [authorities] said they are working on a fiber optic cable, but that’s not possible because some sites can now be used and some can’t,” said a young Internet user in the city. “Now we can't use some proxy sites such as Gmail. They may be trying to prohibit the sites they don't like and scanning suspect e-mail.”
Internet speed in Burma is normally slow compared to neighboring countries, and Internet use is not widespread.
According to the CIA World Fact Book, there were 70,000 Burmese Internet users in 2007 and 108 internet hosts in 2008 while Thailand had 1.1 million Internet hosts in 2008 and 13.4 million Internet users in 2007.
The Burmese junta’s Internet firewall attempts to ban all exiled Burmese media, selected international media, all blogs, some scholarship Web sites and all proxy servers, say Internet users.
Notices are posted in Internet shops in Burma warning customers that accessing banned Web sites is against the law.
Since September 2007, the junta has viewed Internet users as a threat to military control of information, especially to the international community which learned of the junta’s brutal crackdown on demonstrators through reports from private citizens over the Internet.
Following the crackdown, parts of the Burmese Internet were shut down for two weeks.
“The regime ordered access providers to limit exchanges between the Burmese people and the rest of the world,” said the Paris-based Reporters Sans Frontiers (RSF). “The junta aimed to prevent the spread of video on sharing sites such as YouTube, Dailymotion and Flicker.”
Last year, the government sentenced two popular Burmese bloggers to long prison terms under an electronic communications act which bars certain types of communication that “threaten state security.”
Nay Phone Latt, a blogger, received a 20-year prison sentence in late 2008, and the well-known comedian and blogger Zaganar received a 59-year sentence.
Burma’s closest ally, China, has been criticized by media watchdog groups for its role in providing technologies to control the Internet in Burma.
“Burma, long home to one of Asia’s most repressive media environments, has also taken Internet censorship cues from China, its staunchest international ally,” said the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), saying Burmese security police received Internet censorship and surveillance training from Chinese experts.
The CPJ said the training includes monitoring online journalists and bloggers as well as launching cyber-attacks on exiled Web-site publications and groups.
The Information Warfare Monitor, a Canadian research group, claimed the weekend that an electronic Internet spy network, with servers based in China, had illegally accessed 1,295 computers in 103 countries, including foreign ministries and embassies as well as computers working on behalf of Tibet's spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama.
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| SPDC authorities start erecting pillars for fence on Burma-Bangladesh border |
| Sunday, 29 March 2009 |
Maungdaw, Arakan State: SPDC authorities have started erecting pillars for fencing the Burma-Bangladesh border (in Burma side) since March 21. They started erecting pillars from every Nasaka Sector of Maungdaw Township, a trader from Maungdaw town said.
The Nasaka have started working in every Nasaka Sector, where 60 army personnel have been joined by plainclothes men. They are from the engineering division of MOC-15 of Buthidaung Township. They surveyed all the areas on which fencing would be done and leveled the earth along the Naff River, where the fence would be built.
On the same day, they had erected 50 pillars on the Burmese side of the Burma-Bangladesh border. Each pillar is 20 ft high, 9 inches wide and 9 inches long. There is a 10 ft distance from one pillar to another pillar. They are continuously erecting the pillars. They take laborers from nearby villages and give them Kyat 1,500 per day, a student from the locality said.
The Army looks after the security for the fencing project, while a warrant officer Soe Naing harasses the laborers, while they are working at the site. He even beats them with a stick, when the workers take rest. The army personnel go to the work site in plainclothes to command the workers, a village elder, whose son works at the site said.
When asked regarding the fence, one of the village elders said, “They maintain advance security for the exodus of the Rohingya community, while they are oppressed by the SPDC authorities.”
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| Burma blames dissident groups for bomb blast |
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Burma's junta has accused two dissident groups in exile of plotting a bomb attack in the country's economic hub Rangoon that killed a man two days ago, state media says.
The New Light of Myanmar (Burma), a mouthpiece for the military government, said the explosion at a city guesthouse on the eve of an annual military parade had killed the bomber himself, a man thought to be in his twenties.
Two women were also injured, it said.
"On examination of the explosives and accessories found in the room and on the dead body, it was found that the blast occurred while the man was setting up a timed bomb," the newspaper said.
They said the All Burmese Student Democratic Front (ABSDF) and Whole Burma United Revolutionary Front (WBURF) were responsible -- two rebel groups based on Thailand's border, formed in the wake of a failed student uprising in 1988.
"After investigating it was found the blast was linked to the ABSDF insurgent group and WBURF insurgent group," the paper said, adding that authorities seized dynamite, a detonator and other bomb-making materials from the scene.
Military-ruled Burma has been rocked by a series of small bomb blasts in and around Rangoon in recent months, usually blamed on armed exile groups or ethnic rebels.
"Destructive elements and insurgents have been plotting to plant bombs in an attempt to undermine community peace and stability and to cause panic among the people," the paper said.
The military has ruled Burma since 1962, partly justifying its grip on power by claiming the need to fend off ethnic rebellions which have plagued its remote border areas for decades.
Democracy activists have also been accused of violence with state-run media accusing two members of detained democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) of bombing pro-government offices in July 2008.
The NLD won a landslide victory in 1990 elections, but the junta never allowed it to take office. Aung San Suu Kyi has been under house arrest almost constantly since.
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| One dead in Rangoon blast |
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(AFP)–One person was killed and two others injured in a suspected bomb blast in Burma's commercial hub Rangoon today, on the eve of the country's annual military parade, official sources said.
The explosion happened at a guest house in the city's North Okkalapa township, killing a man and wounding two women, the sources said on condition of anonymity.
Military-ruled Myanmar has been rocked by a series of small bomb blasts in recent months, with two small bombs exploding in Yangon in early March, causing minor damage but no injuries.
In a string of explosions late last year, one man was killed in Rangoon in October and two people died in a township outside the city in a video cafe bombing.
Although the country's ruling junta usually blames armed exile groups or ethnic rebels, it has also pointed the finger at democracy activists.
State-run media in September accused two members of detained democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy of bombing pro-government offices last year.
The NLD won a landslide victory in 1990 elections, but the junta never allowed it to take office. Aung San Suu Kyi has been under house arrest almost constantly since.
The military has ruled Burma since 1962, partly justifying its grip on power by claiming the need to fend off ethnic rebellions which have plagued remote border areas for decades.
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| Monks protest against banning of ceremony |
| Saturday, 28 March 2009 |
(DVB)–Buddhist monks in central Burma have launched a petition to protest against government restrictions that prevent them from freely conducting a traditional Burmese Buddhist ceremony.
Government authorities in Magwe division have imposed strict regulations on Dhamma Talks, where respectable monks pass on the teachings of Buddha and words of wisdom to lay followers, since the monk-led protests in September 2007.
A monk in Magwe said the current petition, which was to be sent to leaders of the Sanga Nayaka, the national monk administration, was triggered by the banning in Salay township of a Dhamma talk normally held for 13 days every year.
“Salay district’s government chairman Than Htay Aung approved the banning of the Dhamma talk session and caused monks in the region to be very upset,” said the monk, under condition of anonymity.
“We are making a point that conducting Dhamma talks and preaching words of wisdom is one of the six main duties of Buddhist monks.
“We wonder whether the leaders of the monk administration are aware of what is going on, or if they were simply ignoring it,” he added.
The petition has so far received signatures from monks in nine different townships in the region as of yesterday.
Reporting by Ahunt Phone Myat |
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| Than Shwe Sets Guidelines for 2010 Polls |
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NAYPYIDAW — Burma's junta chief set some ground rules Friday for historic elections scheduled for 2010, calling on political parties to avoid smear campaigns and to remember it will take awhile to establish a "mature" democracy.
Snr-Gen Than Shwe rarely says anything in public except at the annual Armed Forces Day, a holiday celebrated Friday to mark the military's might with a customary ostentatious display of troops and military equipment.
As a traditional practice, the public was not allowed to attend the tightly guarded event at a massive parade ground in Naypyitaw, the remote administrative capital the junta moved its government offices to in 2005.
After reviewing more than 13,000 troops from inside a moving convertible, Than Shwe gave a 17-minute speech that focused on elections scheduled for 2010—which will be the first polls in almost two decades.
The elections are the last stage of the junta's so-called "roadmap to democracy," a process critics have called a sham designed to cement the military's four-decade grip on power.
The 76-year-old Than Shwe said political parties that contest the elections should "refrain from inciting unrest, avoid personal attacks and smear campaigns against other parties."
Parties that carry out "mature party organizing work will receive the blessing of the government," he said, but added the country should not expect a "well-established democracy" overnight.
"Democracy in Myanmar [Burma] today is at a fledgling stage and still requires patient care and attention," Than Shwe told the invited guests, which included military leaders, government ministers and reporters. Foreign media were denied visas to cover the event.
"As a Myanmar proverb puts it, 'a recently dug well cannot be expected to produce clear water immediately' — understanding the process of gradual maturity is crucial," he said.
A precise election date has not been set and it is not yet known who will contest the polls. Before a political party can participate it must meet the standards of a "political parties registration law," which has not yet been announced by the government.
Burma has been under military rule since 1962.
The current junta took power in 1988 after violently crushing a pro-democracy uprising. Two years later it refused to hand over power when Aung San Suu Kyi's political party won a landslide election victory.
Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, has been under house arrest for 13 of the last 19 years.
As part of its roadmap, the junta drafted a new constitution that enshrines the military's leading role in politics. One of the provisions of the constitution effectively bars Suu Kyi from holding any kind of political office in Burma.
Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy did not participate in the drafting process and says last year's constitutional referendum—which adopted the charter by 92 percent—was engineered by the junta. It has called for a review process that includes pro-democracy groups and ethnic representatives.
In his speech, Than Shwe clearly indicated there will be no review, saying the "constitution (was) adopted by the people."
Armed Forces Day is held every March 27 to commemorate the day in 1945 when the Burma army rose up against Japanese occupation forces.
Initially called Resistance Day, the name was dropped in 1974 to avoid offending Japan, Burma's top aid donor in the 1970s. In recent years, commemoration speeches have refrained from mentioning the fight against the Japanese.
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| Exile Burmese news agency faces libel lawsuit |
| Friday, 27 March 2009 |
New Delhi (Mizzima) – A Burmese political party – United Democratic Party of Myanmar (UDP) – said it has filed a defamation lawsuit against an exile Burmese News Agency for publishing “baseless accusations” against the group.
UDP, in a statement on March 24, said it has filed a lawsuit against the Chiang Mai-based ‘The Irrawaddy’, which publishes a monthly magazine and runs daily online news, for producing baseless accusations against one of its leaders, Kyaw Myint, a businessman based in Canada.
UDP said it has filed a lawsuit against The Irrawaddy and its Editor-in-Chief, Aung Zaw, in a Thai court under the Thai Libel and Defamatory Act.
“We decided to take action against him [Aung Zaw] so as to let them know that it is necessary to comply with journalism ethics and not to misuse the freedom of expression,” UDP said in its press statement released on Tuesday.
But Aung Zaw, on Thursday, denied having published articles that “baselessly accuse” Kyaw Myint (a.k.a Micheal Hua Hu) or the UDP, equivocating that he is confident of the sources quoted.
“With regards to the stories that we have distributed, we have sources, and we do not publish any accusations,” Aung Zaw said.
The Irrawaddy, in December, ran a story regarding the UDP’s link with Kyaw Myint and described him as a former head of the Rangoon-based Myanmar Kyone Yeom Company.
The Irrawaddy said Kyone Yeom was accused of ‘Money Laundering’ for the United Wa State Army, an armed rebel group, and that Kyaw Myint had been blacklisted by Burmese authorities for flouting Burmese business laws and regulations.
The Irrawaddy, in its report, cited their sources as the now-defunct Asian Week Magazine’s January 1998 issue and Jane’s Intelligence Review’s November 1998 issue.
The Irrawaddy further released two more articles about the UDP and Kyaw Myint last month, one on the UDP’s threat to sue The Irrawaddy and another on Kyaw Myint’s involvement in drug and money laundering, based on an interview between an ex-Burmese military intelligence officer and the Voice of America (VOA) Burmese radio service.
Meanwhile, the UDP, which provided a contact address and telephone number in Canada, was not available for comment, its statement said the party was forced to file a libel suit against The Irrawaddy for defaming its leader after failing to get any response to requests to prove the accusations.
However, the statement failed to mention at which court in Thailand the UDP has filed the lawsuit.
Further, Aung Zaw, on Thursday, told Mizzima that he has yet to receive any court notice.
The UDP, according to their website, is based in Canada but has its leaders – including veteran politicians Thu Wai and Ye Tun – based in Burma. Nonetheless, in an interview with a Bangkok-based Burmese news agency, Khitpyaing, Thu Wai denied having established the UDP.
Thu Wai said the UDP is a party that will be established with an aim to participate in the Junta’s 2010 election once the government announces the electoral law. He explicitly denied having formed the UDP, saying he is not aware of and is not a member of the Canadian-based UDP, if it in fact exists at all. But he admits having connections with Kyaw Myint.
In a separate interview with Mizzima, Ye Tun admitted having links with Kyaw Myint and explained that they have urged Kyaw Myint to clarify, prior to the announcement of the electoral law for 2010, accusations as per his involvement in drug and money laundering. |
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| Under military rule, even the internet is behind bars |
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(DVB)–Earlier this month, the Paris-based media watchdog Reporters without Borders published a report entitled "Enemies of the Internet.’ in which Burma was named.
The isolated Southeast Asian nation was labelled as one of 12 countries guilty of “[transforming] their internet into an intranet in order to prevent their population from accessing ‘undesirable’ online information,” RSF said.
Given that I work for a daily news service, this accusation does not surprise me. Twice last year, the Democratic Voice of Burma’s website was hacked, along with exiled news organizations Mizzima and The Irrawaddy, and brought to a standstill for three weeks.
Although no-one can confirm the identity of the hackers, suspicions point to Burmese government-backed technicians based in Moscow, who used Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) which overloads websites with an unmanageable amount of traffic.
“The cyber attack is just the beginning of their plan [to attack the democracy movement]" says Aung Lin Htut, former deputy ambassador to Washington and a former spy of ousted Prime Minister General Khin Nyunt.
According to Aung Lin Htut, thousands of Burmese army officers study Defense Electronic Technology at the Moscow Aviation Institute (MAI). Other degree subjects include computer software programming, nuclear technology, short- and long-range missile technology, and aeronautics and engineering.
Many of these return to the town of Maymyo in Burma, where the Defense Services Academy is based. In June 2006, the junta announced the opening of an area in Maymyo called Yadanabon cyber city. Over one-fifth of the 10,000 acre site will be used for the production of computer hardware and software.
Yet out of a population of nearly 50 million in Burma, there are only 40,000-odd active internet users, giving the country one of the lowest levels of internet penetration in the world. Recent software adaptations don’t sit well with the Burmese alphabet, meaning internet surfers generally need knowledge of the English language. Furthermore, the cost of service providers (on average $US35 a month) is beyond the reach of most Burmese citizens. And while there is full-scale electricity and hi-speed internet at Yadanabon cyber city, says Aung Lin Htut, much of Burma regularly suffers from lack of round-the-clock electricity.
Paying the price
The accusation of ‘enemy of the internet’ is not dished out lightly. Accompanying Burma on the list are North Korea and Turkmenistan, who shared the bottom four spots alongside Burma and Eritrea in last year’s Reporters without Borders’ annual Press Freedom Index.
“In Burma, run by a xenophobic and inflexible junta, journalists and intellectuals, even foreign ones, have for years been viewed as enemies by the regime, and they pay the price,” said the Press Freedom Index report.
Laws relating to electronic communications and the dissemination of news online are among the most dissuasive in the world, meaning that opposition party members and journalists are in a precarious position when publishing material critical of the junta.
“To open an email address for the NLD may lead me to Insein prison," said a spokesman for opposition party National League for Democracy, Nyan Win.
Hundreds of activists, politicians and journalists were imprisoned in the wake of both the September 2007 protest and cyclone Nargis in May last year.
Nay Phone Latt, who recorded footage and tracked the 2007 protests on his blog, was sentenced last November under the Video Act and Electronics Act to 20 years (later reduced to 12) in Insein Prison.
Popular comedian Zarganar, who helped coordinate relief efforts in the wake of the cyclone and gave interviews critical of the regime’s response to Nargis to foreign media, was sentenced last November to 59 years (later reduced to 35). Part of the sentencing was also for using a mobile phone and email without permission from the government.
"I'm very interested in IT and so I learn about it on the internet,” joked Zarganar as the judge was sentencing him. “This is only my guilt."
Anyone living in Burma needs permission from authorities to own a telephone, fax machine, internet line, computer, camera, satellite television or short wave radio: in short, any means of communication. NLD members and activists are not granted this permission.
"Our office telephone line has been cut for over two years,” said Nyan Win. “There is no response from the authorities whenever we complain.”
"I think the NLD is the only political party in the world that has no telephone, no internet or website."
The conditions that the 1990 election-wining party are forced to operate under are unacceptable, says Soe Aung, a spokesperson for the Forum for Democracy in Burma.
“Cell phones and internet are basic necessities for a politician and his party," he said.
“The junta allows the [pro-government] Union Solidarity Development Association everything for 2010 election campaigns."
Even in the capital Naypyidaw, which is solely inhabited by government officials, cell phones are banned on security grounds. "The government spies check us every day in office or the net café,” a senior journalist in Rangoon said. “They can record every word that I write on the computer screen."
Life for journalists in Burma is very different compared to those who work in an open society, he added.
“It is hard to believe the government slogan in our daily newspaper that claims we are heading to a modernised country.
“How can this be so if even in the 21st century the people can not access a cell phone, email or internet?” |
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| NLD Urges US to Talk to Junta |
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RANGOON — Burma's opposition party urged the US to open talks with the country's junta, a spokesman said Wednesday, the last day of an American diplomat's visit amid signs of a shifting US approach to the military rulers.
The US is Burma's strongest critic and applies political and economic sanctions against the junta for its poor human rights record and failure to hand over power to a democratically elected government.
But President Barack Obama's administration has said it is reviewing its Burma policy, which thus far has done little to nudge the junta toward reforms.
US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has said Washington is "looking at what steps we might take that might influence the current Burmese government and we're also looking for ways that we could more effectively help the Burmese people."
During a four-day visit, Stephen Blake, director of the State Department's Mainland Southeast Asia office, held talks with senior members of the opposition National League for Democracy, led by Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.
He told the party that "no decision has been made" about future US policy toward Burma, party spokesman Nyan Win said, adding that the party urged the US to initiate talks with the junta.
Blake also met with Burmese Foreign Minister Nyan Win at the administrative capital of Naypyitaw during the trip, US Embassy spokesman Richard Mei said.
The state-controlled New Light of Myanmar newspaper said Wednesday that Blake and the foreign minister, who is not related to the opposition party spokesman, "discussed issues of mutual interest and promotion of bilateral relations."
Burma was Blake's last stop on a tour of Southeast Asia that also took him to Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and Thailand, Mei said. He called Blake's Burma trip "a fairly routine visit by the person in charge of these countries."
Blake also met other government officials, representatives of the United Nations and private groups, Mei said.
Burma has been under military rule since 1962. The current junta came to power in 1988 after crushing pro-democracy demonstrations and killing as many as 3,000 people. It called elections in 1990 but refused to honor the results when Suu Kyi's party won overwhelmingly. Suu Kyi has spent 13 of the last 19 years under house arrest.
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| Monks Protest Banning of “Dharma Lectures” |
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Monks in upper Burma have launched a petition calling for an end to an official ban on so-called “dharma lectures” featuring the Buddha’s teachings, according to sources in Mandalay and Magwe divisions.
A monk in Kyaukpadaung Township, Mandalay Division, said the authorities in Salay Township had banned not only dharma lectures but the production, copying and sale of VCDs and CDs featuring the lectures. He said the ban had been in force since January.
“We are collecting signatures among the monks, and then we will send them to state senior monks,” he said.
The banned VCDs and CDs feature some of Burma’s most respected senior monks, including U Thumingala, U Nyanithara and U Kawvida.
The dharma lectures are based on classical Buddhist stories, but are often interpreted as criticism of the government and its policies.
U Kawvida, a Buddhist scholar with a PhD degree, says in one VCD that the worst disease is hunger, and that if people are poor and hungry it is a universal truth that they will struggle.
In one banned CD, titled “The Way of Dumb People,” U Nyanithara, also known as Thitagu Sayardaw, criticized the popular belief in numerology and astrology.
His criticism was thought to have been aimed also at junta leader Snr-Gen Than Shwe, who is famous for basing important decisions on his astrologer's advice.
In VCDs and CDs that achieved wide popularity, U Nyanithara also talked about democracy and open society.
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| Villages Threatened with Relocation for Railway |
| Thursday, 26 March 2009 |
Kyauktaw: Many lands have been confiscated by the Burmese military authority for a new railway route through Arakan State and some villages are facing relocation to make way for the tracks, said a villager from the region.
"The army authority confiscated many lands that are situated on the railway route and owned by local Arakanese farmers, without any compensation, to make way for the new route from Sittwe to Ann. Some villages from Kyauktaw Township have been ordered to relocate to other places to clear a path for the railway route," he said.
The villages facing dislocation are Tharet Thaphin, Sapa Sit, Shwe Talay, Pyin Hla, Nyung Pin Hla, and Kung Duck. They are situation near the temple of the great image of Mahamuni in Kyauktaw Township and have been ordered by the Burmese military authorities to relocate to other places in order to clear the path for construction of the railway route and station.
There is also a rumor that the military authority is preparing to build an airport in the area and the villages are being forced to relocate to make room for this.
The villager said, "I heard the authority will build an airport near Tharet Tapin Village and Prime Minister General Thein Sein visited the area last month. However the airport will be for the military, not for tourists to visit the ancient sites."
The Burmese military has been building up its capacity in Arakan State since the beginning of this year. Battalions, including artillery battalions, were brought in to Arakan State from Burma proper as reinforcements.
Many people believe the railway is also being constructed for military purposes because new railways are not necessary for local Arakanese people at present due to the poor economy in the state.
A teacher from Sittwe said, "The construction of the railway route in Arakan State is good but we need business development at first. Without business development, the railway is not useful for the people."
Military authorities in many townships, including Sittwe, Ponna Kyunt, Kyauktaw, Mrauk U, and Minbya, that are located along the railway route, have been confiscating farmlands and gardens for construction on the path of the new railway.
In Arakan State, there is currently just 16 miles of railway laid between Buthidaung and Maungdaw that was built during colonial rule and has not been added to since the British left Burma in 1948.
The railway route between Sittwe, the capital of Arakan, and Ann, where the Western Command Headquarters are stationed, will be the first rail constructed in Arakan since independence from Britain. The railway will eventually be connected to the western Irrawaddy River in Burma proper.
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| Monks Clash with Drunken Soldiers |
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Bandarban: Monks clashed with two Burmese soldiers who were drunk in a village in Paletwa Township, Chin State, when the soldiers assaulted two tribal women, said a monk who was in the village at the time.
"The monks were unable to tolerate the soldiers' behavior with the two tribal women, so they interfered and requested the soldiers to stop what they were doing. But, the soldiers refused to follow their request. The monks finally tied them up in the monastery and beat them throughout the night," the monk said.
The incident took place during a Buddhist religious festival that was held in Shwe Pyi Village in Paletwa Township recently, The two soldiers became drunk at the festival and rudely insulted two Khami women.
The soldiers, who are from Light Infantry Battalion 289 based in Paletwa, came to the village in their civilian clothes, not their army uniforms, to attend the festival.
Nearly 50 monks from several villages in the area attended the festival while over 1,000 people, including many local indigenous people such as Khami, Mro, and Rakhine, attended the festival.
"The monks released them the next morning at the senior monk's request, but there has been no counter-action by Burmese soldiers against the monks," the monk said.
According to a local source, the high officials from the battalion wanted to take action against the monks but were unable to due to the support of the local people for the monks' response to the two soldiers who had abused army rules and regulations.
In Paletwa Township and elsewhere in the western border area, such incident of abuse by army men against the local indigenous women is not unusual, and many people at the festival cheered the monks who punished the drunken soldiers for their misbehavior.
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| Border fencing not a solution to save Rohingya : RCI |
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President of US-based Rohingya Concern International (RCI), Mohiuddin (alias) Maung Sein, has said the fencing of the Burma-Bangladesh border is a foolish move on the part of the Burmese military junta. The ruling junta did not even take neighboring Bangladesh into confidence, when they decided to fence the border, he added.
Since March 6, the Nasaka has been building up stocks of cement bags, iron rods, bricks and barbed wires for this project. These goods were brought from Sittwe (Akyab), the capital of Arakan State by a cargo ship to Maungdaw. Besides, some workers (Rakhine and Rohingya) including engineers and masons were also brought to Maungdaw Town from Sittwe, a trader from Maungdaw said.
The State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) authorities think by doing so they can silence the international community, showing that they care about the suffering Rohingyas.
The authority has asked for laborers from nearby villages, through the VPDC, to work for the project. The authority has called for 300 workers from nearby villages, to work daily for the project, said a schoolteacher from Aley Than Kyaw village.
The solution to the Rohingya crisis is not fencing the border, but restoring the Rohingya citizenship rights and respecting human rights by letting the Rohingya live as human beings with dignity and honor. The border fence will not deter the Rohingya from seeking security and they would be compelled to find alternative ways.
Currently, many army personnel have been deployed in Maungdaw Township, and some have been taking up position along the Naff River bank, including the beach and some have also been taking shelter in the mountains near the Burma- Bangladesh border. They are looting vegetables from farmers and looting fish from fishermen, said a farmer from the locality.
The more the SPDC invents new ways to further tighten their grip on Rohingya, to suffocate them, the more the situation will worsen and the global public opinion and the attitude of ASEAN, will go against the Burmese military junta, the RCI president added.
So, it is the responsibility of neighboring countries, ASEAN and UN to seek a solution for the suffering Rohingya people in Burma, instead of a temporary solution of halting the Rohingya, who are risking their lives in order to find a safe shelter.
Recently, the exterminating campaign has been accelerated by killing of innocent Rohingya by Nasaka( Burma’s border security force) and Sarapa (Military Intelligence) based on fabricated and false accusations. No action is taken against the culprits. Recently, four fishermen and one shopkeeper were killed by the authority, a student said.
RCI expressed their concern at the worsening situation of Rohingya in Arakan and urged the international NGOs and all Governments to exert pressure on the SPDC Government to stop all inhuman activities against innocent Rohingya civilians in northern Arakan State.
RCI also urged the United Nations to send a fact-finding mission to Arakan, so as to bring the real facts happening in Arakan to the forefront, as the SPDC military junta was distorting the reality of the Rohingyas condition, compelling them to confess to Bengali ethnicity instead of Rohingya identity and ethnicity.
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| Aung Mai Company to buy teak from Burmese Army |
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Teak continues to be one of the prized items for making filthy lucre in Burma’s Kachin State and the Aung Mai Company is negotiating with the Burmese military junta to buy teak confiscated during an operation last January and February by several Burmese army columns, said sources.
Local sources close to Aung Mai Company said the firm is now negotiating with the Northern Command Headquarters (Ma Pa Kha) based in Myitkyina, the capital of Kachin State and locally-based Burmese army battalions to buy the confiscated teak in Bhamo district in Kachin State.
At the moment, no teak truck from the company has yet come to China border in Kachin State. However they will have to transport all teak which was confiscated by the Burmese Army battalions before the rainy season starts in June, said local timber traders.
During the operation launched last January and February, teak belonging to civilians was targeted for confiscation by Burmese Army columns in the operation--- Infantry Battalion (IB) No. 142, Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) No. 321, LIB No. 347, LIB No. 348 and LIB No. 437, said local teak businessmen in Bhamo.
At the same time, several Chinese companies from Ruili or Shweli, the largest border trade town in China's Yunnan province alongside Burma transports teak from Shwego and Sin Khan in Bhamo district, said local teak businessmen.
For transporting teak to Ruili, the Chinese companies have to shell out over 8 million kyats equivalent to US $ 8,122 per truck as bribe to Burmese army battalions on the timber route, according to local teak businessmen. Greasing palms of the Burmese authorities is the only way that timber can be got out.
Of several timber companies in Kachin State, Aung Mai Company is the only company which is authorized to buy teak confiscated in Kachin State by Burmese Army battalions, said local timber businessmen.
The company is owned by Chinese businessmen and it buys teak from Burmese Army battalions and sells it on the Sino-Burma border in Kachin State. There is a nexus between the company and the junta's Northern Command Headquarters where mutual-interest comes into play, said local sources.
The Aung Mai Company has been making profit from selling confiscated teak on the China border since late 2005. It also had to grease the palms of Maj-Gen Ohn Myint, former commander of Northern Command.
Now, the company is again planning to work out mutual profit sharing with the ruling junta's Northern Command, said local timber traders.
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| Burma opposition urges US to talk to junta |
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YANGON, Myanmar -Myanmar’s opposition party urged the U.S. to open talks with the country’s junta, a spokesman said Wednesday, the last day of an American diplomat’s visit amid signs of a shifting U.S. approach to the military rulers.
The U.S. is Myanmar’s strongest critic and applies political and economic sanctions against the junta for its poor human rights record and failure to hand over power to a democratically elected government.
But President Barack Obama’s administration has said it is reviewing its Myanmar policy, which thus far has done little to nudge the junta toward reforms.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has said Washington is “looking at what steps we might take that might influence the current Burmese government and we’re also looking for ways that we could more effectively help the Burmese people.” Burma is another name for Myanmar.
During a four-day visit, Stephen Blake, director of the State Department’s Mainland Southeast Asia office, held talks with senior members of the opposition National League for Democracy, led by Nobel Peace laureate Ang San Suu Kyi.
He told the party that “no decision has been made” about future U.S. policy toward Myanmar, party spokesman Nyan Win said, adding that the party urged the U.S. to initiate talks with the junta.
Blake also met with Myanmar Foreign Minister Nyan Win at the administrative capital of Naypyitaw during the trip, U.S. Embassy spokesman Richard Mei said.
The state-controlled New Light of Myanmar newspaper said Wednesday that Blake and the foreign minister, who is not related to the opposition party spokesman, “discussed issues of mutual interest and promotion of bilateral relations.”
Myanmar was Blake’s last stop on a tour of Southeast Asia that also took him to Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and Thailand, Mei said. He called Blake’s Myanmar trip “a fairly routine visit by the person in charge of these countries.”
Blake also met other government officials, representatives of the United Nations and private groups, Mei said.
Myanmar has been under military rule since 1962. The current junta came to power in 1988 after crushing pro-democracy demonstrations and killing as many as 3,000 people. It called elections in 1990 but refused to honor the results when Suu Kyi’s party won overwhelmingly. Suu Kyi has spent 13 of the last 19 years under house arrest.
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| US State Department Official Visits Naypyidaw |
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Burmese Foreign Minister Nyan Win met Stephen Blake, the director of the US State Department’s Mainland Southeast Asia office, on Tuesday in the military junta’s remote capital of Naypyidaw, Burma’s state-run media reported today.
Nyan Win discussed “issues of mutual interests and promotion of bilateral relations” with the state department official, according to The New Light of Myanmar.
The State Department’s Burma officer, Laura Scheible, did not join Blake on his Burma trip. The State Department did not say anything about the trip during its daily press briefing on Tuesday.
Burmese have not seen this kind of news in the state-run media for many years. Coverage of US-related news is usually confined to updates of American casualty figures in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and monthly reports on the number of times US diplomats in Rangoon have met with officials of the opposition National League for Democracy.
Blake is currently traveling around Southeast Asia. Last week, he was in Cambodia for a three-day visit. He said the US would be neutral on the issue of a recent Cambodia-Thailand border dispute.
A Thailand-based Western diplomat told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday that Blake’s trip to Burma was part of a regular tour of the region. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the diplomat said that although the US was willing to engage with the Burmese junta, it would only do so conditionally.
Last week, the assistant secretary of the US State Department’s Bureau of International Organization Affairs, James Warlick, told reporters that the US still regards the Burmese junta as a repressive government.
“We still see political prisoners. Aung San Suu Kyi still remains under house arrest,” he said.
The new US administration under President Barack Obama has vowed to review its Burma policy. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said during a trip to Asia in February that both sanctions and engagement have failed to bring about positive change in Burma.
Meanwhile, the European Union is also reexamining its stance on Burma. Piero Fassino, the EU special envoy to Burma, told reporters on Wednesday that the EU could
vote for an easing of sanctions if the Burmese military junta eases restrictions on opponents ahead of elections slated for 2010.
Speaking in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, he added that the EU would only consider the 2010 elections to be free and fair if the government passes fair electoral rules and frees political prisoners, including opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, saying “It is impossible to achieve a free and fair election if the leader of the opposition is in prison.”
The Burmese junta has been busy with diplomatic matters recently.
Last weekend, Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya visited Naypyidaw, where he was asked by Burmese Prime Minister Gen Thein Sein to help convince rebellious ethnic minorities to join the junta’s seven-step “road map” to “disciplined democracy.”
A week ago, on March 18, Chen Bingde, chief of the general staff of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, met with the head of the junta, Snr-Gen Than Shwe, in Naypyidaw.
Before Chen Bingde’s visit to Burma, Thein Sein made a three-day trip to Indonesia and Singapore on March 16-18.
This week, Li Changchun, the propaganda chief of the ruling Communist Party of China and the 5th highest-ranking official in Beijing, will visit Burma after traveling to Australia.
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| Junta Continually Expanding Forces in Ceasefire Areas |
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The Burmese armed forces has systematically and continually increased the strength of its battalions stationed in ethnic areas where armed groups have signed ceasefire agreements with the junta, according to armed forces’ documents leaked to The Irrawaddy recently.
When it took over the country in a military coup in 1988, the Burmese military government had only eight light infantry divisions stationed in central Burma under nine regional military commands.
However, since the 1988 coup, the junta has signed ceasefire agreements with more than 17 armed ethnic groups, and has formed and deployed several new battalions in former rebel strongholds, especially in the early 1990s.
At the command level, new Regional Operation Commands (ROCs) and Military Operation Commands (MOCs) have been stationed in ceasefire group-controlled areas since 1990.
The Tatmadaw, or Burmese army, opened the ROC (Loikaw) in Karenni State in 1992 to facilitate command and control in the area, and soon after it formed the ROC (Bamaw) in Kachin State to control the Kachin Independence Army’s troops.
According to the leaked document, ROC (Mongsat) was also formed to bolster Tatmadaw forces in United Wa State Army-controlled areas in eastern Shan State, close to the Thai-Burmese border.
The document also indicated that ROC (Lauki) was formed and deployed in the Kokang rebel area to coordinate with the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, which signed a ceasefire agreement with the Burmese junta in 1989.
The ROC (Mong Phyet) was formed in eastern Shan State close to the area under the control of the National Democratic Alliance Army-Eastern Shan State, which signed a ceasefire with the junta in 1990.
The commander of an ROC is equivalent to the Light Infantry Division’s commander and he generally deploys at least five battalions in the ethnic area he is assigned to. The ROC commander thereafter assumes responsibility for the financial, administrative and judicial authority in his area.
According to the Tatmadaw document, several MOCs were formed in 1995: Kyaukme in northern Shan State; Loilin and Phekhon in southern Shan State; Moe Kaung in Kachin State; and Kaukayeik in Karen State.
MOCs in Mongpan (Shan State), Mong Pyin (Shan State) and Ye in Mon State were reportedly formed to organize military activities in these areas more efficiently.
According to Burmese defense scholar Maung Aung Myoe, the MOC is equivalent to the LID, as both command 10 battalions, with a brigadier-general as commander.
By 2008, the Burmese army had 504 infantry battalions under 13 ROCs, 10 Light Infantry Divisions, 20 MOCs and six Regional Commands.
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| Detention of Suu Kyi Illegal: UN |
| Wednesday, 25 March 2009 |
WASHINGTON — The house arrest of Burmese democratic icon Aung San Suu Kyi is illegal and against the domestic law of Burma, a UN body has ruled.
The Washington-based Freedom House said Tuesday the ruling in this regard was given by the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention. A statement urged the immediate release of Suu Kyi.
The judgment from the international tribunal declared unequivocally that the ongoing detention of Suu Kyi is illegal and in violation of both Burmese and international law, Freedom House said in a statement.
“The Working Group considers that Ms Aung San Suu Kyi’s continued placement under house arrest is arbitrary and in violation of article 9 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,” said the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention in its statement, a copy of which was released by Freedom Now.
“The Working Group . . . declare[s] Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi’s placement under house arrest [is] arbitrary, being in contravention of Articles 9, 10, and 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights . . . and even domestic law . . . which itself contradicts the basic principles and norms of modern international law . . . Consequent upon this Opinion, the Working Group requests the Government to immediately release, without any condition, Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi from her continued placement under house arrest,” it said.
The UN Working Group urged the Burmese military government to take practical steps to remedy the situation in order to bring it into conformity with the standards of International Human Rights Law and to study the possibility of an early accession to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and to other core international human rights treaties.
The Working Group on Arbitrary Detention is an independent and impartial body of the Human Rights Council. It consists of experts from Chile, Pakistan, Russian Federation, Senegal and Spain.
While in its previous four opinions related to Suu Kyi the Working Group had termed her house arrest in violation of international law, but this is for the first time it has declared her detention to also be a violation of domestic Burmese law. Suu Kyi has spent more than 13 of the last 19 years under house arrest.
“It is deeply unfortunate that the Burmese junta continues to flagrantly violate its own and international law,” said Jared Genser, president of Freedom Now, and a lead attorney for Suu Kyi. “Previously, the UN Security Council, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Asean, the European Union, and the United States have all called for Suu Kyi’s release. The only question remaining is how long will Burma’s bold-face defiance of the international community be tolerated?” he said.
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| KNU Willing to Talk, but not on Burmese Territory |
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The Karen National Union’s deputy chairman, David Takapaw, has welcomed Thailand’s offer to mediate talks between the KNU and the Burmese regime, but said they would have to be held outside Burma.
“We are always ready for peace talks,” he told The Irrawaddy on Tuesday. “But we will not attend any talks in Burma at this time. Talks must be held in another country.”
Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya, who met Burmese government leaders in Naypyidaw at the weekend, said he would approach the KNU in the hope of getting talks started. It was in Thailand’s interest for peace to reign in Burma, he said.
Thai army officials recently asked Karen rebel leaders living in the Thai border town of Mae Sot to return to KNU-controlled areas of Karen State. The rebels belong to the KNU’s armed wing, the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA).
Burmese researcher Aung Thu Nyein said the Thai government’s efforts to help bring about peace talks between the Burmese regime and the KNU would increase pressure on KNU leaders who live in Thailand.
“Thailand needs border stability for trade with the Burmese regime,” he said. “From an economic point of view, this might put more pressure on the KNU leaders to talk to the regime.”
The KNU has engaged in peace talks with the Burmese regime four times since the present regime took power in 1988.
The late chairman of the KNU, Gen Saw Bo Mya, held peace talks with regime leaders in Rangoon in 2005, two years before his death. Contacts have been at a standstill since then.
Takapaw said whenever the KNU talked to the regime “they always insist that we give up our arms and return to the ‘legal fold.’ But how we can agree to live under a regime that isn’t the official government?”
Takapaw said that if the KNU agreed to talks on Burmese territory the Burmese negotiators would have the upper hand. “Such a meeting wouldn’t be on equal terms,” he said.
The KNU has been in conflict with the Burmese army for more than 50 years. It turned to guerrilla tactics after regime forces overran its headquarters in 1995.
Burmese army offensives have been accompanied by the destruction of Karen villages, displacement of local populations, the killing of civilians and other serious human rights abuses. More than 100,000 Karen villagers have sought refuge in camps along the Thai-Burmese border.
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| Army Capitalists: The Junta’s Wealth |
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The Burmese military has monopolized the country’s economy, especially heavy industries, mining and the import-export sector, since the military seized state power in September, 1988.
According to Burmese defense scholar Maung Aung Myoe, the collapse of the socialist regime in 1988 opened the way for the Tatmadaw [armed forces] to resume its socio-economic role, independent of the country and its private, commercial interests, as it decided to play the leading role in national politics.
The scholar notes in his book, “Building the Tatmadaw,” that there were two reasons to establish commercial enterprises: to be self-reliant and to finance defense modernization as an off-budget measure.
The Burmese military founded two military-managed economic organizations, the Myanmar Economic Corporation (MEC) and the Union of Myanmar Economic Holding Limited (UMEHL), in 1989 and 1990 respectively.
Interestingly, UMEHL, also known as U Pai, funding is based on contributions from military personnel, military units, retired military personnel, army veteran organizations and the ministry of defense to support in-service and retired military personnel.
UMEHL was previously led by Lt-Gen Myo Nyunt, a former Rangoon regional commander. It is currently led by Lt-Gen Tin Aye of the Office of Defense Industries.
UMEHL was the first business venture established by the Burmese military for small and medium-sized commercial enterprises and industries. Its subsidiary and affiliated firms engage in macroeconomic trading with Singapore, Japan, Malaysia, China, South Korea, and India. Edible oil, fuel oil and automobiles from these countries are imported to Burma and exports include cigarettes, beans and pulses, gems and garment products.
Maung Aung Myoe’s book, published by Institute of Southeast Asia Studies in Singapore, said that between 1990 and early 2007, UMEHL formed 77 fully owned firms.
UMEHL’s commercial interests include gem production and marketing, garment factories, wood and wood-based industries, food and beverage, supermarkets, banking, hotels and tourism, transportation, telecommunications and electronic equipment, computer, construction and real estate, the steel industry, cement production, automobiles, cosmetics and stationery.
In the 2006-2007 fiscal year, UMEHL started 35 firms; it has liquidated six firms since 1999.
One of the liquidated firms, the Myanmar Ruby Enterprise, operated Mogoke mine, Mongshu mine, Nanyar mine, Mawchi mine and a gold mine in the Tahbeikkyin area.
Maung Aung Myoe noted that one of the main reasons for firms being liquidated was the investment sanctions imposed by Western governments. Another possible reason could be structural problems relating to poor macroeconomic policies and business environment in Burma.
Among the corporations heavily involved with UMEHL are Segye Corporation of Korea, Daewoo Corporation of Korea, Korea-based Pohon Iron and Steel Co. Ltd, Rothmans Myanmar Holding Pte Ltd. Of Singapore, Fraser & Neave of Singapore, Mitsugi Corporation of Japan and Nikko Shoji Co. Ltd of Japan.
The MEC is by nature secretive. It is under the ministry of defense and is designed to help the Tatmadaw to build its own industrial and technological base. MEC operates at least 21 heavy factories across the country, according to Maung Aung Myoe.
Among them, MEC operates with Thai companies on the construction of Tarsan Hydroelectric Power Plant on the Salween River.
Since 1989 when Burma introduced an open-market economy, the country has remained poor, but the generals who monopolize the natural resources and the economy have increased their personal fortunes while maintaining their military machine.
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| Construction of barbed-wire fence suddenly stopped in Maungdaw |
| Tuesday, 24 March 2009 |
Maungdaw, Arakan State: Construction work on the barbed-wire fencing was suddenly stopped yesterday at Maungdaw in Arakan State, as the authorities received information that about 16,000 army personnel from Bangladesh were ready to penetrate into Arakan North from Chittagong Hill Tracts, a close aide of the Nasaka from Maungdaw said. The Burmese army personnel immediately left the work site, after hearing the rumor regarding the Bangladesh Army planning to enter North Arakan. After leaving some soldiers in the Nasaka camp, all the rest went to the nearby mountains to observe the situation, after taking shelter in the forest.
Meanwhile, on the Burmese side, recently, at least eleven Burmese army battalions have been deployed along the Burma-Bangladesh border to raise barbed-wire fences. They are LIB, No. 536, 535, 564, 353, 538, 263, 234, 344, 289, 20 and 55.
Burma has planned to deploy at least 30,000 army personnel on the Burma-Bangladesh border, for the security of the barbed-wire fence, according to a Nasaka source.
The Burmese authority has deployed soldiers along the border from Maungdaw Township to Paletwa in Chin State.
The border situation between the two countries has been increasingly tense, with several army battalions being sent to reinforce troops along the Burma-Bangladesh border by the Burmese military junta.
According to sources, Bangladesh border forces are still closely watching the construction of the barbed-wire fence on the Burma-Bangladesh border, by the Burmese junta without giving any information to the friendly neighboring country, Bangladesh.
According to a Bangladeshi source, a naval ship equipped with sophisticated equipment, has been sighted in the Bay of Bengal near Burmese waters.
Regarding the barbed-wire fence, last month, a group of army personnel, consisting of over 100 army officers, had conducted a survey in Rathedaung and Maungdaw Township, from Mayu Tek (Angumaw) of Rathedaung Township, to Pletwa of Chin State, a businessman from Maungdaw said.
According to villagers near the Bangladesh border, extra deployment of soldiers of Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) has not been seen on the Bangladesh side.
The people of north Arakan do not know the reason, why the Burmese junta suddenly started erecting the barbed-wire fence and reinforcement of army on the Burma-Bangladesh border, according to sources
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| Revered Politician, Writer Dies |
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Kyi Oo, a veteran politician who took part in the Burmese independence movement and 1990 election and was a writer on culture and society, died on Friday at her home in Rangoon’s Yankin Township. She was 84.
She is survived by her husband and two sons. Her youngest son, Zarganar, a political prisoner, is serving long-term imprisonment in Myintkyinar Prison for his involvement in humanitarian assistance to the survivors of Cyclone Nargis in 2008.
Kyi Oo’s writing focused on culture and society in Rangoon-based popular magazines, journals and other publications, and in a wide range of articles written both for young Burmese and adults.
“She wrote on many aspects of Burmese culture,” said Paragu, a writer and founder of the Paragu Shantiniketan Library in Rangoon. “She and her work were targeted by the military authorities because of her son Zaganar.”
When The Irrawaddy asked Kyi Oo’s son Teza to comment on his mother’s unwavering commitment and strength, he said, "She had not given up her beliefs. She could not tolerate injustice. She stands for the Burmese people."
According to Teza, she brought Zarganar up to be honest and to love justice and taught him to speak out to try to make things better.
“My mother selected books for us to read, which ones were appropriate for us and which didn’t fit,” Teza said.
Kyi Oo was born in Bilin in Mon State on June 23, 1925. She became involved in politics and began her literary career while still a teenager.
Kyi Oo and her family had repeated run-ins with the military authorities because of her son Zarganar’s political involvement. One journalist said she had never been one who bowed down to the Burmese military government. Her husband’s pen name, Nan Nyunt Swe, was banned in government publications.
She was a vocal critic of the country’s political and social development during telephone interviews with Burmese foreign radio stations, causing her work to be banned regularly by Rangoon’s censorship board. Kyi Oo’s lifetime commitment to fighting injustice and her refusal to be cowed into silence made her a living symbol of resistance.
She was one of the co-founders of the Association of Burmese Literature Distribution in 1951 and was an independent candidate for Yankin Township during the 1990 election.
“She had a sense of humor, and no one except the well-known female writer Saw Mone Nyin could dare talk with Kyi Oo in public talks,” said Nan Nyunt Swe, her husband.
“Among our sons, Zaganar obtained his mother’s genius,” he said.
According to Nan Nyunt Swe, Kyi Oo’s family members requested the Minister of Home Affairs Prison Department and prison authorities in Myintkyinar to allow Zarganar to meet Kyi Oo before she passed away. The request was denied.
“I am very sad, because she didn’t meet Zarganar before she died,” said Nan Nyunt Swe.
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| Former Intelligence Officials Released from Buthidaung Prison |
| Monday, 23 March 2009 |
Former intelligence officials who were arrested in 2004 along with ousted prime minister, General Khin Nyunt, were released from Buthidaung prison last week, said a resident.
"At least seven former intelligence officials, including the former chief of the intelligence unit in Arakan State, were set free in the recent amnesty, but don't know who all of them are," he said.
According to sources, among those released are former Arakan State intelligence chief, Colonel Kyaw Nyien, and the commander of Intelligence Battalion 10, Major Myo Myint.
The had been sentenced to at least 20 or 30 years of prison in Buthidaung.
In Buthidaung, there are many political prisoners, including 88 generation student leader Ko Htaw Kywe, but none of these political prisoners were released from Buthidaung prison.
In the recent amnesty, 107 prisoners were set free from Buthidaung prison in northern Arakan.
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| 11 Army Battalions Deployed to Construct Border Fence |
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Maungdaw: At least eleven Burmese army battalions have been deployed along the Burmese border near Bangladesh to erect barbed-wire fences, said a source close to the army.
The source said that previously there were seven battalions deployed along the border from Maungdaw Township in Arakan to Paletwa in southern Chin State, a distance of 200 kilometers.
Another four battalions, three from Buthidaung Township and one from Rathidaung Township, have been sent to the border recently. The battalions from Buthidaung were identified as Light Infantry Battalions 535, 564, and 353, while the fourth battalion from Rathidaung Township is LIB 536.
The seven battalions already stationed along the border are Light Battalions 55 and 20, and Light Infantry Battalions 289, 344, 234, 538, and 263.
Burmese military authorities have also deployed many police and riot police at many outposts along the border to work with the army on the border fence construction.
The border situation between Bangladesh and Burma has been increasingly tense with the multiple army battalions being sent to reinforce troops along the border in Burma.
Bangladesh border forces are closely watching the situation after Burma began construction on the fence.
According to a Bangladesh source, one naval ship equipped with highly sophisticated equipment, including radar covering 15 nautical miles, has been deployed in the Bay of Bengal near Burmese waters.
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| Security Boosted on Western Burmese Border |
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Security Boosted on Western Burmese Border
3/20/2009
U Tun Kyaw, Maungdaw: Border security forces and police personnel deployed in the border areas of western Burma are being reinforced and security has been tightened from today, said one witness.
"At 9:00 this morning about 200 border security personnel and police left for the outposts along the border with Bangladesh," said the source.
They headed for their outposts at the villages of Rocknyodaung, Lakera, Nga Khu ra and others, said one witness.
"The people of Maungdaw are very aware of the boosted security because not only Burmese troops but also police personnel are seeing many more reinforcements in Maungdaw than before," the source said.
"Nonetheless, the people of Maungdaw don't know why the security is being boosted in that area. Many guessed it is in connection with the barbed-wire fencing being erected along the border with Bangladesh," said town dweller.
Besides the increase in security, different reports about the barbed-wire fencing have been spreading through the town.
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| MYANMAR: Beyond the delta, aid projects miss out |
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YANGON, 19 March 2009 (IRIN) - The positive aspects of the Cyclone Nargis response in the Ayeyarwady Delta have yet to translate into better access or more funds for aid operations in the rest of Myanmar, where needs are great and often unmet, according to aid workers.
“The needs in the country are large and very little is done,” said Frank Smithuis, country director of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) Holland. “Myanmar is the lowest recipient of overseas development aid in the world. Much more money is needed for the health of the people.”
After a frustratingly slow start, aid agencies say the humanitarian response to Cyclone Nargis, which struck Ayeyarwady Delta in May 2008 and left close to 140,000 dead or missing, has been highly effective.
Much of this is credited to the Tripartite Core Group (TCG), comprising the government, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the UN, whose mandate has been extended for another year.
The government eased bureaucracy and restrictions on access for humanitarian agencies in the delta, and money and resources have poured in.
Outside the cyclone area
However, this is not the case in the rest of Myanmar, where more than 100,000 children under five die each year, most of them from preventable diseases.
One third of under-fives are underweight, says the UN, and malnutrition is a contributory factor in about half those deaths.
“When Nargis happened it was impossible to focus elsewhere,” Chris Kaye, the head of the World Food Programme (WFP) in Myanmar, told IRIN in Yangon. WFP had a huge US$115 million programme to feed those who had lost their livelihoods in the cyclone.
“That was at some cost it seems now, because we have not been able to follow through and get the attention of donors elsewhere [in Myanmar].”
Last year, WFP raised half of its funding needs for areas such as Northern Rakhine State, near the border with Bangladesh.
“We had to cut back on certain activities – a very difficult decision to take – and in the end decided to cut support for vulnerable households through schools,” said Kaye.
This Food for Education project provided a family food ration to a child who attended school 80 percent of the time, often forming a major component of the daily diet during the lean June-October monsoon season.
Ongoing restrictions
The TCG mechanism does not apply outside the delta, and long-standing government restrictions on aid agencies are unchanged. Aid workers must seek permission to travel to project sites, which takes three weeks.
Some NGOs have not been able to secure agreements to work in Myanmar at all, and operate informally through local partners. Many UN agencies do not have access to much of the country.
“There are huge developmental deficits,” said Kaye.
Such constraints have added to the reluctance of donors to provide aid to Myanmar, which receives far less assistance than other countries in the region with similar poverty levels.
Laos, for example, receives $50 per person per year, and Cambodia receives $40. Myanmar, by contrast, receives $2-$3.
Healthcare needs
But the needs are great. MSF Holland estimates there are between five and 10 million malaria patients each year, in a country of 53 million. Only a small proportion receive effective treatment and thousands die each year.
“As a consequence, the people of Myanmar suffer, in particular the poorest, who can't afford to pay for their healthcare,” said Smithuis.
He argues that MSF’s 17 years in Myanmar, plus the more recent cyclone response, prove that aid can be delivered effectively.
“If there is a good monitoring system that guarantees the population benefits directly, then there is absolutely no reason to withhold large-scale assistance to Myanmar people,” he said.
Mark Canning, the British ambassador to Myanmar, said the relative success of the Nargis aid operation could inspire greater confidence among major donors such as the UK.
“The issue of confidence is fundamental,” Canning told IRIN. “A virtuous circle can be created - the more donor money is used effectively, the more money is drawn in. But the reverse also applies. Assistance needs to be whiter than white.”
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